Our 1st (but not last) family trip to the Magical World (Nov 2010)

[saraalison]

We decided in May to schedule a trip to WDW because Allegiant Air was offering a B1G1 deal if you also booked hotel accommodations. There weren't many Disney property options so we ended up getting a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo at the Sheraton Vistana Villages. Since the 2 older kids had a break from school for Veterans Day we decided to go Sunday, November 7th through Sunday, November 14th. (Allegiant only flies in / out of our city on Sundays and Thursdays to Orlando.)

I debated on how and when to tell the kids. With some construction paper I drew Mickey's head and wrote "see you real soon (November 7 - 14)" and cut it into puzzle pieces. DS7 and DD5 had to put the puzzle together to figure out a surprise. I had my video camera and digital camera ready to capture the exciting moment. They were excited but not the level of jubilation I was hoping for.

 

[saraalison]

The first thing I did was google WDW since none of us have ever been there. Thankfully I stumbled upon the DIS boards because they were a WEALTH of knowledge! I checked the boards almost daily. I also printed the park hours and schedule of parades & fireworks.

A friend of mine let me read her Unofficial Guide which was also a great resource. I decided against purchasing a membership to TGM or TP since we would not be there during peak season.

I created a spreadsheet that highlighted which days we would be at each park. Parades & fireworks were included and I scheduled around them.

About 3 weeks before we were scheduled to leave I ordered 7 day MYW tickets through UT's link through Mouse Savers. I figured we woudn't need park hoppers and we could always upgrade if we decided we needed them after we got to the parks. Our tickets arrived within a couple days. Yippee! And it turned out we didn't need park hoppers anyways.

A few days before we left I printed entertainment schedules from Steve Soares website for each of the parks. These were very consistent with the Times Guide you pick up from the parks.

 

[saraalison]

November 7

Our flight was scheduled to come in to Orlando Sanford Int'l at 3pm. We had to pick up our rental, check-in to the condo and head to DHS for the 2nd showing of Fantasmic at 8pm. We arrived at the park at about 6pm. I could tell the grin on my face was from ear-to-ear. I couldn't have been more excited to be there. As soon as I got through the entrance and experienced all the sights and smells and that magical feeling I totally wanted to cry. The sun had set by then and all the little stores were lit up and decorated for the holidays. It was wonderful!

We hadn't eaten in a while so we were all starving for supper. We ended up ordering burgers and chicken nuggets at Rosies's All-American Cafe. Now we're not picky eaters but those were probably the worst burgers we've ever consumed. Oh well. We were at WDW so we didn't let it bother us too much.

We then headed over to ToT. We were aware that DD1 would not be able to ride and we also knew that we could get a rider switch pass. We just didn't realize that the attendant at the very beginning hand them out. Anyways there wasn't any waiting so we waltzed up to the next attendant right before you enter the elevator. Well she was mighty surprised to see a baby in tow. So she handed us the rider switch pass and told us how that all works.

I went first with DS7 while DH waited with the other kids. After the first drop I look over at DS7 and he has a look of fear and he's not only hooked his one arm on mine he also hooked his other arm on the lady next to him. I was laughing so hard. Turns out he loved the ride, too.

After everyone had a chance to ride ToT we got in line for Fantasmic around 30 minutes before show time. I was nervous about getting in since I read you have to get there so early to get a seat. Once we got in line we couldn't see where the line started or ended. That was a dang lot of people. But no worries. There was still empty seats on both ends. We were probably 7 rows from the front and a little to the left.

We all loved the show. Seeing the expressions on my kids faces was absolutely priceless!

 

[saraalison]

November 8

We planned to eat a light breakfast at the condo and leave for Animal Kingdom at 8:30am. This was our first experience with the parking lot trolley. While it is nice to get a ride to the entrance, if you have a stroller, it's kind of a pain in the butt (taking everything out of the basket, taking out the baby, folding it up, etc). But I guess it beats hoofing all the way to the entrance. I was hoping to catch the opening "show" that I had read about but we didn't make it. Oh well.

We had reservations at Tusker House at 10:20am. We first grabbed FP for Kilimanjaro Safaris then checked in for our rezzies. We did conclude that Tusker House was one of our favorite character meals of our trip. I believe our servers name was Neil. He was very funny and prompt with all requests. He didn't rush us out of there and offered to take pictures of our whole family when the characters came by the table. The food was pretty good. When we were getting ready to leave Neil suggested we take a couple pieces of fruit with us. We didn't but we appreciated the offer.

After we finished eating we meandered around the park and eventually did the Safari. We all really enjoyed that. Then it was on to Flights of Wonder. DS7 did NOT want to go but after a minute or two of the show starting he was enjoying himself. The 2 presenters were wonderful.

We had the pleasure of watching DeVine. What a beauty! It was incredible to watch and we couldn't take our eyes off of her. Here is one situation where I wish I would have thought to whip out the video camera.

The kids got to play in the Boneyard for a bit but I have to admit I would get a little nervous when they would get away from my sight. Some of the other attractions we did in DinoLand USA were Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur.

We started to make our way to Camp Minnie-Mickey because I wanted to catch the last showing of Festival of the Lion King. We did It's Tough to be a Bug which everyone absolutely loved! We arrived at FotLK about 30 minutes prior to the show. This wasn't necessary as there were several empty spots. But sometimes you don't know these things until after the fact. Although the rest of the family liked the show I thought it was amazing! It ranks up there as one of my all time favorite Disney attractions.

Before going to AK both DH and I so-so expectations but after we left we were extremely impressed. Could easily be one of our favorites parks.

After all this we ventured over to Downtown Disney. We ate at T-Rex Cafe and were seated in the middle of the restaurant in what appeared to be a glacier. The walls of "ice" kept changing color and really hurt my eyes. Our food was pretty good. I ordered an appetizer sampler for supper and DH got a pork sandwich. Once we finished we spent quite a bit of time at the Lego store. The kids tinkered around and we let them buy a small bucket of legos. We mostly hung around the Marketplace. One of the places I really wanted to visit was Goofy's Candy Co. But by the time we got there DS7 was pouting and DD5 had to go to the bathroom. So I scored a bag of taffy and off we went.

 

[saraalison]

November 9

We started the day with breakfast rezzies at Crystal Palace at 8:20am. We arrived just a few minutes late but it ended up not being a problem. One thing we didn't take into consideration was how long it takes you to get from the parking lot to the actual park. What an ordeal! They had a separate line for guests with breakfast reservations so you didn't have to weed through the crowd.

Our breakfast at Crystal Palace was fine. Nothing to write home about but not bad either. All the characters made their way through the restaurant a couple of times during our time there. This is the only place where I witnessed Disney employees with sour attitudes. Not to the patrons but to each other. I'm not sure I would recommend this place. Well it wouldn't be my first place to recommend anyways.

After we finished we headed over to the castle. We had some photopass pics taken in addition to having the photographers take our picture with our own camera. The places I wanted our family to visit today were Fantasy Land, Liberty Square and Frontierland. I also wanted to watch the Dream Come True Parade. The first attraction was the Haunted Mansion. My kids LOVED this! In FantasyLand we rode/saw IASM, Peter Pan's Flight, Mickey's Philharmagic and Cinderella's Golden Carousel. Mostly no waiting at all except PPF in which we were in line maybe 10 minutes. Then we made our way to Frontierland where we rode BTMR and Splash Mountain. The waits were like 5 minutes for each one. It was awesome!

The parade was to begin at 3pm so Frontierland about 2pm. Luckily we were able to catch Dream Along with Mickey before the parade. We found a spot in front of Main Street Bakery and grabbed a couple of muffins to nibble on. They were delicious! The parade was great!

We had 5pm rezzies for the Hoop Dee Do Review at Fort Wilderness. I thought if we left right after the parade we should be good. I was assuming we had to drive over there but one thing I learned is if you have a question DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK A CM. They directed us to a boat that went right to Fort Wilderness. We got there about 4pm and the doors weren't open yet so we let the kids play at the playground. The show was a hoot and the food was pretty good. Our waiter got Dolly to come to our table because DS7 thought she was so funny. Well the kid that is never at a loss for words couldn't even remember what city he lived in when she asked him where he was from! Great show! I highly recommend it!

MK closed early this night at 6:30pm for a private party. So we had to just go back to the condo when HDDR was over. That was fine because we needed to get some good rest.

 

[saraalison]

November 10

This is the day that I was probably the most excited about. DD5 was going to BBB for a surprise princess makeover. We brought her Snow White dress and she wore it the park. Rezzie at BBB was at 9:20am. We first attempted to locate Tinkerbell's Treasures to see if we could wake up Tink. Unfortunately, there is no more TT. It is now Castle Couture. Oh well! We went to the castle for the big makeover. At that point I was so excited for DD5 that I about burst. We get in the doorway and I grab a brochure and proceed to tell DD5 what is about to happen. She slowly shook her head and said, "no thanks". WHAT?!? No problem. I guess it just saved me $50.

We were at FantasyLand at RD so the kids got to ride Dumbo right away. We then headed over to Tomorrowland. We did Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor. Of everything we did during our visit to WDW both DH and concurred that TIS was our least favorite.

We had 11:15am rezzies at Chef Mickey but we had zero desire to travel over to CR so we skipped it and ate at Cosmic Ray's instead. Food was okay. There was a topping bar which was nice but it took DH quite a while to get everything situated.

The surprise for DS7 was an appt at Pirates League at 12:55pm. Like many other children there, he picked out the skull face. The CM that worked with him did a nice job. It was quite hot and stuffy in there but the experience was fun. In addition to the face painting he got a sword, eye patch, fake teeth, a bandana and some "treasure". Oh and of course he got a pirate name, "Ben Pillage Fish". Unfortunately he wanted the stuff washed off his face about 2 hours after they applied it. I don't think he liked the cakey feeling in his eyebrows. Most of it washed off easily except the black stuff on his eyelids. Poor guy looked like he was wearing eyeliner for the next couple days after that.

I scheduled a break this day because the Light Parade and Wishes were going on later in the evening and it would have been a loooong day at the park since we got there so early. DS7 was invited to be a part of the Buccaneer Brigade at the Pirates of the Caribbean but had to miss it because it was going on during our out-of-park break.

As we were leaving Snow White crossed our path and notice DD5 who was in her Snow White dress. She said something to her about the Dream Come True Parade and then blew DD5 a kiss. Oh my goodness! DD5 thought she had died and went to heaven! It was so adorable.

We got back to the park about 6pm and the Light Parade was scheduled for 7pm and Wishes at 8pm. Not sure what happened but attendance seemed to multiply in the short span of us taking our break. There were people EVERYWHERE! Then our poor kids were hungry. So we found the best spot we could that was next to Sleepy Hollow. Supper that night consisted of wild rice soup and funnel cakes. Our options were pretty limited. Even though we were behind quite a few people we could still see the parade. It was great! I held DD1 while DH had DS7 on his shoulders AND he was holding DD5.

Once that was over we trekked over to Jungle Cruise. We were one of only a few on the boat. When it was over it was almost 8pm on the dot so we scurried towards the castle. We did get to see Tink fly and watched most of Wishes in front of Casey's Corner / Crystal Palace.

Leaving the park was horrible. Droves of people were trying to leave. I thought I was being smart by waiting a bit to let the "crowd" leave first. HA! They just kept coming and coming. I also wanted to get a pic of the castle with all the beautiful lights on. Yikes! Suicide mission! We were on the sidewalk on Main Street and I had no idea how I was going to get in the middle of the street for a good pic. DH suggested I get behind a vendor selling souvenirs. Great idea! Worked out very well.

The line to get on the monorail zigged and zagged. What an affair to just get out of there! Once we reached about half way up I hear, "mom, I have to go to the bathroom". Ugh.

 

[saraalison]

November 11

For starters, Epcot seemed to be way more squared footage to cover. Or maybe it just seemed that way because of all the walking we've done this week.

We had 10:35 rezzies at Akershus. So beforehand I thought we should start by riding Soarin' and then get FP. We decided against FP because we all felt the ride was just ho-hum. I took DD1 on Living with the Land while DH took the other kids. We did get a rider switch pass so I could go on when they were done.

We did the Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus. You get the warm breakfast food served family style and the cold food you get from a buffet. Food was decent. DD5 was in absolute heaven meeting all the princesses. One nice thing is before you get seated you have your picture taken with one of the princesses. While you dine they come back and give you the pic at no additional charge. Of all the character meals we did this one was the most expensive. The princesses parade around the restaurant with the kids for a few minutes. When DD5 was done with that she was going to get something else from the buffet. No such luck. They took it all away in preparation for lunch.

We rode Maelstrom and Gran Fiesta Tour after we ate. After that we made our way back to FW. We rode Test Track and spent alot of time at Innoventions. My kids LOVE hands on activities like the ones that are offered there. DS7 signed up for a Kim Possible mission so we headed back over to Norway to get his Kimunicator.

Of course DH and I had to sample all the goodies from F&W. I also wanted to get School Bread but the person ahead of us took the last 4. : (

The Kim Possible mission DS7 got directed us to China. After numerous clues I didn't think it would ever end. And I didn't realize you "save the world" in the country you started in. I thought you had to do ALL the countries so DS7 was pretty disappointed when I told him we needed to move on or we would be there all night. As we progressed through WS the crowd really started to get thick. Tons of people.

The last thing we did was ride The Seas with Nemo & Friends. I wanted to stay for Illuminations but after the crowd we had to deal with at MK the night before we wanted to get out of there. Plus we had been at the park since 9am.

 

[saraalison]

November 12

Because I followed the boards closely I knew the first thing we needed to do was head over to TSM. We got there about 9:30am and the standby line was 60 minutes and FP return time was 12:30-1:30. So we grabbed our FP and proceeded for Studio Backlot Tour. DS7 really liked the costumes in the building at the end.

Afterwards we headed over to Playhouse Disney where we got a nice surprise. As DH was parking the stroller a CM approached us and asked if we would like to be the 1st family. My kids had no idea what she was talking about buy I sure did. As soon as DH and DD1 joined us we got to go in first and pick the best seats in the house. Cute production!

We had lunch rezzies at Hollywood & Vine at 11:30. We arrived quite early but it wasn't a problem as it wasn't busy at all in there. Just like all the other character meals the characters came by our table one-by-one. They also did a little song and dance at the front. The food was pretty good. Actually, DH and I determined it was the best food we had in all of WDW.

After we ate it was time to return to TSM. The standby line was 45 minutes when we went in and had gone up to 75 minutes when we got out.

On our way to ToT and RnR we attended Muppet Vision and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Both were pretty cute. DS7 really enjoyed the Muppets. But he LOVED all those 3D attractions. We all got to ride ToT with no wait but RnR was out of order. When it finally did come back up standby was 40 minutes and there were not offering FP.

We let the kids play at Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure. They had a good time while they got to blow off some steam.

As dusk was approaching we watched Beauty and the Beast. Great show! I hadn't heard some of the those songs for years but they all came back to me and I sang right along without skipping a beat.

The thing I was most looking forward to was Osbourne Lights. It was breathtaking! We enjoyed them before and after we ate at Pizza Planet. Which by the way both DH and I agreed that it was the best value we had at WDW. We all got personal size pizzas and they came with Caesar salads. Good food.

As we made our way out of the park I wanted to stop by Starring Rolls for grapefruit cake. Unfortunately it didn't look like Starring Rolls is open any longer. At least that's the way it looked.

 

[saraalison]

November 13

I left today wide open since it was our last full day at WDW. What I was hoping we would do is spend time at one park and then go to the ocean. When the kids were asked which park they wanted to go back to they enthusiastically responded, "Epcot". Hmmmm, okaaaay. That's the last park I thought they would choose. The thing that got them hooked was, well actually 2 things ... Innoventions and Kim Possible missions. No problem. We could go for a few hours and head to Cocoa Beach.

The first thing we did was let DH and DS7 ride Mission: SPACE. They went for the gusto and did orange. They seemed to like it. I, however, was not interested in being nauseous so I passed. We then went to Innoventions and let the kids explore. I was mighty bored but didn't let the kids know it. They spent alot ot time at the Waste Management exhibit and some others.

One thing I learned from the boards is how much fun it is to watch people try Beverly at Club Cool. I talked up Beverly to DH, never mentioning how horrible it was. So as soon as I spotted Club Cool we made a bee line for it. Some of the other drinks were not bad. Then we get to Beverly. I had my video camera ready to capture all the reactions. DH only took a baby sip so that was no fun. He still got the effect. DS7 snuck off to a different fountain and got some so I didn't get to see him right away. But DD5 was so funny. She took a swig and nodded her head in delight then 2 seconds later she scrunched up her face and put her hand over her mouth. I could have stayed there all day watching people try Beverly.

At Innoventions we did let the kids sign up for another Kim Possible mission which directed us to Germany. So we took the boat across the pond. Since we were in Germany and all DH and I decided to grab a beer. After the kids finished saving the world we made our way to Norway for a round of School Bread. It was yummy. DS7 isn't a big coconut fan so he didn't eat much of it.

It was now about 12:30 so we decided our time at Epcot was over and it would conclude our visit to WDW. Frankly, we were so pooped out that we decided against the beach and headed for the condo. We rested then hung out poolside the rest of the day.

 

[saraalison]

We found out in late May that we were going to WDW in November. I spent so much time planning which of course is half the fun. As November drew nearer I was almost sad that my planning phase was coming to a close.

WDW met, no, exceeded my expectations. On our first night when I was sitting there watching Fantasmic with my family and seeing the looks on my kids faces ... well, I can't even describe the emotion I was feeling.

One thing that surprised me is how good the shows are. WDW is more than rides. It's rides and shows and parades and shops and different foods and so so so much more.

My favorite planning tool by far was the boards. Because we weren't going during a busy time I decided against other resources like TGM or UG. But I would consider them in the future.

I was glad I didn't purchase park hoppers. Maybe if we stayed on site and if the kids were bigger (read: faster) I could see doing it. But being that it was our first time there and learning the layout of the parks it made sense for us to not have them.

I was not prepared for how much time it takes to park your car and get into the park itself. And I was definately not prepared for the MK crowd on a Wishes/Light Parade night.

Both DH and I agreed that MK and AK are tied for our favorite park. MK might edge out AK just a little. DS7 like Epcot best. DD5 loves princesses so she liked both MK and Epcot (because of Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus).

When we came back home I thought about our next trip to WDW and felt 3 years would be logical. DS7 would be 10 and still be considered a kid as far as pricing goes. And our youngest would be 4 and be able to enjoy the parks more. HOWEVER, with all the deals that come up (discounted rooms, free dining) maybe we'll go again next year.

 

[Lbg206]

Subbing. Can't wait to hear how the your trip went since we just returned last month with my cousins who are 5 and 7 also so I'm curious to see how other kids the same age experienced the World.

Can't wait!

 

[saraalison]

The other night I deleted my count down ticker in my siggy since our trip has passed. What a sad thing to have to do.

Planning for a trip is half the fun of it. So I have been doing a bit of snooping around for our next trip. When we first got back I thought it would be 3 years until our next visit. But I have been finding myself seeing what's available for deals. I would really like to stay on property and getting some free dining would certainly sweeten the deal.

 

[saraalison]

Before our trip I jotted down the attractions/eats/activities that I thought our family would enjoy.

For our day at Animal Kingdom I was hoping we would ...

Ride Kilamanjaro Safaris
Eat at Tusker House
Stop by the drum playing area in Africa
Conservation Station in Rafiki's Planet Watch
Ride Expedition Everest
See Flights of Wonder
Play at the Boneyard
Watch Finding Nemo
Watch It's Tough to be a Bug
Watch the last showing of Lion King

We did all of them except Rafiki's Planet Watch, EE and Finding Nemo. It's not that I thought we would be able to do all of them but those were things I was MOST interested in.

I didn't realize how much time you can "lose" by taking pictures, getting autographs from the characters, shopping, etc. But I still think we packed in alot of fun stuff at AK.

 

[Dsnygrl1205]

It only takes one trip to get the Disney bug! Just ask anyone here!

 

[saraalison]

The things we had hoped to do at MK ...

IASM
Peter Pan
Mickey's Philharmagic
Space Mountain
TTA
Pirates of the Caribbean
BTMR
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Jungle Cruise
wake up Tink
Dole Whip
Push (Mickey's Star Traders)

I had planned to let the kids do pressed pennies and had brought a bag full of quarters and pennies but managed to forget them in the condo EVERY DAY!

We did everything on the list except TTA, wake up Tink (the store is no longer there so I'm not sure you can wake up Tink) and we never did see Push even though we were in that area for quite some time.

And might I just say ... PINEAPPLE DOLE WHIPS ARE AMAZING!

 

[saraalison]

Before I forget I wanted to note my observation of the crowd levels at the parks. Keep in mind I've never been to WDW so I don't have anything to compare it to.

AK seemed busy to me but judging by wait times and show attendance it must not have been busy at all.

MK on Tuesday didn't appear to be busy but Wednesday was a different story. But this was a Light Parade & Wishes night.

Thursday was our Epcot day and it wasn't terribly busy until late afternoon. WS was crazy busy. It was hard to move. Lots of people enjoying the last few days of F&W I guess.

Friday at DHS wasn't bad.

Saturday morning we did Epcot and if I had to guess I would say it was average. Except WS, it was really starting to pick up as the day went on.

 

[saraalison]

Undercover Tourist offers a free app called Disney World Wait Times. I was anxious to use this during our visit but concluded that it was garbage. Most days it never updated. I tried to submit a wait time when I was standing under the wait time board at Soarin' and I got a message back that indicated I was too far away and it only accepts submissions while waiting in line.

My advice to other users is that this is a subpar app and not reliable. Well, that was my experience anyway.

 

[saraalison]

The things on my list of things to do at Epcot consisted of:

Soarin'
Test Track
Maelstrom
Seas of Nemo
Spaceship Earth
Innoventions
Mission Space
Image Works
Journey Into Imagination
Turtle Talk
Gran Marnier slush
Grey Goose slush
Club Cool
Candy making lady in Japan
Pick-a-pearl in Japan
School Bread
Kidcot Stations

We got about half of those things accomplished. I was happy to have the 2 different slushies. Yum!

 

[UnderCoverTourist]

On some phones we have experienced 'location based services' and 'updating issues' this is 100% correct! You can see (within the Droid store) that we had numerous 5 stars but also some 1 stars with wildly differing experiences.

This truly was down to hardware and software variables, not simply the app code.

We have just released an update to the Free Android App that address 99% of these issues.

I ask for your understanding that with multiple different hardware handsets, different versions of OS's and even app updates from ourselves that it can be a bit bumpy at first. Hence why we made this technology free.

We do believe that the latest update released yesterday has resolved 99% of these.

On the iPhone we have just discovered that the latest version of the iPhone OS has broken some parts of our free iPhone app on iPhone 4's with specific configurations. We are now scrambling to fix this issue!

Thank you

Undercover Tourist

 

[bkandreu]

loving your trip report so far everyone gets hooked on disney after the first time they go! i don't see how anyone couldn't!