A trip to WDW with a 2 and 3 year old and no melt downs? This must be magic!

[DisneyTiger]

Hello fellow DISers! I am starting my TR a bit late. Our wonderful Grand Gathering was May 27 - May 31 and I am just now getting around to reporting on it. I know, I know... bad DISer I hope you all will forgive me as you read along about our wonderful, last minute trip to Disney... well, kind of

Let's start with introductions...

Me - My name is Talissa and I am a 32 stay at home mom of two great kids - Aubrey 3.5 and Brendan 2. My wonderful DH, Jason, is just as bad as I am when it comes to Disney. Our first trip was back in 2003 and we've been hooked ever since. This past trip was our 9th time to go since then, but only our 2nd time taking the kids We ended up joining DVC in November of 2007 and have enjoyed it thoroughly. It has allowed us to take our kids on two magical vacations staying first at BCV and then, in May, we stayed at AKL.

I am also a TA and initially booked two trips for my sisters to go 5/25 - 6/1. One of my sisters had taken her family of 4 many times to Disney but my other sister had never been. This would be their family's first trip, which made it extra special for me to plan for them. Well, the more I planned for them, the more I wanted to be there to see their expressions as they experienced Disney for the first time. It didn't take me long to to convince DH to let me and my DD go along with them. We had points to burn through DVC and a few days left on our tickets so it really was a no brainer. DS would stay behind while DD and I had a special girls trip. We would meet up with my sisters and stay only 4 nights. A quick trip. Well....... the more I thought about it, the more I tried to picture myself standing on Main Street and I couldn't help but be saddened by the fact that my Disney partner in crime wouldn't be there with me. Soooooooo, I approached Jason and before we knew, we had two more plane tickets purchased and my boys were now coming along on our "Girl's Trip"

The Plan: We were to drive to the New Orleans airport from Baton Rouge and catch a 3:00 nonstop flight to Orlando. With time change, that put us there around 5:30. Magical Express would then wisk us away to our studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge - our favorite resort We would hang out at the hotel that night and swim.

Now for some pictures...

Here are Brendan and Aubrey waiting patiently in the kitchen for daddy to get home from work so we could leave for the airport...

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to explain to a 2 and 3 year old that we have to WAIT for daddy to go see Mickey!!! It was the longest few hours ever!

Here they are again, waiting patiently! They each packed their backpacks and were determined to bring them on the plane. Only problem was, they would not let me look inside so I had no idea what they had packed. I humored them and let them bring them in the car but once we got to the airport, they were conveniently "forgotten" in the back seat. It was fine though because I had packed them each bags for the plane ride filled with suprises so the backpacks were not missed

We finally boarded the plane and were off. Aubrey and I sat together and Jason took Brendan. The flight went very well. I HATE flying and Aubrey seemed to be a little scared too. It was kind of therapeutic trying to comfort her when in my head I needed someone to comfort me!!

Here is a shot of Aubrey before we took off...

Here is a shot of daddy and Brendan across the aisle...

Up next....

Magical Express and maybe I can scrounge up a pic of myself to share!

 

[coteau_chick]

Great start. I love the plane pictures. How cute they packed there little backpacks. I miss when Courtney and Brennan were little. I can't wait to hear all about your trip.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Hey....I hope this trip report is better than that PATHETIC pre-trip report.

Your pre-trip report was not pathetic...just not as insanely detailed as your previous one, because you've become some sort of a pro at traveling with the wee ones!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Great start. I love the plane pictures. How cute they packed there little backpacks. I miss when Courtney and Brennan were little. I can't wait to hear all about your trip.

Hey! Yes, they were too cute with their bags. Aubrey is very into packing her own stuff these days!

Hey....I hope this trip report is better than that PATHETIC pre-trip report.

Your pre-trip report was not pathetic...just not as insanely detailed as your previous one, because you've become some sort of a pro at traveling with the wee ones!

Ha ha! Thanks! Yeah, I guess I have learned a lot since that first trip with the kids!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Our plane landed safe and sound in Orlando and right on time! We gathered everything together and headed over to ME. We checked in at the counter and walked straight onto the bus because there was no line That was very nice because at this point, the kids were quite restless and ready to get this show on the road!

We loaded onto the bus and we were off! I waited patiently and then finally...

I don't know about you, but once this video starts, things become very real for me! Hearing it gives me chills! Brendan enjoyed it too!

Now, remember that this was a last minute trip for Jason. He had to take off work at the last minute and still had some things to tend to. As I'm sitting there with Aubrey enjoying the ME movie, I look over and see this!!!

In the name of all things holy... are you actually doing work while on the Magical Express bus!!!! I was appauled but hey, someone's got to pay for this trip right?LOL

He finished up his notes while me and the kiddos waited to see this...

WERE'RE HERE!!!!!!!!

Here is a shot of the kids waiting as we unload our bags from the bus...

We walk into the front door and I had to stop and take a pic of this. It's so true!

Alright, so time for check in. Thought this would be an easy process. We had planned on using the dining plan but with DVC for some reason you have to pay for the dining plan when you check in. You can't do it ahead of time but you do however have to tell them that you would like the meal plan when you make the reservations. So, I go to check in and the girl tells me there is no dining plan on my reservation Surely this was an easy fix, right? Just press the "guest wants meal plan button" right? Nope, what an ordeal. They had to re-book my reservation in order to add the mealplan It thankfully was not a problem, it just took FOREVER!!! By this time, it was almost 7:30 and the kids were starving. So were we! We finally got the meal plan thing settled and headed over to Mara - quick service for dinner. We didn't even go to our room. Straight to eat!

We ordered our food and took it outside to eat. Aubrey insisted on eating outside even though it was very dark and we could barely see our food! I ordered the chicken flatbread. It was DESLISH!!!

Jason ordered the african stew which was very good as well. Such good flavors! Notice how dark it is in the background!

The kids got pizza and a hamburger. Didn't take a pic of this since I'm pretty sure you all have seen that before

And for dessert.....

ZEBRA DOMES!!!! Yum!!!!!

We all scarfed down our food and then headed up to our room. I had packed our swimsuits in our carry on because I knew the plan was to eat and then swim, then crash. Here are a few pics from the room. So pretty...

We had a studio which came with a comfy queen bed and a pull out sofa - perfect for our family...

Brendan went straight to the phone. The child is a gadget boy. Anything with buttons, he's on it!

After checking out the room, we changed into our swimsuits and headed down to the pool!

I had my first Disney sticker shock moment once we got to the pool. I went in to get Jason and I a beer and the total was $14 It takes a while to get used to spending that kind of money on beer!!!

The kids loved the pool because of the zero entry. It was great!

They had swim vests for the kids and they worked great. I actually bought two when we got home! I love them!

The forcast for the week was not looking too promising but I had faith. I knew we would probably run into a few showers but I was hoping for nothing too serious! After we were in the pool for a while, the skies opened up and it started to pour. Aubrey was so funny. She ran out of the pool all worried about getting wet! Too cute. We headed up to our room to enjoy the nice rain storm. Our bags were there waiting. I heart DME Time for beddy by. It was a long day!!!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Ok, so I just read over this last post and noticed that my kids are looking pretty rough! I promise they're gorgeous kids. They just look exhausted and like they just woke up in all of these pics Ok, just had to say that

 

[goofy's_gurl]

very cute kids. cant wait to here more

 

[DisneyTiger]

very cute kids. cant wait to here more

Yay! Thanks for reading! More to come

 

[kimbo0569]

Great TR so far! Can't wait for more

 

[DisneyTiger]

Great TR so far! Can't wait for more

Thanks I was a slacker on this trip and didn't takes notes! I am having to go through all of my pics to jog my memory of the days. It's all comeing back to me though. My own fault for waiting so long to start the TR!!! Thanks for reading a long

 

[tinkerbell_xo]

Great report!! You have a beautiful family!! But where's mommy??

Can't wait to read more

 

[DisneyTiger]

Great report!! You have a beautiful family!! But where's mommy??

Can't wait to read more

Thank you! I know, I am so bad about getting in pictures! I really tried this trip but as you can see, I didn't get off to a very good start! I will find a pic from later in the trip so I'm not such a mystery

 

[coteau_chick]

Your kids are beautiful and I don't think they look rough. I LOVE zebra domes, YUM O !! I loved the pool at AKL.

 

[my2disneyboys]

Hey! I am glad to hear from you!!! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[WannabeAriel]

Yay! Finally another trip report!!!

 

[clomahony]

Just wanted to chime in as well and tell you that your family is beautiful and I love your trip report. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[DisneyTiger]

Your kids are beautiful and I don't think they look rough. I LOVE zebra domes, YUM O !! I loved the pool at AKL.

Ha. Thanks! I guess they are still cute even with messy hair I could eat 8 zebra domes right now!!!

Hey! I am glad to hear from you!!! Can't wait to hear more.

Yay! Hey!!!!! Thanks for reading. More to come very soon.

I have to say that I think about you and your cute little family all the time. I am so going to do those Disney nights for our next family trip. Such great ideas and great memories for y'all!!!

Yay! Finally another trip report!!!

Thanks for reading!!!! More to come soon

 

[DisneyTiger]

Just wanted to chime in as well and tell you that your family is beautiful and I love your trip report. Looking forward to reading more.

Hi! Thanks for joining in! I have not been the best reporter but hopefully I'll get on the ball soon!

 

[shordiebecka]

Just found your trip report and I am subbing! I can't wait to hear about how you got through WDW with no meltdowns..we saw so many there!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Well, look who decided to come back and work on her trip report! It's moi!!!

We have had a VERY busy summer with lots of weekend getaways and a few beach vacations. This is the first time that we don't have anything planned. Well, until October that is when DH and I are taking our grown up trip to WDW!!! But for now, I must continue this TR!!! Sorry for the lapse!

So, where did I leave off... Before we left for our trip, I realized that I could not locate our DVC member cards. Normally, this would not be a problem but this trip we were planning on purchasing annual passes using the DVC discount (which is pretty significant). One major inconvenience… we had to go to Saratoga Springs to get replacement cards! So that meant we had to wake up extra early, get over to SSR, get our replacement cards, head over to Epcot and then buy our tickets! Whew, I just knew it was going to be a long morning. I had thought out every step ahead of time to make sure things would run smoothly. We called for a cab since I knew it would take forever to get on a bus to DTD and then to SSR. The $10 cab fare was well worth it. Before we start on our crazy morning, we managed to get in a cup of coffee on the balcony. Check out our view…

Brendan enjoyed waking up “in the jungle” too!...

We were trying to conserve points on this trip so we were staying in a studio with a value view. Well, I could not be more happy with this "value" view. It was a gorgeous view of the pool but still very private!!!

Alright, so we were all dressed and ready to go. We headed out to the front of the lobby and our cab was waiting for us. Perfect! We get to SSR very quickly. Perfect! We get to the DVC office and are greeted with open arms and had our replacement cards within minutes. Perfect! We ask what’s the quickest way to Epcot and were told to take the boat shuttle. Perfect! We get to the boat shuttle and there is no one around. Ummmm, ok. Shuttles don’t start running until 8:30 and it was only 8:00. Not perfect. We head back to the DVC office and they direct us to the buses. This was frustrating because they had multiple DVC vans sitting there that could have easily driven us to our destination, but oh well. This was not my first frustration with DVC but I'll get into that later...As we are waiting for our Epcot bus, I realize that I did not bring the credit card with me that I wanted to put the park tickets on. This was going to be a pretty big purchase and we had planned on using our CC instead of our debit card. PROBLEM! I remembered that I used the credit card when we checked in and assigned it as the one to make room charges with. All we could do was pray that we would be able to purchase tickets with our room key. If that wasn’t going to work, then we were going to have to go ALL the way back to AKL to get the CC then back to Epcot to buy the tickets!!! I was so worried. Well, we boarded the bus and got to Epcot well before 9:00. I headed to the ticket counter and prayed every step of the way. I asked the girl if was possible to put our tickets on our room charge. She said “SURE!” Thank you Jesus! I don’t know why I was worried about this. I guess I just thought it may be a problem since it was going to be such a large charge, but alas, Mickey was watching out for us!

As we walked into the gates, I stopped to smell the roses, literally! It was the Flower and Garden fest and there were cool things everywhere. Here are a few pics...

We had been there before at this time of year but I had never seen Cinderella's carriage. Pretty cool.

It was going to be a little bit before we were able to meet up with the rest of our party. They had slept in and were taking their time. Slackers So we headed over to Soarin' to make sure that we got on before the line was too long. I had remembered from our last trip that there are no strollers allowed inside the Land pavillion. This proved to be a nightmare with a 1 and 2 year old and I was positive it would be the same this go 'round Of course, being the planner that I am, I came prepared. Introducing... THE MONKEY....

God bless the monkey, can I tell you??? This thing saved our sanity! My DS is 2 and is WILD! We strapped this puppy on his and he thought he had all the freedom in the world. Little did he know that he was tethered to me the whole time We definitely got our use out of this thing on this trip! Well, we grabbed some fastpasses and decided to do parent swap since the line wasn't too long. My DD was just at the 40" mark and really wanted to go "flying". I decided to be the one to take her. As we entered the preview area, she started to get really nervous but still wanted to ride. We went in and guess what row we got, the first one - the highest one!!! I have never gotten to sit in this row and now of all times that's where we're seated. I was fine but very worried about Aubrey. We strapped ourselves in and I could tell Aubrey was terrified. At the last minute she tells me that she wants to get off. Now, it is passed the time for us to leave so I tell her it's going to be fine and it's all pretend. A very un-understanding woman was sitting next to her and looked at me as if to say "If this kid ruins this for me, you're gonna get it!" I just shrugged it off. What was I supposed to do The lights go out and up up up we went! Her little nails dug into my arm. I was very concerned at this point. Then the video started and we were flying! She absolutely LOVED it! Really, is there any better ride at WDW? It's just amazing! We came off the ride and she was so proud. I found Jason and Brendan, and the monkey. It was his turn. And guess who wanted to go again??? Besides me that is He took Aubrey with him and Brendan and I hopped on The Land to kill some time. He fell asleep in my arms. Ever tried to get out of that boat with a 32lb boy sacked out in your lap??? Not easy