August 2009 TR – A Very Special Dream Comes True!!!

[KathyRN137]

Oh my... everything was going so wonderfully and then, BOOM!

Hope your MIL is all right. It must have been difficult to be so far away at that time.

What a brave girl Payton is! If a squirrel jumped into my lap I would have run away, screaming!

I never did see the original Figment and I'm sorry... so many fans say that the new version pales by comparison.

I can't believe you did so much in one very hot day in August! I hope your feet are all right after all that walking...


Kathy

 

[calderli]

Oh my... everything was going so wonderfully and then, BOOM!

Hope your MIL is all right. It must have been difficult to be so far away at that time.

What a brave girl Payton is! If a squirrel jumped into my lap I would have run away, screaming!

I never did see the original Figment and I'm sorry... so many fans say that the new version pales by comparison.

I can't believe you did so much in one very hot day in August! I hope your feet are all right after all that walking...


Kathy

Yes, It was quite a shock!
She is doing better now. Not what we had hoped for, but she is recovering. It was a very hard decision on whether to stay in WDW or leave for Halifax. We know now that we made the right decision, but it was very difficult.

Payton is definately a nature girl. She loves all animals and walking around inthe ofrest at my parents house is her favorite thing. Having the squirrel jump on her lap was a thrill for her.

I want the old Figment back!!! I guess I will just have to settle for the new one. It was very disapointing.

I was very suprised at how light the crowds were. I had planned to do Epcot in 2 days. One day for Future World and another in the Countries. The lines were so short that we were able to get it all done in one day. It was the same in all the parks. Our feet were sore and I did have a huge blister between my toes, but I was ok by the next day.

 

[luckylady]

I have to agree with you on hte younger gen. of "gentelmen" They lack manners. SOrry about the camera. Glad your MIL is doing better. We were in Halifx this past June. Beautiful city. DD wants to move there now.

 

[DisneyDaddio]

Wow, that's quite a trip report, so far! Sorry about the camera, that truly is sad. Glad it did not get you down.

 

[calderli]

I have to agree with you on hte younger gen. of "gentelmen" They lack manners. SOrry about the camera. Glad your MIL is doing better. We were in Halifx this past June. Beautiful city. DD wants to move there now.

It is just so frusterating for me to see these little kids standing on the buses, half asleep, trying to hold onto the back of a seat while a teenager or a perfectly healthy adult is sitting. GRRRRR.....
It really is too bad about the camera, but I have learded a valuble lesson. Never take the camera off your neck strap......
My in-laws are actually in Cape Bretton. My DH and I are hoping that we can retire there eventually. We both love it and it is so beautiful.

 

[calderli]

Wow, that's quite a trip report, so far! Sorry about the camera, that truly is sad. Glad it did not get you down.

I am just thankful that we still had the video camera. It does not take very good still pictures, but at least we had something. Thankfully most of out photpass pictures turned out great. Guess this means I get to buy a new camera for the next trip!

 

[calderli]

Update coming soon. Payton was in a wedding this weekend as a the Flowergirl so this have been pretty hectic around my house. Then this week at work has been crazy! I will be posting the next day soon.

 

[calderli]

Day 4: POP / MK

Woke up a little later than previous days. We had decided the night before that we would change the plans that I had made originally for today. I had planned for today to be our second day in MK. I thought originally that we would not be able to get Adventure and Frontier Lands done on our first day, so they were what I had planned for this day. All of us were now suffering from tired feet and needed to have an opportunity to rest. All of us headed to get breakfast and sit at what was now our preferred dining table in POP. Craig liked the idea of using our snack credits for breakfast and I agreed. We could get a muffin or a bagel with our snack credit and that is really all that any of us would normally eat for breakfast. I am still a little amazed at the size of the breakfast platters, and all of the meals actually in WDW. They are HUGE! I could never seem to eat it all. Most of the time we would bring back our dessert to the resort if possible because we couldn’t eat it. The leftover desserts definitely made for excellent late night snacks though.

After breakfast I took Payton down to the pool so that she could go for a swim. I decided that I would lie beside the pool and get some sun. Boy did I get some sun! I came out burnt. I am a very pale blonde that does not tan naturally. What was I thinking? I was now a lobster, but only on my front.

At 12:30pm Payton and I went back to the room to collect Craig and headed to Classic Hall to have lunch. The chicken Caesar salad is highly recommended!

After lunch we went back to the room and got ready to go to MK. We got to the bus stop at 3:00pm and had to wait a long time for the bus to MK. Not sure why, but it sure does get hot waiting at the bus stop for an hour. We did make it to MK in time for my ADR for Crystal Palace. While we were waiting for our name to be called for dinner, we watched the Dream Along with Mickey show on at the castle. It seemed to keep Payton amused while she waited and gave Craig and I a chance to rest our feet in the shade a little while. Once our name was called we were taken to a table that was again decorated with confetti and streamers for Payton. She is now really starting to get used to all this special treatment. And so she should, she is the Princess after all…. While we waited for the characters to arrive I went over to fill up my plate at the buffet. Much to my surprise I walked right into Tigger….literally and almost toppled the both of us over. This was one of Craig’s favourite meals, not for the food (which was not bad) but for the characters. We call Payton Pooh Bear at home and so she thought it was great when Pooh invited her to dance. Craig was having fun poking Pooh and Eeyore in the belly. Tigger must have been tired, because he came over and sat down beside Payton and the table and fed her the cupcake ( making a huge mess on her face with the icing) that was brought to her by the waitress for her birthday. Pooh decided to come by again to see us and must “not have” seen Payton sitting there because he sat right on her lap! She laughed for a long time over that!

I asked Payton if there was anything that she wanted to do again or anything that she saw that she might like to try that we missed before. She said she definitely wanted to do Pirates again. We walked over to Adventureland and stopped so Payton could dance with Rafiki on the way.

Again, no line up for POC, we walked right on. We got the front seat and Payton got really excited. She kept talking about what was coming up next on the ride and thankfully the people behind us thought it was cute and not annoying that she was ruining the element of surprise.

We decided to try out the Enchanted Tiki Room and I was not that impressed and neither were Craig and Payton. We won’t waste our time with it in the future. I found it was one of those things that might have been fantastic and cool 20 years ago, but not so exciting once you see it once. Payton was now feeling brave and decided that she was up for Splash Mountain. We had the FastPass from our Grand Marshall experience and decided that this was a good place to use it. I wasn’t sure if we would be able to use it since it was not the day we got it, but it was worth a try as the line was pretty long. There was no problem at all using it (it wasn’t dated) and on we went. Well, Payton still talks about Splash Mountain now. She was horrified! I thought for sure that she was going to throw up when we got off. She was positively green! I decided that we need something more calm and serene and we went to see what the line up was like for the Jungle Cruise. It was pretty short so in line we went. I am not sure how we missed it the first time, but out of the corner of her eye, Payton saw the Tarantula in the cage move. Payton is terrified of Tarantulas and she screamed! So much for serene. When I showed her that it was not going to get out of the cage she calmed down, she refused to believe me that it was not real. Some things at Disney are just too realistic for a 7 year old. The cruise went off without a hitch, we sat on the opposite side of the boat as last time so we got to see the stuff we missed on the first go round. It is amazing how much the cruise and the jokes have not changed in 20 years, but I still find them funny.

Craig wanted to check out Tomorrow Land as we did not go there on the day before. We walked around and checked it out, but as I suspected, there was nothing that any of us wanted to see.

.

 

[calderli]

It was getting later by this point and I wanted to make sure that I got a good spot for Spectro and Wishes that night. When I went to WDW as a kid with my parents in 1999 I got an ear infection and was stuck in bed the night that Spectro was on. My Mom had to stay at the Resort with me that night and missed the show while my brother and Dad went. She still likes to give me a hard time about it now. Because I missed it when I was younger, I really wanted to see it this time. I found a spot on the curb on Main Street right in front of the Activities Board.

Craig kept whining and complaining, (and still does) about the fact that I was so obsessed about finding a spot so early. We staked out the spot at 7:30pm and the parade didn’t even start until 9:00pm. I now agree with him that it was crazy, but at the time I was really proud of myself for finding the perfect spot. I was joined quickly by another family with a little girl that Payton began to play with. I am sorry that I didn’t note their names or where they were from, but they were so nice and the girls were adorable. They gave Payton some glow bracelets and necklaces that they had brought ( I had thought about doing this, but never managed to find them before we left). Craig was really bored and irritated with me at this point and Payton was getting restless from sitting in one spot for so long. The two of them took off to take a look in the shops (in the air conditioning) while I patiently hoarded my spot on the concrete. Looking back I was so silly! They came back with Payton chattering on about the glass blower. I now regret not giving up my spot and going to see it myself. Oh well… Eventually Spectro Magic began and I must say it was pretty. I don’t’ think that it was worth me staking out that spot for so long, but it was very pretty. Payton liked it and that is what counts. It began to lightly sprinkle rain just as the parade ended and people started moving forward to see Wishes. Craig would normally have complained about being out in the rain just to see fireworks, but he commented that with the extreme heat, it was kind of nice. Wishes was fantastic! Payton and I have always been big fans of fireworks and this is a display like no other. It is just magical with the Castle in the forefront! Much to my HUGE disappointment though, Tinkerbelle did not fly. I assume it was because of the rain. I am a obsessive fan of Tink. I have even planned my next tattoo to be of Tink and hopefully I will be able to get it before we go back. So not seeing her fly made me sad, but oh well the fireworks were still pretty fantastic!

We went into Casey’s the get a drink and wait for some of the crown to disperse before heading to the bus stop for POP. Payton and Craig are both hot and tired and very grumpy by this point, so I leave them at Casey’s sitting in the air conditioning and check out the shops along Main Street. While I am “window shopping” I notice that it is really starting to rain in earnest now and decide that we should get going to the bus stop before a storm really hits. I collected Craig and we take the route through the connecting stores on Main St ( in the cool air) towards the entrance/exit. We all got a little wet on the way to the bus stop, but again it doesn’t seem to bother you to get wet when it is so hot.

Once we reach the bus stop, things start to get a lot worse. Payton’s feet are now killing her and she doesn’t want to walk at all. Craig puts her on his shoulders for as long as he can take in short spurts to help her out. I decide that I no longer care how dirty the ground is at the bus stop and I tell her it is ok to sit down while we wait. I am so proud of her for not complaining too much. We ended up waiting for 1 and a half hours for a bus back to POP. In this time, we get to chatting with the family in front of us in line and discover that they are from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They were so nice. We had a long discussion with them about the bus system at Disney and how we would improve it. I will get into that at a later time though.

Once we finally managed to get onto the bus, a very nice lady let Payton sit on her lap for the ride back to POP. Again I was horrified at the uncurtious behaviour of some of the people on the bus. There were kids left standing holding onto the back of the seat while teenagers and able bodied adults occupied seats. Why are people so inconsiderate? These kids are little and should not have to stand on a bus, please people, give up your seat to these little ones. You can obviously see that they are standing there and it is outrageous that they should have to stand while you are too lazy to give them your seat for. Show a little courtesy. I am sorry to rant but this is something that I saw all along on the vacation and was deeply disgusted by. This would never happen on a City bus in Ottawa. If it did you would have to expect to be yelled at by someone else on the bus for not showing a little bit of manners. It makes me sick. Thanks readers for letting me vent about it.

Finally we reached POP and we were all able to crash.

 

[Raecheal]

Wow. I have a lot to say

First off, I love the photos from your Character meal. So sweet. This is when i had a little one to take them there.

Sometimes we stake out a spot really earlier like you, just eat an ice cream and relax... other times we wait last minute
and I kinda get stressed out that we are unable to find a spot. Either way, I still enjoy the parade/firewords each time.

I'm so sorry you didn't see Tinkerbell fly that night, It is an extra touch of Pixie Dust to see her.. but i've read on Dis someone that Tink is actually a MAN:

The photo of you and Payton infront of the Castle is beautiful, maybe one of my favs. I love that you both look so happy and you can def. tell you got sun earlier that morning.

I always find waiting for the bus at MK at the end of the day the longest wait EVER. It's so funny to know that clearly we are not the only ones with a plan to imporve the bus system! LOL

Love crashing at POP at the end of the night...

 

[calderli]

Wow. I have a lot to say

First off, I love the photos from your Character meal. So sweet. This is when i had a little one to take them there.

Sometimes we stake out a spot really earlier like you, just eat an ice cream and relax... other times we wait last minute
and I kinda get stressed out that we are unable to find a spot. Either way, I still enjoy the parade/firewords each time.

I'm so sorry you didn't see Tinkerbell fly that night, It is an extra touch of Pixie Dust to see her.. but i've read on Dis someone that Tink is actually a MAN:

The photo of you and Payton infront of the Castle is beautiful, maybe one of my favs. I love that you both look so happy and you can def. tell you got sun earlier that morning.

I always find waiting for the bus at MK at the end of the day the longest wait EVER. It's so funny to know that clearly we are not the only ones with a plan to imporve the bus system! LOL

Love crashing at POP at the end of the night...

I love the pictures of Crystal Palace too. I love that Payton and Craig are having soo much fun! I can't wait to go back...

I am hoping on our next trip we will get to see Tinkerbell fly. We both want to see it so much...

That is funny that you like that one. It is not one of my favorites...maybe because of the fact that my face is sooo red.

I guess waiting for the bus at the end of the day is just part of the WDW experience...

 

[calderli]

Day: 5 Pool and DHS

We were all so exhausted from the night before that I didn’t call for our wake up call the night before and ended up sleeping in until 8:00am. We must have all been extremely tired since when we are at home it is rare for any of us to sleep past 7:00am even on the weekends. Payton and Craig were still being lazy so I got up and went to Classic Hall to get my coffee. I went back to the room and collected Payton for the pool and I tried to get my back to match the sunburn on my front..

We got ready and got on the bus to Hollywood Studios. Back in my day it was MGM (some of you will remember those days) and I have to say that I was not that impressed with it as a kid. I was interested to see if there would be more of an appeal as an adult.

Immediately Payton was excited to see that the High School Musical performance was starting and we watched it while she sang along to every song. She was a little disappointed that it wasn’t really Zac Effron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashely Tisdale, but she enjoyed it. Frankly I was a little disappointed it wasn’t really Zac Effron too….

We were all pretty hungry at this point so we had lunch at Rosie’s All American Café. It was ok. Decent food that fed us. I have no complaints. Craig went over and got a Fastpass for Tower of Terror. Payton said that there was not way she was going on it and I was not that into it, so Craig would have to fly solo on this one. I am a huge fan of roller coasters so I went and got a Fastpass for Rockin Roller Coaster.
While we were waiting for the Fastpass times to be up we took Payton over to see Beauty and the Beast on Stage. She was very enthralled with it. After all Belle is her favourite princess.

When the performance was over we went back to Tower of Terror since it was getting close for Craig’s Fasspass time. When we got there the CM said that he could walk right on right now there was no need to wait for the FP time. Craig went in and Payton and I headed to the shade of the gift shop at the end of the ride to wait for Daddy. Craig came out and said that it was fun, but not as bad as all the hype. Payton still did not want to go on.

Off we went to Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I really like this one. I did not quite know what to expect and when the sea spray hits your face, I was surprised. I did not expect more than a stage show and the effects are really good.

We next went to meet my favourite prince. Prince Caspian. I love Narnia, the books and the movies enthral me. There is so much symbolism that strikes a chord with me, so I was really excited to see this attraction. First we wait in a line to meet the Prince himself. You can see from the pictures that Payton had fell in love at that point. I was very disappointed later when I realized that I didn’t get my picture taken with him as well. Then you go into see the “movie” on the movie and see the Stone Table. I thought it was interesting, but I was expecting a whole lot more. I was slightly disappointed.

Next was the Studio Backlot Tour. This bored Payton to no end. Not a great ride for a kid that is melting in the heat.

We thought that something inside air conditioning was a good idea at this point and checked out the Muppet Vision 3-d movie. It was funny and nostalgic for Craig and I to see the Muppets that we had watched as kids on TV and Payton now likes anything 3D. So it was a good one for all of us to cool off and enjoy.

I had made dinner ADR for Hollywood and Vine. This was the one place that I had a hard time deciding where we would eat. None of the restaurants really impressed me on paper so I picked Hollywood and Vine On the recommendation of some of the Disers. I have to say that I was not that impressed. The food was not anything spectacular, not bad, just not good. The desserts were the saving grace though. I loved the Apple Crisp with the Vanilla Sauce. Mmmmmmm…..The service from our waiter, was less to be desired. I think that he forgot we were there for a long time and the restaurant was not busy at all. All in all I was not that impressed and would have to say this was the least favourite of my ADR’s for this trip.

While we waiting to digest our food, we decided to go see the Indiana Jones Stunt show. I did not plan on seeing this attraction, because I didn’t think Payton would really enjoy it that much. I remember thinking that it was incredibly boring as a kid. I was wrong again! Payton was laughing and cheering and sitting on the edge of her seat the whole time. It is one of the things on her must do list for the next time that we go to DHS.



Star Wars was next on the roster. I did not read that much on this one and was really not sure what to expect. It was a big mistake. I loved seeing C3PO and R2D2. Too bad the pictures that I took of them didn’t really come out (video camera doesn’t have a flash). I really enjoyed the ride, it was fun. Payton’s comment when we got off was “not good, Mommy….I think I might puke…” Craig’s comment when the ride stopped was “get me off this thing NOW!” This is not the ride for those that get motion sickness. There are warning signs as you walk in, but a lot of the rides have that and they don’t affect Craig or Payton at all. I did not know that it would be that bad. Live and learn. Thankfully neither one was sick, just feeling nauseous for a while. Due to the sick feeling that both of them we experiencing and the need they both had to just lie down, we decided that we would not stay for Fantasmic and just go back to the resort. I was a little disappointed, my brother raved about Fantasmic, but I was more concerned about my two tummies at that moment.

We hopped the Bus back to POP and I kept commenting again to Craig about the lack of people giving up their seats to the kids that were standing. This from not on has become my utter annoyance at WDW. I complain about it every time now and admittedly I am getting a little snippy with the one that I see doing it.

When we get back to the room there is a message from Craig’s Dad to call him if we can about his Mom. We are both scared and feel like we can’t breathe as he dials the numbers. His Dad reports that my Mother in law will be going in for surgery on her brain the following day. Again, they tell us that there is no point in returning to Canada. She is going to be out of it for a bit and that we should stay and enjoy the trip. Easy for them to say,.,but we are trying.

 

[DisneyDaddio]

Caught up now. Quite eventful updates. One thing that I've learned on our trips to WDW and DL: when a meal does not float your boat, you can almost always count on a dessert to save the day. (not that I am recommending a dessert with every meal... )

Best wishes to your MIL.

 

[calderli]

Caught up now. Quite eventful updates. One thing that I've learned on our trips to WDW and DL: when a meal does not float your boat, you can almost always count on a dessert to save the day. (not that I am recommending a dessert with every meal... )

Best wishes to your MIL.

I completely agree. Although I probably do eat dessert at every meal. Maybe not right away, but usually within the hour I have a definate sweet tooth.

Thanks, she is doing better now. She'll never be 100%, but better...

 

[Raecheal]

Such a great update, I loved seeing Payton's face with the Prince.

I love the Beauty and The Beast show. I thought it was great. I"m really surprised she enjoyed the Indiana show.. I told Dbf this year i'm going to lift up my hand to be a Volunteer!

Waiting for the next update!!


psst: When are you going to start a PTR for August?

 

[calderli]

Such a great update, I loved seeing Payton's face with the Prince.

I love the Beauty and The Beast show. I thought it was great. I"m really surprised she enjoyed the Indiana show.. I told Dbf this year i'm going to lift up my hand to be a Volunteer!

Waiting for the next update!!


psst: When are you going to start a PTR for August?

Thanks Rach. She really wants to see Belle and Indy again this year. She mentions it all the time.

The August PTR wont be for awhile. I don't have enought to talk about until then.... Besides, I think that i need to finish the 09 TR before I even think about starting the 10 PTR

 

[cmp1111]

We're not "show" people, so you did a lot more than we ever do at DHS. However, my kids LOVE Star Tours (of course, they're boys AND they're obsessed with Star Wars...)

I hope Craig's mom is OK - that must have been so heart-wrenching.

 

[calderli]

We're not "show" people, so you did a lot more than we ever do at DHS. However, my kids LOVE Star Tours (of course, they're boys AND they're obsessed with Star Wars...)

I hope Craig's mom is OK - that must have been so heart-wrenching.

Payton and I are really into stage shows. I would love to be able to take her to live theater more often. She really does enjoy it. I am hoping that we can see a few more things in August when we go back.

Craig's Mom is doing better. It was very scary. I am just as close if not closer to her than my own mother.

 

[lillylynnb]

Oh my god isn't the greatest feeling in the world to be Grand Marshal we were Aug 16 2009 it was our last day of vacation so it was a nice ending to it . So sorry to here about your camera though we had that scare to but we found ours about one hour later i had left it out at Rafki's plant on the bench out side. cant wait to read the rest of your report.

 

[calderli]

Oh my god isn't the greatest feeling in the world to be Grand Marshal we were Aug 16 2009 it was our last day of vacation so it was a nice ending to it . So sorry to here about your camera though we had that scare to but we found ours about one hour later i had left it out at Rafki's plant on the bench out side. cant wait to read the rest of your report.

It is amazing. I will never forget it for the rest of my life. I hope Payton does not forget it either. She asked if we would get to do it again this August and I laughed and said no. She said it was ok, it should be someone elses turn this year.
I searched high adn low for that camera. We went into every shop to see if it got turned in and called the Lost and Found twice a day for the rest of our trip, but nothing. I thought for sure that soemone would turn it in, even just the memory card, keep the camera, but no.
Thanks so much for reading.