I can't believe we are only 2 days away from leaving! What else can I NOT believe? I haven't even started PACKING!?!?! I think I just don't know what to pack or something...or I don't want to do it too early maybe? I dunno, but I am starting today for sure. I can't pack for the kids until the very last minute because they only have a couple of pairs of pants! lol. They are getting a ton of new clothes for Christmas, and I really wish that we could let them have it all now because it would make packing so much easier for them!
I have continued to stay on top of the laundry and house cleaning, so I don't have that to do. All the presents are wrapped and the Christmas shopping done except for the "family" gift which we can do later.
We are excited and ready for some time away. I am not sure if I will post again or not. Probably will. ha.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
TEN DAYS!
Today is the ten day countdown mark! From here on out we are in single digits! YAY!
It is also the day we can do our online check-in. It supposedly makes checking in quicker and easier when you arrive. And any chance I get to REPEAT my room request (KING BED PLEASE!!!!) I will take it!
I can't believe the trip is almost here! Katie and Noah are also still very excited about "Christmas Camp" at Meme and Grandpa's house. All is well..the tree is decorated...the shopping mostly done (all the major gifts and most of the stocking stuffers) so in the words of Spongebob: "I'm ready, I'm ready...I'm ready ready ready ready!"
Friday, November 20, 2009
19 Days!
We are now to our "teen" digits countdown! I can't believe it! Yesterday we purchased our Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Tickets!!!!! THAT was SO exciting, because until that point it had really just been a just in case we have enough money kind of thing for the trip! 19 days! We will leave on Wednesday night and drive part way, then wake up Thursday morning for a VERY long first day.... So excited!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Travel Documents Arrived!
These are our travel documents that came in the mail today! What an unexpected surprise! I guess time has just flown by the past couple of weeks because we are now down to 26 days until our trip! I can't believe it!!!!
The booklet that is sitting up has our confirmation details in it...our reservations, and vouchers for some things like video game time in the resort arcade, a $15 credit at Planet Hollywood, etc.
The other booklets just have details and tips for our trip. The cutest little luggage tags were included also!
I guess I really have to start putting things together around here! We've got Christmas shopping to get done, Christmas party tickets to buy, and school to finish up!
The booklet that is sitting up has our confirmation details in it...our reservations, and vouchers for some things like video game time in the resort arcade, a $15 credit at Planet Hollywood, etc.
The other booklets just have details and tips for our trip. The cutest little luggage tags were included also!
I guess I really have to start putting things together around here! We've got Christmas shopping to get done, Christmas party tickets to buy, and school to finish up!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
PAID IN FULL!
After all the planning and all the worry about canceling...
Today, our trip is PAID IN FULL!!!!!!!
YAY!!!!!!
48 days to go!
(which means we have that long to get our Christmas shopping done as well!)
I am SOOOOOOOOO happy!
I had made $385 out of the $490 we needed. So we only had to add $105 extra to make the payoff. That was easy since I am working this weekend and will easily make up for it! I am so grateful to my friend, Laura, who told me about the job at The Pumpkin Patch, and for my mother-in-law who has kept the kids on the weekday mornings so that I could take the job. What an incredibly timed blessing!
In 48 days, Corey and I will be celebrating 10 years of being together at the Happiest Place on Earth! And, Katie and Noah will be enjoying "Christmas Camp at Meme and Grandpa's House!" ha ha...that's what I have decided to call it anyway!
Today, our trip is PAID IN FULL!!!!!!!
YAY!!!!!!
48 days to go!
(which means we have that long to get our Christmas shopping done as well!)
I am SOOOOOOOOO happy!
I had made $385 out of the $490 we needed. So we only had to add $105 extra to make the payoff. That was easy since I am working this weekend and will easily make up for it! I am so grateful to my friend, Laura, who told me about the job at The Pumpkin Patch, and for my mother-in-law who has kept the kids on the weekday mornings so that I could take the job. What an incredibly timed blessing!
In 48 days, Corey and I will be celebrating 10 years of being together at the Happiest Place on Earth! And, Katie and Noah will be enjoying "Christmas Camp at Meme and Grandpa's House!" ha ha...that's what I have decided to call it anyway!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
October Excitement
(after that point it would cost us money to cancel, so wouldn't be worth it since the overall cost of the trip isn't that much to begin with.)
Friday, October 23rd is the day that we have to pay off the balance of our trip. At that time we will be 47 days from going on our trip. Counting down for this trip is fun, one of the best parts. It is also a countdown, of sorts, until Christmas! When we get HOME from our trip it will be only 10 days until Christmas.
Anyway, I just wanted to post something on here because I am truly excited and anticipating THE payoff day! Only $380 to go!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Dining Day!
I was up bright and early this morning to get our Advance Dining Reservations for our December Anniversary Trip!
I was disappointed at first because I couldn't get exactly what I wanted on the days I wanted, but I decided to switch around a couple of days so it is going to work out for the best!
So, here is the final itinerary!
Day One: Arrive and Check-In at Pop Century Resort
Evening: Dinner at The Crystal Palace.
This is a character meal with Pooh and Friends, but I have been told you do not have to interact if you don't want! lol. We chose it more for the food because the MENU looks delicious! And since it is a buffet, we can store up lots of energy for...
I was disappointed at first because I couldn't get exactly what I wanted on the days I wanted, but I decided to switch around a couple of days so it is going to work out for the best!
So, here is the final itinerary!
Day One: Arrive and Check-In at Pop Century Resort
Evening: Dinner at The Crystal Palace.This is a character meal with Pooh and Friends, but I have been told you do not have to interact if you don't want! lol. We chose it more for the food because the MENU looks delicious! And since it is a buffet, we can store up lots of energy for...
Day Two:
This is where I made adjustments. We were going to spend all day at Epcot with extra magic hours in the evening (open till 12:30am!) but I could not get the dining reservation I wanted for Epcot on this day. SO, I decided to just switch it around and instead we are going to do Disney's Hollywood Studios this day. I think it will work out great because all the advice says to avoid the parks with extra magic hours anyway...
Our lunch this day will be at Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club Resort. It is a short boat ride away from Hollywood Studios, so that will be something fun to do! The MENU here looks great also! Seafood and more!
I also made an end of the night reservation at the Sci-Fi Dine in Theater.
Doesn't it look FUN?!
We will probably just grab a snack/appetizer here.
We wanted to experience it more than anything!
Doesn't it look FUN?!
We will probably just grab a snack/appetizer here.
We wanted to experience it more than anything!
Day Three:
We will spend this entire day experiencing Christmas at
Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure!
They have a "mini" Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
(with actual balloons from the parade!) and a Christmas Grinch Show. I can't wait!
We will spend this entire day experiencing Christmas at
Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure!
They have a "mini" Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
(with actual balloons from the parade!) and a Christmas Grinch Show. I can't wait!
Both of those parks close relatively early, so we will head over for a late dinner at Boma.
This was at the top of my list! I loved it last time we went and can't wait to do it again!
The MENU is exotic and delicious!
Last Day:
Our last day we will spend at Epcot.
I worked our day at Epcot around the availability of dining at Le Cellier (in the Canada area). It is boasted as THE best place to dine at Disney World, so I hope it does not disappoint! The MENU definitely sounds great!
I actually ate at this restaurant MANY years ago when I went to Epcot with my family, but that was a long time ago and before the Disney Dining Plan and making reservations!
Instead of posting a photo of the restaurant, I found this photo of a dessert offered there.
Doesn't it look yummy?! (and cute!)
Besides these reserved meals, we also have a Counter Service meal and a snack each day included with our FREE dining plan! From looking at the menus, it seems we will spend about $60 in tips out of pocket. Oh, plus whatever we spend on our out of pocket late night snack at Sci-Fi Dine In. NOT BAD for FOUR days worth of food at Disney World for two people!Thursday, September 10, 2009
Mickey Moms
Today was the first day that Disney was accepting applications for the 2010 Mickey Mom's Panel. I submitted an application last year but did not make it through the first cut. Oh well. They sent me a magnet for my fridge and it was fun to do!
This year one of the questions was different...and way more interesting in my opinion. First they asked for me to tell a little about my family. Then they asked why I consider myself a "disney expert" and what my best tip for first time visitors would be. The last question was the one that was new. They asked what special talents I have (ie. blogging, foreign travel, speaking another language, etc) that I might find to be useful if I were on the panel. OF COURSE I mentioned that I love blogging and that I have a blog set up just for our Disney trips! I now wish that I had mentioned my degree in Early Childhood Education. Oh well.
I am excited. The next round won't be announced till next month and they do phone interviews at that point. If you are chosen you get to answer questions that are submitted to the Mom's Panel online and you get a FREE trip to Disney for the training, but your entire family gets to go! (the best part!). It is usually a trip in December.... hmmmm....
On another note: TOMORROW is ADR day! I spent last night making a chart of our days for our trip and finally nailing down where we will be and where we want to eat each day. I will share it tomorrow when I get my ADRs finalized. I hope it goes as smoothly as last time!
Monday, September 7, 2009
95 Days...
5 days away from "ADR" day!
47 days until payoff day!
26 days until I start my part-time job at the Pumpkin Patch!
47 days until payoff day!
26 days until I start my part-time job at the Pumpkin Patch!
I would have never thought of looking for a part-time seasonal job at the Pumpkin Patch, but my friend, Laura, got a job and suggested it to me! How perfect!? I will get to work 2 mornings a week and then Saturdays and Sunday afternoons. This will give us enough cushion with our other expenses that we will most likely be guaranteed to be able to have our payoff money in time and if everything else cooperates we will definitely be going on our anniversary trip to "The World" in December!
Yay!
Now, just counting down to this Friday, when I get to wake up at 6am and start searching for those perfect dining reservations to enjoy with our FREE dining plan! Everything has worked out so perfectly! I am so happy and excited!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Excited!
Just a post to say that I am excited!
It is a little over a month until our Advanced Dining Reservation Day!
(the second one I get to do! ha!)
Just 116 more days!
Everything has worked out exactly like we planned, now just to save those dollars between now and payoff day. Payoff day is the week before Katie's birthday, so I am anxious to get the money saved BEFORE then if possible so we don't have to worry about it at that time.
Anyway, just had to post my excitement.
Yay!
It is a little over a month until our Advanced Dining Reservation Day!
(the second one I get to do! ha!)
Just 116 more days!
Everything has worked out exactly like we planned, now just to save those dollars between now and payoff day. Payoff day is the week before Katie's birthday, so I am anxious to get the money saved BEFORE then if possible so we don't have to worry about it at that time.
Anyway, just had to post my excitement.
Yay!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
More Pixie Dust!
I got an email from Disney Tuesday that gave me a pin for Free Dining!!!! Well...we already had free dining, right?! Well...not exactly. As I explained in my last post, it cost us a little extra to get the basic dining because only the quick service was included in that promotion and if we got the pin I had been expecting then it would only save us a little bit....
Well....THIS PIN was for FREE BASIC dining! So, we got to take about $100 off our package price and get that plan for FREE! Yay! Every little bit counts, and now our payoff is $100 less... which may make a world of difference to us right now!
Our trip payoff is now $490. Still wishing and hoping that it will happen and feeling optimistic!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Something Magical..........
The email I received this past Monday morning.....
Hi Carrie,
Hi Carrie,
Something Magical Has Happened!!
We always try to stay on top of the latest discounts, and today our persistence paid off…for you!
As expected, Disney released the fall free dining offer to the public today. I've upgraded your reservation to the basic dining, which is an additional charge of $10 per person per night since the value resorts include only free quick service dining, so your reservation price has increased slightly. If you would prefer to go with just the free quick service dining, please let me know.
Please review the details below and attached and let me know if everything looks good.
.......................
.......................
We hope this makes you as happy as it makes us!!
Just a bit of magic from the Magic for Less Travel.
Have a Magical Day!
Laura Bender
The Magic For Less Travel
Service Plus and Pixie Dust
Our package price increased by $80 to get the dining package, which would regularly have cost us $320. The dining plan, even if you pay for it, is an awesome value, but getting it for 1/4 price is even better! I am thrilled that we got it!
I have been hearing that many people who are traveling to stay at Pop Century Resort have been getting PINS to be upgraded to deluxe resort for free, so I guess that would be the only thing that would make it even better!
Oh yeah...and...having it paid off! :)
The Magic For Less Travel
Service Plus and Pixie Dust
Our package price increased by $80 to get the dining package, which would regularly have cost us $320. The dining plan, even if you pay for it, is an awesome value, but getting it for 1/4 price is even better! I am thrilled that we got it!
I have been hearing that many people who are traveling to stay at Pop Century Resort have been getting PINS to be upgraded to deluxe resort for free, so I guess that would be the only thing that would make it even better!
Oh yeah...and...having it paid off! :)
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Good News/Bad News
Always start with the bad news, right?! Well..... we had to cancel our trip to Disney World! :((((((
Things just didn't work out for us to have the money saved in time. Well, as a matter of fact, we DID have the money saved up. BUT, we had to use that money for some other things right now as we would NEVER pay for a trip to Disney World before I took care of our other responsibilities. We are thankful that we WERE saving for this trip so that we actually had the money there to use when we needed it.
It was coming up to time to make our final payment and after that time it would cost us to cancel, so we had to go ahead and make the choice now. I am very sad, but hope was soon in coming!
The GOOD news is..... we postponed the trip to December again!
I had heard that there were sometimes discounts attached to a person's account on disneyworld.com and if you call they can sometimes tell you about it. Well...I called. The person told me that there was a pin JUST sent out to me for FREE DINING for November and December!!! I was so thrilled and relieved!!!
So, we switched back to our original dates of December 10th-14th and are hoping to get the money saved back up in time to go.
Honestly...... December was our first choice for time of the year to go. The weather will be much nicer and now if we can get the free dining plan then too, there isn't any reason for us to go sooner! We get to see all the Christmas shows and festivities and the crowds will be low that time of year also.
I am very excited again and hoping for the best! The price was cheaper than the October trip also because we changed from 2 day park hoppers to 2 day base tickets. We won't get to park hop, but I think it will be fine because I am hoping TOO that we can do the Christmas party like I went to when I went with Bethany last November. It is SO fun. BUT, if we don't it will still be fine. I am excited to just still have the trip planned and not completely cancelled. It will be a GREAT way to celebrate 10 years together with Corey!
Friday, July 3, 2009
90 Days!
Today is the 90 day countdown mark for our trip!
YAY! That means that when I woke up to go potty at 6:15 this morning, I also came into the living room, got on the computer and starting trying to get all those dining reservations I wanted! Disney now does online dining reservations which open at 6am before the phone line opens at 7am.
I couldn't get exactly what I wanted for Le Cellier, but everything else was perfect! I emailed our travel agent that we had everything we wanted except for dinner at Le Cellier (the only availability had been for lunch which is a different menu...).
Then, when I got up this morning around 9:30, I had an email back from our travel agent saying that she had also booked us at Le Cellier for a 7:10 dinner!
I then got online and switched things around to accomodate and also threw in a reservation for a lunch at the Sci Fi Dine in Theater at Hollywood Studios. It looks so neat and we wanted to check it out, so we may go there just for an appetizer or dessert or something.
Without further delay, here is our final dining schedule! FREE dining I might add! (we just pay tip). Click on the name of the restaurant for the Disney site and photos!
Thursday: arrive, head to Universal Studios for a little while, then Boma for dinner at 7:50pm.
Friday: Disney parks day, Le Cellier for dinner at 7:15pm.
Saturday: All day at Universal Studios, Maya Grill for dinner at 8:00pm.
Sunday: Disney parks day, Sci-Fi Dine-In at 2:20pm, Tokyo Dining for dinner at 8:20pm.
Now the sit-down meals are decided. We probably won't do much planning for our quick meals. The free dining plan we are getting includes 1 counter service (fast food) meal per day, 1 sit-down meal per day, and 1 snack per day.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
ADRs and Single Digit Countdown!
We have begun the double digit countdown!!!!!
AND, next Friday is our ADR day. That is the day we can call and make our Advanced Dining Reservations. I have actually emailed our dining choices to our travel agent along with requested times and she is going to do the reservations for us. We are on the dining plan which means we get 1 Table Service (sit-down) meal, 1 Counter Service (fast-food type) meal, and 1 snack per day (items like popcorn, ice cream, side items from fast food places, etc) per person. The best part about it is that since we moved our trip to October we are getting all that for FREE with our package!!!!! We just have to pay for the tips at the at table service restaurants!!!!
Here is what we have chosen. Click on the photo for a link to the menu for each place.
Our number one choice is Le Cellier. This is in the Canada section at Epcot. It is supposed to be an incredible steak house. It is a very difficult to get reservation and we are going to plan our park days around which day we can get this place!
Our other choice for our "in park" day is Tokyo Dining. This is in...guess where? ha.. the Japan section of Epcot. We love good Japanese food, so this should be a great choice for us!
The interior of Tokyo Dining at EpcotOur other two choices have to be outside of the parks because we only have two day park hoppers. We have chosen Maya Grill for one of those. It is located at the Coronado Springs Resort (our original resort choice for the trip). It has a nice variety on the menu...ribs, steak, seafood, etc.
Interior view of Maya GrillOur other "out of park" experience is Boma. We ate there on our last trip and I really really enjoyed all the variety of exotic foods. It was so good and I am excited to eat there again and try some things I didn't try last time.
So, there ya go. I will probably update after I hear back from our agent with our actual dining times. We have planned our trip to alternate days of Disney and Universal Studios. Universal Studios closes around 5-6pm the weekend we will be there, so we will have time to spend those days at that park then clean up and head out for a late dinner.
Can't wait!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Update!
Breaking News! We just cut 70 days off our countdown by moving our trip to the first weekend of October!!!
YAY! I am so excited!
There are several reasons we did this, but the main one being that it just about cut the cost of the trip in half (which has to do with other exciting thing and plans that are not Disney related).
This means we only have about $200 left to save to have our trip paid in full, which is a great feeling!
We are now going to stay at Pop Century Resort..you can click the link in the right sidebar to read and see pictures. I am excited about the resort...it looks like a lot of fun....doesn't it look like a "Corey" hotel? Ha!
We are also timing the trip to be during the FREE dining period! That saved about $400! YAY! FREE FOOD!
So, as you can probably tell, I am very very very excited that we will be going on our trip now in 139 days! Only 49 days until I get to make our dining reservations for all those delicious meals!
YAY! I am so excited!
There are several reasons we did this, but the main one being that it just about cut the cost of the trip in half (which has to do with other exciting thing and plans that are not Disney related).
This means we only have about $200 left to save to have our trip paid in full, which is a great feeling!
We are now going to stay at Pop Century Resort..you can click the link in the right sidebar to read and see pictures. I am excited about the resort...it looks like a lot of fun....doesn't it look like a "Corey" hotel? Ha!
We are also timing the trip to be during the FREE dining period! That saved about $400! YAY! FREE FOOD!
So, as you can probably tell, I am very very very excited that we will be going on our trip now in 139 days! Only 49 days until I get to make our dining reservations for all those delicious meals!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Celebrating 10 Years!
Read more below!
(sorry had to do this to correct a posting problem I had earlier!)
(sorry had to do this to correct a posting problem I had earlier!)
Celebrating 10 Years!
Corey and I will celebrate 10 years of being together this December! This isn't our "wedding" anniversary, but it was when it all started and the day we prefer to celebrate anyway because of the time of year! ha ha!
So...how better to celebrate 10 years together than with a long weekend at...where else?!
CHRISTMAS AT DISNEY WORLD! It should be a tradition for us!
We booked our trip just last week because December fills up pretty quickly and I wanted to have it done for sure so we would make ourselves start saving! ha ha! I decided to go through a travel agency (The Magic for Less) from one of my yahoo groups. It is a big agency with tons of good references and it doesn't cost me anything to use them. They get their $ from Disney I think. Anyway, they will take care of everything for me, even our dining reservations...THEY can be the ones sitting on hold making the reservations!!!!
This will be a trip just for us, no kids this time. I actually won a pass to Universal Studios in a contest so we will be doing that one day as well. I am excited to be counting down to another trip! We decided to stay at Coronado Springs Resort. It was a tough choice, but we wanted to say in one of the moderate resorts to have a bit bigger and "nicer" room. We originally were going to stay at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort, but I found out in the process of researching dates that it is the week of the Pop Warner Football and Cheerleading Championships, so that means there will be big school groups there and where do they stay? Value Resorts OR Port Orleans Riverside!!! Thank goodness we found that out. Apparently they like to get up really early and practice their routines outside very loudly! UGH!!!!! Do NOT want to be in a hotel with a bunch of highschoolers running around at all hours!
So...this made us look at Coronado Springs, which I am excited about. They are actually in the process of remodeling the rooms and will be done by December. You can see photos of the room makeovers HERE. (left side of page has photos listed) Also, HERE is a link to the Disney website about the resort.
I am excited to finally do the "on-site" experience. We are also planning to do the dining plan. If you know us, you know we love to eat out, so this will be really fun for us to get to try all kinds of the great restaurants around the parks and resorts.
The date is set for two weekends before Christmas. We also plan to do the Candlelight Processional at Epcot and to see the Osborne Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios. If time and $ permit, I would also love to do the Christmas party, but I did that last year so it's not a huge priority.
I honestly do not feel the least bit sorry about going to Disney without my kids. That's usually the first thing that people say when I tell them about us planning a trip....that the kids will be sad or upset. I can assure you, they will be getting PLENTY of spoiling while we are gone, and they have gone the past two years...so...they will be fine. They won't care a bit, and we have promised them the beach for next year and they are just as excited about that as they were about Disney.
So, between now and then I will be updating occasionally about our plans. I also get to help Bethany talk and be excited about going with her family in September! How fun!
So...how better to celebrate 10 years together than with a long weekend at...where else?!
CHRISTMAS AT DISNEY WORLD! It should be a tradition for us!
We booked our trip just last week because December fills up pretty quickly and I wanted to have it done for sure so we would make ourselves start saving! ha ha! I decided to go through a travel agency (The Magic for Less) from one of my yahoo groups. It is a big agency with tons of good references and it doesn't cost me anything to use them. They get their $ from Disney I think. Anyway, they will take care of everything for me, even our dining reservations...THEY can be the ones sitting on hold making the reservations!!!!
This will be a trip just for us, no kids this time. I actually won a pass to Universal Studios in a contest so we will be doing that one day as well. I am excited to be counting down to another trip! We decided to stay at Coronado Springs Resort. It was a tough choice, but we wanted to say in one of the moderate resorts to have a bit bigger and "nicer" room. We originally were going to stay at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort, but I found out in the process of researching dates that it is the week of the Pop Warner Football and Cheerleading Championships, so that means there will be big school groups there and where do they stay? Value Resorts OR Port Orleans Riverside!!! Thank goodness we found that out. Apparently they like to get up really early and practice their routines outside very loudly! UGH!!!!! Do NOT want to be in a hotel with a bunch of highschoolers running around at all hours!
So...this made us look at Coronado Springs, which I am excited about. They are actually in the process of remodeling the rooms and will be done by December. You can see photos of the room makeovers HERE. (left side of page has photos listed) Also, HERE is a link to the Disney website about the resort.
I am excited to finally do the "on-site" experience. We are also planning to do the dining plan. If you know us, you know we love to eat out, so this will be really fun for us to get to try all kinds of the great restaurants around the parks and resorts.
The date is set for two weekends before Christmas. We also plan to do the Candlelight Processional at Epcot and to see the Osborne Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios. If time and $ permit, I would also love to do the Christmas party, but I did that last year so it's not a huge priority.
I honestly do not feel the least bit sorry about going to Disney without my kids. That's usually the first thing that people say when I tell them about us planning a trip....that the kids will be sad or upset. I can assure you, they will be getting PLENTY of spoiling while we are gone, and they have gone the past two years...so...they will be fine. They won't care a bit, and we have promised them the beach for next year and they are just as excited about that as they were about Disney.
So, between now and then I will be updating occasionally about our plans. I also get to help Bethany talk and be excited about going with her family in September! How fun!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Photopass Pictures!
Our Photopass CD came in the mail today! YAY! That was FAST!!!! Here are *some* of the 400 photos from our trip! I am making this slideshow big so you can see the photos well...sorry it will make the blog look bad, oh well. I have about 3 different versions of each photo, so I mixed it up with putting in ones with borders, black and white, etc. Oh, one more thing...yes there are more photos of Katie than Noah in this, but all the time she was getting these photos taken he was riding rides with Corey...so you make your choices! ha ha!
For those of you who do not know what in the world I am talking about:
When you visit any Walt Disney World Park, there are photographers walking around offering to take your photo. They are all over the parks, especially in front of the big icons like the castle, Mickey hat, etc. They are even in different locations "around" those things for getting different points of view. They will also be with many of the characters you can meet and get autographs from, etc. Mainly just the "big" ones like Mickey, princesses, and people like that. They had a photographer at the Jedi training as well as in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.
Well, these photos are for sale, of course, for a ridiculously overpriced amount, like $12.95 for a 4x6 or something. They can add borders, you know, do the "tourist" photo thing.
OR you can purchase ALL the photos from your entire trip on a CD for $99 (pre-order price, non-preorder is $125). This may seem like a steep price, but it is WAY cheaper than buying them individually. You can get as many photos as you want on the CD for the same price. The photopass studio people told us of a family from the UK that came for two weeks and ended up with about 7000 photos on 9 CDs....same price...$99. So it can be as good of a deal as you want it to be. You do still have to pay to get the prints at your own convenience, but then you own the photos and can do what you want with them, you have the copyright release for them.
We knew before our trip we were going to get the CD...it made things much easier. Their photographers start taking photos (most of the time) as soon as you enter a character greeting area so get some candids as well as posed shots. They can also do "trick" photos where they add in a character to the photo. Many times because of lighting and the lines moving it is difficult to get a really "GREAT" shot with your own personal camera. The photographers just give you a little "photopass card" that you carry around with you or you can get new ones every time, you can add as many as you want to your account before you order. You just have 30 days from the day they were taken to order your CD or prints or other various photo gifts.
When we got home I was able to add borders from their website to many of our photos and ended up with 400. Not as many as I had hoped, but they are still great. I did not include ALL of those on the slideshow, but I think it is a great thing to include as part of your vacation budget!
For those of you who do not know what in the world I am talking about:
When you visit any Walt Disney World Park, there are photographers walking around offering to take your photo. They are all over the parks, especially in front of the big icons like the castle, Mickey hat, etc. They are even in different locations "around" those things for getting different points of view. They will also be with many of the characters you can meet and get autographs from, etc. Mainly just the "big" ones like Mickey, princesses, and people like that. They had a photographer at the Jedi training as well as in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.
Well, these photos are for sale, of course, for a ridiculously overpriced amount, like $12.95 for a 4x6 or something. They can add borders, you know, do the "tourist" photo thing.
OR you can purchase ALL the photos from your entire trip on a CD for $99 (pre-order price, non-preorder is $125). This may seem like a steep price, but it is WAY cheaper than buying them individually. You can get as many photos as you want on the CD for the same price. The photopass studio people told us of a family from the UK that came for two weeks and ended up with about 7000 photos on 9 CDs....same price...$99. So it can be as good of a deal as you want it to be. You do still have to pay to get the prints at your own convenience, but then you own the photos and can do what you want with them, you have the copyright release for them.
We knew before our trip we were going to get the CD...it made things much easier. Their photographers start taking photos (most of the time) as soon as you enter a character greeting area so get some candids as well as posed shots. They can also do "trick" photos where they add in a character to the photo. Many times because of lighting and the lines moving it is difficult to get a really "GREAT" shot with your own personal camera. The photographers just give you a little "photopass card" that you carry around with you or you can get new ones every time, you can add as many as you want to your account before you order. You just have 30 days from the day they were taken to order your CD or prints or other various photo gifts.
When we got home I was able to add borders from their website to many of our photos and ended up with 400. Not as many as I had hoped, but they are still great. I did not include ALL of those on the slideshow, but I think it is a great thing to include as part of your vacation budget!
Last Day: Magic Kingdom
We spent the entire day at Magic Kingdom. We arrived before the park opened and saw the opening ceremony which we had never seen before. Mickey, Daisy, Chip n Dale, and Stitch came in on the steam train waving at everyone. It was cute, but I really do not enjoy the masses of people trying to get through the doors! Ugh! Worth having a reservation before the park opens I think!
We made a beeline for Dumbo, because Katie did not do it the last day, and Corey and Noah went to the Speedway. Katie saw Ariel while Mama waited in line for Dumbo...the wait for Ariel was...3 minutes! yay! Then off to Toon Town to try and see those fairies!!! You wouldn't believe the huge crowd of people and almost every single one got in the fairy line as the area opened. Mickey was just standing there waving...no one headed to his house :( If Corey had been there I bet Noah would have had some fun one on done time with Mickey!
Pixie Hollow is beautiful! SO well done! The waiting hallway is decorated to look like a forest with sparkling little "fairies" as lights shooting down the branches occassionally. Then, inside the meeting area, it is made to look like you have been shrunk down to the size of a fairy, with giant flowers, leaves, and other various fairy knick knacks. Katie loved meeting Irridessa, Tinkerbell, and Fawn. We then were off to tour Minnie and Mickey's houses and then over to Fantasyland to hit up some things we missed before. We did the Winnie the Pooh, Mickey's Philharmagic again, It's a Small World, then took the train around to the front gate to head "home" for lunch and rest.
The crowds were really heavy today compared to the rest of the week. There was a 50 minute wait for Ariel before we left, 45 minute waits for Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh....it just seemed so much heavier than when we were here this time last year...I know this was heading into President's Day weekend and I heard several people say they had taken advantage of the buy 4/get 3 offer. The weather has been pretty warm as well. Into the low 80s during the day...not a drop of rain *which is nice* BUT we had paid for pool heat for our private pool in our rental and it has gotten too hot to even get in!!! ARGH! Last year when we came it was in the low 70s for highs. I guess I should have asked about cancelling the pool heat.
Anyway, we got back to the park around 5:30-6pm and started staking our place to watch the parade and fireworks. I wanted the tree spot in Liberty Square, but the renovations on the Hall of Presidents was really blocking the view of the castle, you couldn't really see it at all. So, we basically walked the route of the parade trying out different spots and evaluating the pros/cons. Corey LOVED this process..HA HA!!!! We ended up in a spot I had heard of before but didn't think of since we were trying to see the parade as well. We were on the Terrace of the Tomorrowland noodle restaurant. We weren't super close to the parade, but the view of the fireworks was just simply breathtaking. It could not have been more perfect so I will continue to stalk this location for every trip from now on!
About Spectromagic: This parade really didn't live up to the hype for me. Maybe it was completely because we weren't on the "sidelines" and didn't have a close-up view, but I thought it would be just totally amazing. Don't get me wrong, it was a "good" parade. The lights are cool, but maybe it is just something you have to experience up close. We could see pretty well from the terrace, esp where they crossed over the bridge, but...I don't know....I guess I could live without this one. I thought the part at the end was very good..the switching back and forth of colors. I have since heard from people in the online group, that you definitely had to experience it "up close" but I guess we don't know what we're missing..ha ha.
We did not get to see the day parade this time, but I saw the Christmas one and I loved being able to see SO MANY characters in the parade. That will definitely be a priority the next time we come...
SO...after the fireworks we hit up Buzz Lightyear (Noah's fav) and Magic Carpets (Katie's fav). Bought a balloon on the way out and rode in the monorail back to the parking lot. We requested to sit in the front of the monorail and were able to...we were with a guy who was training which kind of made me nervous, but it was interesting to hear the "trainer" ask the guy all sorts of questions...there is definitely more to that job than you would think.
We still have a day left on our tickets because we got the good deal from Undercover tourist but now we are out of days of being here....so sad and wish I could stay one more day but not sure I would hold up. We had planned to do the parade and fireworks our first night here but we were just totally wiped out and didn't feel like it. Really regretting that now!
Late night, great day! Corey can't wait to go back next year, so that makes it a huge success! I have actually since our trip, talked Corey into agreeing that he and I should take a trip for just the two of us. So, it looks like if everything gets planned out and works out, that he and I will be heading down to stay ON SITE in December for an extended weekend. We will be celebrating 10 YEARS of being together (not married, just together) WOW! Since we are planning on doing that we figured the "family" vacation next year would be a truly relaxing "beach" trip. I am very much looking foward to doing a "couple" trip though. December is a great time to be at the resort and we will also use the Universal ticket I won. Fun fun!!!!
I hope you enjoyed my trip reports. Please feel free to comment!!! I will have one more slideshow to post when I get our photopass CD in the mail. Those shots are SO GOOD! Can't wait to share them!
We made a beeline for Dumbo, because Katie did not do it the last day, and Corey and Noah went to the Speedway. Katie saw Ariel while Mama waited in line for Dumbo...the wait for Ariel was...3 minutes! yay! Then off to Toon Town to try and see those fairies!!! You wouldn't believe the huge crowd of people and almost every single one got in the fairy line as the area opened. Mickey was just standing there waving...no one headed to his house :( If Corey had been there I bet Noah would have had some fun one on done time with Mickey!
Pixie Hollow is beautiful! SO well done! The waiting hallway is decorated to look like a forest with sparkling little "fairies" as lights shooting down the branches occassionally. Then, inside the meeting area, it is made to look like you have been shrunk down to the size of a fairy, with giant flowers, leaves, and other various fairy knick knacks. Katie loved meeting Irridessa, Tinkerbell, and Fawn. We then were off to tour Minnie and Mickey's houses and then over to Fantasyland to hit up some things we missed before. We did the Winnie the Pooh, Mickey's Philharmagic again, It's a Small World, then took the train around to the front gate to head "home" for lunch and rest.
The crowds were really heavy today compared to the rest of the week. There was a 50 minute wait for Ariel before we left, 45 minute waits for Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh....it just seemed so much heavier than when we were here this time last year...I know this was heading into President's Day weekend and I heard several people say they had taken advantage of the buy 4/get 3 offer. The weather has been pretty warm as well. Into the low 80s during the day...not a drop of rain *which is nice* BUT we had paid for pool heat for our private pool in our rental and it has gotten too hot to even get in!!! ARGH! Last year when we came it was in the low 70s for highs. I guess I should have asked about cancelling the pool heat.
Anyway, we got back to the park around 5:30-6pm and started staking our place to watch the parade and fireworks. I wanted the tree spot in Liberty Square, but the renovations on the Hall of Presidents was really blocking the view of the castle, you couldn't really see it at all. So, we basically walked the route of the parade trying out different spots and evaluating the pros/cons. Corey LOVED this process..HA HA!!!! We ended up in a spot I had heard of before but didn't think of since we were trying to see the parade as well. We were on the Terrace of the Tomorrowland noodle restaurant. We weren't super close to the parade, but the view of the fireworks was just simply breathtaking. It could not have been more perfect so I will continue to stalk this location for every trip from now on!
About Spectromagic: This parade really didn't live up to the hype for me. Maybe it was completely because we weren't on the "sidelines" and didn't have a close-up view, but I thought it would be just totally amazing. Don't get me wrong, it was a "good" parade. The lights are cool, but maybe it is just something you have to experience up close. We could see pretty well from the terrace, esp where they crossed over the bridge, but...I don't know....I guess I could live without this one. I thought the part at the end was very good..the switching back and forth of colors. I have since heard from people in the online group, that you definitely had to experience it "up close" but I guess we don't know what we're missing..ha ha.
We did not get to see the day parade this time, but I saw the Christmas one and I loved being able to see SO MANY characters in the parade. That will definitely be a priority the next time we come...
SO...after the fireworks we hit up Buzz Lightyear (Noah's fav) and Magic Carpets (Katie's fav). Bought a balloon on the way out and rode in the monorail back to the parking lot. We requested to sit in the front of the monorail and were able to...we were with a guy who was training which kind of made me nervous, but it was interesting to hear the "trainer" ask the guy all sorts of questions...there is definitely more to that job than you would think.
We still have a day left on our tickets because we got the good deal from Undercover tourist but now we are out of days of being here....so sad and wish I could stay one more day but not sure I would hold up. We had planned to do the parade and fireworks our first night here but we were just totally wiped out and didn't feel like it. Really regretting that now!
Late night, great day! Corey can't wait to go back next year, so that makes it a huge success! I have actually since our trip, talked Corey into agreeing that he and I should take a trip for just the two of us. So, it looks like if everything gets planned out and works out, that he and I will be heading down to stay ON SITE in December for an extended weekend. We will be celebrating 10 YEARS of being together (not married, just together) WOW! Since we are planning on doing that we figured the "family" vacation next year would be a truly relaxing "beach" trip. I am very much looking foward to doing a "couple" trip though. December is a great time to be at the resort and we will also use the Universal ticket I won. Fun fun!!!!
I hope you enjoyed my trip reports. Please feel free to comment!!! I will have one more slideshow to post when I get our photopass CD in the mail. Those shots are SO GOOD! Can't wait to share them!
Day 7: Hollywood Studios 2
So...on to today. The group split today. My parents wanted to go back to Epcot because they wanted to browse a little more thoroughly in the countries and they didn't really have much else they wanted to see at Hollywood Studios. We got up this morning and headed out to be there when the park opened.
On a last minute whim we asked if there were opening for the Playhouse Disney breakfast, and there were, so we went on in for that. It was cute and the kids enjoyed meeting JoJo, Goliath, but mostly they enjoyed meeting Leo and June from Little Einsteins...they love that show. I have to say that this breakfast wasn't nearly as good as the Tusker House one we had on day one. It was just basic breakfast buffet like Shoney's or something and MORE expensive than Tusker House! I hate overpaying for eggs and biscuits!
After breakfast we went over to meet Buzz and Woody....Noah wore his Indiana Jones hat today and all the characters we saw had fun playing with it. VERY cute and fun pictures. At the end Buzz and Woody were passing his hat between them behind their backs and having Noah guess where the hat was. It was SO fun! We will remember that next time we do lots of characters...they love hats!
We rode Toy Story, saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney Live, rode Star Tours, met Bolt and the hamster (can't remember his name) Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Frozone, Sorceror Mickey, The Sheriff of Nottingham (he was pretending to look for money on people for taxes and the kids each gave him a penny which he thought was cool and held up for a pic).....I think that is all.
It was actually kind of frustrating today because I put a lot of time into planning what days to go to which park based on crowd predictions, etc...and today there was an American Idol premiere at the park because they are launching a new American Idol attraction this weekend. They had lots of the walkways roped off and it was very inconvenient to get from one place to another. Supposedly there was going to be a motorcade/parade with all the American Idol judges and some of the winners. Corey saw David Cook playing...but that actually meant that most of the attractions were pretty empty, but getting to them was a huge pain! I saw photos of the event after we got home...I can't believe people waited ALL day on the sidelines of the parade route to see people like Chris Sligh, Phil Stacey, and that dreadlocked guy from last year. It's not like there were *really* famous people there! AND, the only judge there was Paula from what I saw....ugh.
We got to ride the new Toy Story ride twice, saw the Muppet 3D show....Corey and I took turns on The Great Movie Ride...and then it was time to go because I was finally able to get a reservation for Boma! We went out to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for that meal and it was GREAT! It is such a nice hotel...we saw a giraffe, some zebras, and other animals from the viewing areas around the hotel. The food at Boma was incredible! The first place that I believe the price competely matched the food choices! I tried watermelon rind salad (not good) and several different kinds of hummus spreads (good except one). They had sliced steak, all kinds of rices, potatoes, vegetables, and they were all "unique" in keeping with the African theme, but most every single thing I tried was really delicious. They also had some good soups, like an African stew, butternut squash soup, potato soup....and always there are good kids' choices so you don't have to feel like they won't eat "anything." (NOAH!) Anyway, that was a great meal with great service! I definitely would do that one again!
After dinner we went to find a Walmart to pick up something for Corey and then back to the room.
My parents got back from Epcot around 9-10 and we each shared what we had done that day. They had a great day exploring Epcot at a "non-kid" pace.
It was a great day, packed, and we were so tired again!
On a last minute whim we asked if there were opening for the Playhouse Disney breakfast, and there were, so we went on in for that. It was cute and the kids enjoyed meeting JoJo, Goliath, but mostly they enjoyed meeting Leo and June from Little Einsteins...they love that show. I have to say that this breakfast wasn't nearly as good as the Tusker House one we had on day one. It was just basic breakfast buffet like Shoney's or something and MORE expensive than Tusker House! I hate overpaying for eggs and biscuits!
After breakfast we went over to meet Buzz and Woody....Noah wore his Indiana Jones hat today and all the characters we saw had fun playing with it. VERY cute and fun pictures. At the end Buzz and Woody were passing his hat between them behind their backs and having Noah guess where the hat was. It was SO fun! We will remember that next time we do lots of characters...they love hats!
We rode Toy Story, saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Playhouse Disney Live, rode Star Tours, met Bolt and the hamster (can't remember his name) Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Frozone, Sorceror Mickey, The Sheriff of Nottingham (he was pretending to look for money on people for taxes and the kids each gave him a penny which he thought was cool and held up for a pic).....I think that is all.
It was actually kind of frustrating today because I put a lot of time into planning what days to go to which park based on crowd predictions, etc...and today there was an American Idol premiere at the park because they are launching a new American Idol attraction this weekend. They had lots of the walkways roped off and it was very inconvenient to get from one place to another. Supposedly there was going to be a motorcade/parade with all the American Idol judges and some of the winners. Corey saw David Cook playing...but that actually meant that most of the attractions were pretty empty, but getting to them was a huge pain! I saw photos of the event after we got home...I can't believe people waited ALL day on the sidelines of the parade route to see people like Chris Sligh, Phil Stacey, and that dreadlocked guy from last year. It's not like there were *really* famous people there! AND, the only judge there was Paula from what I saw....ugh.
We got to ride the new Toy Story ride twice, saw the Muppet 3D show....Corey and I took turns on The Great Movie Ride...and then it was time to go because I was finally able to get a reservation for Boma! We went out to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for that meal and it was GREAT! It is such a nice hotel...we saw a giraffe, some zebras, and other animals from the viewing areas around the hotel. The food at Boma was incredible! The first place that I believe the price competely matched the food choices! I tried watermelon rind salad (not good) and several different kinds of hummus spreads (good except one). They had sliced steak, all kinds of rices, potatoes, vegetables, and they were all "unique" in keeping with the African theme, but most every single thing I tried was really delicious. They also had some good soups, like an African stew, butternut squash soup, potato soup....and always there are good kids' choices so you don't have to feel like they won't eat "anything." (NOAH!) Anyway, that was a great meal with great service! I definitely would do that one again!
After dinner we went to find a Walmart to pick up something for Corey and then back to the room.
My parents got back from Epcot around 9-10 and we each shared what we had done that day. They had a great day exploring Epcot at a "non-kid" pace.
It was a great day, packed, and we were so tired again!
Day 6: Magic Kingdom Finally!
Today we finally went to Magic Kingdom! We had an 8:40am reservation for Bibbibi Bobbidi Boutique. We checked in and were taken straight back. Corey planned to have some fun with Noah while we were getting "made-over." I warned him about Dumbo (a huge request of Noah) and that he should make that his goal, but well, they decided to go wait for Tomorrowland to open and do Buzz Lightyear.
The Bibbibi Bobbidi Boutique was SO magical! Katie LOVED every second of it. We brought our own dress and were taken right to a dressing room and given a brochure with "princess katie" on the front to look at the hairstyle choices. After we were dressed we were escorted to our "fairy godmother in training" and Katie had a seat. They started by letting her pick out her makeup and nail polish choices. Then she picked out which crown she wanted to go with her princess bun (she chose the fairy tale princess do which is a bun with a crown in front). They put her hair up using lots of glue and hair bands, sprinkled her with pixie dust with their magic wand while she make a wish, then put on her crown and BBB sash. Another fairy godmother came around and did makeup and nails while the other was working on her hair. They made conversation with her and it was really sweet. They had a photopass photographer in their the entire time rotating between girls. When it was all done they spun her around in the chair for a reveal and got pictures of her reaction. I was highly impressed with the entire experience. They are very particular, making sure the hair do is "centered" and "even" and just perfect. They are very sweet and tender with the girls. They put the combs they used (we forgot ours) and the rest of the makeup palette they didn't use and two nailpolishes in a bag with some Belle stickers (that was her dress choice) for us to take home. Then they said we could go down to the Exposition Hall and have a photo session done and those photos would be put on our photopass! I didn't know they did that, I thought that just came with the top package. This was $59.53 total. Totally and completely worth it! Getting dressed up and getting hair/makeup/nails done IN CINDERELLA'S CASTLE AT DISNEY WORLD!? MOST DEFINITELY WORTH IT!
We left the castle and right around the corner was the fair godmother herself!!!!! We got in a short line and had photos.
Then down mainstreet.Katie got lots of attention from everyone and she just loved it! I talked to Corey on the phone who said they had ridden Buzz three times in a row and if they had more time they were headed to fantasyland to ride Dumbo.
When we got to Exposition Hall we saw Mary Poppins in front. We got in line, but then saw Snow White! We missed seeing Snow White last time, so we switched lines. Wonderful meeting her but we had a stinky photopass photographer who only took two "posed" shots and people kept stepping in front while my mom was trying to take photos! boo!
Next to the photo session. There was just one person in there so when they were done we were next. She really took her time getting lots of good shots..a great photographer. You will see some of those shots when I get the photopass photos on here, still waiting on the CD in the mail.
Katie wanted to meet the princesses now in her dress so we went to the princess tent while Noah and Corey and grandpa did some more stuff now my mind fails me since I didn't get this done on the day it all happened! ha.
The wait for the princesses was 15 minutes. The wait for Fairies was 75 minutes! ACK! It was only 10:20am!!!!! We saw Belle, Aurora, and Cinderella! They made a big deal out of her being dressed up. The photopass people got some really nice shots of Cinderella and Katie doing a "curtsy" together. She ate it up!
Met back up with Corey and the rest who had not seen Katie yet. (they had ridden peter pan and waited 30 minutes for Dumbo...ha.) Noah was very taken with her and wanted to hold her hand! So cute!
We headed out and had to take a restroom break which is a 20 minute ordeal with 2 kids and one in a Belle gown. :)
We rode the teacups. I don't remember having done this before. We avoided it last year....and it did make me quite dizzy. Corey was kind of annoyed because I wouldn't let him "really spin" the cup around too much! Alice was right outside the teacups and we met her and got photos. Katie asked her favorite kind of tea (English breakfast) and Alice asked her what her favorite was (mandarin orange).
Everyone was hungry by now so we went to eat while Mama and Daddy got sandwiches from locker. We ate at Cosmic Ray's...I had the half rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans (really good!!!!) and kids had kid meals, Corey had burger and fries. We then met up with Mama and Daddy in front of the castle for the show. Katie loved it, Noah wanted to know when we could leave! We got to see the princesses WITH their princes in the show, never seen them before!
Walked around to Fantasyland and did Snow White, Philharmagic, and Peter Pan. Philharmagic is still one of my favorite things here! We then made our way around through to do Pirates twice in a row, watched the pirate tutorial (with Capt Jack Sparrow) and met Peter Pan and Captain Hook! We then went to get an Ice Cream (I had pineapple vanilla swirl-yum!)
Next, Aladdin's magic carpets, twice with restroom break in between. Then to tomorrow land to use fastpasses for buzz and do Monster's Inc. The Monster's Inc. Laugh floor is a similar concept as the Turtle Talk...interactive with the audience...animated characters in a comedy show. So good! Then we did the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (ride around the Tomorrowland area and through some of the rides) and over to Storytime with Belle. Kids are hungry and tired and it is time to go for today. We will hit up the parades and fireworks on Friday! We left around 5:30pm....stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way back to the rental. Katie got lots of attention there too in her princess-wear. Fun, but tiring day!
Whew!
Carrie in GA
The Bibbibi Bobbidi Boutique was SO magical! Katie LOVED every second of it. We brought our own dress and were taken right to a dressing room and given a brochure with "princess katie" on the front to look at the hairstyle choices. After we were dressed we were escorted to our "fairy godmother in training" and Katie had a seat. They started by letting her pick out her makeup and nail polish choices. Then she picked out which crown she wanted to go with her princess bun (she chose the fairy tale princess do which is a bun with a crown in front). They put her hair up using lots of glue and hair bands, sprinkled her with pixie dust with their magic wand while she make a wish, then put on her crown and BBB sash. Another fairy godmother came around and did makeup and nails while the other was working on her hair. They made conversation with her and it was really sweet. They had a photopass photographer in their the entire time rotating between girls. When it was all done they spun her around in the chair for a reveal and got pictures of her reaction. I was highly impressed with the entire experience. They are very particular, making sure the hair do is "centered" and "even" and just perfect. They are very sweet and tender with the girls. They put the combs they used (we forgot ours) and the rest of the makeup palette they didn't use and two nailpolishes in a bag with some Belle stickers (that was her dress choice) for us to take home. Then they said we could go down to the Exposition Hall and have a photo session done and those photos would be put on our photopass! I didn't know they did that, I thought that just came with the top package. This was $59.53 total. Totally and completely worth it! Getting dressed up and getting hair/makeup/nails done IN CINDERELLA'S CASTLE AT DISNEY WORLD!? MOST DEFINITELY WORTH IT!
We left the castle and right around the corner was the fair godmother herself!!!!! We got in a short line and had photos.
Then down mainstreet.Katie got lots of attention from everyone and she just loved it! I talked to Corey on the phone who said they had ridden Buzz three times in a row and if they had more time they were headed to fantasyland to ride Dumbo.
When we got to Exposition Hall we saw Mary Poppins in front. We got in line, but then saw Snow White! We missed seeing Snow White last time, so we switched lines. Wonderful meeting her but we had a stinky photopass photographer who only took two "posed" shots and people kept stepping in front while my mom was trying to take photos! boo!
Next to the photo session. There was just one person in there so when they were done we were next. She really took her time getting lots of good shots..a great photographer. You will see some of those shots when I get the photopass photos on here, still waiting on the CD in the mail.
Katie wanted to meet the princesses now in her dress so we went to the princess tent while Noah and Corey and grandpa did some more stuff now my mind fails me since I didn't get this done on the day it all happened! ha.
The wait for the princesses was 15 minutes. The wait for Fairies was 75 minutes! ACK! It was only 10:20am!!!!! We saw Belle, Aurora, and Cinderella! They made a big deal out of her being dressed up. The photopass people got some really nice shots of Cinderella and Katie doing a "curtsy" together. She ate it up!
Met back up with Corey and the rest who had not seen Katie yet. (they had ridden peter pan and waited 30 minutes for Dumbo...ha.) Noah was very taken with her and wanted to hold her hand! So cute!
We headed out and had to take a restroom break which is a 20 minute ordeal with 2 kids and one in a Belle gown. :)
We rode the teacups. I don't remember having done this before. We avoided it last year....and it did make me quite dizzy. Corey was kind of annoyed because I wouldn't let him "really spin" the cup around too much! Alice was right outside the teacups and we met her and got photos. Katie asked her favorite kind of tea (English breakfast) and Alice asked her what her favorite was (mandarin orange).
Everyone was hungry by now so we went to eat while Mama and Daddy got sandwiches from locker. We ate at Cosmic Ray's...I had the half rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans (really good!!!!) and kids had kid meals, Corey had burger and fries. We then met up with Mama and Daddy in front of the castle for the show. Katie loved it, Noah wanted to know when we could leave! We got to see the princesses WITH their princes in the show, never seen them before!
Walked around to Fantasyland and did Snow White, Philharmagic, and Peter Pan. Philharmagic is still one of my favorite things here! We then made our way around through to do Pirates twice in a row, watched the pirate tutorial (with Capt Jack Sparrow) and met Peter Pan and Captain Hook! We then went to get an Ice Cream (I had pineapple vanilla swirl-yum!)
Next, Aladdin's magic carpets, twice with restroom break in between. Then to tomorrow land to use fastpasses for buzz and do Monster's Inc. The Monster's Inc. Laugh floor is a similar concept as the Turtle Talk...interactive with the audience...animated characters in a comedy show. So good! Then we did the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (ride around the Tomorrowland area and through some of the rides) and over to Storytime with Belle. Kids are hungry and tired and it is time to go for today. We will hit up the parades and fireworks on Friday! We left around 5:30pm....stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way back to the rental. Katie got lots of attention there too in her princess-wear. Fun, but tiring day!
Whew!
Carrie in GA
Day 5: Hollywood Studios
SO...it is day 5 since we left on our trip and we still haven't been to Magic Kingdom! ACK! We are following the suggested plans though, and this plan seemed to work best with our "overall itinerary" as our Tour Guide Mike planning website would say...so we finally get there tomorrow with an early morning appt. at the "boutique" for princess daughter!
Today we kind of took our time getting out the door again. We headed to Hollywood Studios and arrived around 9:40 or so. Corey went straight for fastpasses for Toy Story, which were already at 1:30pm return time. It was almost time for the first Beauty and the Beast show of the day so we went there. KATIE LOVED IT!!!! After that we tried to get to the next Indiana Jones show but it was standing room only....45 minutes with two kids? I think not. We went to wait for the next Jedi Training Academy instead. Mama, Daddy, Corey, and Katie went on Star Tours while we waited.
The crowd got big right before the Jedi show and I had talked to Noah about if he wanted to be picked and he seemed excited but apprehensive. When they came out to choose he stood up straight and tall and raised both hands straight in the air AND HE GOT PICKED! We were SO EXCITED! He looked a little "frozen" up there at first, but when it came his turn to fight Darth Vader he was just really into it and loved it! The premise is that they are going to be trained to be Jedis but then Darth Vader comes out and says that to complete their training they must fight him. I am SO happy they had a photopass photographer there to get photos of the entire thing and I am SO happy we already pre-ordered our CD!
After that we went to the next Indiana Jones show, which was long, good, but the kids got bored at the slapstick in between stuff. Next up, Star Tours for the immediate four while Mama and Daddy retrieved our lunches from the lockers. We ate around the lake and then secured a spot on the steps of the new American Idol thing for the parade. We waited almost an hour and I was not really impressed with the Block party bash. It was ENTIRELY TOO LOUD for kids. I really don't know why they make things like that SO loud. Katie and Noah sat with their fingers in their ears the entire time and we happened to be sitting in a part where just random dancers were, not really many characters, just Sully every once in a while. I was really disappointed that we spent two hours on that whole thing when we could have been using our Toy Story passes.
After the parade we went to use our Toy Story passes. It was SO FUN! I was kind of sad that we weren't waiting in the line actually, it was SO cool! It is set up to look like Andy's room from the Toy Story movies, so there are giant crayons, toys, game boards and pieces. Really cool line! The kids loved this of course. On the ride you are sitting with one other person and you have this "pop gun" type thing in front of you. You are twirled and spun around to different giant 3D screens where there are carnival type games on the screen. You use your pop gun to shoot, ring toss, throw pies, shoot arrows, just about anything at different themed games. There are different themed games for the different characters. It is really fun and it keeps score for you and gives you a "prize" at the end on your screen on the car. It is really well done, the controls work well, and it is just plain fun!
At this point it was about 4:30, so we opted to go ahead and leave for today and swim for a few minutes before dinner at the townhouse and bed. We have a very early morning for our princess at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. A lot of our day was taken with the shows we did today, but we can hit everything else on our other day here.
Today we kind of took our time getting out the door again. We headed to Hollywood Studios and arrived around 9:40 or so. Corey went straight for fastpasses for Toy Story, which were already at 1:30pm return time. It was almost time for the first Beauty and the Beast show of the day so we went there. KATIE LOVED IT!!!! After that we tried to get to the next Indiana Jones show but it was standing room only....45 minutes with two kids? I think not. We went to wait for the next Jedi Training Academy instead. Mama, Daddy, Corey, and Katie went on Star Tours while we waited.
The crowd got big right before the Jedi show and I had talked to Noah about if he wanted to be picked and he seemed excited but apprehensive. When they came out to choose he stood up straight and tall and raised both hands straight in the air AND HE GOT PICKED! We were SO EXCITED! He looked a little "frozen" up there at first, but when it came his turn to fight Darth Vader he was just really into it and loved it! The premise is that they are going to be trained to be Jedis but then Darth Vader comes out and says that to complete their training they must fight him. I am SO happy they had a photopass photographer there to get photos of the entire thing and I am SO happy we already pre-ordered our CD!
After that we went to the next Indiana Jones show, which was long, good, but the kids got bored at the slapstick in between stuff. Next up, Star Tours for the immediate four while Mama and Daddy retrieved our lunches from the lockers. We ate around the lake and then secured a spot on the steps of the new American Idol thing for the parade. We waited almost an hour and I was not really impressed with the Block party bash. It was ENTIRELY TOO LOUD for kids. I really don't know why they make things like that SO loud. Katie and Noah sat with their fingers in their ears the entire time and we happened to be sitting in a part where just random dancers were, not really many characters, just Sully every once in a while. I was really disappointed that we spent two hours on that whole thing when we could have been using our Toy Story passes.
After the parade we went to use our Toy Story passes. It was SO FUN! I was kind of sad that we weren't waiting in the line actually, it was SO cool! It is set up to look like Andy's room from the Toy Story movies, so there are giant crayons, toys, game boards and pieces. Really cool line! The kids loved this of course. On the ride you are sitting with one other person and you have this "pop gun" type thing in front of you. You are twirled and spun around to different giant 3D screens where there are carnival type games on the screen. You use your pop gun to shoot, ring toss, throw pies, shoot arrows, just about anything at different themed games. There are different themed games for the different characters. It is really fun and it keeps score for you and gives you a "prize" at the end on your screen on the car. It is really well done, the controls work well, and it is just plain fun!
At this point it was about 4:30, so we opted to go ahead and leave for today and swim for a few minutes before dinner at the townhouse and bed. We have a very early morning for our princess at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. A lot of our day was taken with the shows we did today, but we can hit everything else on our other day here.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Day 4: Epcot
Today started at 9:30...Epcot. We had a first row parking spot even though we arrive around 9:45 or so....we sent Corey straight for fast passes for Soarin while I bought a passport for the kids to stamp and we then headed over to the line. There was a 30 minute wait for Soarin so we got in line (while we were in line they announced that the wait at the end had increased to 50 min, we were about halfway through the line at that point.) Anyway...Katie loved it (6) and our son did NOT like it at all (age 4). We requested a seat that would be on the very bottom of the rows when they lift into the air, so I think that made it a little better, but he just didn't like the sensation of "flying" I guess. He didn't cry or totally hate it but when we got off he said he did NOT want to do it again.
After Soarin' we did Living with the Land, which is a boat ride through the Epcot greenhouses...actually kind of neat.... then it was time for Soarin' fastpasses. Mama, Daddy, Corey, and Katie did it again while Noah and I went to do the Circle of Life movie to kill time). It was "okay." Basically an Earth Day movie. :) After that we went to Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush.
We had never seen Turtle Talk with Crush...it was SO cute!!!! Just adorable! The kids loved it! Turtle Talk with Crush is a really cool show that has an animated sea turtle on a real aquarium window and he interacts live with the kids and their questions. I am assuming that a person is watching via a camera or something, but it is really good the way it all works, and funny! The Nemo ride had a 10 min wait, you ride in a clam shell through scenes looking for Nemo. Cute.
We then sat in the shade and had a snack while contemplating what to do next. It was almost time for the Disney Visa character greet, so we walked around Innovations for a while and then waited in line for that. There is a special line for a character greeing for Disney Visa cardholders. They wouldn't tell us who was back there in case it "changed" but we went ahead and waited about 15 minutes for it.
We were SO SURPRISED to see that it was MICKEY AND MINNIE AND GOOFY for the character greet! WOO HOO!!! JACKPOT! Photos with the whole gang and lots of fun! While we waited for our photos to be ready we did Spaceship Earth (no wait). I had not done this since I was little and Corey never had. It was neat but I got kind of nervous on the backwards descent down. It is inside the "big ball."
After that it was time to go view our photos from the greet to pick out one for free. We picked out a VERY cute photo of the kids and the gang for our freebie then went to Guest Relations to see what we could find for late lunch reservations. YES the rest of my family decided TODAY that it would be good to sit down and have a nice meal....yeah, I could have planned that MONTHS ago people! ha ha! We decided on Rose and Crown which had a 4:40 opening.
While we waited on that we went to use fast passes for Test Track we had picked up earlier. I chickened out and the rest went on. I waited at the exit to see a very teary eyed little girl get off the ride, but a VERY excited 4 year old boy running out saying "LETS DO IT AGAIN NOW!" Who knew? He disliked Soarin and she disliked Test Track. I guess she likes heights and he likes speed! So, we grab fastpasses for that again to do later.
We head to The Rose and Crown for our reservation and get seated immediately in an empty dining room. I have never eaten here before. Mama and Daddy each get fish n chips. Corey and I share the sausage and cheese platter and Steak and Fish plate. Kids get shepherd's pie and mac n cheese. DELICIOUS FOOD!!! AWESOME! We also got the apple crumble and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Bill was $130 with tip. *ouch* for a group that has sandwich fixings at the townhouse and had intended to do lunch at "home" everyday! ha ha! This was way worth it though! So good! Oh...Katie loved the "hat lady" on the way to the bathroom! She sang "feed the birds" while we were in there and dd sang along and danced. We also saw the Brittish Invasion band in UK. It is a "Beatles" imitation group, but Corey was quick to point out a discrepancy: Paul was a lefty. They were pretty entertaining.
We then start making our way around to the countries and getting the passport stamped. The kids enjoyed this. Each country has a kidcot station where they can get their passports stamped and something written in their passports in the language of the country. They can also make a mask and add things to it in each country.
We took some photos around the lagoon but not many of them turned out well.
It started getting dark and cool. We wanted to get back to do our rides again before we leave so we stopped around Germany and skip the rest of the Kidstops. We did stop in Mexico though and do it there and ride the Fiesta tour. It is a slow boat ride with Donald Duck and the Three Cabelleros. KIDS LOVED IT! ( I really like this one too for some reason...love Mexico)
We then head out to do Soarin' and Test Track once more....me and dd doing Soarin together with the fastpasses from earlier that son and I didn't use and the rest to do Test Track. We met up afterwards and left just as the fireworks start going off.
Oh I forgot to say that while we were in England at the Kidcot stop we saw Tigger, Pooh, and Eeyore. It was GREAT! Tigger and Noah had a jumping contest that was just adorable! NO line for them!
I would say the crowds seemed very light today. Masses of people in certain areas, but at the end of the night when we went (8:30) there was a 30 min wait for Soarin. The fastpasses were still being given out into the late afternoon.
GREAT but LONG day. Beautiful weather!
Tomorrow AM: Hollywood Studios.
Exhausted and Ready for bed...
After Soarin' we did Living with the Land, which is a boat ride through the Epcot greenhouses...actually kind of neat.... then it was time for Soarin' fastpasses. Mama, Daddy, Corey, and Katie did it again while Noah and I went to do the Circle of Life movie to kill time). It was "okay." Basically an Earth Day movie. :) After that we went to Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush.
We had never seen Turtle Talk with Crush...it was SO cute!!!! Just adorable! The kids loved it! Turtle Talk with Crush is a really cool show that has an animated sea turtle on a real aquarium window and he interacts live with the kids and their questions. I am assuming that a person is watching via a camera or something, but it is really good the way it all works, and funny! The Nemo ride had a 10 min wait, you ride in a clam shell through scenes looking for Nemo. Cute.
We then sat in the shade and had a snack while contemplating what to do next. It was almost time for the Disney Visa character greet, so we walked around Innovations for a while and then waited in line for that. There is a special line for a character greeing for Disney Visa cardholders. They wouldn't tell us who was back there in case it "changed" but we went ahead and waited about 15 minutes for it.
We were SO SURPRISED to see that it was MICKEY AND MINNIE AND GOOFY for the character greet! WOO HOO!!! JACKPOT! Photos with the whole gang and lots of fun! While we waited for our photos to be ready we did Spaceship Earth (no wait). I had not done this since I was little and Corey never had. It was neat but I got kind of nervous on the backwards descent down. It is inside the "big ball."
After that it was time to go view our photos from the greet to pick out one for free. We picked out a VERY cute photo of the kids and the gang for our freebie then went to Guest Relations to see what we could find for late lunch reservations. YES the rest of my family decided TODAY that it would be good to sit down and have a nice meal....yeah, I could have planned that MONTHS ago people! ha ha! We decided on Rose and Crown which had a 4:40 opening.
While we waited on that we went to use fast passes for Test Track we had picked up earlier. I chickened out and the rest went on. I waited at the exit to see a very teary eyed little girl get off the ride, but a VERY excited 4 year old boy running out saying "LETS DO IT AGAIN NOW!" Who knew? He disliked Soarin and she disliked Test Track. I guess she likes heights and he likes speed! So, we grab fastpasses for that again to do later.
We head to The Rose and Crown for our reservation and get seated immediately in an empty dining room. I have never eaten here before. Mama and Daddy each get fish n chips. Corey and I share the sausage and cheese platter and Steak and Fish plate. Kids get shepherd's pie and mac n cheese. DELICIOUS FOOD!!! AWESOME! We also got the apple crumble and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Bill was $130 with tip. *ouch* for a group that has sandwich fixings at the townhouse and had intended to do lunch at "home" everyday! ha ha! This was way worth it though! So good! Oh...Katie loved the "hat lady" on the way to the bathroom! She sang "feed the birds" while we were in there and dd sang along and danced. We also saw the Brittish Invasion band in UK. It is a "Beatles" imitation group, but Corey was quick to point out a discrepancy: Paul was a lefty. They were pretty entertaining.
We then start making our way around to the countries and getting the passport stamped. The kids enjoyed this. Each country has a kidcot station where they can get their passports stamped and something written in their passports in the language of the country. They can also make a mask and add things to it in each country.
We took some photos around the lagoon but not many of them turned out well.
It started getting dark and cool. We wanted to get back to do our rides again before we leave so we stopped around Germany and skip the rest of the Kidstops. We did stop in Mexico though and do it there and ride the Fiesta tour. It is a slow boat ride with Donald Duck and the Three Cabelleros. KIDS LOVED IT! ( I really like this one too for some reason...love Mexico)
We then head out to do Soarin' and Test Track once more....me and dd doing Soarin together with the fastpasses from earlier that son and I didn't use and the rest to do Test Track. We met up afterwards and left just as the fireworks start going off.
Oh I forgot to say that while we were in England at the Kidcot stop we saw Tigger, Pooh, and Eeyore. It was GREAT! Tigger and Noah had a jumping contest that was just adorable! NO line for them!
I would say the crowds seemed very light today. Masses of people in certain areas, but at the end of the night when we went (8:30) there was a 30 min wait for Soarin. The fastpasses were still being given out into the late afternoon.
GREAT but LONG day. Beautiful weather!
Tomorrow AM: Hollywood Studios.
Exhausted and Ready for bed...
Day 3: Animal Kingdom
We got up bright and early to be at Animal Kingdom in time for our Tusker House character breakfast. We actually arrived TOO early and had to pull back out and wait in line at the parking booths. So, we sat, for about 20 minutes....la de da...got some good photos though! ha ha.
When we went in we headed straight back to the restaurant because the rest of the park wasn't open yet. Our reservation was for 8:30am.
Immediately after we were seated, Donald Duck came in! We were all wearing our matching Donald and Daisy Duck shirts. They were very cute and I was happy that my dad and Corey went along with it just for today! Donald and Daisy really liked them too!
We got some autographs and photos, and then Corey and Daddy went to make a plate at the HUGE buffet! While they were gone, Mickey came in as well! The characters were all coming through while we were trying to get our food, which was a little hectic. I just waited until they were all through and we had pictures before I made a plate. It was really fun getting to see them all at our table.
My parents were wearing birthday buttons (since it was recently both of their birthdays, you don't have to be there "on the day" to celebrate) and they each got a birthday card signed by all the characters at the breakfast and a cupcake! So cool!
The food at the restaurant was WONDERFUL! I kind of wish our reservation had been later in the morning so it could double as lunch! They had every single thing you could imagine for breakfast....including some exotic things....all kinds of breads, bagels with many different toppings, egg casseroles and quiches, ham, bacon, mickey mouse waffles, fruits, pastries....grits, biscuits, gravy, pancakes....the list could go on and on!
After breakfast we headed straight out for the safari. We picked up fastpasses then joined the regular line. The safari was AMAZING! We got to see so many African animals up close. I could have reached out and petted the giraffe!
The kids got tired really early on bc we were up so early but we didn't really have time to go back for a rest. We saw Pocohontas on the way to the Lion King and there was no one else around and this was HIGH on Katie's priority list so we were so thrilled to get to see her right away!
The Lion King was a great show...the kids loved it!!!! The park seemed VERY crowded to me. Although none of the waits were that bad it just seemed like there were masses of people heading everywhere. I have heard that this one seems more crowded because the walkways are much smaller. The park is beautifully done though, it seems like you are really walking around in the wild...tons of trees and foliage. Birds just walk around you everywhere too.
After that we did the train ride up to Planet Watch. Got pics with Jiminy Cricket and Rafiki. they have an animal treatment facility here that has scheduled procedures everyday. We missed seeing anything that day, but there had been some kind of exam that morning on an animal..I have heard of poeple seeing surgeries on gorillas and such.
Did the petting zoo, saw a bird show. The kids loved that. Then back down to repeat the Safari with the fastpasses we picked up earlier in the morning. This time the tourguide wasn't nearly was animated...I think that highly affects your safari experience. Less animals, but some different ones.
We then headed over to do some another animal trail..the one with the gorillas...that was neat.
It was then time to see Nemo. We headed on over and got in line right as it started going in. We got in and well.....we thought Nemo was okay. The kids absolutely LOVED it, but the adults in the party were pretty bored after the initial novelty of what they were doing wore off. Corey and I decided we wished we had gone over to do Dinosaur while the my parents saw this with the kids, ha.
Then we went to Dinoland. We are all really wearing thin by this point in the day. The kids wanted to play a water shooting carnival game, but we went on to eat since we still wanted to do Dinosaur and Bug's Life. We ate at Restarauntasaurus. Burgers and fries...typical stuff...good toppings bar.
Over to Dinosaur 20 min standby....kids had to use RR, so I sent Mama and Daddy and Corey on ride to check it out for me (I am a scaredy cat) and I took them to RR. When I came out I saw that Corey was standing outside...he wanted to wait on me to ride...he is sweet. He took kids over to play the money waster game while I called Disney dining one more time to try for Fantasmic package. No luck. Parents got off, kids got back and by that time they had shut down the ride so we couldn't do it ! ARGH! Corey should have ridden it the first time around :)
Then over to Tough to Be a Bug. Again, I knew this would be to scary for kids, so I went the three of them in while we got popcorn and watched animals around the big tree. After they finished Corey confirmed, yeah, too scary for kids, so we decided to head "home." Got back to townhouse, got showers and baths, had bedtime snacks and TOO BED!!!! We are totally wiped out after this first early full day. We plan on sleeping in tomorrow and heading over to Epcot whenever. ha ha. I think I will call about a Fantasmic package before we head out for sure...tonight is one of the two nights it is showing this week.
We enjoyed Animal Kingdom on our first visit. We didn't really do any of the rides except the Safari, but since we spent a lot of time at our breakfast we didn't have tons of time to spend there anyway. Seeing the two shows took a while also. We did everything we really wanted to anyway. It was a good place to start the week...a short day and a great breakfast!
When we went in we headed straight back to the restaurant because the rest of the park wasn't open yet. Our reservation was for 8:30am.
Immediately after we were seated, Donald Duck came in! We were all wearing our matching Donald and Daisy Duck shirts. They were very cute and I was happy that my dad and Corey went along with it just for today! Donald and Daisy really liked them too!
We got some autographs and photos, and then Corey and Daddy went to make a plate at the HUGE buffet! While they were gone, Mickey came in as well! The characters were all coming through while we were trying to get our food, which was a little hectic. I just waited until they were all through and we had pictures before I made a plate. It was really fun getting to see them all at our table.
My parents were wearing birthday buttons (since it was recently both of their birthdays, you don't have to be there "on the day" to celebrate) and they each got a birthday card signed by all the characters at the breakfast and a cupcake! So cool!
The food at the restaurant was WONDERFUL! I kind of wish our reservation had been later in the morning so it could double as lunch! They had every single thing you could imagine for breakfast....including some exotic things....all kinds of breads, bagels with many different toppings, egg casseroles and quiches, ham, bacon, mickey mouse waffles, fruits, pastries....grits, biscuits, gravy, pancakes....the list could go on and on!
After breakfast we headed straight out for the safari. We picked up fastpasses then joined the regular line. The safari was AMAZING! We got to see so many African animals up close. I could have reached out and petted the giraffe!
The kids got tired really early on bc we were up so early but we didn't really have time to go back for a rest. We saw Pocohontas on the way to the Lion King and there was no one else around and this was HIGH on Katie's priority list so we were so thrilled to get to see her right away!
The Lion King was a great show...the kids loved it!!!! The park seemed VERY crowded to me. Although none of the waits were that bad it just seemed like there were masses of people heading everywhere. I have heard that this one seems more crowded because the walkways are much smaller. The park is beautifully done though, it seems like you are really walking around in the wild...tons of trees and foliage. Birds just walk around you everywhere too.
After that we did the train ride up to Planet Watch. Got pics with Jiminy Cricket and Rafiki. they have an animal treatment facility here that has scheduled procedures everyday. We missed seeing anything that day, but there had been some kind of exam that morning on an animal..I have heard of poeple seeing surgeries on gorillas and such.
Did the petting zoo, saw a bird show. The kids loved that. Then back down to repeat the Safari with the fastpasses we picked up earlier in the morning. This time the tourguide wasn't nearly was animated...I think that highly affects your safari experience. Less animals, but some different ones.
We then headed over to do some another animal trail..the one with the gorillas...that was neat.
It was then time to see Nemo. We headed on over and got in line right as it started going in. We got in and well.....we thought Nemo was okay. The kids absolutely LOVED it, but the adults in the party were pretty bored after the initial novelty of what they were doing wore off. Corey and I decided we wished we had gone over to do Dinosaur while the my parents saw this with the kids, ha.
Then we went to Dinoland. We are all really wearing thin by this point in the day. The kids wanted to play a water shooting carnival game, but we went on to eat since we still wanted to do Dinosaur and Bug's Life. We ate at Restarauntasaurus. Burgers and fries...typical stuff...good toppings bar.
Over to Dinosaur 20 min standby....kids had to use RR, so I sent Mama and Daddy and Corey on ride to check it out for me (I am a scaredy cat) and I took them to RR. When I came out I saw that Corey was standing outside...he wanted to wait on me to ride...he is sweet. He took kids over to play the money waster game while I called Disney dining one more time to try for Fantasmic package. No luck. Parents got off, kids got back and by that time they had shut down the ride so we couldn't do it ! ARGH! Corey should have ridden it the first time around :)
Then over to Tough to Be a Bug. Again, I knew this would be to scary for kids, so I went the three of them in while we got popcorn and watched animals around the big tree. After they finished Corey confirmed, yeah, too scary for kids, so we decided to head "home." Got back to townhouse, got showers and baths, had bedtime snacks and TOO BED!!!! We are totally wiped out after this first early full day. We plan on sleeping in tomorrow and heading over to Epcot whenever. ha ha. I think I will call about a Fantasmic package before we head out for sure...tonight is one of the two nights it is showing this week.
We enjoyed Animal Kingdom on our first visit. We didn't really do any of the rides except the Safari, but since we spent a lot of time at our breakfast we didn't have tons of time to spend there anyway. Seeing the two shows took a while also. We did everything we really wanted to anyway. It was a good place to start the week...a short day and a great breakfast!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Our First and Second Days...
The first day we drove to Valdosta to visit with our best friends all around....well, except Katie, but hers is coming soon I know! :)
We had such a great time! Bethany and I worked on finishing up her delicious made from scratch carrot cake (SO GOOD!) and then we played a game of Quelf. Quelf is always fun! The kids watched a movie, played, wrestled...Katie checked out the book selections...it was just a really fun night!
We headed back to the hotel around 10pm and my parents got there about an hour later. After a pretty good night's sleep we had a great breakfast at the hotel and headed out for the last 3 1/2 hour drive to the Disney area. I was also able to get our breakfast reservations for the Tusker House character breakfast changed from Thursday to Sunday, which I had been trying to do all week! I was so happy! I really wanted to start out with that since we could see all the "main" characters and see Animal Kingdom first, since none of us had ever been there.
We went straight to Downtown Disney because it was too early to check in. We had lunch at Earl of Sandwich. The Downtown Disney area was PACKED! I hadn't thought about it being a Saturday and all the locals PLUS the vacationers would be there! We got our Disney Visa rewards card, picked up a few souvenirs and got out of there! It was time to check in, so we went on over to unload and unpack. The townhouse was so nice again...very clean...cute kids room, except the "wall mural" was really like a thin plastic wall covering...kind of odd and hard to explain, but it could be torn (and was in one spot). That was the only down to our expectations. Anyway, the kids wanted to swim right away, so Corey and Katie and Noah got on in the pool. It was very nice and warm because we had paid for pool heat, but that would prove to be a bad choice later in the week!
Corey and I went out for a quick grocery stop and that was the end of our first and second nights on the road!
Tomorrow: Day 3: Animal Kingdom!!!!
We had such a great time! Bethany and I worked on finishing up her delicious made from scratch carrot cake (SO GOOD!) and then we played a game of Quelf. Quelf is always fun! The kids watched a movie, played, wrestled...Katie checked out the book selections...it was just a really fun night!
We headed back to the hotel around 10pm and my parents got there about an hour later. After a pretty good night's sleep we had a great breakfast at the hotel and headed out for the last 3 1/2 hour drive to the Disney area. I was also able to get our breakfast reservations for the Tusker House character breakfast changed from Thursday to Sunday, which I had been trying to do all week! I was so happy! I really wanted to start out with that since we could see all the "main" characters and see Animal Kingdom first, since none of us had ever been there.
We went straight to Downtown Disney because it was too early to check in. We had lunch at Earl of Sandwich. The Downtown Disney area was PACKED! I hadn't thought about it being a Saturday and all the locals PLUS the vacationers would be there! We got our Disney Visa rewards card, picked up a few souvenirs and got out of there! It was time to check in, so we went on over to unload and unpack. The townhouse was so nice again...very clean...cute kids room, except the "wall mural" was really like a thin plastic wall covering...kind of odd and hard to explain, but it could be torn (and was in one spot). That was the only down to our expectations. Anyway, the kids wanted to swim right away, so Corey and Katie and Noah got on in the pool. It was very nice and warm because we had paid for pool heat, but that would prove to be a bad choice later in the week!
Corey and I went out for a quick grocery stop and that was the end of our first and second nights on the road!
Tomorrow: Day 3: Animal Kingdom!!!!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
And the winner is.....
JILL, from Adairsville, Georgia!
Jill guessed January 16th. The actual date I started packing was January 17th, while Corey was in California at his trade show. Yes, it was early...but I was cleaning out my closet and rather then put things back in that I knew I would take, I just put them in the suitcase instead!
I don't actually know Jill, which is pretty exciting! It means I have made a new blogger friend. Congrats Jill...I will be leaving a comment on your blog as to how to contact me for claiming your prize! And just what is that amazing prize? I know everyone is on the edge of their seat to find out.....drumroll please...........................................
Jill...you have won an "authentic" and "original" Disneyland/Walt Disney World Princess Gel Pen Set. This prize was custom selected just for you by your contest host, me! Featuring Cinderella, Jasmine, Aurora, Belle, Snow White, and Ariel, these pens will be the perfect inspiration for jotting notes, writing your very own dreams in a journal, or for sharing with a friend. They could even spice up your daily routine of making a grocery list or taking a message for someone. I hope you will enjoy using these princess pens and they are yours for being the winner of my very first ever blog giveaway! Congratulations Jill, and thank you for playing!
Thanks to everyone who made a guess! It was so much fun and I know I will do more giveaways in the future, it really compels people to comment, which I love!Be sure to check back next week for an exciting day by day report of our 2nd Disney vacation! You will love it!
We have a Winner!!!
Someone guessed correctly within one day and the winner will be revealed late tonight, so tune in after your Valentine's festivities to find out who won and what their *amazing* prize will be!
We are about to head out on our drive home, so we will see you later! I have been posting our daily updates on my regular blog, but this site will soon have a VERY detailed report with tons of photos!!!
See you soon!
We are about to head out on our drive home, so we will see you later! I have been posting our daily updates on my regular blog, but this site will soon have a VERY detailed report with tons of photos!!!
See you soon!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Giveaway!!!!
It is finally time for my contest!!!!
The winner will receive a prize straight from Walt Disney World, Florida!
Here's how to win:
Make a guess for what day you think I started packing for our trip!!!
The person who comes closest to the day (even if it is past the actual day) will win a prize! (And, just to prevent someone wasting their guess on something extreme like last April (ha ha!) I will tell you that it was a day in 2009.)
Post your guess as a comment. Contest closes at midnight on THURSDAY, Feb. 11th.
The winner will be announced on Valentine's Day, along with a photo of their prize!
Here's how to win:
Make a guess for what day you think I started packing for our trip!!!
The person who comes closest to the day (even if it is past the actual day) will win a prize! (And, just to prevent someone wasting their guess on something extreme like last April (ha ha!) I will tell you that it was a day in 2009.)
Post your guess as a comment. Contest closes at midnight on THURSDAY, Feb. 11th.
The winner will be announced on Valentine's Day, along with a photo of their prize!
No guarantees as to how awesome (expensive) the prize will be, it will be determined while I am there next week. How awesome your prize depends on how close you live to me :) (--mailing prices) BUT, who doesn't love getting a prize, no matter what it is?!!! You also get the prestige of being the BIG winner!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sunny Weather...
Two days of our trip are up on the extended forecast!
Highs 76 and 77, lows 59 and 60.
WOO HOO!!!!!!!!! Beautiful and perfect!
Highs 76 and 77, lows 59 and 60.
WOO HOO!!!!!!!!! Beautiful and perfect!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
19, 18...more days!
And......in about 28 more days we will be home, resting, and then promptly suffering from Disney withdrawal and post-vacation depression disorder!
ha ha! JK! Even Corey is excited now!!!
ha ha! JK! Even Corey is excited now!!!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
30 Day Countdown and Contest!
We are almost to the 30 day countdown...tomorrow!!!! After that we are in the 20s...YAHOO!!!!
My mom ordered their (mama and daddy's) tickets today. We will reserve our "halfway" hotel tomorrow. This is getting super exciting!
I have a very good idea for a contest that I will be hosting in the near future. It has to do with my trip planning and there will be a PRIZE, so check back as we get closer to the trip to see what the contest will be about and for the wonderful, exciting, memorable, special prize you could win!
My mom ordered their (mama and daddy's) tickets today. We will reserve our "halfway" hotel tomorrow. This is getting super exciting!
I have a very good idea for a contest that I will be hosting in the near future. It has to do with my trip planning and there will be a PRIZE, so check back as we get closer to the trip to see what the contest will be about and for the wonderful, exciting, memorable, special prize you could win!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
