Aaron's Surprise Week-Long Birthday Trip
Sunday 3/29
As planned, we woke up a little after 5am Sunday. After getting all our last minute stuff together and downstairs, we headed in to wake Aaron. We wished him a Happy Birthday and then asked him if he wanted to know what his surprise was. Of course he did. "We're going to Disney World" we said. "Why?" was his first half-awake response (it cracked us up). Within 10 minutes he was beyond excited, running around the house saying how he was going to see Mickey and Goofy and Donald and Minnie.
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Our plan was to be on the road by 6:00am and for once we were right on! We were out of our development by 6:09 which when you consider how long it took to get Aaron in the car and then let Bill run back into the house to potty etc. was right on time!
Whenever we're on a trip to Disney my mother wants us to text her every step of the way, something I'm used to from the past 3 years at least, so it wasn't unusual at all for her to ask the same of us this time. Every time we hit a new interstate or a new state we'd text her. This is worth mentioning for later...
About 30 miles before we hit I4 Aaron starting saying he was hungry, so we stopped for lunch at a McDonald's in Palm Coast. My mother sent me a text that was nearly frantic "Where are you now??". This was because we had planned to arrive around 2:00 and it was a few minutes after 2:00 when we had stopped (a few unplanned stops had us behind a bit), or so I had thought. I sent her a text that we had stopped for lunch then another when we hit I4 and when we arrived on property as usual.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1632977882
We quickly found a parking spot at ASMo and headed in to see just how much quicker our "online check-in" experience would be. We found the kiosk to check in and stood in line (which was funny because there was no line for regular check-in). Suddenly my mother comes up behind me "You just HAD to stop for lunch didn't you??". I was completely surprised. I had no idea that they had planned to show up to surprise Aaron (and us) for his Birthday. We were thrilled!
After getting checked in (which was honestly quicker than the normal process) we headed over to the room to quickly unpack, then to grab our picture at "our spot" and then head over to the Magic Kingdom.
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Though we arrived at 5:00, the "parkers" were still out (though there were spots up front as we saw as we passed on the tram) so we ended up back in Daisy 32 (wayyyy in the back by the speedway).
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We hopped the tram to the TTC where I attempted to find Guest Services and get Aaron's birthday gift card (as everyone had told me I needed to do). We asked one Cast Member where I'd do this and after standing with his mouth agape staring at the ticket booths and looking back and forth he finally said we'd do it at the park. Because everyone had insisted there was nowhere to do this once we left the TTC I decided to ask someone else. We were told to head to any ticket booth. The lines were huge so we gave up, decided just to head to the Magic Kingdom and then boarded the gold monorail over to the Magic Kingdom.
I immediately found Guest Services outside the gate and was quickly helped to get Aaron's card.
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Our first stop was to the Chapeau where we picked up Aaron's "Happy Birthday" hat and got it embroidered. Bill picked up a new Grumpy hat and I a Tink hat. Then we were off to Tomorrowland and the TTA.
While on the TTA we spotted Buzz over by the Carousel of Progress and hopped in line. Unfortunately after a few minutes of waiting Aaron's little fear of characters (which started two trips ago) started to rear it's head so we stepped out of line and into stand-by for Buzz's Space Ranger Spin. The queue was short, maybe a 10 minute wait and we were on. The photos taken were just hilarious so I had to pick up two sets (one for us and one for my parents).
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At this point it was a little after 6:00. We had ADRs at The Plaza for 6:40 so we figured we'd head over and get checked in. After over an our wait (they were having issues - even the manager came out as a result) we were seated.
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Our server, Carlos (?), was very nice and accommodating. I had no idea just how tiny The Plaza was was our first visit) though. The food was very good. I had the Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad which was yummy although I think the dressing was a little overpowering for it. Aaron had the PBJ with the tomato soup for the appetizer. He ate the entire bowl of soup and barely touched the sandwhich. My mother and step-father each had the cheeseburger and said it was yummy. Bill had the cheesesteak. Then it was time to bring out Aaron's surprise cake that my mother had ordered. It was a huge Mickey cake, covered in chocolate ganasch and filled with chocolate cake and mouse that was yummy!
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After dinner we headed over to Fantasyland. We hopped onto It's a Small World, giving Bill a break from it. Aaron just loved riding with his Gringa and Grandpa. He was so happy and excited.
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After IASW we headed over to Dumbo. Wishes was just getting ready to start as my mother and Aaron got in line to ride. Aaron apparently loved seeing the fireworks while he was in the queue with his Gringa.
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After Dumbo we all took a ride on Cinderella's Carousel.
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After the carousel we jumped into Phillharmagic just as it was seating, found great seats right in the center, and sat back to enjoy Bill's favorite attraction. After it was done we realized that we needed to let Aaron spend his birthday gift card. We headed toward the Emporium and though he was nearly asleep, he quickly found the remote controlled Wall-E that he'd seen on YouTube and we took it to the counter.
By the time we hit the monorail Aaron was sleep in his stroller. This was ok though because it gave him just a little cat nap before we arrived back at the hotel where we knew his big Birthday Surprise was waiting for him.
We walked into our room (6730 - first floor of Woody) and Aaron was surrounded by the wonderfully decorated boxes, balloons, and his birthday banner. He just loved opening all the gifts from the characters. It was a lot of fun!
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After the fun it was time to get my parents back to the Boardwalk and get some groceries. At this point it was midnight and I was exhausted. I felt like I was sleep walking through the Winn Dixie as I shopped. I got back to the room a little before 1:00, hopped into bed with Aaron, and we all fell quickly asleep.