This vacation was a sort of spur of the moment vacation. After seeing how much Sam loved Disney World last August, we decided to take him back for his 3rd birthday in January 2006. One morning in Feb/March of this year, Tim woke Fran up with “want to go to Disney World in May?” After reminding him that we were planning to go in January, Fran said she would love to. So, during that day, in jest Tim and Fran both did some fake planning of this proposed vacation in May. We had accomplished so much planning in that short time that we decided to go for real! The idea originally came about while Tim had eaten breakfast that morning and used one of the Mickey Mouse glasses for his milk. One thought led to another during that meal, and that made him wish to return to the magic!
Our first day was Monday, May 9th. Tim worked half the day and came home and we ate a quick lunch of sandwiches. After lunch we drove to the Indianapolis Airport to catch our plane, Sam and Fran slept on the way. The flight was bumpy, otherwise uneventful. Sam enjoyed the plane ride, while he played with sticker books most of the time. After leaving the plane, we went to the Magical Express area of the airport and waited about 10-15 minutes and got onto a bus with others from the Caribbean Resort. We were the first stop off. Our luggage arrived in our room about 3 hours later. We then checked in at the All Star Sports Resort, while Sam kept running off and trying to break the fire alarm. We went to our room, which was 1254 in building 1, which was Surf’s Up. It was one of the best buildings, close to both the main building and the pool.
We went to the hotel’s food court, End Zone, for dinner. Tim and Fran both had chicken parmesan with spaghetti and cake for dessert and Sam had plain spaghetti. They were ok. After dinner Sam said he wanted to go home. It seemed like he thought we would go home after eating in a restaurant, like we’ve done so many times. We went back to our room, planning to go to the swimming pool, but Sam refused to go swimming. Fran had put on his toddler swimmers and Mickey swim shorts, Sam then decided not to go swimming and took off the swim shorts. So we decided to relax and just watch tv until bedtime. Sam even put his shirt back on. Then suddenly he was trying to open the door and wanted to go swimming, so we put back on his swim suit and Fran and Tim did as well. We started off in the kiddie pool, which was about a foot deep in the center. It was round and good sized. It had a light in the center and a blue tiled path on the floor that Sam liked to follow. He enjoyed the small pool immensely, so we decided to try the big pool. Sam wore a floatie ring and Tim pulled him around the pool, while Fran followed. All enjoyed it tremendously. After awhile, it was getting crowded, so we returned to the small pool. Sam was tired and fell over a couple times under water, so we headed back to the room. Turns out he wasn’t quite ready for bed, so Tim and Sam took a walk around the hotel, seeing the other themes and taking pictures of them. They returned after a bit and we all went to bed.
Our second day was Tuesday and we went to Magic Kingdom. We planned to arrive well before opening time to be there for the rope drop, but between having a toddler with us and waiting for the bus, we didn’t get there until 9:15. Sam wasn’t in the best of moods, since we had woken him up earlier then his royal highness desired. We ran straight for Dumbo, knowing that it would get long lines later in the day. Fran stayed off to take pictures while Tim and Sam waited in line. The line wasn’t too bad, 15-20 minutes. Sam was a little skeptical about it, and preferred down to flying high, but seemed to enjoy it. Later in the day when we passed by the ride again, he got out of the stroller to wave at the Dumbo riders! We saw there was no wait at Snow White’s Scary Adventures, so we slipped in there quickly. Although many kids are scared in that ride, due to the witch and the darkness, Sam didn’t seem to mind it. He seemed to just be absorbing in all the info of the ride and taking it all in.
We were running very late for our breakfast priority seating at Ohana, so we high tailed it over to the Polynesian via the monorail. We rode in the front of the monorail with the driver, which gives you a really different perspective of the ride. Our driver Annette also gave us co-pilot licenses. We ended up being about 30 minutes late to Ohana, and it was extremely busy. Sam was not pleased at all, he was already grumpy from waking up early and also from being hungry. He did behave well, however, and at the end we found him some crayons to play with. Our time finally came, it was past 11am already and the restaurant normally closes then. We were given pineapple bread at first which was very tasty and some fruit which was ok. Our waitress Belinda then brought us a plate with lots of scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausages, bacon, biscuits, Mickey shaped waffles and all were very tasty. Sam didn’t want to eat these foods, so our kind waitress brought him some Fruit Loops and a banana, which he devoured. The best part of the meal was that Mickey, Goofy, Chip and Dale all roamed about the room greeting diners. Goofy came over first and Sam was still grumpy. Then Chip came by and tried to swipe his banana and Sam cried. The character handler came up and asked if we had seen everyone, I said we hadn’t seen Mickey or Dale yet, so he sent them over. When Mickey came by, Sam lit up, his grumpiness disappeared like magic! He ate much more foods and was in a much better mood. Dale then came by and Sam was pleased to see him as well, giving him lots of high-5s! Sam was then quite chatty and everyone remarked at the big change in him. When we finally finished, we rode the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom.
First stop was to get a Fastpass for Splash Mountain. We then back tracked to Pirates of the Caribbean and rode that ride. No line at all, but the other side had a long line! Was a good ride as always, and Sam enjoyed it. We then decided to ride Jungle Cruise, since we had plenty of time before our Fastpass time came up. It was our first time on that ride; we always tended to skip it. It was a boat ride through animal animatronics in the jungles of different areas of the world, like the Amazon and Asia, while the driver told corny jokes. It was cute, Sam really liked seeing the “animals” and hearing the birds. We were glad we finally rode it. Our time then came to ride Splash Mountain. We did the baby swap for it, Fran went first alone and then Tim rode alone. It takes you on the story of the old movie Song of the South, with Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit and the rest of the characters. You wind your way around scenes from their swamp, with really cool sights. It is a boat ride and we got wet! It has several dips and one big drop of 50 feet at the end. On Fran's ride, she was in the second row of the flume. On the great big drop, the baseball cap from the guy in the front row flew off and Fran caught it! He was very grateful. Underneath the ride area was a play place for small kids with a slide, which Sam played on while we took turns on the ride. Sam had a lot of fun on it. He was very shy to go on it at first, probably due to the other kids being around. Fran helped him up the stairs and down the slide a couple times and then he was an old pro! By the time Tim came off the ride, he was starting to get bossy with the other kids and wanting to go ahead of them. Good timing to leave!
We were very hot and thirsty so we stopped for a lemonade and Mickey Mouse ice cream ears. Sam really loved the ice cream. While we waited for Tim to bring the snacks, we watched a bird come up really close to the other guests, they were feeding him potato chips and Sam really enjoyed watching the bird.
We then headed over to Liberty Square and went on Haunted Mansion. While in the ride queue, Sam saw the riverboat and his hat flew off his head and over the railing. We told the Cast Member when we went in and they suggested we tell the CMs at the end of the ride to help us out. It got a bit crowded, as the Doom Buggies seemed to stop for a bit, probably due to a wheelchaired person getting off. Sam fell asleep while we were waiting to get into our Doom Buggy, while Tim was holding him. We were able to keep him asleep during the whole ride, so he got in some nap that day! After the ride we talked to a very nice CM named Elizabeth and we explained our situation on losing the hat. We assumed they would send in someone to go behind the fence and retrieve Sam’s hat, but she gave us a coupon for a new hat and another coupon for a Fastpass for any ride of our choice. It was extremely kind and wonderful for her to do, Sam was very upset about losing his hat. We couldn’t believe that she was apologizing to us for having to wait for this.
We then headed back to Fantasyland and went to see the Philharmagic show. It’s a 3D movie with Donald Duck trying to retrieve his lost hat (he had lost Mickey’s sorcerer’s hat). It flew by other friends such as Aladdin and Jasmine, Ariel and Flounder and many more other Disney friends. In the end he got his hat and then he got stuck in a trombone. It blew and Donald flew and squished himself on the back wall. It was a great movie, Sam would not wear the 3D glasses, so he didn’t get all the effects, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. We then got in line for It’s a Small World. It was recently rehabbed and was very nice. We took lots of pictures of the dolls while they sang that song over and over! Sam really enjoyed the ride. Fran and Tim liked it, except that the seats were extremely low and uncomfortable. After that boat ride, we found a shop with hats, and luckily they had the same kind that we had lost, so we replaced Sam’s hat and he was very happy about that. We then decided to use our Fastpass on the Pooh ride, and got into line for that. Sam enjoyed the Pooh ride; we rode in a honey pot through the Pooh adventures in the movie. We then walked over to Mickey’s Toontown Fair. We looked around and we got into line to meet up with Pooh and his friends, but the line seemed to not move at all, plus we were running late for our dinner time, so we decided to leave the line. We got on the Railroad back to Main Street and took the monorail to the Contemporary Resort for dinner at Chef Mickey’s.
When we got there, they didn’t have our reservation, they had our previous one for breakfast, but we had changed that to dinner, and they never got the change. Kindly, they put us on the list as a PS anyway. We had a good seat near the stairs. This was another dinner with characters: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale roamed the room, while Donald stayed in the foyer. The dinner was a buffet and Sam wouldn’t eat anything besides pizza, he had 4 slices (skinny slices). Fran had salad, ravioli shaped like Mickey, meats and pastas and other items. Tim really like the pork tips in sauce. Sam adored seeing all the characters. Minnie gave him a kiss! Mickey tried to steal his cheese! He had fun with the others as well. Luckily we got some great pictures of this dinner! We had planned to return to the Magic Kingdom to see Wishes fireworks, but we were tired and decided to return back to our hotel instead. We figured we’d see Wishes the next night, but we never got to see it. Back at the hotel, we were going to give Sam a bath and just relax until bedtime, but Sam started putting on his swim suit. So Fran took him to the kiddie pool and he swam around and played with a girl from England, while Tim took pictures from the second floor. After that we went to bed.
Our first day was Monday, May 9th. Tim worked half the day and came home and we ate a quick lunch of sandwiches. After lunch we drove to the Indianapolis Airport to catch our plane, Sam and Fran slept on the way. The flight was bumpy, otherwise uneventful. Sam enjoyed the plane ride, while he played with sticker books most of the time. After leaving the plane, we went to the Magical Express area of the airport and waited about 10-15 minutes and got onto a bus with others from the Caribbean Resort. We were the first stop off. Our luggage arrived in our room about 3 hours later. We then checked in at the All Star Sports Resort, while Sam kept running off and trying to break the fire alarm. We went to our room, which was 1254 in building 1, which was Surf’s Up. It was one of the best buildings, close to both the main building and the pool.
We went to the hotel’s food court, End Zone, for dinner. Tim and Fran both had chicken parmesan with spaghetti and cake for dessert and Sam had plain spaghetti. They were ok. After dinner Sam said he wanted to go home. It seemed like he thought we would go home after eating in a restaurant, like we’ve done so many times. We went back to our room, planning to go to the swimming pool, but Sam refused to go swimming. Fran had put on his toddler swimmers and Mickey swim shorts, Sam then decided not to go swimming and took off the swim shorts. So we decided to relax and just watch tv until bedtime. Sam even put his shirt back on. Then suddenly he was trying to open the door and wanted to go swimming, so we put back on his swim suit and Fran and Tim did as well. We started off in the kiddie pool, which was about a foot deep in the center. It was round and good sized. It had a light in the center and a blue tiled path on the floor that Sam liked to follow. He enjoyed the small pool immensely, so we decided to try the big pool. Sam wore a floatie ring and Tim pulled him around the pool, while Fran followed. All enjoyed it tremendously. After awhile, it was getting crowded, so we returned to the small pool. Sam was tired and fell over a couple times under water, so we headed back to the room. Turns out he wasn’t quite ready for bed, so Tim and Sam took a walk around the hotel, seeing the other themes and taking pictures of them. They returned after a bit and we all went to bed.
Our second day was Tuesday and we went to Magic Kingdom. We planned to arrive well before opening time to be there for the rope drop, but between having a toddler with us and waiting for the bus, we didn’t get there until 9:15. Sam wasn’t in the best of moods, since we had woken him up earlier then his royal highness desired. We ran straight for Dumbo, knowing that it would get long lines later in the day. Fran stayed off to take pictures while Tim and Sam waited in line. The line wasn’t too bad, 15-20 minutes. Sam was a little skeptical about it, and preferred down to flying high, but seemed to enjoy it. Later in the day when we passed by the ride again, he got out of the stroller to wave at the Dumbo riders! We saw there was no wait at Snow White’s Scary Adventures, so we slipped in there quickly. Although many kids are scared in that ride, due to the witch and the darkness, Sam didn’t seem to mind it. He seemed to just be absorbing in all the info of the ride and taking it all in.
We were running very late for our breakfast priority seating at Ohana, so we high tailed it over to the Polynesian via the monorail. We rode in the front of the monorail with the driver, which gives you a really different perspective of the ride. Our driver Annette also gave us co-pilot licenses. We ended up being about 30 minutes late to Ohana, and it was extremely busy. Sam was not pleased at all, he was already grumpy from waking up early and also from being hungry. He did behave well, however, and at the end we found him some crayons to play with. Our time finally came, it was past 11am already and the restaurant normally closes then. We were given pineapple bread at first which was very tasty and some fruit which was ok. Our waitress Belinda then brought us a plate with lots of scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausages, bacon, biscuits, Mickey shaped waffles and all were very tasty. Sam didn’t want to eat these foods, so our kind waitress brought him some Fruit Loops and a banana, which he devoured. The best part of the meal was that Mickey, Goofy, Chip and Dale all roamed about the room greeting diners. Goofy came over first and Sam was still grumpy. Then Chip came by and tried to swipe his banana and Sam cried. The character handler came up and asked if we had seen everyone, I said we hadn’t seen Mickey or Dale yet, so he sent them over. When Mickey came by, Sam lit up, his grumpiness disappeared like magic! He ate much more foods and was in a much better mood. Dale then came by and Sam was pleased to see him as well, giving him lots of high-5s! Sam was then quite chatty and everyone remarked at the big change in him. When we finally finished, we rode the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom.
First stop was to get a Fastpass for Splash Mountain. We then back tracked to Pirates of the Caribbean and rode that ride. No line at all, but the other side had a long line! Was a good ride as always, and Sam enjoyed it. We then decided to ride Jungle Cruise, since we had plenty of time before our Fastpass time came up. It was our first time on that ride; we always tended to skip it. It was a boat ride through animal animatronics in the jungles of different areas of the world, like the Amazon and Asia, while the driver told corny jokes. It was cute, Sam really liked seeing the “animals” and hearing the birds. We were glad we finally rode it. Our time then came to ride Splash Mountain. We did the baby swap for it, Fran went first alone and then Tim rode alone. It takes you on the story of the old movie Song of the South, with Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit and the rest of the characters. You wind your way around scenes from their swamp, with really cool sights. It is a boat ride and we got wet! It has several dips and one big drop of 50 feet at the end. On Fran's ride, she was in the second row of the flume. On the great big drop, the baseball cap from the guy in the front row flew off and Fran caught it! He was very grateful. Underneath the ride area was a play place for small kids with a slide, which Sam played on while we took turns on the ride. Sam had a lot of fun on it. He was very shy to go on it at first, probably due to the other kids being around. Fran helped him up the stairs and down the slide a couple times and then he was an old pro! By the time Tim came off the ride, he was starting to get bossy with the other kids and wanting to go ahead of them. Good timing to leave!
We were very hot and thirsty so we stopped for a lemonade and Mickey Mouse ice cream ears. Sam really loved the ice cream. While we waited for Tim to bring the snacks, we watched a bird come up really close to the other guests, they were feeding him potato chips and Sam really enjoyed watching the bird.
We then headed over to Liberty Square and went on Haunted Mansion. While in the ride queue, Sam saw the riverboat and his hat flew off his head and over the railing. We told the Cast Member when we went in and they suggested we tell the CMs at the end of the ride to help us out. It got a bit crowded, as the Doom Buggies seemed to stop for a bit, probably due to a wheelchaired person getting off. Sam fell asleep while we were waiting to get into our Doom Buggy, while Tim was holding him. We were able to keep him asleep during the whole ride, so he got in some nap that day! After the ride we talked to a very nice CM named Elizabeth and we explained our situation on losing the hat. We assumed they would send in someone to go behind the fence and retrieve Sam’s hat, but she gave us a coupon for a new hat and another coupon for a Fastpass for any ride of our choice. It was extremely kind and wonderful for her to do, Sam was very upset about losing his hat. We couldn’t believe that she was apologizing to us for having to wait for this.
We then headed back to Fantasyland and went to see the Philharmagic show. It’s a 3D movie with Donald Duck trying to retrieve his lost hat (he had lost Mickey’s sorcerer’s hat). It flew by other friends such as Aladdin and Jasmine, Ariel and Flounder and many more other Disney friends. In the end he got his hat and then he got stuck in a trombone. It blew and Donald flew and squished himself on the back wall. It was a great movie, Sam would not wear the 3D glasses, so he didn’t get all the effects, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. We then got in line for It’s a Small World. It was recently rehabbed and was very nice. We took lots of pictures of the dolls while they sang that song over and over! Sam really enjoyed the ride. Fran and Tim liked it, except that the seats were extremely low and uncomfortable. After that boat ride, we found a shop with hats, and luckily they had the same kind that we had lost, so we replaced Sam’s hat and he was very happy about that. We then decided to use our Fastpass on the Pooh ride, and got into line for that. Sam enjoyed the Pooh ride; we rode in a honey pot through the Pooh adventures in the movie. We then walked over to Mickey’s Toontown Fair. We looked around and we got into line to meet up with Pooh and his friends, but the line seemed to not move at all, plus we were running late for our dinner time, so we decided to leave the line. We got on the Railroad back to Main Street and took the monorail to the Contemporary Resort for dinner at Chef Mickey’s.
When we got there, they didn’t have our reservation, they had our previous one for breakfast, but we had changed that to dinner, and they never got the change. Kindly, they put us on the list as a PS anyway. We had a good seat near the stairs. This was another dinner with characters: Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale roamed the room, while Donald stayed in the foyer. The dinner was a buffet and Sam wouldn’t eat anything besides pizza, he had 4 slices (skinny slices). Fran had salad, ravioli shaped like Mickey, meats and pastas and other items. Tim really like the pork tips in sauce. Sam adored seeing all the characters. Minnie gave him a kiss! Mickey tried to steal his cheese! He had fun with the others as well. Luckily we got some great pictures of this dinner! We had planned to return to the Magic Kingdom to see Wishes fireworks, but we were tired and decided to return back to our hotel instead. We figured we’d see Wishes the next night, but we never got to see it. Back at the hotel, we were going to give Sam a bath and just relax until bedtime, but Sam started putting on his swim suit. So Fran took him to the kiddie pool and he swam around and played with a girl from England, while Tim took pictures from the second floor. After that we went to bed.
I have noticed with my two little guys, when they are really cranky they are usually thirsty or hungry or just plan exhausted. Sam seems to be the same way