The "Was it a Perfect trip?" Trip Report (w/pics) Updated 12/1

[momtoccc]

Let me explain the title…. The weekend before we were to leave for WDW I was telling my dh (Rob) that I was nervous that all my planning, expectations, etc… just couldn’t possibly be met and that my perfectionist tendencies would come out and I would be disappointed. He gently reminded me that no trip is ever perfect and that we would still have fun. I asked him to keep me in check if the perfectionist monster started coming out on our trip. So, the running theme of our trip was, “Is it perfect???” :goodvibes

You will have to keep reading to find out if it was or not... :rolleyes1

Meanwhile if you are really interested you can check out the pre-trip report. I really wouldn’t bother – it is a lot of rambling about planning and dreaming and mainly talking to myself about our upcoming trip (mainly because DH didn’t want to hear every detail!)

I will re-introduce the cast though: :thumbsup2

DH – (Rob) Sweetest man there ever was. We’ve been together 5+ years now and we have a beautiful daughter. He has not been to WDW since 1993 when he went with parents and younger siblings. He knew our “princess” would love to meet Sleeping Beauty and Pooh and agreed that we should take this trip. He left all planning details to me – his main contribution was to pick the Wilderness Lodge for our stay.

Me – (Kellye) I’ve been to WDW a few times but not since 2001 with my older sons and ex-husband. I just knew dd would love it all and was very excited to take her. I did all the researching, planning (ok, obsessing) about our trip for the past 6 months. I’ve always wanted to stay at WL so I was thrilled to get the chance!

DD – Camryn (turns 4 in December) is a girly girl if there ever was one. She loves dressing up, playing princess, getting her nails polished, etc… It has been so much fun for me to have a daughter after having 2 boys. (My boys are great but a daughter is so different!) She was most excited about seeing the castle, princesses and Pooh. princess:

More to come!!

[momtoccc]

Day 1: Arrival Day

The day had finally arrived! After months and months of planning, changed ADRs and changed itineraries, our countdown calendar said it was time to go!! I had started packing over the weekend and did last minute things on Halloween night in-between trick-or-treaters. Bags were packed, house was somewhat cleaned, dog was fed and we were off!

We got to airport, dropped off the luggage at curbside (4 bags plus carseat!), got through security and made it to the gate with no problems at all (see, our vacation was already starting off perfectly!) Flight was on-time – we put Camryn in a window seat, me in an aisle and Rob across the aisle which left us more room for all of Camryn’s stuff. Camryn travels with her little pink suitcase which contains markers, coloring books, books to read, stuffed animals, DVDs to watch, and any other random toys she might need for the trip. Hey – anything to keep her occupied is ok with me! My job on the flight is to open and shut the pink suitcase to pull out whatever thing she thinks she needs at the time. :laughing: Actually she spent some time coloring and then watched a DVD on the laptop. She was very good on the flight.

The next part is boring – we got our bags, rented a car (scored a minivan!) and headed off to our off-site hotel for the night. Now – as tempted as I was to start the Disney magic right away – the practical side of me couldn’t see spending an extra $300 or more to stay at WL an extra night when we didn’t get in until late afternoon and would not be going to the parks that day. (This might not have been the best decision – details to come…) :eek:

Anyway, we found our hotel (Comfort Suites East Maingate in Kissimmee), got some bad dinner at some local Italian place (can’t remember the name) and then headed to Downtown Disney! :yay:

[whogirl'smom]

Great start! We stayed at the Comfort Inn LBV our first night since we didn't arrive till after dinner time--it was very exhausting getting up at the crack of dawn the next day to check into Pop in time to get to MK for EMH! Next time we might re-think that! Can't wait to hear about your DD's reaction to her first day there!

[IluvXU]

Sorry your trip is over...but I can't wait to read all about it. Hope that everything was "perfect"!

[momtoccc]

Sorry your trip is over...but I can't wait to read all about it. Hope that everything was "perfect"!

I'm sorry our trip is over too! :sad2:

Great start! We stayed at the Comfort Inn LBV our first night since we didn't arrive till after dinner time--it was very exhausting getting up at the crack of dawn the next day to check into Pop in time to get to MK for EMH! Next time we might re-think that! Can't wait to hear about your DD's reaction to her first day there!

All she wanted to see was the castle - I have a picture of her looking at it for the first time!

I will type up another installment during my lunch break today and post it.

Have a great day!

[Avivasmom]

Sounds like a good start..hope the offsite hotel was not to bad. Cannot wait to read more.

[momtoccc]

Sounds like a good start..hope the offsite hotel was not to bad. Cannot wait to read more.

The offsite hotel was fine for one night. We had a King bed for us and a fold-out couch bed for Camryn. I wouldn't have wanted to stay their our entire trip but it was certainly fine and the price was good ($100).

[momtoccc]

We drove over to DTD, parked in the Marketplace area and headed out. Now it felt like our Disney vacation was starting! I had 3 objectives: 1) get some matching t-shirts, 2) get an autograph book for Camryn, and 3) get some Christmas ornaments. I wasn’t sure we would be back to DTD during our trip so I wanted to get this done tonight.

We came in by McDonalds and the Lego store. First stop was the (you guessed it…) the slide! We let Camryn run off some steam (after sitting most of the day).

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She also played some legos with her Daddy. We skipped the Lego store and headed for THE store, the one and only World of Disney.

Camryn with Sleeping Beauty (her favorite)
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Immediately Camryn started seeing all things princess and found many things she just had to have. I was beginning to see how this shopping might be a problem.. Luckily Rob came up with a great plan. She would get one special treat a day IF she was not whiney, took her naps and behaved like she was supposed to. This solved our problem of wanting a souvenir every time she saw something. Also – she had to decide what thing she wanted most each day and that would be it!

So… she picked out a Sleeping Beauty doll set with several little dresses and pieces (but NOT the scary witch Malificent – more on that later). I found matching shirts for us all, another shirt for me, a photo album for all my pics, and the princess autograph book for Camryn. I think some princess Jibbitz made their way in our purchase as well… :rolleyes1

We headed to Christmas store and found some ornaments (Sleeping Beauty, ballerina Minnie and a Mickey). While I stood in the incredibly slow line (not getting upset though… we were in Disney!!), Rob and Camryn checked out the Pooh store. Somehow her limit of one toy a day didn’t apply and she came out with Rabbit and Owl to add to her pooh stuffed animal collection. She has the small stuffed animals and I guess they don’t make the same size/kind anymore. These are a little bigger than the ones she has now. (Actually, I don’t think we came up with the 1 toy per day rule until the next day)

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Next stop……. Ice Cream at Ghiradelli!! YUMMMMM!! I haven’t had a good ice cream sundae in ages… so good! We headed back out with another stop at the slide. Back to the hotel so we could get a good night sleep. WL and MK coming the next day!! :banana:

Would we be able to get into our room early? Did Camryn like MK? Was she scared of Pooh??

[momtoccc]

Rob and I didn’t get to sleep too early (still on Mountain time) and I figured this would happen. I had planned for us to wake up whenever, eat continental breakfast at hotel, pack up and head over to WL to check in and get park tickets. I think Camryn and I were just too excited so we woke up earlier than I thought. I took her down to eat breakfast and let Rob sleep some more. However when we got back to the room he was already up and showered so we got out of there earlier than I thought we would. I think we were at WL by 10am. Check in was easy but the room was not ready yet (bummer). We just kept all our luggage in the car and took bus over to MK.

Camryn was so excited – she just kept bouncing up and down! :yay: I was so excited too… would she like it? Would she feel the magic? We had our own stroller so we wheeled her in, rounded the corner and looked up Main Street. There it was! There was Cinderella’s castle!

Here she is looking at it for the first time.

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Rob pushing Camryn up to castle
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We headed up Main Street and they were doing the show in front of the castle. Rob put Camryn on his shoulders so she could see. They were enjoying the show when all of the sudden Camryn wanted down – NOW! What happened??? Maleficent appeared on the stage and Camryn did NOT want to look at her. She got down and hid her eyes for a few minutes. Once Maleficent was gone she watched the rest of the show. This further reinforced my belief that she would not be doing PoTC or HM this trip!

So.. where should we go first? Well… Camryn decided she was hungry (it was 11am) and I decided I could use a snack as well since the continental breakfast wasn’t too much and I wasn’t going to last until our 3:50 ADR at Crystal Palace. Time to try the DDP! Thanks to all my DISboard reading, we headed to CHH. Since we didn’t want a large meal to spoil our dinner we opted to just split 1 CS credit on chicken strips, fries and apple dessert. This was just what we needed! Now we were ready to do some rides!! :banana:

[KimAshton]

awwwww camyrn is so adorable. Cannot wait to read more.

[momtoccc]

awwwww camyrn is so adorable. Cannot wait to read more.

Thanks for reading!!

[momtoccc]

Day 2: Afternoon at MK

So.. what should the first ride for our princess be? We walked into FantasyLand and checked things out. First order of business was a FP for Peter Pan. (I think stand-by time was about 30min). We turned around and there it was… It’s a Small World – perfect! Camryn wasn’t too sure since she couldn’t really see it but once she got going it was fine. She even got the song stuck in her head because I heard her humming it later :rotfl:

Next we did Carousel and then Mickey’s Philharmonic. This was new for me and I loved it! It was so fun to hear Camryn laughing through it. She wasn’t sure about wearing the glasses but she did. Very cute! By now it was time for Peter Pan so we all rode on that together. So far, so good. She was not having any problems with any of the rides. We headed for Pooh and got FP. We saw Pooh and Tigger out for character meeting and briefly got in line. The line was long and we were going to see Pooh and Tigger for dinner so I convinced Rob and Camryn to bail out of the line. While waiting for FP time Camryn played in Pooh’s thoughtful spot and we then we went to ride the teacups. Camryn loves this ride! She didn’t like it when Daddy spun us too hard though! :scared1:

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Teacup Ride
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It was time to visit Pooh so we rode that… no Lumpy though. Camryn loves Pooh Heffalump movie and the Tigger & Pooh show on Disney channel.

Camryn was getting tired so we called WL to see if our room was ready – no dice. Hmmm… what are we going to do?? :confused3

[momtoccc]

Now Camryn was needing a nap and our room wasn't ready.....
She hadn’t ridden in our umbrella stroller much before the trip. I didn’t realize she was too tall to recline back and rest her head very well. (Her head was over the top of the chair). I knew if she could get comfortable she would fall asleep in the stroller. I had read that TTA is a good naptime ride so we decided to try that. We told her to lie down and close her eyes which was fine until we went into the dark areas (Space Mtn) and she couldn’t see us! We rode twice without getting off – she was getting relaxed and probably would have fallen asleep eventually but Rob and I decided there was no way we could sit on that ride for an hour and listen to the same spiel over and over. :eek: We decided to put her back in the stroller and try walking around.

Since we were still waiting to get into our room and give Camryn a nap, we walked over to Crystal Palace to see if we could get a later ADR. Rob walked Camryn while I got in line. Nope, we can’t change it… now what?? By this time Camryn did fall asleep in the stroller so we parked in a quiet spot on the bridge to Adventureland. Rob went to get a snack (Funnel cake and lemonade). I totally blew it and forgot to mention a Dole Whip to him (we were close by). Oh well… we had a short rest and let Camryn sleep. She woke up shortly before 3pm so that meant Parade time!! We found a good spot at top of Main Street and Camryn went out in the street to play red light/green light with CMs and other kids

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Now what is it with this girl and putting her hands in the back of her pants?? This is something new she started doing recently.... :confused:

A few parade Pics...
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Parade was fun and it gave Camryn a chance to see more characters. Of course she hid when the villain float passed by.

Did I mention the weather??? It was like a switch came on… the clouds were gone, the humidity was down and the temps were around 80. Gorgeous!!! We were so lucky! We never saw another cloud until the day we left. We wore shorts and short sleeve shirts during the day and light jacket and pants in the evenings. But then, since this was our perfect trip, it couldn’t have been anything else, right???? :cool2:

[snowwhite325]

I love your TR...it is getting me excited for my upcoming trip!!

[momtoccc]

I love your TR...it is getting me excited for my upcoming trip!!

I'm sure you are going to have a great time! I hope the great weather we had holds up for you!

[momtoccc]

By now we were hungry and it was almost time for ADR. I did the check-in and we were called within 5-10 minutes. Camryn was beyond herself with excitement. “Look there’s Pooh”, “There’s Tigger!”.. We were seated on the outer ring and immediately, Tigger, Eyeore and Piglet came to see us. Camryn ran up to each one of them and gave them big hugs. She told Piglet that really likes him because pink is her favorite color!

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After that excitement we started on the buffet. Everything here was really good! Pooh made his way to us and shortly after that was the marching parade. Camryn got up and went which I wasn’t sure if she would or not. For all audience participation activities she would go up and do them but hang back a little bit. Usually a CM would help bring her up and get her involved.

Speaking of CMs, we met some really great ones from the gift stores to photo pass photographers to ride operators. Most of them would call Camryn a princess (which she loved), she was given extra stickers and attention which was really nice. :wizard:

After dinner we finally got into our room at WL – 6th floor overlooking the pool, close to elevators – perfect! :thumbsup2

Views from our room:

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Would you believe there is still more to this day? We haven't even started MNSSHP yet!!!

Stay tuned for more... popcorn::

[blue_eyes5212]

Looking forward to more!!! Did you take any pictures of the inside of the room?? I'm still undecided as to where we are going to stay next trip!

[IluvXU]

So enjoying it. The Crystal Palace is such a great place to dine. Your WL room view is great, almost a mirror of ours. Can't wait for more.

[momtoccc]

Looking forward to more!!! Did you take any pictures of the inside of the room?? I'm still undecided as to where we are going to stay next trip!

I do have a few pics of inside with the towel animal creations mousekeeping left for us. I will post them soon! I loved the WL. I've also stayed at POly, Boardwalk and POR. They have all been great.

So enjoying it. The Crystal Palace is such a great place to dine. Your WL room view is great, almost a mirror of ours. Can't wait for more.

Thanks! Camryn loved playing on that same bridge your daughters played on. One of her new favorite things to do was to toss pennies in the fountains.

I will try to do more tomorrow!

[momtoccc]

We tried unsuccessfully to get Camryn to nap more (I guess the stroller nap was enough for her) We relaxed on the balcony with drinks and cards while she rested. Finally we gave up on the nap, got her in her Cinderella costume and headed to MK.

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WOW! MK looked great! Main street looked so cool with the lights and flying ghosts. We walked up main street and headed to TomorrowLand. We tried for Monsters Inc but it wasn’t open so we headed to Buzz. It was neat to see people dressed up – you could tell it was a real party atmosphere. We had decided to skip the parade since I was worried Camryn wouldn’t like it. We rode Buzz (fun!) and then Rob and I did rider switch for Space Mountain. Space Mtn will always be one of my favorite rides. While Rob was riding, Camryn and I hit the candy handouts that were close by. :woohoo:

Next we headed to Toontown. We rode Goofy’s Barnstormer – this was Camryn’s first roller coaster and she had been talking about riding a roller coaster for months. I think she was a little nervous but she loved it.

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We weren’t sure what to do next but what we decided to do ended up being Camryn’s favorite thing of the whole trip… What was it??? :rolleyes1

[momtoccc]

Just thought I would share that I booked Rob and I for 3 night trip in late April 2008 at POFQ. I have to be in Orlando for company meeting for a few days. Rob is going to fly out and meet me and we will have a few days to ourselves. Now we are quickly trying to decide where to book ADRs. We are looking for "grown-up" places - maybe even Victoria & Alberts!! :cool1:

So.. I started another countdown ticker... 5+ months to go!

[wvgoofyfan]

Love your Trip Report and love the pictures! Hope you get into your room soon! and its a great room! Hope you enjoyed the meal with Pooh, one of my faves, breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Please update soon!

[momtoccc]

Love your Trip Report and love the pictures! Hope you get into your room soon! and its a great room! Hope you enjoyed the meal with Pooh, one of my faves, breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Please update soon!

I think you must of missed the second page - lol.. It was a great room in a great location - close to elevators and easy to get to lobby or to boat launch.

I see you are going to MVMCP soon - I would like to try that in a few years!

[momtoccc]

It was actually kind of an accident that we stumbled into the Character connection building. I had heard the princesses were somewhere in ToonTown but really didn’t know where. We walked in and asked and sure enough Cinderella with Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty with Prince Phillip were both there! Score! :woohoo: We had to wait in line for a little bit (line wasn’t moving) so we weren’t sure what was going on (I think they were on a break). Camryn was just starstruck! She walked up to each of them and got them to sign her book. She even did a ballet move for Sleeping Beauty. She wouldn’t talk much though. However, since we’ve been home this has been her favorite thing to talk about. We never made it back to see any more princesses during our trip so I’m SO thankful we found this and did it. It made my princess’s trip! :cloud9:

Here are a few pics…
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After the princess love-fest we decided to see Minnie Mouse. This was a fairly long line but we persevered. The fireworks started while we were in line so we were able to see some of them. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of this… Next we headed down the Alice in Wonderland candy path for some more candy. The fireworks were going off all around us – so cool! We made it back to Tomorrowland and decided to try Monsters Inc again. We were just hitting the crowd leaving Main street from fireworks but managed to get in the next show. At this point Camryn was getting tired (falling asleep in her daddy’s arms). We made it through the show and then figured it was time to go (it was late – probably 11:15 or so)

I took this picture when we got off the boat at WL.

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It was a great day and the party was fun. A perfect start to our trip!

Day 3 coming...

[momtoccc]

I figured we would sleep in after our late night. We did some, but not as much as I thought we would. Actually, I didn’t sleep that well because my hip was hurting. I have Rheumatoid arthritis that is mostly under control with my medicine. Problem was that I was going to take my shot before we left for our trip and I forgot to do it. :headache: I was really worried that my RA was going to get worse during the trip even though I was still within the window of my medicine. I took a lot of Advil during the week and my hip was better after another day.

We weren’t in any hurry so we had breakfast at Roaring Forks, gathered our stuff and drove over to Epcot. Since we had our rental car, we drove to all the parks (except MK). I know some people like using the Disney Transportation. I like having the car and coming and going when I want. It may mean a little more walking but we figured that was ok (considering all the food we were eating!)

I have to interrupt and talk about the crocs. I did finally buy a pair over the summer for this trip. I was a little skeptical about them but they really were wonderful! My feet never hurt at all and even my legs didn’t hurt that bad. I wore tennis shoes at night because I was worried that my feet would get cold. That was the only time my feet hurt a little bit. I should have just worn socks with my crocs.

Ok.. back to the trip… we went to Epcot and headed straight for Soarin FP. We were there around 10 or so and return time was around noon. We backtracked to Nemo ride – cute and perfect for our dd. I haven’t seen this ride since 2001. I missed seeing more of the live fish but the Nemo stuff was cute. We walked right into Turtle Talk and I must admit – this is pretty cool. Camryn sat up front with the kids which was fine, but we ended up sitting on the opposite side. When the show was over she couldn’t find us and Rob couldn’t get over to her quick enough. It caused a few anxious tears but she was ok. :hug:

Here are a few pics outside Nemo

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[momtoccc]

Next we did the Journey into Imagination ride with Figament. I don’t remember what was there before but this ride is pretty lame. Surely they could do better than this. We did have fun playing in the imagination area afterwards for a little bit.

Finally it was time for Soarin. I’ve read over and over on these boards about how great this ride is and I was really looking forward to trying it. I was also wondering if Camryn was going to have any problems with the 40” height requirement. I had measured her a few weeks before at home without shoes and she was 40”. I figured with shoes she would be fine but you never know… :confused3

So.. we went down the crowded path dodging several ECVs, down the stairs and up to the FastPass return line. Rob was holding Camryn so the CM asked him to put her down so she could be measured. I held my breath as she walked over……..

Did she make it??????

[momtoccc]

Ok...I'm confused... I have 730 views but only a few replies?? :confused3

I will keep up with the report if only to amuse myself. If you are lurking - please let me know. :thumbsup2

Thanks for reading! I will try to do another installment tonight after Camryn goes to bed.

[cshaffer21]

Enjoying the report and waiting for more!!

[LovableGluttons]

Beautiful pictures, great report!

Keep going! You're doing fantastic!

Ignore the views.:cheer2:

[ursula28]

Just found your report. Enjoying your photos and writing. Waiting for next installment!popcorn::

[mommyofthreeboys]

Lurking.....

[IluvXU]

You are quick- loving it so far. I got behind... we had some stitches at our house last night

[momtoccc]

Enjoying the report and waiting for more!!

Thanks for posting! :)

Beautiful pictures, great report!

Keep going! You're doing fantastic!

Ignore the views.:cheer2:

I will try - it just didn't make sense to me. :confused:

Just found your report. Enjoying your photos and writing. Waiting for next installment!popcorn::

Working on the next one right now!

[momtoccc]

Lurking.....

I just knew there were some lurkers! :rotfl:

You are quick- loving it so far. I got behind... we had some stitches at our house last night

Uh oh - who got the stitches??? Hope everyone is ok! :hug:

[momtoccc]

Camryn walked over and Boink! She hit her head on the top of the measuring stick – no problem at all! YIPPEE! :banana: We went down the line, waited a few minutes, walked in to little line-up rooms. I could tell we were going to be in the second row the way they lined us up. I didn’t realize how many people went on one ride. In my head I had imagined that it was much smaller. We strapped ourselves in and then lift-off! WOW! It was so cool! I almost got light-headed from the height and had to remind myself not to look down. I kept my hand on Camryn and was watching her reaction through part of it. She was grinning and seemed fine with it all. Afterwards she said she really liked the “flying ride”. I was real sorry we did not get another ride on this trip (another reason to go back in April) :woohoo:

After this we were on the hunt for a princess hat. Camryn had seen on at MK the day before and wanted this to be her treat for the day. Unfortunately the one she wanted was really too big for her head. We found another one that lights up which fit her better (we didn’t realize it had lights until the CM checked the batteries for us). Our princess was happy with her hat so we decided to check out Mission Space and/or Test track. The test track FP return time was too late (we weren’t staying all day) but Green side Mission Space only had a 10 min wait so I did that while Rob played with Camryn. We go the rider switch pass and Rob was actually able to use this for the orange side which was nice. This ride was also new for us. I liked the green side but I think I would like to try the orange side next. Camryn played in the kids area while we did this.

At this point, we had accomplished all I really had planned so we headed back to the hotel for swim and nap. This became our afternoon ritual. Go down and swim for an hour or so (DH and I taking turns soaking in the hot tub – ahhh!) That felt so good! The pool area at WL was really nice and the water was warm. There were lots of people but it never felt over-crowded. Did I mention how great the hot tubs were?? Then we would go back up and let Camryn nap while we sat on the balcony playing cards and sipping wine (me) and mixed drink (Rob).

Oops – let me back-track. We ate lunch at Roaring Forks and while we were eating (just before 2pm) a nice CM came by and said they were setting up the cookie decorating so kids could go decorate a cookie. Well, that was great incentive for Camryn to finish her lunch. The CM was great and gave Camryn a Magical Moments certificate. Her she is with her creation.

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This was a quiet evening – dinner at Kona Café at 8pm and then we went back to WL to see the Electric Light Parade at 9:35. We sat on the beach and watched the cute lights and just enjoyed the moment. We were having so much fun together as a family. Another perfect day! :goodvibes

[momtoccc]

Oops..

Forgot to post the picture of what Mousekeeping did with Camryn’s animals. She made a boat out of a towel and put all her animals in and then use 2 pens for oars. So cute!

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[mt mommy]

Looks like so much fun!!! Can't wait to hear more.

[momtoccc]

Looks like so much fun!!! Can't wait to hear more.


It really was a lot of fun! WOW - you just got back from Maui! That is one place I've always wanted to go. Did you like it?

[momtoccc]

Day 4: Animal Kingdom

This was Sunday morning after the clocks changed. With the extra hour of sleep we were all up early. I was glad because I really wanted to get to AK by rope drop. However, I think everyone else did the same thing and there was a crowd just to get through the turnstiles! :eek:

We had skipped breakfast at WL (too busy) figuring we would just get a coffee/pastry at the park. We found one on our way to DinoLand and got re-fueled. We were headed straight for TriceraTop Spin but wait – Winnie the Pooh was out! We had already seen Pooh but Camryn wanted to give him a hug. So we stopped and got a few pictures. The photopass ones are good (I just ordered my CD last night!) We waved good-bye to Pooh and reached Triceratops spin – no wait!! We all rode together the first time.

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Then I took Camryn again while Rob rode PrimevalWhirl. Then I rode this ride while they did some games in DinoLand and won a stuffed frog and dinosaur (like we need any more stuffed animals!!) Rob and I both decided PrimevalWhirl was not that exciting. I’m sure Camryn would have liked it if she had been tall enough. While I was riding, Rob headed over to Finding Nemo show to get in line. Everyone says you have to get in line at LEAST 30 min early – this show (10:00am) was not full and you can easily walk up with 5 minutes to spare.

This was a really great show – Camryn sat through it just fine without fidgeting or anything. Makes me think we can try taking her to a movie again (we tried once about a year ago and only lasted 10 min!)

Next on the agenda (plan, itinerary, whatever..) was to go to Safari and get FP. So we made the long trek over to grab the FP. The return times were much later than I anticipated (around 2pm).. Now what are we going to do???? :confused:

[momtoccc]

Camryn was hungry (bagel didn’t go too far) and Rob and I could both use a snack so even though it was early (11am) we headed to Pizzafari. AK seemed more crowded than any of the other parks we had visited. I really think it is just the bad layout of AK. You end up at dead-ends (Safari) and the paths are narrow (especially compared to Epcot) so it is just hard to get around. After we ate we did the Pangani Forest trail. Camryn stopped and did a Kid station with a nice CM and a few other kids. We still had time before Safari FP so rode the train to Rafiki Planet Watch. There wasn’t much here at all except for photo ops with Pocahontis, Jimney Cricket and Rafiki. We rode the boring train back (you think they could give us something nice to look at??) and decided to go to the Maharajah Jungle path to see the Tigers. We saw a small glimpse of one sleeping…

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We headed back to Africa (finally getting close to Safari FP time). Camryn says she’s tired and sits in the stroller. By the time we reach Africa she is asleep – now what are we going to do??? Our last stroller nap didn’t last too long but we figured if we went back to the car she would wake up and nap time would be ruined and messed up for the day. So.. Rob and I took turns riding Safari while Camryn napped in the stroller. She ended up napping for 1 ½ hours which worked out just great. We decided we’d had enough of AK so we headed back to WL for a nice swim and rest. :cool2:

[momtoccc]

Day 4: EMH at MK

We had 6pm ADR at WCC so we moseyed our way down, ate some good chow, rode some pony sticks, yelled for ketchup and sang a few silly songs. My original plan for after dinner was the evening EMH at MK with the option of going to Epcot to see Illuminations. It was a nice cool evening so we thought we would try MK (I was nervous that it was going to be crowded). We got there right when first SpectroMagic parade was ending (must have been about 8:20 or so). We were following the back of the parade down main street (SpectroMagic parade goes backwards) then we veered off to AdventureLand via walkway to Crystal Palace. First up, Aladdin’s Carpet Ride – no wait! Next up, Jungle Cruise – no wait! Are you seeing a trend here?? It was EMPTY!! Not sure if the crowd was still watching the parade or what, but this was great! We headed over to PoTC so Rob and I could take turns going (wasn’t going to scare Camryn with this). New Johnny Depp stuff was great! Camryn and I watched Wishes from where we were – not the best but you could just barely hear the music and could definitely see them! Next trip one of my goals is to stand in front of castle and see the entire Wishes show with music, flying Tinkerbell, and everything…

After PoTC, we headed to Splash Mountain. I really didn’t want to get too wet but I wanted to ride and Camryn really wanted to ride it too. So off we went – (no wait). In fact we were the only ones in our log (me in front) and Rob and Camryn behind me. I got drenched!! But it was so much fun. Camryn LOVED this ride! Next stop – BTMRR! But wait! It was down for technical difficulties – bummer! So we pressed on… Haunted Mansion was next – again Rob and I took turns. Camryn was great about having us go on rides without her. She knew we were not taking her on things that might be scary. By this time, the second SpectroMagic show was coming back around so we could see it in the distance.

Next on our princess’s wish list was Dumbo – so I headed off to do that while Rob did HM. Camryn and I were flying with Dumbo when Rob caught up to us. While flying I noticed the Dumbo on the ground for photos so we went over there. Just after taking this picture…

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Rob noticed Donald Duck standing all by himself! We ran over and got picture and autograph – cool! Camryn wanted to ride the carousel next so Rob took her on that (I was supposed to take pictures). Rob motioned that Goofy was over there so I stood in line for the Goof and when Rob and Camryn got off we met Goofy.

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I didn’t realize the characters would be out for EMH – what a great bonus!! We saw Pluto and were in line for Minnie & Mickey but they headed off for a break. We decided to try Peter Pan and/or Small World and just at this time Camryn started to get whiney… uh oh.. I knew that meant we were reaching the end (it was 11:30!) We rode Small World and while Rob and I tried to identify all the countries – Camryn lay down and started to fall asleep. It was definitely time to call it a night.

We strolled down Main Street, hopped on the WL boat (which we never had to wait more than 5 minutes for) and went back to our “home”. It was a great night and Rob and I could NOT believe how much we got done is 3 hours – WOW! I’m so glad we took the chance and went. Rob asked me as we were walking back to our room if our trip was perfect so far. I said of course it was… we were together, we were in Disney, and we were having an awesome time!! :cloud9:

[dismom9761]

Sorry I am so late finding your report.:hug: Be back tomorrow to read everything I have missed...

[momtoccc]

Sorry I am so late finding your report.:hug: Be back tomorrow to read everything I have missed...

That's ok.. I know you've been busy...

[IluvXU]

What a wonderful trip so far! Thanks for sharing... it makes me really miss the WL- we had so much fun there!

[momtoccc]

What a wonderful trip so far! Thanks for sharing... it makes me really miss the WL- we had so much fun there!

I miss it too! :sad1:

Didn't get time for an update tonight - will try tomorrow night.

[momtoccc]

Since we had a late night – it was a sleep-in day which of course Rob and Camryn did but I still woke up a little early. I was able to shower and sneak out for some cereal. We had a 10:45 ADR for Hollywood & Vine breakfast with Playhouse Disney but figured we would need a small snack to get us going. We drove over to MGM and arrived just in time for our ADR. This was probably the hardest morning to get everyone going…

The H&V breakfast really wasn’t that great (maybe because we were at the end of it?). The characters were fine but we paid for this OOP and I don’t think it was really worth it. Ah well… live and learn… (I had actually tried to get this changed to Princess meal at Norway but couldn’t get in)

Here are a few pics
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During breakfast we were discussing the plans for the day and looking at the map. I made the mistake of telling Camryn about the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. :headache: She was ready to go play on the slides… We had 45 min before next Playhouse Disney show so we boogied over there and let her play for about 30 min. I think all kids really love this area. I remember my boys spending lots of time playing here when they were 3 and 5. We had to pull her away with the promise of Pooh in order to make the noon show (which we just barely did). This show was right up her alley – dancing and clapping! If you have young ones then this show is a must – especially after they update early next year.

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I wanted to make the 1:45 show of Beauty and the Beast so we headed by RnR and ToT to see if Rob and I could get that done. We got FP for RnR and we took turns using Rider Switch on ToT and got through very quickly! Great ride! Camryn started a game called Sleeping Beauty while she was taking turns waiting with us. She would be sleeping Beauty and Rob or I would slay the dragon and wake her up with a kiss… we did this over and over the last few days… she has quite the imagination!

Next was Beauty and the Beast – I loved how they condense the full movie into 25 min! We all loved the show – it is really very well done! Again it was perfect timing because our FP for RnR was up! I went first (Rob and Camryn played Sleeping Beauty) and then he went. Camryn and I decided we needed a snack while Rob rode so we got 2 scoops of ice cream (1 for me and 1 for her for 1 snack credit!). Rob liked the ride so much so when he didn’t see us by the exit he went through the single rider line and rode it again. The single rider line was actually faster than the FP return so told me to go ride it again (which I did!!!) LOVE IT! :yay:

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The only thing left we really wanted to do was the Voyage of the Little Mermaid but since MGM had EMH that night we told Camryn we would come back after dinner and do it. I really wanted her to have a decent nap in her bed so we headed back to WL.

[momtoccc]

Here is what Mousekeeping did with Camryn’s animals today:

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We had dinner ADR at Spoodles. Somehow I had it in my head that the ADR was for 7pm. We got there and they said it was for 7:30pm. Uh oh… we had to sit for a little bit (10 min?) but then we got in. We both enjoyed our dinner here and I tried a glass of the Sangria. :rolleyes:

We headed back to MGM with the hopes of maybe seeing more characters, doing Little Mermaid and whatever else we felt like. We did Little Mermaid first – now after seeing Beauty and the Beast and Nemo this was a let-down. I remember when it was new and it seemed so exciting.

We headed out looking for characters around the Sorcerer’s hat but couldn’t find any. Rob went and did the movie ride which took forever! Ok, maybe it just seemed like that when trying to keep a 3yo entertained. We looked at all the foot prints, wandered around, went to the bathroom, still no Rob. I couldn’t believe it took so long (he said the ride was real long which I didn’t remember).

Since we really weren’t up for another late night we headed back to WL. Of course every trip through the WL lobby required a stop at the bridge to see the fountain (spring?). Camryn noticed all the pennies people were tossing so this became another thing she wanted to do any time we passed a fountain. (I think this started at Epcot on Day 3). We tossed some pennies, made some wishes and headed to bed happy with another fun day at Disney! :wizard:

[wvgoofyfan]

Wow, still here! Just got caught up with all the adventures...what a great time and the pictures are just great! What kind of camera do you have. My canon does not do the night pictures the same justice that your camera does.

Loving your trip report! So far, a perfect trip in my humble opinion.........

[momtoccc]

Wow, still here! Just got caught up with all the adventures...what a great time and the pictures are just great! What kind of camera do you have. My canon does not do the night pictures the same justice that your camera does.

Loving your trip report! So far, a perfect trip in my humble opinion.........


Thanks so much! My camera is nothing fancy - I think it is an HP digital camera my husband got for me 3 years ago.

Only 9 more days for you!! :banana: Are you packing yet???

I guess I need to do an update tonight :rolleyes1

[momtoccc]

This was our full day :sad2: . We wanted to go back to MK and see if would find some more princesses (Camryn really wanted to tell Sleeping Beauty that she was her favorite), ride Splash Mountain again, ride BTMRR since that was the one ride we really wanted to do that we hadn’t done yet. Camryn had also decided that her treat for this day was to get her face painted. She saw this at Epcot and wanted to get it done. We were trying to get there early but things always take longer than you think. We got to MK not too long after 9:00 but had planned to eat at MK bakery (along with MANY other people). Since I didn’t know what other quick breakfast choices we had at MK we got in line. The line actually moved pretty fast plus I had an ulterior motive... I wanted to try the French Toast Bread I had read so much about. YUMMM!! It was good. So, by the time we finished it was 10:00. I knew ToonTown opened at 10 so we rushed over there to see about seeing some princesses. I think we were 10 minutes too late because the line was already close to an hour – we weren’t going to do that… so we rode flew with Goofy again and then got Camryn’s face painted. Guess what she picked?? Come on! I bet you have NO IDEA!!

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Ok… it was a princess - here are a few pics… :rotfl:

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Since we weren’t in the mood to stand in line for princesses …now what??? :confused:

[momtoccc]

The other “must-dos” for today were Splash and BTMRR on the other side of the park. Hey – we haven’t ridden the train yet – perfect. We can take a ride on the train and get off right by Splash! So we hopped right on and choo-ed choo-ed our way over. We checked out the FP and stand-by times for both rides. BTMRR was longer so Rob and Camryn went on Splash (I decided to stay dry - my excuse was that I would take a picture of them :rolleyes1 ) . I ran over and got FP for BTMRR for all of us.

Ok.. I stood at the bridge looking for them. I did get a picture of them coming around (darn wall got in the way – maybe it is because I’m so short :confused3 ) . I did not get them coming down the big drop – don’t know what happened…plus I was dodging the squirting water.

You can see Rob and the top of Camryn's head in this pic
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I didn’t realize until later that there was better spot to get a picture (the lower path?)

Camryn loved Splash again – she didn’t get too wet because her Daddy covered her up. Next up, BTMRR!! Rob and I told her it was just a bigger version of Goofy but she wasn’t in the mood. Oh well… Rob and I took turns again (riding ride and playing Sleeping Beauty). I took this picture while we were waiting for Rob. I love this picture - I just wish it wasn't blurry!

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So as we were leaving FrontierLand I told Rob that I had not had my traditional WDW churro yet when lo and behold – there was the churro stand! Got my fix and shared some with Camryn. I think I have another churro fan in the family. :woohoo:

After this we headed back to FantasyLand – WOW! When did it get crowded?? I got FP for PeterPan – return time around 1pm?. Ariel’s grotto – 1 hour! Pooh – 40 minutes. We had been so spoiled during our trip that we just couldn’t fathom waiting that long. The tea cups only said 20 min so we went on that (wait was probably closer to 5-10 min). We decided to bail out of MK since we really wanted to get to Epcot around 4pm. Rob and I wanted check out F&W and walk through World Showcase before our 7:40 ADR at Coral Reef AND we wanted Camryn to nap before we went. So we said good-bye to MK! But not before stopping and taking a few pictures on our way out. I gave away our PeterPan FPs and we also stopped at the photo place to get our free 5x7 picture that was part of our package.

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[wvgoofyfan]

Thanks so much! My camera is nothing fancy - I think it is an HP digital camera my husband got for me 3 years ago.

Only 9 more days for you!! :banana: Are you packing yet???

I guess I need to do an update tonight :rolleyes1

Packing, lol, my suitcases have been sitting in the bedroom for a month and I have packed all my summer clothes. It's warmer things and all the other hoopla that I haven't even got to yet. Gotta get thru Turkey Day!

Happy Turkey Dinner, Turkey Soup, Turkey Potpie, Turkey Sandwiches to all!

[momtoccc]

I got my PhotoPass CD today. Here are some of the our pics.

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[momtoccc]

Here are a few more...

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[IluvXU]

What great photopass pics. I love the Minnie one all dressed up and the princess pictures. Thanks for sharing! Happy Thanksgiving!

[kelliebelly]

I am in the single digits for our very first visit and your report is making me SO excited! And your pictures are amazing, both the ones you took and the photopass ones!

[momtoccc]

What great photopass pics. I love the Minnie one all dressed up and the princess pictures. Thanks for sharing! Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you to! Hope Hannah is doing ok with the stitches! Funny how she asked her Daddy for another Disney trip :rotfl:

I am in the single digits for our very first visit and your report is making me SO excited! And your pictures are amazing, both the ones you took and the photopass ones!

You are going to have a great time! Are you going to do a trip report?

[IluvXU]

Wondering how it ends..... popcorn::

[momtoccc]

:confused: I never finished this did I???


We ate a quick lunch at Roaring Forks (yummy grilled chicken salad for me). Luckily for us – Camryn did take a good nap. I ran down to gift store and looked around. We wanted to take a few little things back to the kids at Camryn’s sitter plus something for the sitter. Isn’t just so tempting to buy everything at all the stores while in WDW??

Anyway, we loaded up and headed out to Epcot by 4. We realized we had not done Test Track (Rob has never done it) so we headed there first. The FPs were all gone for the day. The single rider line was 20min so Rob went first. Again, Camryn was tall enough and we tried to get her to go but she didn’t want to. Actually this worked to our favor because we would have had to go in regular line which was 40 min wait. I got a rider switch pass after Rob went through. I think the single rider and the FP were about the same length of time. They were not running the pre-show for whatever reason. Did they stop doing this?? Anyway, while I was riding, Rob and Camryn found all the cars at the exit… Camryn picked a few she liked…

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We then headed to World Showcase. Now I’ve been to WDW a few times but haven’t really gone through the World Showcase in a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever ridden the Mexico boat ride or Maelstrom. We stopped at Mexico first and walked on …the Donald ride was cute – nothing great but good for Camryn to ride something. Next it was on to Norway. The crowd outside Askersus was pretty big. We stood in line about 15 min or so to ride Maelstrom. It was ok also – the backward part was pretty neat. I saw the Norway bakery and thought about the school bread but we wanted to use up some of our last snack credits at F&W booths so I skipped it.

We wandered around the world and stopped at a few booths. I know we sampled pork pot stickers, curry butternut squash soup, wine, lasagna and pizza (something for Camryn). Rob got a beer somewhere along the way. Can’t remember if we tried anything else or not. When we got around to the bandstand area Chubby Checker was singing. Camryn enjoyed dancing in the street to the beat. We didn’t have time to go into any of the pavilions – this is what I intend to spend an entire day doing when Rob and I go back in April. We basically rushed through the last part to get to Coral Reef by 7:40. I had heard that Coral Reef typically runs late so I wasn’t too worried if we were a little late but we made it and they actually sat us within 5 minutes or so.

Now our experience here was just ok.. we were on the top level so the fish didn’t entertain Camryn like I thought they would. My steak was not cooked enough (I ordered med rare and got rare). Rob didn’t like his dish. The only bright spot was the chocolate wave – yummo! It was kind of a bummer to end our vacation on a down note. :sad2:

Anyway, we still needed to get something for Camryn’s friends at the sitters so we caught a glimpse of Illuminations and tossed some pennies on our way over and had fun picking out some stuff in MouseGears. That was our last night – I really wanted to see Illuminations but our late dinner time didn’t allow for that. I think we were all tired at this point (my legs sure were!).

Walking out I was sad that our fun vacation was over. We had such a great time together that I hated to see it end. I will come back and give my summary and closing thoughts.