Day Four - Pin Trading

DW and DD7 have become semi-fanatical pin traders. DD2 is getting there. When she sees someone with lanyard, she will yell out "TRADE!"

Current count of CM-only pins stands at 12.

Day Four - Characters

Today the character interactions werre with Peter Pan during the Family Magic Tour and couple primates around MK. DD7 and DD2 spent some one-on-one time with Peter Pan during the Tour.

Day Four - Meals

Breakfast @ Hotel

Ate Fruit Loops purchased OOP earlier this week from the gift shop.

Lunch @ WCC - 3 TS, if paid OOP = $78.38

DW had Rancher Rick Nachos which she shared with the rest of us. It was really good. Very meaty and filling, which DW found out later when she couldn't finish her entree of chicken sandwich. DW didn't like the seasoning of the chicken, thinking the flavor is more for red meat than white meat. I thought it had an interesting tinge to it. I had chili for appetizer. This chili serving can be a meal in itself. The bowl is large and the chili itself is very meaty and beany. Very filling. It is spiced just right for a nice kick. My entree was fried chicken. It's basically half of a fried chicken. Lot's of food and very well done. Nicely crisped on the outside and very juicy on the inside (beginning to sound like a commercial here). DD7 had the skillet and shared it with DD2. DDs and I had the bottomless milkshakes and they were also yummy. I was too stuffed for dessert, even after packing up some of my fried chicken for later in the room. DW ordered apple caramel pie to go (and it is still in the fridge right now). Originally, we ordered an extra milkshake for DD2 and planned to pay it OOP. But, the waitress just said she can move that to DD7's dessert choice so we don't have to deal with paying out of pocket. Overall, we really enjoyed the food at WCC - good, down to the earth food with no snobbish intentions.

Dinner @ Hotel - Paid OOP

Room service of cheese pizza and lemonade for the kids and the sitter.

Snacks -

Chips @ MK - 1 SC, if paid OOP = around $2.00
2x Diet Coke @ MGM - 2 SC, if paid OOP = around $5.00
Hot cocoa and coffee @ MK - Paid OOP

Day Four - Parks & Resorts

Today is the Family Magic Tour. We met up with three other families at 10:00 AM for a two hours treasure hunt combined with silly antics through the MK. DD7 enjoyed the Tour a lot, but DD2 was a handful as she tried to grasp the concept of the whole thing. In the end, the Tour met up with Peter Pan and we all went to see Philharmagic 3-D show. The magical moment was when DD7 ended up sitting right next to Peter Pan during the show.

After the Tour, we headed back to WL for an impromptu lunch at WCC. Then, we relaxed around the resort until 4 PM when the in-room sitter arrived from Fairy Godmother.

Yes, tonight was Parents' Night Out.

Original plan was for DW and I go out to a signature dinner at Artist Point and then hit MK. But, yesterday, we decided to change the plan (all trip plans are made to be broken!) New plan called for us just to eat simple snacks and counter service meals and do as much rides in parks as possible.

Forget about romance. We're here to have fun!

DW and I headed to MGM first to hit the couple thrill rides there DW missed earlier this week, Tower of Terrors and Aerosmith's Rock n' Roller Coaster.

DW didn't care for the neither one of the rides. I thought the Tower of Terrors was good, but the Aerosmith's thing was pretty lame. The ride was not "thrilling" enough (Space Mountain is more thrilling - and that is not saying much) and it seemed very short. Unless I am riding with someone new, most likely I will not waste time doing this ride again.

Then, DW and I jumped onto the bus and headed back to MK for the EMH. We rode Space Mountain first, then Haunted Mansion. After that we went to the Thunder Mountain Railroad. The crowd was thin, as this was during the parade time. We rode Thunder Mountain three times without having to get off. Then, for laughs, we rode Pirates of the Caribbeans without the kids. Finally, we did the overdose on Space Mountain and rode it back to back 4 times. Each time it took less than 10 minutes to get through the line.

Five hours. Two parks. 12 rides. And throw some pin trading in the middle there and taking some photos. Not bad for a night of work.

Sitter has left. The kids and DW are asleep now. I should turn in soon.

Better Weather!

Correction! It is clear and sunny out there! I don't have to carry around ponchos today! Yeah, doesn't take much to get me excited.

Good morning, Wednesday

It's Wednesday morning, our 4th day here at WDW. It is cloudy out there right now, but the forecast is saying more clearing throughout the day, high in the 70's, with around 60% humidity. Can't get better weather than this (other than showering hundred dollar bills).

Internet connection is still up too!

Caught Up!

Okay, for the most part, I have caught up with Day 2 and Day 3 trip entries. I need sleep now. Good night.

Internet Was Down

Sorry about the delay in posting Day Two and possibly Day Three. The internet connection was acting up in our hotel room last (Monday) night. Was on the phone with tech support 3 or 4 times. They fixed it sometime today during the day. I am back online now!

I will be backposting Day Two (yesterday) and Day Three (today) tonight (until I pass out at the keyboard) and tomorrow morning before we head out to the park.

Oh, rapture!

Day Three - Pin Trading

Today's theme for DD7 was Ariel. She had to find 6 Ariel pins. During the day, she helped DW find some of her theme of the day pins. It was not until very late at night in Downtown Disney that she finally got her 6th pin. She was thrilled.

Today's theme for DD2 was suppose to be cats and dogs. But, she's still a bit too young to grasp the concept of staying within the theme. She would trade one pin and then turn around to trade it away with the next CM. Oh well, at least she had fun.

Today's theme for DW was villains. With DD7's help, she got several villian pins.

The girls have 6 CM-only pins now. Not bad for couple days of work.

Tomorrow will be different themes.

Day Three - Characters

The only autographs that we received were at Norway. Autographs included Princess Jasmine and Mulan. We didn't go through the line for Belle as we had already had her autograph and been roped into a picture with Cinderella at CRT. Her dress was really interesting, though.

Day Three - Meals

Breakfast @ Hotel - Purchased OOP from gift shop

Purchased large box of Fruit Loops and a half gallon milk from the WL gift shop for breakfast. This should last the DDs the rest of the week.

Lunch @ Norway - 3 TS, if paying OOP = $74.09

Best meal so far. Loved the character interactions, the buffet line, and the entrees. Here, you are paying for both the character experience AND dining experience. It is interesting to try some food from Norway. Even DD7 enjoyed the smoked mackrel. DW had the lamb dish and that was great. I had the trout. Also good. DD7 had the spaghetti and meatball. That was good too, for a spaghetti and meatball dish. Will most likely do this character meal again.

Dinner @ Earl of Sandwich - 2 CS, if paying OOP = $16.80

We got Happy Meals for the kids from McDonald's for tonight, figuring they want something familiar for a change. For DW and I, we decided to try this place. We heard good comments from my sister and also read on Disboards. DW had antipasto salad while I had a Caribbean Jerk Chicken. Both items were de-li-cious, just like all the reviewers have said. The only problem was with the service. The lady at the ordering counter told me to go through the line and pick out the dessert I want after I told her we are on the dining plan. When I got to the checkout section, the lady there informed me that the only desserts allowed on the dining plan were cookies and brownies. I had to go back in line to retrieve the right items. Good food, lousy employee training.

Snacks @ Wetzels Pretzels - Paid OOP.

Yummy snack before the Cirque show.

Day Three - Parks & Resorts

Today's forecast was periodic thunderstorm throughout the day and night. But, luckily for us, it was mainly just showers and those stopped by midafternoon. For the rest of the week it is suppose to be partly sunny.

Crossing our fingers!

The morning was spent at Epcot center. It was raining when we arrived so we had to break out our Disney ponchos for the very first time.

We rode Spaceship Earth. Then, DW and I took DD7 on Soaring, doing the kid swap thing since DD2 is too short to ride it. The ride was interesting, but I do wish that they would have done better transitions between the scenes rather than the abrupt cuts. The cuts just ruined the presentation and made it seemed amateurish. Then, we went to see Figment on his ride. Finally, we did the ride in Norway while we waited for the lunch with storybook princesses.

After lunch, we walked to the China pavilion. There, DD7 entertained some people by writing her Chinese name in Chinese characters. We also saw a standup Chinese comedian performing the story of the Monkey King.

Then, DW took DD2 back to the hotel for a short nap while I took DD7 to Test Track. The wait was 40 minutes, longest we have encountered so far on this trip.

Cirque was the main event of the evening. We went to Downtown Disney to see the show. This is DD7's second Cirque show and DD2's first one. DD2 did not care for it too much. The reasons again are too dark and too loud. Well, at least she sat through the whole thing and did not raise too much fuss.

After the show, we shopped around Downtown Disney and did many pin tradings. We did not return back to the hotel room until after 11 PM. Needless to say, both kids are pooped and snoring away in bed right now.

Tomorrow is our Family Magic Tour.

Day Two - Pin Trading

DD7 and DD2 are slowly getting into pin trading mode. They're catching on.

Day Two - Characters

Autographs were mostly from CRT. DD7 and DD2 were smiling happily during the photo and autograph with Cinderella. Yes. We bought the photo. Other autographs included, Princess Aurora, Belle, Mary Poppins and Snow White. We also managed to catch Woody and Jessie outside of the General Store in Frontier Land. On the way out for naptime, we stood in line for a photo with Pluto (no auto - running out of room in the book!!) and DD7 had her ear talked off by Wendy Darling while waiting for her autograph and DD2 was happy to get Cruela DeVil.

Day Two - Meals

Breakfast @ CRT - 3 TS, if paying OOP = $68.01

Preplated typical American breakfast food, like eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. Nothing to write home about. The money was paid for the character experience, not dining experience. The place seemed very rushed, so did the princesses. This is one of those "been there done that" kind of deal. Most likely will not do this one again. I can buy a lot of sausage biscuits from McDonald's for this price.

Lunch @ Roaring Forks - 1 CS, if paying OOP = around $12.00

We basically snacked all morning so DD7 and I split a meal after her afternoon swim while DW and DD2 napped.

Dinner @ Toy Story Pizza Planet - 2 CS, if paying OOP = around $23.00

We were surprised at how good the pizzas were. The reason is probably because we did not have our expectations set high with a place named after a cartoon's location.

Snacks @ MK - 2 SC, if paying OOP = around $5.00

For snacks during the morning MK visit, we got some grapes and a Powerade drink.

Day Two - Parks & Resorts

This morning was CRT, breakfast in the castle with the Cindy and the princesses. We had an 8:10 AM seating. The park opened at 9:00 AM, which means we entered the park before it opened to the masses. It was nice to walk down Main Street with very few people around. We took some nice, non-crowded photos of the girls in their princess outfits in front of the castle.

After breakfast, we waited at the rope drop for the 9 AM park opening. That was when I witnessed the infamous dash to the Tink gift shop. When the rope dropped, a mother with her two kids pushed their way into the front of the line and ran for the store. Boy, that pissed off some people. One of the most unmagical moments you don't want to witness. Those parents, along with those cheerleader moms, should be made to sit through 10,000 rounds of It's a Small World.

The morning was spent doing the many rides in Fantasyland and Thunder Mountain Railroad. DD7 road it twice, once with DW and once with me. She loved the ride. DD2 didn't care for any rides that are dark and with loud noises. So, we went on It's a Small World for her again. I am sure we'll do this ride many times over before this week is out.

In the afternoon, DD7 went swimming at the pool while DD2 napped. There were 3 kids TOTAL in the entire pool and there were 3 lifeguards walking around the edge of the pool watching the kids' every movement. There were no adults in the pool. Whenever DD7 seems to be struggling in slightly deeper water, they would ask to see if she was okay. I classify this as Disney paranoia, but it is a good thing, I guess.

DD2 had a meltdown after she woke up from her nap. Instead of punishing DD7 with DD2's bad attitudes, DW took DD7 to MGM while I stayed behind to wait until DD2's meltdown came to a final, full stop. Then, I took DD2 to MGM and met up with the rest of the family.

It had started to rain, so the crowd was thinning out. We saw couple shows, one with Belle and the other one with Little Mermaid, and also walked through the Osborne Light Show. The sadist in me also took DD7 through the Tower of Terror.

Mistake.

She was okay until the drop. Then, she grabbed my arms, would not let me go, and started sobbing.

She said she did not like her butt leaving the chair during the drops.

The night ended with us back at the resort. We sat in front of the WL's huge stone fireplace for a while. Then, we got hot cocoa from the gift shop (cheaper to make our own for next few days this way than buying from the snack bar every time) and sat outside our hotel room door looking out over the lobby until bedtime.

Lousy Room Assignment Part Deux

After some thinking, we decided to keep our current room assignment. It overlooks the lobby, where we basically have our own little nook with rocking chairs. When the kids are napping or sleeping, DW and I can sit right outside the door and enjoy the Christmas decorations of the lobby, without having to be cooped up inside the room. The noise doesn't really bother us. With the door closed, it's like muffled white noise.

Problem solved.

Lousy Room Assignment

After we returned back to WL, we found that our room assignment was horrible.

We did not ask much. Just a woods view room, non-smoking, and with bunk beds. We got a room that has a simple patch of thin trees separating our room's view from a maintenance driveway. We see trees and service vehicles parked directly in front of our balcony. If I want to pay woods view, I want to get woods view, not a glorified standard view.

So, I called the front desk and complainted, politely, of course. The CM told me that they will try to find something for us. After dinner at WCC, I decided to go in person to the front desk.

No try. Do.

I politely complained about the situation again, and this time, got some result. The CM, after spending five minutes checking with her manager (or just out back taking a break), said that they will move us tomorrow. While we're at the park during the day, someone will transfer our luggages to a new room with bunk beds, and hopefully with better view.

My wife said that I just cannot stop myself from planning and re-planning, even in the middle of the vacation!

Stay tune for any possible new excitement tomorrow on this room assignment saga.

Day One - Meals

Lunch @ The Pinocchio Village Haus - 3 CS, if paying OOP = around $36.00

DW - Turkey Panini w/ chips, pop, chocholate milkshake
Me - Italian Sub w/ chips, pop, vanilla milkshake
DD7 - Turkey Pinwheel, lemonade, chocholate milkshake
DD2 - Scavenged

DW thought the Panini was good. Both she and I agreed it is better than the ones we usually get from Panera Bread. My Italian Sub was okay. Nothing to write home about.

Dinner @ Whispering Canyon Cafe - 3 TS, if paying OOP = $82.03

DW - Pork Chop, pop, Apple Caramel Pie w/ vanilla ice cream
Me - Canyon Skillet, pop, Chocholate Moose Stampede
DD7 - Drumsticks w/ mashed potato, lemonade, Worms in Dirt
DD2 - Scavenged (ate tons of my chicken and pulled pork!)

DW again chose a winner. The Pork Chop was great. My Canyon Skillet was okay. Nothing spectacular. If you want to stuff your face, go for it. But, if you want to enjoy the food, try one of the other options. I stuffed my face this time.

Snacks - None today. Still finishing off the snacks we had on the road.

Day One - Activities

Since this is our first day and our DDs first time at WDW, DW and I decided to take it easy today and play it by ears. We walked down Main Street and just watched our DDs' reactions as they took in the sights and the castle, all decked out in Christmas decorations.

The girls did some pin tradings. Took DD7 couple times to get comfortable with it, but soon she became a pro and wanted to trade pins with anyone with a lanyards! We had to pull her back to reality. DD7's first trade was a mystery pin, and it turned out to be a CM-only pin (Figment parking lot series). Not bad for a newbie!

The girls also got some autographs. The characters are Tweedledee, Tweedledum, Mickey Mouse, Governor J Ratcliff, and Meeko. I was surprised on easy it is to get Mickey's autograph. I guess considering the time of the year and the lack of big crowds, this helped. We walked by the Judge's Tent and a CM told us if we want to see Mickey, go in now. So, like good little sheep, we did. We had to wait maybe like five minutes.

We did a few rides. Our first ride was the Magic Kingdom railroad thing (whatever you call it) after we walked through Toon Town. The next one was It's a Small World. I think DD7 got neckaches from moving her head back and forth a million times during the ride trying to see everything. DD2 probably would have enjoyed it more if she didn't decide to soil her diaper right before we got on the ride! Then, we explored the Swiss Family Robinson area (after a diaper change, of course). To wrap up the day, we went on Pirates of Caribbean. Oh, boy. DD7 loved it, especially the drop in the dark. DW and I spent the entire ride trying to comfort DD2. She didn't cry, but we knew she was scared. We kept pointing out the silly animals, like the chickens, mules, dogs cats, etc. That seems to have kept her attention away from the other stuff.

After that, we went to get haircuts for the girls at the barber shop on the Main Street. There we also watched the parade. DD2's mouth was hanging open the entire time. After a while she was waving back at the CMs on the floats.

On the way back to WL, this intrepid planner screwed up. I took the family from MK to the transportation center via monorail, since the kids want to ride it. Then, someone pointed out to us (when we got there) that there is no bus service to WL from there. So, we took the monorail to Polynesian, but there we were informed that we need to go back to MK to get transportation to WL. This stupid trip planner needs to read up on the transportation options more tonight! My wife made fun of me the whole way.

Wilderness Lodge

After a quick breakfast at the off-site hotel, we drove across the street and did some last minute pre-Disney shopping at Walgreens and a bargain tourist gift shop/trap. Then, it was off to Wilderness Lodge.

Welcome home, the security guard at the entrance to WL said to us.

We checked in around 8:30 AM. Took us all 5 minutes. Of course, our room was not ready, so off to MK we went. DDs chose the boat ride to MK instead of bus. Why didn't that surprise me?

DD7 said to me - I hope they have playgrounds in Magic Kingdom.

Wake Up Call

Just got the 6 AM wake up call.

Of course, everyone else in the family is still sleeping like dead.

Finished checking the weather. Looks like we may get some rain Monday afternoon and scattered thunderstorms throughout Tuesday. But, for the rest of the week, the weather should be nice. Let's cross our fingers on that and do some no-rain dance.

Little Cindy Dresses

These are the dresses DW made for the DDs to wear to the character meals with the princesses. This is a slight issue with having a costume seamstress as a wife. Projects like this gets way overboard!



This is a full view of the dress, complete with the "glass slippers".

Oh, Yeah, We're in Orlando!

Oh, yeah, BTW - We're in Orlando!

Last hour of drive was hell. But, considering that this is Orlando, it could had been worse.

DW and I tried to tell DD7 and DD2 that we are in Orlando and that Disney World is very near. They were pretty clueless and were probably thinking to themselves why their parents were acting so strange (more strange than usual, might I add). It was not until we took Exit 67, turned the corner and saw the large Walt Disney World entrance gates, along with Mickey and Minnie on both sides, did the realization hit the kids and they got all excited.

We got to Orlando one day earlier than our reservation at Wilderness Lodge. So, we got a room at a hotel near Downtown Disney. Tomorrow morning we'll check into WL early and then hit a random park. Not sure which one right now. The early arrival is not in the trip plan.

The kids are in bed now.

In-Car DVD Players

I just want to say, whoever invented the in-car DVD players should receive Nobel Peace Prize.

Waffle House

I believe there is a Waffle House at almost every exit on I-95.

I-95

Yesterday, from Cleveland to Charlotte, I was cruising along with an average speed of 80 to 85 MPH. With that, it was fast enough to pass most cars, avoid cops' evil stares, and stay with couple packs. Even today, this method worked fine on I-77 and I-26.

Then, I got on I-95.

I-95 consisted of these types of drivers.

The Yankees from the Northeast and Canadians driving at 110 MPH, as though trying to put as much distance between them and the winter as quickly as possible. Some people need to hurry in order to relax, I suppose.

The snowbirds with their RVs travelling at 40 MPH, cursing at everyone else flying by them.

The two people driving the speed limit the whole way.

And moi, driving 80-85 MPH.

Almost There

After a late morning start from Cleveland, we are at the North and South Carolina border.

I have forgotten how much fun it is to drive through the mountains.

The curves! The curves! All those curves!

The years spent in Midwest have washed my memory of the thrills of mountain driving. It doesn't take much to get us flatlanders excited about "mountain" driving.

Oh, also another thing.

We are glad to put the wintry weather behind us.

When we checked the weather this morning on Weather Underground and looked at the Great Lakes regional radar, there was only one spot showing snow. You got it - right over eastern Cleveland, where we were.

Remember those cartoons where the lone character has a rain cloud over his head while everyone else is dry? Well, this was us, except substitute rain with snow. Luckily, when we got away from Cleveland, we left behind the snow, the wind, and the cold.

Tomorrow night - Orlando.

Snowing Again?

I can't believe it is snowing with blowing wind this morning. Someone REALLY wants us to appreciate the Orlando weather. We are continuing our trip today to Orlando. Hopefully the weather will cooperate then.

Happy Turkey Day!

Still windy and freezy here in Cleveland on this Thanksgiving Day. The locals told us that this is an unusual weather for Thanksigiving. Someone upstairs obviously want to make sure that we appreciate the Orlando weather when we get down there. Tomorrow, we start our long drive for the Cleveland to Orlando leg of our trip and hopefully put the wintry weather behind us for a while. Happy Thanksgiving!

Are We In Orlando Yet?

The trip into Ohio gave us a taste of what we have forgotten about winter here in Midwest. Blistering wind, sleet, snow, and bored kid in the backseat. Luckily for us, the Grandparents took the older daughter in their car so we only had the younger one to deal with. But, there was nothing we could have done about the wind, sleet, and snow. With K and I jiving to the Weather Channel from the XM radio, we learned many Great Lakes weather terminology, such as "clipper", "lake effect", and "when hell freezes over".

Trip Started!

Today we leave for, no, not WDW, but sunny and exotic locale of Cleveland. It is a slight detour in order for us to have Thanksgiving with K's family. Yes, this is a shortcut. On Google Map, it is only couple inches out of the way.

Suitcases Out!

Today we brought out the suitcases to start the packing process! After months of planning, the end is in sight!

WL Snail Mail Spam

Yesterday, we got a snail mail spam from Disney's Wilderness Lodge, presorted generic stuff, "welcoming" us. Even though it is generic (except for the address label), presorted, inpersonal stuff, it still made me excited about the upcoming trip. Now, it is just a waiting game.