The longest wait ever

[ewspy87]

So I have decided to start my trip report early. We won't be at WDW until the 28th but i decided to write the pre-trip part and then you'll get the post-trip part afterward. With pictures I hope! I thought it would be different to write out a sort of before and after.

So first a little history. I have been to WDW about four times. The last time was in 1996. Hey it's only been 11 years! The last time was on a sort of second/first honeymoon. I was in the Army when my wife and I got married in 1995 and we only got a three day weekend for our honey moon. So a year later we went there with my sister and her husband and had a great time. We stayed at the Shades of Green since i was still in the Army. We spent about five days there. Like I said I had been there three times before while in college but this was probably the best, since I was there with my wife.

My wife grew up in California and that's where we met while I was stationed there. We must have gone to Disneyland at least 5 or six times in the year or so we lived there together. It is also where I asked her to marry me. If you face the castle (from main street) and go down the little path to the left there is a bronze plaque in the ground for something or another. I chose that spot so I would be able to find it again.

I was stationed in Hawaii (where son number one was born, now 9) and then Arizona. We managed to get to Disneyland a couple more times then. My son was too young to remember though. We now live in the Charlotte, NC area(where son number two was born, now 5). I was going to go back sooner but due to job changes and getting laid off several times the stars of time and money just never lined up correctly to permit us to go. Well, some job stability as well as a timely bonus have made it possible for us to go to the most magical place on earth. (Not a big buildup or anything there!)

We bought our tickets and paid for the room back in October. So now all we have to do is get there and pay for food. We are staying at the All-star movies resort. This is only the second time I have stayed on property. This was also the first time I have really planned out everything (thanks to this site). The first two times I went it was during October and February so there were next to no lines and we just ran from one ride to the next (literally). We saw almost everything in two days both times. Granted, there wasn't as much to see in '87 and '88 and we also skipped most of the kiddie rides. The third time I went with my sisters at Thanksgiving in '90 (or '89). There were more crowds but the Christmas stuff was up and that made it pretty nice.

THE PLAN

Saturday

So we will be driving down from Charlotte on the 28th of April. I hope to get in around 4pm. We'll check-in and then head over to Downtown Disney where my sons want to go to the Lego store. I was thinking of having an early dinner at the Rain forest cafe and then heading over to Disney Quest and let the boys run around like crazy. After traveling for 9 hours in a Camarro they will need it.

Sunday

Sunday morning will take us to the Magic Kingdom, I plan on taking the bus over since I have heard it is easier and faster than driving and then dealing with the TTC. That morning we have an 8am reservation for a character breakfast at the Crystal palace. Then we hit the park. Lunch and dinner will be light and wherever we are when the kids start complaining that they are hungry. We'll probably try to take our time since we will back at MK on Friday. We will have to play it by ear to see how long the kids can make it. I have thought about going back to the room for a break around lunch but I am hoping since it is our first day in the parks that we can push it for all its worth.

Monday
Monday, and we will be at the Animal kingdom. I have never been to it since it is new since the last time we went. I know the big things we want to do are the safari and the new coaster. Since the park closes early it will be a nice short day compared to the first. I thought this would be a nice way to give us all a break. No meals reserved, just whatever we find when we are hungry. I didn't mention it before, but on days we are not having a formal breakfast meal we will just be having cold cereal from those little boxes and/or granola bars for breakfast. It's a great way to save money and time. We will probably make use of the resort bus again.

Tuesday
Tuesday, and we will be at my favorite place...EPCOT! Depending on how our experience has been with the resort bus we will decide Monday night whether we are going to take the resort bus or drive our car. We have a lunch reservation at the San Angel Inn where I look forward to the revamped ride at the Mexico pavilion. I never really enjoyed the old one, but it was a nice way to cool off and relax. We are having dinner at the Coral reef, I know it's not the best food and it's expensive but my sons will eat seafood before steak and I like the view. There are so many things we want to do that we will be coming back Friday afternoon just in case we miss something and to do things the kids like again.

Wednesday
Wednesday is a slow day for us. We start out late and the kids are going on that Pirate adventure from the Grand Floridian. They go around the lake on a treasure hunt and then they get PB&J's. Nothing fancy but I am sure it will be fun. (Has anyone done this?) My wife and I will be having a quiet brunch at the Cafe there and maybe even a nice walk for the two of us. Then it is off to Blizzard beach. I hope that arriving after lunch we will be able to get a spot from someone who has left for the day. We will make it an early day and have dinner there at the snack place or back at the resort in the food court.

Thursday
Thursday morning finds us at the character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine at 8am and we will be having dinner at Mama Melroses. We got the dinner package where we get priority seats for the show later. It is my wifes birthday and I ordered a cake as a surprise for her. This will be a take it slow day (there seems to be a theme here). I'm not sure how much my sons will be in to. I know we want to do the Indiana Jones stunt show and also the car one. The week before we leave we are going to sit down with the kids and go over what they really want to see and then play it by ear from there.

Friday
The last day We go back to MK in the morning and we are having dinner at the Biergarten in EPCOT in the afternoon. We hope to hit anything we missed as well as do some stuff we really liked again.

Saturday
We leave We don't have to drive all the way home though. We drive to my sisters place north of Atlanta for a family get together and then drive the rest of the way home on Sunday.

I will be adding more to our planning and the when we get back I will follow up with how everything went as well as some pictures. I hope this wasn't too long.

 

[ewspy87]

Wow, so many replies to my post!!!! (Yeah, that's sarcasm)

I guess it must have just been missed or I really am a lousy writer. Oh well, you will have to suffer through some more terrible writing before i get back and can post the pictures.

We are two days away and I am starting to get nervous. There has been so much anticipation for this trip and now I am starting to worry about something going wrong. My wife pointed out that the car is making a funny noise and now I need to look into that before we go. It doesn't sound serious but I looked into a rental car and the roughly $400 was too much versus my peace of mind.

The weather is shaping up to be pretty good while we are there. There is a 30% chance of rain on Sunday but the rest of the days look great with highs in the mid 80's and partly cloudy skies.

We went shopping for last minute items last night to include some of those cheap ponchos from the dollar store as well as a ton of travel size toiletry items. My wife also bought a new bathing suit and some more shorts...and shirts...and (well i got her to stop at about $100 in stuff anyway).

I'll pack up the car Friday night and have everything ready to go for a 6am departure Saturday morning! Hopefully the next time I write I will have nothing but great memories to impart.

That is if anyone even looks at this post .

 

[tink621]

Good luck on your trip. We leave on May 19th and we can't wait. Let us know how the new boat ride in Mexico is. We plan on doing it also. Hopefully the parks won't be too crowded for you this time of year.

 

[OhMari]

How did your trip go, I hope you come back and let us know. Even if you could do a short version if you are not up to a long one.

 

[ewspy87]

OhMari, I will be posting a picture-less version of my trip report later today. I am writing it now. Your response reminded me that with all of my catching up on work after vacation I had forgotten about my own trip report. The funny part was that I was commenting on how no one read my post. Oh well, gimme a couple more hours and I will have it up here.

 

[ewspy87]

Ok, not only was it the longest wait ever to go on another Disney vacation but it also took me a while to post my trip report. I will add some pictures as soon as I get around to loading them up somewhere. Sorry if this seems long. We made a ton of mistakes but also discovered some things so I hope this all helps you plan your next trip.

Day 1

So we were supposed to leave Charlotte on the morning of the 28th to drive down to WDW. Well about 9 am on the 27th I started to get really antsy, and also was starting to dread an 8 hour drive down to the world. So I looked around on line and found a decent hotel about halfway between here and there. I left work early and packed the car, picked up the kids and as soon as the wife got home we had a quick dinner and we were off.

Let me start this with one of my lessons learned. Do not drive to the world in a '91 Camaro. We recently bought a new, bigger car but we have had the Camaro as a sort of gap vehicle after we had to turn in our mini-van because it was leased and had reached the mileage limit. We bought it off of my wife's family and hadn't planned on keeping it for so long. We wanted to get a new car before we left but it didn't happen. It wasn't bad, just not suggestible.

We stopped in a small town (Walterboro) off of I95 in SC. This is where our first mishap (I don't know what else to call it) occurred. It was a decent Comfort Inn, nothing special. We had noticed that our oldest son had been coughing and feeling a bit sluggish on the way down but didn't think anything of it until we stopped for the night. We got to the room and he was starting to cough and sniffle. We whipped out the thermometer (I had packed this in my toilet kit just in case, it is a great idea since you can never find one when you need one) and he had a 101 degree temp. So I went into the big town of Walterboro (just kidding it isn't that bad of a town) and the CVS was on the other side of town from the highway and hotel.

Day 2

The next morning he was feeling better but he was coughing a good bit. So we pushed on. Now originally we had planned to get into WDW at about 4pm but since we left early we got in there at just before noon. We hit a Burger King after getting onto I4 and headed for our resort.

This is the first time I have ever stayed on-site and it will definitely not be my last. I really enjoyed the convenience of being close by to everything and also the transportation.

We booked at All-Star movies and had requested the Toy Story building but when we went to check in they said it was booked up and they had a room in the Dalmatians building open. This disappointed me at first, but after staying there a week I would choose to stay in that building in the future. We had room 1813 and it was easy to get to the laundry room and close enough to the pool and main building that it never seemed like very far to walk. One good thing was they said our room was ready to go so we could get our stuff in and settled before we headed out.

When I was booking the trip I originally booked the tickets for only six days. Then we decided to hit Disney Quest on the first night and since it is like $35 for entry and it only cost me $9 to extend all of our tickets to 7 days, it was well worth the extension.

So we headed out for Downtown Disney.

One thing I would like to state right now was that we never had any real trouble with the transportation service. The only time it was bad was on the way back from a park or someplace at about closing time. This should just be expected.

We drove over there and of course my sons headed right for the Lego store first. We spent way more than we planned on there and then we walked around and ended up creating light sabers for both of the boys in the Star wars section.

We had dinner at the Rain Forest Café. My wife loves the place and so do the boys. I wasn't overly impressed. It was crowded and my oldest son wasn't feeling so great again, but we had a good server and the meal was OK. It was too expensive for what we got though. Of course some of that was due to me ordering a couple of beers.

After dinner we headed over to Disney Quest. I wasn't so sure about it at first. I have heard mixed reviews from the boards, but I tried to keep an open mind. My sons really enjoyed it. I don't know if older kids would. My sons are 5 and 9 so they really enjoyed the raft ride and my older son and I did the Pirate adventure thing. That was really great. You need to do it though with a group of at least four. It was me and my son and then a woman about my age by herself. She didn't put much effort into it. We still clobbered the pirates though.

Overall it wasn't bad at all and since I really only paid 9 bucks for it (the ticket extension) it was worth it. We got some dessert at the Cheesecake factory on the top level and headed back to the resort to get some rest for our first big day in the parks. The boys fell asleep pretty fast considering they were both feeling a bit under the weather and we didn't take long either.

One last mishap for the day though. I wear a sleeping mask. It is part of a CPAP machine I use for sleep apnea. I can not get a good night's sleep with out it. When I was taking it off that morning at the hotel in SC the connection for one of the straps broke. I thought that this was just a great start to my vacation and at every gas station we stopped at (another reason not to drive a big V-8 car on a long road trip) I looked for super glue or something. When we were coming back from Downtown Disney we stopped at the Hess station and they had super glue. I ended up having to duct tape the strap to the mask later in the trip, but that Hess station saved my life that night. I really can't get much sleep at all with out that machine.

Well, this is getting long so I am going to snip it off here and post the rest of the trip in separate post. Probably several.

Coming Up Next. Our first full day in the parks!!!

 

[ewspy87]

After re-reading my last post I remembered that when we came in 1996 I was still in the Army and we stayed at the Shades of Green resort. So this wasn't my first on-site WDW vacation. It was so long ago that I forgot. They didn't have, or we didn't take advantage of, a transportation system from there. It is still a really nice hotel though. But enough of the distant past and on to the recent past.

Day 3

When we woke up the boys weren't feeling too bad, but we doped them up with cold and allergy meds just in case. We had an 8 am reservation at the Crystal palace and we had to get moving. I wasn't going to be late. A note here, I have a slight OC thing about time and never being late or missing things. I really tried to not go all commando planning on this trip. I got into the groove by about the fourth day.

We strolled on down to the Bus station and took a quick ride over to the Magic Kingdom. Now, we got up at about 6am so that we could get ready and ride the bus over. I wasn't sure how long any of this would take but I didn't want to be late. Needless to say we were pretty early and had to wait to get in. The boys were doing pretty well at holding back against the anticipation, but my wife and I were going crazy to get in.

As we were waiting to get in, there were a couple of older CM's who were the guardians of the gates. They helped the time go by, by telling some jokes and just generally kidding around with us and the kids. Everyone seems to complain that the CM's are not as good as they used to be. While we did encounter this occasionally I have to say that we really enjoyed the service from almost everyone. Maybe we are just easy.

So we headed on over to the Crystal Palace and after a short wait we were in. Again I am a pretty easy guy to please. That buffet was great. It's hard to screw up breakfast though. It was nice that the characters come around and you can just sit there and eat. The boys got to see Pooh and Tigger. It was a nice start for the day. It was a little expensive though. It was about $70 for the four of us.

From there we headed for adventure land and we had to wait about ten minutes for the park to officially open. We went straight to the jungle cruise, only to find out it didn't open for another hour. So we got a fast pass for it and went through the Robinson's tree house. I always like going through there and the boys enjoyed it too. My wife doesn't like heights so she wasn't overly thrilled.

Next we went to ride Pirates and after some cajoling we got my younger son to go on. We had almost no line and practically walked right on. My younger son wasn't too frightened but he never went on it again. We headed over to Splash Mountain and my older son and I rode that and got drenched. It was fun though. Then my wife and older son rode on Thunder Mountain while my younger son and I chilled out. It was time to go back for our fast pas on the jungle cruise and as usual that was really fun. Our "River Guide" had a very dry sense of humor but it appealed to both kids and adults and the jokes were so lame they were funny. The kids enjoyed it a bunch.

Next we headed over to Haunted Mansion. I know we were hopping around a bit and this was going to be our downfall for the day. We didn't have that great a plan and we paid for it with our feet. I was trying not to go all commando on this trip and instead had next to no plan the first day. I remedied this somewhat from here on.

The haunted mansion we again had to cajole our younger son to ride and while he didn't seem that scared during the ride, he would not ride it again. At this point it was about lunch and we had waited until about 12 to eat so when we got to Cosmic Rays in Tomorrow land it was packed. My wife and younger son wanted chicken and my older son and I wanted burgers so we separated and went to the different lines. I hated this. I don't understand why they have different lines for this. How many parties want only chicken or only hamburgers??? Anyway, we got our food and when we finally found a table it had only three chairs. I, of course, stood. Overall the food was not bad, you have to work at screwing up hamburgers and chicken strips, I would suggest going earlier or later to avoid the mad rush.

We then hit Buzz light year and my older son and wife went on Space Mountain while my younger son and I did the carousel of progress. It was a nice air-conditioned break since I had to stand through lunch. We then all did the motor way and that never gets old.

The lines were starting to get longer and the park more crowded at this point. It was an Extra magic hour evening. The boys were getting pretty tired, since they weren't still 100% from being sick, and my wife and I were kinda tired too. The heat wasn’t helping and we decided to call it a day. We had just entered fantasy land when we decided we had had enough so we got on the train and took it to the entrance. There we noticed the 3pm parade was just getting to the end of main street so we stopped and watched it before leaving. The kids really enjoyed this and it made for a nice end to our first day.

The bus ride back to the resort was packed but thankfully short, even though we were the last stop. We got back to the resort and went swimming in the pool there. Then we decided to take advantage of the pizza delivery. DO NOT DO THIS. First, the pizza is the same as the stuff in the food court. Second they add a delivery fee and an automatic tip to the price. A pizza, a liter of coke and a couple beers was $55. I am not doing that again.

One thing I should mention at this point was that when we checked in the day before there were four towel creations waiting for us in our window and another big one on top of the TV. Every day after that the mousekeeper would display our son's stuffed animals for them in a different way. Sometimes watching TV or reading a book they had brought and on the last day they were all in the front window waiting for them. It was a real nice touch.

Coming Next, Animal Kingdom letdown!!!

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We are heading from Charlotte (Huntersville) in 10 days. I feel your pain. I'm not looking forward to the ride with my 5 kids!

Keep the report coming!

 

[ewspy87]

Day 4

The last time I was at WDW there was no Animal Kingdom. I didn't find much difference. We went on the safari ride first and that was nice, although a little hokey and heavy on the conservation bit. Not that I am against conservation but it was laid on a little thick for an amusement ride. The part at the end was bit hokey too. Not like Jungle cruise Hokey, where it is supposed to be, just hokey.

My older son and I did Expedition Everest and that was really fun. My wife and he did the dinosaur ride while the youngest and I chilled out and had a snack. We just couldn't get into the feel of the park. We did some rides in that county fair area and my sons had a good time in the Dino dig area but after that we had enough of Animal Kingdom and decided to take go over to Epcot. It isn't that it is a bad park, maybe it was just us. We just didn't get the same feel from the place as we did from the other parks.

So we headed over to Epcot and decided to have lunch at the Land pavilion. There wasn't a ton that my kids liked but we finally found some stuff they would eat. PB&J and chicken strips I think. Again, we were there during the lunch rush and paid for it. We then got our fast pass for the Soarin' ride and went on the "Living with the land" ride. I always enjoy this and the kids seemed to like it too. We then went on the Nemo ride, which for some reason scared my younger son. I guess the vehicles are just like the ones for Haunted Mansion and that spooked him. "Turtle talk with Crush" was great too. We headed back to the land pavilion for our fast pas on Soarin'.

Let me just start a new paragraph here. Because I will need it! I wasn't sure about this ride. I had heard mixed reviews, like just about everything on these boards, but I was willing to give it a try. We got the front row on the left side. I would suggest trying to get the front row when you get in line because then you don't have the distraction of feet dangling down. Let me just say that when it started out it was kind of hard to get used to. But, when you actually pick your feet up when you head over the surf at Monterey…well that is explanation enough. The added sense of smell was fantastic. The first time you ride it is awesome. After that it is still great. Probably the best ride I have ever been on. Especially since I have been to most of the places they fly over and through. It was just an awesome ride. A little un-nerving at first, but really awesome.

I love Epcot. It is my favorite park. The kids liked some of the stuff at future world but my youngest was not into it. That's why the have Kidcot. It is a great program that gets the kids excited about going from one pavilion to the next. My older son probably had the best time at Innoventions, but my younger son liked going from place to place and talking with the CM at each station. He is a very sociable young guy.

On this day we made it to about 4:30 before we decided to head back. We were coming back again the next day and decided to rest up. So it was back on the bus to the resort and we had a meal in the food court. Let me say here that while the food was not outstanding, it was still OK. I wish I had bought the refillable mugs the first day though. They would have saved us.

Day 5

We decided to have breakfast at the food court before heading over to Epcot. Like I have said before, you have to work at screwing up breakfast. It was Ok. After being exhausted so many days in a row we decided to get a double stroller since we were going to be heading into world showcase. We rode Soarin' again and did test track, which was ok. I liked the car displays after the ride better. We also hit innoventions some more and finished up the kidcot tags for future world for the kids. I also did the Segway demo, which was really fun. We headed towards Mexico since we had an ADR for the San Angel Inn. On the way over we stopped at this little place called Odyssey Center. It is sort of a grab bag of a place. There are nice bathrooms as well as a small shop. There is also a good sized theater for conventions or groups or something. I never noticed it before. Just something that caught my attention.

So we went to San Angel Inn and rode the newly renovated Mexico ride. It was nice and cool and relaxing. The kids enjoyed seeing the Three amigos. Nothing to write home about just nice. The meal was terrible though. The ambiance is great but the food truly sucked. It was the worst meal we had and we will never eat there again. The only reason we did eat there is because my wife really likes the feel of the place. Kind of like Rainforest café has a neat feel but at least there the food was better. Ambiance is not enough. The service was also lousy.

At this point I should mention that my youngest was feeling under the weather again. So the for the rest of the day me and him sort of cruised from country to country( he slept in the stroller most of the time) while my wife and older son checked out each country. We did go into the china 360 movie and the Canada 360 movie. I didn't know if my sons would like these. My older son did but my younger son tolerated them I think. He was really out of it. We had a reservation for the Living seas restaurant but decided to head back to the resort and relax and recuperate.

Overall the day could have gone better. But the kids still had lots of fun, even my youngest when he was awake. Like I said Epcot is my favorite park, but it is more enjoyable without kids. Mostly because I like to just look around and of course the part where you go from country to country trying their different wines and beers

Coming up Next, A Pirate adventure!!!

 

[ewspy87]

We are heading from Charlotte (Huntersville) in 10 days. I feel your pain. I'm not looking forward to the ride with my 5 kids!

We live in Matthews so it was a bit shorter for us to get on 485 and then 77 to Columbia. Making it a two day trip by leaving the evening before was worth the $70 bucks we paid for the hotel that night. Really!!!

 

[ewspy87]

Day 6

So it was time for a built in break. We got up a little later than we had been (like 0730 instead of 0630!) and we drove over to the Grand Floridian resort. (Let me just stop here before I go on and tell you the third or fourth or whatever reason why you shouldn't drive a '91 Camaro down to the world. Because, on long trips things start to break on an old car. We didn't know it but somewhere along the trip our engine cooling fan decided to quit working. It didn't matter much on the highway, because you're moving air across the radiator, but on short trips where you are at lights and such it started to heat up. I didn't let it on to my wife but I was glad this was the only day we were using our car down there other than the first day.) Anyway, we had signed our sons up for this Pirate adventure thing that leaves from the Grand Floridian marina at like 0930 and brings them back around 12 noon. They went off on that while my wife and I had a nice quiet brunch at the Grand Floridian café. We then walked around the resort and decided that if we could afford it we were going to try to stay there some time. It has a very nice feel and of course a whole lot more amenities.

So unfortunately, the boat didn't lose our sons and they came back at the appointed time. Essentially they went from one resort beach to another on a sort of scavenger hunt and then they had PB&J's for lunch. They thought it was the greatest thing ever. They got these pirate style mouse ears and each got a booty bag with candy and other stuff they found.

Next we went over to blizzard beach and spent about four hours there. The boys really enjoyed the slides and such. It was not too busy but there were plenty of kids for them to play with in the pools. My older son sucked in a bunch of water when we were getting off the lazy river thing and ended up coughing so hard and so much that he upchucked. There was a life guard who was there pretty quick to check him out and he made him feel better about throwing up. We were about done for the day anyway. Like I said before, we must have run into all the good CM's while we were there. This lifeguard made him feel ok even though he was feeling really embarrassed about puking.

We headed back to the resort and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Day 7

After Epcot, MGM has to rate up there as my favorite park. We had scheduled another Character breakfast for that morning so we were up early and waiting at the gates for them to let us in. We did the Little Einstein's breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. Again, it is hard to screw up a breakfast buffet, but I liked the selection we had at Crystal palace better. The kids enjoyed this one more though since they got to get up and dance around with the characters a couple of times.

Then we went on the great movie ride. The kids really enjoyed the part where the ride gets taken over by the bad guy. We hadn't planned on going on it, but it was no wait so we went right on. Then we went on the back lot tour and we all really enjoyed that. Especially my older son, he wants to make movies when he grows up. The canyon scene freaked out my younger son some but he was laughing by the end. We walked around some and then we managed to get in a couple photos with the power rangers before we went into the car stunt show.

The lights, motors, action show was really good. It was all it was advertised to be…loud and filled with stunts and screaming tires. I liked how they explained how they did each stunt afterward. Like I said, my son wants to make movies and he really enjoyed this. Sometimes he likes the extra stuff they put on DVD's more than the movie itself. It was kind of hot in those bleachers though. I would suggest taking some water with you. I had a nice fanny pack with a water bottle holder that we put to good use throughout our stay.

We then had lunch at the back lot express, which actually had really good burgers. Then we headed back to the resort. We were planning a long day so we went back and took a nap. It was really nice. When we got back we hit the next show for the Indiana Jones show. This is one of my favorites. Then we hit the Muppets 3-d thing and my wife and older son did the star tours ride. I love Star Wars but that ride makes me sick every time I go on it. So my younger son and I chilled out and did some shopping. It was my wife's birthday and I got her a nice Minnie mouse watch. We had reservations at Mama Melrose's for dinner so when they got off of there we went over. We got the special package where you get dinner and then the passes for the Fantasmic show special seating also.

I would like to thank Todd, who was our waiter (actually I gave him a $20 tip so that was a nice thanks there) he was great. I had called that number for special occasions and had a cake ordered for our meal and he was going along with it being a surprise until my wife got very insistent on choosing a dessert towards the end of the meal and I had to break the surprise to her. He was even nice to not make big deal out of it since my wife hates when they do that. He was just very attentive to us and it was fairly busy in there. It was the best meal we had all week. After that we wandered around some of the shops and then went to the fantasmic show. I was planning on taking my son on the Tower of Terror ride but he lucked out since we ran out of time.

By the way, that special seating isn't that great for viewing but it is closer to the exit when you leave. It was our latest night and everyone was pretty tired.

Day 8

Our last day at WDW was spent back at the Magic Kingdom. We had a quick breakfast at the food court and we arrived just as the gates opened. My older son and I went over to tomorrow land while my younger son and wife went to Mickey's toon town fair. We rode space mountain and then did the Stitch great escape thing. The last time I was there it was that alien encounter thing. I liked it better. Stitch was ok, but the alien thing was scarier. I guess that was the idea.

My wife and younger son rode the train around to the toon town fair stop and were still there long before it opened. They played around in Mickey's house and such and were in the front of the line for the character greets. He got his picture taken with a bunch of them, to include mickey.

We met up in Fantasyland and we did the Philharmagic show and it's a small world and we got a fast pass for the peter pan ride. We then ate lunch at the pinochio village haus. I wish we could have gotten one of those tables that overlooks the it's a small world ride loading area but we were lucky to get a seat inside. After lunch we did the carousel and then I had to get out of Fantasy land. It was so crowded and hot. We headed for Thunder mountain and while my older son and I rode that my wife and younger son went over to Tom sawyer island. We met up at the pirates of the Caribbean ride but my younger son would not go on it. BTW, as we left fantasy land neither of my sons would go back on Haunted mansion. I really like that ride.

While my oldest and wife rode (more wait time in the afternoon) my youngest and myself treated ourselves to some dole whips. I was stationed in Hawaii for three years (it is where my oldest was born) and I loved to stop at the dole plantation shop on my way home and get one of those pineapple whips. MMMMMM!!!

We took our time and hit some more shops on the way out and left kinda early. We went back to the resort and relaxed and then my wife and older son decided to go back to Disney quest for the evening. So my youngest and myself had nice relaxing dinner at the food court and then we watched cartoons and played around as well as packed up all our stuff. My wife and oldest got back late and I had already packed up the car except for the stuff we would need in the morning.

Going Home

Actually we weren't going straight home. We left there at the crack of dawn and drove through the smoke of the Florida wildfires on our way to north Atlanta where my sister lives. We went there for a family function. It was a long 8 hour drive. We got home the next day which is only a 3 and half hour drive and started to unpack. I won't go into the details but we finally got a new car this past week after a hellish time of trying to get rid of that Camaro.

Lessons learned

1. The Dalmatians' building is just as good if not better than any other.

2. Buy the refillable drink mugs the minute you arrive.

3. We should have done the Disney dining plan. I figured out afterward how much we spent on food and while it wouldn't have been a huge savings at least most of our food expenses would have been paid for before we even got there. I hated having to count up how much we spent each day to make sure we didn't go over budget.

4. While the ASM was a nice resort, if you can afford it go for the Grand Floridian or Wilderness or Animal kingdom lodges. If budget is an issue ASM was great for our needs, but I am very easy to please.

5. If you have young kids and plan on staying for the fireworks at the end of the night, get a stroller and take a break in the middle of the day and go take a nap. You and the kids will be better off for it.

I'm sure there are more but I am running out of time here at work today. I actually need to do some work before I leave. I hope you get something out of this. All I have to say is that we had a fantastic time. My kids bring it up in conversation at least once a day and they tell everyone they meet about the trip. We are already planning on going back in between thanksgiving and xmas of 2008 sometime.

 

[niclodn]

Sounds like you had a great trip overall! I also live in Matthews, NC and am planning to drive when I take my niece in September. I was debating about driving straight thru or splitting it up into two days -- after reading about your trip, I think I will end up splitting it. Thanks for the report!

 

[Cherlynn25]

Great trip report. Sounds like you guys had a good time! We are going in september and i cant wait!!!!!!
I have a 8 and 6 yo DS, i hope they like pirates. i love that ride. we went 1 1/2 yrs ago and they went on the HM. Neither one would go again.........

 

[momof2boyz12]

Great trip report, and I can't wait to see the pictures! Sounds like you are your family had a wonderful trip full of everlasting memories.

We are going down July 20 - July 30 (talk about HOT) with our sons (6 and 3). Taking a stroller and a mid-day break is a must with small kids and for us big kids, too.

I know what you mean about the drive. We are about 20-22 hours from Disney, so this time we are flying. We drove last time, and my hubby and I looked like this by the time we checked into ASMo.

 

[jamieandben]

Great trip report. Iam also from clt and my partner is from walterboro. I know what your talking about this town is so small.
i will be going down in sept. and i will be staying over in walterboro.(Free place to stay) even with all the cows.

 

[ewspy87]

Sounds like you had a great trip overall! I also live in Matthews, NC and am planning to drive when I take my niece in September. I was debating about driving straight thru or splitting it up into two days -- after reading about your trip, I think I will end up splitting it. Thanks for the report!

That seriously made a big difference in our whole trip. Instead of arriving tired and worn out we arrived fairly refreshed and we also arrived earlier so we had time to settle in and enjoy ourselves more!

 

[ewspy87]

...and finally the PHOTOS!!!!! sorry if it takes a while to load.

What a loaded '91 Camaro looks like:

And the space left in the back seat:

We finally get there:

A blurry shot of my wife unpacking and Teddy (our youngest) hanging out:

The camouflaged steps of the Dalmatians' building:

Chris (my oldest) eating at the Rain Forest cafe:

The Tedster before MK opens up:

Aint it the truth:

Mandatory shot of Main street upon entrance to MK:

The boys and Tigger:

I'm going to break this into a couple of entries, just in case that helps things

 

[ewspy87]

Me and Chris after getting soaked on Splash Mountain:

The Tedster gets a good seat for the parade at MK:

The tree of whatever at Animal Kingdom:

The boys at the Dino dig:

The Boys and some hot chick who wandered by at the entrance to EPCOT:

Chris and Goofy:

Ted and Goofy:

The boys and a Troll:

The Tedster and St George?:

How my youngest spent most of his time at the World Showcase:

More to come...

 

[ewspy87]

A couple of nefarious Pirates:

The boys at the MGM Little Einsteins breakfast:

Nap time:

Whats that?! A storm trooper?! No, it's a Teddy trooper:

Teddy and the Mouse:

Our greeting from our Mousekeeper on our last day:

sorry if all these images at once are hard to load up.