ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

One year ago this week, we were at Walt Disney World with Dan, Katrina and their boys. I wrote a very lengthy, detailed trip report while we were there and posted it on my trip planning message board. I've posted it below as well. There are a lot of abbreviations used by Walt Disney World planners and Internet freaks (I'm both!) that I've used in the trip report and I've explained them below to help with reading the reports.

Our kids both still talk a lot about the trip and want to go back. We hope to do so again in two years. It was funny to look at these pictures because Payton has grown up so much since then but all of the other kids look pretty much the same!

Enjoy! Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

DH - husband (D can stand for whatever you want it to - darling, danged, etc.)
DD - daughter
DS - son
DN1 - nephew 1
DN2 - nephew 2
SIL - sister-in-law
BIL - brother-in-law

WDW - Walt Disney World
MCO - Orlando airport
MK - Magic Kingdom
AK - Animal Kingdom
WS - World Showcase (part of EPCOT)
DTD - Downtown Disney
MGM - Disney MGM Studios
TL - Typhoon Lagoon waterpark
CM - Cast Member (Disney employee)
BWV - Boardwalk Villas (hotel we stayed at)
ME - Magical Express (Disney bus that takes people to and from airport and hotel)
PS - Priority Seating (reservation)
FP - Fastpass (greatest invention ever!)
TGM - reference to TourGuideMike.com, website I used for planning our trip

At 6:37 a.m. we were in our minivan headed toward the airport for our 8:43 departure - everybody dressed in Disney shirts (previously purchased on ebay but many people along the way thought we must be returning from WDW) and all 8 bags packed up and ready to go. I was a little embarrassed to have so much packed but as I came to find out, it was good to be prepared and have no regrets at bringing sooo much stuff with me. Everybody was in great spirits (why shouldn't they be - we're going to WDW!) and I spent the ride to the airport getting rid of the "did I forget something?" voice that was stuck in my head.

Waiting at airport

We drive up to curbside check in and there's a pretty long line. That's ok, we're here 2 hours early so we'll just park at the curb and when I get to the front of the line, DH will bring all 8 bags over so they can be checked. I had given him 1 assignment and that was to affix our ME tags onto our luggage and that still had not been done! He spent the whole time doing that plus writing out our luggage tags with our name and phone number on them (if you want something done right....). Finally get our bags checked and we're off to drive to the remote parking to leave our van for the week. Park, walk to the terminal to catch the bus to return to the terminal and 3 year old has to go potty. He's fairly newly potty trained and so when he says "i got to go potty" we run. Missed our first bus opportunity and by the time we get to our gate, SIL has called our cell wondering where we are as our plane is loading and they are not boarding without knowing we are also going to be able to. We make it and board all 8 of us. We are seated in adjoining rows.

DN2 (Joey) falls asleep on this flight and DS (Blake) is fussy so we try to entertain him. Finally land at our layover and I give him half a chewable Dramamine for our next flight (he needs this in order to sleep somewhere that isn't a bed). Grab lunch on our layover and we're off on flight #2. DS falls asleep and we have a good flight as a result. :-) Our trek using ME went as follows:

3:55 p.m. - land at MCO
4:21 p.m. - @ ME desk
4:41 p.m. - sitting on bus
4:54 p.m. - bus departs airport
5:30 p.m. or so - arrive at BWV

On Magical Express bus

We check in at BWV and I request that our previously purchased park tickets be added to our room keys for convenience. This takes some time but they do it for all of us. We get to our rooms and our luggage is almost all there already - 11 out of 13 bags have been delivered! Just one big problem: our only request was to have our rooms near each other and we really aren't very close. We had a Boardwalk view and Family 2 had standard. We loved the Boardwalk view room we were given but DH was insistent we be closer to Family 2. After much pleading with the front desk (and he even asked we be moved to another resort if needed), they find us a preferred view room next to Family #2. This didn't compare to the Boardwalk view in the least but it was much, much better being closer to Family #2. Crisis averted. Whew. Now on to the fact that 2 of our bags aren't here....1 of them was my bag that contained some food items for our room (no big deal). The other was SIL's clothes. She was told it would be there by midnight. Off we go for our 8:20 PS at Chef Mickey's. I had tried to get it moved earlier but now we are running just right up against time so it's a good thing it was 8:20. Off on our first adventure using Disney transportation. Had to ask where the bus stop was, found it and waited just a few minutes for an MK bus to come along. Take it to MK and then have to ask where the monorail station is. Get on the monorail for the short ride over to the Contemporary. Make it to Chef Mickey's right at 8:20. Takes 10-15 minutes for us to get seated (I requested main room at check in per TGM/TGMers suggestions - great idea) and we are all seated and ready to eat after a long and stressful day of travel. Everybody has a lot of fun and finds food they like. The character interaction was great and we got some cute pictures. This was to be the highlight of the day and really helped stopped the tension that had been building.



At Chef Mickey's

Afterward, we get on monorail to the TTC because I figured we could get a bus from there to our hotel. We get there and there isn't one so we walk back toward monorail station and it's closed. Oh no.....just what we need! We take ferry back to MK and Wishes fireworks are going off so we watch those. Make our way to the bus area and catch Boardwalk bus from there. We're finally back to our hotel. SIL's bag is still not there. They tell her it may arrive in the middle of the night and if not, she can buy new clothing in the gift shop. She's pretty laid back and will work with that. BIL and SIL have flowers delivered to the room as a thank you for planning the trip. :-) Finally end our day around midnight or so but we're still committed to being on the first bus to MK tomorrow morning!


Flowers sent to me

Best TGM tip of the day: Don't plan too much on arrival day - arrival day is stressful and tiring enough!

My tip of the day: Know the transportation system to and from your hotel better. I had the transportation article from TGM printed out and in my binder but should have looked at the transportation from the hotel better perhaps.

Next up: Day 2: MK with 4 crabby kids and the red shirts! Plus bikes and boats on the Boardwalk!

Today is Sunday which would normally be a green day to go to MK but TGM had somewhat advised against it due to increased crowds partially (or entirely?) due to the "red shirts" (the Gay Days participants) but I had decided we'd go ahead and keep our MK plans for this day. Family #2 was ready a couple of minutes before we were - much to my surprise - and we were off to the Boardwalk bus stop by 7:45 or so to catch the 8:00 bus. Got to MK at 8:20 and got in line. Kids were all cranky this morning after a late night and long day traveling the day before. The sun was getting hot and the kids impatient so I pulled out the best time passer of the week: bubbles! I bought the party pack of 24 small bottles of bubbles at Target before leaving because it's always something we use for Blake when he is getting antsy. It ended up being something all the kids liked doing as they waited and the other kids around us liked chasing the bubbles as well.


Blowing bubbles

Get through the turnstiles and wait for the opening ceremony and rope drop and we're all getting very excited. I never did find a CM selling the stroller vouchers and was told to just go to the counter once the rope dropped. I didn't want to have to do that but that's what we'd have to do. Rope drops and the enormous push of people separates our group as I head to the stroller rental line. BIL actually got pushed into the park and had to make his way back to us. Got the stroller vouchers after a little bit, took them to the rental area and got our double stroller. Unloading two 35 pound kids and a couple of backpacks does wonders! We were off and running to Dumbo!

Got to Dumbo and the line had already grown. We waited about 4 or 5 rotations for our turn on this ride. Isaac was very upset that we were doing baby rides and wouldn't even ride with his little brother. Payton, me and the two little ones rode while the others waited nearby. This was to be our longest line for a ride of the whole week. From here, we were off to the other attractions - Pooh, Peter Pan, Snow White and Philharmagic....all of which we loved and walked right on to.

Payton and Joey on Dumbo ride

Then it was off Toontown Fair. DH rode Barnstormer with the two little ones and they did ok (Blake got a little scared but survived. Joey will do anything.) Then caught the train to Frontierland which was a good thing to do coming off of Barnstormer for a scared Blake - "hey, now we get to go on the TRAIN!"

On the train

Grab FPs for Splash and BTMRR (since we did child swap, we could use half of our passes for one, the other half for the other ride so we often had two sets of FPs at once). Then off to lunch at Pecos Bills after Blake decided to throw a fit by the FP machines on BTMRR. Lots of looks as we let him sit and yell it out on the retaining wall right there but that's what we have to do with him. After lunch, we used our FPs and child swapped. BIL told me he felt bad walking by all the people in those LONG lines when we went right to the front. I think he eventually got over this but not sure I ever stopped asking "why are these people waiting so long?!"

Let me just say it worked out so well having another family with us! Neither of our kids would/could ride these bigger rides so it was nice to swap with the other family and DH and I got to ride some things together.


1/2 second after BIL and SIL went down Splash Mountain

Out of MK at 1:30, back to hotel about 2:15 and settled in for nap at 2:45. Had a 5:30 PS at Spoodles which was right in our hotel so no buses to wait around for beforehand. Still, it was tough waking the kids up at 4:45 and not being able to fit in an afternoon swim as they had hoped. Off to Spoodles which had great food but not an entertaining place for ansty/cranky kids. Isaac loves shrimp but was unhappy with the lemon sauce on his so they graciously agreed to get him a new one that had only been sauteed in olive oil. Great food but just tough with the kids that night.


At Spoodles

We had an Illuminations cruise booked and had to meet the boat at 8:15 which gave us some time to spend on the Boardwalk. The kids didn't know about the cruise but knew that there was a surprise that night. We had a lot of fun renting one of the triple bench surrey bikes and it will be one of the best memories of the whole week as we sped quickly around the water with all 8 of us. Blake was in charge of the bell and Andy said "more cow bell" to him (SNL reference if you knew that Will Ferrell character) and the rest of the trip the two little ones would scream "MORE COW BELL!!!" at every surrey bike they saw.


On the surrey bike


The fun mirrors right there by the boat dock were also really funny and SIL had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard at the kids in the mirror.


Fun mirrors

Illuminations cruise boat arrived right at 8:15 and we all got on and Isaac says "is this the surprise?!" He was definitely the most thrilled but we all loved it. Our driver, Ron, was fantastic telling us funny stories and interesting tidbits about the various things we saw. He had us sign a book he keeps with all of his passengers in it and we left a nice note for him there. Watching Illuminations was fantastic and couldn't believe how we could feel the heat of the fire. Great show and this cruise was one of the highlights of the whole trip.


Boat cruise

Everybody up again today and to the bus stop by 8 am for a day at AK. Much better moods today as everyone got more sleep. Got to AK by 8:30 or so and was so glad to see that we could get our park guides and use the restroom before the park officially opened (unlike MK from yesterday). Once again, bubbles came in handy and all of the kids did that and had nearby children chasing them while we waited. DH said to me that he thought he saw GrammaBarb but I thought it might not be here as her hair wasn't as red as I thought it looked in pictures. Then I see that she's wearing the TGM button so I know it must be here. SIL didn't know DH and I had been having this conversation and points to GB's shirt and says something like "look, her shirts says 4 parks in 4 days..." or whatever GB's shirt happened to say. Park opens and we get our stroller with our handy dandy vouchers. SIL and I are off to get Safari FPs while the husbands and kids are off to Dinoland. Walk by GB on the walk and introduce myself. SIL had kept walking quickly so had to leave and go catch up with her. Took us just 12 minutes to go grab FPs and then we took the pretty walk through Asia back over to Dinoland. SIL loved the walk and thanked me again for doing all of the planning.


The rush of people at opening time

Get to Dinoland and the older kids had already ridden Primeval Whirl and the little ones Triceratop Spin. SIL and I want to do Primeval Whirl so we do that again with Isaac and DH takes little ones on Triceratop Spin again. It's 9:20 and our group has already been on 4 rides. This section is so much fun! Off to Dinosaur where BIL and SIL rode with the two older kids while DH and I waited in gift shop with little ones. They come out and older kids don't want to ride again (they had their heads down the whole ride) so I tell BIL and SIL about The Boneyard where they can wait while DH and I ride Dinosaur. They take all 4 kids in that direction and run into Lucky the Dinosaur who stops to do his show.

Lucky the Dinosaur

They apparently did this most of the time we rode and just loved it. Then they took the kids to The Boneyard and we showed up at that time and let the kids play some more while DH and I tried to spot Lucky for ourselves. Get the group flowing to Asia where we go on Kali River Rapids. SIL doesn't want to ride as she didn't want to be wet all day so she stays with little ones. We walk right on. Older kids loved it so DH rode again with them. Then we did the Maharajah Jungle Trek which I thought was boring but would have been a nice walk while waiting with the little ones. After that, it was off to Africa for Safari.

Playing drums on the way to the safari

Get on Safari easily with our FPs and did enjoy the ride. I thought the "dialog" between the driver and the African recorded voice was totally cheesy and I couldn't understand what either was even saying much of the time. The part with the bridge scared my daughter to death and even at 10 she didn't realize that it was just part of the ride.

Everybody is hungry and we decide to skip Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and go to lunch. Went to Pizzafari which was great and found a quiet area that wasn't busy yet where we could all sit and cool off for a bit (TGM tip that worked well here: don't go to main dining room where everybody else is sitting. Find a less busy area to sit in.). It was already 12:45 by now and I had hoped to get to the 1:00 Lion King show but didn't want to rush everyone through lunch. We walk to the show and are among the last seated and near the back. It ended up working out fine and everyone - especially Blake - enjoyed this show. Out of the park at 1:30 and back to the hotel.



Posing with characters at Animal Kingdom

It had been a good day for everyone but Blake decided to throw a fit on the bus on the way back. I took him away from the rest of the group on the bus (luckily the bus wasn't crowded) and promised him he'd be in trouble when we got back to the hotel. I followed through on that and then he and I stayed in the room for naptime while everyone else went swimming. The older kids had been disappointed at not swimming the day before so we told them they could do that today before laying down to rest. They swam for about an hour and then everyone came back for a nap.

Pool at The Boardwalk

Babysitter from Kindercare was due to arrive at 6:30 so we all got food for the kids to eat beforehand. Holly arrived right on time and we went over basic information with her including the fact that Isaac just had to see an NBA game that was on that night. She knew just what to do and said she couldn't promise he'd watch the whole game but she knew he could watch it for awhile at The ESPN Club while the little ones played in the arcade. We gave her cash to use to entertain the kids on the Boardwalk and the adults were off on a bus to DTD for the evening.

Arrived right on time for our 7:30 PS at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe and sat in the lounge area while we waited for our table. Ordered drinks that never arrived and then our name was called about 15 minutes or so later. We told them we still needed our drinks and it probably took another 10 minutes for that. SIL and I ordered a spinach/cheese dip as an appetizer. First one came out and was delivered by someone who wasn't our waiter. Waiter came by and saw it and said it was too burnt and he took it away and promised another one quickly. Got another one and it was very tasty. Also had our Starburst drinks by this time which I really enjoyed. I ordered the Chef's Sushi Sampler which ended up being a whole lot more food that I could handle but it was very good. Can't remember what everyone else ordered but I believe everyone was happy with their meals. We all had ordered a few drinks and had good kid-free conversation. The entire meal took us 2 hours which was much longer than we had hoped but we were off to The Comedy Warehouse. Got there and was told the next show would be a little later so we'd come back from that. I really wanted to go to The Adventurer's Club right across from it but everyone else seemed to want to stroll and I told them that I really needed them to just try it so after they didn't see anything else that they wanted to do, we went into The Adventurer's Club and sat in the main room. It was very funny and this place is like no other we'd seen. We really loved it but only got to stay for about 15 minutes because it was time to go to The Comedy Warehouse for the next show.


Us at The Adventurer's Club

Got in line for a while and were finally let in after maybe 15 minutes of standing in line. Show was really funny and they had fun with some of the Microsoft convention goers who were there at the time. By this time, it was already time to head back and we couldn't believe we'd already been gone for so long. Caught the bus back and got to our room just before our 12:30 "curfew." Holly still had the older ones up and they had been playing while the little ones slept. She said she had taken them to the ESPN Club for a little while but the little ones were getting too antsy so they left and went out on the Boardwalk and played some of the games there, they played at the BWV playground, etc. and then back to the hotel where she got the little ones sleeping. She told us to call her directly next time we're in town so we could avoid the "outrageous" Kindercare rates (PM me if you'd like a sitter at WDW and would like her number). Older kids had good things to say about her after she left and said they had lots of fun.

Off on our first adventure walking to the International Gateway at EPCOT. We had seen the walkway on our surrey bike a couple of days before so we were pretty sure we knew where we were going. We all met on the Boardwalk near the bakery and I saw that DH had given Blake his room key as he liked holding it and getting into the room by himself. I didn't want him holding $200 worth of tickets (which were on his room key) especially as we were about to go into a park. I took the card from him and told him he could have it back later but major tantrum began at that point. SIL knew we'd grown very frustrated with Blake by this point and she took him away from us and sat him in a chair and let him scream it out. It took him 30 minutes to calm down and his hair was soaked from working up quite a sweat screaming in the sun. I actually appreciated SIL doing this as DH and I do get so beaten down by Blake. We have him scream it out at home but it's tough in public knowing exactly what to do sometimes.

Breakfast on the Boardwalk

So we were off to EPCOT and Blake wouldn't have another episode like this for the rest of the trip. Get to the World Showcase shortly after 11 and proceed toward Canada to start the loop around. The plan was to spend a few hours at the World Showcase and then leave for Typhoon Lagoon for the rest of the day. Went to get Payton a passport so she could get it stamped in each country and then we're off looking for the Kidcot station in Canada. Isaac is very upset that we aren't doing any rides and it is sweltering hot and there is no entertainment until later in the day so I propose that we make our way to the USA, have some lunch somewhere along the way and then leave for Typhoon Lagoon. Payton and I would try to return later and finish her passport book - WS is something she and I are much more interested in seeing anyway.

The Dan family in EPCOT

Group ends up settling on food in USA much to my embarrassment (I'm big on trying a variety of foods and my daughter has even come around on this) but it makes everyone happy to get something to eat and be in the A/C. We head out from there back to BWV to change into swimsuits and get our beach bags together. Wait for 15-20 minutes for a TL bus and then we're off. We get there and it is PACKED. The wave pool is full of people and it's tough to find any empty chairs. I keep walking and finally find a spot to put our stuff and grab a few chairs. Then the group is off in different directions - Dan and Katrina have the older kids and Joey. Dan for some reason always wears his glasses even on waterslides and wave pools and lost his glasses in the wave pool. It was pointless looking for wire frame glasses amongst the huge amount of people. He did file a report that he'd lost them but he never did find them. He had trouble seeing the rest of the trip. Andy, Blake and I go for the lazy river as Blake was afraid of the wave pool. Lazy river is so much fun and so lengthy - very relaxing and a good introduction to the water for Blake. After that, Blake wanted to play in the sand and Andy stayed with him. I was off in a search for frozen lemonade and ended up walking around the whole park. I spotted the cute little Ketchakiddee Creek area and get the group together to start moving in that direction and find new seats. By this time, people had really started leaving the park and shortly after we'd relocated, it started to rain which really got people out of the park. We found a spot under a umbrella and the little ones didn't even seem to notice the rain as they dug in the sand and made many trips to the water with their buckets. After the rain cleared out, I suggested we go play in the Ketchakiddee Creek play area (Dan and Isaac had gone to the shark reef by this time but the rest of us headed for KC). The kids loved this and Payton spotted the little water slide type of thing in this area. The little ones were very excited and much to our surprise really loved it. They wanted to do it over and over and over again. Dan and Isaac return from shark reef and we want Dan to get pictures of the little ones on this water slide thing so they proceed to go again and again. It's about 1 hour until closing (why do they close SO early?!) so Katrina, me and Isaac head for the big waterslides. We walk right onto 3 of them and then we're packed up and headed out of the park. Everyone had a great time.


Back to the hotel and Payton and I were off to complete the World Showcase and catch another Illuminations. Dan and Isaac had also gone so they could get dinner in Mexico. We meet up with them in Mexico and eat together and order food to go for the others who are back at the hotel.

Eating with Dan and Isaac in the World Showcase

Payton and I stay there to tour the remaining countries and she gets them all to stamp her booklet. We make it to the bridge between France and the UK when Illuminations begins. We watch and walk quickly to catch a Friendship boat back to BWV. We were in our room at 9:24 p.m.

Walked to International Gateway about 30 minutes before opening. When we were finally let in (after 9:00 I might add!) our cards (me, DH, DD and DS) read as voided. Turned out that DH had requested an extra room key without any tickets on it to let Blake have. They had voided out all of the others. Luckily, the CM gave us a 1 day temporary ticket so we could get into the park. We were so mad that it had happened though but thankful we got into the park. I sent the group to spend time in Innoventions while I walked to get FPs for M:S and TT. Met up with them at Innoventions and we proceeded to The Land to ride Soarin'. Stand by was already 35 minutes and I couldn't get a FP for it yet since I'd just picked up some. Decide to head over for Journey into Imagination and HISTA. Afterward, I send the group to The Living Seas while I pickup FPs for Soarin'. Return time was 3 hours later. I go to The Living Seas and there is a line outside but my group isn't in it. I call them and they are already inside and didn't have any wait. It's now right around 11 and it takes me a good 15 minutes to get in and meet up with them. I hate the setup of this building and the hydrolators and the prison they hold you in before you can even get into a hydrolator. Ugh. I tell them that Turtle Talk with Crush is a must-see and a show had just gone in so I got into line. Everyone else joined me and we stood there for about 20 minutes (why doesn't this show have a FP?). This show is so incredibly cute - one of my favorites of the whole week. I'm still trying to figure out the technology behind it. Group explores The Living Seas while I wait with DH and Blake (I'm not big on observing animals).



Inside The Living Seas building

It's 12:20 now and we're all hungry. Future World eating options aren't too fantastic and everywhere is busy at this point. We end up at a hot dog cart and grab some hot dogs and sit in a shady spot near Test Track. Andy and I leave the group to go on TT and when we come out, we use the cell and find out the group was in Innoventions. Dan, Katrina and the two older kids head off to do TT and DH and I hang out with the little ones and make robots and just try to stay occupied and cool.

They come off TT and then it's time for M:S which I was so scared to do so SIL agrees that she will try it before I do and let me know how it is. Dan, Katrina and Isaac head off. DH and I and the other 3 kids head for the M:S play area. Dan and Katrina come off of M:S looking slightly bothered but say it's a cool ride. DH and I go get in line and my hands are sweating - the constant messages they show you and repeat over and over again didn't help the matters at all. I did fine on this ride and was the least bothered by it. Just remember to stare forward and don't close your eyes during this. Cool ride.

Off to Soarin' to use our last FPs of the day. SIL was still feeling a bit weird from M:S so she opted out of it and stayed with Isaac and the babies. The other 4 of us went into Soarin' (stand by at this time was 90 minutes) and it's a really nice ride although I'm definitely not as crazy about it as many people. To me, it's just like being at an IMAX film except you're elevated but oh well...nice ride nontheless. Come out of Soarin' and SIL is sitting with two toddlers asleep on her. We're ready to leave the park but it's 4:00 by this time. Can't believe this day has taken us so long!

Katrina and the sleepy kids wait for us to finish Soarin'

Have a 6:20 FDP at Hollywood and Vine and we get there early and get checked in. DH and I head over and get ToT FPs for after dinner. Come back and we are called to be seated. Food here was really good and everyone liked it. Me, DH and Dan head off to ToT as Katrina says she can't handle it so soon after dinner. Great ride, great theming. Then we're off to attend Fantasmic. We go in at 8:00 and sit for the hour before the show. If we'd waited, we wouldn't have gotten seats as it filled up quickly even in the FDP area where we were. Show was so amazing and everyone was just in awe. I thought that having the FDP would allow us to exit easier but we just got thrown in with the mass exodus and it didn't buy us anything. We all liked eating at H & V and loved Fantasmic but didn't feel the FDP was worth it.

Once again, got to bus stop by 8 a.m. and were headed for MK. Girls got to go in early today as we had 9:10 CRT PS courtesy of a fellow TGMer, Jane. I had left DH with instructions on what to do in Tomorrowland while they waited for us (FPs for Space, ride Speedway, go on TTA and Buzz). He did well and they followed the plan. Had Jane's number on my cell so I called and we met up in front of the castle. She and her family were very nice people and we were so thankful they allowed us to tag along on their PS. Jane went in to check in for our PS (we were about 1/2 hour or so early) and they told us that having an extra person wasn't going to work. Jane and I had both called Disney Dining previously to see if bringing 1 more than the PS would be ok and were told it was fine to do that. My SIL says Payton and I can just go in and she'll leave but I didn't want her to do that. Jane lets the front desk know that splitting us 8 and 3 was fine. We go into wait and Jane's sons are so cute posing with the Knight and Fairy Godmother.

Right at 9:10, our group is called to be seated and we are split 8 and 3 which worked out well. Orange juice is brought along with a basket of pastries. A little while later, our breakfast is brought and we like it all except for the French Toast which appears to be fried and topped with blueberries. Our waiter is fun and teases a lot. Our table got dripped on a lot from the ceiling and as we sat there, it kept getting worse but the waiter said they already knew about the issue and it was related to the A/C. It was fine...we were in the castle. :-) After eating, the princesses eventually make their way to us and my daughter is dressed in her Mulan costume and they all acknowlege that. They were all so nice and even my "big" girl who is supposedly past the princess phase really liked it. After getting pictures with all of the princesses, we are off to meet up with the boys in Tomorrowland and very thankful to Jane for allowing us to tag along.



Eating breakfast at the castle

Boys are in line for Buzz and about to get on. We decide to get in the short line as well and we go on it and meet up with them afterward. I get FPs for us to all ride it again later. Boys then proceed to use Space FPs while we grab some popcorn and settle in a shady spot. Boys come out and Katrina, me and Isaac go on Space while the dads and little ones go on TTA again (big hit with them apparently but I never did go on it). After this, we're all off to use our Buzz FPs and run into Jane in the gift shop there.


We are then headed off to ride It's a Small World as BIL had noticed we missed it on our first day. We are headed that way when we stop to watch one of the street performers near the Carousel. I'm in the nearby Tinkerbell shop looking for something for our niece who was just born right before we left for vacation. The rain begins to come down and it pours and it pours. We wait in the store for a while and then when it lets up, we head to IASW. This ride is so long and Payton said after a while of being on the ride "ok, now this is just getting silly." Oh well....guess you gotta do it once. ;-)

Then off to Haunted Mansion for the older kids and 3 adults. DH takes little ones over to PoC to see if there's a wait. We get off HM and call him and he says no wait. We all go on but Joey had fallen asleep at this point so he slept his way through the ride.

Time to eat now and we head over to Casey's Corner which we really liked for something fast but good. DH had gone to get Splash FPs for that evening and met up with us shortly after to eat. Downpour begins again and we wait for awhile under the covered porch area before leaving MK for the day.

Castle in the rain

It was only around 12:30 or so at this point and I had really wanted Isaac to go to Disney Quest since he's very into video games. All of us except DH and Blake head for DTD after a 10 minute break at the hotel to repack the backpacks and get our ponchos.

Dan and Isaac head for DQ while Katrina, me, Payton and Joey head for some shops. We walk to the west side so we can go to the Lego store and World of Disney. Lego statue thingies outside the store are really cool and we got pictures of the kids with the dragon and the family with the dogs.


Legos!

Then we were off to WoD store and could NOT believe the size of this place. We all got separated and although I had wanted to buy some things, I found myself completely overwhelmed at the size of this place and just ended up getting some postcards. We all eventually find each other and head out. Dan and Isaac are now finished playing at DQ and we catch a bus back to BWV. We decide to get off at the Swan/Dolphin bus stop and walk the short walk over to the Boardwalk as the bus still had a few more stops before getting to BWV. Dan and Isaac often run together so they started out with a "ready, set, go" and they were off. Dan slipped on the pavement and bruised his elbow and got himself muddy. He said it hurt quite a bit but he was ready to go again. So off they go again and this time Isaac slips and hits his head on the pavement. Katrina erupts into instant tears as she watches it happen and Isaac is just laying there. I take Joey so they can help Isaac and Payton and I stand away while some witnesses run into the Dolphin to find someone who can help. A man comes out and asks Isaac questions and examines his head and neck and he appears to be ok. The man says to wake Isaac up throughout the night to make sure he's ok. Whew. Very bad but he would end up being fine.

Just have about an hour or so before we need to leave to meet up with fellow TGMers at Pecos Bills for Spectro and Wishes and DH and Dan have disappeared while going to get our dinner. They had gone over to the Yacht Club to grab some hamburgers for us but it took a long time. When Dan finally did come back, he realized he'd left his and DH's room keys there and had to run back to get them. We take just a few minutes to eat part of our gigantic burgers and we're off to the bus stop. We arrived just as Spectro was about to start so we grabbed a spot near the front of the park. I didn't get to meet the other TGMers as a result but found our spot to be just fine and loved getting out of the park quickly and onto our bus right away. We were in our rooms by 10:40 p.m.


Blake getting ready for fireworks show