June 9-18 Mother/Daughter trip *Days 1-7 up

[cmsnyder77]

We seem to have alot in common I am single mother as well and went to Disney 19 May- 26 May and celebrated my 29th birthday there! I was also alone with my kids. I guess the main difference between us is I have 3 kids DD-8, DD-7, DS-5 ! Challenging but I wouldn't do any other way!

Wow! I can't imagine managing 3 kids! That is very impressive. My daughter is wonderful, but I think I was only meant to have one.

 

[tinknme]

Great report & pictures. Your dd is very pretty Look forward to reading more!

 

[cmsnyder77]

We woke up today to rain, as Tropical Storm Alberto was nearing Florida. Decided to follow plan and head to MGM. Today was morning EMH, but we arrived around 8:30 or so. Of course, crowds weren't heavy with the rain. I hadn't been to MGM before, because I didn't feel last year that there was too much we would enjoy, and I just wasn't very familiar with it either.

Well, I found this park confusing due to my lack of knowledge about it, and the rain complicated the situation further. We ended up just kind of haphazardly making our way around and doing whatever we could. The attractions we ended up doing were Great Movie Ride, Little Mermaid, Animation, and Muppets 3-D. Gee, is that all we did? That doesn't sound like much, but like I said, a lot of the time was spent trying to keep from getting soaked. Around noon, a deluge of rain struck, and we were able to seek some shelter as it was practically blowing sideways. We had an ADR at 50's PTC for 2:00 which I had been looking forward to and was trying to stick around til then. However, DD was unhappy and wanted to skip it and go back to the room. I too was beginning to feel very miserable, and we decided to just leave. At least we tried, but we had had enough.

Saw JoJo at Magic of Disney Animation

We headed back to POFQ and had some lunch at the food court, then hung out in the room for a while. The rain did eventually stop, and we decided to go to AK. We arrived there about 5:00. We rode Triceratops Spin and Primeval Whirl a couple of times and then just did some sightseeing around the park. We stopped and had dinner at Pizzafari. Chip and Dale were in here playing around. We then did some shopping at one of the stores in Africa, and found some cute things for ourselves and family back home. DD spent some time playing on the drums ...

I really enjoyed being at AK in the evening. During the day, it always seems so hot. There were hardly any people there, and I thought it was a great time to just look around.

Since the rain was still holding off, we hopped on a bus to the TTC, then rode the monorail to MK to see Spectromagic and Wishes. We found a spot right behind the rope across from Liberty Tree Tavern for Spectro. It was great as always. We love, love, love this parade.

After Spectro, we rode the Haunted Mansion one time with no wait, then went to find a spot for Wishes. Of course, Wishes was magical and amazing.

The rain in the morning was a bummer, but at least the second part of the day was nice. We were lucky when we went last year, because we did not have a single bit of rain. I guess we were due for it. I just tried to make the best of it, and became very adept at putting on ponchos!

Up next: Day 5, Epcot, rain, Wonderland Tea Party, HDDR

 

[boxer]

your little girl is cute........I have a lot of respect for single mothers that take the time to bring their kids on such a big vacation. Hope you both had a good time.

 

[dmthoma76]

Your reports were very informative, I am taking my son in September, just me and him. When I tell people they think I am crazy. I do have a husband but he is totally useless.

I am 46, I have a seven year old son, my husband is 53 but acts like he is seventy. He does NOTHING with my son, he talks about doing things, but NEVER does them.

I told him I was going and he could stay home, on Spring break we went to the beach and he laid up in the hotel room the entire time. (Asking me to bring him food) BEST TO LEAVE HIM AT HOME.


Thank you your report made me feel so much better!
My son and I are taking walks each night to get in shape for the trip!

~Donna

 

[cmsnyder77]

Your reports were very informative, I am taking my son in September, just me and him. When I tell people they think I am crazy. I do have a husband but he is totally useless.

I am 46, I have a seven year old son, my husband is 53 but acts like he is seventy. He does NOTHING with my son, he talks about doing things, but NEVER does them.

I told him I was going and he could stay home, on Spring break we went to the beach and he laid up in the hotel room the entire time. (Asking me to bring him food) BEST TO LEAVE HIM AT HOME.


Thank you your report made me feel so much better!
My son and I are taking walks each night to get in shape for the trip!

~Donna

I think you definitely should go. There is such a small window of time in a child's life when they still find things magical. I think every child should go to Disney once.

Sure, it's a very tiring trip, but so worth it, because you will come away with some very special memories!

 

[cmsnyder77]

I decided not to set a wake-up call this am, so we woke up on our own at 8:30. And guess what it was doing outside? Raining! Hurray Tropical Storm Alberto! It wasn't torrential rain, though, so we went ahead and hopped on a bus to Epcot. There were moments where it even looked like it would clear up while we drove there, but it never did. We arrived around 10:30/11:00. We headed into Innoventions for an indoor activity. The torrential rain hit while we were in Innoventions. There was no way we were going out in that, so we hung around longer than we would have otherwise. DD enjoyed a lot of the stuff in there, but once you've circled around the building a couple of times, it gets kind of old. We did send some email postcards ...

The rain was letting up some, so at DD's request we went to Figment and spent some time there. When we came out, the rain had stopped. It was about time to head for the Wonderland Tea Party, so we rode Spaceship Earth on our way out.

We then boarded the monorail to the Grand Floridian. DD was signed up for the Wonderland Tea Party with Alice and the Mad Hatter. It was from 1:30-2:30. It is for kids only. They give you a beeper and you come back to pick up your child in 1 hour. It was held at 1900 Park Fare. Here is a pic of the setup.

I just hung around the lobby while waiting for time to pick her up. The kids surprised us with flower bouquets. DD seemed to be really excited and said they had lots of fun. They got to decorate their own cupcakes and had grapes and sandwiches. They also got a little card with a picture of them with Alice and the Mad Hatter. It was a nice activity for the kids, and only $28.

DD with bouquet of flowers from tea party

The weather had completely cleared up when we left the Grand Floridian. We had reservations for Hoop de Doo at 5:00, so we decided to spend a little bit of time at MK beforehand. We definitely weren't the only ones taking advantage of the nice weather. MK was very crowded. We only rode the tea cups and IASW, then enjoyed a nice stroll through Main Street and watched some street performers.

We caught the boat to Fort Wilderness for HDDR, arrived about 4:30 and picked up tickets. Still had time before the doors opened, so I let DD play on the playground for a while. It was a nice shaded area, and she enjoyed it. I enjoyed relaxing for a few minutes too.

The HDDR was fun, food was decent. I had decided to do this only a few weeks prior, so we got seats in the balcony. This did not offer the best view of the entertainment, but DD did seem to enjoy it and we got some laughs out of it. I'm not sure it was worth the money to me, but I am glad we did it one time. They first brought out bread and salad, which were the best parts of the meal to me. The main course was ribs, fried chicken, corn on the cob, and baked beans. It all comes in buckets, and of course it was obscene amount of food for just DD and me. Dessert was strawberry shortcake, which was pretty good. We even had to go to the restroom and pull one of DD's loose teeth after it was loosened up even more while she was eating the corn.

After the show, we rode the boat back to MK, then the bus to POFQ. I let DD swim until late, as she had not had a chance to go swimming since the first night and this is one of her favorite things. Once again, it was nice to sit in a lounge chair and relax while she swam.

So, similar to Day 4, Day 5 started off rough but ended nicely. All in all a good day.

Up next: Day 6, Blizzard Beach, Fantasmic

 

[cmsnyder77]

We awoke today to sunny skies! After breakfast in the food court, we caught a bus to Blizzard Beach, arriving around 8:30. We first headed to Tike's Peak, which dd really loved. One of the slides she started off on she was told was for smaller kids, so she had to use another one. It wasn't a very large area, but dd still wanted to spend a lot of time there. I finally urged her to go explore more of the park. We went into the wave pool for a while, which was fun, then on the lazy river. We then rode a few intertube rides (the milder ones), dd crossed over "icebergs", and we rode the family raft ride, which was tons of fun. The only bad thing was that it started raining while we were in line for this ride. We were high up on the mountain, and the rain hurt coming down, and it was cold! It also rained through the ride, but it was still fun. The rain probably only lasted about 5-10 minutes altogether, then the sun was out again.

DD went down some more slides, then we decided we were hungry. All of the lines for regular food were really long, so we just got some nachos and popcorn, then went back to Tike's Peak. By this time it was really crowded. DD played in the sand for a little while, then on the slides and water squirters. We rode the family raft ride again. This time, we ended up on it with 3 young boys who were totally wild, standing up and sitting on the side during the ride.

By the time we finally left, I realized we had been there 6 hours! It didn't seem like that long. There was really a lot of stuff to do. It was crowded, but we didn't have to wait too long for anything. Of course, we didn't do the big slides. The worst part of the day is that since I had lost track of time I hadn't reapplied our sunscreen soon enough, and we ended up sunburnt. DD only had a slight sunburn on her shoulders, thankfully, but I got it on my chest, shoulders, back, and legs. Now, 2 1/2 weeks later, I am still peeling!

We had an ADR for H&V at MGM for that evening for the Fantasmic Package. We arrived at MGM just in time for that and only waited about 10 minutes for a table.

The food here was pretty good. There were some unique items. DD seemed to enjoy the chicken nuggets and made an ice cream sundae for dessert. The best dessert I had was Snickers cheesecake. Like I said, the food was pretty good, but not phenomenal.

We didn't have a whole lot of time before Fantastmic, so we decided to ride the Great Movie Ride again. DD likes this one. That's all we did before heading to Fantastmic. We arrived in the stadium about 8:15 and didn't have any trouble getting a seat in the reserved section. It was pretty muggy, and we were thirsty. The tough part about being there alone with a child is that you can't leave them to go get a drink, and if they go with you you'll lose your seat. I kept watching a vendor with bottled water moving towards us, but he kept running out of water before he got to us. Finally I lucked out and ran up a few steps to buy some. Also got some popcorn for DD.

We hadn't seem Fantasmic before, and it was awesome! The special effects really were amazing, and we both enjoyed it. Out of the 3 nighttime shows, I'm still not sure which one I like the best. They all have their own unique qualities that make them special.

After the show, we joined the herd of people moving out into the park. That night was EMH, and when we emerged into the park, it was a complete mob scene! I have never seen so many people in my life - it was worse than leaving MK after Wishes. I wasn't going to even attempt to do any attractions. It was all we could do to make our way to the exits. We finally did, and didn't have to wait long for a bus.

Up next: Day 7, Epcot, Downtown Disney

 

[Disney owl]

Great start & wonderful photos

you have a beautiful daughter

 

[cmsnyder77]

This am we woke and headed to Epcot, arriving a couple of minutes after the 9:00 opening time. We were at Soarin' at 9:10 and already the wait time was 30 minutes, so grabbed FP's for 10-11:00. We went to Living Seas and looked around then got in line for the 10:00 Crush show. We had never done this before, and it was neat, but seemed really short. I thought Crush would talk to more than a couple of kids. I read another trip report of someone on this board who was at the same show we were at, where a little girl asked Crush where baby turtles come from. That was quite funny!

After the show, we went to use our FP's for Soarin'. We got lucky and were in Row 1 (I think it was row 1) - anyway, we were in the row where no one's feet were dangling in front of us. It definitely was better that way. Soarin' is a neat ride, but I sure can't imagine waiting in line an hour or more for it!

We had never been on Living with the Land, so we grabbed FP's for it with a return time for early afternoon. We then had lunch at Sunshine Seasons. I had a Chinese dish and DD had chicken drumstick meal. We enjoyed this meal. I liked the variety that Sunshine Seasons had to choose from.

We then headed to World Showcase so DD could make a mask, as she had been seeing other kids with them and was interested. We started at Mexico and made our way around. We rode the rides in Mexico and Norway, neither of which we had ridden before.

DD with mask in Norway:

Aladdin and Jasmine in Morocco:

They were very friendly and talked with her a lot.

Mary Poppins in UK:

It was not easy making it all the way around the world, especially since it was so hot! But we did, then headed back to use our FP's for LWTL. This ride was interesting. I hadn't known what to expect from it.

After this, we were definitely ready to head back to the resort. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. Originally, I had an ADR that night for Boma, but had decided to cancel after the rain earlier in the week. DD had not gotten the chance to swim as much as she'd have liked to, and I wanted to let her swim without having to stop at a certain so we could make an ADR. Also, we were both getting pretty tired by this time of the week, and going to the trouble of hopping buses to a resort just for food did not seem like the way we wanted to spend our time. Instead, we decided on Downtown Disney. The only bad part about this is that we did not take the boat, but chose instead the bus. This turned out to be the longest wait we had by far for a bus, nearly an hour!

We were starving when we arrived at DD, and headed for Earl of Sandwich, since I had read so many positive reviews of it. It did live up to my expectations! I had the meatball sandwich, and DD had PB&J. I was a unsure of how she would react since it was on a different kind of bread and was toasted, but she ate well. I really thought that this was the best meal we had the entire trip, and the prices were unbeatable.

The next place that was on my must-do list was Ghiradelli. As I have mentioned before, we are huge chocolate lovers! We went and placed our order, then grabbed a table outside. DD had the child's smore's sundae, and it came with crayons, a coloring page, a hat, and a Ghiradelli chocolate square. We passed the wait time coloring. Then, the ice cream arrived .....

I managed to finish all of mine, even though I was struggling a little at the end!

We wandered around DD a little more before heading back to POFQ. This was a really good day. Favorite part - Earl of Sandwich and Ghiradelli!

Up next: Day 8, CP breakfast, MK, LTT dinner