Magic in the Kingdom 2012! BIG 2/16/2014 FINAL UPDATE!

[mom2rtk]

OMG all those buses!

You finally got there though. I can't wait to here about the AoA we are thinking about staying there next trip but were not sure wether or not to pull the trigger.
Can't wait for the next update. =)

Yeah. Definitely at all those buses. I do everything I can to avoid them!

I loved AoA and am really glad we stayed there. Just don't know that we'll ever do it again.

Janet - I can't wait to read your trip report! We arrived the day before you and stayed in a Lion King suite. I've lurked on your other trip reports so I'm sure I would have recognized Katie in those beautiful dresses if we had seen you in the parks.

Hi Sarah! I think I've seen you over on the photography forum and maybe the Disboutiquer thread? What ADORABLE girls you have! I'd be in BIG trouble with 3 of them to dress!

Since you were there at the same time, I'd love to hear you chime in as we go along about how you were enjoying the same things. I walked through that Lion King section SO many times over the course of our 10 days. I bet you got some awesome shots around the resort!

Love your pics from the Earport! Also enjoyed seeing the holiday decorations at AoA - that is such a gorgeous lobby any time of year.

Thanks! We have stopped for photos at the Earport on every trip so far. My husband didn't quite understand my desire to stop for photos when it was so late already, but no way was I skipping it this time! And yes, I did love that lobby. Especially all those white decorations!

Yay! You've arrived in Disney! Art of Animation looks beautiful! I can't wait to see more photos of the resort. I'm trying to convince Franklin that we should drive over there one day on our upcoming trip to take a look around.

Can't wait to see what you do on your first day!

Hey Missy! I would definitely find the time to get there and look around. It's really amazing. My lack of interest in staying there again is in no way a reflection on the beauty of the resort. It would be my new home base at Disney if I could just get a standard room closer to Animation Hall.

And YEAH! one you being so close to your own trip! Are you hoping you get offered the chance at FP+? I'd love for you to be able to report back with some first-hand feedback!

The parks were crazy busy this past weekend (I hear) but I bet you'll hit that nice lull right after the storm. Hope you have a GREAT time!

I showed Kadence your pictures tonight, and she noticed that Katie and her have the same shoes ( the flats she's wearing ion the photos) She is totally thinking she is so awesome because of that, and because she has pictures in the same places in the airport.

I like the new, no glasses look on Katie. Kadence hates her glasses, so I think once she's capable of taking care of contacts in middle school, we'll look into it.

LOL, those shoes were PERFECT for Disney! They looked great with princess gowns and shorts alike!

I was really not sold on the whole contact lens thing for an 6th grader. And for some kids it would be a wrong move. But for a detail oriented kid who can handle some responsibility, it's really not a problem. I just didn't want to have to be reminding her to not fall asleep in them, and to change them on time and all of that. But she's WAY ahead of me in that game. Heck if I had contacts, she'd probably be waking ME up to tell me to take them out at night. And from what I've seen of Kadence, I bet she's the same way.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Wow that is a huge line of buses!! I can imagine it'd take forever to get out of there. And I agree that your daughters travel outfit is adorable!

 

[mom2rtk]

Friday December 7, 2012

Like always, I was up early. I peeked out the window. It was still dark, but I could see it was foggy. I still needed to pick up our package tickets early, so I headed for the concierge desk. It was great to get another look at the resort, but the walk still seemed just as long after a full night of sleep. I really didn't anticipate a problem since I had picked up last year's tickets early at the Pop Century with no problem at all. So it caught me off-guard when the CM told me she couldn't do it. Caught me even more by surprise when the manager came over and told me she couldn't do it. So I swallowed hard and headed back to the room. That really didn't leave me in the mood to take resort pictures on the way.

Drew and Katie were up soon after and we headed back to Animation Hall for a bite to eat and out to the bus stop. I have to admit, I was sweating bullets wondering what on earth I would do if I couldn't get our tickets at Magic Kingdom Guest Relations. I didn't have a back-up plan. I was reassured by countless other posts on the DIS, and I was armed with a printout of Cheshire Figment's instructions on how to do early ticket pick-up, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little nervous.


IMG_6868 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

So we arrived at the MK and up to the window I went and asked........ and breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when the CM said "sure, no problem". WHEW! Then I waited. And waited. And waited. And started to worry some more. We ended up being at that window a full 30 minutes (no exaggeration) before we were done. It turns out he had mistakenly printed the tickets at AoA (you know, where I had already tried to pick them up......) and was trying to figure out what to do. He ended up giving us comp tickets for the day and told us to pick up the real tickets when we got back. He was also kind enough to give us an "any attraction" fastpass to compensate for the extended time in line. We finally entered the park at 9:45. After a quick stop at Expo Hall to redeem the Photopass Plus voucher, we were on way up Main Street.


IMG_6869 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

And can you believe that on our first morning at the MK, I don't have a single picture on Main Street on our way in? That was just a little more stress than I wanted on our way in,but it sure felt good to have that piece of it behind us.

I wanted to head for Space Mountain first, since that ride backs up faster than any other. But Katie had her heart set on Big Thunder Mountain. So we veered left for Adventureland. We intended to grab Jungle Cruise fastpasses on our way by, but decided to just go ahead and ride when we saw that it was basically a walk-on. It is the quintessential Disney ride, so a great way to start a trip.


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From there we headed on over to Big Thunder Mountain, where once again there was nearly no wait. By the time we walked through the queue, we were very near the loading dock. Same thing with Splash next. Kim had called and I was looking for a moment to call her back, but honestly, we just kept walking onto rides so there was no time to call her back.


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On our way through Frontierland, we spied the only characters Drew really cares anything about..... Chip and Dale. And we stopped in our first real line of the day. Even that wasn't a very long line, only 10 minutes or so.


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Around 11, we headed for Haunted Mansion, followed by Small World at 11:30.



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[mom2rtk]

Wow that is a huge line of buses!! I can imagine it'd take forever to get out of there. And I agree that your daughters travel outfit is adorable!

Thanks! I miss the days when she'd wear skirt sets heading to and from Disney, but she's doing a good job updating her look each trip.

And yes, that bus line is a nightmare! No way was I going to fight that getting out of there!

 

[nannye]

No time to comment properly but love the update!

 

[jenseib]

I had a long wait to get our tickets early. We went to the International gateway and I guess they are changing over to a new system and and that computer was not hooked to it. Eventually we got them, but we stood there for a long time. I was patient, but I felt bad for the people behind us.
I would've been pretty frustrated that AoA had already printed them after they told you no. Why the heck would they do such a stupid thing.

How awesome to be doing so many walk on rides. Jungle cruise looks nice. We usually ride it in the dark. I can't remember if we did a daytime one this past trip or not. I guess once I look through my pictures, I'll find out.
Chip and Dale are always so much fun.

We never made it over to ride Haunted Mansion this trip. Claire tries to avoid it like the plague.

 

[shan23877]

As usual your photos are startlingly good. And as I sit in Illinois where it's currently 5 degrees without the windchill, Orlando looks like heaven right now.

Despite the ticket snafu it seems like you were off to a great start on the morning! I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on PP+ as well. I'm on the fence about upgrading to it for the next trip. You have to exchange the voucher at a park correct? It can't be done at the resort?

 

[Sydnerella]

Friday December 7, 2012

Like always, I was up early. I peeked out the window. It was still dark, but I could see it was foggy. I still needed to pick up our package tickets early, so I headed for the concierge desk. It was great to get another look at the resort, but the walk still seemed just as long after a full night of sleep. I really didn't anticipate a problem since I had picked up last year's tickets early at the Pop Century with no problem at all. So it caught me off-guard when the CM told me she couldn't do it. Caught me even more by surprise when the manager came over and told me she couldn't do it. So I swallowed hard and headed back to the room. That really didn't leave me in the mood to take resort pictures on the way.

LOVE the HM pics - very cool. Nice that 45minutes after open you were able to walk onto so many rides. Sounds like the perfect time to go to WDW with the 3 FP+ limit/day.... at least you will get on some rides w/out long standby waits grrrrr topic for another thread....

Anyway - I am not understanding what "package tickets" are (park and party tickets?)and why you did not get your park tickets at check-in the night before? Sorry, I may have missed something!

Sydnerella's Mama

 

[mom2rtk]

No time to comment properly but love the update!

Thanks! And congrats on the new trip!

I had a long wait to get our tickets early. We went to the International gateway and I guess they are changing over to a new system and and that computer was not hooked to it. Eventually we got them, but we stood there for a long time. I was patient, but I felt bad for the people behind us.
I would've been pretty frustrated that AoA had already printed them after they told you no. Why the heck would they do such a stupid thing.

How awesome to be doing so many walk on rides. Jungle cruise looks nice. We usually ride it in the dark. I can't remember if we did a daytime one this past trip or not. I guess once I look through my pictures, I'll find out.
Chip and Dale are always so much fun.

We never made it over to ride Haunted Mansion this trip. Claire tries to avoid it like the plague.

AoA did't actually initiate the printing of the tickets. I think the CM at the MK printed them, but did so remotely at AoA. Still a big PITA though. And the cranky CM manager who turned me down that morning was still there that night when we stopped by to pick them up. I made sure I told the desk CM really loudly how disappointed we were to have to waste so much time on it when they could have just handled it there that morning. Funny thing though, she never came over to say anything.

We all really love HM. But I'm having trouble breaking new ground with my photography in there. I think I need a better camera! Cuz it can't be me? LOL! I WANT some new shots!

As usual your photos are startlingly good. And as I sit in Illinois where it's currently 5 degrees without the windchill, Orlando looks like heaven right now.

Despite the ticket snafu it seems like you were off to a great start on the morning! I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on PP+ as well. I'm on the fence about upgrading to it for the next trip. You have to exchange the voucher at a park correct? It can't be done at the resort?

That day in the MK actually turned out exactly as I had hoped. With the FL Grand Opening the day before all the action was over there. Since Drew didn't care at all about that, I had hoped it would translate into the rest of the park being empty. And it really was!

PP+ for us went without a hitch. I got lucky and there was nobody in line at the photo center. We were literally in and out of there in 30 seconds. A few resorts have a photo center where I think you can exchange the voucher, but not all of them. GF does, and a few others deluxes. Maybe a spot on DTD? I'm not certain on that.

Thanks for the kind comments on the photos!

 

[Sydnerella]

As usual your photos are startlingly good. And as I sit in Illinois where it's currently 5 degrees without the windchill, Orlando looks like heaven right now.

I agree that is is wonderful to see this pics, it is -4 in Minneapolis, with -15 windchill.... blech!

 

[mom2rtk]

LOVE the HM pics - very cool. Nice that 45minutes after open you were able to walk onto so many rides. Sounds like the perfect time to go to WDW with the 3 FP+ limit/day.... at least you will get on some rides w/out long standby waits grrrrr topic for another thread....

Anyway - I am not understanding what "package tickets" are (park and party tickets?)and why you did not get your park tickets at check-in the night before? Sorry, I may have missed something!

Sydnerella's Mama

It really was a grand day to be in the MK! It was a party night, and I love this time of year because it slows the park traffic on party days.

LOL on this being the perfect day under the upcoming FP changes. I thought the same thing. I was thrilled to get that "any attraction" FP since this was our first post enforcement park day, but in the end we really did have trouble finding a spot to use it!

Sorry to confuse things on the tickets. We were doing a split stay to get free dining. Our first 3 nights were a room only reservation because those were blackout days for FD. We were staying in the same resort but checking back in under a package Monday the 10th. The tickets were part of that package. So we needed our 12/10 tickets on 12/7. Which Disney has always been willing to do, but lately phone CMs have been telling people they can't do it. We did it with no problem last year at POP. If it hadn't worked out I would have been in big trouble since we had park days planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

 

[mom2rtk]

And as I sit in Illinois where it's currently 5 degrees without the windchill, Orlando looks like heaven right now.

I agree that is is wonderful to see this pics, it is -4 in Minneapolis, with -15 windchill.... blech!

YIKES! And I thought it was cold here in KC at around 20 degrees! I can't believe I actually complained about how hot it was most afternoons on that trip. I want another shot at it..... I promise I won't complain about the 80 degree temps!

 

[Glennie5]

I cannot believe how grown up Katie looks. Looks like you had a bit of a scare with your tickets, early pick up always makes me nervous me too. Julia is waiting very patiently for your MVMCP pictures. She developed a little crush on Snow White's Prince last year and is hoping to see him again in your pictures.

 

[mom2rtk]

I cannot believe how grown up Katie looks. Looks like you had a bit of a scare with your tickets, early pick up always makes me nervous me too. Julia is waiting very patiently for your MVMCP pictures. She developed a little crush on Snow White's Prince last year and is hoping to see him again in your pictures.

Hopefully it won't be too long getting to MVMCP. We went on Sunday the 9th and Thursday the 13th. And we did get throug the princess room both nights, so she'll have 2 sets of photos to check!

And I did figure out later that the ticket snafu also gained us around $20. I had bought us all 5 day tickets since that's all Drew needed. I needed to add 5 more days for Katie and myself. But becuse the first day was never run through a ticket turnstile, I only had to add four!

For those of you keeping up with the FP+ thread........ don't rat me out on that over there. I can think of a couple posters over there who would find me taking advantage of that to be just shy of committing armed robbery!

 

[KCmike]

Scary start with the tickets for sure. This summer will be our first "fastpass enforcement" with Disney as Disneyland didn't have it this past summer. I love to load up the fast passes and use them at night after taking a break from the parks. Oh well what can you do? With all the new technology coming our way into the parks I have a feeling that some of the spontaneity will be gone. Who wants a rigid schedule to follow when on vacation?

What dining did you end up getting? Loving the photos too. Your family is very darling. Katie in flip flops in the winter at MK is funny to see.

Alright off to start looking at Universal Studios and how much that will cost for me to get in. We haven't been there since the 90's.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

PP+ for us went without a hitch. I got lucky and there was nobody in line at the photo center. We were literally in and out of there in 30 seconds. A few resorts have a photo center where I think you can exchange the voucher, but not all of them. GF does, and a few others deluxes. Maybe a spot on DTD? I'm not certain on that.

Thanks for the kind comments on the photos!

I just wanted to put my 2 cents in lol! There is a PP+ spot in DTD. If you go inside Team Mickey, you can find it. There was a separate entrance to it too but I think the Team Mickey entrance is easier to find! I absolutely loved having PP+ on our trip!


I can't believe the hassle you had with getting your tickets! How ridiculous. I'm glad it worked out in the end though.

Love the Jungle Cruise pictures! I don't think I took any Wow sounds like you guys had great luck with lines!!

 

[mom2rtk]

Scary start with the tickets for sure. This summer will be our first "fastpass enforcement" with Disney as Disneyland didn't have it this past summer. I love to load up the fast passes and use them at night after taking a break from the parks. Oh well what can you do? With all the new technology coming our way into the parks I have a feeling that some of the spontaneity will be gone. Who wants a rigid schedule to follow when on vacation?

What dining did you end up getting? Loving the photos too. Your family is very darling. Katie in flip flops in the winter at MK is funny to see.

Alright off to start looking at Universal Studios and how much that will cost for me to get in. We haven't been there since the 90's.

I need to pop back into the DL forum again. I know there was a rumor again that FP enforcement would start by the end of January. I'd love to not owrry about that when we go, but that's a ways away. Not sure I have any hope of that.

Time enforcement sounds bad enough. But when you add in FP+ and pre-scheduled ride times, it just makes my head hurt. I love to plan. But once I walk in the gates, I want to have some spontaneity. That just seems to be less and less possible.

Our Free Dining was Counter Service, but we paid to upgrade to the regular dining plan. For us, eating at the caracter meals is a big part of the experience.

And yeah, flip-flops are looking a little out of place in the weather we're having right now. I know we don't have it as bad as other parts of the country, but sheesh. It was COLD today!

We haven't been to Universal since 2004. But all this talk about FP+ really has me considering a trip off property next time.

I just wanted to put my 2 cents in lol! There is a PP+ spot in DTD. If you go inside Team Mickey, you can find it. There was a separate entrance to it too but I think the Team Mickey entrance is easier to find! I absolutely loved having PP+ on our trip!


I can't believe the hassle you had with getting your tickets! How ridiculous. I'm glad it worked out in the end though.

Love the Jungle Cruise pictures! I don't think I took any Wow sounds like you guys had great luck with lines!!

Thanks for the info on DTD! I thought I had heard there was a spot there, but I honestly don't spend much time there. In fact, this would be the first trip in a long time that we even went to DTD. That's coming up soon.

Jungle Cruise might just be Drew's favorite Disney ride. And even though I take photos every time, well..... I take photos ever time! I just can't help it!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I'm so glad I got to come home to an update.

My flash tube died. On assignment.

 

[nannye]

Janet, how long was the walk from your LM room at AOA to the bus? how long to the food court/lobby?

I want POR, but might not be in the budget this time so we may be looking at values and AOA would be nice, but the walk I've heard is not so nice and NO stroller for V this year. and Thanks! I really didn't think we were going back. V's mom hadn't mentioned it. Out of the blue I got the email on Saturday. I have 2 weeks to figure it out before ADRS (and I want a BOG ressie!)

Oh ya and V has already declared that she must have a Drizella Dress BUT she won't do BBB (really?)

 

[jenseib]

Janet, how long was the walk from your LM room at AOA to the bus? how long to the food court/lobby?

I want POR, but might not be in the budget this time so we may be looking at values and AOA would be nice, but the walk I've heard is not so nice and NO stroller for V this year. and Thanks! I really didn't think we were going back. V's mom hadn't mentioned it. Out of the blue I got the email on Saturday. I have 2 weeks to figure it out before ADRS (and I want a BOG ressie!)

Oh ya and V has already declared that she must have a Drizella Dress BUT she won't do BBB (really?)

I would guessitmate it about 7 minutes. It might be shorter if you walk faster and longer if you walk slower. Some nights it seemed REALLY far away.