Our second day was our first time in any of the parks and we chose to do MK on an early entry day first.
We woke up, very refreshed from sleeping on those Heavenly Beds at the Dolphin, munched on pop tarts, cereal, and milk from our hotel fridge at 6 or so while the Playhouse Disney Channel blared on and we glanced over at Epcot from our window.
We got onto a MKbound bus from the Dolphin around seven. Can you believe it take about 10 minutes to get from the rooms with a view in the Dolphin to the bus stop outside the lobby?
We figured out the security stop point and then waited on line, moving to the left where there seemed to be less of a crowd (I'm lefthanded, so it's a natural for me) --one of the few advantages we lefties have, I guess.
As time ticked closer, it was pretty exciting. I never got to go to Disneyland as a child (I'm dating myself because there was no WDW then). So, I got pretty teary during that countdown. I wanted to race over to Fantasyland, despite my virtual knowledge not so easily translating into confidence of actual location. My husband was actually already on vacation mode and wanted to stroll. I got agitated at some point imagining that Dumbo line already going around the block. When we actually arrived, it was a short wait.
We all rode Dumbo. Man, was it a short ride.
Peter Pan's Flight was next. My daughter, who was in her preschool's rendition of it the year before, recognized all of it and related very much.
Next came, the Many Adventures of Pooh, which was cute.
Cinderella's Carousel was sweet, too. My daughter wanted to know when Cinderella went on it.
The Mad Tea Party was our fifth stop.
I am leaving out the initial challenge of our vacation. It was virtually a test of a marriage. My husband was having some sort of indigestion problem and kept inserting bathroom breaks for himself. I understood it could not be helped, but I felt this fierce desire to stick with the initial plan. Len Testa had helped us out with it and I knew it would get us through the more popular Fantasyland attractions with little or no problem. Being new, we did not exactly know where things were, which meant we had to allow more time. I would relent, reluctantly to my husband's basic needs, feel like a heel, and then get anxious about possibly missing something (heaven forbid -- I'm actually smiling about this now, but was not smiling then --- talk about nearly ruining a vacation with an attitude!) Oh yes, what made matters worse was that we discovered in the early morning that our limo or the bellman had not left our stroller with us. We had eliminated the bellman from suspicion for this crime at the time of discovery. The limo company acknowledged the problem and promised to deliver it some time that day. We had no stroller for our 5 year old, who, at this time, was holding up fine, but walked at a pace compatible to my lolling husband who was still not feeling up to par.
When we got to It's A Small World and had to wait 5 minutes, I started to wonder if we were falling behind, but had no idea if that was so and if so, what to adjust.
I started feeling a weight. My family seemed to think I knew where everything was, how long it took to wait at each attraction, and how long each ride was as well. I kept insisting that just because I had frequented these boards, conferred with Len, read the Unofficial Guide, I only had a VIRTUAL knowledge, not experience. They did not seem to get it until later in the day.
We went over to Frontierland and over to Splash Mountain. There was a 25 min wait without a Fastpass. Len advised to get a FP is it was longer than 30 mins. It was under that, so we happily joined the line, changing into watershoes and donning ponchos while we waited and moved up the line. My husband wondered if all this fuss was necessary. I kept telling him how some folks had reported on getting fairly wet to drenched, particularly in the front of each vehicle. I'm not a low key anxiety type person. I tend to get dizzy and scare easily. I was hoping for a middle seat. The wait was less than the 25 minutes posted. We got the first row. Still, I was a good sport and off we all went. It was exhilirating, a little thrill/scare and a awfully fun to splash. The ponchos and shoes were overkill this time for us. Later, as we put all the watergear into its place, we noticed some drenched people coming out. Virtually everyone was smiling anyway. We were famished at this point and snacked while we packed up.
We had a 12 PS at Cinderella's Royal Table. I had to virtually have a temper tanrum at this point to get my husband's attention and assistance about what we might try to do prior to that time. Naturally, we were guessing. We decided to go straight to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad since it was nearby. There was another 25 min wait, so we decided to go for it. It was a longer 25 minutes -- more like 30 minutes.
Whenever we went on rides, I suggested that my daughter ride with her father because I'm more of a coward. I explained that I wanted her to have fun trying all these things. Can cowardice be contagious? Anyway, she LOVED it even more than she loved Splash Mountain. I just shut my eyes a couple of times when I started getting dizzy with the "moving scenery". I really enjoyed the motion, but my eyes just can't take certain shifts, I guess.
It was about 10:40.
We went to the Haunted Mansion as planned next. The wait was also 25 minutes. We decided to do this and then go over to the Castle. (Our plan included the Tom Sawyer Island, the WDW Railroad and the Country Bear Jamboree prior to 12 pm. (I think the plan was not at fault, our 4 bathroom breaks combined with the search for these treasures, snack/put the watergear away break, along with my daughter walking everywhere plus our not knowing yet where the key things were located were all factors)
My daughter got scared in the Haunted Mansion. She just shut her eyes and composed a song in her mind which she later reported she sang in her mind (no mouthing, just recall) "The Ghosts Go Home and the Ghosts Go 'Night". Once in a while, she got curious and looked and then dived for my torso with her head to hide.
Based on that, we decided the imagination/reality factor would be the criteria with which we would censor her rides the rest of the trip.
We had a stroll over to the Castle, stopping at Tinkerbell's Treasures.
We got lovely seats for lunch in the Castle. My daughter claimed the Castle looked scarey. We were by the window, overlooking the Carousel. We watched the Sword in the Stone Show as we ordered. My daughter got the chicken nuggets/strips. My husband got Prime Rib and I got the Salmon sandwich. I loved my sandwich. I did not eat the sweet potato fries. My daughter loved her Mickey Mouse straw and passed it to me after use to save as a souvenir. She got the Bippetty Boppetty Brew (spelling?) for dessert along with the souvenir cup. When we walked down to the lobby, guess what princess was sitting on her throne along with a little girl? Well, my daughter gasped. We waited our turn and I took a picture of my princess and the disney one. She got the autograph of Cinderella and then I decided that I could use a little magic, too, and joined the two of them for a picture. Cinderella on this day was not a droopy one as I've read in some reports on the boards. She really treated my daughter like she was a little princess. It was lovely.
Over lunch, my husband started getting that I had as little familiarity with the actual parks as he had. He finally joined in conferring about what we might do and what we might let out. My daughter was deadset on Tom Sawyer Island. Based on Len's report to PhilharMagic when it first opened, we decided to do that and skip the WDW RR and the Country Bear Jamboree.
We just squeezed into the 1:30 PhilharMagic show. It was adorable. We all loved it. After it, my daughter purchased a Dumbo stuffed animal with as much sensitivity and largess as someone might adopt an orphan.
Tom Sawyer Island might have been fun, but without a stroller after lunch, my daughter was dragging, and me as packmule of already too many souvenirs, we were dragging. So, when we left the park 1 1/2 hours after we had hoped to, I was not a pleasant companion.
We followed the crowd out of the park. I asked a CM about how to get to the Dolphin and she directed us up to the monorail ramp. I was suspicious, but went along with it. Another CM at the top of the ramp seemed to offer directions that followed suit: "Get the bus at the TTA, the first stop" So, we got out and saw another CM who told us to take the monorail back to the MK for the bus. That was it. We got the first cab in the TTA parking lot and headed directly to the Dolphin, a bit daunted.
We had planned to rest from about 2 to 5:30 or so. It was about 3:30 when we arrived in the room. We all fell dead asleep. I forgot how much time it took to get out to the bus stop at the Dolphin. Once we were waiting, I realized that there's no way we would make our 6 pm PS at 50s Prime Time Cafe. I tried to call the restaurant, but WDW- Dine did not know how to connect me. The CM on the dine line suggested we take a cab. My husband and I decided to ban our planned tour following dinner in favor of chilling. (We had planned to stroll around the NY backlot tour and enjoy One Man's Dream)
The 50s Prime Time Diner was fun. My husband enjoyed this fried chicken. My chicken caesar was fine. My daughter was disappointed with the mac-n-cheese sauce. (she doesn't like the creamier kind) We asked the waitress not to focus much on the daughter with criticism. So, she praised her and chewed away at us. It was fun to pretend along. The MICKEY MOUSE CLUB came on the black and white TV and we explained the whole thing to our five year old. She caught on and really wants them to revive the club. She nearly memorized the words to the song.
We took a lovely boat ride back to the Dolphin. I started coughing, much like I had for nearly two months prior to the week before our trip. I tried to ignore it -- as if that would make it go away.
I suggested my husband and I decide which attractions for the next day's park excursion to drop, if necessary. I told him how I did not want to play drill sergeant anymore and really needed his help since I knew some things about some things at WDW, but had no experience to go by. I explained how hard it was on me to hear our daugther complain about being tired at MK all day. How bad I felt not knowing what he had thought I knew. I reminded him how I had done all the preparation legwork not to have a rigid, unhappy time, but to aid us in enjoying things and selecting some special attractions for our first time. He finally got it. We discussed what we might drop, if necessary, so as to enjoy the day, not attack the next park, which was Animal Kingdom.
So, my next installment will be about our modified AK tour.
KIS
ps -- FYI: Len is a really helpful consultant with those touringplans. I say this lest you think he's responsible for our fumbling. I think it's bound to happen to first-timers, especially those with a stomach that's off, no stroller when it was considered necessary in advance. If you are using the boards or other resources for your first time trip, please be sure the rest of your family does not consider you an expert. It really nearly ruined our marriage (I'm joking,you know) as well as our day. But, in case you can't tell, we all had lovely family memories.
My daughter liked Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, PhilharMagic. The next day, she claimed Peter Pan was up there, too. Now, a week later, Dumbo and the BTMRR is what she holds as her favorites. I bet if I ask her next week, that will have changed, too.
Stay tuned.
We woke up, very refreshed from sleeping on those Heavenly Beds at the Dolphin, munched on pop tarts, cereal, and milk from our hotel fridge at 6 or so while the Playhouse Disney Channel blared on and we glanced over at Epcot from our window.
We got onto a MKbound bus from the Dolphin around seven. Can you believe it take about 10 minutes to get from the rooms with a view in the Dolphin to the bus stop outside the lobby?
We figured out the security stop point and then waited on line, moving to the left where there seemed to be less of a crowd (I'm lefthanded, so it's a natural for me) --one of the few advantages we lefties have, I guess.
As time ticked closer, it was pretty exciting. I never got to go to Disneyland as a child (I'm dating myself because there was no WDW then). So, I got pretty teary during that countdown. I wanted to race over to Fantasyland, despite my virtual knowledge not so easily translating into confidence of actual location. My husband was actually already on vacation mode and wanted to stroll. I got agitated at some point imagining that Dumbo line already going around the block. When we actually arrived, it was a short wait.
We all rode Dumbo. Man, was it a short ride.
Peter Pan's Flight was next. My daughter, who was in her preschool's rendition of it the year before, recognized all of it and related very much.
Next came, the Many Adventures of Pooh, which was cute.
Cinderella's Carousel was sweet, too. My daughter wanted to know when Cinderella went on it.
The Mad Tea Party was our fifth stop.
I am leaving out the initial challenge of our vacation. It was virtually a test of a marriage. My husband was having some sort of indigestion problem and kept inserting bathroom breaks for himself. I understood it could not be helped, but I felt this fierce desire to stick with the initial plan. Len Testa had helped us out with it and I knew it would get us through the more popular Fantasyland attractions with little or no problem. Being new, we did not exactly know where things were, which meant we had to allow more time. I would relent, reluctantly to my husband's basic needs, feel like a heel, and then get anxious about possibly missing something (heaven forbid -- I'm actually smiling about this now, but was not smiling then --- talk about nearly ruining a vacation with an attitude!) Oh yes, what made matters worse was that we discovered in the early morning that our limo or the bellman had not left our stroller with us. We had eliminated the bellman from suspicion for this crime at the time of discovery. The limo company acknowledged the problem and promised to deliver it some time that day. We had no stroller for our 5 year old, who, at this time, was holding up fine, but walked at a pace compatible to my lolling husband who was still not feeling up to par.
When we got to It's A Small World and had to wait 5 minutes, I started to wonder if we were falling behind, but had no idea if that was so and if so, what to adjust.
I started feeling a weight. My family seemed to think I knew where everything was, how long it took to wait at each attraction, and how long each ride was as well. I kept insisting that just because I had frequented these boards, conferred with Len, read the Unofficial Guide, I only had a VIRTUAL knowledge, not experience. They did not seem to get it until later in the day.
We went over to Frontierland and over to Splash Mountain. There was a 25 min wait without a Fastpass. Len advised to get a FP is it was longer than 30 mins. It was under that, so we happily joined the line, changing into watershoes and donning ponchos while we waited and moved up the line. My husband wondered if all this fuss was necessary. I kept telling him how some folks had reported on getting fairly wet to drenched, particularly in the front of each vehicle. I'm not a low key anxiety type person. I tend to get dizzy and scare easily. I was hoping for a middle seat. The wait was less than the 25 minutes posted. We got the first row. Still, I was a good sport and off we all went. It was exhilirating, a little thrill/scare and a awfully fun to splash. The ponchos and shoes were overkill this time for us. Later, as we put all the watergear into its place, we noticed some drenched people coming out. Virtually everyone was smiling anyway. We were famished at this point and snacked while we packed up.
We had a 12 PS at Cinderella's Royal Table. I had to virtually have a temper tanrum at this point to get my husband's attention and assistance about what we might try to do prior to that time. Naturally, we were guessing. We decided to go straight to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad since it was nearby. There was another 25 min wait, so we decided to go for it. It was a longer 25 minutes -- more like 30 minutes.
Whenever we went on rides, I suggested that my daughter ride with her father because I'm more of a coward. I explained that I wanted her to have fun trying all these things. Can cowardice be contagious? Anyway, she LOVED it even more than she loved Splash Mountain. I just shut my eyes a couple of times when I started getting dizzy with the "moving scenery". I really enjoyed the motion, but my eyes just can't take certain shifts, I guess.
It was about 10:40.
We went to the Haunted Mansion as planned next. The wait was also 25 minutes. We decided to do this and then go over to the Castle. (Our plan included the Tom Sawyer Island, the WDW Railroad and the Country Bear Jamboree prior to 12 pm. (I think the plan was not at fault, our 4 bathroom breaks combined with the search for these treasures, snack/put the watergear away break, along with my daughter walking everywhere plus our not knowing yet where the key things were located were all factors)
My daughter got scared in the Haunted Mansion. She just shut her eyes and composed a song in her mind which she later reported she sang in her mind (no mouthing, just recall) "The Ghosts Go Home and the Ghosts Go 'Night". Once in a while, she got curious and looked and then dived for my torso with her head to hide.
Based on that, we decided the imagination/reality factor would be the criteria with which we would censor her rides the rest of the trip.
We had a stroll over to the Castle, stopping at Tinkerbell's Treasures.
We got lovely seats for lunch in the Castle. My daughter claimed the Castle looked scarey. We were by the window, overlooking the Carousel. We watched the Sword in the Stone Show as we ordered. My daughter got the chicken nuggets/strips. My husband got Prime Rib and I got the Salmon sandwich. I loved my sandwich. I did not eat the sweet potato fries. My daughter loved her Mickey Mouse straw and passed it to me after use to save as a souvenir. She got the Bippetty Boppetty Brew (spelling?) for dessert along with the souvenir cup. When we walked down to the lobby, guess what princess was sitting on her throne along with a little girl? Well, my daughter gasped. We waited our turn and I took a picture of my princess and the disney one. She got the autograph of Cinderella and then I decided that I could use a little magic, too, and joined the two of them for a picture. Cinderella on this day was not a droopy one as I've read in some reports on the boards. She really treated my daughter like she was a little princess. It was lovely.
Over lunch, my husband started getting that I had as little familiarity with the actual parks as he had. He finally joined in conferring about what we might do and what we might let out. My daughter was deadset on Tom Sawyer Island. Based on Len's report to PhilharMagic when it first opened, we decided to do that and skip the WDW RR and the Country Bear Jamboree.
We just squeezed into the 1:30 PhilharMagic show. It was adorable. We all loved it. After it, my daughter purchased a Dumbo stuffed animal with as much sensitivity and largess as someone might adopt an orphan.
Tom Sawyer Island might have been fun, but without a stroller after lunch, my daughter was dragging, and me as packmule of already too many souvenirs, we were dragging. So, when we left the park 1 1/2 hours after we had hoped to, I was not a pleasant companion.
We followed the crowd out of the park. I asked a CM about how to get to the Dolphin and she directed us up to the monorail ramp. I was suspicious, but went along with it. Another CM at the top of the ramp seemed to offer directions that followed suit: "Get the bus at the TTA, the first stop" So, we got out and saw another CM who told us to take the monorail back to the MK for the bus. That was it. We got the first cab in the TTA parking lot and headed directly to the Dolphin, a bit daunted.
We had planned to rest from about 2 to 5:30 or so. It was about 3:30 when we arrived in the room. We all fell dead asleep. I forgot how much time it took to get out to the bus stop at the Dolphin. Once we were waiting, I realized that there's no way we would make our 6 pm PS at 50s Prime Time Cafe. I tried to call the restaurant, but WDW- Dine did not know how to connect me. The CM on the dine line suggested we take a cab. My husband and I decided to ban our planned tour following dinner in favor of chilling. (We had planned to stroll around the NY backlot tour and enjoy One Man's Dream)
The 50s Prime Time Diner was fun. My husband enjoyed this fried chicken. My chicken caesar was fine. My daughter was disappointed with the mac-n-cheese sauce. (she doesn't like the creamier kind) We asked the waitress not to focus much on the daughter with criticism. So, she praised her and chewed away at us. It was fun to pretend along. The MICKEY MOUSE CLUB came on the black and white TV and we explained the whole thing to our five year old. She caught on and really wants them to revive the club. She nearly memorized the words to the song.
We took a lovely boat ride back to the Dolphin. I started coughing, much like I had for nearly two months prior to the week before our trip. I tried to ignore it -- as if that would make it go away.
I suggested my husband and I decide which attractions for the next day's park excursion to drop, if necessary. I told him how I did not want to play drill sergeant anymore and really needed his help since I knew some things about some things at WDW, but had no experience to go by. I explained how hard it was on me to hear our daugther complain about being tired at MK all day. How bad I felt not knowing what he had thought I knew. I reminded him how I had done all the preparation legwork not to have a rigid, unhappy time, but to aid us in enjoying things and selecting some special attractions for our first time. He finally got it. We discussed what we might drop, if necessary, so as to enjoy the day, not attack the next park, which was Animal Kingdom.
So, my next installment will be about our modified AK tour.
KIS
ps -- FYI: Len is a really helpful consultant with those touringplans. I say this lest you think he's responsible for our fumbling. I think it's bound to happen to first-timers, especially those with a stomach that's off, no stroller when it was considered necessary in advance. If you are using the boards or other resources for your first time trip, please be sure the rest of your family does not consider you an expert. It really nearly ruined our marriage (I'm joking,you know) as well as our day. But, in case you can't tell, we all had lovely family memories.
My daughter liked Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, PhilharMagic. The next day, she claimed Peter Pan was up there, too. Now, a week later, Dumbo and the BTMRR is what she holds as her favorites. I bet if I ask her next week, that will have changed, too.
Stay tuned.
