Thanks for taking the time...you've inspired me!
ChiTownZee said:Great trip report and photos! It was great to read, especially because we're staying at the Wilderness Lodge for the first time in Oct.
Mickey's Sister said:Excellent trip report Lesley! Sounds like you had a wonderful time - despite the illness. The resilience of children is pretty incredible isn't it? I also subscribe to the WL thread & I had read there about your plans so it was nice to hear how everything worked out. Thanks for sharing your experiences, as well as your lively wit - both were quite enjoyable.
WL is by far my favorite resort - though we have not yet been able to stay there. We were booked there for our last trip but my Dsis - with whom I travel - had to cancel at the last minute due to job constraints - so we ended up at ASMU. (UGH!!! Never again - long story.) We did spend the day there amidst their beautiful Christmas decorations, but if anything, it made us sadder that we were staying somewhere else. Now we are planning next trip for May 2007 & my son says he will not stay anywhere but WL, so I hope, this time.....
Thanks again...I'll probably 'see' you on the WL thread!
P.S. Happy Anniversary AND Happy 30th!
Jessica
Glad you enjoyed the report!!!
1000thhappyhaunt said:
MomofCKJ said:I just found your TR and read the entire thing and loved every word! I especially loved that your entire trip is all here! It is so nice to read about a trip from start to finish!
It sounds like you had an amazing time, aside from a little puke, and I really loved being able to see all your pictures! Your children are adorable!
Reading things like this helps me get through my wait till December!
Are you a TGM fan? Reading your report made me wonder if you were.
Allyson
, oh well, we had a great trip as a result of his advice and the advice of Diser's. Glad you enjoyed the pic's too, thanks. . .I'll keep the kids, I think they're kinda cute too.
PolyAddict said:AWESOME< AWESOME< AWESOME!!!!!
I give it 4 stars!!!!
Very entertaining.
mrs.explorer1977 said:
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timandlesley said:Day 6 (June 15th- MY 30th BIRTHDAY!!!)
Phone rang at 7:00 on my b-day morning. I woke up and showered as Tim went to get breakfast for everyone from Roaring Forks. I ate breakfast as the kids slept. Tim then woke them up and they gave me my gifts. Tim bought me two Disney tank tops that I LOVED. A gorgeous sterling silver charm bracelet from the DownTown Disney store and sterling silver Mickey mouse necklace (that you can see in future pics) as well. I was so happy,! Great presents, and Disney World for my b-day . . .YEAH!!!! What a great day.
I had given a lot of thought on what park I wanted to go to on my big day. I chose Animal Kingdom because I had been looking forward to riding Expedition Everest. We got on the 8:30 bus and arrived at Animal Kingdom at 9:05 (bus ride took awhile from the lodge because it stops at Typhoon Lagoon on the way there). Our game plan was to have Tim run for FPs for Expedition Everest while the rest of us headed to Dinoland to meet him. My mom got me an its my birthday pin from guest services before we entered the park so I was wearing that for the morning.
Well, Tim went with the MASSES (and I mean MASSES) of people and sprinted towards Everest. He later told me that it was every man for himself and was like a marathon. He said the line for FPs was longer than the line itself. By the time he got up to the front the return time was around 10:50- incredible.
On our way to Dinoland we passed Tough to be a Bug and there was no wait so I had mom and dad and Luke stop for that and told them to meet Lauren and I in Dinoland (this attraction FREAKED Lauren out last year and I didnt want to do that to her again, even though I LOVE the show myself). We headed to Dinoland and it was EMPTY. We walked onto the Triceritops spin 3 different times. Each time the CMs said Happy b-day as I passed. We then spotted Tim and he was a PUDDLE of sweat. He was so tired and was explaining how crazy it was on that side of the park. I was THRILLED we had the FPs in hand.
Mom, dad and Luke met up with us and it was time for Dinosaur. Last year they had given Luke a special card because he wasnt tall enough to ride and I had held onto it. I presented it at the gate and they said we could all go on with the card. (I sent my dad and Lauren back to Triceritops spin because it would be too much for dad and Lauren was too short to ride). We went in and rode dinosaur. GREAT, WILD, SCARY ride, LOVED IT! Mom hung in there and liked it too. I still cant believe Luke rode and loved it.
After this ride there were live performers we enjoyed ( a juggling act with painters uniforms).
We then started talking game plan. I knew that if we wanted to do the safari before leaving around 1:00 we would need to get a FP for it before we went to Expedition Everest. We decided Tim and Luke would ride Everest first and mom, dad and I would head to the other side of the park to get FPs for the Safari. We headed in our opposite directions. On the way to the Safari Lauren and I stopped for this pic:
We got to the safari after a long hot walk (it was a heat index of 107 on this day- VERY HOT w/ no breeze). Our return time for the safari was 11:50-12:50- PERFECT.
We then got a 2-way radio call from Tim saying they got off the ride already and for us to come over to ride.
By the way when we got there (at around 11:00 the return time for Everest was already 2:50-3:50, so if you are going to AK and want to ride GET THERE EARLY)
My mom, dad, Luke and I went on the ride. OH MY GOSH- this ride ROCKS!!!! I absolutely loved it what a ride to experience on your b-day. I had looked forward to this ride since I saw it being built last summer when we were there and it did not disappoint. My mom and especially dad were a little shaken but they liked it too (a little too rough for their tastes) We had gotten a parent swap pass too just in case we would be able to ride again. When we got off mom and dad volunteered to take the kids for snacks (which they were BEGGING for) while Tim and I got to ride together. Tim and I have been to Disney together for the past 3 years with small children and have never gotten to ride a Disney roller coaster together- this was WONDERFUL! How cool. . .in Disney for my 30th, getting to ride the best ride ever with my best friend and husband GREAT MEMORY!!!
As we got out it was SO extremely hot. At this point everyone was still thinking that I wanted to stay for Lion King after lunch and the safari. I told everyone that I thought it was too hot for the kids and all of us to stay that long today so that we could leave after the safari. We looked at the map to find somewhere to eat for lunch. We saw that the Tusker House wasnt to terribly far away and was close to the Safari so we walked there. On the way we ran into a Jungle Book character:
We had a great lunch at the Tusker House (one of the better counterservice meals w/ the credits that we had this trip).
After lunch we hit the safari. The stand by line was TWO HOURS LONG and people were actually waiting in it. I couldnt believe it. I just dont understand with FPs available why people would waste their time waiting in a line for 2 hours. Oh well. . Here is my mom, Tim and Lauren waiting in line for the safari:
The safari was great as usual. A very hot and tired Lauren actually fell asleep at the end of the safari. I handed her off to Tim.
After the safari we had a long HOT walk to the bus :
When we got back to the room Tim told the kids they could wait up for a bit because a surprise was coming at 2:00. Sure enough a knock on the door at two oclock and I was presented with the most INCREDIBLY TASTING chocolate covered tuxedo strawberries ever. YUM!!!:
I gave the kids each one and I ate the rest (Tim said he wanted me to have them all, I kept offering. . .honest!) These were INCREDIBLE and were gone in 5 minutes (o.k. maybe even less than that : )
After naps we awoke to a wake up call, jumped in the shower and headed to the Magic Kingdom. I couldnt decide where to spend my b-day and had decided I wanted an evening at the MK to watch SpectroMagic so I booked Tonys for dinner.
I have to admit, I was nervous about this one because of the mixed reviews here on the Dis but we had a great dinner (but more on that later)
We entered the park on a BEAUTIFUL night. As I got the rental stroller mom and Tim both took off at the same time to get buttons so I ended up with two b-day buttons. After looking at the pics it looks a bit obscene but . . .oh well!
Here we are on Main street on the beautiful night:
We had about an hour before dinner and I wanted my parents to see Philarmagic since they hadnt seen it before. Lauren had it in her head she wanted to ride the Pooh ride so I told them to head to Philarmagic and Lauren and I would go to Pooh. When we got to Pooh it was a one hour line so that wouldnt do. We ended up finding Poohs playful spot so she played there for awhile instead and I got FPs for Pooh to ride after dinner:
Boy was it hot that night!!!
They got out of Philarmagic (which they loved, hey how couldnt you love it?) and we headed to dinner.
We had a bit of a wait for dinner and when they called us in the lady who seated us gave the kids Mickey confetti and streamers to decorate the table with. Here they are having fun doing that:
Here is the b-day girl at dinner: (with my obscene buttons: )
(you can also see my new necklace Tim bought for me in this pic)
We had a wonderful meal and right as we were wrapping up and the server was clearing the table that the not so wonderful thing happened.
Let me preface this by saying that I know earlier in this trip Luke and Lauren had a stomach bug and vomiting.
Now Lauren was born 2 months early and has a gag reflux that acts up every now and then when she gets upset and is crying at meal time. Well at this meal she was tired and was screaming to get out of her chair. Right as she was doing that the waiter was clearing her plate. Well. . . Lauren puked EVERYWHERE!!! GREAT. . .My mom and I swooped into action. She stood behind Lauren trying to keep her still as I cleaned. We had to laugh because my moms rear end was on the poor couples table behind us. We couldnt stop laughing at that one. The waiter came back to make sure she was alright and we assured him he was and it was due to her premature birth yada yada yada. O.K. on with the b-day dinner. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!
Here is Lauren entertaining herself in the mirror after the incident as we waited for desert to arrive (as you can she the girl is PERFECTLY fine):
They then brought me out a b-day cake and the whole restaurant sang to while twirling their napkins:
After an interesting but over all nice b-day dinner we headed to Fantasyland to ride Winnie the Pooh with the FPs since we had promised Lauren. It was a cute ride as always and mom and dad got to experience it for the first time.
We then headed to Frontierland because it was already 8:15 and we needed to get spots for Spectro. We had perfect seats again in front of the Hall of Presidents. My mom said this was the first time she was able to actually sit for the parade, it was SO nice not being so crowded:
After Spectro we decided to head back to the hotel. As we got onto the boat back to WL it was 9:55 so I was hoping wed get to see the fireworks from the boat. We did get to see most of them before we got back so that was nice.
We headed back to the room for a good nights sleep.
Another night of turndown service. The kids absolutely LOVE this and Lauren searches the room for chocolates and eats them very fast before we tell her it is time for bed.
What a GREAT b-day. Another memorable day in Disney and I ended the day with a smile on my face.
To come in day 7: A great day at Epcot and my very grumpy reaction to DHs change of plans but turns out to be a great last evening with my parents. Stay tuned. . . .
but she will deserve all the time in the world). I just have to talk her into going twice and then it woud be even better.
explorer1977 said:Oh my wife would be off a long time before we go with a little one (she gets a year off and won't let me have any of the time
Great pictures by the way and love the TR
bellenbuzz said:I just finished reading your report this morning.
We are going in November and are sooooooo excited!
Going with My DH, and 2 DD's ages 5 & 8 AND
My Parents ( Great Helpers with Kids & Convenient Sitters )
AND My sister, her hubby & my 2 nephews.....
It is going to be fabulous ........
Reading you trip was very informational & fun !!
I can't wait to make our own magical dreams !!!
ReneeDisney said:
