Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th

susieq76 · 02-14-2006

Cast
Me- 29 & disney freak
DH- 35 Greg loves me so loves disney
DS- 3 Tommy- loves Mickey with all heart
DS- 3 Andrew- Cinderella's biggest fan
DS- 2 Patrick (ie the baby)
DAP- 18- Lana- au pair from Bosnia

Prelude to Disney

Before I start day one in Disney I figured I'd give you a little background information. We drive to Disney- we live in NY so it's about an 18 hour drive without stops- so with stopping for potty and food it usually takes us a leidurely 24 hours or so. Our vacation was supposed to begin on Sunday February 5th (our reservations- driving on the 4th) but since DH & I could not wait we booked a suite in Wilson NC for Friday night and left 3am on Thursday night/ Friday morning. Our plan was to drive to DH's sister's house in MD, spend the night on Friday at the hotel and the day on Saturday exploring Wilson NC. Of course Saturday it rained so we decided to get in the car early and drive to Disney. We arived at All Star Movies at 2:00AM on Sunday morning (instead of my projected 7:00AM) and since the kids were sleeping we slept in the car in the lot until 6:30am.

Day One

I arrive at the front desk of Disney's All Star Movies to check in, get our tickets and pray there is an available room early. Since I have a) a grumpy husband, b) three little kids and a teen with me whom are going to be dying to get into the parks and c) not brushed my teeth yet, I apologize for my early arrival and explain that we drove and arrived earlier than planned. I had called at about midnight and spoke to the front desk and been assured that they would try their best to get us in early if at all possible. As I was aware that this probably wouldn't actually happen, I reiterated everything to the young CM and asked that if I could not get an earlier room was there a place we could shower (and brush teeth) before we head to the parks.

The CM explained that they would have our rooms available by ten as the people in the rooms were already out. Happy as could be, I asked our room info (they tell you the floor and bulding but not the room until its ready) and was quite shocked that we were being placed in two seperate buldings? Huh? I have three little (under 4) kids and a teen- how can that be. I am supposed to have connecting rooms. Oooops- they screwed up so they'll more us to preferred (really not what I wanted as I saw about 500 cheerleaders checking in at the same time as me but I really don't have much choice) and our rooms will be ready by 3:00pm. No problem- I kinda expected that as I knew they were sold out- so we showered, bought our cups for coffee, fed the kids and headed out to the Magic Kingdom at about 10 am. While we showered the boys played on the playground and had a blast. At 10am it was about 64 degrees out but it warmed to 72 throughout the day.

Oh I should mention- we drive to Disney- while we're there we never get in our car at all. We bus and boat it everywhere. The kids think the bus is another ride and Greg & I don't worry about parking the car- where the car is when we park hop or go to dinner. It works well for us, usually. This year we had one REALLY BAD incident- but I'll get to that in Day Four. For the most part the only thing I dislike about the bus system is the people that you sometimes (rolling eyes) have to share it with.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom and there was Mickey and Minnie to greet us. We didn't stop to meet (way too long of a line) but the kids sat and watched them sign autographs while I went in to get our Guest Assistance Card. As many people know, two of my children are autistic. While they are not "typical" they love Disney and usually make great progress after a trip. Tommy, my oldest can Not wait on long lines. He is not just a brat- it overstimulates him and he starts freaking out. Usually I only use the pass for long lines (over 25 minutes) but this trip we used it more since there were several really tough days for Tommy. What the GAC is is a pass that allows our party to enter through an alternate entrance (this could be fast pass or a back enterance depending on the ride) thus Tommy does not get stuck in large crowds of people for long periods of time. Usually the wait is very minimal when you use this pass. Disney really does try to look out for its children with problems. I had to bring a copy of his diagnosis with me and a note from our ped for them to see.

Greg and I told the boys that we would be having dinner with Mickey and went on our way. God I love it there. I can't explain it any other way- it's just a euphoric feeling being there. When I'm there my Mom & Dad are still alive, my sister Donna is laughing again and now I can see it all through three very Disneyified children who have caught Mommy's love of WDW. I tear up everytime we arrive.

We arrived just in time for Cinderellabration and it was great. Andrew (Tommy's Twin) is especially in love with Cinderella but I think it's more that to him her Castle represents the Magic Kingdom and he loves it there. After the show we headed to tommorrowland for Buzz and to try out the new Dining Plan. After a few rides including Buzz (which was opened from refurbishment early), Carosel of Progress and we opted to have our Counter service lunch at Cosmic Rays. I love the Dining Plan- I feel like we got lunch free everyday. This particular lunch was three chicken & rib meals which we shared amongst the six of us. Three meals $13.99 each, three sodas $2.29 ea and three chocolate cakes $3.69 ea (plus tax) and we were full. Total cost for the three was $48.34. For us it was included in our plan. For those of you who do not know, the Dining plan is a new plan available to guests staying on property and buying tickets through disney which gives you one Counter Service (CS) meal, One Table Service Meal (TS) and one snack per person per day. It is $35.99 per adult and $10.99 per child 3-9 per day. It also includes tax on your meals and gratuity. It was a great deal for us.

After lunch we visited fantasyland and did all the rides there- twice, well except SnowWhite, Tommy and Patrick hated that one. The park was crowded- and I mean crowded. The only other time I saw it more crowded was during Christmas break. What the heck are all these people doing here in February? Didn't anyone tell you to stay home until school breaks? This is MY vacation time :) Apparently it was because of some cheerleading and dance competitions going on. More on that later. So I call & find out our room numbers and meander over to Pirates of the Carribean and the Jungle Cruise- both favorites of my children (okay and mine too). On POC we did not use the pass b/c the wait time said 15 minutes. Well they lied and Tommy was pretty close to a fit by time we got on the ride 35 minutes later. Luckily he loves boats and pirates (Arghhhh...) and was fine once on the ride. After that we headed over to Liberty Square to have our first chracter meal- Goofy's Liberate your Appetite dinner. Yippee!

We have done the Liberty Tree Tavern before and just as before we loved it. The boys had a blast (although Mickey could not attend and we were a bit disappointed until Minnie and Chip and Dale made it all better). We did have a rather disappointing Goofy at this meal- however it was the only meal where we had any not so wonderful character- and its not that he was bad- just not the best Goofy. The one at Chef Mickey's was far superior. Dinner was good- family style- we sure do love that salad- and the boys even tried the mushy mac and cheese this time. We originally planned to stay after dinner for spectromagic and Wishes at 10pm but we were all too tired and went right "home" to our hotel to bring in our bags and put the boys to bed. I think we were all asleep by 9pm.

Maria · 02-14-2006

Great day one! Glad they were able to give you the rooms you needed.

**Dana** · 02-14-2006

What a magical first day. I love that WDW takes care of it's special needs guests so well and love it even more that you only use the pass when you need it. I look forward to hearing the rest of your report.

mlsexton · 02-14-2006

Yay! I love trip reports!

daisyd · 02-14-2006

Wow Susieq, I am also happy they could give you the rooms you need! I can't wait for more

ssn · 02-14-2006

Thanks for the TR!! I really needed a dose of some Disney fun!! That is SOOO awesome that Disney gives the special passes, so your sons can enjoy the rides without any problems. Your trip sounds really great so far, can't wait to hear more!!!

**DisneyTeacher** · 02-14-2006

What a great first day, I can't wait to read more.

DisneyHog6 · 02-14-2006

Great start to the TR. I hope y'all were eventually able to catch Spectro...

Can't wait to read more...

tiggerlover1971 · 02-14-2006

great start to your trip report cant wait for more

**Dopey** · 02-14-2006

Good day! I can't wait to read more.

mickaholic4077 · 02-15-2006

I'm eagerly awaiting the rest of your report!!!

Piglet75 · 02-15-2006

Great start! I can't believe it was busy in February - that really surprises me. Cheerleaders,,,,,hmmmm. Can't wait to hear more!

Kippage · 02-15-2006

Wow... you are seriously brave to take two 3 year olds and a 2 year old! I'd probably jab my eyes out.

Erin · 02-15-2006

Great job writing this report! I Can't wait to hear more, and see PICTURES!

lovemysons · 02-15-2006

Wow! Sounds great so far!

02-14-2006	#1 (permalink)
susieq76 Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 122	Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Cast Me- 29 & disney freak DH- 35 Greg loves me so loves disney DS- 3 Tommy- loves Mickey with all heart DS- 3 Andrew- Cinderella's biggest fan DS- 2 Patrick (ie the baby) DAP- 18- Lana- au pair from Bosnia Prelude to Disney Before I start day one in Disney I figured I'd give you a little background information. We drive to Disney- we live in NY so it's about an 18 hour drive without stops- so with stopping for potty and food it usually takes us a leidurely 24 hours or so. Our vacation was supposed to begin on Sunday February 5th (our reservations- driving on the 4th) but since DH & I could not wait we booked a suite in Wilson NC for Friday night and left 3am on Thursday night/ Friday morning. Our plan was to drive to DH's sister's house in MD, spend the night on Friday at the hotel and the day on Saturday exploring Wilson NC. Of course Saturday it rained so we decided to get in the car early and drive to Disney. We arived at All Star Movies at 2:00AM on Sunday morning (instead of my projected 7:00AM) and since the kids were sleeping we slept in the car in the lot until 6:30am. Day One I arrive at the front desk of Disney's All Star Movies to check in, get our tickets and pray there is an available room early. Since I have a) a grumpy husband, b) three little kids and a teen with me whom are going to be dying to get into the parks and c) not brushed my teeth yet, I apologize for my early arrival and explain that we drove and arrived earlier than planned. I had called at about midnight and spoke to the front desk and been assured that they would try their best to get us in early if at all possible. As I was aware that this probably wouldn't actually happen, I reiterated everything to the young CM and asked that if I could not get an earlier room was there a place we could shower (and brush teeth) before we head to the parks. The CM explained that they would have our rooms available by ten as the people in the rooms were already out. Happy as could be, I asked our room info (they tell you the floor and bulding but not the room until its ready) and was quite shocked that we were being placed in two seperate buldings? Huh? I have three little (under 4) kids and a teen- how can that be. I am supposed to have connecting rooms. Oooops- they screwed up so they'll more us to preferred (really not what I wanted as I saw about 500 cheerleaders checking in at the same time as me but I really don't have much choice) and our rooms will be ready by 3:00pm. No problem- I kinda expected that as I knew they were sold out- so we showered, bought our cups for coffee, fed the kids and headed out to the Magic Kingdom at about 10 am. While we showered the boys played on the playground and had a blast. At 10am it was about 64 degrees out but it warmed to 72 throughout the day. Oh I should mention- we drive to Disney- while we're there we never get in our car at all. We bus and boat it everywhere. The kids think the bus is another ride and Greg & I don't worry about parking the car- where the car is when we park hop or go to dinner. It works well for us, usually. This year we had one REALLY BAD incident- but I'll get to that in Day Four. For the most part the only thing I dislike about the bus system is the people that you sometimes (rolling eyes) have to share it with. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom and there was Mickey and Minnie to greet us. We didn't stop to meet (way too long of a line) but the kids sat and watched them sign autographs while I went in to get our Guest Assistance Card. As many people know, two of my children are autistic. While they are not "typical" they love Disney and usually make great progress after a trip. Tommy, my oldest can Not wait on long lines. He is not just a brat- it overstimulates him and he starts freaking out. Usually I only use the pass for long lines (over 25 minutes) but this trip we used it more since there were several really tough days for Tommy. What the GAC is is a pass that allows our party to enter through an alternate entrance (this could be fast pass or a back enterance depending on the ride) thus Tommy does not get stuck in large crowds of people for long periods of time. Usually the wait is very minimal when you use this pass. Disney really does try to look out for its children with problems. I had to bring a copy of his diagnosis with me and a note from our ped for them to see. Greg and I told the boys that we would be having dinner with Mickey and went on our way. God I love it there. I can't explain it any other way- it's just a euphoric feeling being there. When I'm there my Mom & Dad are still alive, my sister Donna is laughing again and now I can see it all through three very Disneyified children who have caught Mommy's love of WDW. I tear up everytime we arrive. We arrived just in time for Cinderellabration and it was great. Andrew (Tommy's Twin) is especially in love with Cinderella but I think it's more that to him her Castle represents the Magic Kingdom and he loves it there. After the show we headed to tommorrowland for Buzz and to try out the new Dining Plan. After a few rides including Buzz (which was opened from refurbishment early), Carosel of Progress and we opted to have our Counter service lunch at Cosmic Rays. I love the Dining Plan- I feel like we got lunch free everyday. This particular lunch was three chicken & rib meals which we shared amongst the six of us. Three meals $13.99 each, three sodas $2.29 ea and three chocolate cakes $3.69 ea (plus tax) and we were full. Total cost for the three was $48.34. For us it was included in our plan. For those of you who do not know, the Dining plan is a new plan available to guests staying on property and buying tickets through disney which gives you one Counter Service (CS) meal, One Table Service Meal (TS) and one snack per person per day. It is $35.99 per adult and $10.99 per child 3-9 per day. It also includes tax on your meals and gratuity. It was a great deal for us. After lunch we visited fantasyland and did all the rides there- twice, well except SnowWhite, Tommy and Patrick hated that one. The park was crowded- and I mean crowded. The only other time I saw it more crowded was during Christmas break. What the heck are all these people doing here in February? Didn't anyone tell you to stay home until school breaks? This is MY vacation time :) Apparently it was because of some cheerleading and dance competitions going on. More on that later. So I call & find out our room numbers and meander over to Pirates of the Carribean and the Jungle Cruise- both favorites of my children (okay and mine too). On POC we did not use the pass b/c the wait time said 15 minutes. Well they lied and Tommy was pretty close to a fit by time we got on the ride 35 minutes later. Luckily he loves boats and pirates (Arghhhh...) and was fine once on the ride. After that we headed over to Liberty Square to have our first chracter meal- Goofy's Liberate your Appetite dinner. Yippee! We have done the Liberty Tree Tavern before and just as before we loved it. The boys had a blast (although Mickey could not attend and we were a bit disappointed until Minnie and Chip and Dale made it all better). We did have a rather disappointing Goofy at this meal- however it was the only meal where we had any not so wonderful character- and its not that he was bad- just not the best Goofy. The one at Chef Mickey's was far superior. Dinner was good- family style- we sure do love that salad- and the boys even tried the mushy mac and cheese this time. We originally planned to stay after dinner for spectromagic and Wishes at 10pm but we were all too tired and went right "home" to our hotel to bring in our bags and put the boys to bed. I think we were all asleep by 9pm. __________________

02-14-2006	#2 (permalink)
Maria Mouse Meister Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,269	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Great day one! Glad they were able to give you the rooms you needed. __________________ Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away April/May 2008~ASMO * May 2006 WDW~ASMO * May 2005 WDW~ASMO * April/May 2004 WDW~AKL * April 1989 WDW~Poly * July 1979 DL off site

02-14-2006	#3 (permalink)
Dana Super Mod/Packen' Kracken Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Joisey Posts: 23,782	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th What a magical first day. I love that WDW takes care of it's special needs guests so well and love it even more that you only use the pass when you need it. I look forward to hearing the rest of your report. __________________ ~82 off-site~91 off-site~97 ASMusic~ ~00 ASMovies~02 Wilderness Lodge~04 Animal Kingdom Lodge~ ~05 Animal Kingdom Lodge & Polynesian~ ~05 Port Orleans French Quarter~06 Old Key West~ ~07 Port Orleans French Quarter~08 Old Key West~ ~09 Saratoga Springs~10 Port Orleans Fench Quarter~ My Disney Countdown Counting down to: 10 day do all or die trying trip. 272 days 23 hours 51 minutes

02-14-2006	#4 (permalink)
mlsexton Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NC Posts: 188	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Yay! I love trip reports! __________________ 1989 - Caribbean Beach Resort 1996 - All Star Music 1997 - All Star Music 2001 - Off Property 2001 - Boardwalk Villas 2004 - Boardwalk Villas 2006 - Boardwalk Villas

02-14-2006	#5 (permalink)
daisyd Dreams do come true! Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: somewhere between here and there Posts: 2,344	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Wow Susieq, I am also happy they could give you the rooms you need! I can't wait for more __________________ R2G your avatars rock! DL--too many times to count WDW--just once, Oct 2006

		MouseBuzz.com > Mouscellaneous > Trip Reports
Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th

02-14-2006	#6 (permalink)
ssn Mouse Meister Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 1,222	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Thanks for the TR!! I really needed a dose of some Disney fun!! That is SOOO awesome that Disney gives the special passes, so your sons can enjoy the rides without any problems. Your trip sounds really great so far, can't wait to hear more!!! __________________ 2010 1st Disneyland Trip 2009 Boardwalk Inn 2008 POP/Polynesian August 2007 AS Movies & Cinderella's Castle Suite!! April 2007 Contemporary/Beach Club 2005 Wilderness Lodge/Disney Wonder Cruise 2004 Port Orleans FQ/Vero Beach (10th Anniver.) 2003 Polynesian (DH's 40th bday)(DD's 1st WDW trip) 2001 Port Orleans Riverside 1999 Caribbean Beach 1994 Grand Floridian (honeymoon) 1981 Polynesian 1973 1st WDW trip - off property My Disney Countdown Counting down to: 1st Disneyland trip! 139 days 2 hours 52 minutes

02-14-2006	#7 (permalink)
DisneyTeacher Super Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: WDW in my dreams Posts: 18,305	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th What a great first day, I can't wait to read more. __________________ ~Stephanie~ 1993 Caribbean Beach Resort ~ 1996 Caribbean Beach resort ~1997 Caribbean Beach Resort ~2003 Wilderness Lodge ~2004 Beach Club Resort/Shades of Green/Pop Century~ 2005 Wilderness Lodge Resort/Beach Club Villas ~ 2006 Saratoga Springs Resort~2007 Port Orleans French Quarter/Beach Club Villas/Boardwalk Villas ~ 2007 Port Orleans Riverside~ 2008 Wilderness Lodge/Beach Club Villas~2008 Beach Club Villas~2009 Hilton Head Island~ 2009 Beach Club Villas My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Beach Club here we come 242 days 4 hours 51 minutes

02-14-2006	#8 (permalink)
DisneyHog6 A Hog Fan's Life For Me! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Stationed in Dover, De, but from Arkansas-GO HOGS!!! Posts: 2,791	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Great start to the TR. I hope y'all were eventually able to catch Spectro... Can't wait to read more... __________________ Dewey-"DewMan" Proud member of U.S. Air Force. 21 Trips to WDW 85-06 1 Trip to DL Paris Jul 2005 Next trip - June 07 Got a MySpace? Visit mine... http://www.myspace.com/DewMan616 Yet ANOTHER R2G avatar creation... I'll have three Grande Locos, with Juice in a to go cup, please! WOO PIG SOOIE! Join the Redneck Revolution! I'm an alicefanMAN! If Heaven ain't a lot like Dixie, I don't wanna go...

02-14-2006	#9 (permalink)
tiggerlover1971 Official bouncer of DC Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: 100 acre woods Posts: 4,068	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th great start to your trip report cant wait for more __________________ Cheryl ^i^ * Postcard Pixie * ^i^ ~ Sharing the Disney magic ~ woohoo only 20 more pounds to go to goal weight

02-14-2006	#10 (permalink)
Dopey eleventwentyten Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: In the middle of the madness Posts: 11,468	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Good day! I can't wait to read more. __________________ WDW Theme Parks Moderator - moderating with a twist x´¨) x¸.•´ ¸.•´¨)xxxx¸.•¨) (¸.•´ Adventures of an Innkeeper ´¨) Limser was my first MB friend ~ Pepperstink is my cheesy friend Doughnut, HB and Limser are my Michigan Martini Madness cohorts MissDisney is the better cookie baker Pu is back eleventwentyten Every morning is the dawn of a new error My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Going to meet Mickey and Friends

02-15-2006	#11 (permalink)
mickaholic4077 Currently in Timeout! Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: 90 miles from The Mick!!!!! Posts: 6,181	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th I'm eagerly awaiting the rest of your report!!!

02-15-2006	#12 (permalink)
Piglet75 Mouseketeer Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: 2.5 hours south of WDW! Posts: 48	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Great start! I can't believe it was busy in February - that really surprises me. Cheerleaders,,,,,hmmmm. Can't wait to hear more! __________________ Happy - Happy - Joy - Joy I WDW!!! New here, but excited to meet everyone! I LOST!

02-15-2006	#13 (permalink)
Kippage Keeping it real since '83 Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 2,100	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Wow... you are seriously brave to take two 3 year olds and a 2 year old! I'd probably jab my eyes out. __________________ Victoria Twitter Myspace Flickr Good Reads "...perfection is unattainable. Perfection is a conceit. Perfection actually lies in fully loving the defect. I think that's perfection. It's like what the guy says in Hellboy, he says, "We like people for their qualities; we love them for their defects." It's true in life. It's the same." - Guillermo del Toro

02-15-2006	#14 (permalink)
Erin Scooter Princess Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Welaka Posts: 9,771	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Great job writing this report! I Can't wait to hear more, and see PICTURES! __________________ Team Jake! http://www.twitter.com/IamBubbles www.facebook.com/scooterprincess

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02-15-2006	#15 (permalink)
lovemysons Less than 30 to go! Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: In my house Posts: 7,712	Re: Our wonderfulish Disney week- Feb 5-12th Wow! Sounds great so far! __________________ Dopey is the boss of us. Missing the madness. Peppy is still my partner in crime. Is that you, Pu? Fabulous avatar, courtesy of the fabulous Mr. R2Go! ´¨) x¸.•´ ¸.•´¨)xxxx¸.•¨) (¸.•´xxxxxx(¸.•`xxx´¨)Make just one person happy. ´¨) My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Holidays full of magic 10 days 11 hours 21 minutes