Final Disney

I meant to do this the night we got home, and then the next day, and then today.  But things kept getting in the way, so I will do it now!

Just a list of things we learned, what we will do next time and what we will not do again.  It was an overall excellent trip and we had a blast!  I think telling the boys ahead of time where we were going, and instilling in them the fact that not everyone gets to go to Disney, in fact it is pretty rare, was important.  Joel Andrew was old enough to get this and just when he was freaking out about how he wanted a toy - - I would ask him:  “Where are you?”  And he would reply with a pout, “Disney World” and stop crying.  It was magical. 

Lessons Learned

• ·      Happy Taxi really was happy, for a slightly higher cost than a regular taxi from the airport, they meet you at the right time, come in and get your bags from baggage claim, have a car waiting with all the necessary car seats you need and whisk you right to your hotel.  Much more expensive than the free Disney Magical Express – but much quicker, saving us literally up to 4 hours of time (if you consider having your bags when you get in the room a must as I do since I need to unpack the second I get there, don’t want to come back to a room where I need to unpack and find everything to put the kids to bed…) We go for a week, so that is why we have a lot of stuff.  But if you go for three days I might still do this because the time savings as to getting right to your resort – bags not included, are about 2 hours too.  At least in our Neither Magical Nor Express experience.
• ·      The only margaritas to get in EPCOT Mexico are inside Mexico – in La Cava de Tequila.  These are pricier, but so, so much better than the ones sold on the “street.”
• ·      We love the Sci-Fi Drive In Diner at Hollywood Studios, but the seating is tough with two littles.  You sit in cars, facing a movie and our littles are too little to sit together, so each adult sat with a kid and there was no adult conversation, which we usually like about Disney dining.  It was still fun, and still delicious~ just maybe we will wait two more years before going back so that the boys can sit together then. 
• ·      EPCOT has a secret character spot – Winne the Pooh and Tigger in the UK, all the way in the back, as well as an area where random characters are all day long.  No lines for us when we went, huge hit with the kids!
• ·      When having a drink in EPCOT you are 1,000 times more likely to buy lots and lots of things in the stores there, be careful.
• ·      The Disney Parks App was great and had all of the wait times as well as our schedule of our day on it – I checked it hourly really and it was nice to see that Splash Mountain had a 10 minute wait before trekking the boys all the way over there, etc.
• ·      Two strollers were annoying, but good.  The $20 Mickey stroller we got from Walmart was really short and hurt to walk with…  Hope to not do that again.  Next time maybe just one?  Watching the people struggle with the double Bob’s was a nightmare.  It’s not like you can throw everything in and be good – you have to fold and unfold when you get on the busses and such.  With two little strollers and my bag, we sent stuff to the room, did not store things, folded easily and used them to get from bus to ride area, then back.  Made the kids walk in between. 

What To Do Next Time

• ·      We will make a reservation at the Cantina de San Angel – or whatever the not-San Angel Inn is… the other Mexican Restaurant which I always avoided because I liked the indoor one so much better.  We will make the reservations for 15 minutes before Illuminations starts, and we will request a patio seat. 
• ·      Garden Grocer – was great!  Next time I will get laundry detergent, coffee filters, more gallons of water (we had 5 this time and probably could have used 6-7 when I make coffee, more if we had more guests).  Otherwise same order of chips, wine, beer, snacks, applesauce and more – though milk and cereal were not really needed.  Bananas were a hit, so was cheese.  Cheese sticks not so much.  It was a super hit to also have to -go cups for my coffee delivered with the bunch to the room.  Others had to lug their Disney mugs all over all day, but I threw mine away. Ironic that I use my Disney mugs from other trips daily, but in Disney I prefer the waste kind...
• ·      More character meals!  Joel Husband doesn’t love these, but I like them…  And waiting in line for the characters stinks.  We loved the princess dinner at Askerhaus so much!  And if only we saw Pluto.  I am hoping we can schedule a few more next time and be thoughtful to ensure we are getting the different characters each time.
• The Kitchen Sink.  This may not be a next time, it maybe a 8 years from now - but we will go to Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club and get the huge ice cream there.  
• More pool time!  And, more usage of the awesome hotel activities.
• ·      Downtown Disney – I missed it this time and loved Raglan Road there.  

Not Doing Again

• ·      Not bringing an outfit for everyday/outing.  Seriously, self in 8 months listen to you.  You have laundry, you will inevitably buy clothes.  Pack less.  You do a load of laundry every day anyway, so stop it!  (I used all but three items this last trip, no need to be so hard on me in reality…  the boys missed much more!)
• ·      Not forgetting those stupid rain ponchos.  We will need them.  Mine as well bring them instead of spending $8 a piece.
• ·      Not making a too-fancy reservation unless we have babysitting.  Disney dining is not cheap, and you do a lot of it!  So, it is not worth it to have a too fancy dinner until the boys are really engrossed in their video games.  Now the boys were too excited to sit still and be absorbed by movies, so it was fun – but work for dinner, good for a mid-priced, bad for an expensive.  This is sad for us as we love the fancy meals.  But, there are plenty of mid-priced great places, like Askerhaus, Be Our Guest, Chefs du France, etc which are good to focus on now.  Yachtsman, Le Cellier, fancier France, Brown Derby, you will all need to wait a few years.
• ·      No Quick Service.  I hate it.  I rather survive on one seated meal a day, a meal in the room and a snack or two when out and about.  Something about waiting in a huge line for par food, mostly all fried and then fighting for a table is awful.  
• ·      Going on a week with little-no extra magical hours.  Some DVC members avoid Extra Magical Hours like the plague, but I like them.  This past trip the parks were all closed by 9am.  We got home Saturday night and Sunday night, the MK was open until 1am with extra-magical until 3.  Now, I am not saying we want to be up at 3, but every night we felt we could keep going until at least 10:30, but we put back in the room by 9. 
• ·      Bringing nice clothes.  No one hardly dresses up there, and we will not plan on a fancy dinner (see above).  I ruined three silk blouses with James food messes.  There is no reason.  See also above for packing notes.

Looking forward to next year already.  It is hard to believe that by then James will be tall enough to ride the rides, will be potty trained (lord help us), will be able to fully understand things, and will be not scared of the characters from the get-go.  Joel Andrew will likely be in kindergarten, he will be reading, he will be hopefully ready for the roller coaster rides without being scared at all…  Mommy will hopefully be 10 pounds lighter…  Ah, can’t wait!

Last Post from the Mouse's House, Disney 2013

 I'm tired and we have to wake up early tomorrow and pack for our last day in DW.  So this will be brief.  We had a great last day.  Tried new things including the Jingle Cruise, the Aladdin Magic Carpets (so much fun, moreso than Dumbo?) - ate Mickey ice cream and cake pops and almost met Gaston.

I hope to formulate all my lessons learned from this trip into a coherent post Sunday.  In the meantime enjoy these photos and small tips:

When purchasing Mickey ice creams, do so for the whole family or else you will not get any.

 When getting a margarita in EPCOT, go to La Cava de Tequila only and get a to go cup of San Angel margarita, this is hands down the best margarita.  (the others sold at this sight are the tourist version).

And, to inspire my post tomorrow... Always teach your kids how to say hello, goodbye and thank you in the country's you visit in EPCOT.  This was awesome tonight.

Full Day on the go, Disney 2013

We were to have a relaxing moment in the morning today.  Sleep in.  Relax.  But James had other things in mind.  James woke us up at 5:30am, ready to go.  He did not get the memo that it was sleep in relax day.  So, we had fun, Mommy organized, we went to the pool and we still made it to EPCOT by 10am.  We did the usual, cause that's what we know...  But I have to tell you that while walking through Innoventions we saw lots of fun things for the kiddos when they are like the can read stage of kiddoness.

We had lunch at Tutto Italia, which was delicious in Italy, Mommy got to speak one sentence of Italian. They boys are getting weary of photo taking.  But they look good, right?

I think there is something written that day 5 is tough.  You have been here long enough that the kids get into a routine and expect everything they want, no matter how good you are at explaining to them that they are in Disney, the rule is they can pick one thing, and Santa will consider the rest.  My kids have been great at understanding this - but Joel had several meltdowns today (which I should admit for him are not so bad) and James was a mess in the evening.  It is just overload.  But, I think by the end of dinner everyone is all set and ready to go to make our last day, tomorrow, a good one.

Dancing in Italy below.

Just when you think you have had enough - you are tired of fighting crowds, are sick of waiting in line, are tired of the kid whining, you turn the corner and there is a character, without a line and your kids faces light up and all is well again.  Thanks, Alice.

On our way out of EPCOT to the MK, we also found Pluto with little to no wait so that was great too!  Joel's favorite, and the assurance that James is finally over being scared of the characters.

James fell asleep on the monorail to the MK.  Joel Andrew NEVER did this at Disney, even when he was 18 months old.  So I had to take a few photos of this.  He slept through everything, parades, his brother yelling, crowds, rain, and more.

Above is a photo of Joel Andrew enjoying a parade.  You may know from my previous posts that I think all people who watch parades are silly and this gives others a chance to run on the rides.  But, we emerged from the gift shop at the time of the parade and I could not deny all of the characters, so we stood and watched and in 3 minutes all Disney characters walked by, it was actually a kind of big bang for your buck.  Joel Andrew loved it. James slept.

Joel Andrew went with Mommy on Splash Mountain.  Joel does not like these rides so it was a big deal that Daddy got him to go.  We get up to the boat and they seat us in the front.  There is no way if we wanted it we would have been there in a million years. However, here we were.  He did a great job and will never admit it but he enjoyed most of the ride, even the small falls.  Of course, he didn't love, and cried for the long fall...  But I know he liked it a little bit.  Joel is excited for when James is bigger and I have someone to go on the ride with me.

Then, it rained.  Normally I welcome the rain as the crowds flow out.  But they stayed, they converged at all of the drying points.  We still had fun until James and I had enough...  But Daddy and Joelly kept us through and we carried on.

We did Story time with Belle and it was awesome.  Joel got to play the role of Chip, see above, and he LOVED it.  James jumped up and assumed the newly scripted role of "magical character" which the staff wrote in just for him.  It was awesome, funny, cute.  Again lots of women in the room told me I had two adorable and amazing boys. They are right.  Though the didn't have to keep them calm during dinner!  I will say that the trick that starts off story time with Belle was crazy.  And, Lumiere was nuts.  Joel Andrew keeps talking about how things are magic here at Disney.  The Peter Pan bar magically lifts, the monorail doors magically open, etc.  When he is bigger, he will still believe as then he will have lumiere and this ride.

We had dinner at Be Our Guest and it was fantastic.  Delicious food, we got to meet the Beast, we saw the rose, we went into the West Wing.  Mommy ate the Gray stuff.  I wish there was more music and entertainment, but the food was good which is a rarity in the MK, and there was booze (which was sad to go against Walt's wishes, but alas)...  The only thing was that it was Christmas Party night at the Magic Kingdom.  And, you have to pay close to $70 extra per adult to stay for the Christmas Party.  We did not do that, so when we got out of dinner we were escorted out of the park.  I was surprised to see so many people who presumably paid this money, packing the streets.  Already waiting two and three deep for a parade.  Who are these people that would pay this additional money? I pointed out as we left how sad a state we are all in that this happens and it is ok with so many.  50 years ago companies would have never done this to their customers.  It was like a slap in the face to walk out after just paying $150 for dinner, to be escorted to the door like potential thieves.  Not to mention that we just bought DVC, tell everyone how much we love Disney, etc...  Oh well.  I will try to not let it effect me.  We didn't want to stay anyway.  I hope they don't expand this craziness further...

Trying New Things & Lessons Learned: Disney 2013

Today we tried new things.  It has hit us that we have 28 years left going to Disney (we are now Vacation Club members) – so we need to sprinkle a little new into each vacation so that ever third trip we can do a “favorite hits” and not have the obligation of trying new which Joel Husband and I can fear here.

Before I get into some good tips and lessons learned and funny family anecdotes for the three of you reading, I will tell you that there is a stereotype of people who are DVC members, and Joel Husband and I love them, chat with them frequently and may become them.  I almost spent $95 on a Dooney and Burke wallet tonight.  90% of my wardrobe this trip is a Disney character t-shirt (which I spice up with a scarf and fun jewelry, thanks Jennie!) – do you know they make Mickey scarfs now?  We speak our own language.  We know all the tricks to getting Fast Passes and we blog a lot.  It is creepy.  I am a creepy Disney person. I love it.

Ok.  To tips.  First things first, we went to Animal Kingdom this morning, it was our second and last time there this trip.  Not to beat a dead horse – or see a live giraffe – but I will tell you that you need to go on extra magical morning hours and go straight to the Safari.  Once again we walked on and once again we saw every animal.  At one point we were backed up because the rhinos were crossing the road and we were stopped right next to a giraffe eating his breakfast on the right, and a bunch of deer like funny things eating in tall grasses on the left.  It was awesome.

Dinoland has the best playground and is good for getting energy out.  Then we were off to Camp Minnie Mickey to see some characters and go to the Festival of the Lion King.  Many, many DVC people and otherwise tourists have told us this is their favorite.  We have never gone, but we are trying new things…  So we went, hoards of people waited 45 minutes to get good seats for this 30-minute show. I was expecting the best thing I have ever seen. It was very, very good.  I would go, I would Fast Pass it next time, and I would like it again.  The boys loved it but as we didn’t really rush to get good seats there was some uncomfortable maneuvering to get the boys to be able to see the show, and Joel Husband had to kill the person in front of us’s magic by asking them to take their ears off during the show.  That should probably be on the announcements: No smoking, no flash photography, remove your ears.  It was pretty awesome though, live singers, amazing dancers, there was fire.  I just don’t want to build it up for others the way it was built up for us, nothing can match that!

So, we then had “lost time.”  That time when the crowd starts to present itself, everything has a wait, the kids are hungry but lunch is too close to get a snack but too far to listen to them whine until then… We decided to torture everyone and do two things:  1.  We went to A Bug’s Life’s It’s Tough to be a Bug.  I have said before and I should SAY AGAIN IN ALL CAPS – do not bring your small, sensitive child here.  This is funny, usually no wait, cleaver, potential to learn thing – but most of all, TERRIFYING.  The way the show is done, adults would not even bat an eyelash, but look at it from a child’s perspective and you might have nightmares for months.  As previously done, Joel Andrew cried and cried.  James, whole different reaction.  Priceless, and I have never laughed so hard in my life.  Stunned terror combined with speechless reaction.  Laying back in fear, with no sound whatsoever.  When I asked him if he wanted to cuddle with me or leave, he would just wordlessly push me away and stare in pure terror at the screen. He was absorbed, terrified and loving it?  Not sure, but he made it through the whole show and at the end high fived me.  This kid is terrifying.

We then went to #2.  Lesson to be learned.  Do not dress your kids up, then wait in line for a long time to take a picture with characters assuming they will be wearing something that matches your children’s clothing.  Who would assume that in November in Animal Kingdom Minnie and Mickey would be wearing safari suits?  Clearly I did.  My boys were ready to be twins with them in the cutest picture of all time (James and I talked for hours about this one and he promised me he would hug Mickey this time).  So, we wait in line.  We get ready.  Then, we see Minnie and Mickey in 1980’s holiday ski sweaters. What, what, what?  Didn’t get that memo…  But still got a cute shot. 

Next, the next thing we have really never done – booked in pool time.  We are staying at the Beach Club Resort, and it has the best pool of all time.  We are normally so busy in the parks, eating, that we do not get to the pool or enjoy any of those amenities.  When we leave we always say that next time we will enjoy them more. This time we finally have.  Tomorrow morning, all morning is pool morning.  Can’t wait.

We also ate at Beaches and Cream, which has the best burger hands down I have eaten in many, many years.  I am swearing off burgers until the next time we eat here.  So good.  They also have “The Kitchen Sink” which many people ordered while we were there which is like the Vermonster…  We will order that when I have teenage boys, and when Uncle Jeremy is with us too.

Evening at Hollywood Studios.  The Disney Junior show is a must, but sitting on the floor for 40 minutes really reminds you that you are no longer 10 years old.  Toy Story Mania with a Fast Pass (the wait was 65 minutes, which is the lowest I have ever seen it and to put this into perspective the next longest wait was 10 minutes at Tower of Terror or Rockin’ Rollercoaster).  Joel Andrew is getting good at this ride and had over 30,000 points.  Which is a big deal! 

We clearly met Woody and Buzz and James is warming up to the characters which is nice.  We are hopeful for our last character meal.  The Osborne Family lights spectacle was awesome.  Lots of holiday light decorations – though I was bummed I forgot my Mickey ears hat.

Dinner at Primetime 50s which is a perennial favorite.  I got a Clean Plate Club sticker!

So, the thing that we learned this trip and I will carry with us as an on the bright side since the kids will be going into school and it looks like we may not make it back in non-popular times is:  That if you go during a non-popular time, sure, you can get on the rides with little-no wait, but the parks do compensate for the low attendance.  There are less snack stands open, they take longer at the restaurants, and they close ALL of the parks by 9.  We have our set-up nicely so that we are out of the park at the height of day, 11-4.  We eat a fantastic lunch, take a nap, go to the pool, etc.  Then we go back.  But, by the time we get back the parks are about to close again on this schedule, since they close by 9 because there are so little crowds.  And, when I say they close by 9, I mean really do.  Illuminations starts at 9 and there is no way you can buy a beer or a drink during the program, the houses are all closed up by the time the lights are dimmed.  It has been slightly sad but I guess has worked out excellently for our family considering how old they are.  In the future, if we can continue to work the Fast Pass thing, and Magic Hour thing, I may not be too afraid of high season as that will also mean more hours in the day to play with.

And that is all from Orlando today.  Tomorrow is even more fun.  2 new restaurants, an entire morning at the pool, and Peter Pan (AGAIN!)