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staceyheis · 12-07-2008

Cast: Me and 5DD (Madeline)
Dates: Nov. 30 - Dec. 7
Riverside

I will take a stab at this since I enjoyed reading so many other TRs in preparation for our trip.

Negatives: 3 hours from landing to arrival at Riverside via ME; very rude park guests; Not one "have a magical day" the entire week; very cold Christmas party (42 degrees); Disney bus transportation to and from MK

Positives: Disney bus transportation to and from every other park; great corner hotel room; towel animals daily; Christmas parade and fireworks; arriving at parks at opening.

Now, for the details (or what I can remember). We arrived during a tornado watch - high winds and rain. When we got to the hotel, our room was not ready (we weren't expecting it to be) so we checked our bags, donned our raincoats and were the only two on the bus to Epcot. We were have dinner at Princess Storybook Dining. We started our day at The Seas and rode Nemo (no wait), saw the dolphins, manatees, and talked Turtle with Crush. We then headed to dinner. It was okay. The princesses seemed very rushed and we had an awful table (which I noticed was the norm for parties of 2 in the character dining experiences). However, my daughter was thrilled to see Snow White and Mulan and seemed to really enjoy it. She was too excited to eat. I had the lamb shank and it was pretty good. Sorry, no food pics - couldn't do pics, work the camera, have the autograph book ready, and watch a 5 year old!!

Next, we rode the rides at Norway and Mexico. My daughter really liked the boat ride in Mexico!! Then it was back to the hotel for a fairly early night as we wanted to make rope drop at MK on Monday. No issues with bus - no wait, not crowded, very pleasant bus driver who made sure we knew how to get to our room. We had a Mickey bowtie towel animal awaiting us in our room.

Monday - major bus issues in the AM. We were at the bus stop by 7:45 AM - along with many other people. After trying to get on a bus for an hour (they came, just overcrowded and am not willing to push everyone to get on), we caught a cab. Not my preferred way to spend $15 but we arrived just at rope drop. We were able to ride Peter Pan, IASW, Tea Cups (2x), Pooh, PoC and Splash by noon. No waits. It was great. We then did Stitch and Monsters Laugh Floor before my DD's appointment at BBB. She seemed subdued. Her fairygodmother in training didn't really talk to her so it was kind of odd. She loved the look and posed in front of the Castle for quite a few pics. Then, we hopped on the boat for GF where we had dinner with Cindy and gals at 1900 Park Fare. We really had a good time and Madeline really enjoyed the time with the stepsisters. They called her Sparkles and took some of the glitter off her cheeks and added it to theirs because their mother doesn't let them have sparkles. After dinner, we tried to go back to MK to ride IASW again but it was parade time and so we saw the ElectroMagic parade and tried to get back to FantasyLand with no luck. So back to hotel for early morning at AK!!

I'll try to write more tomorrow. I hope I'm not boring you all!

12-07-2008	#1 (permalink)
staceyheis Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 191	My First Trip Report Cast: Me and 5DD (Madeline) Dates: Nov. 30 - Dec. 7 Riverside I will take a stab at this since I enjoyed reading so many other TRs in preparation for our trip. Negatives: 3 hours from landing to arrival at Riverside via ME; very rude park guests; Not one "have a magical day" the entire week; very cold Christmas party (42 degrees); Disney bus transportation to and from MK Positives: Disney bus transportation to and from every other park; great corner hotel room; towel animals daily; Christmas parade and fireworks; arriving at parks at opening. Now, for the details (or what I can remember). We arrived during a tornado watch - high winds and rain. When we got to the hotel, our room was not ready (we weren't expecting it to be) so we checked our bags, donned our raincoats and were the only two on the bus to Epcot. We were have dinner at Princess Storybook Dining. We started our day at The Seas and rode Nemo (no wait), saw the dolphins, manatees, and talked Turtle with Crush. We then headed to dinner. It was okay. The princesses seemed very rushed and we had an awful table (which I noticed was the norm for parties of 2 in the character dining experiences). However, my daughter was thrilled to see Snow White and Mulan and seemed to really enjoy it. She was too excited to eat. I had the lamb shank and it was pretty good. Sorry, no food pics - couldn't do pics, work the camera, have the autograph book ready, and watch a 5 year old!! Next, we rode the rides at Norway and Mexico. My daughter really liked the boat ride in Mexico!! Then it was back to the hotel for a fairly early night as we wanted to make rope drop at MK on Monday. No issues with bus - no wait, not crowded, very pleasant bus driver who made sure we knew how to get to our room. We had a Mickey bowtie towel animal awaiting us in our room. Monday - major bus issues in the AM. We were at the bus stop by 7:45 AM - along with many other people. After trying to get on a bus for an hour (they came, just overcrowded and am not willing to push everyone to get on), we caught a cab. Not my preferred way to spend $15 but we arrived just at rope drop. We were able to ride Peter Pan, IASW, Tea Cups (2x), Pooh, PoC and Splash by noon. No waits. It was great. We then did Stitch and Monsters Laugh Floor before my DD's appointment at BBB. She seemed subdued. Her fairygodmother in training didn't really talk to her so it was kind of odd. She loved the look and posed in front of the Castle for quite a few pics. Then, we hopped on the boat for GF where we had dinner with Cindy and gals at 1900 Park Fare. We really had a good time and Madeline really enjoyed the time with the stepsisters. They called her Sparkles and took some of the glitter off her cheeks and added it to theirs because their mother doesn't let them have sparkles. After dinner, we tried to go back to MK to ride IASW again but it was parade time and so we saw the ElectroMagic parade and tried to get back to FantasyLand with no luck. So back to hotel for early morning at AK!! I'll try to write more tomorrow. I hope I'm not boring you all!