A Disboutiquer's "just another trip report" --THE END! updated 8/28

[jham]

Is there a "Lamest TR Title" award? 'cus I'm goin' for that!!

Okay, I just read UtahMama's trip report within a trip report and now I am askeered to write my own! Yet here I go anyway. This is not going to be as easy as I originally thought. My computer just crashed with all of my photos on it. Fortunately they were still in my camera and I'm just figuring out things on DH's computer. Still, I don't have my photoshop, so forgive the photos.

Okay, we’ll start with an introduction.

Me38(Jeanne)—SAHM I found the Disboards just before our Disney cruise in February 2007. Then I found UtahMama’s first TR which led me to her DL TR which led me to the Disboutiquers thread which inspired me to start sewing again after 10 years! Now it would be cute to refer to us all by the name of the Disney character we most resemble, but I am lazy and would most likely revert to DD10, DS8 etc. so we will just throw in the character affiliations here and leave it at that. I think I am the hardest one to characterize. I like to think I’m a bit of a Cinderella with all the cooking and cleaning and such, but in all likelihood, I probably have more characteristics of Donald Duck and Tinkerbelle. I have been a lifelong Disney lover. I grew up going to Disneyland many times. Our first trip to Disneyworld was in 2001. We were oh so naïve (only spent 3 ½ days! We had no ADRs!, only half a day at epcot?!) We only had two children back then. DS was almost 2 and DD was 3 at the time. We stayed at the GF and had an amazing time! We met up with friends who lived in Ft. Lauderdale. It was the best vacation ever and we could not wait to go back! Unfortunately we did have to wait, but 7 years later we returned! I booked the Port Orleans for 7 nights (still not enough) with the DDP.

DH 38--(Mike) like most people I often refer to my DH as Grumpy, as do the kids. He also has quite a bit of Goofy thrown in to balance things out. He is a software engineer and works too much. He is also back in school working towards an MBA in technical management. He really needed a vacation!

DD10(Jayden)—She will tell you she is very much like Ariel, maybe a little Aurora thrown in. Do not let her fool you. SHE IS TINKERBELL! And if she knows I told you all that, she will go all Tinkerbelle on me. She is a great kid and lots of help with her younger siblings. She enjoys all things “tween” but is still a little girl at heart.

DS8(Seth)—Love him, such a sweet heart, but at least part of the time he is Stitch. On our trip I even commented to him that if I did not speak English, I would swear I was hearing Stitch screeching something in another language. He loves Disney, but not so much the “little kid rides”. Fortunately he has the ability to transform into an angel whenever one of his siblings is acting up. He is also a very picky eater.

DS5(Luke)—I would have to say Mickey. He is just an all around good guy that everyone loves. He would tell you “I’m a pirate.” Okay, he did tell people he was a pirate. Lots of people—everywhere. Not just at the pirate and princess party either. Beware striking up a conversation with him. You will become his best friend and he will be talking to you, hugging you, talking to you, more talking…let’s just say he is very friendly and loving.

DD2(Lily)—She is the best of all princesses combined. She is SUCH a princess. Her favorite is “Lella” (Cinderella of course). She was sooooo good on this trip. Don’t let anyone talk you out of taking a 2 year-old to Disneyworld! She loved everything, even though she spent a lot of time in the stroller. It was so great to see her eyes light up time after time. She also really loves Minnie Mouse. Any time she sees polka dots she says “that’s Minnie’s [hat/dress/blankie/bow etc].”

That is our cast of characters. Let the TR (and photos) begin!

 

[jham]

Day 1 Part 1: January 18, 2008 "I'm leavin' on a jet plane"


We (I) woke up at 3am and managed to get everyone in the car (minivan) by 4am in the cold and dark! Our airport system is to drop mom and the kids off at the skycap, drop off the luggage (run before they weigh it!) and meet dad in the airport security line while he goes and parks the car and takes the parking shuttle back to the airport. The upside to such an early departure was that there were no lines at airport security! In no time we were on our way.

Things were starting out pretty smoothly. As usual, the most difficult part of any vacation involving air travel was getting 6 people through the metal detector. Including shoes and jackets, I believe we had a total of around 14 plastic bins to push through the x-ray machine. One of us heads through the metal detector and waits for the kids to cross over to the other side while the other (okay, me) pushes along the train of plastic bins while folding the stroller and scraping the 2-year-old off my leg trying to convince her to “go see daddy!” on the other side of that scary gate with all those people watching you. When we all make it to the other side, we start stacking kids and carry-ons and shoes at the nearest bench while one of us stacks up the empty bins and DD10 helps the littles with their shoes. That is usually the great adventure of any vacation. And we get to do it twice! The people behind us in the security line LOVE IT. All I can say is thank goodness for DME! It was made for people like us whose children just aren’t big enough to haul their own luggage around!

We were flying from Salt Lake City to Orlando with a 1 ½ hour layover in Atlanta. Usually I book direct flights, but this one got us in earlier than any direct flight would, and hey, maybe it would be good to let the kids out to stretch their legs, and now they can tell their friends they’ve been to Georgia! The first leg of our flight went very smoothly, both literally and figuratively. This was DD2’s first flight without a car seat and she did not want to wear her seatbelt.

Other than that, no problems. The layover in Atlanta was fine. They have little playgrounds every few gates for kids to play on. That was excellent!

Our second leg was much shorter. We arrived in Orlando around 3:30pm.

 

[BeeBopp]

Great start! 4 kids and Disney World...can't wait to hear more!

 

[ChelleinNC]

Great start! Oh, your little one is just too cute!

 

[jham]

ME went great. I waited in the ME check-in line behind maybe 2 or 3 people at most. We walked over to our bus line and were boarded on our bus and on the road within about 15 minutes of entering the line. The kids were so excited to be on the “Mickey Bus” We had the whole back of the bus to ourselves, which was good, since each kid wanted their own “right in front of a TV monitor” seat.

(baby likes to chew her blankie)

We were at our hotel (Port Orleans Riverside) by around 4:30pm. I had to wait in line to check-in for about 15 minutes. DH hung out with the kids in front of the cartoons. (That's DH in the Grumpy Miners hockey jersey)

DD2 loved the little coloring table they had.

I had a good chat with our front desk guy (Hough or something like that?) He was very nice. I did not get my requested bldg. 14 but was very pleasant about it. He checked with someone else and after some discussion advised me they could move me to bldg. 14 the next day. Now moving 6 people is not such a good idea so I said, no we will be fine. Okay, they gave us bldg. 18 which was my second choice (they didn’t know that) so I was pretty happy. We had a good chat about all kinds of things and he recommended that we ride Spaceship Earth as it was in the midst of renovation and things were changing on it every day (including wigs on the animatronic people.) So I finally ended my chat with Hough and we herded the children towards our room by way of the food court so we could pick up some refillable mugs.

The kids were distracted by the 2 penny press machines we passed, but we eventually made it. This is where we had our first trauma. I’m paying for our mugs and the cashier is removing those pesky yellow tabs, when I notice DS5 is no longer with us (DH is off somewhere else as well). I start looking around, DD10 and DS8 are already filling their mugs (that I haven’t quite yet paid for) and hollering “we can’t find the straws” Now people are behind me in the cashier’s line, I’m wandering the food court calling out for DS5, finally DH shows up and takes off looking. He returns—no luck. Now my main concern is that DS5 spotted the “river” outside and has gone to check it out and/or fall in. Finally the food court manager comes over and goes and gets someone from security and everyone is searching. I’m about to panic, I can’t leave the other 3 kids to go look or they will get lost too. DD10 and DS8 are still solely concerned with their mugs, beverages, and straws. Finally DH comes walking in with DS5. He had walked all the way back to the lobby by himself and was sitting there watching the cartoons on TV. Now this is very out of character for DS5. He has never been a wanderer. He chose this moment to become one and remained that way for the rest of the trip.


Finally we made it to our room (1829).

And look at our cute towel art! The first of many. DD2 fell in love with the baby birds and slept with them every night. She really did not want to leave them behind when we left.

The grounds were gorgeous. We live in a very arid place, so the lush greenery was amazing! DS8 made me laugh the whole trip; he kept saying “it’s really humid” over and over again. We settled into our room, fought over beds, etc. and lo and behold our luggage arrived! Only about an hour after we checked in! I was expecting a much longer wait.

 

[jham]

So even though we were pretty tired, we walked over to the boat dock and took about a 20-25 minute ride to DTD. Now this takes a little longer than the bus ride, but if you have a stroller, it is well worth it to take the boat and not have to fold up and carry a stroller. Especially if baby is sleeping! We intended to get counter service at the Wolfgang Puck express in the Marketplace section of DTD but of course they were closed and under construction. We waited in a VERY LONG line at a very crowded Earl of Sandwich with 4 tired hungry kids. Fortunately we did find a table to sit at and after a few fights between DD10 and DS8 we sat down and ate. That improved our mood considerably! The food was surprisingly good. I had some kind of deluxe grilled cheese sandwich; I think it had bacon on it. DD10 was so thrilled to be considered an adult on the dining plan. It was great because she tried (and liked) alot of new foods on this trip.

(miscellaneous DTD photo)

After we ate we went over to Once Upon a Toy and let the boys build their own light sabers. I must say it was pretty cool. We are Star Wars fans (not quite fanatics, but DS5 is named Luke ). The boys were so excited. It was really fun to watch.

I then took the girls to WOD to go princess dress shopping while DH and the boys went to the Lego store.

Okay, time for a little back story. On our first trip to Disneyworld, DD10 was DD3. I saw all the other little girls running around in princess dresses and thought I should really buy one for DD. Did I? No. What was I thinking? So in later years I promised her that if we ever went to Disneyworld again, I would buy her whatever princess dress she wanted. So now it was time to pay up. She is 10, but not too grown up yet. I am glad that in most ways she is still a little girl. She decided that she still wanted to get a princess dress (hey, I wouldn’t mind one myself). As I mentioned, DD2 really loves Cinderella. I was disappointed that there was only one style of Cinderella dress (in all of Disneyworld no less) available. Let’s just say I did not love it. My Disboutiquer friends have made many a prettier Cinderella dress. Nonetheless, it was the one she wanted. Then she sat on the floor of that WOD store and wedged her little feet into some glass slippers that she would not let go of. Ever since she saw Cinderella for the first time, she calls all shoes “slippers”. Meanwhile, DD10 picked the red Belle dress. She pulled it on over her clothes and asked if she could wear it the rest of the night. As we checked out, I told DD2 that we had to take her shoes off now and give them to the cashier. Mean sneaky mom that I am, I told the cashier we would not be buying them. That baby wanted those shoes! This comes into play on day 2 of our trip. We rode the boat back to POR and called it a night.

Up next: Day2: BBB and MK

 

[jham]

Great start! 4 kids and Disney World...can't wait to hear more!

Great start! Oh, your little one is just too cute!

Wow, thanks! I didn't think anyone would read it (without me doing a little arm-twisting!) Glad I'm not alone out here

 

[carrie6466]

Great start, I can't wait to read more!

 

[revrob]

Loved seeing the pics so far! Can't wait to see more!

 

[scottny]

I am so happy u started a tr. It is off to a great start. I am off to watch the dog for the night but really enjoyed this before I left.

The pics look really nice.

 

[Liz]

Fabulous start! I can just imagine how scary you were with your DS lost. Glad it turned out okay.

Can't wait for more!

 

[UtahMama]

1. So....you're saying you may or may not have stolen the towel chicks? heh!
2. Lily!!!! Hi sweetie-bug! I see you sitting on your mama's lap baby girl! How are you? This is from Norah:
3. I could have "lended" you some serious mugs for POR. We have 6.
4. That stripwork hearts jumper is what I'm working on at this very moment (well, in a minute I'll get back to it. I needed a break) That sucker is cute!
5. Thanks for the cameo twice! I'm so hono(u)red!
6. Tell Jayden she looks so beautiful in the red Belle gown
7.Can't wait to hear all about your trip and see some more customs!
Was your POR room big enough? With the trundle and crib, I thought I was gonna die
8. Are you going to the zoo with my and Misty's families tomorrow???? We can use our AP's and do Counter Service in "Asia"

 

[teresajoy]

I just love trip reports! And your is great!!!!


Oh my gosh!! You almost lost my future nephew!! I'm glad you found him! I can imagine how scared you must have been.

I'm loving Jayden in the Belle gown, she looks so beautiful! Arminda still loves the princesses too. I love that!

Can't wait for more! Make sure you let us know over on the disboutique thread when you update!

 

[rockstargeisha]

Hopping aboard! Wonderful report so far. Your children are precious. Looking forward to more.

 

[ALnRYSmom]

Great report can't wait to read more.

 

[sunlver]

Just found your TR, and enjoying it. Cant wait to read more

 

[spongemommie05]

just finished Camden's b_day outfit and needed my medicine to kick in so i jumped aboard love your TR so far .. Comment more tommorow.

 

[Twins+2more]

hey hey, fellow ccboardie here. Looking forward to hearing ALL about your trip. Your DD looks great in her belle dress. And "bad mommy" for not letting your DD walk around DW in glass slippers and getting blister!

 

[PrinceAndPrincessQ]

Hiiii!!

I am a daily lurker on the disboutique thread, LOVEEEEEEEE reading and seeing everyone's talent! (secretly wishing it was meeee lololol)

Anyway, saw your link to your TR and wanted to subscribe.

Great start!!

 

[eeyore3847]

Love the trip report and the pictures!
My husband was like - "you can build your own lightsaber? We missed that! We have to go back!!"

Lori