The Cast:
Me (Im not telling my age): Chief decision maker, planner and organiser extraordinaire
Darren (39): Mr. Grumpy, Marathon Man and Map Reader
Mollie (10): Jekyll & Hyde pre-teen and big girls blouse
Kirsty (4): Scaredy Cat and Drama Queen
We all wake up nice and early which is good because we have a PS at Cindys for 8.10 and we are soon on our way. We arrive at the Monorail and experience our first piece of Magic. Its very empty so we are waiting at the first carriage spot when Mollie asks why the family next to us are waiting beyond the barrier. I explain that thats where you stand if you want to travel up front with the driver. She said that would be cool so I said wed do it sometime on our trip but we didnt have time to wait for another train this morning. Well the mum heard this and very kindly stated that her and her husband would step down and let Mollie and Kirsty travel up front with her daughter and son. They both jumped at the chance and were over the other side, so to speak, before we could thank the mum and dad properly! but then Kirsty realised that we wouldnt be with her so she got a bit panicky and decided she didnt want to do it after all. We were just about to bring her and Mollie back over when the daughter and son both stepped back and said we could travel instead, we kept saying no but they insisted as they had done it plenty of times and would no doubt do it again before the end of their holiday so thanks to this extremely nice American family we had our first experience of travelling up front on the monorail! Thank you. Mollie loved it straight off but Kirsty was looking a bit dubious, are you okay babe, I asked, is this a wollertoaster Mama? (she has a bit of a Jonathan Woss impediment). After I had assured her it wasnt she enjoyed it too.
We arrive at the MK and there are loads of people waiting so we join the throng. After a short wait we are let in and head straight for the castle, this is another first for us. After checking in we are shortly called to follow our butler to our table. Just going up the stairs when I suddenly realise we dont have any autograph books so Darren makes a mad dash back downstairs and across to the shop. We are soon all sat at our table and our first visitor is Mary Poppins followed very quickly by Snow White, Aurora and then finally the great lady herself, Cinderella. I was just saying to Darren that Cinderella was a bit miserable looking when Kirsty chips in well maybe shes in a strop with the man, cos hes not here after some digging we discover the man she is referring to is Prince Charming himself and I reckon shes right because Cinders just wasnt a happy bunny and Prince Charming never did appear! When wed finished we went downstairs and joined the queue to meet the Fairy Godmother. I have to say, at the risk of upsetting some people, that I really wasnt impressed with this breakfast, the food was only okay (Kirsty didnt touch a thing) and everything is just very rushed which didnt make for a very pleasant breakfast experience, especially when you think of the hoops one has to jump through to get a PS, so its not one wed rush to do again.
When we got outside it was raining so we stopped at the shop and bought our ponchos (does anybody ever remember to take their ponchos next trip or are we the only ones who buy new ones every time?). We see the new Mickeys Philharmonic and there is no queue so we go in. We loved this and ended up doing it several times this trip. Then it was the Carousel followed by Kirstys all time favourite Dumbo. The rain by this time had stopped and the sun was shining strongly, heres another thing we always forget to take and have to end up buying every time, hats (well thats my excuse, really I just like collecting ponchos and baseball caps)! So after a quick stop at the hat stall, Darren took the girls on IASW while I went in search of drinks, I dont do IASW, I hate, hate IASW, that song, it could be used as a form of torture! YUCK! We then picked up a FP for Winnie the Pooh and headed round to see Belles Story Time, which we hadnt done before but which we really enjoyed, then it was time for Winnie the Pooh followed by Peter Pan and then the Haunted Mansion. Given that Kirsty is a big scaredy cat I didnt think shed like the Haunted Mansion so I opted to take her through the Chicken exit whilst Darren went on with Mollie. We stopped for a hot dog before getting on the Liberty Belle (another first) is this a Wollertoaster Mama no Kirsty this is a boat!
We then do Pirates of the Caribbean, Alladin and Country Bear Jamboree, which is very corney but Kirsty loved it (well it wasnt a Wollertoaster so she would!). We then decided to stake out a place for the parade and Darren was sent off for some Ice creams and sweets.
There is only a short queue for Splash Mountain and Kirsty is tall enough to ride this time so we decide to give it a try. Last visit I did BTM with Mollie and she loved it so I thought shed enjoy SM too but sometimes us mums get it wrong, on this occasion I got it wrong big time, they both hated it, by the time we got off Kirsty was in tears and I just won the worst mother of the year award! oh well, live and learn.
Were all getting a bit hot and tired by this point but Darren wants to do Alien Encounter, which is due to close for good in a few days time so this would be his last chance, as there arent many rides he likes its only fair he gets to do one of the few he does before it vanishes for good so we head round there. Have to say here that Im the adventurous one of our party who will try any and all rides, the faster and scarier the better but I absolutely hated Alien Encounter when I did it last time, it scared the life out of me and theres not much that does that (other than catching sight of my reflection first thing in the morning). So Darren goes on Alien Encounter whilst I queue up with the girls for Astro Orbitor which they both love.
After we meet up we decide its time to leave and head home for a swim. On the way out there is a man with a huge bunch of balloons which unfortunately hes not giving away but selling. After much pleading and begging the girls finally persuade us to part with some of our hard earned cash and Mollie chooses a heart shaped balloon with Mickey on one side and Minnie on the other. Kirsty on the other hand chooses a tinkerbell balloon which has a wing span of a small aeroplane, the blooming things enormous and no matter how much we try and dissuade her shes having none of it. Somehow we manage to cram tink into the boot of the car and were off home.
We were planning on going to Rainforest Café at DTD but after our swim we all agree that we are too pooped so the vote to eat at the food court was unanimous, although again Kirsty barely touched any food.
We head back to our room where the girls watch some TV and Darren and I have a glass of wine before we all head off to the land of nod.
Its been a fantastic first day and its great to be back!
Kirsty Fav Thing: Dumbo
Lease Fav Thing: Splash Mountain (theres a surprise)
Mollie Fav Thing: Mickeys Philharmonic
Least Fav Thing: Another vote for Splash Mountain
Darren Fav Thing: Alien Encounter
Least Fav Thing: Doesnt have one
Me Fav Thing: Mickeys Philharmonic (love seeing all those little hands reaching out for the jewels)
Least Fav Thing: Taking my baby on SM and making her cry (wicked, wicked mother).
Annmarie
Me (Im not telling my age): Chief decision maker, planner and organiser extraordinaire
Darren (39): Mr. Grumpy, Marathon Man and Map Reader
Mollie (10): Jekyll & Hyde pre-teen and big girls blouse
Kirsty (4): Scaredy Cat and Drama Queen
We all wake up nice and early which is good because we have a PS at Cindys for 8.10 and we are soon on our way. We arrive at the Monorail and experience our first piece of Magic. Its very empty so we are waiting at the first carriage spot when Mollie asks why the family next to us are waiting beyond the barrier. I explain that thats where you stand if you want to travel up front with the driver. She said that would be cool so I said wed do it sometime on our trip but we didnt have time to wait for another train this morning. Well the mum heard this and very kindly stated that her and her husband would step down and let Mollie and Kirsty travel up front with her daughter and son. They both jumped at the chance and were over the other side, so to speak, before we could thank the mum and dad properly! but then Kirsty realised that we wouldnt be with her so she got a bit panicky and decided she didnt want to do it after all. We were just about to bring her and Mollie back over when the daughter and son both stepped back and said we could travel instead, we kept saying no but they insisted as they had done it plenty of times and would no doubt do it again before the end of their holiday so thanks to this extremely nice American family we had our first experience of travelling up front on the monorail! Thank you. Mollie loved it straight off but Kirsty was looking a bit dubious, are you okay babe, I asked, is this a wollertoaster Mama? (she has a bit of a Jonathan Woss impediment). After I had assured her it wasnt she enjoyed it too.
We arrive at the MK and there are loads of people waiting so we join the throng. After a short wait we are let in and head straight for the castle, this is another first for us. After checking in we are shortly called to follow our butler to our table. Just going up the stairs when I suddenly realise we dont have any autograph books so Darren makes a mad dash back downstairs and across to the shop. We are soon all sat at our table and our first visitor is Mary Poppins followed very quickly by Snow White, Aurora and then finally the great lady herself, Cinderella. I was just saying to Darren that Cinderella was a bit miserable looking when Kirsty chips in well maybe shes in a strop with the man, cos hes not here after some digging we discover the man she is referring to is Prince Charming himself and I reckon shes right because Cinders just wasnt a happy bunny and Prince Charming never did appear! When wed finished we went downstairs and joined the queue to meet the Fairy Godmother. I have to say, at the risk of upsetting some people, that I really wasnt impressed with this breakfast, the food was only okay (Kirsty didnt touch a thing) and everything is just very rushed which didnt make for a very pleasant breakfast experience, especially when you think of the hoops one has to jump through to get a PS, so its not one wed rush to do again.
When we got outside it was raining so we stopped at the shop and bought our ponchos (does anybody ever remember to take their ponchos next trip or are we the only ones who buy new ones every time?). We see the new Mickeys Philharmonic and there is no queue so we go in. We loved this and ended up doing it several times this trip. Then it was the Carousel followed by Kirstys all time favourite Dumbo. The rain by this time had stopped and the sun was shining strongly, heres another thing we always forget to take and have to end up buying every time, hats (well thats my excuse, really I just like collecting ponchos and baseball caps)! So after a quick stop at the hat stall, Darren took the girls on IASW while I went in search of drinks, I dont do IASW, I hate, hate IASW, that song, it could be used as a form of torture! YUCK! We then picked up a FP for Winnie the Pooh and headed round to see Belles Story Time, which we hadnt done before but which we really enjoyed, then it was time for Winnie the Pooh followed by Peter Pan and then the Haunted Mansion. Given that Kirsty is a big scaredy cat I didnt think shed like the Haunted Mansion so I opted to take her through the Chicken exit whilst Darren went on with Mollie. We stopped for a hot dog before getting on the Liberty Belle (another first) is this a Wollertoaster Mama no Kirsty this is a boat!
We then do Pirates of the Caribbean, Alladin and Country Bear Jamboree, which is very corney but Kirsty loved it (well it wasnt a Wollertoaster so she would!). We then decided to stake out a place for the parade and Darren was sent off for some Ice creams and sweets.
There is only a short queue for Splash Mountain and Kirsty is tall enough to ride this time so we decide to give it a try. Last visit I did BTM with Mollie and she loved it so I thought shed enjoy SM too but sometimes us mums get it wrong, on this occasion I got it wrong big time, they both hated it, by the time we got off Kirsty was in tears and I just won the worst mother of the year award! oh well, live and learn.
Were all getting a bit hot and tired by this point but Darren wants to do Alien Encounter, which is due to close for good in a few days time so this would be his last chance, as there arent many rides he likes its only fair he gets to do one of the few he does before it vanishes for good so we head round there. Have to say here that Im the adventurous one of our party who will try any and all rides, the faster and scarier the better but I absolutely hated Alien Encounter when I did it last time, it scared the life out of me and theres not much that does that (other than catching sight of my reflection first thing in the morning). So Darren goes on Alien Encounter whilst I queue up with the girls for Astro Orbitor which they both love.
After we meet up we decide its time to leave and head home for a swim. On the way out there is a man with a huge bunch of balloons which unfortunately hes not giving away but selling. After much pleading and begging the girls finally persuade us to part with some of our hard earned cash and Mollie chooses a heart shaped balloon with Mickey on one side and Minnie on the other. Kirsty on the other hand chooses a tinkerbell balloon which has a wing span of a small aeroplane, the blooming things enormous and no matter how much we try and dissuade her shes having none of it. Somehow we manage to cram tink into the boot of the car and were off home.
We were planning on going to Rainforest Café at DTD but after our swim we all agree that we are too pooped so the vote to eat at the food court was unanimous, although again Kirsty barely touched any food.
We head back to our room where the girls watch some TV and Darren and I have a glass of wine before we all head off to the land of nod.
Its been a fantastic first day and its great to be back!
Kirsty Fav Thing: Dumbo
Lease Fav Thing: Splash Mountain (theres a surprise)
Mollie Fav Thing: Mickeys Philharmonic
Least Fav Thing: Another vote for Splash Mountain
Darren Fav Thing: Alien Encounter
Least Fav Thing: Doesnt have one
Me Fav Thing: Mickeys Philharmonic (love seeing all those little hands reaching out for the jewels)
Least Fav Thing: Taking my baby on SM and making her cry (wicked, wicked mother).
Annmarie
