July 4th - Were we crazy?!

[hrsmom]

First off, this is my very first trip report, so it might not be as exciting as others. Our trip included my DH (34), DD (4), DS (2) and me (33). We planned this trip just a few short months ago. Our son's birthday is July 4th so we figured what the heck, we'll give him the World - LOL!

We began our journey on July 3rd afer DH got home from work (thankfully he left early!). We made the trip in about 6 hours and arrived at Pop around 10 pm. When we got to our room the first thing the kids noticed was the Eeyore in the window, they were very excited! Since it was late we all went to bed to get ready for the big day tomorrow!

After a night of barely any sleep because of my DS (I think I got two hours), I decided I needed coffee BAD. I walked to the food court from our room in the 90's and was thrilled to get my java and enjoy a few minutes of quiet (I also picked up breakfast for everyone so they could eat in the room). When I got back I started getting ready right away because we knew we wanted to get to Magic Kingdom fairly early. We left our room around 8 am.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom and were pleased to see the crowd was not too bad that early. After a weird detour behind the scenes (we were redirected to the back of the stores through the parking lot) due to the Citizenship Ceremony, we hit City Hall so we could get my son a Birthday button. The CM there was so nice, I wish I had made a note of his name (I do remember he was from Morocco). Not only did he give him the button, but he also gave my daughter a Princess button so she wasn't left out and gave both kids a bunch of stickers. The kids got to go on several rides right away, thankfully since the crowds were a lot worse later in the day. We did lots of walking and people watching until it was time for my son's birthday lunch at Crystal Palace.

Finally, the time was close for lunch, our ressie was for 12:50, but of course both kids were sound asleep! When it was our turn to go in, we had to carry them in still sleeping. Our daughter woke up, but I let my son sleep for a little bit. Our table was decorated with Mickey confetti and streamers. I woke my son up after just a little bit and got him started on his lunch. The characters and cast members all made a big deal about his birthday which was really nice. After eating they brought out his cake and sang happy birthday.

The rest of our day consisted of lots of walking and people watching. We fastpassed a few rides and basically just hung out until the fireworks.

Around 7:30 we decided to find a place to watch the fireworks and chose a location near the castle. We stood on the bridge to Tomorrowland and had a great view. We also found that it really is "A small world afterall". We started chatting with the family next to us and came to find out that we have a mutual friend (we live in SC and they live in NJ!); talk about a coincidence!! The fireworks were amazing, but the show was a little shorter than I had anticipated (only about 10 minutes). It was the first time we watched fireworks and didn't have a child crying so that was really nice!

After that we decided it was time to head back to Pop and get some sleep (hopefully).

Stay tuned for day two of our whirlwind birthday/4th of July trip....

 

[OhMari]

Glad you enjoyed the 4th of July. I forgot about the ceremony at the MK for citizenship. I watched it on Good Morning America.

Did you guys eat all that birthday cake, wow, it sure was big.

 

[Mickey_Mouse_Fanatic]

wow sounds like ur DS had alot of fun on his b-day. hope he did

 

[tubachick]

sounds like fun, cant wait to hear about day two!

 

[Donald is #1]

Great trip report! What an awesome cake!!! Did it taste as good as it looks?

 

[DisneyDadof4]

OMG...that cake is SO cute! How does one go about ordering such a cake?

Michelle (the DisneyMomof4)

 

[hrsmom]

OMG...that cake is SO cute! How does one go about ordering such a cake?

Michelle (the DisneyMomof4)

When I made our reservation at CP I told them I needed a cake. They asked me if I wanted a standard cake or specialty one and I knew (because of Disboards) that they can make some incredible cakes so I went specialty. They gave me the number to call to order the specialty one. If you look on the restaurant board there is a thread all about cakes, it includes LOTS of pictures.

 

[hrsmom]

Day Two

Ah, sleep. Precious sleep. Thankfully both kids decided to sleep all night - Yay! They also decided to sleep in a little, which was fine, we weren't planning on rushing out first thing in the morning, especially since we were at MK for about 13-14 hours the day before.

After they got up we headed over to the food court and had breakfast. My DD was thrilled with the Mickey head waffles! I got some much needed coffee and then we took off for Epcot.

We arrived around 11 am and head to Spaceship Earth. My DD couldn't wait to get on and luckily she didn't have to wait. She wanted to go on again, but DH and I overruled her. We then headed to test track to get some fastpasses - good thing too! The stand-by line was already 70 minutes!!

After getting the fast passes for DH and DD, we went to her favorite Epcot ride - Figment. The child LOVES Figment. After the ride was over, we headed up to meet Figment. You can't tell in the picture, but she was really excited.

Notice her LGMH necklace? Also, her shirt design is curtesy of Cutesiana on the Creative DISigns board.

We then headed to the World Showcase - Mexico and Norway were our next stops for the boat rides. The kids enjoyed both rides and DD asked for another boat ride, we told her sorry that's it (but we lied, we didn't tell her about The Land, which we did ride later, but that's another big story!).

After the boat rides it was time for lunch. We decided to head over to the ESPN Club. We had a decent lunch there, both DH and I got burgers, DD had Mac & Cheese and DS slept through lunch We knew that when we were done with lunch we'd have to head over to test track for the fastpass return. So that's where we went next.

The fastpasses were for 2:25-3:25 and we probably arrived close to 2:45. When we got there CM's were putting up a sign that the fastpasses were all gone for the day! Glad we got ours early!!! DH and DD headed to the ride, after a quick measure of DD by the CM they went in. I strolled around, went over to Mouse Gears and then headed back to test track to wait for them. By this point DS was awake again and I gave him something to eat. When DH and DD got off the ride we decided to head back to Pop and get a little rest.

We got back to the hotel and laid down for a little while. The kids watched some TV and DH took about an hour nap. Around 6ish we decided to go have dinner at the food court and then head back to Epcot to see Illuminations.

We got back to Epcot around 7:30 and headed to Figment per DD's request. After the ride we went and found a spot to watch the show. Finally, it was 9pm and Illuminations was starting! Both kids loved the fireworks! DH and I enjoyed them too. It was actually our first time watching it, even though we've been to Disney countless times (this was our 3rd trip this year!).

After Illuminations we headed over to The Land. Well, that was the last time I will EVER ride that again! I can't believe how many disgusting bugs I saw, but I am SO not a bug person and could not wait to get off that ride. Blech!

At this point we decided it was getting late and we should head back to Pop. DS fell asleep in the stroller again and DD was looking tired. She asked to ride one more ride so we asked what ride and of course, it was Figment. So DH took her on it one more time and then we left.

Both kids slept the entire ride back and were just exhausted. We didn't even change their clothes when we got back to the room. We just let them sleep.

They didn't wake up until about 9am the next morning. After they got up we all got ready and headed over for breakfast in the food court and then we headed home. Our short trip was over, but we had a blast!

We did say though, we'll stick to our more off-season trips instead of coming in the summer again! Next trip... we're going "Home" to SSR in October!

 

[DisneyDadof4]

When I made our reservation at CP I told them I needed a cake. They asked me if I wanted a standard cake or specialty one and I knew (because of Disboards) that they can make some incredible cakes so I went specialty. They gave me the number to call to order the specialty one. If you look on the restaurant board there is a thread all about cakes, it includes LOTS of pictures.

Thanks! I appreciate the information. I'm thinking my son (who will turn 5 during our next visit to WDW) will LOVE a Mickey cake. I will certainly check out the cake thread, too!

Michelle (the DisneyMomof4)

P.S. Your children are adorable!