Ok folks, it is finally ready! My first Disboards trip report! You can see photos at
Shelli's Photos
Destination: Disney World!
When: October 17-25, 2006
Travelers: Mom (Me, Shelli, 35), Dad (Ross, 31), Riley (7), and Sydney (5)
Day 1, October 17: Finally! Our departure date arrives! Our flight wasnt scheduled to leave until 1pm, but I had been checking space on an earlier flight and we hoped to fly stand-by. We got to the airport, checked our luggage and headed to the stand-by flight gate. We waited and then heard the announcement saying the flight is full. We ended up spending an hour and a half playing in the kids area at the airport until our original flight time. The flight itself was pretty uneventful. The kids were excited to get to Florida. Well, we all were! We land at about 5:30pm, grabbed our luggage and headed to the Thrifty office to pick up our rental car. Ross finally got his Dodge Magnum! By the way, it pays to join the renters clubs. Im a Thrifty Blue Chip member, so instead of waiting in line like everyone else, I got to walk right up to my own counter and was out of there in minutes since they had all of my information and preferences on file.
Off to find our resort! I picked up a map from the concierge desk at Thrifty, but not before being harassed about visiting a time share. Geesh, those people are relentless! We made our way to Disneys Caribbean Beach Resort in the Epcot Resort Area. I was so excited to SEE the resort after looking at so many photos of it. Check in was a breeze. There were two people in line before me, but four people working, so the line moved quickly. I was given our rooms keys, set up our room charging privileges, and was given a welcome packet with tons of Disney information. We got a little turned around trying to find our building, but eventually figured it out. We were in Aruba 55, room 5505. I was a little disappointed because I had requested Jamaica 45, or something close to the main pool, buildings and transportationAruba 55 didnt quite match my requests. After we got settled and acquainted with the property, our room and location was just fine. We hauled our luggage in and the kids changed into their Halloween costumes. Off to Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party we went!
Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party (or
MNSSHP for short) was FABULOUS! We paid $40 per adult and $32 per child for tickets to this special event, and it was worth it. The tickets covered admission to Magic Kingdom plus all of the trick-or-treating and events throughout the night. The number of tickets sold is limited, so the crowds are very low, making the rides easy to get on and parades easy to view. Sydney absolutely loved the dance parties. She boogied with Pluto, Chip, Dale, Stitch and lots of kids. Riley even got into it. There were so many Disney characters out and about. I got a picture of the kids with Snow White and ALL SEVEN dwarfs! The parade and fireworks were great, and Im still singing the Boo To You music (downloaded the MP3 to my desktop!) The kids were troopersstaying out until midnight. Not bad for kids who are usually sleeping by 8pm!
Day 2, October 18: We had to get some groceries (snacks and breakfast items since we had a refrigerator in the room) so we did a little shopping in the morning. We stopped at the Disney Outlet Store near our resort. Big disappointment. I did find a Tink sweatshirt there for $14, but thats it. We headed to
Walmart and found TONS more Disney merchandise and great prices. Have I mentioned yet that it was hot??? The Orlando area was setting record high temperatures when we got there. Despite the heat, this was our day to catch the Stars and Motor Cars Parade at MGM Studios, so off we went.
We arrived at MGM just before 3pm and found a front row seat for the parade. It was hot, the kids were complaining, we were all sweating and whining. But then the parade started with Lightning McQueen (from the Cars movie) leading the way. Now the kids are happy again! This was our first Disney parade.ever! Last year we missed every one, so this was a big deal for us. We loved the parade and all of the characters. R2D2 (from Star Wars) rolled right up to Riley and Sydney. They still talk about that. After the parade, we decided to see if we could change our 5pm Sci Fi dinner reservation. They seated us within 10 minutes. The Sci Fi restaurant at MGM is designed to resemble a drive-in movie theater. You sit and eat in convertible cars, using the dashboard as your table. The kids got to sit in front and were given drivers licenses. There is a huge movie screen that plays old sci fi movies, commercials and shows. Since Sydney is such a big black-and-white-godzilla-movie fan, she loved the entertainment. Dinner was good. Disney portions are HUGE! I ordered a kids meal and was completely satisfied with it, and it saved us some money.
After dinner, we rode Star Tours, saw the Indiana Jones show and the Playhouse Disney showall hits with my family. At 6:45pm we started to make our way to Fantasmic. We found seats in the back near the center. It was hot. I got the kids ice cream to keep them happy while we waited, but it melted so fast. The Fantasmic show was worth the wait. No wonder its considered one of Disneys best! Lights, fireworks, water, movie scenes and music, characters, snakes, dragons and Mickey! It was amazing, and a great way to end the day.
Day 3, October 19: Magic Kingdom opened early for resort guests today, so we set the alarm and were at the gates by 7:50am. My missionwake Tinkerbell! We headed straight to Tinkerbells Treasures. When we walked in, I saw a family at the counter and the little girl holding a certificate, and I knew we were too late. I asked the cast member (store clerk) if Tink was awake, and she told me she was. Darn! I really wanted Sydney to wake up Tinkerbell. Oh well, what can you do? We looked around the shop a bit, then I told the kids about looking for Tink inside the dresser drawer. They both spotted her and were excited to hear and see her flying around, so the whole Tink thing wasnt a total loss. On to the rides! The park was empty, so we could walk onto any ride we wanted. We stayed at Magic Kingdom until about 10:45am, then headed to the monorail for the Contemporary Resort for our breakfast at Chef Mickeys.
Chef Mickeys was fabulous! We had late breakfast reservations. We had breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale. Was a fun place! It was a full, buffet breakfast with good food and entertainment. Id highly recommend this place to anyone going to Disney World!
Day 4, October 20: Today was the day Sydney had been looking forward to the most! She had an appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Downtown Disney. We dropped Ross and Riley off at Disney Quest and made our way to the boutique. Now, for those of you who dont know, the BBB is a beauty salon for little girls. I arranged for Sydney to get her hair and make up done by her Fairy Godmother. Sydney chose what hairstyle she wanted and was sprinkled with pixie dust when it was all done. This whole experience was well worth the $35! The pictures are priceless. After the appointment, we went back to Disney Quest and spent a few hours exploring the video games, virtual reality centers and activities. It was a good thing to do on a hot day.
Day 5, October 21: This was our Animal Kingdom day, and we loved it! We did all the rides we wanted to, and even got Riley to go on Dinosaur with Ross. He liked it, but not enough to do it again. I think it was just a little over the top for him. We had a fantastic day at Animal Kingdom, It was pretty quiet, so the day was a leisurely one. We had reservations at the Rain Forest Caf for 5pm, but we were able to get a table at 3pm. Great meal, fun place.
Day 6, October 22: We headed to Epcot for our Princess Storybook Breakfast at the Akershus castle in Norway. The restaurant is beautiful. We got to meet Princess Belle in her yellow gown, plus Arial, Mulan and Sleeping Beauty. They served an all-you-can-eat breakfast, family style (food was brought to our table.) The food was good, but what youre paying for here is the princess interaction and photo ops. We had breakfast with the princesses last year at Cinderellas Castle. Both are equally as good. Weve done both now, and probably wont do either again. But if you havent done this, you should! We spent the rest of the day at Epcot, enjoying no lines and light crowds.
Day 7, October 23: Another big event for the kidsthe Pirate Cruise! I made reservations for the kids to do the Pirate Cruise from the Grand Floridian Resort. We brought them to the marina at 9am. They were fitted with a Mickey Ear Pirate Hat and life jacket, then boarded their pirate ship to set off in search of treasure. They sailed around the lagoon, made a few stops, had lunch and found the treasure before returning two hours later. While the kids were on their cruise, Ross and I took the monorail over to the Polynesian to look around, then we went back and had breakfast at the Grand Floridian CafYikes, $44 for breakfast for the two of us! I had eggs, bacon, toast, potatoes, and Ross had eggs benedict, plus juice and coffee. Pretty steep for a typical breakfast!
After the Pirate Cruise, we surprised the kids by taking them mini-golfing. Riley loves mini-golf. We had free passes so we went to Winter Summerland and golfed with Santa. We had so much fun that we decided to go over to the Fantasia golf course and play a round of mini-golf there, too! After golfing, we went back to Epcot. We rode our favorites again (Test Track, Soarin) and let the kids spend time in Innoventions. This was great! We completely missed Innoventions last year. It is full of things for kids to do. We made robots and homemade paper that the kids got to bring home, played games together and had a good time. We followed the International Gateway over to the Boardwalk area which was really nice! The kids got ice cream from Beaches and Cream at the Yacht and Beach Club. Beaches and Cream is famous for their Kitchen Sink ice creammany scoops of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, coffee, and mint chocolate chip smothered in every topping they have for $21.99. Everyone gets a spoon and helps devour this monster served inyou guessed ita kitchen sink! Pretty neat! We wondered around Epcot for awhile and then watched Illuminations before heading back to the resort.
Day 8, October 24: Back to Magic Kingdom to say our goodbyes. We rode our favorite rides again, met up with Captain Jack, Peter Pan and Wendy, had lunch at Pinocchios and enjoyed the day. The weather had finally cooled off quite nicely, making our last days at Disney World perfect.
Day 9, October 25: Time to go home. We had a great vacation! We did everything we wanted to, plus got a lot of time to swim and relax at our resort. Ive got 730 pictures to remember our trip bythank goodness for digital cameras!
My summary: Last year we stayed for 7 nights, off-Disney property, with a rental car. This year we stayed for 8 nights, on-site, with a rental car. Weve learned that what is important for us is a hotel with a great pool at a great price. We spend too little time in our room to enjoy it. We love the freedom of a rental car, so the Disney transportation isnt a must for us. However, staying on-site got us free parking at the parks and at $10 per day, that would have added up. Being able to use our own snacks and breakfast foods saved us a ton of money. Twice now weve purchased the Hopper passes, and twice we havent used the hopper privilege! I know now that we are not hoppers! Having a plan for each day kept us on track and organized. I used Tour Guide Mike this year and think it was well worth the $18 is cost to join. Also, traveling during the slow season is soooo worth it! And use those Fastpasses!!!
NEXT TRIP: January 2007! NO KIDS this time!
. My boys were so excited the pool is a huge part of the experience, hopefully we will get a transfer.
