So this is how parents relax at Disney! A June 8th-16th report.

[Slatas]

Joining in, great TR so far.
Awesome pics!!

 

[amazingact21]

I agree, the walk to the seats at Fantasmic! are so far away!
I'm sorry your kida got scared during the show. File that attraction away as something to re-visit years and years in the future.

I'm glad you all got to ride TSM together and you were able to sneak away for a bit and go on ToT. I'm sure the short break was nice!

 

[lbuzz52]

That sounds like an awesome sequence on TOT!

Our kids were not huge F! Fans either. It definitely won't be an every trip thing for us.

Glad the buses worked out!

 

[jc040404]

I will never understand all these crazy people that love ToT! That has to be the scariest ride I've ever been on. Glad you were able to fit it in before the show!

Poor Alex at Fantasmic. That show is a little intense. We had some of the same when ours' saw it for the first, and only, time.

Sounds like you had a nice first full day! Glad the bus wasn't too bad.

 

[teacher1717]

Sounds like you guys had a great time, and your kids are super cute. Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[declansdad]

Sounds like you had a good time and we have always found the buses for Pop to be fantastic. Leaving MK one night after Wishes, the line was just about back to the top of the row (close to the boat launch) and it took no longer than 35 minutes to get on the bus.


Too bad about Fantasmic, we see it every chance we get, I have even videoed the whole show.

 

[TeresaG]

Joining in, great TR so far.
Awesome pics!!

Hi! Thanks for joining!!

I agree, the walk to the seats at Fantasmic! are so far away!
I'm sorry your kida got scared during the show. File that attraction away as something to re-visit years and years in the future.

I'm glad you all got to ride TSM together and you were able to sneak away for a bit and go on ToT. I'm sure the short break was nice!

The walk was SO far! I had no idea. It's not like it's a big deal considering all the walking you do in the parks, but jeez! It was just unexpected. And then to park your stroller half way there which means carrying your 2yr old made it even more exhausting.

The break was wonderful. My husband didn't agree, but I thought it was great. lol

That sounds like an awesome sequence on TOT!

Our kids were not huge F! Fans either. It definitely won't be an every trip thing for us.

Glad the buses worked out!

The ToT sequence was so great. Lots of long drops and rises which was awesome. And no more F! for us for a long time. I think my kids will be traumatized for a while.

I will never understand all these crazy people that love ToT! That has to be the scariest ride I've ever been on. Glad you were able to fit it in before the show!

Poor Alex at Fantasmic. That show is a little intense. We had some of the same when ours' saw it for the first, and only, time.

Sounds like you had a nice first full day! Glad the bus wasn't too bad.

I looooove ToT! By far my favorite ride ever! Kenny would never EVER go on it with me so I have to go alone. My mom and brother came on it when we all went together a year ago and my mom was shell shocked. She will never go on it again. lol

Yea, we will not be going to Fantasmic for a long long time. That's ok. It was a nice show, but nothing I'll be upset about missing.

Sounds like you guys had a great time, and your kids are super cute. Can't wait to read the rest!

Hi! Thanks for joining! And thanks for the compliments on my kids. I agree, but I'm a little biased.

Sounds like you had a good time and we have always found the buses for Pop to be fantastic. Leaving MK one night after Wishes, the line was just about back to the top of the row (close to the boat launch) and it took no longer than 35 minutes to get on the bus.


Too bad about Fantasmic, we see it every chance we get, I have even videoed the whole show.

Hi and Our whole trip the buses we really great. There was only one day we had to wait a long time for a bus, and even though we were annoyed at the time, it can hardly taint the fact that the buses were very efficient.

My husband recorded the whole show, but the kids refuse to even entertain watching it. They were seriously traumatized. I guess we'll be sticking to Wishes for a while.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Found your TR this morning and am thoroughly enjoying it! Can't wait for the next update!

 

[tinkgurl]

Aw, that's too bad the kids got scared watching Fantasmic. Hopefuly you can talk them into watching it some day when they're older!

That's great you were able to get on a Pop bus so fast! When we stayed there, we seemed to have that luck as well. All I know is the line for the All-Star Resorts seems to always be crazy long!

 

[TeresaG]

**Apparently I did not take too many pictures on day 3. At least not for the first half which is odd for me. I was either too hot or too stressed, so I apologize that the next installment will be low on pictures.**


Day 3 started off pretty relaxing. Maddie let us sleep until close to 7:30am which is a gift from Maddie. She's usually a very early riser. We're not big on setting alarms on vacation. I know the best thing to do is wake early and get to the parks for rope drop, but I just can't bring myself to set an alarm and wake up the kids on vacation. Besides, I want to sleep too. Sleeping is my 3rd hobby. And after 2 kids I'm STILL trying to catch up on all my lost sleep. Waking up early is not in the cards for us right now.

So Maddie woke up at 7:30am and immediately demanded that daddy and Alex wake up as well. So we did the same thing we had done the morning before and put on Disney channel while daddy and I got ready. After I dressed the kids, sun-blocked them, and made sure we had all the required miscellaneous things we needed, I suggested we go to Everything Pop to get the kids breakfast.

We walk into mayhem. That food court can look about as full and crazy as any I've seen yet. Yowza. However, even though it looked nuts, the lines were all moving so it was very efficient. I grabbed a bagel for the kids to share with their granola bars and went to pay. Kenny had found a table and had the kids sitting in the chairs waiting to eat. While the kids devoured the bagel, Kenny and I drank our coffee (iced coffee for me -I can't drink hot drinks when it's 100 degrees out) and ate our breakfast bars I brought from home (well, Kenny ate his, I saved mine for later because I wasn't hungry yet -I'm not a big breakfast eater). Alex wavered between asking for another bagel (I tell you, this kid can EAT!) but ultimately decided to get popcorn when we got to Magic Kingdom. Popcorn is his favorite snack and what better way to wash down breakfast right? I love listening to him make his plans. Always makes me laugh.

So we're off to the bus stop. Lines were a little long but expected since the park just opened. We had to wait a bit, but that wasn't a problem. Maddie was starting to get sleepy on the bus which was a surprise seeing as she just woke up 2hrs ago. Sigh. Kids. She didn't fall asleep, but did the tango on my lap while she tried to find a comfortable position for the faux nap she wanted. Finally we turned into the Magic Kingdom and the music started playing. Maddie shot up on my lap and Alex looked over at us and they both just had big smiles on their faces while they listened to their favorite bus music.

Getting off the bus and getting the stroller situated is always just a pain, but eventually we were ready to start walking to the park. We went through security and Alex jumped out of the moving stroller because he INSISTED on putting his card through the machine and walking through the turnstile. This was the start to something he would do at every park for the rest of the vacation.

I love walking down Main Street USA. I remember this morning we were walking down at the same time the Mayor was out as well as the singers and dancers on the trolley car. It just adds to the Disney magic. I love it. We had no real plan for the morning. We went to check out Dumbo's line only to see it was already at 45mins. No thanks. We decided to head over to Winnie The Pooh and since even if the stand-by line was long, the new queue would help us out.

It was only 10mins so we got in line. The queue is really cute. Some things weren't working great, but the kids didn't care. The biggest problem we had was the line was moving so fast that the kids didn't actually get to play which they really wanted to do. It was hard to keep the line moving and grab the kids to move them on. It was fun though. Maddie sorta liked the ride, until we got the dark part. Then her highness started with the "No like! No do!" and mommy had to hold her and cover her eyes.

 

[ARmom30]

Some of our days did overlap that week. We were in HS that Thursday and Magic Kingdom on the Friday. We missed Fantasmic! because I refused to wait in line that long. I'm not sure if my DS would have liked it any more than yours did. lol.

 

[Disneychix]

We never get to do any fireworks shows because DS is deathly afraid. I've only done Fantasmic 1x before kids and it was good and all but nothing I want to fight those crowds for.

I want to sooo badly take DS on TOT when we go in Sept. He loves 'falling' type rides but I think it'll be too dark for him. We'll see though, somedays I wanna scare the poop out of him just cause

 

[declansdad]

Hi and Our whole trip the buses we really great. There was only one day we had to wait a long time for a bus, and even though we were annoyed at the time, it can hardly taint the fact that the buses were very efficient.

My husband recorded the whole show, but the kids refuse to even entertain watching it. They were seriously traumatized. I guess we'll be sticking to Wishes for a while.

I've been reading along for a bit now but DW (pooksa) has been doing the commenting.

Nothing wrong with Wishes, still my favourite!

 

[PrincessAmongPrinces]

Hi there! Great trip report so far! I am really enjoying it. Your children are adorable!!

 

[TeresaG]

Found your TR this morning and am thoroughly enjoying it! Can't wait for the next update!

Hi and !! Thanks for joining in!!

Aw, that's too bad the kids got scared watching Fantasmic. Hopefuly you can talk them into watching it some day when they're older!

That's great you were able to get on a Pop bus so fast! When we stayed there, we seemed to have that luck as well. All I know is the line for the All-Star Resorts seems to always be crazy long!

Yea, maybe when both of them are older we'll try again. Honestly, once was enough for me. Leaving the show with all those people walking around freaked me out because it would be so easy to lose one of the kids. I'm a worrier like that.

I agree every time we saw a line for the All Start resorts they were crazy long. I don't think we'd ever stay at an ASR again. Pop will be the go-to value from now on.

Some of our days did overlap that week. We were in HS that Thursday and Magic Kingdom on the Friday. We missed Fantasmic! because I refused to wait in line that long. I'm not sure if my DS would have liked it any more than yours did. lol.

That's cool that our days overlapped! I get such a kick out of hearing that other people were there at the same time. It's such a small world.

We didn't have to wait in line for F! but I've seen how long it gets in the past and would NEVER wait in it. That was why we did the dinner package. From here on out we have no interest in seeing it again though.

We never get to do any fireworks shows because DS is deathly afraid. I've only done Fantasmic 1x before kids and it was good and all but nothing I want to fight those crowds for.

I want to sooo badly take DS on TOT when we go in Sept. He loves 'falling' type rides but I think it'll be too dark for him. We'll see though, somedays I wanna scare the poop out of him just cause

I agree, F! is not something I would want to fight those crowds over more than once. I enjoyed it, but have no plans on seeing it again any time soon.

Alex has begged me to take him on ToT but I know he would be terrified so I've refused. I hear ya on wanting to scare the crap out of them sometimes though. I feel the same way! LOL!

I've been reading along for a bit now but DW (pooksa) has been doing the commenting.

Nothing wrong with Wishes, still my favourite!

Hi and Thanks for saying hi! Nothing at all wrong with Wishes. By far my favorite too! I still get teary eyed every time I watch it (which was twice this trip) My husband either ignores me or shakes his head. lol

Hi there! Great trip report so far! I am really enjoying it. Your children are adorable!!

Hi and Thanks for reading! I think my kids are adorable too, but I'm a tad biased.

 

[TeresaG]

When we were done we checked our app for lines and decided to head over to BTMRR and Splash Mountain since those lines were relatively short.

On our way I insisted -nay, demanded- we get FP's for Peter Pan. Peter Pan was MY childhood favorite ride and as an adult it is still my favorite. It will forever hold a very special place in my heart. Kenny doesn't get the magic about Peter Pan and so to him I say --phhhbt-- and tell him that's fine. He doesn't need to ride it. Hmph.

As we were walking by The Haunted Mansion I saw the wait time was only 10mins. I quickly invoked the 'birthday trip' pass and grabbed Alex's hand to go ride it. I love the Haunted Mansion. Alex likes it a lot more than he used to now that he knows all the ghosts are friendly and just a little "crazy." When we got off I asked Kenny if he wanted to go on, but the wait time had gone up to 20mins and he declined for a different time. Not graciously of course. There was some mumbling about "liking the Haunted Mansion too" and wanting "to ride before we leave" while he kicked at some pebbles, but he got over it.

OK, now we were REALLY on our way to BTMRR.

On our way Maddie fell asleep. Yay!

When we got to BTMRR I told Kenny to go ride with Alex and ask for a rider swap for me. The boys trotted away and I went off to find a shady and quiet area to park me and Maddie. I went to my usual "napping kid" area near Tom Sawyers Island and settled down to relax in the quiet for a little while. I played some games on my phone and would glance up a every once in a while to check on Maddie.

Yep, still sleeping.

Isn't she adorable? No better view than a sleeping baby.

The boys were back in 20mins, but it was the fastest 20mins ever. While we were down here we got a FP for Splash Mountain for later since we had only gotten 2 for Peter Pan. When Kenny went to get the fast pass the cast member who was standing there asked why the 4th card in our group wasn't being scanned. We explained that Maddie's card wasn't issuing FP's since she's an infant and didn't pay admission. She thought that was weird and gave us a FP card to use in her place. That was pretty awesome and we were very grateful. It made our life a lot easier because we do parent swap a lot and now we'd only need two FP's per ride.

We went over to Pirates since that line was nice and short. Maddie was still sleeping but I knew she'd be waking up soon. I decided I'd rather continue having the peace and quiet of the boys going on a ride while I waited with the sleeping baby so I told the boys to go ahead. I found a spot by the Pirate League which was also right near an air conditioning vent. Ahhh bliss. Talk about relaxing. Across from me was another mom with a sleeping kid and we just gave each other that look.

You know the one I'm talking about.

The one that says "yes, we love our kids and we love bringing them to Disney but we LOVE when they're sleeping" I just sat there people watching and cooled off. I decided the only way this morning could get any better was if Captain Jack Sparrow came out. Alas, he didn't. Too bad. But my boys came out. Alex of COURSE is all guns blazing and making WAY too much noise. After shhh'ing him he grabbed my hand to go on again. The line was still super short so off we went. As if Maddie sensed me leaving her, she woke up within 5mins of me leaving her.

 

[Villainess]

Hi!

Joining in. Fantasmic probably has the poorest exiting design of anything in WDW. We usually hang back in the stadium and allow the crowds to thin a bit before heading to the stroller corral. Then we take our time getting to the bus stop. While we don't get on the first busses, usually the first giant wave of crowds have left by that time.

 

[Queenofallthings]

There is nothing I love more than to take a few minutes and just sit and people watch and take it all in...having a sleeping baby is a great excuse for that!

 

[TeresaG]

I love pirates. After we rode we decided it was hot enough for some Dole Whips. Yes, at 10am. Hey, we're on vacation. And it was probably closer to 11am. So we went off to get some yummy ice cream. We decided to get 2 Dole Whip Floats and just share with the kids. I think I had a brain blip because instead of pineapple I got orange ice cream. The orange was pretty good, but I think I'll stick with the original from now on. Kenny got the traditional pineapple ice cream over pineapple juice and we headed off to a corner to eat. Since Maddie can only eat small amounts of dairy I let her drink all my pineapple juice (which she INHALED and not because she was thirsty; juice is a huge treat for my kids and for Maddie that was better than ice cream). Since the Dole Whips are so huge sharing two was more than enough for all of us. I could never finish it alone (now, I never have a problem finishing a cappuccino float so I think this day I was just really hot and had no appetite) so sharing Alex and Maddie was perfect.

After we snacked we headed over to Small World because (shock!) the kids wanted to ride it. Again. You will never hear my husband complain about going on Small World. Ever. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one whispering in their ears to go on it. Since even the line is inside and air conditioned he has no problem whatsoever going on this ride a hundred times a day. I can only handle so much before I want to claw my eyes out, but I suck it up because once the kids get it in their heads all we'll hear until we give in is "I want to gooo ooon Smaaaall Wooorld."



Small World was quickly losing its luster for me, and since clawing my eyes out was probably not the preferred way for people to enjoy the ride, I decided it was time to practice my low lighting pictures. Taking pictures in low lighting is super tricky, especially when not using flash. I decided I would embrace the multiple Small World trips as ways to continue practicing.

After Small World I'm pretty sure we headed over to ride the Jungle Cruise which we had never ridden before. I know, we're shocked too. I'm pretty sure I've ridden it as a child, but had never ridden it with Kenny or the kids. We had a hilarious tour guy and Kenny and I were the only ones (on a very full boat) to laugh at all the stupid puns and jokes he was making. I guess it's just our stupid and dry sense of humor but we found him and the ride to be hilarious. We decided we would try to ride once more before our vacation was over.

We had an ADR at Crystal Palace around 2pm this day so after the Jungle Cruise we headed over to check in. Our plan was to eat at CP, head back to the hotel to swim and rest, and then come back to the park. We had reservations for the Wishes dessert buffet (to celebrate mine and Alex's birthdays) and were planning to hang out at the park for EMH so we knew it would be a late night. Since it was already pretty hot, heading back to the hotel was the perfect break in the day we needed.

 

[disneydreaminA115]

Loving this TR! Subscribing!!