Our Exciting Vacation in the World

[mindflipper]

Maybe it was the fact they used the Disney card to book their reservation as part of some special package deal?

[Len90]

We have the Disney Visa as well Len. How did you guys get the $25 gift card?!

I have no idea how it happened. We booked through AAA and it might have been a special thing they were running. We also had a fireworks viewing voucher included in our booklet that was not expected.

[Soarin08]

I applaud you for breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. I'd lose my mind if I had to dine in there with that many kids, I cannot imagine the noise. Plus Playhouse Disney is a little lost on my 21yo self... now give me a Phineas and Ferb character meal (I WISH!) and we're set.

I've been tempted to get the Disney Visa (I already have a student Visa card via Wells Fargo) but I'm waiting until I get more established in my job.

[Amy]

We have the Disney Visa as well Len. How did you guys get the $25 gift card?!

I have no idea how it happened. We booked through AAA and it might have been a special thing they were running. We also had a fireworks viewing voucher included in our booklet that was not expected.

Where was the fireworks viewing area? It sounds like that one really good trip we took to DL in 2003 where we had lots of vouchers for VIP reserved viewing areas. That was awesome to have guaranteed seating ~ yes, there were chairs for parades!! ~ and some honest-to-goodness space in which to relax I think that was a Disney Visa thing....

[mindflipper]

We have the Disney Visa as well Len. How did you guys get the $25 gift card?!

I have no idea how it happened. We booked through AAA and it might have been a special thing they were running. We also had a fireworks viewing voucher included in our booklet that was not expected.

Did you use the fireworks viewing voucher?

[Brian845]

I applaud you for breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. I'd lose my mind if I had to dine in there with that many kids, I cannot imagine the noise. Plus Playhouse Disney is a little lost on my 21yo self... now give me a Phineas and Ferb character meal (I WISH!) and we're set.

I shall stand up and take a bow then, because we have done the breakfast at Hollywood and Vine not once, but twice! We'll probably do it a third time if I can convince the kids that they want to do it the next time we go, but they'll probably be too cool by then (8 and 10, respectively). Early entrance into the park makes life easier!

[Brian845]

We have the Disney Visa as well Len. How did you guys get the $25 gift card?!

I have no idea how it happened. We booked through AAA and it might have been a special thing they were running. We also had a fireworks viewing voucher included in our booklet that was not expected.

Where was the fireworks viewing area? It sounds like that one really good trip we took to DL in 2003 where we had lots of vouchers for VIP reserved viewing areas. That was awesome to have guaranteed seating ~ yes, there were chairs for parades!! ~ and some honest-to-goodness space in which to relax I think that was a Disney Visa thing....

I have to wonder if this is what they're doing with the Tomorrowland Terrace now. They used to have the Dessert Party that you could book reservations for, but while they were taking them in July, they were not booking times in August. I have not gone back to look to see if this has changed at all. We probably would have done the dessert party on our trip, but in retrospect I'm glad we didn't...it would have been way too late for the kids!

[Len90]

I think the fireworks for AAA is in front of the Plaza restaurant. You get to sit at one of the outdoor tables on that terrace there. We ended up not using it.

[mindflipper]

I think the fireworks for AAA is in front of the Plaza restaurant. You get to sit at one of the outdoor tables on that terrace there. We ended up not using it.

Doesn't sound like a bad place to me. Is that AAA firework transferrable to somebody else who could use them?

[Brian845]

I think the fireworks for AAA is in front of the Plaza restaurant. You get to sit at one of the outdoor tables on that terrace there. We ended up not using it.

We've got AAA, we'll have to see what perks we can get the next time we go. I never really thought about AAA discounts, since we were already using a discount code (one of the free play and dine ones I think).

UPDATE:

Hey, there's a AAA VIP lounge in Tomorrowland!

http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/wdwguide ... _perks.htm

[Amy]

I applaud you for breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. I'd lose my mind if I had to dine in there with that many kids, I cannot imagine the noise. Plus Playhouse Disney is a little lost on my 21yo self... now give me a Phineas and Ferb character meal (I WISH!) and we're set.

I shall stand up and take a bow then, because we have done the breakfast at Hollywood and Vine not once, but twice! We'll probably do it a third time if I can convince the kids that they want to do it the next time we go, but they'll probably be too cool by then (8 and 10, respectively). Early entrance into the park makes life easier!

I'm guessing they will have outgrown Handy Manny by then.

I think the fireworks for AAA is in front of the Plaza restaurant. You get to sit at one of the outdoor tables on that terrace there. We ended up not using it.

Doesn't sound like a bad place to me. Is that AAA firework transferrable to somebody else who could use them?

I was wondering the same thing!!

[Len90]

I think the fireworks for AAA is in front of the Plaza restaurant. You get to sit at one of the outdoor tables on that terrace there. We ended up not using it.

We've got AAA, we'll have to see what perks we can get the next time we go. I never really thought about AAA discounts, since we were already using a discount code (one of the free play and dine ones I think).

UPDATE:

Hey, there's a AAA VIP lounge in Tomorrowland!

http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/wdwguide ... _perks.htm

I think you would have to book directly through AAA to get those things. I know for the fireworks you are given a voucher. You need to make a reservation and present the voucher that has your name on it. I highly doubt it is transferrable. The other cool thing is the Diamond discount card AAA has. It gets you money off at WOD and other places in DTD.

[sroundy]

loved your story brian thanks for showing me this site

[Brian845]

loved your story brian thanks for showing me this site

Heh, glad to see you signed up! You should go back to Disneyworld soon;)

[Brian845]

Right, time to continue the trip report. By the time I get finished, it will be time to go back again!

It was around 1:30PM on Thursday, so we headed over to the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater for our 1:50 reservations. We had eaten here 10 years ago on our honeymoon, so we were looking forward to eating here again. The kids were a little unsure at first about the crazy old sci-fi movie clips, but once the Tom and Jerry short came on, they were sold (they *love* Tom and Jerry!). We took a very cool picture of the family in our car without the flash using the timer function of our camera (the table made an excellent tripod!). Our server was very good to us, and even gave us 4 free glow in the dark cups/sports bottles filled with popcorn. They must give this stuff away often, since we got a glow in the dark frisbee here on our honeymoon.

After lunch we took another ride on Toy Story Midway Mania, and afterwards purchased "Buzzy", which was T's souvenir choice for the day (he had picked it out earlier). Buzzy became a fast friend of T's, and went everywhere with us. T even taught Buzzy how to use the potty, and comforted him when he was scared on rides, which was very cute. Here is a picture of Buzzy:



It was just about 4:15 at this point, so we quickly headed over to the Disney Jr Live on Stage show at 4:20. They closed the doors just as we got there, but they very kindly let us in the side entrance. In addition to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Characters, we saw the Little Einsteins, Handy Manny, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. It was very entertaining, especially for T. He collected many of the "gold doubloons" that fell from the ceiling at the end of the Jake and the Neverland Pirates portion of the show.



With our last official part of today's plan complete, we headed back to Star Tours for another trip around a Galaxy Far, Far Away. K was disappointed that we didn't get the Hoth scene the first time around, and doubly so the second time...It was very similar to our first trip in fact. We made him happier by getting him the Lego book he had spotted earlier in the day.

With no set plan, we decided to go see the last Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular show for the day. I remember this from our honeymoon as well, and it's still a good show despite its age. The kids have not seen the Indiana Jones movies, but they were well entertained by it, and we promised them that we'd watch them when we returned home.



After the show, we decided to meander to the exit of the park and head back to the resort. Since we had a late lunch we had no set dinner plans, but we were back in time to enjoy some of the food they put out for "dinner" at the Old Faithful Club (something involving buffalo meat as I recall). I very bravely/foolishly brought the boys down to the arcade again, since K wanted another shot at playing the Golden Tee Miniature Golf game, which T went a long with as well. This time they decided that playing all 18 holes would be a good idea (we had only attempted 9 the previous night), and I stood around to make sure they didn't get too out of control or upset while playing. T eventually got tired of it and dropped out, but K played until the finish, which took about 20 minutes...A very long time for an arcade game!

We walked over to the beach so we could see the Electrical Water Pageant again. K had been building a sand castle the previous night, so he complained that he missed seeing a lot of the end of it. It was sprinkling a little bit, and quite windy, so we grabbed a few towels from the beach area in an attempt to stay dry. There was no movie on the beach tonight, I guess because of the weather (the Princess and the Frog was on the previous night), and after about 10 minutes of waiting there was an annoucement that the EWP had been cancelled because it was too windy! We headed back to the room, slightly disappointed, but I promised K we would return again the next night. We all retired relatively early for once, and got ready for the next day...a day with *no plan*!