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

Boy, it takes a lot for me to subscribe to a TR thread. You have to get so involved to make that commitment. Well, I've been following your saga since before your trip. I can now say that I am prepared to make the commitment to your TR.

DW is a bit like your DH. She tolerates WDW for my sake. She just doesn't get it, though. Last night, however, I gave her a quick version of your planning and the surprise for your kids. Then I asked her to watch the video. Priceless. I'm sure it wasn't funny when it happened, but we laughed and felt bad for you at the same time.

I build things up in my head also. Seldom do they ever turn out like I envisioned. Funny how life works like that.

Looking forward to the rest of the report.
 
I am really enjoying your trip report and so glad you are moving quickly!
 
I also cant wait to see the hair wraps. Did you get this done in your resort? The light bulb in my head went off for my own dd.
 

Just caught up . . . your video is priceless! Can't wait to read the rest! popcorn::
 
Great TR--definitely subscribing! Love the video, but I know how disappointing it is to plan and not get the reaction you'd dreamed of. Sounds like it all worked out, though, and you guys had a great time! Can't wait to hear the rest!:banana:
 
Can't wait to see the hair wraps--I'll probably end up getting that done when I go, after I see pictures of course.
 
We were there at the same time as you..and at POP too. I am loving your trip report!
 
I just love this trip report! Unfortunately I have a cheap Grumpy DH too. Looks like our next trip I might have to go without him:rolleyes: . Love the video of the surprise, it was so funny.
 
Monday December 18th

One thing to note is Bashful and Goofy had the old nighttime cough most of the trip. I don't know if your kids get this but mine do every winter. No amount of precaution on my part before the trip (loads of Purell, handwashing and skipping Story Time at the library the last 2 weeks before the trip) could prevent it. By day, they are fine, completely and utterly fine. At night, as soon as that precious noggin hits the pillow, it starts. The incessant coughing and hacking. I was fully stocked with Delsym, Triaminic Cough and Mucinex. It helped and I was so glad they were all able to sleep through it but it was just something we could have done without on vacation.

We woke and the girls and I were up early. We got ready quickly and quietly and went to the gift shop. It was like 6:30am. This was good as it gave the girls plenty of time to browse sans the men. Men, our men, don't like to browse. They'd rather do just about anything else. Now Goofy likes to shop if it is for him of course but to poke around jewelry and purses and hair accessories? Not his idea of a rip roaring good time. So we browsed and the girls found things they liked and debated. They each had about $75 to spend and since it was their own money, and not mine, they were ultra careful about how to spend it. Belle found a pink tank top she liked, it said something in glitter on it, escapes me now but whenever she saw the price tag. "Mom! This is $22!!!!". It is a nice little life lesson for them! :thumbsup2

After we headed into the arcade. It was just us and the very nice CM working. One of the machines jammed and he came to fix it and gave Belle a strip full of tickets. Then she ended up winning over 100 tickets on another game so she was ready to spend them. Bashful had a few and ended up with some prizes too. I think we walked out of there with some candy, a mood ring and a bracelet or something like that. It was fun and at that hour deserted.

Back to the room, got to get these boys in gear. We were headed back to MGM for rope drop. Got our stuff, the usual routine, hopped on a bus to MGM. We all had to stand as it was crowded. A very nice man got up and let Bashful and Goofy share his seat. We gave him one of our special candy canes for that! He too did not speak English but with a Gracias accepted our candy treat and everyone was smiling!

Got to MGM, nice tree! The trees are all beautiful, so large, so well done!

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It was like 8:45 by this point so not long to wait. We asked the first security officer we met the most important question....

Where can we get good coffee??? He instructed us first to his house. :rotfl2: Then he told us Starring Rolls and gave us directions. Once the Opening Ceremony was done that was our first stop. I saw on the menu Cappachino and Latte. I was in heaven! "Oh, those machines are not working, I'm sorry" said the friendly CM. What a coffee buzzkill. :scared: So we got regular old joe and doctored it up with our creamers and sugars and tasted. Eh. Better than the Pop but still not up to my coffee standards.

We headed towards the Animation Studio but were told it doesn't open till 10:00. Being an artiste myself I was excited to see this. So instead we opted for Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I tossed my coffee, no big loss, and we had a few minutes so Grumpy enjoyed his and then we went in. We ended up in the front row. It was a really cute show. We are fans of the movie so we liked it. Goofy liked the bubbles alot. Again it really is the little things isn't it?

The show was out and it was still too early for the Animation Studio. We headed towards the hat and lots of characters were out. With book ready we got in line. We were first in line for Mickey and Minnie but it was soooo long. So we hopped over to Stitch. He was very playful and naughty, like Stitch is, taking the pen and not giving it back, taking Goofy's hat. The kids enjoyed him.
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We also got in line for Chicken Little and as Grumpy called her that Ugly Duck aka Abby Mallard. Again, the kids are fans of the movie so they were excited to meet them and add the siggie to Goofy's book.

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At this point we split up. Goofy and Grumpy wanted to hit the 10:30 (or was it 10:20??) Lights, Camera, Action show and the girls and I wanted to do Rock N Rollar Coaster. We decided to meet at the Prime Time Cafe for our 11:20 lunch ADR.

It was always nice when we split up for a little while. It just can be neat to be with just 1 or 2 of your children and be able to share some special moments with them or at least give them more of your undivided attention. We made our way to RnR and it was a 40 minute standby wait. We got in line and the TGMer in me was shouting "Are you crazy???". After about 5 minutes I told the girls we should instead get FP and come back after lunch. They agreed and we got out of line. We had time to kill before meeting the boys so what did we do? We went shopping of course! We found the Villains store and the girls decided, on their own, that they wanted to fill a Pirate chest with "stuff" for Goofy for Christmas. I thought that was so thoughtful of them even if the stuff consisted of rubbery bugs, brains and skulls. Since their little brother is big into the Pirate scene right now, and getting a Playmobil Pirate Ship for Christmas, this gift would fit right in. And how nice to have it sent to the resort so we could pick it up the next day and he wouldn't see it!

At this point we got a little snack, some apples and caramel and decided to sit on a bench and just people watch for a bit. Then we moved on to the Prime Time. I checked in and told them we were waiting on 2 more. They gave me the light up thing and told me to let them know when the other 2 arrived. We were able to snag a couch in the living room. We watched people being turned away for not having an ADR. Hungry, hot and tired and being told "We do have an opening tomorrow but nothing today". Poor, poor uninformed, non planning people. :sad2:

We got buzzed but the guys were still not here. No worries they said and put us back in the rotation. The guys did show and they loved the LCA show. Right up Goofy's alley, loud, cars, fire, what more does a 4 year old boy need? We got buzzed again. That is one thing I will say. All week with ADRs we got seated within 5-10 minutes of checking in. It really was nice.

Grumpy and I had eaten here long ago and enjoyed the atmosphere and the antics. The atmosphere was still fun, kitschy and all, but our server was having no part of the antics. She seemed rushed and disinterested and well just plain no fun. :confused3 So the mediocre food seemed more mediocre since we weren't having fun being reprimanded and I don't think we'll be back for a while. We did get a kick out of watching a table near us that had a really fun server. They looked like they were having fun and I bet their food was better too!

What did we eat you say? Hmmm, I think the kids had chicken noodle soup to start followed by chicken tenders and the ever popular make your own sundae. They truly never tire of that dessert. Grumpy had the Onion Rings which he deemed very good, a sandwich I believe that was just okay and I have not got a clue what he had for dessert. I had the Shrimp Cocktail, the Chicken Pot Pie and the Smores. The Pot Pie was bland and just okay and I am a Pot Pie loving girl. The Smores though good were noticeably tinier than in years past. Not that I needed more just making an observation. It was the really the entrees that gave us the "Eh"s.

We exited after using our handy card to pay for these and immediately went to use the restroom. It is here that Bashful tells me she left her sunglasses on the table. I totally remember seeing them. We run back and the table has already been cleared and a new family is sitting down for lunch with our server, lucky them. Anyway I ask her if she found the glasses we had JUST left on the table. "No, there were no glasses" she says. So no more glasses for Bashful. I know they were there, I just know it.

We again divide up and this time we are going to use our FP for RNR and the boys are going to Star Tours again. This worked much better, aside from again walking back and forth, back and forth, and we got to RnR to find a standby time of like an hour at this point. We had 5 FP but only needed 3 so we gave 2 of them to a couple getting into that long hot standby line. They looked stunned and they did speak English, they did know what FP were and they were very appreciative! It feels so good to make someone's day!

We breezed by the standby line. Why in creation do they stand there? Why? Why stand there for an hour? I will never understand. And some of them look at you like "Why are you so special running past me?" and you just have to shake your head.

RnR was awesome, wow is that take off fast! I loved it, the girls loved it! Definately a must do!

We grabbed FP for ToT for later and phoned the guys and started walking towards Star Tours. We found them and then I think we went to the Muppet Show, though we might have done this earlier, it is becoming a blur. No wait and it is a really cute show. Brings back memories of watching them on TV when I was little. Kids enjoyed it, we enjoyed it, good stuff.

Now we are meandering and decide to go into Sounds Dangerous. We'll never get that time back. Oh what a waste of time. Pitch black, boring, long. No one gave this any thumbs up. We did the booths at the end and I love the part when it really feels like it is cutting your hair but even that seemed to drag too long. I think this attraction needs some serious work.

We stopped to visit our friend Oprah on the way.

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And being a huge M*A*S*H fan Grumpy had a few words for Alan Alda.
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And the kids of course wanted to say Thanks to Walt!

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I still wanted to see the Animation Studio and the others were asking for Tower of Terror. So we kept walking that way. The Animation thing was about to start so not a long wait till we went in to the theater and saw the movie with Mushu. I really enjoyed it. I think it is amazing how they create these characters we all know and love. Then we went to the area where you can do the voiceovers and color the pictures on the computers and such. The kids met Mr and Mrs Incredible there.
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Now I REALLY wanted to stay for the part where you try and draw a character but it was 20 more minutes. No one else was as interested in it as I. In hindsight I wish we had split up here and Grumpy could take all the kids and I could do what I want. Fair right? Well it was a "family vacation" after all so I took one for the team and we moved on. Someday I will get there, someday.

We headed over towards Tower of Terror and we rode with our FP. What a great system! Again breezing past the hot, the tired and the uninformed. Now Goofy had been all for going on this again. He rode it the day before and today said he wanted to again. Until we were buckled and our elevator began moving. Then he says to me in his loud Goofy voice for all our elevator-mates to hear "Why are you taking me on this?!?!?". :scared1: Oh I felt so bad. So bad. He was so scared. I kept talking to him about how it would be over soon and it was going to be okay. The girls in front of us, college aged, kept turning around and smiling at him. Poor thing. Seemed like it went on forever too.

We exited and he is like "Oh I was just kidding, I loved it". Ay yi yi. He was so not kidding in the moment but I am glad it didn't scar him for life. He tells everyone now that he rode the "Tower on Terror" and people are usually quite suprised to hear that!

As we walk down the crowded street I realize that once again, I forgot the parade. Can you believe it? Two days in a row. I blew it. We would not be back to MGM. There would be no parade for us. What a dork.

We decided to go back to the Pop and catch a rest since we had a late night ahead of us. Of course this was when the parade had just finished so there were lots of people leaving at this moment. Oh well. We grabbed a bus and headed "home".

What is coming up for our Monday night? Dinner at Pop and Illuminations Cruise and in between there foreign cola products don't sit well with Goofy!:eek:
 
For those that were intersted in seeing the hair wraps you can see them sort of in some of these pictures. They did them behind the ear. You can do them on top of the head or behind the ear. Since my girls wear ponytails a lot Stephanie had suggested behind the ear. The hair is wrapped in the string in a design and you can then have beads at the bottom, lots to choose from. My girls each had just a few beads at the bottom, just simple silver ones, that you need to have on there for some reason.

It was 1.50 an inch and then the beads range from cents a piece to several dollars a piece. I believe I ended up spending about $30 altogether if memory serves me correctly. It was not more than that but again we went simple on the beads.

She said they can stay in from 2 weeks to 2 months. 3 weeks later and Belle's is still in. Bashful's came out only a week later and it just completely came out of her head, hair and all. It was weird why it happened so fast,she wasn't pulling or yanking on it or anything?
Allyson
 
Very cool. Thanks for letting us know about the hair wrap.

I'll have to try that.

Can't wait to hear more!!
 
I am not finished yet, Allyson....only on page 6, but I wanted to tell you that I love your report! The video of the surprise gone wrong is hysterical, and all your stories about the kids and their reactions to this 1st time trip are fabulous. I can't wait to get caught up, and look forward to the rest of your installments.

Oh, and I am a fellow MA resident. Love your Sox and Pats loyalty!! Are you originally from this area? You don't have much of a Boston accent in your video!!
 
I am not finished yet, Allyson....only on page 6, but I wanted to tell you that I love your report! The video of the surprise gone wrong is hysterical, and all your stories about the kids and their reactions to this 1st time trip are fabulous. I can't wait to get caught up, and look forward to the rest of your installments.

Oh, and I am a fellow MA resident. Love your Sox and Pats loyalty!! Are you originally from this area? You don't have much of a Boston accent in your video!!

Born and raised my friend! Isn't it funny? Most people don't think I have much of an accent. It shows up in some words I guess! You know, pahking the cah in hahvad yahd.:lmao:
 
Awww, I thought for sure you would have made Fantasmic, you were pretty close!

Can't wait to see pics of the girls hair wraps :) and maybe a change of clothes for Belle? (just kidding/Just kidding!!)

Thanks for another good episode.

Notice on Monday we have a different shirt but the trusty grey sweatshirt around the waist! :thumbsup2 It is all my fault. I packed for all of us since it was a suprise trip. I only threw in one hoodie. After Chef Mickey's and feeling like she was in the arctic (the AC was really high!) she didn't want to be without her sweatshirt in case we ended up in a cold restauarant again.

Allyson :)
 












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