Cast:
Lori, (lawalz23)
Susan, my sister, (Pooh667)
Carl, dh to Susan
Cassandra, dd of Susan and Carl, twin to Zachary, 3 ½ years old
Zachary, ds of Susan and Carl, twin to Cassandra, 3 ½ years old
Mom, to Lori and Susan, grandmother of Cassandra and Zachary
Dad, to Lori and Susan, grandfather of Cassandra and Zachary
This was everybodys, except for Carl and Susan, first trip staying on-site at WDW. Cassandra and Zacharys first trip ever and Dads first time back since 1972.
Monday: Mom and Dad arrived about1 p.m. (they drove) and were taken to the Hawaii bldg at the Polynesian and made comfortable in the lounge and checking in until their room was ready at 3 p.m. The rest of us arrived via rental car after a bumpy plane ride from TWA, who would not let my bil, Carl on early to put in the carseats for the kids. Cassandra was almost trampled by others trying to get past us. Not a pleasant start to a trip. When we arrived we were taken directly to our room, first told it was not ready but it was when we got there, then we went out to check-in. Very civilized, we even got to sit down, first of many pleasant experiences with concierge staff.
I did have to tell them that there was an extra $25.00 charge for 3 adults in a room (I figured they would catch us eventually) and it took a telephone call to confirm it. The concierge staff also seemed a bit wary that we were using three different credit cards to pay as the reservation was in one name, we were told better chance of getting connecting rooms that way (we got them).
It was then off to Chef Mickeys for dinner. It was great and set a wonderful tone for the trip. We had a short wait to be seated, had our picture taken with the plate, (it turned out great and is now sitting on the refrigerator) and the kids visited with Goofy at this time. We all enjoyed the food and the characters were wonderful. All, except Goofy, (he holds court in the dessert area) visited the table at least 2x and spent time with the kids, who were enjoying themselves immensely. Our only disappointment was the Donald Duck was not there, we did not see him all week The other character we did not see that the kids were upset about was Jesse, from Toy Story II, and we were in MGM several times and called other days inquiring if she would be there.
After dinner, we headed to EPCOT as we were told that we needed to show our activated APs either that night or the next day because we had gotten the AP discount on our rooms. After activating our passes we decided to spend some time in EPCOT. We walked right on to Spaceship Earth and then spent time in Innoventions. I stayed for Illuminations and the rest went back to the rooms. Illuminations was really good, I was able to get a good spot only ½ hour early. There were welcome chocolates (a large pineapple with several smaller ones) in each room and a plastic pail and shovels wrapped with goodies for each child from concierge. Each room had a minibar refrigerator that kept milk, juice and water more than cool enough.
Lori, (lawalz23)
Susan, my sister, (Pooh667)
Carl, dh to Susan
Cassandra, dd of Susan and Carl, twin to Zachary, 3 ½ years old
Zachary, ds of Susan and Carl, twin to Cassandra, 3 ½ years old
Mom, to Lori and Susan, grandmother of Cassandra and Zachary
Dad, to Lori and Susan, grandfather of Cassandra and Zachary
This was everybodys, except for Carl and Susan, first trip staying on-site at WDW. Cassandra and Zacharys first trip ever and Dads first time back since 1972.
Monday: Mom and Dad arrived about1 p.m. (they drove) and were taken to the Hawaii bldg at the Polynesian and made comfortable in the lounge and checking in until their room was ready at 3 p.m. The rest of us arrived via rental car after a bumpy plane ride from TWA, who would not let my bil, Carl on early to put in the carseats for the kids. Cassandra was almost trampled by others trying to get past us. Not a pleasant start to a trip. When we arrived we were taken directly to our room, first told it was not ready but it was when we got there, then we went out to check-in. Very civilized, we even got to sit down, first of many pleasant experiences with concierge staff.
I did have to tell them that there was an extra $25.00 charge for 3 adults in a room (I figured they would catch us eventually) and it took a telephone call to confirm it. The concierge staff also seemed a bit wary that we were using three different credit cards to pay as the reservation was in one name, we were told better chance of getting connecting rooms that way (we got them).
It was then off to Chef Mickeys for dinner. It was great and set a wonderful tone for the trip. We had a short wait to be seated, had our picture taken with the plate, (it turned out great and is now sitting on the refrigerator) and the kids visited with Goofy at this time. We all enjoyed the food and the characters were wonderful. All, except Goofy, (he holds court in the dessert area) visited the table at least 2x and spent time with the kids, who were enjoying themselves immensely. Our only disappointment was the Donald Duck was not there, we did not see him all week The other character we did not see that the kids were upset about was Jesse, from Toy Story II, and we were in MGM several times and called other days inquiring if she would be there.
After dinner, we headed to EPCOT as we were told that we needed to show our activated APs either that night or the next day because we had gotten the AP discount on our rooms. After activating our passes we decided to spend some time in EPCOT. We walked right on to Spaceship Earth and then spent time in Innoventions. I stayed for Illuminations and the rest went back to the rooms. Illuminations was really good, I was able to get a good spot only ½ hour early. There were welcome chocolates (a large pineapple with several smaller ones) in each room and a plastic pail and shovels wrapped with goodies for each child from concierge. Each room had a minibar refrigerator that kept milk, juice and water more than cool enough.
