Fears, tears, fun, and laughter: We survived spring break TR updated 1/29

[JPFamilyMom]

So as promised here is our group shot, and it was the only time we all got in a big group picture I have more in front of the tree, but it was the only time we stopped together

now on to Sunday March 13, 2011
originally this was suppose to be an AK day followed by a big family dinner at Chef Mickey's

Well once I realized the crowd ratings for the week, and the time change, and how my children would be after a long drive, those plans were a complete wash and instead we did:

Jack and John slept in, Joey and I slept in too, but not that late. My parents went to the airport early to get my sister and her family. Joey was still sleeping when they arrived, I was up making coffee and setting up bags from Tinkerbelle and Peter Pan. The kids all got little notebooks (princess and Buzz) and Mickey and/or Minnie pens, with light up bracelets.
After everyone had breakfast, the ladies went to Walmart to get supplies for the week. When we got home, everyone had sandwiches and a mix of things for lunch.
Joeys fear is sharks in water, why he thinks there are sharks in a pool, I don't know, but that is his story. So...

Mommy tricked Joey into his bathing suit and everyone went outside so he couldn’t stay in the house, he said he didn’t want to go in the pool. I said lets just get our feet wet. He didn’t even want to do that, but I picked him up and got his feet wet, then slowly and slowly he eventually got into the pool and LOVED it. He didn’t want to get out when it was time to go.

my niece is a little fish

All year Joey talked about seeing the horses in DisneyWorld, so we decided to head to Fort Wilderness....will the kids ride the ponies or will it be a wasted trip????

 

[DisMomAmy]

I love the photopass picture - I love them all - I saw them on facebook.

I think you made a good choice to stay out of the parks that day. I'm glad you got Joey to enjoy the pool.

Can't wait to hear about the horses.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Yay on not going to the parks and enjoying the pool - looks like you all had fun!

Looking forward to hearing if the FW trip was successful

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Moving right along.... now that my photopass cd arrived I'm anxious to get to our park days, and I have A LOT of pictures to share

Sunday March 13, 2011 continued....

We had plans to explore Fort Wilderness and go on pony rides, something Joey had been waiting for and talking about all year.
This was our first time entering WDW property so a picture was in order:

When we arrived we ended up needing to park at the Wilderness Lodge and caught a bus over to the Campsites. Jack was a little anxious while waiting on the bus but he had his dry erase board to entertain him:

The pony rides were right next to the bus stop so we headed over.

So who decided to ride the ponies????
















Everyone chickened out except for Jack. This was surprising behavior from Jack but not unexpected, he had recently experienced a pony ride on a field trip with school. If he hadn't done the field trip I'm 99% sure he wouldn't have done it.

Next we walked around to check out the area, we wanted to do a wagon ride but knew they didn’t start until after dinner, and the kids saw the playground so we headed over there:

then we went down to the marina to see the ducks, and then we went to the trading post where we purchased our souvenir penny holder.

While at the Marina we decided we would take the boat back to the lodge instead of the bus, for a change of pace and scenery. My parents would like to bring their RV down to WDW sometime.

The boat ride was uneventful but leading up to the boat ride was slightly exciting only because Jack was tired and upset that there wasn’t a boat right there waiting for him, and he tried to climb past the roped off area and we had to hold him back and keep him from kicking anyone. Once he got on the boat he was so happy and really enjoyed the ride. I let him hold the camera and he took pictures of everything and I do mean everything I ended up deleting something like 50 pictures.

Once we arrived at the lodge my Aunt was out of breath and since she hadn’t brought her walker or wheel chair we had several stops before getting back to the cars, which was fine with us because we wanted to explore. We explored a little and took some pictures. My husband thought it was a cool resort and asked about staying there sometime in the future. Sure honey ;-) He also liked the looks of Whispering Café, which was in our plans originally but with all our plan changes all the ADR’s got cancelled.

This next picture while blurry turned out pretty good, but I know the real reason behind it, and now so will you:

Jack was a little flustered at this point and ready to get back to the house, and he was wanting to rip off that nose that he is holding onto. It made for a cute picture.

Once we arrived home, we had burgers and fries, and got park bags packed for the next day.

We would like to one day stay in the cabins at Fort Wilderness and of course would also enjoy a stay at the Wilderness Lodge. We really enjoyed our day exploring.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Yay on not going to the parks and enjoying the pool - looks like you all had fun!

Looking forward to hearing if the FW trip was successful

Thanks, For me it was a hard decision as I'm all about being immersed in Disney, but this trip was for the boys, and I was fortunate to get my Disney fix in January which allowed me to really focus on my kids needs this trip.

The boys LOVED the pool, it was nice having our very own pool for the week.

I love the photopass picture - I love them all - I saw them on facebook.

I think you made a good choice to stay out of the parks that day. I'm glad you got Joey to enjoy the pool.

Can't wait to hear about the horses.

Thanks Amy, I'm so glad we decided to get a photopass, our pictures turned out pretty good.

It was a smart choice not doing a park that first day I think, and my DH thinks it will be necessary every trip, so we'll be planning a non park day in to start every trip

 

[Jrabbit910]

Hi Jess,
Loving the TR... our families have SO many similarities.. My son Jake (4) is on the spectrum... My son Joseph (2)seems to have a little behavioral issue that we are working thru... & my family is JT (all j's too), my name is Jessica LOL and I am a sahm too!

We are planning a trip in Oct w/ the kids & I like hearing what works w/ families. I love everything that I am reading. Your pictures are great & its wonderful you got to experience this all w/ your family!

Cant wait to read more!

 

[visitingapril09]

great start! We came just after you. Subbing to compare notes!

 

[All7OfUs]

I just love the Fort!! Sounds like you had a most excellent afternoon there- There's just so much to do around, it's easy to spend a day there!

That's so funny about your hubby suggesting you stay at the Lodge someday!! I so wish mine would say that. I hope you can someday!

 

[mousescrapper]

sounded like a fun night glad someone wanted to ride the ponies....Bekah wanted to but she was to big/old when we visited the campground in Nov. WL is a wonderful resort, huh? we enjoyed looking around there too....even though it has DVC villas...that is probably the one place we wouldn't stay not becuase there is anything wrong w/ it...but too similar to Wisconsin and the waterpark/resort we frequent when we go to the Dells...Kathy's family stayed there and I think they all enjoyed it

looking forward to hearing more

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Hi Jess,
Loving the TR... our families have SO many similarities.. My son Jake (4) is on the spectrum... My son Joseph (2)seems to have a little behavioral issue that we are working thru... & my family is JT (all j's too), my name is Jessica LOL and I am a sahm too!

We are planning a trip in Oct w/ the kids & I like hearing what works w/ families. I love everything that I am reading. Your pictures are great & its wonderful you got to experience this all w/ your family!

Cant wait to read more!

I can not believe the similarities, that is so crazy. Right down to names. Are you writing a PTR Jessica? I was also looking into an Oct trip, but my DH won't let me go alone with the kids due to some of the issues we had on this past trip. My 3 yo is Joseph, but we call him Joey. And Jake, so close to Jack, lol. I hope my TR will help you with planning your trip, but there are a bunch of moms that have taken several more trips than me and could help you too. One lesson I learned will be revealed on day 3 in the parks, but I have to wait until I share the first two days

great start! We came just after you. Subbing to compare notes!

Thanks and

I just love the Fort!! Sounds like you had a most excellent afternoon there- There's just so much to do around, it's easy to spend a day there!

That's so funny about your hubby suggesting you stay at the Lodge someday!! I so wish mine would say that. I hope you can someday!

Oh I really enjoyed the Fort too. My DH and I are very different in that he has never ever gone camping not even as a kid, so he needs the comfort of a bathroom/showers/etc. in the room. I would love to stay at the Fort and let me kids experience "camping out" with the campfire, fishing, etc that is offered there.

He said he would love to stay at WL, then I told him how much it cost So if we can get a good PIN he said maybe in 2013

sounded like a fun night glad someone wanted to ride the ponies....Bekah wanted to but she was to big/old when we visited the campground in Nov. WL is a wonderful resort, huh? we enjoyed looking around there too....even though it has DVC villas...that is probably the one place we wouldn't stay not becuase there is anything wrong w/ it...but too similar to Wisconsin and the waterpark/resort we frequent when we go to the Dells...Kathy's family stayed there and I think they all enjoyed it

looking forward to hearing more

That stinks Bekah was too big/old. They have big horse rides too, but they are like on the trails I think and it costs significantly more

I'll have to chat with Kathy a bit more, I don't remember her staying there

 

[DisMomAmy]

It was a smart choice not doing a park that first day I think, and my DH thinks it will be necessary every trip, so we'll be planning a non park day in to start every trip

I love how you can talk about "every trip"! Like your DH knows there will be a lot of them in your future.

Your trip to Wilderness Lodge looks like it was great! A fun and relaxing way to start the trip.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Sounds like you had a great time at FW! Yay on Jack riding the pony and am loving all the photos he took!

Also how cool that DH suggested you stay at WL one day!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

I love how you can talk about "every trip"! Like your DH knows there will be a lot of them in your future.

Your trip to Wilderness Lodge looks like it was great! A fun and relaxing way to start the trip.

My Dh is too smart to try and stop me from going to WDW

Sounds like you had a great time at FW! Yay on Jack riding the pony and am loving all the photos he took!

Also how cool that DH suggested you stay at WL one day!

Thanks, Jack holding the camera would become a theme for this trip, next time he'll have his own camera. There are some interesting ones of "nothing" I'll be sharing on our DHS day

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Yikes! I missed the start of your TR until now... going back to read!




..... and I'm back! Hello! Great decision to have your first day not at a park. Fort Wilderness is a place I've yet to get too... how great that your DH wants to stay there :

 

[Goofy442]

We haved stayed at Fort Wilderness Campground, and my kids love roasting marshmallow and watching the movie.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Yikes! I missed the start of your TR until now... going back to read!




..... and I'm back! Hello! Great decision to have your first day not at a park. Fort Wilderness is a place I've yet to get too... how great that your DH wants to stay there :

so glad you found your way over. thanks

We haved stayed at Fort Wilderness Campground, and my kids love roasting marshmallow and watching the movie.

It sounds like so much fun. My kids recently got to experience roasting marshmallows. They were both scared. Jack eventually warmed up to the idea but kept touching the logs with his marshmallow and then it burning. so we're going to need some practice

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Sunday evening I sat in front of my computer frantic because park hours for the week were changing, MK didn't even have hours displayed on the website and I knew the crowd levels were high. So I went back to touringplans and re planned our week which had us visiting DHS on our first park day...

We arrived (in two seperate vehicles), all met up and headed to bag check where the line wasn't too bad and then headed to guest services to get special buttons and Jack’s GAC. I have failed to mention in the beginning of this TR that everyone was celebrating a first visit except my dh and I. Also we had 4 March birthdays in our party (two of which were happening this week, this actual day being my birthday, and my sister and bil celebrating an anniversary).

The opening ceremony began as we were getting through bag check, well I’m assuming that is what it was, we didn’t see it, but it got very loud and Jack wanted his head phones already. I'm already thinking uh oh, as I wasn't planning on getting them out until much later.

So we made our way over to guest services and I asked for my birthday button, birthday button for Jack (remember this for later) and two first visit buttons for the boys. I wasn’t sure if I was in the right place for the GAC, so I asked and she said yes, I was prepared for questions and had a letter from Jacks pediatrician, but didn’t need anything. Jack had his head phones on and proceeded to lick the wall next to the window (gross I know, I was freaking out, and my husband had to grab him), the lady just handed over a GAC without asking me anything.

We also had left our double stroller at the rental house due to the fact that we had to pump air in the tires Sunday night. So we were heading into the park without a stroller… I debated getting a Disney one but my DH said it wasn't necessary and he would carry Joey (also remember this).

First stop TSM, it was a mad dash to the back of the park, and trying to keep a party of 10 together proved to be more challenging than we thought.

We got in the line that we saw only to find out ten minutes later that we were in the fast pass line (to get fast passes not use them, which I could've gone in the fp line with Jacks GAC, but wanting the 10 of us to start the morning together each day I didn't) , so we switched lines and waited about 30 minutes I think.

(it's amazing the things a 6 yo finds interesting)

The boys loved the que, and Jack kept busy by snapping pictures of everything, if he didn’t have the camera I think he would have been less happy. Joey was scared of the potato head, but we passed by quickly and he was fine.

They both loved the ride.

We were off to a great start, then mommy had to run to make the first bathroom break of the day.

I made it back and we were still waiting for the rest of our party to get off the ride. They split our party when we got to the stairs/ so my aunt, Mom, sister, and bil went with the wheelchair to an alternate route.

up next our first character meet....more tears and fears coming up...

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I love, love, love all of Jack's pictures! I gave Ariana my old Fuji camera, she loves taking pictures of her Disney stuffies and the TV

TSM is a fabulous way to get your park days started!!

Hmmmm, no stroller huh?

 

[KathyRN137]

Found you! Now, going back to read...


Kathy

 

[mousescrapper]

I'll have to chat with Kathy a bit more, I don't remember her staying there

yes it was DVC...but still same use of resort...oh and the horses (trail riding)she asks every time we go if we are doing that but I remind her we come to Disney as a family not to split up all the time....something we try not to do often. Someday we'll do it

the lady just handed over a GAC without asking me anything.

it's all good. maybe licking the wall helped JK

They both loved the ride.

YEAH!!!! that is a great start despite the 30 min wait....Nathan is very hopeful going in Jan the crowds will be smaller so we can standby on TSM for the first time so he can see Mr. Potato head