Tuesday 8/14 thru Saturday 8/18

CleveSJM · #1 08-22-2007, 11:20 AM

Cast: Me, DW, DD15, DD13, DS5, DD3
Purpose: DD3 finished up with diapers this spring and wanted WDW as a prize. Great motivator and good enough excuse to go back for me.

Monday 8/13 - Left NE Ohio around 3:30 for the "straight-thru" drive. 1/2 hour out of the driveway I remember we forgot the P&P tickets. So... Left NE Ohio around 4:30 for the "straight-thru" drive...

Great driving weather, no rain, dinner in W. Virginia. I77, I26, I95, I4. The hour lost returning for the P&P tickets hurt us. Put us in Orlando at 8am on a Tuesday. Not fun.

Tuesday 8/14 - Arrived at Pop Century around 9:30am. Check-in no problem. Got our requested backside top 50's building. Close to main building but not $$$ preferred. Breakfast and pool until the rooms were ready around 1:30. Over to Epcot for 4:25 Le Cellier reservations. Fast passes were gone for Soarin so we went to Nemo. DD3 was a little scared and didn't want to go but we "encouraged/forced" her and she loved it. She never threw a fit or cried but it was a bit of tough parenting but she loved it and wanted to go on it again and again... Did Turtle Talk and Crush talked with my DS5. He forgot the question he was going to ask Crush, so Crush asked him what was his favorite food. My boy said "Spaghetti" and Crush asked "What was that?" My son said straws and sticks that wiggle... Crushed followed that up with, "And you eat that, dude?" It was hilarious. Waited about 60 minutes for Soarin. The DS5 did it and loved it. It was his first "big" ride and really made him open up to bigger rides the rest of the trip. Living with the Land boat ride, Test Track, and Illuminations rounded out a great first day.

Wednesday 8/15 -Slept in knowing today was our P&P party at MK later. Went to MGM for Star Tours (DS5) and VOTLM (DD3) and shopping (everyone else). Fastpassed ST with our six tickets. Waited for VOTLM and waited about 1/2 hour. It was pretty hot and humid all week. Not brutal but pretty bad. Back to the hotel for some swimming before our 5:20 Crystal Palace reservations. No problem getting into MK around 4:45 with the P&P tickets. Great meal and character interaction at CP. Great party with little waits for any of the rides. Kids really liked and laughed a lot at the new Monster Laugh floor. Stayed to midnight and had bags of chocolates and necklaces...

Thursday 8/16 - Slept in again which really helped us beat the heat again. Swimming and lunch at Pop. Quick afternoon hop over to AK for Finding Nemo Musical and E:E. Nemo was ok, but not too impressive. Just saw The Lion King in Cleveland on 8/4 so comparing the two was hard to avoid. E:E was fantastic. Having 6 tickets for FastPasses and only 2 riders is very nice. So after 3 quick rides we headed off to WL for our dinner reservations at Whispering Canyon. Nice dinner with no one getting the family style plate. We didn't need ketchup thankfully, but I did ask for an ice water to chase my smoothie. Those gallon mason jars are pretty big!!! Off to DTD for the major shopping excursion of the trip. Buy Lego and Disney stock. I've sure their revenue numbers will soar in the 3rd quarter. Back to Pop for evening swim and snacks.

Friday 8/17 - Slept in again. First time I've done WDW in a relaxing, not "max every moment" mode. It was great. Hit MK again to catch up on everything we wanted to redo or do from the P&P party. Meet with Ariel. Important to note to get into line before 8pm or they will shut you out. We were the 3rd last family to visit with her. Dinner at LTT with about the best character interaction ever. We were the first table visited by each character in our section and it was great. Chip and Dale messed around a bunch and we were always involved as the first family in the section. They had a sword fight and my DS5 was used as a human shield, they had a little pushing "fight" later with my DD13 in the middle "breaking" it up. Awesome. Tons of fun and really good food. Fireworks were ok but after MNSSHP last October, I don't think I'll ever see fireworks as good as those again. Out of the park around 10:30, nice time to avoid big crowds leaving.

Saturday 8/18 - Checkout 11:00 and headed over to the TTC for a monorail ride into MK. Just a few things to hit before hitting the road home. Lunch at Peco Bills, caught the Country Bear Jamboree which appealed to the DS5 and DD3. One more time on Buzz, wrap up the shopping, caught the parade right by Town Hall (nice spot actually, first time from there and easy to get a spot right on the route. Then monorail back, little tram ride and home to Cleveland.

All in all a real good little trip. The DD3 overcame some fears she didn't have as DD2 so that was good. DS5 started on the big rides and the other kids got nice shopping in before school started this week.