That's it, moved to FL to be closer to Mickey! Update 2/4 Kidnapped at WDW 10/03/09

[Finkelstein's Hubby]

Great pics Melissa, the Tiger shots are brilliant....first time I have smiled today

 

[irky416]

First time Jacob fell and started bleeding I just started yelling "Foul, We have foul!!!"

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Melissa!

Really enjoyed the updates and the photos, though i have to admit i'm very slightly insanely jealous that you live so close to WDW and can go so often! One day Diane, one day........

And yes, Grumpy is a HUGE LOTR fan - he collected a lot of the limited edition figurines (and we wonder why we have no money?) Maybe him and JS were separated at birth?

I liked the comment 'Jacob protested, but I wasn't the one that stayed up all night, so I won.' That's exactly what I would say!

The watch is really nice and such a bargain!!!

Great pics Melissa, the Tiger shots are brilliant....first time I have smiled today

Oh get him - he's only in a huff cause he wanted to get Depeche Mode concert tickets for December but they've sold out!

Di x

 

[jmskinner]

Yes you can switch it to private. Mine are all on private except for the enchanted sites account.

great update and pics.

Well, too late now, already subscribed to smugmug. But thanks for the info. I think I am going to like Smugmug though. I like the name also.

Great pics Melissa, the Tiger shots are brilliant....first time I have smiled today

What did Di do to you?

Hi Melissa!

Really enjoyed the updates and the photos, though i have to admit i'm very slightly insanely jealous that you live so close to WDW and can go so often! One day Diane, one day........

And yes, Grumpy is a HUGE LOTR fan - he collected a lot of the limited edition figurines (and we wonder why we have no money?) Maybe him and JS were separated at birth?

I liked the comment 'Jacob protested, but I wasn't the one that stayed up all night, so I won.' That's exactly what I would say!

The watch is really nice and such a bargain!!!


Oh get him - he's only in a huff cause he wanted to get Depeche Mode concert tickets for December but they've sold out!

Di x

Sorry to hear about the concert, so it wasn't Di. We would love to go, but they will be here the same night we plan on going to MNSSHP. Plus, finding a babysitter etc. Any contests to give some tickets away. I did sign up for one contest, figured if I win, we are meant to go.

Sounds like our families should get together since we have so much in common.

Ok, don't think I mentioned it but we went to TL last Saturday. It was fun, wore me out though. Not too crowded, hit some of the tube slides about 1:30 pm and only had a 10 minute wait, if that long. It was chilly though. No way was my camera going in there. In fact all I took was my WDW canvas bag, two towels, my lanyard with our passes, and then put $20 on my rewards card for money.

The really sad thing was a family was ahead of us and their tickets wouldn't work. The CM looked at the ticket and all they had were the one park/one day ticket and no water park option. It was really sad.

Even though I lost all the pics thought I would tell you how we went to all 4 parks in one day. We did this sometime in February I believe. Got there about 10:00 at DHS. Got in line for TSMM with a 40 minute wait, but it wasn't that long. They weren't even using all of the que in the building. Then Jacob wanted a pic with the umbrella, it wasn't on, but it was about 50 degrees, so I'm sure it was because it was too cold. Then we tried to do ST, but just as we got on, the CM shut the doors, the screen went down, screen went back up and they told us to come out the way we entered and then told us to leave the building. You don't realize how many people can ride until you see them all leave at once.

So from there we went to AK. That is when we first found a lot of the trails and really explored the park. We even rode KRR when it was 60 degrees, twice. For some reason there wasn't much of a line. Luckily we didn't get that wet. It was still cold enough that none of the fountains the kids play in at AK were on.

From there we drove to MK and rode the monorail to Epcot. All Jacob wanted to do there was M:S, well, it had an hour wait, so we grabbed FP's and headed back to the monorail. No one was at the monorail, so I asked the CM if we could ride up front. He said sure. Jacob got all excited, but he had no idea what that really meant. He thought it was just the first car, didn't realize it meant we would be co-pilots. Since we were only two, another lady and her son got to ride with us. Jacob was really confused when the CM opened the other door to let us in. We had a great time and the driver was wonderful. He was retired from driving the Metro in DC. We got our little certificates, went into MK and rode Buzz and Astro Orbitor and the TTA. It was about time for our M:S FP time, so headed over to Epcot, grabbed a quick bite to eat. Rode the ride and went home.

Sorry I lost all of our pics, but thought I would still fill you in on how we made it to all 4 parks in one day. And we were home by 7:00pm. We did use our truck except for bouncing between MK and Epcot. Jacob now wants to be a copilot every time we ride the monorail now. Maybe we can do it again sometime so I will have pics.

Next MTR will be from today. We went to MK!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.
Melissa

 

[macheath]

Hi, friend!

So I "popped in" today to catch up on your TR. I love seeing your pics. Gives me a bit of a Disney fix. Sure wish we were going back soon. Whenever we do, I'm going to have to get in touch with you so we can set up a meeting.

Loved Jacob's Christmas card! Congrats to JS on the promotion.
Talk to you soon!
Heather

 

[jmskinner]

Hi, friend!

So I "popped in" today to catch up on your TR. I love seeing your pics. Gives me a bit of a Disney fix. Sure wish we were going back soon. Whenever we do, I'm going to have to get in touch with you so we can set up a meeting.

Loved Jacob's Christmas card! Congrats to JS on the promotion.
Talk to you soon!
Heather

Hey there. I hope you make it back soon also. I've been hanging out on your part of the Dis a little more. Decided to try to make some jewelry and made a necklace and bracelet to match.

 

[jmskinner]

Guess it is ok to double post on your own TR. Got off the phone with my BFF Vickie a little while ago and we have a tentative plan. So the pre-tr is beginning, I'm just going to include it here, maybe I should use a special font for this Ok, let's see if I can remember to do this.I know I'm being goofy. No, I'm Melissa. Ok, sorry, I'm just really excited.

So here is the tentative plan:
They will arrive Wed July 15th, but will go to DTD.
On July 16th they will go to MK for am EMH.
On July 17th, we will arrive and we all will go to AK. My only concern is us getting checked in, getting Kara's ticket and getting to the park.
July 18 Epcot and lunch at Garden Grill
July 19 Magic Kingdom, breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and dinner at WCC.
July 20 Epcot and dinner at Tutti Italia
July 21 DHS and lunch at 50's Prime Time. We leave on this day.

Hopefully we can get all of these ADR's. I can't call until the 18th, but will be up and ready to go when the phones open. Is that 7:00am?

So, that is the current plan. So, now what do we do. I hate this part, more waiting. Had to wait for the hours to come out. Fantasmic only being offered twice the whole week is just crazy and really throws a loop on plans.

I just realized tonight, I know I am very lucky to get to make my daytrips to WDW, but what am I going to do once we have more orders and have to leave. Someone really needs to start a therapy facility for WDW withdrawals before then.

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and that Monday is good to you!

 

[carissanboys]

I love looking at other people's pictures from Disney World because I always get to see things I've never noticed before!

Very cool about meeting a DISer and that she gave you the hidden Mickey book.

So - what time did you get to MK on Saturday??? Were we there at the same time??

 

[jmskinner]

We got there about 9:30. You know I will do a TR, oops MTR. I kept an eye out for you because I thought you were going there or Epcot, but didn't see you. Ok, have to go check out your TR. Sorry your back, but happy I get to read about your trip.

 

[carissanboys]

We got there about 9:30. You know I will do a TR, oops MTR. I kept an eye out for you because I thought you were going there or Epcot, but didn't see you. Ok, have to go check out your TR. Sorry your back, but happy I get to read about your trip.

Yup - you probably entered the park shortly after us. When I get to that part of my TR you'll have to let me know if we did any of the same things.

 

[jmskinner]

Yup - you probably entered the park shortly after us. When I get to that part of my TR you'll have to let me know if we did any of the same things.

I love reading TR's where we were at the parks at the same time. This will be fun, sure wish we would have bumped into you though. We just decided, well I decided to go since it was the only day this week that EMH was not at 7:00am!

 

[carissanboys]

I love reading TR's where we were at the parks at the same time. This will be fun, sure wish we would have bumped into you though. We just decided, well I decided to go since it was the only day this week that EMH was not at 7:00am!

I know - I should have given you my cell phone number so you could have called me when you decided if you were going to the parks and which day. We probably walked right by one another!

 

[irky416]

Your new plans look great!

Everyone I know is going this summer, except for me!!!

 

[jmskinner]

Well, I was sitting in the living room enjoying myself, putting Transformers together, when Jacob noticed a spider. Just like the big one we had last year, just smaller. I guess it was its child out for revenge. Anyway, now I don't want to be in the family room. In fact, I am here in the office with my feet up on a box. I did not need that tonight. But, figured I would get started on the lastest chapter of a day trip.

On April 4th, we went to MK. Why MK? Well, planned on going to Epcot on the 3rd, but by the time I picked up Jacob at school I was tired and he didn't really seem interested in going. Pus, I figured traffic would be horrible. This is Jacob's Spring Break so I thought we would spend a lot of time at WDW. Have you seen the threads on the crowds this week?

When I checked the schedule late week, it showed MK having AM EMH everyday at 7:00am. No way would I make it to the parks that early, even if we were there at a resort, Saturday was the only day it didn't open at 7:00am, so MK it was. Now, I wanted to get there for rope drop at 9:00am. At 6:00am when the alarm goes off, I get up to fix a cup of coffee and check on Jacob who is in his playroom smiling at me. Yup, stayed up all night again. I asked him if we were still going and he said sure, he wanted to get his hair cut while we were there. Seriously, the best hair cut the kid has had since being here in Florida is at the MK.

I get dressed, go in Jacob's playroom to get him dressed and he is asleep. Little booger! So I wake him up and he gets dressed, heads out to the truck and lays down on his pillow. Stopped at Chic-Fil-A since that is the only place you can get chicken nuggets for breakfast. Traffic was moving, took right at hour to get to the parks, but we still missed rope drop.

Now, I have learned a quick way through the parking lot gates, since JS normally isn't with us, I keep his AP in the truck and a passenger side ticket window is open, I give the AP to Jacob, who shows the CM and we are on our way. I believe the CM said "We will let Mickey know you are on your way!" I thought that was cool, Jacob didn't.

A lot of people were arriving but that was expected. Jacob wanted to take the monorail, but I saw a line going down the ramp for the monorail, and saw a ferry at the dock so I said we would take the ferry. By the way, they had queues ready for both the ferry and monorail. Of course, just as we get there, they stop the line of people and we have to wait for the next one. Just to let you know how many people were arriving, all three ferry's were working. I don't think I have ever seen that. As the one ferry pulled away, another was ready to dock. Normally we ride up top on the ferry, but I figured with the number of people and to keep me from pushing people down the stairs on the other side, we would stay down low. Jacob got out his DS and found a seat. The front of the ferry started filling up, so I made Jacob stand with me.

Did take one pic while on the ferry:

I just knew security would be backed up, so I told Jacob to be ready to walk really fast. Get off the ferry, watch as everyone goes to the baggage check on the left, no one went right, except for us. There were five security guards standing there watching people go the other way. Obviously WDW planned really well for the large crowds because they had every baggage table manned.

We make it through security and through the turnstiles (all of them were manned also). Jacob tells me he needs to find a bathroom. I tell him we will, but the only one I knew of was on the other side from where we were coming out of the gate, so I told him I would find him one. I forgot to mention, my other mission for MK was to ride Space Mountain and TTA before they closed for the refurbishment, so I wanted to go get FP's. Snapped a couple of pics on the way:

Crowds:

This was about 9:30am, park was only open for 30 minutes and was already packed.

Character:

Anyone know who she is? I have never seen her before.

Jacob would like to get on the computer, so I will stop at this point. Do we ride SM, which Jacob doesn't want to, more importantly, do I ever let the poor kid go to the bathroom? Will I subject you to all 287 pics I took on this day? I think I need to change my Dis name to Picfreak or something.

 

[Finkelstein's Hubby]

Hi Melissa

Quality planning on your part, every element and eventuality covered, now thats impressive! Pics are superb, if I cannot be there then the best thing is to enjoy it through someone else.....its amazing how the adults get excited about the wee Disney Magic things such as the CM telling you that he was going to tell Mickey you were on the way whilst the kids are just kinda "meh"......been chatting with Diane and we are planning to get a villa in Florida in a few years, not sure how we will pay for it but you gotta dream

Heres to the next update

Gordon

 

[carissanboys]

Yay! You're posting about the same day we were there!

When we arrived around 9:30 - it looked like a long line at the entrance, but I was amazed at how quickly we got through.

I'll be scanning your pictures looking for us!

We didn't think it was that busy in the parks, but we really didn't try to ride any of the big rides.

 

[jmskinner]

Hi Melissa

Quality planning on your part, every element and eventuality covered, now thats impressive! Pics are superb, if I cannot be there then the best thing is to enjoy it through someone else.....its amazing how the adults get excited about the wee Disney Magic things such as the CM telling you that he was going to tell Mickey you were on the way whilst the kids are just kinda "meh"......been chatting with Diane and we are planning to get a villa in Florida in a few years, not sure how we will pay for it but you gotta dream

Heres to the next update

Gordon

Purchasing a villa in Florida would be cool. I'm still really enjoying it except for the drivers. I have just never seen so many people cut around people, go in the wrong lane, etc to get through a light. I lived in DC and the traffic was much worse and didn't see behavior like I see here.

Oh, your right about us adults falling for the magic more than the kids. Unless you are married to my DH, he told me last night "You know our grandkids will never get to WDW because Jacob will be so tired of going." I told him "Grandma will take them!"

Yay! You're posting about the same day we were there!

When we arrived around 9:30 - it looked like a long line at the entrance, but I was amazed at how quickly we got through.

I'll be scanning your pictures looking for us!

We didn't think it was that busy in the parks, but we really didn't try to ride any of the big rides.

So we got there about the same day. I won't ask any questions because I want to read your TR. Oh yea, it was your last day, I'm going to have a little bit of wait aren't I. I should have taken a pic of the front entrance. It looked like solid people, but with all of the gates open, there were really no lines.

I will try to get to that next update today. Still trying to get Jacob to decide if he wants to do something today. We both just woke up, our sleep schedules are so messed up it is not funny. I dread Monday.

 

[carissanboys]

So we got there about the same day. I won't ask any questions because I want to read your TR. Oh yea, it was your last day, I'm going to have a little bit of wait aren't I. I should have taken a pic of the front entrance. It looked like solid people, but with all of the gates open, there were really no lines.

Yup - that's exactly how it was.

 

[jmskinner]

We were in search of FP's for Space Mountain and a bathroom. Found a bathroom around the corner on the way to Space Mountain. Jacob was very happy.

Got over to Space Mountain and got our FP's, I believe the standby line was already around 40 minutes, FP were for 11:25am. Jacob wanted to ride Buzz, so off we went.

Of course, I was taking pics:

I couldn't see the standby time from the angle we came in, but it wasn't too bad and of course, not a lot of FP riders yet, so the line moved steadily.

Wish I could say the second score was mine, but Jacob smoked me this round.

Time for a redneck photo:

I sure looked serious.

Jacob trying to break thru the bars. I keep telling him if he will eat more he will be stronger.

I can't remember if I had ever seen this, Jacob asked if it was a real photo?

We came out of Buzz and Jacob wanted to do the TTA, this is his reaction when I let him have the DS:

I forgot to post this pic, it is being built over by the CoP:

Here it is from the TTA:

Really changes the look of the area.

I took this one as we were exiting, I forgot on the way in.

And this is the other part of that big screen thing, what is this going to be?

Ok, I hate to admit this, but I never went into the theater they had between BL and CoP, don't even know what was shown, but when on the TTA, this is what you see:

Out of order, but this is it from the other side of the TTA:

As far as I could tell, it is now a parking lot.

That was our TTA trip, I'll post another update later.

Happy Easter!!!

 

[tink1957]

Great update. Happy Easter to you too! I wonder what that thing the're building is, I hope it's something fun they really need some new attractions at MK.