Wednesday the 10th was supposed to be our easy going day. I think I over planned it.
For starters our breakfast reservations were for 7:30 at Chef Mickey’s so we did get to sleep in. When I say we I mean my mom, sister, Wyatt, Brooklyn and myself. My dad was beat so he decided to sleep in and forgo the character breakfast.
We got on the bus to the Magic Kingdom with a few other people and when we arrived everyone got off. On the way out I asked what would be the quickest way to get over to the Contemporary resort and the driver said that walking over would be the quickest. I told her thank you and as we were about to get off of the bus she told us that she could just drive us over. I was surprised, thinking that the buses have to stay on a tight schedule, that she was able to do that. I wish I could remember her name so that I could right a letter to WDW. Breakfast was really nice. The food was really good and the kids actually ate, even with the characters coming around. They were able to get autographs from Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. (more…)
On July 9th we planned to go to Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the day. We decided to sleep in a bit and headed to the park a little later in the morning. We got there around 10:00 and of course had some pictures taken in front of the Sorcerer Mickey hat, you know the one they need to get rid of ;^)
We made our way back to Pixar Place and got fast passes for Toy Story Midway Mania. The time we got was a bit later in the day, 2:15, so we decided to head on over to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Since Brooklyn couldn’t ride and my mom and sister wouldn’t ride they took a stroll around some of the shops and then headed over to Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage.
My dad, Wyatt and I got in line and Wyatt seemed a bit nervous, of course my dad messing with him didn’t help. This was his first ride on anything that just drops you. We got down into the boiler room and he grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go. The bellhops got us buckled into our car and away we went. I forgot how cool that rise was and when it left one shaft and moved across to the other shaft but once we got there, we heard the locks engage and I told Wyatt to hold on and SCREAM! Our ride took us up and down, I think, five times. Each time Wyatt’s feet came up and he started shaking them wildly. I’m not sure if it really scared him or he was just having a good time but when we got off he had a big smile on his face. On the way out Wyatt wanted to get something from the gift shop with his own money and he picked out a key pin that had HTH on it. (more…)
June 8th got off to a rocky start. I ended up waking my parents up when I went over to see if they were ready to go. No biggie though this gave us time to eat a little breakfast and have some coffee before we headed out.
Once we got there, we got some photos taken and noticed that the Dream-Along With Mickey show was starting in front of the castle. Right here was my second choke up moment. At one point in the show, Mickey and the gang asked everyone to yell “Dreams Come True”. My daughter is not one to get overly excited about this kind of stuff but at that moment she had her hands cupped around her mouth yelling dreams come true. I couldn’t have asked for a better moment.
When the show was over we noticed Storytime With Bell was starting next to the castle but decided to catch that at another time. We ended up taking a path over to Fantasyland and hit a few shops behind the castle, Sir Mickey’s and Tinker Bell’s Treasures. Now I thought that you had to be the fist person into Tinker Bell’s Treasures to be able to wake her up in the morning but my parents saw someone do it while they were in line to pay for their items and asked if Brooklyn could do it as well. By that time there were a lot of people that wanted to, so as a group we all called for Tinker Bell and saw her show up . That was really cool how they pulled that off and I highly recommend asking to call for Tink. (more…)
Sunday the 7th was going to be a big day. We got up somewhat early, picked up some breakfast at Starbucks and left Valdosta. My parents wanted to stop at the visitors center at the Florida border but come to find out we got there an hour before they opened. Needless to say they were just a bit disappointed since we generally stop there every time we go to Florida.
We got onto the turnpike and we were going to go down to I4 and then into WDW but the GPS had us going to 429 and getting off at Western Way. Boy am I glad we took 429. Not only was it shorter but it put us onto the western side of the property where we were staying, the All-Star Sports Resort.
We got there about 10:30 and got checked in. My room was ready but my parents was not so we unloaded the cars into my room grabbed what we needed to walk around the parks for a while and headed off to the Magic Kingdom after we got a bite to eat at the resorts food court. When we got there I picked up my annual pass and Tables in Wonderland card at guest services so we were set. We were supposed to meet up with Lou Mongello, author of The Walt Disney World Trivia Books and host of the WDW Radio podcast, unfortunately he had to cut his weekend short and we were not able to meet him. Maybe next time. (more…)
Well here it is, the day before we leave on our trip. I’m outside cleaning out the car, getting it ready for the road trip and I see a FedEx truck pull up. I thought to myself, This must be the sweater my mom ordered from Lands End. I meet the driver at his door and take the package and what to I see but my name not my moms. I didn’t order anything what the heck is this. Boy was I surprised when I opened it up.
There were no Disney markings on the package that I noticed so it seems like they are really trying to surprise the day one members.
The horror stories I have heard coming from other types of online communities have generally kept me away. Arrogance, rudeness, personal attacks, that’s not how I want to spend my free time. When I came across a few unofficial Disney fan communities I was a bit sceptical but hey it’s Disney everyone here should be alright.
Over the past couple of months I couldn’t be more disappointed and for me it has all started withe the introduction of D23. The community backlash, from what I feel is a very vocal minority, has really started to tarnish the overall feeling of fun and friendship our communities should have. (more…)
Here is a good photo of the Characters in Flight balloon over at Downtown Disney. Here is what the have to say about it.
“Guests will get a bird’s-eye view of Walt Disney World Resort as they soar to new heights in a whimsical attraction that recently opened at Downtown Disney. Characters in Flight, operated by Aerophile, is a giant tethered balloon that ascends some 300 feet into the sky every 10 minutes (depending on weather). Riders can catch the flight daily for $16 ($10 for ages 3-9).”
This looks like something I may have to try out with the kids when we go down in June
I have been noticing over the past few months that Disney has been cutting down on the number of “upcoming pins” on their official pin site. When I first started, just looking at pins there, I would find at least seven pages worth of upcoming pins. Now I have been seeing between two and three pages.
Could Disney be making pins a bit more exclusive or could it be a sign of the economic times and they are truly just cutting back. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments section.
