Saturday, Nov. 26

A Little Extra Pixie Dust for the Road...

This morning we got up and packed our suitcases, loaded the car, then went to Magic Kingdom one last time for a couple of rides we didn't get to yet, that the kids really wanted to do: Dumbo and Peter Pan - can't leave without riding those two!

We were in the beginning of the line for Dumbo - got on the second rotation :-)  Stephen secured FPs for Peter Pan, and it also gave him some bonus FPs for Philharmagic at the same time.  While riding Dumbo, I got to peek over the fence at the new Fantasyland they're building - but it's still so much construction, nothing was identifiable, except the new castle, which is supposed to be the Beast's castle, according to our train ride.

We worked in a few more favorites, then headed to Main Street bakery for a late breakfast - that's always a favorite place to use our snacks:-)  And on the way, I saw Goofy and got to get my picture with him!  That was a nice last-day surprise.  When I said he was my favorite, he took my arm in his and started walking off :-)

We took our last boat ride back to the Poly and relaxed there for a bit, before driving over to the Contemporary to meet Amy and John, who were flying in this afternoon.  We had lunch together before driving home.  So glad we got to see them and the ultrasound video :-) before leaving our paradise.

Friday, Nov. 25

Magical Friday

We started the day off with a Supercalifragalistic breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, where we ran into Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Alice, The Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins.  The breakfast buffet was delicious: it included a carving station and an omelet station, Mickey waffles, cheesy hashbrowns, French Toast, fruit, cereal, oatmeal, sausage, bacon, smoked salmon... on and on.

After breakfast we went to the Magic Kingdom, repeating a few favorites (Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear), meeting Pinnochio, Peter Pan and Chip & Dale, and also taking in some classics: Philharmagic, tea cups, Winnie the Pooh, Haunted Mansion, Swiss Family Treehouse, etc.

On Main Street we caught the Dance Party parade, which was quick and fun - lots of characters and people dancing, getting the crowd excited about celebrating at Disney.  We had lunch at Tony's Italian Restaurant, which was good - our server was great. He'd been at that restaurant for 16 years!  I had a pistachio creme brulee for dessert.

For our last afternoon/evening, we all hung out together at the volcano pool, eating Mickey ice cream sandwiches, then dinner, and wrapping up by watching the new Winnie the Pooh movie on the beach.  The girls and I also worked in some hula lessons that afternoon. Great family time this afternoon. 

The kids were tired after the movie, so we went back to the room.  They asked me to wake them up to see the fireworks tonight, so I did.  Poor Michael didn't even remember them the next morning.  He was barely awake when we walked out to the beach to see the evening fireworks.

Thursday, Nov. 24

Animal Kingdom Day

We spent today at Animal Kingdom, and it was a wise choice - not crowded at all. We started the day off with the thriller ride - Everest.  Michael didn't ride it this first time; but he rode it later and enjoyed it.  This was probably my favorite roller coaster of all.

We also took in the fantastic Nemo Musical, the safari, Rafiki's Planet Watch, the Tree of Life, and a few rides in Dino-land that we hadn't done before.  Michael got some face paint: a dinosaur skeleton - very cute... he was so happy to wear it. Michael also enjoyed the safari ride so much he wanted to stay on it again.  We got to see a bunch of animals.

We also got to watch the Jingle Jungle parade; each of the floats were wrapped in Christmas. Gotta love Santa Goofy :-)

After the parade, we headed over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, to the restaurant, Sanaa, where we had dinner.  The restaurant had a glass side that overlooked the savannah.  The kids were able to go outside and spot lots of animals before dinner.  Sanaa offered a special Thanksgiving meal that had been prepared for that evening, and it was delicious. 

Our time together is so nice... we've laughed more together this week than ever, I think.

Wednesday, Nov. 23

Last night's Tinkerbell surprise was a new pin for each of the kids.  Michael got a Mickey Jedi pin; Nicole got a Marie pin, and Jacquelyn got a Space Mountain one.

Back to Hollywood Studios today.  We started with Toy Story Mania, but concentrated on the other side of the park after that. Rock-n-Roller Coaster totally rocked!  Both Michael and Jacquelyn loved it.  They also did Tower of Terror with Stephen while Nicole and I took in the Little Mermaid show.  We all saw the Indiana Jones show and Beauty & the Beast.

After that, it was time for our mid-week surprise... a surprise that came to me a few weeks ago, when my travel agent from AAA called me with good news of some complimentary tickets to see the Cirque de Soleil show!  I was so excited.  The show was phenomenal... trapeze artists, tightrope walker, juggling, bike tricks, trampoline acrobatics, and more. This show amazed all of us. Another fun evening.

Tuesday, Nov. 22

Magic Kingdom Day!

This morning's gifts from Tinkerbell were a Candace and a talking Phineas and Ferb!  How fun! (Yesterday they each got a parachute Donald or Goofy.)

Today began with Space Mountain (also in Jacquelyn's top 3 favorite rides). Michael loved it too.  They got to ride it twice.  On their second time around, I took Nicole on the Transit Authority, which goes through both Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear.  She enjoyed that.  We all rode Buzz Lightyear, then headed over to Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and Small World.

Another afternoon at the volcano pool is in order, then we have dinner at Kona Cafe at the Poly. Afterward, it's time for some Christmas magic - we head to Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne Family Lights.  They were spectacular!  It snowed; there was music; it was a full street of Christmas. I found a new happy place - or at least a runner-up to the Poly's hammock :-)

Monday, Nov. 21

Today is Epcot.  Soarin' is the first ride of the day, and it doesn't disappoint.  From there, we went to Turtle Talk with Crush, and Crush picked Nicole's question to answer (her question was "how old are you?") - that's  a fascinating show.  Next was the Nemo ride, then we walked over to France for our lunch at Chefs de France.  On the way, we got to see Belle (Beauty and the Beast) and Marie (from Aristocats).  And Remi came out at lunch time to our table. Armond, the waiter who brought Remi around, was delightful! He saw me get my camera out to take a picture, and put the lid back on Remi, then leaned down and smiled for me to snap his photo. He was very funny. The food here was so delicious: baguettes, quiche, croque monsieur, French onion soup, lobster bisque.... yum!  And, of course, some real coffee :-)

After this we headed up to Mission Space - Jacquelyn was very excited to ride this, and it became a favorite - one of her top three.  Stephen took Jacquelyn on the intense side (where they spin you to feel more G-force); I took Nicole and Michael on the milder side.  Michael loved being responsible for the controls.


We cooled off in the pool by our room this afternoon - it's right outside our back door :-)  Then we headed to Downtown Disney to spend our Disney bucks.  Michael had been talking all week about using his at the Lego store - he was in awe at how much was there.  Jacquelyn started a beautiful charm necklace. Nicole added to her pin collection.

And they all got something from Goofy's Candy Shop, too.

Sunday, Nov. 20

Today is Stephen's birthday, so I have a fun surprise for him (and the kids) this afternoon.

We start our day at Hollywood Studios.  Toy Story Mania is first - one of the best rides, and everyone loves it!  Although, we'd never seen a line like this before - whoa! Next, we took the Backlot Tour, and the kids recognized Herbie the Love Bug and got to also see some special movie effects.  They showed some behind-the-scenes action sequences.  The Star Tours ride was great; Michael was really excited about that one.  We also took in the Lights, Motor, Action show with stunt cars (and Lightning McQueen), the Muppets (of course), and the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" movie set playground. By early afternoon, the kids were ready for the pool! 

They love this volcano pool at our resort. All three went down the slide over and over - the slide goes through the volcano mountain - so fun. After cooling off, we got ready for dinner.  The kids got to go to the Neverland Club - which was an adventure they kept asking to repeat.  It's a kids activity center, with a movie theater, dress-up clothes, lego table, Wii games, a foosball table, and so many fun activities.  The inside is made to look like Wendy's nursery (from Peter Pan).  The kids had a blast there, while we went to dinner at Jiko's Cooking Place at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  The food there was phenomenal.  It's African cuisine; we had boar, duck, a spicy chicken flatbread, filet, amazing desserts.  It was a fantastic meal.

Disney 2011

This trip was a complete surprise to the kids... they didn't even know we were going out of town this week.  Friday was payday for their allowance, and instead of money, I gave them Disney dollars, which they were very excited about, but didn't clue them in, like I thought it might.  Then I gave them a backpack with items for a trip, but they still didn't guess that we were going anywhere.  Finally we had to tell them we were going to Disney - tomorrow!  They didn't believe us.  It took a while for the news to sink in.

As we're driving in, I can tell everything is new for Michael - he's the most excited, and it's like it's his first time.  Since our last trip was taken when he wasn't even three yet, I can understand how he wouldn't remember anything.

We arrived at the magnificent Polynesian, and I'm home... :-)  We get into our room right away; have a nice patio outside, and are right next to one of the pools.  Our first meal was dinner at Chef Mickey's, so we got to see Mickey, Goofy, Donald, Pluto and Minnie right away.

And our evening ended with the Holiday lighting of the castle - spectacular lights on the castle - it was so beautiful!  What a fantastic first day!

Disney Week Itinerary

Click the title to view the plan I've come up with... let me know if something doesn't work for you. The reason for most of the days/evenings chosen for each park was to go when the crowd level was not as bad as other days. We'll also be coordinating around the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) evening at the Magic Kingdom.

Saturday (arrival day) and Friday (10/10) are pretty much free days to do whatever... for us, the choice is Magic Kingdom - as much as we can possibly get. No reservations on either of those days since it's usually up in the air as to when we arrive and when we'll be leaving.

Kidcot fun stops at Epcot

More information at stitchkingdom.com/kidcot

I'm so excited about taking the kids to Epcot this time... there's so much to do! I found this very helpful website that lists where all the "kidcot" stations are and what each charm and passport stamp looks like - you can buy a passport (or not) or bring your own book, and collect stamps from each country... at the end of your adventure, you receive a free poster of all the characters. There are also masks to color, and the charms look like fun collectibles/souvenirs. From what I hear they'r about the size of an index card, so it'd be easy to buy a 4x6 photo book or journal and put them in there as a souvenir passport of your own.

Most of the country cast members are actual citizens of that country and are over in America temporarily, so they can tell you a lot about the culture and maybe even a few phrases in that language.

Not to mention the performing acts in the World Showcase. I'm looking forward to hearing the Beatles cover band, and I think the kids will lvoe the Chinese acrobats. We'll also be there during the Food & Wine Festival, which is featured at the World Showcase, so we may get to try some unique food and drink from the countries.

Then there's Future World - a whole other adventure, with the ever-popular Soarin' which is like taking a hang-gliding ride over California's landscapes, The Living Seas, featuring a Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush, where he talks to audience members and answers questions - all animated. There's a cool Kodak "What If" photo station (in Imagination Pavilion) where you can morph your face into an animal then email your friends back home - lots of other fun things too.

188 days!