Ride all the boats, meet all the characters - a first-timer's Jan '15 TR 7/28 updates and conclusion

[RunnerMommyof4]

I'm doing the happy dance I found your report! We are planning our 1st trip and staying at POR! Can't wait to keep reading more

 

[Chicago Mo]

oh my goodness!!! How fun!!! He really is smilie isn't he? just the cutest thing ever!!! I am so glad he is enjoying EVERYTHING!!! and being a good sport

 

[ursalita]

Aren't the Disney boats great? I remember taking the boat from WL to MK our first trip and I think that's when I decided I loved Disney.

The boat to DTD must be wonderful. We're skipping it this year because I don't want to deal with the buses. We're going to miss the Lego Store.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

having the option of the boats is definitely great - even if just to mix things up. Plus they can add a bit of calmness and relaxation to a Disney trip

The Lego store is an absolute must - I am sure Grant had a blast!

We've gone into T-Rex to explore the gift shop, etc. and also my daughter enjoyed playing in the "dig site" out front. She found the inside pretty loud and scary (that T-Rex near the entrance really freaked her out) so it will probably be a while before we actually eat there. Raglan Road tends to be our DTD go-to place

 

[ach222]

Your son reminds me a bit of me when I was that age - I was scared of everything, even in Disney! My brother and I loved the boat ride in Mexico as well because it wasn't at all scary

DH and I actually really enjoy the food at T-REX. We go there even though we don't have kids. Their portions are huge though! In fact he requested that we try to get a reservation for our trip in a few weeks when I told him I didn't have anything planned for one night - T-REX is where he wanted to go!

I have always had massive anxiety, so he comes by it naturally! I am really glad we did TRex, I'm sure we'll be back when DS2 is older as well.

I'm doing the happy dance I found your report! We are planning our 1st trip and staying at POR! Can't wait to keep reading more

Well yay! Welcome, hopefully I'll be able to help out!

oh my goodness!!! How fun!!! He really is smilie isn't he? just the cutest thing ever!!! I am so glad he is enjoying EVERYTHING!!! and being a good sport

Thanks, he really is a happy child, we are pretty lucky.

Aren't the Disney boats great? I remember taking the boat from WL to MK our first trip and I think that's when I decided I loved Disney.

The boat to DTD must be wonderful. We're skipping it this year because I don't want to deal with the buses. We're going to miss the Lego Store.

I don't blame you for skipping it without the busses - the boats are just so relaxing!

having the option of the boats is definitely great - even if just to mix things up. Plus they can add a bit of calmness and relaxation to a Disney trip

The Lego store is an absolute must - I am sure Grant had a blast!

We've gone into T-Rex to explore the gift shop, etc. and also my daughter enjoyed playing in the "dig site" out front. She found the inside pretty loud and scary (that T-Rex near the entrance really freaked her out) so it will probably be a while before we actually eat there. Raglan Road tends to be our DTD go-to place

We also did Raglan Road which we really enjoyed. I had planned on doing the build a dino there as well but we were pretty beat by then so that and the dig site will have to be for another trip!

 

[ach222]

Monday - Part 1 - Breakfast at Chef Mickey's

We were up bright and early Monday, isn't it amazing how much easier it is to get up in Disney than it is at home?!

We had an early ADR at Chef Mickey's (7:30) and one of the things I had really gone back and forth about was how to get there. From my research, the busses were only guaranteed to start running an hour before park opening, so that wouldn't work (although it seems I read about people taking early busses all the time - didn't want to risk it), we could've parked at MK than ridden over to the Contemporary, but again it seemed parking lots/monorails weren't open that early either. Could have driven to Contemporary then driven to MK for the rest of the day, but in the end we drove to Contemporary, valet parked for the day, and used the monorail to get to and from MK. This cost $20 plus tip but worked very well (we actually did it again Friday at the GF). We were able to avoid the busses at the end of the night which was great. We gave ourselves plenty of time so we checked in a bit before 7:15. I believe (because of the way they seated people and how/when the characters came out) that we were the first of our seating to get there. We were seated in the room with the buffet.

I had read about how "gross" people find Chef Mickey's so I was prepared for it to not be nice. I will say, perhaps because we were there very early, while the food was not great, the place was very clean. The buffet was well kept and well stocked. Food was pretty bland but we were able to have our first Mickey waffles, which were, of course, delicious! Grant ate a couple of those, some cantaloupe and a little cinnamon roll. Jon and I had the usual breakfast assortment, nothing stands out in my memory and I didn't take a photo.

Since we had arrived early and were seated early, the entire experience was very fast! It didn't feel rushed, but I was thrilled that it worked out that we were going to easily make rope drop at MK. Here are the pics from the meal.

This was a great way to start our first morning at WDW, so much fun for Grant!

 

[ariane37]

Love the pictures of Grant with the characters at CM's, especially the last one of him with Pluto We ate there twice when the boys were younger. Yes, the food isn't the greatest but when your kids are young & they want to meet the Fab 5, it's one of the more convenient ways to do it. Glad you had a good experience!

 

[princessbelle2015]

The pictures of Grant at CM were great. Looks like you had a good start to the day.

 

[ach222]

Love the pictures of Grant with the characters at CM's, especially the last one of him with Pluto We ate there twice when the boys were younger. Yes, the food isn't the greatest but when your kids are young & they want to meet the Fab 5, it's one of the more convenient ways to do it. Glad you had a good experience!

He was so excited to see Pluto! That was a fun interaction. Yes, it is for sure a great place to go with the kids. We might try Tusker House in the future but I would definitely not be opposed to doing CMs again while the kids are still young.

The pictures of Grant at CM were great. Looks like you had a good start to the day.

It was the perfect start to the day, thanks!

 

[SarahDisney]

Walter White LEGO figure ... that's certainly something you don't see on every TR. I'm glad Grant enjoyed the LEGO store ... it really is such a fun place!

Sorry to hear the flatbread at TRex wasn't great - it looks good, but I guess looks can be decieving sometimes.

Grant looks like he had a great time with the characters at Chef Mickey! He has such a huge smile on his face in every picture! So cute!!

 

[jhoannam]

Loving your TR so far.

 

[ariane37]

delete

 

[ariane37]

He was so excited to see Pluto! That was a fun interaction. Yes, it is for sure a great place to go with the kids. We might try Tusker House in the future but I would definitely not be opposed to doing CMs again while the kids are still young.

Definitely try TH if (when lol) you go back! It blows CM out of the water!

 

[ursalita]

It looks like Grant had a ball with the characters at Chef Mickey's!

I'm glad you found it easy to get up and out in the morning. Prior trips we've take our time in the mornings since it's vacation. I'm making it a point to not do that this year and make RD at least once to each park.

 

[ach222]

Walter White LEGO figure ... that's certainly something you don't see on every TR. I'm glad Grant enjoyed the LEGO store ... it really is such a fun place!

Sorry to hear the flatbread at TRex wasn't great - it looks good, but I guess looks can be decieving sometimes.

Grant looks like he had a great time with the characters at Chef Mickey! He has such a huge smile on his face in every picture! So cute!!

I had to laugh, this morning i asked Grant what his favorite place to eat at Disney was and he said T-Rex so we may be going back to that one next trip, I'll branch out on my order

Loving your TR so far.

Thanks!

Definitely try TH if (when lol) you go back! It blows CM out of the water!

That's what I've read, I'm excited to try it next time!

It looks like Grant had a ball with the characters at Chef Mickey's!

I'm glad you found it easy to get up and out in the morning. Prior trips we've take our time in the mornings since it's vacation. I'm making it a point to not do that this year and make RD at least once to each park.

As fast as the days seem to go at Disney, I'm glad we started pretty early every day. RD at MK is so wonderful!

 

[ach222]

Monday Morning - MK

After our fun breakfast at the Contemporary, we jumped on the monorail and headed to MK. Our breakfast had run very smoothly and quickly and we were able to arrive at MK in plenty of time to watch the opening show. I was so glad that this worked out as it ended up being one my favorite things. It's such a special way to start the day. Everyone enjoyed it and it was a great way to get in the spirit (before being trampled by strollers).

We then headed in along with all of the masses headed to A & E and the mine train. It was a little crazy. This was MLK day and the crowds were nuts. We headed down main street and tried to step to the side a bit to let the crowds pass.

We made a quick stop to try and get that darn sword out of the stone, but no luck this time.

Grant wanted to ride the carousel so we jumped on. Grant has never ridden on a carousel horse, he always wants to be in the sleigh. As it turns out, the only other family on the ride had a kid who was the same way. So with the whole carousel open, we had that sleigh filled up front and back haha!

We noticed Pooh had no line so walked onto it. This ride is a bit trippy if you ask Jon and me haha. Grant was a bit weirded out by it, we did not go back. Glad we didn't wait in line haha!

We headed straight over to the teacups and took a spin. This is such a classic and super fun. G, of course, didn't want to spin too fast but seemed to like it and we even repeated it Friday.

We watched Alice and the White Rabbit take an early morning spin with a lucky family and then we headed on to Dumbo. This was the beginning of a very deep love Grant developed for the Dumbo ride. He was thrilled that you could control how high/low it goes.

This is the point where we made a mistake. Grant saw Barnstormer and proclaimed that he wanted to ride it. A bit of backstory, Grant had watched the mine train and BTMRR videos many times and was so excited to ride them. We had been riding all of the fun kids rides while waiting on our FP time for mine train (around 10 I think) and each time he heard the train go by he'd say "there's the mine train! I want to ride it!"

Since it wasn't time for our mine train FP, we went ahead and walked onto the Barnstormer. The problem here is that you just don't feel that secure on it and it really does go pretty fast. I wasn't really prepared as I was thinking it was still more of a kids ride (which, I mean, it is) and thus Grant was not really prepared. This was the first of many times we heard "I liked it, but I don't want to go again".

Suddenly, he wanted nothing to do with our mine train FP or anything like it. He declared he didn't want to ride any roller coasters. This is not a big loss for me so I let it go and was already rearranging the week's FPs in my head. Jon was a bit bummed, but we weren't going to push it. Somewhere in here, Jon went on SDMT and I have no idea what G & I did as everything I have down in my notes, I remember doing with both Jon and G.

So, at some point, we all went to Philharmagic - which Grant was convince was really "Fill our Magic" and was very concerned with how they were going to fill our magic and what that would entail. I thought this was super cute. Grant was not a fan of when the water sprays you and took the glasses off for a bit of it, but overall it was a success.

There was a 10:30 Dream Along with Mickey so we headed to the front of the castle. Grant really enjoyed this.

We then headed to our Peter Pan FP which was around 11. This was great, and as long as we kept pointing out all of the scenes Grant likes, he didn't get too nervous about the dark/being in the air. We decided it was time for lunch and headed to CHH. I am going to guess it was around 11:20? My notes aren't great. We thought we might beat the rush and that was a good choice, it was easy to get in and order. Jon and I had lobster rolls and Grant had chicken nuggets, the food was very good and I enjoyed the theming of the place.

Oh hey! Look, there IS a picture of my CM bfast - I'll just stick it here

Ok, I'll break here - we had a great morning in MK and got a ton done despite the crowds!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Chef Mickey's is one place we haven't done yet - just hear mixed to negative things about it which pushes other buffet/character meals above it in our priority list. I do think we will try at at one point and glad to hear your plans worked out well and it at least met/surpassed your low expectations

And the welcome show is another classic thing we have never done ... we tend to have pre-park opening ADRs so we don't have the chance to see it. Definitely on the Disney bucket list though

My kids love the carousel - though they definitely want to be on a horse that goes up and down. That is funny that you and the other family filled up the sleigh with the rest of the ride empty

Aw, sorry to hear Grant didn't like Barnstormer and then didn't want to do the Mine Train. He might have been better off doing the Mine Train first as that is so smooth in some ways it is an "easier" ride than Barnstormer. My little guy was so upset he couldn't go on the bigger roller coasters and then when we got on Barnstormer he was so excited - and that turned to dread as soon as we started down the first hill ... definitely made it easier for the rest of the trip that he wasn't tall enough for other roller coasters.

I too would be concerned how the "Fill our Magic" and what sort of apparatus is required.

Peter Pan is such a classi and glad Grant enjoyed his ride.

CHH is a nice option for quick service as the food is "different" than most other places - especially like sitting upstairs as you can get a good view of Fantasyland

Definitely sounds like you had a productive morning!

 

[princessbelle2015]

It worked great that you were able to see the opening show at MK. You accomplished a lot especially with it being MLK day.

I understand about the carousel ride. To this day I have never riden on the horse but have always been on the sleigh /bench seat. However I love all rollercoaster s so there is hope.

Looks like you had a good lunch at CHH.

 

[ariane37]

The MK opening show is one of my favorite things, and I'm guaranteed to cry every time I see it I tell everyone I know who goes that they should try to do it at least once! I think it's totally worth skipping a pre-park ADR for and you're right, it definitely gets you in the spirit for the day . Glad you all enjoyed it!

 

[RunnerMommyof4]

Chef Mickeys is on my questionable list, for 1 my family loves buffets, 2 they love trains, monorails, anything of that nature and 3 they would love the cast of characters. I am just debating if 1 breakfast or dinner would be a better option. I am doubtfully my kids would find the food bad since they love Bonzana and in my mind that's as bad as buffets get. Glad to read your review about it. Thanks!