Alice28
DIS Veteran<br><font color=blue>I'm Doombah Fricki
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2002
- Messages
- 9,583
We arrived at the Portland Howard Johnson around 7:30 PM (on 2/26). The boys wouldn't go to sleep until after 11:00!!!!!!!!! (they are 5 and 20 months in case you haven't read the pre-trip report). My husband and I were not happy with them. 4:30 and the alarm clock goes off. Oy. We are at the shuttle waiting area by 5:00 and in the terminal by 5:15. No line at the SWA check in desk. We get our bags checked, get our boarding passes and off we go through security. No problems there. We pass some time by eating some croissants & fruit, and some caffeine consumption by the adults. I am starting to feel a headache come on, so I pop some meds. We give the kids some benadryl to keep their ears clear, and hopefully to help them doze. We pre-board the plane- the flight is about 1/2 full. Our flight attendants are THE BEST- so warm and friendly. One of the flight attendants just spoils our kids rotten. We chose to sit in the way back and she was back there eating some fries- she immediately puts some in a cup with some ketchup and shares with our kids. It was so nice! The flight to Kansas City was very uneventful; Josh slept for awhile, but not Sam (5 year old). The flight from Kansas City to Orlando was jam-packed. We had a lady who was a PETA-type activist sit behind us and she was a hoot. She talked the whole flight and kept us entertained. She said she wasn't hired by PETA because they had a problem with her former career- an x-rated movie actress. (!!!) So she started her own foundation and was headed to the Coronado Springs to get an award of some sort. She was very interesting, let me tell you. We land in Orlando and take our first monorail ride. Mauro is waiting for us in the baggage claim area and we wait for our bags. He helps us get them and then he runs and gets his car. We load the car up and we stop at Kash and Karry for milk, water, go-gurt and fruit. I run in by myself to do that- easier than dragging the kids thru the store. I am out in 10 minutes; meanwhile the kids had spilled cheetoes all over his beautiful car. Bob (my DH) cleaned it out while I was in the store. Finally......we enter WDW property! YES!!! We see Epcot (As Sam called it...Efcot...and then cracked himself up. Yes we let him watch that episode of the Simpsons) and the monorails and getting more and more excited as we see the signs for the Contemporary. We unload and I'm really excited and yet semi-miserable. It's 4:30 and I have had half a croissant, a banana and some wheat thins...I have a migraine coming on and I just want to have a shower and put on some shorts. Check-in was slow...a huge line and then a dorky cast member who didn't seem to care that our faxed requests didn't come through, told my husband the wrong info on how to get our luggage to our room, and was just "Whatever" about the whole thing. While Bob was checking in, I bought our refillable mugs and some chicken strips for me and the boys to share. We eat and Sam nags me about the arcade, and Bob comes back with our room keys. He said we are all in row- us, my parents, and his Mom, with our room and my parents room connecting. We head out to room 7232 and it's a great room- a view of Bay Lake and everything. It's kind of a hike from the Food and Fun center, to get refills on soda, but oh well. We're young and need the exercise. We call for our bags and we see that a lamp is broken. We call on that and for a crib Our fridge arrives within 45 minutes, as does the maintainance man for the lamp. The crib arrives and it set up while we are at dinner. I take a shower and a migraine pill while Bob goes and buys our park passes for us and my parents. We get a slight military discount- it's $312.75 for a 7 day park hopper plus.
At 7:00 we hear some booming and Sam goes, "Oh look!! Fireworks!!!" We could see them from our room!!! Awesome! We watch the show and then head down to Chef Mickey's for our dinner. What a nightmare- I still wasn't feeling 100%, but I just don't recommend this restaurant if you have had a long flight from the West coast. First you wait to be called. Then you get your picture taken. Then you wait again. Then you are seated, and it is LOUD. Goofy and Donald are greeting in the foyer area, and Chip, Dale, Minnie and Mickey stroll around. We immediately get our drinks from our efficient waiter, and then I load up the kids plates with fruit, mac and cheese, chicken strips and some pizza. They hardly touch it, they are just staring and waiting for the characters to come. I get some fish, veggies, salad, bread and a couple of Mickey ravioli (cute)..and some parmesan potatoes- those are good. Our empty plates are slow to be taken away, but no big deal. None of us were ravenous, just tired. Mickey, Minnie and Dale all posed for pictures and moved on. (I vetoed the autograph books because I felt my kids were too young to really get into it anyway, and I didn't want to HAVE to stop for every character we saw). Chip spent lots of time with the boys and played with them a little bit, which was really nice. We passed on the picture (it was AWFUL) and we went to go make our cupcakes. What???? No cupcakes??? I had been reading about this for almost a year and no cupcakes. So, I make the boys ice cream sundaes and I get a piece of cheesecake for myself. Bob passes on dessert. We pay the tab (72 with tip) and we're out of there. We go to the gift shop and I buy Josh a Mickey and Sam a Donald ($24) and we look around a little bit. We decide to take the monorail around to all the resorts- not get off, but just have a little ride. Big mistake. The kids are way too tired and cranky for this- they want to get off every time the doors open. We get back to the CR and it's off to bed for me, Sam and Josh. The boys and I crash, and Bob wants to explore. My migraine is gone (I love Maxalt!!) and I set the wake up call for 7:30. Bob gets sushi at the California Grill and meets my parents in the lobby at 11:00.
All and all, a pretty good day for flying coast to coast with two small children. No major catastrophes. I think we would have liked Chef Mickey's more if we had scheduled it for an evening when we were well rested and in the mood for chaos.
At 7:00 we hear some booming and Sam goes, "Oh look!! Fireworks!!!" We could see them from our room!!! Awesome! We watch the show and then head down to Chef Mickey's for our dinner. What a nightmare- I still wasn't feeling 100%, but I just don't recommend this restaurant if you have had a long flight from the West coast. First you wait to be called. Then you get your picture taken. Then you wait again. Then you are seated, and it is LOUD. Goofy and Donald are greeting in the foyer area, and Chip, Dale, Minnie and Mickey stroll around. We immediately get our drinks from our efficient waiter, and then I load up the kids plates with fruit, mac and cheese, chicken strips and some pizza. They hardly touch it, they are just staring and waiting for the characters to come. I get some fish, veggies, salad, bread and a couple of Mickey ravioli (cute)..and some parmesan potatoes- those are good. Our empty plates are slow to be taken away, but no big deal. None of us were ravenous, just tired. Mickey, Minnie and Dale all posed for pictures and moved on. (I vetoed the autograph books because I felt my kids were too young to really get into it anyway, and I didn't want to HAVE to stop for every character we saw). Chip spent lots of time with the boys and played with them a little bit, which was really nice. We passed on the picture (it was AWFUL) and we went to go make our cupcakes. What???? No cupcakes??? I had been reading about this for almost a year and no cupcakes. So, I make the boys ice cream sundaes and I get a piece of cheesecake for myself. Bob passes on dessert. We pay the tab (72 with tip) and we're out of there. We go to the gift shop and I buy Josh a Mickey and Sam a Donald ($24) and we look around a little bit. We decide to take the monorail around to all the resorts- not get off, but just have a little ride. Big mistake. The kids are way too tired and cranky for this- they want to get off every time the doors open. We get back to the CR and it's off to bed for me, Sam and Josh. The boys and I crash, and Bob wants to explore. My migraine is gone (I love Maxalt!!) and I set the wake up call for 7:30. Bob gets sushi at the California Grill and meets my parents in the lobby at 11:00.
All and all, a pretty good day for flying coast to coast with two small children. No major catastrophes. I think we would have liked Chef Mickey's more if we had scheduled it for an evening when we were well rested and in the mood for chaos.
