IloveJack
08-24-2012, 04:44 PM
Magic Kingdom (Thursday, June 7)
When we woke up, it was storming, so we turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. All four of us needed it anyhow. Although, I can't remember the last time I slept-in at WDW!
We still arrived at 10:00, and headed to the barbershop first. I've seen warning after warning on Intercot about having to wait in line. This was the second time that we've walked straight in and sat down. DD3 had her first haircut here in 2009, and hasn't had one since. So she got a second cut (they still saved a lock of hair for us, just no ears), with confetti and pigtails. DD1 got her first haircut, complete with 20-something stickers, and new ears.
The women cutting hair were so nice and easy to talk to. They told us many people ONLY get their kid's hair cut at the MK. We live a little far away for that, but then again, with DDs, that's a possibility. They also told us that you can make reservations, through the dining line, but you have to ask for children's activities. Most people don't know that, and they also leave lots of free time open, so that's why it gets backed up. Good to know for the next kiddo.
Breakfast was at the Bakery, where the line was lined out the building and down the sidewalk. DD3 got grapes, DH and I both got the egg and ham croissant, and DD1 got an apple turnover, although she mostly shared the grapes.
Our first ride at MK is always Pirates, so that's where we headed. There was no line (there never seems to be anymore), but DD1 managed to throw her pacifier down somewhere along the way. We didn't discover that until after the ride, when she was throwing a fit because she was sleepy and we couldn't find it. DH went back through the line and actually found it, cleaned it, and she was a happy baby again.
We got fast passes for BTMRR, and went to Tom Sawyer Island. None of us had ever been there before. First thought, there need to be more hand-holds on the rafts. Holding a baby and trying to keep my balance on a shifting raft wasn't easy. And boy was the raft crowded. Secondly, it was quaint, but I'm not comfortable with letting DD3 run off by herself, yet, so it wasn't quite relaxing for myself or DH. Later in life, probably. Then again, with my little daredevil, she probably won't want to stop riding rides later in life. It was pretty and made for some great picture opportunities, though.
On the way out we got fast passes for Splash Mountain, also, then realized BTMRR was closed. Well... just the FP side. They were letting people in the stand-by line. Their excuse, one of the trains was down, and they couldn't maintain both lines. Some people were incredibly mad and incredibly rude. Poor CM was overwhelmed. We got a baby swap pass and went on our way, intending to use it later.
We walked up on Donald in Frontierland. Of course, DD3 had to get a pic, but DD1 was sleeping.
We cut through Liberty Square, and went back to Adventureland. We'd never ridden the Magic Carpets, but since it was something DD3 could ride, we were up for it. However, DD1 was still asleep. I wandered through the shops in Agrabah, while waiting for them to ride. Of course... of course, it started to rain. Imagine that. I got DD3's stroller and waited for them to find me.
We couldn't go to WDW and not see Tink, so we headed to see her next. The line was forever long (60ish minutes), but it was one of those, must-dos. You parents know what I mean. We met Vidia, who was incredibly in character, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. She was "upset" that DD3's t-shirt had Tink, Rosetta, and Fawn on it, but not her. She "complained" that I had made her wear it, etc. I don't think DD3 understood that she was trying to BE Vidia. She just stayed really quiet and pulled at her shirt. Tink was a lot of fun with DD3, though, so that made up for it.
I wanted to make sure that we didn't miss the afternoon parade, and we'd yet to have lunch, so we headed to Pecos Bill's. I set up the strollers on the edge of the porch, right against the rope, and left DH with the DDs. I went in to order the food and drinks. I should have known that DD1 would want what DD3 had, so I had to go back in and get yogurt for her, too. By the way, the system doesn't work well for just yogurt. Since it doesn't go through the "assembly line," no one ever delivers it, until you specifically ask. I didn't start to get frustrated until I heard the parade announcement, though.
It was raining when I got back outside. Of course, that was the theme of our trip. But we were on the porch, so we stayed dry. We ate while we watched. Well, DH, DD3, and I did. DD1 was entranced. I took more pics of her watching the parade, than I did of the parade. She made our trip so very worthwhile with her absolute joy at seeing the characters.
With it raining again, we got out the ponchos and tried to think of some dry rides. However, DD3 hadn't gotten to ride much, yet, so we knew we were headed to Fantasyland. DH and I don't particularly like the dark rides, and DD3 just doesn't like the dark, so we tried to steer clear of those, and headed to Mad Hatter's. All four of us rode the tea cups, with just DD3 and DH spinning us.
Then, we headed to Buzz. We parked the stroller under the Stitch building, in a very dry area, got fast passes, and then got in stand-by, so we could ride twice. DH noticed Buzz was out, and took DD3 to see him while DD1 and I waited in line. The line moved incredibly slowly. We rarely use stand-by anymore, so maybe I'm not used it it, but this was ridiculous. In fact, we'd barely made it through the first turn inside the building when our fast pass time arrived. I talked DH into leaving the stand-by line and getting in the fast pass, which wasn't hard to do. DD3 had to potty all of a sudden (actually this happened very often while waiting in line), so it took a little while longer to get in line, but we still were off the ride before people near us got half-way through the line.
DD3 wanted to ride the People Mover, which for once, actually had a line. It was raining, so everything "inside" had a line. We tried to ride Astro Orbiter, but they closed it down as we were standing atop the building in the pouring rain. We ended up waiting out the rain under the People Mover for 45ish minutes. Literally, it rained so much that the water was standing 6 inches deep around our feet.
Fed up with the rain, we decided to return to the room. We arrived at our strollers to find that someone had propped open a gate with our stroller, in a stream of rain. Water was puddled in the seat of DD1's stroller. We strongly suspected a CM, as the gate locked when it shut, and only a CM could open it, but they denied it. Incredibly perturbed, we put her in DD3's stroller, made DD3 walk, and left the park.
We got back to the room around 7:30, and put on dry clothes. We rested up a bit, let the storm move through, and headed back to the MK for Wishes.
We walked into the park during the MSEP. Not so worried about the parade, but wanting to see the fireworks, we wandered, looking for a good spot. We finally parked ourselves in front of the Crystal Palace. We watched MMY and Wishes, and then moved to the circle for the parade.
We were hungry by then, but both DDs were asleep, so DH and I got ice cream and Casey's for dinner. Wow! First time we've had either, but that ice cream was great! We sat on a bench by City Hall and people watched until we were done eating. Then we headed "home."
When we woke up, it was storming, so we turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. All four of us needed it anyhow. Although, I can't remember the last time I slept-in at WDW!
We still arrived at 10:00, and headed to the barbershop first. I've seen warning after warning on Intercot about having to wait in line. This was the second time that we've walked straight in and sat down. DD3 had her first haircut here in 2009, and hasn't had one since. So she got a second cut (they still saved a lock of hair for us, just no ears), with confetti and pigtails. DD1 got her first haircut, complete with 20-something stickers, and new ears.
The women cutting hair were so nice and easy to talk to. They told us many people ONLY get their kid's hair cut at the MK. We live a little far away for that, but then again, with DDs, that's a possibility. They also told us that you can make reservations, through the dining line, but you have to ask for children's activities. Most people don't know that, and they also leave lots of free time open, so that's why it gets backed up. Good to know for the next kiddo.
Breakfast was at the Bakery, where the line was lined out the building and down the sidewalk. DD3 got grapes, DH and I both got the egg and ham croissant, and DD1 got an apple turnover, although she mostly shared the grapes.
Our first ride at MK is always Pirates, so that's where we headed. There was no line (there never seems to be anymore), but DD1 managed to throw her pacifier down somewhere along the way. We didn't discover that until after the ride, when she was throwing a fit because she was sleepy and we couldn't find it. DH went back through the line and actually found it, cleaned it, and she was a happy baby again.
We got fast passes for BTMRR, and went to Tom Sawyer Island. None of us had ever been there before. First thought, there need to be more hand-holds on the rafts. Holding a baby and trying to keep my balance on a shifting raft wasn't easy. And boy was the raft crowded. Secondly, it was quaint, but I'm not comfortable with letting DD3 run off by herself, yet, so it wasn't quite relaxing for myself or DH. Later in life, probably. Then again, with my little daredevil, she probably won't want to stop riding rides later in life. It was pretty and made for some great picture opportunities, though.
On the way out we got fast passes for Splash Mountain, also, then realized BTMRR was closed. Well... just the FP side. They were letting people in the stand-by line. Their excuse, one of the trains was down, and they couldn't maintain both lines. Some people were incredibly mad and incredibly rude. Poor CM was overwhelmed. We got a baby swap pass and went on our way, intending to use it later.
We walked up on Donald in Frontierland. Of course, DD3 had to get a pic, but DD1 was sleeping.
We cut through Liberty Square, and went back to Adventureland. We'd never ridden the Magic Carpets, but since it was something DD3 could ride, we were up for it. However, DD1 was still asleep. I wandered through the shops in Agrabah, while waiting for them to ride. Of course... of course, it started to rain. Imagine that. I got DD3's stroller and waited for them to find me.
We couldn't go to WDW and not see Tink, so we headed to see her next. The line was forever long (60ish minutes), but it was one of those, must-dos. You parents know what I mean. We met Vidia, who was incredibly in character, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. She was "upset" that DD3's t-shirt had Tink, Rosetta, and Fawn on it, but not her. She "complained" that I had made her wear it, etc. I don't think DD3 understood that she was trying to BE Vidia. She just stayed really quiet and pulled at her shirt. Tink was a lot of fun with DD3, though, so that made up for it.
I wanted to make sure that we didn't miss the afternoon parade, and we'd yet to have lunch, so we headed to Pecos Bill's. I set up the strollers on the edge of the porch, right against the rope, and left DH with the DDs. I went in to order the food and drinks. I should have known that DD1 would want what DD3 had, so I had to go back in and get yogurt for her, too. By the way, the system doesn't work well for just yogurt. Since it doesn't go through the "assembly line," no one ever delivers it, until you specifically ask. I didn't start to get frustrated until I heard the parade announcement, though.
It was raining when I got back outside. Of course, that was the theme of our trip. But we were on the porch, so we stayed dry. We ate while we watched. Well, DH, DD3, and I did. DD1 was entranced. I took more pics of her watching the parade, than I did of the parade. She made our trip so very worthwhile with her absolute joy at seeing the characters.
With it raining again, we got out the ponchos and tried to think of some dry rides. However, DD3 hadn't gotten to ride much, yet, so we knew we were headed to Fantasyland. DH and I don't particularly like the dark rides, and DD3 just doesn't like the dark, so we tried to steer clear of those, and headed to Mad Hatter's. All four of us rode the tea cups, with just DD3 and DH spinning us.
Then, we headed to Buzz. We parked the stroller under the Stitch building, in a very dry area, got fast passes, and then got in stand-by, so we could ride twice. DH noticed Buzz was out, and took DD3 to see him while DD1 and I waited in line. The line moved incredibly slowly. We rarely use stand-by anymore, so maybe I'm not used it it, but this was ridiculous. In fact, we'd barely made it through the first turn inside the building when our fast pass time arrived. I talked DH into leaving the stand-by line and getting in the fast pass, which wasn't hard to do. DD3 had to potty all of a sudden (actually this happened very often while waiting in line), so it took a little while longer to get in line, but we still were off the ride before people near us got half-way through the line.
DD3 wanted to ride the People Mover, which for once, actually had a line. It was raining, so everything "inside" had a line. We tried to ride Astro Orbiter, but they closed it down as we were standing atop the building in the pouring rain. We ended up waiting out the rain under the People Mover for 45ish minutes. Literally, it rained so much that the water was standing 6 inches deep around our feet.
Fed up with the rain, we decided to return to the room. We arrived at our strollers to find that someone had propped open a gate with our stroller, in a stream of rain. Water was puddled in the seat of DD1's stroller. We strongly suspected a CM, as the gate locked when it shut, and only a CM could open it, but they denied it. Incredibly perturbed, we put her in DD3's stroller, made DD3 walk, and left the park.
We got back to the room around 7:30, and put on dry clothes. We rested up a bit, let the storm move through, and headed back to the MK for Wishes.
We walked into the park during the MSEP. Not so worried about the parade, but wanting to see the fireworks, we wandered, looking for a good spot. We finally parked ourselves in front of the Crystal Palace. We watched MMY and Wishes, and then moved to the circle for the parade.
We were hungry by then, but both DDs were asleep, so DH and I got ice cream and Casey's for dinner. Wow! First time we've had either, but that ice cream was great! We sat on a bench by City Hall and people watched until we were done eating. Then we headed "home."