HollyJoy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2004
- Messages
- 6,684
Well, what can I say, we had an AWESOME trip to WDW! We drove down to sunny Florida from Maryland, and actually had a wonderful, quite ride. The girls slept all night (what a blessing). Arrived in Orlando around 10am, stopped at a Denny's for breakfast, then headed down to Downtown Disney for a little while (our check in wasn't until 3pm). This place is great. The girls loved the shopping. Of course they wanted everything they saw! LOL After a couple of hours we headed on over to the Shades Of Green Resort, and found that our rooms were already ready!! The girls were delighted to find gifts from Mickey and Minnie on the bed, as well as wonderful treat baskets from our own FERELPEG! Thanks 
The magic was starting. We hung around the hotel for a while, then went out for dinner to a place called Steak and Shake. Man, I wish we had those places up here! Then back to the hotel to rest up for Sunday!
SUNDAY- got up early to head to MK for early opening. Were able to hear the opening recording. The girls couldn't stop smiling! They were skipping through the front gates Once inside, we saw many characters hanging out by the Christmas Tree... this is when we realized we left the autograph books in the hotel! OOPs! Off to the Emporium for new ones! heehee... Once we got past Main Street, we stopped to check out the performances going on at the Castle stage. It was Mariah Carey! We stayed for a while, but then left after the girls were bored! They wanted to ride some rides. Off to Tomorrowland and Space Mountain! We used our fast passes this day, for the park was pretty busy. Rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, went to Stitch (not so hot). Ended up seeing Diana Degarmo from American Idol as well, and the girls were able to get her autograph. We were there for the opening of Toontown, where Pooh took my oldest daughter's hand, and Tigger took my youngest, and walked them to the Meet and Greet. Smiles all around!
MONDAY- Off to Animal Kingdom, bright and early. Walked on to the Safari.. GO FIRST THING! What an awesome ride. We saw ALL the animals. Very cool. Girls kept complaining that it smelled! LOL Went to the Meet and Greets, and just after meeting Minnie Mouse, a CM approached us to invite us to ride in the parade! Whooo Hoooo! Of course we accepted! Here we are in all our glory! We were right infront of Donald Duck's float. What an experience!
After the parade, we headed over to Epcot for the evening. Our favorite attractions at Animal Kingdom were the Safari, The Lion King Show and It's tough to be a bug! Awesome!
When we were at Epcot (we went this evening mainly for Illuminations), we found that since we were there late in the day/early evening, we were able to WALK RIGHT ON TO Spaceship Earth. The next day when we were there, it was about an hour wait! Do this ride in the evening. We also rode Test Track (about a 15 min wait). Illuminations was great. Very moving. I also liked the goodbye on Spaceship Earth as you were leaving the park.
TUESDAY- we had PS for the Princess Storybook Breakfast in Epcot. It was really cool walking through an empty Epcot at 8 in the morning. Great opportunity for some photos w/out the crowds! Breakfast was good.. food was awesome! Our server was on top of things, and very friendly. Characters seemed a bit rushed.. Princesses that were there : Aurora, Snow White, Mulan, Jasmine and Belle. Overall, I'd rate the breakfast with high marks. After the breakfast, we strolled back to the front of the park and rode Test Track again, then headed over to Turtletalk with Crush. Let me tell you, THIS ATTRACTION IS THE BEST. Make sure your kids sit down front on the floor, and prep them with a question about Turtles. I don't know how they do this interactive show, but it's great. Make sure to break out your video camera and film it. It's THAT GOOD. Definatley puts Stitch to shame! We made this morning a short day, and headed back to the hotel to rest. We had MVMCP this evening and wanted the girls to be ready to go for that. Dinner PS at LTT at 5:20. AWESOME MEAL. I HIGHLY recommend this place. The food was great, our server (JEAN) was very attentive, and the character interaction here was some of the best I've ever seen. Not only did the characters come around to your table at the beginning of your meal, but they continued to interact with you THROUGHOUT YOUR ENTIRE MEAL. Very opposite from the Princess Breakfast. Maybe it's easier since they are not face characters, I don't know, but much more worth the money spent. I also met Dan Murphy during this meal! So great to meet him. After dinner, it was right into MVMCP! This event was fun, though I felt totally lost during most of it. The crowd level this night was very high. In fact, I thought it was more crowded then it was on Sunday! We made it a priority to try to do the shows over the rides, so I don't really know how the wait times for the rides were. We did do Space Mountain and the Astro Orbitor before leaving that night. Wishes was mesmerizing. We made the BIG mistake of sitting smack dab in front of the castle. DON'T DO THIS. The first part of the show you couldn't see much of the fireworks, for the castle blocked them. We were just too close. Lots of crying kids around. As we moved towards the end of the show, they got higher and much better. Only then, did we have an awesome seat.
The reason why we decided to sit here was to see the show immediately following wishes.
I had a good time during MVMCP, but I don't think it was really worth all the money spent. Was upset to learn that all the pins had sold out very early. Girls weren't happy either. Saw lots of cool characters... they were out TOGETHER. Snow Prince, Snow White and Dopey together, Jasmine, Aladdin and Genie together, etc... great photo ops! Snow on Main Street was VERY cool!
WEDNESDAY- Off to MGM! We thought we could do this park in a short time! LOL! WRONG! The hardest thing was making all the shows. We rode Tower of Terror, Rockn' Roller Coaster and made Beauty and the Beast and Indiana Jones. Did the Anamation building -- saw the Incredibles, took the Great Movie Ride, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and ended up eating at Mama Melrose's around 6:30 (walked right in). This restaurant is really good. Good service and good food. Osborne lights were incredible! The girls wouldn't saying "Whoa!" LOL One question though... WHAT'S UP WITH ALL THE BIRDS IN THIS PARK? There were cranes EVERYWHERE!
THURSDAY- Headed back to Epcot to tour the World Showcase. We thought we could do it quickly... WRONG! We had to go to every country so that the girls could get thier passports stamed and work on their masks. Ate at the Biergarden in Epcot.. WITHOUT a PS. Got there around 12:30 and was seated in about 5 min. Excellent seats for the show at 1:15. The food was soooo good. The girls enjoyed dancing down front. Wish I could have brought this place home with me. Saw Off Kilter.. they are really good Saw the character bus when it arrived in the showcase plaza... very good character interaction here.
FRIDAY- We decided to go back to MK for one more day! It rained off and on this day, and let me tell you, the park was almost EMPTY! It was great. We walked on just about every ride except Dumbo. This was still a 20 min wait! Ugh!
Our trip was so incredible, that I cannot wait to go back. The weather was awesome.. in the 80's all week, and beautiful. Didn't rain until Friday! There's so much more I could write, but it's so hard to remember EVERYTHIng!
The magic was starting. We hung around the hotel for a while, then went out for dinner to a place called Steak and Shake. Man, I wish we had those places up here! Then back to the hotel to rest up for Sunday!SUNDAY- got up early to head to MK for early opening. Were able to hear the opening recording. The girls couldn't stop smiling! They were skipping through the front gates
Once inside, we saw many characters hanging out by the Christmas Tree... this is when we realized we left the autograph books in the hotel! OOPs! Off to the Emporium for new ones! heehee... Once we got past Main Street, we stopped to check out the performances going on at the Castle stage. It was Mariah Carey! We stayed for a while, but then left after the girls were bored! They wanted to ride some rides. Off to Tomorrowland and Space Mountain! We used our fast passes this day, for the park was pretty busy. Rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, went to Stitch (not so hot). Ended up seeing Diana Degarmo from American Idol as well, and the girls were able to get her autograph. We were there for the opening of Toontown, where Pooh took my oldest daughter's hand, and Tigger took my youngest, and walked them to the Meet and Greet. Smiles all around! MONDAY- Off to Animal Kingdom, bright and early. Walked on to the Safari.. GO FIRST THING! What an awesome ride. We saw ALL the animals. Very cool. Girls kept complaining that it smelled! LOL Went to the Meet and Greets, and just after meeting Minnie Mouse, a CM approached us to invite us to ride in the parade! Whooo Hoooo! Of course we accepted! Here we are in all our glory! We were right infront of Donald Duck's float. What an experience!
After the parade, we headed over to Epcot for the evening. Our favorite attractions at Animal Kingdom were the Safari, The Lion King Show and It's tough to be a bug! Awesome!
When we were at Epcot (we went this evening mainly for Illuminations), we found that since we were there late in the day/early evening, we were able to WALK RIGHT ON TO Spaceship Earth. The next day when we were there, it was about an hour wait! Do this ride in the evening. We also rode Test Track (about a 15 min wait). Illuminations was great. Very moving. I also liked the goodbye on Spaceship Earth as you were leaving the park.
TUESDAY- we had PS for the Princess Storybook Breakfast in Epcot. It was really cool walking through an empty Epcot at 8 in the morning. Great opportunity for some photos w/out the crowds! Breakfast was good.. food was awesome! Our server was on top of things, and very friendly. Characters seemed a bit rushed.. Princesses that were there : Aurora, Snow White, Mulan, Jasmine and Belle. Overall, I'd rate the breakfast with high marks. After the breakfast, we strolled back to the front of the park and rode Test Track again, then headed over to Turtletalk with Crush. Let me tell you, THIS ATTRACTION IS THE BEST. Make sure your kids sit down front on the floor, and prep them with a question about Turtles. I don't know how they do this interactive show, but it's great. Make sure to break out your video camera and film it. It's THAT GOOD. Definatley puts Stitch to shame! We made this morning a short day, and headed back to the hotel to rest. We had MVMCP this evening and wanted the girls to be ready to go for that. Dinner PS at LTT at 5:20. AWESOME MEAL. I HIGHLY recommend this place. The food was great, our server (JEAN) was very attentive, and the character interaction here was some of the best I've ever seen. Not only did the characters come around to your table at the beginning of your meal, but they continued to interact with you THROUGHOUT YOUR ENTIRE MEAL. Very opposite from the Princess Breakfast. Maybe it's easier since they are not face characters, I don't know, but much more worth the money spent. I also met Dan Murphy during this meal! So great to meet him.
After dinner, it was right into MVMCP! This event was fun, though I felt totally lost during most of it. The crowd level this night was very high. In fact, I thought it was more crowded then it was on Sunday! We made it a priority to try to do the shows over the rides, so I don't really know how the wait times for the rides were. We did do Space Mountain and the Astro Orbitor before leaving that night. Wishes was mesmerizing. We made the BIG mistake of sitting smack dab in front of the castle. DON'T DO THIS. The first part of the show you couldn't see much of the fireworks, for the castle blocked them. We were just too close. Lots of crying kids around. As we moved towards the end of the show, they got higher and much better. Only then, did we have an awesome seat.
The reason why we decided to sit here was to see the show immediately following wishes.
I had a good time during MVMCP, but I don't think it was really worth all the money spent. Was upset to learn that all the pins had sold out very early. Girls weren't happy either. Saw lots of cool characters... they were out TOGETHER. Snow Prince, Snow White and Dopey together, Jasmine, Aladdin and Genie together, etc... great photo ops! Snow on Main Street was VERY cool!
WEDNESDAY- Off to MGM! We thought we could do this park in a short time! LOL! WRONG! The hardest thing was making all the shows. We rode Tower of Terror, Rockn' Roller Coaster and made Beauty and the Beast and Indiana Jones. Did the Anamation building -- saw the Incredibles, took the Great Movie Ride, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and ended up eating at Mama Melrose's around 6:30 (walked right in). This restaurant is really good. Good service and good food. Osborne lights were incredible! The girls wouldn't saying "Whoa!" LOL One question though... WHAT'S UP WITH ALL THE BIRDS IN THIS PARK? There were cranes EVERYWHERE!
THURSDAY- Headed back to Epcot to tour the World Showcase. We thought we could do it quickly... WRONG! We had to go to every country so that the girls could get thier passports stamed and work on their masks. Ate at the Biergarden in Epcot.. WITHOUT a PS. Got there around 12:30 and was seated in about 5 min. Excellent seats for the show at 1:15. The food was soooo good. The girls enjoyed dancing down front. Wish I could have brought this place home with me. Saw Off Kilter.. they are really good
Saw the character bus when it arrived in the showcase plaza... very good character interaction here. FRIDAY- We decided to go back to MK for one more day!
It rained off and on this day, and let me tell you, the park was almost EMPTY! It was great. We walked on just about every ride except Dumbo. This was still a 20 min wait! Ugh! Our trip was so incredible, that I cannot wait to go back. The weather was awesome.. in the 80's all week, and beautiful. Didn't rain until Friday! There's so much more I could write, but it's so hard to remember EVERYTHIng!
Maybe next time! 
Great report, thanks! I am taking notes for our Dec. trip next year.
The plan is for Ravi to ride it first, then he can tell me if he thinks I can handle it. So we'll see!!!
