welovedis
Disneyland here we come!
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- Aug 31, 2000
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AKA--Don't expect to get a seat at 7:55 for an 8:00 parade!!!
Here's the cast of characters again:
Me-Karen, (31)-planner extraordinaire! (2nd trip to WDW)
DH-Tom (35)-happy he didn't have to plan anything (2nd trip to WDW)
DS-Jacob (4 1/2)-happiest when riding anything scary (2nd trip to WDW)
DM-Dee (Karen's mom)-happy to even be going (1st trip to WDW ever!)
Saturday-Sept. 22
The morning started out great-the sun was shining & the humidity didn't seem too bad. We wanted to get to AK close to opening time so we got up around 6:30 or so. Everyone had some breakfast in the room and we headed off to the buses. Bus waits ranged depending on the day & the park--most times we waited about 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately the bus situation got worse as the week went on, but more on that later!
We were off to our first park of the trip. Our decisions in the trip-planning were to list what each of us wanted to see in order of importance & keep that with us for each park. I also made some spreadsheets on the computer for each day listing park hours, PS confirmation #s, etc... and laminated them at home. That worked out so well!
When we arrived, Dee decided to rent a manual wheelchair & DH pushed her. It took them about 10 minutes to get this for her & dry it off since it had rained the night before. We were finally on our way into the park. We came across the security tables. They had set up regular folding tables in front of the entrance turnstiles for each park. They are covered with a tablecloth & have 1-2 security personnel working at each one. The check each bag, fanny pack and stroller storage each, so we waited 1-2 minutes then had our turn.
The security person had a small plastic thing (like the size of a 6-inch ruler) and used that to move things around in the fanny pack. They also made Jacob get up out of the stroller and checked his seat and the bag under the stroller. Once they were all set we headed into the park. Right inside they had some neat spiders and other small creatures inside displays with a CM explaining the things, etc.... After that we headed over to Dinosaur. Tom & Jacob went on to ride, Dee was not going to go on this at all & I took her over to the exit so we could wait. Not an easy feat to push a manual wheelchair uphill while pulling a small stroller behind--but I did it!
They were back out in about 12 minutes, so Jacob went back on with me and there was no wait again for the ride. I did it once this trip, but that was enough for me--I do not particularily like the complete darkness parts of that ride. Off we went thru the gift shop & stopped at the restrooms just outside. They had a nice companion restroom there that I hadn't noticed on my last trip--good to note for families with kids.
I took Jacob into the Boneyard and he played for about a 1/2 hour total. The area where you "dig up" the dinosaur was completely empty when we got there. A nice CM chatted with me while Jacob played and got himself full of those little rocks--oh well! The CM said the parks had been pretty quiet and he had his hours cut 2xs earlier that week. After Jacob got tired of digging, sliding & climbing we headed off for the Tree of Life.
We started walking to the entrance of the ITTBAB and got a "wonderful" group of people behind us. Even though the CM at the entrance said we had about 15 minutes till the show started, they were convinced that we were holding them up from "going on the ride". So we let them gladly walk around our wheelchair group & just smiled at them when they were waiting at the entrance to get in-lol! We sat in the front row since Tom is hearing impaired because the show offers a reflective captioning system for the deaf/hearing impaired.
**Side note--Reflective captioning involves a small lucite screen on a flexible stand to be positioned in front of the individual using the system. They have to sit in a designated area so the lucite screen can face a screen (usually at the top of the auditorium) and enables the person using it to read the dialogue or music that is happening at the same time we are hearing it. The parks offer this for some attractions, they also offer closed captioning on some of the TV screens for some of the ride pre-shows.**
Jacob was a little scared, but since he had seen it before he knew what to expect. This is one of my favorite 3D shows there and we all had a great laugh. Then we headed off for Kilimanjaro Safaris. The posted wait time was 20 minutes, we got the front area of the line in about 10-12 minutes I guess. Wheelchairs have to be loaded on a separate vehicle, even though she was going to transfer out of it into a regular seat, so we did have to wait an extra 5 minutes or so. The driver was a nice guy & the safari was fine. We got to see a couple giraffes, some elephants, hippos, rhinos, crocs, flamingos, and others. Later on we saw some cheetahs, the lion & the tiger and a couple of smaller animals. Nice ride, but Jacob was getting bored--this is not one of his favorites.
By the time we got off we were not going to make the Lion King show, so we decided to head off to Dinosaur again ( I know--crazy going all the way across the park). On the way we saw Tigger in the area right before Dinoland and waited about 3-4 minutes for a picture with him--turned out great. Then we booked over to Dinosaur. This time the posted wait was 20 minutes and that was how long it took--just about 20 minutes until they rode, then about another 10 or so for the ride & we saw them about 30 minutes after they got into the building.
They got out & it was about 11:58, we had PS for 12:00 @ RFC, so we booked it over there. I don't know how but we made it over there, thru the turnstiles and into the restaurant by 12:03. & we didn't even run anyone over!
I mean, you know how we stroller & wheelchair "commandos" can be-lol!
We were seated in about 30 seconds since we had PS, otherwise we would have waited about 10-15 minutes. Not because there weren't tables available, but because they didn't have enough servers working at that time. Our server was fine, nothing terrific, nothing terrible. We had a lot of food, but really enjoyed everything. Jacob had the dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets with fries, Dee had the seafood salad, Tom had the chicken sandwich and I had the appetizer sampler for my entree. Tom & I also ordered the house salads--they were huge here & very filling. I thought everyone was going to try some of my sampler, but their entrees were so big that I ended up with tons of food & no one else eating it. I must have left half my plate full. Oh well! The server took my DC card for the 10% discount then I paid for the meal with the RFC GCs that I earned thru the rewards programs. The bill was around $64.00, I gave the server $75.00 in GCs then she gave me back a voucher for the $11.00 remaining--I thought I could use the extra towards the tip, but that was NOT possible (just an FYI for rewards people). She said if it was for less than $5 I would get the change back.
Off we went to hit the Legend of the Lion King show--awesome! We had missed this on the last trip & we thrilled that we caught it this time. Dee was amazed at the costuming & Tom, Jacob & I enjoyed everything! I would have liked to catch this one at least one more time during the trip, but we never got back.
Once it ended we decided to hit Kali River Rapids. Me, Jacob & Dee had never been on this, Tom went on once last year. Now--I have to preface this by stating that Dee is not much of a rider. She likes the little tram rides and the safari was fine, but she doesn't like anything scary, loud or that has drops in it. Tom fibbed a little (I guess) & convinced her that she might get a little wet, but that it wasn't that bad & not really any drops. Boy was she surprised!
Right before the ride entrance we all decided to change out of our socks & sneakers and into sandals, flip flops, etc... That worked out great, but just as we finished it started to pour. We covered up our stroller & her wheelchair with some ponchos, then decided to ride anyways since we had already gotten wet. We went right on with no waiting & away we went! I think Dee got a little concerned when she realized we were going up on the conveyor thing, but Tom convinced her that it was no big deal. Meanwhile there was a mother & son who were on the same "boat" as us wearing ponchos & even had plastic bags over their sneakers. When we noticed that I got a little concerned but figured "what the heck". The ride was fine, not much to look at IMO, but then we got to the wet parts. We got a little wet here & there, but then we got to the larger drop & the look on Dee's face was not a happy one.....& down we went..............................
Jacob & I got the brunt of the water though & Tom & Dee were virtually dry. She didn't like the drop but getting soaked would have made her really mad. Once we got back to the entrance/exit area there was still no line so we asked if we could ride again. Dee took some convincing but she stayed on too. Unfortunately this time around she was not so lucky & her & Tom got the soaking. She couldn't catch her breath right away & got scared, so they both got off the ride while Jacob & I stayed on for a total of 4 rides around.
By the time I got off I was soaking wet, so was Jacob & we decided to seek revenge for those who squirted us with the elephant spray at the end of the ride. Once we had sprayed a number of boats we started to drip a little less & felt better. At that point we decided we needed to get back to the room & dry off. Thus started the long walk back to the entrance & finally the buses. We dropped off the rental wheelchair & Dee walked slowly back to the ASMo bus. We did see some characters (Baloo, Rafiki, Eeyore, Chip & Dale). One parent thought Baloo was Bear (in the Big Blue House)--kinda funny to hear that one! The bus trip back was cold with the air-conditioning, but we were back at the hotel shortly.
Everyone got changed, Tom & Jacob headed off to the pool, I headed for the shower & Dee took a nap. Eventually everyone but me napped, then we got ready to head over to the MK for the parade. Grabbed a quick dinner at the food court--I'm sure it was fine just cannot remember what we ate! We had gotten a manual wheelchair at no charge from the resort, but it was a really wide one, probably made for a larger person. Dee was not really comfortable in it, but we decided it was better than attempting to rent one at MK & return it after the parade. So we headed out with the one we had & waited for the bus. The line was about 10-15 people long. Jacob & I went to wait in the regular line, Tom & Dee waited near where the wheelchair lift would be so she could get on there.
2 things I noticed--some of the people who walked up afterwards were trying to wait in line behind Tom & Dee, took them about 10 minutes to realize that was for wheelchairs only. Then I also heard at least a few comments from people who did not realize I was with the wheelchair party. The comments ranged from "Oh man, now we gotta wait for that wheelchair to get loaded" to " I saw her walking around with a cane this morning". It took alot for me to keep my mouth shut (at least for now!). The bus came & we got her loaded on, the headed off for the MK with a million other people.
A side note: I do NOT like the way the All-Star buses run. I realize we paid an incredibly low price for our rooms and did not stay at a deluxe resort. However, I don't see the point of sending a bus to a resort that is 99% full (& no one got off at our resort). Since they stop at Sports & Music first --many times we waited while 2-3 buses of passengers came & went. 3-4 people from our stop would get on & that was if they wanted to stand. Maybe we hit things at the wrong time or something, but it seemed that way alot of the time.
Once we go to MK it was very busy--we arrived at around 6 or so for the 8PM parade. We made our way down Main Street slowly since Dee had never been to the MK before & seen the castle or anything here for that matter. She was so thrilled she started to cry a bit and took a couple nice shots from the beginning of Main Street. We got the wheelchair seating area around 6:25 and were directed to an area facing Tomorrowland at an angle. We were right on the end of that particular section where they rope off the walkway & direct people to Frontierland near the beginning of the parade. Some of the people in our section said they arrived as early as 5:45 since there was no parade the day before, they wanted to be assured of getting a good view. We put down some of the cheap rain ponchos in front of her wheelchair right on the curb so we could sit down in front of her & Tom decided he would stand.
Then the fun began. Lots of people decided the walkway would be a good area to congregate and/or try to sit. The CMs did a terrific job of kindly telling them to move their butts out of the way (not in those words of course!). We thought it was really ridiculous for some people who came at 7:45, 7:50, even 7:55 and expected to get a seat right on the curb for the parade. What a joke! There were plenty of people with wheelchairs who couldn't get a curbside spot because all the wheelchair seating was full by about 7:15 or so. And then they were MAD since they felt they were "entitled" to a good view. I'm sorry--but if you don't show up early you aren't going to get a good seat/view regardless of being in a wheelchair or not or having small children or not. One man asked the gentleman in the wheelchair next to us if his daughter could sit on his lap since "no one would be nice enough to give up their seats so his child could see". He said this while looking directly at me with Jacob. The man in the wheelchair just said "sorry, no can do" and the man swore at both us & stomped away. Give me a break!!!! He should have waited 1 1/2 hours like we did & maybe his daughter would have gotten a good view--yikes!
The parade started & it was beyond belief! We had never seen Spectro before & it was so beautiful. The floats, the music, the performers were fantastic. I wish I could have seen it again before we left, but there was no other night parade while we were there. Dee was crying during different parts, she thought it was so beautiful. We got some great shots and Jacob was captivated by the lights. Then he saw Snow White (who is one of his favorites) and he waved to her, she came right to him, bent down & let him take her hand, then he kissed it!!! One of the most special moments of the trip. And of course, I missed the shot with my camera! But the nice man sitting next to me in the wheelchair got a great one & is emailing it to me--yeah!
After the parade ended we waited & got to see Tinkerbell fly from the castle--it was so awesome & man was she up high! Then the fireworks started & those were pretty good too. Got some nice camera shots of those as well--have to post all my pics when I get a chance. After everything ended the crowds were unreal--we waited for about 15 minutes before we were able to move. We decided to go to the little shelter to the right of the castle since it was sprinkling on & off a tiny bit. Tom cannot get his hearing aids wet at all or there goes 5 grand so we decided to see if it was going to pour or not. Luckily for us it did not and we waited & watched the crowds, ate some popcorn & watched the CMs cleaning up with their huge street vacuum--pretty interesting.
We waited until about 10:15, then got some neat pics of the castle changing colors. Started down Main Street & thought we would have a fairly short wait for the buses-ha!!! The lines were incredible. Just a note for those who have never seen these long lines. Don't go right to where you think the line should start for your resort. Check out the long snaking line that starts at the resort before yours & I'm sure those people are waiting in your line. We went to the section that wheelchairs wait & again heard those "nice" comments from people who had been waiting awhile. Well, we ended waiting for a long time too, since the first bus loaded before the driver loaded the wheelchair & they had no room, then second bus had a broken wheelchair lift. We ended up boarding long after the people who were right in front of us in line, so believe me, the wheelchair line doesn't go fast!
We finally got back to the resort and crashed into bed--happy but exhausted after our first full day in WDW!
Best parts of the day: Lion King show, Spectromagic & FITS fireworks
Worst parts: parade late-comers, ignorant comments about wheelchair
Here's the cast of characters again:
Me-Karen, (31)-planner extraordinaire! (2nd trip to WDW)
DH-Tom (35)-happy he didn't have to plan anything (2nd trip to WDW)
DS-Jacob (4 1/2)-happiest when riding anything scary (2nd trip to WDW)
DM-Dee (Karen's mom)-happy to even be going (1st trip to WDW ever!)
Saturday-Sept. 22
The morning started out great-the sun was shining & the humidity didn't seem too bad. We wanted to get to AK close to opening time so we got up around 6:30 or so. Everyone had some breakfast in the room and we headed off to the buses. Bus waits ranged depending on the day & the park--most times we waited about 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately the bus situation got worse as the week went on, but more on that later!
We were off to our first park of the trip. Our decisions in the trip-planning were to list what each of us wanted to see in order of importance & keep that with us for each park. I also made some spreadsheets on the computer for each day listing park hours, PS confirmation #s, etc... and laminated them at home. That worked out so well!
When we arrived, Dee decided to rent a manual wheelchair & DH pushed her. It took them about 10 minutes to get this for her & dry it off since it had rained the night before. We were finally on our way into the park. We came across the security tables. They had set up regular folding tables in front of the entrance turnstiles for each park. They are covered with a tablecloth & have 1-2 security personnel working at each one. The check each bag, fanny pack and stroller storage each, so we waited 1-2 minutes then had our turn.
The security person had a small plastic thing (like the size of a 6-inch ruler) and used that to move things around in the fanny pack. They also made Jacob get up out of the stroller and checked his seat and the bag under the stroller. Once they were all set we headed into the park. Right inside they had some neat spiders and other small creatures inside displays with a CM explaining the things, etc.... After that we headed over to Dinosaur. Tom & Jacob went on to ride, Dee was not going to go on this at all & I took her over to the exit so we could wait. Not an easy feat to push a manual wheelchair uphill while pulling a small stroller behind--but I did it!
They were back out in about 12 minutes, so Jacob went back on with me and there was no wait again for the ride. I did it once this trip, but that was enough for me--I do not particularily like the complete darkness parts of that ride. Off we went thru the gift shop & stopped at the restrooms just outside. They had a nice companion restroom there that I hadn't noticed on my last trip--good to note for families with kids.
I took Jacob into the Boneyard and he played for about a 1/2 hour total. The area where you "dig up" the dinosaur was completely empty when we got there. A nice CM chatted with me while Jacob played and got himself full of those little rocks--oh well! The CM said the parks had been pretty quiet and he had his hours cut 2xs earlier that week. After Jacob got tired of digging, sliding & climbing we headed off for the Tree of Life.
We started walking to the entrance of the ITTBAB and got a "wonderful" group of people behind us. Even though the CM at the entrance said we had about 15 minutes till the show started, they were convinced that we were holding them up from "going on the ride". So we let them gladly walk around our wheelchair group & just smiled at them when they were waiting at the entrance to get in-lol! We sat in the front row since Tom is hearing impaired because the show offers a reflective captioning system for the deaf/hearing impaired.
**Side note--Reflective captioning involves a small lucite screen on a flexible stand to be positioned in front of the individual using the system. They have to sit in a designated area so the lucite screen can face a screen (usually at the top of the auditorium) and enables the person using it to read the dialogue or music that is happening at the same time we are hearing it. The parks offer this for some attractions, they also offer closed captioning on some of the TV screens for some of the ride pre-shows.**
Jacob was a little scared, but since he had seen it before he knew what to expect. This is one of my favorite 3D shows there and we all had a great laugh. Then we headed off for Kilimanjaro Safaris. The posted wait time was 20 minutes, we got the front area of the line in about 10-12 minutes I guess. Wheelchairs have to be loaded on a separate vehicle, even though she was going to transfer out of it into a regular seat, so we did have to wait an extra 5 minutes or so. The driver was a nice guy & the safari was fine. We got to see a couple giraffes, some elephants, hippos, rhinos, crocs, flamingos, and others. Later on we saw some cheetahs, the lion & the tiger and a couple of smaller animals. Nice ride, but Jacob was getting bored--this is not one of his favorites.
By the time we got off we were not going to make the Lion King show, so we decided to head off to Dinosaur again ( I know--crazy going all the way across the park). On the way we saw Tigger in the area right before Dinoland and waited about 3-4 minutes for a picture with him--turned out great. Then we booked over to Dinosaur. This time the posted wait was 20 minutes and that was how long it took--just about 20 minutes until they rode, then about another 10 or so for the ride & we saw them about 30 minutes after they got into the building.
They got out & it was about 11:58, we had PS for 12:00 @ RFC, so we booked it over there. I don't know how but we made it over there, thru the turnstiles and into the restaurant by 12:03. & we didn't even run anyone over!
I mean, you know how we stroller & wheelchair "commandos" can be-lol!We were seated in about 30 seconds since we had PS, otherwise we would have waited about 10-15 minutes. Not because there weren't tables available, but because they didn't have enough servers working at that time. Our server was fine, nothing terrific, nothing terrible. We had a lot of food, but really enjoyed everything. Jacob had the dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets with fries, Dee had the seafood salad, Tom had the chicken sandwich and I had the appetizer sampler for my entree. Tom & I also ordered the house salads--they were huge here & very filling. I thought everyone was going to try some of my sampler, but their entrees were so big that I ended up with tons of food & no one else eating it. I must have left half my plate full. Oh well! The server took my DC card for the 10% discount then I paid for the meal with the RFC GCs that I earned thru the rewards programs. The bill was around $64.00, I gave the server $75.00 in GCs then she gave me back a voucher for the $11.00 remaining--I thought I could use the extra towards the tip, but that was NOT possible (just an FYI for rewards people). She said if it was for less than $5 I would get the change back.
Off we went to hit the Legend of the Lion King show--awesome! We had missed this on the last trip & we thrilled that we caught it this time. Dee was amazed at the costuming & Tom, Jacob & I enjoyed everything! I would have liked to catch this one at least one more time during the trip, but we never got back.
Once it ended we decided to hit Kali River Rapids. Me, Jacob & Dee had never been on this, Tom went on once last year. Now--I have to preface this by stating that Dee is not much of a rider. She likes the little tram rides and the safari was fine, but she doesn't like anything scary, loud or that has drops in it. Tom fibbed a little (I guess) & convinced her that she might get a little wet, but that it wasn't that bad & not really any drops. Boy was she surprised!
Right before the ride entrance we all decided to change out of our socks & sneakers and into sandals, flip flops, etc... That worked out great, but just as we finished it started to pour. We covered up our stroller & her wheelchair with some ponchos, then decided to ride anyways since we had already gotten wet. We went right on with no waiting & away we went! I think Dee got a little concerned when she realized we were going up on the conveyor thing, but Tom convinced her that it was no big deal. Meanwhile there was a mother & son who were on the same "boat" as us wearing ponchos & even had plastic bags over their sneakers. When we noticed that I got a little concerned but figured "what the heck". The ride was fine, not much to look at IMO, but then we got to the wet parts. We got a little wet here & there, but then we got to the larger drop & the look on Dee's face was not a happy one.....& down we went..............................
Jacob & I got the brunt of the water though & Tom & Dee were virtually dry. She didn't like the drop but getting soaked would have made her really mad. Once we got back to the entrance/exit area there was still no line so we asked if we could ride again. Dee took some convincing but she stayed on too. Unfortunately this time around she was not so lucky & her & Tom got the soaking. She couldn't catch her breath right away & got scared, so they both got off the ride while Jacob & I stayed on for a total of 4 rides around.
By the time I got off I was soaking wet, so was Jacob & we decided to seek revenge for those who squirted us with the elephant spray at the end of the ride. Once we had sprayed a number of boats we started to drip a little less & felt better. At that point we decided we needed to get back to the room & dry off. Thus started the long walk back to the entrance & finally the buses. We dropped off the rental wheelchair & Dee walked slowly back to the ASMo bus. We did see some characters (Baloo, Rafiki, Eeyore, Chip & Dale). One parent thought Baloo was Bear (in the Big Blue House)--kinda funny to hear that one! The bus trip back was cold with the air-conditioning, but we were back at the hotel shortly.
Everyone got changed, Tom & Jacob headed off to the pool, I headed for the shower & Dee took a nap. Eventually everyone but me napped, then we got ready to head over to the MK for the parade. Grabbed a quick dinner at the food court--I'm sure it was fine just cannot remember what we ate! We had gotten a manual wheelchair at no charge from the resort, but it was a really wide one, probably made for a larger person. Dee was not really comfortable in it, but we decided it was better than attempting to rent one at MK & return it after the parade. So we headed out with the one we had & waited for the bus. The line was about 10-15 people long. Jacob & I went to wait in the regular line, Tom & Dee waited near where the wheelchair lift would be so she could get on there.
2 things I noticed--some of the people who walked up afterwards were trying to wait in line behind Tom & Dee, took them about 10 minutes to realize that was for wheelchairs only. Then I also heard at least a few comments from people who did not realize I was with the wheelchair party. The comments ranged from "Oh man, now we gotta wait for that wheelchair to get loaded" to " I saw her walking around with a cane this morning". It took alot for me to keep my mouth shut (at least for now!). The bus came & we got her loaded on, the headed off for the MK with a million other people.
A side note: I do NOT like the way the All-Star buses run. I realize we paid an incredibly low price for our rooms and did not stay at a deluxe resort. However, I don't see the point of sending a bus to a resort that is 99% full (& no one got off at our resort). Since they stop at Sports & Music first --many times we waited while 2-3 buses of passengers came & went. 3-4 people from our stop would get on & that was if they wanted to stand. Maybe we hit things at the wrong time or something, but it seemed that way alot of the time.
Once we go to MK it was very busy--we arrived at around 6 or so for the 8PM parade. We made our way down Main Street slowly since Dee had never been to the MK before & seen the castle or anything here for that matter. She was so thrilled she started to cry a bit and took a couple nice shots from the beginning of Main Street. We got the wheelchair seating area around 6:25 and were directed to an area facing Tomorrowland at an angle. We were right on the end of that particular section where they rope off the walkway & direct people to Frontierland near the beginning of the parade. Some of the people in our section said they arrived as early as 5:45 since there was no parade the day before, they wanted to be assured of getting a good view. We put down some of the cheap rain ponchos in front of her wheelchair right on the curb so we could sit down in front of her & Tom decided he would stand.
Then the fun began. Lots of people decided the walkway would be a good area to congregate and/or try to sit. The CMs did a terrific job of kindly telling them to move their butts out of the way (not in those words of course!). We thought it was really ridiculous for some people who came at 7:45, 7:50, even 7:55 and expected to get a seat right on the curb for the parade. What a joke! There were plenty of people with wheelchairs who couldn't get a curbside spot because all the wheelchair seating was full by about 7:15 or so. And then they were MAD since they felt they were "entitled" to a good view. I'm sorry--but if you don't show up early you aren't going to get a good seat/view regardless of being in a wheelchair or not or having small children or not. One man asked the gentleman in the wheelchair next to us if his daughter could sit on his lap since "no one would be nice enough to give up their seats so his child could see". He said this while looking directly at me with Jacob. The man in the wheelchair just said "sorry, no can do" and the man swore at both us & stomped away. Give me a break!!!! He should have waited 1 1/2 hours like we did & maybe his daughter would have gotten a good view--yikes!
The parade started & it was beyond belief! We had never seen Spectro before & it was so beautiful. The floats, the music, the performers were fantastic. I wish I could have seen it again before we left, but there was no other night parade while we were there. Dee was crying during different parts, she thought it was so beautiful. We got some great shots and Jacob was captivated by the lights. Then he saw Snow White (who is one of his favorites) and he waved to her, she came right to him, bent down & let him take her hand, then he kissed it!!! One of the most special moments of the trip. And of course, I missed the shot with my camera! But the nice man sitting next to me in the wheelchair got a great one & is emailing it to me--yeah!
After the parade ended we waited & got to see Tinkerbell fly from the castle--it was so awesome & man was she up high! Then the fireworks started & those were pretty good too. Got some nice camera shots of those as well--have to post all my pics when I get a chance. After everything ended the crowds were unreal--we waited for about 15 minutes before we were able to move. We decided to go to the little shelter to the right of the castle since it was sprinkling on & off a tiny bit. Tom cannot get his hearing aids wet at all or there goes 5 grand so we decided to see if it was going to pour or not. Luckily for us it did not and we waited & watched the crowds, ate some popcorn & watched the CMs cleaning up with their huge street vacuum--pretty interesting.
We waited until about 10:15, then got some neat pics of the castle changing colors. Started down Main Street & thought we would have a fairly short wait for the buses-ha!!! The lines were incredible. Just a note for those who have never seen these long lines. Don't go right to where you think the line should start for your resort. Check out the long snaking line that starts at the resort before yours & I'm sure those people are waiting in your line. We went to the section that wheelchairs wait & again heard those "nice" comments from people who had been waiting awhile. Well, we ended waiting for a long time too, since the first bus loaded before the driver loaded the wheelchair & they had no room, then second bus had a broken wheelchair lift. We ended up boarding long after the people who were right in front of us in line, so believe me, the wheelchair line doesn't go fast!
We finally got back to the resort and crashed into bed--happy but exhausted after our first full day in WDW!
Best parts of the day: Lion King show, Spectromagic & FITS fireworks
Worst parts: parade late-comers, ignorant comments about wheelchair
