Our 2nd Shot at the Dream Team -TONS OF PICS. 10/28 New PTR LINK

[dddisrunner]

I've been lurking on your trip report for a while and wanted to tell you how much I've been enjoying reading about your vacation! I'm glad to hear a positive review of Yak & Yeti; we'll have to try it the next time we go.

Amy (a fellow New Jerseyan!)

WELCOME AMY! Thanks for joining us and coming out of lurkdom!

Hello,

I found this today and I'm caught up. Great report so far. Hoping my kids will ride EE this time. DD will be close on the height. DS wasn't too sure about it last year. All 3 of us love ToT.

WELCOME! Yay, more new readers! It was great all riding the "big" rides together this year!

No need for the SOS--just a lot of stuff going on away from my desk this time of year! Lots of meetings. Ick--I think I'm past the worst of it now, though. I'll still keep sneaking in here when I can to catch up.
Isn't it amazing how a nap can just readjust your whole attitude? I'm a big fan of naps, you know.

Yak & Yeti looked wonderful! You have hit all these restaurants I've been wanting to try so I'm really happy to hear all about these. Note to self: No to Italy. Yes to Yak & Yeti.

That's a bummer about Eric missing out on EE--all due to some silly shoe mixup. I'm glad he was able to be consoled with a pin. He looks so tickled with his Legos in that picture--it really made me smile!

Great installment, as usual, Diane!

You crack me up Amy! Definitely say yes to Y&Y it was good! Yes a nap was ESSENTIAL on that day

 

[dddisrunner]

DAY 6 Crystal Palace & Magic Kingdom

We had set the wake up call a little earlier today as we had an 8:05am ressie at the Crystal Palace. I was so looking forward to taking those "empty park" pictures. Especially in front of the castle! We were awaken once again by Stitch and Mickey at 6:45am. Once again the AKL bus service was outstanding and we arrived at the Magic Kingdom only 15 minutes after we left the AKL.

The Magic Kingdom CM'S had their act together and we were let into the park @ 7:45 am! Imagine my surprise when I saw some kind of "group" in green shirts in front of the castle!

Here is a picture of the boys right in the middle of Main St. USA! Can you see the group off to the side now!

After we took those few shots, Bryan and the boys went over to check in at the CP. We took advantage of the remaining time until we were called to take some more pictures...

I LOVE this picture of the boys staring at the castle!

At 8:05 on the dot we were called for our ressie.......

We had only eaten dinner at the Crystal Palace prior to this trip, this was our first attempt at breakfast. It didn't disappoint, it was AWESOME! The food was delicious and our server was great too! I once again settled our bill right away when we were seated and it was a good thing I did because our server got SWAMPED quickly! We saw the characters rather quickly,well all but Eeyore. Eeyore got stopped before our table to participate in the Pooh and Friends Parade....

This picture cracks me up!

We decided not to wait for Eeyore, so we headed outside to the Tommorowland rope drop!

We took these pictures while we were waiting.........

The boys had fun running around!

An empty Tommorowland! You gotta love it!

We finally decide to stay put right by the rope. I turned to Bryan and said "TODAY WE ARE FOLLOWING THE PLAN!" About 10 seconds later we saw the mass mob heading our way! The Tommorowland CM's gave all the people around the rope these cute cards that had Timon and Pumbaa on them that said "Be Safe, No Stampeding"! I thought they were so cute and appropriate! Then one of the CM's gave a few of the kids (Matthew and Eric included) some Mickey head confetti and then we did a countdown from 10 to 0 and then they threw the confetti, the cm's dropped the rope and we were off to Space Mountain!


continued in the next post too many pictures!

 

[Tanya90210]

Empty park pics... too cool!!

Looks like fun at CP... I can't wait to go back!

 

[SunnieRN]

What a great way to start a day in the magic kingdom!! Fantastic pictures and I can't wait for the rest!!

 

[stagemomx3]

Empty park pictures.

Crystal Palace rocks!

 

[dddisrunner]

So off to Space Mountain we rushed! I parked the stroller we got in line and Bryan ran over to fastpass Space Mountain while we waited in line. A minute or 2 went by and I thought it was strange that we hadn't moved at all? So I said to Bryan, this is not a great start! He looked at me with those eyes that screamed "CHILL OUT". After what seemed like ages we were finally let in and it was no time until we were riding! Once again the boys love it and I really enjoyed hearing them laugh and scream! After the ride I ran to grab the stroller and re-park it by the Tommorowland Transit Authority! Our next ride was Buzz Lightyear. We head over and Eric's shoe came untied. He asked me to tie it and I told him I would once we got inside. He said PLEASE tie it now! So I said FINE! I bent over and tied it and then we all rushed into Buzz Lightyear. We entered turned the corner and that is when it happened..............
























IT WAS THE DREAM TEAM We were the 2nd family to receive DREAM FASTPASSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we WOO HOOED at the top of our lungs! Thank god Eric asked me to tie his shoe!!!!! I had tears in my eyes and I turned to Bryan and said "we can leave now, I got my dream!" I was over the moon ecstatic! You would have thought we hit the lottery! ( I really need some perspective huh?) Then Oh yeah we actually have to ride now! DUH! I hopped into my buzzmobile with Eric and I cannot focus I was shaking and crying! It was quite a sight! Here is my score from that journey...

here is Eric's!

He didn't even know what to aim at!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we exit Buz still all giddy and we spotted the Dream Team member Al who awarded us our fastpasses. We struck up a conversation with him and I said it must be so much fun giving away dreams like that and he said it is so much more fun when we scream and get excited like the dddisrunner crew did! He said believe it or not some people have no clue and think their trying to sell DVC or something! He even said he has seen people put them on top of the trash cans!!!!!!!!!!! We then asked if we could take the boys picture with him and he was so thrilled, that no one ever asks that!

A close up!

After Buzz and our conversation with Al, we went over to Winnie the Pooh!

Eric being silly in line!

After Pooh we headed to Peter Pan and rode. Then we went to the Haunted Mansion, I just love all the new enhancements! We then went to Splash Mountain and I sat this one out! I didn't want to get splashed with a white t-shirt on! While I was waiting for the boys I sat and people watched! I witnessed a little boy fighting with his sister, they were probably about 8 and 6 like my kids. Well in the new Mickey Moms Club group through Disney we were all sent the Tinkerbell Pins. One is to keep and one is to give away! Well, I saw the boy who was the younger one kick his sister and she started crying. The little boy told his mom that his sister pulled his hair (which she didn't) So the mom tells the daughter she can't get ice cream! I felt so bad for the little girl that I said excuse me to the mom and explained the pin and told her that I would like to give it to her daughter. The mom was very nice to me and said sure and told her daughter to thank me. She had a smile a mile wide and then she hugged me, I felt akward because her mom was staring at me, so then I told her in her ear that I saw her brother kick her and I thought she was very grown up for not hurting him back! The mom and little girl thanked me again and I walked away! It felt SO good spreading a little magic!! After all that drama, the boys come off Splash and surprisingly weren't soaked! I took these pictures and then we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain!

We were so excited becuase we got front row on the ride! After we got off and began to exit, we saw ANOTHER DREAN TEAM member! He looks at Bryan and says "It's your lucky day!" I about fell on the floor, the dream team cm says "come this way" I THOUGHT WE WON THE CASTLE SUITE!!!! Then he says your gonna win Dream Fastpasses AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have got to be kidding me right!!!!!! So yes ladies and gentleman an hour and a half after we won the first ones, we won them AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

We were all dumbfounded! I have to tell you I hope each one of you gets to experience winning a dream, it is a feeling only Disney can make you have (oh alright maybe the lottery too). After our dream encounter we fastpassed Big Thunder again and headed to Peco's Bills for lunch! I don't remember what we ate! We liked it though! At that point it could have been mush and it wouldn't have mattered!

Coming up next the rest of our magical day!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tanya90210]

wowza! not 1 but 2 sets of dream fastpasses!!! Wickid awesome!!!

How sweet of you to give your pin to that little girl... I had a little sis like her brother that liked gettin me into trouble... you probably made her vacation Way to go!!!

 

[stagemomx3]

Congrats on your double Dream Fast Passes!

 

[Jeanine3kids]

That is awesome, that you won twice what are the chances of that. When I was in Disney in Nov me my DS and DD were in AK and we were on Dinosaur and we won Dream fastpasses I got so excited we were all jumping up and down. Then I realized that my DH and DS age 1 were outside waiting and DH didn't have one. So when we exited the ride I found the Dream team member and explained to him what happenend and he told me to go get my husband and he took him all the way in the back and gave him one. It was really great.

 

[Trentmom]

I am so excited you finally got your dream, times two



MK has got to best part to get it at

We got ours at DHS, and only like two rides we could use them for


Great pics of an empty park!!!

Did ya ever see those people in green shirts later on? Did ya figure out where they were from? Just curious

 

[SunnieRN]

Oh my gosh, how exciting!! Woo hoo!!! Winning twice in less than 2 hours! Too cool! Congratulations!

 

[dddisrunner]

Empty park pics... too cool!!

Looks like fun at CP... I can't wait to go back!

Thanks Tanya! It was awesome!

What a great way to start a day in the magic kingdom!! Fantastic pictures and I can't wait for the rest!!

Thanks Sunnie!

Empty park pictures.

Crystal Palace rocks!

The CP was GREAT! Thanks!

wowza! not 1 but 2 sets of dream fastpasses!!! Wickid awesome!!!

How sweet of you to give your pin to that little girl... I had a little sis like her brother that liked gettin me into trouble... you probably made her vacation Way to go!!!

We really were SO fortunate to just be in the right place at the right time! It was great seeing that little girl smile!

Congrats on your double Dream Fast Passes!

Thanks!

That is awesome, that you won twice what are the chances of that. When I was in Disney in Nov me my DS and DD were in AK and we were on Dinosaur and we won Dream fastpasses I got so excited we were all jumping up and down. Then I realized that my DH and DS age 1 were outside waiting and DH didn't have one. So when we exited the ride I found the Dream team member and explained to him what happenend and he told me to go get my husband and he took him all the way in the back and gave him one. It was really great.

Thanks Jeanine! Could you imagine how excited the group would be if they were all Dis'ers Glad your DH got one too!

I am so excited you finally got your dream, times two



MK has got to best part to get it at

We got ours at DHS, and only like two rides we could use them for


Great pics of an empty park!!!

Did ya ever see those people in green shirts later on? Did ya figure out where they were from? Just curious

Nope, didn't see the green shirts again! It was a dream come true winning those fastpasses!

Oh my gosh, how exciting!! Woo hoo!!! Winning twice in less than 2 hours! Too cool! Congratulations!

It really was INCREDIBLE! thanks!

 

[addicted2dizney]

Oh my gosh! This is the best day yet! Congrats on the double dream passes! I swear to you my heart is racing reading this! That is sooo great! I can only dream for fastpasses on my trip! You got them on such a perfect day too! My cheer friends were in the MK by 3-4pm they said it was a mad house that afternoon! I was lol when you wrote about the "eyes" your husband gave you having to wait in line. Been there,done that! I can't wait to hear the next part!

 

[IluvXU]

Double Dream! WOW

 

[dddisrunner]

Oh my gosh! This is the best day yet! Congrats on the double dream passes! I swear to you my heart is racing reading this! That is sooo great! I can only dream for fastpasses on my trip! You got them on such a perfect day too! My cheer friends were in the MK by 3-4pm they said it was a mad house that afternoon! I was lol when you wrote about the "eyes" your husband gave you having to wait in line. Been there,done that! I can't wait to hear the next part!

Thanks for your excitement! I really didn't notice the crowds being to bad that day!

Double Dream! WOW

Thank you so much!

 

[MomofCKJ]

Holy cow! Not once but twice? You have some luck there girlfriend! That is so awesome! What a special day for your family!

Allyson

 

[addicted2dizney]

Thanks for your excitement! I really didn't notice the crowds being to bad that day!



lol! That's because you had the "PLAN" and the fast passes! They didn't get to the parks until later (a true dissers nightmare!) and got on only a ride or two all afternoon. They had no choice so it was a bonus just going in the parks at all. I also loved your empty park pics. I made an 8:30am ressie for CP but after seeing your experience I'm going to move it up! I also love your idea about paying ahead. (Makes perfect sense with the DDP and the buffets!)

 

[dddisrunner]

So we finished eating lunch at Pecos Bills and then went back through Liberty Square to see Philharmagic. We stopped to take this picture along the way!

We really were on a mission now. the Magic Kingdom was closing at 7pm because it was a Grad Night! We really wanted to make the best use out of those fastpasses! I don't remember the order of how we went on the rides but that was the best part of the fastpasses, there was no return time on them so we could use them whenever we wanted to!

As we were walking through Fantasyland, I have always wanted to take the boys pictures with the Sword in the Stone and never have, so today we did!

[

We made our way back over to Frontierland and the boys wanted to go on Big Thunder Mountain again! So we used one of our fastpasses and rode and low and behold................................
















There was the DREAM TEAM AGAIN!!!

This time we won Year of A Million Dreams Lanyards!

These are really neat, they come with the YOMD logo on it and 2 pins!! We were simply STUNNED! That is all I can say! We were incredibly LUCKY that day! I had been to the parks 13 days before this and got nothing and now we won 3 dreams in one day, it was CRAZY! Matthew kept saying that BTMRR was the ride of a million dreams! During the day we had many people ask us "what we did to win the dreams" I just said we were in the right place at the right time and that is truly what it is!




After that excitement,we then went to get some ice cream. It was starting to get HOT!

and then this happened!

Poor Eric! The cone was lopsided to begin with so Bryan brought it back to the counter and they gave him a new cone! eric was a happy camper again!

We spent about anouther half hour just using up the fastpasses and then we decided to go back to the AKL. We were exhausted from criss crossing all over the park all day! It was a good exhausted though! We headed out the gates and back to the AKL knowing we would never top this day! Or would we?

Back at the AKL we filled our mugs and relaxed. The boys played Legos and watched Stacy and I walked around the resort and took pictures! We decided to grab dinner at Mara. Bryan had the 1/2 chicken and couscous..

I had turkey on foccacia bread and fries! It was Yummy!

Our mission this evening was to see the 10:00 showing of Fantasmic and Eric was dying to ride the TOT at night! So off to DHS we went. We headed to the bus stop. Even the soda machines are themed!

Bryan and the boys waiting!

We make it to DHS and immediately notice the crowd! I thought it wasn't a big deal, we weren't going to Fantasmic until 10 and TGM said it was a great night to see the late show! We headed over to the TOT and got in the 20 minute standby line. We took these shots while we were waiting...

we made it inside and took these.......

We had a BLAST riding this at night, it was so cool overlooking the park at night! It was the first time we had done this. After TOT Bryan and the boys went on Star Tours and I couldn't help but notice the large amounts of cheerleaders and dancers still in the parks! I thought their competition had ended at 6pm. After Star Tours we did the Muppets and then made our way to the Fantasmic Theater. TGM said to line up about 25 minutes early. We got there and it was MOBBED. I am talking wall to wall people and kids screaming and cheering sooo loud in such close quarters, it was terrible. Normally, that kind of stuff doesn't bother me but then people just started jumping over Eric sitting in the stroller and one boys started doing dance moves and hit Matthew so hard in the back of the head that he started crying. I look over and Bryan looks like he is ready to LOSE IT! Instead Bryan started pushing the stroller and I stood in front of them and Matthew with my arms stretched completely out and I wouldn't move them. Many people kept knocking into us and pushing again so I screamed (so un-Disney like) "WHAT THE H*** IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE, WE ARE ALL GOING TO THE SAME PLACE, SLOW DOWN AND WATCH OUT FOR OTHER PEOPLE NOBODY NEEDS TO HURT JUST TO SEE A SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We walked only about 100 feet during this entire time. Then we stopped and were stuck like sardines! It was the scariest most horrible experience of my life. It was at this moment we got the heck out of line! No show is worth that hassle or risk of injury! It took us 25 minutes to walk back down the ramp! Finally we were free and went back to the AKL! Here are my babies safe and sound....

Today was such an amazing day! I was sad that it ended the way it did but that couldn't overshadow the magic of the rest of the day!!!!!!!



Coming up next: Our Anniversary day! Chef Mickey's and Le Cellier!

 

[dddisrunner]

Holy cow! Not once but twice? You have some luck there girlfriend! That is so awesome! What a special day for your family!

Allyson

I know crazy right!Thanks Allyson! We weren't done yet though!

Thanks for your excitement! I really didn't notice the crowds being to bad that day!



lol! That's because you had the "PLAN" and the fast passes! They didn't get to the parks until later (a true dissers nightmare!) and got on only a ride or two all afternoon. They had no choice so it was a bonus just going in the parks at all. I also loved your empty park pics. I made an 8:30am ressie for CP but after seeing your experience I'm going to move it up! I also love your idea about paying ahead. (Makes perfect sense with the DDP and the buffets!)

That is so true! Those dreams made us oblivious! Thanks for all the great compliments!

 

[macheath]

Wow! Three Dreams in One Day!!! Can you rub some of that luck off on me for our upcoming trip!!! Congrats!!! Very happy for you all.

Thanks for the CP and empty park pics. We've never been to CP and I really wanted to get into the park early to get some good shots...I called the other day and got 8:05am ressies!!! I thought, there is no way I'm going to ADR's at this point! But I did Your pics made me so excited!