1st Trip Ever - Over 2000 Pictures!!!

[ctink23]

Great day at AK! So cool that Timon gave Dominic a high five!

And now I am craving a shrimp po' boy!

 

[PrincessAmongPrinces]

Hi Just finished reading all 9 pages, and I am loving your TR so far!

Your son is adorable, and your daughter is too cute! I love the outfits you made for her- you're so crafty! I also might have to steal your idea of matching family shirts for our first trip!

Your pictures are wonderful. The ones of your kids exploring POP are my favorites so far. I also have the Nikon D5000, so I guess I should brush up on it before we go!

I can't wait to read more about your trip!

 

[plgrn]

Thank you for taking the time for a TR. I loved all the things you did for the family leading up to the trip

 

[budafam]

Thank you everyone! Just wanted to post to say that I haven't forgotten... I was just waiting for the photobucket to reset (stinkin bandwith!)

DH just gave me the go ahead to start planning next year's trip!!! We're going in May and my MIL is tagging along this time (wish me luck on this one!) We're also doing the Deluxe Dining Plan (oh man! I need to start a diet!) I've already got all my ADR's in line and movie night planning has begun. I feel like 290 days is not enough time to get ready! lol...

 

[budafam]

After a half day at Animal Kingdom, we took a mid-day break back at Pop. When we got back to the hotel, DH went to check to see if Tinkerbell had been delivered from Epcot the previous day and sure enough, she was there. Lucy was so excited!

We took a short little break out by the pool while we called the grandma's and grandpa's.

Then we headed to the cafeteria to get some yummies in our tummies. Here's a good pic of the mac & cheese (DH convinced them to do an adult portion for himself) with breadsticks. DH got sick of the mac & cheese by the end of the vacation (it was very pasty tasting) but I loved it. The kids got grilled cheeses and I believe I ended up with fettucini & chicken. I thought it was weird how they gave you the piece of chicken whole and not mixed in with the fettucine. It was okay but I'll probably never order that again.

Up next: The BIG Ball at Epcot!

 

[budafam]

So after our little break at Pop, we returned to Epcot (yay for park hoppers). We wanted to see Illuminations and we were there plenty early so we took a walk around. First off, we saw that gigantic bouncy ball and asked how much that was... I thought maybe $100... no, not at Disney of course! $350!!! Craziness!

The only Lightning & Mater we got to see while we were there

Next up: Illuminations ​

 

[DMMarla07860]

great trip report so far

 

[budafam]

We found a spot to watch Illuminations from and had to wait an hour for the show to start. The kids started getting restless so I pulled out the light sticks I had purchased back at home for them. Before we knew it, the flames were burning and the show started. I'm sooo glad we hadn't walked over to Mexico to watch it. They got bombarded by smoke... we couldn't even see the buildings over there. Here are pics:

I thought the fireworks were amazing. The whole Earth opening thing was a big slow though. Pretty sure we'll plan on skipping this show next time we're there (and take advantage of the Test Track/Soarin' rides)

Next up: More Mickey Gifts​

 

[budafam]

So we headed out of Epcot. The kids were both out by the time we reached the van. They woke up in time to walk to our room and find out that Mickey had been there again. They were excited to find Toy Story Operation and a princess painting book with stamps. Yay!!! Time for bed!!!

Next up: Hollywood Studios & the big TSM FP run!​

 

[budafam]

After a late night at Epcot, we were up early for DHS the following morning. I was very excited for the big TSM run that I've heard so much about. It did not disappoint! We arrived about an hour before "rope drop" and they opened the gates about 20 minutes early to take us all down to in front of the big hat with a rope holding everyone back. About 5 minutes before opening time, the CM's started walking everyone toward TSM. I snapped a bunch of pictures of an empty DHS as we were walking. DH was farther back with the stroller but he said there were grown men jumping over flower planters to get closer up to the front in line. This "run" is no joke. I was first to reach a FP machine and then I quickly went over to the main entrance to watch for DH & the kids.

Next up: Let's ride it!​

 

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

Enjoying your TR! Your daughter is absolutely adorable!! Love her outfits!! With three trips under our belt now, we still have yet to see Illuminations...and honestly....I'm not sure we'll do it on our upcoming trip. I just don't like to keep the kids up that late since we get up so early....but of course we always have two late nights...one for Wishes and last trip for Fantasmic! Can't wait to see how your kids enjoyed TSM and what you chose to do at DHS!!

 

[heaven2dc]

Wow - first to get a Fastpass - I'm impressed! You are hereby invited to all of my future trips

How do you get presents in the room for the kids when you return? Does housekeeping do that or do you sneak them in? Love how excited your kids get with these little surprises

 

[budafam]

As soon as grabbing some FP's, we got in line to ride the legendary TSM. The line leading up to the ride was amazing. One of the best at WDW, IMO. We loved the talking Mr. Potato Head and really wish we had more time to spend there but "fortunately" the line was moving very fast I was ready for this ride... I couldn't wait to try to beat DH.. and I did I highly recommend getting up early and riding this ride. No one else that we know has been on this ride but they all gush at how great Buzz Lightyear was... IMO TSM was soo much better! Here are some pics:

Next Up: Some characters...​

 

[Bethislucy]

Great pics. I just love TSM.

 

[budafam]

After riding TSM, we saw some characters out and short lines so we quickly met them, got their autographs and some pictures...

Next up: Kermie & Miss Piggy!​

 

[budafam]

So after walking around HS for awhile, we finally found an attraction that was open. Muppet Vision. I was excited for this since I grew up with the muppets. My kids had no idea who these animals were but they loved it. As soon as we got home, we got them some muppet movies and now they are huge fans!

Afterwards we walked around a bit more... you can see how dead the park was this early in the morning with these pictures:

Next up: Playhouse Disney​

 

[budafam]

We got in line for the Playhouse Disney show. We were about middle in the line. It was a long wait (about 30 minutes) before we finally got let in. During the wait, there was something being written about God in the skies above... not sure what it ended up saying because we went inside. We got a seat close to the front and right on the edge of the aisle. The show seemed to take forever to start and with a bunch of young kids in there, it got kinda loud. I wasn't overly impressed by this show. The girl that does it has a VERY high pitched voice and I could only handle it for so long. I thought they would have a few "real" actors or characters out there but it was all puppets that stayed on stage. The kids really enjoyed the parts where confetti fell from the sky. This is not a show I would repeat though.

Stroller parking was insane afterwards... I thought this was bad but it's nothing compared to Fantasmic later on... lol...

Up next: 2nd time on TSM!​

 

[budafam]

After the show we headed back over to TSM to use our FP's. It was only 11:00 and you can see the wait time below for FP's Since we had to take the FP lane, we missed all the cool stuff (including Mr. Potato Head) but boy, were we happy to bypass that long line! I noticed that someone had thrown up right before the entry way to TSM... I didn't think that ride was that scary lol... I also schooled DH this time again. He was not too thrilled

Up next: A bunch of character meetings...​

 

[budafam]

After stepping out of TSM we saw this guy and got some autographs & pics:

Then we headed out to go monster hunting. The Monsters Inc. meetngreet was really hard to find. We had to ask a CM where it was. We got in line and they weren't even out yet. I think we waited about 20 min. before they even came out. There was an unruley child behind us with 2 women (mother & daughter). The boy must've been about 8 years old. He was awful, punching his grandma in the stomach and running around. I couldn't wait to be out of the line so we didn't have to deal with him. I don't know how many times he knocked into each of us on "accident". This was my favorite character meet of all. They seemed to spend a lot of time with us and even though they didn't talk, they interacted so well with the kids. Here are pics:

Next we headed back over near TSM to find Woody & Buzz. The wait was 30 minutes which we didn't think was too bad. We had about an hour before our ADR so this sounded perfect. I loved the window they had for the kids to see inside. Our kids got really excited. Then there was the wait. It ended up being closer to 45 minutes. The building was very deceiving. There are photo ops throughout the line to keep the kids busy and entertained but still, there were so many kids that were misbehaving... ugh, we were so close to telling one lady off. Her kids were just running around and she was sitting on her phone the whole time not caring at all. Anyways, here are some pics:

Next up: Sci Fi​

 

[budafam]

Finally it was time for our 2nd ADR of the trip. Sci-Fi Dine In Theater. I was really excited about this one. I thought the atmosphere looked sooo neat. I grew up listening to 50's & 60's music and going to car shows with my dad's 1951 Ford Convertible so I felt right at home in this place. The kids loved it too. Dominic sat in the drivers seat and was given a temporary drivers license by our waitress. Unfortunately, my picky DH had a hard time finding food on the menu. They were unable to make a regular grilled cheese (they could've made one with rye bread & swiss cheese) so he ended up ordering a kid's pizza and it was awful. I even thought it was bad and I'll eat pretty much anything. We should've complained but for once in our life, we kept quiet. I ordered a reuben sandwich with the cucumber salad and a strawberry milkshake. It was amazing. All of it. Very yummy. The kids shared a pizza and got ice cream sundaes for dessert. Those were yummy too. Here are some pictures:

Next up: The Great Movie Ride​