Our Magical, Pixie dust-filled Trip! 9/3-9/12

[undertheseas]

DH---only agreed to come back again this year because of the cheap airfare and free dining
DD---7.5 yo princess who missed 5 days of school but had a great time and lost a tooth
DS---my baby who turned 5 on the trip
me---the Disney freak who planned this trip

Saturday, September 3
We woke up at 5:00 am CST and got ready for the trip. SIL drove us to the airport and we arrived at 6:00. We had just enough time to get a bagel and muffin and go to the restroom before it was time to board the plane at 7:15. It was the kids’ first flight and they liked flying. We arrived at MCO in Orlando at 10:30 am EDT. Going thru Disney’s Magical Express was great! We met a lady wearing Mickey gloves and she showed us where to check in. There was a long line but it only took me 15 minutes to get checked in and we waited another 10-15 minutes to board our bus. From there we went to our hotel, Pop Century, and again the line moved fast. Jonathan checked us in and he was very friendly. Our room was ready (in the 50’s, room 1448 on the fourth floor) and we dropped off our carry on luggage. By 12:30 we were in Magic Kingdom, just two hours after landing! While we were waiting at the turn stiles, the first CM we saw noticed DH’s shirt said “Missouri”, it turns out she was from Columbia! It is a small world after all! First we got a Fast Pass for Buzz, then we ate lunch at Cosmic Ray’s (because Tomorrowland Noodle Station was closed) and it was really good. We had used 2 counter service credits (1/2 chicken and ribs meal and 1 kids meal with nuggets, applesauce and carrots) along with brownies and drinks. We were having an early dinner and late lunch so we didn’t eat much. Went to Buzz and it wasn’t working so we got a FP to Space Mountain and headed to Toon Town. There we went through Mickey and Minnie’s houses and waited 20 minutes for DH and the kids to ride the Barnstormer. Went back to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz and Space Mountain. Then we headed over to Adventureland where we ran into Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. DS had wanted to call Captain Hook an “old cod fish” and challenge him to a duel for the last year but of course we hadn’t had time to buy a sword yet. DH and DS ran to buy a sword while DD and I waited in line. DS came back and challenged Hook who conceded that DS won. It was cute and I wished we had taped it. Next we got a FP for Splash Mountain and then did Pirates of the Caribbean. DS loved this ride once he got over his initial fear. We got to Splash Mountain only to find that DH got a FP for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad instead of Splash Mtn so we rode BTMRR, and then got a FP for Splash Mountain (for real this time LOL). Now it was time for our Priority Seating for our first character meal, the Liberty Tree Tavern. Dinner was great, we really loved the roast beef (it was a little pink, sooooo tender, great flavor), the turkey gravy was heavenly and the green beans were good too. Mickey must have been sick because we didn’t see him all night but we did see Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale. They all came around at least twice. By now it’s raining so we took our time eating, it was a 2-hour meal. We put our ponchos on and headed out in the pouring rain to Haunted Mansion. This is another ride we didn’t do last year because we thought the kids would be scared. They were the first time but this too turned out to be a favorite ride this trip. Next we did It’s a Small World and Mickey’s Philharmagic. We went back to Frontierland to do Splash Mountain in the rain using our FP’s, then POTC again, and the Carousel. Spectro was delayed because of the rain and then when it did start, it was raining so hard the floats needed to be pulled up Main St. We decided to skip Wishes because it was raining so hard. The line for the Pop Century bus was through all the turnstiles and lined up past the All Stars bus stop! Several families butted in line and when I said something, they pretended they couldn’t speak English. This happened a LOT. It’s hard to teach my kids to stand in line and wait their turn when adults wouldn’t do it. And I don’t think Americans invented the line!

Sunday, September 4
Today we got up early and were at Animal Kingdom by 8:15. We saw the talking palm tree, he was a hoot! He talked to one family from Kansas and really gave them a hard time (he had the dad hug him and then told the wife her husband was a tree hugger, kept asking them since they were from KS what is the state tree of TX or IA, told them to come stand by him and then the tree told everyone else in line to move up because they got out of line). We were in the first safari of the day, it was nice but the lions weren’t moving like I had wanted. We did the Pagani Trail (the merecats and naked mole rats are our favorites thanks to the Lion King and Kim Possible). We stopped to take pictures with Flick, saw it’s Tough to be a Bug (one of my favorites) before going to the Festival of the Lion King. The kids were picked to help out and parade around the room. I love this show, the fire thrower and guys are stilts are amazing but the whole show is incredible. Off to Dinoland where we tried Dinosaur, another new ride for us. The kids hated it, it was too scary. I ran to get a FP for Kali River Rapids and then we ate at Flame Tree BBQ. DH had the ribs and beans (the beans were good, he loved the ribs but I thought they were tough and not as good as Cosmic Ray’s) and had key lime pie. I had the chicken salad and a frozen lemonade, the kids weren’t hungry and split a hot dog meal with applesauce and corn on the cob with a frozen lemonade. We did Kali River Rapids then left for the hotel to do homework or nap and showers. We took the bus to MK and then rode the boat to the Grand Floridian. I wanted to get there early to get a window seat so we arrived at 5:00. Alas my 5:30 PS is the earliest they have, they don’t open until 5:30. So we wandered around the gift shop for 30 minutes, DH wasn’t happy. Janet was our server and she was great, very friendly. We ordered the crab cakes (awesome awesome awesome, I loved these) and calamari (very good but served with green olives and peppers on top, kinda weird I thought but still good). DH had the whole Maine lobster with grilled asparagus (great) and I had the two small filets and small lobster tail (steak was great, lobster was just ok). We paid out of pocket for the kids to share a steak with broccolini and mashed potatoes. I had ordered ahead a Cinderella’s slipper for DD. It looked amazing and tasted even better! She was sooooo excited, it was so sweet. It cost $14 (which is lot for a dessert but it was well worth it). DH had the key lime crème brulee (too sugary tasting he said) and I had the Expedition Everest (too dry). All in all an excellent meal with a terrific view of Space Mtn and the castle. Afterwards we caught a bus to MGM for late Extra Magic Hours. We went straight to Fantasmic! which was packed at 7:20. That is my favorite fireworks show, I love it. Then we got a FP for Tower of Terror, did Star Tours, back for TOT and left. There was a broken wheelchair lift on the bus, which caused a long delay.

Monday, September 5
We overslept for EMH at Epcot and had a long wait for the bus (we still arrived in plenty of time for the rope drop but I like to be really early). It wasn’t too crowded but most of the crowd did head to Soarin’. Everyone in my family loved it (I hate the take offs and landings and I don’t let the kids lean forward LOL) so we got a FP for later. DS was so happy to be tall enough to ride Mission:Space this time and DH MADE me. (We walked right on) I didn’t throw up but the only thing that got me through it was Lamaze! I had a focal point and I prayed while practicing the breathing techniques. Thank goodness you don’t come back from Mars or I might have been sick. Off to Test Tract, another family favorite. I wanted to do the Living Seas and Turtle Talk with Crush next but it was closed while being refurbished. DD insisted on wearing flip-flops because her shoes were wet from Saturday and of course she had blisters now between her toes. DH and DD did M:S again while DS and I shopped for DD's shoes (pink Tinkerbell shoes and Mickey socks, $30. DS got a light-up sword). We used the Soarin’ FP then got FPs for Living with the Land. We ate at Seasons. DS had the kids’ stir fry (horrible), DD had baked chicken legs (good) and both had worms in dirt for dessert. DH had the black forest ham sandwich and chocolate cake, I had the veggie Cuban sandwich (too much mustard) and fruit tart (too soft for my liking). Rode Living with the Land, did Honey I Shrunk the Audience (I didn’t care for this). Then we started around the World Showcase, Canada first. In the United Kingdom we saw Mary Poppins who could say “super…..” backwards! Then we saw the street actors who were doing King Arthur and the Holy Grail. They were a riot!!! I wish I would have seen the whole thing and taped it. Then we saw Belle and Beast in France. When we got around to the American pavilion, DH started buying the kids pins to trade. That was an expensive little hobby and meant we were stopping a lot the rest of the trip to look in stores and at CM’s lanyards but the kids loved trading, especially DD. We saw Dopey in Germany. DH lost his sunglasses on Maelstrom but got lucky that a CM found them, they were his really expense pair. After we finished riding Rio del Temple in Mexico we headed back to Germany for our PS at Biergarten. On the way we saw Snow White. I had promised DS one dollar if he would kiss or be kissed by a princess so he did it. He kissed Snow White and then she kissed him, leaving lipstick on his cheek. It was so cute and everyone but DS thought so, he refused to do it again. Biergarten was OK, the atmosphere was better than the food I thought but DS had 5 pieces of chicken Schnitzel (once he woke up, he slept while I got his food). Back to Test Track (walked on), then Soarin’ had a 40 minute wait so we skipped it. We did Spaceship Earth and once we got out we realized the Samurai sword DS bought in China was missing (if you are keeping track, that’s the 3rd sword we had bought so far in 3 days). The kids and I got a park bench at the entrance to the World Showcase for Illuminations while DH went to China to get another sword and a fiesta margarita from Mexico for me (too salty in the drink using a straw even). No rain today, yippee! Illuminations was good and our seats put us in a good position to leave the park, we were on the first bus to the hotel.

Tuesday, September 6
The alarm didn’t go off again! Woke up to another call from Stitch, we had Stitch as a wake up call every stinkin’ morning! Arrived at MGM for EMH at 7:30. DD talked for a long time to CM who works at ToT while we were waiting for the rope drop so when DH and the kids got to ToT, the CM let them on the first ride of the day. When the ride was over the CM took the kids up the elevator to ride again! DH did Rockin’ Roller Coaster which he thought used all it’s best moves in the beginning and the end was lame. DD and DH did ToT again. So in EMH we did 2 rides, ToT (3 times) and RRC. Then to Star Tours (no wait) and Muppets 3-D (the preshow is hilarious, almost no wait). Then we waited in line to see Buzz, Jesse, the green Army guys and Power Rangers. The kids played at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground for a little bit but I wanted to see the Indiana Jones show before lunch. The show was cheesy but still interesting to watch. We had a PS for the 50’s Prime Time Café, I’ve been looking forward to this meal and it didn’t disappoint! We were seated right away and our server was Aunt Claire. I had heard on the DIS boards that Topher and Claire were good, Topher was gone so we got Claire and she was good ! What a hoot! And it was her birthday so several of her tables sang to her. She sang a lot too and very badly! I’d ask if I could get more tea please and she would say “Sure but I’ll get it, like always! I do everything!” When someone would leave she would yell, “That’s Ok, I’ll clean up your mess again! It’s what I do every day! Hold hands!” Another waitress kept telling a teenage boy to get his elbows off the table, finally she made him stand in the corner holding a sugar packet against the wall with his nose while we all yelled “Shame shame shame!” His sister had the same problem and had to stand on a chair to sing, “I’m a Little Teapot”. DD didn’t eat all of her chicken so Auntie Claire told her no dessert unless she ate more, DD was shocked a stranger would tell her that and listened! Then Aunt Claire said she was going to call all of the kids’ teachers to tell them the kids were cutting school. I didn’t eat my green beans on purpose to see what she would say. She told me to either eat my veggies or write a nice note with them so I wrote “happy b-day” in green beans. She loved it and posed for a picture and gave me a magical moments certificate. She asked me to send her pics to add to her “family photo album” that she passes around to all of her tables. DH ordered the onion rings and said they were the best he ever had. I ordered the fried boursin cheese, that’s heaven on earth if you ask me! The kids had chicken noodle soup, which was good too. DH had a chicken sandwich and the caramel sundae, I had the fried chicken (4 big pieces and ooooooh so good) and apple cobbler ala mode. The kids both had chicken nuggets and build-your-own-sundae. Great food and server but it was another 2-hour meal! Saw the Little Mermaid and Playhouse Disney. When we came out we found it had been raining the whole time we were in Playhouse Disney. Saw Beauty and the Beast, it was really good. I liked the warm up singers “Four for a Dollar”. ToT for DH and the kids while I went to get a bench by the Sounds Dangerous for the parade. Stars and cars is my favorite parade! Then the Animated show where we learned to draw Pooh. We ate pizza at Catalina Eddies (not good). It rained all through Fantasmic, people were leaving early because it was raining pretty hard. Again we got the first bus back to Pop Century.

Wednesday, September 7 or the MOST MAGICAL DAY EVER!
Non-EMH at Magic Kingdom. The alarm went off this morning and I dragged everyone out of bed. I thought about letting them take their time but nah! We arrived at the MK before 8:00. I asked if they had picked a family to open the park and was told they had. We stood in line at the turnstiles talking to a nice CM about last year’s hurricanes and he told us about losing his roof in the storms, etc. Then another CM came over and said she wanted to ask us a question, “would we mind helping to open the park?” Would we!!!! This was the day we had a PS to eat with the princesses so the kids wanted to wear their Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip costumes to open the park. They slipped those on and got on the “fire truck”. Riding through the park and the only ones you see are all CMs is just amazing! We rode to the back of the park to the Toon Town train station. There we met Wendy and Peter Pan, Chip and Dale, Cruella de Vil, Max and Pluto! Then we saw Mickey and Minnie, holding hands walking towards us. I could have cried! We met everyone and took a group picture before boarding the train. We sat next to Mickey and Minnie with Pluto a few seats back, everyone else sat scattered over the train. We talked to Mickey and Minnie for 15-20 minutes! Then the train arrived and they announced our family from Missouri! We got to stand up front with Mickey and Minnie, counting backwards and finally throwing out pixie dust! It was the most magical memory we could have had! The only downside was that there wasn’t a photographer to take a picture of us doing it, I would kill for a picture of us opening the park. It was awesome. Dh said he wouldn’t complain about getting to the parks early ever again LOL! We stopped in front of the castle to get a family picture, then we did Space Mtn (no wait), and I took DD to ride Stitch (I hated it, she loved it) while the boys did Buzz three times with no wait. While DD and I went to the restroom the boys found Push, the talking/moving trash can. He’s so funny! Then we went on the teacups twice (no wait), Pooh (no wait), Snow White (no wait), Dumbo (10 minute wait, the worst we had ALL DAY), Peter Pan (no wait). Now it was time for the Sword in the Stone ceremony. Last year Merlin was on vacation so we missed this show. DD put his Prince Phillip costume back on because he really wanted to be picked to do this. The ceremony was great, Merlin was hilarious! First he passed around an invisible rope for everyone to wait behind. I thought it was a good sign when he asked DS what his name was and called him “Sir DS”. But the divining rod found Carlos, a teenage boy who obviously works out and was really embarrassed. Merlin then announced that his divining rod was set to “body guard” and not “King” so he had to look again. This time the rod pointed to DS! He made poor Carlos, who really was a good sport and I wish I would have gotten his name to email him pictures, stand there making muscles while DS tried to pull the sword from the stone. Of course DS was successful and was crowned temporary ruler of the realm. Carlos had to hold DS’s robe while they paraded around the stone, it was hilarious! DS got a cool medallion and certificate. Another very magical moment!! After the ceremony I waited with DD for 20 minutes to see Ariel while the boys rode Peter Pan again. Then it was time for our lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table. The princess interaction was good but short, it was kinda disappointing. We saw Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Mary Poppins and the Fairy Godmother. DS loved their appetizer of cheese, grapes and veggies with Ranch. His hot dog on pretzel roll was OK but the sweet potato chips were great! DD had chicken strips and fruit, both had the kids ice cream with the dark chocolate crowns. DH and I liked our appetizer except for the mozzarella, but the crab cakes and seafood wontons were great. DH had the pork, which was good, but the grits were just “OK”. My salmon tasted fine but the corn risotto was awful and the asparagus had too much pepper on them. The blueberry buckle with lemon sorbet was very good, much better than expected. After lunch we did Haunted Mansion (just now discovered the eyes move on one of the headstones and DH found the hidden Mickey, and there was no wait), Splash Mtn (no wait so we did it a second time, DH wanted to kiss on the way down so we bought that ride picture). Watched the parade then we did BTMRR (no wait), POTC (no wait). We skipped Aladdin because there was a short line LOL This really is the time to go, you know it’s slow when you skip a ride because there’s a 10-minute wait! Back to Space Mtn where the wait time said 30 minutes so we got a FP and did Buzz (no wait). Used the FP for Space Mtn but we didn’t need to because there was no wait at all so we did it another 2 times without waiting! It threatened to rain so we headed to the boat launch for dinner at Whispering Canyon Café. It started to rain a bit as we walked and on the boat ride to the Wilderness Lodge but it stopped long enough for us to get into the Lodge, then it rained the whole time we ate until we were ready to leave (I’m telling you it’s been a magical day!!) We got to the Café and I asked for an “outgoing” server. They said their most outgoing was off that day and the next one was already full so we got Cowgirl Candy Cane. Candy Cane was really funny and tried hard but after watching Jeremiah I wish we could have had him. He announced that “Tony the Tiger” was thirsty and therefore getting a big glass of tea, then he hollered “Good news Tony the Tiger, they didn’t decline your credit card this time!” He fed one lady another bite of her dinner while everyone in the restaurant held out our arms and make airplane noises. He was a hoot! Anyway, Candy Cane was good too. She made us napkin hats to wear, I was shocked DH wore his! Our bottomless shakes only got refilled once and only because I asked. The nachos were good and HUGE and my steak was good. The boys both had the all-you-can-eat skillet, the pork was good but fatty and the ribs had no meat. DD had chicken legs again. DH had chocolate cake and I had the banana dust bowl (the kids ate the bananas). Another 2-hour meal. We took the boat back to the MK at 8:15 and somehow still managed to get our usual seats on the curb in front of the popcorn stand for Wishes. Wishes was great but no Tink. On the way out of the park, I saw a little boy crying wandering around obviously lost. Another woman walked by saying “he must be lost” but she walked off! I went over and took his hand and told him we would find his mom but we had to find someone who works there first. The poor boy couldn’t speak English and was so upset it broke my heart. I panicked and the only Spanish I could remember were numbers. I took him into the bakery and told a CM that he was lost. She called for someone to come help. He was so upset that I took him by the front door so we could look for his family and that seemed to comfort him a little. Another CM came over and told me “she would take it from here” and tried talking to him but she was kind of rude about it and I was trying to explain he can’t speak English and it makes him calm down more if he’s by the door looking out. While I was trying to tell her this, a man walked by and said, “Is that Alexandros?” I said I didn’t know but he was lost so the man yelled “he’s here!” and the boy’s family came running. They were so happy they found him they never thanked me which is OK, they were so relieved but I was surprised the CM wasn’t more friendly. Anyway I’m just happy he wasn’t lost for long. DH was mad I didn’t move the stroller out of the way before helping the boy but all I could think of was how scared he had to be. Anyway, it was a day full of pixie dust and magic and we were all ready for bed!

Thursday, September 8
It’s hard to believe the trip is half over! Woke up at 8:15 (no alarm today but we still had Stitch call---where is Mickey??) The kids and I went swimming while DH did laundry (wasn’t that nice of him?). The swim was cut short when we noticed the other family in the pool were running out, holding up a toddler whose’s swim diaper was leaking diarrhea. Bless her heart I know she couldn’t help it but it was pretty gross so we hopped out quick. We showered and while we were in the room my mother-in-law called to ask about the hurricane. What hurricane? Apparently Hurricane Ophelia was parked an hour off the coast and we didn’t know it! Actually the weather was the nicest at this time because it was a little cooler and overcast. Off to Downtown Disney where we dropped a lot of money. We ate at the Earl of Sandwich, DH and I both had the Full Montague, which was tasty, but not a lot of meat. DS had grilled cheese and DD had PB&J (“the best ever Mom!”) Bought DS’s birthday present at the Lego store, filled the Potato Head and My Little Pony boxes at Once Upon a Toy and bought slushies in the cool make-a-character cups at Goofy’s Candy. I was disappointed in the selection at the scrapbook store. Off to the Magic Kingdom around 3:00. Space Mtn had a posted wait time of 20 minutes but we walked on, got off and walked back on again (this time the boys in front of us were spitting and it would fly back at us, oooooh I was mad!) Waited 20 minutes to ride Peter Pan (which seemed really long because we aren't used to waiting in line this trip!). Then we did POTC (where I gave a man our FPs we got for Space Mtn because we wouldn’t have time to use them) before catching the monorail to the Contemporary for dinner at Chef Mickey’s. We got to Chef Mickey’s and it was already packed. Took our family picture and sat down. Minnie Mouse came through the room but didn’t stop at our table for some reason. The salmon was good and I was glad to see apples and bananas were offered but the rest of the food was just OK. Poor character interaction I thought, LTT was much better. When I paid for our picture I realized my room key is missing, I must have dropped it at POTC when I gave that man our FPs. I left DH and the kids to eat dessert while I panicked and went to the MK to get a new pass (luckily nothing had been charged to it). I got my usual spot for Spectro and Wishes while DH and the kids did HM and Splash Mtn. They were shooting a commercial directly across from us (“Princess on a Budget”) which meant most of the Spectro characters played to the camera and we didn’t see them very well. Another full day!

Friday, September 9
At MK for EMH. We did Buzz and Space Mtn twice before Kelsea and I did Stitch (horrible) and the boys did Buzz again. We took pictures with Buzz and the Incredibles and headed off to do Pooh, Snow White, and Peter Pan before Toon Town opened. I had told DH that we opened the park and DS pulled the sword from the stone so the only other wish I had for this trip was riding with a character. Pooh, Tigger and Eyeore opened ToonTown (I got a cute picture of the kids holding hands with Eyeore, my favorite Pooh character). Then the kids saw Goofy waiting at the Barnstormer. They were the second kids in line so they sat behind Goofy and a little girl. It was so cute! Afterwards we did Mickey and Minnie’s houses again before Haunted Mansion and Splash Mtn. We ate lunch at Peco’s Bills which was pretty good as far as hamburgers go, I liked the sautéed onions and DH liked the mushrooms. Saw Hook again, DS challenged him to another duel and this time we caught it on tape. Rode POTC and DD and DH rode the carpets where we saw Aladdin and the Genie. Took the monorail to Epcot and did some things at Innovations like making a robot you get to keep. Then we did Soarin’ (20 minute wait) and got a FP for later, DH and the kids did Mission: Space, Test Track (20 min wait) and used our Soarin’ FP (and got another one). Dinner was at Le Cellier and Allison from Toronto was our waitress she was great. DS fell asleep again and it was hard to wake him up to eat but finally he agreed to bread and butter and then he was awake and happy. The bread was AWESOME, we loved the pretzel bread the best but the sourdough and multigrain was good too. Our family ate all of the first 3 loaves and Allison offered to bring us more. Oh and the butter was shaped like Spaceship Earth, a nice cute little touch. We had the beef appetizer and the Asian shrimp, both were good. The kids had steak (their steaks seemed adult portioned to me, and good too) with corn and cantaloupe. DH and I both had the Surf and Turf, which was awesome. DH had chocolate cake, I had cobbler (very good but I was too full to eat much), the kids both had chocolate “moose” but I think it looked cuter than it tasted. Another 2-hour meal. We did Soarin’ one last time with our expired FP. It was almost 9:00 but we decided to skip Illuminations because the kids wanted to play with their new toys so we went back to the room.

Saturday, September 10
We were AK for the opening and got the first safari again. We had a short delay for a rhino in the road that wouldn’t budge and I liked this safari guide better because she would stop to let us get pictures. DD and I did “It’s Tough to be a Bug”, for some reason DS didn’t want to see it again. Then we did the Triceratops Spin and boneyard before heading to the Trek to see the bats and tigers. Then we did Kali River Rapids. Now I didn’t want to do this because I hate walking around wet and DS and I only had enough shorts to make it to the end of the trip (didn’t DH just do laundry??) but the kids really wanted to ride. Of course the person to get soaked to the bone was me! I admit it, I was sooooo crabby! But we did this again because I thought I couldn’t get any wetter. I was wrong. I had a pool of water in my bra and my thighs started chaffing immediately. Crabby Mommy declared it was time to go back to the room to change into dirty shorts. We went back to the room and ate at Everything Pop before heading off to MGM. We did Tower of Terror (I rode just to get the ride photo and then I was so scared that you can barely see me in the picture because I’m hugging the wall), One Man’s Dream (it was interesting but there were only 2 other families in the show), the Animated thing again (and drew another darn Pooh again too, what a waste), DH and the kids did TOT again before going to Star Tours. Then we did the Backlot Tour (DH wanted to do this one, I thought once last year was enough). It was time for the parade but no one but me wanted to see it again so we ate at a window in the Backlot Express where we could see the parade while sitting in the A/C. We had sandwiches and I had the cranberry slaw, which was AWESOME. Then we headed over to Lights, Motors, Action. The family loved this show, I wish we could have seen it twice to tape it once. Then we headed over to Fantasmic! It was packed again but it was Night of Joy at MK so maybe everyone else was skipping that like we were. We sat in front of a nice family from Devon, England and on the bus ride to the hotel a nice family from Georgia gave up a seat for our kids. That’s one of the things I love about Disney, you meet so many different people! No rain again today!


DS's 5th Birthday! Sunday, September 11
I can’t believe my baby is five! He wore two birthday pins and got a lot of attention from cast members, characters and other guests. We went to the MK and did haircuts right away (we had to wait for 20-30 min). Then we saw Cruella de Vil (“Oh Darling, Tinkerbell SNEEZED in your hair! How disgusting!” and when DS told her not to steal the puppies she replied “but that’s what I do, it’s my job!”) and Peter Pan and Wendy (Pan asked “how old are you today? Five? You’re a whole hand now!”) Then we saw the Dapper Dans who sang Happy Birthday (how cool is that?!) We did Buzz and Tomorrowland Transit Authority (still waiting for the hair to dry) and Space Mtn. Then we left to go to MGM because DS has been asking to eat at Pizza Planet for his birthday. After eating pizza, we did Muppets 3D, Star Tours and then headed to Tower of Terror for the last time this trip. They did it FOUR times in a row without any wait. DD wanted to do it a 5th time but we needed to head out to go to dinner at ‘Ohanas. Our server was Jeff and he was great, he didn't even tease me for asking for more juice because my backscratcher was too strong! DS fell asleep again, I had to threaten him to wake up or he wouldn’t get his birthday cake. The shrimp wontons were good (DH loved those) and the potatoes too. DH loved the shrimp skewers but DD and I loved the steak better. The kids did the coconut race and hula-hoop contest. I paid $12 for a birthday cake with Mickey on top, we had half of it left over so I asked Jeff if the other servers and cooks would eat it because we didn’t want to take it to the MK. DH and the kids rode HM and Splash Mtn while I got us seats for Wishes, this time in the circle on the left side of the castle. Great seats, no one walking in front of us and we could see the lights on the sides of the castle that we had never seen before. And Tink flew! On our last night she flew, it was magical. And when we got to the room DD pulled out her other front tooth! She looked like a vampire or Daddy said a “hockey player”. And I guess the Tooth Fairy asks Tinkerbell to cover for her at Disney World because instead of leaving money, this time Kelsea got a new “Happiest Celebration on Earth” Tinkerbell pin.


Our last day! Monday, September 12
I did the packing and arranged for a 1:00 check out so we didn’t have to leave the laptop out. We went to the MK to ride Buzz (we were the first family and got a free ride photo!), Space Mtn, POTC, Splash Mtn (DH rode 2 more times just so he could take a picture of the hidden Mickey he found because he knew that I love those), I took the kids on BTMRR, HM, Philharmagic, and the carousel all without waiting. We had FP for Peter Pan but it was for 11:50 and there was already a long line so we headed out. We were all so sad to leave the MK!! We got back to POP where we packed up and ate before catching DME. DS, DH and I had started catching a cold on Friday and DS really didn’t feel good today, he fell asleep before the plane took off and I had to wake him up after landing. BIL picked us up at the airport and after a long drive, we got home at 9:30. We were all so tired that we went straight to bed and had trouble getting up for school and work the next morning. But what a magical trip!!!!

I'll do a separate dining report but man o man that free dining saved us a bunch of money! Oh and please don't tell anyone to go the week after Labor Day, let's keep the secret about the low crowds to ourselves, OK?

 

[sharonW]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. I really enjoyed reading about your trip and all the magical things that came your way. Sept is definitely a nice time
to go, very low attendence. My favorite time to visit is still christmas. Theres nothing like seeing the mouse and his world all decked out in holiday style. So,
whens your next trip??

 

[MOMOFMNM]

Sounds like you had a great time...can you tell me, when you say "usual seats" for wishes, illumnations, etc...can you tell me where you prefer to sit?? We are at the poly and will need to catch the rail or the ferry back afterwords if that makes a difference!! TIA

Happy belated to your ds...sounds like he got enough magic (and swords)...

 

[undertheseas]

I would love to go at Christmas! I have to talk DH into going again. Before we left he made me promise not to ask for a year but I think after such a great trip he might be ready sooner

Our "usual seats" (I should have explained this, like everyone knows where I like to sit LOL!) are right on the outer circle in front of the castle on the right, on the curb just in front of the popcorn stand. Now I like right in front of the castle better but it does make it harder to get out of the park.

 

[kathymc]

great trip - great report - thanks for sharing!

 

[Hoosier Mom]

You had a Cinderella Slipper at Grand Floridian? What is it? Do they serve it in other restaurants?

 

[undertheseas]

The slipper was incredible! $14 but worth it. I think you can get it at the GF restaurants and at the Broadwalk Bakery and the castle for dinner.

 

[tink too]

Thank you for the great report! You guys were so lucky getting all that pixie dust in one trip!