“Wow, Disney is Far Far Away” A Single Mom’s Road Trip to Disney: June 2013 TR

[luvmy2babies]

Great update! Someday I would like to go to see the festival of the lion king. In a big fan of the lion king and looks like such fun to watch! Kilomanjaro safaris looks pretty cool too. I just don't know how my allergies will fare with all the trees around But overall AK looks fun!

Oh, sorry about the allergies. Hopefully you can work something out. We love AK. One thing we didn't get to this time was Rafiki's Planet Watch, which is mostly indoors. We ran out of time this year and dd was fine with missing it if it meant seeing the parade for the first time.

 

[luvmy2babies]

I love your trip report and the children are adorable. It's making me excited for our trip in a couple of weeks.

Yay! A trip in 2 weeks. I love reading trip reports when I have a trip coming. It's part of the reason I didn't do a PTR this time.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Haha I get so frustrated when people try to get in the fastpass line early. Especially when they just stand in the way while they wait.

Ahh Fesitval of the Lion King. What an amazing show.

Haha Kindle!!!! You could start a game... Count the Kindle!

Glad you liked the parade. It's a pretty good one and very unique.

And looking at that line why anyone would want to get in it before time is beyond me, but it moved very fast. The CM kept yelling really loud "IF YOUR FAST PASS SAYS ANY TIME BEFORE 12:15, PLEASE COME BACK LATER!" That was not the first time we have encountered people getting to the line early. We'd seen it on previous trips. It would not be the last time on this trip.

I love FOTLK. It was the last thing we did in a park on our first trip and even my son then 10 months old was fascinated. Then dd got picked to participate at the end. I had one minute left on the SD card in the camcorder and that was just enough to capture it.

There was speculation some time ago of it closing and I was so sad as we had missed it on our 2012 trip. We had a dinner reservation at Chef Mickey's and I wanted to get the children back to our resort to rest for a while first and we just ran out of time. Dd had taken it well and simply said, "We can see it next time." I was really out of sorts thinking there might not be a next time. I think they have pretty much decided to leave it running. I hope so anyway.

for that parade. In 2010 we were busy in another part of the park and last year we were gone already. I split AK into two half days with pool time.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Day 6, 4th park day, final part: What game are you playing little boy?

Funny thing. We had waited for a while and ds was really into his game. He still played it during the parade when it wasn’t watching. Several performers stopped to watch him. Here’s one lady.



He did really enjoy the parade though. He did pay more attention when the fab five showed up.















The end



We decided to head out at that point so we made our way to the exit. When we got back we saw the Mousekeeper had put a welcoming party in the window. The Mickey toy belongs to ds. The Minnie toy is dd’s. In the middle was our washcloth animal of the day.



I stopped at the desk to add two days to our tickets. I’d gotten this really great deal on a 5 day pass from Undercover Tourist that I could not pass up, saving me almost $100 even after paying $60 to add the 2 days to each ticket. Adding the days was easy and she put our tickets on our Key to the World cards, so now we would be switching to the RFID entrances. We had a little pool time, then had dinner, did baths and went to bed early. Tomorrow we’d be touring against the grain.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Parade looks awesome. Ive never seen it, put that on the must-do list.
He is too cute with his kindle

 

[Jennifer84]

Your DS and that Kindle I love the look on the CMs face!

Love the parade pictures! I wasn't too sure how much my kids would want to do at AK, but it looks like there's more than I thought.

That's a GREAT deal on tickets. I hope I am that lucky. I am planning on getting our tickets from UT with the Mousesavers code- is that what you did?

And YAY for adding two more days!

 

[mercydisney]

I am in!

Your children are beautiful.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Your DS and that Kindle I love the look on the CMs face!

Love the parade pictures! I wasn't too sure how much my kids would want to do at AK, but it looks like there's more than I thought.

That's a GREAT deal on tickets. I hope I am that lucky. I am planning on getting our tickets from UT with the Mousesavers code- is that what you did?

And YAY for adding two more days!

Yes, I got the tickets with the Mousesaver's link. It was really helpful.

There's way more to do than we actually did on this trip. We usually make it to Rafiki's Planet Watch as well as the Affection Section, but we skipped it this trip. At Rafiki's Planet Watch my daughter usually learns a lot about how the animals are cared for and how the workers learn what the animals like. She spent lot of time talking to the CMs about how they eat.



There's sometimes a keeper with an animal giving a talk. Last year, she got to pet a snake.



Affection Section is like a little farm and you can interact with the animals.



Dd also met Rafiki.



We also didn't get to Dinoland this trip. Dd loved the Boneyard. Ds didn't really want to play last year, but I think he would have this year if we'd gotten there.



Dd also enjoyed the Discovery Kids Club activities. There are 6, but we have yet to finish them. Here she is at one, tracking an animal by the clues it leaves.



This year they had something new I saw some children doing at differen stations to learn about the animals.

I guess you get the idea. We love AK.

 

[luvmy2babies]

I am in!

Your children are beautiful.

Thank you

 

[freckles04]

I love your laid-back way of doing Disney. You seem like the most patient, go with the flow mom ever. And very in tune with your kids. We did our first family Disney trip WAY too commando... resulting in tempers flaring and a few tears. I'm taking notes from your trip report about being a good momma at Disney!

 

[Jennifer84]

Thanks for the bonus AK pics from last year!

I agree with the last post... you are definitely the kind of parent I want to be at Disney. Completely for the kids! Great job, mom!

 

[luvmy2babies]

Thanks for the bonus AK pics from last year!

I agree with the last post... you are definitely the kind of parent I want to be at Disney. Completely for the kids! Great job, mom!

I love your laid-back way of doing Disney. You seem like the most patient, go with the flow mom ever. And very in tune with your kids. We did our first family Disney trip WAY too commando... resulting in tempers flaring and a few tears. I'm taking notes from your trip report about being a good momma at Disney!

I won't say it was always easy. You'll see I have my moment if you keep reading, but unless it's school or somewhere with that kind of importance I don't push. It does mean I miss out sometimes, but I guess I have learned along the way what is worth the battle and what isn't with them. So much of our home life is about schedules and work and rushing around and being where we have to be when we have to be there and I need a break from all that so it is part of the vacation for me to tour at their pace.

Not that we haven't done any commando touring. It's just commando for us is different. We were on a trip in 2011, it was in October. On the first day dd wanted to end it 3 hours early and I knew an in park break would be enough, but she seemed adament even after we took a break. So after trying to convince her I gave in.

Only thing was we were at Sea World. Our hotel had shuttle service, which was very good I might add, but it was scheduled and not constantly running. I told her we had to leave right then, but on the way out she saw something she wanted to see (a sea lion and otter show). I explained the situation again, but she wanted to see the show. Sitting through the show did the trick and she was ready to finish the day. Good thing because after the show, there wasn't another shuttle for 2 hours.

We ended up doing 30 park hours in 3 days, but dd after that incident on the first day did not complain about her feet or being tired or anything even once. We just move slower than most. We took 2 full days to tour Sea World, and most people will do it in 1 or less. The 3rd day we did MK from open to right before fireworks. Of course the weather in October is vastly different. I'd never try that during the summer.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh my that just really made me smile seeing everyone stopping to watch your DS play on the Kindle. I should invest as I think Kindle sales are going to sky-rocket!!

Aww I love those little "gifts" from Mousekeeping.

And I wholeheartedly agree with using UT for tickets (more-so with the Mousesavers link). I have always used them except last trip since I got an annual pass. Other than that though, it's the best deal by far.

And now you get to use the RFID entrances which I find to be unbelievably fun.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Day 7, 5th Park Day: The Park to Avoid

Now I realize most of the guidebooks and websites advise that we avoid the park with morning Extra Magic Hour. But the crowd numbers looked good, and I figured why not see how many times we can ride Toy Story Mania. If we got into Hollywood Studios at 8:00 we could get quite a bit done. Then I added a little surprise for ds. Having gone to bed early after our day at Animal Kingdom, the children were ready to roll. There was a bus there when we arrived, but it was so full, I’d have to stand and we’d be right at that yellow line. I don’t mind standing, but I prefer if at least one seat is available for the children to share so I told the driver we’d wait. I figured, hey, it’s AM EMH, there’ll be another bus along soon. So we waited.



And waited and waited. I was wondering if we would get there in time for the opening it was taking so long. We had plenty of company when we finally arrived.



Our first experience with the RFID entrance, I think I was expecting it to be faster. We still had to do the finger scan though so I’m not sure what makes it faster unless it is the fact that the people with paper tickets now go to different lines. But in that case it is faster for everyone maybe. Once we were inside, we headed straight to our destination. We hopped into the standby line and were there in minutes.



We love the ride. As soon as it was over, both children said in unison, “I want to do it again.” We grabbed fast passes and crossed the walk-way to the Buzz and Woody meet and greet. I had read they come out for EMH, but the sign said they were still starting at 9:15. It was 8:35 and the line was already forming, even though they had not opened the doors, so I figured it was a good time to pull out the breakfast I’d packed. So we waited and ate. I'd spread jelly on some bagels and packed some juice.



And ds explored a bit.



They opened the doors eventually and we went inside. The queue was really cute.



We were probably the 4th family in line. I love this meet and greet. Woody signs and Buzz has a stamp.



So did ds. I was so happy for how he has opened up to the characters.



Buzz and dd with the fist bump






After that we headed over to the courtyard for another favorite of ours.




Then we headed over to the Disney Junior Show.




We had to wait for a bit. You all know what that means.





Both children really love the show. Dd particularly enjoyed the additions of Doc McStuffins and Sophia the First. Once it was over, it was time for a surprise for my baby boy. As soon as she heard it was a surprise mainly for ds, dd figured out what it was and started to say she wasn't up for it. I reminded her how much she'd enjoyed it before and how ds joyfully sat through her BBB makeover earlier in the week. Suddenly she wanted to be the one to tell ds about his surprise.





Up next, Play and Dine and Hollywood and Vine

 

[ArwenMarie]

Ooh I love that character meal!! Can't wait to hear how the kids liked it.

 

[Marsheliz]

We really enjoyed that as well.... When we went, there was a little family sitting behind us who had a little boy who had down syndrome and his interaction with the characters made me cry... Touched my heart and still does when I think about it!

 

[angelabrezovsky]

I can't wait to read more. I am getting so excited about our trip, (I hope I can keep it a secret for 3 months and 3 weeks...)

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh wow, that's a pretty good chunk of people at EMH.

To be honest, I'm not sure that makes the RFID entrance quicker either (if it was indeed designed to be). However I still find them a whole lot of fun watching the light swirl and turn (hopefully) green.
I don't know, I'm easily entertained.

Looks like you still got a lot done too. Looking forward to the character meal up and coming...

 

[Wynnebee]

I can't wait to read more. I'm travelling from PA to Disney solo in September with my kids 12, 10 & 8. I'm glad to see that there are others who have survived the trip. I love that you have a sort of schedule and that you built in plenty of time to just relax!!

 

[luvmy2babies]

Ooh I love that character meal!! Can't wait to hear how the kids liked it.

We really enjoyed that as well.... When we went, there was a little family sitting behind us who had a little boy who had down syndrome and his interaction with the characters made me cry... Touched my heart and still does when I think about it!

This was actually our 2nd time doing it. We'd had breakfast there in 2012. It gets mixed reviews mainly because of the food and there are several people waiting for 1 or more of the characters (Oso and June) to be booted for others, but we enjoyed the food and we loved the character interaction there last year and when they say Plan and Dine, they really mean it.

That update will be up tonight.