1st trip: snow, stuck on a roller coaster, & a scratched cornea (lots of pictures)

lmbcdb

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 11, 2009
Messages
1,153
Just back from our first trip to Disneyworld!
Before I introduce the cast, here's the highlights:

  • snow!
  • stuck on a rollercoaster
  • scratched cornea (or so I was told in the ER)

Where we stayed: Fort Wildnerness Cabins

When: January 3rd, 2010

How long: 7 days

Our cast:

Lisa Marie, 39 (me)
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My wonderful husband of 9 years, Chris: (40)
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Our entertaining and super-intelligent son, Daniel: (6 1/2)
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Our precious and beautiful daughter, Claire, who is 2:
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Technically, my husband and I have been before, but we were 8 and 10 years old and don't remember lick about our trip. So, we are considering the whole family virgins to the World.
 
We flew in to Orlando 3 days early to visit my BIL in Tampa. We got up bright and early and were pulling out of the driveway at 8:00, as I wanted to spend the day at the park. We got to the cabins at 9:00 and our room was ready! Online check in was a joke, as the online check in lady decided to help someone secure a reservation! I had to stand in line for 10 minutes or so. I also picked up the stroller Orlando Stroller had left for us. The lobby was much smaller than I thought it would be! My BIL drove us down to the cabin and helped us unload. Kenny from Tee Time called and said he was ready to drop off the cart. My BIL took me back up and we checked out the cart together.

I went back to the cabin and we headed to the MK. I had packed the park bag the night before (with a list from DIS boards) and we were off. We drove the cart up to the marina and headed for the store. I needed a Coke and we all needed lanyards. We then went to the marina and a boat was waiting to take us the the Magic Kingdom!

We had AWESOME luck with buses and boats all week. There was always either one waiting for us, or we had to wait a maximum of 3 minutes.

Then, once we got to the MK, we got in and had to stop at the first store and buy gloves and knit hats for everyone. The temperature was 45 with a wind chill even lower! My poor husband - all the gloves were too small and he went without all week!

So, we head out for our first walk down Main Street. Everyone is cold, and hungry, since by now it is noon. But I insist everyone put on their personalized ears I ordered for a picture.

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Don't the kids look excited? :rotfl:

So, I asked at Guest Services for the nearest indoor counter service with the most variety. We ended up at Harbor House and had a nice lunch. Everyone was much better after lunch.

At this point, we had to head over to Adventureland for DS6's surprise. I had made him a reservation at Pirate's League because they were having a 50% off for resort guests. We rode Pirates of the Carribean and then I took him over to PL. I told him to walk up to the guy and tell him his name and that he had a reservation. The greeter was great! He understood that my son had no idea what was going on and told him that Jack Sparrow wanted him to join his crew. He got the whole deal - makeup and costume. It was worth every penny. He told people all week that Jack asked him to join his crew. Complete strangers stopped him and took pictures with him!

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We then rode the Aladdin Carpets and caught the show in front of the castle. Both kids loved it. I even got goosebumps. That was the magic for me, seeing the characters, dancing in front of the castle. I knew it was going to be a magical week.

We went back to the Fort and had dinner at Trail's End, (good food) and then went back to the park for SpectroMagic. Made it just in time, then back to the cabin where everyone went right to bed!
 
Off to Epcot, bright and early. Maybe a little too early. 30 minutes in the cold with little ones does not make to a good start.

We headed straight for Soarin and got FP and Rider Switch passes. My son and DH rode it while Claire and I rode Living with the Land. (suggested by TGM) Perfect for a 2 yo. While I thought the first half was lame, she loved it. I loved the greenhouses, especially the pumpkin being forced to grow in to a Mickey head shape.

We got off and I rode Soarin by myself. My son didn't want to ride again because he wanted to do LWL after hearing about it! While I enjoyed Soarin, I didn't think it was as awesome as all the hype I had heard.

We then headed over for Turtle Talk with Crush (awesome for old and young) and the Nemo clamshell ride - also pretty entertaining. On the way out, we took this:

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No, my son is not anemic or sick. It's just leftover face paint from the Pirates League. Talk about melodrama in the morning trying to get it off. You would have though we were torturing him.

We then headed across the park for our Princess Brunch at Akershus. It was wonderful! Only 1/4 full, spent lots of time with each princess, and the food was delicious. Especially the potato casserole.

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I think you can tell by the look on his face that Ariel was his favorite...

We then went to the character spot in the middle of the park and got to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald. Even after spending 30 minutes in line, the characters were still great with the kids. I wonder how much they get paid?

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We then headed across the way to the Fountainview - great snack place. For one snack credit, I had a waffle cone with one scoop. Daniel had a regular cone with two HUGE scoops!

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We then headed back for the recommended daily afternoon break/nap. While the kids did nap, we came to realize later in the week you are darned if you do and darned if you don't. They were difficult to get going again after naps, but if we didn't, and stayed all day, the trip back to the cabin was heck.

We got up and headed back to Epcot. We had dinner at Seasons - yummy! More like TS food than CS. I had salmon with a sauce, mashed potatoes and rice. Along with a spectacular Asian chocolate cake.

We then did rider switch on Test Track, where Claire had a fabulous time playing in the car show room while we waited. "Mommy, me drive!"

After that, we headed to Illuminations. We either got there to late or were on the wrong side of the park. We couldn't see a thing, and it seemed like most of the show was in the lake, not the air. OH well....

Off to the Studios tomorrow, which turned out to be my 2nd favorite park.
 
:cool1: So nice to be the first to sign in. :rotfl2: Your trip so far sounds great. Cant wait to read more. Keep it coming.
 

Hi Lisa.


Back in 2007 we were at WDW during Easter week, and just before we left, I decided to throw 2 big sweatshirts in a big suitcase, because you could check 2 suitcases for free yet, and I decided last minute to do it. We wore those darn sweatshirts almost all week. On the Saturday before Easter, they had a record high of 50, at nite it dropped down to 35. I remember the stores, were pulling out any winter clothes they could find to sell.

I want to stay in the campground, but I want my dh to pull our trailer down, and he says it is too far. I'm hoping they announce the tri-athalon soon, but I think it isn't going to happen. They found snakes in Bay Lake.

Looking forward to the rest of your TR.
M.
 
We did the EXACT same thing for Soarin'. I have a 5 yo and a 2 yo. My 2 yo LOVED LWL. Seriously. He did it multiple times in a row! I really don't get it, but little ones do love that one. I also didn't think Soarin' was worth the long lines, but did like it. Glad to have FP and rider swap.

Your title caught my eye; I think my 2 yo scratched MY cornea on our first morning there during our Oct trip. He was sick during the night so I brought him in to bed with me. When he woke up and I was there in bed with him, he was so excited that he pointed right at me, and it was pitch dark and I couldn't see it coming. When I did get to the park, it was so bright, I had to buy sunglasses. I wore them inside and outside for two days. It was really painful. I called my mom and she googled "baby poked me in the eye" and came up with the idea that I may have had a scratched cornea! Freaky mom injury. :laughing:
 
Great TR so far!! Can't wait for more!! We will be in WDW in a few weeks and LWL is closed so unfortunately we won't be able to ride that one! I am looking forward to hearing about DHS. That is one of my favorites too!! :thumbsup2

Robyn
 
Hi I'm subbing this TR.
Your kids are cuties. I was at Disney in December and we had some cold days, the rain made it worse.
I can't wait to read more.
 
Hi Lisa.


Back in 2007 we were at WDW during Easter week, and just before we left, I decided to throw 2 big sweatshirts in a big suitcase, because you could check 2 suitcases for free yet, and I decided last minute to do it. We wore those darn sweatshirts almost all week. On the Saturday before Easter, they had a record high of 50, at nite it dropped down to 35. I remember the stores, were pulling out any winter clothes they could find to sell.

I want to stay in the campground, but I want my dh to pull our trailer down, and he says it is too far. I'm hoping they announce the tri-athalon soon, but I think it isn't going to happen. They found snakes in Bay Lake.

Looking forward to the rest of your TR.
M.


You know what, even if we had know it was going to be cold, I don't think we would have had room for any more clothes! I was amazed at the amount of suitcases we took for one week. Maybe next time I'll try doing laundry. I just didn't want to take time out of my vacation to do clothes! I did do one load, and it turned out not to be such a big deal, having the cart to take the clothes to the laundromat.

Thanks for joining....
 
We did the EXACT same thing for Soarin'. I have a 5 yo and a 2 yo. My 2 yo LOVED LWL. Seriously. He did it multiple times in a row! I really don't get it, but little ones do love that one. I also didn't think Soarin' was worth the long lines, but did like it. Glad to have FP and rider swap.

Your title caught my eye; I think my 2 yo scratched MY cornea on our first morning there during our Oct trip. He was sick during the night so I brought him in to bed with me. When he woke up and I was there in bed with him, he was so excited that he pointed right at me, and it was pitch dark and I couldn't see it coming. When I did get to the park, it was so bright, I had to buy sunglasses. I wore them inside and outside for two days. It was really painful. I called my mom and she googled "baby poked me in the eye" and came up with the idea that I may have had a scratched cornea! Freaky mom injury. :laughing:

Found out it's not a scratch! I actually have a virus in my corneas caused by my ill-fitting contacts. Hopefully is goes away soon...if not I have to do steriods.
 
Great TR so far!! Can't wait for more!! We will be in WDW in a few weeks and LWL is closed so unfortunately we won't be able to ride that one! I am looking forward to hearing about DHS. That is one of my favorites too!! :thumbsup2

Robyn

Thanks for joining - why are they closing LWL?
 
Hi I'm subbing this TR.
Your kids are cuties. I was at Disney in December and we had some cold days, the rain made it worse.
I can't wait to read more.
Thanks! Welcome. I love your name. I feel addicted now, too... feel like the only reason to work is to go back to Disney...:)
 
I wasn't real sure what to expect at the Studios. We were all excited about the car stunt show, but otherwise really had no clue what to expect.

It ended up being my 2nd favorite park! (next to MK, of course...)

We got up early and made it in to the park. They actually let you in to the first little area on the main street before 9:00. A small crowd was waiting to be let down the rest of the street in to the main area of the park, but we were COLD!!!! I had on a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, a lined windbreaker, gloves and knit hat. But, I was so cold we went in the nearest shop and bought me a sweatshirt.

My 2 yo was driving me nuts! The wind chill must have been 30 and she would NOT wear a hat, gloves, or keep a blanket tucked around her on the stroller. I felt like a bad mom letting my daughter out in that weather without more protection. We finally gave up and just triple layered her every day!

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Notice it still looks like Daniel is wearing eyeliner from the Pirate's League 2 days ago...pirate:

We headed up the street and Claire made us go "under the hat" - she loved it and every time we went by we had to go visit the "hat".

Our goal was to head back to the Lights Motors Action Stunt show to see if we needed FP. Needless to say, we stopped a few times along the way...

Our first distraction:


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Then we noticed there was a 5 minute wait for Star Tours, so on it the boys went while Claire and I waited with my rider switch pass in the gift shop. Claire and I took off to the gift shops nearby the Miss Piggy fountain - boy was that entertaining!

There, I bought her a Mickey Mouse doll. Oh my, that poor thing went EVERYWHERE with us that week. She wouldn't go anywhere without him. Now he is dirty from being run over, and has blue lollipop stuck to his head. He even danced at the Studios:

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We met back up with the boys and continued to try to make it back to the Stunt Show. Of course, we ran in to another distraction:

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We had to get a picture with each of them, along with their autograph. Daniel was WAY more excited than I thought he would be about the autographs. He would get the Sharpie ready (I let him use one of my click Sharpies from my classroom, which worked great) and even turn to the next blank page when he was done.

He also liked the pin trading. I thought about getting him some pins before we left, but I wasn't sure if he would do it or not. Sometimes he is weird about talking to strangers. Not this time. He asked every CM he saw about trading pins. Even the ladies behind the counter at CS restaurants, who rarely had them.

So, we finally made it to the stunt show and the CM out front said it wasn't busy enough for FP.

Off to lunch:

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The sci fi drive in was just plain cool. I had an awesome burger, and the waiter was excellent. He even brought extra food for Claire when he learned she was sharing with Daniel. (she didn't have credits since she is 2)

Oh, and we never got charged at TS restaurants for her drinks. That was pretty cool.

The kids really liked that the plates were in the the shape of Mickey Mouse.

Daniel and I then used the Rider Switch pass from earlier and rode Star Tours. That was pretty cool. The thing I really liked about all the attractions at HS was the theming in the entryways/lines on the way to the ride. Almost as entertaining as the ride itself!

We then all went to the Lights Motors Action show. While the stunts were good, there was a little too much talking. While I understand they have to set up more stunts, the "interviewing" was a little boring. Indy Jones' show had better transitions.

Daniel was floored when Herbie "split in two" and drove around. We tried to explain it to him, but he was just flabbergasted. I liked it when the guy was set on fire.

We then went to Playhouse Disney. While the kids seemed to enjoy it, I thought it was a little lame. You couldn't see the puppets very well from the floor, plus I was expecting characters. Oh well. Got out of the cold for awhile.

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We then headed down for the TGM recommended Beauty and the Beast. We were a little early, so I went and rode the Aerosmith roller coaster. They had a single rider line, and I only waited 5 minutes. AWESOME roller coaster. Cool music, and just dark enough that you can still anticipate where the coaster was going. Cool thing - the music didn't play the first time, so we got to get off, and go down a back hallway and get right back on! We cut in front of everyone!

I then joined my family for Beauty and the Beast. Nice music, singing, dancing, etc. Good costumes, too!

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All in all, a very productive and low-stress day. (it warmed up later - not enough to take coats off, but at least one layer!)

We decided to not push the kids any more, since we skipped nap, and decided to go "rest" at the cabin until our 7:15 Hoop de Do.

Good choice on the parents part.

Little bit of drama picking up the tickets - she showed me the menu, and it was only ribs and fried chicken. Neither of which my kids would eat. But, Daniel wanted to see the show. He had seen the characters the night walk through when we were dining at Trail's End. I was very weary of the whole show in general, but it came so highly recommended from several sources. "A musical comedy" just didn't seem like something that would entertain my and 2 yo, and I didn't want to spend my dinnertime ( and 2 TS credits ) entertaining my kids.

The CM finally got on the phone and asked someone and I was told they could bring mac n cheese and PBJ. I think Daniel lived on Uncrustables the whole week.

The whole evening turned out the opposite of my expectations. It was very corny comedy, which is PERFECT for 6 year old boys. He was in hysterics the whole time. Claire even watched, and enjoyed herself. Especially since one of the character's names was Claire! I had 2 glasses of wine, lots of food, and relaxed. :cool1:
 
I'm here and subbing.
Your kids are so cute. I live in south florida so I know about that cold weather. It is still going on! It sounds like you weren't letting the weather get in the way of your fun. We went to Disney for Thanksgiving and it was cold for only 2 days.
Can't wait for more!
Barbara
 
There, I bought her a Mickey Mouse doll. Oh my, that poor thing went EVERYWHERE with us that week. She wouldn't go anywhere without him. Now he is dirty from being run over, and has blue lollipop stuck to his head. He even danced at the Studios:
:

A toy is never truly loved until it has blue lolli pop stuck to it's head.:lovestruc

Hollywood Studios is my second favorite park too. I love ToT and RnR.


Thanks! Welcome. I love your name. I feel addicted now, too... feel like the only reason to work is to go back to Disney...:)

Ditto, I only work to get back to Disney as fast as I can, My addiction began on my first trip in April 2006, I was a disney deprived child, but I am making up for that now.
 
I'm here and subbing.
Your kids are so cute. I live in south florida so I know about that cold weather. It is still going on! It sounds like you weren't letting the weather get in the way of your fun. We went to Disney for Thanksgiving and it was cold for only 2 days.
Can't wait for more!
Barbara

Thanks for joining! One good thing about the weather - it was single digits at home! (Dallas TX area) (which is rarely gets that cold - maybe it was part of the same cold front!)
 












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