The "I've Waited My Whole Life" Christmas Suprise Trip Report-Final/Video Update 2/21

Wonderful trip report. We (DH/DW and 5 DDs aged 12-6) were there Dec 19 - Dec 24 and also did the surprise thing. Can't wait to read more. I see my girls in so many of your comments!
 
Some pics from yesterday's installment that I have now:

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Sunday morning, December 17th


We did not get a wake up call and decided to wake up on our own. Our breakfast at 1900 Park Fair was not till 10:20 so we had lots of time. Did we sleep in? What do you think? We were all up by 7:15am. So we decided to go swim. We ran into perfect weather all week while we were there, upper 70s/80 and sunny. This morning was no exception. Even though it was still early it was warm enough for these pasty white Northerners!

We had the Hippy Dippy Pool to ourselves for about 15 minutes and then one or two other families joined us. It was nice to have it be so empty. We enjoyed our time in the pool and it was a great way to start the day. The water was very warm!

We wrapped it up and wrapped ourselves up in towels and went to get dressed. We went through our usual routine, checking the bag, do the kids have their pins, does anyone need to go to the bathroom again, are you sure, etc. It is a wonder we make it anywhere in a reasonable amount of time.

The plan was to head to the MK bus, take it and then monorail over to the Grand Floridian. Scratch those plans. The MK bus line is HUGE, really HUGE. I start calculating things in my head and decide that if we stick around for a bus we will surely be late for our ADR. I see taxis over by the Pop entrance and so we decide to do that. We had budgeted for a few taxis this week and so now was as good a time as any to use one.

I had thought being 5 we would need a van but apparently not. We climb in and all 3 kids are buckled in the back, DH in the passenger seat and that leaves me, buckleless in the back. Hmmmm. Not safe, not smart and I am usually a rule follower but in this case we just went with it and hoped that we had a safe trip. We did and arrived at the GF early. Good we would have time to see the infamous Gingerbread House.

We walked around, the girls pin traded and we saw the Gingerbread House. It really is amazing that they put this thing together. It really is just so huge!
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As is the tree in the lobby. We took some pictures and saw a bridal party too. How romantic, getting married at Disney at Christmas time! Can’t beat that!

We checked in and again only had to wait about 5-10 minutes. During that time the kids visited with Miss Mary Poppins. They asked her to say Supercalifragilisticexpalidocious (now don’t go correcting my spelling, you know what I mean!) backwards and without batting an eyelash she did. That is what I love about Disney. They are ready for anything and so in character! I just loved her accent. She signed Goofy’s book and Belle said to Goofy “Make sure you say thank you” and Mary immediately complimented Belle on her manners and me on raising her with them. Awww shucks, I try!

We were buzzed and led to our seat. We walked and walked and gosh walked some more. I am kidding, sort of. We had the very last table and there was a doorway to some sort of hallway or lobby area, this was my first time at the GF so I don’t know. All I know is were at the very ends of the restaurant. It was okay though, the characters did not forget us back there.

Our server was lovely and brought OJ and coffee. Okay Grumpy and I thought, this is the GF, the coffee MUST be better here right? Wrong. Granted it was better than the Pop food court but still, we were not loving the coffee. Thankfully the buffet more than made up for it. We went up and got the kids plates, I love the short little kids buffets they have. It makes it easy for them to help themselves. Grumpy ordered an omelet and he said it was very good. He also really liked the bacon as it was very crispy. I know I had cheese blintzes, gosh I love those! I had a waffle I think, I know I had bacon and some fresh fruit. I also tried the strawberry soup, I had read of it on the DIS, and it was very good! Lastly I found the bread pudding with vanilla sauce! Oh so good, really good and when you are on vacation why not for breakfast I say!

Character interaction here was really great. They all came by twice and stayed for a while. We saw Pooh and he was very huggy and cuddly. The kids asked if he had honey today and he was rubbing his big ole’ tummy. Tigger came over and Grumpy does a great Tigger laugh “Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoo!” so that was fun. Mad Hatter visited and he was fun too. Until Bashful, being so out of character for her, asked how he picks his nose? Oh was I embarrassed. He said “What? That is so silly!” and moved on. Okey dokey!

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Alice was the best, she is so darn perky and cute! She visited with Bashful and looked over her pins. She wondered why there was no Alice pin? She talked to the girls about riding horses and then when they all stood for a picture she asked what they should say. My kids said nothing and one of them, I believe Bashful, just shrugged her shoulders. Alice decided then that that is what they will do and we have this cute picture.

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At one point before Alice came over our server told us that Alice had gone to chase the white rabbit. Well that became our joke of the week. Grumpy told the kids that it was code for that she had to go to the bathroom. All week long whenever someone had to go to the bathroom they would announce that they needed to “go chase the white rabbit”. One of those funny in family jokes that no one else will probably get but we’ll snicker each time we hear it from now on.

Okay brunch was done and we were ready to move on. We went and waited for a bus to MGM. Gosh this was probably our longest bus wait. And we were at a deluxe! The buses seemed to come much faster at our little ole Value! It finally arrived though and we were on our way to MGM!

I'll finish Sunday's adventure tonight, promise!
 
MomofCKJ said:
All week long whenever someone had to go to the bathroom they would announce that they needed to “go chase the white rabbit”. One of those funny in family jokes that no one else will probably get but we’ll snicker each time we hear it from now on.

Okay, this is funny. We were at Crystal Palace with Pooh and the gang for lunch and my DD suddenly and urgently had to go to the bathroom.

Just then piglet arrived and we told him someone was missing from our table 'and they were off having a little visit with poo' and then we all laughed.

For the rest of the week when ver anyone went to the washroom they would say they were 'going to see pooh' :rotfl:

Loving your report, we were there the same week so I am remembering what we did on the same days. Dec 17 was gorgeous weather and we were at MGM.

So glad your family had a nice time. :goodvibes
 

Installment Four--The Big Reveal Gone Bad

ROFL! What can I say? This did not go as I had envisioned it! I had played this moment over and over so many times in my head. We'd suprise them, they would be so excited, they would be so thrilled, lots of smiles, jumping around, a real Kodak moment. Well it was a Kodak moment alright but not like that!


Well, the video shows it best, if you have 2 minutes click here

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v696/ally10169/?action=view&current=100_5445.flv?t=1166146382


Allyson

OMG...that was so funny...mine reacted almost the same way...except of course, no crying (unless you count the 3yr old being very worried about where our car would be while we were gone!!)! I love it!!

akrake
 
I am loving your report!! I also love the shirt you had on when you were at MK...did you make it??
 
still reading along....

can't wait for our trip! 43 days!!

with 4 boys and "boy" humor I'm sure we'll end up with some crazy questions. lol.
 
I am enjoying your trip report. I can't wait to read more.
 
I am loving your report!! I also love the shirt you had on when you were at MK...did you make it??
Thank you! It is fun to write this and then have people want to read it too!

And the shirt, I love it! I did not make it but someone did! An ebay seller by the ID of unique*kids*with*character made it. She sells lots of similar shirts and does children ones too. It was shipped quickly and is very well constructed!

Allyson :)
 
OMG!! Your video is pricless:happytv: Loving the trip report so far:goodvibes
 
Fantastic reporting!

I am formerly from Massachusetts- we were at Ft. Devens when I was growing up. I thought that picture with the limo looked like Massachusetts, but I wasn't sure!

That was bold surprising - I'm glad your kids warmed to the idea - it looks like you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing your experience!
 
Okay so I didn't finish last night. I got Grumpy Season Two of The Office for Christmas and we got caught up watching that. Any other Office fans out there? Funniest show on TV today!

So where were we? Catching the MGM bus. Okay so we rode the bus and got over to MGM. The sole mission of the day, meet the Power Rangers!

Goofy is a big Power Ranger fan. A few months ago a lady at Grumpy's work gave him a red Power Ranger glove. Grumpy came home and left it on Goofy's pillow with a note from the Red Ranger. When Goofy found it, oh my! He was so excited and in true Goofy fashion proceeded to tell anyone who would listen, and even those who wouldn't listen, how the Red Ranger was in HIS room! So to get to meet the Power Rangers in person was just a Must Do for us.

I forget what time we got there but we knew the Rangers would be out at 1:20. We had some time. The girls were clamoring for Tower of Terror so we headed there. I believe we grabbed FP and then got in the standby line which was only 15 minutes at the time. Only Grumpy had ever been on this before, it was new to the rest of us. The line moved quickly and soon we were getting into our elevator. Goofy had been talking about the "Tower On Terror" (we corrected him a gazillion times but he had in his head that this was the name of it) for a while and he was excited to go. What a ride! Oh my! It was a lot of fun and all the kids loved it! We must have bounced 4 times and it is such a weird feeling when you WHOOOOSH down! The Baggalini was just hanging in mid air!

We exited and everyone wanted to go again (well except Goofy, he said he loved it but didn't want to go again, I think he was a wee bit scared after it was done) but we had somewhere to be. It was hot so we stopped at an ice cream cart. This was the 2nd time this would happen and it was a little irritating. I placed our order for Mickey Bars, Itsakadoozie and Toll House Cookie Sandwiches and the CM tells me her system is down so I need to pay cash. This had happened the day before at MK with ice cream too. You buy the DDP to have the snack credits and then the first two times you try to use them you have to pay cash. I know it is not a big deal in the scheme of things but it was a little irritating to me since it happened the first 2 times we tried to use snack credits. So I pulled out some cash and we were on our way.

We walked towards the back of the park where the Power Rangers come out, at the end of the Streets of America. The park was more crowded than I thought as you walked through the paths, though the wait times on rides were not that long. We passed one of the Streetscape performances, we would pass a few this week and never got a chance to see one up close in its entirety. They look funny though.

"HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL" came the cry. Any Mom of a young girl knows what I am talking about. We had passed a merchandise cart full of HSM, I LOVE TROY, Get Your Head in the Game, etc. We had to stop so that Belle could check it out. She is a BIG HSM fan. She browsed, I checked my watch, we could not be late for the Power Rangers. Finally she decided we would come back and she would see if she saw anything else in the meantime. This is where having a plan can be hard and for me hard to be flexible. I think I did good though. Getting to the PR (let's abbreviate from now on!) was muy importante to me but it was Belle's trip too and seeing HSM was important to her. I didn't want to rush her along but heck these PRs only come out at certain times. So I was glad she decided to come back later.

Walking, walking, keep walking. "Star Wars" comes another shout out, this time the little guy. Keep walking Mister, it'll be here when we come back. Finally we made it. The Streets of America are cool and the kids were impressed by how it really looked like you were looking at a cityscape. The illusion is really neat.

So we found the PR sign and there was already a few other families waiting. We got the camera ready, we got the book ready and we waited. 10 more minutes, 5 more minutes. The crowds are building and there is no real line, just a bunch of anxious parents and lots o' little boys. Finally some CMs come out and instruct us to how this works. Each PR will be in a different corner and you will have time to line up for one, get your siggie and picture and then go to another. It sounds very organized. She tells us Pink will be there, Green there, White there, Red there... that was all we needed to hear. I grabbed Goofy by the hand and we speed walked to Red. Phew! We made it. We were about 10 families back and feeling good. Our boy would meet the red ranger.
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So out comes the PR-mobile and there they all are in their colorful glory. They go to their respective spots and start their thing. The line moves fairly quickly and it is finally our turn.

This is where Grumpy utters the best phrase of the week, music to my ears....

"This makes it all worth it" he says as he sees his boy with his hero.

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It was the closest to "getting" Disney that Grumpy would get and I will take it, yes I will.

After red we went and saw white and another white but really they were secondary, it is red who is tops in Goofy's book, the others are cool but no match for red. Bashful jumped in too at this point, not because she is a PR lover but just because.

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Now we could relax, our main mission of the day was done. The rest would be gravy!

We wandered out and found the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. We let the kids go in for a bit. I am not a fan of these sort of places when they are crowded and it was crowded. It is just so easy to lose a kid when you have no idea where they will come out when they go up. We all went through the spider web together and then they disappeared up to find slides or someone's nose I am not sure what they were doing. We just told them to please stay together and hoped we left with the same amount of kids we entered with.

I had had enough so it was time to entice with something else. That is one thing you can usually always do at Disney. Come on kids, let's go see XYZ. This time it was Star Tours and again Belle pulled her tweeny attitude. "I don't want to do this. No one likes Star Wars. Is it even a ride, does it move?". Oh first born, you are pushing my buttons today. We got in the standby line which again was only like 10 minutes. Wandered through the queue and Goofy of course loved seeing C3PO and the assorted robots. The kids had never been on a ride like this and I knew they would enjoy it. We got all buckled in and away we went.

When it was over Belle was the first to say how fun it was. Go figure.

Everyone enjoyed the store you go through at the end. We wandered and Goofy wanted to spend some of his money. After much thought he ended up with a small Star Wars Lego set. We paid and I thought we were done. Belle, Goofy and Grumpy went to sit outside. Bashful saw the Astronaut Ice Creams and wanted those. A boy in her class had some in the past. So I got 3 and now the check out line was longer. So we waited. And waited. Finally we paid and went out to find the crew.

This is where I realized I had failed my plan, big time. As we exited what should be in front of me but a wall of people. Why you ask? They are watching the parade that is passing them by. I completely forgot about the parade. It was on my index card and everything. We were supposed to see it. I was so bummed. This was the one daytime parade I had really wanted to see. *sigh* Maybe tomorrow we could catch it as we were due back in MGM.

I know the day is not done but I must run. My boys are on TV in a few minutes, the Patriots of course, and they need me to cheer them on. I will finish this day soon, I promise! I am loving writing this report and love that there are people out there that actually want to read about it too!

So hang tight faithful readers, I shall return!
 
I'm loving this report! We were there the same days. It's interesting that you didn't like coming home right before Christmas...for us, it was what saved us! We didn't get depressed afterward because we knew we had Christmas to look forward to. (But we came back a few days before you did.)

Oh, and we're huge Office fans, here, too! :laughing:
 
...does anyone need to go to the bathroom again, are you sure, etc.....

:rotfl: That sounds familiar. It is funny though because I am so concerned about getting the kids to potty before we depart that 10 minutes after we leave, it is me that is the first to say "I gotta pee". :rotfl2:
 
MomofCKJ said:
You buy the DDP to have the snack credits and then the first two times you try to use them you have to pay cash. I know it is not a big deal in the scheme of things but it was a little irritating to me since it happened the first 2 times we tried to use snack credits.

oh, I hear you Sistah,

Get this, we were on the Platinum Plan and everytime we went to get a snack the CM would look bewildered at our card and the computer screen and say we don't get snacks on the plan. Ummm, yes, yes we do....

It was a problem all week, everytime.

Anyway, back to the power rangers - how cool that your little guy met the red one he adores :goodvibes

Sorry about you missing the parade, how easily schedules are forgotten or rearranged. Hopefully tomorrow you get to see it.
 
This time it was Star Tours and again Belle pulled her tweeny attitude. "I don't want to do this. No one likes Star Wars. Is it even a ride, does it move?". Oh first born, you are pushing my buttons today. .......When it was over Belle was the first to say how fun it was. Go figure.

I am so LOL at this....this was my DD all over in September. In 7 trips, this was our first time on Star Tours. Didn't help that Darth Vader was outside, so she was terrified to begin with , but she just didn't want to go in at all -- she was certain it would be horrible. But that's the thing she wanted to go on again anda again. They're so funny that way, aren't they?
 
Great report, your kids are cuties! Loved the video, it was freakin' hilarious. :happytv:
 












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