My First Trip Report, 7 days of dreams come true!! WDW2009

[Later_Mater2009]

My name is Melissa and my family and I traveled to Disney last summer and yes Im just now posting my vacation pics cuz, well I am a busy mom and I am kinda apprehensive about putting pics of my kids on the web so I will do my best, I took over 600 pics.
My fam is as follows :
Me, Melissa, Mom 28
Dad, Adam, 29
Son, we will call him S, he is 10
Son, we will call him LJ, he is 2 (birthday celebration)
Brother, J, 17 first timer

We stayed at the All Star Movies, loved it, we really enjoy the value resorts. One day we SAY we will stay at a moderate or deluxe but i dont see it, lol its a lot of money...
I had planned and planned and read and researched for MONTHS we did the dinning plan, and i called and got the character meals and things that i wanted, so that was a plus or was it??
We had been to disney before, I went with my class when I was in high school during spring break in 1998, we stayed at the all star music..it was soo much fun then i swore i would bring my kids when i had em.
2004 we brought S he was 4 and we just did a weekend trip and got school on what NOT to do at Disney. We did MK and Sea World we stayed at All Star Sports S loved the football stuff.
This time I swore since the 2004 trip was not what we expected I would do my research and do the best I could to get the most out of this trip. We just spent way to much on things we didnt HAVE to buy like water at the park etc. we didnt get into any of the good dining spots cuz we didnt know about the reservations and such. Lessons learned and we def made up for it this trip I hope you enjoy my report and bear with me as Im new at all this. Disney is truly the most magical place on earth and if I could go more I WOULD but im mentally preparing for a land and sea adventure for our next trip, good thing hubby has no clue of my pre planning and spending lol. He loves Disney and claims this trip was the best vacation, so he is up for it he just HATES spending money lol so its a battle when it comes to that but overall he is usually on board. (haha) me next post will be the schedule which i worked on for over a month... hee thanks for reading and going thru the adventure with us ...

 

[Later_Mater2009]

ok so thankfully the DIS was here to help me plan so I want to try to be as helpful by giving details
We left home and drove its about 6 hours for us.
We did a 7 day Magic Your Way

DISNEY DREAMIN

thankfully the kids slept almost the entire trip, hubby drove i directed with the map,

the classic shot of the entrance LET THE MAGIC BEGIN


The plan for the next seven days was as follows
Seeing as it was 100 degrees I wanted to take the fam back to hotel at least once a day to recharge, it was the BEST idea, thanks for the advise there DISers
DAY ONE arrival day Hollywood Studios then Downtown Disney for dinner at Wolfgang Pucks Express
My youngest child went bananas and broke my camera a couple days before the trip so I had a new camera for day one and the batteries werent charged so not many pics of day one but dont worry I made up for it the rest of the trip haha
DAY TWO: we did Epcot and since we were going to be there for 7 days we split the two largest parks up between two days MK and Epcot, so our first day at Epcot we did Future World and then that night we ate at Coral Reef. We made sure we arrived before the park opened, LJ didnt like waiting but it was worth it once we got in.
DAY THREE: Hollywood Studios and the Boardwalk ESPN for dinner
DAY FOUR: Magic Kingdom and ADR was Crystals Palace
DAY FIVE: Animal Kingdom and ADR was Boma Animal Kingdom got the less attention on our trip and honestly one of the parks had to and we took a family vote on all the days and we agreed on this prior, wished we could have changed that after the fact but it was all fun and we will just plan more time there next time we go.
DAY SIX: Epcot Day 2 World Showcase and we did Best Friends Bfast in the AM and LeCellier for dinner both we AMAZING
DAY SEVEN: Magic Kingdom day 2 Wispering Canyon for ADR and we loooooved that one too many good memories there

 

[Later_Mater2009]

We arrived at Disney FINALLY, I had seriously been waiting for this for MONTHS we all had but when you plan it all, its kinda like the reward for all your hard work to see the joy it brings everyone else, just like you knew it would LOL haha
So we stayed at the All Star Movie which was nice just like the other All Stars, next time we wanna try POP. We quickly checked in, had no problems, room was ready and so were we OFF TO HOLLYWOOD (one of my favorite) so we went to the bus stop for the first time of MANY, lol here are some pics of our first half day, and it rained as we were leaving the park that afternoon, but that was the only time it rained while we were there YAY

we were all so geared up and excited for this trip I told S (DS10) that we were going to ride everything and eat everything we werent going to be scared and so Hollywood Tower of Terror was something he nor I will EVER forget, i will tell that later, we didnt ride it this day, since we arrived later in the day, we just wanted to see what we could do and relax and walk around so when we walked through the gates we were greeted by a cast member who gave S a free Mickey Pin, we had a couple pins for the kids and some handmade bags with notebooks and pen for autographs so S was so excited to get a free pin.
Hubby was smiling too, so that meant a lot for me, thanks DISNEY ~

then we were off to see what kinda adventure we could find, and MUPPET 3D IT IS I love this attraction so much and the looks on the kids faces were magical, now my lil LJ was kinda scared of the 3D so we took his glasses off, he still was nervous and buried his head in my shoulder so, overall I didnt have to leave in the middle of it but he didnt care for it that much. The rest of the boys did they LOVED IT!

we just happened to catch this parade and I looooove the parades when I went to Disney for the first time (Highschooltrip 1998) we didnt get to see any of these cause we didnt know about them and how to get a good seat etc SO I VOWED then and there (while trying to stand on a fence in the MK that I would never miss one again and I would figure this out) and I DID but this one we werent looking for we just happened to see so it was nice and as you can see the sky is getting dark.

we then strolled around and decided that hubby and brother J and S would go to do Star Wars and I would take LJ to Playhouse Disney which was AWESOME then we met Leo, he was soooo excited and didnt understand a LINE and that he had to wait but we made it and as the week went on he got better kinda..

after all that we met up with the other half of our crew and S LOVED the star wars ride, it was raining and LJ wanted to "hold" the umbrella and that wasnt working to well, so FINALLY found them and got on the bus and headed back to hotel, here are some shots of the hotel

now there is a gap in picture taking at this point and its kinda a long story but 2 days before we left LJ broke my camera so i had to get a new one and after we went back to hotel we were planning on hitting DTD for a dinner and some fun and it was GREAT only bad thing is i was using the batteries that came with the camera so halfway to DTD the batteries died so I have NO PICS from that BUT J took some pics on his phone and i still havent seen em.
We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express and it was great and the service was as well, just as described here, the chicken and taters (heehee) were very filling and served as a GREAT Quick Service Meal. So we went to the Lego place and S had a BALL, and then took LJ to the Potato head place and I think WE had more fun there then anywhere that night picking out all the pieces I mean are you realllllly too old for Potato HEAD?? I dont think so.. LOL then on the way out we stopped to listen to some music and then LJ broke out in a dance and before we knew it we were all dancing with like 1000 other people it was AWESOME my 17 year old brother had a hard time keeping up with the 2 year old, GREAT MEMORIES... wish i had pics.. oh well the NEXT DAY is EPCOT!!!

 

[vikkymax]

My name is Melissa and my family and I traveled to Disney last summer and yes Im just now posting my vacation pics cuz, well I am a busy mom and I am kinda apprehensive about putting pics of my kids on the web so I will do my best, I took over 600 pics.
My fam is as follows :
Me, Melissa, Mom 28
Dad, Adam, 29
Son, we will call him S, he is 10
Son, we will call him LJ, he is 2 (birthday celebration)
Brother, J, 17 first timer

We stayed at the All Star Movies, loved it, we really enjoy the value resorts. One day we SAY we will stay at a moderate or deluxe but i dont see it, lol its a lot of money...
I had planned and planned and read and researched for MONTHS we did the dinning plan, and i called and got the character meals and things that i wanted, so that was a plus or was it??
We had been to disney before, I went with my class when I was in high school during spring break in 1998, we stayed at the all star music..it was soo much fun then i swore i would bring my kids when i had em.
2004 we brought S he was 4 and we just did a weekend trip and got school on what NOT to do at Disney. We did MK and Sea World we stayed at All Star Sports S loved the football stuff.
This time I swore since the 2004 trip was not what we expected I would do my research and do the best I could to get the most out of this trip. We just spent way to much on things we didnt HAVE to buy like water at the park etc. we didnt get into any of the good dining spots cuz we didnt know about the reservations and such. Lessons learned and we def made up for it this trip I hope you enjoy my report and bear with me as Im new at all this. Disney is truly the most magical place on earth and if I could go more I WOULD but im mentally preparing for a land and sea adventure for our next trip, good thing hubby has no clue of my pre planning and spending lol. He loves Disney and claims this trip was the best vacation, so he is up for it he just HATES spending money lol so its a battle when it comes to that but overall he is usually on board. (haha) me next post will be the schedule which i worked on for over a month... hee thanks for reading and going thru the adventure with us ...

Great pics!completely agree with you that planning before any trip is vital.

 

[Later_Mater2009]

so EPCOT day ONE was sooo fun we did Future World and actually completed it all and did what we wanted, so far my plan was going well, I figured I would split Epcot into 2 days and we would see. We got there when the park opened and waited in line then did the parent swap on everything along with fastpasses I really dont know how ppl could do it without those two features. Test Track was awesome and the kids got to ride it twice when hubby and I did parent swap so that was an added plus. We did Sunshine Seasons for lunch and I liked it ok, then we headed back for nap and showers etc, for dinner it was Coral Reef then ILLUMINATIONS. ps LJ LOVES the Nemo Ride.. we did it like 3 times

i have no idea why I took pics of the balloon on the ceiling of Sunshine Seasons but to me at the time it was pretty, I loved this space for a couple different reasons, there were plenty of things for the kids to do while we waited for parent swap and such, LJ did visit a KidKot here and it was fun better then I thought, Disney knows how to do it.

The kids got a kick out of the mousekeeping little surprises everyday, we left them the little envelopes and a thank you note, it was sweet

it became a ritual that hubby would take the boys swimming and I would get a rest and much needed shower on our mid day breaks I loved this part of the plan... lol and the pool looked so inviting but I needed some ME time and this was it but I did take a pic of the pool from the room window

headed back to Epcot for dinner with the fishes. and as you can see sometimes the adults get tired too I HAD to snap a shot of hunny sleeping on the bus ride back to Epcot

I found it very challenging to get the atmosphere of Coral Reef with a camera, its amazing experience I LOVED it and so did the kids. we had a WONDERFUL server I cannot remember her name now but everything there was amazing they went out of their way to accomodate a semi annoyed 2 year old.

Choc Wave was the best !!!! Dinners all around the table were good and the only thing that was not good was the choc mousse? i think thats what it was called, J and S didnt like it at all, they had some of my WAVE
LJ's lil bday icecream was COOL and he liked it
We had some time for some rides after dinner so the boys did Mission Space Lj and I did NEMO AGAIN, LJ didnt like Crush at all and we had to leave halfway thru it he loved looking at all the fish in the aquariums tho


I have more pics and will post them later I have so much work to do today

 

[Later_Mater2009]

Great pics!completely agree with you that planning before any trip is vital.

Thank you so much I have SO many but its fun to relive it all over again !

 

[AlyssinWonderland]

I'm loving your trip report! Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

 

[MK2010]

i am loving this TR. I am starting on mine and we went the first week in Dec. Isn't amazing how hindsight is 20/20? Like after your first trip? i did a ton of research for our trip too and it was the best time I have ever had! And people always say what cute kdis you have and stuff (and yes you're kids are cute!) But you're in great shape yourself. Congrats on that I know it can be hard with so many people to look after! I am looking forward to lots more pictures and stories of your adventure.

 

[Later_Mater2009]

I'm loving your trip report! Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for joining in!!!

 

[Later_Mater2009]

i am loving this TR. I am starting on mine and we went the first week in Dec. Isn't amazing how hindsight is 20/20? Like after your first trip? i did a ton of research for our trip too and it was the best time I have ever had! And people always say what cute kdis you have and stuff (and yes you're kids are cute!) But you're in great shape yourself. Congrats on that I know it can be hard with so many people to look after! I am looking forward to lots more pictures and stories of your adventure.

LOL, its funny there is stuff I know and stuff Im like wait.. what did we do??, thank GOD i kept a journal so I can semi remember the little things.. HAHA and by journal I mean where we went what we did, what we ate, etc... I was far too busy to sit and write anything more than that.. HAHA
IT IS challenging but I like a challenge, as far as watching after everyone and myself.. lol.. Thank you for following my report there are plenty more to come I kinda went pic CRAZZZZZY... as the trip went on

 

[Later_Mater2009]

SO after the Coral Reef and some rides we headed to the World Showcase to get a good seat for Illuminations, good thing for me, we found a lovely spot in Mexico right next to the Margarita stand hubby and I love Margaritas.. so we knew we would have to sit there for a long time so, we planned to take turns taking the kids around and letting them stretch their legs while the other half of the crew held down the spot which closer and closer to the time for Illuminations to begin you find yourselves getting closer and closer to the fence but I was determined to not be bullied by ppl who waited too long and were trying to creep in on my space that i had scoped out and held down for almost two hours I had to tell a little girl (whose parents let her squeeze right by my kids and step right in front of S) that she would have to move.. I just dont think thats right and some ppl just may not know, once upon a time that was me, but I wouldnt let my kids squeeze into another families personal space, that wasnt cool.. but she looked crushed and walked back to her parents and she stepped all over our stuff... ..here are some pics from Illuminations..and our long wait I discovered LJ was teething again at this particular part of our trip (GREAT)

OK ..maybeeeeee he has some teeth coming in (my thought after seeing him try to chew the shaker we got him)

S and I think this one above here looks like snake eyes

~~~~sorry if some are blurry but I was learning my new camera, which i had to get so quickly I had no time to even play with it ~~~~~

 

[Later_Mater2009]

DAT THREE was Hollywood AGAIN whoohoo.. on this day we did Tower of Terror and oh it was HOT ! ALSO I forgot to add if anyone has any questions I will be HAPPY to answer them to the best of my ability I DID go on 7 day Disney trip with a 2 year old and when researching my trip it was handy to have other parents of kids my kids ages to refer to and ask questions ... and did I mention it was like 100 degrees??? LOL never again.. needless to say welllllll i will say this I WILL try my hardest to plan in a non Summer month but thats the only time we could since S was out of school OUR FIRST STOP was Toy Story Mania... LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS attraction the wait in line wasnt bad so we got in it, we had our fastpasses for Tower of Teror.. phew...

Hubby and J went first we did the parent swap so J got to ride TOT twice and this happened the rest of the vaca when we did parent swap w fastpass
they came back looking wide eyed and excited about how fun that ride was I think one quote was " THAT was the BEST ride YET" by hubby
so shane and I get into line, and for some reason we had two extra tickets so we found a couple that was in line and they looked weary and confused and asked them if they wanted these two extra fastpasses we had and they looked SHOCKED and confused then HAPPY and it feels so good to help ppl who seemed to be lost.. LOL
S did well until we dropped, the screeches that came out of that child I had never heard he burried his head in my shoulder and tried to wedge his head behind my back and I loved it but S was making me nervous, thank God it didnt last any longer than it did S didnt like it at all, but HE DID it so that made him feel good.. PHEW tower of terror... and I must tell you a side note that goes along with this. A month after Disney we went to the beach and stayed on the 23 floor of a hotel and while hubby and S were going down to get our luggage the elevator and this is INSANE but it happened the elevator stopped in mid decent and then dropped like 4 floors and Hubby said you could hear the wires popping like in the movies, then it STOPPED on the 15th floor and they got OUT !!! S was terrified after that and everytime we got in the elevator ( a different one cause we didnt use that one again) he would cry and I would try to ask him questions and get his mind off of it we alerted the hotel staff and later saw men working on it, SCARRY and he is still scared of any elevator this year we are taking another
trip and we got the 3rd floor so he can take the stairs if he wants SOOO TOWER OF TERROR is exactly what he thinks.. moving on

these ladies totally cracked me up I was thinking this would be a FUN job

you cant see it but there is another old man here sitting in a wheelchair and they were flirting with them I was laughing so hard too cute and ONLY DISNEY and HOLLYWOOD

 

[Later_Mater2009]

ok that was half way thru our day....phew We were standing around waiting in the shade for the guys to come back with some fastpasses and we saw these guys they were pretty cool

then it was BACK TO ???? you guessed it Playhouse Disney, and to meet The Incredibles WOOT
After that we needed a break so we got LJ his FIRST Mickey Bar and hubby and S had a pretzel, it was nice to relax a minute..

HAD TO GO see the CARS McQueen and Mater this was LJ's fav movie at the time...

Ok SO THEN after that we FILED in and sat and watched the LIGHTS MOTOR ACTION show, it was great and the kids loved the ACTION I will say this since Im a claustrophobic that this was one of the two times I was freaking out NOT in the stands, NOT during the show but afterward when everyone is leaving I was literally smashed in 1000 ppl with the kids and it was HORRIBLE albeit the HEAT didnt help. I was freaking out hubby stopped to get water (which I told him not to cause he would be in line forever) but he insisted so we went to find a cool shop to hang out in and look around to cool off LJ and S were way to hot. So we found the Muppets Shop and LJ got a Fozzie Bear and S got a pin? i think? about 15 minutes later hubby arrives with the water he said the line was SOOOO long... what did I say? LOL
and here are some pics from that show, which i was glad we saw it but hated the exiting.. UGH

I have video too but how do you put that on here ?? lemme try

 

[Later_Mater2009]

AND here is one from Playhouse Disney

 

[Later_Mater2009]

After the HOTFEST I KNEW it was time to head back for our nap/swim/shower/ break and then we had plans to head to the Boardwalk for some dinner at the ESPN Club

this was in the lobby of the Boardwalk Hotel, and after visiting all these beautiful hotels for DINNER on this trip it makes ya wanna try extra hard to save money enuff to stay IN ONE next time

We waited about 30 minutes to get a seat the plan was to get to dinner early each night (ADR were set for earliest possible) and of course you cant reserve ESPN club so we got there as early as we could to get in EAT and get OUT.. LOL.. this was not my favorite place but the BOYS wanted to go here badly so we DID... also my brother J potentially saved us from a chocking fiasco i will tell you about that

I was concerned having a 2 year old I always want or prefer to sit out of the center of the room, simply because when LJ acts up (which happens in restraunts cuz he is TWO) I can scoot out easily without causing a scene.. WELL where to they seat us.. at a huge round table right in the middle of the action.. OH MAN <----my thought HEY GREAT SEATS<------HUBBYs thought.. so to settle LJ down I give him a dumdum lollipop that was in my purse, now I dont like dumdums but I was planning on watching him with it carefully so he didnt choke.. WELLLLLLL thankfully baby brother stepped up when the dumdum came off the stick and got lodged in his throat!!!!! NOW I can laugh about this now but at the time I could have CRIED... I was shaking SO BADLY I had to leave for a minute, LJ was choking, J stuck his finger in there SOMEHOW and took it out.. I WAS SHOCKED he moved so fast and it was like it was instinct or something I hugged him and cried for a second cause that was sooooo scrarry and of COURSE we were right in the middle of the room but nobody noticed It happened SO FAST SOOOO needless to say we will NEVER EAT DUMDUMS.. I was a DUM DUM for letting him have it, we all enjoyed our dinner but LJ was done about 10 minutes in so we took turns playing with him in the arcade ... I went first cause I wanted the guys to enjoy their dinner this was their place SO after that we walked around the Boardwalk it was NICE and relaxing NO CROWDS.. perfect ending ..to a perfect day at Disney.

TV IN THE STALL OF THE LADIES ROOM

THE NEXT DAY IS MY FAVORITE DAYYYYYYYYYYY MAGIC KINGDOM DAY ONE

 

[Later_Mater2009]

GETTING READY TO ADD MORE PICS AND STORIES

 

[Later_Mater2009]

The plan was to get there before the opening and I have to admit waiting is the hardest part simply because I had a 2 year old who didnt understand wait and the sun was beating down on us, it was morning but the sun was already cooking us, Disney gives out the hula hoops and such but I was not letting LJ out of the stroller because he was going thru a stage of once he was out he didnt want to get back in it, it was a battle every time. SO MANY things that were a battle mainly because he was too young, to understand waiting and leaving an attraction or character he didnt understand a line etc.. LOL so those were the challenges, once the train showed up with the characters I knew it was time, we were heading to Frontierland to ride or get fastpasses for BTMR and Splash mtn

We could NOT pass up Donald, I stayed with the boys so they could visit and get a pic with the #1 Duck and hubby and brother went to get us FP and check on wait times, LJ remembered where Donald was for the rest of the day and begged to go back to the spot where he saw him, and when he saw he wasnt there anymore he cried.. LOL, it was bad at the time but I look back and think how smart he was and if Disney was nothing but Characters he would have been just as happy.. LOL. he loved them all

 

[Later_Mater2009]

dont know if anyone is following this but Im gonna keep on posting we just got back from vacation and I need another Disney vacation so im gonna live through my old one.. LOL..

 

[Later_Mater2009]

i dont know if you can see my brother J in the background he LOVED Thunder Mountain Railroad... he actually cant wait to go back to Disney

CAPTAIN JACK !! S loved this!! we are big POTC fans

i HAD to get my pic with these bad girls.. they were so funny!!

LJ really wanted to watch the parade but we had to get to our Crystal Palace ressies which was a winner!!!!

 

[Later_Mater2009]

I know its blurry but we were sooooo happy with all the food, dessert was better lol but it was all good...

he was so overwhelmed with all the characters and birthday cake every meal, he didnt eat very well at dinner he made up for it at bfast and lunch when there werent any characters around OR in the hotel room..

im not gonna lie, when the characters were with the kids they were magical moments but when they left the two year old didnt understand ad he didnt LIKE IT..