Santa Clause is coming...to Disney! Dec. at CBR! *8/4- pics of WWoHP!*

[nessz79]

Yeah for your mini trip! I leave on the 12th to go to WWOHP so I want to know everything!!! I did hear about the long lines for the rides and shops, but I wonder if that was b/c it just opened??? Either way let me know!

Don't worry, about the ride breaking down! I been stuck on quite a few rides in Disney and survived! Matter to fact I survived being stuck hanging upside down on a roller coaster at the Jersey Shore!

I'm excited, this will be our first time to universal. We are planning on eating somewhere on city walk too! Margaritaville is my first choice, but if you have any suggestions I'm all ears!!!

Have a wonderful time!!!

OMG- that would be one of my worst nightmares- hanging upside down!

Margaritaville is great! We ate there once w/o kids and one of the first things I said to DH is that we *had* to take our kids there! The volcano that erupts every 30 mins is very awesome and the atmosphere can't be beat.

 

[nessz79]

I can't wait to see the pics of WWOHP

I"ll bring them back!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I look forward to the WWOHP pics. I don't have this in my plan, mainly because I am the only Harry Potter fan in my house. My 8 year old isn't interested because "Dad likes it". She used to like Star Wars, but has turned against me on that as well, and figures if Dad likes it Harry Potter can't be something she would like. My 4 year old likes the movies though. Even though she does get scared at parts. Thinking back though Ally like Star Wars when she was 4 as well.

 

[nessz79]

I look forward to the WWOHP pics. I don't have this in my plan, mainly because I am the only Harry Potter fan in my house. My 8 year old isn't interested because "Dad likes it". She used to like Star Wars, but has turned against me on that as well, and figures if Dad likes it Harry Potter can't be something she would like. My 4 year old likes the movies though. Even though she does get scared at parts. Thinking back though Ally like Star Wars when she was 4 as well.

When I was little, I didn't care for Star Wars much either (except the Ewoks!), but I definitely enjoy all that now! So there's hope!

My boys aren't hugely into WWoHP either, but I figure we need to at least check it out. I'm looking forward to it, though!

We think now we might go to DTD Sunday night. It's so great because the kids won't know that they are going back in December. I predict there will be lots of "When are we going back to Disney" questions with sad faces and I'm going to have to hold myself down from announcing our December trip. I told DH it's going to be a teaser and he was like "For who?". DH knows me so well. He knows I'm going to be the saddest one there when I know we have to wait to see the parks!

 

[nessz79]

Hi everyone! We're back from our mini-trip! Here's a quick run-down before I develop a more detailed report:

Sunday, 1st- left at 7 AM, arrived at Downtown Disney at 10, ate lunch there
Checked into Days Inn on International at 1:30, had to wait for one room
Left for Sea World at 4 and DH and I got our free tickets for teachers
Left Sea World at 9

Monday, 2nd- went to Islands of Adventure at 9, but waited in several lines before entering
Did Seuss Landing and then walked around. Gaped at lines for lines to just get INTO WWoHP. We were super hot and decided to eat lunch at Margaritaville. Went back to hotel to swim and relax.
Returned to IOA at 5. Did Seuss Landing repeats. Were able to walk into WWoHP and walked around, gaped, DH and DS rode FoH. We toured the castle w/o doing the ride. Walked through Jurassic Park and Toon part. Left around 8:30
Ate at Burger King in City Walk at 9 (we were really full from lunch). Back to hotel shortly after.

Tuesday, 2nd- after packing up, we ate at Sizzlers for breakfast.
Went back to DTD for shopping and Goofy's. Bought souvenirs and bought some make-your-own snacks. Left for home around 11.

Pictures and full report to come!

 

[nessz79]

Here's the beginning of our full report of our mini-trip.

We left Naples at 7 with MIL and FIL in tow. We set the GPS for Downtown Disney and took a scenic route that turned out to be a shortcut. Don't you love those GPS systems?? Who knew?

We arrived at DTD at a bit after 10 and thought it would be a great way to spend some time before checking into our hotel and heading to Sea World. It was relatively crowded already, I guess since it was Sunday. We first headed to Once Upon a Toy Store.

DS7 hanging out around the Mr. Potato Head station.

A view of the front of the store. We didn't buy anything this time around but came back another day for some toys.

Obligatory pictures with the character statues.

The kids had a great time waiting for Stitch to squirt them outside World of Disney. We decided then to go into World of Disney. I tried to indicate to DH to keep a close eye on the kids as I knew kids can easily get lost in here. But DH had just driven about 3 hours to get here and wasn't feeling well and I didn't want to push things too much...so, you know...we managed to almost lose a kid. DH went after DS7 who is very into wanting to do all grown-up things right now. So I lost DH and the IL's lost me and DS5. We finally found each other again. Take it from me- when they say you can get lost, it means not only that but it can happen within 2 minutes.

Inside views- I just love the theming!

The boys and I- as close as we would come to Cinderella this time around.

Next, we hit the Lego Store, but kept the boys out of the inside for today. DH thinks (and is probably right) that we can find the same Legos at the local Wal-Mart for cheaper. So we hung out around the outside.

Then, we went over to Raglan Road. for this restaurant! I have heard mixed reviews, but we loved it here!

Inside views.

Look who we were sitting next to! I love Bono!

This is the Irish Stew- delicious! It is roast beef with vegetables stewed with Guiness. Absolutely wonderful. The chips were also good, but I was more smitten with the stew. DH had a chicken/mushroom pot pie which he enjoyed- he said it was light and airy with a flaky crust. DS7 had a kid's fried shrimp meal which he scarfed down. DS5 had mac and cheese. FIL also had Irish Stew which he also loved. Can't remember what MIL had.

After a nice meal here, we prepared to go to our hotel. We took one stop in the T-Rex restaurant to see what that was all about. This was around 12:30 or so. Raglan Road was pretty quiet, but T-Rex was *packed*!

Coming up next: Days Inn- tolerable? Plus, Sea World at night!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

So did you get enough Disney to get you through to December or did the mini-trip make it worse?

 

[nessz79]

We arrived at Days' Inn on International around 1. We checked in and had 2 adjoining rooms on the 2nd floor. Now, for $30/night, I wasn't expecting much. So I was neither pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised with our room. First, it wasn't clean yet. So we had to camp out in the in-laws' room while ours was being cleaned. This took until almost 3, even thought they said it would be already be cleaned and ready. No biggie. We watched tv and DH managed to nap a little. He's had a terrible cold and is still trying to get over it. His ears were plugged and hurting. Our room was ready close to 3 and we moved over and unpacked some things. The a/c worked, but barely and it was always humid and rather warm, though tolerable. The room was worn but functional and hey- when DH says he'll go but only if we stay at a cheap motel- we do what we have to!

Sorry, no pics of the hotel, but you're not missing much. It was a great location as it was within 5 minutes of Universal and about 10 minutes Sea World. The pool was fine- the kids enjoyed it, though the outside area around it was shabby and not well-cleaned.

Anyway, we left for Sea World close to 4. When we got there, DH and I got our free tickets for teachers. We just had to present a copy of our teachers' certificates and recent pay stubs and IDs. It was quick and we went right through the entrance. It was super hot, as you can imagine.

First thing we came across was the dolphin nursery. I just *love* dolphins and the juveniles were so playful and fun!

They would swim by with their heads just out of the water to peek at us. There was one that was jumping straight up into the air for like 5 minutes. DH was able to get a few pictures. Here's one:

DS5 told me they were smiling at us. I fought back the urge to be scientific and just let him think that they were indeed smiling at us. Maybe they were! We have dolphins where we live in Naples. We just go down to the pier and we can usually see them swimming around, trying to get the fishermen's fish. However, they don't come up and smile at you like they do at Sea World.

It was starting to get cloudy and windy and we could hear a storm in the distance. After some deliberation on what to do, we got in line to do the walk-through of the Arctic exhibit.

DS's standing in line. The posted wait time just to get in was 15 minutes. It was at least that. Once inside, we saw belugas, a sleeping polar bear, a walrus, and maybe something else. I don't remember.

Please ignore my dopey expression here. I like this picture to show that the theming was really good by the belugas. DS5 thought it was really snow in the background.

We proceeded to see the sharks, eat at the Spice Mill, and seeing the sea lion show. They had a great one going for the "After Dark" experience that made fun of the other Sea World shows. Very good. We went on to see the penguins. It was raining most of the time, which is why we weren't doing any rides and doing only inside exhibits. We didn't manage to take pictures for a while.

We saw Shamu Rocks around 8.

We sat near an end, which is why it looks empty. Those seats filled in within the next 10 minutes, after which the show began. The trainers no longer go in the water with the Orcas, due to the incident last year. It kind of takes away from some of the excitement, but I still thought it was a beautiful show and I much rather it be safer. I bought the kids some light-up toys and we proceeded to Happy Harbor.

I was hoping some of the rides were open as they had been closed the whole evening due to lightning. They were! DH was itching to get back to the hotel (this would be a recurring theme as he was sick), but we were able to do the Shamu kid-roller-coaster ride. DS7 loves coasters he's tall enough to ride. He's just short of 48" and I'm sure he's looking forward to going on some bigger ones soon.

We headed out of the park around 9 and the kids were thanking us for taking them there, despite our limits with the time and weather.

Up next: IOA and the hair-raising crowds of WWoHP!

 

[nessz79]

IOA Day

We got up around 7 and got around rather slowly. We ate at IHOP and headed over to IOA. DH and I had vouchers for free tickets. We were chaperones for Grad Bash and since WWoHP wasn't open yet and they had used it for their advertising, they gave everyone who went to GB free tickets to come back. So DH and I redeemed our tickets and thought we'd just fly on through. Wrong! We had bought tickets from AAA, but apparently you still have to go through the regular ticket line to have them activated. This took about 15 minutes and then we had to wait another 10 minutes to get through the turnstiles. Sheesh!

As soon as we came into the park there was this looooooong line. It was a line for reservations to get into WWoHP. We thought "Yikes!" and decided to go to Seuss Landing. I had heard that it was easier to get into WWoHP in the evening so that would be our strategy.

We rode Cat in the Hat, which both kids loved! No pictures for that one- sorry. Next, we rode Seuss Trolley in the Sky. The line said 20 minutes. However, the ride had some technical problems and we had to wait like 30-40 minutes. Not worth it for this ride, IMHO. DS5 was scared to go on due to his fear of heights, but we managed to get him on and he was just fine.

Here he is, having a great time.

We went to One Fish, Two Fish and loved this ride. We got a bit wet, but we sat the kids on the outside to block the water for us some.

Definitely a fun little ride. Kind of like Dumbo but with water. You *will* get wet!

We then took a long walk around IOA. We were going to head towards WWoHP, but it was so packed that we were detoured another way. Only people who got reservations were able to go in. Everyone else was directed into a line to get into WWoHP. Let me tell you, it was NUTS! The line wrapped from WWoHP counter-clockwise, all the way back to the area between Jurassic Park and Toon Lagoon. I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures, but I was so overwhelmed by the crowds that I just wanted to get out of that area. All the lines were huge. Jurassic Park was 75 minutes, SpiderMan was 80 minutes, etc. So we let the kids get wet in some of the splash areas:

And headed out to Margaritaville for lunch. Again, no pics and I apologize for that. I had a Caesar Wrap and Corn and Crab Chowder and it was very good. I wanted something light because I just wasn't feeling well from the heat. In fact, everyone was under the weather, so we headed back to the hotel to swim and relax.

Not to worry- we headed back to IOA and finally saw WWoHP! In my next installment.

Is anyone out there, by the way? Am I talking to myself?

If you're there, come on out and say hi!

 

[nessz79]

WWoHP and more of IOA!

So we finally headed back to IOA around 5:30. We thought it was too hot to go back any sooner. We went in and did some Seuss rides again for the kids, not knowing if we'd be able to do much more than that.

Luckily, the crowds were much lower than in the morning and we were able to head right into WWoHP!

It is even better in person! I was actually kind of prepared to be disappointed. I figured it couldn't really live up to the hype- but it did and more! It was very well-themed and very magical!

Here was the line to get into Olivanders:

We passed on most of the shops as they were small and super, super crowded. DH and I knew we'd be back again for Grad Bash and thought it'd be easier to see things then (we hoped anyway).

So even though we were able to walk right into WWoHP, it was still super packed as you can see here:

Here was the wait time for Forbidden Journey.

The kids weren't tall enough to ride and I was in no mood to wait that long, so we skipped it.

DH and DS7 rode FoH:

It was a 20 minute wait when they got into line. Right after they did, though, it flipped to 40 minutes! So the IL's, DS5, and I settled in for a good wait. We were right at the base of the castle so I was able to take some good pictures.

This was at the base of the castle. It was so incredibly high- I was very impressed!

My FIL wanted me to get this picture. See those 3 tiny towers off the main tower? We thought that was a very cute detail!

While we were waiting, I went into the shop that FJ empties into. It was very small and very crowded. I found a nice lady that worked there and asked her how to see the castle without riding the line. She told me to go into the locker area (which is directly off of the inside of the shop) and ask someone there. They would direct us to the right place.

So I excitedly went to tell the IL's, who just kind of looked at me. I had to wait patiently for DH and DS7, who finally emerged and looked very happy. I told DH of my plan and warned him that the shop would be very crowded. He hates crowds as much as I do, so I had to prepare him. So we went back into the shop and it took us about 2 minutes to go 15 feet to the locker room. The locker room opens up to the line for the ride. I don't know how they prevent people from cutting the line here, other than a couple of workers there. But they were so busy all the time that I bet people try to cut in here. I'm sure the fellow riders wouldn't take it, though! Anyway, I tentatively stepped out, very close to the line and found a woman "directing traffic" so to speak. I told her we just wanted to see the castle, and we got cheerfully directed up some stairs and through an empty line.

First we came to a room with talking portraits. Some of the hologram things didn't come out in the photos, but they were chatting away:

I think this was the room with Dumbledorf. He didn't come out either .

We also saw a room where it snowed- very neat for my kids! Unfortunately, the snow didn't reach to where we were on the outskirts of the lines, but it was very neat to see. The pictures didn't work here as it was too dark.

So we snaked our way through the castle. I could feel people looking at us, like "How did they get over there and where are they going??", but I just avoided eye contact.

Oh, I almost forgot- I didn't get any Butterbeer, but I did buy the Pumpkin Juice. I thought it was very good- it was like pumpkin pie in a drink. However, it got mixed reviews and Dh and DS7 hated it.

It was getting rather late and we wanted to see some other things before we left, so off we went.

Up next: end of IOA, a final trip to DTD before returning home.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I'm stopping by to say Hi! 3 updates in less than 24 hours, Thanks for the pics of Harry Potter. I didn't plan on going there during out trip because of the crowds. I do like that you can see the inside of the castle without waiting in line. I think it would be better to do that. If you are waiting forever in line, you may not appreciate the details since you will be grumpy due to standing in line.
I hate lines.
You could have told people who were staring that you were just a ghost, and not real. so they shouldn't be staring.

 

[nessz79]

So did you get enough Disney to get you through to December or did the mini-trip make it worse?

I think it will get me through to December . However, I was definitely thinking the whole time "At Disney, we wouldn't have to pay extra for Front of the Line" or "At Disney, they would better manage the crowds."

 

[nessz79]

I'm stopping by to say Hi! 3 updates in less than 24 hours, Thanks for the pics of Harry Potter. I didn't plan on going there during out trip because of the crowds. I do like that you can see the inside of the castle without waiting in line. I think it would be better to do that. If you are waiting forever in line, you may not appreciate the details since you will be grumpy due to standing in line.
I hate lines.
You could have told people who were staring that you were just a ghost, and not real. so they shouldn't be staring.

Yeah, I am going through a stage (I hope) where I really don't like rides with over the shoulder harnasses. I get claustrophobic or something. Anyway, I think FJ does have those and I just didn't want to push it. Plus, you have to be 48" tall and my boys aren't quite there yet. I loved the castle! That would have been most of my reason for wanting to go through the line so I'm very glad we found a shorter way to see it. We didn't have to wait at all- it was just all walk-through.

Thank you for keeping me company here!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I think it will get me through to December . However, I was definitely thinking the whole time "At Disney, we wouldn't have to pay extra for Front of the Line" or "At Disney, they would better manage the crowds."

We went to Sesame Place the summer after going to Disney. They have a roller coaster, but it is pretty tame since it is for kids, but fun enough for an adult. They have a camera for every seat, and you can get a DVD and a Picture from your ride if you want. Since this was my daughters first time on a roller coaster I decided to get it.
What a mess. No line, just a free for all of everybody who was on the ride trying to get the attention of the two attendants. And of course the ride only lasts a couple of minutes, so every few minutes you have another rush of people trying to get the attention of the two attendants. After a half an hour of not being able to get their attention I walked away saying, "This place could learn alot from Disney" Easy suggestion. People get into a line, and the attendant takes care of them. The next person gets taken care of by the other attendant, when they are done, they take the next person. No chaos, and I bet the attendants would like it alot more too. Of course that is just my logical fix for it.

I did get the video the next year. When she gets older she won't remember it wasn't her first time on a roller coaster.

 

[miprender]

I just read your whole PTR. DH is a teacher too and we are heading down the week before from late Friday night (our flight is at 5:30 and leaving Tuesday) This is going to be our shortest trip. We usually go for 10 days. But a little Disney is better than no Disney.

I would love to see HP. The castle looks amazing.

If we only lived 3 hrs driving distance I can't imagine how many times we would be at Disney.

As for Seaworld: is the discount for teachers only who teach in FL or for any teachers? If DH could get in for free maybe I can entice him when we go next summer.

 

[nessz79]

We went to Sesame Place the summer after going to Disney. They have a roller coaster, but it is pretty tame since it is for kids, but fun enough for an adult. They have a camera for every seat, and you can get a DVD and a Picture from your ride if you want. Since this was my daughters first time on a roller coaster I decided to get it.
What a mess. No line, just a free for all of everybody who was on the ride trying to get the attention of the two attendants. And of course the ride only lasts a couple of minutes, so every few minutes you have another rush of people trying to get the attention of the two attendants. After a half an hour of not being able to get their attention I walked away saying, "This place could learn alot from Disney" Easy suggestion. People get into a line, and the attendant takes care of them. The next person gets taken care of by the other attendant, when they are done, they take the next person. No chaos, and I bet the attendants would like it alot more too. Of course that is just my logical fix for it.

I did get the video the next year. When she gets older she won't remember it wasn't her first time on a roller coaster.

Wow- how terrible! That's so funny about learning from Disney, though. We Disney die-hards can't help but compare!

 

[nessz79]

I just read your whole PTR. DH is a teacher too and we are heading down the week before from late Friday night (our flight is at 5:30 and leaving Tuesday) This is going to be our shortest trip. We usually go for 10 days. But a little Disney is better than no Disney.

I would love to see HP. The castle looks amazing.

If we only lived 3 hrs driving distance I can't imagine how many times we would be at Disney.

As for Seaworld: is the discount for teachers only who teach in FL or for any teachers? If DH could get in for free maybe I can entice him when we go next summer.

I'm not sure, but you can call and ask. They don't advertise this on their website or anywhere that I could find. I remembered it from the past when they did advertise it. I called and asked the customer service and they confirmed they still did it- all we needed was a copy of our teacher's certificate, recent pay stub, and photo ID. Give them a call- that would be great to get in free!

 

[nessz79]

So great news everyone! DH and I were talking over some wine last night (first step, haha) and we talked about the price difference between the 2 day ticket I originally booked and a 3, 4, or 5 day ticket. We decided that it was worth it. DH was concerned that we would wear ourselves out going to a park everyday and I told him we didn't have to go for more than a few hours on some days. And he agreed it would be a good idea! Coming back from a 2 day trip, I think we realized it just would not be enough time in the parks!

So I'm on hold right now, waiting for the next Disney agent so I can upgrade us to 5 day tickets. I'm so excited!!

I'll be back with the rest of my mini-trip report later today. I have to go to the dentist in a bit. The boys and I are getting it done all at once.

 

[nessz79]

End of Mini-Trip

Ok, so last I left off, we had just visited WWoHP and saw a fair amount considering crowd size and heat conditions.

Next, was the Jurassic Park section. DS5 did not want to ride the ride and it was still a 40 minute wait. Still too long for us to wait. We're used to Disney where we never wait for more than about 20 minutes due to planning and FPs. We found the Discovery Center and I was so excited as I can never seem to find this place. I've always wondered what it was like and DS5 loves, loves, loves dinosaurs.

So we walk in and ....it's.... closed. What??

DS5, luckily, was happy enough to lean over and look at the different dinos he could see. It didn't look terribly impressive from above, so I told myself we weren't missing much. The dinosaurs were very cool and huge, but I didn't see a lot of interactive areas for the kids.

So on we went and we came to Camp Jurassic, which is a play area for kids. I didn't get pictures, but it was extremely cool. I highly recommend this area, especially if you have older elementary-age kids. I walked around with the kids as I didn't want them to get lost. You know how these play areas are- you never know if you're going to be able to find your kids. There were areas to walk in nets, stairs, winding paths, and caves. I thought the caves were the *coolest* areas, but guess what? They were too scary! DS5 refused to go in the caves once he started seeing weird colors, mist, and hearing creepy noises. I brought him back to Dh and tried again with DS7 who was claiming to be brave enough. He did fine until we came to a rope bridge area. It was so misty on the floor that you couldn't see the floor and super scary noises going on inside. DS7 became almost hysterical and said no way! *Sigh* So I guess I'll have to wait to see it as DH would have been glaring at me if I insisted on having him watch the kids while I explored some kids' caves.

We ended with Me Ship, the Olive where we let the kids blow off the last of their steam with the slides they had in there. I thought it was another very cool play area for kids, but we were pressed for time. It was after 8 and we hadn't eaten any dinner. So we went to Burger King in Citywalk and went back to the hotel around 9:30. The kids were very sad to leave and I told them some day we'd be back.

The next morning we returned to DTD to do some last minute shopping and let rush-hour traffic go by. We went to the Christmas Shoppe and I bought a 2010 ornament. The kids didn't see it and I think I'm going to use it for the "big reveal" the day after Thanksgiving. I'm not quite sure how yet. I loved the Christmas store. They were very clever. They give the dads and such nice chairs by a fake fireplace (but cozy, nontheless) and the kids had a cute Mickey cartoon to watch:

I guess this way the moms are able to shop in peace.

Here are a couple more pics of the store:

We also tried to convince DS7 to do pin trading but he wouldn't bite. He doesn't want to wear the lanyard and is too shy to ask people to trade.
We took some fun pics:

And let DS5 ride the carousel:

We bought toys for the boys- DS5 bought a king cobra snake from Once Upon a Toy Store. I think it was in the Indiana Jones section. DS7 bought some Star Wars legos.
Lastly, we went to Goofy's Candy Shop and bought our very first make-your-own snacks. DH and I split a rice crispie treat with chocolate and peanut butter chips. DS7 got one with m&m's and Ds5 got the marshmallows with m&m's. They were so delicious- even better than I expected! Next time, I'm getting my own, though.

We left and were sad. DS7 was asking about how much longer we had until we went back to Disney. After our last trip, we had said another 3 years (I had to agree to this under pressure you see). So he was still thinking we had another year and a half. I couldn't help sneaking winks and grins at DH, who smiled but was probably secretly rolling his eyes. I can't wait to tell the kids we'll be back in December and for longer and staying onsite at CBR! /SIZE]

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

*Sigh* So I guess I'll have to wait to see it as DH would have been glaring at me if I insisted on having him watch the kids while I explored some kids' caves.

As a Disney Nut, you are in reality just a big kid, so you were well within your rights to go explore the caves. I know I would have.

And Thanks for the pics of the stores. It's been 4 years, but the pics of the Christmas store brought me right back to our last trip.

Love the new title too. You threw me for a second because I could have sworn I had subscribed, but the title didn't sound familiar.