Last Thursday . . .

Thursday was our day at the Magic Kingdom.  Let’s face it, no trip to Walt Disney World is complete without a visit to this park.  I know many people who visit this park first every time.  There’s just something really special about seeing the castle in the distance, and that stroll down Main Street that is so idyllic. 

We were excited to see the park all decorated for fall.  Having never visited at this time before, we’d only ever heard (and seen pictures) of how wonderful it looks.  This time, we got to experience it!  I love fall and wish they would sell these awesome Mickey-pumpkin wreaths in the gift shops!  I’d love one for my front door!

The kids and I hopped in line to meet Mickey & Minnie first thing.  While in line, Gracie noticed that Rapunzel was in the Princess Meet & Greet.  Ashley is a die-hard Rapunzel fan and has been wanting to meet her for awhile now; so we hopped in that line afterwards and met her, Aurora, and Cinderella.  (I’ll share pictures of our meet-ups when we get our Photopass cd.)

Next, we headed to meet up with our friends from 3D Travel for The Ultimate Field Trip Scavenger Hunt.  We divided into teams of 10-12 members each and went up and down Main Street to find the answers, collect the objects, and  get pictures of the things on the list.  It was great fun, though a bit crazy!  Our team came in 2nd place overall!

One of the required items was to get a picture of a Photopass photographer in front of the castle.  Ian and my friend Amy’s little girl hopped in the picture with him to make it more special!  We chose the right photographer as he totally played along and was great fun!  I assigned Ian to a “partner” for the hunt – we were moving so fast and I knew I could never keep track of him (so this second picture is Ian with his friend Daniel).  Here’s a picture of our whole team on the bleachers at Casey’s (another required picture):

After the hunt, we ate lunch at Colonial Harbor House Restaurant in Liberty Square.  I had the Lighthouse Sandwich and really enjoyed it.  (In fact, I just bought the stuff to try to recreate it here at home!)  From there, we spent some time hanging out with my friend Amy and her kids – taking in some favorite rides and attractions.

Later, we saw Kutless doing an interview in front of the  castle, visited the new Fantasyland expansion (Storybook Circus) on the pouring down rain (complete with Disney ponchos!), and took our obligatory million pictures of the castle from various angles!

We left the park to head over to the Polynesian for supper at one of our favorites – ‘Ohana.  Yum!

Last Wednesday . . .

It was so refreshing to wake up in a much cooler room (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, be sure to read Tuesday’s trip report!) Getting ready was a much more comfortable experience!

My girls both LOVE Hollywood Studios, so we were all excited to get our day started and, even with depending on Disney busing, we made it to the park before opening!  We had time to leisurely stroll into the park while taking pictures of my favorite attraction (Tower of Terror) and we stopped for a Photopass picture as well (which reminds me, I can’t wait to see how our Photopass pictures turned out!)

Much like our experience with Soarin’ at Epcot, we had a 5 minute walk to Toy Story Mania.  September might be HOT in FL, but they aren’t kidding when they say the crowds are low!  Afterwards, we got a Fast Pass to come back and ride again a bit later, then got in line to meet Buzz & Woody.

We stopped for coffee and a pastry (aka the Carrot Cake Cookie) at Writers Stop, then took in Ian’s favorite attraction – Star Tours. 

I love that we’ve been able to visit Disney more often in the past few years.  It means that we don’t have to “attack” the parks with gusto and a list of everything we absolutely have to do or can’t miss.  But, instead, we can take our time and stroll through the parks, sometimes stopping to notice things we might not have noticed before, or whatever.  No agenda, no plan – a different world for me, but I like it!

We had lunch at Pizza Planet because there was NOBODY in line – another first for us! We watched the Indiana Jones show, which we hadn’t seen for a few years, and really enjoyed it.  And we took in Beauty and the Beast again – another favorite that we hadn’t taken the time for on our past few visits.

The chicken sub was on the kids’ meal – it was delicious and I wish they’d offer it for adults!  They seriously give you way too much food here though.  The ceasar salad is yummy, but those cappuchino cupcakes – delicious!  I could eat one right now, for breakfast!

I have to admit, I enjoyed watching these two (lower left) perform sign language as much as I did watching the “real” show.  Beautiful – and so moving!

I still remember some pictures that I took of my little 5-year-old diva, Ashley, on her first visit to Walt Disney World, at this very location.  We stop here almost every visit for more photo ops:

Here are a few other “favorites” from our day at Hollywood Studios:

Yes, that really is the Rock ‘n Roller Coaster with NO PEOPLE in front of it!  Go figure!  This was mid-day too!  If anyone is looking for a Christmas idea for me, I’ll take a Lotso Pillow Pet.  Just sayin’ . . .

After a trip through one of our favorite attractions – the Great Movie Ride – and a short brush with fame helping to make a “commercial” (who knows?!) – we met up with my friend Kim and her family for the Backlot Tour.

We finished off our day with supper at the Sci-Fi Dine-In.  This was a new experience for us, and we loved it!

Last Tuesday . . .

We woke up in a very warm hotel room.  Despite the fact that we had the thermostat set to the low 70’s somewhere, it was like 76 in the room.  So, we lowered the setting and as we lowered it, the heat continued to rise.  It didn’t help that I my ears had closed on the plane and were still closed!  Add to that the fact that the hair dryer in the room had about no power, and we had a pretty miserable morning trying to get up and out the door for our day at Epcot. 

I very rarely complain about anything Disney-related; but I did call the front desk that morning to complain – I mean there was NO WAY we could spend the week in a room where the a.c. wasn’t working.  A mousekeeper prompting arrived to check our hair dryer and bring us a 2nd one to use.  However, by the time we left the room, we still hadn’t seen anyone come by to look into the a.c./thermostat issue.

Once at Epcot, our first stop was The Land Pavilion.  When it comes to Future World, it’s my favorite pavilion.  There was a 5 minute walk for Soarin’ (not a “wait” because it takes about that long to walk from the entrance to the actual ride) – so we walked right on!  Then, we headed to what is one of my favorite attractions – Living with the Land. 

A quick trip through The Seas with Nemo and Friends was next.  Then, we slowly strolled back toward World Showcase, where we had an 11:45 reservation at Le Cellier.  It wasn’t quite 11 when we got back to the World, so we sat on a bench for awhile, just soaking in the atmosphere – I adore World Showcase and am perfectly content to just sit and “be” back there! 

We spent some time in a gift shop, where Ian because quite friendly with a cast member who had complimented our button shirts (she said she had never seen anything like them and they were truly unique).  Then, we headed to Canada for some pictures, a Kidcot Stop, and off to Le Cellier to check in.

We were able to snap an empty picture of the restaurant before it filled up with Guests.  I can now see why this restaurant is so popular.  Even though my ears were closed up and I could barely breathe, I was able to taste my food enough to know it was top-notch! We will definitely be dining here again in the future – Brian would love it!

After lunch, we took some time touring World Showcase – seeing and visiting some of our favorite things, and taking in some new things that we hadn’t seen/done in the past. 

I just adore this park and as many times as I’ve said that I’d like to LIVE at Walt Disney World, this is definitely the park I’d want to live in.  I don’t think I could ever tire of it.  There’s so much to see and do and take in, and it’s ever-changing. 

And, at the end of the day, if you’ve taken nothing more than pictures of “the giant ball”, it’s all good!

We decided to head back to our room early to check on the air conditioner.  Despite the fact that we could tell that the thermostat had been adjusted, it was still very warm in the room.  So, I called my travel agent (and friend), Kim.  She immediately called someone at the resort and got things moving!  They called me from the front to tell me someone was coming to check the a.c.; but I told them that had already been done earlier in the day and asked to please be moved to a new room. 

Thankfully, the new room was not only cooler (praise God!) but it was also much closer to the main building (think gift shop, dining hall, and bus stop)! And, during the moving process, my ear FINALLY opened up!

We hopped a bus to Downtown Disney to meet Kim and her family for supper at our favorite – Earl of Sandwich!  From there, they graciously drove me to the grocery store at The Crossroads, so that I could pick up more sinus medication, and took us back to our resort.  (Gotta love friends – especially ones with cars on property!) 

Needless to say, we all pretty much dropped into bed that night! 

Last Monday . . .

The kids and I woke up in what we would call the middle of the night, in order to get ready to head to the airport for our trip to Disney!  (In the past, we’ve always driven down, so this was something new and exciting for us!)

We had a great experience at the Harrisburg Airport, got checked in, checked our bag, and got through security with no issues at all.  The worst part is always waiting to board the plane!  (I think I went to the bathroom 5 times!) 

We switched planes in Atlanta – I won’t call it a “layover” because it really only amounted to getting off one plane and running through the airport to get onto another. 

We landed in Orlando at around 11:30am and couldn’t wait to get on that Magical Express bus, Disney bound!

We checked into our resort – All Star Music – and immediately headed to the food court for some lunch.  Then, we checked out the room, walked around the resort and took some pictures, then headed to Downtown Disney. 

Afterwards, it was back to the bus to head to Coronado Springs for the Mega Meet.  It was part of The Ultimate Field Trip, hosted by 3D Travel Company.  It was nice to meet so many of the great people that I got to work with, however briefly, this year.  I also got to meet Kimberly – I’ve worked with her in various capacities for the past 4 years.  Currently, she’s a contributing writer for Homeschool Mosaics.

Afterwards, we were excited to join my friend (and former 3D mentor), Kim and her family for a 9:30 dinner reservation at T-Rex Café. 

Needless to say, the kids and I were exhausted and ready for bed after a very long day! Stay tuned tomorrow, to see what we did last Tuesday!

Fresh Disney Thoughts

The kids and I arrived home at around 1am this morning.  Needless to say, we slept in this morning.  (I believe the clock said 9:16 when I woke up!  I NEVER sleep that late!)  Anyway, I have some thoughts that are fresh on my mind from our trip, so I thought I’d get them out  before I forget.

On flying . . .

4 hours is certainly better than 18.  Especially when you’re anticipating Walt Disney World.  While we had barely enough time on our “layovers” to get from point a to point b, I still enjoyed flying and getting there so quickly. 

Disney’s Magical Express service was WONDERFUL!  It was nice to be picked up at the airport and brought back at the end of the trip.  I appreciated that they took care of printing our boarding passes and checking our bag, too (even though it took FOREVER to get the bag checked for the trip home).  However, I think that, in the future, we’d likely opt for a rental car.

On Value Resorts . . .

No thank you! Because we are a family of 5, we’ve always had to upgrade to Moderate to accommodate our family.  Since we were going one short this trip, I decided to try a Value resort and we were less-than-thrilled.  Call us snobs, call us spoiled, I don’t care what you call us.  I won’t be staying at a Value resort again.  (I’m sure I’ll be sharing more of our experience in a future post.)

On Disney transportation . . .

Because we have always driven in the past, I’m so used to having a car on property and being able to get from one place to another in a fairly reasonable amount of time.  Relying on Disney transportation just plain stinks.  Now, don’t get me wrong – if it’s all you know, fine!  But, when you’re used to driving and being in charge of your schedule, it just doesn’t work!  Hence the reason I’ll lean toward a rental car next time we fly.

On traveling without my husband . . .

No disrespect here, but we’re so used to Brian being our pack mule that we were a little frustrated by all that we had to carry!  LOL  Also, this was our first trip without a stroller.  Man, I miss having a place to pile all our goodies. 

On traveling in September . . .

We’ve now done Disney in January, February, March, May, and September.  May is HOT.  September is equally HOT.  And did I say MISERABLE?  Yep, that too.  From now on, we’ll try to stick to traveling when the temperatures here in PA are COLD, so Disney weather is more reasonable. 

Hot = Exhausting. 

On the Disney Dining Plan . . .

I read mixed reviews and, while I’d never opt to just pay for it as a vacation package add-on, when Disney offers it for “free” I say “go for it!”  We love having a nice sit-down (delicious) meal each day and we also enjoy the liberty of snacking and eating quick-service wherever and whenever we want, without having to dish out extra $ to pay for it. 

My only “issues” would be the age (9 = adult?!  Seriously?) and the fact that I feel like we waste so much food!  Disney doesn’t skimp on food, that’s for sure!

So anyway, there you have it.  I’ll be posting more about Disney and our trip over the next few days! Stay tuned. 

Trip Report ~ Animal Kingdom (Day 6)

Our last few trips to Walt Disney World had been quick trips and we didn’t have a full day to devote to visiting Animal Kingdom.  I was very ready to change this and couldn’t wait to spend a full day roaming around Animal Kingdom!  I really, really enjoyed it.  While my family would still not list it as their favorite Disney park, it certainly appeals to me on so many different levels. 

We started our day with breakfast at Tusker House.  6 1/2 months later, and we’re still talking about that breakfast!  We loved everything about it.  The food was wonderful – such a huge variety.  The character interaction was great – you meet Donald outside while waiting to be called in for your meal; then, while dining, you meet Mickey, Daisy, and Goofy.  The waitstaff was top-notch (our server was named Clifford and he was excellent – even went above and beyond to help us resolve an issue with our Key to the World/Dining Plan).  Oh, and the juice . . . did I mention the delicious juice?!

The attention to detail in the Animal Kingdom park is simply amazing.  I know Disney is famous for their detail – but this park really just takes the detail-cake in my personal opinion.  One of my favorite things to do is to watch the gorillas (I could literally watch them for hours on end!)

Of course, the Kilamanjaro Safaris is always a great thing to do – even on the trips when we couldn’t “do” Animal Kingdom, we’d head over just for that!  It’s never the same trip through the savannah twice!  Ashley and I usually take opposite ends of the vehicle so we can get pictures on either side.

We enjoyed a ride on the Wildlife Express to Conservation Station.  It had been several years since we had explored that area of the park and Gracie very much enjoyed searching for the many Hidden Mickeys to be found back there!

The Asian part of the park is a favorite of mine for personal reasons!  I’m particularly fond of the details found here!

I have so many more pictures that I could share to highlight our memories for this day, but I won’t bore you.  I’ll leave you with a few favorite Photopass pics . . .

Trip Report ~ Magic Kingdom (Day 5)

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom in time to see the opening ceremony (I love that!)  We leisurely strolled down Main Street and used some of our snack credits to buy pastries at the Main Street Bakery for breakfast.

We rode several rides, saw a few shows, and met up again with my friend Zach.

A certain chicken sandwich at Captain Cook’s at the Polynesian Resort came highly recommended by my friend Randy.  So, we hopped on the monorail and rode over to the Poly for lunch.  And once again, Randy was right – the sandwich (which Ashley and I shared) was delicious.  I’d definitely recommend it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling through the Magic Kingdom and riding.  We even talked the little ones into riding Splash Mountain – which Gracie has been holding against us ever since.  She, Ian, and I were in the front row and got SOAKED.  Oh well, it made some memories.

After a trip on Pirates, we bought pirate hats for Gracie and Ian – to go along with their pirate costumes – but more on that in a future post.

We had a late supper reservation at 1900 Park Fare.  This was our second time eating here and won’t be our last!  We love the character interaction at this venue!  The stepsisters are absolutely hilarious.  Drizella begged a very sleepy Ian to “have his photograph made with her” and he refused.  After a trip around the restaurant, she spotted him getting his picture taken with Cinderella and rushed over, demanding that she get equal treatment!  She even remembered his name!  Very impressive!

Another great day at the Magic Kingdom!

Trip Report ~ Free Day (day 4)

Oh my, here’s how pathetic I am --- I am so far behind in my trip reports that I’ll be back at Disney in 4 weeks and I’m not even 1/2 way done with reporting our last trip.  Boy, I really know how to make the fun last, huh?  In any case, I may be doubling up on my reports for the next few weeks – so you just never know what day they might appear on my blog! 

In planning for our last trip, I decided that I wanted to build a “free day” into our plans.  There are always so many extra things to see and do around the Walt Disney World complex and we often don’t have time to enjoy them because we have filled our days with plans for the parks.  This day was a HUGE success and I will definitely be planning more Disney “free days” on future family vacations.  I would highly recommend it.  So, here’s how we filled our day . . .

Gracie really wanted to try the  cane pole fishing at Port Orleans Riverside on our last trip, but it was a quick, 3-day trip and we just didn’t have the time to fit it in.  So, this time, we planned for it! 

Though they didn’t catch anything, it was still a fun experience for them – and Gracie got it out of her system now.  LOL 

While Brian and the kids were fishing, Ashley and I took some time to wander around the resort and take some pictures.  (Of course we did – we always have a camera strapped to our wrists!)

From there, we took the boat over to Downtown Disney so that Brian and the kids could do this:

Yes, Disney Quest was another  thing that had been on our “must try” list for a very long time.  A local friend dropped her daughter off to hang out with Gracie for the day.  (They had a great time!) Meanwhile, us girls headed to the bus stop to board a bus bound for the Grand Floridian . . .

We spent some time walking the sandy beaches – and relaxing.

Then we headed inside to meet up with some more friends for a ladies tea at the Garden View Tea Room.  This was something special that I wanted to do with Ashley in honor of her upcoming graduation – and we thought it would be even more fun to share this special time with friends.  Here you can see the lovely tea service and treats that we enjoyed:

I am blessed to have several friends who live near Disney – two of which were able to join us for our tea.  Another dear friend just happened to be vacationing at the same time us we were (for the 2nd time in a row!) and was able to take time out of her vacation schedule to visit with us as well.  It was a beautiful, wonderful time of friendship and bonding.  I wish we could do it more often!  (You can read a more detailed report of our tea at The Disney Moms.)

We said good-bye to our friends (sad!) and went to meet back up with Brian, Gracie, and Ian.  Thanks to MyPoints, we had a gift certificate to Steak & Shake – a restaurant that we don’t have locally – so we headed there for a late supper.  We all really enjoyed it and will definitely be eating there again sometime. 

Next up on the trip report will be a day at the Magic Kingdom, followed by dinner at 1900 Park Fare.  Stay tuned.