WDW VACATION 2008

Disney - Day One

2008-04-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

We arrived at Disney World, checked into our resort at Port Orleans Riverside, and headed to Downtown Disney. We first headed to Once Upon a Toy Store and Jaden built a light saber. Isaac bought a stuffed Nemo, and Dacey "built a puppy"... she chose a dalmation and got a cute pink purse and sun visor for it.

When we finished there we headed to Wolf Gang Puck’s Express for lunch. The food here was unbelievable! I was thrilled that we were on the dining plan as our ticket came to $75. Tommy had a quesidilla and I had chicken tenders. The kids each got a pizza. For desert we had frozen chocolate yogurt with brownies. It was out of this world. This place would almost have been worth driving to daily if it wouldn’t have taken so much time away from our day.

From there we headed to the World of Disney store for Dacey’s 1:20 appointment at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. She wore her shirt that said "Yes, I am a Princess. My Father is the KING of KINGS!" Her fairy godmother’s in training were polite and swift and Dacey was dolled up as a princess in a matter of minutes.

We left Downtown Disney and went to see if our room was ready. It was. So we spent a few minutes settling in before going to the Magic Kingdom. We didn’t spend much time there but did get to see Tigger, Pooh, and Darby. Connor is a big time Tigger fan and was delighted to see him and Pooh. He was still running a low grade fever that day and you could tell he wasn’t completely feeling himself, but he enjoyed it... as did the big kids.

It started sprinkling so we headed out of Magic Kingdom to the Polynesian Resort. We had an 8:30 reservation for supper at ’Ohanna’s. We arrived around 7:00 so the kids danced to the Hawiaan lounge singer while we waited. I was thrilled that my dear friend had suggested for us to ask for a table facing Cinderella’s castle as we were seated directly across from it. The kids enjoyed the coconut race and learning to hula. Tommy even took Connor up and hula’d with him.

Magic Kingdom was hosting the Pirates and Princess party that night. To our delight ’Ohanna’s played the music from the party while we were able to look straight out our window and watch the fireworks over the castle. As our waitress said, "It doesn’t get better than this." The fireworks show was "Music, Magic, and Meyham" and it was spectacular!

After supper we returned to our resort for a wonderful night’s sleep.

Below our some pictures from Day One:

Day Two - Magic Kingdom and 1900 Park Fare

2008-04-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

Our second day at Disney World was somewhat disappointing, but magical and wonderful nonetheless.

We got up early and took the ferry to the Magic Kingdom. The ferry ride was long and at the end of it, Tommy had lost his key to the world. The kids and I went on in while Tommy headed to Guest Relations to get a temporary card. Not knowing where to head with four kids by myself we went to the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. It was fun. Tommy caught up with us quickly and we enjoyed walking through the Swiss family's home. After that we stood in line for the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. We loved it... the kids (and Tommy) were especially amused by the spitting camel. From there we waited to meet Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. They were fun to interact with. Mr. Smee played "peek-a-boo" with Connor while Captain Hook picked on me for wearing a Tinkerbell shirt. After pictures and autographs, we headed around the corner to Pecos Bills for lunch.

This place was a mad house. Tommy went to find us a seat with Dacey and Connor while Jaden and Isaac waited in line for me. The trays were both too heavy for Jaden to carry and I couldn't get a signal on my cell phone to call Tommy to find out where he had gone. After stopping at two different tables and asking if I could set the trays down for a second a cast member noticed my dilemma and carried one tray and helped me find Tommy. Tommy and I had double bacon cheeseburgers. They were good but really dry. The fries were great.

When we walked out of Pecos Bills they were starting to tape off for the Dreams Come True parade. We had a great view for the parade and the kids were able to get a lot of hand shake's and high fives from different characters.

We went into Fantasyland after the parade and were wowed with Mickey's Philarmagic. The kids especially like watching Donald get stuck in the wall. We had wanted to ride Peter Pan's flight but the stand by wait time was over an hour. We went into Tink's Treasures and enjoyed watching to spot Tink flittering about here and there. I was surprised that Dacey didn't buy anything there as she is Tinkerbell's second biggest fan... right behind me.

We liked Cindrella's carousel and the Mad Tea Cups. Tommy rode Goofy's Barnstormer with the big kids while I waited with Connor. After that we made about the worst decision of our entire trip.... we waited in line at the character tent for pictures and autographs. We spent close to an hour and a half waiting in line not knowing who we'd meet. Once we finally were taken to the room it was Goofy, Pluto, and Donald. I hated that we'd wasted so much time when those were the same characters we'd dine with later in the week at Chef Mickey's. By the time that was over it was time to head out for our 8:00 dinner reservations at 1900 Park Fare.

1900 Park Fare was our favorite dining experience... well the fireworks from Ohana's were hard to top, but the interaction with the characters at 1900 was a WONDERFUL experience for us all. Prince Charming was the first to our table and he was, well, charming and very refined. Dacey really seemed taken with him and I have a beautiful picture of her with him. Connor was impressed too... right up until we moved him from the table to take a picture. He was not thrilled that we'd moved him three inches from his food! (If you've seen the pictures, you'll know what I'm talking about.) Lady Tremaine and Druscilla were SO in character. They never cracked a smile and spoke in harsh tones. Anastasia was a lot of fun. The kids asked her why she wanted to steal the prince from Cindrella (they'd watched Cinderella 3 just before we left for Disney). She told them that she wasn't trying to anymore because she knew one day she'd find her own prince. Cinderella was delightful. She was very gracious allowing Isaac to kiss her cheek and posing for several pictures. A bit later they played the waltz and asked couples to get up and dance. Tommy and I did danced. Dacey took some wonderful pictures of us together for me. While we danced Anastasia went back to our table and asked Isaac to dance. After their dance she commented that maybe she'd found that prince she was looking for.

We finished up and headed back to MK to see Wishes and Spectromagic. Wishes was everything I'd dreamed it would be. Dacey and I were thrilled to see Tinkerbell descend from the castle. It was a wonderful moment for us. After Wishes we had the park to ourself. Most folks left as soon as it was over, but we wanted to wait to see Spectromagic at 11:00. Tommy rode The Space Ranger Spin with the big kids while I again waited with Connor. Jaden LOVED this ride. He racked up 999,999 points and was declared an intergalactic hero. We went back to Main Street and sat to wait for Spectromagic. I had no idea why Spectromagic was such a big deal, but I LOVED IT!! It was spectacular. The Cinderella from Park Fare was in it and appeared to recognize us as she POINTED TO ISAAC, SMILED, AND WAVED! When I saw Snow White approaching I began calling her...loudly. She walked to me and I pointed over Dacey's head so she leaned in and hugged her. That was the biggest thrill to my "Little Miss I'm Too Old For Princesses!" LOL

We left out of the park with smiles on our faces. We didn't feel like we'd done nearly as much as we'd liked to with our day but very happy with what we had done. It was truly magical.

Day Three - Hollywood Studios and Whispering Canyon Cafe

2008-04-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

On our third day of Disney we headed over to Hollywood Studios or as some would call it "The Studios formerly known as MGM." The most important thing to me at HS was for my two young Star Wars fans to get to ride Star Tours and participate in the Jedi Training Academy.

As we entered the front gates we could hear the High School Musical Pep Rally. We watched from afar as we quickly trotted over to Star Tours for fast passes. To our delight there was not a long line so Tommy waited with the big kids while once again I went and sat with Connor. I had no idea that the little spot I had decided to perch was just feet away from where the Jedi Training Academy would take place and that they would be doing one within the next thirty minutes. I had kept it a secret from Jaden and Isaac so that they would not be disappointed if they were not chosen to participate. I prayed that they would get off of the Star Tours ride in time for the show. God heard me and they walked off Star Tours less than five minutes before the Master Jedi appeared to choose his ten or fifteen young padawan from an audience of at least fifty children. Another of things I had prayed about for weeks in advance was that BOTH boys would be chosen knowing that the one that wasn't would be crushed if they both weren't. (I had also planned that in the event that one or both of them was not chosen that we would be back for each subsequent show for the whole day!) Much to my delight Jaden and Isaac were both pulled from the crowd to participate. (Tommy says they used the force! lol) Once on stage the Master Jedi showed the young padawans how to properly use their light sabers. Isaac drew the most laughs from the crowd as each time they were instructed to "activate the light sabers" he would just sling his around hopelessly until the Master Jedi would stop and help him... always bringing the situation into the show. Jaden really got into it. I have some pictures of him where he looked so intense doing his stances and moves. Then came the moment of surprise. After the Jedi Master had finished instructing his students two storm troopers and Darth Vadar himself appeared. To finish out their training the students had to face their fears and battle Darth Vadar. My young knights did excellent.

After we finished up there and Jaden and Isaac had gotten their certificates declaring them official Jedi's in training, we headed to watch Beauty and the Beast. (Belle is Dacey's favorite princess.) The show was another secret that I'd kept and pulled from my bag to surprise the kids through the week. Dacey watched the show intently. The show was wonderful and brought tears to my eyes. Even Connor watched with enthusiasm and seemed to enjoy it.

We ate lunch at Pizza Planet. Well, it was more like we ordered lunch, sat and looked at it, packed it up and ran. lol The Lights, Motors, Action show was scheduled to start within twenty minutes of when we'd ordered lunch. I dumped our salads and shoved the pizza in the salad boxes and we ran over to the L,M,A attraction. We arrived and were seated five minutes before the show began and were able to sit and eat our pizza as we waited.

This show was one of Tommy and Jaden's favorite things at Disney. Before we had gone to Disney World we'd watched the movie "Twister." At that time Jaden had told me he was planning to be a storm chaser when he grew up. However, after seeing the Lights, Motors, Action show he now wants to be a stunt car driver! I see lots of praying in my future!!!
By the time the show was over it was close to 2:30 and I was sunburned. We decided to go back to our resort for a bit and rest before our 5:45 reservation at Whispering Canyon Cafe.

What can I say about Whispering Canyon Cafe??? The food was good. The kids had a blast. (Dacey says this was her favorite place that we ate!) But for a sunburned mom who just wanted to sit and eat, it wasn't the most joyful atmosphere at Disney World. It was cute, but I'm sure if I had been even just a bit more tired I probably would have hated the experience. Our waiter was great. His name was Al and he was the one and only and last Puerto Rican cowboy in the North West looking for one of his twenty-seven lost causes. lol

It was still raining when we left WCC so instead of going back to HS we went back to our resort. I really hate that we didn't get to see Fantasmic, but it will be high on the list of my priorities for next time....

Day Four - Animal Kingdom

2008-04-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

Without hesitation I can say with 100% certainty that this was by far our favorite day and favorite place in all of Disney World!!!

When we arrived at AK at 9:00 a.m. we immediately headed to the Safari ride. We didn't have to wait long and soon we were in a jeep being whisked around the savannah. We all enjoyed all of the beautiful animals. I enjoyed the giraffe, zebra, and lion the most. (I got some fabulous pictures of each!) The ride was fun and the kids got excited when the poachers began shooting at us. We were all relieved when the baby elephant was saved and returned to his mother.

When we exited the safari we walked through some of the other animal enclosures. My favorite by far were the gorillas. I don't think I'd ever seen a real life gorilla before. They were beautiful and mesmorizing. I think I could have watched them all day! Afterwards we took a train ride to the affection section. This was so much fun. We put Connor down and he immediately began chasing a goat. The goat ran from him but Connor was not easily discouraged. The goat finally laid down and when it did Connor sat next to it and petted it while giggling. Dacey and Jaden brushed a black and white goat that had the hugest grin on its face of any animal I've ever seen. It was one content goat! lol

We walked into Rafiki's planet watch from there to discover Rafiki, Pocahontas, and Jiminy Cricket. The kids enjoyed getting pictures and autographs from each of them, but for some reason Connor was especially taken with Jiminy Cricket. He gave him the biggest hug and then stood like a big boy next to his siblings for pictures. Once we left here we boarded the train and headed back to Africa.

We ate lunch at Pizzafari. The food here was wonderful! I loved all of the brightly colored murals on each wall.

Our Isaac is a huge Nemo fan so after lunch we went to see the live show. I would like to report that it was a wonderful experience but after the first act the show was cancelled with no explanation as to why. Isaac did not realize that they did not do the whole thing and was thrilled with it. What we did see of it was completely terrific, but it would have been nice to have seen the whole show.

After that I wanted to see the Festival of the Lion King but the rest of the gang wanted to ride rides... so we rode rides! As we headed to Dinosaur I told the kids that this one was a particularly scary ride and asked several times if they were each sure that they really wanted to ride it. They said yes, so we got in line. Tommy waited with Connor this time, but we planned to do the child swap. When we got into the car Dacey looked at me and said, "Momma, I think you and I need to sit on the outside and let Jaden and Isaac between us since we're the oldest." Always such a good big sister! So that's what we did. I LOVED this ride. I thought it was hilarious and started laughing after the dinosaur eating the crocodilian jumped out through the rest of hte ride. When we got off my sweet Isaac was terrified. He opted not to ride again wtih Daddy and this time Dacey insisted that she was going to be in the middle! LOL

We loved the Jungle Jammin Parade. One of the parade entertainers walked up to Connor and looked over to Tommy and said, "What a cute little animal! I wanted one just like him, but my momma said no." LOL We loved Minnie Mouse's cute jungle jeep and Donald's leaky boat. It was great!

When the parade was over we went to the Maharja Jungle Trek. It was AWESOME!! We loved the TIGERS! I got a great picture of Dacey standing in front of a glass enclosure looking like the tiger is coming up behind her without her knowledge! Too cute!!

Then it was time for Kali River Rapids. We'd gotten fastpasses for this one and planned to do the child swap. While Tommy and the kids went to ride, Connor and I found a place to perch where we had a perfect view of the monkey's playing over head. It was so much fun to watch the little guys... reminded me of my little monkey's playing. When Tommy and the kids returned the kids were raring to go again... this time with me. I put on a poncho and we headed to Kali! It was great fun and I was thrilled that I'd thought to wear the poncho.
However, as soon as we got off of the ride and I'd taken the poncho off there came a down pour!! I got DRENCHED head to toe!!! lol But it was all good.

For supper that night we ate at Chef Mickey's. After four days at Disney World we had still not seen the head guy himself. We were pretty excited by the time he got to our table! This was Jaden and Isaac's favorite place we ate. They really enjoyed the interaction with the characters. Tommy and I thought the food was good but we felt rushed. Our waiter took our drink orders when we first arrived and then didn't speak to us again. He looked very unpleasant and never smiled. Other than that we enjoyed it. The food was good. When we finished up I walked into a gift shop while Tommy took the kids to the bathroom. All of a sudden I heard what sounded like an explosion. I quickly realized it was fireworks and asked an employee where they could best be viewed from. She pointed to the balcony. Tommy and the kids joined me and when stepped out on the fourth floor balcony of the Contemporary and again watched the fireworks from the Princess and Pirate party.

It was another wonderful end to another wonderful day.

DAY FIVE - EPCOT

2008-04-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

Day five found us standing in line before 9:00 a.m. for the Soarin' ride at Epcot. We did the child swap and Tommy and Connor waited while I rode with Dacey, Jaden, and Isaac. This ride was fantastic!!! It surpassed all others in my quest to find my favorite ride at Disney World. After my turn Tommy rode with the big kids and agreed with my assessment. You really felt like you were hang gliding over spots all over the map. From there we headed to Nemo and Friends. This of course was Isaac's favorite ride in all of Disney World. (The adults found it rather boring... especially following Soarin'!) We all loved Turtle Talk with Crush. The kids raised their hands to ask questions and then Crush would select children in the audience and answer their questions. Crush picked "the little dude on the end in the blue shell" or as we like to call him, Jaden. After asking his name Crush asked, "So Jaden, dude, like what's your question, man?" Jaden asked him where the turtle world was and Crush replied, "Dude, it's like in the big blue. It's awesome here! Totally!!" It was cute... like totally!

Tommy really wanted to ride Test Track so when we finished up at The Seas we headed over to get fastpasses. Along the way we found a beautiful butterfly garden and children's play ground. The kids and I waited there and Tommy went ahead and got the fastpasses.

Epcot was hosting their Garden and Flower Festival while we were there. The topiaries of all of the different Disney characters were beautiful. Our favorites were Tinkerbell, Snow White, and of course, Lady and the Tramp.

We ate lunch at Sunshine Season's at The Land pavillion. After lunch we were off to the World Showcase. We stopped in England and then France. The kids were so excited to spot Belle from
Beauty and the Beast at France so we stopped for autograph's and pictures. Belle is Dacey's favorite Disney princess... and while we did not know it before we do now... also Isaac's! Isaac told me while we were standing in line waiting our turn that he was going to ask Belle to marry him. So as they were posing for pictures I mentioned to Belle that Isaac was indeed planning to propose. She said she was thrilled and instructed him as to how to kneel on one knee to offer a proper proposal. He looked up at her with his huge, blue eyes and said, "Belle, will you marry me?" She replied that she was so touched but that her beast would probably not like that much. She offered him a kiss on the cheek instead and I think he was satisfied with the trade off! lol

The weather started clouding up so we started trying to hurry through at a faster pace. In Morraco we saw Aladdin and Jasmine. Aladdin is Jaden's favorite Disney movie, and he was excited to get to meet him. We then headed toward Germany to meet Snow White. (For years Snow White was Dacey's favorite princess and she still adores her.) When Snow White and Dopey appeared we were second in line to meet them. Dopey went to great lengths to entertain Connor. It was adorable. Isaac again was smooched and again delighted. (I think he's grooming to become a lady's man! LOL) Within minutes of seeing Snow White and her dwarf pal, it started raining. We boarded a ferry and headed back to future world. Once we exited the boat, the bottom fell out! We waited inside a store until it let up enough for us to venture out again.

It was time for us to return to Test Track for our fastpasses to be honored, but by this point they'd closed it. It was around 4 p.m. by now and we decided to head back to our resort to dry out. We had made ADR's for Crystal Palace for the next day but decided since we were cold, wet and hungry that we'd try Boatwright's Restaurant at our resort. We cancelled CP and were able to get reservations for BW for 5:00. After supper it was still raining so we returned to our room to enjoy our last night at Disney World.

Day Six - Farewell Disney World

2008-04-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

Our sixth and final day we returned to the Magic Kingdom with hopes of riding Peter Pan's Flight and Pirates of the Caribbean. The plan was to run and get fastpasses for one and then go ride the other.

Dacey had commented that the only character that she'd wanted to meet but hadn't was Daisy Duck. She was a bit disappointed. As we entered MK and started our trek down Main Street there stood DD. I don't know who was more excited.. me or the kids. There wasn't a line and we were able to go straight up to see her. Dacey got a huge duck hug, autographs, and we got pictures. Tommy had gone ahead of us to Peter Pan's Flight to get fastpasses. We were on our way to meet up with him when my cell phone rang. He was in line and there wasn't a wait. We jetted over there and were able to walk up and ride. The ride was nice but not exactly what I'd thought it would be. After that we headed to Pirates.

The kids loved the Pirates of Carribean ride and afterwards stopped to shop in the Pirates Gift Shop. When we exited the store we turned to the right and there stood Captain Jack Sparrow. He and one of his crew members were giving pirate lessons. Jaden and Isaac were able to step up and participate and received official certificates pronouncing them pirates under the command of Captain Jack.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything:

We did a little bit of shopping, ate lunch at Casey's Corner, watched the Family Day Parade and then made our way out of Magic Kingdom for the last time. We rode the ferry boat back to the parking area so we could watch MK from a distance as we left. Aboard the ferry some of the crew commented that they feared a mutiny by my two young pirates who'd bought hooks, swords, and pistols back at the pirate shop. It was a cute farewell.

Walt Disney World was so much more and so much better than I could have ever imagined. It was worth the wait to get there. I can't imagine what it is like from a child's perspective but from the perspective of a parent getting to watch their children go from park to park, from ride to ride, from character to character, and from experience to experience, it was the most thrilling, most exciting, happiest week of my life.

There are tears in my eyes as this blog and our trip come to an end. We had such a good time... the best ever. I hope that we made many memories for our kids that they will take with them for their entire lives. I know I did. I plan to make them each a scrapbook of autographs and photos with copies of this blog posted through them. Also in the days to come I intend to "interview" each of them for an exclusive of their favorite Disney moments.

Getting Ready for Disney World

2008-03-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

For as long as I can remember we have promised our kids that one day we would take them to Disney World. Finances have always prevented us from keeping our promise... until now. A couple of weeks ago we surprised them with the news that we will be leaving for Disney World in just a few short weeks. They are excited... almost as much as I am!

I wanted to start a blog just for our Disney Chronicles.... to keep a journal of the day to day planning and then ultimately the day to day adventure of Disney.

Easter is this Sunday. We have gotten the kids each a "tin bucket" basket with Disney characters on them. We have Mickey eggs we plan to stuff money in for them along with a couple of other Disney related items.

I also am planning to pack a back pack for each child to carry on the trip. Each backpack will have Disney toys and coloring books to keep them occupied while riding twelve hours to and from the World.

One cute moment in our planning stage so far: My daughter is nine and has recently told me that she has outgrown the Disney princesses. That was heartbreaking for me as I have lived vicariously through her the past few years. While explaining to her about the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Disney World, I asked DJ if she were too old for that too. She replied, "MOMMA, A GIRL IS NEVER TOO OLD FOR GLAMOUR!" LOL

I have been washing clothes all week and hope to start packing this weekend.

Lookout, Disney World! Here we come!!! THE WORLD MAY NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!