DangerMouse
01-11-2007, 09:50 AM
Just going to mention highlights since we got to experience a lot of new things this time.
Cast: Me (37)
Dh (36)
Grandma (my mom - 66)
Kendall (9)
Kenyon (6)
Kadee (4)
Sunday 1/7:
Opened park. Hit Peter Pan first. Always Peter Pan firs! Then did rest of FL rides including Dumbo before it went down for refurb. After FL we headed back to City Hall for the Discover the Magic tour!
The tour was awesome. Our guides were Amber and Kelly who played kind of a straight man/funny man game. Kadee, my 4 year old, decided that she was going to lead the tour and grabbed Kelly by the hand and led her to each place we were supposed to go.
I got to go into the Gallery this day. Yea! I had never been in there before. The bone throne is sooo cool. I could have spent a lot longer in there, but with three kids, not possible.
Did a few rides in DL, caught the early Christmas Fantasy Parade on Main St. Then headed to DCA for the rest of the afternoon/evening to catch the EP. We saw the EP at 8:45 down near the Zephyr, and then ran to beat it out of DCA and to DL to catch the fireworks. Made it in plenty of time to see the final show of Believe in Holiday Magic and snow after (and they said it couldn't be done!) ;)
After the snow ended, we booked it to Space Mountain to use our last FPs of the night. Good way to end the day. I actually enjoyed the new soundtrack to Space. My son said he liked it MUCH better than the original. I think it will be fun for a while, but will be glad to welcome back the original.
Monday 1/8:
Sleep in, no EE. The lowlight of this day was that I lost my voice before we even got to the park. Seeing as I am the "commander in chief" of our little group, this was COMPLETELY frustrating. I lost my temper and cried a lot this day because several times the kids almost got lost and things just didn't run smoothly at all. Gosh, I had no idea how much I held things together at Disney until I lost my voice!
Highlights: Kendall was chosen for Jedi Training Academy. Kenyon probably would have been chosen as well (we hit the first show and there was a very small crowd), but he was acting all shy and scared. Kendall did great and got to fight Darth Vader! Loved the show but saw lots of moms holding "guilt trip signs" which stated "Pick Me! I didn't get picked last time," or "Pick my brother!" It was kind of strange seeing the efforts people will go to. The show was awesome and the head Jedi trainer was very funny and talented.
Ate lunch with the Billies. Great show as usual and we were right up front. This is my mom's favorite thing in DL, so we had to make sure she saw her beloved "Kirk".
It was HOT HOT today. Over 80 degrees so we tried to find rides to keep cool (Pirates, IASW, Splash, etc.)
Lowlight: Princess Fantasy Faire. I hate this new venue. Grandma and Kadee waited in line for 45 minutes and still had about 30 minutes wait to just meet a princess, so they gave up. That never would have happened in front of the castle. I don't understand why they don't post a schedule of when the princess shows/storytimes/activities are. My mom had no clue of what she was waiting for in line. I had to tell her it was just for a princess greet. I had to ask a CM what else was available at PFF. They were very secretive about it too, hiding the schedule of princesses in their pockets and not allowing you to see it. WEIRD! We did not get to meet a single princess on this trip. Kadee got over it, but I'm not sure I did. Grrrr. :(
Camped out for F!, but it was cancelled due to high winds. Caught our last ride on Jungle Cruise that night.
Tuesday 1/9: (Still no voice, still hot)
7:20 am PS at Storytellers. YEA!!! I finally found the character breakfast for me! This was the PERFECT place for an early morning character dining experience. Service was exceptional, food was out of this world and character interaction was absolutely awesome. I could have spent all day in there. We ordered off the menu which made it much more affordable. I had the banana stuffed french toast (YUMMMMMM!)
EE at 9:00 am. We were at the front of the lines to get in and hit Peter Pan first (always Peter Pan first!), and the rest of FL rides and Space before park opening.
Did Nestle Cookie Baking at 11:00. Kids enjoyed that. Ate dole whips while we watched them.
Spent a better part of an hour talking dd(4) into trying Splash. She finally caved and she LOVED it. (we knew she would). So we went on Pooh and then did Splash again.
No FP's were needed today at DL. Most rides were 5 min wait or walk-on.
Mistake: Headed to DCA thinking it would be slow like DL. Wrong! It was more crowded. WHAT???? Waits for Soarin were at least 30 min, ToT was 20 min, and Screamin was 25 min. Ok, so we used FP system.
Did Screamin twice. Not as impressed with this Chili Pepper song.
Kadee (4) did Soarin and GRR for the first time. She loved both of them. Said "no way" to ToT. I don't blame her. Her brother doesn't like it either.
She tried Mulholland Madness but said once was enough. It made her tummy hurt.
Got "pinned" by a CM in Animation Studio. She gave me two Tinkerbell pins. I'm guessing this is just a little extra giveaway for the YOAMD. My girls were thrilled even though they had really been wanting the Dream FPs.
Dinner at WWS. Everyone had a kids' meal. TONS of food and very affordable. They have the best chicken strips, and they gave my son a big basket of strawberries because he said he wanted fruit as a side.
Headed back to DL to get our spot for F! Snow White's float was missing, and the crocodile chasing Hook was missing too, but it seemed like there were more fireworks at the beginning. Ran to Splash after for our very last ride for this trip. I love ending a DL trip with Splash Mountain!
Lots of new stuff, but it still seemed rushed. I really wish I had a full day just to spend time leisurely shopping on Main Street. I don't think that will happen unless I go without the kids. Ahhhh, maybe someday . . .
I'll add photos once dh gets them uploaded.
Cast: Me (37)
Dh (36)
Grandma (my mom - 66)
Kendall (9)
Kenyon (6)
Kadee (4)
Sunday 1/7:
Opened park. Hit Peter Pan first. Always Peter Pan firs! Then did rest of FL rides including Dumbo before it went down for refurb. After FL we headed back to City Hall for the Discover the Magic tour!
The tour was awesome. Our guides were Amber and Kelly who played kind of a straight man/funny man game. Kadee, my 4 year old, decided that she was going to lead the tour and grabbed Kelly by the hand and led her to each place we were supposed to go.
I got to go into the Gallery this day. Yea! I had never been in there before. The bone throne is sooo cool. I could have spent a lot longer in there, but with three kids, not possible.
Did a few rides in DL, caught the early Christmas Fantasy Parade on Main St. Then headed to DCA for the rest of the afternoon/evening to catch the EP. We saw the EP at 8:45 down near the Zephyr, and then ran to beat it out of DCA and to DL to catch the fireworks. Made it in plenty of time to see the final show of Believe in Holiday Magic and snow after (and they said it couldn't be done!) ;)
After the snow ended, we booked it to Space Mountain to use our last FPs of the night. Good way to end the day. I actually enjoyed the new soundtrack to Space. My son said he liked it MUCH better than the original. I think it will be fun for a while, but will be glad to welcome back the original.
Monday 1/8:
Sleep in, no EE. The lowlight of this day was that I lost my voice before we even got to the park. Seeing as I am the "commander in chief" of our little group, this was COMPLETELY frustrating. I lost my temper and cried a lot this day because several times the kids almost got lost and things just didn't run smoothly at all. Gosh, I had no idea how much I held things together at Disney until I lost my voice!
Highlights: Kendall was chosen for Jedi Training Academy. Kenyon probably would have been chosen as well (we hit the first show and there was a very small crowd), but he was acting all shy and scared. Kendall did great and got to fight Darth Vader! Loved the show but saw lots of moms holding "guilt trip signs" which stated "Pick Me! I didn't get picked last time," or "Pick my brother!" It was kind of strange seeing the efforts people will go to. The show was awesome and the head Jedi trainer was very funny and talented.
Ate lunch with the Billies. Great show as usual and we were right up front. This is my mom's favorite thing in DL, so we had to make sure she saw her beloved "Kirk".
It was HOT HOT today. Over 80 degrees so we tried to find rides to keep cool (Pirates, IASW, Splash, etc.)
Lowlight: Princess Fantasy Faire. I hate this new venue. Grandma and Kadee waited in line for 45 minutes and still had about 30 minutes wait to just meet a princess, so they gave up. That never would have happened in front of the castle. I don't understand why they don't post a schedule of when the princess shows/storytimes/activities are. My mom had no clue of what she was waiting for in line. I had to tell her it was just for a princess greet. I had to ask a CM what else was available at PFF. They were very secretive about it too, hiding the schedule of princesses in their pockets and not allowing you to see it. WEIRD! We did not get to meet a single princess on this trip. Kadee got over it, but I'm not sure I did. Grrrr. :(
Camped out for F!, but it was cancelled due to high winds. Caught our last ride on Jungle Cruise that night.
Tuesday 1/9: (Still no voice, still hot)
7:20 am PS at Storytellers. YEA!!! I finally found the character breakfast for me! This was the PERFECT place for an early morning character dining experience. Service was exceptional, food was out of this world and character interaction was absolutely awesome. I could have spent all day in there. We ordered off the menu which made it much more affordable. I had the banana stuffed french toast (YUMMMMMM!)
EE at 9:00 am. We were at the front of the lines to get in and hit Peter Pan first (always Peter Pan first!), and the rest of FL rides and Space before park opening.
Did Nestle Cookie Baking at 11:00. Kids enjoyed that. Ate dole whips while we watched them.
Spent a better part of an hour talking dd(4) into trying Splash. She finally caved and she LOVED it. (we knew she would). So we went on Pooh and then did Splash again.
No FP's were needed today at DL. Most rides were 5 min wait or walk-on.
Mistake: Headed to DCA thinking it would be slow like DL. Wrong! It was more crowded. WHAT???? Waits for Soarin were at least 30 min, ToT was 20 min, and Screamin was 25 min. Ok, so we used FP system.
Did Screamin twice. Not as impressed with this Chili Pepper song.
Kadee (4) did Soarin and GRR for the first time. She loved both of them. Said "no way" to ToT. I don't blame her. Her brother doesn't like it either.
She tried Mulholland Madness but said once was enough. It made her tummy hurt.
Got "pinned" by a CM in Animation Studio. She gave me two Tinkerbell pins. I'm guessing this is just a little extra giveaway for the YOAMD. My girls were thrilled even though they had really been wanting the Dream FPs.
Dinner at WWS. Everyone had a kids' meal. TONS of food and very affordable. They have the best chicken strips, and they gave my son a big basket of strawberries because he said he wanted fruit as a side.
Headed back to DL to get our spot for F! Snow White's float was missing, and the crocodile chasing Hook was missing too, but it seemed like there were more fireworks at the beginning. Ran to Splash after for our very last ride for this trip. I love ending a DL trip with Splash Mountain!
Lots of new stuff, but it still seemed rushed. I really wish I had a full day just to spend time leisurely shopping on Main Street. I don't think that will happen unless I go without the kids. Ahhhh, maybe someday . . .
I'll add photos once dh gets them uploaded.