Trip Report - Days 1- 8
About This Page: This is a discussion on Trip Report - Days 1- 8 within the Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports, part of the PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel; Hi, all! We got back late last night and fell exhausted and happy into bed! It is nice to be ...
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Hi, all! We got back late last night and fell exhausted and happy into bed! It is nice to be home but we miss WDW already!
Cast: dh - 48 (but child at heart)
me - 35 today!!!
4 dd: 13, 12, 2, 1
Our flight arrived on time at 4:00pm. Got the rental car and drove to the hotel. Checked in and they had one of the two rooms I requested but they were not able to get us non-smoking connecting until the next day. Took the rooms for the night and were able to change over to the two connecting rooms we wanted on Sunday so it worked out well. We had rooms 4532 and 4534 at the Beach Club. I had chosen those two rooms because a web site with the hotel maps claimed that 4532 had a "HUGE" balcony. NOT! The two rooms had balconies to sit and the view of the woods was nice. Also we could see the Epcot ball through the trees. We had no rooms across from us and one next to 4534. The stairs closest to Epcot, which noone but us seemed to use, were right outside our room. Don't take these rooms if you want to be close to the lobby or an elevator. I think we were about as far away as we could get so it was VERY quiet!
Dropped our luggage, got our boxes of groceries, put the babies in the backpack carriers and headed off to our PS in Norway at 7:30. Only a 5 minute wait and the food was great! Went on the Norway ride and the Mexico ride before watching Illuminations. Back to the room to crash around 10:00. Tomorrow: MK in the morning; Crystal Palace for lunch; Epcot in the afternoon; and Japan for dinner.
Looks like you're off to a great start! Can't wait to read what you did next. We usually stay at the YC but look enviously at how much closer the BC is to Epcot while we're walking back.
Can I ask you to please post all of the days of your report as replies to this one as per the board guidelines? (You can change the subject of the original post as you add more segments. I'm going to move days 2 and 3 as replies to this one. This will make is SO much easier for all of us to follow your report!
Thanks, and looking forward to more of your report!
Had our wake up call at 7:00. Jumped out of bed ready to go!!! Put the kids in the backpack carriers and headed off. The carriers were totally the way to go! We did not have to take them out for rides or to get on buses. Also, if they fell asleep we can just leave them in and put them down on the stands! It does take a lot of stamina but we work out a lot so it was fine. My pack with the baby was about 25 pounds and dh had about 30 pounds with the older baby. We felt we got a good workout each day and had breaks in the afternoons when the babies slept.
Had a long wait for the buses (20 minutes plus) but finally got there. Went straight to Dumbo which was already packed so we skipped it and rode Pooh and Snow White. Rode the other rides in Fantasyland (can't remember which ones but pretty much hit them all except Dumbo). Seemed very crowded. Pirates was next and then off to Crystal Palace. We had PS at 11:30 and were seated by about 11:40. My magical moment happened! We were sitting at the table and my 2 year old saw Piglet and almost burst out of her skin! she screamed, "Piglet!" This was her first time to see a character and it was so cute. I was worried about the one year old being afraid of them but she loved them too! Took lots of pictures! I would HIGHLY recommend the Crystal Palce for lunch! We got a lot of time with the characters and the food was great!
We took the babies back to the room to meet the babysitter at 1:00. We probably should have given ourselves 2 hours to have lunch and get back each day instead of 1 1/2 since we sometimes felt rushed. The sitter was Candi from Kid's Nite Out. We LOVED her and so did the babies! Mostly the babies slept (3 1/2 hours!) until we got back at 5:00 from Epcot.
After dropping the babies off, the 13 and 12 yr olds and the parents ran off to Epcot. Headed to Test Track which had no FastPasses left and had a 90 minute wait! Got FastPasses to Mission:Space and went on Universe of Energy and Buzz. I started to feel bad. I mean REALLY bad! One of the worst headaches of my life so I went to FirstAid to sleep while the rest of the family went on Mission:Space without me as well as Cranium Command. They liked Mission:Space quite a bit and after a 1 1/2 of rest and a few Tylenol, I felt great.
Back to the room to get the babies and then we went to Japan for our 6:30 PS. On the way to the restuarant, we saw the candy lady in Japan. Amazing! She made a pig for my 12 yr old and a dolphin for the 13 yr old. She is so funny, sweet and so talented!!! The wait at the resturant was about 15 minutes. Our chef at the resturant was fun and the food was good. We walked around after dinner just looking at shops in different countries, saw Illuminations again and walked back to the room.
Bed by about 10:30. Tomorrow: Cape May Breakfast; Typhoon Lagoon; Beaches & Cream; Animal Kingdom; Cape May Cafe Clam Bake
Day #3 - Cape May; Typhoon Lagoon; Beaches & Cream; AK
"Dh and I got up at 6:00 to go workout at the fitness facility at Beach Club while the kids slept. Not a bad place to workout but did not have very many machines. I likes Ft Wilderness better a couple of years ago.
Got the kids up around 8:00 and we went to our 8:30 PS at Cape May. Great breakfast and lots of time with the characters. Highly recommend this breakfast!
Off to Typhoon Lagoon. Got there about 10 minutes before opening and were able to get chairs under a tree. Did take the stroller on this day. seemed like all of the crowds from yesterday left. We loved the lazy river! I was not impressed with the kids area. The slides were very fast and the bottom of the slides were so rough! Ouch!
Left around 12:00 to take the babies back to the room for the sitter who was Candi again. Fed the babies in the room and the teens and parents went to Beaches and Cream for lunch. Was good food. Decided we wanted to go to AK for an afternoon of "adult" rides instead of returning to TL like we had planned.
The buses to AK are so great! Much better then MK! Went on several rides and were able to just walk on all of them with no longer then a 5-10 minute wait.
Returned to the room to get babies and go to a 5:30 PS at Cape Masy. What a dissappointment! The waitress never refilled out drinks and the food was just okay. Would not waste the money or time on this one!
Took all the kids to the pool and the babies loved the sand while the teens love the slide. Bed around 9:30. Tomorrow: MGM; Brown Derby; MK; Morroco"
Got up at 7:00 again and ate breakfast in our room. Left around 7:45 for the boat to MGM. Another great day!
Were walking to the dock when the MGM boat took off. Not knowing how long of a walk it was, we started to walk to MGM. NOT! We got as far as Swan and Dolphin and decided a boat was a MUCH better option! A boat didn't arrive for about 10 minutes but it was fun to see the fountains at the Dolphin.
MGM EE around 8:20 and hit The Great Movie Ride first which had about a 5 minute line. Got FP for Mermaid and then went to the Muppet 3D which had about a 10 minute wait. Since the two yr old had seen one 3D before on this trip, she kind of had the idea to use the glasses. Funny to see her reach for the pie! The baby didn't really care for the show and no way was she putting those glasses on! We grabbed 4 FPs for the teens to ride Star Tours later.
Back to Mermaid which I had never seen before. Very good and Ariel had a great voice! Seems like everyone we talked to in line and in the theatre had FPs and I heard they were letting in very few people each show who did not have them. The teens rode Star Tours twice while the babies and parents walked around and shopped.
Time for the PS at 12:10 at the Brown Derby. We got there about ten minutes early and got seated in about 10 minutes. The place was pretty crowded but the waitress was good and the food was wonderful. Another place I would recommend!
Took the babies back to the room. We had a different sitter this time named Eva since Candi had classes. She was very sweet and more of a grandmotherly type. The kids got a great nap while we went to MK.
Got FPs for Space Mountain first and then headed over to Buzz which only had about a 10 minute wait. Walked over to Splash Moutain which claimed a 35 minute wait. Nope! Only about 10 minutes, if that! Jumped on Jungle Cruise which had no wait. Back to Space Mountain for our FP time and on the way saw Push, the talking trash can. He talked to our teens for a while and we had a good time trying to find the guy controlling it. By now some showers had moved in but just drizzling. Rode Space Mountain, got popcorn and then saw Timekeeper which we had never seen before! Very fun!
It was time to get back for the babies. Gathered up the gang in the backpacks and headed over to Epcot in the drizzly rain. We had PS at Morocco. The place was pretty empty but that was great for us since we got a table right on the dance floor! The belly dancer was very good and got several kids to dance with her as well as one man from a table with about 10 men! So funny since he really got into it. I loved the food. I think I could live in Morocco!
We headed back for the room a little earlier since the weather was not great but decided a stop at Beaches and Cream was called for to make up for the loss of time at Epcot. The root beer float I had was great! Off to bed around 10:00.
Wake up call at 7:00. I love Mickey's voice first thing in the morning. Ate in our rooms and then headed out for Epcot. The crowds are still great. Only the first day on sunday at MK was it bad at all.
Since we had the babies we had to skip Test Track and Mission and jumped onto Spaceship Earth which had no line at all. Then we went to Universe of Energy which had no line. Lost the 13 yr old on the way since she has a tendency to wonder. Thank goodness for those walkie-talkies! She met up with us after the show which the babies loved. Stopped to get some coffee and pastries and then went to Honey I Shrunk the Kids which again, had no wait. Saw Journey Into Your Imagination with no wait and spent some time in the exibits. Back to Living with the Land for FPs and then went to see Circle of Life which had no wait. Saw Food Rocks and then back to use FPs for Living with the Land. We had a guide who seemed new and stumbled quite a bit. I felt sorry for her since she seemed embarressed but she got through the information and was fine. It was time for our PS at Garden Grill. Because we had to sue a high chair for the 1 yr old, we could not sit on the bottom tier but it was a great meal! The food was good and tons of time with the charaters except for Mickey who went by pretty quickly. Pluto even put the baby on his lap! all of them came by twice and we even learned the difference between Chip and Dale. Another meal I wuld HIGHLY recommend.
Time to return the babies and the older group to head off to MGM. We had Candi again as the babysitter.
Hit the RR first and only a 5 minute wait while ToT had an 80 minute wait and no FPs left!!! After RR we went back over to ToT again where a bunch of people were coming out of. Out of Order! Crud! Now the RR line was about 20 minutes but we got back over in line and went again. After RR we went back to ToT which was working again. It claimed an 80 minute wait but it was more like 35 or so. What a fun ride! Too bad we only had time for one ride on it. Went on Star Tours with no line and then went and did the Back Stage Tour. No homes this time which was a disappointment.
Off to get the babies and head off to China for PS at 7:00 at Nine Dragons. The food was fine. Nothing too great.
Walked around Epcot and looked at stores on the way back to the hotel. Also rode Norway again with no wait. The crowds are very minimal and the weather has been great!
Everyone slept in and when the kids woke up, the 2 yr old was crying and saying her ear hurt. We took her to the clinic close by and 1 1/2 hours and $125 later we were told there was nothing wrong with her. Hummmm..... Gave her some Tylenol and she seemed better so we headed off to MGM.
We caught the boat and got there right around 10:15. Tried to get into the Tour of the Haunted Mansion but the doors closed and we were the very next ones for the next tour. Bummer! Went over to see One Man's Dream which was very empty. So interesting! The movie was awesome and I left with tears in my eyes. What a great man Walt was and how wonderful it would have been to meet him! Got back into the line for the Tour of Haunted Mansion and AGAIN got to the front of the line and were told we had to wait. We had to laugh! What luck! We let the babies play with the water in the Muppet fountain and then went to our 12:00 PS at Mama Melroses.
Were seated by a woman who is from about 2 miles where we are from! My food was okay (pizza) but dh had a wonderful dish of chicken and pasta!
Babies back to room where there was no sitter. Ends up she was still in the lobby. Every other time they have met us at our room door. I had a bad feeling about it when the sitter (not Candi) said they were going to have so much fun the kids won't want to sleep. In informed her they HAD to sleep. Long story short, they were totally exhausted when we got back from DisneyQuest because they had not gotten full naps. More on that later.
DisneyQuest in the afternoon. The games with the headsets were fun but gave me a headache. The best was making your own roller coaster. The teens made some level 5s (on a scale from 1-5) which we just watched. Here is an amazing thing! While in line I look behind me and there was a man and early teenage boy who look familiar. No way! Two years ago when we went to WDW while in the Test Track line we had talked to a couple and their kids from England. IT WAS THEM! SO wild to see them like that! They remembered us too! Anyway, I would not recommend DQ to anyone unless they have kids who like video games but it was fun to try out.
Back to the room to our very cranky babies. The moment the sitter left (who did not get a tip from me) I had to put both babies down for naps. So much for going to a 6:30 PS at Canada! I called to see if we could change it to 8:00. Nothing. We decided that the teens could stay with the babies in the room while dh and I went to dinner at Bistro de Paris. Great food and it was nice to have some time alone. This is NOT a place for kids. In fact, there were not any kids in the place at all. Dinner was pretty expensive but very good. Plus you can't go bad with those great accents! Since we had dinner starting at 8:00 and had a window table, we saw Illuminations very well. Was very romantic. Met some men at the table next to us who were there for a convention and had a nice conversation with them. One thing I love about WDW is meeting people from all over!
Got up at 7:00 and headed out the door for EE at AK. The buses this time were not running as quickly as every other day. Ha! Of course not. Because we wanted to use them!
Were greated by the Palm and had fun watching people react to him. Hit Kilimanjaro and there was only about a 5 minute wait. Since it was still pretty early, we saw quite a few animals. A giraffe was only about 5 feet from us! Dh and I took the babies on the trails while the older girls rode River Rapids. Went to Flights of Wonder and since we barely got in we sat in the very back right at the entrance. Great place to sit! We saw all of the birds very close since they flew right by us or over us! Then we went to look at the Tree of Life and it was time for our PS at 11:30 at the Rainforest Cafe. The babies did not like it much since it was noisy and the animals were so large. The teens did not like the crab cakes but my ribs were very good.
Babies to the room and the teens went to spend the afternoon at the pool while dh and I went to play golf at the Magnolia. Very fun course! On the 6th hole (which has a sandtrap shaped like mickey) there was a croc!!! Wow! Freaked me out some but we did not even get close to him.
We got finished with golf around 4:30 so dh and I went to Beaches and Cream for ice cream before going to the room for the babies who were with Candi. The babies slept until about 6:00. We got in our costumes and headed off for MNSSHP! What a fun time! No lines on any of the rides and even the lines for candy were fast! saw the Headless Horseman twice. Had PS at Liberty Tree Tavern at 8:10 but did not get a table until closer to 8:45. It was fine since we got to watch the parade. Another very good meal and fun characters. One bad thing: The family next to us had kids in the early teens who took Minnie's wand! They never gave it back and the parents said nothing! My girls went and bought her a rose and gave it to her. We had our family picture taken later in the evening right before we left the park at 11:20. Buses were crowded and we had to wait for the third one before we got on.
Got up on our last day. I did a couple loads of laundry and we got checked out by 11:30. We had PS in Mexico at 12:15 and then off to the airport. We got there at 3:00 and it took American a full hour to get about 5 families checked in. amazing. Anyway we got an earlier flight and got in around 9:40 (11:40 FL time). We left Fl's 80s to return to Colorado's 30s. Actually, it is good to be home but we already are planning the next trip!
If anyone has any questions, go for it. I know my reports are long so I appreciate your attention!
Hit the RR first and only a 5 minute wait while ToT had an 80 minute wait and no FPs left!!! After RR we went back over to ToT again where a bunch of people were coming out of. Out of Order! Crud! Now the RR line was about 20 minutes but we got back over in line and went again. After RR we went back to ToT which was working again. It claimed an 80 minute wait but it was more like 35 or so. What a fun ride! Too bad we only had time for one ride on it.
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Kate,
was this this 28th? We tried to get on ToT that morning when it malfunctioned & the FP ran out by 9 am.. since it was our last day at WDW we didn't want to waste it waiting in line so we skipped it.
really enjoying your TR... keep it comin'
DQ was okay and it was included on our UHPass but I would not have paid the extra to get in. If you are prone to motion sickness at all, it will knock you off your feet! I normally am but was using the patch and I still felt a little sick. It is mostly video game type things so if your kids are into those, they will love it. If not, you probably will want to skip it. Half a day was enough for us. In fact, we left earlier then we needed to and went by the grocery store on the way back to the hotel and the sitter. Have a great time!
Yes, it was the 28th. They must have had it going again at some point because a ton of people were in line when we first got there around 2:30. You would think with them having just rehabbed the thing it would be working right. Guess we should just be thankful we were not sitting on it when it broke down!
About This Page: This is a discussion on Trip Report - Days 1- 8 within the Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports, part of the PassPorter Community - Boards & Forums on Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel; Hi, all! We got back late last night and fell exhausted and happy into bed! It is nice to be ...
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