JerseyMamaBear
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2007
- Messages
- 1,146
What should have been a relaxing, laid back, quick two-nighter turned into three nights with a lot of bumps along the way.
Heres a little bit of my back story. I am a mom of 2 (12 & 10 months) with one more due in August. We wanted a last minute trip to get away before the baby arrives so my mom and I took the kids for a quick stay at the All Star Music.
We flew out of Atlantic City on Sunday March, 22nd after getting a great deal on super cheap tickets. We should have known this trip would have it's moments after the TSA agent checking us in gave me a harder then normal time about the 3 premade formula filled bottles I had for my infant and the sealed plastic baby food containers. The bottles and formula were in clear plastic zip lock bags placed on top of her diaper bag along with her liquid medications. He tried to tell me it was not a "reasonable" amount and that we would have to throw more then half of the few jars we had and 2 bottles out! I respectfully explained to him that she follows a strict feeding schedule and we did not check bags. After he huffed and got his manager, they tested each item, did a secondary screening of me and my growing baby bump, the manager (Im guessing a mom too) gladly let us by to the displeasure of the original agent.
Our flight went smooth with baby sleeping in her carseat the whole way and check in at Magical Express went well. We waited at most 5 minutes before we were escorted to our bus. Now comes bump number 2! I have to say my son has a big heart and is so much in love with his sister. He was trying so hard to help me off the bus with our bags that he left his Nintendo DS on the seat and forgot all about it until about an hour later!
We made so many phone calls to Mears and Disney and filed 2 claims, complete with the drivers names, seat number and times but some "luckey" guest after us is now the proud owner of a DS that they were too greedy to turn in.
So off to check in. The line was long but the CM's were more then helpful. It took a little over an hour to check in but it wasent too bad. Our room was not ready yet since it was around 10am so we went to check our bags only to then realize (bump 3) that after paying for a prefered room through expedia, the CM had placed us in a value room. SO back in line I go only to have them tell us they are fully booked and could not help us in any way and to call expedia for a refund.
I took what I could get without making too much of an issue with it since it was only for 2 nights but I was far from happy.
We ate a quick lunch at the food court which was pretty good and headed to the Animal Kingdom.
The weather couldent have been better. It was a sunny, 70 degree day with a cool breeze. We made our way to a few of the characters greeting guests for some photos, then to the gate to enter the park. (Bump 4!) As we were about to enter the gates the computer system for gates and purchasing tickets went down so here we go, waiting again, this time for about 45 minutes. After finally making it into the park, we fast passed the Safari (standby was 50 minutes) and went by train to exploration station and had a blast. The petting zoo was cute and my son enjoyed the exhibits.
Just before making our way to the Safari we watched the parade and had a small snack. I have never seen the parade at the AK before and it was cute.
By this time the baby and I needed a break so my mother took my son to see more of the park while we enjoyed the baby care center. I have to hand it to Disney, they hit the nail on the head when they designed the centers. The rooms had plenty of changing tables, high chairs, a quite nursing room, cartoons playing, microwave and baby items to purchase in case you need anything. By this time it was getting late so we made our way out of the park and hopped the bus to the first resort we could get to so we could visit downtown Disney.
Now given the crowds and being that it is spring break, we had the best luck the whole trip when it came to buses. If we waited 10 minutes it was a lot. The only hang up was at MK closing but thats for later.
It dident take us long to arrive at DTD. It would have taken 90 minutes for a table at T-Rex so after 30 minutes we gave up and finished some shopping. It was around 9:30 when we finally got a burger and fries to take back to our room. We were placed in Broadway which, out of all of the buildings, was decorated the best. The sides of the buildings have huge marque signs and a ticket booth like you would see in Ny. It was a bit out of the way for us since we did pay for prefered but all in all not bad. Our crib and refridgerator were not in the room lke they promised so we called the desk and in 30 minutes they brought them up.
All in all, we did have a fun day even with all of the bumps and a late start caused by them. Off to bed and hopefully a better day.
Monday morning my little 10 month old alarm clock woke us up bright and early at 6:30 which worked out well. After a quick breakfast at the food court we were able to make it to MK right at park opening. All I have to say is PARK OPENING ROCKS!!! We usually always make it a point to be at the MK at opening but never has it payed off so much as it did this trip. We walked onto Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan, Small world, Caroucel, Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Big thunder railroad all before 11:30am. We fast passed Jungle cruise but headed to main street instead for some shopping. By 12:30 we decided to head back to the hotel for some down time and a nap before a 5:00 dinner at Chef Mickey's.
Dinner was nice but the characters lacked that special something they have had in the past. I don't know if it was the crowds that were getting to them or the need to move fast to help with a larger table turnover but we will most likely skip it for the next few trips. Not that it was bad, but time to try something different. We finished dinner and headed back to the MK for spectro and Wishes. My son wanted to do more rides so as I sat for the parade with my daughter, my mom took him to Space Mountain, Monsters and Jungle Cruise. (Special thanks to the super nice family from New Hampshire who's little girl played with my daughter and help keep her occupied for the hour before the parade.) Im a big fan of claiming seats early for parades but 1 hour before it started the was hardly a spot to be had.
Heres where things got crazy with the buses. I know full well park closing is hectic and you could be waiting for a long time at closing but never in my 31 trips have I ever seen anything like it. There were lines just to get into the 2 bus queing areas that wrapped around to the exit gates. The monorail and boats were just as bad. People were pushing and cutting lines and poor tired kids were crying beyond belief. Not willing to spend my night camped out in line, we made the 10 minute walk to the Contemporary and spent, what had to be the best $24 of my life and took a cab back to the hotel. It took no more then 20 minutes from the walk to drop off. The next morning at breakfast I spoke with a father that said it took them just over 2 hours to get back!
Now Tuesday should have been the day we head home, but after such a rough start we made some calls and planned on a third night to make up for it. The morning was spent in EPCOT where the lines were much longer then expected. Living on the land was 30 minutes while soaring was 180 minutes for standby with a 5:30 fastpass return, at 930am! Nemo was 30 minutes and Figment was about 20. We walked around until 12:30 then again went back for some much needed pool time and lunch. The kids loved the pool and spashed around for a long time before we headed back to EPCOT for dinner in Mexico and a visit to the countries. We wandered into Japan where we saw everyone gathered around a display where they were doing the pick a pearl ceremony. We picked pearls at DTD in the past, but it was never as much of a show and display as these women put on. My son picked out the perfect one which had a pearl that was the same size in mm as my daughters weight when she was born (8 1/2) and gave it to her for her first necklace. It brought my mom and I to tears.
We made our way to the buses just before closing and called it a night while watching tv.
Wednesday morning we checked out and with some time to kill before our 12:25 ME we decided to head to the Polynesian for a yummy breakfast at Kona Cafe then off to our bus for the sad trip home. (Bump number, oh I cant even remember) We arrived at the airport parking lot only to find my mom left the lights on inside my car and killed my battery. Fun Fun Fun.
Even though this was a bumpy trip filled some kinks we did have a wonderful time. I do have to say, while the crowds were a tiny bit of a bummer, we made the most of it and made the decision to never go back during spring break again.
Not sure how this trip report turned out, it was my first time writing one so I hope, if nothing else besides my need to vent, I hope it helps someone out with info on their next trip.
Heres hoping our trip in December turns out bit less bumpy.
Heres a little bit of my back story. I am a mom of 2 (12 & 10 months) with one more due in August. We wanted a last minute trip to get away before the baby arrives so my mom and I took the kids for a quick stay at the All Star Music.
We flew out of Atlantic City on Sunday March, 22nd after getting a great deal on super cheap tickets. We should have known this trip would have it's moments after the TSA agent checking us in gave me a harder then normal time about the 3 premade formula filled bottles I had for my infant and the sealed plastic baby food containers. The bottles and formula were in clear plastic zip lock bags placed on top of her diaper bag along with her liquid medications. He tried to tell me it was not a "reasonable" amount and that we would have to throw more then half of the few jars we had and 2 bottles out! I respectfully explained to him that she follows a strict feeding schedule and we did not check bags. After he huffed and got his manager, they tested each item, did a secondary screening of me and my growing baby bump, the manager (Im guessing a mom too) gladly let us by to the displeasure of the original agent.
Our flight went smooth with baby sleeping in her carseat the whole way and check in at Magical Express went well. We waited at most 5 minutes before we were escorted to our bus. Now comes bump number 2! I have to say my son has a big heart and is so much in love with his sister. He was trying so hard to help me off the bus with our bags that he left his Nintendo DS on the seat and forgot all about it until about an hour later!
We made so many phone calls to Mears and Disney and filed 2 claims, complete with the drivers names, seat number and times but some "luckey" guest after us is now the proud owner of a DS that they were too greedy to turn in. So off to check in. The line was long but the CM's were more then helpful. It took a little over an hour to check in but it wasent too bad. Our room was not ready yet since it was around 10am so we went to check our bags only to then realize (bump 3) that after paying for a prefered room through expedia, the CM had placed us in a value room. SO back in line I go only to have them tell us they are fully booked and could not help us in any way and to call expedia for a refund.
I took what I could get without making too much of an issue with it since it was only for 2 nights but I was far from happy.
We ate a quick lunch at the food court which was pretty good and headed to the Animal Kingdom.
The weather couldent have been better. It was a sunny, 70 degree day with a cool breeze. We made our way to a few of the characters greeting guests for some photos, then to the gate to enter the park. (Bump 4!) As we were about to enter the gates the computer system for gates and purchasing tickets went down so here we go, waiting again, this time for about 45 minutes. After finally making it into the park, we fast passed the Safari (standby was 50 minutes) and went by train to exploration station and had a blast. The petting zoo was cute and my son enjoyed the exhibits.
Just before making our way to the Safari we watched the parade and had a small snack. I have never seen the parade at the AK before and it was cute.
By this time the baby and I needed a break so my mother took my son to see more of the park while we enjoyed the baby care center. I have to hand it to Disney, they hit the nail on the head when they designed the centers. The rooms had plenty of changing tables, high chairs, a quite nursing room, cartoons playing, microwave and baby items to purchase in case you need anything. By this time it was getting late so we made our way out of the park and hopped the bus to the first resort we could get to so we could visit downtown Disney.
Now given the crowds and being that it is spring break, we had the best luck the whole trip when it came to buses. If we waited 10 minutes it was a lot. The only hang up was at MK closing but thats for later.
It dident take us long to arrive at DTD. It would have taken 90 minutes for a table at T-Rex so after 30 minutes we gave up and finished some shopping. It was around 9:30 when we finally got a burger and fries to take back to our room. We were placed in Broadway which, out of all of the buildings, was decorated the best. The sides of the buildings have huge marque signs and a ticket booth like you would see in Ny. It was a bit out of the way for us since we did pay for prefered but all in all not bad. Our crib and refridgerator were not in the room lke they promised so we called the desk and in 30 minutes they brought them up.
All in all, we did have a fun day even with all of the bumps and a late start caused by them. Off to bed and hopefully a better day.
Monday morning my little 10 month old alarm clock woke us up bright and early at 6:30 which worked out well. After a quick breakfast at the food court we were able to make it to MK right at park opening. All I have to say is PARK OPENING ROCKS!!! We usually always make it a point to be at the MK at opening but never has it payed off so much as it did this trip. We walked onto Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan, Small world, Caroucel, Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Big thunder railroad all before 11:30am. We fast passed Jungle cruise but headed to main street instead for some shopping. By 12:30 we decided to head back to the hotel for some down time and a nap before a 5:00 dinner at Chef Mickey's.
Dinner was nice but the characters lacked that special something they have had in the past. I don't know if it was the crowds that were getting to them or the need to move fast to help with a larger table turnover but we will most likely skip it for the next few trips. Not that it was bad, but time to try something different. We finished dinner and headed back to the MK for spectro and Wishes. My son wanted to do more rides so as I sat for the parade with my daughter, my mom took him to Space Mountain, Monsters and Jungle Cruise. (Special thanks to the super nice family from New Hampshire who's little girl played with my daughter and help keep her occupied for the hour before the parade.) Im a big fan of claiming seats early for parades but 1 hour before it started the was hardly a spot to be had.
Heres where things got crazy with the buses. I know full well park closing is hectic and you could be waiting for a long time at closing but never in my 31 trips have I ever seen anything like it. There were lines just to get into the 2 bus queing areas that wrapped around to the exit gates. The monorail and boats were just as bad. People were pushing and cutting lines and poor tired kids were crying beyond belief. Not willing to spend my night camped out in line, we made the 10 minute walk to the Contemporary and spent, what had to be the best $24 of my life and took a cab back to the hotel. It took no more then 20 minutes from the walk to drop off. The next morning at breakfast I spoke with a father that said it took them just over 2 hours to get back!
Now Tuesday should have been the day we head home, but after such a rough start we made some calls and planned on a third night to make up for it. The morning was spent in EPCOT where the lines were much longer then expected. Living on the land was 30 minutes while soaring was 180 minutes for standby with a 5:30 fastpass return, at 930am! Nemo was 30 minutes and Figment was about 20. We walked around until 12:30 then again went back for some much needed pool time and lunch. The kids loved the pool and spashed around for a long time before we headed back to EPCOT for dinner in Mexico and a visit to the countries. We wandered into Japan where we saw everyone gathered around a display where they were doing the pick a pearl ceremony. We picked pearls at DTD in the past, but it was never as much of a show and display as these women put on. My son picked out the perfect one which had a pearl that was the same size in mm as my daughters weight when she was born (8 1/2) and gave it to her for her first necklace. It brought my mom and I to tears.
We made our way to the buses just before closing and called it a night while watching tv.
Wednesday morning we checked out and with some time to kill before our 12:25 ME we decided to head to the Polynesian for a yummy breakfast at Kona Cafe then off to our bus for the sad trip home. (Bump number, oh I cant even remember) We arrived at the airport parking lot only to find my mom left the lights on inside my car and killed my battery. Fun Fun Fun.
Even though this was a bumpy trip filled some kinks we did have a wonderful time. I do have to say, while the crowds were a tiny bit of a bummer, we made the most of it and made the decision to never go back during spring break again.
Not sure how this trip report turned out, it was my first time writing one so I hope, if nothing else besides my need to vent, I hope it helps someone out with info on their next trip.
Heres hoping our trip in December turns out bit less bumpy.
