Salute To The Troops Trip Report-Part 1 May 2-7

Salute To The Troops Trip-Part 1​

Yay!! We just got back from Disney and I couldn’t wait to start writing my trip report. If you want to read my others, here they are:
(November 2008) http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=372491
(January 2009) http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=396347


I took a ridiculous amount of pics, and some video that I’ll hopefully be able to download and share in small portions. For starters, why not introduce the vacationers:
DH: Ben, 31 years old, Coast-Guardsman, used to not like the World so much due to feeling like a Sherpa most of the trip packing all of our stuff…but as we need less kid stuff, he’s become just as huge a Disney fan as me!
Myself: Melanee, 28 years old, Super-Mom!!, writer of trip report, part-time can-can dancer(as you'll see later in the report), not afraid to look crazy and immerse herself in the magic…but did NOT wear a pack.
DS #1: Caleb, 9 years old and the star of our last trip report, LOVES Star Wars, Mission:Space and Test Track and cracked up at Universe of Energy
DS #2: Samuel, 5-years old and not afraid to be a ham for the camera, still loves characters but is getting old enough for more intense rides. LOVES Soarin', Kali River Rapids, the Monorails and dancing at Biergarten polka party
DS #3: Aaron, 3-years old and the “baby” of the family. Loves to give mom a work-out by making her pack him around the World. LOVES characters and parades and the Nemo "Mine" birds.

Saturday, May 2nd: So my DH is at flight school out here and we live on the Panhandle of Florida. In a few months he’ll be a CG helo pilot!! Unfortunately the schedule he’s on gives him close to zero time off, so when we get it, we escape!! Disneyworld is usually the destination since we don’t know if we’ll ever live quite so close or convenient to it. We left on Saturday afternoon after our sons’ baseball games and made the 5 ½ hour trek to the World. I made a few last minute ADRs on the way and got into the Hoop de Doo Revue for a dinner show and Chef Mickey’s for a character breakfast. We checked into our hotel and since it was quite late, got right to bed.

Sunday, May 3rd: ANIMAL KINGDOM
We haven’t been to Animal Kingdom since June, 2007, our first ever trip to WDW, so we were due! We got up and at ‘em early because we were all just so darn excited!! We planned on a long, full day with no nap breaks since they closed at 5pm. I was really hoping for dinner at Boma but it was too last minute. L . Oh well, there is plenty more to see and do and we can always do it next time.

Anyone ever notice there's a dragon on the sign? Nowhere in the park did I see a dragon...

I love approaching Animal Kingdom and hearing all the fun jungle music. It gets you in the mood for an adventurous day immediately. First thing we did was head to a ticket booth because we had to purchase our special military salute to the troops tickets there. DH got a free 5-day premium pass and the rest of us scored our 5-day base passes for $99 each, with each adding on water parks for $25 each. This was our first time adding on water parks so we were excited for that!!! And we were really excited knowing we would only use a portion of our ticket days…so we have unused days for later in the year! They are also offering 40% off of hotel accomodations, but we couldn't get in at such a last minute.

Before we could even go through the turnstiles I had to make a beeline for the restrooms because Aaron rubbed sunblock into his eyes. Poor baby, he was just getting over pink eye so his eyes were super sensitive. I ended up sticking his head under the faucet to wash it all out. Lesson learned! After that we were back in business!!
So we started our tour. We walked briskly past the CMs with spiders (which sent a chill up DH’s back-he hates them!) and headed around the Oasis. We saw some pretty parrots on the way:

Then there it was…the Tree of Life!! What an awesome sight! I took a few pics, but we avoided all the photopass photographers this time…

At this point our group split up temporarily. DH took the stroller and the younger boys to get in line for Kilmanjaro Safaris while Caleb and I took the path to get FPs for Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids.

 

[disneygirl1]

Loving the report! Keep it coming!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Loving the pictures! Your boys are so cute too by the way!

Thanks! More on the way!

Great report so far!! You're right the military salute is an awesome deal. I hope you can get the 40% off rooms next time too!!

I'm with Aaron by the way, I think all popsicles at Disney should be Mickey shaped.

We are SOOOO using the 40% off discount next time we go!! We've never stayed at a Disney resort because we've always gotten better deals through Armed Forces Vacation Club, or a good neighbor hotel. Or...simply because our trips are so last-minute due to DH's crazy schedule.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

We are SOOOO using the 40% off discount next time we go!! We've never stayed at a Disney resort because we've always gotten better deals through Armed Forces Vacation Club, or a good neighbor hotel. Or...simply because our trips are so last-minute due to DH's crazy schedule.

I hear you. We had a hard time switching from Shades of Green because of the prices and room sizes. The first time we got an overflow rate from Shades of Green and got to stay at the AKL for a huge discount, we were hooked!!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

So eventually I did find the stroller, then sat down for a breather before we started to make our way over to Dinoland, U.S.A We weren't in a hurry so we stopped off right before you go under the Dinoland sign to see our pals from the Hundred-Acre-Wood first. Maybe it isn’t obvious to everyone that this character spot exists because at 1pm there was only a 5 minute wait. To be honest, I almost overlooked it myself!

Waiting ever so patiently to see Tigger

Showing Tigger how they can bounce!

After meeting Pooh and the Gang, I got a text from DH saying he and Caleb were just getting off Dinosaur so it was time to meet them. Caleb and I headed over there but stopped at the TRex outside because a CM was talking about fossils and stuff and it was very interesting, especially for Caleb. She had him hold different bones and guess where they went on the dinosaur. The last one she had him hold turned out to be fossilized ________ and for a 9-year-old that was hilarious!

Anyway, it was a good little distraction to slow us down. We rode Dinosaur together and it was such a blast!! I enjoyed it so much more this time than last time, for reasons I’m not sure. It was just so fun!

 

[Disney Soldier]

Great pictures and report of your trip. Hope to be posting one soon. Being in the Army, I don't have much flexibility to plan a trip to Disney. Ya'll are Coast Guard??? Wow, that is hard job!!! My father in law was in the Coast Guard in the 60s. I've heard the stories from him.

 

[tink68]

Great trip report and pics. We actually were going to skip this year until we found out about the military deal. Too good to pass up. Now we are going in October again. :sohappy: Hubby was 16 years Navy Reserve and is now Air Force Reserve because his Navy Squadron was cut. Glad you guys were able to go and enjoy. :wave:

 

[disneygirl1]

Loving it! Boy, your two littlest boys look just like you!

 

[popsicletrees]

I am really enjoying your report! I can't wait to read the rest!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

I hear you. We had a hard time switching from Shades of Green because of the prices and room sizes. The first time we got an overflow rate from Shades of Green and got to stay at the AKL for a huge discount, we were hooked!!

That sounds awesome!! Well, we usually do what is cheapest and we can make due with. I mean, we don't really spend much time at our hotels(as you can tell from my report! But DH and I agreed that for our last trip while we are living here, we're gonna splurge. Probably try to get Wilderness Lodge, that is DH's favorite...that is if we can get in there on semi-late notice! After our November trip, it will most likely be a few years before we are back.

Great pictures and report of your trip. Hope to be posting one soon. Being in the Army, I don't have much flexibility to plan a trip to Disney. Ya'll are Coast Guard??? Wow, that is hard job!!! My father in law was in the Coast Guard in the 60s. I've heard the stories from him.

Thank you!! I am lucky that my husband doesn't go overseas, but it is definitely a challenge. We've still moved something like 5 times since we've been married these last 8 years, and my DH went OCS and now flight school. It is weird, I can't wait for him to have a normal schedule of just Search and Rescue and related duties! We're headed to Astoria, OR toward the end of the year, so there is always Disneyland Resort!

Great trip report and pics. We actually were going to skip this year until we found out about the military deal. Too good to pass up. Now we are going in October again. :sohappy: Hubby was 16 years Navy Reserve and is now Air Force Reserve because his Navy Squadron was cut. Glad you guys were able to go and enjoy. :wave:

Thanks for reading! Have a fun trip!

Loving it! Boy, your two littlest boys look just like you!

They do, yes. Boys are so fun, and in a way, I am glad we get to skip all the princesses business at WDW. It is everywhere! lol

I am really enjoying your report! I can't wait to read the rest!

I'll probably be posting some more tomorrow. AK gets wrapped up soon with very little pics because my camera battery died. There is much more to come though and I'm having so much fun writing it! :wave:

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Ok! Where was I?...Pooh and Tigger...Dinosaur...Oh yes!!

So as Caleb and I went on Dinosaur, DH took the younger boys and took a Spin on the Triceratops! They had so much fun, Samuel yelled, "That was AWESOME!!" when he got off. :ROFLOL:At this point, I realized I had my camcorder and recorded some stuff. I'm not good with downloading video but if I figure it out, I'll post those later. We exitted Dinosaur right as the boys were riding so we got to wave at them and see them go. After they got off, we figured we could go over to Chester and Hester's crazy spinning ride that Caleb was so interested in. We thought more of us could go but there is a height requirement that made it so only Caleb and an adult could go. So he and I waited standby for about 15 minutes while Ben took the younger boys to do whatever. We spun around and got jerked this way and that which was fun then met Ben. He informed me that while we were waiting in the queue the boys got lucky enough to meet Pluto and Goofy!!

Perfect fit Pluto!!

One thing to mention that was cool is that while we do have to switch-aroo a lot with our different ages of kids, it seemed like something cool always happened for the waiting party...such as meeting characters.

We grabbed some frozen lemonades and Caleb got to try to shoot a couple of basketballs but unfortunately didn't win. He said, "What a rip off!" I had to agree...the basketballs are quite big for the hoop size and it makes it tough to win even once. :shrug:

So we moved on! Our FPs for Expedition Everest were up and Caleb decided that if he could do Dinosaur, he was brave enough for Everest. So Ben and Caleb headed over there and the younger boys and I went to get a spot for Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. We waited a while and I didn't hear from Ben so I tried calling and texting...with no luck. Hmmm, I figured maybe his phone died. Bummer. The parade was awesome though, and both boys loved it!! There was great character interaction with the crowd and Aaron recognized a ton of characters. MJJP really is a fun one for little kids. I was glad we waited to watch it.

When the parade was over, it was almost time for the last Finding Nemo: the Musical time to start so we hoofed it over there to get a seat. The boys were antsy but I did my best to help them stick it out until the show started because I knew they would love it!! They loved "finding nemo" as he swam from bubble to bubble on stage. But as soon as the show started and Marlin and Coral came out, Aaron got spooked...then the barracuda and all bets were off. We had to leave. Aaron was literally yelling, "Get me outta here!"

So, exhausted, sweaty and a little disappointed that we didn't get to see Nemo, I took a deep breath and packed the little boys back to our stroller. I aimed for the parking lot and we started to make our way out of the park. On our way though, Samuel begged me for one last ride on Kali River Rapids. I summoned my adventurous side and said yes. Who cares if we get soaked? We're headed to our hotel right after anyway.

How fun! Once our ride was over, the park was closed and we walked out in the crowd. As soon as we passed under the Animal Kingdom sign, my DH found us, and we were all together again. He informed me that he and Caleb rode Everest twice, then Kali River Rapids themselves!!

Oh, and apparently, I had his cell phone the whole time in the stroller...lesson learned!

We went back to our hotel to get cleaned up because we had dinner reservations an hour later for Mayan Grill at Coronado Springs Resort, but when we got there, Ben was feeling a bit queasy. So we decided to pass on a big dinner production and keep it simple. I went out to run a few errands and get Subway sandwiches and Ben took a nap then took the boys for a swim. When I got back, everyone ate and got to bed at a reasonable hour.

We were glad for that, because the next day was Magic Kingdom!!!:sohappy::sohappy::sohappy:

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Quick Recap on Animal Kingdom...we went on May 3rd, a Sunday. Weather was beautiful and in the 70s, just hot enough to enjoy Kali River Rapids, but not so hot that you are in agony. The crowds were managable, I'd say about a 6-7 out of 10. We never had to wait more than about 15-20 minutes stand by and the rest of the time we used FastPass.


Ok, Magic Kingdom next!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Day 2: MAGIC KINGDOM

DAY 2, May 4th: MAGIC KINGDOM

Today I woke up early, I couldn’t hardly sleep because I kept thinking about all we were going to see at the Magic Kingdom! I made myself stay in bed until 6am for the sake of the rest of the family, but at 6am sharp I hit the shower and started getting dressed. Everyone else followed suit in their own timing. My DH is so awesome at Disney. There is no convincing him to get up early to beat crowds, etc. He’s been around long enough and we’ve gone together enough that he understands the routine well. J One of the many reasons I love him.

So we scarfed some breakfast and then headed out!! We had to get some gas and fill the tires up on our stroller so we stopped at the Hess gas station across from the entrance to the Boardwalk. Then we drove under the wonderful Walt Disney World gate(which gives me butterflies each and every time) and then to the Magic Kingdom!

We paid for our parking and got the 3rd row back in the parking lot. Unfortunately in the morning the 3rd row back is still going to be a distance to walk because of where they start the parking. We’ve wised up to the fact that when we leave and come back later, we ask to drive to the front parking lot. In the morning though we are polite and just park where they tell us to.

We walked (and at some points skipped!) to the monorail station and went straight for the little queue to wait to sit up front. It wasn’t too busy so we only had to let one monorail pass before my kiddos got to sit up front.

We got to ride up front last time we were here and it is so much fun! If you can slow down and wait for it, get in line and let your family ride up front, it’s great!!

I videotaped a little as we listened to the monorail and rode the scenic trip to the Magic Kingdom. For us, this is part of our wonderful Disney experience. (“Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas“…LOL)
Time to Celebrate Today!!

 

[disneygirl1]

Truely love reading your reports! I have to say I agree with you about all the princess stuff! One of the many perks of having a boy. I did how ever try to talk my DS into going to the Princess Story Book Breakfast in Norway, and he said "are you crazy, that's for girls"! So needless to say, I guess we won't be eating there in Sept. :ROFLOL:

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Day 2: MAGIC KINGDOM

Thank you CM for checking our bags!

I actually think the bag check, although necessary is a great crowd control. There isn’t a huge line at the ticket kiosk from dusk til dawn because the bag check slows it all down and people only trickle a few at a time to the ticket kiosk. I like that. We arrived just shortly after 9am, and the crowds were pretty thin still.

Main Street Station

Main Street, USA

The Celebrate! Balloons have really grown on me!

Experimenting with old-time colors

Beautiful flowers this time of year

Fun Celebrate! Decorations

The beautiful castle...can we take too many pictures? I think not!

We decided against stopping for a family picture in the typical castle spot. Instead we headed toward Tomorrowland and got a unique angle instead

Sweet story regarding that last picture...the couple who took our picture for us were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and the picture they took at that angle was the same one they took when they were at Disney for their honeymoon...25 years ago...*in unison* AWWWWWW

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Day 2: MAGIC KINGDOM

My littlest man walking along doing what kids do, dragging their hands along the walkway railing. I hated that this trip because of all this swine flu scare!! I kept making them use hand sanitizer all day long. I noticed most other moms were doing the same thing too!

Another shot of the castle

At this point, we entered Tomorrowland and since Space Mountain is closed for refurbishment, headed for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin!! We rode standby and got on immediately.

Caleb was twice as armed LOL

Samuel and Daddy

Daddy thinking he’s won

But in reality, Caleb won. Even though it was because he added his two scores up, we gave it to him because it is his favorite ride(and because if he hadn’t won, it would have bummed him out big-time)
Sam trapped by Zurg!! (blurry L )

Next we hopped right over to Astro Orbiters because I know how long it takes to ride these midway style attractions much later than 10am. We waited maybe 5 minutes.

Kids loved it!! Caleb got to ride solo

Aaron giving me the thumbs-up! (I should have had him point at it SweetPea!! LOL)

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Day 2: MAGIC KINGDOM

I tried taking a picture while on the ride...lol

Although I do have to say that up on top of the Astro Orbitters would be a neat place to snap a quick pic before exitting. Or...to end up watching the fireworks. I ended up chasing after my kiddos who are bolting toward the elevator instead. LOL

Caleb’s up high

Next we headed toward the Indy Speedway, another of the boys' favorites. DH got in line while I took Samuel and we went to get FPs for Winnie the Pooh. We had Surprise FPs for Mickey's Philharmagic pop out along with our Pooh FPs. I asked the CM, he said it does it all of the time. It happened to us last trip too. I still think it's cool!

Then I met up with DH in line and I rode with Aaron(letting him drive).

It was so funny, the car would lurch left then he'd loose control of the wheel so we'd end up lurching back and forth uncontrollably! I was laughing hysterically by the end of the ride. Aaron would yell, "Stop it car!" When we got to the finish, he yelled, "I won!" Of course I agreed with him.

DH rode letting Samuel drive

Caleb got to drive alone for the first time! Of course when we got to the finish he slammed into the back of our car and got corrected by a CM-LOL

Here's a random picture of our tickets! New designs since January

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Day 2: MAGIC KINGDOM

It was going on only about 10am and we wanted to try to see a lot of Fantasyland before the crowds really started to thicken. So we headed over to the Mad Tea Party to ride in the crazy teacups

My sweet DH in line for the teacups. He's probably smiling because he's thinking of how he's going to twirl the teacups as fast as he can and torture the rest of us LOL-I get a kick out of him

Sammy patiently waiting his turn and watching the teacups

My three boys, all together

We all squeezed into one cup and we did go around really fast. Aaron straight up just layed down and Samuel protested, so we just let the cup do its own thing. I believe the mouse who pops out of the teapot was working just fine this time too.

We had like 10 minutes to kill before our Pooh FP time came up so we just sat around, had a snack and took in the sights. Then the Hundred Acre Wood crew went to go take their breaks and walked right in front of the boys. That was a little treat for them. You can see Samuel in this pic but not Aaron. He ran after Pooh and Tigger and I nearly lost him in the crowd as people started to crowd the characters. I grabbed him right in time to queue up for the ride.

My boys in their honeypot

 

[disneygirl1]

Adorable!!! I have to say, the one picture of Caleb on the Astro Orbiter, I had to do a double take... He looked very much like my own DS! :ROFLOL:

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Day 2: MAGIC KINGDOM

Alrighty! Back to my trip report! Hey if y'all are reading, give me a quick shout out just to say Hey! :wave:and let me know you are following along.

I hope you are enjoying it!

So after we rode Pooh (which the kids loved BTW and asked for again and again during the trip), I took the older boys to Mickey's Philharmagic while DH stayed back with Aaron (who would not have been ok with it being a dark, 3-D attraction).

The kids in their 3-D glasses(Caleb trying to be "cool" )

Hidden Mickey in the French Horn!

Hidden Mickeys in the carpet

MPh is my favorite 3-D auditorium-style attraction. It is so fun! We headed over to the Alpine stroller parking and hung out while we waited for DH and Aaron to come off of It's A Small World.

At this point, we had a snack but decided it would be good to leave the parks for an hour or two to get a break. So we grabbed FPs on our way out for Peter Pan's Flight (which was perfect because it gave us a time we had to be back for) and strolled on out of the park.

This time we took a ferry across. I love that ferry ride.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Day 2: MAGIC KINGDOM

Here's a few view pics I got from the ferry:

Here's the Contemporary:

And here's the Grand Floridian:

And here's the beautiful Magic Kingdom:

Now I can't remember where we were trying to eat lunch, but we ended up scrapping our plans and stopped at Sizzler. It was nearly empty so it was a great quiet, chill lunch. We felt so refreshed and revved up to head back after that 1 1/2 hours of just sitting.

So we headed back! Our first stop was the train station. The middle of the day is a nice time to get those Train Station photo op pics, there aren't as many folks waiting around there.

We decided to hit our PPF FP on the late-half of our return time so we could explore Adventureland a bit. It is my favorite area of the park, but since we have always done it first in previous trips, we sort of miss a lot of the rest. But we had to take a ride on Pirates!

After a pirates ride that was a hit for the whole family, we headed over to the mountains area (Caleb had been asking about Splash and Big Thunder all day!!) to get FP for them. Splash wasn't too long of a wait and since Aaron was tall enough, we decided to all ride together stand by first.

It was a blast!! Aaron didn't get scared at all, he enjoyed pointing out all the friendly animals (hopping Brer Rabbit wasn't working and it is awkward because it leaves a lot of space in that display-oh well, still one of our favorites!)

We did get pretty soaked! Funny thing is that the water seemed to hit me full-face and hair!