Mom and Kids take on the world!
- Thread starter Minerva
- Start date
Day 8
December 3
This morning it wasn't just the kids who didn't want to get moving. It was our last morning at Wilderness Lodge and no one wanted to leave. When I'd made the plans for the trip I'd booked an 8 PM flight home but a couple of months later American canceled that flight and tried to put us on a 3 o'clock flight home. That wouldn't do because it would mean no time in the parks and wasted tickets. We managed to get them to put us on a flight home the next morning for the same price which meant one more night in Disney. We had no problem with that! I decided to save some money we would stay somewhere other than the lodge and had planned to stay at Pop because that was where Dd had wanted to stay. I didn't want to make that reservation until after I'd paid off our package though and by the time I did that and tried to make a reservation for that night none of the values were available. I tried for POFQ next and it was sold out also. My only choices were CBR and POR. CBR has never appealed to me so I'd chosen POR while I was looking forward to checking the place out I just didn't want to leave the beautiful lodge. I did manage to drag myself out of bed and get ready for the day and get some packing done while the kids got up and got ready though. We took the boat to the Contemporary and explored it a little more before our ADR at Chef Mickey's. The line to check in was long and it was a good thing we'd gone early since we were almost at our time when we got up to the desk to check in. They gave us a buzzer and sent us to another line to get our picture taken. Just as we finished with the picture the buzzer went off and we were seated. This was my least favorite character meal. It's so big and so many people are there the characters really run through the place. We did finally get to see Mickey who had always gone on a break just as we'd gotten in line to see him in the parks so that made it worth it. After breakfast we took the boat back to the lodge seeing it from the water one last time. We finished packing everything and went to check out. I actually got choked up when I was checking out. I really didn't want to leave there. On our way out the door to get a cab we saw Ranger Stan for the first time. I talked to him for a minute and asked him to pose with my kids. They didn't get why I wanted their picture with him but I explained to them on the way out who he was. We arrived at POR just about 11. Bad timing, a group had just arrived from a cruise and another group of pop warner cheerleaders had arrived from the airport. Once I finally got to the desk check in was quick and they had my ME envelope with our information for departure the next day. We got lucky once again and had our room ready so we went and checked it out and the kids changed into their swimsuits and swam outside for the last time until at least June. Back at the room they took showers then we all napped again.
We took the bus to MK around 4:30, not nearly as magical as arriving by boat and headed to the train station first thing. We hadn't managed to ride the train in our previous visits and it was a must do for us. We boarded the train with the plan to ride it around the park once then get off in Frontier land the next time and head for BTMR. That worked fine until we got to Toon Town and sat there and sat there and sat there. Finally the conductor made an announcement that we were going to have to wait there because of the parade and it could be 40 minutes. This was our last night at MK and we didn't have 40 extra minutes so we got off. We decided it was time to get something to eat and since we'd enjoyed Cosmic Rays so much we ate to the crooning of Sonny Eclipse again. I wanted to get a picture of Sonny and discovered I'd left my camera in the room. This was probably a blessing because it allowed me to spend the rest of the night really enjoying being there instead of looking for photo opportunities. I'll get a picture of Sonny next time.
The wait was 40 minutes at BTMR so we got a fast pass and walked over to ride Haunted Mansion. Used the fast pass for BTMR and the wait was listed as 30 minutes when we got off but we decided it was worth it and rode stand by again. It was closer to 20 minutes, the longest wait we'd had for anything in MK all week. We hadn't seen the Tiki Birds either so after our last BTMR ride we headed there and had a 10 minute wait for the show. The line for POC was long so we decided to skip it and went to get our real favorites in. A trip on TTA then another shot at Zurg on Buzz. All week long I'd been beating the pants off the kids on this ride but my trigger thumb was sore and Dd hit something that gave her 200,000 points! She was one happy little girl to have finally beaten both her brother and I. We tried to tell her it didn't count since she didn't know what she'd hit but she wasn't buying it. We found some planters beside the Christmas shop and set up camp to watch Spectro Magic again. We could see fairly well and I was happy to play Dave again. After Spectro we moved to the other side of the castle for a good spot to see Tink fly and Wishes. No one does fireworks like Disney. They will have to work really hard to outdo themselves when they decide to retire Wishes and I hope they don't do that until we have a chance to see it again. We were all getting tired and really not wanting to leave but knowing we should so we decided we needed one more TTA ride and we saw from there that the line for Buzz wasn't overly long so after saying good-bye to Mr. Tom Morrow, do you suppose he ever does ring his party from Saturn? we went to take one last shot at Zurg. All was well with the world and once again I beat both kids but Ds score was a little too close for my liking. My preparations for the next trip will include some trigger thumb exercises! We took the slow walk back up Main Street and turned to see the castle one last time. The magic was in the air once again. Dd and I had fallen in love with the combination turquoise and purple lighting on the castle and that was how it was lit when we turned to look at it. It was the perfect way to say our good byes to heart of Disney World. After a LONG wait for a crowded bus ride back to POR, have I mentioned how much we LOVED the boat ride home to Wilderness Lodge from there? we arrived back at POR around 11:30. We made a quick dash into the food court to use our last table service credits from the meal plan and went back to the room and shared one of the ham subs we'd gotten. I did some more packing then read for a little bit and went to sleep one last time in the magic. I was so tired I didn't even have my usual problems sleeping in a new place.
Day 9
December 4
I was up early, it was hard to get up but it wasn't nearly as hard leaving POR as it had been leaving Wilderness Lodge, got ready and called Bell Services to set up a time for them to come get us and our stuff, there was no way we were up to schlepping everything around again. I woke the kids up and they got up much easier than I expected them to. That may have something to do with the fact I let them sleep in a little so when I woke them it was in a voice that conveyed some urgency since I needed them to get moving so I could finish packing before Bell Services arrived. as it was I had JUST finished packing when the knock came at the door 10 minutes before I was expecting it and he had to wait for me to put my shoes on so he could give us a ride to the ME desk with our luggage. Check in at ME was a breeze and we went to the food court with boarding passes in hand. We surveyed the menus at both Boatwrights and Riverside Mill and the kids decided they wanted to eat in the food court so we had breakfast then went and sat outside by the marina to soak in what could be the last sun we see for months. We ended up sitting next to a woman who lives less than an hour from us. It really is a small world. Unfortunately she was full of horror stories about their trip to the airport a couple of days before in the snow. Yeah, thanks, I needed that reminder of what I was heading home to. NOT. We stopped in the gift shop for one last chance to leave some money with the mouse before heading out front to wait for the bus. The ME bus was right on time, it was great getting on and not having to deal with luggage, I sure hope if they start charging for this service they keep the price reasonable. The trip to the airport was quick with no stops at other resorts because we filled it up with people from POR, it was a very quiet ride to the airport even though the bus was full. The lines at security were very long or maybe it just seemed that way because we really didn't want to be standing on that side of the glass. It was kind of fun watching the people on the arrival side going by though. It's pretty easy to pick out the people who are heading towards Disney at the airport. They're all full of smiles and giggles and you can see the excitement on the faces of the kids knowing how close they are to finally getting there. Hopefully someone will be watching us arriving and thinking how happy we look again in 2 years. The plane was on time and the flight was uneventful. The kids even let me sleep a little, that never happens on the plane. I must have had some left over pixie dust on me. All of our luggage made it off the plane, thank you Magical Express! My cousin was waiting right outside the door when we walked out of the airport. It's a good thing too. We'd left 70 degrees and came home to 20 with snow on the ground. If we'd had to wait we might well have frozen to death. That little temperature change was quite a shock to our systems.
Random thoughts.
Staying on site is the only way to go.
When you've got things you really want to be sure you do it's worth it to get up and get to the park for rope drop to get them done. You can, and probably should, go back to your resort for a break in the middle of the day to get rested up.
More people need to take that midday break. There are an awful lot of crabby adults and tired crying kids by early evening. You're paying a lot of money to experience some magic. Take some time and actually experience it. You'll walk right by it if you're too focused on keeping to some schedule.
Don't overlook the simple things.
Visit some of Dave's benches and people watch.
Don't go looking for the magic, slow down and let it come to you. If you're going too fast you'll walk right on by it and never hear it calling you. It's not a race and if you try to make it one you won't win.
Get your trigger thumbs in shape. It's a lot more fun to beat our kids on Buzz than to be beaten by them! I will find that 200,000 points next time!
December 3
This morning it wasn't just the kids who didn't want to get moving. It was our last morning at Wilderness Lodge and no one wanted to leave. When I'd made the plans for the trip I'd booked an 8 PM flight home but a couple of months later American canceled that flight and tried to put us on a 3 o'clock flight home. That wouldn't do because it would mean no time in the parks and wasted tickets. We managed to get them to put us on a flight home the next morning for the same price which meant one more night in Disney. We had no problem with that! I decided to save some money we would stay somewhere other than the lodge and had planned to stay at Pop because that was where Dd had wanted to stay. I didn't want to make that reservation until after I'd paid off our package though and by the time I did that and tried to make a reservation for that night none of the values were available. I tried for POFQ next and it was sold out also. My only choices were CBR and POR. CBR has never appealed to me so I'd chosen POR while I was looking forward to checking the place out I just didn't want to leave the beautiful lodge. I did manage to drag myself out of bed and get ready for the day and get some packing done while the kids got up and got ready though. We took the boat to the Contemporary and explored it a little more before our ADR at Chef Mickey's. The line to check in was long and it was a good thing we'd gone early since we were almost at our time when we got up to the desk to check in. They gave us a buzzer and sent us to another line to get our picture taken. Just as we finished with the picture the buzzer went off and we were seated. This was my least favorite character meal. It's so big and so many people are there the characters really run through the place. We did finally get to see Mickey who had always gone on a break just as we'd gotten in line to see him in the parks so that made it worth it. After breakfast we took the boat back to the lodge seeing it from the water one last time. We finished packing everything and went to check out. I actually got choked up when I was checking out. I really didn't want to leave there. On our way out the door to get a cab we saw Ranger Stan for the first time. I talked to him for a minute and asked him to pose with my kids. They didn't get why I wanted their picture with him but I explained to them on the way out who he was. We arrived at POR just about 11. Bad timing, a group had just arrived from a cruise and another group of pop warner cheerleaders had arrived from the airport. Once I finally got to the desk check in was quick and they had my ME envelope with our information for departure the next day. We got lucky once again and had our room ready so we went and checked it out and the kids changed into their swimsuits and swam outside for the last time until at least June. Back at the room they took showers then we all napped again.
We took the bus to MK around 4:30, not nearly as magical as arriving by boat and headed to the train station first thing. We hadn't managed to ride the train in our previous visits and it was a must do for us. We boarded the train with the plan to ride it around the park once then get off in Frontier land the next time and head for BTMR. That worked fine until we got to Toon Town and sat there and sat there and sat there. Finally the conductor made an announcement that we were going to have to wait there because of the parade and it could be 40 minutes. This was our last night at MK and we didn't have 40 extra minutes so we got off. We decided it was time to get something to eat and since we'd enjoyed Cosmic Rays so much we ate to the crooning of Sonny Eclipse again. I wanted to get a picture of Sonny and discovered I'd left my camera in the room. This was probably a blessing because it allowed me to spend the rest of the night really enjoying being there instead of looking for photo opportunities. I'll get a picture of Sonny next time.
The wait was 40 minutes at BTMR so we got a fast pass and walked over to ride Haunted Mansion. Used the fast pass for BTMR and the wait was listed as 30 minutes when we got off but we decided it was worth it and rode stand by again. It was closer to 20 minutes, the longest wait we'd had for anything in MK all week. We hadn't seen the Tiki Birds either so after our last BTMR ride we headed there and had a 10 minute wait for the show. The line for POC was long so we decided to skip it and went to get our real favorites in. A trip on TTA then another shot at Zurg on Buzz. All week long I'd been beating the pants off the kids on this ride but my trigger thumb was sore and Dd hit something that gave her 200,000 points! She was one happy little girl to have finally beaten both her brother and I. We tried to tell her it didn't count since she didn't know what she'd hit but she wasn't buying it. We found some planters beside the Christmas shop and set up camp to watch Spectro Magic again. We could see fairly well and I was happy to play Dave again. After Spectro we moved to the other side of the castle for a good spot to see Tink fly and Wishes. No one does fireworks like Disney. They will have to work really hard to outdo themselves when they decide to retire Wishes and I hope they don't do that until we have a chance to see it again. We were all getting tired and really not wanting to leave but knowing we should so we decided we needed one more TTA ride and we saw from there that the line for Buzz wasn't overly long so after saying good-bye to Mr. Tom Morrow, do you suppose he ever does ring his party from Saturn? we went to take one last shot at Zurg. All was well with the world and once again I beat both kids but Ds score was a little too close for my liking. My preparations for the next trip will include some trigger thumb exercises! We took the slow walk back up Main Street and turned to see the castle one last time. The magic was in the air once again. Dd and I had fallen in love with the combination turquoise and purple lighting on the castle and that was how it was lit when we turned to look at it. It was the perfect way to say our good byes to heart of Disney World. After a LONG wait for a crowded bus ride back to POR, have I mentioned how much we LOVED the boat ride home to Wilderness Lodge from there? we arrived back at POR around 11:30. We made a quick dash into the food court to use our last table service credits from the meal plan and went back to the room and shared one of the ham subs we'd gotten. I did some more packing then read for a little bit and went to sleep one last time in the magic. I was so tired I didn't even have my usual problems sleeping in a new place.
Day 9
December 4
I was up early, it was hard to get up but it wasn't nearly as hard leaving POR as it had been leaving Wilderness Lodge, got ready and called Bell Services to set up a time for them to come get us and our stuff, there was no way we were up to schlepping everything around again. I woke the kids up and they got up much easier than I expected them to. That may have something to do with the fact I let them sleep in a little so when I woke them it was in a voice that conveyed some urgency since I needed them to get moving so I could finish packing before Bell Services arrived. as it was I had JUST finished packing when the knock came at the door 10 minutes before I was expecting it and he had to wait for me to put my shoes on so he could give us a ride to the ME desk with our luggage. Check in at ME was a breeze and we went to the food court with boarding passes in hand. We surveyed the menus at both Boatwrights and Riverside Mill and the kids decided they wanted to eat in the food court so we had breakfast then went and sat outside by the marina to soak in what could be the last sun we see for months. We ended up sitting next to a woman who lives less than an hour from us. It really is a small world. Unfortunately she was full of horror stories about their trip to the airport a couple of days before in the snow. Yeah, thanks, I needed that reminder of what I was heading home to. NOT. We stopped in the gift shop for one last chance to leave some money with the mouse before heading out front to wait for the bus. The ME bus was right on time, it was great getting on and not having to deal with luggage, I sure hope if they start charging for this service they keep the price reasonable. The trip to the airport was quick with no stops at other resorts because we filled it up with people from POR, it was a very quiet ride to the airport even though the bus was full. The lines at security were very long or maybe it just seemed that way because we really didn't want to be standing on that side of the glass. It was kind of fun watching the people on the arrival side going by though. It's pretty easy to pick out the people who are heading towards Disney at the airport. They're all full of smiles and giggles and you can see the excitement on the faces of the kids knowing how close they are to finally getting there. Hopefully someone will be watching us arriving and thinking how happy we look again in 2 years. The plane was on time and the flight was uneventful. The kids even let me sleep a little, that never happens on the plane. I must have had some left over pixie dust on me. All of our luggage made it off the plane, thank you Magical Express! My cousin was waiting right outside the door when we walked out of the airport. It's a good thing too. We'd left 70 degrees and came home to 20 with snow on the ground. If we'd had to wait we might well have frozen to death. That little temperature change was quite a shock to our systems.
Random thoughts.
Staying on site is the only way to go.
When you've got things you really want to be sure you do it's worth it to get up and get to the park for rope drop to get them done. You can, and probably should, go back to your resort for a break in the middle of the day to get rested up.
More people need to take that midday break. There are an awful lot of crabby adults and tired crying kids by early evening. You're paying a lot of money to experience some magic. Take some time and actually experience it. You'll walk right by it if you're too focused on keeping to some schedule.
Don't overlook the simple things.
Visit some of Dave's benches and people watch.
Don't go looking for the magic, slow down and let it come to you. If you're going too fast you'll walk right on by it and never hear it calling you. It's not a race and if you try to make it one you won't win.
Get your trigger thumbs in shape. It's a lot more fun to beat our kids on Buzz than to be beaten by them! I will find that 200,000 points next time!
shar2ak said:
Ranger Stan works at the Wilderness Lodge and probably knows more about it than anyone else. When you're lucky enough to be a flag family he is the one who takes you to the roof to put the flags up among other things. There is more information about Stan on the WL FAQ thread.
I'm glad you enjoyed the report!
dismom9761
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2005
- Messages
- 5,331
Thanks for doing the report.I really enjoyed reading it. 
padisneylover
<b><font color=f95602>Member of the 'Jambo! WildBu
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2002
- Messages
- 676
Wonderful trip report I really enjoyed reading it.
Principessa1284
<font color=royalblue>The girl whose MIL brought h
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2005
- Messages
- 774
aw yay!! Your report makes me want to have kids and take them to disney world. Usually it's those 3 screaming kids in the back of the bus that makes me tell my mother she'll have to buy them if she wants grandchildren. (lol..)
but i'm glad u have a nice trip and your kids enjoyed it so much!! I always feel bad for those parents whose kids are screaming at them that they ruined their lives cuz space mountain has a 2 hour wait, or the kid refuses to believe in fact they ARE too old for that stroller or that bottle and mommy IS in fact trying to help. (..my brother was one of them. i probably didn't help lol.)
ah, memories. (i say that like i'm elderly.. i'm 21.) but i'm glad you had a FABULOUS trip. I've always wanted to stay in one of the deluxe resorts!
but i'm glad u have a nice trip and your kids enjoyed it so much!! I always feel bad for those parents whose kids are screaming at them that they ruined their lives cuz space mountain has a 2 hour wait, or the kid refuses to believe in fact they ARE too old for that stroller or that bottle and mommy IS in fact trying to help. (..my brother was one of them. i probably didn't help lol.)
ah, memories. (i say that like i'm elderly.. i'm 21.) but i'm glad you had a FABULOUS trip. I've always wanted to stay in one of the deluxe resorts!
WDW Poly Princess
Needs a Disney Fix
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2000
- Messages
- 4,873
Great report! Looks like we were there at about the same time I loved hearing about your daughter's castle dinner birthday surprise- I bet she'll remember that forever!
I loved hearing about your daughter's castle dinner birthday surprise- I bet she'll remember that forever!WDW Poly Princess said:Great report! Looks like we were there at about the same time
Yes, we were there around the same time. I've been reading you report as you get it up too! My Dd just reminded me earlier that it was 4 weeks ago tonight that we ate in the castle. I think it will be a while before that memory gets lost amongst the rest.
swankybeth
<font color=teal>Loves bubble tea!<br><font color=
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2000
- Messages
- 3,098
Great report, I enjoyed reading it. Sounds like everyone had a great time. 
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