Hi everyone! I haven't seen many reports yet from the week we were there, so I thought I'd share our very first trip. (I hope this isn't too long) It included:
Me, 37, chief planner of trip who never thought she'd actually get there
DH, 40, reluctant of the hype of Disney, but in need of a vacation
DS, 11
DS, 6
DD, 4
We stayed at Marriott's Cypress Harbour, using a week of parents vacation club membership
The first half of the week, we were joined by my parents, both 60 and my youngest brother, 17, who are all on their 4th trip, but left all the planning up to us. They stayed at OKW, as DVC members.
I was a constant lurker on this board in the weeks before we left, and in addition to all the great tips (I can never thank all of you enough), I also saw a lot of complaints, so I was a little worried. Let me assure you that for a newbie, who didn't know what to expect, but had high expectations, the magic is very much alive and well at WDW. It's truly an amazing place, and I fell hopelessly in love with it all.
Day 1 (Sat 3/16)
We arrived by car from Ohio around 3:30 pm, immediately went to CH and was able to check in. Beautiful resort, I cannot say enough good things about it. Easy access to parks, which alleviated a lot of my dh's worries. My parents had arrived the night before, so after unpacking we headed to OKW. Had PS at Chef Mickey's that evening for 7:00pm, so took bus to TTC, then monorail to Contemporary. We misjudged the buses a little, so were about 20 minutes late; after another 20 minute wait we were seated. Good food, great characters - my dd was enthralled with Goofy. Characters were Chef Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale and Donald Duck, who all came to the tables. Goofy stayed in lobby. Afterwards, we went to the roof of the Contemporary and saw my first glimpse of the castle. We had hoped to see the fireworks, but they were over. I just looked around in awe - I'm really, truly here! We took a trip around the world in the monorail (boys were able to sit up front), then headed back for an early morning.
Day 2 (Sunday)
(note: my dad needs an ECV in parks, so our waits were minimal on all attractions. Even so, not knowing what to expect, I thought the crowd was pretty light - when he didn't ride and we did have to wait, it wasn't bad at all)
Up early for 8:05 ps at Crystal Palace. Went to get parents, then took bus to TTC, and boarded monorail to Magic Kingdom. I was surprised at how easy it was to get around! Went through security, found CM to give name too. When we were let in at 8:00, we rushed to CP. I'm constantly looking around, still saying to myself "I'm really here!" To me, the Castle IS Disney, and there it was, right in front of me! My only regret is that we rushed to CP, not knowing that we would have to wait approx 15 minutes anyway (not sure why??). We could have taken our time strolling down Main Street and really taken it in. Breakfast was very good, the character interaction was great (Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore). These are my 6 yo's favorites, so he was very happy. After breakfast we headed to Fantasyland, and walked onto Snow White ride. Then a 20 minute wait for Dumbo, did Small World and Peter Pan. PP is one of my favorites - I really felt as if we were flying, and were in the middle of the movie. After that, it was getting crowded, so we headed to Frontierland. Did Haunted Mansion first, which didn't really scare the kids - as long as I told them it wasn't real, they were ok. Saw Hall of President's, watched a man completely lose it in his 2 yo's face, and vowed not to get upset, no matter how tired and whiney my kids may get (thankfully, they never did). Spent some time in Frontierland, did Splash Mountain, which ended up being my kid's favorite ride. Somehow I got the lucky front row seat, but didn't get too wet. The kids didn't really want to try Big Thunder Mountain RR, so we had lunch at Pecos Bill's, which was good, and headed to Adventureland. The boys did Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, then we walked onto the Magic Carpet ride. We did this 3! times in a row; the third time the CM called us to the front of the line from the back - no idea why, except we could fill a whole carpet with 5 of us. Some people grumbled, but hey, we were just doing as we were told. The kids loved the spitting camel.
When we got off the first time, we looked toward the marketplace, and there stood Jasmine, all alone. My dd was shy, but thrilled, and we got a picture. Jasmine was so nice to her, calling her "princess" (which is what we call her at home too, lol). It was time to get in line for the parade - how wonderful it was! All our favorites, right there. Went back to Adventureland and did the rest of the attractions, then headed to Tomorrowland. Oldest DS could not wait another minute to do Alien Encounter, which he ended up absolutely hating! I had been told what to expect, plus I was busy calming his fears, so I found the whole thing humorous. Had I not been focused on ds, I would have been scared too. We did the TTA, Buzz Lightyear (GREAT ride!), then got a fastpass for Space Mountain for brother, dh and I, while my mom took the kids to ride on Buzz again. We ate at Cosmic Rays (incredibly hot in there), then headed to Toontown. We went through Minnie's house, where the kids got to see and be teased by Pluto. We stood in line to see Minnie, Chip and Dale, then headed to the bridge for the fireworks. We have to see Tinkerbell, as my DD had chose a Tink hat and keychain earlier that day. The phrase "It's all about me!" fits her to a T, lol. Unfortunately, Tink didn't fly that evening, but we enjoyed the fireworks. Back to Tomorrowland for the cars (our longest wait - probably 30 minutes), and then to Fantasyland for the teacups. The Pooh ride had an hour wait, and the park was almost closing, so we skipped it and headed home. A truly magical day for all of us.
Day 3 (Monday)
Today was MGM - this was a hard park for me, due to the heat (it reached 92 I heard) and there not being a lot to interest my 4 yo DD. We don't have the Disney channel, so she doesn't know Bear in the Big Blue House, and we missed that show. We did The Little Mermaid, then my mom and I walked around while the guys all did Indiana Jones. Saw some great characters, but she didn't want to approach them without her brothers, so we settled for photos from afar. We missed a lot here - Hunchback (my dh hates this film, so he didn't care to see it), Millionaire was full, nobody would do RnR with me. But we saw verything else, and really enjoyed it. We lost my 11 yo for awhile in the History of Walt Disney attraction - he had gone into the movie and nobody knew it - so my adrenaline was pumping for awhile. I have to say that the CM's were wonderful while we couldn't find him, one stood outside the theater exit waiting for him while the other helped me look. After that scare, I just wilted.
Mom, my brother and I all did ToT (loved it!), then we sat on the benches and waited while my mom was shopping. As I sat there, two guys dressed in 40's garb sat beside me and were talking, then there we were in the middle of a show on the street. What an unexpected treat! We headed home early that day, back to dinner in the room and swimming.
Day 4 (Tues)
The day I was waiting for! Breakfast in the castle for me, DD and my mom. (The guys had breakfast at Olivia's at OKW). We got up early and arrived at MK. This time we took our time strolling down Main Street, and arrived just as our table was ready. DD was very bashful, and sat on my lap most of the breakfast. I enjoyed the food, and really appreciated that it was brought to us instead of sitting there wondering if you would miss a character if you got up for food. The service was very good - when she saw DD wasn't eating the pancakes, she was asked if she wanted eggs or something else. When we asked for more fruit for her, we were brought two big bowls of watermelon and cantaloupe- the waitress noticed nobody ate the honeydew. Even though dd wouldn't leave my lap, that didn't stop the characters from talking to her. They just sat at our table for a few minutes with her. We saw Cindy, Snow White, Belle, Prince Charming and Mary Poppins. She did finally stand up and talk to Snow White and MP, and I have a wonderful pic of her hugging SW. As we left, there was a huge line to see the Fairy Godmother (she hadn't been there when we arrived). I told my dd we could come back later to see her; when the Hostess heard me, she asked if we had already eaten, and took my dd to the front of the line with her to see FG. Needless to say, this made my DD very happy - she fell in love with the FG. Afterwards, we were to meet the guys at AK, so we headed out. Trying to get out when everyone else is coming in was something else! We made our way to AK, and met the guys with no problem. Did most of the attractions here, ate at Tusker House, enjoyed the shows in the middle of the street (we saw acrobats and some musicians). The Lion King show is a must-do. It was amazing, but it is one of my favorite movies also. This is a better park than I anticipated, and we enjoyed it. We left right before 5, then headed to Epcot to see ToD and Illuminations. We spent some time in Future World - my boys loved Spaceship Earth - then headed back to Norway to meet the rest of the group. We ate carry out from Mexico (delicious), while waiting for the parade. The parade was magical, and Illuminations was amazing. I had good food, a fiesta margarita, my loved ones with me, watching ToD, and I had seen the princesses that morning. Days do not get better than this!
Day 5 (Wed)
A much needed relaxation day! We met my parents at Downtown Disney for lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe, then said our goodbyes as they headed home to Ohio. A little shopping, then back to the resort for a lazy day of swimming. Early to bed for my tired little mouseketeers.
Day 6 (Thursday)
My parents gone, we were on our own. We had planned to go back to Epcot, then debated between MGM and MK. My oldest son and I really wanted to see Fantasmic, but decided that we could get more done at MK, which held more appeal for everybody (I didn't know how my dd would react to Fantasmic, and my 6 yo really wanted to do Splash Mountain again), plus we really wanted to end our trip with the MK. So MK won. We went to TTC and took the monorail to Epcot, arriving before it opened. Spent more time in Future World, saw what we wanted to see, did a quick tour through the world, had lunch, then headed to MK early afternoon. When we first arrived, we had a short 15 minute downpour, then the sun came back out and it was gorgeous. Again, the crowds seemed light. We did all the major attractions, and the longest wait we had was 20 minutes. We did fastpass Pooh, as once it hit an hour wait, it never went back down. DD wanted to see Cinderella again, so we went to Toontown, and only had a short wait. This time she made up for being so shy at breakfast, going up to Cindy and giving her a huge hug and talking to her. We tried to watch the show at the castle, but halfway through the last show, the weather turned dark again, and they stopped. We stayed until closing, then tearfully said our goodbyes and headed back.
Day 7 (Friday)
More swimming and packing for mom. We drove round later that evening looking for dinner and seeing some of the sites of Orlando. Tomorrow we have to head back home, and nobody wants to go.
This was a trip I had wanted to take since our first child was born, but truly never thought would happen. It was to be our once in a lifetime trip, so I prayed everything would go well, and it did. We saw tons of great characters - it's funny, I know they aren't real, but when you see them for the first time, they ARE real. The crowds were light, the weather was gorgeous, we got to eat in the castle, the parks were so clean, and every Cm was friendly and helpful. It truly is a magical place, and our trip could not have been better. Even my doubting dh had a great time and admitted that while expensive, it is worth every penny. Best of all, he told me we could come back in a few years!
Me, 37, chief planner of trip who never thought she'd actually get there
DH, 40, reluctant of the hype of Disney, but in need of a vacation
DS, 11
DS, 6
DD, 4
We stayed at Marriott's Cypress Harbour, using a week of parents vacation club membership
The first half of the week, we were joined by my parents, both 60 and my youngest brother, 17, who are all on their 4th trip, but left all the planning up to us. They stayed at OKW, as DVC members.
I was a constant lurker on this board in the weeks before we left, and in addition to all the great tips (I can never thank all of you enough), I also saw a lot of complaints, so I was a little worried. Let me assure you that for a newbie, who didn't know what to expect, but had high expectations, the magic is very much alive and well at WDW. It's truly an amazing place, and I fell hopelessly in love with it all.
Day 1 (Sat 3/16)
We arrived by car from Ohio around 3:30 pm, immediately went to CH and was able to check in. Beautiful resort, I cannot say enough good things about it. Easy access to parks, which alleviated a lot of my dh's worries. My parents had arrived the night before, so after unpacking we headed to OKW. Had PS at Chef Mickey's that evening for 7:00pm, so took bus to TTC, then monorail to Contemporary. We misjudged the buses a little, so were about 20 minutes late; after another 20 minute wait we were seated. Good food, great characters - my dd was enthralled with Goofy. Characters were Chef Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale and Donald Duck, who all came to the tables. Goofy stayed in lobby. Afterwards, we went to the roof of the Contemporary and saw my first glimpse of the castle. We had hoped to see the fireworks, but they were over. I just looked around in awe - I'm really, truly here! We took a trip around the world in the monorail (boys were able to sit up front), then headed back for an early morning.
Day 2 (Sunday)
(note: my dad needs an ECV in parks, so our waits were minimal on all attractions. Even so, not knowing what to expect, I thought the crowd was pretty light - when he didn't ride and we did have to wait, it wasn't bad at all)
Up early for 8:05 ps at Crystal Palace. Went to get parents, then took bus to TTC, and boarded monorail to Magic Kingdom. I was surprised at how easy it was to get around! Went through security, found CM to give name too. When we were let in at 8:00, we rushed to CP. I'm constantly looking around, still saying to myself "I'm really here!" To me, the Castle IS Disney, and there it was, right in front of me! My only regret is that we rushed to CP, not knowing that we would have to wait approx 15 minutes anyway (not sure why??). We could have taken our time strolling down Main Street and really taken it in. Breakfast was very good, the character interaction was great (Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore). These are my 6 yo's favorites, so he was very happy. After breakfast we headed to Fantasyland, and walked onto Snow White ride. Then a 20 minute wait for Dumbo, did Small World and Peter Pan. PP is one of my favorites - I really felt as if we were flying, and were in the middle of the movie. After that, it was getting crowded, so we headed to Frontierland. Did Haunted Mansion first, which didn't really scare the kids - as long as I told them it wasn't real, they were ok. Saw Hall of President's, watched a man completely lose it in his 2 yo's face, and vowed not to get upset, no matter how tired and whiney my kids may get (thankfully, they never did). Spent some time in Frontierland, did Splash Mountain, which ended up being my kid's favorite ride. Somehow I got the lucky front row seat, but didn't get too wet. The kids didn't really want to try Big Thunder Mountain RR, so we had lunch at Pecos Bill's, which was good, and headed to Adventureland. The boys did Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, then we walked onto the Magic Carpet ride. We did this 3! times in a row; the third time the CM called us to the front of the line from the back - no idea why, except we could fill a whole carpet with 5 of us. Some people grumbled, but hey, we were just doing as we were told. The kids loved the spitting camel.
When we got off the first time, we looked toward the marketplace, and there stood Jasmine, all alone. My dd was shy, but thrilled, and we got a picture. Jasmine was so nice to her, calling her "princess" (which is what we call her at home too, lol). It was time to get in line for the parade - how wonderful it was! All our favorites, right there. Went back to Adventureland and did the rest of the attractions, then headed to Tomorrowland. Oldest DS could not wait another minute to do Alien Encounter, which he ended up absolutely hating! I had been told what to expect, plus I was busy calming his fears, so I found the whole thing humorous. Had I not been focused on ds, I would have been scared too. We did the TTA, Buzz Lightyear (GREAT ride!), then got a fastpass for Space Mountain for brother, dh and I, while my mom took the kids to ride on Buzz again. We ate at Cosmic Rays (incredibly hot in there), then headed to Toontown. We went through Minnie's house, where the kids got to see and be teased by Pluto. We stood in line to see Minnie, Chip and Dale, then headed to the bridge for the fireworks. We have to see Tinkerbell, as my DD had chose a Tink hat and keychain earlier that day. The phrase "It's all about me!" fits her to a T, lol. Unfortunately, Tink didn't fly that evening, but we enjoyed the fireworks. Back to Tomorrowland for the cars (our longest wait - probably 30 minutes), and then to Fantasyland for the teacups. The Pooh ride had an hour wait, and the park was almost closing, so we skipped it and headed home. A truly magical day for all of us. Day 3 (Monday)
Today was MGM - this was a hard park for me, due to the heat (it reached 92 I heard) and there not being a lot to interest my 4 yo DD. We don't have the Disney channel, so she doesn't know Bear in the Big Blue House, and we missed that show. We did The Little Mermaid, then my mom and I walked around while the guys all did Indiana Jones. Saw some great characters, but she didn't want to approach them without her brothers, so we settled for photos from afar. We missed a lot here - Hunchback (my dh hates this film, so he didn't care to see it), Millionaire was full, nobody would do RnR with me. But we saw verything else, and really enjoyed it. We lost my 11 yo for awhile in the History of Walt Disney attraction - he had gone into the movie and nobody knew it - so my adrenaline was pumping for awhile. I have to say that the CM's were wonderful while we couldn't find him, one stood outside the theater exit waiting for him while the other helped me look. After that scare, I just wilted.
Mom, my brother and I all did ToT (loved it!), then we sat on the benches and waited while my mom was shopping. As I sat there, two guys dressed in 40's garb sat beside me and were talking, then there we were in the middle of a show on the street. What an unexpected treat! We headed home early that day, back to dinner in the room and swimming. Day 4 (Tues)
The day I was waiting for! Breakfast in the castle for me, DD and my mom. (The guys had breakfast at Olivia's at OKW). We got up early and arrived at MK. This time we took our time strolling down Main Street, and arrived just as our table was ready. DD was very bashful, and sat on my lap most of the breakfast. I enjoyed the food, and really appreciated that it was brought to us instead of sitting there wondering if you would miss a character if you got up for food. The service was very good - when she saw DD wasn't eating the pancakes, she was asked if she wanted eggs or something else. When we asked for more fruit for her, we were brought two big bowls of watermelon and cantaloupe- the waitress noticed nobody ate the honeydew. Even though dd wouldn't leave my lap, that didn't stop the characters from talking to her. They just sat at our table for a few minutes with her. We saw Cindy, Snow White, Belle, Prince Charming and Mary Poppins. She did finally stand up and talk to Snow White and MP, and I have a wonderful pic of her hugging SW. As we left, there was a huge line to see the Fairy Godmother (she hadn't been there when we arrived). I told my dd we could come back later to see her; when the Hostess heard me, she asked if we had already eaten, and took my dd to the front of the line with her to see FG. Needless to say, this made my DD very happy - she fell in love with the FG. Afterwards, we were to meet the guys at AK, so we headed out. Trying to get out when everyone else is coming in was something else! We made our way to AK, and met the guys with no problem. Did most of the attractions here, ate at Tusker House, enjoyed the shows in the middle of the street (we saw acrobats and some musicians). The Lion King show is a must-do. It was amazing, but it is one of my favorite movies also. This is a better park than I anticipated, and we enjoyed it. We left right before 5, then headed to Epcot to see ToD and Illuminations. We spent some time in Future World - my boys loved Spaceship Earth - then headed back to Norway to meet the rest of the group. We ate carry out from Mexico (delicious), while waiting for the parade. The parade was magical, and Illuminations was amazing. I had good food, a fiesta margarita, my loved ones with me, watching ToD, and I had seen the princesses that morning. Days do not get better than this!
Day 5 (Wed)
A much needed relaxation day! We met my parents at Downtown Disney for lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe, then said our goodbyes as they headed home to Ohio. A little shopping, then back to the resort for a lazy day of swimming. Early to bed for my tired little mouseketeers.
Day 6 (Thursday)
My parents gone, we were on our own. We had planned to go back to Epcot, then debated between MGM and MK. My oldest son and I really wanted to see Fantasmic, but decided that we could get more done at MK, which held more appeal for everybody (I didn't know how my dd would react to Fantasmic, and my 6 yo really wanted to do Splash Mountain again), plus we really wanted to end our trip with the MK. So MK won. We went to TTC and took the monorail to Epcot, arriving before it opened. Spent more time in Future World, saw what we wanted to see, did a quick tour through the world, had lunch, then headed to MK early afternoon. When we first arrived, we had a short 15 minute downpour, then the sun came back out and it was gorgeous. Again, the crowds seemed light. We did all the major attractions, and the longest wait we had was 20 minutes. We did fastpass Pooh, as once it hit an hour wait, it never went back down. DD wanted to see Cinderella again, so we went to Toontown, and only had a short wait. This time she made up for being so shy at breakfast, going up to Cindy and giving her a huge hug and talking to her. We tried to watch the show at the castle, but halfway through the last show, the weather turned dark again, and they stopped.
We stayed until closing, then tearfully said our goodbyes and headed back.Day 7 (Friday)
More swimming and packing for mom. We drove round later that evening looking for dinner and seeing some of the sites of Orlando. Tomorrow we have to head back home, and nobody wants to go.
This was a trip I had wanted to take since our first child was born, but truly never thought would happen. It was to be our once in a lifetime trip, so I prayed everything would go well, and it did. We saw tons of great characters - it's funny, I know they aren't real, but when you see them for the first time, they ARE real. The crowds were light, the weather was gorgeous, we got to eat in the castle, the parks were so clean, and every Cm was friendly and helpful. It truly is a magical place, and our trip could not have been better. Even my doubting dh had a great time and admitted that while expensive, it is worth every penny. Best of all, he told me we could come back in a few years!
It sounds like your family had a great time. We will be taking our first trip in three weeks. I hope it is just as magical for us.
