Birthday Trip Report - May 18 - 22 - Many Photos

[bradk]

Pre-Report and Day 0

The cast of characters:

Me - 'nuff said
Lonnie - at one time was my boss at my previous job and has really become more family to me than anything else. she recently finished chemotherapy and saw this trip as a way to celebrate. Her birthday is in August so I planned on celebrating her birthday a bit early on this trip as well so I could live vicariously through her.
Lily - Age 6 - Lonnie's daughter (and fellow scorpio) whom I've known since she was 6 months old. Too smart for her own good and has the broadest sense of humor of anyone I know and consequently believes she's the funniest person you'll ever meet. this is her 3rd visit. last time was with a large group of us during christmas week. before that, she spent a weekend there with her mom.
Jasmine - Age 11 - Lonnie's neice. Second? time at WDW. Last time was part of a large group of us during christmas week.

So long story short, Jasmine was going to go when we first started planning this trip. The date was changed 3 times for various reasons which was super heck getting some ADRs and the AP rate at POP for 2 rooms). Then she wasn't. I kept all reservations for her until about 2 days out just in case. Then I canceled the flight and CRT ADR since they cost me money I didn't want to lose. Then on the same day we're set to leave, Jasmine's going. The flight had gone up by $300 by that time. But needless to say, she was super happy.

Our flight was scheduled to leave from LGA at 9 pm and arrive in MCO around 11:20. Normally I leave out of JFK so LGA was a bit of a letdown - it's just way smaller. We board the plane on time, but are left waiting on the tarmac for quite some time. We ended up arriving at MCO around 12 am.

We claimed our bags and headed to DME (which of course meant going to L2 on A, then back up to L3, then over to Side B and then down to L1). Everything went pretty smooth there. We did have a bit of a wait on the bus though.

We got to POP and I'm guessing we were checked in by around 1 am. We had connecting rooms in the 50s (preferred) on the 2nd floor. I was hoping for 70s to be closer to the bus but nothing was available at the time and all in all, it wasn't really that bad. We got the birthday button for Lonnie. The only problem was that the printer that printed resort IDs wasn't working, so we were told we're being given temporary cards and we need to return in the morning to get our real ones. So we headed to our rooms and crashed.

 

[bradk]

Because we got in late, today was going to start whenever they felt like it. I knew MGM didn't have a heck of a lot for them except for characters which they wanted to hunt down, so I figured if we got that mostly out of the way today, we'd be better off for the rest of the trip.

I of course woke up exceptionally early, so I headed over to the front desk and got our resort IDs. I then popped over to concierge and purchased a ticket for Jasmine, placed on her card.


So we got to the park around 10:30. The plan was to head over to TOT/RNR to see what the standby and FP times were like. We stopped for a few pics on the way as well as photopass pics (we got pics of stitch on the bench with his ice cream)

don't we all excited to be here? turns out jasmine says she's not feeling well. we stop off at the candy store at the corner of sunset blvd and get her a muffin. lonnie was also given a free lollipop for her birthday. so we sat there for a bit while she gnawed at the muffin.

we made it to the end of sunset blvd. TOT was posting a 13 minute standby, so I got FPs for RNR. Unfortunately, Jasmine's ticket wasn't working properly (it kept clicking and didn't spit out anything). The CM at the FPs gave me a Fastpass card to use instead for the rest of the day. jasmine's still not feeling well, so we find a place to sit in the shade. after a while, she's not getting better, so I say she has to go to first aid, but she's not up to walking there. so we talk to the CMs in the area who call the paramedics who perform a couple of checks and say there's nothing physically wrong and that it's very difficult to diagnose a child based purely on what they're saying, so they say to give her tylenol and if that doesn't work, she has to go to first aid. so i got to walk over to first aid which is by the park entrance and get some children's tylenol and walk all the way back. that doesn't seem to do the trick, so now they call for a wheelchair to take her to first aid. by now, the return window for RNR is about to come, so to be ready for the future, I tell Lonnie to go take her and I'll get FPs for TOT and meet up with her at first aid. Lily sticks with me so we go to TOT and get FPs and get her an ice cream since she's kinda being stuck being able to do nothing.

We get to first aid. Apprently Jasmine has thrown up and still isn't feeling well. So we wait. We wait until our 12:40 ADR for Scifi rolls around. We rent a wheelchair for Jasmine and head over to Scifi. Jasmine sits with Lily in the front and somehow manages to scrunch up so she can lay down in the seat (and Jasmine is TALL, especially for an 11 year old). The food and service was good. The video was the same loop as it was last time I ate there so it didn't quite keep my attention as much this time around.

After SciFi, we were placed strategically for a meet & greet with both the power rangers and lightning & mater. i remember the cars meet & greet being a free for all and I wanted to see the yellow ranger who's new, so we wait for them to make their arrival. since the yellow ranger replaced the blue lunar ranger, i expected her to be in his old spot, but she wasn't. no worries. i fight my way into the nonexistent line and we spend a few minutes with her. Lily, who didn't want to meet the power rangers decides to meet her anyway.

Now she wants to meet more power rangers, but can't decide which and the lines were getting long, so I coerce her to go see lightning and mater. I now learn that they have it set up so there is a single line to see both cars exclusively. rather than try to fake getting the photos of her with the cars, I decide we need to come back. the next time is 4 pm.

For those of you following along, Jasmine is still slumped in the wheelchair, either sleeping or trying to sleep the entire time. Lonnie is pushing her around.

While we're there, I take Lily into the HISTK playground and we spend some time there. she has the time of her life, which is nice since it's already 2 pm, we've been there for almost 4 hours and got to do basically nothing. She becomes a little too obsessed with getting hit by the super soaker.

We now head down over to Mickey Ave and I decide we all need to pay our respect to the mouse, especially since we'll be seeing him in F! later that evening.

(this is when she's supposed to give her boyfriend.. er.. mickey a kiss)

We continue to work our way down Mickey Ave to get to the animation building because I need to see the Meet The Robinson Characters. We see June out with no real line, so we say hello to her before making our way down. We enter through the store and see Mr. & Mrs. Inc and Lily wants to see them but they have a bit of a line so I tell her we'll come back to them. We go downstairs. Nobody is out at the MTR photoop yet but there's a small line, so I join it. Lonnie sits down on a bench and Jasmine lays down on another. Lily runs off to figure out which character she's most like (tinker bell). Lewis and Wilbur come out so we meet them. We go back upstairs to meet the Incs, but as soon as we join the line, we hear they have to go, but Frozone will be out and the Incs will return in half an hour. So I explain this all to Lonnie and offer her that she and Jasmine stay where they are since we'll have to return anyway. She agrees.

Lily and I head up Mickey Ave because she wants very much to meet Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. I consider going to Monsters, Inc but it's a bit out of the way and we wanted to be sure to be back in time for the Incs and Bowler Hat Guy, so after we meet them, we head back, stopping at Jojo's trailer where we wait for a bit for them to come out.

At about 3:40, we're back in the animation building and there are the Incs with a short line, so we join and we meet them. We then go downstairs to meet Bowler Hat Guy and then go back to where Lonnie and Jasmine are. Lonnie is chatting with a manager. Evidently a CM had noticed what was going on with Jasmine while we were away and wanted to make sure everything was okay. She gave Jasmine a pooh pin for bravery or something like that (this is while we weren't there).

Next thing I know, Bowler Hat Guy makes his way over to Jasmine and starts toying with her. First smile of the day for Jasmine that I saw. Shortly after he comes by, the Incredibles make their way down to stop by and say hello. Mr. Incredible even slid down the handrail on the steps. Fortunately I got it on camera, but unfortunately, my stubborn flash opted not to work (someday I'm gonna break that thing!). So the shot is rather blurry. it's about 3:45 and now I need to feel like a heel because I knew it was time for lightning and mater so I need to see what's going on. this was our only chance to see them because Lily wanted to see Beauty & The Beast so if we didn't do cars now, something had to give later. Turns out they were waiting for guest relations to come to see if anything could be done since the day was basically lost for Jasmine and Lonnie. I mention why I asked and the manager said we should just go and come back afterwards and we'd go to see BATB. So Lily and I took off.

we walked over to the Streets of America and fortunately knew where to go to be on line for the cars based on the previous attempt. We got the pictures and then decided to stop off at Monsters Inc on the way back. We got to the meet & greet spot but only Mike Wazowski was out. I asked the CM if Sully was going to be there and she said yes, so we waited. A couple of minutes later, the garage door closed and we just sat and wait. It was 4:30 when we got to see them, so I called Lonnie and said it would be better if we tried meeting at the show instead and explained to her how to get there.

Lily and I got to the show but I didn't see Lonnie and Jasmine at the top where the wheelchairs were. The CM was trying to prod everyone along as I was about to call Lonnie, so I explained to her the situation and she said they were probably at the front. And they were. Front row center. We were there in time to watch Four for a Dollar perform which everyone enjoyed of course and then watched the show which was a very different experience for me. I've seen the show many times but usually it's been much further back. Initially I wasn't going to bother with photos but when I realized my new perspective, I couldn't help myself. By the end of the show, Jasmine is feeling much better and is walking around, but we kept the chair.

So guest relations made good on their promise. I'm not sure if they arranged for that seating at BATB or not, but they did provide us with 4 tickets to MGM which expire in like 2009 as well as gave us F! dining package passes.

So it's approaching 6 pm and I wanted to take everyone to see Mulch, Sweat and Shears since I thought Jasmine would be into it. Lonnie wants to see Monsters, Inc as well and they stop at 6:30, so we go there first and get there around 6 pm. garage is closed. are they gone for the day? we don't know. another family is sort of waiting as well. Lonnie is about to go ask a CM when the Monsters Inc music starts playing and the garage opens up.

We meet Monsters Inc and then go check out Mulch. Jasmine (who's a bit of a classic rocker) knows a lot of the songs, liked the show, but wasn't overly impressed (owell).

At this point we're just killing time until around 8:30 when we go to F! for a 9 pm show. Lily wants to see the Little Mermaid show. Since we're in the neighborhood, I ask if we want to see Muppetvision. The vote is yes, so we go on in. Turns out to be a literal walkon. After we exit, we head back towards Little Mermaid but of course I spot the Singin in the Rain umbrella - it's really back! So we each do the photo-op there as well as one with Herbie.

We work our way over and down Mickey Ave. Lily wants to go into the Narnia exhibit, so we join the line but when we explain to Lonnie what it really is, she decides not to bother, so we exit the queue. We head over to Mermaid but make a restroom stop. By the time we get back, they're showing the time for the 7:45 performance. Not gonna work. So Lonnie asks and the CM says they're trying to fit everyone into the current show. Luckily we made it. I was once again unsuccessful in getting the The Little Mermaid laser logo on film, but I did manage to get the shot I've always wanted which is where Max jumps inbetween Eric and Ariel at the end. Well, close enough for me anyway.

We exit to go to Oscar's for F! and it's raining. I direct us over to the animation building and suggest we go see the show, assuming the rain will be gone by the time we're done. So we do. And it's not. Back in the animation building and it looks like they're about to start an animation academy. I've always heard nothing but great reviews of them and have never done them, so I suggest we try it. We learn how to draw Goofy and it wasn't nearly as bad or as hard as I expected. So now do we go to F!? Still raining. We go back in and do another one - this time it's Pooh. Not raining anymore, but now it's like 20 minutes until showtime. Can we still get in? Lonnie's reluctant since the F! thing says return between 7:30 - 8:30 but given the circumstances, I can't imagine it's a problem. I say we try and if they say no, we can just leave since we'll be by the exit anyway.

So we get to Oscar's and they're still letting people through, so we go through that very long, winding trail and make it to F! with about 10 minutes to spare. We're all the way at the top at the handicap seating. Not a bad view, but we're also all the way on the right (stage left) because of the package? the view's okay, but, i'd rather be in the center from now on. it was definitely a very interesting perspective at times, especially with illuminations going on in the background.

We exit F! the same way. The park closes at 10, so we still have some time. Jasmine wants to try RNR which she was unable to do last visit. I got out the FPs but they weren't needed. There was 0 standby, despite F! just letting out. She loved it so much she wanted to go on it again. It was about 9:50 so I gave her the choice of a 2nd RNR or TOT since we couldn't do both and she opted for RNR, so we did.

We then met up with Lonnie and Lily near Oscar's and headed out.

 

[bradk]

Our first time on one of the upgraded buses that plays music all the way (on the DAK bus, it's African and Asian music of course) as well as a couple of spiels. First when you exit the resort and then when you approach the park itself. We get there around 9:15 or so.

The planned first stop is to FP the Safari so we can head over to see what procedures they're performing in conservation station today. In reality, we first stop to meet Lilo and Stitch. Then for Flik. Then we find Baloo by himself hitting the drums. And Lonnie joins in.

We get to Planet Watch and head towards Conservation Station. The first scheduled procedure is for 10 am. Today is a bird (blood draw) and a couple of rabbits (physical exams). As we are waiting, they grab a spot before the window and are quickly introduced to several types of animal poop by the CMs. Jiminy Cricket is soon out, so we go meet him, followed by Rafiki. We go back to the window and watch the first procedure, a blood draw. Then we go meet Pocahontas. The only thing left I wanted to do here is introduce everyone to Pipa, but he's not out. I ask a couple of CMs and get an idea of when he's going to be out (I forgot to note it myself). We spend/kill some time in the affection section which the kids love. We go back in to linger a bit. At a CM's request, we kill some time by listening to the Grandmother Willow's soundbooth. Still no Pipa when we get out. At this point, the procedure room is more crowded for the rabbits and little going on elsewhere. The kids are looking at various exhibits when Pocahontas joins them and explores the room with them a little. I notice an animal presentation going on outside while I'm looking for Pipa so we all go see a presentation on a large porcupine.

Afterwards, I go back in as it's well past Pipa's time, so one CM goes to check on it for me. Another CM explains where he probably is because depending on the animal they have inside, Pipa may not be allowed inside. For those that don't know, Pipa is a talking/roving recycling pin akin to Push in Tomorrowland. Evidently the hawk inside the room doesn't like Pipa so they can't have him inside. The other CM comes back and tells me Pipa is indeed out and points me to a direction inside the building. We head over there and spot Pipa but he's just rolling back to his spot, not uttering a word and takes up indefinite residence in a spot. So we miss him.

We head out and do the first stop of the kids' discovery club on the way back to the train.

We use our FP for the safari. we get to see a couple of neat things like baby elephants playing in the water and both lions awake. The CM even pointed out the cheetah, but it was sleeping.

We now head over to the pangani trail to see the animals and do the africa stop for the discovery club.

(this is so wrong!)

it's about 12:50 and we stop for a break. What's next? they ask. Divine, I say. What's Divine? they ask. You'll see, I said. So we're ready to go a little after 1 and we're right by the Africa-Asia trail. We reach a small group of people staring at something. See what they're all staring at? I ask. Nope, they don't get it. Where's Divine? A minute or two later, it sinks in. We watch her a little bit. Lonnie can't stop talking about how beautiful she is. I knew she'd get a kick out of Divine.

We head down to Pizzafari for lunch and head over to Camp Minnie-Mickey for Festival of the Lion King. For my first time ever, we're early enough that we're not giraffes. We're actually lions! This is also the first time I've used the flash during the show - I wanted to see how it would work out. Since they never announce flash photography is prohibited and so many others seem to be using it, I figure I can too. With a little work, I might be able to make the photos look halfway decent.

After the show, we start heading over to Dinoland to make it to the 3:15 showing of the Finding Nemo musical. Along the way, we stop at the Camp Minnie-Mickey discovery club stop. I ask the CM if he knows where the discovery island stop is because I had never noticed it before and he explained it was by the exit of It's Tough To Be A Bug. I make sure what time the stops close and he says all of them close at 5 except the discovery island which is 4 because of the parade. Oops. Good thing I asked. We set off to find that one which was a litle tricky since I had never entered ITTBAB from the exit. But we find it okay and walk into Finding Nemo.

The only seats available were all the way at the top and all the way to the side. Terrible view, but we're all following Lonnie and somehow we end up right in the middle, a few rows behind the soundboard. I'm pretty sure this was VIP seating, but the rope is down and nobody's saying anything, so maybe they opened it up? It's a gift horse whose mouth I'll steer clear of. It was an excellent seat too, especially when the actors were in the space between the first and second locations. In any case, my opinion of the musical didn't change much but it seemed that everyone really enjoyed it.

So the plan now is to hit the dinoland discovery club stop, see the parade and then see the maharajah trek before it closes (presumably at 5 as the pangani trail will). but they find primeval whirl and want to ride. twice. so we forfeit the parade and head over to the dinoland stop.

Jasmine wants to go on Dinosaur, so we go check it out and seems like a walkon. I advise against Lily going on it, but she insists, so we all go on it (Lily doesn't like it). Lonnie didn't think it was anything great. I agree. In fact, I tell her, the last time I was on it was when I took Jasmine and her cousin on it in 2005.

We get up to Asia and we do the last stop on the discovery club. The kids repeat an oath and get a special stamp and sticker for completing the club. We then go through the Maharajah trail which it turns out closes at 6 that day. owell.

It's now time for Kali which is essentially a walk on. I rarely get wet on the white water raft rides. This time, I got soaked. So did my camera. It's not the first time my camera got wet, so I wasn't worried. I normally don't take a 300 volt flash with me though. Everything was fine until the end of the ride when I start hearing some popping and smell electronics burning. My external flash was destroyed. Camera's still fine though. The worst of it is I usually pack a backup flash with me but neglected to this trip, so it's down to the built-in flash from now on. Anyway. They want to ride again, another family on the raft asks if they ride again, but the CM sees a line (?!?!) and says no. So we get out. We don't even make it close to the queue exit when we reach the end of the line and just simply cross over back into the line, bypassing the queue altogether.

As we head back into Asia, it's time for Expedition Everest. There's a 20 minute standby wait, so no big deal. We all join the queue and walk through it. Lily keeps asking if everything is real, particularly the props from the missing campers story. We get to the loading area and I send Jasmine and Lonnie onto the ride while I take Lily out and wait for them. We meet up in the gift shop and start working our way out of the park.

All of the characters from Camp Minnie-Mickey were out in front, so we decide to see them all. Actually, the kids just wanted to see Donald and Goofy since they were missing those autographs, but I pushed them into getting pics with all just so they have the outfits.

We take the bus to AKL and get to Boma a little late. It looks like the menu was changed a bit. I was so looking forward to chicken corn porridge and there wasn't any. This will probably be considered the worst TS meal of the trip, but it was still fairly decent in my opinion. For dessert, Jasmine ended up picking up some mousse which has alcohol in it. I look the other way but tell her Lonnie best not find out about it, but it really comes to light when it turns out Lily wants it too (she has a chocolate addiction). When she can't have it, she starts arguing that Jasmine can. And Jasmine can't. Jasmine does have a couple of zebra domes though which also contain alcohol much to my surprise. I've never tasted any in them.

We discuss going back to POP, either taking a cab or going to DTD and transferring and I mention seeing Shrek is a possibility but I'm not really crazy about the idea since it'll make our evening even later. As it was, I was trying to time things so we could go to the nighttime viewing, but it started at 9:30 that evening, so we just opted for a cab back to the resort.

 

[islandmum]

we're planning on doing the same thing ... arriving at WDW middayish and then MGM for the afternoon to do the character meetings. Where is the Cars meet and greet to be found? is it in the parks daily info??

get it out of the way on day 1!

 

[bradk]

it's listed on the times guide as well as http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares

at the time, it was on the san francisco street (you can see the golden gate bridge at the top behind mater). the line formed on the left facing the backdrop.

 

[islandmum]

thanks Brad

 

[Bondfan531]

Did y'all ever figure out what was wrong with Jasmine? Maybe just a small bug or something? Sucks to get sick on vacation.

 

[bradk]

no. she was mostly complaining about a headache. i really dunno. she ended up being okay though and there were no more issues for the rest of the trip

 

[bradk]

Despite being a morning EMH, today was Epcot day because it was part of the Characters in Bloom Weekend as well as open house day at the Teddy Bear & Doll Weekend. Tomorrow is MK and is supposed to be a super long day so I tried to be nice and say we could go to Epcot as late as 10 AM since my plan was to grab Soarin FPs, run into the Teddy Bear & Doll Weekend to see if the Disney Bear was there and to purchase a couple of items I was planning on getting and then get to Mexico for the 11 am opening to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour before our 11:30 Princess Storybook.

So. That was the plan.

Of course I was up early as always, so I headed over to concierge and asked if I could get a runner to come by during the day and plug in the inflatable castle I had purchased. Initially I was told he didn't think they could do anything and I should ask housekeeping. I explained I didn't think it would be very fruitful to go that route and he didn't argue. Instead he asked another CM (who I think was training a new CM) who directed him to the back. When he finally came back to me, he said it will be done after 3 pm.

We got there about 10:30 and headed over to the Land. We saw the Queen of Hearts and the Tweedles out. I gave my camera to Lonnie and told her to see the Queen while I went to get FPs. By the time I got back, they were still in line. Apparently I forgot to show Lonnie how to zoom the lens and by the time she figured it out, she had to leave and rejoin the line again. So we missed the Tweedles because it was already closing in on 11 AM.

I knew the Teddy Bear & Doll Weekend was in some building next to Canada but I assumed it was between FW and Canada. I couldn't find it. I asked a CM and she mentioned it was between UK and Canada. Sure enough, there it was. How could I have never noticed this huge building I wondered? (I later realized it has a gate in front of it which is normally closed off).

We went in and.. WOW... this place was big! Too big! Disney Bear wasn't out, but Mickey & Minnie were.. together! in special outfits too! We met them and I asked the CM about Disney Bear. she said he should be out any minute and was going to tag them out. so we waited, but he didn't come tag them out before they left. He did show up though, along with Baloo.

Now we had to find Lonnie who was looking around the place while we took photos. I also needed to find the items I wanted to purchase. They were from Precious Moments and Steiff, who, unsurprisingly, were both next to eachother in the LAST row in the LAST booth. I had to order my items, go all the way to the front to pay for them, then go all the way back to pick them up. But mission accomplished. Here they are:

(the Steiff Mickey I had purchased previously. At this point, I couldn't say no to Minnie, it wouldn't have been healthy).

We headed over to Akershus for our lunch, stopping by to say hello to Donald in Mexico along the way. According to the CM, Panchito and Jose would not be out that day.

We made it to Akershus where we greeted by Belle in her yellow gown. During the meal, we were visited by Ariel, Aurora, Cinderella and Jasmine. The food was surprisingly good. Lonnie got a viking shaped cookie with Happy Birthday in Norwegian for her birthday.

We then headed over to right before Germany to the special garden to release ladybugs, which is part of the F&G festival. The kids then made clothespin caterpillars in the same spot and we left them to dry. Dopey was out in Germany so we said hello to him. I asked the CM if all 7 dwarfs would be out as part of the weekend and she said yes, but didn't know when. So I called 407-WDW-INFO and found out the next time they'd be out. We had some time to kill, so we went inside Germany and started doing the kidcot. I bought Lonnie an epcot passport to get birthday messages in.

We went back to the meet & greet area a few minutes before they were all due out and Snow White was out by herself. We joined the line, but a few minutes later, there they were. Marching one by one. And each formed a very loose line (it was a semi-organized free-for-all, not too many people). We bounced from dwarf to dwarf except for Dopey. There must have been a high pollen count because Sneezy had a tough time keeping it all in. He was sneezing a lot and very loudly I might add. He kept trying to wipe his hand off on the girls' clothes.

We then got on line for Snow White who had very little line since the dwarfs were now garnering all the attention.

Next thing on the list was Miyuki in Japan, so we worked our way over. Nobody wanted to see the American Adventure, so we just visited the kidcots along the way. We got to Miyuki about 15 minutes before and I positioned the kids where they should be. Jasmine ended up losing her spot, but we worked with what we had. There were a couple of other folks who were with us. While we waited, the drummers came out and so we got to watch them from the stand. By the time they were done, the cart definitely had its share of attention. Many 'regulars' there. I coached the 6 year old since I knew she'd be most upset if she walked away with nothing, explaining to her that Miyuki needs to pick her and not the other way around and we're there to watch and if we get one, we're lucky. I also told her to act cute and smile and we both greeted Miyuki with a konichiwa as soon as she showed up. She immediately took to Lily. Gave her a big smile and as soon as she was ready, she started with the 'little girl.' Lily got a green dragon. Miyuki then kept moving to the next one in the middle, which was a woman who had been there before and was chatting up Lonnie about her experiences and what she was going to ask for and what Lonnie was asking for, etc. Lonnie didn't even really know what to expect because I tried to keep them all in the dark most of the time for the sake of surprise. Anyway, according to Lonnie and Jasmine, this woman sorta jumped in front of Jasmine, but I didn't see and really, it's life. So then Miyuki goes to the opposite end which is where Jasmine was supposed to be in the beginning. Meanwhile i'm a bit worried because Jasmine just has this glum look on her face while she's watching. Then Miyuki chooses her and she gets a blue octopus with a pink bow. Since Jasmine's was second to last and had to try, we had to stay for the whole show anyway. We then asked Miyuki for photos afterwards as she was closing up and she graciously accepted.

So we moved on, working our way to France (I wanted to see le serveur amusant. who's that? lonnie asks. you'll see, I said. but what does he do? she immediately asks. he's an acrobat, i say. we saw him last time, she said (which isn't true, but it's clear she has no interest). There's a garden set up before France and there is Woody, Jessie and Buzz all together! I run up there but.. the line is closed. They won't let us in. Owell. But then a family leaves the line and Lonnie asks if we can take their place and join since they left. the CM said she wasn't supposed to, but.. she let us! Lonnie mentions the caterpillars the girls had made, so I give her my camera and head back to Germany.

When I got near Italy, I went into shock when I saw both Aurora and Esmeralda walking in the middle of the path. I asked if they were going to France and they said yes and Esmeralda invited me to join them. I so would have too, had France not been so far from Germany and me being so close to those stupid artificial caterpillars, so I took my raincheck. I called Lonnie to tell her to be on the lookout for Esmaralda. She tells me Beast came out and the girls had to see them, so now they were on the line for Belle & Beast.

I claimed the caterpillars and got back to France where they were all still on line. I guess they just made it (or somehow bargained themselves into line) because they closed it. Lonnie went off to find Esmeralda while I stayed with the girls as we meet Belle and the Beast. Lily asked if it was the same girl because she had different clothes on than when we had seen Belle in the restaurant (oh boy).

We found our way to Esmeralda which made my day and, again, closed the line.

We now headed over to UK to see who was inside the Toy Soldier. It was Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore together. There was just one family ahead of us when the CMs switched and the new CM said he was closing the line after this family and if we wanted to, we'd have to come back at 4:30 which wouldn't work with our plans at all. Finally, the CM relented and we were able to see them. Somehow Lily managed not to get Eeyore's autograph, but we were going to see him at CP the next morning anyway so I told her we'd get to see him and used that as an incentive to get up early anyway.

As we exited the pavilion, we got to see the White Rabbit.

Lonnie knew needed to get back to FW to get to the Visa Meet & Greet by 4:30 so she insisted we skip Canada and come back. I was a bit hesitant because I felt guilty about making everyone walk back and forth, but she was fine with it, so we went down to Innoventions West. Aside from the family inside, there was one before us. We got inside and there was Mickey, Minnie and Goofy and we spent some time with them. Lonnie was very happy about Goofy. I took the opportunity to get a group shot with Stitch. Minnie loved him. I showed them his name on the back of the mouse ears and when we left I got a hug and several kisses from Minnie (whoo!).

 

[bradk]

While we were there, I convinced a very reluctant Lonnie to try the segway. There was no line, but I guess we had just missed a session as we had a wait while the last session finished. Jasmine took the opportunity to rest while we waited. I managed to entertain Lily for like 5 minutes as she started a future world kidcot lanyard. She also made one for Jasmine. Then she killed time by playing the video games along the wall as we waited.

It was now about 5 and the character spot was set to close at 5:30, so we headed over there. the spot had just opened that day and as part of the new setup, they have clear windows so everyone outside can see all the characters. that meant a substantial wait. we were on line for 20 minutes, but the girls wanted to see pluto and chip & dale and this was the only way I could think of moving forward.

After character spot, I mentioned Club Cool to Lonnie (Lily's not supposed to drink most sodas except on special occasion or if it's like ginger ale). She agreed to go in and we spent a few minutes there as I filled up on Kinley.

We then headed back up to Canada to finish that side of the world showcase. Met Koda and Kenai, did a little shopping, did the kidcot, then as we were leaving, we saw Liverlips and wendell coming out. we followed them up and said hello.

Nobody wanted to do the figment ride so we went right to soarin which they were all waiting for. This was the first time I took my camera on Soarin and I was determined to get a shot of the golfer who according to himself and lore is Michael Eisner, a supposed fact I have serious doubts about. I'll need to work on the photo itself, but while I don't think it's him, I don't have indisputable proof as of yet.

We then stopped by the kidcot station before heading over to the surprise birthday dinner at Coral Reef.

My original ADR was for 8:10 pm but Debbi, the manager, told me to show up at 7 because there would be no diver available after 8 pm. The CMs at check-in seemed a little taken back by it, but ultimately there was no problem. We were promptly seated right in front of the tank and presented with our menus which included a customized menu for Lonnie in honor of her birthday. After being seated for about 15 mins, a diver inside the tank ame rushing towards us and unfurled a sign wishing her a happy birthday and kicked up some of the stuff on the bottom of the tank to simulate confetti. We finished dinner with a cake I had ordered.

We headed over to the entrance of the Seas and walked onto the Nemo ride. It was now about 8:30 and Jasmine wanted to ride Test Track. They really fought the idea of seeing Turtle Talk, so they went upstairs to do the kidcot station while I checked out the less than impressive new Nemo & Friends exhibit.

We all got on queue at Test Track. Lily was a bit concerned because the preshow was sort of the same setup as Dinosaur so she wasn't sure about going on Test Track, but we kept prodding her, pointing out that line was full of children half her size. Anyway, the 3 of them went on it while I exited at the loading area to meet them at the end, by the photos. I added the photo to the photopass card. Unfortunately the kidcot station at Test Track was already closed, so we worked our way towards exiting the park.

When we got back to the rooms, I didn't feel like digging out my key, so I opted to go through their room since the connecting doors were kept open. When we walked in, we found that not only had the hotel inflated the castle, but they had left a birthday card with an autographed photo and balloons as well.

 

[mlill]

Excellent report so far! Your pictures are really great, too. The Characters in Bloom weekend is the best time to go to Flower & Garden Fest! It's neat that you guys got to see the Doll & Teddy Bear show. I've always wanted to go. Maybe someday. What a wonderful day to celebrate Lonnie's 'early' birthday. You are so sweet! You make a great family!

 

[bradk]

Day 4: Magic Kingdom

Lonnie's least favorite park.

We get up extra early today as we have an 8:05 ADR at Crystal Palace. The reason for this is because I was under the impression that Lonnie had never been on Dumbo, but as it turns out, I just misunderstood her. She probably meant it in the sense that she hadn't been on it in years because the line was just too long when she's gone. So today it's going to happen and this is how I make it happen. We must get to rope drop by the castle by 9 am.

Flashback: Last time I tried this, they held us at the train tunnel until exactly 8 am. I wasted time by walking all the way to the castle and waited for the perfect shot. by the time I took it and got back to CP to check-in, it was 8:25. I got seated 20 minutes later. By then the place was so crowded and the character flow was so slow, that in nearly 35 minutes, all I saw was Pooh.

So lesson learned. Today they let us in through the tunnel around 7:45 and I made a beeline for CP, snapping photos as I went. We were the third family or so to check-in, but they let a lot more families in before us. My guess is we were delayed because they were decorating our table with streamers and pixie dust (those obnoxious mickey head glitter things). The server gave her spiel and I explained we were trying to get out around 8:45 and she just shrugged. As far as the food goes, I did try the oft raved about breakfast lasagna, but it didn't do too much for me. was that red mushy stuff bananas too? plenty of vegetable fritata which is still as great as ever. The server was great about getting us moving. By 8:30, we were able to see all the characters, had the meal and our check and Lonnie was presented with a cupcake and a card signed by the Pooh characters.

(note jasmine will never grow up to be a friend of piglet)

We walked up to the castle and took a couple of photo-ops people-free. Lily was being a bit grumpy this morning for various reasons. Whee. We made it to rope drop on the side of the castle. It looked like there were rope drops on either side of the castle plus one in the middle for CRT. Soon a bunch of guests start approaching where we are Rope drop is coming! The Mad Hatter and Alice come through the crowd and get past the rope and start looking for the Mad Tea Party (the Hatter even had a park map in hand).

So the rope drops and we go right for Dumbo, right? Well, not exactly. First we go see if we can find Alice and Mad Hatter, but they're nowhere to be found. So I walk towards the castle. Lonnie's probably a bit excited about Dumbo, so she's constantly asking me where I'm going and telling me she thought we were going to do Dumbo. I assure her we will, I just wanted to check on one thing.

I walk into Tink's Treasures and unfortunately a little girl had gotten there first (probably coming from CRT) and was waking Tink. But I wanted to watch and see it firsthand. None of the group really knows, understands or cares what's going on, but I don't care , we'll get to Dumbo in a few minutes. Anyway, a CM working there named Tee sees Lily and is probably assuming she's upset that she couldn't wake up Tink, so he comes up to her and tells her Tink is having trouble waking up this morning and that he needs her help to wake her up again. So he goes and resets her and brings Lily a light-up tinker bell wand to use to tap the box to wake up Tink. He gives her the wand to keep plus gives her a magical moments certificate for waking up Tink. It was a really special moment, at least for me So thanks, Tee! Tee also confirmed that the drawer is still broken (grr).

So we now get on line for Dumbo. By 9:15 or so, the line is already about 20+ minutes. While they're waiting in line, I notice Ariel's grotto is open but there's nobody in the queue. Too good to be true? I pull Lily out of the line to see Ariel. Today, Lily's hair is completely down and loose in anticipation of BBB later in the day, so I have an idea. We go see Ariel and I explain we have a problem because Lily's hair is all a mess. Ariel pulls out her dinglehopper and hands it to grumpy Lily who just holds it. Ariel takes it back and explains and shows how to use it on her own hair. Lily's not going for it, so Ariel takes matters into her own hands and uses the dinglehopper on Lily. Love it!

As they continue to wait, I go FP Peter Pan and come back. Lonnie rides alone while Jasmine and Lily ride together in front of them and I snap away. It's about 9:40 and I want to make Toontown Rope Drop and I don't really want to explain all this to them and they want to ride the carousel. What can I do? we get on queue for it (which is pretty much a walk-on at this time) and I make sure we track down and get Cinderella's horse (the only horse with a bow on its tail). When the ride is over, they want to ride again. Again, I'm powerless. I say okay, but we need to go after this one.

We get to Toontown for rope drop. What we WANT to do is see if we can ride on Barnstormer with Goofy. The girls play at Donald's boat for a bit while we wait. Then we line up at the rope and characters start coming out. The girls see Daisy who they haven't met yet and start talking about her. I remind them we're trying to get Goofy first, then we'll get to Daisy. The CM tells me that Goofy will be at the Barnstormer today and not the rope. Now it's on.

(and there he is walking to the attraction)

Unfortunately the other side of Toontown got its rope dropped first and we were second to Goofy and missed him. They got to ride in the same train as him. Lily's not thrilled, but I'm over it, especially since Goofy was in the middle of the train. I was able to get a picture of them riding it but totally couldn't get Goofy anyway.

So now we go into Toontown and I check the princess line and there's nobody there we haven't seen, so we go into the Mickey line and it's Donald, Daisy and I think Minnie? but all they want is Daisy so we tell the CM and we go right to them. Daisy was waiting most of the time herself, going to the line to sign autographs while she waited. So we see Daisy who comes up to me and pinches my cheek. Okay. I also make the girls see Donald since he's in his regular outfit.

We make a restroom stop at Pete's Garage and now I want to get to Tomorrowland because I want to make sure we see Push who's scheduled to come out at 10:50 according to my notes. Lily wants to go through Minnie's house. No problem, we do. Then she wants to go through Mickey's house. No problem, we do. We walk back to Tomorrowland and I FP Space Mountain. We have time to kill so I suggest we go on Buzz Lightyear but Lonnie's not happy because today is supposed to be a slow day, so I concede and allow her to sit, but I suggest we do it by Mickey's Star Traders instead. Why? Because. So we find a spot in the shade and sit for a few. I get up and look around and there he is! I call them over and we meet Push.

We watch him a bit. Lonnie laughs at a family who takes a picture with him. They took a photo with a trash can. (remember this).

Lonnie's got an agenda. She wants to know Push works. She's constantly opening him and peering inside. She's looking all around up in the air as he's talking to her. Finally he asks if she's looking for him. She says yes. He replies, I'll give you a hint: I'm right in front of you.

And then... he remarks it's her birthday and that it's wrong for her to not give him a hug on her birthday. She hesitates but he talks her into it. People taking photos with trash cans? sure. people taking photos HUGGING trash cans? hmmm

So now we head back to Fantasyland, we ride Snow White which Lily wanted to do, we ride Peter Pan and It's A Small World. It's getting close to the Pirate Tutorial so I ask the girls if they want to do it, but they don't seem into it. So we start walking through Frontierland because I heard they wanted to see the country bear jamboree and I figured we could walk that way and I'd FP Splash Mountain. Things sort of fall apart here. I see Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear together and ask them if they want to see them, being the autograph hounds they are. 'I guess' was what I got, which sorta sends me over the edge because I've been spending an awful lot of time standing in lines in the heat for them while they sit off in the corner. Whatever. I get in line. They want ice cream. Lonnie goes to buy them some and hands it to them. We're one family away from them and I suggest maybe they wait two minutes so they don't get all messy first. Lonnie snaps at me and says let them be kids. Okay, I'm done. I walk off and just wait.

Lonnie's angry at me, I don't want to get into it. She's talking about how it was supposed to be a free day and they should just leave already (the plan was to leave around 1:30 to get to BBB at DTD). So I just tell her they're in control of their day now. I just follow them around. They go see Hook and Smee and line up for them. I seize the opportunity to go get a dole whip float and they're still on line by the time I get back. Then they start walking towards the exit, do a 180 and walk to splash mountain. it's posting a 40 minute standby wait. I go get myself a coke (or 2) and take up a seat near the exit. and wait. People are coming out and talking about how their 40 minute wait was more like 75 minutes. I wait and don't see them exiting. Finally after 90 minutes, I call her and get her voicemail. She calls me back and explains they just got back to POP. Oh, fine. She later claims they looked for me and couldn't find me (or call I guess). Fortunately I'm right by the train station and the train had just pulled in so I get on board. Lonnie calls me again to ask what the damage would be if she doesn't go to BBB because they're not sure, etc. I just whatever'd my way out of the call. I got to the Main Street station, waited for the bus and crashed in my room.

I watched a bit of People's Court and fell asleep for a few hours. I couldn't believe how refreshed I had felt afterwards. Even my feet stopped aching. While I was sleeping, they all had visited the pool and made an afternoon of giving eachother hairdos and manicures and whatnot. They had fun I suppose. Lord knows I wasn't complaining about sleeping.

So everything's okay by around 7 pm or so. It's time to head back to MK, we have a 9:20 PM ADR at CRT. They want to go buy princess dresses, so we go to the emporium. Lily is Belle and Jasmine is.. Jasmine. Meanwhile it's pretty crowded outside as people are lining the streets for Spectromagic an hour before. I mean.. crowded.

They buy the dresses and put them on. We walk to the castle and I tell Lonnie to find a spot if she wants to watch the parade and I'll go in and check to see if CRT is okay with us being a little late. Only problem is, there's absolutlely no space left in front of the castle to watch the parade. so maybe we eat early? the castle is roped off for some reason. the CM says we have to go around and that the only way we can go through is if we have an ADR. We do. she lets us in.

Now we're right at the edge of the forecourt stage and there's only a handful of people. And wow, this looks like an excellent spot to watch spectro from! So I tell them to wait and I go over to CRT. it took a few minutes to explain and re-explain what I was asking, but finally the CM lays it out for me. We have to be there by 9:25 or 9:30 at the latest. That's it. No biggie as everyone is literally 50 feet away.

We kill some time waiting for Spectro by going into the Aribas Bros store which was the first time I had ever been in it. Some interesting stuff there including this baby:

it sells for just under $40,000. it's covered with swarovski crystals. only 50 exist in the world and only 2 have ever been sold worldwide from what we're told. we won't be #3 tonight, that's all i know.

Spectro starts and it really was a neat point of view. I started taking pics and keeping an eye on the clock.

i'm ashamed to say that here i am taking these photos and wondering who the heck that rude jerk was that was blocking my photos. i'm even more ashamed to say that it took me several minutes before i realized who it was.

the parade was fun to watch from here, but as ariel's section passed by, it was time to head in for dinner.

We went into CRT and met with Cindy. The problem with CRT is it's pretty expensive to just be able to spend some time in there so I wanted to milk it for what it was worth. I was proud of myself this time for remembering and finding Jacques and Gus

 

[bradk]

we head upstairs for dinner. after a bit, they dimmed the lights and started piping in the music from Wishes. it was everything i had heard and expected it to be. interesting, but not worth watching it from. every now and then the entire room would flash red or green. the food was really good which sort of surprised me. I had the BLT salad and the cheese tortellini. after the fireworks, the Fairygodmother and Suzy and Perla came out and performed their show which is a bunch of sentimental crap. Suzy and Perla made the rounds for photos. our server jay was great. we finished and headed out. right as we exited the castle, the kiss goodnight started playing, so we watched from directly in front of the catle. we worked our way out of the park and headed back to the resort. On the bus, Lonnie shares a personal theory about why she may dislike Magic Kingdom so much. Makes sense to me.

 

[Joanna71985]

Great TR so far!

 

[DisneyJo]

Loving your TR and the great photos!

 

[simonkodousek]

Great trip report and photos!

~Simon

 

[Aimerskoeh]

Love your trip! Great photos, thank you for sharing!

 

[bradk]

thanks just one more half day to go (sigh)

 

[hollybearsmom]

I'm really enjoying all the information and you take some great photos!

 

[bibbity bobbity boo]

Great trip report!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks like you had a wonderful trip!