Mom, Can You Quit Hanging on to Me and Just Hang on to Yourself? Update 11/2/16

[DopeyDonald]

Yes, weather was mostly good. Wish I'd known you were going, and we could have said hi in person.

Next year I plan to go in early March (avoiding the Easter crowds).

That would have been fun! It was funny because no one knew we were going because we surprised the girls. My friend didn't even tell her parents until we were on the plane. People we know saw our facebook posts etc. and they were like whaaaaaat? Where are you guys? lol

 

[DopeyDonald]

I can't believe I didn't see this in my notes until now, but I forgot a part of last night. When we got back from our Dole Whips at the Poly, DH was feeling better but needed to eat something, so he and I were able to get a reservation at Whispering Canyon. I obviously didn't eat dinner, though I managed to find room for some dessert (*sigh, no diet on this trip!). He normally gets the skillet, but didn't want that much food, so he ordered the meatloaf. He liked it OK, but not as much as the skillet and I'm not sure he'd order it again. It was nice to have a breather and have a quiet dinner, just the 2 of us. After we ate, we went exploring the lodge a little bit. I showed him some of the neat little hidden nooks that the kids and I have found over the years. While we were out on the front balcony that you can access from the 2nd floor, we heard the fireworks start. I knew that you could see them from the parking lot, so we ran down there and stood in the parking lot and watched the fireworks together I was a very nice evening. I'm not sure what Nana and the kids did while we were gone, but they didn't swim as you can see in the cake pics that Cassidy is still in her dress and her hair is all done. After fireworks is when we went back to the room for presents and cake.

OK, now fast forward to the next morning, when it was time for us to be....Flag Family!! We had done this before (actually a few times) and we love it. Because we stay longer than a week, we are usually able to ask and check in and get it. So much fun! The only thing my family doesn't like is how early we need to be in the lobby. I believe you need to be down there, ready to meet the Ranger at 8 am. OUCH, for most of us anyway. Cassidy especially, as you will see from pics, was NOT in the best mood this morning.

We ended up down in the lobby about 10 minutes to 8 with some time to kill. So pictures of course followed. My older 2 were in a silly mood this morning and kept wanting me to take pictures as they jumped out from behind one of the large lobby pillars.

Here is Annie in front of one of the lobby display cases, there is a lot of flash glare, but it's still a cute pic.

Next up are 2 serious ones that DH wanted me to take. Wyatt and he saved these shirts to wear for this morning. DH was (is according to him - once a Marine always a Marine) a Marine in Vietnam. He bought himself and Wyatt these t-shirts on some of his travels. The back says First in, Last out, in case you can't read it.

It is so crazy for me to be looking back at these pics. Wyatt has changed SO much in the past year and a half. He now is a good 3 inches taller than me, probably closer to 4! He still has a bit of a baby face in these pics also. *sigh. I miss my little Disney boy.

Now here is a pic of Cassidy - look what a good mood she was in. Or she could have gone back to sleep by this point, I'm not sure....

One last pic before it was time to head up to the roof. Cassidy is looking a little more awake, which makes me think this was the first pic we took...Oh well, it's staying here!

It was time to head up to the roof - Our ranger met us in the lobby, gave us our certificate and took us up the special elevators to the club level floor. Once up there, it was time to hit the stairs to the roof. We had done this before, so we knew what to expect, but let me tell you that view never gets old. The one inside and the one outside!

Up next - views from the roof!

 

[DopeyDonald]

This update is going to be pic heavy with not much to say. I just love the view from the roof of the WL. It is especially pretty in the morning. I wish it was something that more people would get a chance to see.

Looking over to the Villas side - I just love how it looks like the villas have just been dropped in the middle of a forest.

Looking over towards the contemporary - it looks close enough to touch!

The Grand Floridian

If you look closely you can see the Earful Tower.

Character in Flight Balloon from DTD.

One of my favorite views - the Magic Kingdom. I really like the ferry in this one.

As much as I like the MK view, I think I like this one better - the view out "back" of the WL towards Bay Lake. SO pretty.

Now you might notice that the pool in this pic is green. We were there when they were refurbishing the main pool. They had closed the pool about 2 weeks earlier. We asked why they hadn't drained the pool and the Ranger told us that they could not because without the weight of the water in the pool if they left it drained for any substantial amount of time that they ground would push up on the concrete of the pool and the water from the ground would start seeping out So that was interesting and I knew there had to be a reason because it certainly was an unsightly green that people from the higher floors MUST have been able to see.

Here is another pic where you can really see the pool.

Then while we were still up there, we were lucky enough to see the geyser erupt! FUN!

Finally it was time to get down to business and raise the flags. We were all able to help him raise a flag. I can't remember who helped with which flag, but I think my son helped with the American Flag and I know my husband helped with the Wilderness Lodge Flag. The Ranger was great - actually now that I look at pics, I see his is a regular cast member. I think the Ranger that day had called in sick and he was filling in. He was great though and was very patient with my kiddos and very knowledgeable. We really enjoyed meeting him.

Group Shot

After a few more pics, we headed inside where we were invited to have breakfast in the club level lounge. Sometimes we are invited to do this and sometimes not. I'm thinking it must depend on how full Club level is? It is always fun to get to do so. We chose our breakfast items and headed to find a table. We really enjoyed our breakfast. Those mini muffins are so good!

Wyatt posing with the bear outside the Old Faithful Club

Wyatt making himself at home up in club level

Of course we had to take some interior "up high" pics of the beautiful lobby also.

Here you can see across to the stairway that leads to the roof.

The Totem Pole in it's entirety.

The lobby seating area in all of it's glory! SO Beautiful!

A hidden gem of an area - love the little secret places in the lodge.

All right, so we had raised flags, eaten breakfast and filled a memory card with pictures, and it was still earlier in the day than we were used to! Productive morning!
So what were we up to this day? We were going to be splitting into 3 groups. Cassidy and I were going to ride the ponies at Fort Wilderness, Nana and Annie were going to Downtown Disney to shop and the boys were headed to Animal Kingdom to ride Everest a few more times.

 

[disneyguy4life]

What a great experience being on top of the lodge and seeing the flag go up. What an amazing view as well!!! I'll have to stay there just for that. Very cool.

 

[DopeyDonald]

What a great experience being on top of the lodge and seeing the flag go up. What an amazing view as well!!! I'll have to stay there just for that. Very cool.

It really is a great experience. They are more than happy to talk with you and point different things out from up on the roof. You actually have quite a bit of time up there - we have never felt rushed and would recommend it to everyone! You also get a keepsake commemorative certificate.

 

[MusicMicha]

Ah, I'm behind again lol. Our last trip was just crazy. We had a maid that either didn't like her job/ didn't like us. After a few late night trips to the main building trying to figure out why we had a muddy bathroom when it wasn't muddy when we went to the park, no towels etc. It just started getting worse. People pretending to be us to steal a reservation etc. weirdest trip ever! We finally ended up calling Disney because we were getting nowhere with the resort. We ended up with a comp and a new room. It was very clean but then my asthma flared up and we realized there was mold in the room. We were just done and ready for home at that point. I booked us at POFQ for May/June but we had to bump it to Dec. to put oldest in a remedial program. The school let us know last week they were wrong and she's reading above her grade level not under. So now she doesn't need the program. I'm happy she's fine and excelling, just sad because we would have been in wdw next weekend if the school hadn't convinced us she needed this program. We may just go down to the gulf for a beach week now.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I just read all of your report(s)! Thanks for continuing along!

I am totally inspired by your golden birthday celebration! My daughter is 8 now and I think celebrating 10 in Disney would be fantastic! The only problem, is my second born is a July birthday. Not sure we could handle Disney in July!!

 

[DopeyDonald]

Ah, I'm behind again lol. Our last trip was just crazy. We had a maid that either didn't like her job/ didn't like us. After a few late night trips to the main building trying to figure out why we had a muddy bathroom when it wasn't muddy when we went to the park, no towels etc. It just started getting worse. People pretending to be us to steal a reservation etc. weirdest trip ever! We finally ended up calling Disney because we were getting nowhere with the resort. We ended up with a comp and a new room. It was very clean but then my asthma flared up and we realized there was mold in the room. We were just done and ready for home at that point. I booked us at POFQ for May/June but we had to bump it to Dec. to put oldest in a remedial program. The school let us know last week they were wrong and she's reading above her grade level not under. So now she doesn't need the program. I'm happy she's fine and excelling, just sad because we would have been in wdw next weekend if the school hadn't convinced us she needed this program. We may just go down to the gulf for a beach week now.

Yikes - that sounds pretty crummy of housekeeping - I really hate when they don't do their job and especially when people say it will be taken care of! Sorry you had to push your trip back, but look at it this way - it would be almost over and you wouldn't have it to look forward to still! And I really love December - so pretty and cooler! lol

I just read all of your report(s)! Thanks for continuing along!

I am totally inspired by your golden birthday celebration! My daughter is 8 now and I think celebrating 10 in Disney would be fantastic! The only problem, is my second born is a July birthday. Not sure we could handle Disney in July!!

Glad you are here and reading! And I so feel your pain on the July birthday - now my son is the only one of my kiddos who hasn't spent his birthday in Disney World, but it will NOT happen - his birthday is July 16th. I don't think so! lol *IF* it ever did (and maybe for his Golden, as he will be 16) I could see him and I run down together for a weekend or something, but more than likely not! And actually, I have to stop and think for a minute- her Golden Birthday trip was NOT on her actual birthday - we didn't want to go then because it was Easter Week - YIKES - so we went a little early. THIS past April for her 11th, her and I and Cassidy went to Disney ON her actual birthday with my best friend and her girls. So I think you could still do a Golden Birthday Celebration- maybe surprise her with the trip on her bday, but then don't travel until late Aug or Sept?

 

[DopeyDonald]

When I left off, we had just split into 3 groups - my mom and Annie on their adventure, my DH and Wy to theirs and Cassidy and I had a date with some horses. Actually ponies - lol. She wasn't old enough to ride the big horses yet and the ponies fit the bill. I'm going to start with what Annie and my mom did, unfortunately I don't have pics for them. I did at some point, but am on a new computer now, so..... I have in my notes that those 2 went to DTD (as it was called then lol) and walked the entirety of it, shopping. My mom is an expert shopper and she is training Annie well. I loathe shopping of any kind (other than the World of Disney or gift shops a bit) so Annie was in heaven. After they finished shopping, they took a bus to the Beach Club, just so they could walk to Epcot for lunch. Once in Epcot they had lunch at Chefs De France, as is their tradition. They enjoyed it as usual.

DH and Wyatt headed to Animal Kingdom and all they ended up doing was seeing Festival of the Lion King with their first fastpasses, as Wyatt ended up getting a horrible headache. Sinus problems run in our family and Wyatt usually ends up with a headache at some point on our trips. They headed back to the room to get Wyatt a bed.

Ok, now the fun stuff - Cassidy and I! We took the bus over to Fort Wilderness from WL. (as you can see we had a personal motorcoach ride -)

It was a quick ride and we walked right over to where the ponies are kept. (or should I say RAN over to the ponies )

Cassidy was barely short enough to ride! It cracks me up as she is about 30 lbs UNDER the weight limit, but almost too tall. She was just so excited!!

Getting closer - had to take a pic in front of the gate!

Next we checked in, measured up, helmeted up and climbed up!

Finally after a little instruction, it was time to ride!!

We had a nice time with me leading her and the pony around the short trail and then she immediately wanted to go again. So we did - 2 more times. Each time on a different horse. I don't have any more pics because it was really hard to take a pic while I was leading the horse. (don't worry we remedied that later in the trip )

After a fun time at the Fort Wilderness Stables, we headed back to the Wilderness Lodge. We stopped at Roaring Fork when we got back to have a snack- we each had a cup of chili. Cassidy and I had one more thing to do together before meeting back up and we wanted to be hungry for it.

After our snack it was time to freshen up - we were headed to TEA! Just my baby girl and I!

 

[DopeyDonald]

Tea with my girls is one of my very favorite things at Disney World. We have gone for years now and we all look forward to it. For now I was taking them separately. So now it was Cassidy's turn, as Annie had her turn earlier in the trip. After we were all fancied up, we drove over to the Grand Floridian. We parked and headed in and were sat almost immediately. We ordered our usual - Cassidy had Mrs. Pott's Tea for Children and I had the Buckingham Palace. We both got "tea" (mine real and hers chocolate milk), tea sandwiches and desserts. I also got a scone and tart with mine. It was WONDERFUL as usual.

Cassidy with her spread - I think she got all peanut butter and jelly. But then she tried my cucumber and watercress and loved it! She ate all of mine and then I asked if I could pay a la carte for one more of those and she brought one out for no charge

Munching down on that second cucumber sandwich!

My baby girl and I - Love this time together!

Of course after tea, we had to shop just a little. I do enjoy the shops at the Grand Floridian. We bought some bath bombs and soap at Basin and just browsed in the rest. And of course there were pictures taken.

We were having so much fun together, but it was time to go. It was Nana's last night and we wanted to go to EPCOT together. We left the Grand Floridian and headed back to the van. Stopping for pictures of course...

And then it was back to the Lodge to meet up with the boys!

Edited to add that I cannot believe I forgot to finish my story from the 1900 Park Fare Dinner post. Remember how I told you to remember how my mom made a show of handing me the van keys (we had 2 sets) and she had one set she handed me because I usually had both on me. We when we got home that night, I could only find one set. I wasn't too alarmed because I usually have about 5 backpack pockets, a few pants pockets or a drawer they could be in. I didn't check too well that night and wasn't too worried. However, the next day, I still couldn't find them and I WAS worried as I know it is about $250 to replace a set of rental van keys. I did NOT want to do that.

I tore the van apart as well as all the places I mentioned above. On a hail Mary, last resort, I thought I would check at the Grand Floridian's lost and found, just in case, because that is where I KNEW we had them last. So when Cassidy walked in the door for tea, I asked at the front desk. It took awhile, but their "lost and found" person came out to speak to me. AND IN HER HAND WERE MY KEYS!!!!!!!!!! I cannot tell you how happy I was. Of course, I immediately started to cry and then she got all misty eyed seeing my reaction. I asked if it would be OK if I hugged her and she said sure, so I of course, gave her a great big hug! AWESOME!!! Apparently, I had left them on the table - Ooops. lol

 

[DopeyDonald]

When I last left off (soooooo many months ago - lol sorry about that. But I decided I HAVE to finish this) we were headed back to the Wilderness Lodge to regroup and then go on to EPCOT. We had a very fun night planned with a dinner we had never done. We were very much looking forward to this night.

When we got to Epcot everyone but Cassidy and I went on Spaceship Earth. She was not feeling like going on it and I had to take care of returning the Tail and T-shirt we had bought DH. We planned to meet in Club Cool and partake in the free refreshments. Unfortunately everyone in my family is familiar with Beverly so there were no surprises. We did get Cassidy to try some again, as she makes the best faces, or is it that she has the shortest memory and doesn't remember just how bad it is?! Also I see by looking at this pic that one of her birthday balloons made the trip to Epcot with us

After Club Cool we headed into the World Showcase. The World Showcase is one of our very favorite places and we love to spend so much time there. It just never gets old! Of course we headed in the direction of Mexico so we could go on my very favorite ride - Gran Fiesta Tour. *happy sigh I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Gran Fiesta Tour. It just makes me happy. Seriously if I could just start every day with a ride on this:

That would be great.

Then of course we must try on hats of various sizes in the Mexico Pavilion Marketplace and take pictures by the fountain.

Next up we walked through Norway and passed the China Pavilion on our way to our dinner.

We had some time to kill before our reservation so we headed to the American Pavilion to try and catch "The Great American Adventure" (is that the name of it? lol) We had a few mintutes to kill so we got some frozen lemonade to share. Wyatt was kind of quiet to I asked him how he was feeling and he admitted that he was feeling kind of rough. His headache was back. He gets these headaches especially in Florida - I think it's his sinuses. He made it through the show, but was getting progressively worse. He was determined to stick it out though.

We had more time to kill than we thought so we decided to head to Maelstrom - We knew at this point it would be closing and wanted one last ride. On the way to Norway we stopped to do one of our favorite things - face painting. We have SO many pics of the girls getting their faces painted. Cassidy goes into a zen-like trance while she is getting it done. Cracks me up.

Annie looks more like she is just spacing out - lol

Not my favorite design Cassidy has chosen, but cute all the same

I don't have a real close up of Annie's but she did pose for me - I think you can see it closer up in later pics.

Next stop Maelstrom - we are so sad that this closed. It was nice to have one last ride *sigh. After our trip with the trolls and some Viking horn pics:

it was time to head to dinner! We were going to Teppan Edo (which has since become a MUST DO) BUT....my boy was not going to make it. He was pale, weak and his headache was raging. We were not going to let him sit through dinner (he was begging to still go) Dh took one for the team and insisted that Wy and he go back to the room. I was so sad that my boy wasn't going to make it to dinner with us.

After they headed out, the girls and I along with Nana headed to Japan. It was that wonderful dusk time at Epcot in the World Showcase and it was gorgeous out. The crowds were minimal and it was one of my favorite memories.

Finally we made it to Japan. When we arrived in Japan, we still had a few minutes to kill so we decided to do Pick a Pearl and I got a silver one! It was the first time (in quite a few visits) that we had gotten one of those! The girls were so excited. The ladies at Pick a Pearl are so much fun and always so impressed when we know how to count down in Japanese - Sun, Knee, Itchy! lol

Next we finally checked in for our long awaited dinner. We loved it. DH and I have eaten at Benihana's before, but the kids have never been to a place like this. We got a great chef, he was a lot of fun.

This is also the most I have ever seen my kids eat at a restaurant! They ate every bite - so good.

We had a wonderful time at Teppan Edo and have been back many times since. (crazy to think that since this trip we have been back 5 times. - I need to catch up on my trip reporting!!!!

After dinner the park was closed and we had a wonderful time strolling through and empty World Showcase. It was so peaceful and pretty. Definitely a highlight of the trip. Here are some pics of an empty World Showcase.

Annie in front of her favorite restaurant:

It had been such a great night. It would only have been better if Wyatt and DH could have stayed with us. We made it back to the lodge where we headed to bed. Nana had to get up and leave in the morning and the rest of us had another fun day planned.

 

[BellaBaby]

Great to see you back!! Can't wait to see what happens next!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Welcome back, DopeyDonald!

 

[minnieprincess]

So glad you're back. Can't wait to read more.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

So, glad to have you back! I can't believe how empty it was!!! That is amazing.

 

[DopeyDonald]

Great to see you back!! Can't wait to see what happens next!

Welcome back, DopeyDonald!

So glad you're back. Can't wait to read more.

So, glad to have you back! I can't believe how empty it was!!! That is amazing.

Goodness - I had no idea anyone still would be reading this. I just really missed writing and reading trip reports. We've just been so busy - we had kind of a crazy Disney Year this year - Since Sept 14 we have been back in Feb/Mar 2015, Sept 2015, Jan 2016, April 2016 and Sept 2016. Wow. I think we have our Disney Obsession tamed a little bit and aren't planning to go back until Sept 2017, don't worry though, we aren't tired of it, we just need to give the bank account a break. The kids are getting older and it's getting really hard to deal with school work while we are there. This Sept we only missed 3 days so it was much better. We homeschool, but the kids have started doing an online program that follows the public school, so while our work is portable, it still has a deadline.

I hope to finish this Sept 2014 report VERY soon, and then the work on the other 2 I have going. I'm not sure if I will write about any of the other trips as I didn't take notes. Maybe I will do a "Year of Disney" report with mostly pics - I didn't take too many notes. The trips were memorable though...Jan 2016 was a grand gathering type trip with 11 of us, then in April it was myself, Annie, Cassiy & my best friend and her 2 girls followed up by 2 weeks in Sept at the cabins.

Thanks again for the warm welcome back I know I'm going to need the DISboards even more if I have to wait a whole year before we go back!!

 

[DopeyDonald]

I'm back already and going to try for another update tonight! I am motivated to get this done but I think I'm also loving the reminiscing - it's amazing how much the kids have grown in 2 years and it's been fun to look at these pics again!

So now it was Tuesday morning and we had 2 full days left. This was going to be our longest trip yet and we'd already done so much. It was time to say goodbye to Nana and she must have left early because I have no pics of this! lol My kids are NOT morning people and well, neither am I so it was a quiet send off for her. We knew we'd be seeing her in just a few days so it wasn't as hard to say good bye.

When the kids finally did wake up, we saw that my boy was still down. He was not feeling good again. Headache and some nausea. The longer we stay in Florida, the more his sinuses protest. We decided that he really needed some more rest, so we decided to split up. Wyatt and I took the first shift hanging out at the WL together. DH took the girls to Fort Wilderness so Cassidy could ride the ponies again. Unfortunately he forgot the camera this time and so I have no pics. I am glad I was able to get some the day I took her. I know that it did rain while they were gone too, because it started about 15 mins after they left and I figured they were on the boat - and they were - and it was one of those famous Florida downpours . Oh well, they ran off the boat and huddled under something until it was over and were no worse for the wear. It did happen again as they were waiting to board the boat back after the pony ride and they ended up taking a bus because the boat wasn't running.

While they were gone Wyatt and I did some laundry- love the free use of the machines for villa guests - and had some breakfast. He did walk down to Roaring Fork with me for Mickey Waffles, but that was a mistake as it really took a lot out of him. He went back to bed after we got back to the room and spoiler alert - never really got out of it again the rest of the day.

The pony riding crew got back from the Fort and I found out they had made some plans on the bus ride back - plans to go to Animal Kingdom with Daddy. Cassidy really wanted to ride Kali River Rapids one more time. This was her new favorite and we are kind of a sucker for her when she wants to do something Even the big kids seem to get excited when she gets so excited over something. There are perks to being the baby of the family I guess! Then ended up riding Kali and Dinosaur and Triceratop Spin a few times. they had wanted to to FOLK, but there were no fastpasses until later and DH didn't really know you didn't need fastpasses for it so they just skipped it. They were back to the room by around 4:30.

This is when the day really gets fun - I was sick of being cooped up and wasting precious Disney time that we ended up cramming a whole lot into the evening! We started by making dinner reservations for Annie and DH at Artist Point for 7:30. They have a tradition of having dinner somewhere nice each trip. They've been to CRT and Artist Point so far. They were going to try somewhere different but then things got crazy and they decided to stick with what they know will be good and close since we were kind of tied to Wyatt in the room.

Well it was still a few hours until their reservation and I was itching to get out of the room so.....the girls and I decided to make a quick hop over to EPCOT. Because we could! Cassidy wanted to try and ride Figment. My little thrill rider who will go on BTMRR and Kali 10 times in a row hates Figment. It's apparently the smell part and she just hates it. *sigh. BUT, she decided she wanted to try and face her smell fears this evening and ride it. We left the WL at 5:45 and had to be back by 7:30 for their dinner ressie. Could we do it?? Well, We were standing in Epcot by 6:05 and by 7:02 we had ridden Nemo, Living with the Land, and Figment!
Here are a few pictures of our whirlwind tour...

I really should run a contest to see how many pics I have posted where Cassidy is not wearing shoes in a park...

Nice big full leafy Mickey head!

The moment of truth...too late to turn back now!

What is your strategy Cassidy?? Also notice the perfect position we were in in front of the "smell lab" symbol!

So now it was 7:02 and we were walking out of Figment. Now I just had to get Annie back to the lodge to change and be ready for dinner by 7:30!! Did we do it? YEP! We were walking into our room to change at 7:18pm! I LOVE having a car on property!! Annie changed into her pretty dinner dress and her and Dh headed down to Artist Point.

I of course had to take some pics

Looking too grown up!

Cassidy and I left them there to enjoy their dinner. Cassidy and I did some wet Kali River Rapids laundry and played balloon baseball in the room. We also went on a little photo walk around the lodge.

As you can tell, it was another gorgeous evening in Florida. While we were doing all of this here is what my poor boy was doing:

He was looking a little better, not so pale but you can see the little Tylenol cup by the bed which means he still had his headache

When DH and Annie got back from dinner I had one more crazy idea up my sleeve. It was about 9pm and I felt like the night was still young. Plus I was feeling the end of trip feeling of "wait, I want to pack as much Disney in as I can before we go" feeling. So the girls and I decided to head to Downtown Disney (as it was still called ) Our plan was to shop a little, go to Goofy's and pick up Earl's right before it closed at 11 so we could bring Wyatt a sandwich and have it be fresh. He was feeling a little more like eating and he loves Earl's. Plus he was wide awake from dozing all day!

We hit WOD and exchanged the wallet my mom had bought me for the hipster bag. Then we headed to Goofy's and picked up some last few treats. Then the girls were asking about a ride on the carousel and I said sure I love the mini carousel at DTD at night. So pretty.

We also had to say good-bye to Pooh Bear

After visiting with Pooh, we were going to get our sandwiches to take back. On the way Cassidy decided she didn't want a sandwich - she wanted spaghetti and meatballs instead. I get so excited when she is excited about eating, so I swung into WPE with no 2nd thought about it and grabbed her an order to go. Then we headed to Earls' to get a sandwich for Wy and I. Annie decided she wanted one too even though she had eaten at Artist Point. She had ordered off the kids menu and their portions while good were small. Sandwiches and spaghetti in hand we headed for the van.

But then were delayed by the fountains! This was another memory I will always have. The girls playing and having the time of their lives in the water. They didn't have a care in the world. It was such a gorgeous warm evening. We were really trying to eek every last moment out of this trip. They played for a good 15 minutes before I decided we HAD to go so we could get Wyatt his sandwich.

I will leave you with some fountain pics:

We got back to the room and everyone ate - except DH that is, he was sound asleep

Next up is our last day Will Wyatt be feeling up to going out?

 

[DopeyDonald]

The last day of our trip was upon us. I was a bummer. It was rainy and we were tired and ready to go home but NOT ready to go home. I don't have tons of pics this day because once again, we did a lot of splitting up. We had a lot of last wants and needs to take care of and wanted to get them all in. The big kids and DH wanted to go to AK to ride Everest one more time (or 5 lol) and Cassidy wanted to go ride the ponies yet again. Our plan was to then meet at Epcot. They went off on their way to see the Yeti and I loaded Cassidy up in the stroller to head to the boat dock. We made it to the end of the dock before I realized my little buckaroo was sleeping! Yep, time to go home - lol It was only around 10 am and she had gotten up at about 8 so....you KNOW she was flat out worn out! I just hoped she wasn't getting what Wyatt was getting. So I turned around and headed back to the room. I needed to take care of some business before we left - I needed to book our BOUNCEBACK for the next September!! Yay!

For some reason this took FOREVER. I think it was because I really wanted a villa room but they don't book those a year out. They really weren't sure what to do with that. I confused them good! We finally decided the best course of action would be to book us in a deluxe room at the WL and then I could call in and change it in a few months to a villa studio. I only had to put the $200 down, but with the deluxe room it was over $11,000!! NO thanks! I was stressed just even having that ressie knowing I would change it!

Bounceback booked I decided to go put some gas in the van before the ride back to the airport the next day. I managed to transfer a sleeping Cassidy to the van and she didn't even wake up! She did end up waking up while I was putting the gas in and what did she spy near by? A Taco Bell!! That girl loves her tacos and that is one food that is super hard to find at Disney. So we made a pit stop at Taco Bell when I was done pumping gas. When we got back to the WL it was time to check in for our flights the next day on SW. I actually ended up doing in this in the parking lot as I was cutting it too close to make it back to the room. LOVE SW but it is stressfull doing the 24 hr check in thing! I got a good boarding group and checked that to do off my list.

At this point, we decided that Epcot wasn't going to happen as the other half was still at AK riding EE over and over along with Kali and Dinosaur - apparently it was a quiet day at AK. So Cassidy and I just decided to chill out in case she was getting sick. We found Tarzan on the TV and she was happy as a clam while I organized suitcases for the trip home the next day.

When the kids and Dh finally got back to the room we had conflicting opinions on what we should do for the evening. Annie really wanted a girls night with mom, but Cassidy was having none of that. (looking back at my notes I see that she really must have been not feeling great or something.) I ended up sending the big kids and Dh to MK. Cassidy was just kind of done I think. Cassidy and I planned on meeting up with them later for a final Wishes. She asked if we could go swimming and I said sure and it was the perfect thing to do.

We had a fun relaxing early evening at the pool and it is a great memory. I have to remember that her personality is really a home body type and go go go just does not agree with her. She needs more down time than the rest of us. After our swim we got cleaned up and ready to go to the MK to watch Wishes. Why we didn't leave WL until 8:30 I don't know, but in my notes I have down - left WL at 8:30 and made it to MK by 8:47! lol I was very proud of that fact I guess! And the crazy part is we drove! We parked at the TTC and got a good spot - they were letting people park close since it was so late. A monorail was waiting for us and we hopped on.

Looks like we had the car to ourselves! We booked it over to the area in front of the Plaza to meet up with the fam. They had a spot all staked out for Wishes and we were able to get right in with them. (I love September crowds!) Wishes was wonderful as always - my DH always gets teary . After Wishes was over we hung out for a few minutes until a table opened up in that seating area and we grabbed one. I left everyone and snaked my way through the exiting crowd over to Casey's. We LOVE Casey's and everyone wanted one last dog or corn dog! Enjoying our Casey's after Wishes -

That's DH's "sad we are leaving face" lol

Don't let this pic fool you, but Wyatt was starting to feel pretty rough again. We decided that Dh would take Wy and Cassidy back to the WL and Annie and I would try for some girl time. MK was closed but we had our sights set on DTD again. I love that place!

We left them at the entrance to MK - they were headed to the WL dock to take the boat back and Annie and I were going to take the Monorail to the TTC. Until we saw the line. I hardly ever take any form of transportation to MK except the boat from WL so I was totally unprepared for the line that was for the monorail. I'm not sure why we didn't take the ferry - for some reason it wasn't an option in my mind? Who knows. We did finally decide to walk to the Contemporary and catch the monorail to the TTC from there. I think maybe I was wanting to check out their selection of cupcakes? Sounds like me. So we booked it over to the Contemporary and went to the Contempo Café - they had the cupcake I was wanting! I'm thinking it was either a choc/strawberry one or a choc/cherry one. Cupcake in a to go container we went up to catch the monorail. And found a HUGE line here *sigh. So much for my idea. We finally got on a monorail and were on our way. Until we weren't. Ugh. The PACKED monorail decides to stop about 5 feet from the TTC station. And we sat. And it SMELLED. UGH. We only sat for about 10 mins but that was 10 mins too long. While we were sitting there we were watching our girls night at DTD slip away. We exited at the TTC and headed for the van. On the way we remembered that the Poly had Dole whip! We quick changed gears and walked to the Poly! Girls night save!

We made it to the Poly in plenty of time for Dole whip and a snack - Annie and I didn't eat at Casey's because we thought we'd be heading to DTD! Annie had a flat bread and I had the Pho noodles. And of course plenty of dole whip -we both got Dole Whip floats! Yum. We walked back over to the TTC to pick up the van and we were on our way back. We walked in the door to WL at 11pm, so it was a good call to not try and go to DTD. We wouldn't have had much time at all there.

My trip notes are a riot at this point. Apparently I put one last load in the wash at 11pm. I sad and nodded in front of my computer until Midnight and then went to switch it to the dryer. Then I rallied a little and ate my cupcake (can you say sugar rush between that and the dole whip!) I didn't last long though and I was seriously nodding off. I finally went to grab the clothes and then folded it and went to bed!

 

[DopeyDonald]

The dreaded day had come. Time to go home. I mean back to the place where we live when we can't be at Disney. *sigh. I was so tired from the late night before and had planned on sleeping in a bit. That didn't happen however as my mom called us at 7:47. Ugh - WHY mom??? She calls me about 10 times a day whether I'm on vacation or at home - "just to check in"

So I took the time to finish packing and organizing suitcases. Our flight wasn't until 2 so we had some time to relax. Wyatt went down and got some breakfasts for us to share - Mickey Waffles and Flatbreads - Yum! Then we decided we had time to do some swimming since we were up so early anyway- Thanks Nana! We had so much fun that morning at the pool - here are some pics! It breaks my heart looking at these though....we miss our beloved Hidden Springs Pool

Getting ready for a final swim

Cassidy is feeling a little timid about jumping in....

Let's try it this way...

Or that works too Cass

Wyatt didn't seem to have any trouble jumping in though!

Nor did Annie!

Sweet Boy - helping his sister get over her fear

One last pic of our happy place....that is no more

After the final swim it was time to get in gear. We got everyone dressed and cleaned up, suits stashed in a plastic bag, suitcases full to bursting. DH and I got them down to RAC with time to spare! And they wouldn't take them *sigh. Seems their computers were down or there was a problem with DH's and Wyatt's tickets or something. DH and Wyatt have the same first name and that can really screw us up sometimes. UGH this was NOT something I wanted to deal with. So we brought the suitcases to the van and loaded it up. We realized that DH and a kid would have to take ME or we wouldn't fit in the van with everyone being able to buckle. So we headed back to the room to gather kids and carry-ons.

After a stop in the lobby to say goodbye to our favorite bear:

It was time to go. We sent the boys on the ME bus and climbed in the van. We drove to MCO and went to the rental car return area. I had NO idea how I was going to get myself, 2 girls, a stroller and all of our bags to the SW counter. I was nervous. But then we pulled into the Dollar area and the most awesome gentlemen ever grabbed all our bags, threw them on a cart and walked us over! Yay! Thank you kind sir. Though he was tipped well, lol. We came to find out later that DH and Wy had gotten off ME and come over to the Dollar rental car return thinking we would need help - Ooops but that's what DH gets for not answering his phone!

We finally met up with them at the SW counter, checked our bags, printed our boarding passes and headed over to security. The line wasn't too bad and we were through pretty quickly. Before we knew it we were riding the blech o rail over to the gate:

When we got off the train, we grabbed some McDonalds and headed over to our gate. We didn't have too long to wait and pretty soon we were on board the airplane. We had a nice flight to Atlanta, had to walk halfway across the world to our connecting gate thru an Atlanta airport that seemed under construction or something just in time to board our last flight. We had no trouble boarding but then our plane sat on the runway FOREVER. UGH. After we finally took off it was an uneventful rest of the flight home.

Girls on the plane - happy that we made it on and up in the air!

Sad that our trip is over:

And an unintentional photobomb by Wyatt

And we're home. This trip report is done. 2 years later. I am so glad I finished this and will keep working on my others. Thanks for reading along. I will leave you with a final pic of us after landing in Minneapolis with all of our gear - This is why we fly SW!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I always enjoy reading about your trips. Thanks for finishing this report. Looking forward to continuing reading your other ones.

Do you call your husband and your son by the same name? That would be confusing.