7 Days at CSR, You gotta love it! **NEW** Final Day Page 5

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Operation WDW
April 24, 2006 – May 1, 2006

Trip Report – Part 5 – Our First full day

Before we went to bed during our first night in Disney World we agreed that we had a very busy first day so, the plan was to sleep in on day 2. For some reason on this trip, I discovered that I am great at designing a plan, but I just cannot follow it. I wake up around 7-7:30am, jump in the shower, have my coffee, get dressed, make lunches for that day, etc. Everyone else is so excited they just follow along. DH is questioning why we all got up so early when the plan was to sleep in. We all just ignore him and move on.

Here we are again at the bus stop. Why do they love to climb on these things?

We hop on the bus to MK nice an early, I think that we were on Main Street by 9:00 am. I recommend going left, not right because most people are right handed and tend to always start off right. Thumbs up to Mom because there was nobody in Adventureland. We walked on and off everything. Of course no forgetting to ride POC because it will be closing down on Sunday. Then we walked over to Frontierland where the big kids rides are. DD4 is complaining that she does not want to get wet, exactly at the point when she is spraying herself with the fan spray bottle. You know, she might melt and all! Don’t you just love kids! Anyway, to avoid DD4 from getting wet, we walk on to Big Thunder Mountain. DD4 is looking a little scared, but the line moved so fast she had very little time to react. We hop on. I ride with DD8 while DH rides with DD4. I am a little concerned about the 4 year old because this is a big ride for her. I turn around and she has a smile from ear to ear. She loves this ride and it turns out to be her favorite ride all week. As soon as it stops she says, “Can we ride again?” We say, “not now. Without grabbing the stroller, we race over to Splash Mountain warning DD8 not to tell her sister that this is a water ride because you know, she doesn’t want to wet and we would not want her to melt. The line is about 10 minutes long, so we hop right on. She is amused, but not happy about being on a water ride. When the ride was over she was so happy she says, “Was that the little kid Splash Mountain?” We said, “No, that was the big kids Splash Mountain.” She stood real tall, very proud of herself knowing that she just went on a big kids ride. Then we decided to head over to The Haunted Mansion. The last time we went to Disney World, our youngest daughter was not even 2 year old so, we told her that the last we were here The Haunted Mansion was her favorite ride and she just loved it. Without any fears she races over to HM. Here are some pictures:

As we were walking off HM she says, “I think I liked it better when I was a baby.” We laughed. Next we walked over to Fantasyland, walked on It’s a small world, but Peter Pan took a while. Now it is only about lunchtime. We grab a seat under the tent by Ariel’s grotto and have our lunch that I packed. After lunch, we notice that the crowd levels have significantly increased. We walk over to Mickey’s Toon Town and wait in the longest line ever just meet Donald, Goofy, and Minnie. The good news is we now have pictures and autographs to prove that we meet these characters. Sure glad we got something out of that deal.

After riding the train and Barnstormer, we skip over to Tomorrowland. Ride Buzzlighter, the kids love this ride. Explain to me how come DH always gets more points then me when I am really trying to beat him? It really is not fair!

I am not one to complain about the heat, but I will admit that it is really warm on this day. The kids are fussing slightly. We decide that it is time to stop for an ice cream break. As we rest outside of Stitch’s escape, my 4-year-old daughter insists that she wants to ride Stitch. DH and I are a little taken back by this. We warn her that it is a little scary. She claims that she is willing to give it a try. We walk over, listen to story, yada, yada, and move into the seats. DD4 sits in between Mom & Dad. All of a sudden the bars drop on her shoulders and she freaks out. She is crying like no tomorrow. I slide under the bars and try to convince her to do the same. We walk to the back of the room against the door when a CM asks if we want leave. I respond with, “PLEASE.” After we all meet up together, we agree that it might be better to go on gentler rides. We head back to Fantasyland. Go on Mad Tea Party, the Carrousel, when I notice that there is no wait for Mickey’s PhilharMagic. We race the kids over there and they start with, “I don’t want to do this, I want to go to the pool, blah, blah, blah.” We look at our watches and decide that it is 3:00 lets let them have a break.

We head back to pool. As we approach the pool DD8 says, “Mom, if you need me I’ll be on the water slide” and takes off. After they are cooled off, we decide to go to the Olive Garden for dinner because I am starving. Since we are there before 6:00, they seat us right away. The dinner was excellent, much better than that crappy counter service in Epcot the night before.

Remember I told you that my parents just purchased a place in Davenport, FL? Well, they need some electrical work done. Since DH is an electrician, they asked him to tie some wires into the panel for them.

After dinner we head over to my parents place. It is very nice. Small, but it has a lot of potential. I call my Mom to let her know that we arrived when she insists that we stop their friend’s house to say Hi. We stop by and these people are very nice. They let the kids feed the fish and then gave them a ride on their golf cart. He showed us around the entire golf course. The kids are excited because they see their first fox. By the time we finish up, it is dark so we head back to the hotel. The kids ask for one last swim before we go to bed. We go to the pool and straight to bed. Since we had such a good day, “the plan” was to get an early start again tomorrow. I called for the wake up call and went to bed. I really think that we collapsed in bed because we were all so exhausted.

Up next……. Day 3 – Some days are just better then others.

 

[CrazedDisFan]

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[missmun52]

nice report, waiting for more

 

[Minniespal]

Great ~ Keep them coming

 

[Buzz2001]

Great report!! Love the pics!! Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Katy Belle]

I'm enjoying your report! Love the photos and love seeing the fantastic shirts you made. I always say that all kids want to do on vacation is swim in the hotel pool!! Glad you are taking time to let them!

Katy

 

[roberrl187]

Great report. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Operation WDW
April 24, 2006 – May 1, 2006

Trip Report – Part 6 – Day 3 - Some days are just better than others

I kind of surprise myself. I never thought that I could come up with this many words when I first started this project. As I think back about the trip, the words just start flowing. Here is day 3 for you:

It is day 3, I am awake before the wake up call, just laying there waiting for the phone to ring while everyone else gets some extra zzzz’s. Finally, it rings. I tell DD8 that she needs to answer it because Mickey is calling. She picks up the phone, we can hear loud voices as she lays there half asleep. She hangs up the phone. I said, “What did Mickey say?” She says, “I don’t even know. That was supposed to be Mickey? It didn’t sound like Mickey.” Then she crawls back in bed. Since everyone looks so tired, I decided to jump in the shower and then get things ready, soon enough everyone followed suit.

I made ADR at Ohana’s for breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at 10:50am. The plan was to go to Magic Kingdom for an hour or so and head over to The Poly for breakfast. We wanted to be on Main Street for around 9:00 just like the previous day. So far, everything is working to plan. We have everything together and we walk to the bus station. We wait and wait and wait. The Epcot bus goes by twice while we sit there waiting for MK. About 25-30 minutes later MK bus finally shows up. The driver makes an announcement that there has been an auto accident near the Contemporary so there is a traffic jam leading to MK. He recommends dropping us off at the TTC and advises us to take the Monorail into MK. The drive into MK was slower then slow. When we finally reach TTC it is about 10:00. DH and I decide that we will skip our morning at MK and head straight to the Poly. I should probably mention that I am totally stressed at this point because everything is taking so much longer then expected. We get to the Poly and the line for Ohana’s is soooo long. We wait and wait. During our waiting, the kids start with, “I am not hungry. Why are we going to breakfast?” We respond with, “It is breakfast with Lilo and Stitch.” They come back with. “We don’t want to have breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. I am not hungry. I am not going to eat.” DH and I say, “Why are we going to drop a small fortune on breakfast with Lilo and Stitch when these two are not hungry nor do they want to be here?” We walk out of line and head back to monorail. While on the monorail DH and I have a quick pow wow to discuss how this day is just going down the toilet. Maybe we should head over Animal Kingdom since they have evening EMH. We agree to change the plan because the plan just is not working.

As I am sitting there on the monorail, I look over at DH and he appears to be upset. I ask what is wrong. Apparently he is disappointed because he really wanted a character breakfast. I pick up the phone to see if there are any other character breakfasts available during our stay. The CM says, “I have an 8:30am in Cinderella’s Castle for tomorrow morning if you want that.” I say to myself, Wow! Cinderella’s Castle, that is impossible to get reservations for! I respond back with, “I’ll take it!” The CM says, “You need to pay in advance, all I need is your left arm and your first born child.” Not really, but lets just say that it was not cheap. I tell DH and his frown instantly turn s upside-down. He is now happy! Maybe this day is starting to turn around.

We get of at the TTC so we can take a bus to Animal Kingdom. While waiting for the bus, we are standing in the sun and it feels like the hottest day yet this week. One of the girls shouts out, “I am hungry!” It was at that point when DH had to walk off to sit on the shady bench because he was about to lose his cool. Fortunately Mom was smart enough to pack away some peanut butter crackers and granola bars. When the Animal Kingdom bus pulled up, it was not your usual Disney Bus; it was a nice plush bus with cushioned seats.

When we finally make it the park, we head straight over to Kilimanjaro Safari, where there is a 50-minute wait. We decide at this point of the day we are going to have to wait for any ride so lets just do it. We waited and I can honestly say that the line moved so it was not as torture some as it sounds. It was hot so the animals were not as exciting as I remembered them to be, but it was still nice.

We then walked over to Everest where we noticed another 50 minutes wait. We did not want to wait in another line for 50 minutes so, I sent DH over to get fast passes for the Kali River Rapids and then we got some lunch. Since I planned on eating a late breakfast with Lilo & Stitch I did not have a lunch packed, so we had not other choice then to eat at crappy counter service. After lunch our fast passes were ready for the Rapids, so we walked over. DD4 notices Expedition Everest. She starts pointing and starts yelling “I want to go on the mountain!” We are of course caught off guard by this reaction. Daddy says, of course we can on the mountain. We were about to use our fast passes for Kali River Rapids, so we could get new fast passes, he runs over to get them for EE. We then go over to Kali River Rapids when DD4 starts complaining that she does not want to go on a water ride, she does not want to get wet. As you may have guessed it, she is spraying herself with the misting fan water bottle. We just ignore her statement and walk onto the ride. She gets in whining of course when all of a sudden one of the guests in the ride points to DD4 and says, “Hey you are in wet seat! You are the one that is going to get wet.” All of a sudden tears start coming down. Everyone is reassuring her that it is just a ride and she will be fine. How were they to know that a person getting on a water ride does not want to get wet? As we head down the drop, Who gets wet? It was DD8 she was drenched from head to toe. Here is a picture:

DD4 did get some of it, but we made such a big deal of her sister she did not seem to care. After that we headed over to Dinoland. The girls loved this area for some reason. We did not let the girls know that we were taking them on a scary ride when we rode Dinosaur. Let me tell you that I was even scared. After we finished going on that silly circular dinosaur ride for the 10th time we walked over to tree of life. Here are some pictures of the girls wearing the glasses:

Finally it was time to take our turn on Expedition Everest, aka “the mountain” according to DD4. We breeze through the fast pass line and this was the smoothest roller coaster I have ever ridden. The three of us LOVED it except DD4, she was a little scared of the Yeti, it was no Big Thunder Mountain in her eyes. We then proceeded to walk by Pooh and friends giving autographs, DD4 wanted Piglet’s autograph so we waited in line. Here are couple more pictures:

At this point we are hot and just want to take a break. Since it is EMH tonight, we get a wristband and decide to go back to pool. When departing the park, we hit the parade. We try to leave but there are people everywhere and there does not seem to be a place for us to cross. We just sit down in shade and hope for the parade to be over soon. When all of a sudden a girl I work with walks by with her family. What are the odds of seeing someone you know at DW? We were amused, said hello and goodbye and we were on our way to cool off in the pool. We took a quick dip and decided to cut back on time, so we would just eat poolside. I got us some food at Siesta’s, it was not wonderful, but it was at least edible unlike the counter service in the parks. Then we went back to Animal Kingdom, this time taking the car. We headed straight for EE, where there was no wait. I think the sign said 5 minutes from this point. It took that long to go in between the maze. We all intended to get on when DD4 starts crying because she is afraid to go on. DH says that he will stay with her while I ride with DD8. This ride is better the second time around. We get off, I watch DD4 in the EE store while the other two go on again and again. I think they rode it 3 times in a row. Before our trip, I played the Yeti game online and won two coupons to get a free picture of myself riding EE. I bring the coupons over to the counter and the clerk tells me that I am supposed to present these to customer relations. I ask where customer relations is, her response was “the front of the park.’ My mouth dropped. I told her that there is no way I will make to the front of the park and back before park closing. She calls the supervisor and thank heavens the supervisor approves the coupon. Disney must make a fortune on photos because there was a serious line there that night.

Now the girls are itching for some souvenirs. DH and decide that we have not bought them one souvenir since we have been here, so we decide to bring them to Downtown Disney. This place is very crowded. DD8 picks out a pink hat and some earrings and DD4 picks out a Snow White Polly Pocket type toy and some earrings. Actually the earrings I picked out because I liked them.

We wanted to go to Ghirardelli’s for ice cream but the line wrapped all around inside and then continued out the door, we said no way. We decided to head back to the hotel, go for one last swim (I told you my kids were part fish) and straight to bed.

Up next……. Day 4 – Breakfast with Cinderella

 

[calstitcher]

Loving your trip report. I can't believe you got last minute ressies for CRT! Can't wait to hear how that went. Your girls are so cute. I especially love the last picture of them hamming it up with the Cinderella statue!

 

[Princess4Eeyore]

Hi Great Report & really cute pics - love the details

 

[Buzz2001]

Looking forward to your next report!

 

[missmun52]

keep them comming

 

[Vickie46]

love your trip report!!!

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Thank you everyone for your kind words. It makes it easier to keep writing when I know that people are enjoying to read about our adventure.

Operation WDW
April 24, 2006 – May 1, 2006

Trip Report – Part 7 – Day 4 – Breakfast in Cinderella’s Castle

The wake up call is all set so we can have breakfast with Cindy. RING!!!!! DD8 answers. This time she is a little more awake and takes the time to listen. She informed us that it was Mickey and Stitch, she repeated some of what they said, but I can’t remember, sorry.
I quickly remind everyone that there is no time to dilly dally we have ADR’s for breakfast. We did not tell the kids where were going, just the fact that we were having breakfast with characters. We head off to the bus stop. Today, the bus arrives very quickly, unlike yesterday. A short ride and the driver dropped us off at the gates. We walked toward the castle and somehow the castle looked different knowing that we were able to eat inside. We park the stroller and walk over to the CM to check in. There are a couple people in front of me when some lady starts yelling at DH because “She has reservations.” DH responds back, “We all have reservations.” Some people! Do they think that they can just go to Disney without waiting in a line? It is my turn with the CM, I give him my name and confirmation number. He says, “You are all paid.” We walk into the castle, and there she is. DD4 is in awe. She says, “She looks so beautiful!” That comment alone made it worth every penny. DD8 is busy checking out the castle when she notices the mice. Here is a picture:

We take our pictures with Cinderella, get the autographs, you know the routine and head upstairs for our fine meal. We walk in the door to get seated instantly. The girls are looking around you can hear, “Look there is Belle, and Sleeping Beauty, etc.” DH and I are very happy. As we sit there the waitress comes over she asks if we want the low cal breakfast or regular. Well, we are on vacation and we just dropped a small fortune here, so we are not going for any low cal meal. She brings us some beverages, while we take it all in and watch the princesses roam the castle. A little while later, the waitress brings the meal out and wouldn’t you know it the first princess shows up at our table at the very moment when we get our meal. We go through the routine. DD4 is so excited she can barely sit in her seat. As we are eating, another princess would come along and then another. Yes, to the point where my eggs were cold. The waitress offered to get anything we wanted, but I am not a big fan of eggs to begin with so that was fine with me. The girls got some refills of French toast while DH and watched the girls have a great time. At one point the princesses did some make a wish show for us, which was cute. DD4 was very into it. Snow White is DD4’s favorite character when she came by the table. DD4 says, “She even talks like the real Snow White.” As Snow White walked away, DD4 says, “I forgot to tell Snow White something.” We ask, “What did you forget to tell her?” She says, ”I just loved her movie.” It was priceless, definitely worth the cost of my left arm. Here are some pictures of girls with the princesses:

We finished our meal and continued our quest to conquer MK. DD4 was really interested in ride Dumbo even though the three of us did not want to wait in line. The things we do for our children! Ahh isn’t this fun going around in circles? Then we continued riding our favorites in Fantasyland. We go to get a fast pass for Peter pan when I cannot get one using DH’s park ticket. He quickly points out that he had trouble with the park ticket when entering MK that morning. Apparently; I placed the park ticket next to my cell phone and that is a big no no because it deactivates your card. I go over to the CM, explain the situation. She advises us to go to guest services in the front of the park. We have no desire to walk to the front of the park and ask her to approved 4 of us to ride Peter when fast pass is available. She reluctantly signs her name one of the fast passes. We continue our quest and stay in Fantasyland. Suddenly it occurred to us that somehow we missed Space Mountain the other day so we decide to head in that direction. DH and I argue for moment on which way to go. It is my opinion that he took us the long way around. There a 40-minute wait so we get some 2 fast passes and head over to Toon Town. We go through Toon Town, avoiding the line to meet characters because one day was more then enough. We then head back to Space Mountain. I get a child swap pass and let DD8 and Daddy go first. I take DD4 into the gift shop and wait. DD8 gets off the ride and the only words that leave her mouth are “Mama, this ride is so awesome. You are gonna love it!” Over and over as we approached the ride. While on Space Mountain, I can hear her screaming and laughing. I could tell that she just loved it. Then decided to go to the opposite end of the park over to Frontierland, hitting the Haunted Mansion one more time on the way. The girls get a kick out of the ghost sitting next to you. Actually as a child, I thought that was quite impressive myself. I remember asking my Mom how they did that. Her response was, “magic.”

We decide that an ice cream break is on order, so we stop for a break. After our break, we decide that we are getting exhausted. Maybe we should cool off a little at the hotel. It was so relaxing sitting there. Here is picture of yours truly with the girls as we depart from the park:

We were glad that we decided to stay on site because we really took advantage of the down time. We let the kids play and swim for a while, I picked up some Margarita’s and we relaxed by the pool. The decision was made to try Pepper Market (except I kept calling it Pepper Mill for some reason) for dinner. On the way to Pepper Market I stopped at the concierge desk to explain the deactivation of DH’s room key because of my cell phone. No problem, in fact she gave us 4 new room keys. Over at Pepper Market, Buzz2001 highly recommended the “wet burrito” so, I advised DH to give that a try. I took care of the kids first and then got my meal. I had a difficult time making a decision. I went from line to line. Finally I went with the calzone. When I sat down I noticed that DH was eating what appeared to be a fajita’s not a wet burrito and I questioned it. His response was, “that is what they gave me and I was hungry so, I ate it.” Oh well, he seemed to enjoy it. He did say that it did not taste like a burrito. Maybe next time he can try the wet burrito.

We decide to put the kids to bed after dinner because we have to go to DD8’s favorite park tomorrow, MGM studios.

Up next……. Day 5 - All day, no breaks.

 

[Buzz2001]

Over at Pepper Market, Buzz2001 highly recommended the “wet burrito” so, I advised DH to give that a try. I took care of the kids first and then got my meal. I had a difficult time making a decision. I went from line to line. Finally I went with the calzone. When I sat down I noticed that DH was eating what appeared to be a fajita’s not a wet burrito and I questioned it. His response was, “that is what they gave me and I was hungry so, I ate it.” Oh well, he seemed to enjoy it. He did say that it did not taste like a burrito. Maybe next time he can try the wet burrito.

Wet Burrito w/ chicken! My favorite thing!! It sounds like you are having an awesome time!!

I'm sitting here watching the 4 inches of rain come down in CT. Almost as much fun as you trip but not quite.

Great pics and thanks for sharing your reports!! Look forward to your MGM report! Have fun tomorrow!!

 

[mommykds]

Great trip report & I love the photos..your girls are adorable. I do have a question, how do your girls like walking in the crocs? My oldest DD who is 10 doesn't sit on the stroller like my little ones & I was wondering if they would be good for her? Thanks & looking forward to reading more.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Great trip report & I love the photos..your girls are adorable. I do have a question, how do your girls like walking in the crocs? My oldest DD who is 10 doesn't sit on the stroller like my little ones & I was wondering if they would be good for her? Thanks & looking forward to reading more.

I wore the crocs and so did both the girls. The 8 year old walked every day. I was really worried about her, but she did not complain once. My feet did not hurt either. I did have her wear them here and there before our trip to get used to them. I purchased moleskin just in case, but never needed it. It is better to be safe then sorry. I would highly recommend wearing crocs.

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Wet Burrito w/ chicken! My favorite thing!! It sounds like you are having an awesome time!!

I'm sitting here watching the 4 inches of rain come down in CT. Almost as much fun as you trip but not quite.

Great pics and thanks for sharing your reports!! Look forward to your MGM report! Have fun tomorrow!!

Buzz:

We had the time of our life. I thought it would be hard to top our last trip to Disney, but this trip was by far our best vacation.

About the wet buritto, I am pretty sure that they mixed up his order. Does a wet burrito look like a fajita?

 

[missmun52]

love your report i look forward to reading the next one

 

[Buzz2001]

Buzz:

We had the time of our life. I thought it would be hard to top our last trip to Disney, but this trip was by far our best vacation.

About the wet buritto, I am pretty sure that they mixed up his order. Does a wet burrito look like a fajita?

Glad to hear you had a great time. I'm already getting the itch to return and I just got back!!

Wet Burrito