"Practically Perfect In Every Way!" Grand Floridian-Oct 2008*New 12/23 Our Last Day:(

[stacikristine]

Oh. I'm so sorry you had such a terrible experience at CRT. That's just terrible. Hopefully you can try again someday. I can't believe it was so bad--that should be the happiest place because it's every girl's DREAM! I think a GF regroup was definitely in order! I'm anxious to hear what you all did that night!

 

[mom2mek]

Awww...I'm so sorry to hear about that Katie! I'm sure going to Cosmic Ray's is NOT what you were imagining doing after getting your little girl all dolled up at the BBB!

Well, maybe you will be able to try it again sometime!

Sara

 

[ladybugmom]

Oh no!! How awful! I'm sooo sorry you had such a bad experience--that stinks! I hope things get better!!

 

[DisneyJo]

Oh no what a shame, did you get your money back? Was Katie OK?

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

I hate your experience at CRT. I find that sometimes even CM's forget that they are at the happiest place on earth. I know everyone has bad days but they need to line out their priorities before dealing with the customers.

I hope the next report is a happier one.

 

[DisneyJo]

Hi Katie, just checking all's OK

 

[BippityBoo]

HI EVERYONE!! I am baaaccckk!

I have been so distracted with my PTR, that my TR is pretty pathetic so, time for an update!

Ok...so last I left you (if you can remember), we had left BBB and headed to CRT!! But, the evil stepmother must have had it out for us because we ended up leaving at eating at Cosmic Rays. A storm was brewing, so we headed to the GF for a much needed rest...

That night, DHS was offering EMH. We decided to hop on a bus and check it out. We had DHS on our plans for the next day, but we were flying out at 5 and really wanted to see Fantasmic.

When we got to DHS, we fell in love! I really liked the whole Hollywood feel and it was so wonderful lit up at night!!

We rode the Movie Ride first. My DD and myself closed our eyes and ears for the Alien part and the gangster part (we got the country scene the next day). I also put my DS under his blanket. Wizard of Oz is our absolute favorite movie....so it was a total dream come true to go to the land of OZ!!! How cool is that?!

We wondered around DHS not really having a plan for anything since we had it all mapped out for our full day to come. We enjoyed the "streets" area and did some window shopping.

We tried to get into the Brown Derby for dinner...but there was a 1 hour wait. I told everyone it would be impossible to eat anywhere, so we headed to Fantasmic to get a good seat! We ended up getting a snack to hold us over, but I can not remember what it was.

I was really worried that my DD and DS would be very scared of the show. Suprisingly, they both were very into it and ended up really liking it! I was even frightened--especially how loud it was---but what an entertaining show!!! I am so happy we got a chance to see it.

At this point, we were all REALLY hungry. We got on the bus and started a pretty long ride back to the GF. The bus was packed, but we had fun with our fellow riders along the way. When we got back to the GF, it was about 10:00pm! We ordered a pizza from the Counter Service. It was the most amazing pizza!! I do not know if we were just so hungry, but it hit the spot. I packed up most of our stuff and prepared the kids for our departure the next day Don't worry though, we have a nice full day of DHS ahead of us before we catch our flight back home!

Up Next: Toy Story here we come! Errr..maybe not.

 

[ladybugmom]

Katie--so glad to see another update!! We didn't do the Movie Ride or see Fantasmic on our trip. We definitely want to do those when we go back in May!! Love the pics!!

 

[BippityBoo]

HI Becky! I think I lost everyone! You are the only post

The Movie Ride was really cool. One of our favorites. The only bad part is that there is some shooting in the beginning (nothing TOO scary) and a REALLY scary part when the "Alien" movie comes (an Alien pops out from the ceiling). I just covered all of our eyes during those parts. The whole ride was worth the Wizard of Oz part. It is so real feeling. We have an obsession with WoOZ here so.....either way, you should do it. The wait is really neat as well.

Fantasmic will be a family favorite for sure I was nervous b.c it said in my books that it was scary for some children. Abby and Aiden were on the edge of their seats. I admit that it was kind of frightening, but of course, good wins in the end. Just gets kind of intense. By the end, we were all saying that it was awesome. HTH

Posting about our last day tonight to wrap up this TR! You were so smart to finish yours before starting your PTR. By the way, I hope you have time to update your PTR in Alabama! Have a happy holiday and look for my shopping post in the next few days on my PTR featuring your bows

Katie--so glad to see another update!! We didn't do the Movie Ride or see Fantasmic on our trip. We definitely want to do those when we go back in May!! Love the pics!!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

I'm really here Katie. My laptop has been broken for over a week and I just get a glance at emails at work but not enough time to follow up on them. Golly gee whiz I love Fantasmic. I find it truly fantastic. I'm really glad you got to see it. I think everyone should see it just once.

Only work today and tomorrow then back on Monday. Maybe my sweet hubby will get my laptop fixed for me this week while he is on vacay.

Have a great day. I enjoy all your posts and hearing anything about your beautiful children. That pic of DD is so wonderful.

 

[ladybugmom]

HI Becky! I think I lost everyone! You are the only post

The Movie Ride was really cool. One of our favorites. The only bad part is that there is some shooting in the beginning (nothing TOO scary) and a REALLY scary part when the "Alien" movie comes (an Alien pops out from the ceiling). I just covered all of our eyes during those parts. The whole ride was worth the Wizard of Oz part. It is so real feeling. We have an obsession with WoOZ here so.....either way, you should do it. The wait is really neat as well.

Fantasmic will be a family favorite for sure I was nervous b.c it said in my books that it was scary for some children. Abby and Aiden were on the edge of their seats. I admit that it was kind of frightening, but of course, good wins in the end. Just gets kind of intense. By the end, we were all saying that it was awesome. HTH

Posting about our last day tonight to wrap up this TR! You were so smart to finish yours before starting your PTR. By the way, I hope you have time to update your PTR in Alabama! Have a happy holiday and look for my shopping post in the next few days on my PTR featuring your bows

Hey--I'm here until the end my friend!! Thanks for the Movie Ride and Fantasmic reviews!! My girls don't get scared easily but it's good to know what to expect. I just wrote an update on my PTR a little while ago and should have plenty of time to update more while we're here in AL. I just hope I haven't lost MY readers either!!

 

[BippityBoo]

I'm really here Katie. My laptop has been broken for over a week and I just get a glance at emails at work but not enough time to follow up on them. Golly gee whiz I love Fantasmic. I find it truly fantastic. I'm really glad you got to see it. I think everyone should see it just once.

Only work today and tomorrow then back on Monday. Maybe my sweet hubby will get my laptop fixed for me this week while he is on vacay.

Have a great day. I enjoy all your posts and hearing anything about your beautiful children. That pic of DD is so wonderful.

Thanks so much!!! I hope that you get your laptop fixed! Mine is getting to be a little old. Maybe I can talk my hubby into a new one for my birthday in March

Thanks for reading!! One more post to go!

Hey--I'm here until the end my friend!! Thanks for the Movie Ride and Fantasmic reviews!! My girls don't get scared easily but it's good to know what to expect. I just wrote an update on my PTR a little while ago and should have plenty of time to update more while we're here in AL. I just hope I haven't lost MY readers either!!

Thanks! I am happy to have two readers I have one more post to go. I will probably do it in a second. My kids dont really get scared too easily either. Fantasmic is more of an intense vibe, which makes it sort of scary. You are sitting so far back, so it is not scary like one of the bad characters might come get you, but they do so many stunts and have lots of fire, water, etc. you are just on the edge of your seat. Aiden was 11 months and he really liked it! haha Of course, Abby loved it. It feels so nice to see the princesses and all of the good characters at the end. Ally and Claire will LOVE it!

The movie ride is really fun too. Like I said, the Alien pops out of nowhere, so it can be frightening. Just let them know before you go into that part.

OK...trying to go post my last post now.

 

[BippityBoo]

***If you are just joining in again, I posted about our DHS night a few posts back which leads me to this day...our last full day in the parks!**

After a very late night, you would think that we were all dragging, right? NO! Well...most of us. My in-laws needed more time to rest and pack. I had most of my packing done the night before. So, after packing a few more things into our carry on, we headed to breakfast.

We went back to our favorite breakfast spot in the GF! It was a nice relaxing morning. The kids got Mickey pancakes and they were SO good. Abby loved the sprinkles. The meal was bitter sweet as we knew it was the end of our vacation! Next, we went to check out.

Check out was really easy. The kids and I played in the beautiful GF lobby while my hubby took care of the not so fun stuff---paying the bill We had the GF hold our bags in a secure room while we hopped on the bus. Off to DHS for our last full day in the parks I was SO sad. I cried a couple of times (quietly, to myself, of course). I just felt that we needed more time to see and enjoy everything and I did not want to leave. My DH felt the same way. We both could not believe that 7 days had come and gone.

Oh well, enough sad stuff..lets go to the park!

DHS was so neat during the day as well. I loved all of the street performers and stores. Because we needed to check out of the GF, that put us getting to the park kind of late---10:30ish. We ran to Toy Story to grab a fastpass. The return time was already 4pm!!! We would be off to the airport at that time. We were SO bummed!! Oh well, maybe next trip

Next we went to watch Playhouse Disney Live on Stage.

There was some what of a wait. While we were waiting, we took pics with the Little Einsteins and JoJo!

Eventually, we were lead into the building. We LOVED the show! Both of the kids were really into it. My DH and I were enjoying the break while we relaxed and ate our frozen lemonade. Here are some pics from the show.

I can not wait to see the show on our next vacation! Aiden LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so it will be great to see his reaction.

My in-laws were going to arrive at the park around lunch time, so we made our way around DHS just seeing the sites. We ended up going to take pictures with Lightening McQueen, watching a show in front of Star Tours, got a frozen bannana from a snack stand, and just taking it all in. We did see Minnie and Daisy for autographs. The line was SO long, we decided to skip it. Abby started crying because she loves Daisy and she was the only one that she did not have an autograph of yet. I plan on asking the CM on our next trip where we can find her to make sure we dont miss her!

We had to skip the autograph because we were headed to meet my in-laws at Beauty and the Beast! WOW!! What a show. I loved B&B when I was growing up so much. THe music is fantastic and so were the actors. It was a quality show and we LOVED it!!!

We were all getting a little hungry and my DH was itching to go on RR!! So, we took the kids and the in-laws to the eating area next to RR and TOT. They enjoyed chicken nuggets while my DH and I headed to RR.

When we got there, the wait was SO long. It was actually really hot that day and we were getting a little aggrivated. We had no waits all trip and on our last day, it was starting to happen to us!

Then, he said it. "There is only a 10 minute wait on TOT! Let's go!"

Little backstory: I HATE elevators. I always think they are broken when I get on them and I did not really want to feel what it would feel like to get dropped by one!! But, my DH looked so upset that RR was a no go that I just went with it. Now that is love!

When we were walking up to the entrance, I started to cry. My DH told me that it was crazy to ride it if I was so scared of it! Just then, a little girl (could not have been older than 10 or so) saw me getting upset. She told me it was her 12th time riding THIS TRIP and that it really was not that scary. Directly behind her, a teeny weeny girl (seriously, this girl was about THREE or FOUR at the most!) with a teddy bear passed me into the entrance. I had to laugh at the scene and decided to suck it up and get on the ride already!!

We were placed in the front row in the "elevator". LUCKILY I got to be by the handle that you can hold onto (on the end of the row). The kid was right, it was not scary at all. I was very anxious but the actual ride itself was fun. I am glad I did it!

We met back up with the kids and the in-laws and headed to the movie ride. Here is a pic from the night before I forgot to post. It is one of my favorite pics.

We got the western scene at the beginning of the show. We still loved this ride

Next, we went to see the Little Mermaid show. Aiden was getting really fussy at this point, so the nice, cold theater was just right. I sat in the back corner with him while Abby and the rest of the family sat up front. He ended up falling asleep, which was great because he really needed it after a long morning. I felt that the LM show could have been better, but we still enjoyed it very much. We will definately see it again. Ariel is my daughter's favorite!

Well, the day was winding down and it was almost time to head back to the GF for the bus to take us to the airport. We caught a quick parade and said bye to the in-laws. They drove to WDW because they were coming back from a cruise which left out of Tampa. Luckily, the afternoon parade was about to begin, so we went to the entrance and caught the parade! It was a cute parade, but does not hold a candle to Animal Kingdom or MK.

We left the park so SAD! Ending the trip was not easy. The bus ride to the airport was uneventful. We had a quick dinner at Macaroni Grill before boarding the plane. Our flight home was really quiet and peaceful. When we landed, it felt good to be home, but we were still wanting to be at WDW!

While driving home (we had about a 30 minute drive) the kids fell asleep and dreamed Disney dreams while my DH and I started to plan our next trip...


....


WHICH IS ONLY 2 WEEKS AWAY!

Can't wait to go back!

Thanks for reading everyone!!! I love writing Trip Reports. Really looking forward to my new one! Look for the title to be posted some time this week on my PTR.

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

I get to be first this time. Love it, love it, love it! You did ToT. I am so proud of you. I loved that ride. I'm not fond of elevators myself but there is something about that ride. Hate you didn't get to do RnR again. That too is a fav. Sorry this report is over.

Have a very Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.

Ginny

 

[disneybarbie]

Really enjoyed reading your TR .. looking forward to the next one, not long to go now - you must be bursting with excitement!!

Don't worry about being afraid of ToT.. I must have ridden it dozens of times and still the build up scares me soo much... one of the worst parts is when the lift is moving forward and that vertical line of white light slides across as you enter the lift shaft... ... and yet I love it!!


Happy Holidays

Emma x

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Great TR, Katie! I loved reading about your fun times, and to think you have another great trip coming up! So exciting!! Hope you have a great holiday season and a wonderful vacation!

 

[DisneyJo]

HI Becky! I think I lost everyone! You are the only post

I'm still here but I was at the GF when you posted, am I excused?

What a great way to end your trip, it sounds like you packed quite a bit in and well done for riding TOT, I love that ride but still can't convince my youngest to ride, she loves EE, Splash etc but won't go on it

 

[ladybugmom]

Awww Katie!! I can totally relate to the emotions you went through that last day! It's the worst feeling in the world knowing you have to leave the happiest place on earth! A tip on daisy--when we were at WDW she always seemed to be right inside the entrance of MK right when the park opened. We asked a CM the day before and they were able to tell us the exact spot!! We were ready and waiting when she came out!! We also loved the Playhouse Disney and B&B shows!! I can't wait to see them again!! I cannot believe how close you are to your trip!! Whoo hoo!!

 

[cdotla]

Well you sure know how to plan that right...finishing your TR just as you are about to leave for the next trip!

Obviously the fact that you were already planning your next trip shows how much you enjoyed this one. I will be eagerly awaiting your next report! Good luck in the final preparations!

 

[stacikristine]

Hi Katie!! Sorry I've been away...it's just been super, super busy here!

Great updates!! Don't you just LOVE DHS? It's our favorite...we could spend days and days there. I'm glad you got to experience it at night and during the day. I'm sorry you weren't able to get FPs for TSM. But you'll be back in just two weeks to ride it!!! I'm so excited for your upcoming trip--I know it will be fantastic. I'm sorry this TR is over, but it'll be great to read along for your next one!!!