2nd trip for Just Mom & 2 little boys 6/5-14, Star Wars, CBR, DxDP, Character Meals

[Angies1274]

Great updates! Your boys are so cute! I love all the character pictures, especially the ones w/ Stitch and Pluto at Ohana's.

The Move it! Shake it! Parade is so fun! We really enjoyed it in April and the music is so catchy--you can't help but sing and dance along.

Great photopass pictures!! Love the one with the balloons and Stitch eating an ice cream--very cute!!!

 

[MJAJmom]

great trip report. Sounds like the three of you had a great time.

We really did have fun!! Now I need to figure out when to go again. Either December for MVMCP for a short trip or end of April for a longer trip. Decisions, decisions!!

How do you manage with the loose autograph pages in the park? Were they in a book? Are they printed on cardstock? My older DS was very into collecting autographs last time around so this may be a good idea to make it extra special.

Again, so many great pics. Your boys really enjoy the characters. On our last trip my little one stayed away from them 80% of the time (he was 3.5).

The 4x6 autograph cards are beautiful and I love them. But I'll admit they're a bit of a hassle. Last trip, I just had a stack on cards, separated by parks, and then had to sort through them when we found a character. This trip I loaded them into a thin photo album that had 4 photos per page. It was much easier to sort through them. When the trip is done, I put all the signed pages in a photo album for the boys to look at.

My boys really do love the characters, so we'll enjoy the character hunting while they are still young.

We did the Safari breakfast on our 2008 trip and loved it! You can't beat that first safari ride! Hopefully we'll go back next trip!

I didn't know Goofy and Pluto hung around Dinoland and in such cute costumes! What time was this?

Making those lightsabers is much trickier than it seems like it should be. A boy can never have too many lightsabers (at least that's what my boys think!)

I read on this forum that Goofy and Pluto were the characters at DinoLand. They had them listed on the Times Guide as 11:20-2:10 and 3:00-6:50. I was waiting for them at 11:20, so we were first in line.

[QUO
TE=mickeystoontown;32445135]Two more great updates! My son who was 11 at the time, couldn't quite figure out how to build the lightsabers either. There were two castmembers standing around to help the guests out.[/QUOTE]

Those lightsabers were not a "build it yourself" toy. I'm glad we had some help!!!

Great updates! Your boys are so cute! I love all the character pictures, especially the ones w/ Stitch and Pluto at Ohana's.

The Move it! Shake it! Parade is so fun! We really enjoyed it in April and the music is so catchy--you can't help but sing and dance along.

Great photopass pictures!! Love the one with the balloons and Stitch eating an ice cream--very cute!!!

My goal this trip was to try all the photopass add-in shots. We got Tinkerbell, baby simba, stitch, balloons, darth vader. We really wanted the fighting with Captain Hook shot, but we kept looking near POTC but they weren't around anymore. No photopass photographer with the captain hook meet and greet either. Darn those cutbacks!!!

 

[MJAJmom]

We had a 5:40pm ADR at 1900 Park Fare. I was looking forward to seeing the step sisters. I’d heard so much about how funny they are. We checked in 10min early, then ended up having to wait 45 minutes to get in. Nobody in the wait area was happy waiting around. Inside didn’t seem very busy, so not sure why they are always so far behind schedule. We got something to eat first before the characters hit our table. The buffet seemed pretty basic, nothing fancy on the menu. Again, the food was just OK. The first character that came by was Prince Charming. Nice guy, but honestly kind of boring. I watched him as the night went on, he just seemed so uncomfortable and awkward, maybe he was a newer guy.

Then Drizella came by. She was very funny. She commented on our autograph cards about how ugly Anastasia was. She was very bratty!! AJ was a very shy around her. He would not speak to her and looked down the whole time.

Cinderella was very pretty and sweet. Since the boys had seen her at Akershus, they felt like they knew her already. AJ smiled and chatted with her.

Lady Tremaine asked the boys if they were behaving, using their good manners and eating well. MJ thought she had funny hair.

Now, the star of the show was Anastaia. The boys just loved her. She asked the boys why they were dressed alike, who did this to you?? She told them to tell their mother to let them make their own decision. She chatted and teased them, and the boys were laughing. She was clearly their favorite. Later, she was screaming “Mother, Drizella put a dust bunny under my bed!!”. When they announced Cinderella, she yelled “She’s really not that pretty, you know!!”.

Seeing the step sisters was the best part of dinner. I think we’ll plan on coming back here next time! With dinner over, we jump on the monorail to MK for some rides. First is Jungle Cruise, which was fun because it was at night. Then we rode Big Thunder Mountain, made our way over to Buzz Lightyear and ended up in with It’s A Small World. I didn’t want to wait in long lines for Pooh/Peter Pan since we were coming back tomorrow morning. The boys tried to pull the sword out of the stone for a while, their favorite thing to do last trip.

On our way out, I got a picture of the castle at night. So pretty!

Our night at MK has ended, and it’s home to bed. Tomorrow we come back to MK for early morning EMHs.

 

[goofygal531]

I found a new favorite drink this week – the raspberry lemonade slush!! It was so cold, tangy and refreshing, I think I had 4 or 5 of them this week!! I mostly got them at the snack stand behind Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride. Delicious!!!

OMG! I had no idea they sold the lemonade in Adventureland!!!

I thought it was only sold in The Enchanted Grove in FantasyLand, right next to the tea cups!

That was my favorite drink of the trip too! I couldn't get enough of it. Perfect on a sweltering hot day!!

 

[LovingDisny]

I just got all caught up on your trip report. It looks like you had a great vacation with your boys. I also have two boys. DS3 and DS11. Our trip is planned for 6/5-6/12 2010. So far it does not seem like you had much touble with crowds. Your photopass pictures are adorable. We have not been since 2004, so I am very excited to try that. keep the report coming!

 

[thegreggersmom]

Your boys are so cute! Subscribing.

 

[tiggerfan6]

Your boys are so cute! I love your TR. I love the pictures! I have to make a note of the add ins( love the balloons)>
We also are planning on renting from Orlando strollers, did you tie anything around yours to make it your "own"??? and did the cover work, I may have to get that too( we are going in November.

 

[dd50]

Sounds like you all had a great and stress free time. I hope that ours goes smoothly.

 

[heaven2dc]

Loved the interaction with Anastasia! How cute (I think she should join you for the rest of the trip - she really could keep AJ smiling )

Your boys are adorable - you are all having such a great time and no meltdowns - great kids (and mom!)

 

[02AggieGirl]

Hi! I just finished reading your TR. What a fun trip!! I was telling my DH how you took your boys by yourself....I told him I could take our 3 girls when the baby (10 months) gets older!!! Your boys are so adorable and handsome Looking forward to more.

 

[MJAJmom]

For our 3 Disney trips, I’ve stayed twice at Grand Floridian and once at Carribbean Beach. While I was excited about the pirate themed room and the lower cost, I had several concerns before we left about staying at a moderate hotel:

- was it going to be a step down in quality? Were the rooms noticeably smaller where we’d feel cramped? Was it noisy?
- would housekeeping be horrible, I’d read lots of bad stories?
- was Trinidad South too far away from OPR and the main pool?
- would we miss riding the monorail to MK and Epcot? Would the extra driving be a hassle, and parking at TTC a nightmare?
- how would I feel about the resort being so spread out?

Overall, I was very pleased with our hotel. For the money spent, it was a good deal. Our room was very fresh and clean. We requested early cleaning each day, and every day when we returned after lunch, it was cleaned up. We didn’t get any towel animals, and I wasn’t expecting any. We’ve never gotten a towel animal yet, and I think this forum sets some bad expectation about receiving them. The pirate rooms were a huge hit with the boys, Disney did a great job in tending to the details. The main pool was heated to a comfortable temperature and the 2 slides were fun for the boys. The pirate boat splash area was fabulous. The food court had basic cafeteria offerings, I thought the food was average quality. The grab and go section had lots of breakfast, lunch and snack offerings. We never tried Shutters, so I can’t comment on them.

We walked several times to OPR to swim in the main pool. From Bldg 34, it took us about 6 minutes. A nice walk along the lake side. But being in that “luxury, deluxe mindset”, I did wish it was closer. Mostly for using the refillable mugs for a quick drink, or grabbing a quick snack. Next time, I’d probably skip the pirate room and go for a preferred room.

I’m glad we tried out CBR. I liked it and would certainly recommend it to other families. It made me think more about how much to spend on hotel rooms, and what’s important in a resort. If I had to change something, I’d like a few more selections on their food court menu (other than pizza, hamburger, sandwich).

Sharing some other thoughts…

There were several noticeable differences between a deluxe and a moderate to point out. None of these are a big deal, but it’s just different, so I thought I’d mention it.
- a floor A/C unit instead of central A/C with a programmable thermostat. This was really the only thing that bugged me because the A/C was very loud. After a while, you just got used to it.
- An enclosed closet with doors versus an open closet rod in the bathroom. It is nice to store your clothes and suitcases away and not have to look at them every day.
- A double bed verses a queen bed. The beds were very comfortable and not a problem since it was me in one bed and the little boys sharing the other bed. But if my 6 foot 2 DH was with us, he’d want a queen bed.
- A private balcony verses no balcony. It is nice to relax at night at the GF balcony while the kids are sleeping, so I did miss that. I think paying extra for a “CBR water view” is a waste of money – mainly because people walk by your window and can stare inside your room. I kept the shades closed the entire trip for privacy.
- External doors verses rooms connected by an inside hallway. Just a minor thing that makes you realize you’ve stepped down a notch in hotel luxury.
- A smaller room. It could tell it was a little bit smaller, but not by much and certainly nothing that makes you feel cramped.
- No room service. For us, we’ve only used it for early breakfast. It’s just a nice to have thing.

Now, the things I gained by being in a moderate hotel.
- a huge price savings. Grand Floridian is $449 per night and CBR pirate room is $210 per night for June rack rates. So you have to ask yourself if the deluxe quality is worth $239 more per night??? Hmmmm
- free parking right near the room. Each day we parked so close to our room and just zipped in and out quickly and easily. That made our frequent travels much less of a hassle.
- Pirate themed rooms. Fabulous for little boys. And worth the extra $25 per night to try it out at least once. Along with the pirate ship pool – cool for little ones.
- Excellent location, so close to DHS and Epcot. Since we spent 3 days for Star Wars Weekends, I liked being next door to DHS.

So there you have it, my thoughts about Caribbean Beach Resort.

 

[MJAJmom]

Thursday was our day for early morning EMHs at Magic Kingdom. I love going early because we can do so many rides with little crowds, so I was hoping for the same success today. We went to OPR at 6:45am to find some breakfast. There was only 1 counter service open, the others would open at 7am. I wanted pancakes for the boys, but that counter was not open yet, and they said they didn’t start making pancakes until 8am (made no sense to me!!). So, the boys had to get French toast and I got a breakfast platter with scrambled eggs. Not great, but just fine for a quickie breakfast.

We zipped off to TTC and took the monorail into MK. We arrived about 7:30am for the 8am opening. I was SHOCKED at how many people were already there!! Today we were heading straight to FantasyLand, maybe EMHs in summer would be more crowded. At rope drop, we hit Dumbo first since that one is so slow loading. Then did Peter Pan which already had a 15 minute wait, then went on Pooh ride which also had a 15 minute wait. Last we did Snow White. FantasyLand was pretty crowded so early in the morning.

We went into Tomorrowland and saw that Buzz Lightyear was out, so we got our picture with him before riding the Buzz ride and then got a FastPass for later. MJ and I took our picture in front of the castle, AJ didn’t want to participate again.

We watched the 9:35am Dream Along With Mickey show at the castle. Last trip, MJ really wanted to see this show, but we only saw little portions of it. So today, I made sure we could watch the entire show. It’s really cute. Not very crowded around the castle either.

We got in line for Big Thunder Mountain. The line for this was only 10 minutes, shorter than Peter Pan during EMHs – how weird is that!!! So we are at the bottom of the loading area, next to get on the train cars and AJ says “I need to go potty!!!” AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I can’t believe this is happening again!!!! Given our recent experience peeing his pants waiting in line for Minnie at DHS, I knew we had to leave. MJ was so upset that his brother made us leave the ride. So we have to fight our way against all the people waiting to load, then ask the ride operator how to get out to the bathroom. Luckily, he gave us a fastpass to get back inside. So, off we run to the bathrooms near Splash Mountain. Then back into line again. My my, the things we have to do for our children!! The boys love BTM, and that made us all forget about AJ's pee-pee adventure.

On our way to AdventureLand, we saw Goofy. I’d never seen him in these clothes before.

We tried to ride POTC but they said it was broken. So instead we did the Enchanted Tiki Room. The bird show is pretty funny. We watched the end of the Jack Sparrow Pirate Tutorial. MJ got picked at the end when they ask for extra volunteers to pledge to become pirates. He got a pirate certificate which he was thrilled to receive.

Continued on next post

 

[MJAJmom]

Our lunch ADR was at Crystal Palace at 11:45am. We waited about 20 minutes to get in, so we watched a little of the Dreams show from afar. We’ve been to Crystal Palace for both lunch and breakfast, and the characters are always wonderful. Somehow they seem to circulate around quickly and you see them twice. The food is pretty decent too.

We got to see Eeyore, Tigger and Piglet twice, and Pooh Bear just once. Since we started out early today, the boys were tired, so we went home for naps. I let them sleep for a long time and then we swam. We played in the main pool for a while and the boys went down the slides over and over again. Tonight we were just going to kick back and play – no touring. So we had a quick dinner at OPR. I had rotisserie chicken and the boys had cheese pizza. The boys played with their toys in the room and were very happy doing just that. I gave them a bath and we all went to bed early.

Tomorrow we are back to DHS for Weekend #4 of Star Wars Weekends.

 

[MJAJmom]

OMG! I had no idea they sold the lemonade in Adventureland!!!

I thought it was only sold in The Enchanted Grove in FantasyLand, right next to the tea cups!

That was my favorite drink of the trip too! I couldn't get enough of it. Perfect on a sweltering hot day!!

Wasn't it wonderful!!!
Some people love the Dole Whips.... I found the raspberry lemonade slush!!! I was in heaven!! They sell it at Sunshine Tree Terrace, behind Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. Since we were at Junge Cruise and POTC so many times, I got to stop by the snack place lots of times!!!

 

[MJAJmom]

Our trip is planned for 6/5-6/12 2010. So far it does not seem like you had much touble with crowds. Your photopass pictures are adorable. We have not been since 2004, so I am very excited to try that. keep the report coming!

You must be so excited to be planning your trip!!! The crowds got a little bigger by the second weekend of June. Still, not as horrible as I imagined. I'd say the it was about a level 6-7 the first weekend and 7-8 the second weekend. For me, it was the heat that made it less bearable than the crowds. Hopefully, you'll be there for Star Wars weekends.

Your boys are so cute! Subscribing.

Thank you!! So glad that you're reading along!

Your boys are so cute! I love your TR. I love the pictures! I have to make a note of the add ins( love the balloons)>
We also are planning on renting from Orlando strollers, did you tie anything around yours to make it your "own"??? and did the cover work, I may have to get that too( we are going in November.

Thanks! We made sure to ask about all the add-on pictures. I made a stroller tag and attached it to the middle bar of the stroller. Plus I brought along 2 cup holders that I attached, so it made our stroller stand out. The cover was fabulous - it was custom fit to the stroller so it fit like a glove. And on the nights that the rain looked threatening, I put on the cover and then rolled it up onto the handle, in case I needed to pull it down in a hurry.

Sounds like you all had a great and stress free time. I hope that ours goes smoothly.

This second solo trip with the boys went better than the first. I think because AJ was 6months older and that can make a huge difference in temperment for a 4yo.

Loved the interaction with Anastasia! How cute (I think she should join you for the rest of the trip - she really could keep AJ smiling )

Your boys are adorable - you are all having such a great time and no meltdowns - great kids (and mom!)

I thought the stepsisters were a riot!! I'm so glad we tried our that character dinner. MJ still talks about how silly Anastasia was. And you're right, she could have gotten AJ to not be so grumpy with the photopass pictures!!!

Hi! I just finished reading your TR. What a fun trip!! I was telling my DH how you took your boys by yourself....I told him I could take our 3 girls when the baby (10 months) gets older!!! Your boys are so adorable and handsome Looking forward to more.

I would certainly recommend taking your girls by yourself!!! How I would love some princesses in my house... but with 2 boys, there will be no pink frilly things for us!!! Just think about how sweet that would be, mom and all her little princesses doing all the girly things!!! I'm jealous already!!!

 

[goofygal531]

I planned on upgrading our tickets to an Annual Pass, so I stopped by Guest Relations on the way out. I’d heard lots of stories about people having problems upgrading their 4/3 tickets. I also had a 10% savings card that a fellow DISer mailed me. With pixie dust on my side, I got a very knowledgeable CM named Claudia from Brazil. She bridged my ticket to the current price, applied the 10% savings card and the final price to upgrade 1 adult and 2 child 9day NE tickets was a whopping $27!!! That’s incredible!!! No problems at all. I got lucky!!!

I NEVER thought of doing this!!! What a wonderful idea! How did you figure out what the price difference would be?

I was just telling my DH that you did this and he's now interested. There's been rumors Disney might be offering the 4/3 package again this winter, that would be perfect for me if they did!

Thanks for the tip about Sunshine Tree in Adventure Land! We really got addicted to those raspberry slushies! So much so I didn't have one Dole Whip the entire time!

 

[MJAJmom]

I NEVER thought of doing this!!! What a wonderful idea! How did you figure out what the price difference would be?

I was just telling my DH that you did this and he's now interested. There's been rumors Disney might be offering the 4/3 package again this winter, that would be perfect for me if they did!

If you go to the Disney website and look at the ticket prices, you can see how much each MYW ticket costs. We had 1 adult and 2 child MYW tickets with 9 day No Expiration. Here is the math for upgrading:

Cost of Adult 9day NE tix = $404
Cost of Child 9day NE tix = $369

Cost of Adult AP = $469 Less the 10% discount is $422.10
Cost of Child AP = $414 Less the 10% discount is $372.60

Cost of Adult AP less MYW tix = $422.10 - $404 = $18.10
Cost of Child AP less MYW tix = $372.60 - $369 = $3.60

Total Cost plus tax = ($18.10 + $3.60 + $3.60) X 1.065 tax = $26.94

The 10% AP savings card expires this summer, either July or August. You can play with the number of days on your ticket, and the PH or NE options. I'm glad I got the 3 days free on the ticket, because that saved some money. Plus the 10% savings card saved some money too. So I just couldn't pass on the that discount!!!

 

[jana616]

Great report-your boys are so cute! I love all of your autograph pages. I assume you got them from the Creative DISigns board. Was their one particular person who did all of them? I get so overwhelmed over there, I can't even find auto. pages! Any direction would be great!

 

[MJAJmom]

Great report-your boys are so cute! I love all of your autograph pages. I assume you got them from the Creative DISigns board. Was their one particular person who did all of them? I get so overwhelmed over there, I can't even find auto. pages! Any direction would be great!

Thank you!! I did get the autograph cards from Creative DISigns board. There is so much fun stuff on that board, but the volume can be pretty overwhelming. Here are 3 of my favorite designers photobuckets - Donatalie, Chaos1Cent and AreYouThereYet. You can browse through all the designs and then save them to your PC for printing. Have fun browsing:

http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r132/donatalie/
http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd181/Chaos1Cent/
http://s345.photobucket.com/albums/p379/ljcollins_2008/

I love just looking at their pictures!!! So pretty!! Beware -- it can become very addicting! Excess browsing will cause you to create matching shirts!!

 

[Allboysandme]

I'm in your picture! Actually, the last three. You can see me in the background in your last Eeyore picture at CP. I'm sitting at a table with my chin on my hand. It looks like I'm looking right at you. The baby is sitting next to me. I think we had just gotten seated because it was pretty empty inside and we didn't have any plates in front of us. My dh must have taken the boys to the buffet. I looked through my pictures and I can see your boys and your hat in one of them. I'm trying to post it, but having a little trouble. Let's see if this works...



http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq167/jjdra5/disney326.jpg