MouseLover
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 6, 1999
- Messages
- 970
Wed. 3/14: me33,dh35,dd4,g-ma&g-pa
We arrived by opening time. We were greeted by two green soldiers in the parking lot and went directly to RockNRoller Coaster to pickup fast passes. Then we waited in line approx. 30minutes for Tower of Terror. Daughter liked this ride--she was a little scared during the dark/ghost part, but once the doors were open & the drops occurred, she was squealing in delight. We were dropped numerous times--a few more than I expected! Also, I was trying to hold on to DD, as with each drop, her bottom came up several inches off the seat. After this we were headed to Beauty & the Beast show, but it was standing room only, so we went to nearby shops instead. I found great, cheap souvenirs at "Mouse about the House" -- Mickey-shaped, scented, glycerin hand soaps for only $1 each -- assorted colors. Across the street, we met Pinocchio, Gideon, & Jiminy Cricket. Then we returned for the next showing of Beauty and the Beast and got 3rd row, center seats. (First 2 rows were roped off). Some CMs sat in front of us, and asked afterward if we liked the costumes, as they designed/made them. Then we rode RnR, using fast passes and child swap. This was awesome! DH thinks this ride got his sinuses screwed up, as he began to feel bad shortly after and had problems the remainder of the trip. Grandparents decided to hop to Epcot and visit the countries more in-depth, and Dh, DD, & I headed to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid (15-20min), followed by Bear in the Big Blue House (10min). Then we had lunch at ??? near muppets, I think. DH had polish sausage with kraut, dd & I each had chicken nuggets kids meals. Total: $15. As we entered Backstage Pass, it began to rain (downpour, actually). Rain was ending as we finished the Backlot Tour. DH had developed a terrible headache, so I took DD to the Shrunk the Kids play area while he relaxed in the shade. She enjoyed this area, but many older kids (8-9) were running wild and I was afraid she would get hurt. Plus, she would climb a ladder and slide down a slide around the corner (i.e. out of view), so it was difficult to keep a close eye on her. After 15-20 minutes, we went to shop, and purchased a plush Pluto. We collect these. We have Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Kanga w/ Roo, Simba, Nala, Zazu, Sebastian, a Dalmation, Lady, Tramp, Happy, Bambi, Dale, Sumbo, Donald, Pinocchio. I refrained from buying any of the toy monorails that were cute. Although the park was scheduled to close at 7:00, they announced they would be adding an 8:30 Fantasmic! show, and keeping RnR and ToT open until 8:30. Hurray!! Now we didn't have to worry about missing Fantasmic. For supper we ate two individual pepperoni pizzas from ???, with tap water, $12. DD ate 1/2 of mine, so I walked over to a nearby fruit stand and purchased a banana and a large dill pickle--just under $2 for both. Though not scheduled to meet with grandparents until 7:30, they went walking by as we sat eating, so we made it to the 7:00 Fantasmic! after all -- standing room only, but well worth it. Very good show. This was an EE day and was the most crowded we saw during the week we were there. Weather was warm and humid, cool after sunset.
Thursday 3/15: (last day -- boo hoo). We parked at TTC and took monorail to Epcot. We got fast passes for Test Track, stood in line about 20 minutes to ride Test Track, then rode again using FP. DD loved this ride -- she wanted to ride again and again. NOTE: We got in line for this ride at 8:55, 5 minutes before official opening. It seemed most everything opened early. We were going to do Spaceship Earth after this, but there was quite a line there, so we abandoned that plan and took the monorail back to TTC, then the boat launch to Magic Kingdom. We got FP for Buzz Lightyear and waited about 30 min. for Space Mountain, using child swap. Then we used our FP for Buzz-- DD scored 400, I scored 2900, and everyone else seemed to be scoring about 39,000!! Obviously, I didn't know what I was doing. DH told me I was supposed to be aiming my red light at the targets. I had a red light??? Better luck next time, I guess. This was fun, but I would not wait in line 40+ minutes to ride it. After this we went to Toontown in search of characters. We met Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. We looked in Minnie's house, then back to Fantasyland. We stopped for lunch at Pinocchio's Village Haus-- Doublecheeseburger w/ fries & lg. coke for Dh, Kids hotdog meal for DD, and two kids hotdog meals for me (hey, it was cheaper than a large hotdog & lg coke). Total: $18. We sat by the Small World window and DD waved at all the people as their boats began the ride. We got FP for Peter Pan, went to Haunted Mansion. The wait time for HM was posted as 40 minutes, but it actually only took about 25 minutes. Then we rode Small World (10-15min) and used FP for Peter Pan. It was EE day today for MK, and was pretty crowded, but it was nearing 3:00 now and had cleared out considerably. DH was feeling better now, and had decided to stay. We decided to go to Big Thunder Mtn, and managed to wade through the parade traffic. The wait here was about 25 minutes. After this ride, we went to Pirates of Caribbean (10min), where we encountered Captain Hook & Mr. Smee near the exit. As we got closer to them, DD began getting frightened, and she would only cling to me and not look Captain Hook in the eye. Mr. Smee was very comforting, patting her hand and head. I said, "See, they're nice," and Captain Hook shook his head no. (didn't help matters!) We then went to the Jungle Cruise (10-15min) and the Tiki Room (15min). After this, we headed toward Main Street, and took our traditional family picture in front of the castle. Then Grandma & I decided to shop along Main Street, while Grandpa, DH, & DD went to find a parade viewing spot. I bought a plush Daisy Duck for my daughter, who had picked it up several times throughout the parks. Then we found the rest of our party, and sat on a curb near the exit, for a great view of MSEP. We left following the parade, and took the boat launch back to TTC. We got to see part of the Electrical Water Pageant on our way. It's so bittersweet, gazing at that beautiful castle, as you're leaving. This night, we ate supper at Olive Garden. Weather today was hot -- 88 and fairly humid. There was a 10minute downpour as we arrived in the parking lot this morning and it was mostly sunny from noon on.
Friday, 3/16: Departure day
Well, to break up the long drive (17.5 hours plus stops), we decided to spend the night in Biloxi. We stayed at Isle of Capri casino & hotel. We took a brief, driving tour of Southern Mississippi University's campus. We departed Saturday 3/17 around 10:30am, encountered some traffic problems, stopped in Little Rock for supper, and arrived home after 11:00 pm.
Final Thoughts: 1. Use Fast Pass -- it really saves you some wait time. 2. Avoid EE days, as these parks are noticeably more crowded. (This was not really possible for us, as we wanted to begin and end with MK, and has PS for another day). 3. We did not take breaks away from the parks. Many people recommend this, but it takes so much time if you're not staying onsite. We prefer to rest by putting our feet up and eating slowly at a counter service restaurant. 4. We took packaged peanut butter & crackers and juicy juice for DD to snack on. We requested tap water at counter service places, which was free. This saves quite a bit of money, if you're on a budget.
5. Build in a down day -- it really helps you refresh.
Disneyland 1982
WDW:
Off-Site:
Aug. 1983, May 1985, May 1987, Oct. 1996
Polynesian July 1999
March 2001--Buena Vista Suites
We arrived by opening time. We were greeted by two green soldiers in the parking lot and went directly to RockNRoller Coaster to pickup fast passes. Then we waited in line approx. 30minutes for Tower of Terror. Daughter liked this ride--she was a little scared during the dark/ghost part, but once the doors were open & the drops occurred, she was squealing in delight. We were dropped numerous times--a few more than I expected! Also, I was trying to hold on to DD, as with each drop, her bottom came up several inches off the seat. After this we were headed to Beauty & the Beast show, but it was standing room only, so we went to nearby shops instead. I found great, cheap souvenirs at "Mouse about the House" -- Mickey-shaped, scented, glycerin hand soaps for only $1 each -- assorted colors. Across the street, we met Pinocchio, Gideon, & Jiminy Cricket. Then we returned for the next showing of Beauty and the Beast and got 3rd row, center seats. (First 2 rows were roped off). Some CMs sat in front of us, and asked afterward if we liked the costumes, as they designed/made them. Then we rode RnR, using fast passes and child swap. This was awesome! DH thinks this ride got his sinuses screwed up, as he began to feel bad shortly after and had problems the remainder of the trip. Grandparents decided to hop to Epcot and visit the countries more in-depth, and Dh, DD, & I headed to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid (15-20min), followed by Bear in the Big Blue House (10min). Then we had lunch at ??? near muppets, I think. DH had polish sausage with kraut, dd & I each had chicken nuggets kids meals. Total: $15. As we entered Backstage Pass, it began to rain (downpour, actually). Rain was ending as we finished the Backlot Tour. DH had developed a terrible headache, so I took DD to the Shrunk the Kids play area while he relaxed in the shade. She enjoyed this area, but many older kids (8-9) were running wild and I was afraid she would get hurt. Plus, she would climb a ladder and slide down a slide around the corner (i.e. out of view), so it was difficult to keep a close eye on her. After 15-20 minutes, we went to shop, and purchased a plush Pluto. We collect these. We have Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Kanga w/ Roo, Simba, Nala, Zazu, Sebastian, a Dalmation, Lady, Tramp, Happy, Bambi, Dale, Sumbo, Donald, Pinocchio. I refrained from buying any of the toy monorails that were cute. Although the park was scheduled to close at 7:00, they announced they would be adding an 8:30 Fantasmic! show, and keeping RnR and ToT open until 8:30. Hurray!! Now we didn't have to worry about missing Fantasmic. For supper we ate two individual pepperoni pizzas from ???, with tap water, $12. DD ate 1/2 of mine, so I walked over to a nearby fruit stand and purchased a banana and a large dill pickle--just under $2 for both. Though not scheduled to meet with grandparents until 7:30, they went walking by as we sat eating, so we made it to the 7:00 Fantasmic! after all -- standing room only, but well worth it. Very good show. This was an EE day and was the most crowded we saw during the week we were there. Weather was warm and humid, cool after sunset.
Thursday 3/15: (last day -- boo hoo). We parked at TTC and took monorail to Epcot. We got fast passes for Test Track, stood in line about 20 minutes to ride Test Track, then rode again using FP. DD loved this ride -- she wanted to ride again and again. NOTE: We got in line for this ride at 8:55, 5 minutes before official opening. It seemed most everything opened early. We were going to do Spaceship Earth after this, but there was quite a line there, so we abandoned that plan and took the monorail back to TTC, then the boat launch to Magic Kingdom. We got FP for Buzz Lightyear and waited about 30 min. for Space Mountain, using child swap. Then we used our FP for Buzz-- DD scored 400, I scored 2900, and everyone else seemed to be scoring about 39,000!! Obviously, I didn't know what I was doing. DH told me I was supposed to be aiming my red light at the targets. I had a red light??? Better luck next time, I guess. This was fun, but I would not wait in line 40+ minutes to ride it. After this we went to Toontown in search of characters. We met Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. We looked in Minnie's house, then back to Fantasyland. We stopped for lunch at Pinocchio's Village Haus-- Doublecheeseburger w/ fries & lg. coke for Dh, Kids hotdog meal for DD, and two kids hotdog meals for me (hey, it was cheaper than a large hotdog & lg coke). Total: $18. We sat by the Small World window and DD waved at all the people as their boats began the ride. We got FP for Peter Pan, went to Haunted Mansion. The wait time for HM was posted as 40 minutes, but it actually only took about 25 minutes. Then we rode Small World (10-15min) and used FP for Peter Pan. It was EE day today for MK, and was pretty crowded, but it was nearing 3:00 now and had cleared out considerably. DH was feeling better now, and had decided to stay. We decided to go to Big Thunder Mtn, and managed to wade through the parade traffic. The wait here was about 25 minutes. After this ride, we went to Pirates of Caribbean (10min), where we encountered Captain Hook & Mr. Smee near the exit. As we got closer to them, DD began getting frightened, and she would only cling to me and not look Captain Hook in the eye. Mr. Smee was very comforting, patting her hand and head. I said, "See, they're nice," and Captain Hook shook his head no. (didn't help matters!) We then went to the Jungle Cruise (10-15min) and the Tiki Room (15min). After this, we headed toward Main Street, and took our traditional family picture in front of the castle. Then Grandma & I decided to shop along Main Street, while Grandpa, DH, & DD went to find a parade viewing spot. I bought a plush Daisy Duck for my daughter, who had picked it up several times throughout the parks. Then we found the rest of our party, and sat on a curb near the exit, for a great view of MSEP. We left following the parade, and took the boat launch back to TTC. We got to see part of the Electrical Water Pageant on our way. It's so bittersweet, gazing at that beautiful castle, as you're leaving. This night, we ate supper at Olive Garden. Weather today was hot -- 88 and fairly humid. There was a 10minute downpour as we arrived in the parking lot this morning and it was mostly sunny from noon on.
Friday, 3/16: Departure day
Well, to break up the long drive (17.5 hours plus stops), we decided to spend the night in Biloxi. We stayed at Isle of Capri casino & hotel. We took a brief, driving tour of Southern Mississippi University's campus. We departed Saturday 3/17 around 10:30am, encountered some traffic problems, stopped in Little Rock for supper, and arrived home after 11:00 pm.
Final Thoughts: 1. Use Fast Pass -- it really saves you some wait time. 2. Avoid EE days, as these parks are noticeably more crowded. (This was not really possible for us, as we wanted to begin and end with MK, and has PS for another day). 3. We did not take breaks away from the parks. Many people recommend this, but it takes so much time if you're not staying onsite. We prefer to rest by putting our feet up and eating slowly at a counter service restaurant. 4. We took packaged peanut butter & crackers and juicy juice for DD to snack on. We requested tap water at counter service places, which was free. This saves quite a bit of money, if you're on a budget.
5. Build in a down day -- it really helps you refresh.
Disneyland 1982
WDW:
Off-Site:
Aug. 1983, May 1985, May 1987, Oct. 1996
Polynesian July 1999
March 2001--Buena Vista Suites
