mamaboogie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2008
- Messages
- 994
So - here we are! Waking up in Disney after a really good night's sleep
Our alarm goes off at 7am - thanks Mickey and Stitch. Now, here was the real test. Could four of us get up and ready and out of the room in an hour? Especially Miss 'I simply must have a shower and straighten my hair' Sarah?
Amazingly yes! After a breakfast of last night's left over desserts (key lime pie anyone?) we were up and out by 8am. The view from our door still looked pretty good:
Off we trotted to the bus stop. Here was the first test of the Disney transport system - we'd left an hour to get from door to 'door'. Would it be enough?
Well, considering the MK bus came straight away and we found ourselves waiting for rope drop by 8:20 I would say we'd left enough time! It was great though - there were hula hoops for the waiting children and it gave us time to appreciate that we were about to entry the Magic Kingdom:
So we waited for the rope drop ceremony - something we'd never experienced before. Kate did some videoing with her new birthday present:
Pretty soon, the train arrived and the day had begun!
Our plan of action was to split up - the brave Kate and Simon would go off and do things that involved them plummeting downwards at speed. Sarah and I would be a little more sedate! (Yes, and cowardly!)
So we surged in with the crowds and then made plans to meet up at The Haunted Mansion later. There was almost no time to take in the fact that I was in my favourite theme park in the whole world ever. Sarah and I had a plan - get to Buzz Lightyear (Sarah has an unnatural attraction to Buzz - we went on it so many times in 2006 that I developed RSI in my right thumb!)
So, it was hectic saying goodbye to the others and being swept along. But then I saw this and my breath caught in my throat:
This is it for me. Magic personnified. I managed to take a quick photo as the tears prickled the backs of my eyes. We'd done it. We were here. In the years before Simon and I met we'd both had some tough times and finding each other was like a lovely reward for all the rubbish we'd endured. And being here was like the icing on the cake.
I took a deep breath and jumped into the fray - Sarah at my side. Now Sarah is quite huggy for a teenager but the hand holding days are long gone. We developed this system of her holding onto my clothing if we were squeezing through hoards of people. Even at 14 I needed reassurance that I wouldn't lose her. Sometimes, if there was room, we linked arms but it was mostly the shirt grabbing - or bag strap holding worked quite well too.
We veered off towards tomorrowland - and Buzz. We walked onto Buzz twice.
To be honest, this day is all a bit of a blur - we did so much but I can't remember when or in what order!
Of course, the obligatory dumbo trip:
A dizzying trip on the teacups (Sarah liked to spin fast!):
Outside the teacups we saw Alice and The Mad Hatter. Sarah wanted to meet them but there was a long queue and it was nearly time to meet Simon and Kate so we decided we'd do that another time. This had grave consequences for the rest of our holiday as you will see.
We did, however, bump into these guys:
Aladdin and Jasmine were soooo cool! We queued up with all the little girls! The line shut after us and the CM had to keep turning people away. (I hasten to add that A and J were coming back out later!)
Well, they were great! As soon as Sarah went over Aladdin cried 'I like your shoes' (Sarah had some chunky trainers on with colourful laces) and he started comparing shoes. Then he spotted me - 'Is this your servant?' I replied 'Kind of!' They were both lovely and posed for lots of photos. Sarah was thrilled.
Meanwhile Simon and Kate had been having fun on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. In fact, on BTMR they'd had a bit of magic - they'd been chosen as the first two to ride in the train - ALL ON THEIR OWN! They could choose whether they wanted the front or the back carriage - they went in the front and rode the mountain in their own private train. How cool is that?
Here's Kate enjoying her rides:
I got a couple more shots of the castle of the course of the day:
We met up again and went on the new, revamped Haunted Mansion. We'd always all enjoyed this but now it was simply fantastic! The new neverending staircase was great and all the extras really made the ride amazing. Simon was freaked out by all the new bride stuff - really creepy!
But our next ride terrified him even more. It was time for him to face his fears. After getting out of it in 2006 there was no getting away from it this time. Yes, it was time for Simon and Kate to return to: 'It's a Small World'!!
Now this is Simon's Mum's fave Disney ride ever - but Simon is freaked out by all the little dancing and singing dolls. I told him that he owed it to his mother to go on it for her sake.
Ahhh...what a pair of brave soldiers!
We reward them with a brunch at Columbia Harbour House. Shari likee!
We share two CS meals as we have a late lunch ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern.
Si and Kate go off to ride Space Mountain and then go and meet them for our meal at LTT. Very nice. Pot roast. Yum.
We're full and tired now. We wander up main street and look in the shops. I believe we may have indulged the children's passion for trying on silly hats:
Don't know where they get it from:
Nope nothing to do with me at all:
As we come out of the shops we notice cast members with skipping ropes. Kate decides to take the plunge and acquits herself honourably. She can fly, she can fly:
We are all so tired that we decide to hitch a ride to Mickey's Toontown Fair - a new experience for all of us. We get on this:
Notice the posing driver? We were excited to be travelling on the Walter E Disney!
We had fun in Toontown but by now we were beginning to flag a little:
We wandered back to Fantasyland and had a sit down at Mickey's Phillharmagic:
I love this show so much! Everytime we go the audience is just so delighted!
We also go back on the teacups but this time I cunningly palm spin wizard Sarah off on Simon. Kate and I are far more sedate! I think we also went on the carousel at this point:
Next up - time for me to face my nemesisissiisis - BTMR.
On the promise that there are no huge plunges in BTMR I have agreed to go on this ride for the first time ever with Simon and Kate. The fast passes were there so I had no excuse. There is no way we'd ever get Sarah on this ride so for the first time ever we leave her to her own devices in Disney. I'm a bit anxious about this but she's very sensible and we leave her clear instructions.
(I think she was going to search for Alice again!) Anyhow, we join the queue for BTMR. Unfortunately, even with a fastpass there is quite a wait. Maybe twenty minutes or so. Kate is anxious for me and keeps giving me looks as if she's scared I'll throw up or run screaming from the fast pass queue. I mostly just rather hot and worried that we won't make our rendezvous time with Sarah.
I could also see too much of the track:
Eventually we get onto the carriage of doom:
Simon trying to take photos of this auspicious moment. The moment he finally got his wife onto a rollercoaster! Now I'm not really looking terrified on the photo - Kate and I found a pair of sunglasses that someone had left in the loose belongings pouch. We handed them to a CM and we were finally off!
I loved it! It was such fun. But don't be going thinking that I'm going to change into an adrenaline junkie. It was right at the limit of my fear factor. I loved going over the bumps and getting air time! Kate and I whooped and screamed with joy and I think Simon (in front of us) was mightily relieved.
When we got off Simon presented me with a BTMR pin that he'd secretly bought me earlier. Don't know what he'd have done with it if I'd refused to go on the ride!
We met back up with Sarah who had failed to find Alice , but I suspect she might have gone back on Buzz Lightyear once or twice!
We went for another sit down on the TTA:
We all went into Monster's Inc Laugh Floor - great fun! I was scared of being chosen but I think Sarah would have loved it. She was planning on wearing a hat if we ever went back!
Next up was Stitch's Great Escape - another great favourite of ours! We loved this just as much.
By now we were exhausted and our feet were aching. Night had fallen and Mk was probably at it's busiest.
We split up again - the theory was that Si and Kate would go on the mountains again whilst Wishes was on and Sarah and I would watch the Fireworks and that we'd meet up back at CBR.
Well, it was soooo busy and sarah and I couldn't find a decent spot to watch the fireworks so we decided to cut our losses and head for the bus home. We also just couldn't face fighting through the crowds at the end of the night. So we did a runner.
We got back just before Si and kate - we were all exhausted. We had had an amazing day but yesterdays travelling had finally caught up with us big time. I couldn't believe how much we had done! We all crashed out!
Coming up: Getting soaked in the jungle! And how many shows can you see in one day?!
Our alarm goes off at 7am - thanks Mickey and Stitch. Now, here was the real test. Could four of us get up and ready and out of the room in an hour? Especially Miss 'I simply must have a shower and straighten my hair' Sarah?
Amazingly yes! After a breakfast of last night's left over desserts (key lime pie anyone?) we were up and out by 8am. The view from our door still looked pretty good:
Off we trotted to the bus stop. Here was the first test of the Disney transport system - we'd left an hour to get from door to 'door'. Would it be enough?
Well, considering the MK bus came straight away and we found ourselves waiting for rope drop by 8:20 I would say we'd left enough time! It was great though - there were hula hoops for the waiting children and it gave us time to appreciate that we were about to entry the Magic Kingdom:
So we waited for the rope drop ceremony - something we'd never experienced before. Kate did some videoing with her new birthday present:
Pretty soon, the train arrived and the day had begun!
Our plan of action was to split up - the brave Kate and Simon would go off and do things that involved them plummeting downwards at speed. Sarah and I would be a little more sedate! (Yes, and cowardly!)
So we surged in with the crowds and then made plans to meet up at The Haunted Mansion later. There was almost no time to take in the fact that I was in my favourite theme park in the whole world ever. Sarah and I had a plan - get to Buzz Lightyear (Sarah has an unnatural attraction to Buzz - we went on it so many times in 2006 that I developed RSI in my right thumb!)
So, it was hectic saying goodbye to the others and being swept along. But then I saw this and my breath caught in my throat:
This is it for me. Magic personnified. I managed to take a quick photo as the tears prickled the backs of my eyes. We'd done it. We were here. In the years before Simon and I met we'd both had some tough times and finding each other was like a lovely reward for all the rubbish we'd endured. And being here was like the icing on the cake.
I took a deep breath and jumped into the fray - Sarah at my side. Now Sarah is quite huggy for a teenager but the hand holding days are long gone. We developed this system of her holding onto my clothing if we were squeezing through hoards of people. Even at 14 I needed reassurance that I wouldn't lose her. Sometimes, if there was room, we linked arms but it was mostly the shirt grabbing - or bag strap holding worked quite well too.
We veered off towards tomorrowland - and Buzz. We walked onto Buzz twice.
To be honest, this day is all a bit of a blur - we did so much but I can't remember when or in what order!
Of course, the obligatory dumbo trip:
A dizzying trip on the teacups (Sarah liked to spin fast!):
Outside the teacups we saw Alice and The Mad Hatter. Sarah wanted to meet them but there was a long queue and it was nearly time to meet Simon and Kate so we decided we'd do that another time. This had grave consequences for the rest of our holiday as you will see.
We did, however, bump into these guys:
Aladdin and Jasmine were soooo cool! We queued up with all the little girls! The line shut after us and the CM had to keep turning people away. (I hasten to add that A and J were coming back out later!)
Well, they were great! As soon as Sarah went over Aladdin cried 'I like your shoes' (Sarah had some chunky trainers on with colourful laces) and he started comparing shoes. Then he spotted me - 'Is this your servant?' I replied 'Kind of!' They were both lovely and posed for lots of photos. Sarah was thrilled.
Meanwhile Simon and Kate had been having fun on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. In fact, on BTMR they'd had a bit of magic - they'd been chosen as the first two to ride in the train - ALL ON THEIR OWN! They could choose whether they wanted the front or the back carriage - they went in the front and rode the mountain in their own private train. How cool is that?
Here's Kate enjoying her rides:
I got a couple more shots of the castle of the course of the day:
We met up again and went on the new, revamped Haunted Mansion. We'd always all enjoyed this but now it was simply fantastic! The new neverending staircase was great and all the extras really made the ride amazing. Simon was freaked out by all the new bride stuff - really creepy!
But our next ride terrified him even more. It was time for him to face his fears. After getting out of it in 2006 there was no getting away from it this time. Yes, it was time for Simon and Kate to return to: 'It's a Small World'!!
Now this is Simon's Mum's fave Disney ride ever - but Simon is freaked out by all the little dancing and singing dolls. I told him that he owed it to his mother to go on it for her sake.
Ahhh...what a pair of brave soldiers!
We reward them with a brunch at Columbia Harbour House. Shari likee!
We share two CS meals as we have a late lunch ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern.
Si and Kate go off to ride Space Mountain and then go and meet them for our meal at LTT. Very nice. Pot roast. Yum.
We're full and tired now. We wander up main street and look in the shops. I believe we may have indulged the children's passion for trying on silly hats:
Don't know where they get it from:
Nope nothing to do with me at all:
As we come out of the shops we notice cast members with skipping ropes. Kate decides to take the plunge and acquits herself honourably. She can fly, she can fly:
We are all so tired that we decide to hitch a ride to Mickey's Toontown Fair - a new experience for all of us. We get on this:
Notice the posing driver? We were excited to be travelling on the Walter E Disney!
We had fun in Toontown but by now we were beginning to flag a little:
We wandered back to Fantasyland and had a sit down at Mickey's Phillharmagic:
I love this show so much! Everytime we go the audience is just so delighted!
We also go back on the teacups but this time I cunningly palm spin wizard Sarah off on Simon. Kate and I are far more sedate! I think we also went on the carousel at this point:
Next up - time for me to face my nemesisissiisis - BTMR.
On the promise that there are no huge plunges in BTMR I have agreed to go on this ride for the first time ever with Simon and Kate. The fast passes were there so I had no excuse. There is no way we'd ever get Sarah on this ride so for the first time ever we leave her to her own devices in Disney. I'm a bit anxious about this but she's very sensible and we leave her clear instructions.
(I think she was going to search for Alice again!) Anyhow, we join the queue for BTMR. Unfortunately, even with a fastpass there is quite a wait. Maybe twenty minutes or so. Kate is anxious for me and keeps giving me looks as if she's scared I'll throw up or run screaming from the fast pass queue. I mostly just rather hot and worried that we won't make our rendezvous time with Sarah.
I could also see too much of the track:
Eventually we get onto the carriage of doom:
Simon trying to take photos of this auspicious moment. The moment he finally got his wife onto a rollercoaster! Now I'm not really looking terrified on the photo - Kate and I found a pair of sunglasses that someone had left in the loose belongings pouch. We handed them to a CM and we were finally off!
I loved it! It was such fun. But don't be going thinking that I'm going to change into an adrenaline junkie. It was right at the limit of my fear factor. I loved going over the bumps and getting air time! Kate and I whooped and screamed with joy and I think Simon (in front of us) was mightily relieved.
When we got off Simon presented me with a BTMR pin that he'd secretly bought me earlier. Don't know what he'd have done with it if I'd refused to go on the ride!
We met back up with Sarah who had failed to find Alice , but I suspect she might have gone back on Buzz Lightyear once or twice!
We went for another sit down on the TTA:
We all went into Monster's Inc Laugh Floor - great fun! I was scared of being chosen but I think Sarah would have loved it. She was planning on wearing a hat if we ever went back!
Next up was Stitch's Great Escape - another great favourite of ours! We loved this just as much.
By now we were exhausted and our feet were aching. Night had fallen and Mk was probably at it's busiest.
We split up again - the theory was that Si and Kate would go on the mountains again whilst Wishes was on and Sarah and I would watch the Fireworks and that we'd meet up back at CBR.
Well, it was soooo busy and sarah and I couldn't find a decent spot to watch the fireworks so we decided to cut our losses and head for the bus home. We also just couldn't face fighting through the crowds at the end of the night. So we did a runner.
We got back just before Si and kate - we were all exhausted. We had had an amazing day but yesterdays travelling had finally caught up with us big time. I couldn't believe how much we had done! We all crashed out!
Coming up: Getting soaked in the jungle! And how many shows can you see in one day?!
Buy the hats? Were we supposed to? Don't worry - we contributed to the Disney economy lots! (Just not with hats!!
My sister has motion sickness but can handle Soarin' and Test track! Love Epcot. 
and this 
