Our AWESOME WDW vacation!

[Josef1129]

Well, none of us could sleep the night before we left-and not all for the same reasons, lol.  Ray had NEVER flown before, Josef was too excited about meeting Mickey Mouse, and me, well I was just worried we would not make our connecting flight in Atlanta.  We made it to the airport with time to spare, and then ended up sitting on the runway for almost an hr due to flights being grounded in Atlanta.  All that lovely heavy, torential rains we got Tuesday night Atlanta was getting.  Josef LOVES to fly, so that is always a plus-he does great on the planes.  Ray ended up enjoying the little 30min flight to Atlanta, but said "this plane is too small!".  The flight from Atlanta to Orlando was BUMPY-not something a first time flier like Ray needed!  We made our connection with about 30minutes to spare, only because of flights being grounded in Atlanta, it made all the flights delayed-thankfully!  Otherwise we would have most likely missed our connection!

The Resort was sooo nice! We stayed at the All-Star Movies Resort (the value resorts, the cheapest, but IMHO the most family friendly of all of them), Josef really enjoyed getting to eat while watching old Disney cartoons, like Steam Boat Willie.  When we arrived Mouse Keeping had left a Mickey towel-Josef said "look Momma, Mickey is a towel!"  They also did some cute stuff with his stuffed animals, Josef loved seeing where they would end up-just like in Toy Story :-)  We had a poinsetta and a bow that MouseKeeping left for us, they can do some neat stuff wtih your linens!  We stayed in the Buzz Light Year building on the second floor-it was quite surpsingly!

We had an eight day park-hopper ticket, so that ment we could go straight to a park, or two :-)  Josef wanted to meet Mickey Mouse immediatly, so we took him over to the Magic Kingdom and into Toon Town.  We took Disney Transport to the MK, and then the WDW train to ToonTown, since my son was not about walking that night, but insisted on riding the train.  We met Mickey and Minne (after a 30min wait), and off to some rides we went!  First was Goofy's BarnStormer rollercoaster-Josef is my thrill seeker!  Daddy stayed on the ground, lol.  He wanted to "drive a car now", so we went over to TommrowLand and did the Indy Speedway-he needs A LOT of practice before he gets his official driver's license, lol.  We spent the rest of the evening in TommrowLand, not having a wait more than 10 minutes for anything, and walking right on to Buzz Lightyear's ride.  By this time it was getting later, and we were all hungry, so back to the resort we went.  Got a bite to eat, then over to Epcot for Illuminations-it was BEAUTIFUL!  Of course we stopped at the Sea's with Nemo and Friends, this ride and the "mine birds" definatly topped the list of all time favorites for us.  Josef fell asleep on the bus back to the resort, and we finally were all asleep around midnight our first night.

The Magic Kingdom was definatly our favorite park.  We were able to walk right on to most rides, every day we were there!  We did use Fast Pass for Peter Pan once and Winnie the pooh once, and these are the only two we used the whole time in the MK.  Everything else we waited no less than 20 minutes for-it was soo nice!  I know we rode Peter Pan, Small World, and Dumbo at least three times!  Josef fell in love with Splash Mountain, and rode it three times with me!  Daddy does not do these rides, so it was just me and Josef :-)  Josef said each time to me "I didn't get wet enough!" We did ride Big Thunder once, but it was a lot rougher than I remeber!  But maybe it had something to do with the fact that on the way up the first hill the rain decided to come down in buckets!  I was soaked to the bone by the time we got off! We were wetter on that ride than we ever were on Splash Mountain!  We spent most of our time in Fantsyland, but also a lot of time in TommrowLand.  Josef really loved the Buzz ride, and we rode this one three times as well.  I lost count at how many times we drove on the "speedway" he enjoyed that so much!  What really suprised us was how much he liked the Carousel of Progress! He would wave by to Rover each time we "rode" it, he melted my heart!  Josef did not like the Haunted Mansion or Snow White's Scary Adventure :-(  And these are two of my favorites!  The castle was definatly magical at night, I have never witnessed anything more magical.  The last night we were there, we were sitting on the side of the castle near a quick service resteraunt (can't remeber the name now :-()  and a cast member came up to us and said "how are you doing tonight (to Josef), I made this special for you"...it was a Mickey Waffle with strawberries and whipped cream!  Yep, Josef and I BOTH have allergies to wheat, but yep, you guessed it, we indulged!  Josef just wanted the whipped cream, and a bite of waffle, so we let him have it, and I have never seen a kid enjoy something more!  Of course yesterday we were faced wtih an upset stomach, but thankfully the wheat and milk are NOTHING in comparisson to what soy does to this kid!  Momma is fine, thankfully!

Oh the food we ate, I want to go back just for the treats!  All of us had cotton candy at Fanstasmic (Hollywood Studios), this was actually Josef's first taste of Cotton Candy!  We had carmel apples while wating on Spectro Magic, Josef again had a treat of a candy apple-another first.  The Mickey Waffle was to die for!  Ray and I had Mickey bars (chocolate dipped ice cream in Mickey's head shape), Josef had a Minnie's Strawberry bar-I am not sure which one I liked better!  The food at the Resort was awesome!  We never ate anywhere else, since we always came back for a mid-day "rest" of sorts.  The Resort mugs sooo paid for themselves!  We each had one, and used it to its full potential!  If you stay on site, this is a must have!

We were NOT impressed AT ALL with Hollywood Studios, and will most likely not go again-except for Fanstamic.  It was hard to navigate thru, and there is really nothing for the smaller guys.  He did enjoy the stunt show and Playhouse Disney live, but that was about it.  We all fell in love with Fanstamic-it was the best show we saw while we were in Disney.

Animal Kingdom was Daddy's favorite, and he even bought a shirt that says "Tigger is that you" which has Winnie the Pooh in safari gear, looking at a Tiger-it is really cute!  I could have stayed in Africa all day and listened to the music, Ray said that was fine as long as he and Josef could ride Kali River Rapids over and over.  They actually got to stay on it for THREE consecutive rides!  My boys were soaked to the bone after the first, but the cast members asked if they wanted to stay on, and of course my thrill seeker son, said "YES!"  The flights of wonder show is cool, but beware if you have "fob" (fear of birds, lol) this is NOT for you.  Josef really enjoyed seeing all the birds, up close and personal.  The safari was sooo cool! I could not belive all the animals we were able to see, and some of them tried to come back with us!  Josef was too short for the rollercoasters here, and was pretty bumed that he could not ride the one in DinoLand, but we made up for it later in the day :-)

Epcot was pretty cool-but again not too much for little kiddos.  Josef's favorite thing to do was ride the "clams", as he would tell everyone that "you don't have to hold your breath because it is magic when you see Nemo".  As on the way to your clam mobile, it really does look like you are under water.  We will definatly be taking Josef to an aquriam ASAP!  Soarin' was most likely the coolest ride we all rode together-and we walked right on to it the first time!  We liked it so much that we got off and got Fast Passes for it!  Josef and I rode Test Track-I LOVED it, and could have stayed on that one all day!  Josef did not like it because of the handling test, and the big semi that they make it look like you are going to hit it.  Josef was not impressed with the Mexico ride, and was actually asleep most of the Norway ride.  So that was it for World Showcase this time, hopefully next time he will be more interested in learning more about each country.

Josef's favorite characters are Chip and Dale, not sure why, but each time he would catch a glimpse of these two, he HAD to see them! 

I did not see a single princess, unless you count SpectroMagic.  I was not about to wait in line of over 30 minutes, just so this adult woman could meet Snow White (my favorite princess).  Ray made up for it when he found me the most beautiful Snow White Porcelin doll!

The Christmas decorations are spectacular!  Everywhere you looked there was something to remind you that Christmas is just around the corner.  Thankfully these were there, because with the weather being sunny and 80 it is hard to remeber that less than a week away is Christmas!

We were all sad when we had to leave yesterday, but a part of us was happy to be back to normalcy.  Josef slept most of the day yesterday, after puking three times (thankfully it was small amts!).  He even slept on the way out of Epcot after saying goodbye to his "mine birds".

We will definatly be going again, now the question is when and where we will stay!  We LOVED the All-Star Movies Resort, but the Polynesian is sooo pretty and on the MonoRail line :-)  Hopefully we will be going back before five years is up, but we will definatly be back before Josef is ten!

There is sooo much more, but those memories can not be wrote down, as there are no words to begin to describe the magic that we experinced.  WDW is a must for all, even if you are 28 and going for your first time (like Ray was) or five (Josef's age), this is a definate for all ages.

[mamaofwildboys]

Dec. 18, 2008 at 9:45 AM

I can't wait to go!!  We are going in June. I've been about 7 times and never get tired of it.  Each vacation is a totally different experience....

[ameliasmama1026]

Dec. 18, 2008 at 9:45 AM

I love Walt Disney world too! My dh took me and my 2 dd for my 30th birthday in Oct. You can not turn 30 anywhere but MK. I think it doesn't count because of all the magic.LOL I was happy to read your trip report.

[Josef1129]

Dec. 18, 2008 at 9:50 AM

http://disneyphotoshare.com/myglobe/B4C0660CCFE5625331

Just one pic, but it happens to be one of our favorite family pics that was taken :-)  Photo Pass is AWESOME!

(Original Poster)

[ratchetlee]

Dec. 18, 2008 at 10:16 AM

Itried to log into photo passs and couldn't - I will try again.

Sounds awesome. Welcome home

[TotallyConfused]

Dec. 18, 2008 at 11:37 AM

WDW is FANTASTIC!! It sounds like ya'll had a blast!! I can't even imagine going this close to christmas? but it sounds like it might be the perfect time to go (no lines!!)

glad ya'll are home safely :-) have a merry christmas!!

[BMMMom0799]

Dec. 18, 2008 at 4:26 PM

Hey Crystal!  I knew you guys would have a blast!!!  I'm so glad you did.  We are still talking about all the fun we had there this summer.  I'm glad Ray made it through the plane ride, I know I don't like it and I've flown a few times.:)  If I don't talk to you before, Merry Christmas!

[bamamamma]

Dec. 18, 2008 at 9:20 PM

So glad you are home gal....sounds like a blast!

[MamaDiane]

Dec. 19, 2008 at 5:59 AM

That sounds awesome!  Makes me wanna take my girls very soon!