Mean Queen
<font color=blue><marquee> If only life were like
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2007
- Messages
- 12,323
Day 1 Thursday - MNSSHP
We packed up the car, picked up our older daughter from school around Noon and headed for I-4. We made it to Disney in an hour and a half with a quick stop for lunch and Starbucks. I was already tired and knew we had a long night ahead. We were the first of our group of 13 to get to SSR so we checked in. The Grand Villa wasn't ready, but it should be ready by 4. Since we still had to get ready for the party, I was so hoping it'd be ready before then. My girls watched the old Disney cartoons until their friends arrived, then chaos insued. 5 kids, one an antsy toddler, waiting impatiently in the lobby along with the impatient children of all the other people waiting. We checked on our room a few times, and luckily, it was ready by 3. We walked in and it was the same Villa we stayed in last year! We unpacked the cars and got ready for the party. After taking a bunch of pictures, we headed out for the bus. It was only about 4:30. We made it to the park and the first thing we did was head to the hat place. One member of our group needed to get some ears. We were hungry so we decided to go to Harbor House for fish and chips. But when we got there, we noticed NO line for HM. So we headed in to see some grim grinning ghosts. I was so thrilled with the makeover. Unfortunately, when we were done, Harbor House had just closed. So we went to Pinocchio's to eat. Since the party was about to officially start, this was the emptiest I've ever seen this place. We actually got to sit by the window overlooking Small World. The kids had a great time waving at people. Once we were all fed, we were ready to have some fun. We quickly hit Small World, Peter Pan, Dumbo!, and Pooh. We almost
never ride Dumbo so this was a real treat. Then it was time to dance with Chip and Dale. At this point, we realized we had no candy! So we started hitting the treat lines, specifically the one behind Toon Town. It was starting to get late so we knew we had to hit what we could before the baby fell asleep. We all headed over to The Laugh Factory. Last time we went, our friend was "That Guy". This time, my DH was put on camera with the title "This guy has the urge to dance." So he did. We were laughing so hard we were crying. Later on, my daughter was picked on out camera as a Princess (she was dressed as Belle.) They said she was the Princess of Florida and asked her a few questions. She loved it! After we finally stopped laughing, most of the group went to Space Mountain while a few of us hit the People Mover. The baby fell asleep on it for the second trip in a row. Unfortunately for her, the fireworks started soon after and woke her up. The parade was getting ready to start, so we headed over to get a
spot. It is definitely better to hit the later parade, because we got an okay spot close to the start time. I got great video of the headless horseman riding through. We all loved the parade. When it was done, we had to hit POTC. We can't go without riding that one. But that was it for us. We were exhausted so we headed out. As we left, they were handing out regular size bags of Kissables by the handful, just in case you didn't get enough candy I guess.
Day 2 - Chef Mickey's and Epcot Food and Wine Festival
Even though Thursday was a late night, we managed to get up for our 11:10 breakfast at Chef Mickey's. We got there in time and checked in. By 11:30 we were wondering what was going on. Turns out the hostess forgot about us! A party of 13! How do you forget about a party that big? I guess we should have sat right in front of the hostess station rather than out of everyones way. We finally sat down for breakfast at about 11:40. The kids were starving so they all hit the buffet and filled up their plates while my hubby filled up a plate for the baby. There were so many options, but since we were there at the end there weren't many fresh choices. The food was still good, but not as good as when it was fresh and not dried out. The great thing was seeing the characters. Goofy, Pluto, Donald, and Mickey came by our table. Somehow, Minnie missed us. We asked the waitress if she was coming back but Minnie was done for the day. The main character handler came out to talk to us and gave us a priority pass to see Minnie at Epcot (since we were planning on going there that evening.) Since my little one was actually liking the characters this trip (except for Goofy) we were glad to not miss one of her favorites. After breakfast, we all went back to the room for naps and rest. It was very hard to get everyone going again when it was time to leave. The CM at Chef Mickey's told us Minnie was at Epcot until 6 and we made it there by 5:45. Unfortunately, the Character Spot closes at 5:30, not 6. My friend was not going to let my little one miss out on seeing Minnie, so she showed our note from Chef Mickey's and pleaded our case to get in since there were still
people waiting in line. Since we only were there to see Minnie and the CM had called to tell them we were coming, they let us in. Paige was so excited to see Minnie! She kept smiling and acting shy. It was worth all the drama. After a quick trip to Innoventions for the kids, we focused on what we came for... the Food and Wine Festival. We started in Canada with the Cheddar Cheese soup and Maple Glazed Salmon. Unfortunately, the kids weren't seeing anything they liked. After much whining and crying, we finally got to America and got the kids PB&J and fries. It was getting later and the lines were finally getting shorter. We had so much yummy food and drinks in France, Japan, Argentina, Ireland, and more. It was EMH that night, so after Illuminations we hit the rides in Norway and Mexico then we took a night time trip on Test Track. It was so cool at night! It was about 11 then and we figured since the kids had been out late the night before, it was time to go home. My hubby and the baby had left earlier,
so it was nice to have a bit of baby free time at the park. The bus ride back to SSR was PACKED! After everyone boarded, there was one person left so we all smushed together a bit more to fit them in. I was holding on for dear life the whole ride home since I was by back stairwell. The kids went to sleep pretty quick when we got back. And so did I.
Day 3 - A Day at the Resort
After 2 jam packed days, we decided to take it easy on Saturday. We woke up late and headed to the pool. Of course, this had to be the one day we had a cool front. The water was so chilly the baby started shivering and her lips turned blue. I had to fight her to get out of the water though, she was having so much fun. The guys grabbed wings for lunch from Buffalo Wild Wings then they settled in for football while the kids played and the ladies read or played Nintendo DS. One of my friends made baked ziti, caesar salad, and garlic bread for dinner. That's the benefits of the full kitchen and dining room in the Villa. We were all able to eat a good meal together. After dinner, we decided to head to DTD for dessert. We wanted to hit Ghiardelli's for their big sundae, the Earthquake. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones with the idea of going to DTD. It was packed! We should have known when we got our own private pontoon boat taking us to DTD because the regular boats weren't enough. The line at Ghiradelli's was huge, so no ice cream for us. We stopped at the Lego store but the kids on the playground were out of control with no parents in sight. I figured it was too dangerous for my little one, so we left. We grabbed snacks from Goofy's Candy store (yes, I know we had bags of candy from MNSSHP, but not caramel apples!) Then we headed back to the room to watch a movie.
Day 4 - Time to go, but first MGM
We packed up all our stuff and managed to get out by 10:30. I let housekeeping know we were gone, since they had already stopped by at 9 a.m. checking on us. At the last minute, we decided we'd all go to MGM. The big kids wanted to do ToT and RRC, while I wanted to take my little one to the Playhouse Disney Concert series. The lines were long of course, so everyone grabbed Fast Passes. I went to the Playhouse Disney area and found out Johnny and the Sprites were there! I love that show and so do both my kids. I got tickets for all of us for the noon show then everyone headed over to see the HSM show. I got a Baby swap pass for RRC. When the guys got off, I went on. This is only the second time I've gone on. I went with my friend and another friends daughter, neither had rode it
before. I normally hate roller coasters but this one is a blast! It was finally time to see Johnny and the Sprites. The concert was good and very cute. My little one barely ate her fries she was so entralled. The show is short though, so it was on to the next ride. We waited in a long line at the Great Movie Ride, which made me realize why I love Fast Passes and baby swap so much. An antsy toddler does not wait well and you can't let them
down in such a huge crowd. We got the first row of the ride, so we were right up front for the "tramjacking." Though my older DD has been on this a million times, she hates being up front. I kept thinking, we waited forever
for this? When it was done, we decided to go home. It was a fun long weekend, but it was exhausting. I don't know which one of us fell asleep first in the car. I only know it wasn't the driver!
We packed up the car, picked up our older daughter from school around Noon and headed for I-4. We made it to Disney in an hour and a half with a quick stop for lunch and Starbucks. I was already tired and knew we had a long night ahead. We were the first of our group of 13 to get to SSR so we checked in. The Grand Villa wasn't ready, but it should be ready by 4. Since we still had to get ready for the party, I was so hoping it'd be ready before then. My girls watched the old Disney cartoons until their friends arrived, then chaos insued. 5 kids, one an antsy toddler, waiting impatiently in the lobby along with the impatient children of all the other people waiting. We checked on our room a few times, and luckily, it was ready by 3. We walked in and it was the same Villa we stayed in last year! We unpacked the cars and got ready for the party. After taking a bunch of pictures, we headed out for the bus. It was only about 4:30. We made it to the park and the first thing we did was head to the hat place. One member of our group needed to get some ears. We were hungry so we decided to go to Harbor House for fish and chips. But when we got there, we noticed NO line for HM. So we headed in to see some grim grinning ghosts. I was so thrilled with the makeover. Unfortunately, when we were done, Harbor House had just closed. So we went to Pinocchio's to eat. Since the party was about to officially start, this was the emptiest I've ever seen this place. We actually got to sit by the window overlooking Small World. The kids had a great time waving at people. Once we were all fed, we were ready to have some fun. We quickly hit Small World, Peter Pan, Dumbo!, and Pooh. We almost
never ride Dumbo so this was a real treat. Then it was time to dance with Chip and Dale. At this point, we realized we had no candy! So we started hitting the treat lines, specifically the one behind Toon Town. It was starting to get late so we knew we had to hit what we could before the baby fell asleep. We all headed over to The Laugh Factory. Last time we went, our friend was "That Guy". This time, my DH was put on camera with the title "This guy has the urge to dance." So he did. We were laughing so hard we were crying. Later on, my daughter was picked on out camera as a Princess (she was dressed as Belle.) They said she was the Princess of Florida and asked her a few questions. She loved it! After we finally stopped laughing, most of the group went to Space Mountain while a few of us hit the People Mover. The baby fell asleep on it for the second trip in a row. Unfortunately for her, the fireworks started soon after and woke her up. The parade was getting ready to start, so we headed over to get a
spot. It is definitely better to hit the later parade, because we got an okay spot close to the start time. I got great video of the headless horseman riding through. We all loved the parade. When it was done, we had to hit POTC. We can't go without riding that one. But that was it for us. We were exhausted so we headed out. As we left, they were handing out regular size bags of Kissables by the handful, just in case you didn't get enough candy I guess.
Day 2 - Chef Mickey's and Epcot Food and Wine Festival
Even though Thursday was a late night, we managed to get up for our 11:10 breakfast at Chef Mickey's. We got there in time and checked in. By 11:30 we were wondering what was going on. Turns out the hostess forgot about us! A party of 13! How do you forget about a party that big? I guess we should have sat right in front of the hostess station rather than out of everyones way. We finally sat down for breakfast at about 11:40. The kids were starving so they all hit the buffet and filled up their plates while my hubby filled up a plate for the baby. There were so many options, but since we were there at the end there weren't many fresh choices. The food was still good, but not as good as when it was fresh and not dried out. The great thing was seeing the characters. Goofy, Pluto, Donald, and Mickey came by our table. Somehow, Minnie missed us. We asked the waitress if she was coming back but Minnie was done for the day. The main character handler came out to talk to us and gave us a priority pass to see Minnie at Epcot (since we were planning on going there that evening.) Since my little one was actually liking the characters this trip (except for Goofy) we were glad to not miss one of her favorites. After breakfast, we all went back to the room for naps and rest. It was very hard to get everyone going again when it was time to leave. The CM at Chef Mickey's told us Minnie was at Epcot until 6 and we made it there by 5:45. Unfortunately, the Character Spot closes at 5:30, not 6. My friend was not going to let my little one miss out on seeing Minnie, so she showed our note from Chef Mickey's and pleaded our case to get in since there were still
people waiting in line. Since we only were there to see Minnie and the CM had called to tell them we were coming, they let us in. Paige was so excited to see Minnie! She kept smiling and acting shy. It was worth all the drama. After a quick trip to Innoventions for the kids, we focused on what we came for... the Food and Wine Festival. We started in Canada with the Cheddar Cheese soup and Maple Glazed Salmon. Unfortunately, the kids weren't seeing anything they liked. After much whining and crying, we finally got to America and got the kids PB&J and fries. It was getting later and the lines were finally getting shorter. We had so much yummy food and drinks in France, Japan, Argentina, Ireland, and more. It was EMH that night, so after Illuminations we hit the rides in Norway and Mexico then we took a night time trip on Test Track. It was so cool at night! It was about 11 then and we figured since the kids had been out late the night before, it was time to go home. My hubby and the baby had left earlier,
so it was nice to have a bit of baby free time at the park. The bus ride back to SSR was PACKED! After everyone boarded, there was one person left so we all smushed together a bit more to fit them in. I was holding on for dear life the whole ride home since I was by back stairwell. The kids went to sleep pretty quick when we got back. And so did I.
Day 3 - A Day at the Resort
After 2 jam packed days, we decided to take it easy on Saturday. We woke up late and headed to the pool. Of course, this had to be the one day we had a cool front. The water was so chilly the baby started shivering and her lips turned blue. I had to fight her to get out of the water though, she was having so much fun. The guys grabbed wings for lunch from Buffalo Wild Wings then they settled in for football while the kids played and the ladies read or played Nintendo DS. One of my friends made baked ziti, caesar salad, and garlic bread for dinner. That's the benefits of the full kitchen and dining room in the Villa. We were all able to eat a good meal together. After dinner, we decided to head to DTD for dessert. We wanted to hit Ghiardelli's for their big sundae, the Earthquake. Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones with the idea of going to DTD. It was packed! We should have known when we got our own private pontoon boat taking us to DTD because the regular boats weren't enough. The line at Ghiradelli's was huge, so no ice cream for us. We stopped at the Lego store but the kids on the playground were out of control with no parents in sight. I figured it was too dangerous for my little one, so we left. We grabbed snacks from Goofy's Candy store (yes, I know we had bags of candy from MNSSHP, but not caramel apples!) Then we headed back to the room to watch a movie.
Day 4 - Time to go, but first MGM
We packed up all our stuff and managed to get out by 10:30. I let housekeeping know we were gone, since they had already stopped by at 9 a.m. checking on us. At the last minute, we decided we'd all go to MGM. The big kids wanted to do ToT and RRC, while I wanted to take my little one to the Playhouse Disney Concert series. The lines were long of course, so everyone grabbed Fast Passes. I went to the Playhouse Disney area and found out Johnny and the Sprites were there! I love that show and so do both my kids. I got tickets for all of us for the noon show then everyone headed over to see the HSM show. I got a Baby swap pass for RRC. When the guys got off, I went on. This is only the second time I've gone on. I went with my friend and another friends daughter, neither had rode it
before. I normally hate roller coasters but this one is a blast! It was finally time to see Johnny and the Sprites. The concert was good and very cute. My little one barely ate her fries she was so entralled. The show is short though, so it was on to the next ride. We waited in a long line at the Great Movie Ride, which made me realize why I love Fast Passes and baby swap so much. An antsy toddler does not wait well and you can't let them
down in such a huge crowd. We got the first row of the ride, so we were right up front for the "tramjacking." Though my older DD has been on this a million times, she hates being up front. I kept thinking, we waited forever
for this? When it was done, we decided to go home. It was a fun long weekend, but it was exhausting. I don't know which one of us fell asleep first in the car. I only know it wasn't the driver!
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