Year of a Million Goosebumps Trip Report - Day 2 added

[Mcbruns]

Disney Trip Report
January 27 – 30 2007
All Star Music Resort

Cast:
Me (aka Grumpy – given that name a few years ago by fellow scrapbookers – I’d rather be Grumpy than Dopey): official Disney and DIS addict
Husman: one level below addict (first trip to Disney was in 1998 and has been hooked since)
DD: 7 years old and loves Disney – less adventurous
DD: 6 years old and loves Disney – more adventurous

It’s official – I am a Disney addict. We have been to Disney every year with our daughters since 2003. We didn’t plan it that way – it just happened. A few of our trips have been with another family (not half as addicted as we are), but this trip was just ‘us’.

We had a great trip last summer and knew we would be back in 2007, just not sure when. One night in September, Husman and I were talking and I believe he diagnosed me with “DiSney Envy”. A number of people at work had just returned from Disney and that’s all they were talking about. Husman asked “Wanna go to Disney in January?” Hello ? You don’t have to ask me twice – YES !
Side Note: before this trip was booked, I had secretly been planning to surprise the family with a trip in May for DD7’s birthday. When husman asked about going in January, I had to say yes. He would certainly suspect something if I would have said no. Keep reading to see if that trip will happen.

Back to the show –

We booked thru AAA with the dining plan. We have done trips with and without the dining plan. Husman took the time to figure out how much it would cost without the dining plan. Not including alcohol, it would be approx. $781 for 4 days without the dining plan OR $300 with the dining plan. We booked the dining plan and I am happy to report we came home with 0 credits.

Our flight left Philly on January 27th at 7:00am. Our flight even left a few minutes early (this has never happened – must be a good sign). We flew Airtran and had no problems. We landed at 9:04am and were on our ME bus by 9:40. All Star Music was the second stop. One of our Disney goals is to stay at every Disney resort. We have experienced all levels of hotels, and decided on All Star Music this time. No complaints about the hotel.

We arrived to the hotel around 10:30am and our room was ready. We were in Rock Inn – first floor corner facing the parking lot.

Today's weather: Sunny and mid 70's

After a quick stop in the room, we were off to MGM. We didn’t have to wait long for a bus. Our first stop was lunch. We wanted something quick and decided on the ABC Commissary. This was not a favorite for us. I don’t think we’ll be rushing back. I know, I know – I should have known better. I have read a few negative reviews on the boards, but we wanted to try something we’ve never tried before. The order taker was slow (we found this to a theme for counter service this weekend). Husman and I split the Noodle stir fry and Cuban sandwich. The sandwich was ok. The noodles were blah. Kids were fine with chicken nuggets.

Ok – time for the rides!

First up was the Great Movie ride. This is one of our kids favorites in MGM. We had the bank robber and it was a little different than last year. We liked seeing the small change. We headed towards The Little Mermaid and grabbed a fast pass. The line was not long, but since we were doing a long weekend, we wanted to take every advantage we could. Our return time was close, so we headed into One Man’s Dream. We had walked thru here before, but really took our time this time round. It’s neat that our kids found it interesting.

It was now time for our Voyage. Next we walked back towards the stunt show. Last trip we missed the very beginning – they were still letting people it – so we went. Great show.

One positive about going in January was the lack of crowds. One very negative is the weather. January to me is a gamble. We’re from Pennsylvania, so anything above 30 degrees in January is great. Unfortunately we arrived smack in the middle of sold ! Our MGM day was ok, but it got chiller every day.

We all enjoyed the stunt show!

After the show, we headed to Star Tours and grabbed Fast passes. The wait wasn’t long, but hey – why wait at all? We sat for a snack and found a spot for the parade. After the parade, the girls and I Toured the Stars while Husman took a break. After the Tour, we caught the High School Musical Pep Rally float coming out. It was cute.

Our 7 year old daughter is not a fan of loud attractions, so we have never seen Indiana Jones (with the kids). We were walking past as a show was getting ready to start. They were just about to ask for volunteers from the audience and I told Husman to raise his hand. He did and was the first one asked. I am a total chicken. Have you see the size of the theater? HUGE? It seats 2000 (says Deb’s All Ears). No way – not for me. But it’s ok for me to ask Husman to do it. He was a townsperson. He did great. Our kids thought it was neat that daddy was in the show. They really enjoyed the show. Some pics of our townsman.

He's the big guy in pink (I don't think pink is his color)

After the show we headed over to the pin shop under the Mickey Hat. We decided to do the Movie Ride again since there was no wait. The park was not crowded at all. Yah! As the sun was setting it started to get pretty chilly. I hope it won’t be this way all weekend. We had pretty much seen everything we wanted, so we headed over the boardwalk. We had an ADR for Spoodles -- one of our favorite restaurants. We were about an hour early for our ADR. We asked if we could get in sooner and we could. Another good reason for going in January. We know this wouldn’t happen during peak times.

Our waiter was Wayne – he was a spunky one. Flatbread and the sampler for appeteeezers. Yum. I had the salmon and husman had the pasta. Both were great. It felt like it was 2:00 am in the morning. We had been up since 4:00am – we were all tired. Not too tired for dessert though. Husman and I shared the vanilla Crème Brulee. We were using dining credits for this dinner and Wayne was pushing us to get 2 desserts. We thanked him, but we were tired and full. One dessert was just what we needed.

We walked to the front of the Boardwalk for a taxi back to hotel. One was ready for us. He dropped us off right in front of our building – that was nice since we were all pretty tired. It wasn’t even 9:30, but we were all wiped. Good Night.

What we liked best about day 1: best weather we had the entire trip(little did we know)
What we liked least about day 1: ABC Commissary

 

[natale1980]

GREAT START! Can't wait to read more!

 

[2giddy4wdw]

Great review so far...can't wait to read more!!!

 

[Mcbruns]

Thanks for reading. I'm working on part 2 and hope to have up soon.

 

[krismom]

Awww your husband is a good sport! I love the photo of them walking together- priceless!

 

[Mcbruns]

Awww your husband is a good sport! I love the photo of them walking together- priceless!

Thanks ! I love this shot too. Who knows how much longer the kids will want to hold hands ??

 

[Mcbruns]

Day 2 Magic Kingdom here we come (EMH pm)

Weather Forecast: high 60’s – decreasing as the day progressed

We had an ADR for Chef Mickey’s at 9:20 am. Chef Mickey’s is our favorite character meal.

For breakfast.

We always try to visit the Chef each visit.

Even though the crowds were low, I wanted to make sure we arrived on time. I set a wake-up call for 7:30am. I know – way early huh? I agree. But we were in bed pretty early the night before, so we had plenty of sleep. We all got up with no problems. Reminding the girls we’re at Disney always helps.

We decided to take a bus to the Magic Kingdom and walk over. I had checked the weather up until the morning we left. It was supposed to be 60’s and 70’s. I figures we’d (the girls) would be safe with capri’s and t-shirts. I am so glad I packed sweatshirts. We (the girls) wore our sweatshirts most of the day. Husman was fine in shorts.

Another early arrival for us. We are NEVER early. Is this really happening? Must be Disney !!!

Chef Mickey’s was hopping, but not packed. They were able to seat us a little early. Thanks ! We were in the back room. Not my favorite spot – we seem to enjoy the main room better.

Anywho – breakfast was good. We ate and ate some more. YUMMY! The character interaction was pretty good. We ended up having them all visit our table towards the end of our meal. For some reason, our children will not partake in the napkin twirling party. No way – no how.

Girls with Donald (I don’t recall Donald being at Chef Mickey’s before).

After breakfast we got on the monorail. While stopped at the Poly, they asked everyone to get off. Technical difficulty. Man – we were ahead of schedule and monorail difficulty?? Luckily, we only waited about 5 minutes for new one.

Off to the Magic Kingdom. This was an extra magic hour pm. The park was scheduled to close at 8:00pm. We had Big plans for the day and night. Multiple rides and no lines here we come (we hope).

We typically head over to Fantasyland first, but being it was not park opening, we tried a different strategy. Adventureland first. Worked out ok.

The wait for Jungle Cruise was 20 minutes. I was surprised. We grabbed fast passes and headed over to Pirates. The wait said 10 minutes, but it was actually less than that. We got to see the updates last year and couldn’t wait to go on again. We all enjoy this ride. Getting to see Captain Jack is always nice.

After Pirates we headed to the Tiki Room. Our youngest daughter has never been. Nice place for a break. The girls liked it. I can skip it for our next trip. We took our cruise next. The man sitting next to me was legitimately laughing at some of the jokes. This was cracking me up more than the captain was.

Our next stop was Big Thunder ! This is DD6 all time favorite ride. Our 7 year old has never been. She surprised us this time and wanted to go on – yah ! This could be our new family ride. She loved it ! Thank goodness. Ironically she likes Primeval Whirl in AK, but does not consider that a coaster.

Our next ride was the Haunted Mansion. Right on with no wait. We have all been on this before, but for some reason DD6 did not like it this time. Next up was It’s A Small World – no wait. Then we grabbed Fastpasses for Peter Pan. The MK was a little more crowded than I thought it would be today.

After our flight, we went to Pinocchio’s for lunch. Another slow counter service. A tour came in after we were in line – good timing for us. Lunch was ok. We give Pinocchio’s a C.

We needed our Buzz fix. Walked right on Buzz and the TTA. We always enjoy the TTA. Another nice little break.

We caught a bit of the afternoon parade, saw the Carousel of Progress, watched the Castle show and rode Pirates again. As the day progressed it continued to get chillier. The weather was hitting the 50’s (says husman). I was beginning to wonder if we would make it for the EMH.

We had an ADR for Liberty Tree Tavern (which we enjoy), but decided to cancel and ride what we could before it got colder. Hey – it’s not supposed to be cold now

During our vacation!

What’s going on?

We waited for a table at Casey’s for dinner. Casey’s was packed ! People were coming in to warm up. We used Counter credits for this meal. Husman manned the line while I manned the table with the girls. The young kid taking the order could not figure out how to take our credits. I don’t see the problem. Ugghhh. Little did we know, we really muffed it up! More on that tomorrow.

We grabbed Fast passes earlier for Big Thunder. The fast pass line was pretty crowded. They must have had some problems with fastpasses, because they had what looked to be a bouncer checking passes. We got off Big Thunder and headed towards mainstreet. We walked a little bit and saw Spectro coming towards us. We found a good spot and enjoyed the parade. This is one of our favorites !

Can I get a hot coffee please – man was it cold out!

After the parade we continued towards Mainstreet. We shopped a little and caught Wishes from the Center Hub. Pretty good spot. I always attempt pics of Wishes and they usually don’t turn out.
My attempts:

Sorry - I'm not the best picture sizer gal

We did some more shopping (along with 108 other people trying to keep warm). Our youngest daughter lost one of her front teeth in the morning, so we need to do some ‘shopping’ for this.

Found something and we headed out. It was just too dang cold. Sweatshirts and capri’s just weren’t cutting it. No way do I want any of us getting sick while at the World.

We were in line for the ASMu bus with about 20 or so others. A bus was waiting for the ASMo with no one in line. The nice bus driver called us over. Most in line hesitated. Not us ! Come on girls let’s go. Another early night for us.

We stayed at the Contemporary last June. Boy we miss the monorail.

What we liked best about day 2: BTMRR is our new family ride
What we liked least about day 2: Chilly weather on our vacation. Brrr . . . me no like the cold in Florida