Our 1st Disney Vacation! Definitely not our last!

[*goofy'sgirls*]

Hey everyone! I promised I'd report back so here it is. Our trip which took place from April 29th to May 5th was the best week of our families life. My daughter's are still talking disney. We stood at the All-Star Movies. Which was wonderful our kids loved the pool and it was clean that's what counts. We were hardly in our room anyway.

Well let me tell u we did spend a small fortune but that's what we had expected anyway so no surprise there. We did do alot of the tips u guys gave thanks by the way. But we still wound up spending alot.

Anyways, we did 4 character dinings my fav. was the Playhouse Disney one. My daughters just flipped for JoJo and Goliath and the Little Einsteins. We had park hoppers so we did Magic Kingdom in 3 parts too much for just one day. The 1st day we arrived it was EMH so we wound up getting back around 1:30 which didn't phase my kids at all they were up and ready to go bright and early. We purchased the refillable mugs which saved us a bit on drinks. My kids also loved those Mickey waffles (silly).

My favorite rides in MK had to be Small World and Pooh. I'm a big kid at heart my kids loved those and Peter Pan. However, my youngest loves Snow White but the ride frightened them. They still say how scary it was. I really enjoyed the Laugh Floor. I found it to be so silly and as u can tell we're a goofy family.

My kids began collecting Pins of their favorite attractions at each park. So we would buy a Theme Park pin then an attraction pin. Let me tell u that adds up. Towards the last few days we actually started trading which was the biggest thing for them cause they got to choose which one they would trade for.

Another weakness for me was the Christmas store at DD. Oh My Gosh! My tree has been Disney for about 6 years now so needless to say I collect ornaments. This was like the worst place my husband could have taken me to. I went completely nuts and spent way to much but my tree has alot of new additions this year. I love snowglobes but was smart about this one. The day before we left I went to our local mall to trade in some cash for Disney dollars and saw they were having a huge sale on snowglobes. Every snowglobe was $39. I bought five and plus I had a coupon I would up paying something like $160 for 5 $100 snowglobes. I knew my vacation was gonna start off on the right foot.

We went to all 4 parks and Blizzard Beach twice. Once to the water park another to play mini golf. So much fun. My girls were in 2 parades and got certificates for completing them. They also got to ride at the front of the monorail. So cool! We saw wishes and Spectromagic about 2 times. And of course my all time fav. Fantasmic! My kids loved all the 3-D shows and me and my husband just loved The festival of the Lion King. However, I caught the worst allergies at Animal Kingdom. Not a good day for me. But my kids enjoyed it. We didn't get to see the Nemo Musical though a def. for next time.

I loved the whole Nemo attraction at Epcot though. And Epcot was great my littlest daughter could not get enough of the Three Caballeros. She found Hasta La Vista to be the funniest thing ever. The lady in front of us just laughed the whole ride and asked if she was always this silly. To which we both replied, YES! We ate at the Italian Pavillian my food wasn't all that great but the rest of my family really enjoyed theirs. As u know it's the Flower and Garden Festival so we got to see all the beautiful flowers, one word Gorgeous!

Now MGM, which I have to say may have been my second fav. next to MK..I really enjoyed seeing all the characters and just the whole park set up. Loved it! We ate breakfast early there so we were there when they opened up the park so got our autographs and pics early. Then we went for our afternoon break at the hotel and returned for Fantasmic. Wonderful!

The afternoon breaks helped alot the weather was well in the 80's everyday so my kids would get really cranky if they didn't have one. The waits on the lines were pretty short the longest waits were for the Safari at AK and Peter Pan at MK. Each about a half hour everything else was about 5 mins. or less. It wasn't crowded during the days just at night at MK as u would imagine.

Since we stood at a WDW Resort we did have bus service which I would say didn't disappoint. There was one day that was horrible but it was our fault we stood til closing at MK and got stuck waiting well over an hour for a bus. But besides that buses came really quick and weren't packed at all. Now Magical Express was another story. Going to our resort was fine however going to the airport took nearly 2 hours. Our bus driver drove slower than a turtle walks. I swear a saw a few pass us by. She made required stops at other hotels which I understand but once she got going come on took forever. We didn't get to enjoy the Orlando airport which we had planned on doing.
But whatever.

Now I have a question. I shipped our purchases back and received them fairly quickly paid for express. But however 2 items came damaged. I contacted Disney and Fedex and they said they would assign an adjuster and issue a refund but I want to know if this is common. Has this happened to anyone of u guys before? And if so how long does the process take? I want to replace them asap.

And finally my husband and I are planning a Disney Cruise next and I want to look into the Disney Vacation Club. Are any of u members? And if so how does it work? And what can I expect on the Cruise?

Oh did I mention we bought pal Mickey on day one and he was a great investment. But guess what my Oldest lost him on Day 5 and I'm still feeling the lose. Do u know where besides Ebay I might find an inexpensive replacement?

Thanks for reading my report and plan to start a new countdown soon.

*goofy'sgirls*

[mrsgaribaldi]

Sounds like a great trip. Sorry about Pal Mickey and your allergies. I can't help you with any of your questions, sorry. Thanks for sharing

[sleepingbooty]

Glad you had a wonderful first trip!

You can find all kinds of info about Disney Vacation Club (DVC) and Disney Cruises in their respective forums right here on Intercot!

[DizneyFreak2002]

Thanks for sharing your report.

[faline]

What a fun trip you had! I can hear your excitement and enjoyment in your report!

[SBETigg]

I'm always happy to hear about other people falling in love with WDW! How great that your whole family had so much fun! And what a nice trip report. I love the Christmas ornaments, too. Great souvenirs. You'll be reminded of your trip all over again at Christmas. And I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more of you around INTERCOT. It's addictive.

[rhonhod]

Sounds like you had a great trip, we are headed for our first trip in 24 days. I enjoyed reading your trip report.

[hoop de do]

What do you think gang? I believe we have another INTERCOTEE. We have lots of room so climb aboard *goofy'sgirls*, this here's the fastest ride on the internet.
Thanks so much for your report. It sounds alot like our first trip a long time ago. Now have fun planning your next.

[baby minnie's mommy]

Glad you had so much fun!! I love the Pooh ride, too!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the report!

[T-Belle]

Thanks so much for posting. I'm glad your 1st visit went so well. I am sorry about you allergies and your lost Pal Mickey. I really don't know where you would find another except Ebay, that's where I got mine.

[Bethanymouse]

I am glad you enjoyed your trip! Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing!

[January-2007]

What an amazing first trip to Walt Disney World! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!!!

[ChipnDaleGal]

It is always so much fun to read a trip report from a "first timer" to WDW! It makes me relive the excitement and wonder of my first trip. I am so glad that you all had such a fun and happy week together. Thank you very much for sharing it with us. Sorry about your Pal Mickey, I hope he was picked up by a kid that needed him.

[GreenBeetle]

That first trip is all it takes to become WDW addict! After many trips on land, we are trying the cruise for the first time in September. I'm expecting to have lots of great things to tell when we return.

[pogo]

It is always so much fun to read a trip report from a "first timer" to WDW! It makes me relive the excitement and wonder of my first trip. I am so glad that you all had such a fun and happy week together. Thank you very much for sharing it with us. Sorry about your Pal Mickey, I hope he was picked up by a kid that needed him.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

I'm so glad you and the family had such a great time ! You will love the cruise !

I'm sorry I can't answer any of your questions We are considering joining DVC and we also have a lot of questions that we are trying to get answers for.

Thanks for sharing your excitment with us.

[poeticeclipse]

Thank you for sharing your report with us! I enjoyed reading it very much!! First timers are always super fun to read.

I've been wondering about your damaged items. It seems as though it would happen a lot (Sadly). I want to buy things from the X-mas store as well but I know that they may not get to my house in one piece. How much extra did you have to pay to have them shipped to your home? Your experience makes me a bit nervous to have them ship anything back to Michigan. Sounds like the postal service doesn't take very good care of Disney's packages.

[Bethis26fan]

thanks for sharing.

[TiggeRia]

Sounds like a wonderful trip! Thanks for the report!