Where did the magic go?? 11 days at WDW Dec 6-16th!

[bellasmommy0]

Ok coming back to this we are at Monday the 8th of December. This morning was EMH at AK, so while DH slept in a little.. DD and I got up and went to AK. We got there close to 8, and stopped to take some pictures by the tree, DD loved the tree.

She was happy to be there!! It was a nice morning having Mommy and DD time!

After we got in we pretty much went straight back to the Safari, and got right on. There were quite a few animals out.

 

[bellasmommy0]

Once we got off of this ride we did the Pangani exploration trail. DD enjoyed looking at the gorillas. After this we caught the train up to the conservation station. This was a time consuming thing. DD did the find the backyard creatures thing and liked that.

They were doing a check up on a little bird, and we watched this.

DD explored around some. She wanted to take a pic with Jiminy Cricket.

We headed out to the petting zoo...forgot the proper name

After this we headed out as we were going to MK this afternoon and wanted to get some lunch and rest a little bit. At the bus station we met back up with SIL/BIL/ and Dnephew who had also been at AK but doing other things. After a short wait we were on the bus. On the bus we met a nice couple who we started talking to, it turned out they were Disers (but I forgot to get their names..), they had been to the MVMCP the night before. They decided that they wanted to give the kids some cool springy Christmas tree hats they had worn. We made arrangements to meet up with them in the cafeteria, as DH was meeting us down there to get something to eat. The kids LOVED the hats. So if you are reading this THANK YOU again!! We originally planned on regifting them to some other children, but DD and DN would have none of that!! DD even wore it once we got home!!

 

[bellasmommy0]

Coming soon the evening at MK & what we thought of Liberty Tree Tavern

 

[joelp]

Was the trip to the Conservation Station "worth it"? When reading the guide books, it seems to be one of those attractions that would be fun for the kids, but I haven't heard very many good reviews of it ...

We thought the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail - and the gorillas - were very cool!!

 

[becca123]

I agree with many posters. Went the first time dec13-21. I was there with three kids 10,8,5 and then my husband joined us 5 days into the trip. We stayed at POR and the Poly. Liked both of them. Let me first say, that it was fun and a very nice trip/ No major complaints at all. But you have better come prepared!
Crowds were fine AS LONG AS YOU GOT ANY EARLY START. We opened the park every day, and that was the most enjoyable time. No bumping into ecv's (or more accurately- being run over) , low lines, managable walking (unless you were watching fireworks or parades...yikes!)...My plan at the parks was to get an early start and try to see the biggies first. Traveling alone with three kids worked better than I thought with this plan.
I understand the parks were not as busy as xmas time, but busier than I expected the week I was there. Anyway, as much as the parks seemed crowed many rides did not reflect how busy the park felt. Parks were clean and felt safe.

CM's were helpful and nice, but I expect them to be. We travel a fair amount and Disney did meet my expectaions, but there are so many other wonderful places to visit! It seems to me, here in America, that if any customer service person goes even a little out of their way we are amazed. Give Disney credit that their service is generally better than most here in the states, and that creates customer loyalty. If Disney loses that- well then.....
Will we go back...?? Maybe, depends on so many factors. I do not feel I will be one of those people needing "magic" regulary from Disney but they did deliver the vacation I expected. I just truly CANT imagine going when it is crowded....
Thanks for hearing me out. And thanks to the boards for making our trip more managable than it would have been!
R/

 

[bellasmommy0]

Was the trip to the Conservation Station "worth it"? When reading the guide books, it seems to be one of those attractions that would be fun for the kids, but I haven't heard very many good reviews of it ...

We thought the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail - and the gorillas - were very cool!!

Was it worth it...that is hard to say. For us and what our goals were that day yes. Would I do it again,probably not. It was very time consuming, and luckily this was just to be a lazy mommy and daughter morning to just hang out together, we had another full day to do AK. DD really seemed to enjoy it, it wasnt nearly as crowded as other areas so she was able to run around some and let off some steam, without me worrying about her getting lost in the crowd. But when we do go back again,she will be older and we probably wouldnt do it, as it did burn up alot of time. She loved the gorillas on the Pangani exp. trail.

 

[bellasmommy0]

I agree with many posters. Went the first time dec13-21. I was there with three kids 10,8,5 and then my husband joined us 5 days into the trip. We stayed at POR and the Poly. Liked both of them. Let me first say, that it was fun and a very nice trip/ No major complaints at all. But you have better come prepared!
Crowds were fine AS LONG AS YOU GOT ANY EARLY START. We opened the park every day, and that was the most enjoyable time. No bumping into ecv's (or more accurately- being run over) , low lines, managable walking (unless you were watching fireworks or parades...yikes!)...My plan at the parks was to get an early start and try to see the biggies first. Traveling alone with three kids worked better than I thought with this plan.
I understand the parks were not as busy as xmas time, but busier than I expected the week I was there. Anyway, as much as the parks seemed crowed many rides did not reflect how busy the park felt. Parks were clean and felt safe.

CM's were helpful and nice, but I expect them to be. We travel a fair amount and Disney did meet my expectaions, but there are so many other wonderful places to visit! It seems to me, here in America, that if any customer service person goes even a little out of their way we are amazed. Give Disney credit that their service is generally better than most here in the states, and that creates customer loyalty. If Disney loses that- well then.....
Will we go back...?? Maybe, depends on so many factors. I do not feel I will be one of those people needing "magic" regulary from Disney but they did deliver the vacation I expected. I just truly CANT imagine going when it is crowded....
Thanks for hearing me out. And thanks to the boards for making our trip more managable than it would have been!
R/

Thanks for joining me!! I understand what you are saying, and dont think that I am saying there was no magic. We had a marvelous time despite the lows...just compared to our 2 previous trips (2005 & 2007) the service level had decreased and the crowds were high in comparison. Was it the time of year, probably. Did I run into a few sour apples for CM, I am sure. We met a lot of incredible CM who were wonderful. But to me on my previous trips I left with this feeling like I could never get enough, and I had to go back because it was so magical to see and do everything. This time I left wanting to leave, and knowing it would be a long while before I felt the need to go back! If I had had no comparison from previous trips I may have felt differently. I still LOVE Disney!! I am just Disneyed out for a while!! And I want to go and see some more of the wonderful things this country/world has to offer!!

 

[bellasmommy0]

After getting some rest. We left the hotel again at about 215 or so. We got a bus pretty quickly, and were off to the MK.
We got there just as the 3 o'clock parade was coming around the circle, so we stopped to watch it again.
After this we went to fantasyland. We were able to get in a few rides before it was time to go to our dinner ADR.
We rode the carousel

And then Snow Whites not so scary adventure

And then were going to ride winnie the pooh, but there was quite a line and we didnt have much time so we got FP, and suprise we got a suprise FP to Mickeys Philharmagic.

We had just enough time to do this before dinner
We had dinner ADR's at LTT.
We got there and checked in, after a short wait they took us to our table.

As for this meal the character interaction was good, the service was good. The food was what I expected, good not great. DH didnt like it, he said everything tasted sweet. But the dessert was DELICIOUS!!! All in all this meal was good, my only complaint was they sat us at this tiny table that was in no way meant for 3 people! Our server was good, when we asked him about getting something different for DD he came back with chicken nuggets and french fries. It was well worth the time and the DDP credits

 

[bellasmommy0]

I dont know why the pictures came out sideways, I thought I changed them...oh well!!

 

[becca123]

Thanks for joining me!! I understand what you are saying, and dont think that I am saying there was no magic. We had a marvelous time despite the lows...just compared to our 2 previous trips (2005 & 2007) the service level had decreased and the crowds were high in comparison. Was it the time of year, probably. Did I run into a few sour apples for CM, I am sure. We met a lot of incredible CM who were wonderful. But to me on my previous trips I left with this feeling like I could never get enough, and I had to go back because it was so magical to see and do everything. This time I left wanting to leave, and knowing it would be a long while before I felt the need to go back! If I had had no comparison from previous trips I may have felt differently. I still LOVE Disney!! I am just Disneyed out for a while!! And I want to go and see some more of the wonderful things this country/world has to offer!!

Hi Bellasmommy-
I didn't mean to suggest your trip wasn't great. I think the major difference is the difference between "loving" Disney and being "in Love" with Disney. With the latter, you never let yourself see the bad stuff. Our trip was great, and I guess you could say I loved going to Disney. I would not go as far to say it was the best trip I have ever taken. Disney does what it does well, but I feel many people (not you per se) are so in love with Disney, that when they have a bad experience they say Disney has lost the Magic. I guess I was trying to point out that one can still Love Disney but not be "in Love" with Disney. I was responding more to the thread title. My trip, as yours, was full of many special moments.
I hope you get out and see more of the country/world! Have some great trips!
Best-
R/

 

[bellasmommy0]

Hi Bellasmommy-
I didn't mean to suggest your trip wasn't great. I think the major difference is the difference between "loving" Disney and being "in Love" with Disney. With the latter, you never let yourself see the bad stuff. Our trip was great, and I guess you could say I loved going to Disney. I would not go as far to say it was the best trip I have ever taken. Disney does what it does well, but I feel many people (not you per se) are so in love with Disney, that when they have a bad experience they say Disney has lost the Magic. I guess I was trying to point out that one can still Love Disney but not be "in Love" with Disney. I was responding more to the thread title. My trip, as yours, was full of many special moments.
I hope you get out and see more of the country/world! Have some great trips!
Best-
R/

I didnt take your comment to mean anything, I just dont want people to get the idea that the trip had no magic...if you keep reading you will hear about many magical moments, but in comparison it wasnt the same. And I understand what you mean, and I am looking forward to planning our next trip to a new and unexplored (by us of course) place!! Although next year we will probably stick pretty close to home!

 

[bellasmommy0]

I havent deserted this, just busy will post some more this weekend.

 

[bellasmommy0]

OK, I am going to finish up the day at MK.
After we ate at LTT, we looked in a few shops and then headed over to find a spot to watch the castle lighting. It was gorgeous!! We didnt get too close, which was fine. We watched it from the tommorowland terrace patio.

After the show we headed to tommorowland.
We rode Astro orbiter

Buzz lightyear

Carousel of Progress

Blue line

And then the rest of the group..not DD or I!! No way!! rode Stitch!
And then off to the speedway

And then the teacups

After that we did Pooh and Snow white, again!
This was a very nice night, not too long of lines and cool but nice! One of out best nights of all!

 

[bellasmommy0]

Up next our most magical moment of all!!

 

[bellasmommy0]

Heres a nice one from photopasss that night

 

[tmkinney]

Subscribing.... Your kids are so cute, I just love your DD's outfits. The photopass pic in front of the castle is great.

 

[NYPDwife]

What a ham! I love the model pose!!

 

[jennykay]

subbing!

 

[bellasmommy0]

Subscribing.... Your kids are so cute, I just love your DD's outfits. The photopass pic in front of the castle is great.

Thansk, it is my DD and my nephew.

 

[bellasmommy0]

What a ham! I love the model pose!!

She does these crazy poses everywhere we go!! She thinks she is a supermodel!!