Just mom and her 2 little boys 10/19-25, MNSSHP, lot of character meals

[goofygal531]

Funny, just today I showed MJ some pictures of the fairies at the Tinkerbell meet and greet. He said "Gross, I never want to meet them!"

Oh, same here! They have no interest in the faires! My son just wanted to know what was in the castle. For some reason, he kept asking me if there was an elevator in there. He was so excited to discover there was one and he could ride in it! I think the elevator and the swords were the big hit, he didn't care so much about the actual princesses (he really doesn't know any of them). Oh and the kids meal comes with french toast sticks which are his favorite and are hard to find in WDW, so that was a hit too

He did ask Mary Poppins where the children were. I loved her answer "they're flying a kite with their father, now stand up straight don't slouch for the photo!" She was a riot!

I would like to try 1900 Park Fare at our next visit. This trip, I was deciding on either Ohanas or Park Fare, we choose Ohanas.

When in June will you be there? We're also staying at the GF in June - 6/12-6/19.

1900 Park Fare has a nice character breakfast. They have Alice, Mad Hatter, Pooh and Tigger inside the restaurant. Mary Poppins and Bert sit outside for photos and pictures. We love the make your own omlete section - I think this is the only breakfast buffet that offers that! It's great if you're staying at the GF and want a nice breakfast but need those character distractions for the kids. I have to say, I think it's an odd mix of characters

We're also going to O'hanas in June. I just wish the EMHs would be released already!

My boys also loved the Garden Grill. Have you been there? The meal is similar to LTT, the character interaction is fantasic! We love how the restaurant revolves and you see the Land boat ride below. My boys loved it so much that we had to change our plans and dine there TWICE on our last trip!

We're also trying the Biergarten in Germany this trip. It gets rave reviews on the boards and they have a show during the meal to entertain the kids. I'm all for meals with entertainmentl!

 

[MJAJmom]

When in June will you be there? We're also staying at the GF in June - 6/12-6/19.

1900 Park Fare has a nice character breakfast. They have Alice, Mad Hatter, Pooh and Tigger inside the restaurant. Mary Poppins and Bert sit outside for photos and pictures. We love the make your own omlete section - I think this is the only breakfast buffet that offers that! It's great if you're staying at the GF and want a nice breakfast but need those character distractions for the kids. I have to say, I think it's an odd mix of characters

We're also going to O'hanas in June. I just wish the EMHs would be released already!

My boys also loved the Garden Grill. Have you been there? The meal is similar to LTT, the character interaction is fantasic! We love how the restaurant revolves and you see the Land boat ride below. My boys loved it so much that we had to change our plans and dine there TWICE on our last trip!

Next trip, I'd like to try 1900 Park Fare breakfast and Garden Grill dinner (never been to these before). Sounds like you had a good time at ParkFare. Our only experience with face characters was with Belle, I'd love to see how my boys do with Mary Poppins and Mad Hatter. Garden Grill seems like a fun place, and Chip/Dale are always great. Glad to know your kids enjoyed it.

I'm very frustrated that the hours for May/June have not been released yet. I'm pretty sure Disney is evaluating some cutbacks due to the slow economy. Right now, I have booked June 7-14 at GF with the 4/3 promotion. I really would like to go in late April/May, but I can't pull MJ out of school anymore. So we'll have to wait until school is out on 6/3.

I'm thinking of maybe switching from GF to Beach/Yacht Club, the SAB pool would be fun in the summer. I'm also hoping to take a 7day disney cruise starting the saturday 6/13, so my plans may be changing soon. I've never been to Disney in the summer, I'm scared to death of the crowds. I'd like to experience Star Wars weekends, both boys loved StarWars.

 

[goofygal531]

Next trip, I'd like to try 1900 Park Fare breakfast and Garden Grill dinner (never been to these before). Sounds like you had a good time at ParkFare. Our only experience with face characters was with Belle, I'd love to see how my boys do with Mary Poppins and Mad Hatter. Garden Grill seems like a fun place, and Chip/Dale are always great. Glad to know your kids enjoyed it. .

Face characters are a lot of fun. You can find Mary Poppins in the UK, in Epcot. We also bumped into Alice and Mad Hatter ON the tea cups! I've never seen characters on the rides before! It was minutes after rope drop at MK and we were getting on the tea cups and found them in the cup next to us!! That was fun! DS4 of course had no clue who they were, but was excited to see characters!

I'm very frustrated that the hours for May/June have not been released yet. I'm pretty sure Disney is evaluating some cutbacks due to the slow economy. Right now, I have booked June 7-14 at GF with the 4/3 promotion. I really would like to go in late April/May, but I can't pull MJ out of school anymore. So we'll have to wait until school is out on 6/3.

They're updating their ADR system and the hours have something to do with it. It really stinks because Sunday would have been my 180 mark, now that's meaningless

I'm thinking of maybe switching from GF to Beach/Yacht Club, the SAB pool would be fun in the summer. I'm also hoping to take a 7day disney cruise starting the saturday 6/13, so my plans may be changing soon. I've never been to Disney in the summer, I'm scared to death of the crowds. I'd like to experience Star Wars weekends, both boys loved StarWars.

The Beach Club is really nice, I just don't like their walk out balconys. They're not full balconys. But the location is perfect. You can easily walk to Epcot and DHS. The worst thing about the Epcot resorts are the lack of counter service restaurants. You won't find anything like the GF's Gasparilla Grill there. The Beach Club Marketplace doesn't have any hot food. Not fun trying to explain to a child why he can't have a Mickey waffle for breakfast!

Summer is fun in WDW. My boys actually prefer June to Nov. We might stop our Nov trips. They really missed the pool. The GF pool is perfect for them. DS4 loves the slide and with a lifevest from the marina he can go down it alone. We're also going to try Blizzard Beach this trip. DS4 is dying to go to a water park!

You just have to plan differently in the summer. Last June we did rope drop each morning, then by 11:30 had lunch then left the park for the resort pool. The crowds aren't bad, it's the heat that's worse!

You'll love the cruise! DH and I went on one before we had kids. I'm waiting until my little one is 3 until we go again.

Star Wars weekends are CRAZY! I'm not sure it's something I would take children to. It's like a huge convention with crazy adults in stormtrooper costumes! Do some research on this with kids, it really looks out of control crowded. Anytime we're in DHS during it, we RUN in the opposite direction, which is usually Playhouse Disney. Last June we lasted 2 hours in DHS. Crowds were insane from Star Wars and the heat was just horrible. At least in Epcot there's a lot of indoor attractions in a/c.

Thanks for the info on the stroller. I've never considered renting before.

 

[MJAJmom]

So sad, I really do have to pack up now. It's so much quicker to pack up on the way home than packing before the trip. I bought a pop up hamper from the dollar store, that was very helpful in keeping the dirty clothes out of the way and all in one place. I get my suitcase packed and now have to switch over to the big backpack for carrying on the plane. My backpack full of snacks, a PSP, colorbooks, DVD player, and more snacks.

This trip I tried out a baggalini messenger bag. Before I always used a regular backpack since I was carrying diapers. Here is a picture of me carrying my fancy brown baggallini:

It was the perfect size for carrying some snacks, camera, tickets, wallet, autograph pages and other misc stuff. The strap was comfortable enough, but it kept sliding down. The adjustment clips didn't stay put, and that bugged me. I just didn't have time to try to monkey with it and find out how to make it not slide. I'll use it again probably because the size was just right, it had a few pockets inside and was easy to get into.

I had everything packed up, checked out and off we went in the rental car to DTD to shop and eat lunch. Little did I know that I made 2 serious mistakes in packing that I would find out later.....

I told the boys they could buy a toy at the World of Disney store, so they were excited. I totally forgot about the new TRex place that was now open. We had an ADR at Fulton Crabhouse but figured we see how crowded TRex was first. Since it just opened 2 weeks ago, I thought it would be packed. It was 11:15am and there was only 5 people in line for lunch. There was no wait, they were seating them as soon as they got to the hostess desk. So, let's try out this place for lunch instead.

TRex is simply amazing. There are several themed rooms, the coral room with a huge octopus overhead, the meteor room with large dinosaurs and mammouths with a thundering meteor shower every 5 minutes, a blue frozen ice room, and a more open field room with grazing dinosaurs. So well designed. But extremely LOUD. We were seated right up front in the coral room. At first I was really bummed because it seemed like this section was not good. It didn't have the dinosaurs in it. You can still see everything, I just thought the meteor room would have been more fun. It's loud no matter which section you're in. I got the Paleonzoic chicken sandwich, which was a fried pizza dough bread with chicken. It sounded good, but was not. The bread was actually fried puffed dough, like at the circus, wrapped around the chicken. How do you eat that?? Anyways, I ate the chicken, avocado and stuff inside, which was good. Just couldn't eat the crunchy bread. Won't order that again. Overall, the place is spectacular. Where else but Disney can you go and eat lunch with animated 20 foot dinosaurs. Reminded me of the Rainforest Cafe, except with a dinosaur theme instead of jungle theme. You really need to eat here once to experience it. Then decide if you want to go back for seconds. Not sure if we'll be back next time.

Now for packing mistake #1. The TRex place was awesome so I wanted to take some pictures. But... where is my camera? Oh no.... it's packed deep within my suitcase which is in the trunk of the car. I have switched to my airplane backpack. Thinking that I didn't need my camera on the plane, I just packed it away. Never thinking that I might want to take pictures at DTD. BAD GIRL!!!! OK, so no pictures of TRex, Lego structures, or anything else cool at DTD.

We enter the World of Disney to buy ONE toy for each boy. I explain that they have to make a choice and only pick one toy. Yeah, like that's being realistic!!! The place is just huge with tons of toys, the boys eyes are popping out. AJ knows exactly what he wants. It's June and Leo dolls from Little Einsteins. He's totally happy. I guess we are getting 2 toys because I just can't break his little heart. He loves June and Leo and is hugging and kissing them. "Yes sweetie, it's OK, you can get 2 of them." We made it through the week without purchasing any toys (pin trading really helped, made it seem like they were picking out a little toy each time). MJ is having a hard time picking something. He's browing POTC, Toy Story and Star Wars. So hard for him to decide. Finally he gets a Buzz Lightyear transformer and a Jack Sparrow action figure.

We walk back to the car. I'm sad because I know this is the final walk. The long, slow walk out of a Disney place for the last time, it's our last day and time to say goodbye. So sad. Can't say goodbye because we'll be back again. So we say, so long Mickey Mouse, thanks for a magical trip!!!! See you next time!

And as I'm driving away, already sad that we are leaving. I'm thinking about our trip and the things we got to do. We turn in the rental car and are waiting at the airport for the plane. My stomach just clenches, and I realize packing mistake #2. Oh no!!! I left my IPOD in the alarm clock/music player in the room. I used it to play lullaby music at night for the boys to go to sleep. I forgot to grab it and put it in my suitcase. Great, like I'm ever going to get that back!!! I have visions of Mousekeeping dancing around to my iTunes while they are cleaning.....We'll just have to deal with that when I get home. The flight home is a direct flight to Austin. The boys are happy watching the individual TVs on the Jetblue seatbacks. We are home safe. DH picks us up. Lots of hugs and kisses. We are now back in the real world.


Next up: Reflection about our trip. What went right/wrong. What we liked/didn't. What to do for next trip.

 

[MJAJmom]

The Beach Club is really nice, I just don't like their walk out balconys. They're not full balconys. But the location is perfect. You can easily walk to Epcot and DHS. The worst thing about the Epcot resorts are the lack of counter service restaurants. You won't find anything like the GF's Gasparilla Grill there. The Beach Club Marketplace doesn't have any hot food. Not fun trying to explain to a child why he can't have a Mickey waffle for breakfast!

Thanks for that scoop. We also love the GF, we've stayed there twice now. We're comfortable there, love the pool/slide as well, and you just gotta love the monorail for easy access. I'd like to try another hotel, just not sure I'm ready to do that yet. Still evaluating the Beach/Yacht Club. I do like a full balcony. Doesn't the Yacht Club have full balconys?

Summer is fun in WDW. My boys actually prefer June to Nov. We might stop our Nov trips. They really missed the pool. The GF pool is perfect for them. DS4 loves the slide and with a lifevest from the marina he can go down it alone. We're also going to try Blizzard Beach this trip. DS4 is dying to go to a water park!

You just have to plan differently in the summer. Last June we did rope drop each morning, then by 11:30 had lunch then left the park for the resort pool. The crowds aren't bad, it's the heat that's worse!

Star Wars weekends are CRAZY! I'm not sure it's something I would take children to. It's like a huge convention with crazy adults in stormtrooper costumes! Do some research on this with kids, it really looks out of control crowded. Anytime we're in DHS during it, we RUN in the opposite direction, which is usually Playhouse Disney. Last June we lasted 2 hours in DHS. Crowds were insane from Star Wars and the heat was just horrible. At least in Epcot there's a lot of indoor attractions in a/c.

Thanks for the info on the stroller. I've never considered renting before.

For summer, we'd love the pools. We also get up early for rope drop and then head back to the hotel after lunch. That should miss some of the midday heat. I just have to prepare myself for the crowds. We've been in late april and October when the crowds levels are only a 4-6 level. The june crowds are at 8 of 10. Scary!!!

I'm mixed on going for Star Wars weekend, like you said because of insane crowds. The boys love Star Wars, so we might have to at least try 1 day. I know I'll have to do lots of planning for a summer schedule and for a SW day at DHS. But I love planning, so it will be exciting to figure it all out. I just remember in april thinking about the park twice as hot and twice as crowded and concluding there is no way I want to do that!!!!

 

[goofygal531]

Yes, the YC has full balconies. But then you're a far walk to the BC Marketplace (food area). They're lots of pros/cons. I love that they show movies on the beach at night.

Your boys are the perfect age to enjoy the YC/BC pool. Plus it's walking distance to DHS, which is very handy when it's crowded! We walked to DHS from the BWI back and forth this Nov. The boat dock was very crowded. It was a nice 15 min stroll. Plus we really liked knowing we weren't "trapped" at the park.

You might want to switch over to the YC/BC, it has more to offer you in June.

As for June crowds, they never bothered us. We never found it "crowded" the weather is more of a problem. We never thought it would be as hot as it was. One day we lasted at DHS only one hour and had to leave. It was just too hot outside.

This June, we're planning mornings by the pool or at a waterpark then hitting the parks for the afternoon parades (which we've never seen before). You will see and do a lot less in the parks than you would off season. We like taking this time to enjoy the resort and actually "relaxing" in Disney.

As for dining, we're just making dinner ADRs. I'm keeping breakfast and lunch open incase the weather is just too unbearable.

It's a different vacation than in the off season, and we actually find it more relaxing. We've been there enough times that it's no big deal if we don't see something this time around.

Oh, and it rains everyday for 15 mins in June! Thanks for the tip about the kid's umbrellas - I never thought to bring them!

Glad T-Rex was a hit. We're planning on going there in June too.

I have the same Baggalini - I've never used it. I stash so much in the stroller, I just didn't need it. I think I'll use it more once we're done with the stroller in a few years.

Looking forward to reading your "thoughts and reflections" on your Oct trip!
Mare

 

[cdotla]

It is about a 5 min walk to Epcot. And the most pleasant scenery you could ever find!

And about 10-15 mins to the Studios.

And the balconies at the Yacht Club are great. The ones at Beach are much smaller and not every room has one.

Overall sounds like an awesome trip, especially for a mom's 1st solo trip with the boys. Watch out -these solo trips are addictive!

Can't wait to hear your final thoughts!

Thanks for following my story. I thought the Beach/Yacht Club hotel looked like a nice place to stay. I did not realize that you could walk to HS. How long of a walk was it to Epcot and to DHS? That would be a plus!!

 

[MJAJmom]

So many thoughts go swirling through my mind when I think about our trip. So where do I begin???? First of all, I have to say it went better than I imagined. Taking a solo trip with MJ and AJ alone at a mega resort/park environment had me a little nervous, but we did it! The time spent together was special and magical. I didn't lose my mind and the boys behaved better than I expected. Our park plans and ADRs worked out great and we explored several new things. The most exciting realization is that now I know I can do a solo trip and I'd be thrilled to do it again if DH can't come. The boys still talk about fun things we did at Disney. This was only the second trip to WDW for the boys, so we still have so many new rides/shows/dining to try out.

October trips - The weather was great, sunny and warm enough for shorts with maybe a light jacket for early morning or late night. The crowds were very manageable (maybe only 5-6 of 10). We've been in late April and October when crowds were good, not sure how I'm going to feel about crowds in June for our next trip.

Our hotel choice - This is our second stay at Grand Floridian. Wonderful hotel, very nice rooms, fun pool, pretty place. Very expensive of course. Our room was on the first floor, and after trying that for a week, I concluded that I'd rather be on an upper floor for a higher nicer balcony view. I felt like I didn't get to enjoy the balconey. Our building Sago Cay was right by Gasparillas so that was nice, plus it had a marina view. Last time we stayed in Big Pine Key, and I did like that location better because it's closer to the big pool. Right now, I'm booked for GF again in June but am thinking about switching to Beach/Yacht Club. Not sure I can give up the monorail yet!

Dining - The character meals are awesome. Since we have to eat, we might as well do it with the characters. New places we tried this trip were SciFi, Coral Reef, Tony's Town Square, Tusker House, Ohana's, TRex, Cape May Cafe, Casey's Hotdogs, and Gasparillas. I loved Coral Reef and all of us liked Tusker House and Cape May Cafe, so these 3 will be added to our must do list each trip which already included Chef Mickey, Crystal Palace, Hollywood & Vine. So sad that LTT will no longer have characters next year, we will miss that place. Next trip I'd like to try Garden Grill dinner, 1900 ParkFare for breakfast. We will continue to do early breakfast ADRs in the park before it opens (H&V before DHS, and TuskerHouse before AK). I'll have to investigate the Epcot World dining to find a good place for dinner one night (other than GardenGrill)

Photographs - We got lots of PhotoPass pictures this trip, that was fun. I'd like to be more bold next time and have more pictures taken by them. I like my camera, it takes pretty good pictures. I just need to take MORE pictures. I didn't take any photos of the hotel, hotel room, attractions, scenery. I got lots of character photos, but wish I took more shots of the kids on rides/shows. I'd like to ask the characters to kneel down with the boys since they are so short and not have all our photos of characters standing up.

DHS - Probably a tie with MK as our favorite park for the boys. We loved TSM, Indy, Star Tours, Fantasmic and all the characters. Next time we'll try to see the parade, LMA, Great Movie Ride and maybe TOT. I'll plan for 2 days here next time

Epcot - This trip we only did FutureWorld. We loved Soarin, TestTrack, Character Spot and Visa Meet&Greet, don't need to ride Nemo again. Next trip will do MissionSpace and explore the countries in the World. Early EMH are a must do again for us.

MK - How can you not love MK?? So many great rides. Clearly POTC was the favorite this trip and let's not forget the sword in the stone!! FantasyLand is great for little kids, Buzz is AJ's favorite. Next time we'd like to try SplashMountain and BigThunder. Early EMH is another must do.

AK - We didn't get to explore much here due to the rain, so we still need to see Maharaja Trek, PrimevalWhirl and maybe Dinosaur and EE if AJ is tall enough. We liked Camp MickeyMinnie and LionKing.

MNSSHP - A great party with a fantastic parade. The characters were plentiful and seeing them in costume was even better. Since we will only be at WDW once or twice a year, I'd like to do MVMCP next. I'm hoping we can make a trip in June and either Nov/Dec for 2009.

Planning - I can't imagine how people can just show up with no planning at WDW. I'm a mega planner so starting early is always better. Need to allow more time to make my Tshirts and autograph pages next trip. Renting a double stroller from OrlandoStrollerRenters was so easy and so wonderful, that I'll probably do it again in June. Will need to fix my Baggalini straps before using it again. Need to plan on a bit more downtime for swimming and goofing around the hotels.

Prepurchases - The tubes of glowsticks and the popup hamper were the best things I bought at the dollar store. Bringing the boys umbrellas was done at the last minute and thankfully I had those because the ponchos did not work out. I need to find regular raincoats or vinyl raincoats for next time. I brought way too many snacks, we barely ate half of them. Because we had MNSSHP candy, they didn't need to eat the snacks I bought.

Pin Trading - This was a big hit with MJ and it was very fun. I can see how this will become addicting. I'm glad I bought a large lot of trading pins to start us off, will do that again for next trip. CMs were so nice and helpful, making our first experiences very easy.

Love for Disney - I think the more times you go to Disney, the more you NEED to come back. Disney is an AWESOME place, no other place like it in the world. A dream world for kids, and I want my boys to enjoy it while they are still little. OK, so I really love it too.

Hard to believe our trip is over and that it was 2 months ago now. This is my first trip report and it was fun to write, but also very involved and time consuming (more than I thought it would be). I did like reliving our trip through pictures and words, so there will be future trip reports from me.

Thank you for following along and sharing my story. For my October trip, just mom and my 2 young boys, this trip report is done!!!


Now..... what is planned for our June 2009 trip???

 

[cdotla]

Great report, and excellent tips! I loved your final thoughts at the end.

I agree wholeheartedly with your comment that the more times you go to Disney, the more times you NEED to go!

I am also completely with you on trying to get my kids there as much as I can while they are still young. Completely magical!

At least you don't have that long to wait until your next trip. Good luck deciding btwn GF and YC/BC...if you are anything like me you will probably switch your mind a thousand times btwn then and now.

Given your boys seem to like HS just as much as MK, combined with the fact that you have already stayed twice at GF, my vote wld be for the YC. (Yacht over Beach so that you will be assured of an awesome balcony!)

You will love being able to walk to Epcot and HS. The 5 min walk to Epcot puts you into Worldshowcase btwn Canada and France. It is really awesome. Plus, that way you are assured that you will get to do WS!

Is your husband coming on your next trip? If so, won't it be great to teach him all the tricks you learned this time around? You are going to look like a real pro!

Happy planning!!!

 

[goofygal531]

Wonderul relections!

Thanks for the tip on the pop up hamper!

For an Epcot ADR, how about Biergarten? There's a show during the meal. We're going to try it in June. You can find the show hours on Steve's Entertainment site under "Epcot, Germany". They recommend making your ADR 15 to 20 mins prior to show time so you have you have time to hit the buffet first. It's gotten great reviews and seems to be really popular.

In World Showcase, my boys love the Mexico and Norway boat rides. My DS4 loves the Kidcot stops where you decorate the masks. They also love to watch the model trains in Germany. They find lots of things to discover in the countries. I think they enjoy it more than I expected them to. Just stay away from the Toy Store in the UK, especially if you have a Thomas the Train fan! I've heard it's also fun for the kids to collect candy from each country. Like original gummy bears in Germany, chocolate from UK, etc....

If you're planning to return next fall, then plan for more pool time at the YC in June. Plan more time in Epcot and DHS, since you'll be so close. Then do more MK and AK in the fall. AK is always 10 degress warmer due to the foliage, it's better in the fall. Way too hot in June. We also plan our meals more in the YC/BC area when we're there. We don't do monorail meals when at that far away, save them for when you're at the GF.

Basically, it's like you're planning two trips at the same time. But you'll allow more down time in June with the intention of missing stuff and saving it for the fall.

 

[MJAJmom]

Great report, and excellent tips! I loved your final thoughts at the end.

I agree wholeheartedly with your comment that the more times you go to Disney, the more times you NEED to go!

I am also completely with you on trying to get my kids there as much as I can while they are still young. Completely magical!

Thank you, Cdotla, for following along and sharing your thoughts. I think you can easily get addicted to Disney!!

At least you don't have that long to wait until your next trip. Good luck deciding btwn GF and YC/BC...if you are anything like me you will probably switch your mind a thousand times btwn then and now.

Given your boys seem to like HS just as much as MK, combined with the fact that you have already stayed twice at GF, my vote wld be for the YC. (Yacht over Beach so that you will be assured of an awesome balcony!)

You will love being able to walk to Epcot and HS. The 5 min walk to Epcot puts you into Worldshowcase btwn Canada and France. It is really awesome. Plus, that way you are assured that you will get to do WS!

Is your husband coming on your next trip? If so, won't it be great to teach him all the tricks you learned this time around? You are going to look like a real pro!

I think BC/YC would be fun for the summer, I haven't switched my ressie yet. Just procrastinating!! Right now, DH is scheduled to go. I'm trying to talk him into going on a 7day cruise afterwards!! Have not been successful yet. Then maybe staying at GF for Nov/Dec for easy access to MVMCP.

 

[MJAJmom]

Wonderul relections! For an Epcot ADR, how about Biergarten? There's a show during the meal. We're going to try it in June. You can find the show hours on Steve's Entertainment site under "Epcot, Germany". They recommend making your ADR 15 to 20 mins prior to show time so you have you have time to hit the buffet first. It's gotten great reviews and seems to be really popular.

In World Showcase, my boys love the Mexico and Norway boat rides. My DS4 loves the Kidcot stops where you decorate the masks. They also love to watch the model trains in Germany. They find lots of things to discover in the countries. I think they enjoy it more than I expected them to. Just stay away from the Toy Store in the UK, especially if you have a Thomas the Train fan! I've heard it's also fun for the kids to collect candy from each country. Like original gummy bears in Germany, chocolate from UK, etc....

If you're planning to return next fall, then plan for more pool time at the YC in June. Plan more time in Epcot and DHS, since you'll be so close. Then do more MK and AK in the fall. AK is always 10 degress warmer due to the foliage, it's better in the fall. Way too hot in June. We also plan our meals more in the YC/BC area when we're there. We don't do monorail meals when at that far away, save them for when you're at the GF.

Thank you for your wonderful insights and for following my TR. Great suggestions for Epcot world. Honestly, I have done no research on the countries - I'll look into those. MJ will have finished kindergarten by the summer, so learning about the countries may interest him more.

I think I like the YC better than the BC, but still looking at pictures and reading reviews. What a wonderful website DISboards is, I have learned so much here!!

 

[MJAJmom]

It finally happened. Today in the mail, there were 2 boxes from Disney Dreams, each had Dream MouseEars inside. One addressed to me and one to MJ.

During our April and October vacations, I never saw the Dream Team, we never even got a towel animal!! I've been sending in postcards to the Disney Dreams address since early October. Funny, I was just thinking this past weekend that sending in any more postcards was probably a waste of time since we hadn't won anything from it.

So Disney delivered!!! Thank you Disney Dreams. My boys love their Dream MouseEars!!

 

[cdotla]

Wow - congrats on your ears. I never thought to do that! Glad it paid off!

 

[jaqclenz]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report! We are taking our first trip to Disney in June with our 8 year old DD and 9 year old DS.

Do you remember where you ordered the lanyards from? Do you know if there is a thread that has all the parades and times listed?

 

[MJAJmom]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report! We are taking our first trip to Disney in June with our 8 year old DD and 9 year old DS.

Do you remember where you ordered the lanyards from? Do you know if there is a thread that has all the parades and times listed?

Hi Jaqclenz, thanks for following along! Hopefully we will be there again in early June!!

I ordered the lanyards from www.laughingplacestore.com They were about $6 each. I got a reddish/brown POTC, a red Mickey Mouse and a black tinkerbell one. They came pretty quick.

There is a great website called Steve Soars Live Entertainment that lists all the show times, parades, events and character meeting times by theme park. http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares/

Have a great time planning!

 

[sueh]

What a wonderful trip report. I just stumbled upon it.
I am a single mom and I will be taking my girls in December. I know that I will be overwhelmed but I know we will have fun.

It's great to see that you were able to ride all the rides together.

A couple of questions: You rode test track? The 3 of you? My girls want to do this but I thought that may be to short.

And the test track at Magic Kingdom. The 3 of you fit in one car and they took turns driving?

Also Buzz lightyear. I heard that only 2 could ride because there was only 2 guns. Did all 3 of you go on this together?

Any other hints or information that you could give me would be great. I just want to make sure that we can ride the rides together and just have a great time.

Thanks
Sue

 

[MJAJmom]

A couple of questions: You rode test track? The 3 of you? My girls want to do this but I thought that may be to short.

And the test track at Magic Kingdom. The 3 of you fit in one car and they took turns driving?

Also Buzz lightyear. I heard that only 2 could ride because there was only 2 guns. Did all 3 of you go on this together?

Any other hints or information that you could give me would be great. I just want to make sure that we can ride the rides together and just have a great time.

Hi Sue, thanks for stopping by and checking out my trip report. We had a great time, and going alone was not as hard as I thought it could be.

There is a great site of All Ears that shows the seating arrangments for each ride: http://allears.net/tp/gal_ride.htm You can see which rides can fit lots of people across in a row (like POTC), and some that can only support 2 people in a row (like Barnstormer). Check it out.

For Test Track at Epcot, the car seats 6, 3 in the front row and 3 in the back row. So that was perfect for us! The height requirement is 40inches, my DS3 made it by 1/2 inch.

At MK, the Indy Speedway cars can sit 3 people. I sat on the outside and controlled the gas pedal. DS6 and DS3 had to take turns driving and holding the steering wheel. We'd drive around a short distance, then I'd announce it was time to switch turns.

For Buzz Lightyear at MK and TSM at DHS, there are only 2 guns. I sat in the middle and my 2 boys used the guns. I helped DS3 with aiming the gun.

We squeezed 3 into Dumbo as well, and again it was all about taking turns. MJ controlled the joy stick for 2 rotations, then we switched. We talked about the taking turns part before the ride (either take turns or we can't ride it all you, you boys decide).

You'll have a great time!! Just realize that you'll need to make some adjustments, and may have to skip a ride if you or your girls aren't comfortable with the seating.

 

[sueh]

Hi Sue, thanks for stopping by and checking out my trip report. We had a great time, and going alone was not as hard as I thought it could be.

There is a great site of All Ears that shows the seating arrangments for each ride: http://allears.net/tp/gal_ride.htm You can see which rides can fit lots of people across in a row (like POTC), and some that can only support 2 people in a row (like Barnstormer). Check it out.

For Test Track at Epcot, the car seats 6, 3 in the front row and 3 in the back row. So that was perfect for us! The height requirement is 40inches, my DS3 made it by 1/2 inch.

At MK, the Indy Speedway cars can sit 3 people. I sat on the outside and controlled the gas pedal. DS6 and DS3 had to take turns driving and holding the steering wheel. We'd drive around a short distance, then I'd announce it was time to switch turns.

For Buzz Lightyear at MK and TSM at DHS, there are only 2 guns. I sat in the middle and my 2 boys used the guns. I helped DS3 with aiming the gun.

We squeezed 3 into Dumbo as well, and again it was all about taking turns. MJ controlled the joy stick for 2 rotations, then we switched. We talked about the taking turns part before the ride (either take turns or we can't ride it all you, you boys decide).

You'll have a great time!! Just realize that you'll need to make some adjustments, and may have to skip a ride if you or your girls aren't comfortable with the seating.

Thanks!

That link to the pictures of the rides is great.
I think after seeing that we should be fine. When I went in July there were 4 other adults but I did ride most of the rides with the girls but there was such much we didn't see or ride
I am sure that everything will work out and we will have a great time!

Thanks again!

 

[bjakmom]

Thanks for this awesome TR!! Your boys are adorable. I am suddenly having to reschedule a late-Sept trip with DGrD (5) and am looking at the last two weeks of Oct. We LOVE MNSSHP and want to stay at BLT if we can book there and attend 2 parties. I love traveling alone with the little ones - even with all of the challenges!! After reading your TR, I think I'm leaning toward the 3rd week - sounds like the weather and crowds were great for you. I would love to make a set of personalized autograph cards - do you have them in a format that you can share?