Katy Belle
04-15-2004, 10:56 PM
Feb.25-March 2
Me-Katy 35-never been to WDW. Always, always, always have wanted to visit the mouse
DH-Scott 38- one trip to WDW, many, many moons ago.
DS-Jacob - 8 Cautious- brainy kid -looking forward to Epcot
DS-Nathan -6 Dare Devil - thinks he can fly (think concussion)- hopes to lose his first tooth at WDW and leave it under his pillow for Tinkerbell, hoping she will leave pixie dust!
DS-Matthew-4 Scaredy Cat - after viewing the Disney Trip planning video he called the Dumbo Ride "The Scary Roundy Round elephants"
A side note. I was so influenced by a recent trip reporter that I chose to change this a bit and use real names. All the DSs gets confusing!
We scheduled a late flight to try and maximize our chances of being able to go. Luckily, the "mess" was under control by 7 Tues, 24 hours before our departure time. This gave Scott all of Wed. to get things organized so that things would run smoothly while he was gone. I really wasn't sure we were going until I was INSIDE the plane! Even Nathan had mentioned that it was like "the boy who cried wolf." None of us were confident that it ever would happen. Anyway, we picked the boys up from school 10 minutes early and headed to the airport. Lots of bickering going on in the back of the van. Ugh. Felt like it could be a long day. I didn't care much, We were going to Disney World! Finally everyone settled down and we arrived at the airport, just minutes after Matthew fell asleep. We woke him up, stuck him on the bus with his brothers and all our luggage and headed to the airport, from the parking lot. We checked in at curbside. This is the way to go if you have the opportunity! It took about 2 minutes and we were all done! No line to stand in, no struggle, just a tip. Then we venture in and go through security. Smooth. No problems. I flew alone with the boys at Christmas, so they are little pros. Things really get easy when your youngest kids hits 4yrs old! Now we start our long venture to our gate. This is a new terminal at the Houston airport. It was a very, very, long hike. It has those moving sidewalks, which was very exciting for the boys. Along the way on the hike we stop to get dinner. We chose a pizza/sandwich place. It prepared us well, too well, for the Disney food prices. Dinner was $40. One personal cheese pizza, 4 turkey sandwiches, 2 bags of chips, and 5 drinks. AND the sandwiches were pretty disappointing. But, we didn't care, we were headed to Disney world! Then we continue our hike and pass some really, really nice restaurants that we would have been glad to drop $40 at! There is even a sports bar that is on the 2nd floor and looks out over first floor. Much nicer than our sandwich shop. Oh well, we are going to Disney World!
We wait and wait for our flight. Finally boarding begins. We do not pre-board. All that does is lets you sit longer. Boys aren't really into sitting. We are split up on this flight. Originally they had us really, really split up. No one was sitting next to anyone else in the family. Now as nice as that sounded for a minute, I couldn't imagine our 4yr old sitting alone somewhere, so our lovely travel agent pulled a few strings and got us so we were 3 in one row, 2 in another. Turns out the 3 together were in the Elite section, for frequent fliers. So Scott, Jacob , and Matthew headed up there. We thought the 4 yr old could entertain the business people. Nathan and I head for row 10, seats B and C. We arrive and there is a man in seat C. I explain that I have seats B and C. He informs me that he has seat A. OK, well, another man is sitting in your seat, this really isn't my problem. But, guess what. Seems they needed some help and I needed that seat! But I don't really care, we're going to Disney World! They both had boarding passes with 10-A. Finally the flight attendant moved one of them to First Class and we were able to leave the aisle and sit down. The flight was fine, no problems. I did hear Matthew yelling at take off, "Whee!!!! Here we go!!!! We're going up!!!" That was free entertainment for those business travelors! Actually we recieved compliments on our childrens good behavior! Success. Of course they are well behaved, they are going to Disney World.
Now we are in the Orlando airport. We hike to baggage claim, fight with the cheerleaders for a while. Oh yeah, its cheerleader weekend at WDW and we flew with a large group of them. They were fine, just a bit annoying at baggage. But, its 11PM at this point and most everyone is annoying. Now off the the National Counter. That went smoothly. Then we locate the minivan row and choose a navy minivan. Then we are off to locate POR. No trouble there. Drive right up and it seems the nice man in the guard shack was waiting for us! "Welcome home!" I nearly threw a party in the van!! I embarrassed everyone a bit.
The check-in process went smoothly. No one else checking in at 11:30 PM, so no waiting! Matthew saw a bunny as we pulled up, but he hid from the rest of us. Now there's some magic! The boys and I snooped around the lobby. Scott was given lots of verbal information that he really could not absorb at that point. They also gave him the necessities, the 5 room keys, 2 with charging privilages, which it turns out I LOVED on this trip. Then we drive to find our room. The boys are litterally bouncing off the walls, beds, etc. by this time. Finding hidden mickeys in the bed spread, finding lots of disney cartoons on the tv, even at midnight! WOW! Then we get to convince them to go to sleep. Mom is getting grumpy and any visions of EMH have left her sights. But everyone was asleep soon and slept well and all is well because we are at DISNEY WORLD!
Me-Katy 35-never been to WDW. Always, always, always have wanted to visit the mouse
DH-Scott 38- one trip to WDW, many, many moons ago.
DS-Jacob - 8 Cautious- brainy kid -looking forward to Epcot
DS-Nathan -6 Dare Devil - thinks he can fly (think concussion)- hopes to lose his first tooth at WDW and leave it under his pillow for Tinkerbell, hoping she will leave pixie dust!
DS-Matthew-4 Scaredy Cat - after viewing the Disney Trip planning video he called the Dumbo Ride "The Scary Roundy Round elephants"
A side note. I was so influenced by a recent trip reporter that I chose to change this a bit and use real names. All the DSs gets confusing!
We scheduled a late flight to try and maximize our chances of being able to go. Luckily, the "mess" was under control by 7 Tues, 24 hours before our departure time. This gave Scott all of Wed. to get things organized so that things would run smoothly while he was gone. I really wasn't sure we were going until I was INSIDE the plane! Even Nathan had mentioned that it was like "the boy who cried wolf." None of us were confident that it ever would happen. Anyway, we picked the boys up from school 10 minutes early and headed to the airport. Lots of bickering going on in the back of the van. Ugh. Felt like it could be a long day. I didn't care much, We were going to Disney World! Finally everyone settled down and we arrived at the airport, just minutes after Matthew fell asleep. We woke him up, stuck him on the bus with his brothers and all our luggage and headed to the airport, from the parking lot. We checked in at curbside. This is the way to go if you have the opportunity! It took about 2 minutes and we were all done! No line to stand in, no struggle, just a tip. Then we venture in and go through security. Smooth. No problems. I flew alone with the boys at Christmas, so they are little pros. Things really get easy when your youngest kids hits 4yrs old! Now we start our long venture to our gate. This is a new terminal at the Houston airport. It was a very, very, long hike. It has those moving sidewalks, which was very exciting for the boys. Along the way on the hike we stop to get dinner. We chose a pizza/sandwich place. It prepared us well, too well, for the Disney food prices. Dinner was $40. One personal cheese pizza, 4 turkey sandwiches, 2 bags of chips, and 5 drinks. AND the sandwiches were pretty disappointing. But, we didn't care, we were headed to Disney world! Then we continue our hike and pass some really, really nice restaurants that we would have been glad to drop $40 at! There is even a sports bar that is on the 2nd floor and looks out over first floor. Much nicer than our sandwich shop. Oh well, we are going to Disney World!
We wait and wait for our flight. Finally boarding begins. We do not pre-board. All that does is lets you sit longer. Boys aren't really into sitting. We are split up on this flight. Originally they had us really, really split up. No one was sitting next to anyone else in the family. Now as nice as that sounded for a minute, I couldn't imagine our 4yr old sitting alone somewhere, so our lovely travel agent pulled a few strings and got us so we were 3 in one row, 2 in another. Turns out the 3 together were in the Elite section, for frequent fliers. So Scott, Jacob , and Matthew headed up there. We thought the 4 yr old could entertain the business people. Nathan and I head for row 10, seats B and C. We arrive and there is a man in seat C. I explain that I have seats B and C. He informs me that he has seat A. OK, well, another man is sitting in your seat, this really isn't my problem. But, guess what. Seems they needed some help and I needed that seat! But I don't really care, we're going to Disney World! They both had boarding passes with 10-A. Finally the flight attendant moved one of them to First Class and we were able to leave the aisle and sit down. The flight was fine, no problems. I did hear Matthew yelling at take off, "Whee!!!! Here we go!!!! We're going up!!!" That was free entertainment for those business travelors! Actually we recieved compliments on our childrens good behavior! Success. Of course they are well behaved, they are going to Disney World.
Now we are in the Orlando airport. We hike to baggage claim, fight with the cheerleaders for a while. Oh yeah, its cheerleader weekend at WDW and we flew with a large group of them. They were fine, just a bit annoying at baggage. But, its 11PM at this point and most everyone is annoying. Now off the the National Counter. That went smoothly. Then we locate the minivan row and choose a navy minivan. Then we are off to locate POR. No trouble there. Drive right up and it seems the nice man in the guard shack was waiting for us! "Welcome home!" I nearly threw a party in the van!! I embarrassed everyone a bit.
The check-in process went smoothly. No one else checking in at 11:30 PM, so no waiting! Matthew saw a bunny as we pulled up, but he hid from the rest of us. Now there's some magic! The boys and I snooped around the lobby. Scott was given lots of verbal information that he really could not absorb at that point. They also gave him the necessities, the 5 room keys, 2 with charging privilages, which it turns out I LOVED on this trip. Then we drive to find our room. The boys are litterally bouncing off the walls, beds, etc. by this time. Finding hidden mickeys in the bed spread, finding lots of disney cartoons on the tv, even at midnight! WOW! Then we get to convince them to go to sleep. Mom is getting grumpy and any visions of EMH have left her sights. But everyone was asleep soon and slept well and all is well because we are at DISNEY WORLD!