Bippity Boppity Brr! My Very Meticulously Crafted Plans don't quite pan out.

[Tinkermom76]

Hey!!! You have a ticker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I picked the date just haven't booked yet... still trying to pick a resort

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

So thanks to the cold we have knocked out the Fairies, saw some Princesses that we will meet at character meals, and got a bonus with Peter Pan, all in 31 minutes. Looks like the Vacation Gods sent the cold weather to help us meet characters. First at Animal Kingdom, and now at the Magic Kingdom. Must be a Kingdom thing.

Next we set off to tour Mickey and Minnie’s houses. These things are great. Especially the plants in Minnie’s House.

After the houses we head into the Judges tent and meet Mickey and Minnie. This is our third Mickey Meeting, and we will see him again.

Ally spots Goofy’s barnstormer, and I didn’t have this on our list of things to do because the lines are usually long. Today though, the posted wait is 10 minutes, so I take the kids and hit the ride. I should have brought the camera equipment, I could have sat in front of the kids and video taped them. Oh well. The sign said 10 minutes, but it didn’t even take that long.

We head out of Toon Town, but take a quick pit stop. I see Pete’s bumper crop, and just had to take a pic.

Toon Town done we decide to hop on the Tea Cups. The wait is about 15 minutes, so not too bad by Tea Cup standards. As we are riding the Cups we see Alice and the White Rabbit. After the ride we go around, but the characters are just going on break. We hang out for a while, get a good shot of the kids, although it took awhile to get Olivia to pose right, then we see Alice and the White Rabbit.

It’s 11:30 and we stop to see the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Maybe I am getting tired from all the walking, but I got real annoyed with other adults when I am trying to take a pic of the kids in front of the tree. One lady sees I am taking a picture and just walks in front of me. I let her know I wasn’t too pleased.

The new stuff for the kids is great, especially the honey things.

Another item off the list, we then go see Snow Whites Scary Adventure. Olivia has been getting scared on some things, so I am a bit concerned, but we get through this ride without her getting upset, so that’s good.

The line for the Carousel is pretty short so we hop on that and take a spin.

Next Mickey’s Philharmagic, 5 minute wait time listed. We get through the queue, and in no time we are in front of the doors.

Love the sign, so I take a pic. Diane rolls her eyes.

By this time I have already filled up my 2 GB card, and I am now on my 1 GB backup card. If I had brought the laptop, I wouldn’t have been concerned, but we still have a lot of vacation left.

I love the Philarmagic, especially with kids, and watching them reaching out to grab stuff.

Now, it’s around 1, and we only have two rides left, Peter Pan and It’s a Small World. The wait time for Peter Pan is pretty long, so we get FP’s to come back after 4:30 and head into It’s a Small World. Posted wait time is 20 minutes. Are you serious, only 20 minutes.

Getting a bit hungry now, so we head down towards Liberty Square to get something to tide us over til dinner. Diane and the kids get Ice Cream, I get a Funnel Cake. After we eat this Olivia is getting tired, and nods off for a little nap. By this time the temp is around 60, so it is turning out to be a real nice day.

Its getting close to parade time, so let’s go find a spot. Someone tells me that the parade comes out of Frontierland, so I find a great spot just around the corner from the bridge with a great view down the parade route. Should get some good pics of the floats coming towards us. Of course, my information is wrong, the parade is coming from the other direction, so I don’t have a great vantage point. I still get some good shots though. I can’t take pics of the floats right in front of me because the sun is right there. I guess the Vacation Gods are making up for the great morning. Not a big deal though. The kids enjoy the parade, and I get some nice shots.

I’m sure I am near my limit for pics in this entry so this will need to be continued again.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Have been lurking around so thought I'd comment on your TR...although the vacation gods have gone against you at times it seems like they were surely with you at MK...you sure got a lot done!

Your pics are great and on getting to see so many characters. Love the picture of the kids on the wall and someone walking in front of me whilst I'm taking pictures would make me go aagh as well.

 

[Tinkermom76]

you know it's funny I have never seen the 3pm MK parade... it will have to go on the list for this year

 

[annmarieda]

Great updates! I am in awe of how many characters you see!!! Love all the pics, they are great!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

OK, parade over. We start heading towards Peter Pan and see that the queue for the Haunted mansion says 15 minutes. So at 3:30 we get in line for the Haunted Mansion. The kids enjoyed it, Ally was a bit worried about this ride before the trip, but I told her it’s Disney, how bad can it be. 20 minutes later the ride is done. Guess that 15 minutes was wrong. Good for us.

We leave the Haunted Mansion and head up to ride Peter Pan. Even with FP’s this line takes a while. Nowhere near as long as the people in the stand by line, but it takes 15 minutes even with FP’s. We noticed this in 2007 so it isn’t really a surprise.

It’s getting close to our dinner time, so we head through Fantasyland getting some pics, and wonder down the path to the left of the castle.

Dinner is at the Plaza Restaurant. Nice place, and the food is pretty good. I got the Cheesesteak. I’m from the Philly area so I like to see how other places make theirs. It is pretty good. Dessert is the best part of this place though. Very good, the kids loved theirs.

Dinner went a bit long so we watch the castle lighting from inside the restaurant. We had great seats by the window. We didn’t get to hear the show, but watching the castle getting lit was great. Of course the late dinner also made us late for spots for MSEP.

We head down Main Street towards the exit to see if we can luck out and find a spot. We end up near where the floats come out, and we are standing behind the front row. Not bad for me since I can see over them, but my daughters can’t see. I send them towards the front but the people standing there apparently can’t let an 8 and 4 year old stand in front of them. I was quite vocal about how rude they were being. Luckily another family heard me and moved back so my daughters could stand with their daughter. I thanked them quite a bit.

So there we sat for the parade. Personally, I like SpectroMagic over MSEP, mainly for the music. I love the floats in both.

After the parade we head out the exit and hop on a ferry back to the Polynesian, with a stop at the Grand Floridian. We had decided to watch the fireworks from the beach. Got some nice shots using the Fireworks setting on the camera. I had to use my knee as a tripod to keep the camera still enough.

After the fireworks, we head back to the room for a good nights sleep, tomorrow will be another day at the Magic Kingdom, we even have a DIS Meet planned.

When we get in the room it looks like MouseKeeping had some fun with the kids toys.

So looking at the original plans, we finished everything on the list, plus saw the Princesses at Toon Town, met Peter Pan, rode on Goofy’s Barnstomer, rode the Tea Cups, and rode the Haunted Mansion. All in all a pretty good day.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Have been lurking around so thought I'd comment on your TR...although the vacation gods have gone against you at times it seems like they were surely with you at MK...you sure got a lot done!

Your pics are great and on getting to see so many characters. Love the picture of the kids on the wall and someone walking in front of me whilst I'm taking pictures would make me go aagh as well.

I was surprised we got everything done. I think the cold morning and early entry in the park is a big help.

you know it's funny I have never seen the 3pm MK parade... it will have to go on the list for this year

You are a bad DISer. Tsk Tsk, never seen the 3 PM parade. Just kidding, you should watch it sometime. We have big gaps between our trip so these things are must do's.

Great updates! I am in awe of how many characters you see!!! Love all the pics, they are great!

Not really a surprise if you plan your trip around meeting characters. We try not to stand in long lines for characters, and really lucked out on some that didn't have lines. I guess some people aren't looking for characters as they wonder around the park.

 

[annmarieda]

What an awesome day it looks like you had. You got so much done plus some. I have never been to the Plaza. I might have to consider it. The dessert that the girls had looks great! I feel bad at times for my dd when we get nice meals/desserts and she gets the same...pizza and sundae. That one however looks a bit more special...she would totally love it.

 

[stephielela]

Sounds like a very productive day!! I was considering trying the Plaza on our next trip, so I'm glad to hear you liked it! I was surprised you usually have a wait at Barnstormer. It seems like both times we have done it it has been a complete walk on, but then again, the first time was during MNSSHP, so that could be part of it.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

What an awesome day it looks like you had. You got so much done plus some. I have never been to the Plaza. I might have to consider it. The dessert that the girls had looks great! I feel bad at times for my dd when we get nice meals/desserts and she gets the same...pizza and sundae. That one however looks a bit more special...she would totally love it.

Yes, the desserts for the kids here are great. It's a small restaurant, but nice. I'm glad I chose it. I used the pages on allears.net to research the various places to eat.

Sounds like a very productive day!! I was considering trying the Plaza on our next trip, so I'm glad to hear you liked it! I was surprised you usually have a wait at Barnstormer. It seems like both times we have done it it has been a complete walk on, but then again, the first time was during MNSSHP, so that could be part of it.

I think we lucked out with Barnstormer. I wasn't going to ride it due to the wait, but since there wasn't one we added it to the agenda.

 

[Tinkermom76]

Dis meet? no way

 

[PRmamiDEdos]

I'm kid-sized so I always have trouble seeing the parades if I'm not up front. No one seems to want to let an adult be up front though.

I haven't seen the MSEP, but I looked at a youtube video. I saw Spectro and liked the music for that much better.

Dismeet? Say it ain't so Joe!!!!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Dis meet? no way

I'm kid-sized so I always have trouble seeing the parades if I'm not up front. No one seems to want to let an adult be up front though.

I haven't seen the MSEP, but I looked at a youtube video. I saw Spectro and liked the music for that much better.

Dismeet? Say it ain't so Joe!!!!

Who's Joe?

Yes, I had an actual scheduled DIS Meet instead of my two impromtu meets. I don't want to give anything away yet though, so I won't tell you who they were.

 

[exwdwcm]

Wow, that is a busy day, you guys did so much! i am impressed! How did the kids hold up- were they tired or did okay?

i am also amazed at all the characters you guys saw. i am going to work on that more in October. i love the pics of the empty MK too- you guys got a great one of the family. What did you end up using for your Christmas card?

So would you eat at the Plaza again?

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Wow, that is a busy day, you guys did so much! i am impressed! How did the kids hold up- were they tired or did okay?

i am also amazed at all the characters you guys saw. i am going to work on that more in October. i love the pics of the empty MK too- you guys got a great one of the family. What did you end up using for your Christmas card?

So would you eat at the Plaza again?

The kids held up pretty well. Of course they got to ride around in a stroller quite a bit, so that helps them. Tires me out though.

I would eat at the Plaza again. The dinner wasn't anything special, but they have good desserts. Of course, maybe I could go just for the dessert.

I used 3 pictures for the Christmas Card. Since I didn't have access to the internet at Disney, it had to wait until we got home, so I was ordering cards at 11:30 PM the night we got back. I was pretty tired so I didn't notice when I chose the folding cards that you only get 10, not 20 like the standard postcard style cards. I was pretty mad at myself when the cards arrived and we only had 20 instead of the 40 I thought I ordered. We then had to scramble a bit to figure out who wasn't getting photo cards.
Here are the three that made the card.

 

[annmarieda]

Great Christmas card pics! Sorry you didn't get as many as you hoped turned into cards.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Great Christmas card pics! Sorry you didn't get as many as you hoped turned into cards.

It was my own fault, but quite a surprise when I opened the box and it only had 20. I logged into the photopass site, and saw my mistake right away. Guess that's what happens when you rush though, I didn't even read the description that told you how many cards there were.

 

[jenseib]

Wow! What a great day. You got soooo much done.
As for the afternoon parade, it always does start from Fronterland, but maybe it was changed up for the Christmas season. Somet6imes they do that for some reason.

Take a look at my signature!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Wow! What a great day. You got soooo much done.
As for the afternoon parade, it always does start from Fronterland, but maybe it was changed up for the Christmas season. Somet6imes they do that for some reason.

Take a look at my signature!

Guess I will just blame it on the Vacation Gods messing with me yet again.

for the siggie. Finally. I saw it on your PTR, but didn't have time to comment, just trying to catch up on reading.

 

[exwdwcm]

great cards! sorry about the mix up on ordering. gotta hate that. plus those folding cards are so pricey! i did the same thing, got home, rushed to find pics and upload (we didn't use PP) and do my cards- i think i ordered like 80! lol