Longtime Lurker just back from WDW stayed at POP 8/06 - 8/13

[KAMKIM]

Well we got home yesterday afternoon and are all unpacked and laundry is washed. We had an awesome time but I am glad to be home....

If you didn't read my pre trip report let me introduce the cast
ME 28
DH 29
DD 8
DD 5 (turned 5 our first day at WDW)
My mom (wont tell her age)
And my newphew 7

Where do I begin...well lets begin with the morning we left. I could hardly sleep that night I was excited that I would be in WDW in a few hours and terrified that I'd be on a plane even sooner. I woke up every hour...visions of Home Alone flashed in my head...once the clock hit 3:50 I was up...took my shower...fed the cat...woke up DH. I went and got my camcorder and started in the kitchen zooming in on the time 4:20AM....went up stairs and woke up the girls. "It's Disney Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" DD5 opened her eyes right away and said "AND ITS MY BIRTHDAY! I'm 5 today!!!" She gets out of bed looks at herself in the mirror, grins and says "I AM bigger!"

DD8 took a few minutes to realize what was going but once she really woke up jumped right out of bed. DH and I were already dressed and he was loading the van with our suitcases, I got the girls dressed, did their hair, brushed their teeth. Unplugged the computer and TV etc. Turned off all the lights, grabbed a drink and took off. My mom lives in a duplex next to me and my nephew slept at her house the night before so they met us on the porch.

Now my stomach was churning....we live about 20 mins from the airport and everyone was talking and giggly...I was a wreck, I just sat very quietly looking out of the window ready to just say forget it, I'm not getting on that plane. Go without me. But eventually we pulled into the airport and unloaded our stuff. By now my heart was racing and the airport was so busy, it didn't help at all. Southwest baggage check was the first thing we saw, weighed all our luggage and handed them over.

We walked to security, took off our shoes, put our bags on the belt and walked through the metal detectors. My mom has a fake hip so she was pulled into the isolation booth which I got a kick out of and took some pics of her standing there with her arms up. DH grabbed her sneakers off the belt and I told him to just leave them with us, well he of course didn't listen and handed them to her over the security thing...wel the security guard was not happy.....she told him that was a secured area and NOTHING could go in there with my mother. He was a bit embarassed and didn't realize how seriously they took everything....but we laughed it off...no big deal.

Once they determined her hip wasn't going to explode we grabbed out sweaters and bags and walked to our gate. We grabbed a pop from one of the vendors and looked at our plane from the window. I could have puked on myself at that point but just told myself you have to do this and you will be fine. Next thing I know we were loading and found 2 rows with 3 empty seats each so we were all sitting together. It was DH by the window, DD5, me and then in the row across from us DN by the window, my mom, and DD9. The plane was loaded and we pulled away from the gate. As the plane was picking up speed down the run way I thought oh dear god please let us get off the ground safely and of course we did. Our ears popped a few times but was not a big deal at all. Once we were all the way up I felt a little sick to my stomach but just closed my eyes. The kids had so many activities to do and were so excited to fly I think the time really passed very quickly for them. We all got a free drink on board and some pretzels...that helped my stomach alittle. About a half hour before landing DD5 had to pee....well that was a funny sight the two of us in that tiny bathroom together....and it smelled so bad. It seriously was like an outhouse. The smell stayed with me the rest of the flight and I felt like I needed some bleach and antibacterial hand soap to bath in once we got out of that bathroom.

I asked the flight attendant where we were and she said over the ocean...we saw the coastline and sandy beaches it was awesome! Then the pilot put on the seat belt sign and we were going down. Once we touched the ground I felt a little better but we were still speeding down the run way....I thought what if we run out of runway???? My mom assured me he had plenty of room an we would not run into a building.

We got off the plane were amazed at the size of the Orlando airport...it was HUGE! I went to record the kids in the aiport and my camcorder stopped working of all times.....I was so mad. Well we saw the Disney Store and some character figures and got pics of that....and we went downstairs to find our bus to the hotel. We did the Magical Express so we did not need to get our luggage...this was awesome. We stepped outside and felt the warm blanket of Florida sunshine on us. We got on our bus and were off. I was under the impression the hotel was right there but it was about a 30 min bus ride...no big deal because we were all pumped about being there and seeing all the palm trees.

Finally we got to Pop Century, man were we happy. We got off the bus and went the desk to get our folder (we did online check in and it took us about 5mins at the desk) they said they would text us when our room were ready we were waiting for connecting rooms to be available so we took a walk through the gift shop We went through the food court to check that out and grabbed our mugs and got a drink. We walked past the Hippy Dippy pool, past the smoking section and to the bowling pin pool, the man at the desk told us we'd be in the 50's building so we knew that jukebox and bowling pin pool were ours for 1 whole week. We went back to the food court and grabbed lunch, my mom got her text that her room was ready...so we walked to her room and saw the cleaning lady in the room next door...we figured that must be our room! We kicked off our shoes and checked it out. It was nice, and clean! By now it was a little after 12 and I figured I'd call to see if our luggage was ready....the men told me yes and he'd bring all our luggage to my moms room while the cleaning lady got our room ready. We loaded up on our sunscreen and put our bathing suits on, I got our text that our room was ready...we went in and unpacked. Off to the pool. Now at home in Buffalo we hadn't had much of a summer so our pool was about 70 degrees...brrrrrr....stepping into this pool was like stepping into a warm bath....it was really nice (but as it got hotter I was wishing for some cooler pool water) The pool was not packed so we had a lot of room to swim around. We stayed in the pool for maybe an hour and decided we had to get to Magic Kingdom. We went upstairs and changed into dry clothes - went back to the food court to fill our mugs and walked out to the bus stop. We waited maybe 5 minutes and our bus pulled up.....after about 10 15 mins on the bus we passed under the Magic Kingdom sign....amazing...then we saw the castle in the distance. It was real. We made it. After months and months of planning, and saving and preparing....we were here and there was our castle.


Up next....walking up Main Street USA and seeing the beautiful castle in all its glory

 

[AuntRoeRoe]

Great start! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Nuwanda9]

Yea! You're back!! I am so glad you handle the flight so well! I was thinking about you!! Great start to your TR! Can't wait to read how your week in WDW went!!

 

[Disneychix]

Hello! Welcome back! Glad you made it safely to FL! Can't wait for more!!

 

[jbbt]

More, More More!!!!

 

[KAMKIM]

So we got off the bus and went up to the bag check. We walk up to the gates and my mom realizes she left my nephews card in the hotel room. She was praying she wouldn't have to tell him they'd be getting back on a bus to go get his card, but lucky for us she just had to go to Guest Relations and they printed her another card for him.....sweet...off we go. As soon as we enter we see Chip and Dale, we hadn't gotten our autograph books yet but wanted to get a pic. So we stopped and got some pics with them. Then I thought I had to go to City Hall for DD5's birthday gift card....and no you have to exit the park and go to Guest Relations....ugh...I just want to see the darn castle already. So we go to Guest Relations I give them her birth certificate and my license and she got a $68 gift card Here we go, finally walking up Main Street USA and I see the beautiful castle. So we get our camera out and get ready to take our first pic, and it starts downpouring. Are you kidding me??? Seriously??? We get up against the buildings and decide to just make the most of it and get out our ponchos. We walk to Tomorrowland and do the Laugh Floor first. That was great, the kids all got a kick out of it. We did text in some jokes but they were never picked. Oh well, next we went to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. That was really neat...the moving floor kind of freaked me out so I picked up DD5 and ran to a seat...I got 75,000 and had no idea what I was doing!

Next we do Stitches Great Escape....ugh...I'll never do that again, his burp smell stayed with me the rest of the day....yuck.

From there we went to Dumbo, then to the Tea Cups...I was a little nervous about this ride because DD8 gets very sick after spin type rides but didn't allow it to spin very much and she was fine. I honestly cant say if it was hot or not by this point because we were still so pumped to be there I dont remember it being hot at all....it did stop raining though. Soon it was time for dinner and we had reservations for The Plaza. The food was great! They brought out a cupcake for DD5 and the whole restaurant sang Happy Birthday to DD5. It was funny though because she ignored everyone and just kept eating LOL By this time it was getting late and we decided to get back to Main Street for Spectromagic. We stopped along the way and got our Mickey Ears and autograph books/pens and light up Mickey swords. Spectromagic was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. We were all in awe and the kids LOVED it. Their faces brought tears to my eyes. Yes this trip was expensive and yes we were tired from the plane ride, but their faces at that moment made everything worth it. It was a magical moment and I absorbed it all....

After this we decided to go back to the hotel and rest since we had a long day. The buses back to the hotel came fairly quickly and before we knew it we were walking back to our room. We decided to let the kids take a late night swim. We went up to the room, changed into our suits again and went down to the pool for a while. After that it was off to bed, we had breakfast reservations the next morning for The Crystal Palace.

Our feet were sore and we were exhausted. Once we hit the beds we slept like a rock.

 

[KAMKIM]

Day 2 Breakfast with Pooh and another fun day at Magic Kingdom

So we got up early and went to the food court to fill our mugs. We waited for the bus and again they came within 10 mins. We went right to the Crystal Palace and were seated fairly quickly. As soon as our waitress came to take our order for our drinks Piglet was coming around....yay!!! our first autograph! We got lots of pics with Piglet and even though the kids were tired this really woke them up. I couldn't get over how happy we all were. Everyone was in a good mood and I knew it was going to be a great vacation. We left our table and started towards the food when we realized Tigger was now coming.....ahh....back to the table...without food. We got his autograph and took lots of pics. We checked to see where Eeyore and Pooh were to make sure we had time to get our food and they were on the other side of the room so we hurried up and filled our plates. The food was really good, I didn't care for the bacon or sausage but everything else was terrific. After Pooh and Eeyore came we were done eating, paid our gratuity and took pics infront of the Pooh garden. Tigger came around and was being silly. He tried getting on a scooter by the front door. From here we went to Adventureland. We saw Rafiki standing there all by himself so we ran over got his autograph and of course some more pics. We went to the Swiss Family Treehouse and I'll tell you what, if we didn't do this on our first full day we would have never made it up all them stairs LOL So from there we went to the Magic Carpets and the wait wasn't too long. By now it was HOT...melting hot....we got out the mister fans and let the kids play in the spitting tiki people. DD5 had just about had it and fell asleep in the stroller. We went to the Jungle Cruise and DH had to carry her through the entire line. We waited probably a good 45 mins for this ride. Their overhead fans helped but wasn't doing too much for that kind of heat. But finally it was our turn and it was exactly as I remembered it! I was sad DD5 missed it but figured we had 2 more days at Magic Kingdom surely we'd make it back...well...we didn't but anyways....from there we grabbed an ice cream and those poor kids had to eat that ice cream like vultures because it was melting so quickly. LOL By now the sun was sitting on our shoulders and we decided we needed to take a break. We went back to the hotel and swam for the afternoon. Once the sun went down the heat was bearable, this really made the park more enjoyable. So when we went back that night the kids wanted to do the Laugh Floor again so we went and did that...then we went to Toon Town. We saw Minnie's house, Mickey's house, and the Judge's tent. While we were waiting to see Mickey my mom realized the princesses were there too so I took DD5 to see them while DH stayed with DD8 and my nephew 7. the line for the princesses was 30 mins and it was probably more like 45 but worth it. We saw Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle. I think DD5 was a little put off because up to this point none of the characters talked to her, but the princesses were - she didn't like it LOL

So now it was time for Wishes but because DD5 HATES fireworks we decided to wait for that until the last night, the booms were still VERY loud in the Toon Town so she pretty much plugged her ears and was still very excited with everything she saw. We left Toon Town and went to Its a Small World, it was a 5 min wait woohooo! After that we went to Peter Pans flight but it was a 45 min wait and we decided to just call it a night. It was time to go back to the hotel. We really spent our first 2 days at Magic Kingdom just wandering around and taking it all in. I wish that we had more of a plan and probably would have seen more if we did.

Up next Animal Kingdom, breakfast with Donald and holy hell its freakin HOT

 

[mousebymarriage]

So far so good, can't wait to hear more!

 

[Disneychix]

Great updates! I think you did a lot on those first 2 days! Nice that you were able to go back and swim for a bit.

Can't wait for AK, it's always soooo hot there!!!

 

[KAMKIM]

Okay day 3 - and actually I lied breakfast with Donald wasn't until day 4...oops...so anyways...day 3...

We ate breakfast in the food court at POP....again food was great, we used a quick service credit. Cant remember what we all had but it was probably pancakes/bacon etc.

We caught our bus to Animal kingdom and I could already tell it was going to be a hot one today. When we stepped off the bus we weren't sure which way to go so figured better off following everyone else - and what do you know, we made it to the front gates. Back at the hotel the girls had each picked out a hat they liked but my nephew couldn't find one, good thing he waited because he found an awesome one from Animal Kingdom. So we got through the turnstiles and headed right for Dinoland and it hit us....the sun had been officially placed on our shoulders....WOW - heat like we never felt before, I honestly didn't think we'd make it all day and I really dont know how we did. It was horrible...but we pumped our fans with ice and water and put in fresh batteries. Nephew and DH rode the twirly dino ride...sorry cant remember the name. I think its Primevil or something like that?? DD5 and I rode the Dinosaur ride that was similar to the Dumbo ride...by the time we made it through the line we were melting....we decided to go into a gift shop just for some air. From there we went on the Safari...that was awesome!! We got to see the lions, and elephants fairly closely. I was surprised at how bumpy it was and was afraid to let go of the girls during the whole ride, but thats me and I'm a worry wart DD5 did NOT like the bridge falling at all and promised us she'd never ride this thing again (uh yeah until the next day). From there we went to Rafiki's Planet Watch....ah...the train ride lasted about 2 mins and we were there...I think we'll skip this next time but on the plus side the kids got to see Pochohontas (prob spelled that wrong) and Jiminey Cricket...the kids were pumped to get his autograph but DD5 refused...because he wasn't supposed to be that big We learned that you can actually see real surgeries on animals during specific times during the day, there were none going on while we were there and I'm not really sure how the kids would have handled this anyways.

So then we took the train back and went to Restaurtsaurs (or something like that) for lunch...it was a nice break because we just couldn't stand the heat any more....we had burgers, fries, nuggets etc...the food was great! While we were seated we decided to circle things on the map we wanted to see, we knew we'd be coming back the next day so we wanted to take it easy. After lunch we went on the Kali Rapids....we waited in line for a good 45 mins, just as I thought we'd be passing out from the heat it was our turn and we were not disappointed! My girls are chickens and dont like to ride anything so I told them it was just a nice ride down a lazy river...alright I lied, but they LOVED it! While in line we wrapped our bags in our ponchos and then were told there is storage in the center of the raft...well you might still want to wrap your things because there is water inside the storage! Lucky for us nothing got wet but after we got off the ride my mom realized her phone was in her pocket uh yep thats broke. We were all soaked but I cant tell you how great it felt! From there we went on the different trails they had - we saw the tigers, bats, too bad for us the gorillas were already put away so we knew we'd be back to see them the next day.

Then we went on Its Tough to be a Bug....this was the one ride DD5 kept mentioning in our planning I was so excited for her to see the show....well that lasted about 5 mins and she was scared...my mom took her to the exit and they waited outside, 2 mins later....my nephew had the crap scared out of him so I took him outside as well So after DH and DD8 braved the rest of the show we met them at the gift shop and bought handheld drums for the kids and caught our bus back to the hotel.

It was a fun day and DH's favorite park but that heat was probably the worst it had been the entire time we were there.

Once we got back to the hotel we swam around in the pool and just hung out. We were excited to go back to Animal Kingdom the next day since we had breakfast planned with Donald...and a meeting with the Yeti

 

[KAMKIM]

Day 4 - Another day at Animal Kingdom - would Disney pump the heaters on again??

So we were up early and ready to catch our bus back to Animal Kingdom for breakfast with Donald. The kids were moody and hot, already and our day had just begun. I was hoping they would perk up once we got inside the restaurant and saw Donald. Well we had about a 20 min wait before we were seated which wasn't too bad because the kids got a kick out of the canon that was next to the restaurant, we were told we'd actually have a photo op with Donald outside the restaurant and then see the rest of the characters inside....my nephew decided earlier that day he didn't want to wear his new Animal Kingdom hat and wore his Buffalo Sabres hat instead...well that was cool because the Photopass guess was from Lancaster, NY!!!! What a small world....he saw my nephews hat and struck up a conversation with DH about the Sabres, and the Bills Whatever! So it was our turn to meet Donald they took our pics and seated us inside. Our server was so nice, it was her first day but she had so much knowledge of the park and where we should go next, she was a great cm. Before we left our seats to get our food Goofy came over, he was awesome! He was making fun of DH (who is 6'4) because he was taller than DH....so we got an awesome pic of the two of them standing side by side and Goofy had a good foot on him with his hat on This was just what the kids needed, they perked right up and were in good spirits again next came Minnie, then Mickey...and we were off to get our food...this buffet was one of my favorites, we really filled up here they had so much variety it was awesome, really something for everyone. While the kids were finishing up DH went to get our fast passes for Mount Everest. My nephew kept telling us this ride he would do (yes the same kid that left Bugs Life early because he was scared). After breakfast we decided to do the Safari again, and we enjoyed it even more this time, DD5 wasn't looking forward to the bridge falling but didn't seem as scared this time. There was a giraffe literally a few feet from our safari truck the animals seemed so much more active, maybe because it was earlier and not nearly as hot as the day before....

After the Safari ride we went to check out the gorillas since we missed them the day before and the bats because well, they were just cool to look at. We also decided to get the older kids strollers for this day since they were losing energy and we didn't know if it would get as hot as it did the day before so we figured we were better off spending the extra money for them to be comfortable, and I'm glad we did. At least we knew where they were at all times and they each got their own stroller and held on to their mister fans the whole time. I felt so much better because they did.

After the trails we saw the Jammin Jungle Parade, we had to see right in the sun which I wasn't happy about but the kids didn't seem to mind since the parade really kept their attention. Baloo even gave my nephew a high five! This parade made everyone want to dance the music was so catchy.

After the parade it was time for the Yeti.....my nephew was so pumped and i really didn't know if he was going to make it on this ride but he seemed ready....so DH, my nephew and I used our fast passes and were on the ride within 10 mins My mom took my girls to the gift shop to wait for us. I sat infront of DH and nephew, I have to admit I was a little nervous myself! The ride was everything we expected it to be...I wasn't sure how my nephew was doing because I had my eyes closed for most of it Once we got off and saw the pictures I knew how he did....he was buried under DH's arm the poor guy....he was so brave to ride that but had nightmares the rest of the week because of it....but I told him how proud I was of him and bought him a special yeti pin for his collection.

After the poor kid faced death on the yeti we took them back to the Kali Rapids...since everyone loved this ride so much we knew we had to do it again one more time. Some where in between all of this we had fast passes for this too, well when we went to get in the fast pass line we realized a little boy had been hurt in line and they were waiting for the medics...from what I could see the kid had two perfectly circled holes (wounds) on each side of his head....his parents didn't look too worried and the kid was crying but standing and talking, I still for the life of me cant figure out how this happened....it was on each side of his head so I cant imagine he fell...not to be graphic but it looked like someone took a nail to each side of his head....like I said he was standing and talking and I hope he is okay, they kept the line moving and we certainly didn't want to get in their way of helping him. Poor kid.

We worried about him the rest of the day wondering how he could have gotten hurt like this and I felt so bad for his parents.

Our day was almost over and we tried to make the most of it. We rode the Kali rapid ride, and decided to call it a day....we took one last look at the Tree of Life and left the park and headed back to the hotel for some more swimming.

 

[KAMKIM]

 

[KAMKIM]

well that was my attempt to add a pic...I have no idea what I'm doing lol

 

[KAMKIM]

Day 4 - Another day at Animal Kingdom - would Disney pump the heaters on again??

So we were up early and ready to catch our bus back to Animal Kingdom for breakfast with Donald. The kids were moody and hot, already and our day had just begun. I was hoping they would perk up once we got inside the restaurant and saw Donald. Well we had about a 20 min wait before we were seated which wasn't too bad because the kids got a kick out of the canon that was next to the restaurant, we were told we'd actually have a photo op with Donald outside the restaurant and then see the rest of the characters inside....my nephew decided earlier that day he didn't want to wear his new Animal Kingdom hat and wore his Buffalo Sabres hat instead...well that was cool because the Photopass guess was from Lancaster, NY!!!! What a small world....he saw my nephews hat and struck up a conversation with DH about the Sabres, and the Bills Whatever! So it was our turn to meet Donald they took our pics and seated us inside. Our server was so nice, it was her first day but she had so much knowledge of the park and where we should go next, she was a great cm. Before we left our seats to get our food Goofy came over, he was awesome! He was making fun of DH (who is 6'4) because he was taller than DH....so we got an awesome pic of the two of them standing side by side and Goofy had a good foot on him with his hat on This was just what the kids needed, they perked right up and were in good spirits again next came Minnie, then Mickey...and we were off to get our food...this buffet was one of my favorites, we really filled up here they had so much variety it was awesome, really something for everyone. While the kids were finishing up DH went to get our fast passes for Mount Everest. My nephew kept telling us this ride he would do (yes the same kid that left Bugs Life early because he was scared). After breakfast we decided to do the Safari again, and we enjoyed it even more this time, DD5 wasn't looking forward to the bridge falling but didn't seem as scared this time. There was a giraffe literally a few feet from our safari truck the animals seemed so much more active, maybe because it was earlier and not nearly as hot as the day before....

After the Safari ride we went to check out the gorillas since we missed them the day before and the bats because well, they were just cool to look at. We also decided to get the older kids strollers for this day since they were losing energy and we didn't know if it would get as hot as it did the day before so we figured we were better off spending the extra money for them to be comfortable, and I'm glad we did. At least we knew where they were at all times and they each got their own stroller and held on to their mister fans the whole time. I felt so much better because they did.

After the trails we saw the Jammin Jungle Parade, we had to see right in the sun which I wasn't happy about but the kids didn't seem to mind since the parade really kept their attention. Baloo even gave my nephew a high five! This parade made everyone want to dance the music was so catchy.

After the parade it was time for the Yeti.....my nephew was so pumped and i really didn't know if he was going to make it on this ride but he seemed ready....so DH, my nephew and I used our fast passes and were on the ride within 10 mins My mom took my girls to the gift shop to wait for us. I sat infront of DH and nephew, I have to admit I was a little nervous myself! The ride was everything we expected it to be...I wasn't sure how my nephew was doing because I had my eyes closed for most of it Once we got off and saw the pictures I knew how he did....he was buried under DH's arm the poor guy....he was so brave to ride that but had nightmares the rest of the week because of it....but I told him how proud I was of him and bought him a special yeti pin for his collection.

After the poor kid faced death on the yeti we took them back to the Kali Rapids...since everyone loved this ride so much we knew we had to do it again one more time. Some where in between all of this we had fast passes for this too, well when we went to get in the fast pass line we realized a little boy had been hurt in line and they were waiting for the medics...from what I could see the kid had two perfectly circled holes (wounds) on each side of his head....his parents didn't look too worried and the kid was crying but standing and talking, I still for the life of me cant figure out how this happened....it was on each side of his head so I cant imagine he fell...not to be graphic but it looked like someone took a nail to each side of his head....like I said he was standing and talking and I hope he is okay, they kept the line moving and we certainly didn't want to get in their way of helping him. Poor kid.

We worried about him the rest of the day wondering how he could have gotten hurt like this and I felt so bad for his parents.

Our day was almost over and we tried to make the most of it. We rode the Kali rapid ride, and decided to call it a day....we took one last look at the Tree of Life and left the park and headed back to the hotel for some more swimming.

I forgot to mention at some point during this day we also saw the Festival of the Lion King but because we showed up so late we had to stand in the back, we could still see the show and it was awesome. My feet seriously needed some rest but standing there was worth it. We also saw the Nemo show, I think the kids were a little disappointed because obviously the voices are not the same but the show it self was incredible!

 

[KAMKIM]

Also Day 4 forgot to mention, at the end of the day we didn't go back to the hotel we went to the Fort Wilderness,...not sure why I completely forgot about this part of our trip.

so we took a bus from Animal Kingdom to Fort Wilderness, got off that bus and were lost We looked at the map and realized we had to take another bus to Pioneer Hall for our dining reservations at Trails End. We were running a good hour late and I was so worried they wouldn't take us. Well we caught the yellow bus to Pioneer Hall and I explained to the woman that we were an hour late but did have dining reservations, she says No problem we'll seat you in a minute While we were waiting DH took the kids down to the beach and they got some sea shells.

Our pager went off and we were seated. This was DH's favorite meal by far, I think he liked the idea of the "home cooked" food. It was filling and everything was delicious. Our waitress knew we wanted to get back to the campfire in time for the chip and dale sing a long so she brought us our check early We ate until we were ready to pop and went back out to the bus stop and went to the campfire. The kids really enjoyed this and it was so nice to just sit and relax. By this time the sun had gone down and it was much cooler. We sang songs, and not long after Chip and Dale came out. We got pics and autographs and got the kids some smores...chocolate in 90 degree weather...ahh not a great idea lol. But they had fun. We were discussing whether or not to stay for the movie under the stars which started at 9, they were showing 101 Dalmations, we decided not to since the next day we wanted to get an early start at Hollywood Studios. We walked back to the bus stop - we knew we had to take a bus from the campfire back to the main bus stop where we started and then take another bus from there to Downtown disney, and then another bus back to our hotel. we weren't looking forward to this but realized we made the right choice by not staying for the movie once we realized how many buses we had to take still....so we get to the bus stop and my nephew decides he has to go potty....NOW.....so my mom walks him back to the campfire and takes him potty.....our bus comes and goes...and we wait....and wait....and wait....what the heck is taking them so long??? Just as I figured another bus would be coming they came back, something at Trails End must not have agreed with him my mom said. Well he was feeling better so we caught our bus to the bus stop, then to Downtown disney, and then back to the hotel....we slept so good. I think I will skip the Chip and Dale sing along next time, it was fun but taking all those buses was a big pain...although I'm sure DH will want to eat at Trails End again...so who knows.

 

[KAMKIM]

Okay Day 5 Hollywood Studios

I think it was this day that I realized our vacation was coming to an end very quickly and I was some what depressed about that, but still looking forward to going home at this point. I was torn lol

So we get up bright and early and grab breakfast in the food court again, we got muffins and had our pop tarts from the snacks we brought. Caught our bus to Hollywood Studios. The first thing we saw obviously was the huge hat so we stopped to get some pics...funny looking at them now I try to explain to people how big that hat was...guess you have to see it to believe it lol

From there we decided to go on the Great Movie Ride. We waited for what seemed like forever when my nephew decided he didn't want to do it afterall because it would be "lame". My mom took him outside to wait for us. We didn't let that ruin our fun, we were on the ride within a few minutes after that. I wish he would have stayed I think he would have really enjoyed it. I kind of remembered going on this when I was younger but didn't remember what was all involved, once they showed the Alien preview I remembered...ut oh....maybe the girls aren't gonna like this...so once we got started and I remembered the entire ride I told DH when to close DD's eyes so they wouldn't be scared. They really enjoyed it - especially the Wizard of Oz part. Next we went to Toy Story Mania for fast passes...OMG they were gone!??! and it was a 110 min wait...yikes...maybe we'll come back to this...or maybe not....
So American Idol was up next and my girls were pumped. We LOVE LOVE LOVE this show. My nephew again declared that this would be "lame" yet he loved it to. It was so cute, an older man ...probably in his 60's was up there with a woman probably in her 50's and a young girl probably 20....the man was really good! He won all our votes, and apparently everyone elses because he was the winner lol. That was alot of fun.


By now it was getting to be lunch time and my poor nephew was bored out of his mind so we took him to Pizza Planet which is something he had been looking forward to. The pizza was pretty good and you got a salad so we were stuffed. I did have a very hard time understanding the woman taking our order though. I wanted 2 souvenir cups they were maybe $5.00 and I thought the girls would enjoy them at home so when I ordered them I thought I got a drink with the cup which would have been nice because we all got a drink with our meals so then we'd have a drink for each of the girls after lunch...well the woman couldn't understand me either and I didn't end up with a drink with the souvenir cups. When I went to the counter to get my meal and the guy informed me that I was not charged the $1 for the drink in the souvenir mug...so he gave them to me for free.... $2 savings but hey...its something and I was glad to not have to get back in that line again. This place was packed.

So we found a seat very quickly actually and got the kids settled with their lunches....I sit down....DD5 spills her milk.....great....I got back in line again to get another milk...by the time I came back to the table everyone was done eating and all I wanted was a stinking milk. Oh well. Everyone waited for me to finish eating and the kids wanted to play in the arcard. We gave them I think just a dollar each and let them play one game. I didn't want to waste alot of time here....

So from there we went to the Disney Animation, the kids were just about to fall asleep during the guys speech about the little dragon when it was over....we walked into another part of the building and got to see the workers drawing. We didn't see much because it was pretty packed but realized this was where the UP characters were...we were trying to make it to the Extreme Stunt Show so we decided we would just come back we didn't want to miss this show.

So we went to the Extreme stunt show and good thing we got there when we did because shortly after they were at their limit and didn't let anyone else in and this was the last show of the day...and our only day at Hollywood Studios. My nephew LOVED this show I got awesome pics of his face during the whole show, he was really impressed. I thought the stunts were cool but not really my kind of thing, I remember baking in the stands and being crammed next to strangers isn't the most comfortable feeling either. I think the show was probaby a half hour or maybe 45 mins long...all the kids really liked it ...and DH liked it alot too.

After this we had to run over to the Indiana Jones stunt show,...well as soon as we got to the building the guy was pulling a rope across...they were filled ={ and it was the last show of the day so we didn't get to see that. We decided we'd try to see if the line was any shorter for Toy Story Mania....no luck.....so from there DH took my nephew on the Star Wars ride and my mom and I went into the backlot express for drinks. We cooled off in the airconditioning and went back to the Star Wars ride to see if they were done, a few minutes later they came strolling out. My nephew was so proud he got to do "boy" things So from here we went to the Backlot Tour. it was really neat to see all the props from the movies, especially the Santa claus 3 - the kids got a big kick out of that. The tour didn't take very long and before we knew it we were deciding it was getting late and trying to figure out what we wanted to do....We went to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground and apparently that closes at 7 ...I was so disappointed because I went on this when I was little and I knew the kids were going to love it...oh well...maybe our next trip. So then we walked the New York streets and got some pics of the New York sign,...just because..well we're from New York LOL

We were getting hungry and didn't have dining reservations but wanted to use a TS credit, so we went to the Sci Fi restaurant...booked....50's diner...booked...ugh...Finally Hollywood Vine I think its called could seat a party of our size but it was a 45 min wait. We wanted to catch Fantasmic at 9 and it was 7:30 by this time....ugh...so then the lady tells us there is a second showing at 10:30 of Fantasmic.... Wooooohoooo! So while we waited for our pager to go off we went to the Pixar Studios to check Toy Story Mania again...110 min wait... Guess we weren't making it on this this time either. The characters from Pixar were already gone for the day....I guess this was the most disappointing thing about Hollywood Studios...it seems everything closes early. So we walked through One Mans Dream, and the kids didn't appreciate it but I thought it was rather interesting and we had to kill some time. none of the kids were interested in the Playhouse Disney so we didn't do that either. We got some pics infront of the broom and Fantasia garden and the Snow White garden...by then our pager went off and we went back to the restaurant. This is the only restaurant/meal I didn't like. There wasn't much in the buffet that appealed to me or the girls. So we ate potatoes and corn I think Oh and ice cream....our server brought us our check and we decided to kill some time before Fantasmic so we headed that way and couldn't believe what we saw next...the street leading up to the Fantasmic show was PACKED.....all the way down the street, I asked what are you guys in line for?? A woman told me Fantasmic WHAT?!?!?! Ut oh....well we headed up the side walk and came across a worker I said the show doesn't start for another hour why are all these people already lined up...will we get seats? He said...they are lined up because they dont believe us that there will be enough seats...he said the show starts at 10:30 come back at 10....hmmmm....could this young man be trusted? I found myself looking at this crowd and thinking,...yeah I dont want to believe him either but he did say he has never seen a sold out second showing of Fantasmic...alright...maybe he isn't a liar...so we checked out a few shops, we got some Fantasmic pins, a Fantasia Mickey for the girls, the director things that they open and close and say "action" I bought one of those when I came with my grandma so seeing them again melted my heart and I had to get them for the girls....I was so happy they still had those. So we killed enough time and had nothing else to do and got in line right about 10...soon the line was moving and we were in our seats...and you know what that CM wasn't a liar....there were plenty of seats left So my mom went and grabbed the kids some light up Mickey and Minnie's and soon the show started...we were all amazed, this was the highlight of our day at Hollywood Studios....it was simply amazing, the kids didn't seem to be scared at all...but suddenly my mom pokes my arm and points to the sky behind us... lightening and soon after thunder. it was getting scarey but we didn't know if we should leave and miss the rest of the show, so I decided to pretend it wasn't there The kids didn't seem to notice the show behind them because of the show infront of them So after Fantasmic we went back to the hotel and let the kids swim from one end of the pool to the other with their clothes on.... they loved it.

We got them into the bath and quickly to bed after that. DH stayed upstairs with the kids while my mom and I did some laundry...it was late and we were tired but it was nice to sit by the pool without the kids actually. Only time we relaxed I think.

After the laundry was done we went to bed.....

Coming Up day 6 Magic Kingdom.....

 

[KAMKIM]

sorry its been a while since I posted - with the kids back to school our schedule is just crazy lately.


So on to Day 6 Magic Kingdom

I believe we ate breakfast at the hotel on this day. We got in line to catch our bus to Magic Kingdom. Out of no where the kid infront of us starts puking...just missed my nephew by a few inches. The mother picks the boy up and he starts puking all down her back....I felt for the kid but was getting sick from the smell. It was awful. They were next to get on the bus so now the walkway was covered in puke...we had to hop the rails to get on the bus. I was shocked to see this family get back in line to wait for the next bus to Magic Kingdom..I'm not judging but I'm thinking a pukey kid should be resting in a cool room - not loading a bus to go to Magic Kingdom...but whatever.

So our first ride of the day was Adventures with Winnie the Pooh. The line was long - I'd say a good hour. My nephew decides he doesn't want to ride because its "lame" so him and my mom find some shade to sit and wait for us. About 45 minutes of waiting - my nephew comes up to us...now he wants to ride. Well he LOVED it! After this we went to the Confectionary candy shop on Main Street and got some goodies. We watched part of the afternoon parade. Cant remember the name of the parade though sorry. We rode on It's a Small World again, and again. We started getting to the hottest part of the day so decided to go back to the hotel for a swim. We had some lunch at the hotel and spent some time in the pool. When we got back to Magic Kingdom we went to Toon Town and played by Donald's boat, we then went through Mickey and Minnie's house again. Then we went over to Pooh's house and got some ice cream (gotta eat that fast in this kind of heat!) We took some more pics infront of the castle. Headed over to Tomorrowland, we went on the Laugh Floor again, and again...rode the Buzz ride. My nephew and DH wanted to ride the speedway cars - on their way to get in line my DD8 said she wanted to ride too...so one of the CMs offered to ride with my nephew. Wasn't that nice of him? I took DD5 to get a smoothie - yuck.

After this we walked back to Peter Pans Flight and saw that it only had a 20 min wait time. Not bad so we hopped on, the kids really enjoyed this ride. I was a little nervous since we up kind of high and there weren't really sides on the boats....eh ...nervous mom But the ride was cool.

After this we rode...It's a Small World again! I guess they couldn't get enough of the ride since it never had more than a 5 min wait time. After that was getting late so we headed back to the hotel. We took another late night swim and packed up what we could so we wouldn't have too much to pack up the next day. I did some more laundry and sat by the pool by myself. It was nice and relaxing.

At this point in the trip I knew it was ending fast, part of me ached for my own bed and home cooked food - but I didn't want to see it end.

Up Next our last full day....where do we spend it? Magic Kingdom of course!

 

[KAMKIM]

Day 7 Downtown Disney and Magic Kingdom

This day really flew by, we felt like we were pressed for time to get everything done we wanted to. I kept telling myself - slow down, we'll be back.

So we started the day pretty early we had dining reservations at Chef Mickeys. I knew we had to get a bus to Magic kingdom and then take the monorail over to the Contemporary.

Riding the monorail was neat - a little nerve wrecking but the kids enjoyed it. Chef Mickeys was pretty cool. While we were waiting for our pager to go off we checked out the gift shops in the lobby. They had a lot of neat stuff - the one shop I think its called the BVG? had a really cute black purse with Mickey heads all over and a matching wallet. I went over to the purse probably 20 times while we were in the store, but it was $70 OMG I would never spend $70 on a purse! and the wallet was $20! No way I thought. I figured since we were going to Downtown Disney they would have a cheaper/better purse.


Our pager went off and we were seated. Before we got our food all of the characters came through which was nice we didn't have to worry about missing any of them. Minnie kept kissing my nephew, his face was so red it was hysterical. The food was really good...but I could not believe there were birds flying EVERYWHERE in this place! No one else seemed bothered by it but a feather landed in my syrup... I couldn't eat any more and I really dont know if we'd go back there because of this. I was really grossed out about it - it was our favorite place to eat but ...eh ..I'm just glad it was a feather.

So after Chef Mickey's I contemplated going back for that lovely purse I wanted so badly but talked myself out of it.

We left the Contemporary and went to Downtown Disney.

First store we went to was the Christmas store...OMG I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE that store. Next time I'm taking money JUST for the Christmas store, I could have went nuts - but I didn't I got one ornament. blah.

From there we went to TrenD which my DD8 loved. She got a tye dyed Mickey shirt and a cool scarf to match. There was nothing in DD5's size so i promised her she'd find something at the big Disney store.

We went to Team Mickey DH found a nice polo Disney shirt $85.. What the heck do they make this stuff with? Well he loves his $85 shirt and wears it all the time so I guess I shouldn't complain (although in my mind was thinking I wanted that $70 purse and didn't get it). Whatever - so we went to the Mickey Mart where everything is under $10...well....waste of time. It was all garbage from what I could see - I did get my step sister a keychain for taking care of my cat but there was nothing else there that I would buy.

From there we went ot the World of Disney store - wow....I mean really...wow. This store is absolutely HUGE!

I dont remember everything we bought here but I know I got a tshirt, DD5 got a Minnie dress and matching hair things and matching purse (DD8 couldn't find a purse in downtown disney so I told her we'd check Magic Kingdom later for a purse for her) All this talk of purses reminded me how badly I wanted that black Mickey purse at the Contemporary.

After World of Disney we looked at the Lego store - that was neat! All those lego creatures. I cant imagine how much time someone spent on building those things! At this point everyone had gotten something and appeared to be happy it also started to rain so we headed back to the hotel to drop off our things. At the hotel we ate lunch, swam and finished packing. I was rushed to get everyone ready because I knew it was our last time at Magic Kingdom and I wanted to make the most of it. I think the kids would have been content to stay at the pool but I was not having that!

So off to Magic Kingdom - on the bus I casually mentioned to DH that I was disappointed I didn't find a purse at downtown Disney like the one at the contemporary - he says well you didn't buy much for yourself this week why wouldn't you just get hte purse you wanted? I said ...hmmmm...I should go get that purse. So DD8 and I took the monorail over to the Contemporary and I got my beautiful $70 purse and matching wallet I use this purse everyday and I LOVE IT!!!!!!

So after that DD8 and I walked over to Magic kingdom and I thought how nice would it be to be able to walk to Magic Kingdom everyday from your hotel....the wheels in my head were turning.

We met up with DH, my mom and nephew and DD5 at Magic Kingdom. We basically repeated all of our favorites, Laugh Floor, Buzz ride, Philharmagic, It's a Small World, Poohs Adventures.

Then it was time for Haunted Mansion. By now it was dark out but it was our last chance to ride it. DD5 was so excited to ride but nephew and DD8 were scared! They wouldn't even go stand BY the line for the Haunted Mansion. Well DH DD5 and I went on, while my mom took the older more chicken kids to look at the water and wait for us DD5 loved it. It was a fun ride and not scary at all. She thought it was funny, I knew DD8 would have liked it and I was disappointed she didn't even give it a try.

Oh well, it was time for Wishes when we were done so we got right infront of the castle and saw Tinkerbell fly. This moment I knew, our vacation was over and it ended exactly like I wanted - standing with my favorite people infront of the castle watching Wishes. It was amazing. It was one of those moments that you tuck away forever. We were so ready to go home, but so grateful we were able to spend an amazing week at Disney.

On the way out of the park we stopped to get DD8 her purse at one of the gift shops on main street. Caught our bus back to the hotel, finished packing and went to sleep.

The next morning we were up and taking our luggage downstairs first thing. We checked out - took one last stroll around the gift shop and grabbed some breakfast in the food court. Next thing we knew we were on our way to the airport.

The plane ride home was uneventful. I was happy to have some Diet Pepsi in the Buffalo airport

Once we got home we unpacked, started laundry and started going through our souvenirs and finding them homes.

DH gets on the computer and starts pricing out another week at Disney at the Contemporary

It was a magical week indeed.