Our Disney Vacation

[ateenandatot]

 

The only problem with taking vacations is that they can't last forever. All good things must come to an end. But  the 5 1/2 glorious days of Disney World were wonderful. This was one of our best vacations.

We arrived in the Kissimmee area on Friday afternoon and stayed at Silver Lake Resorts, which is just a hop, skip, and jump from all of the Disney locales. Their back gate is on Sherbeth Road, which runs right into Osceola Parkway, the gateway to Disney. Reservations had been made at  Biergarten, the German restaurant at Epcot, so we headed over there. Biergarten has great food and fun entertainment. My little girl loved dancing to the Oompah band. We were able to catch the fireworks after dinner on our way out of the park.

Saturday morning was breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. This was truly one of the highlights of the trip. (Before we headed off to this event, which my teenager skipped, we all had our photo made on Main Street in front of the castle.) My daughter wore her Cinderella outfit and took her picture with Cinderella before ascending the curving stairway to the diner. Once in the restaurant, we were escorted to "the best table in the house" , right in the front of the windows overlooking Cinderella's carousel. The food was great and there was so much of it. Snow White, Jasmine, Belle in her blue peasant dress, and Sleeping Beauty made the rounds as well for greetings and photos. We had forgotten to purchase an autograph book, but would catch them later as it turned out. My little girl was able to ride Dumbo with a mere 5 minute wait, then the carousel, before heading to Peter Pan where she was named an "honorary lost girl" by a Disney cast member and awarded a special certificate. Then she was escorted right up to the front of the line where we boarded the ride with no wait. After this we rode Small World and then headed to Toon Town where we got to see Donald, Pluto, and Goofy at Toon Town Hall of Fame with only a very minimal wait (we had purchased an autograph book and pen by then) and then viewed Mickey and Minnie's homes. We then boarded the train to Frontier Land just in time for Woody's roundup and then autographs and photos with Woody and Jessie. We did the Pirates of the Caribbean, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, climbed the Swiss Family Treehouse, and met with Captain Hook before watching the show in front of the Castle. From there, it was on to the teacups, the Barnstormer, and then off to see the parade at 3:00 before exiting the park and calling it a GREAT day.

Sunday found us at Animal Kingdom right at park opening. We greeted Lilo and Stitch, rode the Triceratops Spin in Dinoland, met with Minnie, Mickey, and Daisy on the greeting trails, rode the Kilimanjaro Safari, saw Lion King and Pocahontas, then Nemo. We paused to get a family photo in front of the Tree of Life before heading to Pizzafari for food, drink, and the relaxing air conditioning. We then did the nature walk near the Kilimanjaro Safari, rode the train to Rafikie's planet Watch where my little girl saw Rafiki, then went back to Africa to see the wonderful parade. We had a perfect spot from which to watch it and got fantastic photos. Then we went to Asia to the Maharaja Jungle Trek before riding Dinosaur. (I know. Bad choice for a 3 year old and I realized it a bit late. She had seen dinosaur statues at a park in Virginia last summer and really enjoyed them. They were gruesome and scary, but she saw them in broad daylight and they didn't phase her. So when she said she wanted to ride with her brother, even though we told her it might be scary, we let her. We didn't realize just how intense it was until it was too late to turn back, but she actually did well with it, although she told us she would never ride that ride again. (My little girl is 41" tall at barely age 3, so she could ride most everything, although of course that didn't mean she should. We win the dumb parents award on this one.)  The day ended with a visit with Winnie the Pooh and friends, where she actually got to play with Pooh, Eeyore, and Piglet as there were no other kids around at that time and we were kind of hidden from the pathways down a little trail. We left at about 6:00.

Monday was her princess makeover. She had her own Ariel ballgown and got a really royal hairdo complete with extra glitter and a tiara, as well as a rhinestone Minnie Mouse clip. Her Fairy Godmother was wonderful! From there, we headed to our lunch reservation at Akershus in Epcot. We rode Maelstrom first and then went to the restaurant, where she had her official photo made with Belle in her fancy ballgown, and then saw Ariel in her ballgown, Jasmine, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and even Cinderella who is supposed to be rarely seen here. This time we had the autograph book ready. I know it would seem that doing two princess dining experiences was a bit much, but I wasn't sure which princesses would be where and we really wanted to see Ariel in her ballgown. Plus, I had already booked CRT before I had booked the makeover and couldn't get them synchronized. You can't get all dressed up and have nowhere to go!  In addition to the princess thing, my husaband and I really enjoyed the food at this restaurant, even though we had heard that many people don't care for it. We love trying new foods and this was a great place to do so. That afternoon we also watched the Japanese drummers and then met Snow White with Dopey and Mulan with Mushu, then rode the boat ride in Mexico (Three Caballeros/Donald Duck) before exploring the Seas with Nemo, Turtle Talk with Crush, and Bruce's Shark World. We all four had our photo taken in front of the Nemo statues outside this pavillion.This was pretty much all we did at Epcot. We did go to downtown Disney and do Disney Quest for less than an hour, just enough time to do the virtual row boat and Syd's toy making machine. We later dined at Chef Mickey's, where we met Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy. My little girl really had fun with the napkin twirling, as she is always trying to get away with dancing at the dinner table, which we normally don't let her do.

Tuesday found us at the Studios, which is still my personal favorite. We immediately got fast passes for Toy Story.  We all met Woody and Buzz and then went on to meet JoJo before seeing Playhouse Disney. Then we met June from Little Einstein's and saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid and High School Musical (where my little girl got to dance with cast members) before dining at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. After lunch, it was off to see Beauty and the Beast (still one of the best shows Disney offers), get Handy Manny's autograph and photo, see Block Party Bash, and ride Toy Story. We enjoyed the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground. It was shaded, cool, and quiet. My little girl LOVED the giant spiderweb and climbed thru it 7 times in all with the rest of us taking turns going thru it with her. We had secured more fast passes for Toy Story and rode it again not too long after the first time. We also saw Muppet Vision 3-d, did the baby swap for Tower of Terror, and then dined at Toy Story Pizza Planet. The pizza was actually pretty good and since both of my kids are Toy Story fans (my teen was a little kid when it first came out and had all the toys, now my little one loves it too), this was a great way to end our day. We left about 7:00, just before it clouded over. 

Wednesday was Typhoon Lagoon, where my little girl and I spent the morning at KetchaKiddieCreek. Then my husband took over and I got to experience Keelhaul Falls and the river (minus the tube) before we left for hot dogs at the resort. We arrived at Magic Kingdom just after the parade and rerode the teacups after getting fast-passes for Winnie the Pooh. We got Bonus fastpasses that came out of the machine with these. They were for Mickey's Philharmagic and actually said, "Bonus" fastpass on them. That was cool because we still had not seen that show. We saw the show, rode Winnie the Pooh, played at Pooh's Thoughtful Spot, and then explored Future World where we got fastpasses for the Buzz Lightyear ride,  did Laugh Floor,  rode the Tommorowland Transit Authority, used our Fastpasses for Buzz LIghtyear and then staked out our spot (an hour early) for the evening parade. After that, we had one last photo made in front of the castle and exited the park just as the fireworks began . We saw them from the monorail.

Unfortunately, we had to leave the next morning one day ahead of schedule (due to a family situation back home which is fine now) and still had a day left that had been intended for Magic Kingdom as well as our visit to Blizzard Beach, but I think we left while we still felt the "magic".

I enjoyed this visit even more than the one 5 years ago although we actually rode fewer rides. We experienced more shows and parades this time and definitely had more character encounters. I guess it was because this time we were seeing it thru the eyes of a 3 yr. old. The other thing was that last time we stayed over an hour from Disney, since we were using timeshare and that was as close as we could get. This time we were just right there within 15 minutes of all of it.  But also, it had to do with the fact that we didn't have an hour by hour itinerary and run from one end of the park to the other to get fast passes and then hurry to get in line for yet another attraction. That worked for us then with just a 13 yr. old in tow, but wouldn't have now with a 3 yr. old. My son (being 18) chose to do a lot of stuff on his own this time, but still managed to meet up with us for certain attractions at every park. My little girl was like the Energizer Bunny, choosing to walk rather than ride in her umbrella stroller. We toted the stroller anyway for those times when we needed to get somewhere more quickly, but she rarely used it. We had shorter days in the parks I guess than a lot of folks, but that was the beauty of having so many days to spread it across. We just had such a wonderful time!