Our “WONDER”ful -May 10 - DCL update June 9

[mormadsmom]

yay, another trip report! we are hopefully planning a land and sea next year. waiting on the new itinerary to come out!

 

[Kurby]

They found your wallet!!!! That is amazing!!

Yes - i was thrilled - actually when i called the night to and was told they had it i asked what the odds were it would get turned in and was told that they do get a lot of wallets but also a lot don't get turned in. he said last month a wallet with $2000 was turned in while one with $60 wasn't

ya never know

 

[anetnmike]

I am so glad for you!

 

[DisneyMom1976]

Hey Kurby! Still lovin the updates. I'm blown away that they found your wallet. Wonderful news. Thank God for good people. Take care and try to stay cool. My Aunt called from Lakeland and said the weather is crazy hot.
Waiting for Sunday..I'll be watching you all leave port on the webcam.

 

[Mommak2p]

Ok, I'm hooked!! Can't wait to hear all about the cruise and see all the pics! If you happen to see 'Alice' please snap a pic!!

 

[CSwan1]

Kurby, where are you????

 

[momrek06]

Kurby, where are you????

I am thinking she is on the Cruise now!!!

 

[DisneyMom1976]

Hey Kurby! Missing your updates but I know you are sitting at Castaway Cay as I write this. I hope your little princess is having a blast. Only 26 more days till I get to see that beautiful Island too. Can't wait to hear from you.

 

[kimberleeJohnston]

Great planning and reports...cant wait to hear the rest....hope your having a fab trip!

 

[mormadsmom]

 

[doberlady]

Love your report and your daughter is just adorable!

 

[Kurby]

OH MY GOD you guys - i'm soooooo tired.

ok - i'm not doing a tr update until i get home - have to get everything all written up again (fell behind when i kept falling asleep when getting back to the resort LOL)

just wanted everyone to know - we're half way home - had to stop in South Carolina - couldn't drive anymore.

few notes to mention.

love cruising - hate the motion - really hate the motion - will post more on this later.

LOVED okw - not so much WL (don't hate me)

DRINKS ARE NOT FREE (lol) even the non-boozy ones cost about 5 bucks each (ouch)

been off the ship 12 hours now and when i'm standing still it still feels like i'm moving - how freaky is that

we have the dubious distinction of being the LAST GUESTS off the ship (no not even on purpose) - again more on this later. (but it is kinda cool to get off the ship last and not have to look for luggage or wait in line to go through customs)

 

[Kurby]

Kurby, where are you????

I was on the beach

I am thinking she is on the Cruise now!!!

You got it.

Hey Kurby! Missing your updates but I know you are sitting at Castaway Cay as I write this. I hope your little princess is having a blast. Only 26 more days till I get to see that beautiful Island too. Can't wait to hear from you.

She had a blast - i litterally had to pull her out of the kids club kicking and screaming - seriously - it was funny and sad at the same time

Great planning and reports...cant wait to hear the rest....hope your having a fab trip!

Thank you - i am looking forward to writing about the rest of our time - i was making notes then gave up so i'll have to look at all the pictures to remember everything that happened.

Love your report and your daughter is just adorable!

Thank you and thank you.

 

[anetnmike]

Hooray you are back! It took me a couple of days to get my land legs back after the last cruise too. I thought that was weird because it didn't after the first one and it was a 7 day! I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[Kurby]

May 3 – Magic Kingdom………….maybe not


What a busy day we have a head of us. We’re having breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, Checking out of WL, checking into OKW and heading to MK for the day…. Or so we thought.

Last night we packed most of our stuff so we could take some of it to the car before breakfast on only have a little bit to get after breakfast and before we checked out. Patrick woke up first and brought a couple of pieces of luggage to the car and by the time he got back Cassie and I were up and most of the rest of the stuff was packed and we were ready to go for breakfast.

This trip has been a crazy one for us always running behind time. So organized and still can’t get it together. This morning was no exception.


If you’ve never been to the Grand Floridian the parking is a tad confusing. We did self parking but didn’t know we had to actually cross the street for the self parking and did 2 U-Turns before we figured it out LOL – ya it’s been a long trip already.

So after finding the parking lot we walked over to 1900. Stopping of course to check out the 1929 car – ok anyone know what it was??? I can’t remember ( not into cars but my dad would know)

Breakfast was fun. We saw – Pooh, Tigger, Marry Poppins, Alice and the Mad Hatter (who by the way scared the crap out of Cassie LOL ok not funny – ya it was)

It was a good breakfast. Marry was the best (she was nicer then she was when we saw her the other day ) Cassie just loved her. Breakfast itself was not bad. Loved the cream with the herb stuff.

After breakfast we took some pictures by the car and carriage then headed back to finish packing - if I haven’t mentioned it before I’ll say it now – WE PACK WAY TO MUCH STUFF. Of course it doesn’t help that my MIL comes down for the winter and buys half of Florida then can’t bring it all home on the plane so we get the pleasure of bringing 2 medium, 1 very large box and a bag of stuff.

The drive between WL and OKW is a short one – 6-8 minutes (if you take the proper exit LOL)

Check in was easy and our room was ready (I knew it would be because I called over before we left WL so I knew we would have a place and not have to wait around)

Ok so the intension was to do a 30 unpacking and then head over to MK – well ok and hour – ok we’ll go after a nap. Ok forget it we’ll stay around here for the day and go to MK in the evening since it was late night for guests.

So we went into Olivia’s for lunch which was good but something happened to our server. He seemed to have been abducted between dropping of our lunch and giving asking for dessert – no seriously maybe he went on break which is odd since he had customers but we didn’t get refills on drinks and had to ask another server if he could go find ours so we could order Key Lime Pie

After lunch Patrick stayed back to throw in some laundry while I took Cassie to DTD to get some Christmas balls at 12 Days of Christmas. I love that store

The boat ride is one of the best things about staying at a river resort. I love it. And our captain on the way back Captain Lisa was pretty good, asking where we were from and letting Cassie blow the horn and giving her a co-captain button. So now she’s a Co-pilot on the monorail and a Co-captain on the boats .

By the time we got back it was getting late and Cassie was desperate to get into the pool so we thought we would go for a 45 minute swim then head to MK. So that turned into about an hour and a half then we figured it was too late to go to MK and waste a day’s park pass since Cassie would fall asleep so we went to Beaches and Cream instead.

Parking was easy – I know some people have commented but we drove up, told the security we were staying at OKW and he said no problem – park over there.

Up Next – Hollywood Studios.

 

[DisneyMom1976]

Hey Kirby! Glad to see you're back. You are doing a wonderful job on your trip report and I've enjoyed it so much. Can't wait to read about your cruise. If you get a chance in the next week, (I can only imagine the unpacking you have from a 14 day trip) would you PM me your navigators and movie list if you kept them. My Daughter (7) is dying to see new navigators. She also loves your report. See, you are pleasing people of all ages! We sail June 7 for youngest daughters 3rd b-day.
Thanks! I tried to PM you but didn't work.

 

[kittyscrap1]

Thank you for your TR...it's been great! Can hardly wait to read about your cruise...sounds like there is alot of comedy coming!

 

[Kurby]

We did it, we finally stayed at a park until closing – Here goes.

May 4, 2009 – Hollywood Studios

Today was a lot of fun. I think mainly because I gave up the “we HAVE to go here, there and everywhere and do everything” attitude. After giving up MK yesterday for a complete day of rest we were all good when we woke up this morning.

I was shockingly the first one up by a good 30 minutes so I finished yesterdays TR and let the other 2 sleep. Good time to get things done LOL.

After sneezy and sleepy finally woke up (I’ll let you guess who’s who) we got dressed and headed out to Olivia’s for breakfast – a change from our intended Rambo style quick service and rush to the park. Breakfast was good and messy lol. Cassie had pancakes with chocolate chips and TONS of syrup.

We arrived at Hollywood Studio’s around 11am and went straight into Indiana Jones. Never seen this before – it was pretty good. Star Wars was next – I don’t go on this ride anymore (motion sickness remember) but this time Cassandra and I joined Patrick in line so I could film the animatronics in the line. I’ve always thought this was a great way to take your mind off waiting. We got up to the front and walked right over to the “chicken” exit while Patrick went in for his space flight. It wasn’t long before I was joined by another mother and child who had done the same as us and a pregnant woman. So we chatted about this and that while waiting.

Not too long and we had to leave the lovely air conditioned building to subject ourselves to this wonderful heat (are you hearing sarcasm?? It’s on purpose) The Muppet 3D attraction was right behind Star Wars and we made our way over there. Cassandra LOVED this movie and made us sit through it twice. The first time in our original seat then we just moved to the end of the row and waited .

Lunch at Mama Melrose was next and by the time our server came with our drinks Cassie had fallen asleep in my lap. This is one reason we always ask for (and almost always get) a booth. Lunch was good – I have mixed feelings about my chicken and pasta. The chicken parm was delicious – just enough coating and cheese but the pasta………… I haven’t found a restaurant who cooks pasta the way I like it. It’s either too aldenti or mushy. At any rate it was good – not great just good.

Cassandra was still sound asleep when we finished so we started walking and soon found ourselves at the Art of Disney store. We wanted to go into “One Man’s Dream” but couldn’t bring the stroller in so we popped into the art store. They have a lot of great things in there and found something perfect for Cassandra’s Christmas. A beautiful Precious Moments figurine. A blonde little girl playing with Cinderella and her castle.


Not long after that Cassie woke up and we finished up in the art store then headed over to the Little Mermaid show. I love this show. Part movie, part live, part muppets. It’s wonderful and kept Cassie’s attention the entire time. I took only video of the show but it’s too large to upload – guess you’ll have to go to the show to see it

When we left we saw Handy Manny walking to a gathering and then the Little Einstein’s people. The line for Handy Manny was too long and Cassie said she wanted the little Einstein’s kids so we went there. Those pictures are on the photopass so if I remember I’ll upload them when they are ready.

We found the Disney’s Playhouse when we were finished (I didn’t know it was even there) and were just in time for that show too (our luck was changing and we seemed to be arriving just in time for a lot of shows). This is a cute little show for the kids. A puppet/live show using the Disney shows as the base of the entire show. Mickey Mouse Club (obviously), Handy Manny, Tigger and Pooh and the Little Einsteins. Really cute.

Today was filled with a lot of live shows because once that was finished we went over and watched the live Beauty and the Beast show. Another live version of the movie which held Cassandra’s attention throughout the entire show.

It was late night for resort guests but we didn’t find out until we were walking out of the gates. Fantasmic wasn’t playing so on our way out Patrick suggested going into see the Great Movie Ride and after Cassandra made us ride it 3 times we headed back to OKW and went for a swim in the quiet pool.

Doesn’t he look like Wall-E

Patrick is thinking of getting a tattoo for his 50th birthday. I suggested this one since he’s run 10 of the Disney marathon’s

Next up – Magic Kingdom and another open to close park.

 

[anetnmike]

sounds like you guys had alot of fun on this day! love the pictures!!

 

[Kurby]

WOO HOO – another open to close park. Well almost open.

This morning starts out like every single morning on this trip. HOT sunny and HOT. Apparently we’re in the middle of some heat wave (figures) but we move on and head over to the Poly for breakfast.

The Kona Café – I love this place. We received a table by the tram window which was great. Out of the sun and a wonderful view of the plants and monorail. Cassie ordered the Mickey pancakes (Patrick added the eyes and mouth), I had the Tonga Toast (TO DIE FOR) and Patrick had the Big Kona Breakfast – and yes he finished everything. Sooooo good.

Before long we were walking through the gates at Magic Kingdom and this time Cassie stayed awake. The plan was to head straight over to ToonTown to see Tinkerbell and her friends but we got side tracked by the show going on at the castle. We had missed the beginning and I suggested that we not stay to see it but come back later when we could see the entire thing – good thing Cassie said she wanted to stay because we never did get back to see it. Fireworks are much better at night but it was a good show.

When it was over we headed right over to Pixie Hallow. There really weren’t any signs (at least we couldn’t see any) and had to ask where they were. (FYI they are in between Mickey and Minnie’s houses)

The line for Tinkerbelle, Silvermist and Fawn was 45 minutes while the Princess line was only 15 minutes. It’s so cool how you get “sprinkled with pixie dust” and actually shrink to the size of the fairy’s to fit into their world. I have a really cute video of Cassie waving her arms like wings while she “flies” into Pixie Hollow. Silvermist was first up and she actually had to come and get Cassie. They had a lovely conversation before posing for pictures and Cassie being directed over to Tinkerbell. They all were wonderful with Cassie and Tinkerbelle even promised to frame one of Cassandra’s drawings if she sent it to her. (so cute)












After we left and “grew” to normal size (hummm I think they didn’t give me enough pixie dust because I still feel shorter) we jumped over to the Princess line and walked right up to the front (I can’t believe no one was in line). Yes we’ve already met them all, had breakfast and dinner with them but what’s another meeting right? It was wonderful. Cassie was the only one in there so she had their undivided attention for over 5 minutes. I know a lot of people seem rushed but if you get lucky you can feel like you’re a princess and if you ask Cassie she’ll say she spent the day with them which made me feel sooo warm and fuzzy LOL.















Minnie and Mickey’s houses were next on our tour (makes sense since they were right beside us). I have to say I preferred Minnie’s house over Mickey’s. Minnie’s was a playground for kids of all ages. Mickey’s was a museum. The kids thought that too. Minnie’s house was packed Mickey’s was empty. You couldn’t touch anything and they had alarms that went off if you leaned too far over the rope to take a picture.

Cassandra was getting cranky so we figured a trip on the train would be good – that is until she fell asleep and we had to go around twice before giving up and getting off in Adventure land. Boy it’s getting harder and harder to carry her around when she falls asleep.

During the nap, Patrick decided he wanted to go on Thunder Mountain. Fine by me since I don’t ride roller coasters and since Cassie was sleeping there was no better time. This was followed by making our way to a good spot to watch the afternoon parade. The first and only parade we manage to get to.

While we were waiting for the parade to start (and Cassandra to wake up) I noticed something going on behind me. Someone was sitting in the chair that was for the artists painting or so I thought. I couldn’t figure out what was going on until I glanced across the little walk way and spotted the artist quickly working away. Not painting or drawing but cutting. What on earth is this?

What it was is FANTASTIC.

This was done in ohhhhh about 5 minutes. Amazing. And it didn’t cost that much either. $7 or $8 per person in the picture and $7 or $8 for the frame. AND I got 2 copies and just had to buy another frame. A great souvenir.


I also took a picture of my favourite view of the castle. I just love the reflection in the stream. So peacefull. It’s this view that I’m thinking of for a tattoo on my lower back.

I created a 2 minute montage of the parade. Enjoy.







Lunch at the Plaza Restaurant followed by Buzz Lightyear and the Country Bears. Neither of of these we had been to before.

Lunch was ok – nothing special, even the service was just ok. Buzz Lightyear was so fun and … yup you guessed it, Cassie made us ride it twice. Country Bears was fun. Never seen it before. We all enjoyed it.

We headed over to Splash Mountain where the posted time was 20 minutes but we flew up the walk way. Don’t think they updated the wait time because it was only about 5 minutes. We were split on this ride. Cassie and I at the back and Patrick 2 rows up.

This was the LONGEST ride of my life. I’ve had flights to Europe that didn’t last as long. Ok a little exaggeration but holy cow.

So we start the ride and are about half way through when we stop. For about 10 minutes, when we started again it wasn’t for very long before we stopped again. Another 5 or 6 minutes go buy and we’re on our way. Only to stop again and again and again. Our longest stop was being the second boat at the bottom of the run up to the big drop. If I never see these damn birds again I’ll be happy.

Strolled on over to Pirates of the Caribbean and with another walk through we were on the ride. Just about the time it ended I realized we didn’t see Davy Jones and asked if that was just in the DL ride. Nope – it was broken down so we didn’t get to see it and didn’t make it back another day to see if they fixed it. oh well


Off to the Jungle Cruise followed by Wishes.











Up next – Epcot