luvstiggertoo
<font color=green>DIS'ing at work!!<br><font color
- Joined
- May 14, 2001
- Messages
- 458
Overall we had a great trip. The crowds were not that bad and the weather cooperated with us. Our biggest complaint the whole trip was the number of Brazilian tour groups throughout the parks. I hope I do not offend anyone, but those were the rudest, most inconsiderate people I have ever encountered
and they were everywhere!
Day 1: Wednesday (travel day)
We didnt get on the road as early as planned. DH couldnt get off work early so he didnt get home until about 6:30 and we didnt get on the road until about 7:30. Rain and an accident on I-4 delayed us even more. We arrived at the hotel around 9:30. Of course, after we got to our room and got settled in, we had to hit the arcade! We usually let the kids do that on our first night to get it out of their systems! I dont understand it here we are at the happiest place on earth and they want to play video games! ARRRGHHHH!! After some time in the arcade and ice cream at the food court, we headed to the room for the night at 11:00, then off to bed to rest up for our first day of parks!
Day 2: Thursday (AK & MK, including dinner at Crystal Palace)
This was our first visit to AK. Arrived at AK around 8:15 AM. We had vouchers for our play 4 day passes that had to be exchanged at the ticket windows. We were pleasantly surprised to find no lines! We walked right up to the window and received our 4 day park hoppers. Upon entering the main gates of AK, we were delighted to find characters galore! There was Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Chip, Balou and the dragon from Mulan. DD got autographs and the kids posed for pictures with all of them. Next we headed into the park and encountered a few CMs holding terrariums. One had a scorpion and one had a tarantula .creepy! The kids enjoyed looking at these creatures and asked a lot of questions. The CMs were very knowledgeable. The first attraction we went to was Its Tough to Be a Bug. We walked right in! Great show with lots of fun surprises! Everyone really enjoyed it. After the show we headed over to Africa with the intention of getting a FP to the safari. The standby wait time was posted at 20 minutes so we decided to wait. Our actual wait time ended up being about 15 minutes. We got off to a slow start. Not too many animals could be spotted. We did eventually see a few giraffes, some elephants and a lion and lioness on a cliff. We also saw a mommy rhino and her baby .so close we could almost touch them! After the safari, we walked around the endangered animal preserve for a while. We saw two silver backed gorillas and just sat and watched them for about 15 minutes! They are just amazing creatures! About this time everyone was getting pretty hot and cranky. I had heard that the temperatures in this park get pretty hot and its true! We went to the rapids, again planning to get a FP, but we didnt need one there either. We only waited about 5 minutes ..good thing too. We all were pretty disappointed with that ride, it definitely would not have been worth a long wait. After that, the kids found the fountains in Asia and got soaked! Then we found some ice cream .the perfect treat for a hot day! Next we headed over to Dinoland. On the way, DH spotted one of the living vines standing by a trashcan. He gave our son his ice cream wrapper to throw away. When DS got close to the vine, it began to move. DS jumped and ran back over to where we were standing it was hilarious! On the way to Dinoland, we saw Tigger (my favorite!). DD & I waited in line for a picture & autograph, while DS & DH went to get our FP for Dinosaurs. The boys got back just as we were posing with Tigger. I told Tigger he was my favorite and he kissed my hand. DH said, watch it, thats my wife. Of course Tiggers response to that was to grab me and dip me and kiss me! DH told the kids that he was going to kick Tiggers butt the next time he saw him. It was really funny and set the stage for some pretty fun antics at Crystal Palace later that night! Now it was about 11:15 and we had an 11:50 FP time. We let the kids pass the time in the play area, while mom & dad grabbed a beer! Our FP time arrived and we headed over to Dinosaur. We walked right on! DS was a little hesitant to ride and kept his eyes closed the whole time. Boy, you sure do get bounced around a lot on that, but it was fun. Next we headed over to Camp MinnieMickey for some last minute character spotting. On the way we saw Chip & Dale and we learned how to tell them apart Chip has the black nose, like a chocolate chip. We had already gotten Chip that morning, so we waited for Dale. Dale was being a little dickens. DD had a Winnie the Pooh pen. Dale wouldnt give it back. He made DD chase him to get it back. At the camp we sat and watched a great sing-a-long show, the kids got up and did the chicken dance! We then stood in line for characters. We met Pluto, Donald and Eyeore and Tigger (again!). About this time, we were ready for our afternoon break! As we were walking out, the four of us were holding hands. I thought of Dans signature Lets Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand and I started crying. On the CB there was a thread that asked if you get emotional at WDW. Well, um, yeah! On the way out, we met King Louie from Jungle Book and Terk from Tarzan. More autographs & pictures and then back to the resort for a break. We had lunch at the food court and then jumped in the pool for a quick swim. About 2:30 the sky started getting darker so we headed to the room to rest. We ALL napped, which is pretty unusual. It rained while we slept.
After a nap and a shower, we headed to MK about 5:30. We had a 7:30 PS at Crystal Palace so we had a little time for a few rides before dinner. We headed over to Buzz Lightyear and hopped on with no wait. We just love that ride! Got a great picture of DH & DS the boys and their toys! After that, we zipped over to the carousel, where again, there was no wait. Next we walked right on Haunted Mansion. So far we have been very lucky and have encountered little or no lines. After HM, we ran over to Thunder Mountain in hopes of getting one more ride in before dinner. The posted standby time was 45 minutes, but there was hardly any line. We decided to give it a try. DD wouldnt ride it .shes afraid of anything that goes faster than Small World!. Fortunately, the posted wait time was very wrong and we got in after only a 15 minute wait. Now it was about time for our dinner off to Crystal Palace.
The character dinner at CP was a blast! We ran into Piglet as we were shown to our table. He stopped and hugged the kids, promising to stop by our table later. I think he was running off for a potty break! Our server was wonderful and very accommodating! When she took our drink order, DS asked for a suicide, which is a mixture of every soda they have available. (He gets this from Little League). She happily filled his special request. Our first stop was to the kids buffet. The kids gave the mac & cheese and the chicken tenders very high marks! The adult selections were also highly rated by DH & I. I had salmon with a dill sauce that was wonderful. DH stuck with the prime rib but also found a garlic ravioli that was delicious. He went back for seconds and thirds! My only disappointment was that they did not have the sweet white onion soup. I had heard a lot about it and was looking forward to trying it.
As promised, Piglet found his way back to our table. He was pretty quiet and didnt ham it up too much. DD got her coveted autograph and the kids each posed for a picture. Our next visitor was Eyeore, who was slightly more animated than Piglet. Again, an autograph and picture, but not much else. The real excitement started when Tigger came around. Of course I jumped right up and gave him a hug. DS told him that DH was going to kick his butt because he kissed me earlier that day. Tigger then gave me a big hug and then went over to DH and knocked his hat off. DH got up to get his hat and Tigger put his fists up like he wanted to fight. The two of them proceeded to fight over me until our server came over and broke it up. It was really funny. As Tigger left, he blew me a kiss and made funny faces at DH! Pooh was our last visitor. He played around with the kids quite a bit. He then found Tigger and brought him back over and chastised him and DH and made the two of them kiss and make up! It was really very funny.
After dinner we tried to find a good spot for SpectroMagic. To our disappointment, they had a lot of areas roped off for the tour groups. It was very frustrating because it left very little areas along Main Street to watch the parade. DH got fed up and said lets just forget about it and go hit some rides. Thats when I put my foot down and threw a little tantrum. This was the one thing that I wanted to see and do and I was not going to miss it. We finally found a place to sit and see the parade and we were very glad we did. What an amazing parade. I took almost an entire roll of film of just the parade! DH thought SM was better than MSEP. I have to argue that point. I really did enjoy SM, but MSEP just brings back so many happy memories! After the parade, we had our first unpleasant encounter with one of the tour groups. We were sitting on the sidewalk, behind one of the roped off areas. When the parade was over, the tour leader stood up and started waving his little flag and began walking over those of us who were sitting on the sidewalk. His followers proceeded to do the same and just trampled those of us trying to stand up. Not once did we hear an excuse me or Im sorry. We finally were able to stand up and we tried to find a good viewing spot for the fireworks. Again, we found many special areas roped off. At this point, we were pretty fed up and decided to leave. We were able to see some of the fireworks from the monorail back to the parking lot. At least we got to our car and got out of the parking lot before the crowds.
Day 3: Friday (Epcot)
Even though this was an EE day for Epcot, we decided to sleep in this morning and not get there until 9:00. We had a PS at Cape May Café for Goofys Breakfast, but we were all still pretty stuffed from our late dinner at CP, we decided to cancel. We got to Epcot and went straight to Spaceship Earth. For some reason we always have to ride that first thing! We only waited about 5 minutes. Next we headed over to Test Track. The line didnt look that bad, so we decided to wait. In line, we tried to calm DDs nerves. She doesnt like fast rides. We convinced her that this ride was no different than driving with DH on the highway! She agreed to try it. The line moved pretty quickly and we got in the main queue (after the movie) only after about 10 minutes. We were next in line to get in the car and they shut the ride down technical difficulties. DD was pretty disappointed because she was ready to ride it. We got special passes that allowed us to come back at any time. They told us the ride would be shut down for about an hour. So we headed over to Journey Into Imagination. We went into Honey I Shrunk the Audience with no wait. DS was starting to have a little meltdown and I really thought we were going to have to walk out of the beginning movie. He made it through and then we went to the 3-d movie part. That was fun, except for the mice! DS really enjoyed it and it kicked him out of the funk he was beginning to enter. WHEW, major tantrum avoided! We then went to The Living Seas and then to The Human Body. DD & DH wanted to ride BodyWars. I remembered all too well how much my stomach did not like that ride, so DS & I stayed behind and played around on all the exhibits. DD & DH came off the ride looking a little green. Im glad I passed! We decided to give Test Track another try. Our passes allowed us to walk in through a special entrance at the gift shop and hop to the front of the line. DD was still a little nervous, but she got on, buckled up and prepared for the ride of her life! The ride only lasts a few minutes but it is really fun. The speed trials at the end are the best. There is a monitor at the end of the track that clocks your speed. Ours said 64.8 mph, but it felt much faster than that. The kids loved the ride and wanted to go on it again. By the time we got to the line, there was a 45 minute wait. We got a fast pass around noon, the return time was 8:30 PM! Word to the wise .get to TT early. The lines get long and the FPs run out by 1-2 PM. But it is definitely a ride not to be missed. We headed over to Innoventions and played games for awhile then headed back to the resort around 1:00. It rained on our way back to the resort. Same routine at the resort lunch, swim, rest, shower, back to parks around 5:00 PM.
It was raining a little when we headed back out. We parked at the Boardwalk so we could take the back entrance out of the park after the fireworks. We walked around the BW for a little bit. They were having Disney Adventure Summer Fun Night at the BW. They had carnival games, music and an extreme bike demonstration. The kids played a few games and then we headed over to the World Showcase just in time for the 6:15 ToN parade. The kids were absolutely mesmerized by the huge puppets. Several times the puppets came over to where we were standing. The kids got to shake hands and interact with many of the puppets. Mom cried again! After the parade, we walked around some of the countries. Mom & Dad needed a Margarita so we so we headed over to Mexico (sorry Janice, no DosEquis this time). We then hopped the boat over to Future World and decided to check out Test Track. We had a FP to return at 8:30. It was only about 7:45 and the line wasnt too bad so we decided to wait. The wait ended up being about 20 minutes, not too bad. We rode TT again and by the time we got out, it was about 8:20. We wanted to find a good spot for Illuminations, so we decided not to use our FP to ride TT again. The standby line was really long at this point, so we found a family of four at the end of the line and gave them our FPs. It was a good feeling to make someones day!
Waiting for Illuminations, we had another lovely encounter with our Brazilian friends. On previous Epcot trips, we have found that a good place to wait is right around the seated observation areas, especially if you dont want to camp out for an hour or so before the show to get that perfect spot. Since we were riding TT, we didnt have the luxury of getting a perfect spot. But we have found, that many people wait to get into the seated areas and once those areas open, we can get a great spot right on the rope behind the seated area. Well, there were several tour groups waiting for the special area to open. When the CM opened the area, they all barged in, practically knocking him over. The good thing is when they all got up, we got a great spot on the rope. The bad thing is, when they got up they left so much trash empty cups, gift shop bags, etc. It was disgusting. I felt like saying dont they have trash cans where you live?, but DH stopped me. Illuminations was amazing, as usual. This was the first time the kids have seen it, so DH & I got to see it through new eyes this time. The excitement in my daughters eyes as all of the countries lit up was priceless. Both of the kids exclaimed (almost in unison) that those were the best fireworks they had ever seen! Guess what .I cried! Afterwards, we walked out the back entrance to the BW. The kids thought we were geniuses because everyone else was walking the other way. They thought we had some kind of a secret exit or something! Back to the room for the night everyone was exhausted!
Day 4: Saturday (MK & Chip & Dale Campfire)
I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat. This is pretty much par for the course on our vacations. Someone always has to get sick. It usually isnt me though. I took a couple of Tylenol and sucked it up. I was not going to ruin this trip for anyone!
Today was EE day for MK so we got up early and arrived at MK around 8:30. Of course, that was too late for EE! Just as we got to the main gate to board the monorails, they roped off the area for the park opening! It was a little exciting, but also somewhat disheartening when you saw all of the people trampling over each other to get to the monorail. We just sat back and watched and waited for the crowds to thin. So much for early entry. When we finally arrived on Main Street, the magic just took over. This is definitely the most magical park for us. I could just see the excitement in the kids eyes. I could feel my pulse quicken, my smile widen. WE WERE HERE!!!! We headed right to the Tomorrowland Speedway. We hadnt done that ride for a while because the lines were always so long. We wanted to make sure we got it in this time. The wait was already about 15 minutes and it wasnt even 9:00AM! We finally got into our cars, DD & me in one, DS & DH in another. Off we go ..bam, bam, bam! DD is driving and cannot keep the car straight. She just keeps bouncing back and forth off the rails! I AM NOT teaching this girl to drive when she turns 16! Afterwards we headed over to Buzz Lightyear and walked right on. This time it was DD & DH in a car and DS & me in a car. DS was having more fun spinning us around than shooting aliens! Then DH & DS wanted to ride the space orbiter rockets. DD & I settled for something a little slower .Tomorrowland Transit Authority. While on the TTA, Space Mountain closed down. All of the lights were on and we could see the tracks. DD thought that was pretty cool. We met up with the boys after our rides and headed over to Fantasy Land. We rode everything - Carousel, Peter Pan, Poohs Adventures, Snow White, Dumbo & Small World all with no wait. In fact the posted wait time for Small World was 0 minutes. DD had to take a picture of that! After riding all of the Fantasy Land rides, we headed over to Frontier Land. After surviving Test Track, DD was ready to give Thunder Mountain a try. We waited in line for about 20 minutes .still no long lines! DD rode with DH, her security blanket. She had such a panicked look on her face, I had to take a picture! Finally the ride gets started and she loves it! She even had her hands up through most of the ride. She was so excited when she got off that she wanted to ride it again. So we got a FP and headed over to the rafts to Tom Sawyers Island. We played for a while on the island and then headed over to the rail station to ride the train around the park. We rode the full circle around the park, getting on and off at Adventureland. When the train stopped at the Main Street station we saw hoards of people coming through the gates. We knew our no wait experience was to end soon! After the train ride, it was time for our FP return to Thunder Mountain. We hopped right on. DD had her hands up the whole ride this time! Even her little brother was high-fiving her when it was over. We then headed over to Adventure Land for the old favorite Pirates of the Caribbean. Again, we practically walked right on. Next DD & I rode Aladdin. DH & DS had pretty much had it. The afternoon heat was starting to kick in and everyone was getting hungry, so after Aladdin, we headed back to the resort. On the way to the monorail, DD asked if we could see if we could sit up front. So we asked the CM and he told us to step aside and wait for the next train. As the next train arrived, he walked us right up to the front car. A few others followed us, but the CM made them get in the next car. We had the front all to ourselves. It was really cool riding up front. The view was amazing and you felt like you were just going to fall right off. We felt like royalty as we stepped out of the car and everyone was looking at us like we were celebrities.
It started to storm on our way back, so pool time was out. DH & I decided it was time for mommy & daddy to have a break so we gave the kids some arcade money and we sat outside at the pool bar! Besides, I was doing research for the Resort Board. CamColt had asked whether the All Star bars made mudslides and I told her I would find out when we were there! So, DH & I had a couple mudslides and were they good! Nice and refreshing after a hot day at the parks and got us in just the right frame of mind for the upcoming campfire sing along later that night! By the time the kids were done in the arcade, the storms had cleared and we were able to get in a little pool time. After a quick shower in the room, we headed over to Fort Wilderness for dinner and the campfire. We had dinner at the Trails End Buffet and it was absolutely wonderful. Good ol home cooking! BBQ Ribs, Fried Chicken, Corn Bread YUM, YUM! Everyone got their fill. After dinner, the rain really started picking up, but we hopped the bus over to the Trading Post to see if the campfire was still on. To our disappointment, it was cancelled. So we hopped back on the bus to our car. By this time, after walking in the rain for most of the night, I was really starting to feel crappy. So I let DH in on my little secret. I was feeling pretty warm at this point, so we headed straight back to the room and I went to bed. He took the kids to the pool for a little swim.
Day 5: Sunday (heading home)
Today we had planned to hit Blizzard Beach before we headed home but I was feeling pretty bad so we slept in. We woke up about 9:00 and started packing up to head home. The kids were really disappointed that they didnt get to go to BB so we promised them a quick trip in August, before school starts. (woohoo!!!) We still have a day left on our park hoppers so we figured wed go up on a Friday, go to the parks on Saturday and BB on Sunday. So, me getting sick was not a bad thing afterall! It actually worked out okay because as we were leaving, it started to storm.
All in all we had a wonderful time. Amazingly we did not encounter huge crowds and the lines were very short. We really only needed to use FP twice in three days at the parks. Fortunately, we live close by, so we can come frequently. Whatever rides we didnt hit this time, well catch on the next visit.
If anyone has any questions about the parks, the All Stars , Crystal Palace or Trails End Buffet, let me know.
Day 1: Wednesday (travel day)
We didnt get on the road as early as planned. DH couldnt get off work early so he didnt get home until about 6:30 and we didnt get on the road until about 7:30. Rain and an accident on I-4 delayed us even more. We arrived at the hotel around 9:30. Of course, after we got to our room and got settled in, we had to hit the arcade! We usually let the kids do that on our first night to get it out of their systems! I dont understand it here we are at the happiest place on earth and they want to play video games! ARRRGHHHH!! After some time in the arcade and ice cream at the food court, we headed to the room for the night at 11:00, then off to bed to rest up for our first day of parks!
Day 2: Thursday (AK & MK, including dinner at Crystal Palace)
This was our first visit to AK. Arrived at AK around 8:15 AM. We had vouchers for our play 4 day passes that had to be exchanged at the ticket windows. We were pleasantly surprised to find no lines! We walked right up to the window and received our 4 day park hoppers. Upon entering the main gates of AK, we were delighted to find characters galore! There was Goofy, Pluto, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Chip, Balou and the dragon from Mulan. DD got autographs and the kids posed for pictures with all of them. Next we headed into the park and encountered a few CMs holding terrariums. One had a scorpion and one had a tarantula .creepy! The kids enjoyed looking at these creatures and asked a lot of questions. The CMs were very knowledgeable. The first attraction we went to was Its Tough to Be a Bug. We walked right in! Great show with lots of fun surprises! Everyone really enjoyed it. After the show we headed over to Africa with the intention of getting a FP to the safari. The standby wait time was posted at 20 minutes so we decided to wait. Our actual wait time ended up being about 15 minutes. We got off to a slow start. Not too many animals could be spotted. We did eventually see a few giraffes, some elephants and a lion and lioness on a cliff. We also saw a mommy rhino and her baby .so close we could almost touch them! After the safari, we walked around the endangered animal preserve for a while. We saw two silver backed gorillas and just sat and watched them for about 15 minutes! They are just amazing creatures! About this time everyone was getting pretty hot and cranky. I had heard that the temperatures in this park get pretty hot and its true! We went to the rapids, again planning to get a FP, but we didnt need one there either. We only waited about 5 minutes ..good thing too. We all were pretty disappointed with that ride, it definitely would not have been worth a long wait. After that, the kids found the fountains in Asia and got soaked! Then we found some ice cream .the perfect treat for a hot day! Next we headed over to Dinoland. On the way, DH spotted one of the living vines standing by a trashcan. He gave our son his ice cream wrapper to throw away. When DS got close to the vine, it began to move. DS jumped and ran back over to where we were standing it was hilarious! On the way to Dinoland, we saw Tigger (my favorite!). DD & I waited in line for a picture & autograph, while DS & DH went to get our FP for Dinosaurs. The boys got back just as we were posing with Tigger. I told Tigger he was my favorite and he kissed my hand. DH said, watch it, thats my wife. Of course Tiggers response to that was to grab me and dip me and kiss me! DH told the kids that he was going to kick Tiggers butt the next time he saw him. It was really funny and set the stage for some pretty fun antics at Crystal Palace later that night! Now it was about 11:15 and we had an 11:50 FP time. We let the kids pass the time in the play area, while mom & dad grabbed a beer! Our FP time arrived and we headed over to Dinosaur. We walked right on! DS was a little hesitant to ride and kept his eyes closed the whole time. Boy, you sure do get bounced around a lot on that, but it was fun. Next we headed over to Camp MinnieMickey for some last minute character spotting. On the way we saw Chip & Dale and we learned how to tell them apart Chip has the black nose, like a chocolate chip. We had already gotten Chip that morning, so we waited for Dale. Dale was being a little dickens. DD had a Winnie the Pooh pen. Dale wouldnt give it back. He made DD chase him to get it back. At the camp we sat and watched a great sing-a-long show, the kids got up and did the chicken dance! We then stood in line for characters. We met Pluto, Donald and Eyeore and Tigger (again!). About this time, we were ready for our afternoon break! As we were walking out, the four of us were holding hands. I thought of Dans signature Lets Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand and I started crying. On the CB there was a thread that asked if you get emotional at WDW. Well, um, yeah! On the way out, we met King Louie from Jungle Book and Terk from Tarzan. More autographs & pictures and then back to the resort for a break. We had lunch at the food court and then jumped in the pool for a quick swim. About 2:30 the sky started getting darker so we headed to the room to rest. We ALL napped, which is pretty unusual. It rained while we slept.
After a nap and a shower, we headed to MK about 5:30. We had a 7:30 PS at Crystal Palace so we had a little time for a few rides before dinner. We headed over to Buzz Lightyear and hopped on with no wait. We just love that ride! Got a great picture of DH & DS the boys and their toys! After that, we zipped over to the carousel, where again, there was no wait. Next we walked right on Haunted Mansion. So far we have been very lucky and have encountered little or no lines. After HM, we ran over to Thunder Mountain in hopes of getting one more ride in before dinner. The posted standby time was 45 minutes, but there was hardly any line. We decided to give it a try. DD wouldnt ride it .shes afraid of anything that goes faster than Small World!. Fortunately, the posted wait time was very wrong and we got in after only a 15 minute wait. Now it was about time for our dinner off to Crystal Palace.
The character dinner at CP was a blast! We ran into Piglet as we were shown to our table. He stopped and hugged the kids, promising to stop by our table later. I think he was running off for a potty break! Our server was wonderful and very accommodating! When she took our drink order, DS asked for a suicide, which is a mixture of every soda they have available. (He gets this from Little League). She happily filled his special request. Our first stop was to the kids buffet. The kids gave the mac & cheese and the chicken tenders very high marks! The adult selections were also highly rated by DH & I. I had salmon with a dill sauce that was wonderful. DH stuck with the prime rib but also found a garlic ravioli that was delicious. He went back for seconds and thirds! My only disappointment was that they did not have the sweet white onion soup. I had heard a lot about it and was looking forward to trying it.
As promised, Piglet found his way back to our table. He was pretty quiet and didnt ham it up too much. DD got her coveted autograph and the kids each posed for a picture. Our next visitor was Eyeore, who was slightly more animated than Piglet. Again, an autograph and picture, but not much else. The real excitement started when Tigger came around. Of course I jumped right up and gave him a hug. DS told him that DH was going to kick his butt because he kissed me earlier that day. Tigger then gave me a big hug and then went over to DH and knocked his hat off. DH got up to get his hat and Tigger put his fists up like he wanted to fight. The two of them proceeded to fight over me until our server came over and broke it up. It was really funny. As Tigger left, he blew me a kiss and made funny faces at DH! Pooh was our last visitor. He played around with the kids quite a bit. He then found Tigger and brought him back over and chastised him and DH and made the two of them kiss and make up! It was really very funny.
After dinner we tried to find a good spot for SpectroMagic. To our disappointment, they had a lot of areas roped off for the tour groups. It was very frustrating because it left very little areas along Main Street to watch the parade. DH got fed up and said lets just forget about it and go hit some rides. Thats when I put my foot down and threw a little tantrum. This was the one thing that I wanted to see and do and I was not going to miss it. We finally found a place to sit and see the parade and we were very glad we did. What an amazing parade. I took almost an entire roll of film of just the parade! DH thought SM was better than MSEP. I have to argue that point. I really did enjoy SM, but MSEP just brings back so many happy memories! After the parade, we had our first unpleasant encounter with one of the tour groups. We were sitting on the sidewalk, behind one of the roped off areas. When the parade was over, the tour leader stood up and started waving his little flag and began walking over those of us who were sitting on the sidewalk. His followers proceeded to do the same and just trampled those of us trying to stand up. Not once did we hear an excuse me or Im sorry. We finally were able to stand up and we tried to find a good viewing spot for the fireworks. Again, we found many special areas roped off. At this point, we were pretty fed up and decided to leave. We were able to see some of the fireworks from the monorail back to the parking lot. At least we got to our car and got out of the parking lot before the crowds.
Day 3: Friday (Epcot)
Even though this was an EE day for Epcot, we decided to sleep in this morning and not get there until 9:00. We had a PS at Cape May Café for Goofys Breakfast, but we were all still pretty stuffed from our late dinner at CP, we decided to cancel. We got to Epcot and went straight to Spaceship Earth. For some reason we always have to ride that first thing! We only waited about 5 minutes. Next we headed over to Test Track. The line didnt look that bad, so we decided to wait. In line, we tried to calm DDs nerves. She doesnt like fast rides. We convinced her that this ride was no different than driving with DH on the highway! She agreed to try it. The line moved pretty quickly and we got in the main queue (after the movie) only after about 10 minutes. We were next in line to get in the car and they shut the ride down technical difficulties. DD was pretty disappointed because she was ready to ride it. We got special passes that allowed us to come back at any time. They told us the ride would be shut down for about an hour. So we headed over to Journey Into Imagination. We went into Honey I Shrunk the Audience with no wait. DS was starting to have a little meltdown and I really thought we were going to have to walk out of the beginning movie. He made it through and then we went to the 3-d movie part. That was fun, except for the mice! DS really enjoyed it and it kicked him out of the funk he was beginning to enter. WHEW, major tantrum avoided! We then went to The Living Seas and then to The Human Body. DD & DH wanted to ride BodyWars. I remembered all too well how much my stomach did not like that ride, so DS & I stayed behind and played around on all the exhibits. DD & DH came off the ride looking a little green. Im glad I passed! We decided to give Test Track another try. Our passes allowed us to walk in through a special entrance at the gift shop and hop to the front of the line. DD was still a little nervous, but she got on, buckled up and prepared for the ride of her life! The ride only lasts a few minutes but it is really fun. The speed trials at the end are the best. There is a monitor at the end of the track that clocks your speed. Ours said 64.8 mph, but it felt much faster than that. The kids loved the ride and wanted to go on it again. By the time we got to the line, there was a 45 minute wait. We got a fast pass around noon, the return time was 8:30 PM! Word to the wise .get to TT early. The lines get long and the FPs run out by 1-2 PM. But it is definitely a ride not to be missed. We headed over to Innoventions and played games for awhile then headed back to the resort around 1:00. It rained on our way back to the resort. Same routine at the resort lunch, swim, rest, shower, back to parks around 5:00 PM.
It was raining a little when we headed back out. We parked at the Boardwalk so we could take the back entrance out of the park after the fireworks. We walked around the BW for a little bit. They were having Disney Adventure Summer Fun Night at the BW. They had carnival games, music and an extreme bike demonstration. The kids played a few games and then we headed over to the World Showcase just in time for the 6:15 ToN parade. The kids were absolutely mesmerized by the huge puppets. Several times the puppets came over to where we were standing. The kids got to shake hands and interact with many of the puppets. Mom cried again! After the parade, we walked around some of the countries. Mom & Dad needed a Margarita so we so we headed over to Mexico (sorry Janice, no DosEquis this time). We then hopped the boat over to Future World and decided to check out Test Track. We had a FP to return at 8:30. It was only about 7:45 and the line wasnt too bad so we decided to wait. The wait ended up being about 20 minutes, not too bad. We rode TT again and by the time we got out, it was about 8:20. We wanted to find a good spot for Illuminations, so we decided not to use our FP to ride TT again. The standby line was really long at this point, so we found a family of four at the end of the line and gave them our FPs. It was a good feeling to make someones day!
Waiting for Illuminations, we had another lovely encounter with our Brazilian friends. On previous Epcot trips, we have found that a good place to wait is right around the seated observation areas, especially if you dont want to camp out for an hour or so before the show to get that perfect spot. Since we were riding TT, we didnt have the luxury of getting a perfect spot. But we have found, that many people wait to get into the seated areas and once those areas open, we can get a great spot right on the rope behind the seated area. Well, there were several tour groups waiting for the special area to open. When the CM opened the area, they all barged in, practically knocking him over. The good thing is when they all got up, we got a great spot on the rope. The bad thing is, when they got up they left so much trash empty cups, gift shop bags, etc. It was disgusting. I felt like saying dont they have trash cans where you live?, but DH stopped me. Illuminations was amazing, as usual. This was the first time the kids have seen it, so DH & I got to see it through new eyes this time. The excitement in my daughters eyes as all of the countries lit up was priceless. Both of the kids exclaimed (almost in unison) that those were the best fireworks they had ever seen! Guess what .I cried! Afterwards, we walked out the back entrance to the BW. The kids thought we were geniuses because everyone else was walking the other way. They thought we had some kind of a secret exit or something! Back to the room for the night everyone was exhausted!
Day 4: Saturday (MK & Chip & Dale Campfire)
I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat. This is pretty much par for the course on our vacations. Someone always has to get sick. It usually isnt me though. I took a couple of Tylenol and sucked it up. I was not going to ruin this trip for anyone!
Today was EE day for MK so we got up early and arrived at MK around 8:30. Of course, that was too late for EE! Just as we got to the main gate to board the monorails, they roped off the area for the park opening! It was a little exciting, but also somewhat disheartening when you saw all of the people trampling over each other to get to the monorail. We just sat back and watched and waited for the crowds to thin. So much for early entry. When we finally arrived on Main Street, the magic just took over. This is definitely the most magical park for us. I could just see the excitement in the kids eyes. I could feel my pulse quicken, my smile widen. WE WERE HERE!!!! We headed right to the Tomorrowland Speedway. We hadnt done that ride for a while because the lines were always so long. We wanted to make sure we got it in this time. The wait was already about 15 minutes and it wasnt even 9:00AM! We finally got into our cars, DD & me in one, DS & DH in another. Off we go ..bam, bam, bam! DD is driving and cannot keep the car straight. She just keeps bouncing back and forth off the rails! I AM NOT teaching this girl to drive when she turns 16! Afterwards we headed over to Buzz Lightyear and walked right on. This time it was DD & DH in a car and DS & me in a car. DS was having more fun spinning us around than shooting aliens! Then DH & DS wanted to ride the space orbiter rockets. DD & I settled for something a little slower .Tomorrowland Transit Authority. While on the TTA, Space Mountain closed down. All of the lights were on and we could see the tracks. DD thought that was pretty cool. We met up with the boys after our rides and headed over to Fantasy Land. We rode everything - Carousel, Peter Pan, Poohs Adventures, Snow White, Dumbo & Small World all with no wait. In fact the posted wait time for Small World was 0 minutes. DD had to take a picture of that! After riding all of the Fantasy Land rides, we headed over to Frontier Land. After surviving Test Track, DD was ready to give Thunder Mountain a try. We waited in line for about 20 minutes .still no long lines! DD rode with DH, her security blanket. She had such a panicked look on her face, I had to take a picture! Finally the ride gets started and she loves it! She even had her hands up through most of the ride. She was so excited when she got off that she wanted to ride it again. So we got a FP and headed over to the rafts to Tom Sawyers Island. We played for a while on the island and then headed over to the rail station to ride the train around the park. We rode the full circle around the park, getting on and off at Adventureland. When the train stopped at the Main Street station we saw hoards of people coming through the gates. We knew our no wait experience was to end soon! After the train ride, it was time for our FP return to Thunder Mountain. We hopped right on. DD had her hands up the whole ride this time! Even her little brother was high-fiving her when it was over. We then headed over to Adventure Land for the old favorite Pirates of the Caribbean. Again, we practically walked right on. Next DD & I rode Aladdin. DH & DS had pretty much had it. The afternoon heat was starting to kick in and everyone was getting hungry, so after Aladdin, we headed back to the resort. On the way to the monorail, DD asked if we could see if we could sit up front. So we asked the CM and he told us to step aside and wait for the next train. As the next train arrived, he walked us right up to the front car. A few others followed us, but the CM made them get in the next car. We had the front all to ourselves. It was really cool riding up front. The view was amazing and you felt like you were just going to fall right off. We felt like royalty as we stepped out of the car and everyone was looking at us like we were celebrities.
It started to storm on our way back, so pool time was out. DH & I decided it was time for mommy & daddy to have a break so we gave the kids some arcade money and we sat outside at the pool bar! Besides, I was doing research for the Resort Board. CamColt had asked whether the All Star bars made mudslides and I told her I would find out when we were there! So, DH & I had a couple mudslides and were they good! Nice and refreshing after a hot day at the parks and got us in just the right frame of mind for the upcoming campfire sing along later that night! By the time the kids were done in the arcade, the storms had cleared and we were able to get in a little pool time. After a quick shower in the room, we headed over to Fort Wilderness for dinner and the campfire. We had dinner at the Trails End Buffet and it was absolutely wonderful. Good ol home cooking! BBQ Ribs, Fried Chicken, Corn Bread YUM, YUM! Everyone got their fill. After dinner, the rain really started picking up, but we hopped the bus over to the Trading Post to see if the campfire was still on. To our disappointment, it was cancelled. So we hopped back on the bus to our car. By this time, after walking in the rain for most of the night, I was really starting to feel crappy. So I let DH in on my little secret. I was feeling pretty warm at this point, so we headed straight back to the room and I went to bed. He took the kids to the pool for a little swim.
Day 5: Sunday (heading home)
Today we had planned to hit Blizzard Beach before we headed home but I was feeling pretty bad so we slept in. We woke up about 9:00 and started packing up to head home. The kids were really disappointed that they didnt get to go to BB so we promised them a quick trip in August, before school starts. (woohoo!!!) We still have a day left on our park hoppers so we figured wed go up on a Friday, go to the parks on Saturday and BB on Sunday. So, me getting sick was not a bad thing afterall! It actually worked out okay because as we were leaving, it started to storm.
All in all we had a wonderful time. Amazingly we did not encounter huge crowds and the lines were very short. We really only needed to use FP twice in three days at the parks. Fortunately, we live close by, so we can come frequently. Whatever rides we didnt hit this time, well catch on the next visit.
If anyone has any questions about the parks, the All Stars , Crystal Palace or Trails End Buffet, let me know.
Awww maaaan.... and you get to go back again next month. I'm so jealous!! 
ANyway, it sounds like you guys had a great time, I enjoyed reading your trip report.
