Watch out WDW, Bajan first-timers are coming! Experience of a lifetime! DONE & pics

[tinawv]

What a beautiful family you have. I am really enjoying your photos, and looking forward to your next post. What tiny island in the sun are you from?

 

[U2_rocks!]

What a beautiful family you have. I am really enjoying your photos, and looking forward to your next post. What tiny island in the sun are you from?

Thank you!

We're from Barbados, down in the southern Caribbean.

 

[OhMari]

Florida was experiencing an unexceptional cold April this year. Easter Day set a record that day for only getting to 57 degrees in Orlando. It was actually colder on Easter Day than Christmas Day. Most mornings it was like 50 degrees and I knew it would warm up and I didn't wear a sweatshirt. But the nites were cold.

Enjoying your report. I have a picture of the flowers from Epcot and you can tell the flowers are getting really nice. I was there on opening day and you could tell everything was just planted.

 

[U2_rocks!]

Thanks for reading everyone! It's been taking me a while because my Word file got corrupted and I've had to re-do some stuff.

The next 3 days, April 27 - 29, were non-Disney completely. My parents needed a theme park break (and so did we, really) and we wanted to do Seaworld.

Day 8: Friday 27th: Seaworld

Day 8: Apr 27 – Seaworld

We hooked up with DH’s cousin & family from home, who were staying at the Sheraton Safari then Vistana Villages. They have an 11 yr old DD. We got a slightly late start b/c it took a few minutes to find each other, then we had to get the schedules and discuss what to do etc. They had been there earlier in the week, and they knew what shows they wanted to see again, and they also wanted to do some stuff they had missed. I loved not having to do this discussing when we arrived at the WDW parks, b/c I had it all in my head and on my notes, from lots and lots of planning!

We decided to go to the sting rays first, then the dolphins. We bought food and fed them both. It did take a while for the dolphins to take the food from us, presumably because so many people were trying to feed them. Each of the children did get the chance to drop food into a dolphin’s mouth, so they were happy. We then did the sea lion show at 10 a.m. and then headed for the sharks area to book a table at Sharks Underwater Grill for 11.45. That gave us time to go to Wild Arctic to cool off, as it was hot by then – we were in the sun for the whole sea lion show and we were fried! We didn’t do the helicopter simulation as Boo wasn’t tall enough, and the line was at least 3 times longer than the walking line! It was lovely and cool in there, and we enjoyed it. We also saw the penguins.

Lunch at Sharks was fabulous – we got a table in a quiet section, right against the glass. The service was spotty because our server didn’t show up for work (or showed up very late), so our table got shifted to another. She tried hard, but she was thrown at us the minute she reported for work, didn’t even have a minute to catch herself, and it took her a while to get organized. But she was great in the end, once she’d settled in to work, and we really weren’t terribly affected by it. The food was good, and the kids really loved watching the sharks. We were very happy with our lunch choice.

After lunch the cousins headed off to see the 1 p.m. Odyssea show, and we headed to the 1 p.m. Shamu show (they’d seen Shamu earlier in the week), but we ended up missing it because it was full! The next show was at 6, and we knew we wouldn’t make it that long. Luckily, we had a half day planned for DH and Fish next week at Seaworld, so they would do it then. We played at Happy Harbor for a long time – it was our meeting place for after the shows. I had forgotten about the water spray area they had, and I hadn’t brought swimsuits for the kids. It was so hard to tell them no when they wanted to play in it, because they were so hot. So I bought cute souvenir hooded towels and let them play in their clothes.

By this time it was about 1.45, and we wanted to see the next Horizons dolphin show at 2.15, so we headed that way. We walked right past Journey to Atlantis, which has an even bigger drop into water than Splash Mountain does, and it looked like a lot of fun! I wanted to ride it, but no-one else wanted to. I decided to go anyway, and the others would go into the stadium and save me a seat for Horizons. The wait wasn’t bad, and it helped that I was a single rider – there wasn’t a special line, but once we got to the loading area I was able to get on faster, because I filled in a space in a ride car. I made it to the stadium with several minutes to spare. The show was good, but shows aren’t nearly as interesting to me as rides.

We were scheduled for a 6.30 dinner with Timon and Rakiki at the Dolphin (usually it’s at Gulliver’s in the Swan, but that was closed for refurbishment), but we were all too tired and skipped it. It was nice to be able to have a full kitchen and dining room at Cypress Pointe, and be able to eat at the condo sometimes instead of eating out. We always had leftovers in the fridge too, from the huge meals that we did eat out.

Day 9: Apr 28 – shopping

Today us girls went to Mall at Millennia, and the boys went looking for fishing stores. At some point during the day we decided to join them at Arabian Nights that night. DH’s cousin was having a makeovers at Dillards (??) in anticipation, since she had some makeup to buy from there anyway, and I decided to have one too, since I was also going out that night! Trouble was, we didn’t know exactly where we were going, and we were running a little late after our shopping day. The map on the brochure wasn’t very detailed, and it looked to me like you turned left onto 192 from 535, so we did that and drove for ages without finding it. We turned around and went the other way, but didn’t see it either. Finally we stopped and asked for directions at a store. Turn out we should have turned right from 535, and it was further down than we’d gone. We made it there 5 minutes before the start of the show, and the cousins hadn’t checked in yet! We hadn’t been able to reach them via cell, and didn’t know where they were. So we abandoned the idea and ended up at Joe’s Crab Shack instead, which was lots of fun for the kids. I think the cousins eventually went to the later show, which was too late for our kids.


Day 10: Apr 29 – brunch in Altamonte Springs & shopping

Today we met up with one of my best friends in Altamonte Springs and her parents and brother for brunch at Cracker Barrel. That place makes a great breakfast, and the store is so cute! It was nice hanging out with friends and catching up, and just doing something ordinary instead of rushing around the theme parks.

After brunch we went to Altamonte Mall, which is a nice, ordinary, non-touristy mall. I found lots of summery work clothes at Sears and Penneys – nice flowered skirts and tops. You can’t beat the prices and selection in the U.S. compared to little Barbados, so shopping is always a treat when we travel!

 

[U2_rocks!]

Day 11: Apr 30 – Epcot

Ah, back to Disney again! My mum was recovered, so we were all going together. Our first order of business was FW east. However, Princess really wanted to ride Soarin again, and my parents were happy to take her, since they loved it too, so off they went. DH and I were looking for something to do to kill time until the others got back from Soarin’, so we grabbed FP for Test Track and went to do Universe of Energy. It was cute – nice and cool, and the kids enjoyed the dinosaurs. After that we listened to the Jammitors for a while. Eventually we met up with the others. Just before riding TT our next FP window opened, so I ran down to Mission Space for FPs. Fish was still sleepy and not his usual self, so he didn’t want to ride TT. He went with Boo and my parents to the nearby butterfly garden while DH and I took Princess on TT. She loved it! After TT we took a quick walk through the butterfly garden to meet up with the others, then we headed for M:S. Fish did want to ride – running around behind butterflies and finding a caterpillar had woken him up! Mum wasn’t interested and Princess and Boo weren’t tall enough, but I thought it would be safe for Dad, since it wasn’t jerky, and we were going to do the green side (no G forces). So Dad, DH, Fish and I went to ride. It was a good ride, as long as you aren’t claustrophobic. The “dashboard” and screen do move in quite close, so you have to be able to deal with that, which we were. It was fun – Dad especially loved the technology involved in these simulation rides.

By the time we met up with Mum and the girls, she was wilting and really needed to sit for a few minutes and have a coffee. It was quite a hot day already. We had done all we wanted to in FW east, so we headed for World Showcase, and Mum and Dad went right to get coffee at the stand between Canada and England. The rest of us turned left and headed for Norway and Mexico to do the rides. I’d read about Maelstrom closing at the end of April for refurb., but I was hoping I’d gotten the day wrong and it would still be open – no luck. We rode the boat ride in Mexico with no wait whatsoever – it was cute for the kids to have Donald in there. I didn’t find it took away from the original, and it made it more interesting for the little ones. I had a yummy margarita and some burrito and quesadilla that we got to share amoung us.

At this point we decided to continue onwards to China etc., and meet up with my parents somewhere along the way, since they were going in the opposite direction. At the outpost the kids begged for face painting, and since the options to choose from were unique to what they’d ever seen before, we let them.

Then it was on to China. It was too early for an acrobat show, so we decided to come back later with my parents. We did find Mulan though, just outside the store. It was clear to us that the kids loved the characters, even though they knew they weren’t “real”, so we made a point of looking for characters in each country after that.

We found my parents in Germany, and we went into the Christmas store, where Mum bought each child a decoration of their choice for our tree. I got some chocolates for friends and then took the girls for a bathroom break. When we were done we found the others in the shop which makes and sells the dolls – and Fish was behind the counter helping a pretty young blonde lady make a doll! The lady allowed Princess and Boo to brush some of the dolls’ hair while Fish was helping her. It was a lovely thing for them to be able to take part in!

After Germany my parents were ready for lunch, and set off to find something. We moved on to Morocco, where we found Aladdin & Jasmine.

France was our break time – I got some yummies from the Boulangerie/Patisserie and we ate them while sitting on a wall near the perfume garden. As we were sitting there I saw a character handler come out, and a Photopass person, followed by Aurora and Marie (from Aristocats)! We had Aurora’s full attention for several minutes, as no-one else knew they were out! It was great fun for the kids. I asked the handler about Beauty & Beast, and I was told they’d be out in front by the lagoon in a while. When we finally got out there the line was long, but it moved fast enough.

I called my parents and found out that they were at the Rose & Crown, so we headed in the direction of England. The kids ran around in the maze again and had fun, while I popped into the R & C to confer with my parents about our next move.

They still needed to go to the Patisserie (Dad was looking forward to that), so we agreed to meet in China for the 5.15 p.m. acrobats. Meanwhile we killed time by taking the friendship boat over. We walked around China trying to figure out which Chinese year we were each born in, and reading the different personalities associated with each year and seeing if they matched us or not! We never did find all the years. The acrobats were great as usual.

After the show we decided to head home – it was hot, and we’d done a lot of walking that day. We 2 FPs left over for TT, and Princess wanted to ride again on the way out, so Fish went home with my parents. But by the time we got over to FW east, Princess was really starting to fade, and we knew it would be too much to ride TT again. I gave away our FPs to a couple, who at first thought I was trying to sell them something, but once they realized what it was they were grateful!

 

[U2_rocks!]

Day 12: May 1 – Animal Kingdom

We actually made it to the park before opening today! We had been getting there just around opening or a few minutes after, which was later than I’d wanted to, but it didn’t affect our touring that much since it wasn’t peak time. There were tons of people ahead of us, and I was a little worried, especially when droves of them headed to the safari with us! The line moved quickly, though, so the wait wasn’t that long. There were lots of animals out, including baby elephants, lions, rhinos, giraffes, various antelope-like animals etc. My parents really enjoyed it – they love anything to do with nature. We walked the Pangani Trail afterwards. I love how AK does its aviaries – you don’t really realize that it’s an aviary unless you look for the netting that’s hidden above all the tree foliage. It really does look like the birds are wild and are just choosing to hang out there with you! We took a bird watching card and spent quite a while with the birds.

After the trails we needed coffee/drinks and a snack, so we went into Tusker House. We didn’t have a big agenda today – the most important items were Lion King and the Asia trail. It was so hot that I thought Kali would be good too. We agreed to do the next LK show, and while they were making their way down there and getting in line to enter, I’d run over to Asia for FPs to Kali. Fish still wasn’t up for Everest – he loved the idea of it, and talked about it often, but he just wasn’t sure enough. The LK show was great. I love Timon – he’s so cute and funny, and I was sorry we weren’t able to have dinner with him, although he can’t talk when you meet him in person, so it’s not quite the same.

By the time the show was over it was getting even hotter and later, and we had a date with our beds in the early afternoon! So we split up, and I took the kids on Kali while DH and my parents did the Maharajah trek (which I’ve done before). Of course I got soaked – I always do! Not as bad as the last time I rode, though. Afterwards we snuck through the exit of the trek and headed the opposite direction to everyone else – I wanted to make sure we’d find the others. We found them in the aviary watching the birds. There were some beautiful golden pheasants strutting around – it was great to see them. Then we headed back to the condo for a rest – we were going to Animal Kingdom Lodge in the evening to watch animals again and have dinner at Boma.

I had thought if we had the energy we could pass back through the park and watch the parade and the new Nemo show on the way to the AKL. But we found it hard to get going early enough, and we just didn’t feel like all the walking again. AKL is such a lovely hotel! The rooms are ordinary (I stayed there once for a night), but you can’t beat the grounds, especially of you like animals! We spent ages talking to the African guides that were stationed at the look out points. The animals were quite active in the evening.

DH and I snuck away for a drink and some grown up time at Victoria Falls Lounge before dinner – I had the most yummy berry martini. Boma was very good. DH thought the food could have been spicier (I think Jiko is probably more his speed), but the rest of us were happy. Dad had a special meal made for him – see review here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1445758

 

[U2_rocks!]

Day 13: May 2 – CRT and Magic Kingdom (girls); Seaworld (boys)

Finally our princess day has arrived!!! DH and Fish were going to Seaworld – my parents were going to drop them there on their way out to go shopping, since I was taking our car to the MK. We were due at the castle for 8.30, and we left the condo at 7.45. I figured we had loads of time, but I had to pass through Walgreen’s for another disposable camera because I’d forgotten to grab Dad’s. And everything just seemed to take a long time – the parking, the walking, the bag check, the turnstile …… and I had to stop and take a pic of the girls in front of the castle with no crowds!

It was about 8.35 when we reached the castle and got in line to met Cinderella. The girls were so thrilled! Afterwards we went upstairs – I loved the carpeted circular stairway and the grand hall we dined in! Breakfast was good, we enjoyed it. We met Snow White, Aurora, Belle and the Fairy Godmother.

We were done around 9.20. On our way out I asked about the Evil Stepmother & Stepsisters, and was told they’d be out behind the castle around 11. We decided to stick to Fantasyland, and maybe Toontown if we felt like it. We headed straight for Ariel’s Grotto, as it was a priority for today. The line was long-ish and very slow. The girls wanted to play in the water fountain things nearby, so I allowed them to after taking off their princess dresses (they were wearing clothes underneath). They got thoroughly soaked, which was OK - they looked realistic in the photos, like they’d actually been swimming to see Ariel!

We rode the carousel and teacups again, and finally made it on Dumbo! When the girls were a little dryer we rode Small World almost by ourselves, there were so few people. We hung around behind the castle eating ice cream and waiting for the Stepsisters, but no sign of them. We wanted to see the 12.10 Storytime with Belle, so finally we had to leave the castle area to get good seats for the show. As we were walking to the left of the castle, about to enter the path that leads down to where the Belle show is, the Evil Stepmother burst out of a side door! I jumped in front of her and took a photo, and she was true to character, saying in a very haughty voice “out of my way!”

I stood and watched her walk towards the back of the castle, in case the Stepsisters were right behind her, but they weren’t. We had a show to see, so we couldn’t wait. As it turned out, we could have spent about 15 minutes with the Stepmother and still gotten shaded seats, but we didn’t know this in advance, and we didn’t want to take the chance. Most of the theatre is in the sun at that hour – there were very few shady seats. The show was cute, but it would have been more interesting for me if my girls had actually been chosen to take part.

After the show we didn’t stick around to meet Belle, since we’d met her twice already. I didn’t get a stroller today because we were staying within a small park area, so the girls had been walking around a lot. Also, we were due at the Grand Floridian at 4 p.m., so I needed to get them home to rest. We decided to pass through Minnie’s House in Toontown on our way to the train station. I loved being totally free to do anything, just me and the girls – it was one of our best mornings!

We picked the boys up from Seaworld around 2 – they’d fed the stingrays again for ages, seen the Shamu show, visited the dolphin nursery and just explored some more. We all went back to the condo. DH and Fish headed out again somewhere later, while my parents and I took the girls to tea at the Garden View Lounge at the Grand Floridian. Wow, I love that place and that tea! When we arrived we couldn’t be seated immediately, so we strolled through the large ground floor lobby, over to the pianist. He asked the girls what their favourite Disney songs were, and then he played them!

We were then seated right next to the big windows that look out towards the pool area. I had the Grand Tea, which includes a glass of sparkling wine, because I was just feeling decadent! My parents had the Buckingham and the girls had Mrs. Potts. They brought around a box of little bottles filled with tea leaves so that you could sniff them and decide which one you favoured. We all liked the special Grand Floridian blend, so we ordered a strong pot and a weak pot (for Dad and the girls). Everything was divine! The trifle was amazing – I have since gotten the recipe, and plan to try it out soon! During tea we saw a white carriage pulled by white horses go by – we were told it’s the wedding carriage heading over to the Wedding Pavilion. It was beautiful!

After tea we went out onto the beach where the hammocks and lounge chairs with hoods are and relaxed a while and just soaked up the ambience. On our way out the girls posed in the carriage that sits at the entrance to the hotel. We ate so much at tea that we only needed a very light supper that night!

 

[U2_rocks!]

Day 14: May 3 – MGM; move to airport Hyatt

My parents had some last minute shopping to do, and we were going to MGM just for the morning. Later on we were checking out and heading to the airport Hyatt for the night, since we needed to check in for our flight at 4.30 the next morning.

We also made it to MGM before park opening, and headed straight away for Sunset Blvd. for fastpasses. My parents weren’t there to keep Boo, so DH and I were going to have to split up anyway. Only Fish was tall enough for RnR, so the obvious plan was 2 FPs for RnR and 3 for ToT. But the standby line for ToT was short enough that DH just took Fish and Princess and rode standby while Boo and I waited. Then we went on a hunt for characters. We found a few on our way to Star Tours, which I took Fish and princess on.

We decided which BATB show we’d do, to fix our timing in our minds, and then saw Mermaid in the meantime (which was cute for the kids, but not that exciting for DH and I). The BATB show was good – great dancing and singing, Broadway style. After the show we hung out in Sunset Blvd eating a light lunch – sandwiches and water from home supplemented with pizza from nearby. I took Fish to ride RnR, which he loved! He was so thrilled to think that he’d survived going upside down!

By this time it was after 12, and we needed to be out of there by 1 in order to rest, pack and check out by 4. We tried to decide what to do. The kids don’t really know the Muppets or the Playhouse Disney gang, so those weren’t a priority. We weren’t that interested in the stunt show. Fish would have liked Indiana, but the girls would have been bored (and DH and I have seen it before). We thought the Backlot tour might be kinda fun (esp Catastrophe Canyon), so we headed that way. But when I remembered how long the attraction was, we realized it would end later than we wanted to be there. But as we were heading towards Backlot, we passed Narnia, so we popped in. It was cute, esp. as my kids have never seen snow and were fascinated by the fake snow landscape, but we wouldn’t have wanted to have gone far out of our way for it.

Having decided not to do Backlot after all, and having missed Mike when we were first at the Monsters Inc. greeting area meeting Sully, we headed out there again. He was there, but there was a long line. Finally we reached the front and ……. they went on break! I managed to get a shot of Mike before he left. They were apparently coming back in 10 minutes, but we were already later than we’d planned, and since I got a good photo, we decided to leave.

The Hyatt was very nice and convenient. The only drawbacks were getting used to a new bed (DH and I aren’t used to a double bed any more), and sleeping with the girls in the room (we’re not used to sleeping in the same room as them, and their noises disturb me!).

Day 15: May 4 – fly home at 6 a.m.

The bellhop came for our luggage the next morning at 4.30 and took us all the way to the AA check in desk in the airport, loaded our luggage onto the scales, took it back off and carried it to the security area. It was wonderful not to have to lift a single thing!

We had a wonderful surprise when we got on the MCO-MIA flight: the flight attendant allowed the kids to come into the cockpit! When the pilots arrived, the Captain even gave Fish his hat to wear for a photo! I didn’t think that kind of thing happened any more with all the security restrictions. What a treat for the kids!

The flight home was uneventful and on time, except that our luggage didn’t make it. So instead of being able to go to bed early that night, we had to go back to the airport for our luggage, which arrived on the 9.30 p.m. flight. Luckily it was all intact.

Summary and conclusion

Wow, what a fabulous trip! It didn’t go entirely according to plan, we did have to skip some things. But we did so much that it didn’t really matter. I thought this was going to be a once in a lifetime trip for our family, but now we can’t wait to go back! Even my parents would like to go back when my brother and his little boy go in a few years. My parents weren’t expecting a resort as complex as WDW – the technology, the theming etc. they were very impressed by it all, and it didn’t feel like a typical theme park experience.

We were extremely lucky that everything went so well, and the only medical issue was Mum’s sore throat! We had no accidents, illness, injuries or major problems. The only thing I really regret was not making sure we had a camera with us at all times.

WDW restaurants dealt with Dad’s allergies remarkably well – that always makes a trip special for him. That, and the Golden Corral – my parents now have a new favourite restaurant!

We were happy staying offsite. Our late starts in the morning were mostly due to the confusion of getting 7 people out the door, not because we had to be up too early to make the drive to the parks. We’re early risers anyway. In fact, the drive wasn’t the biggest time eater at all – it was the parking, the walking, the bag check, the turnstiles etc. We got better at getting out of the condo as time went by and we got used to packing our stuff and getting organized. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay offsite again – we love having our own space and kitchen. One thing I would have liked is our own pool, since I ended up always being the one to take the kids to the community pool, and there were times when I might have preferred to stay in the apartment. Next trip we might get a pool home instead of a resort, at least for a large part of the time.