The Darling Family June 2010 Trip Report: When are the Parents Showing Up?11/5 New TR

[dismagiclover]

Just read your report (via links which I ). What a blessing for the grandkids to have such a special memory with their grandparents and something to look forward to. Also, how cute are your kids!! Thanks for sharing and can't wait to hear more!

It really is great of my parents to take their grandkids on a special trip. And Wendy absolutely loved every minute of it! Oh and I think my kids are cute too. Thank you

Can't wait until your CD arrives so we can see the picture!

I love the looks of OKW, and would like to stay there someday. But I'll be sure to request the Hospitality House area so we don't have the long trek!

Glad you had a nice evening with your parents!

The CD is supposed to be here tomorrow evening. I'll post the picture as soon as I can. Trust me, it's good for laughs. Yes, definitely get the Hospitality House area if you ever stay at OKW. Definitely makes a huge difference.

Great update. Its horrible that the rain didnt hold off til you got in your car.

I actually liked the fact it rained on us. Makes for great memories and it really was kind of fun.

We got soaked by that storm too! We were doing OK until it started raining sideways! I love that mug! Pin trading is a lot of fun. My DH has really gotten into it. I love how relaxing everything looks at OKW. Reading on the balcony sounds wonderful! I really enjoyed Eclipse.

That storm was something else wasn't it. Oh the memories Reading on the balcony throughout the trip really was nice. I like Eclipse. I'm reading Breaking Dawn right no and it's a bit too far out for me. (Which sounds funny considering Eclipse is all about modern day vampire and werewolves.)

Oh my goodness!! I am so sorry that you guys got stuck in that rain What a GREAT mug that you bought!!! It is so fitting for you and your family!

Can't wait to read more

I actually thought the rain was fun. I love summer rain. I go out and dance in it in my backyard sometimes. I'm sure my neighbors think I'm crazy

Also hopping aboard! Looks like better weather than January huh? lol...

Congrats on the APs I bet they are Tyvek like the tickets you get from Undercover Tourist. Much more durable than the credit card ones. DD5 still plays with our tickets from 12/08.

We'll be at YC (CL! Yahoo for the Monster pin!) from 10/24-30th, when are you going in October?

Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

over to this trip report. Definitely different than my January trip. One reason I like summer trips is the weather is so predictable. It's hot, hot, hot. In January you never know, and this past January was way too cold for my taste. Awesome that you're headed to YC CL for a week. Definitely jealous of that one. We're actually only going for the weekend. Heading down Oct 29 and coming back 31. Short, but I'm going so I'm happy.

 

[dismagiclover]

The wake up call came bright and early and we were out the door at 7:30 am. 20 seconds later we were in the car. One of the advantages of Old Key West is that you park right in front of your room. Love that. We made our way over to Hollywood Studios, parked the car, hopped on the tram, made it through bag check, made it through the turnstiles and joined the crowd waiting for rope drop. This is how it looked in front of us at 7:54 am.

This was our first AM Extra Magic Hour so I don’t know if these are normal crowds or not. To me it didn’t seem much less crowded than a regular 9:00 am rope drop. We didn’t choose to come here to beat the crowds though. We chose this park because the 8:00 am opening got us an extra hour in the park before we were to meet my parents a bit after 10:00. The kids were excited!

The rope dropped and the crowd surged forward. A few people broke off at the point where you head to Tower of Terror or Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, but the vast majority stayed with us as we headed over to Toy Story Mania. Wendy especially couldn’t believe all the people and started immediately questioning why we didn’t just get a fastpass because she didn’t want to wait behind all these people in line. I told her I would show her why. Then we came upon the insanity that is the Toy Story fastpass line at rope drop and I pointed it out to her. Her mouth dropped open and she simply said, “Oh.” The chaos in this section of the park at rope drop always amazes me. The people in the know head directly for the ride or the fastpass line, but there are always lots of people who can’t believe that is actually the fastpass line. So they keep walking until they realize yes, that is the line for a fastpass. Then they are backtracking to get back to the end of that line. Meanwhile the rest of the crowd is still surging forward to get to the ride line. It’s chaos, and it isn’t any better on EMH mornings. Anyway we went straight to the ride line and the posted wait was 20 minutes. This was our first time going through the regular queue. In the past we’d always joined the fastpass line. Anyway it was fun to go through the regular queue. Lots of fun details here. And we finally got to see this guy.

Here the kids are happily waiting

Here they are with their glasses

Then we hopped on the ride. The wait was pretty close to 20 minutes. The boys rode together. We all had a great time. Here are mine and Wendy’s score.

I beat Wendy, but the score is definitely nothing to brag about.

As we exited the ride I took this picture.

40 minute wait at 8:30 in the morning. And I’m sure this is the shortest it would be all day. Here is the fastpass machines at 8:30

The poor folks that show up at 9:00 hoping to get an early fastpass. I’m sure the times would be well into the afternoon by then. Notice that the fastpass line had completely dispersed. If we didn’t have to leave the park we would have picked one up. I think that going straight for the ride at rope drop and then getting a fastpass is the way to do it. That will be our plan on subsequent trips.

As for this trip, Toy Story Mania was the only must do item for this morning. So the question was where to now. My kids aren’t up for Tower of Terror or Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. The boys were clamoring for Star Tours and even though this ride makes me queasy I agreed. We headed that way, but I spotted the Great Movie Ride as we walked over and it was open. My kids had never been on this, and I thought they would enjoy it. So despite their protests we headed in. Wendy especially does not like the unknown and began peppering me with all kinds of questions about the ride. I assured her it would be just fine. I mentioned they might not like the Alien scene, but I would tell them when that was coming and they could shut their eyes. We hopped into our vehicle and we were right behind the driver. We began our travels through the movies and the kids were enjoying it. We traveled right through the gangster scene without stopping and I realized I was actually going to see the western scene. I knew this was a bit unusual so I was excited when the shootout began. Then I noticed Michael wasn’t. I quickly explained to him it was all pretend, but he still didn’t like it much. Then the bad buy hopped into the car right in front of us. Michael didn’t like that one bit. Luckily the bad guy didn’t ham it up much so Michael could handle it. Then the Indiana Jones scene came and Michael didn’t like it at all. He shut his eyes through the whole scene and was pretty confused about how we got our nice driver back. Even though the nice driver was back Michael was nervous about the rest of the ride and spent it all looking down. The nice driver noticed he was afraid and gave him her flashlight to shine on the floor the rest of the ride. I think I did actually get him to look up during the Wizard of Oz scene, but then the witch showed up and he looked down again. As we finally came to the end of the ride I asked all the kids how they liked it. Both Wendy and John said it was great which didn’t surprise me. The surprise was Michael’s answer. He gave it a thumbs up. Go figure.

Next up: Would anything else distract us before we make it to Star Tours?

 

[jc040404]

Loving your updates!! How exciting is it to have those APs in hand?? I can't wait til we can get another set. It was adorable that the CM kept printing until they got the character they wanted! They do hold up super well, despite how they feel. Ours' went through so much over the year, but worked until the very end!

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

Excellent update. We were right behind you on this day. We didn't get there until a little after 8:00am. I headed to the FP line for TSM while the family rode ToT. On the great movie ride, we got to sit in the seat next to the driver for the first time and also had the Western scene.

I'm wondering what distracted you before Star Tours? I can't guess!!

 

[DrMomof3]

Love the updates! You're starting to sell me on the pins. I've been a huge hold-out on that.
Where did you get Wendy's Mickey/NY shirt? It's so cute!!!
We were shocked by the fact that the FP line for TSM was as long as the ride line! Craziness, right?

Amanda

 

[cherrybellecupcake]

Loving your trip report!

I think that's so neat that your parents are taking Wendy on a cruise for her 10th birthday! How cool is that. I think all my grandparents did is take us to the Dakotas. lol. I'd much rather have went on a Disney cruise! Hopefully my parents will do something cool like that for my kids whenever I have any. lol.

 

[belle8306]

I got to ride Toy Story for the first time on our trip. It was so much fun! I haven't ridden the Great Movie ride in ages. I do enjoy it though. It was nice of the CM to give Michael the flashlight.

 

[Charlefours]

Parking at the parks was super easy! In fact except for the MK it was more convenient than riding the bus. The tram takes you right to the front and you're not dependent on waiting for the bus. The morning we had an early character breakfast we even drove to MK because I didn't want to be late. That was a bit more complicated because you have to take the monorail or boat, but still wasn't bad.

Great! Thanks for the information. I am really think that will be our plan for the early mornings definitely--I don't want to take the chance of being late.

*****

DHS: Wow, what insanity!! I am going to be the runner for FP because I think the rest of the group is going to head over to ToT and RnRC to get them knocked out off the list as soon as possible. Not the best way to do it, but I think to get everything in that is going to be my plan. I did not think that the GMR might potentially scare my DD. Hmm...something to consider. Luckily it will be one of our last days that we are here, so hopefully I will get a good idea of whether she could handle it.

 

[cdotla]

Wowza! That is quite a crowd before 8am.

I completely agree with the strategy of going right to the ride if you are in the back of a long fastpass line. I always get gready and try to get the FP, then do the stand by. However, 2 times this trip I would have been much better off to have just gone right to the stand by line.

 

[Angies1274]

Great update!! YAY! for riding TSM and getting to see Mr. Potato Head! We still haven't seen him. I definitely think next time we will be doing the ride first and then grab fastpassses later. It looks like that is what would work best. Love the pictures of the kids waiting!! John and Michael look like best buddies!! So cute! We still haven't taken the boys on the Great Movie Ride...they think it would be too scary. Glad to hear that everyone liked it!! Hopefully, I can convince the boys next trip!!

 

[Stefy]

Yikes! Thats one busy looking rope drop. But it looks like your plan to ride first FP later was a winner

Bless little Michael on the GMR, it was nice of the CM to give him her flashlight to play with

 

[jmskinner]

Sorry you got stuck in the rain. We had that happen to us last Thursday and it was a cold drive home.

I can't believe you just became a pin trader/collector on this trip, you must have great will power, unlike me. I think we made it 24 hours on our first trip before diving into the pins.

No one believes the race for TSMM unless they have seen it firsthand. We made it for rope drop during SWW, but we were able to stand there at Starring Rolls. It was so bad we ended up split up, I grabbed FP's for everyone while they rode. And the line for FP's was still all the way back to Walt's Dream by the time they got off the ride.

Loved the story on the Great Movie Ride. Kids always crack me up when they are scared during the whole ride, get off and want to ride again. How did they all do during the Alien scene?

ST, having a son, I know that ride too well, do you make it without stopping?

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Isn't the TSM madness insane???? Don't get me wrong - I jump right into it every time we're there because I love that ride. But it's still hard to believe when you're in it!

Oh, your kids sound so much like my kids! Except, if we'd have gone on the Great Movie Ride, they all would have been cowering like Michael! Haley would have peppered me with questions just like Wendy did (but she still would probably have freaked out). And since Will wouldn't ride anything that was dark this year...it would have been a disaster! I guess Jack might have been into the gunfight...until it got too loud. The both of them would have been sitting there with their hands over their ears, watching it in horror. At least Michael had the good sense to look down! Can't wait to see if you make it to Star Tours!

 

[praisehisname]

Great update! Amazing how quickly the line builds for TSM!

Next up: Would anything else distract us before we make it to Star Tours?

I'm guessing food distracts you. You haven't mentioned anything about eating breakfast yet.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Oh, I love the look of the OKW rooms! I don't think I've ever seen pictures of those before. And that mug you got is awesome too!

Glad the TSM wait wasn't too long for you guys. We've always had pretty good luck doing it right away rather than getting a fastpass. We usually get the FP on the way out (or atleast try to...).

 

[letstalkboutdisney]

TSM is crazy! It will be closed when we go next month. We are sad, but maybe the park won't be so crowed?
How did you like the movie ride with the cowboy? I havent' seen that one yet, maybe next month.
Did you eat breakfast yet? Maybe you will get distracted by the starring rolls cafe before star wars.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I had to laugh when you mentioned how people were walking right past the Fastpass line because they couldn't believe it was a line to get Fastpasses. I did the same thing in 2009. Walked right past it thinking that it couldn't possibly be a line just to get Fastpasses.

You did great with just a 20 minute wait for Toy Story Mania. Every time we've been, it's been at least 40 minutes and even up to 130 minutes!

Poor Michael not wanting to look up during The Great Movie Ride. There are a couple of scenes that are a bit scary.

 

[dismagiclover]

Loving your updates!! How exciting is it to have those APs in hand?? I can't wait til we can get another set. It was adorable that the CM kept printing until they got the character they wanted! They do hold up super well, despite how they feel. Ours' went through so much over the year, but worked until the very end!

Can't wait to read more!!

Having those APs really does make me smile. I wish would could use them more, but Maryland is a long ways from Florida and I can't figure out a way to get down there for free.

Excellent update. We were right behind you on this day. We didn't get there until a little after 8:00am. I headed to the FP line for TSM while the family rode ToT. On the great movie ride, we got to sit in the seat next to the driver for the first time and also had the Western scene.

I'm wondering what distracted you before Star Tours? I can't guess!!

I can't believe how we barely missed each other again. I wonder if we ever actually walked right by each other. I'm not always that observant so I probably wouldn't have even noticed. They must be doing the Western scene more often these days.

Love the updates! You're starting to sell me on the pins. I've been a huge hold-out on that.
Where did you get Wendy's Mickey/NY shirt? It's so cute!!!
We were shocked by the fact that the FP line for TSM was as long as the ride line! Craziness, right?

Amanda

The pins are lots of fun, but beware. They aren't cheap and they are a bit addicting. Wendy got her shirt in June 2009 at a store over in the Streets of America section of DHS. It's perfect for her because she loves Disney and she loves NYC.

Loving your trip report!

I think that's so neat that your parents are taking Wendy on a cruise for her 10th birthday! How cool is that. I think all my grandparents did is take us to the Dakotas. lol. I'd much rather have went on a Disney cruise! Hopefully my parents will do something cool like that for my kids whenever I have any. lol.

My parents really are great. This is the first time they have taken the grandkids on the Disney cruise, but it was such a success that I think they are considering doing it for the 10 year old trip from now on. Which is good news for my boys. And me. Because I'll have to accompany them to Florida to catch the boat

I got to ride Toy Story for the first time on our trip. It was so much fun! I haven't ridden the Great Movie ride in ages. I do enjoy it though. It was nice of the CM to give Michael the flashlight.

Toy Story is a great ride, but it's madness to get on it. I guess that is part of the fun though. The CM was very nice to poor Michael.

 

[dismagiclover]

Great! Thanks for the information. I am really think that will be our plan for the early mornings definitely--I don't want to take the chance of being late.

*****

DHS: Wow, what insanity!! I am going to be the runner for FP because I think the rest of the group is going to head over to ToT and RnRC to get them knocked out off the list as soon as possible. Not the best way to do it, but I think to get everything in that is going to be my plan. I did not think that the GMR might potentially scare my DD. Hmm...something to consider. Luckily it will be one of our last days that we are here, so hopefully I will get a good idea of whether she could handle it.

The Toy Story rope drop stuff is pretty insane. At least you'll know to expect it though. The GMR actually does have some scary scenes, but many kids take it in stride. I think you'll know by the last day how your DD is reacting to rides and can make the call then.

Wowza! That is quite a crowd before 8am.

I completely agree with the strategy of going right to the ride if you are in the back of a long fastpass line. I always get gready and try to get the FP, then do the stand by. However, 2 times this trip I would have been much better off to have just gone right to the stand by line.

I didn't see any difference between the 8:00 am rope drop and the 9:00 am rope drop crowds. It just reconfirmed my opinion normally I'd rather just get that extra hour of sleep. Though it worked out well to have that extra hour this day because we had to leave the park around 10:00. Riding stand by and then going for the fastpass is definitely going to be my new plan of attack at Toy Story.

Great update!! YAY! for riding TSM and getting to see Mr. Potato Head! We still haven't seen him. I definitely think next time we will be doing the ride first and then grab fastpassses later. It looks like that is what would work best. Love the pictures of the kids waiting!! John and Michael look like best buddies!! So cute! We still haven't taken the boys on the Great Movie Ride...they think it would be too scary. Glad to hear that everyone liked it!! Hopefully, I can convince the boys next trip!!

The Toy Story queue is really fun. Try it next time. You'll really like it. John and Michael are best buddies. I sometimes feel bad for Wendy because she is often the odd one out, but she claims to like being the only girl because she doesn't have any competition. So far the dynamics with our 3 kids have been really good. The Great Movie Ride has some scary parts, but you can just tell your boys to close their eyes which is what Michael did for much of the ride.

Yikes! Thats one busy looking rope drop. But it looks like your plan to ride first FP later was a winner

Bless little Michael on the GMR, it was nice of the CM to give him her flashlight to play with

We're used to summer rope drops so it actually seemed normal to us. The GMR CM was really nice. And Michael ended up liking the ride in the end so go figure

Sorry you got stuck in the rain. We had that happen to us last Thursday and it was a cold drive home.

I can't believe you just became a pin trader/collector on this trip, you must have great will power, unlike me. I think we made it 24 hours on our first trip before diving into the pins.

No one believes the race for TSMM unless they have seen it firsthand. We made it for rope drop during SWW, but we were able to stand there at Starring Rolls. It was so bad we ended up split up, I grabbed FP's for everyone while they rode. And the line for FP's was still all the way back to Walt's Dream by the time they got off the ride.

Loved the story on the Great Movie Ride. Kids always crack me up when they are scared during the whole ride, get off and want to ride again. How did they all do during the Alien scene?

ST, having a son, I know that ride too well, do you make it without stopping?

It wasn't too bad getting wet because we weren't stuck inside, but I can see being stuck in air conditioning how it would be uncomfortable. My kids have been pin collectors for a while, but I just started this trip. And I'm going to try to limit my collection to Peter Pan pins. Don't want to spend the kids' college fund I actually told them all to cover their eyes during the Alien scene so none of them saw it. Though Wendy wanted to tell me exactly what it looked like

 

[dismagiclover]

Isn't the TSM madness insane???? Don't get me wrong - I jump right into it every time we're there because I love that ride. But it's still hard to believe when you're in it!

Oh, your kids sound so much like my kids! Except, if we'd have gone on the Great Movie Ride, they all would have been cowering like Michael! Haley would have peppered me with questions just like Wendy did (but she still would probably have freaked out). And since Will wouldn't ride anything that was dark this year...it would have been a disaster! I guess Jack might have been into the gunfight...until it got too loud. The both of them would have been sitting there with their hands over their ears, watching it in horror. At least Michael had the good sense to look down! Can't wait to see if you make it to Star Tours!

TSM is something else! In some ways I think the craziness is part of the fun. Funny how you think your kids would react to GMR. DH always wonders why our kids are scared of all the rides. It's nice to know they aren't the only ones. Though I really don't mind missing the thrill rides. I'm just happy being in the parks

Great update! Amazing how quickly the line builds for TSM!
I'm guessing food distracts you. You haven't mentioned anything about eating breakfast yet.

You're right we haven't eaten breakfast yet. But we don't stop yet. Don't want to waste those early morning hours eating.

Oh, I love the look of the OKW rooms! I don't think I've ever seen pictures of those before. And that mug you got is awesome too!

Glad the TSM wait wasn't too long for you guys. We've always had pretty good luck doing it right away rather than getting a fastpass. We usually get the FP on the way out (or atleast try to...).

The OKW rooms won't look like that much longer. They are undergoing refurbishment and the new studios look quite different. They are putting in dark wood and painting the walls blue I think. I'm glad I got to stay there before the refurbishment. The decor really did feel relaxed and Florida like.

TSM is crazy! It will be closed when we go next month. We are sad, but maybe the park won't be so crowed?
How did you like the movie ride with the cowboy? I havent' seen that one yet, maybe next month.
Did you eat breakfast yet? Maybe you will get distracted by the starring rolls cafe before star wars.

It will be interested to see if the closing of TSM affects crowd levels or not. It is by far the most popular ride in the park. The cowboy shoot out was fun to see, but I think I may like the gangster scene better. Maybe because I'm not a great Western fan. They seem to be showing it more often so hopefully you'll get to see it next month and decide for yourself. We haven't eaten breakfast yet, but it's not our next stop.

I had to laugh when you mentioned how people were walking right past the Fastpass line because they couldn't believe it was a line to get Fastpasses. I did the same thing in 2009. Walked right past it thinking that it couldn't possibly be a line just to get Fastpasses.

You did great with just a 20 minute wait for Toy Story Mania. Every time we've been, it's been at least 40 minutes and even up to 130 minutes!

Poor Michael not wanting to look up during The Great Movie Ride. There are a couple of scenes that are a bit scary.

The whole TSM fastpass/standby thing really is funny. I wonder if it will ever get easier to get on that ride. I mean Soarin has been open a long time and it's still going strong so who knows. Only time will tell I guess.