Ian
06-08-2011, 04:55 PM
Okay ... today was the day DW and I had waited for ... DD's actual birthday being celebrated in Disney World! This was what all the planning, preparation, and secrecy was all about. And man, was she ready for it! Little did she know ...
Wednesday, May 25th - So pretty much everything we knew DD would want to do during this trip we set up. Her two favorite places to eat in Disney, no exceptions, are Chef Mickeys and Teppan Edo, so we had made breakfast ADR's at Chef Mickeys and dinner ADR's at Teppan Edo and then promptly told her we weren't able to get in to either place.
We dragged everyone out of bed early, let DD open her presents from her brothers and sisters (just clothes and stuff), told her she wasn't getting any other presents since the trip was her present from us, and then jumped in the car to drive to "Magic Kingdom."
We actually drove directly to the Contemporary, threw DD off the scent by saying we were going to do some quick shopping, and then headed up to Chef Mickey's. Surprise! DD was super-excited. She ain't seen nothin' yet ...
Now let me just tell you ... there is no question who DD's favorite person on Earth is. It's not me, it's not her Mother, her Grandmother, her Grammy ... it's her Aunt B. They are truly kindred spirits. Aunt B got DD to try sushi ... and like it. She's not actually her Aunt. Her and her husband S are our best friends, but they're really closer to us than most of DD's actual Aunts and Uncles, so ... 'Nuff said, I think.
Well guess what? Yep ... Aunt B. and Uncle S. were joining us for breakfast! They had flown in the night before and would be spending the next four days with us in the parks! They're our constant WDW traveling companions, and a trip to Disney just doesn't feel right without them there.
DD had no clue they were coming and had mentioned like about 100 times already on the trip that, "The only thing that could make this trip better is if Aunt B. was here."
So we're sitting in the waiting area and I see the two of them sneaking up (my Mom, her friend M, Grammy, and Uncle Ed had already joined us), so I distract DD until Aunt B. can come up behind her and slap her hands over her eyes in the age old "Guess who?" position. DD is stumped. She actually guessed that it might be her Pop-Pop, which threw a glare across Aunt B's face for just a second. Then I asked, "Who would you most want to see join you here on your birthday?" and she shrieked (as only a nine year girl can shriek), "AUNT B!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!"
Cloud nine, my friends. Cloud nine. So after all the freaking out had died down, we surprised DD with the rest of her gifts. All she would tell anyone that she wanted for her birthday was an iPod. We, quite naturally, told her no way. And yet there it was ... a shiny new iPod! Freak out number two ensued. Lastly, she opened her card from Mommy and Daddy which contained two tickets to see her absolute favorite, Taylor Swift, in concert here in Philly. Freak out number three. Although in all honestly, the gift freakouts really paled in comparison to her freakout over Aunt B. ;)
Anyway, eventually we actually are some breakfast and got some good time with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. They took a whole group photo of us that actually turned out so good that we bought it, which we never do.
After we finished breakfast we headed to Magic Kingdom for real and took a spin on the TTA. DD wanted to ride Space Mountain, so we grabbed a FP and then waited for Buzz. The lines weren't especially long, even though we were later than usual, so by the time Buzz was done we were able to ride Space Mountain.
Now ... for those of you that have already listened to our most recent podcast, here's a part of my trip you've already heard a bit about. When I got in my rocket to ride SM, I took my sunglasses off my head and put them in the net bag. You know ... so I wouldn't lose them. But then, inexplicably, I got it in my head that I wanted to video the ride. This is possibly the stupidest thing ever, because really ... I've taped this ride two or three times before and the quality is just pathetically bad. I've never watched any of the other videos a single time. They're pointless. Just noise. But yet here I was for some reason with my Flip cam up and in front of me taping the fun.
What happened next? You guessed it ... I got so wrapped up with my videotaping that when we finished I hopped up and out and forgot to grab my sunglasses. DOH! And these weren't just any sunglasses you buy for like $10 at the Emporium. These were my Ray Ban P's that set me back north of $200. Ever since my LASIK surgery I have very light sensitive eyes and I need good sunglasses to be able to see. DOH AGAIN!
I ran right back out front to the CM manning the queue and told him what side I'd ridden, where I sat in the rocket, etc. and asked if they could look for them. He called up and said, "Oh yeah they found them. Go ahead through the line and pick them up.! YIPPEE!!! Or not ... not my sunglasses. These were, in fact, the $10 sunglasses you buy at the Emporium. Back to DOH! I never did get them back ... called Lost and Found a bunch of times and even had INTERCOT'S own Castmember X connect me directly with Tomorrowland Operations at one point. Nada. I really appreciated X's help, though. He totally went out of his way and I owe him one for sure.
Anyway ... I got over it and we headed up to get Fastpasses for Peter Pan. The return time was awhile away, so we hit Small World and then Haunted Mansion.
After that, I wanted to see if DS was big enough for Big Thunder Mountain so we wandered up to Frontierland and sure enough he was. The line was only 15 minutes long and so we waited and he got his very first ever ride on BTMR. He's 4 1/2 so to be honest he wasn't all that thrilled. I think he was pretty scared. Why? He cried most of the time we were waiting to board the cars and hid his head in Uncle S's lap for most of the ride. ;)
After BTMR we rode Pirates again and then used our Fastpasses for Peter Pan. By now we were darn hot and pretty tired, so another spin on the TTA seemed like just the thing. We actually ended up riding around three times just because it felt so good to sit!
By this time, it was getting close to dinner time so we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner at Teppan Edo. Another surprise for the birthday girl!
I know it gets mixed reviews sometimes and I absolutely realize it's not much different than most of your local hibachi joints, but I always really enjoy Teppan Edo. Tonight was no different. I had the chicken/steak combo platter and of course it was yummy. I do miss the filet option, though. Another casualty of the dining plan, I guess. DW and I had called ahead and ordered a legit birthday cake for DS (pic below) so after we finished stuffing ourselves they brought out this absolutely delicious chocolate cake and sang happy birthday to her (in Japanese, of course). They even gave her her own chef hat to wear, which thrilled her to no end. If I had a dime for every time she declared this, "THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!" I could move to Disney World and live in a suite at the Floridian for the rest of my life. Totally worth it! Priceless, in fact.
After dinner we stuck around to watch RoE and then toddled back to the resort to crash. Great day ... one of the best ever for me. You just can't put a price on creating these kinds of memories with your family, let me tell you. It was simply awesome! :cool:
Wednesday, May 25th - So pretty much everything we knew DD would want to do during this trip we set up. Her two favorite places to eat in Disney, no exceptions, are Chef Mickeys and Teppan Edo, so we had made breakfast ADR's at Chef Mickeys and dinner ADR's at Teppan Edo and then promptly told her we weren't able to get in to either place.
We dragged everyone out of bed early, let DD open her presents from her brothers and sisters (just clothes and stuff), told her she wasn't getting any other presents since the trip was her present from us, and then jumped in the car to drive to "Magic Kingdom."
We actually drove directly to the Contemporary, threw DD off the scent by saying we were going to do some quick shopping, and then headed up to Chef Mickey's. Surprise! DD was super-excited. She ain't seen nothin' yet ...
Now let me just tell you ... there is no question who DD's favorite person on Earth is. It's not me, it's not her Mother, her Grandmother, her Grammy ... it's her Aunt B. They are truly kindred spirits. Aunt B got DD to try sushi ... and like it. She's not actually her Aunt. Her and her husband S are our best friends, but they're really closer to us than most of DD's actual Aunts and Uncles, so ... 'Nuff said, I think.
Well guess what? Yep ... Aunt B. and Uncle S. were joining us for breakfast! They had flown in the night before and would be spending the next four days with us in the parks! They're our constant WDW traveling companions, and a trip to Disney just doesn't feel right without them there.
DD had no clue they were coming and had mentioned like about 100 times already on the trip that, "The only thing that could make this trip better is if Aunt B. was here."
So we're sitting in the waiting area and I see the two of them sneaking up (my Mom, her friend M, Grammy, and Uncle Ed had already joined us), so I distract DD until Aunt B. can come up behind her and slap her hands over her eyes in the age old "Guess who?" position. DD is stumped. She actually guessed that it might be her Pop-Pop, which threw a glare across Aunt B's face for just a second. Then I asked, "Who would you most want to see join you here on your birthday?" and she shrieked (as only a nine year girl can shriek), "AUNT B!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!"
Cloud nine, my friends. Cloud nine. So after all the freaking out had died down, we surprised DD with the rest of her gifts. All she would tell anyone that she wanted for her birthday was an iPod. We, quite naturally, told her no way. And yet there it was ... a shiny new iPod! Freak out number two ensued. Lastly, she opened her card from Mommy and Daddy which contained two tickets to see her absolute favorite, Taylor Swift, in concert here in Philly. Freak out number three. Although in all honestly, the gift freakouts really paled in comparison to her freakout over Aunt B. ;)
Anyway, eventually we actually are some breakfast and got some good time with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. They took a whole group photo of us that actually turned out so good that we bought it, which we never do.
After we finished breakfast we headed to Magic Kingdom for real and took a spin on the TTA. DD wanted to ride Space Mountain, so we grabbed a FP and then waited for Buzz. The lines weren't especially long, even though we were later than usual, so by the time Buzz was done we were able to ride Space Mountain.
Now ... for those of you that have already listened to our most recent podcast, here's a part of my trip you've already heard a bit about. When I got in my rocket to ride SM, I took my sunglasses off my head and put them in the net bag. You know ... so I wouldn't lose them. But then, inexplicably, I got it in my head that I wanted to video the ride. This is possibly the stupidest thing ever, because really ... I've taped this ride two or three times before and the quality is just pathetically bad. I've never watched any of the other videos a single time. They're pointless. Just noise. But yet here I was for some reason with my Flip cam up and in front of me taping the fun.
What happened next? You guessed it ... I got so wrapped up with my videotaping that when we finished I hopped up and out and forgot to grab my sunglasses. DOH! And these weren't just any sunglasses you buy for like $10 at the Emporium. These were my Ray Ban P's that set me back north of $200. Ever since my LASIK surgery I have very light sensitive eyes and I need good sunglasses to be able to see. DOH AGAIN!
I ran right back out front to the CM manning the queue and told him what side I'd ridden, where I sat in the rocket, etc. and asked if they could look for them. He called up and said, "Oh yeah they found them. Go ahead through the line and pick them up.! YIPPEE!!! Or not ... not my sunglasses. These were, in fact, the $10 sunglasses you buy at the Emporium. Back to DOH! I never did get them back ... called Lost and Found a bunch of times and even had INTERCOT'S own Castmember X connect me directly with Tomorrowland Operations at one point. Nada. I really appreciated X's help, though. He totally went out of his way and I owe him one for sure.
Anyway ... I got over it and we headed up to get Fastpasses for Peter Pan. The return time was awhile away, so we hit Small World and then Haunted Mansion.
After that, I wanted to see if DS was big enough for Big Thunder Mountain so we wandered up to Frontierland and sure enough he was. The line was only 15 minutes long and so we waited and he got his very first ever ride on BTMR. He's 4 1/2 so to be honest he wasn't all that thrilled. I think he was pretty scared. Why? He cried most of the time we were waiting to board the cars and hid his head in Uncle S's lap for most of the ride. ;)
After BTMR we rode Pirates again and then used our Fastpasses for Peter Pan. By now we were darn hot and pretty tired, so another spin on the TTA seemed like just the thing. We actually ended up riding around three times just because it felt so good to sit!
By this time, it was getting close to dinner time so we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner at Teppan Edo. Another surprise for the birthday girl!
I know it gets mixed reviews sometimes and I absolutely realize it's not much different than most of your local hibachi joints, but I always really enjoy Teppan Edo. Tonight was no different. I had the chicken/steak combo platter and of course it was yummy. I do miss the filet option, though. Another casualty of the dining plan, I guess. DW and I had called ahead and ordered a legit birthday cake for DS (pic below) so after we finished stuffing ourselves they brought out this absolutely delicious chocolate cake and sang happy birthday to her (in Japanese, of course). They even gave her her own chef hat to wear, which thrilled her to no end. If I had a dime for every time she declared this, "THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!" I could move to Disney World and live in a suite at the Floridian for the rest of my life. Totally worth it! Priceless, in fact.
After dinner we stuck around to watch RoE and then toddled back to the resort to crash. Great day ... one of the best ever for me. You just can't put a price on creating these kinds of memories with your family, let me tell you. It was simply awesome! :cool: