I remember watching Disney movies (you know, when they show the 'magical' castle at the beginning of the film) and telling Noah that we will go there one day. From the time when Noah was 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 years old, we all dreamed of what it would be like. Then, I remember how hard it was to tell him and how sad we all felt that we had to postpone our trip (scheduled for Nov 2007), until 'after' Christmas (waiting for our move to Grand Falls). That's when he began his countdown until Christmas was OVER so he could go to Disney.... Then (when our house was not selling), we had to tell him it couldn't happen until we were moved and settled! So much build up.... Then I remember how excited we felt when we actually booked our trip, then paid for our trip, then counted the days until we left.
From the time we checked into our hotel in Bangor, I carried a pink leather journal with me EVERYWHERE we went. I wrote in it as often as time permitted! I wrote over 30 pages, that included cool details about the parks, favourite rides/parks, not so cool details of Noah's behaviour (& consequences we handed out at the time, so we wouldn't forget), do's & don'ts for our next vacation and so much more. Although, I will never be able to fit in all that I wrote, I will do my best paraphrase & summarize as much as I can.
Our vacation started off for an afternoon & night in Bangor, Maine. Considering we were flying out in the early morning AND Disney's High School Musical was opening that night - we got in early to make sure we got our tickets and didn't miss out! I got to hang with some of my closest friends!!! LOL The movie was super COOL and the minute it is released on DVD, this family is gettin' it!!!
I didn't sleep all that well at the hotel, scared we'd miss our flight. I had taken so much time to prepare, organize, itemize every detail of our trip - that I didn't want ONE thing to go wrong. Besides, it was our FIRST ever big family vacation. Unfortunately, I forgot to factor in that something we all know as REALITY!!! You know, stuff like children on too much candy or too little sleep, or dad's (who are over 6 feet tall that literally RUN ride to ride) or mom's who try and keep up dad's with blisters bigger than the size of quarters or families who are not used to walking for 10-12 hours each day for 7 days straight.....YOU KNOW, all that fun 'REALITY' stuff that you can't plan for!!! LOL All that aside, we had a trip of a lifetime and our dream became a reality!
Some of our favourite things about our Disney trip:
- Parks: probably Hollywood Studios & Magic Kingdom in a VERY close 2nd place
- Views: the landscape at Animal Kingdom
- Rides/Attractions:
Animal Kingdom
- Dinosaur
- Expedition Everest
- Safari (watching Rino's pee)
- The Boneyard (digging for dinosaur bones - one of Noah's favourites)
Epcot
- Test Track
- Mission Space
- Soarin'
- Ellen's Energy Adventure (totally NOT what we expected in a GOOD way)
- Spaceship Earth (the ending is really cool with the personalized video)
Hollywood Studios
- Tower of Terror
- Rock 'N' Rollercoaster
- Toy Story Mania (effects & concept are AMAZING)
- The Great Movie Ride (one of Jacques favourites)
- Fantasmic (evening show)
- Indiana Jones - Stunt Spectacular
- Lights, Motor, Action - Stunt Show
Magic Kingdom
- The triple mountain:
- Space Mountain
- Thunder Mountain
- Splash Mountain (gotta see them all, Wham, Wham, Wham...LOL - see the story farther down)
- Buzz Lightyear
- Mad Tea Party (one of Noah's favourites)
Downtown Disney
- Riding Sea Racers
- Playing in the water
- Lego Store
- Shows: (All the 3-D shows)
It's Tough to be a Bug
Mickey's Philhar Magic
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (despite the real fire in the theatre we had to be evacuated for, the first time we tried to see this show)
- Moments: Cirque Du Soliel, La Nouba (well worth the very expensive tickets, would definitely do it again)
Things we would do different:
- No dining plan (we weren't overly fond of the food or having to be somewhere at a certain time for 'table service' meals - we felt it was too restrictive)
- Bring our own toilet paper!!! (you think it's funny, but that resort '1 ply' stuff is "SH*T")
- Possibly rent a condo or vacation home close to Disney & rent a car
- Take a couple days to relax, and not be in such a rush to leave so early in the morning
Some babbling of information (if you're interested)...
The Waiting Game (for rides):
As you arrive at the rides (many of which have FAST PASS), there are screens displaying the approximate wait times. Each ride we went on, the time we waited versus the time the screen displayed - was far LESS (often by about 1/2 the time). We didn't wait in line for more than 30 minutes for any one ride (and I think we only waited 30 minutes 1 or 2 times for our entire trip). As you wait, there are a variety of things they have done to make the wait time 'pleasurable' if not fun. Stuff like, big screens explaining the ride or showing clips, big industrial size fans to cool you off, entertainment, etc. They are so well prepared to accommodate large crowds - the amount of vehicles & the number of people they can pump through each ride is overwhelming (for example, the safari at Animal Kingdom: I counted (that I could see) at least 9 safari 'buses' (and these were only the ones coming and picking people up for the next safari ride) that held approximately 60-80 people PER bus at ONE time), or many of the carts in the roller coasters had 3-4 'trains', some holding 3 wide. And the other cool thing, was how the people ending the ride got off at separate locations as the people boarding the ride....very smooth transition.
Several of the rides we saw, also had lines for 'single riders'. And the staff called out to 'single riders', as people waited in line - very efficient!
Fast Pass:
Many of the rides have a Fast Pass. By this, I mean you go to a ticket booth and print a fast pass ticket. This ticket will give you a 1 hour window where you can come back to the ride and walk right on to the ride. Sometimes, there was a little bit of a wait (but in comparison to the folks waiting 45-60 minutes without a fast pass, what is 5 minutes - REALLY!!!)
Photo Pass Photographers:
They have these photographers all over. They will take your photo (with your camera) and/or theirs. Once they take your photo, they scan a little 'Photo Pass' card (which you keep with you and can have other Photo Pass Photographers scan - so you don't end up with several of these cards). At the end of each day, you can go online (you have to create an account) and view all the photos the photographers took. You can also order prints or download prints (though it's kinda expensive!). I'm really happy about this. There was one shot we had (in front of the castle) that they used my camera for and their camera. Unfortunately, my camera had an ISO set at 800 or 1600 because we had been indoors previously, so on this beautiful BRIGHT & SUNNY day - the photo on my camera was WAY overexposed. This WAS the ultimate BEST shot of our family of our whole vacation - and thankfully, I have the option to download or order a print from Photo Pass (which I will be doing)!!!
Superior Disney Staff:
In chatting with many staff, they are all eager and ready to help you. Whether it be for questions about the dining plan, or directions to an area in the park, or info about park hours, or transportation or even down to taking a photo with your camera for you. In fact, several times staff asked us if they could take our photo (using our camera) before we even asked. This was something all the staff at Disney (according to one staff member told us) were advised to do - OFFER to take group photos.
These people are TRAINED to be helpful, courteous, happy, magical....and then some! We had a good chat with one of our waiters one night and found out that part of their training is one full week of orientation through all the parks, including water parks and downtown Disney. He told us the reason he started at Disney is because he was there so often - at least working there you have free access and THAT was 10 years ago now! Naturally, on the way home that evening Jacques & I chatted about working at Disney. We wondered how many Corporate Controllers (which is what he does) there are working for Disney - trying to breakdown all the different divisions, etc. I told him that he should apply, then we could live at Disney.... How cool would that be?
The welcoming feeling you get walking through the streets of the parks is overwhelming. My 2 favourite times of day were at park opening and closing. It was TRULY magical. As you walked down the streets, the staff lined the curbs waving good morning or good night with smiles and cheer, as though they loved their jobs (and I really think they do). It made you feel so happy and important to be there! Maybe this is part of the magic? Each and every time we walked down 'Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom', I couldn't help but tear up. What an overwhelming feeling....we stopped to watch this performance 2, maybe even 3 times. I got goosebumps each time I watched it....
Segway:
Something that completely fascinated us was how some employees got around the park. They used these machines: called Segway's. Every time we saw someone 'scooting by' on one of these machines, Jacques and I watched in 'awwww'!!!
PUSH - the interactive garbage can:
Another fascination (and one of Noah's favourite parts)....watch the video and you'll understand.
This garbage can was EXACTLY the same as all the others. I looked and looked for the person controlling it - but couldn't find them. Maybe it really was 'alive'!!! Noah loved this garbage cans - it was another one of his favourite parts.
The 3 mountain story:
One of the things we will remember for a long time, is about the TV's in the resort. When you turn them on, it automatically tunes you to a 'Disney Preview' channel (I'm assuming this program is dedicated to Disney Resorts). This woman (who never did tell us her name), lists the 7 'Can't Miss' attractions at Disney World. Noah watched this channel over and over and OVER and OVER....so much, that Jacques and I were getting pretty tired of listening to the same thing!
He watched it so much, that the one day at Magic Kingdom as we were waiting to ride the Thunder Mountain we were discussing what ride we'd do next. Noah piped up and said "Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain...I'm gonna hit 'em all. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!" This moment was HILARIOUS, as thought the staff, considering this was almost word-for-word that the lady on this channel said to advertise these 3 of the 7 'Can't Miss' attractions at Disney World!
Don't know what else to say. I took over 1800 photos/videos....of which I uploaded only a small fraction. I am working on making a bound book of my journals & more photos...but this could take some time....so for now, if you want to see photos click on the below links (to my facebook):
Album #1
Album #2
Tootles....and hope you have a 'MAGICAL' day!
1 comment:
Wow you guys did some major exploring!! Glad the trip went well!
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