9/16-9/22 Akl

[gpo]

OK here it goes:

Rollcall:

Me = DH 35 (first timer to WDW, but I did all the research on these boards)
Mom = DW 35 (Went to WDW when she was 16)
Daughter1 = DD1 (6.75 year old getting out of school for the trip)
Daughter2 = DD2 (2.5 year old can get cranky when she doesn’t nap you will see)

Pre-trip 9/15

The day before the trip was extremely busy. First I had to do my long run as I am training for a marathon. 15 miles would be the amount ran starting at 6:30 AM. Got home and could barely walk, but still had to cut the grass. Then the neighborhood block party started at 12:30. I took the kids out while DW finished up packing and cleaning the house. I took a turn at cleaning around 4:30 when DW came out. We finally called it a night around 7:00. Put the kids to bed and I made a quick trip to the store to get a couple of things. I wished the neighbors would have called it a night as well as they were a little loud. Eventually everyone got to sleep, although DD1 go up a couple of times.


Day 1 9/16

The limo was to arrive at 4:45 AM, which meant DW got up at 3:00 AM. I got up at 3:30 AM. We eventually got the kids up and the limo came on time. We were worried about car sickness, but thankfully none came. Sam the driver dropped us off at the curb and we used curbside check in. When traveling with small children curbside check in is worth the money. Got the boarding passes and we were off to security. New rule at security at least for me. Now you have to remove DVD players and Camcorders from their cases when going through security. Not fun when I have 2 DVD players and a camcorder in my bag. Got through security and made it to the gate with some time to grab a bite. I sit down with DD2 when I spot four open seats together at the gate. A couple comes over to sit down and I say someone is sitting there. The guy says well we were sitting there. They left nothing to save the seat. What am I suppose to know they are coming back. The plane ride was good. DD1 felt a little sick, but it passed. There was excitement in the air for sure. We were renting a car which meant we had to go get our own luggage. While the plane landed about 12 minutes early we lost that time waiting for luggage. Got the luggage and found a Hertz bus. No line to speak of. We booked our trip through AAA. Before the dining was free the AAA cost was basically the same as directly with Disney, but we got a rental in addition. We did get the free dining and kept the car. Which in my opinion was a good choice. We also got a 2 level upgrade on a midsize car. Well, that doesn’t mean much as our upgrade only got us an Accord. I was hoping for an SUV. On the way out of the parking lot the attendant told us to head back through the airport and head directly south to pickup SR 417. It was way shorter than going to get on 528. The drive was pretty quick and we found AKL with no problem. I decided to valet the first day as you will see why later. Dropped the bags with the bellman and went to check in. Check in, but room not ready. Oh by the way a family on our flight arrived just before us and they took the bus.
So with the room not ready we hit Mara for lunch. Decent food. Looked around a little bit and found the Flamingos. Called to see if the room was ready and it still wasn’t. Went to the arcade with the kids. DD1 love games. Found the TV in the lobby playing old Disney cartoons. DD2 was mesmerized. Finally the room was ready. Got to the room and looked at the balcony and saw construction. It was a Savannah view room, but also with a view of the AKV construction. This was not going to do and called for a room change. Got one on the Zebra Trail. It was a nice view without construction. Since it was almost 3:30 we decided to head to the Contemporary for our 5:00 reservation at Chef Mickey’s. Got there no problem and valet the car. Two valets for the price of one for the day. Looked around their gift shops and then went to check in. Line was a little long, but it went fast. DD2 is allergic to tree nuts, peanuts and eggs. Because of these boards I called and had them put that info on all our reservations for the week. DW was a little concerned before the trip about this. Her concerns were quickly put at ease. The chef came out and walked through the buffet with her and told her what to stay away from. I think the chef even made a special plate up for DD2. This was a great dinner. Mickey, Goofy, Donald, Pluto, and Minnie were there and we got to see everyone twice except for Mickey. The DD’s just loved it. DD2 loves Mickey’s Clubhouse on TV and just loved seeing the characters. I would suggest getting a 5:00 reservation as that is when they start dinner and you can see the characters more. After dinner we jumped on the monorail for MK. It had been raining during dinner, but the skies opened up and the sun came out. This was it we were going to MK for the first time. We really had no plans for the night. We walked up main street towards the castle. We found the characters and princesses out taking pictures. So we jumped into Aurora’s line and got a picture and then one with Cinderella. By then they all went inside. We walked through Liberty Square towards Frontier Land. DW and DD1 rode BTMR. DW is not big on thrill rides and DD1 was a little shaken by that. We watched wishes by Tom Sawyer. After wishes we called it a night and ended walking back to the Contemporary. Really not a bad walk. Everyone was tired. Before the trip DW bought the girls dresses. DD1 was Cinderella and DD2 was Aurora. DD1 wanted to get a crown really bad and wanted to get one that night. I had bought them crowns and wands and hid them from them. I made up a letter from Cinderella and Aurora and got them out before we left for the Contemporary. When we got back to the room DD1 was just amazed at getting the crowns from Cinderella. It was too cute. She thought it was so special.


Day 2 9/17

Early day as we were eating breakfast with the Princesses at Epcot. 8:30 reservation. Kinda fun getting into the park early. Although a long walk to Norway. The girls were in their dresses It was a challenge getting everyone up by then. Again the chef came out to talk to DW. They made up a special plate for DD2. We had a good mix of Princesses. Belle was the main one as you walked in. Then Aurora came by. Now this is something that was cool. She remembered the girls from the night before. The day before DD2 was wearing a Aurora shirt and DD1 a Cinderella shirt and she remembered. Jasmine, Mulan, and Ariel were the other Princesses. I was so glad Mulan was there as that was DD1’s favorite movie when she was 4. The girls were in heaven. After breakfast DW went to change the girls and went to get FP for Soarin. I met them back at the Coca Cola place. DD2 liked to try out the new drinks. We had time so we did the Character greeting at Epcot. Saw Minnie, Goofy, Chip & Dale and Mickey. Very cool again. Then we went and rode Soarin. First, me and DD1. Then with the child swap DW and DD1. Lucky kid she got to ride it twice. A CM on a segway stopped us and gave us two of those special tinkerbell pins you can’t buy. I did not read the paper and we gave them to the kids. We headed back to AKL for a nap. DD2 fell asleep on the way and we decided just to stop at McDonalds and eat lunch in the car to let DD2 sleep. Got back to the room and the girls slept. It was an early morning coming off a late night. I ran to get DW a backpack as hers bag broke that day. I got on 417 and got off exit 11 and saw a Super Target and got one on clearance for 7.50 along with some other eats. We did some swimming after the naps. Hit Epcot later. Did Nemo, which DD2 loved. Talked to Crush. Interesting question from one of the kids. He asked Crush if he had a boyfriend. Crush was able to talk his way out of that one. We did a few other things and walked around World Showcase. Kids were getting tired, so we skipped Illuminations. By the way the AAA diamond parking came in handy all week. We got to the car pretty quickly. It is usually just past handicapped parking.

Day 3 9/18

We decided since we were going to the Luau at the Poly at 8:00 we would just hit MK whenever we got up. I went and grabbed some doughnuts for breakfast. We parked in diamond parking and rode a ferry boat over. The DDs liked the ferry boat. We got to MK and headed straight for Splash Mountain. They weren’t giving out FPs so me and DD1 rode with a 20 minute posted wait. I think it was shorter. Then DW and DD1 rode again. While they were riding me and DD2 headed to fantasy land. I got FPs for Peter Pan. We met up with them and went to see Mickey’s Philharmonic(sp) and rode Small World. Then went on Peter Pan. After Peter Pan the crew was hungry, so we stopped and ate at Pinocho’s. It was decent. Nice to sit down. We then made our way over to Toon Town to see Mickey and Minnie’s houses. Did not wait to see them as we had seen them twice before. We did see Belle and Cinderella in the hall of fame. Then we went over to Goofy’s Barnstormer and we all rode as DD2 is above 35 inches. DD2 called it Goofy’s choo choo. DD2 had a good time. We played in the playground area some as well. I had gotten FPs for Space Mountain, so me and DD1 went over and rode. DD1 was a little scared, but she made it through. She did say she probably would not ride it again. Then we stopped and at the Indy Cars. Boy let me tell you how much DD2 loved the cars. She was just laughing and giggling away while steering the car. DD1 liked driving as well. After the cars we went and rode Haunted Mansion. I never rode it before so I don’t have a comparison. DD1 kept saying she wasn’t scared because it was all fake. Since we were going to be at MK on Friday and Saturday we decided to take it easy overall that day. So we just looked around some more and then headed to Poly for the 8:00 Luau. We took a ferry boat over. It was a smaller one that went to the GF and Poly. DD1 kept saying she wanted to play on the beach. We really did not have time for that. We checked in at the Luau and had about 15 minutes before it started. The Luau is pretty good. Don’t think it was worth 2 TS though. Once again they brought a separate plate for DD2. DD1 got to go up and dance some. I thought the food was great and the entertainment was so-so. DD2 fell asleep during the entertainment. They were nice enough to bring DD2 a bowl of plain ice cream for dessert. We rode the monorail back to the TTC and grabbed the car and headed back to the AKL.


Day 4 9/19

Because of the late night we weren’t in a hurry to get to MGM this morning. I once again went and grabbed some breakfast for the family from Mara. We ate breakfast while watching Fred the giraffe eat his breakfast. The girls named Fred’s girlfriend Dory. It was looking a little gloomy that morning. By the time we got through the gates at MGM it had started to rain some. We ducked into a store and looked around for some gifts we needed to purchase. DD1 bought a Hannah Montana shirt with her own money along with a HSM2 pin. By the time we were done shopping it was time for our lunch reservation at Prime Time 50’s café. It was a pretty neat place overall. As always the chef came out to talk to us about what DD2 could eat. He brought with him another set of those Tinker Bell pins that you can’t buy. We were talking to the waitress about getting those kinda inquiring if we could get another set as you are suppose to give one of the pair away. She said when you have 2 children you have one give the other child the other pin. It all works out. Lunch was good. DW and I traded meals half way through out lunch just to try something different. After lunch we all headed over to Tower of Terror. By then the rain was totally gone. DD1 and I went on TOT. There was a 20 minute posted time and no FPs were being given out. It was quicker than 20 minutes. DD1 once again showed how brave she is by riding. We headed over to see the Playhouse Disney show and Little Mermaid shows. Both were good although I think I dozed in LM. DD1 and DD2 got autographs and pictures with Leo and Annie from Little Einsteins. Afterwards we just watched some street performers. We caught a little of the parade. Then the Beauty and the Beast show would be starting soon, but DD2 was asleep in the stroller. So I just walked her around while DW and DD1 saw the show. They really liked the show. While the show was going on I thought I had misplaced my photopass card, so I went into a photo place to get another one. DD2 had woken up by then. The CM behind the counter was trying to get DD2 to say hi and acknowledge him. She just kept hiding behind her dolly. Finally he got out another set of those Tinkerbell pins and gave them to her. That is the third set we got and all were different. DD2 and I went to pickup DW and DD1 from the show. We were a little early, so we just sat on a bench and watched the people go by. It was very nice to slowdown for a little bit. DW and DD1 came out and DD1 got involved with one of those street performer shows. It was cute. After that we headed over to the Muppet Show. On the way we stopped and got pictures and autographs with Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. DD1 used to be a big KP fan, but has outgrown that a bit, but DD2 is starting to be a fan. On the way we saw a CM that had the 4th and final Tinkerbell pin on her lanyard. She only had one. We asked DD1 if she wanted to trade one of her pins for that one. DD1 did not, but the CM slipped the pin to DW. Now we had a full set of four and a set of three. We did not tell DD1 right then. Finally time to see the Muppets. DW is a big fan of the Muppets. She used to watch the show a ton as a kid. It was a pretty good 3D show. No real wait for the show. Afterwards DW was disappointed in the selection of Muppet gear they had. We then headed over to It’s a Bug Life play area. On the way we saw something interesting about a dozen monks dressed in orange robes being let by. Quite strange. It’s a Bug’s Life is nice, but tough to keep track of a 2.5 year old, plus it started to get busy. So we left. We walked around a little more and decided to call it a day. We grabbed the car and decided to eat off property. We found a Bennigans. It worked find and they had a special on burgers. We stopped at Wal-Greens to pick up a couple of things and headed back to AKL. When we arrived they were just finishing up the parade they do every night at AKL. We made it back to the room and hit the hay.


Day 5 9/20

Day 5 was water park day. We decided on going to Blizzard Beach. When we woke up I again grabbed some breakfast. We were out the door in record time this morning. We arrived at BB before the opening. Finally made a rope drop, although they don’t drop a rope at BB. We headed straight to Tike’s Pike and got some chairs. Then me and DD1 headed for some big slides. First we rode the slides in the purple area. DD1 really liked them. She even did the Slush Gusher. I was worried that they would measure her. See without shoes she is just under 48 inches. They did not measure her. It was a good ride. We did 8 rides in the purple area. Then we got into the wave pool, but DD1 did not like it that much. So we went and checked on DW and DD2 at tikes pike. They were having a good old time. DD1 and DD2 rode some smaller rides together. Then DD1 and I headed for Summit Plummit. The time posted was 30 minutes, but it took more like 40-45 minutes. I again was worried that they would measure DD1, but they did not. DD1 was once again brave and rode the big slide. After that we hung out at tikes and played together. Then we ate lunch at like 2:00 and called it a day at the park. We headed back to AKL for some naps. DD1 did not want to nap, so her and I went swimming. The pool is nice at AKL and the slide is cool enough for DD1. DD1 found some girls from England to play with. DD2 and DW came out to swim too. After swimming we all went and got cleaned up for our 6:30 reservation at Boma. We had some time and the girls played with some of the CM’s. About that time is when it really started to rain heavily. Talk about luck, that is the second big rain and we missed it again while eating. We headed over to Boma’s. Again the chef took DW through the buffet talking about what DD2 could eat. The meal was very good and again they brought some special ice cream out for DD2. It stopped raining and I asked DD1 if she wanted to head to one of the parks for a little bit. At first she did, but changed her mind. That was fine. It was a good thing, because it started to rain again and we would have gotten wet. We hung out in the lobby after dinner and waiting to do the parade around AKL. The kids get to go grab instruments from the gift shop and be in the parade. The girls liked it a lot. We went to bed after that.


Day 6 9/21

It was to be AK in the morning. We got up and did the normal routine. We made the quick drive to AK and as always the diamond parking came in handy. Just as we were walking up to the park they started letting people in. We headed straight for EE to get FPs. Got those and headed to the Kali Rapids. We did not know, but the rapids do not open until 9:30. It was 9:15 and we were second in line so we decided to wait. It opened up and DD2 just made the height requirement, but her ponytail. She would have to ride in the special seat. We got on with another gentleman. I thought the ride was a little short, but we got wet. When we came around the line had not built up yet and the let us ride again. After the second time around we could still ride again, but we got some people to join us. By the end of the third time we were soaked. But it was a ton of fun as we all could ride together as a family. Then we went over to EE and DD1 and I rode with our FPs. DD1 was brave again. She had ridden all the big kid rides now at WDW. We had gotten a child swap pass and had DW’s FP, but DD1 did not want to ride again. So we found a man to give the passes to, and wouldn’t you now it he had a Tinkerbell pin to give us. It was the one we needed. Now we had 2 sets of all 4 pins for both girls. I guess there is a little Disney magic. After EE we went over to Dinoland and rode the kiddie ride together. Then DD1 and I rode Primal Whirl. Then we got in line for Nemo. The seats were good except for the screaming child behind us that finally left 15 minutes into the show. Probably about 10 minutes too late. The show was pretty good. I think the girls liked it. We grabbed some lunch at a CS place. Then we went to see the Festival of the Lion King. When we got to the area it was pretty dead in Camp Mickey Minnie. So we were able to see the characters again with really no waiting. We saw the show and it was good. I think everyone liked it. After that we did the Tree of Life and headed out. We did miss out on some stuff, but we were going to MNSSHP that night.

So we got back to AKL and the girls got into their dresses. DD1 was Cinderella and DD2 was Sleeping Beauty. He headed to MK. We got there and ate at Pecos Bill’s. It was decent. After dinner we went on the Swiss Family Tree. I think DW wanted to go as something she did when she was 16. Then the girls rode on the flying carpets. We did some trick or treating. We got stuck by the parade, so we watched the parade. Then we headed over to Fantasy Land. This may have been a mistake, but we did get a great picture. They had Cinderella’s carriage up where you could take pictures in front of it. The problem was it was about a 30 min wait. Great picture of DD1 in her costume, but it did kill some time. DD2 was sleeping by then. DW kept getting comments from people saying oh look there is a real sleeping beauty. We took the pictures which were great. Then DD1 and I rode Dumbo. Now the cool thing was Wishes was going off right was we were riding and we were on it when the finale was going on. It was pretty neat. They were playing music by Arial’s Grotto and DD1 and DW danced with Chip and Dale. It was getting late, so we heading out. DD1 had been saying she would not get to see her villains earlier. Then we came upon the step-sisters and step-mother. We waited and took pictures and got autographs. We limped back to the car after a busy day.


Day 7 9/22 (last day)

We had a 9:35 reservation to eat at the castle with Cinderella. We got up and packed and headed to the park for the last time. The only Characters we hadn’t seen were Snow White and Daisy Duck. So on the way in we stopped at Town Hall to see where they might be this morning. Well, they did not know until 10:00, but we had to go. The girls had decided they did not want to wear their dresses. That was fine they had worn them two other times during the trip. We go to the castle and got into line for the picture with Cindy. Then we actually got to ride the elevator up. As usual the chef came to talk to us and made DD2 a special plate. The Characters for the meal were Jasmine, Fairy Godmother, Blue dress Belle, Snow White(Yeah). The food was just OK, not near as good as Norway in Epcot. Except for the castle I don’t think it was worth it. I would say if you were deciding I would save the TS and go to Epcot. Then just plan to see Cinderella at Toon Town. It was a rough meal as DD2 was not cooperating. After breakfast we headed to fantasyland. We got in line to ride the teacups. When we were getting on the ride, Alice and MH rode too. I pushed DD1 to ride with them. It was cool DD1 got to ride with Alice. Then we had to ride the indy cars one last time. I rode with DD2 this time. She is a bad driver, but she had a great time. DW needed to do some shopping so we told her we would meet her at Town Hall at 1:00. I took the girls to ride Goofy’s choo choo as DD2 would say. We walked around and bought a couple of things at Hall of Fame. I bought DD1 a big Princess Pen and she has be using it everyday since we got back. DD2 got a fluffy keychain of Minnie. We got FPs for Buzz and the three of us rode together. Tough to get a good score with DD2 onboard. It was getting to be that time so we headed towards Town Hall. We got there first. A lady doing a survey came up to me and I did a survey while waiting. DW showed up and said she had to ship some stuff do to them being x-mas gifts. We rode the monorail back to the parking lot and got into the car. Stopped at the gas station just outside MK and gassed up. By the way if fill it full from there and go straight to the airport you don’t have to worry about it being totally full. Dropped the car off and headed to the airport. Checked the bags at the curb, well worth the fee. Security is a pain when you have 2 DVD palyers and a camcorder in your carryon and you have to take them all out of their cases. We left the umbrella stroller at the gate. Flight home was no big deal, although DD2 was a little crabby. Bags took forever to come and we caught a limo home.



Overall thoughts

It is tough to travel with a 2.5 year old. We just moved pretty slow overall with her. Restroom breaks were a big deal with girls. Sometimes it was a big production. I liked Disney overall. Don’t know if I would like it when the crowds are at the normal levels. FPs work great. The girls had a great time. The parents were plenty tired. I would have liked to have one more day, so we could have had a resort day in the middle of the trip. Having a car was good I think. Never rode a bus, so I did not have much to compare, but it sure was nice just to go get into the car when you wanted to get out of dodge. Also it was nice to have a car to get off property to get some snacks and drinks. AAA diamond parking was great too. Could have booked a bounce back, but did not. DW was not sure if she wanted to come back right away. We will probably comeback in 4 or 5 years. I think if you can afford it staying at a MK monorail resort would be worth it if you have small kids and plan on being at MK a bunch.

Cool things:
1. Having Sleeping Beauty remember the girls from the night before.
2. Giving the girls the crowns and wands as a present from the Princesses.
3. Getting 2 sets of all 4 Tinkerbell pins that you can’t buy.
4. Riding the rapids at AK 3 times in a row together as a family.
5. The animals at AKL.
6. How well WDW dealt with DD2’s allergy.
7. The girls faces when they saw characters for the first time.
8. Disney Photopass(Grandma saw the pictures each day during the trip)
9. DD1 riding all the big rides at age 6.
10. Just being together as a family for 7 days.