The Winship's Week of Magical Moments!

[wannago2disney]

This is my first TR so bare with me!!

First I will introduce you to us:

#1—Em, 2yrs old…knows what she wants and how to get it. Loves Disney…as I have brain washed her since birth…does not like strangers…doesn’t cry but will completely ignore you if she doesn’t know you…so, she would rather do her character meets from a distance!

#2---TJ, 4yrs old…not afraid of anything…doesn’t “get” the need for height requirements on rides…main focus of his trip was to meet Donald and Stitch…loves having his picture taken.

#3---Me (Tosh)….the planner of this here trip, responsible for all planning and bookings. I love Disney and always have…but am by far absolutely no expert.

#4---Rob (my DH has Mickey hat on)…likes Disney…this was his 2nd time…the picture taker in our family. Hates the airport and crowds!

#5---Nana (my mother has grumpy tshirt on)…on Vacation without my Dad...(not likely to happen again)…went for sunshine, warm weather, and a rest….0 for 3 on this one!

#6---Grandma (my MIL )…retired as of 01/01/08…(teacher)…deathly afraid of heights, never been on a plane before…never been to Disney…never even left the province for a vacation before.

#7---Pa (my FIL)…retired as of 01/07/07 from 40yrs with Ford…avid hunter/angler…his vacations are always centred around hunting or fishing…first time on plane and first time to Disney…but he has the travelling bug now … so look out world!

#8---Uncle Shaun (my BIL, missing from pic but will see later in the program)…pitcher for CPI playing in AAU fastball tournie at WWS. Made it out for 1 day at AK

How it all started: Every year for the last 3 or 4 years, Uncle Shaun goes to WWS for the AAU tournie…His Mom and Dad will be retired for this years so he says…come and watch…Rob thinks…well if Mom and Dad are going…why don’t we all go? So, we set a budget and get to work. (this was Jan 07)

Grandma and Pa decide that if they are going to Orlando, they might as well visit Disney World too. We ask Nana if she wants to go too, (Papa can't get away from work)but she can stay with us to save her some $$. So now we are 7…(uncle Shaun stayed with his team offsite)

So, we booked it! 7nights @ POP, sleep, park, fly @ Ramada Detroit Metro,7 Roundtrip tickets on Spirit, Magic Express, 6 adult/1child 6day hopper passes (Em is 2 and didn’t need to have a park pass) and 1 Reservation for 7 at Chef Mickey’s. (We didn’t do the dinning plan because our kids do not do well waiting on a meal when they are hungry and tired…and are more of the grazing type than full meal type...

And we are ready to go! Our Adventure starts at Day 0, the day we leave home and the Day before we arrive in Orlando!

 

[wannago2disney]

Now on to Day 0!

DAY 0: January 22

Ok, so wake up and send TJ off to school….he is in JK and does Mon-Fri mornings. He was way to excited for me to let him stay home while we got everything ready to pack and I thought hey, why not let the teacher deal with him (sorry MeMom and all other teachers out there) And wouldn’t you know it, its snowing….
So, we get all of our suitcases ect ready to load …and we wait for Nana, and Grandma and Pa…and it starts to snow harder….and harder…and at one point, we couldn’t see the van in the driveway…that’s not a good sign. Nana arrives, says it’s only snowing in Sarnia, everywhere else was fine…figures….still waiting, go and pick up TJ from school, …still waiting…finally, Grandma and Pa arrive and we get this show on the road…2:45pm…15 minutes ahead of schedule.

Now, we live in a border city and my kids know that we are in Canada and when you go over the “big Bridges” you are in the US….they also know that Disney World is in the US…so even though we cross the border often and my 2 and 4 yr olds are used to this, they are now thinking that all we need to do is cross the bridges and we will be at Disney.

“Are we there yet?”…this from TJ ….we haven’t even made it through customs….this is why we didn’t drive to Florida!

Finally we are through and head into Fort Gratiot to pick up snacks at Wal Mart and have supper then head to Detroit, We did the Sleep park fly package from the Ramada and it was an excellent experience. Got everyone into bed by 11pm!

DAY 1

Em woke up at 3am…had to pee! Managed to wake up all of us…then promptly went back to sleep herself, while we all looked at the ceiling waiting for 5:30 and our wake up call.

It is -14C in Detroit…thank goodness we are outa here! We got to the airport checked our luggage and headed for security…this is a whole new experience when travelling with children and people who have never flow before…lets just say, next time we check everything except the camera, wear as little clothing as legally possible and NO shoes.

We get to our gate…no where to sit…and they are already boarding???? so we run to get drinks for the flight and make sure everyone has been to the potty. It is a full flight and they ask people to gate check anything that is not absolutely needed during flight. So Rob and I decided to check our carryons and keep the kids.

On the plane, ready to go…Em doesn’t want to wear her seatbelt…we never have this trouble in the van…she can’t see…has to switch seats with TJ…wants more gum…wants to watch snow white NOW… .but we got through it and landed in Orlando ½ hr ahead of time!!

This is a picture of the kids with our plane in behind...it was called, "the spirit of Jamaica"

 

[wannago2disney]

We arrived in Orlando, 1/2 hour early! It was warm and overcast...and it looked like it had just rained...but who cares, I see palm trees!
We get off the plane and head to the tram thingy. Everything is going smoothly, we head to baggage claim...and wait....and wait...well, there blows that extra 1/2 hr we had but we're good. nothin's gonna get us down! We finally get our bags and head down to catch Magic Express. Now I bet you are thinking, why did they wait for their bags if they were taking ME? Well, they didn't send us our luggage tags in the mail and Rob wasn't comfortable about letting the ME people deal with it without the tags so we just did it ourselves.
We check in with ME (they have all our info so something went wrong with the mail i guess). and within 5 minutes we are heading off to POP CENTURY About 75% of our bus is destined for Pop and that is the ME's first stop! It was a great ride and didn't take long at all. When the movie came on, the kids became sooooooo excited we could hardly get them to sit on their bums!
We arrive at POP and I send Rob and Pa in to start the check in process
while the rest of us gather up the bags. (thank you to someone here on the Dis for this valuable bit of info!)...off we go, I get a bag trolly and check to see if we will get into our room or if we need to check the bags with luggage services. Its a great start, we were able to go to our room right away! We were in the 80's, building 7 right behind Roger Rabbit, ground floor.

We changed into our shorts and headed straight to get lunch.

Quick tip: we purchased our park passes from undercovertourist, and I had read here on the Dis that we could have them added to our key to the world card...so we checked with concierge service and they did it for us...but the gentleman who helped us said that it is important to keep them unopened in the sealed bag that they come in inorder to do this...we hadn't opened them so nooooo prob. but just a heads up to anyone who uses a discount ticket agent, to keep them in the original sealed bag no matter how tempting it is to take them out and look and touch!

Lunch time! We had a fridge swap waiting so Rob went to ask luggage services to deliver it to our room and returned the luggage trolly while we headed in to Everythin Pop to get our lunch....$70.00 later for the 4 of us (yes that was Rob's reaction too) we all had cheeseburgers, fries and our refillable mugs! It was a bit of a shock to start our first meal off that pricey but the mugs are worth every penny in my opinion and a really nice keepsake.

Then off to DHS we go...the bus pulled up just as we were walking outside ...the kids were very excited to be on a big bus. We got to DHS just in time for the parade. We were able to get a nice spot too,

right on the corner at the very end of the route.

the characters were very attentive to the kids and as there we very few children where we were sitting, they were singled out by almost all of the character! It was a really great way to start. This is where our first magical moment happened as well. Em was sitting on my knee, Rob was right beside us, she was very excited to see SnowWhite come around the corner and was waving in her cute shy but excited way, Snow white looked over right at her and blew her a kiss...Em was just in awe...as she blew a hesitant kiss back to Snow White...Rob and I said right then and there that the cost of the trip was worth it just for that moment and the look on Em's face ...I will remember it for the rest of my life as it truly touched my heart. ..Snow White is now her favorite princess!

Then, it was stright back to Light's Motor Action! We had really great timing for this as they were letting people into the stands as we lined up...there was no wait just the general hustle and bustle into the stands...
Grandma is deathly afraid of heights, no exageration here so we headed to the very lowest level we could get behind reserved seating....she didn't make it...but the very nice CM seating people allowed them to sit with the wheelchair people and they didn't have to miss the show. And what a great show it is! Though I must say, padded steats would be nice

Rob is the camera guy...he had lots of action shots and a picture of Herbie...I love Herbie! but I am not sure where they all are, as I can't seem to find them in the Disney Pics file he made me...sorry
When the show was over, we did the backlot tour and on the way by saw Mater and Lightning...TJ, of course wanted to go and see them but there were about 30 kids in line oh well...good reason to come back! Grandma and Pa opted out of the backlot tour...and went and had a rest...

after the backlot tour, we started to head out, thought it was a good time to get ready for Fantasmic. But Wait, Grandma didn't do well with Lights Motor Action, so maybe we should see if she can handle the stadium for Fantasmic...the crowds were crazy! and the kids were getting tired. TJ started to cry and whine so I told everyone to go and check it out and if we were going to stay someone could come back and find us.
Time for Magical moment #2; While we waited, TJ was putting up a real stink...angry/tired tears...and a very nice CM came over to talk to him and asked what is wrong. My kids will not talk to strangers so he turned his head and wouldn't look at her until....she offered him a pin if he would smile for her...that got his attention and he stopped crying too! She asked if he liked Mickey...he told her "NO, I like Donald Duck"...and she gave him a pirate Donald Pin (he had already started a pirate Donald pin collection and was wearing his lanyard)...The tears were gone and he was very excited about the pin. Everyone came back then and said that the place was already filled up, but Grandma would be able to handle the height if she didn't have t go down the steps...so we decided to come back another night. Everyone was tired, it had been a long day and it was time to head back and relax and fill our tummys.
When we got back to POP, we ordered Pizza and filled our mugs and headed back to our rooms (they were connecting). We had our pizza sitting on the bed while the kids talked about all the stuff they had seen and TJ showed off his Pirate Donald Pin to everyone...about 100 times!

Our first glimpse of Mickey!

Next up DAY 2, our first Day of Magic Kingdom

 

[MeMom]

Nice pictures. We were right there at Roger Rabbit at Thanksgiving. You could walk out our door and see the Disney World entrance sign over the street.

Those beautiful moments with your family are what it is all about. Looking forward to much more!

 

[idlewoman1]

Love your pics. I noticed your husband has a cool red bag, can I ask what brand it is and what is it made of? I am trying to find a nice sling bag to take with on our upcoming trip in April.

 

[wannago2disney]

Nice pictures. We were right there at Roger Rabbit at Thanksgiving. You could walk out our door and see the Disney World entrance sign over the street.

Those beautiful moments with your family are what it is all about. Looking forward to much more!

Thanks MeMom, we were very happy with our room...and it was a really quiet location. we didn't get any towel animals though The kids kept seeing them in the windows of other rooms and were a little disappointed that they didn't get one. oh well...maybe next time.

Love your pics. I noticed your husband has a cool red bag, can I ask what brand it is and what is it made of? I am trying to find a nice sling bag to take with on our upcoming trip in April.

Thanks for reading idlewoman1. The bag is a travellmate by Heys. it is a water resistant nylon/poly blend, has lots of pockets and a completely waterproof pocket inside...it also came with a passport holder that you carry around your neck...worked out great for carrying roomcards and small bits of cash...it even has an unzip-able pocket for a water bottle. We were quite happy with ours.

 

[wannago2disney]

More Pictures from Day 1

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[wannago2disney]

Day 1 Pictures...found the Lights motor Action ones...right where they were supposed to be

 

[idlewoman1]

Thanks for the info on the bag. I just ordered a pink one online. Can't wait!!!

 

[lisalonglash]

Very enjoyable TR - loving all those great pictures! It's also nice to read a TR by a fellow Canadian family Looking forward to more

 

[MeMom]

I guess we will be seeing the new Block Party Bash parade at the Studios when we go in March. Supposedly, they'll be starting it on the 14th. I'll miss the cool cars from Stars and Cars, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the new one is all about.

Drew loved LMA. He'd be happy if he was one of the drivers!

 

[wannago2disney]

Thanks for the info on the bag. I just ordered a pink one online. Can't wait!!!

Not a problem, I hope that it works as well for you as it did for us.

Very enjoyable TR - loving all those great pictures! It's also nice to read a TR by a fellow Canadian family Looking forward to more

Thanks for reading. lots of pics I can deliver...snappy comentary...well that remains to be ...read!

 

[wannago2disney]

I guess we will be seeing the new Block Party Bash parade at the Studios when we go in March. Supposedly, they'll be starting it on the 14th. I'll miss the cool cars from Stars and Cars, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the new one is all about.

Drew loved LMA. He'd be happy if he was one of the drivers!

when things change, its a lose/win thing, you will miss the old ...but when it's disney, the new is usually just as good or better. I am glad, it hadn't changed while we were there as my FIL is a classic car buff and he enjoyed seeing the cars...he has a 32 ford kit car that he is working on right now. LMA was excellent and I am glad we had a chance to see it. Rob and Tyler were extremely excited about it...I think that Tyler would like to try driving as well...especially the motorcycles! (what's up with boys and motorcycles?)

 

[wannago2disney]

Nana was up at 5:30 and headed out for a walk and a cigarette and to get a coffee. (our building was very close to the lake and she liked to walk along there while having her nicotine requirement fulfilled) The food court doesn't open until 6:00am...so she made some new friends at the smoking area near the main building while she waited!....We had booked a 6:30am wake up call...Tyler was still out cold when the phone rang and he didn't understand why we wanted him to answer the phone but he did and wouldn't you know it, it was Stitch and Mickey Mouse ...
It was AM-EMH at MK and we wanted to make it to rope drop...well, we made it to the bus stop by 8:00! And just missed getting on the bus...but that's ok the next one pulled up less than 5 min later
The weather was cool but sunny, not too bad.
We were through bag check, and the ticket stalls in no time...we were on a mission...TJ was going to pull the sword from the stone so that he could be king of Disney World!
But first, a picture:

 

[wannago2disney]

The kids recongnise Disney World by the castle and their reaction was again pricesless...as we rounded the corner onto Main St. USA, TJ got very excited..."hey, Dad...that's Disney World....Dad, that's DISNEY WORLD"
So we headed to the castle...TJ getting very impatient every time we stopped for a picture!
Here are some more pictures as we made our way to the castle:
There was a character standing up here but we missed him...I can't remember who it was either.

Tomorrowland...we will see you on our 2nd MK Day

Yay! we're at Disney world...and at this time, I would like to introduce you to "Kitty"...she is a calico Beanie Baby cat, and constant companion of Em...Keep an eye out for her future appearances!

Rob and I

I like this picture...as you can see it wasn't too crowded yet and as we walked into the castle, we were the only ones going through for a few minutes so we stopped to enjoy all those things you miss on the crowded days!

 

[wannago2disney]

On to Fantasyland we go. Although, I have been to DW a couple of times before this trip, there are a few rides that I have not been on here. 1. It's a small World, 2. Dumbo, 3. Tea Cups 4. Cinderella's Carrousel
We made sure to make it right this time!
First stop, The Sword in the Stone.

Pa thought he could do it with some extra leverage....Sorry Pa

So, we continue on as lowly peasants...Nana gets in line with the kids as I take everyones cards to get fastpass for Peterpan...(good thing too, as there was already a 45min standby wait)...but I made it back in time to walk on the ride...Pa, Grandma, and Rob stayed off so that they could take pictures.
I don't think that the ride was fast enough for TJ, as he kept calling "giddy up horsey"

Em was having a very good time...she kept saying "weeeee" as her horse went up and down ( was hanging on to her while I rode my own pony...just to be safe)

Then we were off to SnowWhite...we had to get this one in for sure as it would be shut down on our next scheduled MK day. I rode with Em...we were wondering if it would be too scary for her but she just kept saying "that was so Cool!"...Grandma rode with Rob...her very first Disneyworld Ride...Then Pa and Tyler...and Nana brought up the rear!
Then it was time to do Philharmagic...I love this one...I was very excited to see the kids reaction to 3D images...and of course, Tyler loves Donald Duck...it was going to be great! and it was ...the kids were grabbing for the instruments and that was really cute...such an innocent reacton and they were both laughing...everyone liked it...Rob's parents really enjoyed it as well...(I wasn't sure if they were feeling the Disney yet )

Then we were off to Pooh, Tea cups and Dumbo
Nana and TJ on dumbo:

It was time to do Peter Pan...WARNING...Heights involved...we warned Grandma (as she has a severe fear of heights) but she was game and off we went...she handled it ok...just closed her eyes when she started to feel icky. And off to Small World we go....now I must say...it was pretty but I cannot say that it was magical for me...but it was definitely magical for Em...we had front seat of the boat and she was absolutely enthralled with all the little dolls...although she did keep calling the dark haired ones Dora and Diego

Ok, its getting close to lunchtime and everyone is getting hungry. The original plan was to do the Right side of the park on Day 1 the Rest on Day 2. But while we were flying high on Dumbo, we could see that towards Toontown and Tomorrowland was getting very congested. So, we changed the plan and headed out towards Liberty Square.

As we were walking under the arch, there was a Female Mallard and her ducklings trying to make their way toward some water, a CM with broom and dustpan following...of course, they had a huge audience and everyone was being careful not to step on them or get in their way, remarking how cute they all were...Rob said to Pa, "you know, they're little robots"...the CM didn't have a sence of humor I guess because he gave him a dirty look and said "No they are real" ...oops...anyway, we pass haunted mansion and it says 20 min wait but the line seemed to be moving steady...lets do it!

Haunted Mansion was excellent...Rob didn't take any pictures on the way in...I guess we all just wanted to get it done and get some food...but it was a great ride...Rob was not overly excited about going on it, as last time his impression of the ride was just OK, but since it was refurbished, he found it to be quite impressive!

 

[wannago2disney]

OK, LUNCHTIME....we head to Pecos Bill...Pa and TJ stop at the shootin' arcade while we get the food. Rob and I both had the pulled pork, with fries and beans...it was excellent! Pa and Grandma had wraps and they were HUGE...the kids had a burger each...and they ate it! not sure what Nana had, I think it was a cheeseburger. And the fixin's were awsome (i love mushrooms and they were tasty!)

By now it is about 12pm...we decide that it's time to head back to the hotel for a break but we are gonna hit Pirates on the way by. (we didn't bother with BTMR as TJ would want to ride and we were not sure that would be a good idea after a big lunch)

As we come up to the entrance of PotC, look what we see...

What we saw of this little skit was excellent...too bad we missed the start...but that's ok because on our 2nd Day at MK we have an upclose and personal surprise interation with Jack down in the cave!!
At the end of the skit we head onto the ride...about 5 min in, Em says she has to Pee. Ok so Rob and Grandma and Em head out to find a washroom while we Pa, TJ, Nana and I stay to ride. This is the first time I have been on the ride since they added Jack ect. and I absolutely Love it! Tyler is sooooo excited...it was a really good experience. While we were riding, Grandma did a little shopping and purchased some pirate ears for TJ and Em. Em isn't a big fan of hats so no pic but there will be lots with TJ and his ears!
After the ride we did this Pic:

Then it was time to head out...Grandma and Pa need to get to WWS to watch Uncle Shaun's first game...but we weren't in a huge hurry and decided to stop and watch the family fun day parade.

Then we headed out for the hotel and a swim.
here are some pics Rob snaped on the way out.

Up next, a rainy night of spectro and wishes.

 

[DisneyDaughter5589]

HI! I'm enjoying reading your TR. Your group picture is very cute! My parents, boyfriend, and me had the same shirts(as your family), Mom had tink, dad had pluto, bf had cars, and I had alice. Can't wait to hear more!!! We were there January 6-12th!

 

[wannago2disney]

HI! I'm enjoying reading your TR. Your group picture is very cute! My parents, boyfriend, and me had the same shirts(as your family), Mom had tink, dad had pluto, bf had cars, and I had alice. Can't wait to hear more!!! We were there January 6-12th!

Thanks for reading...we were really happy with our shirts. we put a list of everyone's names on the back. No one was very into the idea of matching shirts so this was my compromise...similar but different...I think that after seeing how busy the parks can be (even during slow season) that matching shirts could be a bennefit. TJ got lost on our 2nd day at AK and as he and Grandma were wearing their shirts that day we were able to show security what he was wearing, not just describe it. (there will be more on that when I get to day 6)

 

[wannago2disney]

We had a bit of a nap and a swim when we got back to the hotel and that felt wonderful! Then we headed back to MK for Spectro and Wishes. (Grandma and Pa had gone to WWS to watch Uncle Shaun play ball)

We arrived at about 6:00pm. Rob and Tyler went through bag check and Nana, Em and I went straight to the ticket entrance and on through. We waited for them in front of the big Mickey face where there was a photopass person. We decided to get our picture taken while we waited.

Em was not in the picture taking mood and wouldn't look at the camera. The very nice photopass man gave her a tinkerbell pin to match her sweater if she would give him a smile...this was her compromise!

It had started to rain and as we re-entered the park, there were a lot more people leaving than we expected...we inquired if spectro had been cancelled but it was still a go at that point so we were off to find a spot to watch from. We found a spot fairly close to the bakery....we were not really very hungry, as we had had a big lunch but something freshly baked sounded yummy so, Nana and I went to get a snack while Rob and the kids held our spot....there was a huge lineup and it took about 30 min to get our treats...we decided on the chocolate muffins....they were huge! and some water. Back out to see how everyone is doing...they are cold and damp apparently, it had rained a little harder for a few min. while we were getting the food. and I think that the kids were getting tired of waiting and just plain tired! People were really starting to crowd in at this point and it was very difficult to move around. There was a very nice CM patrolling the area that we had staked out and was making sure that no one was crowding in front of the kids as we had been waiting for a long time ...there was an announcement about something being cancelled ... oh no not spectro, we just waited forever. But luckily, it wasn't spectro, it was the last character show in front of the castle...tooooooo wet....finally it was time!

Spectro was excellent...I loved the dancing ostriches...they started to fight while the parade was stoped...the kids thought that was hillarious!

When the parade ended, there was a made wave of humans flowing down Main St...do we jump in and find a different spot for wishes or just stay where we are and move onto the street a little further....we decided to stay where we were. The people who had waited beside us (for as long as us) were listening to our discussion and thought that we were right, we should just stay put and move a little out onto the street for a better view...they were from Boston...they asked if we were from Ontario...apparently they had a friendly little bet going within their family as to where we were from...we sounded aboot the same as their neighbours eh! (who are from Ontario!)

Wishes was excellent as usual. Rob took some video but we didn't get any photos...a few minutes in, a man moved in front of Rob and lifted his child onto his shoulders and totally blocked Rob's view....Rob didn't bother trying to move as there were people behind us who were shorter than Rob and he didn't want to start a chain reaction of everyone having to shuffle around...It was horribly rude but what do you do?

When wishes was finished, we took our time and shopped our way out. We managed to make it back to the hotel by 11pm...the kids were asleep and we were all ready for a good sleep by then...tired feet, but no blisters! thank you body glide!

up next Day 3...we are soarin' at Epcot!