And so... we are back. How is it that the wait for Disney is so long and exciting and then in a blink of an eye, it’s over?
I am so glad we were able to take this trip. It was a difficult year and we really needed some magic and fantasy to “reboot” our lives. We were in Disney from September 11th - 21st and stayed at French Quarters.
For those of you who do not know us...
Me - Mary / Mom (The Disney Fanatic)
Ross / Dad / Grumpy (Although he had an identity crisis this trip and thought he was Cinderella.)
Julia / Sissy - My now teenage Mouseketeer
Hope / “The Hopester” My 6 year old princess - diagnosed with Severe Autism and Sensory Integration Disorder.
By the time we took the monorail to the Grand Floridian, we realized we were beat.
This was the first time I waited for the chef to come out and speak to me. It took a while, but it may have just seemed that way because I was so hungry. Ross and the girls got their food. Hope barely ate - I think she was just so tired. The chef came out and took me through the buffet. Most of the items were available to me and then he said when it came time for dessert, he would send something out.
Soon the royal family came out and Hope popped up to meet them.
Once we had seen everyone, Hope lay down behind Ross and me. (We had the booth seat.) She needed some “squeezes & squishes”. When we finished eating, I asked for my dessert and our waiter said he had to get the chef. I also asked for some coffee. Our waiter was really nice, but I have to say I really wasn’t impressed. He barely came around - not even to refill our drinks. Ross took Hope outside for a bit and Julia went to the restroom and finally this arrived...
We finished up and paid the bill. As we walked out of the restaurant, Julia wanted to snap a picture of this...
So we discussed what we would do. Our original plan was to “hop” to Epcot - remember I talked Ross into getting park hoppers. Unfortunately, we realized the most logical decision was to head back to the room and settle in and get some well needed sleep. Julia was on board with the new plan so we asked Hope, who had her eyes half shut what she wanted to do and of corse she said...
And so the responsible Disney parents we are, we obliged.
Somehow we all got a second wind and were on the monorail to Epcot by about 7PM. The Magic Kingdom closed early for “Night Of Joy” but the monorails crowds were not bad at all. Actually, the crowds all day were really okay. The longest lines I saw were for 7DMT and PP - and even then, the waits were for 60 min - I don’t think I’ve ever seen the waits that low for those attractions! Many attractions were walk ons and I really hoped it would last our whole time!
When we got to EPCOT, we got a return time for Soarin and then went off to see Figment! Again Hope was so happy and excited to ride! After we left Imagination we asked her where she wanted to go and she gasped, “The Seas With Nemo & Friend is open!” And so off we went to the big, blue world.
We passed on Crush and returned to Soarin. it was an awesome flight. We were all a little sad to think this would be our last visit soarin over California. I think it’s pretty certain that the film will change before our next journey.
I don't even remember who took this last picture!
We noticed Living With The Land was closed. I was caught off guard - I guess I missed that notice. We left the Land and started to feel exhausted again. So we headed on Spaceship Earth and then decided to skip Illuminations and catch a bus to FQ.
I was glad we made that call because we were second on line for the bus which came pretty quickly. Julia and Hope fell asleep on the bus. We received a text during the day that we were in building 7 - so we walked to find our building and room. I think we made a couple of wrong turns because it seemed to take forever. But eventually we found our room, 7111 and settled in. We tucked the girls in and made a quick trip to the food court to get our mugs and of course Ross got his favorite snack...
When we returned to the room, I unpacked most of our stuff while listening to Stacey. As tired as I was, I needed to get things in their place. I think it was around 1AM when I finally went to bed.
Thus, our first day in Disney is concluded.
Great first day! I had someone on facebook tell me "take a picture of the giant hat! they are taking it down soon!" LOL! When I told them it was already gone they actually made their own FB post about how upset they were!
It was really amazing! There is something about our first day... it seems that it is the only day that I'm not counting how many days we have left until we have to go home!
Great first day! I had someone on facebook tell me "take a picture of the giant hat! they are taking it down soon!" LOL! When I told them it was already gone they actually made their own FB post about how upset they were!
Day 2: Saturday September 12th - Hollywoods Studios
We had no alarm set for today. I knew after our late EMH night at Epcot I needed to let everyone recharge. I am the early morning person in this family, in case some of you didn’t realize that by now. lol By 7:30, my eyes were open and oh how awesome it is to realize that you are waking up in WDW! I wanted to go grab some coffee but our room wasn’t so close to the food court as in past years, so I just decided to shower and get ready. By the time I was out of the bathroom, Hope was up and watching Stacey do the “Must Do’s”. (She memorized it during our trip and recites it at home - so we are still listening to it!)
It is so cool that she can get dressed and ready by herself now. I had laid out her clothes for the day but she ignored her outfit and went over to where I had hung all her princess dresses and picked out her gown for the day. Her Hollywood Studios dress was Sofia.
Side Note: While we were packing, I wanted her to be a part of the preparations of our trip, so I had her pick out the clothes she wanted to wear. She went through her closet and chose a different princess gown to wear in each of the parks and DD and our airplane days. I could have saved a ton of room in our suitcases because all Hope wore were her gowns. It’s hysterical, as she put her dress on, she would exclaim, “And now the human child turns into a princess!” It was really only at night that she changed back into a “human child” for the bus ride home.
Soon enough Ross and Julia were up and getting ready. We decided not to have breakfast since we had an ADR for Play & Dine at noon. So we just had some snacks that we packed with us. By about 9:30, we were heading to the bus stop and were on our way.
As we entered, we took notice of the sky. If you have read my previous TR, you will know that our Studio days are usually filled with the most rainfall.
I have to say, we all really like the Studios. It’s hard to image all the changes that are going to be taking place in upcoming years - I hope we continue to enjoy it as much as we do now.
We stopped for a picture. I forgot to mention, since we bought Memory Maker, Ross decided he was going to take every opportunity to get a Photopass picture. So as we stop to pose, Ross Exclaims, “Where’s the hat?” Talk about missing the memo!
It was almost 10:00AM and we walked toward Disney Jr. Live On Stage.
We were almost a half hour early for the next show but I knew Hope wouldn’t want to do anything else. I had booked a Fast Pass for TOT because Julia said she wanted to give it another try. She rode on our first trip when she was 7 - but never since then. I told Ross and Julia to go ahead and Hope & I would wait for Disney Jr.
We walked to the front of the standby line to realize we were the first ones there! They have TV screens right in the queene so Hope enjoyed watching Sofia for a while. Soon more people began to line up. I kept Hope’s stroller in a good view of one of the screens so I just let the people walk in front of us. I used the time to give my folks a quick call. I was sending them pictures throughout our day. They were so excited to hear from us and to talk to Hope when she was in WDW! About 10 minutes before the show was to start, a CM walked over to us and welcomed us to Disney Jr. She asked us since Hope was first on line would she like to open the doors for the show? Really? How cool is this? She must have really paid attention to us because like I said, even though we were first on line, I let a bunch of other families go ahead of us. She walked us to the front and beyond a rope and we waited a couple of minutes more. Then she made an announcement welcoming everyone to the show and then asked Hope to knock on the door and say the magic words: “Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse!” At first Hope was a little overwhelmed and didn't know what to do but then, she did it! The doors opened and we were the first ones inside followed by Fast Pass Holders. It was so awesome!
After we were settled, the same CM came over to us and gave us this...
So cool! Talk about a magical moment!
When we exited, Ross and Julia were waiting outside and I was so happy to hear that Julia not only rode TOT... she LOVED it!
The only problem is that she began to ask me to go on too. Umm... I don’t like freefall rides. Both Ross and Julia swore that TOT was not a freefall ride. Ross insisted it was more like a rollercoaster. Why did I not believe them?
