Trip Report Mom, when will the bus get here? The kids’ first visit to Walt Disney World.

Hello everyone! I originally wrote this TR the day after we got back, mainly because every detail was still pretty fresh in my mind. It then sat for well over a week because I had to go through the almost 1,000 pictures we took. In going through said pictures, I realized there was quite a bit I forgot about! So this report has had a few revisions.

This is my first TR, so I hope you enjoy! I know I’ve enjoyed reading all of your reports and living vicariously through them! The title of this TR mainly refers to my impatient 5 year old asking me over and over when will the bus get here?

Here are the basics:
Me, DH, DD5(K) & DD21mo(E).
Monday, August 12th - Saturday, August 17th
All-Star Music family suite

A little backstory first:
I booked this trip back in February 2013 and the idea was to surprise my daughter(K) with the trip on her 5th birthday. It was so difficult not saying anything to her! I did make sure that she had Disney on the brain though. I would play 1997’s “Walt Disney Records presents The Official Album” in the car. ALL. THE. TIME. I would show K videos of Wishes or MSEP; You Tube videos of Expedition Everest and other rides. I would show her the pictures of other’s trip reports on wdwmagic! Any time she would ask if we could go, I would simply say “some day”.

Her 5th birthday was here and I could not wait to tell her! We had to be out of the house early that day, so there was no elaborate reveal. I had been collecting a bunch of Disney stuff from outgrown sales since March, so I put them in a Tinker Bell backpack. I bought a large chocolate chip muffin from Wegmans and stuck little Minnie Ears on it.

I had also hand made her birthday card. K can’t really read yet, so I used pictures in her card. The front had an outline of a Minnie Mouse head and here’s what the inside looked like:

She “read” the card, but still didn’t get it. My DH and I told her “we’re going to Walt Disney World!” She was so excited, but then immediately asked if we were leaving right now. I then had to burst her bubble and told her we were leaving in a week and a half.


We had a big birthday party for her that weekend complete with a Minnie Mouse/Princess cake.

As the days got closer, K got more and more excited. I was so happy that I could talk to her about it now!

OK, on to the actual TR!
DH was up in the Poconos 2 days before our trip for a softball tournament, which meant I was left at home to watch the girl’s and pack. That’s so much easier said than done, especially with E trying to unpack everything.
DH ended up coming home earlier than expected on Sunday, which was a huge relief! My parents also came over on Sunday and treated us to dinner so we wouldn’t have to cook or clean any dishes before we left.

The girls were in bed by 8pm. We wanted them to get as much sleep as possible because we needed to be out of the house by 5am on Monday morning. The plan was to finish packing and get to bed by midnight. What actually happened was I didn’t get to bed until 1:30am and DH didn’t get to sleep until 2am. Last minute stuff always gets in the way. We still had to charge the camera and clear out pictures, charge the tablets and get movies loaded on them. Oh, and clean out the car so there would be room for the luggage.

Stay tuned for day 1! Thanks for reading!

 

[happy76]

After swimming and naps, we got ready to head back to EPCOT.

I think the kids were a bit excited. OK, mostly K was excited.

We did Spaceship Earth again, and this time it got stuck at the top - which I thought was pretty cool!

K wanted to ask Crush a question, so we went back to The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

I think her question was going to be how many offspring he has? She was so excited to ask her question and had her little hand up the entire time. They didn’t choose her and she was devastated. Absolutely devastated. Uncontrollable sobs.

Once K was able to compose herself a bit, I suggested we go see Figment as he might cheer her up. There was no wait for Imagination and the cast member at the front even made a joke about the crowds. It was pretty sad – the cast members were just hanging around with nothing to do. They perked up as soon as they saw us, but you could tell they were bored.

The girls enjoyed the ride and they liked the interactive part where they could make music.

It was about 8:30pm when we left the Imagination Pavilion. Soarin and Test Track were still busy, so we headed over to the Electric Umbrella for a late dinner and then parked ourselves in front of the fountain to catch some of the fireworks from Illuminations. I knew it wasn't a very good spot for viewing, but I figured we'd have a much better chance at getting a bus back to Music. Hey, it gives me a reason to plan another vacation to Disney, right?

As soon as Illuminations was done, we made a bee-line for the exit and got ahead of most of the crowds.

Up next: Animal Kingdom!

 

[happy76]

Wednesday August 14th.

We weren’t in any hurry to get to Animal Kingdom this morning. I know it’s best to get there early since the animals are out, but we needed some sleep! I think AK had morning EMH’s, but we were there by 9 or 9:30am. It was so hot and humid this morning!
We moseyed over to Kilimanjaro Safari’s. The standby line was about 30 minutes, so we got in line. We were there for maybe 30 seconds when a very nice gentleman handed us 4 FP’s to be used right now! Thank you Thank you! I love the generosity of complete strangers when in Disney!

I'm not going to post too many pictures of the animals because A) you've probably seen most of them and B) despite being in the back of the truck with few obstructions, my picture taking was pretty awful!

Most of the animals were out and about. The lion was visible, but he had some business to attend to, so I didn’t think it was appropriate to take a picture of him in such a vulnerable position. The girls really enjoyed seeing all of the animals, especially the giraffes because they were so close to the road. I enjoyed seeing the elephants - the Philadelphia Zoo doesn't have them anymore.

We hopped off and made our way to through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. The girls loved the little yellow birds and the fish. Those birds are crazy! They fly right in front of your face!

K’s favorite part was the giant bull frogs or toads. Holy moly they were massive! Baby gorilla was nursing right up at the glass, so I told K that we should give them some privacy.

The girls were starting to get crabby and tired, so we started to head towards the entrance. We then noticed that the Festival of the Lion King was starting. We grabbed something quick to drink, parked the stroller and made a mad dash to the show.

What a fantastic show! Amazing! Simply amazing!

We were in the giraffe section.

Definitely a must do while in Animal Kingdom!

The girls were still cranky, so we got a light lunch at Pizzafari before going back to Music. I'm surprised we were able to snag a table inside - it was packed!

DH snapped a picture of Everest. K wanted to ride this so badly, but she wasn't quite tall enough. Next time.

The heat and humidity really wiped us out. The girls were sound asleep during the walk to the bus.

 

[LizC]

Glad you got to catch the Lion King Show, it really is wonderful. I saw it for the first time on my last visit, and we were blown away!

How did you like Music Resort? We have never stayed at a Value, but now that we have the kids I think we may go that route next time.

Looking forward to the rest.

 

[happy76]

Glad you got to catch the Lion King Show, it really is wonderful. I saw it for the first time on my last visit, and we were blown away!

How did you like Music Resort? We have never stayed at a Value, but now that we have the kids I think we may go that route next time.

Looking forward to the rest.

Most of my stays have been at a Value resort and I've never had any issues. When my hubby and I went in 2007, we splurged and stayed at CBR, but only because the DDP was free. I honestly didn't think it was that much better than the Values. I looked into AoA because they also have the Family Suites, but it ended up being a little cheaper to stay at the suites in Music. Even with two kids in tow, we didn't spend much time in our room, so I didn't see the need to spend the extra $$$ for a Moderate.
I really liked the Suites. It's 2 standard rooms with a large doorway between them. The one side is a living room and bathroom. The other side has its own bathroom and is split into a little kitchenette and a bedroom with a door that can be closed. This was super important to me because we put the pack n play in there, shut the door and my youngest was able to get an uninterrupted nap.
We stayed in the Calypso building which is closest to the main building. I think there are suites in another building, but I can't remember which one. I loved being in the first building because we could get to and from the bus area in 2 minutes.

 

[happy76]

We got back to the room and E went down for a nap. DH & K were going to go swimming again, so before they left I headed to Intermission for some food to bring back.

Swimming was out as a storm was approaching. DH passed out on the couch, so K & I went for a walk around the resort. I've stayed at Music before, but I must have only ever stayed in Calypso, because I don't remember the rest of this resort!? I really liked the Jazz section with the fountain. K wanted to make a wish, but I didn't have any change on me.

We continued on and reached the Piano pool just as it started to rain. I was able to snap this with my phone before the Heavens opened up.

For some reason, we decided to keep going. We had to take shelter under the cowboy boots for a while. Once the thunder and lightning got close, we booked it back to the room.

DH & E were still sound asleep, so K & I watched some TV and colored. Not much else to do when there's a massive thunderstorm outside.

It was close to 6pm when the storm finally ended, so we decided to head over to DHS for the night. We didn't bring the camera with us because the weather was still a bit iffy. I did remember to take a few (ok, 2) pictures with my phone.

Monsters U was having a dance party in front of Mickey’s Sorcerer’s hat. Mike and Sully were rockin' on stage, but we didn't have time to stop. We were on a mission - Star Tours! We got a Parent Swap ticket and K and I went in first.

I know, it's a pretty pathetic picture, but it's all I was able to get. The line was moving fast!

K loved it! Loved it! She had so much fun! As soon as we got off the ride, she looked at me and said "that was AWESOME!"

DH handed over the Parent Swap ticket and K got to ride again. While E and I were waiting for them to get off the ride, the Jedi Training Academy was taking place. That was so much fun! It was so cool to see these little kids taking on Darth Vader!

After Star Tours, we took a walk past the ABC Commissary and hopped in line for Voyage of the Little Mermaid. K loves Ariel, so this was right up her ally. It was really cute! We were pretty far to the side, but it was still a cute show.

Afterwards, we let her pick 2 things to buy with her money. She chose the Aurora/Ariel combo doll and the little tiny Ariel and her sister’s toys. They change color in cold water, or something.

We went over to Pixar Place to see what the Buzz was all about. Get it? Buzz. Heh! Anyhoo, TSMM had a 2 hour standby wait and there were no FP’s. Oh well.

We headed over to Sunset Boulevard just to take in the sights as K wasn't tall enough to ride RnRC or ToT. It was around 8:30 and we somehow ended up in line for Fantasmic! I wasn’t planning to see it during this trip, but we were game! We were seated about 10 rows back on the right hand side.

It was a huge hit with the girls! K was already familiar with the music because I’ve been playing the finale to Fantasmic in the car on a regular basis.

So, I know people talk about seeing Disney through their child's eyes, but I hadn't had that moment yet. Until tonight. E was on my lap and K was with DH. I sat and watched K's reaction to the show. I have to admit I got teary-eyed! Watching her eyes light up and get wide; holding her hand up to her mouth as she gasped at something. It was a wonderful moment that I will never forget!

We stopped for something to drink at Fairfax Fare because we were parched! K was passed out in the stroller and E got her second wind and was wide awake. This child drank an entire 10oz. apple juice! I'm surprised she didn't float!
We caught a bus back to Music and called it a night as we had to be up early the next morning.

Up next: bibbidi -bobbidi - BOO!

 

[happy76]

Thursday August 15th.

We were all up bright and early this morning as we had something really special planned for K! I had her dress in her Tinker Bell/Tiana dress. (It’s a pale green dress from the Christmas Tree Shop). She correctly guessed that we would be seeing princesses this morning. Well, that was only part of the surprise.

I thought we would be walking down Main Street before the park opened, but then I realized this morning was MK’s EMH’s. No worries though. We were in the Magic Kingdom!

Eeeee!!! There it is!

Good morning!

My happy place.

We headed up the ramp towards the castle. I REALLY want to live here.

We walked through the castle because...

Miss K had an appointment with a Fairy-Godmother-In-Training!

 

[happy76]

Lindsay was our lovely Fairy Godmother-in-training. She told us that her and the other fairy godmother’s-in-training all sleep in blue bunk beds in the castle.

K chose the classic princess bun. She was so excited!

Fairy Godmother Lindsay told K that she was using Jellyfish goo in her hair. I asked her where can I get some jellyfish goo? She told me I’d have to ask Ariel. It was really a great interaction!

I asked her to go very light on the makeup since, A) it was so hot and humid out and, B) K doesn’t need all that makeup on her face.

A final sprinkle and...

...viola!

She really liked the "hidden" Mickey on the back of her head!

Princess K for the day. (Don't get used to it kid!)

After the pampering, we hung out at Cinderella's fountain for a bit.

Making wishes.

Another one of my most favorite pictures of this entire trip! I think this might need to be a picture I take every time we come back.

 

[happy76]

We walked back into the castle to Cinderella’s Royal Table for breakfast.

K had no interest in breakfast. She ate some of the fruit and maybe half of a French Toast stick. E on the other hand, would have eaten everything in sight!

Here comes Snow White!

Next was Aurora.

K got so excited because Jasmine was coming to the table!! She had wanted to meet her all week!
I think she actually has stars in her eyes!

And yes, E is staring at Jasmine's chest.

Time to make a wish!

Ariel came around and I asked her about the Jellyfish goo. She said you need to sneak up on a sleeping jellyfish and tickle it. Then the goo comes out! Who knew?

The girls had a great time, but it was getting very busy and E was getting antsy and making a huge mess on the floor.

We said goodbye to the Princesses and headed over to new Fantasyland.

 

[happy76]

I was very excited to see new Fantasyland. Nothing was here back in 2007 except the old remnants of 20,000 Leagues.

I love the castle walls!

Mine train construction. I hope this is an awesome ride!

The Beast's castle really does seem too small. The forced perspective just isn't working for me.

We never did get a chance to go to Gaston's Tavern. Something else to put on the to-do list for our next trip.

Eric's castle is beautiful!

We walked right on to Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid. This little blue crab was one of K's favorite parts of the ride!

I loved the queue on this ride!

It was a good ride - the girls liked it. Ursula was amazing!!

Unfortunately, this was all we really did in New Fantasyland. We never got to see the story-telling thing with Belle and we didn't get a chance to peek into Be Our Guest.

 

[Minx]

Fab photos, really enjoying your report. The girls look like they are having a ball!

 

[acrab3t]

What beautiful girls you have! It looks like they both had a wonderful time.

 

[farrellbarrel]

What a great birthday trip! They are so cute!!

 

[happy76]

I love how the BBB turned out for your little one. Sometimes girls come out of there looking like they got their face dipped in stage makeup, but K just looks adorable and ecstatic. And that picture of E and Ariel, AWWWW!

Thanks! I just wanted her to still look like a 5 year old kid when it was done. I really do love that picture with Ariel!

 

[happy76]

Fab photos, really enjoying your report. The girls look like they are having a ball!

Thanks!

 

[happy76]

What beautiful girls you have! It looks like they both had a wonderful time.

Thanks!

 

[happy76]

What a great birthday trip! They are so cute!!

Thanks!

 

[happy76]

We made our way to Storybook Circus and noticed there was a less than 5 minute wait for Dumbo. To me, Dumbo is one of those must-ride kind of rides for a kids first visit.

Ready to fly!

Hello!

K had been eying up Barnstormer while we were in line for Dumbo, so we got a Parent Swap ticket and K & I hopped in line while DH & E went to find some shade. It was about a 10 minute wait, which wouldn't be too bad, but it was so hot and there really isn't a ton of shade in the queue.

K loved it! But it's a roller coaster, so of course she'd love it. She rode the Comet at Hersheypark for the first time this summer and had her hands up!

DH & K went back on Barnstormer and I hung out with Little Miss E. Poor thing - she inherited the sweat glands

 

[happy76]

Since it was so hot, we thought a ride on the WDW Railroad would be nice.

We rode the train from and to Fantasyland, then headed towards one of my all-time-fav's... teacups! DH & I have been grooming the girls for the teacups since they were infants. Seriously. The spinny rides at carnivals and other amusement parks were simply practice for the "real" thing.

Always a good ride!

Weeee!

I really wanted the girls to ride the Carousel, but it was closed for refurb!

We hopped in line for a meet and greet with Tigger and Pooh - just as they took a break.
I would have loved to have a picture of the girls with them, but it wasn't worth it standing in the hot sun.

We made our way over to Tomorrowland and got FP's for Buzz before heading to the Laugh Floor. K liked it, but E did NOT want to sit still. We stopped for a bathroom break and a drink and waited for our FP time to arrive. K loved Space Ranger Spin! Her favorite part was at the end. DH was clearly beating me, but right at the end, my score shot up! He's still convinced I cheated.

Buzz was out doing a meet and greet and one of the cast members motioned us over. We were the last one's in line, which turned out to be perfect!

I think Buzz was smitten with K!

They danced for a bit...

It was so cute!

 

[happy76]

We back-tracked through Tomorrowland towards Liberty Square. Had to check out the Rapunzel bathrooms!

It's such a beautifully themed area. I wish they had done something other than bathrooms.
Right next door was the Haunted Mansion. We told K before the trip it was her call if she wanted to ride it. She said she wanted to go on it, so we got in line.

This was K's favorite part of the graveyard!

She LOVED how Sweet Leota's eyes would open and close!

I had made the decision before we left to tell her that the ghosts in the Haunted Mansion are not real and that it's all pretend. I think this really helped her to enjoy the ride and not be so scared. I told her if there was anything she did find scary, just close your eyes.

She did great! The stretching room started "stretching" before the doors were closed. Kind of ruins the effect a bit. I forgot that it's only 3 riders per buggy, so somehow the girls and I were in one and DH got a buggy to himself. The ride stopped 3 times, but it was never in a "scary" place. The only part K was iffy about was the graveyard where the heads pop out from behind the headstones.
As soon as we got off the ride, I texted my sister & mom to tell them that K went on Haunted! My sister and I were WAY older than K before we were brave enough to open our eyes!

I think E passed out in the stroller, so we headed to Pecos Bill for a late lunch. We really took our time eating - E ended up sleeping for about an hour and a half! While eating, I realized I had left the Preferred Fireworks Viewing voucher back in the room. We made some calls and were told that we needed that voucher. OK. It was close to 5pm by this point and we didn't want to all leave the park, so DH decided to head back to the room for the voucher. I put the girls in the stroller and stopped for a Mickey bar and a Strawberry bar.

We headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean. The sky was starting to look a little gross, so I put the rain cover on the stroller. The girls loved it and K kept looking for Captain Jack!
We got out of Pirates and the gift shop was packed. This meant only one thing - rain. It was pouring! We hung out in the gift shop for a while and then I got a text from DH that he just got back to the room. It was 5:54pm. It took him an hour to get from MK to All-Star! Apparently everyone flocked to the buses right before the storm. He found the voucher and was headed back to the park while the girls and myself made our way through the rain to the bathroom for a quick diaper change. Once the rain let up a bit, we went back to the stroller. There was a tiny pin hole in the rain cover, so one side of the stroller was soaked. I mean, puddle on the seat soaked! It was still thundering out, so I took the girls and the stroller over to the entrance to Adventureland.

DH came back with the voucher, glow sticks and rain ponchos. I used one of the ponchos to cover the soaking wet seat. By this point it was close to 7pm.

We waited about 10 minutes for It’s a Small World. The girls loved it! K thought the outfits were really pretty!

After IASM, we headed over to Philarmagic. I had never seen this before – it was really cute!

The crowds were starting to line up for MSEP, so we took the path behind the castle that meets up with Tomorrowland. The skies were looking nasty again and there was lightning in the distance. It did make for some fantastic castle pictures though!

We made a left at the Plaza Restaurant when the rain started and took shelter under Tomorrowland Terrace. The girls were getting pretty cranky. E hated having the rain cover on because it got really stuffy inside the stroller. The Dollar Tree glow sticks entertained for about a minute.

The rain eventually let up and we made our way back to Main Street and found a place to park the stroller. DH stayed with the girls while I went in search of something to eat. Ice cream and Casey's Corner were both out of the question because they were packed with people getting food for the parade. I ended up getting a bucket of popcorn and some drinks. It was about 8:55pm when an announcement came on saying MSEP would be delayed due to the weather.
We decided to check in for our preferred viewing of Wishes. We didn’t need the stupid voucher. All they did was check to make sure our name was on the list. Grrr!

Anyway, we made our way down the path to the viewing area. It’s really a great spot for the fireworks. The major downside is that it’s also the smoking section.

K dancing to the music!

MSEP finally started around 9:30pm, so DH took K up to Main Street to watch. I stayed back with E so we wouldn’t lose our spot for the fireworks.

My view of MSEP:

I have to say, as much as I love MSEP, this new version just isn’t the same. DH and I were in Disney in September 2007 and the parade was wonderful. I listen to the music all the time in the car (from that same WDW Official Album). I remember the parade when I was a kid and it just makes me smile and takes me to my happy place. There seems to be no differentiation in the music now. I don’t know if I’m making any sense.
K loved the parade. She had the perfect view –on daddy’s shoulders!

Wishes started about 10:15pm. The wind shifted and the cigarette smell was wafting right in our direction. I was this close to leaving, but we had such great seats for Wishes.

Such a great show! No one does fireworks better than Disney! After Wishes, we hung around for about 20 min to let some of the crowds pass. The ducks provided endless entertainment for E and K made friends with the little girl sitting behind us.

It was close to 11pm when we got to the bus stop. There were a ton of people in line at Music, but there were also 2 buses ready to go. We didn’t make either bus, but we figured another one would come soon. We waited. And waited. And waited. No bus. We could see quite a few buses at the entrance to the bus section, but they were just sitting there! One by one they came to get people at other resorts. I think every other resort got a bus except the All-Stars. We waited at least 30 minutes for a bus.

We were packed in like sardines! I think we finally made it back to the room just after midnight. This was not the first time we’d run into bus issues with All-Star Music.
K was complete dead weight – she went right to bed. She still had her hair done - there was no way I could have given her a bath - it would have to wait until the morning.
I should have taken a picture of her - she looked like a little doll! E fell asleep pretty quickly too.

Up next: a late start to MGM - I mean DHS!

 

[LizC]

What an awesome picture of the castle!

The preferred viewing of the fireworks, is that the same as the Wishes Dessert Party?