wannabee princess
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2003
- Messages
- 652
Saturday, July 17
THE BIG DAY!!! My 40th birthday and Dh's 38th birthday!! Spending it at the most magical place on the planet ---- Magic Kingdom!!!
Well, I couldn't stand the thought of wasting a moment on this occasion, so we had an early wake-up call from Mickey ('Up and at 'em - there's big doings!!) and were at the AKL bus stop by 7:44. Now, dh was originally saying that I could wear that birthday button, but he wasn't going to
How excited was I then when I saw him wearing his button as we sat on the bus!! The bus trip to MK was 15 minutes, and we were standing at the rope by 8am!
We were able to see the train of characters and Mickey opening the park before the mad dash to get inside took place. As soon as that rope dropped, in we went -- straight to the castle. As we headed down Main Street, the CMs were telling us Happy Birthday - it was so neat! I walked through the central walkway to take a picture of the Partners statue with the castle in the background, and I have to say, that picture turned out BEAUTIFUL!! It looks like a picture postcard! I caught up with the boys who were entering the castle as the rope there dropped. We went to see if Tinkerbell was "still asleep", but a cute little girl - all dressed up - was already there, and even though I would have loved to have been able to do the wakeup, I was tickled to see such a cutie being the one to do it!
So, off we went to Dumbo - we were in the first group of people to get on - ds's literally walked straight on to their elephant. While I took pictures, dh went over to Philharmagic to get FPs for later. After Dumbo we headed to Winnie the Pooh, pausing only to say thank you to the CMs wishing us happy birthday! Snow White was next and the walking straight onto a ride continued at Peter Pan. At this point, I told dh we had finished Fantasyland!!
We headed over to the Speedway - and happily we were in line only a total of 5 minutes from the minute we entered the que! WOW! Loved the fact that we in all reality had no wait on the worst que in Magic Kingdom! The line when we exited was already getting long - and the exiting drivers were the reason. We actually sat at the end of the ride longer than we had been on the ride I think!
Dh and oldest ds headed towards Space Mountain while youngest ds (who decided this trip that he had no desire to ride Space - even though in April 03 he said it was his favorite ride!) and I headed to Buzz. I had grabbed out the Hidden Mickey book (it was packed in my backpack/purse) and we were so excited to spot the HMs! I actually had the highest score I have ever seen in all the times we rode, and was sad that dh hadn't been there to see it since he always beats me!
Well, as we exited and looked at our photo, up walks dh and ds! They were all grins and giggles - because they had ridden Space faster than we had ridden Buzz! It turns out that the CM at Space had seen dh's birthday button and told him that you shouldn't have to stand in a line on your birthday, and he gave them FPs!! So, oldest ds and I headed over to Space (unfortunately for me - not really - the CM was in the midst of a heighth issue with a large group and didn't see my birthday button so we did the regular stand-by line (I think it may have been a total of 5-10 minutes before we were on the ride). While we rode, dh took youngest ds to TTA.
About now, the getting up early and racing around was paying off big time, because we had accomplished almost half of the park and it wasn't even 10am! So, we headed to Main Street Bakery to get something for breakfast, after getting FPs for Buzz for later. We used the pathway through the Plaza, which became our favorite path of the day - never anyone there! Youngest ds had a ham and cheese sandwich $4.89 , oldest had a croissant $2.29, dh had a cinnamon roll $2.89 and I had to have the French toast loaf $3.99. When we added in 2 32oz diet Cokes $4.58 total (okay we are on vacation - no I don't normally drink diet Coke for breakfast/brunch!), a chocolate milk $1.99 and a powerade $2.81, we spent a total of $24.97. We sat at a table inside the bakery, enjoying every bite!
We headed over to Adventureland and went straight to POC where we again took a total of 5 minutes before getting on the ride. As we exited, youngest ds saw and wanted the Mr. Potatohead pirate piece box. We had a very friendly CM (again wishing us a happy birthday) and we discussed LTT dinner since that is where we had our PS - she assured me we would not regret it! Out of the store, who do we see..... Peter Pan, Wendy, Mr. Smee and Captain Hook! We headed straight over, and there was no line at all for the Captain and his sidekick. They were almost begging people to get in line! We then went to get in line for Peter and Wendy, and started chatting with the CM who was their handler. She was so nice, and I asked her if she would mind taking a picture of the four of us with the characters - she was very quick to agree! Peter was a hoot - talking about flying pigs or something with the boys, while Wendy and I chatted about the flight from London - she also chatted about the fact that she has to go to ALL of the parks, so she ends up flying a lot, but unfortunately doesn't get to go on the cruises!
As we exited Adventureland (there was a huge line at Jungle Cruise for some reason), I grabbed FPs for Splash while the boys headed towards Thunder. I ran and caught up with them, and although there was a 20 minute standby posted, we were on in less than 15 minutes. Afterwards, we headed toward Liberty Square, and when I saw that Country Bears was getting ready to begin, I convinced a very reluctant dh to make a pitstop. It was cheesier than even I remember, and I wouldn't sit in the first row behind the wheelchair row again, but it was fun to see something that is such an older part of Disney, especially since we generally skip past this.
We headed to the Haunted Mansion, where the wait was posted at 10 minutes, and that was pretty accurate. No matter how many times I ride, I love the creativity used on this ride - everything from the stretching room to the hitchhiker! When we exited, I asked the CM where the ring was, and we found that, before heading back to Fantasyland to watch Philharmagic. Before we used our FP from earlier, I walked over to get more for later, and the CM saw my birthday button. She asked if I would like FPs for Winnie for later also, I said YES! and she gave me 4!!! I absolutely LOVE Philharmagic!!! Disney has put together a real winner with this!! We loved it in Dec, but I think it was even better this time since we knew what to expect.
We went out of Fantasyland to go to Buzz to use the FP we had obtained earlier, and while going through the line, dh noticed a CM with a nametag mentioning a small town in IL that we used to live right by. He chatted with the guy for a bit, the CM noticed his birthday button, and gave him FPs for Space (and not only one, but 3 that were each good for 3 people!!). Youngest ds pointed out the HMs to oldest and dh - he felt like the big shot! About now, dh asked if anyone was ready for a hot dog - it was about 1:30, and we headed to Casey's (via that pathway through the Plaza). We ended up with way too much food (that light breakfast and the heat lessened our appetite) - youngest ds ate maybe 2 of his corndog nuggets $3.59, dh wished he had only ordered one grand slam (we had 4 total for $15.16) and we would have been more than fine with one order of fries for all four of us (ordered 2 for a total of $3.58), after adding in 2 - 22oz orange sodas for the boys, a 22oz diet for me and a 32oz diet for dh (again way too much - dh and I could have split one drink and ds's could have split one) we ended up with a total of $32.58.
With extremely full bellies, we took our pathway through the Plaza and went to Carousel of Progress. Now, I think this was the first time ds's had ever ridden on COP (which was a walk on) and the youngest was singing right along with the song (as was I!) for quite a while after! I just love that Walt feels so much a part of your time on this!
After, dh and oldest went to use one of the FPs for Space, while I rode TTA with youngest, and then we headed over to Splash to use our FPs. Youngest didn't want to ride, so oldest went with dh and then went with me. After the ride, we headed to Jungle Cruise - another walk right on - and had a great leader! We then went over to watch the Tiki Birds and ds's wanted to walk through the Treehouse (dh decided to sit and wait for us). After that big trek we were ready for a cool refreshment, and wouldn't you know - the Aloha Isle was right there waiting! I got a half pineapple, half chocolate, but theCM didn't quite understand, and put a portion of chocolate on the bottom and then on the top put pineapple (I was hoping for a "swirl" like Forever 42 posted about and has a picture of on her website) and we got a bottle of water.
We decided that we needed to go and use another one of the FPs for Space, and we did that but there was a pretty sizeable delay even with a FP (probably not really too bad - I didn't time it - but it felt like forever considering it was a FP line). Then, we headed over to Toontown (not to dh's delight) because I have to take a picture of the boys on every trip in front of Mickey's house by his mailbox (it turned out great btw!). Afterwards, youngest asked if we could go in the Judges tent --- he wanted more Mr. Potatohead parts! This time, I decided I was going to stuff a potato (since I had forgotten to bring a potato from home). Again, I stuffed so many pieces in the box (35 I believe including the teacup ride piece) that the CM commented on what a good job I had done!
As we exited the tent, dh and oldest (who had waited outside) told us we just missed Snow White with all of the Seven Dwarves walking behind her!!! He said we literally just missed them, so I said come on boys!! We took off towards Fantasyland, and were rewarded with a wonderful picture opportunity in front of the Carousel - across from Snow White's ride. I took a few shots, ds's were excited (okay youngest more than the oldest!) to see all of the dwarves at once outside of the parade. After they walked away, we headed over to Winnie to use the FPs we had been given earlier.
It was now getting close enough to our PS for LTT (set for 6:15) that I said we needed to make our way over there. We ended up walking in about 5:45, and getting seated immediately. Although I had mentioned the two birthdays when I made PS, I saw the birthdays listed on the screen when the CM checked me in, and we had on our birthday buttons, the CM who waited on us did not once mention our occasion. I was actually kind of suprised after all of the fuss made over about 4 other birthdays that not a word about ours was mentioned - she seemed to want us in and out as quickly as possible. The characters were fine - we only took pictures, the food was very good and we had an enjoyable meal. We will definitely consider this again (we really like LTT overall for lunch too). I think it is a great place for a sit-down meal at MK.
We left LTT and arrived at Splash at 7, where we used the FPs from earlier and we picked up FPs for Thunder before heading towards Main Street. I had planned this trip to Disney specifically so I could spend my 40th watching WISHES, and I was not going to settle for anything less than a view from Main Street! Earlier, as we had walked back and forth from Casey's to Tomorrowland, we "scoped out" the spot we wanted, and now we headed there. Obviously, it was a good spot, because there were not many places left! I noticed a space that would hold 4, asked the people on either side if it was being saved, and since it wasn't, plopped my happy little self down!
Oldest ds asked if we would please let him go use a FP for Thunder since we would not be able to use them as a group, and after debating it, dh and I decided that he knew the MK about as well as I do, and we would let him go (he turns 13 in Aug). Dh started chatting with the nicest young couple (on their honeymoon, but not wearing the ears) next to us. He spent the next hour discussing Disney, the drive down and what we liked. I didn't get to hear the whole conversation (youngest sitting between dh and I, and I kept looking for oldest to come walking our way), but dh thoroughly enjoyed talking with them, they seemed so nice, it was a great way to pass an hour!
Oldest finally showed up (about the time dh decided that he would NEVER be allowed to go off on his own again!) It turns out he thought he would cut through Fantasyland (not sure of the logic here!) and he got detoured because of the castle being closed off in preparation for WISHES.
We sat and enjoyed SpectroMagic - which gives me such a warm, fuzzy feeling! I loved it when some of the CMs came towards us and said Happy Birthday!! Then, we continued to sit while a mass exodus took place. I kept thinking - Hey people, don't you realize you are leaving BEFORE the big event? I went out of my way to see WISHES, and these people are LEAVING before it begins???!!! Oh, well, maybe their will be less in line for the bus when we leave?!
Finally, the moment I have been looking forward to arrives - Tink flies down from the castle, the magic begins!!! I just think that WISHES is so amazing - I know everyone has their favorite nighttime show, but I think this is so wonderful, it is too much for words! Sadly though, they can't go on forever, and the night has to end
We say goodbye to our new friends, we wait a few minutes thinking we will let the crowd die down, and finally I say - what the hay - let's go! Even though dh thinks I'm nuts, I make him walk through the stores all the way down Main Street - which ends up being a great way to get to the exit!! We head to the bus stop, see the line and think - oh my gosh!! We waited 20 minutes for the bus (the longest and most crowded wait the entire trip) and are able to get on the first bus unbelievably! Back to AKL at 11 and we make the trek to our room - a happy but tired group.
What a way to spend a birthday!!
THE BIG DAY!!! My 40th birthday and Dh's 38th birthday!! Spending it at the most magical place on the planet ---- Magic Kingdom!!!
Well, I couldn't stand the thought of wasting a moment on this occasion, so we had an early wake-up call from Mickey ('Up and at 'em - there's big doings!!) and were at the AKL bus stop by 7:44. Now, dh was originally saying that I could wear that birthday button, but he wasn't going to
How excited was I then when I saw him wearing his button as we sat on the bus!! The bus trip to MK was 15 minutes, and we were standing at the rope by 8am!We were able to see the train of characters and Mickey opening the park before the mad dash to get inside took place. As soon as that rope dropped, in we went -- straight to the castle. As we headed down Main Street, the CMs were telling us Happy Birthday - it was so neat! I walked through the central walkway to take a picture of the Partners statue with the castle in the background, and I have to say, that picture turned out BEAUTIFUL!! It looks like a picture postcard! I caught up with the boys who were entering the castle as the rope there dropped. We went to see if Tinkerbell was "still asleep", but a cute little girl - all dressed up - was already there, and even though I would have loved to have been able to do the wakeup, I was tickled to see such a cutie being the one to do it!
So, off we went to Dumbo - we were in the first group of people to get on - ds's literally walked straight on to their elephant. While I took pictures, dh went over to Philharmagic to get FPs for later. After Dumbo we headed to Winnie the Pooh, pausing only to say thank you to the CMs wishing us happy birthday! Snow White was next and the walking straight onto a ride continued at Peter Pan. At this point, I told dh we had finished Fantasyland!!
We headed over to the Speedway - and happily we were in line only a total of 5 minutes from the minute we entered the que! WOW! Loved the fact that we in all reality had no wait on the worst que in Magic Kingdom! The line when we exited was already getting long - and the exiting drivers were the reason. We actually sat at the end of the ride longer than we had been on the ride I think!
Dh and oldest ds headed towards Space Mountain while youngest ds (who decided this trip that he had no desire to ride Space - even though in April 03 he said it was his favorite ride!) and I headed to Buzz. I had grabbed out the Hidden Mickey book (it was packed in my backpack/purse) and we were so excited to spot the HMs! I actually had the highest score I have ever seen in all the times we rode, and was sad that dh hadn't been there to see it since he always beats me!
Well, as we exited and looked at our photo, up walks dh and ds! They were all grins and giggles - because they had ridden Space faster than we had ridden Buzz! It turns out that the CM at Space had seen dh's birthday button and told him that you shouldn't have to stand in a line on your birthday, and he gave them FPs!! So, oldest ds and I headed over to Space (unfortunately for me - not really - the CM was in the midst of a heighth issue with a large group and didn't see my birthday button so we did the regular stand-by line (I think it may have been a total of 5-10 minutes before we were on the ride). While we rode, dh took youngest ds to TTA. About now, the getting up early and racing around was paying off big time, because we had accomplished almost half of the park and it wasn't even 10am! So, we headed to Main Street Bakery to get something for breakfast, after getting FPs for Buzz for later. We used the pathway through the Plaza, which became our favorite path of the day - never anyone there! Youngest ds had a ham and cheese sandwich $4.89 , oldest had a croissant $2.29, dh had a cinnamon roll $2.89 and I had to have the French toast loaf $3.99. When we added in 2 32oz diet Cokes $4.58 total (okay we are on vacation - no I don't normally drink diet Coke for breakfast/brunch!), a chocolate milk $1.99 and a powerade $2.81, we spent a total of $24.97. We sat at a table inside the bakery, enjoying every bite!
We headed over to Adventureland and went straight to POC where we again took a total of 5 minutes before getting on the ride. As we exited, youngest ds saw and wanted the Mr. Potatohead pirate piece box. We had a very friendly CM (again wishing us a happy birthday) and we discussed LTT dinner since that is where we had our PS - she assured me we would not regret it! Out of the store, who do we see..... Peter Pan, Wendy, Mr. Smee and Captain Hook! We headed straight over, and there was no line at all for the Captain and his sidekick. They were almost begging people to get in line! We then went to get in line for Peter and Wendy, and started chatting with the CM who was their handler. She was so nice, and I asked her if she would mind taking a picture of the four of us with the characters - she was very quick to agree! Peter was a hoot - talking about flying pigs or something with the boys, while Wendy and I chatted about the flight from London - she also chatted about the fact that she has to go to ALL of the parks, so she ends up flying a lot, but unfortunately doesn't get to go on the cruises!
As we exited Adventureland (there was a huge line at Jungle Cruise for some reason), I grabbed FPs for Splash while the boys headed towards Thunder. I ran and caught up with them, and although there was a 20 minute standby posted, we were on in less than 15 minutes. Afterwards, we headed toward Liberty Square, and when I saw that Country Bears was getting ready to begin, I convinced a very reluctant dh to make a pitstop. It was cheesier than even I remember, and I wouldn't sit in the first row behind the wheelchair row again, but it was fun to see something that is such an older part of Disney, especially since we generally skip past this.
We headed to the Haunted Mansion, where the wait was posted at 10 minutes, and that was pretty accurate. No matter how many times I ride, I love the creativity used on this ride - everything from the stretching room to the hitchhiker! When we exited, I asked the CM where the ring was, and we found that, before heading back to Fantasyland to watch Philharmagic. Before we used our FP from earlier, I walked over to get more for later, and the CM saw my birthday button. She asked if I would like FPs for Winnie for later also, I said YES! and she gave me 4!!! I absolutely LOVE Philharmagic!!! Disney has put together a real winner with this!! We loved it in Dec, but I think it was even better this time since we knew what to expect.
We went out of Fantasyland to go to Buzz to use the FP we had obtained earlier, and while going through the line, dh noticed a CM with a nametag mentioning a small town in IL that we used to live right by. He chatted with the guy for a bit, the CM noticed his birthday button, and gave him FPs for Space (and not only one, but 3 that were each good for 3 people!!). Youngest ds pointed out the HMs to oldest and dh - he felt like the big shot! About now, dh asked if anyone was ready for a hot dog - it was about 1:30, and we headed to Casey's (via that pathway through the Plaza). We ended up with way too much food (that light breakfast and the heat lessened our appetite) - youngest ds ate maybe 2 of his corndog nuggets $3.59, dh wished he had only ordered one grand slam (we had 4 total for $15.16) and we would have been more than fine with one order of fries for all four of us (ordered 2 for a total of $3.58), after adding in 2 - 22oz orange sodas for the boys, a 22oz diet for me and a 32oz diet for dh (again way too much - dh and I could have split one drink and ds's could have split one) we ended up with a total of $32.58.
With extremely full bellies, we took our pathway through the Plaza and went to Carousel of Progress. Now, I think this was the first time ds's had ever ridden on COP (which was a walk on) and the youngest was singing right along with the song (as was I!) for quite a while after! I just love that Walt feels so much a part of your time on this!
After, dh and oldest went to use one of the FPs for Space, while I rode TTA with youngest, and then we headed over to Splash to use our FPs. Youngest didn't want to ride, so oldest went with dh and then went with me. After the ride, we headed to Jungle Cruise - another walk right on - and had a great leader! We then went over to watch the Tiki Birds and ds's wanted to walk through the Treehouse (dh decided to sit and wait for us). After that big trek
we were ready for a cool refreshment, and wouldn't you know - the Aloha Isle was right there waiting! I got a half pineapple, half chocolate, but theCM didn't quite understand, and put a portion of chocolate on the bottom and then on the top put pineapple (I was hoping for a "swirl" like Forever 42 posted about and has a picture of on her website) and we got a bottle of water.We decided that we needed to go and use another one of the FPs for Space, and we did that but there was a pretty sizeable delay even with a FP (probably not really too bad - I didn't time it - but it felt like forever considering it was a FP line). Then, we headed over to Toontown (not to dh's delight) because I have to take a picture of the boys on every trip in front of Mickey's house by his mailbox (it turned out great btw!). Afterwards, youngest asked if we could go in the Judges tent --- he wanted more Mr. Potatohead parts! This time, I decided I was going to stuff a potato (since I had forgotten to bring a potato from home). Again, I stuffed so many pieces in the box (35 I believe including the teacup ride piece) that the CM commented on what a good job I had done!
As we exited the tent, dh and oldest (who had waited outside) told us we just missed Snow White with all of the Seven Dwarves walking behind her!!! He said we literally just missed them, so I said come on boys!! We took off towards Fantasyland, and were rewarded with a wonderful picture opportunity in front of the Carousel - across from Snow White's ride. I took a few shots, ds's were excited (okay youngest more than the oldest!) to see all of the dwarves at once outside of the parade. After they walked away, we headed over to Winnie to use the FPs we had been given earlier.
It was now getting close enough to our PS for LTT (set for 6:15) that I said we needed to make our way over there. We ended up walking in about 5:45, and getting seated immediately. Although I had mentioned the two birthdays when I made PS, I saw the birthdays listed on the screen when the CM checked me in, and we had on our birthday buttons, the CM who waited on us did not once mention our occasion. I was actually kind of suprised after all of the fuss made over about 4 other birthdays that not a word about ours was mentioned - she seemed to want us in and out as quickly as possible. The characters were fine - we only took pictures, the food was very good and we had an enjoyable meal. We will definitely consider this again (we really like LTT overall for lunch too). I think it is a great place for a sit-down meal at MK.
We left LTT and arrived at Splash at 7, where we used the FPs from earlier and we picked up FPs for Thunder before heading towards Main Street. I had planned this trip to Disney specifically so I could spend my 40th watching WISHES, and I was not going to settle for anything less than a view from Main Street! Earlier, as we had walked back and forth from Casey's to Tomorrowland, we "scoped out" the spot we wanted, and now we headed there. Obviously, it was a good spot, because there were not many places left! I noticed a space that would hold 4, asked the people on either side if it was being saved, and since it wasn't, plopped my happy little self down!
Oldest ds asked if we would please let him go use a FP for Thunder since we would not be able to use them as a group, and after debating it, dh and I decided that he knew the MK about as well as I do, and we would let him go (he turns 13 in Aug). Dh started chatting with the nicest young couple (on their honeymoon, but not wearing the ears) next to us. He spent the next hour discussing Disney, the drive down and what we liked. I didn't get to hear the whole conversation (youngest sitting between dh and I, and I kept looking for oldest to come walking our way), but dh thoroughly enjoyed talking with them, they seemed so nice, it was a great way to pass an hour!
Oldest finally showed up (about the time dh decided that he would NEVER be allowed to go off on his own again!) It turns out he thought he would cut through Fantasyland (not sure of the logic here!) and he got detoured because of the castle being closed off in preparation for WISHES.
We sat and enjoyed SpectroMagic - which gives me such a warm, fuzzy feeling! I loved it when some of the CMs came towards us and said Happy Birthday!! Then, we continued to sit while a mass exodus took place. I kept thinking - Hey people, don't you realize you are leaving BEFORE the big event? I went out of my way to see WISHES, and these people are LEAVING before it begins???!!! Oh, well, maybe their will be less in line for the bus when we leave?!
Finally, the moment I have been looking forward to arrives - Tink flies down from the castle, the magic begins!!! I just think that WISHES is so amazing - I know everyone has their favorite nighttime show, but I think this is so wonderful, it is too much for words! Sadly though, they can't go on forever, and the night has to end
We say goodbye to our new friends, we wait a few minutes thinking we will let the crowd die down, and finally I say - what the hay - let's go! Even though dh thinks I'm nuts, I make him walk through the stores all the way down Main Street - which ends up being a great way to get to the exit!! We head to the bus stop, see the line and think - oh my gosh!! We waited 20 minutes for the bus (the longest and most crowded wait the entire trip) and are able to get on the first bus unbelievably! Back to AKL at 11 and we make the trek to our room - a happy but tired group.
What a way to spend a birthday!!
