Just back...a few heads up

[cantwait101]

So we came home from a great vacation form WDW on Sunday. What a great time! Everyone was super nice and helpful...I really can not say enough about how awesome everyone was.
BBB a must do for little girls and boy's. My son (5) did the knight package...LOVED IT!
Expedition Everest (did it twice) walked on the first time also did fast pass so we could go later in the day. On the way up the mountain in the seat, it slips backwards and abruptly catches itself just enough to snap your back (or neck). I was not expecting this, it did crack my back...but it felt better afterwards
Dinosaur at AK is SUPER bumpy, I felt more like a milk shake when I got off that thing. Kids said they loved it but when you look at the photos both had their eyes closed and fingers in their ears!
Mama Melrose we are not going to do again with kids...it took 2 HOURS to be served and the kids HATED the pizza. (Flat bread and kids..not a good combo for pizza) I liked my meal well enough and so did my husband...but 2 hours...really? I was glad I did the Fantasmic package though, because we were able to walk right in and get good seats. So I would do a fantasmic dinner package again for sure!
Coral Reef had the best pizza for kids, real dough. The kids meal is the same no matter what resaurant we ate at so not much for variety...just so you know!
T-Rex is a must...food is so so, but the ambiance it AWESOME!
For most every ride we walked right onto. We knew to do fastpass for the more popular rides so that was not a shocker, but even when we came back for the FP we walked right onto the ride practically.
Pirates and Pals cruise...I will so do that again! What a great time!
I have carried on enough...
Ask me any questions you want, would love to answer them!

 

[MrsGoofyMitchell]

Sounds like you had a great time! We always have a long wait time at Mama Melrose too, hour to two hours. We won't ever go back!

I'll have to look into the Knight package, my son will be 3!

 

[mariepapa]

Did you complain to the manager on duty while you at Mama Melrose's? That is unbelievably long to wait to be served. Once you sit down and order it should take no longer than 15-20 minutes. And you said you had the F! package, which means you ate early, so likely they weren't slammed.

 

[Plumeria9]

Thanks for sharing! We are going in about 6 weeks. We've never done Expedition Everest or Dinosaur, so that was good info to know.

 

[mikat]

So we came home from a great vacation form WDW on Sunday. What a great time! Everyone was super nice and helpful...I really can not say enough about how awesome everyone was.
BBB a must do for little girls and boy's. My son (5) did the knight package...LOVED IT!

Would you be willing to post pictures of your son from BBB? I'm interested in the Knight's package but I haven't seen a lot of photos.

 

[cantwait101]

Did you complain to the manager on duty while you at Mama Melrose's? That is unbelievably long to wait to be served. Once you sit down and order it should take no longer than 15-20 minutes. And you said you had the F! package, which means you ate early, so likely they weren't slammed.

I should have but quite honestly everyone else's meals were taking as long as ours....I just thought that was the norm for that place

 

[cantwait101]

Would you be willing to post pictures of your son from BBB? I'm interested in the Knight's package but I haven't seen a lot of photos.

I would love to but I have no idea how to
If I can not figure it out soon I will e-mail you a link to my photos of the trip

 

[lulu71]

How did your 5 year old do at Fantasmic? I have been many times before kids, and we've skipped it since ours have been born. Was he scared or did he do OK?

 

[IBLarsen]

We are considering doing the Pirates and Pals cruise for our Son's 8th bday in April (we also have dd5). It sounds like you really liked this cruise!? What did your children think? Would you recommend this as that "one extra special bday suprise for our son?" The whole trip is a suprise, so I can't ask what he would like to do!

Thanks for any advice!

 

[mom2aandj]

We've had the same experience at Mama Melrose everyone time we've gone! I kept wanting to give it another shot because I thought it must be a fluke, but the service was sooooooooooooo slooooooooooooow everytime. I'll never forget trying to eat dinner with a 1 year old and 4 year old and it took just over 2 hours! agony!!

 

[catne]

Sounds like you had a lot of fun. Would love to see pictures if you want to share!

we've done the Fantasmic Package 3 times at Mama Melrose, and we also go during slow times of the year...2 out of 3 times we had very slow service there (and yes, every table's food was taking that long.) They are just very, very slow in there. We like the food, and we like the F! tickets...don't like Hollywood & Vine, and Brown Derby is a bit pricy. So we keep doing Mama Melrose, and just plan on a very leisurely meal.

After the first slow service experience, we learned to order ice water with our drinks so we'd at least have double beverages.

 

[beccamarie]

How did your 5 year old do at Fantasmic? I have been many times before kids, and we've skipped it since ours have been born. Was he scared or did he do OK?

My five and seven year old LOVED Fantasmic!

 

[IBLarsen]

My five and seven year old LOVED Fantasmic!

We have seen Fantasmic! at Disneyland with our two kids twice now. The first time they were 4 and 6, this last time they were/are 5 and 7. They both LOVE it. My DS, the older of the two, says that is one of his favorite things at Disneyland.

 

[cantwait101]

How did your 5 year old do at Fantasmic? I have been many times before kids, and we've skipped it since ours have been born. Was he scared or did he do OK?

He was very engaged in the show! It was a bit loud at times and he covered his ears...but his eyes were as big a saucers! The wait time until it started was a bit boring for him but we all played "rock paper scissors" to pass the time. BTW...the metal seats were COLD that night. You might want to bring something to sit on!

 

[cantwait101]

We are considering doing the Pirates and Pals cruise for our Son's 8th bday in April (we also have dd5). It sounds like you really liked this cruise!? What did your children think? Would you recommend this as that "one extra special bday suprise for our son?" The whole trip is a suprise, so I can't ask what he would like to do!

Thanks for any advice!

It was a blast! Everyone received a bandanna (pirate of course) and a photopass photographer was there to take photos with Captain Hook. The children also received a sword at the end of the cruise. The snacks they served were good and the kids had a blast running around the area they had for us at the Contemporary. I recommend trying to sit on the left hand side of the boat for better viewing of the fireworks.
The pirate we had, Mr. Smee, was a blast and did Disney trivia with us on our way back to the landing. For every right answer he gave away a prize. The kids had a blast (they are DD 7 and DS5) and laughed A LOT!

 

[cantwait101]

I would love to but I have no idea how to
If I can not figure it out soon I will e-mail you a link to my photos of the trip

http://s1094.photobucket.com/albums/i457/blakeparlin/

I will post more photos when I get my Photopass CD!

 

[cantwait101]

Watched the tutorial...It is easy to post photos!

 

[mariepapa]

I should have but quite honestly everyone else's meals were taking as long as ours....I just thought that was the norm for that place

We ate there in August of 2009 and it took about 20 minutes for food but the server was horrendous. So rude. The food was great though. I just cannot believe that it takes them that long to serve people and they get away with it. So rude for them. I wanted to eat there again on my next trip but I am going to cross it off my list now.