Nala and pride do WDW 1/23-1/31/2004 UPDATED Trip Report COMPLETE!
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luvnwdwgal · 04-11-2004, 09:13 PM

What a wonderful installment! You truly had a "magical" day!

**Colexis Mom** · 04-12-2004, 10:21 AM

What a great score at 'Ohana

Glad you enjoyed breakfast, and looking forward to more

Jennifer2003 · 04-12-2004, 10:37 AM

Great update! More please!

poohsgirl · 04-14-2004, 11:53 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Okay, so now I have to get up on yet another soap box. I so often hear or read about people expecting some “MAGICAL MOMENT” to happen at WDW. These are the people that expect miracles for the price of admission. They expect CM’s to single them out of thousands of others to do something special to make a magical moment. And when it doesn’t happen, they complain about the high prices, the lack of magic and vow to never return. To that I say, Disney is filled with magic. While the CM’s go out of their way to make everyone’s visit magical, sometimes you have to find the magic within yourself. A song that touches your heart, a milestone in your child’s life, a memory from your own past. The magic of Disney is not just in the parks. It is in the movies, the music and the memories that can touch us all. It is in tapping into all of this that can make a visit to WDW a magical moment.

For Grumpy and I, the magic of Disney is seeing Kiara grow. From hearing new, very big words, to seeing her come out of her shell, it is a place where we see incredible growth. And it is only in WDW that we see that happen. That is the true magic of Disney.

Sorry, I'm done now!

[/ QUOTE ]

<font color="purple">Nala, I agree with you 100%! Magic happens when you LEAST expect it and WON'T happen if you DO expect it! Can't wait for more! </font>

Mel & Richard · 04-15-2004, 11:54 AM

Another great update! I can't believe she just came out with monorail like that.

Mel

Nala · 04-22-2004, 11:55 PM

Day 5 Dancing with Mo'Rockin and an encounter with Nemo

When we finished breakfast at Ohana, we made our way to find transportation to EPCOT. For some reason logic escaped my usually well informed Disney mind and we walked past the monorail platform and made our way to the bus stop. OK, what was I thinking? But then again, I had vowed not to think as I was on vacation. We made our way down to the bus stop and after seeing AK and MGM buses go by we assumed that transportation form the Poly to EPCOT was by monorail. DUH! Frustrated by our (or my)stupidity and the walk back to the monorail platform we elected to hail a cab. (to this day I kick myself for not going back to the monorail. Is there anything more Disney than making the loop around Spaceship Earth on the monorail?) Grumpy, who is not a fan of Disney transportation and one who wants instant gratification (although he will let the garbage sit in the kitchen for days) was happy to take a cab to EPCOT. I was too full from breakfast to argue the cost, so I hopped in and buckled the seat belts around Kiara and myself. We had a great cab driver who after asking where we were going started asking trivia questions about the park. When he asked what EPCOT stood for, I proudly proclaimed “International Prototype Community of Tomorrow”! He laughed and said you got them all right but the first one. Realizing my mistake, I quickly blurted out a correction “Experimental”. I explained that I must have had International Drive on my mind and that is what caused the confusion and my horrible mistake. Grumpy was amused that his wife, the freak of all Disney trivia freaks had blown such an obvious question. We enjoyed our ride and chatted with the driver and were at EPCOT in just a few minutes.

Once out of the cab we made our way through the gate and went to rent a stroller. Epcot was relatively quite and we had planned to take in the parts of the World Showcase we had missed on our previous visit. As we walked through Futureworld I stated to Grumpy that our budding little daredevil may like Test Track. We talked to Kiara and asked her if she would like to go on a really fast, really big car, kind of like the one at MK, and she responded with a very loud, firm “YES”. So off to Test Track we went. The line was short, even shorter than the singles line Grumpy and I had been in before during the slow season, and we were in our car in less than five minutes. Kiara didn’t show much reaction to the ride until we made the loop outside. Once we hit the outdoor track she started squealing with glee. Our little daredevil was showing no fear and loved every minute of the sixty-five mile an hour jaunt around the track!

After we embarked from Test Track, I encouraged Grumpy to take another spin on Mission Space. I assumed that since EPCOT was almost empty and Test Track had been a walk on that MS would be the same. While we waited for Grumpy to make yet another trip to the red planet I entertained Kiara in a water fountain near by. He was in and out in less than twenty minutes and Kiara had a ball splashing around and running through the water fountain. After Grumpy’s ride we made our way to the WS, starting once again with Canada. I was able to get lots of pictures I had missed the day we were there last and it wasn’t until we hit Morocco that anything really caught our attention. Mo’Rockin was coming out to play as we were walking by, so we snagged a front row seat to watch their set. Kiara was wiggling around in her stroller as the band played and I asked her if she wanted to get out. She responded with a yes and climbed out and sat on my lap. She is very fond of Mo’Rockin, as we have them on video tape from our first trip and is very fascinated by the belly dancer. Kiara was really having fun watching the band and watching Ilaham dance. After several songs, Ilaham, the belly dancer motioned Kiara to the stage to dance with her. I was concerned that Kiara wouldn’t do it, but much to my delight she ran to the stage and in her excitement tripped and fell on the stage. Poor baby, that belly dancer is almost in the princess category for awe factor and she was so smitten by her she just wasn’t watching where she was stepping. Kiara, being the rough and tumble kind of girl she is, was fine and Ilaham pulled her to her feet and the two started to dance. Kiara did a balancing act between attempting to do the dance moves and being totally enthralled with the belly dancer. She would stare at Ilaham in fascination then attempt to copy her moves. Then stop and stare at her again and then try to dance. It was precious. And yet again another magical moment. After the band finished their set we took a moment to talk with Ilaham and Ali, the lead singer. They were both very gracious and kind and I was so grateful to have seen my daughter on stage, something I never thought she would do.

We cruised our way around the WS attempting to take in all we had missed on our last day. As late afternoon approached, we realized we had no plans for dinner and started to discuss our options. While there were many places in the WS that would strike our fancy, we just were not ready to eat yet and hanging around for several hours didn’t appeal to us either. We decided to make our way back to Futureworld and see it there was anything there that we could make a later PS for. As we walked out of Canada, our Pal Mickey went off and told us about a short cut to Futureworld. He also advised us that this path was a rose garden and take the time to smell the roses. We took his advise and took the short cut. We also took his advise and took the time to not only smell the rose, but also admire the beautiful gardens around the path. Being from Illinois, and gardeners at heart, it gave both Grumpy and I great pleasure to see and admire the beautiful roses in full bloom in January. You don’t see that where we come from! We found ourselves at the Land pavilion and Grumpy exclaimed total interest.

I have tried in past visits to get Grumpy to the Land pavilion, without success. I thought this was something that would interest him as he has been in the landscaping and greenhouse business in the past, but he never seemed to be interested. On this trip as we approached the pavilion he consulted his built in Disney guide (that would be me) and asked what this building was all about. As I described what the pavilion had to offer I realized I was speaking very slowly to him and using very large hand gestures as if to get it to all sink in. I stood at the entrance of the pavilion and found myself saying “ This is the land pavilion. It

showcases how we grow things and how we have an effect on our planet. There is a boat ride through a greenhouse..................”

Enough said, he was sold. He quickly proclaimed “Well, lets go in!” We made our way into the pavilion and were greeted by a CM who told us all about the attractions in the Land. He pointed us to the Circle of Life movie which was just about to start and told us about the boat ride that was sporting a forty minute wait. We opted for the movie as I am a huge fan of the Lion King and the line was the shortest of the two. We walked right into the theater and took our seats. We were all impressed with the movie. The film itself is beautiful and delivers a powerful message. Some of those shots almost knocked my socks off. Grumpy was equally impressed and Kiara was thrilled to see Simba so it was a big hit with all of us. Now that we have seen it, it is something that we will make a point to do on future visits.

When we left the Circle of Life, our Pal Mickey went off and proclaimed that the wait for the Living with the Land was now and hour and fifteen minutes. Too long for us. This was the longest line posted during our stay and being spoiled by the short waits in the off season, one we elected to skip. Oh well, gives us something new to do next time! Grumpy wanted to check out the options for diner at the pavilion so we headed to the Garden Grill to inquire about the wait. We were informed that the next available seating would be at 8:30 PM and that was waaaaaaay to late for us since it was only 4:30 PM at the time. Word of advise here, even during slow times a PS is very much needed! We left the pavilion with no game plan for diner and decided to make a quick stop at the nearest smoking section. Luckily our bad habit forced us to an area outside the Living Seas pavilion. As we made our way out of the smoking section, we discovered a cute display of all the characters from Finding Nemo in a flower bed. We stopped to take pictures and as we did the song “Somewhere beyond the Sea” started to play and bubbles started to come out of the top of the display. We stopped to take pictures and Kiara was thrilled to see Nemo, Dori, and Gil and have bubbles flowing down around her. We took turns taking pictures of one of us with Kiara when a nice couple offered to take a family picture of us if we would take one of them. Don’t you love it when this happens? You get a great family picture and they get one too! What a great trade off. Just as we finished posing for our pictures I heard the screams of children and adults and one word rang clear. NEMO! NEMO! NEMO! As I looked to my left I saw a big plastic Nemo on wheels rolling up to the display garden. Kiara also spotted him and clapped her hands in glee and took off in a dead run towards him. Kiara had a few moments with Nemo, and I got some great shots of the two together. It was a very special moment for all of us. Not only is Kiara a big fan of Nemo, but Grumpy and I love him too. Kiara loves Nemo for Nemo. Grumpy and I love Finding Nemo for the story of a parent(s) of a child with a disability. The pictures we have of Kiara touching Nemo’s lucky fin will always hold very special, symbolic memories for us. Yet again another magical moment. And Disney, if you are listening, thank you for making a movie about a child with a disability and their overprotective parent(s ).

After our Nemo encounter we decided to leave EPCOT and head back to FW. On the bus Grumpy and I elected to go back to Trails End for diner. Once back at the cabin, Kiara expressed no interest in a short nap so we headed to Trails End. The buffet was once again filled with great food and Grumpy and I enjoyed the offerings. I filled a plate for Kiara but the poor little darling was just too tired to eat much. After several bites, she laid her head on the table and started to fall asleep. Grumpy offered his lap and Kiara curled up in a ball and laid her head on his lap and went fast asleep. Our waitress was a total sweetheart and offered to pull up another chair for Kiara to spread out on. She then said she would talk to the manager about not charging us for her meal since she ate almost nothing. Grumpy and I both express protest to this. When the CM came back with the check we were only charged for the price of a piece of pizza for Kiara’s share of the meal. Grumpy and I thought this was a very nice thing for the CM and manager to do, but we both felt a bit guilty as we had no problem paying full price for Kiara’s meal since we had taken food from the buffet for her . Yet again another magical moment and an encounter with a CM who had the guests interest at heart.

Grumpy carried our still sleeping princess out of Trails End to our golf cart. Kiara remained asleep on the short trip through the cool air back to our cabin. Once we were “home” Grumpy put Kiara in bed and we kicked back and enjoyed another quiet evening in the cabin. It was another perfect ending to another perfect day at WDW.

luvnwdwgal · 04-23-2004, 04:32 PM

What a special day you all had at Epcot!!

Mel & Richard · 04-23-2004, 05:03 PM

Another great instalment. I loved the part where she got on stage with the dancer. You can never tell when they are going to have a brave moment.

Mel

**Colexis Mom** · 04-24-2004, 11:24 AM

What a great day at Epcot. Seeing Kiara dance up on stage must have been priceless

Sorry it's all coming to an end

buckysmom · 04-24-2004, 05:33 PM

Wonderful Trip Report!
Thanks so much for sharing your adventure.

Nala · 04-24-2004, 07:06 PM

Day 6 part 1 A brief visit to MGM Wednesday January 28, 2004

Wednesday morning Kiara once again woke us up at an obscene hour. The plan for today was to visit MGM and have lunch at 50’s Prime Time. We went through our morning routine and made our way to MGM shortly after 9:00 AM. Of the four parks, this is our least favorite. There is not a lot for Kiara to be entertained with other than a few shows and she tires of them very quickly. We decided to head to RNR so I could ride my favorite ride in all of WDW. The stand by line was only 5 minutes so off I went to get my Aerosmith fix. I was able to walk right into the recording studio and shortly there after was loaded into the last car of the roller coaster. I wished I could have shared the ride with Grumpy, but still had a good time by myself. I was singing along to all the songs at the top of my lungs and as always thoroughly enjoyed the ride. This is one that never lets me down and I always come off of it feeling the pure rush of adrenaline. I found Grumpy and Kiara waiting in the gift shop and we all waited for my picture to come up. This one always cracks me up, hair flying straight back and a smile that if it was any bigger would probably run off my face! Grumpy made a few purchases in the gift shop, Kiara and I pressed a few pennies and we headed back outside. The line was still a 5 minute wait so Grumpy took a spin. We headed out and debated doing the TOT. Although Kiara could fulfill the height requirement and had successfully mastered HM, SM and TT, we felt this one may have been too much for her so we moved on.

We made our way towards LM to check the line/show time and the theater was just starting to load. We got in line and were almost to the door when Kiara proclaimed the need to use the facilities. “Now?” I asked and she responded with a very definite “YES”. So out of line we went and by the time we got out of the bathroom the doors had been closed. Grumpy slipped into the character of his name sake and expressed no desire to wait for the next show. I realized Kiara was quickly following her father’s mood and was turning into Grumpy Jr. We did a little shopping in the area and checked one of the shops for an animation cell. I had seen one on our previous trip of Lilo and Stitch signed by the producer and director and still kick myself for not buying it. This year I decided if I found one I liked, it was going home with me. Sadly I saw nothing that struck my fancy that was in my price range. The selection was very limited and I was very disappointed. We left the shop and discovered Play House Disney was just opening the doors, but Grumpy was not in the mood for a show. Bad park to be in that kind of a mood! We walked towards the Great Movie ride, but this time it was Kiara who offered protest. So we passed on that one. We wandered aimlessly for a while and found ourselves on NY street. I snapped a few pictures and we found ourselves at the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movie set. I thought this may be what Kiara needed to lift her mood so we went inside while Grumpy stood guard over the stroller.

This was our first visit to the set and I quickly realized I was in my worst NIGHTMARE! Not only was it very busy, but I realized it was a place that required both Grumpy and I to be with Kiara. She found a slide and quickly ran up the steps. I felt this was a fairly safe move and headed to the front of the slide to catch her when she came down. Much to my horror I discovered that there was not one slide, but three and all came out in different directions. I started walking in front of all three slides expecting Kiara to come shooting out of one of them at anytime. I kept waiting and pacing for what seemed an eternity but she never came! I then started looking up each slide to try to find a sign of her , fully expecting to find her sitting at the top of one. No sign of her. So now panic overcame me and I made a mad dash up the stairs hoping she wouldn’t come down as I went up. I know it sounds a little nuts to get that upset, but I was terrified Kiara would get lost and the fact that she cannot communicate well filled me with horror. Once at the top of the steps I found Kiara standing by a slide a little unsure of what to do and being pushed out of the way by some other kids. I positioned her on the first slide, told her to wait a few seconds and then ran down the steps attempting not to trample a little one in my haste . Kiara made it down the slide and I caught her at the bottom. While she was wanting to go up for another round, I had no desired to go through that panic again. I grabbed her by the hand and attempted to find another area in the playground that was suitable to both of us. One where she could have some fun and I could keep her in full view at all times. We found an area towards the back of the playground that was somewhat quiet and geared towards smaller children. Kiara had fun climbing around and was not bothered by children larger than her. She wasn’t too impressed with this area as there was no slide . I let her climb around for awhile and then pulled her away to go back to meet with Grumpy. This totally miffed her in a big bad way and it was clear to see that leaving HISTK had soured her already bad mood even more. We met up with Grumpy and he asked me what I had done to put Kiara in an even worse mood than she had been in going in. I explained what had happened inside and Grumpy agreed that I did the right thing pulling her out of the attraction. Don‘t get me wrong. This is an wonderful attraction. It just didn‘t work for us. Kiara loved it, I hated it. When we go back I will make sure that both of us go in to watch Kiara.

It was close to noon and we were all hungry and MGM was wearing thin on our nerves. Our PS for 50‘s was not until 1:00, or so I thought, so we made our way to the restaurant to see if an earlier PS may be available. We made it to 50’s shortly after noon and I went inside to inquire about moving our PS up an hour. The CM I spoke to could not find our name on the list. After what seemed a long search, I gave her our PS number to look up. She found it and it turned out that our PS was for noon, not at 1:00 like I had thought. Our table was ready after a short wait. I have no idea how I confused the time but I was grateful that we headed there early! Our lunch was good and we got a big kick out of “Mom” harassing the guests in the section behind us. She was a riot! After our lunch, it was clear to me that both Grumpy and Kiara were not having a good time so we decided to resort to plan B. Go back to the cabin, let Kiara have a short nap and go to the one place we knew would put her in a good mood, the MK.

**CRCrazy** · 04-24-2004, 09:45 PM

So sorry you didn't have a good time with Kiara in the playground - I HATE that playground!!!! Just too easy to lose them!! Of course - that's the only thing at MGM that Sarah really likes, other than RNRC and the 50's Prime Time. Glad you had a good lunch!

This park makes Sarah want to go back to the hotel to swim - everytime!!! You can set your watch by it.