Day Seven at the Lodge - A Little Bit of Everything!
New Jersey's Fab Four's First Trip to the World!
Participants: Myself (age 32)
DH (age 36)
DisTwins (age 5)
Week of Aug. 24th to 31st
Our last full day at Disney is here and we have a lot to fit in! However, as we are not in a rush to get to a park at opening, we take advantage of this day as a chance to sleep in a little! After a little bkfast, we begin by returning to Epcot to catch "The Living Seas" (it was closed when we returned at 6:00 the night before and DS and DD LOVE aquariums!). We figure this will be a quick pitstop but ends up taking nearly 4 hours!
The "Characters on Holiday" were scheduled to appear at 10:00 just after we arrived so we wait for them - (TIP - always helpful to ask a CM where the characters will be "stationed" as they are assigned a place to go). DD is delighted to catch up with some new faces (Baloo, Mr. Smee, Pinocchio, Tark) and even decides NOW that she's willing to greet "Mr. Rafiki" (as she calls him!) after being too afraid to approach him the other 5000 times we have seen him!
After Living Seas, DS and DD want to return to Innoventions to play some more video games. Then they request a repeat of the boat ride in Mexico and need to return to Canada to get their masks stamped. We never thought it would take that long, but it was nevertheless an enjoyable start to the day.
We head over to Downtown Disney. Note to the shop-a-holics out there - give yourself a whole day here! I only made it through the enormous Disney store and it was already time to return to the WL for some R and R before Spectromagic Parade at MK! (I tell DH that we MUST return before leaving the next day!) Kids really enjoyed the LegoLand play area and were amazed at the Lego Sculptures! There were also rides for the kids (a carousel and train - $2 each, I believe), an AMAZING toy store (I LOVED the many Potato Head parts that you can pack yourself into a box for $16! Picked up a design your own Lincoln Logs set for the same price, too!). LOTS of cute displays and photo ops, too - too bad I broke our camera! The Pin Traders has a nice section devoted to designing your own pin! The kids LOVED doing this and choosing their own parts and background! BTW, if you spend $100 or more, there is no tax!
We head back to WL and DS is able to nap and swim. DD can't sleep so she and I take some time to enjoy the WL. Decide to order some of that great pizza for dinner and get ready to go to the boat dock - tonight is the ONLY night of the week for Spectromagic Parade. This is also Saturday night of Labor Day weekend - the population of the WL felt like it tripled at least! There are SOO many more people and I think ALL of them were going to MK for Spectromagic! We must have just missed a boat because we were among the first in line. Well, over 35 minutes later, another boat FINALLY arrives and even though it is full by the time ALL those people at the boat dock board, we STILL stop at Ft. Wilderness to get MORE people! An hour after getting to the boat dock, we arrive at MK! I am amazed at the volume of people pouring into the park at almost 8:00pm! We get one of the LAST seats left on the train and take it to Frontierland - IMHO, the BEST place to view the parades at MK! They are just setting up the ropes and we get a nice spot right in front.
Spectromagic was terrific! The kids were amazed at the lights and the beauty of it. (Though DD was a bit taken back when the Queen of Hearts approached her!) We had fun waiting for it to begin, singing songs with a toddler sitting next to us (helping to keep him awake for the show!) and sharing "glow" toys with some sweet kids on either side of us! We are not staying for the fireworks since it is after 9:30 and we already saw them on Wed. night. However, the timing of the boat ride back works in our favor and we catch the end of the fireworks show from the front seats of the boat!
Tomorrow is CHECK OUT! I realize many dread this day, but after the busy pace of touring this week and the size of the crowds now for Labor Day Weekend, we are ready to call it quits! I don't know how people go year after year! Next year, it's back to Dad's condo at the OuterBanks for us! Our biggest decision of the day there is whether to go to the pool or the beach!!
New Jersey's Fab Four's First Trip to the World!
Participants: Myself (age 32)
DH (age 36)
DisTwins (age 5)
Week of Aug. 24th to 31st
Our last full day at Disney is here and we have a lot to fit in! However, as we are not in a rush to get to a park at opening, we take advantage of this day as a chance to sleep in a little! After a little bkfast, we begin by returning to Epcot to catch "The Living Seas" (it was closed when we returned at 6:00 the night before and DS and DD LOVE aquariums!). We figure this will be a quick pitstop but ends up taking nearly 4 hours!
The "Characters on Holiday" were scheduled to appear at 10:00 just after we arrived so we wait for them - (TIP - always helpful to ask a CM where the characters will be "stationed" as they are assigned a place to go). DD is delighted to catch up with some new faces (Baloo, Mr. Smee, Pinocchio, Tark) and even decides NOW that she's willing to greet "Mr. Rafiki" (as she calls him!) after being too afraid to approach him the other 5000 times we have seen him!
After Living Seas, DS and DD want to return to Innoventions to play some more video games. Then they request a repeat of the boat ride in Mexico and need to return to Canada to get their masks stamped. We never thought it would take that long, but it was nevertheless an enjoyable start to the day.We head over to Downtown Disney. Note to the shop-a-holics out there - give yourself a whole day here! I only made it through the enormous Disney store and it was already time to return to the WL for some R and R before Spectromagic Parade at MK! (I tell DH that we MUST return before leaving the next day!) Kids really enjoyed the LegoLand play area and were amazed at the Lego Sculptures! There were also rides for the kids (a carousel and train - $2 each, I believe), an AMAZING toy store (I LOVED the many Potato Head parts that you can pack yourself into a box for $16! Picked up a design your own Lincoln Logs set for the same price, too!). LOTS of cute displays and photo ops, too - too bad I broke our camera! The Pin Traders has a nice section devoted to designing your own pin! The kids LOVED doing this and choosing their own parts and background! BTW, if you spend $100 or more, there is no tax!
We head back to WL and DS is able to nap and swim. DD can't sleep so she and I take some time to enjoy the WL. Decide to order some of that great pizza for dinner and get ready to go to the boat dock - tonight is the ONLY night of the week for Spectromagic Parade. This is also Saturday night of Labor Day weekend - the population of the WL felt like it tripled at least! There are SOO many more people and I think ALL of them were going to MK for Spectromagic! We must have just missed a boat because we were among the first in line. Well, over 35 minutes later, another boat FINALLY arrives and even though it is full by the time ALL those people at the boat dock board, we STILL stop at Ft. Wilderness to get MORE people! An hour after getting to the boat dock, we arrive at MK! I am amazed at the volume of people pouring into the park at almost 8:00pm! We get one of the LAST seats left on the train and take it to Frontierland - IMHO, the BEST place to view the parades at MK! They are just setting up the ropes and we get a nice spot right in front.
Spectromagic was terrific! The kids were amazed at the lights and the beauty of it. (Though DD was a bit taken back when the Queen of Hearts approached her!) We had fun waiting for it to begin, singing songs with a toddler sitting next to us (helping to keep him awake for the show!) and sharing "glow" toys with some sweet kids on either side of us! We are not staying for the fireworks since it is after 9:30 and we already saw them on Wed. night. However, the timing of the boat ride back works in our favor and we catch the end of the fireworks show from the front seats of the boat!
Tomorrow is CHECK OUT! I realize many dread this day, but after the busy pace of touring this week and the size of the crowds now for Labor Day Weekend, we are ready to call it quits! I don't know how people go year after year! Next year, it's back to Dad's condo at the OuterBanks for us! Our biggest decision of the day there is whether to go to the pool or the beach!!
