When: October 5, 2012- October 13, 2012
Where: Disney's Art of Animation Resort, Little Mermaid, standard room
Why: Because we like it! (October is just a fantastic time to go!)
Who: Stacey-46-WDW veteran-35+ trips DVC member
Annika-9-WDW veteran-23rd trip
Charlie-7-WDW veteran-15th trip
Big Charlie-Retired CM friend
Sandy-Retired CM, Big Charlie's wife
So, last WDW trip was last December/January. We had a great time, but hadn't yet planned another trip. Then I planned a visit to my brother and sister in LA, and decided we would go to Disneyland. (Trip report from that one on the Disneyland TR board) and I started thinking. We hadn't been to the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival nor Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party the year before, and I really wanted to go. AND, if we got the Premier Passports, we could use them on both trips, and then use them again next summer when we visit the family...Hmmmm...a bargain, really! You really gotta love Disney Math! Then, I thought..."There is a brand new resort opening. Wouldn't that be fun?!" I called central reservations and got us a standard room, in the Little Mermaid section of the brand spanking new Disney's Art of Animation Resort for 8 nights, starting October 5.
In a new and different turn for us, I made no ADRs at all. I figured we would eat at F&W, counter service and Landscapes of Flavor at our resort. I debated for quite a while whether we would drive or fly, and I ultimately ended up making flight reservations. We would use Disney's Magical Express, so there was no need for a rental car. When the hours were posted I drew up a basic plan. When I returned from the Disneyland trip, I started really tweaking things. I got the plan worked out pretty well, but as you will see, the best laid plans...
The plan:
Friday, October 5: Land in Orlando a little before noon, DME to resort. Go to Typhoon Lagoon for a couple of hours and return to explore the resort. Early to bed.
Saturday, October 6: Animal Kingdom until we poop out. Downtown Disney in the evening if we have the energy. Maybe meet Big Charlie and Sandy (CM friends of ours from many past trips.)
Sunday October, 7: Epcot. Future World in the morning. Rest for a bit at hotel and return for Food, Wine, and maybe IllumiNations!
Monday October 8: Magic Kingdom for a couple of hours and the return to the room for a long nap. Return to MK when we wake up, and stay as late as possible for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!
Tuesday October, 9: Sleep in a bit after our late night and then go to Blizzard Beach. DTD in the evening.
Wednesday, October 10: Disney's Hollywood Studios in the morning. Break at the hotel. Epcot at night.
Thursday, October 11: Epcot in the morning. Rest in afternoon and return to park in the PM.
Friday, October 12: Magic Kingdom in the morning and possibly Downtown Disney for a pin signing in the PM. Otherwise, back to MK or DHS.
Saturday, October 13: Check out (Boo!) Animal Kingdom and then return to hotel for DME.
What actually happened:
Friday, October 5:
The plan: Land in Orlando a little before noon, DME to resort. Go to Typhoon Lagoon for a couple of hours and return to explore the resort. Early to bed.
Actual: As is (unfortunately) normal for me, I didn't sleep well the night before the trip. I don't know why that always happens. On a normal day, I am frequently up, without an alarm clock, well before 6:00. But, for some reason, if I HAVE to get up at a particular time, I spend the night tossing and turning and waking up to check the clock. That is, in spite of the fact that I always set at least two alarms if I need to catch a plane. Oh, and I take Ambien, so it should knock me cold, but doesn't!
Anyway, at 3:45, I was up and was not going to fall back asleep. I finished my Disneyland trip report and posted it here on Mouseplanet. I loaded the car and John helped me get the kids up, dressed, and fed. I made myself a green smoothie, said my goodbyes to the dogs and we were pulling out of the driveway at 5:28. Traffic was pretty smooth and John was dropping us off at BWI at around 6:45.
The airport was quite crowded. We had a bit of a wait and then were called up to the counter to check our bags. The counter we were called to still had someone finishing up, so we stood and waited (not sure why they called us if she wasn't ready ...) the customers bag was big and bulky and for some reason it was taking ages. I was getting impatient, but held my tongue. After more than 10 minutes, she finally finished with him, and entirely skipped us to go to the person on the other side of the console from us (who had just walked up.) I said "excuse me, we've been standing here for fer 10 minutes now. She got all snotty and defensive with us. I started to lose my temper and she got even nastier. In the mean time, about half a dozen people that had been behind us had come and gone. If they hadn't called us prematurely, we would have been long done. Another worker noticed the situation, and I think she had seen us standing there all that time, and she came over to take care of us. We were sent downstairs to an auxiliary security station and it was PACKED! We waited in quite a long security line and finally got through. We needed to get some food for the flight, so we went to one of the sandwich places and got in another line! By the time we were served, we had just enough time to go tot the bathroom and line up to board. So far, it had not been a relaxing day!
We had a 90 minute flight to Greenville, SC a half hour layover, and then 90 minutes more to Orlando. We settled in and I napped for most of the flight. Because our layover was so short, we didn't disembark. When the other passengers left the plane, we used the bathrooms and settled in for part two...
...or so we thought.
The local passengers were loaded and we left the gate. Soon the plane stopped and we were told there would be a delay. Something wasn't working, and they were waiting for a crew. About 40 minutes later, we were told that they couldn't fix it and a part was needed that Greenville didn't have. We were loaded back to the gate to disembark. Then, they made an announcement that they were trying to get the part flown in, but if they couldn't, there were no flights out to Orlando that day.
I was starting to lose it, but on the advice of the lady making announcements, I made a call to SW to see when they could get me to Orlando if the plane couldn't be repaired. The lady starts to tell me that there is a flight at 6:55 the next morning (not terrible, under the circumstances) that would connect with a layover in...CHICAGO? What the?! I said "Are you people on crack?! You are going to connect me to Orlando from SOuth Carolina via CHICAGO?!"
I may have said some impolite words and hung up.
Eventually, they announced that they would be getting the part and getting us to Orlando, but it would be several hours. OK, I can live with that.
I needed to feed myself and the kids as everyone was getting quite hungry.
A piece of advice. If you need to take a flight that has a connection, make sure it isn't connecting in The-Middle-Of-Nowhere South Carolina! The only "restaurant" they had was a counter selling sandwiches, burgers, and hotdogs. I should mention that a few weeks before the trip I dramatically changed my diet. I cut out sugar except for a little bit of fruit, wheat, and most grain. I had been avoiding food that came in a box. I knew that on a Disney trip it would be difficult to stay totally on plan, but I wanted to do my best. They had chicken salad which might have been good had it not looked like it had been there for days. I opted for a cheeseburger with no bun. Annika had a hotdog and Charlie a slice of pepperoni pizza. It was eh, but at least it was food. What really helped was the coffee. I hadn't had time to have any coffee in the airport and was asleep on the plane. It was about noon and I was getting by grouchy, not only from the situation, but from lack of caffeine!
While we waited (ages) for the food I went back and forth (twice) to our gate to see if I could get any information. No luck. I went back to the kids and, finally, our name was called and we got our food.
Once we were finished, we gathered our stuff and headed back to the gate. I was worried that we would end up at the end of the line to re-board and get split up, but was told that the people that had been on the plane when it landed in SC would board first, and the rest would board based on their original boarding order. I also found out that we would each be getting a certificate for $100 off of future travel. OK, at least it was something!
At around 2:00 they started boarding and we took off at around 2:30. The flight was ok for the first hour, but the end was quite turbulent, and we were delayed landing a bit because of inclement local weather. We all survived and eventually we were on the ground in Orlando.
Finally!
It was raining, but I didn't care! We were there. We obviously weren't going to make it to Typhoon Lagoon anyway, so I was mainly interested in getting to the room and getting some dinner. We walked straight down to meet Disney's Magical express. We just missed a bus, but in a minute were being led to another. We sat for maybe 10 minutes, with some thunder and lightning going on in the background, and then we were off! The bus driver made the announcement that made my heart skip with joy. "Our first stop will be Disney's Art of Animation!" It had been a long day!
It was pouring as we drove to WDW, but lets face it, even in the pouring rain it is very exciting to drive under that welcome sign! We pulled up to our hotel and were the first off the bus. We recovered our bags and headed inside.
WOW! The lobby of that place is amazing! The colored lights and sketches on the wall are sort of overwhelming! You can't really take it in in one quick look! The kids went over to the kids' waiting area where a drawing class was just starting while I checked in. The CM who checked me in was named, appropriately enough, "Art!" I commented about that and he said that if his first name had been "Wilderness" he would probably be working elsewhere!
The kids were finishing learning how to draw Winnie the Pooh. Annika love it, but Charlie was unhappy with his results. I was hungry. And tired. It was a bit after 5:00m but it felt like midnight! I needed food. And a shower!
AoA is laid out much like Pop Century, so there was no learning curve to find things. We hopped into the bathroom to wash our hands and on into the food court. I had the kids tell me what they wanted and then I sat them at a table with our belongings while I got their dinner. Annika had the kids' chicken burger and Charlie had his first of many PB&J sandwiches.
I brought them their food and then went back to order mine. I got the tandoori chicken with spinach and paneer, and roasted cauliflower as my sides. It came with rice and nan as well. Though I am trying to avoid grains, I did eat the rice, but I didn't eat the nan. That was painful because I LOVE nan! I also picked up a refillable mug for coffee throughout the week.
We all inhaled our food. I have to say that I am very impressed with the food court at AoA! It was consistently very good, and I especially liked the Indian food.
Charlie (my shopper) wanted to see the gift shop, so we spent a couple of minutes looking before I nearly cried with exhaustion. I wanted to get rid of the bags and get a shower. I was so wiped out!
We walked out of the hotel toward the Big Blue Pool and, again, I say "WOW!" Very impressive! Good job Imagineers! It had mostly stopped raining, so that was good. We hung a left to head for the Little Mermaid section. We walked through the Nemo section. We walked through the Lion King section. We walked, and walked, and walked! Man oh man is the Little Mermaid section FAR AWAY!
This first time it wasn't so bad because we were just amazed by our surroundings! The Lion King was incredible! And so was the Little Mermaid. We were staying in "King Triton's Throne Room" which was to the left. We walked by the pool and hung a left to our elevator. Our room was blissfully close to the elevator, so we were soon in our room. Thank goodness.
Our room was awesome!! Really awesome! Yes, the standard rooms are little more than motel rooms, but the theme makes you feel like you are in a deluxe hotel. The kids were scrambling around looking at all of the detail. The bathroom was especially a hit, and Annika immediately found a hidden Mickey on the shower wall.
The children were excited, and I was beginning to throw off the bad vibes of the day, so I made a deal with them. If they would settle down long enough for me to to take a shower and catch my breath, AND if the weather held up, we could go to the Studios for an hour and they could ride Rock N Roller Coaster for the first time.
They did, and I got my shower. Ahhhhhh...We walked to the bus stop and watched a bus to The Studios pulling away. As it did a bus to Epcot pulled in. OK, we could go with the flow. To Epcot we went!
Dusk was settling and as we walked toward security we got a very cool look at Spaceship Earth through the trees. The lighting and the anticipation made it look more beautiful than normal. The security line was light and we entered in short order. We went through the turnstiles and discovered something interesting. With the Premier
Passports kids, as well as adults, have to use the finger scan. It took a couple of tries for each kid to get through.
Once through, We decided that Spaceship Earth would be our first stop. We hopped in line (which wasn't even a line) and got right on the ride. Annika rode in the front of the vehicle with Charlie and I right behind her. The odd thing was that the ride was going V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y. It was odd. I've been on this ride many times when it has stopped, but never when it moved at a snail's pace. At first it was a little annoying, but then I realized that because it was slower I was able to see a lot more detail. It was kind of cool. It crawled along for the whole ride. I don't think I would love it if it was like that all of the time, but it was neat this once.
Annika stopped to e-mail her video to herself and then headed out and walked toward Pin Central. I looked for a few minutes and then we watched the Fountain of Nations do its thing. I've always loved the fountain, but it is so gorgeous at night, and especially so after our very long, very tiring travel day! It finally felt like vacation!
We headed over to Future World East for Mission Space. I got a chocolate covered banana (I know, lots of sugar, but I was going to let myself cheat a little...) Charlie then said his tummy hurt. After a couple of questions, I suspected that he just needed the potty. While we waited for him, I realized that the banana was WAY to sweet for me. I ate a few bites and then I was done.
Charlie was fine, so we walked over to MS. I asked at the front if I could wait in line with the kids but not ride. They told me I'd need a pass thingy as if I was riding, but after the briefing I should ask to use the chicken exit. The posted wait was 5 or 10 minutes and it was somewhere about that. We went through the briefing, and I excused myself from the kids.
I was lead out, past the ride vehicles, which looked scary and claustrophobic, and out to the scardy-cat waiting area. I had a nice conversation with the young CM who was working there. He had just graduated in June from York College which is only about 40 minutes from our house. He was at WDW on the College Program and was enjoying it.
The kids came off, and I knew immediately that it had been a hit with Charlie! He had a HUGE smile on his face. He was jumping up and down and saying "Awesome!!" Annika loved it too, but it hadn't been her first time.
We went through to the gift shop and started looking around. Annika has a plush Stitch toy that she carried with her all through our Disneyland trip in August. He is about the same shape as Duffy and she had bought her plush Stitch several Duffy outfits.
The first thing we noticed when we walked into the gift shop was a Duffy Jedi outfit! My daughter is not one who makes decisions quickly or easily.
It takes her 30 minutes to pick which little piece of plastic crap she wants from the dentist.
I have been known, on more than one occasion, to tell her "You are picking a piece of crap! Not a College! Or husband!"
It took her about 3 1/2 seconds to decide to buy it! She was very excited and put it on Stitch right away! He looked adorable!
The second thing we noticed was that this shop sold Vinylmations. Charlie bought a Haunted Mansion Vinyl and liked it. Then he bought another so he would have one to trade in The mystery trading box. Thus it began! The first of many purchases/trades this trip! I bought two of the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Vinylmation Jrs. I really wanted the little blue bird one, but I got Grumpy and the Snow White in rags. Not the one I wanted, but the Snow was one of the chasers, so that was cool!
We walked out and I remembered that I wanted to check out the Food and Wine Festival Center in the old Wonders of Life Pavilion. It was close, so we boogied on over there. It was totally dead inside but we did a quick circuit anyway.
The chocolate booth was open so we looked at the display there. We saw some amazing and beautiful displays. Annika's eyes lit up when she saw the liquid chocolate! So did mine, but I had to remember the sugar! The gave us each a small sample, and Annika asked if she could have one. In the spirit of living vicariously through my nine year old, I got one for her. I had a sip or two, but even after such a short time off sugar, it just tasted too sweet for me.
Charlie wasn't a huge fan. Annika liked it a lot, but ultimately didn't finish it because it was so rich that it was too much! She sipped on it for quite a while, and eventually threw away the last little but.
We decided to hop into Mouse Gear and do a little shopping. I wanted to see what, if any, 30th anniversary merchandise was still available. There were none of the t-shirt I had hoped to find, but a lot of the 30th Mystery Pin packs. I picked up 4 or 5 of them. I also picked up a couple of those little park miniature mystery thingies for fellow Mouse Planeteer, Heidi Commorford. Charlie got a chocolate bar and a Vinylmation. Annika also got one of the miniature packs for herself.
I decided we would do one more thing before we headed out. Have you ever ridden Living With the Land at night? Well if you haven't, get right on it.
Now.
I mean it!
I had done this once before on a solo WDW trip, and it was cool, but the kids had not. We generally do not stay late at the parks, and when we do, this hasn't been a priority. Well, I had just enough energy left in me to squeeze this in. We walked over to The Land, and onto a boat.
We were the only ones on our boat.
I think we were the only ones on the attraction!
So... if you haven't done this, the reason that it is so cool is that the main source of light in the greenhouses is sunlight. At night there is none. They do have a minimal amount of electric lighting, but it is kind of dark. The atmosphere is totally different. Add to it that no one is working in the greenhouses, and the attraction is largely deserted, and it is almost spooky. Not that we felt like we would be attacked by a Nine Pound Lemon, or anything, but it was eerie. We learned about hydroponics, and aeroponics, and aquaponics, and then I was done.
It would have been nice to stay for IllumiNations, but it had been a long, long day, and we needed some sleep! We headed out of The Land at about 8:50, stopping to see the fiber optics in the ground outside of Innoventions West. We have always loved these, especially Annika.
We got out to the bus stop, and met a waiting AoA bus! At least the transportation gods no longer seemed to hate us! It was a blissfully short ride to the hotel. Yea! We made a very brief spin through the gift shop and left the building for the trek to the room. The long, long trek to the room!
Thank goodness, our luggage had arrived. I think I would have burst into tears if it hadn't all been there. I didn't want to completely unpack, but we needed to get to certain things, so I opened all three cases.
One was fine.
Two were wet.
Ugh. Not soaking, dripping wet, but wet enough that I had to hang or spread out a significant portion of it to dry. I was annoyed, to say the least! I don't know if it was Southwest or Disney who left my bags sitting in the rain or dropped them in a puddle. I was inclined to blame Southwest because by that point I hated them, but I felt I should inform Disney either way. The kids said "Are you going to yell at Disney?" I called DME and let them know, reasonably, how put-out I was. I told them that I didn't really expect them to do anything about it, but that I thought they should know.
We quickly got ready for bed and I did not set an alarm (very unlike me at Disney.) I figured that if we slept in, it was because we needed it!
Animal Kingdom, Saturday, October 6
The plan: Animal Kingdom until we poop out. Downtown Disney in the evening if we have the energy. Maybe meet Big Charlie and Sandy (CM friends of ours from many past trips.)
Actual: I don't know who I thought I was trying to fool by not setting an alarm! I don't sleep in. I was up very early and decided to go get coffee. I knew I was going to need it! Annika sort of woke up, so I told her where I was going and headed out on the days-long journey to Animation Hall. I filled my coffee mug, and headed back to the room.
Dosed with caffeine, I set to work unpacking. Charlie slept through the entire thing while Annika watched some "Stacey Show." I got the backpack ready for the day, and roused the kids. Once everyone was dressed and ready, we headed back to Animation Hall for breakfast at Landscape of Flavors.
Charlie picked up two Uncrustable PB&J sandwiches. Annika had the character waffles. I was very happy to find that the Greek yogurt in the build-your-own-parfait area was unsweetened. I ordered a parfait with fresh berries, nuts and seeds. It was great! I had been afraid that my food options would be severely limited, but LoF was a great food court for my particular needs!
We finished up and went out to the bus stop to wait for an AK bus. One improvement over the other value resorts that I noticed at this point was that the bus stops are covered! In my very humble opinion, this is a very big improvement. The bus was quite crowded, but at least we got on! When we got there, security was fairly backed up, but once through, the turnstiles weren't bad. Charlie's finger scan did not work and after several tries, we redid the scan using my finger. For the rest of the trip, I used my finger to get him into the parks.
Inside we took the right hand pathway to Discovery Island and there, headed toward Asia. Once on the path to Asia, I sent the kids on ahead to Expedition Everest and I turned around to go get FPs for Kilimanjaro Safari. While there I heard a CM telling a guest that kids under 6 don't need to have FPs as long as the adults have them. What?
Annika called and said that they were done. I told her they could go ahead and ride again. I walked back to Asia and went into the EE dump shop to await the kids. Maybe 10 minutes later they emerged, happy as proverbial clams!
We headed out of there and over to Dinoland USA. The kids rode Primeval Whirl and I bought a couple of packs of the Animal Kingdom Mystery Pack pins. I needed two more and thought I'd give it a try. No luck this time!
Annika was feeling a little woozy from three quick roller coaster rides so we went into the gift shop and browsed about a bit until she felt ready to ride Dinosaur. The kids rode, and I, once again, waited in the dump shop. I called and checked in with John while I waited. It took quite a while and I was starting to worry I'd missed them, but eventually they came out.
It was getting closer to our Safari FP so we headed toward Africa via Asia. I went to pick up FPs at Kali River Rapids while the kids did the Asia Discovery Club activity. I had to rush them because we were coming to the end of our Kilimanjaro FP time and I didn't want to miss it.
On our way to Africa, we were lucky enough to spot Devine. She is SO cool! I've only seen her about 4 times in all of my trips, and it is always a treat. The kids thought so too!
We got in the FP queue for the safari and were soon on board our vehicle. Our driver was Greg and he was good, but said some odd things, but we really enjoy this attraction every single time.
Leaving the safari, we walked into the Pangani Forest to. The kids did the Discovery Club stop. We were all starving, so we sort of rushed through the trail. Charlie had been promised a trip into the gift shop, so he went in there while Annika made a bracelet with the CMs running the crafts outside of the store.
By the time we finished up, I was hungry enough to eat my own arm. We had passed the egg roll Safari Kiosk on our way to Africa and decided to head back there We got two orders of spring rolls, one order of the Asian noodles, and an order of edamame. There was nowhere to sit right there, so we plopped ourself on the ground on the little path that leads offstage. That worked well until we noticed the ants! We ate up really quickly. Charlie only ate some edamame. He was not interested in the offerings of the kiosk. They didn't carry PB&J!
I realized that we were going to probably miss our FP return time for Kali, but we hightailed it over there to try. No luck. We were about 4 minutes late. The return time for new FPs was still only 40 minutes out, so we grabbed a set and then went to get Charlie a soft pretzel. Annika got Doritos. Once they finished their snack, we walked into the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Charlie loves the Komodo Dragon and he was out and about, so we watched him for a while. My favorite animals on this trail are the bats and we watched them for a bit. Then the tigers. These animals are so beautiful. It's amazing to watch them.
I called Big Charlie to see when we could get together with them. They were free that night, so we made arrangements to see them. They were going to pick us up and take us over to see Property Control, an onsite overstock outlet for CMs and their guests. We had a few minutes to kill waiting for our Kali FPs, so we browsed the Asian gift shop a bit.
Once our return time opened, we got right in line for Kali and had only a short wait to get on our inner tube. I sat between the two kids and we all got soaked, especially Annika! I don't think she could have gotten any wetter if she had jumped in a swimming pool!
We tried to squeeze out some of the water but we were seriously wet. Only time and sunshine were going to help!
We headed over toward It's Tough To Be A Bug. Annika wanted a corn dog, but they didn't have any ready so we went in to see the show. I do love this show, and the bugs running under the seat to leave the show never gets old!
After the show, we got Annika her corn dog. Charlie really hadn't eaten lunch and he was hungry. I was too as I had only eaten a couple of spring rolls. Flame Tree BBQ was nearby so we headed there. I got the Flame Tree BBQ Chicken Salad and Charlie got a PB&J (of course!) My salad was very good and I assume Charlie's Uncrustable was just as good as every other one he has ever had!
We had a little time to kill so we walked around the gift shops for a bit, and then headed out to the parking lot to meet Big Charlie and Sandy. We only waited about 3 or 4 minutes for them to pull up. The drive to Property Control was really cool! We saw loads of cool back-stage stuff. Charlie and Sandy were great tour guides!
Property Control itself was really excellent! Where else can you get retired Disney restaurant dishes, Vinylmations, and bananas? We left with a few large bags and decided that it made sense to bring them back to AoA before heading to Downtown Disney as we weren't sure if they would be staying with us the whole time and we didn't want to carry the bag, (which contained a fanny pack, t-shirt and quite a few vinylmations!)
Sandy and Charlie drove us to AoA and we carried our purchases into the room. I also took the opportunity to take a shower, and we all put on dry clothes (we were still damp from Kali!) Sandy and Charlie had seen the family suites at AoA, but hadn't yet seen The Little Mermaid rooms. They liked them as much as we did.
We left to go to DTD and on the way decided to try to get into T-Rex. DTD was very crowded but we decided to give it a try anyway. At the check-in desk, they said that it would be 20-25 minutes.
OK.
We could do that!
While we waited, the kids checked out the store. I was starting to doubt that we would get in anywhere near the time they had told us, when at almost exactly 25 minutes we were called. Yea!
We were seated in the meteor shower room. It was totally awesome to look at and we all enjoyed the meteor showers, but it was LOUD!
Really LOUD!
No conversation possible, I-don't-know-how-the-servers-could-hear-to-take-our-orders, LOUD!
So, we didn't really talk, but everyone enjoyed the spectacle. My Charlie ordered kids' pizza, Annika had Mac-and-Cheese. Big Charlie and Sandy shared a sandwich which I don't remember. I had the Guacasaurus burger, no bun. It was delish! No one ordered dessert, but we enjoyed seeing the lots and lots of Chocolate Extinctions being delivered all around us!
When we left, it had started to rain a little so we popped into Babycakes to see if there was anything anyone would like. Nothing floated our boats so we walked out. Charlie wanted to go to D-Street, but it was drizzling and we were all tired, so Big Charlie and Sandy gave us a ride back to AoA.
We had them drop us off at the main building and we stopped in to the food court to get some dessert to take back to the room. Annika got a cupcake, Charlie got a marshmallow thingy and I got a banana.
Back in the room, we had our desserts and settled in for bed. A long, but wonderful day!
Epcot, Sunday, October 7
The Plan: Epcot. Future World in the morning. Rest for a bit at hotel and return for Food, Wine, and maybe IllumiNations!
Actual: I woke up early again and went to retrieve some breakfast for us. I grabbed my coffee mug and headed on the long, arduous journey. I got the same breakfast as the day before. Yogurt for me, character waffles for Annika, and PB&J for Charlie. We ate our food and headed to the bus stop. We arrived a few minutes after rope drop. Bag check was crowded, but quick.
Once inside the park, we separated. The kids went to ride Mission Space while I went to Soarin' to get FPs.
I returned to Pin Central where I planned to meet up with the kids. I was talking to a pin trader from Ohio who said he has about 25,000 pins in his collection. Wow! I though 3,000 was a lot!
I met up with the kids and we headed over to see our friend, Figment. Unfortunately, his ride was closed temporarily. So, we headed over to find Nemo instead. After the ride, we explored the tanks while I talked to John about our French Bulldog Stitch. He wasn't feeling well and John was taking him to the vet.
After looking at the exhibits, we walked back to Journey Into Imagination. After our ride, we sent home a Figment e-mail, and Annika bought a little Figment with magnetic hands. Then, we headed back to The Land.
We got in the FP line for Soarin' and were soon being loaded. We lucked out and got front row center! Soarin' is great, even if you are on the bottom all the way on the far edge, but it is SO MUCH better on the top in the center!
When we were finished up in The Land, it was time to head out to World Showcase for Food and Wine! Our first stop was the Festival Booth where I got a wrist gift card. I was loaded for bear! Let the eating commence!
Over to the Greece booth for our first taste of F&W, Griddled Greek Cheese with Honey and Pistachio. It was VERY yum! I didn't eat much of the honey (avoiding sugar and all) but both Annika and I liked it, and Charlie didn't try.
Next stop, Canada! We got the Cheese Soup and the Chipotle Sausage and Polenta. We noticed a new DVC recruiting area so we sat there to eat. I spoke to the CM and he said they had only been open a short time. They gave each of us a new DVC pin.
When we were done eating we went to the Canada Kidcot station. I took a break and the kids decorated a cardboard Duffy.
Finished there, we next went to the Ireland Booth. There we tried the Seafood Shepard's Pie for me, and the Chocolate Lava Cake for the kids. We all loved our food!
Next stop, Great Britain for the Kidcot. I had another sit-down in the air conditioning while the kids colored. The kids made a quick run through the hedge maze in the back of the pavilion before we left to head toward France.
On our way to France, we stopped to pick up an Agent P mission. We asked for France because that's where we were headed and they obliged. I stood in line at the F&W booth while the kids got to work on the mission. For the first couple of steps, I was able to see them. I ordered the Coq au Vin and joined the kids. While the kids finished the mission, I started speaking to some folks who had a LeakyCon bag. LeakyCon is a Harry Potter fan convention, and it is something I would love to do some time. They said it had been fabulous and that I should try to go to the 2013 Leaky in Portland Oregon.
That reminds me...I need to look into that!
The kids were still hungry, so we went into the patisserie and the kids got a ham and cheese and a chocolate mousse to share. We moved onto Belgium where I got the mussels for me and a box of the Guylian chocolates for the kids to share.
I was pooped by this point so we got a boat back to the front of the park. Again, there was a bus waiting for us. The kids wanted me to sit in the back while they sat in the front. We got back to the room and lay down for a nap.
All of us slept and when we got up we took a swim in the Little Mermaid pool. During our swim, we decided that rather than return to Epcot, we would have dinner and check out the resort.
We got dressed and headed to the food court. Annika had the Macaroni and Cheese, Charlie had the Pepperoni Pizza and I had the Tandoori Chicken again, with spinach and paneer, basmati rice, roasted squash, and instead of the nan, they let me also get the cauliflower.
After dinner, we went into the shop so that Charlie could trade vinyls. They had a magnet board next to the checkout counter that had a bunch of the schooling fish from Finding Nemo. They were there so people could arrange them in different designs. Annika formed them into I (Heart Shape) Disney.
When we were finished we went to walk around to take pictures in the Cars and Finding Nemo areas of the resort. We were sort of following another family around. They were doing the same thing we were, and after 5 or 6 photo ops, it finally occurred to us that we could have been taking photos for each other. We did do that with Mater.
Over in the Nemo area the kids played on the play structure for a while. Then, snapping photos the whole way, we headed back to the room to prepare for the next day. Art of Animation is an utterly beautiful resort. They did such a fabulous job, I can't tell you. Really, my only complaint is that our room was so far away from the main building.
Magic Kingdom, Monday, October 8
The Plan: Magic Kingdom for a couple of hours and the return to the room for a long nap. Return to MK when we wake up, and stay as late as possible for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!
Actual: I was up early again and as I was getting ready, I noticed that the Magic Kingdom actually opened at 8:00 A.M., not 9:00. I hustled the kids up and out early to get to the bus. We were inside the turnstiles about 10 minutes before the opening show, and it was emptier than I have ever seen! Scoop Sanderson was front-and-center for the show!
We headed first to Tomorrowland. The kids rode Buzz while I grabbed FP's for Space Mountain. We met up and headed to Storybook Circus to ride the new Dumbo. I'm not a huge fan of circuses in general and it is not a theme I would have chosen. That said, I think the area looks fabulous. Dumbo was a walk-on and we rode on what was the original ride.
Next we rode on the new Barnstormer and then went to Pete's for photos with the characters. First we saw Goofy and Donald. Then, we got in another empty line to see Minnie and Daisy.
We headed over to ride The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which will always be a favorite of mine! Then it was time for the Space Mountain FP's. I got the kids into the FP queue and while they rode I called John to check on Stitch (my dog.) He wasn't doing much better and John was going to take him back to the vet. I was feeling a little frantic, but John assured me he was not in mortal danger.
I went to use the bathroom, and noticed that the "real" Stitch was out posing for photos. When I got the kids after their ride, they wanted to use the bathroom too and saw Stitch. We went to take photos with him, and he tried to steal Annika's Stitch plush toy!
Back to Fantasyland, we grabbed some FP's for Peter Pan. We then rode It's a Small World. I'm still not used to the queue being on the opposite side of the water. We always enjoy this ride and our tradition is to try to find something we have never noticed.
Next, we went over to Frontierland and in quick succession rode Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. As Stacey (from "The Stacey Show") would say, "Triple Mountain Whammy!" We did not get nearly as wet on Splash as we had on Kali two days earlier! While my tummy no longer enjoys roller coasters, I can usually get away with one ride on BTMRR without serious consequences!
Our last attraction before heading back for a swim and then a nap in preparation for the Halloween Party was Peter Pan, using our FPs. We hadn't had breakfast so we headed to Sleepy Hollow where Annika and Charlie shared a waffle and I had a cup of coffee.
While the kids were eating, I checked my voicemail. There was a message from the secretary at our school district. I had made the plans for this trip before realizing that there would be an inservice for everyone, including the crossing guards, on Columbus Day. I was, obviously, missing it due to the trip, but I had submitted all of the necessary paperwork in early September and had gotten all of the necessary approvals.
Anyway, the voicemail was from the secretary letting me know that I had missed my training session that morning and could I make it in for the afternoon session?
Um...no...I don't think so!
I called and told the secretary that I was in Orlando, and no I wouldn't be there, and didn't the person who was asking after me sign the papers to that effect over a month ago? I also got a text from a co-worker saying that I should be glad that I missed it because it was unseasonably cold at home, and the school hadn't turned on the heat yet and the building was freezing!
On the way out, Annika also had a Mickey Bar from a cart, and I had a hotdog from Casey's.
We walked through the Emporium as we headed out of the park and then back to the bus for our ride back to AoA.
I had promised the kids a swim in the Big Blue Pool, so they had worn their bathing suits under their clothes when we went to the park. We went right out to the pool when we returned to the resort. The kids got in the pool and I watched. They both thought the under water speakers were pretty cool. Eventually, one wanted to be in one part of the pool and one in the other and it got too hard to keep an eye on both. I gave them a 10 minute warning, and they got out.
Back in the room, it was time for a nap. The room wasn't made up yet, so I hung the Do Not Disturb sign, and we hopped into our beds. Unfortunately, I had a hard time falling asleep, but I did get some. The kids, on the other hand, both slept well. I would have liked some more sleep, but I would make it.
We got up and dressed. Charlie wanted to keep sleeping, but eventually he got up. Charlie and I decided that it was too hot for costumes. Annika put hers on. As we were leaving we saw Mousekeeping and told her she could go into the room. We got about 10 doors away, and Annika decided that it was too hot to wear the costume, so we went back. We apologized to the Mousekeeper (who thanked us for the tips we had left,) but Annika changed very quickly, and we were off.
We stopped at the food court for dinner. Annika just had some rice. Charlie had a bagel, and I had a custom burger, no bun. I also got a latte to hopefully help make up for the less-than-stellar nap.
Out at the bus stop there was a HUGE line. We didn't make it on the first bus, but a second arrived quickly. They sure do move people well! At the MK, we walked to the gates. Security was slow, but eventually we got through. Luckily, will call was not crowded and once we got our tickets, we were soon in the park. We still had a couple of hours until the party started, but the kids got their candy bags and we all got our wrist bands.
We took some pictures around Town Square. I just love the Halloween decorations. I think I love them even more than the Christmas ones. It was then that I remembered that we wanted to try Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. We went into the Fire Station and got our Key Card, initial decks of cards, an instructions on our "mission." They told us to make sure to return, with our Halloween Party tickets at 6:00ish to get our special card.
Our first mission was in Frontierland. The map was a little confusing because things weren't labeled, but we figured it out. I have to say that I was skeptical, about this, and I'm not sure I would do it if the parks were really crowded, but it was A LOT of fun. We didn't know that more than one spell card could be used at a time, so the kids took turns with the key card and the spell cards. In little time we dispatched the villain in Frontierland and were given the option to continue in Fantasyland.
The party was still a little while away, so we went over to tackle another meanie. We had a tough time figuring out where this one started also, but once we got our bearings, we were good. Our third mission was on Main Street USA, and that went well until about the third stop when we realized that our Key Card was missing.
We went back to the last stop, and luckily, someone had turned it in. We completed our last couple of battles, defeated our villain (Cruella, I think) and went to the Fire Station to get our special Chip and Dale MNSSHP SOTMK cards.
It was starting to get dark, and I wanted to ride Jungle Cruise in the dark, so that's where we headed. The wait was about 10 minutes long, so not bad. We had a really good skipper. It is a very cool ride at dusk! I love how just changing the time of day that you enjoy an attraction changes the whole experience!
When we got off of the ride, it was raining lightly and the party had officially begun. There was a queue for candy right outside the Jungle Cruise so we hopped right in. I wasn't trick-or-treating myself, but it was fun going through the queues with the kids. They (especially Charlie) were so happy.
The next candy stop was near Pirates. We loaded up and moved on to the one next to Splash. It was closed so we hopped in the queue for BTMRR. The kids love to ride this in the dark. Even though I don't do roller coasters well, I do like the chance to ride this one at night.
When we got off, the Splash candy station was still closed, so we moved on. We followed the boardwalk to Liberty Square and the Liberty Belle to get candy. The kids were making out quite well!
One attraction that is a Must-Do at MNSSHP, of course, is Haunted Mansion. The ghost in the queue was very chatty and asked me where I was from. She said that everyone from PA must be there that night!
We went over to get candy in front of Peter Pan. John called and told me that Stitch was still not feeling well. Back to the vet. I was feeling very anxious about it, but he assured me that my guy would be fine.
Next was the station near Pinocchio Village Haus, following which we headed over to Storybook Circus for the candy stop there. At MNSSHP, they set up three Alice in Wonderland themed stops along the path between Storybook Circus and Tomorrowland. We walked down this path enjoying the night. It had stopped raining and was very nice!
We made our way over to Stitch's Dance Party. All of us really enjoy these dance parties. We got to hang out with Stitch and some of his friends. Annika did show HER Stitch to THE Stitch. They danced for a bit.
We got in the line near Carousel of Progress to get some candy, and hopped over to the TTA for a ride. This is yet another example of a ride with a totally different feel when you do it at night!
We had just enough time to go in and see Stitch's Great Escape before it was time for HalloWishes. This attraction is much maligned, but we LOVE Stitch and really do enjoy this attraction. Do we need to experience it multiple times per trip? No. But is something we try to do every visit.
It was time to find a spot to watch HallowWishes, so we started walking toward the Hub. we found a good location on one of the paths down near the old Swan Boats. We sat ourselves down next to the rail until right before the show started. I know a lot of people think the Halloween and Christmas parties are a waste of money, but I think the fireworks and parade make MNSSHP worth the price of admission.
We really enjoyed the show, and when it was over, we inched our way over to and through Adventureland and over to Frontierland, pulling up a piece of curb just outside of The Trading Post. It was about 35 minutes until the Boo To You Parade was to start. The kids went into the trading post for a little while, and I held our spots. Each of them bought a Vinylmation and brought it back to open. I ran across the street to grab a couple of waters for us, and we settled in for the show. While we waited, we were entertained by a ghostly quartet.
Warning. I didn't know this, and would have planned differently if had known. The Headless Horseman only rides for the first parade! I was terribly disappointed. Nevertheless, the parade was marvelous. There are so many things I love about Boo To You, but the gravediggers and their shovels are my clear favorite. If you have never seen the parade or the gravediggers, check it out on YouTube. Awesome!
Charlie was tired. We walked against traffic into Adventureland. The Magic Carpets had no line and so the kids jumped in. They fought because Charlie was the one who controlled the height and they didn't go high enough. Clearly it was time to get outta Dodge. We went through the Jungle Cruise candy queue once more, and joined in with the sea of humanity who were all leaving the park.
There was a huge crowd at the bus stop, but very quickly two AoA busses pulled up. We got on the second. It was standing room only but that was OK. We arrived back at the resort at 12:05. We went right back to the room and immediately to bed!
Blizzard Beach and DTD, Tuesday, October 9
The Plan: Sleep in a bit after our late night and then go to Blizzard Beach. DTD in the evening.
Actual:
Since we had had a late night, this was the morning I figured we'd sleep in a bit. Sleeping in for us isn't really sleeping in, but we did get some extra. I took the long trek to Landscape of Flavors and brought breakfast back to the room. I got waffles for both of the kids, and an omelet for myself. Yum! We got ready for Blizzard Beach and packed underclothing in our bags to change into later.
We walked to the bus stop and quite soon a bus arrived. We spoke to a family who was headed to AK until we arrived at our destination at about 9:30. There were a few families milling around, but it was nearly empty. I walked up to the front of the middle turnstile with the kids to ask the CM a couple of questions about Summit Plummet. Charlie was wanting to try. Annika thought she might too. I told this to the CM and he answered a couple of questions.
Then, he excused himself and went over to a female CM for a minute or two and returned. He asked Charlie if he was sure he wanted to ride SP that day. Charlie said he was. The SM asked if he was REALLY sure. Charlie said he was. Then, he invited us in the turnstiles and told us that we would be the Family of The Day and that the kids would be honorary Co-Ski Captains!
They gave us each a button, and gave Charlie a medal. They told Charlie that the park couldn't open until Summit Plummet was tested, and that Ice Gator had been out partying late and was sleeping in. They needed us to test out the ride before they could let in the rest of the guests!
CM Charlotte escorted us over to pick up free rental towels and the key for a free locker rental! Then she took us to the Ski Captain's Cabana, overlooking the wave pool, and told us that it would be exclusively ours for the day!
We put our things there and hurried over to Mount Gushmore. The Ski Lift was not working, so we had to walk up. No problem. The kids fairly scampered, but I huffed and puffed a bit. When we got up to the top, we had about 8 minutes until it was time. Both kids almost chickened out, but I convinced them to go. I had even decided that I would give it a whirl.
That was a big decision. A HUGE decision! I have always had a certain degree of fear of heights. I had worked much of my life to overcome it to some extent, and really tried not to pass my fear onto my kids. But, a straight down drop...that was asking a lot! But if my kids could do it, so could I!
Charlie was up first. There was a countdown, and WHOOSH! He was off! We waited for him to get out of the trough. It appeared that he was just fine. Annika still wasn't sure, but she decided to go for it. WHOOSH! My second child plummeted down a mountain. She fairly bounced out. I could tell from her body language that she had loved it!
I was up next. The only reason I didn't chicken out is that the line of sight is such that you can't see down. If I had been able to see, I wouldn't have been able to do it!
WHOOSH! I was off. My eyes were closed, but it was FUN! But...
...Holy Enema Batman!! Wow! Yikes! That is all.
I asked the kids if they wanted to go again. They both said maybe later, but not right away. So, we headed back to our private cabana and gathered up our valuables to put in our locker. The ski lift was working so we jumped on and up to the top for a ride on our very favorite, Teamboat Springs! The good thing about arriving early is that the park is quiet. The bad thing is that there aren't always enough people for us to ride TS. There is a minimum of 4 people in a raft and we were only 3. Luckily, it only took a minute or two until an appropriately sized party came up and we were all put on a raft.
I love this ride. I would have done it several more times, but the kids wanted to try new things. We jumped back onto the ski lift and took our first ride ever on Slush Gusher. It was also fun, but I think I actually liked Summit Plummet more. Straight down just worked better for me.
We decided to take a loop around Cross Country Creek. We grabbed some tubes and became three of the "Lazy people on the lazy river!" We made one rotation and then the kids wanted to hit Meltaway Bay. We played around a bit and decided to try the Purple Slopes as we had never done them before.
We went to the Toboggan Slopes. The kids went first, and I followed. I'm not sure exactly sure how it happened, but somehow I ended up leaning on my elbows instead of lying flat. This was a BAD thing. Because of my position, I smashed my head on the slide on the way done. I smashed it to the point that I was not entirely sure I wouldn't pass out. I stayed conscious, and got myself out of the landing pool. The kids were waiting for me and I had them wait while I sat a couple of minutes to gather my wits.
Luckily, at that point I figured that it hadn't been as serious a trauma as I had originally expected. I also realized at that point that I had also banged my knee pretty hard. I wasn't going to need medical care, but I was done. I didn't want to ruin the day for the kids, so I suggested we go back to the wave pool. I sat in the shallow water and watched the kids while they swam and played. They each ended up getting an inner-tube. They really seemed to be having a great time, and I felt guilty for being hurt!
I decide that maybe some food would be helpful to reinvigorate me. We went over to Avalunch and got some food to bring back to our cabana. The kids got the pretzel hotdogs and I got the Caesar Salad. We want back to the cabana and ate our lunches.
I was feeling better, but I wasn't feeling brave enough to do any more slides. I called Sandy and Charlie to arrange meeting them at DTD. They offered to pick us up at BB, which was certainly a lot easier, so I accepted. We agreed on 3:00. We went back on the lazy river and did two circuits. We decided that the remainder of our time there would be spent at Ski Patrol.
The kids have always enjoyed Ski Patrol. It was a bit difficult keeping an eye on both of them at once. I let them have free reign for a while, but eventually I made them stick together. They did the slides a lot of times and crossed the icebergs a couple.
Eventually we were all done and it was a little early. I called Sandy and she said they would head right out.
We changed into our dry clothing and after returning our locker key and towels, headed out of the park. We only waited a couple of minutes for Charlie and Sandy to arrive. We drove over to DTD and parked near the Once Upon a Toy Store.
Next we went into Pin Traders. Charlie made a trade and I looked around a bit. Then we went into Mickey's Mart. Charlie and I bought 5 Vinylmations for $20 and shared them. Annika bought a grab bag. She got some pretty cool things in it, including a cute Stitch toy. Well worth the $$!
I walked into the Spice and Tea Shop to see if I could find a wedding shower for our friend Lauren. Her shower was the day after we returned. She had been Annika's kindergarten teacher and had accompanied us to WDW the summer after that school year. I knew I wanted to get her a WDW shower gift, and was hoping to find her something with Eeyore, her favorite. But no luck. The search would continue!
We walked into the toy store where the kids looked around for a while. Annika bought a Duffy aviator outfit for Stitch. I think Stitch has more clothing than I do. I know his wardrobe is much more interesting than mine!
Next on our list was Earl of Sandwich for dinner. I had the Earl's Cobb Salad. Big Charlie and Sandy shared a wrap. My Charlie had grilled cheese and Annika had chicken noodle soup.
After dinner, we exchanged hugs and goodbyes, and we went our separate ways. We walked through Trend D and Charlie started whining about it. Next we walked through Team Mickey and Annika complained. I just can't please them!
We walked through Arribas Bros. but didn't even pause for fear of one of the kids breaking something! Next was Basin where we looked around for a while. In World of Disney, I finally found a shower gift for Lauren. I got her a Minnie and Mickey wedding photo album and a first Christmas ornament. Not Eeyore, but I thought she would like them!
We passed by the Lego store and through Pleasure Island. I took a quick bathroom break and we went into D-Street. We did some buying and trading of Vinyls. Among my purchases were a few blank Vinyls because I was going to get a lesson on custom Vinylmation painting at an upcoming pin trading weekend in NJ.
We were all quite tired at this point, so we headed over to the bus stop. We JUST missed a bus, but another pulled in almost immediately. The drivers were changing shifts, so we had to wait a few minutes for them to do all of their checks and paperwork. We left right away once we boarded. It was just us on the bus. The kids liked riding with just us. I chatted with the very nice driver as we drove.
We went right back to the room and I started to straighten up a little bit. Annika couldn't find her gift card. We looked everywhere. I even dug through the trash. Finally, Charlie suggested we look through the big pile of papers that Annika had collected and we found it! I finished straightening and we climbed into bed for some TV and sleep!
Disney Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, Wednesday, October 10
The Plan: Disney's Hollywood Studios in the morning. Break at the hotel. Epcot at night.
Actual:
I woke up early once again. As had become the routine, I went to get coffee and breakfast. I got character waffles for Annika, PB&J for Charlie and a yogurt parfait and latte for me.
We headed out to the bus stop and were quickly on a bus for DHS. We arrived 10 minutes before the official park opening and the park was already open. We entered the park and headed down Hollywood Blvd. At Sunset, I pointed the kids in the direction of Rock-n-Roller Coaster while I continued on to get FPs for Toy Story Mania.
I was done rather quickly and headed back to RnRC. I traded a couple of pins while I waited for the kids. This was the first time on this ride for both of them and I couldn't wait to hear how they liked it! I didn't have to wait long for the kids. When they came out I could tell right away that they LOVED it! They both wanted to go on again so of course I said yes! I only wished I could ride with them!
While they rode, I looked around the gift shop a bit, checked Facebook, and looked up a couple of pins on pinpics.com. It wasn't too long before they came out and we moved on to our next stop.
We headed over to Tower of Terror. The posted wait time was 10 minutes, but I suspected it wouldn't be that long. There was a couple behind us as we walked in and we talked to them. It was their first time to WDW, though they had been to DLR on several occasions. We compared the two resorts for a couple of minutes, and very soon we were in the library.
Once we were in the boiler room, we only had to wait for one elevator before it was our turn to board. We were in the back row, as I seem to be nearly every time I have ridden. It was a good ride with quite a few drops. With my propensity toward motion sickness, I can generally ride this once, but a second would likely do me in, so we moved on.
We walked out through the gift shop and down Sunset Blvd. We went into Villains in Vogue where Charlie bought a Vinylmation. The kids also each got a a covered pretzel stick. Annika's was a white chocolate covered ghost. Charlie's was chocolate-on-chocolate. Next we went to the Great Movie Ride. It was more crowded than usual. We had to wait a couple of cycles to load. We loaded and were looking for a cool hidden Minnie that I had been shown a few years earlier on the loading room mural. I had never been able to find it again. We didn't find Minnie, but we did find a hidden Mickey in one of the windows. We had the gangster side. I love this ride, but the schtick is getting old. I'd hate to see it go the way of Living With The Land, and be totally recorded, but the script could be re-written to liven it up a bit. Nonetheless, GMR is a must do for me every trip!
By the time we were done, our FP window for TSM had opened, so we headed over. Charlie rode with me and Annika rode solo. My neck was hurting me quite a lot because of the jarring head bang the day before. I have chronic neck and back issues, and it doesn't take a lot to knock it out of whack. Just the little bit of jerkiness of the ride really hurt.
Not that I'm using that as excuse.
Really. I'm not.
But Charlie beat my score, and Annika beat his. I'm sure I would have creamed them if I hadn't been hurting! ;-)
Annika wanted to go into One Man's Dream. Of course, Charlie complained about it. It was too boring for him, but he has to put up with this experience every other trip or so. Call me a meanie, but that's just too bad! As I usually do, I cried during the film. As she usually does, Annika rolled her eyes at my sentimentality!
We were all getting hungry and I was trying to decide where we should go to get some lunch. I asked the kids if they wanted to try to get into Sci Fi DIne-in. They said yes, so we walked over. We decided that if they could seat us in 20 minutes or less, we would go for it.
Sci-Fi was just opening and they said they'd be able to get us a table, but in one of the saucer tables, not a car. No problem for us. The cars are fun, but we had never eaten at one of these before and we all liked this restaurant, so it was all good!
Charlie ordered the nuggets, apple juice, apple slices for his appetizer, and apple slices for dessert.
Annika ordered the Mac and Cheese, Coke, carrots, and an ice cream sandwich.
I ordered the All American Picnic Burger which, if you have never tried it before, is "a flame grilled Angus burger patty topped with grilled hot dog, saurkraut, and sauteed onions, drizzled with ketchup, mustard and crowned with a pickle spear, served with a choice of cucumber salad or french fries."
Perfect for my diet! And it was OH SO GOOD!! Yummy!
While we waited, we were able to find 2 Hidden Mickeys. One was in the screen and the other was somewhere on the wall. I don't exactly remember where.
Our server accidentally brought Annika the chicken nuggets instead of her mac and cheese. We let him know and he brought the correct meal and let her keep the nuggets too.
Our next stop was Star Tours. The posted wait was 40 minutes. FP return time was 40 minutes later. Hmmmmmmmmmm...
Of course we grabbed FPs! We decided to use the time to go to see Muppet Vision. We had to wait a couple of minutes to get into the pre-show. The kids, as they usually do, checked under the box office mat. If you've never done this before. Make sure you do!
I'm pretty sure this was the first time we had ever seen the pre-show from the very beginning. It's old, and a little worn, but The Muppets always make me laugh! My brother, Drew, called while I was in the theatre. I texted him "Hanginig out with some Muppets!" Unfortunately, my neck hurt too much to turn to the back of the theatre.
When the show was over, we left and took a quick bathroom break. The Star Tours FP window was open so the kids got in line. This attraction is a definite no-no for me. While the kids enjoyed, I called my brother back. We had a nice little chat. I was a little nervous for Charlie because he has had problems with nausea on this ride before, but as soon as they came out, I could tell that he had loved it!
At that point, we were pretty much done with DHS. We talked about it for a minute and decided that we would go over to Magic Kingdom and play a little Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. I was also going to try to get in touch with our friend, CM Susan who was supposed to be working in Tomorrowland.
We got a bus to the TTC and got in line for the Monorail. There was a little bit of a wait, but not too bad. When it arrived, we boarded with a family. Annika spent the trip talking to them and telling them all about SOTMK. By the time we arrived at MK, they were convinced that it was something they should try.
Inside the park, we went right over to the fire station to pick up our card pack for the day. We were not sure where our mission was, so we asked. We were sent to Adventureland. As we walked through the Emporium a guest overheard us talking about SOTMK. She was really nice and gave the kids a bunch of her spare cards!
On our way to our first stop, we enjoyed The Enchanted Tiki Room. It was the first time we saw it since the fire and rehab. I know that this is not the most popular stance, but I liked the Under New Management version. I still enjoyed it, but I thought that Zazu and Iago were funny!
We completed our Adventureland mission and got in line to ride Pirates. There was no wait and we had a good ride.
Our next mission was in Fantasyland. On our way over I got a text from Susan She said that she would be getting to work around 5:00 and we should look for her sometime after that. When we were in Fantasyland we completed one of the battles right outside Sir Mickey's we noticed that they were selling t-shirts that when you wore them they helped you defeat the villains. Who knows if they actually work, but I was feeling generous so I bought one for each kid.
When we were finished defeating our villain, we went over to Cosmic rays for some dinner. The kids wanted burgers, but they don't have kids' burgers there, so I ordered an adult one for them to share along with two chocolate milks. I had the 1/2 chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans with ice water. It was a really good meal! I was hitting the jackpot that day! We also got to see Ray perform which we hadn't done in quite some time.
I got a text from Susan that she will be working at the Buzz Lightyear gift shop. I wasn't sure if she meant the kiosk outside or the dump shop, so we looked outside first. She wasn't there so we went into the dump shop. We didn't see her there either, so we asked. A CM made a quick call and let us know Susan was on her way.
We had met Susan on our previous WDW trip and she really hit it off with the kids. A few months later she sent the kids the most generous care package, including a helmet worn by an imagineer working on the New Fantasyland project, personalized for Annika. We have kept in touch via Facebook, and we were anxious to see her and thank her in person.
A couple of minutes later, Susan walked in and many hugs were exchanged! We thanked her up and down and got to catch up a bit. She gave us 3 FPs for Space
Mountain that could be used any time that evening. We didn't want to keep her from her job for too long, so after our visit, we exchanged some more hugs and said our goodbyes.
Unexpected FPs in hand, we walked over to Space Mountain. I don't remember what the standby time was, but I remember pointing it out to the kids and noting how lucky they were and how kind it was for Susan to have given the FPs to them. I walked through the queue with the kids and then waited in the Merchant of Venus for them to finish.
We wanted to complete one more SOTMK mission before we headed back to the hotel. We reported back to Adventureland and helped Merlin by defeating on more villain. Our last battle was right next to Sunshine Tree Terrace and while the kids battled, one of the CMs asked if Annika would like and ice cream cone. I think they had made it for someone who had changed their mind or had wanted something different. I said that the kids could share it, and the CM said, "Oh no, I'll give one to each of them." And she did!
We walked back to the bus where we were very entertained by a Disney Duck. Have I mentioned that I have an extreme love for Disney Ducks? I don't mean Donald and Daisy. I'm talking about the actual ducks who have become so acclimated to people that they march up to guests with such chutzpah that you just have to love them! Well this one had noticed some popcorn that must have been spilled earlier, and she wanted some. She just quacked up and started eating the popcorn, only inches from our feet. She paid us no mind!
After a bit of a wait, being entertained by our little feathered friend, our bus arrived and we boarded. I had found out that MK had EMH at 7:00 the next morning, so we were going to go back there before heading to Epcot. So, when we returned to our room we went straight to bed in preparation for a very early morning!
Magic Kingdom and Epcot, Thursday, October 11
The Plan: Epcot in the morning. Rest in afternoon and return to park in the PM.
Actual:
Even though we had to get up at a very early hour, I was still up before my alarm. Charlie was mumbling in his sleep. The only thing I could make out was "When am I going to take the test?" I don't know if he was dreaming about school or Taekwondo, but I found it amusing!
I walked to the Landscape of Flavor to get coffee and found it closed. None for me! I would have to wrangle some once we got to MK. I woke the kids at 5:50 and we were at the bus stop by 6:15. We pulled up to the MK at 6:50 and made it into the turnstiles just in time to see the opening show...in the dark!
We went right over to the fire station to pick up SOTMK cards, but it wasn't open yet. We asked a CM and she said that the SOTMK portals wouldn't be open until later. We walked up Main Street, pin trading on the way. I told Annika that she could choose what to ride first and she couldn't make up her mind, so I chose Space Mountain for her.
The kids rode and I tried to call John, but there was no answer. I traded a couple of pins while I waited. We went over to the TTC and rode.
Then we went to Buzz. We rode once and then Charlie wanted to ride again. Annika and I didn't, so I took him and was going to let him ride on his own. The CM there wouldn't let him. She said he needed to be "14...um 11" to ride alone. Huh? First of all, what does 14...um 11" even mean? Second of all, I know that kids can ride alone at 7. I have read it numerous places, been told this many times, and Charlie had ridden every thrill ride at WDW without me. Some of them multiple times.
I asked her "Since when? He has been riding without me all week." and she sort of haughtily answered "Since always!" I didn't feel like fighting about it, so Annika and I rode too, but it really annoyed me. I don't mind following the rules, if they are actually the rules. Clearly, she was not completely sure of herself since she couldn't decide between 14 and 11. Learn the rules people! And if you don't know them, then ask! I did say something to a CM as we exited the ride. He confirmed that I was correct and said that she must have been confused. The rule is that if a child UNDER 7 wants to ride, they need to be accompanied by someone who is at least 14. No big deal, really. Just a little annoying.
We were done in Tomorrowland and headed toward Fantasyland. The park was still very empty and we were able to get a great photo in front of the castle. The kids rode the Prince Charming Carrousel.
Next, we got on IASW. We were the only ones on our boat. The sound was acting wonky again. In some rooms there was music playing, but no voices. Not sure what was up with that.
We finished our final battles of SOTMK, defeating Hades in Frontierland. Charlie was excited that we were going to get extra cards. He's quite a collector (hoarder?) and trying to get the set was a lot of fun for him.
We hadn't had any breakfast, so we went to Sleepy Hollow and got waffles for the kids, and coffee for me. I went into the Christmas shop to reload my Food and WIne wrist gift card. In there I saw this really cool holiday watch set. It's a square, silver toned watch with a Mickey icon on the face. It comes with 7 different leather-ish bands, One is black and the others are decorated for holidays, including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter and Stars and Stripes. After my AP discount, the set was only about $30.00 and I couldn't resist. Since I bought it, I have only taken it off to bathe, so it was an excellent purchase!
It was time to head to Epcot, so we headed through the Emporium and to the fire station to pick up our daily cards as well as the ones we got for completing all nine missions.
We headed to the Monorail, but the express was not running, so we had to take the resort line. When we arrived at the TTC, we walked to the Epcot Monorail and enjoyed our ride.
Baggage check was very short, and we were quickly in the park. We first went to Innoventions West. It was 10:10 and I told the kids I would meet them back at the sofas at 10:45. I took a bathroom break and also called John while I waited. The kids returned and Annika wanted 10 more minutes. Charlie needed to use the facilities, so I took him while she did a couple of more things.
It was time to head to World Showcase for some Food and WIne. Our first stop was the Caribbean booth for some Ropa Vieja. It was quite yummy. I got each of the kids one of the 30th anniversary logo light-up cups.
Next I got a Beef Skewer from Argentina and a Lamb Chop from Australia. F&W was being kind to my new way of eating. We went into Mexico and rode the Gran Fiesta Tour. I like this ride with the Donald addition, but I really miss the old song from El RIo Del Tiempo. It's too bad that they couldn't have included it somehow.
In Scandinavia we got the Taste of Scandinavia and the Swedish Meatballs and shared them. There was no wait for Maelstrom so we rode. "O Norway!" was already in progress when we got into the theatre, so we watched it. Annika wanted to see the whole thing, so we stayed through the next loop.
After the film, we flew through the shop as the perfume makes me feel as though someone is driving a railroad spike through my temple. Just thinking about it now makes my eyes water!
We went into the Kringla og Bakeri for a snack. Charlie had a chocolate chip cookie, Annika ordered the Sweet Chocolate Pretzel, and I broke my no-artificial-sweetener rule, and had the no-sugar-added chocolate mousse. It is amazing how yummy just a little bit of sweet is when you aren't regularly eating sweets!
At the China Booth Annika got an order of potstickers, one of her favorite foods! We walked through the shop and looked around. Annika checked out the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit while Charlie and I sat for a bit. Then we went in to see "O China!" Of course, Mr. I-Only-Like-Thrill-Rides was less than thrilled to have to stand and watch a "dumb movie," but he would just need to deal. In the end, he enjoyed it more than he thought he would.
Our next stop was The Outpost. Charlie and I bought a couple of pins, but we didn't do much here. The kids got into an argument about something. I could tell they were getting a little tired. It wasn't a popular decision, but I thought some time in the AC might rejuvenate everyone, so we went to America to see "O America!" We hadn't seen this in years, and it seemed to be a good plan.
We got to see a few minutes of the Voices of Liberty before heading into the theatre. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Charlie slept through pretty much the whole thing. Annika dozed a bit. It was a bit tough to wake Charlie up, and he was sort of cranky, but Annika seemed have been refreshed .
In Japan, Annika got a Cherry Kaki Gori. This seems to be a must do for her. I'm not sure she's ever missed having a Kaki Gori on a a trip. Charlie was still kind of grumpy, so I looked at the entertainment schedule hopefully. I knew that if anything would cheer him up, it would be Miuki. She isn't a thrill ride, but she has always been a favorite of his.
The show was just about to start but there was no crowd yet, so we walked over and waited. Miuki did the trick! Charlie was all smiles during the performance. Finally! We watched her make a flamingo, a panda, a kangaroo, a dolphin, a giraffe and a tiger. I've probably seen her at least ten times over the years, but she never fails to completely amaze me. If you have seen her, you know what I mean. If you haven't, I'm not going to ruin it by telling you what she does. Just trust me and go see her, especially if you have kids!
We waked into Mitsukoshi where I let each of the kids pick out a treat. Annika chose Mochi and Charlie chose Pockys. I wanted something more savory, so I got a spicy handroll from the F&W kiosk while to kids watched the koi pond. It was so delicious that I hopped back in line for another. This time, I also, at her request, got a California Roll for Annika.
We moved onto France where I was going to drag the kids in to see "O France!" but we had just missed the start of the film and it was going to be a 30 minute wait. We didn't feel like sticking around. It's too bad, because I've never seen all of the WS films in one day, and we were doing so well.
We watched the chair guy for a little while and then moved on to the UK where the kids shared an order of fish and chips. I had a few chips while we sat for a few minutes.
Next up was Canada. Of all the WS films, "O Canada!" is by far my favorite. I loved it before the update several years ago, but I really love the Martin Short version. He is so funny. My favorite quote..."Isn't it great my parents had a Circlevision camera? What are the odds?" Being born of Canadian parentage, (my parents were both born and raised in Montreal) this film has a special place in my heart.
So, as I write this, I realize that I let my kids have an astonishing amount of sugar on this day. Oh well, it was vacation. To add to this sugar gorge, we stopped at the Nestl kiosk from a couple of the frozen milk things. Annika got chocolate, and Charlie chose Strawberry. Annika enjoyed hers more than Charlie did his.
We stopped again at the Festival Booth where I purchased the Food and WIne Festival Vinylmation. We also got a wine cooler for Zayda (my dad) who is notoriously difficult to shop for. He's a wine collector and connoisseur, so wine gifts are always a good choice.
Next up, Charlie really wanted another ride on Mission Space. I sent them into the queue while I browsed the gift shop. When they came out, Charlie bought an American Flag Vinyl (on sale) to trade. I got two Snow White Jr. Vinyls. I ended up with two racoons. I really wanted the blue bird. Oh well... Annika bought a Worst Case Scenario Pick Your Path book about space.
Our next target was Ellen's Energy Adventure. We got there about 5 minutes before the Pre-Show started and there were still seats left on the benches. I don't think that has ever happened before. Even though there were seats, the kids still decided to sit on the floor. Go figure!
Once we got on the ride vehicle we took the first row (Annika's choice, not mine.) The entire ride vehicle was empty. Not another living soul in it. Another family came in, and sat...you guessed it...right next to us! I really don't get it.
We wlked through Mouse Gear where Charlie traded a Vinyl, and Annika bought a Duffy Pumpkin outfit for her Stitch. Then, we went to Pin Central. I bought quite a few pins including some to trade at our upcoming pin trading weekend. I had been collecting the Epcot 30th mystery pins, so I got a couple of more boxes of them.
We were headed out of the park, and we decided to take one last spin on Spaceship Earth. This time I rode with Annika and Charlie rode on his own.
We headed out to the bus stop, and we just missed a bus. Not to worry because another came almost immediately and we climbed aboard.
Back at AoA we picked up some food to take back to the room. Annika got a power pack, Charlie got a ham and cheese, and I got hummus with falafel bean chips. I showered, we ate and we all fell asleep very quickly!
Magic Kingdom, Friday, October, 12
The Plan: Magic Kingdom in the morning and possibly Downtown Disney for a pin signing in the PM. Otherwise, back to MK or DHS.
Actual:
I had decided that we were going to sleep in a bit in Friday. We had been getting up so early and we were pooped. Everybody needed a lie-in. Of course, deciding to sleep in guaranteed I wake up at 5:00! I did manage to fall asleep for another hour. When I woke up again, I worked on my trip notes and checked Facebook. I have to say that the Wifi at AoA stinks! On top of that, I had no phone service to speak of in the room.
At around 7:00, I started to pack. Gradually, the kids woke up and watched Disney XD. I finished most of the packing and threw away all of the extraneous packaging from our purchases. It looked like everything would fit!
By 8:50, everyone was dressed and out of the room. Annika wanted waffles and I said she should wait and eat at Sleepy Hollow, but she was hungry, so we went in to get some breakfast. It took us 5 minutes to get our food...
...and 25 minutes too pay!
We had the most incompetent cashier. I felt bad for her, and I know the place is new, but at some point, if you are struggling and people are waiting, it is time to call for help.
That is all!
Then, when we were out at the bus stop, we had an incredibly rude family in front of us. The kids ran ahead with the stroller. Then the parents cut under the chain. Grandma pushed past us to get to the rest of the family. Grandpa was polite and seemed a little embarrassed. Because they pushed ahead of us, we didn't fit on the bus and had to wait for the next. At least we were spared riding with the rude family!
We finally got to MK at about 10:00. First we stopped at the SOTMK portal under the train station to see where on Main Street we were to report. Then we went to the fire station to pick up our daily set of cards.
Marie was out doing meet and greet and Annika wanted to meet her, so we did. We completed our mission on Main Street and were told to go to Adventureland next.
We started to walk through the Emporium and I heard a familiar voice...Scoop Sanderson was out on Main Street and trading pins! We went out and each got to trade two pins with him. I told him we would be at the Central Jersey Disney Pin Traders weekend event the following weekend, and he said to send his regards to his friends there.
We walked through the Emporium, took a bathroom break and walked over to the Crystal Palace to see if they had any available reservations for that day. No deal. Oh well. It's always worth a try.
We walked through Adventureland. We stopped at Aloha Isle for a snack. Charlie had a Pineapple Dole Whip. Annika had vanilla, and I had a pineapple spear.
Next, we rode Pirates and noticed that in here the music also seemed to be quieter than usual. What's going on?
We completed our mission and did another in Frontierland. We decided to see Hall of Presidents. I don't think the kids had seen this since they were babies and I would take them in to nurse! I had only been once since the Obama addition when I was on a solo trip, so it was time. While we waited, a CM was giving some presidential trivia.
Did you know that only three presidents were born in a hospital? The rest were born at home. Do you know which three?
If you guessed Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barak Obama, you would be correct!
We went into the Trading Post and I bought a couple of more pins. I had seen a cute Oktoberfest pin of Chip and Dale holding a pretzel earlier in the week. I hadn't gotten it and was regretting that because I couldn't find it. The Trading Post had two left, so I grabbed them.
We were hungry so we went to Pecos Bills for some lunch. This was the first time I had used the automated ordering system. It was pretty cool. Charlie had PB&J, Annika had a burger, and I had a bacon cheeseburger. It was very yummy, especially after some judicious additions from the fixin's bar! Mmmmmm...
We headed out toward Fantasyland and noticed that the Liberty Belle was loading, so we decided to ride. It had been ages since we rode this, and I really enjoyed it. The kids played on deck and didn't pay too much attention to what we were seeing, but every now and then I would point something out to them.
When we got of, we checked the wait time for Haunted Mansion but opted out because it was too long. We stopped in Yankee Trader to pick a gift for Annika's teacher, Mrs. Sanders. We bought her a coffee mug and I got a coffee press for John. While we were waiting to pay, we overheard a conversation between the register CM and the guests in front of us. The Guests were saying how surprised they had been to find it open. The CM said "We didn't know either until we got the call this morning saying 'We're open!'"
I thought I knew what they might be talking about, but that was too good to be true...
...or was it?!
I got to the register and asked the CM what he had been talking about. He gleefully told us that New Fantasyland was doing soft opening that day!
OMG!!!!
This nerdy Disney fan-girl's heart nearly stopped beating. I was in the park the VERY FIRST TIME this area was open to the public! It was all I could do not to drop our merchandise and run! I was good, though and completed my transaction. When we presented our Premier Passport, the CM called over a trainee to show her what one looked like!
We left the shop and walk-ran to Fantasyland. It was really open!! And WOW! Was it beautiful! Beast's Castle was gorgeous. Story Time with Belle was open, but the wait time was about 90 minutes and I knew that that would never fly with Mr. Thrill Ride Man. I knew we would be back in two months and we could do it then.
Gaston's Tavern was open. Gaston was doing meet and greet, but we didn't wait to meet him. The fountain outside is fabulous. I snapped a few pictures and went in to wait for two of the Le Fou Brews while the kids walked over to check out the gift shop. The Le Fou Brew was available in a regular cup or in one of two different souvenir cups. I ordered one in the goblet for Annika, and one in the stein for Charlie. I would share. For this, I would cheat!
Wow. By the description "no-sugar added frozen apple juice with a hint of toasted marshmallow, topped with all-natural passion fruit-mango foam" sounds kind of disgusting, and seriously sweet! In fact it was delicious, sweet, but not too sweet, and very refreshing! I could have easily drunk a whole one, but I was glad I had decided to share. Charlie was happy with half, and he got the stein in the end, so he was happy!
We got in the queue for Journey of the Little Mermaid. The CM said it would be about 35-40 minutes from that point and normally we wouldn't wait that long, but this was the FIRST DAY EVER that it was open to the public! No way was I going to miss that! Charlie complained and I told him "You are going to be able to tell your kids 'I rode this the FIRST DAY it was ever open to the public!'"
Imagineers, you hit a home run with the theming here! OK...if Carsland at DLR is a home run, then maybe this is a triple plus a steal. (I think Carsland is one of the most beautiful manmade things I've ever seen!) But you get the point! It is great! We were talking to two very nice ladies from Rhode Island while we waited. We were all so enchanted with the details in the queue that we barely noticed the time we waited. At one point, for about 15 or 20 minutes, the ride was down and the queue didn't move. By then we were already inside and were having fun watching the cute little animated crabs.
Altogether, we waited probably an hour and it was so worth it, if only for the bragging rights. We rode the ride the FIRST DAY it was open! The ride itself was identical to the one at DLR, but the queue and the area are so much better! Great job WDI!
We stopped to get a treat at the Maurice's Amazing Popping Machine cart outside of the gift shop. I got a bottle of water, Annika got a Mickey Premium, Charlie got a Nestl Triple Blast Ice Pop. As we started walking out, a CM points at the kids and says "I'll trade you a pin for that Mickey Bar." I told him that I thought he wanted to to trade for the kids! I would have made that deal, but I was pretty sure Annika wasn't going to part with her Mickey Bar!
We ended up doing several pin trades with him and two other CMs with whom he was talking. I told them how much we had loved the whole area and how excited we were to have been there on that soft opening day. We had a nice chat. I told them about Annika's long standing ambition to be an Imagineer when she grows up. They were very nice and very encouraging.
We said goodbye to New Fantasyland and walked back to the old to watch Mickey's Philharmagic. When we came out, Charlie completed his last SOTMK mission of our trip in Fantasyland. We went into Sir Mickey's again, and looked around. Annika decided to buy a really cute pair of earrings. Charlie and I went out to sit for a couple of minutes while she completed her purchase. A minute later she came out and said she needed help. The CM wouldn't give her the discount because she didn't have ID. What? What nine year old carries ID. I went in and the CM was thoroughly confused. She thought it was my AP even though Annika had said it was her own. Then, she didn't know what discount to give for the Passport. I know they are not super common, but we can't be the only ones who have these passes!
We had one more attraction on our to-do list for the day. We walked over to Tomorrowland and to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. We must have just missed a performance because we had to wait quite a while, and while we waited, Annika made a friend. they talked together and we sat with them during the show. As usual, we enjoyed the show. One day, I hope I'm sitting with "That Guy!"
Annika said goodbye to her friend and we headed for the park exit. On the way out, I stopped at the Plaza to see if they had any immediate availability. They said it would be about 20 minutes, so we passed. We walked through the Emporium to try to find a gift for Charlie's teacher, Mr. Foreman. We had no luck so headed out to the bus.
There was an AoA bus waiting and there were seats available. Wahoo! We returned to the resort, We traded some pins in the gift shop and then had some dinner. Charlie had pepperoni pizza and chocolate milk. Annika had the Create-Your-Own-Pasta. I had the sausage, basmati rice, squash, cauliflower and spinach with paneer, and a milk. For the first time all week, I was STUFFED!
After dinner, we returned to the room. I finished packing, got in bed, and worked on the notes for this report. The kids watched a movie on Disney XD, Girl vs Monster, until we all fell asleep.
Animal King, Saturday, October, 13
The Plan: Check out (Boo!) Animal Kingdom and then return to hotel for DME.
Actual:
Once again, I woke up way to early. I managed to get back to sleep until 6:15. I repacked some things and then took my coffee mug and the suitcases and made the trek to check our bags. That want very smoothly so I went to fill my mug and get breakfast. It was then that I observed the absolutely WORST guest behavior that I had ever seen. EVER! This is what happened:
I filled my mug and ordered our food. I walked over to the cooler to get our drinks and there was a guy there getting his drinks as well. (This is only important to establish the amount of time he waited.) We will call him BG (bad guest.) I went back to pick up our food which was ready quickly, and got in line to pay.
There was some problem with the register so after a few (not many) minutes, they disbursed us to adjacent ones. I was behind BG. The person in front of him was paying, and then, as they always do Disney counter serve places, the cashier moved to the guest in front on the opposite side of the register. BG started to get huffy, complaining that he was there before they were. Now, I understand that if you are not familiar with this procedure, it might seem unfair, but the cashier calmly explained how it was done.
BG stated that, NO, she WAS going to take care of him first. She continued to ring up the order of the guest on the other side, and BG picked up his tray, and without paying for it, stormed away! He just took it.
Now, in this case, the CM was doing exactly what she was supposed to do, and she did it very politely. Also, it really hadn't been that long. Maybe 5 or 6 minutes since I had been at the drink cooler next to him. But I can see where the level of frustration at WDW can mount and people can lose their patience. By all means. If you don't like the service in a particular establishment, don't frequent it.
Ask to speak to a manager.
Walk away from the register without the food/merchandise.
Write bad reviews on the internet.
Complain to everyone you meet.
Whatever.
But to simply steal?
I was flabbergasted!
I wonder...if he was in a gift shop and unhappy with the service, would he simply walk out with his merchandise? In my opinion that is exactly what he did.
I was so happy my kids weren't there to witness this. I felt terrible for the cashier who didn't seem to know what to do. The guests nearby sort of stood staring at him with their mouths hanging open. I was really ticked off and called over a manager who was trying to fix the malfunctioning register and told him about what had just happened. He sort of shrugged it off, which was also somewhat distressing. I know that the cost of a meal is nothing to WDW, but to be complacent about downright theft was, in my opinion, not very satisfying.
Anyway, with my jaw still hanging somewhat ajar, I went back to the room with our food. Annika was awake and we ate our breakfasts. Annika watched Disney XD. Charlie woke up and ate his PB&J. I hustled the kids to eat and dress. We put our last things in our carryon bags and left. We were asked to do a survey on our way out. It was sort of a exit poll on our experience.
We moved on to luggage services where we checked 3 carryon bags and then over to the bus stop. There was an AK bus waiting and we boarded. We arrived at AK at 8:40 and bag check was very quick. We went to the right in the Oasis and saw some Military Macaws and tapirs.
We were stopped on Discovery Island for about 5 minutes and then let in to the rest of the park. Like we had done a few days earlier, I walked with the kids to the path between Africa and Asia. They went right to Expedition Everest and I went left to get FPs for the Kilimanjaro Safari. I walked through the gift shop to see if I could get an idea what to get for Mr. Foreman, but nothing jumped out at me.
On the way back to meet the kids, I bought two packs of the Animal Kingdom mystery pin packs. I opened them while I walked. The two in the first pack were both duplicates. The second box were the two I needed to complete my collection!! YEA!
I finished walking to EE to meet the kids and within a couple of minutes they were off the ride. Charlie wanted to ride again, so he went in the single rider line and according to him, he just walked right on! Annika thought about buying the Everest version of the Worst Case Scenario book, but ultimately decided not to.
Charlie came off and we headed back to Africa. We looked around the gift shop again, and finally found something for Mr. Foreman. We got him one of those beaded lizards.
Two years earlier, when Annika had him for second grade, Mr. Foreman had a Blue Tongued Skink named Buddy. The previous year, buddy had to lizard heaven, and we knew Mr. Foreman missed him. We thought this would be a nice gift. Each of the kids also got a lizard.
Our FP window opened, so we got in the FP line for the safari. Our driver was Charles. It was a pretty good ride. We saw the cheetahs pretty easily. Usually it's tough to spot (get it?...I said SPOT a cheetah!) but today they were out. Also, for probably the first time we saw both the male and female lions. He was fast asleep. She was lying on the rocks watching us. The warthog was actually moving around, not just lying in his little hole.
We left the safari and the kids wanted to go to Rafiki's Planet Watch, so that is what we did. The kids did the Discovery Club activity, and moved on. Chip and Dale were outside of the building, so we got some pictures with them. We went inside and I sat for a while while the kids explored. There was no vet working, which is my favorite thing to do at RPW, so I just relaxed and called John for a chat.
They brought out a Bearded Dragon at one point, and the kids got to pet it. Annika knew all about the dragon and the CMs were very impressed! We went into the rainforest room, which is Charlie's favorite.
At about 11:30 we headed back, stopping for a snack at the cart on the way. Annika got a Mickey Ice Cream Sandwich and Charlie got a Strawberry Bar.
We walked through a couple of gift shops looking for a couple of last minute gifts, but no luck. We wanted to see Festival of the Lion King, so we trekked over to Camp Minnie Mickey. The kids did the Discovery Club stop here and we got a snack. Annika and I each had a hot dog and Charlie had Doritos.
We went into the show and were seated in the Elephant section. We sat right near where we had been seated years ago when Annika lost a tooth. We looked for it, but still couldn't find it ;-) One of the actors was absent, but I didn't make note of which. I think it was the younger man. Anyway, they did the show with just the three of them. If I hadn't known there was someone missing, I never would have noticed that anything was wrong.
When the show was over, it was time to go. We headed out of the park, stopping for one last Mickey Premium for Annika on the way out. We went right through the Oasis and, for maybe the first time, actually saw the elusive anteater!
We said goodbye to our last park of this trip and headed to the bus stop. There was a bus waiting, but it was going out of service. Another came right away. The drivers changed and we were on our way.
Back at the hotel we found the last two gifts we needed. We got a few of the little Disney washcloths that grow when you get them wet for our friend Brenda, and we got two feathered Minnie Mouse wedding pens to add to Lauren's shower gift. She ended up using them for her guest book at the wedding!
We traded our last three pins and got some food to go. We went to retrieve our carryon bags and sat in the lobby eating and waiting for our pickup time. When we walked out toward the lobby, we noticed that there was a table set up distributing refillable mugs to guests on the dining plan. Very efficient of them! There was another table set up closer to the front of the lobby giving out lemonade and cookies. Each kid enjoyed some of both!
After about 15 minutes, I asked one of the CM's if there was any chance we might get on an earlier bus, as there was still quite a wait for our scheduled one. He said that if there was room, that wouldn't be a problem. A few minutes later, a bus pulled in and...score!...we were good to go!
Our bus ride was uneventful. In the airport, we stopped at LUSH to get some Toothy Tabs for me, and picked up a pumpkin soap for Daddy. We browsed through the Sea World shop and I picked up a latte at Starbucks.
We walked into the Universal Orlando store to see if they had any new Harry Potter stuff. I got a Chocolate Frog pin and a Marauder's Map t-shirt for myself (I'm wearing it as I type!) Annika got some Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans and a mini Pygmy Puff backpack clip.
In the Earport, I bought a book of WDW photography. While I sat on a bench to reorganize our bags, Charlie went back into the Disney shop to purchase and trade a final Vinyl. He came back out a minute later. The cashier didn't know what to do with the Premier Passport. Yeesh!
We got in line for security and were given one of the little card thingies so they could see how long it took us to get through. We were in front of a family who were there on a Make-A-Wish trip. They had stayed at Give Kids The World Village. They said that it had been a great experience!
It didn't take us too long to get through. My bag was pulled for a double check and a swab, but even that went quickly. We took our monorail to the gates. I picked up McDonalds for the kids and some waters for the flight.
At about 5:45 they boarded the flight. We sat about 4 rows back and the flight home was simple, uncomplicated and easy!
John met us at the airport and there were many hugs and kisses! We retrieved our bags and headed home. We arrived home to three perfectly healthy pooches (though Stitch had lost a couple of pounds.) Yea!
There's no place like home!
Some parting thoughts:
It is worth it to pay extra to avoid layovers
Someone needs to send Southwest Airlines a map. Greenville to Chicago to Orlando
Different lighting really changes some attractions
I wish my wardrobe was as interesting as Stitch's
Avoid Art of Animation if you don't need a family suite. It is awesome, but the Little Mermaid section is just too far away!
Landscape of Flavors is WDW's best food court. I hope the others follow suite!
DeVine is COOL!
Property Control is AWESOME!
T-Rex is LOUD!
WDW with food issues isn't too bad!
Storybook Circus is cooler than I would have thought.
The people in my school district need to communicate better with one another.
I can't sleep in or nap.
SOTMK is cool, and worth the time. Check it out.
Halloween at WDW is gorgeous!
The "Boo To You" parade is worth the price of admission
Being Honorary Ski Patrol Captains is cool!
Summit Plummet is fun.
Lie flat on the Toboggan slide!!
Having CM friends (Big Charlie, Sandy, Susan) is one of the best parts of being a frequent visitor!
I love Disney Ducks!
I love my Holiday Watch Set!
Miuki rocks!
Did I mention that I WAS IN NEW FANTASYLAND THE FIRST DAY IT OPENED!!!
New Fantasyland is amazing.
So is Le Fou's Brew!
Disney needs to do something about it when a guest blatantly steals!
That is all for now. I need to get to work on my report from our December trip. We've been home about 3 weeks now. It was also great! Until then, thanks for reading
Stacey R. Zitto
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The Zitto's Food, Wine (not so much,) and Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party
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