Magical Adventures at Disney World! Aug 26th - Sept 2nd

[TamTab]

Ok well I have never done a trip report before but after lurking on here for awhile and reading everyone else's I thought I would give it a try. I apologive now if it's not very good.

Details

August 26th - September 2nd

Stayed off resort in a 6 bedroom home in Windsor Hills 2 miles from the WDW gates.

Method of transportation was a rental car.

So this was our second trip to WDW this year the first was in March. We were there for two reasons on this particular trip .... the first was to celebrate my brothers birthday ( a bit early) and the second was to meet with the wedding consultant as I will be getting married there in October of 2008.

The Cast

Me -

TamTab - I am a 27 self proclaimed Disney freak. I love everything about it. I just love how it makes you feel like a kid all over again. I am a retired national level gymnast who currently coaches competitve gymnastics. I am recently engaged and am planning on getting married at WDW next October. This was my 8th time visiting the mouse.

DGramma -

Gramma is 65. This is here first trip back to Disney World since 1990. It will be here first time visiting both Animal Kingdom and Disney's MGM Studios.

Ddad

Dad is 49 turning the big 50 this year! Nicked named Grumpy by his family, Dad is workaholic. He is the guy you see standing in line for a ride talking away on his cell phone. Even when he's on vacation, he's not really on vacation.

Dmom

Mom is 47 and a big kid at heart. Also a Disney freak, must be where I got it from. She is a huge Eeyore fan. I think she owns every little Eeyore thing that Disney owns.

Dbrother

Norman is 25 turning 26 very soon. He has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. He loves the rides at Disney and also loves to see all the different characters around the park. You haven't seen Disney until you've seen it through his eyes. Not matter how you're feeling he can put a smile on your face. He is a huge Cars fan.

Day 1- Travel day

At about 10am my parents arrived at my appartment to pick me up so we could be on our way. What should have been a 2 hour drive to the Detroit airport took us about 3 because of the traffic at the Port Huron/Sarnia border. I've never seen it so bad. Yikes! We arrived at the airport around 1pm and breezed right through check in and secruity. Found our gate which of course had to be the very last one at the farthest end of the terminal. Grabbed some snacks and then started to board the plane about 3pm. Our flight was departing at 3:30pm. We were really lucky on this trip and got to sit in first class. It was so great to actually have room to mover your legs. The flight was great went by pretty quickly. We arrived in Orlando at 6pm, grabbed our luggage and rental car and was on our way to the house.

We made a little pit stop at Walmart on our way so we could grab some food and snacks. Then we stopped at Cracker Barrel to grab some dinner. Finally we arrived at the house and it was beautiful. Of course silly me forgot to take pictures of the place but trust me is was awesome. 3 of the bedrooms had king sized beds, 2 of those rooms had their own bathroom. There was a room with a queen sized bed and then 2 rooms with 2 twin beds in each. We had our own pool and jacuzzi and also a games room. And of course all the other usual stuff you would have in a house. I can't believe we got such a great deal on this place. Once we were settled in and unpacked everyone jumped into their jammies and into bed as we have an early morning the next day.

Up next ...... ANIMAL KINGDOM!

 

[thptrek]

Am I first responder? Cool start to your TR.

 

[TamTab]

Day 2 - Animal Kingdom- Breakfast at Donald's Breakfastosaurus

We were up bright and early today. 7am comes very early when you are not a morning person. Our reservations for Donalds was for 8:40 but we still needed to pick up our tickets and few other things before that. So out the door at 8am we were. About a 10 minute drive later we were parking our car and walking towards the entrance of Animal Kingdom.

As soon as we got there Dad went to pick up our tickets. We found the entrance and were in the park. We needed to stop at guest services before we headed to breakfast. Since it was Gramma's first visit we wanted to grab her a 1st visit pin to wear. We also needed to grab a guest assistant card for my brother. The cast member there was so nice with assisting us and our needs. This was so great. Once we got all that settled we made our way towards Dinoland for our Character breakfast. I was so excited for this as it was my first time at this particular one and I absolutely love Donald.

We checked in and waited about 5 minutes before they seated us. Our server was so friendly and nice. What a great way to start off this meal. We all took turns to grab food and then started to dig in. The first Character to approach our table was Pluto. Now I must explain how my brother works in these situations. As soon as he spots a character, doesn't matter how far away they still are, he will not eat until they make it to our table. So of course once he saw Pluto that was it. I made a joke with him to get him to eat a little while we waited. I told him if he didn't hurry and eat his breakfast up Pluto would come over and eat his eggs. This got him to eat a little before Pluto arrived.

Gramma and Pluto

Norman and Pluto

Next to stop at our table was Donald and Goofy. Both characters were very nice and made sure to spend a little extra time with my brother. I thought that was so nice of them.

Me and Donald

Mom and Donald

Me and Goofy

Mom and Goofy

We had a little break to eat while we waited for Mickey to arrive at our table so we all grabbed a little more food while we waited. Now Dad is not a big fan of getting his picture taken especially with the characters but I conviced him to have a picture with Mickey.

Dad, Norman and Mickey

Me and Mickey

I had so much fun at this breakfast. The food was great and the characters were awesome. The only negative I found was that Mickey seemed a little rushed. Oh well though what can you do?!

We were totally stuffed after eating all that food and thought it would be a good idea to catch a show before jumping on any rides. So off to The Festival of the Lion King we go. On our way there we stopped to grab a few autograph books for us to get the characters to sign later on today. We headed towards Camp Minnie and Mickey but was a bit early for our show time. With some extra time on our hands we headed over to see Goofy. We got in line with only 2 other people in front of us. It was great, I've never seen a line so short to see a character.

Goofy was hilarious. Was just having a blast with everyone. We got him to sign our books and then took turns getting our pictures done. I had a blast with Goofy. I even got to give him a kiss.

Mom and Goofy

Normie and Goofy - looking so cute

Me and Goofy - being silly

Getting a kiss

Once we were finished with Goofy it was time to line up for The Festival of the Lion King. So off we went .....

Up next ....... ANIMAL KINGDOM CONTINUED

 

[TamTab]

Day 2 continued......

We were in line for about 10 minutes before they let us in to find seats. We were directed towards the wheelchair seating in the handicapped seating. Another 10 minutes later the show began. I must say this is one of my very favorite shows. It's so cute and fun in everyway. Norman was dancing along during the entire show. It was priceless.

Love those monkies!

After the show we headed back to the character trails to go see Donald. I found this Donald not to be as fun as some of the others I have met but none the less we got his autograph and took turns to get our picture done.

Me and Doanld

Norman and Donald

After this we made our way to Kilimanjaro Safari. Gramma was very excited for this as this would be here first time on this ride. We made our way to the line and waited to be boarded on the bus. The wait was a little longer then usual because they were having trouble with the brakes on the one disabled bus so we had to wait for them to bring another one out. We got loaded into the first and second rows and were off to explore the wild. The animals we out with full force and I got a few really good pictures.

We were sweltering hot after this ride so we headed to Asia to ride Kali River Rapids. We all got completely soaked from head to toe. Usually I would make a big deal out of this but today because it was so hot it felt so nice. We kept walking through Asia and made it to Expedition Everest. Gramma decided she wanted to be brave anf try this ride out. Mom and Dad made the choice not to ride after riding in March. We got in the fast pass line and waited for about 5 minutes before boarding. I could tell Gramma was starting to get nervous. Off we went on the journey with the Yeti. The entire time I could hear my Gramma screaming and my brother laughing. It was way too funny.

After Gramma rode this we knew she could handle Dinosaur so back to Dinoland we went to get in line. So in line we go and wait our turn to get in the car. This ride completely scared Gramma. It was kind of funny actually. Here is the picture from the ride.

We finished up in Dinoland and headed over to see our favorite friends from the Hundred Acre Woods. Norman was so excited to get a few more aurographs. The characters were great here ....

Norman waiting with his book

Gramma and Pooh

Me getting Pooh's autograph

Norman and Pooh

to be continued ..... AGAIN ......

 

[SueM in MN]

I think you are doing a great job on your first trip report.
Sounds like everyone had fun (especially Gramma on EE!)

 

[TamTab]

Am I first responder? Cool start to your TR.

Thanks so much. I hope you are enjoying it.

I think you are doing a great job on your first trip report.
Sounds like everyone had fun (especially Gramma on EE!)

Haha I'm still surprised that she went on it. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. Thanks for reading!

 

[tinawv]

Congratulations on your engagement. You have lovely family, and I am looking forward to reading more.

 

[TamTab]

Congratulations on your engagement. You have lovely family, and I am looking forward to reading more.

Aww thank you so much. I'm working on the next part right now.

 

[TamTab]

Animal Kingdom .... continued ....... AGAIN

So where were we? Oh yes hanging out with the gang from the Hundred Acre Woods. After we saw Pooh, Eeyore was next. My mom was really excited because like I said before Eeyore is her favorite.

Norman and Eeyore

Mom and Eeyore

Next up was my favorite of the bunch .... TIGGER. I love this guy.

Norman and Tigger dancing to the Tigger song

Norman and Tigger again

Tigger helping me turn the page in my autograph book

Norman laughing away

We finished up here and continued on our way. Next stop was Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. Sadly I forgot to take pictures as I was having such a great time. Oh well maybe next time. Once the parade wrapped up we made our way towards the Tree of Life to catch A bugs Life. On our way we ran into this little guy.

Flik and Norman

Me and Flik

A bugs life had Gramma jumping all over the place. It was way too funny. I wish I had a video camera with me. This is one of Normans favorite shows. For some reason he loves the 3D shows. We left the tree and continued around the park. We decided to skip the Nemo show as we had seen it on our last trip and everyone was getting tired and very hungry. After talking for a bit we decided to head to Downtown Disney and have dinner at the RainForest Cafe. This was another first for Gramma and she seemed to enjoy it very much. After dinner we did a little window shopping and then decided to head back to the house for a little swim and a little rest.

Next up ..... Lunch at CP and Pirate and Princess Party at MAGIC KINGDOM

 

[Avivasmom]

What a good looking family...your mom looks so young.

Congrats on planning your wedding...that is very cool.

Love all the pics keep them coming.

 

[TamTab]

What a good looking family...your mom looks so young.

Congrats on planning your wedding...that is very cool.

Love all the pics keep them coming.

Thank you so much. My mom will be very happy to hear that.

I will keep the pictures coming. I took way too many. lol

 

[spicemom]

Great job with report so far! I love all the pics. My son would be especially envious of your brothers cars hat/shirt combo

 

[TamTab]

Great job with report so far! I love all the pics. My son would be especially envious of your brothers cars hat/shirt combo

Thanks so much. My brother is a huge Cars fan. His whole room is done up in it. Even has the Lightning McQueen bed.

 

[TamTab]

Day 3 - Lunch at CP and Pirate and Princess Party

We had ADR at Crystal Palace for 11:40 am so we got to sleep in a bit. Which was great for me since I love to sleep. We were out the door at 11am and headed towards the Magic Kingdom. We parked our car and made our way to the monorail. Norman loves the monorail and started getting very excited when he saw it. We board and are on our way to the happiest place on earth. Woo Hoo

We get off the monorail and go thru the usual security and what not. We go under the bridge and there you see the most beautiful site ever .... Cinderella's Castle. This is how you know you've made it.

Once I finished taking my usual castle photo we made our way towards Crystal Palace. We have had breakfast there but this was our first experience with having lunch there. I must say I enjoyed it very much. We had a great time there and enjoyed the company of all the characters. First to visit us was Eeyore. And of course once again mom was very excited.

Norman and Eeyore

Mom and Eeyore

Next up was Tigger which was great since the last time we were there we had to wait forever for him to come to our table. Some how I managed to get dad to jump into a photo so this was great. This doesn't happen very often.

Norman, Tigger and Dad

Me and Tigger

Mom and Tigger

We had a few minutes to eat a bit before the next character arrived. I grabbed some more pizza and then headed for some ice scream. Once I sat down I noticed that Piglet was on his way. I must say Piglet is a little cutie. I wish we would see more of him around the parks.

Me and Piglet

Norman and Piglet

Following closely behind Piglet was Pooh. We were just about finished eating so this worked out great. Couldn't have been better timing.

Norman and Pooh

Me and Pooh

Norman being silly

We paid our bill and thanked our waitress and out to the Kingdom we went. Our first stop was the train to take a trip around the entire Kingdom. Norman was so excited for this. They made him the conductor and gave him a special card stating that he was chosen. Unfortunantly because of his chair he can't go to the back of the train where they would have had him yell "All Aboard" but that worked out fine anyway since he talkes with sign language.

We took our trip around and then got off the train and headed to Adventureland to see some pirates. The line was very short for Pirates of the Carribbean which totally surprised me but hey I'm not going to complain. We took our boat ride thru the Carribbean and then headed thru the rest of Adventureland and on to Frontierland. Next stop was Splash Mountain which was much needed since it was oh so hot. There was 90 minute wait here but luckily we had fast passes so we used those and hopped on in about 10 minutes.

We then went for a ride on Big Thunder Mountain and made our way towards Fantasyland. On the way we got caught up by the parade so we stopped to watch before continuing on our way. Once again I was so into the parade that I completely forgot to take pictures.

On we go to Fantasyland .....

Next up ...... Magic Kingdom and Pirate and princess party continued

 

[MissMichelle]

I am having so much fun reading your report!!! I am glad you just posted over on mine so I could come by here Looks like you guys really were having such a blast! I love that gramma rode EE but even more so the priceless look on her face in Dinosaur!

 

[TamTab]

Day 3 ........ continued

We make our way thru the rest of the kingdom riding various rides on our way. We eventually make it back to Liberity Square where we all decided it was time to eat. We were originally just going to grab something quick at the Harbor House but Dad wanted to eat something a little better then that. So we took a chance and headed over to Liberty Tree Tavern to see if we could get in there. Lucky for us they just happen to have room.

Now I have never been here before but I must say out of all the character meals I have had so far this was my favorite by far. I thought the food was great and the characters were way too cute. They brought our food to our table and we waited for the first character to come and visit. First up was Goofy followed by Pluto. I managed to get dad in a few photo's again.

Mom, Normie and Goofy

Me and Goofy

Dad, Norman and Goofy

Mom and Goofy

Me and Pluto

Dad and Pluto

Once we had our pictures with them we had a little time to dig in to the great food. Turkey and stuffing .... who could ask for anything better?! Love love love the thanksgiving traditionals. Chip n' Dale were next up followed by Minnie, who I thought looked very cute in her little dress.

Mom, Norman, Dad and Chip

Me and Chip

Gramma and Dale

Me and Dale

Dale was a little upset with me because I kept calling him Chip by accident. Oops .... silly me.

Mom, Norman, Dad and Minnie

Me and Minnie

We finished up with some dessert and then made our way back out to Liberty Square. I had seen a sign that said Cinderella's Carriage would be out for display and pictures and I was determined to see it. Like I had said earlier I am planning on getting married at Disney next year and the carriage is one of the things that I want for my big day. So I thought this would be a great chance to get an idea of what it looks like. We finally found it and let me tell you it was absolutley beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before. Mom and I stood in line so we could get our picture taken with it.

Me and mom infront of the carriage

We got our pictures done and then made our way towards Tomorrowland so we could ride some of the rides there.

Up Next ...... PIRATE AND PRINCESS PARTY ..... continued ... again!

 

[TamTab]

I am having so much fun reading your report!!! I am glad you just posted over on mine so I could come by here Looks like you guys really were having such a blast! I love that gramma rode EE but even more so the priceless look on her face in Dinosaur!

Thanks so much. Gramma was not very happy when she saw that I bought that picture but I just had to. It was priceless. Thanks for stopping in.

 

[OhMari]

I found your report way back on page 7. I hope you come back and finish your TR.

 

[TweedleDee]

nice trip report so far. Keep it coming !!

 

[TamTab]

hey guys sorry it's been awhile. I've had some computer problems. I will try and get it going soon.

Thanks everyone!