My 1st Disney Report 12/30-1/13

[antree]

I will put it all in one thread, if I can figure it out. I hope this isn't to long or boring to any of you.

There were 13 of us the first week, this report will be mainly about my family which is;


Me-30ish, 1st Disney trip Jan. 1998, it was Love in 1st sight.
DH-40, 1998 was our first trip ever to Disney.
DD-11 until March 1st, was only 3 on 1st trip has been there 12 times.
DS-4 as of Jan., was 10 mos on 1st trip has been there 6 times and wants to live in Disney with Mommy.

Half of us flew down and the other half drove.
My family decided to drive to keep cost down, buying 4 tickets to fly on a Holiday wasn't in our budget, plus I was scared with my son allergy.
My Aunt and Uncle drove too. They live down the street from us.
2 Sisters, 2 BIL's, 2 Nieces and 1 boyfriend flew South west. They meet us there on the 30th.

We left our house at 7am on Thursday Dec. 29th. The drive was as good as it could be,
no traffic until we hit Florida.
My 3yr old was thrilled when he got up the morning we left, he was happy to be
driving, he went screaming into my DD's room that we were driving to Disney and not
flying so now he "won't throw up again". He got very sick on the plane when we went last March. So now he is afraid to fly. My DD wasn't happy about driving.

We get on the rode and DS tells us he won't eat intil he gets to Disney, he wasnts a Toaster Struddle and he is not eating until he gets to Disney so he can go to the food store and buy one. DD is complaining that she wants to watch a DVD but the player is in my Aunt's car and she has to wait until we see them. So the first 2 hrs was a little rough.
I finally get my son to eat a banana and DD gets the DVD when we hit Maryland, we left before my Aunt and Uncle but with no traffic they caught up to us and we can get the player.
The ride now goes smoothly, alot of potty breaks for the 3yr old.
We stop for the night in Georgia, it was about 11pm.

Next, Day 1

 

[antree]

Day 1,

Friday, we get back on the rode at 8am, hit some traffic in Florida, but we make it to the Swan by 13:30pm. When we went throught the arch saying "Walt Disney World" my son went wild screaming and kicking, I never see him so excited as he is when he sees that sign. My video camera is packed in the luggage{ Why did I do that?}. So I took pictures of him screaming. I hope they come out. At the last minute my camera broke and I had to borrow my brothers. I hate not using my own camera. I hope my pictures come out good.
We check in and our room is not ready so we call the rest of the family and tell themto me us in Epcot, we have The Candle light package tonight. We get outside behide the Hotel towards Epcot and my DS is so excited he is screaming " I am in Walt Disney World", he calls my mom and tells her he is in "Downtown Disney World" he just couldn't control himself.
The weather is great, actually it is hot walking to Epcot. We were still dressed for colder weather. To tell the truth we packed for cold weather and only needed it about 3 days out of 15. My DD is not happy yet she wants to see her cousin, it is her first time in Disney and she is afraid she will get on a ride before we catch up to her.
My Aunt, Uncle and DH go to France for pastries while my DD and DS and I go to Norway. I just don't like France. We stop in America and get my son som fries and to buy a blank video tape for the camera. I talk to my sister and tell her to meet us in Norway. Well the line was out the door and around the building.
So I call everyone and tell them I am going to Electric Umbrella to get DD some food. I run into my sister and notice she has her Candle Light Badge, OMG I forgot to get ours. So I call my DH again and tell them we forgot to get it. So now it is almost 3pm, if we eat now we won't eat dinner which is at 5. So we all head to Guest Services to Check in for the Candle Light. They tell us to go back to America and check in there, are you kidding I just came from there. It is now 3:30 and the kids want to do SpaceShip Earth
and dinner is at 5. So we decide we will do the ride then check in. I don't know if it changed ot I forgot about it, it has been awhile since I was in there but it seemed different to me. I haven't rode it in over a year, can I forget that much? it is now about 4pm and we to check in, so we go back to Guest Service and ask them if we can just go straight to the resturant, no that would be to easy, he says go to America. We will never make it. My Uncle decides to go in and bypass the guy at the door who is telling us to go to America. So waht does the counter person say, "We can check you in here".
Well, that is not what the guy at the door is saying. So the counter person says "We tell people to go to America when we are too busy in here", Hello - No One Is In Here! we are the only ones.
Anyway we get checked in and off to Canada for dinner.
we have steak and Cheese Soup, mmm, so good.
We had to pass on their bread and pretzels sticks because my son has a Peanut and Tree Nut Allergy and their bread is a big NO-NO.

Next we went to England so my son can play with the Thomas theTrain set up they have there. While we were there we get a group photo all 13 of us with Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger. I have never seen all of them together so that was fun.
This was my son's first interaction with the characters this trip and can you believe it, he was scared to death, he wouldn't go up to them. What is going on we were just here in March and we couldn't keep him away from them. Now he won't go near them, and that is how the whole trip went. I had to carry him up to them kicking and stand him there, get them to start interacting with him, then he was fine. I would never take a screaming kid up to them but he has been there 6 times ne knows them and talks about them all the time, I just had to get him to warm up again. He did stand for pictures I just had to carry him to them. After our picture we went and got in line for the Candle light, it was wonderful like always and Steve Chapman was good too.
My DS fell asleep during it but he did enjoy what he saw. He was a little upset he missed the song "Do you Hear what I Hear". That is his favorite song, I video it for him.
My DD and 13 yr old niece got in trouble by a cast member for talking to loud, I wish the people in front of me said something to me instead of going to the cast memeber. They were just excited about being together.

After the show we watched the fireworks, I can not tell you how amazing they were, when the did "Let there be Peace on Earth" it brought tears to my eyes. The fireworks left you with your mouth open wide and speechless.
We headed back to the Swan to unpack and the guys went to ESPN to get us some Dingers.
Now about the Swan, the beds are wonderful, even the chair I think was down feathers, but the room could have been cleaner, My Aunt thought is was to dirty and refuses to
stay there again. Under the bed had trash, a watch box was still in the closet, it seemed the maid only cleaned the surface she didn't move anything to clean. 6 of us shared a room 4 adults and 2 childern, I didn't feel to packed in. hey it was for only 2 nights and we are in Disney.

Maria

 

[VanniGirl]

Glad you got the posting worked out - looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[amburger]

Great trip report so far. Your son sounds so cute about getting so excited!

 

[antree]

Day 2, New Years Eve.

It is going to be 80 today, we got up around 10am, and wanted to eat breakfast. It is now 11am and there is no place in the hotel that is still serving breakfast.
We walk over to Boardwalk to go to The Bakery, but then decided to go to Downtown instead and eat at Earl of Sandwitch. I never ate here before so I was excited to try it. I had the garden salad and the dressing was delicious, it really made the salad. The kids had grill cheese, neither one of them would eat it, it just wasn't good. My Aunt and Uncle had the soup, I think cheese. They love it, I wasn't crazy about it. My DS and DD ran around in the fountains for a while, then we went to the Christmas store. They were having 30% off, so I wanted to get the Mickey Xmas Balls and have our names put on them. My DS picks out the white one, I ask my DD what color she wants and guess what she wants the white. Now there is 4 in the set, 4 different colors and they both pick out white. So now she is mad, he is crying so I put them back and figure I'll do it another day without them there. {by the way I never got to do it and they went off sale}

It is now 2pm and we have to head back to get showers, we have dinner reservations for 5:30 at Shula's Steak House.
The rest of the family meets us at 5:00 in the lobby of The Swan. I go looking for some fries for my son, first we couldn't get breakfast, now I can't get fries. There really isn't any place fast to eat in The Swan, so we head to the Dolphin. While I check in at the resturant my DH goes to get my son fries, there will be nothing he will eat at dinner.

As everyone gets seated I go and get my DH, he is still waiting for the fries. He tried tipping the waitress and it confused her, they had to call a manager out. They were all messed up.

Back at the Shula's there were 13 of us so they put us in a Private room. It was really nice, but I would have liked to been with the crowd to hear all the excitment of the night. They did bring us in hats, when we asked. Dh and I had the Steak which was really good, the Stuff Potatoe was OK, the Tomatoe Beef Salad was good too. DD had just the creamed spinach and ceaser salad, she really liked them both and DS had his fries.

It is now about 7pm so we walk to the Boardwalk, they have a DJ on the Green. He was really good and they played alot of great songs, we all danced and had a good time.
I got it all on video. About 9 we head to Epcot. No problem getting in at all.
The crowds were unbelieveable. My Aunt needs to run off, she says meet her at Japan, she thinks that is were the DJ is that she wants to stay at. We pass Japan and no DJ, so I say, she must have been thinking China we will head there. My DD and niece wants to stay at Italy, so they are miserable. But I danced with my DS and had fun. The girls got into it a little. It is 11pm and my Aunt hasn't shown up, we can't call them they forgot their phone at the Hotel. Finally they called, I don't know from where, but at least we heard from them. They say they have been standing at Italy looking for us. I told them what happened, no DJ at Japan so we went to China, they met up to us and my Aunt is mad. She said, "I said either Japan ot the next DJ" so for 2 hrs we were at the wrong stand. I'm sorry I didn't hear you say that, the noise here is so loud how can you hear anything. We head back to Italy where they were and where the girls wanted to be from the start, so actually we walked right by them, and if I stopped for the girls we would have seen them. Oh well everyone is happy now. The girls finally dance and had a good time.

At 10 min to 12 I call my mom, I know from pass expirence, I won't get through at midnight. So my son talks to my mom while we watch the fire works. Did I say that last nights fireworks left me speechless, well you had to see New Years Eve fireworks, all I can say is OMG you had to be there. Fireworks going off from all directions, the ground was vibrating, the crowd was screaming, we even seen MK's fireworks in the background. My son is on the phone screaming "Can you hear it Grandmom" It was the Best Time Ever! I will never forget it, I held the video camera up and just taped whatever was in my way.

We got back to The Swan around 1:30 and just melted into our heavenly beds.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying your report so far ~ Can't wait to read more

 

[antree]

Day 3,

Today we checked out of the Swan and into the Boardwalk. I requested the 5 floor room 5056, of course the hotel is booked solid and I cannot get the room. They tell me they have the 3rd floor open room 3056 same view. I told them that I knew a tree was there and it would block the view, but it was that room or no room. It happen to be 3 doors down from my Aunt so it worked out good as far as seeing them. The veiw was horrible, if you can call it a view. The tree was dead center of our balcony, we could not see around it and I paid perferred room points for this.

After we check in we are off to the Grand Floridian, we have 11am reservations for The Grand Floridian Cafe. All 13 of us meet at the resturant, breakfast is always good here.
Our waiter was great, my Aunt asked for a straw and the only way he would give it us if we answered some Disney Trivia. So that is how the whole breakfast went, he would ask us questions and then the kids tried to stump him with questions. He really stumped us with the question, "All trash cans in all the parks are the same amount of distance away from each other, what is the distance and why?" I will give you the answer at then end of this report.

After breakfast we head to MK, a bit busy today but not as bad as we thought it would be. We let my DD and Niece go off on their own, for the first time ever, I thought it would give her a chance to show her cousin, the rides she likes. My DD rode Space Mountain for the first time and loved it, she did all the coaster for the first time this trip. We went right to Buzz Light Year ride, because I knew it was going down for rehab, and this was our only day to ride it. Then we did the Transit around Tomorrow Land, this was my son's favorite ride, we did it too many times this trip. He called it the Space Mountain Ride, because he got to see the inside of it, and he loved going in to the dark.
This ride use to be my DD favorite ride too at that age. It was fun seeing him get excited over the same things she use to get excited about at that age. We fast passed Pooh and went to Haunted Mansion. Now my son knows this ride, we try calling it the Mansion, but he knew it was haunted and was afraid, he doesn't like the screaming part of it, in the stretching room, or the cementary we convinced him it was just the people playing and rode it without a problem. We rode pooh did the playground, caught up with DD and grabbed Casey's hotdogs and then went back to Boardwalk to unpack. MK is open until 3 am so we will go back later when the crowds die down.
We hit the Hot tub back at the Hotel, took showers and was back at MK by 10pm just in time to see Wishes. I love those fireworks. My DS fell alseep during them. It was late and the kids were tired. So about 12am my family left while everyone else stayed and had a good time. They said they got to ride everything without a wait.

So now the answer to the question. In all the parks the trash cans are the same distance apart, what is the distance and why?
Answer; They are 50ft apart, beacause Walt followed people around to see how long they would hold on to trash before dropping it, and they walked 50ft looking for trash cans before they just drop it.


Day 4,
Today we went to MGM, I love the walk from Boardwalk to MGM, DD would rather take the boat, walking always seems quicker then waiting for that boat. I took my son to see Beauty and the Beast, while DH, DD, My Aunt and Uncle went on TOT and RNRC. This is the first time my DD does the coaster and it became her favorite ride. She tried doing it last year but she couldn't go through with it. This year she was going to prove to My brother and DH that she can do, and she did Great. My DS on the other hand was having a hard time doing anything this trip. He was afraid of The BNTB Show, he said the Beast was too scray when he was mad. After the show I go do some shopping because now my DD has met up with some more of the family and she is going to ride TOT and RNRC with them, they did it about 3x each ride. After they were finished we had Ressies for SCI-Fi at 3pm so we head over there. Everyone enjoyed it there. Next was Muppets, then everyone went to see the Stunt Show, while I took the kids to see Characters. We seen Mickey, JOJO and Donald, then ran to Chicken Little. Of course my son was afraid to go up to them but with some coaching I get him up there. The Characters were so funny, My DD had a shirt on the says "No Pictures Please" so the characters gave her a hard time about getting pictures. Goliath refused to get in the picture, Donald covered her face and Abby Mallard from Chicken Little turned her around and wouldn't let her look at the camera for pictures. DD had a good time with it. We then meet up with DH and did BackLot Tour. DS wasn't sure about it, but this time around the water sceen made DD jump. It now was time for The Osborne Lights. This was the first time I seen it since they moved the lights. I know alot of people don't like it here, but it really didn't matter to me, I liked it just the same. We did pictures with Santa Goofy and Pluto, I had some lady push her way in front of us to get her kids a head of mine. So rude and she didn't even look at us. She tried the same thing at Pluto too. After pics DH, DD and DN did The Great Movie Ride and I headed back to the hotel to feed DS before we went to DTD. We did some shopping, grabbed a Frozen Mocha at Giradellies, then went to the West Side so my DH can buy his Oakley Sunglasses, it was a Christmas gift to him from me.
It took us an 1hr or more to pick out a pair. Then we head back to our room. The days are beautiful and the nights have been chilly.

Maria

 

[TLinden16]

Sounds like you are off to a great start on your trip! I love the Boardwalk! I think I stayed in room 3056 once. LOL

 

[dizneycc]

Don't leave me hanging!!! I'm enjoying your report so much! Where's the rest?

 

[OhMari]

Oh, please come back and post the rest of your trip. I know life gets busy, but please!!

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

We are thinking of heading down for the week of New Years Eve this year so I am really interested in your report. We'd be there from 12/29 to 1/5. How crowded was Epcot on NYE? We would not be staying onsite, but rather offsite and this worries me.

I am really enjoying your report and can't wait to read more.

 

[antree]

NJOYURLIFE, staying offsite might be a problem, when we were there for New Years 2000 they had closed all the roads going into Disney by 10:30 am. So if you weren't on property you couldn't get near Disney. I swear it was more busy this year then in 2000. Epcot this year was PACKED, but it was GREAT! I would do it every year if my DH would let me. There were people everywhere, but we never left the countries, we stayed at the DJ's stand and danced, drank and had a great time. There is at least 5 different stands, we were able to get on to the dance floors without a problem. When we went walking from one stand to another is when we felt the crowds, there were just so many people that it was hard to keep an eye on anyone in our party. The fireworks at the end are amazing and the feeling is over whelming, the crowds the cheering it is a wonderful feeling. I recommend New Years, but alot of people wouldn't because of the crowds. Just know that New Years Eve is not a day to tour the parks, it is just a day to enjoy being there.

Maria

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

Thanks Maria! We have the offsite timeshare, but I am thinking of just staying onsite for 2 nights. It sounds like it would be worth it.

Just curious, were your children hard to keep track of and did they really enjoy it?

I didn't realize that there would be dancing and music. It sounds like a lot of fun.

 

[antree]

My DD was she was 11 at the time and she was with her cousin so they wanted to walk ahead of us and with so many people I kept losing her. I couldn't see her once she got ahead of me, but she did have her cell phone, so I could call her and say "STOP WALKING". My son, I put in a stroller and I would let him walk when the crowds were thick, like New Years Eve. YES, they enjoyed theirself very much, they love being there New Years as much as I do. The crowd didn't bother them one bit.

Maria

 

[antree]

I am sorry it has been a while just so much going on with sick family members.

So lets continue,

There were 13 of us the first week, this report will be mainly about my family which is;


Me-30ish, 1st Disney trip Jan. 1998, it was Love in 1st sight.
DH-40, 1998 was our first trip ever to Disney.
DD-11 until March 1st, was only 3 on 1st trip has been there 12 times.
DS-4 as of Jan., was 10 mos on 1st trip has been there 6 times and wants to live in Disney with Mommy.


Day 5
We go to Mk this morning and ride the Train around the park my 3 yr old Loves trains. I get a phone call from one of my sisters, telling me to call my other sister - who she is with and tells me to talk to her and my DN and DD because everyone is fighting, they are in Epcot and I am in MK. Now you are there with them why do I have to call . So I do, I think it is just to much for my DN and one sister, it really is their first time here and it is overwhelming to them. DN is giving my sister {her Aunt} a hard time, DD wants to show them everything since they leave tomorrow. The lines for Soarin and Mission Space are too long the kids want to wait my sister wants to leave. I tell the kids it's time to come to MK we have lunch ressies soon and I tell my sister to call my DN's Mother if she is having a hard time with her, she just wants to go home she misses her Mom. Crisis is now over.
Today we have Castle reservations for Lunch, this is first time here for lunch. There was 9 of us but they couldn't sit us together or at the same time, but in the end we only sat a table apart and a few mins. behind our group of 3 and we were a party of 6. Before we get seated I try to get my kids picture with Cinderella, DD 11 doesn't want to be bothered with it, DS 3 is scared, so I drag him up there like I have been the last couple of days, once he gets up there he is fine and the picture looks Great. But No, I didn't buy it, I think $35.00 is just too much. Lunch wasn't good, I just didn't like the type of food they had. I don't think anyone in the party really liked it. Well at least we tried it. After Lunch we just tried to get on all the rides we can, my neice and sister leaves tomorrow. I take my neice with us and my sister and her boyfriend goes off on their own they haven't been alone all week. {but no one thought about me and my DH this week, hey what about our alone time? we were there with 13 people for 2 weeks, we never even got family time this vacation}. Nothing much happens today, we end up at Downtown for dinner at Wolf Gang Puck on the West Side. We actually don't eat dinner until about 10pm, which we are use too, but my DN isn't she calls her mom from the resturant, she is upset and can't wait to get home. My DS has a peanut and tree nut allergy so the chef comes and talks to us. He doesn't recommend the bread they serve or the fries which my son loves or the salad. So I get spagetti and share it with him, they do bring us a different bread but it is not as good, a little dry. This is one place I might not go back to, they were good and helped with the allergy but just to many foods there to worry about. They use alot of nuts to cook with. We head back and call it a night. Tomorrow 3 people leave maybe I can get some time alone with just my family.

Day 6

My niece stayed with us last night so I can take her and DD to Epcot, they each picked a Pearl earlier in the week and wanted to get it set. They both got a necklace, my DN is giving hers to her mother.We get there for 11 but they can't get it set until 12 and then it will take a half an hour. So we walk to Morroco my DD takes a picture of me dressed up pretending to be a belly dancer. The kids want to wait for their necklaces so I sit outside and finally get a little time alone. I enjoy just sitting or walking slowly alone around the countries it is so relaxing . by 1 pm we are heading to MGM to meet up with my 2 sisters and there families. My DH and DS are staying at the hotel until the first party leaves, my DS has been waiting to just stay in and play with the new toys he bought.
At MGM we meet up with 6 of the group the kids do TOT and RNRC. My one sister shops and the other just sits and watches the street shows while I just take the time again to walk and look around without anyone. It is so nice today, MGM isn't that busy. I buy some tinkerbell stuff for my DD and have it sent to the room. I always buy something for the kids that they don't know about and give it to them when we get home, it gives them something to get excited about after the vacation is over.
everyone meets back up about, we sit a few mins. then it is time for sister #1 and her boyfriend and DN to leave, Magical Express is picking them up at 3:30. We say our good-byes. 3 people down to many are still staying. Sister #2 and her family heads to MK I go back to the Boardwalk with DD to meet up with DH and DS. They want to take the boat to Epcot so off we go to meet my Aunt and Uncle. We watch the band in Canada, OMG what is their name, I can't remeber it? I really want to get the CD, every year I say it but I haven't done it.
We eat at Electric Umbrella and then head to Universe of Energy,
Test Track for fast pass and then over to the Figment Ride.
We go to Character Connection, I really wish they didn't take away the bus, I enjoyed seeing it pull up. I get my son to take the pictures, you think he would be use to it by now, nope not yet. Then we head to Innoventions and do "Where's the Fire"
It is is cute the kids enjoy it, we ended up doing it a few times this trip. DD and I head to the dance pad and see how long we can make it. But the cast member there is not pleasant, which ticks my DD off so she wasn't into it. She wants to pick the song but the cast member won't let her and tells her he will pick it, no one else is waiting to play, we were the only ones there the whole time . We just wanted to enjoy it since no one was there, but he wouldn't let us really get into it and play, just one time then we had to leave. So what we did was get back in line, but we were the only ones in line. It was crazy. After that we went to MK to see the fireworks. Tomorrow morning we are going back to Epcot early to ride Soarin' it will be the first time for me and my DH.

 

[OhMari]

We watch the band in Canada, OMG what is their name, I can't remeber it? I really want to get the CD, every year I say it but I haven't done it.

I think the band is called Off Kilter? I could be wrong, but I heard that name a couple of times.

I hope your family members are feeling better. I got hit with a sinus cold/cough it lasted almost a month.

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

Hope everyone is feeling better.