happymom's Trip Report (including our Family of the Day experience)

First of all, let me apologize for the whited out faces in some of my picutres. For privacy reasons, we usually do not post photos of our children online (and my DH does not want his picture posted either). But I hope you can still enjoy the pictures, even though we look like ghosts!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008
We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge in the evening and checked into our one bedroom villa.

We had a ground floor this time….I was a little disappointed because we usually have a higher floor with a water view…..I really missed sitting out on the balcony with my coffee, and I especially missed being able to see the Electric Water Pageant from our room as we usually can. But on the upside, we had a nice grassy area for my DS to play in while DD napped in the afternoons.

Our Villa:

We ordered room service for dinner, and finally got the kids bathed and DD in bed. DS and I sat on our patio and at least listened to the Electric Water Parade! Then he was off to bed.

Thursday, January 17
We always start our trip off with the MK…..I can’t imagine doing it any other way! We let DS pick the first ride, and he chose the Magic Carpets, which surprised me. His favorite is HM which he usually picks to ride first, but he was a little hesitant since he knew they had changed it since our last visit. I assured him that the changes were fun…he was worried they made it scarier! He agreed to go on it later.
We saw Captain Hook and Mr. Smee on our way to POTC and the line was short, so we decided to greet them. DD (almost three years old) started crying as soon as she laid eyes on them! This was her fourth trip to WDW, and she has always loved all of the characters. We were just here in April 2007, and she had no problems. What a difference 7 months can make! I started to worry a bit, but was hopeful she would get over her fears.
We then proceeded to get in line for POTC, and DD started SCREAMING at the top of her lungs and acting like she was possessed or something. I tried to calm her, but eventually got out of line….I was not going to force her on the ride. Now I was really worried! So DH rode with DS while DD and I looked around the gift shop.
After the ride was done, we went to greet Peter Pan and Wendy. DD refused to get out of her stroller, so I wheeled her up next to Wendy. You would have thought Wendy was a witch based on DD’s reaction to her. By now I had nearly convinced myself that DD will ruin our trip! Where in the world was the DD that ran up to all the characters and loved all of the rides only 7 months ago???
We made the decision to head to Fantasy Land to see if she could handle It’s a small world. Turns out she could. Then we went on the Carousel, which has always been her favorite. We did Peter Pan, and she cried while in line, but I decided to force her on this one because I knew she would love it. So I ignored all of the “What a terrible mother you are!” stares while she screamed and thrashed her way through the line. Luckily we had fast passes so the line went quickly. And sure enough, she loved it.
I was feeling really confident now, and foolishly thought perhaps she could handle the HM. I was dying to ride it, because this was our first trip since the refurb. She did okay while waiting in line, so I was happy….until we got into the stretching room and she let out the blood curdling scream we are getting so used to hearing today. My DH is nice enough to take her out and let me ride with DS.
By now my DD was about to have a complete meltdown, so I decided to take her back to the resort to get her fed and down for a nap. DH and DS stayed behind a little while so DH could go on HM.
After a much needed afternoon nap, we headed back to the MK. We grabbed our favorite spot in Frontier Land for Spectromagic, and DH got us dinner from Pecos Bills.
We like to eat dinner while waiting for the parade….makes the wait easier for the kids. I was feeling depressed because the trip was not going well so far with DD, but as soon as I heard the Spectromagic music all worries were forgotten.

I kept my fingers crossed that the parade would not freak DD out. Turns out she LOVED it. Both kids were so excited.
And then……hear comes Ursula….

Many of you who have seen Spectromagic probably know that periodically Ursula stops and points out a member of the audience and says something like “I’ve got a proposition for you, girly…..” I don’t remember her exact words. But anyway, I’ll give you one guess who Ursula came up to. That’s right, my DD. I held my breath and watched as DD’s eyes nearly popped out of her head and she was glued to the back of her stroller. When it was all over, I started clapping and saying “Yea! That was fun!” over and over until her lips stopped quivering. She was able to fight it off and did not cry, but it was a close call!
We enjoyed the rest of the parade, and then headed back to the resort.

 

[happymom52003]

The expressions on your kids' faces were priceless. :lookaroun

:lol::ROFLOL:

 

[palmage]

Wow, what a great experience!! The expressions on your kids' faces were priceless

That was just too funny:lol::lol::lol:

My daughter and son in law are just like that.

 

[happymom52003]

Friday, January 18 (continued)

We headed to the castle for our breakfast ADR. While waiting in line to greet Cinderella, I noticed this really tall guy in front of me. Turns out it was Dwayne Johnson (The Rock). Here is a shot of him with Cindy….I cut out his wife and daughter to respect their privacy.

It was funny…parents kept sending their kids over to him to sign their Disney autograph books. I was tempted, but I’m not really a big fan so I did not want to bother him. My DD ran to Cinderella and gave her a big hug (she liked her much better than Captain Hook). This was the first trip that she was really into the princesses, so that made it a lot of fun. This was our first time having breakfast at CRT….we’ve been for lunch and dinner in the past. I thought the food was really good. DD loved seeing the princesses, and since Jasmine was there DH was entertained as well. :lookaroun

DS had fun too….thank goodness they give the boys a sword. Snow White, Belle, and Sleeping Beauty (or “Seepin Booty” as DD calls her:lookaroun) were also there. After breakfast we rode more rides until it was time to go back to the resort for lunch.
After naptime, we headed back to the MK for our dinner at Crystal Palace. It is always fun to see Pooh Bear, and even though buffets are hard with small kids who can’t yet get their own food (up and down and up and down for mom and dad), it is always nice to finally get some veggies other than french fries. :slurp: After dinner we watched the Dream Along With Mickey castle show, which surprisingly we have never watched from start to finish, nor had we ever seen any part of it at night. On our way out, DS asked us if we were going to help Mickey close the park too.

 

[happymom52003]

Saturday, January 19
We were in no hurry this morning since we had such a long and exciting day yesterday. We slept in (well, we did not really “sleep” since the kids were awake at the crack of dawn, but we lounged in bed watching the old time Mickey cartoons on the resort T.V….we just love those!).
We decided to go to DHS today. I had made an itinerary before our trip as I always do, but this trip we pretty much threw it out the window and played everything by ear due to the behavior of our toddler. We originally were not going to do DHS on this trip, but decided we needed a change of scenery from the MK, but we wanted to do EPCOT on a day when we could get an early start. So we were off to DHS around lunch time.

We ate at the Backlot Express, and then went to see the Beauty and the Beast show.

By now it was time for the parade, and we got a perfect spot on the steps of the ABC Commissary. We were excited because we had never seen this parade. Actually, the kids have never seen an afternoon parade at WDW because we are usually at the resort for naptime. We bought the kids Mickey ice cream bars to help pass the time before the parade. Can you get drunk off of these things? Because my kids sure looked happy! They were in sugar heaven.
We loved the parade, and the kids were in a perfect spot to get a lot of interaction from the characters.

I just love these army men!

DD yelled out the name of every princess as they went by, and they all blew her kisses.

May the force be with you.

I think Aladdin needs to whisk Jasmine away on that magic carpet of his to a tropical island to work on his tan:lookaroun.

After the parade, we went to the meet and greet with June from the Little Einstein’s, and Handy Manny. We wandered around bit and did some souvenir shopping, and then headed back to the resort. We originally had reservations for Le Cellier tonight, but made the decision to cancel. I was polite and called Disney dining, so I hope some lucky walk up was able to get a table.

 

[happymom52003]

Even though we did not get to go to Le Cellier, we ended up having a nice evening. DH and DS got the hidden Mickey clues from the front desk of the WL and went on a hunt, while DD and I went on a walk looking for rabbits. We usually go in April and there are bunnies everywhere on property, but this time we did not see a single one. I guess they do not come out much in the winter. But it was a lovely evening and we enjoyed our walk.

Hidden Mickey!

Sunday, January 20
We went to Epcot early this morning, and rode Spaceship Earth first thing.

Glad we did not wait…the line was really long later in the day. Not sure what to think about the refurb. I was not disappointed, but I was not blown away either. The videos were not working right for us….we had the cartoon heads instead of our faces, which was disappointing, but my son LOVED it and talked about his “future” the rest of the day. I guess he will really love it when he can see his own face on there.
Next we grabbed our Soarin Fast Passes, and rode Living With the Land. Then it was off to Nemo, and we watched Turtle Talk with Crush, which we had never seen before. I was impressed with the technology, but thought the show could have been a bit longer. We wandered around Future World a bit, and then went to San Angel Inn for lunch. We had a nice table right by the water overlooking the volcano, which was nice. The food was so so…..we are very spoiled because we have fantastic Mexican food where we live, and we eat it a couple of times a week at least. So we mainly go to The San Angel Inn for the atmosphere.

We rushed to Soarin and got there about a minute before our fast pass time was up. After Soarin we did some souvenir shopping, and then tried to ride Spaceship Earth again on our way out, but the line was horrible so we decided to head back to the resort.
After naptime, we had dinner at The Whispering Canyon Café. The kids loved it here....they liked all of the noise and craziness of the place. DS did the stick pony ride, but for some strange reason he went in the opposite direction of every one else! But it was cute.

We ordered him the pirate punch, and after taking a sip he shouts out “Ummm…..This tastes like rum!”. Silly boy!

After dinner we went to the Roaring Fork and got some Mickey Ice Cream bars.:slurp:

 

[happymom52003]

Monday, January 21
We did not go to a park this morning since we have the Pirate and Princess party tonight. Since we had not been on the monorail yet this trip, we decided we would go ride it for fun, because my kids are CRAZY about the monorail. We took a boat from the WL to the Contemporary, and got on the monorail to the TTC. We switched to the Epcot line and rode in the front with the driver. He was new and going through training with another driver, so that was kind of interesting to listen to what the trainer was teaching him. We turned right around and went back to the Contemporary, and did some shopping in the new gift shop.
DH and I bought pirate Mickey ears to wear to the party tonight since we did not have costumes, and I bought a red shirt that says I love pirates. We went back to the WL for lunch, and while DD was napping DH and DS rented a boat and had some fun out on Bay Lake and The Seven Seas Lagoon. I slept!
We did have reservations at LTT for dinner, but again we decided to cancel and just order room service. We got the kids in their costumes, and headed off to the MK. Here are my little ones: (okay, I know I am leaving myself wide open for jokes on this one because of the blurred faces! "The Fairest One of all" comes to mind!)

This was our first P&P party, so we were very excited. I loved the red carpets and fog at the entrance.

The first thing we did was go to meet Captain Jack, and we only had about a 20 minute wait. DD did fine in line, even though I thought she would freak because it was kind of dark and pirate themed, with pirate music playing. They were letting groups of 10 go into meet him, and since we were the last of our group we had a private meeting with Jack which was cool. DS went first, and then of course I had to have my pic with him too (swoons). He said he liked my shirt, and then told me to come closer because my husband was not looking.

Afterwards we decided to try to potc, and guess what! DD did it! Without a single tear or scream. We went on the right side of the queue while everyone else went to the left, so we had zero wait and we had a boat all to ourselves. The boat in front of us and back of us were full because they were from the left side of the queue.
Next we grabbed our spot for the parade and snacked on French fries. Loved the parade, but it seemed a bit short. I really loved the music….I still can’t get it out of my head.
After the parade we headed to Fantasy Land to ride rides. While waiting for the carousel, we see Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip walking arm in arm out of the castle to go to their meet and greet spots, and shortly after they were followed by Cinderella and prince charming. DD spazzed out of course, and managed to get their attention. They waved to her and blew her a kiss. Here is pic, but the quality is bad.

When it was time for the fireworks, we headed to Main Street which looked like a ghost town! Most people were up by the castle, and there was hardly anyone from Casey’s Corner to the entrance. I guess ticket sales were low? We watched the fireworks and I have to say it was the best show I’ve ever seen, especially the part when the skulls are on the castle and it seems as though the castle is going to explode. I’d gladly go back to a P & P party just to see that show again!
It was really late for our little pirate and princess, and as much as we would have loved to go back to the short waits on the rides, we had to get them in bed. We are looking forward to when they are older and we can stay at the special events until closing time.

Tuesday, January 22
Our last day. DH took the kids to the playground and exploring around the resort so I could get some packing done. We put DD down for an early nap, and then spent the remainder of the day at the MK. Here is a pic of the castle from our last night:

On the boat ride back to the resort, we had a perfect view of Wishes. A perfect ending to another magical trip.
Thanks for reading!:wave:

 

[nibblesandbits]

Yes, I saw that! I've entered so many pictures into that contest! It is fun to finally have one picked.
Thank you everyone for the kind words. I'm hoping to have the rest of the report posted tonight.

Congrats on being chosen for Allears and congrats for being chosen as family of the day! It sounds amazing!

 

[Steve-B]

It looks like Alice has spent a little too much time in Wonderland . . .

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Awesome trip report and congrats on being picked - what an experience.

 

[TurboCaroline]

Nice report! I wish we would get up early enough to see the opening ceremony at MK. We're not morning people at all!!

 

[NewfieFan]

I loved your trip report!!! Talking about being a big sap... I almost cried reading about your adventure as the "Family of the Day". Wow, that looked so exciting - I'm sure it is something you will never forget!?! So, what time does one have to be up in the morning in order to be there for something like that? I really want to take my kids to the MK opening this year, my son is old enough to appreciate something like that now! What time was it when you got picked?
Well, thanks for sharing and I enjoyed all your pics as well!

 

[joanna71985]

What a great report! I loved it.

 

[sissa216]

great report and wonderful pictures!

 

[happymom52003]

Thanks to everyone for all the kind words!
NewieFan-If you want to watch the opening ceremony, it usually starts about 15 minutes before the park opens. If you've never seen it, you have to go! It is such a magical way to begin a day at the MK. Every time we've watched it, my eyes well up. Funny thing is when we were actually in it, I never really teared up....but when we got home I watched a youtube video of a random opening ceremony, and the tears were flowing thinking about our experience! I guess I was just too excited and in disbelief when it was actually happening to cry. I would be thrilled if a video from that actual day ever turned up on youtube. I'd give anything for a video, and the funny is that when I look at our pictures, half the people in the audience have video cameras....it is so frustrating knowing there are so many copies out there of our experience, and I'll never get one! I'm tempted to post a request on every disney message board out there for a video of the ceremony from that date!
I'm not sure what time they normally pick the family, because we were not picked randomly since my DS asked if the family had been chosen yet. I know we left the WL on a bus at 7:30 and it was a quick trip to the MK, so it was proabably around 7:45 when my son asked. I'd imagine that they pick the family at least an hour before opening time (park opened at 9:00 on our day).

 

[Turcicus]

Great report! What an awesome experience as the opening family. Getting to see all those characters without anyone else around - wow!!! I'm a grown man and I'd love to do that!!! :ROFLOL:

Nice report! I wish we would get up early enough to see the opening ceremony at MK. We're not morning people at all!!

Same here! Until we have kids, that is :hammer:

 

[DisneyBean]

This was a great report! I kept looking at the bottom right corner of the picture above and thinking, "I have never heard of a Disney character named Man Eater!" Then I realized it was Mad Hatter :ROFLOL:

 

[LeeSeeBabe]

Great trip report! Thanks for sharing!:wave: