Oh Snap! Are we riding that?!

[IATink]

I have been a BIG fan of reading everyone else's trip reports, so I thought I would try my own. It is my first one so bear with me....

The Cast:
ME: 33 yr. old teacher who LOVES everything Disney. Always ready to plan the next trip. Unfortunately since I teach it always ends up being during the hot summer.

DH 46 yrs. old Also loves everything Disney. He has great memories of being at Disney World the first year it opened, and has loved going back ever since.

DD 6 yrs. old I'll call her Ariel, since this is her favorite princess. Her first trip was to Disneyland's California Adventure when she was only 9 months old. Her first trip to Disney World was right after her third birthday. She LOVES going on rides and getting autographs.

DD 5 yrs. old. I'll call her Grumpy. We were excited because on this trip she would be tall enough to ride things. Unfortunately, she thought otherwise. She did not want to try anything. She is a complete opposite of Ariel.

Grandpa and Grandma My parents were also coming with us on this trip. They are bringing their camper to stay at the Fort Wilderness. They are also bringing my nephew, Buzz.

Buzz My nephew who has never been to Disney before. He loves everything Buzz and Woody.

Background:
This trip started out being my whole extended family. My sister and her family were going to go with my parents and stay in their camper. We had begun planning over a year ago. Then, in January my sister found out she was pregnant and would be too close to her due date to travel. They were not going to be able to go, but Buzz would be heartbroken if he couldn't go because he was really looking forward to it. So, my parents decided they would take him with them.

PLANS:
We would stay at the Pop Century from July 30th through August 5th. My parents would be at Fort Wilderness and would leave on August 3rd. We would drive down together.

DAY ONE:
I am not going to bore you with the details of our long drive to Florida. I will just say that it was over a 20 hour drive and we were glad to arrive! Although, it really did help to have a DVD player in our van. The trip was pretty quiet because all my daughters did was watch Disney DVD's.

We arrived at the Pop Century about 4:00 in the afternoon. It was already pretty hot and everyone was ready to take a shower and head to the parks. When we got to our room my girls were excited to see this:

We thought we were in luck, because already we had a towel animal to welcome us! However, this would be our only animal for awhile... but, I'll get to that later.

After we had settled into our room, we decided it was time to head to the Fort Wilderness to pick up Grandma and Grandpa and Buzz. We were planning on taking the boat from the campground to MK. It was already starting to get late so we really wanted to get started.

After finding Jack Rabbit Run, we finally found my parents camper. Buzz was giddy. He couldn't wait!

He was just excited getting on the bus!

The boat stopped at the Contemporary. So, we decided to get off, so we could ride the monorail to the MK. Buzz was practically jumping up and down at this point. We found a nice little Mickey to take their picture on.

Then, we hopped on the monorail. Buzz's first ride...

By the time we got to the MK it was almost 8:30, but that didn't stop us! There was only one place Buzz wanted to go...

Ariel looks a little scared here, she said she didn't like it when Buzz kept spinning the car! Buzz loved Spaceranger Spin, and this would be the first ride of many on this trip!

Because it was late, we were able to ride almost all of our favorites without hardly any wait! We saw Wishes from Tomorrowland and then walked on IASW, we only had to wait 10 minutes for Dumbo, and we walked on COP, Snow White, and Mickey's Philharmagic.

Here's one of my favorites of Buzz on IASW

It had been a very busy day and it was past midnight... the kids were finally winding down. We felt so fortunate to see and do so much in such a short time. Tomorrow, we would tackle Animal Kingdom and Expedition Everestt. Will Ariel like the Yeti? Will Grumpy like anything?

 

[Avivasmom]

What cute girls you have...they looked so happy to be at DW.

We were there the same time as you at BWV...we had a blast.

Cannot wait to read more...what do you teach...I will be teaching Spec. Ed next year after I finish my masters.

 

[melsmom12]

Subscribing in! Can't wait to read more!

 

[MeMom]

Hello from a Disney-loving third grade teacher! We were at Pop at the same time. If you were near the bowling pin pool, you may have seen our two windows, side by side just to the left of the jukebox (if you are facing it) all decorated. We were there for ten days and will be there again next summer.

Check out our TR, Baby and the Tramp, and you could see yourselves in some of our pictures. We might see ourselves in yours. I'm going to be on the lookout! We had an almost one year old with us, and even though she did very well, we might have stood out a time or two if she happened to be cranky. I hope we didn't disturb any of your rides, if you were on any buses with us!

What building were you in?

 

[IATink]

YAY! I have readers!

Aviasmom: Thanks for reading! I taught fifth grade last year, but I switched this year to third grade and I love it! It is a much better fit for me.

melsmom12: Thanks for reading!

MeMom: I am also a third grade teacher! We stayed in the 50's section near the jukebox, but we were to the right of the jukebox. So, we didn't see your window, but I wish we had because we were on the lookout for any DISer's!

I'll try and have another installment up today!

 

[IATink]

DAY 2:
Today our goal was to go to Animal Kingdom to ride Expedition Everestt. My little thrillseeker Ariel was really looking forward to this ride, and hoping she would be tall enough!

We started off our morning at Chef Mickey's. We first did this a couple of years ago and the girls loved it. So, we were hoping Buzz would like it as well. We arrived early and had time to look around the Contemporary.

Here's one of my favorite pictures while we were waiting.

At first Buzz was not warming up to the characters too much. But, Pluto made him laugh when he tried to bite Grandpa's bald head! Buzz opened up and now he was really into it! He even got a kiss from Minnie Mouse, although he refused to have his picture taken with her. He was bright red when she leaned down to kiss him! I was so bummed out I missed that picture!

Grumpy was still a little unsure about Goofy.

Ariel was loving goofing with the Goof!

My girls love Minnie Mouse. So they were excited to give her a kiss!

We love starting our day at Chef Mickey's. I would highly recommend it to anyone. It is a little pricey, but we always walk out of there with plenty to eat to get us ready for our day. We also walk out with the smiles of some pretty happy girls because they just had breakfast with all their favorite characters.

Now, our bellies were full and we were ready to tackle the Animal Kingdom. Our plan was to head over to Expedition Everestt first and see if they still had fastpasses. We arrived and walked quickly over to EE. We were excited because Ariel was tall enough to ride! Unfortunately, the ride was having mechanical issues and was not open. We were really bummed, because that was the one thing we wanted to accomplish on our trip. We promised Ariel that we would try again. However, it was down for quite some time, so when we came back later it still wasn't running. No, EE today.

Here is where our trip started taking a turn for Buzz. He was overwhelmed by everything and really scared to try anything. He has never been to a theme park before (not even a small one). We saw that It's Tough to be a Bug had no waiting time so we thought we would give it a try. I wish we hadn't. It had been awhile since my DH and I had gone to this show, and we thought the kids would be old enough that they would like it. WRONG! They hated it! Even Ariel who will try anything, was freaked out by it. I felt so badly, because we should have known better. It really is a little too scary for kids.
When we came out of the show, it was pouring down rain. Everyone was gathered together and not ready to move. We waited for awhile and it was not letting up. I checked my guide and saw that if we hurried we could make it to the NEMO show. So, we headed over to the theater. When we arrived we were in luck because they weren't making people wait outside, but were letting people into the theater. We had great seats even though we were all soaking wet!
I LOVE this show! The music was awesome and the performers were great! I cannot say enough for this show. We knew we had to come back and see it again. I want the music from this show, but I have been unable to find it.
After Nemo it had stopped raining and we decided to try the Triceratops Spin with the kids. The ride vehicles for this ride are not nearly as roomy as Dumbo. We barely had room for the two kids and me.
Then, it was time for the parade. We were not too impressed with the parade this time. It seemed really short.

Later we found out it was shortened because there were more thunderstorms moving into the area.

We decided to head over to Epcot to try and do some rides before Illuminations. We were able to walk onto the clamshell ride and see Turtle Talk with Crush. It was EMH so after Illuminations we thought we would try Soarin'. It was late, and we only had to wait 20 minutes. This was our first time riding and I loved it! Unfortunately, Grumpy was tired and did not enjoy it. She did give it a try though and says she will never go on it again.
Ariel and Buzz enjoyed it and hoped we could ride it again.

By the time we finished riding Soarin' it was almost midnight. So, we decided to call it a night. We had a jammed packed day and the kids really did pretty well keeping up today. We were almost able to do everything we had planned to do. Next up, day three and MGM Studios.

 

[SkyGirl]

Great pictures! The girls are adorable as is Buzz! Looking forward to more!

 

[IATink]

Day Three: MGM Studios

We had stayed out so late the night before that we decided to sleep in today. I cannot believe the girls slept until 9:00! This is pretty late for them.

We decided it would be nice to go for a swim before heading to the parks. It was already beginning to get hot, hot, hot! So, my DH and the girls headed to the pool while I got ready for the day.

I went down to watch them swim and take pictures, and I felt like I needed to take another shower because it was so hot! I knew we were going to be in for a long, hot day!

Buzz and the grandparents came over to join the girls. They swam for a little while longer then we all decided it was time to get ready to go! This is where I had wished we had managed our time better. By the time I got the girls ready to go it was time for lunch. So, we decided to go off property to Burger King before going to MGM Studios. It just took a lot longer than I had hoped and we didn't get to the park until late. However, we were just in time for the parade and we got an awesome spot to watch!

The girls were so excited because they didn't have to fight to see. We were right in front of the information booth. We just had to make sure we stayed behind the yellow line and we were okay. I really enjoyed the parade. This was the first time we had ever watched the whole thing.

After the parade I checked my guide book and saw High School Musical would be starting shortly. So, we headed down the street. The girls really enjoyed this show, but as a parent it was a little nerve wracking because we lost sight of them for a minute while they were running to get a spot for the pep rally. Grumpy really could not see very well, and I was trapped behind other parents, so a nice lady (who we had been talking to before the big rush) picked her up so she could see better. It was so nice of her and Grumpy was smiling because she could finally see! Thank you whoever you were. We enjoyed talking to you and you were so kind.

After HSM we headed over to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The girls love this show, buy unfortunately Buzz was being a little grumpy himself. Grandpa had to calm him down and convince him it was not like It's Tough to Be a Bug, that there was nothing that was scary. He was finally convinced and he went in. We all enjoyed the show.

I knew if we timed it right, we would finish Mermaid and head right to Playhouse Disney. Ariel and Grumpy have always like this show in the past. I wasn't sure if they were getting too old for it yet. I was hoping they would still enjoy it. They still like it, and Buzz loved it! He actually got up and danced. He was finally starting to come out of his shell! This had been the most I had seen him smile all week. (Of course that would change when he met Buzz Lightyear the next day)

We finished up Playhouse Disney and when we came out it was pouring down rain. We found a nice little place to hang out until the rain stopped. Well, the rain didn't stop, but it did let up a little bit. We thought we would try and do the Great Movie Ride. This isn't my favorite, but I figured it was inside so we wouldn't get wet. Well... everyone else thought this too. This was the longest wait we had for our whole trip. We waited for at least 45 minutes. Grumpy fell asleep in line, and slept through the whole ride! This was probably okay, because I wasn't sure how she would like the alien part.

We came out of the Movie ride, and it was still raining! So, we headed over to Muppets. We all love this show, except Grumpy. She still has a thing about 3-D movies. She really freaks out when she thinks something is coming at her. She went though, but wouldn't put on her glasses.

It was time for dinner, and Buzz was dying to go to Pizza Planet. We went there for pizza and he was in heaven! He kept saying how he had to have his birthday party here next year. I have never been really impressed with the pizza here, but Buzz says it was the best pizza he's ever had! It was so much fun watching him in here. He still says this was one of the best parts of his trip.

It was starting to get late, so we decided to call it a day. Grandpa and Grandma were going to take the kids so DH and I could enjoy the extra magic hours. This was so nice, because we love the Rock N' Roller Coaster and The Tower of Terror. These are our favorite rides. There was no line for TOT, so we rode it three times. It was awesome! We had another great day. It was so busy, but we would have it no other way.
Here's one of my favorites of Buzz and the girls. This was after Pizza Planet and on our way out.

Up next, Day four and the Magic Kingdom! We'll also find out what made Buzz say, "Oh Snap! Are we actually riding that?!!"

 

[Avivasmom]

Great pics...your girls are just to cute...love the pic at MGM in front of Mickey's Hat!

 

[2kids4us]

I am dying to see a picture of Buzz with Buzz!!! Hope you have one!!

 

[tinawv]

Sounds like you are having a great trip so far. Your girls are absolutely adorable. Looking forward to reading more and seeing more pictures.

 

[Ricky's Girl]

I just came across your trip report tonight and I'm enjoying it very much. Your little girls are just adorable and Buzz is a real cutie. Can't wait to read more!