HaleyB
I am not a robot
- Joined
- Nov 16, 2003
- Messages
- 6,912
Incase you still have not managed to read it, here is a link to part 4-
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=5968415#post5968415
Part 4 is linked to part 3, and part 3 to part 2, and part 2 to part 1. At some point I will add all the links but for now that will have to do. It is way past my bedtime already!
Part five-
After a brief sabbatical, we are back with part five. The MK vs. my Family (MK wins). This post really is rather longish...
The cast:
Me-HaleyB around here, just Haley at home. Really should be cleaning her messy house right now.
My Husband, Steve, also 30 something. Born and raised in Southern California. Some people have all the luck.
My Princess, Sophia, six. Little known fact- Sophia was born in Canada.
My younger son, Max, who is nine now. Thrill seeker. Takes after his Mom that way.
My older son, Ryan. He is seventeen. He didnt think a family vacation would be fun, but I know he secretly loved it.
So we are at the Magic Kingdom. Sophia and I had a lengthy breakfast at CRT and are now waiting for the boys to catch up with us. I may have forgotten to say that the food was pretty good. The stuffed french toast was my favorite part of the meal. Also we had a nice server, he was busy and there was a group near us that had him running around quite a bit, but he was a good server. We paid with vouchers and left an extra tip. I tend to over tip, I figure it is good karma.
So we walk out of CRT and sit on a brick wall in front of a store. I could check the name of the store, but it is pretty much irrelevant. I looked up at the sign and called my son Ryan who has the second cell phone in our family. My husband refuses to use one, he is afraid his work would find out and pester him all the time. So I tell them we are right outside the door and to come meet us. As luck would have it they are just entering Fantasyland so they are close.
Now I have been to Walt Disney World three times and Disneyland hundreds maybe even a thousand times. So I should have know that store would have multiple entrances. But my tummy was full so all the blood was busy helping with digesting and not going to my brain. Thats my story, the Winnie-the-Pooh defense. Good thing I had the good sense to marry a very patient and kind man. If you are single and reading this those are the important traits, a strong sense that it is a mans duty to support his family is good too. He thought it was funny. So we all meet up within a matter of minutes. I was a little nervous about the whole splitting up thing, but it worked out fine.
So I might have implied that I was going to tell you what the boys did while we waited and waited and ate. However I am not entirely sure what they did. They rode Buzz Lightyear, they rode The People Mover (TTA), and the rode the little cars (again, I could look up the proper name but really I am sure you can too, so Ill leave that bit of fun for someone else). Never mind, I remembered it. Autopia. They may have done Space Mountain but I am not sure. Oh, and judging from Max shirt, they ate something.
Time to get back to the parts I know about. One thing I know is that it was hot. Really hot. I am living in Texas right now and I am no sissy when it comes to heat. I think it was 98 with 110% humidity, something like that. We go to Disneyland once a year (we went a lot more often when we lived 15 minutes away and had AP, but one should not live in the past), now I mention that because it helps to understand why a certain ride was number one on my list. That ride is the Buzz ride, which is not in Disneyland. Plus it sounds like a really fun ride. Plus I like to reminisce about living 15 minutes from Disneyland. So we head straight over and check the FP return time. Well we dont check, my husband Steve checks. He thinks they are all gone for the day. Well it is crowded and past noon. I think this is odd, but the line is very short so we jump into the queue. The line really was short, maybe 20 minutes, which is a good thing. The ride is great and I loved the pre show stuff too. I didnt score very well, I was busy enjoying the ride. Anyhow, it was a good thing the line went fast because when we got off I looked over at the FP machines and thought I saw an awful lot of people using them, considering they were gone for the day. Actually the clock that is over the FP machines that tells you what the current return time is was broken. It seems that DH saw nothing and jumped to conclusions. I think I only teased him about this a little, considering the hike I took every one on looking for Beaches and Cream, that was probably a good idea.
After Buzz the obvious choice is Space Mountain. For some reason there is no line. Well maybe a 15 minute line. Which is a nice surprise because the return time sign said 45 minutes. Being fairly familiar with Disney lines I was pretty sure that was wrong. The line was moving steadily as far into the building as I could see. I tried to tell the nice man in line right in front of us (I think he must have been using a touring plan) but after a minute he jumped ship. Too bad, it was a really fast line. I mentioned to every CM I saw that the posted return time was way off. They seemed to be changing shifts or something because no one seemed to do anything about it. Oh well, I tried.
I should mention that everyone rode this, even Sophia my six year old. She is not a thrill seeker, but she is willing to try things. I was very proud of her. She didnt ride it again this trip, which was no big surprise. I could now go into a Disneyland vs WDW comparison, but there is really no point. Space Mountain is different in WDW. I would guess it is a shorter ride, but I am not sure of that. I love Space Mountain, in Florida or in California. They are both good roller coasters.
I dont know if I mentioned this before or not. I apologize if I am repeating myself. I do often. I considered this day sort of an extra day. We have two more mornings planed for the MK and at least one afternoon. Today we were just going to hit a few old favorites (plus a new favorite) and take it easy. The plan was to leave around 3pm so I could settle us into our room and take the kids swimming. But I digress.
So it is now about 1pm and the heat is in full force. I consider buying one of those $12 (or are they more?) water bottle fan things. The idea of carrying anything else fills me with dread, so I decide against it. Oh, I also forgot to say that we now have a stroller. We rented it at Tinks right after we met up with the guys. Sophia rode over to the Buzz ride and we parked it. We picked it up again after Space Mountain, which is where we are now (in the trip report).
So there are two more rides on our list of favorites to go. We are saving Splash Mountain and BTMR for another day. The two rides on our list are Haunted mansion and Pirates. I love both of these rides, classic Disney. If you love these rides too you really need to make your way out West. These rides are great in WDW, they are even better in Disneyland. Way better. But I am getting ahead of myself. So walking from Fantasyland to Tomorrow land a few hours ago I thought the crowds were pretty heavy. I was wrong. That was nothing.
Honey I really think the Haunted Mansion is over this way I am trying to be nice. I KNOW the Haunted Mansion is this way but Steve will not believe me. In the end I have to get out the map and prove it to him. We are not in Disneyland, dear. This whole New Orleans square not being New Orleans square thing can be very disorienting. And while the layout of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are close enough to seen familiar, the layout of the other side of the park is completely different. To make matters worse, everyone was trying to get to the Haunted Mansion at the same time we were.
There is even a line for the fast pass machines. I am not sure how much I like this. We grab a set of fast passes and get out of Dodge. Or at least we try. But as I said, everyone was heading toward the Haunted Mansion. With fast passes in hand we are trying to go the other way. Swimming upstream with a stroller, big fun. Guess who was pushing the stroller. Did I mention that it was hot out? We have over an hour until our return time and we are not entirely sure what to do. Thats when all those hours I spent reading the DIS boards and the Unofficial Guide and Tourguidemikes site paid off. We were right outside the Hall of Presidents. I looked over my gang and knew, siting in an air conditioned auditorium was exactly what we should be doing. Now. So I direct them into the waiting area. Steve and Ryan are giving me a funny look. The Hall of Presidents? Yes, trust me, I know what I am doing. We have a few minutes to wait until the next show, so we sit down (on the floor). I am still getting funny looks from the guys, so I say two words air conditioning and leave it at that. I guess I should say that we have not been inside the Hall of Presidents for a long time, since the 80s, I think. It was not on our A list, not even really our B list. But it was in the right place at the right time and it is air conditioned, so we went. I dont remember that movie, and I thought there was more talking... Anyway it served its purpose perfectly. Everyone was rested and in a better mood.
We still have an hour to kill so we head over to the Tiki room. We have not been in a long time and I had read that the show had been updated. We made it there just in time for a show. I kinda wanted to watch the birds in the queue area a little but I didnt get the chance. The show has really changed (unless the Disneyland version was always really different). The kids enjoyed it and the adults were happy to be indoors again. I like the Tiki Room, but I dont love it. We had no intention of going on Aladdin's Carpets. Someone forgot to tell Sophia. As soon as we got out of the Tiki Room she dragged us over towards the Carpets. She has not shown this sort of enthusiasm for anything else today. So obviously we have to ride. Ryan sits this one out, which is fine because I dont think he would have fit very well. I guess this is a fun ride for kids because mine sure enjoyed it. Circles, wow. We are then drawn mysteriously to the gift shop. Steve would like a hat. We dont find one that pleases him, but we do enjoy looking at all the knick knacks. If we walk very slowly we will get to the Haunted Mansion just as our return window opens, so off we go.
I love the Haunted Mansion. It is a must do for me. I have been really looking forward to it. We walk past an obscenely long line and enter the fast pass line. We walk right on, or rather in, to the stretching room. I think the room is much bigger in Disneyland, but it could be that they crammed it with bodies because the line was so long. The entrance/pre show is entirely different than what we are used to (Disneyland). I have to call them like I see them, Disneylands Haunted Mansion is way better. Sorry. The ride itself is very close, but slightly different. I cant say exactly what is different but it was not exactly the same. My buggy didnt have sound. I still had all the ambient sounds, but not the voice over. That is the best part. Bummer. I did manage to spot a few hidden Mickeys though. That is always fun.
That reminds me, throughout the entire trip my six year old was spotting hidden Mickeys. All over the place, like in Texas the day we left or at the gas station in Louisiana... It was so cute. She spotted several in the clouds during our trip and wondered how the imagineers did that. This is why I love Disney. Because it is magical, and because it makes you believe. Even when it is way too hot and the sound in your doom buggy didnt work. It is still the happiest place on earth.
After the Haunted Mansion we headed for the exit. We were right behind the parade (caught the end of it in the distance) so it took a little while, but we made it out and to the bus stop in good time. We made it to Pop by 4:30, spent about $80 on food (did you notice we forgot to eat after breakfast? I wasnt saving you the boring details- we didnt eat. I think it was too hot to even think about food.) We got two refillable mugs and some other stuff. Then we went to the room and I set things up a bit, changed into a swim suit, and hit the pool. We were in bed by 10pm. Which was a good thing, because tomorrow is Extra Magic Hour at Epcot and we plan to be there for opening.
Up next: Epcot - Ice Station Cool is Radical dude.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=5968415#post5968415
Part 4 is linked to part 3, and part 3 to part 2, and part 2 to part 1. At some point I will add all the links but for now that will have to do. It is way past my bedtime already!
Part five-
After a brief sabbatical, we are back with part five. The MK vs. my Family (MK wins). This post really is rather longish...
The cast:
Me-HaleyB around here, just Haley at home. Really should be cleaning her messy house right now.
My Husband, Steve, also 30 something. Born and raised in Southern California. Some people have all the luck.
My Princess, Sophia, six. Little known fact- Sophia was born in Canada.
My younger son, Max, who is nine now. Thrill seeker. Takes after his Mom that way.
My older son, Ryan. He is seventeen. He didnt think a family vacation would be fun, but I know he secretly loved it.
So we are at the Magic Kingdom. Sophia and I had a lengthy breakfast at CRT and are now waiting for the boys to catch up with us. I may have forgotten to say that the food was pretty good. The stuffed french toast was my favorite part of the meal. Also we had a nice server, he was busy and there was a group near us that had him running around quite a bit, but he was a good server. We paid with vouchers and left an extra tip. I tend to over tip, I figure it is good karma.
So we walk out of CRT and sit on a brick wall in front of a store. I could check the name of the store, but it is pretty much irrelevant. I looked up at the sign and called my son Ryan who has the second cell phone in our family. My husband refuses to use one, he is afraid his work would find out and pester him all the time. So I tell them we are right outside the door and to come meet us. As luck would have it they are just entering Fantasyland so they are close.
Now I have been to Walt Disney World three times and Disneyland hundreds maybe even a thousand times. So I should have know that store would have multiple entrances. But my tummy was full so all the blood was busy helping with digesting and not going to my brain. Thats my story, the Winnie-the-Pooh defense. Good thing I had the good sense to marry a very patient and kind man. If you are single and reading this those are the important traits, a strong sense that it is a mans duty to support his family is good too. He thought it was funny. So we all meet up within a matter of minutes. I was a little nervous about the whole splitting up thing, but it worked out fine.
So I might have implied that I was going to tell you what the boys did while we waited and waited and ate. However I am not entirely sure what they did. They rode Buzz Lightyear, they rode The People Mover (TTA), and the rode the little cars (again, I could look up the proper name but really I am sure you can too, so Ill leave that bit of fun for someone else). Never mind, I remembered it. Autopia. They may have done Space Mountain but I am not sure. Oh, and judging from Max shirt, they ate something.
Time to get back to the parts I know about. One thing I know is that it was hot. Really hot. I am living in Texas right now and I am no sissy when it comes to heat. I think it was 98 with 110% humidity, something like that. We go to Disneyland once a year (we went a lot more often when we lived 15 minutes away and had AP, but one should not live in the past), now I mention that because it helps to understand why a certain ride was number one on my list. That ride is the Buzz ride, which is not in Disneyland. Plus it sounds like a really fun ride. Plus I like to reminisce about living 15 minutes from Disneyland. So we head straight over and check the FP return time. Well we dont check, my husband Steve checks. He thinks they are all gone for the day. Well it is crowded and past noon. I think this is odd, but the line is very short so we jump into the queue. The line really was short, maybe 20 minutes, which is a good thing. The ride is great and I loved the pre show stuff too. I didnt score very well, I was busy enjoying the ride. Anyhow, it was a good thing the line went fast because when we got off I looked over at the FP machines and thought I saw an awful lot of people using them, considering they were gone for the day. Actually the clock that is over the FP machines that tells you what the current return time is was broken. It seems that DH saw nothing and jumped to conclusions. I think I only teased him about this a little, considering the hike I took every one on looking for Beaches and Cream, that was probably a good idea.
After Buzz the obvious choice is Space Mountain. For some reason there is no line. Well maybe a 15 minute line. Which is a nice surprise because the return time sign said 45 minutes. Being fairly familiar with Disney lines I was pretty sure that was wrong. The line was moving steadily as far into the building as I could see. I tried to tell the nice man in line right in front of us (I think he must have been using a touring plan) but after a minute he jumped ship. Too bad, it was a really fast line. I mentioned to every CM I saw that the posted return time was way off. They seemed to be changing shifts or something because no one seemed to do anything about it. Oh well, I tried.
I should mention that everyone rode this, even Sophia my six year old. She is not a thrill seeker, but she is willing to try things. I was very proud of her. She didnt ride it again this trip, which was no big surprise. I could now go into a Disneyland vs WDW comparison, but there is really no point. Space Mountain is different in WDW. I would guess it is a shorter ride, but I am not sure of that. I love Space Mountain, in Florida or in California. They are both good roller coasters.
I dont know if I mentioned this before or not. I apologize if I am repeating myself. I do often. I considered this day sort of an extra day. We have two more mornings planed for the MK and at least one afternoon. Today we were just going to hit a few old favorites (plus a new favorite) and take it easy. The plan was to leave around 3pm so I could settle us into our room and take the kids swimming. But I digress.
So it is now about 1pm and the heat is in full force. I consider buying one of those $12 (or are they more?) water bottle fan things. The idea of carrying anything else fills me with dread, so I decide against it. Oh, I also forgot to say that we now have a stroller. We rented it at Tinks right after we met up with the guys. Sophia rode over to the Buzz ride and we parked it. We picked it up again after Space Mountain, which is where we are now (in the trip report).
So there are two more rides on our list of favorites to go. We are saving Splash Mountain and BTMR for another day. The two rides on our list are Haunted mansion and Pirates. I love both of these rides, classic Disney. If you love these rides too you really need to make your way out West. These rides are great in WDW, they are even better in Disneyland. Way better. But I am getting ahead of myself. So walking from Fantasyland to Tomorrow land a few hours ago I thought the crowds were pretty heavy. I was wrong. That was nothing.
Honey I really think the Haunted Mansion is over this way I am trying to be nice. I KNOW the Haunted Mansion is this way but Steve will not believe me. In the end I have to get out the map and prove it to him. We are not in Disneyland, dear. This whole New Orleans square not being New Orleans square thing can be very disorienting. And while the layout of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland are close enough to seen familiar, the layout of the other side of the park is completely different. To make matters worse, everyone was trying to get to the Haunted Mansion at the same time we were.
There is even a line for the fast pass machines. I am not sure how much I like this. We grab a set of fast passes and get out of Dodge. Or at least we try. But as I said, everyone was heading toward the Haunted Mansion. With fast passes in hand we are trying to go the other way. Swimming upstream with a stroller, big fun. Guess who was pushing the stroller. Did I mention that it was hot out? We have over an hour until our return time and we are not entirely sure what to do. Thats when all those hours I spent reading the DIS boards and the Unofficial Guide and Tourguidemikes site paid off. We were right outside the Hall of Presidents. I looked over my gang and knew, siting in an air conditioned auditorium was exactly what we should be doing. Now. So I direct them into the waiting area. Steve and Ryan are giving me a funny look. The Hall of Presidents? Yes, trust me, I know what I am doing. We have a few minutes to wait until the next show, so we sit down (on the floor). I am still getting funny looks from the guys, so I say two words air conditioning and leave it at that. I guess I should say that we have not been inside the Hall of Presidents for a long time, since the 80s, I think. It was not on our A list, not even really our B list. But it was in the right place at the right time and it is air conditioned, so we went. I dont remember that movie, and I thought there was more talking... Anyway it served its purpose perfectly. Everyone was rested and in a better mood.
We still have an hour to kill so we head over to the Tiki room. We have not been in a long time and I had read that the show had been updated. We made it there just in time for a show. I kinda wanted to watch the birds in the queue area a little but I didnt get the chance. The show has really changed (unless the Disneyland version was always really different). The kids enjoyed it and the adults were happy to be indoors again. I like the Tiki Room, but I dont love it. We had no intention of going on Aladdin's Carpets. Someone forgot to tell Sophia. As soon as we got out of the Tiki Room she dragged us over towards the Carpets. She has not shown this sort of enthusiasm for anything else today. So obviously we have to ride. Ryan sits this one out, which is fine because I dont think he would have fit very well. I guess this is a fun ride for kids because mine sure enjoyed it. Circles, wow. We are then drawn mysteriously to the gift shop. Steve would like a hat. We dont find one that pleases him, but we do enjoy looking at all the knick knacks. If we walk very slowly we will get to the Haunted Mansion just as our return window opens, so off we go.
I love the Haunted Mansion. It is a must do for me. I have been really looking forward to it. We walk past an obscenely long line and enter the fast pass line. We walk right on, or rather in, to the stretching room. I think the room is much bigger in Disneyland, but it could be that they crammed it with bodies because the line was so long. The entrance/pre show is entirely different than what we are used to (Disneyland). I have to call them like I see them, Disneylands Haunted Mansion is way better. Sorry. The ride itself is very close, but slightly different. I cant say exactly what is different but it was not exactly the same. My buggy didnt have sound. I still had all the ambient sounds, but not the voice over. That is the best part. Bummer. I did manage to spot a few hidden Mickeys though. That is always fun.
That reminds me, throughout the entire trip my six year old was spotting hidden Mickeys. All over the place, like in Texas the day we left or at the gas station in Louisiana... It was so cute. She spotted several in the clouds during our trip and wondered how the imagineers did that. This is why I love Disney. Because it is magical, and because it makes you believe. Even when it is way too hot and the sound in your doom buggy didnt work. It is still the happiest place on earth.
After the Haunted Mansion we headed for the exit. We were right behind the parade (caught the end of it in the distance) so it took a little while, but we made it out and to the bus stop in good time. We made it to Pop by 4:30, spent about $80 on food (did you notice we forgot to eat after breakfast? I wasnt saving you the boring details- we didnt eat. I think it was too hot to even think about food.) We got two refillable mugs and some other stuff. Then we went to the room and I set things up a bit, changed into a swim suit, and hit the pool. We were in bed by 10pm. Which was a good thing, because tomorrow is Extra Magic Hour at Epcot and we plan to be there for opening.
Up next: Epcot - Ice Station Cool is Radical dude.
Looking forward to Part 6.
