Alice, Mickey, and Pooh Bear ... Oh my! A First Timer's Trip Report -- Updated 8/19 - Page 12 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Wonderful pictures around the resort! all the Toy Story stuff! Lazy days or mornings can be very refreshing at WDW! Cant' wait to see if you got the extra week!
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
You guys got some really fun photos in the Toy Story Section! I can't wait to hear about the backyard BBQ and whether or not you got to extend your vacation!
That is the question isn't it? Adding another week to our trip would be an absolute dream, but there was a lot to consider if we wanted to do it. The biggest being whether my husband could get off of work. He made the phone call to his work, telling me that we better do it if he gets a yes. He spoke to two of his bosses and after a few call backs and checking of schedules, they finally let him know that it would be fine!! Yay! Biggest hurdle overcome.
The next hurdle in planning our second week was to actually book the week with Disney. The week we were currently on involved free dining, and it would be nice if we could continue that. So I headed down to the concierge desk to discuss the details with them. They were excited to help me, and made a call to their reservation center right there. They put me on the line with someone, and while he was looking at my options, he asked me what the best part of my trip was so far. I told him it was actually our mousekeeper, Ada. I think that threw him for a loop, but hey, it's true!
The reservationist was trying to find me any deals he could. Unfortunately, my current week could not just be extended, and for the week I wanted a new reservation, there was no free dining or room discounts. Those started the day after we would be leaving. Even though it was disappointing to not get a deal of some kind, it was still cheaper to add this week on while we were here then to travel all the way down again at another time, so I went ahead and did it. The gentleman at the concierge desk made sure we would have the same room again when we "checked in" for our second week. This was great because it meant we didn't have to move all our stuff!
I headed back to the room to tell Kris. There were still a few other details to be handled:
1. Someone to watch our cat for another week (Had a friend go talk to my neighbor who was doing it, and they agreed to do it for another week. They are cat fanatics, so they didn't mind at all.)
2. Call the place we left our car at the airport to extend another week. (They had no issue with this. Glad I wouldn't come home to a car they sold because they thought it was abandoned!)
3. Get new airline tickets. (Booked on Jet Blue this time!)
4. Get some laundry done! (We only had enough clothes for a week, so I used some of our penny press quarters to get some much needed laundry done.)
But the most important thing we had to do was tell Kolby. To say he was excited would be putting it mildly.
I mean this was worth it if for no other reason than someday he will tell his kids how his parents extended their vacation for an extra week, and it was the best.thing.ever.
Once the excitement died down, it was time to head on over to Mickey's Backyard BBQ. We left our room at about 4:00 and took a bus to Magic Kingdom, from there we took a ferry to the Wilderness Campground where the backyard BBQ is held.
This was our first time on a Ferry at Disney, and as we discovered while we were waiting for the boat, Kolby's first time ever. he was a bit nervous to get on, but I told him it would be a very gentle ride. He ended up enjoying it very much.
The view from the water was awesome, as you all know, these pictures do not do it justice at all:
We arrived, very happy, at our destination.
We pulled up at about 5:15. We were pretty early, I think there were literally only 5 families there with us (all of which came with us on the ferry). As we arrived it had started sprinkling. We have had slight rain for 20 minutes or so for most of our trip, so I really wasn't that worried.
We got checked in, and of course I had all the info I needed in my Passporter!
I do have to say I carried this everywhere with me, and it was so handy to have each day's reservations in the pockets. it truly saved me from having to worry about that type of thing while we were down there. I wouldn't do a Disney vacation without one ever again!
By the time we were checked in, it was sprinkling a little harder. We were fine standing under the trees, but the crew at the BBQ let us know that we would be let in early. I guess they usually keep everyone outside right up until the start of the show, but because of the rain we could come in and be seated early. They finally let us in at 5:45.
They seated us at a picnic table, and we were told we could have some ice cream and drinks. We took the down time to make some tentative plans for next week at Disney, and to marvel at the fact that we just added a whole week to our vacation! It was nice to have more time to visit everything we wanted to now, and to take a day to truly relax and rest (well possibly, you know how it goes! )
So of course Kolby jumped up and grabbed a Mickey bar. They had Lemonade and Fruit Punch for us to drink as well. The place was pretty quiet at this point, as not many people were showing up yet. It had also started pouring out. I was so glad we had chosen to do the BBQ today, as any park would have been miserable. This was the hardest and longest rain (it rained the entire night) we saw our entire 2 week vacation, so we were glad to be under some covering, but still having a good time. Since it was still pretty quiet, we grabbed a quick picture by the stage.
At around 5:50, Chip and Dale came out to greet those of us that were there. They gave some hugs ...
and posed for a picture ...
or two ....
or three ....
Dinner was coming up soon and there were other characters that we had yet to see. More and more people were showing up at this point, and it was getting more and more crowded. How did the rest of our night turn out?
How awesome that you were able to add an extra week to your vacation! I'm loving the pictures so far of Mickeys BBQ, we've never done it but woud like to one day.
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How awesome that you were able to add an extra week to your vacation! I'm loving the pictures so far of Mickeys BBQ, we've never done it but woud like to one day.
It was a lot of fun, but it's also A LOT of people in a smallish space. Not sure I would do it again, but I am glad i did it once.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jandsdennis
That must have been exciting to be able to add another week. Wow what fun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by southerngirl1014
How amazing you got to extend your trip!
Thanks ladies!! It was so special to be able to extend our vacation like that!!
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After meeting Chip & Dale again, we headed over to say hi to Goofy who was doing a meet & greet across the "barn". First Kolby ...
Then Kris ...
Then all of us ...
We got our autographs and headed back to our table. At 6:00 the food came out, and it looked super yum!
It was all buffet style and included ribs, burgers, chicken, hot dogs, corn bread, corn, mac & cheese, potato salad, salad, and beans.
Luckily for us, the food tasted as good as it looked.
Then it was time for dessert. A Mickey ice cream bar seemed like the best idea to fill that order.
After eating, Kolby went and hung out by the stage for a wee bit ...
until the emcees for the night came out.
The emcees called out some friends to have a dance party with all the kids. There was Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Chip & Dale.
All the kids lined the outside of the dance floor as the characters did a little special dance for them.
Finally they got the chance to join their friends on the dance floor and Kolby got down and boogied with Mickey ...
and Goofy.
After a bit, the boys decided that the music was too loud and it was becoming very crowded at this point. They were ready to head back to the room.
I thought it was probably a good idea as well, since once the party ended and all those people tried to leave by Ferry, things could get hairy real quick!
So we headed down to the line for the Ferry. The line to Magic Kingdom was pretty long already. So rather than wait for the second boat, we followed some other patrons and hopped to the other ferry which was going to the Contemporary. We figured we could take the monorail to the Magic kingdom from there.
We got to the Contemporary in short order and wandered around a bit trying to figure out how to get to the monorail. We finally found it, and luckily the line wasn't long, though it was a bit of a wait for one to arrive. Kolby was very nervous to get on, but I explained that it was no faster than the people mover.
Once he was seated, and the monorail got moving, he actually enjoyed the ride.
We arrived safe and sound at Magic Kingdom. The line for All Star Movies was quite long at this point. When the bus arrived, it was clear we weren't going to be making it on without standing, something I could not do.
So, we hopped out of line and got on the All Star Music bus as the line was exceptionally short. We got seats, and figured we could hoof it over to Movies once we got there.
Once we arrived at Music, the bus cleared out quick. We stopped and asked the driver how we would walk from where we were to All Star Movies. He offered at this point to drive us over there. We were so excited that he was nice enough to do this! Just another bit of Disney Magic. Another family popped their head back on the bus and asked if he was going to All Star Movie. Apparently they followed us at Magic Kingdom from the Movies line to the Music line. So they hopped back on the bus and enjoyed the ride over to Movies as well.
Once we arrived at Movies, we headed into the gift shop to see if there were any good pins to trade. Then we headed back to the room and zonked out pretty quick.
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all the Toy Story stuff! Lazy days or mornings can be very refreshing at WDW! Cant' wait to see if you got the extra week! 
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