I DON'T Walk. A kids rule May 2015 TR *Completed 2/13*

[afwdwfan]

That night he had accidentally gotten James’ milk sippy cup instead of his water filled one which I didn’t think would be a big deal since he was about 6 weeks shy of his first birthday and when I would introduce milk anyway, I was wrong. So I am pretty sure that is what caused the vomiting the night before given the fact that any other signs of sickness weren’t there.

Oh boy... well, I'm glad it wasn't anything worse and it was just a one time thing.

we made our way to the Contemporary for our Chef Mickey’s breakfast. We decided on our last trip that we would make it a tradition to eat here on our departure day. We are big fans of this breakfast .

I love breakfast there. And like you, I kind of like going there for a late breakfast/early lunch type of meal.

Seriously though, I was so happy he had finally opened up to the characters even if it took 8 days

Hey... at least it was before you got home.

I also wanted to try for another family picture in front of the castle. We didn’t have matching shirts but at least I could get one with our ears.

Eh I'll take it ​

Not bad at all! And nobody looks like they want to kill the photographer.

 

[hokieinpa]

So glad Nicholas was ok! But I have a feeling that the whole name on the plane ticket thing isn't going to go so well...

I love ending the trip with Chef Mickey's! We liked our dinner there. Super fun character pictures! And that's great that James finally warmed up to meeting characters!

Great family picture!

 

[ashw100]

Oh boy... well, I'm glad it wasn't anything worse and it was just a one time thing.

Yeah, we didn't even connect the two until after he was one and started puking after giving him milk

I love breakfast there. And like you, I kind of like going there for a late breakfast/early lunch type of meal.

Yeah, it get's such a bad rap, but we enjoy it.

Hey... at least it was before you got home.

True

Not bad at all! And nobody looks like they want to kill the photographer.

I'll take what I can get

So glad Nicholas was ok! But I have a feeling that the whole name on the plane ticket thing isn't going to go so well...

You would be correct

I love ending the trip with Chef Mickey's! We liked our dinner there. Super fun character pictures! And that's great that James finally warmed up to meeting characters!

Yeah, about time.

Great family picture!

 

[ashw100]

It has come time for trip report to end.

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Day 8: Part 2
Now it's Time to Say Goodbye

When I last left off we had a FP for a chilly meet.

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With our FP we had no wait at all and we were seeing the famous ice queen very shortly. Connor was the only one to go to her and he was seriously star struck. He already knew that the characters are just actors, but in that moment I think he temporarily forgot that or he just really thought she was beautiful.

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I know I have heard some negative things about Elsa, like she was not very fun to meet, but I thought she did a great job and took a lot of time to talk to Connor. I was sad for James because aside from Star Wars characters, Elsa was the one meet he was excited about and was too scared to go up to either one of them . We had to wait a minute for Anna because she was finishing up with a family and Connor went up to the Snow White story book to look at it. Out of nowhere Anna sneaks up on his and asks him about the book; it was really cute.

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She brought us over to her area and feigned sadness that James was hiding from her. She asked is he was playing hide and seek. She said she wanted to play and she hid behind the curtain.

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James didn’t even crack a smile but Connor loved it. She was a really great Anna and I am happy I was able to a FP to this.

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After our meet, we saw the Fantasyland characters were out so we stopped for a bit to see what they were up to.

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The boys noticed the sword and the stone and needed to try and pull it out.

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We had time before our next FP and had yet to see Mickey’s Philharmagic so we got in line. The park was very crowded this day; it was the heaviest we saw the crowds all week so there weren’t many things to do without a wait.

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Nicholas had fallen asleep during Philharmagic so Joe went to get the stroller while I waited with the boys.

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I guess he took picture of the Tangled bathrooms while he was there

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Joe and Connor had a FP for SDMT while I had a FP for Winnie the Pooh, so we split up. Joe and Connor seemed to have fun, although you wouldn’t know it by the look on Connor’s face.

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He insists that he loves rollercoasters but this picture kills me everytime, he looks terrified. I love how the little kids in the picture are dying and the dads are having the time of their lives, favorite picture from the whole trip. Meanwhile, the boys and I were having fun on Winnie the Pooh. We had been put in line behind a family which consisted of a mom and son in the front of the pot and a dad in the back. We were next in line a supposed to have the next first row and another mom and son were supposed to be behind us. Well the mom took it upon herself to squeeze in next the dad from the group in front of us. His face was priceless, I wish I had a picture, but it looks kind of like this.

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I did get some bad pictures of us on the ride though.

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When we got off the ride, Joe and Connor were still not done. We had planned to go on the train next so a slowly wandered in that direction and texted Joe to meet up with us.

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Soon enough Joe and Connor caught up and we hopped on the train at the Storybook circus stop. We had no other plans, other than to use our final FP and one last ADR, so we took a leisurely ride around the park.

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Continued Below ​

 

[ashw100]

After a ride around the park we had our lunch ADR. It had only been 2 ½ hours since breakfast, but I had 2 more CS dining credits to use and this was the only time I could get reservations at BOG.

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We had pre-order our food, but I didn’t take pictures so I am not sure what we got. None of us were hungry, but we did enjoy the nice atmosphere and more important, the air conditioning.

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After lunch, we had one final FP to use at Peter Pan. When we got over there the FP line was out the door and super long. We were starting to run out of time and I did not want to risk the wait. Connor was very disappointed as he loves this ride so we made a decision to take one last ride on the peoplemover, which everyone loves and probably would have no wait. After a trek across the park we got to the TTA which did have a wait. We got in line anyway because I knew based on the previous Saturday’s line that it wouldn’t be long. At that point it probably would have been fine to wait for Peter Pan, but whatever. Everybody was very pleased with our final ride and I was even able to feed Nicholas and get him back to sleep.

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With our final ride done, it was sadly, time to make our way out of the park. I got one last shot of the castle.

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And apparently we saw Pluto again, and we said good bye for now.

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I am seriously getting sad even relieving having to leave, I hate it so much. We got our car, dropped our rented stroller off and headed toward the airport. We ran into a series of unfortunate events on the way to the airport. First, we stopped to get gas at the Hess on the way out of MK and as Joe was trying to fill up our debit card was not working. He went inside and it was being declined . This ended up making our gas stop much longer than we had wanted and we were already running behind schedule. Our debit card wouldn't work because they thought it was stolen. We didn't use it all week because we used magicbands for everything and that was linked to our credit card and I guess my bank thought the lack of transactions and then a purchase if Florida meant it was stolen. Good for them for being on the ball, but not what we needed in that moment. We spent most of the ride to the airport trying to settle things with our bank so we could buy stuff at the airport, but I did manage to get a picture of this sad sign.

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By the time we got to the airport we had a little more than an hour before boarding and I was starting to sweat. the rental car return line was crazy long and when we finally handed it off we were told there was a problem with our card and we needed to see someone about it . So we walk all the way over to the kiosk only to find that there in nothing working with our card, it was charged and we are free to go. Finally inside the airport, we ask about the infant in arms ticket and it's confirmed that it does need to say his name and the line was HUGE . I think it was about three switchbacks full of people. It took us 30 minutes to get through the line and then we hit the wall of people at security. I felt like nothing was in our favor today. We got in line 15 minutes to boarding and it took us exactly 15 minutes to get the the stand where they check your tickets and ID. This is where they tell us that we have pre-check and need to get in the right line . I really appreciate getting pre-check because it is a huge time saver, but why don't they tell you at the desk when they hand you your ticket? I don't look for it because I don't think about ever getting it and now it was screwing us over. So we go to the other line with NO ONE in it and make it through the scanners in record time. The thing I was really scared about was that boarding would be close to over by the time we got to the gate and flying Southwest we would be split apart. We finally made it to the gate and found that the flight was late boarding and they just started when we walked up . A last dusting of pixie dust before we left Orlando.

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It was definitely a stressful 2 hours, but we made it no harm no foul and made it home safely.

FIN ​

 

[ashw100]

Final Thoughts



If you asked me immediately after our vacation, all I had to say about it was that it was hard. Eight months later while I still feel it was the most stressful trip I have ever taken; I now have more perspective of it overall. That is in large part due to the fact that I made this TR. I was able to gain some clarity and realize that yes, it certainly was stressful, we really did have an amazing time. Connor really did a good job overall and he really was able to enjoy himself which is something I am hoping we can see in everyone in roughly four years when Nicholas is that age. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed of taking a baby to Disney or attempting to wrangle all three boys without the help of other adults and now I can not only say we did it, but we had a pretty fun time in the process.




I also thought staying at CBR was great. I stayed there in 2001 with my parents and brother and we loved it then, but I heard so many negative things about it I was unsure of staying here now. I have no complaints whatsoever. It is beautiful, the rooms were nice and newly renovated, we loved the pool, and had no issues with buses the few times we took them. It is a huge resort and I probably would have been unhappy if we didn’t have a car, but for us this was not an issue.




Going this time of year was great and is, for now, my favorite time of year to go. It was great that we were able to do Flower and Garden and SWW in the same week, although this is no longer an option. The weather was hotter than I would have thought reaching 90 many days, but it still beats the summer humidity. The crowd levels were pretty low which I was surprised by. With a good touring plan we never waited more than 15 minutes for anything and the only days that were super crowded were the SWW days which wasn't too bad because crowds were mostly concentrated in certain areas and the two Saturdays we were at MK. We were so pleased with this time of year that we are going back again this year only a week earlier.




I hope you have enjoyed looking back at my trip both the highs and the lows and thank you to everyone who read and commented.

See ya real soon ​

 

[Gracefulskinny]

She asked is he was playing hide and seek. She said she wanted to play and she hid behind the curtain.

That explains why Anna did that with Little miss. Hide and seek must be one of Anna's "things".

He insists that he loves rollercoasters but this picture kills me everytime, he looks terrified. I love how the little kids in the picture are dying and the dads are having the time of their lives, favorite picture from the whole trip.

Joe was trying to fill up our debit card was not working. He went inside and it was being declined .

uh oh.

We got in line 15 minutes to boarding and it took us exactly 15 minutes to get the the stand where they check your tickets and ID.

We finally made it to the gate and found that the flight was late boarding and they just started when we walked up . A last dusting of pixie dust before we left Orlando.

Thank goodness for miracles!

That is in large part due to the fact that I made this TR.

One of the many reasons I like to do TRs. It really helps to digest things and figure them out.

 

[rteetz]

I can't believe it's over! I'm glad you had a good time and it was great following along.

I have never stayed at CBR so it was nice seeing that.

I also have never done SWW and will now never get the chance to as they are done. I do hope to get to flower and garden at some point.

I am also following in your PTR and loving that.

 

[afwdwfan]

I know I have heard some negative things about Elsa, like she was not very fun to meet, but I thought she did a great job and took a lot of time to talk to Connor. I was sad for James because aside from Star Wars characters, Elsa was the one meet he was excited about and was too scared to go up to either one of them .

I think like any character meet it can be hit or miss. I've always felt Anna was the better meet until our last trip. But I think the fact that Elsa has the more stand-offish personality to begin with works against her, and while Anna has a more naturally fun personality and you're meeting them back to back it doesn't bode well for even a very good Elsa in comparison.

She was a really great Anna and I am happy I was able to a FP to this.

I'm glad you had a great meet with both of them.

We had time before our next FP and had yet to see Mickey’s Philharmagic so we got in line. The park was very crowded this day; it was the heaviest we saw the crowds all week so there weren’t many things to do without a wait.

I love Mickey's Philharmagic. And it is nice that it is one of the things you can actually do without a huge wait on a crowded day.

Well the mom took it upon herself to squeeze in next the dad from the group in front of us. His face was priceless, I wish I had a picture, but it looks kind of like this.

Oh boy... awkward... I can only imagine.

We had pre-order our food, but I didn’t take pictures so I am not sure what we got. None of us were hungry, but we did enjoy the nice atmosphere and more important, the air conditioning.

And the cupcakes. Don't forget the cupcakes.

I am seriously getting sad even relieving having to leave, I hate it so much. We got our car, dropped our rented stroller off and headed toward the airport. We ran into a series of unfortunate events on the way to the airport. First, we stopped to get gas at the Hess on the way out of MK and as Joe was trying to fill up our debit card was not working. He went inside and it was being declined . This ended up making our gas stop much longer than we had wanted and we were already running behind schedule. Our debit card wouldn't work because they thought it was stolen. We didn't use it all week because we used magicbands for everything and that was linked to our credit card and I guess my bank thought the lack of transactions and then a purchase if Florida meant it was stolen. Good for them for being on the ball, but not what we needed in that moment. We spent most of the ride to the airport trying to settle things with our bank so we could buy stuff at the airport, but I did manage to get a picture of this sad sign.

Oh boy. I guess it is a good thing they blocked it, in a way. You can't really recover lost money that is taken out by Debit card the same way you can with a credit card, so I guess I'd prefer they block it. But I know that wasn't what you wanted right then and there.

By the time we got to the airport we had a little more than an hour before boarding and I was starting to sweat. the rental car return line was crazy long and when we finally handed it off we were told there was a problem with our card and we needed to see someone about it . So we walk all the way over to the kiosk only to find that there in nothing working with our card, it was charged and we are free to go.

Frustrating. But glad it was all ok.

It was definitely a stressful 2 hours, but we made it no harm no foul and made it home safely.

It definitely does sound stressful. While I don't mind flying, this kind of stuff is why we typically prefer to drive to Disney World. It may take longer, but it feels a lot less stressful. I don't think I've ever flown where it hasn't been a stressful experience getting through everything.

I hope you have enjoyed looking back at my trip both the highs and the lows and thank you to everyone who read and commented.

Thank you! It was a great TR and I really liked your look back on things. Like you said, there were a lot of highs and lows, but in the end, I'm glad the good memories are able to carry through for you.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Thank you for posting this. I enjoyed reading. Sorry you had so many trials and tribulations. We had a day of sickness with our kids and an abolutely epic meltdown from DS2 on our last trip. I think it just comes with taking young kids. I give you credit for braving vacation with a nursing baby.

Oh, and we'll be there the same week in May this year that you will be. Hopefully our family vacation weather curse won't ruin your vacation too.

 

[Patrix]

Great report! I've been following along, but havent posted until now, sorry to see it come to an end. Although some times were stressful, you guys looked like you had a lot of fun! It's great to read about other parents experiences at wdw with their kids. Our favorite time to go is in May, our first trip with our kids will be this May, my kids will be 2 and 4.

 

[ashw100]

That explains why Anna did that with Little miss. Hide and seek must be one of Anna's "things".

Yeah, it must be her thing.

Thank goodness for miracles!

I know right, we were so lucky.

One of the many reasons I like to do TRs. It really helps to digest things and figure them out.

So true, I am so glad I did this.

I can't believe it's over! I'm glad you had a good time and it was great following along.

Thanks for reading

I have never stayed at CBR so it was nice seeing that.

Yeah, I had heard so much negative about it, but we loved it and want to go back for sure.

I also have never done SWW and will now never get the chance to as they are done. I do hope to get to flower and garden at some point.

I know I will miss SWW

I am also following in your PTR and loving that.

Thanks for following along over there.

 

[ashw100]

I think like any character meet it can be hit or miss. I've always felt Anna was the better meet until our last trip. But I think the fact that Elsa has the more stand-offish personality to begin with works against her, and while Anna has a more naturally fun personality and you're meeting them back to back it doesn't bode well for even a very good Elsa in comparison.

I agree, it's not really fair to compare because they are so different but she was way more fun than other princess meets we have done.

I love Mickey's Philharmagic. And it is nice that it is one of the things you can actually do without a huge wait on a crowded day.

Oh yeah this is a go to or us when everything else has huge waits.

Oh boy... awkward... I can only imagine.

For them yes, for us watching from the queue area, pretty funny

And the cupcakes. Don't forget the cupcakes.

That is actually my favorite part, I will miss my Master's cupcake in May and I'm sad about that.

Oh boy. I guess it is a good thing they blocked it, in a way. You can't really recover lost money that is taken out by Debit card the same way you can with a credit card, so I guess I'd prefer they block it. But I know that wasn't what you wanted right then and there.

At least I feel more secure now

Frustrating. But glad it was all ok.

Yeah me too I'm not sure why the banks were conspiring against me that day.

It definitely does sound stressful. While I don't mind flying, this kind of stuff is why we typically prefer to drive to Disney World. It may take longer, but it feels a lot less stressful. I don't think I've ever flown where it hasn't been a stressful experience getting through everything.

How long is your drive? I wouldn't mind driving but DH only gets 7-8 days off at a time and our drive is 20 hours and I just feel like it takes too much time away from the vacation. I have to pick the lesser of two evils

Thank you! It was a great TR and I really liked your look back on things. Like you said, there were a lot of highs and lows, but in the end, I'm glad the good memories are able to carry through for you.

Thanks for joining in and being so kind in your words

Thank you for posting this. I enjoyed reading. Sorry you had so many trials and tribulations. We had a day of sickness with our kids and an abolutely epic meltdown from DS2 on our last trip. I think it just comes with taking young kids. I give you credit for braving vacation with a nursing baby.

Oh, and we'll be there the same week in May this year that you will be. Hopefully our family vacation weather curse won't ruin your vacation too.

Oh no you have a weather curse??? Maybe my good luck will rub off on you and give you good weather If you see me around say hi and thanks for reading.

Great report! I've been following along, but havent posted until now, sorry to see it come to an end. Although some times were stressful, you guys looked like you had a lot of fun! It's great to read about other parents experiences at wdw with their kids. Our favorite time to go is in May, our first trip with our kids will be this May, my kids will be 2 and 4.

Thank you so much for reading along. That's so exciting it's your first trip with your kids, I hope you have less meltdowns but just as much fun as we did. Taking little kids is tough but you will get the chance to see their absolute wonder and amazement that the magic is real to them and that get's lost as they get older, so enjoy that.

 

[afwdwfan]

How long is your drive? I wouldn't mind driving but DH only gets 7-8 days off at a time and our drive is 20 hours and I just feel like it takes too much time away from the vacation. I have to pick the lesser of two evils

That's the bad part... the drive can be done in about 14 hours with minimal stops and no major traffic issues.

But I typically count on 16 hours of drive time including stops.

For us, it works well to leave in the evening and drive all night. If the kids will sleep, we don't have to stop much until morning and we can be at the resort by the middle of the day. In theory, you take that half day to just hang around the resort, take a nap and rest up. I never can quite sit that still once I'm there though. And another 4 to 6 hours of driving time would definitely make that a lot more difficult to do.

I did go on a trip one time with some friends where we left on a Friday after work at 6pm, drove all night and we were at Universal when the park opened Saturday morning. That was 11 years ago. We stayed in the park all day, and it ended with a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert next to where Rip Ride Rockit is now. It was a lot of fun, but I'm not that stupid anymore. I went over 40 hours straight without sleep on that one.

 

[NJlauren]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us!

I do agree TR help give you some prospective looking back, and help for future planning!

 

[Dugette]

Just read the last few posts. Glad you had a nice breakfast at Chef Mickey's (we have yet to get there!) and sounds like it was a nice meet with A&E and good last moments in the MK.

So stressful with all the airport stuff, though. I often wish we were reasonable driving distance because I just hate all of that. Glad you had the bit of pixie dust with your flight boarding late, though.

Thanks for sharing your trip! I have to admit, even when I met you, I was amazed and in awe of your ability to do Disney with three young kids. And I still am after reading this. You really had a lot of setbacks to deal with, but handled them well and made a ton of magical memories.

Looking forward to hearing all about your next trip!

 

[iheartbelle87]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report! Your boys are adorable, it semes like such a good family trip!

 

[princessemsmom]

Enjoyed reading your trip report! We go the same time every year - but the week after you. We also like that time of year. Off to read your PTR for this year!!

 

[hokieinpa]

Last day!

Elsa is the more "frosty" of the sisters when we met them and Anna always seems like so much fun! Sorry James missed out, especially since he was looking so forward to meeting them!

We're going to ride the train for the first time this trip. How does the stroller situation work? Fold it up?

A last ride on the People Mover sounds perfect!

I'm sorry about the airport/card struggles. Never fun but even more stressful when you're on a time crunch!

I agree that trips can feel stressful right after the fact. But then I start remembering the overall trip and the special moments and realize it was pretty amazing!

 

[ashw100]

That's the bad part... the drive can be done in about 14 hours with minimal stops and no major traffic issues.

But I typically count on 16 hours of drive time including stops.

For us, it works well to leave in the evening and drive all night. If the kids will sleep, we don't have to stop much until morning and we can be at the resort by the middle of the day. In theory, you take that half day to just hang around the resort, take a nap and rest up. I never can quite sit that still once I'm there though. And another 4 to 6 hours of driving time would definitely make that a lot more difficult to do.

I did go on a trip one time with some friends where we left on a Friday after work at 6pm, drove all night and we were at Universal when the park opened Saturday morning. That was 11 years ago. We stayed in the park all day, and it ended with a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert next to where Rip Ride Rockit is now. It was a lot of fun, but I'm not that stupid anymore. I went over 40 hours straight without sleep on that one.

Wow, I'm impressed that's crazy. With 20 hours straight driving not including stops and whatnot, I'm just not sure it worth it, but if we were even 5 hours closer I would consider it.

Thank you for sharing your trip with us!

I do agree TR help give you some prospective looking back, and help for future planning!

Yes, definitely help for future. Next time I want to do something crazy like not build in a rest day, I can look back at this trip .

Just read the last few posts. Glad you had a nice breakfast at Chef Mickey's (we have yet to get there!) and sounds like it was a nice meet with A&E and good last moments in the MK.

So stressful with all the airport stuff, though. I often wish we were reasonable driving distance because I just hate all of that. Glad you had the bit of pixie dust with your flight boarding late, though.

Thanks for sharing your trip! I have to admit, even when I met you, I was amazed and in awe of your ability to do Disney with three young kids. And I still am after reading this. You really had a lot of setbacks to deal with, but handled them well and made a ton of magical memories.

Looking forward to hearing all about your next trip!

Thank you, that is very nice to hear. Just in regular life people think 3 kids 5 and under is crazy, but it's my normal which gives me bloated ambitions about what I can do when it comes to things like Disney . Thanks for following along and I hope we can meet again some time.