"Is it time for Mickey ice cream?" DEC 2014 Trip Report update 12/17

[stephm0188]

"Gooooood morning! And welcome everyone to the most magical place on DISboards, my trip report! It sure is great to see all your smiling faces out there today!"
​

Hello there! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Steph, and I love Disney! I'm married to a man we'll call My Husband and mom to a six year old son we'll call My Kid.

We visited Walt Disney World from 12/6/14 through 12/11/14. This was our family's fifth trip to WDW, and the fourth time we visited during this particular time of year. I'm our family's PDP, or Primary Disney Planner. We're park hoppers and like to be there for opening and stay for closing. "You can sleep when we get home" is our Disney motto. It's not a touring style for everyone, but it works for us.

I hope you enjoy following along with our family's WDW adventures. It was a doozey of a week.

"Here we go! In 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! WOOOOOO!!!"
​

 

[stephm0188]

Table of Contents

Day One
It's Go Time!
In Search of a Yeti
Do Not Feed The Animals
In Search of Adventure
Hakuna Matata
​

 

[nettii]

Very excited to follow along

 

[mirandaperez10]

Jumping in

 

[stephm0188]

Very excited to follow along

Jumping in

Glad to see you both here! Thanks for joining me

 

[stephm0188]

Day One: It's Go Time!​

After months and months of careful planning, the big day was finally upon us.

Unfortunately, it was upon us at 3:00am. We had a 6:05am flight departure that morning.

STILL! It was DISNEY DAY! Who cares that we had to wake up so early? We were going to Disney!

I had our bags packed and (mostly) ready to go. I just needed to throw in a few toiletries after we were all dressed and ready, and then we were ready to head out the door. It rained a bit on the way to the way to the airport, but it wasn't anything that slowed us down. If anything, it made us even more excited to leave behind the cold Ohio weather for Florida sunshine. More on that later...

The airport was practically deserted. The only other people crazy enough to fly that early all had suitcases with little yellow Magical Express tags attached to them. We breezed through security just in time for Chick-Fil-a to open at 5:00am. We ordered a couple of boxes of Chick'n Minis for breakfast and ate them at the gate while we waited to board.

The flight on Southwest that morning was completely full! I'm glad we opted to pay for Earlybird Check In. It was nice to have those A-group boarding passes.

Before we knew it, we were taking off and finally on our way! I'll be honest- I napped on the plane right up until the time it landed, so I couldn't even begin to tell you what the husband and kid did to occupy their time during the 2 and a half hour flight. We landed right on time around 8:30 am, gathered our belongings, then headed for Magical Express.

Check in was a breeze with our MagicBands, and we were able to board the motorcoach quickly. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. After 30 minutes or so of waiting, we were on the road and heading toward Walt Disney World.

The kid obviously was not into having his picture taken that morning. I think he was hoping I'd go away if he ignored me and my request for him to "just say MICKEY!" long enough.

First we stopped at Polynesian.
Then we stopped at the Grand Floridian.
Then we stopped at Wilderness Lodge. WE HAD ARRIVED!!

We waltzed right up to the check-in counter and were greeted by a friendly cast member. I crossed my fingers and secretly hoped for a room upgrade. Drat. Not this time. Oh well! She informed us our room was ready, so we went upstairs to check it out.

Fourth floor, room 4098. I was a little disappointed to see that the room faced the lobby, as I heard it could be noisy.

We opened the door and stepped inside. My disappointment grew a little more when I peeked inside the bathroom.

What? Where was the split bathroom design? Where were the double sinks with ample storage? Where was I?

It's just a bathroom, I told myself. It would make getting ready in the mornings more of a hassle, and it was ugly but we were at Disney. It would be fine.

Then I opened the curtains to see what our view would be like. View? What view? There was a roof. That's it. The only thing you could see was the peak of a roof jutting up. I would have preferred a view of the dumpsters over a view of a wall in front of our faces. I was pretty discouraged. This was not the Wilderness Lodge I knew and loved.

But we were at Disney, and eager to get to our first park, so I let it go. We'd only be in that room for two nights before moving to our woods view room. I could deal with it. We were at Disney!

We headed downstairs and out to the bus stop to wait for our first bus. Animal Kingdom, here we come!

Click here to read what happens next!​

 

[PrincePluto]

Subbing! Now to go back and read...

 

[stephm0188]

Subbing! Now to go back and read...

Nice of you to join!

 

[stephm0188]

In Search of a Yeti​

We boarded the bus at Wilderness Lodge and set off for Animal Kingdom. It was going to be a big day. No, it was going to be an epic day. We had one important task to accomplish.

Wait, make that two. We needed to eat lunch.

But first, we were going to conquer Expedition Everest.

Back during our 2012 trip, the kid really, really wanted to ride Expedition Everest. Alas, it was not meant to be. He was just a little too short. The nice cast member gave him a special card and told him that when he was tall enough, he could bring it back for a Fastpass for the entire family.

Last year, he totally chickened out and refused to ride. I tucked the card away in my bag and saved it for a future trip.

This year, he was apprehensive, but I had a trick up my sleeve. I bribed him. Yes folks, I bribed my kid. "Ride all the roller coasters at Disney with me and you can get a double ended light saber." I have no shame.

So we marched up to the Fastpass+ entrance and I presented the card. The cast member congratulated him on finally being tall enough (and brave enough!) to ride Expedition Everest and filled in the date on the back of the card.

Now would probably be a good time to mention that I was a slacker this trip and didn't take a lot of pictures. SORRY.

We made our way through the line and boarded the train. Before we knew it, we were headed up the mountain to face the Yeti head on.

The verdict from the kid? "I'm never ever doing that again. I didn't like it."

(His story has changed now that we're home. He won't stop talking about how awesome it was. He can be a bit stubborn and won't admit that he likes something because he doesn't want to be wrong!"

And then came the question that would become the theme of our trip.

"Can I have a Mickey ice cream now?"

We had decided to purchase the dining plan for the first time, and the kid had decided he was using all his snack credits on Mickey ice cream bars. He just wanted what was rightfully his!

"Not yet kiddo, it's time for lunch."

Click here to read what happens next!​

 

[stephm0188]

Do Not Feed The Animals​

After coming face to face with the Yeti, we decided to head over to Flame Tree Barbecue for lunch. I was pretty excited to try this place out. I was especially excited for dessert.

We were new to the whole Disney Dining Plan thing and not quite sure what we were doing. I ordered for the kid first- a hot dog with yogurt and a cookie, plus white milk. Then I placed the order that the husband and I decided to split- a chicken and rib combo platter with a Coke.

Did you catch my mistake? I didn't. Wait for it...

Anyhow. I picked up our tray and headed for a shady place to sit in the seating area. I noticed this little card on our tray:

Well, that's a cool little freebie to save. The kid loves collecting that sort of thing from Disney.

I passed him his hot dog and yogurt, then focused on splitting the platter with the husband. He took the ribs and slaw, I took the chicken and beans. Splitting it was the perfect decision because we didn't want anything too heavy since we had Boma reservations that evening. I didn't want us to be too full.

That was not going to be a problem for the kid. Two bites into his hot dog, he managed to drop it. It left a delightful ketchup trail down his shirt as it fell to the ground. And then a bird snatched it up and swallowed the whole thing in one fell swoop. Good bye, lunch.

He begrudgingly ate the yogurt, and then asked for his cookie. One bite into it, and the cookie broke apart and fell to the ground. I bet you can guess what happened next.

Now would be a good time to show what was on the back of that nifty little card they placed on our tray. It's like they KNEW! Must be the MagicBands...

So our first meal at Disney was nearly a failure. My meal was pretty great though, and I thought our first time using the dining plan went well.

Until we were leaving and saw two women walk by with key lime mousses on their trays. I FORGOT TO ORDER DESSERT!

Now the meal was a failure. Eh, what can you do but and move on.

So move on we did, down the trail to meet Pocahontas.

Click here to read what happens next!​

 

[Bamagirl43]

Subbing. We're going the same time next year! I think Animal Kingdom will be our first park as well. Tell me about the weather. I see a long sleeve shirt on your kiddo.

 

[stephm0188]

Subbing. We're going the same time next year! I think Animal Kingdom will be our first park as well. Tell me about the weather. I see a long sleeve shirt on your kiddo.

He was in short sleeves, but his Magic Band does make it look like he was wearing long sleeves!

We've gone the same week each year for the last four years and experienced a variety of temperatures. One year we had temps in the 80s. This year we were not as fortunate. The high was 83 when we arrived Saturday, but the rest of the week saw 50s and low 60s during the day.

Usually jeans and a t-shirt with a jacket for cool mornings and evenings is fine for us during this time period.

Thanks for following along!

 

[dvc at last !]

Loving your report - waiting for more...

 

[cstorm65]

Enjoying the start to your trip. Bummer on forgetting dessert. Can't wait to read some more!

 

[stephm0188]

Loving your report - waiting for more...

Enjoying the start to your trip. Bummer on forgetting dessert. Can't wait to read some more!

Thanks for joining me!

 

[stephm0188]

In Search of Adventure​

Expedition Everest. Check.
Lunch. Check.

Moving forward with our day at Animal Kingdom.

We decided to meet Pocahontas right after lunch since we were close. We missed her on our last trip and the kid was kind of bummed. The line was a little long, but moved quickly.

I thought this was one of the better character interactions we had during our stay. We didn't feel rushed, and she took time to chat with the kid about where he was from. The husband was thrilled when she called him "Chief" and insisted I call him that for the duration of our trip.

"Now can I have Mickey ice cream?"
First Mickey ice cream bar purchased.

We headed for Dinoland U.S.A. because it was time for another very important event. The kid was finally tall enough to ride Primevil Whirl.

Primevil whirl has always bothered me a bit. It has a pretty lofty height requirement at 48", which has made our past visits to Dinoland U.S.A. a bit of a pain. The colors and theme of the area really appeal to a small kid, and it was always heartbreaking for the kid when he had to be told "Sorry, you can't ride."

But this year was different. He ate his veggies and drank his milk all year long so he'd grow tall enough to ride. (That's what he told me!) As soon as we finished, he declared that it was his new favorite ride.

Next stop... pin trading. Before we left, I made him a lanyard and purchased pins for him to trade in the parks. It was something new to try and I figured it would be a somewhat cheap form of entertainment. He traded for a pin at the pin kiosk, then asked to purchase two more. Hrmm... maybe this "cheap entertainment" thing was not so well thought out! We had given him a $50 gift card to spend on whatever he wanted in the park, so he chose to purchase two pins.

He asked to play in the dig site for a bit, so we spent a little time there. It had really started to warm up in the park, so I found a seat near a fan and enjoyed cooling off for a bit. The kid ran around for a bit, then traded a pin with a cast member before declaring he was thirsty.

It was time to move on. We decided to hike over to Africa to catch Festival of the Lion King.

Click here to read what happens next!​

 

[ashw100]

Following over the PTR. Going back to read now. Can't wait to hear about your trip.

 

[ursalita]

I'm here! Your kid's a cutie!

I don't blame you for being disappointed in the room. I've never had a bad room at WL. I hope your next room was better.

Yay for riding Everest. I'm determined to ride it but will probably have to do single rider. Nothing wrong with bribery. Just this week I bought my younger son a Happy Meal in exchange for a complaint-free trip to the grocery store. Desperate times....

Looking forward to more and how you liked FOTLK. We want to make sure to try it this year for the first time.

 

[stephm0188]

Following over the PTR. Going back to read now. Can't wait to hear about your trip.

Hi! Thanks for following along here, too!

I'm here! Your kid's a cutie!

I don't blame you for being disappointed in the room. I've never had a bad room at WL. I hope your next room was better.

Yay for riding Everest. I'm determined to ride it but will probably have to do single rider. Nothing wrong with bribery. Just this week I bought my younger son a Happy Meal in exchange for a complaint-free trip to the grocery store. Desperate times....

Looking forward to more and how you liked FOTLK. We want to make sure to try it this year for the first time.

Thank you! I think he's pretty adorable myself!

If you do ride Everest and there's not too much of a wait, the front seat has an amazing view . It's a great ride no matter where you sit, though!

Nothing wrong with bribery. I've offered my fair share of Happy Meals!

 

[stephm0188]

Hakuna Matata​

We made our way over to Africa to catch Festival of the Lion King. We had been to Animal Kingdom multiple times, but never managed to find time to watch. We waited for around fifteen minutes for the doors to open for us lowly non-FP+ guests, then found a seat.

The show was fun and well done! The kid was asked twice to participate and declined both times. He doesn't like to be put on the spot if he's not prepared. He still had some interaction with the cast from his seat, so that was fun. We had a seat in the third row, right on the aisle. Overall, it was a great experience, but I'm not sure that I prefer it over Finding Nemo. We had to miss that one this time!

After FOTLK, we stopped to use a couple of snack credits.

The kid chose a pretzel and the husband and I shared an elephant ear. I think he was expecting a county fair style elephant ear with fried dough and cinnamon sugar, so he was a bit surprised to get a yummy pastry dipped in chocolate. I thought it was delicious!

After our snack, it was time for our FP+ window for Kilimanjaro Safaris. We were a little alarmed to see that the line was completely backed up. It sprawled out from the FP+ queue down to where the standby entrance was. We waited 25 minutes in the FP+ line! Ouch.

I learned two things this trip about KS:
1. The animals seemed more active when we rode early in the morning on prior trips. We didn't see a whole lot happening this time.
2. If you're hoping to take photos, you may want to sit on the left hand side of the car. It seems like many of the habitats are on that side.

I sat on the right this time, AND I made the mistake of leaving my good zoom lens in the hotel room. Oops. AK is pretty much my sole reason for bringing that lens, so I felt pretty silly for not bringing it into the park that day.

This guy was so close I felt like I could have reached out and touched him!

The ride came to an end sooner than we would have liked, and it was time to move on. We had another FP+ reservation for Expedition Everest, but neither the husband or kid seemed thrilled with the plan. Fine We swapped them out for a later time slots right before closing - Kali River Rapids for them, EE for me- then decided to walk the trails.

This happened while we walked:

Guess our 3:00am morning caught up with him! I took advantage of his quick nap and headed off to ride EE while the husband browsed through shops. WHEE!!!