23 Days...Brilliant or Idiodic?

[Who'syourMickey]

You are so lucky. I was just telling my dh, who can only take 5 days off at a time, that other companies (he works for his small family business) get an extra day of vacation for every year they work, and as they spend more years with the company, they could have a month of vacation time.

Man, I wish his company will add those kind of benefits someday and make it retroactive for the long timers like dh.

You know that panicked feeling of not getting to see it all...you won't have that ever this trip!!! Have a fun trip!

 

[tmfranlk]

I hope you all are having a great time, Deb!!! Can't wait for the first update.

 

[Glynis]

I can only hope that the lack of update means that you are all having a wonderful time!!! I can't wait to read more of your trip experiences!

 

[mommykds]

Hey Deb! Hope you are having fun with Mickey!!!

 

[bethbuchall]

Definitely BRILLIANT!!!! I can't wait to hear all about your trip! I would love, love, love to have 23 days on vacation, especially in Disney World!

Have a great trip!

 

[MissMichelle]

Hope you are having a BLAST and can't wait to read your TR when you get home!

 

[yellowfish78]

I hope you guys are having a blast and can't wait to read all about it!

 

[cheapi86]

have a great trip! are you all going to do some things off-site?

 

[babytrees]

I see Deb hasn't done any live updates!!! Shame on you Deb

We had a blast with the Brooks clan on Sunday night. We met at Whispering Canyon Cafe for dinner. Deb tried to get Chris into trouble and ended up getting my husband into it to. I haven't laughed so much in a LONG time.

We then went swimming in the Wilderness Lodge pools and the boys were trying to convince mom to go to whereever was having EMH. What a great family and what a trip they are having!!

 

[Blueeyes101817]

The last time i talked to deb ( a couple days ago) she said she was typing updates every night, but hasnt had internet yet...she said they are all having a great time!

 

[Disfan3]

HAVE A MAGICAL TIME and do not worry about all those meanies passing judgements on those with an unseen disability. Its not worth your worry or time...

your children's comfort level is the most important thing!!

 

[disney0704]

23 days sounds amazing! =] i just stayed at POR.
i cant wait to hear about your trip!

 

[my3princes]

Day One

It was a near sleepless night in our home. We all went to bed at 9 PM anticipating our 5 AM wake up. DS 11 and DS 9 had both requested benedryl to help them sleep, good call on their part since they were the only 2 that slept. We all fell asleep pretty quickly, but I started waking up at 11:15 PM. Thankfully I was able to fall asleep again and again, dh was a different story. At 1 AM he got up saying that “I’m too excited to sleep”. DS 4 who decided to sleep on a cushion in our room must have heard him because about 15 minutes later he was asking me when it would be light out. I did what any good Mom would do and sent him out to keep Dad company in the Living Room. Lol. About ½ hour later he returned deciding that he was tired again. By that time I’d been awakened enough times that I was up for the day. Needless to say I had plenty of time to get all those last minute things done and then some. While straightening up I found the DVD our 2000 trip. It was fun watching the reactions of our then 2 ½ and 4 year olds. This would definitely come into play later in our trip.

The kids were out of bed at 5 AM completely on their own which is completely unheard of. They were dressed and ready to leave in no time. We were supposed to pick up my Mom and 6:50 AM as she was taking us to the airport. I was pretty sure she didn’t need us showing up at 5:30 and I still had one surprise to come. I held the kids off with the DVD and at 6 AM Mickey called our house. He told the kids that we were going on a big trip today and that he would “See us Real Soon”. The perfect way to start the trip. As soon as the phone was hung up we were out the door. Needless to say my Mom was surprise to see us before 6:30 AM as we are usually punctual, but never early. DS 4 went in and woke up Papa because he needed to see of off after all. We waited for my DM friend to show up as she would be riding with us to keep my DM company on the ride back. The trip to the airport was easy and uneventful and we arrived at the airport a few minutes early. Security was as easy as it could be with 5 people and all their “must have carry on items”. Our plane arrived on time. As it pulled up to the gate we noticed that it was not one of those Pretty Blue Southwest Jets, but one of the much older Gold ones. I also noticed that the nose of the plane had a nice patch on it. This made me a bit nervous, but we were going to Disney so it didn’t matter what the plane looked like. Since we had Hunter in his wheelchair we were able to preboard. We selected the last two rows since we knew that we would be slower disembarking. The flight ended up being pretty turbulent. At time I wondered if the wings would stay attached to our older plane. The kids behaved perfectly and did not disturb anyone on the plane. The was a man that was sitting 6 or 7 rows in front of us that would not stay in his seat. The airline personelle asked him numerous times to sit as he was making it hard for them to deliver our snacks. I suspect that he may have had some sort of disorder as he was creeping a lot of people out. Everyone around us commented that he seemed very weird and his actions was making them nervous. I guess it helped some that the fasten seatbelt sign was on for 2/3 of the flight due to turbulence, but I digress.

We landed in Orlando on time and made our way to the Magical Express. Chris and the kids were riding the ME and I would be picking up the rental car and meeting them at the resort. I walked them to ME and checked them in and put them in the line before heading to the Alamo counter. I waited in line for around ½ hour at the Alamo counter only to find out that *********** rentals check in outside. Off to another line though a much shorter one. Finally I get our Mid size SUV and head off to find POR. Orlando is well equipped for tourists so I was able to make a quick trip to POR just following signs. We checked in and made our way to our room in Alligator Bayou. It was a nice room though we really spent no awake time there. Once we dropped off our carry-ons we were off to Downtown Disney to activate our Premium Annual Passes. We had planned to make an evening of Typhoon Lagoon, but the weather had different ideas. As we were getting into the rental car to head to DD the skies opened up and that started an evening of rain and thunder showers. We ended up having a bite to eat at the Earl of Sandwich then we head to Disney Quest to check it out.

Here we are waiting for a break in the rain after dinner.

It was our first time at Disney Quest so my computer game junkies were in heaven. We were able to do quite a few things and had delicious desserts at the Cheesecake Factory. We learned NOT to order 5 desserts for our family as 2 would have been enough. We were back at the hotel and in bed by 10 PM. We were all exhausted.

In the goofy headwear from DisneyQuest

 

[my3princes]

Day 2

I awoke at 5 AM and showered quickly. We were moving to our first DVC resort Saratoga Springs and I didn’t want to waste the day waiting for a room and making the move. As I was about to leave, DS 4 woke up so I dressed him and we left together. We arrived at Saratoga at 6 AM to an empty check-in area with one very nice CM that was just starting her shift. She was happy to work with me to get us checked in. I had requested the Springs area, but there was no rooms available. She showed me all the rooms that were available for immediate check in and rather than wait for our requested area I opted for a room in the Paddock. Turns out the Paddock is very convenient for us, since we have a rental car. The balcony was lovely and it was nice and quiet. We were very happy with the choice.

Colby and I found the room, put our stroller in it then headed back to POR. I called DH on the way and woke him and the older boys up. I told them to be ready in 10 minutes for us to pick them up. When we got there they were awake and dress, but certainly not ready. I ended up packing the room myself and we loaded the car. It was a tight fit to say the least and it was a good thing that I had already left the stroller in the new room. We had wanted to hit the EMH at Epcot and it was already 7:30 AM by the time we got to our new room. I opted to unpack and get organized over hitting Epcot. By 8:10 AM I was feeling good about knowing where things were and feeling a bit settled. We decided to hit the MK instead. We thought that we could make it there by the 9 AM opening time. Since we hadn’t had anything to eat or drink yet we pulled into the Hess station and bought drinks and Crispy Crème donuts. Being from VT Crispy Crème donuts are a novelty, we only have Dunkin Donuts. Truth be know I prefer Dunkin Donuts, but the Crispy Cremes filled out bellies and we were off to the TTC. We had the AAA Diamond card so we parked in that row. We assembled the stroller & wheelchair (stroller) with the bags that I had custom fit to hold all of our must have park goodies. That means we cannot fold them to catch a tram so we pushed the 2 youngest to the TTC, the oldest doing a good job of keeping up. We took the ferry to the MK and got there after park opening. Late again, notice the pattern. We went to Guest Relations and got the Guest Assistance Cards for the boys. All 3 of our boys suffer from Plasplano Vulgas and instability of the joints in their feet and ankles which results in severe leg pain if they are on their feet for any length of time. My generation knew this as flat feet. This means that none of them will ever be able to Serve in the Military. It also means that we need to keep them sitting as much as possible unless we want them crying in pain. The oldest is the least afflicted and does really well just using the orthodics in his shoes. The younger 2 have custom fitted orthodics, but even those only help to an extent. We have a MacLauren stroller for the youngest and a Convaid Cruiser pediatric wheelchair which looks similar to a stroller for the 9 year old. We were able to get GAC cards allowing us to use both as wheelchairs so that they could sit in line. This was truly a godsend for us.

Once out of City Hall we noticed no line for the barber shop. We were able to get the boys in with only a 5 minute wait. They had not had haircuts in a while as getting a cut on Main Street is tradition . All 3 got short cuts. They all chose the colored hair gels. Nick was ½ blue and ½ green with a blue Mickey head. It was spiked on top. Colby had his styled into a red Mohawk with blue tips (his hair was not cut into a Mohawk, just styled to look that way) he had a red and blue mickey head. Hunter had his spike with the red gel and yellow tips. It looked like flames. He had a red mickey head with yellow flames on top of the ears. They all were very cool and super happy. While the boys were getting their cuts Chris ran to Splash Mountain for fast passes. After the cuts we headed through Adventure Land. We rode Pirates of the Caribbean and loved the changes. Next we used our fast passes for splash. This was DS 4’s first time. He loved it and we were all soaked. We were we earlier than we ever had been before. It was great fun. Next we went to Thunder Mountain RR and rode that. Everyone loved it. I noticed how excited the little guy was with each ride. It was all new and so Magical for him. Having just watched the DVD of our 2000 vacation I saw so many similarities between his reaction to things and they way that his brother’s had reacted at the same age. I can’t tell you how happy I felt. After that we head toward Pecos Bill’s. We stopped for a few Character autographs along the way. Lunch was delicious. We eat there every trip and have never been disappointed. After lunch we headed back to Adventure Land. We rode the Magic Carpets and Jungle Cruise. We saw Peter Pan and Wendy. I had made a custom autograph book for this trip. It is made up of 8” X 8” card with clipart of the Character. They LOVE them and the kids got tons of attention. We also had 20 different colored sharpies so they could choose whatever color they liked. I highly recommend it. From there we headed out. We were meeting a DIS friend for dinner at Whispering Canyon Café at the Wilderness Lodge and I needed to run to Walmart before dinner. I dropped DH and the boys off at the resort and I headed to Walmart for breakfast items and drink. It took me forever in line waiting for a concierge CM. Once I got directions I was on my way. I grabbed what we needed and headed back. We had agreed to leave no later than 4:15 PM to get to dinner. I pulled up to the resort at 4:10 PM and they were all SLEEPING!! DH helped me carry in the groceries then we quickly changed everyone into fresh clothes. The boys had all taken showers when they got back as the hair gel was getting all over everything. We rushed out and made it to WCC at 4:50 PM. We actually arrived before our friend Babytrees. We meet on the creative designs forum and had planned to meet for dinner. We had a really nice time. WCC has great food and is lots of fun. The kids rode stick ponies and we asked for ketchup. I’m pretty sure that 15 bottles showed up at the table within seconds. One of the girls needed a fork as hers disappeared. The waitress brought out a 3 foot long fork as she wouldn’t be able to misplace that one. I told her that DH needed to ride a stick pony. She got everyone’s attention and made DH, Babytrees DH and a birthday girl ride around the restaurant on stick ponies. She said the DH and Babytrees DH were trouble makers lol. She also brought me out the biggest lemonade that I have ever seen. I had to stand up just to take a sip. She said that if I were going to pick on DH then it was only fair that I got picked on too. DS 11 was also taken away from the table with other boys of similar age to serenade a 13 year old Birthday girl. I’m not sure who was more embarrassed, the boys or the girl. In between all the antics we had a really nice conversation. Babytrees and her family are wonderful. After dinner we went to their WL Villas. It was beautiful. So spacious. The kids all wanted to swim so we sat by the pool and chatted for a couple of hours. It was a really nice relaxing evening with a DIS friend.

The barbershop

At the MK

Dinner at Whispering Canyon

The Wilderness Lodge Pool

We headed back to our Resort and crashed upon arrival. It had been a busy day.

 

[my3princes]

Day 3

I was again the first one up, although I slept until 6:30 AM. I am not a morning person except at Disney. I took a nice hot bath before getting ready for the day. By the time I was dressed DH was up and showering. DS 4 woke up next. I made a pot of coffee for DH and a pancake and sausage on a stick for DS. We went out on the balcony and had a nice quiet breakfast enjoying the view. We even had a bunny to watch. We had decided to go to Epcot so we wanted to leave around 8 AM in hopes of not being late. We woke the other boys and got them ready and left on time. AAA diamond parking is wonderfully close at Epcot and we were in line at 8:45 AM to get in. Of course we chose the wrong line and waited ½ hour to actually get in. DH ran to Soarin to get fast passes and the boys and I headed to Test Track. DS 11 was turning out to be a tremendous help with his younger brothers and helped push a stroller. We ended up waiting 15 minutes or so for DH to catch up. The wait for Test Track was posted as 10 minutes. We decided to park the strollers and walk. BIG MISTAKE. By the time we got through the briefing I was holding the youngest and he is HEAVY and the middle DS was hurting too. Test Track was “Super Awesome”. After the ride I gave both boys pain meds and we were off to Mission Space. Chris took DS11 and DS 9 (in his stroller) to Mission Space. DS4 is too short and I get motion sick. We browsed the store then headed for a potty break. By the time we got to the Mission Space waiting area the meds had kicked in so DS4 was able to play in the tubes. That was one of the highlights of his day (go figure). After MS we head to Soarin to use our Fastpasses. We got 1st row and It was amazing. Fun for all of us. Then we got a snack in the Land and decided to ride Living with the Land while waiting for the first cookie baking with Nestle to start. DS 4 loved the boat ride and wants to do it again. All 3 boys then baked cookies. We then left the Land and headed to the living seas. We were able to use the stroller in the building which is the only way we would have been able to manage that immense line. Once we finally made it to the clam mobiles the fun began. We headed into crush next. DS4 was selected to talk to Crush. His name is Colby, but when he says it it sounds like Toby. So Crush called him Toby. Crush asked him to say Totally Sweet which came out totally feet. It was pretty funny. That show is amazing. I was so impressed with the animation and interaction. We will do that again. By then it was pouring. I had purchased a stroller cover for the MacLauren and made a custom one for the pediatric chair. The boys had rain parkas so I purchased ponchos for DH and I and we were off. DS9 was dying to get to Japan to buy Pokemon cards. We made a brief stop in England for Fish and Chips then headed to Japan. The boys made their purchases and were so pleased with themselves. DS 4 had fallen asleep as soon as the rain cover went on the stroller and was still sleeping. We decided to wait for the Candy Lady in Japan. I am SOOOO Glad that we did. DS 11 and DS 9 were both chosen to receive her candy creations (we were the first in line to see her). To say that she is talented would not do her justice. We all agree that she is simply amazing. I cannot explain just how amazing, but she made 5 unique animals out of blobs of candy in 20 minutes flat. Simply amazing. We ended up stopping in a shop and got a couple of boxes with bubble wrap to protect our precious cargo. The next problem would be getting them home on a plane in one piece. Since it was still raining we decided to head toward future world. We stopped in Mexico for the boat ride since DS 4 was awake and wanted to do the boat ride again. He loved this one since it had Donald Duck (his favorite character) in it. From there we headed to character connection, but the line was huge so we decided to head to Saratoga Springs for our Dinner reservation at the Turf Club. I forgot to mention that the kids were really into pin trading today so they stopped any CM with Pins. DS 11 traded 18 pins today alone. I had bought a lot off eBay, but he was warned by me that he needed to slow down or he would be out within 2 days. DS 11 also complained of foot and leg pain while walking around World Showcase. The down time in Japan gave him the needed break and he made it through like a trooper. I was so proud of him.

Baking cookies

Meeting Bruce

The Magical Candy Lady of Japan

Billiards at the Turf Club

We headed straight for the Resort, stopping at the Turf Club. We were about ½ hour early for our dinner reservation so we explored a bit. We found the pool and the kids were so excited with the water slide. It was much bigger than the one at WL. We also found the arcade and oriented ourselves to the locations. Being in the Paddock we had quite a distance to get to the main area, but now we knew where everything was. We went back to the Lobby of the Turf Club. The pool table was available so DH and the Boys played a game. DH and DS 4 on one team and DS 11 and DS 9 on the other. DH’s team was way in the lead until he sunk the 8 ball in the wrong pocket so the older boys won. I started a game against the winners until my phone rang. My brother was calling from Vermont. I am very close to my family and he needed to run some ideas by me. He had purchased 1600 cap buckets and covers for 90 cents each. The plan was to resell them to a local Maple Producers supply store for $3 each making a big profit. He has done this several times in the past with great results. I guess I should explain that we have a family Maple Sugar House and produce our own Maple Syrup. We have a 22 acre Maple orchard fairly close to our home. Needless to say we are super busy in the late winter and early spring. He had discovered quite by accident that he could sell sap bucket back to one of his suppliers at $3 each and he quite frequently finds ads for people selling sap bucket for next to nothing. Many Sugar Producers no longer use buckets or at least us much fewer buckets since most orchards are now collected by lines running from tree to tree with mainlines taking the sap into a collection tank. Anyhoo he now had 1600 bucket and some were not the quality that he expected so now he was brainstorming other ways to use these buckets. We sell our syrup in part at a local restaurant that I work at and he was wondering if he put together a little gift basket using the bucket as a container if I thought that we could profitable sell them. He thought that he would put a quart of syrup in the bucket along with the cover and a sap spout. Novelty items sell pretty well so it wasn’t a bad plan. He still didn’t know how to package them as he would need some sort of filler. I suggest buying a paper shredded and using newspaper. He thought it was a good idea. I also suggest stenciling a maple leaf and Vermont or something similar on the bucket to make them more attractive. He liked the ideas and I could tell he would sleep better knowing my opinion lol. Our buzzer went off so I ended the call and we headed to dinner. Dinner was delicious. I had the sirloin and the Saratoga Spring special potatoes. Those are to die for. I would definitely order them again. We had way to much food being on the dining plan but managed to choke down some of our desserts. The turf club much like WCC had pony races which the younger 2 loved. They both received Magical Moments certificates and little plastic ponies. Between the main course and dessert I had to run to the little gift shop and buy myself a long sleeved hooded T-shirt. I liked the style and I was freezing. The restaurant was pretty cold and I needed warmth. After dinner I took all 4 of my boys out to the pool. They had a great time using the slide and swimming for about 1 hour. I was in my long sleeved shirt, wrapped in towels just relaxing. I also had a conversation with my parents as they need daily updates on their grandkids. It had only been 3 days and they were missing them terribly. So with all the must does done we headed back to our lovely Villa and slept, well they did anyway. I spent an hour or so writing down the events of the last few days while everything was still fresh in my mind.

Something that stands out is that we have only seen 1 dream team member and we have not seen a single guest with any of the Dream prizes. I thought that we would have seen something by now.

 

[my3princes]

Day 4

Today was planned for MGM. We had an ADR at the 50s Prime Time planned for 6:40 PM so we planned to make a day of it. DH’s watch alarm went off at 6:30 AM which woke all but DS 9 up. I had hoped to sleep later, but that didn’t happen. We all made it through the shower and were fed, dressed and out the door on time. The ride to MGM was quick and with AAA parking we were at the gate in no time. We actually had to wait in line to get in. Finally in the park with time to spare. We had decided to ride Tower of Terror and get fast passes for Rockin Roller Coaster. DH ran for the fast passes and I took to TOT. The fast pass machines were not working for TOT so the line was HUGE. We waited for our turn again thankful that we had the strollers. It was DS 4’s first time. He came off saying that he loved it, but not wanting to go again. He was such a brave boy to try it once. From there we headed to RRC. Our Fast pass time hadn’t come up yet so we went into the gift shop and I bought light up drum sticks for the boys. DS 11 plays the drum and DS 9 will start this school year. They were pretty excited with my purchase. From there DH took the older 2 on the ride and I entertained the little guy. Then we Parent Swapped and I got to ride. I love roller coasters and this is no exception. I did notice that my head got banged around pretty good, but it was still awesome. While we were riding DH took DS 4 to the Beauty and Beast show. We hit it too, but were at the very top. We all enjoyed the show. Since it was beginning to look like rain we decided to hit Lights, Motor Action just in case the later shows were cancelled. This show never disappoints my family. DS 4 thinks he wants to be the motorcycle stuntman now. It did start to rain during the show, but not too hard. We covered the strollers and headed out. We took the boys to Pizza Planet for lunch. Salads came with their meals on the meal plan so I gave them to the Lady behind me in line as my family does not eat salad. She was surprised though not overly excited. I just wanted to spread a little pixie dust. Once the boys were finished we went to the ABC Commissary for lunch for DH and I. We had the burgers and they were good, but again too much food. It was getting closer to parade time so we headed to the Animation Courtyard to get some autographs. One the way there we ran across Jojo and Goliath and Annie. Then Annie was replaced by June. Remy was in the Animation Courtyard along with Mrs. Incredible. Helen’s line was HUGE so we just got Remy’s autograph then headed to get a spot for the parade. We saw Quincy on the way and snagged his autograph too. That is always our favorite parade. My DH is a huge “Car Guy” so he appreciates the cars and the kids love the characters (and so do I…shhhhhh). The parade ended and we rushed back to the Animation Courtyard and hit Frozone and Mrs. Incredible with little wait. The older boys wanted to check out the activities in that area so I took DS 4 to Playhouse Disney. He LOVED it. He got to go to the front and dance twice. We called DH when the show was over and the met us just in time to hit Voyage of the Little Mermaid. That show is always good and we notice new things each time.

It was nearly 5 PM and the Cars character would be out on the Streets of America for the last time that day. We high tailed it over there and got in line. Lightning and Mater are so cool. They don’t sign autographs, but at least we will have pictures to scrap in the autograph book. We also caught the yellow Power Ranger. Yellow is DS 4’s favorite color so he was happy, but he wants to meet the others on our next visit there. The kids had been teasing to go to the HISTKs play area so we let them burn off a little steam there. Then the 4 boys went on Star Tours. I do not do motion simulators. Since I had had children I cannot do motion simulators, It’s all their fault. We headed toward the Prime Time, but realized that we were about 40 minutes early so we went to the Big Hat to see if any characters were out. Just as we arrive they announced that the characters were just arriving. We got the Queen’s autograph and Snow White and Dopey’s. The characters and handlers LOVE the custom made individual autograph pages and it became a bit of a game to try to stump me with one that I hadn’t made. As of now I am undefeated. I know a few that I didn’t make pages for, but they haven’t named them yet lol. The handlers have offered numerous times to help me get autographs, but was only day 4 and we still had 19 days to go so I have declined help so far.

Dinner was amazing. The food was so so, but our waitress was wonderful. We had Auntie Claire and I highly recommend requesting her. She played up the long lost relative role and never missed a beat. The 2 other servers in the area did a lot of interaction as well. She noticed our Anniversary buttons and asked us when and how long. Our actual anniversary was the next day and it was our 15th. Just before bringing out our desserts she brought out a cupcake and dragged DH and I to the middle of the room. She got everyone’s attention then had us repeat some vows that she made up. Then we had to re enact our wedding cake tasting. It was fun. We also got a little Dream Card from her. We were on dining plan, but I left her a little extra for making our meal so much fun. We walked out to the start of a little storm. We had planned to stay for Fantasmic, but decided to go back to the resort before the skies totally opened up.

I forgot to mention in there that we say tons of people wearing the YOMD fast passes. We also talked at length to one of the YOMD CM’s. It was her day to just walk around chatting with people. She was telling us about her job and some of the dreams she had handed out. She had given away the Castle stay once. She also gave the boys stickers and Pirate buttons. It was nice spending time chatting with her.

 

[my3princes]

Day 5

Wow time just seems to be flying by. This morning we headed to Blizzard Beach. We arrived at 8:45 AM and secured a locker, through everything in it and headed for the top. There was no line for the chairlift which must be the first time ever for us. We decided to do Teamboat Springs first. DH wanted the picture. It was fun and the look on the little guy’s face was priceless. Unfortunately there was no photographer at the bottom so no picture. By now the park was open to all and we could see lines forming. DH and the older boys wanted to do Summit Plummet so they headed back to the chair lift and I took the little guy to the lifeguard training area. He loved the zip line. He did it over and over. He also did well on the ice burgs. We had a few races on the little slides and then the rest of the family found us. Of course the older 2 had to try their hand at the zip line and ice burgs. We finally herded them out and headed to the Purple slope. We did the races and the other mat ride. I think everyone made it to the bottom before I got my mat unstuck, but it was still fun. From there we went to the Red Slope and did the tube rides. The lines were now getting really long so we got some tubes and floated a lap around the lazy river. They must have added more tubes to this since the last time we were there as it was wall to wall tubes and not nearly as relaxing as past trips. It was hot by then, but the kids just had to do the wave pool. We hit the waves for about 20 minutes then grabbed our stuff and headed out.

We stopped at the Artist’s Palette for a quick lunch. It was anything but quick. I think it took 45 minutes to get our order. That was something in common with the Turf Club, slow meals. By now the little guys was tired so we headed back to the room to give him a nap. We all ended up napping and a long nap it was. When I woke up and saw the clock was reading 3:45 I decided I’d better get moving. I showered and dressed then started waking the others. We had 6:10 PM dinner reservations at the Concourse Steakhouse and planned to take a bus to the Magic Kingdom. From there the monorail to the Contemporary. We arrive about 25 minutes early and browsed the gift shop after checking in. Turns out there is a Pirate Parade for the kids every night at 6 PM. Just as they were starting to gather the kids our pager went off. I talked to the hostess and she said it would be fine if the kids did the parade first.

The Parade was cute. They each got a skull and crossbones eye patch and they walked and crawled through the stores there pillaging and plundering the cash registers. Some gave stickers another gave plastic compasses and the last had plastic gold medallions. They were happy with their loot and we went to dinner. When checking in she noted that our reservation was for our 5th Anniversary…Wrong…It was our 15th. The hostess made the change and I even saw it on the paper at the table. Unfortunately our waitress didn’t even bother to wish us a Happy Anniversary even with the note and the fact that we were wearing anniversary button. The food was excellent. We started out with 2 bowls of chicken soup, an order of onion rings and the sesame wings. The kids split a chicken tenders and fries and a filet with fries. They really loved the filet. I also had the filet, but with the mashed potatoes. Delicious. DH had the chipotle ribeye with French fries. For dessert we split 2 hot fudge sundaes, a chocolate cake and a butterfinger cheese cake. We were all stuffed.

We headed back to the Magic Kingdom. The little guy wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear. We walked into fantasyland and he saw the Carousel. That was our first stop. Then off to Mickey’s Philharmagic. We all love this one. Then we hit Toontown. First Goofy’s Rollercoaster. That coaster is a lot quicker than it looks. Great ride. We headed into the Judge’s tent to meet Mickey. We figured that it would go quickly since the 9 PM parade was going on…WRONG. We waited over an hour to meet the Mouse. All I can say is that we were happy to have the GAC for the boys because if they hadn’t been sitting in the strollers there is NO WAY that we would have survived the wait. From there we went and saw Donald, Daisy and Minnie then to see Cinderella, Belle and Aurora. Back to the Barnstormer then off to Buzz. There was absolutely no line. DH kicked our butts. We decided that we’d better go grab some curb for the late parade. We found a nice spot just in front of the hub and grabbed a section of curb. I bought a Mickey Bar, Itsakadoozie and water while we waited. That parade never disappoints. After the parade we exited with the masses and found our bus stop relatively empty. We were on the first bus which was pretty full by the time it left. The driver was a bit wild which was disturbing the people standing. It took awhile but we made it back and were in bed by 12:30 AM.

 

[my3princes]

Day 6

We were off to a slow start. I awoke at 5:45 AM, but the males were all still sleeping at 8:30 AM. We had decided to play it by ear as to what we would do in the morning, knowing that we wanted to hit the Summer on the Savannah (DVC Members) party at 3 PM outside of Epcot. Once everyone was awake and ready to move we decide to just hit Epcot. We started off in Innoventions West. They boys did the fire prevention game while I ran to Test Track for Fast Passes. I also stopped at Guest Relations to change our ADR from Planet Hollywood to an Epcot restaurant. None of the menus would work for all of us so I booked a 6:20 PM at Spoodles on the Boardwalk. I rejoined the boys and we went to the Character Spot. It took quite a while to get through, but I got 3 more autograph pages signed. I don’t know if I mentioned it previously, but I made well over 100 individual character cards and I was on a mission to get as many signed as possible. We then headed to Club Cool and tried the beverages. We all decided that the Beverly was gross. The boys liked the watermelon flavored the best and I could tolerate the Ginger Ale type. We decided to hit the Electric Umbrella for lunch. Did you know that they have free refills? Everyone was full and hydrated when we left there. We were still early for our fast pass time so we decided to do the Universe of Energy. We made it through the pre show and loaded our vehicles, the it happened. Now mind you they had announced at least FIVE times that this portion of the show would last 37 minutes and if you could not sit for 37 minutes to LEAVE before the ride starts. So the lights dim…the doors close…and some idiot tries to get out of the vehicle. Now this may not seem like such a big deal except it shut down the entire ride, not just those of us starting, but the other theater full of people watching the last segment. So if Mr. can’t sit for 37 minutes or follow the rules is reading this we just want to give a big thank you. They had to evacuate the whole building. Then they took time to reset the whole thing. We decided to go back to Innoventions to have our Free Visa picture taken. That took a little while and when we came out we noticed that Universe of Energy was operating again so we decided to give it another shot. This time we were successful. The little guy was a bit frightened during the dinosaurs part, but was fine after. It was finally time for our Test Track Ride. We all loved it again. Once off we ran to the International Gateway and departed Epcot entering the Summer on the Savannah Party. It was a lot of fun. Each of us was handed a coupon book when we entered. The book contained DVC discounts, a raffle ticket and 2 coupons for Treats at the party. There were various Ice Cream/popsicle choices, pretzels, animal crackers etc. They also had many table set up with very delicious fruit punch. There was a DJ playing music and running different dances and games. He was excellent and really got people involved. The kids enjoyed learning a few of the dances and doing the limbo. They also had an arts/crafts table set up to make little hand drums. They had character appearances from Mickey, Minnie and Goofy in there Safari outfits and Rafiki and Timon. Devine was there and she is magnificent. If she didn’t move you would never see her. Amazing. There was also a man on mini stilt shoes wearing a Lion King type costume. Oh yeah, Dee VeeCee herself, the First Lady of the DVC club was also mingling with the guest (she looks like one of the street performers from MGM. They had free face painting for the kids. DS 11 had is face done as a puppy. It was very cute, but began running almost immediately as it was a HOT day. The party ended at 5 PM and each guest was given a DVC safari/fishing type hat that folds into itself and has a clip on it. We were very impressed with the party and plan to attend the next 2 Thursday parties.

We decided to head to the Boardwalk at that point rather than reentering Epcot for a few minutes. We walked over and decided to check the ESPN club for immediate seating rather than wasting over an hour until our Spoodles reservation. They had a table and it was equipped with a Playstation which made all 4 boys happy. I had them cancel the Spoodles ADR to free it up for someone else. The menu was pretty basic, but we got a ton of food on the meal plan and left there feeling more stuffed than any previous restaurant. We decided we would be back after the dining plan ends as it appears to be a reasonably priced option. We were so full that we were feeling a bit sick as we walked in the heat back to Epcot. DS 11 was insistant that we make it back before the 6:55 PM show of the Candy Lady. She is now his favorite Disney attraction. We actually got there as her 6:15 show was ending. We grabbed a spot right in front of her kiosk and chatted with her a bit while she finished cleaning up. Obviously we were the first family waiting for her last show so we were selected to receive a lollipop. Since the older 2 had been chosen on a previous day we let DS 4 choose the animal that he wanted. He chose a yellow T- Rex which she turned into a Godzilla, with the fire breath. Again I say she is amazing. We stopped at the porcelain shop in Germany and got a box and bubble wrap to keep it safe. By now it was getting a bit windy and we were ready to head out. We stopped at the photo shop to pick out our VISA photo. While in line a DISboard friend called to say that she would be joining us at a mini DIS/DDA meet in October. This was excellent news and we agreed to talk later after we got back to the resort.

The plan was to go back to the resort and get everyone in bed by 9 PM since we would need to be up at 6 AM to make our 8 AM ADR at the Magic Kingdom the next morning and the boys had proven that they don’t like to get up. We got back and the boys discovered the Disney video game/controller that I had bought and packed as a surprise. We all took showers or baths to unwind and freshen up. Did I mention that it had been a hot day? I tried to call my DIS buddy, but she was unavailable. She called me a bit later. All 4 boys were wrapped up in videogame land by then so the new bedtime was set for 10 PM. I got to talk to my DIS buddy for 20 minutes or so and filled her in on all we had done so far on the trip. Isn’t it funny how we live vicariously through each other’s trips until we finally have one of our own.

Devine

Our Mickey Cloud

our favorite attraction...again

 

[my3princes]

Day 7

6 AM we sprung out of bed…well not really, but we did get up. DH and I showered and got ourselves ready then woke the kids up. We were heading to the Magic Kingdom for an 8 AM breakfast at the Crystal Palace. Winnie the Pooh is DS 9’s favorite character so this was his must do meal. We were looking forward to having an empty Main Street for pictures. We drove to the TTC and took a monorail to the MK. I think there was only one running as it took a while. We got there at about 7:40 AM and got in line with the other early birds. By now it was pretty obvious that we wouldn’t have an empty Main Street as we would all be entering together. DS4 decided he needed to potty so we took him to the one next to City Hall as soon as they let us in. This allowed most of the masses to move along. We then had a few pictures taken on Main Street and again in front of the Statue of Mickey and Walt. At this point we really needed to check in. We only waited about 5 minutes to be seated. Piglet was the first to greet us and that was immediately after we sat down. Pooh also visited us before we went for food. Tigger and Eeyore were next to arrive and I’m not sure we had even taken a bite of food at that point. With the photos and autographs out of the way we finally enjoyed breakfast. There was plenty of variety and we all found something to fill us up. They also had a little parade for the kids. Piglet came around for a second time and we headed for the door.

We exited the Crystal Palace as the masses were heading by. We decided to hit Tomorrowland. First was Stitch’s Great Escape then the Tomorrowland Speedway. DH had gotten Space Mountain fast passes while I took the boys on Stitch. We still had time so we did the Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor then headed to Space Mountain. The plan was to get a baby swap pass for me and I would take DS 4 on the TTA while the first 3 rode Space. When we got there they determined that DS 4 was actually just tall enough to ride. We only had 3 fast passes, but they were really nice and handed us a rider swap pass so that we could all ride together. DS 4 was scared, but ended up enjoying it. Now he wants to go again.

Tomorrowland was finished so we headed to Toontown. DH and kids rode the barnstormer while I checked to see what Characters were in the Hall of Fame. We already had seen them all so we headed to Fantasyland. We waited in line to see Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum and Alice. DH took the kids on the Teacups as I do not do spinny rides. I walked over and got fast passes to Peter Pan’s Flight and picked up a frozen coke. I waited for them then we hit the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Snow White’s scary Adventure. Next was It’s a Small World. DS 4 loved it. At one point we stopped so I called my Mom and let her hear the song, no reason for just us to be Singing the stupid song all day. Now it was time for our flight to Neverland. The stand by line was 70 minutes, gotta love fast passes. That’s a fun ride, but pretty short. We headed into Liberty Square and since it was hot we decided to do the Hall of President’s. This show is very educational and will definitely put any child under the age of 6 to sleep. Therefore DS 4 fell asleep in my arms. DH carried him out. Woody’s show was happening on the street in Frontierland so we took the shortcut to Adventureland. We waited in line to see Aladin and Jasmine. Just as we exited Genie came out, but he was only “picking them up” so I couldn’t wait to see him. We rounded the corner, picked up a drink and frozen lemonade and hit the line for Hook and Smee. By then it was time to find a spot for the parade. It was pretty close to parade time, but we found an area that was completely unoccupied and pushed the strollers up to the rope. I put a little blanket down and had myself a seat too. When the parade started a family with children stood behind me and seemed to enjoy kicking and kneeing me. I even got hit on the head once. This ruined my entire parade experience. I thought of standing up, but then they wouldn’t have been able to see at all. I don’t know why they waited until the parade started to look for a place to stand, but they could have at least stayed out of my personal space. They could easily see over my head and I was trying to take pictures.

The parade/nightmare finally ended. We decided to eat at Pecos Bill’s while the parade rush passed. After dinner we hit Splash and Thunder. They let us ride Thunder Mountain twice as that puts us back on the same side to retrieve our stroller/wheelchair. There was now a noticeable increase in crowds. It was busier than it had been all day. We realized that it was evening EMH and Resort guests were coming in by the Monorail load. Time for us to call it a day.

The kids had asked to hit the movie at the Grandstand Pool back at the Resort so we would have a little time to relax before heading to that. The movie was Lilo and Stitch.

 

[my3princes]

Day 8

Animal Kingdom at last. We arrived at the gate at about 8:40 AM. It as EMH so we went right in. I took DS 4 on the Triceratop Spin while the older 2 boys went on the Primevil whirl. DH ran for fast passes to Everest. We all met up and headed to Dinosaur. The older 2 boys HATE this ride, but we always encourage them to try it each trip thinking at eventually they won’t HATE it. This was not that trip. DS 4 loved it though. From there we went and let the kids explore the Boneyard then they started the Kids Discovery Zone stations. Our window for another fast pass was open so DH had run to get them for Kali River Rapids while the boys were in the Boneyard. It was now time to use the Kali fast passes. We went directly there. Kali is always fun and we didn’t get nearly as wet as we had on past trips. We were now in the fast pass window for Everest. DH took the taller 2 on the ride and I got a rider swap ticket. They were on and off within 10 minutes. I then took the taller 2. It was fun, but IMO it didn’t live up to all the hype I had read. It was definitely a Good coaster, but I’ve rode better. It was almost time for the Nemo show so we thought we see if there was any room. There was not and about 100 people at the end of the line did not fit in either. We decided to head to Discovery Island. The boys wanted pizza for lunch so we stopped and fed them. We then decided to do Festival of the Lion King. This is by far one of Disney’s best shows. DS 4 was chosen to do the little parade at the end and he was thrilled. There must have been a heavy shower while we were in there as the pathways and most of the strollers parked outside were soaked. We were happy to have missed the storm. We stopped for another Discovery Zone for the boys. DH ran off to get fast passes for the Safari. Then we headed for Africa. It was beginning to sprinkle again so we headed into Tusker House to feed the Adults. We also took time to put on all our rain gear as it was pouring by the end of lunch. We decided to head to Rafiki’s Planet watch as we had an hour before our Safari Fast Pass time. It was not at all crowded over there and they had told us that no character’s would be there. The kids had a wonderful time looking through the exhibits then lo and behold Jiminy Cricket appeared. We got his autograph and photo. It was so slow, for awhile we were the only family there. Jiminy began stealing things from his handlers then DS 4 asked one of them what Jiminy Liked to play. They told him tag. So DS 4 tagged Jiminy and this bagan a 15 minute or so game of tag. We all played and the interaction was awesome. We all had a great time. It was now time for our Safari so we boarded the train back to Africa. Our Safari was one of the best ever. I don’t know if it was the rain ending or the fact that it was 5 PM, but the animals were all awake and in the open. We saw so many species and got some good photos, unfortunately some of them were blurry do to our moving about. I was impressed to see the male lion in a different location and he was awake!! After the safari we explored the walking trail. We saw a fish called a lung fish. It was very big and they told us that the fish would actually crawl up onto land and dig a hole. It would then get into the hole and sleep for up to 4 years. This was amazing to all of us and so very strange. The hippo tank was very cloudy, but there was one hippo hanging out at the top of the tank and appeared to be watching us. He was probably thinking look at the tank of humans. … The weather was looking worse so we decided to head out. The kids stopped to look at the pins at the DVC kiosk and DS 9 mentioned that he was looking for year of a million dreams pins. The CM gave him the 2 pin Tinkerbell set. We had received our first “official dream”. It was such a surprise. DS 9 gave the second pin to DS 11 which was a nice gesture. DS 11 had been an immense help with is brother’s over the past week and it was nice that his little brother noticed.

Wes Palm the walking talking palm tree

We stopped at the concierge desk at Saratoga to verify that a snack credit error had been fixed and decided to check out Community Hall. The kids were excited over the foosball table. They played for quite awhile and I ended up in a couple of conversations about DVC ownership by women that were thinking of buying in. DS 9 also got to play giant Jenga. We were there until after 8 PM and I still needed to pack for our move to BWV the next day. That is how we spent the remained of the evening…packing.