6 kids under the age of 6 take on WDW, will Santa still visit when we get home?

[Lcaemom]

I couldn't wait to tell you!!! I'm super excited but when I think too much about it, I feel so guilty too going without Todd and the boys. I"m sure the guilt will go away quick enough when we're there!! LOL! But I've never been away that long without my kiddos...I'm not a bad Mom, am I?We're going to stay at Pop, I got the 5 day tickets and the dining plan again....this way it give us a chance to try some new places. I"m going to let Mom pick out where she wants to eat every night for our TS since it's her birthday present. As far as the plan of attack goes...not sure, my sister is coming out for a visit in about 3 weeks, so maybe we'll have a little planning session? Woohoo! I'm going back to Disney World!!!!!!



Thanks LL!! I didn't think I'd go back for 2-3 more years since Todd thinks we should wait a bit longer to go so there isn't so much baby equipment, naps, et al for us to worry about and I think he's right. The boys will be 8, 6 and 4 ish next time and that would be perfect, I think. SO, at least this gives me a fill without having to wait so long!! And, me and Mom get to do IASW together again!! LOL!! Just in case you were wondering where we'd start out trip!!!

OMG...I would NEVER think of you as a bad mom...don't even think that for one second!!! You will have such a great time with your mom and sister, you're still a daughter and think of how much that will mean to your mom. Of course, it will be hard to go without the kids...I'm sure once you get there you will be fine. But, you could consider it a "research trip," for them. You will be able to take in so much more because you won't be preoccupied with "are they lost, are they hot, are they cold, are they hungry, are they thirsty, do they need to be changed, are they asking for something...et al." You can just take it all in...with the mindset, that you will have so much to share with them when you take them back. One of the days, on our last trip...I took off to the MK to shop, while Bobby took the girls to the pool and on a boat. I walked in and out of every store...took pictures...walk up and down all the little side streets, off Main St...it was only for a couple of hours but, so peaceful. There is soooooo much to see, that you've probably never had the chance to notice. I'm so excited for you and your mom and sister!!! I see you already posted your new ticker, too.

 

[MissMichelle]

I couldn't wait to tell you!!! I'm super excited but when I think too much about it, I feel so guilty too going without Todd and the boys. I"m sure the guilt will go away quick enough when we're there!! LOL! But I've never been away that long without my kiddos...I'm not a bad Mom, am I?We're going to stay at Pop, I got the 5 day tickets and the dining plan again....this way it give us a chance to try some new places. I"m going to let Mom pick out where she wants to eat every night for our TS since it's her birthday present. As far as the plan of attack goes...not sure, my sister is coming out for a visit in about 3 weeks, so maybe we'll have a little planning session? Woohoo! I'm going back to Disney World!!!!!!

You are So not a bad mom--because if you are then so am I! LOL...I will be in WDW in 10 days without the kids and DH for---MY MOMS BIRTHDAY PRESENT Sound familiar? lol We aren't bringing my sister though, we are bringing my best friend.

So yes, I should be doing a PTR but instead I am getting hooked on other reports here (such as yours!) and I can't really start mine....Maybe next week I'll get it going.

I do have a TR on the board from this last trip (that was 8 of us---4 adults 4 kids) but it isn't complete (titled Come One, Come All)...I am SO bad with finishing...thats why I am going to work hard on a LIVE report this trip. So be on the lookout.

 

[ktmetke]

I love your trip report! I love the package from Peter Pan with "NO HOOKS"! Too cute! And the pics from Mickey and Minnie's houses are nice cause you can look at the details you may miss when you're wandering thru the house too fast!

 

[princess&her4princes]

OMG...I would NEVER think of you as a bad mom...don't even think that for one second!!! You will have such a great time with your mom and sister, you're still a daughter and think of how much that will mean to your mom. Of course, it will be hard to go without the kids...I'm sure once you get there you will be fine. But, you could consider it a "research trip," for them. You will be able to take in so much more because you won't be preoccupied with "are they lost, are they hot, are they cold, are they hungry, are they thirsty, do they need to be changed, are they asking for something...et al." You can just take it all in...with the mindset, that you will have so much to share with them when you take them back. One of the days, on our last trip...I took off to the MK to shop, while Bobby took the girls to the pool and on a boat. I walked in and out of every store...took pictures...walk up and down all the little side streets, off Main St...it was only for a couple of hours but, so peaceful. There is soooooo much to see, that you've probably never had the chance to notice. I'm so excited for you and your mom and sister!!! I see you already posted your new ticker, too.

Hi Leighan!

Thanks for making me feel better about going, I'm so excited, I have never left them before and to leave them for 5 days to go to Disney seems so frivilous, you know? I'm SURE we'll all be fine!!! It will be SO good for me in so many ways, I'm making my Mom SO happy and shh...it's good for Todd too to see what I do every day around here, too, as a SAHM!!

Your afternoon in MK sounds wonderful, just reading that made me feel like this trip is going to be wonderful....it won't be a rushed day at all, we can shop, eat when we want, rest when we want, see something if want to or not....ahh, it seems like a REAL vacation! LOL!!

I just called AAA to check about the week prior to what I had booked to see if there was a difference in cost, there isn't, so we may move it up a week...my anniversary is the week we were thinking of going-- which isn't a biggie since we'd probably go out the weekend before or after it to celebrate but we should at least be home together that day. LOL!! AND for Todd's work schedule, it will be better too....so it may now be 9/14-18th instead. You'll notice the chance in my ticker when I change it.

Looking forward to my "research" trip!! LOL!!!
ttys!
Kristen

 

[princess&her4princes]

You are So not a bad mom--because if you are then so am I! LOL...I will be in WDW in 10 days without the kids and DH for---MY MOMS BIRTHDAY PRESENT Sound familiar? lol We aren't bringing my sister though, we are bringing my best friend.

So yes, I should be doing a PTR but instead I am getting hooked on other reports here (such as yours!) and I can't really start mine....Maybe next week I'll get it going.

I do have a TR on the board from this last trip (that was 8 of us---4 adults 4 kids) but it isn't complete (titled Come One, Come All)...I am SO bad with finishing...thats why I am going to work hard on a LIVE report this trip. So be on the lookout.

It's good for us Moms to take some time for ourselves every once in awhile, right? Plus, it makes us better Mothers when we get home and we get to spend time with our Moms, too!! Let's hope our kids are as great doing something like this!! LOL!!

Would love to read about your girl trip!! Write a PTR!!! You'll have some readers.....hint, hint!!

I love your trip report! I love the package from Peter Pan with "NO HOOKS"! Too cute! And the pics from Mickey and Minnie's houses are nice cause you can look at the details you may miss when you're wandering thru the house too fast!

Thank you!!! Thanks for joining in!! Mickey and Minnie's houses are so cute and you're right, there are so many details you'd miss just walking through, I noticed so many things this time that I didn't last!!

 

[princess&her4princes]

So I left off in Toontown, we were going our seperate ways for a bit. Tracey and Hailey were off to see the princesses, Adam and Zach were going to explore some more in Toontown and Todd and I decided to take the boys to see Mickey again, after all we were in Mickey's house, we needed to see him again!!

When waiting in line in front of Mickey and Minnie, Cole got down and was watching them like a hawk but seemed like he may be warming up a bit, I was excited that we may actually get a nice family pic with the characteres. We got a lot of photopass pictures here, but you'll have to wait for those (sorry!) but here are a couple of us with Mickey and Minnie....what do you think?

Obviously, Todd and I are more concerned with how Cole is handling this rather than looking at the camera....let's hope that Photopass pics are better!! LOL!!

He wasn't buying it!! Oh well...maybe our next trip!!

After we visited with Mickey and Minnie for a bit, it was time to meet up with everyone else. It was about 1 or so and we needed to get all the way to the front of the park (remind yourself-- we have two stollers, wandering 3 & 6 year olds and hungry babies!!) to Tony's for lunch. The best bet? Probably the train, but for some reason we decided to walk it......and thankfully, we made it just in time! Phew!!! And were were hungry!!!

Here is a quick pic of Cole enjoying part of Todd's lunch....

We spent a good hour having lunch, freshening up some, changing baby diapers and when we walked out of Tony's we found it was parade time already!! What timing, it was a pretty good view....

Obviously, I liked the parade, hence all the pictures...but wait, there's more!!

 

[princess&her4princes]

Here are the kids watching the parade...

...and some more parage pics, I hope I'm not boring you!!
The princesses

 

[princess&her4princes]

This is what Lukey thought about it...lol!

After the parade, we decided to walk our way over to see if we could get on Splash, it was warm, so why not? We got there and the wait was 70 minutes and the fast pass was hours away. We didn't plan to be there that much longer today so we passed on it and never did get to ride it this week. It was a shame but most of the days it wasn't warm enough and we didn't plan well enough to get FP early enough so we missed out.

It was SO busy in Frontierland...I think this was the first time we noticed the extra confusion of Pop Warner. The cheerleaders were everywhere chanting and we just had to get out of there and fast!! We ended up going to the train station there and catching a ride...the kids were all getting tired and we thought we'd just do a couple more things and call it a day.

We took the train and eventually got off in Toontown again and followed the path behind Space Mountain and decided to do and oldy but a goody. Carosel of Progress, I really like this show and so do the kids. Cole loved the song and danced his was through the entire thing.

It was time to call it a day but before we did, we asked the kids what they wanted to do for the last ride of the day and it was unanimous!! Buzz!!! So we did a quick ride on Buzz Lightyear and called it a day.

We had a quick CS dinner at Everything Pop that night, gave the kids a quick bath and it was another ending to a great day at Disney World!!

As usual, we adults met outside on our "deck" and had some coffee and chatted about our day. We really had some great nights out there catching up, laughing about the days events and having some snacks that the kids didn't know about and that we didn't need to share!! LOL!!

Tomorrow is our "down day"- what will we do? Will it be warm enough to swim? We have tickets to see MVMCP and dinner plans at Chef Mickey's stay tuned....

 

[TinkyCheeks]

What a great TR! It sounds like you guys are having a wonderful time! I love all the pics, too. Your kids are beautiful!

I have three boys, 6, 4 and 3. I was really nervous about taking them, but your TR is giving me hope!

 

[princess&her4princes]

What a great TR! It sounds like you guys are having a wonderful time! I love all the pics, too. Your kids are beautiful!

I have three boys, 6, 4 and 3. I was really nervous about taking them, but your TR is giving me hope!

Hi!! Thank you and thanks for joining in!! You'll have a blast...trust me, it will be nutty, but good nutty!! I see that it will be your first trip? Where are you staying? Would love to hear the details!! If you have any questions, that maybe I can answer since we've done it twice now with the kiddos, just let me know!!

Looking forward to getting to know you!!
Kristen

 

[BellaSoleil]

I love all of the parade pics! Thanks for posting so many.

 

[princess&her4princes]

I love all of the parade pics! Thanks for posting so many.

Thanks Soleil!! Wasn't sure if there were too many, so thanks!!

 

[michellem1118]

Yay, more updates! Sounds like a great afternoon at MK. DH & I have only done MK once in 3 trips, so its definitely on our agenda for our March trip, and I can't wait.

(p.s. when I finish the grading I need to do, I'm planning to take photos of some stuff and post it to my pre-trippie... just in case you wanna check it out later tonight or sometime tomorrow... )

 

[princess&her4princes]

Yay, more updates! Sounds like a great afternoon at MK. DH & I have only done MK once in 3 trips, so its definitely on our agenda for our March trip, and I can't wait.

(p.s. when I finish the grading I need to do, I'm planning to take photos of some stuff and post it to my pre-trippie... just in case you wanna check it out later tonight or sometime tomorrow... )

Hi Michelle!!
It really was a great day at MK that day. To me, that's what the trip is all about, it's our favorite park, especially while the kids are so little. You'll have to make a day of it for sure on your next trip...or at least an afternoon/night!!

Good luck with your grading! What grade do you teach? I'm going to check our your ptr now and see if you have any updates.

Hoping to get another one done tomorrow, need to download more pics!!! ttys!

 

[michellem1118]

Hi Michelle!!
It really was a great day at MK that day. To me, that's what the trip is all about, it's our favorite park, especially while the kids are so little. You'll have to make a day of it for sure on your next trip...or at least an afternoon/night!!

Good luck with your grading! What grade do you teach? I'm going to check our your ptr now and see if you have any updates.

Hoping to get another one done tomorrow, need to download more pics!!! ttys!

We're definitely doing MK in March, we have dinner reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern. We've skipped it the past two trips because we don't have kids and it's always so crowded... but those trips were pre-DIS-covery! Now I've got a better idea how to navigate that park!

I teach 9th grade world geography... I've had a project that my pre-AP kids did before Christmas sitting in my living room for nearly a month, and grades are due on Tuesday, so it was finally time to get it done! I've taken a few pictures, but haven't uploaded them yet... the update will probably come tomorrow when I get home from work around 4:00CST... I also need to back-up my laptop to the external hard drive because it's having some minor issues and I don't want to lose any data! But as soon as I get that done, the next update in my pre-trippie will be up, I promise!

 

[Dylan_&_Blake's_mom]

Sounds like you had a great day. You got a lot of really great close-up parade pictures. Bummer about not getting to ride Splash but unfortunately you can't do it all and hey, you're going back before you know it and will be able to do all kinds of things at a leisurely pace...CONGRATULATIONS on that! That will be really nice to be just the girls I can imagine.

What you said about sitting on the "deck" with friends and chatting at the end of the day sounds like a great way to unwind. We're hoping for my best friend, her husband and their son (who is the same age as our youngest) to join us. I think it would be a lot of fun.

Can't wait to see what the next day brings you....hopefully you were able to swim.

 

[princess&her4princes]

We're definitely doing MK in March, we have dinner reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern. We've skipped it the past two trips because we don't have kids and it's always so crowded... but those trips were pre-DIS-covery! Now I've got a better idea how to navigate that park!

I teach 9th grade world geography... I've had a project that my pre-AP kids did before Christmas sitting in my living room for nearly a month, and grades are due on Tuesday, so it was finally time to get it done! I've taken a few pictures, but haven't uploaded them yet... the update will probably come tomorrow when I get home from work around 4:00CST... I also need to back-up my laptop to the external hard drive because it's having some minor issues and I don't want to lose any data! But as soon as I get that done, the next update in my pre-trippie will be up, I promise!

Love your pre-DIS-covery!! Good luck getting your grading done and I'll be on the lookout later for your update!!

Sounds like you had a great day. You got a lot of really great close-up parade pictures. Bummer about not getting to ride Splash but unfortunately you can't do it all and hey, you're going back before you know it and will be able to do all kinds of things at a leisurely pace...CONGRATULATIONS on that! That will be really nice to be just the girls I can imagine.

What you said about sitting on the "deck" with friends and chatting at the end of the day sounds like a great way to unwind. We're hoping for my best friend, her husband and their son (who is the same age as our youngest) to join us. I think it would be a lot of fun.

Can't wait to see what the next day brings you....hopefully you were able to swim.

Hi!! You're right, there is always time to do things NEXT TIME!! I still can't believe I"m going again!!! I know, it's 7+ mos. away, but time flies.....it will sneak up for sure. And thankfully, Mom and my sister love those rides too, so it will be fun for sure.

Yes, ahhh, our nights out on the "deck" were the best, it was a bit chilly, but we wore our sweats, the guys would run to Eveything Pop, grab something sweet that we didnt' need to share and somethings warm to drink. It was the best, we literally spent hours out there and had some of the best talks, the funniest talks and some nice adult down time.....it kept us going for the next day, for sure!!! And, it was nice to just be "Kristen & Tracey" too like the old days...boy, do I really miss her. That was the fastest week, we planned for SO long but it truly was one of the best weeks of my life!! I hope you get to do the same thing with your BFF!!!

Coley just went down for his nap...trying to sneak in a quick update....while jamming to my very cool purple Ipod my DH got me for my birthday....wasn't sure I really needed/wanted one but am I psyched he got it....great for the treadmill and for some "quiet" time for Mommy, too!!

Stay tuned.......

 

[princess&her4princes]

Today was our "down" day, we had big hopes for a glorious pool day, since we live in Massachusetts, it's been months since we could been swimming. It wasn't meant to be....we woke up to VERY COLD RAINY day. But, we were still in DISNEY, so we were going to make the best of it!! We had to 'do' something, we didn't have park tickets for this day since we had tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party later today, so what were we going to do?

After heading to Everything Pop for our usual breakfast, we decided to be brave and take some time at DTD. We had dollar store ponchos, so we were prepared and it wasn't like we could keep the kids cooped up in our tiny hotel rooms...so off we went!!

When we got there the sky opened up....it truly was miserable. I might not have been that bad if it wasn't for the fact we had 6 small children in tow....if it was just Tracey and I or just the adults, we would have run from sight to sight...BUT, it wasn't...it was us, with all of our gear and all of our babies....so, needless to say, we didn't get anywhere too quickly. And let me just make a recommendation here, do not buy dollar store ponchos! You get what you pay for....my poncho had the SMALLEST head hole ever, it didnt cover anyting besides the back of my hair, Todds poncho only had one arm hole! It really was too funny!!!! I think it may be worth buying the $7 Mickey ones in the stores there after this experience!! LOL!!

We hit the shops, would finish one, open the map to plan of attack for the next one....and so one. I was on a search for something "keepsakey" for me, not sure what, but most likey something jewelry related....maybe a charm bracelet I could add too? I wasn't sure but to this point, I had checked every park and hadn't found anything so I was keeping my eyes peeled. I did find my special Christmas ornament that I had been looking for. Isn't it pretty?

I actually think it's prettier in person, but at least you can get an idea of it. It's different and it was dated, so I was happy. I also picked up a POC Mickey Antenna topper, actually the boys picked it out for me, so I had to get it and my minivan is sporting that now.

We headed to the World of Disney and i'm pretty sure that everyone that was in DTD was in there, as well! BOY, it was SUPER CROWDED but it's the biggest store, has so much to look at, so many rooms and it was raining so we all crammed in there.

A pic of Ethan happy to be inside!!

Here is a pretty tree I saw inside and had to get a pic of....

a bit closer

and this pretty wreath over the registers

To get an idea of how crowded it was, I will tell you that when we finally left WOD, they were at their limits and asking people to wait outside, that's how busy it was!!! Tracey and family were shopping in there, not sure we ended up with anything from there, other than a bit of headache from the mass chaos and trying to keep track of our children! Since we weren't buying anything we headed outside to wait under the rooftop while they continued to shop....here are some pics for you...

The boys trying to stay dry (notice Todd got rid of his poncho at this point!)

Lucas having so much fun...not!!

And Cole ready to splash....he had so much fun running in and out of the rain, that poor baby was SOAKED!!!

Todd called Adam to find out when they would be out and let them know where we were, well, they had just left and went out the entire opposite side of the building! So, to meet up with them, we had to run across the entire place to find them! And at this point since we were so wet, it didnt' really matter what happened...so off we went! We met up with them and decided we'd try Wolfgang Puck express for lunch and we were so glad we did...it was delish!!!!!! I highly recommend!!

I don't have any more pictures at this point, we enjoyed our lunch and then decided to head back to POP for a shower and some nice warm clothes...we had a BIG night ahead of us!! We were off to Chef Mickey's and for MVMCP, would it stop raining so we could enjoy our big night on the town?!! Stay tuned......

 

[princess&her4princes]

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to share, I picked up the boys pictures today at Sears and I'm so happy with them, I needed to share! Aren't they so handsome? If I do say so myself!!! LOL!

This is Lucas' 4 year picture

and Cole's 18 month picture....

Now those were pictures of pictures, but they give you an idea of them anyways. Thanks for letting me share my little men!!

Just noticed they were facing the wrong way, I went into photobucket to rotate them, did it and then saved them and they won't turn. Hmm..sorry about that!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

What a rainy day but at least you made the most of it, sometimes that is half the battle.

We bought the same ornament for our tree, it's really hard to photograph! I agree, it's much prettier in person.

The boys pictures are adorable!