17 Characters, 1 Family - Sept 2005 *UPDATE: 8/8 MGM w/ Pics*

[hipporina]

I confess, I am a procrastinator. I have been working on my scrapbook and thinking about writing my trip report since we got home last Sept. I didn't really get in a hurry until we decided to go back this Sept. My rule is that I must complete my scrapbook and report before I go back. And I am not a rule breaker. So with that in mind, enjoy the insanity of a week in WDW with my family.

Part 1: Meet the Family

Listen to the story of a man named Jed. Oh wait. There’s no one is this story with the name Jed, but you may begin to feel like you’re trapped in an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies after you meet my family. If lots of children, grumpy brothers-in-law, and a little family feuding scare you, then you might want to run far, far away. Otherwise, meet the family:

Me(25) – I am the planner. I love Disney, have practically memorized the Unofficial Guide, and pay more attention to Disney news than the local news. Really. It’s much more uplifting. I am also a full time, home schooling mom of the 4 adopted kiddos you will meet in a minute. If you haven’t already ran for cover.

DH(29) – The best husband in the world. For all of you who thought you were married to the best, you were wrong. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but he’s mine! A great guy all the way around and a wonderful daddy too! I adore this man!

Our kids – Luke (9), Kathryn (7), Daniel (5), Joshua (5) Our kids have 2 modes, good and wild! All 4 are ADHD. Yes, ALL 4. Those of you with ADHD kids are feeling my pain I’m sure. When their meds are working, the kids are great. When they’re not, look out. They are all friendly, polite, outgoing kids and have good attitudes about anything we suggest doing. They are great travelers, but getting them to bed at night is not fun at all!

Gaggy – my mom- It’s so hard to describe the ever loved “Gaggy”. She is so NOT your typical grandmother, largely because of my littlest sister Natalie, who was born when I was a high-school senior. Scary.

Pop-Pop – my dad – All the kids love Pop-Pop. Probably because he takes them on lawn mower rides and likes to blow up coke bottles with firecrackers!

Natalie (7) – My littlest sister. She’s still mad that I adopted a kid older than her.

Laura (27) – My older sister. Claims to hate Disney, but I think that’s really a lie. She’s just too sophisticated to admit it.

Sean (37) – Her DH, the cop. He can be a lot of fun to be around, but don’t make him mad. He carries a gun.

Ashley (6) – Their dd. A diva all the way around. Will throw a fit like you wouldn’t believe if she can’t wear what she wants, even if it is January and she has on flip-flops and a tank top.

Drew (2) – Their ds. Doesn’t like the Tiki birds. Trust me.

Carolyn (23) – My younger sister. As much as I hate to admit it, she is probably the easiest going of us all.

Stu (23) – her dh – More than makes up for her easy-going nature. Can be a blast, if he’s in the mood.

Lynzie (2) – their dd – Absolutely adorable. Of course Carolyn says God makes the bad kids cute so you don’t kill them. You put 2 and 2 together!

Kimi (almost 1) – their dd – Sweet, loveable, easy-going. At least for now.

That’s the crew. I hope you paid attention, there will be a quiz.

Amazingly enough, this trip wasn’t my idea. Laura, the “Disney-hater”, actually suggested the trip to celebrate her 10-year anniversary since they went there on their honeymoon. She wanted to do a vow renewal, but quickly changed her mind when she priced it. Well, once someone suggests Disney, I’m not about to drop the subject. We all decided to go, and I got the job of planning. Don’t you feel sorry for me?

I love to plan vacations. I really love to plan Disney vacations. I really hate when the people I am planning for refuse to sit down and take the time to commit to anything! After pleading with them to pick dates, look at restaurants (yeah free dining), give me input, etc I finally gave up and did it myself. If they didn’t like it tough, they had their chance. If you want the privilege to complain, then you get up at 6:00am 90 days out and start calling for CRT ADR’s. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut!

Nothing was going to stop this trip. Not lost jobs. Not Hurricanes. Not even Hurricane Katrina. We were going to go to Disney World!

 

[studentmom]

Can't wait to hear more. Your dad sounds like a lot of fun!

 

[Snoopygirl]

Can't wait to hear all the details of your trip!!

 

[noodles]

We did a large family trip like yours in 2003. Cant wait to hear how it went!

 

[pumba]

great group going. We are all anxious for more .....can you tell

 

[nja33]

I don't normally respond to TRs but I have to on this one. We're taking a trip in May with extended family and it's looking to be about 20+ people. Guess who gets to plan it all. Yup, me! Oh and I so agree about people not wanting to sit down and make decisions. We haven't had this problem YET but I just know we will. Can't wait to read more!

 

[hipporina]

Part 2: We don’t need reservations… or do we?

Our first day was truly a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Alexander had nothing on our family! To understand how this day could be such a disaster, you have to know a little bit about everything leading up to it.

First of all, our trip was just a few weeks after Katrina roared through. Shouldn’t really matter for a trip to Disney, except that being in Texas we have to drive straight across the Gulf Coast to get there. Remember all of the reports of fuel shortages, gas prices around $5.00, and interstate shutdowns? Yeah, me too. So much for our usual route, I-10 all the way to Florida. We had to find an alternative. Gaggy is doing a happy dance on the inside over this one.

Which leads to our second issue, Gaggy hates I-10. On her last WDW trip in 2003, they were just minutes behind a fatal accident on their way home, so she is a little spooked. She insists that she doesn’t want on I-10 at all. Not even 50 miles. Not even 20. So guess who gets to find an alternative route, that doesn’t go through a disaster zone, or anywhere near the nightmare highway. Yep, you guessed it, it’s all up to me.

So the third problem comes up. No one wants to make a decision ahead of time, but once we’re on the road everyone feels the need to voice their opinion. So who is the target of all the complaints? Yep, you guessed it, me!

So we finally get on the road, a good hour later than we intended and everything goes as planned, except much slower. For all of you who have traveled with children, think about all those potty stops, diaper change stops, food stops, stop just to stop stops, that you have. Now think about that with 9 kids.

Up to this point, I could deal with it all. I expected everything we got so far. What I didn’t expect was the nightmare that struck when we decided to stop for the night. Before we left, I tried to talk everyone into reservations for the night. I insisted that we might need them. I pleaded that we could get a better rate booking online before we left. I rationalized that we might not be able to find somewhere. No one listened.

Around midnight we reached Montgomery, AL (avoiding I-10 remember) and everyone is ready to stop for the night. For all of you Texans, you know that a 2-lane highway includes 2 nice big shoulders that can act as an extra lane is needed. If there isn’t a shoulder, it’s an FM not a HWY. Evidently, this only works in the Lone Star State. Leave Texas and 2-lane “highways” become tiny, narrow, twisty little things that aren’t much fun to drive on at night. Combine that with 9 whiney kids and a hotel is looking pretty good. Even if it does mean we don’t get to check in at WDW as early as I want.

Let the search commence. Usually it isn’t too much of a problem to find a room, but the hotels were all FULL of disaster relief workers for Katrina. The following hour is one that I would love to erase from my vacation memory banks. It starts with us going from hotel to hotel looking for a vacancy. Anywhere. Then it involves “Mommy, why are you and Gaggy yelling at each other and crying?” And it finally ends with everyone calmed down and headed further down the road looking for a hotel. Anywhere.

Sometime after 2:00am (I’m a little fuzzy at this point) we find a hotel with a vacancy. Somewhere. That bed was such a beautiful sight. And the best thing about the day, we knew the trip couldn’t get much worse!

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

gotta say..that's an "experience" to write home about..wait they're
all with you? [sorry]..but yo going back..so things must have turned
out all right..i'm rooting for u..with so many "hillibillies", its had to be
magical just making it to the front gate! & u deserved a special award..
hmmm, married with children, many times over?..we just "missed"
you guys,first week oct..dwatts..we always missed the good stuff..wonder
if others got yor family confused with those touring groups?..this is
going to to be an education..may i take some notes?

p.s...yor family dymanics sound familar...if ours ever went & actually
made it to disney..no doubter..be called the trip of many bumps & bruises.

you por soul..when are you releasing the video?

 

[hipporina]

Part 3: Mickey to the rescue

We hit the road at least an hour later than planned. Anyone surprised? At this point, Gaggy has decided to risk driving on I-10, the quickest route. I think she realized that our chances of dying in a car wreck were not near as high as the risk that we might all kill each other if we didn’t get there soon. Can’t you feel the love?

At this point, you may be thinking, “why are these people going together if they can’t stand each other?” The truth is that we are a really close family, we like each other, and we get along really well. It just doesn’t always feel that way in high stress situations, like 20 hour drives with 9 kids. It does get better. I promise.

I love the excitement of getting near to WDW. The billboards advertising the parks promise more than just the fun to come. They also promise freedom from the car! Yippee! And few things match the feeling you get when you drive through the big purple arch welcoming you to the happiest place on earth. Everything else melts away and you become 7 again, bouncing around in the car, giggling! At least I do. I bet even Laura does on the inside, but she wouldn’t admit that to save her life.

We head into All Star Movies to check in and it feels so good to be back. I am a value girl! I love the values! For one, I’m a huge penny-pincher and I don’t like to spend money. Really, I don’t. Also, I love the themes, especially for the kids. Nothing can beat a 3 story BuzzGear (That’s Drew-ish) and Woody when you are a little boy. Plus, we spent our last two trips here in 2000 and 2003, so it really does feel like home.

The rooms are great, nothing spectacular, but perfectly adequate. I always read people saying that the Value rooms are too crowded for a family of 4, but I totally disagree. In fact, we all 6 were staying in one room. [Before the room police show up, let me explain. We booked each of the children into a room where there was space; we just didn’t stay in the rooms we were booked into. I told Disney this when we made the ressies, and they didn’t care. Remember 17 people -3 of who are under 3 so don’t really count as people – in 4 rooms actually leaves us 2 spaces. Feel better now?] It required organization and a measure of orderliness, but we had no problems other than the evening arguments over who “GOT” to sleep on the floor. What is wrong with these kids?!?

We had a little bit of time to get settled before it was time to head over to the Contemporary for our first meal of the trip. One of the best things about this trip was the free dining. We were already planning on going on the trip before the promotion began, and we were so excited to get it. Normally, we eat all counter service and share the meals (penny-pincher remember?) so the world of table service meals was totally new to me. After spending hours on the DIS Restaurants board, I had finally made all of the ADR’s for the trip. This was one of the biggest sources of stress for me. I had made the ultimate decisions on where to eat because no one else wanted to, so if a meal went badly, I felt like it would be my fault. I worried the entire trip.

Anyway, our first meal was dinner at Chef Mickey’s. We thought it would be a great way to start the trip, and it was. Once we got there. On the way, we missed a sign and ended up in the MK parking lot and so we were pretty stressed out. I don’t remember exactly what all the conflict was about, but I do remember being in a very bad mood while we were waiting for our tables. I think there was a bit of arguing and a few tears, but we all managed to pretend we were having fun for the photo. Looking back I’m pretty sure I was suffering from I’ve-spent-the-last-3-months-planning-this-trip-and-no-one-cares-and-they-are-going-to-blame-everything-on-me-and-we-are-supposed-to-be-having-fun-but-it-sure-hasn’t-happened-yet-and-I-don’t-want-the-trip-ruined-and-I’m,-hungry-and-tired-and-way-stressed-out-itis, which is probably pretty common for the lone planner for a group of 17.

We fake fun pretty good don't we?

Finally, Mickey came to the rescue. The combination of food, fun, characters, and napkin twirling fixed everything. I finally decided the trip might turn out well after all. The food wasn’t spectacular, but the kids loved the atmosphere and we all had a good time. Except maybe Lynzie, who freaked out every time a character came too close to her. The meal was a success and everyone left with a smile on.

Part of the group took a spin on the monorail, while the rest of the group went back to the room to prepare for the next day. I totally did not expect the next day to be one of the best Disney days I’ve ever had.

 

[disneylizzy]

There ought to be an award for Dis-Planner-and-Mom-of-the-Year. I'd give it to you.

I have 3 boys and a girl (God bless her) and 2 of said boys are ADHD. They were older when we finally got to WDW, though. Subbing and I hope you had a wonderful trip, sounds great so far.

 

[__disneygirl]

Aww, what a great photo of you all at Chef Mickey's! Glad the trip got better for ya.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Love your report! I am glad to hear that you and yours liked the ASMu, we are going with our 2 nieces and picked that resort because of the themeing.

My older niece (10) is also ADHD....even with her meds she can be a bit of a handful...any tips for me??

 

[sorul82?]

Our dysfunctional group of 11 will be hitting the world in 18 days!

 

[kimdisneylover1263]

Wonderful report. More Please

Kim

 

[Eeyore Excitement]

=0 Oh my, you actually made it through the trip to tell a story? You must be awarded Mom and Relative of the Disney Trip with Seventeen People!!! You must have had fun... hopefully, anyway.
My mom would certainly find a conversation with you entertaining... she loves survival stories. So, hopefully you don't die... but, if you do, you will be awoken by the air of Disney magic!

 

[BlueBayou]

Can't wait to hear how the next day went!

 

[hipporina]

Thank you all for the encouraging words! I was afraid I was going to bore everyone to tears with my ramblings. I hope to have the next part up sometime today.

MickeyNicki - I can't think of any tips right off the top of my head, but don't worry too much about the trip. I was amazed at how well my kids did. They were really good throughout the trip and only gave us trouble in the room at night. With everything going on, it tends to wear-out even the super hyper.

 

[hipporina]

Part 4: Where is everyone?

My family went to Disney several times as a child. It is so much different going with your family as an adult. We learned that in 2000. That trip included the entire family also, but at that time, there were only 11 of us including my grandmother. DH and I knew it would probably be our only trip without children, so we were determined to see and do everything.

I approached that trip armed with my laminated copies of the Unofficial Guide’s touring plans, detailed schedules of what we would do when, and lots of sunscreen. I was a commando in the strictest sense of the word. Dh thought it was great, but no one else did. On the first day, we had all planned on going to the Magic Kingdom together. Dh and I were up, dressed, sun blocked, and ready to go when everyone else was leisurely getting dressed. By the time we made it to the busses we were left with just Carolyn and Stu and neither one of them was terribly happy to be there. We decided that from that point on, we would go to the parks on our schedule and forget the rest of them!

I remembered what I had learned, so on this trip Dh, the kids, and I were on our way to the Magic Kingdom alone with plans to meet the group for lunch. Amazingly, we were all up, dressed, and sun blocked on time. (I should add here that I am a bit of a sun block Nazi. My family doesn’t go outside without it. And just in case we forget, I carry sun block in my purse. Really.) We made it to the bus with everything we needed and arrived at the Magic Kingdom well before opening. If only we could make it through the gates with everything we left the room with. Joshua left his brand new sunglasses on the bus. The first bus ride, the first day… that is so Josh! Oh well, Mickey is waiting.

I love the opening ceremony at the MK. When the music starts I get chills and all of the sudden I morph back into the giggly 7 year old again. Even watching the video puts a big goofy grin on my face and makes me long to return to my happy place. And oh how I love rounding the corner and catching the first real look at the castle. Just thinking about it is making my heart flutter with excitement at returning again. Yep, I admit, I’m a bit sappy. Don’t hold it against me.

The morning could not have been better. The park was empty. Empty! There were no lines, no people around, nothing. You could stick out your arms and spin around in circles without touching anyone. I wouldn’t recommend that though. I vowed to always return in the off-season. Oh how I love home schooling!

According to tradition, we started the trip with a spin on Dumbo. I dread the day that my kids are too old to want to do that. Maybe they will always morph into 7 year olds with me when we go through the gate. A mommy can dream. Anyway, after flying with the elephants, Commando Kristy (that’s me) knew it would be wise to head to Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain before the crowds picked up. Commando Kristy also had never been in September. As we walked past Peter Pan, a really strange thing happened. I strayed from the plan. I can hear the gasps of fellow commandos all around. Yes, we stopped and rode Peter Pan. Twice in fact. When the CM asked if we wanted to stay on again for a third ride, we declined and returned to the plan.

Our next stop was Big Thunder. When we booked the trip in late spring, I immediately got out the tape measure and measured the kids. Don’t laugh, I know you do that too. Much to our disappointment, Joshua was coming up short at about 38½ inches. He has always been very small for his age, but we were hopeful that he would make it. Never one to miss an opportunity, I used it to convince him to eat better all summer with the hope that he would grow. Luckily, he hit a growing spurt and grew over two inches over the summer. He had reached the magical 40-inch mark.

This was when I realized how perfectly wonderful Sept in Disney is. We didn’t have to wait in any lines, even for these major attractions. We were so impressed when we got to stay on Splash for a second ride around. That just isn’t supposed to happen. Of course, it meant we all spent the rest of the morning singing “How do ya do?” I don’t remember all the specifics of the morning, but I do know we rode a lot and saw a lot before it was time to head to lunch. It was a perfect Magic Kingdom morning.

Coming up: Luke's got a girlfriend! or 2!

 

[hipporina]

Part 5: Luke’s got a girlfriend! Or 2!

No one appreciates us obsessive Disney planning fanatics. At least not until they get to enjoy the coveted meals at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I did my homework and was up at 6:00 am precisely 90 days before making the ADR’s we would need. This was no small sacrifice for me. I believe there is only one 6:00 I ever need to see and that is the one with the pm after it. I really feel that way about 7:00 and even 8:00, but unfortunately for me the world doesn’t agree. I can’t figure out why not.

Anyway. The time had come to finally eat in the castle with Cinderella and her friends. We all had our wish list of who would be there. Kathryn wanted Aurora. Kathryn is a bit obsessed (wonder where she gets that?) with Sleeping Beauty and desperately hoped that she would be there. Lynzie was counting on Cinderella. Ashley hoped for Snow White, and Natalie had her heart set on Mary Poppins. I bet you didn’t see that one coming.

As they introduced the princesses one by one, (how exactly did Mary Poppins go from SuperNanny to princess anyway?) the table lit up with smiles. Everyone was there! Of course the boys couldn’t care less. Especially Daniel. He just wanted his food. Which by the way, was pretty good. Except dessert. Dessert was heavenly!

The princesses (and the nanny) made their way around and spent some wonderful moments with each of the kids. Lynzie got to dance with Cinderella, Kathryn got to hug her idol, and Luke got kissed. First by Aurora then by Cinderella. The kids all giggled, and Luke acted like he was embarrassed, but we knew the truth. The entire day he would ask us if the kiss was still there, and tell everyone around him how he got kissed by a princess. He was smitten. Of course, that meant the rest of us just had to tease him about his royal girlfriends. It would have been wrong for us not to.

After a perfect lunch, we spent a little more time in the Magic Kingdom. The park was still not very crowded, so we did a lot more than I expected we would. We got to experience two new attractions, Philharmagic and Stitch’s Great Escape. We loved Philharmagic. It was so entertaining and original. Stitch was just the opposite. I was really surprised by how BAD it was. They were having some sort of problem, so we ended up spending a good bit of time in the hallway outside of the theater room, and that may have contributed to our negative feelings. It felt so strange to leave a Disney attraction feeling like I had totally wasted my time. Fortunately we got out of there just in time to catch the afternoon parade and Cinderellabration before heading back to the room for a little break.

In the next part, we head to MGM for Fantasmic and evening Extra Magic Hours!

 

[heaven2dc]

You are an awesome planner & Mom - you did a great job! Planning for a large group can be tough even with the closest of families - we had a meltdown on our one-and-only trip but it all came full circle by the last day.

Loving your report so far and your kids are adorable - but which one is you in your group pic?