tkd lisa's spring break trip to the world (pics added, and trip complete)

[tkd lisa]

Cast: me, Lisa, 41 year old single mom.
DD, Kaylie will turn 14 the Monday we get back,
DS, Casey 12 1/2,
DM, late 60s will be joining us mid-week.

We live in Tampa and are seasonal passholders. We've done two day trips to WDW this year, and had put several things on our to-do list for this trip.

Plans for the day:
Leave home by 7, check in, and go to EPCOT (was MGM, but changed the day before we left). ADR for Sci Fi at 3:00, so I planned to take the boat over by 1:30 or 2. I then planned to switch to MK for late EMH. Yeah, great idea huh?

Here we go!

I woke up at 3:00, unable to sleep anymore. I had planned to leave by 7:00 so we could check in to the hotel before the parks opened. I got the kids up at 6:00, and we were out the door by 6:45, so things were looking good! The kids snacked on oranges for breakfast. I pulled into All Star Sports shortly before 8. I checked in with no problems, got my parking pass for myself and my mom, was told we were in Hoops 3, and they'd have the room info after noon.

Here's a pic I took which turned out to be on the way to our room.

The day before we left, I finally decided that DDE would be worth the money, so I had ordered it. I had to pick up my card at EPCOT's ticket window. I had also made plans to meet up with an old friend from home who lived in the Orlando area. She and her family were going to be in EPCOT for the day, so that worked out well for us.

Day 1

While I was getting the DDE card, DS picked out a couple of trading pins (I bought them since he'd fertilized the grass for me without being asked!). Into the park by 8:50, as we were waiting for the rope drop, my friend called. We met up and went over to Soarin with the rest of the herd. We got fast passes, and rode standby. We were on the hunt for hidden Mickeys! Once we were done, our fastpasses weren't up yet, so we rode Livin with the Land while we waited. It was really nice to catch up with my friend, and meet her husband and stepchildren. We rode Soarin again (saw all 3 hidden Mickeys), and then split up. They were going to ride Test Track and Mission Space, and my kids wanted to go to Japan (their money was eating holes in their pockets!), so we said goodbye.

Once in World Showcase, we took the boat across, and the kids wandered the store in Japan. DD bought Full Metal Alchemist trading cards, and DS settled on a pack of Yu Gi Oh cards. I bought them some Japanese candy as a snack, then we headed towards the international gateway. A quick stop in France for a pastry for me (it was a chocolate twist that was YUMMY!), and we were out the gate heading towards MGM.

We decided to walk, and had a good time chasing the cottonwood tree fibers. Weather was absolutely gorgeous! It was in the mid 80s without a cloud in the sky. We made it to MGM by about 11:30.

Once inside, DD had one goal in mind. She had seen a special hat in the Tower of Terror Gift shop back in February, and she had to get it. It's the bellhop hat with Stitch ears coming out of it. You'll see many pictures of it in the days ahead. So she went and bought it, while DS and I pulled RnR fast passes. We all went over to Who Wants to be a Millionare. DS really likes this. At the first board check, I was in 3rd place , but that changed soon. The guy in the hot seat was from Celebration, and had won before, but not this time. We talked to his wife in the bathroom after the show. Both my kids were on the big screen, and she said that her husband liked DD's hat! Our fast passes weren't ready, so we went on the Backlot Tour. That was the first time we'd done that, and we really enjoyed it. I called and found out our room number, and that was when I realized that they hadn't given me room keys when I checked in. After the backlot, we went to use our RnR fast passes. I sent DD through first, then when she came off, she didn't want to go again. There was time left, so I said I'd ride, and we'd go on to lunch. DS piped up and said he'd ride, so he and I went through the line. In the area with all the memorabilia, he decided he really didn't want to do the ride. He took the chicken exit and when I got on the ride, I realized that he would have absolutely hated it!

It was time for our ADR's, so we headed to Sci Fi. There was about a 10 minute wait, then we were seated. We aren't big eaters, so we usually split meals. This time, DS wanted ribs, and DD wanted the shrimp pasta. We were in the front two rows of the car, and the server pointed out that the driver pays for the entire car. I tried telling him that we must be in an English car, so DD was the driver, but that didn't work Food was good. I had DD's spinach, and a few ribs plus the veggies from DS's rib plate. Total ended up at $40 after DDE including tip. ($7.71 savings).

We left the restaurant with the plan to go back to the resort and get our stuff moved in. Unforunately, it was right in the middle of parade time! We waited a few minutes and saw a little bit of it over the heads of people. On to the bus stop (at MGM, it's all the way at the end, and one bus for all 3 All Stars). We were at the resort by 5. I stopped at the front desk to explain that they hadn't given me keys. That was fixed, we stopped to get 2 mugs (I only drink a cup of coffee in the morning, so it was mainly for the kids). The kids walked to the room, and I parked the van. We were on the first floor, middle of the building. It was a pretty convenient location. The kids swam while I unpacked.

This is where I made my mistake. I asked the kids if they wanted to go to Downtown Disney to do some shopping, since we could get the AP discount. They agreed, and we got on the bus. It was FILLED with screaming cheerleaders who cheered the entire 25 minute ride! I was looking for a water bottle strap and a cell phone cover. I didn't find either one. DS was looking for a couple of pins, but decided he didn't want to spend the money, and that he'd just trade the ones he had. DD ended up getting a $6 Stitch necklace, and I got a fat pen for autographs. So that whole ordeal was to save a whopping $1. DS still wanted to spend his money, so we went to Once Upon a Toy. He picked out a couple of Be Daman toys (hard to describe, but they're robots you build who shoot marbles). We had them shipped back to the resort. Then we went to the bus stop where I was going to catch a bus to a monorail resort, then into MK, for what I thought were EMH.

On the bus, the kids really started picking on each other. I really wasn't up to dealing with it (remember, I was up at 3:00!), and looking at my watch, I thought we'd be getting there just as Spectro was starting, which would mean gridlock. MK was open until 12 that night, and on the bus ride back, I decided to just give it up. Unforunately, that meant we had to finish the bus ride, take the monorail to MK, then another bus back to AS Sports. We were back to the room by 10:30. I got us some dinner at the food court. DD got chicken strips (first of many), DS a cheese pizza, I got a cheeseburger. DS had cheesecake on the way to DD for a snack. The food court took DDE, and my savings that day was 4.41. We ate in the room, while the kids watched the end of Harry Potter 2, and were in bed by 11:30.

 

[TLinden16]

Oh, there is nothing like being on a bus full of screaming pre-teen and teenage girls. LOL.

Great start to your trip! I can't wait to read more

Thanks for posting.

 

[pumba]

we were in sports and hoops last April when we went with our grandkids....Loved the theming. We are ready to go to Movies again though. I can hardly wait. We saved a whopping 150.00 last year with that dde card. Hey what can I say......we were piggies.
Thanks so much for your report. I loved it

 

[dismom9761]

Sounds like a great start!! Looking forward to more.

 

[magiroux]

Hi Lisa I was on the 10 day cruise with you. I was one of your walking buddies ('till I got too lazy to get up in the morning )

I enjoyed reading you report, can't wait for the rest of it.

Mary Ann

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[OhMari]

You are so lucky to live in Florida and live so close to WDW. Glad you are writing a trip report. I live sort of close to Chicago and our theme park is Six Flags Great America, and I know some people that live around here buy season passes. But the place is always way to crowded for me, one day a year is enough.

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

Stuck on a bus full of cheerleaders---ugh!

But why do I have a feeling that your son LOVED that bus ride??

 

[mrsscooter]

I am sure that your son had absolutely no complaints about that bus trip!!! LOL

 

[tkd lisa]

Thanks everyone for your comments.

MaryAnn, of course I remember you! Let me tell you, the walks around Deck 4 were much nicer than my fast pass dashes on this trip! I'm pretty sure I walked at LEAST 10 miles a day this entire week.

And in part, my DS enjoyed the cheerleaders, but he really doesn't like loud noise, so he had enough after about 5 minutes.

On to Day 2.

Day 2, Sunday, March 19th.

Plans for the day were EPCOT in the morning, with a monorail ride over to the Poly for ADRs at 2:45 at Kona. A break in the room, with the evening at MGM for evening EMH.

What really happened?

I was up by about 5:30, and went to the food court for coffee and my devotions. I took my passporter, and replanned a bit. After the melt down last night, I decided to switch and visit the MK in the morning this day. On the bus, I was talking to someone and realized that the EMH hours I had pulled off the web were wrong. I had thought MK had evening EMH last night, and MGM was tonight. It turned out that MK has EMH tonight. So I revamped a bit and decided it would be an MK day. We usually park hop a lot, so staying all day in one park was unusual for us.

We got to MK just as the gates opened. I fast walked ahead for a Splash Mountain fast pass, and met the kids at the standby for BTMRR. Now you might remember that DS is not a fan of thrill rides, but DD loves them. DS had ridden BTMRR in the past and liked it, but he hasn't done it in about 5 years. I told him to walk through the line with us, and wait at the end. But as we were walking through (5 minute line), he decided to ride with us. When we got off the ride, he asked "Mom, did you get 3 fast passes for Splash Mountain, cause I want to do the triple mountain whammy today?" Luckily, the answer was yes.

The park was almost deserted that morning. Here's a picture I snapped while waiting on the kids to meet me.

While waiting on our fast passes we rode the Jungle Cruise (had a good skipper named Andy I think). Here's his picture.

DD had on her Stitch tower of terror ears. Andy and I decided that she would make a good Jungle Cruise skipper. We rode Aladdin next, then our Splash FP's were good. We all rode, and DS had fun! No one got wet, which was good because it wasn't all that warm yet! It was 10 by this time, so we did the Tiki Room. DS got an orange slushie thing at the Citrus Swirl Stand, DD had a Mickey Ice cream sandwich, and I got a Dole Whip. Another Dole Whip fan here! But I have to admit I'm not a fan of ice cream bars in general.

We headed to tomorrow land and pulled Space Mtn fast passes. We rode Carousel of Progress and Buzz Lightyear. I won! But none of us broke 100,000 on any of our battles against Zurg this trip. About this time, DS had developed a blister on his foot from his sandal, and was complaining that he didn't want to go on Space Mountain right then. He said he'd do it later, just not now because his foot hurt. We ended up riding the train around the entire loop. The kids got to be guest conductors. We also saw the hidden Mickey in Splash mountain that you can only see from the train. We gave away our fast passes,and I pulled another set hoping they'd work when we got back. We headed out past the Cinderellabration to get the monorail to the Poly.

We wandered the resort a bit, and then our beeper went off. The restaurant was SOOOOO cold! I had goosebumps on top of goosebumps! DD ordered chicken w peanut sauce, DS insisted he wanted crab cakes, and I got an appetizer sized ceaser salad. When the food came, DS didn't like the sauce on the crab cakes, so he ended up eating DD's rice. I had the veggies that went with the crab cakes as well as my salad, and DD finished everything else. She was happy, because she had wanted the crab cakes anyway, but I told her she could only pick one thing! DDE savings for this meal was $6.39.

We headed back to the room for a break and got there by about 4. We had a great surprise. Our mousekeeper had done a wonderful job with our towel animals! She made a Mickey head and top half, which was on one bed, and a centipede and little doll which was on the other bed. Here's some pictures of them.

She left a nice note thanking us for the tip and saying that she was off tomorrow. I took some pictures, and will try to insert them after I get back from my work trip. During our break, DS played with his Be Daman (the package was at the gift shop when we got back), and I napped. DD watched some TV and took a little nap too.

We headed back out to MK, and made it to the park about 7:15. They were doing 2 Spectros that night, with Wishes in the middle. We headed to Space Mountain to use our expired fast passes. On the way, we saw Stitch with minimal lines. DS had been pretty grumpy about the characters, but when DD got in line, he decided he'd do one with Stitch. Here are the pictures. Note DD's Stitch TOT hat.

When we got to Space Mountain, I told the CM we had gone back to the resort, and missed our return time, but he took the fast passes anyway. So we officially finished the triple mountain whammy. DS won't ever LOVE roller coasters, but I think he did this for his sister. We split up then, and DS rode the TTA while DD and I went on Stitch. We headed through Fantasy Land to try to get to a spot to watch Wishes. The kids rode the tea cups (they make me sick!) while I got my bottle strap (FINALLY!). We ended up right outside Sleepy Hollow snack stand and had a good view of Tink's flight. Unfortunately, the fireworks are largely blocked by the trees there. DS was getting pretty grumpy and complained that he didn't want to watch the parade, he wanted to go back to the room. Once Wishes started, he was amazed, even with the blocked view. So he decided that maybe he could stay and watch the parade! I parked them in front of the shooting gallery and got a turkey leg to share. They wanted cotton candy for their snack, so off I went in search of it. I tried all the shops heading toward main street, and hit a wall of people when I tried to get to the candy shop there. I decided to just go back to the shop in Space Mountain where I'd seen it earlier. I finally made it back to the kids, who were happily chatting with a family from Michigan. They'd eaten most of the turkey leg by this time, and DS wanted some change for the shooting gallery. Since all I had was a 10, I was a good mom, and went off to break it. Of course, I had to buy a Dole Whip to do that, didn't I??? The things we do for our kids. I did finish off the turkey leg on my way over to Aloha Isle, so it was a somewhat balanced meal. But Hey, I'm on vacation!

We watched the parade (this was a great spot!). DD was happy to see Cherabon from Fantasia. He's her favorite villian. When the parade was over, we got wristbands and tried to do a few rides. DS was seriously whining by this time, so we headed back to the resort. We were in bed by 11:30.

 

[tkd lisa]

Day 3, Monday 20 March

Plans for the day:
Animal Kingdom for EMH, break about noon to meet Mom back in the room, ADR at Prime Time Cafe at 2:45, Fantasmic in the evening, in the room by 9.

This day didn't go too far off the original plans.

I was up fairly early again (about 5:30 if memory serves me). Again, I went to the food court for coffee and devotions, and made my notes from the previous day. I confirmed that MGM had evening EMH that night, and that there were two Fantasmics, so I planned to see the late one, then let DD ride RnR and ToT to her hearts' content.

My mom had told me on Sunday that she had an appointment to get some lab work done at 7 am, and that she wasn't sure if she was going to drive up all the way or stop at my house. She lives just south of Ft. Myers, so it's 3 1/2 hours from her house to WDW (2 1/2 hours to my house).

I got the kids up about 6:45, we ate in the room, and headed out to the bus stop. While we were waiting for the bus, we talked to a family from OK. There were two boys (12 and 9) and their aunt. They had driven over and arrived the night before. My kids hit it off quite well with them. The boys had never been to WDW before, and the aunt hadn't been in about 5 years. We got to the park and waited in a VERY long bag check line. We made it in just after 8:00, and I sent the kids back to Expedition Everest to wait for me while I grabbed Safari fast passes. As I was walking toward EE, the lady (Caroline) from OK came up and said that she had left her kids with my kids, and that they wanted to spend some time together. That was fine with me, so we pulled Safari passses for them too, and headed to Asia. We met the kids and started through standby (it was showing 15 minutes which was pretty accurate). DD was all excited about riding, and trying desperately to talk one of the boys from OK into riding too. None of them would do it! When we got to the loading area, the boys took the exit, and the girls got on mid-car. Caroline and I sat together, and DD was with a young girl who was by herself.

It was a really good ride, and I got an excellent view of AKL this time. Caroline really enjoyed the ride! We looked at our picture, and DD was all crouched down, hiding her head! She normally is emotionless in ride pictures so I teased her a bit about it. We met the boys in the gift shop, and headed over to Africa for our two week safari.

On the way, we saw King Louie. My DS still wanted nothing to do with characters, but DD thought she'd get a picture. Louie didn't sign autographs. I pulled out the camera, and "battery exhausted" was flashing. Doggone it! And no photopass photographer anywhere around! Caroline took a couple with her camera, and we headed on to the Safari. I explained photopass to Caroline on the way, and she thought that sounded pretty good. We had a good safari and saw white and black rhinos, and some pretty close giraffes. It was interesting watching the younger OK boy's reaction to the poaching story. He was really getting into it. We did have a good driver, and we were close to the front.

We got off the Safari about 9:50, and Caroline went to pull fast passes for Kali, while I took the kids over to Camp Minnie Mickey. I thought the shows were on the hour, and was going to try for seats for the 10:00 show. Caroline had picked up a times guide on the way and called to say the show wasn't until 10:40, so we visited the characters while we waited.

We saw Kenai and Koda on the bridge, and got some good autographs. The OK boys had the characters sign their bags (they had those string backpack things), and I had them sign DS's hat. DD had her book. Then we got into the actual greet area, and saw Goofy, Minnie and Mickey. Minnie had fun with DD's Stitch ears. They kept hitting her in the "head" so she finally held DD out a bit and stroked her ears for the pictures. There was finally a photopass photographer, so I have some shots of that.

DD didn't want to wait for Mickey, so she and DS sat on a bench and waited. When we came out of the line, we had a great surprise! Guitar Dan was talking to DD, and as we walked up he started singing. Her song went something like this.

Kaylie's Workin for Stitch. Kaylie's Workin for Stitch

Oh, she came from way on up in Maryland,
Didn't like the cold.
Moved on down to sunny Tampa
And journeyed to the World.

Stitch took over the Hollywood Hotel
But needed bellhops there.
He took one look at Kaylie and knew
She was just what he needed.

So now Kaylie's workin for Stitch.
Kaylie's workin for Stitch.

She was five shades of red, and DS couldn't stop laughing! There was some more stuff in there about her personality being just perfect, and mischevious, and something about her birthday too. But it was amazing how he really captured so much in just a couple of minutes!

By then, the Lion King theater was open, so we headed in to the lion section. The show was wonderful, and it was kind of nice to watch without feeling the need to get the perfect picture since my camera was dead anyway!

After the show, we exchanged email addresses, and left the OK family behind. We headed back to All Stars (bus stop was right in front here), and called my Mom. She still hadn't left her house yet, so I knew she wasn't going to make it in time for Prime Time.

Back at the room, the kids didn't want to swim. DD watched some TV, and DS played with his Be Daman toys. I got bored, and decided to drive to DTD to look more for the cell phone cover. This ended up being a wasted trip. I found absolutely nothing, and the WOD manager told me that they didn't carry cell phone covers anywhere on the property anymore.I got back to the room about 2, and we headed out to the MGM bus stop. On the bus, I called Mom and found out that she had just gotten to my house, and was going to stay there for the night. We gave her instructions to check the guinea pig and gerbil, and bring some more bagels for breakfast

We got to the park about 2:30, and I sent the kids to Prime Time, while I went to get Lights Motors Action fast passes. Boy is that a LONG walk! And when I got there, a show was just letting out so I was a salmon swimming upstream. I made it back to Prime Time just at 2:45,and we were seating almost immediately.

We were at a table right in front of a TV, and the kids liked the clips. Here's a picture from there. Notice no elbows on the table!

They kept asking "Did you see this when you were little Mom?" I told them Ihad seen some of them in re-runs, but it was more Grandma's time than Moms. We had Adrienne, who was a pretty decent server, but she wasn't really into the character much. DD had salmon, DS had fried chicken, and I ate all the veggies from his plate. We split an order of smores for dessert. While we were waiting on dessert, Charles came over and scolded DS for putting his feet on Mom's furniture! I can't remember our discount total here, but it was about $7.

It wasn't quite time for the LMA show, so we went into Sounds Dangerous. The kids reallly enjoyed this, surprisingly enough. I didn't know you got splashed! The theater was probably 3/4 full. We headed back to LMA, and got there about 15 minutes before the start. This was absolutely packed! DS was getting very very grumpy saying "we're never going to get a seat". I wasn't too sure we were either, since it was filling up fast. As we headed up to the top, I spotted two seats together, with one in front of them about 3/4 of the way up, so we sat there. The kids liked the show, but we all agreed it wasn't for Grandma. Sitting that long on backless benches was tough even on my back, and it would be way too noisy for her taste.

I left the kids in the HISTK playground while I went after ToT fast passes. I got Little Mermaid ones instead, because I decided that was too far to walk! We went into One Man's Dream, but didn't have time for the movie before the VOTLM show. DS didn't want to do Little Mermaid, so he stayed to watch the movie, while DD and I watched Ariel. We met up after the show, and DS wanted to go back to the room. We took the bus back (at MGM, it's the last bus stop), and I decided I'd just drive back with DD for the last Fantasmic and the evening EMH's while DS stayed in the room. He doesn't do the thrill rides anyway. When we got off the bus, the OK family was waiting to get onto the bus for MGM. Luckily, DD saw one of the boys hats, and realized she'd left her Stitch ears on the bus! Thank God it hadn't left yet!

I stopped in the food court to get dinner for everyone (Chicken strips and pizza for the kids, I had tomato soup, more DDE savings). But when I went to open the safe to get my keys for the drive to MGM, I couldn't find the safe key anywhere. Remember I had driven to DTD that afternoon. The mousekeeper came really late that day (after we left for MGM), and I finally decided that she must have thrown it away by mistake. Time was ticking away if we wanted to catch the 9:00 Fantasmic, so DD and I just took the bus. We got there about 8:30, and the line stretched all the way back to the crossroads. I didn't think we'd get in, so we went to ToT. Line was 30 minutes, and RnR was 40 minutes. I told DD they would go way down after the park closed, so we went and watched One Man's Dream movie. When we got out of the movie, DD decided she was tired too, so we left and went back to the room. We were all in bed by 10.

 

[tkd lisa]

Day 4, March 21st.

Plans: EPCOT for EMH, hit the big rides and let DS spend some time in Innoventions. Leave for a mid-day break, then go to MK by 1:30 and boat over to Ft. Wilderness for a afternoon ADR at Trails' End. Back to MK to finish up Fantasy Land, and watch Wishes and Spectro.

What really happened?

I was up by 5 again. When I got the kids up, DD said she wasn't feeling well and wanted to stay in the room. My mom was due in by mid-day, so I let DD stay there. Knowing that my mom doesn't have the same sense of time I do, I figured it was pretty unlikely that we were going to make our 1:50 ADR, so I called and changed it to a dinner ADR (5:45 pm). DS and I caught the bus to EPCOT by 7:30, and went in right as it opened for EMH. We grabbed Soarin fast passes, and headed over to Mission Space. As we got onto our numbered spots, who was next to us? The Oklahoma family! They were in the pod next to us, and when the ride was finished, we spent some time together in Mission Command. It turned out that Carolyn had gone back to the photo center at Animal Kingdom because she wanted a picture of her Expedition Everest ride. She wanted a 5x7, but they only came as 2 in that size. So she got the one of my DD as well. I split the cost of the package, and now have my first ever ride photo!

The boys were having a good time with the video games. DS asked if they were going to have the big game they play on the overheads (I think it's something like "Space Race"). They needed 8 total people, so all of us did it. A dad and his two teen daughters were there, so we split into guys vs. girls. It was a lot of fun, and thankfully, the girls knew what they were doing. I'm happy to say that the girls team won both heats! I think our score for the second half was something like 97%!

The OK family had pulled Test Track fast passes when they got in, and wanted to standby for Soarin. Our Soarin fast passes were about due, so we went by TT so I could get a new set and walked over to Soarin together. They went on Standby, while DS and I went through FP. My mom had arrived by that time. She went to the room and got her AP voucher from DD, then met me at the front of EPCOT. DS spent about an hour in Innoventions while we were waiting on her to make it through everything. We tried out Club Cool (couldn't get Grandma to try Beverly, she actually read the descriptions on the dispensers and said 'ooh, it's bitter, I don't want that!'), then she and I got a picture with Mary Poppins. It came out pretty cute. Here's the picture.

DS wanted Grandma to see Ellen's Energy Adventure (for some weird reason he really likes this!), so we walked in just as the pre-show was ending. My mom said she vaguely remembered riding this back before it was Ellen-ized. There were really a lot of people in there. When the kids and I rode it in February, I think there were 10 people on the entire ride. This time, the whole pre-stage area was pretty full.

After Ellen, DS was getting grumpy and wanted to go back to the room. I needed to get Mom's bags in, and figure out something about the safe (since my money was in there too!), so we gave away our TT fast passes and headed back. When we got to the room, DD was feeling better, and mousekeeping had been there. I got lunch at the food court (double cheeseburger and extra bun for Mom and I, chicken strips for DD, cheese pizza for DS - total 17.08 with 3.99 DDE savings).

As Mom and I went to the parking lot, we ran into one of the managers of the All Stars. I explained what I thought had happened to the safe key and asked what to do. He said to call the desk when we were going to be there for a while, and they'd send someone to open the safe, and give me a new key.

Once we got Mom's stuff to the room, I called for the safe. About 20 minutes later, two guys came up. One was on a Segway, and he rode it right into the room! DD had on her birthday pin and he asked how old she was. She told him 14, and he said to me "you can't be old enough to have a 14 year old, so that must be your sister!" Man, did that make my day! Safe now opened (and cash in hand), we got ready to head over to MK.

We decided to drive over since we were going to see Wishes, and knew the bus would be packed afterwards. We parked all the way out by the Richard Petty Speedway! The wind had picked up pretty strongly by this time, which was good because it was well over 90. We got into the park about 2:50, and Mom and DD decided they wanted to watch the parade. DS wanted to try something in tomorrowland, so I told them to meet us at Philharmagic after the parade. DS and I were able to get Buzz fastpasses for everyone which were good for 3:50, so we grabbed them, and I tried calling Mom to tell her to come to Tomorrowland instead. Of course, she had her phone turned off! DS and I rode TTA, and when we got off, I could tell the parade was over. Buzz had a 10 minute standby at that time, so I sent him through the standby line, while I walked over to meet Mom and DD at Philharmagic. On the way, I ran into someone who's in choir with me at church!

I found Mom and DD on the bridge behind the castle. I told her that she HAD to keep her phone on here so I could reach her! As we were heading to Tomorrowland, we saw PUSH. DD said "Hi, PUSH" kind of loudly, and he said "Hey, who said that? Oh, I remember you! Where's your brother? Oh, Mom, you want a picture of me? Make sure to get my 'good' side, that's the one!" I was surprised he had remembered us (we'd talked to him briefly a couple of days ago), but DD's ears were pretty unique! Here's the picture of PUSH's "good" side!

We all met back up in Tomorrowland. We rode TTA again, and went on COP. Mom had never been on that, and she really got a kick out of it! By this time, it was about time to head over to Fort Wilderness. I sent them up to the front, and grabbed Peter Pan fast passes to use after dinner (I think the FPs were good for something like 8:15, and it was just before 5). When I got up to the front, they were getting ready for the flag retreat. The kids were playing a game of checkers.

Mini-rant here! I truly don't understand why people aren't willing to be respectful of our flag. They started the retreat, and most of the people who had been sitting around the hub stood up. But one lady pushed her way into me while I was standing at attention. I said "excuse me Maam. They're lowering the flag. Can you please just stop until they're done?" She grumped "No!" and shoved on by me into one of the little shops. It only took about 3 minutes, and I just couldn't believe how many people kept streaming on by. Okay, rant over. Here's a picture of the ceremony.

We caught the bus over to FW (stopped at WL first), and made it to Trails End just at our ADR time. Watching the boat dock was amazing, because it was REALLY windy by this time. They weren't running the ferry boats, because the winds were too high for them. The kids sat out on the open deck in front, while Mom and I sat inside. We had Gary as our server, and he was a lot of fun. I had fairly high hopes, because my kids liked most of the food they had here, but this was kind of the beginning of stomach problems for DS. He went up and got an apple and an orange (and he's not normally a fruit eater) and sat back down. DD got 1/2 a plate of mac and cheese, and 4 bites of watermelon. Mom and I got some soup. I got DS a piece of cornbread, and fried chicken and told him that he had to eat something. DD announced that she was full, and my mom got a plate with about 5 little bits of the veggies they had. Oh yeah, this is why I don't do buffets with my family!!! I ate some ribs, and some cobbler since I felt like someone had to actually eat something! I said something to Gary about the apple and orange, since DS hadn't touched them. He said that since they were on the table, he'd just have to throw them away. And he said "If I don't see you put them in your bag, I don't know anything!" So at least I had a snack for later! Total came to $70 with tax and tip ($14.39 DDE discount), which was the most we paid for a meal the entire trip.

While the kids and mom were outside, it had rained a little bit, but the wind finally died down. We went to the boat dock and waited for the next boat. A little boy (about 4 or 5) was behind us with a brand new Buzz Lightyear light up spinning toy (the kind they sell at the parades). It still had the tag on it. For some unknown reason, he decided that Buzz needed to take a swim, so he tossed him over the railing. His face was priceless! He said something like "Mom, Buzz can float, can't he?" He floated there for a minute or two, but slowly sank. The little boy said "Can I get another one?" Mom and Dad both said "No!", and that was that. I was amazed that he didn't pitch a fit. We all said something about hard lessons.

We made it back to MK by around 7:15. Mom and DD wanted to watch Spectro, so I found them a spot in front of the Emporium. I thought we might try to move a little closer to the hub after the parade to see Wishes. DS wanted to do a little shopping (he had about $5 left), but wouldn't tell me exactly what he was looking for. We wandered through the Emporium, and over to the Candy Store. He bought a fill bag of black and white M&Ms for his sister (her favorite colors are black and white) to give her for her birthday (we were celebrating that the next day), and he also bought a bag of chocolate coins. He kept saying they were for someone special, but he wouldn't tell me who. In the long run, he ended up eating them himself a couple of days later, so I don't know who he was thinking of.

His money spent, we headed back into tomorrowland just before the parade started. He couldn't decide what he wanted to do, and I knew he hadn't ridden the cars yet so I talked him into that. I had the PP fast passes, but he was adament that he wasn't riding that baby ride! So I told him that we'd go back to Grandma and his sister, and he could hold our spot for Wishes while we rode PP. We walked back through the Tomorrowland Noodle Station, and he said "Mom, I really think this would be a good spot for Wishes". There were some people at the railing watching the parade, and I asked one of them. She said "Yes, it's really good. You can't see Tink, but she won't fly today because of the wind anyway!" So DS held a table for us, while I went off the get Mom and DD. We swam upstream trying unsuccessfully to cut through Fronteirland (I forgot the parade went that way!), finally making it to PP. No wait with FP (standby line was ridiculous by that time), then dashed into the saved seats in Tomorrowland just as they were starting the narration for Wishes!

We all really enjoyed the show, and I got some fairly good pictures.

We waited a little bit (put the tables back where they went) while the crowd thinned out some, then headed out to the car. We decided on the resort monorail, since the other one was really backedup. While we were waiting, a young woman saw DD's bday button, and they started talking. Turned out this girl's bday was the day after DD's. She's a CM, and comments on DD's Stitch ears too. She said "Do you like RnR?" DD said "Oh, yes, that's my next favorite after ToT". So she pulled out two unlimited RnR fast passes and said they're good for 3 people each. She works that ride! By this time, we were in the monorail, and the CM and I had a nice talk about her experiences working for Disney. She had been in the college program, and stayed on after graduation. She said that it can have some really good opportunities (she met several senior Disney execs), and she encouraged DD to think about it when she gets older. She also thought DD would make a good Jungle Cruise skipper, so I'm thinking her career path is set!

We rode the tram to our car, and had an easy trip back to the resort.

 

[DeterminedOne]

Your DS and DD seem like real troopers.

 

[tkd lisa]

Day 5, Wednesday March 22nd

Plans for today. Celebrate DD's "Birthday"
Start at MGM then midday break. Go to EPCOT, ADR at Teppanyaki at 3:30, tour the world showcase side, watch illuminations.

What happened?

This day actually went mostly to plan. I actually slept in today, and woke up at 7:05 (I wrote it down since it was so out of character!). I got everyone else up at 7:30, we had breakfast in the room and headed out to MGM.

We split into two groups so that DD could ride her thrill rides. We planned to meet at the first Beauty and the Beast show at 10:30. DD and I went to ToT first and waited about 10 minutes to ride. I actually took some pictures in the line, since this is the first time we ever waited at all.

Once we finished, we walked over to RnR. The wait was 40 minutes, so we used one of the special fast passes that we had gotten last night. It was almost 10 by then, so DD and I headed to the B&B theater. They hadn't quite started letting people in, and the gentlemen up front asked if anyone was celebrating a birthday. The people by us saw DD's button and said "She is." So we went up to the front and spoke to the guy. He took down her name, age and where we were from and radio'd ahead. I called my mom's cell phone and finally got her as she was coming in the theater. They had us sit right behind the handicapped row. Mom came down, but without DS. She said that he said B&B was a baby show, and he didn't want to see it. He was in the RnR gift shop. I went after him, and made him come with me. He and I got back just as 4 for a Dollar was starting. He walked in pouting, but he was smiling by their second song. Then they pulled out a paper and said "Is there a Kaylie Sanders here? Come on up! Kaylie is from Tampa, and she's celebrating her 14th birthday. Kaylie, what's your favorite Disney song?" Kaylie answered pretty quickly "Reflections, from Mulan." "Good song", they said, "but we're not singing it. We'll do our favorite instead." So they sang "When you wish upon a star" to her. And they gave her a CD.

We watched B&B which was really good (I'd never seen it before). There were some interpreters there, and they were almost as entertaining as the show!

I talked to my mom and found out she had gone on the Great Movie Ride, but my DS had shopped instead. Grandma had given him $20, and he used most of it to get a couple gifts for his sister. He bought her a Hollywood Hotel Key, and a pin with Stitch cutting the elevator cable at the ToT. Mom, DD and I went through the Narnia and One Man's Dream exhibits while DS sat out. He said he'd already done those things and didn't want to do them again. Mom and DD went back to the hotel, and DS and I stayed for a bit. I tried to interest DS in Millionaire, but he said his stomach still wasn't feeling good, so we just looked in some of the stores, watched one of the street scenes and left.

Once we were all back, we let DD open her birthday presents from Grandma. DS dropped his gifts in there, and she REALLY liked the Tower Hotel key. She clipped it on her pin lanyard right away.

I showed Mom around the resort a bit, then we left about 2:00 for EPCOT. I pulled FPs for Soarin (good for 8:15 that night) on the way over to Japan. They took the boat, and I beat them over. I found out that Teppanyaki is on top of the big store, up the stairs (I didn't know that before this time). We all checked in, and were seated with 3 CMs from the 9 Dragons restaurant in China. DS was complaining of his stomach, so I just ordered a bowl of rice for him. And we split 2 meals between the other three of us. DD LOVED the seaweed salad they brought. Meanwhile, DS spent quite a bit of time in the bathroom, and said he was getting sick. He asked for some of my chicken, and probably ate 3 or 4 bites of it, and a couple of bites of rice. I told him I'd take him back to the resort when we were done. They didn't take the DDE at Teppanyaki, but we did get 10% off for being AP holders. This meal was much cheaper than I expected. $47 including tax and tip after the discount.

I left Mom and DD exploring the Japan shops (Grandma had given DD $20 to finish out her birthday shopping). DS and I headed out. We stopped by Club Cool so he could spend the last of his money getting a shrink wrapped bottle of Sprite. Then we went back to the resort. He was pretty quiet the whole way, and agreed to stay in the room while I was gone. The bus got to the resort about 5:15, and I just stayed on and let him go to the room by himself. By the time I made it back to the park, it was about 6. When I called Mom, they were STILL in the store in Japan. She said that DD was watching people pick pearls and couldn't be pried loose! She did spend some of her money on a set of paper lantern hanging lights. I had them meet me in Germany, and walked around the Mexico side. DD said that she wanted to see the rides and movies in the WS. We pulled a fastpass for Maelstom, since it had a 20 minute wait, and walked over to Mexico. We rode the Rio Del Tempo, which I had never been able to find before. In fact, I don't think I'd ever been into the marketplace before, since I thought it was the restaurant. Okay, honest question here. Does anyone think that the average Mexican WANTS people to think their country is the way their movie portrays it?? They started with the weird Aztec dancers, moved on to swim up pool bars, and finished up with the classic marketplace harrassment. An exchange student from Mexico lived with us in high school, and I KNOW she hated the stereotype people had of Mexico.

Anyway, the ride was done, and DD was looking to try out some Mexican candy. She picked out something that looked like Skittles, but when she tried one, she spit it out so fast! She said it was really nasty. My mom tried one and said it was basically a seed covered in a shell and was really bitter. Good thing it was only $1!

We headed to Norway, and by this time the wind was really whipping up hard and it was pretty chilly to be in shorts and t-shirts. We ducked through the bakery and I got a rice cream to share with mom, while DD got dirt and worms. We finished it up while walking back to Maelstrom. We used our fastpasses, but it was walk on by this time. We watched a bit of the Chinese acrobats, then saw the American show and our Soarin fast passes were about ready to use. DD really liked the America show. In fact, she's on a search for the song "One wore blue and one wore gray."

By this time, we all decided it was too chilly, and we were too tired to stay for Illuminations, so we rode Soarin, and headed out. On our way into Soarin, there was a man watching a sleeping baby talking to a CM. Apparently, his wife was riding Soarin standby, but they hadn't gotten a baby swap pass. Since the standby line was 70 minuts at that time, they weren't letting anyone else in, and the man was kind of upset that he wouldn't be able to ride. I handed him my extra fastpass (since DS wasn't with me), so he was able to use it once his wife got back.

I have to say I was a little disappointed that my Mom wasn't more wowed by Soarin. I expected her to really like it. She said she liked it, but she didn't react the way I expected. I think she was more focused on recognizing the places she's seen before than actually enjoying the experience.

We caught an empty bus back to the resort, and were in the food court by 9:30. DD went back to the room, and I got chicken strips (surprise, surprise), and two kids grilled cheese meals. I was still really full from Japan, so I didn't get anything for me. DDE discount was $2.93

 

[tkd lisa]

Day 6, March 23rd

Plans for the day: at MK by 0800 for EMH, re-ride our favorites, see Cinderellabration, take the boat over to WL for a 2:40 ADR at the Whispering Canyon Cafe. Then we'd take a break and head to EPCOT to finish off the countries. We'd end the night by seeing Fantasmic, and packing up.

What really happened?

I was up around 6, but the kids slept until 7. We made it to MK by 8:30, but DS was being a real grump. We went into Fantasy Land, and he didn't want to ride any baby rides. But he wouldn't decide what he did want to ride. DD, Mom and I rode Pooh and Snow White while he pouted. I tried to get him to ride the Indy Cars, but the line was about 30 minutes and he didn't want to wait. I think he was really having a hard time with missing his dad, and realizing that he'll never go to Disney World with him again. Combined with his stomach problems, and things being focused more on his sister, he just started spouting off at me. My mom was pretty upset at him, so I pulled him aside for a bit. I had told him about DD's friend coming in earlier in the week, and since this girl was good friends with him too, I told him that if he kept it up, he was going home with grandma instead of to the airport with me! I said that he didn't have to ride anything he didn't want to ride, but that we were going to do things Grandma hadn't done yet, so he needed to get over his mad and either pick out something he wanted to do, or quit complaining.

About that time, we were in front of Philharmagic, so that was his choice. He stood off by himself while we waited for the doors to open, and by the time we went in, he seemed better. When the show was over, I said that Grandma hadn't been on Small World (it was closed the last time we came in 04), and there was no line. DS waited over in the stroller parking for us, and when we got done, he had decided that he'd like to show Grandma Tom Sawyer Island. That seemed pretty much up her alley, so they went off there while DD and I rode Haunted Mansion and the Tiki Room. DD wanted french fries for a snack, and I got a dole whip (I planned on sharing some with mom, but it was melting quickly!). When we called mom, they were finishing up on the island. Someone had told DS about the paint brushes, and he spent about an hour looking everywhere for them. He talked Grandma into going over the barrel bridge too! And on the way to meet us, she bought him the big tub of popcorn, so he was pretty happy.

Cinderellabration was about to start, but DD decided she didn't want to watch. We went back to the room, and Grandma and I went to Downtown Disney. I had decided to get a string type backpack, and I wanted the 2 disk Happiest Celebration on Earth CD. Mom was looking for a few things to take to friends and family, so back to World of Disney. I got my things for just over $40 with a 10% discount. I had pulled out my Disney Visa, along with my AP. The CM said "Oh, if it's over $25, you get a 10% discount with the Disney Visa anyway, and you don't have to show ID for that." Mom ended up getting a stuffed Minnie for her neighbor, a tshirt for herself, and a t-shirt for her brother's birthday. My uncle wears a 4x, so she was happy to find something that fit him. As I remember, her total ended up at something like $45 with her 10% discount (she has a Disney Visa too, and has never used the rewards!).

Since we weren't in MK, I decided that it would work best to drive to WL for our ADR, then I'd take the family to EPCOT, and drop the car over at MGM so it would be there when Fantasmic was done. As I was talking to Mom, I realized she'd never seen Illuminations either, so we thought we'd just stay in EPCOT that night. We called the kids on our way in, and they met us in the parking lot.

We got to WCC just about 2:30, and were seated right away. We found out our CM from December wasn't working that day, but our server was really fun. I just realized that he didn't put his name on our ticket, but I think it was something like Chad. It wasn't anything Western themed at all. He was a lot of fun. Here's his picture.

He took my camera and started taking pictures of everyone around the restaurant. I have a whole family and their server, as well as an adorable baby covered in crumbs. DD's birthday was listed on our reservation, so he started in on her about that right away.

DD got a bottomless vanilla shake, (notice the intense concentration on her face!)

DS and mom got smoothies, and I got my standard water with lemon. Mom decided to have nachos, DD wanted their fish, and DS ordered chicken (I planned on eating his veggies, and sharing whatever was leftover). At Christmas, DS had eaten every bite of this chicken. Bet you can see where this is going now. The food came, DD ate all of hers, Mom ate about half her nachos, and DS ate one chicken wing. He did drain his smoothie though. He flatly refused to sing happy birthday riding on a pony, and so my Mom and I did the honors. Yes, DD was a little embarrassed by our antics.

Once DS knew he didn't have to sing, he was happy, and Chad snapped this picture of him grinning like a crazy man!

I was laughing so hard while riding my pony that I didn't realize that Mom was telling me she couldn't keep up with me. I started around on a second lap, when Chad told me that unless I liked making a fool of myself, I could stop anytime!

He brought us out a slice of chocolate cake, with only 3 spoons (none for DS since he didn't sing!). We all had a couple of bites, then settled the bill. Total with tax and tip was $50 ($9.57 DDE savings).

We drove over to EPCOT and parked really close. Close enough that we walked to the entrance and beat the tram. I sent DS into the other side of Innoventions to explore for an hour while we headed to the other side of Future World. As we headed in, we rode Spaceship Earth. Earlier that week, there had been a 20 minute or longer line for this, so I told Mom we'd do it later. She remembered as we walked past the empty line so we rode. I checked the tip board and saw that Soarin FPs were gone, so we went into the Living Seas. The line for Turtle Talk was probably 3 shows deep, so we ended up checking out the manatees instead. After this, we went into Imagination with Figment.

I left Mom and DD waiting near Test Track while I went into Innoventions to get DS. I knew he had wanted to build the robot, so I looked there first. Didn't see him anywhere. I searched the place top to bottom, thinking frantically "I know I said this side of Innoventions, and he did everything on the other side the other day." I asked a CM if he'd seen DS, and he said "Is he wearing a 3d kind of shirt? Yes, he was right here." About that time, DS comes down the aisle. He had been in the house of the future, and I didn't know how to get into there. He really enjoyed himself, and I promised we'd spend some time in there together when we came back the next time. I asked him if he had caused trouble, since the CM knew who he was. He said "No, we just talked about all the neat stuff they have in here, and he thought my robot was pretty cool."

We went down to the boat dock, and as it was pulling up, I could hear Off Kilter start playing. Now I'd always wanted to hear them, and the timing had never been right. So I asked Mom to take the kids over to explore Morocco while I went to listen to a bit of the show.

I snapped a couple of pictures, and enjoyed 2 or 3 songs. When I got up to go, the lead singer said "oh, don't go! We're just getting to the good stuff." I walked around and Mom and the kids were playing on the section in Morocco where they've got the water wheel. Nobody wanted to see the movie in France, so we walked through the UK. The British Invasion was playing, and DD wanted to listen until she realized they were playing the Beatles. She decided that was "OLD", so we all looked around the shops a bit. We kept walking, and DS decided he was finally hungry. He wanted either popcorn or chicken nuggets. I knew there was a McDonalds past Canada, so I got him some, and he sat down by the water and ate his dinner. About that time, DD decided she wanted to see what kind of candy they had in Canada, so we headed into the outpost.

The CM had stepped out to take some pictures of a family who were all trying on the moose hats, but I saw a sign that said something like "Do you know the meaning of these words?" It Listed "Loonie, Toonie, Took, potash, and Chesterfield" (I know I butchered some of the spellings here, so any Canadians, please forgive me!) I was pretty sure I knew most of them, so when the CM came back I gave it a try. Loonie - $1 gold coin with a picture of a loon on it. Took - a hat, specifically a winter hat made famous by the MacKensie brothers of Great White North fame. potash - I knew it was something you ate and it turns out it's french fries with gravy and other stuff on it. The Chesterfield - I was pretty sure it was a sofa, but my second guess was a brand of cigarette. Turned out the sofa was right. I had no idea on the toonie, and it turns out to be a $2 coin. I hadn't been to Canada since they started issuing those. Pretty good, eh??

Anyway, DD decided she wanted a box of Smarties. The CM asked her if she knew the Smarty jingle. She said no, and asked him to teach it to her. He said "How many breathes do you want it in?" She laughed and said "Six". Now I can't remember how the jingle went, but it was more of a tag line, and less of a song (I was thinking something like "Have it your way, have it your way.) Maybe someone else can remember it. Smarties aren't what I think of as Smarties. They were more like M&Ms instead of sweet tarts. DD liked them a lot though.

By this time, Off Kilter had started again, and DD wanted to listen. Mom went back to sit with DS, and when we joined them, we all decided to call it an early night. It was only about 7, and we didn't have the energy to go back across the lake, and everything in Future World was closed up.

We were back in the room by 7:30 and got cleaned up and I started packing. About 8:30, the school group that had moved into my building and the one next to my building got back from their ball games. I have to say that this was the most obnoxious bunch of teenagers I'd ever met. When they checked in 2 nights before, we were just getting back from Wishes, so it was about 10:30. They were running up and down the walkways yelling out "Hey, I'm in room 3240, what room are you in?, etc." I had stepped out and asked "Excuse me, would you mind not yelling? There are small kids here who are sleeping." And a smart mouthed girls said "We ARE an entire school. What do you expect?" I shut the door, and by the time we were ready for bed, they had gotten to their rooms and were fairly quiet.

But not this night. Apparently, their tournament (girls softball and boys baseball) was over, and it was time to seriously party. They set up the boom boxes, and opened up all their doors. They were throwing things from room to room, and down to the courtyards. I called the front desk, and they said that they'd send a security guard, but nothing could really be done until 10:00, which was officially quiet hours. The music was so loud it was shaking the walls!

Another mom who had little kids came out and started yelling at them that they'd woken up her baby. Those nasty brats just made fun of her. They all started sneering at her, and telling her that they didn't have to listen to her. When she left, they cheered and applauded. At almost exactly 10, the noise stopped, so someone must have known the rules. More to follow on this when I check out tomorrow.

 

[tkd lisa]

Our Last Day, 3/23rd

Plans: Load cars and check out by 8:00. Drive to AKL for 8:30 Boma reservations. After breakfast, head to AK to part of the day. Only must do for me was Lion King, but DS wanted to do Kali.

Me and DD would then leave by 1 to pick up her friend (remember the surprise) at the a/p, and DS would either stay with Mom for the afternoon parade, or go with us. Planned to be back in Tampa by about 5:30 that evening.

What happened?

I was up shortly after 6, and went to the front desk to "check out" since I hadn't gotten anything under my door. I had a 0 balance, which was why I hadn't gotten a slip. While I was there, I asked the clerk if there was any way to find out the name of the school staying in my building. I explained the noise and rude kids from the night before, and told her that I probably wouldn't stay at Sports again because of it. She checked around, and told me that she could give me the chaperone's room number if I wanted to talk to them. I told her I'd rather have the school name, since the chaperone's obviously weren't doing their job, and I'd rather let the administration know about it, than tell someone who might just blow it off. She wrote down the school name and town, and told me that sports groups were usually only there from November through early June, so she asked me to try again in the early fall. She also suggest Pop Century since they don't get nearly as many groups.

Back to the room where everyone was moving pretty well. DS was so funny! He took an extra long shower, and even had me get him some more shampoo. He said "Mom, you know why I want to smell good today!" While we were getting ready, I told DD that we might have to leave early to get a birthday present for her. I told her that I was expecting a phone call to see if they could find "it". She pestered me a bunch to give her a hint. She said "Just tell me the first letter". I told her "S" for "surprise", or "INT for I'm Not Telling!" While I was loading the bags in the car, DD's friends Dad (did you follow that?) called and said they were headed to the airport. I told him I'd call when I had her with me, and hung up.

We headed out to AKL about 8:15 (it was really pretty close to us). I was in front, and found a parking spot pretty quickly. My mom couldn't seem to find one though, and she kept going toward the valet lot. I was trying to get her to pull over and let me park the car, but someone finally left, so she took their spot. While I was waiting on my mom to park, I pulled out the camera to take pictures of the kids, and managed to drop it pretty hard. The battery compartment sprung open and wouldn't close again, but otherwise it seemed to work okay. Luckily the battery has a little clip thing that keeps it in pretty well.

Here's one of the pictures I broke my camera to get! Notice DS is hiding because he doesn't want his picture taken.

We checked in on time, but they couldn't find our ADR. I offered to go out to the van for the confirmation number, but she just did a search on my name and found the problem. Somehow, they had booked it for 8:30 pm, 3 days earlier. This was the only ADR that was messed up, and it didn't cause a problem. They gave me a light up thingie and the kids went out to look at the pool. By the time DS got out the door, the buzzer was lighting up, so back inside we all went and took our seats by the window straight behind the check in stand.

The food here was really good! I picked breakfast because 1) the price was cheaper, 2) my kids tend to eat more earlier in the day, and 3) I thought there would be more "normal" food for the picky ones. It worked out pretty well. I had some of the curry hash (the real name started with a b, but I didn't write it down), and that was probably the only thing that could be considered "weird". It was pretty good, just different. Our server brought frunch for everyone, and we all drank it. It was okay, but I didn't fall in love with it. I just had normal coffee, since the pressed coffee is usually too strong for me. Mom had tea, and the kids were okay with their juice.

DS really liked the different breads, and actually ate two full plates of food! DD had some bacon and fruit, and 1/2 a bagel. I tried it all, except the omlet station. Hmmm. I think I liked the scones the best. Mom ate pretty well too. We finished up shortly after 9. Total was $64 with tax/tip (13.59 DDE discount).

After we finished, we went out past the pool where the kids were watching the animals. We lucked out, since the ranger was setting up feeding stations. We got some EXCELLENT shots, and were able to talk to her quite a while as she was doing that.

She said that this was a bachelor area, and that the only time she has problems is if one of the territorial animals is trying to defend his territory, and she gets between him and the animal he's mad at. We left there about 10, and headed over to AK.

We did almost DIE on the short drive over. As you leave AKL, you take a left turn into the entrance to AK. It's one way, but as I was turning into this, there were two BIG cars coming through full speed ahead. I'm guessing that they saw the AK parking sign and realized they had made a mistake. But instead of pulling through and explaining it, they just about killed me! Tragedy averted, we parked fairly close and walked up to the entrance.

The bag check line was really bad here again. I took all the bags and sent the rest of them into the park (it took about 20 minutes to go through the bag check). Bad park planning here (we really don't know AK very well, since we haven't spent much time there). I told them to go on through to the tree of life, and I'd meet them there. I walked through the garden area, and realized that there's really not a central place. I call my mom's cell, and ask where they are. She says "by some lemurs." Well, that's a big help! She says "I can't see anything, and I don't know what kind of lemurs they are." Luckily, I started walking around the tree, and just wandered into them. DS's sole request for today was to do the Kali River Rapids. So I sent them over to Asia while I pulled Safari fast passes. I found them in Asia, where DS was very grumpy because Kali was closed for the whole day. The kids were watching the monkeys, and then we went down the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

This was really neat. DS had taken possession of the camera, and took a lot of pictures at kind of weird angles. I was worried the battery was going to fall out, but it stayed in. We spent quite a while talking to a CM at the first tiger area about what kind of training you need to work there. He was a local kid, and had started with Disney while he was in high school. He did the college program, and stayed on. His view was that in straight dollars and cents, he could make more money somewhere else. But Disney offers nice benefit packages, and local businesses give really good deals to Disney employees. He said he worked full time in his dad's manufacturing business for a while, but kept the Disney job part time, and finally decided he was better off full time at Disney. I was surprised to find out that the up front AK jobs don't require any kind of special training. He said they're called "spiel" jobs, and they give you about 4 pages of basic facts about the area you're in, plus a radio to call specialists if there's a question you can't answer.

We spent some time in the bat house, and watched them moving tigers in and out of a couple of other enclosures, then it was getting close to time for the Lion King show. We fast walked back to Camp Minnie/Mickey and got there just as they were taking people to the back entrance for the last group before the show started. DS videotaped parts of it, but none of them came out really spectacular. We were towards the top of the giraffe section.

After the show, we headed towards Africa. About this time, DD asked me if I'd ever gotten that call about her present. I told her that they had called me when I went to get the fast passes, and we needed to leave after lunch. We decided to use our Safari fast passes, then eat lunch at Tusker House on our way out.

The Safari was probably the longest line we waited in all week, even with fast passes. Africa was soooo crowded that day. When I went after the fast passes, it was wall to wall people, and it was just as jammed on our way back to ride. I don't know why everyone was in Animal Kingdom that day, but it made me glad we were leaving! We probably waited about 25 minutes to get in our truck. The safari was good, and DS probably took 40 pictures. Good thing pixels are cheap! Little Red safe, once again, we headed toward Tusker House. I sent the family to the bathroom while I got the food. Lines were pretty long in here as well, and it took about 15 minutes to make it through. DD had salmon, DS had rotisserie chicken (I ate the veggies, he had the chicken), and Mom had a kids meal of chicken. Drinks for all but me (water again), and the total was $19.73 after DDE discount (4.63). We were out of there by 1:30, so I was running a little bit late. Mom decided to head on back to my house and get started on the laundry (God bless her!), so we had loaded her car up with most of the dirty stuff.

I took the toll road over to the airport. I have a Sunpass in my van, since I take a toll road to work every day. It came in very handy, since the Orlando a/p takes Sunpass for parking fees, plus I didn't have to stop at the toll booths. We got there about 2:15, and made our way into the terminal. DD had been pestering us the whole way about giving her a hint, but our lips were sealed!

I found a set of benches outside the Disney store and checked the monitors. Her friend's plane was showing on time (3:00 arrival), and she'd be coming out right where we were. DS and I went into the Disney store, and I came out and told DD that it would be a few minutes while they brought her surprise up, and that I was going to the bathroom. On my way to the bathroom, I checked the monitor, and it said the flight was in (about 15 minutes early). DS came up then, and I had him stay by the security exit while I went to the bathroom. When I came out, nobody was coming through security. We waited about 10 minutes, and nobody came through. DS asked a guard, and they said there had been a security breach, so they were holding people, but it should be cleared "soon". Finally, about 3:00 people start coming through security, but no DD's friend. I'm beginning to get nervous, but about 5 minutes later my phone rang. It was DD's friend, and she was just getting onto the monorail. Apparently, they held people on her plane until the crowds had cleared out some, since they were early. She made it through, and I hugged her and had DS stay with her for a minute.

I went back by the Disney store, and came up to DD. She said "That was a LONG bathroom trip!!!!" I told her that her present was there, and Casey had it, but the store was getting someone to help him carry it. She said "How big is this?" I told her "Bigger than a bread basket. Now stand up and close your eyes." DS brought DD's friend over, I started the video clip on my camera and said "Open your eyes." She looked and squeaked "Shannon!!! Shannon!! Oh, my God, Shannon". and gave her a HUGE hug. They were both jumping up and down, but no screaming. I said "was it worth the wait?"

Here's a very blurry picture (the video is much better), but you can see they're really happy!

She couldn't believe DS had kept the secret. And when we got home and she was reading my pre-trip report, she said "You told all those people, but you didn't tell me???"

We waited about 45 minutes for Shannon's bag (remember the security problem? Apparently baggage was backed up everywhere), and headed back. I made the mistake of taking the other way back to get to I-4. We finally saw the Mickey power lines about 5:30! We grabbed some ice cream at a McDonalds, and made it to my house by about 7. We ended up ordering pizza that night. The good news? Mom had finished most of the laundry. I only had to finish two loads.

 

[Toulouse]

The CM had stepped out to take some pictures of a family who were all trying on the moose hats, but I saw a sign that said something like "Do you know the meaning of these words?" It Listed "Loonie, Toonie, Took, potash, and Chesterfield" (I know I butchered some of the spellings here, so any Canadians, please forgive me!) I was pretty sure I knew most of them, so when the CM came back I gave it a try. Loonie - $1 gold coin with a picture of a loon on it. Took - a hat, specifically a winter hat made famous by the MacKensie brothers of Great White North fame. potash - I knew it was something you ate and it turns out it's french fries with gravy and other stuff on it. The Chesterfield - I was pretty sure it was a sofa, but my second guess was a brand of cigarette. Turned out the sofa was right. I had no idea on the toonie, and it turns out to be a $2 coin. I hadn't been to Canada since they started issuing those. Pretty good, eh??

Hi Lisa! Really enjoying your trip report but I had to giggle.... potash is actually an ingredient in fertilizer (potassium carbonate) so wouldn't be very good to eat at all...

You're looking for poutine. Didn't want to correct you for the sake of correcting you, just wanted you to know what poutine was if you see it on a menu. It's actually fries with cheese curds (sounds gross but it's basically just chunks of mozza cheese) and gravy. It's awesome if you have the chance to try it...

And you did do pretty good, eh?

Love your report and pix... our trip is less than 2 weeks away and I'm getting excited!

 

[Toulouse]

Anyway, DD decided she wanted a box of Smarties. The CM asked her if she knew the Smarty jingle. She said no, and asked him to teach it to her. He said "How many breathes do you want it in?" She laughed and said "Six". Now I can't remember how the jingle went, but it was more of a tag line, and less of a song (I was thinking something like "Have it your way, have it your way.) Maybe someone else can remember it. Smarties aren't what I think of as Smarties. They were more like M&Ms instead of sweet tarts. DD liked them a lot though.

LOL - Smarties... a Canadian delicacy.... *wink*

Here's the jingle:

When you eat your Smarties,
Do you eat the red ones last?
Do you suck them very slowly,
Or crunch them very fast?
Eat that candy-coated chocolate,
But tell me when I ask,
When you eat your Smarties,
Do you eat the red ones last?

 

[averill94]

I really enjoyed your report. Your children are beautiful- thanks for the pics!