Disney 2012: Hollywood Studios

November 14 - Hollywood Studios day



In my planning, one of the things I learned was that Toy Story Midway Mania was one of the most popular rides at DHS, and that you had to go there first if you wanted any chance of riding it, even on a low crowd day.  The ride was our first stop, and when we got there (about 20-30 minutes after the park opened), the FastPasses were already for 3 hours later - and there were the longest FastPass lines we had seen.  I got our passes, and since the posted wait time was about 30 minutes, we decided to go ahead and wait.  The queue was designed so well - we love the Toy Story movies, and it looked like Andy's room.





We all really enjoyed the ride and were glad that we would be able to ride it again.  Next up was watching the Muppets - first 3D show for the kids.  Will was not interested in wearing the glasses, but Claire did pretty well.


When we walked out of the Muppet show, we were excited to see Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars, one of the kids' favorite movies.  Will was really upset that he didn't actually get to get in or on them, but he calmed down to get a non-crying photo.  :)






Lunch was at the 50's Prime Time Cafe - comfort food served in 50's-style setting, including B&W televisions showing vintage sitcoms.  My favorite part was my S'mores dessert - Claire's, too, although she only liked the marshmallows & chocolate.


As we were leaving, we heard someone calling my name.  I was so happy to see that it was my friend Angi's mom.  Angi had told me that her parents, sister, and sister's family would be at Disney (and staying at the same hotel) while we were there, and I was hoping I would run into them.  Angi is a friend from college and my first roommate in Dallas, and I hadn't seen her family in years.  We had a good (but short - anxious kiddos!) reunion and ended up running into them a few more times.  It was such a nice surprise.

We used our FastPasses to ride Toy Story Midway Mania again, and then walked across the park to try and catch the Disney Junior show.  On our way, I saw Minnie walking out with a handler.  I grabbed Claire, told everyone else to follow us, and ran to get a spot in line.  Minnie was the one main character that we weren't scheduled to see at a meal, and I didn't want to miss this chance.  A long line quickly formed, but we were only a few people back.  So glad we spotted her early!





Will gave her one of his now expected everlasting hugs - so sweet!


We were also able to meet Jake from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates"!




Last stop of the day was for the Disney Junior show.  We were pushing the kids' nap schedule, but I knew Claire would really enjoy it.  Will fell asleep before it even started, but Claire was entranced.  She jumped up and down excitedly during any dancing segment and was thrilled to collect some of the "gold doubloons" during the Jake segment.


Will slept through the show, walking out of the park, waiting for the bus, and through the bus ride to the hotel, so he got a decent nap.  Claire rested for awhile, and then we took it easy at the hotel until they went to bed.  Robert and I went to Downtown Disney once they were asleep while Mom & Dad stayed back with the kids (we were able to get connecting rooms, which was awesome).  We enjoyed walking around on our mini date night.

This day was our hardest, scheduling-wise.  For kids Claire & Will's age, there aren't a lot of rides for them, and it was hard to make the show times fit our schedule.  We could either wait a long time for a show, or go do something and take a chance that we would miss it.  We usually took a chance, and so we missed a couple of the shows on my list, but it worked out fine.  There was a special Christmas lights show during the evenings that we also would've liked to see, but every night we decided to do something else rather than trekking over to DHS just for one show.  It will go on our list for a future trip.  In hindsight, this was a park that we could have skipped, but we did have several highlights (Toy Story, watching Claire during the Disney Junior show, meeting Minnie & Jake) so it wasn't a wasted day, but it's not the best park for a 4 & 2 year old, in our opinions.

Disney 2012: The Truly Magical Kingdom (Part Two)

After a good break, we were ready to go back to the Magic Kingdom.  We spent most of the afternoon in Adventureland, exploring the Swiss Family Treehouse and riding the Jungle Cruise and Aladdin's Magic Carpets (watch out for the spitting camels!).





Dole Whip snack - yum!


We got a quick dinner at Columbia Harbor House and found spots for the Main Street Electrical Parade.  The parade is one of my (and my mom's) favorite memories from my first trip to WDW when I was a kid, so we were glad to see it again.

Cinderella


Captain Hook!  (One of the kids' favorite shows right now is "Jake & the Neverland Pirates", and Captain Hook is one of the characters - they were excited.)


The Castle was so beautiful with the Christmas lights.


Hoping to beat the crowds before the fireworks ended and the park closed, we started making our way out of the park.  It was still a madhouse - we were at a standstill for quite awhile.  Eventually the cast members got the crowds moving and we were able to weave our way through some of the stores on Main Street past the main crowd.  We took the boat back to the hotel which turned out to be a good decision - we had a terrific view of the fireworks show as we were leaving.  Perfect end to a great day!

Disney 2012: The Truly Magical Kingdom (Part One)

November 13th - Magic Kingdom day!



We got up early, gave the kids a snack, and took the boat over to the MK for our 8 am breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace.  When I made reservations at the 180 day mark, my grand plan was to grab one of the first reservations so that we could be done with breakfast by the time the park opened at 9 and be the first ones into the Fantasyland area.  I did get one of the first reservations, but shortly before our trip Disney changed the hours that day to open at 8 am to give annual passholders a chance to see the New Fantasyland.  I was a little frustrated, but it turned out to not be a big deal at all.  The crowds ended up being lower than anticipated, and we were still able to beat the crowds since we were let in a little early for our reservation.





The Crystal Palace was fantastic - we all enjoyed the yummy breakfast, but the interactions with the characters were absolutely priceless.

Waiting to get in, autograph book ready!


The first character up was Pooh.  Claire was thrilled, and Will was still a little unsure but enjoyed the attention.


Next was Eeyore - at this point, Will felt comfortable enough to get out of his chair for a hug.


And then came Piglet - and the moment Will fell in love with the characters.


It was the neverending hug - I thought we were going to have to pry him off.  I was just melting from the cuteness, and at that moment, all of the hours spent planning were totally worth it.

The final character at breakfast was Tigger, and he was so fun.  As he was signing our book, the music for the character parade around the restaurant was starting.  Kids were welcome to join in, and Tigger took Claire's hand and let her lead the parade with him.  She was so happy and proud, and we were all thrilled for her.





We were done by around 9 and were still able to beat most of the crowds to the rides on our list.  On our way we saw Peter Pan.  We were too late to get in line for an autograph and a photo, but he saw how excited Claire was and gave her a hug before he left.  Claire was then ready for the Peter Pan ride - she liked it, but Will thought it was a little scary (dark).


So, next up was an easy one with no wait - It's a Small World.


First of what ended up being 4 rides on the carousel - anytime we were nearby, Will would say "I want to go ride a horse!"


The Mad Tea Party


Dumbo!


Tomorrowland Indy Speedway - Claire loved it, but Will was really upset that he was too little to drive


Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin




Tomorrowland People Mover


We had lunch at Casey's Corner (hot dogs, corn dog bites & french fries) before our afternoon rest time.  Naps went much better that day!

Disney 2012: Day 1

November 12th - Our first day at the parks!  We got up early, ate breakfast in our rooms, and took the bus to Epcot.  We got there about 20 minutes after the park opened, and after making a quick stop in the photo shop to get my PhotoPass card, we were ready to get started!



We walked over to The Land Pavilion with the plan of getting Fast Passes for Soarin', but the return times were during the time we planned to take our afternoon break.  It was one of the few things on my list that we weren't able to do, but it just didn't work out.

Our first ride was Living with the Land, a boat ride about agriculture that takes you through Disney's greenhouses - it's more interesting that it sounds.  :)

First ride!


We all enjoyed it, and it was an easy ride to start off the kids.  Next was The Seas with Nemo & Friends - the posted wait time was a little long, but we weren't sure if we would make it back to that area so we got in line.  Fortunately it moved quickly and we were on in about 20 minutes.  We had time for Turtle Talk with Crush, a really cute interactive film featuring the turtle from Finding Nemo.  It starts out as a movie, but then the on-screen Crush starts interacting with the kids in the audience - asking and answering questions.

We made our way to Norway in the International Showcase for our lunch reservation at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall.  The food was really good, but the best part was interacting with several of the princesses.  We met Belle (Beauty & the Beast), Ariel (The Little Mermaid), Mary Poppins, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and Snow White.  Will was still a little tired from no nap the day before and the excitement of the trip, so he wasn't sure about meeting any strangers, but Claire was into it from the beginning.  She would sit on the edge of her chair in anticipation anytime a character would get near the table and quickly get her autograph book ready.  I realized after we left the restaurant that I had accidentally turned off the auto focus on my lens, so the pictures are a little blurry, but you can see how happy she was!











After lunch we had time to ride Maelstrom, another boat ride (that was a little scary - trolls!), before it became obvious that it was time to go back for a nap.  Will crashed in the stroller before we were even out of the park.


After shorter than usual naps, we decided the best course of action would be to take it easy that night and get to bed early before our big day at the Magic Kingdom.  Our hotel had a boat that went directly to the Contemporary Resort.

Arriving at the resort


Checking out the boats on the dock


We rode the monorail's resort loop, grabbed some dinner at the Contemporary, and turned in early for Day 2.  It was a good day - we figured out some of the logistics of visiting the parks, got the kids used to the crowds and the lines, and were able to ease into the trip.

Disney 2012: Getting There

November 11 - Will's 2nd birthday, Granddaddy's birthday, and the day we left on our vacation!

For weeks, Claire and Will had been excited about getting to ride on an airplane.  It was Will's first plane ride, and Claire's in over 3 years (so she has no memories of her last trip).

Watching the planes


Ready to go!


Checking out the plane brochures, wearing one of the Mickey Mouse shirts I made for her the night before we left


As we got ready to take off, Claire giggling uncontrollably and just kept saying "I'm so happy!"  My dad said that seeing how thrilled she was just to be on the plane was worth the trip.

We were able to fly directly from San Antonio to Orlando.  The flight was during the kids' regular nap time, and I had high hopes that they would sleep on the plane, but they were just too excited to sleep.  They did well on the flight - the portable DVD player that we brought definitely helped.  We had a little turbulence which made Will a little nervous, but Robert was able to reassure him.  Since then, when Will sees a plane or talks about the trip, he says something about the plane being bumpy, but that it's okay.  :)

Once we arrived in Orlando, we got our luggage and made our way to the Magical Express, Disney's shuttle service.  It took awhile to gather everything up and get to our bus, but it went smoothly.  We were all hungry by the time we arrived at our hotel, Wilderness Lodge, so Robert took care of the luggage, while the rest of us went to get something to eat.  The quick service restaurant in our hotel, Roaring Fork, was the only thing we didn't really like about our hotel.  The dining area was too small for a hotel this size - at peak times, it was super crowded and hard to get a table.  The food was pretty mediocre, and you had to stand in separate line for hot meals and cold meals (salads, sandwiches, etc.), so it was kind of a hassle, but we were able to get everyone fed and up to bed without too many meltdowns.  I was glad that we were able to get a decent night's sleep before our first day at the parks.

Disney 2012: Planning the Trip

We went to Disney World!  It was a great trip - lots of work, but totally worth it.  There is so much I learned, and I wanted to blog about it so I can remember for future trips - and to have a quick reference for friends who might be interested.

Ever since Claire was itty bitty, we had been talking about taking her to Walt Disney World before she started school.  This past spring the topic of Disney came up one day at Little Gym, and I found out that a couple of moms took their families every year and had lots of advice.  One of the things I was surprised to learn was that they all recommended making reservations at least 6 months in advance - the restaurants/character meals open for reservations at the 180 day mark, and some book up quickly.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to research - I was excited to have a new project.  I started checking out Disney travel guides from the library to start learning the basics and figure out which guide I liked the best before I paid for one.  After spending lots of hours looking at crowd calendars and reading hotel reviews, I narrowed down our hotel choices to the Contemporary, the Polynesian, or Wilderness Lodge.  About 7 1/2 months out, the less expensive rooms at the Contemporary & the Polynesian booked up - that made the decision for me!  I booked rooms at the Wilderness Lodge, and got online 180 days before our stay to make reservations for character meals (more on those later).  It was surprising how quickly the spots went, but I was happy with what we got.


Some of the best resources I found:

• My favorite travel book by far was "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World".  Lots of detailed reviews of everything.  They also rate each ride by age group and note anything that might be frightening for kids, which is so helpful when traveling with young ones.
• The "Unofficial Guide" has a companion site, touringplans.com, that is available by subscription, and it is totally worth the extra few dollars.  The site has suggested itineraries, detailed crowd calendars that use historical data to predict overall levels and levels by park and an extremely useful message board in addition to containing reviews of all the restaurants, menus, hotel information, etc.  It is perfect for a data junkie like me.  It was important to us to go during low season and at a time that it wouldn't be really hot, so we it helped us decide to go the week before Thanksgiving - one of the times that usually have the lowest crowds all year.
• Mousesavers.com has tons of money saving information, including information on typical discounts offered by Disney (dates they were good for, dates the discounts were released, etc.).  Once the bulk of the planning done, I kept an eye out for any additional discounts.  A couple of months after I made our reservations I was excited to find that Disney released an offer of free dining during the dates of our stay.  I called and got our reservation changed over, and we were able to each have a table service meal, a counter service meal, and a snack every day of our stay for free - big savings!  Mousesavers also has an "ultimate packing list" that you can download, and I customized their huge list for our trip. 
• Gardengrocer.com is a grocery delivery service that has great service and reasonable prices.  I placed an order with them a week before we left, and they delivered everything to our hotel before we arrived.  Bell services kept the cold stuff refrigerated and delivered it to our room after we checked in.   I got a case of water, diapers, milk, yogurt, apple slices, cereal, snacks, disposable bowls & spoons, and a few other things - we were able to eat breakfast in our rooms a few days and have foods the kids were used to, which was really nice.  Would definitely use them again.
• Disney PhotoPass - If you think you might want to purchase some of the photos taken by the park photographers, preordering their PhotoPass service is the way to go.  We were eating at a few restaurants that offered photos with a character for sale, and they were all included on the PhotoPass Plus.  I also thought that getting a pass ahead of time would help me make sure I got some photos of the entire family, and that I would be in more than a few since I'm usually behind the camera.  I did the preorder, and they sent a voucher that I exchanged on the first day for a card.  Anytime we took a photo through Disney, they would scan the card, and then after our trip I was able to download all of the pictures.  It's not cheap, but definitely worth it if you think you will use it.
• Strollers - We ultimately decided on taking two single strollers rather than our double.  We checked our bigger stroller and used the smaller one at the airport.  The first day we just took our bigger stroller to see how we did with just one, and we never needed the other one.  We came back to the hotel after lunch for naps every day, and with that break, Claire was fine walking.  She rode a few times when it was crowded or when we were in a hurry (or when Will just wanted to be carried), but I think she would've been fine walking the entire time.  Disney has strollers for rent, but a lot of people rent from outside companies - they have really nice single and double strollers available, and they are a lot cheaper than Disney.
• One of the suggestions frequently mentioned on the message board for an inexpensive and fun souvenir is taking change for the penny press machines.  I got a little tube on mini M&Ms and stacked quarters and pennies inside (each pressed penny is 51 cents, so I alternated 2 quarters and a penny).  Claire and Will both loved using the machines and picking their designs, and we got them a little book to hold their pennies.  It was really fun, and every night they liked going through the book and looking at their pennies.

There is so much more info out there, but these were some of the things that worked out well for us.

2012 Christmas Lists

We've had several people ask us about Christmas lists for the kids, so here are some suggestions.  We are so blessed to have so many people think of us during the holidays!  If there is something specific you would like to get for them, just let me know and I can cross it off of the list.

Claire:
Little Mommy Doctor Mommy doll
Fisher Price Medical Kit
Soccer goals (something like this or this)
Toy cash register
Silver glitter Toms
Headbands
Gift cards to Gap/Old Navy, Janie & Jack, or Children's Place for clothes

Will:
Little Tikes Easy Score Basketball set
Skip Hop monkey backpack
Toy Story Buzz Lightyear talking figure
Toy Story Woody talking figure
Imaginext Toy Story walking Rex
Plastic animal figures
Wooden trains to go with his Thomas the Train set (he has Thomas, Percy, Flynn, & the caboose)
Gift cards to Stride Rite or Nordstrom for shoes

Would be great for both of them:
DVDs - Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Ratatouille, Secret of the Wings (with Tinkerbell)
Lincoln Logs
Lego Duplo sets (Target has some "Cars" themed ones that look fun, but they would like any of them)
Membership to the McKenna Children's Museum
Membership to the San Antonio Zoo
Ten visit pass to Morgan's Wonderland