celeste_rose
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2004
- Messages
- 3
Breif intro: 3 travelers from the Arizona Desert - Myself (34), DH(35) and DS(10). First Disney Cruise, but second visit to WDW. Last time DS was 5. Pulled DS out of school 3 days early in order to beat summer rush. Definately worth it. This is the first of several parts of the trip report. I enjoyed reading the trip reports and the boards before my trip as a lurker and thought I should repay the information with my own trip report. Hope this somehow helps.
May 17th Travel Day: Long day, but we arrived only 15 minutes delayed to Happy Limo waiting with a sign for us. We went to baggage claim and were amazed when all of our luggage showed up. The drive to WDW was quite pleasant and we checked into the Pop Century hotel without any problems at all. The rooms are small, but the beds and pillows are comfortable and it worked out perfectly for the three of us: Myself (34), DH (35), and DS (10). We left all our bags and hopped on a bus over to Downtown Disney and went to Disney Quest. We got there around 6:30 and stayed until closing at 11. It was a lot of fun. Im not a video game person, but these are much more interactive and more like rides than normal video games. They have normal video games, but we didnt even touch those. Then it was back to the hotel for a quick bite to eat and off to bed.
May 18th EPCOT and MGM: Disney was testing out a new Extra Magic Hour plan while we were there so while EPCOT closed at 9, MGM was open until midnight for WDW resort guests. We went over to EPCOT in the morning (got there around 11 as we couldnt get our son up and moving any faster than that). Rode Test Track and SPACE right away without having to use fastpass. We only waited about 10 minutes for each very nice. The garden show was going on so there were lots of topiary and plants with labels around, but it didnt seem to affect the crowds at all. We did everything but Innoventions and a couple of Movies (like Canada and China). Innoventions we skipped because we knew our son would spend the whole day inside playing video games instead of wandering the park, and we skipped the movies because we wanted time to see everything else. We had a lovely lunch at the Coral Reef right up against the window and DS(10) was thrilled. After lunch we walked through the World section and watched several fun acts and then rode the boat over to MGM around 7:30 for the Extra Magic Hours. We got to MGM and just decided to wander back to the backlot tour and got on right before they stopped taking people at 8. We then went over and watched Fantasmic, had a bite to eat and rode the Rock and Roller Coaster. DS decided that Tower of Terror wasnt a good thing to do at night so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.
May 19th Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom: Again DS(10) was nearly impossible to get up in the morning, so we made it to AK around 10:30. We did the safari ride, had some lunch (wed skipped breakfast), and then went over to Discovery Island. They have a petting zoo there and lots of people to ask questions about the animals. DS loved it over there and spent lots of time talking with the caregivers about reptiles and insects. We made the mistake of saving Kali River Rapids (you WILL get soaked) until about 3PM which wouldnt have been so bad if a small storm wasnt moving in. We got quite wet on the ride and then stayed that way due to rain. It rained pretty hard from about 4 until 6 and then let up. We took a bus over to MK around 4:30 and because of the rain it was really thinning out there. We went over and rode Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear with only as long of a wait as it takes to walk through the building twice each. By then the rain was letting up some and we decided to head over and see if Thunder Mountain was open yet (closed due to rain earlier). We rode Big Thunder (again no wait) and then went over and rode Pirates of the Caribbean. By now we were kind of hungry and decided to try our luck over at the crystal palace. We got there about 8:45 and they said that theyd be opening up for walkins shortly. As soon as they were taking them (about 2 minutes later), the hostess walked over to where we were sitting (busy watching the colors change on the castle), took our name and gave us a buzzer. It went off about 2 minutes later and off we were. We were sitting near the windows and when Wishes (the fireworks) started our waiter told us we could go stand out on the patio and watch. We did and had a perfect view of the fireworks. Then we came back in and ate dinner. It was truly magical. After dinner we didnt want to hit rides on a full stomach so we were off to see the new Philharmagic. We loved it best 3D Ive ever experienced! We figured that the extra magic hours would be our best opportunity to go see all the stuff in Fantasyland that is normally such a long wait during the daytime. It was perfect, our longest wait for anything that night was about 5 minutes. We didnt need fastpasses for anything that night. We finished up Fantasyland and then went back to the hotel.
May 20th Back to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom: I spent the morning doing laundry ($2 for each, but wash done in 30 minutes and completely dry in 45 minutes), while DH(35) and DS(10) went back over to Epcot to go to Innoventions. I met up with them there at 1, we had a quick lunch and then rode the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. Having gotten all of Fantasyland out of the way the night before we were pretty free to hit any rides we wanted. The only thing I missed that I wanted to see was the Tiki Room (I know Im sick, but I looooove that place I spent much of my teenage years at Disneyland resting my feet in there) as our DS said hed already seen it and had noooooo interest in going at all. Sigh my only disappointment. We rode Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear many, many, many times. I petered out around 8 and headed back to the hotel. DH and DS rode Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain a couple more times and then met me at the hotel for dinner. No extra magic hours tonight (it was Animal Kingdom from 5 to 8), so we were in bed before midnight (definitely a bonus for DS).
May 21st Back to MGM for Star Wars Weekend: DS(10) adores Star Wars and I brought his Star Wars shirt (Luke and Darth Vader fighting) for him to wear. We didnt tell him about the Star Wars Weekend at all and he was clueless enough (fortunately for us) to not notice the signs when wed come on Tuesday night. We went right over to Tower of Terror and got a Fastpass for that and then went and rode the roller coaster again. Worked out timing wise perfectly for us. DS promised hed laugh during the ride and he did strained laughter, but it counts. After that we went to the Star Tours area and they were doing a Jedi Training program. DS was mesmerized and we stood and watched it until DH convinced him it was time to go on Star Tours. When we came out they were doing a Star Wars trivia, but Id seen a sign stating that the next Jedi Training was in about 5 minutes so I found us a spot up front to watch the trivia. DS was again enthralled. When it was over, DH wanted to leave and go do something else, but I told him to just wait and watch. Having DS wear the t-shirt was perfect and standing up front he was chosen to go through the training. DS has ADHD and is very impulsive even on Strattera (great medication, by the way, has completely changed our sons life), and yet he stood very quiet with his hand raised before being chosen and quietly followed every direction given to him. When he completed the training he got a certificate (which he looked at about 2 dozen times during the rest of the day) and a Star Wars figure (he got Jengo Fett). He was so happy. He spent most of the rest of the day talking about it and wouldnt let us carry his toy for him. We watched the parade (mostly Disney characters, but one car with Luke and Leah and R2D2 rolling past) and then went over to the Sci-Fi Diner for dinner. Its the only reservation I made for dinner, but I knew for sure wed be at MGM on Friday. It was a blast, the food was good and our son was thrilled with the B movie trailers, but he sure let us know when they started repeating. Good thing we were already done with dinner and had just been relaxing at that point. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of crowds even on a Star Wars day and we enjoyed the day immensely. Our last thing of the day was the animators tour and we got to draw Mickey and bring our drawings home with us. Overall it was a wonderful 4 days at the parks only 1 brief bit of rain and no long lines. Now its off to the cruise.
May 17th Travel Day: Long day, but we arrived only 15 minutes delayed to Happy Limo waiting with a sign for us. We went to baggage claim and were amazed when all of our luggage showed up. The drive to WDW was quite pleasant and we checked into the Pop Century hotel without any problems at all. The rooms are small, but the beds and pillows are comfortable and it worked out perfectly for the three of us: Myself (34), DH (35), and DS (10). We left all our bags and hopped on a bus over to Downtown Disney and went to Disney Quest. We got there around 6:30 and stayed until closing at 11. It was a lot of fun. Im not a video game person, but these are much more interactive and more like rides than normal video games. They have normal video games, but we didnt even touch those. Then it was back to the hotel for a quick bite to eat and off to bed.
May 18th EPCOT and MGM: Disney was testing out a new Extra Magic Hour plan while we were there so while EPCOT closed at 9, MGM was open until midnight for WDW resort guests. We went over to EPCOT in the morning (got there around 11 as we couldnt get our son up and moving any faster than that). Rode Test Track and SPACE right away without having to use fastpass. We only waited about 10 minutes for each very nice. The garden show was going on so there were lots of topiary and plants with labels around, but it didnt seem to affect the crowds at all. We did everything but Innoventions and a couple of Movies (like Canada and China). Innoventions we skipped because we knew our son would spend the whole day inside playing video games instead of wandering the park, and we skipped the movies because we wanted time to see everything else. We had a lovely lunch at the Coral Reef right up against the window and DS(10) was thrilled. After lunch we walked through the World section and watched several fun acts and then rode the boat over to MGM around 7:30 for the Extra Magic Hours. We got to MGM and just decided to wander back to the backlot tour and got on right before they stopped taking people at 8. We then went over and watched Fantasmic, had a bite to eat and rode the Rock and Roller Coaster. DS decided that Tower of Terror wasnt a good thing to do at night so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.
May 19th Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom: Again DS(10) was nearly impossible to get up in the morning, so we made it to AK around 10:30. We did the safari ride, had some lunch (wed skipped breakfast), and then went over to Discovery Island. They have a petting zoo there and lots of people to ask questions about the animals. DS loved it over there and spent lots of time talking with the caregivers about reptiles and insects. We made the mistake of saving Kali River Rapids (you WILL get soaked) until about 3PM which wouldnt have been so bad if a small storm wasnt moving in. We got quite wet on the ride and then stayed that way due to rain. It rained pretty hard from about 4 until 6 and then let up. We took a bus over to MK around 4:30 and because of the rain it was really thinning out there. We went over and rode Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear with only as long of a wait as it takes to walk through the building twice each. By then the rain was letting up some and we decided to head over and see if Thunder Mountain was open yet (closed due to rain earlier). We rode Big Thunder (again no wait) and then went over and rode Pirates of the Caribbean. By now we were kind of hungry and decided to try our luck over at the crystal palace. We got there about 8:45 and they said that theyd be opening up for walkins shortly. As soon as they were taking them (about 2 minutes later), the hostess walked over to where we were sitting (busy watching the colors change on the castle), took our name and gave us a buzzer. It went off about 2 minutes later and off we were. We were sitting near the windows and when Wishes (the fireworks) started our waiter told us we could go stand out on the patio and watch. We did and had a perfect view of the fireworks. Then we came back in and ate dinner. It was truly magical. After dinner we didnt want to hit rides on a full stomach so we were off to see the new Philharmagic. We loved it best 3D Ive ever experienced! We figured that the extra magic hours would be our best opportunity to go see all the stuff in Fantasyland that is normally such a long wait during the daytime. It was perfect, our longest wait for anything that night was about 5 minutes. We didnt need fastpasses for anything that night. We finished up Fantasyland and then went back to the hotel.
May 20th Back to Epcot and the Magic Kingdom: I spent the morning doing laundry ($2 for each, but wash done in 30 minutes and completely dry in 45 minutes), while DH(35) and DS(10) went back over to Epcot to go to Innoventions. I met up with them there at 1, we had a quick lunch and then rode the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. Having gotten all of Fantasyland out of the way the night before we were pretty free to hit any rides we wanted. The only thing I missed that I wanted to see was the Tiki Room (I know Im sick, but I looooove that place I spent much of my teenage years at Disneyland resting my feet in there) as our DS said hed already seen it and had noooooo interest in going at all. Sigh my only disappointment. We rode Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and Buzz Lightyear many, many, many times. I petered out around 8 and headed back to the hotel. DH and DS rode Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain a couple more times and then met me at the hotel for dinner. No extra magic hours tonight (it was Animal Kingdom from 5 to 8), so we were in bed before midnight (definitely a bonus for DS).
May 21st Back to MGM for Star Wars Weekend: DS(10) adores Star Wars and I brought his Star Wars shirt (Luke and Darth Vader fighting) for him to wear. We didnt tell him about the Star Wars Weekend at all and he was clueless enough (fortunately for us) to not notice the signs when wed come on Tuesday night. We went right over to Tower of Terror and got a Fastpass for that and then went and rode the roller coaster again. Worked out timing wise perfectly for us. DS promised hed laugh during the ride and he did strained laughter, but it counts. After that we went to the Star Tours area and they were doing a Jedi Training program. DS was mesmerized and we stood and watched it until DH convinced him it was time to go on Star Tours. When we came out they were doing a Star Wars trivia, but Id seen a sign stating that the next Jedi Training was in about 5 minutes so I found us a spot up front to watch the trivia. DS was again enthralled. When it was over, DH wanted to leave and go do something else, but I told him to just wait and watch. Having DS wear the t-shirt was perfect and standing up front he was chosen to go through the training. DS has ADHD and is very impulsive even on Strattera (great medication, by the way, has completely changed our sons life), and yet he stood very quiet with his hand raised before being chosen and quietly followed every direction given to him. When he completed the training he got a certificate (which he looked at about 2 dozen times during the rest of the day) and a Star Wars figure (he got Jengo Fett). He was so happy. He spent most of the rest of the day talking about it and wouldnt let us carry his toy for him. We watched the parade (mostly Disney characters, but one car with Luke and Leah and R2D2 rolling past) and then went over to the Sci-Fi Diner for dinner. Its the only reservation I made for dinner, but I knew for sure wed be at MGM on Friday. It was a blast, the food was good and our son was thrilled with the B movie trailers, but he sure let us know when they started repeating. Good thing we were already done with dinner and had just been relaxing at that point. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of crowds even on a Star Wars day and we enjoyed the day immensely. Our last thing of the day was the animators tour and we got to draw Mickey and bring our drawings home with us. Overall it was a wonderful 4 days at the parks only 1 brief bit of rain and no long lines. Now its off to the cruise.
