torinsmom
<font color=red>I have someone coming to scoop<br>
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2004
- Messages
- 8,921
I had been anticipating this trip for so long, and its hard to believe that its now in that past! Of course, I am already planning our next trip, LOL.
Me, 34yo mom and Torin, DS 11
Our trip started on 3/24 with a late night departure on the Amtrak out of Raleigh NC. The train was around 30 minutes late, which isn't too bad for Amtrak. They had overbooked the train, and for those of you unfamiliar with Amtrak, there are no assigned seats; they assign them as you board. We were sitting at the opposite end of the station from where boarding began(who knew?) so even though we had been waiting longer than most passengers, we almost didn't get seats together
Thank goodness we did; it is scary enough without having to worry about your child at the other end of a train! The ride was uneventful, although it is not easy to sleep in those seats. We arrived in Orlando at around 12noon on Saturday. Picked up our rental car and we were on our way! 
We drove straight on to Pop Century and whaddya know, they had our room ready, even though it was only 1:00! Thank goodness, because I needed to freshen up after spending all night on the train! We got a refillable mug first thing and headed over to MGM. I wasn't too impressed. I swear we spent most of our time there being lost; is it me or is that park laid out strangely? We got there around 3 and had a ressie for H & V at 5 with Fantasmic at 7:30, so it was hard to find things to fit in between. It was also cold (40-50's). We did get to see a few things and enjoyed Fantasmic, then headed back to Pop.
On Sunday, we were up bright and early to go to Animal Kingdom. We got there around 8:30 and proceeded to where the ropes were. As soon as they dropped, we ran to the safari and got on one of the first jeeps, front row. Got some great shots of all the animals. Anyone know what happened to the "bridge falling out from under your jeep" part? My son remembered that from our trip 5 years ago, but it didn't happen this time. Anyway, we got off and got a Fastpass and did the trails until our Breakfastosaurus ressie at 10:30. Then we headed to the bird show, which was cool and back to the safari for our second ride. We ran across the Pooh characters and got some autographs. Then we watched the parade and saw the Legend of the Lion King show which my son said was "awesome". We had ressies for Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Citywalk, and used our Movie and Meal passes to eat for free. Didn't use the movie passes, as we didn't want to be up too late.
On Monday, we scooted over to Downtown Disney and did some shopping, and took pictures with the lego sculptures. Torin was having fun trading pins with the CMs and was really getting the hang of it. After a bit, we headed on over to DIsneyQuest to stand in line for the opening at 11:30. We were able to ride Pirates and Jungle Cruise and Alladin in the first 20 minutes and then did the other rides as well. Torin enjoyed the free arcade, especially the "Mad Motion" ride thing that made me feel sick. Next, we caught the bus to Port Orleans for fishing. THat was a disaster as they closed at 3pm. It ended up taking around 1 1/2 hours to get from DD to POR to MK to Pop. We took it easy that evening as we were heading to MK in the morning.
On Tuesday, it was off to MK. We got there at around 8:30 and were in a mob waiting at the gate. I swear I thought Main Street opened at 8:00. Well, not that day. When the gates opened, we hurried over to Tomorrowland and were able to ride AstroOrbiters, Buzz Lightyear and Stitch in around 25 minutes. We then rode the Tomorrowland Speedway, and got FastPasses to Peter Pan's Flight. Headed back to mainstreet, to wait in line for a haircut. Only waited about 35 minutes and Torin got a nice cut, with red gel in front, and a green Mickey in the back. Went to Adventureland and got in a deceptively short line at Jungle Cruise only to discover it was "the line for the line for the line" in my son's words and as you all know, the ride is not worth that long wait. Went over to Tom Sawyers Island and headed back just as the parade was starting. We had the bright idea to try to ride some rides during the parade, but got caught in a crowd of people who must have had the same idea. We ended up heading out to the resort monorail, as Torin wanted to be a co-pilot. Five monorails later, we were finally able to get on the front. It was worth it though; nice view and a nice smile on Torin's face. After this, we went to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey's Dinner. The food was great and the characters made it even better! THen we headed back to MK to ride Buzz Lightyear and Stitch again, with no wait. Skipped the parade for Haunted Mansion, no line for the first time that day. Got out just in time to see the gorgeous fireworks and get caught in the crowd leaving. We waited 45 minutes for the trip back---UGH!
Wednesday morning we had a 7:50 ressie for Chef Mickey's b-fast, but we were both too tired to make it. We got up around 8 and headed right over to Epcot in time for the opening. Ran straight to Soarin and waited about 20 minutes to ride. That got an "Awesome" from Torin as well. Rode the Land ride and went over to see the Living Seas aquarium. Went through Innoventions and then headed over to Spaceship Earth which had only a 5 minute wait. Then it was off to The World Showcase. We had made a 12:10 ressie at Le Cellier to replace Chef Mickey and I thought my son would hate it. Well, that was his favorite meal! It was good, but I would never pay $128 for two people to eat! We went through all the countries and headed back to Japan when it was time for the candy woman. I followed directions that were posted somehere and sure enough, Torin got picked for a candy! He requested an Eagle and it was really cool to see her make it! Then we headed back to Spaceship Earth for another ride and went through the Figment show. We watched Illuminations from close to Future World, so as not to get caught in the masses leaving at closing.
Thursday was our last day and it started with problems. We checked out, out our bags in the car and proceeded to get lost trying to find the Polynesian for our breakfast at OHanas. I finally had to call the Poly and ask for directions. We did make it, and had a great time until the waitress told me that I only had one TS credit left. Of course that made no sense, since there are 2 of us! She had to charge one meal to my room and sent me to the front desk at the Poly to get it straightened out. Of course, this took 25 minutes, which ate into our last day. Then we were off to Typhoon Lagoon, and of course, we got lost AGAIN! I swear both times there were signs to everywhere but where we needed to go! We finally made it and Torin got to do the wave pool and Shark Reef before we had to head to return the rental car and go to the Amtrak station.
The Amtrak coming back was 2 hours late leaving Orlando and had to stop for over an hour due to a disabled train up ahead. We had a very loud, obnoxious group of children behind us, with parents who never told them to be quiet. They were playing with a bunch of electronic games, with the sound turned up, kicking seats, slamming trays and screaming and laughing until 10:30pm when they must have fallen asleep. Of course, we were awoken to the same scene at 6:30 this morning!
All in all, our trip was magical. I upgraded our tickets to 10 day non-expiring before we left Pop was great(although we got no towel animals)! I will NOT take Amtrak again. Although it was cheap, it took too long, and the quality of people was not great either. We can drive much quicker and not have to worry about the noise or the delays.
Here are a few pictures of our trip......
Marsha
Torin with Stitch
The Castle at night
Chef Mickey and us
The front of Torin's haircut
The back of Torin's haircut
Torin in front of Cinderella's castle
Scary face-painting at DTD
The cool lego dragon
Me, 34yo mom and Torin, DS 11
Our trip started on 3/24 with a late night departure on the Amtrak out of Raleigh NC. The train was around 30 minutes late, which isn't too bad for Amtrak. They had overbooked the train, and for those of you unfamiliar with Amtrak, there are no assigned seats; they assign them as you board. We were sitting at the opposite end of the station from where boarding began(who knew?) so even though we had been waiting longer than most passengers, we almost didn't get seats together
Thank goodness we did; it is scary enough without having to worry about your child at the other end of a train! The ride was uneventful, although it is not easy to sleep in those seats. We arrived in Orlando at around 12noon on Saturday. Picked up our rental car and we were on our way! We drove straight on to Pop Century and whaddya know, they had our room ready, even though it was only 1:00! Thank goodness, because I needed to freshen up after spending all night on the train! We got a refillable mug first thing and headed over to MGM. I wasn't too impressed. I swear we spent most of our time there being lost; is it me or is that park laid out strangely? We got there around 3 and had a ressie for H & V at 5 with Fantasmic at 7:30, so it was hard to find things to fit in between. It was also cold (40-50's). We did get to see a few things and enjoyed Fantasmic, then headed back to Pop.
On Sunday, we were up bright and early to go to Animal Kingdom. We got there around 8:30 and proceeded to where the ropes were. As soon as they dropped, we ran to the safari and got on one of the first jeeps, front row. Got some great shots of all the animals. Anyone know what happened to the "bridge falling out from under your jeep" part? My son remembered that from our trip 5 years ago, but it didn't happen this time. Anyway, we got off and got a Fastpass and did the trails until our Breakfastosaurus ressie at 10:30. Then we headed to the bird show, which was cool and back to the safari for our second ride. We ran across the Pooh characters and got some autographs. Then we watched the parade and saw the Legend of the Lion King show which my son said was "awesome". We had ressies for Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Citywalk, and used our Movie and Meal passes to eat for free. Didn't use the movie passes, as we didn't want to be up too late.
On Monday, we scooted over to Downtown Disney and did some shopping, and took pictures with the lego sculptures. Torin was having fun trading pins with the CMs and was really getting the hang of it. After a bit, we headed on over to DIsneyQuest to stand in line for the opening at 11:30. We were able to ride Pirates and Jungle Cruise and Alladin in the first 20 minutes and then did the other rides as well. Torin enjoyed the free arcade, especially the "Mad Motion" ride thing that made me feel sick. Next, we caught the bus to Port Orleans for fishing. THat was a disaster as they closed at 3pm. It ended up taking around 1 1/2 hours to get from DD to POR to MK to Pop. We took it easy that evening as we were heading to MK in the morning.
On Tuesday, it was off to MK. We got there at around 8:30 and were in a mob waiting at the gate. I swear I thought Main Street opened at 8:00. Well, not that day. When the gates opened, we hurried over to Tomorrowland and were able to ride AstroOrbiters, Buzz Lightyear and Stitch in around 25 minutes. We then rode the Tomorrowland Speedway, and got FastPasses to Peter Pan's Flight. Headed back to mainstreet, to wait in line for a haircut. Only waited about 35 minutes and Torin got a nice cut, with red gel in front, and a green Mickey in the back. Went to Adventureland and got in a deceptively short line at Jungle Cruise only to discover it was "the line for the line for the line" in my son's words and as you all know, the ride is not worth that long wait. Went over to Tom Sawyers Island and headed back just as the parade was starting. We had the bright idea to try to ride some rides during the parade, but got caught in a crowd of people who must have had the same idea. We ended up heading out to the resort monorail, as Torin wanted to be a co-pilot. Five monorails later, we were finally able to get on the front. It was worth it though; nice view and a nice smile on Torin's face. After this, we went to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey's Dinner. The food was great and the characters made it even better! THen we headed back to MK to ride Buzz Lightyear and Stitch again, with no wait. Skipped the parade for Haunted Mansion, no line for the first time that day. Got out just in time to see the gorgeous fireworks and get caught in the crowd leaving. We waited 45 minutes for the trip back---UGH!
Wednesday morning we had a 7:50 ressie for Chef Mickey's b-fast, but we were both too tired to make it. We got up around 8 and headed right over to Epcot in time for the opening. Ran straight to Soarin and waited about 20 minutes to ride. That got an "Awesome" from Torin as well. Rode the Land ride and went over to see the Living Seas aquarium. Went through Innoventions and then headed over to Spaceship Earth which had only a 5 minute wait. Then it was off to The World Showcase. We had made a 12:10 ressie at Le Cellier to replace Chef Mickey and I thought my son would hate it. Well, that was his favorite meal! It was good, but I would never pay $128 for two people to eat! We went through all the countries and headed back to Japan when it was time for the candy woman. I followed directions that were posted somehere and sure enough, Torin got picked for a candy! He requested an Eagle and it was really cool to see her make it! Then we headed back to Spaceship Earth for another ride and went through the Figment show. We watched Illuminations from close to Future World, so as not to get caught in the masses leaving at closing.
Thursday was our last day and it started with problems. We checked out, out our bags in the car and proceeded to get lost trying to find the Polynesian for our breakfast at OHanas. I finally had to call the Poly and ask for directions. We did make it, and had a great time until the waitress told me that I only had one TS credit left. Of course that made no sense, since there are 2 of us! She had to charge one meal to my room and sent me to the front desk at the Poly to get it straightened out. Of course, this took 25 minutes, which ate into our last day. Then we were off to Typhoon Lagoon, and of course, we got lost AGAIN! I swear both times there were signs to everywhere but where we needed to go! We finally made it and Torin got to do the wave pool and Shark Reef before we had to head to return the rental car and go to the Amtrak station.
The Amtrak coming back was 2 hours late leaving Orlando and had to stop for over an hour due to a disabled train up ahead. We had a very loud, obnoxious group of children behind us, with parents who never told them to be quiet. They were playing with a bunch of electronic games, with the sound turned up, kicking seats, slamming trays and screaming and laughing until 10:30pm when they must have fallen asleep. Of course, we were awoken to the same scene at 6:30 this morning!
All in all, our trip was magical. I upgraded our tickets to 10 day non-expiring before we left
Pop was great(although we got no towel animals)! I will NOT take Amtrak again. Although it was cheap, it took too long, and the quality of people was not great either. We can drive much quicker and not have to worry about the noise or the delays.Here are a few pictures of our trip......
Marsha
Torin with Stitch
The Castle at night
Chef Mickey and us
The front of Torin's haircut
The back of Torin's haircut
Torin in front of Cinderella's castle
Scary face-painting at DTD
The cool lego dragon
