Surprise Disney birthday... Oct. 17-21, 2003

[Shannie]

Our crew: DH (34) Me (35) DD#1 (birthday girl 7) DD#2 (3 1/2)

A little background on this surprise before I get going. My husband had to go to San Antonio for 6 weeks (Military made him go..lol). He wanted to go to Sea World while he was there, but decided he wanted to take the girls to Florida to go with the Military Family discount. Well, me being the sneaky disney nut, I e-mailed him back, and said since we were down there, why not a day at Sea World, and a day at Disneyworld. He e-mailed me back, and said we wouldnt be able to park hop for just one day. He decided since the Military discount was such a good deal, why not get the 5 day park hopper, and if we dont use the last day, that is fine. Since it was just a month before our DD#1 birthday, we decided this trip would be her surprise birthday present. So, 2 days before we were going, I tried to get a room, and finally got one at All-Stars Music. There was no where else to stay, so I booked it, knowing the price was a little high, but wanted to stay on property. DH was supposed to be getting back on the 17th, but called me, and said he would be in on Oct. 16th. We didnt tell the girls, so they were surprised when they woke up, and he was home. We made DD#1 go on to school as usual, and I rushed around the house trying to unpack DH, and pack up for 5 days at WDW. I picked up DD#1 early from school (around 11:00am), and told her we were going somewhere, just find some babies to take, because we will be gone for a few days. Finally after both girls bugging us about where we were going, I told them we were going camping. They were surprised, and excited about going "camping". Well, after 6-7 hours of driving, we were passing through the WDW gates, and looked back at DD#1, and said "Happy Birthday baby", they both screamed, they were so happy. We finally got to All-Stars Music, got checked in, made sure that my ressie said it was my daughter's birthday, and got our room key. We were in the Broadway section.

After we got our room key, we jumped back in the truck, and rushed to the Kingdom to get our tickets. After we got our tickets, it was almost time for Wishes. All I can say is WOW!!! We were standing in Tomorrowland, and finally got to see Tinkerbell fly!! The best part about the show was when DD#1 took my hand as we watched the show. Such a very touching moment for me as a mom to share that with her. After the fireworks, we tried to get on Buzz Lightyear, but the line was just too long. We decided to hit the TTA, the went to Toontown. This is where DD#2 rode her first "big" roller coaster! Yep, she was tall enough to ride Goofy's Barnstormer!! We took the train back to Main Street, then headed out of the gate, while Spectro was going on. What a great evening for all of us!!!

 

[Shannie]

For our first full day, we started out at Animal Kingdom. We took our time walking through the park. Our first stop was the Safari!! The girls loved trying to find the animals. While looking at the elephants, we got to see the newest addition!! Yep, we got to see the aby elephant running to his mommy. Our next stop was the train ride. We got off, and went to pet the animals. The girls had a blast brushing and petting the goats. The girls got autographs from Stanley and Rafiki!! After the train ride back, we went to Wonders of Flight. This was a great show!! We were sitting in the upper section, and the hawk buzzed by my head. We loved this show! Off to Dinoland next!! DD#1 was still a little short for Primevil Whirl, so DH went on by himself. Off to Dinosaur next. DH took DD#1 on for her first time. She didnt like it too much, kinda scared her. Next was the Boneyard. The girls played and played. They took daddy to the dig site. I just hung out, and people watched while waiting for them. I also bought them a new pen for autographs. After that, we were ready to get out of there! On our way out, the girls got an autograph and picture meade with Lilo and Stitch! Then it was back to the resort for some swimming and lunch. We spent about an hour in the pool, then got ready to go back to the Magic Kingdom for Spectro. I told DH it was going to take me a while to get ready after washing my hair (I didnt take a hair dryer), but he called down to the front desk, and within 20 minutes there was a knock on the door. I got the hairdryer and a stack of towels, I was surprised they got to the room so fast!! Now, we were ready to get to the Kingdom!! Our first stop was Adventureland. We rode the Magic Carpets, then hit the Pirates!! The waits werent too bad, probably 15-20 minures per ride. Then came our favorite ride: Haunted Mansion!! We got fastpasses, and got some dinner at Pinaccho's Haus. After dinner, DH took DD#2 on It's a small world, and DD! and I waved to them at the window of the resturant. After that, we finally rode Haunted Mansion. DH has been waiting years to ride on this. We all loved it, but DD#2 was a little scared. While we were waling out, Wishes was going on. This show is so beautiful, and being that close to the fireworkds was amazing!! Time to head across the bridge, and wait for Spectro to start. I get very panicy in crowds, and going across the bridge was wall to wall people. I kept myself calmed down, kept looking back to make sure DH was still behind me with DD2, and we finally got out of that mess!! This was truly a magical moment for the girls! They were glued to every float that went by. AFter the parade, we walked over to Tomorrowland, and got in line for Buzz. DD2 was begging to ride, so we waited in the longest line yet - 30 minutes. By this time, it was almost midnight, and it felt like everyone was sleepwalking. The girls fell asleep in the truck, and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. It was such a wonderful day!!!

 

[Shannie]

I forgot to mention that on our way out of the park, we stopped to get DD1 her birthday button. She even got a call from Goofy!! She was so excited about everything so far!!!

On to the next day. We were going to Epcot this day. This is my least favorite park out of the four. First stop was Mission:Space. DH went on this by himself, while I let the girls play. He said he really liked it, and didnt feel sick at all. Next stop was Test Track for DD1 and her daddy. She loved it this time! Last year she liked it, but didnt like the "going fast" at the end...LOL DD2 and I just hung out waiting for them at the end of the ride. I liked looking at the new cars and trucks!!! Our last stop of that park was Spaceship Earth. A nice and relaxing ride, but got stuck for a few minutes. We then took a ride on the monorail for DD2. She just loves riding on that! Next up was lunch in the room, then off to MGM. Our first stop was The Little Mermaid show. DD2 just loved watching it. Last year she fell asleep during the show until the end, and got to see the puppy...LOL Next was Playhouse Disney. DD1 really didnt want to see it, so I took her walking around. She got autographs from King Lion and Mr. Pingun, and their pictures. We had some time, so I took her to The Great Movie Ride, and looked at all of the stones with the actors and actress' names. We got to see Pocahantas, Meg, Jasmine, and Aladin taking a break from autograps, and they all wished DD1 Happy birthday. We met up with DH and DD2, and took them back to the Great Movie Ride. We enjoyed the new parts of this ride. We were on the "Western" side this time. Next was off to Star Tours. We did the child swap with DD2, so DD1 got to ride twice. She loves this ride so much!! While I was waiting with DD2, she remembered last year where I took her picture right outside the shop. She held onto the bars and yelled "let me out!!", so of course this trip, I just had to get her picture again doing that!! Too cute!! Next we went to Muppets 3-d. Wat a wonderful movie as usual!! We made our way down New York street to Honey, I shrunk the Kids Playground. The girls could stay there forever if we let them. We started walking toward the front, and ran into Meeko. Got his autograph and picture, then went to find some dinner. Now it was time for Fantasmic!! The show was great!! This was our fist time seeing it, and the girls loved all of the characters. Getting out of there was awful though!! We made it out, and back to our room to relax for the night.

 

[Shannie]

Today was our final day at the Magic Kingdom. Our fist rid of the day was Pooh Bear. My girls enjoyed this ride so much. Next stop was Snow White for DD1 and I, and the carasoul for DD2 and daddy. The wait times werent too bad, maybe 10-15 minutes per ride. We met back up, and went to the best show yet......Disney's Philharmagic!! What an awsome show!! The girls enjoyed everything about this show!! As soon as we left there, we hit Peter Pan's Flight. We got stuck for a few minutes, the off we flew again!! Our next stop was the teacups. While waiting in line, Alice and the Mad Hatter was riding with a family. I bet that family was hiving the time of their lives!! Our enxt stop was the speedway. Of course, we picke the lingest line, so it took a little longer in line. DD1 kept yelling at me because I kept stopping. Well, it's kinda hard to go when the car in front of you doesnt go!! She did a great job "driving", but when she gets older, daddy will be doing that teaching job...LOL And of course DD2 had to drive her daddy around the track. Next stop was Space Mountian. Now it got kinda ugly. DD1 wanted to ride so bad. We kept explaining that her daddy wouldnt be able to hold on to her, and it was very dark. I know she would be ok, but I wasnt ready for her to ride it...LOL She finally agreed with us, and off daddy went. While waiting for DH, we went shopping!! DD2 found a Stitch doll, and DD1 got a bracelet. I have to thank the very sweet CM there who helped DD1 out. Seems that mommy forgot to add tax, and was about 50 cents short, and the sweet CM told DD1 "Happy Birthday", and got the change out of her purse. Now the fun starts again!! Who gets to carry Stitch around the park? The girls took my advice, and shared! I told DD1 we would go shopping for her later. There were great with that! We met up with DH, and tried the line for Buzz. Well, after 10 minutes of waiting, DD2 had to go potty. I got out of line, and took her, knowing we would miss the ride together. DD1 and daddy got out of line to wait for us, DD1 wanted to ride with me. We moved on back to Toontown. While I went to find the smoking spot, DH took DD2 to the playground. We then went through Minnie's house, and Mickey's house. DD1 wanted to ride Barnstormer again, so I took her, and DH stayed with DD2 at the playground. While in line, we saw Goofy and Max. We rode 3 times in a row. I told DD1 the last time we will be up front. Well, the CM asked us to go to the back, so we let the people behind us go. The next ride, we were right up front!! We said good-bye to Toontown, and went back for our last ride on Buzz. We got a fastpass, then went on C.O.P. That was our first time on that ride, and I was just happy to get off my feet for a while. That was a really nice ride, just looking into the future of what Walt Disney thought. It was time to get on Buzz!! We got stuck on that ride too! We had a blast on there!! we took a nice relaxing ride on the TTA, and boy did my feet need that breat!! And of course, we got stuck on that too! On our way out, we went to Timekeeper! Another first for us!! I really enjoyed watching that! now it was the dreaded question...where to have lunch at? We were going to drive back to the resort, but that would have taken too long, so we stopped at Casey's!! Either I was really hungry, or those hot dogs are great!!...LOL AFter lunch, we headed to Adventureland!! We ran into Jasmine while walking. DD1 finally got her autograph!! Jasmine wished her a happy birthday, DD2 was kinda scared of all the characters this time, so she didnt say anything. DD1 begged HD to take her through the Swiss Family Treehouse. My feet were hurting, so DD2 and I found a place to sit and wait. Next was the Jungle Cruise. Cute as usual. I know some people dont lie it, but what is Disneyworld without the Jungle Crise? Since we already rode the Magic Carpets, we decided to go to The Country Bear Jamboree! I got to prop my screaming feet up, and DD2 enjoyed the show! DD1 liked it, but she probably wont want to do it again. AFter the show, we hit the Haunted Mansion again. DD2 was still scared of it, but DD1 and I loved it!! We had a blast with our hitchhicker!! We took another walk through toontown, and caught the train around the park. We debated on staying to watch the fireworks one last time, but decided to just go back to our room to relax for the rest of the night. We picked up some McDonalds, and watched TV, and got some things packed up.

I forgot to mention the day before, there was a message for me that I had a package waiting at the front desk. The resort gave DD1 a birthday certificate with Tinkerbelle on it. I thought that was so nice of them!!

 

[Shannie]

Our last day in the "World". We got up, and packed thr truck up, to our express checkout paperwork. I was sad, but hapy to be going home. My poor DH hasnt been home in 6 weeks, and we drag him down to Florida the day after he gets home...poor guy!! Before we left, we took DD1 over to All-Stars Movies, so she could take pictures of the huge Pongo and Perdita statues, then we ended ourt second Disney vacation at Downtown Disney!! We didnt get to go last time, so I was ready for shopping this trip!! Our first stop was Legoland. The girls had a blast making differnt things. Next stop was World of Disney. We icked up a few things for our neighbor's girls, then headed to Once Upon a Toy. If I had more money, I could buy out that store!! The little girls costumes were beautiful!! DD1 finally found a stuffed animal, and DD2 found a small Little Mermaid. The whole time, I was trying to find a photo album for DD1. We went to the scrapbook store, and finally found it!! I got that, and 3 princess pens for all the girls. We walked around a little bit more, then had to hit the road. It was such a wonderful time. We wont be going back for a while, so the memories from this trip was very special to me. We really didnt stop to get autographs and pictures this time. DD2 was just a little too timid this time around.

Ever since we got back, my girls play "Disneyworld". It is so cute to watch them "ride Haunted Mansion" or ride the "Monorail". These memories will have to last for 4 years until our next trip. Being in the military, we move alot, so we will be heading to Alaska in a few months. Now, that will be a trip to report on!!!

The End!!

 

[IloveDMB]

Thanks for sharing your special trip with us. Sounds like you guys did a lot of stuff though I don't know how you are going to make it 4 years!!!