Amy&Dan
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2004
- Messages
- 15,958
This is my first trip report, hope I do it right! This family trip was long awaited and consisted of me the 39, year old mom, Dan the 36 year old dad, Matthew 10, and Maria 8. Been to Disneyland 4 times in the last year, first WDW trip for all of us.
Day 1, 10/15 Friday:
We flew out of DIA on Froniter. We left at around 5:00 p.m., right on time. We were positively giddy. I felt like screaming to everyone I saw: "I'm going to Disneyworld!" Maria and I watched out Disneyworld planning DVD on the plane followed by Mary Poppins. That and the fact that she was wearing her Disneyland Minnie Mouse ears tipped off the guy sitting next to us about what we were up to! We got to All Star Movies by 11:30 and got our request: Dalmation Building. We had no problem parking near our building, check in was a snap. I was a little nervous about what the room would look like. It was fine. A little small, but super cute and nice and clean. We unpacked and were asleep by 1:00 a.m. Tomorrow morning is Animal Kingdom!
Day 2, 10/16 Saturay:
First let me say that the two hour time difference is really killer in the morning after a long week and a late arrival. The 8:00 a.m. wake up call was a joke. We "wake up" for real at around 9:30. So much for getting there early. We really hurry and are at AK by 11:00. Our fist ride is Primeval Whirl. This is exactly like the Mullholland Madness roller coaster (with a different coaster configuration) at Disney's California Adventure. We then did Tarzan Rocks which we really enjoyed. It was not to be our favoite show at WDW but we had fun. Then off to Kali River Rapids. This ride disappointed us. It seemed much shorter than the Grizzly River Run at California Adventure that we are used to. We wore our slickers but didn't get wet but the poor woman across from us was soaked! Next came Dinosaur. We loved this ride! We even bought the picture which was hilarious. Maria looks completely terrified. We were still tired and decided to head back to the hotel to swim in the Fantasia Pool for awhile. Our kids were happy to be swimming in October! We slurped down soda like it was nobody's business to get our money's worth out of those mugs and for energy. We had a 5:00 PS at Chef Mickey's. We took a cab to the Contemporary since we were running late. $17 but nice and easy. Chef Mickey's was great and since Matthew's birthday had been the previous Thursday he got to be a part of the birthday celebration. After Chef Mickey's we headed to the MK for Spectro and Wishes. As soon as I saw the castle I started to cry, this was my moment! When we walked onto Main Street we saw the characters from Robin Hood. That has always been one of my favorite Disney movies and we have never seen any of them (except Robin Hood in the Parade only) at Disneyland. I was thrilled. We got a fun family picture taken by a nice cm. We were just awed by how big that castle is! Although it was a Saturday night, I didn't think the crowds were too awful. We did the Hall of Presidents and then got a spot in Frontierland for Spectro. We really enjoyed the Parade, alot like the Electrical Parade but different too. We rode Splash Mountain next. We were going to get a fastpass but the line was only 10 minutes. This was another Disneyworld vs. Disneyland difference. At DL there is no way on a Saturday night you could ride Splash with less than a 60 minute wait. We rode it and really liked the way two people can sit next to each other. We got soaked of course! We had messed up though because Wishes had already started when we got off Splash. We were able to see a little from the ride itself but missed it for the most part. Oh well there will be other nights. We headed over to Tomorrowland, fastpassed Space Mountain which our kids were really excited to ride. Since it has been down for refurbishement at Disneyland through our trips there in the last year they have never ridden it. We got the fastpasses and then waited in a not too bad line for Buzz Lightyear. Great ride, Dan won of course since he spent his whole childhood playing mindless video games! By then our fastpasses for Space Mountain were okay to use. Big disappointment of the night: Space Mountain was down! The kids were so upset, would they ever get to ride this ride! We headed over to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and really enjoyed it. The most interesting part was that since Space Mountain was under repair the lights inside were on so we could see exactly what the track looked like. After this we were exhausted so we headed back to All Star Movies. Our first day is over!
Day 3, 10/17 Sunday:
Once again the alarm goes off, once again it is two hours earlier for us and we cannot get up! Another opportunity to get to a park at opening is missed. Hint: This will happen every single morning we are at WDW! We head to MGM. We head to Sci Fi Dine In for our PS. This was a lot of fun. The kids got to sit in the front and Dan and I got the middle. I felt a little bad for some couple who got stuck behind us and got to listen to me tell the kids to stop showing each other their chewed up food. Maria also managed to spill her drink twice and Matthew got to report that spilled, ice cold lemonade was making his underwear stick to his family jewels. I think that poor couple will never have kids! The food was good. We then head to Beauty and the Beast. I loved this show. As it turns out this was to be my favorite show and I only got to see it this once! We rode Tower of Terror and enjoyed that as always. Then we decided we should head back to ASMO since we were going to MNSSHP that night. I had begged Matthew to let me buy him the Captain Hook costume at the Disney Store in Denver but of course he is 10 and too old for a Disney costume. As soon as we got in line for the bus he saw many boys, older than him wearing Captain Hook costumes. I was fit to be tied! We got to MK around 6:30 and by 7:00 we were walking through a very deserted frontierland towards Splash. We decide to ride that. Dan and I donned our slickers since you get 10 times wetter on this one than the Disneyland version. We got a log to ourselves which would be great to buy the picture I decide. All is well until the log stops. Right by the little turtle that is being lifted by the stream of water. We wait, and wait and wait! 20 minutes later the ride finally starts. I was kind of irritated because we were paying for this party and I was wondering if we would spend the whole time inside Splash Mountain. The poor little kid in the log in front of us was beside himself! But we made it out okay. We had a great night at MNSSHP. The kids got to get a ton of candy (for free they said, if they only knew!). Maria was Pocahantas and was thrilled that so many other little girls were too. We finally got to ride Space Mountain. This was a fun ride but made me a little nervous. I thought the seating configuration would be just like the Matterhorn and that the kids would be able to sit in with an adult. Instead they were in the same car but in a separate restraint. It was so jerky I just knew my little Pocahantas was going to fly out! She survived and so did I and we rode it 3 more times. We missed these fireworks too and the parade (long story for both). But since we were doing MNSSHP on Wed. too we did not despair. Best part of the evening: Mickey's Philharmagic. We absolutely loved this show! We would see it again literally 10 more times in the next week! We stayed until 12:00 managing of course to miss the second parade too. Now we get our first taste of waiting for a bus after a long day. It was kind of gruesome with a lot of whining by a tired Pocahantas. We made it though and were asleep in a flash!
Day 4, 10/18 Monday:
We decide to do EPCOT all day. Same old story on the wakeup call. By now I don't know why Mickey doesn't just save his little rodent breath but oh well. The kids were fascinated by the "golf ball". Matthew and I decide to brave Mission Space and Dan and Maria decide to let us be the test subjects. On the way over poor Dan has a mishap. First Matthew stops dead in his tracks for some unknown reason. I see Dan try to kind of sidestep to avoid running into him, only problem is there is some lady in one of those scooters who is turning right into where he is turning. Suddenly Dan is laying on the ground in a very undignified manner, with his legs up in the air. He looked kind of like a run over armadillo. Right now as I write this I am laughing very hard but it wasn't funny then. Bottom line watch out for rear ending your own kids and ladies on scooters they can turn you into road kill quickly! Dan still has a nice bruise as a free souveneir and a damaged ego. He will not appreciate my putting this in the trip report but oh well. If anybody was at EPCOT on October 18 and has a picture I would love to pass it around at Dan's office Christmas party to pay him back for some unattractive childbirth photos. Mission Space was fine but it did give me a headache. Matthew loved it. One note the line said 35 minutes and it only turned out to be 20 so maybe they aren't always accurate on their predictions or maybe we just lucked out. Dan and Maria decide that if we survived they can too so we fastpass it for all 4 of us. First we did Test Track and all loved it. We also did the Ellen show/ride (can't remember the exact name) and enjoyed that. Spaceship earth was great and relaxing. We ate an early dinner at the San Angel Inn outdoor cantina and it was very good. We got to sit by the lake and admire the view. We should have stayed there and staked out a spot for Illuminations! We went into Norway and rode Maelstrom. By now it was around 7:00. Both kids were exhausted and Dan's knee from above injury was throbbinig. The kids wanted to go back and swim. I decide that we can come back for Illuminations on Friday night so we head back to Movies. I was a little disappointed but decide that Commando touring is fine for short trips but that we still have 6 full days left and we can see Illuminations another time. BIG MISTAKE!!!
Day 5, 10/19, Tuesday
We have a 9:30 PS at Cinderella's Royal Table so for once we get up early! This was a wonderful breakfast and Maria was in hog heaven. She saw Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Mary Poppins and Sleeping Beauty. The food was good and it was a beautiful setting. We were really expecting to have low crowds this day but it did not happen. A CM I spoke with later that day said that during MNSSHP times the days the park stays open for Wishes are more crowded. Too true. We manage to do quite a bit though. We rode the Railroad 3 complete times while Matthew took a nap! This was also a hotter, more humid day. We are from Colorado so heat we got, humidty we hate! We survive and see Mickey's Philharmagic at least every two hours. We ate an early dinner at Columbia Harbour House. This was really good. What's not to love about a bunch of fried food? The best part of the day was the Share a Dream Come True Parade. We got great seats on a curb on Main Street . I loved this parade. So much better than the Parade of Stars at Disneyland. We did some more stuff after our earlier dinner then got seats at Casey's for Wishes. Dan decides he needs to support Casey's to justify our table. So even though he had eaten a huge meal at 5:30 at Columbia Harbour House he downs some fries and a chile dog at Casey's. We ended up talking with a nice family from Oklahoma that we had sat next to earlier on the railroad. That is one of the things we love about Disney trips, lots of nice people to meet and chat with! Wishes was wonderful. Seeing those fireworks with the castle is just truly magnificient! It had been lightening earlier so Tinkerbelle didn't make her flight but it was still great. It began to sprinkle at the tale end of the show and by the time we got to the bus we were soaked. It was a long wait for the bus and a long ride standing up. Another happy day is over.
Day 6, 10/20 Wednesday:
We did Downtown Disney and Disneyquest today. We slept in without bothering to set up a wakeup call we were going to ignore. Disneyquest was okay. Matthew and I enjoyed the rollercoaster simulator but Maria cried that she was too short. We ate at Planet Hollywood and were disappointed. We had a $25 coupon with our package for either this or mini golf and picked this. With the coupon however we did manage to eat for $15 with tip. Not bad. Then we shopped. I broach the subject that maybe Matthew could humor his mom by letting me buy him a Captain Hook costume. He agreed! I was thrilled. I get in some kind of Disney shopping mode that is scary. I buy Maria the complete Cinderella ensemble even though she could have been Pocahantas again. She is thrilled. Then I head to the Christmas store and really do some damage. We finally head back to the hotel to rest and change for MNSSHP. We had decided to drive the rental car this night to avoid that bus wait at the end of the evening. Driving to MK is a little bit of a pain but not too bad. This time we sat right down on Main Street and saw the parade first thing. It was wonderful. The highlight was the dalmation puppy wagon (we have a 10 year old dalmation). Also the way they were shining the cool spot lights on the buildings was neat. I saved our spots while Dan took the kids on a hunt for more pressed pennies for their books. Then we rode a few rides and headed back to our same table at Casey's for the fireworks. They were wonderful and Dan got to eat another chile dog. Then more rides and trick or treating. We didn't ride as much during this party but we saw more things and had a better time. Matthew really enjoyed being Captain Hook too! While riding the teacups Captain Hook found out his beloved Red Sox had won so it was a great night all around!
Day 7, 10/21 Thursday
We slept in big time since we were really worn out from MNSSHP and all that shopping. I did laundry and we ate in the food court. Then off to MGM. We rode Rock and Rollercoaster for the first time. Maria had been a little leary but decided to try it. She loved it. So we rode it again and then another time! Another ride picture to buy. One note to people who don't know if they would like this ride: it's short! There are also no big hills but it does go upside down a few times. We all agreed its our new favorite coaster. We saw Stars and Cars Parade and loved it but it was really hot and we were in the sun. Decided to sit in the shade next time! Then off to Hollywood and Vine for our Fantasmic Dinner package. This was kind of a waste. The dinner with tip was $80, $45 more than we had spent on Sunday at the Sci Fi Drive In. The food was not horrible but it was our least favorite meal in WDW. The server was wonderful however and it was nice and cool in there. Then we had time to do more rides and then off to Fantasmic. It was sprinkling and they kept coming on saying it might be cancelled which was really upsetting since the thought of paying $80 for that food and no Fantasmic was really sad. But it cleared out and we saw it. This show was wonderful. I have heard many people say that the Disneyland show is superior but we all liked this one better. I did wonder however why we had paid for seats that weren't even the best seats. More reason to avoid this dinner package for our next trip! It was a great day though and we are beginning to get sad because our trip days are dwindling!
Day 8, 10/22, Friday
We head to Typhoon Lagoon. I did not enjoy this. Today of course felt a bit chilly and since the water is not heated I was freezing. Add to that, I am 50 pounds overweight and hate being in a bathing suit and you have a disaster looming. I become unpleasant to be around and feel guilty. The kids are having fun so I stick it out for 3 long hours and then demand to be taken to Magic Kingdom. I still feel horrible because I know I was a complete you know what. Also, I had promised Matthew we would also do Blizzard Beach that day (he was dying to do Summit Plummet) but my inner female dog tendancies take over. No way will I do Blizzard Beach too. I tell Dan to take the kids without me and drop me off at Movies. They confer and decide to do Magic Kingdom with the Witch. I simmer down and we change clothes and head to MK. It is wonderful since it is a MNSSHP day and a lot of people are somewhere else. We had lunch at Pecos Bill's then see Country Bear Jamboree. I gush about the food, the show, the lovely people we met at Pecos Bill's and buy the kids some more stuff just to prove how nice I really am. Then we head to MGM since MK is closing. I know there is a 6:05 show of the Little Mermaid. We loved this show but I liked Beauty and the Beast better. Maria is peeved that they squeeze the whole movie into a 17 minute show. She has her own Typhoon Lagoon moment but gets over it. We do Animations for a little while then ride Rock and Rollercoaster and TOT then head to EPCOT for Illuminations. One glitch, its Friday night, there's not Wishes due to MNSSHP and we cannot find a place to even stand in the World Showcase. We finally find a spot in Mexico but a tree blocks us. We ended up seeing most of the show from the restroom area between Test Track and Mexico. We miss a lot of it but see a lot of it too. Moral of the story: Do not miss the fireworks display you are most looking forward to, to swim in the hotel pool! Still another great day and only two measley days left!
Day 9, 10/23 Saturday:
Animal Kingdom again. Bad wakeup call response again. We got to ride Kilanmanjaro safaris this time. We had a great ride and saw a bunch of animals. I wish we would have done this ride the first time we visited this park! It was great. We also saw the Pocahantas show. Maria loves this movie and was actually picked to be the kid to show everybody how Pocahantas said welcome. She practiced before the show just like they showed her and then had the worst case of stage fright known to humankind when her time came! Still, it was great for her to be picked! I thought this was a really neat little show. Both my kids enjoyed it. I think it was the Unoffical Guide that wasn't too complimentary of this one but we enjoyed it. Also it is nice because they let kids under 10 have the first 4 rows. Then we saw Festival of the Lion King. This was Matthew's favorite show and really enjoyable. Next to Beauty and the Beast it was my favorite. Get there early! We ate lunch at Pizzafari. Dan and I both had sandwiches which were really good, better than the pizza the kids had. Then we caught the parade which was cute and very enjoyable. Luckily I thought to ask a CM which side of the route would have shade. I felt sorry for the people across from me. After our same experience at Stars and Cars at MGM I knew just how hot they felt! Then we headed back to MK for our last time. We saw Spectro the first show. I told Dan that I thought we should do the second parade. Oh no, he wants to see the first. We score a spot in frontierland. We sit for over an hour. Fine except that sitting on the ground indian style is more fun when you are 9 and not 39. By the time the parade started I had a backache and no feeling in my legs. Afterwards getting up was painful! Then we head in a horrible crowd to try to see Wishes. We managed to find a wonderful spot near Crystal Palace, standing at the iron fence with nobody in front of us and a PERFECT view of the castle. I cried at the end knowing it was our last night to see Wishes! We rode Splash 3 times in a row. When we get off of Splash, Spectro is just coming through. We walk up there is hardly anybody for this later parade! Just like I had thought but remember Dan thought we should see the first show. Since we were on the end of the route and few people were around and nobody but CM's across from us the characters in the parade came by us and shook our hands. It was great. Go to the later parade! Next we head to Main Street to shop and say a long goodbye to the Magic Kingdom. I cannot believe at this point we have one day left and even toy with trying to get tickets to the MNSSHP for the next night but decide that is crazy. Instead I buy a bunch of stuff on Main Street! Goodbye Magic Kingdom, we loved every minute we spent there!
Day 10, 10/24, Sunday OUR LAST DAY!!!
Our plan was to get up early, do Animal Kingdom for two hours and ride Kilanmanjaro Safaris and Dinosaur. Well folks hard to believe but we slept through the wake up call! Instead we woke up about 9:00 (7:00 a.m. our usual time to wake up at home no less). We ditch Animal Kingdom and head to MGM instead. We think we will spend a couple of hours here and then head to EPCOT and really see Illuminations properly. All plans change. We have fun riding Rock and Rollercoaster around 4 times. Then we decide to do the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. Matthew really loved this. We had front row seats off to the side a little but great seats. This was a fun show. Then we eat at Rosies Diner which was tasty. While there I get to thinking that we could forget going to EPCOT (I know my children will like this idea), see Stars and Cars from the shade and then Fantasmic. We do that and it is amazing how much more enjoyable this parade is when you are not sweating like a pig! Then we did the backlot tour which Dan and I thought was a bust but the kids liked the part where they throw a million gallons of water at the bus. Now we head to Fantasmic. Remember our not so great $80 dinner where we got the "Fantasmic Dinner Package Seating"? Guess what? We got way better seats when we just walked in with all the other folks at 6:30! By now Dan and I are postively suicidal thinking our trip is over. The kids seemed unfazed by the fact that we are leaving the next day. I begin to get in a mood. Some kid is screaming like no human I have heard behind me. Then he throws his sprite bottle down and guess who gets drenched in Sprite. Then a very nice man begins making his way across the aisle of seats in front of me. Did I mention he is literally 7 feet tall? He sits right in front of me. Oh well I think if the guy behind me can look at my 7 foot wide butt I can look at this guy's back. As it turned out we had to move down more to make more room as did he and he ended up blocking somebody else's view! I get in a better mood and begin to forumlate that if we have a really shabby Christmas, don't paint bedroom and bathroom and don't buy our daughter a new daybed we can come back to Disneyworld in February when it won't be so crowded! The night is saved, Fantasmic is wonderful and our trip is over!
Day 11, Monday 10/25 We go home
We leave ASMO by 6:30. There is no traffic and we are at the airport, car turned in and at our gate by 8:00. Our plane leaves on time and I pass Dan a note telling him of my plan. Don't want the kids to hear and get excited. He is amazed by my brilliant plan and my contentment with ugly colored walls, no Christmas presents for anybody but our children and agrees we need another Disney trip! So off to Pop Century we are as of January 28! Hope this wasn't too long and boring for all of you reading this! For those of you looking forward to near future Disney trips have fun!
Day 1, 10/15 Friday:
We flew out of DIA on Froniter. We left at around 5:00 p.m., right on time. We were positively giddy. I felt like screaming to everyone I saw: "I'm going to Disneyworld!" Maria and I watched out Disneyworld planning DVD on the plane followed by Mary Poppins. That and the fact that she was wearing her Disneyland Minnie Mouse ears tipped off the guy sitting next to us about what we were up to! We got to All Star Movies by 11:30 and got our request: Dalmation Building. We had no problem parking near our building, check in was a snap. I was a little nervous about what the room would look like. It was fine. A little small, but super cute and nice and clean. We unpacked and were asleep by 1:00 a.m. Tomorrow morning is Animal Kingdom!
Day 2, 10/16 Saturay:
First let me say that the two hour time difference is really killer in the morning after a long week and a late arrival. The 8:00 a.m. wake up call was a joke. We "wake up" for real at around 9:30. So much for getting there early. We really hurry and are at AK by 11:00. Our fist ride is Primeval Whirl. This is exactly like the Mullholland Madness roller coaster (with a different coaster configuration) at Disney's California Adventure. We then did Tarzan Rocks which we really enjoyed. It was not to be our favoite show at WDW but we had fun. Then off to Kali River Rapids. This ride disappointed us. It seemed much shorter than the Grizzly River Run at California Adventure that we are used to. We wore our slickers but didn't get wet but the poor woman across from us was soaked! Next came Dinosaur. We loved this ride! We even bought the picture which was hilarious. Maria looks completely terrified. We were still tired and decided to head back to the hotel to swim in the Fantasia Pool for awhile. Our kids were happy to be swimming in October! We slurped down soda like it was nobody's business to get our money's worth out of those mugs and for energy. We had a 5:00 PS at Chef Mickey's. We took a cab to the Contemporary since we were running late. $17 but nice and easy. Chef Mickey's was great and since Matthew's birthday had been the previous Thursday he got to be a part of the birthday celebration. After Chef Mickey's we headed to the MK for Spectro and Wishes. As soon as I saw the castle I started to cry, this was my moment! When we walked onto Main Street we saw the characters from Robin Hood. That has always been one of my favorite Disney movies and we have never seen any of them (except Robin Hood in the Parade only) at Disneyland. I was thrilled. We got a fun family picture taken by a nice cm. We were just awed by how big that castle is! Although it was a Saturday night, I didn't think the crowds were too awful. We did the Hall of Presidents and then got a spot in Frontierland for Spectro. We really enjoyed the Parade, alot like the Electrical Parade but different too. We rode Splash Mountain next. We were going to get a fastpass but the line was only 10 minutes. This was another Disneyworld vs. Disneyland difference. At DL there is no way on a Saturday night you could ride Splash with less than a 60 minute wait. We rode it and really liked the way two people can sit next to each other. We got soaked of course! We had messed up though because Wishes had already started when we got off Splash. We were able to see a little from the ride itself but missed it for the most part. Oh well there will be other nights. We headed over to Tomorrowland, fastpassed Space Mountain which our kids were really excited to ride. Since it has been down for refurbishement at Disneyland through our trips there in the last year they have never ridden it. We got the fastpasses and then waited in a not too bad line for Buzz Lightyear. Great ride, Dan won of course since he spent his whole childhood playing mindless video games! By then our fastpasses for Space Mountain were okay to use. Big disappointment of the night: Space Mountain was down! The kids were so upset, would they ever get to ride this ride! We headed over to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and really enjoyed it. The most interesting part was that since Space Mountain was under repair the lights inside were on so we could see exactly what the track looked like. After this we were exhausted so we headed back to All Star Movies. Our first day is over!
Day 3, 10/17 Sunday:
Once again the alarm goes off, once again it is two hours earlier for us and we cannot get up! Another opportunity to get to a park at opening is missed. Hint: This will happen every single morning we are at WDW! We head to MGM. We head to Sci Fi Dine In for our PS. This was a lot of fun. The kids got to sit in the front and Dan and I got the middle. I felt a little bad for some couple who got stuck behind us and got to listen to me tell the kids to stop showing each other their chewed up food. Maria also managed to spill her drink twice and Matthew got to report that spilled, ice cold lemonade was making his underwear stick to his family jewels. I think that poor couple will never have kids! The food was good. We then head to Beauty and the Beast. I loved this show. As it turns out this was to be my favorite show and I only got to see it this once! We rode Tower of Terror and enjoyed that as always. Then we decided we should head back to ASMO since we were going to MNSSHP that night. I had begged Matthew to let me buy him the Captain Hook costume at the Disney Store in Denver but of course he is 10 and too old for a Disney costume. As soon as we got in line for the bus he saw many boys, older than him wearing Captain Hook costumes. I was fit to be tied! We got to MK around 6:30 and by 7:00 we were walking through a very deserted frontierland towards Splash. We decide to ride that. Dan and I donned our slickers since you get 10 times wetter on this one than the Disneyland version. We got a log to ourselves which would be great to buy the picture I decide. All is well until the log stops. Right by the little turtle that is being lifted by the stream of water. We wait, and wait and wait! 20 minutes later the ride finally starts. I was kind of irritated because we were paying for this party and I was wondering if we would spend the whole time inside Splash Mountain. The poor little kid in the log in front of us was beside himself! But we made it out okay. We had a great night at MNSSHP. The kids got to get a ton of candy (for free they said, if they only knew!). Maria was Pocahantas and was thrilled that so many other little girls were too. We finally got to ride Space Mountain. This was a fun ride but made me a little nervous. I thought the seating configuration would be just like the Matterhorn and that the kids would be able to sit in with an adult. Instead they were in the same car but in a separate restraint. It was so jerky I just knew my little Pocahantas was going to fly out! She survived and so did I and we rode it 3 more times. We missed these fireworks too and the parade (long story for both). But since we were doing MNSSHP on Wed. too we did not despair. Best part of the evening: Mickey's Philharmagic. We absolutely loved this show! We would see it again literally 10 more times in the next week! We stayed until 12:00 managing of course to miss the second parade too. Now we get our first taste of waiting for a bus after a long day. It was kind of gruesome with a lot of whining by a tired Pocahantas. We made it though and were asleep in a flash!
Day 4, 10/18 Monday:
We decide to do EPCOT all day. Same old story on the wakeup call. By now I don't know why Mickey doesn't just save his little rodent breath but oh well. The kids were fascinated by the "golf ball". Matthew and I decide to brave Mission Space and Dan and Maria decide to let us be the test subjects. On the way over poor Dan has a mishap. First Matthew stops dead in his tracks for some unknown reason. I see Dan try to kind of sidestep to avoid running into him, only problem is there is some lady in one of those scooters who is turning right into where he is turning. Suddenly Dan is laying on the ground in a very undignified manner, with his legs up in the air. He looked kind of like a run over armadillo. Right now as I write this I am laughing very hard but it wasn't funny then. Bottom line watch out for rear ending your own kids and ladies on scooters they can turn you into road kill quickly! Dan still has a nice bruise as a free souveneir and a damaged ego. He will not appreciate my putting this in the trip report but oh well. If anybody was at EPCOT on October 18 and has a picture I would love to pass it around at Dan's office Christmas party to pay him back for some unattractive childbirth photos. Mission Space was fine but it did give me a headache. Matthew loved it. One note the line said 35 minutes and it only turned out to be 20 so maybe they aren't always accurate on their predictions or maybe we just lucked out. Dan and Maria decide that if we survived they can too so we fastpass it for all 4 of us. First we did Test Track and all loved it. We also did the Ellen show/ride (can't remember the exact name) and enjoyed that. Spaceship earth was great and relaxing. We ate an early dinner at the San Angel Inn outdoor cantina and it was very good. We got to sit by the lake and admire the view. We should have stayed there and staked out a spot for Illuminations! We went into Norway and rode Maelstrom. By now it was around 7:00. Both kids were exhausted and Dan's knee from above injury was throbbinig. The kids wanted to go back and swim. I decide that we can come back for Illuminations on Friday night so we head back to Movies. I was a little disappointed but decide that Commando touring is fine for short trips but that we still have 6 full days left and we can see Illuminations another time. BIG MISTAKE!!!
Day 5, 10/19, Tuesday
We have a 9:30 PS at Cinderella's Royal Table so for once we get up early! This was a wonderful breakfast and Maria was in hog heaven. She saw Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Mary Poppins and Sleeping Beauty. The food was good and it was a beautiful setting. We were really expecting to have low crowds this day but it did not happen. A CM I spoke with later that day said that during MNSSHP times the days the park stays open for Wishes are more crowded. Too true. We manage to do quite a bit though. We rode the Railroad 3 complete times while Matthew took a nap! This was also a hotter, more humid day. We are from Colorado so heat we got, humidty we hate! We survive and see Mickey's Philharmagic at least every two hours. We ate an early dinner at Columbia Harbour House. This was really good. What's not to love about a bunch of fried food? The best part of the day was the Share a Dream Come True Parade. We got great seats on a curb on Main Street . I loved this parade. So much better than the Parade of Stars at Disneyland. We did some more stuff after our earlier dinner then got seats at Casey's for Wishes. Dan decides he needs to support Casey's to justify our table. So even though he had eaten a huge meal at 5:30 at Columbia Harbour House he downs some fries and a chile dog at Casey's. We ended up talking with a nice family from Oklahoma that we had sat next to earlier on the railroad. That is one of the things we love about Disney trips, lots of nice people to meet and chat with! Wishes was wonderful. Seeing those fireworks with the castle is just truly magnificient! It had been lightening earlier so Tinkerbelle didn't make her flight but it was still great. It began to sprinkle at the tale end of the show and by the time we got to the bus we were soaked. It was a long wait for the bus and a long ride standing up. Another happy day is over.
Day 6, 10/20 Wednesday:
We did Downtown Disney and Disneyquest today. We slept in without bothering to set up a wakeup call we were going to ignore. Disneyquest was okay. Matthew and I enjoyed the rollercoaster simulator but Maria cried that she was too short. We ate at Planet Hollywood and were disappointed. We had a $25 coupon with our package for either this or mini golf and picked this. With the coupon however we did manage to eat for $15 with tip. Not bad. Then we shopped. I broach the subject that maybe Matthew could humor his mom by letting me buy him a Captain Hook costume. He agreed! I was thrilled. I get in some kind of Disney shopping mode that is scary. I buy Maria the complete Cinderella ensemble even though she could have been Pocahantas again. She is thrilled. Then I head to the Christmas store and really do some damage. We finally head back to the hotel to rest and change for MNSSHP. We had decided to drive the rental car this night to avoid that bus wait at the end of the evening. Driving to MK is a little bit of a pain but not too bad. This time we sat right down on Main Street and saw the parade first thing. It was wonderful. The highlight was the dalmation puppy wagon (we have a 10 year old dalmation). Also the way they were shining the cool spot lights on the buildings was neat. I saved our spots while Dan took the kids on a hunt for more pressed pennies for their books. Then we rode a few rides and headed back to our same table at Casey's for the fireworks. They were wonderful and Dan got to eat another chile dog. Then more rides and trick or treating. We didn't ride as much during this party but we saw more things and had a better time. Matthew really enjoyed being Captain Hook too! While riding the teacups Captain Hook found out his beloved Red Sox had won so it was a great night all around!
Day 7, 10/21 Thursday
We slept in big time since we were really worn out from MNSSHP and all that shopping. I did laundry and we ate in the food court. Then off to MGM. We rode Rock and Rollercoaster for the first time. Maria had been a little leary but decided to try it. She loved it. So we rode it again and then another time! Another ride picture to buy. One note to people who don't know if they would like this ride: it's short! There are also no big hills but it does go upside down a few times. We all agreed its our new favorite coaster. We saw Stars and Cars Parade and loved it but it was really hot and we were in the sun. Decided to sit in the shade next time! Then off to Hollywood and Vine for our Fantasmic Dinner package. This was kind of a waste. The dinner with tip was $80, $45 more than we had spent on Sunday at the Sci Fi Drive In. The food was not horrible but it was our least favorite meal in WDW. The server was wonderful however and it was nice and cool in there. Then we had time to do more rides and then off to Fantasmic. It was sprinkling and they kept coming on saying it might be cancelled which was really upsetting since the thought of paying $80 for that food and no Fantasmic was really sad. But it cleared out and we saw it. This show was wonderful. I have heard many people say that the Disneyland show is superior but we all liked this one better. I did wonder however why we had paid for seats that weren't even the best seats. More reason to avoid this dinner package for our next trip! It was a great day though and we are beginning to get sad because our trip days are dwindling!
Day 8, 10/22, Friday
We head to Typhoon Lagoon. I did not enjoy this. Today of course felt a bit chilly and since the water is not heated I was freezing. Add to that, I am 50 pounds overweight and hate being in a bathing suit and you have a disaster looming. I become unpleasant to be around and feel guilty. The kids are having fun so I stick it out for 3 long hours and then demand to be taken to Magic Kingdom. I still feel horrible because I know I was a complete you know what. Also, I had promised Matthew we would also do Blizzard Beach that day (he was dying to do Summit Plummet) but my inner female dog tendancies take over. No way will I do Blizzard Beach too. I tell Dan to take the kids without me and drop me off at Movies. They confer and decide to do Magic Kingdom with the Witch. I simmer down and we change clothes and head to MK. It is wonderful since it is a MNSSHP day and a lot of people are somewhere else. We had lunch at Pecos Bill's then see Country Bear Jamboree. I gush about the food, the show, the lovely people we met at Pecos Bill's and buy the kids some more stuff just to prove how nice I really am. Then we head to MGM since MK is closing. I know there is a 6:05 show of the Little Mermaid. We loved this show but I liked Beauty and the Beast better. Maria is peeved that they squeeze the whole movie into a 17 minute show. She has her own Typhoon Lagoon moment but gets over it. We do Animations for a little while then ride Rock and Rollercoaster and TOT then head to EPCOT for Illuminations. One glitch, its Friday night, there's not Wishes due to MNSSHP and we cannot find a place to even stand in the World Showcase. We finally find a spot in Mexico but a tree blocks us. We ended up seeing most of the show from the restroom area between Test Track and Mexico. We miss a lot of it but see a lot of it too. Moral of the story: Do not miss the fireworks display you are most looking forward to, to swim in the hotel pool! Still another great day and only two measley days left!
Day 9, 10/23 Saturday:
Animal Kingdom again. Bad wakeup call response again. We got to ride Kilanmanjaro safaris this time. We had a great ride and saw a bunch of animals. I wish we would have done this ride the first time we visited this park! It was great. We also saw the Pocahantas show. Maria loves this movie and was actually picked to be the kid to show everybody how Pocahantas said welcome. She practiced before the show just like they showed her and then had the worst case of stage fright known to humankind when her time came! Still, it was great for her to be picked! I thought this was a really neat little show. Both my kids enjoyed it. I think it was the Unoffical Guide that wasn't too complimentary of this one but we enjoyed it. Also it is nice because they let kids under 10 have the first 4 rows. Then we saw Festival of the Lion King. This was Matthew's favorite show and really enjoyable. Next to Beauty and the Beast it was my favorite. Get there early! We ate lunch at Pizzafari. Dan and I both had sandwiches which were really good, better than the pizza the kids had. Then we caught the parade which was cute and very enjoyable. Luckily I thought to ask a CM which side of the route would have shade. I felt sorry for the people across from me. After our same experience at Stars and Cars at MGM I knew just how hot they felt! Then we headed back to MK for our last time. We saw Spectro the first show. I told Dan that I thought we should do the second parade. Oh no, he wants to see the first. We score a spot in frontierland. We sit for over an hour. Fine except that sitting on the ground indian style is more fun when you are 9 and not 39. By the time the parade started I had a backache and no feeling in my legs. Afterwards getting up was painful! Then we head in a horrible crowd to try to see Wishes. We managed to find a wonderful spot near Crystal Palace, standing at the iron fence with nobody in front of us and a PERFECT view of the castle. I cried at the end knowing it was our last night to see Wishes! We rode Splash 3 times in a row. When we get off of Splash, Spectro is just coming through. We walk up there is hardly anybody for this later parade! Just like I had thought but remember Dan thought we should see the first show. Since we were on the end of the route and few people were around and nobody but CM's across from us the characters in the parade came by us and shook our hands. It was great. Go to the later parade! Next we head to Main Street to shop and say a long goodbye to the Magic Kingdom. I cannot believe at this point we have one day left and even toy with trying to get tickets to the MNSSHP for the next night but decide that is crazy. Instead I buy a bunch of stuff on Main Street! Goodbye Magic Kingdom, we loved every minute we spent there!
Day 10, 10/24, Sunday OUR LAST DAY!!!
Our plan was to get up early, do Animal Kingdom for two hours and ride Kilanmanjaro Safaris and Dinosaur. Well folks hard to believe but we slept through the wake up call! Instead we woke up about 9:00 (7:00 a.m. our usual time to wake up at home no less). We ditch Animal Kingdom and head to MGM instead. We think we will spend a couple of hours here and then head to EPCOT and really see Illuminations properly. All plans change. We have fun riding Rock and Rollercoaster around 4 times. Then we decide to do the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. Matthew really loved this. We had front row seats off to the side a little but great seats. This was a fun show. Then we eat at Rosies Diner which was tasty. While there I get to thinking that we could forget going to EPCOT (I know my children will like this idea), see Stars and Cars from the shade and then Fantasmic. We do that and it is amazing how much more enjoyable this parade is when you are not sweating like a pig! Then we did the backlot tour which Dan and I thought was a bust but the kids liked the part where they throw a million gallons of water at the bus. Now we head to Fantasmic. Remember our not so great $80 dinner where we got the "Fantasmic Dinner Package Seating"? Guess what? We got way better seats when we just walked in with all the other folks at 6:30! By now Dan and I are postively suicidal thinking our trip is over. The kids seemed unfazed by the fact that we are leaving the next day. I begin to get in a mood. Some kid is screaming like no human I have heard behind me. Then he throws his sprite bottle down and guess who gets drenched in Sprite. Then a very nice man begins making his way across the aisle of seats in front of me. Did I mention he is literally 7 feet tall? He sits right in front of me. Oh well I think if the guy behind me can look at my 7 foot wide butt I can look at this guy's back. As it turned out we had to move down more to make more room as did he and he ended up blocking somebody else's view! I get in a better mood and begin to forumlate that if we have a really shabby Christmas, don't paint bedroom and bathroom and don't buy our daughter a new daybed we can come back to Disneyworld in February when it won't be so crowded! The night is saved, Fantasmic is wonderful and our trip is over!
Day 11, Monday 10/25 We go home
We leave ASMO by 6:30. There is no traffic and we are at the airport, car turned in and at our gate by 8:00. Our plane leaves on time and I pass Dan a note telling him of my plan. Don't want the kids to hear and get excited. He is amazed by my brilliant plan and my contentment with ugly colored walls, no Christmas presents for anybody but our children and agrees we need another Disney trip! So off to Pop Century we are as of January 28! Hope this wasn't too long and boring for all of you reading this! For those of you looking forward to near future Disney trips have fun!
