dougsmom98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2002
- Messages
- 2,333
This was the first big trip we have taken as a family. It has been 10 years since I have been to WDW and even longer since my husband, John, has been. We have three small children, Douglas is four and the twins, Matthew and Mark, are 2 years old. We left Maine on the 27th and drove to Massachusetts where we met up with my teenage nephews and brother in law who were taking the trip with us. We got virtually no sleep the 27th because we were nervous and excited. I was up early on 28th and went to the grocery store to buy some snacks for the airport and the flight. When I got home, we finished getting ready and left at 10:30 to catch a 2 pm flight. We parked at an off-site lot and were shuttled to the airport. The driver helped us load our luggage and it was relatively easy. We had decided to take the kids' car seats on the plane with us. We thought that it would make them feel more comfortable on the flight and we needed them for the rental car when we arrived in Florida. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but carting three car seats through the airport was a pain in the neck and would have been impossible for us to do if we hadn't had the help of my nephews and my BIL. We were at the airport 2 hours early as had been suggested by most newspapers and web sites. Luckily we didn't have to wait very long in line for security at all. The kids flipped out though. They didn't want to get out of their strollers and walk through the metal detector. The twins were screaming and sobbing and I was totally stressing out. My DH and the four year old had already gon through and were gathering bags and stuff so I felt stranded with the twins screaming and our of control, but the security people were so nice and patient and that helped to keep me calm. We found seats and thought we would relax and let the kids play for a while before the flight. Two of the three kids were pretty good about sitting and chilling out, but Matthew wanted no part of hanging out by the chairs so I did laps with him back and forth through the halls of Bradley International. It did help the time go by and I was feeling pretty good until I heard that our flight was delayed by an hour. It could have been worse but I was still really bummed out and concerned about keeping the kids occupied for another hour. Luckily I had bought Subway sandwhiches for John and I and Lunchables for the kids so no one went hungry. Finally it was time to board the plane and we got on. It was a Delta Express flight and no one pre-boards the plane. What a pain it was to install three car seats and hold onto the three kids while people were waiting. Matthew freaked out and was screaming bloody murder the entire time. We finally got everything set and he was still screaming. He started kicking and arching his back so that we couldn't get him in the car seat. Of course everyone was staring, but there was nothing I could do. I decided not to push it with the car seat and I was able to calm him on my lap after about 10 minutes. That is where he stayed for the next 2 hours and 45 minutes for the flight. We arrived at MCO at about 6 pm. My mother and sister had driven over from Tampa to meet us for the trip. They hadn't seen the kids since this summer so it was a nice little reunion. We got our luggage and then found Dollar Rent a Car. We had used the ENTERTAIN code way back in the summer and got a mini van for less than $300 for the week. We had no problems and no hard sells for an up grade. We got a brand new mini van with only 16 miles on it. We left the airport and headed to Holiday Inn Nikki Bird on Rt. 192. We made a stupid mistake and got lost on the way there but eventually made it there. When we got there, the kids were getting cranky and the place was really busy. There was no place to park right out front so my husband dropped me off to check in and drove out back to find a place to park. My mother had been there earlier and was actually able to get into our room but I still needed to check in since I had the confimation numbers with the correct prices. I had a rate of $59 for a standard room for my mother, sister and nephews and $69 for a kidsuite for us. The woman at the desk was amazed that I had that price even with the Priority Club card. I had made the reservations in February so I guess it pays to do things early. Check in didn't take long and my husband was in the room with the kids already. Well, what a mess. No sooner did my husband drop me off to check in, when Mark threw up in the van. It was all over him and his car seat so the room and the van smelled like vomit. After some turmoil, we got everything cleaned up and somewhat aired out. We were tired and hungry and finally got the kids to bed and decided to get room service at the hotel. We both got burgers and fries for like $6 each. Since everyone on the trip lived in different places we never had the chance to sit and talk about what we planned to do. I had spent months on these boards and had a plan and so I called the other room to see my plans were ok. I had decided to do MGM on the first day because it was a Sunday and I knew Magic Kingdom would be mobbed. They were fine with that but didn't want to leave early. I basically told them it was the busiest week of the year and we were leaving early with or without them. After a little bit of a fight it was decided that my mother would join us and everyone else would meet us later. I stayed up until 11:30 studying the maps and laying out a plan of attack. It is hard to plan with MGM though because everything depends on show times. I knew what we wanted to do and I was tired, so I finally went to bed.
Stay tuned for our first day of magic.
Stay tuned for our first day of magic.
