We Love The Characters! A TR w/ Pics. Just added WL pics in post 31 or 33.

[scanne]

Walt Disney World Trip Report – July 17 –24, 2006

The Cast of Characters:
Me - The Disney Queen (as DH calls me). Master planner of all Disney trips! Age 31.
DH - Scott - Loves Disney, but would rather leave the planning to me. I say that is just perfect! He is 36.
DS - Chase - Loves Disney as much as mommy and daddy, but only goes on a select few rides. (We'll get into that later). He will be 4 on 8/8.
DD - Erika - A true princess (My fault! ) and LOVES the characters. She just turned 2.
My Mom - We'll call her GMom. Loves Disney and loves experiencing the World with her grandkids.
My Dad - We'll call him Dude, which is what Chase and Erika call him. He takes the photos and loves cherishing this time with the grandkids as well.

Day 1 – July 17, 2006

We were up before the sun today to make to Philadelphia International Airport for our 7:15am flight. We had a bit of a wait at airport security, but after we were through that, we had some time to relax at the gate before pre-boarding.

It seemed like we were the only ones on the flight with children under the age of 5, so we were the first to pre-board. I chose the bulkhead seats right at the front for more leg room, but didn’t realize I wouldn’t be able to keep my bag with me. So I grabbed some lollipops, stickers and Chase’s gameboy for the flight and stowed the rest of my stuff. I prayed I wouldn’t need to do any mid-air diaper changing!!! And the prayer was answered – no dirty diapers in flight! Woo hoo!!

We pulled out of the gate a little late, but what I love about Southwest is that they make up time in the air. We landed in Orlando a full 15 minutes early! Yay!!!

We waited for everyone to exit the plane before gathering our things. When you have a 2 year old, an almost 4 year old, a car seat and two carry-on bags each, you learn that it’s better to wait.

When we got off the plane, our stroller was waiting for us. The kids got in and we headed to the “fake” monorail that would take us to the baggage claim area and Disney’s Magical Express! I remember looking at the clock and it was only 9:25am. We got to DME and there were only a few people in front of me. I was in and out of the line in 5 minutes and we were ushered onto our bus right away and as soon as we were seated, the bus pulled out. This would be the start of pixie dust on us in terms of transportation.

Dude reading a map in the WL's lobby.

Chase standing by the Totem pole outside of the Mercantile.

By 10:15am, we were at the Wilderness Lodge and checked in. We got all of our room requests, which has never happened to me before at the WL! We were granted a newly renovated room overlooking the otter pond on the 4th floor. Our rooms were 4004 and 4006. Room 4006 had a queen and two bunks, but we took 4004. My kids are too small for the bunks. My parents took the bunks. My mom said she actually prefers two queens because it feels roomier to her. The bunk beds did make the room seem dark and I don’t think there was a light fixture over the bunks. But I can see us getting the bunk bed rooms when our kids are older.


After checking in, we went right to the MK.

On the boat heading to the MK.

Our rooms weren’t ready at 10:30am, so we thought we may as well get our AP’s activated and get on with the magic! We went to the boat dock and waited all of 2 minutes for a boat to arrive. We boarded the boat and were on our way! Erika had fun pointing out the monorail and the castle. She was so excited!

When we got off the boat we headed for security. It always boggles my mind that people will form these long lines on only one side of each security table. I always head right to the opening because security is always yelling, “Please use both sides of the tables!” So we were through security pretty quickly and then had to wait in line to activate our AP’s. This took about 10 minutes. By the time we were in the park, we were all hungry. I took a chance and asked at the Plaza if they had seating for six. Ah, pixie dust has fallen again and we were seated right away. (See my dining report for more on the Plaza).

After lunch we took the kids to Fantasyland where they played in the 100 Acre Wood playground. Then we were off to ToonTown and Scott took Chase and Erika to visit Mickey.

They also got to play on the playground there as well as explore Mickey and Minnie’s houses, which both kids love. We noticed that the sky was becoming threatening and we were all tired from our early morning journey, so we headed on back to the WL to see if our rooms were ready.

We could not have timed our departure better. We were inches inside the WL when it started to downpour! And luckily, our rooms were ready, so we headed on up to the 4th floor in search of our rooms. I read the signs wrong and took a wrong turn, but when we finally got to our room, Erika was sound asleep in the stroller. Chase wasn’t tired so Gmom and Dude took him exploring in the lodge. He ended up participating in the Jr. Chef cookie decorating at Roaring Fork.

He brought his creation back to the room, but I don’t think it ever got eaten.

Our luggage was sent up within 10 minutes of a phone call and I also contacted Garden Grocer to bring our delivery. As I was finishing unpacking, the two gift baskets I ordered from Peggy’s Sweets and More were delivered to our room and my parents got their basket, too.

By the way, Peggy does an AMAZING job and I will continue to utilize her services! (Edit - she's teaching again, so her baskets will always be a fond memory). Thanks, Peg!

So our plan was to just stay put at the hotel for the rest of the day, but after Erika’s 2 ½ hour nap, we were all refreshed and ready to battle the MK once again. The rain that had come through actually cooled everything off. I think it was in the 70’s with no humidity when we went back to the park. Oh my goodness – it was gorgeous! No sweaty people here!
Back on the boat - Chase and Gmom.

Once back in the MK, we headed to Liberty Square as per Chase’s request. He wanted to “look at” the Haunted Mansion. This is his favorite attraction. He knows the whole story behind the ride. He knows the names of the three hitchhiking ghosts. He even shows us where the bride’s ring is by the exit. But he hasn’t been on the ride since he was two. But he loves everything about it – except going on it. So Scott, Erika and myself went on with no more than a 5 minute wait. As soon as we exited, Chase requested that we tell him everything. And if we left anything out, he was sure to correct us. I am hoping that he will finally get up the courage to ride the HM in the near future.

After the Grim Grinning Ghost visit, we trekked on over to Adventureland so Chase could play in the squirting Tikis.
Erika with the Tikis

But the Tikis weren’t squirting tonight, so Chase and Scott went through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and I took Erika on Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. We then tried to get on Pirates. OK, I have never seen a line for POC in my many years of visiting WDW. So seeing a 40 minute wait time posted was a bit of a surprise – but you know, Johnny Depp (even in animatronic form) has a lot of pull, so we put this ride off until later in the week.

Chase then announced that he wanted to watch SpectroMagic. He was very tired at this point, though, and I knew he wouldn’t make it through the whole parade. So we got a spot near the Harmony Barber Shop – which was good because this is where the parade started. I think Chase made it through 75% of the parade before giving in to sleep. Erika was wide awake for the whole thing and LOVED it! Scott and I are partial to the Main Street Electrical Parade, so we watch Spectro with a bit of longing for the “classic.” Maybe they’ll bring it back for the “Year of a Million Dreams?” I can “dream,” can’t I?

After the parade we head to the boat dock. Again, pixie dust is in our corner and a boat is just pulling up as we get there. We get back to the WL by 9:45pm. My mom’s special birthday cake is wating, but since Chase is sleeping, we put the cake in the fridge and wait to celebrate the next day. We put Chase to bed and get Erika in her jammies, say good night to Gmom and Dude and are all set to go to sleep ourselves when we notice more pixie dust. Yes, this time in the form of fireworks! We had an AMAZING view of Wishes from our balcony! So Erika and I sat out on the balcony and watch Wishes before turning in for the night.

This has to be the perfect Disney day!!!

Tomorrow we visit Donald, take a ride through a mountain and have a close encounter with a Yeti, see Darth Vader and Lightning McQueen and (unfortuantely) one of us gets food poisoning – we think! Stay tuned for day 2!

 

[ukwildcat]

I'm hooked. I love it when trip reports have pictures. Wish more people would do that.

On a side note, we're going to WL for 3 nights over Labor Day weekend. Really looking forward to it. Celebrating DS 1st birthday and Moms birthday that weekend.

Now, on with the report.

 

[Disney owl]

Great report thanks for sharing your photos

 

[BeautyNBeast]

Love the pictures! I cannot wait to hear more!

 

[schmoopypoo]

aww...your kids are adorable...can't wait for the rest

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

hey! did you know someone stuck a hidden mickey on your lil boy's
shoes?

what a nice begining..for us, if we can avoid any major diaster the first
day, it's going to be a good trip..

..your comment about diapers & the lack of contents [ ]
was a reminder of us many moons ago..when my wife whisper on the
monorail.."we only have one to get us thru the day..." ..isn't
it strange how something so lil can ear marked a trip? i told her i rathered
she kept me in the dark over that one..

ok..that's when we took our boys..the main street parade was rollin...but
refresh my memory...what was so different? [goodness me, i must be
getting old-er..of course my wife is aging faster than me [ ]..& you was a teenager then?

the fireworks are so neat from the wildness lodge..we put our kids next
door ..& the kept throwing stuff at our lil ...next time, we'll
move them farther away...did you see any gators?

our daughter favorite souvineer was the tinker bell similar to the cindy one
in your basket..she still sleeping with it..

isn't it neat, watching kids take in disney..that always get my daughter
[she's 9]...funny @ home,she never pay me any attention..but @ disney,
i used it to my advantage..for extra hugs & getting her into her princess
mode.

, how come you didn't give your husband a special basket for
allowing your parents on the trip?

 

[scanne]

, how come you didn't give your husband a special basket for

Actually, if it weren't for my parents, there would not have been a trip. They helped foot the bill for most of the major expenses, so DH was happy to have them there. And we do all get along - corny, I know, but true!!!

 

[nutz2notz]

Great start on your report. I am looking forward to following your story, and really enjoy your pictures. Your kids are so adorable.

 

[amarberry]

Great trip report! I really enjoyed your dining report as well. Your adorable DD reminds me of my DD who also just turned 2 in July...except that mine is a blondie (but she also has the curls).

I have a dumb question about your APs, if you don't mind. It sounds like you activated your APs at the main gate for MK rather than the TTC. For some reason, I was thinking that this would have to be done at the TTC. We're contemplating APs for our Sept. trip and I was wondering how much the ticketing process would slow us down on the first day. Of course, we might have a different situation because we would be upgrading one day base tickets to APs.

 

[scanne]

amarberry,

Hi. You can activate AP's at the TTC or at the MK gate - as you walk towards the turnstyles there is a ticketing booth to the right. Maybe it says guest services. The line we waited in was longer than the process to get the tickets activated. About 15 minutes total waiting in line and activation.

Hope this helps.

Anne

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Wow, that does sound like a perfect day!!! I love your kids Disney shoes!!
And I can't wait to read the rest..

 

[scanne]

Day 2 - July 18, 2006

Today was an early morning. I, of course, had no trouble getting up at 5am!!! I was in Disney and on vacation and didn’t want to sleep any of it away. So by 6:16am I was writing in my trip journal that it was time to get the rest of the gang up. We had to be on the bus to AK by 7am to make our 8am breakfast ressie.

We managed to get to the bus by 7:15am, and as I had feared, we would be running late. First we had to stop at Fort Wilderness and then our bus sat behind three other buses for 10 minutes. I have no idea why, either. Then we had to take the other 4 people on the bus (besides us) to Blizzard Beach. Then we were finally on our way to AK and pulled up right at 8am.

This was our only less-than-magical transportation moment.

We entered the park and walked over to Donald’s Restaurantosaurus for our breakfast. This time around I didn’t enjoy this breakfast as much as I had in 2003. There was a lot of food, but it was ok at best. But the kids loved the characters. They ran right over to Mickey, Donald, Pluto and Goofy and greeted them with big hugs like they were long lost friends. It was so cute!

After breakfast I sent Scott to EE

to grab us some fastpasses. Since my parents wouldn’t be riding, we were able to get two sets of FP’s for a double whammy! Cool! We spent some time in Dino Land where Chase played some arcade games

and Scott, Erika and I rode Triceratops Spin. Scott and I also rode Primevil Whirl. I hate that ride, though. But since it was a walk-on, we decided to, um, give it a whirl (yes, pun intended).

It was now time for our EE adventure. We were ready for our back-to-back thrills. The FP line went super quick – within 5 minutes we were boarding our train. For our first ride, we were in the 3rd row. When you’re going up the big lift hill you can see everything. It’s quite an extraordinary view up there. You also get to see a lot of the cave where the Yeti stomps on the tracks. The speed in the front car is nothing major and no worse than BTTMR at the MK. We enjoyed the ride but were hoping for a bit more excitement, so on our next spin, we requested the back car. This was a very different experience. It was much faster and more wild since you are pulled along – especially when the car is going forward. You don’t get to see as much going up that big lift hill, but you do go further back into the cave and have a great view of the Yeti! Scott and I both thought this ride was a better thrill for your buck in the back.

After our adventures in Asia, we headed to Africa and got some fruit and cheese plates, a large pretzel and some grapes which we enjoyed in the cool atmosphere of Tusker House. Erika and Chase both took a nap at this time – Erika was in the stroller reclined and Chase was sprawled between me and Scott. I wish I had a picture of that. Oh, before settling in for this longer-than-anticipated break, we got FastPasses for Kilaminjaro Safari.

Once we were all refreshed and awake, we headed for the safari. The FP line was still about a 15 minute wait, but we didn’t mind. The kids were not cranky and we were having fun waiting for our turn.

Now, up to this point, Chase would not go on any rides (and that trend WILL continue). So we tried the tactic of not telling him what we were in line for to see if he’d be any the wiser. When we got to the loading area, he asked what it was and we told him the safari. He went on without a fight and enjoyed seeing the animals. He didn’t like the bumps on the safari – neither did I; I thought our driver was a little lead-footed on the gas pedal. But other than that, we got to see lots of animals and both kids enjoyed the ride.

We had had enough of AK for one morning, so we headed back to the WL after the safari. The kids got baths (which they REALLY needed) and we all took a little time to just kick back and rest.

Once our energy level had risen, we made our way to MGM. We got there a little before the parade was scheduled to begin and we got a great spot on a bench right outside of Star Tours.

Let me digress a bit here. Chase is a huge Star Wars fan thanks to his Daddy’s love of the movies and action figures. So, being the generous parents we are, we took Chase into Tattoine Traders and told Chase he could get a few things. The little guy was so overwhelmed by ALL the merchandise, he had to leave the store. Without a thing! We were shocked! But, we weren’t out any money, so I guess that’s a good thing. We’re thinking of taking a long weekend next year for Star Wars Weekends, but now we’re not so sure Chase would get into it like we thought. Although, he does want to be Jango Fett for Halloween this year….

OK, back to the parade. As we were waiting, I got Erika an Itzakadoozie

ice pop. She loved it! Chase had to have an ice cream cookie sandwich.

It was almost the size of his head, but I have to give him credit – he only left about 1/3 of it for Gmom to finish.

When the parade started both kids were bouncing from excitement, especially when they saw Lightening McQueen and Mater! This was certainly one of highlights! I was thrilled to see Darth Vader

and Chase loved seeing the Power Rangers. The only thing that was a bit off with this parade was that the music and narration wasn’t synced up with the characters that were walking by. It was a little strange, to say the least.

Dinner tonight was at Pizza Planet. Please refer to dining report for a full review. (Wish I knew how to post one of those cool links that would just say click here and boom! Take you to the review). But instead I'll put the link like this: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1176005

A slight recap for you in terms of what was ordered. We got a cheese pizza meal, a pepperoni pizza meal, a veggie pizza meal, a pepperoni pizza with no cheese meal (Scott is lactose intolerant) and a plain cheese pizza for the kids to share. Now we think my dad got food poisoning here from the veggie pizza. He got very sick later that night and went to a clinic in Orlando the next day where they diagnosed him with food poisoning. Now I think it was the veggie pizza because of this. When I was waiting for our order, I stood at the counter for 10 minutes while they made Scott’s pizza without cheese. As I stood there, all the pizzas going out were either cheese or pepperoni – leading me to believe that the veggie pizza is ordered infrequently. SOOOOOOOOO, if the veggie pizza my dad got had been sitting under a heat lamp for 2 hours, then bacteria could certainly grow. Also, if the veggies were not washed thoroughly, that could cause bacteria, too. We will never know if it was indeed food poisoning or a 24 hour stomach bug, but I can tell you that my dad won’t be eating at Pizza Planet any time soon!

After dinner my parents took Chase back to the WL. They had promised him some time in the arcade and since Scott and I wanted to try and see Fantasmic, this seemed like a good deal to us. Erika stayed with us and we really didn’t do much but shop until it was time to head up to Fantasmic. We went in to the show about 5 minutes before it was scheduled to begin and yes, we did find seats. The show was good – this is Scott’s favorite – and Erika loved seeing the Princesses on the floats as they came by. I like this show, too, but I prefer the version in Disneyland. There is a Peter Pan sequence in place of the Pocahontas sequence. It’s just much more “Disney” to me.

We left the show about 2 minutes before it was over so we could get Erika in the stroller and attempt to beat the crowds. We ended up in the thick of the crowd, but it wasn’t too bad. We were at the bus stop within 10 minutes and didn’t wait more than a few minutes for the bus to WL. Erika fell asleep on me while on the bus back to the resort. We got Chase from my parents’ room and tucked the kids in then hit the sack ourselves. It was a long day, but a fun day!


Day 3 to include Princesses, chipmunks, more mice and another D. Duck siting!

 

[Silly Girl]

I am loving your trip report. Looking forward to your next installment.

 

[heaven2dc]

I do so love your reports! Always such great pics and fun to read - thanks for sharing with us.

 

[DisneyDreamingAubrey]

GREAT REPORT!!! I can't wait to read what happens next. It makes me so excited to hear such a detailed story! I can't wait for the next day!

 

[PaulDavid's mom]

Ah. That's it? I need more!!

 

[ukwildcat]

Love the pictures, keep them coming.

Sorry to hear about your dad's food poisoning. No fun, but at least it only lasted 24 hours.

Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[disneycutie84]

Uh oh, I'm hooked on another trip report.
Great report, and your pictures are really cute! Thanks for sharing them. Looks like you all had a great time & can't wait to read more!

 

[scanne]

Day 3 – July 19, 2006

Today we did not have to rush around to “be” anywhere. We had an early lunch booked at Restauran Akershus in Norway, so we were going to take our time getting to Epcot. We were awake by 7am and just had a light breakfast in the room – fruit, cereal and yogurt.

When I knocked on my mom’s door to see how they were, she looked worried and told me that my dad had been up all night vomiting. I felt my stomach churn in anguish. My dad paid for this trip and now he’s sick? And really, REALLY sick? I felt awful and was all set to cancel our plans for the day to stay at the hotel with him. However, he insisted that we go ahead with our plans and he would stay back and rest. After much banter back and forth, we reluctantly agreed on this.

Here’s a BIG plus to the housekeeping staff at the WL. My dad wanted our housekeeper to come in and sanitize the room so he could rest comfortably. She was busy cleaning other rooms, but was very accommodating when we asked her this favor. She went right in, cleaned the room really well and sanitize the bathroom. My mom gave her a nice tip for doing this. I really feel this was the best mousekeeper we’ve had on any of our Disney vacations!!!

So after we got my dad settled in the room with sports drinks and crackers, cell phone numbers and a copy of our itinerary for the day, the rest of us headed to the boat dock. We had decided to take the small boat to the Contemporary and then take the monorail to Epcot.
Gmom and Erika on the boat.

This plan worked nicely and we all got to hear our favorite monorail message – “Please stand clear of the doors – por favor mantengan si alejadro de las puertas” (I hope I didn’t butcher the spanish too much)!

Erika was very cute on the monorail, exclaiming “Monorail mommy! Monorail mommy!” She actually fell asleep on Scott as we were approaching Epcot and stayed asleep as we put her in her stroller. This did not make things easy with security. I don’t like how they changed where security is at the Epcot entrance. It’s now like a bottleneck of those people getting off the monorail and you’re funneled to this line that is totally unorganized. It was difficult getting my “spot” with the stroller – people would go around it and not think anything of it. But we did get through in about 10 minutes and made our way to the turnstiles where we encountered MORE bottlenecking. Ugh. Not the best park entrance, but oh well. What are you going to do?

So we had about ½ an hour to get to Norway for our Princess Storybook Lunch. Chase needed his map of Epcot so I went and got one for him. He also wanted to go right to the computers – aka Innoventions. We told him he would have to wait until after lunch. Not easy for a 3 year old to take, so it did take us some coercing to get him to go with us to Norway. He didn’t want to eat lunch with the Princesses because he didn’t want to get kissed! We assured him we would not let any Princess kiss him, but he still sulked as we made our way to World Showcase.

We got to Norway and Akershus about 15 minutes early, so we had some time to browse in the shop. Chase liked the swords. Gmom liked the Viking hats. Erika was enjoying her nap. Finally we were called into the restaurant. Erika and I got in line to meet Ariel. I was very excited to see the mermaid without her fins! And this meeting started the trend of Erika’s pure excitement at seeing the characters (which is why this report is called “We love the characers). Erika’s eyes would grow wide and she’d inhale with such awe every time she saw a character.

Well, when it was her turn to greet Ariel, she ran to her crying our Ariel, Ariel!!!

She embraced her like she had known her forever. It was truly a Disney moment. After that we were seated and the excitement of the Princesses continued with each hug and smile.
Erika looking for more Princesses!

Erika met Aurora, Jasmine, Belle and Cinderella. Chase played his Game Boy and ignored the attention some of the Princesses tried to give him. Someday he’ll WANT the Princesses to pay attention to him.

After lunch, we headed back to Future World so Chase could play on the computers. He loves this and talks about it all the time. Chase jumped right in and tried some new video games like Nemo and the Incredibles. Erika followed suit.

Right across from this was a mini-Segway tour. Scott decided to try it out. He had to sit through a 10 minute explanation, then he got to ride a Segway for all of 90 seconds. But he said it was very cool.

Next we did the Visa Cardholder Character Meet and Greet. Once again, Erika brought smiles to everyone’s face (including the CM’s) when she saw Minnie and Goofy. She practically screamed “Minnie! Goofy!” and ran to them, arms outstretched, ready for a huge hug! We were able to spend a good 10 minutes alone with Minnie and Goofy and got some great shots. This was a great experience for the kids!

Well, now they were all geared up and wanted to meet some more characters, so we were off to the Character Connection. First up – Chip and Dale. Now, with Erika being 2, she doesn’t fully understand the concept of having to wait in line. As we were wating, she tried to run up to Chip and Dale, but she would have been cutting the line, so I picked her up and told her she had to wait. I was NOT prepared for what came next. Tears! She started crying so hard! Everyone felt so bad for her – especially me. How do you explain to a 2 year old that she has to wait? It’s very hard for her to accept – but she waited with me, Chase, Scott and Gmom and FINALLY she was able to greet Chip and Dale. Whew! What a relief.

Some of the characters we saw in the Character Connection were Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Minnie. This is a great meet and greet and I highly recommend it!!!

It was around 2pm now and the kids wanted a snack. What better than a Mickey bar? We got them each a Mickey bar and sat outside the Living Seas to enjoy it. Yummy!

When they were all done and cleaned up, we called my dad to check on him. He still wasn’t feeling that great, so my mom went back to the hotel. We stayed in Epcot for the rest of the day and my mom ended up taking my dad to a clinic in Orlando to get him checked out.

I will continue the rest of day 3 later. This seems like a long day of trip-reporting!

 

[DISFANSHAN]

I'm really enjoying your trip report. Hope all turned out well with your dad! We had to leave my mom back in the room on one trip b/c she was very sick, but that's a whole different story. But I know how hard it is to try to enjoy your day when you know one of your parents is stuck in a hotel room sick!

I have a question: what is this Character Connection in Epcot? I am usually very up on all the new Disney goings-on, but I must have missed this one somehow!!!!

Thanks!
Shannon (also from NJ!)