The Family:
Me, Anne 39
DH, Brian 39
DD, Alex 16
DD, Jordan 6
DD, Taylor 4
The Background: I have been to Disneyland (circa 1992), Alex has been to Disneyland and California Adventure (last year), Brian has been to Epcot (or so he says, he has no real memory of it) This is actually the first trip to the world for ALL of us.
After tossing and turning all night the phone FINALLY rang with my friend Mickey giving us our wake-up call! Hurrah!!! I was so excited. My goal was to arrive early enough to see the opening .actually that was my goal for each park during our trip. However, when we arrived at AK 30 minutes before opening there already was quite a line .why? I do not know. Anyway, we did get to see the bus and could almost hear the opening. But there was no time to waste because we HAD A PLAN. I found myself saying we have a plan over and over and over to my hyperactive family. At least for the first day they listened
For our morning there were virtually no waits. I think that I probably enjoyed Dinosaur; however, I dont remember much of it since my head was between my knees for most of it. We even did Kali twice and we were glad to have our ponchos (thank you Wal-Mart for the 50 cent ponchos!). Before we went to see Its Tough to Be a Bug I carefully prepped the little ones. I explained that it was just pretend and that they didnt have to wear their glasses. I suggested that they sit on Mom and Dads lap (those of you that have done this know why) and I even told them in advance about what would appear in the front and to the right. Did any of this matter? Nooooo. They freaked out. Of course, their Dad was so enjoying the attraction that he barely noticed the girls coming unhinged. I must admit though, it was fun watching the expression on his and Alexs faces. Towards the end they pretty much calmed down. I think the shrieking of the adults was what really did it. It took some convincing to get them that not all the rest of the attractions would terrorize them. Finally they agreed to go on the Safari and they enjoyed it very much. For lunch we ate at Tusker House and enjoyed every bite.
Following lunch we went to Pocahontas. Now, I read a lot of ho-hum reviews of this show, but my girls loved it and I thought that Pocahontas did a great job. Our next stop was the Lion King show. I was startled by the starkness of the theater, but I soon got over that as the show started. And now comes the beginning of our family calling itself the Ham-bones. Jordan was selected to participate in two different parts of the show. It was fantastic. I have a great pic of her that hopefully I will get posted soon. It made my heart leap for joy to see her out there dancing with those spectacular performers. That performance deserved a Mickey bar!!!
We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon rather leisurely. In fact, we only did one of the trails and missed a number of rides. Over and over I had read how this park could be done easily in one day, but I think that it would be difficult to do with small children. We did leave 1 ½ hours before closing because we had a dinner ressie and a late night ahead so we needed rest. But even if we would have stayed there would have been no way to get it done and truly enjoy it. I was most sad that we didnt get to watch any of the street performances.
We returned to Pop for a bit of down time before our 6:00 ressie at Chef Mickeys. The Contemporary was fun to be in. Alex really appreciates clean lines and contemporary styling so she was in heaven. After the requisite photo we only waited about 5 minutes before being seated. This was our first character meal so we didnt know what to expect. I was amazed and proud of how patient the little ones were. The food was most yummy and having the characters come to our table was fantastic. We couldnt have been happier with the entire experience. From the Contemporary we jumped on the monorail to go to the MK. Why? Say it with me: I have a plan! The plan was to jump on what was open and take advantage of others watching the early Spectro in order to ride some rides and then watch the late Spectro. Well, I caved in on my own plan as we came across a great, at the rope, space only 15 minutes before the early parade. We loved the parade, although the odd little guys at the beginning weirded out my oldest and my husband. Since the plan was out the window might as well check out Wishes (the plan had us seeing Wishes on Tuesday night). I was startled by my own tearing up until Alex turned to me with tears streaming down her face. What is it about that show??? We then experience the great mass of people moving that I was instructed to avoid. But how? Where to go??? We squished through to Tomorrowland and jumped on TTA for a breather. We then wandered into Carousel of Progress not knowing anything about it. As it began my heart stopped as I had a nightmarish flash back to my childhood and sitting through the President thing at Disneyland. My eyes shot over to the girls who appeared to be in a trance. They LOVED it! And so did all of us. We left singing and laughing only to find ourselves faced with the second Spectro and an even LARGER sea of people. My instincts told be to go back and enjoy the tranquility away from Main Street. But the girls were whooped and needed to go (you know your children are tired when they ASK to leave the MK!) Finally we broke through to the entrance and jumped back on the Monorail. I really liked the ease of parking at the Contemporary (due to eating at Chef Mickeys). Soon we were snug in our beds dreaming of the EMH at Magic Kingdom tomorrow.
Me, Anne 39
DH, Brian 39
DD, Alex 16
DD, Jordan 6
DD, Taylor 4
The Background: I have been to Disneyland (circa 1992), Alex has been to Disneyland and California Adventure (last year), Brian has been to Epcot (or so he says, he has no real memory of it) This is actually the first trip to the world for ALL of us.
After tossing and turning all night the phone FINALLY rang with my friend Mickey giving us our wake-up call! Hurrah!!! I was so excited. My goal was to arrive early enough to see the opening .actually that was my goal for each park during our trip. However, when we arrived at AK 30 minutes before opening there already was quite a line .why? I do not know. Anyway, we did get to see the bus and could almost hear the opening. But there was no time to waste because we HAD A PLAN. I found myself saying we have a plan over and over and over to my hyperactive family. At least for the first day they listened
For our morning there were virtually no waits. I think that I probably enjoyed Dinosaur; however, I dont remember much of it since my head was between my knees for most of it. We even did Kali twice and we were glad to have our ponchos (thank you Wal-Mart for the 50 cent ponchos!). Before we went to see Its Tough to Be a Bug I carefully prepped the little ones. I explained that it was just pretend and that they didnt have to wear their glasses. I suggested that they sit on Mom and Dads lap (those of you that have done this know why) and I even told them in advance about what would appear in the front and to the right. Did any of this matter? Nooooo. They freaked out. Of course, their Dad was so enjoying the attraction that he barely noticed the girls coming unhinged. I must admit though, it was fun watching the expression on his and Alexs faces. Towards the end they pretty much calmed down. I think the shrieking of the adults was what really did it. It took some convincing to get them that not all the rest of the attractions would terrorize them. Finally they agreed to go on the Safari and they enjoyed it very much. For lunch we ate at Tusker House and enjoyed every bite.
Following lunch we went to Pocahontas. Now, I read a lot of ho-hum reviews of this show, but my girls loved it and I thought that Pocahontas did a great job. Our next stop was the Lion King show. I was startled by the starkness of the theater, but I soon got over that as the show started. And now comes the beginning of our family calling itself the Ham-bones. Jordan was selected to participate in two different parts of the show. It was fantastic. I have a great pic of her that hopefully I will get posted soon. It made my heart leap for joy to see her out there dancing with those spectacular performers. That performance deserved a Mickey bar!!!
We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon rather leisurely. In fact, we only did one of the trails and missed a number of rides. Over and over I had read how this park could be done easily in one day, but I think that it would be difficult to do with small children. We did leave 1 ½ hours before closing because we had a dinner ressie and a late night ahead so we needed rest. But even if we would have stayed there would have been no way to get it done and truly enjoy it. I was most sad that we didnt get to watch any of the street performances.
We returned to Pop for a bit of down time before our 6:00 ressie at Chef Mickeys. The Contemporary was fun to be in. Alex really appreciates clean lines and contemporary styling so she was in heaven. After the requisite photo we only waited about 5 minutes before being seated. This was our first character meal so we didnt know what to expect. I was amazed and proud of how patient the little ones were. The food was most yummy and having the characters come to our table was fantastic. We couldnt have been happier with the entire experience. From the Contemporary we jumped on the monorail to go to the MK. Why? Say it with me: I have a plan! The plan was to jump on what was open and take advantage of others watching the early Spectro in order to ride some rides and then watch the late Spectro. Well, I caved in on my own plan as we came across a great, at the rope, space only 15 minutes before the early parade. We loved the parade, although the odd little guys at the beginning weirded out my oldest and my husband. Since the plan was out the window might as well check out Wishes (the plan had us seeing Wishes on Tuesday night). I was startled by my own tearing up until Alex turned to me with tears streaming down her face. What is it about that show??? We then experience the great mass of people moving that I was instructed to avoid. But how? Where to go??? We squished through to Tomorrowland and jumped on TTA for a breather. We then wandered into Carousel of Progress not knowing anything about it. As it began my heart stopped as I had a nightmarish flash back to my childhood and sitting through the President thing at Disneyland. My eyes shot over to the girls who appeared to be in a trance. They LOVED it! And so did all of us. We left singing and laughing only to find ourselves faced with the second Spectro and an even LARGER sea of people. My instincts told be to go back and enjoy the tranquility away from Main Street. But the girls were whooped and needed to go (you know your children are tired when they ASK to leave the MK!) Finally we broke through to the entrance and jumped back on the Monorail. I really liked the ease of parking at the Contemporary (due to eating at Chef Mickeys). Soon we were snug in our beds dreaming of the EMH at Magic Kingdom tomorrow.
