bizeemom4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
- Messages
- 2,031
Friday, 1/14 is an Early Entry Day at Magic Kingdom. The forecast calls for rain today. I am a well, researched DIS commando traveler and as all well researched travelers know, rainy days are good days if you don't like crowds. So EE at MK it is.
The bus to MK has count 'em - 10 people INCLUDING the 6 of us. The bus driver starts asking if anyone is eating at Chef Mickey's. We stop at the Contemporary and drop off 2 people. I start to panic. Maybe today isn't an EE day and this is a special character breakfast bus. What have I done? The bus pulls up to MK and I ask the driver if today is EE at MK. Yes.
Yay!
As we start to walk to the bag check, the skies open up and it starts POURING. We had 4 ponchos for 6 people. Dad and Nick have no poncho. DD tucks the 5 y.o. inside her poncho (which is clear plastic). I encourage DH to run ahead and wait under the awning at the bag check. Apparently big macho guys wearing MR. INCREDIBLE tshirts do not run at MK. He walks along with us and gets completely soaked. We make it thru bag check and join the massive throng of 50 people waiting for the park to open. It is 15 minutes til opening and there are 50 people here. Are you kidding me? We pass the time watching rivers of water stream past us. At least it's not a thunderstorm. CRASH! Was that lightening? Of course it was. I ask the CM if anyone has ever been killed by lightening in the park. His response "Not that I know of." Thanks, buddy!
Right at 8 the gates open and we make our way down Main Street. We ride Buzz then DH & older kids ride Space Mountain while 5 y.o. and I ride Buzz twice more. The 5 y.o. is freezing but DH has all the room charges so I can't buy him a poncho. Still no DH so we ride the TTA. I try to use my poncho like a blanket and cover up the 5 y.o. to keep him warm. No DH still so we do another lap on the TTA. I swear we were the only ones in Tommorowland. We finally reunite with DH and it's almost 9 a.m. We make our way to Main Street. Starving and wet, I suggest we stop at Crystal Palace & see if they can squeeze us in later in the morning to eat and warm up. The CM at the window says she can take us right now. We wanted to keep touring so I ask if we can do it later. We get a 10:25 PS and run off into the rain to do Adventureland. There are 8 people in the TikiRoom (including us). We ride Aladdin with one other family. We run down the ramp and straight into a waiting boat for Pirates. Get the picture?
If you want to do Crystal Palace, I highly recommend doing a late seating. The kids in the restaurant had tons of time to play with the characters. I highly recommend the Breakfast Lasagna. Fabulous. $108 but fabulous.
Everyone is drying out (except for socks) and we're all pleasantly full. We pretty much finish MK. We've had a very pleasant albeit wet day at MK. We leave for the hotel to change socks and those of us who have extra shoes get nice dry shoes.
We hop to MGM and I finally buy my AP at guest services. We get to the theater at 6 for the 7 p.m. Fantasmic. We are seated halfway up in the Mickey section right along the aisle. We pass the time munching on snacks purchased at the stand in the back of the theater. Once the show starts & the water screens go up, we are continually misted with water. We are already using our ponchos to keep warm so we stay mainly dry. Right before the very last burst of fireworks, we grab the kids and bolt for the exit. DH has 5 y.o. & 9 y.o. and never looks back as he runs for the exit. I stop to grab a double stroller from the bunch lined up at the theater and start to run after him. 13 y.o. and 11 y.o. want to ride so I stop to let them pile in. DH is LOOOOONG gone. I start huffing & try to catch up to him. One of my lungs feels like it's going to shrivel up and fall out but I keep hustling. I know that I have 10,000 people on my tail so there's no time for breathing. I manage to catch up to DH at the exit and explain that I had stopped to grab a stroller for the little guys.
Once back at the hotel, I stop by the guest services counter at ASM. I put my AP on the counter and explain that I need to speak to a manager about the charges on my room key. I also need someone to put my AP on the room because I had booked the AP rate and want to make sure that it was documented that I actually had one. CM discusses something with another CM and comes back to me and says that they can't put the charges for the AP on my room charge. What are you talking about? I need to speak to a manager about something and I am just SHOWING YOU my AP to prove to you that I actually HAVE one. Duh.
I then am finally face to face with a rare, nocturnal creature....a guest services manager. Hey, they do exist!
The bus to MK has count 'em - 10 people INCLUDING the 6 of us. The bus driver starts asking if anyone is eating at Chef Mickey's. We stop at the Contemporary and drop off 2 people. I start to panic. Maybe today isn't an EE day and this is a special character breakfast bus. What have I done? The bus pulls up to MK and I ask the driver if today is EE at MK. Yes.
Yay!As we start to walk to the bag check, the skies open up and it starts POURING. We had 4 ponchos for 6 people. Dad and Nick have no poncho. DD tucks the 5 y.o. inside her poncho (which is clear plastic). I encourage DH to run ahead and wait under the awning at the bag check. Apparently big macho guys wearing MR. INCREDIBLE tshirts do not run at MK. He walks along with us and gets completely soaked. We make it thru bag check and join the massive throng of 50 people waiting for the park to open. It is 15 minutes til opening and there are 50 people here. Are you kidding me? We pass the time watching rivers of water stream past us. At least it's not a thunderstorm. CRASH! Was that lightening? Of course it was. I ask the CM if anyone has ever been killed by lightening in the park. His response "Not that I know of." Thanks, buddy!
Right at 8 the gates open and we make our way down Main Street. We ride Buzz then DH & older kids ride Space Mountain while 5 y.o. and I ride Buzz twice more. The 5 y.o. is freezing but DH has all the room charges so I can't buy him a poncho. Still no DH so we ride the TTA. I try to use my poncho like a blanket and cover up the 5 y.o. to keep him warm. No DH still so we do another lap on the TTA. I swear we were the only ones in Tommorowland. We finally reunite with DH and it's almost 9 a.m. We make our way to Main Street. Starving and wet, I suggest we stop at Crystal Palace & see if they can squeeze us in later in the morning to eat and warm up. The CM at the window says she can take us right now. We wanted to keep touring so I ask if we can do it later. We get a 10:25 PS and run off into the rain to do Adventureland. There are 8 people in the TikiRoom (including us). We ride Aladdin with one other family. We run down the ramp and straight into a waiting boat for Pirates. Get the picture?
If you want to do Crystal Palace, I highly recommend doing a late seating. The kids in the restaurant had tons of time to play with the characters. I highly recommend the Breakfast Lasagna. Fabulous. $108 but fabulous.
Everyone is drying out (except for socks) and we're all pleasantly full. We pretty much finish MK. We've had a very pleasant albeit wet day at MK. We leave for the hotel to change socks and those of us who have extra shoes get nice dry shoes.
We hop to MGM and I finally buy my AP at guest services. We get to the theater at 6 for the 7 p.m. Fantasmic. We are seated halfway up in the Mickey section right along the aisle. We pass the time munching on snacks purchased at the stand in the back of the theater. Once the show starts & the water screens go up, we are continually misted with water. We are already using our ponchos to keep warm so we stay mainly dry. Right before the very last burst of fireworks, we grab the kids and bolt for the exit. DH has 5 y.o. & 9 y.o. and never looks back as he runs for the exit. I stop to grab a double stroller from the bunch lined up at the theater and start to run after him. 13 y.o. and 11 y.o. want to ride so I stop to let them pile in. DH is LOOOOONG gone. I start huffing & try to catch up to him. One of my lungs feels like it's going to shrivel up and fall out but I keep hustling. I know that I have 10,000 people on my tail so there's no time for breathing. I manage to catch up to DH at the exit and explain that I had stopped to grab a stroller for the little guys.
Once back at the hotel, I stop by the guest services counter at ASM. I put my AP on the counter and explain that I need to speak to a manager about the charges on my room key. I also need someone to put my AP on the room because I had booked the AP rate and want to make sure that it was documented that I actually had one. CM discusses something with another CM and comes back to me and says that they can't put the charges for the AP on my room charge. What are you talking about? I need to speak to a manager about something and I am just SHOWING YOU my AP to prove to you that I actually HAVE one. Duh.
I then am finally face to face with a rare, nocturnal creature....a guest services manager. Hey, they do exist!
)
