Our Magical Gathering at WDW

[Poorman]

Loved your trip report; husband & I were there 7/25-7/29 and enjoyed ourselves even though it was summer. We went to the parks first thing & left when it became crowded or too hot. We were surprised on a couple of occasions that there were no waits for rides. We also ate at the Earl of Sandwich and thought it was very good. I was very interested in your report because we're going back Sept. 6th-13th and there's going to be 14 of us!! We aren't planning on being together all the time because there's so many age groups involved but hoped we could plan a couple of meals together. I think I'll have everyone read your reports before we go. Thanks for all the great info. Sounds like you had a great time in spite of your large group. Can't wait to go back!! Have a great day everyone.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

linxzy: were you guys the group with the "wife #1" and "wife #2" shirts on? If so, you were right in front of me!!!! Was "Aunt Susan" a heavyset older woman? I saw her feeding someone green beans at the table in front of us if that was her!!! OMG! That would be so cool if we were that close and didn't even know it! We'll be back in Dec. though, more chances to meet more DISers!

 

[Linxzy]

We where next to "wife 1" and "wife 2", just me and mom. I was there when they feed the husband, it was hilarious.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

I saw you guys I think! I thought I heard you speaking Spanish a couple of times? That is so cool! I was at the table right next to you! Sorry I didn't know it was you, I would have said hello!

 

[Linxzy]

Yep that was us. lol Don't worry, I didn't know it was you either.

 

[Del]

Thanks for writing--enjoyed reading it. Thanks for putting it in all one post--made it so much easier for me to read!!!

Del

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Linxzy and KIRSTIN'S MOMMY...that is neat that two DIS'ers were right there, so close to one another but too bad you didn't get a chance to officially meet and talk. I wonder how often that happens? Every time I go down I look for the lime green even though I'm guilty of not displaying my DIS'ness.

I agree with Del that it was so nice and easy to read your report. Thanks again!!

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

I know, isn't that weird, that we were in the same place at the same time and didn't even know it? I've only met one DISer so far, and she lives here in Savannah. It was really cool to put a face with a name, hopefully I'll get to meet more of you guys in the future! We'll be down during Mousefest this year in Dec. maybe we'll meet lots of people!

 

[Mickey's Sister]

for the Great report! We're planning on the Wishes Cruise too. I haven't yet heard anything bad about it...except some people had trouble booking. I hope you'll do another report for your December trip. We're going (10 of us) Nov/Dec 2005.

That is So cool that 2 Dis-ers were so close & even noticed each other, without knowing the significance! What a small world! I plan to purchase some lime green items before my next trip - definitely hoping to meet other Dis-ers . Last trip (Nov 2003) I was still a 'lurker' so the lime green wouldn't have been appropriate.

Dutton I hope you'll let us know how you like the safari in October. That's the other GG event we plan to do. ENJOY!

Thanks again!

Jessica

 

[princess pooh]

Kirsten's Mommy, I was actually at AK the same day as you . I found it really hot though and I ended up leaving by 11:00. That place always gives me a headache because it's always so humid and there aren't many places to cool down. I'm glad we left before the crowds came.

I totally agree about the ice cream social. The last time we did it our server was totally disinterested and the characters acted like they wanted to go home I did have a good experience there once so I guess it's hit or miss.

BTW I really enjoyed your trip report

 

[MINNIEBOWSER]

I really enjoyed your report! I originally booked a regular wishes cruise but I just read the other day that there was no music on the boat and I really love the wishes music. So, today I just booked the Grand Gatherings wishes cruise. I just made it because we have a party of 8. We are going in Nov. I loved reading how much you enjoyed it. I CAN'T WAIT to go. I did not know that Tinkerbelle was there too. What did they do to make it seem as though Tink was there? Also, I have never been to the opening of MK, why did it make you cry? Should I see it?
P.S. By the way, I am a Kirsten's mommy.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

I'm so glad that you're going to do the Magical Gatherings cruise! When we got back to the dock, Peter Pan was there holding "Tink" in a lantern that lit up with different colored lights. It happened to be raining when we got in, so that covered the "why can't she come out" question! Peter talked to her so that really made the kids think she was there.
As far as the opening to the MK making me cry, I'm kind of a mush anyway at WDW, so it doesn't take much,lol! But, the "Mayor" of Main St. USA comes out, along with some singers and dancers and sing "Good Mornin' " from "Singin' in the Rain". Then the Mayor announced that the characters were on their way on the WDW Railroad, along with the ........... family (can't remember their names). When the characters got there, they gave the chosen family some pixie dust, and they all sprinkled it together to open the park for the day. It was a lot of fun since we've never gotten there that early to see it before, and I'm glad we did. Definately worth getting up early for!
That's so cool that you also have a Kirsten! I spelled our dd's a little different though, so we have a hard time finding anything with her name on it! People want to call her Kristen or Kiersten all the time. Do you get that a lot too? Something funny that happened while we were at WDW: we were in line for PoC, and there was a little girl in front of us who got scared to go on at the last minute. I asked Kirstin to talk to her and let her know that she had ridden several times and liked it, and there was nothing to be afraid of. While we were getting in the boat, a teenaged girl who was in line behind us asked us" What's her name?" when we told her, she said, "How do you spell it?" Well, it turns out her name was Kirstin too, spelled exactly the same way! She said my dd was the first person she'd ever met with it spelled the same as hers. How weird is that? I hope you guys have a great time! Let me know how you liked the cruise!

 

[MINNIEBOWSER]

I just may try to get to the MK early enough to see it open. Probably not on an early entry day though. We like to stay up too late at night. So, I usually let the kids stay in bad until at least 7:30 a.m..
I am SOOOOO looking forward to the GG Cruise. I am really splurging this trip because I also have an Illuminations Cruise booked. I am very excited about both cruises!!!! My favorite is Wishes and my husbands favorite is Illuminations. I have never done either cruise before and could not decide on which, so I figured that we would just have to suffer through both of them.

I know what you mean about everyone calling my DD Kristen or Kiersten. Although, Kiersten is the Scandinavien way to pronounce it. I only know of one other girl named Kirsten and she also spells it with an e. That IS funny that you would happen to run into someone with the same spelling as your DD. I noticed that your DD is 4. Mine is 5. I do not know about yours but mine is a HANDFUL!!!!!

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

My dd will be 5 in Dec. We are celebrating her birthday at WDW this year so that we can see the Christmas decorations. We are staying at the WL for the first time. I can't wait! She is a handful sometimes, but for the most part she's pretty good. We got so lucky with her, I'm almost scared to have another one!
I'm so glad that you guys are doing the Wishes GG cruise! You are going to absolutely love it!!! You HAVE to let me know how you like it when you get back!!! Have a great time!

 

[mickeymom629]

I'm going to WDW next June/July with a group of 17 (6 parents and their children). The two families have never been. I'm trying to plan and wondering why you didn't do any ee days. I know that when we were there in 7/03, we did an ee at AK and found it horribly crowded. I don't really want to do ee because of that, but I know that these friends of ours are probably thinking that since that's one of the perks of staying on property, we should do ee days.

They will all be checking in on Sunday and I know I want them to go to the opening at MK on Monday. Then, I figure the rest of the days can be ee parks, if they can wake up!

I'd also love for them to do the cruise. How much $ is it for the Magical Gathering Wishes cruise?

thanks. Enjoyed reading your report and I, also, appreciated it being on one thread.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

We didn't do ee days for exactly the reason you said: crowds. Disney is really promoting them these days, and you can see the difference. While we were waiting for the bus in the mornings, the ee park's bus was always standing room only, while ours was not crowded at all! I also got a lot of info from www.tourguidemike.com as to what parks on what days, and things like that. It really helped! Also, since some in our group were newbies too, I ordered some customized touring plans from www.touringplans.com and they were wonderful! We were there the first week of August, it was packed, and we never waited in line more than 15 minutes! I think the combination of the 2 web sites really helped with a group as large as ours.
As far as the Fireworks Cruise, if you've never seen Wishes, this is by far the best way to see it! We hadn't seen it before, and were so glad we did it this way for our first time! The cost was about $30 per person, and it is added to your room. I think even if you had room only, the fireworks portion has to be paid 45 days before arrival.
Also, we had to go through group dining for all of our ps's, the phone # for them is: 1-407-939-7707, just in case you didn't have it already. I would HIGHLY suggest only doing 1 per day. We had 2 on our MGM day and it really cut into our touring time. All other days we just had 1 and it worked out really well. We all split up since we had such different age groups and things, and the ps let us spend some time together and see what everyone had done during the day.
Hope you guys have fun! If you need any more info, just ask!

 

[mickeymom629]

I'm going to check out those sites.

 

[mickeymom629]

On your MGM day, I was thinking of the same 2 p.s.'s that you did, but i know my group can only afford one. Which would you suggest--the lunch at PTC or the Fantasmic! dinner package? We will be going end of June, so it will be crowded like it was for you, I'm sure.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

I really think everyone in our group enjoyed PTC better, although they did like not having to wait all day for Fantasmic too. The one thing that really put a damper on our Fantasmic dinner package was the 45 minute wait we had for a table even though we had a ps. My BiL actually asked to speak to a manager before we were seated. The food was excellent at PTC as well, and our waitress, Auntie Claire was so good! She had my dad laughing so hard he could barely eat! I guess there's good and bad to both, the lunch took a while, but so did waiting for the dinner. If it were me planning again though, I would do the lunch and grab something quick to take into the ampitheatre to eat while waiting for the show to start.

 

[mickeymom629]

In the past, I have brought cards from our Disney Trivia game and I ask questions while we wait and we eat the hot dogs and pretzels and other junk they sell in the theater. I remember when they had a corny entertainer that made the wait go by, but I haven't seen him on our last visits. I did hear that Sci Fi restaurant is part of the Fantasmic! dinner package now and that PTC might be, so maybe when our trip comes, I will somehow be able to combine both! I will have to poll our group and see what they want to do. I don't usually mind the wait because it's finally a chance to sit!, but my thrill seeker kids would rather be on the rides.

Thanks,again.