Originally Posted By forcemejure DH and I are BIG Disney fans and have passed it on to our son. We had our annual Disney Holiday trip planned in Dec, but complications from DH's Cochlear surgery nixed our travel plans. I just found out a couple of days ago that I'm going to have the week of Jan. 8th off, so of course I immediately began planning an emergency trip to see the Mouse! Unfortunately, DH used up all his time-off while recovering from surgery, so he will have to miss this trip. I called on everyone I know (friends, family, mild aquaintances) and no one could come with us due to the short notice. That means it will just be DS and I for the first time EVER! :< I've got the hotel squared away, and I'm pretty comfortable in the parks, but since this is going to be a "Mommy and Me" bonding trip I wanted to do a few special things to make it especially memorable. I know the Holiday decorations will be gone by the time we arrive, and I nixed Riverside Fantasmic seating ($120 for boxed takeout desserts did not sound nice!). Any suggestions? I'm going to take him to at least one Character Meal, and probably a movie in DTD, but I think most of the guided tours would be beyond him. Is there any way to get preferred seating for a parade without going on a tour? We'll be there for 3 or 4 days, so plenty of time to take things easy and still see alot. Thanks for being such a great community. Its nice to know I'm not the only nut out here! ;D P.S. DH is doing great now, so much as I hate to leave him behind I know he'll be okay!
Originally Posted By dsnykid To the best of my knowledge, the only way to get preferred seating for a parade is to take the tour, sorry. But you could make the wait part of the bonding as well.. My parents very rarely would sit and wait for a parade but the few times we did, we got something to eat while we waited and then we would either pick out a game or magic trick from one of the stores to play on the sidewalk while we waited... good memories.
Originally Posted By TinksBestFriend Unfortunately, the Christmas Parade ends on January 7th amd the Parade of Dreams will not return until Friday January 12th. Also the Christmas fireworks ends on the 7th and the Dreams Come True fireworks does not return until the 12th also.
Originally Posted By forcemejure Bummer! He loves the fireworks! Well, the cat is out of the bag. Turns out his hearing is WAY better than his dad's (or even mine) and he overheard us discussing whether or not to tell him about the trip. Of course, he's very excited, but I'm kinda of let down that the surprise was ruined. ;p We were planning on heading to San Diego on the 12th to see family and driving straight home on the 13th, but now I'm wondering if we should make a one night detour on Saturday so we can see the fireworks?? I might play it by ear and see how our trip is going before extending it. After 5 days we may just want to go home! Thanks for the heads-up on the Parades. I'll be sure we catch the Dreams parade on Friday before heading to SD. The Block Party Bash is still running on Tuesday, so that is also an option.
Originally Posted By tapdancemom I had my almost five year old grandson with me last June. We had a great time together, even waiting for the shuttle we'd sit and talk about what we'd done and seen that day. He loved the Goofy's Kitchen brunch with all the characters. Even on several afternoons when he played in the pool at the motel and I sat and watched and RELAXED he was having a super time. I know that he enjoyed meeting the characters so we took advantage of all that we could find and have those memories to share in our photo album.
Originally Posted By forcemejure We've done Character Dining at Storyteller's and Goofys. I loved Storytellers, but there was a LOT more character interaction at Goofy's. Only problem at Goofy's is that the bread buffet was INFESTED with tiny flys (nits? knats? nats?). Totally gross and when I reported it to the kitchen staff they were unconcerned. Kinda put me off going there again. Has anyone else had trouble at Goofy's? I know the DS would prefer that, so I'm willing to try again if this turns out to be just a one-off.
Originally Posted By tooele13 We did the Discover the Magic Tour for my dd's 5yo bday and absouletly loved it. Kids ranged from 3 -12 on our tour and. It's an interactive scavenger hunt where you meet & interact withseveral characters. It was the highlight of our trip and would definitely recommend it to anyone with young kids ( who aren't afraid of characters). As for character meals, we love Goofy's for it's high energy environment. We've never had an issue with gnats in our food. We usually do dinner there and breakfast at Lilo's & Stitch. We usually try to eat there twice a trip. It's quite affordable as far as character meals go since you can order off the menu. We love the interaction with Lilo & Stitch. On our last trip Lilo, sat down to read the newspaper with us while ds went to get more food. She must have sat & interacted with us for a good 5 minutes. Storyteller's food is great. We just weren't too thrilled about their waitstaff, they weren't very attentive at all.
Originally Posted By dlkozy I agree with the waitstaff at Storyteller's. We had horrible service and the waiter only had 2 tables to wait on! You could always do Lilo and Stitch at PPH if not Goofy's.
Originally Posted By topdisneymom We live in Southern California and last summer if we left fruit out of the fridge we would get gnats flying around the kitchen. I bet it was those pesty fruit gnats.
