Ride all the boats, meet all the characters - a first-timer's Jan '15 TR 7/28 updates and conclusion

[ach222]

Aw, sorry to hear Grant didn't like Barnstormer and then didn't want to do the Mine Train. He might have been better off doing the Mine Train first as that is so smooth in some ways it is an "easier" ride than Barnstormer. My little guy was so upset he couldn't go on the bigger roller coasters and then when we got on Barnstormer he was so excited - and that turned to dread as soon as we started down the first hill ... definitely made it easier for the rest of the trip that he wasn't tall enough for other roller coasters.

Yes, after Jon rode SDMT he was bummed we hadn't done that first, we think we would have had a better chance of G liking it. For lack of a better term, Barnstormer seems a bit rickety.

Can't believe you guys haven't done the opening show!

It worked great that you were able to see the opening show at MK. You accomplished a lot especially with it being MLK day.

I understand about the carousel ride. To this day I have never riden on the horse but have always been on the sleigh /bench seat. However I love all rollercoaster s so there is hope.

Looks like you had a good lunch at CHH.

I loved the opening show and we really did get a ton done that morning.

The MK opening show is one of my favorite things, and I'm guaranteed to cry every time I see it I tell everyone I know who goes that they should try to do it at least once! I think it's totally worth skipping a pre-park ADR for and you're right, it definitely gets you in the spirit for the day . Glad you all enjoyed it!

I may or may not have been a bit teary haha. The mass of people trying to trample me made that stop pretty quickly though!

Chef Mickeys is on my questionable list, for 1 my family loves buffets, 2 they love trains, monorails, anything of that nature and 3 they would love the cast of characters. I am just debating if 1 breakfast or dinner would be a better option. I am doubtfully my kids would find the food bad since they love Bonzana and in my mind that's as bad as buffets get. Glad to read your review about it. Thanks!

I would think breakfast would work best for us just because we don't eat as much in the morning. If the food was bad at dinner we'd probably end up foraging back at the resort later.

 

[RunnerMommyof4]

Thanks our family is big breakfast eaters but the usuals waffles, bacon, scrambled eggs etc. Thanks for the advice

 

[ach222]

Since I know it was keeping all of you up at night, I am pleased to tell you I remember what we did while Jon rode SDMT. We stood in line to meet Alice and the White Rabbit, Jon was on and off the ride before we made it towards the front of the line, so Grant chose not to wait and we moved on.

Ok, onward! MK - Mon Afternoon

After lunch, we got in line to ride Grant's most anticipated ride, IASW. Of course on MLK day it had a 30 min wait but we jumped in line anyways. It moved pretty quickly and I'd say we only waited 15-20 min.

This lived up to Grant's expectations, he loved it!

Grant has asked if there was a 'normal' (read : non roller coaster) train that we could ride, so we headed over towards new Fantasyland to catch a ride.

Grant loved being on the train. He asked that at some point we get off at the station by the entrance of the park. So we rode all the way around once, and then one additional leg to get to the front of the park.

At this point we were really regretting not bringing a backpack. I was hauling stuff in my DSLR bag (we brought a light up spinning toy that did not fit in there well at all) and it was driving Jon nuts. So we decided I would take G to meet Tinkerbell and he would head to the Emporium to find a backpack.

This was one of Grant's favorite meet and greets. He adores the new Disney Fairy movies and was in awe of Tink. So much fun - and a very cute meet and greet with the little lights and the special room you go into pre-Tink.

Quick stop in the dump shop

Jon met us outside the theatre, new backpack in hand and we jumped back on the train. I had switched our FPs around for the afternoon. Jon was headed to BTMRR and G and I would head to Under the Sea. We dropped Jon in Frontierland and we rode on to Fantasyland.

We enjoyed the Under the Sea ride quite a bit, Grant said it was one of his favorites.

Grant and I ran into a photo pass on our way back to meet up with Jon.

We met back up with Jon right across from Country Bear Jamboree. As we walked up to him, he was bombarded by a bird and had to spend the next 20 min scrubbing bird poop out of his jeans in the restroom!

Jon didn't find this as amusing as I did, but he eventually made his way back to us and we watched the Festival of Fantasy parade, which we all adored! I am so impressed that they put these massive productions on every day, blows my mind.

After the parade, we wandered into one of the shops close by and got a few pieces of fudge to snack on. We wandered back towards the Jungle Cruise and decided to ride. The wait was 30 min and it was a full 30 min if not more. Jon and G got in line while I ran to the FP kiosk and grabbed us an additional Dumbo FP.

The JC was a nice break, corny and fun.

We headed back across the park to hang out with our new favorite elephant.

Then we got some pics with the resident daredevils.

I'm sure I'm reaching my image limit so I'll continue in next post...

 

[ach222]

MK Afternoon/Evening - Part 2

After spending some time with Goofy and Donald, I decided I wanted to see what the wait was for Enchanted Tales with Belle. It was only 20 min! We jumped in line, this was not my favorite line because you never feel like it's moving. Maurice's cottage is cute but I'm not sure I agree with everyone who says don't miss it by using a FP, I'd use the FP haha!

This was such a cute attraction. Grant got to play Belle's horse and had a blast.

The only thing I'll say about this was that our Belle could've been a better actress, she was pretty quiet and not super into it. The kids of course didn't care at all! I lost the card the photo pass gave me so those are gone but I am happy with the shots I grabbed.

We had about 30 min before we could check in for our 6pm ADR at Be Our Guest so we decided to try to meet Ariel. Her wait was posted at 20 minutes and we were probably in in 15. I can't begin to tell you how awesome this m&g was for Grant - he adored her. She was a great Ariel. The group in front of us was about 6 girls (in their 20s/30s) who didn't speak english but clearly LOVED Ariel. There was one girl absolutely in tears over it, couldn't pull it together. They wanted about 500 different combos for pics and were all freaking out over her but obviously couldn't communicate. Ariel handled it beautifully. It was then our turn - I was a bit concerned b/c the photo pass was still trying to get the girls ahead of us scanned and out but it turns out she snapped my VERY FAVORITE picture of the trip. I call this one 'why I willingly gave Disney all of our money'.

I mean, so magical.

After this m&g, we were just on cloud 9 with how this day had gone so far. We went over and checked in at BOG.

We sat in the main ballroom. Loved the snow effect, Grant was very impressed by eating in the castle, especially after having spent some time with Belle that afternoon (he was pretty enamored with all of the princesses).

I had the scallops in puff pastry and it was very good. Jon had steak which he enjoyed and I believe G had mac and cheese which he didn't love. He ate bread, applesauce and a cupcake though so he was set. Jon got a beer but I was just THIRSTY so I stuck with water and a soda. Sorry for the horrible low light phone pics.

I had my strawberry cupcake boxed up and enjoyed it at the hotel that night, delicious.

I enjoyed this meal and would do it again. I don't think it's an absolute must-do but Grant loved the idea of eating in the castle, and the beast meet and greet was great.

Speaking of .... my second favorite photo of the trip -

After dinner, I had thought we might go meet Mickey towards the front of the park but as we wandered that way, it was clear we needed to grab a spot for the parades. Crazy how fast it fills up! We ended up across the street from the Emporium and that worked well. We went in the Emporium and Grant got a sweatshirt.

Oh, we stopped for a pic on our way.

Grant adored the electrical parade and Wishes!

This was a 10pm fireworks night so we were beat by the time it was over. We headed to the monorail and went back to the Contemporary and grabbed the car. G and I took a selfie while we waited for the car to come around.

We had a great and LONG day - we drove back to POR and crashed!

Next up DHS

 

[RunnerMommyof4]

Do you prefer driving yourself over the bus or other WDW transportation? We will have our car and I've seen a few post where people drive themselves.

 

[ariane37]

You got great pics of the FOF parade! I didn't think I'd like it after watching videos on YouTube, but totally changed my mind when we saw it in person in Aug. And your whole day sounds just about as perfect as you can get

 

[accountingbabe08]

great review

 

[SarahDisney]

The welcome show really is the perfect way to start the morning at MK, isn't it? I saw it for the first time in November and fell in love instantly!

How hysterical that the carousel was empty other than the full sleigh! I always see a family who wants to be in the sleigh (and totally understand it - the up and down is too much for some people), but I don't think I've ever seen that.

The heffalumps and woozles scene in the Pooh ride is very trippy. I find the rest of it to be okay, but that scene is really bizarre.

Sad that Grant didn't want to do Mine Train after doing Barnstormer. Barnstormer is usually a good first roller coaster for kids, but I know it's not for everyone, and Mine Train is very different and I think he could have enjoyed it. I guess this is an excuse to go back - maybe next trip he'll be more interested in the roller coasters.

I'm glad Grant loved IASW - I remember that he was looking forward to the boat and I'm glad it lived up to his expectations!

Love the picture of G and Tink! And your PhotoPass pictures by Under the Sea are great too!

Bird poop ... always horrible for the person who gets pooped on and very entertaining for everyone else.

That picture of Grant and Ariel is priceless! So amazing!

I'm glad you guys enjoyed BOG. After our last trip is an almost-must-do for us (we can live without it, but really really want it and are actually glad we got it for our next trip).

Sounds like a really great day overall, despite the extra crowds. G looks happy throughout the day - I'm sure the long day was hard on him, but it really seems like he was enjoying himself the whole time!

 

[ursalita]

Sounds like you had just about a perfect day at MK! I'm glad to hear you liked the Welcome Show so much. I have to make sure we make time for that on this trip.

I'm going to have the same problems with rides for our trip. My boys won't go hear anything like a roller coaster. I didn't mind when they were little but now I'm wishing they'd grow out of it because I want to go on Space Mountain, dang it!

I adore your pictures of the meet and greets. Your DS looks so happy.

You got a great shot of the fire dragon. I can't wait to see that parade.

What rotten luck that DH got hit by bird poop.

 

[ach222]

Do you prefer driving yourself over the bus or other WDW transportation? We will have our car and I've seen a few post where people drive themselves.

We used Disney transport to go most places. We took our car to MK both days because we had early breakfast reservations and couldn't quite figure out and easy way to get to the other resorts that early. I enjoyed having the busses/boats and would take those over driving.

You got great pics of the FOF parade! I didn't think I'd like it after watching videos on YouTube, but totally changed my mind when we saw it in person in Aug. And your whole day sounds just about as perfect as you can get

Such a great parade, but I don't have much to compare it to! We were lucky to have such a wonderful day for sure!

great review

Thank you!

The welcome show really is the perfect way to start the morning at MK, isn't it? I saw it for the first time in November and fell in love instantly!

How hysterical that the carousel was empty other than the full sleigh! I always see a family who wants to be in the sleigh (and totally understand it - the up and down is too much for some people), but I don't think I've ever seen that.

The heffalumps and woozles scene in the Pooh ride is very trippy. I find the rest of it to be okay, but that scene is really bizarre.

Sad that Grant didn't want to do Mine Train after doing Barnstormer. Barnstormer is usually a good first roller coaster for kids, but I know it's not for everyone, and Mine Train is very different and I think he could have enjoyed it. I guess this is an excuse to go back - maybe next trip he'll be more interested in the roller coasters.

I'm glad Grant loved IASW - I remember that he was looking forward to the boat and I'm glad it lived up to his expectations!

Love the picture of G and Tink! And your PhotoPass pictures by Under the Sea are great too!

Bird poop ... always horrible for the person who gets pooped on and very entertaining for everyone else.

That picture of Grant and Ariel is priceless! So amazing!

I'm glad you guys enjoyed BOG. After our last trip is an almost-must-do for us (we can live without it, but really really want it and are actually glad we got it for our next trip).

Sounds like a really great day overall, despite the extra crowds. G looks happy throughout the day - I'm sure the long day was hard on him, but it really seems like he was enjoying himself the whole time!

Grant didn't complain much at all about all of the long days/walking. About the time we'd head for the busses at the end of each night, he would proclaim that he 'couldn't walk anymore' but that was the only time he complained.

Sounds like you had just about a perfect day at MK! I'm glad to hear you liked the Welcome Show so much. I have to make sure we make time for that on this trip.

I'm going to have the same problems with rides for our trip. My boys won't go hear anything like a roller coaster. I didn't mind when they were little but now I'm wishing they'd grow out of it because I want to go on Space Mountain, dang it!

I adore your pictures of the meet and greets. Your DS looks so happy.

You got a great shot of the fire dragon. I can't wait to see that parade.

What rotten luck that DH got hit by bird poop.

I did truly love the welcome show, I think that may become a must do for us while the kids are little!

 

[angierae]

Our first day at WDW, my very first visit (when I was 34) I cried through the entire opening show because I couldn't believe I was FINALLY at Disney World. It's such a great way to start.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

seems like you were learning what types of attractions Grant liked - seemed like just a wonderful afternoon/evening!

We love the Railroad - I think knowing how much Walt adored trained gives added meaning to them.

Jungle Cruise is my favorite attraction - I think I just love the puns and that no two trips are the exact same, and it just seems like something you only would see at Disney. Plus, other than like being an imagineer, the job I would most like to have at Disney is being a Jungle Cruise Skipper

what a great meet with Ariel - we've had so many great meets with her in the past ... she just seems like she gets to show more personality than some of the other princesses. Anna is kinda similar too - must be something with the red heads

Love Grant's face in that first picture with meeting Beast too!

Great view and pictures of Wishes! really does sound like a great, and long, day

 

[KathyM2]

I'm really impressed by Grant's ability to do such a long day and be in good spirits in all those pictures!!! My DD is 9 and I don't think she'd keep up with him!!!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

LOVING your TR so far! Your son is absolutely adorable and his excitement with all the characters makes me smile! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[ach222]

Our first day at WDW, my very first visit (when I was 34) I cried through the entire opening show because I couldn't believe I was FINALLY at Disney World. It's such a great way to start.

I was definitely tearing up, it's just such a special feeling.

seems like you were learning what types of attractions Grant liked - seemed like just a wonderful afternoon/evening!

We love the Railroad - I think knowing how much Walt adored trained gives added meaning to them.

Jungle Cruise is my favorite attraction - I think I just love the puns and that no two trips are the exact same, and it just seems like something you only would see at Disney. Plus, other than like being an imagineer, the job I would most like to have at Disney is being a Jungle Cruise Skipper

what a great meet with Ariel - we've had so many great meets with her in the past ... she just seems like she gets to show more personality than some of the other princesses. Anna is kinda similar too - must be something with the red heads

Love Grant's face in that first picture with meeting Beast too!

Great view and pictures of Wishes! really does sound like a great, and long, day

I think Grant would have been happy to ride around on the railroad for another hour (and honestly, our feet probably would've appreciated it haha!) - we all love it!

Ariel was definitely a favorite for us, Grant talked about it for a long time afterwards and watched TLM several times on the drive home.

I'm really impressed by Grant's ability to do such a long day and be in good spirits in all those pictures!!! My DD is 9 and I don't think she'd keep up with him!!!

He was such a trooper. We actually had brought along a jogging stroller that would hold his weight but we never used it. I was amazed at how long he could go.

LOVING your TR so far! Your son is absolutely adorable and his excitement with all the characters makes me smile! Can't wait to read more!!

Thanks so much!

 

[ach222]

Tuesday DHS - Part 1

Since we had had a late night Monday, I wasn't particularly concerned about making it to rope drop at HS on Tuesday morning. We had a FP for TSMM from 9:40 - 10:40 and I was sure that we would be over there by then. We were at the bus stop by a bit before 9 and were just in time to watch a HS bus pull away. Unfortunately, this was the one time the busses weren't our friend. We watched bus after bus for MK/EPCOT/DTD/Water parks roll by without a DHS bus in sight. We finally got one and headed that way. I was a bit concerned about making our FP time not knowing how long it would take to get there/get in/find the ride, but we made it with probably 20 min to spare!

Grant has the TSMM wii game and loves it so I knew he'd be a fan of the ride. It does really whip you around, but overall what a fun one! Since Grant is very into the game he got over the whipping around and had a blast. He, of course, wanted to ride it again but the line was crazy by then. That really is a bummer as it was probably his favorite ride. Hopefully the novelty has worn off a bit by the next time we go.

In defense of my score, I was paying a ton of attention to G making sure he was ok - Jon's score was much higher!

Our next FP was Indy so we started heading back that way, we made a quick stop at One Man's Dream. I would like to spend some time in here child free and really pay attention. Grant did really enjoy looking at the models.

(can you tell Grant is super into very dramatic poses, he's a trip)

We stopped to say hi to Pluto.

We then made our way to the Indiana Jones show. I remember this one from childhood and I knew Jon would enjoy it. We were in no way close to the stage, pretty dead center (I say that just to let you know we weren't super close to the 'scary' action) but alas, Grant really didn't like this. It was too scary for him.

I was feeling kind of defeated about things at this point. I was caught off guard by this one scaring him. Our last FP was for the Lights Motor Action show and I really thought G would have liked seeing Lightning. But since it has the explosions and such I thought we shouldn't push it. We headed to Backlot Express for lunch and I made some quick FP changes. I snagged a Tower of Terror FP for Jon and a Voyage of the LM for G and me. Jon and I had the burger with horseradish sauce and fried onions which we were pleased with, especially considering what I had heard about Disney burgers lol. G had chicken nuggets. G and I split the special Baymax cupcake and it was super delicious!

The new FPs I grabbed were coming up so we split up after lunch. Grant and I headed to meet some characters while Jon headed to the big rides. We met Jake and the Incredibles. We watched the LM show which was cute. Jon rode TOT which he liked and then rode standby on RnR - which was his favorite roller coaster of the trip.

When we were done with VOLM, Jon was still over at the big rides so G and I jumped in line to meet Buzz and Woody. We had good timing as we got to the characters right as Jon got there so he was able to watch from the window they meet in front of.

On our way over, we ran into an army man.

Continued in next post ....

 

[ach222]

Tuesday DHS/EPCOT - Part 2

After meeting Buzz and Woody, we jumped on the Great Movie Ride (I am going to shock you here and tell you Grant was not a fan haha!).

We got the Cowboy scene

This ride could probably use and overhaul but it's a classic. Another one I remember from when I was younger.

We then headed to watch the Beauty and the Beast show. Grant loved this and it deepened his love for Belle.

We then continued on our character meet and greet quest and found our friends from Radiator Springs.

And then we said hi to Mike and Sully.

I really enjoyed our time at HS - I like the themeing a lot and wish we'd gotten an earlier start. Lots of fun things still to see there.

We had dinner reservations in Epcot so we headed over to the friendship boats to head that way - this is again thanks to the Dis as I would have had no idea these existed! We stopped for some photo pass pics.

We enjoyed a nice, relaxing boat ride and it was great to be dropped right in the thick of World Showcase.

We saw Aurora meeting in France and G wanted to stop. She was just about to take a break so while we waited for her to return, we grabbed a drink and a seat in France. I was excited to try the Grand Mariner slush and it was delicious! My favorite drink of the trip.

We made our way over to Italy and hung out and waited for our ADR time.

We headed into Via Napoli and were seated fairly quickly. This was probably my favorite table service meal of the trip. Fun atmosphere and really good food. I had some sangria (red) and we started with arancini which is one of my favorite things, this version was delicious.

I had : Quattro Formaggi Signature Pie - white pizza: mozzarella, parmesan, fontina, provolone

and DH had pepperoni - Grant had spaghetti and meatballs and was a happy kiddo. We finished up with zeppole for DH and me and ice cream for Grant.

Since we had had a late night the night before, and we were headed back to epcot the next morning, we grabbed a bus and headed back to POR.

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Hey Amy! I'm excited to catch up with your trip report! I'll comment as I go along

Woo Five Guys! We have one of those over here in London

I absolutely love seeing your photos of Riverside This was where I stayed every year as a kid, even back when it was called Dixie Landings and Jamie and I stayed there in 2012. I hope you loved it as much as we did That's great that they upgraded you to a preferred room!

Aww Grant looks so proud of the car he designed at Test Track! Adorable! And his character photos are so nice too. In fact, he just looks so happy in every picture!!

I'm so glad you made it out of Chef Mickeys in time to watch the Magic Kingdom Welcome Show! It's possibly my absolute favourite thing at WDW!

Hahah, I don't blame Grant for being weirded out by the Winnie the Pooh ride, it freaks me out too! As you said, super trippy!

"Fill our magic" - Aww!

I can't believe Jon was "bombarded by a bird" on your first full day !!! That is so unfortunate!! I hope he eventually saw the funny side

You got some great Festival of Fantasy photos! The blue sky behind the floats makes it look great!

Oh my goodness, the first photo of Grant and Ariel is PERFECT! That should definitely be printed out and framed! Love it!

This was such a great day! Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to hear more

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Whoa, you updated while I was still commenting !

I'm glad that Grant loved Toy Story Mania! That's cool that he has the Wii game!

Love the Baymax cupcake!

I haven't seen Voyage of the Little Mermaid since I was a kid, it looks like something I'd enjoy though! Maybe I'll do it next time?

I'm not surprised Grant didn't like the Great Movie Ride, parts of it scare me!!! The Alien area is real loud and dark, gave me the creeps!

Ooh! The slush from the France pavilion looks good!! I want to try more food and drinks from around World Showcase when I'm back in September, maybe I'll give this a try

I'm so glad you decided to eat at Via Napoli, it's one of my favourites too it's so much fun.

Great update!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Glad that Grant enjoyed TSMM - Must be cool for him to kinda see his Wii game come to life! That ride seems to always have a long line - I think it is because it is one of the few big rides there that are family friendly so everyone wants to go on it. They are supposed to add a 3rd track so hopefully that will help.

Bummer that Grant got scared at Indy - but that was great you were able to switch around your FP+ and seemed to work out with Jon getting to do ToT and RNRC while you and Grant met characters and saw VotLM. And also One Man's Dream - and I am right with Grant in that I love the models they have in there, especially the ones showing how some of the dark rides are set up

Wow, that Baymax cupcake looks really good. Is that bacon on it?

Glad you got to EPCOT/dinner in good time and that you enjoyed Via Napoli so much. That is definitely on my "must try" list.