catherines_mama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2003
- Messages
- 1,950
Hi! You might think.... a 2 day trip, what is there to say? SOOO MUCH! I just loved this trip a bunch. It was more then I'd expected from such a quick trip.
Cast and Crew
ME (27) Planning FREAK and mother to the next in line here
Catherine (3) loves DISNEY and HAS to see Cinderella
Jenny (30) my older sis "AUNT JENNY" who hasn't been to Disney in 12 years
Andrea (31) my bestfriend, Catherine's Godmother. Lives in Bradenton, FL and has not been to Disney since she was 9.
Well 1st off this was a surprise trip to Catherine and Aunt Jen. Andrea and I had planned it (ok.. I planned it but I let her think she helped). Jen, Catherine and I left NC at 3am Saturday to drive to our Grandparent's in Bradenton.
10/4 After 2 days with them, we skipped over to Andreas to "go shopping". I'd packed just one suitcase and packed the car while Jen and Catherine were playing. We head to Orlando to "shop" and actually did stop to look at a car Andrea's DH wants to get for her. After that Catherine was hungry (it was about 2:00). So we headed to the McDs on property. Jenny was excited just BEING on property. After lunch I said "so... you guys like being 'at Disney'". OH YEAHS all around. So I turn towards ASMovies and say.. "OK.. we'll stay!". LOL My sister actually cried she was so excited. Catherine just wanted to know when she could see Cinderella. Check in was very easy, Richard is great. And we had a terrific Room. 4910 was in 101 Dal (Perdy's building) it was on the 3rd floor on the far end of the building. If you stand at the door you look out over the 101 Dal courtyard over to Pongo.. to the left was the Mighty Duck Pool. NOW.. You could hear the pool activity like crazy from the walkway.. But as soon as you close the door... NOTHING. I was VERY impressed.
Andrea and I commented that YES the room was small (we had 3 adults and a kid) but all we wanted to do there was sleep so who cared! NOT US.
We let Catherine go to the pool for a bit (just the Ducks) she only sits on the steps anyway.. so OK. 30 minutes later we were boarding the bus to DTD. We did some shopping and wandered over through WestSide while Catherine napped in the stroller. At 6:30 we headed to RainForest for our reservations (7:00). We were seated just before 7 in the Elephant Room (we actually sat 1 table from where I sat with friends early in the year). Catherine freaked with the 1st storm, but was fine after that. Lets seee... Andrea got the HUGE cobb salad. Jenny got a Hamburger. Catherine got the HotDogs. And I got the Calamari and a salad (shared with Catherine). Andrea and I got some drinks. She the Green Something (its a specialty.. cant remember the name) and I a margerita. YUMMMM! I love taking buses.
After dinner we headed home to crash and get ready for an early morning
10/5 Tuesday AM Mickey woke us up but Catherine would not stir enough to answer the phone. We headed to the bus at 7:15 and were at MK by 7:30. We had a date with Pooh and Friends (NO, I did not even try for CRT, Cat does not eat enough for that place) SO Crystal Palace it was. Again.. ALL A SURPISE.. and Again.. Jenny was as excited as Catherine. We wheeled through the gates and got to CP in decent time. We had 810 PS but got sat a bit early. Where did we sit? Oh the table right next to where we sat in Feb. LOL see a pattern. Interaction was great, and even though Catherine ate NOTHING they charged me for her meal. So.. why not grab a few apples and a banana for the bag to eat later in the day.. I paid for em! Now.. I'm ainsy to hit Fantasy Land and do everything as walkons and get it over with...after all that is why you make an early PS! but Andrea wanted to relax for the big day ahead. So I figited and 'relaxed'. When she went to the bathroom I grabbed our stuff and said to Jenny "tell her I'll meet her outside" HA HA>>> I made my escape!
Fantasy Land still was good! YAY. Hit Dumbo 1st (like who doesn't), then the carosel. Now.. Catherine LOVES Andrea SO I got to stand and take pics while Andrea went around in circles .. HA HA :-x me and circles.. ick. After the carosel I was all about POOH (we didnt hit it in FEB). BUT Andrea said "hey lets do SNOW WHITE" Catherine, the Andrea lover, says "OK". I KNEW she'd freak out. It took all I had to get her on Small World in Feb after the scare on BUZZ. Well we went.. and well, she freaked out.. and Pooh, did we ride pooh? NOPE. but it was okay... Maybe next time. So then we head to Toon Town. First a stop at Teacups.... Dang ride sits more then 2 so around in circles I got to go :-x. A visit with the Mad Hatter and the Twiddles and off to the Races. We had fun racing. Andrea and Cat drove together so I got some cute pics of them behind me. After INDY is was time for TOON TOWN!
Goofy was the 1st stop. My afraid of the dark kid LOVES rollercoasters, and my circle-hating stomach loves them too. SO I sat behind Andrea and Cat and we had a blast, and yes, we got off and back on.. WE LOVE THIS!!! Then off to the judges tent.. and the other one "county fair"? LINES WERE WAY to long and its about 11:00 now. It was HOT HOT HOT.. So Catherine took a run through Donalds and got wet, then we hopped the train to Adventure Land. (we were meeting my friend Dan and his DW for lunch at Peco Bill's at 11:30). Off the train and here is where I fall in LOVE with Fast Pass.
*note.. Feb trip was just me and DD.. no big rides no fastpass needed.. I am a FastPass virgin*
okay.. Andrea and Jen get Catherine in her stroller while I book it to Splash for some FastPasses. I get Cat one just in case, she is JUST tall enough. Return time 12:05 - 1:05.. cool. (added note: Jenny hates any sort of motion ride. No circles or heights for her) I meet them at Peco Bill's where we find Dan and Karen and enjoy our lunch. YUMM
We part ways with Dan and Karen.. no kids mean they are off to Epcot for Wine and Food (HAVE FUN!). Andrea and I head for Splash while Jen and Catherine to the Laughing Place. It's 12:10 so i run to Big Thunder Mountain for 2 more FastPasses. Return time 1:00 - 2:00.. neat oh. So we go see Cat at Laughing place and say.. be back soon! We hoped in line for Splash at 12:20 and were off by 12:30. WHY DO PEOPLE NOT USE THESE??? Well we loved it! We get off and cannot find Jen and Catherine.. I'm panicking! really.. I was about to call Security! BUT we found them near the exit of BTMR.. they thought we'd gone there first. After chit chatting for just a minute and doing a sunscreen reapply its 1:00 and we are off to BTMR. Going through the queuee they say "there is weather in the area.. we MAY have to close this attraction" we walk faster. We are on and off the ride in 15 minutes AGAIN... FASTPASS ROCKS. So we collect the crew and decide its time to make the kid happy and go see Cinderella. So Andrea and Jen head through the hub to Toon Town while I book it to Space for some more FastPasses. I beat them to the line for Cinderella and wait. It was a decent wait.. but its all that Catherine WANTS to do. SO.. we see Cinderella AND Arial. She was VERY happy. SO.. now its 2:30 and time for our FP on SPACE. Its also almost parade time. SO we head to the potty... always gotta potty.. then to the hub for a VERY good spot. We got a spot on the hub right at the spoke to Tomorrow Land. Andrea and I then book it (we actually ran) to SPACE and were on and off in 10 minutes (I LOVE FASTPASS). It wasn't really as great as I remembered. BTMR and SPLASH were more fun. We get back to the hub with 5 min to spare for the parade, so I run for new waters.. did I mention it was HOT! I get back just in time and we really enjoyed the parade!
After the parade a certain someone was sleepy so I leaned her back and put a coat over the opening and away she went zzzzzzz. We went by Philarmagic and grabbed a FP for this and then shopped Main Street and just walked around. 1 1/2 hrs later I figured the kid can wake up. So I woke her up and took her on Pirates. Yeah... LOL My afraid of the dark kid cried (softly) the whole time. MEAN MOMMY! But come on.. she LOVES the movie. Anyway... after that Jen and Andrea went on Haunted Mansion (sniff sniff I love that ride) while Catherine and I took a trip to the potty to towel off and put dry fresh clothes on her. She was just so sweaty. She then had an apple and banana and was a new kid. Refreshed and fed. We met Jen and Andrea at the exit of HM and headed to PhilarMagic. OMG... I LOVED THIS SHOW!!! It as all of ours favorite of the day. Just amazing!!! I cannot believe I didn't do it in Feb. Catherine was not into 3D then, but she was this time and LOVED it! A MUST SEE!
So, its like 6:00 now and we wanted pizza, so we check the guide map and head to Plaza Pavilion which was CLOSED!
So.. okay.. 1 hr til Spectro... lets get a seat and I ran to Caseys. We got a good seat just down from Caseys and dinner was good. Catherine made friends with the girl next to us, and it was an enjoyable night. The parade was great! and I still can't figure out why everyone LEAVES after it. We stayed put and relaxed until WISHES. When it started I put Cat up on my shoulders (note I'm only 5') and again, I just LOVED IT. Of course neither Jen or Andrea had ever seen it.. but they just loved it too! BRAVO!!!
Well its over so we pack up and head out. I stopped to get Cat a balloon, and we got the 5th bus for Movies. I was a bit disappointed in the amount of time there was between buses, as in Feb they were delivering 2 at a time on a Spectro/Wishes night.. but oh well, it wasn't too long. Back at the hotel, we tucked Catherine in and Andrea and I sat on the Balcony and ate Pizza and had soda's. It was a relaxing night and I really did enjoy the ASMovies.
10/6... we slept til Catherine woke up around 8:30 and then packed up and headed home. Housekeeping knocked a few times that morning... it was annoying but oh well.
Great stay... it all was wonderful. There is not one Disney thing I can really complain about! NOW... in the works..
ADULT TRIP.. Andrea and Me .. SWAN DOLPHIN in February... Adult rides, Adult food, and grown up FUN!!! PI here we come! LOL Time to plan! LOL Yes, I'm a freak!
Cast and Crew
ME (27) Planning FREAK and mother to the next in line here
Catherine (3) loves DISNEY and HAS to see Cinderella
Jenny (30) my older sis "AUNT JENNY" who hasn't been to Disney in 12 years
Andrea (31) my bestfriend, Catherine's Godmother. Lives in Bradenton, FL and has not been to Disney since she was 9.
Well 1st off this was a surprise trip to Catherine and Aunt Jen. Andrea and I had planned it (ok.. I planned it but I let her think she helped). Jen, Catherine and I left NC at 3am Saturday to drive to our Grandparent's in Bradenton.
10/4 After 2 days with them, we skipped over to Andreas to "go shopping". I'd packed just one suitcase and packed the car while Jen and Catherine were playing. We head to Orlando to "shop" and actually did stop to look at a car Andrea's DH wants to get for her. After that Catherine was hungry (it was about 2:00). So we headed to the McDs on property. Jenny was excited just BEING on property. After lunch I said "so... you guys like being 'at Disney'". OH YEAHS all around. So I turn towards ASMovies and say.. "OK.. we'll stay!". LOL My sister actually cried she was so excited. Catherine just wanted to know when she could see Cinderella. Check in was very easy, Richard is great. And we had a terrific Room. 4910 was in 101 Dal (Perdy's building) it was on the 3rd floor on the far end of the building. If you stand at the door you look out over the 101 Dal courtyard over to Pongo.. to the left was the Mighty Duck Pool. NOW.. You could hear the pool activity like crazy from the walkway.. But as soon as you close the door... NOTHING. I was VERY impressed.
Andrea and I commented that YES the room was small (we had 3 adults and a kid) but all we wanted to do there was sleep so who cared! NOT US.
We let Catherine go to the pool for a bit (just the Ducks) she only sits on the steps anyway.. so OK. 30 minutes later we were boarding the bus to DTD. We did some shopping and wandered over through WestSide while Catherine napped in the stroller. At 6:30 we headed to RainForest for our reservations (7:00). We were seated just before 7 in the Elephant Room (we actually sat 1 table from where I sat with friends early in the year). Catherine freaked with the 1st storm, but was fine after that. Lets seee... Andrea got the HUGE cobb salad. Jenny got a Hamburger. Catherine got the HotDogs. And I got the Calamari and a salad (shared with Catherine). Andrea and I got some drinks. She the Green Something (its a specialty.. cant remember the name) and I a margerita. YUMMMM! I love taking buses.
After dinner we headed home to crash and get ready for an early morning
10/5 Tuesday AM Mickey woke us up but Catherine would not stir enough to answer the phone. We headed to the bus at 7:15 and were at MK by 7:30. We had a date with Pooh and Friends (NO, I did not even try for CRT, Cat does not eat enough for that place) SO Crystal Palace it was. Again.. ALL A SURPISE.. and Again.. Jenny was as excited as Catherine. We wheeled through the gates and got to CP in decent time. We had 810 PS but got sat a bit early. Where did we sit? Oh the table right next to where we sat in Feb. LOL see a pattern. Interaction was great, and even though Catherine ate NOTHING they charged me for her meal. So.. why not grab a few apples and a banana for the bag to eat later in the day.. I paid for em! Now.. I'm ainsy to hit Fantasy Land and do everything as walkons and get it over with...after all that is why you make an early PS! but Andrea wanted to relax for the big day ahead. So I figited and 'relaxed'. When she went to the bathroom I grabbed our stuff and said to Jenny "tell her I'll meet her outside" HA HA>>> I made my escape!
Fantasy Land still was good! YAY. Hit Dumbo 1st (like who doesn't), then the carosel. Now.. Catherine LOVES Andrea SO I got to stand and take pics while Andrea went around in circles .. HA HA :-x me and circles.. ick. After the carosel I was all about POOH (we didnt hit it in FEB). BUT Andrea said "hey lets do SNOW WHITE" Catherine, the Andrea lover, says "OK". I KNEW she'd freak out. It took all I had to get her on Small World in Feb after the scare on BUZZ. Well we went.. and well, she freaked out.. and Pooh, did we ride pooh? NOPE. but it was okay... Maybe next time. So then we head to Toon Town. First a stop at Teacups.... Dang ride sits more then 2 so around in circles I got to go :-x. A visit with the Mad Hatter and the Twiddles and off to the Races. We had fun racing. Andrea and Cat drove together so I got some cute pics of them behind me. After INDY is was time for TOON TOWN!
Goofy was the 1st stop. My afraid of the dark kid LOVES rollercoasters, and my circle-hating stomach loves them too. SO I sat behind Andrea and Cat and we had a blast, and yes, we got off and back on.. WE LOVE THIS!!! Then off to the judges tent.. and the other one "county fair"? LINES WERE WAY to long and its about 11:00 now. It was HOT HOT HOT.. So Catherine took a run through Donalds and got wet, then we hopped the train to Adventure Land. (we were meeting my friend Dan and his DW for lunch at Peco Bill's at 11:30). Off the train and here is where I fall in LOVE with Fast Pass.
*note.. Feb trip was just me and DD.. no big rides no fastpass needed.. I am a FastPass virgin*
okay.. Andrea and Jen get Catherine in her stroller while I book it to Splash for some FastPasses. I get Cat one just in case, she is JUST tall enough. Return time 12:05 - 1:05.. cool. (added note: Jenny hates any sort of motion ride. No circles or heights for her) I meet them at Peco Bill's where we find Dan and Karen and enjoy our lunch. YUMM
We part ways with Dan and Karen.. no kids mean they are off to Epcot for Wine and Food (HAVE FUN!). Andrea and I head for Splash while Jen and Catherine to the Laughing Place. It's 12:10 so i run to Big Thunder Mountain for 2 more FastPasses. Return time 1:00 - 2:00.. neat oh. So we go see Cat at Laughing place and say.. be back soon! We hoped in line for Splash at 12:20 and were off by 12:30. WHY DO PEOPLE NOT USE THESE??? Well we loved it! We get off and cannot find Jen and Catherine.. I'm panicking! really.. I was about to call Security! BUT we found them near the exit of BTMR.. they thought we'd gone there first. After chit chatting for just a minute and doing a sunscreen reapply its 1:00 and we are off to BTMR. Going through the queuee they say "there is weather in the area.. we MAY have to close this attraction" we walk faster. We are on and off the ride in 15 minutes AGAIN... FASTPASS ROCKS. So we collect the crew and decide its time to make the kid happy and go see Cinderella. So Andrea and Jen head through the hub to Toon Town while I book it to Space for some more FastPasses. I beat them to the line for Cinderella and wait. It was a decent wait.. but its all that Catherine WANTS to do. SO.. we see Cinderella AND Arial. She was VERY happy. SO.. now its 2:30 and time for our FP on SPACE. Its also almost parade time. SO we head to the potty... always gotta potty.. then to the hub for a VERY good spot. We got a spot on the hub right at the spoke to Tomorrow Land. Andrea and I then book it (we actually ran) to SPACE and were on and off in 10 minutes (I LOVE FASTPASS). It wasn't really as great as I remembered. BTMR and SPLASH were more fun. We get back to the hub with 5 min to spare for the parade, so I run for new waters.. did I mention it was HOT! I get back just in time and we really enjoyed the parade!
After the parade a certain someone was sleepy so I leaned her back and put a coat over the opening and away she went zzzzzzz. We went by Philarmagic and grabbed a FP for this and then shopped Main Street and just walked around. 1 1/2 hrs later I figured the kid can wake up. So I woke her up and took her on Pirates. Yeah... LOL My afraid of the dark kid cried (softly) the whole time. MEAN MOMMY! But come on.. she LOVES the movie. Anyway... after that Jen and Andrea went on Haunted Mansion (sniff sniff I love that ride) while Catherine and I took a trip to the potty to towel off and put dry fresh clothes on her. She was just so sweaty. She then had an apple and banana and was a new kid. Refreshed and fed. We met Jen and Andrea at the exit of HM and headed to PhilarMagic. OMG... I LOVED THIS SHOW!!! It as all of ours favorite of the day. Just amazing!!! I cannot believe I didn't do it in Feb. Catherine was not into 3D then, but she was this time and LOVED it! A MUST SEE!
So, its like 6:00 now and we wanted pizza, so we check the guide map and head to Plaza Pavilion which was CLOSED!
So.. okay.. 1 hr til Spectro... lets get a seat and I ran to Caseys. We got a good seat just down from Caseys and dinner was good. Catherine made friends with the girl next to us, and it was an enjoyable night. The parade was great! and I still can't figure out why everyone LEAVES after it. We stayed put and relaxed until WISHES. When it started I put Cat up on my shoulders (note I'm only 5') and again, I just LOVED IT. Of course neither Jen or Andrea had ever seen it.. but they just loved it too! BRAVO!!!Well its over so we pack up and head out. I stopped to get Cat a balloon, and we got the 5th bus for Movies. I was a bit disappointed in the amount of time there was between buses, as in Feb they were delivering 2 at a time on a Spectro/Wishes night.. but oh well, it wasn't too long. Back at the hotel, we tucked Catherine in and Andrea and I sat on the Balcony and ate Pizza and had soda's. It was a relaxing night and I really did enjoy the ASMovies.
10/6... we slept til Catherine woke up around 8:30 and then packed up and headed home. Housekeeping knocked a few times that morning... it was annoying but oh well.
Great stay... it all was wonderful. There is not one Disney thing I can really complain about! NOW... in the works..
ADULT TRIP.. Andrea and Me .. SWAN DOLPHIN in February... Adult rides, Adult food, and grown up FUN!!! PI here we come! LOL Time to plan! LOL Yes, I'm a freak!
