[crystalrp]

She is the same barber that cut my DS's hair too! Haircuts on Main street are big fun for little money!!

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by crystalrp

She is the same barber that cut my DS's hair too! Haircuts on Main street are big fun for little money!!

I was really surprised to learn it was only $14 for the haircut. It was so fun, I think we are going to try to do this every trip now.

[MickeyRon]

DT... ahhhh... you should not have chickened out... you should have asked if it was Rowdy...

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by MickeyRon

DT... ahhhh... you should not have chickened out... you should have asked if it was Rowdy...

I know....I was kicking myself later in the day.

[MickeyRon]

Well, maybe he will read this thread and remember seeing you and confirm that it was him!! Or maybe, they only have one Goofy in MK at one time? Who knows... and it may make you feel worse if you knew...

I am soooo enjoying your trip report!!

[DisneyTeacher]

After Nate’s hair cut it’s time to get our Pal Mickey looked at. He hasn’t worked today and I am a little worried. I put new batteries in him a few weeks ago and he should be good to go but he isn’t. We head over to the camera shop to see what can be done for him. The two young CMs in the shop are so wonderful, they put new batteries in him (for FREE!!!) and plug his little nose in to a computer to reprogram him. The computer isn’t working so we decide after a couple of tries to head out and let him reprogram the next time we go through the gates.

Time for a little shopping on Main Street, my favorite! We look through the shops and pick out a few things we will have to come back for. We haven’t checked in to SoG yet so I don’t want to buy anything since it can’t be delivered to our resort yet. Nathan picks out a little flashing laser light key ring, since it’s small we let him get it now instead of waiting. It’s time for a parade now.

We didn’t take the time to see the afternoon parade last summer but we are going to get to see it today. We find a nice front row spot about half way up Main Street that looks good. Mike goes for drinks while Nate and I hold our hot sunny spots. Time goes by quickly and we finally get to see the wonderful parade. The only down side is the family to our right who used umbrellas the entire parade.

After the parade it’s off to Adventureland and Pirates. We stop by the Tiki Room and enjoy a cool, funny show. Nathan enjoyed it and we are refreshed and ready for Pirates. We head over and are informed that the wait time is two minutes. We walk all the way through the queue and find no one until we get to the loading area where we find three people. Another walk on! What a great ride, Nathan is thrilled, he has wanted to go on this ride all year and is not disappointed.

After strolling through Adventureland we decide to head over to the Poly for our 6 pm PS for ‘Ohana. I want to look around the Poly, we eat here every time we are at WDW but never take the time to look around. We slowly make our way out of the MK and to the resort monorail. As we approach I notice that there is one pulling out, great! As we reach the loading area we ask to ride with the driver and get it! Nathan is so excited. Another monorail pulls in and we are in the front and headed to the Poly in no time.

After looking around for a whilewe check in about 5:45 and find a seat. We decide to order a couple of adults drinks, a Pina Colada for me a backscratcher for my husband. Our table is ready before the drinks! We get our drinks and head to our table. We are seated one table from the windows and have a great view of Cinderella Castle. The games begin almost right away and Nathan tries his hand at coconut racing, he doesn’t do so well but he has fun. Dinner is wonderful as always and our server is very nice. After we finished our meal she brings us a huge cupcake with Mickey heads sprinkled all over it. It’s our anniversary and she wants Nathan to have something special. How sweet. We are all so full from the delicious food (just fries for Nathan, thanks) that I ask for a box for the cupcake.

[DisneyTeacher]

Here is my little coconut racer.

[DisneyTeacher]

After dinner we head back to the MK for my very favorite way to end the day—SpectroMagic! We decide to try something different and grab a place for Spectro on Main Street. We claim a little piece of curb and wait out the hour or so until the parade begins. We are next to the most un-magical family ever—we listen to what I think is the mother yell and gripe at this poor 7 year old girl the entire time we wait for the parade. I felt so bad for the little girl, the mother missed the magic and ruined it for her daughter. SpectroMagic was wonderful as always, I love this parade.

After SpectroMagic we decide we better skip Wishes and try to check in to SoG again. We talked to our friends earlier in the day and they were upset that we couldn’t check in. They called SoG and were told that we could check in any time. The CM I spoke to didn’t look to see that all the paperwork was already in place and we should have been allowed to check in at 8 am. No big deal, we had a busy day planned and it didn’t include rest. We get to SoG about 10 pm (we see wishes as we pull up), find our room (the very farthest room from the lobby), and find our friends (who had just checked in).

Shades of Green is beautiful. Our room is in the new part of the resort and just beautiful. First of all the room is huge, almost 500 sq feet I believe. The décor is not Disney but it is beautiful. The bathroom is huge! I love it and want to take it home. Our luggage arrives and the pleasant bellman (what is the politically correct term for the person who brings your bags up??) shows us everything in the room. There is a refrigerator in the dresser under the TV and the couch flips out to a twin w/o taking up any more floor space than the couch, it’s pretty cool and Nathan decides that is where he is going to sleep this week. I love this room!!

We visit with our friends for a few minutes and find out the other 2 families just checked in about 20 minutes ago due to a train derailment that closed their So. Illinois interstate for several hours yesterday. We make plans for tomorrow and head to our rooms for a much needed shower and rest.

We had a wonderful day! There were no big lines to speak of, if we didn’t have a FastPass we still walked on or almost walked on every ride we wanted to go on. I can’t believe a Saturday in July could be so pleasant in the MK. No rain and a low crowd—what a great way to spend the day.

Tomorrow Hoop Dee Doo and Magic Kingdom—again!!

[DisneyTeacher]

Here are a few pictures of Shades of Green:

The lobby

[DisneyTeacher]

Our room

View from the door

[DisneyTeacher]

The huge sink area

[inluvwithdisney]

This is the greatest report!!! It helps me with my excitement!!!! Keep it coming!!!!

[DisneyTeacher]

The view from room 3163

[crystalrp]

Sounds like a very magical day! Can't wait to read more!!

[mickaholic4077]

Anxiously awaiting the rest!!!

[WDWaddict]

Great TR! I am loving reading it! The pics of SoG are great too since I have never seen it and we are going there in Nov. The other resort you stayed at is beyond words..it is breathtaking.
I also learned a neat little trick while reading your TR..take a digi picture of your parking area..what a great idea!

[MickeyRon]

Originally Posted by WDWaddict

Great TR! I am loving reading it! The pics of SoG are great too since I have never seen it and we are going there in Nov. The other resort you stayed at is beyond words..it is breathtaking.
I also learned a neat little trick while reading your TR..take a digi picture of your parking area..what a great idea!

Yeah I caught that tip too!!! What a GREAT idea...

[ilvminnie]

Originally Posted by DisneyTeacher

We decided on Beaches and Cream for dinner before we left home and are sticking to that plan. I almost changed our plans as we walked by Cape May on our way back from the pool, it looked and smelled so good I was almost at the podium asking how soon we could get a table.

I am not sure I would go out of my way to eat here but if you are already at BC it’s good. My husband has wanted to try the Kitchen Sink for a couple of years but we are so tired, we drove all night and haven’t been to bed to we decide on a smaller one scoop sundae instead. I wanted to take a few pictures with our new camera at night so I pop out to the pool/beach area while the guys wait on the ice cream. They meet me outside with the ice cream (the biggest one scoop sundae I have ever seen)

Cape May is a can't miss for us anymore. We love it there...plus as DVC members we get 10% off. As far as Beaches & Cream, we go for the atmosphere more than the food. I have to get a chili dog & onion rings, Rafikiman & I always have to share a sundae, & DD has to have their chicken noodle soup (believe it or not!!!). We just love it though.

I'm enjoying your TR. Since I have to wait til December it's as close as I'm going to get for awhile. Keep it coming.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by WDWaddict

I also learned a neat little trick while reading your TR..take a digi picture of your parking area..what a great idea!

LOL, here it is. The days at WDW can be long and I can see how someone could forget where they parked.

[lisalovesmickey]

This is a wonderful TR. Thank you. I am anxiously waiting for more!

Lisa

[tinkerbell]

your are helping me survive till we leave for WDW next month !!!

[DisneyTeacher]

Day 3

We are up and headed down to breakfast before 7 am. We decided on the Garden Galley last night and we are not disappointed. The selection is large, you can order off the menu or have the buffet. Mike picks the buffet and the rest of us order off the menu. Everyone is pleased and we are on our way to the MK for Extra Magic Hour on time.

We did so much at the MK yesterday that I really don’t care how much we get done today. I imagine we are going to repeat much of what we did yesterday. That’s okay with me, MK is my favorite park. Touring with 9 is sure to be different than 3 so I don’t expect to get as much done and the crowds can’t possibly be as low as yesterday.

We head out to the SoG bus stop and the bus is waiting. The busses at SoG operate on a schedule, the MK bus comes every 15 minutes. It’s nice to know exactly when a bus is coming. We arrive at the Ticket and Transportation Center and take the monorail over to the MK. W are in line about 15 minutes before the gates open—pretty good for a group of 9.

We head right to Fantasyland and Melanie wants to do the Carrousel first, we all hop in line and are on in minutes. We then grab FastPasses for Mickey’s PhilharMagic. I don’t intend to spoil the magic of the show so I only tell the group that the show is great. We hop in line for Dumbo. Nathan decides he wants to ride with Karen so Mike and I get to ride together for the first time in years. After Dumbo we go on Snow White’s Scary Adventure with a small but fast moving queue. It’s about time for Mickey’s PhilharMagic so we head over and wait a few minutes for our FP time to roll around. The rest of the group was just as impresses with the show as we were yesterday. The only problem this time is that we are seated off the very left of the theater and the movie is blurry. I thought it was just me but the rest of the group agrees.

We grabbed FastPasses for Peter Pan’s Flight before Mickey’s PhilharMagic so we head to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh before our FP time. Nathan didn’t like this ride last year and is not thrilled to go on it but again I kind of tell him he has to and he loves it. It’s funny the difference a year makes. Time for Peter Pan. I love this ride, it is always so magical. We decide to head over to Haunted Mansion before we go any farther. Nathan loves it this year! The Tea Cups are next. Mike decides to sit this one out with Lloyd, spinning and Mike don’t mix these days. Some time in here we did Mickey’s PhilharMagic again and got seats in the middle and the show was much better, not nearly as blurry.

It’s almost noon by now and we have done all of Fantasyland plus HM, not bad for a group of 9. We met several characters this morning and stopped to watch others pass by. We didn’t hurry through any one thing; we seem to be working at a slower pace, perfect for enjoying the magic. The crowds are much larger than yesterday, I am not sure if it’s Extra Magic Hour that is making the difference or maybe yesterday was just a fluke.

We decide lunch is in order—no one has an opinion so the group decides the Plaza Restaurant after hear the description of the restaurant options. The wait is about 20-25 minutes w/o PS so we decide to wait it out. I hang out and listen for our name while the rest of the group heads for some much needed shade. Lunch is great as always and our server went above and beyond keeping us in tea and water. We linger over our meal then head out to Tomorrowland.

We grabbed Fast Passes before lunch and it was about time to save the galaxy so we head to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Nathan is excited to go on his favorite ride again and rides with me again. The FP line is about a 15 minute wait but much better than the stand by line. As we are shooting our way through I look over at my husband and discover that he is on the PHONE! I about died. By the end of the ride he is off the phone but has very few points, I guess he can’t talk and shoot and the same time. His picture is a riot, you can clearly see that he is on the phone. (The call came from my best friend, she was just checking up on our trip—I am just glad he had my phone and not me.) After Buzz we hop on the WED Way. By the end of the ride we can see that our beautiful day is coming to a wet end. The rain is coming so we decide to slowly make our way to the front of the park.

[mickaholic4077]

It sounds as if you didn't have any problems dealing with such a large group. I think that's wonderful!

[DisneyTeacher]

We are going to Hoop Dee Doo tonight so we head to the boat dock to catch the launch to Fort Wilderness. It is raining lightly but steady as we pull up to Fort Wilderness. The boat seems like the easiest way to get to the Hoop Dee Doo or Mickey’s Backyard BBQ, it’s a short walk from the dock to either one. We have about an hour before the show starts so we grab rocking chairs on the porch for Trail’s End and put our feet up while Mike takes the kids to the arcade. A CM came over to our little spot and told us we needed to go over and check in and get our ticket. I pop over and it’s an easy process since everything is already paid for. I head back with our group ticket—we are at table 19, I am not sure if this is good or bad since we only made our reservation 60 days ago.

We spend some time enjoying our group and talking with each other. Karen Lloyd talk about how Lloyd is always picked to be in a show if there is audience participation involved. We all have a good laugh at all the shows he has been picked to be in. These are the nicest people in the world; they made this trip possible for us. Lloyd is a disabled vet (the reason we are able to stay at SoG) and keeping up with us isn’t easy for him. I think he enjoys the break more than any of us.

They finally start letting us in at 5 pm on the dot. We hand our ticket over and are shown to a table very close to the stage. Great! We have a great view and we all dig in to the bread and salad like we hadn’t eaten for days. The bread and butter is so good and the salad isn’t bad either. We have plenty of time to enjoy our salads before buckets of fried chicken, ribs, baked beans, and corn are slammed down on our table. I called ahead and asked for chicken strips and fries for the kids and they dig right in as well (my son even ate a bite of chicken!). The food is so good and we all make pigs of our selves. All the while we are eating the show is going on both on the stage and out on the floor with us.

The show is great and we are all cracking up. The kids (both 6) are laughing as much, if not more, than the adults, they are lovin’ it. It’s corny stuff but oh, so funny. Now comes the best part, the cast comes out to pick members of the audience to participate in the show. I can’t believe it but one of them walks right up to our table and picks Lloyd!!! How can one guy get picked so often?? He never goes up when he is picked and this time is no different. We are informed that one person from our table is going to be in the show and we all point to Gary at the same time. He reluctantly heads back stage while the rest of us enjoy the best strawberry short cake I have ever had! I am not kidding, this stuff is great!

We have to wait all the way to the end of the show to see Gary again but it is worth the wait—he comes out in a pink tutu and a halo!! We are all laughing so hard we are crying—it’s priceless to see our high school principal in a tutu dancing on stage. I take several pictures to take back home—these will be great to have on hand. We didn’t get to eat all of our desert because we were waiting for Gary to come on stage so we really have to cram it in as the show ends. If you get the chance this show is well worth the time and money—this is something we will have to do again.

We take the short walk over to the bus stop and get the next bus to the TTC. When we get there Lloyd suggests that we take a ride around on the monorail and see if the light rain lifts. We ride around to Epcot and back and the rain is gone and the skies are clearing. With the rain gone we decide to stick to our plan and head back to the MK for SpectroMagic and the fireworks. We get a great spot in Liberty Square while Gary, Linda, and Kendra head to Space Mountain. We visit while we wait and before I know it our group is reunited and the parade starts. Did I mention I love this parade? For the second time this week a character in SpectroMacic stops to talk to my son, how magical! I have tears in my eyes as the parade ends.

After the parade we move more toward Main Street for Wishes. I cannot express how much I love this show—it’s like none other. From the moment it starts I am lost in it. Wow! Amazing! Unbelievable! We are all impressed and agree it is the best we have ever seen-like nothing else. We blend in with the masses and make our way to the TTC for the SoG bus. There are so many people I am amazed to find all 9 of us made it out together. We decide on the ferry and hop right on. We get a bus and we are showered and in bed before midnight.

Tomorrow—Cinderella’s Royal Table!!!

[crystalrp]

I am loving every bit of your TR! I agree that Hoop Dee Doo is so much fun. Our boys were 12 and 9 when we took them and they were practically in hysterics the whole time! They both laughed till tears streamed down their cheeks. DH and I had more fun watching the boys than the show! It really is a great show to go to.

[DisneyTeacher]

Originally Posted by mickaholic4077

It sounds as if you didn't have any problems dealing with such a large group. I think that's wonderful!

I am always a little scared of traveling with a large group. You just never know how people are going to be, one person can ruin the trip for the whole group. It's easy for one person to always be late, grumpy, or just disagreeable. We had NO problems, everyone was on time and no one was ever in a bad mood. The other two families have vacation together several times but we were new to the mix, however, the trip seem to go smoothly. I would travel with these people again with no second thoughts.

[crystalrp]

From what others have said about travelling with others, sounds like you got really lucky! LOL Glad to hear it all went so smoothly!

[mickaholic4077]

Well,that's good to know. I'm looking forward to hearing about CRT.

[DisneyTeacher]

Day 4

Today is the day I have been waiting for for 90 days! We are taking our little princess to Cinderella’s Royal Table. We have an 8:30 PS and today is not Early Entry so we get to enjoy that magical walk up a nearly empty Main Street. I am not disappointed, it is a magical walk. As we enter the ticket gates it looks like a lot of people, too many to be going to two character breakfasts. As we walk down Main Street most of the crowd turns off at Crystal Palace. That leaves just our group walking up to the castle. It is beautiful, I have never seen the MK empty and I am not disappointed. After a few pictures we are walking our excited princess into the castle.

I get in line while the rest of the group goes in to wait for me. Once again I am a wreck, what if our PS is messed up? We got lucky and scheduled 4 PSs for this meal, we cancelled 3 of them and I had to drop one from this PS when my in-laws backed out of the trip. What if the whole PS was cancelled and I have to go tell our princess that we aren’t going to meet the other princesses? I am so nervous as I finally make my way through the line and up to the desk. I breath a huge sigh of relief when I see my name on the screen—YEA!!!

I find my group and we seated almost right away. We decide to take the stairs up (even Lloyd who has some difficulty with stairs) just so we can have to full effect of the castle. Wow! I am so impressed as we walk in, it’s as beautiful as I dreamed. We are seated in the upper level and enjoy our fruit and basket of bread. In fact, we enjoy the bread so much we ask for more of the sticky rolls. I am amazed at how peaceful the meal is, we are not rushed at all. We are all cracking up at the server next to out table, he is a riot. I am not sure if he is playing a role or if he is really British, either way he is so funny. Our server is not nearly as funny but he does his job. Once our food arrives the princesses start coming, boy are they beautiful! Every one of them is so sweet and is so patient with Melanie. They take sure beautiful pictures, every picture is perfect. Our meal is over way too soon and we head out to the real world, well the MK anyway.

I have read many reports about breakfast in the castle, some good and some not so good. Our experience is magical. From the minute we are seated to the minute we leave we have a wonderful time. None of us have unreal expectations, we just want to take a 6 year old to meet the princesses. The food is good and the princesses are sweet. Melanie, like so many kids, is shy when the characters come around, however, she is still excited to meet them. I have to say that this meal is worth all the work involved in getting it and I hope to do it again next summer with the two princesses we are going with next year.

[DisneyTeacher]

Here is a picture of the castle

[DisneyTeacher]

Here is a picture of the server who was so funny. I wish he had been our server, he was great.

[inluvwithdisney]

Sounds so wonderful!!!!! I am glad you enjoyed your Princess Experience!!!

We did CRT last year and are doing The Princess Storybook this year!!!

[DisneyTeacher]

We call my boys (they chose not to come to breakfast, Nate said it was too girly) and they are finishing up the Indy Speedway and are on their way to the WED Way. We meet up and wait while Melanie takes her turn at driving. We head over to Advertureland to get FastPasses for Big Thunder. We discover it’s broken but we get FPs and head toward Haunted Mansion. This is a walk on and everyone enjoys it. Time for another ride on PoC since Nathan loves it and the others haven’t been on it. After it is too late we discover we are in line with a tour group of teems. They chant and yell the entire time we are in line. Lucky for us we are in different queues and don’t have to listen to it the entire time.

After shopping for some pirate stuff for my son it’s time for our FastPasses on Big Thunder so we head that way. Mike and Nathan are hungry since they missed breakfast so we stop at the McDonald’s cart for some fries for Nate. The rest of the group goes on ahead w/o us and we don’t see them once we get there. We decide to skip it and grab some lunch for Mike. He has never had a turkey leg and now is the time to try it. He gets one and he and Nate find a bench to enjoy their feast while I pop in to the Christmas shop. I love this store and buy several ornaments for our Disney tree.

Now we are really living on the edge, we are going to try a Dole Whip! A turkey leg and a Dole Whip in the same day, can you believe this? I have read a lot about these but have never had one. We each get one and grab a table. After the Dole Whip we head to Main Street for some serious shopping. I buy several things and have them sent back to our resort (I love this perk!). Since it’s just the three of us we decide to head to our favorite resort, Wilderness Lodge. We hop on the launch and are there in no time. We wander around and soak up the peacefulness. Nathan and Mike hit the arcade while I shop a little. I want a WL pin I didn’t get last summer and I grab the Wishes CD. We look around some more and take a few pictures before we head back to SoG to meet the others.

We decide on dinner at Evergreens since tonight is our IllumiNations cruise. I have built this up for months; I hope the others enjoy it as much as we did last summer. We are leaving from the Baordwalk this time so we head over there early for some shopping and fun. The kids spend an hour or so feeding the ducks, fish, and snapping turtle. The rest of us take turns looking around. Our pilot and boat show up and we meet the greatest guy. Our pilot is Jeff and he is great. Right from the start he is funny, he starts out cracking jokes and it never ends. The cruise is perfect and we have the best view in the park. This cruise is a must do for us, it’s awesome. Jeff returns us to the Boardwalk and we say good night to the greatest plot and head to the bakery for some snacks.


Tomorrow—Blizzard Beach

[DisneyTeacher]

I brought tons of glow necklaces & bracelets for the kids. I got 50 bracelets for $8--they were glowing!

[DisneyTeacher]

Here is Jeff, our pilot. If you stay at the Boardwalk you may have seen him there, he works at the pool during the day.

[DisneyTeacher]

Day 5

We meet for our usual trip downstairs for breakfast and then all of us minus Lloyd head to the bus stop to catch bus B to Blizzard Beach. Lloyd decided to stay back at Shades and take some pictures of the resort and get some rest. He has trouble keeping up and I think we have worn him out. He also wears a small leg brace and would have a lot of trouble at the water park.

We finally get to Blizzard Beach after a long bus ride. I am sitting next to a lady who filled me in on all the annoying little things a girlfriend of some family member had been doing for the last week. I heard it all, trust me! When the bus doors opened I made a break for it and ran, I ran very fast. I can’t take it any longer.

As we approach the ticket area Gary looks over and asks us if we need our tickets. I think he is joking at first but the look on his face is serious—he left their four tickets in his billfold back in the room. NO! We decide that those of us with tickets will head in and get some shady chairs while he goes back to SoG to get the forgotten tickets, his family will find a bench and wait it out. This is where we decide it would have been smart to trade a room key with each other. Lloyd is back at SoG but can’t get in Gary’s room to get them.

We head in, buy the $10 refillable mug, and find some very shady chairs. We are in Tikes Peak—great shade—so that is where Nathan heads while Mike goes to rent a locker and ride Summit Plummet. We decide that we are going to leave Nathan glasses in the beach bag and not risk losing or breaking them. It’s a tough choice—I put old glasses in the car—I should have brought them here for him to wear while on the slides. Nathan is legally blind and w/o glasses he doesn’t see well at all. After a trip around the park in the lazy river we head to the little slides so he can adjust to life w/o glasses. The CM at the top of the slide was a little short with him; she said she needs one in a tube ready to go right away. I explain to her that Nathan doesn’t see well and we are just getting a feel for the slides. (His depth perception is really bad so stairs can be a problem and when his eyes are tired his double vision returns if he isn't wearing his glasses.) She was so good to him after that.

Gary and his family are finally in the park and are off to enjoy the slides.

Mike finally finishes with Summit Plummet and we head to Team Boat Springs, the family raft ride. What a blast! Nathan loves it and we do it again, and again, and again. He would do this all day. Time for a little change—we decide to take him on Run off Rapids. He is excited but I am a little nervous, he can swim but he isn’t a great swimmer. All is well and he loves it! Back up to the top and we do it again, and again.

We spend the day playing in the wave pool, riding slides, and relaxing in the shade. It’s a fun, relaxing day—perfect for mid-trip. At about 3 pm we decide we better head back to SoG to see what Lloyd has been doing all day (besides sleeping!).

[Metalfan]

I'm loving your report!!! The pics of SoG were great and just hearing about your adventures! It's great that you are having no problems with a large group...they can be difficult!

[DisneyTeacher]

After the fastest showers in history we are back together and ready to hit MGM. We have a PS at 50’s PT and want to get a little in before that. We decide to drive over to MGM since bus B has several stops during the route. After parking we head to the waiting tram. As we get closer the guy with the microphone does a little countdown and pretends like he is going to pull out before we get there to watch us run. As we sit and wait for the other people behind us he tells jokes, he’s a riot. Nathan is cracking up as the guy goes through his whole spiel talking faster than I have ever heard. He then says it slower but it’s not as funny. This guy really knows how to take a boring parking lot job and make it fun.

As we enter the park we decide to grab a FastPass for Voyage of the Little Mermaid before getting in line for The Great Movie Ride. After the GMR we do a little shopping along Hollywood Boulevard then head over to 50’s PT a little early to find the place packed. I am so glad we plan ahead, I overheard the wait time is 3 hours w/o a PS---that 9 pm! We end up waiting about 15 minutes for our table and are finally seated at a small corner table. We cram all 9 of us in and the fun begins. We had a great server—Cousin Jimmy I believe. He was fun, he did just enough to be funny and not annoying. He seems to pick one person, Karen, out of our group and focuses on her, I am just glad it’s not me! As we are finishing up he is taking plates away he notices Karen covered up her green beans. He tells her she needs to eat one more bite and plays airplane while feeding her a green bean. We were all cracking up and she took it so well and ate the green bean while laughing. Mike is the only one who orders dessert, he gets Dad’s Sundae, it is huge and looks so good. It has brownie, about 3 scoops of ice cream, caramel sauce, hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts, and M & M’s and Cracker Jacks around the plate. It tastes as good as it looks.

We have minutes to make our FastPass time so we head that way. This show is great, I love all of it. After Little Mermaid we decide we better go grab some seats for Fantasmic! We get great seats about an hour before the show starts. The wait is hot but uneventful. None of us have seen Fantasmic! before and we are not let down, the show is impressive. I would see the show again but I still like SpectroMagic and Wishes better. Melanie and Linda want to pop in a shop and buy something they saw earlier so Mike, Nathan, and I hang back and walk with Lloyd. We some how find Karen and the rest as we are making our way out. We get the same tram driver as we had on the way in and he is just as funny. We are all cracking up as we head out to our cars.

Tomorrow—Chef Mickey’s

[DisneyTeacher]

Dad's sundae

[DisneyTeacher]

Day 6

We have a PS at Chef Mickey’s for 9:10 this morning. We decide to take the bus to the TTC and get on the resort monorail there. Not a problem, we are at Chef Mickey’s in plenty of time. We are checked in and are posing for our group picture in no time. They take two pictures, one of all 9 of us and one of just the two kids. They are so cute; they are both 6, only a few weeks apart in age. They didn’t really know each other before this trip, they go to the same school but are in different classes, they even went to the same sitter together for a couple of months when they were 4. They don’t remember each other but they are fast friends this week. Melanie is a little more hesitant than Nathan; he is ready to be her best friend and seems to be glued to her side. He has good taste, she is a cutie.

After meeting Goofy we are seated right away. Like usual, the food is good and the character are great fun. We meet Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, and Pluto while we eat. Nathan and Melanie are so cute, they like the characters but really don’t know what to say to them when they come to the table.

While we are eating the pictures are brought to the table—I am thinking how do we do this—we have 3 different families and two sets of pictures. I want to buy the pictures but don’t want to over step and upset someone. Right away Gary asks about the price and says he’ll buy them. It happened so fast that I am left out—I am trying to think fast here—can they print more? Just then Gary hands me half of the pictures and says something like “I’ve been trying to think of a way to say thank you all week and the opportunity was just presented.” Wow! How sweet of him. We trade pictures around so that we each get half of both shots, then I give Karen a wallet of our group shot so she has a picture of all of us.

I am not sure these people understand how much I love planning WDW trips. I enjoyed planning this trip and didn’t expect anything. Karen and Lloyd end up buying our breakfast after I arranged with our server to buy theirs! I owe them so much, they made this trip possible for us; without them we wouldn’t have made it to WDW this year. There is no need to thank me, I love researching and planning WDW trips.

Over breakfast we decide to head to Animal Kingdom for a few hours. Last summer AK was my least favorite park but I am willing to give it another try. We head out to the CR bus stop and are on an AK bus in about 10 minutes. Even getting to AK late, it’s about 10:30, the crowds are not too bad. We head to the safari for FP but the ride is down and they are not giving them out. We decide to wait in the stand by line for It’s Tough to be a Bug. Nathan liked most of this last summer so I’m not too worried. We wait in line about 30-40 minutes and everyone loved the show. Time to head to the Lion King show. We get there are the show just started, we can get in but we will have missed some of it. We decide to wait for the next show and we are first in line. After a 20 minute wait we are in and seated. (Has this always been air conditioned? I remember it being much warmer last summer.) We are in the loin section and the kids have fun with the pre-show. I love this show, it’s awesome. I actually have tears in my eyes as I watch Nathan enjoy the show. I don’t totally dislike AK, the shows are good, very good, I just don’t enjoy the rest of it.

Lloyd says he wants to go over and see that last Flights of Wonder show of the day. He has spoken up very little this week so this must be some thing he really wants to see. What a great show! How could I have missed this last year? I am not kidding when I say that I was almost hit right in the face by an owl. If I hadn’t ducked down I am sure he would have hit me! Nathan loved the show and goes up front afterward to get a closer look at the birds. This will be a must do next summer.

Mike, Nathan, and I decide we are going to head out while the rest of the group does a couple of more things. We slowly walk out while eating out first Mickey bars of the trip. Yum!