Clarf
Haunted Mansion or Bust.
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2012
Hi! I'm Clare and this is my first Trip Report, but my 5th trip to The World. This was our families second time visiting in September with FREE DINING! We had a wonderful trip and I can't wait to share it with you.
First, let me introduce the players.
This is me, Clare, 39 going on 12. Please excuse my hair. As you'll see from the title, the humidity was not kind to my hair this trip. I got this funky new hairdo shortly before we left that I loved, but it didn't fare well in Florida's heat and humidity. I work for a professional theater company in the Box Office, so my job is always exciting, but Disney is a nice escape from it once in a while.
But I digress. This was my first trip to WDW, my first being in 2001 when I was 26. I went with my then-boyfriend (now husband) and was hooked immediately. I'll never forget that first time walking down Mainstreet USA and not being able to wipe the smile off my face for hours. That was when Atlantic Dance at Disney's Boardwalk had swing dancing every night, so DH and I went to the parks by day and swing dancing by night. I'd share a pic, but that was before digital cameras were big, and frankly, I don't feel like scanning it right now.
But I digress again. I went to Disneyland at age 7 and loved it, but could never convince my parents to take a trip to WDW. They were so lame. They though we should go on trips to places like South Dakota and Washington DC to learn stuff. Who wants to learn stuff on vacation? And, there is plenty to learn at WDW anyway. My parents were party poopers, but I promised myself my kids would go to WDW. Lots.
My favorite ride of all time anywhere is Haunted Mansion, and we made our children go on it 3 times this trip, even though they were hesitant the first time. Stay tuned for how that turned out!
This is DH, Jason, 35 also going on 12. Yes, I'm a cradle robber and proud of it. He couldn't even legally drink when we started dating, but if it weren't for him, I'd probably never have gotten to WDW in the first place. He spent his summers in Florida with his grandparents as a kid, so he spent a ton of time at Disney. He pretends not to love it as much as I do, but he does. He works in computers, so he gets excited about all the technical stuff at Disney like the Magic Bands and MDE app. and such. He was very excited to use the Magic Bands this trip and still has his sitting on his nightstand, so I'm not sure what he has in store for it.
He loves food and when I told him I'd be taking pictures of our food for this report he responded with "I'll be eating my food, thank you." So, if the food pics are bad, it's his fault. I had to snap before he dug in.
His favorite ride is Space Mountain. At least it was when I asked him 10 seconds ago. I don't think he really knows. He loves rollercoasters and rides that make me sick.
This is Lucy. Our oldest DD. She turned 8 while we were in Florida. Her first trip to Magic Kingdom was when she was 18 months old. She was in awe and her favorite ride that day was the flat escalator that gets you up to the People Mover. She's become a lot more daring since then, and loves all the rides. The bigger, the better. This was her 4th visit to WDW. She also went to the Magic Kingdom for a day at age 4 1/2 and then 2 years ago when she celebrated her 6th birthday at The Happiest Place on Earth. She's all Disney and talks about it daily. She loves pirates, especially Captain Jack Sparrow. She does still enjoy the princesses, but has become more of a tomboy in the past few years, which is just fine with me.
Lucy is cautious and a rule follower, so I'm surprised she loves the big rides as much as she does, since they are generally scary. At 8, she still believes the characters are real. What? I know they are real. Some kids at that age don't believe it though.
Her favorite ride is Space Mountain, and she got to ride it 7 times this trip!
This is Maura, the baby of the family. She turned 5 in July, but looks more like a 3 year old. She is so tiny and petite, but totally makes up for it in personality. She has watched FROZEN no less than 200 times and can sing it in her sleep. She has a vibratto that puts Idina Menzel to shame.
Maura keeps us on her toes with her antics and general non-rule following. She is the complete opposite of her sister and flies by the seat of her pants doing whatever she wants whenever she wants. I think we told her at least 737 times not to climb on the bars while waiting in line, not to lay on the gross ground, and to pay attention and eat.
She loves the characters and can't be bothered to look away from them for 1 second to get a nice picture taken with them. It was her second trip to WDW and she loved it.
Her favorite ride is Dumbo, though she keeps talking about Splash Mountain.
Anyway, our trip was September 12-17 and included a night at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. I hope you'll join me as I re-live this trip.
Here is a picture of all of us our first day at the Magic Kingdom!
First, let me introduce the players.
This is me, Clare, 39 going on 12. Please excuse my hair. As you'll see from the title, the humidity was not kind to my hair this trip. I got this funky new hairdo shortly before we left that I loved, but it didn't fare well in Florida's heat and humidity. I work for a professional theater company in the Box Office, so my job is always exciting, but Disney is a nice escape from it once in a while.
But I digress. This was my first trip to WDW, my first being in 2001 when I was 26. I went with my then-boyfriend (now husband) and was hooked immediately. I'll never forget that first time walking down Mainstreet USA and not being able to wipe the smile off my face for hours. That was when Atlantic Dance at Disney's Boardwalk had swing dancing every night, so DH and I went to the parks by day and swing dancing by night. I'd share a pic, but that was before digital cameras were big, and frankly, I don't feel like scanning it right now.
But I digress again. I went to Disneyland at age 7 and loved it, but could never convince my parents to take a trip to WDW. They were so lame. They though we should go on trips to places like South Dakota and Washington DC to learn stuff. Who wants to learn stuff on vacation? And, there is plenty to learn at WDW anyway. My parents were party poopers, but I promised myself my kids would go to WDW. Lots.
My favorite ride of all time anywhere is Haunted Mansion, and we made our children go on it 3 times this trip, even though they were hesitant the first time. Stay tuned for how that turned out!
This is DH, Jason, 35 also going on 12. Yes, I'm a cradle robber and proud of it. He couldn't even legally drink when we started dating, but if it weren't for him, I'd probably never have gotten to WDW in the first place. He spent his summers in Florida with his grandparents as a kid, so he spent a ton of time at Disney. He pretends not to love it as much as I do, but he does. He works in computers, so he gets excited about all the technical stuff at Disney like the Magic Bands and MDE app. and such. He was very excited to use the Magic Bands this trip and still has his sitting on his nightstand, so I'm not sure what he has in store for it.
He loves food and when I told him I'd be taking pictures of our food for this report he responded with "I'll be eating my food, thank you." So, if the food pics are bad, it's his fault. I had to snap before he dug in.
His favorite ride is Space Mountain. At least it was when I asked him 10 seconds ago. I don't think he really knows. He loves rollercoasters and rides that make me sick.
This is Lucy. Our oldest DD. She turned 8 while we were in Florida. Her first trip to Magic Kingdom was when she was 18 months old. She was in awe and her favorite ride that day was the flat escalator that gets you up to the People Mover. She's become a lot more daring since then, and loves all the rides. The bigger, the better. This was her 4th visit to WDW. She also went to the Magic Kingdom for a day at age 4 1/2 and then 2 years ago when she celebrated her 6th birthday at The Happiest Place on Earth. She's all Disney and talks about it daily. She loves pirates, especially Captain Jack Sparrow. She does still enjoy the princesses, but has become more of a tomboy in the past few years, which is just fine with me.
Lucy is cautious and a rule follower, so I'm surprised she loves the big rides as much as she does, since they are generally scary. At 8, she still believes the characters are real. What? I know they are real. Some kids at that age don't believe it though.
Her favorite ride is Space Mountain, and she got to ride it 7 times this trip!
This is Maura, the baby of the family. She turned 5 in July, but looks more like a 3 year old. She is so tiny and petite, but totally makes up for it in personality. She has watched FROZEN no less than 200 times and can sing it in her sleep. She has a vibratto that puts Idina Menzel to shame.
Maura keeps us on her toes with her antics and general non-rule following. She is the complete opposite of her sister and flies by the seat of her pants doing whatever she wants whenever she wants. I think we told her at least 737 times not to climb on the bars while waiting in line, not to lay on the gross ground, and to pay attention and eat.
She loves the characters and can't be bothered to look away from them for 1 second to get a nice picture taken with them. It was her second trip to WDW and she loved it.
Her favorite ride is Dumbo, though she keeps talking about Splash Mountain.
Anyway, our trip was September 12-17 and included a night at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. I hope you'll join me as I re-live this trip.
Here is a picture of all of us our first day at the Magic Kingdom!
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Clare; I'm so glad you are doing a TR. I love your intros and your girls are adorable. 7 times on Space Mountain? I did it once and thought it would be the death of me. I hear you on the humidity and hair...what a nightmare that was.
But don't worry, you all look great, what a lovely family 
And the reason I do NOT drive Downtown for work every day.
I knew you'd like that picture.
