“Shhh! You’re Ruining the Magic!” A Family’s First Disney Trip Report NEW 10/6

[RGirl]

Looks like you got some great ADRs! We absolutely loved Artist Point! Cute pics of the kiddos!

It really looks like you had a lot of fun at Planet Watch. I can never convince Willow to go over there!

 

[annegirl]

Following along!

 

[caitlinnf]

Looks like you got some great ADRs! We absolutely loved Artist Point! Cute pics of the kiddos!

It really looks like you had a lot of fun at Planet Watch. I can never convince Willow to go over there!

I'm really excited about Artist Point. Mostly because it's an excuse to check out Wilderness Lodge!

Planet Watch was fun! We didn't explore it too much, but the characters were awesome.

Following along!

Hi! Sorry I disappeared right when you joined in

 

[caitlinnf]

Hi everyone! (If anyone is still here). Sorry I left this TR dangling. The end of the school year just about did me in! We are happy that summer vacation is here. Bethany finished Kindergarten and her teacher gave her the "Kindhearted Kindergartener" award. I'm proud of my girl

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program!​

"I Can't Believe Mickey Just Did That!"​

When we last left off, we were playing at Rafiki's Planet Watch with Chip and Dale, Rafiki, and a bunch of goats. It was a ton of fun, but we didn't have any more time to explore, because we were hungry and had an ADR at Tusker House!

Unfortunately, this was one of our longest waits to be seated, and it coincided with a hot day and very rumbly tummies. Everyone was a little bit cranky during the wait, but we perked right up when they called our names!

I was a bit disappointed to see that Donald wasn't outside taking pictures with people. We had brought along Gigs' stuffed Donald specifically for this photo op. Thankfully, when we walked inside, Donald was right there!


We got seated, gave our drink orders, and then Goofy was there!

I have no idea what I'm doing in that picture.

Better, but blurry.

While we were visiting with Goofy, Grandma and Grandpa were getting their food and some for the kids to start on. When they came back, Ben and I ran to the buffet to get ours. There was a huge variety, and it took quite awhile for us to get food for us and the kiddos.

When I was walking back into the room, there was a lady in a wheelchair near the doorway. She was trying to get out to go into the main buffet room, but was blocked by a family taking a picture with Mickey, so she was just waiting to get by. Mickey finished up with one of the family members, and then went to walk around the table to another person, but couldn't get past the woman...so he decided to CLIMB OVER HER. And then got kind of stuck.

No joke, people...he was straddling her lap. It was one of the most awkward things I have ever seen.

When he got past her, I stepped aside to let the woman through and she looked up at me and said "Did that really just happen? I can't believe Mickey just did that!!" It was so strange. While Ben and I were getting our food, Mickey had already been to visit the kids.

We settled into our food and everything was pretty good. I love hummus, so that made up a lot of my meal.


At some point, Daisy came by to see us too. She's pretty adorable.

Near the end of our meal, they started the children's parade and handed out instruments. What irked me a bit was that they didn't announce that they were passing out instruments for the kids, and it was happening behind us, so we didn't realize it for a few minutes. By the time my girls made it over there, the guy passing them out was walking away, and it caused a bit of a meltdown from Becca.

Last up to visit was Donald. On his way over to our table, he turned around too close to the table next to us, and his tail feathers knocked the camera off of their table. It looked like a pretty fancy camera, and the people looked pretty horrified, but neither Donald nor his handler acknowledged the accident in any way. It was weird.

So we took our picture with Donald and made sure to include the stuffed version as well.

After that, we took potty breaks, settled the bill, and headed back into the park.

I had looked forward to Tusker House quite a bit when planning the trip. I love the type of food, and it seemed like a great place for a midday break since this was the only day that we would not be returning to the resort for a nap. It was just okay, though. The food was fine, but the service was meh, and the characters were just so weird!

Oh well. Our bellies were now full, and we had more things on our to do list!​

 

[KatMark]

Sorry I was on vacation when you did your update.

Tusker House always tends to have a wait which is rather disappointing at times. We did get in right away for our breakfast last week, but we won't be going back. We had great character interaction with the three characters that showed up (we never saw Mickey). But our food and our service was absolutely awful. I will stick with Crystal Palace from now on only for character breakfasts.

The kids and you and DH all look great with the characters.

That's too bad about the meltdown with the parade and instruments.

 

[katt789]

I’m in!!

Looooove the look of POR!! We did FQ last Sept and loved it, but Riverside looks amazing too! Are the mansion rooms preferred rooms? I was thinking the only interior rooms I liked were the royal rooms but your area looks awesome too!

Haha! Our first trip we had a character meal every day, and that was with no kids lol!

Love chef mickey’s!! I know there’s a lot of people who say it’s really not that good, but I LOVE dinner there, and you’re totally right, the mashed potatoes are SO GOOD!

What?! No show? Clearly that cm doesn’t know what’s going on! Glad ya’ll had another mk day to see it! Yay for everyone turning away from Tomorrowland! Glad the kids liked the ride! Man do I LOVE some am emh at MK, seriously, you accomplish SO MUCH in that extra hour, they’re so worth it! Especially with smaller kids who’ll want to spend a lot of time in Fantasyland

OH NOOOO!!! I do hope that thought was only prior to the trip!! They’re definitely real to me! Lol, and I’m friends with half of them bahaha!! So glad that she had the reaction that she did! Disney magic, it’s there! Uh-oh….not so magical comments in the future? That’s no good!

Glad everyone got a little part in enchanted tales, and that you enjoyed it! It’s cute, that’s for sure, but not something I’d do every trip, unless there’s a first timer with me lol. Yay for BOG, man, some grilled cheese, tomato soup & a cupcake sounds perfect right about now! Glad that HM wans’t too freaky for anyone, I’m always worried with littles on there, especially since the ride itself isn’t that freaky, but the stretching room is dark and loud lol! Ah naptime, so rewarding after a very full day!

Sorry that CP wasn’t good for you! I honestly find that dinner/lunch there is not the greatest, breakfast is always amazing for us, but dinner lacks. I know that most of the performers also don’t like it haha, the rotation that they do is insanely ridiculous as well, that probably adds up to them taking so long. Food has been decent for us, but nothing spectacular at dinner, I do wish the pooh gang had another location!

What a wonderful way to end an evening, and how great of the grandparents to take the kids back to the hotel, lovely!!

Yay for braving EE, I slowly braved my way through the Disney coasters and currently just have RnR left to do, but am still so unsure about it lol, ee is probably my favorite though!

Awesome safari shots, love the one of the crocodile on land with it’s mouth open! And I’m pretty sure those eggs are fake…lol! They haven’t moved in a few years, and I doubt they’d actually be that close to the road haha!

Awwe, chip & dale are the CUTEST, definitely my favorites! So fun that they came out & played with the kids for a bit first, that’s too adorable! Awwwwwe, the petting zoo part is just too cute too!! Love it!

WHAT EVEN?! Mickey! What on earth?! And Donald!!!?? I’m sure he didn’t even realize it had happened, but for the attendant to not say anything? That’s bizarre, if I was the family I would’ve said something, I get that sometimes characters knock things over, or aren’t totally aware of how much space they need but that’s not cool!!

Glad you enjoyed the food! We LOVE lunch at Tusker!

 

[caitlinnf]

SO... I unintentionally stopped posting. Sorry! Apparently I got overwhelmed by other things. It's been so long that I'm afraid my memory isn't great and I won't remember enough details to make this TR interesting. But here's the thing: the hubs and I leave for our 10th anniversary Universal/Disney extravaganza in 12 DAYS(!!!!!!!!!!!) and I might want to write a report for that trip. And I can't do that if I don't finish this one. First world problems, y'all. So, whether anyone is still reading this or not, I'm going to try to power through and finish. Here we go!

Dinoland and a Useless Poncho​

(I have exactly two pictures of the rest of the day. Sorry that I suck.)

After our somewhat perplexing meal, Bethany was absolutely BEGGING to go on another ride. My little thrill seeker was a bit underwhelmed by the lack of moving attractions at AK. Our next destination was Dinoland, so we told her that she could go on Dinosaur. Now, I had done LOTS of research on all of the different rides to know what to expect, and to know what my kids would be okay with. As much as Bethany loves all things fast and high and exhilarating, she's not really one for dark...or loud...or scary. Obviously Dinosaur wouldn't be the best choice for her. But I also knew that she was desperate to ride just about anything. So I explained to her exactly what the ride would be like. Dark, bumpy, loud, dinosaurs. I said that if she wanted to just come with us to experience the ride vehicle, she could close her eyes and I would plug her ears, so it would just be a bumpy ride. She liked that option.

We got a rider swap pass and left the littles with the grandparents. They were tired and grumpy at this point, and Becca was mad that she couldn't come along. Ben, Bethany and I headed in and got stuck in the longest "20 minute" line ever. The longer we waited, the more nervous Bethany got, but she never asked to bail out. We eventually got on the ride. It was exactly what I expected. Loud, dark, bumpy. Bethany ended up opening her eyes. When we finished, she said "That wasn't so bad!" But when I asked if she wanted to ride again with her grandparents, she quickly declined.

So we went out to relieve them from the cranky kiddos. I told Ben to ride with his parents since three people could get on with the pass, and I would take one for the team and sit with the kids. Becca at this point was in meltdown mode. I don't remember what her problem was, but she was a screaming mess. She gets like that sometimes, and when it happens, it's really hard for her to stop. I'm pretty sure I doled out fruit snacks for everyone and did my best to take deep breaths and remind myself that I was at Disney and should be happy. Oh, I also noticed the skywriter and took a picture. Hey look, a picture!

Once the family was reunited, we headed off to catch the Finding Nemo musical! We were almost late for the show, but somehow managed to get really good seats. This cheered everyone up. Gigs was fascinated by all of the colorful puppets, and all of the kids loved the bubbles. I thought it was visually gorgeous, but found the music to be a bit annoying. I still randomly find myself singing "In the big blue woooooorld"

Next up, we had to appease poor Becca, who hadn't gotten to ride anything other than the safari all day. So we hit up Triceratop Spin. Yay, something everyone can ride! I don't remember much about this other than it made me sick. Something about the spinning around, up and down, and tilting all at the same tip just majorly throws me off. The kids loved it, though! It was late afternoon by this point, and Dinoland was crowded. So we made our way out and onto our next FP choice.

We were headed back to...Expedition Everest! I enjoyed the ride this time even more than in the morning, since I knew what to expect and wasn't as nervous. So much fun!

Everyone was tired at this point, but we had one more fastpass: Kali River Rapids. Bethany was excited about this one too. We decided to poncho up because no one really felt like being soaked. Well, too bad! Bethany got the worst of it. She looked like a drowned rat! That ride is SO short. It would be fun if it actually did something. My FIL didn't want to ride, so we didn't get the rider swap. We met back up with him and the littles and headed out of the park.

On the bus back to POR, we discussed what to do for dinner. We decided to split up. The grandparents were going to take the boat to DTD for dinner while we gave the kids a bath, got them some dinner from Riverside Mill, and put them to bed. Then when they came back, Ben and I would go out.

We planned to go to Epcot that night, but they had some mishap and didn't get back until it was too late. So we decided to follow suit and hop on the boat and head to DTD also.

Hey look, a (blurry) picture!

We ate at WPE. Being an avid reader of dining reports, I knew exactly what I wanted (Four cheese pesto pizza and crème brulee) and what Ben should get (bacon wrapped meatloaf and cheesecake). Um, yeah. Heaven on a plate.

Then we wandered around. It was kind of late so we didn't have a lot of time to shop, but we did stop into the Christmas store and got an ornament for the people who were taking care of our dog next door. We ended up taking a bus back. I don't remember why, but I think the boats were unavailable. That was not a fun experience. I think it took over an hour to get back. We were super tired when we got back. Unfortunately, I got almost no sleep that night because the two younger kids ended up having a croupy cough that night. They were fine by morning, but it meant no sleep for mom.

Okay, that finally concludes day 3. SO sorry there were no pictures. But tomorrow is Hollywood Studios!​

 

[caitlinnf]

"I just can't stop thinking about it!"​

​

​

When we last left off, it was a sleepless night up with a croupy baby. Nevertheless, the plan was to make it for EMH hours at Hollywood Studios. I was really slow moving, so I told Ben to take the girls and go with his parents. Gigs and I would make it whenever we could. Well, after they left I got a spurt of energy, and then really good bus mojo, so I only ended up being about 15 minutes behind them...and we were the 2nd family at the turnstiles.

I'm sure it's no surprise what our first goal was this morning! Toy Story Mania! Unfortunately, when we got back to Pixar Place, there were CMs announcing that the ride was down for an undetermined amount of time. We thought for a minute and decided to stay in line for 10 minutes and wait, and if it wasn't open by then, continue on with our other plans. It was a good choice, because about 5 minutes later, we were on! Everyone loved it. Ben and Gigs and I rode together, Bethany rode with Grandpa, and Becca with Grandma. It was tons of fun, and I am looking forward to going this month and playing without a baby in my lap!


With that out of the way, we headed down to Sunset Boulevard. Bethany was very excited, as she had been waiting and waiting to ride...the Tower of Terror!

Now, if you read my PTR, you know that I DON'T. DO. DROPS. But I had also made a deal with Ben to ride everything at Disney. And I had kind of fallen in love with the theming through reading other TRs, so I really wanted to see it for myself. So, up until this point, I had been fully planning on riding it. But now, looking up at the giant building, my knees were knocking and I was having second thoughts. Not only that, but with the sick baby and sleepless night, I had forgotten to take my motion sickness meds this morning. So I just really wasn't feeling it. I made a deal with Bethany though. I told her that I would sit with the little kids while she went on with her dad and grandparents, but that they would get a rider swap pass. And if she really loved it and wanted to go again, then I would ride with her.

I will admit here that I am a terrible person, and was praying the whole time that she wouldn't want to do it again. Well, when she came off the ride, she looked at me again and said "I am NOT doing that again!"

Bahaha. I was so relieved. I felt a little bad for her though. Ben said that she didn't have a problem with the ride itself (i.e. the dropping), but that there was a group of teenage girls that was screaming their heads off, and it spooked her a little. I also got my comeuppance for the rest of the day, because my little obsessive girl spent the whole day exclaiming over and over again "I can't stop thinking about Tower of Terror." "I just can't get it out of my head." That got old, fast. Ben, however, said it was a fantastic ride and has told me repeatedly that I AM riding it on our upcoming trip...

Next up was another one that I was really nervous about but knew Ben would love: Rockin Roller Coaster! He is a thrill junkie and an Aerosmith fan, so right up his alley! I was pretty scared, but knew I couldn't chicken out of two rides in a row, so I just sucked it up and got in the limo. The verdict? The beginning was really intense, but I loved the rest of it! In fact, I rode a second time with the rider swap! The second time, though, we were in the back. Wow, does the back bang your head around! I'm glad that wasn't my first impression of the ride, or else I may have not wanted to go again. The plan for our upcoming trip is to request near the front

And since I have NO other pictures for this time, here's a really bad redneck ride photo. My face is blurred out, Ben is having a blast, and FIL has his typical no emotion face.

 

[caitlinnf]

Sorry I was on vacation when you did your update.

Tusker House always tends to have a wait which is rather disappointing at times. We did get in right away for our breakfast last week, but we won't be going back. We had great character interaction with the three characters that showed up (we never saw Mickey). But our food and our service was absolutely awful. I will stick with Crystal Palace from now on only for character breakfasts.

The kids and you and DH all look great with the characters.

That's too bad about the meltdown with the parade and instruments.

It was just a really weird experience. But I like the pictures that we got, and it was nice to get out of the heat for awhile!

I’m in!!

Hi! I totally disappeared right when you joined. Sorry!

Looooove the look of POR!! We did FQ last Sept and loved it, but Riverside looks amazing too! Are the mansion rooms preferred rooms? I was thinking the only interior rooms I liked were the royal rooms but your area looks awesome too!

POR was absolutely fantastic. In fact, we chose to stay there again for our next trip (11 days!!!) Our room was not preferred, but most are, I think. It was a great location, though. Really close to a bus stop and not too far from anything else.

Haha! Our first trip we had a character meal every day, and that was with no kids lol!

Love chef mickey’s!! I know there’s a lot of people who say it’s really not that good, but I LOVE dinner there, and you’re totally right, the mashed potatoes are SO GOOD!


I think it was my favorite character meal of the trip!


What?! No show? Clearly that cm doesn’t know what’s going on! Glad ya’ll had another mk day to see it! Yay for everyone turning away from Tomorrowland! Glad the kids liked the ride! Man do I LOVE some am emh at MK, seriously, you accomplish SO MUCH in that extra hour, they’re so worth it! Especially with smaller kids who’ll want to spend a lot of time in Fantasyland.

It was such a great morning. EMH was amazing.

OH NOOOO!!! I do hope that thought was only prior to the trip!! They’re definitely real to me! Lol, and I’m friends with half of them bahaha!! So glad that she had the reaction that she did! Disney magic, it’s there! Uh-oh….not so magical comments in the future? That’s no good!


Ariel totally solidified the magic for her! She still tells me that any other characters we meet are just people in costumes, but at Disney they are REAL.


Glad everyone got a little part in enchanted tales, and that you enjoyed it! It’s cute, that’s for sure, but not something I’d do every trip, unless there’s a first timer with me lol. Yay for BOG, man, some grilled cheese, tomato soup & a cupcake sounds perfect right about now! Glad that HM wans’t too freaky for anyone, I’m always worried with littles on there, especially since the ride itself isn’t that freaky, but the stretching room is dark and loud lol! Ah naptime, so rewarding after a very full day!
We plugged their ears in the stretching room and all was well!

Sorry that CP wasn’t good for you! I honestly find that dinner/lunch there is not the greatest, breakfast is always amazing for us, but dinner lacks. I know that most of the performers also don’t like it haha, the rotation that they do is insanely ridiculous as well, that probably adds up to them taking so long. Food has been decent for us, but nothing spectacular at dinner, I do wish the pooh gang had another location!

I love Pooh and friends, but it just wasn't good. I'm hoping to go to a regular meet with Pooh and Tigger next time instead. I hear that CP breakfast is good, but we are more eat breakfast on the go type people.

What a wonderful way to end an evening, and how great of the grandparents to take the kids back to the hotel, lovely!!

It was like the best date ever!

Yay for braving EE, I slowly braved my way through the Disney coasters and currently just have RnR left to do, but am still so unsure about it lol, ee is probably my favorite though!

I'm SO glad I did EE. It's one of the things I'm most excited to do again. Definitely try RnR at least once. Trust me, I'm a gigantic ride chicken. The first few seconds are the most intense. I just focused on breathing. lol Then the rest of the ride is actually pretty tame.

Awesome safari shots, love the one of the crocodile on land with it’s mouth open! And I’m pretty sure those eggs are fake…lol! They haven’t moved in a few years, and I doubt they’d actually be that close to the road haha!

Awwe, chip & dale are the CUTEST, definitely my favorites! So fun that they came out & played with the kids for a bit first, that’s too adorable! Awwwwwe, the petting zoo part is just too cute too!! Love it!

It was such a fun, spontaneous thing. Watching my girls play games with the chipmunks was one of my favorite memories! Yeah, Gigs loved those goats.

WHAT EVEN?! Mickey! What on earth?! And Donald!!!?? I’m sure he didn’t even realize it had happened, but for the attendant to not say anything? That’s bizarre, if I was the family I would’ve said something, I get that sometimes characters knock things over, or aren’t totally aware of how much space they need but that’s not cool!!

It was SO BIZARRE.

Glad you enjoyed the food! We LOVE lunch at Tusker!

BTW, I'm totally a lurker on your TRs. Love them!