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Cast: Cindy D. (38), Gary (46), Nathan (6 3/4) and Zachary (5 1/2)
Dates: Thursday, March 20 - Tuesday, March 25
Lodging: All Star Movies resort (The Love Bug, Building 7)
Method of travel: Drove personal vehicle from Tallahassee, FL
Goal: Do at least one new thing every day
Ticketing: Cindy - annual pass expiring on 3/25; rest of the family -
Florida resident season passes
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Thursday, March 20th: Travel Day
I began planning this trip in December as a surprise for the boys for
spring break. I used The Magic for Less Travel (http://www.themagicforless.com) to book our room and make other arrangements for our trip. I blabbed the night before to the children but that actually made it easier for packing and getting ready to go as I didn't have to wait for them to be asleep to do it. I also kept Zachary home from preschool on Thursday so we would have one less thing to do on the way out
of town.
As soon as Nathan's school let out (2:55 p.m.), we picked him up, finished loading the car and left town by 3:20 p.m. We stopped in Ocala for some dinner around 6 p.m. and arrived at the Publix on Vineland a little before 8 p.m. We picked up some perishables and other groceries (like PopTarts which happened to be buy one, get one free!) and headed out again to All Star Movies.
We checked in and then got the car unloaded. We stayed on the first floor, near the ice machine (as we requested). We were behind where the elevators are, right in the middle of the building but on the back side. There was literally NO traffic that we heard by our door, and the
convenience of having the ice machine close was nice for filling up the cooler in the mornings and evenings. FWIW, we have a collapsible,
soft-sided cooler that is a 24-can size - by California Innovations - we bought it on close-out at Sams last year. It held 2 1/2 gallons of milk, a carton of o.j., a six-pack of yogurt and several bottles of water and other juice with no problem. I doubled up two plastic bags from Publix to use to haul ice each time - one of those full was enough to "top off" the cooler after draining the melted ice out each time I changed it around.
The room was clean and "cozy" (ok, small) but as we'd stayed at the All Stars before, we knew to expect small. We unpacked, called for extra towels and two extra pillows. Gary and Nathan stayed in the room watching Toon Disney til their eyes were bleary while Zachary and I went exploring.
When we got the boys ready to tuck into bed (side note: because they are double beds, we opted to sleep one grown-up, one child and to alternate which boy slept with which parent each night. Zachary, aka the snoring octopus, kept things interesting), we discovered that one of the beds only had a bottom sheet. So we called housekeeping again for a sheet and also for another pillow as they had only brought one pillow the first time. We got a sheet within 10 minutes.
We were all asleep by 11 p.m. At midnight, there was a knock on the door. I didn't get up. After the second knock, DH got up and looked out just in time to see housekeeping leaving with our extra pillows they finally brought down. DUH. OH well.
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Friday, March 21st
We had priority seating for breakfast at the Animal Kingdom with Donald and friends for 8:20, and Gary needed to exchange his voucher for a ticket, so Mickey called us at 6:40 a.m. to make sure we had plenty of time to get up and ready for the day. We caught the bus to A.K. and as we arrived, it was drizzling rain. We didn't have any rain gear so we found shelter and the rain eased up just as the park officially opened at 8 for the early entry day. We had a nice breakfast (this was a new thing for us). The boys did some pin trading with a Cast Member (CM) and then we rode Triceratop Spin. Zachary loves this ride.
We stopped at the Boneyard (something new!) but because it was wet, the slides were all closed, but the dig site was open. While the boys were digging for bones, the rain started up again. Fortunately we were sheltered and just waited out the rain.
When the rain stopped, we dashed over for the Safari ride - a virtual walk-on at 9:45 a.m. Lots of animals were out and we enjoyed it as always. Then we took the train over to Rafiki's Planet Watch where the kids did a Discovery Stop that they've enjoyed in the past. They got to brush some goats and we went inside and saw the talking garbage can. Nathan wanted to know how it worked. I had shown Zachary back in October, so I made sure Nathan REALLY wanted to know - and when he did, I took him aside and showed him. The CM got mad at me and wanted to know if I was telling him about Santa. I just shrugged and said he really really wanted to know. We were way on the side and to a casual observer, they would just think I was having a chat with my son.
Zachary wanted to go on Triceratop Spin again, but Gary was tired and wanted to go back to the room (he had slept with the snoring octopus so he didn't get much sleep, plus our sleep had been interrupted and we'd gotten up so early). It was about 11 a.m. then, so we decided to do one last ride and then go back for a rest (something we rarely do at WDW). Just as we were in line for the ride, the rain came back. And by the time we got on the ride, it started pouring. We said oh well, we're already wet so let's ride anyway - and then we trudged back to the bus, soaked to the skin. We got hot showers, fed the kids some lunch and took a bit of a nap.
The sun came out around 2 p.m. so we got up and went to Epcot. We spent some time in Innoventions East and then went to the Ice Cream Social (something else new for us) at the Garden Grill in The Land pavilion. It was delicious although we could have shared two ice creams instead of each of us getting our own. Oh well - we didn't have to worry about dinner for a while then!
We rode Living with the Land while we were there - it is so neat to me to watch how intently my children pay attention to the attractions at Epcot. Zachary really wanted to do the Behind the Seeds tour but we never got a chance to do it. Afterwards we did "Imagine with Figment" and then Body Wars and Ellen's Energy Adventure. It had been a long while since we'd seen the Energy one - I had forgotten most of it, including the part where the dinosaur sneezes on you (ok, maybe not a real sneeze but it felt like it). Test Track was backed up because of the rain earlier in the day so we had to wait til another time to do it. To make up for it, we went to play Toon Tag at Innoventions West which was loads of fun.
Time to leave for the day, but we hadn't had a chance to ride the monorail yet, so we took a round-trip ride - having the opportunity to ride in the front cab on the way out. Then off to the bus where we got to see the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom while waiting. The boys dozed off on the bus and we carried them to the room - but then they woke up. We hadn't had dinner and couldn't agree on anything, so I ended up driving down to the McD's that is near the All Stars and brought dinner back to the room. I called for extra towels and one extra pillow. We got towels and TWO extra pillows. Then we were asleep early - this time with the snoring octopus in my bed.
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Saturday, March 22nd
We slept in on Saturday as we were going to the Magic Kingdom and it didn't open til 9 a.m. As it turned out, we still got there by 8:40 and
were able to be in the courtyard and had an excellent view of the opening ceremony. It was awesome.
As soon as we got to go into the park, we stopped to make P.S. arrangements for lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern, and then we went straight for Splash Mountain for Gary and Zachary while Nathan and I walked onto Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We got done in time to see Gary and Zachary plunge down the mountain and then we waved to them as they continued around. Then we all went back on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. After that was a stop at the Haunted Mansion - Zachary didn't want to do it until I reminded him that he needed to show Nathan and Gary that the eyes open on the tombstone by the door (we later saw that the head moves, too). Zachary hates the part inside where the ghouls pop up - so I just cover his ears and he buries his head in my lap for that part. He loves getting a hitch-hiking ghost to kiss at the end.
Next stop was FantasyLand where Peter Pan was a walk-on as was Small World. We went to get fast passes for Pooh and then walked over to the Tomorrowland Speedway where the line was only 15 minutes (it was 10:45 a.m.) Next we went to Buzz Lightyear with a 20 minute wait. We met some nice folks in front of us. As we were about to be "left behind" when the stand-by line was stopping for some fast-passers, the people in front of us told the CM that we were a party of 8 so we got to go through with them instead of having to wait. It was really nice of them - they did it because we were talking and told them we were going to grab a fast pass on the way out so we could come back later in the day -- they hadn't even thought of that and thought it was a great idea.
After Buzz Lightyear, we had lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. We love this restaurant. Nathan never finds anything he wants to eat there, so I
asked for a fruit plate for him. He got a mug full of strawberries, grapes, apples and banana slices. And it was less than the kids' meal would have been that he wouldn't have eaten.
We finished lunch and then rode Pooh and Buzz Lightyear again. The park was getting really really crowded so we decided to go back over to Epcot for the afternoon but go back to the Magic Kingdom later for fireworks. We got on the monorail and after we got to Epcot, we went right away to get a fast pass for Test Track, only the line was pretty short, so Gary and Zachary went to do Test Track while Nathan and I had a couple of rounds of Toon Tag over at Innoventions. We met up and then went to Mexico where we rode the boat ride twice and then did Maelstrom at Norway (a 10 min. wait). We got the boys some ice cream and sat to watch the acrobats at China (something we haven't seen before) and then walked up to Germany to see the model train / village that Nathan absolutely loves.
We stopped outside Italy just as Lou E. G. was beginning his performance so we watched that (something else new for us). Then we walked over to the American Adventure. We saw the fife and drum corps performing and it was so cool to be standing in the middle of Epcot with a crowd of people singing God Bless America! The boys didn't want to see the movie / show inside but Gary did. We decided to do it on another day rather than have the kids go in and fall asleep or whine about it. We bought some pins and then caught the boat at Morocco to take us back to Future World. The stops on the boat
have changed since the last time I was there - the stop at Mexico wasn't open, so the boat went from Morocco to Germany and then to Canada instead of just going from Morocco to Canada.
Of course we had to stop for another round of Toon Tag on the way out and then rode the monorail back over to the Magic Kingdom. We got there in time to ride the train around to ToonTown Fair where we rode Goofy's Barnstormer and then the Mad Tea Party where we nearly made Zachary throw up. We were all so dizzy getting off but it was fun. We got to ride the carousel and also Dumbo (a 15 min. wait) and then Snow White. It was nearly time for the fireworks then so we started walking around toward the front of the castle, but I realized as we were walking that we were on the side where Tinkerbell flies from, so we stopped in a clearing where another family was also waiting so we got an excellent view of the first half of Tink's flight. Then we watched the rest of the fireworks and then threaded our way through the crowd to catch the bus back to the hotel and all went to McD's for dinner.
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Sunday, March 23rd
We woke up to rain - and it rained nearly the whole entire day. We were going to church services in the morning anyway, so it didn't matter
about the rain early in the day. When we were at church, we looked over and saw another family from Tallahassee that we worship with regularly - we didn't realize we were all going to be at Disney for spring break. So that was cool. Afterwards we went out for lunch on I-drive. It was still raining. We tried to go to the Character Premier Outlet but the parking lot was literally full so we went back to the hotel where we napped and the boys watched more Toon Disney.
Around 4 p.m. the rain had mostly let up - enough for me to say please please please let's go over to MGM. So against DH's better judgement, we did. We bought ponchos in the drizzling rain and blended in with all the other yellow-ponchoed people with Mickey on their back. We walked on to Star Tours twice in a row and then caught the last showing of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and then one more ride on Star Tours. That was all we did at MGM.
We left MGM around 7:30 p.m. and went to Downtown Disney. The boys wanted to eat at Rainforest Cafe but there was a 2:10 wait so we didn't do that. Instead we went to Once Upon a Toy (a new store for us) where I let the boys fill a box of Potato Head parts (we already have two heads so we got just accessories). Then we walked around a bit more and ended up eating at - guess where? - McD's at Downtown Disney. Then we caught the bus back to the hotel.
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Monday, March 24th
We woke up Monday to a beautiful, mild sunny day which was perfect because we'd scheduled the boys to do the Pirate Cruise at the Grand
Floridian. We took the bus over to the Magic Kingdom and then the launch (new to us) over to the Grand Floridian. It was my first time at the Grand Floridian and oh my - it was awesome. I told Gary that I want to stay there! I felt special just being there on the grounds. Anyway, we checked the kids in and then went over to the Magic Kingdom. We've never been to the MK by ourselves before so that was cool. We went to get FP for Buzz Lightyear but couldn't get ones with the boys tickets so we ended up with just two but the time was too late for us to do the ride and get back for the boys in time. So we walked around a bit and saw part of the castle show and then went to the Hall of Presidents and then to the Haunted Mansion. We dashed back over to the Grand Floridian where we were five minutes late - the boys were at the Mousketeer Club so we found them and then we ate lunch
while they played around at the arcade there. We agreed that we should do that for lunch again as it was quiet and peaceful there - a nice break in the middle of the day. The Magic Kingdom was so full that you could barely move at times there.
After lunch, we went to Epcot for the rest of the day. BTW, the boys totally loved the Pirates Cruise and wanted to do it another time. At
Epcot, the boys and Gary rode Spaceship Earth while I tried to figure out something for dinner (no more McD's for us). On the way to the World Showcase, we went through Ice Station Cool. We've done it before but this was the first time Gary tried the Beverly flavor - the look on his face was priceless. I just stick with the ginger ale. Then we headed over to Imagination again but saw a robot on the way over so Zachary got to interact with the robot.
We then started the World Showcase at Canada and the boys worked on masks. We stopped at all the countries until we got to America which we skipped so we could go eat at Italy before it became dinner prices. Then we went back to America where we saw the Voices of Liberty perform (awesome) and then watched the show inside. The boys were riveted and managed to stay awake until nearly the end. Afterwards we rode the boat back to Canada and had another round of Toon Tag. Nathan and I wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom as it was our last night. Zachary wanted to swim. Gary was getting a blister on his foot so he wanted to go back to the hotel.
Well, Gary's birthday is next Wednesday but I had asked at Guest Relations if we could get a b'day card sent to the room for him - so they did. I knew it would be there when we got back to the room, so we all went back to the hotel. Gary had a card from Donald. It was cool. Then the boys and Gary went swimming while I had enough sense to stay on the side and watch. Back to the room to get ready for bed and for us to pack as we were leaving the next day.
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Tuesday, March 25th - Leaving Day
My annual pass expired this day so we knew we couldn't stay any longer even if we wanted to. We had some local friends who were down in Orlando, too, so they called to see if we wanted to meet for breakfast at the Wilderness Lodge. We agreed and that was our new thing for this day! We drove to the Magic Kingdom parking lot and then the monorail over to MK. Then we took the launch over to the Wilderness Lodge and I want to stay there, too! It was so cool. We met our friends and had a long long breakfast. The kids got to ride stick ponies and we all did the hokey-pokey. It was fun and a nice way to spend the morning.
Then we went over to the Magic Kingdom, rode Aladdin and Pirates, and then took the train from Fronteirland over to Toontown where we went through Mickey's house and then walked up to do Tomorrowland Transit Authority. We stopped for a snack before leaving and then we had to head for home. We took the ferryboat back to the TTC and then the tram to the car. Then we had to drive home. I stopped at the Disney Welcome Center in Ocala for a rest break to get that last feel of WDW before getting home.
If you read this far, thanks! We had a great time and I'm looking forward to planning another trip for next year.
Cindy D.
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