3 Kids, 2 Adults and 24 Hours In The Car...Off To Celebrate Halloween With The Mouse!

[shellywalker]

Just read your intro and am glad I found your TR. We are going OCT 2012 about the same time. We only have a 10 hour drive, so I'm looking forward to your adventure down!

...OKAY - caught up! What fun! Your family is beautiful and you can see how happy they are. Do they always get along well or is it the Disney magic? I am glad your trip went so well down! Sometimes the kids just suprise you!

Please tell me you went back to AK and saw more (like LION KING and BUGS LIFE).

Also, a MK at night tip - there is a bathroom to the LEFT of Plaza Restaurant, next to it is a back exit. After WISHES! CMs will let you exit through there and it saves a LOT of time. ALSO, cut through the Emporium stores, just go to the back wall and cut through, it really helps when you are afraid you'll lose a kid. I know the feeling, mine are older so we truly have to form a human chain. if it gets bad, DH will take 2 and I take 1 and we meet @ the popcorn stand by the exit (b/c mama needs her popcorn) LOL

Question: how did you find the preferred room? Was it a better fit or just a better location? I never noticed the difference.

EXCITED FOR MORE!!

Welcome! I love new visitors!

Thank you so much! They for the most part get along great! My oldest and middle child argue more than the two boys do, but it's not often!

You'll have to wait and see if we go back to AK!!!! The Lion King is by far one of my most favorite attractions in all of Disney World!!

Once we got onto Main Street, it was smooth sailing....they were basically blocking everyone at the hub trying to create two streams of traffic instead of just one pushing it's way out of the park! But what a mess!!!

As for the preferred room, I didn't think the location was any better at all. The first two nights we were on the 2nd floor in the Love Bug building, we were a few rooms away from the elevator. The preferred room we were in the Toy Story building on the first floor, closer to the parking lot. I actually think the walk from the Love Bug room to the Pool/Food Court was shorter from the Love Bug room! The room size itself was a wee bit bigger, nothing to write home about! Do you stay there regularly??

 

[shellywalker]

Continued…
We started making our way towards Toy Story Mania. We’ve been here 4 times since it’s opened and we have yet to make it onto the ride. By the time we’ve gotten to the ride, FP’s are usually gone and the wait is 200 minutes! I know a lot of people will stand in line that long to ride this ride, but to me, there isn’t anything that is really worth that. You miss out on so many other things. So this time, we made sure to schedule a reservation for before the park opened so that when the park opened, we’d just be finishing up breakfast! The park was pretty much empty, when we got to the ride, the lines for the FP were just as long as the line for the ride…so we hopped in line, to wait about 25 minutes!!!

I rode with Jackson, and Alex rode with Maddie and Cooper! I dominated, as I always do on Buzz too! The ride was fun! Was it THAT much better than Buzz? Not to me! I thought it was basically the same, but 3D! Definitely not something I’d wait 200 minutes to ride!
After we got off the ride, we headed across the street to see Woody and Buzz! Toy Story has boomed so much in our house as the boys get older, so I was really looking forward to seeing how Jackson reacted to them! The line wasn’t that long, and the kids loved taking pictures with all the stuff along the way!

We headed over towards the Playhouse Disney area, since a potty break was in line! While we were heading over there, we saw Annie and Leo, so we of course jumped in line to see them! The boys absolutely love The Little Einsteins!!

We started making our way towards Star Tours, Maddie has become obsessed with Star Wars the last year, and has really gotten Jackson into it as well, so we knew this was a must this trip! On our way over there we spotted Stitch, and there was no one there to see him, so we stopped. Now, the kids had never seen Lilo & Stitch before, but for some reason Cooper really took to him! Maybe because they have the same personality? We’ll never know…but he was laughing so hard while visiting with him!

Earlier in the day, the kids had spotted a toy soldier, and were very excited…but he was leaving, making them very sad. So when we passed this guy up, they were very happy!!!

When we came a few years ago, we were able to see a very cool little street show put on by a bunch of toy soldiers. They grabbed kids out of the crowd, and taught them how to be a soldier…it was SO cute. We really hoping that we’d see that again, so Jackson could participate, but no luck! Anyone know if they still do this??
We wanted to catch Sully and Mike before we headed out for the day! We waited in line about ten minutes and when we were the very next ones in line, they left! AHHH!!! Thankfully just a quick break, but this seems to happen to us every single time we see them! The kids loved them as always and thought it was so funny that they don’t do autographs because they don’t like paper work! A few months before this trip we had done a Disney Movie/Dinner night at home and this was movie of choice, so it was fresh in the kids minds!

After we saw the Monsters, we headed out of the park for the day! We had to swing by Downtown to grab our tickets for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, and then wanted to get the kids in a swim and nap before getting ready for our big night!!!

 

[catherines_mama]

Welcome! I love new visitors!

...
As for the preferred room, I didn't think the location was any better at all. The first two nights we were on the 2nd floor in the Love Bug building, we were a few rooms away from the elevator. The preferred room we were in the Toy Story building on the first floor, closer to the parking lot. I actually think the walk from the Love Bug room to the Pool/Food Court was shorter from the Love Bug room! The room size itself was a wee bit bigger, nothing to write home about! Do you stay there regularly??

We have stayed there a few times a year back when it was just me & DD. Since marrying my husband and blending our families (5 of us now) we stayed moderate with the connecting rooms. Back then we were FL Residents and got good rates. My fave value is POP and I love it.

We are renting DVC points this next trip, its the same $ as the 2 bedrooms connecting at POFQ. In Dec (after i finalized the rental) we bought DVC ourselves when I let DH wander BW when Hollywood Studios was too crazy with crowds. I'm excited for our new options, but the kids still LOVE POP and POFQ over any of the DVC resorts I show them online. LOL

 

[shellywalker]

We have stayed there a few times a year back when it was just me & DD. Since marrying my husband and blending our families (5 of us now) we stayed moderate with the connecting rooms. Back then we were FL Residents and got good rates. My fave value is POP and I love it.

We are renting DVC points this next trip, its the same $ as the 2 bedrooms connecting at POFQ. In Dec (after i finalized the rental) we bought DVC ourselves when I let DH wander BW when Hollywood Studios was too crazy with crowds. I'm excited for our new options, but the kids still LOVE POP and POFQ over any of the DVC resorts I show them online. LOL

I'll have to be honest, I didn't enjoy staying there one bit! I don't like the "motel" feel, it makes it feel so less Disney to me. When we stayed at The Contemporary, it was quiet in your rooms, and the rooms were gorgeous, but the second you stepped into the hallway you felt the hustle and bustle of Disney, the noise, the smells, everything! And the rooms were SO incredibly small! I would think for a couple, or even a family of 3 the value's would be okay, but definitely not a family of 5! I need to check into renting DVC points, I've read about it, but keep forgetting! Do you get pretty good rates doing that? I'm so jealous you've purchased DVC...maybe in my next life I'll be able to afford that

 

[catherines_mama]

I'll have to be honest, I didn't enjoy staying there one bit! I don't like the "motel" feel, it makes it feel so less Disney to me. When we stayed at The Contemporary, it was quiet in your rooms, and the rooms were gorgeous, but the second you stepped into the hallway you felt the hustle and bustle of Disney, the noise, the smells, everything! And the rooms were SO incredibly small! I would think for a couple, or even a family of 3 the value's would be okay, but definitely not a family of 5! I need to check into renting DVC points, I've read about it, but keep forgetting! Do you get pretty good rates doing that? I'm so jealous you've purchased DVC...maybe in my next life I'll be able to afford that

Shelly, A) Renting is really easy esp if you find a great owner like we did. It ranged depending on the owner, but standard is $10-12 per point. Remember we're going in OCT and will have a 2 bedroom Boardwalk view @ BWV. We're paying the exact same as rack rate for 2 rooms at POFQ. Granted, we'd probably find a decent Free Dining or FL Ressie Rate (we still own property there) but we'll have a whole villa at BWV just just 2 rooms with 2 beds in each. So I think its a REALLY good deal.

B) Buying isn't that much either. We pay about $280/mos for our points and i spread my annual dues out monthly. I set up a new checking account that direct deposits that much of my paycheck each month, then DVC takes it right out of there, so I never see it. It's really like a car payment I guess. We pay on it for 10 yrs, then it's ours for the next 40yrs after that. I don't see anythign difficult about it and they often have good deals. Like we bought ours at the END of 2011, we got the 2011 points in our account already, so when this years points come in, we'll have DOUBLE points! - Next Summer 1 week at VWL!! Places I would only dream of staying at before!

Think about it! And I kind of agree about the AS. When it was just me and DD it was great. We could go more often and even get a king bed to share. But with a big family now, we need to spread out. I can't wait for our villa in OCT.

Okay.. back to your TR! Loving it so far. Can't believe you dont LOVE LOVE TSM. I love it!! it's fun and I get really worked up and get a work out in through it. Maybe because mine are older, we have a big family-wide competition over it. Steve always wins, but its so fun! BUZZ you never really see your hits, in TSM you see that you get the ring on the thing, or shot a hole in teh duck.. etc. Its SO FUN!!!

LOL okay i'll stop being a TSM crazy now. Can't wait til the next chapter.

 

[shellywalker]

Shelly, A) Renting is really easy esp if you find a great owner like we did. It ranged depending on the owner, but standard is $10-12 per point. Remember we're going in OCT and will have a 2 bedroom Boardwalk view @ BWV. We're paying the exact same as rack rate for 2 rooms at POFQ. Granted, we'd probably find a decent Free Dining or FL Ressie Rate (we still own property there) but we'll have a whole villa at BWV just just 2 rooms with 2 beds in each. So I think its a REALLY good deal.

B) Buying isn't that much either. We pay about $280/mos for our points and i spread my annual dues out monthly. I set up a new checking account that direct deposits that much of my paycheck each month, then DVC takes it right out of there, so I never see it. It's really like a car payment I guess. We pay on it for 10 yrs, then it's ours for the next 40yrs after that. I don't see anythign difficult about it and they often have good deals. Like we bought ours at the END of 2011, we got the 2011 points in our account already, so when this years points come in, we'll have DOUBLE points! - Next Summer 1 week at VWL!! Places I would only dream of staying at before!

Think about it! And I kind of agree about the AS. When it was just me and DD it was great. We could go more often and even get a king bed to share. But with a big family now, we need to spread out. I can't wait for our villa in OCT.

Okay.. back to your TR! Loving it so far. Can't believe you dont LOVE LOVE TSM. I love it!! it's fun and I get really worked up and get a work out in through it. Maybe because mine are older, we have a big family-wide competition over it. Steve always wins, but its so fun! BUZZ you never really see your hits, in TSM you see that you get the ring on the thing, or shot a hole in teh duck.. etc. Its SO FUN!!!

LOL okay i'll stop being a TSM crazy now. Can't wait til the next chapter.

I'm going to have to do some serious checking into DVC! Maybe as soon as my van is paid off, that can be my new car payment How do you know how many points you would need for your stay? I'm new to the DVC stuff, so I have no idea how any of it works!!!

Don't get me wrong, I loved TSM, and I'd ride it a million times...I just won't wait 3 hours in line for it!

 

[shellywalker]

When we left Hollywood Studios, we stopped by Downtown Disney to the Ticket Office to pick up our passes for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We took the kids back to the hotel, and swam for a little while. I took Cooper back to the room to get him a nap and myself a shower! When everyone else got back to the room, it was time to get ready for the evening.

We had plans to meet our friends at The Grand Floridian at 4:00 PM, and then jump on the monorail over to the park!

We always try to get there a bit early so that we can get pictures in front, and then on Main St. After we’re done doing that, it’s usually starting to get dark out! This year we headed over to Adventureland first!

We hit up the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of The Caribbean and Aladdin’s Carpet’s….then the party started! If you have never gone to this party, you really need to! It’s so fun to see all the kids dressed up and the characters dressed up, and the candy…oh the candy!

While heading down to get candy near Splash Mountain, we spotted the 7 Dwarfs! I know it’s rare to see these guys, so we of course had to wait in the never ending line for them!

Up next: Did we actually make it to the dance party this year without any sleeping children???

 

[loveysbydesign]

great update! Praying or finances will get better so we can afford MNSSHP! Can you use giftcards to buy tix. to it?

 

[catherines_mama]

Oh i love seeing pics of MNSSHP! Can't wait to hear about the rest of the night.

 

[shellywalker]

great update! Praying or finances will get better so we can afford MNSSHP! Can you use giftcards to buy tix. to it?

I will pray with you, because everyone should experience it! I'm not sure about the giftcards??? I would assume so, but I'm not 100% sure!

 

[loveysbydesign]

I will pray with you, because everyone should experience it! I'm not sure about the giftcards??? I would assume so, but I'm not 100% sure!

Thanks!
We had hoped to go to it last year but my dmil almost passed away a few weeks before our trip(huge bloodclot straddling her lungs and blood clots in her legs) and so she and dfil had to cancel and could not come with is for the trip(which was to celebrate their anniversary), they told us to go anyway and we decided to still go as we would have lost our $$ and my dmil's health was stabilized by the time we left, but we had to spend extra $$ on things we hadn't planned to since they were unable to split costs with us. We've never been to any of the extra things, like MVMCP or MNSSHP even though we have also been there 1x in October 2x in November.
My kids will be 13, 10 and 5 when we go this time and I think they'd really enjoy it. Dh just had his hours cut at work. So, I'm trying to budget it in by buying a $25 Disney gc each week to save up for the tix!

 

[shellywalker]

Thanks!
We had hoped to go to it last year but my dmil almost passed away a few weeks before our trip(huge bloodclot straddling her lungs and blood clots in her legs) and so she and dfil had to cancel and could not come with is for the trip(which was to celebrate their anniversary), they told us to go anyway and we decided to still go as we would have lost our $$ and my dmil's health was stabilized by the time we left, but we had to spend extra $$ on things we hadn't planned to since they were unable to split costs with us. We've never been to any of the extra things, like MVMCP or MNSSHP even though we have also been there 1x in October 2x in November.
My kids will be 13, 10 and 5 when we go this time and I think they'd really enjoy it. Dh just had his hours cut at work. So, I'm trying to budget it in by buying a $25 Disney gc each week to save up for the tix!

I'm sorry to hear you guys have been going throuh such a tough time I'm hoping you are able to go this year, I think your kids will love it! It's such a different experience from the day to day things at Magic Kingdom! If you are able to go, the party starts at 7, however, they typically let you into the park at 4, so keep that in mind when planning your days at the parks!!

 

[catherines_mama]

I'm going to have to do some serious checking into DVC! Maybe as soon as my van is paid off, that can be my new car payment How do you know how many points you would need for your stay? I'm new to the DVC stuff, so I have no idea how any of it works!!!

Don't get me wrong, I loved TSM, and I'd ride it a million times...I just won't wait 3 hours in line for it!

DIS has a great calculator here : http://www.wdwinfo.com/resort/dvcpoint.cfm

Just like normal resorts with more $ certain times of year, more points are needed in June than in late Sept and Oct. Also, more points are needed for Fri & Sat night than Sun - Thur.

 

[shellywalker]

DIS has a great calculator here : http://www.wdwinfo.com/resort/dvcpoint.cfm

Just like normal resorts with more $ certain times of year, more points are needed in June than in late Sept and Oct. Also, more points are needed for Fri & Sat night than Sun - Thur.

Thank you! That's going to be my project this afternoon!!!

 

[shellywalker]

We finished up with the Dwarfs and headed down towards Woody’s Dance Party! Now, last year we got to this party on accident while we were passing it by, and it was very late in the evening. The boys had been sound asleep in the stroller, so I took Maddie in for a few minutes and made a mental note that it was something we HAD to do next year! This year, WE MADE IT! And they had SO much fun dancing around with Woody, Jessie and Bullseye!!! At one point, Jackson was leading the Conga Line holding Jessie’s hand.

We stayed at the dance party for a while, the kids eventually were exhausted and hot and sweaty! We packed up and decided to go grab a spot for the parade/fireworks and grab something to eat! We grabbed a spot close to Casey’s, and set up shop for the parade. We got all the kids situated and then decided what we were to eat. Some of us had hot dogs from Casey’s and DH ran across the park to Cosmic Rays to get Chicken Nuggets for the boys! When they were all done eating, we ran across to get Ice Cream too! Shortly thereafter, the parade started!

I’m not going to include a million pictures of the parade, mostly because it’s the same as all the pictures I took the last few years! But we really enjoyed it as we always do! After the parade/fireworks we made our way down Main Street towards the front of the park! We hopped the monorail back to the Grand Floridian and made our way back to the resort! We had a fabulous time at the Halloween Party, and it’s really something that everyone needs to experience! In case you had questions as to what the kids were…we had Darla, Bruce and Nemo!!

 

[catherines_mama]

Great update! I will need to make sure we look for the Dance Party as we've never done them before.

That was a short update - you owe us

 

[shellywalker]

Great update! I will need to make sure we look for the Dance Party as we've never done them before.

That was a short update - you owe us

There are a few dance parties around the park, one with Stitch inside Cosmic Rays, and then there is one on a stage sort of in between Buzz and Space Mountain with Goofy and Pluto and then I personally think the best one is with Woody, Jessie and Bullseye! The are so interactive with the kids! That one is back in Frontierland!

I know that was short We've been so busy around here! I was sick starting Memorial Day weekend for 2 weeks! Then it was the end of the school year, I had a rummage sale and now I have a wedding this weekend Cannot wait unil things calm down!

 

[catherines_mama]

There are a few dance parties around the park, one with Stitch inside Cosmic Rays, and then there is one on a stage sort of in between Buzz and Space Mountain with Goofy and Pluto and then I personally think the best one is with Woody, Jessie and Bullseye! The are so interactive with the kids! That one is back in Frontierland!

I know that was short We've been so busy around here! I was sick starting Memorial Day weekend for 2 weeks! Then it was the end of the school year, I had a rummage sale and now I have a wedding this weekend Cannot wait unil things calm down!

Hope you are feeling better . I know, I feel like life is a merry-go-round and i need off lately. July will be here soon and HOPEFULLY some R&R.

Glad to see you back, even just for a bit.

 

[shellywalker]

When we last left off, we were headed out of Magic Kingdom from Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, where we had a very magical time! The next morning we had reservations for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare…somewhere we had never been! I was very much looking forward to seeing Mary Poppins and enjoying the always raved about Chilled Strawberry Soup!

We got up that morning, and out of the hotel without a problem! We had known exactly where to go, since we had parked at the Grand Floridian the evening before. We were running a tad bit late, so DH dropped me and the kids off at the front door and went to park the car. We were just about to have our picture taken when he walked up! Perfect timing! We had our pictures taken and were immediately seated in the dining area! What a beautiful resort and restaurant. When we arrived at our table we already had our Anniversary cupcakes!!

I sent DH up to the buffet first, as I’m always very hesitant to miss anything! While he was up there getting food, we were doing this…

Thank god I didn’t go to the buffet first! After those characters came, I made a mad dash for the food! I was starving, plus, I didn’t want to miss anything.
I started with a small plate of French toast, cheesy potatoes and some grapes, and a massive bowl of Strawberry Soup.

Jackson had the usual, raisin toast and bacon!

And Maddie had biscuits, scrambled eggs, bacon and it looks like ham!

I have to say, the soup was amazing! It was as delicious as everyone writes! I cannot wait to go back to this place again!!
As we were eating, we were visited by some more friends!

I had to laugh because Cooper was more questionable about the face characters than the ones in full costume! Maybe because he’s used to seeing them more, but it really made me laugh!

I really enjoyed the interaction between Alice and The Mad Hatter! They were shouting across the room at each other and really staying in character!
After we ate breakfast, we checked out the hotel and took a few pictures before we headed back to the pool for some swimming before heading over to Epcot!!!

We really enjoyed the pool at the resort; they had music playing all day long and fun games for the kids to play! They really had a great time! Jackson really learned how to swim on his own while we were down there, which was so much fun!

We headed back to the room after we swam, to get ready for our afternoon at Epcot!!!

 

[shellywalker]

I know it's been awhile since I've last posted, but life has gotten away from me! My photography business has taken off, and keeps me so busy. Along with school starting up and trying to be involved in the kids school day as much as I can! Jackson started 4K this year, so it's just Cooper and I home in the mornings, and we really enjoy our time together! I am going to take full advantage of the next two years, just him and I!!

When I last left off, we were heading to Epcot for the afternoon....my pictures are currently uploading to photobucket...as soon as that's done, it'll be up

Oh, and I'm turning 30 this summer....and guess what? We are celebrating in DISNEY WORLD with some family and friends!