Better Late than Never - Trip Report Jan 2012 - Updated 6-27

[Marshay]

After the Muppets, we went out to do the Phineas and Ferb Meet and Greet.

We skipped this since we haven't been watching the shows...guess we'll add this to the to-do list. It's neat that it's a lot more than just a line for autographs

P&F with my DH. Look how happy he is. Not for long......

ruh roh... Sounds like something interesting coming...

Now how he heard this, but not my earlier statement about wanting a cookie and a beer, I'll never understand, but suffice it to say that I do know that DH does not listen. emphasis added ... that applies to all DH's!!

So he goes to the counter and orders 3 bottles of water and one beer. He comes back to the table and I see that there is no beer for me, no cookie and 3 freaking bottles of water that now we will be forced to carry through the park and that I just know that we will want to use those snack credits on something else later in the week and we won't have them to use. Not the most rational thought, I know, but I'll blame the heat and low blood sugar. So after I went to buy my OWN beer and use a snack credit on a COOKIE, I came back to the table and yelled at him and cried. My mom told me after I calmed down that I lasted a lot longer than she had expected me to before crying that week.

Sorry to hear this meltdown. I remember my DH doing the same to me at the beach when I forgot his corn on the cob! Yikes! it's just food (hee hee) but I understand when you are hot and tired hungry, sanity doesn't get the best of us!

My parents and their surprise cupcakes.

Wow, those are some monster big cupcakes!

The Jedi Master was hilarious. Very dry sense of humor and good with the children. He told one young padawan it was completely necessary to duck as he was really small. He also said "or you could stand there and do nothing" to another young one who was doing exactly that. To a young girl: "The dark side is no match for a pink poofy." To an older child: "You mean to tell me you are wearing a Darth goofy shirt. To Jedi training." This was very enjoyable and another thing we may have completely missed from not being on these boards. My Dad even laughed out loud several times.

Another show to add to our list! This sounds like fun for both kids and adults.

After that, we did make it over to Animation Academy which had a 15 minute wait. The que was almost full so we waited. I had to go outside to get my dad because he didn't realize we were doing anything in the building. We all enjoyed this experience. Another thing we would not have known about if not for these boards. DS was a little upset because he was a little too small to reach the drawing table, but after I pulled him onto my lap, even his drawing resembles Tigger. In order below, DH, DS and mine.

Love your drawings! So glad you got to do the class.

Winnie the Pooh (sorry Marshay!)

That's ok ... I even got one too, well with my girls

Overall, minus the water incident, sounds like a great day!

 

[pld5]

Overall, minus the water incident, sounds like a great day!

It really was a great day. I'm still amazed at how much I was able to see and do in DHS, a park that I never felt I got enough time in on previous trips.

Half of one of those cupcakes were half of my parents' dinner on Tuesday night, and the rest of the other served them well as a breakfast snack on Wednesday and Thursday!

We originally had ADR's at Tony's that evening, but realized we would just be leaving dinner at the same time that everyone would be leaving MK and decided to skip it after experiencing pretty much everything we wanted to accomplish that day. Unfortunately, we decided this so late that we didn't even call to cancel. I did go to guest relations at DHS to try to do this, but there were at least 5 people in front of me and I gave up. I feel a little guilty about doing this because that was never my intent. I am thankful though that this was not one of the restaurants that charged for noshows!

You must make a point of at least watching Jedi training. It was so cool. Within the last 2 months, DS has become obsessed with all of the Star Wars movies, so I know if we go soon, we'll be figuring out how to get him signed up for the training. Prior to the last trip, we had to stress that Darth Vader was the really bad guy but he was make believe.

 

[missangelalexis]

Enjoying your trip report, your son is adorable! Can't wait for the next update!

 

[pld5]

Enjoying your trip report, your son is adorable! Can't wait for the next update!

Thank you for joining in and thank you for the compliment about my son! I think he is pretty adorable, too.

I hope to update again tomorrow evening. We have a school function that will take up this evening's time.

 

[pld5]

So after a very satisfying day at DHS, we woke up the next morning at WL to this view.

We all went for breakfast at Roaring Forks (I highly recommend the strawberries and cream mickey waffles) and expected DS to ask to swim again, but he did not. Today was the day we were planning to go to visit my great aunt who lives in Sarasota.

On our way there, we had all agreed that we would stop at Fantasy of Flight, an airplane museum by Kermit Weeks which would be on our way there. At breakfast, I had to remind my Dad of this a few times because remember that whole thing about 4 out of 5 people would ever know the plan at one time? Dad was worried about timing because if we get to my great aunt's too late, she wants to try to make a meal for all of us, and gets too stressed about doing so, but with DS not asking to swim, we figured we could make the timing work. I had to tell Dad that the stop at Fantasy of Flight was how I got DH to agree to the trip to Disney World to begin with, so we had to do it. If my parents were paying for our trip, I woudn't have insisted, but that was not the case, nor ever the expectation!

So off we went and stopped about 30 minutes into our trip at Fantasy of Flight. Mom took DS and hung out in the cafe and gift shop and Dad, DH and I went to look at hangars of airplanes. I will post a few pics, but if anyone reading is a huge airplane buff and wants more, just let me know and I will post DH's 50 or so pics.

DH was in his glory and could have spent all day there. My Dad really ended up enjoying it and all of the history on display and told DH that it was "too bad we couldn't spend 1/2 a day there."

We made it to Sarasota, about an hour and a half further drive from Fantasy of Flight and here's a picture with my Dad and his Aunt Dort (my great aunt). We think she is 93 now. She looks great.

Here's me with Aunt Dort.

We ended up sending Dad, Uncle Gene and DH out to pick up dinner at Chick Fil A so as to not put my Aunt Dort out about making us dinner and spent a few hours visiting there. We left there around 6 or so and got back to WL at 8 or so and we must have crashed.

I don't have any notes about what we did that night, or any memory of anything we might have done other than watch a little tv and go to bed because I know we had Extra Magic Hours at 8am at MK we were planning to get to!

 

[pld5]

We woke up on Thursday to this:

Okay, not really. I just forgot to take a picture that morning until we were on our way to catch the boat. I couldn't believe how sunny it was so early in the morning.

We had EMH at MK beginning at 8am, so we all managed to catch the boat at 7:50 and get to the turnstiles at 8:10. I never expected to make any ropedrops all week, because we were accomplishing so much, but maybe on a future trip we can make that a goal for one day. Here is DS before going in to Main Street.

Here are the photopass main street shots. I don't know what pose DS was trying to do. Notice the lovely bakery backdrop in one of them.

We decided to split up so we could do a few rides before our ADR at CRT for breakfast at 9:25.

Here is a picture of the 3 of us on our way to Tomorrowland. This turned out to be the best of the bunch because of DS and his weird poses, but I think it also captures the beauty that is the crane behind us with the castle.

We grabbed a Buzz Fastpass (return 905) and rode it once first. Mom and Dad rode the Peoplemover and we went to ride Winnie the Pooh. We were very disappointed in Winnie the Pooh that morning. It broke down several times during the ride and I felt like we were missing out on some EMH time!

DS in the Winnie the Pooh que.

We went back to ride Buzz again and then off to meet my parents at CRT for breakfast.

DS hugging Cinderella. This was my favorite of our photopass pictures of Cinderella because both mom and I thought our Cinderella had a bit of a snooty face. She was friendly enough, don't get me wrong, but her image was not what I guess we were expecting.

The family with Cinderella.

Mom and Dad with Cinderella.

We were called upstairs to our table and seated in one of the sections pretty close to the stairs. The waiter seemed impressed (relieved?) that we were prepaid, which confused me because I thought everyone had to prepay for this meal. We sat down and DS told the waiter "I'll just have fruit." So our waiter Steven brought him out another bowl of fruit just for him. We all enjoyed this breakfast, but we usually do enjoy breakfast. The food was preplated but if we needed anything more, Steven would bring it (like bacon). The princesses came around and DS was given a wishing star and a sword. He had his pink Yoshi with him and Aurora made a big fuss because it matched her dress. Ariel tried to compare Yoshi to a sea animal and I was impressed at how she stayed in character. He told Belle that "I like to read" and she told him all about the library that Beast built for her. I don't remember what he said to Snow White, but unfortunately for DH, it wasn't the same one from the Storytime on Monday.

They brought DS a cupcake out for his birthday as I had marked the reservation as a celebration of his upcoming 6th birthday, exactly one month from that day. He was thrilled! Who wouldn't be thrilled with a breakfast of fruit, bacon and cupcake icing?

I don't know that I would do this again, but it was nice to be inside of the castle and looking at the pictures these few months later, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to be inside there on a crazy, busy, hot day away from the crowds some day in the future.

Up next, back to Tomorrowland.

 

[pld5]

After breakfast at CRT, we headed back to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear again (3rd time that day and it wasn't even 11am yet). My parents decided to ride Peoplemover and then Carousel of Progress. We thought we could catch up with them at the Carousel of Progress but we were one show behind them. It was pretty neat though because we could see them when we were spinning between scenes.

DS wanted to ride the Peoplemover and Mom sent the 4 of us on without her and she grabbed a seat to wait for us.

After this ride, we split up again so that my parents could head over to see a friend of my Mom's who works in the Emporium and ride the train from Main Street over to Frontierland to meet up with us later.

DH, DS and I went on the Speedway and then the Teacups.

Two boys peeking back at me from their Speedway car.

Our original plan was to head over to Tom Sawyer Island at this point because DS had not experienced this on our last trip. On our way there, DS decided he wanted to do Its a Small World again so we did. We looked at the line for Snow White's scary adventures, but never did find a reasonable one that week. Its probably for the best because DS would have been scared.

As we were just pulling up in our Small World boat to the unloading dock, Mom called my cell phone to tell us they were at the exit to Tom Sawyer. I told her we were on our way. We met them there and decided that 12:30 on an unusually hot day was probably not the best time for us to head to Tom Sawyer's island. We all looked pretty beat at that point and I told DS that if he would ride Pirates of the Carribbean with us, we'd head on over to the WL and go swimming. He reluctantly agreed and off we went. My parents decided that they would just head to the room right then and we split up again.

DS lucked out though and Pirates of the Carribbean was temporarily closed so we went to the gift shop and got 3 shirts. We then decided to ride Magic Carpets of Alladin and a camel spit on me 3 times!

We tried to meet Jasmine (for DH's sake) and they had just closed off her line. This became a theme for us each time we tried to meet characters the rest of our trip.

So its hot and we are in Adventureland. What do you think we do next?

I got a Dole Whip float for both DS and I and DH got the orange and pineapple twist cup. DS's response: "I liked the pineapple juice." I thought the whole thing was pretty darn good and the weather certainly was perfect to enjoy it in.

At this point, we sat down to enjoy our drinks and snack and Paul realized we were close enough to the First Aid station to go dispose of his needletips (he is insulin dependent diabetic). While sitting there I realized two things:

1 - the bridge that we were about to cross was closed to a parade starting, and
2 - Captain Jack Sparrow's Pirate Tutorial was about to begin at 2:15.

So we headed back to see Captain Jack. We made it there about 2 minutes before it started and DS surprised me. He stuck his hand up right away to try to be picked to go on stage, but he wasn't picked. I was really surprised he was willing to try though. They picked 4 kids to go on stage and DS was thrilled watching the whole thing. At the end, they called all of the kids in the audience up on stage and gave them all a pirate diploma and a photopass card. We all really enjoyed it and the commentary was very similar to Jedi training.

Captain Jack:

Mezmerized:

All kids on stage:

Up close and personal:

We tried once again to meet Jasmine on our way out of Adventureland but once again we were denied.

We went to get the boat to go to WL and see my parents there waiting for the same one! They had decided to see Hall of Presidents and had gotten a bite to eat at Casey's Corner. It was nice that we got to do what we all wanted that day and not feel like we had to stay in a group of 5 the whole time. It was also nice to get some time with just DS and DH on our trip, too.

Coming up next, a little swimming and a nap and then back to MK for the Tomorrowland Terrace Wishes Dessert Party.

 

[Marshay]

So after a very satisfying day at DHS, we woke up the next morning at WL to this view.

We all went for breakfast at Roaring Forks (I highly recommend the strawberries and cream mickey waffles) and expected DS to ask to swim again, but he did not. Today was the day we were planning to go to visit my great aunt who lives in Sarasota.

On our way there, we had all agreed that we would stop at Fantasy of Flight, an airplane museum by Kermit Weeks which would be on our way there. At breakfast, I had to remind my Dad of this a few times because remember that whole thing about 4 out of 5 people would ever know the plan at one time? Dad was worried about timing because if we get to my great aunt's too late, she wants to try to make a meal for all of us, and gets too stressed about doing so, but with DS not asking to swim, we figured we could make the timing work. I had to tell Dad that the stop at Fantasy of Flight was how I got DH to agree to the trip to Disney World to begin with, so we had to do it. If my parents were paying for our trip, I woudn't have insisted, but that was not the case, nor ever the expectation!

So off we went and stopped about 30 minutes into our trip at Fantasy of Flight. Mom took DS and hung out in the cafe and gift shop and Dad, DH and I went to look at hangars of airplanes. I will post a few pics, but if anyone reading is a huge airplane buff and wants more, just let me know and I will post DH's 50 or so pics.

DH was in his glory and could have spent all day there. My Dad really ended up enjoying it and all of the history on display and told DH that it was "too bad we couldn't spend 1/2 a day there."

We made it to Sarasota, about an hour and a half further drive from Fantasy of Flight and here's a picture with my Dad and his Aunt Dort (my great aunt). We think she is 93 now. She looks great.

I don't have any notes about what we did that night, or any memory of anything we might have done other than watch a little tv and go to bed because I know we had Extra Magic Hours at 8am at MK we were planning to get to!

What a great view!

My DH wants to go to this museum. He loves all that kind of stuff. Since we're in DC area, we are lucky to have 2 Smithsonian Air & Space Museums here, including the Udvar Hazy Center which just took on the last flying Space Shuttle!

Glad you all had time to enjoy visiting with Aunt Dort. She looks incredible for being that close to 100 years old. It was good of you to visit her...you never know, ya know? And I'm sure it boosted her spirit to see her brother and you all and esp your son.

 

[Marshay]

Ok, I'm back to finish my comments from this morning...I got distracted.

DS's poses for the camera are Hilarious!! I wonder what he was trying to do? You are so totally going to use them against him at his graduation and wedding photos montage!!

We haven't done the Castle breakfast yet so it was neat to see your food. I'm a big breakfast lover but never seem to get to eat it at WDW.

I noticed that your SNow White was better than ours for lunch and my Ariel and Cinderella were better than yours. It's really neat though, to see the different ladies doing the same character.

How cool that you got to see your parents during CoP. That was a funny surprise.

Sorry to hear that the characters' lines seemed to be closed off as you got there. We seemed to luck out.

YUM -- Dole Whips, or any of their pineapple (or orange) creations. All are so yummy and since it was unseasonably warm, we definitely stopped there too!

Oh, I can't wait to hear about your Wishes Dessert Party. I just booked this as a surprise for Rachel for our July trip but am thinking about canceling. I'm finding that although I love Disney's snacks, the desserts on the buffets aren't quite as good as they look. So now I'm nervous about spending that money for the desserts.

Also, curious how DS did. Wishes won't start in July until 10pm and unless we do a late afternoon nap, DD just might fall asleep. But I was thinking that not having to fight the crowds to see the fireworks would be awesome.

Do they let you stay there as long as you want? Can you grab desserts to eat afterwards (I heard that once the fireworks start they clear away the food, so I'm thinking to stock up on desserts right before the show, go to the wall to watch and then go back to the table to finish eating while waiting for the park to clear out. Would that be reasonable?

 

[pld5]

Oh, I can't wait to hear about your Wishes Dessert Party. I just booked this as a surprise for Rachel for our July trip but am thinking about canceling. I'm finding that although I love Disney's snacks, the desserts on the buffets aren't quite as good as they look. So now I'm nervous about spending that money for the desserts.

Also, curious how DS did. Wishes won't start in July until 10pm and unless we do a late afternoon nap, DD just might fall asleep. But I was thinking that not having to fight the crowds to see the fireworks would be awesome.

Do they let you stay there as long as you want? Can you grab desserts to eat afterwards (I heard that once the fireworks start they clear away the food, so I'm thinking to stock up on desserts right before the show, go to the wall to watch and then go back to the table to finish eating while waiting for the park to clear out. Would that be reasonable?

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to answer your questions about the Dessert party. DS had school events, I had work events and then I had a bachelorette party this past weekend. I hope you have kept your reservations!

Of course, I didn't manage to take ANY pictures of the actual desserts, but the desserts were not the best part of the party. I originally booked this thinking it would be a nice way to see the fireworks without jockeying for position on Main Street, and it would also give my parents a guaranteed place to sit down. After a busy, hot day, it was heavenly to have not only a place to sit down, but a reserved table for all of us to sit down. We were not right on top of anyone, didn't have to wait for a character to come around, and where our table was, we could sit and watch the fireworks without anyone standing in front of us. I would think in July, it would be wonderful to know you have a space within Magic Kingdom to get away from the crowds, too.

We were permitted to be seated about an hour before Wishes started and shown to our reserved table. Then we had ample opportunity to help ourselves to miniature portions of many types of desserts: brownies, cheesecakes, mango shooters, fresh fruit, ice cream, cookies, truffles, chocolate covered strawberries, you name it. They also had ice water, lemonade and iced tea and coffee and tea. We did not care for the ice water. We did load up several plates because everything was miniature so we all had a chance to try whatever we thought we might like. We went back a few times to refill and once the Fireworks start, I'm sure there were still desserts leftover, but by that time, you are ready for the Fireworks. By the end of it, they are taking things down. They do not rush you out of there and we waited out the crowd before heading to the exit and Main street.

Depending on where your reserved table is, you may have to go to the wall to watch, or can watch it right from where you are.

There is a Photopass photographer stationed there throughout to take your pictures with the castle as the background.

For me, this was a great way to ensure I got my whole family to stay for the fireworks. I have no memories of ever having stayed to watch them at Disney, so this was a wonderful memory for me this past January. I also got to see the Magic, Memories and You show for the first time.

DS did pretty well because we had gotten a break and a nap that afternoon, and Wishes was at 8 while we were there. And I will say that we managed to take some cookies and a brownie back with us to WL in some napkins....

 

[Marshay]

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to answer your questions about the Dessert party. DS had school events, I had work events and then I had a bachelorette party this past weekend. I hope you have kept your reservations!

Of course, I didn't manage to take ANY pictures of the actual desserts, but the desserts were not the best part of the party. I originally booked this thinking it would be a nice way to see the fireworks without jockeying for position on Main Street, and it would also give my parents a guaranteed place to sit down. After a busy, hot day, it was heavenly to have not only a place to sit down, but a reserved table for all of us to sit down. We were not right on top of anyone, didn't have to wait for a character to come around, and where our table was, we could sit and watch the fireworks without anyone standing in front of us. I would think in July, it would be wonderful to know you have a space within Magic Kingdom to get away from the crowds, too.

We were permitted to be seated about an hour before Wishes started and shown to our reserved table. Then we had ample opportunity to help ourselves to miniature portions of many types of desserts: brownies, cheesecakes, mango shooters, fresh fruit, ice cream, cookies, truffles, chocolate covered strawberries, you name it. They also had ice water, lemonade and iced tea and coffee and tea. We did not care for the ice water. We did load up several plates because everything was miniature so we all had a chance to try whatever we thought we might like. We went back a few times to refill and once the Fireworks start, I'm sure there were still desserts leftover, but by that time, you are ready for the Fireworks. By the end of it, they are taking things down. They do not rush you out of there and we waited out the crowd before heading to the exit and Main street.

Depending on where your reserved table is, you may have to go to the wall to watch, or can watch it right from where you are.

There is a Photopass photographer stationed there throughout to take your pictures with the castle as the background.

For me, this was a great way to ensure I got my whole family to stay for the fireworks. I have no memories of ever having stayed to watch them at Disney, so this was a wonderful memory for me this past January. I also got to see the Magic, Memories and You show for the first time.

DS did pretty well because we had gotten a break and a nap that afternoon, and Wishes was at 8 while we were there. And I will say that we managed to take some cookies and a brownie back with us to WL in some napkins....

Thanks for the info! I think I will keep our ressies. I do think in July it will be more important than ever to be away from the crowds. And I like that a photopass photographer is there, too.!!

 

[Marshay]

Oh and I forgot to mention that I LOVE, LOVE how your green shirts all coordinate with each other. It makes your pictures look so much more together and pretty. Good job!!

 

[pld5]

Oh and I forgot to mention that I LOVE, LOVE how your green shirts all coordinate with each other. It makes your pictures look so much more together and pretty. Good job!!

Thank you! I just kept telling Paul and my Dad what the color was going to be for the next day. We only had one day where Dad refused (but only because he had run out of shirts that fell into my on the spot decision of color scheme). Mom, like me, overpacked so we had lots of options to match each other.

 

[pld5]

None of the food though, sorry! Except for some on our plates.

Or in our hands.

We were close to the rail on the right side of the terrace and Paul took the one above of Edward and I watching the show.

He also caught some of the fireworks.

Some of the photopass pictures - taken on the left side of the terrace, where the photographer is set up. the food is just past her on the left side of the terrace, closer to the noodle station (that is curiously never open).

This was a great way to see Wishes, which as I mentioned earlier in my TR, I don't recall ever having done. The control freak in me appreciated the assigned seating and the place to sit down without fighting for a spot to watch the fireworks. I think this would be fantastic way to get a break away from huge summer or Christmas crowds. But as much as I enjoyed the fireworks, I truly got emotional watching the Magic, Memories and You show. I just really enjoyed that we were making our own memories at a place where I still have memories of being with my parents at my DS's age.

At the end of the show, we hung out on the terrace for quite a while to wait out the crowds.

Paul and I closed out the day getting a drink at our resort at Territory Lounge while my parents took Edward upstairs. We then explored the grounds at the resort to find out where the playground was, look at the beach and the Villas, and just walk about for a while. What a great Day 5 of our trip.

 

[pld5]

On Friday, we slept in until 8am, as we had a 10am reservation at Chef Mickey's. We took the boat from WL at 9:20am, which stops at Fort Wilderness first before Contemporary Resort.

We checked in at 9:55 and were seated at 10:20. Had our picture taken with a big giant plate while waiting.

I thought this was a great breakfast buffet and the characters came immediately after we sat down. In fact, we had just missed Donald and had to go seek him out before leaving our breakfast. I guess I was expecting more from the "celebration" (I thought it would be more interactive like H&V), but the staff brought Edward a birthday cupcake and a birthday placemat and also brought two to my parents for their anniversary. Edward promptly dropped his cupcake as I insisted on taking his picture with him, and the staff offered right away to replace it, but we refused the replacement and just apologized for the mess. Edward reached over and took my mom's white cupcake then, which was not a problem because my parents weren't going to take theirs with them since they were still finishing the cupcakes from the Pizza Planet two days prior!

Paul and My Mom noticed that their were birds flying around the breakfast buffet, and were concerned about birds being around the food, but I never noticed. I probably won't be able to convince DH to do this restaurant again for that very reason. I would have no need to see the characters at a meal again after this trip, but it is a nice way to see them without waiting in line.

Anniversary cupcakes

Right before it fell.

On our way back to WL, we encountered a pirate ship.

DS was fascinated by the pirate ship.

So, the original plan was that my parents would be leaving today and going on to Fort Myers. However, they weren't expected at Fort Myers until Sunday. They were enjoying themselves on this trip so much that they asked about extending their stay for another night. When Dad found out how much that would cost, he was quite surprised. Remember, we were upgraded from a Woods View Room, but Dad never had any idea how much anything cost to begin with. So they said they would go on to spend a few nights in Sarasota where it would cost them significantly less. At the Dessert party the night before I offered to let them stay in our room for that night, and they both looked relieved. All 5 of us would not have been able to stay in one room for the whole week, but for one night, it would work. I also told them I was not offering that just because Paul and I wanted to drink around the world during EMH at Epcot that night...... Anyway, they agreed to move in with us and with Paul and I being out later than everyone that night(more on that later), we weren't cramped in the room at all.

Mom had requested late checkout for their room which was 1230, so after Chef Mickey's, we went to check them out, move some stuff into our room and take some stuff to their car. After that we went to wait for the bus to Epcot around 1pm.

It had been overcast all morning, and while we were loading Dad's car and waiting for the bus, we saw a little rain, but that was the only rain we saw all day.

Got to Epcot around 1:30 and sent Paul to get fastpasses for Soarin (arrive between 605 and 705) and went to look for my brother's pictures on the tablets in front of Spaceship Earth. He has three, one of just him, one with his wife and one of just his son. My son, upon seeing his cousin's picture on the tablets said to me "Is John dead?" Well, they do look like big tombstones, you know.

Edward got a photopass picture in front of Spaceship Earth, and then he wanted to ride it with PapPap. Mom and I waited outside for Paul to return with the fastpasses.

 

[pld5]

I didn't get very many pictures at Epcot that day, but I did manage to get one of my family on my favorite bridge!

Once Edward was done with Spaceship Earth, we headed to Mexico. (after seeing Duffy and walking up to a closed line to meet him)

We rode the 3 Caballeros in Mexico and then walked on to Norway to use the bathroom. Maelstrom had a 50 minute wait, and because we knew it was a water ride and potentially scary, we opted not to wait and did not ask DS to.


I love this one of my parents just hanging out and talking to each other while waiting for us.

Banging on some drums

We did Reflections of China and then got to Germany about 330. We were kind of hungry at this point and inquired at Biergarten about seating for 5. Because dinner starts there at 330, they won't seat walkins until 4. There was some confusion and my Dad started to get mad because he thought we had ADR's here, but as we pointed out to him we did not, he calmed down. My Dad does not get angry very often, so this was kind of interesting to see and I was glad to finally figure out it was that he thought we had reservations and they were making us wait. They then offered to seat us near each other but not at the same table right away. This did not work at all, so my parents came back and we all waited together until we could sit together at 4.

Waiting to eat at Biergarten

The ducks were quite brazen.

I tried several times to get a picture of this.

I look like I have a crown on here.

We were seated with a couple from Illinois, who it turned out, would also be heading to Fort Myers in the next few days. They recommended some places for my parents to try while there. We all enjoyed the buffet (and the beer) and DS enjoyed the dancing. For dinner, DS wanted an orange. He got one. He also tried a little of everything else.

The band toasted to my parents' 50th anniversary. Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Hoy Hoy Hoy!

One of my favorite pictures from the trip.

I'm dancing with DS here.

We went on to Japan from here where DS decided he wanted a penguin from Pokemon ($34.95 and as big as his backpack). We looked for a smaller one but couldn't find one. We told him we wouldn't have room on the plane for him, so we would look for one when we got home. (He has never asked about that penguin and we've been home 5 months).

We saw Jasmine and Aladdin in Morocco, but the line was too long (and with our luck would have been closed if we had gone to wait in it....)

We got to France and went to see Marie - closed line.

Went to the UK, got our bridge picture on the way (at my insistence). Had to retrieve dad several steps ahead of use in order to do this. Reminded me of a shirt I had seen in the Contemporary that morning "Just because I have ears doesn't mean I listen".

We then went to ride Soarin' with our fastpasses. Unfortunately, Dad passed as he was not feeling well. Edward loved Soarin' again, and like the last time we rode it, immediately needed to pee afterwards. Came out of Soarin', discovered my Dad had been sick, but was already feeling better, and offered to wait while he did Soarin'. He declined and said they were going to take DS back to the room.

My parents and DS about to call it a night.

Now it was time for DH and I to experience Drinking around the World.

 

[pld5]

So we're alone with your DH in Epcot and you have just been left at Soarin', what do you do?

You go to England to get DH a beer. On your way to France so that you can get a Grand Marnier Slushie. Or Lemon Slushie. Or both....... But first a glass of wine for yourself in one of the shops in France.

And another beer with the two slushies for DH.

After another wine in Italy, we stopped in Germany for a snack. We got one beer, two pretzels and 2 caramels.

I still dream about this counter.

After Germany, we went on to Norway where we got a Carlsburg beer for Paul and a chardonnay for me. Then we went on Maelstrom.

Now, if you are wondering how I remember what we drank and when, I was smart enough to take notes while I was there.

Illuminations

After enjoying so many drinks, we did what any responsible adults would do, we went on Testtrack and Mission Space. EMH had started at this point and we had reasonable waits for both.

Test Track

Before heading back to the bus, we stopped back in Mexico to try a margarita (or two) and one Dos Equis and stopped for some final photopass pictures.

End of our Epcot day

This was a lot of drinking, but it was spread out over so much time (5 hours)that we were able to really enjoy ourselves and hopefully, weren't too obnoxious to anyone around us.

We took the bus back to WL and made it back to the room around midnight. Fell almost immediately asleep and spent our last night at WL.

 

[pld5]

Our last day of our trip. We were sleeping 5 to a room for the previous night only, and maybe that is why I woke up first to get in and out of the shower before anyone else. Or maybe its because I loved seeing these peaceful, tranquil views of the courtyard each morning at Wilderness Lodge. A bit of fog was with us at 7:15am.

Mom and Dad got up and showered and headed to breakfast at Roaring Forks while DH and DS got up and moving. Mom and Dad had DS's card so I told them to use one of our extra counter service meals to get Dad his Mickey Waffle that he talked about wanting all week but never got. He still never got that Mickey Waffle and got the eggs, bacon, pancakes and potatoes special (the bounty platter) that he had the rest of the week.

Sleepy DH and Sleeping DS. And an angry bird.

We met them at breakfast and afterwards helped them pack up their car (and sent a few bags home with them of souvenirs and dirty laundry so we would have more room on the plane for other souvenirs in our luggage). I have no pictures of them on that last day because I knew I would start crying too much while trying to take them. They left around 11:00.

This was such an awesome trip and it was so great to experience Disney WITH my parents in a way that my parents had never done before. They kept thanking me all week for the new experiences and loved seeing the joy on DS's face all week. I can honestly say I never want to stay offsite again and am so glad for this resource of the Disboards to do all my research to make the most of our trip.

Our flight home was at 7pm and we had a lot of time to kill to wait for Magical Express at 4pm, so we checked our luggage before my parents left (you had to do it by 10:30 if I recall) and left our carryon bags with the valet and set out to do some exploring before our 12:45 ADR at Whispering Canyon for lunch.

As you can see the sun came out of the fog and we got some last pictures of us on the balcony.

Here's DH down below. He got some pictures of me and DS taking pictures of each other (okay, ourselves) on the balcony.

We took the boat to MK so that we could ride the monorail.

Finally, a monorail ride!

We didn't realize it while we were there until the last day, but we missed not HAVING to use the monorail because we never had to go to the Transportation Center and the bus and boat from WL was very convenient for our purposes.

Monorail stop at Grand Floridian

We walked around here for a short while and then made our way back to the boat at MK to get to WL for our ADR at 12:45 at Whispering Canyon.

The food was very good at lunch but it was way too much food! We had a much better waitress than earlier in the week for breakfast and there was no shtick at lunch so it made for a nice relaxing last meal at WDW. No crowds, but no ponyrides either. The ribs were mostly good (it seems each plate came with one that was well done and one that was fatty), cornbread, corn, potatoes, the milkshakes were awesome, I had to try the s'mores dessert and DH asked for berries for dessert and they accomodated it. We basically had to waddle out of there and found a nook on the 4th floor with a view of the gorgeous WL lobby to take a catnap while waiting for Magical Express.

We started moving around a bit, bought some last souvenirs and used up our last 5 snack credits in the Mercantile (that I was terrified that DH had wasted earlier in the week), rinsed out our mugs in Roaring Forks and then went off to retrieve our carryons and catch Magical Express to the airport.

The airport was tricky with us originally going to the wrong gate, DS getting sick in the security checkpoint, dealing with rude TSA screeners which then resulted in me not caring that DS got sick and they had to clean it up and close a line, (I know its a thankless job they are doing, but a 5 year old is rarely sick "on purpose" and is certainly not doing it to make their jobs harder. Anyway, we got to the correct Southwest gate,and basically prayed we would have 3 seats together because by the time I could check us in for seat assignment the night before (while waiting in line for Soarin'), we were already in B section and I checked us in within 5 minutes of the 24 hour mark!

We got to sit together thankfully and DS loved the plane ride home as much as the ride there and had no further incidents of illness.

We've been home now for almost 5 months and I am just now finishing this report. I'm also itching to plan another one but I don't know yet when that will be.

 

[Marshay]

Love your report. So glad you had a terrific vacation.

I want to try biergarten sometime...how was the food? Is it a buffet or family style, I forget.

We love staying on site, too. It's just so much more magical, mentally to never leave the property. It's hard to explain but I feel it every time we leave or go to Walmart for supplies.

So are you going to do a recap or lessons learned?

Forgot to mention I love your drinking around the world...sounds like so much fun.

 

[pld5]

Love your report. So glad you had a terrific vacation.

I want to try biergarten sometime...how was the food? Is it a buffet or family style, I forget.

We love staying on site, too. It's just so much more magical, mentally to never leave the property. It's hard to explain but I feel it every time we leave or go to Walmart for supplies.

So are you going to do a recap or lessons learned?

Forgot to mention I love your drinking around the world...sounds like so much fun.

Thank you! Its been nice having somebody follow along.

The food at Biergarten was a buffet and I thought it was good. Lots of meat options, lots of bread options. Some traditional german food, and something for all of us. Salad and fruit were plentiful as well.

Its funny, we talked all week about making a trip to Walmart for supplies (like beer or snacks) and never actually did it. I don't think any of us wanted to be reminded of the outside world. Even on our day to Fantasy of Flight and to visit my great Aunt, we only picked up a case of beer at a gas station when we filled up the tank.

I just read through my report from the start to remind myself of what I had hoped to get out of the trip and what I actually accomplished and its nice to know I stayed pretty much on target. Not too commando, but we didn't miss a lot either.

There were a few things we did still miss due to timing, weather and whether we thought DS would tolerate it but hopefully we have time in the years ahead to accomplish those things: Haunted Mansion, Rock and Roller Coaster, Tom Sawyer's Island, Hall of Presidents to name a few.

I'm still curious to eat at Tony's and at Coral Reef and I wish we had gone to walk around the Yacht Club/Beach Club/Boardwalk Inn while we were there to determine whether any of those resorts would truly be candidates for a future stay. (When I originally booked our trip, I started with a reservation at the Yacht Club and changed it to Wilderness Lodge and did not regret it at all, but we still think Yacht Club may be a good destination someday due to its proximity to Epcot.)

A few things were closed or not options during our trip and we are hoping to someday see Fantasmic, see the Electrical Parade in MK, go to Mickey's Backyard BBQ and ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. As of now, we are starting to think of a trip in late February/early March 2013 and if we do, we'll hopefully get to experience those few things mentioned above. I may even be willing to give Animal Kingdom another shot. If only for the Festival of the Lion King and Flame Tree BBQ....

I don't think we would do the dining plan unless it is offered free again. We simply don't eat the portions and options that are served. We enjoy dessert but don't have it with every meal. After the trip, I really thought about whether we would have paid the "sticker price" at any of the restaurants where we ate, and would we have thought it was worth it. I thought we got value at Whispering Canyon (both at breakfast and at lunch) and I thought we got value at the counter service places - Roaring Forks & Cosmic Rays (we really didn't eat any other counter service as we used our counter service at Roaring Forks for breakfast a few days and light dinners/lunches on days where we had ADR's elsewhere.)

DH really resented being tied to a schedule of our ADR's. I know we wouldn't need as many ADR's on a future trip because DS does not have the need to see the characters and now that we've tried some of the character meals and other places (Le Cellier and Biergarten), we've no real need to do them again. I had never done any character dining before this last trip and honestly, dining with the princesses and the characters was something that I wanted to do. Now that I've done it, it is not a must do for future trips. I will always want to see the characters though, but I think I enjoy that more when there are photopass photographers around, not when I'm about to put a piece of food in my mouth. That being said, if characters happen to be part of the meal at the restaurant at whatever resort we choose next, that will not keep me from wanting to dine at that restaurant. And of course, once I decide on a date and we're 180 days out, all that paragraph above goes out the window and I'm trying to get 1900 Park, Chefs of France, Ohana's, etc..

I am curious about staying Club Level at wherever we decide to stay as I've heard good things about it, and it would be convenient for us to have the fruit and coffee available as breakfast options before going to the parks, as well as a place to unwind a bit each afternoon or night. But I'm also looking at Port Orleans Riverside as an option for the next trip as well, but I'm still doing my research.

I was so pleased with the transportation options (including Magical Express from and to the airport) and we had no problems getting to where we needed to be in a timely manner. Granted, this was in January when the crowds were conceivably lower than at other times of the year. We loved the boat from WL to MK. It was really nice not to need a car, and in fact, we only used Dad's car to go to Sarasota that one day of the trip. I think that really surprised my Dad, too. Even though he never moved his car that week other than our Sarasota outing, he still tells people what a savings it is to stay in the resorts and have free parking at all of the parks while you are there.

We'll be deciding in a few weeks if we do want to go in February next year, and if so, I'll start a new trip report. Until then, I'll be scanning the Disboards for new ideas or confirmation of old ones. And I'll be looking for Marshay's trip report from her fabulous Mother/Daughter July birthday trip!