princessgirls
06-28-2010, 01:22 PM
Preface of Trip:
Fred's sister invited us to spend a week with them in their "vacation ownership" villas at the Sheraton Vistana Resort. They had enough points that we could have our own villa. HOWEVER, they don't do the parks. YIKES...a whole week in Orlando and no parks...this was not flying with me. They prefer the pool...to each his own. Very early on, I promised my girls at least a day in Disney some point in our trip, thinking that I would not be taking a lot away from My inlaws being gone for a day. We are a group of ten people. My family of four, and the in-laws are six with my brother-in-laws Mother on the trip. I wasn't offering to pay for a day for everyone either...
This is how things panned out. I have a friend whose family relocated to Orlando 10 years ago, and her brother Jimmy has worked in the Studios for 4 years. We have seen in there on previous trips, his normal spot is at the Rock and Roller Coaster, but they use him other places as well. Sunday (6/20) Jimmy texted me that he would be able to get 6 of us in at the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, his day off. He could get three of us in, and his friend would get three of us in. I was jumping up and down screaming!! This was so nice! Really, the inlaws are not easy people to do things with, and this was such a HUGE blessing!!! We tell Fred's sister, and offer to pay for all of her kids to go. She has three kids, ages 20,14, and 9. The four of us were going. Worse case I only had to buy one ticket. Hey, I was planning to buy 4.
So here is how it played out:
Wednesday, June 23rd
MAGIC KINGDOM
Cast of Characters:
Me: Julie Can't get enough of Disney
DH: Fred Fast pass runner
DD: Morgan 9 loves all the rides
DD: Madison 8 loves rides and gift shops
DN#1: Howard 20 hasn't been to Disney since he was three.
DN#2: Travis 14 First time in Disney
Our nine year old niece opted not to come because it was too much walking...YES, both Fred and I were left scratching our heads too. The boys can move, so this is good!
We are off to a good start, it is a beautiful HOT and sunny day. We park in Pluto 14 and take the ferry over to the Kingdom. Jimmy instructed us to wait over to the far left where there is cast member entrance. He and his friend come in about 15 minutes and we are in. The machine spits out our tickets and we are off. Jimmy and his friend were meeting up with some others, so we say our goodbyes. Again, a very nice thing he did for us.
Ahhh...my week was looking up at this moment. Main Street USA!! The sights, the sounds, the smell. I take it all in, and we are off and RUNNING!! The time is now 9:20am Fred ran to Space Mountain to grab six fast passes, as the park was busy. I take the others via the train over to Splash and Big Thunder. Smart move, this part of the park was empty, and we get two rides on both. Splash is the girls favorite. From the mountains we move over to Adventureland. Pirates was down, so we did a Jungle Cruise. Madison was the guest skipper. She enjoyed this very much. Big smiles!!! Pirates was still down, so we will have to table this for later. No time to wait for Aladdin either today. Sorry girls...Make our way over to Tomorrowland and Space Mountain. Before we boarded space Fred grabbed passes for Buzz, fastpass is the only way to go today. Enjoyed Space so much. Travis loved it. I got him a First Visit pin, and they were having a good time. Happy to be out!! From Space we went on the TTA. A family favorite, viewed a showing of the Carosuel of Progress, Comedy Floor and now it is time for lunch. Cosmic Ray's doesn't disappoint. I love the CM's they have here. Many are exchange students, and they are all so friendly. Fred had the ribs, girls got chicken nuggets (what a surprise...), I had a chicken sandwich, and the boys had burgers. It was nice to sit, eat and listen to Sonny Eclipse and the tunes. Ahhh...Disney my favorite place!!
Rest time is over, back to business. Fantasy land is jammed packed. Fred gets FP's for Peter Pan. We were able to do Mickey's Philharmagic with a ten minute wait. My favorite attraction in the Magic Kingdom! Enjoyed it so much! Small World is a 40 minute wait, so we move over to the Haunted House. 30 minutes waiting, OK. We enjoyed our doom buggy. Such a fun attraction! It was coming on parade time, and I am a parade nerd...LOVE THEM!! I tell Fred and he takes the kids over to Big Thunder/Splash. It is mobbed over there, so they are back with Mickey bars joining me for the parade. He does get FP's for splash for 6pm. Stand alone wait time is 80 minutes. In the morning Jimmy had texted me that our passes are hoppers, so I was hoping to get to Epcot later in the day, as neither of the boys had been there. The girls and I enjoy the parade, and meet Fred and the boys over at the Hall of Presidents. Nice cool down. Show was starting, so no waiting for me. I normally doze off for this, but today, I enjoyed it. I mean really enjoyed it, and got teary when the shot of George W. Bush came on when he was at Ground Zero and said "We are America" "We are not going to hide". Amen! Moved back over to Splash/Big Thunder. Big Thunder was a twenty minute wait, so we did this again, we are going to wait for our FP time on Splash. Stand alone is now 90 minutes. Maddie has a melt down. Let's move FRED!! Back to Pirates which is now open. Yeah! Boys really wanted to do Pirates. We went left there were two lines...ended up with a ten minute wait. The day is going so fast. Slow down!!! It's getting close to our FP time at Splash and then we are heading over to Epcot. Maddie got to ride Splash again. Happy Girl. Got wet, it was so hot, it was a welcome splash! We did Peter Pan as we made our way out of the Kingdom. Girls wanted to shop at the Emporium, and we really did want to get over to Epcot, so I told them Mouse Gears would be better... Took the Monorail over to TTC, and the Epcot monorail was waiting. Total travel time for both 15 minutes, as we hit everything just right. Once in Epcot, hit the ground running, Spaceship Earth, Nemo and friends, Test Track and Mission Space. No Soarin'...too long a wait at this point. The girls and I shopped a little in Mouse Gears, shirts for us, and we watched the start of illuminations by the main fountain. Love the fountain dancing to the music. The girls decide that they want to go back to the Magic Kingdom and watch the new fireworks. Monorail it is! We are back in the kingdom at 9:45, find a place to sit, Fred and the boys get us some food from Casey's. The Summer nightastic fireworks are GREAT. Loved the new music, and I did get teary. I always get sad walking down Main Street for the last time during a trip. Still Thankful however, that I was able to come today at all!
We had a wonderful time in Disney today. Made a lot of fun memories with our nephews and just had an "All out Disney" day!
No, it was not the normal Disney trip we are used to with just our family, But it was still a most "Magical" day!
Some final observations:
Parks were crowded, but Disney does things so well. There were plenty of cast members working and moving people.
Parks were clean, and you could see the changes that are being made in Fantasyland. So excited for this!
For every savvy Disney person there are 50 who are not. I gave out a lot of advise. Poor family had been in the park for 5 hours and had done 3 attractions and a parade. I explained to them the whole fast pass concept. I also talked up INTERCOT...the place were I learned everything. Many people had no dining reservations, and were complaining. I didn't make any plans for this trip, and that was so HARD for me, as I am a planner. Had to let that go.
Fred's nephews were amazed and had a GREAT day. They enjoyed touring with us, and we enjoyed them!
We left the Kingdom on the Ferry at 11pm, a very tired happy bunch.
Until my next trip to the world...
Julie:mickey:
THANKS for reading!!!!
Fred's sister invited us to spend a week with them in their "vacation ownership" villas at the Sheraton Vistana Resort. They had enough points that we could have our own villa. HOWEVER, they don't do the parks. YIKES...a whole week in Orlando and no parks...this was not flying with me. They prefer the pool...to each his own. Very early on, I promised my girls at least a day in Disney some point in our trip, thinking that I would not be taking a lot away from My inlaws being gone for a day. We are a group of ten people. My family of four, and the in-laws are six with my brother-in-laws Mother on the trip. I wasn't offering to pay for a day for everyone either...
This is how things panned out. I have a friend whose family relocated to Orlando 10 years ago, and her brother Jimmy has worked in the Studios for 4 years. We have seen in there on previous trips, his normal spot is at the Rock and Roller Coaster, but they use him other places as well. Sunday (6/20) Jimmy texted me that he would be able to get 6 of us in at the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, his day off. He could get three of us in, and his friend would get three of us in. I was jumping up and down screaming!! This was so nice! Really, the inlaws are not easy people to do things with, and this was such a HUGE blessing!!! We tell Fred's sister, and offer to pay for all of her kids to go. She has three kids, ages 20,14, and 9. The four of us were going. Worse case I only had to buy one ticket. Hey, I was planning to buy 4.
So here is how it played out:
Wednesday, June 23rd
MAGIC KINGDOM
Cast of Characters:
Me: Julie Can't get enough of Disney
DH: Fred Fast pass runner
DD: Morgan 9 loves all the rides
DD: Madison 8 loves rides and gift shops
DN#1: Howard 20 hasn't been to Disney since he was three.
DN#2: Travis 14 First time in Disney
Our nine year old niece opted not to come because it was too much walking...YES, both Fred and I were left scratching our heads too. The boys can move, so this is good!
We are off to a good start, it is a beautiful HOT and sunny day. We park in Pluto 14 and take the ferry over to the Kingdom. Jimmy instructed us to wait over to the far left where there is cast member entrance. He and his friend come in about 15 minutes and we are in. The machine spits out our tickets and we are off. Jimmy and his friend were meeting up with some others, so we say our goodbyes. Again, a very nice thing he did for us.
Ahhh...my week was looking up at this moment. Main Street USA!! The sights, the sounds, the smell. I take it all in, and we are off and RUNNING!! The time is now 9:20am Fred ran to Space Mountain to grab six fast passes, as the park was busy. I take the others via the train over to Splash and Big Thunder. Smart move, this part of the park was empty, and we get two rides on both. Splash is the girls favorite. From the mountains we move over to Adventureland. Pirates was down, so we did a Jungle Cruise. Madison was the guest skipper. She enjoyed this very much. Big smiles!!! Pirates was still down, so we will have to table this for later. No time to wait for Aladdin either today. Sorry girls...Make our way over to Tomorrowland and Space Mountain. Before we boarded space Fred grabbed passes for Buzz, fastpass is the only way to go today. Enjoyed Space so much. Travis loved it. I got him a First Visit pin, and they were having a good time. Happy to be out!! From Space we went on the TTA. A family favorite, viewed a showing of the Carosuel of Progress, Comedy Floor and now it is time for lunch. Cosmic Ray's doesn't disappoint. I love the CM's they have here. Many are exchange students, and they are all so friendly. Fred had the ribs, girls got chicken nuggets (what a surprise...), I had a chicken sandwich, and the boys had burgers. It was nice to sit, eat and listen to Sonny Eclipse and the tunes. Ahhh...Disney my favorite place!!
Rest time is over, back to business. Fantasy land is jammed packed. Fred gets FP's for Peter Pan. We were able to do Mickey's Philharmagic with a ten minute wait. My favorite attraction in the Magic Kingdom! Enjoyed it so much! Small World is a 40 minute wait, so we move over to the Haunted House. 30 minutes waiting, OK. We enjoyed our doom buggy. Such a fun attraction! It was coming on parade time, and I am a parade nerd...LOVE THEM!! I tell Fred and he takes the kids over to Big Thunder/Splash. It is mobbed over there, so they are back with Mickey bars joining me for the parade. He does get FP's for splash for 6pm. Stand alone wait time is 80 minutes. In the morning Jimmy had texted me that our passes are hoppers, so I was hoping to get to Epcot later in the day, as neither of the boys had been there. The girls and I enjoy the parade, and meet Fred and the boys over at the Hall of Presidents. Nice cool down. Show was starting, so no waiting for me. I normally doze off for this, but today, I enjoyed it. I mean really enjoyed it, and got teary when the shot of George W. Bush came on when he was at Ground Zero and said "We are America" "We are not going to hide". Amen! Moved back over to Splash/Big Thunder. Big Thunder was a twenty minute wait, so we did this again, we are going to wait for our FP time on Splash. Stand alone is now 90 minutes. Maddie has a melt down. Let's move FRED!! Back to Pirates which is now open. Yeah! Boys really wanted to do Pirates. We went left there were two lines...ended up with a ten minute wait. The day is going so fast. Slow down!!! It's getting close to our FP time at Splash and then we are heading over to Epcot. Maddie got to ride Splash again. Happy Girl. Got wet, it was so hot, it was a welcome splash! We did Peter Pan as we made our way out of the Kingdom. Girls wanted to shop at the Emporium, and we really did want to get over to Epcot, so I told them Mouse Gears would be better... Took the Monorail over to TTC, and the Epcot monorail was waiting. Total travel time for both 15 minutes, as we hit everything just right. Once in Epcot, hit the ground running, Spaceship Earth, Nemo and friends, Test Track and Mission Space. No Soarin'...too long a wait at this point. The girls and I shopped a little in Mouse Gears, shirts for us, and we watched the start of illuminations by the main fountain. Love the fountain dancing to the music. The girls decide that they want to go back to the Magic Kingdom and watch the new fireworks. Monorail it is! We are back in the kingdom at 9:45, find a place to sit, Fred and the boys get us some food from Casey's. The Summer nightastic fireworks are GREAT. Loved the new music, and I did get teary. I always get sad walking down Main Street for the last time during a trip. Still Thankful however, that I was able to come today at all!
We had a wonderful time in Disney today. Made a lot of fun memories with our nephews and just had an "All out Disney" day!
No, it was not the normal Disney trip we are used to with just our family, But it was still a most "Magical" day!
Some final observations:
Parks were crowded, but Disney does things so well. There were plenty of cast members working and moving people.
Parks were clean, and you could see the changes that are being made in Fantasyland. So excited for this!
For every savvy Disney person there are 50 who are not. I gave out a lot of advise. Poor family had been in the park for 5 hours and had done 3 attractions and a parade. I explained to them the whole fast pass concept. I also talked up INTERCOT...the place were I learned everything. Many people had no dining reservations, and were complaining. I didn't make any plans for this trip, and that was so HARD for me, as I am a planner. Had to let that go.
Fred's nephews were amazed and had a GREAT day. They enjoyed touring with us, and we enjoyed them!
We left the Kingdom on the Ferry at 11pm, a very tired happy bunch.
Until my next trip to the world...
Julie:mickey:
THANKS for reading!!!!