Twirling Through the World: Magic, Memories, & Maladies-Sept. 2011 TR- NEW PTR 6/18!

[Fantasyland Mom]

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!​

We planned this trip for over a year (see PTR here). We fought for ADRs, prayed for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique appointments, lost sleep over menu changes, and fretted over our touring plans. We measured our kids as they grew to make sure they'd make height requirements for rides they just had to try. We shopped for clothes and designed our own.

We were prepared...
or so we thought.

I can't count how many times on this trip, for better or for worse, one of us said, "THAT will make for a good trip report!" And so, here I am, ready to spill every last detail of our eventful trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth.

I can promise you this--this TR promises to be action-packed. At times, I'd even call it downright shocking!

Those plans? Well, I guess they were made to be broken. You can break my plans, but you can't break that magical Disney spell!

Still with us?
AWESOME!

I guess it's time you met your cast of characters (and we're all quite the characters!).

This is me. I'm Jenn, a 28 year old SAHM and certified Disney Addict. I'm a planner by nature, but luckily for us on this trip, I'm also very flexible and calm...most of the time. My favorite ride is "it's a small world." Yes, you are allowed to roll your eyes and run away from this TR now, but at least I'm honest! My favorite park is Epcot, and I have a slight obsession with refilling my resort mug with white tea.

Next up is my DH, Brandon. He's a 31 year old Civil Designer specializing in Water Resources. I don't know what that means, but he does something with computers and dams and levees and his paycheck magically shows up in our bank account every two weeks. He funds our obsession--yes, OUR obsession. His favorite ride is RNR and his favorite park is a tie between Hollywood Studios and Epcot. His Disney obsession is these pineapple bars, and he'd probably kill me if he knew I was posting this ridiculous picture of him. Then again, lots of his pictures are pretty ridiculous. And pictures? He took OVER 7,000 PICTURES this trip, plus videos.

This is my DD Julia. She's 5 years old, and we took this trip during her fall break from kindergarten (such a big princess!). Her favorite ride is Splash Mountain and her favorite park is Magic Kingdom. Her Disney obsession is finding out what we're going to do next. all. the. time. She knew a trip was happening, but she didn't know when. Of course I have a video of the surprise coming up soon!

This is Brynn, our 3 year old DD. She loves to spin, whether she's standing in line or riding a multitude of dizzying rides. Her favorite rides are Peter Pan's Flight and "it's a small world," and she comes by that honestly. Her Disney obsession is Stacey from Must Do Disney. Seriously. She can (and does) recite the whole spiel...what, your toddler doesn't do that?! Zoom!

Next up is our baby, Sawyer. He was 14 months old on this trip, and he was less than two months old when the planning started. I can't say what his favorite park or ride was, but I do know he has a Mickey obsession. In fact, one of his first words was "Minn-uh," which is what he calls both Mickey and Minnie, and he could not contain his excitement at times on this trip! Also, he's cute.

Last is my mother-in-law. The kids call her Mamie, so that's what we'll call her here. We brought her along to help with kid crowd control, and she did spend a good amount of time pushing strollers with us. She kept changing her mind about her favorite ride, but I think she particularly liked Soarin'.

Other information you might like to know:
Our trip was from September 16-25, 2011. We stayed at Pop Century, with the exception of the first night...but more about that coming up!

To those of you joining us from my PTR, I'm happy to see you again! And to those of you who just stumbled in, I'm having Brynn do a little twirling dance now to express my happiness.
I promise to update often, since I want to make sure I can remember everything that happened.
Shout out that you're here, have a seat, and buckle up for the bumpiest ride in the wilderness!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Chapter Links

Friday, September 16, 2011
Getting There

Saturday, September 17, 2011
Part 1: Welcome Home! Checking into Pop Century.
Part 2: Tears. An allergy dining experience.
Part 3: Tiaras! Bibbidi Bobbidi BEAUTIFUL!
Part 4: Thrills. You're Gonna Get WEEEETTT!!
Part 5: Treats. Cinderella's Royal Table--The Food.
Part 5: Treats, Continued. Cinderella's Royal Table--The Princesses.
Part 6: Thrills, again. Except exiting is the biggest thrill.

Sunday, September 18, 2011
Part 1: We're VIP, thanks.
Part 2: Crystal Palace Breakfast
Part 3: A Morning of Firsts.
Part 4: Lunch. And the Rain Rain Rain came Down Down Down.
Part 5: A meal with friends. Chef Mickey's. The food.
Part 6: A meal with friends. Chef Mickey's. The characters!
Part 7: The Magic, The Memories, and US.


Monday, September 19, 2011
Part 1: Soarin', Swapping, and Sunshine Seasons
Part 2: Living with the Land, Pretty Much in Entirety
Part 3: Test Track, Baby! ZOOOOOOM!
Part 4: Princess Party!
Part 5: World Showcase
Part 6: Using our Imaaaaaagination!
Part 7: Eating with the fishies! Sleeping with the fishies?? End of Day.


Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Part 1: We are animals!
Part 2: Trekking through Animal Kingdom
Part 3: Snacks, Splashes, and Safari!
Part 4: FOTLK and Carnivores!
Part 5: RAWR! And Relief.
Part 6: A Very Scary Not So Scary Halloween Party

Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Part 1: Swimming head, swimming kids...
Part 2: Silhouettes and Candy! Main Street USA.
Part 3: Tomorrowland--All a little spacy.
Part 4: A Slight Change of Plans--An Evening at the Resort

Real Life Update: Brynn's "it's a small world" Birthday Party!


Thursday, September 22, 2011
Part 1: Hooray for Hollywood!
Part 2: Muppets, Meal Time, and Musicals
Part 3: Out of this world.
Part 4: Fantasmic! But not fantastic.

Friday, September 23, 2011
Part 1: Blizzard Beach--Sea sick.
Part 2: Blizzard Beach--Just the Two of Us


Saturday, September 24, 2011
Part 1: An MK Morning
Part 2: Going Downtown (Disney)

Sunday, September 25, 2011
See Ya Real Soon!

NEW PTR LINK for SEPT. 2012!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Joining in!!!! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[999ghostslover]

Here! Here! Here!
Can't wait for the pictures and the stories to commence. Go heavy on the Pop Century details, umkay?

 

[inkedupmomma]

dangit! NOT FIRST! Can't wait to hear this story! or maybe not??

 

[ronnmel]

Followed you from inkedupmomma's PTR and I'm already hooked! Both your daughters sound precious, and as my next trip might be with a young toddler I'm particularly interested in seeing how that goes.

 

[kokotg]

I'm definitely in! We were there same week, same resort, and our county had fall break last week, too....I wonder if we're neighbors

 

[Queenofallthings]

Woo Hoo you started...can't wait to hear all about it....sounds like it's going to be a great TR!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Joining in!!!! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Hey, lady! Glad you're here!!

Here! Here! Here!
Can't wait for the pictures and the stories to commence. Go heavy on the Pop Century details, umkay?

I can do that! We love Pop Century, though I think this was our last trip there. More on that later.

dangit! NOT FIRST! Can't wait to hear this story! or maybe not??

A lot of the story is wonderful and magical. Other parts not so much. No matter what, it's good entertainment!

Followed you from inkedupmomma's PTR and I'm already hooked! Both your daughters sound precious, and as my next trip might be with a young toddler I'm particularly interested in seeing how that goes.

HI! Welcome, and thanks! We've never had a problem traveling with toddlers--in fact, they caused NONE of the issues we had on this trip. I hope I can show you how fun it can be to travel with the tiny ones!

I'm definitely in! We were there same week, same resort, and our county had fall break last week, too....I wonder if we're neighbors

That would be awesome! If you PM me your area we can see. I'm guessing it's highly likely! I wonder if we ever crossed paths in real life or at the world.

Woo Hoo you started...can't wait to hear all about it....sounds like it's going to be a great TR!

You inspired me, what can I say! Yes, this will definitely be interesting, I assure you!

 

[Gretchasketch]

Looking forward to reading all about your trip! Your kids are adorable!

 

[pinkxray]

Joining in. I can't wait to hear all about your trip

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Looking forward to reading all about your trip! Your kids are adorable!

Thanks! I'm looking forward to telling all about it, and I'm glad you're here!

Joining in. I can't wait to hear all about your trip

Hey! How have you and your big girl princess been? Is it weird that I'm already looking forward to hearing all about your upcoming trip? Cause I am.

 

[HilJoy14]

Followed your link from inkedupmama's PTR, as it sounded interesting. Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Followed your link from inkedupmama's PTR, as it sounded interesting. Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

WELCOME! Happy you're reading along!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Time to get that pesky boring travel day out of the way! Hang with me!

The day had finally arrived! We managed to make it through an entire year of planning without letting the kids catch wind of when we were leaving. They knew it was September, but we wanted to save a little surprise for them, and it worked!

We had quietly packed the night before—unless you count the moment Brandon tripped over a toy xylophone that was lingering on our staircase and they both came crashing down. That was not so quiet. Brandon’s pinky toe turned a lovely shade of purple and swelled up nicely, and at that moment I knew our trip was going to be interesting.

This morning was a Friday. At 7:20, Julia bounded into our room. Normally that would be great…except that she was supposed to be at school before 7:45! I guess that late night packing had taken its toll on us, and since we were already in vacation mode, we forgot to set our alarm! Brandon took Julia to school as usual, and she suspected absolutely nothing. He swung through the drive-thru at McDonald’s on the way home to grab a sausage and cheese biscuit and a caramel mocha coffee for yours truly. As he pulled in the driveway, I managed to sluggishly make my way to the shower while the younger two kids still slept.

Fully caffeinated, I grabbed all our last-minute items: lovies, favorite blankies, the fan for white noise, my makeup, etc. Mamie called to say she would be late. Her estimated time came and went, and we called her. She was going to be even later. No big deal. I dressed and fed the little ones and sent Brandon to pack the van. When Mamie arrived, I held my breath as she pulled out her luggage. Would it fit?! I’d already had to ask her to pare down her amount of stuff, and I was anxious to see if her repacking actually lessened the load. Luckily (and barely), all our things fit.

Yes, that’s a heck of a lot of stuff! It includes a big suitcase housing clothes for the five of us, a blue smaller suitcase with costumes for MNSSHP and princess dresses, a blue tub full of the things we’d need for our overnight stop (for easy access), a big suitcase just for Mamie, a smaller suitcase for her overnight bag, a high chair, a fan, an umbrella stroller, a camera case, and a tub with just about anything we could possibly need at Disney (or so we thought). It was a ton of stuff, but I would like to point out that my packing skills fit stuff for five of us in not much more space than Mamie fit stuff for just one of her!

Julia had to stay at school until 11:00 to be present for the day, and we signed her out at 11:02. I work in her classroom on Fridays, so she’s used to seeing me show up. This time, though, I handed her an envelope that Mickey sent her! She opened it and read it out loud while I took a video…that I can’t find. UGH! Frustration! Brandon’s looking for it and I’ll put it here if it’s found. Anyway, the letter said (and you’ll just have to trust me on this one),

“Hi there, Pal! I’m happy to say, You’re going to Disney World TODAY!
Join Mom, Dad, Mamie, Sawyer and Brynn. You’re leaving RIGHT NOW! Let the memories begin!
Love, Mickey”

She was so, so…calm. She smiled. She giggled a little. I thought she wasn’t too excited, until I heard her yelling it to anyone who would listen as she be-bopped down the hall for one last potty break!

We were on our way! Woo-hoo! Brandon had to drop off something at work, so he let me out at Target so I could pick up a trip report journal and some new underwear for him. It was actually cold that day here in Georgia. For a moment, I wondered if I’d packed the wrong sort of clothes for Disney. Would it be cold like this there?? (Sneak peak answer: HECK NO!) Mamie bought us some gas, I passed out PB&J, we popped a Mickey DVD in the player, and we made our way through Atlanta.
After a while, it was time for a late lunch break at Chick-fil-a. YUM! For those of you who do not live near a Chick-fil-a, I just want to hug you and apologize for the missing yummy goodness in your life.
Brynn has a dairy allergy, so the cooks made her a plain chicken breast and cubed it. The rest of us had nuggets and sandwiches.
Sawyer showed his manners by putting his feet on the table.

And everyone went to play on the indoor playground. The girls were way up high in the slide maze, so no pics of them.

When we got back into the van, it was time to test out the elaborate and slightly insane entertainment system that Brandon had hooked up. Sawyer is still rear-facing in his car seat and can’t see the DVD screen without craning his neck, so Brandon decided to hook up a portable DVD player to our car DVD player where he could see it, and just to throw in a little spice, he’d put our movies on an old iPod. Wires were everywhere, but safely taped in place, and now it was time to see if it worked.

It worked!...but the Muppets movies he’d downloaded were in Spanish, and he’d only loaded the second halves of each one! FAIL! Winnie the Pooh played fine, though, so the kids enjoyed that tubby little cubby as we made our way south. Everything was calm and peaceful for several hours. Mamie and Julia played with stickers and pipe cleaners (or chenille sticks, as teachers are now forced to call them).

We made a quick dinner stop at a Wendy’s about an hour and a half from WDW, and we realized that we’d stopped here last year, as well.

We grabbed some fuel for the van and fuel for ourselves next door.

That’s how we roll.

After dinner, things in the van went downhill. And by things, I mean Sawyer’s emotional state. He was done with the van—we all were—and he had no problem expressing this at all. Loudly. The closer we got, the louder he got. We passed around electronics to keep all kids busy, and at one point I glanced back and giggled when I saw all three of my kids with Apple devices: old school iPod, iPod touch, iPad. We hurriedly pulled into the Comfort Inn and Suites on Irlo Bronson Parkway just a couple of miles from the Disney gates and Mamie, Sawyer, and I ran inside to grab a room. I’d researched online where a good (read: cheap and clean) place might be to stay for this first night, and here we were able to get a room with two double beds and a pull-out couch for $79, and that included tax and a continental breakfast for all of us. We made ourselves comfy, and everyone was asleep by 10pm.

Everyone, that is, except me. I stupidly left my pillow in the van, and this place only had tiny pillows that were completely overstuffed. My neck was killing me, the people above us were slamming the doors and each other, I think, and I was TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP!!!
We (they) woke up on our own at 7:10 and headed over to check out the continental breakfast. It was really, really tasty! Considering it was included with the room and how much it would cost to feed all of us if we paid out of pocket, this was a really great deal! There were eggs, bacon, cereal, danishes, muffins, juice, coffee, toast, bagels, yogurt, fresh fruit, and waffles you could make yourself. I found things Brynn could eat, and I said some not-so-nice things under my breath when Mamie got the cheese covered eggs and ate them in front of Brynn right after she’d had a meltdown about not being able to eat them. I took Brynn back to the room and let the rest filter in. Believe it or not, we ALL, yes ALL 6, had breakfast, baths, and checked out by 10am. We were on our way to our home away from home, and we’d be there in five minutes!
Will our room request be fulfilled? Will our rooms be ready? Will we EVER get to Magic Kingdom!?!
Stay tuned!

 

[lbuzz52]

great start! I've got kiddos close to the age of your oldest two. can't wait to hear more!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Subbing! I can't wait to hear more.

Very impressed at the amount of luggage that you were able to get in the car.

 

[inkedupmomma]

So here are our similarities so far, all apple devices for us (itouch,iphone,ipad!), fully but amazingly packed van, and starbucks double shot and frap!

You guys had much less of a drive than us, but i would not want to do it with a baby again!

looking forward to hearing about your first day in the park... if you made it that is!

 

[kokotg]

Great start!

what is up with the teeny tiny hotel pillows lately?! I don't know if it's a new trend or I've just gotten pickier about my pillows...I feel like I never used to encounter them, but now they're everywhere!

Does chick-fil-A do a plain, unseasoned chicken breast cut up, or is it the same as the chargrilled sandwich? We've tried ordering those without the bun, but my oldest doesn't like the seasoning on them.

ETA: and I was cracking up about the "chenille sticks." I've never heard that before!

 

[jedijill]

Super cute kids! Can't wait to read more as I leave next week for my first trip with kids (my niece and nephew 2 and 4!)

Jill in CO