buzznwoodysmom
03-29-2011, 02:09 PM
This was a special trip for my turning 9 year old son. He's the only one in our family that hadn't yet been able to have a birthday in WDW.
Cast:
Me-Denise
DH-Kevin
DS-Collin 11
DS-Landon (birthday boy) turning 9
DM-Sheila
Resorts:
Wilderness Lodge 7 nights
Animal Kingdom Lodge 2 nights
Day 5 Disney Hollywood Studios
So today would be the same as any other day, and we arrived around 9:30ish. We headed straight for Rock n Roller Coaster for fastpasses then to Tower of Terror, which had a 20 minute wait. This was one of the longer lines we actually waited in all week. Collin didn’t want to ride, but for the very first time I was going to allow him to take the chicken exit alone. We usually baby swap this ride, but he’s now 11 so I thought we could see how it went. He was up for it, not the least bit worried about doing it alone. When we exited the ride he was exactly where I told him to go, and was on my phone texting. I have to admit I was a bit worried the entire time. I was probably only away from him for a few minutes, but still I’m a mom, and this is what we do, right???
As we were heading for RNRC we ran into my SIL and her gang. Their fastpasses for RNRC were sooner than ours and since they were heading to ToT we swapped fastpasses and were able to get right on RNRC. The last few times we were in WDW Collin opted not to ride RNRC. This used to be his favorite ride, but all of a sudden a few years ago he started to not really enjoy thrill rides. This time he decided he was going to ride with us, but as we were getting on I could hear him saying he changed his mind. Being awful parents, DH and I both acted like we didn’t hear him and off we went. He had the biggest smile on his face as we got off the ride. He said he forgot how fun that ride was. We asked if he wanted to go back on, and he said “NO”. Hahaha, oh well at least we tried.
Here is where we split up. Kevin and the boys headed for fastpasses for Toy Story Mania while my mom and I went to watch Beauty and the Beast. We haven’t watched this show in years. It was as great as I remembered. We met up with the guys who told us that all fastpasses for the day were gone, and the ride was down. We were hoping we’d maybe catch the ride just as it was opening back up and not have a long wait. Let’s just say we were so wrong. For the rest of the day the line stayed at 100 minutes or more. I just don’t get the huge appeal of this attraction. It’s a fun ride, and we enjoy it enough, but even my kids were like “that ride isn’t THAT good”. So we never did get to ride TSM on this trip.
The boys were hungry so we decided to grab lunch at Pizza Planet. I’m not a big fan of this place, but Landon had requested to eat here since it was his birthday trip. We ate, the boys played in the arcade and we headed back out. The boys really wanted to go play on Honey I shrunk the kids playground so that’s the direction we went in. We stumbled upon Mulch, Sweat, and Shears. I’ve seen them before, from a distance, and I’ve definitely heard of them, but this is the first time we stopped to watch them. What a great little band. We had tons of fun watching! Landon and I also finally got the “Singing in the rain” umbrella to work. It seems every time we’ve remembered to look for it was on our Thanksgiving trips and for some reason it’s been blocked off because of the Osborne Lights. We’ve been told more than once that they do this so the lights don’t get wet??????? What do they do when it rains?????? Anyway, we pulled the umbrella and my mom got funny pictures of Landon and I! The last time we pulled it the rain wouldn’t stop and we had to make a run for it! More cute pictures of us trying to escape the rain! We finally made it to the playground and the boys had a blast as usual. Maybe my kids are oddballs, but I often feel my kids have more fun doing the simple things at WDW than all the cool rides and shows. Seriously, they love swimming. Once someone asked them what their favorite thing was on their Disney trip, both boys replied “swimming at the hotel pool”. They love all the playgrounds, and they adore Tom Sawyer Island at MK. Oh well I guess it’s sometimes the simple things in life that are enjoyed the most!
By this time there weren’t a whole lot the boys still wanted to do. We’ve watched the car stunt show once, and no one was impressed enough to ever watch it again, we watched Indiana Jones enough, and Star Tours was closed, and no one seemed interested in American Idol. We did pass by TSM again just to check the line, but it was still running 100 minutes. We did Walt: One Man’s Dream. I love this show. We’ve walked through the exhibit before, but have never stayed for the show. I loved it. After that Landon wanted to ride RNRC again so he and Kevin headed there, while Collin, my mom, and I decided to go through the shops. We made our way through all the shops at the front of the park, then got snacks and a seat on the fountain and were able to watch the new parade. This has to be the shortest, most boring Disney parade I’ve ever experienced. I loved Stars and Motor Cars. This one….not so much. Not long after the parade Kevin and Landon walked up and it was decided that we were done with DHS for the day.
We got back to the lodge and spent time just hanging around. Kevin and Collin took books to the little fireplace on the 4th floor, while I enjoyed quiet time on the balcony, and Landon went back and forth between the balcony and TV. We decided to take a ride to the monorail resorts for a QS dinner. We parked at the Poly, thinking we’d maybe eat at Captain Cook’s. Landon hates the smell in there and it was decided we’d hop the monorail and try Gasparilla Grill at the GF instead. At GG I got the shrimp teriyaki, Kevin got a flatbread, my mom got the lobster Mac N cheese, and I don’t remember what the boys got. Everything was great, and the boys enjoyed the arcade while waiting for the food. I stopped at Basin to get my traditional supply of bath bombs. In past years I’ve only filled one container. Since I know we won’t be back for a while I filled two containers, and I’m trying really hard not to use them too quickly! We took another quick spin on the monorail, drove back to WL and were back in the room in time to see the Electrical Water Parade from our balcony.
Up next – Another day off.
Cast:
Me-Denise
DH-Kevin
DS-Collin 11
DS-Landon (birthday boy) turning 9
DM-Sheila
Resorts:
Wilderness Lodge 7 nights
Animal Kingdom Lodge 2 nights
Day 5 Disney Hollywood Studios
So today would be the same as any other day, and we arrived around 9:30ish. We headed straight for Rock n Roller Coaster for fastpasses then to Tower of Terror, which had a 20 minute wait. This was one of the longer lines we actually waited in all week. Collin didn’t want to ride, but for the very first time I was going to allow him to take the chicken exit alone. We usually baby swap this ride, but he’s now 11 so I thought we could see how it went. He was up for it, not the least bit worried about doing it alone. When we exited the ride he was exactly where I told him to go, and was on my phone texting. I have to admit I was a bit worried the entire time. I was probably only away from him for a few minutes, but still I’m a mom, and this is what we do, right???
As we were heading for RNRC we ran into my SIL and her gang. Their fastpasses for RNRC were sooner than ours and since they were heading to ToT we swapped fastpasses and were able to get right on RNRC. The last few times we were in WDW Collin opted not to ride RNRC. This used to be his favorite ride, but all of a sudden a few years ago he started to not really enjoy thrill rides. This time he decided he was going to ride with us, but as we were getting on I could hear him saying he changed his mind. Being awful parents, DH and I both acted like we didn’t hear him and off we went. He had the biggest smile on his face as we got off the ride. He said he forgot how fun that ride was. We asked if he wanted to go back on, and he said “NO”. Hahaha, oh well at least we tried.
Here is where we split up. Kevin and the boys headed for fastpasses for Toy Story Mania while my mom and I went to watch Beauty and the Beast. We haven’t watched this show in years. It was as great as I remembered. We met up with the guys who told us that all fastpasses for the day were gone, and the ride was down. We were hoping we’d maybe catch the ride just as it was opening back up and not have a long wait. Let’s just say we were so wrong. For the rest of the day the line stayed at 100 minutes or more. I just don’t get the huge appeal of this attraction. It’s a fun ride, and we enjoy it enough, but even my kids were like “that ride isn’t THAT good”. So we never did get to ride TSM on this trip.
The boys were hungry so we decided to grab lunch at Pizza Planet. I’m not a big fan of this place, but Landon had requested to eat here since it was his birthday trip. We ate, the boys played in the arcade and we headed back out. The boys really wanted to go play on Honey I shrunk the kids playground so that’s the direction we went in. We stumbled upon Mulch, Sweat, and Shears. I’ve seen them before, from a distance, and I’ve definitely heard of them, but this is the first time we stopped to watch them. What a great little band. We had tons of fun watching! Landon and I also finally got the “Singing in the rain” umbrella to work. It seems every time we’ve remembered to look for it was on our Thanksgiving trips and for some reason it’s been blocked off because of the Osborne Lights. We’ve been told more than once that they do this so the lights don’t get wet??????? What do they do when it rains?????? Anyway, we pulled the umbrella and my mom got funny pictures of Landon and I! The last time we pulled it the rain wouldn’t stop and we had to make a run for it! More cute pictures of us trying to escape the rain! We finally made it to the playground and the boys had a blast as usual. Maybe my kids are oddballs, but I often feel my kids have more fun doing the simple things at WDW than all the cool rides and shows. Seriously, they love swimming. Once someone asked them what their favorite thing was on their Disney trip, both boys replied “swimming at the hotel pool”. They love all the playgrounds, and they adore Tom Sawyer Island at MK. Oh well I guess it’s sometimes the simple things in life that are enjoyed the most!
By this time there weren’t a whole lot the boys still wanted to do. We’ve watched the car stunt show once, and no one was impressed enough to ever watch it again, we watched Indiana Jones enough, and Star Tours was closed, and no one seemed interested in American Idol. We did pass by TSM again just to check the line, but it was still running 100 minutes. We did Walt: One Man’s Dream. I love this show. We’ve walked through the exhibit before, but have never stayed for the show. I loved it. After that Landon wanted to ride RNRC again so he and Kevin headed there, while Collin, my mom, and I decided to go through the shops. We made our way through all the shops at the front of the park, then got snacks and a seat on the fountain and were able to watch the new parade. This has to be the shortest, most boring Disney parade I’ve ever experienced. I loved Stars and Motor Cars. This one….not so much. Not long after the parade Kevin and Landon walked up and it was decided that we were done with DHS for the day.
We got back to the lodge and spent time just hanging around. Kevin and Collin took books to the little fireplace on the 4th floor, while I enjoyed quiet time on the balcony, and Landon went back and forth between the balcony and TV. We decided to take a ride to the monorail resorts for a QS dinner. We parked at the Poly, thinking we’d maybe eat at Captain Cook’s. Landon hates the smell in there and it was decided we’d hop the monorail and try Gasparilla Grill at the GF instead. At GG I got the shrimp teriyaki, Kevin got a flatbread, my mom got the lobster Mac N cheese, and I don’t remember what the boys got. Everything was great, and the boys enjoyed the arcade while waiting for the food. I stopped at Basin to get my traditional supply of bath bombs. In past years I’ve only filled one container. Since I know we won’t be back for a while I filled two containers, and I’m trying really hard not to use them too quickly! We took another quick spin on the monorail, drove back to WL and were back in the room in time to see the Electrical Water Parade from our balcony.
Up next – Another day off.