1st trip with kids!

We booked our trip for June 2-5 at the Wilderness Lodge, complete with dining plan. Our kids (Ashton-7, Sofia-3, & Miles-2) had no idea where we were going! Needless to say, their reactions were pretty flawless when we asked them what the sign said when we got onto Disney property. While our trip was a blast we made, what I consider, some rookie mistakes. I hadn't been since Summer '96 & my wife hadn't been since Summer '98. I'll point out our mistakes along the way.

So, we left Valdosta, GA around 12:45pm on Thursday, June 2nd and got to the Wilderness Lodge around 4:45pm. Yet another surprise for the kids, Nana was waiting for them in the lobby! Trust me, 1 adult per child is awesome for Mom & Dad too! We pretty much threw our stuff in the room, got on swim suits and headed to the pool. Let me go ahead and say that the Wilderness Lodge is AWESOME! All 3 kids had a blast at the pool and it was relaxing for the adults as well. After about an hour or so at the pool, we got cleaned up and caught the bus to Downtown Disney for some food & shopping. The Earl of Sandwich is phenomenal! Thought the line looked HUGE, it moved quick. While Dad & Nana waited for food, my wife was able to keep the kids entertained outside where they had a big hula-hoop party for the kids. Complete with live DJ. They had a blast! We hit up all the stores the kids wanted to go to (ie. LEGO, World of Disney, etc.) and caught the bus back for some much needed shut-eye. Friday was going to be HUGE.....

 

[Kirk88]

Friday, June 3rd. Already had reservations for 7:45 at O'hana....with Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, & Stitch! If you've never experienced this particular character meal, I HIGHLY suggest it. Food and atmosphere was incredible! The kids got to spend time with the characters without waiting in line, they ate great, and stayed entertained. Miles (our 2 year old) even made a new friend. Him and Stitch hammed it up every time Stitch passed the table! With full bellies and already some great memories, we headed back to the Wilderness Lodge to grab our pre-loaded stoller and catch the boat to Magic Kingdom. Within 2 minutes of walking in the gate of Magic Kingdom, Ashton (7) & Sofia (3) were in total amazement and Miles (2) was passed out. Watched the show at Cinderella's castle, all of us loved and made an immediate left to Adventureland. My wife headed straight to the Jungle Cruise and scored the Fast Passes. After that, I stayed with the stroller and sleepy Miles while Mom, Nana, and the 2 oldest rode Aladdin's Magic Carpets. By the time they were done, we were able to hit the Fast Pass line for the Jungle Cruise. Still one of the all-time classics! After that, Mom & Nana took the kids for a bathroom break while I scored Fast Passes for Big Thunder Mountain. After a mandated ice cream break we hit up Pirates of the Carribean (one of Dad's all-time favorites) and met Woody & Jessie before it was Fast Pass time at Big Thunder Mountain! This was going to be Sofia's 1st BIG roller coaster......more to come.....

 

[Kirk88]

After the Woody & Jessie meet & greet it was straight to Big Thunder Mountain. Like I said this was Sofia's 1st BIG roller coaster. Our son Ashton would overcome his fear of roller coasters on this as well. Long story short, Sofia had a blast (Dad had to keep his arm around her after she flew up off the seat!) and this is now Ashton's favorite ride! From there is was time for some high-quality H2O and the Haunted Mansion. To my surprise, Sofia (keep in mind that she's 3) steps up and says she'll go! My wife took the boys off shopping and Dad, Sofia, & Nana loaded up on a Doom Buggy. Again, Sofia loved it! The updates and upgrades they've done to the Mansion are great (althought the rides stopped 4 times). The 5 of us met back up and headed to It's a Small World. On the way, we picked up Fast Passes for Peter Pan. the kids love Small World. We headed over to Pinocchio's for a late lunch. Great food! Took a post-lunch spin on Dumbo and then headed back over to the Wilderness Lodge for a rest. Did I mention that we had Extended Magic hours until 2am?

 

[Kirk88]

Sofia crashed out for a 3 hour nap, Mama took care of some homework, & Daddy, Nana, & the boys headed for the pool. Made a 9:30pm reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe for a LATE dinner. After naps, homework, swims, & showers we headed downstairs to Whispering Canyon. They actually tooks us about 40 minutes early (thank goodness)! To our surprise, this was probably the one meal we were disappointed in. While the food was good, the service was so-so. On top of that is was late and too much food. A quick-service meal would have been a better fit (more to come on the Roaring Fork @ Wilderness Lodge). We caught the boat back to Magic Kingdom in time to watch the fireworks on the ride over! The flood gates to the exit opened as we arrived (perfect timing). 1st stop was the Princess meet & greet for Sofia. If you have a little girl, this is a MUST! She got to meet Aurora, Belle, & Cinderella. It was one of those moments in time none of us will forget. Her face was beaming the rest of the trip. We got outside just as they were roping off Main Street for the Electrical Parade. Had perfect 'seats'! We actually followed the parade to Tomorrowland and hit up Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and the Tomorrowland Speedway (oh yeah, Mom & Dad scored Space Mountain Fast Passes in between). All 3 kids marched on to the Fantasyland and proceeded to ride everything back there we hadn't hit yet (Tea Cups, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, Peter Pan) and stop at every meet & greet (Pooh & Tigger, Donald Duck, & Goofy)! By the time all these were done it was about 1:30 in the morning. We headed back to Tomorrowland where Nana took the kids and Mom & Dad rode Space Mountain. As usual, it did not disappoint! Still the greatest ride on Disney property! We managed one more 'spin' with Buzz Lightyear on the way out. On to bed to rest up for Star Wars Weekend at Hollywood Studio!

 

[stratman50th]

Come on, don't keep us in suspense! Keep it coming!:sohappy:

 

[Kirk88]

Sorry for the delay, I'm doing this from work and is was lunch/gym time! LOL

OK, so, Saturday morning I get up around 7:00am to head up to Hollywood Studios to get Fast Passes for autograph sessions and Toy Story Midway Mania. Caught the bus around 7:50am and got there just after 8:00am Scored autograph Fast Passes for Jeremy Bulloch, the origianal, real-deal Boba Fett and 5 trips to the entrance and back for Toy Story Midway Mania! I found out that they would NOT let me scan everyone's (everyone else was snoozing at the Lodge) entrance tickets at once (fair enough). Get back to Wilderness Lodge in time for everyone to start waking up around 9:15-9:30am. Get everyone dressed and catch the bus in time to make it to Hollywood Studios for our 11:00am lunch reservation at Hollywood & Vine for the Disney Junior character lunch. Another MUST for anyone with small kids. They got to spend one on one time with June & Leo from Little Einsteins, Special Agent Oso, & Handy Manny! What a blast! To top it all off, it may have been one of the BEST buffets I've ever eaten at! After lunch it was on to Star Tours for Fast Passes. It was just past noon and our Fast Passes weren't good until after 5:00pm. To our surprise, we found out that I missed the sign ups that morning to get our 7 year old into the Jedi Training Academy. (Booo Dad!) Oh well, on to Toy Story Midway Mania! Minimal wait with the Fast Passes. Thank goodness I got them because the Fast Passes were shut down for the day! Really neat ride but, I'll be darned if I'd wait more than 2 hours for it like some folks! Once the ride was over we crossed the street so our youngest, Miles-2, could meet Buzz Lightyear. Long story short, we spent the rest of the day in lines for meet & greets with Star Wars characters, shopping, and finally hit Star Tours at 5:00 to end the day. Remember how Sofia got to ride Big Thunder Mountain the day before with no height issues? Well, apparently she shrunk over night (according to the ONLY cast member we encountered who seemed to be having a bad day)! For Big Thunder Mountain (and that morning when we got Fast Passes for Star Tours) she stood IN FRONT of the height stick and was confirmed by a cast member that she was indeed tall enought to ride. The cast member that afternoon made her stand UNDERNEATH the height bar! It was only natural that Sofia turned her head so she wouldn't hit it on the bar. The cast member then proceeded to sqeeze a card between Sofia's head and the bottom side of the height stick. Instinctively she turned her head even more. The cast member then determined her TOO SHORT to ride! Needless to say, Sofia burst into tears and it upset my wife and I. Instead of arguing or making a scene (people behind us were upset as well that such a big deal was made by the cast member) my wife told me to take Ashton (our 7-year old) and go ride. The upgrades to Star Tours are AWESOME! The look on Ashton's face after almost entirely made up for the prior let down. By this time, everyone was beat and cranky. We headed back to the Wilderness Lodge, hit up dinner at the Roaring Fork and got the kids ready for bed. Once Nana and the kids were asleep, Mom & Dad headed down to the gift shop and to the bar for a much needed beer!

 

[Kirk88]

Everyone got a good night's sleep. We got going around 7:30-8:00am. Got the kids dressed, the Suburban packed, and hit up the Roaring Fork again for breakfast. I still don't understand why there was no line for waffles. The Banana's Foster & Stawberry and Orange waffles were amazing! Caught one last bus ride to Downtown Disney for a little more shopping and came back to Wilderness Lodge around 1:00pm for lunch (once again at the Roaring Fork), loaded up and headed back for Valdosta around 2:45pm.

Overall, it was by far the BEST family vacation we've taken. We're already planning our next trip since we have 2 days left on our passes and they expire in October. Disney probably takes the best care of the military and their families of all the theme parks we've been to. Don't get me wrong Sea World, Busch Gardens, & Hershey Park have all been VERY good to us but, there's just something about Disney.

The only 2 complaints (if you can even call them that) were the service at Whispering Canyon and the episode at Star Tours. Overall, another excellent job by WDW and their staff!

Rookie mistakes:

-Take a break between park days. If we had to do it all over again, we would have taken Saturday off from the parks and spent the day at the pool and Downtown Disney. It was just TOO much on the kids.

-Don't take the little ones to Hollywood Studios during Star Wars Weekends. Yes, my oldest loved it but, the crowd was insane and it seemed like Star Wars took away from Disney for the little ones. We spent over 6 hours at the park only rode 2 rides and saw no shows. I really think there was too much going on for the kids and they were more interested in meeting the characters but, it's all about the kids when you're there. We let them determine how things would go down.

 

[Kirk88]

One thing is for certain, the Dining Plan is the way to go! We will do it every time we go. We haven't run the numbers yet but, we're pretty sure we saved well over $200 on meals this way. Another thing, we will ALWAYS stay on Disney property. It was nice not having to load the kids up in the 'Burb and haul them everywhere. We never drove (with the exception of breakfast at the Polynesian which was a less than 2 minute straight shot, literally, from Wilderness Lodge). Next trip will most definitely be to Animal Kingdom. If Hollywood Studios hadn't been pre-determined due to Star Wars, we would have done it this last trip. Hope this helps anyone who may be on their way with little ones! Almost forgot, EXTENDED MAGIC HOURS ROCK! When it was all said and done, we rode all but 5 rides at Magic Kingdom!

 

[stratman50th]

Very Good!
Thanks for sharing.
You know, I was just thinking. With a few exceptions, everyone here has been to Disney World. We've been to the parks, stayed at the resorts, in other words, "been there, done that". That being said, everyone seems to really enjoy reading/hearing about other people's trips even though many of them could be identical to their own! We are truly a strange bunch. Can't seem to get enough of the mouse!

 

[Kirk88]

Can't seem to get enough of the mouse!

As long as we all have an inner-child, we never will! LOL By the way, how are the tree-house villas?

 

[stratman50th]

As long as we all have an inner-child, we never will! LOL By the way, how are the tree-house villas?

We stayed there in 89. My understanding is after that time, they pulled them from the guest list and Disney University students lived there as housing.
They have just recently offered them up again. I'm sure they have been long refurbished since we stayed there. That being said, here goes:
They were very roomy. We had three families staying there . Two bedrooms upstairs and one down. Full kitchen, washer, dryer 2 full bathrooms. Very nice balcony with a picnic table and a grill. There was parking right next to the units. Oh, access was gained through the deck on the second floor.
There was a bus loop like at Ft Wilderness and thinking back now, I can't for the life of me remember how the transportation to the parks was. They were nice if you liked privacy.
Hope that helped a little, but like I said it was 23 years ago! :lol: