TURNED 30 AT THE WORLD!!Our 10 night/11 day trip w/ lots of Pics!*COMPLETE 8/11**

[Tanya90210]

Love reading the posts. I can close my eyes and pretend that I am actually there! We are leaving this Friday June 29 for WDW trip. Can't wait and after reading the stories of your families trip.....I am even MORE excited!!

That's great to hear that you can picture being there... I can too when

You will have such a blast!!! 4 days to go!!

 

[Tanya90210]

You are doing a great job and I am really enjoying the report. Looking forward to more...

Thanks... glad to see you are enjoying

 

[Tanya90210]

Day 5 Part 1

Today we decided to make it a late wake-up day… which turned out to be a good thing as we all needed the rest after going full force for 4 days already. For us a late start isn’t what it means to some… that just means we got up an hour or so later…

We made it to AK by 8:45 so that we could miss the rope drop crowds but beat everyone else to the park. Once thru the usual hoopla… security check, ticket booth, finger scan… yadda yadda yadda… we finally made it in and were off... DH to EE to score us some FP while the rest of us headed to Africa so we could do the Killimanjaro Safari… which we had missed the year before so this would be our first trip.

After arriving at the entrance to the safari we figured we’d have to wait a bit for DH to return… which ended up not being too long consindering the walk he was making… about 20 minutes total…

We were told we could take the stroller up a bit before having to go without… which was great since having to carry Ry and sometimes carry Mini too.. After discarding the stroller and waiting in a line that really didn’t take that long but when you are carrying children it seems like forever… we boarded our vehicle…

They really have done a great job with the vehicles I must say… It was nice to have our whole family on 1 seat which usually doesn’t happen on many rides. We were able to score the back seat so if need be we could turn and catch a picture…. And off we go… Safari time! We saw the usual fare… (our favorites)

Giraffes

Elephants

The beautiful lions

The ride seemed to take forever and was really fun… defiantly would be a return trip for our family. I must say… the croc’s … way cool! Almost as cool as the shoes… but not quite!

After our safari we decided to grab an early lunch at the Tusker House… man oh man is that place a zoo… and heaven god forbid you don’t stay together… which we didn’t…because being new to the whole “dining” thing we had never been there before except to rest for a moment the year prior while the rest of the family had gone to Rafiki’s planet watch. Anyways… back to the story… DH went with the children to find a table while I got the food…. Took forever to locate him once I had the food.. DS ended up having to go find me and bring me to them…

The food itself was pretty good… we didn’t have any complaints except for the lack of choices for dessert. Good dessert… just not much to pick from…

After enjoying our much needed sustenance we headed off to Camp Mickey & Minnie to see the Pocahontas show… which we had missed the year before and refused to miss again as we heard from those in our family that did go that it was fantastic…

We were able to find a seat off to the side and the children decided to sit with us rather than go up to the front where the “child reserved seating” was… I just say the show was as good as we had hoped… and Pocahontas is just “beautiful!!”

We took many pictures of the show but that one was our favorite.

Once the show was over we decided it was time for what we had been waiting for since the year before when we saw it being constructed... that's right... time for EXPEDITION EVEREST!!! DH and Forest made a quick walk there while I leisurly pushed the double stroller over to asia so I wouldn't have to wait for them as long... which didn't work... because they took... next to forever to ride and get out into the dump shop... where we were waiting... DH and Forest both said it was really fun and that the single rider line was faster... I think they snuck an extra ride... but I have no proof... so .. se la ve...

After they returned it was my turn to go w/ DS... we did... thru the FP line... and went thru pretty quick... it was really nice... not quite as fast as I had been hoping it would be... but they did a great job on all of the theming for this ride!!

After our EE jaunt we decided we'd had enough of AK for 1 day… man oh man is it hot there!! … .and headed back to the hotel for some resting… or swimming… depending on which member of the family you decided to ask. DH, Forest and Mini… pool time… Ry … soaps for me… nap for him :-D

UP NEXT … Hurry … blow on it!!!

 

[Tanya90210]

Day 5 Part 2

After our much needed break it was time to embark on our journey to Liberty Tree Tavern… Over the bridges, under the water, to the Magic Kingdom boat we go…

We arrived at Magic Kingdom at 5:20 with just 10 minutes to make it on time to Liberty Tree Tavern… we cut it close… but made it just in the knick of time… no thanks to the people who got there just behind us who were in ECV’s that they were taking turns riding in… now mind you…for those who need it to help because of all the walking or those who require it … I have no problems… but when you are only using it here and there and many family members taking turns using it... and you can’t even drive the thing … it can bother a person… as it did many people who were waiting at Pop that day for 1 person to get onto the bus in the ECV because she didn’t know how to drive it… and when we saw them later someone else in their party was driving it whilst she walked next to them..

Ok … rant over… sorry bout that…I hope it will be my only one this report… We luckily made it in time…. And were seated in a really nice quiet area over to the Tomorrowland side of the building (can’t figure my North, South, East, West when I am at Disney so it goes by location of lands)… We had an excellent server and I wish I’d have written his name down… but alas… I didn’t …maybe we’ll see him again this year… He kept our drinks full… table plentiful with food… We got to see many fun characters… some we had seen before ... In order it was… Dale, Pluto, Goofy, Minnie, and then Chip… All of them seemed to oogle over Ry this time which was really fun for the rest of us to watch… they gave the other children attention too… there was just something about that cute little bald baby they couldn’t resist…

Once our bellies were full and spirits pepped up at Liberty Tree Tavern we headed out and did the nearest ride… one of our favorites… Haunted Mansion…. As always a great time Mini rode with DH while the boys rode with me… Our hitchhiker decided to sit right on Ry… how rude!! Funny… yet rude!

By now it was time to stake out a primo spot for Spectromagic which would be starting in about 30-45 minutes… They had already started to tape off the route so we looked for a small spot of tape right at the end of the parade route… by Splash Mountain… the spot was just big enough for our family and maybe a few people behind us… worked out perfect…

(no this next part isn’t a rant… just mere statements of fact that we all know of) As usual… and all who are reading this and have been to at least one Magic Kingdom parade know will know what I am talking about… just before the parade is about to get to the area people tried to run and sit… right in front of the strollers… we didn’t have to say anything because as soon as they sat the CM near us would tell them they couldn’t sit there and they would move somewhere else… we had made it clear with our faces that by no means were we going to move our little ones back for adults to sit in front of them since we’d been waiting forever…

All in all a great spot picked out because only 1 family could fit in behind us… that family had teens so they just stood behind the strollers while we sat along the wall right there…. DS sat next to the babies so he could be up front. The spot we had staked out… had just enough room for that… the double stroller and an 11 year old boy… that was the width....it was perfect...

DS being silly while we waited for the parade to reach us

Here it comes kids…. Mickey is on his way!!

We continued to enjoy the parade… all 3 children getting some attention from the characters that went by… which was usual for us since both Mini and Forest love to wave to them and they seem to always wave back and make eye contact which makes the kids feel sooooo special… None more special then what happened to Forest this night…

Peter Pan ran up to him and said “Hurry…. Blow on this” and held a light on his sleeve towards Forest’s mouth… Confused yet understanding Forest did what he was asked and just as he blew on the green light on peter’s shirt… it turned white!.... “Great Job” peter told him and Forest was excited as can be….

Here is a shot of that encounter… the only one as it happened fast

A few floats later Spectro was all said and done and it was time to stake out a good spot for wishes… in front of the crowd… with all the masses… not primo spot… but we wanted to see Tink fly this time…

Wishes as always brought tears to my eyes and amazement at the beauty that didn’t shock me… just amazed… No matter how many times I see it… it’s just sooo special….

Here’s a shot we got of it…. 1 of many … but trying to to bog down my post …

Wishes completed it was time to head on back “home” to get rest so we could head off to MGM in early AM and try to see the Doodlebops!

DH did the usual swim with the boy… Mini had fallen asleep on the way so she stayed in this time with Ry and I.

UP NEXT…. No Doodlebops today… tickets sold out!

 

[Tanya90210]

sorry pics not working this moment... excedded my bandwith... they should show up later... I'll check after fireworks tonight to see if they reappear

 

[eternaldisneyfan]

I had to check out the report of one of my faithful readers. I love all the special character moments...You can tell your hubby that Belle is my favorite princess...Good Safari pictures-I love that ride!

--Christamae

 

[Tanya90210]

Thanks for checking in Christamae I will definatly tell him .... One fun thing ab out having 3 youngins who like characters.... characters like them too :-D

Tanya

I had to check out the report of one of my faithful readers. I love all the special character moments...You can tell your hubby that Belle is my favorite princess...Good Safari pictures-I love that ride!

--Christamae

 

[Tanya90210]

Day 6 Part 1

After our usual morning... our family arrived at MGM just after rope drop as we had pretty much every day... we headed to breakfast at Starring Rolls... DH and I went in to see what we could get for our family... we decided there was not much to choose from... We found it hard to find stuff for all of us to eat so we got what we could an brought it out to the children.... We liked it ok but would probably not go back again unless just to use a snack credit... not using CS credits...

Once we had finished eating my lovely DH announced he didn't feel well and wanted to head back to the hotel... I gave him "the look" but to no avail so he took Ry with him so they could relax in the room and possibly nap too...

It was now mission time.... We had to head all the way to the back of the park to see if we could score us some Doodlebop tickets.... The trek back seemed to take forever but we finally made it.... just in time to hear the CM tell the person that arrived moments before us that they were SOLD OUT!!! what do you mean sold out I said... the park has only been open for an hour and the tickets for the WHOLE DAY were gone??? How could this be??? (turned out they had misplanned the whole thing and just had a certain # of tickets not counting how many ppl would be using each one they decided the show was full once the # of tickets was gone.... luckily the next time we would try they had remidied that situation)

Having the beaten down feeling we walked away sadly and headed towards Al's Toy Barn in hopes that Buzz would be there to cheer us up.... and wouldn't ya know it... he was!!! Good ol' Buzz!! The kids had a great few minutes posing with him and getting his Autograph but alas... there were others that had lined up so we moved on... Woody and Jesse had huge lines so we decided to skip that.... but saw that one of the Army Men was around and nobody was waiting for him.... so what the hey... we'd never gotten one of their autographs... He was really fun, Forest and Mini took some cute pics with him and got his auto.... very uniformed signature I must say...he seemed shocked we'd asked...

Here's a pic of the kids with Buzz

Realizing we were getting hungry since we didn't eat much at Starring rolls we went on into Pizza Planet to get us a meal .... We had tried there the year before so we knew we'd like it.... We got 1 meal... shared between the 3 of us and were feeling good

Or strategy... get over and see Muppets... since it was just across the walk and then head off to see what else we could find to do...

Mini liked the Muppets show ok but had decided she didn't like 3D glasses so she didn't keep them on to see all the cool stuff... Forest and I enjoyed it ... even having seen it the year before it was as fun as always!

After exiting we had to catch our bearings since we'd gotten ourselves turned around somehow...


We walked towards the Scorcerer Hat while we decided what to do... we noticed a standby line for the next show that was an hour away and decided to wait... after about 15 minutes someone else in line asked the CM if we'd get in... they said ... probably not for the next show... but maybe the one after.... NO WAY JOSE am I going to make my kids stand still..in the sun... for 3 hours... so we took off...

We tried to figure out what to do when Mini decided for us... She wanted to see Ariel again!!! DS grumbled but went along since he wouldn't be able to do any thrillers anyways since there was no way I'd let him go alone.... and Mini is to small to go...

Once our undersea show with ariel was over DD wanted to do Playhouse Disney again.... more grumbles from Forest but he was quickly quieted when promised I'd make it up to him later

We went in and hung out with "Jamie" and the gang again and had a fabulous time...

Realizing it has been quite a busy morning already and we weren't going to get to see the Doodlebops we headed back to the hotel to see how DH and Ry were doin...


UP NEXT.... A GALA FEAST... With a Prince and all!!

 

[Tanya90210]

Day 6 Part 2

We arrived to the hotel to find both DH and Ry sound asleep.... the rest of us decided to just sit back and relax rather than swim or anything else.... Boy oh boy did we need it... plus I wanted time to get Mini ready for her big meeting with Prince Charming (we call him PC for short ) We named one of our kittens we had for a bit after him because he was Mini's cat so he was her Prince Charming ... he since ran away
***ADDITION!!! During the resting I fell asleep..... DH woke me an hour or so later.... with PRESENTS!!! He and DS had been "working me" so they could get exactly what I wanted.... for my bday presents... yes a week late... but It was my Birthday celebration Day so it was perfect.... they got me a small princess snowglobe (the tower one w/ Cinderella, Belle and Aurora in it) and a Princess picture frame... I don't know how the heck I didn't write that down!!! Apparently DH had secretly saved $$ on the side for that little sneak present so I wouldn't see it dissapear in our vacation $$****

I got Mini dressed in a cute little getup... that would do for the evening and we woke the sleeping ones and waited for DH to get ready to go.... we had a Gala Feast to attend... And I was having a hankerin' for a bowl of Strawberry Soup!!!

We got in our MiniVan (Toyota Sienna, in case I hadn't mentioned already.. not that it matters... but just in case you need details) and headed off to the Grand Floridian... man oh man is that a gorgeous hotel!! The inside is just as gorgeous as the outside and then some!!! Sadly since we took the monorail we didn't have far to travel to get to 1900 Park Faire. We only waited about 5 minutes after check in and our picture with godmother. We were seated right near the entrance which I decided by the end of the meal I really didn't like... the feel of the other room was just more fun and welcoming...

We were soon visited by the lovely lady mice Suzy and Pearla... who just loved Forest.... I can never remember who is who but here's 1 of them...

We then had a few minutes to run and grab food... I went first to make plates for Mini and Myself and took Forest along to make his... I got my bowl of strawberry soup... filled up a plate and headed back... DH then went off to fill him a plate of goodies... Mini and I thoroughly enjoyed our soup... the best soup I ever had I tell ya!! DH returned with a heaping plate (which is normal for him) and began to enjoy as well.. asking "what the heck is that?" about my soup... to which I explained and told him I'd heard about it on the Disboards..

Just then Cinderella she arrived at our table... Mini's face says it all ...

After dinner DH smiled as the CM brought over a cake he'd gotten for my birthday... which we'd decided to celebrate this day since we were driving to disneyworld the week earlier and didn't celebrate then...

We continued to enjoy our food, had a bit of cake and had the cake boxed with no luck of seeing Prince Charming yet... We waited.... and waited... and after we'd paid our bill....he finally arrived.... he didn't look as I'd expected ... but handsome none the less...

Our meeting with the handsome prince over we headed out to get over to the parking area and go on over to Magic Kingdom which is where I'd asked to spend the evening...

Once in Magc Kindom we boarded the train and rode it over to toontown so we could see Mickey and Minnie's place.... Both as cute as always and I love how Minnie's place is so interactive... We wanted to go to judges tent to see Mickey but could see there were a ton of people in there so we passed on that idea..

Here's a shot of the kids in front of the fireplace...

The moment of truth had arrived... what do we do now.... DH and I agreed that Forest, Mini and I would do Goofy's Barnstormer and then we'd be done for the night... we were both really tired...

Forest, Mini and I headed on over to the barnstormer and the CM stopped Forest.... "Could you please give this to the CM before you get on the ride?" and handed him what is pictured below

You can tell by his face how tired we were all feeling.... he asked me on the way up what the heck she had asked him to do so I explained that they use those to see how long the ACTUAL wait time was.... he felt pretty special about being asked... we boarded cars... Forest alone... me with Mini so I could enjoy her 1st coaster ride ever with her.... Boy oh boy did she smile and have a blast!!! She told DH after that she was a big girl now that she got to ride the "goofy coaster" as she lovingly refers to it now...
Her face says it all... so proud

Now off to bed we go!!!

UP NEXT.... Rest day for some.... Doodlebops day for others!!

 

[AGPrincess]

Great update!

Looks like you had fun at Cindy's Gala Feast! And that pic of Mini and Cindrella is TOO adorable!

 

[Melissa2480]

Hi just read your TR and its great so far! ....although I'm partial to families of 5

Can't wait to read more.

 

[Tanya90210]

Hi just read your TR and its great so far! ....although I'm partial to families of 5

Can't wait to read more.

I'm kinda partial to familes of 5 myself .... We are a growing breed ya know

 

[Tanya90210]

Great update!

Looks like you had fun at Cindy's Gala Feast! And that pic of Mini and Cindrella is TOO adorable!

I'd have to agree w/ you on that one... I didn't realize how adorable it was till I was choosing pictures for the TR...

 

[eternaldisneyfan]

Good to see another installment

Ya know in my 5 trips to the world I have never been to a character or counter service meal

Looks like you guys are having a good time

--Christamae

P.S. I love Mini's hair

 

[Tanya90210]

Day 7

Mini and I woke up bright and early... on a mission... I had decided to heck with it... so what if it may cost me later to add on a day... I am taking my little princess to see Doodlebops today even if it kills me!!

We boarded the bus... sans stroller... big mistake!! (but I wouldn't know that till later). We had a pretty quiet ride over to MGM. We made our way over thru the no bags line and thru the turnstiles and straight over to the ticket place.... which is near the lagoon where ABC Theatre and Primetime Cafe are... We got there just after the rush but managed to score us some tickets for the first show!!!

Here's Mini showing off our ticket.... can you see how proud she is?

Since we had over an hour to wait we decided to check out Sounds Dangerous!! yes I knew it was mostly in the dark... but my lil princess isn't a chicken and was up for anything!!

Much to our dismay the show just wasn't something I would ever do again.... I thought it was cute... but quite boring.

We exited after the show and still had some time so we walked around the small lagoon and I took some cute pictures of Mini.

Yes... i know... she's too old for a bottle... but she's refusing... because of Ry

After killing some time we saw the masses were huddling in at the ABC Theatre for the Doodlebops show so we made our way to the theatre and joined the masses... We somehow managed to make our way to near the front... well Mini did... she wanted to play with the other kids.... and I followed...

When the doors opened we made our way in... .we were pushed out of the way pretty much for front row so we quickly made our way into the 2nd row. Got near the center and were able to get one seat for the both of us.

While we waited we talked to a nice father and son that was sitting next to us about the craziness in trying to get into our seats... He had to hold 2 seats for his wife and other child and people had been giving them trouble for hogging seats..... When his wife arrived they offered Mini a seat of her own since one of their kids wanted to sit on mommy's lap... We thanked them kindly and Mini got into her own seat...

Here she is waiting

We only had about a 10 minute wait in our seats the lights dimmed and the Doodlebops came on stage... They put on quite a show for us!! What a great time we had... It was pretty much like the concert part you see on their show.

What a fantastic time Mini and I had, she had seen her Idols and I got to watch as my princess had a blast watching them.... she didn't have much room to dance.... but she did a little bit.... She mostly just sat there in awe and just watched them attentively... I snapped a ton of pics ...

Here are a 2 of them

After the show was said and done we waited for the crowds to leave so we didn't have to battle them to get out.... while we waited for there to be some space in the exit way I took her up to the stage and sat her at the front and took this pic

We then made our way back to the hotel to tell the boys about our great time.... We only had to share the bus with a mother and son so we just relaxed and made our 5 minute ride over to Pop Century...


Back at the hotel we told the boys all about the show and how much fun we had... DH decided to hang out in the room while I took Mini and Forest to the pool and did some much needed laundry.. I won't bore you with the details...


Forest, Mini and I went back to the room and everyone got ready for dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe... We had a late dinner plan so we weren't in a big rush...

We made our way in the van over to the Wilderness Lodge... which is such a beautiful place... we checked in... kids played with Lincoln logs... and after about 10 minutes we were called to our table....

Having read many reviews here on DIS we decided to all order the All-you-can-eat skillet plus our soda's of choice....

We watched the ketchup shenanigans and laughed with the rest... sadly our server wasn't one of the silly ones so we didn't get the interaction we hoped for... good... just not silly...

The food was great... and very filling.... but we were ready to get to bed... back to the parks tomorrow!! Our server put up Forest's coloring on the pole near our table and we headed back to the hotel....

Here's Forest with his picture

UP NEXT.... Some bugs... a Yeti... and some dinosaurs too....

 

[dismom9761]

Just caught up on your report...WOW the Doodlebops!!! Its great that you and Mini got to see them after all. She is adorable and looks like she is having a great time.

 

[tinawv]

Just found your trip report and really enjoyed reading it. Your family is adorable. Looking forward to more.

 

[Tanya90210]

Good to see another installment

Ya know in my 5 trips to the world I have never been to a character or counter service meal

Looks like you guys are having a good time

--Christamae

P.S. I love Mini's hair

You should really give em a try next time you guys go... they are way fun.. you'd love it...

Thanks for the kind words about her hair... I hate that the kids got my curly hair... but she wears it well

Just caught up on your report...WOW the Doodlebops!!! Its great that you and Mini got to see them after all. She is adorable and looks like she is having a great time.

Thanks... I can't hear how adorable she is enough Yeah... and there's more about our love of doodlebops coming up too

Just found your trip report and really enjoyed reading it. Your family is adorable. Looking forward to more.

I'll be posting the next chapter sometime tomorrow I hope no gaurauntees... but will do my best




Tanya

 

[DLGrandma]

Your Trip report is so much fun -- can not wait to for next installments. Having 2 grandbabies, a boy 3 and girl 4 months, I thought I would not get to take a family trip to WDW for 2-3 years but seeing how much your 2 year old loved everything now thinking we might be able to go earlier. Were you on a package where the kids eat free or was it included in your package -- well anyway hurry up with next report

 

[Tanya90210]

Your Trip report is so much fun -- can not wait to for next installments. Having 2 grandbabies, a boy 3 and girl 4 months, I thought I would not get to take a family trip to WDW for 2-3 years but seeing how much your 2 year old loved everything now thinking we might be able to go earlier. Were you on a package where the kids eat free or was it included in your package -- well anyway hurry up with next report

Will do my best to get it up sometime today... before bed anyways...



Mini really loved it... she even seemed to have fun when we took her the year before....

Ry had a blast giggling and really seemed to like his character interaction and the rides he could go on... which were quite alot actually... minus the thrillers of course