The Lessons Learned Trip Report Oct 4-9, 2009
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B.M. · 10-22-2009, 05:39 PM

My dd (8) was crazy about the fountains also! Can't wait to hear how Crystal Palace goes.....

CollinsFamily · 10-22-2009, 06:18 PM

Great update, and a wonderful lesson! We've never done the barbershop before, but were seriously considering it for DS on our upcoming trip.

jagmom08 · 10-23-2009, 10:38 PM

Again, I don’t remember the exact time we got into CP, but it probably was close to the 20 minutes late that the hostess mentioned. The table was decorated with a streamer and some confetti, for dd’s birthday. She turned 2 on this day. I felt a little bad that she didn’t have a birthday party with friends and family back home, but Disney World is probably a good substitute, right?

We got our drink orders and then dh headed up to the buffet to get food for the kids. Then I got my turn. I mostly went for the salads, as I wasn’t hungry for the hot food since it was so hot outside. The Honey-Lime Fruit Salad was awesome, the lime gave it a nice bite. There also was a really good tomato salad and a Cucumber and Ginger Salad that was very refreshing. I didn’t get to try any of the desserts because about the time I was going to head up for that, ds decided he would announce to the whole restaurant that he needed to potty.

The character interaction went way better than I expected. I had supremely low expectations of ds and dd interacting with any characters. True to form, ds said he was scared right away, but he did submit to having his picture taken with them. However, by the time Piglet came over, he was really excited. He gave Piglet a high-five and was actually smiling and acting happy. I didn’t try to have dd in the pictures since was scared and I didn’t want to push it. I was pleasantly surprised that all of the characters came around to our table right away when we got seated, so this meal did take nearly as long as I feared. All in the all, I give the Crystal Palace a huge thumbs up and would definitely make a point to eat there the next time we go to Disney. The only negative was probably our server, as he was a bit slow.

After finishing our meal, we headed over to Buzz Lightyear to use our fastpasses. When we got there, it was only a 10 minute wait and the line was moving really fast, so we didn’t even use them. I figured if we liked it, we would use our FP for a second ride. Ds and dd didn’t really seem that into the ride. I had meant for dh and dd to ride in their own car, but dh was confused, so we all crammed into one vehicle. I think ds would have enjoyed it more if he would have gotten to shoot his own gun. Plus, I think he expected to see Buzz in the ride and not just in the queue. Dh thought they did like it though. At any rate, no one cried during it, so I will take that as a good sign.

On a side note, I had brought along touring plans from the Unofficial Guide, as well as TGM. I basically didn’t use them at all. For reasons that will become apparent later, it just wasn’t going to work for this trip.

After leaving Buzz, we were headed over to Toon Town so Jack could play at Donald’s Boat. On the way there, I noticed Tomorrow Land Speedway was only a 5 minute wait, so we stopped at did that. On the whole, this ride is something I won’t make an effort to ride again. The ride is too jerky and even ds didn’t get into it, even though dh let him steer. Dd was not impressed with my driving.

Our next stop was Donald’s Boat. This was definitely a highlight for ds. He loved the water shooting up from the ground, so we stripped him down to shorts and let him go. Dd wasn’t as receptive to the getting wet part. She just liked to run around. After we played there for awhile, dh and ds decided to ride the train back to Main Street and dd and I walked back. It was slow going as dd decided she needed to walk and “help” push the strollers.

On the way back, I stopped at Casey’s and got a pop and a brownie. I ended up eating the brownie later in the week. I can honestly say the brownie from the Target food court was much better.

We took the ferry back to the parking lot and made our way back to the hotel. The kids seemed pretty keyed up and dh and I were really sweaty so we decided to hit the pool to cool off and hopefully burn off some energy. It seemed like every time we would get back to the room and get cool, the kids would be raring to go again.

We got to bed kind of late, especially for the kids. It was probably close to 10 p.m. This would prove to a be a mistake, but you will have to stay tuned to find out why.

Lesson Learned: Character meals are totally worth it. Don’t try to do too much on the first day, although we wouldn’t learn this until the next day.

One thing I did notice is that Main Street seemed small to me. I don’t know if I just built it up in my mind or it looks bigger in pictures, but it seemed not as wide as I thought it should be.

CollinsFamily · 10-23-2009, 11:21 PM

Great update! DH and I love the Crystal Palace and look forward to taking both kids there for the first time VERY soon! Donald's boat looks like a lot of fun, too.

B.M. · 10-24-2009, 09:15 AM

Glad the kids enjoyed Crystal Palace and you ds enjoyed Donalds Boat! Can't wait to hear more......

**Colexis Mom** · 10-24-2009, 11:55 AM

Glad you had a great time at CP!

debrabrown · 10-24-2009, 06:04 PM

CP is always a winner! Yep, the first day you can get carried away then the kids hit the wall and the bottom falls out... least that's what happens with us!!

disneydreamer33 · 10-24-2009, 06:18 PM

Glad DS warmed up to the characters. Hopefully he was raring to go when seeing them from now on.
CP sounded great. We have never eaten there. I think mostly because of the long wait everyone always seems to mention.
We try not to do to much on the first day either. Just a few things and then back to the resort to sleep and get ready for our first full day.

Tawnya · 10-24-2009, 09:21 PM

Great update cant wait to hear more!

**KMB733** · 10-26-2009, 04:19 PM

Great time at CP!

jagmom08 · 06-03-2010, 11:25 AM

Okay, its been a long time, but I think I am going to try and finish this trip report. I really need a Disney fix. lol Anyway, I think after 9 months, the less than magical momments will be funnier to me.

jagmom08 · 06-03-2010, 11:34 AM

So, the plan for today was to go to DHS and hit Toy Story Mania first thing. I got up at 6:30 so I could get showered and ready to go and then we planned on waking up the kids at 7:15 or so. At home the kids go to bed around 8 p.m and they sometimes get up as early as 6:30 a.m. even when they stay up late. I was hoping that would happen now. Unfortunately for me, they must have been tired after not sleeping well the night before. Dd was picking up a cold and she kept waking up coughing, therefore, dh and I kept waking up. I don’t think it helped the POFQ has double beds and our mattress was pretty hard.

Depsite being up late, everyone got dressed and we got to DHS early. As a matter of fact, it turned out to be too early, so we got held at the turnstiles. This was basically a disaster for us. We couldn’t let ds and dd out of their stroller because there were so many people around, so they didn’t like that. Also, the American Idol people were out recruiting and ds kept screaming that it was too loud. This blows me away, because ds is a very loud kid, but apparently he only likes it when he is loud.

Everyone was tired and with the heat and the waiting; it was a bad combination. Dh kept looking at me and I thought he was looking at me like, “Why did we come here?” and I just felt like we had made the biggest mistake ever. (For the record, he said he was looking at me like,"What should we do?" )
There were a few tears shed, mostly by me. I know it sounds melodramatic and it probably was. Even though I tried to have low expectations, apparently they weren't low enough. lol

So after waiting probably 45-60 minutes, they finally opened the gates and let us in.
I completely abandoned any plans to do TSM. I knew that ds and dd weren’t going to be able to handle any more waiting and the crowd seemed so big, I was sure the lines would be out of control. This was about the time that I stopped taking pictures. It seemed like every time I took out my camera, the kids just got even more aggravated.

After wandering around and basically sulking (shame on me), I decided to salvage something of the day and at least do something. So, after reevaluating the planned activities, I decided we should try the Playhouse Disney show. Unfortunately this meant more waiting, but the kids got out of their strollers and ran around for a little while. We got into show and sat on the floor. The kids really weren’t into the show at all. They watch Playhouse Disney and Handy Manny and everything, but they just couldn’t sit still. We ended up leaving the show early. I think it just wasn’t interactive enough for them. They are definitely doers, not watchers, if that makes sense.

Our next stop was the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground. But first, a stop for a frozen raspberry lemonade for the kids to share. Except for one place we went this week (not here), people were happy to split drinks like this for us. The kids loved the frozen drink. So, we finished that up and headed into the playground. Ds loved it. He kept calling it the Jungle and asking to go back. Dd liked it too. I thought it was really hot in there, even though they do have quite a bit of shade rigged up. We couldn’t stay very long though, because we had to head over to Hollywood & Vine for lunch. We had an ADR at 11 a.m. which I think worked out very well since that was the start of lunch service. So, we got seated right on time.

I would definitely go back to Hollywood & Vine. The food was very good. There was a beef dish that dh really enjoyed and again, the salads were very good. Dh and I thought the kids chicken nuggets were excellent, as well. Ds and dd were still very crabby from the heat and the waiting, so when the characters came around, I tried to wave them off. June did stop and try to talk to ds and he got upset with her. She went over the handler and pretended to cry, so ds felt bad and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. It was pretty cute.

I did get to try the desserts here and they were excellent. The apple crisp with vanilla sauce was especially yummy.

After H&V, the kids wanted to feed the ducks that were swimming in the pond next to H&V. I know that it is probably bad to feed the ducks, but the kids were so excited to see them that I couldn’t turn them down. At least they found one thing they enjoyed at DHS, even if it was only the ducks. So, we snuck a piece of bread out of the restaurant and fed them. After that, we decided to get back to the hotel and take a nap. Unfortunately, as we are getting organized and back in the strollers, ds tries to keep feeding the ducks, despite having no bread. So, one of the ducks mistakes his pudgy white finger for a piece of bread and takes a nip at him. Ds was not happy. Luckily, a Cars bandaid solved that problem. Of course, dd then claimed to have an boo-boo on her finger and needed a bandaid as well. Yeah for band-aids!

After the way the morning had went, we decided to just scrap the plans I had for the afternoon and head back to the hotel. I was not feeling like we were in the happiest place on earth. It felt like we had made a huge mistake coming here, although in hindsight, it was probably my expectations being too high, even though I tried to keep them low.

Lesson learned: Do not plan a busy morning after a late night.