"Stop drinking out of that puddle!"-our first family trip with 2 and 4 year olds! [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

jana616

09-15-2009, 09:28 PM

Well, we did it! We survived (and mostly thrived) our first family trip to Disney World. If you are interested in learning more about us, or the planning of this trip, please feel free to read my PTR, http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2190617. We stayed at POP from 9/7-9/14, and enjoyed 7 days in the parks with free dining. And yes, one of my children did indeed drink out of a puddle. Don't you want to keep reading now?

The quick cast of characters was
-me, Jana, the planner and group leader. I celebrated my 32nd birthday the first day of the trip.
-my husband, Chad, the laid back, go with the flow daddy
-my older son, Griffin. He will be 5 in November, and the trip was really for him
-my younger son, Cooper, who is 26 months old. I just wanted him to not be unhappy!
-my mom, Kathie.
-Chad's mom, Sue. Both of the grandmas really wanted to come to be able to experience the kids' first trip, and we were thrilled to have the extra help!

And we're off! Sunday we tried to tucker the boys out as much as humanly possible, in the hopes they would sleep well that night. It mostly worked. Once they were asleep, I worked on packing up the last of things, and then Chad brought what we could down to the car. This was our room that evening.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3672.jpg

Our alarm went off bright and early Monday morning at 4:30 am. We had both woken up on our own around 3:30, which actually made getting up easier. The plan was to do as much as possible, then ease the boys into the car and maybe get them a little more sleep. Not so much...Griffin woke up at 4:45 and came in to see if today was finally the day! He was very excited to hear that it was! One thing I am so glad we did was dress them in their clothes to sleep the night before. In the morning, Griffin just had to potty, and we changed Cooper's diaper when we got to the airport, so it was super easy getting them out the door. We loaded them into the car, then drove the 6 miles to my parents house. We picked up my mom, and my dad took over to drive us to the airport-our minivan was packed to the gills! We had originally thought of driving to WDW, and seeing the car packed up convinced me that it was the dumbest idea ever. So glad we flew!!

We met Sue at the curbside check-in, got our checked bags taken care of, and were off to security. We found out that somehow Sue had paid for 3 bags instead of one (she's a little ditzy!), so we were able to check two of our carry-ons. This was a nice surprise. Security was super easy, and I was surprised that they said we could take the kids' sippy cups of milk through.
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We ate Munchkins and donuts while we waited, and a short while later, we heard the boarding call!

The flight was uneventful, which, when you're traveling with small kids, is perfect! Griffin sat with the grandmas, and Cooper sat with Chad and I. He was a little bored, and would have done much better with his carseat (we didn't want to haul it just for the plane). He watched a DVD about firetrucks for a while, and kind of hung out. Griffin was an angel. After only 2 hours, we were in Orlando at 9:17 am!!

We stopped to potty, and Griffin had the first of our week's tears when he banged his head on the stroller and cut his temple somehow. I put a band-aid on him, which was a lovely addition to our pictures the first couple of days! We found DME easily, and were ushered right onto a bus with no wait at all. Awesome.
Griffin and Grandma Sue
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3675.jpg
Grandma Kathie
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3676.jpg
Chad and Cooper
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Me (taken by Griffin, who did pretty well!)
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The ride was great and the kids liked the video. Around 10:30 we pulled into POP and went off to check-in.

I had done online check-in, and we had no wait at all to check-in. I had faxed some room requests a few days prior, and we were thrilled that all of them were honored. I hadn't specified a section, just top floor, quiet, connecting rooms that were hopefully ready early. All were met, and we were put in the 90's section, rooms 8422 and 8423. I wasn't thrilled with this since they were so far away from Classic Hall and the bus stops, but we quickly learned that if we walked through the parking lot, the walk wasn't bad at all. I got the water I had ordered from Costco, and we went off to find our rooms.

A long, meandering walk through several decades later, we made it to the big laptop icon and found our building. Our rooms were great, clean, and we had towel animals waiting in the windows.
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I was able to take a couple quick pictures before the kids destroyed the room!

I'm going to take a break for the night, but will try to finish day 1 tomorrow. Up next, Crystal Palace, Spectromagic, Wishes, and two whiny kids!!

Pirate Chica

09-15-2009, 10:07 PM

connie1042

09-15-2009, 10:07 PM

I'm in. Can't wait for any updates.

jana616

09-15-2009, 10:29 PM

Hi! I happened to catch your PTR this morning and spent my evening reading through it! Woo-woo! Thrilled to catch the TR now!

I have two boys as well (4-1/2 and 18 mo) and we're leaving next week Tuesday, staying at AMu. We also have the free dining and lots of ADRs for the week/weekend.

Had to ask... people were getting upgraded to SSR or OKW from the Values? Hellooooo? Where was my phone call?! Wuahhh! I'd LOVE to get upgraded!

Anywho, your boys are precious and I can't wait to hear your trip. I'm glad you mentioned that your oldest loved BTMRR. I would love for mine to ride it, but am afraid he'll get scared and then not want to ride anything. I'm hoping to do it towards the end of the night.

We're also doing the Pirates League (DS4 is a big fan), so that's the big highlight of the trip.

Looking forward to more! YAY!

Aww, thanks for the compliment about my boys. I know, I was seriously bummed when all the upgrades were happening and we didn't get one. But truly, while we were there I didn't even think about it. My oldest definitely did love BTMRR. Has yours ridden any fast ride like that before? Griffin did a roller coaster we have at our zoo about a week before we went, so I was pretty sure he'd love it. I would start with Goofy's Barnstormer first (it's short and more mild) and see how he does. If he likes it, you'll know to try BTMRR next.

We saw several kids who had done the Pirates League. They all looked so cool! He'll love it! :yay:

I'm in. Can't wait for any updates.

Great, thanks! Hopefully I can actually get us to the MK in my next update tomorrow. All depends on how naptime goes!:rotfl:

ladybugmom

09-15-2009, 11:06 PM

YAY!! I'm in!! Can't wait to hear more!!

mommyof2Pirates

09-16-2009, 08:55 AM

I am here now too. Cant wait to read more.

Gabrielsbigtrip

09-16-2009, 08:58 AM

We were in the 90's section too!

Did YOU have problems with hearing all the toilets flushing (like they were in your room) and showers running?????

I don't want to bash the entire resort for that one thing and maybe it was worse because we were on the ground floor:confused3

We had pretty cruddy sleep.....and yes we walked through the parking lot too. If it weren't for the nighttime noise I would recommend Pop but no can do now;)

Can't wait to hear about your trip:goodvibes

DisneyTiger

09-16-2009, 09:31 AM

Hey ! I'm here I'm here:cool1::cool1: Great start so far. Can't wait to hear all about it...

So, can you please explain the benefits of online checkin?? I don't understand how it works. If you have a sec to explain, I would appreciate it:)

Dylan_&_Blake's_mom

09-16-2009, 12:44 PM

Just found your TR and am loving it. Our YDS's are almost the same age and we are going in 10 days so I am excited to hear about your journey with him. I also found your tips and your packing list and copied them down to use:thumbsup2

jana616

09-16-2009, 01:30 PM

YAY!! I'm in!! Can't wait to hear more!!
Yay, thanks for sticking with me through the whole PTR and now joining me over here! And thanks for all your comments on the facebook photos, it was nice to know someone looked at them!:goodvibes

I am here now too. Cant wait to read more.
It's coming, I promise. I'm going to work on the rest of day 1 now!

We were in the 90's section too!

Did YOU have problems with hearing all the toilets flushing (like they were in your room) and showers running?????

I don't want to bash the entire resort for that one thing and maybe it was worse because we were on the ground floor:confused3

We had pretty cruddy sleep.....and yes we walked through the parking lot too. If it weren't for the nighttime noise I would recommend Pop but no can do now;)

Can't wait to hear about your trip:goodvibes
That's so funny, I wonder if we saw each other! We did hear toilets flushing (not so much showers), but I remembered reading on here to close your bathroom door, and that helped a lot. We also had a white noise machine, and that helped too. I think being on the top floor made things much quieter. I bet you heard showers above you, but we didn't have that problem, you know? We had pretty cruddy sleep, but it had more to do with Griffin kicking me in the shins (I slept with him, and Chad slept in the other bed in an effort to keep Cooper from climbing out of the pack n play next to it), and Cooper woke up several times a night coughing or singing, and Griffin apparently yells things in his sleep (did not know this!). My favorite was "I need my lunch back!" at 2:30 am. He doesn't even eat, ever, so that was really funny!

I would definitely recommend POP. My biggest problem was the food court, which I found crowded and chaotic most of the time. But our rooms were clean and comfortable, and every employee we encountered was awesome!

Hey ! I'm here I'm here:cool1::cool1: Great start so far. Can't wait to hear all about it...

So, can you please explain the benefits of online checkin?? I don't understand how it works. If you have a sec to explain, I would appreciate it:)

Yay, glad you're here! The only real benefit of online checkin that I found (but I've never done it any other way, so I have nothing to compare to), was that all our stuff was ready as soon as we walked up. We'd put a CC on our room already, they had all our info, our packets were totally ready. Plus there was no line, but there was at the regular checkin. You CAN'T make building/room requests online (just fridge or pack n play, and even then the PnP wasn't in our room, Chad had to go get it), but I faxed that ahead of time and it seemed to work. HTH! Let me know if you want more info!

Just found your TR and am loving it. Our YDS's are almost the same age and we are going in 10 days so I am excited to hear about your journey with him. I also found your tips and your packing list and copied them down to use:thumbsup2

Welcome!! If there is anything specific you want to know about going with a 2 year old, just ask. Honestly, he had fun, but I didn't feel like he got that much out of it. He liked meeting the characters at meals, and he LOVED the splash areas at each park. He also really, really loved the Nemo ride. That was fun to see, him actually begging to go on again because he loved it. Once we figured out he was allowed to steer his car on the Speedway at MK, he LOVED that too. Oh, he really liked IASW too. But other than that, he just kind of went along for the show. He took a solid 1 1/2 to 2 hour nap each day in the stroller. Our plan had been to take breaks, but they were so wired by the time we got back to the room, we wasted 45 minutes getting them sleepy. Easier to just let him crash when tired.

Glad the tips, etc. were helpful! You must be getting so excited!!

jana616

09-16-2009, 02:00 PM

When we left off, we had arrived at our room around 11:15 am, and the kids were wound up! We'd promised them swimming and lunch, then a nap. We really wanted to stay through Spectromagic at 9 pm that night, since it would be our only chance to see it. My hope was that if we all took a rest for a couple of hours, the kids would make it.

We had signed up for a fridge swap, so the grandmas took the kids to start swimming while Chad and I got the fridge from the nice gentleman who had it before us. It was kind of a pain, we had to check out a cart, wheel it back to the room, drop off the fridge, then drop off the cart. Whew...worth it for a free fridge though! While we were doing all this, we realized the pack n play we requested wasn't in the room. So Chad went to the front desk, and I went to help the grandmas with two very hyper boys.

I met up with them at Goofy's Splash Fountains, which were really cute.
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After a little while, we headed over to the kiddie pool. Can I just say that my boys loved this pool all week? Perfect for their age, cute, and they loved the water jets shooting up. They had a blast!
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When Chad got done retrieving the Pack n Play, he and I went to get us and the kids lunch, and bring it back to the tables by the pool. We figured this would avoid meltdowns about having to stop swimming. We told the grandmas we'd be right back. Well...that food court was insane! It was 12:15, prime eating time, and it was so chaotic and crowded. Plus it was our first meal, so trying to figure out what was a CS credit was a little complicated. Eventually we did figure it out, but we were both exhausted! I got the Chicken Penne Alfredo with Tie Dye Cheesecake for dessert, Chad got the Shrimp Lo Mein and a blueberry muffin, and we got the kids a kid's cheeseburger meal to share. It was all really good. It took us so long the grandmas thought we'd been abducted, but eventually they got their food as well, and we all sat and ate poolside, which was nice.

Around 1 p.m. I took the boys back to the room for a nap. This was where the first meltdown of the day (mine!) was about to occur. Chad was going to stay by the pool and relax-I wanted a nap! Well, after the winding walk back to our room, I discovered that the luggage people had plopped our suitcases immediately in front of the door (not so cool when you're pushing a stroller into the room), and Chad had dumped the pack n play onto the bed without setting it up. So I had two wet, tired, cranky boys, I wanted them to take a nap so we could go to the MK already, and the room was a disaster. Oh, and Chad was off sunning himself by the pool. I got cranky too! After moving stuff, setting stuff up, and finding them clothes, I went to put them down, only to discover that they were absolutely wired! Like literally bouncing off the walls! I could see the whole plan going down the drain for the day, so I turned into Mean Mommy:mad:. You know, the one who yells at her kids for having too much fun at Disney World? It wasn't pretty, but by 2:15 they were both out. I rested a little, but Cooper woke up at 3:30, waking Griffin up too, of course.

I called everyone to get ready. My mom had rested in the connecting room next door, and Chad and his mom had relaxed by the pool. My Ridemax plan had us getting to the Magic Kingdom at 4 p.m. (what I thought was a reasonable goal), but it was 4:25 before we even left our room! This was when I quickly realized that planning only takes you so far, and I needed to just let go of my Type A ways and go a little more with the flow. I really did very well with this for the rest of the week. At least, that's what I say!:rotfl:

Finally, we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom!

Note: sorry there haven't been too many pictures. I really did take over 1100, so there will be more, I promise!

jana616

09-16-2009, 02:27 PM

We headed to the bus stop, and waited only a minute or two before a MK bus pulled up. Our first time loading the kids, strollers, and stuff onto the bus was a bit of an adventure, but none of us really minded. We were finally on our way!!

We got there, and I went to Guest Relations to get my Birthday Fun Card ($79 gift card). I had my birthday button on, and it was so fun to be wished Happy Birthday by everyone we came across. Those cast members were all over it! We made our way through bag check and the turnstiles, and who was waiting for us? Pluto!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3705.jpg
What a fun bit of pixie dust. There was no one around him, and it was literally like he was just waiting for us to get there and visit with him.

We decided to at least start by following the Ridemax plan, although we were a full hour later than the start time. It had us getting Buzz Lightyear fast passes first, so we were off to Tomorrowland. Here's our first glimpse of the castle.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3706.jpg
I wish I could say the boys were impressed, but they didn't find it very cool. They're boys, after all!

This is where the plan went out the window, but not in a bad way. We couldn't find the FP return time, so we just got them. Then we learned it was less than 10 minute stand-by line. Oops! So we went ahead ahead and rode. My mom kicked some Zurg butt! She was really good. I, on the other hand, was terrible.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3710.jpg
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Next up washttp://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3717.jpg, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. We all really liked it, although Cooper got restless after 10 minutes or so. He loved the beginning when Mike Wazowski keeps getting hurt though! Strange child! Then we headed back to Buzz, and used our fast passes for a second ride.

We were getting ready to head to Crystal Palace for our 6:30 ADR when we ran into Rafiki. He was just getting into position, so we were the second family to meet him. The Lion King is my all-time favorite Disney movie, so I was excited! The boys broke out their autograph books, and we got some pictures.
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I checked in at CP, and the boys enjoyed watching the ducks while we waited to be called.
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Only a few minutes later, we were seated at our table, and the characters started coming by. First up was Tigger.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3735.jpg

Then Eeyore (my favorite Pooh character, so Chad took my pic too!)
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Then Piglet, whom the boys just loved for some reason!:confused3
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We were able to go up to the buffet in between, but they came pretty fast and furious, and I was worried I would miss one. The food was good, and it's really pretty inside with all the glass windows.
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I love the topiaries too!
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They did the parade, which was cute
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3753.jpg, and then brought out a birthday cake my mom had ordered for me ahead of time. This was so sweet, but a total waste of money. We were stuffed, so we only each tried a sliver. We brought the rest back with us, but were never hungry enough to eat it the whole week! Still, such a sweet idea!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3763.jpg

Finally, Pooh himself stopped by!
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We finished our meal around 8 pm, a little later than I had expected. I found that all of our character meals took longer than I would have expected, but the break was nice on the hot, muggy night.

Up next: Spectro and Wishes!

jana616

09-16-2009, 03:29 PM

We all left Crystal Palace stuffed and ready for the rest of the night. It was 8 pm, and so far, the kids were doing great. We decided to play it by ear and see how long they stayed happy.

We headed over to Adventureland, stopping first to grab a picture of the Castle at night. It's just so pretty!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3769_edited-1.jpg
We walked right on Aladdin's Magic Carpets. The boys loved this ride, so we did it a second time!
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We rode the Jungle Cruise, which the adults thought was funny and the kids found only mildly interesting. It was around 8:45, so we stopped to decide where to watch Spectro, and finally wandered back to Liberty Square. We stopped right in front of Hall of Presidents. I would highly recommend this spot to anyone. The air conditioning blasted out of HOP onto our backs, which was awesome! They had the rope up on either side of the entrance, so we hung out in the second row of spectators there. But right before it started, they put up the rope in front of the entrance as well. So we darted over there and got a front row view. Unfortunately, other people crowded in as well and kind of smushed us, but still, the spot was perfect! I held Cooper and Chad took pictures, but I'll only post a few.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3782.jpg
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We loved Spectro, and I'm glad we stayed to watch it. In hindsight, though, I think we would have been better off going back right after it. Instead, we decided to go ahead and push things and stay for Wishes as well. I broke out the lollipops for the kids, and we headed down Main Street to be closer to the exit. We stopped right in front of the Watch Shop, which was a fine location. I loved Wishes, but Cooper was very much done by that point. Once they started he watched, but I don't think he enjoyed them!
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As soon as they were over, we hightailed it to the buses. Luckily we got there ahead of most of the crowd, and we waited only a few minutes for a bus. We made it to the hotel, got the kids off to bed, and crashed as well in just a little while. We had a 7:20 wake-up call for the Magic Kingdom the next morning!

Up next: the story of the puddle-drinking...it's even worse than it sounds!

mommyof2Pirates

09-16-2009, 08:20 PM

jana616

09-16-2009, 08:47 PM

What an amazing first day and birthday. I too love eeyore. He is my all time favorite. I was cracking up at your not so nice mommy moment. Yes we all have them. It somehow escalates when you know your husband is just lounging somewhere.:rotfl: I was reading this and my boys are here with me and ryan was asking me who you were. I was explaining how I have been talking to you about disney and you were just there. I told him griffin was his age and had a great time. He is so sweet he asked if we can come see you. I told him you live far away from us and he said "thats ok will just fly on an airplane" Gotta love kids. they just think life is so easy. I wish I could go back to that age again, where there are no worries. :laughing:

Well I cant wait to hear how the next day went.

Oh, I know, life is so simple at 4! If you want to see someone, hop on a plane. I bet they'd get along great. Ryan is going to have such a wonderful time. I think that age is absolutely perfect to get the magic of it.
And yep, I had some serious Mommy Guilt over screaming at my children to shut up and lay down while we were at the happiest (or is it most magical?) place on earth. Luckily we improved, and I only had one other Mean Mommy moment all week that I can think of. Of course, maybe I've blocked them out!

I'm going to try to get to the next day soon, maybe tomorrow. I barely remember now what we did each day (and I definitely don't remember the order), so I need to get it written down soon. I feel like I should get as much as possible done before you go! I know I'd want to read yours before I went, if you'd gone first!:rotfl:

Oh, I got the postcards in the mail today. Crossing my fingers that they get there by Saturday-I bet they will!

Pirate Chica

09-16-2009, 09:19 PM

So excited! Keep posting!

And I will definitely use your tip on doing Goofy's Barnstormer ride first. I showed it to him on YouTube and he seemed interested to go on it. Fingers crossed!

Porphyro

09-16-2009, 09:35 PM

Your thread caught my eye - first of all because I love the title - and secondly because we're also from the midwest (Cincinnati), and have two little boys. We just had our first trip in August with our 4-year old and 21-month old. We did end up driving, but how nice to be there in just two hours!
Great report so far!

"Will it hurt when you staple the mouse ears to my head? - First Family Trip!" (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2275373)

magicalvault

09-16-2009, 09:53 PM

WOW....your post really gives me hope lol.

I'm bringing my family of 5 down this Sunday (the 20th) for my children's first trip. There will be me(Rhett the disney freak), my wife Shealaun, my 3 yo twins Brady and Gracie, and last but not least my 18 mo Blake. We are going to be leaving Friday night on the red eye from Utah, going to JFK and then to MCO.

My wife works for an airline and that was the quickest way to get there for free lol. I just couldn't stomach paying the same for airline tickets for a direct flight as my entire package with WDW. Like you we aren't bringing Car Seats just for the plane trips so this will be interesting with my 18 mo since this will be his first trip w/o it.

We are also leaving our strollers at home and just going to rent some there as I don't want to chance getting my nice one all busted up over such a long trip.

We go to Disneyland all the time, but this will be pretty interesting going across country with my children. I just hope we arrive with all 5 members in tact lol.

Thanks again for you trip and I'll post mine when we get back or maybe even at the end of each day as we get back to our resort.

Thanks,

Rhett

mommyof2Pirates

09-17-2009, 06:45 AM

dont rush to get the report done on my account. You have helped me with all my last minute questions so far. If I think of anything else I will just ask you.

I was telling mike last night about the postcards. I was saying how when you were originally going to send it from disney I was going to act like mickey must of really sent them. He was giving me that look again, you know the one, where your husband thinks you have really lost your mind. :rotfl2: I bet they will get here by sat. Thanks again. I will let you know as soon as they come.

Maybe our next trip we should plan at the same time and we can meet up in disney. Its sad to say but thats the only place I have ever taken a plane too. :rotfl2: I hate flying so I guess it has to be somewhere really good to get me on. I should put that on my bucket list...."fly on a plane to somewhere other than disney". :lmao:

mickeystoontown

09-17-2009, 11:19 AM

Signing on! I often say that trip reports and pictures are what keep me sane until my next Disney vacation. Thanks for your contribution to my sanity.:rotfl2:

You have such a cute family and the grandmothers look like they are having a great time too.

Looking forward to more....especially this whole drinking out of the puddle episode.

Lisa

2shortpeopleruleme

09-17-2009, 02:01 PM

I'm here I found it!! I love it keep it coming! I can't wait to hear more!!

jana616

09-17-2009, 02:08 PM

So excited! Keep posting!

And I will definitely use your tip on doing Goofy's Barnstormer ride first. I showed it to him on YouTube and he seemed interested to go on it. Fingers crossed!
I think doing the Barnstormer first will be a really good way to gauge his roller coaster readiness. It seemed like it lasted less than a minute too, so it's short if he hates it! BTMRR was much longer. I hope he loves it though!

Your thread caught my eye - first of all because I love the title - and secondly because we're also from the midwest (Cincinnati), and have two little boys. We just had our first trip in August with our 4-year old and 21-month old. We did end up driving, but how nice to be there in just two hours!
Great report so far!

"Will it hurt when you staple the mouse ears to my head? - First Family Trip!" (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2275373)
Oh, wow, we have lots of similarities! I'm off to read your TR tonight! How was the drive? I know if I can convince my DH to go back we'll drive. He's too cheap to keep getting him to fly!

WOW....your post really gives me hope lol.

I'm bringing my family of 5 down this Sunday (the 20th) for my children's first trip. There will be me(Rhett the disney freak), my wife Shealaun, my 3 yo twins Brady and Gracie, and last but not least my 18 mo Blake. We are going to be leaving Friday night on the red eye from Utah, going to JFK and then to MCO.

My wife works for an airline and that was the quickest way to get there for free lol. I just couldn't stomach paying the same for airline tickets for a direct flight as my entire package with WDW. Like you we aren't bringing Car Seats just for the plane trips so this will be interesting with my 18 mo since this will be his first trip w/o it.

We are also leaving our strollers at home and just going to rent some there as I don't want to chance getting my nice one all busted up over such a long trip.

We go to Disneyland all the time, but this will be pretty interesting going across country with my children. I just hope we arrive with all 5 members in tact lol.

Thanks again for you trip and I'll post mine when we get back or maybe even at the end of each day as we get back to our resort.

Thanks,

Rhett

I hope you have a wonderful trip!! You guys will definitely have your hands full, but I bet your twins will be old enough to be fairly independent. The only times we found difficult were getting on and off the bus with kids, stuff, and strollers. If you can make it through those times, you'll be fine! We saw one family with 5 kids and the oldest couldn't have been more than 8. They were having a great time, so if they can do it, so can you! Have a great trip!

dont rush to get the report done on my account. You have helped me with all my last minute questions so far. If I think of anything else I will just ask you.

I was telling mike last night about the postcards. I was saying how when you were originally going to send it from disney I was going to act like mickey must of really sent them. He was giving me that look again, you know the one, where your husband thinks you have really lost your mind. :rotfl2: I bet they will get here by sat. Thanks again. I will let you know as soon as they come.

Maybe our next trip we should plan at the same time and we can meet up in disney. Its sad to say but thats the only place I have ever taken a plane too. :rotfl2: I hate flying so I guess it has to be somewhere really good to get me on. I should put that on my bucket list...."fly on a plane to somewhere other than disney". :lmao:

I LOL about the bucket list! What a good goal, ha ha! And I know very well the look your DH probably gave you. I got it on a daily basis as the trip got closer. I am sorry you couldn't attempt to convince him they were really from Mickey though!:rotfl:

Signing on! I often say that trip reports and pictures are what keep me sane until my next Disney vacation. Thanks for your contribution to my sanity.:rotfl2:

You have such a cute family and the grandmothers look like they are having a great time too.

Looking forward to more....especially this whole drinking out of the puddle episode.

Lisa

Thanks for the compliment! Looking at all the pictures, I can tell I was just as sweaty and gross as I felt. We were so hot. I'm glad the grandmas look like they had fun. I hope they did. They were so much help, but I wanted them to really enjoy themselves too. I know my mom had fun (she wants to go back right now!), but my MIL hasn't really said anything about it. She and I had a kind of stressful departure from there (she just did not want to check her bag at the hotel through to the airport, which would have saved time and allowed her to help more with the kids, plus then Chad kept trying to help her with her stupid bag, and I was thinking if she'd just checked it none of that would have been an issue), and then she thought I was mad at her, which I was, but I didn't want her to KNOW that, you know? Argh...it was not a good way to leave there, so hopefully it didn't sour the whole trip for her.

I'm working on the puddle drinking day right now!

jana616

09-17-2009, 02:12 PM

I'm here I found it!! I love it keep it coming! I can't wait to hear more!!

Yay, glad you made it! It's been so fun reading your blog and seeing your pictures, knowing we were there the same time. I just saw your ticker! I am SOOOOOO jealous you guys are going back! I showed Chad the bounceback offer, but we really hope that I will be either very pregnant or dealing with a newborn in September next year, so we ruled it out. I wish we could go back so soon!!! Now I'm trying to convince Chad that we will need an adult-only babymoon to somewhere tropical next spring or summer. We'll see what kind of luck I have there!

onejellyshelly

09-17-2009, 02:29 PM

Love your tr. I will be bringing DD4 on a surprise trip in just a few days. What building would you recommend at the POP?

jana616

09-17-2009, 02:42 PM

We did not sleep well the night before. We put Cooper in the pack n play next to the TV stand, Griffin in the bed by the door, and Chad and I in the bed closer to the bathroom. Well, Cooper woke up freezing a couple of times because that spot, while a perfect fit for the PnP, is right where the airconditioning bounces down. Poor little guy! We moved the PnP to in between the bed and bathroom, and trying to put Griffin in that bed since he didn't need much space. The problem was that Cooper figured out quickly that he could climb out onto the bed, so he wasn't contained. Eventually we settled on Chad sleeping in that bed to help contain him, and Griffin (who I learned yells things in his sleep, as well as kicks and punches-awesome) and I sharing the other bed. Let's just say sleep wasn't ideal for the week!

Anyway, we did not sleep really well, but none of us cared when the wake up call came at 7:20. Our hope was to feed the kids a quick breakfast while we got ready, then head to the bus by 8 am. Chad dressed the kids while I got ready. This only worked because I had labeled ziplocs for each day and each kid. Heaven help us if he'd had to pick out their outfits himself!:lmao: We did pretty well, actually getting to the bus stop at 8:15 after stopping to fill our mugs at the Food Court. I considered this a victory! We got on a bus quickly and were on our way...

We pulled up and got through the turnstiles just as they were doing the Morning Show (what is the official title?). So we happily stood and watched this:
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All ready to go!
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Soon the gates were opened and we walked down Main Street, seeing thishttp://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3849.jpg as we walked. I had broken from Ridemax's recommendation and decided to do Tomorrowland Speedway first, then go to Dumbo. It seemed like either would have a wait later in the day, so I hoped doing them first would make that shorter.

We waited at the rope into Tomorrowland with a very small crowd. I guess no Space Mountain really lessens that! As soon as the countdown was complete, we raced off to the Speedway, and were in the second and third cars. Griffin loved driving!:love:
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Chad didn't know that Cooper was allowed to steer, so he just sat in the passenger seat. When we figured it out later he liked it a lot more!
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As soon as the ride was over, we headed to Dumbo. It was probably 9:20, and there was already a 10 minute wait. I realize this is nothing compared to busy times, but this was one of the longest lines we waited in all week. That's how awesome the crowds were!
Cooper entertained himself by going under all the chains, looking like he was about to dart off at any moment. Stinker.
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Griffin liked the mirrors in the queue area, and made Dumbo ears for himself.
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After 10 minutes or so we were told that if we wanted to ride 3 and 3, we could get on the next ride. We did that, but I think it would have been more fun to do 2, 2, and 2. We were a little smushed.
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Honestly, we did it because it's a classic, but neither kid thought it was anything to write home about. I was secretly happy, since I knew it would always have a line and didn't want to wait! (Of course I would have if they had loved it, I'm not that mean!). One last Dumbo photo op
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3864.jpg, and a stop at Winnie the Pooh to get fast passes for later (where we also got bonus Philharmagic passes too) and we were off to Toontown.

One of the best things I learned from Ridemax was that Toontown opens at 9:45, even though the map says 10 am. We got there about 9:46, and walked right onto Goofy's Barnstormer. Griffin loved it, which I expected. Cooper (who made the 35" by a thread!), did not. He didn't scream or cry, just cling to me like he was terrified he was going to die. When we came back around to the loading area, they asked if we wanted to stay on and go again. Uh, yeah! But my mom and Cooper went off to do something that didn't terrify him quite so much!:thumbsup2

We rode one more time, and got off to go to Mickey's House. That's when I realized my Ridemax plan (you know, the day's Bible) was missing. I went through the exit to see if it was still in our car, and luckily it was! Whew, crisis averted! The funny thing is that we didn't really follow the plan too much anyway!

Chad ran to Frontierland to get fast passes for BTMRR while the grandmas and I took the boys through Mickey's house. It was cute, but they were bummed they couldn't touch or play with anything.
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They liked Minnie's house much better. Her kitchen is so fun! Make sure your kids play with the stove and microwave.
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And the only pink I think you'll see in this entire trip report! I convinced them to go in Minnie's gazebo!
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We ended up in the Judge's Tent at some point and thought about waiting to meet the characters, but there was a good line already and we knew we'd see them later. The good thing about not having girls is that we definitely did not need to wait in line for princesses or fairies!

(Oops, out of picture space...continued in next post!)

jana616

09-17-2009, 03:16 PM

We met back up with Chad in Fantasyland and hopped on the Mad Tea Party with no wait at all. Sue, Chad, and Griffin all love spinning fast, so they took one cup while my mom, Cooper, and I took another.
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The ride right after ours had a special guest. Alice herself came to ride with these girls! Can you imagine how excited they must have been?
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After the Tea Party, we headed over to Pooh's Playful Spot so the boys could run around a little. It was probably about 10:45. They played in there for awhile, and it was nice for them to have some unstructured time to play. We tried to give them that everyday at the parks, for at least a little while, and I'm glad we did. My mom and I went to get Peter Pan fast passes while they played too. The short fast pass return times were so nice; they were usually just 45 minutes ahead. So it was 10:45, but we had fast passes still to use for Pooh, the Philharmagic, BTMRR, and Peter Pan. Awesome!
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Griffin and daddy playing dinosaurs, of course!
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Taking pictures with Grandma Sue
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I love this one for some reason!
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After the kids had a while to play, we went across the street to Pooh's ride. We stopped first to get a picture of us all in our matching shirts. One of my big regrets is that we did not get one of all of us in front of the castle this day. Oh well! Everyone loved the shirts. We had people actually run up to us in the streets to find out where we got them. Only in Disney would this be cool!
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We went on the ride (which is kind of weird, honestly! I didn't remember that from before).
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and then saw Mickey's Philharmagic. This was so cute! Cooper was kind of restless, but the rest of us really liked it!

After that we headed to Cosmic Ray's for lunch. I wasn't overly impressed here by the food, but it was air conditioned, and the kids liked the alien piano player. Good enough. Of course 10 minutes after we got inside, I realized I left my camera bag with my wallet and DSLR camera sitting on top of the stroller!:scared1: Chad ran out and thank goodness it was still there! Another crisis averted!
Griffin entertained himself by stuffing apple slices in his mouth, and we all relaxed and cooled off.
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OK, since I know you are all DYING to know the origin of the trip report's title, here you go! So we finish lunch and head out to the strollers. We had sticky hands from eating, so Chad was using some old ice water we had to rinse his and the kids' hands off. I turn around and see that Cooper has taken a straw (which he must have found on the ground-YUCK!) and stuck it into a puddle of something (it hadn't rained, so who knows what it was-double YUCK!), and was slurping it up!:scared1: Even now, I get queasy just remembering this story. It was seriously the grossest thing either of my kids has ever done. Of course, it made for a great week-long joke. "Cooper, do you want some juice? Oh wait, here's a puddle instead!" So there you go!

After that excitement we headed over to Frontierland.
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Wearing his sunglasses on his head like mommy!
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Cooper fell asleep, so my mom (who has a heart condition and can't ride thrill rides) took him to walk around while we rode BTMRR. We got a Rider Swap for it, even though she wasn't going to go on. Awesome! Between that and the fast passes we had, we had enough for the 4 of us to do it twice. Griffin absolutely loved it. Hands down it was his favorite ride of the week. After that we met up with my mom, and she, Chad, and Sue went to do Splash Mountain (only a 10 minute wait at 1:30!). Griffin decided he didn't want to do it after watching the drop, and I hate drops like that so I bowed out. Instead, I took Griffin and a still sleeping Cooper to a playarea under the bridge there so he could play.

Here was our drama for the day. I was sitting there when a little girl, about 8 years old, sat down next to me and started to cry. She looked very scared. I asked her what was wrong, and she started speaking panicked, very fast Spanish. I took French! I figured she lost her family, so I kept trying to ask "Mama?" thinking that was universal enough to get some kind of acknowledgement. Nope! Finally a cast member walked by and I asked him to help us. He didn't speak Spanish either, so he called someone who did. Carlos was the only cast member of the entire week that I was unimpressed with. He was very irritated to have to help this poor, scared girl, who had indeed lost her mom and grandma. And honestly, neither of them did anything to make her feel better or less scared. I kept rubbing her back telling her everything would be fine, but they weren't very nice. I was really shocked. Eventually her group came back and found her-another crisis averted!

Of course all the tears and crying had woken up Cooper, so he played a little too while we waited for Chad and the grandmas. They came back and then Griffin decided that he did want to ride Splash Mountain after all. Of course! So my mom and I took Cooper to Ariel's Grotto to splash in the fountains. He loved it there!
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After they got done, Griffin, Chad and the grandmas met us there and he played a little too.
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Can you guess what happened next?
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After some water fun, we did It's A Small World and Peter Pan. Around 4 pm, we headed over to the Toontown Railroad Station. It was time to head out for our dinner at 'Ohana, and we thought that would be a fun way to get back to the front of the park. All day Cooper had yelled, "Choo Choo" every time he heard it, but he was unimpressed once we got on!

We rode it to Main Street Station and hopped off. This is what we saw when we headed to the exit!
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Next up: 'Ohana dinner, yum!

jana616

09-17-2009, 03:19 PM

Love your tr. I will be bringing DD4 on a surprise trip in just a few days. What building would you recommend at the POP?

Thanks! I think a little bit depends on what's most important to you. For us, it was quiet. We were in the 90s section, which definitely was quiet, but it was also really far from the kiddie pool and Classic Hall (though not bad to the busses at all if you cut through the parking lot). I've heard the 70's section is nice, and it seemed to be right in the middle of everything. The 50's section would be close to everything too, and quiet if you ask for the side facing the lake. Overall though, I think all of the sections seemed fine!

Gabrielsbigtrip

09-17-2009, 03:40 PM

:scared1: OH gosh, that's gross!!!!! I hope there weren't any special side effects to that drink!

Great report. We don't get to do alot of things when we go to the parks so it's great to see the pictures. It gives me something to look forward to next time.

I am glad your stuff was still on the stroller. We had a incident like that as well.

Isn't Ohana's awesome? YUM! We were there on 9/6. It was too much food for two adults and a child who eats nothing:sad2: But oh so good!

mommyof2Pirates

09-17-2009, 07:19 PM

You guys got so much done in a 1/2 day. Thats awesome. I hope we have the same luck with crowds. I cant believe all the crisis aversions on your trip so far. I was laughing about your MIL and the luggage. That would be something my MIL would do to. and let me tell ya mark my word I will never take her to disney with us. Hopefully god forgives me for this but I cant stand my MIL for more than 2 hours. She only thinks of herself and could care less that we actually have kids that need to be taken care of and its not all about her. Well I just went on a crazy tangent sorry!

I cant believe the puddle :eek:. Its amazing he didnt get sick. Boys!!!!!

Cant wait to hear about ohana. I have that as a definite on our list for next time around. I am interested to see what you thought.

momtoBrandon&Jacob

09-17-2009, 07:55 PM

Awesome report so far! :goodvibes Your family is adorable! I'm really enjoying it because I have two boys too. They were 4 and 5 on our first trip and it was great! Can't wait to read more.

Howellsy

09-17-2009, 08:02 PM

Ooh, I'm subscribing! I was at Pop too from September 2nd-16th, I'll look out for you in my pictures! :rotfl: I'm loving the TR so far :thumbsup2

DawnAK

09-17-2009, 08:42 PM

jana616

09-17-2009, 11:41 PM

Can't wait to read all about your trip. We are planning a January trip to WDW. Our little boy will be 2 in November. He is a "wild child" and has a hard time sitting still. I wonder/worry about how he will do in certain shows (like FOTLK in AK), rides, and the 3-D type attractions. also, he is not one to hold hands and walk side by side. He does ok in his stroller but when he wants to walk and tends to run the opposite direction. Hopefully he will outgrow that by the time he turns two in a couple months. :) Thanks for sharing your trip and experiences with us all.

Dawn

Oh, your little boy sounds just like Cooper! I was so worried about how that would go, since he hates to sit, and mostly refused to ride in the stroller. Well, the stroller vs. walking thing was never an issue. He was too pooped most of the time to put up a fight. I brought a monkey harness just in case, but we didn't need it once. And he was even willing to hold hands, which he refuses to do around home. So hopefully you'll have the same kind of luck!

Cooper did okay in the shows, etc. I thought he'd love FOTLK, since he loves anything musical. He liked it, but the downtime before it really started was rough. 3-D shows, he refused to wear the glasses and watched them without. Really, for the most part I was surprised by how well he did. I bet you will be too!

Ooh, I'm subscribing! I was at Pop too from September 2nd-16th, I'll look out for you in my pictures! :rotfl: I'm loving the TR so far :thumbsup2

Oh, let me know if you find us! That's so cool you were there the same time. What section were you in?

:scared1: OH gosh, that's gross!!!!! I hope there weren't any special side effects to that drink!

Great report. We don't get to do alot of things when we go to the parks so it's great to see the pictures. It gives me something to look forward to next time.

I am glad your stuff was still on the stroller. We had a incident like that as well.

Isn't Ohana's awesome? YUM! We were there on 9/6. It was too much food for two adults and a child who eats nothing:sad2: But oh so good!

We were very fortunate that there were no side effects to the puddle drinking. Still skeeves me out though!

We loved 'Ohana (not to give anything away). I had planned it mostly for my DH, who can eat a tremendous amount of food. But he was still stuffed from lunch (he ate his, plus the ribs from my MIL, plus half of a cheeseburger, plus most of my fries!), so he didn't get to eat that much. So much food!

You guys got so much done in a 1/2 day. Thats awesome. I hope we have the same luck with crowds. I cant believe all the crisis aversions on your trip so far. I was laughing about your MIL and the luggage. That would be something my MIL would do to. and let me tell ya mark my word I will never take her to disney with us. Hopefully god forgives me for this but I cant stand my MIL for more than 2 hours. She only thinks of herself and could care less that we actually have kids that need to be taken care of and its not all about her. Well I just went on a crazy tangent sorry!

I cant believe the puddle :eek:. Its amazing he didnt get sick. Boys!!!!!

Cant wait to hear about ohana. I have that as a definite on our list for next time around. I am interested to see what you thought.

Yeah, by the time the luggage thing happened, I was pretty cranky. We'd missed the DME to the airport for a variety of reasons, and I was trying to get us on the next one and hope we got there in time. The luggage lady was doing me a favor taking our bags since we were past the 3 hour minimum to check in. And all I wanted was for her to give me her stupid bag so we didn't have to hassle it. I must have asked her 5 times to do it, and she kept saying she'd just do it at the airport. So then when we're trying to move our 4 carry-ons, 4 personal items, 2 kids and 2 strollers over, Chad starts helping her with her one bag. I about lost it!! OK, calming down now. I love her, and we get along great 99% of the time. She's not selfish at all, just ditzy. This was one of those times! I definitely wouldn't do Disney with a MIL like yours! That would make me crazy.

Awesome report so far! :goodvibes Your family is adorable! I'm really enjoying it because I have two boys too. They were 4 and 5 on our first trip and it was great! Can't wait to read more.

Thanks! I'm hoping to work on some more this weekend, but we have 3 birthday parties to go to, so we'll see how it goes!

Dylan_&_Blake's_mom

09-18-2009, 01:29 AM

Fantastic update. I am taking tips from it as I go:thumbsup2 I agree with the all boys thing you said, at least you don't have to wait on any princess lines and such;)

dahall

09-18-2009, 10:51 PM

It is so nice to see what you all look like. I have been following you for months you are such a cute family.
I love the picture of your little one driving. The look on his face is priceless, he looks so happy. The one of ll of you at pooh is wonderful.:goodvibes

Your shirts are so great, I have had a few made (THANKS TO YOUR SUGGESTIONS):cool1: and will be putting them together tomorrow, I cant wait for my Paw Paw and Nana to see them. Any suggestion on the ironing?

I could so see my Asher (turning 4 on the 29th)doing the puddle thing. He can find gum under where, so we have to make sure what he is chewing on. :scared1:

I am loving the trip report and can't wait to learn more. I am taking notes. A few questions please

Is there anything that you didn't bring that you had to buy or wish you would have brought?
If you could do one thing your didn't what would that be?
What would you NOT do that you did and why?

I don't want you to rush ahead of you report or ruin you report but with only a week to go:banana: I am looking for any tips.

jana616

09-18-2009, 11:13 PM

Fantastic update. I am taking tips from it as I go:thumbsup2 I agree with the all boys thing you said, at least you don't have to wait on any princess lines and such;)

Yeah, I have to be honest, with all the cute little girls dressed up in their gowns and stuff, I was kind of missing having a daughter to do princess-y things with. But the only things we saw with any kinds of lines that day were Ariel and the Fairies, and I looked at the silver lining there that at least we didn't have to wait for those!:rotfl:

It is so nice to see what you all look like. I have been following you for months you are such a cute family.
I love the picture of your little one driving. The look on his face is priceless, he looks so happy. The one of ll of you at pooh is wonderful.:goodvibes

Your shirts are so great, I have had a few made (THANKS TO YOUR SUGGESTIONS):cool1: and will be putting them together tomorrow, I cant wait for my Paw Paw and Nana to see them. Any suggestion on the ironing?

I could so see my Asher (turning 4 on the 29th)doing the puddle thing. He can find gum under where, so we have to make sure what he is chewing on. :scared1:

I am loving the trip report and can't wait to learn more. I am taking notes. A few questions please

Is there anything that you didn't bring that you had to buy or wish you would have brought?
If you could do one thing your didn't what would that be?
What would you NOT do that you did and why?

I don't want you to rush ahead of you report or ruin you report but with only a week to go:banana: I am looking for any tips.

Oh good, I'm glad we don't have the only kid who finds disgusting things on the ground and eats them!:lmao: His other new thing this trip was licking things-like doors, my shoe. Honestly, he is not that weird of a kid at home. Vacation must make him crazy!

On the ironing, my best tip is to let the transfer cool a bit before pulling the parchment paper off. Also, if you are putting a white background transfer on a colored shirt, be really careful on how long you keep heat on (witness the "Prince in Training" shirt in my PTR!). I have to say, I thought I did awesome on ours, but I've washed them all since we've been home, and on a couple of them, the corners are peeling up and coming off the shirts. I don't know if I should have ironed them longer or what... So maybe I'm not the one to ask!

Here's your questions!
Is there anything that you didn't bring that you had to buy or wish you would have brought? The only thing I can think of is the big misting fans. The kind that have a big spray bottle attached to a fan? I was going to get one at Walmart for less than $5 and my mom said it would be too awkward to carry around, so I didn't. Well, by day 3 we were HOT! So I used some of my birthday fun card $$ to buy a $17 WDW one just like the one I could have paid way less for at home. Now, you may have no interest in those, and they may be hard to find now that summer's pretty much over. But I was mad I didn't just listen to myself (one of a few times that happened!). Mostly, though, we brought too much stuff, especially snacks and diapers.
If you could do one thing your didn't what would that be? Hmmm...I wish we'd taken more Photopass pictures. I preordered the CD, but the kids were not really wanting pictures taken very much, so we only got like 80 pictures taken. I wish we'd just walked leisurely around the MK for an hour or so at some point. We were always moving fast, and there are so many neat details you miss that way.
What would you NOT do that you did and why? Rush quite so much. The crowds were so light, we really could have gone slower and taken our time more than we did.

thegreggersmom

09-19-2009, 12:13 AM

dahall

09-19-2009, 06:06 AM

I think it is a boy thing. :goodvibes I can't image a girl (in her pretty princess dress) drinking from a puddle. Boy are just boys. pirate: But on the plus side I will never have to pray for getting into princess dinning. princess:

Thanks for the info, :worship:I was wondering about the cooling fans. We have only gone in Jan and Nov so it was cool, we even needed sweatshirts. I am making one of many Walmart and Target runs this weekend for supply's. I will look for them there and hope to find them in a discount bin.

I too have seen that "honey you are Disney crazy" :scared1: look from my DH as I plan for this trip and bring the laptop to bed so I can read more info and ideas.

Can't wait to read more, if you think of anything else I might miss in the last week frenzy I would be so appreciate it. :worship::love:

mickeystoontown

09-19-2009, 09:57 AM

I love the lastest installments. The pictures of the railroad station all done up in orange are gorgeous. It seems like you guys really lucked out on the wait times. 10 minutes for Dumbo? That's short compared to the 90 minutes we often see when we're there.

I'm glad to see that the grandmothers are still having a good time.

What the heck was up with the castmembers who didn't give a hoot whether or not they helped that little girl find her parents? That's just plain mean. I think I'd have to write to Disney about that one.

And, of course, the puddle sipping......pretty darn gross. But, he's a boy.....those are things that boys do. Mine is now 12 and he still does gross things.

DisneyTiger

09-19-2009, 10:00 AM

Ok, I just threw up a little after reading the puddle story. That is pretty hilariously disgusting:lmao: Gotta love boys! Hey, at least he kept himself hydrated:rotfl2:

I realized that I hadn't subscribed to this thread so I've been missing all the updates. Duh!!! Now, I'm all signed up and ready for more. It's great so far:thumbsup2

jana616

09-19-2009, 06:10 PM

Loving your report! And I have a 19 month old son who decided to drink straight from a puddle on our street (not even classy enough to use a straw :confused3) not too long ago. Boys! You gotta love 'em! I am anxious to read more about how Cooper did since we are headed to WDW in December.

OK, that seriously made me LOL-not classy enough to use a straw!! I had no idea Cooper was actually a high achiever!:rotfl: He really did very well. I was worried he wouldn't sleep in the stroller, since if we go for a long day here, he won't. But they were pretty tired right away there, so he slept for 2 hours in the stroller most days. Did you ever find a good deal on airfare?

I think it is a boy thing. :goodvibes I can't image a girl (in her pretty princess dress) drinking from a puddle. Boy are just boys. pirate: But on the plus side I will never have to pray for getting into princess dinning. princess:

Thanks for the info, :worship:I was wondering about the cooling fans. We have only gone in Jan and Nov so it was cool, we even needed sweatshirts. I am making one of many Walmart and Target runs this weekend for supply's. I will look for them there and hope to find them in a discount bin.

I too have seen that "honey you are Disney crazy" :scared1: look from my DH as I plan for this trip and bring the laptop to bed so I can read more info and ideas.

Can't wait to read more, if you think of anything else I might miss in the last week frenzy I would be so appreciate it. :worship::love:

I will definitely let you know if I think of anything before you go. If you're bringing the laptop to bed then you've probably gotten tons of great tips from here. I'm sure you'll be just fine! It was definitely hot-even the evenings were just a little "less hot," but never cool. No sweatshirts needed for us! Bring ponytail holders if you have long hair. The one day I forgot to bring mine, I was trying to fashion something out of a pipe cleaner! It was so pathetic my MIL finally bought me a $5 holder!

I love the lastest installments. The pictures of the railroad station all done up in orange are gorgeous. It seems like you guys really lucked out on the wait times. 10 minutes for Dumbo? That's short compared to the 90 minutes we often see when we're there.

I'm glad to see that the grandmothers are still having a good time.

What the heck was up with the castmembers who didn't give a hoot whether or not they helped that little girl find her parents? That's just plain mean. I think I'd have to write to Disney about that one.

And, of course, the puddle sipping......pretty darn gross. But, he's a boy.....those are things that boys do. Mine is now 12 and he still does gross things.

I know, 10 minutes was awesome, and the fact that 10 minutes was a LONG line for us shows how quiet it was. Ridemax was very useful in that respect too, as we did follow the order it gave much of the time, and that led to really short lines. September is awesome!

I was really disappointed in how that cast member acted. I had told myself that if, God forbid, we got separated from one of the kids, at least they would be helped by the nicest people possible. That was a real eye opener. They just seemed so put out to have to help!

Ok, I just threw up a little after reading the puddle story. That is pretty hilariously disgusting:lmao: Gotta love boys! Hey, at least he kept himself hydrated:rotfl2:

I realized that I hadn't subscribed to this thread so I've been missing all the updates. Duh!!! Now, I'm all signed up and ready for more. It's great so far:thumbsup2

I don't blame you a bit for vomiting! And I was LOL at the hydrated comment! We did get cups of ice water frequently, but I guess a boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do when he finds himself parched!

More to come soon, I promise.

lbuzz52

09-19-2009, 08:57 PM

Gabes_mommy

09-19-2009, 09:03 PM

I just found your report this morning and I am loving it! I can so relate to all your little boy stories. Little boys - they are dirty and rowdy, but so loveable. :lovestruc

I can't wait to hear more. :goodvibes

Porphyro

09-19-2009, 09:54 PM

Re: the pack & play position - our little one, Connor, figured out how to climb onto the beds on our third day, too! We ended up wedging the p&p between the two beds and putting bed rails (Disney provided) on each bed, thus 'extending' the walls of the p&p. I thought I was a genius for figuring that one out! There's a pic in our trip report.
I'm glad Griffin loved BTMRR - Caden did too! It was his first grown-up coaster, I was so proud of him!
Re: the drive. Not as bad as we thought it would be. Of the two of us, I am definitely the cheaper one, hubby would have love to have flown (I know the user name sounds male, he opened the account and I use it!!). But we stopped for two nights - probably could have done just one but I have family in southern KY, so that just shaved a little off the beginning of the trip for us. Honestly, Connor was the more challenging of the two, as he can't read or do much else to entertain himself the way Caden can. We brought Caden books, coloring pads, and a Leapster which he LOVED. Connor watched a lot of DVDs and did sleep some. We also stopped at least 3 times a day to let them run around at rest stops. The best thing about driving was having our own vehicle to get around the parks, and not rely on the buses. So I am here to tell you that that trip IS possible with two small boys!
Re: the puddle. YUCK!! :rotfl:

Lamping3

09-20-2009, 04:56 PM

I followed your TR over from Gabes Mommy's. I laughed out loud about the title. That totally sounds like something my youngest nephew would do.

I hope you can give me some insight about taking a 2 year old to Disney. My DD will just have turned 2 when we go in December.

I already have a question. We are currently contemplating taking the carseat for the plane. We are also flying airtran. Did they give you any problems about not having one? I am not looking forward to lugging a carseat along with all of our stuff and our DD.

Thanks in advance! Can't wait to hear more!

jana616

09-21-2009, 01:54 PM

Nope. Sorry but I can disprove you puddle drinking = boy theory. I caught my daughter drinking from a puddle at our local spray park when she was three! At least I knew what it was! Yuck!
Your boys are cute! We're taking our first trip next month with my dd4 my ds6mo and my dnephew3 so looking forward to more stories and hints!

Alright, well there goes my "boys are the only gross ones" theory! But a splash park puddle is much better than random wetness on the streets of WDW, I have to say! At least she chose well!

I just found your report this morning and I am loving it! I can so relate to all your little boy stories. Little boys - they are dirty and rowdy, but so loveable. :lovestruc

I can't wait to hear more. :goodvibes

Thanks! I'm really enjoying your TR too!

Re: the pack & play position - our little one, Connor, figured out how to climb onto the beds on our third day, too! We ended up wedging the p&p between the two beds and putting bed rails (Disney provided) on each bed, thus 'extending' the walls of the p&p. I thought I was a genius for figuring that one out! There's a pic in our trip report.
I'm glad Griffin loved BTMRR - Caden did too! It was his first grown-up coaster, I was so proud of him!
Re: the drive. Not as bad as we thought it would be. Of the two of us, I am definitely the cheaper one, hubby would have love to have flown (I know the user name sounds male, he opened the account and I use it!!). But we stopped for two nights - probably could have done just one but I have family in southern KY, so that just shaved a little off the beginning of the trip for us. Honestly, Connor was the more challenging of the two, as he can't read or do much else to entertain himself the way Caden can. We brought Caden books, coloring pads, and a Leapster which he LOVED. Connor watched a lot of DVDs and did sleep some. We also stopped at least 3 times a day to let them run around at rest stops. The best thing about driving was having our own vehicle to get around the parks, and not rely on the buses. So I am here to tell you that that trip IS possible with two small boys!
Re: the puddle. YUCK!! :rotfl:

I just started your TR (love the title btw!), and am really enjoying it. Love the PnP bed rail idea-mommies have to be creative sometimes, huh? Good to know that the drive went well. I liked how you broke it up. We drove 14 hours to the Outer Banks last September when Griffin was 3 and Cooper was 14 months, and we all survived. Even next year wouldn't be too bad, but Cooper is just like Caden, he'd be bored and unable to entertain himself. Even 2 hours on the plane was challenging!

I followed your TR over from Gabes Mommy's. I laughed out loud about the title. That totally sounds like something my youngest nephew would do.

I hope you can give me some insight about taking a 2 year old to Disney. My DD will just have turned 2 when we go in December.

I already have a question. We are currently contemplating taking the carseat for the plane. We are also flying airtran. Did they give you any problems about not having one? I am not looking forward to lugging a carseat along with all of our stuff and our DD.

Thanks in advance! Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks for joining me! Airtran definitely did not care one bit whether we had a carseat. They were so jerky about what we brought on (only on the way home) that they were probably thrilled we didn't have it. I was really glad we didn't bring it, since it would have been such a pain just for the flights. However, I looked into renting a CARES harness and chose not to. I wish I had. Not even so much for safety, but Cooper is used to being restrained, and that would have helped him. He was a little drunk with the freedom of just having a seatbelt! If you want more info on CARES, let me know, or you can search ebay for rentals. If you have any other 2 year old to Disney questions, feel free to ask!:goodvibes

Coming up now...'Ohana dinner!

jana616

09-21-2009, 02:19 PM

When I left you last, we were departing the pretty fall decorations of the Magic Kingdom
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3954.jpg
and heading to the Polynesian for our 'Ohana dinner.

I should mention that as I researched restaurants months and months ahead of time, I stumbled upon 'Ohana in a review. When I heard that they bring around endless skewers of meat, I knew this was Chad's dream meal. To look at him you would never know that he can eat close to his own body weight at any given meal. So I put it on our ADR wish list, and as the date to book meals got closer, I realized this was actually my #1 meal choice as well (and I'm not even a big meat eater!). I was so thrilled when our travel agent got it for us at exactly the day and time we wanted!

Our ADR was for 5 pm, and the plan had been to leave the park after lunch, head to POP for a break, then go straight to the Poly before visiting the MK again for a couple of hours. But, given the nap trauma of the day before, we decided to spend the day at the MK, head to the Poly, then head to POP for the night. Good choice!

We decided to take the resort boat over, since we thought it would be more fun for the kids. After waiting 10 minutes or so, a boat pulled up and we were off. It stopped briefly at the Grand Floridian before arriving at the Polynesian. Boy are they both beautiful resorts!

We made our way up to the 2nd floor, only to find a 15 minute line just to check in! I waited while the boys ran around like wild men, and finally we were checked in. The greeter was very nice, and I joked around with him, before requesting a table in the main dining room (I'd heard this was closer to the kids' activities). He also made mention of my birthday, so I figured a cupcake was in my future! We waited again for another 10 minutes or so before being led back to our table by "Cousin Brandon." He was so fun! When our pager went off, I handed it to him, and he took it, and then took a toy car right out of Cooper's hand (I was holding him). Cooper just stared at him like, "Oh no, you did NOT just steal my car!" Brandon gave it back and was teasing him, he was really nice. Definitely our best server of the trip!

When we got to our table, I learned that being nice to the greeter had paid off. We were right in the main dining room, directly in front of where the activity lady (Lipoa?) did everything, and we had a view of the kitchen (and the fire, which the boys loved!), and directly behind us was the perfect view of the castle! Did I take a picture of the castle? No, of course not! :headache:

We sat down and were immediately hit with salad, bread, noodles, pot stickers, broccoli, and wings. I have heard others complain that the food came quickly, but with two restless kids, I really appreciated that. We never felt rushed out or anything, there was just never a lull! After a few minutes I realized the boys were not going to eat any of the food. When Brandon came over I asked about getting a kid's meal, and he offered several choices. When I chose a hot dog, he said he'd bring two (and he never even charged us for Cooper's!). FYI, we were also never charged for his drink at any meal, ever. The boys were much happier after they got huge hot dogs and mounds of fries.

The skewers of meat began to come around. We each had different favorites. I loved the shrimp, Chad loved the pork, Sue loved the turkey, and my mom loved the steak. The only disappointment of the whole meal was that we were so hot and tired having come straight from the park, that we didn't have room for a ton (probably a good thing!). While we were eating, Lipoa started leading activities. She had the kids come up and learn the hula, so we did that, and got some leis. Then while I sat down with the kids, somehow my mom, Chad, and his mom ended up in a strange group hug. It was seriously hysterical!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3955.jpg
And they were all totally sober!

They did some limboing, which the boys loved
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3960.jpg

We asked Brandon to take our picture, in our now sweaty and disgusting shirts! Oh well, better than nothing!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3959_edited-1.jpg

We enjoyed the most amazing dessert (that bread pudding is every bit as good as you hear!), and my birthday cupcake before leaving. It was towards the end of the meal that Cooper started getting really restless. At one point I was eating, and looked over to see him taking off at a full sprint through all the tables. I have the worst reaction time to things like that-it takes me forever to process what needs to be done. I just sat there sputtering, "Oh dear. Oh my." Really helpful, and it became another joke for the week. Someone with faster reflexes wrangled him in, and Sue ended up taking him out of the restaurant to walk around a little while we settled the bill.

Overall, we loved 'Ohana. I would recommend it to anyone!

We took our very first monorail trip back to the Magic Kingdom. (Note for anyone else heading to 'Ohana from MK-the monorail lets out right next to the restaurant, while the boat lets out outside and requires some walking, plus you have to fold your stroller up on the boat but not the monorail).
Cooper was in heaven on the "choo choo"! I thought it was so cute, he insisted on holding onto a pole, just like daddy!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3963.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3965.jpg

We were lucky to hop right onto a POP bus and get back to the rooms. By this point it was a little after 8 pm. The plan had been for Chad to take the boys swimming while I finally got us unpacked. When we got to the room the kids were wound up, and Chad and I ended up having an argument. He wanted to just put them to bed (right, because going back on the swimming promise would go well!), and I wanted them to swim. I won.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3967_edited-1.jpg
The boys had fun, and burned off some of their energy. Plus we decided the swim was the night's replacement for a bath!

We were all in bed by 9:30, ready for DHS the next day!

thegreggersmom

09-21-2009, 02:25 PM

[QUOTE=jana616;33640284]OK, that seriously made me LOL-not classy enough to use a straw!! I had no idea Cooper was actually a high achiever!:rotfl: He really did very well. I was worried he wouldn't sleep in the stroller, since if we go for a long day here, he won't. But they were pretty tired right away there, so he slept for 2 hours in the stroller most days. Did you ever find a good deal on airfare?

Oh yeah, Cooper is definitely showing some style there! :rotfl:

And hey, great memory! Yes, we got RT for just under $200 each and it seems to only be going up so I am glad I booked when I did. Also looks like American will be taking away our non-stop STL to MCO flight next year. Ugh.

AND because I HAVE to share it with someone and fellow DISers will appreciate it the most, I got a Maclaren Daytripper stroller off Craig's List for $15. $15!! As far as I can tell they usually go for around $150. I was trying to find a decent umbrella stroller for the trip so I wouldn't have to lug along the Graco and feel like I just got an early dose of pixie dust. :love:

jana616

09-21-2009, 02:32 PM

thegreggersmom

09-21-2009, 02:37 PM

Gabrielsbigtrip

09-21-2009, 02:38 PM

Ohana's ..... yum!

We were two tables away RIGHT where they do the limbo ( not that same day of course ). I too did not take a picture of the castle:headache:

Haven't gotten that far into my report yet to share all the juicy details yet:lmao:

jana616

09-21-2009, 02:50 PM

Yeah. Even with a used one I can see why the Maclarens are so popular. Very easy to handle!

Love your Ohana report. So far I only have ADRs at Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace since we're getting free CS dining, but I am really tempted to add Ohana.

And LOVE the pool time substituting for a bath! That's exactly what I would do -- especially on vacation. ;)

Oh, Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace are both really good too! I liked CM better, personally, but the CP characters are perfect for your son's age. I think you'd be fine to wait until he's a little older to do 'Ohana. He wouldn't really get anything out of it, and you'd have another table service meal to keep him happy at. (Although maybe he's really well-behaved at sit-down meals, unlike my heathens!:lmao:)

Yeah, that pool replaced the bathtub a couple more times too! Water is water, right? Even when it's chlorinated?:rotfl:

Ohana's ..... yum!

We were two tables away RIGHT where they do the limbo ( not that same day of course ). I too did not take a picture of the castle:headache:

Haven't gotten that far into my report yet to share all the juicy details yet:lmao:

Your table had to have been right by ours. In the picture of my kids limboing, you can see my mom in the lower right hand corner (back of her head, white shirt, lei). That was our table-SO close to everything! Glad to know I'm not the only one who missed that photo op!

Can't wait to hear the juicy details!

thegreggersmom

09-21-2009, 03:00 PM

[QUOTE=jana616;33661988]Oh, Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace are both really good too! I liked CM better, personally, but the CP characters are perfect for your son's age. I think you'd be fine to wait until he's a little older to do 'Ohana. He wouldn't really get anything out of it, and you'd have another table service meal to keep him happy at. (Although maybe he's really well-behaved at sit-down meals, unlike my heathens!:lmao:)

Yeah, that pool replaced the bathtub a couple more times too! Water is water, right? Even when it's chlorinated?:rotfl:

Yep, you're reading my mind. He and your heathens would get along JUST fine in a restaurant, and since it's just him and me I think it will be far more relaxing to do CS most of the time.

And chlorine gets them extra, extra clean -- right?! It's like using antibacterial soap. :laughing:

mickeystoontown

09-21-2009, 03:08 PM

I'm glad to see that you guys enjoyed Ohanas even if you were all tired after a day in the Magic Kingdom. The restaurant is on our "we wanna eat there next year" list.

And, don't tell your husband, but I'm glad you won the argument over whether or not to go swimming!:rolleyes1

thegreggersmom

09-21-2009, 03:42 PM

subscribing

jana616

09-22-2009, 09:45 PM

OK, so here's hoping I can provide a really good installment, for a variety of reasons...
1) We loved DHS! I didn't expect this, but some of our favorite things ended up being here. It's a great park for boys, in my opinion.
2) This is the only day that I took notes while we were there. Hopefully that means more accurate info here (not that the other days have been full of lies or anything!:rotfl:)
3) In my mind, I remember this as one of our favorite days. Everyone was in a good mood, the kids had fun, the weather was great...basically just picture a big ball of happiness and you have us at the DHS!

So, we slept alright the night before. Griffin woke us up by yelling, "I want my lunch back!" in his sleep, but other than that we slept pretty well, and we were woken up at 7:15 by the phone. After getting dressed, feeding the kids a super healthy breakfast of Pop Tarts, and stopping to refill our mugs at the Food Court and get them milk, we got a bus quickly. We were at DHS by 8:25, and waited at the turnstiles for a while, probably 6-7 people back. They let us head to the rope at 8:50, and we watched the opening show. We had done (not to toot our own horns, but...) an awesome job getting right to the rope, and were at the very front. This is what we saw as we waited.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3969.jpg

We were able to execute our plan perfectly, which was for Chad to run ahead and get Toy Story Mania fast passes while the grandmas and I pushed the kids, and then meet him at the stand-by line. He had 5 fast passes with a return time of 9:45 when we got there, and we hopped in the line. This was awesome, as we literally walked right onto the ride. The only disappointment was that we flew through the queue and I couldn't take pictures of how cute it was-not a bad problem to have!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3972.jpg
OMG, we all loved this ride!!! I had had trouble picturing what it really was, and how it could be so cool. Well, it just is. We all wanted to do it as many times as possible, and set that as our goal for the day!

By this time it was 9:25 or so, and we wanted to catch the 9:40 Playhouse Disney show while the boys were still in good moods. The grandmas decided to do the Great Movie Ride instead. We walked in right before it started, and I gave the boys lollipops to keep them happy (the secret to a good trip, I really believe!).
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3973.jpg
See? Don't they look happy? Or at least not disruptive?:rotfl:
I had found a Disney mini digital camera on clearance at Target before we left, and Griffin had so much fun the whole trip taking his own pictures. I haven't uploaded his yet, but I have a hunch it will be a lot of feet and parts of his own hand!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3975.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3976.jpg
We thought the show was cute, and the kids really liked it, especially all of the interactive parts. They had fun popping the bubbles and dancing.

We met up with the grandmas afterwards and decided to use our fast passes for TSM. When we got there, the cast members told us it was only a 15 minute stand by line (at a little after 10 am!), so we decided to hold onto our fast passes, ride stand by, and then get more, to hopefully ride 4 times. That plan worked perfectly, and I am so glad we got to do it that many times. Plus this time I had a chance to take queue pictures!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3980.jpg
Mr. Potato Head called on Griffin, who was totally confused by him!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3981.jpg
Even Cooper had a good time waiting in line, playing with daddy.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3983_edited-1.jpg

What was also nice about doing it 4 times is that we got to ride in different combinations. This was nice because Cooper, while having a fine time on the ride, mostly had fun by banging his feet into the metal seats, making a racket. Plus he got kind of whipped around when it would spin, so you had to hold onto him. So it was nice that we were able to spread out who rode with him. We got another set of fast passes, then took a slow walk over to Hollywood and Vine for our 11 am ADR. We stopped to get a picture first though!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3984.jpg

Up next: Play and Dine Lunch!

jana616

09-22-2009, 09:56 PM

Yep, you're reading my mind. He and your heathens would get along JUST fine in a restaurant, and since it's just him and me I think it will be far more relaxing to do CS most of the time.

And chlorine gets them extra, extra clean -- right?! It's like using antibacterial soap. :laughing:

Yes, I believe chlorine is known as an official replacement for soap. That's my theory anyway!

Good to know it's not just my kids who don't do so well at sit-down meals. I think with just the two of you you'll enjoy the CS convenience and speed. Although, to give my kids credit where it's due, they did better than I expected, most of the time. Of course, I expected total chaos and disaster, so maybe that's not saying too much!:rotfl:

I'm glad to see that you guys enjoyed Ohanas even if you were all tired after a day in the Magic Kingdom. The restaurant is on our "we wanna eat there next year" list.

And, don't tell your husband, but I'm glad you won the argument over whether or not to go swimming!:rolleyes1

Thanks, I'm glad I won that one too!;) You should definitely try 'Ohana, if only for the bread pudding. It's SOOOO good!

Lamping3

09-23-2009, 01:38 PM

jana616

09-23-2009, 02:01 PM

I am a firm believer in suckers too! I keep at least 2 in my purse at all times. They work out great in the grocery store and any other place I need Amelia to be quiet. Who cares if her lips are blue the rest of the day!:lmao:

Love the DHS update! The boy's shirts are so cute....I saw on your PTR that you made them!

Yep, lollipops are truly a mother's best friend! The boys will do anything for them. Cooper has learned to just bite a Dum Dum, so it only lasts him like 2 minutes. This trip I figured out to do Tootsie Pops-they were too big for his mouth, so he had to lick them, and thus they lasted forever! Ah, the joys of parenthood!

Thanks for the compliment on the shirts. I hunted up and down for a Playhouse Disney design, and I really wanted Oso on it, since that's their favorite. Luckily a very nice DISigner (tmdart) was willing to add him for us, and the boys were thrilled. You can't tell too much in the pictures, but I ordered Cooper's shirt online, and it was huge! It was actually bigger than Griffin's shirt that day! :rotfl:

ladybugmom

09-23-2009, 02:36 PM

MouseKTeer

09-23-2009, 05:45 PM

Joining in a little late and enjoying your TR :)

Woo-hoo!! :cool1: TSM 4 times?? :worship: Impressive!

Isn't Ohana the best? I'm with your DH on the pork.

We have 2 boys and 2 grandparents in our group too--it'll be interesting to see what you guys do over the course of your time in the World.

jana616

09-23-2009, 08:18 PM

YAY!! I'm all caught up!! What GREAT updates! I just LOVE O'hana! It was one of our favorites meals as well!! And GROSS that Cooper drank out of a "puddle" with a dirty straw! YIKES!! It looks like you had a blast at DHS! Can't wait to hear about your meal at Play & Dine @ Hollyood & Vine!!

We did love 'Ohana, I would love to go back. And, not to give too much away, but we :lovestruc H&V as well. You were a major force in my choosing it, since you said you guys had had a nice meal. I am so glad I didn't listen to all of the negative reviews, because it was probably my favorite character meal. So thanks for that! :goodvibes

Joining in a little late and enjoying your TR :)

Woo-hoo!! :cool1: TSM 4 times?? :worship: Impressive!

Isn't Ohana the best? I'm with your DH on the pork.

We have 2 boys and 2 grandparents in our group too--it'll be interesting to see what you guys do over the course of your time in the World.

Welcome! I'm going to check out your TR tonight, hopefully! I was actually really pleased with what we were able to get done. Looking back at it with perfect hindsight vision, I wish we had done maybe a little less "stuff" and a little more relaxing and taking it all in. I feel a little bad since I was the planner and the go-go person on the trip, and now I feel guilty that I asked everyone else to rush around with me. Oh well, they're all telling me they had fun, so I'm going to assume they aren't lying!:rolleyes1

jana616

09-23-2009, 09:32 PM

When I left off, we were making our way to Hollywood and Vine for our 11 am ADR. I was a little nervous about this meal for a few reasons. First, anyone who reads the DIS has read a bad review of this restaurant. I don't think of us as particularly picky eaters (well, the kids are, but they would be anywhere), so I was hopeful we'd be okay, but worried that I had lead us all to inedible cuisine! Second, I was a little concerned about what we would be eating. Disney's own dining website said that breakfast went until 11:20, and lunch started at 11:40. I was hopeful that we'd be getting some of both, since the kids definitely eat breakfast foods better. In the end, I stuck with this ADR since it was so convenient to stay in the park (our other option was Cape May dinner), and I knew the kids would enjoy any characters, even if they didn't particularly care for them or know them.

We walked along the lake, and were disappointed to see that the spot with the best view was a smoking area (this happened again later that day at a nice shady bench area near Star Tours). I'm allergic to smoke, and try not to expose the kids, so we didn't feel like hanging around, but it was really pretty. I went ahead to check in at about 10:50, and had my only disappointment of the meal. The host said that lunch started at 11 am, and they wouldn't seat anyone until then. Kind of a bummer since the entire restaurant was empty and we could see servers just standing and waiting, but whatever!:rolleyes1

Finally at 11:10 (again, why would you need 10 minutes past the ADR to seat the 5 families waiting outside?) we were ushered in, and this is when I started to love this meal. There was no one there! Maybe a third of the tables were filled. It was awesome, because there were no real lines for food, and the characters had tons of time to interact with the kids. Each character came by at least twice! So nice. And we really liked the food too. Just based on our experience, I have no idea why people bash the food. I adored the creamed corn spoonbread, and liked many of the other items. All of us found plenty to eat and enjoy. They had a really nice dessert selection as well. So if you have been contemplating this meal, I say go for it! It was perfect for the ages of my kids, but older kids would probably be bored. And thanks Becky (ladybugmom) for encouraging me to do this one; I am so glad we did!

OK, onto the pictures!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_3987.jpg
See, what I loved is that the characters really took their time with each table. Almost all of them sat down at some point, and most of them played with Griffin or Cooper. So sweet! Plus 2 of them came before we ever saw our server, so we didn't have to rush around as much while we ate.
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I think Cooper was really concerned about why they looked like people but had such huge heads!

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After JoJo and Leo came by, they did the first of many dance breaks. Now again, some might find this annoying, but my kids are all about dancing, and I'm all about them not having to sit still and quiet!;) They had a blast dancing, and luckily our table was right behind it, so the adults could sit and eat while they danced.
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Next June came by, and then Goliath.
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Then JoJo came again. Judging from all the other pictures I took, I think Leo and June came by again, and JoJo may have come by one more time after that. Honestly, at some point I stopped taking pictures and just got to enjoy them playing with the kids, who were having a blast!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_4017.jpg

I had to create my own Disney magic at the meal. I saw a table a few seats away had yogurt cups on it. The boys were eating nothing (not H&V's fault, just how they are), but I knew they'd eat yogurt, which I did not see on the buffet. So I asked our server about it, and she told me sorry, they were left over from breakfast and not out anymore. I walked away a little disappointed, and commented to my mom that I was surprised she didn't offer to get some from the kitchen (I think I was spoiled by how accomodating every other place had been). Well, she overheard me and brought two out. Whoops, guess I have a louder mouth than I thought!:rolleyes1 I was very appreciative and thanked her profusely, but I still felt bad that I had kind of assumed she would go out of their way just for me.

Anyway, as the meal was wrapping up we decided Chad would take all of our cards and run ahead to get Rock and Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror fast passes for the two of us (the beauty of having non-riders-we got to use their cards for our FPs!), and then he would meet us at TSM for our third ride. He is fast! He beat us there, and told me the line for ToT was so short they weren't giving FPs out, so he got 4 for RnRC so we could ride twice. Smart boy!

The army men were out in front of TSM, so we got some photos with them.
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I remember that as we got in the fast pass line to ride TSM, we discussed how we had 45 minutes until the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show. This was the one thing Chad wanted to do at DHS, and the boys really wanted to see it too. I thought for sure we'd have plenty of time. Well, this time the ride had major problems. If I heard, "Sorry Toy Story Maniacs, Rex forgot to put the batteries in" one more time, I was going to lose it! And my poor mom, who had offered to ride with Cooper so Chad and I could ride together, got stuck keeping him happy for the 20 minutes we sat there as it would start and stop over and over. We watched as the time for LMA got closer and closer. There was another show at 4:30, but we had hoped to be wrapping up our day around then and didn't know if the kids would make it that long. We decided to make a run for it and see if we could sneak in!

Chad ran with Cooper while we grabbed the strollers and came behind. We got there as they were putting the rope up, but luckily we made it under the wire. We did miss the opening sequence, which was a bummer. Also a bummer was that the show also had major technical difficulties. They had to reshoot several scenes, and the part where the man is supposed to catch fire didn't happen. Oh well, the kids still really liked it.
All of my boys watching with rapt attention.
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Cooper completely enthralled
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So cool, especially if you have two car-obsessed little boys!
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After the show Cooper was getting pretty tired, but I wanted them to see the Cars characters first. So we found that and got some quick pictures. Can you see Cooper's pacifier? He only gets this when he's sleeping (or cranky at WDW and nothing else will work!:rotfl:), so he was pretty close to naptime here!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_4087_edited-1.jpg

We headed to Star Tours, but stumbled upon the Singing in the Rain umbrella first, so of course we all got pictures with it!
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Even Cooper, who truly could not understand what we were all doing!
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Near picture limit, continued in next post!

jana616

09-23-2009, 10:02 PM

After our Cars and umbrella photo ops, we headed to Star Tours. As soon as we started walking, Cooper conked out. We got a rider swap for the ride, and then my mom and I took Griffin on it. It was fun, but nothing great. He got to ride again with Chad and Sue while my mom and I walked Cooper's stroller around and got Frozen Lemonade Shocks as snacks. I believe other than the milk/cereal combos we'd gotten at POP in the mornings, that this was my very first snack credit usage...awww! It was sour and cold, perfect for the hot afternoon. We stopped in a gift shop and I remarked to my mom how cute I thought these little $2 Mickey head keychains were (this will be important later!).

When we met up with the rest of the gang, we decided it was time for Griffin to make his own lightsaber. This was the one souvenir I had known going in that I was going to get him. He and Chad play swords all the time at home, so I knew he'd actually use them when we got back!
He had so much fun, and they were so nice helping him. He made his, and then we helped him make Cooper's (who was still asleep and couldn't have cared less what his looked like!)

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He was thrilled, and I was glad to buy him something to hopefully keep the "I wants" at bay. He'd been really good so far about not asking for stuff, and I hoped to keep it that way! We got him a Mickey ice cream sandwich for a snack, while poor Cooper slept through it!
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We walked around a little bit, and decided that it was a good time for Chad and I to do RnRC and ToT. Sue took Cooper to keep him moving while he slept, and my mom took Griffin to hopefully do the animation class, something she had really been wanting to do. Unfortunately, the class was not going on at that time due to a problem, and Cooper woke up, so they ended up kind of walking around. She tried to get Griffin to meet the UP characters (he and I had just seen the movie the week prior), but he didn't want to. I learned later that they ended up in a gift shop, where Griffin wanted to get me something for my birthday. He kept suggesting princess necklaces and other not-so-much-me ideas, so she lead him to the $2 keychains I had liked earlier. I guess the clerk was really nice, and when she learned he was buying it for mommy's birthday, she wrapped it in tissue paper and a Disney box. He was so proud to give it to me when we met back up!:lovestruc

But back to the thrill rides! As we walked over, I chickened out on Tower of Terror. We had ridden it back in 2001, and I don't remember disliking it then, but I really hate big drops. So I wimped out, although I told Chad I would happily go through the whole line with him if he wanted to go. He didn't care enough to do it, so we headed to RnRC and used two of our fast passes, even though the stand by line was maybe 5 minutes. We did get ahead of 4 people! We rode it once, had a blast, and used our other two fast passes, this time asking for the front. We loved it again, so we rode stand by one more time. Fun! We were able to ride three times in 25 minutes...I :love: September!

We met the group in the HISTK play area, where the kids played for awhile.
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And then we headed to the Muppets 3-D. My mom loves the Muppets, so this was mainly for her! We all enjoyed it, but I don't think I'd ever need to see it again. We stopped for a pic for her
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_4122.jpg
then headed over to TSM for one last ride using our last fast passes (our 4th, if anyone is counting!). We got super lucky here. They had two cars that were separated out from the rest, and they needed a group of 6. Lucky for us, we had 6, and we skipped ahead by about 10 minutes.

We stopped for a couple more pictures
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and headed out to find a bus waiting just for us (or so it seemed!).

My mom was able to entertain Cooper singing "Bippity Boppity Boo," his favorite, so even he was happy on the way home!
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(That's him saying "BOO")

We headed straight to the food court to eat when we got back to the resort around 6:30. None of us was starving, so we shared meals. The boys got an adult pizza to split, and Chad and I split a meatball sub with salad, as did the grandmas. They were yummy! We all also got brownie sundaes as dessert, and oh goodness were they good and huge! The 4 of us couldn't finish two sundaes, though the boys gave it their best effort.
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The scariest moment of the trip happened right after the sundaes. We were packing up to leave the table when Cooper decided to take off toward the building exit. He managed to get to the door just as a man opened it, and went under him out the door, running at full speed toward the pool. As previously mentioned, I have terrible reaction time to things like this, so as I was still processing it, Sue ran at full speed after him, knocking down chairs in her wake. She reached him at the pool chairs, thank goodness! I think she was a little stressed after that, rightfully so.

We strapped him in to the stroller, tight, and headed up to the room to get ready to swim. We swam for a while, the boys did their nightly jumping on beds and into the pack n play, and we all went to sleep around 9:30. Off to Epcot in the morning!

Porphyro

09-24-2009, 08:39 AM

Dylan_&_Blake's_mom

09-24-2009, 09:34 AM

some how I missed a couple updates. I am so glad to hear that you really enjoyed Ohana's and that you thought DHS was best for the boys. I think this will be our favorite park even though everyone else seems to rank it toward the end. My boys love Star Wars, Cars, Indiana Jones, Monsters Inc..etc. We really like movies so I think they will love it here. Great updates. Love all the pictures. Looks like a fantastic time so far and I can't wait for more.

dahall

09-24-2009, 10:56 AM

I am so loving your GREAT time. :cool1: I think boys and cars go hand in hand. I can't wait for my youngest to see the show this time.

I have to agree, I think the thing I always wish we did more was ENJOY, and RELAX. I always feel like I will miss something or we have to..... However that is for the next trip. I think the more you go the easier it gets. (That is what I tell myself and DH so we can go MORE!)

I am going to miss the updates while I am gone but can't wait to catch up when I get back. :sad2:

Thanks for the water fan advise. We got everyone one ($2.00 on clearance at Walmart) :goodvibes and already they are a hit. The boys spent a few hours playing with them this past weekend.

Did it rain much while you were there? Still need to get to the dollar store to get ponchos but I think that is one of the last things for pick up.

Can't wait to read more.

princess_momma

09-24-2009, 11:49 AM

Hey!! I just found your tr!! Our trips overlapped a little and we were right next to each other! I was at Pop in the 80's from 9/10 to 9/16!! Lucky you for getting 'Ohanas! We didn't decide that we wanted it until after our 90 day mark and by the time we did, we couldn't get an ADR!

And I just wanted to say, my little guy held onto the pole in the monorail too, just like his momma!! So cute the things they do!!

I'm loving your tr! Your boys are so precious!! DHS was one of our best days too! I just love that park! :lovestruc

Gabes_mommy

09-24-2009, 02:15 PM

Great updates!!!

It looks like you guys had a fantastic time at DHS. I didn't even know the "make your own lightsaber" thing existed so we will definitely check that out next time.

I love all your pictures under the umbrella. Cooper looks so cute standing there with his pacifier. :goodvibes

That must have been so scary when Cooper took off like that. My DS took off running about a month ago in front of our house while I was unlocking the door and he almost made it into the street. It was terrifying! What is up with 2 year olds running away? So scary! :eek:

Cory's Gal

09-24-2009, 03:45 PM

Great Trip Report! Your boys look like they are having so much fun and what a special trip for them to have both grandmas with as well. When we took my son at age 2 my mom and dad came with and it was nice for DH and I to have a few breaks during the trip and my parents had a blast watching all of Gabe's reactions during the trip! Nice to see the dynamics of the ages of the boys too because we are going this Spring with the kids who will be 5 and 2 when we go and it's fun to get a sneak peek at what your oldest has a lot of fun with! Can't wait to read more!

MouseKTeer

09-24-2009, 05:57 PM

Great updates! :thumbsup2

Little boys sure move fast at age 2--your heart must have been in your throat.

We missed LMA at HS -- hopefully we'll catch it next time.

jana616

09-24-2009, 07:54 PM

Enjoyed this update. We were also surprised by how much there was to do at DHS for the kids. One of my friends who was planning a trip for after us told me that was on her "maybe" list...I told her to bump it to the must-do!
Glad you got into the stunt show! We were at DHS on our departure day and the kids were wiped by then, we left around 1 so weren't there at 1:30 but I think Caden would have really enjoyed that. It's on my list for next time!

Yes, in planning the trip it sounded like DHS would have quite a bit the boys would like (of course I didn't really predict that any of us would like TSM quite so much!), but so many people said it was a half day park for them that I thought maybe I was wrong. Definitely not! We had an absolute blast there! Definitely try to hit LMA next time-I think almost any boy would love it!

some how I missed a couple updates. I am so glad to hear that you really enjoyed Ohana's and that you thought DHS was best for the boys. I think this will be our favorite park even though everyone else seems to rank it toward the end. My boys love Star Wars, Cars, Indiana Jones, Monsters Inc..etc. We really like movies so I think they will love it here. Great updates. Love all the pictures. Looks like a fantastic time so far and I can't wait for more.

I hope you guys have as good a time at DHS as we did. I'm sure you will if your kids like movies! Ypur trip is SO close, have a wonderful time if I don't "talk" to you before then!

I am so loving your GREAT time. :cool1: I think boys and cars go hand in hand. I can't wait for my youngest to see the show this time.

I have to agree, I think the thing I always wish we did more was ENJOY, and RELAX. I always feel like I will miss something or we have to..... However that is for the next trip. I think the more you go the easier it gets. (That is what I tell myself and DH so we can go MORE!)

I am going to miss the updates while I am gone but can't wait to catch up when I get back. :sad2:

Thanks for the water fan advise. We got everyone one ($2.00 on clearance at Walmart) :goodvibes and already they are a hit. The boys spent a few hours playing with them this past weekend.

Did it rain much while you were there? Still need to get to the dollar store to get ponchos but I think that is one of the last things for pick up.

Can't wait to read more.

Oh, wow, $2 is awesome! Trust me, we were so hot that even $17 sounded reasonable at the time! You will be so glad to have them. Griffin loved playing with ours, so it served as a nice distraction at times too, which was nice.

See, I think I knew that it's going to be another 3-4 years before we go back, so I wanted to do everything this time. And we did have a blast, but even at the time there were photo ops I wanted to get and just didn't, since stopping with the whole group, getting the kids out of the strollers, getting them back in, etc. just wasn't worth it. Now I kind of wish I'd tried harder for those. (Although I did take 1,100 pictures, so surely some photo ops were had!). Your trip is SO close too, have a wonderful time!

Hey!! I just found your tr!! Our trips overlapped a little and we were right next to each other! I was at Pop in the 80's from 9/10 to 9/16!! Lucky you for getting 'Ohanas! We didn't decide that we wanted it until after our 90 day mark and by the time we did, we couldn't get an ADR!

And I just wanted to say, my little guy held onto the pole in the monorail too, just like his momma!! So cute the things they do!!

I'm loving your tr! Your boys are so precious!! DHS was one of our best days too! I just love that park! :lovestruc

Welcome! Glad you're joining in. I hope you get to try 'Ohanas sometime!

Great updates!!!

It looks like you guys had a fantastic time at DHS. I didn't even know the "make your own lightsaber" thing existed so we will definitely check that out next time.

I love all your pictures under the umbrella. Cooper looks so cute standing there with his pacifier. :goodvibes

That must have been so scary when Cooper took off like that. My DS took off running about a month ago in front of our house while I was unlocking the door and he almost made it into the street. It was terrifying! What is up with 2 year olds running away? So scary! :eek:

Oh yes, you must do the lightsaber thing next time. It was so cool, and has instilled a very new, very cute Star Wars obsession in Griffin. He and my DH are making their way through the movies.

I'm pretty sure 2 year olds are programmed to give us gray hairs at every opportunity. Cooper loves to swim (LOVES it!), and had run right into the pool at home this summer and gone under, so I knew he was more than capable of doing the same there, which is why we were so nervous.

I'm loving your TR too by the way!

Great Trip Report! Your boys look like they are having so much fun and what a special trip for them to have both grandmas with as well. When we took my son at age 2 my mom and dad came with and it was nice for DH and I to have a few breaks during the trip and my parents had a blast watching all of Gabe's reactions during the trip! Nice to see the dynamics of the ages of the boys too because we are going this Spring with the kids who will be 5 and 2 when we go and it's fun to get a sneak peek at what your oldest has a lot of fun with! Can't wait to read more!

Welcome! It was really wonderful that the grandmas got to come. They are ALL about their grandkids, so this was special for them, and the boys were thrilled to have them there. Plus they were a huge help! Your 5 year old will have such a great time. I think that was truly the perfect age for the trip-everything was so magical to him!

Great updates! :thumbsup2

Little boys sure move fast at age 2--your heart must have been in your throat.

We missed LMA at HS -- hopefully we'll catch it next time.

Thanks! My heart was definitely in my throat, but I felt way worse for my poor MIL, who chased him down. She had major adrenaline pumping after that save!

I may be a few days between updates. We have a family reunion on Saturday and will be gone all day, but I'll try to add more on Sunday! :goodvibes

Zookeeperof4

09-24-2009, 09:10 PM

Zookeeperof4

09-24-2009, 09:17 PM

I was so happy to see that you had been to This character meal since we will be happy to eat here as well. Of course my son is the party pooper..."who wants to see the Little Einsteins" he asks to which my 4 yr old says "umm me!!" We will be going for lunch....how was the food there?

jana616

09-24-2009, 10:09 PM

Just Because I can totally see my own kids drinkingout of a puddle I was drawn to your family. I can say without a doubt I was not ready to stop reading the TR you have here....your kids are super adorable. :thumbsup2

I was so happy to see that you had been to This character meal since we will be happy to eat here as well. Of course my son is the party pooper..."who wants to see the Little Einsteins" he asks to which my 4 yr old says "umm me!!" We will be going for lunch....how was the food there?

Welcome! And thanks for the compliment on my kids-we think they're pretty cute, but we're biased! ;) We truly loved the Hollywood and Vine lunch. I thought the food was good. I know some people say that certain character buffets are better than others, but we found all of them to be good (Chef Mickeys may have been the best, but not by much). H&V had a creamed corn spoonbread that was awesome. I got seconds on that one! They had a good salmon, a chicken in a sauce I can't remember, and good mashed potatoes. Also a good sized salad bar. And a really good kids section, but I can't remember specifically what it had. What I do remember is being VERY pleasantly surprised at the quality and selection, since I had come in so nervous about what we'd find. How old is your son? The 4 year old will have a great time-it's perfect for the preschool aged kids with all the dancing and singing. Plus it wasn't crowded, so it felt a lot less chaotic than the other character buffets we went to. OK, hopefully I have reassured you, and it is able to live up to all the hype I've created!:rotfl:

Oh, and welcome to the DISboards by the way! :goodvibes

thegreggersmom

09-25-2009, 11:02 AM

Ahhh, loving your report! And your boys are adorable. Especially like the shot of Cooper conked out in the stroller. Glad to hear you recommend DHS for the younger set...I was on the fence about going there.

Lamping3

09-25-2009, 11:39 AM

So I loved your update about H&V sooooo much I booked it for our trip!:lmao: Since we are flying now I had to cancel our Boma reservation for our departure day and I needed one more reservation for our free dining. I wanted to get Chef Mickeys for breakfast another day but I had no luck. Amelia has been getting into Little Einsteins lately and after I read your report I decided we had to try it! Hopefully breakfast will be decent food too!

Porphyro

09-25-2009, 02:25 PM

I see from your pictures that Griffin enjoyed the "spider web" in the playground also. We couldn't get Caden out of it, he spent almost 30 minutes going through it.
Cooper is so cute with his pacifier...Connor is at that stage too, he only gets it at sleepy time - since our plan was always for him to nap in the cabin, we didn't give it to him in the parks or he'd have passed out! I hate it when they sleep 15 minutes in the car and think they've gotten their whole nap in...
Looking forward to hearing about Epcot! Did you try Beverly??

ladybugmom

09-26-2009, 09:35 PM

GREAT update!! I am soooo happy that you loved Play and Dine @ Hollywood & Vine! I don't get all of the negative comments about the food, etc. either. We enjoyed our meal there, too!! And I LOVE your family picture in front of the hat at DHS!! I would have freaked out too if Claire had run full speed ahead towards a pool! I think it's our mommy instinct. Sooo glad ya'll caught him in time! Can't wait to read more!!

mickeystoontown

09-26-2009, 10:00 PM

What a fantastic day you guys had at Hollywood Studios! Lucky ducks....you were able to do all of the major attractions (multiple times) and get out of the park early!

I would have freaked out too if my small child got away from us and ran towards a pool!

ibedancin824

09-27-2009, 11:07 AM

Heyy I don't know if I have commented yet but I have been lurking around and just caught up with your trip report! popcorn:: Loving it...

jana616

09-27-2009, 01:41 PM

Heyy I don't know if I have commented yet but I have been lurking around and just caught up with your trip report! popcorn:: Loving it...
Thanks and Welcome!!!!

What a fantastic day you guys had at Hollywood Studios! Lucky ducks....you were able to do all of the major attractions (multiple times) and get out of the park early!

I would have freaked out too if my small child got away from us and ran towards a pool!
We really did have a great day at DHS. I had heard all the horror stories of 90 minute TSM lines, etc. so I was shocked at how easy it was to do it so many times. One of many things that convinced me I love going in September!

GREAT update!! I am soooo happy that you loved Play and Dine @ Hollywood & Vine! I don't get all of the negative comments about the food, etc. either. We enjoyed our meal there, too!! And I LOVE your family picture in front of the hat at DHS!! I would have freaked out too if Claire had run full speed ahead towards a pool! I think it's our mommy instinct. Sooo glad ya'll caught him in time! Can't wait to read more!!
Thanks, I like that picture too, but I wish Griffin looked just a little happier in it. I swear he really had a super fun day!

I see from your pictures that Griffin enjoyed the "spider web" in the playground also. We couldn't get Caden out of it, he spent almost 30 minutes going through it.
Cooper is so cute with his pacifier...Connor is at that stage too, he only gets it at sleepy time - since our plan was always for him to nap in the cabin, we didn't give it to him in the parks or he'd have passed out! I hate it when they sleep 15 minutes in the car and think they've gotten their whole nap in...
Looking forward to hearing about Epcot! Did you try Beverly??
They both liked the play areas at all of the parks, but not as much as I expected. We usually did those in the afternoons, when Cooper had just woken up and Griffin was kind of getting tired. So not the best times for them to experience them. My boys have always been sleepers like that too-they do not stay asleep to transfer them into the house at all. I did not try Beverly, but others of us did (not to give much away!). But it won't be in the next installment, due to some schedule wiggling.

So I loved your update about H&V sooooo much I booked it for our trip!:lmao: Since we are flying now I had to cancel our Boma reservation for our departure day and I needed one more reservation for our free dining. I wanted to get Chef Mickeys for breakfast another day but I had no luck. Amelia has been getting into Little Einsteins lately and after I read your report I decided we had to try it! Hopefully breakfast will be decent food too!
Yay, I hope you like it as much as we did! Boma sounds SOOO good too. Chef Mickeys was great at dinner, so I'm sure their breakfast would have been good too. Have you tried the trade/cancel threads on the restaurant board? Maybe someone on there can help you get CM. Although if you keep H&V, I bet breakfast will be good. How hard can it be to make eggs, Mickey waffles and bacon, right?

Ahhh, loving your report! And your boys are adorable. Especially like the shot of Cooper conked out in the stroller. Glad to hear you recommend DHS for the younger set...I was on the fence about going there.

Yeah, I took a few of him conked out in the stroller-he was just so sweet looking. (Aren't they always when they're asleep?:rotfl:) Poor baby, he got so sweaty sleeping in there though. We'd try to find fountains for him to splash in after he woke up because he'd be drenched. I loved DHS, and I think Cooper had fun there. If he likes cars, definitely do the Stunt show, and if he likes Playhouse Disney, definitely do that show. Those were Cooper's faves there.

I promise Epcot soon, but I still have to upload pics for that one. Plus my MIL gave me a CD with her 600+ photos on it too, so now I have even more to choose from!:cool1:

mommyof2Pirates

09-28-2009, 11:42 AM

lbuzz52

09-28-2009, 11:53 PM

Dhs sounds like so much fun for little boys. I've got so many girlie things planned at mk. I'm so glad you gave me ideas of how to balance it out a bit!

MousekaMaddi

09-29-2009, 01:38 AM

we also love food and interaction at H and Vine, and have for a few yrs.......never had anything but FUN there!
Fun stories and cute pix, adorableoys and clothing!
Looking forward to MORE!:wizard:

jana616

09-29-2009, 05:41 PM

just got caught up on your report. I actually thought I posted this already but when I went back and looked it wasnt there. I dont know I guess my brain is still on vacation. Anyway. I love the report so keep the updates coming. Your pics are so great. I only took 430 pics so I think thats where a few extra hands would of helped out. It was hard making sure the kids were happy, going in the right direction, and taking pictures along the way. We also loved DHS too. You guys got so much done in one day there. Thats awesome. I cant wait to read more!

PS- we also counted swimming in the pool as the nightly bath once or twice.:laughing:
Yeah, it definitely helped to have the extra hands! Quite a few times I thought that there was no way we could have handled the two kids, two strollers, and "stuff" by ourselves. I can't believe you only took 430 pictures-your TR has so many great ones!

Dhs sounds like so much fun for little boys. I've got so many girlie things planned at mk. I'm so glad you gave me ideas of how to balance it out a bit!
Glad to help! I definitely thought DHS was a better boy park than the others, hopefully your son agrees!

we also love food and interaction at H and Vine, and have for a few yrs.......never had anything but FUN there!
Fun stories and cute pix, adorableoys and clothing!
Looking forward to MORE!:wizard:
Thanks and welcome!

jana616

09-29-2009, 06:21 PM

OK, I've finally got my Epcot photos uploaded and I am ready to go! This has been such a pain to do-I use Adobe Photoshop for all my photos, and for some reason over the last few weeks it has gotten ridiculously slow and been almost unusable. Not good when all I want to do is go through pictures! And it's kind of fitting that doing the Epcot installment has been trouble, since that's kind of how our day there went as well. I don't know all of the reasons why (fatigue was definitely reason #1), but we had our worst day of the whole trip this day. Griffin started off cranky (and ended it cranky-more on that below!), and I think we all were mad at each other at some point in the day. Bummer. But don't let this delightful intro deter you, we still had lots of fun too, and I promise not to be a downer the whole installment! Here we go...

We had decided the night before that it wasn't as important to get to Epcot at rope drop as it had been at the other parks, so we decided to let the kids act as our alarm and get up whenever they did. Of course, Cooper decided 7 was a perfect time, so we ended up getting up even earlier than if we'd set the alarm! We took some time getting ready, and got to Epcot just after 9 am. We sent Chad ahead to Soarin to get fast passes, and we were going to make our way there with the strollers. Well, as we passed the Character Spot, none other than Donald Duck himself knocked on the window and invited us inside to meet him! Apparently the line was non-existent, so we decided to take advantage and see the Big 5 to start our day. I am so glad we did-it was nice and air conditioned, and I am so happy we got photos with them other than at the meals. Plus it didn't feel rushed at all.

First up was Mickey...
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I LOVE this one!
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Then Pluto...
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Then Minnie...
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Then Donald...
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And finally Goofy...
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I am SOOO glad we stopped to do this! The very best part was that we got group shots with each character. Usually at the meals, we just got the kids in the pictures, so I'm happy that we have so many nice group shots as well. If you go during a slower time when lines won't be too bad if you wait a little while to ride rides, then I would highly recommend visiting the Character Spot first thing in the day.

We were done by 9:30, and headed over to Soarin. The line was only a few minutes long, so we held onto the fast passes and rode standby. Chad, Sue, and Griffin went first while my mom and I played with Cooper. It's so funny to me, he had a blast while we waited, just riding the escalator up and down and running around. Who needs rides?! When they were done, we switched kids and my mom and I went with Griffin again. Honestly, I was a little underwhelmed. I had heard how amazing it was, and I thought it was good but not amazing. (Shhh...I hope they don't take my DIS badge away!). Chad and his mom found a Kidcot station for Cooper to play at, so he made a badge of some sort :confused3. I don't know, but he looks so grown up to me in this picture!
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Then they headed over with Cooper to get fast passes for Test Track.

When we got off the ride, we headed toward TT as well, but stopped to watch the Jamminators. They are SO cool! When we met up at Test Track, Sue and I took Griffin on while my mom and Chad took Cooper to play around in all the cars. I had made Griffin a driver's license for the ride, and he was so excited to use it. This is why Disney is so great. As we walked onto the ride, he kind of held it out to the attendant. Right away (even though I'm sure she had no clue what he was doing), she made a huge fuss over him having it, and pointed us to the first car so he could "drive". He loved it!
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After our ride, Griffin went on it again with my mom and Chad, and Sue and I took Cooper over to the Seas pavillion.
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We were looking for the aquarium to kill time until the rest of them met up with us, but accidentally ended up on the Nemo ride. Oh my goodness, did Cooper love this ride!!! He kept calling, "Nemo, are you?" (where are you?) It was the first ride he truly loved. We visited the aquarium afterwards, and saw this frogfish, which is so weird and cool.
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The plan had been to have them meet us at the Seas, but I realized our 11:45 lunch ADR was fast approaching. I called Chad and told them to meet us at Innoventions so we could get a fast pass for a Kim Possible mission later. Griffin was totally in love with Innoventions, but we needed to get to lunch, so I promised him we'd come back later. (This will be important later).

Right on time, we arrived here for lunch
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As I had mentioned, Griffin was just off this morning. He was cranky, tired, and hot, and made sure we all knew it. I can't complain, we'd had 3 very long, busy days so far with mostly great behavior from him, but he was being a real stinker. He got restless waiting to be called, so Chad took both boys out to walk around until it was our turn. About ten minutes later, we were seated. Our waitress was great, and Griffin's mood improved a bit when he learned he could have a milkshake for his drink. Chad got the sirloin, which was great, and the grandmas and I all got the mushroom filet, minus the mushrooms, with cream cheese mashed potatoes. Oh my goodness, it was all so good. I thought Le Cellier lived up to every word of hype I'd read. The boys split a hot dog and fries, despite my attempt to get them to choose a steak instead. We also got the cheese soup for the appetizer, and then dipped the breads into it-YUM! I would highly recommend Le Cellier, although it was by far the least kid-friendly place we went (no booster seats, heavy silverware to drop, etc.) So many of the desserts sounded good, but the boys were done by that point (looking at my picture time stamps, it looks like the whole meal only took an hour). So we got milkshakes and smoothies to go for our desserts. I was a little disappointed, but it was very necessary. Guess I'll just have to go back to get the chocolate on chocolate cake some other time!

So, this is where the day kind of fell apart. Up until now we had actually had a great morning (writing this was a great way for me to realize that and feel a little better about our day!). My plan all along had been to head back to the resort for the afternoon, let the kids nap, and then come back in the evening to tour the World Showcase and see Illuminations. Well, my mom started mentioning how she thought we'd be better off just staying and having the kids nap in the strollers while we walked around WS. Despite the nagging feeling that this would never work, I agreed to do this. Big mistake...

(Continued in next post-too many pictures!)

jana616

09-29-2009, 06:59 PM

We left Le Cellier after stopping to feed the ducks
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and get a picture in front of the waterfall and the masks
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We began to make our way counter clockwise around the World Showcase. I don't remember why, but Chad and I were already mad at each other, and then he started pushing the stroller super fast, totally flying past everything with no time to enjoy it. It really ticked me off, and we had a little argument. We pretty much stayed mad at each other until France. I think one of our mistakes was telling Griffin if he didn't take a nap we wouldn't stay for fireworks. As we were walking, we kept telling them both to lay back and relax, to nap...well, that worked as well as you can imagine. Finally, we decided to stop and watch the movie in France. We figured that would bore them to sleep-wrong!!! Apparently our kids love the French culture-who knew? They totally enjoyed that movie, I couldn't believe it!

At this point we decided not to push the nap thing so much and just see what happened. I was tired of telling them to lay down, and thought it would take the pressure off, which it did. We walked around France, and the boys loved the fountains.
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We went through Morocco, but I don't remember any of it. In Japan we stopped to watch these people play
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We flew through America and Italy. I had wanted to see the singing group in America, but we missed them. We then headed to Germany, where the boys really liked the model trains.
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We stopped to get some Photopass pictures taken, and I don't think you'd know how cranky we were all feeling at this point!
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We headed over to China, and Cooper fell asleep at this point. After just a few minutes, we went into Norway to pick up our Kim Possible Kimmunicator. We needed to head back to China for our mission, but first though, we stopped at the bakery in Norway. This lead to another argument. I wanted schoolbread, and my mom also wanted schoolbread. I told her Chad and I were splitting one, but she was welcome to a few bites. She didn't want to get her own since she also wanted to try the sweet pretzel. Well, I turn around and she has gotten a schoolbread instead of a pretzel because I wouldn't share enough with her, but she was mad about it. Ugh... I was seriously ready to just pull my hair out at this point.

Instead of doing that, I sent Chad and Griffin back to Japan to get a Kaki Gori. Griffin loved that, but it was a very unappealing color by the end! Afer our snack break, we headed to China for the mission. We stopped to watch the acrobats first.
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And then we ran into Mulan with no one even near her. Griffin had been adamant about avoiding princesses, but I think the swords and dragon in her movie let her squeak by!
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I was so impressed with her. She had asked his name while she signed his book. When we left China at least 30 minutes and many kids later, she called out, "Bye Griffin!" How do they remember these things?!
Griffin found this puppet, which he loved, but I just didn't think he'd ever play with it at home, so it stayed there.
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We saved the world from bad guys (the mission was just okay, in my opinion), and then Griffin found this little guy.
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I mentioned in my PTR that Chad is a veterinarian. So of course, he has instilled a huge love of animals in the kids. They loved all of the animals they saw on this trip, and we had to stop for every lizard we came across!

As we left China a full hour after we started the mission (we were way slow), we saw them raise the drawbridge to move the globe in for Illuminations. This was pretty cool to see!
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Unfortunately, Cooper had slept through everything from the snacks to this, so he missed it.
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Cooper finally woke up as we went back to Norway, so we rode the Maelstrom and then got this classic photo op. This is one of my top 10 pictures from the whole trip.
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At this point it was about 5:15, and Chad and I still wanted to do Mission Space. So the grandmas took the boys to Mexico to do the boat ride, and we headed off to outer space. They listened to a mariachi band after the ride.
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I really liked Mission Space. We did the easy side, and it was a nice, relaxing ride. I always wanted to be an astronaut when I was growing up, so it held a special place in my heart.

After this we met up and headed over to the Seas. (Continued in next post!)

jana616

09-29-2009, 07:25 PM

We met the grandmas and kids as they came over the International Gateway, and we all headed to the Seas around 6 pm. We snuck into a Turtle Talk show just as it was getting ready to start.
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This was really cute, but can you see that older girl right next to Griffin? She had to be 13, and she was really too old to sit down there, in my opinion. She kind of hogged answering all of the questions, and blocked Griffin's view. She spent most of the time texting. I think if you're old enough to text, you're too old to sit with the kids. ;) Of course whoever chooses the kids to call on couldn't even see Griffin, so he never got called on (and we never got an answer to his question, "Why do turtles swim?" Bummer!) and he was pretty disappointed.

I think this lead to another cranky period for him. Cooper had had a nap, so he was well-rested and happy, but Griffin was most definitely tired. We did the Nemo ride again, which Cooper lead us to yelling, "Nemo! Nemo!" and then headed to the aquarium so Griffin could see everything.
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This is where Griffin started acting so badly, I had to grab him, take him to a corner, and give him a timeout. I was so ticked off! After his timeout, I handed him over to Chad, and my mom and I went to find Cooper some kind of Nemo souvenir to commerate his new love. I didn't really like any of the souvenirs, so I grabbed two Nemo marshmallow pops with snack credits. Good deal! I still have them here to give them sometime we need a treat!
Chad and his mom took the boys up to the second story, where they ran into this diver. Pretty cool.
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We took one more picture outside the Seas, and then headed over to Club Cool.
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Here is the worst part of the day. We got to Club Cool at 7:10, and it was closed. This is when it dawned on me that Innoventions would be closed too. Remember earlier in the day, when I promised Griffin we'd do Innoventions later? Whoops. He was SO upset, and I felt terrible. We decided to let Cooper splash in the fountains, and Griffin and I ran to make sure it was indeed closed. It was. Mommy guilt lead me to promise him a present from Mousegears. Luckily, we found a $5 Carnotaur car, so I got off cheap! Griffin cheered up a lot after that, so we went to join the rest at the fountains.

The boys splashed for a while,
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and things were going well. We were trying to decide if we wanted to stay for Illuminations, when Griffin stubbed his toe and turned into this:
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Poor baby, he was done. We got them changed into dry clothes, and headed to the bus, stopping for a quick photo.
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Chad and I had really wanted to see Illuminations, and the grandmas knew this, but neither had suggested that they take the boys back to the hotel and we stay. This was fine, but finally my mom brought it up as a possibility while we were leaving the park, only to decide against it. For some reason, this just totally pushed me over the edge. I was so sad about how the afternoon and evening had gone. Then as we got on the bus, they changed their mind and said we should stay, but it was too late, the bus was pulling away. I was just so bummed at the whole situation. Ugh...

The boys were good on the bus, thank goodness, and we decided that we would pick up a pizza from the food court and eat in our room. Finally, a good decision! It was great to just let the boys run around, and we ate right on the floor while watching the NFL season opener. Just what we needed, some serious downtime!
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The kids burned off some energy by jumping from the bed into the pack n play
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w37/jana616/DSC_4330.jpg.

Quick baths and showers, and we were in bed by 9:45. Not the best day, but hopefully our next day at the Animal Kingdom would be better!

thegreggersmom

09-29-2009, 08:51 PM

Great update! I really appreciate and enjoy your honesty because we have ALL been there. Don't know that I would last as long as you did if I had my mom along. :rotfl:

LOVE the Viking picture and OMG, how did Griffin manage to catch, much less hold on to that tiny lizard>!

Lamping3

09-30-2009, 08:40 AM

Vacation arguments! Don't worry most families have them. Not being used to being around each other 24/7 (and in a tiny hotel room also) can eventually lead to everyone on each others nerves!

Love the viking photo!

I am worried about naptime for Amelia.....if she does not get a good enough nap.....watch out! We fully saw the beast arise this weekend when we went to Dave's parents lake house. Naptime is a must!

mommyof2Pirates

09-30-2009, 10:59 PM

It is so funny because epcot was our meltdown day as well. I feel like we hardly did anything there. It seemed that in the long run you did get to do alot. I love the character pics. Great idea to stop there. I also love the pic from norway of chad and the boys. I cant believe how many lizards we saw on the trip. I love the pic of griffin holding one. Dont you love sometimes how your parents tell you to go once its too late. I think they plan it that way so they dont look bad for not offering but yet they know there is no way you can take them up on your offer.:rotfl: You have now made me hungry by talking about LeCellier. It was one place I had on my list but decided against it. The cheddar cheese soup sounds delicious. The photopass pic of the family is great too. You all defenitely look happy so I dont think anyone will be able to tell the spats you were having with each other.:thumbsup2 Cant wait to hear more.

Howellsy

10-01-2009, 06:42 AM

I totally agree with you about Soarin' being a bit disappointing first time round, though I have to admit I enjoyed it slightly more this time. I think lots of people really like it so I expected it to be one of my favourites too, but I just don't find it exciting enough!

Thanks for another great update :goodvibes

Charlefours

10-02-2009, 04:33 PM

I am having a great time reading your TR! I am way too excited for our vacation--we have so long left before it goes but I don't care! I am sure DH thinks I am crazy b/c I am already beginning the planning. But with my DD, graduate school and keeping up on all of the other SAHM duties I need to begin so I am not crazy come next summer with plans!!

I added the water misters on our must have list prior to going to Disney! I was thinking we would not need them but I can see how wrong I was about that.

Too bad about not liking Soarin'--I loved it my first time around there. I thinking DD will be tall enough to ride it too when we go.

Looking forward to the next addition!

Macduffy

10-05-2009, 04:23 PM

I am jealous of your trip!!!! I can't believe all the things you got done - my itinerary went out the window as soon as we hit the parks LOL!
Your report is definitely inspiring me to book a trip for next year - keep up the good work LOL! :cool1: :thumbsup2

MouseKTeer

10-08-2009, 10:54 PM

Great photos of the boys in the Seas and with the Fab Five! :thumbsup2

Do you think your moms were just too tired themselves to imagine caring for the boys? They may have realized that would resolve things, but think they didn't have the energy to carry through on such an offer. Just wondering...

ladybugmom

10-10-2009, 05:31 PM

Sorry you had a crummy day but your pics are fabulous!! Ya'll don't look disgruntled at all! Glad to hear that you liked Le Cellier--it's definitely on our list for our next trip!! And Mulan--WOW!! We just loved her, too!! GREAT interaction! That's awesome that she remembered Griffin's name!! Sorry you didn't get to see Illuminations--we missed it too on our trip (b/c it was POURING that night)! Can't wait to hear more!!

jana616

10-14-2009, 02:07 PM

I am so sorry I haven't been updating lately. I promise to get back to work on it tomorrow. I only have 3 Disney days left to do!!

Sorry you had a crummy day but your pics are fabulous!! Ya'll don't look disgruntled at all! Glad to hear that you liked Le Cellier--it's definitely on our list for our next trip!! And Mulan--WOW!! We just loved her, too!! GREAT interaction! That's awesome that she remembered Griffin's name!! Sorry you didn't get to see Illuminations--we missed it too on our trip (b/c it was POURING that night)! Can't wait to hear more!!

Yeah, we did good job faking like we liked each other, didn't we?:rotfl: Not to give too much away, but we did actually get to see it later, so that is helping a little bit as I remember how bummed I was that day!

Great photos of the boys in the Seas and with the Fab Five! :thumbsup2

Do you think your moms were just too tired themselves to imagine caring for the boys? They may have realized that would resolve things, but think they didn't have the energy to carry through on such an offer. Just wondering...

Thanks! I know they were exhausted, we all were. And it was their vacation too, it's not like they were paid nannies or anything. I totally get that, and I wasn't expecting them to resolve the problem. But my mom was all worried about having to feed the kids without us there, and then Sue (who as I mentioned is super sweet but a little dense!), thought that my mom was worried about having to open and close the strollers, and she kept saying she didn't know how to do that (this was not an issue at all, FYI), and on and on...it was a total miscommunication that resulted from all of being tired and cranky. But it really was fine, and we ended up having some nice quiet time in the room.

I am jealous of your trip!!!! I can't believe all the things you got done - my itinerary went out the window as soon as we hit the parks LOL!
Your report is definitely inspiring me to book a trip for next year - keep up the good work LOL! :cool1: :thumbsup2

Thanks! We really did get a lot done, I was thrilled with what we did and saw. But again, I wish we had slowed down at times and just enjoyed the experience. Probably a common rookie mistake!

I am having a great time reading your TR! I am way too excited for our vacation--we have so long left before it goes but I don't care! I am sure DH thinks I am crazy b/c I am already beginning the planning. But with my DD, graduate school and keeping up on all of the other SAHM duties I need to begin so I am not crazy come next summer with plans!!

I added the water misters on our must have list prior to going to Disney! I was thinking we would not need them but I can see how wrong I was about that.

Too bad about not liking Soarin'--I loved it my first time around there. I thinking DD will be tall enough to ride it too when we go.

Looking forward to the next addition!

I know, when we booked our trip we had 10 months til we went, and everyone got very sick of me talking about it. But I was so glad I had done so much research and planning. For me, that was a large part of the fun! I hope you have as much fun as we did (well, have more fun than us on your Epcot day!;))

I totally agree with you about Soarin' being a bit disappointing first time round, though I have to admit I enjoyed it slightly more this time. I think lots of people really like it so I expected it to be one of my favourites too, but I just don't find it exciting enough!

Thanks for another great update :goodvibes

Yep, I know that was my problem. I kept hearing how amazing it was, so I had pretty high expectations. It was cool, but not as neat as I'd built it up to be. Plus, we were in not so great seats, with lots of legs dangling above us.

It is so funny because epcot was our meltdown day as well. I feel like we hardly did anything there. It seemed that in the long run you did get to do alot. I love the character pics. Great idea to stop there. I also love the pic from norway of chad and the boys. I cant believe how many lizards we saw on the trip. I love the pic of griffin holding one. Dont you love sometimes how your parents tell you to go once its too late. I think they plan it that way so they dont look bad for not offering but yet they know there is no way you can take them up on your offer.:rotfl: You have now made me hungry by talking about LeCellier. It was one place I had on my list but decided against it. The cheddar cheese soup sounds delicious. The photopass pic of the family is great too. You all defenitely look happy so I dont think anyone will be able to tell the spats you were having with each other.:thumbsup2 Cant wait to hear more.

From reading other TRs, it seems like Epcot leads to lots of meltdowns. Who knew?! I can't overstate how yummy Le Cellier was. It was seriously the best steak I've ever had. That was one that did live up to all the hype I read before we went. We had almost gone with Tutto Italia instead, and I am so glad we didn't. Glad to know our spats didn't translate to our pictures!

Vacation arguments! Don't worry most families have them. Not being used to being around each other 24/7 (and in a tiny hotel room also) can eventually lead to everyone on each others nerves!

Love the viking photo!

I am worried about naptime for Amelia.....if she does not get a good enough nap.....watch out! We fully saw the beast arise this weekend when we went to Dave's parents lake house. Naptime is a must!

OK, thanks, you've made me feel a little better! I was surprised how well Cooper did in regards to naps. I think he was operating at "super tired" level all week, which allowed him to conk out in the stroller every afternoon. Griffin was the one who needed a nap several days but never took one. (We did fix this our last two days!)

Great update! I really appreciate and enjoy your honesty because we have ALL been there. Don't know that I would last as long as you did if I had my mom along. :rotfl:

LOVE the Viking picture and OMG, how did Griffin manage to catch, much less hold on to that tiny lizard>!

Ha, ha!! My mom is usually awesome, but there were a couple times on this trip where I was ready to pull my hair out. Mostly it was good, though!
Griffin has some kind of connection to animals, I swear it. He can catch almost anything. Those lizards made his day!

Update coming soon, I promise!

Gabes_mommy

10-14-2009, 03:38 PM

I'm all caught up. :cool1:

Great updates! What is it about Epcot that brings out the grouchies in people? :confused3 I agree with you about Soarin' - the first time I rode it I was like, that's it? I do like it better now. I think when things are really popular they don't always live up to the hype. I felt that way about TSMM too. :rolleyes1

I love the pictures of the boys playing in the fountain. They look so happy and cute. :goodvibes

I'm so sorry you didn't get to see Illuminations.

My mom is one of my best friends, but she drove me a bit nuts on our trip too so I can understand your frustrations. :hug:

I can't wait to hear about your day at AK. :goodvibes

jana616

10-15-2009, 05:39 PM

Alright, I've taken a long enough break, back to the report!:thumbsup2

When we left off, we had survived a rough day at Epcot, and finished our evening with pizza and football back at the hotel. While we were eating, I called down to the front desk to ask when we would need to catch a bus for our 8 am ADR at Tusker House. We were told we should be there at 7 am (yikes!), since the buses only come every 20 minutes or so that early.

We got up around 6:30, dressed and headed to the bus stop, but it was 7:10 before we got there. So of course, there was no bus in sight, and no one in line-we must have just missed it. We waited...
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and waited some more, and finally at 7:40 a bus pulled up. I can't complain, this was our only long wait of the whole trip, and it was our own fault for getting there late. But it did make me start the morning feeling stressed that we'd be late. I hate being late!

Luckily, POP is very close to AK, so we got there around 7:50. Something had malfunctioned, and there was a huge line of people waiting at the character breakfast entrance-no one had been let in yet at all! When we got to the front of the line, they couldn't find our name on the list, but let us in anyway. Of course, now I freaked out that they wouldn't have our ADR, and I hadn't brought our confirmation number. More stressing out, again for no reason as they had our reservation at the restaurant. We skipped the line for the picture (thanks to the Dis for letting us know we could do that!), and got seated right away.

Let me say, we loved this meal! The food was delicious, the juice was yummy, the parade was fun, and the characters were very good. We didn't have the best interaction of any meal (that was H&V), but it was far from the worst (CP). I would highly recommend this meal to anyone. My favorite food item was the raisin bread pudding with vanilla sauce, but everything was really good. The kids loved that they had Krispy Kreme doughnuts!
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We saw Mickey first (but my pic didn't upload), then Donald.
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Next came Daisy, who was so sweet and cute. I don't know how a huge fuzzy head can be pretty, but she was!
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Then came Goofy. We had such good luck with Goofy (all the Goofys ;)) being super playful with the kids.
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They did a parade, with Goofy leading the way. I was happy that both boys jumped right in to participate!
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The one thing that was kind of odd was at the end of the meal. My birthday was noted on every ADR we made. Some of the meals did something, some didn't, and it was all fine by me. At this one, the server came up to me, and asked if I wanted my birthday cupcake or not. I thought this was kind of weird, and told her I was fine without it, although the boys probably would have thought eating dessert at breakfast was cool! But I didn't like being asked, you know? Oh well, we had a wonderful meal so I can't complain!

We paid the bill and headed out to the rope into Africa, anxious to beat the crowd onto the safari. While we waited (the rope drop was a little late), this gentleman played music and invited the kids to grab an instrument. Cooper loves music, so he was in heaven.
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Finally, the rope was dropped and we raced to the safari. We got on the second vehicle, in the very back row. I really wish we had asked to wait for the next one. We were so squashed, and I was right in the middle of the row, as was Griffin, who couldn't see anything. Cooper was freaked out by the bumpiness, so overall, we didn't love it like I thought we would. :guilty:

Some pictures from the safari:
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When we were done, we started to walk along the Pangani Trail. We spent forever looking at this guy
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and then realized we couldn't do anymore if we wanted to make it to the 10 am Lion King show. We made it with just a few minutes to spare.
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I :lovestruc this show! I am a huge Lion King fan, and I remembered this as one of my favorite things at any of the parks. I really thought Cooper would love it, but he was kind of bored and had a hard time sitting still. Luckily Sue kept him entertained!
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After the show was over, Chad ran over to Dinoland to get Dinosaur fast passes while we made our way to Kali River Rapids. While I waited for Chad, Sue, my mom, and Griffin went on KRR. Chad met up with us while they were gone and told me they weren't even giving out FPs for Dinosaur, so he got them for Expedition Everest instead (and since just he and I wanted to do that one, we now had 2 sets!:cool1:)

We found some fountains for Cooper to splash in. When they got off the ride, my mom was the only one soaked. But what drove me nuts is that she was mad about it! She kept saying she knew she might get wet, she just wanted others to get wet too. Honestly! :headache: We switched, and Chad and I took Griffin on again. It was fun, and none of us got very wet, which I was happy about!

After the ride, we realized we were going to miss the Flights of Wonder show if we didn't run (do you sense a trend here?!). So we raced over to the show, and got great seats right in the front, but off to the side. I knew we'd all love this show, and we did. Griffin loves birds. We stayed after to ask questions of the trainers, and Griffin got a picture with the owl, since he's in the "Owl" class at school.
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Up next: The Boneyard almost leads to our divorce...

jana616

10-15-2009, 06:28 PM

After the Flights of Wonder show, we made our way to Dinoland. It was around 12:15. We stopped for a few pictures in front of the tree first though!
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And then we ran into a character trail with no one on it, so we stopped to meet Terk
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and Louie and Baloo
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Finally we made our way into Dinoland at about 12:40, where we saw this beautiful site (if you're Griffin and love dinosaurs!)
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We decided to ride Triceratop Spin right away, and I was surprised by how little the boys cared about it. I think the time of day may have had something to do with their lack of enthusiasm.
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Alright, here's where the big blow up fight of the trip happened. It was about 1 pm at this point. We were all hot, and the kids definitely needed to be cooled down. Chad suggested getting frozen lemonades, but I thought we should just go eat lunch and take a break, since it was late (by our eating standards anyway) and Cooper would need his nap soon. Somehow, despite this perfectly logical argument, I lost, and Chad headed to get the lemonades while I took the boys by myself to play in the Boneyard. Now, anyone who has been in the Boneyard knows how big it is, and how the digging area is totally separate from the rest. Griffin wanted to dig, but Cooper wouldn't keep his shoes on, and I had to chase him around without losing Griffin...can you sense my irritation at how this is going?
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So then Chad appears, super mad at me! He says that I knew he couldn't bring food in there, and took the kids in to punish him so they couldn't have the drinks. He tells me he had to stand outside and guzzle it so he could come in and find me. (Keep in mind, both grandmas were sitting out there and could have held onto the drink). I lost it! I couldn't believe that we were doing what he wanted to do, even though it was stupid, and then I got blamed for everything (I had NO idea you couldn't bring in food, I didn't read the sign as I chased the two kids in!). He eventually realized how difficult my time in there had been, and apologized and offered me some lemonade. I just walked away from them all, telling him, "I don't want a drink, I want a divorce!" I kind of even meant it at that moment, I was SOOO mad. Anyway, just wanted to share so that if you had even a minor fight with your spouse at WDW, you can feel better about it!!

After our big fight, we headed to Restaurantosaurus for lunch. The food was just okay, but I knew Griffin would love the decor.
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After lunch, Cooper conked out, and we made our way over to Dinosaur. It started to pour just as we got there. Sue and my mom took Cooper over to a covered pavilion while Chad and I took Griffin on the ride. If you read my PTR, you might remember that I was nervous about how he would do. If it had been anything other than dinosaurs, I wouldn't have even tried, but he really wanted to go on. Well, he was NOT a fan. He didn't scream or cry, but he cowered under my arm. The picture of him was SO funny. When we got off, he said he didn't want to go again (how I knew he really didn't like it!), so the grandmas went on by themselves. While we waited, we let Griffin pick out a dinosaur souvenir, and he picked a $10 stuffed toy with a book.

Up next: the rest of our AK day!

jana616

10-15-2009, 06:51 PM

We left Dinoland as the rain slowed to a drizzle. We made our way over to Asia, and Chad and I went on EE with our first set of fast passes. Oh my goodness, I :lovestruc this ride! Love, love, love it! This is now my favorite ride in all of WDW. So of course, we went on one more time with the second set, and I loved it even more once I knew what to expect. The grandmas had taken the boys to find a spot for the parade, so we stopped at DinoBites for a huge ice cream cookie sandwich to bring back to them, and Chad got some more frozen lemonades to bring too.
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We were right in front of the exit for ITTBAB, and it was a perfect spot-shaded, great view. The parade was really fun, and I loved the music.
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After the parade, we had about 50 minutes until the park closed. Chad and his mom went to do EE (she did not love it like we did!). We had done everything on our must-do list, but not much of the trails. My mom and I let the kids decide what to do, and they chose (not surprisingly) to head back to...
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Dinoland and the Boneyard. I tried to talk them into Triceratop Spin again, since it was running almost empty, but they weren't interested. So we just hung out in the Boneyard some more, and got to really explore it.
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Griffin head butting the Pachycephalosaurus (a bonehead who uses his skull as a weapon!)
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As we got ready to head out of the park, Chad and the boys found an ibis, and had so much fun chasing him!
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Here's Chad chasing Cooper chasing the ibis!
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We made our way out, past the Tree of Life
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As we got to the front of the park, they stopped everyone "just for a moment." Five minutes later, the crowd had grown, and everyone was getting antsy to leave. The CM kept telling us we had to wait until she could see a truck before we could walk. Finally a truck pulled up with Mickey, Minnie, etc. on it, and then we could go. It was so weird, it was like they were trying to orchestrate a magical moment, but everyone was just mad and tired! Didn't work, Disney! :confused3

What was so important we all had to wait:
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We made our way back to the hotel, and headed to the lobby. The one thing I had learned from our meltdowns over the past two days was that we were getting burnt out. The original plan called for us to go to whatever park we wanted the next morning (Saturday), followed by Downtown Disney in the evening. Then Sunday, our last day, we had two character meals (Ohana breakfast and Chef Mickey's dinner) and the day at MK, plus EMH...whew!

I decided that it would be best to change our Ohana breakfast to the next morning, not do any park, and then only have the one meal plus MK Sunday. Luckily there was a 9:20 ADR for Ohana the next morning, so we were able to switch. I was proud of myself for recognizing what needed to be done, and fixing it. I'm not a real "go with the flow" kind of girl!

While we were in the lobby they did the Hustle, and the kids tried to join in.
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See the roses on the floor? After the Hustle they did a whole thing for a couple that never got to have a real wedding, with pictures and a dance. It was cute!

I brought some slices of bread from the food court, and made the boys PB&J when we got to the room. They were so happy to have some comfort food! Chad's aunts, uncles, and cousins all live in Orlando, so they all met us in our rooms and then we headed down to the kiddie pool and ordered Pizza Hut for dinner. The kids swam while we ate pizza and hung out with family, which was really nice. At about 9 pm I took the kids back up to the room and gave them their bath. Cooper was in a great mood!
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I put them to bed and then hung out with my mom in her room, until they were asleep. It's amazing how much faster they fell asleep without Chad and I in the room!

Up next: Ohana, Epcot, and Downtown Disney!