Trip Report:4/29-5/4:Lot's of ups and downs!

[hanlin]

I' m going to make my trip report short and sweet!
Cast members:
me- DW
DH
DD-6yo
DD-6yo
DMom-57
DMIL-68

Dining Plan ---Highly recommend it:tons of food, great choices, nice not having to fumble for cash or hope we brought enough.

Saturday- It started out great. The surprise limo ride to the airport totally started the magic. Took pictures, got to the airport way too early, oh well. They took our bags right at the curb- great! Get to security, ask for manual check of my film because it was all 800 speed, not a problem, except there was a moment of confusion ans chaos with the girls and yep....I forgot all my disposable cameras at the security counter. I was hysterical when I went to get my camera from my bag to take a pic of my girls' first look out the plane window. Okay, I thought, if that's the worst that happens I'm in good shape.
Get to POFQ exhausted, but intact. Check in was a little crowded but moved fairly quickly. Didn't get requested building 5 because we needed adjoining. WE were in 3. There really is no bad room in this resort. It was so nice having everything real close. Checked out the resort,ate in the food court (great), and went to bed.
Sunday- Off to Magic Kingdom for breakfast at the castle. We had paid for this out of pocket before I added the Dining Plan. I have heard lots of people here say that it is not worth it but I thought it was worth every penny. We had a 9:00 ADR. We had plenty of time with Cinderella. The pictures you get are really nice. The food was really good and plenty of princess interaction. A great way to kick off our trip. We did the magic carpet ride, POTC (last day before it closed for refurb!) and tried to get on Splash Mt but it was temp shut down. We all got on Thunder Mt railroad. We didn't know exactly what this was but the line was short. My one DD cried, the other liked it, MIL and Mom swore they weren't getting on any more rides that I picked. We took the train to Toontown, saw Mickey's house, saw Mickey in the Judges tent. By then it was packed and we headed out. By far this was the best part of my planning. We really needed the break and it was just so hot and crowded starting about 11:30 or 12 noon. We had to often fight the crowds coming into the parks just to get out. We swam, rested and back to MK for Liberty Tree. Another great character meal, lots of autographs and good food. We stayed for Spectro and Wishes. Great first full day at Disney.

I'll be back to add more....coming up: some real reasons NOT to travel with parents/grandparents. (Keep in mind I really, really love my Mom and MIL)

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Hi!

We were at Magic Kingdom on Sunday as well. I thought it was the most crowded day all week. We were able to hope of Splash Mountain right when it reopened, there was about only a 20 minute wait. I love that ride, one of my favorites. We also did breakfast in the castle (not Sunday though) and I also thought it was worth every penny. My 4 year old DD was in heaven. She said "Look at her she looks beautiful." Her smiles were from ear to ear. Glad you had a great time.

 

[OhMari]

(Keep in mind I really, really love my Mom and MIL)


Thanks for sharing your Trip Report. I just realized my mom (parents) or my in-laws will never go to WDW with me or my family. I've asked my parents twice and I just asked my in-laws this past spring. I get no for an answer. How sad. Maybe your report will ease my mind.

 

[hanlin]

Ohmari- Please take my word for it...I love my Mom and MIL but it is just too stressful keeping track of the kids and the parents (or cabooses as my DH fondly referred to them by the end of the trip)

Monday- We slept in a bit and went to MGM around 12:30. I was really against doing this from what I heard here but it wasn't that bad. MGM doesn't, in my opinion, have a lot for my girls age group to do. We did Playhouse Disney, Indiana Jones, Little Mermaid, and they played in Honey I shrunk the kids. We got some character autographs here because the lines weren't as long as those in MK. It was a pleasant, more relaxing atmosphere at MGM. WE ate at Brown Derby. It was GREAT!! Highly recommend it. Did the Fantasmic package. The show was good. We did spend the 20 minutes while we were waiting in our seats fighting off swarms of little bugs that descended on the theatre. It was funny to see people all over the theatre waving papers frantically! Note: There is a long walk from back gate that the package holders use to get to their seats. Moms had hard time walking up the long hill.
Tuesday- Up early to Epcot. It was a scorcher this day. Moms didn't make the early departure so we agreed to meet up later. It was so much easier to maneuver the crowds w/o them. We made it to Test Track, got FP and rode, no wait. Moms made it in time for 1st Crush show. We rode TT again and wanted out. It was crowded and hot. Moms stayed we went back and swam.
Dinner at Chef Mickeys was very nice. My girls got to co pilot the monorail!!!(thanks to the DIS board tip) Back to MK for more rides. Great night!
Wednesday- Animal Kingdom and a goof on my part had it at EMH. I tried to get everyone up and out by 8 which at this point was very difficult. We were late but it wasn't early EMH, it was late! Woops! But it worked out for us to be there at opening. We did the safari right away, no wait. We did Rafiki planet watch, brushed some stinky goats, saw a surgery on a rabbit, had Rafiki and Stanley all to ourselves because we went in the back door. We did It's tough to be a Bug, loved it; went to Dinoland and shopped. By that time it was hot and super crowded. We split and went back to swim. Dinner was at Whispering Canyon Cafe-loved it, lots of fun, great food. Good way to end the vacation.
Thursday-We had a late flight so we swam at the pool for a few hours until the DME bus picked us up. All in all a good trip. Next time I will plan a day with no parks. We all got very exhausted quickly and we are of average size/health. Our bodies just needed to relax and there wasn't a lot of time for that.

 

[DisneycrazedX6]

Thanks for the report, quick and to the point!!! Did you do a dining report also????

 

[hanlin]

DisneycrazedX6- Thanks! No, I haven't had time since we've been back to do a dining report. I may head over to the dining boards to see if I can answer any questions. It would be nice to pay back all the great tips/ideas I received before we went. If you have any questions about eats, here's where we ate: CRT for breakfast, Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner, Brown Derby for dinner, Chef Mickeys for dinner, Whispering Canyon for dinner. All of these meals I would say were great, no complaints. Have a great trip!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Wow, we were there the same time as you, we probably ran into each other! And those bugs at Fantasmic were so annoying! This was our "just us" trip, the last two we took either my parents or dh's and it was soooo nice to have it be just the four of us! Really enjoyed your report!