The Thrill Seekers are Back! Trip Report 9/14-9/19

[GADISNEYGIRL]

The Thrill Seekers Are Back!

9/14-9/19 Trip Report

The Cast:
Me: Rhonda/Mommy, age 31, WDW Vet
DH: Mark/Daddy, age 32, WDW Vet
DS: Wesley, age 2 1/2, WDW Vet

For further background, see my Pre-Trip Report.

9/14 Travel, Arrival at Pop Century

Well, I left work as scheduled, arrived home as scheduled, had the car packed and loaded as scheduled, and we were pulling out of the driveway as scheduled...but instead of heading south on I-75, we were heading north. One of the tires that we bought on Friday (this was Tuesday) was very low. We waited about 30 minutes at WalMart, after which time they told us that there was nothing wrong with the tire. They added some more air, we should be good to go. Hmmm....not the most confident way to set out on a 500 mile road trip...but off we went, and thankfully, we had no more problems with the tire!

We were about an hour later leaving than we had planned, but it turned out to be fine. The trip was fairly uneventful, which is exactly how I like trips to be! We arrived at the Pop Century about 7:15 that evening. I had never gone in with Mark to check in at All Star Movies, but Wesley and I did go in with him this time. There was no wait at all. Joe was "earning his ears" at the Pop, but had worked at the Animal Kingdom for some time prior. Why would you leave a park to come work in a hotel? Oh yeah...AIR CONDITIONING! Anyway, with Joshua's help, Joe got us checked in. We ended up with the exact room we wanted: nonsmoking, two doubles, 50s, Epcot view. But it took a little doing. First, we were told that we would have our king, nonsmoking room. Great, but we asked for doubles, so Wesley wouldn't have to sleep with us. Okay, no problem, doubles it is. Would you like 70s or 90s? Well, 70s, I guess, but we had asked for 50s. Anything available in 50s? Sure, we can get you in 50s. Epcot view? Sure, you can have an Epcot view. We know (after experience) that rooms are first come, first serve, so you won't always get your requests. But in this case, they HAD rooms available that met our requests, so why not just assign us one of them to begin with? Oh, well, we got it, and we were very happy with it. Check in took about 20 minutes, because Joe was trying to learn things. We didn't mind, and he (and Joshua) were both pretty friendly.

We parked the car and took the looooonnngggg walk from the parking lot to the room: 3427. DS and I stayed in the room (and I deposited my secret gift on each of our pillows: Guest of Honor badges). DH made 3 trips, I believe, to get the luggage and cooler. Or was it just two? Anyway, it was quite a walk for him. We had brought dinner with us: Subways for us, PBJ for DS, so we ate then. We unpacked, made ourselves at home, checked to see what Ivan was doing, and gave DS his bath. DS watched Tarzan and Monsters, Inc. bedtime stories. Now please don't think that means he is ready for bed, oh, no! It's 9pm now, and time for fireworks. So we walk out to the balcony and over one room's length, and watched the fireworks. Wesley thought it was really neat that we could see Spaceship Earth from the balcony (so did we, actually!). By this time, I was really tired, but Amazing Race was coming on at 10. The only two shows that we are fanatic about are Survivor and Amazing Race. We turned out the light, thinking that would help Wesley get to sleep, but it wasn't to be. He stayed awake and watched all of AR, too. When we turned off the TV at 11, he was gone in about 2 minutes.

Neither of us slept great the first night. We'd heard that Disney had "fixed" the All Star problems at the Pop...but they forgot two very important things. One, is it really necessary for everyone in your building to hear when you flush the toilet? And two, a little soundproofing material on the outside walls would go a long way. Apparently everyone on our corridor was a night owl, because we heard voices, footsteps and doors slamming for a good portion of the night. Aside from that, we were very pleased with the Pop. The Cast Members, for the most part, were very pleasant and friendly. Most of them seemed to really enjoy being there. That's always a plus, when it comes to customer service.

9/15 Cape May, Downtown Disney, Exploring the Pop, Trail's End

We'd set the wakeup call for 8am. I answered it on speaker, but Wesley slept right through it. Oh, well! With the late night he'd had, he needed the sleep! Once we were up and moving, we headed to Everything Pop for a quick look-see before getting on with our day. We were all wearing our Guest of Honor badges, and a cast member said, "Good morning, Wesley!"~There, my magic was fully restored! Yes, I had tears in my eyes! I'm such a sucker for the little things... Wesley, of course, had this expression like, How do you know my name??

We had a 10:30am (I think) PS for Cape May. We arrived about 10am, and we were seated within a couple of minutes. Very light crowd. We saw the server we'd had back in April, and she told us that she'd just gotten back from having taken 10 days of vacation, because she was making more in vacation pay than she was working. The hurricanes had really done their number. And even though Ivan had missed central FL, so many people had cancelled for last week, not knowing what he was going to do... We enjoyed our breakfast. It was a better experience than we'd had in April. It was a Saturday morning then, and so crowded~just didn't have a fantastic time. This time was great. We got plenty of character interaction. Goofy drew a self portrait, and signed it. Minnie didn't appear to be a great artist, but she gamely drew a sun, grass and a flower, and signed it, With Love from Minnie Mouse. We brought them both home.

After that, we drove over to the Yacht Club. We'd never been in there, and that is someplace that we really want to stay. Bruce at the Front Desk was kind enough to let us see a room. (He told us that they were only expecting 13 check-ins for the day. Yikes.) What a great resort. We can't wait to stay there! It will take some penny-saving, though. After that, we journeyed over to Downtown Disney. Sort of the pre-shopping trip. Size things up, see what you Have To Have before leaving, that sort of thing. How do you know when your 2 yr old has watched the Disney Planning Video too much? When he asks where you're going, and you reply, Downtown Disney. To which HE replies, The Downtown Disney Area? And, somewhat surprised, you answer, Yes... and then he says, in this great announcer's voice: The Downtown Disney area has it all! After we regained our composure, we got on with the pre-shopping trip! We took a quick spin through all the stores, and surprisingly, didn't see very many Have To Haves. Surely this will change, right?

The plan now is to go back to the room, give DS a PBJ, and let him take a nap. The best-laid plans... Apparently, Wesley was working from a different agenda, and his did not include a nap. This was really too bad, because we'd talked ourselves into taking a little rest, too. I got downright snippy with the poor kid! We tried for an hour to get the nap in (DH did get a brief one~he was in the bed by himself...but he was awakened twice by housekeeping; I have no idea what it was they wanted~just to see if we were in there, maybe?), then gave up, and headed for the Hippy Dippy Pool. Wesley had been talking about the Hippy Dippy Pool for weeks. So naturally, when we arrived at the Hippy Dippy Pool, he would have no part of it. This was not completely surprising. He loves the bathtub, but larger bodies of water (like the Kiddie Pool) are somewhat intimidating to him. Especially if they have large numbers of people in them, who all happen to be strangers. This was a disappointment to DH, who was looking forward to the Hippy Dippy Pool (or any pool, for that matter). Well, we're already out and about, we'll take this opportunity to check out the rest of the resort. And lo and behold, behind the Hippy Dippy Pool, we found the Goofy Fountain! DH thought: aha, water! And he splashed right in. DS was not so easily swayed. It took about 10 minutes of watching Dad splash and spray before he would venture in. But once he did, he loved it! In fact, it took us a while to drag him out. We had decided to try Trail's End for dinner, though, so we needed to not dilly dally too much.

Back to the room, change into dry clothes, hang up the wet ones, and off we go to Fort Wilderness. We waited a couple minutes for a bus to Pioneer Hall, then walked around the deserted Petting Farm. I wonder if most of the animals were still in hurricane shelters or something? No sign of a CM anywhere. We saw a few goats, a miniature horse, two donkeys, two cows, two pot-bellied pigs and a few chickens. Most of the pens were empty. We washed our hands, as directed by the signs, and headed to Trail's End. I found this to be somewhat disappointing. There wasn't a huge variety of food, and what there was seemed to me to be just average. I compared it to a Picadilly or something like that. DH liked it a little better than I did. But we both agreed that we wouldn't go to Ft. Wilderness again just to eat there. We got back to the room about 7, gave Wesley his bath, and got ready for bed~all of us. At 8, we had him in bed. By 8:30, he and I were both asleep! DH stayed up and read for a while~2 1/2 hours, to be exact. I'll bet he wishes he had gone to bed at 8:30, too! We had a big day ahead of us...

9/16 PSB, Ice Cream Social, Stinky Skunks, and More...

I believe Mickey called at 6:30am~DH was in charge of scheduling wake-up calls all week. My job was just to answer them. Again, no movement from Wesley. So while we got ready, DH phoned for another one, so that Wesley could hear it. Once we were ready, we woke Wesley. Perfect timing, the phone's ringing! Wow, Wesley was soooo excited that Mickey called HIM! We prepare Prince Wesley for his day, and we're off...to see the Princesses!

We arrived at Epcot about 7:55. DH was very concerned all week about being on time for our PSs. For PSB and CRT, we had the earliest available PS, so I kept telling him that everyone would arrive at pretty much the same time. That didn't seem to help him feel better... Anyway, upon our arrival at Epcot, he just knew that the attendant would let us in to park, after all, we have a PS! But alas, poor peasant, everyone must wait until 8am to park. When we were allowed in, and got out of the car, we were suddenly surrounded by tulle and tiaras. There were little princesses everywhere. No doubt about where they're headed, huh? We truck over to Norway, and DH was unable to enjoy walking through Epcot without a crowd (something he'd really been looking forward to) because he was having problems with the video camera. He got it fixed about the time we hit the World Showcase. Once in Norway, we join the swarm of camera carrying servants accompanying all the little princesses. There was a great deal of screaming and crying~not at all princess-like, in my opinion! Our little prince, who is very sensitive to noise (more about this as we go along), was very overwhelmed and a bit on edge.

We have no girls, just the one boy. So why were we dragging this poor kid to see the princesses? And not just once, but twice! Well, because he loves them! Truly, there is not a Disney character he doesn't love. For weeks he had been planning what he was going to say to each Princess. i.e. Where are the Seven Dwarves? Where is Aladdin? And for Sleeping Beauty he had a special surprise: He was going to kiss her cheek to wake her up, just like the REAL Prince Philip. (Prince Philip is one of his alter egos.)

As we stood in the crowd and waited for our name to be called, I could feel his confidence wavering. Too many people, too much noise, too overwhelming... At last we were called, and in we went, to be seated at a table right in the middle of the room, with people on all sides. There were cups on the table already, but of course there was nothing in them. When he saw his cup, he decided that he needed his chocolate milk. NOW. He is an easygoing, go-with-the-flow kind of child~otherwise, I wouldn't have dreamed of taking him to Disney World at his age. He is not a tantrum-thrower (although he is picking up some good tips by watching his pre-school classmates), and he does not have meltdowns. He gets a little grumpy when he's excessively tired, but we don't do the laying-in-the-floor-kicking-our-feet-scene like so many kids do. Now when it comes to whining, he can take the prize, but again, that is generally when he is just ready to drop. And if you point out that he is whining, he will return to a normal, no-whine voice. So I was pretty shocked when he said AGAIN that he wanted his chocolate milk, and he wanted it NOW, and then let out a big scream. I could just picture us ruining the Princess Storybook Breakfast for all these families, as my son threw his first tantrum on the floor of Restaurant Akershus, with every single father capturing it all on video. I quickly pulled him from his chair (they hadn't yet brought the booster seat) and onto my lap, and thankfully the storm passed. Phew, no one had anything to capture on film! I guess the scream was just his only way to let out his frustration and anxiety. Boy, was I glad that was it! And in reality, it was so loud in there, we were probably the only ones who heard him, anyway... Fortunately, I got him interested in the sweet rolls, and he was enjoying them when his chocolate milk finally arrived. He did spend most of the breakfast in my lap, though, instead of his own chair. As the princesses began making their rounds, he lost interest in breakfast completely, and gave us updates on their progress: There's Snow White! Jasmine's coming! It's almost my turn! There's Sleeping Beauty! And then we watched as each princess made a big to-do over the little princesses, telling them how beautiful they were, etc. Now granted, that's their job. But I have to say that we were very disappointed in the attention to DS (or lack thereof) and the lack of interaction. They each posed for a picture, they each signed his t-shirt, they each posed for a picture with DH...and that was pretty much it. Jasmine did give him a kiss, but overall we were disappointed with this event. DS was still feeling too overwhelmed to really ask his prepared questions, and there's no way he was going to kiss Sleeping Beauty! The Snow White was VERY in character, she had the voice down pat. Mulan was the least "in character", and the others fell somewhere in the middle. On a more positive note, Jasmine and Belle both remembered him when we met them later in the day. We will not be doing PSB again, could you guess?

After PSB, DS insisted that he wanted to ride "the dinosaurs". We both had misgivings about this, but decided we'd try it. But it has been quite a while since we did it, and we had forgotten how long it was. Decided that it was way too long, just in case DS didn't like it. I'm glad we didn't do it, I think it would've been waaaaaay too much for DS. So...new plan. DH really wanted to ride Mission:Space. After all the warnings, I don't think it would be my cuppa tea... but I had assured DH that he could ride if he wanted. He went to check the line, and there wasn't one! I was sunscreening Wesley up, when DH yelled to me~said that Astronaut Mickey and Goofy were available for pics...so he went on his mission while DS and I went to meet the astronauts. Wesley was very excited about them, and asked if they were going to the moon with his daddy? Once they left, he and I headed over to Figment. We were the only "guests" on the ride~though we actually had some CMs hop on our train as we were beginning the ride. As it started, Wesley wasn't so sure. Even when it was over, he said he didn't want to ride again. It IS really loud, I guess I should've expected this. We met up with DH at that point (who later told me that he didn't think Mission:Space was that great~said he was glad he hadn't had to wait in a long line to ride it, he thought it was a big disappointment...but he also confirmed that I wouldn't enjoy it). The characters were around Spaceship Earth, so we headed over that way. We only got to see Pinocchio and Geppeto before they had to leave, though. Then we backtracked, and went to The Land. Ever since they made this a FastPass ride, the lines have been unbelievable. We haven't ridden it since last September, the lines were too long in April/May. This time we walked right on. Somewhat surprisingly, Wesley really enjoyed it. (Last year he didn't care for it.) After The Land, we went over to The Living Seas. This is one of our least favorite attractions (especially me, I have fish issues!), but Wesley loves it. We got to see a sea turtle, that was a first! We didn't get to look at the Nemo exhibit much, because they were doing some sort of filming, and CMs kept ushering people around the Nemo tank. Now, on to Spaceship Earth. What can you say? Classic Epcot! Wesley didn't like it as much this time around because the volume was a lot louder.

We wanted to catch the characters at their next stop in Japan, so we started towards World Showcase. Once in Japan, we only waited about 5 minutes before the bus came. Wesley had a great time seeing Captain Hook, Smee, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Max, Pluto...we didn't make it to Chip and Dale before the bus left, but gee, you see those two everywhere! We saw the sign on our way through France the first time, and we headed back that way to see~The Three Musketeers! Wesley has not yet seen this, but The Disney Channel has done a great job promoting it. The kid recognizes the logo. We had thought to surprise him~not tell him that he would get to see them~but he saw the sign. No pictures on it, mind you, just the logo. The Three Musketeers!, he exclaimed! After several consultations with several different CMs we were finally told that they would be out sometime around 1. We waited around, and sure enough, just after 1, here they come! I must admit, Wesley was extraordinarily cute during this whole exchange, and apparently other people thought so, too, because there where lots of "awwwww"s and I heard someone say, "That was certainly a Kodak moment!" He enjoyed it so much that we got in line again. By that time, it was close to 1:30, and that's when Belle and the Beast should appear. So we waited some more, but only the Beast came out. Belle was too engrossed in her book, we were told. Wesley was a little scared of Beast. He IS rather intimidating, without Belle there to soften him up! After a photo refusal (by Wesley), we start towards UK when we see Belle... and she invites us to come back to the Library with her, where Beast is waiting (yes, we know!). With Belle there, Wesley did consent to a couple of pictures. Added bonus, she remembered him from breakfast. After close to an hour in France (the longest time I've ever spent there, I believe!), we venture to the UK.

 

[GADISNEYGIRL]

I love Mary Poppins. It is one of my favorite movies. My very favorite is The Sound of Music~so it might be safe to say that it is actually Julie Andrews that I love, not necessarily Mary Poppins. Anyway, in all our trips to Epcot, we've never seen Mary Poppins. Pooh and Eeyore, always, and occasionally Tigger, but never Mary. Wow, was I excited to walk in and see her there! AND, she was actually BRITISH! We saw three Marys over the course of the week, and this one was by far the most in character. She was quite personable, too, and patiently answered Wesley's questions about where Jane and Michael and Bert were. She could even say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious backwards! (She taught us to say it "backwards", too!) After visiting with Mary, we went to the back room, where we saw Pooh and Piglet. We took a couple pictures with them, then the handler told us that soon Pooh, Eeyore and RABBIT would be back. Rabbit? Apparently it is almost unheard of to see Rabbit in the parks! Okay, you've snagged us; we'll wait! Actually, we didn't wait there; we strolled over to Canada and hiked up to the "falls". Back to UK, a quick pass through the tea shop (my favorite), and back to the toy shop. Chatted a bit more with Mary. And then, there they were: Pooh, Eeyore, and RABBIT! Wesley was very excited about seeing Rabbit. The handler had said that we were very lucky to get to see Rabbit, so Wesley kept saying, "We are very lucky to see Rabbit!"

By now it was close to our PS time for the Ice Cream Social, and DH, naturally, was worried that we'd be late. Fortunately, we weren't, and we even got a lower level booth, as we'd requested. Our server was Marcus, and he obliged when DH asked for a pitcher of water. (Saved himself a lot of trips!) The ice cream was good, as usual, and the character interaction was great! This might be Wesley's favorite character "meal". He loves watching the changing scenery, and he loves coloring. The ice cream is secondary, but he is fond of the gummy worms... we have had fantastic interaction with Chip and Dale every time we've been here, and this was no exception. At one point, Dale sat down and colored with him for about 10 minutes. He would draw a shape, and Wesley would name the shape and the color. They had a good time with that game! Interestingly, the character at all the meals that we typically get the least interaction from is Mickey. I'm not sure why that is, but that has been our experience with every meal featuring Mickey.

After the ICS, my memory is failing me slightly. I believe it was at that point that we headed back to World Showcase, because Wesley was in dire need of a nap. But first, souvenir time for Mark and me! We stopped in one of the stores by the bridge, looking for an Epcot shirt featuring the flags of each represented country. The first store didn't have any. Fortunately, the second one did: long sleeve t's with Mickey head flags and an outline of each country behind the flags. Perfect! And so we ventured to Canada for the...third?...time that day. Our plan was to ask a CM from each country to sign our shirts in their native language. That's what we did, and the shirts turned out great! One odd thing: in USA, we had a hard time finding an American to sign our shirts. Everyone working there was foreign! (???) Wesley was sleeping during all of this, but we did get to see Jasmine and Aladdin in Morocco, and Jasmine also remembered him from breakfast. It started to sprinkle at some point, and in Italy we had to dash undercover for a few minutes. It let up a bit, so we started out again. I think that's about when Wesley woke up. In Germany, another downpour started. We wandered through those shops until it had subsided. The next thing that happened was a first for us. When we arrived in Norway, there was NO LINE for Maelstrom. Now we have been there before when there was a very short line, but I mean there was NO ONE in there but us! (Looked like Mexico, LOL!) Wesley is undecided on this ride. He never wants to ride it initially, but then later he talks about it over and over, and can't wait to ride it again. One he *does* love, from beginning to end, is Mexico. So that's where we headed next.

After Mexico (our shirts now completed), we went back to Future World. Wesley wanted to ride Figment again. We actually rode it twice more, I think. (Wesley still talks about the stinky skunk!) We were getting rather hungry, and decided it was time to go (once again) to World Showcase, and eat at one of our very favorite places in all of WDW: Tangierine Cafe. Food was as wonderful as always. DH had the lamb/chicken combo, and I had the vegetarian platter. Wesley had PBJ (Uncrustables) that we had brought with us. It was around 7ish then, as I remember, and we hit Norway and Mexico again. As we departed WS for the last time that day, another downpour. It slacked off again, and we decided we had time for one more run on Spaceship Earth. Wesley played in the "stars" on the pavement for a while, then we said good-bye-til-December to Epcot, and took off for the Pop. We arrived about 9pm, Wesley got a bath, we got things ready for the morning, and I believe all were in bed by 10pm. It had been a great day!

9/17: CRT, characters galore, and lots of "firsts"

Mickey called at 6am. None of us are morning people, and that's an hour and a half earlier than we have to get up to get to work/school on time! But DH and I managed to drag ourselves out of bed and get ready for the day. I am pretty sure that Mickey called Wesley again, too. We left for the Magic Kingdom about 7:15. (Had to make sure we were on time, you know!) We got the closest parking space we've ever had there, and walked to the gates with CMs who were coming to work. There was already a sizable line. CMs were asking everyone if they had restaurant reservations. The shocker for this one (to us) was that there were practically NO tulle and tiara draped little girls around! At long last, we were allowed through the turnstiles, and we tried to drink in Main Street without a crowd...while still hurrying, so as not to be late! ;-) Checking in at CRT was somewhat confusing, they were asking one party member to stand in line, and the rest of the family to wait in the lobby, but then we were also trying to figure out where stroller parking was~and by the time I got the stroller parked in the right place, we were pretty much ready to be seated. I will admit: this meal was more for Mark and me than for Wesley. He knew that we were eating in the castle, but at 2, that doesn't mean as much to him as it did to us! It was really beautiful. Added bonus, we got a GREAT table! (#7, by a window) The princesses started coming out almost at once. We seemed to be at the very beginning of their rotation, which was nice. This was much more enjoyable than PSB for a number of reasons. One, Cindy's place is much more beautiful than the "castle" in Norway! Two, I, at least, enjoyed the food better (stuffed french toast, yum!). It didn't seem so crowded, either. Service was much more prompt, we had drinks almost immediately. We got a *tiny* bit more time with each princess, I would say. (DUH!! The one princess we didn't have a signature for was Cinderella...but we left DS' t- shirt in the stroller outside! Oh, well, we'll catch her in ToonTown.) Of the 5 (Cindy, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Snow White, and Mary Poppins~and WHY is she considered a "princess", anyway?), we had the best interaction with Mary Poppins. All too soon, our time in the castle was over, and we were headed downstairs. There was an unbelievable crowd around the Fairy Godmother, so we just waved and kept going. Here we began our traditional MK pattern.

First off, Buzz Lightyear! Wesley waved and talked to Buzz as he informed us of our mission. After Buzz, time to do Fantasyland. Pooh was a walkon. Snow White was a walkon. Dumbo (first time for Wesley, first time for me since I was 5) we had to wait about 5 minutes. I actually enjoyed Dumbo! Then, another first: Mickey's Philharmagic! (This was also Wesley's first 3-D movie. I thought he might not wear the glasses, but he did great!) This was fantastic. We all really enjoyed it. Wish we'd had time to do it again. Now on to Peter Pan, one of Wesley's all- time favorites. No wait for this, either. Now we start towards Haunted Mansion. Again, no wait. Wesley was not sure about this, either, and I covered his ears/eyes for most of it, but now he talks about it all the time, and "can't wait to ride it in December!" On around to Pirates of the Carribean. No wait! It is now 11am, and with the exception of ToonTown, we have ridden all the rides we had planned to ride! When we exit PoC, Wesley's hero, Peter Pan, was there with Wendy. As is typical, he turned shy, but they were both very nice (much better than the previous Peter/Wendy experience we'd had), signed his shirt, and took a picture.

Next we went to the Plaza, to make a PS for lunch. Gotta be back there at 12:50. ToonTown it is! First we got in line to see Minnie, Chip, Dale and Pluto. Great interaction with Chip and Dale. Then we waited to see Cinderella, since we still needed her autograph. In this room was Cindy, Perla, and Ariel (being that Ariel's grotto is closed right now). Fabulous interaction with Perla. No one was in line to see her, but Wesley waved to her (while we were in Cindy's line). She came over to us, played with Wesley, we took a picture. Had our turn with Cindy, then Wesley went to see Perla. Took several pictures. Then she wanted to sign his shirt (we were only planning to have "major" characters sign it), so she did. She seemed sad when it was our turn with Ariel. Were we the only people who paid her any attention that day? Poor little mouse. Maybe she should get some pointers from Mickey and Minnie?? Meeting Ariel was another terrific experience (especially for DH; Ariel is his favorite princess). She was extremely personable, talked up a storm, was very good with Wesley. Two pictures (one with Wesley, one with Dad), and we were done. Time to see the Big Cheese. Quick pic there, where Wesley wished him a Happy Birthday (I have no idea why), then we decided to brave The Barnstormer, provided Wesley was tall enough. He was when I measured him at home, but you never know! Fortunately, he was tall enough, by at least an inch. He decided he wanted to ride this with Goofy (Daddy), and that was fine by me. DH sometimes feels a bit slighted, because Wesley ALWAYS wants me, so I thought it neat that he wanted to do this with Daddy...er...Goofy.

Now, we are roller coaster nuts~love ‘em. And with the exception of the single day when my sis and bil kept Wesley for us and we went to WDW (they lived near Orlando at the time), DH and I have not ridden any coasters since Wesley was born. We know we could do Baby Swap, but how much fun is it for him to stand in line for something he doesn't get to ride? So we have opted to skip those rides until he is big enough to do them. We have not been to MGM with him; I don't know if I could stand the temptation and not ride RnRC!!! At any rate, there's always the possibility that your child won't like thrill rides. Horrors!! So here was Wesley's first Thrill Seeker test: Would he, or would he not, be a coaster nut, like us?

Well, after the first ride on Barnstormer, during which he giggled the entire (12 second) ride, his first words were "Let's do it again!" A huge sigh of relief from both of us!! Yes, before you know it, we'll be doing the Legendary WDW Mountain Range with this boy! So, we rode again. He (again) rode with Daddy. The third time, I talked him into riding with me so Daddy could stand below and video the ride. That was okay with him~but just once. Then we pulled him away, because it was time for lunch at the Plaza.

Yet another first: a meal at The Plaza. As we waited outside, the Mayor dropped by. We chatted and got a picture. At last we entered the coolness of the restaurant. Ahhh...air conditioning! Our lunch was quite good. Doubt this will be our last trip here! By now, it is getting close to 2, and Wesley really needs a nap. We decide to tour the shops on Main Street and hope he will fall asleep. Fortunately, he does, and fairly quickly. By 2:30 we are done browsing, so we take a quick turn through the Christmas shop in Liberty Square, and stake out a place for the parade. We ended up right in front of Liberty Tree Tavern, which was perfect, because we could feel the a/c breeze just behind us! Wesley woke up about 2:55 (does this kid have great timing, or what?) And he got a great kick out of the parade. That's the first time either of us had watched the parade in years...and we enjoyed it, too. We followed the parade, intending to go back to Toon Town, but we hadn't seen Buzz Lightyear yet, and hoped maybe he was out. He was, so after a quick picture, we decided to take another ride on his Space Ranger Spin. This time, we let Wesley spin us (and aim my blaster). He had such fun! It's getting fairly close to time for another Cinderella's Surprise Celebration, so we plopped down in front of the castle. Wesley really enjoyed this, too~we all did. Okay, I admit it, I had to wipe away some tears!

Finally, back to Toon Town. We visited Minnie, Chip and Dale and Mickey once more, then went to view all of our pictures (including the ones from earlier). To our great disappointment, none of them were very good. We're wanting to decorate Wesley's room with Disney pictures, and were hoping some of these would turn out well. Another first: we bought no pictures! Well, all is not lost, Wesley will get to ride the Barnstormer again. We rode another 3 (I think; maybe it was 4) times, and he rode with Daddy each time. That was a very special thing for them to share, especially for Daddy! After riding the Barnstormer for the first time, his question was always "What are we going to ride next?" Yes, he is definitely OUR kid!! The Thrill Seekers are officially BACK. Now it's time to show for our PS at Crystal Palace.

Here we go with another first: Crystal Palace. All of us really enjoyed the buffet. They had a greater selection than Chef Mickey's (which we had the next night). Everything was very good. Character interaction was great with Pooh, Tigger and Piglet. But Eeyore needs glasses, I think~ even after 3 visits to our table (all of which we had to request, because he walked right by us), he never did see Wesley. For more details, see my dining reviews. Aside from that, this was a great experience. We'll be glad to come back!

After dinner, believe it or not, it's time to find a spot for Wishes. The day has gone by so quickly! It was a very nice show, although not quite what I was expecting. (I don't know what I was expecting!). After that, we took the advice of so many on the DIS boards and just hung around. We closed down the shops on Main Street, and took the journey back to the Pop. We were all in bed by 10:30 or so.

9/18: Park Fare, Downtown Disney, Chef Mickey's

This day started out with an odd feeling. We were finished with our "major" (meaning Park) days, so we were somewhat sad...but we still had 3 character meals to go, and that was exciting! On today's agenda was breakfast (brunch, really) at 1900 Park Fare, Downtown Disney, and dinner at Chef Mickey's.

My initial reaction to 1900 Park Fare was: Never again! Mark and I were somewhat intimidated by the Grand Floridian~silly, I know, to be intimidated by a hotel...but that's what we were feeling. We timidly made our way in and found 1900 Park Fare. Hey, what do you know? So far, everyone is friendly! Mr. Penguin was initially in the lobby, but he was soon replaced by Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Before long we were led to our table. We were seated very near the buffet. There is much more detail about this in my dining review, but this turned out to be our best character meal of the trip! It was the best selection of food we had, overall. We weren't too impressed with the character interaction at first, but as the crowd thinned out, the character interaction was suddenly fabulous! We talked extensively with Pooh, Alice and Bert, and especially with Mary Poppins. She sat down at our table with us twice, and just chatted for several minutes. She was not the most "in character" Mary that we saw (but then, being British always helps!), but she was very friendly, and *quite* taken with Wesley! Also, to be perfectly truthful, I wrote our dining reviews before we watched all of our video footage. I said that the initial character rounds left much to be desired, because they stayed only a few seconds. I stand corrected! The first visit from Pooh and Tigger WAS very rushed. But Mary, Bert and Alice all arrived at the same time, and they stayed much longer than I had remembered in my little head! We got a great picture with the three of them, and as we watched the video, it became apparent that Alice, too, was "taken" with Wesley. She picked him up, and kept kissing him! How did we miss that when it was actually going on?? Must've been focused on the cheese blintzes... Over the course of the morning (I think we were actually at our table for almost an hour and a half), I'd say we spent 10 minutes each with Tigger and Pooh, about 15 minutes with Alice, and close to half an hour with Mary Poppins. Bert wandered in and out, he didn't stay with us as much as Mary did, but still quite a decent amount of time. They even sprinkled Wesley with Mickey confetti, towards the end! We were VERY pleased with this breakfast. Can't wait to go back (December, December, December)!

After our disappointing-turned-magical brunch, we headed to Downtown Disney to search out the souvenirs that were, surely, calling our names. Truth to tell, we never did find those "Have to Haves" this trip! We did make a few purchases: a Christmas ornament (because we always buy one), a Christmas ornament that is a gift for a couple we know who recently honeymooned at WDW, posters of MK and Epcot (for Wesley's room), and some postcards. Actually, we only bought the Epcot poster at DTD. They were out of the MK posters. A very nice CM called around, and found an MK poster at Epcot. We were able to pay for it via our room card, and pick it up at the front gate of Epcot later. Really, there was not much more for us to do at DTD~we'd seen everything, and bought practically nothing. We decided to go back to the Pop, get what we'd need for dinner at Chef Mickey's, then swing by Epcot on our way to the Contemporary. Bonus: Wesley fell asleep as we were leaving DTD, so Mark went up to the room and got what we needed, then he took the trek from the parking lot to the front gate of Epcot to pick up our poster. All told, I think Wesley got just over an hour nap.

We were early to the Contemporary, but we needed to browse in the gift shop, in case our "Have to Have" was there. (It wasn't.) They were able to seat us at Chef Mickey's right at 5 (earlier than our PS). Wesley ate here last September, but he didn't remember. And, he was a little young then to really "get" the napkin waving, etc. Not this time! Boy, did he enjoy that! For mom and dad, the food was not outstanding, but that *is* a really fun atmosphere. We'll probably be back, just because Wesley loves it so. (Again, more details in my dining review.)

After dinner, we decided to hop on the monorail. We'd had precious little monorail time this trip, and Wesley really likes the monorail! We asked if we could sit up front, and guess what, we were able to! (Even with 20+ folks ahead of us in line!) The driver, Donna, explained that if there were guests waiting for the front at the Poly, she'd have to kick us off, because her train runs out of the Poly, so their guests get preferential treatment (??). But fortunately for us, no one was waiting, and we got to ride in front for the entire loop. We had some interesting conversation with her about people she'd known who were characters, and all the injuries they'd sustained. Wow. And I'd thought my WDW Dream Job would be to play Belle. While we were waiting at the MK station, she took a picture of the three of us, then put Wesley (with Dad holding on) in the driver's seat, so we could get a picture of him "driving". Very cool! Great monorail experience!

The night was still young, so we thought we'd check out the Boardwalk. We'll be staying at BWI in February, so any excuse to go over there... Well, the night may have been young, but Wesley was TIRED. And remember that I said when he gets tired, he gets grumpy? While strolling through one of the shops, we try him in a pair of mouse ears (he has a Micky baseball cap with ears, but not the traditional "ears", because we didn't think he'd wear them~why do I not listen to myself??? I'm just like Alice: I give myself good advice, but I don't take it!). He was so cute, I had to take a picture! Or four... So Mark moves to replace the ears on the shelf... and Wesley insists that they be placed back on his head, and he does mean right this very instant!! We were so taken aback, that we did what any parent would've done: we bought the ears. After all, every kid needs a pair of ears, right? And can I just say that we have learned our lesson here?? It was at this moment that we'd reached the limit on our room card, at which point, our card was to be charged and the limit reset. So the purchase of these $7.49 ears took us about 15 minutes. By the time we got the ears replaced on Wesley's head (he was calm, I should add, this whole time~once he knew he was getting the ears, he was fine) and out of the store, the elastic was hurting his neck, the ears were hurting his head, and he didn't want them anymore. And what have you learned today, Jo Jo...er, um...Mark and Rhonda? I've learned that it is better to leave the store with a crying child than to give in to an impulse purchase to quiet the tears! I should also add that, thankfully, this behavior is out of the ordinary for ALL of us! It is definitely time to get to the Pop.

Mark and I were pretty excited to get back to the Pop. We knew there were a couple of surprises waiting in the room. Before we'd left that morning, Mark made a trip to the front desk. He asked if we could get an autographed picture of Peter Pan for Wesley, and have it sent to the room. He noted (to me, later), that he got the most un-magical-looking guy at the front desk. The guy asked if it was Wesley's birthday, and Mark told him no. Well, then, No, you can't have an autographed picture. We knew this wasn't true, because we'd gotten one from Woody when we stayed at ASMo. So after a few minutes of begging and pleading on Mark's part (hey, I wasn't there, so I can make this part up), he went to talk to his manager. And at last it was confirmed that, yes, they COULD do that, IF they could find Peter Pan and have him sign a picture. When we returned earlier in the day, when I stayed in the car with the sleeping Wesley, Mark found that the picture (and balloons) had just been delivered. He removed a Captain Hook hook and sword from our trunk (where it had been riding for a month) and placed it in the room beside the picture and balloons. Wesley was appropriately surprised and thrilled. Mission accomplished. (The picture is now framed, in his room.) We finished the evening by watching the fireworks. And so ends another day.

The next day, Sunday, *was* sad. Mark contends that it really wasn't, because we'll be back so soon...but to me, any day that you're leaving The World is sad! We packed up, Mark made several loooooonnnnnnnnggggggg trips to the car...and back to Chef Mickey's we go. It was a madhouse! We waited close to an hour (about 40 minutes past our PS, even), but Wesley was fine. There was a family waiting across from us (arrived at the same time we did, and were seated just after us) that went from happy, smiling, magical to grumpy, frowning, angry after about 20 minutes of waiting. We were seated in one of the side rooms (didn't even know it was there!), and with this restaurant, location is everything! We felt very cutoff from the action. Still, Wesley had fun. At this age, he is just as excited to see Chip or Dale as Mickey...I'm glad of that.

Now it's time to say good-bye...to all our company... M-I-C...see ya real soon....K-E-Y...why? Because we LIKE you! M-O-U-S-EEEeeeeeeeee....

I wanted to take another spin on the monorail. Mark said no, it was just prolonging the inevitable. Yeah, okay, so he was right...but still...

Middle GA, here we come... Discussing every minute detail of the trip took us to just north of Gainesville. The rest of the trip, we discussed the two upcoming trips~PS changes we want to make for December, PS plans for February... It was actually a pretty quick trip back home. I had just enough time to do laundry that night, so that Mark could repack and leave for some classes the next morning. We watched all the pictures, put Wesley to bed, and then we watched the video. What a great trip we had! We can't wait for December! (Just ask Wesley...) It is wonderful to know that we'll be back so soon. Of course, soon, to an adult, in this instance, is 2 months...for a two year old, soon is more like 5 minutes...so Wesley is not fully comprehending the "soon" aspect of the upcoming trip. Regardless, we all had a fantastic time, and we're ready for more!!

 

[lynn71092]

Sounds like a great trip.
I love to read reports from people who stay at the Pop because we're staying there for the first time in December. I like the idea of the shirt signing. What kind of pen did you use that won't wash out?

 

[GADISNEYGIRL]

We'll be back at the Pop in December, too!

We bought a fabric marker at Michael's. Worked fine! We also took an embroidery hoop to hold the shirt tight. Someone on here gave me that idea when I asked if characters would sign shirts. Worked like a charm, and we got lots of compliments on the idea!

 

[lynn71092]

Thanks, I will go to Michael's and pick one up.
What size hoop did you get?

 

[Kae]

First off I am so jealous you met RABBIT(color me green ) Now I have a new mission for my next trip. Great Trip & dining reports.

We take ear plugs for our kids. It helps alot. My DS6 & DD3 like to use them at the movies also.

Kae

 

[melanieewr]

GADISNEYGIRL;

Great report and obviously you are raising a kid who loves Disney...and rollercoasters! You really should check out the rent/trade board for DVC. If you stay during the week, it can be quite reasonable at BWV or BCV. You might even decide that purchasing a resale in the DVC might be right for your young family. The DVC discussion forum is a great place for info. We purchased a resale 3 years ago and have been thrilled with it.

 

[GADISNEYGIRL]

We hope that DVC is in our future...but we do have to pay off a few other things first! Hadn't thought about resales. We will definitely look into that. I'll check the DVC board, thanks!

And as for raising a Disney-luvin' kid: I defy anyone to find me another 2 1/2 year old who knows more about Disney (movies, characters or WDW) than mine does! Yep, we're raisin' him right!

 

[GADISNEYGIRL]

I think it was something like 8 or 10 inches in diameter. I wanted it large enough that they'd have a good surface area, but some of the princesses filled up the ENTIRE area! The shirt turned out great. What a neat souvenir he has now!

 

[Minniespal]

Great report ~ Thanx for sharing.