It all started with a secret-KOTS no more!-Video pg1-update-the final chapter...pg 11

[IV Little Monsters]

Haunted mansion will be closed when we are there...but now I'm not sure if I should have made DS do it. We didn't last time...maybe he needs to be much older.

Sometimes...you just gotta punch someone...

ITA *pow! right in the kisser!*

 

[Trentmom]

So, let me first say that I love my dad and step-mom. Next, let me say that I was ready to kill them right after our Haunted Mansion debacle.

A little back story...

Around November, my DD started realizing that Santa would be visiting her soon. One day, the family was sitting around the table and she asked her father and I how you spell "Haunted"....we didn't ask why, we just told her. Then she asked how to spell "Mansion"...we got curious. We told her how to spell it and asked her why she was asking. She said "I'm making my list for Santa". The first thing on the list was "Haunted Mansion".

We asked her what she was talking about...she said she wanted the "Haunted Mansion"...we asked if she wanted to go there or if she wanted the movie. She said both. For the next month and a half, she consistantly had "Haunted Mansion" at the top of her Santa list. I was skeptical...after all, she's only 4, but we went ahead and told Santa he could bring the "Haunted Mansion" DVD....she and her brother watched it on the 26th of December.

If you haven't seen the Haunted Mansion movie...it's pretty intense. Both kids sat transfixed. A couple of times I paused the movie and asked "are you sure you want to watch this" they both said "YES!". They watched the whole movie...twice. No nightmares or anything like that.

So when we got to Disney, we figured they would like to go on the Haunted Mansion ride. We waited until we met up with my dad because we figured they'd like to go too....big mistake. My dad started jacking the kids up talking about how "scary" the ride would be. I had been telling them there was a scary part at the beginning, but nothing scary on the ride. By the time the elevator got to the "bottom"...both my kids (and several others) were sobbing in terror. In fact, my daughter got so upset she lost her shoe...do you know how freakin dark it is in the Haunted Mansion???

So instead of stepping aside, letting other people pass and helping me find the shoe...DH says "she lost her shoe" and procedes to get on the ride with my dad and step mom leaving me holding my sobbing 2 and a half year old behind. I did not get on the ride because my daughter kinda NEEDED A SHOE!

So I go back in the "elevator" the next time the doors open...no shoe. Ask a CM if there's a shoe...no shoe. I look in the hallway where they load the Doombuggies, no shoe. DS is saying "Mommy…I wanna get outa here!!!!!" over and over. So I go out the "chicken exit" to find my husband (so I can punch him and give him DS). They get off the ride and I hand off DS (don't punch husband…he says DD was scared the whole trip and she is clinging to him….I was afraid I'd miss and punch her).

So I go to the CM and explain the shoe situation….he says I can't go back the way I came, but could go through the line again. He calls to a central number and lo and behold, they found the shoe….they send it over via Doombuggie….

So DD's shoe saw Haunted Mansion….but I didn't

Coming up...Chapter Six...Epcot...what a beautiful place!

Oh Man, I would h ave taken DD from DH and punched DH in the arm for that one....

What were the grandparents thinking? I would have been pissed, too!!!

I hope the rest of your vacation goes better!!

 

[LaraK]

So after the Haunted Mansion debacle...I was in a bit of a mood. We went over and watched Donald's Butt (otherwise known as Mickey's Philharmagic). That perked me right up . DH skipped out and went shopping instead, and that perked him right up.

We decided it was time to go and get lunch and take a nap. We went back by boat to Wilderness Lodge (god that's a great trip). We grabbed something to eat in the food court and I put the kids down for a nap. My dad waited for me downstairs so that he could give me a ride over to the Dolphin to pick up our rental car (I got a GREAT deal...$224 for a week with National for a standard SUV).

When we got back...I did something bad. I bought my first pins.... I am totally hooked on pins now...I left the house with none...came back with about 15.

After naps...we went over to Epcot...we walked in and say the topiary of Peter Pan...WOW (will post pic later). We headed over to the new Nemo ride...it was very cute, the kids liked it. We then started strolling towards Germany...got a couple of pics with characters on the way.

Ate dinner in Germany and ran into TWO (not one, but two totally non-related) Disers How's this for neat...they were seated together...at the table RIGHT BEHIND me. DD danced the night away and we stuffed ourselves sick on "wursts".

On the way out of Epcot, I got a wish While in Mousegears, a CM walked over to me and gave me a card with two "Year of a Million Dreams" pins. One was for me and one was for me to gift to someone else. How cool is that? I tucked the pin away to find just the right person to give it to.

Went back to the hotel and hit the bed to prepare for the next morning.

Coming up: Chapter Seven...Mickey hosts Breakfast and Splash Mountain Saves the Day!

 

[Trentmom]

So after the Haunted Mansion debacle...I was in a bit of a mood. We went over and watched Donald's Butt (otherwise known as Mickey's Philharmagic). That perked me right up . DH skipped out and went shopping instead, and that perked him right up.

We decided it was time to go and get lunch and take a nap. We went back by boat to Wilderness Lodge (god that's a great trip). We grabbed something to eat in the food court and I put the kids down for a nap. My dad waited for me downstairs so that he could give me a ride over to the Dolphin to pick up our rental car (I got a GREAT deal...$224 for a week with National for a standard SUV).

When we got back...I did something bad. I bought my first pins.... I am totally hooked on pins now...I left the house with none...came back with about 15.

After naps...we went over to Epcot...we walked in and say the topiary of Peter Pan...WOW (will post pic later). We headed over to the new Nemo ride...it was very cute, the kids liked it. We then started strolling towards Germany...got a couple of pics with characters on the way.

Ate dinner in Germany and ran into TWO (not one, but two totally non-related) Disers How's this for neat...they were seated together...at the table RIGHT BEHIND me. DD danced the night away and we stuffed ourselves sick on "wursts".

On the way out of Epcot, I got a wish While in Mousegears, a CM walked over to me and gave me a card with two "Year of a Million Dreams" pins. One was for me and one was for me to gift to someone else. How cool is that? I tucked the pin away to find just the right person to give it to.

Went back to the hotel and hit the bed to prepare for the next morning.

Coming up: Chapter Seven...Mickey hosts Breakfast and Splash Mountain Saves the Day!

Glad to hear your vacation turned aruond after HM disaster.

I, too loved Philharmagic...DH skipped it last year to go on space mountain and after hearing how awesome it was, ,he was disappointed he missed it.

So, how did you recognize the two Disers? Did they have LGMHs on them somewhere?

Yeah, you got a dream!!! Can't wait to hear who you passed it on, too.
So, you are a pin addict now?LOL Did you trade a lot or did you keep your pins?

Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[Marshay]

I haven't bought any pins yet either...I'm afraid I'll buy and won't stop! That is very cool that you were 'dreamed' pins...so many choices on who to give it to....can't wait to find out more.

 

[snowwhitesmom]

Lara, I am loving your trip report!

 

[LaraK]

Here is the picture of the Peter Pan topiary I promised...

 

[popcenturycp07]

i LOVED that when i went. but my favorite was pooh, tigger, rabbit, eeyore, and piglet in the UK. oh, and goofy. lol.

 

[LaraK]

So the next morning (Sunday) we get up and take the boat over to the Contemporary...another gorgeous morning.

We had a welcoming committee....

Then we went up for Breakfast with Mickey...

We did have one incident at breakfast...DD wanted to see what Minnie's nose felt like. Well, instead of asking and touching it gently, she grabbed Minnie's nose and pulled. Poor Minnie! I blistered DD and made her apologize, but she was pretty upset by the incident (it was a very nice Minnie). DD got over it.

DH's feet were a mess by this point (blisters on his blisters) so we took the monorail over to the park rather than walk. Good timing, we walked up just as they opened the gates...so we didn't have to stand in a mob, but we were there for park opening.

We hit Aladdin for a heartbeat and rode it, then went over to Splash Mountain. DD and I went to get on splash mountain without a FP, because the wait was only listed as 10 minutes....well they lied...the wait was NOTHING!!!!!! We literally walked throught the line and stepped onto a boat...here' is DD on Splash:

The top of the hill

So we get off of Splash Mountain and my dad and step mom have arrived...they want to go on the ride, so we go back through the line...again we walk right up to the boarding area and ride it again. TWO RIDES ON SPLASH MOUNTAIN WITH ZERO WAIT!

At that point we decide it's not fair to DS to just watch us riding splash mountain...so we take the train over to Toon Town and hit the roller coaster...twice. Again, minimal waits. We want to see if the streak can continue, so we head over to Buzz Lightyear. There is almost no wait again and we ride. (I suck at Buzz Lightyear by the way....DH always beats me) We went over to the exposition hall building, 'cause I haven't been there in years. Here are the kids playing on the picture sets...

We went back for lunch at the food court. Second downer of the day is that DS throws up during lunch (not unusual for him, he has an auto-immune disorder that causes him to vomit regularly). He wants no part of finishing lunch (and refuses to go back into the food court) So I took him up for nap.

Coming up after nap....
Chapter Eight....1900 Park Faire...our first experience in the Grand Floridian

 

[popcenturycp07]

so i definitely love your pics. especially the one at the top of splash mountain...amazing!

 

[Parla]

You're just moving right along. I would have kicked DH since DD was above where you would have kicked. I took DS to see HM at the theater. He was 5 or 6. The opening sequence was sooooo scary. He covered his eyes and made me cover his ears. As a result I didn't make him ride it last trip and I was really looking forward to riding it this trip but it will be closed. What kind of shoes was your DH wearing? I got the whole family Crocs for our upcoming trip and can't wait to see if they are as good as everyone says. I get so tired of blisters on every freaking trip.

Love the topiary. I want to go during the flower thing one year (and the Halloween party and the Christmas party). I would just like to live at Disney for a whole year!

 

[LaraK]

What kind of shoes was your DH wearing? I got the whole family Crocs for our upcoming trip and can't wait to see if they are as good as everyone says. I get so tired of blisters on every freaking trip.

He wore sneakers....couldn't talk him into crocs. The first thing he did when we got home was order a good pair of sandals.

 

[Parla]

He wore sneakers....couldn't talk him into crocs. The first thing he did when we got home was order a good pair of sandals.

My DH acted like I was all nuts for wanting to get everyone Crocs but then he got upset when they didn't have his size. I had to go back the next week and get them and he's been wearing them every where while complaining that he can't see what all the hype is about.

 

[LaraK]

So Sunday Evening was intentionally scheduled to be a relaxing evening. We went for a swim, walked around the hotel and then went to dinner.

We took some more pictures of the Wilderness Lodge. We fell in love with the lodge...we had been choosing a different hotel each time (two hotels each time) but now we're hooked. We will not be changing any more...Wilderness Lodge is it (now I just have to make sure to save enough money to afford the extra price).

Here are a couple more pictures....

Speaking of beautiful hotels...our dinner reservations were at the Grand Floridian. Yummy buffet! In fact, one of the best dinner buffet's we've been to. I couldn't eat enough to try all the dishes that looked good. The characters were great and the service was excellent. Here are some pictures...
One of the mice (I don't know what's what)

Walking around the property afterwards we came across this fountain...

So we took the monorail back over to Magic Kingdom and hopped a boat back to Wilderness Lodge. As we made our transfer, we saw all the people streaming into Magic Kingdom to take advantage of the evening EMH....glad we decided not to go to the parks that evening...it looked mobbed.

Coming up next...Chapter Nine...A Day of Transition.

 

[Piper]

Wow! What beautiful photos! I can't wait to hear more!

 

[popcenturycp07]

amazing pix...even tho ive worked for disney for 4 months, i never made it over to visit most of the resorts....

 

[Trentmom]

Loving the report Larak.

I can't believe your DH got blisters from sneakers... I thought for sure he must have been wearing sandals..Poor DH..

What a shame that your DS threw up during lunch...poor little guy.

Looks like you got to the park with perfect timing, getting on all those rides with no wait...You go Girl!!!

I really wanted to dine at 1900 Park Fare, but all that was lest was 8pm and afterwards..oh well, maybe next time....

 

[*MickeyFan*]

Great job so far, as if you didn't know. Keep up the good work

 

[LaraK]

So on Monday, we packed up and loaded the rental car to move from Wilderness Lodge to Port Orleans French Quarter. We were kind of sad to leave, as we'd fallen in love with WL.

Before we left, I got to forward my second "dream" pin to someone else. I had been carrying the pin around, looking for just the right person...well, at breakfast I saw a little girl, probably about 10, sitting with her father. She was wearing a lanyard with pins and a Tink t-shirt. I went over and gave her the dream pin explaining that two had been given to me with the provision that I had to pass one along at random to continue the dream. Both daughter and father's faces lit up....you could tell it made their morning. That was FUN!

We drove over to POFQ and checked in, then headed off to Typhoon Lagoon for the day.

When we got there...guess what....we got another dream! I went over to rent a locker and the CM asked if we had towels...I said no that we were deciding if we would buy some or rent some...well she said that as part of the Year of a Million Dreams, she was giving me a free locker complete with two refillable mugs, four rental towels, a waterproof case and a certificant. My second dream!!!

Also, I have to forward this service announcement:

PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE NO PICTURES OF ME IN A BATHING SUIT POSTED....EVER!

We got a great spot right near the kiddie section, under a hut. We had a wonderfully relaxing lazy day. We floated on the lazy river for at least an hour....bliss!

DS fell asleep in my arms after lunch, and took a nice hour long nap. Of course, since I was "babied", I had no choice but to sit totally still and inactive for that hour...it was wonderful.

At about 3, we went over to POFQ to take showers. We were in Building 5 on the side facing away from the pool...what a great room! I'll post pics of POFQ later. We all got showered and headed off to our dinner ADR at Cape May.

We had a little time to kill, so we went in to Epcot to wander around the British Empire for a while. First we went over to England and ran into Mary Poppins while the kids were playing in the maze.

Then DD wanted to make a call (actually, we take this picture ever trip so we can see how she grows...)

Then we went over to Canada and listened to the music for a while and took another quick picture...

After playing around, we walked back to the Beach Club for dinner. I'm sorry to report that I was disappointed in Cape May. It was ok, but hey, I live in Annapolis, Maryland...we kind of corner the market on good seafood in my neck of the woods. I should know not to get shellfish in Florida...oh well...it wasn't terrible or anything and DH ate enough clams that we know we got our money's worth.

We headed back to the hotel to get some sleep as we had an early ADR scheduled the next morning...

Coming up....Chapter Ten...Donald, a Yehti and Bugs...oh my!

 

[peightonmom]

I am loving this report! Can't wait to hear more!