I thought that title might get your attention, now I’ll explain.
Our family of 6 planned for over a year for our first ever Disney trip in October. On the first day of our trip at MK, one of my sons started running fever in the afternoon. The next morning we took him to an urgent care clinic and he was diagnosed with swine flu. By that evening, all 4 of my kids were running fever and sick. We packed up and left early the next morning and by the time we made the long drive home, dh and I were both sick as well. We were all miserable, heartbroken and so disappointed. A week or so later, I posted our “sad trip report”, on the DIS board. Little did I know how our luck was going to turn around. . .
A CM happened to read our trip report and contacted me. This wonderful CM sent my kids a Disney care package which really lifted their spirits and helped them believe in Disney magic! Dh and I were determined to get to Disney again as soon as possible so we started making plans for a July trip. When the CM found out we were returning, the CM decided to dump a whole bucket load of pixie dust on our family!!!!! Our first night of our trip, we were given VIP seating at Fantasmic! As my dh put it was like getting 50 yard line seats. The seats were amazing! It was unbelievable to not have to wait in the long line of people who were told standing room only at 7:40!!! Equally as amazing was having the chance to meet the CM who made it all possible! Fantasmic was beyond our expectations. Our whole family loved it! Not only was the show unbelievable, it was so interesting to have the CM share his/her knowledge of Disney with us. We had a ton of questions and the CM patiently answered every one! Very neat.
My dd received the next special treat. Her all time favorite Disney princess is Snow White. On our Epcot Day, the CM arranged for our dd to have a meet and greet with Snow White. Our dd who is 3 has been talking about meeting Snow White since before our October trip! Then when her wish came true, she got very shy. My 5 year old son also developed what my dh called a “hot chick complex” and was very shy around Snow White too. Our family pic with Snow White has my dd hiding on my shoulder and my son hiding by Daddy. But, it was still tons of fun. Snow White was so true to character. Again, it was amazing! Snow White took the time to talk to each one of my kids. She took them over to the wishing well and told them a story and let them make a wish. Even though dd was shy at the time, she has talked and talked about meeting Snow White since then. It was definitely the highlight of her trip. While all of this was going on, our CM friend was talking to another CM. When we finished up, we were offered VIP seats for Illuminations. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Dh and I couldn’t believe all this was happening to our family. Our luck usually runs the other direction! Although we had not originally planned to stay for the show, we quickly made plans to take a midday break to give our kids time to rest. We arrived back at Epcot rode Spaceship Earth, and Maelstrom with FPs and then went to the Mexico boat dock. At 8:30 we were taken to the end of the boat dock near Mexico and we watched Illuminations from there. Wow! Wow! Wow! There was one point in the show where fireworks came from behind us. Unreal! My kids were absolutely amazed. It was so loud; they had headphones for the little ones to wear. We felt like we were right in the middle of the show. So cool. It was also neat to be right next to the speed boats they keep on standby in case they need to fix something mid show. The CMs working Illuminations were so kind to my kids. Here again we were lucky to have the CMs share their knowledge of Disney with us. We learned things we never would have known otherwise. It was fascinating!
Our next magical moment came when we visited AK. Our CM friend arranged for my boys and I to be in the Jammin Jungle Parade. My dd couldn’t be in the parade because you have to be at least 4 years old. So, her and Daddy watched, took pics, and visited with our CM friend while we were in the parade. Being in the parade was unbelievable! It was so cool! Okay not cool because it was HOT, but you know what I mean. We were on Goofy Gator’s float. My boys and I had a blast! It was fun waving and smiling at everyone. By the end of it, my 5 year old had tuckered out and was laying his head on my lap. But, he still had his little arm up in the arm waving “hang loose” at everyone. It was hilarious! Our faces hurt from smiling so much! We received a neat little certificate and a photopass with pics of us in the parade.
Even just one of these experiences would have “made” our trip! But, to have all of them in one trip? Absolutely unbelievable!!!! What a turnaround from our failed October trip! Our trip was so amazing and so much fun. I’m sad to be home, but so happy at the way our trip turned out. Besides all of these amazing experiences, we also had a blast in the parks! We did rope drop every day. My older kids grumbled the first day about getting up so early, but when they realized how many rides we could do without long waits first thing in the morning, they were up early without fussing the rest of the week. By mid day the parks seemed crazy crowded to me. It was HOT, but we’re from Texas, so the heat was very comparable to what we’re used to. It’s just that at home we’re not out in the heat all day long! But to compensate we drank tons of water and tried to cool off at shows when the heat got bad.
There’s always a lot of talk on this board about CMs and other park guests. My family was so impressed all week long with how nice ALL of the CMs were. Yes, at times there were CMs who told people where they could or could not stand for parades etc, but it was all done very nicely. Really they were just doing their jobs. There was an older lady behind us at one of the parades who had brought her fold up chair to sit on. A CM kindly told her they weren’t allowed. When the lady told her she couldn’t stand for the whole parade and had come just to see the Main Street Electrical Parade, the CM left and came back with a wheelchair for her! It was all handled so politely and kindly and the CM addressed the lady as “Princess” the whole time! One of my sons wore his birthday button all week and each day he received so many happy birthday wishes- pretty cool! As far as other park guests, we didn’t notice anything we thought was crazy. In fact we met some really nice families and it was fun to talk to people from other parts of the country. Tour groups were there, but they were there having a good time just like the rest of us. Our overall impression of Disney was “Fantasmic!” (which is our new family word!). We felt like the parks were so well maintained and amazingly clean for the amount of people in them each days.
If you have any questions, ask away. I’ll be happy to answer them.
Our family of 6 planned for over a year for our first ever Disney trip in October. On the first day of our trip at MK, one of my sons started running fever in the afternoon. The next morning we took him to an urgent care clinic and he was diagnosed with swine flu. By that evening, all 4 of my kids were running fever and sick. We packed up and left early the next morning and by the time we made the long drive home, dh and I were both sick as well. We were all miserable, heartbroken and so disappointed. A week or so later, I posted our “sad trip report”, on the DIS board. Little did I know how our luck was going to turn around. . .
A CM happened to read our trip report and contacted me. This wonderful CM sent my kids a Disney care package which really lifted their spirits and helped them believe in Disney magic! Dh and I were determined to get to Disney again as soon as possible so we started making plans for a July trip. When the CM found out we were returning, the CM decided to dump a whole bucket load of pixie dust on our family!!!!! Our first night of our trip, we were given VIP seating at Fantasmic! As my dh put it was like getting 50 yard line seats. The seats were amazing! It was unbelievable to not have to wait in the long line of people who were told standing room only at 7:40!!! Equally as amazing was having the chance to meet the CM who made it all possible! Fantasmic was beyond our expectations. Our whole family loved it! Not only was the show unbelievable, it was so interesting to have the CM share his/her knowledge of Disney with us. We had a ton of questions and the CM patiently answered every one! Very neat.
My dd received the next special treat. Her all time favorite Disney princess is Snow White. On our Epcot Day, the CM arranged for our dd to have a meet and greet with Snow White. Our dd who is 3 has been talking about meeting Snow White since before our October trip! Then when her wish came true, she got very shy. My 5 year old son also developed what my dh called a “hot chick complex” and was very shy around Snow White too. Our family pic with Snow White has my dd hiding on my shoulder and my son hiding by Daddy. But, it was still tons of fun. Snow White was so true to character. Again, it was amazing! Snow White took the time to talk to each one of my kids. She took them over to the wishing well and told them a story and let them make a wish. Even though dd was shy at the time, she has talked and talked about meeting Snow White since then. It was definitely the highlight of her trip. While all of this was going on, our CM friend was talking to another CM. When we finished up, we were offered VIP seats for Illuminations. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Dh and I couldn’t believe all this was happening to our family. Our luck usually runs the other direction! Although we had not originally planned to stay for the show, we quickly made plans to take a midday break to give our kids time to rest. We arrived back at Epcot rode Spaceship Earth, and Maelstrom with FPs and then went to the Mexico boat dock. At 8:30 we were taken to the end of the boat dock near Mexico and we watched Illuminations from there. Wow! Wow! Wow! There was one point in the show where fireworks came from behind us. Unreal! My kids were absolutely amazed. It was so loud; they had headphones for the little ones to wear. We felt like we were right in the middle of the show. So cool. It was also neat to be right next to the speed boats they keep on standby in case they need to fix something mid show. The CMs working Illuminations were so kind to my kids. Here again we were lucky to have the CMs share their knowledge of Disney with us. We learned things we never would have known otherwise. It was fascinating!
Our next magical moment came when we visited AK. Our CM friend arranged for my boys and I to be in the Jammin Jungle Parade. My dd couldn’t be in the parade because you have to be at least 4 years old. So, her and Daddy watched, took pics, and visited with our CM friend while we were in the parade. Being in the parade was unbelievable! It was so cool! Okay not cool because it was HOT, but you know what I mean. We were on Goofy Gator’s float. My boys and I had a blast! It was fun waving and smiling at everyone. By the end of it, my 5 year old had tuckered out and was laying his head on my lap. But, he still had his little arm up in the arm waving “hang loose” at everyone. It was hilarious! Our faces hurt from smiling so much! We received a neat little certificate and a photopass with pics of us in the parade.
Even just one of these experiences would have “made” our trip! But, to have all of them in one trip? Absolutely unbelievable!!!! What a turnaround from our failed October trip! Our trip was so amazing and so much fun. I’m sad to be home, but so happy at the way our trip turned out. Besides all of these amazing experiences, we also had a blast in the parks! We did rope drop every day. My older kids grumbled the first day about getting up so early, but when they realized how many rides we could do without long waits first thing in the morning, they were up early without fussing the rest of the week. By mid day the parks seemed crazy crowded to me. It was HOT, but we’re from Texas, so the heat was very comparable to what we’re used to. It’s just that at home we’re not out in the heat all day long! But to compensate we drank tons of water and tried to cool off at shows when the heat got bad.
There’s always a lot of talk on this board about CMs and other park guests. My family was so impressed all week long with how nice ALL of the CMs were. Yes, at times there were CMs who told people where they could or could not stand for parades etc, but it was all done very nicely. Really they were just doing their jobs. There was an older lady behind us at one of the parades who had brought her fold up chair to sit on. A CM kindly told her they weren’t allowed. When the lady told her she couldn’t stand for the whole parade and had come just to see the Main Street Electrical Parade, the CM left and came back with a wheelchair for her! It was all handled so politely and kindly and the CM addressed the lady as “Princess” the whole time! One of my sons wore his birthday button all week and each day he received so many happy birthday wishes- pretty cool! As far as other park guests, we didn’t notice anything we thought was crazy. In fact we met some really nice families and it was fun to talk to people from other parts of the country. Tour groups were there, but they were there having a good time just like the rest of us. Our overall impression of Disney was “Fantasmic!” (which is our new family word!). We felt like the parks were so well maintained and amazingly clean for the amount of people in them each days.
If you have any questions, ask away. I’ll be happy to answer them.
And to make it worse, it was a book we had been using for a few years and it had the first autographs DD had gotten (since she was almost 3). My mistake, get a new book, don't risk losing one covering years.
