GallaFamily's Trip Report-01-28 thru 02-01-Illness, Sleepless nights, lots of fun!

[gallafamily]

We have returned...
And it was a great trip, despite all the set backs. I already told you that Zachary was sick, but we had that under control. On Friday morning, Alan took my van to be inspected, since it was due by the end of January (we kinda neglected to check that until the last minute), but we figured everything seemed ok with it, so there should be no problems. Boy were we wrong. Alan took it to the local place so that it would be quick & easy & he would have the rest of the day to sleep a little, because he had just gotten off at 3am that morning. Well, he called me around 9am to say that it had failed inspection, because of a bad tire rod. So, now what were we to do, because the place we took it couldn't fix it for quite some time. Alan called Dominion to see if they could, but they couldn't until the next week and we needed to van to drive our family of 6 to the airport Monday morning. Well, after alot of calling & stressing, we finally decided our only option was to take the van & leave it with Dominion to be repaired, & get a rental car. We got a car because it was alot cheaper, we just couldn't afford $150 a day for a van. We figured we would have to take the jeep to the airport too, because we needed somewhere to store the carseats until we returned. My parents agreed to pickup my van when it was ready & they would come get us from the airport on the next Friday. Of course I would spend time on my vacation calling to make sure everything would be okay for them when they picked it up. So, after spending all day stressing & driving each other crazy, we finally worked it out. Thank goodness for Alan. Poor thing got no sleep that day!

Saturday went okay. Alan took the day to sleep, since he had gotten none the day before. I took Noah to town with me & did some last minute shopping to pick up some items that we needed for the trip. Got home & finished packing up all the bags and trying to figure out how to get all our carryons through security.

We woke up Sunday morning with Savannah sick. I use woke up very loosely. She didn't sleep much that night, so we made the decision to take her to the doctor. I was really worried that she would have like a double ear infection & they would say we couldn't take her on the plane the next morning. Well, they ran tests & determined that she just had a bug. No flu, strep or ear infections. They said she could get worse, but suggested that if she did, we should take her to the clinic at Disney, it's not like they don't deal with children all the time. So, another disaster avoided & we were all set to travel the next morning.....hopefully!

[gallafamily]

I also posted a pre trip report in case you want to check that out first. I will be updating the rest of this trip shortly.

[gallafamily]

Monday, February 28, 2008
We had the alarm set for 4:30 am, and got up, got everyone dressed & in the vehs by 5:30 am. We already had the vehs loaded with the luggage, just put the kids in & all the last minute things & we were on our way to the airport, with 2 vehs. The plan was to drop off the car at the rental gate, Alan would go park the jeep & then would come back & we would all go together to checkin. Well, it didn't exactly go that we, but it all worked out. We drove around a couple of times trying to figure out where exactly we needed to go, because remember, we have 2 vehs. So, we finally figured out it would be easier to both go to drop off the rental car first. We went there, & Alan, Jacob & Zachary went to do curb side checkin & drop off all the luggage, I stayed with Noah & Savannah & got them all together & ready for when Alan returned. We turned the car in when they returned, & gathered all our carryons & carseats & piled into the jeep to go park for the week. All this went pretty smooth. We parked the jeep, & wrote down where we were parked at, because that is a large parking garage. We got unloaded & into the terminal without any problems. Next step was security, because Alan did the curbside checkin. We got to security, and all things considered, that went very well. We had not done this before, so we were very new to this, but we followed all the signs & the security people were very helpful, and without too much delay of the people waiting behind us, we made it through without any problems. The worst part was gathering all our stuff & getting ourselves back together. We just collected everything & went out of the way to put everything back in order. We made it to the gate by 7am and our flight was scheduled to leave around 7:30am. It was just a few minutes & they started boarding the plane. We checked the strollers at the gate & loaded onto the plane. Me, Alan, Zachary, Noah & Savannah were all sitting together, with Jacob sitting across the isle. Well, they said that wouldn't work because of the oxygen masks, so since the plane was only 1/3 full, they moved us to the back of the plane so we could spread out. We were very comfortable & the plane ride went pretty uneventful.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Monday-wdw%20trip/1-28-08-NoahZacharyonplane-1.jpghttp://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Monday-wdw%20trip/1-28-08-SavannahJacobonplane.jpg
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Noah was kinda restless towards the end. I pulled out the DVD player for him to watch, but apparently it wasn't charged, so that upset him & he wouldn't sit still. But that was just before we landed, so it wasn't too bad, I entertained him by showing him things out the window. No screaming kids on the plane, yeah!

So, we arrive in Orlando, Fl by 9am. We go to claim our 1 piece of luggage (extras incase our other luggage doesn't arrive quickly enough) and leave the rest to be claimed by Disney to be delivered to our resort for us. We then proceed to Disney's Magical Express checkin. Very quick & easy. Alan gets in line, & in less than 5 minutes he is back with us & we are on our way to the bus. We loaded our carryons on to the bus, & we only waited about 5 more minutes & the bus pulls out on our way to Disney!!
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A movie about Disney starts after about 10 mins, and we watch that until we get to the first resort. The bus made about 4 stops before ours, but they were very fast. There was only about 20 people on the bus with us, so we were not crowded at all. The kids were happy just looking out the windows to see where we were.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Monday-wdw%20trip/1-28-08-ZacharynoahonME-2.jpg
They were very good on this entire travel portion of the trip. We get to Port Orleans Riverside, checkin, & our room was ready! YEA!!!!!!!!!
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Monday-wdw%20trip/1-28-08-LobbyonPortOrleans.jpg
We go checkout our room and drop off our bags, and are on the way to Hollywood Studios.
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We are in the park by noon, and the first thing we do is grab some lunch. We had a good time, but figured out quickly that this was not a park for kids. The babies because tired very fast, because there was nothing for them to get out & do. Jacob & Zachary enjoyed all the sights, and a couple of rides, but we were soon on our way back to the resort.
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They are his favorite characters right now. He kept looking at them saying, "they aren't real." I asked how he knew they weren't real. He said, "Because their eyes don't move." I told him to watch them, and to his surprise, they did move their eyes. Mater blew his horn at Noah after the picture was taken. The boys really enjoyed that.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Monday-wdw%20trip/1-28-08-BoyswithMaterMcQueen-2.jpg
Well, that was a really long day, & we were ready for some sleep. We get back to the room & put Savannah in her portacrib and Noah in the trundle bed (bed that slides out from under our bed) , and soon realize that this is not in their plans for sleeping arrangements. Neither would sleep, so to get a little bit of sleep, I slept with Noah in the big bed, & Alan slept with Savannah in the trundle bed. We didn't get a lot of sleep, but it helped us get a little. We sure hoped things would get better as far as the sleeping!

[gallafamily]

so I guess I will end my report here. I didn't have much response on my pretrip report either. :confused3

[IloveDMB]

Please keep going! Your kids are adorable!

I often have a hard time finding stuff to do at MGM, there is the 2 big thrill rides for me basically. Although last time I went I saw the Beauty and the Beast stage show for the first time and I loved it!

[gallafamily]

Yeah! I have 1 reader. I will try to update more today.
We thought we would have a heard time fitting everything in the first day because of us not getting to the park until later, but that was plenty of time. The kids didn't have much to do. We tried to take them to play at the Honey I shrunk the kids play area, but that did not work. People are crazy!! Do people not understand the concept of watching their kids? All they did was sit around in areas that made it impossible for me to keep track of my kids, & then give me dirty looks when I had to step over them to get to my kids. There was no way to take any pictures of them there, again, because of people not moving. :mad: Finally, I couldn't take it anymore & we just left. The kids really wanted to do this, but there was just no way I was going to take a chance of my kids getting hurt or lost because of this. :eek:

[gallafamily]

Well, our plan was to get up early & be in the parks by 9am, but with the sleeping arrangements & lack of sleep, that just didn't happen. We finally got up & got ready, stopped at the food court in the resort & got a quick breakfast. As they were all eating a little breakfast, & started for feel quite ill. I felt like I was going to vomit, I had a headache & I was shivering, but not cold. Alan started getting concerned, but I just wanted to continue with the day. I felt bad, but did not want to ruin the trip for anyone. We stopped & got some tylenol for me & continued to Epcot. I was feeling a little better by the time we arrived.
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We took time to take some pictures & look at some of the plaques at the entrance, then proceeded to Inoventions. That was fun. The boys made paper & thought that was pretty interesting. We then made robots. This was alot of fun, but a lot of work. Alan & Jacob made 1, and me & Zachary made one. The boys created the robot, & we helped them race them. I think we came in 6th place, & they came in 5th. Not too bad out of 12 people. We had alot of fun, but boy was that alot of work. We were all sweating when we finished. The boys made there plastic robots & we decided we had enough & went to find a ride.
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Alan & Jacob rode Mission:Space. They really liked it. I took the others & we sat in the shade & rested. Zachary had fun playing with his robot, & Noah got to get out of the stroller & run around.
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We were in a not too crowded spot, so he just wandered around waving to passerbys. Savannah took a little nap. It wasn't too long, and we were off to explore. We had coral reef reservations at 2:30pm, so we spent time wandering around until then. We also did The Seas with Nemo & Friends.
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That was really cute, & Noah really enjoyed that. The kids liked looking at all the fish too. We had lunch/dinner, which was a little expensive, but it was okay food. It was a nice place to eat, but probably would not do it again.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Tuesday-wdw%20trip/1-29-08-CoralReef-5.jpg
Alan took Jacob & Zachary to ride Test track and then I took them to ride Soarin. We also did the Character spot, but of course while in line, the youngest 2 fell asleep in their stroller, so they had pictures taken while they slept.
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Oh well, it was still fun. We also tested all the Coke products. We liked most of them, but the boys fell for testing beverly. I had read all about that drink, so I just sipped it...nasty! They gulped it, & were upset because they said it ruined the taste of everything else after that! Very funny!! We all had a good laugh about it. We were getting tired, so we decided to just have a quick walk through World showcase. We just did not have enough time that day. We took pictures in the dark, & looked around, but did not get a chance to stop & tour anything.

Also, this day, I had packed only 1 bottle for Noah, since he really doesn't use it much. Well, somehow we lost it somewhere, & of course they do not sell those type of bottles anywhere on Disney property. We went to the baby care center & bought another bottle, but everytime we gave it to him, he would hand it back & say "sissy". He was trying to pass it off to her. He was quite upset with us for a while. We got back to the room & gave it to him for bed. He wouldn't drink out of it for a while, but eventually he settled down & drank some milk. He did sleep on the trundle bed from now on & did pretty well. He had very little problems with his eczema too this week. We were very happy about that! Savannah did not sleep in the portacrib at all the entire trip. We tried every night, but she just screamed. She slept next to me in the bed all week. Not very much sleep for me, but she slept pretty good. She also had some issues with her cold & coughing. We didn't have too many problems with it, but Friday morning she woke up with Croup. More about that later.

So, that was pretty much it for this day. Alan & the boys went & got some dinner from the lobby for us this night. I had a little pizza, Zachary had cheese burger, and I don't remember what the others had. I had started feeling bad again just before we left, & was really achy, but had taken some more tylenol & was ready to get some sleep.

Tommorow, another day !

[IloveDMB]

Oh no, it's the worst waking up sick on vacation, isn't it? Sounds like you made it through the day okay though.

The pictures with the characters are so cute. The little ones had no idea you guys were even there, right?

And for the kids at the play area, I have noticed that parents seem to think at Disney, they don't have to watch their kids cause they are also on vacation. Makes the good parents just have to work harder, it seems to me.

[gallafamily]

Yeah, sucks being sick, but you just have to keep going.:thumbsup2

They were all awake when we got in line. We were in line less than 10 minutes, and they fell asleep just as we got to the front of the line. :confused3 It was fun anyways. You will see they get to enjoy the characters later in the trip.

I will post more later!

[gallafamily]

i still don't understand.:confused3
I have lots of pictures & still only 1 person subscribed. I quit!:confused:

[IloveDMB]

Oh, don't quit, I'm still reading if you continue!

I've noticed a lot of people lurk and do not post replies.

If you want to continue, I'll keep reading along.

[disneyfanforlife]

I am in. Very Cute pics. Sounds like the little ones missed the charaters. Can't wait to read more.

[gallafamily]

Ok..I will continue. I can't today though. I am at work today & we are expecting ice this morning. I doubt I will have time, but I will try. I will work on it for sure tomorrow. I have the reports already prepared, just have to add pictures.

Thank you for replying!:cool1: :yay:

[Loriann70]

I'm joining in! Thanks for the report! Great pictures!!!!

Lori

[gallafamily]

Today is Animal Kingdom. Again, we had plans to get there early, but again that just didn't happen. I think we got there by 10am, but we really weren't in a big hurry. (Jacob was complaining about the sun being in his eyes in this picture, that's why his eyes are closed).
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This was vacation after all!
We arrived & had our picture taken infront of the Animal Kingdom sign, then proceeded to then entrance. Just before you enter the park, we came upon the cutest little talking tree. It rolled around and spoke to everyone. It was very personalized, and really entertained the kids. It was very cute. We enter the park & decided to go through one of the little trails to see some animals. We saw some birds, a large lizard and an extra large rat (I don't know what it was called, but it looked just like a rat).
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We rode the Kali Rapids. The sign stated 10 min wait, but the kids & I walked right onto the ride. Good thing because Zachary about drove me crazy on some of the other rides asking questions about it. He was scared we would make him ride something really fast, but we have never done that before, so I don't know why he would think that. So, we get on the ride & it was really cute, but we got pretty wet. Zachary loved it, so did Jacob. They decided since the line was so short, that they would ride again with Alan. I took the babies & we stood on the bridge over the ride & I got some good video of them on the ride. Zachary got the wettest of them all, but they still had a great time. We did this early on, so we were able to dry out pretty early. We are glad we did this ride early, because we found out later that the ride was shutdown most of the day due to mechanical problems.

We did the "Its tough to be a bug" show. Very cute. We all went in to see this. Noah was a little scared of the dark, but everyone else loved it. It's a 3D show & when the stink bug lets one go, the smell fills the room. We got out of the show & discovered we were actually inside the tree of life. Very interesting. We got some good pictures. Why do boys always feel the need to put there hands in noses, even if it isn't their own? Or is it just my boys?
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We did Kilimanjaro Safaris, this is where you ride in a truck through the safari & see all the animals without any fences (at least any that you can see). Zachary & Noah rode in the last row with Alan. They look so sweet & innocent.
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We walked through Maharajah Jungle Trek, where we say komodo dragon, large bats, Tigers & many other animals.
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Very interesting. We also saw a few hidden mickeys along the way. Alan & Jacob rode Expedition Everest.
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The line was a little long, so I never got a chance to ride it, but they said it was really good. They said the tracks end & the train goes backwards for a ways, then you see a yeti. Very realistic! We took the kids to the Boneyard to climb & slide. Noah had a great time with this. He really needed the time to get out & stretch his legs & get rid of some energy. Jacob & I rode the Primeval Whirl, and small rollercoaster ride that the car your riding in spins as you go through all the turns & hills.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Wednesday-wdw%20trip/1-30-08-PrimevalWhirl-2.jpg

[gallafamily]

I took Noah, Jacob & Zachary & we rode Triceratop Spin.
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Your rind in a dinosaur & can make it go high or low. Really cute. I took Jacob & Zachary to ride Dinosaur. You travel back in time to try to catch a dinosaur. The ride is really rough, but kinda cute. Zachary didn't like it. Said it was too rough, but didn't think it was scary. Alan went back on it with Jacob & Alan said it was cute, but rough. While they were riding, I bought Zachary & Noah little flashing necklaces that were $3.00 a piece. Much cheaper than all the other lightup toys they were selling. They were happy with those.

We took the kids to have pictures taken with Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet & Tiger. Jacob got special recognition for it being his birthday. (He wore a birthday button the whole time we were there, since his birthday was the week after we got back. We let him celebrate at WDW. He really enjoyed it.) Jacob was laughing at Savannah when we were taking the picture with Pooh, she kept kicking him in the head. Noah kept running off. Not that he was scared, but just curious I guess. Eeyore actually had to hold his hand to keep him in the picture.
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We also watched the parade that came through. It was neat. There were alot of characters in the parade as well as some really neat vehicles(if that's what you call them). They were like puppets, they were operated by the person driving them.
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Just before we left for the evening, we ran into these characters...(Noah was exhausted, so we didn't bother him this time.)
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Wednesday-wdw%20trip/1-30-08-JacobSavannahZacharywithLil.jpgWe ended our day with a quick bite to eat at Rainforest Cafe. The entire restaurant looks like the rainforest, with animals hanging from ceiling & on the walls & several fish tanks.
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It also storms every 20 mins. We just had appetizers, because we weren't too hungry, but it was good. Zachary got a slushy drink in a souviner cup with a little toy in the bottom. Afterwards we went shopping in the gift shop & headed back home for the night. We were really late getting back,but we had a great time.

[gallafamily]

I'm not sure what happened to the pictures, but I will fix it tomorrow. Sorry.:eek:

[IloveDMB]

Thanks for continuing! I thought maybe it was my comp cause sometimes it can be a little silly with pics, so thanks for adding that message.

[gallafamily]

I have fixed the pictures, and I hope to get the other posts up today. We will see.:rolleyes1

[reelmom]

Great Report so far. You are very brave to go to WDW with 4 kids. BTW, where did you get your kids shirts that they are wearing at AK? I absolutely love them!

[DISchick]

I love the boys' shirts in Animal Kingdom! Did you make them?

I just found your report this morning and am enjoying it! Thanks for taking the time...I know it's a lot of work!

[gallafamily]

I love the boys' shirts in Animal Kingdom! Did you make them?

I just found your report this morning and am enjoying it! Thanks for taking the time...I know it's a lot of work!

I did make the shirts. We all have one, and I made a dress out of that material for Savannah. I like us to match, but my husband isn't thrilled about it. He didn't mind these shirts, mostly because most people didn't notice that we all matched.

[curlz2tite]

Beautiful family. Can't wait to read more.:)

[gallafamily]

Beautiful family. Can't wait to read more.:)

Thank you very much! I am working on the next chapter now, but I am at work, so it may take some time. (I have 8.5 more hrs to go, so I should have time. I work 12 hr shift.)

[gallafamily]

Today was our Magic Kingdom day. We got moving a little earlier than the rest of the days, and headed over the the park. We decided to rent one of the park strollers this day, because we were tired of loading & unloading the other strollers to get to & from the parks. It wasn't too bad, but we just wanted to see if it would be easier. It worked out good until that evening when we had 2 tired babies to carry all the way back to the resort.

So, we picked up our double stroller & noticed alot of characters around the main entrance. We decided to get in line for pictures with Jiminey Cricket. The other lines were a little long, & we didn't want to waste alot of time on characters.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-KidswithJiminyCricket-2.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-AlanShannonZacharywithGoofy.jpg
Jacob took our picture with a talking Goofy statue near by.
Noah was having a little bit of a meltdown, but was okay after we got moving. It was very warm this day & I think he had already gotten a little over heated (he has eczema pretty bad, & the heat seems to make it worse). Alan, Jacob & Zachary went to ride Stitch's Great Escape.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Stitchsgreatescape.jpg
I think this was more of a 3D movie than a ride, but they really liked it. Alan said when Stitch burped, you could smell it. Gross! I took the babies to get drinks while we waited for them. Noah was pretty happy with that. He kept getting mad at Savannah because she kept wanting to pull the straw out. It was funny! I was also looking for a cute dress or something to buy for Savannah so that I could get her out of her jeans & long sleeved shirt that I had her in. I didn't pack many summer clothes for her. I couldn't find anything near there, to I decided to put her in her pink princess dress that I had brought, along with her Cinderella gown & Snow white gown. I had hopes of getting her picture done with some princesses. She got alot of attention being in her gown. We went to ride the transporter, & the CM in the line gave her a pin for being a "Baby Princess".
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-AlanNoahZacharyridingtransp.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Savannahsleepingontransport.jpg
This was the ride Zachary was wanting to ride very badly. It was neat. Took you around alot of areas to see several sights & rides. Didn't realized that you could see the inside of some of the rides from this, so I didn't get any pictures. It was relaxing, as you can see it put Savannah to sleep. After this Alan, Jacob & Zachary went to ride Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. Zachary got to drive the car with Alan, & Jacob got his own car. I took the babies for a walk & got some video of them driving the cars. Afterwards Jacob & I went to ride Space Mountain. It is an indoor roller coaster. You ride in little trains where everyone sits by themselves in a car, with 4 cars to a train. I got the very front, Jacob sat right behind me. There was no line. It was totally dark inside, but I laughed the whole way. You never knew which way you were going. We got off & Alan & Jacob went again. I took Zachary to get ice cream, because he was getting hungry & cranky. I decided to get Noah an ice pop, & figured this would be a BIG mistake, but we were in Disney.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Noaheatingicepop.jpg
He loves it, & finished almost the whole thing. He stayed just like this until it was gone. Zachary & I had Mickey Ice cream sandwiches. Yummy!!

We also rod Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. We all got to ride this, where you ride in a car & try to rack up the most point by shooting targets. Alan beat us all by ALOT, but we still had fun.

Next I took Zachary & Jacob on the Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm. It's a kiddie roller coaster.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Barnstormerride-1.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Barnstormerride-3.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-ZacharyridingBarnstormer.jpg
Alan took babies & let Noah play in a little play area while they waited for us.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Noahplaying.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Noahsliding.jpg
Afterwards, we went over to Toontown Hall of Fame tent, where there was a line for Characters, & one for princesses. I was so excited. I took Savannah, & Jacob tagged along. We stood in line to get her picture taken, while Alan took Noah & Zachary to play some more. We overheard someone saying that it was Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella & Belle, so I changed Savannah into her Cinderella dress. The line was very slow moving, but we eventually got to the room & I was so excited.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-SavannahwithCinderella-2.jpg
She really had a good time. She acted just like a little princess. When we left there, it emptied into a little shop, so I decided to look for her an outfit tochange her into. I wanted the pink one that said "Princess in Training", but they didn't have her size, so I got a read one with 2008 & the characters on it. While I was paying, the CM's took Jacob aside & let him listen to a message of Goofy singing happy birthday to him. He really liked that.
We got outside, & discovered that Alan had the same idea, & had bought Savannah an outfit. Oops! Luckily we got 2 different ones. I put his on her, because she was sweating & had gotten glitter all over me & herself. We then went to find some more rides.

We found Dumbo ride. We let Jacob & Zachary ride, because the babies were tired, so we walked them around.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-JacobZacharyridingdumbo-2.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-NoahSavannahsleepinginstrol.jpg
We walked under the castle & headed of the Frontier land.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Castleview-12.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Castleviews-7.jpg
Alan, Jacob & Zachary went to ride Big Thundermountain Railroad. Zachary was scared, but went anyways & had fun.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-BigThunderMountainRailroad-.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-BigThunderMountainRailro-1.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-BigThunderMountainRailro-2.jpg
We rode Haunted Mansion, that was funny. We all rode this ride. You enter these little cup like cars & ride through the mansion with alot of ghosts & things. At the end of the ride, you come to a wall that looks like mirrors. You see yourselves in the mirror & there is a ghost riding in the car with you. Zachary kept turning around to see if it was really there. Cute!

We also rode Pireates of the Caribbean. You ride in a boat through the exhibits of the movie, & the characters look real. Pretty interesting.

After that we all went on Jungle Cruise. You also ride in a boat through the jungle & see lots of silly little scenes. The boat driver was very funny, but most of it was adult humor, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

We also all went on Its a Small World. Very Pretty.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Itsasmallworld-4.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Itsasmallworld-17.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Itsasmallworld-32.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Noahonitsasmallworld-2.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Savannahonitsasmallworld-2.jpg

[gallafamily]

We got a picture of the kids with some autumn background. Noah kept throwing the apples.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Kidsinautumnsetting-2.jpg
It was getting kinda late, so Alan took the kids on Mad Tea Party, while Savannah & I waited. You know, the teacup ride.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-MadTeaparty-3.jpg
We had reservations at Chef Mickeys, so we took the Monorail over to the Contemporary Resort. The food was really good, & they sang happy birthday to Jacob, & the characters made a big deal about his birthday. The characters visit the tables 1 at a time, so we had a good time with visiting them. It was a little hard to get pictures though, because we were still trying to get the kids fed when they started to come around, but we finally caught on. We didn't get much time with Minnie, but we got the rest of them.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-ChefMickeys-1.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-ChefMickeys-3.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-ChefMickeys-6.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-ChefMickeys-jacobzacharywit.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-ChefMickeys-jacobwithpluto.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-ChefMickeys-jacobsbirthday-.jpg
It was very late when we left, & had 4 very tired kids. We got back to the resort & had this towel animal. This was our last day of parks. We are headed to Downtown Disney & then home tomorrow.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-Zacharywithtowelelephant.jpg

[IloveDMB]

[QUOTE=gallafamily;23389613]
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Thursday-wdw%20trip/1-31-08-SavannahwithCinderella-2.jpg[QUOTE=gallafamily;23389613]

Oh my, that picture is really really cute!!! You should enter it in the photo contest that Disney has sometimes.

Thanks for the great updates. I love all the pictures you put in!

[Rozz]

You took the best pictures! :thumbsup2 I love the ones of BTMRR. My favorite though, is the one of your daughter with Cinderella. So beautiful! princess: Thanks for sharing your Disney experience! :hug:

[gallafamily]

You took the best pictures! :thumbsup2 I love the ones of BTMRR. My favorite though, is the one of your daughter with Cinderella. So beautiful! princess: Thanks for sharing your Disney experience! :hug:

Thank you very much! My husband bought me a very nice camera, so I have to try. :upsidedow He worked in the photo business for many years, so I have a tough audience.

She is our only little princess, so we were very pleased. I have more pictures on my photopass cd, but haven't had time to upload them. They are even better!princess:

[gallafamily]

Friday, February 1, 2008
Well, we are sad to be heading home today, but we still have a little sight seeing to do. We pack up all our bags & make sure we have as much in our checked luggage as we can. We are trying to limit our carry ons for the way back since we don't have to worry about not having our stuff until later when we arrive. We take all our luggage to the registration & get it all checked in for the flight back. Very easy & they will take our luggage to the airport. We just have to be back at resort by 3:30 to catch the Magical Express back to the airport for our 6:30 flight. We checked a few pieces of carryon luggage with the desk & caught the boat over to Downtown Disney.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-PortOrleansMansions-1.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-ViewofDowntownDisneyfromboat.jpg
We got to Downtown Disney, & it looked like it was going to rain at any moment. It did rain a couple times, but nothing major, just a few little quick steady rains. Didn't get too wet. Did alot of shopping, but had fun. Got some Mr Potato head parts, also got some Disney Hockey jerseys, and some Disney Princess stuff for Savannah. Noah got a Sorcerer's hat & Zachary got a Lightening McQueen baseball hat. Jacob got into collecting keychains while we were there, so he got a few of those & some candy. I also got some candy for the trip back. The kids really liked all the stuff made out of Legos. We had lunch at a little fish place & headed back to the resort.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-DowntownDisney-2.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-DowntownDisney-4.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-DowntownDisney-15.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-DowntownDisney-28.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-DowntownDisney-31.jpg
We got back to the resort about 3 pm, picked up our checked carryons, & within a couple of minutes our bus arrived.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-InsidePortOrleansRiverside-1.jpg
Unfortunetly, it was a Disney Cruiseline bus that transported us. I told Alan that was a cruel joke. He just laughed. We got to the airport with plenty of time, thankfully. Security lines were crazy long. Well, we get ourselves in line & start trying to get ready, so that we are prepared & don't hold up the line too much. Well, Noah decided that he was not happy, & cried the entire time we were in line.. Everyone was looking, but we just had to deal with it. Nothing we had made him happy, so I just decided to let him cry. Savannah chimed in at the very end, but we were getting ready to start loading up our stuff on the belt to be scanned, so she didn't get much opportunity to get much in. We got through pretty quick, with very little delays from us. We were starting to get the hang of this. We moved out of the way before getting our shoes on & stuff together.

We only had to wait about 30 mins before they started to board our plane.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-Airport-1.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-Airport-3.jpg
Plane ride went very well. Again, no crying kids. Noah did get to watch his movie this time.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Friday-wdw%20trip/2-1-08-Noahwatchingmovieonairplane.jpg
Ride was a little bumpy, but not too bad. Apparently it rained all day in the Richmond area, but had pretty much cleared by the time we landed. We still landed about 30 mins early. My parents were waiting for us when we landed & they were very happy to see the kids. We quickly claimed all our luggage & got the vehs loaded & on our way home.

It was a great trip, but wish we had more time. Maybe next time! My parents are interested in planning a family gathering there, maybe next year. I hope that works out!



:cool1: This is also my 100th post!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!:banana: :wizard: :banana: :dance3:

[curlz2tite]

would love to see more pictures when you get them loaded. The baby & cinderella is priceless. She is the same age as our DD: princess: was the first time we took her. ( now she is 18 )

[gallafamily]

I will see if I can get some of our Photo pass pictures posted today.

We really weren't sure that this trip was even going to happen. We had sick kids all the way up until the day we left (with trips to doctor office the day before). :sick:

We also had major transportation issues, but that's a long story! :crazy2:

[disneyfanforlife]

I loved the pics. They are so cute

[gallafamily]

Okay, here are some of our Photopass pictures that I promised.

This was our first day at Hollywood Studios, fresh off the airplane. Not too bad. They kids were ready to go!
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image003.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image020.jpg

This is Jacob & Zachary doing the silly pose they asked them to do. Turned out pretty good.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image059.jpg

[gallafamily]

Here is day two - Epcot.

This is our visit with the characters. We got into the bldg and there was not much of a wait, but of course the little ones fell asleep. Oh well, they have pictures to look back on.

Mickey kissing Noah.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image092.jpg

Mickey looking at Savannah.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image106.jpg

The whole Gang!
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image112.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image159.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image185.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image216.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image220.jpg

Here is Jacob, Zachary & Alan riding Test Track. I hope they start doing Photopass on all the ride photos. They are in the back seat.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image235.jpg

[gallafamily]

And now day three - Animal Kingdom.

Here we are getting ready to enter the park. The sun was very bright. Not the best place for a photo opportunity.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image240.jpg

In front of Tree of Life.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image247.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image365.jpg

Expedition Everest picture
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image251.jpg

Jacob celebrated his 12th birthday during our visit. He was allowed to visit with Winnie the Pooh by himself by the CM's.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image254.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image260.jpg
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image266.jpg

This is Noah's first visit with characters (awake at least). He was very excited.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image255.jpg

Group picture.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image283.jpg

This was a cute picture. Jacob was laughing because Savannah kept kicking Pooh in the head. One of the pictures I have actually shows her kicking him. The picture above you can see she is looking at him.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image295.jpg

Savannah really enjoyed the characters too.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image304.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image330.jpg

Group picture with Eeyore. Noah kept walking out of the picture. He was ready to move on, he didn't care to stand around for pictures. Eeyore had to walk over & hold his hand to bring him back in the picture. You can see he is holding on to him here.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image320.jpg

More group shots.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image338.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image358.jpg

[gallafamily]

Day four - Magic Kingdom.

Of course the castle pictures.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image375.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image410.jpg

These are my favorites. Savannah with the princesses.
http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image386.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image390.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image393.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image396.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image395.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii225/shannon82473/Photopass/image406.jpg

[curlz2tite]

Great Pictures!!!!

[jennyf2]

WOW Great pictures!!!! Your kids are ADORABLE :) :)

[gallafamily]

Bumping just in case anyone else is interested.

[DisneyDaughter5589]

Very cute family! I love the pictures of your daughter with the princesses. I have a picture of me and Barbie from when I was 5 but nothing like yours!
Taking 4 kids to WDW is very brave of you.
We were there in January, the 6-12 to be exact.
I did a pre-trip report also but had difficulties finding anyone to read so I didnt do a TR.

[gallafamily]

I understand about not finding people to read your trip reports. Some get all kinds of attention, then others get nothing. I look at a bunch, & try to respond to them in some way, so people know I am reading. I did a pre trip report too, but had very little response.

We had a great time! People say we are crazy, but I guess we just have good kids! (Or maybe we are used to the craziness!)

[OhMari]

I'm sorry I didn't see your TR sooner.

Great pictues. Your kids are adorable.