Let's call this the vacation that almost wasn't....

[rpbert1]

Still waiting

We are just hitting the teen bit DD 12, actually think she skipped the teens and has hit 30. this our 3rd teen experience and its time.
Disney EMH was not a great experience for us either, as the queues are horrendous, would have been better hitting one of the other parks.

 

[macraven]

Still waiting


Disney EMH was not a great experience for us either, as the queues are horrendous, would have been better hitting one of the other parks.

i like that park but for an EMH night, it is not worth it.

just think of all the guests staying on site that area allowed to go to that park at the same time...........too many people.

 

[bubba's mom]

uh....i'm leavin' next week....should i expect full report by then...or are ya gonna take yer time so i can savor some of it while i'm away?

 

[tlinus]

sicklet home yesterday - hence the delay.

Getting my coffee together and will hit the report shortly

 

[tlinus]

*Thursday - 6/5/08*

This is the day. The day for the Magic Kingdom. We have tried to figure out when is the best time to go, as any ohter trip we have taken here, the lines were crazy long.

We went against the grain. Yup - we are a family of rebels. We dared and were rewarded

We didn't walk through the gates until 2:40ishpm!!! Ok, Ok, get up off the floor now.......all was good and we did not upset the balance of the Universe. Matter of fact, we were able to do quite a bit in a short period of time. But first some pics:

The Bus Stop:

Where to today???:

In case you forgot where we were staying:

Finally arrived (notice the time on the clock ):

Now we have a 3:55 ADR at The Crystal Palace, so we do not want to go too far away. We now have an hour to get something done. We head over to Adventureland and snap some photos of the landscape and castle along the way:

This has to be one of my ALL TIME favorite shots of the castle we have:

We arrive in Adventureland :

and the first ride we WALKED onto, yup, seriously, NO waits for us this visit (cept for Splash Mountain):

We walked right on over and were ushered onto the boats of the Jungle Cruise (again - no waiting):

After the Jungle Cruise, we headed back on over to the Main area so we could get ready for our dinner reservation.

 

[loribell]

*Thursday - 6/5/08*


We went against the grain. Yup - we are a family of rebels. We dared and were rewarded

We didn't walk through the gates until 2:40ishpm!!! Ok, Ok, get up off the floor now.......all was good and we did not upset the balance of the Universe. Matter of fact, we were able to do quite a bit in a short period of time. But first some pics:

You rebel you!

What's the matter with my little buddy?

 

[RVGal]

Awwww. That has to be one of the cutest pictures ever!

 

[tlinus]

*Thursday - 6/4/08* continued


So we walk back in the direction of the Crystal Palace. We checked in at 3:50 which was only 5 minutes early for our ADR. Frank met a not too happy little girl at the "Happiest Place on Earth"

He got her to smile......and they talked for a few minutes before our buzzer went off - YAAAYYY - time to get our grub on!!!!

I mentioned that the girls were celebrating their birthday when I checked in and they decorated our table:

and Kait decorated herself:

My kids were so popular that Pooh shoved Tigger out of the way to get to them first:

Then it was Tigger's turn:

Then Eeoyre and Piglet:

I got the Happy Birthday celebration on the video camera - but as with the rest of the stuff on the video, I have to learn how to upload all of that to the computer


Once we finished our feeding frenzy, I sent DH and Court ahead to make sure they made their Big Thunder Fast Pass. Court loved it and wanted to get back on right away, but alas, she would have to cool her jets for a moment. It was time for the Splash Mountain fast pass. Jim, Kait and Frank took care of that without a problem. A short wait, but no problems. Court and Kait took another spin on Big Thunder. With two of three mountains conquered, we meandered throught Liberty Square and came across a very empty line for The Haunted Mansion. I squealed in delight. I have not been on the Haunted Manison since August of 1992. With a waiting time of 10 minutes listed, we could NOT resist!! The 10 minutes was the amount of time it took to walk through the queue and get into the stretching room. We were momentarily stuck on the ride, but other than that, we all cracked up with our hitchhiking ghosts. That was a first for Jim and the kids.....now granted its not a thrill ride, but it was a classic that I was able to share with them.

We walked on into Fantasyland. In search of some more rides with no lines. We were not at a loss. The first ride we came upon without a line is the LAST ride I ever thought we would get on together.....You guessed it.....we walked right onto

Yeah - it went over like a lead balloon. I heard more cries of horror from the family on this ride than I did when I tried to make dinner the other night The main theme seemed to be "Get me off of this ride!!!" At one point, Jim wanted to climb out of the boat and hit the Emergency Exit Here is a sampling of the shades of "What The......????":

My most sincere and deep apologies to those who truly love the ride due to the nostalgia factor. However, this ride was the means of discipline for the rest of the trip. As in :"If you don't stop punching/kicking/torturing your sister and or brother, we are going to strap you into that boat and make you ride Small World for an hour!!!" LOL!!! It seemed to work.

We practically jumped out of the boat and ran to the exit......deciding what to get to next. While deciding, we noticed that just as in the Jungle Cruise we see the back side of water, in Fantasyland you can get a great view of the backside of the castle:

The all time favorite ride in Fantasyland for our family has to be......come on....work with me......nope not that one, uh uh not that one either. Oh, Ok.:

And guess what??!!?? Walked right into the holding lobby. We were really liking this arriving at almost 3pm thing

 

[tlinus]

You rebel you!



What's the matter with my little buddy?

he wanted this camel:

to squirt water faster

other than that, he was hot and cranky - nothing new for him

 

[tlinus]

Awwww. That has to be one of the cutest pictures ever!

Thanks Tricia! I have another one you will like in another installment down the road here shortly

 

[tlinus]

*Thursday - 6/5/08 Continued Continued*


Ok, now we venture on with Fantasyland under our belts. We really weren't looking to get on EVERY ride in the park, More or less our favorites and ones we have never been on before (unfortunately, POTC was clsed for refurb or that would have been on the list as well).

We wind ourselves on over to Tomorrowland. Our first aim was to see how long for Space Mountain. Luck ran out on that one.....the wait was 70 minutes and the Fast Pass returns were for after 9:30. We weren't going to be there too much longer as we had to get back to the room and pack up all of our stuff to move the next day.

We had never been on Buzz Lightyear, so we look and its a 15 minute wait. Sweet! We get in line and about 10 minutes later we are protecting the universe from the evil emperor Zurg!! We HAD to purchase the picture - DH and Frank looked SO intent.....great times. Now I need to decorate a frame with some Buzz cutouts and give it to DH for his office

The last of the rides we got on - Monsters Inc., Laugh Floor:

Really cute and well done show! We would do it again. Time to bid farewell to Walt Disney World for this trip.

Here is where I want to stay the next time:

We left the park and took the bus back to Pop. As mentioned, we had to pack and I had laundry to do - remember - we only did carry ons . Frank fell asleep and the girls were all wound up. I let them swim in the pool while I was doing the laundry. With all of the packing up and laundering done, it was lights out for us as tomorrow is moving day. Heading up I4 to check into the Hard Rock Hotel



Coming Up:

Movin on up, We found a SONIC, Outlet Shopping and Night at The Museum poolside .

 

[bubba's mom]

Well, for the trip that almost wasn't, the VERY LEAST the vacation gods coulda done for you was have NO lines at MK that day





Looks like a great day...and what a guy Frank is! Cheering that little girl up.... how proud you must be

i agree....love that pic of Frank looking around Jim....classic....

I agree....Small World ride = punishment (Unfortunately when we were at MK, the darn thing was down for it's major rehab...or I woulda got the same reactions from my 2 )

Looks like everyone had a great day/time....yes?

 

[bubba's mom]

I LOVE this picture of the castle....so soft & pretty with dusk setting in


Our experience w/ Space and Buzz was the same....line for SM was a mile long every time....Buzz, hardly any line


Oh...and I thought the "Frank-size" door at the Monsters Laff was cute Good idea!

So, the Disney portion was a "hit" for the most part?? I know, I know....can't wait to get to UO ......


.....can't wait to read it....

 

[RVGal]

We walked on into Fantasyland. In search of some more rides with no lines. We were not at a loss. The first ride we came upon without a line is the LAST ride I ever thought we would get on together.....You guessed it.....we walked right onto

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

HA! My boys love that ride, so I'm glad somebody else had to do it too.

Have you got the song out of your head yet? Want me to start singing it now?

So, the birthday girls were so popular that Pooh pushed Tigger out of the way to get there first, huh? Pretty cool.

I'm hoping I can talk the boys into HM this year. I haven't been on it in years and I really miss it.

 

[macraven]

this is a great trippie report...

 

[keishashadow]

im late to the party - almost missed it!

luvin ur report wish i were there - right now

pics are fantastic & ur family is so photogenic...really like the pic of little bean @ WP where he's got some 'tude lol

CR is my fav resort onsite WDW thus far

I really like small world too and Crystal Palace & Typhoon Lagoon

anyway, looking forward to more, more, more from the darkside

 

[loribell]

It really looks like you guys had a good time with the Disney portion of your trippie!

Mikey wants to stay in the Tower at the Contremporary. We have stayed in a garden room before and did enjoy that. Next time will be upper floor tower with a MK view!

 

[pixeegrl]

waiting for the next installment!!! Great TR!

 

[angela3676]

 

[macraven]

hey, quit hogging the popcorn, pass it on to me!!