Well, we finally made it!
My wife and I took our daughter (4 1/2) on her first trip to Disney this past week. In addition to that it was my wife's first trip to the Magic Kingdom as well, so it was even better for me to be there with both of them for their first Disney adventures!
Speaking of adventures, I wish I could say it was smooth sailing getting there.
We had a 3:00 flight from Indy, connecting in Cleveland, w/ a 6:30 flight outta Tribeville. The winds were gusting at 30MPH out of Indy and it was snowing in C-land. When we broke the clouds on approach we were probably no more than 100 feet off the ground and it was a BLIZZARD. I told my wife as we taxied in there was no way we'd be getting out that night if it continued like it was.
The 6:30 flight was immediately delayed to 7:15. Then 7:45 as our inbound plane from Miami was diverted to Detroit. Then 8:45. Still snowing hard. Plane still in Detroit. I recommend to the wife we reschedule for the 9:05 AM flight on Sunday, but she says we should wait this out. Plane finally gets in, but we have no pilots...they were diverted to Chicago after aborting two landings (wind shear). They finally cancel the flight at 10:45PM and we get the LAST room at the airport Sheraton. Great start to the trip, but my daughter was as trooper!
Sunday - 4/3
We finally got out at 12:45 on Sunday and got to Port Orleans French Quarter by 4:30. One thing worth mentioning here...we used a shuttle service called Tiffany Towncar and they were FANTASTIC. Max met us at the airport, made a stop at the grocery for us and was a welcome relief for the three of us very weary travelers.
We checked in and immediately hit the pool and my daughter LOVED the huge water slide they have there. We then met up with the other family we were vacationing with (they arrived Saturday because they flew thru Memphis) at Downtown Disney and we all waited for 2.5 hours for our table at Rainforest Cafe. Food was okay, but we were just happy to finally be there even though we lost one full day. The Magic Kingdom awaited us on Monday!
Monday - 4/4
How nice to actually wake up in Florida as opposed to Cleveland. We took the shuttle over to WDW and headed to our first ride, my all-time favorite when I was a kid: Pirates of the Caribbean. I told my daughter how much I loved this ride when I was a kid and explained to her that it would be dark, but she just didn’t like it that much. After POTC we saw our first set of Characters, Peter Pan and Wendy! We waited in line for about 20 minutes and of course when we get to the front she gets too shy and wants to leave the line. Poor Wendy, she was concerned that they scared her off!
From there we went to Fantasyland and rode It’s a Small World and the Peter Pan ride (something like Flight to Neverland) and she liked those much better. After a quick lunch we headed over to Mickey’s Philharmagic. One word describes that 3D event – AWESOME! Hailey absolutely loved it, especially the very end when Donald flies by you (you feel the wind rush by), the lights come on and you turn around and see Donald’s bootie sticking out of the wall!
After that we met up with the family we traveled with and spend the rest of the daylight hours in Tomorrowland. The line for Stitch was way too long (and the Fast Pass machines were covered for some reason) so we did little rides like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. After dinner we headed back over to Adventureland and somehow convinced our daughter to ride Splash Mountain with us. She was very apprehensive, but because Kenny (the 4 year-old in the other family was going on it she decided to as well. Of course she loved it, especially the plunge at the end!
We wrapped up the day with the parade of lights and fireworks show and headed back to Port Orleans. Great weather and a wonderful first day at Disney.
Tuesday – 4/5
Another beautiful day, and this was the morning that we had a reservation for Hailey to have Breakfast with some Princesses over at the Akershus Restaurant in Norway (Epcot). I got up at 6AM, showered and was ready by 7. At 7:45 we were literally minutes away from leaving…and she hurled. Not once but three times in less than an hour. Why? We have no idea. She was not feverish, did not complain of any tummy aches or anything else. For whatever reason she just got sick. The odd thing is, by 11:00 she was back to normal and we al headed over to Epcot for the day.
The first ride was Test Track. The concept of the ride was pretty cool but they had numerous delays during our wait in line…so much so that what started out as a 30 minute wait when we started out was up to nearly 70 minutes by the time we finished the ride. From there we hit Mission:Space, supposedly THE ride to experience amongst all the rides at all the parks. I have to say I was not all that impressed. Sure it was a neat ride, but I enjoy Space Mountain more. Maybe it’s just me being old school. One warning though, if you are prone to motion sickness DO NOT ride this. You spin, experience G-forces and are subjected to many things that can make your vision spin. They warn you to keep staring straight ahead and not avert your gaze or close your eyes and that’s the best advice I can give. If you don’t do that you probably will lose it!
While we (the “dads”) rode those two rides the moms took the kids into some of the other attractions, like Innovations. Once we met up again we all went in to Journey Into Imagination With Figment, which was great for the kids but a yawner for us adults! From there we headed to Japan for lunch and the ladies took a break from the kids and ran off to ride Test Track on their own. We met up about 45 minutes later and all headed in to see the 3D film, Honey I Shrunk the Audience. As great as Philharmagic was this one was definitely not as kid-friendly. It was a neat film, but some parts were definitely too intense for the 4 year-olds in our group.
After that we headed over to The Living Seas Pavilion and spent a good hour in there taking everything in. We did not get in to Turtle Talk w/ Crush, which I hear is fantastic. The more I think about that the more I wish we had made time to do that because I know the kids would have loved it…especially the fact that Crush supposedly is very interactive w/ the audience. Oh well. We wrapped up the day at Epcot with a ride through “the ball” on Spaceship Earth.
We headed back to Port Orleans around 6ish and took the boat upriver to Riverside and had dinner at Boatwright’s. Dinner was okay, but it’s definitely not a place I would recommend you seek out for dining.
Wednesday – 4/6
Animal Kingdom Day! I was looking forward to this one because after two days of rides I was ready for something a bit different. Animal Kingdom definitely delivers in this area! The first thing we did was the Kilamanjaro Safari, which was outstanding. In a lot of spots the animals are literally grazing or walking right next to your jeep! No worries though, the Nile Crocs, Cheetahs and Lions are not that close. We also did things like the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and Dinoland for the kids. As neat as Animal Kingdom is, it involved a lot of walking for the kids, especially when you go from the Kali River Rapids down to Dinoland.
Speaking of KRR, I would only recommend this ride if you Fast Pass it, because the wait certainly would not be worth the ride which seems to last all of 60 seconds. Of course, if you’re in the wrong place (or the right place depending on your preference) you will get absolutely drenched!
From KRR we went over to ride Dinosaur, which was a good 20-miute walk from KRR. Along the way we walked past the shell of Expedition Everest which looks amazing. Those of you that have been on the Matterhorn at Disneyland this looks like that ride on steroids. I’m definitely looking forward to going back in ’06 for that one. Anyway, Dinosaur was a pretty neat ride, but very intense. My daughter did not go on it, but the other 4 year-old did and in some parts he was genuinely scared. After that ride the day was pretty much over, as Animal Kingdom closes its doors at 5PM.
That night the other husband and I had our night away from the family, as we had reservations at Fulton’s in Downtown Disney. I’d heard that they had been sacrificing quality for quantity (as in get ‘em in and get ‘em out) and I could definitely see that, as our service was not the best. But the meal was great…hard to mess up a plate of 3 pounds of Snow Crab, King Crab and Lobster. Including appetizers and drinks and tips we each spent about $65, but well worth it for two Hoosiers that never get a chance at a fresh plate like that in Indiana. Meanwhile the girls and kids dined out at Planet Hollywood, and afterwards we met up with them for an Ice Cream desert at Ghiradelli’s, which I would highly recommend!
Thursday – 4/7
Our last day in Orlando, and rather than head over to MGM we decided to spend another day at the Magic Kingdom. There was still so much we hadn’t been able to do on the first day there and Hailey had a lot of characters she still wanted to meet, so the decision was pretty easy to head back there for another day. Again, the weather was beautiful!
We were able to ride on quite a few things we missed on Day 1, including Thunder Mountain (which our daughter loved), Space Mountain, and Stitch’s Great Escape, which technically is not a ride. By the way, SGE is not worth the time in line even for the Fast Pass. It was probably my biggest disappointment of any of the attractions on the trip. Hailey enjoyed The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, as well as the Swiss Family Tree House and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. We also spent a lot of time in Toonland where the kids got to ride The Barnstomer, a mini coaster. Of course, after tackling Thunder Mountain our daughter thought it was pretty tame.
After the ride we spent the next 90 minutes in lines to meet the Pooh Characters and then the Princesses. For those that can do it this way, I recommend having one parent go with the child in one line (the shorter line) and have the other stand in the much longer line. It’ll get you in and out of there much quicker! It was worth the wait though, as she was able to meet Cinderella, Snow White and Princess Aurora and she absolutely loved it. The highlight was when she met Aladdin and Jasmine earlier in the day, but she was upset when she realized that she forgot to tell Jasmine that she was wearing her Jasmine underwear that day!
After lunch and the Jungle Cruise (warning: bad jokes alert on that ride!) we were back in Tomorrowland and the kids hit the Astro Orbiter while we hit Space Mountain. I don’t care how old SM is it remains one of my all-time favorites…I never tire of that ride! We then headed over to Cinderella’s Castle and watched the Cinderellabration. As it was going on I asked a woman about character dinners and she said that while Crystal Palace was a popular choice (and not possible to get in w/out a reservation) she recommended we head over to Liberty Square and dine at the Liberty Tree Tavern. We got in after about a 30-minute wait and were visited by Chip and Dale, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto. The kids loved every minute of it and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone that has not made reservations elsewhere.
There was a threat of Thunderstorms and it looked like it was about to open up after dinner, so my family made a mad dash back to the shuttle and Port Orleans in advance of the projected sever weather. Of course, it all blew over so we lost those last few hours we could have spent on a few rides, the parade and the fireworks. But that was the only bad decision we made all week, so all-in-all I’m happy with what we did.
We flew home the next day through Newark this time and went right from the airport to a rehearsal dinner for a wedding we were in the following day. Despite the rocky start in Cleveland we had a fantastic time and it was a memorable first trip for both my wife and daughter. We hope to get down there every two years or so, although I’m already planning for a return trip in 2006.
My wife and I took our daughter (4 1/2) on her first trip to Disney this past week. In addition to that it was my wife's first trip to the Magic Kingdom as well, so it was even better for me to be there with both of them for their first Disney adventures!
Speaking of adventures, I wish I could say it was smooth sailing getting there.
We had a 3:00 flight from Indy, connecting in Cleveland, w/ a 6:30 flight outta Tribeville. The winds were gusting at 30MPH out of Indy and it was snowing in C-land. When we broke the clouds on approach we were probably no more than 100 feet off the ground and it was a BLIZZARD. I told my wife as we taxied in there was no way we'd be getting out that night if it continued like it was.
The 6:30 flight was immediately delayed to 7:15. Then 7:45 as our inbound plane from Miami was diverted to Detroit. Then 8:45. Still snowing hard. Plane still in Detroit. I recommend to the wife we reschedule for the 9:05 AM flight on Sunday, but she says we should wait this out. Plane finally gets in, but we have no pilots...they were diverted to Chicago after aborting two landings (wind shear). They finally cancel the flight at 10:45PM and we get the LAST room at the airport Sheraton. Great start to the trip, but my daughter was as trooper!
Sunday - 4/3
We finally got out at 12:45 on Sunday and got to Port Orleans French Quarter by 4:30. One thing worth mentioning here...we used a shuttle service called Tiffany Towncar and they were FANTASTIC. Max met us at the airport, made a stop at the grocery for us and was a welcome relief for the three of us very weary travelers.
We checked in and immediately hit the pool and my daughter LOVED the huge water slide they have there. We then met up with the other family we were vacationing with (they arrived Saturday because they flew thru Memphis) at Downtown Disney and we all waited for 2.5 hours for our table at Rainforest Cafe. Food was okay, but we were just happy to finally be there even though we lost one full day. The Magic Kingdom awaited us on Monday!
Monday - 4/4
How nice to actually wake up in Florida as opposed to Cleveland. We took the shuttle over to WDW and headed to our first ride, my all-time favorite when I was a kid: Pirates of the Caribbean. I told my daughter how much I loved this ride when I was a kid and explained to her that it would be dark, but she just didn’t like it that much. After POTC we saw our first set of Characters, Peter Pan and Wendy! We waited in line for about 20 minutes and of course when we get to the front she gets too shy and wants to leave the line. Poor Wendy, she was concerned that they scared her off!
From there we went to Fantasyland and rode It’s a Small World and the Peter Pan ride (something like Flight to Neverland) and she liked those much better. After a quick lunch we headed over to Mickey’s Philharmagic. One word describes that 3D event – AWESOME! Hailey absolutely loved it, especially the very end when Donald flies by you (you feel the wind rush by), the lights come on and you turn around and see Donald’s bootie sticking out of the wall!
After that we met up with the family we traveled with and spend the rest of the daylight hours in Tomorrowland. The line for Stitch was way too long (and the Fast Pass machines were covered for some reason) so we did little rides like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. After dinner we headed back over to Adventureland and somehow convinced our daughter to ride Splash Mountain with us. She was very apprehensive, but because Kenny (the 4 year-old in the other family was going on it she decided to as well. Of course she loved it, especially the plunge at the end!
We wrapped up the day with the parade of lights and fireworks show and headed back to Port Orleans. Great weather and a wonderful first day at Disney.
Tuesday – 4/5
Another beautiful day, and this was the morning that we had a reservation for Hailey to have Breakfast with some Princesses over at the Akershus Restaurant in Norway (Epcot). I got up at 6AM, showered and was ready by 7. At 7:45 we were literally minutes away from leaving…and she hurled. Not once but three times in less than an hour. Why? We have no idea. She was not feverish, did not complain of any tummy aches or anything else. For whatever reason she just got sick. The odd thing is, by 11:00 she was back to normal and we al headed over to Epcot for the day.
The first ride was Test Track. The concept of the ride was pretty cool but they had numerous delays during our wait in line…so much so that what started out as a 30 minute wait when we started out was up to nearly 70 minutes by the time we finished the ride. From there we hit Mission:Space, supposedly THE ride to experience amongst all the rides at all the parks. I have to say I was not all that impressed. Sure it was a neat ride, but I enjoy Space Mountain more. Maybe it’s just me being old school. One warning though, if you are prone to motion sickness DO NOT ride this. You spin, experience G-forces and are subjected to many things that can make your vision spin. They warn you to keep staring straight ahead and not avert your gaze or close your eyes and that’s the best advice I can give. If you don’t do that you probably will lose it!
While we (the “dads”) rode those two rides the moms took the kids into some of the other attractions, like Innovations. Once we met up again we all went in to Journey Into Imagination With Figment, which was great for the kids but a yawner for us adults! From there we headed to Japan for lunch and the ladies took a break from the kids and ran off to ride Test Track on their own. We met up about 45 minutes later and all headed in to see the 3D film, Honey I Shrunk the Audience. As great as Philharmagic was this one was definitely not as kid-friendly. It was a neat film, but some parts were definitely too intense for the 4 year-olds in our group.
After that we headed over to The Living Seas Pavilion and spent a good hour in there taking everything in. We did not get in to Turtle Talk w/ Crush, which I hear is fantastic. The more I think about that the more I wish we had made time to do that because I know the kids would have loved it…especially the fact that Crush supposedly is very interactive w/ the audience. Oh well. We wrapped up the day at Epcot with a ride through “the ball” on Spaceship Earth.
We headed back to Port Orleans around 6ish and took the boat upriver to Riverside and had dinner at Boatwright’s. Dinner was okay, but it’s definitely not a place I would recommend you seek out for dining.
Wednesday – 4/6
Animal Kingdom Day! I was looking forward to this one because after two days of rides I was ready for something a bit different. Animal Kingdom definitely delivers in this area! The first thing we did was the Kilamanjaro Safari, which was outstanding. In a lot of spots the animals are literally grazing or walking right next to your jeep! No worries though, the Nile Crocs, Cheetahs and Lions are not that close. We also did things like the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and Dinoland for the kids. As neat as Animal Kingdom is, it involved a lot of walking for the kids, especially when you go from the Kali River Rapids down to Dinoland.
Speaking of KRR, I would only recommend this ride if you Fast Pass it, because the wait certainly would not be worth the ride which seems to last all of 60 seconds. Of course, if you’re in the wrong place (or the right place depending on your preference) you will get absolutely drenched!
From KRR we went over to ride Dinosaur, which was a good 20-miute walk from KRR. Along the way we walked past the shell of Expedition Everest which looks amazing. Those of you that have been on the Matterhorn at Disneyland this looks like that ride on steroids. I’m definitely looking forward to going back in ’06 for that one. Anyway, Dinosaur was a pretty neat ride, but very intense. My daughter did not go on it, but the other 4 year-old did and in some parts he was genuinely scared. After that ride the day was pretty much over, as Animal Kingdom closes its doors at 5PM.
That night the other husband and I had our night away from the family, as we had reservations at Fulton’s in Downtown Disney. I’d heard that they had been sacrificing quality for quantity (as in get ‘em in and get ‘em out) and I could definitely see that, as our service was not the best. But the meal was great…hard to mess up a plate of 3 pounds of Snow Crab, King Crab and Lobster. Including appetizers and drinks and tips we each spent about $65, but well worth it for two Hoosiers that never get a chance at a fresh plate like that in Indiana. Meanwhile the girls and kids dined out at Planet Hollywood, and afterwards we met up with them for an Ice Cream desert at Ghiradelli’s, which I would highly recommend!
Thursday – 4/7
Our last day in Orlando, and rather than head over to MGM we decided to spend another day at the Magic Kingdom. There was still so much we hadn’t been able to do on the first day there and Hailey had a lot of characters she still wanted to meet, so the decision was pretty easy to head back there for another day. Again, the weather was beautiful!
We were able to ride on quite a few things we missed on Day 1, including Thunder Mountain (which our daughter loved), Space Mountain, and Stitch’s Great Escape, which technically is not a ride. By the way, SGE is not worth the time in line even for the Fast Pass. It was probably my biggest disappointment of any of the attractions on the trip. Hailey enjoyed The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, as well as the Swiss Family Tree House and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. We also spent a lot of time in Toonland where the kids got to ride The Barnstomer, a mini coaster. Of course, after tackling Thunder Mountain our daughter thought it was pretty tame.
After the ride we spent the next 90 minutes in lines to meet the Pooh Characters and then the Princesses. For those that can do it this way, I recommend having one parent go with the child in one line (the shorter line) and have the other stand in the much longer line. It’ll get you in and out of there much quicker! It was worth the wait though, as she was able to meet Cinderella, Snow White and Princess Aurora and she absolutely loved it. The highlight was when she met Aladdin and Jasmine earlier in the day, but she was upset when she realized that she forgot to tell Jasmine that she was wearing her Jasmine underwear that day!
After lunch and the Jungle Cruise (warning: bad jokes alert on that ride!) we were back in Tomorrowland and the kids hit the Astro Orbiter while we hit Space Mountain. I don’t care how old SM is it remains one of my all-time favorites…I never tire of that ride! We then headed over to Cinderella’s Castle and watched the Cinderellabration. As it was going on I asked a woman about character dinners and she said that while Crystal Palace was a popular choice (and not possible to get in w/out a reservation) she recommended we head over to Liberty Square and dine at the Liberty Tree Tavern. We got in after about a 30-minute wait and were visited by Chip and Dale, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto. The kids loved every minute of it and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone that has not made reservations elsewhere.
There was a threat of Thunderstorms and it looked like it was about to open up after dinner, so my family made a mad dash back to the shuttle and Port Orleans in advance of the projected sever weather. Of course, it all blew over so we lost those last few hours we could have spent on a few rides, the parade and the fireworks. But that was the only bad decision we made all week, so all-in-all I’m happy with what we did.
We flew home the next day through Newark this time and went right from the airport to a rehearsal dinner for a wedding we were in the following day. Despite the rocky start in Cleveland we had a fantastic time and it was a memorable first trip for both my wife and daughter. We hope to get down there every two years or so, although I’m already planning for a return trip in 2006.
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