I wrote this on a blog in July 2009 while I was finding an outlet while not able to be in Disney. I pasted it here. I added a couple of pics, but the blog just ran a photoshow.
Trip Report Apologies
It has been nearly a year since this trip. As an outlet until my next trip June 2010, I decided to take on the ridiculously tedious and difficult task of writing a trip report for our August 2008 trip. As I add on and write about each delightful day, I find it harder and harder to write details. I didn't take notes in my Passporter, and my touring plans, written on 4X6 lined post-its, either didn't survive the rain or were altered due to the rain making them useless. I will do the best that I can from our ADR's and photos!
So my apologies for the less than level 5 trip report!
Cast members: Debby (Me 36), Gregg (Hubby 38), Hannah and Emma (twin daughters 6)
8.17.08-Day 1
We headed to the Philadelphia Airport dark and early to catch our 8 AM flight. We landed in Orlando and went straight to the Magical Express Counter Level 1 - Side B to check in. The area was packed but we checked in smoothly and headed for the Poly bus line. Bus service was pretty quick; no complaints from us.
We arrived at the Poly and checked in quickly. I put in room requests for Patio or Balcony with Castle view, Tokelau beach end or Samoa 1st floor volcano side. We were pretty happy with our results: 3rd floor Samoa Room 3608. We had the balcony and view of the pool (volcano side); we were only missing castle view. No problem, though.
We dropped our carry on bags in the room, and headed straight to the boat. I thought it was just too perfect to take the boat to MK for our first visit!
We had ADR for lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table for 2:20. This couldn't be more perfect. Arrive in MK and eat with the princesses!! This reservation was not difficult to obtain. I have read all of the effort stories of people having to synchronize to Disney 7AM. I guess pixie dust was thrown at us.
We had an hour to spare, so we tried to find a ride that wasn't too long of a wait close to the castle. We actually went to Stitch first. Oh goodness. My girls did not enjoy that. We quickly bought our autograph books and pens and headed to the castle.
We checked in and were escorted into an area to wait for Cinderella. My girls were very shy and unresponsive to an unfazed Cinderella.
She signed their books, and we had our family picture taken. They took many shots. It was then time to eat. The inside of the castle is lovely, but with a room full of Disney diners, it loses some of the elegant atmosphere. We snapped pictures and collected autographs from Jasmine, Belle (Emma's favorite during her short princess phase), Snow White, and Aurora. Towards the end of the meal, a CM presented our photos to us. The picture was awful as I had my eyes closed. After the meal, I asked the CM at the check-in counter about a retake. He explained that they print the best picture of the lot, but he gave us the option to come back in an hour or see the other pictures at the Camera Center on Main Street. Seeing the other shots was the best option for us. My family wanted to hit the rides! (Later, I looked at and selected a much better family shot for free reprints.)
Off to Big Thunder Mountain and other rides. . . (it's been too long to remember and I didn't take tons of pics) We headed back to the resort for our 8:10 O'Hana ADR. By this time, I had two exhausted six year olds, and wasn't thinking of the best way to fix the situation. Therefore, the meal wasn't the greatest experience for us. However, the food was delicious. The girls participated in the kid events briefly, but it isn't really in their personality to jump up in front of a crowd. Thus, ending our wonderful magical first day!
What I Learned from Day 1
Research pays!
Have a touring plan for the first day--a loose one, but some type of plan none the less.
Have extra patience for little ones the first night (and every other) Eat counter service or take food back to the room.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Deluxe Disney Day 2
8.18.08
Magic Hours - Early entry at Animal Kingdom
Grabbed quick breakfast in room. We caught the bus close to 7AM outside of the Poly. We weren't sure about the buses and Gregg asked a CM what time to expect the first. The CM wasn't certain so Gregg asked another CM who said 7. We were at the stop first with another first time visiting family arriving shortly after. Not knowing if we were at the right stop made me nervous ,for as prepared as I really was, I still hadn't ever done this. I had a touring plan to stick to after all!
Arrived at Animal Kingdom and went to Kilimanjaro Safari first. Had plans to go to Kali River Rapids next, but skipped it and headed to Expedition Everest. I rode it the first time with everyone. The slope was a bit too much for me. My family then rode it two or three more times without any kind of wait.
We had a 9:45 ADR for Tusker House. Delicious breakfast with all the excitement of Donald and Daisy for Emma. (Emma has loved Donald since he was the character we didn't see when we went on a day trip while on other business in CA to
Disneyland when she was 3-1/2. We didn't know at the time that he was her favorite.) It was a little bit of a surprise when she was a bit gaga over Daisy. She was her usual bashful self, with this new found I might be too cool for this. She almost didn't get Daisy's signature; fortunately Hannah said that she was getting it. This allowed Emma to not worry about the coolness factor.
We enjoyed the rest of the day trying to experience all that the park offered. Although I have my touring plan for the day, we didn't follow it exactly, so my apologies that I am uncertain about the exact order of the rest of our tour.
As we waited for the Flights of Wonder show. a shower was looming. I whipped out our
Walmart Ponchos (so proud of myself for being prepared.) Of course, by the time I put them on my daughters and myself, the rain was finished. I wasn't super excited about the show, but Gregg didn't want to miss it. I am so glad that we saw it. It was a terrific show and my animal lover girls loved it.
We wondered through Maharajah Jungle Trek and enjoyed the animals. The bat room is shocking. You are in a space open to the bats' courtyard. We asked the CM if Disney didn't fear the bats' entrance into the room, and she explained to us that their wingspan wouldn't permit their entrance. The tigers were beautiful and were a favorite of the girls.
We headed to DinoLand, U.S.A. The Dinosaur ride completely freaked out my kids who are dinosaur-loving daredevils. They are thrill seekers but the reality part of it must have been the problem. (On Everest, neither of them saw the actual Yeti; they only saw the video. It wasn't moving when we were there.) Em asked me if we were really going back in time. I assured her that we weren't, but I think that was the indicator I should have picked up on. When we looked at our picture afterward, Hannah wasn't in the picture. She was hiding on the floor of the car.
The boneyard was some fun downtime. I recently read about the tracks making noises, but didn't recall that. I loved that it has the entrance and exit in the same location. I was able to sit near that so even if I couldn't see them, I knew they were somewhere in the area.
My daughters laughed and laughed on Primeval Whirl, a mouse style coaster. It might have been the only ride that we really waited for. I think it was listed as 45 minutes, but I don't think it took us that long. The girls did TriceraTop Spin, the dumbo like ride, which was less than exciting, but one of the few rides at AK for little ones.
We couldn't fit in both The Lion King and Nemo shows. I opted for Nemo with excitement. I stood in the line while Gregg and the girls went for cold popsicles. They made it just in time to catch up with me - this was a bad move. We should have secured the treat before getting in line and ate them while waiting. Once the line moved, it really moved! We had very kind people around us who let my family squeeze in, but then we had to hurry and eat. We stepped off to the side , finished and then entered the theater. Looking back, I clearly see that we were those annoying people. Apologies to anyone who was inconvenienced!
I had no fears taking H and E to It's Tough to be a Bug. I read multiple sources about how this show wasn't child friendly because it was too frightening. Emma didn't wear the 3D glasses (for this show or for any other...) I would urge her to put them on; she would for a second and then remove them again. By the end of the show, she was on the floor hiding. Times like these, I really wondered who these girls were... I was baffled by them. Their favorite rides are TOT and Everest.
Although I enjoyed Kali River Rapids, I hate having wet shorts. This, however, was the last day of dry anything, so I had no idea that I would experience being wet the rest of the trip!
Not sure about the time necessary to travel, we rushed to the bus to make our 5pm ADR at Boma. The restaurant was pretty quiet when we arrived; the second trip to the buffet was more crowded. Dinner was good, interesting choices, but not our favorite.
Day Two Taught Me
Pack extra shorts for me (wet clothes don't bother my family)
Theater lines move quickly...
Reactions from kids cannot be anticipated
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Deluxe Disney Day 3
8.19.08
My husband went to Kona Cafe for our morning coffee (snack credit) and to Captain Cook's for tonga toast and Mickey waffles (counter credits). Yum! One definitely has to have tonga toast. After eating, we travelled to Epcot for early hour. Our plans for the day were to tour FW in the am, leave for a nap, and head to our Fantasmic dinner package. We stuck with the Epcot plan, but cancelled reservations (unnecessary as Fantasmic was cancelled) and after drying off in the room for a bit, we hit MK via the monorail. We opted for Cosmic Ray's counter for dinner.
The girls rode in the front of the monorail to MK. This was huge. You can see their excitement exuding in the pictures (well as much as excitement can excude from my girls.) We did some park touring without any crowds. The girls walked onto the Dumbo ride, which I read was one of the slowest loading in the park. I am not certain, but I think they might have been the only kids on the ride.
This was the first of many wet days. Tropical Faye was in Florida for a visit too. So, a huge bonus to this was the empty parks. We had them to ourselves for days. On this particular day, we only had one real downpour. I think others stayed in thinking the storm would pass...we were touring the parks no matter what. Each night we watched the forecast, and each night the report was terrible. We were fortunate to not have the eye of the storm hit us, but still it escalated to the point where I did not want to take a shower. I was so sick of being wet.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Deluxe Disney Day 4
8.20.08
Our 8:30 ADR for 1900 Park Fare was fantastic. The decor and overall atmosphere of GF was not our taste. I read on someone's trip report that you would run into the Lovely and Thurston Howe types. I think this described it quite well! However, the buffet breakfast at Park Fare was the best of our stay.
After annoying my kids by taking tons of character snapshots, we headed to DTD for a shopping excursion in the rain. Only would my children ask "Can we leave?" in the middle of The World of Disney. I tried to entice them into new
crocs, stuffed animals and T-shirts, all to no avail. "Can we leave?" was probably better than the "Can I get this?" that most parents hear...
After a delicious lunch at the Earl of Sandwich, the girls played with Legos while Gregg chatted with a DVC salesman at a kiosk. (I didn't know that I would fall so deeply in love with Disney at the time or I might not have tried calling his cell phone to have him cut it short.)
Later we headed to WS to tour the worlds and eat at Le Cellier. The girls really enjoyed making the masks at the Kidcot spots and Gregg enjoyed a beer at Germany. We didn't love Le Cellier, not shocking for me as I don't love steak, but Gregg wasn't overly impressed either.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Deluxe Disney Day 5
8.21.08
We enjoyed Tonga toast and Mickey waffles in our room before heading to MK via the girls favorite form of transportation the monorail. Of course this ride also entails standing and holding the poles that spin with the doors open and close. "Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas?"
This day contained one of my favorite Disney memories. As we were walking down Main Street in a light mist of rain, Hannah said, "Mommy, we are stepping in puddles of joy."
Oh, that might have been the moment that I did fall in love with Disney. Regardless of the tropical storm making memories with us, we were in Disney World!
After enjoying the rides with no wait time, we ate at Crystal Palace for lunch. The girls hugged some characters to make mommy happy. In return we went back to the hotel to let the girls swim while the rain let up for a bit. This made them happy. The pool was awesome; it was a shame that we didn't get to use it much. We thought we would have a refreshing mid-day dip each day.
It was soon time to go to our ADR at Coral Reef. This restaurant receives very bad reviews, but the atmosphere is fabulous. The girls completely enjoyed the view of the tank. This alone was worth it. The food was so so, not terrible.
We did Turtle Talk with Crush. The girls sat on the floor with the other kids and Emma was the first for Crush to talk to. He asked her name and she ran back to me crying. Surprised, he then asked Hannah who she was with. It took her two minutes to come back to me in shock. Crush then spoke with Gregg briefly. The girls took some settling down. Put them on ToT, and they giggle. Introduce them to a sea turtle, and they cry. Go figure!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Deluxe Disney Day 6
Hollywood Studios Day
8.22.08
EMH and we were off to RnR and ToT. We had to wait with everyone at the rope drop and the dash was on. We went to RnR first and had the opportunity to ride twice in a row. We just followed the people in the car in front of us. The speakers weren't working properly, so we got to ride again right away. We went down a back corridor??? The magic of Disney!
The Fast Pass return time was much later than we were planning, so we opted for TSM standby. This was probably the longest wait of the trip. Our lunchspot was a quiet and uninteresting Toy Story Pizza Planet. We enjoyed Beauty and the Beast (I did anyway) and Lights, Motor, Action. Fantasmic was not to be on this trip. We still ate at Hollywood and Vine, though.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Deluxe Disney Day 7
8.23.08
Our trip was winding down as evidenced by my pictures. However, given the location changes, we were busy.
We began in Captain Cook's for the favorites: Tonga toast and waffles, headed to Hollywood Studios for more rock and terror and a little backlot tour. After an ice cream (one of the first days that one might consider the treat), we headed to MK. I was determined that I would see the parade on this day. Heck, it was my last chance. So, I planted myself on Main Street where a cast member suggested. (I could take photos of the parade as it returned with pictures of the castle in the background - oh - ah!) As I settled in, I saw the ominous clouds in the darkest sky of the week. (Remember Faye was visiting...) I asked the CM if the parade was still going to happen. He assured me it would. I watched the sky and still wondered. So, I asked, "Do they ever stop the parade once it starts?" to which he assured me that once it starts, it continues. Knowing that the sky looked angry and would erupt, I secured my poncho. All of a sudden, the parade began. Hooray! It was starting...I was so excited. Then, the rain began. I sat. I was seeing this parade. It rained harder. I am watching this parade! It rained even harder - it was as if buckets of water were being dumped. The parade was over. Only about three cars/ floats made it out and quickly made it right back in. Of course, I ran into the shops before they made it back my way...
We ate at San Angel Inn in Mexico for dinner. The restaurant itself was so beautiful; the food not so great. I was so disappointed. Nothing on the menu was familiar Mexican food.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Deluxe Disney Day 8 - the end of our trip
Last Day
8.24.08
So much to do before we leave! We had a great breakfast at Kona and confirmed out plans. Gregg would take care of luggage and getting us checked out. I would take the girls to MK for Ariel's signature and Toon Town. Gregg would meet me at Toon Town.
He and the girls would do Epcot's test track and I would head to AKL for the flamigos that no other
Disney Store on property sold. I would catch up with them at Epcot for lunch. We managed to do this. Back at the resort, we had some credits left, so Gregg picked up some sandwiches for the road. We ate our take out at the airport before security. (A tip I make sure to give everyone!)
I wish my tomatoes grew like Mickey's!
Maybe they will chose the firehouse, rents probably cheapest there.
)
