Planning 201 vs Reality 101 Our Jan/Feb 07 trip - lots of photos, FINAL 3/31
- Thread starter pantherlj
- Start date
MouseTriper
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- Jul 2, 2006
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That is funny....! Thanks for reading mine!
Yes, I painted the characters on her jeans. I thought they looked pretty cute on her too. Thanks!
pantherlj said:We then headed to MGM. One of the things the girls were most looking forward to on this trip? Riding buses
How cute! My kids were the same way on our vacation last year - the trams/buses were so popular!
We've always thought the same thing - convenient for carrying packages and tote bags too! We'll continue to rent strollers for as long as our kids fit in them!
What is Photopass? I don't think that is something I've ever seen out here at DL...
What is "CS"? You mentioned that a few times when talking about food at the park...
Love the report so far! Look forward to reading the rest!
Photopass is where a CM (Cast member) takes your photo for you and scans it onto a card (like a gift card with a bar code). They have people set up all over all the parks to take pictures for you. It is a great way to get a photo of all of your family together - no one is left out taking the picture! They usually have a photopass person around with the characters too. We ended up with about 125 photos on our card. The CD costs $124.95 You can add borders and crop them too.
www.disneyphotopass.com
We used the Dining Plan this trip. You pay $38 a day per adult and $11 a day per child and that gets you (per person) 1 snack, 1 counter service meal (CS) and 1 table service meal (TS) per day. It ends up being a lot of food because you get an appetizer, entree, dessert and drink with each meal! We shared meals a couple of times. So, in my report I mention how much the meal cost $$ wise and how many CS or TS I used). It more than paid for itself since we did a lot of character meals. It was also nice to pay up front before we left. I didn't have to stress about what to order every time I sat down based on the menu price. I could order anything off the menu! (my $$$ issues remember LOL).
Thanks for joining me. I am having a great time with this report. I will finish up Day 3 now ..... plan was still the same, everything just got pushed back an hour and a half.
So, I left off with the cast member sending us on our way after the opening show.......
We got sent on our way and it was a bit odd. Not sure what else I thought they would do but that was the end the “family of the day”. I was OK with that, it was just odd going from so much attention to nothing
.
By this time, it was 9:20 and the line was LONG for the breakfast at the castle. There was probably a 20 minute wait at this point to get your picture taken with Cinderella. You don't go upstairs to breakfast until after you get your picture taken. No offense to Cindy but at this point, we were hungry, cold and just had tons of one on one time with characters After about 5 minutes they called our name and we gotten taken right to the front of the line! I felt a bit bad about all the other kids waiting and then waiting for us but I didn't say no. The only reason I can think of for us getting taken to the front ... they called to let them know we would be late for our reservations because of us opening the park. The picture with Cinderella was just awful! The girls looked scared, tired, cold and hungry! After our photo, we went to our table. Breakfast was very good there, the potato casserole is really yummy. The hot chocolate was the best I have ever I had I think! The girls were excited to see Jasmine, Belle, Snow White and the Fairy Godmother.
At this point, my planning of hitting the rides before they got busy was blown I don't think I have mentioned that I stress a bit when things get off track!
After breakfast, you know what we did first right? Do you remember ½ of the reason we are here? ARIEL! We went to Ariel's grotto and it was about a 30 minute wait. The longest we waited for anything the whole trip but I knew it was something we had to do first. I have never seen a child smile non stop for so long, Amanda couldn't believe she was finally getting to meet Ariel!
It was a great interaction, one she will remember forever. She asked her what her favorite colors were - here is Ariel thinking about
We continued our day riding lots of rides all throughout MK. Amy's favorite of the day was Goofy's Barnstormer. She thought it was really funny that it crashes into the barn. She also loved driving the cars at the Indy Speedway.
Amanda's highlight was meeting Ariel. Aside from that, she loved all the thrill rides - Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, etc. Most rides had very short lines (less than 10 minutes). Some rides like Peter Pan were at 40 minutes. We skipped anything that was more than 20 minutes. Philharmagic
was great, we all loved that one. I was pleased that Amy enjoyed all the rides she was tall enough for. Thank heaven she was at 41 inches, tall enough for most rides. It would have been a long day if we just sat and waited for Amanda to ride everything with DH. We had lunch at Comic Ray's ($57, 4 CS) that day. The food was OK.
At one point during the day, we went to the Haunted Mansion. There is one tombstone that blinks her eyes every few minutes and we happened to see it. Amy turned and RAN, screaming, pushing people out of her way all the way back to the turnstiles (bad Mommy ... I thought it was a bit funny
).There is no way out at that point so we had to hop over the railing. DH and Amanda rode the ride and enjoyed it, Amy calmed down and was fine. We finally ended our day around 6 and went back to the hotel, exhausted!
Not point in a conclusion here, there is no way this day could have been planned or been more magical!
PS Have you ever seen the backside of water? If not, here is a shot!
rotfl2: for those of you that have been on the Jungle Cruise)
So, I left off with the cast member sending us on our way after the opening show.......
We got sent on our way and it was a bit odd. Not sure what else I thought they would do but that was the end the “family of the day”. I was OK with that, it was just odd going from so much attention to nothing
.By this time, it was 9:20 and the line was LONG for the breakfast at the castle. There was probably a 20 minute wait at this point to get your picture taken with Cinderella. You don't go upstairs to breakfast until after you get your picture taken. No offense to Cindy but at this point, we were hungry, cold and just had tons of one on one time with characters
After about 5 minutes they called our name and we gotten taken right to the front of the line! I felt a bit bad about all the other kids waiting and then waiting for us but I didn't say no. The only reason I can think of for us getting taken to the front ... they called to let them know we would be late for our reservations because of us opening the park. The picture with Cinderella was just awful! The girls looked scared, tired, cold and hungry! After our photo, we went to our table. Breakfast was very good there, the potato casserole is really yummy. The hot chocolate was the best I have ever I had I think! The girls were excited to see Jasmine, Belle, Snow White and the Fairy Godmother.
At this point, my planning of hitting the rides before they got busy was blown
I don't think I have mentioned that I stress a bit when things get off track! After breakfast, you know what we did first right? Do you remember ½ of the reason we are here? ARIEL! We went to Ariel's grotto and it was about a 30 minute wait. The longest we waited for anything the whole trip but I knew it was something we had to do first. I have never seen a child smile non stop for so long, Amanda couldn't believe she was finally getting to meet Ariel!
It was a great interaction, one she will remember forever. She asked her what her favorite colors were - here is Ariel thinking about
We continued our day riding lots of rides all throughout MK. Amy's favorite of the day was Goofy's Barnstormer. She thought it was really funny that it crashes into the barn. She also loved driving the cars at the Indy Speedway.
Amanda's highlight was meeting Ariel. Aside from that, she loved all the thrill rides - Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, etc. Most rides had very short lines (less than 10 minutes). Some rides like Peter Pan were at 40 minutes. We skipped anything that was more than 20 minutes. Philharmagic
was great, we all loved that one. I was pleased that Amy enjoyed all the rides she was tall enough for. Thank heaven she was at 41 inches, tall enough for most rides. It would have been a long day if we just sat and waited for Amanda to ride everything with DH. We had lunch at Comic Ray's ($57, 4 CS) that day. The food was OK. At one point during the day, we went to the Haunted Mansion. There is one tombstone that blinks her eyes every few minutes and we happened to see it. Amy turned and RAN, screaming, pushing people out of her way all the way back to the turnstiles (bad Mommy ... I thought it was a bit funny
).There is no way out at that point so we had to hop over the railing. DH and Amanda rode the ride and enjoyed it, Amy calmed down and was fine. We finally ended our day around 6 and went back to the hotel, exhausted!
Not point in a conclusion here, there is no way this day could have been planned or been more magical!
PS Have you ever seen the backside of water? If not, here is a shot!
rotfl2: for those of you that have been on the Jungle Cruise)
Day 4, Tuesday January 30th (chilly morning, nice afternoon)
Planning 201: Be at AK for opening. One of my attraction goals of the trip to get on an early Safari ride to see active animals, Tusker House for lunch, break midday, Kona's for adult only dinner, Neverland for kids. Fireworks on the Polynesian beach if we finish dinner in time.
Reality 101: Made AK for opening!
Again, nobody was as anxious as me to get up and going early but they all appreciated it once at the park. The line was short to get in at 9 and we went straight to the safari after getting our stroller for the day.
We made it onto one of the first jeeps of the day. According to our guide, some of the animals we saw are nocturnal so it is best to do the safari first thing in the morning. We saw lots of neat animals and the guide was great. About 1/2 way into our ride, a white rhinoceros decided to walk in front of our vehicle and just stop. We had to wait about 5 minutes for him to decide to move! Here is the naughty guy (well, I guess it could be a girl):
It is neat how close you get to the animals
After the safari, we walked through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. I hadn't planned on doing that (I actually planned on skipping it) but it was a good decision. It was really pretty and interesting. About 1/2 way through the trail, I see some people in white vests. Could it be? I have read a lot about them ... Yes! It is the "Dream Team”. They came out and told us we won Dream Fast Passes for the day!
After that, we headed over to DinoLand. On our way, we ran into DeVine. This was one of the neatest things I saw this day. It looks like there is a vine on a pole but it is a lady in a costume with amazing makeup. We watched her for a few minutes, it was really neat.
DH and Amanda rode Primeval Whirl (DH didn't like it, Amanda thought it was OK). We snacked on pretzels on the way to the boneyard. After the girls played in the boneyard and playground for about 20 minutes, we came back to find the pretzels that I left sitting on the stroller were covered in birds and the stoller was covered in bird poop. Eww! I wasn't really impressed with DinoLand at all.
We got in line for Finding Nemo the Musical. The line was very long but moved quickly and surprisingly, we made it in for the 11:30 show. I didn't think we would get in since we were wrapped all the way past the big yellow dino entering into Dinoland. The show was interesting. Amy and I liked it. DH and Amanda didn't. It was about 45 minutes long and to me it was an artsy style musical, not a kid style musical. The performers were dressed in costumes to blend in with the background and puppets but were still a big part of the musical. It was a bit loud and probably could have been 15 minutes shorter but still enjoyable.
Expedition Everest was next. What an fun roller coaster! Amanda got to ride it twice in row because of the Parent Swap (Amy was too short). She loved it. I left my sunglasses in the cargo basket and went right to the counter to get them. They came back 15 minutes later and said they checked all the cars but couldn't find them. It would be a long week in the sun without sunglasses! Plus, they were $100 sunglasses (remember my $$ issues?! I didn't look forward to buying sunglasses in Disney) At this point, around 1, we were all getting tired. We headed back to the hotel and we all slept for over 3 hours!
We got in the car and headed to the Polynesian resort (our only time driving but didn't want to waste an hour with connections on Disney transportation). Before our reservations, we took the girls on a much anticipated monorail ride. They got a kick out of that. DH and I had a nice, quite dinner at Kona's Cafe while the girls enjoyed the Neverland Club. We really enjoyed our time alone. The drinks and dinner were very good. The girls couldn't believe you could play the video game machines without money. Amanda also thought the buffet was neat and was proud that she was the only one that went back for 3rds. After an hour and 45 minutes, we went back to get the girls who didn't want to leave
We took them down to the beach at the Polynesian, grabbed some chairs and kicked back to enjoy Wishes Fireworks show. The music wasn't piped in like it was suppose to be but we still enjoyed the show. Amanda says she wished she was closer .... that would be the next night. After we got back to the room, Amy said she was hot. She had a fever of 103!
I gave her some medicine and she woke up about every 2 hours during the night wanting water. Oh yea, the floor near the vanity was soaking wet when we got back that night. I put a towel down on it to soak it up (you can already tell that didn't work, right?)
Conclusion: Reality was almost exactly has I had planned it. The Safari was one of my most anticipated attractions and it met all my expectations. Music piped in for the fireworks would have been nice (I am sure I was just in the wrong spot) and I bet Amy would have preferred not having a fever. Oh, we didn't make Tusker house for lunch. The nap was much better DH and I remember on our honeymoon at Disney, on the 4th day, we crashed hard. We got tired, cranky and miserable. so, we knew it was coming LOL
My Flickr.com account says I can't upload any more photos this month. Good thing it is a short month. Updates will have to wait for one of 3 things - March 1, me to pay for an upgrade at flickr.com or try to work with another site like photobucket
Planning 201: Be at AK for opening. One of my attraction goals of the trip to get on an early Safari ride to see active animals, Tusker House for lunch, break midday, Kona's for adult only dinner, Neverland for kids. Fireworks on the Polynesian beach if we finish dinner in time.
Reality 101: Made AK for opening!
Again, nobody was as anxious as me to get up and going early but they all appreciated it once at the park. The line was short to get in at 9 and we went straight to the safari after getting our stroller for the day.
We made it onto one of the first jeeps of the day.
According to our guide, some of the animals we saw are nocturnal so it is best to do the safari first thing in the morning. We saw lots of neat animals and the guide was great. About 1/2 way into our ride, a white rhinoceros decided to walk in front of our vehicle and just stop. We had to wait about 5 minutes for him to decide to move! Here is the naughty guy (well, I guess it could be a girl):
It is neat how close you get to the animals
After the safari, we walked through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. I hadn't planned on doing that (I actually planned on skipping it) but it was a good decision. It was really pretty and interesting. About 1/2 way through the trail, I see some people in white vests. Could it be? I have read a lot about them ... Yes! It is the "Dream Team”. They came out and told us we won Dream Fast Passes for the day!
After that, we headed over to DinoLand. On our way, we ran into DeVine. This was one of the neatest things I saw this day. It looks like there is a vine on a pole but it is a lady in a costume with amazing makeup. We watched her for a few minutes, it was really neat.
DH and Amanda rode Primeval Whirl (DH didn't like it, Amanda thought it was OK). We snacked on pretzels on the way to the boneyard. After the girls played in the boneyard and playground for about 20 minutes, we came back to find the pretzels that I left sitting on the stroller were covered in birds and the stoller was covered in bird poop. Eww! I wasn't really impressed with DinoLand at all.
We got in line for Finding Nemo the Musical. The line was very long but moved quickly and surprisingly, we made it in for the 11:30 show. I didn't think we would get in since we were wrapped all the way past the big yellow dino entering into Dinoland. The show was interesting. Amy and I liked it. DH and Amanda didn't. It was about 45 minutes long and to me it was an artsy style musical, not a kid style musical. The performers were dressed in costumes to blend in with the background and puppets but were still a big part of the musical. It was a bit loud and probably could have been 15 minutes shorter but still enjoyable.
Expedition Everest was next. What an fun roller coaster! Amanda got to ride it twice in row because of the Parent Swap (Amy was too short). She loved it. I left my sunglasses in the cargo basket and went right to the counter to get them. They came back 15 minutes later and said they checked all the cars but couldn't find them. It would be a long week in the sun without sunglasses! Plus, they were $100 sunglasses (remember my $$ issues?! I didn't look forward to buying sunglasses in Disney) At this point, around 1, we were all getting tired. We headed back to the hotel and we all slept for over 3 hours!
We got in the car and headed to the Polynesian resort (our only time driving but didn't want to waste an hour with connections on Disney transportation). Before our reservations, we took the girls on a much anticipated monorail ride. They got a kick out of that. DH and I had a nice, quite dinner at Kona's Cafe while the girls enjoyed the Neverland Club. We really enjoyed our time alone. The drinks and dinner were very good. The girls couldn't believe you could play the video game machines without money. Amanda also thought the buffet was neat and was proud that she was the only one that went back for 3rds. After an hour and 45 minutes, we went back to get the girls who didn't want to leave
We took them down to the beach at the Polynesian, grabbed some chairs and kicked back to enjoy Wishes Fireworks show. The music wasn't piped in like it was suppose to be but we still enjoyed the show. Amanda says she wished she was closer .... that would be the next night. After we got back to the room, Amy said she was hot. She had a fever of 103!
I gave her some medicine and she woke up about every 2 hours during the night wanting water. Oh yea, the floor near the vanity was soaking wet when we got back that night. I put a towel down on it to soak it up (you can already tell that didn't work, right?)Conclusion: Reality was almost exactly has I had planned it. The Safari was one of my most anticipated attractions and it met all my expectations. Music piped in for the fireworks would have been nice (I am sure I was just in the wrong spot) and I bet Amy would have preferred not having a fever. Oh, we didn't make Tusker house for lunch. The nap was much better
DH and I remember on our honeymoon at Disney, on the 4th day, we crashed hard. We got tired, cranky and miserable. so, we knew it was coming LOLMy Flickr.com account says I can't upload any more photos this month. Good thing it is a short month. Updates will have to wait for one of 3 things - March 1, me to pay for an upgrade at flickr.com or try to work with another site like photobucket
LITTLEKID58
Platinum Castaway
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2001
- Messages
- 2,666
Awesom TR.. txs so much for sharing.
MissMichelle
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2005
- Messages
- 2,322
HOOKED! Those are great pics of when you guys were the opening family! Can't wait to ready on 
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