6 kids under 6, a Night in the Castle, and Barf...A trip report (5/16-5/21)
- Thread starter tinkercat
- Start date
Day 6, which should be called "What exactly are we doing??"
It was our last day at WDW.
We weren't supposed to be on the DME bus until 1:25pm and our original plan had been to do a water park in the morning. Note, I said our original plan. That is totally not what went on.
C and I woke up early and got ready for a water park. We called D and J, still not packed and no where near ready to go anywhere. We called Mom and Dad. Mom was up and packing while Dad was snoring. Lovely. There goes plan A.
So we switch to Plan B, head up to the pool area for breakfast and then we would hang out there until it was time to leave. So, Cory and I got the kids ready and went to the food court for breakfast. It was kind of busy so by the time we got out to the pool, D, Mom, A and K were out there swimming already. A and K were selected to wake up Donald and the other Caballeros with maracas and screaming. They were way excited and perfect for the job, LOL. C and I sat down with the kids and made them eat breakfast before they could swim. Just as I got them into the pool, Dad comes running by freaking out about checking out on time. I guess he didn't understand express check out or something. So, he grabbed C to go get all the luggage and do the airline check in. I planned to stay at the pool with Mom and D, since I figured they would help me keep an eye on the kids. Once Dad left, Mom and D decided it was time for them to eat breakfast so they left me there. Mom has this bad habit of thinking D always needs her help more than I do. I think it has to do with the fact that D is younger than I am...but all 3 of my kids are younger than D's 2 oldest so wouldn't that make things more difficult for me in the long run?? Anyways, I digress.
I have to say I was a little perturbed at being left. H and Leo had JUST climbed into the pool. The only way I'd have been able to get them out was kicking and screaming. I had 2 choices...kicking, screaming kids or try to manage all 3 kids at the pool by myself. I chose the latter. I made H and Leo move into the kiddie pool figuring that they would be less likely to drown in there and tried to sit in the water with Lucy in a location where I could get across the pool to either of them quickly if needed (like if my runner boy Leo took off). I continued like this for over 45 minutes. I honestly kept expecting someone to turn up who could help me get the kids out of the pool and it never happened. Finally, Dad and Cory showed up. Hallelujah! I got the kids out of the pool with Cory's help and then Dad remembered that they hadn't done the airline check in yet so he took off (seriously he took off!) and left Cory and I there with the 3 kids (2 in strollers) and a huge luggage cart. I cannot even imagine how ridiculous I looked trying to push 2 stollers at once through the pool area to the bathrooms to get the kids and myself changed.
We finally got all of us changed and went to do the airline check in. It went pretty smoothly except for a seating assignment issue that they said we'd need to address when we got to the airport. So then we went looking for the fam since we hadn't seen them in quite awhile. We found them sitting in the food court, and they actually had the nerve to ask where we'd been!
We grabbed lunch, then went into the store to spend our remaining snack credits for goodies for the trip home. Then it was off to the DME bus to MCO. I was sad that the trip was over, but also relieved to get home and get some time on our own, kwim?
We were waiting for the DME bus when a Disney Cruise bus pulls up into the spot. A driver named Bill got out and said that bus would be the DME bus so we loaded our carry ons into the bottom and got on board. Once we were there, Lucy let loose and had a TOTAL blow out. Nasty, stinky...the kind where C carried her out as far away from him as humanly possibly to go change her (and bless his heart for changing her!). Then BJB had a blow out of his own so D sent J to go change him. Bus Driver Bill was totally cool about it all and waited very patiently for the men and newly cleaned babies to return. Bus driver Bill was awesome! He was training a new driver so he sat right behind the other guy and talked to us over the loud speaker the entire time. He even had A ask "Are we there yet?" over the speaker which she thought was too cool. Bill has totally found his calling if he is like that on every trip. He made our ride to the airport so fun and enjoyable and it was the perfect way to end the vacation.
All too soon we arrived at MCO and tried to find our ticket counter because we had to do the seat change and D and J were told they had to check in at the airport. Of course it was all the way at the far end of the terminal and quite a hike through crowds of people. We got that done and then headed to security. Leo was starting to get nuts so while Mom and D shopped, we opted to go right through security. I think this was probably the best plan, but Leo still went into full meltdown mode. He was throwing himself on the floor, flailing, screaming, you name it. The child was on sensory overload or something. It was not pretty. Once through we headed to our gate and who did we see? Everyone else! Apparantly they got in the good, fast moving security line or something because they had shopped and were still done before us! C and I went to see the gate agents because the desk ladies told him to get the seat changes made at the gate. See, the brilliant folks at NW Airlines had C and I sitting together and our 2 and 3 year olds sitting alone way behind us which was not going to fly. They managed to change one more seat so we had 3 in a row and 1 separate. C volunteered to sit with H and Leo while I took Lucy by myself to the separate seat. Bad idea. H and Leo BOTH screamed and cried for Mommy for probably the first 20minutes of the flight. It broke my heart and made me feel so bad, but what could I do, ya know? Luckily, they then both passed out from exhaustion and were quiet the rest of the flight. Anyways, we got to Memphis and had a delay so we found a decent restaurant and ate a nice dinner before hopping on our last flight for the day. We made it home around 11pm (home is 45 minutes from the airport).
It was a LONG day traveling but it was good to be home!! The kids went to bed SUPER easy and we all slept like rocks that night.
So that was our trip. I think I'll come back tomorrow and do a final thoughts type post to wrap it up. I still have stuff to say, even if the trip is over now that day 6 is done.
It was our last day at WDW.
We weren't supposed to be on the DME bus until 1:25pm and our original plan had been to do a water park in the morning. Note, I said our original plan. That is totally not what went on.
C and I woke up early and got ready for a water park. We called D and J, still not packed and no where near ready to go anywhere. We called Mom and Dad. Mom was up and packing while Dad was snoring. Lovely. There goes plan A.
So we switch to Plan B, head up to the pool area for breakfast and then we would hang out there until it was time to leave. So, Cory and I got the kids ready and went to the food court for breakfast. It was kind of busy so by the time we got out to the pool, D, Mom, A and K were out there swimming already. A and K were selected to wake up Donald and the other Caballeros with maracas and screaming. They were way excited and perfect for the job, LOL. C and I sat down with the kids and made them eat breakfast before they could swim. Just as I got them into the pool, Dad comes running by freaking out about checking out on time. I guess he didn't understand express check out or something. So, he grabbed C to go get all the luggage and do the airline check in. I planned to stay at the pool with Mom and D, since I figured they would help me keep an eye on the kids. Once Dad left, Mom and D decided it was time for them to eat breakfast so they left me there. Mom has this bad habit of thinking D always needs her help more than I do. I think it has to do with the fact that D is younger than I am...but all 3 of my kids are younger than D's 2 oldest so wouldn't that make things more difficult for me in the long run?? Anyways, I digress.
I have to say I was a little perturbed at being left. H and Leo had JUST climbed into the pool. The only way I'd have been able to get them out was kicking and screaming. I had 2 choices...kicking, screaming kids or try to manage all 3 kids at the pool by myself. I chose the latter. I made H and Leo move into the kiddie pool figuring that they would be less likely to drown in there and tried to sit in the water with Lucy in a location where I could get across the pool to either of them quickly if needed (like if my runner boy Leo took off). I continued like this for over 45 minutes. I honestly kept expecting someone to turn up who could help me get the kids out of the pool and it never happened. Finally, Dad and Cory showed up. Hallelujah! I got the kids out of the pool with Cory's help and then Dad remembered that they hadn't done the airline check in yet so he took off (seriously he took off!) and left Cory and I there with the 3 kids (2 in strollers) and a huge luggage cart. I cannot even imagine how ridiculous I looked trying to push 2 stollers at once through the pool area to the bathrooms to get the kids and myself changed.
We finally got all of us changed and went to do the airline check in. It went pretty smoothly except for a seating assignment issue that they said we'd need to address when we got to the airport. So then we went looking for the fam since we hadn't seen them in quite awhile. We found them sitting in the food court, and they actually had the nerve to ask where we'd been!
We grabbed lunch, then went into the store to spend our remaining snack credits for goodies for the trip home. Then it was off to the DME bus to MCO. I was sad that the trip was over, but also relieved to get home and get some time on our own, kwim?
We were waiting for the DME bus when a Disney Cruise bus pulls up into the spot. A driver named Bill got out and said that bus would be the DME bus so we loaded our carry ons into the bottom and got on board. Once we were there, Lucy let loose and had a TOTAL blow out. Nasty, stinky...the kind where C carried her out as far away from him as humanly possibly to go change her (and bless his heart for changing her!). Then BJB had a blow out of his own so D sent J to go change him. Bus Driver Bill was totally cool about it all and waited very patiently for the men and newly cleaned babies to return. Bus driver Bill was awesome! He was training a new driver so he sat right behind the other guy and talked to us over the loud speaker the entire time. He even had A ask "Are we there yet?" over the speaker which she thought was too cool. Bill has totally found his calling if he is like that on every trip. He made our ride to the airport so fun and enjoyable and it was the perfect way to end the vacation.
All too soon we arrived at MCO and tried to find our ticket counter because we had to do the seat change and D and J were told they had to check in at the airport. Of course it was all the way at the far end of the terminal and quite a hike through crowds of people. We got that done and then headed to security. Leo was starting to get nuts so while Mom and D shopped, we opted to go right through security. I think this was probably the best plan, but Leo still went into full meltdown mode. He was throwing himself on the floor, flailing, screaming, you name it. The child was on sensory overload or something. It was not pretty. Once through we headed to our gate and who did we see? Everyone else! Apparantly they got in the good, fast moving security line or something because they had shopped and were still done before us! C and I went to see the gate agents because the desk ladies told him to get the seat changes made at the gate. See, the brilliant folks at NW Airlines had C and I sitting together and our 2 and 3 year olds sitting alone way behind us which was not going to fly. They managed to change one more seat so we had 3 in a row and 1 separate. C volunteered to sit with H and Leo while I took Lucy by myself to the separate seat. Bad idea. H and Leo BOTH screamed and cried for Mommy for probably the first 20minutes of the flight. It broke my heart and made me feel so bad, but what could I do, ya know? Luckily, they then both passed out from exhaustion and were quiet the rest of the flight. Anyways, we got to Memphis and had a delay so we found a decent restaurant and ate a nice dinner before hopping on our last flight for the day. We made it home around 11pm (home is 45 minutes from the airport).
It was a LONG day traveling but it was good to be home!! The kids went to bed SUPER easy and we all slept like rocks that night.
So that was our trip. I think I'll come back tomorrow and do a final thoughts type post to wrap it up. I still have stuff to say, even if the trip is over now that day 6 is done.
So here we are at the end of my first trip report. I wanted to put in a few final thoughts before I call this thing done, so here it goes...in no order of importance.
Disney dining plan - I thought it was a decent value for the adults. It stunk for the kids though. I can't think of any kid out there (well maybe one or two) who wouldn't get sick of the same menu day in and day out, regardless of where we went to eat. This trip may have ended my children's infatuation with all things chicken tender. One one hand, that may be a good thing. On the other, what the heck am I going to use as my "I know they'll eat this" food now? We did get plenty of food though and I'll most likely use the DDP again next time.
Yes, there will be a next time. More on that later.
ASMusic - I just did my online survey about ASMusic and told them what I'm going to type here. We won't be back. Maybe it was the dingy, unrefurbished rooms. Maybe it was the rude response we got when we complained about the noise from nearby rooms being refurbished. Maybe it was the fact that the big pool was closed when they'd previously assured me that it would be open. I'm not sure. I just know that for what we paid for our rooms at ASMusic we could have gotten much nicer rooms for less money off Disney property. Now don't get me wrong, we DO plan to stay on Disney property again (love those EMH!) but we'll do it elsewhere.
Grand Gatherings - I love my family, really I do. I will not, however, be planning a huge family vacation for us all anytime in the near future! Yes folks, there is such thing as too much together-ness and we hit that threshold on this trip.
When its all said and done, we had a great time on this trip. Sure, we had our share of attitude, barf, and meltdowns, but who doesn't? The night in the castle alone made it all worthwhile. I can honestly say that before this trip, I thought Disney was "ok" at best. It certainly wasn't somewhere I could see myself going year after year. Somewhere on this trip, probably around the time we spent the night at the castle, I was transformed. I must have been sprinkled with some heavy duty pixie dust or something. I love Disney now. I can't wait to bring my kids back so they can experience the magic again and again. There are always going to be things that go wrong with the vacation plans, but sometimes, if you are lucky, something unexpected can happen that makes an ordinary vacation the trip of a lifetime. Cory and I would love to bring the kids to WDW next February('08) but I'm not sure that finances will let that happen. We will be back before Lucy turns 3 though...gotta take advantage of that free admission while we still can!
Disney dining plan - I thought it was a decent value for the adults. It stunk for the kids though. I can't think of any kid out there (well maybe one or two) who wouldn't get sick of the same menu day in and day out, regardless of where we went to eat. This trip may have ended my children's infatuation with all things chicken tender. One one hand, that may be a good thing. On the other, what the heck am I going to use as my "I know they'll eat this" food now? We did get plenty of food though and I'll most likely use the DDP again next time.
Yes, there will be a next time. More on that later.
ASMusic - I just did my online survey about ASMusic and told them what I'm going to type here. We won't be back. Maybe it was the dingy, unrefurbished rooms. Maybe it was the rude response we got when we complained about the noise from nearby rooms being refurbished. Maybe it was the fact that the big pool was closed when they'd previously assured me that it would be open. I'm not sure. I just know that for what we paid for our rooms at ASMusic we could have gotten much nicer rooms for less money off Disney property. Now don't get me wrong, we DO plan to stay on Disney property again (love those EMH!) but we'll do it elsewhere.
Grand Gatherings - I love my family, really I do. I will not, however, be planning a huge family vacation for us all anytime in the near future! Yes folks, there is such thing as too much together-ness and we hit that threshold on this trip.
When its all said and done, we had a great time on this trip. Sure, we had our share of attitude, barf, and meltdowns, but who doesn't? The night in the castle alone made it all worthwhile. I can honestly say that before this trip, I thought Disney was "ok" at best. It certainly wasn't somewhere I could see myself going year after year. Somewhere on this trip, probably around the time we spent the night at the castle, I was transformed. I must have been sprinkled with some heavy duty pixie dust or something. I love Disney now. I can't wait to bring my kids back so they can experience the magic again and again. There are always going to be things that go wrong with the vacation plans, but sometimes, if you are lucky, something unexpected can happen that makes an ordinary vacation the trip of a lifetime. Cory and I would love to bring the kids to WDW next February('08) but I'm not sure that finances will let that happen. We will be back before Lucy turns 3 though...gotta take advantage of that free admission while we still can!
I really loved your TR. Just the thought of a castle
stay has to be magical!
I am so glad you
have decided that you really love disney. I'm so dis-
appointed when I read TR'S and folks say they were
not impressed and would not return in the near future
or at all. Loving it as much as I do I simply cannot
understand how everyone doesn't feel the same love
I always hated it when I'd tell people I was going to diz and
they'd say "again", "why not somewhere else". Why go some
where else when you've found your dream vacation spot!!
Thanks again for sharing your disney experience and your wonderful
stay in the castle
. I fully enjoyed it!!
stay has to be magical!
I am so glad youhave decided that you really love disney. I'm so dis-
appointed when I read TR'S and folks say they were
not impressed and would not return in the near future
or at all. Loving it as much as I do I simply cannot
understand how everyone doesn't feel the same love
I always hated it when I'd tell people I was going to diz and
they'd say "again", "why not somewhere else". Why go some
where else when you've found your dream vacation spot!!
Thanks again for sharing your disney experience and your wonderful
stay in the castle
. I fully enjoyed it!!
bizeemom4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2004
- Messages
- 2,031
Great trip report. I read every word. And your picture of the chocolate carriage w/horses brought a tear to my eye.
I too had 3 kids under 6 at one point in my life (we ended up with 4 under 9!) but we weren't brave enough to take them to Disney until the youngest was 4. Congratulations on such a great trip.
I too had 3 kids under 6 at one point in my life (we ended up with 4 under 9!) but we weren't brave enough to take them to Disney until the youngest was 4. Congratulations on such a great trip.
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