disneyfamily05
06-14-2007, 10:23 PM
Cast members:
Me - 29 - Julie (trip planner)
DM - 57 - Yon - Darling mother (her first trip to anything Disney)
DS - 6 - Zach
DD - 4 - Deena
Where? POFQ
When? June 7-13, 2007
Background: This trip was what I referred to as my last true step into adulthood (not that i don't live an adult life already) - but I was planning and paying for a vacation for my mother. To no avail I couldn't talk DH into another trip to Disney BUT he did go for the idea of me going and taking my mom - which HEY! works for me (I think he thought I would say "Oh we don't want to go without you" WRONG) so the planning began. This trip was also a surprise for the kids - and was actually kept a surprise until we got to the airport. DS did know that we were going "somewhere" on his last day of school only b/c it wasn't actually the last day of school - he would leave 2 days before school actually ended. So on with the trip report...
Travel Day:
Because the kids didn't realize we were going anywhere i actually didn't pack until the night before we left (ok - i am a procrastinator so there is a good chance i would have done that anyway :secret:). I sent DS to school on the bus telling him i would pick him up at 10:15 and off i went running to finish off the last minute packing. We left on time and got to Pittsburgh airport in pretty good time considering there was construction. It wasn't until we took our bags to the TSA place to give them our bags that the TSA guy looks at our Magical Express tags and says - "So you're going to see the Mouse". Blank expressions on the kids faces (totally went over their heads). I laughed and told the guy they don't know where they are going so to tell them again. The TSA guy totally got into this - he kept saying "have you been a good boy/girl?" "Do you know who this is (pointing at the Mickey head)"? " Zach of course says Mickey Mouse - the TSA guy: "Do you know where he lives?" Zach: "Disney" TSA guy: "That means you must be going to Disney" Zach & Deena: look at each other, I see a slight twinkle in Zach's eyes, and they smile politely at the guy and nod their head and start to walk away :confused: And i just follow b/c i am not sure if they get it or not. Oh well - they'll figure it out sooner or later. Zach keeps giving me these sideways glances on the tram (PIT has a similar set up as Orland where you have to take a tram to get to the gates) We get to the gate - Zach finally looks at me "Are we really going to Disney World?" I say "Yes" and he sits and explains it to his sister - NOW they start jumping up and down - although throughout the plane trip he kept saying "Are we really going to disney?" "Yes Zach we are". He wasn't going to believe it until we got there.
Plane trip was uneventful - the way that I like them. Although for the first time both DM, Zach, and myself had horrible ear pain (mine actually lasted until Monday)as we landed so made a note to self to get ear plugs for the return trip.
Since I know alot of people ask about timing w/ Magical Express I'll go into details: Our plane touched down at 3:30, we got the the Magical Express counter at 3:50 (USAirways terminal is right above the Magic Express area so we didn't have a far walk) - there were hardly any people (guests) there, left on the bus at 4:10. POFQ was the first stop along the route so we were checked in by 5:00. We were in Building 7 which is far off when you look at the map - in reality its less than a 3 minute walk when you are walking at a non-hurried place - third floor corner room - one window faced the parking lot (with a lot of trees etc. between us and the lot itself) other window faced the river. We went to the food court to eat (i will go into more detail about dining under the dining forum) and let the kids decide what to do next - downtown Disney or Magic Kindowm - guess what the answer was.
So off the to magic kingdom we went - we were the only ones on the bus and got there around 6:40. I stressed to the kids we were just going to look around - and not ride too may rides - yea right. First let me say that we got there and you could hear a low rumble of thunder in the distance and every once in a while a very light drizzle would come (which is all right by me! b/c goodbye to the people who do not want to get wet!). The reason i mention the weather is I swear there were less people there that Thursday night (MK did have early EMH that day) compared to when we were there the first week of December - and this was a trend I would continue to see - it just wasn't as busy as I expected for June. Anyway we rode Pirates (stand by said 20 min, it was actually 15 min - and this was the boats not moving for at least 5), Splash MT had a 45 min wait so we decided to pass for now - but Big Thunder had a 20 minute wait (and we waited probably a little less than that) and had a blast (as we hadn't ridden it last trip b/c of the kids being too little). We saw Philharmagic and the kids are determined they are going to be able to grab Donald, walked through Minnie's house, and Mickey's and waited less than 20 minutes to see him, walked onto to Buzz, and left 10 minutes before the fireworks to get back to the hotel. We were tired but excited - and I was happy we had accomplished so much in our first night!!
Next Up: Epcot and MK EMH night
Me - 29 - Julie (trip planner)
DM - 57 - Yon - Darling mother (her first trip to anything Disney)
DS - 6 - Zach
DD - 4 - Deena
Where? POFQ
When? June 7-13, 2007
Background: This trip was what I referred to as my last true step into adulthood (not that i don't live an adult life already) - but I was planning and paying for a vacation for my mother. To no avail I couldn't talk DH into another trip to Disney BUT he did go for the idea of me going and taking my mom - which HEY! works for me (I think he thought I would say "Oh we don't want to go without you" WRONG) so the planning began. This trip was also a surprise for the kids - and was actually kept a surprise until we got to the airport. DS did know that we were going "somewhere" on his last day of school only b/c it wasn't actually the last day of school - he would leave 2 days before school actually ended. So on with the trip report...
Travel Day:
Because the kids didn't realize we were going anywhere i actually didn't pack until the night before we left (ok - i am a procrastinator so there is a good chance i would have done that anyway :secret:). I sent DS to school on the bus telling him i would pick him up at 10:15 and off i went running to finish off the last minute packing. We left on time and got to Pittsburgh airport in pretty good time considering there was construction. It wasn't until we took our bags to the TSA place to give them our bags that the TSA guy looks at our Magical Express tags and says - "So you're going to see the Mouse". Blank expressions on the kids faces (totally went over their heads). I laughed and told the guy they don't know where they are going so to tell them again. The TSA guy totally got into this - he kept saying "have you been a good boy/girl?" "Do you know who this is (pointing at the Mickey head)"? " Zach of course says Mickey Mouse - the TSA guy: "Do you know where he lives?" Zach: "Disney" TSA guy: "That means you must be going to Disney" Zach & Deena: look at each other, I see a slight twinkle in Zach's eyes, and they smile politely at the guy and nod their head and start to walk away :confused: And i just follow b/c i am not sure if they get it or not. Oh well - they'll figure it out sooner or later. Zach keeps giving me these sideways glances on the tram (PIT has a similar set up as Orland where you have to take a tram to get to the gates) We get to the gate - Zach finally looks at me "Are we really going to Disney World?" I say "Yes" and he sits and explains it to his sister - NOW they start jumping up and down - although throughout the plane trip he kept saying "Are we really going to disney?" "Yes Zach we are". He wasn't going to believe it until we got there.
Plane trip was uneventful - the way that I like them. Although for the first time both DM, Zach, and myself had horrible ear pain (mine actually lasted until Monday)as we landed so made a note to self to get ear plugs for the return trip.
Since I know alot of people ask about timing w/ Magical Express I'll go into details: Our plane touched down at 3:30, we got the the Magical Express counter at 3:50 (USAirways terminal is right above the Magic Express area so we didn't have a far walk) - there were hardly any people (guests) there, left on the bus at 4:10. POFQ was the first stop along the route so we were checked in by 5:00. We were in Building 7 which is far off when you look at the map - in reality its less than a 3 minute walk when you are walking at a non-hurried place - third floor corner room - one window faced the parking lot (with a lot of trees etc. between us and the lot itself) other window faced the river. We went to the food court to eat (i will go into more detail about dining under the dining forum) and let the kids decide what to do next - downtown Disney or Magic Kindowm - guess what the answer was.
So off the to magic kingdom we went - we were the only ones on the bus and got there around 6:40. I stressed to the kids we were just going to look around - and not ride too may rides - yea right. First let me say that we got there and you could hear a low rumble of thunder in the distance and every once in a while a very light drizzle would come (which is all right by me! b/c goodbye to the people who do not want to get wet!). The reason i mention the weather is I swear there were less people there that Thursday night (MK did have early EMH that day) compared to when we were there the first week of December - and this was a trend I would continue to see - it just wasn't as busy as I expected for June. Anyway we rode Pirates (stand by said 20 min, it was actually 15 min - and this was the boats not moving for at least 5), Splash MT had a 45 min wait so we decided to pass for now - but Big Thunder had a 20 minute wait (and we waited probably a little less than that) and had a blast (as we hadn't ridden it last trip b/c of the kids being too little). We saw Philharmagic and the kids are determined they are going to be able to grab Donald, walked through Minnie's house, and Mickey's and waited less than 20 minutes to see him, walked onto to Buzz, and left 10 minutes before the fireworks to get back to the hotel. We were tired but excited - and I was happy we had accomplished so much in our first night!!
Next Up: Epcot and MK EMH night