Cast of Characters
Songbird -- single mother extraordinaire, celebrating yet another birthday by indulging her every whim
Tinkerbell -- age 10, and "officially" an adult -- at least from a theme park point of view (though at 4'2" you have to wonder "what were they thinking?")
Cinderella -- a/k/a "Annie Warbucks" and "Eliza Thornberry", age 8.
Songbird and the chickadees have been Disneyworld fans since our first trip there together in August 1998. We have stayed at the Polynesian, Dixie Landings and Boardwalk. We've seen most of what Disney has to offer. So this time we decided to be a little more adventurous and see what Universal was all about. At first I was going to "just" do the Universal parks, but as I started to plan this adventure I realized I could not go all the way to Orlando and not see the Mouse. Unlike the previous trips, where the girls weren't in on the planning, this time I told them we were going about 2 months before the trip, so they could help me make decisions about how to spend our time.
Here's a link to Part I:
Universal
We had room service waffles for breakfast, courtesy of the Portofino Bay management. Next we called bell services and headed downstairs, where our Tiffany Towncar was waiting. Our driver Jack took us to Disney's Beach club. Now, we had had a wonderful time at Universal, but someohow you just know when you're on disney property --everything is more magical somehow. We checked into the hotel -- the room wasn't ready. So we left our bags with bell services and took the boat to MGM.
Our first attraction was Muppets 3D. Cinderella didn't care for it the first time she saw it, 2 1/2 years ago, but now it's become one of her favorites. Next we walked over to Great Movie Ride and observed the construction -- is that really going to be Sorcerer Mickey? The line was well over 30 minutes long, so we decided to head over to our lunch reservation, evne though we'd be 1/2 an hour early. for some reason, even though Sci fi was crowded, we were seated right away. the girls loved the car, the B movies and cartoons on the screen, etc. stick to the basics here -- I had a decent cheeseburger, tink had grilled cheese and Cinderella had chicken fingers, and it was all ok. Not fantastic, but not bad.
After lunch it was back to GMR, with a much shorter line now. We sat in the first row of the first car -- one of the best views (sat in the back row once and hated it!) Next it was Doug Live. I could have done without this show (it's very good, but we've seen it several times) but the girls keep hoping one of them will be picked for Quail Kid. Alas, no. then we walked over to Rock 'N' roller coaster. Cinderella thinks it's cool, but Tink won't ride, so we left her sitting outside while we rode. when I got off the ride, Castmemeber Marta approached me -- seems tink had to use the ladies room, and when she got back she began to think she'd missed us coming off the ride, so she told the CM, who found me...smart girl, my Tink. We saw Clopin and Belle on
Sunset Blvd. We had to make a stop in the Villains store -- Tink loves villains. the girls bought pirate stuff -- earrings, eye patches, etc. they played at being pirates as we took the boat back to Beach club. We saw one of the water taxis broken down in the lake between Beach Club and Boardwalk -- later I saw the boat being pushed by another boat -- guess they couldn't get it started.
We checked into our room. our room was close to the elevators. It was a lovely room -- two queen beds (lower to the gorund than the ones at Portofino) and a day bed, with a seahorse motif. the bathroom was very small, but the sinks were in the dressing room. even though we were on the second floor, we had a balcony -- which overlooked the construction area for the new Beachclub Villas (I told the girls about the DVC and now they want me to join.) We headed out to the beach to play until dinner. We ate a Cape May -- great buffet. we drew all over the "table cloth". at the end of the meal, the staff sang "Happy Birthday" to me (I hadn't had a birthday celebration the day before.)
we decided to walk to the Boardwalk. but first we stopped in the video arcade and played a few games. then we walked over to the Boardwalk and played the arcade games -- you know, the ones with the prizes. Cinderella won a prize by knocking over dolls with baseballs. Tink won a prize by shooting baskets. we saw the fireworks from Illuminations. we noticed a lot of surrey bikes, and the girls wanted to ride, but I don't do biking, and besides, they rode one with their aunts last summer. next was a stop in the sweet shop, and then we caught a performance of the Boardwalk buskers. they did magic tricks and juggling. Cinderella was entranced. we were getting tired by now, so we walked back to Beach Club.
We were up at dawn Tuesday morning and on a Magic Kingdom bus by 7:15 for our 8:00 breakfast at the castle. This time our waitress was Tina, but David -- who'd been our waiter in August -- was still there, and I think he recognized us. the characters were Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Aurora (sleeping Beauty) and Jasmine. We asked why there were no princes, and were told that Prince Charming was at WDW that day, but "was putting a glass slipper on Rosie's foot."
After breakfast we went down to the lobby and took a picture with the Fairy godmother. We walked out of the restaurant and were present for rope drop at Fantasyland. The CM's told us to avoid one side of the carrousel "because they're shooting a movie." Later I found out the "movie" was a commercial for Rosie O'Donnell's show -- rosie rode the carrousel. but we didn't bother to investigate -- we had a date with the pixies!
I'd had an event with Jane and the pixies in 2/2000, and decided to have a birthday event again this year. only, since it's my birthday, I decided to let Jane surprise me. Jane and one of her pixies planned out a treasure hunt for us. I won't go into the details, in case she wants to use it again, but it involved villains and following clues, and riding Peter Pan and Snow white. she'd also planned on us riding haunted Mansion, but the ride was down that morning (my girls don't care for that ride anyhow). good job, Jane! you really gave us a good time!
after the treasure hunt, we got a fastpass for Pooh, then rode the Indy 500 -- and Tink was ecstatic because she actually made the height requirement to ride alone! I had to ride with Cinderella, but I let her drive. the we rode Pooh, and Small World (the first time I rode Small World was at the 1964 World's Fair in NYC). we saw Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, then walked over to tomorrowland and rode the TTA -- which I still think is a lot better than the NYCTA. Next was Carrousel of Progress (another relic from 1964)(the rude people next to me wouldn't turn off their two-way radio and it made an awful noise during the show). then it was back to the Beach Club for a swim in Stormalong Bay and lunch at Hurricane Hanna's. Tink's one complaint was that the slide is an enclosed tube -- she doesn't like that kind of slide.
Minor complaint -- housekeeping didn't get ot our room until afternoon, so when we came back from the park the room hadn't been made up. but when we came back from the pool the room was clean, and the stuffed animals were arranged on the bed -- Cinderella's puppy was "chewing" on her blankie.
we headed back to Magic Kingdom sometime after 5. got our e night bracelets as soon as we came into the park. we walked over to Adventureland and headed to the Tiki Room -- the atmosphere of the park at night adds to the effect. next was Pirates of the Caribbean -- a walk-on, since most people were lining up for the parade at this point. then it was Jungle Cruise -- a ride which is much better at night.
We walked from Adventureland into Frontierland -- andright into the Main Street Electrical Parade. We'd seen it last year. we watched a few of the floats -- from cinderella's to Peteand his dragon. tink especially loved the Peter Pan float -- Tink is going to be tinerbell in her school play in april, so anything having to do with Tinkerbell or Peter Pan captures her attention these days.
We left the parade after that, and ran into one of Tink's Hebrew School friends in Adventureland. travelled 1500 miles to meet up with friends from back home, LOL. then the girls and I headed to Main Street for the fireworks. we'd seen the fireworks several times from the Polynesian, and once from inside the castel, but we had never seen Tinkerbell's flight. my girls were amazed and enchanted.
we walked over to tomorrowloand after the fireworks, but it was 45 minutes until e night would begin, and the lines for Buzz and Space Mountain were too long. we rode TTA again. then we went through the gift shops to see if I could find AngieBelle. I'd met Angela when she came to NYC in December, but she hadn't met the chickadees. we found her in one of the shops, and had a lovely talk. she told me "it's a shame you're leaving tomorrow, because I have the day off." a shame, because I would have loved to spend a day at Disney with a cast member!
we rode Buzz Lightyear, then Cinderella rode Space Mountain (I skipped it because my back was acting up, and Tink was too tired -- but I think she would have ridden if I'd gone on). We walked across the park and rode Big thunder. Cinderella wanted to ride splash Mountain, but Tink and I were too tired. even though e night was only 1/2 over, we headed back to the hotel.
this morning Ian of Tiffany Towncar picked us up, and took us to Orlando airport. our vacation was over.
wish I were still in Florida!
songbird
Songbird -- single mother extraordinaire, celebrating yet another birthday by indulging her every whim
Tinkerbell -- age 10, and "officially" an adult -- at least from a theme park point of view (though at 4'2" you have to wonder "what were they thinking?")
Cinderella -- a/k/a "Annie Warbucks" and "Eliza Thornberry", age 8.
Songbird and the chickadees have been Disneyworld fans since our first trip there together in August 1998. We have stayed at the Polynesian, Dixie Landings and Boardwalk. We've seen most of what Disney has to offer. So this time we decided to be a little more adventurous and see what Universal was all about. At first I was going to "just" do the Universal parks, but as I started to plan this adventure I realized I could not go all the way to Orlando and not see the Mouse. Unlike the previous trips, where the girls weren't in on the planning, this time I told them we were going about 2 months before the trip, so they could help me make decisions about how to spend our time.
Here's a link to Part I:
Universal
We had room service waffles for breakfast, courtesy of the Portofino Bay management. Next we called bell services and headed downstairs, where our Tiffany Towncar was waiting. Our driver Jack took us to Disney's Beach club. Now, we had had a wonderful time at Universal, but someohow you just know when you're on disney property --everything is more magical somehow. We checked into the hotel -- the room wasn't ready. So we left our bags with bell services and took the boat to MGM.
Our first attraction was Muppets 3D. Cinderella didn't care for it the first time she saw it, 2 1/2 years ago, but now it's become one of her favorites. Next we walked over to Great Movie Ride and observed the construction -- is that really going to be Sorcerer Mickey? The line was well over 30 minutes long, so we decided to head over to our lunch reservation, evne though we'd be 1/2 an hour early. for some reason, even though Sci fi was crowded, we were seated right away. the girls loved the car, the B movies and cartoons on the screen, etc. stick to the basics here -- I had a decent cheeseburger, tink had grilled cheese and Cinderella had chicken fingers, and it was all ok. Not fantastic, but not bad.
After lunch it was back to GMR, with a much shorter line now. We sat in the first row of the first car -- one of the best views (sat in the back row once and hated it!) Next it was Doug Live. I could have done without this show (it's very good, but we've seen it several times) but the girls keep hoping one of them will be picked for Quail Kid. Alas, no. then we walked over to Rock 'N' roller coaster. Cinderella thinks it's cool, but Tink won't ride, so we left her sitting outside while we rode. when I got off the ride, Castmemeber Marta approached me -- seems tink had to use the ladies room, and when she got back she began to think she'd missed us coming off the ride, so she told the CM, who found me...smart girl, my Tink. We saw Clopin and Belle on
Sunset Blvd. We had to make a stop in the Villains store -- Tink loves villains. the girls bought pirate stuff -- earrings, eye patches, etc. they played at being pirates as we took the boat back to Beach club. We saw one of the water taxis broken down in the lake between Beach Club and Boardwalk -- later I saw the boat being pushed by another boat -- guess they couldn't get it started.
We checked into our room. our room was close to the elevators. It was a lovely room -- two queen beds (lower to the gorund than the ones at Portofino) and a day bed, with a seahorse motif. the bathroom was very small, but the sinks were in the dressing room. even though we were on the second floor, we had a balcony -- which overlooked the construction area for the new Beachclub Villas (I told the girls about the DVC and now they want me to join.) We headed out to the beach to play until dinner. We ate a Cape May -- great buffet. we drew all over the "table cloth". at the end of the meal, the staff sang "Happy Birthday" to me (I hadn't had a birthday celebration the day before.)
we decided to walk to the Boardwalk. but first we stopped in the video arcade and played a few games. then we walked over to the Boardwalk and played the arcade games -- you know, the ones with the prizes. Cinderella won a prize by knocking over dolls with baseballs. Tink won a prize by shooting baskets. we saw the fireworks from Illuminations. we noticed a lot of surrey bikes, and the girls wanted to ride, but I don't do biking, and besides, they rode one with their aunts last summer. next was a stop in the sweet shop, and then we caught a performance of the Boardwalk buskers. they did magic tricks and juggling. Cinderella was entranced. we were getting tired by now, so we walked back to Beach Club.
We were up at dawn Tuesday morning and on a Magic Kingdom bus by 7:15 for our 8:00 breakfast at the castle. This time our waitress was Tina, but David -- who'd been our waiter in August -- was still there, and I think he recognized us. the characters were Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Aurora (sleeping Beauty) and Jasmine. We asked why there were no princes, and were told that Prince Charming was at WDW that day, but "was putting a glass slipper on Rosie's foot."
After breakfast we went down to the lobby and took a picture with the Fairy godmother. We walked out of the restaurant and were present for rope drop at Fantasyland. The CM's told us to avoid one side of the carrousel "because they're shooting a movie." Later I found out the "movie" was a commercial for Rosie O'Donnell's show -- rosie rode the carrousel. but we didn't bother to investigate -- we had a date with the pixies!
I'd had an event with Jane and the pixies in 2/2000, and decided to have a birthday event again this year. only, since it's my birthday, I decided to let Jane surprise me. Jane and one of her pixies planned out a treasure hunt for us. I won't go into the details, in case she wants to use it again, but it involved villains and following clues, and riding Peter Pan and Snow white. she'd also planned on us riding haunted Mansion, but the ride was down that morning (my girls don't care for that ride anyhow). good job, Jane! you really gave us a good time!
after the treasure hunt, we got a fastpass for Pooh, then rode the Indy 500 -- and Tink was ecstatic because she actually made the height requirement to ride alone! I had to ride with Cinderella, but I let her drive. the we rode Pooh, and Small World (the first time I rode Small World was at the 1964 World's Fair in NYC). we saw Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, then walked over to tomorrowland and rode the TTA -- which I still think is a lot better than the NYCTA. Next was Carrousel of Progress (another relic from 1964)(the rude people next to me wouldn't turn off their two-way radio and it made an awful noise during the show). then it was back to the Beach Club for a swim in Stormalong Bay and lunch at Hurricane Hanna's. Tink's one complaint was that the slide is an enclosed tube -- she doesn't like that kind of slide.
Minor complaint -- housekeeping didn't get ot our room until afternoon, so when we came back from the park the room hadn't been made up. but when we came back from the pool the room was clean, and the stuffed animals were arranged on the bed -- Cinderella's puppy was "chewing" on her blankie.
we headed back to Magic Kingdom sometime after 5. got our e night bracelets as soon as we came into the park. we walked over to Adventureland and headed to the Tiki Room -- the atmosphere of the park at night adds to the effect. next was Pirates of the Caribbean -- a walk-on, since most people were lining up for the parade at this point. then it was Jungle Cruise -- a ride which is much better at night.
We walked from Adventureland into Frontierland -- andright into the Main Street Electrical Parade. We'd seen it last year. we watched a few of the floats -- from cinderella's to Peteand his dragon. tink especially loved the Peter Pan float -- Tink is going to be tinerbell in her school play in april, so anything having to do with Tinkerbell or Peter Pan captures her attention these days.
We left the parade after that, and ran into one of Tink's Hebrew School friends in Adventureland. travelled 1500 miles to meet up with friends from back home, LOL. then the girls and I headed to Main Street for the fireworks. we'd seen the fireworks several times from the Polynesian, and once from inside the castel, but we had never seen Tinkerbell's flight. my girls were amazed and enchanted.
we walked over to tomorrowloand after the fireworks, but it was 45 minutes until e night would begin, and the lines for Buzz and Space Mountain were too long. we rode TTA again. then we went through the gift shops to see if I could find AngieBelle. I'd met Angela when she came to NYC in December, but she hadn't met the chickadees. we found her in one of the shops, and had a lovely talk. she told me "it's a shame you're leaving tomorrow, because I have the day off." a shame, because I would have loved to spend a day at Disney with a cast member!
we rode Buzz Lightyear, then Cinderella rode Space Mountain (I skipped it because my back was acting up, and Tink was too tired -- but I think she would have ridden if I'd gone on). We walked across the park and rode Big thunder. Cinderella wanted to ride splash Mountain, but Tink and I were too tired. even though e night was only 1/2 over, we headed back to the hotel.
this morning Ian of Tiffany Towncar picked us up, and took us to Orlando airport. our vacation was over.
wish I were still in Florida!
songbird
