5 days on $1300!?! Did we do it? - a July 2011 TR - update 2/15: Link to new PTR!

[ksl5f123]

Well, I haven't actually been to Italy before but we are going and actually I am taking a solo trip in February to Rome. It's a training trip! The touring company that we are going through is sending me there for free. I really need to get my passport soon.

I lived in Germany for three years when I was little. Ideally, I'd love to go to Greece. That won't be happening

I solo trip to Rome sounds awesome! I love Rome, especially off the beaten path. My first trip to Rome started my love for real gelato (not whatever that was at MM).

It would be tough to go to Greece right now. I have never been there, but friends tell me to skip it and go to Turkey instead.

 

[ksl5f123]

Your willpower is amazing! That Mickey rice krispie treat is our traditional buy only we get the one covered in chocolate. Now we usually have it for several days and there are 13 of us so don't judge us too harshly! Looking at all your pics of Main Street make me realize that we don't spend enough daytime hours there. We love the shops but are usually in them at night and, therefore, we miss all the street performers. We have caught the Street Party tho and my "grands" loved it (so did I).

Don't think you could've planned a more perfect MK day so far!

It was challenging not to buy some little treat in the confectionary. Everything looked yummy. I would love to have had one of those Mickey treats covered in chocolate. But, oh, what a sticky mess it would have been in that heat.

We had never spent any time on Main Street before this trip except for getting ice cream. I am so happy that we took our time and really explored the whole area.

 

[ksl5f123]

Thoroughly enjoying your TR, OP!

Your DD5's emergency dress looks terrific--not at all like a nightgown! More on the order of a casual spring/summer dress. The little detail at the top makes a big difference!

I love that you and your DH thought a ladies only WDW visit was a good idea before your DD7 is too old--or considers herself too mature!--to enjoy WDW. I have a feeling your DS and DH are enjoying their time together just as much--just differently!

Thank you and

She loved that dress and actually just figured out about two nights ago that it was a nightgown when she discovered it in her pajama drawer.

I loved getting to spend this time with my girls and, yes, DS2 had a blast having Grandma and Grandpa all to himself. He was a spoiled little guy for that week.

 

[ksl5f123]

And I think Philharmagic is one of the best things there! Sure it isn't a thrill attraction but the music, the smells...I wonder if I could fly down this weekend!!

I love spending quality time on Main Street. It is such an overlooked "attraction". The entertainment and shops are so fun!! Yay! for FPs to see Mickey now! You could have remained in line for an hour or experience some fun on Main Street after grabbing a FP...that is a no brainer I do believe!!

I agree that Philharmagic is a great attraction it is just somehow that building doesn't really catch my attention and say, "Come inside. There is something great in here."

I hear the combination of free dining and MNSSHP are making it crazy crowded - at least that is what I tell myself when I think about flying down for the weekend.

Exactly, why would I stand in a line for an hour when I could spend that same hour wandering Main Street? We were inside (not out in the heat), taking our time, and enjoying the shops. Most people were off eating lunch, so we pretty much had all of the stores to ourselves. It was a great way to spend the noon hour.

 

[ksl5f123]

After browsing Main Street, we walked up to get in the fastpass line at exactly 1:20. As we came up, the CM working the line was turning away a family that came back too soon. For some strange reason, that made me nervous even though I knew at most my watch would be 1-2 minutes fast. It didn't matter, she said “Mickey's clock says 1:20. Come on in.”

We followed the ropes through the fastpass line and quickly found ourselves behind just one other mom and daughter in a back hallway. About a minute later another family joined us and then we were all lead down the hallway to meet Mickey!

My picture:

And the Photopass

One of these days, DD5 will learn to turn her head when she gives a hug.

After a great visit with Mickey and Minnie, we made our way back to our minivan (this time I remembered where we parked) and back to the condo. My go-go-go DD7 wanted to go to the pool again, but DD5 wasn't in the mood. I really think she was too tired, but she would never say that. They decided to watch their new Lilo and Stitch DVD (which they received on the drive down) and just lounge around in the condo. This was fine with me – I took a nap!

I made us supper in the condo this evening and then we made our way back to the Magic Kingdom. When we got back, we had to park pretty far back in the parking lot. There were lots of spots closer up, but you have to go where you are told.

At this time in the afternoon, the express monorail was running, so it was a quick trip back to the MK. We went straight to use our princess fastpass and had no trouble using it 3 hours late. Whew! The timestamp on my photos indicates that we met our first princess at 6:40 PM. I didn't remember it being that late.

Up first was Cinderella:

I like that picture because it really shows DD7's outfit. The outfits kind of worked against me in here because EVERY CM said something about how Ariel must be our favorite princess and "did we see her today?". Of course, by this time she was done for the day and we had to say "no, we missed her" which of course made the girls look at me like "Why did we miss her mom?" because they knew we weren't coming back to MK. Ugh!

next came Belle:

Belle was awesome! You can tell from the above pictures that she talked to each girl and really took her time with us!

I love this one:

and finally Aurora:

Up next, nighttime at the Magic Kingdom!

 

[ksl5f123]

First, let me apologize that this update is light on the pictures. I will include what I have, but I didn't take many. I will explain why in just a minute. OK, back to the TR.

After meeting the princesses, we made our way back up Main Street

(Lots of people are leaving at 7 PM!)

and toward Tomorrowland pausing for pictures along the way.

You can't really see them in our Main Street pictures, but as we were walking up Main Street, the curbs on both sides were already full of the Brazillian (and Columbian) tour groups holding their spots for the parade. The parade was at 9 PM and this was 6:50 PM. How long do you think they all sat there? That is just crazy to me!

The rest of this evening is a little hazy in my memory. I know that we went into Tomorrowland. Knowing how we tour, we probably got a fastpass for Buzz lightyear, rode the Peoplemover, saw the Carousel of Progress, rode Buzz Lightyear, and got another Buzz fastpass for later. At least that is what I think we did?

What I do know is that by 8:20 we had our spot on the sidewalk for MSEP and Wishes. Where did we choose? The exact same spot we had in March! If you are coming from Tomorrowland, we walked up to the Hub without crossing the street and sat right there on the left side of the walkway.

Our view:

We sat down and I told the girls that I would go get some ice cream in a few minutes. Unfortunately, a family decided to come up right behind us and sit down just behind the tape. I knew any minute a CM was going to come by and make them move up inside the tape. If I wasn't there, there is no way my 2 little girls could have defended that space. So, I had to stay. There was no ice cream, but there was a VERY disappointed DD7. She doesn't like it when I can't do what I say.

I don't have any pictures from either MSEP or Wishes this evening. I don't think I mentioned it before, but I decided since I was the lone pack mule for this trip (no DH or stroller to carry things for me ) we were not bringing the DSLR camera. Instead, I just brought our 8 year old Nikon Coolpix which fits in my pocket. It takes pretty nice pictures (not as nice as the DSLR), but it takes at least 30 seconds in between pictures to be ready again. Ugh! Anyway, since we don't use this camera as our main one, I have no idea if it can increase exposure time or do any of the things that you really need a camera to do to get good nighttime pictures – so I didn't even try.

While we were waiting, we pulled out or Dollar Store glow bracelets and shared with the kids around us. It kept everybody entertained while we waited and prevented anyone from wanting anything from the passing carts. Too bad there wasn't a passing ice cream cart – we would have done that.

We also like to make friends with the people around us. Somehow people seem less likely to push and step on you if their kids are playing with yours. Some CMs did come out with a jump rope, but instead of little kids lining up to jump, the line filled with girls from the South American tour groups. Would my girls have gone out to jump if the big girls weren't there? Probably. But there was no way they were going to go out with a bunch of teens. We did enjoy watching them though and some of them were quite good at jump-roping.

So, MSEP was MSEP. I still like it and the kids got waved to at least 2 or 3 times. The music is nostalgic for me as I have it on an album (yeah one of those like 12” discs that go on a record player and need a needle to play – ever heard of one of those? ) that I got as a kid. I still love that album and listen to it occasionally.

Then it was time for Magic, Memories, and You. I LOVE this show. The technology is amazing. The girls had a pretty good view and they loved it too. I tried to take a video of the show using the smartphone I had purchased just 2 weeks before our trip started, but I didn't really know how to work it yet, so I failed miserably.

Finally, we also stayed for Wishes. The girls went crazy over Tinkerbell flying over us. DD7 insisted that she was hanging from a wire while DD5 argued that she was flying. It was so cute. The girls prefer last summer's Summer Nightastic fireworks to Wishes. I think it just had more of a story which meant it was easier for them to understand.

I love this spot for these shows, because it allows us to just turn around and go back into Tomorrowland while most of the crowds leave. We went and rode Buzz Lightyear again. We may have also seen Carousel of Progress or ridden the Peoplemover again – I really don't remember.

We then walked back into Fantasyland. The wait times at Pooh and Peter Pan were both still about 50 minutes, but “it's a small world” was a walk-on so we headed over there. We were having a great ride when about two rooms from the end I looked over and noticed that DD5 was ASLEEP! We got to the end of the ride and I woke her up to get off. This was the only moment of the trip where I wished we had a stroller. She was so tired. I took this as a pretty strong signal that it was time to leave. We hurried down Main Street just as the 11 PM MSEP was starting and quickly made our way out of the park and back to the condo.

Money spent: $14 for parking and $13.72 for Columbia Harbour House = $27.72 for the day! We're on a roll now!
Money remaining = $71.17

Up next, EPCOT!

 

[sherylcin]

Love all the pictures! Both the photopass and your own are really good. The Minne/Mickey and Princess M&G pics are really wonderful! I love that they have a Photopass photographer there especially. So did you think the new M&G area was better than in Toontown? I do like that you can FP it. That was one great idea!

I think you had an awesome MK day. Like your pick for a spot to watch Wishes (too bad about the ice cream though). I agree with you about the new Magic, Memories and You show. It is just so innovative. We'll have to try to snag that spot next time. My DGD's would be thrilled to have Tink "fly" right overhead!

 

[teekathepony]

Awww I love all the Princess pictures!!

 

[TinksThree]

The pictures with Mickey and Minnie and the Princesses are great!! I love the FPs for those! I saw ovwer the weekend where they are going to test FPs for the parades. I can't remember which site I saw it on since it was a Facebook post. I need to find that post to see how that would work!

MESP: Love it, love it! You are right it is so nostalgic!
Memories, Magic and You: again I totally agree! The technology is awesome!
Nightastic: 100% agree that I prefer it to Wishes! That is cute how they "argued" over Tinker Bell's flight, though!!

Poor DD5 sacking out in IASW! The budget looks pretty decent right now!

 

[Mombits]

I think the pics that you do have are just wonderful! It sounds like you had a great time and you are doing great on your budget!!

 

[ksl5f123]

Love all the pictures! Both the photopass and your own are really good. The Minne/Mickey and Princess M&G pics are really wonderful! I love that they have a Photopass photographer there especially. So did you think the new M&G area was better than in Toontown? I do like that you can FP it. That was one great idea!

I think you had an awesome MK day. Like your pick for a spot to watch Wishes (too bad about the ice cream though). I agree with you about the new Magic, Memories and You show. It is just so innovative. We'll have to try to snag that spot next time. My DGD's would be thrilled to have Tink "fly" right overhead!

I like the theming for Mickey better now than in Toontown. For the princesses, it is really a tossup to me. Since the fairies were next to the princesses in Toontown, they took most of the crowd and it was usually pretty quick to see the princesses. The theming seems to be nearly identical to what they had in Toontown. I love getting the fastpasses for the M&G. That made planning to see the characters so much simpler.

I love that spot for the nighttime shows. We get a great view of all three without having to move. Seeing Tink fly is just the icing on the cake.

 

[ksl5f123]

Awww I love all the Princess pictures!!

Thank you! DD5 is completely enamored with all of the characters. DD7 tries to talk it up like she isn't interested, but she still enjoys it too.

 

[ksl5f123]

The pictures with Mickey and Minnie and the Princesses are great!! I love the FPs for those! I saw ovwer the weekend where they are going to test FPs for the parades. I can't remember which site I saw it on since it was a Facebook post. I need to find that post to see how that would work!

MESP: Love it, love it! You are right it is so nostalgic!
Memories, Magic and You: again I totally agree! The technology is awesome!
Nightastic: 100% agree that I prefer it to Wishes! That is cute how they "argued" over Tinker Bell's flight, though!!

Poor DD5 sacking out in IASW! The budget looks pretty decent right now!

We had really good meet and greets this day. I heard about the parade fastpasses. I don't know how I feel about that. Last year we could have had reserved seating for the afternoon parade at MK because AAA was offering it if you booked their package. But, we prefer not to be in the park at 3 PM (especially in the summer) so we skipped it. Add on top of that giving up a fastpass slot.... I would really have to think about it. Now, if they were giving them for the evening parade - that is something entirely different.

I couldn't believe DD5 fell asleep in iasw. She loves that ride! She must have been so exhausted.

 

[ksl5f123]

I think the pics that you do have are just wonderful! It sounds like you had a great time and you are doing great on your budget!!

Thank you! I love taking lots of pictures and we decided to get as many Photopass pictures as we could this time. I have such a hard time remembering to stop for them.

The first day was REALLY rough on the budget, so we needed to make it up a little. We did great on this day.

 

[ksl5f123]

I was surprised that my girls made it up in time on Wednesday to make rope drop at the Magic Kingdom after staying out Tuesday night to see a 9 PM Fantasmic! It would be impossible for us to make rope drop at Epcot on Thursday after staying in the Magic Kingdom until 11 PM, right? I mean that does make sense, doesn't it?

Yeah – that would be the girls first in line at our turnstyle!

OK, I have a confession. I have “family of the day” envy. Intellectually, I know how small the odds are – especially since they seem to be phasing out rope drop shows. But, we try anyway. OK, actually I try – my family just thinks I like standing around at the turnstyles for an hour in the morning. I know better than to get my girls hopes up about something. When we arrived at 7:57 AM on Thursday, July 14, there were only about 5 other families waiting at the gates. One other family was sporting the matching shirt look – theirs were orange. I didn't say anything to the girls, but looking around I thought we might actually have a shot on this morning. Would this be our day? I was hopeful.....until I saw the CMs talking to the orange shirt family. Phooey. They were chosen. Oh well - back to enjoying being first in the park.

When they opened the turnstyles at 8:50, I took DD5 by the hand and started making our way toward the rope. When we were just about 100 feet from the rope, I noticed DD7 was lagging about 10 feet behind us. DD7 NEVER lags behind. She is my child with unbounded energy. Why would she be behind me? I called to her to catch up only to notice that she is limping. Apparently, instead of walking into the park she was jumping/bouncing/acting like Tigger and she twisted her ankle.

I take her by the arm and we still make it in time to get right up to the rope. We happen to stand right next to a boy wearing a birthday button. The CM working the rope notices his button and calls all of the characters over to wish him a happy birthday.

He gets a great hug from Pluto:

Another hug from Minnie:

Minnie gives the girls a little wave as she walks past:

Here comes Goofy:

Goofy greets the birthday boy, and then shakes hands all the way down the rope – including DD7:

Today, I really like Goofy.

While we were watching all of the characters come out, I was trying to figure out what to do. Here we are, at the rope, on the right hand side, in the perfect position for the Soarin' Stampede. The girls had done so well at DHS on Tuesday. But, DD7 is standing on one foot. I know she is not seriously hurt and will probably be able to shake it off in 10 minutes or so – but we don't have 10 minutes – the rope is about to drop and we need to have a plan NOW. Once again I have to make a last minute decision. I hate last minute decisions. I need 6 months to plan! I don't have 6 months - I don't even have 6 minutes. What do we do? Do we stick with the plan and join the crowd for the rush to Soarin'? Or do we think of somewhere else to go where DD7 doesn't have to hurry?

 

[Mombits]

Oh man!! What a choice!!!

Really great character pics. I'll bet the girls were excited to have the characters come over to say hi, even if they weren't the intended recipient. Too bad you didn't get chosen as family of the day. Smart not to tell the girls.

 

[TinksThree]

Phooey on that orange family!! .....

We always make it for rope drop at Epcot but we never see the characters... Maybe we lag too far behind getting PP pictures taken. It is always a mad rush to Soarin' for us!! I love Soarin!!!!!

 

[heaven2dc]

Oh I hope your daughter's foot is okay and that you still made it to Soarin' early enough for good Fastpasses! Love your designed outfits I wish I were that innovative but then I have four boys and only one daughter and am sure none of them would wear matching outfits. Too bad you didn't get chosen as family of the day

 

[teekathepony]

Yikes! Hope that ankle heals up fast!

 

[ksl5f123]

Oh man!! What a choice!!!

Really great character pics. I'll bet the girls were excited to have the characters come over to say hi, even if they weren't the intended recipient. Too bad you didn't get chosen as family of the day. Smart not to tell the girls.

The girls loved getting to see the characters at the rope that morning. We have always been WAY back in the pack at Epcot so it was fun to be right up front and see them open the park.