My Very Long and Rambling Trip Report

[alien_host]

We just got home from 6 nights at WDW yesterday afternoon and I'm already going through withdrawal :D I'll add a trip report soon, I need to type up the details before I forget.

I think our trip this year was even more of a success than last year. DD (6) loved it again and we really toured "smarter"/better.

Highlights for her: She claims it was dinner on our last night at Chef Mickey's, but I think that is b/c it was one of the last things we did. We had GREAT character interaction...Minnie came by 2-3 times and gave her a kiss each time. :heartbeat:

Low-lights for her: Space Mtn scared the crap out of her, she claimed afterwards that she liked it but I think the darkness really scared her. I forgot that at WDW you sit tandem so she was alone. We did it last yr at DL and DH sat next to her. She was silent throughout the ride and I wasn't sure if she was still in her seat! DH was trying to see her and was yelling, "Say something, are you OK?" For a moment I was worried she had flung out of her seat!

Highlights for me: The Main Street Electrical Parade, even though it was wall to wall people. As soon as I heard the music, I was transported back to when I was a child at Disneyland with my parents...it was amazing really.

Low-lights for me: I did catch a horrible cold which was a bummer, but I'm happy to say that I powered through it. ;)

-------------------------

I've added the trip report below...my apologies in advance it is LONG....I need to be more concise...I'll add some pics in a few, I need to go to a different computer. Thanks for looking!

[crl]

Glad you had fun! I love trip reports!

Catherine

[billysmommy]

Sounds like a great trip!!! Can't wait to read all about it

[ijopint]

Can't wait for your trip report. I am going to WDW this week as well!
Did you bring stroller with you?

[alien_host]

Can't wait for your trip report. I am going to WDW this week as well!
Did you bring stroller with you?

We did bring a stroller (Mac Triumph) and were glad we did. It was HOT and DD really would not have walked the entire time and we were able to get around faster with one.

[ijopint]

thanks. still undecided which stroller to bring :D
DS is 4 1/2
DD is 11 months
Can I get away with a stroller and a board? or
two strollers for LO?

[TwinFoxes]

Yay! I can't wait for your trip report. :)



Highlights for me: The Main Street Electrical Parade, even though it was wall to wall people. As soon as I heard the music, I was transported back to when I was a child at Disneyland with my parents...it was amazing really.


Same here. It actually makes me tear up. :bag

[Twoboos]

Yay, glad you had fun! Time to plan another trip!! :bouncy:



Low-lights for me: I did catch a horrible cold which was a bummer, but I'm happy to say that I powered through it. ;)

As I said to one of my friends re: DD2 puking outside the Rapunzel MnG, and we stayed in line with 10mins to go before it opened, "This place is not for the faint of heart." You HAVE TO power through, LOL!!!

[georgiegirl]

We were there at the same time. DD (5) decided not to go on space mountain for those very reasons. We had a great time too.

[Raidra]

So glad you had a great time! Can't wait to read the full report. :)

[k_null81]

How fun! We leave Saturday! So nervous and stressed about taking the twins seeing as they aren't really old enough to appreciate it really or remember it for that matter. But this is a family trip with DH side of the family and his mom had paid for about half the cost of the trip so we couldn't pass it up. Plus we are staying at Animal Kingdom.

Oh, and since half of the family is driving down I was able to get them to take my double baby jogger down with them in the car. Didn't want to take a chance that it would get broken or ruined by the airport staff. We have cheap unbrella strollers for the airport.

[k_null81]

I tear up too! So you are not alone... :D


Yay! I can't wait for your trip report. :)



Same here. It actually makes me tear up. :bag

[alien_host]

We stayed in a 1BR Lake View at Bay Lake Tower by renting a friend's DVC points. We had a great view of the Lake, CR pool and the CR. I forgot to take pics of the view! We could see Epcot and Illuminations from our balcony and were on the 11th floor.

Grad nights - Friday and Saturday so the MK closed at 7 and they did not have the parade or Wishes. they had fireworks late (midnight?) which I heard but was too tired to go to the other side of the buidling to see.

Magical Express - Worked great again for us, except we went out the wrong way from the gates and had to double back (A vs B). I forgot to look at the instructions when we arrived. :6:

Disney Dining Plan - I will do a separate review of food and the plan (and we have food allergies). Overall it was great.

We checked in and then went to Downtown Disney to meet DH's friend who was there for a conference. It was already 7PM at this point. We had dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Express - quite good really. DH went to have a margarita with his friend and I took DD to shop. We hit:

Lego Store - the remodeled store is open and it is enormous. We really wanted to check out the sculptures. World of Disney - to get DD an autograph book and a stuffed Minnie Mouse. Once Upon A Toy - so I could get the Mr. Potato Head parts - I got a big head because who doesn't need almost 100 parts? :cheerleader1: We stayed past 10 so we missed Wishes from the hotel.

Magic Kingdom - EMH and we got there around 8:15. We attempted to see Rapunzel and Flynn Rider but the line was already 2 hours long! No thanks. DD chose to do the Tea Cups first and then we went to Space Mtn. and Buzz Lightyear. No waits for either. We saw a few characters on the way and then went to Adventureland - this was DD's first time on Pirates of the Carribean. It scared her at first (dark) but in the end she enjoyed it and we did it again on our second day.

Cinderella's Royal Table - I had an ADR at 12:15, by 10:45 DD wanted to go home already...I think we overstayed at DTD the night before. We convinced her to stay, we told her then that we were going to see the princesses and she put on her Cinderella dress. We watched the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street party. If your kids like characters and music/dancing, it is pretty fun and interactive. She was dancing in the street with the performers. The lunch was fantastic. DD had her picture taken w/ Cinderella and got her autograph. When we got upstairs and were seated I realized I had the poster of the princesses. We were going to see Aurora, Snow White, Belle and Ariel. Unfortunately Snow White was not on the poster. The poster worked out great. We had it on the table and each princess signed it. Snow White signed the autograph book. When Ariel came by she said, “you should have Cinderella sign this” 2 minutes later a CM came over and said, “I hear you need another autograph from Cinderella”. He told us that she would be there until 1:40 and that we should just ask the CM in the blue shirt when we go down. I ran down w/ DD and the CM had her sign the poster. It really came out nice (despite the folds) and DD will hang it in her room.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2797/5713898332_c88e814812_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/31073717@N08/5713898332/)


We did some more rides and then headed back to the resort. The parade had just finished and we saw the tail end. We walked by Town Square and the wait for Mickey and Minnie was only 5 minutes! We went in and had a great interaction. DD was carrying her Minnie stuffed animal and Mickey came over and gave it a kiss. So cute….great way to end the day at the MK

Animal Kingdom this was our first time at AK. Overall it was great. We got there right after opening and saw the Lion King show first - DD got to participate in the end. It really was very good. We then did some characters at Camp Minnie - Mickey. It started to pour so we had an early lunch. DD loved Kali River Rapids - for some reason the three of us rode in a raft by ourselves. Use a poncho if you want to stay dry! Thank goodness we did b/c about 5 gallons of water landed in my lap.

We also did the Safari and a Bug's Life and looked at some of the animal exhibits. DD was not interested in Everest and we didn't make it over to Dinoland. It was a short day for us, we left around 3 b/c it was hot and DD was tired.

EPCOT we headed straight for the 9:30 MnG w/ Tink and Terrance. We were maybe 8th in line. DH went to get FP for Soarin. Lots of good interaction w/ Tink and Terrance. Terrance asked where DD was going next and she said to see Jasmine. Terrance said, "Can you please ask Jasmine how the magic carpet can fly w/out pixie dust?". Cute.

New rides for us this time - Soarin, Mission Space (non-spinning) - DD loved both. We did Test Track, Nemo and Turtle Talk w/ Crush.

We went to WS to wait for opening b/c Mulan was supposed to appear at 11, but it was postponed til 1, so we wasted some time there just standing around until we found out.

DHS we made it before Rope Drop. We high-tailed it to Toy Story Mania and the FP line was huge! We waited 30 minutes to ride (loved it) and got FP for later on our way out. We then went to Tower of Terror. DD was scared at first (dark and spooky) but enjoyed the ride. The lady behind us was screaming bloody murder during the entire drop sequence.

We saw a ton of characters at the hat...I like how many were doubled up. Tigger and Eeyore, Pooh and Piglet etc....two for one which was different than last year. DD also wanted Disney Jr. autographs and we saw Frozone, Mickey and Mr and Mrs Incredible at the animation building - almost zero wait.

DD also enjoyed Muppets in 3D which was new for us. We skipped Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid as we did those last year and were running out of time.

Final Park Day - Magic Kingdom Part 2
We arrived 20 minutes prior to RD. DH waited w/ DD to watch the opening ceremony. I was by the entrance rope to run over to Rapunzel. I was trying to run but it was so hot/humid already that I thought I might pass out. CMs were asking other guests not to run so I walked briskly....I got there and was about the 10th family in line for the 9:15 MnG. DH went to get FP for Big Thunder Mtn. The kids gather around the table and color as they wait. The CM has them dance around the table holding hands. Rapunzel and Flynn Rider come out and they start the MnG. Each child also gets to have a photo with a stuffed Pascale. DD had a long talk with Rapunzel and asked Flynn Rider what was in his satchel. He opened it for her and the expression on her face was priceless….the crown was in there. He told her she had to keep it a secret. Great MnG and I'm glad we got there early. Many people wait up to 2 hours..it's nuts!

Some smolder for you ladies....BUT please don't quote my pics...I'll delete tomorrow, thanks! Pics deleted...
[/URL][URL="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31073717@N08/5713916687/"] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/31073717@N08/5714477316/)

We did a lot of rides...and the Jack Sparrow Pirate Tutorial, she did get to go on stage although she wasn’t able to sword fight, she did get up there and take the oath and was thrilled. She has a love for Jack for some reason :love-retry:

We had dinner at Chef Mickey's and we had a great experience. Our reservation was flagged as birthday. I had intended to only mark the first meal but the CM put it on all of them when I made the ADRs….our table was right in the entrance to the section so the characters walk by twice or more. She got a lot of kisses and high fives.

We headed back to the MK for the parade. We got there around 8 and Main St was already full….we managed to get to Liberty Square and find a spot there but it was 9:20 before the parade came by. Like I said, the parade brought back so many childhood memories for me. It was great. It was hard to get out of there for Wishes….we were trying to head back towards the castle. It was jammed….thank goodness we went without the stroller. We watched Wishes and headed out.

Character Count: DD met and got autographs from 43 unique characters. In addition she had many duplicates.

[TwinFoxes]

Character Count: DD met and got autographs from 45 unique characters. In addition she had many duplicates.

IMPRESSIvE! Wow. Were there any old school ones your rarely see? Like at DL once I saw the 3 Little Pigs, that was a surprise. :)

Your trip sounds great, I'm glad you had fun. I think we may give BLT a try next. We did BWV and loved it, but I want to try the Contemporary complex.

[alien_host]

IMPRESSIvE! Wow. Were there any old school ones your rarely see? Like at DL once I saw the 3 Little Pigs, that was a surprise. :)

Your trip sounds great, I'm glad you had fun. I think we may give BLT a try next. We did BWV and loved it, but I want to try the Contemporary complex.

I revised my count to 43...I double counted someone. No one really "rare" but lots that we didn't see last time. The White Rabbit was w/ Alice, which was new for us. We saw all princesses...including Pocahontas and Mulan.

We killed a lot of time seeing characters, but that's what she likes so I guess it makes sense.

BLT is great, we love it there and are glad that we have friends that are willing to rent points :)

[liz]

Thanks for posting. Sounds like a great time!

[Twoboos]

Awesome trip report!! Love your character count - I thought we saw a lot, but apparently not!! :) DDs would have gone crazy over Mulan and Pocahontas, I feel like they are the overlooked princesses.

That Rupunzel looks SO much like the DW one we saw - it's eerie. And yes I know that's the point but WOW. I am bummed we didn't meet Flynn, I had the girls all set to ask what's in the bag. You are TOO FUNNY with the smolder... when DD2 imitates that part of the movie, she says, "...here comes... the Schnauzer." Would have loved to have seen him attempt the Schnauzer with us!! :hysterical:

And last but certainly not least, your DD is adorable!

[fivi2]

Adorable pics! It sounds like you guys had a great time. Thanks for the report.

[k_null81]

Sounds like a great trip! Thanks for sharing.

[Raidra]

Thanks for sharing! So jealous you got to see Rapunzel! It looks like you guys had a great time. :)

[alien_host]

Awesome trip report!! Love your character count - I thought we saw a lot, but apparently not!! :) DDs would have gone crazy over Mulan and Pocahontas, I feel like they are the overlooked princesses.

That Rupunzel looks SO much like the DW one we saw - it's eerie. And yes I know that's the point but WOW. I am bummed we didn't meet Flynn, I had the girls all set to ask what's in the bag. You are TOO FUNNY with the smolder... when DD2 imitates that part of the movie, she says, "...here comes... the Schnauzer." Would have loved to have seen him attempt the Schnauzer with us!! :hysterical:

And last but certainly not least, your DD is adorable!

Ok the Schnauzer thing is hilarious....when DD finished DH asked her if she got the smolder...she blushed...although I thought it was a mild smolder ;)

I'm glad we found Pocahontas...both Mulan and Pocahontas were super friendly...DD was Mulan for Halloween so she was discussing that with her.