Chickenlady
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 5, 2000
- Messages
- 392
Trip report Feb 3 -10, 2001
Cast
Chickenlady - 40 year old trip planner, 6th time at WDW
JR - my 3 year old son, 3nd time at WDW
Grammy - my mother, 62, roller coaster fanatic, more than 6 trips to WDW
DAY 4 - Feb. 6, 2001
I agreed to let everyone sleep in this morning and I didn't jump up and get dressed until 7:30 am or so. I made my morning run to the food court for coffee and juice. Weather seemed to be warming up a bit. After listening to the moans about the time, we got ourselves together and found our way to the MGM bus stop. Has anyone else noticed the really stupid signs on the ALL STAR letters in front of the bus stops. All the individual letters say "No climbing", I'm sorry but the L's and the S are just perfect for small kids! It was a constant battle to keep JR on the ground In a resort that caters to kids don't put tempting things in front of them and then expect tiny signs to cover it. I myself first sat on one of the L's while waiting for a bus, until we noticed the "No climbing" sign on the back of the letter. Also, since we stopped by Andy's room on our way in and out everyday, I have to say that Disney really needs to fence in Rex and Bow Peep. Now, small kids aren't the problems here...they can't reach high enough to climb up. But I won't tell you how many unsupervised bigger kids I saw climbing on Rex. Obviously, the unpleasant holly that is planted around Rex and Bow Peep is not deterring some of these kids. It looked really scary when an about 10 yr old girl was climbing on Rex and she fell into the holly. There are lots of sharp branches around the statue and I was afraid she really hurt herself....but she quickly ran back to her room crying, so I don't know if she was really hurt.
Sorry for the wandering. We got to MGM around the time of opening. We stopped at the ride wait time board for just a min, when JR discovered the nearby fountain. As he stood there gazing at the fountain, a CM came up and gave him a penny and told him to throw it in and make a wish. It was such a sweet thing for that young man to do.....and JR did not forget this. For the rest of his vacation every fountain/body of water we passed had to have a coin thrown in. At first it worked out that he'd throw pennies but after he discovered pressed penny machines, we had to throw larger denominations. It was getting expensive!
MGM opened and we made our way to the Great Movie ride. Everyone loved it, of course. Grammy and I enjoyed seeing the old movies and JR was just thrilled with the big screens. We finished the ride just in time for our 9:30 PS at Hollywood and Vine. The restaurant wasn't really crowded and the food was good. Our only problem here was that for some obscured reason JR was frightened by Pluto. Of all the characters to scare JR! JR has slept with a stuffed Pluto ever since our last WDW trip, during which he fell in love with Pluto. JR religiously watches his Salute to Mickey tape just to see the Pluto and the kitty sequence. I'm not sure what happened but Pluto came up behind JR and pretended to lick him (something JR does all the time). Next thing I know, JR is flying across the table into my lap. I couldn't help but laugh because it was so cute. We eventually got a group picture with Pluto...JR would only stand near Pluto if Grammy was between them. Visits with Goofy, Chip and Dale went fine. As we were leaving though the Minnie encounter went bad also. Minnie was wearing her long, lacy formal dress. She knelt down to sign JR's book and take the picture. Somehow, JR's sneaker got caught in one of the loose pieces of lace on Minnie dress. He came very close to losing it when he realized that Minnie was not going to let him go!!!!! We managed to free him before he became permanently traumatized by Minnie.
After breakfast we wandered down toward TOT and RnR, both of which Grammy and I love. I went on TOT first while Grammy waiting with JR. Didn't realize that at TOT the baby swap was done with fastpasses...oh well, not much of a crowd anyway. I survived my trip and sat with JR while Grammy rode. Here's when something pretty funny happened. I was sitting on one of the cement benches directly across from the entrance to TOT. At this point the sidewalk is fairly sloped. JR was sitting in his stroller with the backpack hung on the handles of the stroller. After a few days of hanging the backpack like this Grammy and I were very conscious of the fact that as soon as JR jumped out of the stroller, it would tip backwards. What I didn't realize was that I'd parked the stroller with JR facing up hill. It took a slight movement on his part and the whole stroller tipped backwards! The look on his face was priceless! It wouldn't have been so bad but he was just telling me that he wanted to go on the scary ride (like Grammy)....got his wish. We recovered enough to cruise over so I could get a fastpass for RnR. Grammy emerged from TOT and we set off in search of more JR friendly rides. We hit Mermaid and Bear in the Big Blue house, so the scary rides were forgiven. I made my fastpass time for RnR, while JR and Grammy had a drink in the shade...it was starting to get really warm! We managed to hit Muppets (JR without glasses) and found our way over to Al's toy barn. I almost died when I saw the line for Buzz and Woody autographs! But JR said that he really wanted to wait to see them....so we waited, and waited and waited. Grammy camped in the shade, and brought us drinks for what seemed like an hour. Finally we made it to see the guys!!!!! JR was so cute...I think he even managed a small grin for one of the pictures. Even though the child will swear he loves WDW and the characters, its very hard to find a picture with him actually smiling.
We headed back to ASMo and actually missed our naps! We spent time playing in Andy's room and generally messing around until it was time for Fairy Godmothers (Laura) to arrive. I was reluctant to leave JR by himself but I knew he couldn't ride most of the E night rides and he needed the rest. After meeting Laura I was comfortable that she could handle anything. JR seemed very excited to have someone new to interact with. He heard the word playground and they were buddies! I'd purchased one of the PB&J kid meals at the food court earlier so Laura wouldn't have to truck to the food court and deal with that mess.
Grammy and I jumped a bus (felt weird to be free of the backpack and stroller) for MK and then caught the monorail to the Poly. Our dinner at O'Hanas was very good but we were disappointed in the missing salmon, spring rolls and sausages. After finding Grammy some cocktail sauce for her shrimp, the meal was very enjoyable. Both of us agreed that if we had ordered one of those pretty drinks, we'd have been asleep under the table. We had a great view of the new poly pool...boy, is that volcano big!!!
We got to MK and got our wrist bands around 6:30pm. E night and fireworks were scheduled to begin at 7 pm. As we walked toward Tomorrowland we noticed that there were some prime spots on the curb right near the castle. Being the veterans that we are, we decided to take it easy, sit on the curb and wait for the fireworks. Perfect plan! We saw Tink very clearly and loved the fireworks. I really wanted to get JR back to see the fireworks some evening but it never happened. With all the things we missed on this trip, our next trip is looking packed already.
Grammy and I hit most of tomorrowland (skipped TTA because JR loves it and we'd ridden many times already). I scored great on Buzz, while Grammy was having trouble breaking 10,000. We did screw up in AE though. When we started to enter the theater, I remarked that since we weren't even close to the first people in, we wouldn't be able to sit in the front row (Grammy and I sat in the front on our first time at AE and were scared beyond belief). Well, the first row was miraculously open! Just as Grammy and I start to sit, she says "Hey, these arm rests are really wet". I blew it off, bad move. During the part of the show when the alien eats the repairman, we got soaked! I was so wet I felt it through my sweatshirt and tee shirt! I love the attraction but nothing has scared me worse than the first time I saw it. We checked out SpaceM and just like the DIS reported it was closed for rehab that night. We walked over to Frontierland and did the SplashM debate. It had really gotten chilly when the sun went down and we were undecided whether to get wet or not. Being the troopers that we were, we went on SplashM but Grammy (the smart one) used her poncho. I had mine with me but I was being tough.....I would pay. Now, my reasoning for going without a poncho is that I never have gotten very wet on SplashM. This time it was a different story! I know I broke several kids hearts while waiting to load BTMR. Their mom looked at me and said "You didn't get that wet on SplashM did you?". Had to tell her "Yes"....then she said "No way, kids! Its too cold to get that wet.". Grammy and I rode BTMR 4 times in a row and perfected our "no hands" technique. After a quick hot choc. fix, we headed back to ASMo. Buses worked perfectly and we arrived back a little earlier than planned. Laura said that JR had a great time and went to sleep with no trouble. Next morning, JR asked when the baby(sitter) was coming back!
Cast
Chickenlady - 40 year old trip planner, 6th time at WDW
JR - my 3 year old son, 3nd time at WDW
Grammy - my mother, 62, roller coaster fanatic, more than 6 trips to WDW
DAY 4 - Feb. 6, 2001
I agreed to let everyone sleep in this morning and I didn't jump up and get dressed until 7:30 am or so. I made my morning run to the food court for coffee and juice. Weather seemed to be warming up a bit. After listening to the moans about the time, we got ourselves together and found our way to the MGM bus stop. Has anyone else noticed the really stupid signs on the ALL STAR letters in front of the bus stops. All the individual letters say "No climbing", I'm sorry but the L's and the S are just perfect for small kids! It was a constant battle to keep JR on the ground In a resort that caters to kids don't put tempting things in front of them and then expect tiny signs to cover it. I myself first sat on one of the L's while waiting for a bus, until we noticed the "No climbing" sign on the back of the letter. Also, since we stopped by Andy's room on our way in and out everyday, I have to say that Disney really needs to fence in Rex and Bow Peep. Now, small kids aren't the problems here...they can't reach high enough to climb up. But I won't tell you how many unsupervised bigger kids I saw climbing on Rex. Obviously, the unpleasant holly that is planted around Rex and Bow Peep is not deterring some of these kids. It looked really scary when an about 10 yr old girl was climbing on Rex and she fell into the holly. There are lots of sharp branches around the statue and I was afraid she really hurt herself....but she quickly ran back to her room crying, so I don't know if she was really hurt.
Sorry for the wandering. We got to MGM around the time of opening. We stopped at the ride wait time board for just a min, when JR discovered the nearby fountain. As he stood there gazing at the fountain, a CM came up and gave him a penny and told him to throw it in and make a wish. It was such a sweet thing for that young man to do.....and JR did not forget this. For the rest of his vacation every fountain/body of water we passed had to have a coin thrown in. At first it worked out that he'd throw pennies but after he discovered pressed penny machines, we had to throw larger denominations. It was getting expensive!
MGM opened and we made our way to the Great Movie ride. Everyone loved it, of course. Grammy and I enjoyed seeing the old movies and JR was just thrilled with the big screens. We finished the ride just in time for our 9:30 PS at Hollywood and Vine. The restaurant wasn't really crowded and the food was good. Our only problem here was that for some obscured reason JR was frightened by Pluto. Of all the characters to scare JR! JR has slept with a stuffed Pluto ever since our last WDW trip, during which he fell in love with Pluto. JR religiously watches his Salute to Mickey tape just to see the Pluto and the kitty sequence. I'm not sure what happened but Pluto came up behind JR and pretended to lick him (something JR does all the time). Next thing I know, JR is flying across the table into my lap. I couldn't help but laugh because it was so cute. We eventually got a group picture with Pluto...JR would only stand near Pluto if Grammy was between them. Visits with Goofy, Chip and Dale went fine. As we were leaving though the Minnie encounter went bad also. Minnie was wearing her long, lacy formal dress. She knelt down to sign JR's book and take the picture. Somehow, JR's sneaker got caught in one of the loose pieces of lace on Minnie dress. He came very close to losing it when he realized that Minnie was not going to let him go!!!!! We managed to free him before he became permanently traumatized by Minnie.
After breakfast we wandered down toward TOT and RnR, both of which Grammy and I love. I went on TOT first while Grammy waiting with JR. Didn't realize that at TOT the baby swap was done with fastpasses...oh well, not much of a crowd anyway. I survived my trip and sat with JR while Grammy rode. Here's when something pretty funny happened. I was sitting on one of the cement benches directly across from the entrance to TOT. At this point the sidewalk is fairly sloped. JR was sitting in his stroller with the backpack hung on the handles of the stroller. After a few days of hanging the backpack like this Grammy and I were very conscious of the fact that as soon as JR jumped out of the stroller, it would tip backwards. What I didn't realize was that I'd parked the stroller with JR facing up hill. It took a slight movement on his part and the whole stroller tipped backwards! The look on his face was priceless! It wouldn't have been so bad but he was just telling me that he wanted to go on the scary ride (like Grammy)....got his wish. We recovered enough to cruise over so I could get a fastpass for RnR. Grammy emerged from TOT and we set off in search of more JR friendly rides. We hit Mermaid and Bear in the Big Blue house, so the scary rides were forgiven. I made my fastpass time for RnR, while JR and Grammy had a drink in the shade...it was starting to get really warm! We managed to hit Muppets (JR without glasses) and found our way over to Al's toy barn. I almost died when I saw the line for Buzz and Woody autographs! But JR said that he really wanted to wait to see them....so we waited, and waited and waited. Grammy camped in the shade, and brought us drinks for what seemed like an hour. Finally we made it to see the guys!!!!! JR was so cute...I think he even managed a small grin for one of the pictures. Even though the child will swear he loves WDW and the characters, its very hard to find a picture with him actually smiling.
We headed back to ASMo and actually missed our naps! We spent time playing in Andy's room and generally messing around until it was time for Fairy Godmothers (Laura) to arrive. I was reluctant to leave JR by himself but I knew he couldn't ride most of the E night rides and he needed the rest. After meeting Laura I was comfortable that she could handle anything. JR seemed very excited to have someone new to interact with. He heard the word playground and they were buddies! I'd purchased one of the PB&J kid meals at the food court earlier so Laura wouldn't have to truck to the food court and deal with that mess.
Grammy and I jumped a bus (felt weird to be free of the backpack and stroller) for MK and then caught the monorail to the Poly. Our dinner at O'Hanas was very good but we were disappointed in the missing salmon, spring rolls and sausages. After finding Grammy some cocktail sauce for her shrimp, the meal was very enjoyable. Both of us agreed that if we had ordered one of those pretty drinks, we'd have been asleep under the table. We had a great view of the new poly pool...boy, is that volcano big!!!
We got to MK and got our wrist bands around 6:30pm. E night and fireworks were scheduled to begin at 7 pm. As we walked toward Tomorrowland we noticed that there were some prime spots on the curb right near the castle. Being the veterans that we are, we decided to take it easy, sit on the curb and wait for the fireworks. Perfect plan! We saw Tink very clearly and loved the fireworks. I really wanted to get JR back to see the fireworks some evening but it never happened. With all the things we missed on this trip, our next trip is looking packed already.
Grammy and I hit most of tomorrowland (skipped TTA because JR loves it and we'd ridden many times already). I scored great on Buzz, while Grammy was having trouble breaking 10,000. We did screw up in AE though. When we started to enter the theater, I remarked that since we weren't even close to the first people in, we wouldn't be able to sit in the front row (Grammy and I sat in the front on our first time at AE and were scared beyond belief). Well, the first row was miraculously open! Just as Grammy and I start to sit, she says "Hey, these arm rests are really wet". I blew it off, bad move. During the part of the show when the alien eats the repairman, we got soaked! I was so wet I felt it through my sweatshirt and tee shirt! I love the attraction but nothing has scared me worse than the first time I saw it. We checked out SpaceM and just like the DIS reported it was closed for rehab that night. We walked over to Frontierland and did the SplashM debate. It had really gotten chilly when the sun went down and we were undecided whether to get wet or not. Being the troopers that we were, we went on SplashM but Grammy (the smart one) used her poncho. I had mine with me but I was being tough.....I would pay. Now, my reasoning for going without a poncho is that I never have gotten very wet on SplashM. This time it was a different story! I know I broke several kids hearts while waiting to load BTMR. Their mom looked at me and said "You didn't get that wet on SplashM did you?". Had to tell her "Yes"....then she said "No way, kids! Its too cold to get that wet.". Grammy and I rode BTMR 4 times in a row and perfected our "no hands" technique. After a quick hot choc. fix, we headed back to ASMo. Buses worked perfectly and we arrived back a little earlier than planned. Laura said that JR had a great time and went to sleep with no trouble. Next morning, JR asked when the baby(sitter) was coming back!
