The "surely I'll come up with a better name for this TR by the time it's done" report

[mrp4352]

So, after having read so many reports, it's finally my turn! Please hang on and bear with me!

Cast:

Me: early thirties, single, Texan, bird-owner, avid reader, Minnie-ear-wearer
Bekah: early thirties, married, my best friend (for way longer than either of us care to imagine), works from home in Virginia, AKA Magic Mommy, Tigger-ear-wearer
N: almost 2, Bekah's beautiful little girl, a thinker, happy (although her smile almost always ends by the time the shutter button has been pressed), calls all dog characters BeBe, lovingly called Stitch from time-to-time


Chapter 1: The introduction and the Arrival

As like so many others, we were caught by the lure of free dining combined with some unexpected time of for me in September. So, we booked! Five nighs at the All Star Sports (chosen because it was a value resort and the first stop on the All Star line).

Thursday was quite exciting for Bekah - she left home way earlier than anyone on vacation should have to, only to be caught on the Beltway for an hour and a half. Complete stop, nobody moving, everyone turning off engines and out of the car. YUCK. Luckily N was able to get out and run around some, even more luckily Bekah was able to get on a later flight to Orlando!

By the time they arrived, they threw stuff in the room and ran to catch a bus to the MK. A quick spin on Small World, then they were off to dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. She said it was a very good meal, the characters were fantastic, service was so-so, and the price was *free!* Then it was home for a quick bath and into bed.

But wait, where was I? I can hear you asking! Unfortunately, I was at work - I had to put in a full day, then fly out afterwards. But Air Tran got me there (and thank you lucky stars for the credits that gave me free upgrade to business class, and yes, Ma'am, I'd love another coffee with Bailey's Irish Creme in it, complimentary for us business class guests, you know...) The Magic Express did it's Magic and got me safely to the hotel around 1:30am where I promptly fell into bed and asleep.

Chapter 2: Friday

Are we allowed to put more than one chapter in a post? I hope so! Things are kinda flowing, so I don't want to stop!

After sleeping in some the next morning, we split a breakfast at the hotel (we did pay for this one) then headed to Expedition: Everest. Oh, I think we waved at some characters walking in, maybe said something like, "Look, N, there's a, what is that??? No matter, we're not stopping anyway, so if you don't see it on the fly, you're outta luck, kiddo!" and then arrived at our destination! The mountain lair of the Yeti, which was unfortunately experiencing some unexpected problems. We were directed to the Fastpass machine by some very friendly cast members and promised ourselves and that Yeti that we'd be back!

Hakuna Matata, we can readjust our plans - so it's off to Dinoland for some spinning on Dum-whoops! In this park it's Triceratops Spin. Regardless of the name, it's one of N's favorites! Along the way we noticed Smear, Splat and Dip (I think that's what they're called) setting up. If you ever get the chance, stop and watch - these acrobats are great! And, despite not saying much at all, very personable and friendly.

The show was about 10 minutes, but in the direct sun, so we were all parched (love that Florida weather - the humidity almost makes me miss Texas heat!). While stopping for water, I noticed Chip all by himself - way down tucked out of sight. (Side note: If ever you're in Dinoland, check out the road between the gift shop and the Dino-rama area - way down past the restrooms and past the roller coaster, sometimes characters 'hide'. I've seen them there a couple of times and rarely with a line.) I waved big at him, and he waved back. We continued to wait in the water line and no one else seemed to notice chip. I waved big at him again, and he waved back. I'm fairly frantic at this point, wanting to get N over to him, but she has decided that only Magic Mommy can push the stroller this trip. So, we continue to wait while Magic Mommy buys water for us all.

YEA! Let's go hug Chip!!With the heat and not enough sleep the day before, it's only natural that the youngest one is not the happiest of campers at this point in time. But let me tell you - Chip spent about 10-15 minutes with us (no, no one ever even came over to this corner of the World, so we weren't holding up other picture/autograph seekers)! He even threw a fit with N when she decided to step to the side and start stomping feet - which made her start to laugh and turned the tide. By the time we were done, we had an angel-child again! If you happen to be reading this, Chip, we were there about 11am on Friday, Sept 8th. THANK YOU!!

After Chip left us, we guzzled our waters, then ran to Triceratops Spin, which we rode twice in a row with no wait! YEA!!! I then stomped Bekah at the Whack-a-Mole game, winning N a lovely stuffed alligator (yes 150 to 130 is a stomp). Then we high-tailed it back to the Mountain. Our fastpasses say we have a date with Child Swap and a Yeti - who has decided to defend his mountain, in ways even the Disney maintenance crew has not been able to comprehend yet. In other words, it was still down. This is our only time for AK, so it's not looking good for Everest this trip. But we have Annual Passes - so we'll be back!

Lunch time! We decided to head to Tusker House having heard so many wonderful reviews. Along the way, we passed a HUGE owl being displayed before the Flights of Wonder show (which, amazingly, I've never seen - the timing just never seems to work out), DeVine, and some African dancers.

We stopped in the Baby Care Center before lunch, where the heat, tiredness and newness caught up with N in quite spectacular fashion. Another quick plan revision - we'll head back to the hotel, grab lunch there to eat in the room (*free*) and get someone down for her nap. All of which worked wonderfully!

When N woke, we piled out of the room and onto the MGM bus for our Mama Melrose's reservation, but the littlest party member was still slightly out of sorts at the world. Outside the park, we sat and decided that confining N to a high chair for 60-90 minutes would probably not lead to the most relaxing of dinners at this point. So, we changed plans, again and after cancelling our ressie, headed off down the walkway to Epcot. If the weather is nice and you have some time - it's a lovely walk! Especially when the line for the Friendship is up the whole ramp and there is no boat in sight.

We entered Epcot through the International Gateway and headed counter-clockwise towards China for dinner, but ended up stopping in Japan to listen to the drummers (fantastic!). We decided that Yakitori House looked like it had good food and would be enjoyable for a *free* dinner - and it was!

We continued around the world, stopping at the Outpost for a friendly castmember to play with N and the maracas (strangely, Bekah wouldn't let me buy those for N to play with on the plane ride home). As we continued around the world, we noticed a steady buildup of crowds - maybe because the MK was closed for Nights of Joy? Either way, we had already decided to make an early night of it. We continued around until N noticed the ducks by the International Gateway. Anytime ducks are spotted she wants to stop and look, and it was only by complete distraction we were able to get her back into the stroller and moving onwards!

We stopped in Mouse Gears to pick up some Mickey Mouse Crackers (the goldfish kind) - which, evidently, are only available in Mouse Gears now. Then on to guest services to rearrange our dinning plans since we had 'freed up' a table service credit by skipping Mama Melrose's. and we met James! the sweetheart from Paris who played with N, gave her an autographed picture of the characters, a coloring page and colors for later, and a pin to wear next month when she celebrates her birthday! Kudos out to James!

Then it was out to the bus and home where we were all asleep within moments...

 

[mrp4352]

Up and at 'em! I got a lot of shopping to do!! Today's our non-park day, we're spending the morning and early afternoon at Downtown Disney. We skip breakfast because it's already only 2 hours until our lunch reservation at Planet Hollywood. A quick stop in the Under $10 store and N has a new cell phone! One of those really cute ones where Cinderella is telling you how much she loves to dance! Then it was off to World of Disney, because we only have an hour or so before lunch time and I have a list! $140 later (between the two of us), we have 1 HUGE sack, bunches of gifts, a souvineer or two for ourselves and an apetite!

Off to Planet Hollywood! We were seated immediately and quickly found menu items to our liking. I think the Slider appetizer and Bekah's fajitas were the best choices that were made. Although the desserts we ended up carrying back to the room for later were right up there! Another lovely *free* meal.

On the way back to the hotel, we had a small mishap. Bekah was putting N down into a seat that a gentleman had just vacated for her when the bus started to move. They both lost their balance and started to fall. Bekah caught N before N could hurt herself, but she fell backwards and hit her head on someone's knee. Luckily, no one was hurt although N was scared into a fit. All of this was more frustrating because of all the people standing, I was no where near them and couldn't help. Anyone who was on the bus and helped - thank you! (side note to Disney bus drivers: You almost always do a great job - thank you. However, if several people are yelling for you to stop the bus, slowing to a crawl is probably not going to be enough. There was never an actual stop so Bekah could get up off the floor and put N in the seat again.)

We were all shot by the time we got back to the room for naptime. However, once N was down, Bekah and I started playing Monopoly. it's a shame we won't know the outcome - but I'm sure I would have one.

After naptime, we still had a bunch of time before our dinner at Boma, so we headed back to Downtown Disney. After trying to find Mickey Mouse crackers at Goofy's and the kitchen store, we noticed a storm moving in, so we decided to head on over to the bus stop. We must have just missed the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus, because we ended up waiting almost half an hour and just as we boarded, the storm finally broke! Not too much lightening, but lots of rain!

Because of the rain and Nights of Joy at the MK (I'm assuming), there were many more people waiting to be seated for dinner than we expected. We checked in, got our pager and headed off to wait. We wandered down towards the pool area (which was closed), back to the restrooms, then up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs between the bar and Boma. Finally about 45 minutes later, we realize that we can't wait much longer it's already almost 8:30 and N has to eat soon. So after a couple more up and downs, we headed to the desk to find out how much longer we have to wait, where we found that we had been seated 30 minutes ago... Um, no, sorry, but here's our pager, it hasn't gone off and we're obviously not inside and dining right now. They said they'll check into it and we'll be seated in 5-10 minutes. Great! But we're not stepping away from the podium again. Hmmm, suddenly we can be seated immediately.

GRRR... Not the customer service I'm used to from Disney - although in their defense, something had gone horribly wrong that evening with their system. We watched a server try to seat a part at a 4-top, only to find out the party had 8 people in it. And the line to get in kept growing longer and longer...

I must say, though, that once we got seated we had a really good meal. I think I could have eaten a whole bowlful of the black olive hummas and crispy flat bread. Not to mention the fact that I would have been very, very happy making a whole meal off of desserts - especially zebra domes and the banana cannoli things. Once we got in and seated, we had another lovely *free* meal.

In all of the confusion, my request for a birthday celebration for N got lost (I know, it's a month and a half early, but I won't be in VA for the celebration, so I decided we'd have one at WDW.), and we were all ready to get back to the room. So, once we were back, we got N ready for bed, then let her open her birthday gift from me. After she played with it a little, we tucked her up in bed and quickly followed!

 

[mrp4352]

Nope, no breakfast this morning, kiddo! You have a very important breakfast appointment at the MK! Tigger HIMSELF will be dining with you. So we jump up, make sure that our ears look all clean and spiffy, throw N's into the backpack just in case she decides to deign to wear them and head out.

We arrived and were seated within about 5 minutes of check in and before the seat's even started to warm up, here comes TIGGER!! The man of the hour, himself. (yes, we're all die-hard Tigger fans, or so we thought...) After hugs and laughs and pictures, he moves on and Piglet takes his place. Again, a lovely visit - including a great picture (if I do say so myself) of N and Piglet touching noses. We take a break to get some food (the breakfast lasagna is divine, by the way, but remember it's more like a dessert than a breakfast entre). Here comes Pooh, 2 quick pics and there goes Pooh... Yup, seems that word had gotten out that Pooh was second fiddle at our table, so he didn't hang around long.

Then it came, the betrayal... Our belief in all that was sacred was shattered... N starts going crazy! She's trying to climb out of her high chair to, who? we can't really see yet, but she must have seen Tigger! What, that's not Tigger, but Eeyore! How is it possible for a self-proclaimed obsessed Tigger fan have a child who prefers Eeyore over Tigger? Oh, the shame of it all!

Actually, while we were quite surprised that Eeyore turned out to be N's favorite of the Pooh characters, we could have watched them play together for an hour! Eeyore gave her such a hug and even smiled, just a little, for her.

After the parade, we were visited again by Tigger and Piglet, but then decided that our *free* meal was over and we had more places to go and characters to see.

Interesting (at least to me) side note: I am told by many reliable news sources that we experienced an earthquake while we were dining. We honestly couldn't tell inside the Crystal Palace. So, while I have experienced two earthquakes in my life, I have never actually noticed anything. I slept through the first one and dined lavishly during the second.

We stopped in Tinkerbell's Treasures for me to look for a birthday gift for one of my neices back in Texas. A lovely cast member chose N and one other little girl to help her with a huge problem! She had all these pictures of princesses and princes, but they had gotten mixed up. She needed to sort them all out again to the right pairs. They all spread out on the floor right in the middle of everything and played together! When she was done, she presented the girls with Magic Moments certificates signed by none other than the Fairy Godmother herself!

After trying on and discarding all the purses in the shop, N allowed us to lead her to Toontown. We walked into the judges tent and ended up next in line to see Goofy and friends! Pluto came out to play a little hide-and-seek around the corner with everyone waiting in line, then we were lead down to meet everyone. "BeBe" (Goofy), Donald, and "BeBe" (Pluto). N barely stood still for Goofy, she was so excited about Donald - seeing that he's a duck and all, and this child has quite a fascination with ducks. However, when Donald first got her, he kissed her, which evidently is a bad thing. They probably heard the scream over in the Haunted Mansion... But Donald was so sorry he had startled her, contrite, and made sure that Magic Mommy stayed in between him and N for the picture. Pluto, on the other hand, made her tears turn to laughter as quick as a snap! They played together on the floor - she stroked his whiskers and patted his nose. Both just seemingly as happy and content as could be.

I have to admit, I took a moment and had a picture with Pluto, too. And the Disney photographers got a great one! A close up where I'm barely visibly behind the bear-hug (dog hug?) I got! And of course I scratched his ears!

Much happier after visiting Pluto, we all three skipped off to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (which we had oh-so-wisely gotten fast passes for on the way to Toontown). I heard at least one "I wonder why they're so special" as we pranced down the line and got right into a honey pot!

Time to make our way back to the hotel, but first we'll stop back at Tinkerbell's Treasures for Aunt Shell to by N a little purse, watch Philharmagic, stop at Casey's for corn dog nuggets that we all shared (YUMMY!!) and the Confectionary for treats for the adults while little one is sleeping, and the gift shop at the hotel for a small bottle of White Zin just made for two adults.

N slept soundly, so soundly that we decided to take a cab to our dinner at Konas, since we weren't sure the Disney transport system could get us there in time for our reservations. We had a HUGE YUMMY *free* dinner there! I highly recommend the filet mignon and the macademia nut pie! We hoped the monorail and headed for the MK. Tonight's our night to see Spectro and Wishes!

We got there about half an hour before Spectro, fully planning on hightailing it to Frontierland. But wait - those are curbseats, right here in front of City Hall!! We'll take 'em!! Not only are they on the curb, but there's a lamppost for me and a mail box for Bekah!

The following are exceprts from my side of the ensuing conversation(s):

"Um, those clouds don't look really friendly, and um, I kind of forgot to grab the stroller cover and umbrella back in the room...

"It's starting to sprinkle, I'm gonna go grab panchos for us - you're sure you don't want one for N?

"Ok, I'm back, here we go - wait, there's more panchos than I paid for here. I'm gonna go return it.

"Ok, I'm back, yeah, you're right, N really should have one, I'll be back in a sec.

"OK, I'm back - yup, the sky split. But that's ok - here comes Mickey!!! Hi, Mickey!!!

"Yup, my rear's soaked too. Oh, that's why, we're sitting over a drain. Look, there's Goofy! Hi, BeBe!!!

"Yup, this is miserable. Let's scoot back under that porch right behind us.

And as soon as we made it to the porch, the fish came out onto the parade route and started moving up the route at about 90 miles an hour (well maybe not quite that fast, but I have never seen them move that fast before), then the spokesman came on "We're sorry, but the remainder of Spectromagic has been cancelled due to inclement weather." Yuck... And it's Extra Magic Hours here tonight, too. Rats...

So, I go into City Hall and speak with a wonderful young lady, who lifts the computer screen up so I can see that the storm is almost through and if we hang tough about 20 minutes, the rain (and probably the crowds) will clear out. We decide to give it the 20 minutes - and it worked! People were pouring out of the MK in droves and we're calmly walking to the hub for Wishes! The rain didn't quite end by the beginning of Wishes, but Bekah and N were safely covered in the old Swan Boat dock and I was near by, but a little further up towards the front of the castle.

I admit it - I cry everytime. It's just so beautiful and happy and hopeful.

No more time for tears! We have a happy toddler and Extra Magic Hours! Because of the lightening, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority was closed, but we were able to board Buzz after about a 5 minute wait. It's inifinitely more exciting when a toddler has the steering control! After I won, and we bought the picture, then we crossed the park for Pirates. WOW! I tend to be a traditionalist when it comes to the parks, but I LOVE the changes they've made!

It was getting close to the end of the night, so we decided to try to beat some of the crowds to the bus stop. Which didn't work. But we did decided to skip the one bus that was standing room only to be first on the next one (which meant seats!!). I do have to share - there was a beautiful little girl, asleep on her Daddy's shoulder. She was dressed head to toe in Cinderella - down to the plastic glass slippers they sell. I think she had been to the Bibbity-Bobbity Boutique that day. Her hair was done beautifully and she was covered in glitter. Which meant her Daddy was also covered in glitter. I wish I could have taken a picture of them on their camera for them to have - it was such a sweet picture!

 

[mrp4352]

Up and at 'em. Well, maybe not that much up and at 'em. We slept so late, we barely made it to our 11:10 ressie for the Garden Grill on time! (we would have been early, but decided we needed Fast Passes for Soarin.) Again, the *free* food was great - LOVE the oat bread and the creme filled puff pastery with berries! But it was the character interaction that made this so special. The resturant was only about a third full, so we saw all the characters four times during the hour we were there! They danced with N, let her shine their noses with her napkin, helped her decorate her dessert, and hugged and kissed her. I think I took about 50 pictures just during that meal!

After lunch, we went to Soarin'. I went first - FANTASTIC! This is my all-time favorite Disney ride (the first time I got to ride it was in California, I was travelling by myself, and I think I did single-rider 5 times in a row and only stopped because it was about parade time). When I came out, Bekah headed off down the Fast Pass lane, and N realized that her Magic Mommy was not to be found. After discovering that not only that I am an auntie and not a Mommy for a really good reason, but also that I really could convince her that a tantrum on the floor wasn't a good idea, we settled in and played quietly and happily with her beads until Mommy appeared again.

Off to Imagination to visit Figment! Love that ride, love that character, miss Dreamfinder terribly, though. Then a stop in Character Connection - if you haven't done this and you love characters, you gotta stop in!! But don't tell anyone else about it - there were two people in line in front of us, so all the characters were taking lots of time with everyone. And we got Mickey in a tux, Minnie in her classic red dress with white polka dots, Donald (who didn't cause anyone to scream in terror this time), Pluto, both chipmunks together, and Goofy. This was the second best character greeting we did on the trip!

A quick spin on Spaceship Earth, then off to the room for naptime and some packing.

N took an extra long nap this time, so long, we were a little worried about getting to MGM for Fantasmic - but we got there about 50 minutes before show time. They were seated, then I went in search of *free* food - 2 orders of nachos, a hot dog and 3 beverages later, we all dined on the lovely hard metal benches. We were SO excited to see this show - the last two times we've tried to see it, something has happened to make it where we couldn't enjoy the show or we didn't get to see it at all, and we were a little nervous about this time. We had both read from so many on the Disboards about little ones not making it through ok. However, we had Stitch with us, who not only loved the show (calling for More throughout), but who applauded and laughed when Malificent turned into the dragon. Who knew she loved villians like we do??

After the show, we headed out to Extra Magic Hours. First stop, Playhouse Disney! N danced, we all laughed, and we adults sat on the floor 'til our rears fell asleep. But, we had the request for More when it was over, so we deemed the show a success! And, after bribing with the though of some dinner, we were able to get N to leave. We went back to Rosie's for dinner, enjoying another *free* counter service meal. Then criss-crossed the park again for the Muppets!

As we were heading slowly out, savoring our last moments in a Disney park for this trip, we notices something strange on New York Street. Probably a third of the Christmas lights were lit! They were working on putting up the Oborne lights! it was like an extra bit of pixie dust sprinkled on us to make the transition back to the real world a little easier!

 

[mrp4352]

Well, this is a fairly short TR for a fairly short trip...

Tuesday we had to be ready for Magic Express by 8:30. So we grabbed our *free* breakfast, used our last counterservice credit to get a *free* sandwich for on the plane, and used our last snack credits to get *free* snacks for later (I love the Mickey Mouse chex-mix knock-off). Then it was off to the airport for the long wait. We were able to get flights to our respective corners of the country at the same time and on the same airline - which meant we were able to enjoy the last few minutes together.

It's very different for me, travelling with a toddler. The best thing was that I remembered to slow down and enjoy the little things - even ducks. I tend to rush from ride to ride to parade to dinner reservation. You can't do that with a toddler, but stopping to play with the twigs, putting stickers on legs/bellies/shirts, watching her do the 'toddler dance' with a little girl she's never seen before while asking the other child's parents where they're from, that's what makes the trip just as much fun as one where you get to ride every ride in the parks!

 

[mrp4352]

No, sorry, I couldn't come up with a better name for the TR by the time it was done. So I think the original will have to stick!

 

[MEK]

It sounds like you had a really enjoyable trip. Thanks for posting.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Hey thanks for the trip report, really good. I especially
liked the parts about the *free* food
BTW, I used to live in Irving.

 

[mrp4352]

I have to admit, after having read several of the other trippies, it's a little unnerving hitting the send on the first chapter! Thanks for the comments!

Uncle Remus - well, after last night's game, you'll know that there is much joy in Irving today!

 

[kaceyisme]

I really enjoyed your report! Great seeing things through the eyes of a little one, isn't it!