Our Holiday Disney Adventure - w/lots of pics!

[Luv Bunnies]

We'll, we've been home from our 11-day Disneyworld Holiday Adventure for almost 2 weeks and I'm finally organized enough to start my trip report. So here goes nothing...

Our fun little family of 4 is Disney crazy! Since we only live a 7 hour drive from Anaheim, we have visited Disneyland quite often. Even the youngest among us has been there 4 times in his life and he's only 8! We also cruised on the Disney Magic to Mexico in '05 when they were doing the west coast cruises. DH and I did a trip to Disneyworld in 1991 (gosh, we're old!) and we decided that, when we had kids, we would wait to take them until they were out of strollers, diapers, off the bottle (you know, the kind that hold milk) and all those fun baby things. Being in California, it's a major commitment and expense to go east and we aren't able to do it very often. We briefly considered a trip in 2002 when the kids were 4 and 7 but we decided to put it off for a few years.

Our boys are now 11 and 8 and we decided the time was finally right. In July, we started planning our holiday trip. Well, I started planning our trip. The boys were happy with anything I planned and spent a lot of time on the WDW website checking out the rides and shows. DH, while also a Disney nut, did a lot of nodding and uh-huh'ing and "whatever you say'ing" while I was planning the trip of a lifetime!

So, here's a quick introduction to our family:

Me, I'm the mom, the wife, the planner, the organizer, etc. I'm 42, well...I was "only" 41 when we took the trip but I turned 42 right after we got back. I'll share pictures of my birthday cake at the end of my report. For all intents and purposes of this report, I'm 41, I mean 42...OK, somewhere in between, I guess!

My DH is 45...no really, he is! He's into all things Disney just like me (lucky for both of us!).

My oldest DS is 11. He also loves Disney. He's also nuts about trains and space exploration. I should mention that he has a mild form of autism (Asperger's Syndrome). This is another reason we wanted to wait to take our trip. You'll notice in my report that he's very picky about food and he's still not sure about those big, furry characters. He knows on an intellectual level what they really are, but when he sees them coming he tends to hide his face. He's not scared of them so we still did some character meals. You just won't see any pictures of him with the characters.

My youngest DS is 8 and he's a character himself! He loves Lion King and, especially, Timon. He also loves meeting characters and they seem to have fun playing with him. You'll see lots of pictures of him clowning around and having fun!

So, let's start at the very beginning. I've been told it's a very good place to start....

Day 1 - Friday, December 15 (no pics on this day; not much to see!)
This was the last day of school before the holiday break. We decided to take the kids out of school since it was only a 1/2 day and traditionally a party day at our school. We figured this would be a better day to travel instead of waiting for the weekend.

We had a cab scheduled to pick us up at 6:45 a.m. for the 20 minute ride to the airport. We were mostly ready, except for the few last minute items being stuffed into suitcases. I had the packing all planned out and was going to do a little each night the week before we left. I started on the previous Saturday and got a good start, but I also managed to pull something in my back while hoisting suitcases around the bedroom. It was painful on Sunday and by Monday, it was really hurting. I work in a special ed preschool class and my teacher said I looked miserable and sent me home to rest on Monday morning. I was really worried that it would keep hurting all through the trip. But, I took it easy and nursed it and by late Tuesday, it was a lot better. It still kept me from paying much attention to the packing until the night before we left and my only regret was that I didn't put as much thought into it as I had hoped I would. Oh well...

The cab arrived on schedule and we had our own version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to the airport. DH commented that the guy probably has to replace his brakes every few hundred miles because he rides them so much. No matter! We got to the airport safely and in plenty of time to make our flight. We had bagels at the airport Starbucks before boarding our flight to Dallas.

We only had a 40 minute connection time in Dallas for the flight to Orlando. After riding the tram from terminal C to terminal A and walking to our gate, we found the flight already boarding! We didn't even have time for a bathroom stop, let alone lunch! Luckily, no one was in an emergency situation at that point.

The boys like window seats so we had booked a window and middle in one row and the window and middle directly behind it so we could each sit with a kid. DS11 was at the window in our row and I was in the middle. There was a very sweet college girl next to me who said she had been skiing in Colorado and was on her way home to Orlando. Her boyfriend was somewhere in the back of the plane because they couldn't get seated together. Then she proceeded to apologize in advance if she got sick during the flight. I said, "Not feeling well?" She said she gets very motion sick and had already tossed it on the flight from Denver to Dallas. We discussed different remedies before take-off. I offered her some Dramamine but she said it makes her so sleepy that she can't even walk. She had a prescription for a patch but all the drug stores in Orlando we out of them, etc. Well, we hadn't eaten since those bagels early in the morning and were starving. I asked her if I had some trail mix if it would bother her. And she said, "No, that should be fine but if you guys pull out McDonald's right now it would do me in!" So, I leaned over on DS's side and we ate our snacks. I also tried to use my magazine as a barrier so she wouldn't see us eating!

That poor girl went through the ringer on that flight. She held the barf bag up to her face several times. I told her to take deep breaths through her mouth and out through her nose which she said helped. Basically, I had to mother her through the flight. I felt so bad for her. At one point, she dozed off which I thought was the best thing for her except that she was on the aisle and I was in the middle and nature was calling, if you know what I mean! When she woke up, she headed back to the restroom so I took the opportunity to go back there too. When we were both seated again, she asked me how long until we would land and I said about an hour. She said, "This is going to be the longest hour of my life!" We had a bumpy descent into Orlando. We were all excited and could see the fireworks at Magic Kingdom. It was about 6:20 p.m. so we figured it was the 6:00 p.m. showing of Wishes. That poor girl was holding the barf bag again while we were pointing out the window!

We finally landed and she had made it without actually getting sick. I told her she had been very brave and she thanked me for talking her through it. Poor girl! I felt bad for her but was glad the flight was finally over, for her sake.

We retrieved our luggage which took a while and then made our way over to the Alamo counter to get our rental car. We ended up with a Saturn Vue which gave us plenty of space for the four of us. Before long, we were on our way to Pop Century. I had been looking at DIS for so long and had seen pictures of all the road signs. It was so exciting to finally see them in person!

We found Pop without too much trouble and went to check in. The line wasn't very long and there were plenty of people working at the front desk. We were checked in by a very nice lady who honored our request for a quiet, non-smoking room. We had paid for a preferred room, too. We ended up in the 70s, building 10, third floor, room 0361. We were on a corner, right by the stairway with the giant 8-trac tapes. And yes, we're old enough to have had 8-tracs when we were in high school!! The room was in a very quiet location and we could see Classic Hall from our doorway. It was a quick walk down the stairs, past the Goofy Pop Jet Fountain and Classic Hall was right there. We were very happy with our room location. The room was clean and exactly what we had expected.

By this time, we were really hungry! We hadn't had an actual meal since the day before (bagels and trail mix don't take you very far). We headed to the food court around 9:00 p.m. for some food. I'm not going to describe our food too much in this report since I already did a dining report on the Dining Review board (see: Dining Reviews: 12/15 - 12/25 by Luv Bunnies). We all found something to eat, bought our refillable mugs and learned the ins and outs of using the Dining Plan.

After that, it was off to the room to unpack and get some sleep for the days to come. It was a little hard to go to sleep at 11:00 p.m., since it was only 8:00 p.m. on the west coast. We were wide awake for a while but everyone finally drifted off to Mickeyland.....

Day 2 - Saturday, December 16 - Epcot

OK, OK! We're up! Getting up at 7:15 a.m. was like getting up at 4:15 a.m. on the west coast. But, OK, we're here now and have to get adjusted so we'll stop complaining about jet lag now. We headed to the food court for breakfast and used some snack credits for bagels, cereal and OJ. Since we had a rental car, we drove ourselves to Epcot and parked in Journey 9. Yes, I wrote everything down on 3 x 5 cards. I took lots of notes for my trip report. So, expect lots of detail. Afterall, detail is my middle name. OK, not really, but it could be!

After entering the park, we went straight to Test Track for our first ride. We only waited about 10 minutes. Oh boy, we're in the car! First ride of the trip! Wow, this ride is cool! Bumpy road, brake test, heat chamber, heat chamber, heat chamber. OK, we stopped for a second right at the end of the heat chamber. It will start right up again....heat chamber...heat chamber...heat chamber. OK, we're officially stuck in the heat chamber. This car ain't moving. At least the heat's turned off in the (all together now) HEAT CHAMBER! So we sat there, listened to the announcement, "Please remain in your vehicle, the ride will resume...yada, yada, yada." DS11 was starting to get anxious. "Oh no, we're going to be stuck in here for our whole vacation!" We calmed his fears and started finding Hidden Mickey's in the little booth at the end of the...where are we again... oh yeah the HEAT CHAMBER! So how long were we stuck? 20 minutes! That's a long time to be stuck on a ride, especially when it's your first ride of the day...first ride of the trip, no less! But, we finally got moving again. When we got to the loading area, the CM asked if we wanted to go again and we said yes, as long as we don't get stuck in the heat chamber again! The 2nd ride was much better and, luckily, didn't stop at all. All in all, we loved Test Track, yes, even the heat chamber.

Next it was over to Mission Space Green. We all enjoyed it. DH briefly about trying Orange by himself since the rest of us weren't game. But, after experiencing Green, he decided it was enough for him.

DS11 really wanted to spend some time at Innoventions so we headed over there. The boys looked at everying and tried out some of the video games along the wall. The funniest thing happened at Innoventions. This lady walked by me and said, "Hey, you were on our flight from Dallas yesterday. I felt so sorry for that poor sick girl." Turns out the lady sat on the other side of the aisle from the sick girl and recognized me from the flight. Of all the places in WDW we could have been, we were both in Innoventions at the same time. Weird, huh?

After Innoventions, we went into Mousegear because I can't resist a good gift shop. While at Mousegear, we decided to participate in the #1 WDW sport. Well, it seems to be the #1 sport because I've seen lots of trip reports with pictures of people doing this. I also saw people in Mousegear engaging in this sport so we had to get involved, too. What is this sport, you ask? Why, it's trying on hats, taking pictures, then putting them back without buying them, of course! Come on, admit it! You've all done it, too! OK, if you haven't done it yet, you know you want to!

So, my trip report title said "with pics." And here we were, well into Day 2 and there haven't been any pics yet. Where are the pics? Where are the pics? Well here they are:

DS8 was a little too small to wear this hat properly:

Here are 2 grooms and a bride:

And here's the required big ball pic:

So, after playing "fun with hats," it was time for some lunch at the Electric Umbrella. Lunch was all about burgers, fries, etc. Decent enough. Then we headed over to Ellen's Energy Adventure to digest all that food. DS11, who loves trains, enjoyed watching the theater break apart into separate cars. It was a relaxing journey through the dinosaur era.

Next, we headed over to Wonders of Life. DS11 and DH wanted to ride Body Wars. I had ridden it in '91 and remember feeling queasy afterward. Not wanting to feel like my poor friend on the plane, DS8 and I decided to skip it and head over to Cranium Command instead. DH said they got all loaded into a Body Wars simulator and sat for a few minutes. Then a CM made an announcement that the simulator was broken and they'd all be moving to another one. Second broken ride of the day (remember the heat chamber?). They moved to another one and had their ride. DS8 and enjoyed Cranium Command but we had a strange little incident before we went into the theater. Two CMs working the attraction were standing at the entrance complaining to each other about their work schedules. I was standing nearby and glanced over at them and they kept up their conversation. I said, "Having trouble with the mouse?" One said, "No, it's not the mouse, it's the guy he hired to do our scheduling!" Then they proceeded to tell me how bad their manager was. I was a little surprised, to say the least. Not just because it's Disney, but because that would be poor behavior for employees of any company. You just don't stand around within earshot of customers and complain. True, I insinuated myself into the conversation, but I was surprised by how willing they were to discuss their gripes with me. Oh well!

Toward the end of Cranium Command, my phone vibrated and I had a text message from DH. He and DS11 were done with Body Wars and were in the waiting area to see Buzzy pilot a brain. too. So DS8 and I hung around and waited for them to get out. Wonders of Life was almost deserted. I found a comfy bench and called my parents to check on my two beautiful bunnies who stayed at their house while we were gone. Bunnies were fine! Good report.

Next, we headed over to The Land and picked up Fast Passes for Soarin'. We've been on Soarin' many times at California Adventure and we love it. The standby time was 60 minutes so Fast Pass was the way to go. We went on The Land boat ride while waiting for our Fast Pass return time. I heard the funniest thing on that ride! As soon as the boat entered the greenhouse, this kid in front of us said, "Look mom! We in the big golf ball." (I quoted his exact words and grammar.) Granted, the greenhouse is a geodesic dome as well, but it's nowhere big enough to be Spaceship Earth. I didn't say anything. Let the boy have his fantasy...or delusion...or whatever!

After hanging around for a while longer, it was time for Soarin'. We know this ride as Soarin' Over California but we'll go along with the WDW name (while in Rome...). We still waited about 20 with Fast Passes, but it was better than 60. Soarin' was the same great ride we have in California. I'd like to say it made me homesick, but we'd only left California the day before so I wasn't in that "longing for home" stage yet. Although, I did miss my bunnies!

Now, it was time for our 5:50 p.m. ADRs at Le Cellier! I made all of our ADRs back in July so we had the prime times at the prime restaurants! This made all of us very happy. After checking in, the hostesses played Disney 20 Questions with us. Actually, they called it 21 Questions so we decided that must be how they do it in Canada! We rocked at that game. The answers were always Disney characters and, at first, they were giving us easy ones. We told them to challenge us so they tried. DH guessed Mowgli from Jungle Book in only 6 questions. I got Mishu from Mulan in about 10. They gave us stickers and bowed down to us as the 21 Questions King and Queen. Don't mess with us when it comes to Disney characters! We were really looking forward to this meal and it did not disappoint! The cheese soup was wonderful. The filets were tender and delicious. DS11 loved, loved, loved that pretzel bread and he's my pickiest eater. Everytime after that when we went to a restaurant, he asked if they had pretzel bread. When we said no, he said, "Let's just go back to Le Cellier again." Sure kid, it's only the toughest reservation to get in this place. We'll just go right over to Epcot and drop right in. Poor kid! He really loved his pretzel bread.

After dinner, we headed over to Imagination. We liked the ride, but agreed it was better in '91 when it was Figment and DreamFinder. I love Figment and have him on a nightshirt I bought in '91. It's very well-worn, but I refuse to stop wearing it! We skipped HISTA because we've seen it a few times at Disneyland the boys don't like it. DS8 is scared by the snake.

Next, it was over to Spaceship Earth which everyone enjoyed. We wandered over to World Showcase where the last showing of Candlelight was getting ready to start. We didn't get a dinner package and weren't counting on getting in to see it. DS11 isn't into sitting through such things so we didn't make a point to try to get in. The standby line was horrendous. We went to see the American Adventure which we all loved. When we came out, Candlelight was just starting so we stood at the back of the theater for a few minutes. Kirk Cameron was the narrarator that night. DS11 discovered the model train that goes around the tree in front of America so he was happy to look at that while we listened to the music for a while.

We decided we'd better stake out a spot for Illuminations before the Candlelight crowd broke up. So, we found a spot by the lagoon near France. I remember Illuminations from '91 when they played music at the beginning and lit up each nation, one by one. They didn't do that this time and instead had that big globe in the water. The fireworks were great, but we weren't that impressed with the globe.

After Illuminations, we fought the crowds out of the park and back to our car (remember where we parked? Journey 9!). Then it was back to Pop to nurse that jet lag. OK, I said I wouldn't mention it again but by the end of the day, it had taken it's toll.

Next Installment: Day 3, Chef Mickey's, Disneyquest, DTD and a truly disgusting dinner ....

 

[Martha7]

Great TR! Thank God you were there to help that poor girl on the flight! Love the pic of the two grooms and a bride!

 

[mlill]

Great start!!! Love the pictures! I also agree that Figment was better before they 'updated' the ride. It was neat being able to see Wonders of Life again, but it was kinda sad, too. Like you, I opted NOT to ride Body Wars.

I'm looking forward to reading more!

-Michelle

 

[Luv Bunnies]

OK, my fingers are rested and it's time for:

Day 3, Sunday, December 17:

We had planned a non-park day for today but ended up fitting in plenty of activity anyway. We slept in a little and then headed to the Contemporary for our 10:10 a.m. ADR at Chef Mickey's. We didn't wait long before being seated. I should add that we never waited more than 10 minutes to be seated for any of our ADRs. The system seems to work pretty well!

So, we sat down and DH realized he had left the video camera in the car. He wanted to film the characters so he went back to get it. While we were waiting for him to get back, Pluto came by.

Here are Pluto, DS8 and me:

DH came back before long, video camera in hand. We went for some food and found everything to be really good. The boys found their beloved donuts and cereal. The waitress was good about drink refills and we thought the atmosphere was really fun. The characters made the rounds to all of the tables and soon, we were visited by the Big Cheese himself.

Here's DS8 with Mickey:

Our favorite character interaction of this meal was with Donald. DH has always been a big Donald fan and he was waiting for him to come by.

Here's my DH with his hero. In our house, he's known simply as "The Duck":

So I told Donald I needed to have a little talk with him so he leaned in close. I said, "Donald, dude, you really need to wear some pants! All the other animals are wearing pants except for Pluto but he's a dog and he has fur! If you're going to wear a little jacket, you really need to wear some pants too!" Then I pointed out the fact that he was banned in Sweden several years ago for not wearing pants (strange, but true).

Donald didn't know how to react. He put his hand over his bill and pretended to laugh. Then when he turned his back to us, he kept covering his backside with his hands. It was really funny. I even told Mickey that he needed to get Donald to wear pants. Mickey pretended to laugh and nodded his head. Then he pointed at Donald and wound his finger around his ear as if to say, yes Donald is crazy! It was really fun messing with Donald's mind. If nothing else, we gave him something to talk about in the break room!

As I said before, DS11 doesn't like posing with characters. We just tell the characters he's shy and they leave him alone. One of his favorite things to do on the trip was look for hidden Mickey's. He found this one at Chef Mickey's. It's not exactly hidden, but he found it just the same!

After Chef Mickey's, we were off to DTD and Disneyquest. We spent a good 4 hours exploring Disneyquest. DH and DS8 rode the Buzz Lightyear Bumper Cars. We all rode the Jungle Cruise Simulator and the Virtual Magic Carpets (the helmet was hard to keep straight and was uncomfortable). DS8 and DH designed and rode their roller coaster together. DS11 and I did one together too since we're not daredevils. It was a pretty cool experience. Our favorite thing at Disneyquest was the Pirate Adventure. I steered the ship while the guys shot at the bad pirates. We all thought it was great.

DS11's favorite thing of all at Disneyquest were the free video games. They have all kinds of games that don't require any coins or tokens. All he wanted to do was play on those, but we pulled him away to do the other things as well. We stopped at the cafe for some drinks and spent some time on the Internet terminals. We looked at CNN to get the news and I spent a little time on the DIS boards. It was nice having a place to look at the Internet, but the connections were v-e-r-y s-l-o-w!

After Disneyquest, we wandered around DTD a little and picked up some pretzels and drinks to hold us over until dinner. Chef Mickey's left us without needing a real lunch. We found our way over to World Of Disney which was wonderful! It was a Disney-lover's dream! I bought a fleece jacket with Bambi and Thumper on it (being a bunny lover). The boys got a few little Cars toys and we looked at watches. DH and I decided not to buy each other any Christmas presents this year except for Disney watches which we would pick out on our trip. We saw a few we liked, but weren't ready to buy yet.

We barely made it out of World of Disney when it was time for our ADR at Planet Hollywood. I know, I know. The reviews are the Dining Boards are never very good. But we decided to try it anyway. I already did a write-up in my Dining Review so I won't spend a lot of time here beating a dead horse. Basically, it was noisy, the waiter was rigid with the Dining Plan and spilled salsa on my pants. The salad I ordered was awful and the other food was just average. I hated the atmosphere. When we left, DS11 said, "Mommy, when we were in there it was like we weren't even in Disney anymore." There was no magic to be found in that building. But, we got out of there and back to Pop and the magic was resurrected!

Next up, Day 4 at MGM.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Off to MGM we go!

Day 4 - Monday, December 18

After a quick breakfast at Pop, we headed over to MGM. We parked in Television 21 (yes, I was very good about writing down our parking location). Here's a picture of the Big Hat to get us all in an MGM state of mind...

First, we headed over to the Great Movie Ride. I remember this one from 1991 and it's changed a little since then. They had the actors doing the live scenes and jumping in the ride vehicles, but I remember a guy dressed as Indiana Jones hanging from a rope on the ceiling. He jumped into the tour guides spot and took over from there. This time, it was the gangster guy who hijacked us and the original tour guide came back during the Indiana Jones scene, but dressed in a hood. We still loved the ride, except for DS8 who said the Alien part was too scary.

Next, we did the Backlot Tour which the boys really liked. I remembered Catastrophe Canyon and was sure to sit on the right side of the tram (the right side is the "dry" side). It was a nice break for our feet to sit on the tram for 30 minutes. After a tour of the villians exhibit, we sat down to look at the schedule and figure out how to attack the rest of the day. Neither the boys or I were interested in TOT or RNR so we didn't have to rush to those. But DH wanted to ride them both and was willing to go by himself. He figured it would be best to Fast Pass them both at this point. So, he took his park ticket and mine and headed over to get his FPs. I know, it was a little cheat of the system but what the heck.

The boys and I went to get seats at the next Indiana Jones Stunt Show and DH met us there after he had secured his passes for later in the day. Indy was packed and seemed to be the exact same show we saw 15 years ago. The boys enjoyed it since they like all that exploding, destructive stuff.

After Indy, we did Star Tours which is one of the boys favorite rides at Disneyland. Darth Vadar was walking up and down the ramp just inside the building which caused a lot of excitement among the crowd. After Star Tours, it was time for our 1:30 ADRs at Sci-Fi. I was a little hesitant about this one because of some bad reviews I'd read on the DIS but I was anxious to see the inside of the place. We were seated within 10 minutes of checking in and got the first and second rows of a car. We put the boys in front so they could watch the movies without one of us being in the way. They thought the set up was totally cool!

Here they are enjoying the ambiance:

We all really enjoyed Sci-Fi. I thought it would be noisy, but it was one of the quietest restaurants we visited. Everyone was busy watching the movie and I didn't think the speaker was loud at all. I also thought the dim lights made for a relaxing atmosphere. We had the basic burgers and fries and were very pleased with our decision to eat there.

After lunch, it was time for one of DH's Fast Passes (TOT, I think). The boys and I wanted to see the parade so we stopped to watch it. Afterward, we went by Lights, Motors, Action for the 4:10 show. It was only 3:15 when we got there but the stand-by line was already forming and we didn't get Fast Passes earlier. So, we got in line and I sent a text message to DH to get in line when he was done and sit wherever he could and we'd meet up after the show. We were let into the waiting area in front of the chain link fence that leads into the stadium. The Fast Pass holders were being seated so we figured it wouldn't be long until we were let in. We didn't mind waiting another 30 minutes for the show as long as we were sitting down. We couldn't see into the stadium but could hear the cars warming up. So, we waited and waited and the lines continued to build. DH ended up two lines over from us and called me and waved from his location. The crowd was starting to get restless and no one was telling us why we weren't being let into the stadium. After a few more minutes, an ambulance drove on the path in front of the fence and into the stadium. After another 15 minutes, the ambulance left and the cars started warming up again. A CM finally came and announced that the show would be delayed by 20 minutes and now had a 4:30 start time. A man behind me was getting angry and asked why we couldn't go in and sit down. The CM said we couldn't go in until the warm up was done. They never said what happened, but we figured someone probably got hurt or became ill during the warm up and then they had to warm up a new car or driver. We had been standing there for almost an hour in the sun. It was about 80 degrees and humid outside. It's fine if you're moving, but standing in the sun is what really makes you hot and is killer on your feet! Finally, finally, finally we were let into the stadium and we found pretty good seats. DH got in a few minutes later and ended up sitting just across the aisle from us. The show was good and the boys loved it. I'm glad we saw it, but the wait was way too long. The show was so late in starting that we missed the performance of Beauty and the Beast that we were planning to see.

We rode Star Tours again on the way back since the boys love it so much and DH used his RNR Fast Pass. At 6:15, we went over to the Fantasmic stadium to secure our seats for the 7:00 show. We had pretty good seats, about 1/3 of the way from the front and slightly to the left. DH went to the back to get snacks. They were out of the pretzels the boys wanted so he brought us popcorn and drinks. The big lunch at Sci-Fi left us not wanting a whole dinner.

Here's where I have a few comparisons with Fantasmic at DW vs. Fantasmic at Disneyland. We've seen the Disneyland version several times and DH and I discussed what we like better about each show.

DW wins hands-down on seating. At DL, you have to either sit on the ground or stand up. Since the viewing area is also a walkway, the CMs work furiously to keep everyone moving down the center while you can sit or stand in the roped-off areas. It's not comfortable at all and we usually end up getting squished or stepped-on several times. Building a stadium just for Fantasmic was a great idea and we enjoyed watching the show from an actual seat.

On the other had, DL wins for the actual quality of the show. At DL, it's performed on Tom Sawyer island which seems to be a bigger area that what DW has. They both use the water screens and rafts during the show. But at DL, they use the Sailing Ship Columbia which resembles a pirate ship. Peter Pan and Captain Hook sword fight as the ship goes by. At this point in the show at DW, they had the whole Pocahantus scene which wasn't as exciting. At the end of the show, DL uses the actual Mark Twain Steamboat that's a lot bigger that the boat at DW. There are more characters on the Mark Twain and it's a much more spectacular ending scene. It's still an excellent show no matter where you see it. But, being DL afficianados, I had to point out the differences!

Next, it was over to see the Osborne Lights. All I can say is Awesome! Who knew one guy could put so many lights on his house!

After the Lights, it was back to Television 21 to get the car and head back to Pop. We had a few more snacks back at the food court since we still didn't need dinner. Those Mickey Rice Krispy bars sure are good!

Next up: Day 5 - Magic Kingdom - DH & DS11 take the Steam Train Tour!

 

[klmall]

Love your pictures and report! Makes me want to be there right now!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Love your pictures and report! Makes me want to be there right now!

Yeah, wish I was there too! Stay tuned for another installment tomorrow.

 

[tinawv]

Looking forward to more.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Day 5 - Tuesday, December 19

It's Magic Kingdom Day! So here's the required castle pic:

Day 5 started very, very early. DH's cell phone alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. I was so grateful that I didn't have to get up. Only DH and DS11 had to get up that early. They were booked that morning on the Magic Behind Our Steam Trains Tour at Magic Kingdom. They were scheduled to meet the tour guide at the front gate at 7:15 a.m. Ugh! Both of them are huge train fans and were really looking forward to the tour. My DS11, who never wants to get up, bounded right out bed that day just like Tigger! He was so excited! I had laid out his clothes and gotten everything ready the night before so they was no reason for me to get up at 5:30. The minimum age for the tour is 10 so DS8 wasn't able to go. That was fine with him because he's not as big a train fan as his big brother. So the little guy and I stayed in bed for another couple of hours. The plan was for us to meet up later at MK.

DH and DS11 left the room at 6:20 a.m. in hopes if catching the 6:30 a.m. bus. DH said the bus actually showed up at 6:38 but they were at MK in plenty of time to make the tour.

Even though we had a rental car, we decided to take the bus to MK. It's much nicer to be dropped off out front than to park at the TTC and then take the ferry or monorail to the park. We figured this was the one park where taking the car didn't make any sense.

DS8 and I took a bus and arrived at MK around 9:00 a.m. The Train Tour was scheduled to end at 10:30 so DS8 and I had planned to spend some time together in Fantasyland. We had a great time! Here's my little guy on the Carousel:

We were able to ride Pooh, Peter Pan, the Carousel, Dumbo and Small World before DH and DS11 were back from their tour. Around 10:15, DH called and said they were done so they met us in front of Small World. They both loved the tour. They said they boarded the train at Main Street and rode around to the Roundhouse where the trains are kept. They got a backstage tour of the trains and learned a lot of history about Walt Disney's obsession with trains. DH said he took lots of pictures with his video camera. Unfortunately, he hasn't downloaded any of them yet!

After we met up in Fantasyland, we headed over to Space Mountain and took a ride. I found it to be a much bumpier ride than the one at DL. It also has a different seating configuration. At DL, two riders sit side-by-side and each train holds more people. I also like the soundtrack at DL's Space Mountain. I can usually ride the SM several times at DL, but decided once was enough for me at WDW! Next, we picked up Fast Passes for Buzz before going to our ADR at The Plaza Restaurant.

The Plaza was a cute little place and we were seated within 10 minutes of checking in. Our only real complaint was the grouchy waitress! I was almost afraid to ask her for anything for fear she might bite me! I ordered the Plaza Club and DH got a burger. We both ordered side salads. The kids had peanut butter and grilled cheese sandwiches and that's all we ordered for them. When the waitress brought our salads, she also brought tomato soup for the boys, which we didn't order and the kids won't eat. I guess she figured that since we were on the meal plan, they were entitled to an appetizer and soup is the only appetizer offered for kids. We actually never ordered appetizers for the kids since they're so picky and no other restaurant automatically brought us anything we didn't order. I was too afraid of her to say much of anything. DH and I had some of the soup and it was good enough. The Plaza Club was very good and so were the ice cream sundaes for dessert. We probably wouldn't have eaten here if we weren't on the meal plan and I probably would just get counter service next time.

After lunch, we went to use our Fast Passes at Buzz and shoot Zurg! Again, there's a difference between the Buzz rides at WDW and DL. The one at DL was designed later and they made it so you can pick up your gun and hold it at different heights. At WDW, the gun is stationary and you are limited in where you can point it. I only got 8800 points. I know! It's pathetic!

Here are the boys having fun in the gift shop:

After Buzz, we got right on TTA. I had read that this was a slow, relaxing ride so I figured it would be like the old People Mover from DL. Well, parts of TTA were slow, but we really whipped around some corners and gained some serious speed in a few places. It was a little surprising! After TTA, we checked out Carousel of Progress. Now, this show was relaxing. I mean relaxing enough that DH and I each had a little nap sometime before grandma got into virtual reality! The boys loved it and are still singing that silly song!

After COP, we headed over to the Indy Cars. That's when it happened! I was chosen! I had seen people at other rides get chosen to hold one of those red cards that helps the CMs time the lines. I was hoping they would pick me to hold one. I knew I would take my responsibility very seriously! I guess someone decided I looked like a good Disney citizen because a CM asked me to hold a red card in the line for Indy. Here's my beautiful red card:

Oh I was a good red card holder. I didn't swing it around. I didn't drop it. I didn't let anyone else hold it. I treated it with respect and kindness. At the front of the line, I promptly handed my prize to the CM. What did he do with it? He tossed it over a hook with the rest of them! Oh the humanity! There had to be 25 other cards on that hook. And I thought my card and I were special! Well, it still doesn't take away the fact that I was chosen!

After the Indy Cars, we took the train to Adventureland. DH and DS11 continued to recite chapter and verse of everything they learned on the train tour. Upon arriving in Adventureland, we promptly went over to Splash to get FPs. I don't usually ride Spash at DL because I don't like getting wet. I had done it a few times when it first opened and I figured that was plenty. But, going on Spash at WDW somehow seemed necessary so we all got FPs. It was almost time for the Share a Dream parade so we found a pretty good spot along the street in Adventureland.

Here are some parade pics:

After the parade, we went to check out the line at Pirates and it was only 20 minutes so we rode it. The ride seems shorter than the one at DL. The addition of Jack Sparrow didn't really bother me, but didn't seem to make much sense. Why mess with a classic? Oh well, it was still fun.

After leaving Pirates, we were ready for a little snack and I remembered that Aloha Isle was nearby. I just had to try a Dole Whip Float. Mmmmm! That was good. DH and I both had floats and the boys had chocolate/vanilla swirls. It was a nice little break from the action.

It was now time for our Splash FPs. We pretty much walked right in and were in a boat within 5 minutes. We heard people complaining that the posted wait time was 40 minutes and they had already waited an hour! Thank goodness for Fast Passes and having the wisdom to use them! Splash was fun! I love the story inside. And, being a bunny lover, it makes me sad when Brer Rabbit is in trouble. But, he's safe and happy again at the end. I don't really like the drop at the end, but it's quick and I didn't get all that wet. The guys loved it too. Here are pics of them right after the drop:

Yes, as you can see, DH had his video camera running. We haven't looked at the tapes from the trip yet. I hope he got a good shot of the drop!

The line for Big Thunder was way too long and the FPs were gone by that time. We knew we were coming back in 2 days for MVMCP so we didn't sweat it. We went back to Fantasyland to see Mickey's Philharmagic. What a great movie! DH, in particular, loved it because he such a huge Donald fan. He went crazy in the gift shop and bought a Donald t-shirt that says "Crabby." He also bought a Donald baseball cap that says, "I'm not mad at you, I'm just naturally crabby!" He also bought a stuffed Donald. DS8 saw a stuffed Simba that he just had to have. So, now he has it!

We walked back through Tomorrowland and decided to find a spot for Wishes. We stopped on the bridge to look at the castle for a minute and the unthinkable happened! DH and DS11 had these really cool name badges from the Steam Train Tour. They had been proudly wearing them all day. DS11 leaned over the rail to look into the moat and somehow his badge fell off his shirt and landed in the water! I mentioned before that he has Asperger's Syndrome which makes him very emotional about certain things. The loss of his beloved train badge was very traumatic for him! I told him to calm down and not to worry. I was sure I could get him another one.

We watched Wishes and then made our way though the gridlock on Main Street. We had 7:30 ADRs for dinner at the Grand Floridian and wanted to start making our way to the Monorail. We finally inched our way down Main Street to City Hall. I left the guys outside and went inside to wait in line. Lots of people were buying tickets for that night's MVMCP. When it was my turn, I explained to the CM that my son lost his train tour badge in the water. The guys said, "No problem" and quickly appeared with a brand, new one! My DS11 was waiting anxiously outside with DH and looked hopeful when I came out. When I produced the new badge, I got a big hug and was proclaimed the heroine of the day! He asked me to pin the new one on his shirt, but I said it would be safer in my bag and he agreed.

So, we were off to the Grand Floridian Cafe for dinner and hopped a Monorail to get there. Before dinner, we looked at the incredible Gingerbread House.
This is the only picture I was able to get before my camera battery died:

We had a nice dinner and then went back to the Gingerbread House to buy some shingles to take home. We were back at Pop at a decent hour- around 9:30 or so. I put the camera battery on the charger and everyone was off to bed. So ends another day at WDW!

Up next - Day 6 - We go to the Dark Side!!!!!