My really really REAL trip report - Hotter than the face of the sun! August 2010

[LMDisneygirl]

After the late night laundry on Friday night, we took our time getting going again on Saturday morning. We were on a longer trip than usual thanks to the Tupperware conference, and that afforded us the time to sleep in a little on some days.

Look at how much fog there was in the air at 11:30am! Crazy! 3 of us wear glasses, and at least once a day we had to take them off and de-mist them (usually when we got off an air-conditioned bus at night).

We LOVE Typhoon Lagoon, so we were planning to head there, but it was raining so we had lunch at the Pop first. The pizza at the Pop wasn’t bad for food court pizza, and at the time we went it just cost 2 counter service meal credits for the big pizza (and you could still get the drink and desserts), so that was a pretty good deal for our family!

We also found out near the end of our trip that you could get a very delicious sundae for dessert at the Pop. You just tell the cashier that you’re planning to get a sundae, and they let you go eat your food and then go back for the sundae after you’re done with your meal

After the rain slowed down we headed for Typhoon Lagoon! See Greg’s happy smiling face as he DRIVES the newly rented car over to TL! SO happy!!

There was a light rain at TL when we got there, but the good news there is that a lot of people leave when it rains! The boys got on Crush N Gusher pretty quickly, we rode the Storm Slides, rode around in the lazy river, and of course spent time in the wave pool! I think we even went on a family raft ride.

This here is one of my FAVORITE pictures from the whole trip! It took a little patience to get it, but the Photopass photographers were in the wave pool and I was determined. I LOVE this picture!

By the end of our time at TL Jimmy wasn’t feeling very well. He is on the left.

He felt warm, and I was concerned. No one wants a sick child on a Disney trip! (Looking back now I think it was too much time at the waterpark without any stops for food, shade, or water. We should have stopped more, and probably had some gatorade or something to keep the electrolytes up. Next time we will.)

You’d think that we would stay at the resort for the night and let our ailing child rest........but we only had 2 nights left at Disney, and this was the last chance to see Wishes! So we continued on. (Insert “bad parent” face here)

We went to the MK for a while. We were going to the Monster’s Laugh Factory, but I got very nervous that we wouldn’t be out in time for Wishes. That just wouldn’t do! So I got out of line and went to scope my spot while they stayed for the Laugh Factory. Too bad I missed it because Greg was “That Guy”, and I certainly would have enjoyed that!! We met up after the fireworks and headed back to the ranch, hoping Jimmy would feel better the next day.

 

[Stan Solo]

Hi Stan Solo!

Thanks for checking in! With so many people reading the TR, it's nice when someone comments and says Hi!

Yes, it was super hot when we were there, but we are going back again in a couple of weeks, so what does that tell you? The "magic" outweighs even the heat! Is this your first time EVER? If so, I hope you're getting lots of great tips from the boards.

A couple of hot weather tips from DH and I are:
- Never underestimate the cooling power of a gift shop!
- Drink lots and lots of water (even if the restrooms do end up being one of your most visited "attractions" )
- Get up early and get to park openings if you can, then take that break that everyone tells you about (going back to your resort for a nap or pool break, or whatever), and then go back for the evening. This was our first trip to heed that advice (we're super night owls) and now we are believers!
- Make sure you understand how the fastpass system works, and use it to your full advantage!
- Expect a little rain every day. You might not get it, but usually you do get a short afternoon rain in August. We were shocked not to have rain on this trip. But it is usually a short rain that passes quickly. So don't go running out of the parks. Let everyone else leave while you go to some nice inside ride!

As for separating in the parks, every family is different. We are together most of the time, but sometimes when people want to do different things it works to go our separate ways for a short time. The cell phones were quite handy for us, but it depends on your family.

Have a great time!!!

Hi LM

Thanks for the quick reply and tips! Yes, this is our first trip ever in fact is our first trip south if Minnesota! My DW is going south of the border later this month and will look into getting a couple cheap pay as you go cell phones. She is quite worried about the heat and already told me that she thinks that her favorite ride will be the restrooms "it's air conditioned and you get to sit".

We are all early birds and plan to hit the rope drops each day, take a break in the afternoon then back for the evening. My only concern with this plan is we are doing only one major park per day and the two water parks over two days. I hope we will have time to do all that we want to especially at Epcot we may not take a break that day.

I really like the idea of cooling off in the gift shops. I just hope my wallet can handle it I'm a big Disney fan and also a collector with a poor ability to say no to myself. (I plan to pack the backpack I'll use in the parks so I'll have more room in my suitcase plus I'll have an extra carry on for the trip home).

I'm finding the DIS boards to be my new obsession I can't get over how much information their is (I would have never known about Hess) and how friendly everyone is (it's like everyone is Canadian).

 

[LMDisneygirl]

Hi LM

Thanks for the quick reply and tips! Yes, this is our first trip ever in fact is our first trip south if Minnesota! My DW is going south of the border later this month and will look into getting a couple cheap pay as you go cell phones. She is quite worried about the heat and already told me that she thinks that her favorite ride will be the restrooms "it's air conditioned and you get to sit".

We are all early birds and plan to hit the rope drops each day, take a break in the afternoon then back for the evening. My only concern with this plan is we are doing only one major park per day and the two water parks over two days. I hope we will have time to do all that we want to especially at Epcot we may not take a break that day.

I really like the idea of cooling off in the gift shops. I just hope my wallet can handle it I'm a big Disney fan and also a collector with a poor ability to say no to myself. (I plan to pack the backpack I'll use in the parks so I'll have more room in my suitcase plus I'll have an extra carry on for the trip home).

I'm finding the DIS boards to be my new obsession I can't get over how much information their is (I would have never known about Hess) and how friendly everyone is (it's like everyone is Canadian).

You know I didn't sugar coat the heat, but there is good news! While you may melt walking across the concrete to get to an attraction, many of the rides and attractions are indoors. And many of the line ques are indoors. So there is a lot of relief from the heat. You can also be intentional about things like picking a counter service restaurant where the tables are indoors rather than one where there is no air. This is our 4th trip in August so we've learned a lot!

Did you consider getting park hopper passes? Probably you already heard about them since your on the boards. And I don't know how many people are in your family. It's about $55 per person for the whole trip to add park hopper, but what we do is go to a park in the morning, and then some days go to the water park in the afternoon, then go back to our resort, get cleaned up, and go back to the parks in the evening. Not trying to tell you how to run your trip, but I know the park hopper has given us a lot of options (for example, we don't stay at Animal Kingdom all day, but when we go there in the morning we go somewhere else at night - it closes earlier than everything else anyway). Okay, enough of the unsolicited advice!

Re: your gift shop comment, you sound like you are my husband's long lost brother! If you want to private message him any questions or bond over being obsessed with Disney, with a problem controlling your souvenir shopping, his name on the Disboards is MichMickey. Or you could PM the 2 of us together. He's a member of the Dis dads section of the Disboards. Have you found that yet?

 

[Stan Solo]

Hi LM/MichMickey

It's good to know that being a dad and a Disney nut is not all that uncommon.

Their are four of us in our gang myself my DW, DD16, and DD14 we will be their for six 1/2 full days on the seventh day we leave at 6:00 am

We are staying at POR with the free dinning I figured it was worth the moderate resort price to get the regular dinning plan included. I thought about the park hopper idea but then decided to go with just the water fun and more option. The reasoning behind this is we have six days and their are six parks once I made my ADR's we were locked into what park we go to on what day.

So this is the plan the first day (1/2day) we just take it easy get settled go to our room later boat trip to DTD get a bite to eat OOP (Earl of Sandwich) maybe Disney Quest then Hess for snacks/water.

Day 2 Magic Kingdom if we feel we need a break we will go back to the resort we will play it by ear. Our ADR is in the MK 7:00 so we will be back for that after wishes back to the resort.

Day 2 Epcot same plan as MK.

Day 3 take it easier BB with ADR at HS.

Day 4 HS same plan as MK.

Day 5 TL with ADR and maybe Disney Quest at DTD.

Day 6 AK with ADR and maybe a balloon ride at DTD.

Three trips to DTD do you think a collector will find anything to buy?

I figure with this plan we will have no need for paying for park hoppers. On the water park days if we need get more supplies we will just take a bus to a close resort then to DTD walk to Hess then bus to our resort. I hope we don't have to do this because this eat away at our day but I figure the busses shouldn't be to full in the afternoon (I hope) and have air.

Well that's our plan (and we are sticking to it...I guess). I would like to make a few changes as in what park we visit on what day based on the expected park crowds but, we are going the last week of August/first week of Sept so the crowds are expected to be low the whole week.like I said with the ADR's we are rather looked in because the places we would like to try are booked for the times we would like.

Well that's enough about our plans lets talk about the heat! Did you try using a cloth that you would wet in cold water to cool off with? How about the hand held water misters I keep hearing about? Did you guys try them out? I hear they are quite cheap at Target or Walmart I can't find them at all in Canada and have been on a few boards with other Canadians and they can't find them either. That is also on my DWs shopping list later this month.

 

[davebon23]

Hi LM/MichMickey

It's good to know that being a dad and a Disney nut is not all that uncommon.

Their are four of us in our gang myself my DW, DD16, and DD14 we will be their for six 1/2 full days on the seventh day we leave at 6:00 am

We are staying at POR with the free dinning I figured it was worth the moderate resort price to get the regular dinning plan included. I thought about the park hopper idea but then decided to go with just the water fun and more option. The reasoning behind this is we have six days and their are six parks once I made my ADR's we were locked into what park we go to on what day.

So this is the plan the first day (1/2day) we just take it easy get settled go to our room later boat trip to DTD get a bite to eat OOP (Earl of Sandwich) maybe Disney Quest then Hess for snacks/water.

Day 2 Magic Kingdom if we feel we need a break we will go back to the resort we will play it by ear. Our ADR is in the MK 7:00 so we will be back for that after wishes back to the resort.

Day 2 Epcot same plan as MK.

Day 3 take it easier BB with ADR at HS.

Day 4 HS same plan as MK.

Day 5 TL with ADR and maybe Disney Quest at DTD.

Day 6 AK with ADR and maybe a balloon ride at DTD.

Three trips to DTD do you think a collector will find anything to buy?

I figure with this plan we will have no need for paying for park hoppers. On the water park days if we need get more supplies we will just take a bus to a close resort then to DTD walk to Hess then bus to our resort. I hope we don't have to do this because this eat away at our day but I figure the busses shouldn't be to full in the afternoon (I hope) and have air.

Well that's our plan (and we are sticking to it...I guess). I would like to make a few changes as in what park we visit on what day based on the expected park crowds but, we are going the last week of August/first week of Sept so the crowds are expected to be low the whole week.like I said with the ADR's we are rather looked in because the places we would like to try are booked for the times we would like.

Well that's enough about our plans lets talk about the heat! Did you try using a cloth that you would wet in cold water to cool off with? How about the hand held water misters I keep hearing about? Did you guys try them out? I hear they are quite cheap at Target or Walmart I can't find them at all in Canada and have been on a few boards with other Canadians and they can't find them either. That is also on my DWs shopping list later this month.

Stansolo,

We will be there the same time as you. Guess what in the US I am having a hard time finding the hand held in the stores. Let me know if you guys have any luck finding them, or if you did and what section of the store you found them in That has been my difficulty in planning this trip in the heat. LOL.

Also Stan your plan looks good if you are not using park hoppers. But if you don't want to go to DTD so much, you can go to a regular park the same day as a water park. The water park ticket is in ADDITION to the regular park tickets. So you can do water park, then go to regular park later that day. Hope this helps

 

[MichMickey]

Hi LM/MichMickey

It's good to know that being a dad and a Disney nut is not all that uncommon.

Their are four of us in our gang myself my DW, DD16, and DD14 we will be their for six 1/2 full days on the seventh day we leave at 6:00 am

We are staying at POR with the free dinning I figured it was worth the moderate resort price to get the regular dinning plan included. I thought about the park hopper idea but then decided to go with just the water fun and more option. The reasoning behind this is we have six days and their are six parks once I made my ADR's we were locked into what park we go to on what day.

So this is the plan the first day (1/2day) we just take it easy get settled go to our room later boat trip to DTD get a bite to eat OOP (Earl of Sandwich) maybe Disney Quest then Hess for snacks/water.

Day 2 Magic Kingdom if we feel we need a break we will go back to the resort we will play it by ear. Our ADR is in the MK 7:00 so we will be back for that after wishes back to the resort.

Day 2 Epcot same plan as MK.

Day 3 take it easier BB with ADR at HS.

Day 4 HS same plan as MK.

Day 5 TL with ADR and maybe Disney Quest at DTD.

Day 6 AK with ADR and maybe a balloon ride at DTD.

Three trips to DTD do you think a collector will find anything to buy?

I figure with this plan we will have no need for paying for park hoppers. On the water park days if we need get more supplies we will just take a bus to a close resort then to DTD walk to Hess then bus to our resort. I hope we don't have to do this because this eat away at our day but I figure the busses shouldn't be to full in the afternoon (I hope) and have air.

Well that's our plan (and we are sticking to it...I guess). I would like to make a few changes as in what park we visit on what day based on the expected park crowds but, we are going the last week of August/first week of Sept so the crowds are expected to be low the whole week.like I said with the ADR's we are rather looked in because the places we would like to try are booked for the times we would like.

Well that's enough about our plans lets talk about the heat! Did you try using a cloth that you would wet in cold water to cool off with? How about the hand held water misters I keep hearing about? Did you guys try them out? I hear they are quite cheap at Target or Walmart I can't find them at all in Canada and have been on a few boards with other Canadians and they can't find them either. That is also on my DWs shopping list later this month.

Hi Stan

DH checking in to add my 2 cents on the heat issue.

1st thing to remember as my DW recommended drink lots of water. I would say 1 bottle as you are waiting for the bus and going to the park and then another bottle as soon as you get to the park! My other suggestion based on your itinerary would be to take a shower when you take your break in the afternoon which can help if you are starting to get any hotspots/blisters. I also had the benefit of a brilliant find my wife made probably 3 WDW trips ago, Gold Bond Medicated Powder. This was a blessing from above and definitely helps if there are any chaffing issues. I used it every day! My wife carries a small bottle in her backpack and when we stop for a bathroom break I reapply as needed. My last bit of advice you are already ahead of me on, Gift Shops! All of the parks except for Animal Kingdom have many giftshops near the entrance so in MK and HS don't walk outside looking in at the gift shops walk through the gift shops. Many of the gift shops look like they are separate store fronts but often they are store fronts that interconnect all the way down the street.

Ok now as a separate item I want to just give you our opinion on a few choice gift shops that you might enjoy. Mouse Gears at Epcot is amazing! Next to the enormous Disney Store at DTD it is probably the largest store in the parks. I usually buy at least 1 thing from their golfing section. In the Magic Kingdom we really enjoy the Disney store that is on the left side of main street as you are walking towards the castle and as mentioned it serves as a great cooling station. In HS the gift shops seem smaller but there are many of them, I did find back near the Sci Fi Drive in restaurant a book store which is a nice stop in the middle of the day. At AK back in Africa there is a trading outpost which is near the entrance to the safari ride. Also near this trading post on the side is a misting station.

Well enough from me for now. As my wife said if you haven't already gone there you probably should go over to the Dis Dads site here on the boards! It is a great place to go for info, suggestions and just a reminder that you are not the only Dad out there that loves Disney!

 

[LMDisneygirl]

Hi LM/MichMickey

It's good to know that being a dad and a Disney nut is not all that uncommon.

Their are four of us in our gang myself my DW, DD16, and DD14 we will be their for six 1/2 full days on the seventh day we leave at 6:00 am

We are staying at POR with the free dinning I figured it was worth the moderate resort price to get the regular dinning plan included. I thought about the park hopper idea but then decided to go with just the water fun and more option. The reasoning behind this is we have six days and their are six parks once I made my ADR's we were locked into what park we go to on what day.

So this is the plan the first day (1/2day) we just take it easy get settled go to our room later boat trip to DTD get a bite to eat OOP (Earl of Sandwich) maybe Disney Quest then Hess for snacks/water.

Day 2 Magic Kingdom if we feel we need a break we will go back to the resort we will play it by ear. Our ADR is in the MK 7:00 so we will be back for that after wishes back to the resort.

Day 2 Epcot same plan as MK.

Day 3 take it easier BB with ADR at HS.

Day 4 HS same plan as MK.

Day 5 TL with ADR and maybe Disney Quest at DTD.

Day 6 AK with ADR and maybe a balloon ride at DTD.

Three trips to DTD do you think a collector will find anything to buy?

I figure with this plan we will have no need for paying for park hoppers. On the water park days if we need get more supplies we will just take a bus to a close resort then to DTD walk to Hess then bus to our resort. I hope we don't have to do this because this eat away at our day but I figure the busses shouldn't be to full in the afternoon (I hope) and have air.

Well that's our plan (and we are sticking to it...I guess). I would like to make a few changes as in what park we visit on what day based on the expected park crowds but, we are going the last week of August/first week of Sept so the crowds are expected to be low the whole week.like I said with the ADR's we are rather looked in because the places we would like to try are booked for the times we would like.

Well that's enough about our plans lets talk about the heat! Did you try using a cloth that you would wet in cold water to cool off with? How about the hand held water misters I keep hearing about? Did you guys try them out? I hear they are quite cheap at Target or Walmart I can't find them at all in Canada and have been on a few boards with other Canadians and they can't find them either. That is also on my DWs shopping list later this month.

Stansolo,

We will be there the same time as you. Guess what in the US I am having a hard time finding the hand held in the stores. Let me know if you guys have any luck finding them, or if you did and what section of the store you found them in That has been my difficulty in planning this trip in the heat. LOL.

Also Stan your plan looks good if you are not using park hoppers. But if you don't want to go to DTD so much, you can go to a regular park the same day as a water park. The water park ticket is in ADDITION to the regular park tickets. So you can do water park, then go to regular park later that day. Hope this helps

We bought a water misting fan at home last year and took it with us. It was very nice.....until it broke! So I'm thinking that if we want one this year we'll buy one at Disney. Sure, they might be $16, but if it breaks we can exchange it. It really was nice to have.

I was going to say the same thing to make sure you (Stan) knew that you can go to the water parks on the same day as you go to another park. We do that a lot, and you don't need a park hopper for that. If you run out of time at Epcot, you can always to back on a water park day and do the things you missed.

Also, don't forget that if you want to change your plans the Concierge desk at the hotel is great for calling to check on reservations for you. Sometimes things just don't go according to plan, or you realize it's worth it to switch your reservation so you can actually ride Soarin'! (By the way, don't miss that one! Get a fastpass as soon as you get to Epcot!)

Can you tell that DH and I are less than 2 weeks from our trip? We are in full out Disney obsession mode!

 

[Stan Solo]

Stansolo,

We will be there the same time as you. Guess what in the US I am having a hard time finding the hand held in the stores. Let me know if you guys have any luck finding them, or if you did and what section of the store you found them in That has been my difficulty in planning this trip in the heat. LOL.

Also Stan your plan looks good if you are not using park hoppers. But if you don't want to go to DTD so much, you can go to a regular park the same day as a water park. The water park ticket is in ADDITION to the regular park tickets. So you can do water park, then go to regular park later that day. Hope this helps

Hi Dave, keep an eye out for me or rather my LGMH with Stan Solo written on it I plan to have it on my backpack the whole time.

I knew about the ability to go to a minor park and a major park on the same day and do plan to go to BB and HS on the same day. The reason I did this was because at the time when I did my booking that was the only day Fantasmic was showing the whole week.

The hand held misters from what I've heard are in the camping section at both Target and Walmart for some reason and cost between $2-$3.

Hi Stan

DH checking in to add my 2 cents on the heat issue.

1st thing to remember as my DW recommended drink lots of water. I would say 1 bottle as you are waiting for the bus and going to the park and then another bottle as soon as you get to the park! My other suggestion based on your itinerary would be to take a shower when you take your break in the afternoon which can help if you are starting to get any hotspots/blisters. I also had the benefit of a brilliant find my wife made probably 3 WDW trips ago, Gold Bond Medicated Powder. This was a blessing from above and definitely helps if there are any chaffing issues. I used it every day! My wife carries a small bottle in her backpack and when we stop for a bathroom break I reapply as needed. My last bit of advice you are already ahead of me on, Gift Shops! All of the parks except for Animal Kingdom have many giftshops near the entrance so in MK and HS don't walk outside looking in at the gift shops walk through the gift shops. Many of the gift shops look like they are separate store fronts but often they are store fronts that interconnect all the way down the street.

Ok now as a separate item I want to just give you our opinion on a few choice gift shops that you might enjoy. Mouse Gears at Epcot is amazing! Next to the enormous Disney Store at DTD it is probably the largest store in the parks. I usually buy at least 1 thing from their golfing section. In the Magic Kingdom we really enjoy the Disney store that is on the left side of main street as you are walking towards the castle and as mentioned it serves as a great cooling station. In HS the gift shops seem smaller but there are many of them, I did find back near the Sci Fi Drive in restaurant a book store which is a nice stop in the middle of the day. At AK back in Africa there is a trading outpost which is near the entrance to the safari ride. Also near this trading post on the side is a misting station.

Well enough from me for now. As my wife said if you haven't already gone there you probably should go over to the Dis Dads site here on the boards! It is a great place to go for info, suggestions and just a reminder that you are not the only Dad out there that loves Disney!

Thanks for the tip about the Gold Bond I heard about that one before but had since forgotten about it. It is now written down on my shopping list and packing list.

I'm sure you can tell by my Avatar and signature that I'm a bit of a Star Wars fan (I already have my hotel booked for next year in Orlando for Star Wars Celbration with my DD). The gift shop that will make or break me money wise is the Star Tours one everything I see from their I want. The other things that I will have a hard time putting down are the high end Mickey/classic Disney collectables. My DD wants to put a leash on me before we go into any of the gift shops so she can at least try to pull me out .

I've been to the Dis dads boards but haven't posted anything their. I think that may have been where I heard about the Gold Bond idea.

We bought a water misting fan at home last year and took it with us. It was very nice.....until it broke! So I'm thinking that if we want one this year we'll buy one at Disney. Sure, they might be $16, but if it breaks we can exchange it. It really was nice to have.

I was going to say the same thing to make sure you (Stan) knew that you can go to the water parks on the same day as you go to another park. We do that a lot, and you don't need a park hopper for that. If you run out of time at Epcot, you can always to back on a water park day and do the things you missed.

Also, don't forget that if you want to change your plans the Concierge desk at the hotel is great for calling to check on reservations for you. Sometimes things just don't go according to plan, or you realize it's worth it to switch your reservation so you can actually ride Soarin'! (By the way, don't miss that one! Get a fastpass as soon as you get to Epcot!)

Can you tell that DH and I are less than 2 weeks from our trip? We are in full out Disney obsession mode!

I like your idea about making Epcot a day and a half park I'm going to look into chafing one of my reservations. The only reason I was planning a day and a half at HS was because of Fantasmic but, now the Fantasmic is on every night I think the crowds won't be as bad.

I also really liked your idea to get a counter serve meal or snack at each "country" then share with the rest of your family. I'm thinking that World Showcase will be my favorite part of this trip. It is what I am most looking forward to.

 

[davebon23]

Hi Dave, keep an eye out for me or rather my LGMH with Stan Solo written on it I plan to have it on my backpack the whole time.

I knew about the ability to go to a minor park and a major park on the same day and do plan to go to BB and HS on the same day. The reason I did this was because at the time when I did my booking that was the only day Fantasmic was showing the whole week.

The hand held misters from what I've heard are in the camping section at both Target and Walmart for some reason and cost between $2-$3.



Thanks for the tip about the Gold Bond I heard about that one before but had since forgotten about it. It is now written down on my shopping list and packing list.

I'm sure you can tell by my Avatar and signature that I'm a bit of a Star Wars fan (I already have my hotel booked for next year in Orlando for Star Wars Celbration with my DD). The gift shop that will make or break me money wise is the Star Tours one everything I see from their I want. The other things that I will have a hard time putting down are the high end Mickey/classic Disney collectables. My DD wants to put a leash on me before we go into any of the gift shops so she can at least try to pull me out .

I've been to the Dis dads boards but haven't posted anything their. I think that may have been where I heard about the Gold Bond idea.



I like your idea about making Epcot a day and a half park I'm going to look into chafing one of my reservations. The only reason I was planning a day and a half at HS was because of Fantasmic but, now the Fantasmic is on every night I think the crowds won't be as bad.

I also really liked your idea to get a counter serve meal or snack at each "country" then share with the rest of your family. I'm thinking that World Showcase will be my favorite part of this trip. It is what I am most looking forward to.

Stan,

I did look in camping section in Target with no luck. I will have to try looking there in Walmart. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[daisylove]

Hi ! Great report. I am taking my 2 kids ds3 and dd12 this august. I was wondering do you remember where you stood for the DHS parade to be in the Toy Story part. My DS is crazy about TS3.
Thanks! Enjoy your trip.

 

[LMDisneygirl]

Hi ! Great report. I am taking my 2 kids ds3 and dd12 this august. I was wondering do you remember where you stood for the DHS parade to be in the Toy Story part. My DS is crazy about TS3.
Thanks! Enjoy your trip.

I'm thinking that the Toy Story section was in the middle of the parade. I think we were in front of a gift shop on the left side of the main street you walk down as you move toward the big hat.

-------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sorry to say that my trip reporting has been temporarily interrupted by an unexpected and certainly unwelcome case of bronchitis (especially unwanted since we are leaving in a week for our next trip). I'm still determined to get it done before we leave though! I only have 2 days left to report on.

 

[davebon23]

Sorry you are not feeling well. Hope you get to finish before you go. If not have a good trip.

 

[daisylove]

I'm thinking that the Toy Story section was in the middle of the parade. I think we were in front of a gift shop on the left side of the main street you walk down as you move toward the big hat.

-------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sorry to say that my trip reporting has been temporarily interrupted by an unexpected and certainly unwelcome case of bronchitis (especially unwanted since we are leaving in a week for our next trip). I'm still determined to get it done before we leave though! I only have 2 days left to report on.

Thanks. Feel better !

 

[LMDisneygirl]

Just got back from our 2011 Anniversary Trip! I had planned to finish this one before we left, but a case of Bronchitis took care of that. Now I'm back and ready to finish. After all, I can't wait to start on my NEXT trip report!!

 

[LMDisneygirl]

Well here it was, our last FULL day of vacation. Since we were here longer than usual, you might think we’d be happy that we got to leave soon. Not true!

We spent the day today at EPCOT. We wanted to walk around the World Showcase again, get some pictures at the Character Connection, and then we would be going to the Mickey Mom’s Club Dessert Party!

We had walked by the Character Connection in Epcot several times, but never wanted to wait in the very long line. This time it seemed a bit shorter, and we were running out of options for coming back, so we stayed. We got lots of great pictures with the characters. And since I had pre-ordered the photopass cd, I didn’t bother with my own personal camera for this shoot. That was really nice!

We also ran into Chip & Dale off by themselves. I love seeing Chip & Dale in the parks. They are so fun and interactive!

We enjoyed fish & chips from the CS restaurant in England, browsed gift shops, and just had a nice time. Though now as I look at the pictures I remember that the boys were doing another Kim Possible adventure, and at one point they were having some trouble “sharing” the Kimmunicator which led to sadness. frowning, and brotherly unrest.

But soon we arrived at the Japan gift shop, which was sure to bring a smile to both of our boys faces! While we were there it started to rain, so we decided to hang out in the gift shop until the rain stopped (insert boys smiling faces here!).

We had been pleasantly surprised at the lack of rain on this trip. Every other time we’d gone in August we’d had rain at least once every day. We had learned that the rain usually came and went, so no need to panic when we saw clouds. This trip had very little rain though, which may be why the heat and humidity were so out of control. In fact, we had never even considered buying rain ponchos (which is unheard of for past August trips). So there we were in Japan. It rained, and rained, and rained, and monsooned, and rained some more.

So Greg and I went across the rainy sidewalk to the Japan Counter service restaurant where we shared a really yummy steak and rice dish.

Finally we decided that it was never going to stop raining, so Greg went to buy 4 rain ponchos from the Japan gift shop. Suited up in our see-through Mickey wear we headed out into the monsoon to remind ourselves what else Epcot had to offer other than the Japan gift shop!

And guess what. Shortly after we arrived in “America”, it stopped raining! Guess we should have been a little more patient, but it did threaten rain for the rest of the day.

We had a fast pass for Soarin’ OF COURSE, because we never walk into Epcot without getting one, and the boys wanted to ride Mission Space again. MS had become a favorite for the boys on this trip. Problem was, we had walked around the World Showcase so we could end in Mexico, where the check in for the Mickey Mom’s Club Dessert Party was. When we got there, we found out that it had been moved to Canada. BUMMER!!!! Had I known we would have walked around the WS in the opposite direction. Oh well, these things happen.

I’ll take a minute here to explain how we were going to the dessert party. I had applied to be on the Mickey Mom’s Board. Because I had applied (along with thousands of other people) I had become some sort of honorary member. I got a magnet in the mail, and I got an email in the spring inviting me and my guests to the dessert party. Imagine my excitement when I realized it was during the same dates that we would be there! We were in!! Very exciting!!! Truth be told, I would have been happier if it wasn’t our last night there (since I would always prefer to end my trip with Wishes), but still I was pretty excited to go!

So Greg and the boys headed to Mission Space while I walked over to Canada to check us in. It was in a hall behind some gates that you might not even notice. When I walked in there were lots of tables with people talking and snacking, and lots of places to go get an ice cream, soda, water, Mickey rice krispie treats, and other desserts. Unfortunately I was distracted much of the time, hoping Greg and the boys would get there in time. But I still had a nice time talking to some people I met. Hey, we were all Disney Lovers, so at least we had a common place to start!

The boys rushed in shortly before it was time to leave the dessert party. They grabbed some goodies, and it was time to go. Each of the adults got a gift bag on the way out, and the kids got something (which I can’t remember right now). They led us all over to the big open spot at the “start” of the World Showcase - directly across from America. We felt very special as the cast members led us with their lit up sticks, making sure that no one else got in. We grabbed a seat on the concrete, and since it was sloped slightly we could see really well. Soon, Illuminations started! It was a great view and a fun way to end our last full night at WDW (even if we did end up not using the Soarin’ fast passes).

When we got back to the Pop I was continuing the very sad task of packing for our return home. We had as much of our luggage picked up as we could, so we’d have less to do the next day. After all, our flight didn’t leave until 6:30pm, so we had PLENTY of time for Disney fun before we left..........right?

 

[LMDisneygirl]

Here I am, back to finally report on the last day of our trip.

So here we were. It was “going home” day. We had booked the latest flight, which was 6:20pm. That meant that the ME would be picking us up at 3:15 for the sad drive back to the airport. :-( We’re the kind of family that tries to squeeze every ounce of magic out of our trip on our first and last days, so the last day is always a park day for us. Even if it's just for 1/2 day. After all, the 6th or 7th.....or 10th day of park tickets is only a few dollars per person. SO worth it! We even missed our flight on a previous trip because of a self-imposed souvenir frenzy at Mouse Gears that we just couldn’t tear ourselves away from.

So here we were. Last day. We got up, packed up, got ready, and got the rest of our luggage to Bell Services fairly early so we could go have some fun before it was time for our vacation to end. It was nice to be able to leave all the carry-ons at Bell Services while we played. We got breakfast at everything Pop. Greg was so happy!

We decided to spend our last 1/2 day at the MK. I’ll confess that I didn’t write down what we did in my journal at the time, and I can’t remember the details now either. I do know that we made it back to several of our favorite MK attractions. This included the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. Everyone wanted to sit facing forward, so Greg and I entered "quickly and carefully" into one seat and the boys got into the very next compartment right behind us. But when we started moving quickly we realized that we were at the very END of one “train”, and the boys were at the very beginning of the next. So off we went, without our kids! Fortunately they were old enough that it wasn’t traumatic, but it does make for a fun memory and story. Every now and again they’d come close to us, and then we would be whisked off again, squinting our eyes to try to find them behind us.

As we went about our morning, we took several pics.

And eventually made the sad decision that it was time to start heading toward Main Street. Such a depressing part of the trip when you know you’re leaving.

As we got toward the end of the gift shops we could hear that the parade was starting. It seemed to be going very fast. Not sure if they can do that, or if it was our imagination, but it was starting to drizzle and the parade seemed to be on hyper speed. Eventually the rain became full force. And it rained, and it rained, and it rained. Fortunately, we had purchased rain ponchos. You know, the ones we used for 1/2 hour the day before. Unfortunately, they were at Bell Services in our luggage. Eventually we realized that time was running out and the rain wasn’t going to stop. So funny since it was SUNNY SUNNY SUNNY and HOT HOT HOT for almost all the rest of our trip. So.....we made a run for it in the torrential rain. I’ll just let the photos do the talking for how well that worked out.

We had taken the boat from WL, and that’s how we got back there. Thanks to the WL housekeeping staff for leaving their towel cart right by the door we walked in. We borrowed a few towels to dry off with. We had that rental car and Greg was very concerned about us getting it all wet since we were about to return it. We DID return the towels to the Front Desk at the Pop and told them where we had gotten them. I wonder if the WL ever got their towels back?

Greg dropped us off at the Pop so we could do scour “Everything Pop” and make sure there wasn't something there that we hadn't bought yet! Also, the boys and I had lunch and used the rest of our snack credits to buy Mickey Rice Krispie Treats. I was pretty stressed waiting for Greg to get back from dropping off the car. It took FOREVER for him to make it back, and I was afraid he’d miss the bus. But he made it, we made it, and soon we were on the ME bus and then at the Orlando International Airport headed home.

Thanks to the airport for having a picture spot for us, and a Disney Store so we could have that little tiny bit more magic. And another chance to get rid of any money we had left!

As our plane took off we looked out of the plane and saw one of the All-Stars or Pop resort below us. We smiled, we waved, we took pictures. And before we knew it we were back at our house, looking forward to the time we would hear those favorite words, “Welcome home!”

 

[iwanttoliveinthemk]

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[iwanttoliveinthemk]

Hiiiiii Lori *waves* Thanks for spending all that time writing your review of your trip! Loveeeeeeeeeeeee all the pics that you took!

-Beth