This is my first time writing a trip report and am going off memory -- I'm sure I left a few things out. Any questions let me know!
Cast of Characters:
DW and I (Kimberly & Dan - 20's)
Dan's Uncle Ken & Aunt Dawn
Uncle Ken & Aunt Dawn's Children Drew (7) and Jessica (5)
Kim's Cousin Janelle (20's)
Stayed at Beach Club Villas in a 2 Bedroom
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Background: Kim and I are both longtime Disney fans. Engaged at Disney (1999), Disney-themed Wedding (2001), and honeymooned at GF & DCL. Joined DVC in 2003. This is our third stay this year. First trip for little cousins Drew & Jessica.
Before the trip, Drew & Jessica were given birthday presents of autograph books, some Disney dollars, "Guest of Honor" name tags, maps of all the parks, and starter pin trading sets. We prepared "Fairy Godmother" envelopes for each day (see later on for details)
A kind Passporter also sent them both a personalized postcard before the trip. They REALLY liked that.
Day 1 - Sunday Dec 5
Drew & Jessica have never flown before, but they didn't seem to have any problems. Jess sat with Mom and Drew with Dad. They were awake at 4:30am to get ready for the flight that arrived in Orlando at 10:30am. We had scheduled a pickup with FL TOURS in a van. Driver was waiting for us... no problems. Off to a good start! Grocery stop was at Goodings (OUCH - high prices!)
Arrived at Beach Club around noon. A long check in line, but there was a CM behind every computer. Everyone else sat in lobby and looked in the store. Room wasn't ready this was our third DVC stay this year and each time we've never had to wait for a room. Called every 15 minutes to see if ready. It wasn't ready until about 4:05... this was after they told us they would put a rush on it since the kids were already restless. I know the check-in policy isn't until 4, but was surprised it really took until *4:00*. Our groceries weren't put in cold storage. Not sure why not, but we wondered if our milk, etc. was spoiled. We figured that it was probably OK only being out 4 hours.
So we get our room! 201. Far end of the hall on the second floor. We let our Aunt & Uncle stay in the "master" bedroom. No problems with the room at all -- We figured it would make it easier to deal with the kids having a separate bath and shower. The kids slept in the main room on the couch/bed. We slept in the other room. Kids find the "Fairy Godmother" envelope sitting in the room a few minutes later. Before we left, we printed up little Fairy Godmother letters to the kids welcoming them to Disney, telling them what they can see each day, etc.
On the envelope was a pin for each of them and two disposable cameras. Each day the Fairy Godmother asked also them to write a little letter about the things they saw and liked. Each day they also got a pin for each of them to add to their collections and trade. On the last day there were some Disney Dollars for them to spend and all of the little letters they wrote were returned so they had something to remember...
So the Fairy Godmother told them they were going to get to go on a sleigh ride at Wilderness Lodge. We scheduled two of these back to back so they could go as a family once, and the kids got to go for a second time with Kim and her cousin Janelle. Jessica took an immediate liking to Janelle and they become really good friends throughout the trip. Jessica said she wants Janelle to be her new babysitter!
We also brought along about 150 glow sticks we got off ebay awhile ago for the kids. Each night we let them have about 10 or 20... They enjoyed playing with them that night making bracelets, necklaces, etc. They also went to sleep with them and made good nightlights. We ate lunch that day at Hurricane Hannah's and dinner after the sleigh ride was at Roaring Forks. Both kids were getting sleepy at this point and I believe Jessica fell asleep on the bus that night. A preview of things to come.
Day 2 - Monday - Chef Mickeys & Magic Kingdom
Time to get up early and go to Chef Mickeys! Drew and Jess fought over who was opening the letter from the Fairy Godmother. They each grabbed their autograph books and were ready to go! Got a bus to MK and was able to get them seats in the front of the monorail. They got the "Monorail Pilot" licenses too. Breakfast at Chef Mickey's was great. They warmed up to the characters right away. Jess talked the rest of the day about eating Goofy's Pizza for Breakfast. Drew already started trading pins with CM's at the Contemporary. He already used over half of his pictures. We weren't able to add another person to the PS so Janelle ate at the room and met up with us at MK.
Before the trip, it seemed that Drew was a bit apprehensive to ride some of the "big" rides. Jessica was the total opposite. Both enjoyed BTTMR, Splash, PotC, HM. Lines were only about 10 minutes for each of these rides. Each time Jessica wanted to ride again, but we had too much to see and do to keep going back! Drew was jumping up and grabbing things at Philharmagic. Jessica rode Dumbo and the carousel with Kim.
From there, we used FP's for Buzz, saw the parade (Jessica's favorite Sleeping Beauty waved to her!) then went to Stitch's Great Escape. Both wanted to go back to the "house" to get a little rest. We went back later that night for Spectromagic and Wishes. Drew got on Ken's shoulders while Jess sat on Janelle's shoulders to get a good view. After seeing Wishes, Jessica went out like a light. She was lugged the rest of the night back to the room. When we got back to the room, Drew went swimming with Kim, Janelle, and I. Stormalong was closed at 8:00 so we went to one of the other quiet pools. Drew seemed to like the hot tub. Upon arrival back in the room, Drew wrote his first letter to the Fairy Godmother and saw Daddy and Jess both sound asleep on the bed.
Day 3 - Tuesday - Animal Kingdom
Everyone was up early and off to AK. Ken and I got fast passes for the safari while everyone else was in line for Festival of the Lion King. Both kids got a kick out of this show. From there, it was off to the safari and then the bird show. A ride on the rapids, Tarzan Rocks!, and finally Dinosaur and we had a full day at AK. This was the longest we have ever stayed in this park. We also saw It's Tough To Be A Bug!, but Jessica is very scared of bugs so Daddy and her wisely skipped this one.
That night, it was off to Whispering Canyon. Drew asked for ketchup and got to lead the pony race. Our server was great and had fun with everyone. Jess wore her bandana nearly the rest of the trip! From there it was off to Downtown Disney. Drew continued on his quest for "rare" pins while Jess just seemed happy to be there. Both were tempted to run through the fountain several times. Everyone spent some time shopping in World of Disney and Basin. Jess again fell asleep and was lugged back like a sack of potatoes.
Day 4 - Wednesday - MGM / Epcot
Today Jessica had her Princess Breakfast along with Kim and Dawn. Everyone else slept in a bit, ate, and waited for the girls to come back. They said they enjoyed the breakfast. Jessica wore her Aurora dress and was a bit shy around them. Once back in the room, we headed to MGM. First we saw the Indiana Jones Stunt show, then the Muppet movie. Drew, Jess, Ken and Janelle went on Star Tours, then we waited in line to meet the Toy Story Characters. From there, it was off to Tower of Terror. Jessica rode this ride without any problems and wanted to ride it again right away. We had to wait until later in the trip as they announced they were having problems. From there, we headed to Epcot and The Living Seas. Janelle is a Scuba diver and went on the Diving tour. They got a stroller for Jessica so she wouldn't have to walk around so much and hopefully not fall asleep again. We all rode Spaceship Earth. At the beginning Jess kept telling Dawn that they were about to go down a big hill! (as it was dark all the other times we went down big hills in other rides!)
We all went back to The Living Seas to watch Janelle dive in the water and on the DVD she got after the dive we got to see us waving at her from the video camera they had with them in the water. She said it was well worth it and enjoyed it. We all then headed over to America in WS for a quick dinner. We grabbed a table near the candlelight Processional and listened to it from there. The line to try to get a seat was WAY too long and we weren't sure that the kids would sit still enough through the entire show. During the show, Drew was playing with the light sticks and accidentally cracked them (about 40 or so of them). He was a bit upset about it but we went on a little mission giving them to all of the little kids around the area we could find that night. They heard so many thank you's I think it really made them feel a bit special. We decided we were going to do the same thing tomorrow night with the rest that we had left.
Jessica wanted Ice Cream so I took her on a little trip to find some. We stopped in Italy and she saw the Kidcot station and wanted to decorate a mask. She really enjoyed getting to do this. When she got back she just had to show it to Drew and they both went to the Kidcot station in America and Drew started his. Drew is much more detail oriented than Jess and spent a great deal of time with his.
From there, it was to Japan. They each got another stamp at the Kidcot station and Drew traded pins again. The CM's at this table were really great. Drew really seemed to enjoy getting called his name with the Guest of Honor tags, but I think Jessica was a bit confused about how all of these people knew her name. Drew and Jessica got some candy from the store here to take back to the kids at school. As we figured, Jess went to sleep in the stroller. We got a front row seat for Illuminations and Jess SLEPT through the entire show. The special holiday ending was GREAT! We couldn't believe how loud it was and how Jessica slept through it like it was nothing. Time to lug her back home through the International Gateway back to BCV!
Day 5 - Thursday - MGM/Epcot
Today was the last full day at Epcot. Drew was faithfully writing to the Fairy Godmother and getting their pins every morning. By now, they had quite a collection. I don't think Jessica ever traded one of them. Today the girls rode the Epcot monorail loop (something Janelle always wanted to do) while the guys went to Universe of Energy. Drew was a bit scared I think of this, but like everything, he was reminded that it was just pretend and they made everything look real. From there, we used our FP's to Test Track. All liked the ride. Drew then wanted to finish his quest to get his poster by visiting all of the countries. It was a mad dash to all of them but he finally finished them. Midway through, Kim, Janelle, and Jess went to MGM because Jess would not stop talking about wanting to ride Tower of Terror again. While they were there, we went over to France and guess who we saw? Aurora and Belle! Of course, Ken took his picture with both of them.
They went off to MGM and rode ToT several times, and saw the parade and B&TB stage show. We met up with them at ToT. Kim hit the button on the 2-way radio she had while riding with Jessica so we all could hear her screams. Jess saw R&RC and really wanted to ride it. By this point, MGM was filling up (saw Pop Warner people EVERYWHERE) and standby was 40 minutes. I guess we will save that for the next trip! We ran to Millionaire and the woman who was in the hotseat was in it the whole show (DARN maybe next time!). We got to Fantasmic just in time and sat on the far left. Drew cracked the 80 or so bracelets we had left and we gave them all out to as many kids as we could find. Again, lots of Thank You's from parents and they even gave up even the ones they had on their wrists. One lady sitting next to us was from England and remarked to us that she's never seen anyone in her country to something so nice. While Drew was busy trying to figure out how everything in the show worked, Jess was busy dancing along with the show and told us "I don't know why they are so mean to Mickey... he didn't do anything wrong"
After that, it was off to the Osborne Lights. The kids wanted Ice Cream and we were hungry. We walked from MGM back to Boardwalk (Jessica and Daddy skipped the whole way back) and got pizza from the take out window. The kids watched Dixie on the boardwalk and learned how to spin the cowboy rope. She signed their autograph book. We also met a little boy and family and gave him the rest of our sticks. They offered us the rest of their pizza, but we already had one coming. I guess that's part of the "magic" of Disney you can't describe to someone who doesn't get it. CM's and other guests going out of their way and not always thinking of themselves.
Later that night we showed Jess the pictures of her Daddy with the princesses. She started hitting him, telling him that he's not allowed to be in love with the princesses!
Day 6 - Friday and Time to go Home!
The whole week we have been teasing the kids that we would be going home tomorrow, listening to the cries of "NO!!! We want to stay here in this house" Well today was it! We packed up and the kids went to Stormalong Bay while all the girls (except Jessica) went swimming. They played in the kiddie area and had a lot of fun building sand castles. Jessica liked the little baby pool. Later the kids got in on the Treasure Hunt and got some ice cream. The girls came back with a few extra bags of "stuff" from DTD. We managed to get everything back into the suitcases. Our FL TOURS driver was about 20 minutes late due to traffic and went REALLY FAST to get us to the airport on time... turns out there were weather delays across the country and our plane was about 90 minutes late.
Overall, it was a great trip. The kids and the adults all enjoyed being surrounded by the Disney magic -- everything turned out really nice. Bus service was excellent the entire trip -- we didn't wait any more than 5-10 minutes for any bus. We're already planning a return in a couple years with them, we just havent decided where to stay! Any questions let me know!
All the pics are at http://www.dannyandkimmy.com/disdec Pick the "Start Slideshow" option on the left side of screen.
Cast of Characters:
DW and I (Kimberly & Dan - 20's)
Dan's Uncle Ken & Aunt Dawn
Uncle Ken & Aunt Dawn's Children Drew (7) and Jessica (5)
Kim's Cousin Janelle (20's)
Stayed at Beach Club Villas in a 2 Bedroom
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Background: Kim and I are both longtime Disney fans. Engaged at Disney (1999), Disney-themed Wedding (2001), and honeymooned at GF & DCL. Joined DVC in 2003. This is our third stay this year. First trip for little cousins Drew & Jessica.
Before the trip, Drew & Jessica were given birthday presents of autograph books, some Disney dollars, "Guest of Honor" name tags, maps of all the parks, and starter pin trading sets. We prepared "Fairy Godmother" envelopes for each day (see later on for details)
A kind Passporter also sent them both a personalized postcard before the trip. They REALLY liked that.
Day 1 - Sunday Dec 5
Drew & Jessica have never flown before, but they didn't seem to have any problems. Jess sat with Mom and Drew with Dad. They were awake at 4:30am to get ready for the flight that arrived in Orlando at 10:30am. We had scheduled a pickup with FL TOURS in a van. Driver was waiting for us... no problems. Off to a good start! Grocery stop was at Goodings (OUCH - high prices!)
Arrived at Beach Club around noon. A long check in line, but there was a CM behind every computer. Everyone else sat in lobby and looked in the store. Room wasn't ready this was our third DVC stay this year and each time we've never had to wait for a room. Called every 15 minutes to see if ready. It wasn't ready until about 4:05... this was after they told us they would put a rush on it since the kids were already restless. I know the check-in policy isn't until 4, but was surprised it really took until *4:00*. Our groceries weren't put in cold storage. Not sure why not, but we wondered if our milk, etc. was spoiled. We figured that it was probably OK only being out 4 hours.
So we get our room! 201. Far end of the hall on the second floor. We let our Aunt & Uncle stay in the "master" bedroom. No problems with the room at all -- We figured it would make it easier to deal with the kids having a separate bath and shower. The kids slept in the main room on the couch/bed. We slept in the other room. Kids find the "Fairy Godmother" envelope sitting in the room a few minutes later. Before we left, we printed up little Fairy Godmother letters to the kids welcoming them to Disney, telling them what they can see each day, etc.
On the envelope was a pin for each of them and two disposable cameras. Each day the Fairy Godmother asked also them to write a little letter about the things they saw and liked. Each day they also got a pin for each of them to add to their collections and trade. On the last day there were some Disney Dollars for them to spend and all of the little letters they wrote were returned so they had something to remember...
So the Fairy Godmother told them they were going to get to go on a sleigh ride at Wilderness Lodge. We scheduled two of these back to back so they could go as a family once, and the kids got to go for a second time with Kim and her cousin Janelle. Jessica took an immediate liking to Janelle and they become really good friends throughout the trip. Jessica said she wants Janelle to be her new babysitter!
We also brought along about 150 glow sticks we got off ebay awhile ago for the kids. Each night we let them have about 10 or 20... They enjoyed playing with them that night making bracelets, necklaces, etc. They also went to sleep with them and made good nightlights. We ate lunch that day at Hurricane Hannah's and dinner after the sleigh ride was at Roaring Forks. Both kids were getting sleepy at this point and I believe Jessica fell asleep on the bus that night. A preview of things to come.
Day 2 - Monday - Chef Mickeys & Magic Kingdom
Time to get up early and go to Chef Mickeys! Drew and Jess fought over who was opening the letter from the Fairy Godmother. They each grabbed their autograph books and were ready to go! Got a bus to MK and was able to get them seats in the front of the monorail. They got the "Monorail Pilot" licenses too. Breakfast at Chef Mickey's was great. They warmed up to the characters right away. Jess talked the rest of the day about eating Goofy's Pizza for Breakfast. Drew already started trading pins with CM's at the Contemporary. He already used over half of his pictures. We weren't able to add another person to the PS so Janelle ate at the room and met up with us at MK.
Before the trip, it seemed that Drew was a bit apprehensive to ride some of the "big" rides. Jessica was the total opposite. Both enjoyed BTTMR, Splash, PotC, HM. Lines were only about 10 minutes for each of these rides. Each time Jessica wanted to ride again, but we had too much to see and do to keep going back! Drew was jumping up and grabbing things at Philharmagic. Jessica rode Dumbo and the carousel with Kim.
From there, we used FP's for Buzz, saw the parade (Jessica's favorite Sleeping Beauty waved to her!) then went to Stitch's Great Escape. Both wanted to go back to the "house" to get a little rest. We went back later that night for Spectromagic and Wishes. Drew got on Ken's shoulders while Jess sat on Janelle's shoulders to get a good view. After seeing Wishes, Jessica went out like a light. She was lugged the rest of the night back to the room. When we got back to the room, Drew went swimming with Kim, Janelle, and I. Stormalong was closed at 8:00 so we went to one of the other quiet pools. Drew seemed to like the hot tub. Upon arrival back in the room, Drew wrote his first letter to the Fairy Godmother and saw Daddy and Jess both sound asleep on the bed.
Day 3 - Tuesday - Animal Kingdom
Everyone was up early and off to AK. Ken and I got fast passes for the safari while everyone else was in line for Festival of the Lion King. Both kids got a kick out of this show. From there, it was off to the safari and then the bird show. A ride on the rapids, Tarzan Rocks!, and finally Dinosaur and we had a full day at AK. This was the longest we have ever stayed in this park. We also saw It's Tough To Be A Bug!, but Jessica is very scared of bugs so Daddy and her wisely skipped this one.
That night, it was off to Whispering Canyon. Drew asked for ketchup and got to lead the pony race. Our server was great and had fun with everyone. Jess wore her bandana nearly the rest of the trip! From there it was off to Downtown Disney. Drew continued on his quest for "rare" pins while Jess just seemed happy to be there. Both were tempted to run through the fountain several times. Everyone spent some time shopping in World of Disney and Basin. Jess again fell asleep and was lugged back like a sack of potatoes.
Day 4 - Wednesday - MGM / Epcot
Today Jessica had her Princess Breakfast along with Kim and Dawn. Everyone else slept in a bit, ate, and waited for the girls to come back. They said they enjoyed the breakfast. Jessica wore her Aurora dress and was a bit shy around them. Once back in the room, we headed to MGM. First we saw the Indiana Jones Stunt show, then the Muppet movie. Drew, Jess, Ken and Janelle went on Star Tours, then we waited in line to meet the Toy Story Characters. From there, it was off to Tower of Terror. Jessica rode this ride without any problems and wanted to ride it again right away. We had to wait until later in the trip as they announced they were having problems. From there, we headed to Epcot and The Living Seas. Janelle is a Scuba diver and went on the Diving tour. They got a stroller for Jessica so she wouldn't have to walk around so much and hopefully not fall asleep again. We all rode Spaceship Earth. At the beginning Jess kept telling Dawn that they were about to go down a big hill! (as it was dark all the other times we went down big hills in other rides!)
We all went back to The Living Seas to watch Janelle dive in the water and on the DVD she got after the dive we got to see us waving at her from the video camera they had with them in the water. She said it was well worth it and enjoyed it. We all then headed over to America in WS for a quick dinner. We grabbed a table near the candlelight Processional and listened to it from there. The line to try to get a seat was WAY too long and we weren't sure that the kids would sit still enough through the entire show. During the show, Drew was playing with the light sticks and accidentally cracked them (about 40 or so of them). He was a bit upset about it but we went on a little mission giving them to all of the little kids around the area we could find that night. They heard so many thank you's I think it really made them feel a bit special. We decided we were going to do the same thing tomorrow night with the rest that we had left.
Jessica wanted Ice Cream so I took her on a little trip to find some. We stopped in Italy and she saw the Kidcot station and wanted to decorate a mask. She really enjoyed getting to do this. When she got back she just had to show it to Drew and they both went to the Kidcot station in America and Drew started his. Drew is much more detail oriented than Jess and spent a great deal of time with his.
From there, it was to Japan. They each got another stamp at the Kidcot station and Drew traded pins again. The CM's at this table were really great. Drew really seemed to enjoy getting called his name with the Guest of Honor tags, but I think Jessica was a bit confused about how all of these people knew her name. Drew and Jessica got some candy from the store here to take back to the kids at school. As we figured, Jess went to sleep in the stroller. We got a front row seat for Illuminations and Jess SLEPT through the entire show. The special holiday ending was GREAT! We couldn't believe how loud it was and how Jessica slept through it like it was nothing. Time to lug her back home through the International Gateway back to BCV!
Day 5 - Thursday - MGM/Epcot
Today was the last full day at Epcot. Drew was faithfully writing to the Fairy Godmother and getting their pins every morning. By now, they had quite a collection. I don't think Jessica ever traded one of them. Today the girls rode the Epcot monorail loop (something Janelle always wanted to do) while the guys went to Universe of Energy. Drew was a bit scared I think of this, but like everything, he was reminded that it was just pretend and they made everything look real. From there, we used our FP's to Test Track. All liked the ride. Drew then wanted to finish his quest to get his poster by visiting all of the countries. It was a mad dash to all of them but he finally finished them. Midway through, Kim, Janelle, and Jess went to MGM because Jess would not stop talking about wanting to ride Tower of Terror again. While they were there, we went over to France and guess who we saw? Aurora and Belle! Of course, Ken took his picture with both of them.
They went off to MGM and rode ToT several times, and saw the parade and B&TB stage show. We met up with them at ToT. Kim hit the button on the 2-way radio she had while riding with Jessica so we all could hear her screams. Jess saw R&RC and really wanted to ride it. By this point, MGM was filling up (saw Pop Warner people EVERYWHERE) and standby was 40 minutes. I guess we will save that for the next trip! We ran to Millionaire and the woman who was in the hotseat was in it the whole show (DARN maybe next time!). We got to Fantasmic just in time and sat on the far left. Drew cracked the 80 or so bracelets we had left and we gave them all out to as many kids as we could find. Again, lots of Thank You's from parents and they even gave up even the ones they had on their wrists. One lady sitting next to us was from England and remarked to us that she's never seen anyone in her country to something so nice. While Drew was busy trying to figure out how everything in the show worked, Jess was busy dancing along with the show and told us "I don't know why they are so mean to Mickey... he didn't do anything wrong"
After that, it was off to the Osborne Lights. The kids wanted Ice Cream and we were hungry. We walked from MGM back to Boardwalk (Jessica and Daddy skipped the whole way back) and got pizza from the take out window. The kids watched Dixie on the boardwalk and learned how to spin the cowboy rope. She signed their autograph book. We also met a little boy and family and gave him the rest of our sticks. They offered us the rest of their pizza, but we already had one coming. I guess that's part of the "magic" of Disney you can't describe to someone who doesn't get it. CM's and other guests going out of their way and not always thinking of themselves.
Later that night we showed Jess the pictures of her Daddy with the princesses. She started hitting him, telling him that he's not allowed to be in love with the princesses!
Day 6 - Friday and Time to go Home!
The whole week we have been teasing the kids that we would be going home tomorrow, listening to the cries of "NO!!! We want to stay here in this house" Well today was it! We packed up and the kids went to Stormalong Bay while all the girls (except Jessica) went swimming. They played in the kiddie area and had a lot of fun building sand castles. Jessica liked the little baby pool. Later the kids got in on the Treasure Hunt and got some ice cream. The girls came back with a few extra bags of "stuff" from DTD. We managed to get everything back into the suitcases. Our FL TOURS driver was about 20 minutes late due to traffic and went REALLY FAST to get us to the airport on time... turns out there were weather delays across the country and our plane was about 90 minutes late.
Overall, it was a great trip. The kids and the adults all enjoyed being surrounded by the Disney magic -- everything turned out really nice. Bus service was excellent the entire trip -- we didn't wait any more than 5-10 minutes for any bus. We're already planning a return in a couple years with them, we just havent decided where to stay! Any questions let me know!
All the pics are at http://www.dannyandkimmy.com/disdec Pick the "Start Slideshow" option on the left side of screen.
