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 5 - Feb. 7, 2001
Today brings more changes to my carefully planned itinerary. Gone was Kona Café for breakfast....don't think Grammy could think about rising early. We had called and were able to get in at Donald's Breakfastasarous. The weird thing is that Grammy suggested Donald's! After our breakfast there in Sept., she swore that she'd never go back....never say never. We arrived at AK just after opening and found lots of our favorite characters at the entrance. We meandered through the oasis and JR chatted with the CMs. It was nice not to rush into the park. We had time so we made the mistake of touring Asia before breakfast. Unfortunately, it was early and still cold.....everything was sleeping or not even out. We caught a slight glimpse of the sleeping bats and tigers but everything else was nowhere to be seen. We did find lots of interesting birds in the aviary and since we were the only people there, we had a private tour guide and a great time. On our way back toward Dinoland the cutest thing happened. JR had some Christmas money that had been saved so he could buy souvenirs on this trip. Well, so far nothing had struck his fancy....sure doesn't shop like his mom. We were walking through Asia and came upon a giftshop (surprise). JR's eye was caught by the huge display of Mickey head hairclips. They had a more than several clear bins filled with these very colorful clips. JR started pleading that he wanted to buy those with his money. I tried to steer him in another direction but it wasn't going to work. Eventually, I told him that "Those are hairclips for little girls. Your hair isn't long enough to use them.". Being the sweetheart that he is he replied "Is mommy's hair long enough?".......yes, he got to pick out 2 of the most brightly colored clips that I wore for the rest of the week.
We had enough time until Donald's so Grammy and JR hit the Boneyard for some playtime and I hit Dinosaur for some playtime. Wouldn't you know it, I once again got the first seat on the left...you know the one where the Carnotaur is in your face. Smartly, looked the other way at the appropriate time. I handed off with Grammy and she rode, while I tried to pry JR from the sand pit. Eventually, the promise of breakfast and Donald was enough to get JR moving. Much to our surprise, Donald's was great! We were seated in one of the quiet back rooms and that made all the difference in the world. We could hear each other and the waitress! Food was good and character interaction was cute. JR was getting a big kick out of the 2 young Japanese women seated next to us. They were having lots of fun with the characters and JR thought it was quite a show.
We wandered AK for the rest of the morning, hitting the safari again and getting tattoos for Grammy and I.....her idea. She got a neat butterfly and I got Donald. Unfortunately, unlike the week or 2 we were told they would last, they started to peel the very next day. We did manage to make it back to ASMo for our afternoon nap.
After napping, we collected our junk.....boy, did we carry around lots of garbage. Since the weather was so weird we had to carry light jackets, sweatshirts, ponchos and all the other goodies that a 3 yr old needs (tonight it was his spinning fantasia mickey). We made our way to MGM just in time for the Mulan parade. As we enter the park, JR threw a fit because I wouldn't let him insert his own ticket (he tried, and failed and was holding up traffic). We came to the end of the street where the parade makes a sharp turn and disappears. A very sweet CM sees JR crying and assumes that he's upset because he can't see the parade. Well, she grabs my arm and has me wheel the stroller right in front of the little giftshop on the corner. JR had a front row seat and he stopped crying. I got to watch the parade close up......I still hate it!
We slowly made our way back toward Mama Melrose's for our PS/Fantasmic dinner. While I waited in a packed lobby, JR and Grammy played outside by the Christmas shop. Dinner at Mama's was great! Both Grammy and I had the shrimp risotto and thought it was wonderful. JR had the pasta (of course) without sauce and lots of parm. cheese. He decided that since we weren't in a huge hurry that he would eat his spaghetti one strand at a time. Both Grammy and I were getting very antsy by the time he did finish. We played on the Muppets firetruck for a bit and then started to make our way back to Fantasmic. As we were walking, I noticed something in the sky. "Wow fireworks, I thought".......but no!!!!!! It was the space shuttle take-off too cool. We managed to even see the boosters separate! I did get a fairly good picture.
We got great seats in the reserved section and only waited a short while for the show. With the spinning mickey and yet another box of popcorn, JR was as happy as a clam during the wait. All of us were extremely impressed with Fantasmic. I wish I knew how they did some of that stuff. JR sat with his mouth hanging open almost the entire time. I had warned him about the bad dream that Mickey has and the dragon but it didn't phase him in the least. The walk back to the buses seemed to take forever but we were rewarded with ice cream bars back at ASMo. We were exhausted and the Fantasmic show was at 7pm!!!! Don't think we could do a late one! Called Daddy back home, like we had done every night. JR made sure that he told Daddy all about the dragon
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 5 - Feb. 7, 2001
Today brings more changes to my carefully planned itinerary. Gone was Kona Café for breakfast....don't think Grammy could think about rising early. We had called and were able to get in at Donald's Breakfastasarous. The weird thing is that Grammy suggested Donald's! After our breakfast there in Sept., she swore that she'd never go back....never say never. We arrived at AK just after opening and found lots of our favorite characters at the entrance. We meandered through the oasis and JR chatted with the CMs. It was nice not to rush into the park. We had time so we made the mistake of touring Asia before breakfast. Unfortunately, it was early and still cold.....everything was sleeping or not even out. We caught a slight glimpse of the sleeping bats and tigers but everything else was nowhere to be seen. We did find lots of interesting birds in the aviary and since we were the only people there, we had a private tour guide and a great time. On our way back toward Dinoland the cutest thing happened. JR had some Christmas money that had been saved so he could buy souvenirs on this trip. Well, so far nothing had struck his fancy....sure doesn't shop like his mom. We were walking through Asia and came upon a giftshop (surprise). JR's eye was caught by the huge display of Mickey head hairclips. They had a more than several clear bins filled with these very colorful clips. JR started pleading that he wanted to buy those with his money. I tried to steer him in another direction but it wasn't going to work. Eventually, I told him that "Those are hairclips for little girls. Your hair isn't long enough to use them.". Being the sweetheart that he is he replied "Is mommy's hair long enough?".......yes, he got to pick out 2 of the most brightly colored clips that I wore for the rest of the week.
We had enough time until Donald's so Grammy and JR hit the Boneyard for some playtime and I hit Dinosaur for some playtime. Wouldn't you know it, I once again got the first seat on the left...you know the one where the Carnotaur is in your face. Smartly, looked the other way at the appropriate time. I handed off with Grammy and she rode, while I tried to pry JR from the sand pit. Eventually, the promise of breakfast and Donald was enough to get JR moving. Much to our surprise, Donald's was great! We were seated in one of the quiet back rooms and that made all the difference in the world. We could hear each other and the waitress! Food was good and character interaction was cute. JR was getting a big kick out of the 2 young Japanese women seated next to us. They were having lots of fun with the characters and JR thought it was quite a show.
We wandered AK for the rest of the morning, hitting the safari again and getting tattoos for Grammy and I.....her idea. She got a neat butterfly and I got Donald. Unfortunately, unlike the week or 2 we were told they would last, they started to peel the very next day. We did manage to make it back to ASMo for our afternoon nap.
After napping, we collected our junk.....boy, did we carry around lots of garbage. Since the weather was so weird we had to carry light jackets, sweatshirts, ponchos and all the other goodies that a 3 yr old needs (tonight it was his spinning fantasia mickey). We made our way to MGM just in time for the Mulan parade. As we enter the park, JR threw a fit because I wouldn't let him insert his own ticket (he tried, and failed and was holding up traffic). We came to the end of the street where the parade makes a sharp turn and disappears. A very sweet CM sees JR crying and assumes that he's upset because he can't see the parade. Well, she grabs my arm and has me wheel the stroller right in front of the little giftshop on the corner. JR had a front row seat and he stopped crying. I got to watch the parade close up......I still hate it!
We slowly made our way back toward Mama Melrose's for our PS/Fantasmic dinner. While I waited in a packed lobby, JR and Grammy played outside by the Christmas shop. Dinner at Mama's was great! Both Grammy and I had the shrimp risotto and thought it was wonderful. JR had the pasta (of course) without sauce and lots of parm. cheese. He decided that since we weren't in a huge hurry that he would eat his spaghetti one strand at a time. Both Grammy and I were getting very antsy by the time he did finish. We played on the Muppets firetruck for a bit and then started to make our way back to Fantasmic. As we were walking, I noticed something in the sky. "Wow fireworks, I thought".......but no!!!!!! It was the space shuttle take-off too cool. We managed to even see the boosters separate! I did get a fairly good picture.
We got great seats in the reserved section and only waited a short while for the show. With the spinning mickey and yet another box of popcorn, JR was as happy as a clam during the wait. All of us were extremely impressed with Fantasmic. I wish I knew how they did some of that stuff. JR sat with his mouth hanging open almost the entire time. I had warned him about the bad dream that Mickey has and the dragon but it didn't phase him in the least. The walk back to the buses seemed to take forever but we were rewarded with ice cream bars back at ASMo. We were exhausted and the Fantasmic show was at 7pm!!!! Don't think we could do a late one! Called Daddy back home, like we had done every night. JR made sure that he told Daddy all about the dragon
