Mickey'sGirl
08-12-2012, 02:00 PM
Cast:
DH – Brian (CanadianWDWFan) Turning 45 on this trip
DS14 – Harry – Celebrating graduating from Grade 8 (High School already?!?!?)
DS8 ˝ – Euan – Celebrating his Half-Birthday because we can’t go down in January
Me – Jennifer – Just happy to be making the trip with my guys!
We drove through the purple gates at about noon on Tuesday July 24th, and headed over to the BoardWalk for our first of 4 stays at the World over the next 12 days. I had reserved a Boardwalk view Studio for 3 nights. During this first leg, we were celebrating Euan’s half-birthday (on July 25) and Brian’s 45th full-birthday (on July 26), and a balcony overlooking Crescent Lake was a nice to have. We left our bags with Bell Services, and the boys went to relax in the “big chairs” whilst Brian and I checked in. Our room was not ready yet, so we opted to take the bus over to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours, and the resort would text us when our room was ready (the first of 2 times the text was mysteriously not received by us). Regardless, it was fabulous to be at our home resort, and strolling down to the bus stop to go over to MK.
There was quite a crowd at the Security Check, but we were soon through and using our Annual Passes (purchased for last year’s holiday) … pleased that our biometrics had not altered in the 11 months since our last visit. The park did seem quite busy, and the sky threatened to rain, but we were quite excited to be grabbing our first :bar: :bar: and heading over to join Buzz and the other Space Rangers. WE opted for fastpasses, and took a ride on the TTA while we waited. Then we went on the Carousel of Progress, and over to Buzz to ride. Just as we exited Buzz, the rain started to pour down … we waited it out a little bit, and continued out into the park in the drizzle. We were hoping to meet friends from home over at the Partner’s Statue at 3. They have two babies, and we were not surprised that they were not there in the rain. So after waiting a while, we went over to ride the Haunted Mansion, and Pirates before heading to Tony’s for an early dinner. I will prepare Dining reviews separately, but let it be said that Tony’s makes VERY good meatballs. After dinner, it was back to the busses and our hotel to see if our room was ready.
The room was ready, and it was immediately adjacent to the 2 bedroom villa we had rented three years before when my Dad came down with us … Funny coincidence! We unpacked our stuff and went down to the pool for a swim before calling it a night. It was great to be home!
The next morning, we drove over to the Contemporary for a very late breakfast at Chef Mickey’s, in honour of Euan’s half-birthday. His actual birthday was 6 months earlier on January 25, but a silly thing called “school” got in the way of a birthday trip during the winter! We checked in at the podium and were quickly seated. Both Euan and Brian were wearing Happy Birthday buttons, and were given special golden napkins to “Celebrate” with. The food was good, and we all got our fill. There was great interaction with all of the guys (Mickey has consistently been less than awesome for us at Chef Mickey’s, and although this one was not up to Goofy standards, he was very good). Both of the birthday boys had a great time. After we ate, we looked at pins throughout the Contemporary shops, then took the monorail around the Resort loop. We retrieved our car and headed back “home”.
We all decided that a swim was in order, so we quickly changed and headed down to the Keister Coaster pool, where the afternoon’s “Recreation” activities were in full swing. The CM was playing a trivia game using sound bites from different rides and attractions around the parks … we have the same CD at home, and Euan listens to it on his IPod all the time, so he was a very successful contestant! After a good long swim, we got cleaned up and headed back to the Magic Kingdom. A very nice cast member had given Euan a coupon for 4 ice creams to use on his half-birthday, and he wanted to make sure it didn’t go to waste (he had to use it on the 25th). So Euan treated us to :bar: :bar: (I had frozen pineapple). They took a turn on the teacups and then we went over to Pinocchio’s to check out the new menu. Harry and I had very disappointing and unsatisfying flatbreads, and left feeling unfulfilled … good thing for that ice cream! We walked out towards Liberty Square to see about riding the Haunted Mansion, but the line was way too long. So we continued along into Frontierland and Pin Traders (I think it’s our favourite Pin store), where Brian picked up the Passholder and DVC pins. We rode Pirates and the Jungle Cruise, and then the Flying Carpets before making our way back down Main Street via the Emporium. At the Emporium, Euan bought an Agent P hat. He had seen one earlier in the day and he had set his mind on getting one of his own! Then it was out to the busses and back to the Boardwalk.
We were able to watch some of the performers from our balcony (which was right across from the Lobster game) before heading to bed. Our plan was to hit Epcot in the morning.
DH – Brian (CanadianWDWFan) Turning 45 on this trip
DS14 – Harry – Celebrating graduating from Grade 8 (High School already?!?!?)
DS8 ˝ – Euan – Celebrating his Half-Birthday because we can’t go down in January
Me – Jennifer – Just happy to be making the trip with my guys!
We drove through the purple gates at about noon on Tuesday July 24th, and headed over to the BoardWalk for our first of 4 stays at the World over the next 12 days. I had reserved a Boardwalk view Studio for 3 nights. During this first leg, we were celebrating Euan’s half-birthday (on July 25) and Brian’s 45th full-birthday (on July 26), and a balcony overlooking Crescent Lake was a nice to have. We left our bags with Bell Services, and the boys went to relax in the “big chairs” whilst Brian and I checked in. Our room was not ready yet, so we opted to take the bus over to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours, and the resort would text us when our room was ready (the first of 2 times the text was mysteriously not received by us). Regardless, it was fabulous to be at our home resort, and strolling down to the bus stop to go over to MK.
There was quite a crowd at the Security Check, but we were soon through and using our Annual Passes (purchased for last year’s holiday) … pleased that our biometrics had not altered in the 11 months since our last visit. The park did seem quite busy, and the sky threatened to rain, but we were quite excited to be grabbing our first :bar: :bar: and heading over to join Buzz and the other Space Rangers. WE opted for fastpasses, and took a ride on the TTA while we waited. Then we went on the Carousel of Progress, and over to Buzz to ride. Just as we exited Buzz, the rain started to pour down … we waited it out a little bit, and continued out into the park in the drizzle. We were hoping to meet friends from home over at the Partner’s Statue at 3. They have two babies, and we were not surprised that they were not there in the rain. So after waiting a while, we went over to ride the Haunted Mansion, and Pirates before heading to Tony’s for an early dinner. I will prepare Dining reviews separately, but let it be said that Tony’s makes VERY good meatballs. After dinner, it was back to the busses and our hotel to see if our room was ready.
The room was ready, and it was immediately adjacent to the 2 bedroom villa we had rented three years before when my Dad came down with us … Funny coincidence! We unpacked our stuff and went down to the pool for a swim before calling it a night. It was great to be home!
The next morning, we drove over to the Contemporary for a very late breakfast at Chef Mickey’s, in honour of Euan’s half-birthday. His actual birthday was 6 months earlier on January 25, but a silly thing called “school” got in the way of a birthday trip during the winter! We checked in at the podium and were quickly seated. Both Euan and Brian were wearing Happy Birthday buttons, and were given special golden napkins to “Celebrate” with. The food was good, and we all got our fill. There was great interaction with all of the guys (Mickey has consistently been less than awesome for us at Chef Mickey’s, and although this one was not up to Goofy standards, he was very good). Both of the birthday boys had a great time. After we ate, we looked at pins throughout the Contemporary shops, then took the monorail around the Resort loop. We retrieved our car and headed back “home”.
We all decided that a swim was in order, so we quickly changed and headed down to the Keister Coaster pool, where the afternoon’s “Recreation” activities were in full swing. The CM was playing a trivia game using sound bites from different rides and attractions around the parks … we have the same CD at home, and Euan listens to it on his IPod all the time, so he was a very successful contestant! After a good long swim, we got cleaned up and headed back to the Magic Kingdom. A very nice cast member had given Euan a coupon for 4 ice creams to use on his half-birthday, and he wanted to make sure it didn’t go to waste (he had to use it on the 25th). So Euan treated us to :bar: :bar: (I had frozen pineapple). They took a turn on the teacups and then we went over to Pinocchio’s to check out the new menu. Harry and I had very disappointing and unsatisfying flatbreads, and left feeling unfulfilled … good thing for that ice cream! We walked out towards Liberty Square to see about riding the Haunted Mansion, but the line was way too long. So we continued along into Frontierland and Pin Traders (I think it’s our favourite Pin store), where Brian picked up the Passholder and DVC pins. We rode Pirates and the Jungle Cruise, and then the Flying Carpets before making our way back down Main Street via the Emporium. At the Emporium, Euan bought an Agent P hat. He had seen one earlier in the day and he had set his mind on getting one of his own! Then it was out to the busses and back to the Boardwalk.
We were able to watch some of the performers from our balcony (which was right across from the Lobster game) before heading to bed. Our plan was to hit Epcot in the morning.