Jan 21-26, 2007 First Pirate and Princess Party...and a few wishes!!

[dpuck1998]

Trip: Sunday Jan 21 - Friday Jan 26

Day 1 - Sunday Jan 21

We flew down to West Palm Beach on Wednesday Jan 17th. Why so early? We always visit the inlaws for half the trip. Last year we did Disney then inlaws...this year Disney last...MUCH BETTER.

So, we drove from Hutchinson Island (Stuart area) to Downtown Disney. Our group consist of Me, DW, DS 7, DS 6 and DD almost2. Uneventful drive up to Orlando. Got to DD around 11. The weather was great and the Marketplace was busy but not crowded. We spend a few hours shopping, looking around and ate at the Earl of Sandwich. YUM the bread is awesome and the food was very good. I had some turkey thing with cranberries and some pasta salad. I recommened this place, it was our first time eating there and it was good. Both the boy have 100 dollar disney gift cards from xmas. They put them to work right away. After looking at girlie stuff and dresses we make our way to the Once upon a toy store. Something they have been asking about since they found out about it. BUILD UR OWN LIGHTSABER!! We make a beeline there and start building. Both the boys pick the Jedi path and start to build. The CMs were helpful and made sure we got two filters and all 3 crystals with our kit. When checking out they gave up batteries and a pin. Only snafu there is they ran out of Jedi pins and only had 1 left. DS7 settles for the Sith pin so we end up with one of each.

Next stop is the hotel. Inlaws are coming up for one night/day with us, so we are spending the first night at the contemperary. One the way from Downtown Disney our DD falls asleep. We find a parking spot and I take the two boys in to get our rooms. Its approx 3 and both rooms are ready. Even better they both are on the 11th floor with MK view (which we did pay for anyway). We get our room keys and head to the Gameroom to wait for mom and sis. What a great game room they have. Its huge!! About and hour and sis is up and we get our luggage to the room. Inlaws arrive and we all get ready for dinner at Narcooses. We have 5:30 ressies so we get there about 5:10ish. Odd thing is they aren't open yet. They don't even open till 5:30. Doors are locked and no on is there until right at 5:30. I found that strange, but we walked around the Grand Floridian and the weather was wonderful. We have a great table overlooking the MK and Bay Lake. We ordered a few appitizers and they arrived very quick....good, with a 2 y/o time at a table is limited. After that our server disappeared and our food took almost a full HOUR to arrive. We saw our server a few times and got drinks, but man for a half empty resturant our food took a long time. Now the food. I had sesame seared tuna and it was decent. The food overall wasn't great, but just okay. For the same price I'd rather eat at California Grill or the Yachtsman. But I can check Narcooses off the list. We hop the monorail back to the contemperary and arrive around 7:30. Put sis to bed and go to our inlaws connecting room and sit on the balcony for the fireworks. Did I mention how awesome the view was from the 11th floor. Its amazing. It looks like this

Great view of the fireworks and off to bed for the kids. Lucky for us they sleep in grammy and papas room so we can watch the playoffs in our room.

Tommorrow its Chef mickeys, MK, the P&P, we go home for the first time.....and our first "wish"

 

[Blueyed Girl]

Subscribing. Ooh, I bet the fireworks from that view were GREAT!!

 

[kristinanderic]

Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[minniesota]

Great view from CR! Sorry you didn't have a good experience at Narcoossee's. We've had dinner there a half dozen times and had one bad experience. But with those higher caliber restaurants, that's one too many. I have to say they tried to compensate for extremely slow service that one time by picking up the tab on my glass of wine and they offered free dessert.

Looking forward to more!

 

[dpuck1998]

Okay, sorry for the delay...time for

DAY 2:

Up bright and early, Mickey mouse calls schedules for 7:30 in one room and 7:40 in the other. I'm up and around before the calls (I'm always up early on vacation). We have to relocate today so we call the bell to hold our luggage. The hotel staff from top to bottom was excellent at CR. We pack our stuff, but the inlaws next door aren't ready yet. So the bell comes back in 10 mins...and they still aren't ready. He comes back 5 mins later and they are finally ready. We pack everyone up and head down for our 8am ADR at Chef Mickeys.

Chef Mickeys is always fun. Hard to ruin a breakfast buffet I always say. Food was good and plentyful. Kids got to meet the characters and DD2 got to meet her idol Minnie Mouse.

After a filling breakfast we are ready for the LONGGGG day ahead. Catch the monorail and head to MK. Big plans at the MK today. DD2 has to get her FIRST ever haircut. We get there just as the opening celebration is starting. I love watching the parks open as you'll notice thruout the trip. Park opens and we head to the left. We get to the Barber Shop just before it opens and are 3rd in line. DD gets her haircut by the infamous Micheal. Of course he does and awesome job and she sits there like a statue....who knew....she was funny. The boys both got haircuts also. DS7 didn't want to "works" this time though and didn't get the glitter and pixie dust. DS6 got a head full of it.

Our first "wish" if you want to call it that arrives within an hour of being in the first park. We were given two fastpasses to Everst for 4 each. So fastpasses for 8 people that would come in very handy later in the trip.

After the haircuts we head up mainstreet, getting some photopass pictures along the way. Most important thing to do next? PRINCESSES!! We hit a few rides in Fantasyland while waiting for Toontown to open. Smallworld is always a must do and Pooh. As soon as Toontown opens we are there. We take the boys on Goofys Barnstormers first and then hop in line for the princesses. Its Snow White, Cindy and Belle. DD2 is a riot. She is in awe of them and just stares and sits with them for photos. She curls right up next to Belle and hugs her.

Great photos and lots of video. Its getting close to noon and that is usually about all the time the inlaws can make it at Disney. They are taking DD back with them to Hutchinson Isle and we get 4 more nights with just the boys. We head back and stop at Caseys. My brother calls and he just arrived in the park. (We knew they were coming, just didn't know what time). He lives in Tampa and we will be hanging with them the next 4 days. He catches up with us at Caseys. We leave the oldest DS7 with my brother, sister in law and his daughter who is about 2 and 1/2 (I think). We head out with the inlaws and hop the monorail back to CR. Since the luggage is being held we grab the valet for the cars and load up. Inlaws head home and we head "home" also. Home for us is DVC and this is our first trip using our very own DVC points. We usually rent points, but joined last year. We have a 1 bdr at our favorite place the Beach Club Villas. We drive over and check in, but the room isn't ready. We get all checked in and head back to MK to catch up with the rest of the party. First stop now.....POC. I haven't been on the new one yet. No lines...we walk right on with our party that now consist of Me, DW, DS7, DS6, Brother, SIL and DN2ish. I really enjoyed the new additions. Several little things that were really cool. The only thing that ruined this ride was the RUDE people in front of the boat taking FLASH photos the whole time. I wish they would somehow put and end to this. PA or something. Anyway, the final scene is a little disappointing, seems like the took a lot of stuff out and didn't really add much. Overall, great ride though. We hit the park rides and watched the new parade by accident. We rode Big Thunder and go caught back there when the parade went thru. I hadn't seen the new parade anyway so we got a good view from Splash Area and enjoyed the parade.

In case you didn't know what day it is...today is the very first Pirate and Princess Party. Of couse we are well prepared. Costumes in the stroller and ADRs for LTT. We hit Haunted Mansion and some other rides and head to LTT for Dinner. I check in. We park the stroller and get the costumes out for the kids to get dressed. DS7 has the Davy Jones getup and it looks awesome. DS6 has Capn Jack, but he thinks he is Will Turner....so he is While getting them ready a lady is talking to DS about his costume. I notice she looks a little familiar but don't think anything about it until I notice her stroller. It says "Wills"...ahh ha...I put 2 and 2 together and ask her if she is "Deb". Yep, its Deb Wills. How neat. She is super nice and we chat a little. She takes a photos of the boys in costume and gives us some pens and stickers. We even end up on the website.

http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/mk/pp1.htm

We head in to wait for our table. LTT has gotten some negative reviews lately, but we loved it. The food was good, not great but overall it was an excellent meal. Great Character interaction. We brought Photo Mats to have the characters sign with gold pens...they turned out great. At one point Chip took DS7 "claw" from his costume and ran around the room with it. It was pretty funny. He came back about 10 mins later.

We got out of dinner just in time for Wishes. We watched it from just outside LTT and had a great view with hardly anyone there. DS6 got out his wooden pistol and shot down all the fireworks...it was pretty funny.

Time to start the PPPAAARRRRTTEEEEEHHH. We head to get our wristbands at the Rose Garden. Time to hit the rides. First stop is Tomorrowland. Buzz is zero wait, Stitch is zero wait (I know its awful, but DS7 loves it), we ride the TTA and Space Moutain (DS7 once with me and once with DW), no waits anywhere...DS6 and I hit Buzz while DW and DS7 hit Space Moutain. While we are on Buzz the biblical rains arrive. Its still raining when we get off but we miss the worst of it. Its a light mist for the next couple hours, but we persist and the rides are little or no wait. Everyone is waiting in line for some candy, raisins or to see Cap'n Jack....I don't get it...but less ride lines for me. We get to the castle about 5 mins before the parade is to start. There is no one there....CM say the parade is still on, but about 10 mins late. We sit on the curb and stake a spot. Like clockwork the parade starts in a light mist. The parade was nice, some cool new floats and a couple recycled ones

Its a blur from there, we hit more rides in Fantasyland and Adventureland. DS6 and DW decide its time to head "home". Its about 10:30 and they take the bus back to the hotel. DS7 and I are mano y mano now and we hit the rides hard. Big Thunder, Space, Buzz, POTC, Stitch, etc....The only ride I didn't get to do this trip that I missed was CoP. I love that ride.

Just had to throw that photo in cause it was cute...and during the party.

So the two men of the house are riding Big Thunder when the fireworks start. Neat experiance watching them on the ride. We get off and watch the rest from near the ride. Great Fireworks, maybe the best I've seen. We hop back on Big Tunder and ride again...and again...and again. I think we got 5 rides in before getting off. We make our way back to main street. DS wanted to see the castle show that hadn't gone off due to rain. We make it in time for the last show and it actually goes off. There were soo few people watching that we actually got to sit about 10 feet from the stage and watch the entire show...and we SAT the whole time...wow.

Its late...12:30....we meander down main street and head out to go "home". What a wonderful day.....and LONG day at MK. We get back around 1 and crash, sleep in and ready for Day 3 at EPCOT....man is EPCOT close to home....

 

[Tinkerbell's Mom]

Sounds like a great trip so far, can't wait to hear more!

 

[minniesota]

Dpuck-

Wow, your DS7 is sure a trooper. I don't think mine could have handled that late hour at his age. Sounds like a fun-packed day and night. I love your pictures and how cool that you met Miss AllEars and made it on to her website! Looking forward to hearing more...

 

[dpuck1998]

Dpuck-

Wow, your DS7 is sure a trooper. I don't think mine could have handled that late hour at his age. Sounds like a fun-packed day and night. I love your pictures and how cool that you met Miss AllEars and made it on to her website! Looking forward to hearing more...

He loves staying up late...last time we did the halloween party when he was 6 and he did the same thing. That time I had to carry him off the bus though...and hes heavy. He was still wide awake at 1am when we got back...and talks about it more than anything else on the trip.

 

[djcandyrocker]

Oh I love it!!! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[dpuck1998]

Day 3, a Full Day at EPCOT

After a long day at MK last night every does a pretty good job of sleeping in for a while. For us that is around 8:30 or 9. We get up and have a relaxing lite breakfast. Grab some donuts and yogurt parfaits from the Beach Club Store. They make fresh parfaits that are very good. Now, we have stayed at BC several times. For some reason we always take the boat to EPCOT. Of course as a loyal DIS member I know many people walk. We decide to walk to EPCOT. WOW, we clear the hill and we are at the entrance...I guess I didn't realize it was THAT close. Of course its only around 9:30 so the countries aren't open yet. But it sure is nice walking right to the park in less than 5 mins.

We wander thru the UK and Canada and head towards Test Track and Mission Space. I grab some fastpasses for Mission Space even though its only a 10 min wait. We hope in the standby line and walk right into the preshow room.

My DW hasn't been on the ride yet, it was closed one trip and she was pregnent on the others. So a first time for one of us. The boys love the ride as usual. We head over to Mission Space next. We all rode it last trip and my youngest son is still scarred and so is DW. We talk them into going with us on the green side. Niether of them liked it any better. My oldest just kept asking when we could do the orange side. My brother arrives at EPCOT to catch up with us. Since I haven't been on universe of enery we decide to do that. We have a 12:00 ADR in Germany so we have just enough time to ride. Decent ride, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go on it again. They head to Germany after the ride and I gather up tickets to get FP for Soarin.

I catch up with them at Beirgarten. They are still waiting. For the second time this trip we have an ADR for the exact time they open. So they aren't ready for us. Why book ADR's at noon if you open at noon and aren't ready to seat at noon. Anyway, it was only a couple mins or so and we get seated. This is our first time here and it was very good. Service was excellent and the food was different but good. Lots of choices and some unique items that we all really enjoyed. Good Beer also

After Beirgarten we head to the Land and Living Seas. We decide to hit the Living Seas First since DS6 wants to see the new nemo ride.

This thing has gotten slammed here on the DIS, but we really enjoyed it. It wasn't jaw dropping but the walk thru area looks much better and the ride itself was very enjoyable. After the first nemo ride we hop in line for Turtle Talk. At least this time they actually have somewhat of a queue. We get in and since we've been before the boys head straight for the front. Most kids are sitting with their parents until they announce for them to sit up front. Why is this important? Well when the show starts my DS7 is the first to be called on by Crush. He answers a few questions and the crush asks for his "parental units". Thats me so I get to chat it up with crush. Another "not really a dream, but kinda a dream" so we count that as number 2. We head out of Turtle Talk and ride Nemo again since DS6 really liked it alot. Of course we wander the seas a little before heading out.

Next stop the Land. First things first, we use our FastPass for Soarin. Most of our party loves this ride, I find it just okay. Its neat, but not my favorite. When we are boarding one of the CMs says HI to me and uses my name. He then mentions seeing me at Turtle Talk. I don't remember seeing him in the theatre, maybe he was "crush" . We ride Soarin, and get the bottom row. I've been on this 6 or 7 times and have been on the bottom row EVERY time! My DS6 wants to bake cookies at the Jr Chef that starts in about 20-30 mins. I take DS7 on the land (walk on) while DW and DS6 wait. We get back in time to join them so DS7 finally decides he will help too. (Side story, We tried to goto the earlier Jr. Chef but got there as it was starting and it was FULL. So we went to the last one and there was only my two kids and two other kids there for the entire thing).

We split up a little here and DS7 and I hit the orange side of Mission Space. We use our Test Track FPs and ride Spaceship Earth. Everyone hooks backup and we head into World Showcase. No dinner ADRs so we stop at the UK for some Fish and Chips. Those are yummy....and the phone booth is always a popular photo spot.

We make our way around the world spending the most time in Italy, France and Japan (always the most popular). The kids have to pick out gifts for thier teachers so this is the best time. DS7 gets some jewelry from Japan and DS6 get some kitchen stuff from France. Both were big hits back at school. We had a lite dinner so we start eating dessert around the world. Crepes and some wine (not for the kids), backlava(sp.) from morocco, funnel cake from america. Now that we made ourselves sick its getting late so we decide to call it a nite since last night was so long. We head out of the park while Illuminations starts (we aren't big fans) and take the 5 min walk to the hotel. Did I mention it was close

Tomorrows plans, MGM our first actual dream team prize.....

 

[Nicole786]

awesome job! cant wait for the rest, love the pics!

 

[dpuck1998]

Day 4, another full day at the parks...The Studios

We decided to Drive to MGM since there was a chance of rain and we want to be flexible. We got up and ate in the room and headed out. After TomTom (portable GPS) took us thru the employee entrance we found our way to the correct spot

We got to MGM in time for the rope drop and it was raining a nice light mist. We parked in the second row of cars arriving and walked to the entrance. After they let us in we got to watch the opening show. It wasn't very good, but fun anyway. We had plans for our first stop so we were ready to go. While everyone else went right to ToT and RnR, we went left to wait in front of Sounds Dangerous. I know I know, why would anyone run to that thing first?? Well we were actually waiting for something else...I didn't tell the boys why we were there so they were confused. A few other families showed up to wait with us. About 10 mins later we can hear them coming down the road.

Of course they were pretty excited, although DS6 was a little frightened by the loud noise. After a few minutes he was okay and we got some good photos.

We then headed to the thrill rides, DW and DS6 went to watch Playhouse Disney while DS7 and I hit ToT and RnR. We grabbed some Fastpasses for later and managed to ride RnR twice. By then it was time for our Late Breakfast at Hollywood/Vine with the Little Einstiens/Jojo. This was the meal the DS6 picked as his choice for the trip. We made sure to get the last seating so we'd have plenty of charcter time and also since we had early dining at Brown Derby for the Fantasmic Package. Breakfast was good and we were almost alone in the resturant. My Brother and family met us there and we all ate. The kids were a little quiet until after they ate. Then they got up and danced and played. If you haven't done it, get the last breakfast seating...its awesome.

After breakfast we went to Star Tours. The wait was 20 mins and the fastpasses were closed. Thats annoying. (Sidenote, if we'd gone to the Studios tomorrow we might have won the cindys castle room stay on star tours). The boys got face paintings and we hopped in line for star tours.

The kids love this ride, its a little dated, but still fun. DS6 has been saving all his money since the start of the trip. Day 1 at Downtown Disney he saw the R2/D2 droid and wanted it. Since we are at Star Tours nows the time to get it. It is pretty cool. You talk to it and give it commands, kinda like robo-raptor or robo-dog, but R2D2. He took it to school and it was a big hit in Kindergarten.

We then hit the great Movie Ride, one of my all time favorite rides. Then we got our photo with Mickey and took a break on the bench. The only must do thing for me this trip was to see One Mans Dream. Never been in this attraction so it was a must do. We waited for everyone to catch up and went in. Right as we walked in guess who we saw. The dream team. They were handing out Dream Ears to everyone. Our first Dream team sighting and we all got ears. 4 sets total, plus my brother got two of them.

I reall enjoyed One Mans Dream, plus its great to see new things on each trip. We make a point of seeing something new every trip. We did some walking around and saw the "Landscaping Band", can't remember the real name. Went on the Backlot Tour. Made sure to get our MUST DO photo in front of the buzz lightyear spaceship. This is our Disney growth chart that we must get a picture with every trip. They keep moving it on but we always find it.

We got a photo with Mike/Sully on the way thru and DS7 and I headed back to RnR and ToT. We were able to ride them again and didn't even need the FP. ToT was walk on and the cars were not even full. Next stop dinner.

We have the Fantasmic Package for the Brown Derby at 4:30. Its starting to drizzle again, but we make it without getting too wet. Dinner was great, the food was good but not great however. I know I sound like a fuddy duddy, but I really think the food has gotten worse since the Dining Package. Oh well, it was still good though. After Dinner we wander the shops on the way to Fantasmic. Its starting to rain more, enough that we finally break out the Ponchos. We gather the troops and head in. Its getting pretty wet, but its still warm enough that its not too bad. We grab some seats and the arena is only about 1/2 full and by the time the show starts its less than 3/4 full. At this point the rain is more annoying than wet. At one point we are able to take off the ponchos for a few minutes, but it starts up again with 15 mins. We have a great time however and the show goes off on time. The only difference I noticed was the snake didn't move around at all. The boys loved the show and we stayed pretty dry. I sometimes enjoy the rain at Disney, it clears people out and who cares if you get a little wet.

After the show we have a few issues. We head out the way we came in, Fantasmic package people come in a different way than the rest of the crowds. They have someone there blocking the exit. They tell us to go the other way. Uhh...our stroller is over there, no its up that way they tell us. Okay, guess they moved it..interesting. Guess what, we get to the stroller area and its not there. We ask as CM, she says "There are some more stollers up that way towards the exit", well okay. We head with the massive crowd to the exit. We get there and guess what, no strollers. Now I'm upset and I check with the next CM. He doesn't understand, but says I can go back up and get it. Hmm...no, I'm not hiking back up to get it. He finally understands and gets on the the radio. Guess what its right where we left it, where we tried to go at first and they wouldn't let us. The CM did a nice job defusing the situation and get them to bring it down, along with several others that were left up there. While we are waiting for it the CM we are with chats up the kids and before we leave he give DS7 a cool set of pins. It was two pins with instructions to keep one and give the other to someone that does something nice for you. We make good use of it later in the trip. We make our way out of the park and head home.

tomorrow...AK...or not....

 

[jendon1997]

I love reading your reports. We were at WDW the same time as you. Reminds me of many things we did. Thanks for posting!!

 

[dpuck1998]

Day 5, we are heading to AK....well maybe not. We wake up and it raining out. I check the weather and its in the high 40's and isn't suppose to stop raining anytime soon. Time to Zag instead of Zig. I spend a little time online looking for alternatives. We decide to head to WonderWorks on International Drive and then to Downtown Disney (DisneyQuest).

We hop in the car and make our way to I-drive. Traffic is horrible until we get past the convention center. Once we clear that area (The PGA show is in town) then it is clear sailing down I-drive. We find the buildling, its hard to miss since its upside down, and park at the ramp next door.

The weather has warmed up a little (mid 50's) and the rain has slowed to a drizzle. We head over to wonder works. Sidenote, my wife and I went here about 9-10 years ago before we had kids. Its gotten bigger and better since then.

While WonderWorks is very cheesy we had a great time. With two young boys its a great place to spend a morning. They checked out all the displays

and DS7 was thrilled with the bed of nails. He thought he was the coolest.

We spent a good deal of time playing with the bubbles, riding the simulator, checking out all the gizmos and gadgets. We even played LaserTag. After spending 3-4 hours we gathered up and headed to Downtown Disney. Since we had been there on our first day we didn't spend much time shopping. We went right to Earl of Sandwich and had another great lunch. We then hiked over to DisneyQuest. About half way there my brother finally caught up with us. Not sure why, but for some reason I didn't take any pictures at DisneyQuest. Maybe I left my camera in the stroller...who knows...

Anyway, we spent several hours at DisneyQuest. Went on Pirates, since there were 7 of us we split up. DW, DS7 and I were together and we did quite well. Other than DW driving us into an island (thats why I always drive the SUV ) DS and I did some serious cannon shooting and even defeated the ghost at the end. We ranked the second to highest score and managed to keep the ship from sinking. Not bad for only two cannoners.

We worked our way up the levels and grabbed a seat for the animation school. Both DS had a great time learning to draw Mickey. They did pretty good too.

We played a few more games and had to leave for our ADR at Boma. This was the resturant I picked (remember we all got to choose one). We arrived at AK lodge plenty early so we could explore.

The hotel was very nice, although like many say about it, very dark. Everything just seemed dim and poorly lit. I guess that is on purpose however. We wandered around the grand lobby and made our way to the lookout area. With Disney opening DVC there we were intersted in seeing if we would stay here. The lookout area was very neat, but the way it was setup it seemed to encourage the kids to climb up on the rocks to see. Otherwise they can't see very well.

We talked to one of the CMs from South Africa and she was very nice. She told the kids all about Africa and the animals.

Our overall impression was, I doubt we will stay here. With such a nice viewing area also I wouldn't see the need for a savanah room. A short walk and you get a great view. It will be low on the list of DVC resorts to stay at, but we might end up here if our favs are full someday.

Off to dinner at Boma. We check in and sit a listen to a couple of CMs playing drums. They were very entertaining. We get a table and settle in for a large buffet meal. Our waitress arrives and gives us the run down. We (adults) order some African wine and head up to the buffet line. Lots of good and unusual food. Our server suggest trying the soups so I do They are very good, in fact I manage to try them all. I really enjoyed eating here. Almost everything was good and the kids ate well. They did a number on the roasted chickens.

After a good meal we head back to our "home". The kids play and hang out while we pack up the minivan to head back tomorrow. But since we haven't been the AK thats our plan for tomorrow. Its a full day of Dreams and fun new things......

 

[dpuck1998]

Day 6..our final day...and its starts off great!

Well after a dreary morning yesterday today starts off pretty nice. It's not overly warm, but its 60ish early and we are fine in sweatshirts/shorts.

We make it in time to open the park. We opened 3 of 4 parks this trip and got to EPCOT pretty early (walked thru the counties before they were open). This was a first for me watching the opening of AK. They let us thru all the way to the Tree and we watched the show from the bridge. It was cute. We headed toward Africa and grabbed some FP for the safari. We had plans to just walk around a lot and tour the trails today. Everest was the only major ride we planned to hit. We had 8 fastpasses for it too...remember...from the haircut

One of the boys need a bathroom so my wife asks a gentleman at a stand for the nearest one. Before she can ask he offers our DS6 a free ice cream. He says yes, but first they have to hit the bathroom. They come back and he asks the boys if they want to open the stand. He lets them get on the radio and call in the "codes" to open the stand and gives them both free ice cream. Its a little early for ice cream but hey, they are kids and will eat ice cream anytime. If you remember our MGM day, DS7 had a set of pins (2) he got from a CM. He decides now is the time to give one away. He gives the guy at the stand the pin he is suppose to give away and keeps the other side. It has instructions on the back explaining to keep on and give the other to someone that does something nice for you. Anyway, the person at the stand was very touched and thanked him. It was very sweet and one of the MAGICAL moments. I count this as a wish granted...

Doesn't take long before we have dream number 2 today. We hit the nearby Pangani Trail. As we enter the naked mole rat area the CM in charge asks the boys if they want to be the "honorary naked mole rat" guides. Of course they do! They get to go behind the rope and get the rundown about the naked mole rats. Then they give a short speech (Just DW and I are watching). The CM gives them a certificate with names and date. Its not even 10am and we have two wishes. WOW

After we wander thru the trail we head towards Asia. On the way we tour the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Sidenote, AK is pretty busy today for January. The tigers are out and we get a great view of them. My brother and family catch up with us and after the trail we head over to Everest. It was packed over there. Standy wait is 40 mins but we have fastpasses! yea. DS7 is ready to go but DS6 doesn't want to go on it. Four of us go on the ride while the rest wait. I wasn't expecting much from the ride, but was surprised. I really enjoyed the ride. The view was great from the ride too..

If you look close you can see the AK lodge in the photo.

After the first ride we still have 4 FP's left. We change out one rider and go again. The Yeti was working and was very cool. On the way out we grab a pin for DS7 (He gets a pin for any ride the first time he goes on it). He uses the last of his money for a Yeti toy and gets a cool tshirt. Did I mention he loved the ride

We decide to skip the safari since we've done it so many times. We head to the nemo show. The line it back past dinoland. The boys and I aren't excitied about seeing the show so we decide to skip it. Instead we grab a fastpass for the Primeval Whirl. Its a 40 min wait for that ride also.

We play some games and walk over to Dinosaur. Its closed for technical difficulties Ohh well....we wander back to Dinoland and hop on primevil whirl.

The boys love the ride, just up the alley for DS6. Can't figure out what he likes and doesn't like but this on he loved.

Since we are heading back to Hutchinson Isle today we decide to head out. We did everything we wanted to do at AK so we decide to call it a day...and a trip.

What a great time. We did everything we wanted and many great surprises. Even the few bad things turned out great. A little rain didnt' slow us down and a couple great CM turned negatives into positives. Three official wishes and a few unofficial ones.

Highlights: DD first haircut!, Watching her with the princesses, Pirate/Princess Party (staying up late with DS7), meeting deb wills , R2D2, wandering EPCOT countries, Wonderworks, Everest

Lowlights: NONE! Stroller issue was recovered by CM and he saved the day!!

Thanks for reading...next trip report for me will be after our Spring Break 7 day Eastern in 4 weeks....look for it ;-)

For the first time in 5 years I'm not planning a Disney World trip I'm sure we will be back soon though. Maybe

 

[missj1975]

Great trip report. Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[minniesota]

I finally got caught up on your wonderful trip report! I love the detail and the photos. And your boys are adorable! Looking forward to seeing all of you on our Spring Break magical cruise!!!!