Our First Full Week at the World, and we went during Spring Break?!? Conclusion 6/2

[Heluvsme]

What sweet girls you have!!! Love the report, and LOVE the pictures, the flowers are all so beautiful!!

 

[scott2997]

Whoa... I go an vacation for a few days and you start a TR?!? Sounds like the trip started off ratehr nicely despite your nemesisisisis attempts! Great updates, Scott! Great choice on the first park Completely agree with the whole Flower and Garden Festival making Epcot more magical. Can't wait to read more!

Hey there Don! Let me be the first to say - welcome back to reality.

What sweet girls you have!!! Love the report, and LOVE the pictures, the flowers are all so beautiful!!

Thanks! I think I ended up taking right around 1700 pictures for the week.

 

[twokids0204]

Whoa... I go an vacation for a few days and you start a TR?!? Sounds like the trip started off ratehr nicely despite your nemesisisisis attempts! Great updates, Scott! Great choice on the first park Completely agree with the whole Flower and Garden Festival making Epcot more magical. Can't wait to read more!

It's not for lack of trying...

 

[Emma's Dad]

It's not for lack of trying...

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

The amazing part is, my DD's still didn't know we were going to WDW! To them, we were still going to the "Ocean". Our typical Spring Break trip is to the beach in Daytona with my DW's family. My DW and I had discussed how and when we would tell them. And due to their ages, we thought we could try and keep it from them until we were in line for DME.

Nicely done! Love the idea.

"Do you think you might want to go to Disney World?"

"Yes" The jumping up and down starts...

"How about for a whole WEEK?"

"YES! Oh, I'm so excited" As she jumps up and down crazily.

And of course, the welcome video wasn't working...so they played the Cruise Line video for us. Oh well, at least it was something. And who cares...we're on our way to WDW!!!

That might have been confusing to the kids.

Looked at the shops...waited some more....Saw the Avengers monorail go by...So cool

The Avengers travel by monorail? I thought they were superheroes.

A little after 4, the text was received. We made it up to our room and headed out to the balcony...looked off a bit to the left and saw this...

That's awesome!

Well, tonight the DW and I were off for our "date night".

I'm not familiar with this concept.

Then we received a complimentary limoncello for dessert. We really didn't need any more booze in us after finishing off that bottle of wine -

But it didn't stop you!

This time we caught a view of Wishes! This would be the first of many times we were able to enjoy Wishes right from our room.

Also awesome.

This would be our first monorail experience of the trip. I was probably the most excited one. I don't know what it is about hearing that monorail spiel - but it gets me every time.

It's not a Disney trip unless you ride the monorail at least once.

Where do we head first?

Figment!

Aw, I can't believe I missed it.

Unfortunately, this line experience would set the tone for the rest of the week. We got all the way to the front of the queue, were sitting in the hang-glider and Addison decides she didn't want to ride. Oh well - maybe next time.

My son did that a lot too. We were Parents of the Year and forced him on.

On our walk back from Nemo through the entrance area to the Land pavilion. I spotted them. That family of 4 I had been looking for. I stopped them and asked if they were interested in fast passes for Soarin. Turns out they were a British family and they thanked me in a wonderful British accent. BONUS! I love passing on the pixie dust when I can! pixie dust:

Good work!

It's their Cheddar Cheese Soup infused with Moosehead beer and bacon!

Sweet manna from heaven...

 

[Maestra99]

Nice to see that you're surviving getting up so early. We have never tried RD before, but now that we have a wee tot coming on our next trip, we're going to try it! It will be a different way to see the world, that's for sure.

Good for you for spreading some pixie dust - I bet that added to their magical memories!

Yummy meal at Le Cellier! I LOVE that filet and risotto. Great choice for lunch! I must try the soup next time.
Enjoyed your latest update!

 

[scott2997]

...Good work!

Hey there Mark - nice of you to join us!

 

[scott2997]

Nice to see that you're surviving getting up so early. We have never tried RD before, but now that we have a wee tot coming on our next trip, we're going to try it! It will be a different way to see the world, that's for sure.

Good for you for spreading some pixie dust - I bet that added to their magical memories!

Yummy meal at Le Cellier! I LOVE that filet and risotto. Great choice for lunch! I must try the soup next time.
Enjoyed your latest update!

For the week that we went - if you weren't at the park early, you weren't going to be able to get things in that you wanted to do.

We loved Le Cellier - definitely a must-do for us the next time we go!

Thanks for following along!

 

[afwdwfan]

Monorail ride...

Spreading the magic to others...

Le Cellier cheese soup...

Can it really be any better than that?

Well, I guess it could be better if everyone would be willing to ride, but still looks like a great first half of the day.

 

[scott2997]

Monorail ride...

Spreading the magic to others...

Le Cellier cheese soup...

Can it really be any better than that?

Well, I guess it could be better if everyone would be willing to ride, but still looks like a great first half of the day.

It really was a pretty outstanding start to our trip.

I was kinda bummed about Addison not wanting to ride....she rides outdoor attractions like nothin' up here at our local amusement park. Just something about "dark rides" that spooks her. She'll come around someday I'm sure!

 

[twokids0204]

Monorail ride...

Spreading the magic to others...

Le Cellier cheese soup...

Can it really be any better than that?

Well, I guess it could be better if everyone would be willing to ride, but still looks like a great first half of the day.

Well it coulda been better if the monorail broke down...

Or he was arrested for transferring a non-transferable fastpass

Or if he found a hair in his soup, or if they ran out of the soup and replaced it with a can of Campbell's.

Or Rain... Rain... please. Why doesn't it just RAIN!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Hi I just found your trip report. A little late to the party but I'm here now and can't wait to hear about your trip.

Your daughter's are adorable. I hope they had a great spring break vacation.

 

[onescgirl]

Hi, I just found your TR & I am enjoying it!
Your daughters are beautiful!
The view from room, epecially during Wishes, is awesome!

 

[dolfan71665]

Enjoying the trip report, we went on Spring Break 2011. I do not have any Disney trip planned now but sure wish I did.

Living vicariously through trip reports. Wish I was There!

 

[scott2997]

Hi I just found your trip report. A little late to the party but I'm here now and can't wait to hear about your trip.

Your daughter's are adorable. I hope they had a great spring break vacation.

Welcome! Thanks for following along. And thanks for the compliment!

Hi, I just found your TR & I am enjoying it!
Your daughters are beautiful!
The view from room, epecially during Wishes, is awesome!

Glad you found us...and thanks!

Enjoying the trip report, we went on Spring Break 2011. I do not have any Disney trip planned now but sure wish I did.

Living vicariously through trip reports. Wish I was There!

I love reading TR's....it definitely helps to live through others in the telling of their story until your next trip! Thanks for reading.

 

[scott2997]

Part 2 Day 2

The naps provided a much needed break after a pretty warm morning. It must have been 5:30p or so by the time we got going again. We caught the next monorail to the TTC and transferred to the EPCOT monorail.

There were two missions we had in mind. The first and most important mission was to get in line for Jasmine and Aladdin's meet and greet! Unfortunately, it was 6:30p by the time we arrived at EPCOT and the last meet and greet was at 6:45p.

Call me the doubting Thomas, I didn't think there was any way we would make it. Tricia didn't want to take no for an answer. Not when it comes to Addison's favorite princess! This is when Tricia flicked the switch into Super Mom! She takes off with both girls in our double stroller and walks like she's never walked before. Aunt Jenn and I lag behind, watching her fade into the mass of humanity in front of us. Would she make it?

Nothing stops Super Mom - of course she made it. In fact, we were two families from the end of the line before they cut it off for the day! Whew!

Addison in all her glory - she's finally gonna meet Jasmine and Aladdin! She's got her book ready for her first signature of the week...

What a great couple! I think Claire even asked where Raja was.

It was at this point that Tricia and I left the girls with Aunt Jenn to run to Test Track. We had picked up some fast passes earlier in the day that I forgot to tell you about. The problem was - the time frame for those passes ended at 7:25p. It was 7:18p. We had to get movin'!

We walked very briskly and got their at the Very Last Minute of our window. We were told by the CM not to cut it so close next time as he wouldn't be able to let us in. Big Bad Fastpass Enforcing CM!

We rode Test Track - a first for both of us. It was quite fun. I'm glad we were able to do it before they renovate it this summer.

While we were on Test Track....guess who Aunt Jenn and the girls ran into??

One more princess off the list!

By this time we were making our way toward the front of the lagoon and doing some random shopping. We found a spot for Illuminations between the two shops at the very middle of the lagoon.

I'm a sucker for Illuminations and fireworks in general. Something about Illuminations and the music and what not gets me every time.

Here are a bunch of pictures....

And the finale

And here's the proof that the naps worked....Both girls, awake, at 9:30 and not cranky....Big thumb----->

It was a great way to end our day.

We made our way back to the TTC and hopped on the Resort Monorail to get to the Contemporary. On our way, we caught wishes from the monorail! This was cool, as I'd never seen Wishes from the monorail.

We got off the monorail and made our way to the 4th floor observation deck to listen and watch the rest of Wishes.

We took the girls up to our room to get them in bed. We stayed up and had a night cap on the balcony and caught the Electric Water Pageant. It wasn't long after that the adults went to bed. We had an early start the next day. It was an EMH morning.

Where would we go next? Stay Tuned.

 

[twokids0204]

Dang you nemesis. That sounds like an awesome day.

You are making this "being mean" thing very difficult.

Awesome pic of Alladin and Jasmine and the girls, and way to go Supermom for making it, while sluggish dad dragging behind.

And awesome pics of Illuminations, I am never able to get such good pics of that show. You even got the CN Tower in pretty clearly.

You better not keep up this pace, or I may have to befriend you and call off this whole nemesis thing.

 

[Emma's Dad]

Wow. What a day! Super mom saves the day! I'm thinking that may be minus man-points for not saving the day. JK. Awesome update! I have a question... what camera are you using here? That's got a great zoom and takes really good pictures! Any photo processing going on here?

 

[scott2997]

Dang you nemesis. That sounds like an awesome day.

You are making this "being mean" thing very difficult.

Awesome pic of Alladin and Jasmine and the girls, and way to go Supermom for making it, while sluggish dad dragging behind.

And awesome pics of Illuminations, I am never able to get such good pics of that show. You even got the CN Tower in pretty clearly.

You better not keep up this pace, or I may have to befriend you and call off this whole nemesis thing.

Sluggish Dad...that's me! Even on a normal day when we're walking, Tricia is always ahead of all of us....she's got a faster than normal pace!

And yes, I was pretty happy with how the pictures turned out. Especially for shooting without a tripod!

Wow. What a day! Super mom saves the day! I'm thinking that may be minus man-points for not saving the day. JK. Awesome update! I have a question... what camera are you using here? That's got a great zoom and takes really good pictures! Any photo processing going on here?

My camera is a Nikon D90. I love it. And surprisingly, I use one lens. It's a good one though. It's what I call a walk-around lens. It's the Nikkor 18-200 VR II. It's got a great range and does pretty well in low light, all things considered.

I just started shooting in RAW and did a little processing with Lightroom 3, but not much.

Glad you like the pics...I think I took like 75-100 just during Illuminations!

 

[afwdwfan]

Wow, super mom must have really kicked on the afterburners. You can't get much farther from the front entrance than Morocco.

I'm glad you guys made your Test Track window. I'm not too sure how I feel about this super strict FP enforcement. My first thought was that it won't be that big of a deal, but the first time I get held up somewhere and I'm late for an FP window, I won't be too happy.