mackeysmom
Let's Go Mets!
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2003
- Messages
- 1,030
Cast of Characters:
Laura (me) - age 34
Joseph - age 7 - my nephew/Godson
Our flight out of JFK was at 10:45 am, and the car service was expected to arrive at my house at 8:00 am. I was all packed, so I just had to take a shower and wait for my sister to drop Joseph off at my house. The car service arrived at about 7:50, and my sister and Joseph showed up at about 8:15.
Joseph had absolutely no separation anxiety while he was saying goodbye to his mother and we were on our way. Check-in went smoothly and we made our way through security. We had a brief scare when security (jokingly) asked Joseph for i.d. and said he couldn't get on the plane without it. Joseph didn't understand that she was joking and looked like he was about to cry. She quickly realized what she had done and assured that as long as his mom (we look very much alike and I am used to people thinking I am his mother) had i.d., he was o.k.
We had breakfast in the terminal, boarded the plane on time and had a smooth flight. (Thank God for Jet Blue and their Direct TV - it really makes the 2 hours fly by - no pun intended). We landed and made our way to baggage claim. For me, the first real thing that signals the start of a WDW vacation is the monorail ride to baggage claim. At baggage claim, we were met by Monica from Tiffany Town Car. The luggage arrived and we were on our way to the All-Star Movies.
After about 20 minutes of "are we there yet", we pulled into the hotel. I checked in, while Joseph had some balloon animals made for him by a cast member in the lobby. Our room was ready - Fantasia Building #5, first floor room #5127. We walked to our room, and Joseph was amazed by the Fantasia pool. He made me promise that we would get to swim everyday. On the way to the room, we passed an area that smelled nasty. Joseph decided that it smelled like his dog's (Sheeba) breath, so we always referred to that area as "Sheeba's Breath". The room was a typical All-Star's room. My only complaint was that it was very damp the entire time. I played around with the a/c, but could never quite get rid of the dampness. Oh well, no big deal.
We dropped off our luggage, changed our clothes and made our way to the bus-stop. As we were walking out the door, we saw the Magic Kingdom bus getting ready to pull away. We ran after it, and the bus driver was nice enough to see us and stop. So far, so good. (I had heard horror stories about the All-Star's bus system).
We arrived at MK and made our way through security. The "Share A Dream Come True" parade was making its way down Main Street, but Joseph was eager to get on Splash Mountain so he didn't want to watch it. We took the railroad to Frontier land and found a 20 minute wait for Splash Mountain and a 30 minute wait for Big Thunder. We got Fast Passes for Big Thunder and waited on line for Splash Mountain. The 20 minutes went by pretty quickly and Joseph had a blast. After that, I bought Joseph some popcorn and we walked around a little until our FP window opened up. Big Thunder was great!!
The Haunted Mansion was next on our list - and it was pretty much a walk-on. After HM, Joseph wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear. As we walked through Fantasy Land, we stopped to see Mickey's Philharmagic. I had seen it in December, and thought Joseph would love it. He didn't want to see it, but I convinced him. He absolutely LOVED it, and asked if we could see it again at some point. We then rode the carousel and made our way to Tomorrow Land. The line for Buzz was only about 10 minutes. We rode it, but Joseph was disappointed that I beat him. We had to go on it again, and I purposely let him beat me. It was getting close to 7:00 so I asked him what he wanted to do before the park closed. He chose the Grand Prix Raceway. The wait time was only 10 minutes, so we got that in as well as the Mad Tea Party.
Wishes was getting ready to begin, but Joseph said he was hungry. Our Chef Mickey's PSs weren't until 8:30, but we took the chance and showed up early. (On the way out of the park and on the monorail, we got to see some of Wishes). Chef Mickey's was packed. I explained to the hostess that we were about an hour early, but was there anyway they could seat us earlier because Joseph was hungry and tired. She was very friendly and said that she would do her best. We posed for our Chef Mickey's picture, and less than five minutes later our pager was lighting up.
We were seated pretty close to the buffet, which was good because I was able to keep an eye on Joseph if he wanted to go up for seconds. We completely lucked out because Minnie, Chip, Dale, and Goofy were at our table within the first five minutes. We hung around until Mickey came by. At this point Joseph was pretty tired, so we took a cab from the Contemporary to the All-Star Movies. $20.00 with tip, but well worth not waiting for multiple buses.
I had Joseph take a shower, and he was in bed and asleep within two minutes. I unpacked, made a wake-up call and was in bed by 10:00. It was an exhausting day.
Overall, it was a very good day. If I had it to do over again, I would have taken a late flight the night before, checked in and had a good night's sleep before hitting the parks. Joseph was dragging a bit by the end of the night.
My biggest regret of the trip - buying Joseph a pressed penny book.
It is unbelievable how many of those machines exist in the parks, and carrying around a supply of clean pennies and quarters made my pocketbook VERY heavy. If the pressed pennies weren't bad enough - there were a handful of pressed quarter machines in the park. At $1.25 a pop, that starts to add up
The plan - we pretty much stayed on track with my original plan. The Chef Mickey's timing was a little off, but everything else went as planned.
Stay tuned for day 2 ....
Laura (me) - age 34
Joseph - age 7 - my nephew/Godson
Our flight out of JFK was at 10:45 am, and the car service was expected to arrive at my house at 8:00 am. I was all packed, so I just had to take a shower and wait for my sister to drop Joseph off at my house. The car service arrived at about 7:50, and my sister and Joseph showed up at about 8:15.
Joseph had absolutely no separation anxiety while he was saying goodbye to his mother and we were on our way. Check-in went smoothly and we made our way through security. We had a brief scare when security (jokingly) asked Joseph for i.d. and said he couldn't get on the plane without it. Joseph didn't understand that she was joking and looked like he was about to cry. She quickly realized what she had done and assured that as long as his mom (we look very much alike and I am used to people thinking I am his mother) had i.d., he was o.k.
We had breakfast in the terminal, boarded the plane on time and had a smooth flight. (Thank God for Jet Blue and their Direct TV - it really makes the 2 hours fly by - no pun intended). We landed and made our way to baggage claim. For me, the first real thing that signals the start of a WDW vacation is the monorail ride to baggage claim. At baggage claim, we were met by Monica from Tiffany Town Car. The luggage arrived and we were on our way to the All-Star Movies.
After about 20 minutes of "are we there yet", we pulled into the hotel. I checked in, while Joseph had some balloon animals made for him by a cast member in the lobby. Our room was ready - Fantasia Building #5, first floor room #5127. We walked to our room, and Joseph was amazed by the Fantasia pool. He made me promise that we would get to swim everyday. On the way to the room, we passed an area that smelled nasty. Joseph decided that it smelled like his dog's (Sheeba) breath, so we always referred to that area as "Sheeba's Breath". The room was a typical All-Star's room. My only complaint was that it was very damp the entire time. I played around with the a/c, but could never quite get rid of the dampness. Oh well, no big deal.
We dropped off our luggage, changed our clothes and made our way to the bus-stop. As we were walking out the door, we saw the Magic Kingdom bus getting ready to pull away. We ran after it, and the bus driver was nice enough to see us and stop. So far, so good. (I had heard horror stories about the All-Star's bus system).
We arrived at MK and made our way through security. The "Share A Dream Come True" parade was making its way down Main Street, but Joseph was eager to get on Splash Mountain so he didn't want to watch it. We took the railroad to Frontier land and found a 20 minute wait for Splash Mountain and a 30 minute wait for Big Thunder. We got Fast Passes for Big Thunder and waited on line for Splash Mountain. The 20 minutes went by pretty quickly and Joseph had a blast. After that, I bought Joseph some popcorn and we walked around a little until our FP window opened up. Big Thunder was great!!
The Haunted Mansion was next on our list - and it was pretty much a walk-on. After HM, Joseph wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear. As we walked through Fantasy Land, we stopped to see Mickey's Philharmagic. I had seen it in December, and thought Joseph would love it. He didn't want to see it, but I convinced him. He absolutely LOVED it, and asked if we could see it again at some point. We then rode the carousel and made our way to Tomorrow Land. The line for Buzz was only about 10 minutes. We rode it, but Joseph was disappointed that I beat him. We had to go on it again, and I purposely let him beat me. It was getting close to 7:00 so I asked him what he wanted to do before the park closed. He chose the Grand Prix Raceway. The wait time was only 10 minutes, so we got that in as well as the Mad Tea Party.
Wishes was getting ready to begin, but Joseph said he was hungry. Our Chef Mickey's PSs weren't until 8:30, but we took the chance and showed up early. (On the way out of the park and on the monorail, we got to see some of Wishes). Chef Mickey's was packed. I explained to the hostess that we were about an hour early, but was there anyway they could seat us earlier because Joseph was hungry and tired. She was very friendly and said that she would do her best. We posed for our Chef Mickey's picture, and less than five minutes later our pager was lighting up.
We were seated pretty close to the buffet, which was good because I was able to keep an eye on Joseph if he wanted to go up for seconds. We completely lucked out because Minnie, Chip, Dale, and Goofy were at our table within the first five minutes. We hung around until Mickey came by. At this point Joseph was pretty tired, so we took a cab from the Contemporary to the All-Star Movies. $20.00 with tip, but well worth not waiting for multiple buses.
I had Joseph take a shower, and he was in bed and asleep within two minutes. I unpacked, made a wake-up call and was in bed by 10:00. It was an exhausting day.
Overall, it was a very good day. If I had it to do over again, I would have taken a late flight the night before, checked in and had a good night's sleep before hitting the parks. Joseph was dragging a bit by the end of the night.
My biggest regret of the trip - buying Joseph a pressed penny book.
It is unbelievable how many of those machines exist in the parks, and carrying around a supply of clean pennies and quarters made my pocketbook VERY heavy. If the pressed pennies weren't bad enough - there were a handful of pressed quarter machines in the park. At $1.25 a pop, that starts to add up The plan - we pretty much stayed on track with my original plan. The Chef Mickey's timing was a little off, but everything else went as planned.
Stay tuned for day 2 ....
