Sunday - March 13
The day finally came! We successfully packed the suitcases and drove to Omaha (saved a truckload of dough by flying Southwest) and made our flights without a problem. Best money spent was the "priority boarding" money so we were in the first group after the wheelchair bound, so we could sit together and not have to battle the masses. It felt like a "fast pass", but more about those later.
We got to Omaha in plenty of time, which gave the boys some time to hang out and during that time, they chose pseudonyms for themselves. I am not sure what the significance of each is, but I did think they were pretty funny.
Jake: Tostitos Fushighi
Nick: Larry Narsovich
Sam: Scooter Hawthorn
None of these names was ever used during the week, but we remembered them as we were flying back.
Sam and I sat together from Chicago to Orlando and had a bit of fun with the snacks we were served. :)
Disney really does know how to treat the "guest". We utilized the Disney's Magical Express and our bags were fetched by Disney and delivered to our room without us needing to hit the baggage claim and we rode the bus in comfort and without needing to rent a car. It really was great!
We arrived at the Polynesian Resort and it was delightful! It really was like we were in a tropical paradise. We were greeted with leis, apparently missed the hula welcome since we didn't land until 6pm, but check-in was a breeze. There was a monstrous wait for dinner as I didn't know if we would make it on time, so I didn't have a reservation for dinner, but it did reinforce that indeed it was advantageous to have made reservations for the rest of the week. Dinner at the Kona Cafe was nice, but lacked something Nick really wanted to eat, and except for some drama because of the wait and hunger pains was really very good. We watched some of the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom from the beach. The boys were really excited to go meet Mickey in the morning.
Monday - March 14 ~The Magic Kingdom
We woke early, planned to try to get to the park before the gates opened, following Kelley's recommendations. We nearly made it, just a bit later than planned after having to get breakfast and then monorail it to the park. We mastered most of the transportation options by the end of the week.
We headed straight for Tomorrowland to hit Space Mountain first. Sam was livid that we were making him ride it. He claimed hating us as he waited in line and climbed into the car. He sat in front of me. I really didn't want him to hate Disney. It is the Happiest Place on Earth. I am glad we stood our ground though. Scott had told the boys they had ONE "boycott" each could use on a ride, but once it was used, they had to ride everything else. Sam knew there were other coasters he didn't want to ride. As we rode (the first time) I heard laughter and squeals of excitement, not fear. As we landed back on earth, he tried to still be angry, but in the end, in his words, "was man enough to admit he really liked it". :) Nick and Jake really liked Space Mountain from the beginning. Next we headed over to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Back to the drama as we got into line. Sam and I ended up in the front car (behind the engine) and he nearly lost it. Jake traded places with him and Sam sat with Scott and Nick. Thankfully, it was a ride where no one had to ride alone. Again, Thunder Mountain ended up being a FAVORITE. We had broken the ice and ridden two of the scarier rides so the rest of the day was pretty easy going.
We really tried to make each boy able to choose an attraction he really wanted to go on or see. One of Nick's choices was Mike's Laugh Floor. I didn't have high hopes for it, but it ended up being really funny. Stand up comedy with live audience members involved on a big screen and even jokes texted from kids in line were told. It was really cute. Nick also can sing the song from the Carousel of Progress that is not very popular at all. It may have been given negative "stars" in our book. :) But it was one of the original attractions, so we went for a whirl. It was also cool inside. We also had a goal of getting photos with as many characters as we could. Nick really took on this challenge and tried to keep track of which ones we still needed.
We decided to go back to the hotel for lunch and to swim in the pool, then return to the park for dinner and the evening. It made the afternoon so relaxing. There were so many people watching parades and fireworks that happened each day and evening. The laser show and fireworks that followed were spectacular! Sam wasn't even too bothered by the fireworks. They were magic quiet fireworks. :)
Disney really does amazingly well maintaining image. The park is immaculate, keeps security invisible and really makes each experience incredible. The boys enjoyed riding even rides that weren't scary. We loved riding the water taxi back to the Polynesian and seeing the Magic Kingdom from the water.
Tuesday we headed to E.P.C.O.T. We thought it would be pretty hard to match the Magic Kingdom.
Tuesday - March 15 ~ E.P.C.O.T
Again, we attempted to be up early and get the park before the gates opened, but didn't quite make it. When we got to the park we raced back to "The Land" to get our Fast Pass for Soarin'. Even at 9am the line was over an hour and the Fast Pass we got was for 12:30. All the Fast Passes had been distributed by noon. I have to say the ride didn't disappoint. It was like we were actually flying. It was a little scary when we were over the Golden Gate bridge, but it was super fun. I wished we could have ridden it more than once.
Fast Passes made us feel like royalty as we marched to the front of the line instead of waiting for some of the more popular rides. Unfortunately, we didn't realize we could only hold one Fast Pass at a time. We figured all that out by the end of the week.
We took advantage of the "Character Spot" to take photos with four Top Tier characters and Nick was pretty thrilled that we then saw Chip and Dale just outside. He was really on a quest to find all the characters. It was like a treasure hunt.
Nick decided to buy a stuffed Pulto and after acting "gangsta" with Dale (his words) he decided that it might have been his best day, yet. :) Made this mamma's heart warm. After repeated episodes of drama that can make the day difficult, it was wonderful to hear words of appreciation.
We went to "Talk Back with Crush". Very cute. A lot like Mike's Laugh Floor with live talk with audience members. Fun aquariums to look at and Jake decided to buy a stuffed "Squirt" as a souvenir.
Lunch found us back at the Polynesian for lunch and a nap. All this vacationing is exhausting. We had a Fast Pass for the Test Track which was really fun. The boys had some trepidation with the going 60 mph part, but being a crash test dummy ended up being another favorite!
We had reservations for dinner at Via Napoli at E.P.C.O.T. Italy was on the far side of the World Showcase (of course). Dinner was delicious and very authentic to Naples. Our waiter was David from Milano. He explained that he was here for a year on a work visa. We learned that each country brings citizens over to make it traditional. There were also a great number of college students working as part of an internship program. So many layers of Disney Magic.
We realized that we had been distracted by all the "shiny attractions" at the front of the park and missed out on all the super cool country stuff. As luck would have it, after another awesome fireworks display we really didn't have sufficient time to experience all we wanted to. Rookie mistake. We decided to make time to come back on Friday.
Wednesday - March 16 ~ Hollywood Studios
Our main objective today was to ride Toy Story Midway Mania. Nick had been looking forward to this since we landed. We went back to the Pixar Studios section and the line for Fast Passes was as long as the line for the actual ride, if not longer. So we got in line for the ride. Waiting in line was nearly as amusing as the ride itself. I loved all the toys from my childhood being used in the Toy Story movies, and the waiting moved us through Andy's playroom with life-sized games and toys. We also made use of the "hidden Mickey" game to make the 80 minutes pass quickly. Because of my awesome gaming skills, I was the family winner of the ride! High Score for Mom! It was truly worth the wait and was a great start to the day.
We watched a stunt car show and Muppets 3D show. Wandered around all the fun "sets" that Hollywood Studios has to offer. The boys were not at all interested in the Rock 'n' Roll Coaster or Tower of Terror (save Jake, that is). So we opted for spending the afternoon going back to E.P.C.O.T touring the World Showcase so we were free to stay at the Magic Kingdom or at a water park on Friday. Jake did decide to become a "pin trader" and he was able to make his first "trade" before we left.
Even though I felt like we missed out on a lot of what Hollywood Studios had to offer, the boys (and I for that matter) wanted to explore more of the World Showcase. Nick and Jake were especially interested in making it to Japan to check out the Pokemon in the gift shop. :) We verified that Mexico does make the best Margaritas and we thoroughly enjoyed the 360 degree look at China. We saw princesses and perused the Japanese gift shop and took in the rest of the character topiaries around E.P.C.O.T.
We canceled our dinner reservations at a 50's Diner when we left Hollywood Studios, so we had to "punt". We ended up walking to the Grand Floridian to check it out and were able to be seated for dinner even without reservations. Good karma compared to Sunday. The dinner was wonderful, but we decided that the Polynesian was probably more our style. It wasn't nearly as formal and was more laid back. The Grand Floridian was a beautiful resort and channeled the Hotel Del completely. There was a "big band" playing in the balcony overlooking the lobby and there were lovely boutiques that I would have enjoyed, but it was late and we wanted to see the fireworks. We walked back to our room past the Luau Cove and could see some of the show The Polynesian puts on nightly. The boys decided they really would not have wanted to go, so I did feel better about not making those reservations. The fireworks over the water were stunning. Sam said it was the best vacation we had ever taken. Again, made me feel so happy.
Thursday - March 17 ~ Animal Kingdom
Top O' the morning! We were off to Animal Kingdom via bus. We had decided to walk over to the transportation station instead of waiting at the hotel. It proved to be a better idea, much quicker and not nearly as many people heading to that park.
We walked straight back to the Kilimanjaro Safari. We decided to just ride it since the line wasn't too long. It really was fun and we saw some great animals. The ride is in a jeep, the "story" is that we are going on a 2 week trip so we are loaded down with luggage. The rest of Africa was fun and we made a train ride up to Rafiki's Planet Watch. It was a fun ride to see some "back lot" spaces for the Safari animals and the jungle looked very authentic. I was very impressed with how each of the sections looked so realistic and it truly felt like you had traveled to Africa or Nepal.
We lunched in Nepal. It was really good! We listened to monkeys squeal and then went to watch them before heading to the Kali River Rapids. The rapids was fun, we opted to NOT get the ponchos. Jake got SOAKED! Sam got fairly wet, but it was still fun. Not nearly long enough for Sam. We ended up making a Mickey shirt purchase so Jake could at least get out of his wet shirt. We went to It's Tough Being a Bug. Very cute and the theater was underneath the Tree of Life. Finally, we had put off the inevitable ride on Everest! We had a Fast Pass which made the wait non-existent. We pretty much got right on. It may have been providential for the wait would have been agonizing for the boys. It was pretty scary, but I thought it was fun! Nick decided one ride would be enough forever, but Sam and Jake thought they would probably have ridden it again if we had the time.
We had the chance to go see the Lion King performance and it was really fun! Made me want to make sure we are able to see the Broadway musical if it comes back to Des Moines.
Dino World seemed very much out of place, but we did go check it out none the less. It was fun, but just didn't fit in with the rest of the areas of the Animal Kingdom.
We had dinner reservations at Wolfgang Puck's in Downtown Disney, so we had to catch the bus. Of course, Puck's was on the exact opposite side of Downtown Disney from where the bus dropped us off, so it was a race to make it over there, but the meal was good. Not as good as the Grand Floridian, but tasty. We did have the advantage of meandering back through the shops and listening to fun musicians even one fluent on the didgeridoo. There was a ginormous Disney store and a Lego store.
Friday - March 18 ~ Back to Magic Kingdom
We decided to go back to Magic Kingdom and make the most of our last day. We sprinted to Splash Mountain and rode it first thing. No wait just jumped right on. Nick wasn't sure he would ever need to ride again, and Sam go a bit wet, but it was another fear conquered on our trip. We then rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twice because it had become a FUN ride rather than a fear.
We tried to ride as many rides as we could before lunch. We rode on The Tea Cups and Dumbo, Space Mountain and took in Mike's Laugh Floor again.
Lunch was at the Crystal Buffet. We saw and photographed Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eyeore, too. It was the beginning of a 6,000 calorie day of eating.
We enjoyed the parades, the sun and took the water taxi over to dinner at the Wilderness Lodge. Dinner was delicious. The Lodge serves food from the Northwest. Scott had buffalo and I had a shrimp and crab hot pot. Sam had salmon and Nick and Jake had chicken and pasta.
After dinner it was back to the Magic Kingdom to close down the park. We rode Space Mountain twice more, watched the fireworks and laser show and then it was off to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which we rode 6 more times back to back. We rode Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Magic Carpets. It was the stroke of 1am as we walked out of the park.
Saturday - March 19 ~ Aloha Mickey!
Finally, a day to sleep in. We had to check out at 11am, but our flight didn't leave until 4:45pm. Our shuttle left at 1:45pm, so we had time to have one last lunch and dip in the Volcano Pool before bidding farewell. It was so nice to soak up a bit more sun. The weather was perfect the entire week. The warm felt so good. The boys are already talking about coming back or even taking a cruise NEXT TIME. This week was not at all relaxing, but it was super-de-duper fun and we definitely made memories that will not soon be forgotten.
