WDW Last day

The week passed so quickly that we were quite sad to wake up Saturday morning and realize it was our last day at Disney World. As quick as we could, we packed the last of the bags and went down to catch a bus for Hollywood Studios. We started our trip there and decided we wanted to see the opening show and ride Buzz Lightyear one more time.

We got to the park about 8:30 a.m. and realized with a twist in the stomach that today was "Extra Magic Hours." Not only had we missed the opening show, but everyone else from all the Disney resorts were ahead of us in line. We raced over to Toy Story Midway Mania where the FastPasses were giving out 11:50 a.m. times already! (We had to check out of the hotel at 1 p.m.) After standing in line for the FP, we hopped in line for the Midway Mania ride.

The line was about 25 minutes and Disney really tries to entertain you while you wait, and time passes faster than you think. Brenna was disappointed that she had the lowest score, but I praised her for improving her score from our visit last Sunday.

Then we crossed the park to fulfill Brenna's request for another ride on Star Tours. I believe this and Toy Story were the only rides we rode three times while at Disney. Both girls just loved it. Once was definitely enough for Bryan, so he and I spent this ride watching the girls' faces. Brenna promised me she would keep her eyes open this time and she did. She sat full back in her seat, hands gripping the arm rests, with huge saucer eyes staring intently at the screen. On the other hand, Cameron leaned forward, as if she actually could be part of the action, with a huge grin on her face.

After Star Tours, we entered the The Writer's Stop on Commissary Lane for a coffee and muffin. The girls plopped down on the comfy couch to watch tv with another girl (Sarah) about Cameron's age. Cameron and Sarah really hit it off and were chatting. I think I forgot to mention that while at Magic Kingdom on Thursday, Cameron found a pin on the ground. Pin trading is a really big deal at Disney, but we had decided we weren't going to get involved. Cameron stuck the pin on her name badge holder, but while at Epcot she talked Bryan into getting her a "pin lanyard" and another pin. Of course Brenna had to have one also.

So Sarah and Cameron were talking about their pins. Sarah clearly had some experience in this area, and before we left she had given Cameron three small "starter pins." She didn't want to take Cameron's big pin as a trade and claimed she had lots of these little pins and didn't mind sharing with Cameron. She said she was from Nashville, and I think her mom is involved in some way with the new American Idol show at the park.

We wandered over to Lombard Street, which leads to the Hollywood Hotel of Tower and Rock'n'Roller Coaster. Since we don't care for the rides, we hadn't been in this part of the park on our last visit. We caught a street show while walking by...

The movie producer used an "extra" from the audience, and then the "cop" participated while the "Diva" hammed it up good. We used our snack credits to pick up some more ice cream while on Lombard street and then meandered back across the park in search of a few more characters.

We watched the MuppetVision 3D show again, this time in the front row, and then headed up Streets of America to see the Monsters, Inc. characters. We caught a break and there wasn't any line.

Unfortunately, Mike Wazowski was the only character. (I wanted to see Sully.) We wandered behind the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" set and saw the fountain Daryl Hannah (Madison) gives Tom Hanks in the movie "Splash."

Pixar Place being packed with people, we didn't stand in line to meet Woody & Buzz, but stood for about ten minutes waiting for the Incredibles to come out at 11:35 a.m. They were... well... INCREDIBLE.

Mr. Incredible can't sign autograph books, but he carries an ink stamp. We zipped across to Midway Mania and used our FP to ride it one last time, before we almost ran out of the pack to catch our bus back to the Lodge to check out by 1 p.m. I should mention that the other two times we rode Midway Mania, Bryan or I always rode with the girls and Bryan had the highest score of the family. But this last ride, he and I let the girls ride together so we could ride together, and I finally beat his high score!

Back at the hotel we called a bellhop to get our luggage and hold it for our 3:30 p.m. Disney Magic Express pick up. We ate lunch in the Roaring Forks and went into the Arcade to use our "30 minutes unlimited play" card that came with check-in.

Brenna tended to choose the motorcycle rides that moved back and forth. Bryan played the basketball toss, while Cameron chose boxing.

We were alone in the Arcade, but must have looked funny. You swipe the card to start the game and it tells you how much time is left on the card, counting down from 30 minutes with the first swipe. So one person runs around swiping games for the other three people to start, then swipes their own game and pockets the card. Before I finish my game, Bryan comes fishing my pocket for the card, swipes the girls to start again, then pockets the card. And so on until we ran out of time.

But we still had time before catching the shuttle, so we wandered outside along the nature trail between the Lodge, the Villas, and Fort Wilderness.

We arrived back with plenty of time to catch our bus that took us back to the airport. Our non-stop flight left at 6:30 p.m., so we grabbed dinner in the airport after checking our bags.

All we have left now of Disney World is our memories. Perhaps one day we'll go back again.

WDW Day 7 Epcot

Our last full day at Disney and we had several things we still wanted to do at Epcot. We tried to get there before the park opened, but it was extremely crowded at the gate and we stood in lines to get our bags checked and go through the turnstiles.

Bryan took all of our cards and raced ahead to Mission: SPACE to get a Fast Pass, but discovered the standby was only 5-10 minutes, so when we caught up with him we all hopped in line for the Green mission. Mission: SPACE simulates a launch, slingshot around the moon, and "hypersleep" before landing on Mars. The Green mission is identical to the Orange mission, but doesn't spin you on the centrifuge to simulate 2.4Gs.

If you are claustrophobic, this is not the ride for you. The pod seats four with a shoulder harness and the front panel comes towards you, forcing you to look straight at the "viewscreen". We loved it, even Brenna! When we came off, we all wanted to ride it again. This time Bryan and Brenna went to the Green ride and Cameron asked if she and I could ride the Orange. (Bad mommy moment, I agreed.)

Oh. My. Gracious. It was INTENSE!!! All of the warnings are spot on accurate. When it first started spinning I felt pressed back in my seat, but then I felt pressure on my chest making it hard to breathe and my vision narrowed. I remember thinking two things: Cameron! and I can't believe I'm going to black out. All the guidebooks and tip pages say don't move your eyes off the screen to avoid motion sickness, but the first thing I tried to do was look at Cameron.

The ride ended and I wasn't sure we would be able to walk away, my legs were wobbly. Cameron looked like she was going to be sick. We sat down for a few minutes on benches lining the hallway leading us out. I insisted that we get outside for fresh cool air and to find Bryan & Brenna, so we did. She sat for a few more minutes, but didn't feel better.

(She's not saluting, she's blocking the sun.) Cameron and I went to a stand and bought two slushy lemonades and two cookies while Bryan & Brenna went to The Land to get two Fast Passes for Soarin'. When they returned, we ate our cookies and waited for Cameron to slowly start to feel better. At last, she stopped asking to go home to the hotel. Suddenly, Brenna got upset about her hands and we noticed that she'd had an allergic reaction to the cookie. This has happened twice before at home and we identified the source as the frozen ready-to-bake cookies sold as a fundraiser by the elementary schools. Whatever the mystery ingredient is, it was in the cookie we'd bought at the stand.

Bryan and Brenna went off for the First Aid station for some Benadryl since we left ours in the hotel room. Cameron & I picked up two Fast Passes for Test Track before meeting Bryan & Brenna.

After thanking the nurses who treated Brenna we headed into the World Showcase to do another Kim Possible adventure. This time we headed to Germany to stop Professor Dementor from using his evil mind-control device to influence world leaders.

The girls loved finding a shady place to watch the clues. We explored all of Germany trying to solve the clues and unlock the secrets like this one with the beer steins.

While writing the blog, I discovered that the Kim Possible Adventure was in a soft opening while we were there, with the official opening January 28.

After our Kim Possible adventure, we toured Italy, watched the Drum & Fife show in America, and settled down for the American Experience show. Then we snacked on a platter of Chicken Shwarma in Morocco before Brenna and I went to ride Soarin', her favorite ride. Bryan and Cameron picked up another Kim Possible kimmunicator to do another adventure in France.

While waiting on Cameron & Bryan, Brenna took this picture of me. We enjoyed our second adventure in France, even though it made us a few minutes late for our dinner reservations at the German Biergarten.

The Biergarten is supposed to feel like a festive Bavarian village during Octoberfest. All of the tables face the stage where at certain times they have a live band playing. A large buffet offers a variety of traditional German food. This was our last sit-down dinner. They sit you at tables for 8 with another family to visit with, but the four adults downing beers didn't even acknowledge our greetings. I had a beer in Germany and it was the best part of the meal. We tasted a little bit of everything, but didn't care for the food very much. Brenna pouted because our seats were in the far corner and it was difficult to see the stage. Cameron loved when the band played the little bells. I liked the long horn.

After dinner we continued our trek around the world, exploring countries and getting the kids' passports stamped. Every country has a Kidcot Fun Stop where kids can color a mask and add a paper tag from that country. A cast member native to that country also stamps their passport and writes them a message in the native language.

In Morocco, one of the cast members gave Cameron a unique experience, a lesson in belly dancing. (Gotta love the costume over her coat.)

I really liked the UK/England stop in the gift shop full of copies of the original Pooh books, Mary Poppins, and Charlie & Lola. Cameron and Brenna showed off their accents (thanks to Harry Potter movies) which the visiting cast member proclaimed gosh darn accurate.

While Cameron & Bryan used their FP to ride Test Track, Brenna and I visited the last two countries: Norway and Mexico.

After we met up with Cameron & Bryan, we took a short cut through one of the larger gift shops. Though we didn't bring home any Mickey ears, we all took turns trying on the hats and taking a few pictures.

Then it was time for one last ride at Epcot: Spaceship Earth, which wound us up through the Epcot ball showing us the development of technology with Dame Judi Dench narrating in our ear. The slow ride "down" was steep and we were practically lying at a 45-degree angle on our backs. Just as we exited, we heard that the fireworks show had just ended, so we quickly exited the park to ride back to the hotel.

In the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge there was a caricature artist each night and Cameron had been begging us for a portrait. This being the last night, we let them do it.

Most nights we were in our hotel room, in bed, by 9:35 p.m. Each night we could hear the music from the Electrical Water Pageant that has been sailing in Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon since October 1971.

On the first night I promised Cameron that one night during our stay I would take her out to see the event. We could only see the first float from our room balcony, though we coudl hear the music loud and clear. While Brenna was having her caricature drawn, Cameron and I walked down to the boat launch and watched the parade, which ended with You're a Grand Old Flag and all of the sea creature/King Triton displays going to the stars and stripes.

And this ended our last night at the Wilderness Lodge. The girls picked out their clothes for tomorrow and packed their carry-on bags. While they fell asleep, Bryan and I packed most of the suitcases.

WDW 6 Magic Kingdom

After such a busy day and late night, Thursday was definitely a sleep in day! Brenna and I were the early birds and Bryan and Cameron slept later. After getting ready, we went downstairs and had a quick service breakfast at the Roaring Forks. Since the seating area was packed, they opened up the Territory Lounge for overflow and had the television set to Playhouse Disney. The girls sat and watched Imagination Station while Bryan and I planned the rest of our day. After two days of being outside in 30+degree weather, we didn't want to go out to a park until it warmed up.

Following breakfast, Bryan and Cameron headed upstairs to drop off the extra water bottles and Brenna and I toured the Mercantile, took some photos around the lobby, sat in the rocking chairs in front of the fireplace and then went back to the room.

We decided to use the hotel clue pages to search for Hidden Mickeys; all over the parks and hotels there are little Mickey Mouse logos. We had seen them in the bedspread, the carpet design, the wallpaper. Hunting around the public areas, we found one in the fireplace stone, another in the Whispering Canyon fireplace, one outside in the log beam, and another in the basin of the geyser, which was going off while we were searching.

(see the stone that looks like Mickey's head?)

Even though it hadn't quite warmed up, we left for the Magic Kingdom about 11:30 on the boat launch.

Magic Kingdom felt more crowded than our first two days. As we walked into Main Street, we saw the Mayor and said hello. We saw the trolley with actors, who stopped and did a little show that included the Trolley song from Meet Me in St. Louis. (I just realized I didn't need to take any video, you can find all of this on YouTube from other guests!)

We went into the Crystal Arts shop where I bought the girls each a small glass slipper with their birthstone as a surprise for later. Then we headed into Tomorrowland and went straight to Space Mountain and got a FP to return between 2-3 p.m.

We walked into Fantasyland and stopped at Ariel’s Grotto, but didn’t stick around to meet her because there was about an hour wait, so she is the only princess we didn't get to see during our trip. During the summer, the grotto is probably a very popular place with water sprinklers. The sprinklers were on a little and both girls splashed in the water.

We went to the Haunted Mansion and stood in line to ride it again. We went through Liberty Square and Brenna wanted ice cream. Since we had so many snack credits left, we all got popcorn and ice cream. We took our ice cream aboard the raft to Tom Sawyer’s island for some exploring through the mine and cave and over the barrel bridge. Then we high-tailed it back to Tomorrowland, where Cameron and I rode Space Mountain with the FastPass. I liked it better than I let on and I would have ridden it again if she begged, but I screamed my way through the ride. I also had my neck jerked around.

Meanwhile, Bryan & Brenna rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and wanted us to ride it. I wanted to take advantage of the parade to go into Toontown to meet the fairies. (The parades draw people out of the more crowded areas of the park.) But they insisted and so we got on the TTA. About a minute after departing the station, the ride stopped. From our vantage point we could see parts of the parade, a little far away, but the ride never started again and we felt trapped. After 30 minutes cast members came to let us off.

They escorted us along the catwalk and into an emergency door, down stairs, past an office, and out into a gift shop. They also gave us a FP coupon good for ANY attraction in the park. We debated what to use it for… Cameron wanted to do the Indy Speedway again, but I didn’t want to use it for something we’d been on already. We decided to head over to Toontown to see how long the wait to meet the fairies would be. It was an hour wait, so we asked if we could use the FP. Yes! Bryan didn’t go (saving his FP) and I took the girls behind and around with a cast member escort to meet Iridescent, Tinkerbell, and Faun.

We looked at our list of what we hadn't been on yet and decided to go to the (updated) Enchanted Tiki Room. We also stood in line for about thirty minutes for the Jungle Cruise. This was the first time we stood in a standby line for an attraction that had a FP dispenser. Not realizing how late it was, we meandered back into Liberty Park and ate a funnel cake while overlooking the castle, which was all lit up blue and purple.

Suddenly we realized that it was an hour later than we thought. Bryan had told Cameron she could use his "Any Attraction FP" to ride the Indy Speedway, and since she was too short to drive herself, he rode with her while Brenna and I watched from the Grandstand viewing area.

A quick dash out allowed us to catch a Monorail to the Contemporary Resort for our Chef Mickey reservations. Disney makes dinner reservations but they don’t mean you’ll be going in at that time. A 7 p.m. reservation means you check in about 6:50, then wait until 7:20 p.m.

After dinner we rode the boat launch that runs between the Contemporary and the Wilderness Lodge. On our way to the dock, we found a cool Mickey sculpture and took a photo using the timer.

Tomorrow will be our last full day at DisneyWorld and we planned to spend it at Epcot riding Mission Space and touring the World Showcase.

WDW Day 5 Epcot Princess Breakfast

One of the reasons we rested on Tuesday night was because we knew we had a big day planned for Wednesday. We hoped to get to Epcot about 8:30 a.m. in order to ride a few of the big rides or get some Fast Passes before our 10 a.m. Norway Akershus Princess Breakfast. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Day 5 is when things start to get a little dicey. We rushed in the morning and hopped on the Epcot bus a little later than I'd hoped.

You'll notice in the photo above that both girls are wearing a badgeholder around their necks. We used these to keep their ID, their "First Time" pins, and their room card key aka entrance ticket to the parks. After we were on the bus to Epcot I noticed that neither girl had their badgeholder on. After some calming breaths, we evaluated the situation and decided to hop off at the Ft. Wilderness stop. There we were able to take another bus that went through Ft. Wilderness and ended at Wilderness Lodge. Bryan ran up to the room for the badges while the girls and I tried to keep warm and hoped that the next Epcot bus wouldn't come before he came back down. (Seriously, it was 27F overnight and the orange crop froze!) He arrived about 30 seconds before the Epcot bus and after a 45 minute delay we were once again headed to Epcot.

Epcot's World Showcase includes the Akershus Royal Dining Hall in Norway offering character dining with princesses. We waited about 20 minutes in the cold, stepping inside the heated gift shop long enough for our noses, cheeks and ears to thaw, keeping our hands in our pockets tightly gripping the handwarmers.

When they call you name, you get a slip of paper and join the line. Now you wait with a purpose, because the line ends with Belle. The princess, in her yellow ball gown and a convenient drape for the cold, greets each girl kindly, signs their autograph books and poses for both you and the Akershus photographer.

Then we are led to our table where we receive drinks and a platter of scrambled eggs, sausage, (undercooked) bacon, and potato casserole. A buffet line offers thinly sliced smoked salmon, some kind of herring, pastries, croissants, a yummy apple pastry, muffins, lingonberry cream cheese and fresh fruit. During breakfast, the other princesses come by to greet you. We were visited first by Jasmine. This time she wore a blue robe over her skimpy costume.

She immediately recognized us from yesterday! She asked us to pass on a message to Cinderella at our dinner tonight – would we tell her “Tag, you’re it!” Clearly, some kind of inside joke between the princesses. Next Mary Poppins, all proper and British, comes by to sign the books and pose for a photo. Then Snow White, and last a new princess – Mulan!

While I had the girls in the restroom, Bryan said that Jasmine came back over and told him thank you, that the girls were delightful and families like ours made her job such a delight.

We wandered a little back over to the Future World, the park was still very crowded with large international touring groups and VERY cold. The wind! Our first stop was to get a FastPass for Soarin’, then we got in a 25 minute line for Living Seas with Nemo, which put us in the theater for Turtle Talk with Crush – just as good as everyone talked about. The kids all sit on the carpet in front and it was very crowded.

We went into Imagination Station with Figment and played around with some of the kiosks there, waving our arms with melody makers and morphing photos.

We went to get a FP for Test Track and stopped inside Innovations (for warmth) where we saw the testing labs and played a creative, interesting (and a bit preachy) game about Waste Management. We were the Kelly Green team!

Bryan bought the girls passports and we headed into The World. It had started to warm up a bit, but not much. We ate some Fish'n'Chips in Britain as we rushed around The World to get back to Soarin' in time for our FP entry. Soarin' is this fantastic multi-sensory ride that simulates hang gliding over parts of California. Your seat goes up in the air so smoothly you don't notice it at all and while watching the IMAX screen, you really feel like you're soaring complete with breezes and odors. Brenna loved this ride.

We walked over to Test Track and discovered it was not running! The cast member said our FP would work anytime before the park closed, so we went to China to try out a Kim Possible adventure.

The phone “kimmunicator” gave her clues, things to find around China. The entire game was very well designed – requiring her to find a lion in front of a gallery. Then go into the gallery and find another clue (the clues interacted with her) and then come out and find a zodiac wheel (she is year of the Sheep). Then finally the riddle is solved and the puzzle completed. The phone goes into a drop off point.

After viewing the 360 degree film on China, we stopped for some shrimp fried rice with a pork eggroll and caramel ginger ice cream. By now it’s getting really cold again and dark. We headed for Test Track to see if it’s running again. It was, so we got our ride. Poor Brenna really hated the fast part of the ride, and I was so worried about Brenna that I didn’t really enjoy the ride. Yes, it went fast – increased to 65 mph but then immediately decreased. Bryan and Cameron loved it.

We decided to ride the Living with the Land boat ride before we left for our dinner reservations and we caught the last boat of the night, but before it pulled away from the loading point, it stopped and we were trapped on board for almost 15 minutes while they figured it out. We were tired, cranky, and decided to get off, but they wouldn’t allow us. Finally it started and the ride was better than we expected. The best of the “boring” educational rides so far.

We rushed to the Monorail, and rode it to the TTC, catching another monorail to the Grand Floridian resort. These were "last minute" dinner reservations and I was pleased to have the opportunity to see the inside of the Grand Floridian since I've always wanted to stay there. After checking in with the 1900 Park Café, we stepped outside by the pool to see the 8 p.m. Magic Kingdom fireworks.

The dinner buffet included all of the Cinderella characters introduced with great fanfare.

Before the end of the dinner, Cinderella and Prince Charming enjoyed a waltz. After dinner we had to take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and from there catch a bus (just barely!) to the Wilderness. If we hadn’t caught it, we would have had to go from the Floridian to the TTC to Epcot and caught a bus from there. Both girls just barely made it up to the room, took showers without much complaining and went straight to bed.