It's hot, it's crowded, it's raining........BUT.....THE MAGIC LIVES ON! ** pictures *

[WeLoveTheMouse]

I am enjoying it! We were hiding in the bathroom at Coronado Springs Pool during that thunderstorm. It was terrible for a little while. I am waiting for you to get to the cruise but I am thinking about what we were doing at the same time.

I did not make it to the cruise meet but I spoke to you briefly in the line for kids club registration. I love the title of your trip. It did rain a lot but it was still magical.

 

[live4christp1]

I am enjoying it! We were hiding in the bathroom at Coronado Springs Pool during that thunderstorm. It was terrible for a little while. I am waiting for you to get to the cruise but I am thinking about what we were doing at the same time.

I did not make it to the cruise meet but I spoke to you briefly in the line for kids club registration. I love the title of your trip. It did rain a lot but it was still magical.

Hi! We really enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people from the DIS this trip but I am just kicking myself for not thinking to take pictures. My DD was talking last night that her favorite part was WDW and the cruise . We had such a great time. I purchased the Wishes CD at WDW and we were listening to it while driving to church yesterday evening and DH said, "okay, we gotta go back, the fireworks will probably be about 9:00 PM tonight." It was 6:40 PM so I asked him if he thought he could get us there in time to see them????

 

[live4christp1]

Day Two, Chapter 3
Tower of Terror Yes or No?, dinner at the Commissary and everything else we can squeeze in before the finale of Fantasmic.

After exiting the theater DS and I head over to Tower of Terror. He’s starting to get a little nervous as we approach the building. There are very few people entering through the FP line so it’s a pretty quick walk through into the study or library waiting room. DS starts having 2nd thoughts and I keep encouraging him that it really isn’t that bad. We exit out of this room and into line for our elevator. DS says he’s changed his mind and doesn’t want to ride. My reply is, “if we exit now all these people are going to know we chickened out.” So we stay. We end up in the middle row and we had a blast. I tell you, this thing moves so fast when it starts dropping that after the first initial drop I can’t tell if we are going up or down. DS had a great time on the ride and is glad he rode it. Now he can say he has been on every single ride at WDW.

We join DH and DD who have been waiting for us on Sunset Blvd. and all head off to get some dinner at the ABC commissary. DH has the cheeseburger combo. The kids have the meals with the chicken & fries of course, along with a chocolate chip cookie. But wait, the menu is missing my favorite item from last trip, the Cuban sandwich……I am so disappointed. The chicken sandwich is not appealing either and I’m not really interested in the other items so I end up with the kids ham & cheese wraps with fries and a cookie.

We wanted to do One Man’s Dream but it closed at 4:00 PM today. We head over to Journey Into Narnia and walk through it. This is the first time we’ve gone through here since they have redone it with the Prince Caspian movie. DH likes to look at all the things from the movie.

Next over to The Great Movie Ride, definitely not a thrill ride but one of our favorites. DH particularly likes this ride. DD is not very fond of the guns or the alien, but she survives.

DH & the kids outside The Great Movie Ride

It’s still been raining a little off and on and we stop to ask if Fantasmic will still go on, the CMs say it will unless it’s just storming really bad. We still have some time to burn up before the last show (think it (the show) was 10:30). DD, out of the blue, requests to go ride Star Tours again…….WHAT?????? She has decided that she likes this ride! YEAH!!!!!! So off to Star Tours we go, there is no line and we walk right on.

After this we walk over and do the Voyage of the Little Mermaid again and get rained on inside (must not think we are getting enough outside). The theater is very empty as is the park. It is almost completely deserted in the Animation Courtyard. DS & DH go back into the Animation building to look around while DD and I sit outside on a bench. The air has cooled off quiet a bit and DD says she is cold.

We head up to Fantasmic about 30 minutes before show time and there is no huge crowd lined up. In fact when the show starts the stadium might have been about 1/3 full. Wow, nothing like I had anticipated. I guess the rain worked in our favor. The show is incredible as always. This is my favorite show of all and something I didn’t want to miss. As we exit the park everyone is tired but content. It turned out to be a wonderful day despite the rain.

JOIN ME NEXT TIME AS:
We Celebrate my birthday Magic Kingdom style!!!!!!

 

[live4christp1]

Finally got some photos added tonight. Also, if you go back to post #1, I think my very first photo pass link is fixed now.

Enjoy!
Cristy

 

[goofydad99]

Cristy,

I would like to know how in the world you get Micah to take pictures without argument? Ian won't go anywhere near the princesses much less take pictures and get autographs from them. I will have to send you a picture of him. You wouldn't believe the trouble he causes!! The pictures are great. Did you end up buying a photopass cd? Check your inbox. I will send you a link.

 

[sneadae]

I'm enjoying your report. As you describe the rain storms each day, I can totally picture where I was that week during that particular rain storm. Gotta love those crazy downpours at WDW.

ToT is our family's FAVORITE ride. It is a must do for each trip. Having said that...guess what I didn't do on our most recent trip??? I even went so far as to get our fast passes for it, but I just did not make it on. I think DH and DS went on it, and DD and I ended up finding a cool quiet place maybe?? Must have been her naptime or something..

 

[live4christp1]

Cristy,

I would like to know how in the world you get Micah to take pictures without argument? Ian won't go anywhere near the princesses much less take pictures and get autographs from them. I will have to send you a picture of him. You wouldn't believe the trouble he causes!! The pictures are great. Did you end up buying a photopass cd? Check your inbox. I will send you a link.

Well, Jasmine is easy because he thinks she's hot. This year I really thought that he wouldn't want to wait in line for the princesses (he did want to see Tink) but when I told him that's where Alicia and I were headed here he came. Last year we did the pirate and princess party and he dressed as the pirate with hat and all, he made a big deal of removing his hat and bowing to each princess and they just went crazy over it......he likes the interaction.

I haven't ordered my CD yet, was waiting to see if they found any more of my SWW photos, DH had gotten one of the wrist cards and none of the photos that were scanned to it have shown up yet. I do plan to purchase it though, crossing my fingers that they find them before the 16th as I saw were the price is going up then.

Cristy

 

[live4christp1]

I'm enjoying your report. As you describe the rain storms each day, I can totally picture where I was that week during that particular rain storm. Gotta love those crazy downpours at WDW.

ToT is our family's FAVORITE ride. It is a must do for each trip. Having said that...guess what I didn't do on our most recent trip??? I even went so far as to get our fast passes for it, but I just did not make it on. I think DH and DS went on it, and DD and I ended up finding a cool quiet place maybe?? Must have been her naptime or something..

Thanks! I've been reading through your pre trip report and really enjoying it as well. Sorry you didn't get to ride ToT this time. I'll be glad when DD is a little more adventerous so we can all go on again. We sometimes do the child swap but sometimes it just takes up to much time.

 

[live4christp1]

DH really hates standing in those character lines and we didn't do as many this year as we usually do. If they had them we usually skipped them unless the line was pretty short. I know there is a day coming though when they won't be interested in doing the character photo thing......so I'm enjoying every minute of the magic I can.

 

[live4christp1]

Day 3, Chapter 1
We Celebrate my birthday Magic Kingdom style!!!!!!

Let me start off by saying this: when we originally planned this trip I had told the family that I wanted to get to MK extra early on by birthday like 7:15 or so in the hopes that we might get selected to be the family to open the park for the day. Well, that was when I thought the hours for DHS were until 8:00 figuring we’d be out of Fantasmic and the park by 9:00 PM at the latest.

So on the drive back to the resort last night DH and I discussed this…..remember we watched the 10:30 Fantasmic and I’d say we were pushing midnight by the time we got everyone tucked in. We decided that the chances to be picked were unpredictable and getting to the park 2 hours early might not be a great idea with the late night and no guarantee…..it would be pretty disappointing to wait that long and the kids would be hot, tired and grouchy before entering the park.

Okay, Wednesday morning we head out about 8:10 AM. Shades of Green is just down from the TTC, you are actually already on the other side of the pay to park gates. We get over to the parking area and can’t figure out how to get into the parking area. We can only find an entrance for 15 minute parking and drop off. DH decides that he should drop us off, drive back to Shades of Green and walk back over. (You will find out later that this might not have been a great idea).

So me and kids wait at the entrance of the monorail. Taking a few pictures.

We wait some more, and some more. Finally DH returns and we make a beeline for the monorail. We are coming down the exit ramp to MK just as the opening show is starting. I need to go to guest relations and get my $75 birthday so I send DH and the kids through the turnstiles with instructions to go ahead and see a character if they are waiting for me.

Getting my birthday card was very easy and just took a couple of minutes. Soon, I was walking through the tunnel, entering the MK. Though I was a little disappointed that we had missed the opening, but hey, I got $75 to spend. DH & the kids were getting in line for Pluto so we got pictures there and then moved over to Chip & Dale. While waiting for Chip & Dale DH notices the barber shop quartet riding on the back of the trolley and walks over to ask them to sing to me…….so they call me over and proceed to sing “Happy Birthday” along with a few additional lines they added, very embarrassing. When we rejoin DS & DD in line the lady behind us says, “he (meaning DS) was disowning you both.”

We see Chip and Dale and start to head down Main Street when they spot Mary Poppins. So over we go to see her and they spend several minutes talking, etc. Finally we head down Main Street, stopping once more for the yearly picture in front of the castle. As we get closer we can see that the show is going on the castle forefront and DD wants to watch. After a few minutes DS is ready to go so I advise DH that he and DD finish the show, DS and I will walk on toward Adventureland and get FP’s for Jungle Cruise.

Along the way we see Aladdin & Jasmine and I tell DS to get in line while I get the FP’s really quick but the line is closed, they will be back out in a little bit. DH & DD catch up with us and off we go to POC. DD is not thrilled about riding this ride but I will only allow her to weasel out of so much……if it isn’t too intense (POC is a very mild ride) then she has to do it. After all, I didn’t pay $$$ for her to ride in a stroller all day, we could stay home and go to the park and do that for free. After POC we see Peter Pan & Wendy or DS does, DD doesn’t want to, but she does go to see Smee….okay Peter Pan is scary but Smee is not?????? Then we head over to visit with Aladdin & Jasmine. DD doesn’t like Aladdin at all but goes to see Jasmine…..she just stands as far away from Aladdin as possible. The lines aren’t to terribly bad in Adventureland in the morning so not very much of a wait, though the character lines are crowded and DH is about at his limit for standing in line for autographs and pictures.

Now generally we like to take two days for the MK so we don’t have to rush but with the cruise and all this year we have today….that’s it……so we are packing as much into one day as we possibly can. We had already talked to the kids about what they didn’t mind skipping if we had to.

How far will we make it?????? Is it possible to do and see everything in the MK in one day?????

You’ll have to wait until next week to find out.

Up next – Jungle boats, Tiki’s, flying carpets and on to Frontierland!!!!!!

 

[live4christp1]

Day 3, Chapter 2
Jungle boats, Tiki’s, flying carpets and on to Frontierland!!!!!!

Next stop is Jungle Cruise. This ride is another family favorite corny jokes and all. I must say though that sometimes it’s more fun than others….just depends on your captain – I’m sure it gets old repeating those same lines over and over again but some of them have fun and make it a fun trip for everyone while some drivers seem to be on auto pilot or repeat mode. We make it through the jungle uneventfully and are returned safely to shore.

Next we cross over and hop on the Magic Carpets. DD is very proud that she is being “brave” and riding the carpets…..she really doesn’t like them or Dumbo at all! The camel got our carpet a couple of times so riders beware…..there are camels…..and they do spit!

The kids want to do the Tiki room, I thought this was one of those we would skip to save time but they “really want to do it”. This is not one of DH’s favorite things and all morning he has been saying, “I should have stopped at Main Street Bakery for a cinnamon roll.” Yes, DH has it bad for the cinnamon rolls from Main Street Bakery. So I suggest (in order to save him from sitting through this show (and us listening to him bemoan the fact that he doesn’t like it)) that he walk back to Main Street for a cinnamon roll while the kids and I see the show. I really had to twist his arm to convince him to do this (NOT!)…….I think he was gone in about ½ a second. The Tiki show winds up just as DH is headed back so that worked out pretty well.

Adventureland has been conquered, heading to Frontierland. We did not stop and wait for the Capt Jack show this year in order to save some time (plus it’s really hot standing out in the sun) we have watched it several times and DS has been picked to be in it. We know we will get a chance to see Captain Jack in a couple of days when we cruise anyway.

First stop in Frontierland is Splash Mtn for some Fastpasses, the line is about 50 minutes long. BTMTRR is also a pretty good wait. We did get two Splash Mtn FPs and two BTMTRR FPs as DD will not ride these. What to do, what to do? Of course the boys want to go to Tom Sawyer Island. DD isn’t a fan so we head over to watch the Country Bears while the boys play on the island.

After Country Bears DD is hankering to see her some princesses and wants to change into her Cinderella dress. The boys are still running wild on the island and though I don’t like cutting across the park like this, there just isn’t much else to do here. So off we go to County Bounty to see Cinderella.

The boys call once we get in line for the princesses. When we got there the princess line had a wait of 45 minutes posted and the fairies show 60 minutes. I figured the boys would go off and do something else while we did princess stuff but oddly, DS wants to come see the princesses as well. Really he wanted to see Tink but we’ll keep that a secret. When the boys meet up with us I have DH get in the fairies line that way he is about 15 minutes behind us. So after we finally make it inside and get our 30 second visit with Cinderella, Belle, & Sleeping Beauty out of the way we go around and I send the kids across to DH. While they are visiting Pixie Hollow I look around in County Bounty and wait, and wait, and wait some more.

Finally they emerge having transformed back to full size human from the shrinking to enter Pixie Hollow. Time is ticking away very quickly, they are starting to rope off parade routes, etc. as we head to get some lunch. We end up going to Columbia Harbor House which is almost empty at this point. We enjoy a nice lunch here and surprisingly the kids eat pretty well, guess they worked up an appetite. I had the tuna sandwich which was surprisingly good.

We make it out of CHH and start back toward SM and BTMTRR just as the parade is starting. So DS and I cut across the bridge to BTMTRR while DH and DD stop to watch the parade.

Coming soon – Splash Mtn. x2 followed by lets walk across the park as many times as possible.

 

[Angies1274]

I'm enjoying your trip report Your photopass pics turned out great!! Can't wait to read more.

 

[dd50]

Sounds like you had a great time there.

 

[MickeyReeds]

Hey everyone! I promise I am going to add some pictures to these soon. We went to see Steven Curtis Chapman at Riverbend last night and the concert wasn't over until almost 11:30 PM.

Can't figure out how to get my photopass link to work, it's always worked when I've added it in the past. Will try doing it from my home computer tonight or tomorrow.

Hope you are enjoying my report and I'm not boring you to tears to bad!!!!!!

Cristy

I am enjoying your report a lot! I just found it tonight!

So cool that you got to see Steven Curtis Chapman--he is amazing! I heard him at a Women of Faith event in May and with Michael W. Smith last November in Omaha. My DH is a huge Mercy Me fan, so we went to Kansas City on Sunday for their faith and friends day at the Royals game. It was a great show!!

What part of TN are you from?

 

[live4christp1]

I am enjoying your report a lot! I just found it tonight!

So cool that you got to see Steven Curtis Chapman--he is amazing! I heard him at a Women of Faith event in May and with Michael W. Smith last November in Omaha. My DH is a huge Mercy Me fan, so we went to Kansas City on Sunday for their faith and friends day at the Royals game. It was a great show!!

What part of TN are you from?

Thanks!

We just had a great festival here last weekend (JFest) that went from 8:00 AM until about 8:00 PM featuring: John Waller, Salvador, Building 429, FFH, Mark Harris, Francesca Battistella and many local groups. It was great!

We are in Chattanooga (actually right outside in a rural area but it's a 15 minute drive into the city).

I'll be adding more pictures when I have a chance to sit down at home and down and upload them to photobucket.

Cristy

 

[live4christp1]

Sounds like you had a great time there.

Yes we did. From your count down ticker it looks like you will be headed to visit Mickey really soon!

I am already dreaming about the next trip!

 

[live4christp1]

I'm enjoying your trip report Your photopass pics turned out great!! Can't wait to read more.

Thanks! I love photopass. They always get some really good shots and I just love the one of DH with fairy wings.......talk about a blackmail picture . I had lots of fun playing with them yesterday and adding borders, etc. Now if they could only locate the dozen or so that didn't upload to one of cards that would be great!

 

[live4christp1]

I can't believe I forgot this!
This is an addition to day 3, chapter 2

The rain!

How could I forget to mention the rain???????

Well, while DD and I were making our way to Toontown, the clouds were rolling in, storms coming. Well, I think, DH & DS are going to be in for it because they are on Tom Sawyer Island and I have the backpack with all the ponchos. Oh well.

The wind is picking up a bit as we park the stroller, it's not looking good for the boys. I take out a poncho and cover DD's stroller and we head inside and join the line of other waiting to meet their favorite princesses.

The boys did make it to County Bounty just as the rain was starting so crisis was averted. But just minutes later it was pouring! That's the good thing about County Bounty's long character lines - they are inside and it's air conditioned.

When we came out from the princess area and the kids joined DH in the Pixie Hollow line it was still raining pretty good and County Bounty was full of people getting seeking shelter. So I guess even though I don't particularly like to cross back and forth around the park, this worked in our advantage. When they finally came out of Pixie Hollow the rain had all but stopped.

I should add that while we were in Toontown DH & DS went on Goofy's Barnstormer (couldn't convince DD to get on it again this year) so DD and I went through Minnie's house and boy was it crowded!!!!! We would not have time to return to Toontown this trip.


Okay - next we will resume the regularly scheduled trip report already in progress.

 

[live4christp1]

Fantasmic Info I forgot to mention

So I was off reading on another thread and realized I didn't report this about the Fantasmic showing we saw. Well if you remember correctly in the past there have been scenes were there is actually fire on the lagoon and Mickey uses the water to put the fire out. There was no real fire this time, only projected flames on the water walls. Was a little disappointing as it didn't come across the same. Don't get me wrong, I still really like this show, just not sure if I'd stand in line for 3 hours to see it.

Also, I'm not sure this is the case with all the Fantasmic showings now or if it had anything to do with the rain, etc. but there was no fire at our 10:30 PM show.

 

[Me&3]

Great start to your TR . Your photopass pics are so cute I can't wait to see Mr. Fredrickson from UP. We love to stay at Shades of Green I go with my two DS's alone when DH can't go with us. I feel very safe there when he is there. We also love seeing the turkeys its fun when they come up to the sliding glass door. Can't wait to see and hear more