bizeemom4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
- Messages
- 2,031
I took my three sons to WDW May 19-23. We were originally booked at AKL but when I found out they were sold out for our weekend, I changed to a split stay between the ASMusic and the Yacht Club. We received our Magical Express luggage tags before we left but because I had changed resorts at the last minute, they were printed with the incorrect resort and I didn't use them.
We flew Southwest for the first time & took a direct flight from BWI. Our flight was almost an hour late departing Baltimore
I am a compulsive planner and tried really hard to not get freaked out about what we wouldn't be doing by getting in so late. I wanted to be checked-in and on our way to Epcot by 8p.m. Not gonna happen now.
When we arrived at MCO, it was very simple to use the Magical Express. We raced thru the airport (following all the white Mickey gloves) to the Express desk. They copied down our baggage claim numbers so they could pull our bags and we ran thru an empty All Stars cue and onto a waiting bus. How easy is that?! A Bugs Life was on the TV but you couldn't hear it. We played the "Look! We stayed there before." hotel game instead. After you've sampled a few Disney hotels, it's a fun game to play.
We stopped at the Boardwalk then it was off to the All Stars.
Checkin was easy. I had paid off the room balance before we arrived so the only business was to get our keys. We were assigned to Broadway and it looked sooo cool all lit up. We dropped off our carryons and took off for Epcot.
It was EMH at Epcot and the park had already closed for offsite guests. We arrived as Illuminations crowds were gushing out. I had purchased APs for the boys before we left and they were being held at willcall. It was massive confusion trying to get into the park. A CM at the bag search told me I couldn't get in since the park had already closed. Then he said that I had to go to guest services inside the gate. He drove off on his Segway & when I tried to explain the whole story to the CM at the gate, she wasn't going to let me in. Thank goodness another guest came up with the exact same problem!! She let all of us in and we went to guest services to get our APs. The CMs at Guest Services told me next time to just wait til we get to Orlando to buy the APs instead of doing WillCall. I guess they didn't feel like printing up 3 APs at 10 pm at night. Oh well!!!
We got FP for Test Track and the older 2 boys wanted to ride Mission Space. The wait was 20 minutes. OK, now I think I had a moment of insanity. I decide to let the boys ride it by themselves while I took the 5 y.o. on Spaceship earth. I figured I'd be done way before them and we'd reunite and move on. I told them if there was a problem, just wait for me in front of the Ball and I'd meet them when I got off. After we got off the ride, the boys aren't there. Fine, so they're still on M:S. We strolled over to the ride (eyes peeled looking for them). Now it's been 30 minutes and no boys. I keep waiting and waiting and still no boys. I'm starting to panic. I rush back over to Spaceship earth just in case they went to the right while I walked to the left, ya know? No boys. It's close to 50 minutes since we separated. I start questioning a CM about how long M:S is and if the line is 20 minutes, how long should it take for someone to get thru it, etc. when the boys show up!! Whew!! The ride broke down while they were in line and they didn't know what they should do so they waited. We vow not to split up again for the rest of the trip!
We got in line to use our FP and it appears that Test Track has broken down. It's after 11p.m. and the boys are ready to drop. I try to get them to go back to the room but they won't budge. 5 more minutes, Mom! Ok. If it's not fixed in 5, we go back. The ride comes up and we enter the screening room then were screaming around at 64.7 mph.
Tough choice to make here. It's 11:30. The food court will be closed by the time we get back to the hotel. We can eat granola bars from the luggage or find some food now. Noone's really hungry - I find a coffee/latte cart and there are 3 cookies left. I buy all three $7.50!! That's dinner. We eat and wander, bleary eyed toward the exit. What a day!
I will NEVER try to do a park on arrival day again (if it's a late arrival). No matter how excited we are when we arrive, it's just not a good idea. We were so tired when we got back to the room.
We had come the whole way to Disney to go to Star Wars weekend on it's opening day (which is scheduled to start in just a few hours). Now that it's 1 a.m. (!) and we're still awake, we decide to sleep in and just go see Revenge of the Sith when we wake up.
We flew Southwest for the first time & took a direct flight from BWI. Our flight was almost an hour late departing Baltimore
I am a compulsive planner and tried really hard to not get freaked out about what we wouldn't be doing by getting in so late. I wanted to be checked-in and on our way to Epcot by 8p.m. Not gonna happen now.When we arrived at MCO, it was very simple to use the Magical Express. We raced thru the airport (following all the white Mickey gloves) to the Express desk. They copied down our baggage claim numbers so they could pull our bags and we ran thru an empty All Stars cue and onto a waiting bus. How easy is that?! A Bugs Life was on the TV but you couldn't hear it. We played the "Look! We stayed there before." hotel game instead. After you've sampled a few Disney hotels, it's a fun game to play.
We stopped at the Boardwalk then it was off to the All Stars. Checkin was easy. I had paid off the room balance before we arrived so the only business was to get our keys. We were assigned to Broadway and it looked sooo cool all lit up. We dropped off our carryons and took off for Epcot.
It was EMH at Epcot and the park had already closed for offsite guests. We arrived as Illuminations crowds were gushing out. I had purchased APs for the boys before we left and they were being held at willcall. It was massive confusion trying to get into the park. A CM at the bag search told me I couldn't get in since the park had already closed. Then he said that I had to go to guest services inside the gate. He drove off on his Segway & when I tried to explain the whole story to the CM at the gate, she wasn't going to let me in. Thank goodness another guest came up with the exact same problem!! She let all of us in and we went to guest services to get our APs. The CMs at Guest Services told me next time to just wait til we get to Orlando to buy the APs instead of doing WillCall. I guess they didn't feel like printing up 3 APs at 10 pm at night. Oh well!!!
We got FP for Test Track and the older 2 boys wanted to ride Mission Space. The wait was 20 minutes. OK, now I think I had a moment of insanity. I decide to let the boys ride it by themselves while I took the 5 y.o. on Spaceship earth. I figured I'd be done way before them and we'd reunite and move on. I told them if there was a problem, just wait for me in front of the Ball and I'd meet them when I got off. After we got off the ride, the boys aren't there. Fine, so they're still on M:S. We strolled over to the ride (eyes peeled looking for them). Now it's been 30 minutes and no boys. I keep waiting and waiting and still no boys. I'm starting to panic. I rush back over to Spaceship earth just in case they went to the right while I walked to the left, ya know? No boys. It's close to 50 minutes since we separated. I start questioning a CM about how long M:S is and if the line is 20 minutes, how long should it take for someone to get thru it, etc. when the boys show up!! Whew!! The ride broke down while they were in line and they didn't know what they should do so they waited. We vow not to split up again for the rest of the trip!
We got in line to use our FP and it appears that Test Track has broken down. It's after 11p.m. and the boys are ready to drop. I try to get them to go back to the room but they won't budge. 5 more minutes, Mom! Ok. If it's not fixed in 5, we go back. The ride comes up and we enter the screening room then were screaming around at 64.7 mph.
Tough choice to make here. It's 11:30. The food court will be closed by the time we get back to the hotel. We can eat granola bars from the luggage or find some food now. Noone's really hungry - I find a coffee/latte cart and there are 3 cookies left. I buy all three $7.50!! That's dinner. We eat and wander, bleary eyed toward the exit. What a day!
I will NEVER try to do a park on arrival day again (if it's a late arrival). No matter how excited we are when we arrive, it's just not a good idea. We were so tired when we got back to the room.
We had come the whole way to Disney to go to Star Wars weekend on it's opening day (which is scheduled to start in just a few hours). Now that it's 1 a.m. (!) and we're still awake, we decide to sleep in and just go see Revenge of the Sith when we wake up.
takes over sometimes! Nothing wrong with eating cookies - although the price was high! 
