We were on page 838 when we left, so I have some catching up to do!!!
Of course, Alyssa's birthday party is this Saturday, and we have a ton of things to do yet, so it might take me awhile...and Kevin's not allowed to post pictures until he finishes his "to do" list!!!
Our trip was amazing! While the weather varied (the hottest day was 78, the coolest day 65), we were lucky enough to have NO rain...just one cloudy day.
The photopass CD is the best deal ever, because Alyssa was a photo magnet, and we had over 300 pictures taken in six days (mostly of Alyssa hugging characters).
Kevin got to ride Everest. I did not eat a Dole Whip (sorry Marti!).
Alyssa's absolute favorite attraction was the carrousel (aka the "horsies")...I think we rode that about 6-7 times.
Though it was spring break, crowds were manageable. The only extra magic hours we took advantage of was an evening at AK, but we were at 9 a.m. park openings every day.
We saw every parade and Wishes, but skipped Illuminations and Fantasmic (respecting Alyssa's mood/schedule).
Alyssa's birthday autograph book was a huge success...lots of characters took the extra time to write "Happy Birthday," especially when I mentioned this was her birthday trip (it was written on every page, but they didn't always see it). We got close to 60 autographs, but I was surprised that some of our favorites weren't out and about (Meeko, White Rabbit, and Genie, to name a few).
Kevin's mouse head/name t-shirt design earned us lots of attention, but absolutely no one commented on his other design. Kate's (slightly modified) Little Squirt design got lots of response too, as did Alyssa's two birthday shirts.
My Nile
crocs were a huge disappointment. Kevin claims I didn't break them in properly, but how can you really prepare for all that WDW walking?!! Anyway, I actually got blisters! But maybe that has something to do with how I walk or my pregnancy? I don't know, but after the first two days, I packed them away.
We rented a minivan and that was awesome. We stayed in the 90's section of Pop, 1st floor, so commuting was a breeze. Mousekeeping left Alyssa 3 towel animals on our first day and Pop also gave her a balloon bouquet with a birthday card from Cinderella (at check in, the CM asked Kevin her favorite character). The only drawback of Pop this time around was we had the LOUDEST next door neighbors...and they were there the entire time we were, so we had seven nights of their loudness. Alyssa slept through their talking/child screaming, but they bothered the heck out of me.
We only had four ADRs (lunch at LTT (yummy!), breakfast at Ohana (Stitch was extremely rushed and we had to wait in line to meet Lilo...they gave Alyssa a birthday certificate and breakfast was tasty), breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (they gave Alyssa a birthday crown, placemat, and cupcake, the food was awesome and the characters were very attentive), and lunch at Garden Grill (they gave Alyssa a whole birthday cake and birthday card signed by all the characters and the characters came around twice and the food was pretty good).
Last night, we also spontaneously ate at 1900 Park Fare, this time for dinner, since we were at the GF inquiring about the gift shop hours to make sure we got our photopass CD before we left. That's our favorite dinner buffet, but Cinderella, Prince Charming, Perla and Suzy were all in a hurry...Fairy Godmother was more attentive in the lobby. And they gave Alyssa another crown, placemat, and cupcake.
We ate lots of counter service: Cosmic Rays, Columbia Harbor House, Pinocchio's Village Haus (Figaro Fries are so yummy!!!), Tusker House, Flame Tree BBQ, Toy Story Pizza Planet, and another one of our favorites, Beaches and Cream!
Okay, that's all I can think of right now, plus Alyssa's show is almost over and Kevin's at City Council, so I need to get this little girl to bed!
Wish me luck with all the birthday "tasks" I have left to do: frost cookies, bake cake, prepare games and treat bags....ACK! So much to do!!!
I promise I'll get caught up as soon as my family leaves this weekend. By the way, my brother's girlfriend had her baby this past weekend, so I'm an aunt to another beautiful niece!
Amy
P.S. Thank you Julie for transferring our reward dollars!!!
Plus the odd of us hitting a hurricane at that time..... we flew in the day after Wilma last fall.
You are really tempting me now!! I am excited about trying out MNSSHP and the F&WF, but there's still that longing to see all of the Christmas stuff again. I think I may just have to get that DVD of the Candlelight Processional that I saw on eBay to tie me over. It was even of Marlee Matlin who I would love to see, but always seem to miss.
I've joined the DDA sick club today... horrible head cold... so I'm home from work trying to sleep it off... so now I'm DISing in bed like Steffy!
and 
for everyone that needs it
