bjscheel
(Avatar art by my daughter)
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2005
- Messages
- 5,436
Just thought I'd give some highlights and observations/recommendations in no particular order from our little trip this month! We are:
Me (30)
DH (36) "Goofy"
DD (8) "Aurora"
DD (5) "Jasmine"
Plane trip from Des Moines went well. I HIGHLY recommend Crayola Model Magic for kids. The girls spent hours playing with it and it is completely clean. Then you can just throw it away at the end.
We arrived at MCO about 5:30 and were checked into Pop about 7:00. Our luggage arrived at exactly midnight.
Weather was great- t-shirts and jeans in the day and sweatshirts at night. Crowds were moderate. We didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for rides and the longest wait was to meet Ariel.
Our first morning was off to a rough start- Aurora was bawling over her ear hurting. We had breakfast at the food court which was loud and she was miserable. Goofy took her back to the room for Tylenol and a nap. By 10:00 she was up and ready for the parks. It bothered her off and on throughout the trip but not enough to slow us down again.
That day at MK we were approaching Splash Mountain which was posting a 30 minute wait. A CM came up to us and said "Follow me" so we did. He took us through the back way, gave the kids stickers, and took us to the front of the line. Jasmine was terrified of the ride but hey, at least we didn't have to wait in line!
At AK the next day Aurora was picked to open the Flights of Wonder show. She opened the curtain and said "On with the show!" and then we got to sit front and center. Great show!
We went to the MVMCP that night- it was nice but we probably won't spend the extra money again. I have to admit we didn't make an effort to catch a lot of the special shows. DH always complains we don't ride enough rides, so we had a good run on rides with no waits starting at 7:00- then some character meets. By the time the late parade was to start the kids were sacked out in the stroller. So we thought, they're asleep, we'll just watch the parade. Mistake! We should have gotten out of there. We were back towards the front of the parade, so when it was over, it was still going on at the front of the park and we couldn't get out. Jasmine wakes up and has to go potty NOW (this was a recurring event this vacation!) So I ran back up Main Street. Didn't get back to the room till Midnight.
We had a lot more fun with the characters this time- thinking of fun questions or things to say. "Goofy" brought Flik a rock "It's a rock" which Flik promptly planted in the dirt. "Aurora" asked Santa Goofy if he had any presents for her- he tried to get one off the sleigh, and when he couldn't, he tried to walk away with her. When his handler called him back, he got a "First Trip to DW" pin from the PhotoPass photographer to give her. "Goofy" noticed Perla was left handed so he asked if she had left-handed needles- or a left-handed sewing machine. She made sewing motions and we told her she had done a great job with Cinderella's dress. At CM, there was a crash in the kitchen so we asked Goofy if he had done that. Of course it was his fault. DDs asked Snow White what she was getting Grumpy for Christmas (chocolate) and Sneezy (a box of Kleenex). The girls were posing with Jafar when DH said "Work with me Jafar, give me a smile!" Jafar motioned DH to bow down, which he did halfheartedly since his knee hurt.
Jafar was not pleased so I showed him how it was done properly! Almost all of our face characters were spot-on. Aladdin & Jasmine in Adventureland were FABULOUS and lots of fun.
Highly recommend doing all the KidCot stations in World Showcase. It really kept the kids going without a stroller. We started in Norway and didn't realize they get a poster if they get them all so by the time we got to Canada we had to skip across and get Mexico to complete it. It was nice because last year we basically skimmed the countries. Funniest thing this time was taking a break in France at sundown...the kids were sitting on the edge of the little pool, putting their hands in the water when all of a sudden the lights dim and WHOOSH! The fountain comes to life right in their faces! Priceless.
MGM we didn't get too much into. Beauty & the Beast was great, Lights Motors Action is something I never need to see again. We enjoyed the World of Animation and went through the drawing class twice. My Donald turned out nearly perfect! Goofy and Jasmine worked together and ended up with a mutant Donald/Tigger/Mickey monster.
Note: If you have an ADR for Chef Mickey, and the line for the MK bus is long and the line for the Epcot bus is short, just get in the MK line anyway. I'm pretty sure it was WAY longer monorailing to CM by way of Epcot!
The last day we spent at MK and treated the kids to a stroller. They only got one at MVMCP (because it was free) and this last day. Got quite a few more character autographs and finally rode Buzz Lightyear. Aurora loved it. We went to 1900 Park Fair for supper. Beautiful hotel, nice supper. Cindy seemed burned out but the others were great. We got to sit in the front of the monorail on the way back- perfect ending to our trip!
Me (30)
DH (36) "Goofy"
DD (8) "Aurora"
DD (5) "Jasmine"
Plane trip from Des Moines went well. I HIGHLY recommend Crayola Model Magic for kids. The girls spent hours playing with it and it is completely clean. Then you can just throw it away at the end.
We arrived at MCO about 5:30 and were checked into Pop about 7:00. Our luggage arrived at exactly midnight.
Weather was great- t-shirts and jeans in the day and sweatshirts at night. Crowds were moderate. We didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for rides and the longest wait was to meet Ariel.
Our first morning was off to a rough start- Aurora was bawling over her ear hurting. We had breakfast at the food court which was loud and she was miserable. Goofy took her back to the room for Tylenol and a nap. By 10:00 she was up and ready for the parks. It bothered her off and on throughout the trip but not enough to slow us down again.
That day at MK we were approaching Splash Mountain which was posting a 30 minute wait. A CM came up to us and said "Follow me" so we did. He took us through the back way, gave the kids stickers, and took us to the front of the line. Jasmine was terrified of the ride but hey, at least we didn't have to wait in line!
At AK the next day Aurora was picked to open the Flights of Wonder show. She opened the curtain and said "On with the show!" and then we got to sit front and center. Great show!
We went to the MVMCP that night- it was nice but we probably won't spend the extra money again. I have to admit we didn't make an effort to catch a lot of the special shows. DH always complains we don't ride enough rides, so we had a good run on rides with no waits starting at 7:00- then some character meets. By the time the late parade was to start the kids were sacked out in the stroller. So we thought, they're asleep, we'll just watch the parade. Mistake! We should have gotten out of there. We were back towards the front of the parade, so when it was over, it was still going on at the front of the park and we couldn't get out. Jasmine wakes up and has to go potty NOW (this was a recurring event this vacation!) So I ran back up Main Street. Didn't get back to the room till Midnight.
We had a lot more fun with the characters this time- thinking of fun questions or things to say. "Goofy" brought Flik a rock "It's a rock" which Flik promptly planted in the dirt. "Aurora" asked Santa Goofy if he had any presents for her- he tried to get one off the sleigh, and when he couldn't, he tried to walk away with her. When his handler called him back, he got a "First Trip to DW" pin from the PhotoPass photographer to give her. "Goofy" noticed Perla was left handed so he asked if she had left-handed needles- or a left-handed sewing machine. She made sewing motions and we told her she had done a great job with Cinderella's dress. At CM, there was a crash in the kitchen so we asked Goofy if he had done that. Of course it was his fault. DDs asked Snow White what she was getting Grumpy for Christmas (chocolate) and Sneezy (a box of Kleenex). The girls were posing with Jafar when DH said "Work with me Jafar, give me a smile!" Jafar motioned DH to bow down, which he did halfheartedly since his knee hurt.
Jafar was not pleased so I showed him how it was done properly! Almost all of our face characters were spot-on. Aladdin & Jasmine in Adventureland were FABULOUS and lots of fun.Highly recommend doing all the KidCot stations in World Showcase. It really kept the kids going without a stroller. We started in Norway and didn't realize they get a poster if they get them all so by the time we got to Canada we had to skip across and get Mexico to complete it. It was nice because last year we basically skimmed the countries. Funniest thing this time was taking a break in France at sundown...the kids were sitting on the edge of the little pool, putting their hands in the water when all of a sudden the lights dim and WHOOSH! The fountain comes to life right in their faces! Priceless.
MGM we didn't get too much into. Beauty & the Beast was great, Lights Motors Action is something I never need to see again. We enjoyed the World of Animation and went through the drawing class twice. My Donald turned out nearly perfect! Goofy and Jasmine worked together and ended up with a mutant Donald/Tigger/Mickey monster.
Note: If you have an ADR for Chef Mickey, and the line for the MK bus is long and the line for the Epcot bus is short, just get in the MK line anyway. I'm pretty sure it was WAY longer monorailing to CM by way of Epcot!
The last day we spent at MK and treated the kids to a stroller. They only got one at MVMCP (because it was free) and this last day. Got quite a few more character autographs and finally rode Buzz Lightyear. Aurora loved it. We went to 1900 Park Fair for supper. Beautiful hotel, nice supper. Cindy seemed burned out but the others were great. We got to sit in the front of the monorail on the way back- perfect ending to our trip!
