Denise Mange & Son - December 2007

My son & I went for 6 days returned last Sunday. I was the one who asked about bringing my sons chair/stroller. Thank you all for the input & man am I glad I did!! Air Trans got me for $50 to check the chair as checked luggage which I was upset about being no other airline ever did. I complained but to no avail. The bag is 48" long. They only accept 42" without charging you a fee. I couldnt check it at the jetway because I packed the bag with other things like a backpack, blanket & coats. Luckily that was the only monkey wrench in the trip.

Lane, my son, had a blast! He wore his birthday button all week & had a huge smile everytime someone said happy birthday to him. We stayed at the Movies Resort. Not bad for 2 people, but would have been tight with any more. We only slept & showered there. We had a beautiful weather week in the mid 70's except Friday was low 70's & chilly.

DAY ONE was really busy. Flew in at noon, ate at the food court at the hotel & back to the room for an hours nap. We had to be up at 4am that morning to catch the 4:30 shuttle to the airport for a 7am flight. The luggage arrived in 3 hours after landing - perfect timing. I loaded up Lane in his chair & off we went to the MK. Spent all day there, ate at the character dinner at the Crystal Palace & went to the MVMC party. Not sure that I would pay to do that again. It was extrememly crowded! The parade was wonderful as was the hot chocolate but way too many people. It was even hard to shop along main street. We ended up leaving around 10:30 that nite.

DAY 2 - MGM - great day. Not too too crowded. We LOVED the Osbourne lights. We were singing christmas carrolls in the street & dancing.

DAY 3 - EPCOT - I really wanted to do Soaring. I wasnt able to do any of the rides that were a rollar coaster or log fume or spinning because of my son being so scared. That really limited the rides for myself. The guest assistance pass was a godsend all week because we had no lines by using the handicapped entrances. The fast past line was a 2 1/2 wait - we got in in 20 minutes. Lane was so scared that his head was in my lap & he was shaking. I loved it!! He loved the Innovations area & I sat & read a magazine while he spent an hour there. Least I could do for terroring the kid on soaring LOL! They had all the cute skits around all the countries & we caught as many as we could. Character lunch at the Garden Grill. Very yummy! It was a whole day & night there. I had dinner reservations in Italy but not till 9pm & Lane couldnt make it that long so we just did different munchies in a couple countries.

DAY 4 - back to MK to finish up the rest of the park. Lane wanted to see the parade again. Each park we went to he asked "what time is the parade?". Those & the character meet n greets were his favorite. Then to the GF to see the gingerbread house. Back to the hotel to put on jeans & on the shuttle to Downtown Disney for some shopping. Mistake on my part - spent way more that I needed to, but it was fun! We ate dinner at Captain Jacks. I couldnt believe that twin lobster tails were on the dinner plan but they were. That & a beer & I was set!

DAY 5 - AK - character breastfast at the Tuscar House. That place is nuts! My first time to AK. It was OK, but then again Im not a big animal lover. The safari & parade were good. As the week went on the crowds got bigger. I dont think we would have covered as much ground without the chair. Lane would have never made it thru the parks. He tires after 20 minutes even standing he wound need to sit down. We had one table service left but the only place we could get in was the Rainforest Cafe which isnt on the plan. We ate there anyway because of the atmosphere.

DAY 6 - Last day - ME was taking us at 9:30am to the airport so we got up early, packed the last of our things, checked in the luggage at the hotel. That took forever! I downgraded our table service to counter service & we ate a very quick breakfast at the food court.

Trip was excellent! I learned a few things there & on this list for next time, but all-in-all I did a great job of planning. Christmas was such a magicial time to be there! Wish I would have wore my pedometer because I know I put in some miles & pushing 75 lbs around all day by myself was a feat in itself considering I am very petite & only weigh 98 lbs myself!

I took 450 photos plus 65 photos from Photopass guys. I will have a great time scrapbooking!!

Im going to stay on the list for a little while to get somemore hints & tips for next time. Already thinking about 2008. Happy New Year Everyone!!