May 3 - 11 th Suprise trip for son Updated 5/21 last part!

[Iluvtgr]

This is my first time writing a trip report, so please bear with me

The amazing vacation starts out with us meeting our son at school and telling him that we want to do something today as a family and he has 3 choices and whatever he chooses we will do. 1. bowling 2. movie or 3. WDW. He laughs and says WDW. We say cool and head for the car. He keeps looking over at us and asking "Are we really going?" We say "Yes that is what you chose isn't it?" We get in the car and he sees the luggage and starts jumping and hollering and tears are streaming down his face. I think my boy was happy!! Either that or he was extremely upset he was going to miss school

We start off on a little bit of a bad note. We were going to stay one night at a hotel for a park and fly before we flew out. I picked a horrible hotel it was absolutely filthy and we had serious questions about our car being there when we returned (but oh well, we are going to WDW!!!)

Our first day (May 3rd) was mostly a travel day since we were flying from Seattle. This is one part of the vacation that I dread. The only cool thing for this day was that we surprised our son at the airport with a man holding a sign saying "Welcome to Orlando Darren" and his first trip in a limo to our resort (CBR).

(May 4) since it was MK's EMH we head to Epcot. Perfect plan! We walked right on test track and soarin' (which was kind of funny because their sign for soarin' said 20 minutes....we find out throughout our trip that those signs are rarely correct. The lines are practically nonexistent throughout the whole day (either that or I just got lucky and planned well) Epcot is so beautiful during the flower and garden festival. I love the topiaries!! My son even said that he thought Epcot was the most beautiful park (except the rides weren't as good). The only negative this day was my "walking" sandals gave me blisters, so I quickly learned that tennis shoes were the most comfortable!

My next surprise for this trip was a surprise for my husband as well. After dinner I asked him if he wanted to take a walk down by the marina (we ate at the CR) We walked down there and I suprised him with a Wishes Fireworks Cruise. That was absolutely wonderful!! It was definitely one of the highlights of my trip! The CM even let us watch the electrical parade from just a short distance away before taking us over to Wishes.

May 5th we head to MK. Again the lines were great! Winnie the pooh was a 20 min wait, but everything else was 10 minutes or under. I am totally shocked I was expecting much longer lines. So far we have not had to use fastpass at all. We watched the parade at 3:00 and we were going to die in the heat! We ate dinner at the castle. Not the best food, but we loved the atmosphere. The funniest part of it was that a picture with Cinderella came with the dinner, so I made my son go pose for a picture. At 11 years old you can imagine it was not what he wanted to do! Cinderella grabs him by the arm and pulls him to her saying "don't worry someday you'll like the ladies." I wish they would have snapped the picture right then. The look on his face was priceless! MK closed early for Grad night, so we went back to Epcot to watch Illuminations. At the end of this day my ds commented on how detailed WDW is. He loved all the detail they put into the rides. What I loved about this day was the feeling of MAGIC you get when you enter MK. There is absolutely no park IMO that is as magical.

Well, I better stop for now because this is getting long. I hope I didn't ramble to much.

 

[cstraub]

Your post gave me goosebumps! Just thinking of how excited your son must have been when you told him you were going to WDW! How wonderful!!!

 

[Minniespal]

How exciting ~ Can't wait to read more.

 

[Iluvtgr]

May 6th was originally going to be another MK day, but we were exhausted, so we switched our rest day to today. I spent most of today looking around our beautiful resort and writing in my journal. My DH and DS rented a water mice and had a total blast. For those of you that have never stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort and have heard negative things I would like to give you my thoughts. I heard so many bad things about this resort that I wanted to switch, but couldn't because everything was booked. I am so glad I didn't! I even was put way out in South Trinidad, which is the last to get dropped off the majority of the time. Yes, it was about a 4 minute walk to the food court, but after all the walking in the parks we were pretty used to walking. Besides, I needed to work off all the calories from the Pina Coladas Besides the beauty of the resort another plus is it is centrally located between all the parks, so the bus rides for fairly short all around. We went to Downtown Disney that night for dinner and watched my son druel in Legoland.

May 7th was Animal Kingdom. All the books said this was a half day park! Maybe for them, but we didn't see everything we wanted to and we were there from opening to closing. We arrived 40 minutes early and the lines were already long to get in. With everything going so nicely for this vacation so far after what happened next I am now sure that we were blessed with some pixie dust throughout this whole vacation. Looking at the lines I was getting really worried that we would be standing in a huge line for Everest. Just as I was thinking about this I glanced at an empty ticket turnstile that was closed and I saw a CM go to it. I immediately told my DS and DH to follow me. One other family saw the same thing and went as well. So we end up 2nd in line. I can't believe how many dirty looks we got and mostly from the people who were only 5 and 6th in line themselves. My thoughts were that they had a chance we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. We talked to the family in front of us and we looked at the map and planned the fastest route to Everest. It worked we arrived first only to be told that the ride was having technical difficulties and we could wait outside (there was a CM blocking the line entrance). It opened up in about 4 minutes and she let us all go in (there was a long line behind us). We start to go in when we discover that about 10 unscrupulous people had snuck in under the ropes behind the CM's back. We were still able to walk right on the ride, but I thought of all the people behind us that played by the rules and it made me mad. My DS and I loved the ride! My DH commented on how smooth it was for a roller coaster like ride. We also managed to have gotten a FastPass for Everest so we could ride it again. We headed over to KRR only to find it was closed for "technical difficulties", so we went to the flights of wonder show then back to Everest to use our FP. We got there and was told the Everest was down again! The CM was really nice and told us that we could us the FP anywhere since this was down, so we headed to the Safari ride. Thank goodness we had the FP because the line was 60 min. I didn't know then if it was just the day we went or the park, but the lines were definitely longer than anywhere else. I loved this ride as well.

We saw people coming that were wet so we headed back to KRR and waited 40 min while also getting a FP for it. All I can say is USE YOUR FASTPASSES! They are definitely worth it if the line is longer than 15 -20 minutes. If it's 20 minutes or less I wouldn't bother. We then headed to Dinosaur and was pleasantly surprised! I loved this ride! I thought it was going to be boring just because of where it was at, but it is a great ride. We then saw ITTBAB...how cute. It is getting close to 4:00 by now (We spent alot of time walking back and forth because of all the "technical difficulties"), so we headed to FTLK. My son was picked to go up, but unfortunately he got stage fright and wouldn't go. My last thoughts for this day was WOW I have to go back again even though we only planned on one day.

It was MK's EMH so we headed there after AK. We had dinner reservations at LTT at 7:00. We thought we had plenty of time to get there but surprise! We left AK at 5:10 and to get to MK you have to take the bus back to your resort then another bus to MK. Looking back we should have took a bus from AK to say the CR then used the monorail, but we thought we had plenty of time. We would have made it with a half an hour to spare, but some lady at the CBR had to drag our bus driver off the bus and yell at him because she had been waiting for 20 minutes and her bus hadn't come yet. The CM was very polite to her and made phone calls, but nothing was enough. The lady beside me yelled.."Hey this is the happiest place on earth, so be happy!" I couldn't agree more! 15 minutes later he finally pulls out. We ended up late for dinner (7:30), but the very generous people fit us in anyway (there were booked too!) My word of advice ....get ressies for dinner! We did and I am glad! I don't know how many times we overheard people being turned away because they were booked! You can always change your mind later, but at least you have something.

I will stop for now and go to work! May 8th is MGM and the next HUGE surprise for my DS. This is the day that will bring a tear to my eye!

 

[Iluvtgr]

May 8th MGM Studios. Monday turned out to be a good day to go even if it was an EMH day. The crowds were not bad at all. We walked on TOT, which by the way was great. The only bad thing about not having a line is you don't have time to look at the detail in the line area. But I suppose I shouldn't be complaining. We did RnR next (my DH didn't go on because he gets sick). My son cracked me up because the first thing out as the ride starts he yells "I love the music" (the song is "Dude looks like a lady". I don't maybe I am getting old and sounding like my parents, but it just cracked me up. Since there weren't any lines at this time (I overheard people later talking about long lines for it...I guess it pays to go right away when the park just opens) we went on 3 times in a row. Unfortunately that made my son a little queesy, but he recovered quickly and we went back to TOT. Which wasn't as good the second time because they didn't go as high this time.

Now for the next surprise for my son. My son is a HUGE Star Wars fan!! Thanks to the disboards I found out before we left about the Jedi Training. All I could think about was that he would spontaneously combust when he found out about this! Was I ever right! I was a little worried after the FTLK incident, but he informed me that he would go up if he got picked. He also said he would wait all day if he had to! OH NO! PLEASE GET PICKED! I thought I was being extremely smart too by having him wear a Darth Vader t-shirt, but apparently I wasn't alone in that idea because half the children also had on Star Wars t-shirts and some even had light sabers (though I did note that he was the only one with Darth Vader everyone else had the good guys on theirs). We arrive 1 hour early and are the first ones by the stage. The heat was unbearable!! The time has finally come there is 15 spaces. The "Apprentice" start picking......she keeps looking at my son, but picks someone else. There is only 2 spots left and I am thinking OH MY GOSH we have suffered in this heat for nothing and now he is going to make us do this all over again when all of a sudden she picks my son
I will never forget the smile on his face. The only bad thing was I was taking so many pics that I really missed actually seeing him battle Vader. One funny thing that happened was just before he was to battle Darth V the Apprentice turns him toward the audience and says "I want you all to look at his t-shirt (the audience of course boos because it's a picture of Darth)" then she says "I wonder if this is what it is like to battle your inner child?" After my son got off of cloud 9 we went on to Indy, lights motor action, millionare, GMR etc.

It is now time for dinner. We had Ressies at 50's Prime time. I absolutely loved it! The food was great and I loved the interaction with the waitress. My DS almost fell on the floor laughing when the waitress hand fed me my veggies because I didn't finish them. Outside of TOT and RnR I didn't really enjoy this park as much as the others, but the Star Wars thing was terrific for my son. At the end of the day my son turned to me and said "Thank you for planning such a wonderful vacation.....this is the best trip ever!" I"ll tell you what when he got picked for the Star Wars thing the look of joy on his face almost brought a tear to my eye. This really is the Happiest Place on Earth!!

May 9th Blizzard Beach......OR NOT! Stay tuned to find out what happened with this disasterous turn of events!

 

[averill94]

What a wonderful surprise trip! Keep posting!

 

[OhMari]

Great TR story, thanks for sharing.

 

[Iluvtgr]

Well, it's 8:30 am and we are supposed to go to Blizzard Beach today, but surprise it's raining. Well, we are from Seattle so a little rain won't hurt right! Well, we head over and I know surprise surprise we are the only idiots there. I am thinking cool we have the place to ourselves!! Unfortunately, we were about to find out that they were going to close for the day.
I can understand why for the most part, but the rain stopped completely by 9:30 am and was in the mid-high 80's the rest of the day. They didn't even open to the public until 10:00 am anyway. Why not postpone opening instead of closing permanetly. The weather changes there so quickly not like here in Seattle when you wake up to rain you pretty much see it all day. The only reason I was upset was our vacation ends on the 11th and if it was closed again the next day we wouldn't be able to go. Which would mean I paid for the water park option for nothing. I hate wasting money!!!!

Everything turned out okay because we ended up going back to AK, which made me very happy because I definitely wanted to see more of it! Once again AK was busy (I think everything got busier towards the end of our trip). We headed straight for Everest again and got a FP. We were standing there talking about what we should do until the FP can be used when all of a sudden we received another little bit of pixie dust! A man comes up to us and gave us 4 FastPass tickets to Everest that could be used in 5 minutes. Wow, what a nice guy. My DH couldn't go on it, so my DS and I went twice in a row. We went on all our favorite rides again. What I read about Kilimanjaro Safaris is really true. You can ride it again and again and get a different experience each time. This time we saw 3 giraffes, zebras, a cheetah, rhinos, and a lion (that was up and walking) that we didn't get to see the first time. I got some killer (national geographic like) photos of 2 hippos fighting that I absolutely love!

May 10th, finally Blizzard Beach. We spent most of the day here. We were going to try to fit both water parks in today, but alas we are not superheros and decided to be smart and just stay with the one we hadn't been to before. Well, I went down Summit Plummit and all I can say is it needs more water down the slide. I was prepared for the wedgie, but the feeling of a rug burn going down my back from the top of the slide to the bottom was a little unexpected. A funny thing happened to us on the family slide. When we got to the bottom a snake was swimming in the tube with us. It kept trying to get up my DS swim trunks. I kept thinking of what would have happened if my mother who is deathly afraid of them would have been along.....oh darn missed opportunities

Unfortunately, my trip ended there. Our plane didn't leave until 5:00pm, so we decided to go to the WL for breakfast at Whispering Canyon (my DH received a fastpass to the outhouse from the waitress) then we headed for a few hours to MK to say our goodbyes. I am so glad we got this chance because none of us wanted to go home. We did not go on any rides we just took in the Disney Magic one last time. We have to go back soon or I just may die of a broken heart

In closing I thought I would leave you with some ideas, tips, or whatever that I have learned.

1. Disney Dining Plan ---Worth Every Penny!!!!!!!!!!!we saved money and
ate like kings!!!!!!

2. On EMH days go to a DIFFERENT park!

3. Use Fastpasses when needed! If lines are less than 20 min don't bother.

4. If you can do a fireworks cruise do it. It is such a unique (and romantic)
experience.

5. Buy bottled water if possible at a nearby grocery store on your way from
the airport to the resort. We did and we saved so much money ($4.50 a
flat, we got 2 flats). We were so glad we did and the hotel room has a
mini refrigerator, so we were able to keep it cold. We got a whole flat
for the price of just 2 bottles in WDW.

6. Make dinner reservations ahead of time. It made things so much nicer
not having to run around looking for a place that was available.

My lasts thoughts to everyone is ENJOY your vacation
Before this trip I had read every guidebook, disboard post , etc. so I would be well prepared. I had everything planned to the second. Well, the first day we got there and discovered the lines weren't as bad as I thought they would be I tossed those notes in the garbage. I am so glad I did because it was less stressful just to enjoy and smell the roses a little. I still followed my tour plan, but if I really enjoyed the ride and wanted to go again we did. Some things we just winged and it turned out okay. I have to say if it was a busier time of year I would have stuck to the tour plan more closely because I do believe they work. Even though we followed it loosely it helped us. I would hear people say several times throughout this trip how they stood in line for a certain ride for an x amount of time that was substantially longer than what we experienced and I think it's because we listened to the suggestions in tour plans and from the great people here.

I hope for all of you that have trips coming up that you have a wonderful time!! This was definitely a trip of a lifetime for my family and I hope to return soon for another great experience.

Thanks!!