Lora
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 25, 1999
CAST OF CHARACTERS
The FAM.
Lora - 35 stay at home mom (former music teacher, new home-school mom), planning freak; previous visits to WDW in Nov.'73, Feb.'82, Dec. '83, Feb. '88, August '94 and August '99. This trip is #7
Ted - 33, husband of the planning freak; 3 previous visits including Aug. '94 and '99. This trip is #4
Justine - 4, daughter; Kindergarten (home-school) (5 in Oct.); 2nd visit
Elena - 2, daughter (3 in Oct.); 2nd visit
The Grandparents
Ina D. - 61, my mom; previous visits to WDW in '74, '83, '99 plus a couple more maybe
Leo D. - 62, my dad; same as above
Here are the plans followed by what actually happened.
Saturday, Sept. 23 - Day 7
Early entry into Magic Kingdom
6:00 Wake up call
7:00 - 7:30 Bus to Magic Kingdom
7:30 - 9:00 EE rides we missed Thursday
9:00 - 10:00 Ariel's Grotto
" Legend of the Lion King
Toontown (Barnstormer)
"
10:20 PS Crystal Palace
OR - skip PS - Lunch at Diamond Horseshoe
11:30 - 3:00 Naps/Rest/Swim/Snack
3:00 - 3:30 To Epcot
3:30 - 5:00 World Showcase
Spaceship Earth
5:00 - 5:30 Monorail to Magic Kingdom
6:00 - 7:15 Counter Service Supper
" Find viewing spot EARLY for:
8:00 - 8:30 Main Street Electrical Parade
9:00 - 9:30 Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks
I had arranged a 6:30 am wake up call. I put the phone to Justine's ear while she was still sleeping. Later in the day, she wondered if she had a dream that Mickey had called - or if it was real. I haven't been mentioning, but we had cold cereal or bagels almost every morning (just like home! J )
We got the bus stop at about 8:15. I knew we had just missed a Magic Kingdom bus, because I could see it from window. We didn't get anything in until 8:40 when we met my parents at the Winnie the Pooh ride. (I had hoped to get there early enough for one or two before that - oh well. There was a short wait for Pooh, so we got fast passes for a second ride later and got in line. There is such a wide variety of entertainment at WDW - it's kind of funny. Last night there were dinosaurs breathing down our necks, and now we're bouncing around in a honey pot. Next, we hit Snow White's Scary Adventure since we didn't do it last year. I just warned the kids about the witch and we were on the ride at 8:55. Elena wanted to do the Carrousel, so we climbed on at 9:02 - and my dad even got on. There were no lines at either of these rides, but I could see a bit of a line at Dumbo - which we skipped today. The Legend of the Lion King started at 9:20 (even on an EE day - this is the first show time) so we killed some time trying on princess hats in one of the shops. We got in line at about 9:15 and waited to be let in for the pre-show (another stand-up or sit on the floor show with a combination of movie clips and a live character presentation). The show is basically a re-telling of the Lion King movie with large puppets. My kids have only seen the Lion King once - I think, so this is a bit unfamiliar to them, but they liked it. At 9:40 when we got out of the Lion King show, we used our fast passes at the Pooh ride.
We went to Toontown to do Goofy's Barnstormer for Elena's first Roller coaster ride. There was no wait. She seemed to like it and said she would do it again sometime. We walked through Minnie's House and by then we were ready to leave Toontown. We took the Walt Disney World Railroad to Frontierland. I got some fast passes for Splash Mountain while everyone went ahead to The Enchanted Tiki Room - about 10:45. (Our fastpass return time was 11:15-12:15.) We had a short wait for the show. I actually enjoyed it more this time than last year for some reason. After they made us "disappear", I took the girls into the ladies' room to traumatize them with the automatic flushing toilets. They really hated those things.
We checked the times at the Diamond Horseshoe. (I forgot to mention that we decided not to do the breakfast at the Crystal Palace.) They had a show going on with standing room only. Another show was to start at 12:00. We decided to try to fit our fastpass ride in and then see about the 12:00 show. Ted, Justine and I went to Splash Mountain, and my dad and Elena watched from the bridge. There was quite a line by now for the ride. I would definitely not have waited in the stand-by line. We got in line about 11:35 and waited about 10 minutes. We got to see my dad and Elena waving from the bridge. Justine obviously liked the ride enough to go a second time this week. We were up front, so we knew we'd get wet and we did. By the time we got back to the Diamond Horseshoe, it was standing room only again. So, we decided to skip it and head to Downtown Disney for lunch.
We had to take the Monorail to the TTC and the bus to Downtown Disney. We got to the Rainforest Café at 12:50 to put our name on the list. We were given a time that we would be called. I'm pretty sure she said 1:20 - but the ticket said 1:11 (in 20 minutes). I was still looking around the stores (Christmas, and Art of Disney) when we were actually called. My mom heard and got in line for us. We ended up in the elephant room with a nice view of a couple gorillas also. Elena really liked the animals - but absolutely hated the rain storm. We only had two during our meal - but during the second one her grandpa very nicely took her outside. We had gotten our meals at about 1:50 (a bit of wait, I think). Justine had grilled cheese, Elena had the kid's pizza, Ted and my dad had burgers and my mom and I shared some of the "comfort food". I got the meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes and she got the chicken fried chicken so we could share some of ours with each other. After trying both, I would have chosen the meatloaf since the chicken was a bit spicy. Since we were a party of 6, the gratuity was added automatically on the bill (17%). So the whole bill was $75.19. I used my Magic Kingdom Club discount (10% off for -$6.70) so that's figured in as well. (They also have an Annual Pass discount here, but only Mon. - Thurs.) I think we were all pretty satisfied after the meal, but it was getting late and I didn't feel like doing much shopping. My mom and dad went in to get a few things for the other grandchildren and we went back to our room - about 3:00.
My parents took a bus to the Swan/Dolphin to pick up their rental car from the National counter there. They actually just left the car there, and walked over to the BW to join us for a swim and rest. My mom stayed in the room with Elena so they both could get naps, and the rest of us went to the pool. Ted and I got to do the slide at the Luna Park pool, but Justine is too water-shy and not a swimmer yet. The slide was actually better than I thought it would be.
After our break, we packed up to go back to the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks. I packed a few snacks - but nothing worthy of being called "supper". I knew the park would be crowded since this was the only night this week for these events, so I wanted to get their early enough to get a good spot. I wanted to be able to stay in the same spot after the parade for the fireworks, so I chose a section of curb along the hub on the Tomorrowland side. We were left of the garbage can just facing the castle and the center aisle where they had a handicap viewing area roped off. There were some people already sitting on the benches behind us, so my mom joined a couple there, since she didn't want to sit on the ground or stand. We arrived at this prized spot at about 5:50 - just over two hours before the parade. My plan was to leave the girls with their strollers and an adult or two at our spot and send someone to get supper. My dad went to get supper in Tomorrowland for my mom and himself, and I went to the Main Street Bakery for cookies, milk and Banana bread. Then I stopped at Casey's for some hot dogs and fries. The line at the bakery was long, but it moved at a fairly reasonable pace. Total for 2 cookies, 2 pieces of banana bread and 2 milks = $9.50 - and it was worth every penny. I don't seem to have my receipt from Casey's but I think it was about $9.00 for 2 hot dogs and fries. It's no wonder I lost the receipt. Casey's was a mad house with lines out to Main Street. The lines were incredibly s-l-o-w. I just couldn't imagine what could be so difficult about this - they have a VERY limited menu, they know there's going to be a crowd tonight, what's the deal?? If someone figures it out, let me know. After spilling mustard all over the floor (and cleaning it up) I was finally on our way back to our spot. In the time I was gone - the crowd had grown a LOT. The people were sitting in at least 3 rows back from the curb, with others standing and some on the benches. It was actually fun sitting in the crowd and joking about waiting there for so long. We became quite territorial for each other. More than one group tried to squeeze in front of our section and we were not going to let them do it. There was a guy there who said he was 27 and that this was his first trip to WDW. The lady behind us was actually from a town just south of where we live. The crowd was a bit crazy just before the parade, until they roped off the rode for the parade route. We were able to move Elena to my lap and fold her stroller so the 27-year-old first-time WDW visitor would have a front row seat. Sorry to babble on about this, but we were there for 2 hours /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif .
The parade started and we all were just having a great time. The smaller "floats" and the characters gave Justine and Elena a lot of attention. That is just so special to see them with their eyes all lit up with excitement - or was it all those little light bulbs reflecting?? Anyway, it was worth the wait. One thing that I didn't think about was how the crowd would shift at the end of the parade. There was still about a half and hour before the fireworks and people were trying to get around - either out of the park or to rides, or whatever. The crowd from Main Street followed the parade up to our section and packed in on the street in front of us. Cast Members were trying to make pathways moving in both directions - but it was pretty packed. I had one last piece of banana bread to keep Elena happy and Justine was finishing her cookie. We moved the strollers in front of us and held the girls up during the fireworks. That was also worth the wait. I think in situations like this, you just have to be well prepared and have a good attitude. And - as usual, with small children, you have to be ready to bail out if it's necessary. Oh yeah - and if you have any plans to get anywhere quickly after the parade - park yourself VERY close to where you want to go. Otherwise - forget about it.
They had extended the park hours to 10pm and added the second parade. We found out on the WDW Railroad announcement early in the day, but there were many others who were surprised by this when they announced it during the time before the 8pm parade. The crowd definitely warranted an additional MSEP, but we were long gone by that time.
We had to say good-bye to my parents tonight, because they were leaving in the morning to go to my brother's in W. Palm Beach. They took the bus back to the BW with us and then walked to the Swan/Dolphin to get their rental car.
Tomorrow - Epcot
Lor
The FAM.
Lora - 35 stay at home mom (former music teacher, new home-school mom), planning freak; previous visits to WDW in Nov.'73, Feb.'82, Dec. '83, Feb. '88, August '94 and August '99. This trip is #7
Ted - 33, husband of the planning freak; 3 previous visits including Aug. '94 and '99. This trip is #4
Justine - 4, daughter; Kindergarten (home-school) (5 in Oct.); 2nd visit
Elena - 2, daughter (3 in Oct.); 2nd visit
The Grandparents
Ina D. - 61, my mom; previous visits to WDW in '74, '83, '99 plus a couple more maybe
Leo D. - 62, my dad; same as above
Here are the plans followed by what actually happened.
Saturday, Sept. 23 - Day 7
Early entry into Magic Kingdom
6:00 Wake up call
7:00 - 7:30 Bus to Magic Kingdom
7:30 - 9:00 EE rides we missed Thursday
9:00 - 10:00 Ariel's Grotto
" Legend of the Lion King
Toontown (Barnstormer)
"
10:20 PS Crystal Palace
OR - skip PS - Lunch at Diamond Horseshoe
11:30 - 3:00 Naps/Rest/Swim/Snack
3:00 - 3:30 To Epcot
3:30 - 5:00 World Showcase
Spaceship Earth
5:00 - 5:30 Monorail to Magic Kingdom
6:00 - 7:15 Counter Service Supper
" Find viewing spot EARLY for:
8:00 - 8:30 Main Street Electrical Parade
9:00 - 9:30 Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks
I had arranged a 6:30 am wake up call. I put the phone to Justine's ear while she was still sleeping. Later in the day, she wondered if she had a dream that Mickey had called - or if it was real. I haven't been mentioning, but we had cold cereal or bagels almost every morning (just like home! J )
We got the bus stop at about 8:15. I knew we had just missed a Magic Kingdom bus, because I could see it from window. We didn't get anything in until 8:40 when we met my parents at the Winnie the Pooh ride. (I had hoped to get there early enough for one or two before that - oh well. There was a short wait for Pooh, so we got fast passes for a second ride later and got in line. There is such a wide variety of entertainment at WDW - it's kind of funny. Last night there were dinosaurs breathing down our necks, and now we're bouncing around in a honey pot. Next, we hit Snow White's Scary Adventure since we didn't do it last year. I just warned the kids about the witch and we were on the ride at 8:55. Elena wanted to do the Carrousel, so we climbed on at 9:02 - and my dad even got on. There were no lines at either of these rides, but I could see a bit of a line at Dumbo - which we skipped today. The Legend of the Lion King started at 9:20 (even on an EE day - this is the first show time) so we killed some time trying on princess hats in one of the shops. We got in line at about 9:15 and waited to be let in for the pre-show (another stand-up or sit on the floor show with a combination of movie clips and a live character presentation). The show is basically a re-telling of the Lion King movie with large puppets. My kids have only seen the Lion King once - I think, so this is a bit unfamiliar to them, but they liked it. At 9:40 when we got out of the Lion King show, we used our fast passes at the Pooh ride.
We went to Toontown to do Goofy's Barnstormer for Elena's first Roller coaster ride. There was no wait. She seemed to like it and said she would do it again sometime. We walked through Minnie's House and by then we were ready to leave Toontown. We took the Walt Disney World Railroad to Frontierland. I got some fast passes for Splash Mountain while everyone went ahead to The Enchanted Tiki Room - about 10:45. (Our fastpass return time was 11:15-12:15.) We had a short wait for the show. I actually enjoyed it more this time than last year for some reason. After they made us "disappear", I took the girls into the ladies' room to traumatize them with the automatic flushing toilets. They really hated those things.
We checked the times at the Diamond Horseshoe. (I forgot to mention that we decided not to do the breakfast at the Crystal Palace.) They had a show going on with standing room only. Another show was to start at 12:00. We decided to try to fit our fastpass ride in and then see about the 12:00 show. Ted, Justine and I went to Splash Mountain, and my dad and Elena watched from the bridge. There was quite a line by now for the ride. I would definitely not have waited in the stand-by line. We got in line about 11:35 and waited about 10 minutes. We got to see my dad and Elena waving from the bridge. Justine obviously liked the ride enough to go a second time this week. We were up front, so we knew we'd get wet and we did. By the time we got back to the Diamond Horseshoe, it was standing room only again. So, we decided to skip it and head to Downtown Disney for lunch.
We had to take the Monorail to the TTC and the bus to Downtown Disney. We got to the Rainforest Café at 12:50 to put our name on the list. We were given a time that we would be called. I'm pretty sure she said 1:20 - but the ticket said 1:11 (in 20 minutes). I was still looking around the stores (Christmas, and Art of Disney) when we were actually called. My mom heard and got in line for us. We ended up in the elephant room with a nice view of a couple gorillas also. Elena really liked the animals - but absolutely hated the rain storm. We only had two during our meal - but during the second one her grandpa very nicely took her outside. We had gotten our meals at about 1:50 (a bit of wait, I think). Justine had grilled cheese, Elena had the kid's pizza, Ted and my dad had burgers and my mom and I shared some of the "comfort food". I got the meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes and she got the chicken fried chicken so we could share some of ours with each other. After trying both, I would have chosen the meatloaf since the chicken was a bit spicy. Since we were a party of 6, the gratuity was added automatically on the bill (17%). So the whole bill was $75.19. I used my Magic Kingdom Club discount (10% off for -$6.70) so that's figured in as well. (They also have an Annual Pass discount here, but only Mon. - Thurs.) I think we were all pretty satisfied after the meal, but it was getting late and I didn't feel like doing much shopping. My mom and dad went in to get a few things for the other grandchildren and we went back to our room - about 3:00.
My parents took a bus to the Swan/Dolphin to pick up their rental car from the National counter there. They actually just left the car there, and walked over to the BW to join us for a swim and rest. My mom stayed in the room with Elena so they both could get naps, and the rest of us went to the pool. Ted and I got to do the slide at the Luna Park pool, but Justine is too water-shy and not a swimmer yet. The slide was actually better than I thought it would be.
After our break, we packed up to go back to the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks. I packed a few snacks - but nothing worthy of being called "supper". I knew the park would be crowded since this was the only night this week for these events, so I wanted to get their early enough to get a good spot. I wanted to be able to stay in the same spot after the parade for the fireworks, so I chose a section of curb along the hub on the Tomorrowland side. We were left of the garbage can just facing the castle and the center aisle where they had a handicap viewing area roped off. There were some people already sitting on the benches behind us, so my mom joined a couple there, since she didn't want to sit on the ground or stand. We arrived at this prized spot at about 5:50 - just over two hours before the parade. My plan was to leave the girls with their strollers and an adult or two at our spot and send someone to get supper. My dad went to get supper in Tomorrowland for my mom and himself, and I went to the Main Street Bakery for cookies, milk and Banana bread. Then I stopped at Casey's for some hot dogs and fries. The line at the bakery was long, but it moved at a fairly reasonable pace. Total for 2 cookies, 2 pieces of banana bread and 2 milks = $9.50 - and it was worth every penny. I don't seem to have my receipt from Casey's but I think it was about $9.00 for 2 hot dogs and fries. It's no wonder I lost the receipt. Casey's was a mad house with lines out to Main Street. The lines were incredibly s-l-o-w. I just couldn't imagine what could be so difficult about this - they have a VERY limited menu, they know there's going to be a crowd tonight, what's the deal?? If someone figures it out, let me know. After spilling mustard all over the floor (and cleaning it up) I was finally on our way back to our spot. In the time I was gone - the crowd had grown a LOT. The people were sitting in at least 3 rows back from the curb, with others standing and some on the benches. It was actually fun sitting in the crowd and joking about waiting there for so long. We became quite territorial for each other. More than one group tried to squeeze in front of our section and we were not going to let them do it. There was a guy there who said he was 27 and that this was his first trip to WDW. The lady behind us was actually from a town just south of where we live. The crowd was a bit crazy just before the parade, until they roped off the rode for the parade route. We were able to move Elena to my lap and fold her stroller so the 27-year-old first-time WDW visitor would have a front row seat. Sorry to babble on about this, but we were there for 2 hours /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif .
The parade started and we all were just having a great time. The smaller "floats" and the characters gave Justine and Elena a lot of attention. That is just so special to see them with their eyes all lit up with excitement - or was it all those little light bulbs reflecting?? Anyway, it was worth the wait. One thing that I didn't think about was how the crowd would shift at the end of the parade. There was still about a half and hour before the fireworks and people were trying to get around - either out of the park or to rides, or whatever. The crowd from Main Street followed the parade up to our section and packed in on the street in front of us. Cast Members were trying to make pathways moving in both directions - but it was pretty packed. I had one last piece of banana bread to keep Elena happy and Justine was finishing her cookie. We moved the strollers in front of us and held the girls up during the fireworks. That was also worth the wait. I think in situations like this, you just have to be well prepared and have a good attitude. And - as usual, with small children, you have to be ready to bail out if it's necessary. Oh yeah - and if you have any plans to get anywhere quickly after the parade - park yourself VERY close to where you want to go. Otherwise - forget about it.
They had extended the park hours to 10pm and added the second parade. We found out on the WDW Railroad announcement early in the day, but there were many others who were surprised by this when they announced it during the time before the 8pm parade. The crowd definitely warranted an additional MSEP, but we were long gone by that time.
We had to say good-bye to my parents tonight, because they were leaving in the morning to go to my brother's in W. Palm Beach. They took the bus back to the BW with us and then walked to the Swan/Dolphin to get their rental car.
Tomorrow - Epcot
Lor
