2 Fabulous days! May 14-15

[masquerade]

By nature, I am a lurker on most boards but would like to give something back for all the wonderful information I have learned here.

Cast:
Yours truly: 33
DH: 33
DD: 3
MIL: 57
FIL: 61
DH’s brother: 27

HOTEL
We stayed at the Hyatt Regency for three nights. Got it for $45 per night on Priceline but also had to pay $15 per night for parking. We arrived by car around 7:30pm. The lobby was very nice, but noticed that it was quite empty. That’s a good sign for me. The main reason I decided to go this time of year is to avoid the crowds. No fridge or microwave in the room, but the beds were heavenly. The hotel offers free shuttle service to the park.

Day 1:

• On Monday 5/14, we used the shuttle which left the hotel 30mins before the park opens. The shuttle stopped at only one other hotel before dropping us off at the park. It was an easy walk from the drop off to the entrance.
• At main street, I noticed that the park was more crowded in the morning then last year when we went in early May. Last year, our first ride with our then 2 year old daughter was Alice. Big mistake, it took almost 2 days to convince her to go on another dark ride. We were NOT going to repeat that same mistake this time! She knows Peter Pan. We asked her if she wanted to go. She said yes, so off we went to neverland. She was excited about going on the pirate ship. She covered her eyes when she saw Hook. NOT a good sign. After the ride, we asked her if she liked it. Yes! OK…we are good to go!
• DH took DD on Dumbo. I cannot handle rides that goes round and round and round…
• Casey Jr next. This was my first time. I read about riding in the caboose from this board, so DH and I rode there while everyone else rode in the wild animal cage. This was one of many “magical” moments. DH and I riding backwards…I felt like we were alone… having a little romantic ride.
• Checked the materhorn line. Since it wrapped around towards nemo, we decided to try again later. Definitely more crowded then last year. I was surprised to see that the nemo wall was down. Took a few pictures…
• Autopia fastpass was not open. 45 min stand by. I lost DD sunhat somewhere between the entrance and the exit. I didn’t get around to asking about a lost and found until the next day. I was directed to guest relations located between the DLR and DCA. I didn’t have much hope in recovering it, but to my utter surprise, they had it!
• We rode some rides…then ended up at the Princess Faire. Waited about an hour for DD to see Mulan, Jasmine, and Belle. Yes, the wait was ridiculous, but the pictures I have are priceless.
• There was a topic on this board about what rides haven’t you been on…well, I was determined to cross out some from my personal list. Finally went in the Tiki Room and had the Dole whip. The whip was more airy then what I imaged it would be. Will definitely get it again next time.
• Towards late afternoon, the crowds did lessen. Fantasyland rides were around 30 mins. We walked onto pirates and Indy. Others were no more then 15 min wait. LOVE IT!!
• I told my family about the theme for this year; the dream squad, the dream fastpasses; the dream meals. I told everyone to keep their eyes open. We didn’t see a hint of them this first day. The last hotel shuttle left at 8:50pm. Had a wonderful first day. DD behaved so well all day!

Day 2:

• At Main street, we saw characters like Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, Chip and Dale, Cruella. We didn’t see any character yesterday coming in. Saw Buzz, we waiting in line, but DD refused to go up to see him. Space mountain was our first ride. I must say that currently, it is my favorite ride. Oh yes, later we saw Wendy in Fantasyland.
• Off to DCA, because DD wanted to go on the Monsters Inc ride. DD, MIL, FIL went on it again while DH, DH’s bro, and I did TOT. Coming back to Monsters, we saw Sully, Mickey, and Cinderella. DD was on the Muppets so she missed Cinderella. I was so bummed. BUT then DH’s bro spotted the dream team. OH MY GOSH! I was soooo excited. They were handing out lanyard with pins.
• Went to Turtle talk then got fastpasses for Soaring. By the time we finished lunch, we were able to do Soaring.
• Back to DLR
• The family split up a bit today. Each doing our own thing. I had an hour and a half all to myself. I am the type of person who enjoys some personal time alone. I spent most of the time on Main street. I rode the trolley for the first time from the castle to the exit. Cross that off my list. Then got on the fire truck for the first time. There were 2 kids bdays onboard. We sang happy bday and rang the bell all the way down main street. Cross that off my list. Rode the horse drawn trolley for the first time. Cross that off too. Generally just doing some people watching and soaking in the atmosphere.
• I wasn’t excepting to ride on Splash on this trip because the disney calendar said that it would be down; but to my surprise the ride was opened off and on. We were in the log ready to go when the announcement came that there was a problem. We waited maybe 10 mins and was told to exit. Oh well... We tried again later that day, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. We didn’t get as close this second time.
• Snow White ride can be scary so we took DD towards to end. She covered her eyes towards the end but said she liked it. I left the group to scope out a good spot to watch the parade. I thought the parade stopped twice but it only stopped once.
• After the parade, DD wanted to go on the caterpillar ride (Alice). We warned her that it can be scary…I was remembering what happened last year. No problem! What a difference a year makes…
• Another awesome day…just felt sad that we had to drive home tomorrow.

Downtown Disney on the third day.

• MIL wanted to make a quick stop at Downtown Disney to buy some things. We found out from our hotel that there is free 3 hour parking at downtown disney. This was news to me.
• Walking back to the car, DD and I stopped inside Wetzel’s for pretzels. DH comes in with Dream ears. According to my DH, my jaw dropped and my eyes went wide. OH MY GOSH! I rushed outside and was given ears for myself and DD.

What to perfect ending to our trip!
masq

 

[Tink33]

Thanks for sharing your magical trip.

 

[masquerade]

Here are pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

 

[daisy_77]

Sounds like you had a great trip! Thanks for sharing.