elgerber
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2000
- Messages
- 24,404
Cast of Characters
Erika, me, 32, Disney fanatic for as long as I can remember. Would really love to live in WDW.
Steve, dh, 33, not as fanatic as I, but really enjoys WDW.
Matthew, ds, 8, also not as fanatic, but loves WDW
Alexa 5, huge fanatic, just like me. Also would like to live in WDW.
Day 2, Sunday August 26th
After getting to bed after 11 last night, I crawled out of bed at 7 this morning to get ready to go the MK. Normally I like my kids to get more sleep than that, as I don't want crabby campers, but I know that the MK is the most important park to get to early. While dh was in the shower, I ran to Beaches and Cream to get the HUGE Mickey donuts and some chocolate milk, since we had no breakfast food yet. I got 3 of the donuts and between the 4 of us, there was still some leftover, they are that big. After I ate, I threw everything we needed into bags to hang off the stroller and we were off to the bus stop. A bus for the MK came within just a few minutes, and we were at the gates at 8:45. There seemed to be a ton of people at the gates and on Main St., which had me worried since it was Sunday and the last week in August, which I thought were supposed to be slower times. Turned out, it wasn't bad at all. We headed straight for Fantasyland and had to wait about 10 minutes inside the castle. We had bypassed all the characters that were out signing, because I wanted to get on Dumbo right away. It was already so hot, we were sweating. When they dropped the rope, we went straight to Dumbo. We waited about two rides, then got our turn. My dd hates bugs, and freaked because there was a fly on our elephant. She didn't want to get on, so I was pulling her on, and she fell. What a way to start the day. Luckily, it was not a sign of things to come; she was great for the entire trip. After she got on, I was teasing her about being a crazy elephant driver, since she kept dropping us. She was laughing her little head off. After Dumbo, we walked right on to Pooh. I love walk ons. We wanted to hit Ariel right away, but the Grotto was still closed, so said we should hit the speedway if we wanted to ride that. I have no tolerance for the line for that ride. It was a good move, we were able to go right through the turnstile and up the ramp before we had to stop and wait. By lunchtime the line was 35 minutes long, UGH. After we finished, we found the Grotto open. We had to wait in line for probably about 7-10 minutes, but again, this was nothing compared to what it looked like later. My kids were a little sad that the fountains were off, but they were OK with it. I had given my kids some mini fans I had picked up at the Disney store (remember these fans for later LOL), hers had Ariel and his had Pooh. They were fanning themselves and my ds decided to put it by his sister's ponytail. Her hair got wrapped around the foam blades, but luckily, it unwound with no problems. When we got to Ariel, my dd was all smiles, as she worships princesses. Ariel looks at her and says, "what happened to your teeth?" She has lost 6 already, before Kindergarten. It was such a cute exchange they had about her teeth, then she saw the fan. Ariel made such a big fuss over being on her fan, dd just loved it! After meeting Ariel, we headed toward Peter Pan, the standby line was about 25 minutes. I have no tolerance for that line either, yet I love the ride. We grabbed some fastpasses, then noticed they were letting people in for the Lion King. So we saw the Lion King (with no crying quaking child this time, since she knew the show), then after we got out, it was fastpass time for Pan. We walked right onto our ships from the fastpass line. It was great. I know a lot of people don't like fastpass, but I love it. I think if you use it right, it is a fabulous tool, especially with small kids. My dd was a little sad the Small World was closed, but she didn't complain. We still had some time before lunch at 11:30, so we waked onto the Tea Cups. My son and I hate to get dizzy so we rode separately and spent the whole time trying to keep our Tea Cup from spinning LOL. My dd on the other hand, was spinning dh silly! We still had more time, so we went to see how the Barnstormer looked. I had decided earlier that morning, that we needed to spend 2 mornings at the MK, one for Fantasyland, and one to explore Toon Town as soon as it opened, as I heard the lines for characters and their houses can be awful if you wait too long. So, we were only going to see how the wait for the Barnstormer was now. Sure enough, another walk on. My dd quickly decided this is her new favorite ride. We were now heading to Cosmic Rays for lunch, since we were meeting JiffyJenn and her family for the first time, for lunch. We got there about 11:20 and grabbed two tables to put together. I went up to wait for them, and as soon as I got up by the counter, I heard my name. Turns out they got there first LOL. We had a wonderful lunch with Jenn and her family. They are great, and we hope sometime in the future we may be able to meet again. After we were done eating, the kids were playing with their fans, (I told you to remember them) and this time dd got it too close to my ponytail! Only this time it didn't come right out. It took my dh a long time of trying to untangle it, before we ended up just cutting it out. I don't think too much got cut, as I haven't been able to notice it, since we got home. After lunch, we checked out Buzz, but the fastpass time was a couple of hours out, and the standby was 60 minutes. We promised ds that we would come back another day for Buzz and the people mover. We wanted to try Aladdin before we left, so we walked over there, only to discover yet another walk on. I couldn't believe you could walk on anything in the afternoon in the summer, but we did. I think this ride is cute, especially for the kids. I really appreciated the spitting camels as well, felt great in the heat. We had enough of the heat by now, and headed back to the bus stop. I had not yet been in a gift shop and it was killing me! I live to shop Disney. We got back to our room, and what do you know, our UPS box was actually waiting for us. We spent the afternoon in Stormalong Bay, then hopped a bus back to the MK, then walked to the Contemporary for our dinner at Chef Mickey's. Last time we had to wait about 15 minutes to be seated, so I expected the same. This time I checked in and went to the lounge where my kids were looking out at the lake. I sunk into a great cushy chair, then my buzzer went off. Very quick seating tonight. We had a great dinner, and just love seeing Mickey! I just had to buy something at this point, so went to check out the pin cart. $67 later I was done LOL. Those pins are addicting. We then went up to the observation deck to check out the view. We have never been up here before. WOW. I could not go to the edge though, as I have a fear of heights. We hopped the monorail and rode to Epcot. We did a walk on on Spaceship Earth and then strolled through the showcase before Illuminations. It was about 8:45 so I figured we wouldn't get much of a spot, but while walking we found a front row spot with a perfect view near Germany. I think it was the best view we had yet, even better than our Illuminations cruise last year. I was so surprised the crowds weren't higher. We were very hot and sticky, but Illuminations is so worth it. I could watch that every night, it just moves me for some reason. When it was over my dd said "I like that, it gave me goosebumps!". First time she's ever said that. We made our way out, and I headed to the Boardwalk for milk, since we had our cooler now, and dh and the kids went back to get ready for bed.
Erika, me, 32, Disney fanatic for as long as I can remember. Would really love to live in WDW.
Steve, dh, 33, not as fanatic as I, but really enjoys WDW.
Matthew, ds, 8, also not as fanatic, but loves WDW
Alexa 5, huge fanatic, just like me. Also would like to live in WDW.
Day 2, Sunday August 26th
After getting to bed after 11 last night, I crawled out of bed at 7 this morning to get ready to go the MK. Normally I like my kids to get more sleep than that, as I don't want crabby campers, but I know that the MK is the most important park to get to early. While dh was in the shower, I ran to Beaches and Cream to get the HUGE Mickey donuts and some chocolate milk, since we had no breakfast food yet. I got 3 of the donuts and between the 4 of us, there was still some leftover, they are that big. After I ate, I threw everything we needed into bags to hang off the stroller and we were off to the bus stop. A bus for the MK came within just a few minutes, and we were at the gates at 8:45. There seemed to be a ton of people at the gates and on Main St., which had me worried since it was Sunday and the last week in August, which I thought were supposed to be slower times. Turned out, it wasn't bad at all. We headed straight for Fantasyland and had to wait about 10 minutes inside the castle. We had bypassed all the characters that were out signing, because I wanted to get on Dumbo right away. It was already so hot, we were sweating. When they dropped the rope, we went straight to Dumbo. We waited about two rides, then got our turn. My dd hates bugs, and freaked because there was a fly on our elephant. She didn't want to get on, so I was pulling her on, and she fell. What a way to start the day. Luckily, it was not a sign of things to come; she was great for the entire trip. After she got on, I was teasing her about being a crazy elephant driver, since she kept dropping us. She was laughing her little head off. After Dumbo, we walked right on to Pooh. I love walk ons. We wanted to hit Ariel right away, but the Grotto was still closed, so said we should hit the speedway if we wanted to ride that. I have no tolerance for the line for that ride. It was a good move, we were able to go right through the turnstile and up the ramp before we had to stop and wait. By lunchtime the line was 35 minutes long, UGH. After we finished, we found the Grotto open. We had to wait in line for probably about 7-10 minutes, but again, this was nothing compared to what it looked like later. My kids were a little sad that the fountains were off, but they were OK with it. I had given my kids some mini fans I had picked up at the Disney store (remember these fans for later LOL), hers had Ariel and his had Pooh. They were fanning themselves and my ds decided to put it by his sister's ponytail. Her hair got wrapped around the foam blades, but luckily, it unwound with no problems. When we got to Ariel, my dd was all smiles, as she worships princesses. Ariel looks at her and says, "what happened to your teeth?" She has lost 6 already, before Kindergarten. It was such a cute exchange they had about her teeth, then she saw the fan. Ariel made such a big fuss over being on her fan, dd just loved it! After meeting Ariel, we headed toward Peter Pan, the standby line was about 25 minutes. I have no tolerance for that line either, yet I love the ride. We grabbed some fastpasses, then noticed they were letting people in for the Lion King. So we saw the Lion King (with no crying quaking child this time, since she knew the show), then after we got out, it was fastpass time for Pan. We walked right onto our ships from the fastpass line. It was great. I know a lot of people don't like fastpass, but I love it. I think if you use it right, it is a fabulous tool, especially with small kids. My dd was a little sad the Small World was closed, but she didn't complain. We still had some time before lunch at 11:30, so we waked onto the Tea Cups. My son and I hate to get dizzy so we rode separately and spent the whole time trying to keep our Tea Cup from spinning LOL. My dd on the other hand, was spinning dh silly! We still had more time, so we went to see how the Barnstormer looked. I had decided earlier that morning, that we needed to spend 2 mornings at the MK, one for Fantasyland, and one to explore Toon Town as soon as it opened, as I heard the lines for characters and their houses can be awful if you wait too long. So, we were only going to see how the wait for the Barnstormer was now. Sure enough, another walk on. My dd quickly decided this is her new favorite ride. We were now heading to Cosmic Rays for lunch, since we were meeting JiffyJenn and her family for the first time, for lunch. We got there about 11:20 and grabbed two tables to put together. I went up to wait for them, and as soon as I got up by the counter, I heard my name. Turns out they got there first LOL. We had a wonderful lunch with Jenn and her family. They are great, and we hope sometime in the future we may be able to meet again. After we were done eating, the kids were playing with their fans, (I told you to remember them) and this time dd got it too close to my ponytail! Only this time it didn't come right out. It took my dh a long time of trying to untangle it, before we ended up just cutting it out. I don't think too much got cut, as I haven't been able to notice it, since we got home. After lunch, we checked out Buzz, but the fastpass time was a couple of hours out, and the standby was 60 minutes. We promised ds that we would come back another day for Buzz and the people mover. We wanted to try Aladdin before we left, so we walked over there, only to discover yet another walk on. I couldn't believe you could walk on anything in the afternoon in the summer, but we did. I think this ride is cute, especially for the kids. I really appreciated the spitting camels as well, felt great in the heat. We had enough of the heat by now, and headed back to the bus stop. I had not yet been in a gift shop and it was killing me! I live to shop Disney. We got back to our room, and what do you know, our UPS box was actually waiting for us. We spent the afternoon in Stormalong Bay, then hopped a bus back to the MK, then walked to the Contemporary for our dinner at Chef Mickey's. Last time we had to wait about 15 minutes to be seated, so I expected the same. This time I checked in and went to the lounge where my kids were looking out at the lake. I sunk into a great cushy chair, then my buzzer went off. Very quick seating tonight. We had a great dinner, and just love seeing Mickey! I just had to buy something at this point, so went to check out the pin cart. $67 later I was done LOL. Those pins are addicting. We then went up to the observation deck to check out the view. We have never been up here before. WOW. I could not go to the edge though, as I have a fear of heights. We hopped the monorail and rode to Epcot. We did a walk on on Spaceship Earth and then strolled through the showcase before Illuminations. It was about 8:45 so I figured we wouldn't get much of a spot, but while walking we found a front row spot with a perfect view near Germany. I think it was the best view we had yet, even better than our Illuminations cruise last year. I was so surprised the crowds weren't higher. We were very hot and sticky, but Illuminations is so worth it. I could watch that every night, it just moves me for some reason. When it was over my dd said "I like that, it gave me goosebumps!". First time she's ever said that. We made our way out, and I headed to the Boardwalk for milk, since we had our cooler now, and dh and the kids went back to get ready for bed.
inkbounc 
