Cast of Characters
Anne (28)
Christopher (29)
Grandma Mimi (51)
Nico (8)
Katelyn (7)
Crissy (6)
Trip dates August 3rd August 8th, 2004
We started packing about a week before we left, and I have to say that if I had my way I probably would have started packing two or three weeks before we left we were just that excited. Everything was going great, we were set to leave the house on Monday (August 2nd) at 8pm and drive to Sacramento to get on the plane. Saturday night threw me from a state of excitement into a state of worry our youngest was running a 103 degree fever and was lifeless and lethargic. The doctor assured us it wasnt an ear infection and that she would be okay to fly, maybe just a little uncomfortable. So, we gave her lots of fluids and waited. By 8pm on Monday she was still burning up, but had some energy in her and most definitely wanted to go, so we packed up the car and left.
On to the good stuff
Day 1: (The flight, Checking in to the VWL, MK)
Our flight left as planned at 12:30am. Whether or not taking a red-eye was a smart idea Im still not decided. We all slept though and eventually made it to the Orlando airport at 10am Florida time. Crissys temperature had been holding steady at 98.7, so I was hoping she was feeling better and it wasnt the Motrin. She was she had incredible timing!! We picked up our minivan from Dollar (took all of maybe 10 minutes total) and were off.
Florida was gorgeous so lush and green. Finally we saw the signs for Walt Disney World and were all just so excited by this point. We followed the purple signs to the Magic Kingdom resorts and eventually found our way to the Wilderness Lodge we were staying at the Villas. It was a little before 11am at this time and our official check-in time wasnt until 4pm, but we went to go check in to get our passes and were so excited to find out that our room was ready for us.
The Wilderness Lodge was amazing the kids were in awe just looking around at the size of the lobby, and loving the music they were playing (that same music would eventually lead to insomnia though, I swear, repeating over and over in my head at night!)
Our room was 2508, on the second floor of the Villas. It wasnt a spectacular view, but the room(s) were so nice we didnt even care. We had planned on taking a little rest but we were starving so instead we dropped most of our stuff, grabbed the camera and the passes and went back down to the lodge for lunch. We ate at the Whispering Canyon Café and our waiter was great he really made it a lot of fun. Everything was fine, food-wise, although the water made Grandma Mimi gag.
From there we went straight to the boat dock and about 15 minutes later we were at the Magic Kingdom. Now, Ive read my fair share of the guidebooks and I knew that we were getting to the park at the worst possible time right around 1pm. We were just too excited to nap, so we braved the crowds. It was madness!! We wandered in, plan-less, and just took in the sights and the smells. Just being at Disney was enough at that point at least for a few minutes. We went left toward Adventureland and walked through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. From there we went on Aladdins Flying Carpets (10 minute wait) and went on Pirates of the Caribbean Grandma Mimis first time! After that, the crowds really started to get to us, so we grabbed a Fastpass for Splash (return time at 8pm), went and saw the Tiki Bird show which was certainly different than I remember as a kid and went back to the villas to rest.
Before heading back to the MK, we stopped for a quick dinner at Roaring Forks and then ran back to the boat dock. It was close to 7pm when we got back to the MK and the crowds had diminished significantly. We rode Splash and then went through the Haunted Mansion, watched Mickeys PhilharMagic, went on the Carousel, watched Wishes, and went on Space Mountain. We didnt leave until the park closed at 11pm.
Mickeys PhilharMagic was exceptional we ALL loved it and it was the first time any of the kids had seen a 3-D show like that so they were laughing and grabbing at everything that came flying out at them. This was one of my favorite things the entire trip. As was Wishes I was absolutely blown away at how spectacular the fireworks were. We werent in the best viewing spot (Fantasyland) and decided that when we were back at the MK (Friday) wed stake out a really good spot to see them it was worth it.
Our youngest, now definitely feeling better (yay!) was an absolute thrill ride junkie. I was afraid that she might get scared on Space Mountain because you had to sit by yourself, but she loved it and wanted to go on it over and over again.
It was a wonderful first night we were all exhausted, but so happy to be there!!
Day 2 We were going to do the extra magic hour at Epcot, but slept until after 8am so we went to Animal Kingdom instead.
We had breakfast in the room every morning; nothing fancy just cereal and pop tarts. This saved a lot of time and money. Getting three kids up, showered (sometimes showered at night, but we were usually too darn tired to do anything but crawl in bed!) and ready to go was quite a feat! We were out the door for the bus stop by 8:50 and arrived at Animal Kingdom around 9:30. We entered the park and went back to Kilimanjaro Safaris. The standby wait was only 20 minutes, so we got in line for that. It was amazing to see all of the animals.
My husband and I had watched a special on the Travel Channel about the Animal Kingdom and knew about all of the boundaries in the Safari, but we couldnt see them. It really, truly looked like an African safari and that the animals were all free to go where they wanted. I could just believe that they didnt kill each other because it was Disney, right? After Kilimanjaro the kids were itching to go on Kali River Rapids. I was hoping to save that ride until last because walking around in dripping wet clothes all day didnt sound too appealing. But it was their vacation too, so we headed out of Africa and into Asia. Along the way we saw a lady, on stilts, faded into the foliage she really looked like a piece of the landscape and moved like a ballerina. The kids were fascinated by her so we stopped and watched for a while. We got to Kali and the wait was only 25 minutes, so we waited. They announced while we were in line that due to inclement weather (it was sprinkling) they may have to stop the ride, but they hadnt stopped it by the time we got there. I stowed my camera in the center and hoped for the best. There were the six of us, and four others. The other four people got drenched, Chris and Nico both got pretty wet, but the rest of us were fairly dry! Yay! Of course the kids wanted to do it again, but I didnt want to tempt fate, plus I was hungry so I went and found churros.
After Kali we walked around a little, getting sprinkled on, and headed toward Dinoland. Crissy was two sheets of paper too short to go on Primeval Whirl (though I know shes tall enough she just wasnt standing up as straight as she could or the measuring stick was off). We went on Triceratops Spin (no line) and then walked over to Dinosaur (15 minute wait). We rode that Crissy was excited that the sign said it was scary, but her big sister Katelyn was scared. Katelyn isnt normally easily frightened, so were not sure if she was acting scared for attention since her younger sister was suddenly so brave, or if she was really scared. Im thinking it was the former because she would always bounce off of the rides wanting to do them again!
Nico wanted to buy a safari hat he had found back over by Kilimanjaro so we went back there and bought the hat and then had lunch at Tusker House. Lunch quickly became my least favorite part of the day not only is ordering food for everyone hard, finding a place for six to sit is nearly impossible. When we go back (ten years from now?) Ill do this part differently. Lunch was okay nothing that great, and after lunch we went and saw Its Tough to Be a Bug. What a fantastic show! We all loved it, other than the stink bug (pee-eew!) From there we went to Camp Minnie-Mickey and watched the Festival of the Lion King. I highly recommend this show it was fantastic. Actually, I really enjoyed all of the Animal Kingdom. I had read a lot of mixed reviews on that park, but we all really enjoyed it. We wanted to stay longer, but as I had originally planned on being at Epcot, our priority seating for dinner was there. So, we said good bye to AK, picked up the family picture that they took when we entered the park, as everyone was smiling, and took the bus back to the lodge.
Our PS for dinner was at 6:20 at Le Cellier. The kids got the biggest kick out of telling people that they were going to Canada for dinner! We got to the restaurant a few minutes after 6, and we were seated by 6:30. I ordered the Filet with the Maple-Barbecue sauce and Chris got the Mushroom Filet both of which were exceptional. After dinner we wandered around the World Showcase. There was a lady painted in white and wearing all white clothes outside of Italy that looked like a statue. The kids were mesmerized by her and by watching different people go up there and try to make her move. None of them wanted to go up there and have their picture taken though, so I grabbed Crissy, gave the camera to my mom and went up there. We tried talking to her, but she didnt move, so I tickled her and she hit me. It was so funny the entire crowd busted up laughing and we got a great picture. One of the highlights of the evening, actually.
We wandered around, wishing we had more time and at 8:30 we grabbed Mickey bars and found a place to sit to watch Illuminations. We had to go to Morocco twice before Illuminations started to clean up messy kids (those Mickey bars are a mess!) and it was so funny to hear Chris tell me he was taking Nico to Morocco but hed be back in a few minutes! Illuminations started we were in Japan and had a pretty good view and the adults really enjoyed it. I think Nico liked it too, but it was pretty lost on the girls. They were playing with their light-up toys and looking at the mask the girl next to them had decorated. We walked back to the bus stop and waited. And waited. Its too bad that the Wilderness Lodge shares a bus with Fort Wilderness. It seems like for every one Wilderness Lodge guest there are 20 Fort Wilderness guests so after a major show/park closing waiting for the bus is kind of a pain. I think we were on the third bus that came and all three of the kids fell asleep on the bus. That didnt stop them from wanting to swim once we got back to the lodge though and so we went to the pool at 11pm. I figured that we might as well take advantage of the time we had and it ended up being the only time we went swimming the entire trip!
Day 3 Epcot
This was the only truly hot day of the trip the rest of the time there were a lot of clouds and a cool breeze, but for some reason this day was just hot. We got to Epcot at park opening, they had everyone sing happy birthday to the people celebrating birthdays that morning and then a red double-decker bus pulled up full of Disney characters and they opened the park. We went and grabbed fastpasses for Mission: Space and rode Test Track. There wasnt a line yet for Test Track so we got right in. The ride was pretty cool, but it wasnt my favorite. Katelyn liked it a lot even though she claimed she was scared to get on it.
I was worried about Mission: Space because of everything I had heard about it. I felt fine on the ride, but weird afterwards. The kids LOVED it and wanted to do it again. We grabbed fastpasses and went and walked around Innoventions. We sent a postcard home to my sister and then the kids and I went and did the virtual dance party (I won!). Nico and Crissy played virtual tag (Katelyn was being moody and didnt want to) and then we went and rode Mission: Space again. Once was really enough!
From there we tried to go to Living with the Land but it had a 60 minute wait, so we went and saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience instead. IMO, it wasnt nearly as good as PhilharMagic or Its Tough to Be a Bug. We didnt have as long as I had hoped to spend at Epcot because we had a priority seating at Chef Mickeys at 6pm. We were supposed to have spent the day before at Epcot, but it just didnt work out, so we fit in as much as we could. We had gelato in Italy, went on Maelstrom in Norway and ended the day at Spaceship: Earth. We just missed SO MUCH, but I guess well just have to see it next time.
We took the monorail to the Contemporary Nico LOVED the monorail. Dinner at Chef Mickeys was okay. The heat really got to me and I had little to no appetite, and buffets arent really my thing anyway. But Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale all came by and the kids got a real kick out of that. They also loved making their own desserts they looked absolutely disgusting to me but they were happy! We looked around the Contemporary for a while and I bought each of the girls an outfit Tinkerbelle for Crissy (she LOVES Tink!) and Jasmine for Katelyn, the one that she picked out. I was surprised she didnt pick out one with a dress, but she really wanted Jasmine. We were going to spend the rest of the evening at MK but the heat had really gotten to me and honestly we were all exhausted so we just went back to the Wilderness Lodge. The girls changed into their new costumes (Crissy promptly fell asleep in her Tinkerbelle costume which was so adorable) and we all rested. It was very nice to just rest.
Day 4: AM MGM, PM E-ride night at MK
The kids had been asking every day when wed be going to MGM so they could ride on the Tower of Terror, so we decided to do that this morning. We got to MGM grabbed fastpasses for Rock n Roller Coaster (which Crissy was tall enough to ride, go figure) and rode Tower of Terror. It was the best ride, we all loved it and went on it again (and again, and again). Rock n Roller coaster was okay, but it wasnt nearly as exciting as TOT. After we had our fill of those two rides we walked to the other side of the park and hit Star Tours and Muppet Vision 3-D no wait at either of them. We grabbed a quick lunch at counter service since the park wasnt crowded and there was actually a table for 6! After lunch we watched the Beauty and the Beast show and then went back to the WL to rest up for our E-ride night. We all sleep for a few hours and get ready for dinner at the Whispering Canyon at 5. It was a great dinner (the food was again only okay, but the atmosphere was just so fun!) Nico led the pony races and I got served one of those HUGE jars of water. Very fun!
E-Ride night was most definitely worth every penny. We went on Splash Mountain 5 times in a row! We just kept going over and over until we got a good picture. We also rode Space Mtn twice, Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Before the park closed we went on the teacups and watched Wishes from the bridge going to Tomorrowland so that Crissy would have a good view of Tinkerbelle. Other than getting yelled at by a real jerk of a dad, it was wonderful. (My mom told me she was laughing inside thinking about how much like my dad I was, not backing down and letting this jerk take advantage of me. We staked out a good spot to view the fireworks a good half-hour before they started and he got there with his 5 kids and tried to push his way into the bridge and then yelled at me for not moving down into the tree. Ugh Im just not going to think about it.)
Day 5: Bad news, weird day and our last day at Disney
We didnt get back to our room from the MK until after 2am and there was a message waiting on my cell phone. Chris got the kids in bed and I listened to the message and my heart dropped. It was my Stepmother-in-law telling us that Chris dad was in the Critical Care unit in the hospital and had to have surgery. Apparently one of his main arteries was 95% blocked. It was too late to call home so Chris was up worried all night long. It was a long night Chris finally talked to his dad the next morning and found out it was a non-invasive surgery to insert two stents and that he was okay, but had he not been in good shape (FIL is in INCREDIBLE shape) he could have been dead! Yikes!
It took Chris a while to shake that news so we stuck around until noon and then went to Downtown Disney for a while just to walk around. We were sick of rides (well the adults were) after riding so many last night. We had a ps for 3:50 at the Brown Derby with the Fantasmic package so we were going to take a bus from Downtown Disney, only we didnt realize the buses only went to the resorts! So, we had wanted to check out the Animal Kingdom Lodge anyway and took a bus there and walked around. I liked it, but I still think I liked the Wilderness Lodge the best.
We got to MGM at 2:45, rode the Great Movie Ride for something kind of relaxing and then went to the Brown Derby. The food was the best of the entire trip SO good. While we were eating it started to rain. Then it started to pour which figured since it hadnt really rained like that the entire trip and tonight was the night we wanted to see Fantasmic! We used our ponchos for the first time the entire trip and the kids were dying to do Tower of Terror again, so we did. Three times! And it was still raining. They cancelled the 9 oclock show, but said they might still have the 10:30, so we stopped and got coffee and drinks and waited. The 10:30 was a go so we were able to see Fantasmic! We were tired and still needed to pack (we were leaving the next morning at 7am) but it was worth it.
The rest of the trip is pretty status quo. We spent 6 hours flying home. Two more hours driving. We listened to the Wishes soundtrack and got teary-eyed. We wanted to go back. It was a wonderful vacation!! I guess it's time to change my signature since we're no longer there and sweating.
Anne (28)
Christopher (29)
Grandma Mimi (51)
Nico (8)
Katelyn (7)
Crissy (6)
Trip dates August 3rd August 8th, 2004
We started packing about a week before we left, and I have to say that if I had my way I probably would have started packing two or three weeks before we left we were just that excited. Everything was going great, we were set to leave the house on Monday (August 2nd) at 8pm and drive to Sacramento to get on the plane. Saturday night threw me from a state of excitement into a state of worry our youngest was running a 103 degree fever and was lifeless and lethargic. The doctor assured us it wasnt an ear infection and that she would be okay to fly, maybe just a little uncomfortable. So, we gave her lots of fluids and waited. By 8pm on Monday she was still burning up, but had some energy in her and most definitely wanted to go, so we packed up the car and left.
On to the good stuff
Day 1: (The flight, Checking in to the VWL, MK)
Our flight left as planned at 12:30am. Whether or not taking a red-eye was a smart idea Im still not decided. We all slept though and eventually made it to the Orlando airport at 10am Florida time. Crissys temperature had been holding steady at 98.7, so I was hoping she was feeling better and it wasnt the Motrin. She was she had incredible timing!! We picked up our minivan from Dollar (took all of maybe 10 minutes total) and were off.
Florida was gorgeous so lush and green. Finally we saw the signs for Walt Disney World and were all just so excited by this point. We followed the purple signs to the Magic Kingdom resorts and eventually found our way to the Wilderness Lodge we were staying at the Villas. It was a little before 11am at this time and our official check-in time wasnt until 4pm, but we went to go check in to get our passes and were so excited to find out that our room was ready for us.
The Wilderness Lodge was amazing the kids were in awe just looking around at the size of the lobby, and loving the music they were playing (that same music would eventually lead to insomnia though, I swear, repeating over and over in my head at night!)
Our room was 2508, on the second floor of the Villas. It wasnt a spectacular view, but the room(s) were so nice we didnt even care. We had planned on taking a little rest but we were starving so instead we dropped most of our stuff, grabbed the camera and the passes and went back down to the lodge for lunch. We ate at the Whispering Canyon Café and our waiter was great he really made it a lot of fun. Everything was fine, food-wise, although the water made Grandma Mimi gag.
From there we went straight to the boat dock and about 15 minutes later we were at the Magic Kingdom. Now, Ive read my fair share of the guidebooks and I knew that we were getting to the park at the worst possible time right around 1pm. We were just too excited to nap, so we braved the crowds. It was madness!! We wandered in, plan-less, and just took in the sights and the smells. Just being at Disney was enough at that point at least for a few minutes. We went left toward Adventureland and walked through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. From there we went on Aladdins Flying Carpets (10 minute wait) and went on Pirates of the Caribbean Grandma Mimis first time! After that, the crowds really started to get to us, so we grabbed a Fastpass for Splash (return time at 8pm), went and saw the Tiki Bird show which was certainly different than I remember as a kid and went back to the villas to rest.
Before heading back to the MK, we stopped for a quick dinner at Roaring Forks and then ran back to the boat dock. It was close to 7pm when we got back to the MK and the crowds had diminished significantly. We rode Splash and then went through the Haunted Mansion, watched Mickeys PhilharMagic, went on the Carousel, watched Wishes, and went on Space Mountain. We didnt leave until the park closed at 11pm.
Mickeys PhilharMagic was exceptional we ALL loved it and it was the first time any of the kids had seen a 3-D show like that so they were laughing and grabbing at everything that came flying out at them. This was one of my favorite things the entire trip. As was Wishes I was absolutely blown away at how spectacular the fireworks were. We werent in the best viewing spot (Fantasyland) and decided that when we were back at the MK (Friday) wed stake out a really good spot to see them it was worth it.
Our youngest, now definitely feeling better (yay!) was an absolute thrill ride junkie. I was afraid that she might get scared on Space Mountain because you had to sit by yourself, but she loved it and wanted to go on it over and over again.
It was a wonderful first night we were all exhausted, but so happy to be there!!
Day 2 We were going to do the extra magic hour at Epcot, but slept until after 8am so we went to Animal Kingdom instead.
We had breakfast in the room every morning; nothing fancy just cereal and pop tarts. This saved a lot of time and money. Getting three kids up, showered (sometimes showered at night, but we were usually too darn tired to do anything but crawl in bed!) and ready to go was quite a feat! We were out the door for the bus stop by 8:50 and arrived at Animal Kingdom around 9:30. We entered the park and went back to Kilimanjaro Safaris. The standby wait was only 20 minutes, so we got in line for that. It was amazing to see all of the animals.
My husband and I had watched a special on the Travel Channel about the Animal Kingdom and knew about all of the boundaries in the Safari, but we couldnt see them. It really, truly looked like an African safari and that the animals were all free to go where they wanted. I could just believe that they didnt kill each other because it was Disney, right? After Kilimanjaro the kids were itching to go on Kali River Rapids. I was hoping to save that ride until last because walking around in dripping wet clothes all day didnt sound too appealing. But it was their vacation too, so we headed out of Africa and into Asia. Along the way we saw a lady, on stilts, faded into the foliage she really looked like a piece of the landscape and moved like a ballerina. The kids were fascinated by her so we stopped and watched for a while. We got to Kali and the wait was only 25 minutes, so we waited. They announced while we were in line that due to inclement weather (it was sprinkling) they may have to stop the ride, but they hadnt stopped it by the time we got there. I stowed my camera in the center and hoped for the best. There were the six of us, and four others. The other four people got drenched, Chris and Nico both got pretty wet, but the rest of us were fairly dry! Yay! Of course the kids wanted to do it again, but I didnt want to tempt fate, plus I was hungry so I went and found churros.
After Kali we walked around a little, getting sprinkled on, and headed toward Dinoland. Crissy was two sheets of paper too short to go on Primeval Whirl (though I know shes tall enough she just wasnt standing up as straight as she could or the measuring stick was off). We went on Triceratops Spin (no line) and then walked over to Dinosaur (15 minute wait). We rode that Crissy was excited that the sign said it was scary, but her big sister Katelyn was scared. Katelyn isnt normally easily frightened, so were not sure if she was acting scared for attention since her younger sister was suddenly so brave, or if she was really scared. Im thinking it was the former because she would always bounce off of the rides wanting to do them again!
Nico wanted to buy a safari hat he had found back over by Kilimanjaro so we went back there and bought the hat and then had lunch at Tusker House. Lunch quickly became my least favorite part of the day not only is ordering food for everyone hard, finding a place for six to sit is nearly impossible. When we go back (ten years from now?) Ill do this part differently. Lunch was okay nothing that great, and after lunch we went and saw Its Tough to Be a Bug. What a fantastic show! We all loved it, other than the stink bug (pee-eew!) From there we went to Camp Minnie-Mickey and watched the Festival of the Lion King. I highly recommend this show it was fantastic. Actually, I really enjoyed all of the Animal Kingdom. I had read a lot of mixed reviews on that park, but we all really enjoyed it. We wanted to stay longer, but as I had originally planned on being at Epcot, our priority seating for dinner was there. So, we said good bye to AK, picked up the family picture that they took when we entered the park, as everyone was smiling, and took the bus back to the lodge.
Our PS for dinner was at 6:20 at Le Cellier. The kids got the biggest kick out of telling people that they were going to Canada for dinner! We got to the restaurant a few minutes after 6, and we were seated by 6:30. I ordered the Filet with the Maple-Barbecue sauce and Chris got the Mushroom Filet both of which were exceptional. After dinner we wandered around the World Showcase. There was a lady painted in white and wearing all white clothes outside of Italy that looked like a statue. The kids were mesmerized by her and by watching different people go up there and try to make her move. None of them wanted to go up there and have their picture taken though, so I grabbed Crissy, gave the camera to my mom and went up there. We tried talking to her, but she didnt move, so I tickled her and she hit me. It was so funny the entire crowd busted up laughing and we got a great picture. One of the highlights of the evening, actually.
We wandered around, wishing we had more time and at 8:30 we grabbed Mickey bars and found a place to sit to watch Illuminations. We had to go to Morocco twice before Illuminations started to clean up messy kids (those Mickey bars are a mess!) and it was so funny to hear Chris tell me he was taking Nico to Morocco but hed be back in a few minutes! Illuminations started we were in Japan and had a pretty good view and the adults really enjoyed it. I think Nico liked it too, but it was pretty lost on the girls. They were playing with their light-up toys and looking at the mask the girl next to them had decorated. We walked back to the bus stop and waited. And waited. Its too bad that the Wilderness Lodge shares a bus with Fort Wilderness. It seems like for every one Wilderness Lodge guest there are 20 Fort Wilderness guests so after a major show/park closing waiting for the bus is kind of a pain. I think we were on the third bus that came and all three of the kids fell asleep on the bus. That didnt stop them from wanting to swim once we got back to the lodge though and so we went to the pool at 11pm. I figured that we might as well take advantage of the time we had and it ended up being the only time we went swimming the entire trip!
Day 3 Epcot
This was the only truly hot day of the trip the rest of the time there were a lot of clouds and a cool breeze, but for some reason this day was just hot. We got to Epcot at park opening, they had everyone sing happy birthday to the people celebrating birthdays that morning and then a red double-decker bus pulled up full of Disney characters and they opened the park. We went and grabbed fastpasses for Mission: Space and rode Test Track. There wasnt a line yet for Test Track so we got right in. The ride was pretty cool, but it wasnt my favorite. Katelyn liked it a lot even though she claimed she was scared to get on it.
I was worried about Mission: Space because of everything I had heard about it. I felt fine on the ride, but weird afterwards. The kids LOVED it and wanted to do it again. We grabbed fastpasses and went and walked around Innoventions. We sent a postcard home to my sister and then the kids and I went and did the virtual dance party (I won!). Nico and Crissy played virtual tag (Katelyn was being moody and didnt want to) and then we went and rode Mission: Space again. Once was really enough!
From there we tried to go to Living with the Land but it had a 60 minute wait, so we went and saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience instead. IMO, it wasnt nearly as good as PhilharMagic or Its Tough to Be a Bug. We didnt have as long as I had hoped to spend at Epcot because we had a priority seating at Chef Mickeys at 6pm. We were supposed to have spent the day before at Epcot, but it just didnt work out, so we fit in as much as we could. We had gelato in Italy, went on Maelstrom in Norway and ended the day at Spaceship: Earth. We just missed SO MUCH, but I guess well just have to see it next time.
We took the monorail to the Contemporary Nico LOVED the monorail. Dinner at Chef Mickeys was okay. The heat really got to me and I had little to no appetite, and buffets arent really my thing anyway. But Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale all came by and the kids got a real kick out of that. They also loved making their own desserts they looked absolutely disgusting to me but they were happy! We looked around the Contemporary for a while and I bought each of the girls an outfit Tinkerbelle for Crissy (she LOVES Tink!) and Jasmine for Katelyn, the one that she picked out. I was surprised she didnt pick out one with a dress, but she really wanted Jasmine. We were going to spend the rest of the evening at MK but the heat had really gotten to me and honestly we were all exhausted so we just went back to the Wilderness Lodge. The girls changed into their new costumes (Crissy promptly fell asleep in her Tinkerbelle costume which was so adorable) and we all rested. It was very nice to just rest.
Day 4: AM MGM, PM E-ride night at MK
The kids had been asking every day when wed be going to MGM so they could ride on the Tower of Terror, so we decided to do that this morning. We got to MGM grabbed fastpasses for Rock n Roller Coaster (which Crissy was tall enough to ride, go figure) and rode Tower of Terror. It was the best ride, we all loved it and went on it again (and again, and again). Rock n Roller coaster was okay, but it wasnt nearly as exciting as TOT. After we had our fill of those two rides we walked to the other side of the park and hit Star Tours and Muppet Vision 3-D no wait at either of them. We grabbed a quick lunch at counter service since the park wasnt crowded and there was actually a table for 6! After lunch we watched the Beauty and the Beast show and then went back to the WL to rest up for our E-ride night. We all sleep for a few hours and get ready for dinner at the Whispering Canyon at 5. It was a great dinner (the food was again only okay, but the atmosphere was just so fun!) Nico led the pony races and I got served one of those HUGE jars of water. Very fun!
E-Ride night was most definitely worth every penny. We went on Splash Mountain 5 times in a row! We just kept going over and over until we got a good picture. We also rode Space Mtn twice, Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Before the park closed we went on the teacups and watched Wishes from the bridge going to Tomorrowland so that Crissy would have a good view of Tinkerbelle. Other than getting yelled at by a real jerk of a dad, it was wonderful. (My mom told me she was laughing inside thinking about how much like my dad I was, not backing down and letting this jerk take advantage of me. We staked out a good spot to view the fireworks a good half-hour before they started and he got there with his 5 kids and tried to push his way into the bridge and then yelled at me for not moving down into the tree. Ugh Im just not going to think about it.)
Day 5: Bad news, weird day and our last day at Disney
We didnt get back to our room from the MK until after 2am and there was a message waiting on my cell phone. Chris got the kids in bed and I listened to the message and my heart dropped. It was my Stepmother-in-law telling us that Chris dad was in the Critical Care unit in the hospital and had to have surgery. Apparently one of his main arteries was 95% blocked. It was too late to call home so Chris was up worried all night long. It was a long night Chris finally talked to his dad the next morning and found out it was a non-invasive surgery to insert two stents and that he was okay, but had he not been in good shape (FIL is in INCREDIBLE shape) he could have been dead! Yikes!
It took Chris a while to shake that news so we stuck around until noon and then went to Downtown Disney for a while just to walk around. We were sick of rides (well the adults were) after riding so many last night. We had a ps for 3:50 at the Brown Derby with the Fantasmic package so we were going to take a bus from Downtown Disney, only we didnt realize the buses only went to the resorts! So, we had wanted to check out the Animal Kingdom Lodge anyway and took a bus there and walked around. I liked it, but I still think I liked the Wilderness Lodge the best.
We got to MGM at 2:45, rode the Great Movie Ride for something kind of relaxing and then went to the Brown Derby. The food was the best of the entire trip SO good. While we were eating it started to rain. Then it started to pour which figured since it hadnt really rained like that the entire trip and tonight was the night we wanted to see Fantasmic! We used our ponchos for the first time the entire trip and the kids were dying to do Tower of Terror again, so we did. Three times! And it was still raining. They cancelled the 9 oclock show, but said they might still have the 10:30, so we stopped and got coffee and drinks and waited. The 10:30 was a go so we were able to see Fantasmic! We were tired and still needed to pack (we were leaving the next morning at 7am) but it was worth it.
The rest of the trip is pretty status quo. We spent 6 hours flying home. Two more hours driving. We listened to the Wishes soundtrack and got teary-eyed. We wanted to go back. It was a wonderful vacation!! I guess it's time to change my signature since we're no longer there and sweating.
