Second Chance at the Trip of a Lifetime_Sept 2014 TR

[kclark9830]

Wow! It's been a few months since our trip and I am having major Disney withdraws. The Disney Flip Side sweepstakes isn't helping my obsession, either .

I figured writing up my official trip report might help hold me over until I get to go to WDW again (hopefully in 2016!). If you'd like to see my pre-trip report you can find it here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3311247

I'm not sure how faithfully I'll be updating here. Then again, I say that and I'll probably make five posts a day .

First up is an intro to us (for anyone who didn't check out the PTR). I'm Katie, and hubby is Micheal. Then we have two girlies, Emma and Ashlyn. This was our second trip to WDW, and boy was I thrilled.

When? September 20-26, 2014

Here we are at Disney!


Micheal and I have been married for nearly 12 years now. We've been through a bunch together (daughter Emma was diagnosed with cancer when she was 3), but we're still going strong. Most of the time! (haha) The reason for the name of our trip report is because we'd gone to WDW previously, on a Make-A-Wish trip. It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, but it was mostly a family of four without much knowledge of everything Disney had to offer. We waited a few years to return in order to do everything we wished we could have done on that Wish trip--and in order to get Emma 100% well. We were finally getting our trip of a lifetime!

So, now we begin our story. Our tale starts on a dark night (OK, morning. It was 3am), where a dark man waited, with a dark purpose (OK, again, it was more a GREAT purpose, but you get the point)...​

 

[kclark9830]

Get Ready 'Cause Here We Go!
Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner
Animal Kingdom
Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique
Dumbo Days
Enchanted Tales
Hollywood Studios...In the Rain
Eeyores and Tiggers and Poohs, oh my!
Epcot!
Supercalifragilistic Breakfast!

 

[kclark9830]

So, our journey started at 3am central time. We were traveling with my sister, her hubby, and their daughter. My mom, dad, and another sister were also coming along in a separate car. You'll see these people scattered throughout the pictures (I mean that in a figurative sense), but they shall remain nameless since I didn't ask their permission .

Here are the three kiddos in all their sleepy splendor.



It was a 12 hour drive, with alternating drivers. Overall, we made great time, and around 4pm we passed under these splendid gates!



We checked into the All Star Music Resort, which was unfortunately undergoing construction. But really, we didn't care. We were thrilled to be at Disney!



We hurried to our rooms to rest for a couple hours, because that night we'd be gearing up for a boat ride to the Grand Floridian, and a dinner with Cinderella!

​

 

[kclark9830]

After two hours of resting, we plodded to the bus stop to Magic Kingdom. Lucky for us, we only waited for a few minutes and a bus pulled up to get us. It was a quick drive to the Kingdom, and we hurried to find the ferry.


(That's me in the turquois shirt!)

Again, we were lucky. The ferry was a moment from pulling away, and they let us on just in time!

Unfortunately, my oldest daughter is a bit of a chicken (I mean that in the most loving sense ). Someone joked with her that maybe the Tick Tock Crock lived in the water between Magic Kingdom and the Grand Floridian. She clung to us the rest of the ride!

But once at the Grand Floridian, we were in awe!



We headed to 1900 Park Fare and were seated almost immediately, and a moment later Drizella, Anastasia, and Lady Tremaine arrived!



We had to wait a bit longer to meet the leading lady, but the food made it totally worth it! I would have pictures of that, but hubby refused to let me take food pictures!



And we can't forget Prince Charming!



After that we rode back to Magic Kingdom (we got to see the Water Parade thingy! It was great, but my camera didn't take good pictures ) (Also, oldest daughter clung to us again, still afraid of Tick Tock Crock). We arrived back at All-Star Music late, and we went to bed to prepare for Sunday morning at Animal Kingdom!

​

 

[kclark9830]

Animal Kingdom day! We were up and ready very early.



I really enjoyed Animal Kingdom when we went to WDW in 2011. This time, however, I didn't love it. Maybe it was because hubby was in a bit of a bad mood. Maybe it was because we were travelling with my family and their idea of fun isn't exactly my idea of fun. Whatever it was...our Animal Kingdom day was just "OK."

What a way to start an update, huh?! Don't get me wrong. We still had fun! Our first plan of business was meeting Pocahontas, whom we'd not met in 2011. The girlies were absolutely beguiled! Seeing them so happy immediately brightened my day.



Next up was Kilimanjaro Safaris. I had some great pictures of the animals on my phone, but the phone didn't cooperate (technology!).

After that we headed for Tusker House, and lunch with Donald and safari pals!



The food was AH-mazing! Yum yum yum! And I forgot to mention it in my Happily Ever After update, but the gluten-free options at Disney were fantastic.

After Tusker House, we rode Kali River Rapids, then headed to the Boneyard. You remember I mentioned oldest daughter Emma is a bit of a chicken? Well, she's afraid of just about everything, including getting "lost." While in the boneyard, she glanced around and didn't see me. She thought she was lost and starting boo-hooing. She found a CM (which we'd instructed her to do beforehand, because she'd been worried about it), and the CM quickly located us. Bless her, she's just afraid of everything!



During a potty break, we caught a street parade!




Then we headed back to AS Music to rest up before our night at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique!​

 

[kclark9830]

When I last left off we were heading to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Unfortunately, I didn't call early enough for an appointment to get in at the castle location, so we were headed to Downtown Disney. I admit I'm not a "shopper" and I don't do places like DTD very often (I go to the mall maybe once a year). So it definitely wasn't ideal, but honestly my girls didn't care AT ALL. They'd seen a commercial on the Disney channel for the Boutique and it was exciting to them no matter which location we got into.

So, after a short rest at AS Music, we boarded a bus and rode to DTD. It wasn't hard to find the right place, and we quickly checked in. Unfortunately, we waited for a VERY long time. Over an hour, at least. Our appointment was for 7:30pm, and it was well after 8:30pm when the girls' names were called. Talk about Grumpy .

When push came to shove, though, these two princesses-in-training were on cloud nine! The Fairy God Mothers were amazing, and everything went magically.

They wore Frozen dresses we'd brought from home, and both of them chose the classic princess up-do, with the bun and crown. They loved the little backpacks the boutique gave them at the end, and they still play with them!









All in all it was a fantastic experience. We left the up-do's in overnight so the girls would have cute hair for their first day in Magic Kingdom, where we'd be heading the next morning!!! (on a side note, when it did come time to wash the girls' hair, we found the gel from BBB had given them a terrible, itchy rash. Needless to say, we won't be going back on future visits )

The ride back to the hotel wasn't so pleasant (their sweet little cousin had just been plum wore out, and she was that kid on the bus everyone hates to ride with--at least for that night!).

But we really didn't care, because we were at Disney World!!!​

 

[kclark9830]

The big day had finally arrived...our first Magic Kingdom day!!! I like all of the parks, but like most people I have my favorites (Epcot and Magic Kingdom). We loaded the bus right around 9am (much to hubby's dismay--he wanted to sleep more). When we arrived at MK it wasn't too busy. Yet. (it got VERY busy after lunch)

We stopped for a few magic shots with PP, but none of them turned out very well. We decided to head straight back to Dumbo, and ride that before our FP for 7 D's Mine Train.

But we were derailed when we passed the Merida meet & greet--and saw no line! We quickly stepped up to meet her, and she commented about my girls' red hair. They're always confused when people say they have red hair because kids are literal. When people say "red", they think "red", and they just don't get it.



Poor Ashlyn, she just couldn't get a shot with her eyes open.

After the meet & greet they were led to the archery range, which the girls LOVED! A very cool feature.



You can see a line quickly developed after us!

Once we were done with Merida, we headed to the Dumbo ride. Ashlyn, who was 4 at the time, declared Dumbo her favorite. Both girls, and later their cousin, really enjoyed the play area under the big top, and a lot of times they just asked if they could go play at the "playground."



I loved being able to see the castles from Dumbo (Ariel's Grotto, the beast's castle, and Cinderella's castle. It was very cool!).

After we finished Dumbo we rode Barnstormer. Ashlyn did NOT like this ride. She kept shouting, "This is not fun!" as we raced around the track. That left her out for Mine Train. She refused to ride it.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the Mine Train, but it was one of my favorite rides. I loved it!

After the Mine Train, we took a few rides on the carousel.


This is me and hubby waiting in line, picture courtesy of oldest daughter, Emma.



At that point we met up with the rest of the family, because it was time for our FP at Enchanted Tales with Belle! After that, we had FP's for Be Our Guest restaurant, and all that is coming up in the next update. ​

 

[kclark9830]

When we last left off, we had just met up with the entire crew to make our Enchanted Tales with Belle fastpass. There were ten of us, in all, and we were armed and ready!

It was HOT outside, and crowds were starting to pick up. We found a place to park the stroller then headed to the FP entrance. There were a few others already in line, and they were not particularly friendly. Maybe it was the heat? Anyway, we waited about 20 minutes before the doors opened and they let us into Maurice's workshop. It was very awesome!



After I'd taken a few pictures, the CM let me know there was no flash photography. Oops! A moment later, the magic mirror did something totally awesome! And then we entered a new area, where we were greeted by the talking armoire (can't remember her name!).



Two people in our party (my sister, and my brother-in-law) were chosen to be part of the fun!

Then we were led into the library where we met Belle!!! She's my favorite. You see, I'm a writer, and I love books...just like her!



The whole thing was loads of fun, and I would totally do this attraction again. We loved it! We weren't able to get autographs, but Belle passed out bookmarks for everyone to use. Magical!

Next up we headed to the bathrooms near Gaston's Tavern, and my sister had her picture with Gaston. Then, we hightailed it over to Be Our Guest for our lunch FP's. Some of us had ordered our food online. Others did not. This proved to be a problem. Apparently those who order online get to go in MUCH sooner than those who don't, and our party was split up. This didn't make for happy campers in the folks who had to wait outside for almost 30 extra minutes, even with their FP's.



Still, the Beast's Castle is beautiful, and the food. Oh, the food! I had the roast beef sandwich, and hubby and the girls had the turkey. For dessert we had one of the strawberry cupcakes and one of the cupcakes with the "gray stuff". It WAS delicious!



All in all, I adored these additions to Fantasy Land. Of course, I love Belle. So major additions that involve Belle get an A+ from me .

After we ate, we hurried to Peter Pan's flight for our FP's. Then we checked the My Disney Experience app for wait times around the park. Stitch's Great Escape was a short wait, so we headed over. I hate to say it, but this one got a big thumbs down from everyone involved.

At this point we were pretty worn out, so my little group headed back to the hotel for a midday break. But before slipping out the gates we noticed the Tink meet & greet only had a 10 minute wait, so we stopped in for a chat.



We took a nap, took a swim, then ended up coming back to Magic Kingdom later in the evening. We fit in a few fun rides on Winnie the Pooh, the carousel, and the teacups. They ended up opening an extra hour of 7 D's Mine Train FP's, and we scored enough for our whole group! It started to rain, but we weren't quite ready to call it quits so we ran through the rain to ride the Ariel ride. I'm not sure that was the best decision . At last we called it a night, but it had been a productive day. In the morning we would be headed to Hollywood Studios, and everyone was ready to rest up!



​

 

[kclark9830]

Our Hollywood Studios day started off really well. We rode in around 10am, and headed straight to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. My girls loved it, and would have stayed for hours.



Unfortunately, we had to leave quickly because we had a lunch reservation at Hollywood and Vine, at 11am. We caught the tale end of the Frozen parade, just in time to see Elsa and Anna pass (which my girls loved), then we raced the rest of the way to the restaurant. Boy was it packed! We waited roughly 30 minutes to be seated, but again the food was fantastic.

We met Jake, Sophia, Doc, and Handy Manny. It was a really fun experience!



Sophia was actually a little bit rushed. She waved her hand at the girls to hurry up. No one else did that, so I'm not sure what her dealio was.



After the meal we rode Star Tours twice (girls and hubby loved it, and I liked it too, but it made me dizzy). During that time it started to rain.

Next, we hurried to use our Toy Story Mania FP's. This is one of our family favorites!



Then we went to see Disney Junior Live on Stage!



When we came out of the show it was still raining lightly. We put on our ponchos, realizing this was no passing afternoon shower. A few of us took a break while others went to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror, then we met up for Beauty and the Beast.

During the show, the downpour started. It rained, and rained, and rained.

When the show ended, it had only let up minimally but we decided to stay because we hadn't used our last FP, for the Frozen sing-along. We decided to eat supper at Pizza Planet, hoping the rain would let up.

It didn't. So, after we ate we decided to return to the hotel and miss the sing-along as well as Fantasmic. We RACED through the downpour in our ponchos, but really the ponchos were no help at this point. We were soaked to the bone!

It poured for the rest of the night, so we chilled at the hotel for the evening. The next morning I had to throw our shoes in the dryer to get them ready for another Magic Kingdom day. I wasn't the only one doing that, either!

I was so disappointed in the rain, because one of our top picks for what we wanted to do on this trip was see Fantasmic. Oh well, maybe next time!​

 

[littlezar]

Enjoying your TR! Sorry you had to miss Fantasmic. Sounds like everyone is having a blast!

 

[kclark9830]

Enjoying your TR! Sorry you had to miss Fantasmic. Sounds like everyone is having a blast!

Hi Littlezar! Thanks for reading. We did have a blast! I'm hoping we can return to Disney in 2016, and Fantasmic will be a priority!!!

 

[kclark9830]

Let's try this again...I had typed out an entire report of our next Magic Kingdom day, only to press "submit reply" and have the server time out.

So here we go again!

Our fourth full park day began on Wednesday. We spent a lazy morning at the resort, swimming and eating to our hearts' desires. Finally, it was time to head to Magic Kingdom.

We arrived just after 12 noon, and the entrance wasn't busy at all. We caught a stage show at the castle...



It was loads of fun!

Then we headed toward Adventureland and Frontierland. It sounds crazy but we'd never been to either! First up was the magic carpets ride. The girls loved it. I like Dumbo better, but there's no surprise there!



Then we spent some time wandering around Adventureland and the marketplace. We spotted Aladdin and Jasmine but their line had already closed so we didn't meet them.



We rode the Jungle Cruise, watched the Country Bear Jamboree, and caught the Festival of Fantasy parade. It was great! Then we split up: hubby and Ashlyn (the littlest) headed back to magic carpet ride while Emma and I headed to Splash Mountain. Emma loved it! It became her favorite ride, and she still talks about it.



After that we rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and met up with the rest of our group for our early supper reservations at Crystal Palace. I feel like a broken record, but the food was fantastic! We loved meeting the characters. Of course, the Hundred Acre Wood pals are my faves.



I think this was our most fun meal.

Next we headed to Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. We rode a bunch of stuff...Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Tea Cups, Winnie the Pooh, the Carousel. It was magical.



At last it was time for the "big" FP--meeting Elsa and Anna. We had a FP for my family of 4, as well as my sister's family of 3. However, in the course of changing a different FP earlier in the day my sister had unknowingly canceled her Elsa and Anna FP! She begged the CM at the FP kiosk to fix things, and he patiently refreshed the page 20 or 30 times when low and behold, three FP's popped up! She, her hubby, and daughter snatched them up and we all raced to get in.

Princess Fairy Tale Hall was lovely. We happened to be there when they weren't opening the line to the general public, so if you didn't have a FP you were out of luck.





By this time it was nearing 9pm. We were tired but no one wanted to leave. This was our last Magic Kingdom day, and the next day was our last park day period. We were all so sad about it, we wanted to stay in MK as long as we could. We stayed behind the castle during the fireworks and it was mostly deserted back there. We rode several rides with no wait, and my hubby and my sister's hubby found apps on their phones that flashed and sounded like police sirens so they were holding them above their heads and racing through Fantasyland. Everyone was laughing...except me and my sister.

It was a fun night, probably one of the most fun of our entire trip. At last we said goodnight to MK and headed to the buses. Tomorrow would be our final park day and we would spend it at EPCOT (my other favorite!).

​

 

[kclark9830]

We were drawing to the end of our trip, but we weren't letting that dampen our spirits. Our EPCOT day had finally arrived, and we were excited!

​

Our first order of business was using our FP's for Soarin'. We hadn't road Soarin' on our last trip. We had to wait for a while in line, but it was worth it! We loved Soarin'! After that we road the Nemo ride at the aquarium. I'm not sure why we didn't get any pictures of these things.

Then it was time to head to our Akershus reservations. My girls are huge princess fans (if you haven't noticed!). When we came to Epcot on our 2011 MAW trip, we mostly spent time in the France pavilion and the Japan pavilion. I hadn't noticed the Norway pavilion at all, but this time I found it pretty neat.

​

We had to wait in line for a long time, but we finally made it inside!



I don't think our girls have EVER been so well behaved. Ariel asked the girls if their red hair came from eating red seaweed as babies. Once again, the red hair reference confused them.

However, I ended up dropping my glass of soda (the dinnerware is very heavy at Akershus). It landed on my plate, and the glass AND plate shattered! I was so embarrassed, but the waitress was lovely. She assured me it happened all the time. Then she added that it was usually the kids she had to clean up after.

After the meal we rode Maelstrom, which we enjoyed. Then we walked around the world, checking out pavilions as we wanted. My girls really enjoyed the tiny village at Germany.

​

When we finished walking "around the world" we headed back for a midday break. We had a nice break before returning that night.

​

We rode Spaceship Earth, which we'd never done, then had supper at The Land. It was just OK, and the cashier was mean. Maybe she was having a bad day.

After this we decided to take in Turtle Talk with Crush. The girls loved this, but afterwards Emma said she felt like she was going to be sick. So, we called it a night just as Illuminations was about to start.

Tomorrow we would be going home, but not before the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at Grand Floridian!​

 

[disneyAndi14]

Sounds like a fun trip for your family

I would think being with a bigger group makes it harder to do things everyone likes, so nice job fitting in so many attractions at MK

My dd is 15 and she loved our dinner at Askerhaus, Crystal Palace, and Tusker, she loves all the characters

We love Soarin as well, we are heading back to the world in April, close to Easter yikes! It is my dd spring break and we are going to try the 1900 PF dinner, nice to hear your review about the good food.

Your daughters are so cute, I remember when my dd was scared of everything to, now she loves all the thrill rides.

 

[kclark9830]

Sounds like a fun trip for your family

I would think being with a bigger group makes it harder to do things everyone likes, so nice job fitting in so many attractions at MK

My dd is 15 and she loved our dinner at Askerhaus, Crystal Palace, and Tusker, she loves all the characters

We love Soarin as well, we are heading back to the world in April, close to Easter yikes! It is my dd spring break and we are going to try the 1900 PF dinner, nice to hear your review about the good food.

Your daughters are so cute, I remember when my dd was scared of everything to, now she loves all the thrill rides.

Thanks for stopping by disneyAndi! We did a lot of splitting up at times, so everyone could do the things they wanted. It worked well. The food at 1900 PF at dinner was so yummy. There is one pasta dish I'm thinking of right now....

I'm glad to hear your daughter outgrew her fears. There is hope yet! LOL Have fun on your upcoming trip!

 

[kclark9830]

Well, our last day had finally arrived. I was sad to be going home. We all were, and we knew we would be. That was precisely why we'd decided to book a character breakfast before we started the 12-hour drive home.

Grand Floridian, here we come!

Unfortunately, getting there was easier said than done. We waited for a bus for over an hour. Buses for all the other parks were coming and going with regularity. But for Magic Kingdom? No such luck. At last the bus arrived and we drove to MK. Once we got there, the ferry was nowhere in sight. Our reservation time had arrived, and we weren't there!

I was nervous, as we hadn't been late to any of our ADR's throughout the trip. I knew I'd read they would still let us eat, but I'm a worrier at times!

At last, the ferry came. Once again Emma was scared of Tick Tock Croc! We raced from the dock to 1900 Park Fare, checked in, and waited some more. After about 15 minutes our buzzer went off and we were ushered to a table.

Mary Poppins! Alice in Wonderland! The Mad Hatter! A fairytale lover's dream come true.



The girls were in heaven, at least until the Mad Hatter came around. Ashlyn, my youngest, hid under the table and wouldn't come out until he'd gone!

We ate. And ate. And ate. It was ungodly, seriously (and it would haunt me on the way home!).

At last our meal was finished, and we very sadly returned to the ferry, then the buses, then our rented minivan for the drive home. It'd been an amazing trip filled with happy (and sometimes unhappy ) memories. We are planning a return trip for either February 2016 or September 2016. We shall see (but you'll be the first to know)!

Pixie dust to all!!!


​

 

[DnA2010]

What a fun report! Your girls are adorable! Lots of fun character meals, looks like they really enjoyed them.

Vacations with extended family are always tricky - we did one with DHs parents, siblings and their families- I think there were 13 if us, I ended up taking the lead in the planning and thus it was up to me to make all decisions as they came up..always fun.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[kclark9830]

Thanks for reading DnA2010! It was definitely tricky at times. A little stressful! But we did have fun.