starstraf
08-08-2008, 01:12 AM
TracyL and I went with the main goal of spoiling our god-daughter, though her sister and parents came along also. First trip for the 2,4 and 6 year old. We stayed at Villas at Wilderness Lodge Resort.
Walt Disney World - Spoil the God-daughter - July 2008
Star, Pooch, Holly, Peter, Tracy, Mike, Rowan (6), Willow (4), Hazel (2)
This was my first trip with kids, learned a lot of lessons, and a lot of respect for parents.
Before we went
Magical Journeys
Disney vacation specialist to coordinate room and tickets for us.
Ordered Child ID wristbands from Ready Safety
Bright pink with pocket for cell phone numbers, first trip to a park we took the kids to a random street shop and showed them a cast member badge and explained to them that if we got lost they should go up to a cast memeber and show them the braclet (which became anklets by end of week) and have them call us.
Matching bandanas
I had seen a family at KC zoo with this plan and it worked well. We tied one on each stroller - made it much easier to find from stroller parking. One was also tied to any bag that could get left (purse, diaper bag), made it easier to police the area for left items.
Prepurchase Photo Pass CD
If you are going for a week especially if there are kids plan on getting the photo pass CD, and if you prepay you save 20%
Sunday July 20, Travel Day
Had to get up at 4am to get to our US Airways flight thru Charlotte NC. Seems that Midwest Express has discontinued their evening non-stop back to KC, so I went with cheaper. with the best flight home time. Disney’s Magical Express rocks, we were sent luggage tags before the trip and that checked our bags to our hotel room once we checked in at Kansas City. We stayed in the Villas at Wilderness Lodge Resort (Photos) and had a two bedroom vil1la. Master bedroom was king size bed, second bedroom was two doubles and there was a fold out double in the living room. Two bathrooms and a kitchette. We could have used another bedroom since we ended up putting the girls in the king size so we could shut a door and leave them be once they had gone to sleep for the night, so Holly and Peter were on the fold out in the living room, but it was nice to all be in the same common area.
Once we got settled Tracy and I headed over to Gooding's Grocery to stock our Kitchen. Then we headed down to our resorts quick food Roarking Forks, Pooch and I picked up Refillable mugs but since we ended up not having as much Pool time as planned it wasn't that good a deal. I did stop by the Pin shop in the hotel lobby for my first Pin Trading of the trip (My Pins). The rest of our party arrive and Peter, Pooch and I headed down for the Electric Water Pageant which is a relaxing silly thing, on the beach.
Monday July 21, Magic Kingdom
Peter, Star, Tracy and the girls got out of the room about 8am and took the boat to the Magic Kingdom. Tracy and Rowan with Daisy Duck Holly went over to her RAD confrence and Pooch slept in. This was a very different trip thru the Magic Kingdom then my last one, last time I started with a dash for Space Mountain fast passes. This time it was all about the "oh Shiny" - Just inside the gates we saw Daisy Duck and waited to say hello and get photos with her. As we started our stroll down Main Street the Trolley Show was just starting where Disney dancers come down the Horse-Drawn Trolley and perform a short show in the middle of Main Street. Our next stop was at a cart shop to make sure to show the girls what a cast member badge looked like and that if the adults got lost that if they showed their ID bracelt to a cast member they would help find us. We did a bunch of photos in front of Cindarella's Castle and Dream Along with Mickey was just about to start so we watched that - Willow from my shoulders. After the show we walked around the Castle and found Cindarella's Fairy God mother and got one of my favorite shots of the trip, the two god mothers, the fairy god mother, and the god-daughter
On into FantasyLand we went on Peter Pan's Flight which Willow decided was scary. Next was It's a Small World which was Willows Favorite. About this time Holly has gotten back to the room and she and Pooch have come over to the park and ridden Pirates of the Caribbean and are ready to meet up with us. We all meet over at the Crystal Palace for our lunch reservations. We still had quite a wait even with reservations but inside the buffet was good (and we listened when he suggested that a second chocolate milk for the kids and hot day might be a bad combination). We got to see Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and my favorite EEYORE! They come around to each table for pictures and interaction. After lunch Peter took Hazel back for a nap, we did some shopping on Main Street and got the older girls hats and Pin Lanyards. Then headed back to Fantasyland and ran into Cindarella's Stepmother and step-sisters (Anastasia and Drizella) before Holly and Tracy braved Ariel's Grotto with the girls while Pooch and Star escaped the hour long wait in the heat and did Pirates of the Caribbean. When we met back up we decided that an inside cool attraction was the ticket and watched Mickey's PhilharMagic (which was also scary for Willow). Pooch's friend Danielle had arrived and they went off on their own. Star took Willow on It's a Small World while Rowan went on Peter Pan's Flight with Tracy. Peter and Hazel were back so one more round on Small World with Willow and Hazel while waiting for Rowan and then we headed over to Cinderella's Golden Carousel. The girls were in line waiting for Dumbo when the Rain came down and the decision was this was a good time to head back to the hotel.
Star caught up with Pooch and Danielle as they came off the Haunted Mansion and they all went to see the The Enchanted Tiki Room. Heading out of Magic Kingdom they stopped by Guest Relations to check for a lost hat and made dinner reservations over at Hollywood Studios at the Sci-Fi Dine in. We had hoped to go on Rock and Roller coaster before dinner but the wait was to long so went on the Great Movie Ride and then had dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine In watching B movie clips from a car made into tables. Star had a Rum Runner and declared it good. We had time for one more ride and caught the last run of Star Tours before taking the bus back to the hotel. The rest of the crew had gone to the Pool and then dined at Roaring Forks.
Tuesday July 22, Epcot
Pooch spent the day hanging out with Danielle, the rest of us rode the bus over about 9am, since this is a big part we rented a stroller for Rowan (had fold up for the younger two) Started in the Future World Pavillions with Tracy headed to get us Fast Pass for Soarin and we made our way to The Sea Pavillion and went on The Seas With Nemo & Friends Ride and then looked thru some of the tanks. I think the computer geeks loved Turtle Talk with Crush more then the girls but they liked it, then we played on the sharks and headed over to The Land Pavillion to have lunch at Sunshine Seasons Food Court and then Holly, Star, Tracy and Rowan went on Soaring while Peter and Willow and Hazel went on Living with the Land. We got off our rides within 5 min of each other, pretty impressive. Peter took off with Hazel and the rest of us headed over to see Journey into Imagination with Figment and then spent some time playing at ImageWorks before we went over to the World Showcase.
[Insert from Peter] Peter and Hazel headed from Epcot back to the hotel via monorail. It was a great idea, but technical difficulties caused it to take much longer than expected. Hazel didn't really nap and Peter ended up taking her to the Magic Kingdom rather than heading back out to Epcot. Hazel enjoyed being carried through the Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse. She loved the Tiki room. She was a little apprehensive about the tiki masks until I talked to her about the "puppets", then she wanted "tiki again!". I got turned around coming out of the tiki room and we ended up seeing the country bear jamboree which she also loved. I gave her a choice at that point and she wanted to see "dolls" again so we rode on small world.
[Back to Star and the main group] We started the World in Mexico and joined Donald Duck on the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros (which to Willows delight had more dolls). We then headed to China where we ran into princess Mulan and Rowan got some photos with her. Just outside Germany we found Snow White and Dopey. The rain of the day started and we ran ahead to Morocco where we were able to find Princess Jasmine (who was the only character Willow approached). After waiting out the rain we headed over to France for the ever popular Pasty stop at Boulangerie Patisserie where we caught up to Pooch and Danielle before they left the park for their dinner at Medieval Times. Tracy made sure we stopped to see Miyuiki - Candy Artist spinning wonder and creating a white tiger in Japan. Then Star and Rowan stopped in Norway to try out Malstorm with Rowan (who declared it scary) while Tracy and Willow went back to Mexico and made a mask and rode the Three Caballeros again. We were all pretty wiped out by then so headed back to the room and ordere in Pizza from Room service.
Star and Peter headed back to the park to ride on Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (where Star beat Pooch's score from earlier). I got a new high step total on my pedometer of 27,564 steps (about 11 miles)
Walt Disney World - Spoil the God-daughter - July 2008
Star, Pooch, Holly, Peter, Tracy, Mike, Rowan (6), Willow (4), Hazel (2)
This was my first trip with kids, learned a lot of lessons, and a lot of respect for parents.
Before we went
Magical Journeys
Disney vacation specialist to coordinate room and tickets for us.
Ordered Child ID wristbands from Ready Safety
Bright pink with pocket for cell phone numbers, first trip to a park we took the kids to a random street shop and showed them a cast member badge and explained to them that if we got lost they should go up to a cast memeber and show them the braclet (which became anklets by end of week) and have them call us.
Matching bandanas
I had seen a family at KC zoo with this plan and it worked well. We tied one on each stroller - made it much easier to find from stroller parking. One was also tied to any bag that could get left (purse, diaper bag), made it easier to police the area for left items.
Prepurchase Photo Pass CD
If you are going for a week especially if there are kids plan on getting the photo pass CD, and if you prepay you save 20%
Sunday July 20, Travel Day
Had to get up at 4am to get to our US Airways flight thru Charlotte NC. Seems that Midwest Express has discontinued their evening non-stop back to KC, so I went with cheaper. with the best flight home time. Disney’s Magical Express rocks, we were sent luggage tags before the trip and that checked our bags to our hotel room once we checked in at Kansas City. We stayed in the Villas at Wilderness Lodge Resort (Photos) and had a two bedroom vil1la. Master bedroom was king size bed, second bedroom was two doubles and there was a fold out double in the living room. Two bathrooms and a kitchette. We could have used another bedroom since we ended up putting the girls in the king size so we could shut a door and leave them be once they had gone to sleep for the night, so Holly and Peter were on the fold out in the living room, but it was nice to all be in the same common area.
Once we got settled Tracy and I headed over to Gooding's Grocery to stock our Kitchen. Then we headed down to our resorts quick food Roarking Forks, Pooch and I picked up Refillable mugs but since we ended up not having as much Pool time as planned it wasn't that good a deal. I did stop by the Pin shop in the hotel lobby for my first Pin Trading of the trip (My Pins). The rest of our party arrive and Peter, Pooch and I headed down for the Electric Water Pageant which is a relaxing silly thing, on the beach.
Monday July 21, Magic Kingdom
Peter, Star, Tracy and the girls got out of the room about 8am and took the boat to the Magic Kingdom. Tracy and Rowan with Daisy Duck Holly went over to her RAD confrence and Pooch slept in. This was a very different trip thru the Magic Kingdom then my last one, last time I started with a dash for Space Mountain fast passes. This time it was all about the "oh Shiny" - Just inside the gates we saw Daisy Duck and waited to say hello and get photos with her. As we started our stroll down Main Street the Trolley Show was just starting where Disney dancers come down the Horse-Drawn Trolley and perform a short show in the middle of Main Street. Our next stop was at a cart shop to make sure to show the girls what a cast member badge looked like and that if the adults got lost that if they showed their ID bracelt to a cast member they would help find us. We did a bunch of photos in front of Cindarella's Castle and Dream Along with Mickey was just about to start so we watched that - Willow from my shoulders. After the show we walked around the Castle and found Cindarella's Fairy God mother and got one of my favorite shots of the trip, the two god mothers, the fairy god mother, and the god-daughter
On into FantasyLand we went on Peter Pan's Flight which Willow decided was scary. Next was It's a Small World which was Willows Favorite. About this time Holly has gotten back to the room and she and Pooch have come over to the park and ridden Pirates of the Caribbean and are ready to meet up with us. We all meet over at the Crystal Palace for our lunch reservations. We still had quite a wait even with reservations but inside the buffet was good (and we listened when he suggested that a second chocolate milk for the kids and hot day might be a bad combination). We got to see Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and my favorite EEYORE! They come around to each table for pictures and interaction. After lunch Peter took Hazel back for a nap, we did some shopping on Main Street and got the older girls hats and Pin Lanyards. Then headed back to Fantasyland and ran into Cindarella's Stepmother and step-sisters (Anastasia and Drizella) before Holly and Tracy braved Ariel's Grotto with the girls while Pooch and Star escaped the hour long wait in the heat and did Pirates of the Caribbean. When we met back up we decided that an inside cool attraction was the ticket and watched Mickey's PhilharMagic (which was also scary for Willow). Pooch's friend Danielle had arrived and they went off on their own. Star took Willow on It's a Small World while Rowan went on Peter Pan's Flight with Tracy. Peter and Hazel were back so one more round on Small World with Willow and Hazel while waiting for Rowan and then we headed over to Cinderella's Golden Carousel. The girls were in line waiting for Dumbo when the Rain came down and the decision was this was a good time to head back to the hotel.
Star caught up with Pooch and Danielle as they came off the Haunted Mansion and they all went to see the The Enchanted Tiki Room. Heading out of Magic Kingdom they stopped by Guest Relations to check for a lost hat and made dinner reservations over at Hollywood Studios at the Sci-Fi Dine in. We had hoped to go on Rock and Roller coaster before dinner but the wait was to long so went on the Great Movie Ride and then had dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine In watching B movie clips from a car made into tables. Star had a Rum Runner and declared it good. We had time for one more ride and caught the last run of Star Tours before taking the bus back to the hotel. The rest of the crew had gone to the Pool and then dined at Roaring Forks.
Tuesday July 22, Epcot
Pooch spent the day hanging out with Danielle, the rest of us rode the bus over about 9am, since this is a big part we rented a stroller for Rowan (had fold up for the younger two) Started in the Future World Pavillions with Tracy headed to get us Fast Pass for Soarin and we made our way to The Sea Pavillion and went on The Seas With Nemo & Friends Ride and then looked thru some of the tanks. I think the computer geeks loved Turtle Talk with Crush more then the girls but they liked it, then we played on the sharks and headed over to The Land Pavillion to have lunch at Sunshine Seasons Food Court and then Holly, Star, Tracy and Rowan went on Soaring while Peter and Willow and Hazel went on Living with the Land. We got off our rides within 5 min of each other, pretty impressive. Peter took off with Hazel and the rest of us headed over to see Journey into Imagination with Figment and then spent some time playing at ImageWorks before we went over to the World Showcase.
[Insert from Peter] Peter and Hazel headed from Epcot back to the hotel via monorail. It was a great idea, but technical difficulties caused it to take much longer than expected. Hazel didn't really nap and Peter ended up taking her to the Magic Kingdom rather than heading back out to Epcot. Hazel enjoyed being carried through the Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse. She loved the Tiki room. She was a little apprehensive about the tiki masks until I talked to her about the "puppets", then she wanted "tiki again!". I got turned around coming out of the tiki room and we ended up seeing the country bear jamboree which she also loved. I gave her a choice at that point and she wanted to see "dolls" again so we rode on small world.
[Back to Star and the main group] We started the World in Mexico and joined Donald Duck on the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros (which to Willows delight had more dolls). We then headed to China where we ran into princess Mulan and Rowan got some photos with her. Just outside Germany we found Snow White and Dopey. The rain of the day started and we ran ahead to Morocco where we were able to find Princess Jasmine (who was the only character Willow approached). After waiting out the rain we headed over to France for the ever popular Pasty stop at Boulangerie Patisserie where we caught up to Pooch and Danielle before they left the park for their dinner at Medieval Times. Tracy made sure we stopped to see Miyuiki - Candy Artist spinning wonder and creating a white tiger in Japan. Then Star and Rowan stopped in Norway to try out Malstorm with Rowan (who declared it scary) while Tracy and Willow went back to Mexico and made a mask and rode the Three Caballeros again. We were all pretty wiped out by then so headed back to the room and ordere in Pizza from Room service.
Star and Peter headed back to the park to ride on Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (where Star beat Pooch's score from earlier). I got a new high step total on my pedometer of 27,564 steps (about 11 miles)