Yo Ho Yo Ho Ho Ho Pop Poly MVMCP Dec Days 1,2,3,4 *pics*

[tinkerbellmagic]

Yo Ho Yo Ho & Ho Ho Ho TRIP REPORT​

Who: Me and Grandson (DGS) age 6
When: 11/27-12/5, 2004
What: Land/Sea Package @ Pop Century/Poly/Disney Wonder
Ho ho ho! : 5 nights in WDW
Yo ho Yo ho! : 3 nights on the Disney Wonder ship
Special Events: MVMCP w/character dining at LTT
Disclaimer: I reserve the right to be confused as per what exactly we did on what day, k?

Some trip photos have been added below.

Our Disney History
This will be my 8th trip to Disney World since 1983 and my third Disney Cruise (3 night in 1999 + 7 night in 2003).
This will be my grandson's third trip to Disney World in three years, but his first cruise ever! We made a paper chain back in August to count the days! Woo hoo!
I am the Disney nut in the family. As the years have passed, more of my children have crossed over into the "rolls their eyes at the mention of Disney" phase, but my little grandson is still brimming with Disney magic, well, most of the time, anyway.

Pre-trip thoughts:
When I originally booked this trip, it was for a land/sea vacation beginning on a Sunday (11/28) at the Polynesian resort. I found a great excuse to add an extra night when I discovered I could save $200 on airfare by leaving on a Saturday instead. To justify this extra night, I booked it at a value resort. I choose Pop Century, because it looks cool and is newer than All Stars.

It will be only DGS and I on this trip, our grandma/grandson pre-Christmas vacation slash birthday trip. My oldest son just got married a few weeks earlier, so I felt a vacation was a perfect way for DGS and I to get away from it all and celebrate our birthdays. me at wedding I felt better knowing I had medical permission notes signed and notarized by my daughter, for DGS, not wanting a repeat performance of last year. DGS is a very active 6 year old, but I figure I am able to handle him on my own, as long as one of us does not get sick. Last year's trip was pretty sad as poor DGS spent the entire first day at WDW in the ER with an ear infection turning into Asthmatic Bronchitis. This trip is supposed to make up for it. After all, what are the odds of us both getting sick two years in a row?

Ok, on to our pre-Christmas magic with Mickey Mouse!

Transportation:
My transportation report covers ATA, Southern Elegance Towncar/Limo Service, Disney Transportation (bus, monorail, launch/boat), and DCL Mears bus. You can read my transportation report here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=693676

Dining: You can read my cheapskate dining report here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=693730

Resort:
We stayed at Pop Century one night only, then moved to the Polynesian. You can read my resort report including a few pics of the Legendary Years, here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=695438

Day 1 Saturday Nov 27
I wake up my husband at an ungodly hour to drive us to the Airport. It's less than 30 minutes away. He is a non-Disney person, but never minds seeing us go. It is usually raining or snowing whenever we leave for Disney. Today is no exception. Bye Bye, Chicago! After a smooth flight from Chicago to Orlando, we arrive just before lunchtime at the Pop Century via Southern Elegance towncar. Since we arrive a day earlier than our land/sea package starts, we are not able to use DCL ground transportation to Pop. I had originally booked a Mears van to cover that, but nagging thoughts of last years awful Mears experience forced me to cancel it and book a town car service instead. A wise choice.

The weather in FL is perfect - sunny, around 80. Check-in at Pop is a breeze. The resort layout is a bit confusing, but we manage to locate our room, which is in the 50s building. I find this to be a wonderful choice since I am celebrating my birthday on this trip and was born in the 50s. Our room is on the third floor facing the Lake and the mysterious Legendary Years section of Pop. Our room is cute and yes, it's small compared to Poly, but the price is also small compared to Poly, so I am very very happy. DGS loves Pop with all the icons, just as I imagined he would.

Coming from cold, damp Chicago, DGS is anxious to go swimming in December. We down a couple homemade muffins (I bake and freeze these beforehand to save $) and change into our swim suits. I give myself permission to skip the parks today because our "length of stay" passes start tomorrow. I keep telling myself it's ok not to do a park on Day 1, it's ok, really it is. We do, however, have two days of water park admissions left over from our 2003 park hopper passes. Now, I'm pretty exhausted after waking up at 3:30 am, but I ask DGS if he would like to hop a bus to Typhoon Lagoon or just stay at one of the enormously fun pools here at Pop. Just as I hoped, he chooses the bowling pin pool nearby. Isn't it great the way kids live for the moment?

An hour of pool splashing fun later, we go back to our room to change. DGS notices the Legendary Years buildings across the lake and is curious about them. I tell him the buildings cover the 1900s to 1940s, but Disney halted the construction on them and nobody knows why. Now the buildings just sit there with rooms, doors, and windows, but no people inside. DGS decides those buildings are probably haunted. A creepy, eerie, fun, sort of feeling comes over us as we gaze out across Hourglass Lake at the Legendary Years section of the Pop Century Resort. Intrigued, DGS wants to capture the moment on video. We do an impromptu "documentary" from our balcony with DGS narrating as he points to the lonely Legendary Years buildings, looking all forboding. Viewing this footage now, it is one of my favorite memories.

We grab a small bite to eat at the Pop Food Court. As I said in my Dining Report, the food court layout is rather confusing the first time you visit. I don't see any signs indicating where the heck the hotdogs are, but once you know where they are hiding certain foods, it is no problem. I keep meaning to try the tie dye cheesecake, but never have room for it. DGS and I admire it through it's plastic container and move on.

After our snack outside the food court, DGS says his lower legs are itchy. I am wondering what is causing this. Is he allergic to the suntan lotion? Did he brush up against some kind of plant? There are no hives or any obvious signs of allergy. All the way to the bus stop at Pop, he is scratching his legs. I asked him if we should go back to the room and take some medicine for the itching, but he said it will be ok. I suppose I thought it would be fine eventually and was too lazy to walk all the way back to the room. I throw caution to the wind and we hop the bus to downtown Disney.

Even after we start to walk around DTD, I notice he is still scratching his legs. I feel really guilty that he must be feeling pretty miserable with all this itching, (I'm Catholic, guilt is a natural state). Now, I must say, I tend to pack a lot of medicine on vacation, "just in case." After last years trip, I brought even more. I am now kicking myself for not going back to the room to give DGS a dose of Benedryl when we had the chance. The guilt gets the best of me as I search downtown Disney for some Benedryl. No luck, so I buy DGS a small GI Joe airplane and a pair of Buzz Lightyear sunglasses. Isn't this typical vacation logic? I had forgotten I could have gone to the first aid area. I tell DGS that we will have to leave DTD and go back to Pop for some Benedryl. Miraculously, the itching stops!

We venture into various stores. It's a tad crowded at DTD, but being the Saturday right after Thanksgiving, I imagined it would be much worse. I take DGS' photo with the life-size Bionicle statue. He is not interested in the Mr Potato Head (even after months of my comments about how "cute" they are with all those cool accessories), but he IS interested in creating one of those candy powder filled tubes. I make up some crazy, but logical sounding excuse as to why that is not a good idea.

I remember to bring the 'buy one sundae, get one free' coupon for Ghiradelli. We both LOVE ice cream! All I can say is, lucky thing for the discount, because this place is nothing special. We order the hot fudge sundaes. They give you plenty of icecream, but they really skimp on the chocolate topping. I doubt I will go back to Ghirardelli's, but it was a sweet deal with the coupon, well for WDW anyway.

We walk for quite awhile, then stop at McDonalds. I know, I know, how can you go to Mickey D's when surrounded by all those neat restaurants.. well, it was fast and we were exhausted. As late afternoon turns to evening, it starts to drizzle. Time to head back to Pop. While waiting with the crowd for the bus back to the resort, a loud crash and a bolt of thunder booms above us, so enormous and terrifying, that, in one fell swoop, DGS leaps into the air and lands on my lap. As soon as the shock wears off, we all giggle at everyones reactions to the thunderbolt.

On the way back to our room, we stop at Pop's game room. I usually avoid these places like the plague, but notice our favorite basketball game, so what the heck, we are on vacation. DGS wins some candy and a few little trinkets, one of which is a little yellow plastic dinosaur, which leads to a somewhat humorous event that occurs at the Polynesian on Day 6 of our trip. Well, I didn't think it was so humorous at the time, but DGS did.

We are absolutely wiped out! But before I hit the hay, I call Pop's front desk to arrange for our luggage to be picked up in our room around 9:30 am and transferred to the Polynesian Resort. Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom day! Yeah!

If those beds at Pop are as uncomfortable or lumpy as some have said, we sure do not notice it. We sleep like rocks. ZZzzzzzzzzzzz

Final Thoughts of the day:

Pop is better than I expected. Kids love resort pools. The next time I bring muffins on a trip, they will be stored in tupperware, not zip locks. What a crumbly mess -- though it did provide us with some humorous footage of DGS trying to eat said mess.

Stay tuned for Day 2 - Our move to the Polynesian, MK, Epcot

Here are links to last year's trip reports, but let me warn you, it aint pretty.
Pre-trip: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=477683
Bad Day 1: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=477698
Day 2: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=477944
Day 3 and 4: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=477976
I always meant to finish that report. Who knows, maybe I will.

Tink and Little Buzz

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Photos from our Yo Ho Yo Ho & Ho Ho Ho trip

DGS (left) meets a new friend at Pop's Bowling Pin pool. I'm glad my daughter bought DGS the water shoes. I must have hounded her for weeks about it.

"I wanna be a rock star" DGS at Pop playing "guitar."

And now, reporting live from the balcony of the Pop Century, is DGS with his commentary entitled, The Legendary Years -- Will It Ever Open?

Legendary Years across Hourglass Lake. So cold, so mysterious.

And a closer view of the haunted section!

DGS, the ham at Pop Century!

More photos to follow!
Tink

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Day 2: Sunday Nov 28 Poly, MK, & Epcot​

Who: Me and Grandson (DGS) age 6
When: 11/27-12/5, 2004
What: Land/Sea Package @ Pop Century/Poly/Disney Wonder
Weather: Perfect! Sunny - feels like high 70s/80
Where: Poly MK EPCOT

We wake up bright and early at Pop with a pre-arranged wake up call from Mickey. I had packed all I could the night before, so getting ready was a snap. Today we are moving out of Pop Century and into the Polynesian Resort. For extra incentive that my luggage makes a safe, swift, journey to Poly, I attach a tip in an envelope marked bell services, tape it to our luggage, leave the luggage in our Pop room, and off we go to the bus stop. We take some time to tour and snap pix of the other areas of Pop, such as the 80s and 90s buildings.

The simplest route from Pop to Poly would be a bus to MK, then a monorail to Poly. We hop a crowded bus and hang on for dear life. It's tough being so close to MK and not be able to enter the park, but all in due time. Our eyes sparkle with pixie dust just hearing the monorail announcement. This is my fourth time staying at Poly. We arrive to check-in around 10 am, expecting our room will not be ready and we're right (see my resort report for more Poly details). We are given our Key To The World cards and some information on a few extras, courtesy of our Land/Sea package -- more on that later. We are told to make sure to stop by the DCL desk at some point, to check in with them also, but we are anxious to visit MK!

We board the monorail wearing big smiles. 'What a different trip this is from last year,' I think, as I gaze out over Seven Seas Lagoon and the Grand Floridian. Yes, we're home again, home again, rickety jig. We arrive at MK expecting a mob scene, since this is the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We are surprised and delighted to see the crowds are pretty manageable. In fact, it is downright weird! A train nut, the first ride DGS chooses is the Disney Railroad for a trip around the park. At the Emporium, we purchase a Walt Disney World autograph book ($6) and matching pen ($3), a hobby we managed to avoid in previous years, until last year, when DGS wondered what the characters were writing in those blue books. Busted.

Where is everybody? We head over to Cinderella's Carousel for our answer. Everyone is in Fantasy Land! Still, this is not so bad. We ride the carousel and Snow White's Adventures. This is DGS' first time on Snow White. Let's just say once was enough for him, but he told me a few days later, he would go on this again, if I really wanted to.

Now I have had a headache for a while, but left my mega-hoard of aspirin in our luggage. We go to Casey's Hot Dogs for the best dogs in WDW, then grab the launch back to Poly around 2 pm, hoping our room is ready or that our luggage has arrived. No luck on the luggage, but at 2:30, they offer us a room in a different longhouse. We are now staying in Tokelau. See resort report for more details on this. We are thrilled with the view from our room and relax a bit. We make our way back to the GCH. Still no luggage, so we check out the "freebies" that come with the land/sea package.

According to the info given to us at check-in, we are entitled to two free Disney pins and two lanyards. I have always thought the pins were really neat, but do not need to start any more collections in this lifetime. But because they are free, we head on up to Trader Jacks in the GCH for our pins. The nice CM (I remember her from last year) picks two pins and hands them to me in a bag. DGS wants to see what we got. As he removes the pins from the bag, his eyes grow with dazzling interest. It was as if a ray of sunlight from the skylight of the Great Ceremonial House cast a magical mystical beam of light on the gleaming gold trimmed pins, which now seem to shine like new found treasure. And at that precise moment, a brand new obsessed Disney pin collector was born -- only, I didn't know it yet.

It all started so innocently. Our first pins were Goofy and Mickey. DGS announced the Mickey pin is his and the Goofy pin is mine. He insists we both wear our lanyards back to MK, where we arrive just before the Share A Dream Come True parade. I oblige, even though the idea of wrapping one more "thing" around my neck, makes me wonder if I will walk hunch back for the rest of my life. DGS notices a pin stand on Main Street. He is drooling over an Incredibles pin, but chooses a Chip and Dale pin instead. He proudly attaches his new pin to the landyard. As we sit on the curb on the Main Street hub, I look at DGS in his Buzz Lightyear shades, clutching his character signing book and Mickey ears pen and I smile. And then it hits me -- OMG, he has turned into a pin collecting, autograph book toting, Mr Potato Head Disney nut! All that's missing is the Mickey bar, hat, and balloon! My first reaction is 'what have I done!' My second is 'my daughter (his mom, the non-disney nut) will kill me,' and the third? Well, words cannot describe how proud of him I am at this moment. If he's trying to snow grandma into a few more trips in the near future, he is doing a swell job. But this is genuine! This is magical! And only a disneyaholic would understand this truly Kodak moment. Here it is!

The parade is wonderful, just as we remember it. SEE IT HERE and HERE. We enjoy ice cream on Main Street, ride the Indi Speedway (one of DGS' favorite rides), visit Mickey's Toon Town Fair, have an absolute blast on Buzz Lightyear, and ride it more than once. We laugh hysterically as we always do on our favorite TTA or Wedway, as I still call it, when the voice says, "Paging Mr Morrow, Mr Tom Morrow."

Weary from the fun, we monorail it back to Poly. It is 6 pm. We stop off at bell services, where we speak to a CM with attitude problems. I am in no mood for his mood, so I stupidly lug our bags all the way to the Tokelau House myself. Just so you know, it took from 9:30 am until 5:30 pm for our bags to go from Pop to Poly, so if you will need anything important, take it with you.

We relax for a bit and walk over to TTC to catch the monorail to Epcot to see Illuminations. We race up the ramp, but just miss the monorail. A CM tells us to wait for the next train on the bench in front. I knew this meant we would be riding in the front car with the engineer. Two other children joined us for a memorable night time ride to Epcot, but alas, those children come bearing plastic tubes filled with colored sugar and DGS says, "Remember you said I could have one of those?" Huh? What? Did I?
When our memorable ride to Epcot was over, I thanked the conductor for this magical moment. He then handed me a couple co-pilot cards and said, "Here's something for the scrapbook." Awwww

We ride Spaceship Earth, Maelstrom at Norway, watch the model train in Germany, fill up on funnel cakes, and end the evening with Illuminations, which we had never seen before. Uh, a word on those funnel cakes. Buy one and split it. You may regret eating a whole one yourself (see dining report )
After a long long day, I realize DGS is about to collapse. Since we weren't renting strollers this year, I forgot it would have been nice to have one in WS, which is a lot of walking, even for a 6 year old. The other benefit to the strollers, is being able to store your stuff in it and lean on it while walking. It sure helps when you're tired. To see a photo of the Epcot Germany model train (taken in 2003), tilt your head a little to the left and click HERE.

We monorail it back to Poly, end up at TTC, where we will walk to Tokelau... in the dark. DGS really couldn't walk anymore, so grandma ended up carrying him (all 45 lbs) on my shoulders, resting along the way. Add to that how dark the walkways are, with no real means of direction, and I had no idea if I was walking around in circles. The maps are worthless, if it's too dark to figure out where the "You Are Here" symbol is hidden. There needs to be light up signs at ALL walkways and all entries, so you can find your way back. How about light up signs saying, "This way to Tokelau" or "This way to Tahiti." We're not all 25 years old with 20/20 vision. Ok, rant over. Somehow, we find our way to Tokelau and all is right with the world. Well almost.

I wake up in the middle of the night not feeling too good. A stomach ache. A funnel ache. If I never see another funnel cake in my life... well, let's just say I was happy my drug arsenol included Pepto Bismol. I pull the curtains aside and look out onto Seven Seas Lagoon with CR off in the distance. I look at DGS sound asleep dreaming Disney dreams and know we are in the happiest place on earth. Night Night.... ZZZZzzzzzzz

Tink

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Day 3: Monday Nov 29 MK, Epcot, MGM​

Who: Me and Grandson (DGS) age 6
When: 11/27-12/5, 2004
What: Land/Sea Package @ Pop Century/Poly/Disney Wonder
Weather: From now on, assume the weather is perfect unless otherwise stated
Where: MK Epcot MGM

A phone call from Mickey wakes us up to another beautiful morning at Disney. I always love opening the curtains for the first time of the day and take in the view. Mmmmmm--- ahhhh.

Animal Kingdom was originally our chosen park for the day, but due to my funnel ache last night, I am leery of venturing out on a bus today. We decide to go back to MK, and later Epcot and MGM. These are all safe, mono-rail access parks.

The first words out of DGS this morning are, "Can I get another pin today, Grandma?" followed by a killer smile.
Suddenly, this whole pin collecting obsession takes on a whole new light. Wow, this is bribery bait if I ever saw it. Even Dr Phil would agree with that. "Well," I say, "We'll see how it goes today," as I give DGS one of those 'if you behave,' looks.

Last night I had the chance to look over the certificate they gave me at check-in with a list of freebies that come with the Land/Sea package. We are able to choose one. All seem to have an approximate value of $25. The list includes some of the following:
one custom poster (sounds nice, but I don't want to have to pack a poster and then worry about it getting ruined inside the luggage)
a $25 gift cert to Pizza Planet in DTD (no plans to return to DTD again and Pizza Planet doesn't exactly get rave reviews)
Mini-golf (don't have time)
Leave a Legacy tile (hmmm, sounds promising and won't clog up the suitcase)
and (can't remember the other offerings, if I do, I will list them).
I choose the Leave a Legacy tile at Epcot. DGS is 6 now, so if they guarantee it for 20 years, it sounds like a cool thing to do.

Breakfast at Captain Cooks starts our day, then we'll be off to MK! I would like to mention here that we really miss not being able to enjoy pancakes or waffles at Captain Cooks. DGS' masterpiece (the sheets the kids get to color) is finished and he hands it to one of the CMs behind the food counter. She promises to display it on the wall in Captain Cooks for all to see. The kids love this.

We board a rather crowded monorail and I have a hunch we will see a much different park today. Sure enough, throngs of people are piling in to MK. I remember the guide book saying Mondays are crowded at MK, but yesterday was Sunday and was not nearly as crowded as this and it had been the weekend after Thanksgiving.

We head for Frontier Land, but before going any farther, we stop on the totem pole bridge to have DGS' annual "growthchart" picture taken. This is something I made up when DGS was four years old. I took his picture using one of the totem poles as a measuring stick, so we could see how he progresses over the years. To see him in 2002, click HERE. To see DGS in 2004, click HERE.

We explore Swiss Family Tree House. I can do without this attraction, but DGS likes it. We ride Aladdin's Magic Carpet, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise (which DGS loves), Dumbo, Indy Speedway again, TTA, and Buzz Lightyear. DGS got very lucky. He must have shot the robot in a particular spot which gave him a sudden killer score. He was thrilled! Since there was no line at the tea cups, I thought maybe I could handle it if we do the same thing we did last year, and that is NO SPINNING! Yes, it's possible if you hold the wheel steady, which isn't easy. I don't spin well. We rode the train again and stopped to buy the pin for the day, which was the Incredibles pin DGS admired the day before. We rode Peter Pan (his first time on it) and enjoyed the relaxing cool setting (even though it smells like dampness and mold lol). Break time!

We grab the launch back to Poly, where lots of folks are having fun in the volcano pool. We run in to change into our swimsuits and have a great time at the pool. DGS loves this. Since he was sick last year, he never got to use it. There are plenty of people swimming today, but it is not overly crowded. We ate somewhere during the day, it was probably Casey's, but don't remember. Back in the room, we rest up and I endure more of Crissa's Top Seven ... or is it 8... To see DGS on the Poly beach, click HERE.


By this time, my feet are killing me from the walking, but alas, no blisters due to the moleskin I had precut and put in a zip lock. Just after dinner time, we muster the energy to walk to TTC and grab the monorail to Epcot. Our missions? To cash in on the Leave a Legacy Tile and catch the Osborne Lights. Luckily, the Legacy booth is still open. It's taking a while to get waited on, seems a bit disorganized, but what the heck, it's free! We fill out a form and have our pic taken. Yeah, cool!

Now DGS has two favorite things -- the leap frog fountains at Epcot and the Bug Life play area in MGM. Our first stop is the fountains. To say DGS had a blast is putting it mildly. A number of kids and adults got into the act. DGS is on the right -- see the fun HERE. DGS was getting a bit soaked and it was getting cool out, so time to head over to MGM. We take a stroll around WS for a bit, no funnel cakes this time, then we take the International Gateway to the boat to MGM. We head straight for New York Street to see the Osborne Lights. With Christmas carols playing and snowflakes falling, the display is beautiful. This is our first time seeing them. We ask a CM, and awww.. too bad for DGS... the Bugs Life park is closed. We pop into the Villains Store to see if there is anything my 16 year old daughter (who loves villains and pirates) might like me to bring her. Hmmm, looks like the store outside of POTC had more to her liking, so nothing bought here. We stop for ice cream at Hollywood Scoops. *pet peeve alert* .. so many people cut in line at the shops and stands.. I wish the CMs would say, "next in line" instead of "I'm open over here".. we finally get our ice cream and it's so delicious. Sure hits the spot.

Time to head back to the Poly. Tomorrow is MVMCP and I do not want to be out late tonight. We take the boat from MGM back to Epcot. You know how long and slow this ride is... well, add to that, two screaming toddlers.. not just crying, but that blood curdling screaming that hurts your throat just listening to it. Kids will be kids, but in one case, the toddler was out way past her bedtime. One exhausted child was seated directly behind us. Here is how the convo went:
*toddler is screaming and crying*
mom to toddler: "I'm so sorry I forgot your other blankie."
WAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaa
*toddler's starts to quiet down*
mom to toddler: "Just use this other blankie until we get back to the room."
WAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa
*toddler starts to quiet down*
mom to toddler: "We'll be back to the room soon and then I'll get your other blankie."
WAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa
*toddler starts to quiet down*
Now I thought grandma had more sense, but no...
grandma to mom: "Why is she crying?"
mom to grandma: "She wants her other blankie"
WAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa
*toddler starts to quiet down*
grandpa to grandma: "What's with all the crying?"
grandma says loud enough for toddler (who is whimpering and dozing off, but still has her radar on) to hear: "She wants her other blankie."
WAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa
*Me thinking - this is such a looooooooonnnng boat ride.*
Mom gets off the boat at Dolphin, but promises to meet up with parents at Boardwalk as soon as she grabs other blankie.
grandma to grandpa: "I don't know why she kept the baby up so late. I told her to let the baby take a nap earlier, but she said no. Bla bla bla"

Night time at the Polynesian... we snag a hammock at the beach to watch the electric water pagaent and fireworks. What a beautiful, magical night in Disney World.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Day 4: Tuesday Nov. 30 MK & MVMCP​

Who: Me and Grandson (DGS) age 6
When: 11/27-12/5, 2004
What: Land/Sea Package @ Pop Century/Poly/Disney Wonder
Where: MK & MVMCP

As you probably guessed, MK is my favorite park and that is where we are headed again today. DGS loves it too, but he seems to love all the parks equally. Tonight is Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, so we want to conserve our (my) energy.

MK: After a few rides, I realize DGS has never ridden Jungle Cruise. I have a hunch he will like it and I'm right. He wants to ride it again as soon as we get off the ride, but I talk him out of it and promise we can ride again some time (unfortunately, I am unable to keep my promise with so much else to do and so little time). We ride POTC and stop at Plaza Del Sol to buy a pirate shirt as a souvenir for my teen daughter. It says "Pillaging Since 1776." We find a cool Jack Nightmare Before Christmas top that I know she will love, but alas, it only comes in Adult size XS, which looks like it would fit an 8 year old. The CM gives us the SKU number so we can order it from home.

We enjoy lunch at Casey's Hot Dogs (around $14.00 and no, we are not getting tired of Caseys yet and if you compared them to the dogs at Captain Cooks, you'd know why ). DGS and I are so happy dining outdoors with beautiful Cinderella's castle as our backdrop. DGS is in such a good mood, he starts to sing the Main Street USA song as it's being played. I'm not even sure how he knows this song, so I was surprised. Musical talent runs in our family (unfortunately, this gift skipped my sisters and I, even though our parents were professional singers) so DGS is a pretty good singer, right on key. When he realizes I'm listening though, he stops. I try to bribe him with another pin, if he will sing again. No luck.

After lunch, we watch a show in front of the castle, then head over to ride Buzz Lightyear again. Photo Fun at Buzz, click HERE..
Later, we run into the talking garbage can. DGS loves this. Now I don't know why I couldn't just let the magic continue, but I stupidly (but not obviously to others) point out the rather good looking guy that was "working the can." After that, DGS was rather intrigued by this whole operation. Once the can routine was over we made our way into Mickey's Star Traders. While I am paying for the pin of the day (he chose a Test Track pin), I notice DGS walking around the store doing an impeccable impersonation of the talking garbage can guy, right down to the high pitched voice, sunglasses, and the inconspicuous thumb to the mouth manuever. I had told DGS a few years ago that when he gets a little older, he could be the new Aladdin (another slice of magic spoiled by grandma -- "but isn't that the real Aladdin?"). But hey, the talking garbage can has to pay better, right?

Another ride on the TTA with Mr Tom Morrow. Each trip I try to snap a memorable photo of DGS with the castle in the background while riding TTA. Once off the ride, we are thrilled to find Buzz Lightyear, one of DGS' favorite characters. See Buzz & DGS HERE..
Now we head over to ride the Indy Speedway. Despite the choking exhaust fumes, this is clearly one of DGS' fave rides. Later we ride Dumbo and DGS insists I film what's behind the wall, which we can snatch glimpses of, when Dumbo is flying his highest.

We hang out in Toon Town for a bit. We visit with Mickey HERE..
We head over to the Main Street Bakery to grab some cold drinks ($5 for two). It is when we cut through the Main Street Confectionary that I realize my stalling time has run out on the Goofy Sour Power thingamajigs that all the kids seem to have ($3, yes, I keep my receipts to help me with my trip reports). DGS has a ball filling the plastic tube with assorted colored sugar as I cringe at the thought of him eating it all. Not wanting to miss some of this confectionary fun, but with a clear desire to miss some of those carbs, I fill a clear cello paper cone full of odd-colored M & Ms to bring home for my daughter, who appreciates anything odd. I have a wonderful convo with the CM who checks our purchases. We talk about the upcoming cruise portion of the trip, info which I'm sort of surprised to discover is in the computer, each time I pay for something.

Back to the resort to rest before MVMCP. We stop in the shops at Poly looking for a tropical/Hawaiin shirt for DGS to wear to dinner on the ship. He is making faces at all the shirts I hold up. I realize maybe it's silly to buy a shirt he will most likely wear one or two days at most, so I do not buy it (in retrospect, I should have). We take a quick dip in the pool, then it's back to our room to rest.

I had purchased MVMCP tix many months ago, so no worries. We have PS at LTT for 5:35 pm. This will be our third MVMCP and third time attending character dining at LTT on MVMCP day. We don our Santa hats and off we go! We monorail it over to MK and arrive for our PS just in the nick of time. To see my dining report, go here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=693730
DGS with Minnie at LTT, click HERE!.
The honey rolls and apple crisp are so tasty! Our delicious meal at LTT cost $36 before tip. When we leave LTT, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The park lights are dim, yet the Christmas lights are twinkling all over. You can just feel the party atmosphere taking shape.

While this is our third year in a row attending MVMCP, we have never had the free photo taken. The first year, we couldn't find the locations in time before the lines got too long. The second year, by the time we found the location, DGS didn't want to do it. That was the year he wasn't feeling too well though. This year, I was determined to get the darn photo taken, but looking at the Christmas Party map they give you to show the locations of the photos and cookies, there is a large illustration of a camera, but it takes up quite a bit of the map and they do not tell you the exact locations, they just say "photos in adventureland" -- yeah, but where??? We wander from store to store asking CMs where the photos are. Even they didn't know. Come to think of it, this happened last year too. I would ask where cookies were or where the photos were and no one seems to know.

Ah, we find the photo location. Where was it? Darned if I remember. Line wasn't too bad. I want DGS in the photo alone, so I can give it to my daughter for Christmas. They make a note that I am to receive two photos, even though only one person is in the photo. DGS gets his photo taken and I'm happy to see he is still wearing his Santa hat. When the photo package arrives weeks later, only one photo is inside. I call the Kodak people. They were so very nice and sent out more photos.

We enjoy a wonderful show in front of the castle, but the crowds make it hard for little ones to find a good spot to see it all. Still, it's a happy time. The snowflakes on the castle are beautiful, so festive. The snow on Main Street is a magical sight. DGS loves trying to catch them. We head over to Buzz Lightyear for the DIS meet. We stand with a group of DISers, but DGS doesn't want to wait around. He wants to ride TTA. We are delighted to find out that riding TTA at night, you see more inside of Space Mountain as you pass through. By the time our ride is over, the DISers must be already in line inside Buzz or had ridden it already, but we get in line to ride it anyway. We run back in line for a second time. Futureland is breathtakingly beautiful tonight with all the lights.

Time for the Christmas parade. We loved this parade last year. Chip and Dale are DGS' absolute favorite characters and we mentioned to them while eating at LTT earlier, how we are looking forward to seeing them on the "baking cookies" Christmas float, just like last year.

We find a spot to watch the parade right in front of a store. It was a narrow little street with not much visibility to the right and left, but it was a pretty good spot until a man with a camera stood next to us in the direction the parade would be coming from. He stood in such a way that blocked our view, and especially DGS' view. He turned to us and said, "You have to excuse me, I'm like a little kid at these parades." I felt like saying, 'Well, this little boy IS a little kid, so can you stand back a little?' My icy stare does make him stand back a bit and I didn't think it was going to be too bad. He tried not to be in the way at first, but once the parade started, he would step in front of us and snap away. He made it almost impossible for me to tape the parade. I think he took about 10-15 pics for each float. All I could think of was, how obnoxious! We are able to see the parade when it is directly in front of us so I don't want to ruin a magical night with any confrontations.

At one point, Cinderella's carriage stops right in front of us for over a minute. Since this is a narrow street, she is very close. She keeps looking down and smiling and winking at DGS. She wasn't even doing that squinty eye smile they usually do to make it look like they are smiling at everyone. She was obviously smiling, waving, and winking at DGS off and on. I said to him, "Look, she is looking at you." He wasn't too happy to be the center of attention of this beautiful princess and those standing around us and got all embarrassed (I have it on tape.. hehe). It was really cute. That made what happened with Mr Obnoxious, worth it in the end. Afterall, Cinderella was not smiling and winking at him.. haha.

We saw Chip and Dale at the beginning of the parade. They were on foot. DGS wondered why they weren't on their baking cookies float. Later in the parade, here comes the baking cookies float, but where are Chip and Dale? Uh oh, Goofy is riding the float instead of Chip and Dale. As the float passes, DGS starts calling out to Goofy. "Hey, Goofy, Chip and Dale are supposed to be on there! What are you doing on there? It's supposed to be Chip and Dale!" It's pretty funny seeing it now, but at the time, I was glad the Christmas carols were louder than DGS' objections. The parade was beautiful. The gingerbread men were adorable and so were the wooden soldiers, Mrs Santa, and the reindeer. What a beautiful sight!

The wishes fireworks are awesome. Nothing does Disney magic quite like this. Well, that is, until some woman behind me says, "Can you move your head?" I felt like saying, "Sure, I'll just place it over here near the hedges." Instead, I gave her a dirty look and moved up about 6 feet, which is what she should have done. Sheesh! It wasn't that crowded in that area. What a meanie. I don't want to be complaining about all this, but I ran into quite a few rude people at the parks.

It is pretty dark in MK during the party, so the maps are hard to read (well, for me, anyway). We manage to find one of the elusive cookies and hot chocolate areas in Futureland. The hot chocolate is not as dangerously hot as last year, so that's good. The cookies, however, are plain sugar cookies. They are not the large Christmas cookies in different shapes with red and green sprinkles of last year. DGS likes them. I'm sure both types of cookies taste like store bought cookies, but I kind of miss the festive shaped sugar sprinkled cookie. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find these very cookies a few days later, in abundant supply, on the island of Castaway Cay, on the cruise portion of our trip. Sheesh, I hope they weren't left over from last year.

We don't see Twas the Night Before Christmas show this year, but caught it last year. After a bit Fantasyland really clears out after a bit, so it's worth sticking around. We ride a few rides. We got Donalds autograph and a photo of him in his winter attire. If your kids are into characters, check out the Fantasyland holiday hop. DGS was able to dance with Chip and Dale. See DGS & Dale HERE!. After riding Peter Pan a couple times, we ride Dumbo (I think).

We were both getting pretty tired. My feet and legs ached. Time to head out. We stop at the Emporium, but Christmas party souvenirs are not to be found. I see a CM starting to put away some of the bright red Tinkerbell Christmas sweatshirts, which I would have loved, but you know how when you are exhausted, you don't much care? We wait about 30 mins for the monorail, which is a bummer when it's late, but it felt oh so good when we finally sat down. It was a long slow ride back to Poly. There were tired princes and princesses everywhere. All in all, we had a magical night. Twas a great party.

Zzzzzzzzzz

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Day 5: Wednesday Dec. 1 Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom​

Who: Me and Grandson (DGS) age 6
When: 11/27-12/5, 2004
What: Land/Sea Package @ Pop Century/Poly/Disney Wonder
Where: Animal Kingdom & last day in Magic Kingdom

Today is Animal Kingdom Day! Do we walk to TTC or catch the bus at Poly? We choose Poly and wait only about 10 minutes for the bus. In no time at all we are walking through the gates past the gorgeous Animal Kingdom Christmas tree. Our first stop is Dinoland. We have a great time riding the Dino Dumbos (?) See ride HERE..

DGS wants his face painted. There are many interesting choices of animals. He chooses a dinosaur design for $10. Now here is a child that typically does not sit still, but he did not move a muscle during this session. See it HERE. The whole process didn't take very long, not more than ten minutes. We were both very happy with the results. Too cute! Now I know what I want to be when I grow up.

to be continued.....

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Day 6: Thursday Dec. 2​

Day 6 will be here, with Final Thoughts below. The sea portion will be on the DCL trip reports section. A link will be provided when that report is completed.
Thanks!
Tink

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Final thoughts will be here.

 

[llij]

Can't wait to read the rest of your report! What a super grandmother you are to take your grandson to Disney!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your report! It's great so far, and your DGS is adorable

 

[IloveDMB]

I remember reading your reports last year. Looks like this year got off to a much better start!

Your grandson is adorable! Now you have another Disney nut in the family. Strength in numbers, you know?

 

[MelessaG]

Just for clarification-the mom, grandma, and screaming toddler on the boat were NOT, I repeat, NOT us-even though we were at WDW at the time. I was a little nervous reading the trip report until I got to the part about the Dolphin-we didn't stay there. Besides, my fit-thrower thinks her blankie is "too good" for the actual parks. It only likes to hang out in WDW resorts. Thank goodness.
Seriously though, I'm really enjoying your reports and I will stay tuned for more. Those pins are pretty addictive, aren't they?

 

[Fortuosity]

What fun and special memories for you and your grandson! Thanks for sharing.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

My trip report has been updated to add Day 4 and the first half of Day 5. Sorry it took me so long. I saw the post on unfinished trip reports and knew I was guilty. Thank you for all the wonderful comments about our trip so far. It's nice to know some people are enjoying my looooooooong reports. And yes, this trip was heaven compared to last years.

Just for clarification-the mom, grandma, and screaming toddler on the boat were NOT, I repeat, NOT us-even though we were at WDW at the time. I was a little nervous reading the trip report until I got to the part about the Dolphin-we didn't stay there. Besides, my fit-thrower thinks her blankie is "too good" for the actual parks. It only likes to hang out in WDW resorts. Thank goodness.
Seriously though, I'm really enjoying your reports and I will stay tuned for more. Those pins are pretty addictive, aren't they?

You know, lol, I debated on whether or not to include the bit about the screamers on the boat back to Epcot in fear of exactly what you brought up. What if the screamer's family reads this... what then? Having raised four kids, I have been the mom of "the screamer" more times than I can count, so hopefully the Tantrum family will not take offense... but then again, maybe next time, they will bring the darn other blankie!

Tink

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Woohoo thanks for adding more! I can't wait to read the second part And once again, your DGS is soooo cute