Easter Crowds + Lots of Fun Anyway= One Magical Trip and a Completed Trip Report!!:)

[Mickey_Mom]

I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. The first time we went (I've never seen them come out on the train by the way... that's awesome!) I cried like a baby seeing the castle.

OK..... so maybe everytime I've gone I cry like a baby seeing the castle, but to be fair, I never know when its going to be my last time. It's getting harder to handle the expense (winning lottery ticket anyone? ....anyone? <<crickets chirping>> ) but until then

 

[Angies1274]

I totally get it! I hear people say they won't go because they don't like amusement parks or they don't want to stand in lines....it's just so much more than that. It's all about the feeling you get when you round the corner to see Cinderella Castle in the distance or hear the train whistle. It's seeing your kids enjoy being KIDS and embracing Mickey or Donald. It's the joy you get from the music of the afternoon parade or the smell of popcorn. I guess you either "get" it or you don't, but how sad if you don't! Great mini-update Angie!

I know...it's so sad if you don't "get" it. A few years ago, my boss at the time had decided to take her daughter to WDW. She didn't plan anything and just went. I hadn't discovered the Disboards yet or I would have at least tried to help her. Anyways she came back and all she did was complain...it was too hot, too crowded, not worth the money etc, etc... I listened to her but being so in love with everything Disney, I just smiled but didn't say anything. Our trip was magical because we "got" it.... Just seeing my boys faces light up when they saw Goofy (their favorite) for the very first time or watching them brave BTMR (their first roller coaster) and love it!! There are so many reasons we love it!! I could go on all day.

Loving your trip report!!!

just found it this morning...

glad you had such a great time, can't wait for more.....

I am so glad you stopped by!!! We did have a great trip!! So many great memories, and to think I spent so many months worrying about crowds, touring plans, etc... It was definitely worth it though

I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. The first time we went (I've never seen them come out on the train by the way... that's awesome!) I cried like a baby seeing the castle.

OK..... so maybe everytime I've gone I cry like a baby seeing the castle, but to be fair, I never know when its going to be my last time. It's getting harder to handle the expense (winning lottery ticket anyone? ....anyone? <<crickets chirping>> ) but until then

Isn't it an awesome feeling seeing the castle for the first time!! It seems more wonderful every time I see it. If that's possible? I know what you mean about the expenses. We are extremely fortunate to be able to take two trips this year. Ever since we came back last year from our first trip we have been trying to talk my parent's into coming with us. They finally agreed a week after we came back but my dad said if we were going to do it he wanted to do it this year as a surprise for my mom for their 35th wedding anniversary. So with a lot of planning and reorganizing we decided to head back in August. As of right now, we're not sure about next year's trip-- but we are hoping....... Hey, but the lottery idea sounds good to me. We can dream can't we!!!!

 

[Angies1274]

I'm hoping to get another update up tomorrow afternoon. School is winding down for the boys. So it's getting pretty busy around here. Anyways, I noticed today when showing a friend my TR on her computer--(she has IE) that my pictures were all jumbled together. They are not like that on my computer...... or I would have fixed them sooner Sorry about that for anyone who was viewing them that way. It should be much easier now.

 

[Angies1274]

I'm so excited to be doing this update!!As you already know, I don't feel our vacation officially begins until Magic Kingdom. Everything about this park is so magical--the sights,the sounds, the smells and especially the look on my boys faces when they see their favorite character or ride their favorite ride. It's just awesome. Last year, was wonderful but we didn't get to experience a parade or even fireworks. So we were very anxious for this day to begin, we had many firsts that we wanted to accomplish. So let's begin...

Saturday, April 18th--Sometime around 5:30am I rolled out of bed, I was filled with lots of nervous anticipation. Even though everyone else was sleeping, I stumbled around in the dark, trying to gather all the days essentials--sunscreen-check, camera--check and so on and so on. It was basically just to keep me busy until everyone woke up. We wanted to get an early start because we were attempting our first EMH and on a Saturday, during Easter. Now everything I have read says to avoid EMH and especially on a Saturday, but we had good reason!!! (honest) The day before Magic Kingdom had EMH both for the morning and night, so we thought it would be much busier then. We were hoping that everyone was up really late at MK the night before and we would have the parks to ourselves. Okay, maybe not to ourselves but it would work. (or at least we were hoping it would.) You'll see.. Okay enough was enough, I was too excited and couldn't wait any longer I started moving things around rather loudly I might add, and then finally even switching on the TV to get their attention. They finally poked their heads up all groggy-like but after reminding them it was Magic Kingdom day!! They jumped out of bed--okay maybe not jumped but they started moving a little faster anyway.

Now, last year I didn't really know too much about photopass and although this year we didn't use it as much as I would have liked. I knew that I wanted a picture of all of us in front of the castle. I even purchased semi-matching shirts for this day.So I carefully handed the shirts out to the boys and reminded them to try and be careful at least until after the picture was taken. My plan was to have it taken when we first arrived at MK and I was pretty confident it would be fine.....
I should have known better..........

We were making extremely good time. We got to the food court around 6:30am. It might have been even a little earlier. I do remember that nothing was open yet, so we went over to grab some muffins for everyone and a fruit bowl to share and drinks for the boys. We stopped to grab some coffee and were off to find a seat. It was extremely quiet-- I took one bite of my muffin and looked up to see chocolate milk spill everywhere, the table, the chair but mostly all over my DS9 and his new shirt!! You remember the one for the pictures..... of course I knew it was just an accident--apparently he went to reach for some fruit and hit this milk by mistake. So we quickly grabbed our food and headed back to the room--where he changed into new clothes and I spent the next half hour scrubbing his shirt clean and blow drying it. Luckily it was his shorts that got the worse of it.

So finally at around 7:25am, we boarded the bus to Magic Kingdom, here's a picture of DH and the boys on the bus-

And in no time at all, we were pulling up to Magic Kingdom and making our way to the front gates--

We still had a few minutes before opening so the boys grabbed a hula-hoop and started playing--

Since it was an EMH there was no opening show on the train (we really missed that.) But, Mickey still came out and we did the countdown to the opening of the park. .......5,4,3,2,1--"Welcome to the Magic Kingdom Park" and that's all we heard as we started racing forward with the crowd to get inside. I'm sorry I don't have more pictures as we were walking toward the castle this time (by the way it had the same affect on me as last year) I decided to video this part instead but here's a few of the castle up close---We finally made it back!!!!

Here is the photopass picture that we got. (In all of our other pics, DS9 was looking away--he still did a little bit in this one but it's better than the others)

We decided that our first ride was going to be Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. The boys love this ride and have a great time competing with each other to get the higher score. I actually think DH ended up with the highest--the boys were not happy. Mine was pretty pathetic so we'll go on... Here's some pictures from Tommorrowland-

After Buzz, we immediately headed up toward the castle to ride Winnie the Pooh--

As you can tell, I'm pretty far behind--but I was so busy taking pictures.
continued on next post.......

 

[Angies1274]

I ended up taking videos inside the ride, since no flash pictures are allowed (very understandable) Our next ride was Peter Pan's Flight we heard it got busy very quickly and thought we better ride it as soon as we could. It was our first time riding it and DS6 loved it. He was pointing at everything we saw. He had a great time!!!
We figured that we might as well hit IASW while we were right there. It was another first for us this year. (you are probably asking yourself..hmmm..what did they ride last year.) Despite having the song in my head for the rest of the day...just kidding, I couldn't resist. It was fun and relaxing ride. The boys liked it--the only thing that would have made it a little better is if we hadn't had some older kids sitting behind us, going on about how it was so boring...... oh well--we enjoyed it!! Some pictures....

By this time it was getting very close to nine o'clock so we decided to hang out near the entrance of Liberty Square so we could work our way over to BTMR when the rope dropped. At nine o'clock exactly the rope did drop and all I can say is WOW! Now I have ran for fastpasses before for Soarin', etc when the park first opens but never headed to ride after an EMH. People seemed to come from every direction all running to one place--Frontierland!! We grabbed the boys hands and followed the mass of people. I have to say, I breathed a sigh of relief when we actually made it there. Here are some pictures before we got on the ride--(taken with boys camera-I was videotaping again!!)

After the ride finished we grabbed some fastpasses to ride again later and hopped on the train to Toontown--

Once we arrived, we stopped to ride Goofy's Barnstormer--a couple times and then headed out to Mad Tea Party--
Some pics of Goofy's--

When I rode Mad Tea Party last year, it made me extremely dizzy so I decided to opt out this time--it did give me a great opportunity to take a lot of pictures!!!

The boys decided they wanted to ride the Tomorrowland Speedway, but I wasn't too sure. Let's just say that they both had a hard time keeping it straight and both DH and I agreed that we had spent more time being jerked back and forth than anything else. That's probably why they loved it so much!!!! Here's some pics-

We were almost able to use our fastpass for BTMR but we thought we would explore Mickey and Minnie's house first before we took the train back over to Frontierland.

Okay, so by this time it's probably only around 10:30 or so-- I think we have gotten a lot accomplished. We decide to take the train and head back to ride BTMR, stopping quickly to grab a fastpass for Splash Mountain on the way. We get in line for BTMR, excited to ride again and it takes off. The boys are screaming and have a great time, we start going up the hill and all of sudden the ride stops. I couldn't believe it--we were stuck and going up a hill--double
How long would it take before the ride started again? Would we ever get to ride Splash Mountain?? To be continued.............

 

[mickeystoontown]

Whew! You guys sure did a lot in just a short period of time! Great pictures!

 

[Angies1274]

Whew! You guys sure did a lot in just a short period of time! Great pictures!

We were able to get a lot done that morning. Although I was doubtful at first--EMH worked for us!! Every ride was pretty much a walk-on with the exception of Tommorrowland Speedway. The boys don't like to slow down--so it was a pretty busy morning. Luckily, later that night we took it easier so we could enjoy the sights.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Beautiful MK pictures! They take me back!

I love the shirts...we got very similar ones for this trip, but we got Goofy, Grumpy, Mickey, Tink, and Donald. Love the PP pic of the family in front of the castle!

I don't do Teacups either! NO THANK YOU!

Looks like EMH was a hit! We tend to go against advice and do EMH as well. It has always seemed to work for us! (and we don't ever do park hoppers)

 

[Angies1274]

Beautiful MK pictures! They take me back!

I love the shirts...we got very similar ones for this trip, but we got Goofy, Grumpy, Mickey, Tink, and Donald. Love the PP pic of the family in front of the castle!

I don't do Teacups either! NO THANK YOU!

Looks like EMH was a hit! We tend to go against advice and do EMH as well. It has always seemed to work for us! (and we don't ever do park hoppers)

Thanks!! I noticed that our shirts were similar. I thought it would be a great idea without being too matchy.

Oh--the Teacups are horrible. Every time I think of them it reminds me of that Samantha Brown Disney Special on the Travel Channel. Have you seen it? Anyways she hollers out to all the parent's riding with their children--"You're taking one for the team", she says she can't even look at the ride because it makes her dizzy. I would have to agree!!!

EMH was a hit!! We don't do Park hoppers either so we were a little nervous about how it was going to be when we returned to the park later in the day after a rest and it was fine. We didn't have any problems riding the rides that we wanted to.

 

[Angies1274]

When I left off, we had just gotten on BTMR. The boys love this ride. So we were all excited to ride it again. Like I said before, they were screaming, hands in the air thrilled to be riding when all of a sudden the ride begins to slow down as we climb the hill. I wish I could be more specific and tell you exactly where we were but we've only rode the ride a few times. So anyway we get half way up the hill and the ride just stops. We look at each other....confused but we are confident that the ride is going to begin again soon...so we wait.....and wait.....and wait. Finally, a CM comes and tells us they are having difficulty getting the ride to start again and that we will have to get off the train and they would show us the way out. So we carefully moved along the side of the track holding tightly to the boys hands until we came to a door that led us below the ride and again we waited down there until they made sure that everyone had made it off the ride safely. When, what did I see out of the corner of my eye....a flash of light...someone took a picture. Now, I didn't think anything of it at the time until the CM came out and asked the person if they did take a picture because they would have to delete it--no pictures below the ride!! The person denied it of course.(I must have been seeing things) Then they led us out stopping to give us each a fastpass to be used on any of the fastpass rides at the park. Cool So although we were disappointed that we didn't get to ride BTMR again at least we would be able to ride something else later with no wait!!

We hurried out glancing at our Fastpasses for Splash Mountain. We were stuck for quite a while so I was afraid our window to ride Splash Mountain would be gone. But lucky for us it was fine and we got in line to ride it for the very first time. Now, I don't mind getting a little wet but I'm not fond of the whole soaking wet idea. It was a mild day, not overly warm but still warm outside so getting a little refreshed didn't sound to bad. I knew as long as I wasn't in the very front of the log that I should be fine or so at least I read. They must have saw me coming because of course that exactly where I ended up sitting with DS6. I tried to switch but no one wanted to. So just as the ride starts (now remember I have never rode on it before) a HUGE splash of water completely soaks me from the side (it was from the people coming down the hill) So the ride had barely begun and already I was soaked!!! I recovered. and really did have a great time on the ride. It's definitely a must do again for our next trip but next time I'm making DH sit up front.
Here's a picture of Splash Mountain on our way by---

By this time it was around noon and the boys were getting hungry so we decided to head over to Pecos Bills for Lunch. It was very busy in there and we had some difficulty at first finding a table but we found one. We all ordered burgers because we love their toppings bar. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the food or the restaurant inside. I was hungry and wet and honestly wasn't thinking about taking pictures at that moment.

So after lunch, the boys wanted to go back to the pool and swim for a little while and it sounded good to me--just so I could change into some drier clothes. I know I'm a wimp As we were making our way out of MK for the morning we stopped to watch the Parade (or actually I guess it's more of a street party) I got the first half on video but here are some pictures I got of the end--

A picture looking up Main Street (it was around 12:45pm)

Enjoying the parade/street party!!!

So that's it for our first morning at Magic Kingdom. I think we were able to get quite a lot accomplished despite the milk mishap before we left, getting stuck on BTMR and getting soaked on Splash Mountain. But there was more to come later that night. Would we finally make it to Wishes this year? You'll have to wait and see.
to be continued........

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Now that's an experience not everyone gets! It stinks to be stuck, but how cool to do something unique! Was it scary walking down? My DH is afraid of heights and that's his only reservation when riding a roller coaster...that he'll have to walk down!


Pecos Bills was crowded for us too, but we love the toppings bar. YUM!

We didn't catch that street party at MK. Looks fun!

 

[Angies1274]

Now that's an experience not everyone gets! It stinks to be stuck, but how cool to do something unique! Was it scary walking down? My DH is afraid of heights and that's his only reservation when riding a roller coaster...that he'll have to walk down!


Pecos Bills was crowded for us too, but we love the toppings bar. YUM!

We didn't catch that street party at MK. Looks fun!

It wasn't too bad walking down because there were stairs along the side. (if I remember, right....) The only time it got a little tricky was when we had to cross over the track to get to the door to go underneath the ride. We had to cross on a very skinny plank or at least at seemed that way--maybe because I was holding on DS6 as we were crossing and I was trying to be extra careful.

We caught the Street Party 3 different times while we were there. We always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Yay for the street party! That looks like a blast! I don't remember Woody and Jessie being in any other parade we've seen so far. My DS4 is starting to get into the other Disney movies from the collection we have (you mean there are other movies than Cars??) and his favorites so far are Toy Story and Toy Story 2.

Love seeing the pictures!

 

[Angies1274]

Yay for the street party! That looks like a blast! I don't remember Woody and Jessie being in any other parade we've seen so far. My DS4 is starting to get into the other Disney movies from the collection we have (you mean there are other movies than Cars??) and his favorites so far are Toy Story and Toy Story 2.

Love seeing the pictures!

I know...the street party was so fun!!! Lots of great characters!! We were able to see it about 3 times on our trip and the music is so catchy--I'm still singing it. Your kids will love it!

My DS6 loves the Toy Story movies and was so excited to see Woody and Jessie!! We recently went to see the movie UP and loved it!! Have you seen it? Anyways, we are hoping to be able to see the characters when we go back in August.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

We recently went to see the movie UP and loved it!! Have you seen it? Anyways, we are hoping to be able to see the characters when we go back in August.

We went to the Real-D version (my DS13 pointed out to me recently it wasn't 3-D like where things pop out at you - Real-D is they just look real instead of flat) on the Friday that it premeired. The theatre was packed ... squirrel!... and it was so much fun and the movie was superb. My DS13 went back for a second time to see it with friends and my DD12 is going back this Wednesday to see it with her class.

Do you mean the UP characters will be there in August? If so that will be awesome!!!

 

[Angies1274]

Do you mean the UP characters will be there in August? If so that will be awesome!!!

Yes--I read on another TR, that they just came back and were able to see all the characters from UP, including Carl,Russell,and Dug. They are at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the Animation Building for Meet and Greet. The boys are very excited (me too) It was such an awesome movie and very heartfelt.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Yes--I read on another TR, that they just came back and were able to see all the characters from UP, including Carl,Russell,and Dug. They are at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the Animation Building for Meet and Greet. The boys are very excited (me too) It was such an awesome movie and very heartfelt.

 

[Angies1274]

If you have been following along today would be--Day 3 (Magic Kingdom Day!) We had just left MK for the afternoon and were headed back to Pop for some dry clothes for me and some relaxation for DH and some pool time for the boys. We tried to take the boys back to the pool in the afternoon every day this trip. Last year, it was cold and windy when we were there so they didn't get anytime in the pool, so I promised them that this trip would be different.
Here they are having fun!! (I could never get them to look at me long enough while they were splashing away to get a good picture.)

After the boys played in the pool for a little while, we decided to figure out where we wanted to eat. I was still full from lunch but I knew the boys who barely eaten lunch (I have some picky eaters) were getting hungry. As a matter of fact DS6 would be happy having PB&J at every meal. Our original plan was to head back to MK early so we could eat at Cosmic Ray's but the boys didn't want to wait and we just headed down to the food court again-ugh!! (I know boring--right?) Here we are at Disney--we should be trying new places to eat, last year we ate at so many different and fun places. This year we wanted quick and although it was convenient--I am so happy we are doing the regular dining plan again in August (and it's free--how much better can it get)
So anyway after dinner, I'll spare you the details because honestly I can't even remember what I got--probably a salad again. We decided to head back to MK to ride a few more rides and try to catch Spectomagic and Wishes. This was our first time seeing both and we were very excited!! We are a very musical family and love all kinds of music. When we came back last year from our first trip, after falling in love with the Finding Nemo Musical at AK, I purchased the CD and we listened and sang along to it in the car for months. I was very disappointed last year when we couldn't make it to watch Wishes, so I found it on You Tube and we listened to the music for months before this trip--even the boys knew it by heart. I couldn't wait to see my boys reactions.
Here is a picture of DS6 on our way to catch the buses to MK--

Now... Can you tell he's excited!!!
When we arrived back at MK, we decided that we would head to Adventureland. We had planned to use our Fastpass that we got on BTMR (when we got stuck) for the Jungle Cruise. We didn't get to see it last year and after checking the Tip board we saw the wait time was quite long and figured it would be a good choice. We weren't too sure what to expect because DH is not much for corny jokes, and he definitely doesn't like to be singled out but we hoped for the best and boarded our boat. We got to sit in the very front and DS6 was chosen to be Jr. Skipper. We actually enjoyed the ride despite the corny jokes (even DH enjoyed it) I'm sorry though I don't have any pictures of this ride--not sure why--I thought for sure I took some.
After the Jungle Cruise the boys decided that they wanted to ride Magic Carpets of Aladdin. They liked it last year, especially because the camel squirts water. So DS9 was always trying to position us so I would get wet again and he did a very good job.
Here are some pictures while we were waiting in line....

We decided from here to head back through Liberty Square and then over to Fantasyland to see Mickey's Philharmagic. We love this show!! It's so much fun!!

After Mickey's Philharmagic, since we were right there we decided to ride the Carousel. I was able to get a few pictures from behind the castle.

We decided to stop and let the boys try and pull out the sword (great photo-op ) But wouldn't you know it people kept walking by or there kids would jump in to touch the sword while I was trying to take the picture. I was starting to get really frustrated because...Hello! I have a camera in front of my face and my child is holding on to the sword smiling. I was standing by another family and the mom leans over to me because they were waiting patiently to get a picture of her kids also and said "Some people just don't understand what's it's all about." I couldn't agree with her more. We finally were able to get a picture of DS6 but DS9 (who can be sometimes shy despite my telling him to just get in there decided he would wait until later.) Here is the picture we were finally able to get!!

After all that we decided to make our way through the castle to try and find a spot for the parade.

There were hula hoops set out again so the boys decided to play a little--

One last pictures before we headed to find a spot--

I'm going to stop here for now because I have to go pick up the boys from school--It's their very last day!!! I will finish this update later this afternoon.
to be continued......

 

[mickeystoontown]

Fantastic updates. I know this sounds weird, but I think I would have liked getting stuck on the ride just so I could get a "behind the scenes" look-see.
Cool that you got a Fastpass though.

I guess we really should take afternoon swim breaks but can never make ourselves leave the parks. Instead, we find a nice place to sit and relax and people watch. A swim might just be better.

Looking forward to your next update.

 

[Angies1274]

Fantastic updates. I know this sounds weird, but I think I would have liked getting stuck on the ride just so I could get a "behind the scenes" look-see.
Cool that you got a Fastpass though.

I guess we really should take afternoon swim breaks but can never make ourselves leave the parks. Instead, we find a nice place to sit and relax and people watch. A swim might just be better.

Looking forward to your next update.

Thanks! Although we were disappointed we weren't able to finish the ride(especially since it's the boys favorite)it was pretty cool to see some of the "behind the scenes" stuff.

The boys love the pool break in the afternoon!! DH and I would prefer to stay in the parks-- but we know they wouldn't last the whole day.