Tiki Family Trip Report 2012 Part 1
Link to Pre-trip report: Click here
Cast of Characters:
TikiG, Kathy. 39, got my first AP this year and have three trips planned
DH, Tim, 44, goes along with it all because it makes his girls happy
DD9, Julie, all around Pokemon and anything science fan
DD7, Katie, budding fashionista, drama queen, and sweetness rolled into one
Monday, July 16:
I managed to get a decent flight time into Orlando from Hartford, so after a good night’s sleep we left for the airport around 10:15am. Everything went smoothly until we hit some turbulence upon descent, and the landing at MCO was all over the place. But we arrived safely, got our luggage, and proceeded over to Alamo to get our rental car. We picked a silver Impala – nice car with lots of trunk space.
And then the rain started, as we drove into Orlando. The plan was to stop at Downtown Disney to get dinner and look around, then head over to Tampa to my in-law’s house. Well, we arrived at DTD but did not get out of the car. It was pouring buckets from the sky. So we turned around, went to the McD’s at Crossroads, and continued driving to Tampa. A bit down I-4 the rain suddenly stopped and we had clear skies for the rest of the drive.
We got to my in-law’s house in Seminole in the early evening. The girls were delighted to see everyone, especially Gizmo the shih-tzu. Then the inevitable question we would hear many times: “Can we go in the pool?” I swear the girls both grew scales with the amount of time they were in the water over our 5 day visit.
We spent the next 4 days swimming in the pool, going to the beach, and relaxing. Tim and I went to a Cleveland Indians/Rays game (where the best entertainment was provided by a very tipsy Rays fan, who was loudly cheering her team and then later on was removed by security because she got belligerent with a family sitting in front of us). We also went to John’s Pass, where we enjoyed tasty shaved ice and a visit to the Alligator Place. We got to feed baby alligators! We did have a few rainy days, which gave us an excuse to buy two new umbrellas and go to the movies one day (Ice Age).
Too quickly it was time to pack up and leave our relatives. But thankfully the next part of our journey was to WDW!!
Saturday, July 21:
Sleep is always elusive the night before a Disney visit. I managed to get to bed early (tired from swimming in the pool with the girls) but woke at 3am and could not get back to sleep. We had to get up at 4:30am anyway, as the plan was to leave around 6am. We stopped at Dunkin’ for breakfast and much-needed caffeine, and arrived at AKL around 8am.
Since I had done online check-in, we were directed to a CM at the front desk, rather than being sent up to the lounge. Check-in was quick, and we learned that our room requests (bunk beds, close to lobby) had been fulfilled! After a quick bathroom break, we headed to the bus stop. The Magic Kingdom bus pulled up one minute later! We got to MK before opening – I had to get my AP voucher exchanged for my AP, but that didn’t take long at all. We saw the opening show (much to my husband’s dismay… he hates that overly cheesy music) and followed the masses through the tunnels to the park. I love that moment when the whole day is ahead of you…
We first headed to Tomorrowland. The girls had voted on riding Space Mountain first. The line was about 10 minutes. I still don’t like the ride (haven’t been a fan since I was a kid) but I at least kept my eyes open the entire time. As we came out of SM, it looked like Astro Orbiter was closed… but it wasn’t – just didn’t have anyone waiting for it! So we went on. I rode with Katie and made the mistake of looking down at one point. I couldn’t pick my head up after that without getting majorly dizzy. I did get a glance over at the new Fantasyland. Can’t wait for that to open!
Buzz Lightyear was next. Katie managed to get the maximum score somehow (and the ride was not stopped)!! She must have hit some amazing targets. We walked up past the speedway to the Tea Cups, where I was thankful that the girls are old enough to go on it by themselves. The older I get, the worse my head spins on that ride. And they were spinning as fast as they could, of course.
We then rode Pooh (posted wait 20 min, real wait 0 min). Peter Pan had a posted 35 min wait but we were not about to test it to see if the time was right. A Brazilian tour group (one of MANY we would see this week) had just entered Small World, so we skipped that one too. Instead we went to the Haunted Mansion, which was a walk-on. I love the new touch queue, by the way. Great addition to the theming. Julie is not a big fan of the HM, so I spent most of the ride showing her some of Imagineering’s tricks. She seemed to enjoy it a little more knowing how the ride worked.
Over to Frontierland next. The park was still not very busy. We couldn’t believe our luck! We were going to get FPs for Splash but they were right in our lunch ADR time. So we went to Thunder (posted wait 20 min, real wait 7 min) and enjoyed the wildest ride in the wilderness. As we came out of BTMRR, Splash standby was 35 min, so we took a chance and got in line. As we were waiting, a tour group went through the FP line. We were not too sure about waiting but then it was decided for us – the ride was shut down. So we only wasted about 5 minutes. We walked through to Pirates and walked right on to the ride. I have to say, I liked Davy Jones (rather than Blackbeard) on the water curtain at the beginning of the ride. He’s much creepier.
After our customary spotting of the hairy leg, we had some fun in the Pirates shop and bought some pretzels to tide us over until lunch. We took a chance on the Jungle Cruise (posted wait 20 min, real wait 5 min). Katie and Julie sat in the middle of the boat and really enjoyed their cruise. I don’t think we went on it last year, because Katie said she hadn’t remembered it, but she especially liked the indoor temple part.
Lunch time! I had an ADR for the Plaza Restaurant at 12 noon, because everyone knows getting lunch at a CS in the summertime is sheer madness. The Plaza was good, but the restaurant was very noisy. I had the veggie sandwich, Tim had the strawberry salad, and the girls had grilled cheese and a hamburger. I don’t think we’ll go there again. The restaurant is beautiful but I think I’d rather find a quiet corner at one of the CS restaurants.
Lunch (and the A/C) had revived us. We went to Stitch (5 min wait) on the girls' request and then to Carousel of Progress. Both girls loved it (Katie especially)! It makes me happy when they like 'vintage' attractions. We cooled off on the TTA (my request) and then decided it was time to head back to the hotel. We went through the shops, pausing to stare at the Dooney and Bourke purses, the glass blower making glass slippers, and the $37K crystal studded castle. The AKL bus stop was the first one on the right side and there was a bus waiting for us. As we approached the bus, my phone received a txt message that our room was ready - 4239. We had 4223 last year -- this year’s room was just down the hall from that one.
We got into our room around 3:30. Got our bags, visited the lounge for snacks, and watch Bolt on the DVD player. The DVD player had an annoying hum to the audio, so we talked to the concierge desk and they promised to send a technician. We had dinner in the lounge - spinach samosas, pbj, fruit, hummus, and bread. We were out of the hotel around 6:15 to Epcot.
The bus came quickly and we were on our way to the girls' favorite park. Katie guided us to Imagination first (she's a big Figment fan). We were disappointed to see that the shop did not have any kids' size Figment shirts -- she's grown out of her old one! We walked over to Japan, where Julie was in her element. She picked out her souvenir for the trip -- two Pokemon plush, Victini and Tepig. Katie chose to get one (Piplup) and save the rest of her money for something else. I got Kaki Gori, which was delicious and the perfect thing to work on as we walked around WS. The girls wanted worms in dirt from Norway, so we ate together at the tables, watching a rather scrawny-yet-aggressive squirrel help clean up the day's crumbs. We moved on to Mexico, where the boat ride took twice as long due to some technical difficulties. No worries, we got a close up look at some of the scenes (love the cliff divers, as always).
It had been a long day, so we agreed to head back to the hotel before the fireworks. I called my mom to say Happy Birthday, looked at the Duffys, and surprised Katie with the sparkly sidewalk. I love little moments like that -- she just looked down and said, "wow, look at that!" We only waited about 5-10 min for the bus and were in bed by 10:30.
Up next: Rest day
Want to read more? Link to Part 2
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