M
mom of girls
Guest
Recently returned from 11/24 - 11/30 trip. We had a great time. We spent a lot of time at MK since DDs favorite rides are here and we had such easy monorail and boat access from GF. We had seen 100 Years of Magic parade in October so skipped it this time. I would say dont miss it - its really good. Crowds weren't terrible except Monday evening MK was very busy. DD age 4 has new favorite rides. In addition to Haunted Mansion and Pirates, she loves BTMRR and SM. HM and PoC were never crowded. Peter Pan was crowded many mornings and afternoons. Buzz Lightyear seemed to be crowded in the early evening before park closing. Dumbo was typically crowded except in the early morning or evening. Aladdin often had only a short wait. Its a Small World was never crowded. Wait times were often less than posted. At MVMCP DD 4 yrs and DH were able to ride SM 3 times in a row without getting off and BTMRR 4 times in a row. MVMCP was really fun. The Celebrate the Season show is excellent as is the parade.
My eldest still enjoys autographs but now enjoys the souvenir stamped pennies even more. At the giftshop outside Pirates we purchased a small album for her pennies. This is a great gift shop. We also purchased pretend shackles and a hook. The prices were reasonable and there was lots of fun stuff.
Another great purchase was the 100 Years of Magic 2 CD set. Its a nice remembrance of some favorite rides with songs from Pirates, Haunted Mansion, SM and the songs from Main Street USA. We bought this at the gift counter as you exit SM.
We spent 2 afternoons - approx 2 hrs each time at MGM. On Saturday we saw the parade which was very good - don't miss it - and the Beauty and the Beast show. Its even better than before. DDs really enjoyed it. We returned Monday afternoon for Bear in the Big Blue House (DD 15 mos really liked this) and Little Mermaid show. DD 4 yrs always loves this. She really liked sitting in the first row but in actuality you can see more from farther back.
We only spent 2 hours at AK on Monday morning. We had missed Festival of the Lion King on our last trip because of timing issues and I promised DD that she would be able to see it with her dad when we returned. Festival of the Lion King is a great production - another don't miss. Both DDs really liked it. I love this park and we had spent alot of time here on our Oct trip and saw the Jammin Jungle Parade at that time - I would say don't miss it. My girls danced through the whole thing. I love the music - its probably my favorite parade.
Our entire evening at Epcot was unplanned (except for our 6:50 pm PS at Ashekus which I had made at 4:30 pm the same day)and the timing worked out perfectly. We had Cappucinos and waited for the tree lighting. Tree lighting was very nice. Immediately after we found a spot by Norway to watch ToD which was very good (similiar to previous tapestry parade for the Millenium). Then we headed into Norway for dinner (see restaurant reviews). The kidcot stations were fun - the girls liked making the masks and getting stamps from each country. We had a great time at the Candlelight Processional. It was unplanned. 15 minutes before the show, there were plenty of seats. We were able to sit in the very back with a straight on view. We preferred the back so we could have a stroller in case 15 mos old needed to sleep and DDs were able to eat their Kaki Gori without dripping on innocent bystanders. My DDs were able to walk around and dance - it was pretty cute see the little kids dancing to Hallelujah Chorus. Immediately after CP we found a lagoon view spot near Japan to watch Illuminations - best spot we've had in a while.
DD was the most crowded spot, we tried to go one evening but DDs fell asleep while we were searching for parking so we drove a little further and made a Goodings run instead which resulted in a nice take out dinner on our balcony (see restaurant reviews). We had better luck and an enjoyable time in the morning. I think with parks closing early, lots of people are going to DD.
Characters were out in full force at character meals, in the parks and in hotel lobbies.
I miss ee but we rushed less in the morning by not having it available to us so I can't really complain.
We had annual passes this year which was so nice. We really enjoyed just being in the parks without so much pressure to ride, see, do. Popping into a park for a few hours was great with no thought of "getting our money's worth" and because we slowed down and just enjoyed being there we actually got more out of it. I wouldn't normally be at WDW 3 times in one year but we were very lucky this year to go multiple times - and with a variety of extended family members.
Post questions and I'll answer if I can.
Finally, thanks to knowledgeable folks on this board I was able to plan it all so well. Thank you.
My eldest still enjoys autographs but now enjoys the souvenir stamped pennies even more. At the giftshop outside Pirates we purchased a small album for her pennies. This is a great gift shop. We also purchased pretend shackles and a hook. The prices were reasonable and there was lots of fun stuff.
Another great purchase was the 100 Years of Magic 2 CD set. Its a nice remembrance of some favorite rides with songs from Pirates, Haunted Mansion, SM and the songs from Main Street USA. We bought this at the gift counter as you exit SM.
We spent 2 afternoons - approx 2 hrs each time at MGM. On Saturday we saw the parade which was very good - don't miss it - and the Beauty and the Beast show. Its even better than before. DDs really enjoyed it. We returned Monday afternoon for Bear in the Big Blue House (DD 15 mos really liked this) and Little Mermaid show. DD 4 yrs always loves this. She really liked sitting in the first row but in actuality you can see more from farther back.
We only spent 2 hours at AK on Monday morning. We had missed Festival of the Lion King on our last trip because of timing issues and I promised DD that she would be able to see it with her dad when we returned. Festival of the Lion King is a great production - another don't miss. Both DDs really liked it. I love this park and we had spent alot of time here on our Oct trip and saw the Jammin Jungle Parade at that time - I would say don't miss it. My girls danced through the whole thing. I love the music - its probably my favorite parade.
Our entire evening at Epcot was unplanned (except for our 6:50 pm PS at Ashekus which I had made at 4:30 pm the same day)and the timing worked out perfectly. We had Cappucinos and waited for the tree lighting. Tree lighting was very nice. Immediately after we found a spot by Norway to watch ToD which was very good (similiar to previous tapestry parade for the Millenium). Then we headed into Norway for dinner (see restaurant reviews). The kidcot stations were fun - the girls liked making the masks and getting stamps from each country. We had a great time at the Candlelight Processional. It was unplanned. 15 minutes before the show, there were plenty of seats. We were able to sit in the very back with a straight on view. We preferred the back so we could have a stroller in case 15 mos old needed to sleep and DDs were able to eat their Kaki Gori without dripping on innocent bystanders. My DDs were able to walk around and dance - it was pretty cute see the little kids dancing to Hallelujah Chorus. Immediately after CP we found a lagoon view spot near Japan to watch Illuminations - best spot we've had in a while.
DD was the most crowded spot, we tried to go one evening but DDs fell asleep while we were searching for parking so we drove a little further and made a Goodings run instead which resulted in a nice take out dinner on our balcony (see restaurant reviews). We had better luck and an enjoyable time in the morning. I think with parks closing early, lots of people are going to DD.
Characters were out in full force at character meals, in the parks and in hotel lobbies.
I miss ee but we rushed less in the morning by not having it available to us so I can't really complain.
We had annual passes this year which was so nice. We really enjoyed just being in the parks without so much pressure to ride, see, do. Popping into a park for a few hours was great with no thought of "getting our money's worth" and because we slowed down and just enjoyed being there we actually got more out of it. I wouldn't normally be at WDW 3 times in one year but we were very lucky this year to go multiple times - and with a variety of extended family members.
Post questions and I'll answer if I can.
Finally, thanks to knowledgeable folks on this board I was able to plan it all so well. Thank you.
