"It was the time of our lives!" WL Jan 10-15 2010 NEW: 5/17 PTR LINK UP!! PG 44

[BippityBoo]

UPDATE LINKS---Click the links below to be directed to my updates

TRAVEL DAY

ARRIVAL AT WILDERNESS LODGE

MK DAY 1/PART 1 (FANTASYLAND)

MK DAY 1/PART 2(ADVENTURE/FRONTIERLAND)

OUR ROOM AT THE WL

EPCOT PART 1 (SOARIN, NEMO, SEARTH)

EPCOT PART 2 (1ST CHARACTER MEET)

EPCOT PART 3(WORLD SHOWCASE)

EPCOT PART 4 (CHARACTER SPOT, POLY DINNER)

MK DAY2/ PART1 (BUZZ, BIG THUNDER)

MK DAY2/ PART2 (TOON TOWN, LTT)

MK DAY2/ PART3 (PARADES, SHOWS AND SHOPPING)

MK DAY2/ PART4 (COSTUMES AND PRINCESSES)

DHS/ PART 1 (PLAYHOUSE DISNEY/ MOVIE RIDE)

DHS/ PART 2 (TSM, B&B)

DHS/ PART 3 (UP AND LIGHTNING, WHISPERING CANYON)

MK DAY 3/ PART 1 (COUNTRY BEAR, CHH)

MK DAY 3/ PART 2 (SPECTRO AND WISHES)

AK PART ONE (BYE BYE WL & DINOLAND)

AK PART TWO (AFRICA & PIZZAFARI)

AK PART THREE (CAMP MINNIE MICKEY/FOTLK)

AK PART FOUR (EE & THE RIDE HOME)

ABBY BDAY (DOI & GAD PROGRAM)

ABBY BDAY (AMERICAN GIRL PARTY/IMAG MOVERS)

Hello Everyone!!!
I am so happy to start this TR! My family has just returned from an AMAZING WDW vacation and I am SO excited to tell you about it!

Intro:

*When: January 10-15, 2010
*Where: Wilderness Lodge/Standard View
*Why: To spend time growing as a family and to make memories to last a lifetime!
*Who: Me- Katie My DH- Chris and my two children--
DD- Abby (6) DS-Aiden (2)

I chose the TR title "It was the time of our lives!" because of a magical moment on Main Street. My family had just walked into Magic Kingdom on our arrival day. The smells of cookies and fudge poured onto the street. The Christmas decorations were still up--even though I had been told they were taken down, the air was crisp and cool and there was not a cloud in the sky. Over the speakers, the current Disney theme song "Time of Your Life" was playing. My childeren were so excited and we were on our way to our first stop...Fantasyland! At that moment, I knew that it WOULD be the time of our lives...and the vacation did NOT disapoint.

I will leave you with this adorable picture that a VERY talented cartoonist drew for us in the Wilderness Lodge lobby. Welcome to my TR!!! I hope that you will subscribe!

​

 

[ladybugmom]

I'm first!! YAY!!! You know I've been anxiously anticipating this TR!! LOVE the cartoon pic of Aiden & Abby!! Sooo cute!!

 

[beyondblessed]

Hi Katie - I LOVE your TR name! The picture is darling! I can't wait to read more...I'm so glad you had such an amazing trip!!!

 

[Nichellebelle]

Yay! I am so excited for your report. That drawing is so cool.

 

[lovegrumpy]

Can't wait to read more. Love the picture of the kids.

 

[kcandbella]

I'm here!!! I've been waiting to hear all about it!

 

[cdotla]

Whoo hoo! You've started!!! Can't wait to read all about it!

What a bonus to have walked onto Main Street with the Christmas decorations! On January 10!!! WoW!!! Like you, I had definitely been under the impression that they are taken down the 1st monday after the New Year's holiday. So if that wasn't enough to tempt you back for a return visit in December, I don't know what is!

I adore that caricature of your beautiful kids!!! I think I might have to get one of mine on our May trip. I have seen them set up in the Beach Club too, where we will be staying. Honestly, until I saw your post I would not have been too interested, but what a beautiful souvenier of your trip!

Super excited to hear all about your trip!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hey there! I followed you over from Becky's PTR (that sounds kinda stalkerish doesn't it? )

Love the caricature of you kids! I saw a lady doing those in the lobby of POFQ when we were there last month and thought about getting one and just never did. Wish I would have now, yours is fantastic!

Looking forward to hearing about your trip

 

[BippityBoo]

I'm first!! YAY!!! You know I've been anxiously anticipating this TR!! LOVE the cartoon pic of Aiden & Abby!! Sooo cute!!

Woohoo!!! My #1 fan

Thanks for joining in!!

Hi Katie - I LOVE your TR name! The picture is darling! I can't wait to read more...I'm so glad you had such an amazing trip!!!

Yay! I am so happy that you are here Looking forward to reading the rest of yours!

Yay! I am so excited for your report. That drawing is so cool.

Thanks Nichelle!!

Can't wait to read more. Love the picture of the kids.

Thanks! Welcome!!

I'm here!!! I've been waiting to hear all about it!

Hi Kaycee!!! I cant wait to tell you guys about it!

Whoo hoo! You've started!!! Can't wait to read all about it!

What a bonus to have walked onto Main Street with the Christmas decorations! On January 10!!! WoW!!! Like you, I had definitely been under the impression that they are taken down the 1st monday after the New Year's holiday. So if that wasn't enough to tempt you back for a return visit in December, I don't know what is!

I adore that caricature of your beautiful kids!!! I think I might have to get one of mine on our May trip. I have seen them set up in the Beach Club too, where we will be staying. Honestly, until I saw your post I would not have been too interested, but what a beautiful souvenier of your trip!

Super excited to hear all about your trip!

OH you have to get a picture done. It is amazing how much it looks like them! We are going to frame it and put it in the playroom I wasnt going to get one done either till I got the playroom idea and the Mickey ears top it off. Great reminder of the trip!

I had read on the blog that the decorations were to come down on January 14th. I called and they said that they were taken down on the 4th. Imagine my surprise when I got there and it was all decorated!!

Hey there! I followed you over from Becky's PTR (that sounds kinda stalkerish doesn't it? )

Love the caricature of you kids! I saw a lady doing those in the lobby of POFQ when we were there last month and thought about getting one and just never did. Wish I would have now, yours is fantastic!

Looking forward to hearing about your trip

NO you are not a stalker! I am going to start reading yours tonight!

You should get one on your next trip. I am SO glad I did!! Thanks for reading

 

[jwwi]

Sounds magical, I love WL!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Hi there! Just subscribed!
The dates of your trip caught my eye - you were arriving just as we were heading home (we were at Disney Jan 3-10). I sure hope you had better weather than we did - it was freezing for us!
Looking forward to reading about your trip!

 

[ladybugmom]

Yay!! It looks like your figured out how to do the TR link in your siggy!! I hope my example wasn't too confusing!!

 

[BippityBoo]

Yay!! It looks like your figured out how to do the TR link in your siggy!! I hope my example wasn't too confusing!!

JUST did it!!!! Thank you SO much!! I have always had trouble understanding in the past! It was really easy

Look at us, still learning the DIS after we have been on so long. Too funny. Putting the kids to bed....posting soon

 

[ladybugmom]

JUST did it!!!! Thank you SO much!! I have always had trouble understanding in the past! It was really easy

Look at us, still learning the DIS after we have been on so long. Too funny. Putting the kids to bed....posting soon

No problem!! Everytime I put another link in my siggy I have to go back to the Edit mode of my siggy to see how to do it! I know what you mean--links in the siggy, organizing subscriptions into folders, etc. I'm sure we still have so much to learn, huh?! Looking forward to the update!!

 

[kaysmommie]

Hi Katie,
I love the title of your trip report! Happy to hear you had a great time. Hoping you liked WL. Looking forward to hearing all about your trip .

Nichole

 

[BippityBoo]

OK---Let's get this TR started!!!


January 9, 2010---Departure/Travel Day


Packing for this trip took forever!! I felt that I kept making list after list. When I finally got all of the things together, it was SUCH a great feeling. Take a look at what we brought!

Plastic containers organized with the following items:

1) Forks, plates, plastic cups and napkins for quick breakfasts in the room/Disposable Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sippy cups for my DS.
2) Medicines for ANY sickness possible
3) Snacks for the kids (Princess and Toy Story fruit snacks, goldfish, peanut butter crackers, Cars and Princess cookies, suckers, Poptarts).
4) Laundry detergent, anti-bacterial wipes, tide wipes, dish soap, hand soap.

We also brought bagels for my DH and I in the mornings and juice for the kids

I found a plastic container that fit perfectly inbetween my kid’s carseats. I put paper towels, bibs, diapers/wipes, bags of snacks and their DVDS in it. This was super helpful because I could reach them from the front seat. Here is a shot of what was inside.

I packed the kids suitcases seperately this year, due to the HIGH VOLUME of clothes being brought! Here they are!

I organized their clothes this year by type (ex: Shirts in one ziplock, pants in the other) rather than by park day like last year. This worked just as well for me as I usually change my mind and switch outfits around once we get there

My DH and I shared a suitcase. Once I packed it, I realized that it was not zipping! So, I added a duffel for our shoes and my DH's undershirts, etc. I forgot to take a pic of it!! Sorry!

My DD and I picked out fun backpacks on sale at Toys R Us when we were Christmas shopping for the family. I filled both of their backpacks with new toys and crafts to keep them busy. Also, I gathered magazines from my DD's room and things I know she likes to read. I also made sure to pack their favorite stuffed animals that they can not sleep without....all 6 of them

Continued on next post...

 

[BippityBoo]

Here are their backpacks and their contents

I also packed my DD’s Vera with her new DSi and all of the games.

And, of course, we can not forget our Snuggies!!! These were SUPER helpful in the car when they wanted to play video games or color, but it was still a little chilly.



_______

We decided to drive to WDW for this trip. Flights were getting expensive and we have many friends who chose to drive for their trips. We are about 9 hours away. So, in order to get as far as we could while the kids were sleeping, we left at 5am

Thankfully, my DH is the driver and all I had to do was ride!

The kids began to wake up around 8am. They did great, watching new DVDs that we bought them (Suite Life On Deck for my DD and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for my DS). We had some poptarts for them to eat, so we did not need to stop until lunch time. After a quick bite to eat and a diaper change for my DS, we were off to Gainesville, FL where we would stop for the night.

Nothing eventful happened in Gainesville to report about. We checked in and decided to go check out the University of Florida!! We were curious to see the campus, but we were there on a mission. We are huge LSU fans, so our goal was to take funny pictures giving thumbs down in front of the stadium! It was great fun and the kids got a kick out of it. I must say, the campus is beautiful (as much as I hate to admit ) Here are some pics for those who want to see...

We decided to order out from Olive Garden (one of our favorites!). We got salad, soup and breadsticks. The hotel had a great eating area, so we just ate there.

After getting up so early, it was time to get to bed. After all, we would be in WDW tomorrow

**Up Next: Would the Wilderness Lodge live up to it's reputation? Does mother nature ruin the park plans I worked so hard on? Stay tuned

 

[jwwi]

Now that is some organized packing! Can't wait to see your arrival at WL..........

 

[ladybugmom]

YAY!! The first update!! I love all the organizational tubs and neatly packed suitcases!! Yeah--your stop at the University of Florida cracked me up!! I just LOVE the pics that you tagged me in on FB!! Brent just commented again on how hilarious it was!! He got a big kick out of the pics, too!! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Wow! You are one organized lady! I'm glad your kids did so well in the car, you can never tell with little ones on a road trip