Our first EVER (maybe ONLY)trip to WDW! 9/23-9/29

[jrasmom]

Okay, so it was suggested that I list all the details here in a trip report so I'm going to try my hand at this.

I didn't do a pre-trip report because those changes actually just took place while we were gone AND well, because I didn't feel like I had the talent to do one.

So....here's the cast of characters.

Me, DH, DS1 (he's 9), DD (she's 6), and DS2 (he's 2).

We stayed at All Star Movies Resort, 101 Dalmations, building 4 floor 3 Room # 4913.

This was our first ever trip....possibly our ONLY ever trip to Walt Disney World.

We booked in May and got the Free Dining plan when we booked! That was actually an incentive to go at this time of year, we'd been considering February/early March.

And I used these boards (after being referred by a friend) to learn ALOT and to help out with ALOT of our planning, restaurant reviews etc.

So...now on with the report

 

[jrasmom]

Day One, Saturday, September 23rd...Drive day

Well, day one is boring...lol! It was just driving south all day. We had hoped to leave our driveway no later then 5am and actually managed to pull out at 5:02am so that was a good thing. Then the 2 youngest fell back to sleep in the van and actually slept for an hour or two so we managed to drive for several hours before having to stop. ( NOTE: For those of us who don't know how we like to travel, we like to go go go with as few stops as possible and get there as quick as we can.)

When we pulled directions up it said time for travel was 12.5 hours so we were hoping to make it in 13.5-14 hours. Having just done the drive to New Smyrna Beach in April we knew what we were in for. However, we didn't realize we'd be going right past the exit for my cousin's beach house in New Smyrna or we may have made arrangements to stay there then drive the last hour over to WDW on Sunday morning.

I was so upset to realize I was only 6 miles from the ocean/beach and wasn't going to get to see it, I'm an ocean girl at heart!!! Anyways, we drove on and after a 20 minute detour (our exit on I-4 was closed due to road construction) and one super quick potty break at a gas station we got into our hotel room at Motel 6 at 6:50pm, 13 hours, and 48 minutes after leaving home, AND just in time for the hubby to catch the last quarter of the WVU football game on ESPN.

And the kids have never stayed in a hotel and they were a little wild for a while, thankfully we didn't have neighbors in either room beside us BUT once we turned off the lights to go to bed around 8:30 the ones on the floor above us were noisy ....didn't keep anyone awake though, guess we were all too tired for that!!

 

[jrasmom]

Day Two...Sunday, September 24th. CHECK IN AT WDW~All Star Movies Resort and tour MGM day.

We were up and about somewhat early....I couldn't sleep too well at Motel 6, kept waking up looking out the window to see if it was daylight yet since there was no alarm clock in the room and I hadn't packed ours. So, anyways we're up and out of the room early, we wanted to get to our resort and at least pre-check in early if our room wasn't ready. We had to pick up our tickets to the park at check-in so we couldn't go anywhere without checking in first.

So, after standing in line for like 20 minutes to check in (Hubby & the kids browsed the gift store and watched some Disney movies on TV while I did this) we're checked in!!!! Our room isn't ready but we have our building # and our floor # so I just had to call back after 3pm to get the room # and we could go straight to our room without standing in that line again. One note about the line, some of the people were standing in line to check out too, why they don't have a seperate line for that OR why people don't choose to use the express checkout option (like I decided to do later in the week ) is beyond me. Now, we're ready to go.....only we still haven't had breakfast!!

So we return to the van and break out the granola bars & pop-tarts for a quick eat then grab the stroller and head to the line for the bus to take us to MGM, this first bus ride we had to stand up it was so full but at least it came quick and got us to where we wanted to go quickly!

Disney-MGM Studios.....I'd seen pictures of the hat online but it was neat to see in person too!!

We walked down the street, are going to go straight to Star Tours when we see Goofy standing there doing a meet & greet!! WOW! The kids want to meet him and there isn't a long line at all so we detour to meet Goofy (and watch Mator & Lightning McQueen drive past as we're standing in line....ds2 is SO EXCITED to see Mator!!) then turn around and there is Pluto with no one waiting to meet him so we go over and meet him too!! The characters were great, everywhere we went this whole week they were awesome, some were more entertaining then others but I never imagined the kids would get to meet so many characters!!!

After meeting these two we're off to Star Tours....then we get distracted, again! LOL! As we walk towards Star Tours there is a sound stage building for Playhouse Disney and cast members are handing out tickets for live shows happening later in the day. DD decides she's like to see 'Imagination Movers' perform so we get a ticket to the 11:15 show for all 5 of us. Imagination Movers is a new group (think Wiggles only cool rocker type guys) that now have their videos playing on the Disney Channel during Playhouse Disney hours (which we have YET to actually see on TV). THEN we're off to Star Tours, where we see a giant ATAT statue outside.

Dh, ds1, & dd go on the ride while I wait with ds2 in the shade....have I mentioned how HOT it was that day? It was HOT and it was only 10am!!

Anyways, they walked right on with no wait so were back pretty quickly so we head over to the Muppet 3-D live show that is right near the Star Tours ride. We had to wait a few minutes in the 'queing area' then we got to go in and see the show, it was an okay show....for our first 3-D Disney experience and not to ruin it but I fell in love with one we saw in another park later

So we come out of there and walk around The Pizza Planet building and take a few pictures and I see Al's Toy Barn up ahead. Now, thanks to all my online research in the last few months I know this is the place to meet the Toy Story characters, at least Buzz Lightyear & Woody sometimes others.

So we walk that way and find out that they are about to come out for a meet & greet session so we get in line. I did NOT expect ds2 to be so outgoing and friendly with the characters but he took off running to Woody and gave him the most giant hug I've ever seen this kid give to anyone, brought tears to my eyes!! And he gave him several more before we left once we've met Woody we move over to Buzz where ds2 pushes his *button* and turns him off then on again LOL!!

After the meetings we head back to the sound stage studio, when dh & ds1 decide they don't want to see it. They are too *old* to do the baby stuff I guess. BUT Ds would've loved the show as I said above they are like cool, rocker Dads. Dd had a blast jumping, dancing, singing with them and the auditorium wasn't crowded so that was a nice bonus too (not to mention it was inside in the AC...have I mentioned how HOT it was that day?) Maybe it felt extra hot because it had already hit 38 here in WV before leaving for the week.

So dd, ds2 and I enjoy the show then meet back up with dh & ds1 afterwards. DS1 wants to go do the Animation station thing? (correct name is escaping me at the moment) but once again, we get sidetracked...this time by Chip & Dale but as we're in line they leave and their female partner, Claire Eastwood takes their spot so dd is the only one who stays in line to meet her....too girly for a 9 yr. old boy I guess. NOW...on to the Animation place. That was a cute show and the tour afterwards in neat.............especially when Mr. Incredible, Mrs. Incredible and Frozone show up for a meet & greet!! DS1 had a top 3 list of who he wanted to see and Mr & Mrs. were 2 of those top 3, Stitch was the last one so the hunt was on.

We had lunch at Sci-Fi Drive in Theater, we had ADR's for 1:30pm and as I'm telling the hostess my name & time I hear another hostess turning people away, they have no openings before 8:50 that night!! WHOA, glad I made all those reservations ahead of time when DH thought it was pointless We were seated within 3-4 minutes of checking in. The atmosphere here is neat.

The food here was delicious and our server was great BUT I can't imagine paying those prices if we weren't on the FREE dining plan. The bill came to around $65 for 4 appetizers, 4 entree's, 4 drinks, and only 2 desserts (we were stuffed!!!).

After eating we head back to Star Tours BUT have to take a potty break (you have to do that often when traveling with one who has just went thru the potty training stage of his life )then realize it's time for the parade to start so we watch from there before riding Star Tours again. Then we decide to do a few other things and will come back and ride Star Tours later before leaving....alot of people who watched the parade from that spot were going in and why wait in line when we could come back later and walk on?

So we go do a few other things, meet Sorcerer Mickey, and decide we're HOT and ready to go back to our room. While Hubby & dd head back to Star Tours I call to get our room number then the boys and I walk back to the gift shop at the Star Tours ride where DS1 procedes to spend his $35 he got to spend on ANYTHING he wanted. Then DD & I go ride Star Tours again, yes again...actually, DD rode Star Tours a total of 3 times that day twice with hubby and once with me.

Then we head to the bus stop to hop a bus to the resort, get settled in and ready for the next day....Magic Kingdom!!

 

[jrasmom]

Day Three.....Monday, September 25th. Magic Kingdom and dinner at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridan ( to meet Cinderella, etc.)

So we get up & moving pretty early, managed to actually get a seat sitting down on the bus this time.


We were only about 15 minutes late for the "rope dropping" opening ceremony, which didn't bother us we hadn't intended to be there that early anyways. As we walked up Main Street the trolley comes down and the guys & girls get off to do a song & dance, etc. We watch for a minute or two then keep walking, we want a good picture of the castle!!!

But, dang there is a crane up there!!

They are removing all the gold, etc. that was put up for the 50th anniversary celebration and the Cinderellabration show that was showing at certain times during the day around the castle. But, still we get to SEE the castle!!!

We head straight to Frontierland and walk up the Swiss Family Tree House...ugh that was rough on me. I have *issues* with vertigo and in some of those spots I thought I was going to have to be carried down :0) Then onto Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride...which ds2 loved "go higher, higher, higher" and ds1 is in the back with Dh, "STOP!! Go down, we're too high!" Can you tell who the adventurer was NOT this week?

Let's see then we walk onto Jungle Cruise, we had a good guide I thought. Later in the week we rode it again and it just seemed boring & corny to me . And of course, we can't forget Pirates of the Caribbean ride!! COOL!!!! Although ds2 cowered under his blanket the rest of us enjoyed it, and again..walked right on.

We had lunch at Peco's Bills....it was okay. dd refused to eat anything they offered, and honestly I don't blame her WHY would she want to eat chilled chicken? So she had some peanut butter moose and the orange juice she'd waited on all morning had an *odd* taste to it. We checked the date and all was okay but it just didn't taste like orange juice.

We walked past Splash Mountain and continued to do so all week BUT dd drug her daddy onto Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

and loved that one too!! We decide to walk around and see the Country Bear Jamboree then onto Haunted Mansion, it had a 30 minute wait posted so we skipped it and came back later and walked right on.

After a quick stop at the restrooms we walk onto 'It's a Small World" man,those colors were bright and just pop!!

Then there was a 45 minute wait for Peter Pans Flight so we skipped that too!! While ds2, ds1 & I stand in line to get a bottle of water dh and dd ride the Merry Go Round, and standing beside of it is Mary Poppins but dd missed seeing her and was a little disappointed.

Since PPF and Snow White BOTH had long lines we decided to check out the wait time at Mickey's Philharmagic!! We walked right in, but ds2 insisted on covering his head after the fiasco on the GAMM at MGM the day before. I convince him to watch some and he gets "wet" and hides again. Oh well, I enjoy the show!!

We continued to make our way around to Mickey's Toontown Fair where dd & I ride on Goofy's Barnstormer....man, that thing flys!!! I can't imagine putting ds2 on it and it's made for littler kids! We skip all the character greetings here because the lines are atrocious and we don't want to spend time in line all day!! We rode the train around the outer boundry of the park and ds2 really liked that, he's pretty much all boy with trains, cars, trucks, etc.

Then we head towards Tomorrowland, first a stop at the Speedway where ds1 drives himself...sort of. Dh said he kept stopping and he & dd would have to bump him, ds1 says the pedals were too far away but he was WAY above the height level to drive so who knows? We hit (well dh & the two older ones do, I sit with ds2 while he naps) Stitch's Great Escape

then we wake ds2 and do Buzz Lightyear. Then we head to the monorail to the Grand Floridan for dinner, looked forward to this all day after all the reviews I'd read.

We checked in at 5:38 pm for a reservation for 5:50, then dd gets in line to meet the Fairy Godmother....while ds2 sits with Daddy & ds1 in the floor and cries. Can we say hungry & tired?

Ds2 needs to go potty, only some kid PUKED all over the hall leading to the bathroom so that is out. So, it's now 6:10pm and everyone who came in with us AND some who just came in have been seated and we're still waiting. GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR, I go back up to the hostess and she promised to get us in there within 5 minutes...so I keep a close watch on my watch. As I get fed up and go back up the hostess stand she hands me the paper so we can be seated, finally!!! Prince Charming is just a table or two away so we wait for him to come before filling up plates of food. And we were not satisfied with the food. I expected a lot more after all the reviews I read. We just ate some and waited for Cinderella, Suzy and Perla to come around so we can leave and go back into the MK.

Once back in the MK we ride Haunted Mansion, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Peter Pan's Flight, Pooh's ride, and Dumbo with no waiting....everyone is lining up on Main Street for SpectroMagic!! Great time to ride the rides!!

We stay in the park until just before 9pm then head to the bus stop...we'd heard the scary stories of waiting hours after the parade & fireworks on a bus so we got ahead of the crowd. We watched the fireworks from the bus stop, thankfully we managed to get a seat on the bus.

We also noticed that All Star Music's line wasn't crowded at all and we can see their bus stops from our room so from now on we'll use their bus if it's less crowded. Seems, others do this too, one night half of the people that got off the bus at Music walked to Movies.


And when we get back to the resort we can't find dd's Build a Bear puppy she brought with us...the hunt is on THEN I remember that "mouse"keeping sometimes decorates your windows for you and lo and behold THERE she is!!!

 

[meeko_33785]

Great report so far.

 

[jrasmom]

Day four....Tuesday, September 26th. Animal Kingdom & Tusker House!

Animal Kingdom.....Kilamanjaro Safari, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, Tusker House. All things that we wanted to see and try.

We skipped breakfast at the hotel because the food court was so crowded so we promised the kids we'd eat ASAP in the Animal Kingdom.

Only....it was early and we wanted to ride the Safari ride and see the animals!

So we walk past the Tree of Life, and onto the Safari BUT we see Stitch!! So we HAVE to stop and get in line. Let me tell you, he was great. This character was right on the spot of how Stitch acts in the movie and on TV and now Ds1's day was made, YAY!! So now on to the Safari ride.

We wait for just a few minutes, just long enough for one truck ahead of us to fill up then we're off. I was on the left with the camera & dh was on the right with the video camera so we both missed some things so we decided after this ride that we'd try to do it one more time that day, switch places, and no cameras so we could just enjoy the animals and such.

Then we stop at Tusker House for breakfast and....WOW....it was good food!! I really wanted to come back and try the 1/2 chicken dinner later BUT we just weren't hungry enough to eat again before leaving the park at 4pm (just before parade and closing at 5pm).

We rode the train up to the planet watch area where the kids met Jiminy Cricket AND PUSH!! We saw PUSH, the talking trash can was up there. Let me just saw I spotted his *controller* right away.

I know dd & dh rode Dinosaur, and then ds1 went with them to ride Kali River Rapids then we walked thru the Tiger reserve place..those guys are beautiful, and BIG!!

And we enjoyed the best frozen lemonade we had all week. AND got caught in a rain shower before heading to Camp Minnie & Mickey to meet Donald, Goofy, Mickey, & Minnie (that's why the kids look like drowned rats in our pictures ) but other then that nothing else really stands out to me about this park.

Oh wait!! It's tough to be a bug does. Now, ds1 hates bugs when doing science work in school he covers up any bug pictures with a piece of paper, etc. so I was very leery of taking him into this. BUT I did tell him he didn't have to wear the 3-D glasses so he was more comfortable that way BUT he really did not want to go in, but I was proud of him afterwards.

We ate dinner that night at the food court at the hotel, and ds2 picked out a Mickey Mouse to buy so hubby & I bought that for him. AND the kids got to go swimming for a little while AND work on some schoolwork.....it had to be done!

And we had a towel Mickey on our bed when we returned to the room. These little touches of *pixie dust* *magic* really made the kids look forward to going back to the room everynight.

I also think they had put ds2's Lightning McQueen & Mator in the window along with dd's Cinderella (Barbie) & Prince Charming dolls that they'd bought earlier in the week, but he grabbed them out before I could take a picture of them.

 

[lexmelinda]

Sounds like we were following each other the first couple of days! Can't wait to hear about your week. Subbing to finish later tonight.........

 

[BeautyNBeast]

Great TR! I am sorry your dinner at 1900 was not great. I have never been, and probably will not until after we have children.

 

[jrasmom]

Sounds like we were following each other the first couple of days! Can't wait to hear about your week. Subbing to finish later tonight.........

I'll have to check out your report too and see how you're trip went!!

 

[jrasmom]

Great TR! I am sorry your dinner at 1900 was not great. I have never been, and probably will not until after we have children.

Thanks for reading!!

I think my expectations may have been set too high BUT my dd did get to meet Cinderella and company and that was the main point of the whole dinner. I probably would not have set this ADR up if it hadn't been for that.

But, with that said....we can skip it if we ever return.

 

[jrasmom]

Day five.....Wednesday, September 27th. Epcot, The Electric Umbrella, Chef Mickey's pics. 159-185 and our walk around the resort

Only one park left that we haven't visited yet and that is Epcot! So, after riding the bus to Magic Kingdom we hop a monorail to The Contemporary Resort for our breakfast ADR at Chef Mickey's. Our reservation was for 8:40 and we waited *maybe* 5 minutes to be seated!

Now, I just can not say how much we all loved this place. The character interaction was excellent, constant characters coming around, dancing, singing, swinging napkins in a party with Mickey. There we saw Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Goofy. And the food....well it was just delicious. This is one place I would PAY the price of to return to again.

Once again, we hop the monorail to the TTA and hop the OTHER monorail to Epcot.

Today's must sees/hits: Test Track, Soarin, Innoventions, Turtle Talk with Crush(from Finding Nemo). We accomplished them all. BUT we had to get fast passes for Test Track, as the wait was something like 50 minutes.

We missed the dolphin show inside the Living Seas but we got in line for Turtle Talk with Crush and waited patiently for our turn after walking around the fish tanks, different aquariums, and the manatee spot..those guys are HUGE!! So, we're admitted into Turtle Talk with Crush and they are seating the kids up front on the *brown* carpet while the parents sit on benches in the back of the room.

Imagine my surprise when Crush picked my daughter to talk to!!! Now, this kid is shy when he said "this little dudette in the white sleeveless shell top on the front row" I thought OH NO, she won't talk to him. BUT, she surprised me she did tell him her name but when he asked her who brought her on this fine day to the E-P-C-O-T she froze so he asks...who claims Rachel? I held up my hand and I had to talk to him!! We got it all on video too so that was a great time to have the video camera with us.

Hubby & dd rode Soarin & Test Track later that day while, once again, I sat with ds1 & ds2 waiting on them.

We also did Ellen's Energy Adventure and the Honey I Shrunk the Kids 3-d feature in which ds1, ds2, and I all did not wear the glasses and ds1 & I both had our feet pulled up out of the floor so we couldn't feel the "effects" I have a terror issue with snakes and knew ahead of time that there was one in this.

We had a late lunch at The Electric Umbrella. It was okay..my burger was dried out like it'd been overcooked or sitting under a warmer for hours. Hubby said the chicken strips were really good.

And at some point that day we were in Innoventions East & West and the older two really enjoyed the Plastics place where they made robots, raced them, then got to make plastic robots to bring home with them.

Imagine, we spent the WHOLE day...well until around 7pm in Epcot and never even made it into The World Showcase.

Once we returned to the resort we walked around to find the other statues and such and take some pictures around there. We stayed in the 101 Dalmations building

but we wanted to see the buildings for Toy Story,

Mighty Ducks, Fantasia, and Herbie, the Love Bug. We wanted to see Buzz & Woody again We saw the Mighty Ducks building alot during our stay it was right across from us. And we never walked to Fantasia or Love Bug...we were tired of walking!

And once again, our window was decorated and we had towel decorations in the room when we returned!!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Patsfan7]

I am enjoying reading.... I am waiting.... wanting.... dying to know.... is there a reason that this may be your only trip to WDW..... it seems that you are doing a great job at enjoying it all..... was there a disaster..... is the ending a twist???? the suspense is killing me! Hope that it was all awesome for you!

 

[Tortuga Joy]

What a fun read! We were there at "The World" about the same time 9/23 thru 9/29 and it's fun to see what others were doing and experiencing. Looks like you all had a great time and I can't wait to hear more!

Isn't the Dis addictive? One would think after just getting back you would go back in to normal mode but not me! I'm trying to think of ways to finance the next Disney vacation!!!

 

[01Sweetpea]

Great report so far!

 

[jrasmom]

I am enjoying reading.... I am waiting.... wanting.... dying to know.... is there a reason that this may be your only trip to WDW..... it seems that you are doing a great job at enjoying it all..... was there a disaster..... is the ending a twist???? the suspense is killing me! Hope that it was all awesome for you!

Guess you'll have to keep reading to find out.

 

[jrasmom]

What a fun read! We were there at "The World" about the same time 9/23 thru 9/29 and it's fun to see what others were doing and experiencing. Looks like you all had a great time and I can't wait to hear more!

Isn't the Dis addictive? One would think after just getting back you would go back in to normal mode but not me! I'm trying to think of ways to finance the next Disney vacation!!!

I was addicted BEFORE the trip!

I think my *normal* mode has included the Dis since a friend referred me here when we began planning in May.

I, too, am thinking of different ways to afford another trip. We'll have one move up to adult level and one no longer an infant (which would mean 5 in one room) so we'd need more $$$ tickets AND a more expensive resort.

 

[Pinkprincessmom]

We were at Turtle Talk with Crush with you. DD loves it. It was a very nice day to be in Epcot.

 

[jrasmom]

We were at Turtle Talk with Crush with you. DD loves it. It was a very nice day to be in Epcot.

As Crush would say "Totally Sweet Dude!"

 

[ntsammy5]

We were at Movies at the same time -- 1862 & 1863. Since this was trip 20+ our experience was much different, but I'm enjoying your story, please continue. In many ways your first trip is the best and the one you remember the most.

Thanks for sharing.

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