vicb
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2001
- Messages
- 4,509
The following is not my own trip report rather it is one my sister emailed to me upon her return 11/10. I helped my sister plan her trip with info from the DIS. She is a single parent and this was the first big trip she has taken with kids since the divorce. She was nervous to fly but all went smoothly. Her DD's are 10 and 12 years old. Thanks to all who answered my questioning posts and helped make her trip a sucess. Even though this is not first hand it has good info in it and is nice to hear from a first timer! vicb
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"We made it back and had a great time! Too much to tell so will try to summarize while still fresh.
Weather was great sunny and around 80 degrees from Tuesday on. We loved Wilderness Lodge... the setting was beautiful and peaceful. The place was not so large that it was easy to get around. The geiser shot up on the hour during the day. The girls swam almost every evening when we got home from the parks. Artist Point in the lodge was great. There was a snack area open early in am through late in pm so we did not end up getting a refrigerator. The other restaurant in the Lodge had a cute theme, they called kids to supper with a dinner bell and little ones were given wooden pony sticks to ride around in a parade. Characters came as promised to lobby area on announced days so of course we had to be in the lobby early. No sleeping in on this trip. Minnie Mouse even made a visit.
Monday we went to Magic Kingdom and taking the ferry and it only took about 15 minutes. They would not let anyone enter early except those with character breakfasts. Our favorite attractions were Splash Mountain, the Alien something (the girls enjoyed not sure J would).... Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan Ride and a new attraction a character show at Cinderella's Palace. We ate dinner at California Grill, saw the fireworks from the balcony on the 15th floor of the Contemporary. They dim the restaurant during the fireworks and pipe in the music that accompanies the fireworks. The California Grill and Artist Point were some of the finests places I have eaten in some time. They had kids menus everywhere so the kids had no problem finding something to eat. We ran into Princess Jasmine in Aventureland and
characters in parade but only got the one autograph.
Tuesday we went to Epcot. The kids enjoyed it, but I think our finding the Character Bus, influenced them. The Character Bus was at China at an announced time and had Pooh, Piglet, etc Mickey, Minnie, Donald and crew plus others. We also found Aladdin in Morroco. We ran into Characters around the park too. We ate at the Grill in the Land for lunch, the place revolves, the food was good, the kids especially enjoyed it. K's favorite attractions were Spaceship Earth and the Test Track. K-2 liked the Test Track and the 3D Honey I Shrunk the Audience show. We also enjoyed the 360 degree movie in China and the movie in France. We chose to tour only a few of the International exhibits. We ate dinner in Mexico, the girls enjoyed the atmosphere but food was disappointing. We had pastries for dessert in France and we all enjoyed them. We parked at the Boardwalk and took ferry over to Epcot and MGM Sudios when we visited. So arriving at Epcot at a location other than main gate helped. Our bags were searched before entering every park. Just like the airport it takes extra time. We stayed through the show but not sure I would do again. We were very tired at the end..if had to do again we would have left around dinner time.
Wed. we ate breakfast at the bakery on the Boardwalk and took ferry to MGM. We had no problem with lines but we did use our fast pass option at almost every park. This park was K-2's favorite. She loved... the Tower of Terror, in fact the girls rode it 5 times (I did not). They went on the roll a coaster twice. They also liked Indiana Jones stunt show, the Backlot tour and we placed Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. We ran out of time and did not make it to some shows we wanted to see. This is one day I should have planned better ...because the parade is in afternoon not all shows throughout the day and because we were told to be at the show Fantasmic at least one hour in advance we had to skip dinner plans and eat fast food while we waited for the show. It was worth the wait. It was by far the best show we saw at Disney. The show did fill up even though park attendance was down. On busy days I understand you need to get there about 90 minutes in advance. We had dessert on the Boardwalk and went to hot tub at home before bed.
Thursday was to be another sleep in day but we had to be up to see characters in the lobby again. We went to Blizzard Beach when it opened and stayed until about an hour before closing 4p.m. The kids went down the fast slides once when we entered the park, but were a little too much for them. We had great weather and they loved the wave pool! We left the waterpark and went to downtown Disney. We ate dinner in Planet Hollywood which was good, shopped and later went to DisneyQuest. Since the kids enjoyed this so much we went back again Friday night.
Friday we went to Animal Kingdom and really enjoyed the day. I did not know it would be so beautifully landscaped. They had fans going outdoors too, so it was enjoyable to walk around. Although we had seen most characters by now we went to our character breakfast and had a great time. Since there is no early admission, it is a great way to get ahead of crowd by eating in the park. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy were at the breakfast. We used our flex package on this so price was right. The girls liked the Dinasour ride (I went on too... might be too intense for J) and enjoyed the Lion King Performance (we went in am as this was crowded). We went on the Safari ride and saw the animals and took the walks they have. We saw more characters we did not have. The girls ended up with 31 character autographs in total on our trip and of course pictures with them too. We left during the parade and beat crowd out of park. We went back to hotel for a swim and change (we did the raft ride in Asia at end of day and got soaked). We ate dinner at hotel then went back to DisneyQuest.
I was worried that the girls would not enjoy all the parks but they did. K will tell you she liked everything, K-2 did have a favorite, MGM Studios. They both were into finding the Characters and the Disney trading pins. I was happy that we saw so many characters at Epcot then it took the pressure off finding them so we could enjoy our time. Although we did most everything we wanted to do...we could have used another day, so the days would have not been so full. Most everything at Disney is first rate ... and I must say hard to beat on level of service. I knew the kids would have a good time ... and I did as well. It was hard to leave today!! We will try to sleep in tommorrow!!"
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"We made it back and had a great time! Too much to tell so will try to summarize while still fresh.
Weather was great sunny and around 80 degrees from Tuesday on. We loved Wilderness Lodge... the setting was beautiful and peaceful. The place was not so large that it was easy to get around. The geiser shot up on the hour during the day. The girls swam almost every evening when we got home from the parks. Artist Point in the lodge was great. There was a snack area open early in am through late in pm so we did not end up getting a refrigerator. The other restaurant in the Lodge had a cute theme, they called kids to supper with a dinner bell and little ones were given wooden pony sticks to ride around in a parade. Characters came as promised to lobby area on announced days so of course we had to be in the lobby early. No sleeping in on this trip. Minnie Mouse even made a visit.
Monday we went to Magic Kingdom and taking the ferry and it only took about 15 minutes. They would not let anyone enter early except those with character breakfasts. Our favorite attractions were Splash Mountain, the Alien something (the girls enjoyed not sure J would).... Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan Ride and a new attraction a character show at Cinderella's Palace. We ate dinner at California Grill, saw the fireworks from the balcony on the 15th floor of the Contemporary. They dim the restaurant during the fireworks and pipe in the music that accompanies the fireworks. The California Grill and Artist Point were some of the finests places I have eaten in some time. They had kids menus everywhere so the kids had no problem finding something to eat. We ran into Princess Jasmine in Aventureland and
characters in parade but only got the one autograph.
Tuesday we went to Epcot. The kids enjoyed it, but I think our finding the Character Bus, influenced them. The Character Bus was at China at an announced time and had Pooh, Piglet, etc Mickey, Minnie, Donald and crew plus others. We also found Aladdin in Morroco. We ran into Characters around the park too. We ate at the Grill in the Land for lunch, the place revolves, the food was good, the kids especially enjoyed it. K's favorite attractions were Spaceship Earth and the Test Track. K-2 liked the Test Track and the 3D Honey I Shrunk the Audience show. We also enjoyed the 360 degree movie in China and the movie in France. We chose to tour only a few of the International exhibits. We ate dinner in Mexico, the girls enjoyed the atmosphere but food was disappointing. We had pastries for dessert in France and we all enjoyed them. We parked at the Boardwalk and took ferry over to Epcot and MGM Sudios when we visited. So arriving at Epcot at a location other than main gate helped. Our bags were searched before entering every park. Just like the airport it takes extra time. We stayed through the show but not sure I would do again. We were very tired at the end..if had to do again we would have left around dinner time.
Wed. we ate breakfast at the bakery on the Boardwalk and took ferry to MGM. We had no problem with lines but we did use our fast pass option at almost every park. This park was K-2's favorite. She loved... the Tower of Terror, in fact the girls rode it 5 times (I did not). They went on the roll a coaster twice. They also liked Indiana Jones stunt show, the Backlot tour and we placed Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. We ran out of time and did not make it to some shows we wanted to see. This is one day I should have planned better ...because the parade is in afternoon not all shows throughout the day and because we were told to be at the show Fantasmic at least one hour in advance we had to skip dinner plans and eat fast food while we waited for the show. It was worth the wait. It was by far the best show we saw at Disney. The show did fill up even though park attendance was down. On busy days I understand you need to get there about 90 minutes in advance. We had dessert on the Boardwalk and went to hot tub at home before bed.
Thursday was to be another sleep in day but we had to be up to see characters in the lobby again. We went to Blizzard Beach when it opened and stayed until about an hour before closing 4p.m. The kids went down the fast slides once when we entered the park, but were a little too much for them. We had great weather and they loved the wave pool! We left the waterpark and went to downtown Disney. We ate dinner in Planet Hollywood which was good, shopped and later went to DisneyQuest. Since the kids enjoyed this so much we went back again Friday night.
Friday we went to Animal Kingdom and really enjoyed the day. I did not know it would be so beautifully landscaped. They had fans going outdoors too, so it was enjoyable to walk around. Although we had seen most characters by now we went to our character breakfast and had a great time. Since there is no early admission, it is a great way to get ahead of crowd by eating in the park. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy were at the breakfast. We used our flex package on this so price was right. The girls liked the Dinasour ride (I went on too... might be too intense for J) and enjoyed the Lion King Performance (we went in am as this was crowded). We went on the Safari ride and saw the animals and took the walks they have. We saw more characters we did not have. The girls ended up with 31 character autographs in total on our trip and of course pictures with them too. We left during the parade and beat crowd out of park. We went back to hotel for a swim and change (we did the raft ride in Asia at end of day and got soaked). We ate dinner at hotel then went back to DisneyQuest.
I was worried that the girls would not enjoy all the parks but they did. K will tell you she liked everything, K-2 did have a favorite, MGM Studios. They both were into finding the Characters and the Disney trading pins. I was happy that we saw so many characters at Epcot then it took the pressure off finding them so we could enjoy our time. Although we did most everything we wanted to do...we could have used another day, so the days would have not been so full. Most everything at Disney is first rate ... and I must say hard to beat on level of service. I knew the kids would have a good time ... and I did as well. It was hard to leave today!! We will try to sleep in tommorrow!!"
