This is a trip report from May 24th, 2010.
We spent the morning at Epcot. There was a little hiccup with the buses and we ended up not getting to Epcot until 8:50 am. That does happen occasionally but hopefully that was the only time this trip. I sent Jason ahead of us to Fastpass Soarin and Test Track (note: neither me nor Jacob were interested in riding so he used 2 park tickets at each location.)
We waited for Daisy for about 10 minutes. She is one of the hardest characters to meet! She isn’t everywhere like the Fab Five. Then we went to meet Stitch. Unfortunately he had to go make a phone call before it was our turn, but I had the best time talking to the Cast Member. He was from a town about 45 minutes from me! But Stitch returned after about 5 minutes and he and the kids had a great time together!
Then we headed over to Epcot’s Character Spot. By now it was 9:20 and the line was about 15 minutes long. Had the hiccup with the buses not happened, we would of been here sooner. But oh well. It is air conditioned waiting!
We got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Goofy. Then when we went to exit, Jasmine was greeting off in the corner. Jacob would not talk to her! She spent at least 5 minutes with the kids trying to get their attention! Always remember to look for the extra character when you go to leave. (Last year it was Mary Poppins!)
After this, we went to do Living with the Seas with Nemo and Friends. Jacob loved the ride! He had so much fun looking for Nemo! But unfortunately he was in a sour mood afterward and so he and I ended up browsing the gift shop while Jason and Emily saw Turtle Talk with Crush.
After this, we headed to ride Soarin. We did a child swap and Jacob and I went to get a snack from Sunshine Seasons. While Emily and Jason were riding, Jen texted me to let me know she was in the parks. She came over to have a muffin with me. (If you haven’t already, you should check out her blog Coupons and Cakes!) We had a great chat! She and her husband just celebrated their first anniversary! Woo hoo!!
We then headed over to the other side of the parks so Emily and Jason could ride Test Track. You know both Test Track and Soarin have these long videos for you to watch. It really takes a long time. Blah.
Jacob and I went to play on the playground at Mission Space. (To get to this, you enter the gift shop and walk to the right. You can’t miss it.) But we didn’t play long because he was mr. grumpy. So we browsed the gift shop and he talked me into a $15 set of cars and a $6 set of suckers. (eye roll) I think he’s down to $61 for souvenirs. (each kid has $100 in birthday money they saved to spend)
By now it was 1 pm and time to head back to the resort. We got to our stop just as the bus was arriving! We had a great chat with another couple that was celebrating their 1st anniversary and my daughter decided to give them 2 of her mickey suckers. She decided! I didn’t even have to suggest it. What a sweet gesture for her to do!
We stopped by the resort gift shop on our way to eat and she got a $15 set of Peter Pan figurines (she’s also down to $61) and I bought myself a lanyard. I decided that since the kids aren’t really into pin trading, that I was going to wear the pins and do all the trading. It was $8 but it’s a big, nice, sturdy lanyard with Tinker Bell on it. So cute!
We ate lunch at the cafeteria and now the kids are napping and hubby is doing laundry. Woo hoo!
Recap:
Epcot – 8:50 am to 1 pm
These are our wait times:
Daisy meet and greet – 10 minutes
Stitch meet and greet – 7 minutes
Epcot Character Spot – 15 minutes
Jasmine – 1 minute
Living with the Sea/Turtle Talk with Crush – 5 minute wait for the show
Soarin (twice) / muffin with Jen – 1 hour total (5 minute wait with Fastpass each time)
Test Track – 5 minutes with fastpass
Playground at Mission Space – no wait
We decided to spend the evening at the Magic Kingdom so we could see the Spectromagic Parade. We got to the Magic Kingdom around 5 pm just in time to see the Dream Comes True show. But during the show it started thundering, so they canceled it. We ducked into Cosmic Rays for an early dinner. It was packed! We hung out until around 6 pm. My husband had grabbed us a Fastpass as soon as we had entered the park, so we headed towards Tomorrowland so we could ride Buzz Lightyear. Well it wasn’t quite time to ride it, so we hopped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. We ended up staying on it for 3 trips! The kids loved it!
After the kids FINALLY had their fill, we went to ride Buzz with our Fastpasses. Emily and I were more interested in spinning the car around then trying to get the highest score. We had a blast!
Then we began to slowly make our way towards Liberty Square so we could see the Spectromagic Parade. We took our time browsing in the shops and I picked us up some funnel cakes from Sleepy Hollow. We picked some seats on the ground in a GREAT spot and enjoyed chatting with our neighbors. The Cast Members also brought out some hula hoops for the kids to play with.
We spent an hour waiting for the show, but the time flew by and the kids were so good! When the show finally started, it was so worth the wait. We had the best time!
By now it was 9:40 pm, so we dashed to Fantasyland to ride Pooh and Snow White before Wishes. Then we made it just in time to see Tinker Bell fly before the fireworks started. The show was great! The kids really enjoyed it.
The crowds and the wait for the buses after Wishes was NOT great. It took us 1 hour 20 minutes to get out of the park and back to our resort after the show! So in my opinion, it is BEST to be at the end of Main Street for the Fireworks, even if you have to wait an hour for your spot.
Recap:
Magic Kingdom from 5:10 – 11:30:
Dinner at Cosmic Rays – 5:15 – 6:00
People Transit Authority 3xs – No wait. 6:10 – 6:50
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin – used Fastpass. 5 minute wait
Browsed shops until 8:00 pm
Selected seat to wait on Spectro Magic and snacked – 8:00 pm – 9:40 pm
Pooh with Fastpass – 1 minute wait
Snow White – no wait
Wishes – no wait
Transportation to resort by bus: 1 hour, 20 minutes (note: this was the time it took to get down main street and then another 30 minutes at the bus stop plus the 15 minute bus ride.)
Kristen says
Kristin, I agree with everything that you said. We had several of the same experiences as you did…and loved every minute!!!
1. Fastpasses are awesome!
2. Epcot Character Spot is a must! It’s the best and easiest place to see the characters and to take a few minutes with them and get autographs and pictures. We have great pictures from there!
3. The Parade is also a must! We loved it so much that we actually saw it twice! My daughter just loved Peter Pan and he came right up to us and sprinkled us with Pixie Dust
Disney is definately the happiest place on Earth…and reviewing the memories take me right back to the happy place :)
Julie Isbell says
kristin – another great post! thanks for allowing us to re-live your trip! even with the few “hiccups” along the way, we always need to remember that we are at disney! and it is THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!!! so glad to read that you guys never lose site of that! how can you?!?!?!? everything just seems better at disney – even little bumps in the road! : )