A Nov trip with 4 & 2 yr olds! New 4/18: Studios/Epcot

[scrapnmom]

I loved reading TRs before we went, and I wanted to write one when we got back but I kept putting it off. I’ve been reading some great TRs lately and was told that it wasn’t too late, so here goes…

Cast of characters:

Me, Christine, 31 when we went. SAHM and former first grade teacher, loves Disney. We went quite a few times when I was growing up and I wanted to start that tradition with my children, although I was 9 on my first trip and my kids went for the first time when they were 2! I found the disboards last May and quickly became hooked!

DH, 33. Electrical Engineer, tolerates Disney. He went twice as a child and this was now his 5th trip. He was diagnosed with diabetes Type 1, insulin dependent in May 2007, which came as a complete shock since he had hardly ever been sick in his life before! We were still getting the hang of dosing before meals before we left.

DS4, big fan of Lightning McQueen. Loves looking at the scrapbook of his first trip.

DD2, already into princesses (which I of course encouraged since we were going to meet some!) and already has a very strong-willed personality. She has a mild food allergy to eggs. We completely avoid egg at home but the dr said we didn’t have to worry if she had an accidental exposure. So, we had the allergy noted on all our ADR’s and had gotten a list of some safe/unsafe foods from Food Services but I wasn’t super vigilant about checking ingredients for CS meals and I made some assumptions. Obviously, if she had a severe allergy I would have been checking the ingredients on everything she put in her mouth.

We took DS when he was 22m old and I was pg with DD. We had an absolutely wonderful time and kept saying that we would go back when the baby was 2, so I’d been thinking about this trip for a long time. The last time we went was in May and it was the first time we had ever been in the “off-season” (I had always gone during spring break, DH went in the summer) and we decided that we never wanted to go during a peak time again! I had always wanted to go around Christmastime and I also wanted to see the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Lights. So, the trip was planned for November 10-17 2007. I somehow convinced DH that we should go deluxe and booked the Wilderness Lodge, courtyard view.

 

[stagemomx3]

First!

 

[scrapnmom]

First!

I'm so excited to have a reader!

 

[scrapnmom]

Day 1, Saturday, November 10

We left Milwaukee in the early afternoon on Midwest Airlines. It was a fairly uneventful trip. We had considered getting a DVD player for the trip but our seats were 2 and 2, rows 8 and 9, so the kids wouldn’t have been able to watch together. I had been getting toys and activities for months so each child had their own backpack of new things for the plane.

Here’s DD playing with the mini doodle pro. She had a sucker on take-off which you can see around her mouth and on her shirt.

DS and DH sat together. I had gotten a Lego Creator 3-in-1 set for them to do together. The two of them spent the ENTIRE 2 hours working on that. They put one together then DS would play with it, then take it all apart and put the next one together…all the way until it was time to land! Best $6 I have ever spent!

DD fell asleep not long into the trip, so I was able to read a magazine! She woke up just as they started to pass out the fresh-baked cookies (these are the best cookies I have ever eaten ) and I had brought along some eggless chocolate chip cookies for DD and she didn’t seem to mind that she had different ones than me.

When we landed, DH had a really hard time unbuckling DD’s carseat from the plane! He had cranked it as hard as is does in the car. I took the kids off and had to wait a couple of minutes before he came off. We got our luggage no problem and then went to get the rental car (we were planning to go to the Kennedy Space Center later in the week). I had reserved a car from Budget, which has the cheapest rates. Well, everyone else chose Budget, too, because the line was enormous!! I got in line and DH and the kids found a spot to spread out. I waited an hour in line, it was awful. Two years ago we got upgraded to a minivan. I was hoping for an upgrade this time, but it didn’t happen. We ended up with a Chevy Impala which was very nice and roomy (at home we have a Caravan and a Cavalier).

It was dark when we left the airport but it was still a fun drive. We were so excited when we arrived at the WL! The kids immediately found the tv. No line to check in, and the CM was super friendly. We decided to check out our room and then get some dinner at Roaring Forks since it was already 8:00 and we had eaten lunch at 11:00.

We walked into the room and there were bunkbeds! I had not requested these, DS was thrilled. I spotted a towel Mickey Head on the bed and pulled out the camera. DH said “Oh, look, there are towel circles on the bed!” DD said, "A crown!" The kids immediately took it apart before I could take a picture. This is all I got:

 

[scottny]

First!

show off.

 

[scottny]

Great start to your report. Love the pics. Looking forward to more.

 

[stagemomx3]

show off.

 

[scrapnmom]

So, we headed down to have dinner at Roaring Forks. I asked to see the ingredient list and saw that the kids chicken nuggets were eggless (most in the parks are not) so DD and DS had nuggets, DH had the ham and cheddar sandwich which was huge and I had the grilled chicken salad which was enormous. Everything was very good.

We did not do the DDP. I knew that we would not eat that much food, plus we had a day offsite. I made extensive calculations using the menus on allears and I knew that we would not get our money’s worth. We had something like $600 in Disney Reward Dollars to use, I split it onto two cards. We used it for everything, I think the only thing we paid cash for was 4 Mickey ice cream sandwiches from a cart and a hat in Epcot, otherwise everything else we ate and bought were paid for with the Rewards.

We then headed out to go grocery shopping. I had planned on us eating breakfast in the room most days since DD’s breakfast options are fairly limited. I had looked up where to find grocery stores and knew which road to take. I didn’t realize that nearby really meant far! I think we drove a good 20-30 minutes until we got to Publix. We got a big case of water bottles and breakfast stuff for the week for $30. I had made a list previously, which was very helpful because 2 years ago we did a grocery stop without a list and ended up with a lot of leftover food.

We got back to the hotel at 10:30 (9:30 our time so not too bad), and we all went to bed. I just laid there and couldn’t sleep, then my tummy started feeling NOT GOOD.

I ended up spending the whole entire night in the bathroom throwing up!! I have no idea what hit me. I don’t see how it could have been the food since DH ate half my salad and he was fine! I was sure our trip was ruined, I was crying in between being sick thinking about DH taking the kids to the parks by himself.

 

[scottny]

I hope you feel better by the morning.

 

[scrapnmom]

I hope you feel better by the morning.

Thanks for the concern!

DH finally woke up early in the morning and sat with me. At 8, he went down to the gift shop and bought me Sprite and saltines. I had a little bit and started feeling better! I felt well enough to leave around 10. We took the boat to the MK, what a wonderful trip! It was such a perfect way to start a Disney vacation!

When we got there, I was surprised to see how crowded it was! I have read that you shouldn’t go to the MK on Sunday because everyone starts their vacation at MK. The only park that was good according to Touring Plans was AK, and I just couldn’t see starting there. As soon as I saw the crowd level, I knew that Fantasy Land was out, so we got a double stroller and headed for Tomorrowland. DS said he planned on walking the whole time but we thought it would be better to have a double in case he changed his mind. We were able to walk on to Buzz Lightyear, by the time we got out there was a 20 minute wait. I thought we should do one more thing before heading to CP for our ADR so we did the TTA/People Mover. DS LOVED it!

We made our way to the CP for lunch at 11:30. We had a good wait before being seated, and they ran out of pagers so I had to stay near the entrance to hear them yell our name. The kids were so excited to see the ducks. They acted like they had never seen ducks before. (they weren't feeding them, they were trying to touch them)

When we were seated finally, Chef Matt came out to walk me through the buffet line. He was very, very nice. The kids mac n cheese and chicken nuggets both contained egg, but all the breads were safe and the ice cream and there really was plenty for DD to eat (plus I didn’t think she would eat much anyway). She had some pizza, a roll, some fruit, and ice cream!

The character rotation was not as good as when we went 2 years ago, the characters only came to our table once and Pooh never came so we had the server go get him for us before we left. Last summer I found the disboutique thread and made DD some outfits for the trip. She wore a t-shirt dress with a Pooh fabric skirt and I had cut out a Pooh from the fabric and ironed it on to bodice. The characters noticed her dress! Eeyore pointed himself out on her skirt.
I resized these pics! I don't know why they're coming out huge!

 

[nessz79]

I'm reading! Looking good!

 

[stagemomx3]

Sorry you were sick! DD's dress is so cute!

 

[scottny]

great update and pics. I don't think the pics are huge at all.

I love CP, such a fun place.

 

[scrapnmom]

Sorry you were sick! DD's dress is so cute!

Thanks!

After lunch, we walked through adventureland and stopped at the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. DS loved the climbing and basically ran through it twice and wanted to do it more! Then, we decided to head back to the hotel for a rest. We had assumed that DS would nap (he hasn’t napped since 2 ½) on our trip since we would be so busy. DH and I certainly wanted to nap. DS did lay down but he couldn’t fall asleep so DH took him swimming. DD did nap for a short while, we could hear a lot of outside noise from the pool. When she woke up we took a walk around WL and the played at the beach. Some other kids had some sand toys and were nice enough to share.

When we got back to the MK, the crowds were very heavy, it felt like spring break. We did the TTA again (DS asked!) and then waited in a long line for Pooh. We had dinner at Pecos Bill’s. I got in line to order and DH took the kids to find a table. For some reason, DS started to get upset and DH picked him up and took off, which made DS start screaming to the point that people were turning around to look at what was going on. It was a full-blown tantrum.

When DS started getting upset, DH felt that he should go somewhere away from the crowd, I never did figure out where they went. I got the food, found a table and called him on the walkie talkie and could hear DS mad screaming in the background. I could not figure out where they were and it was dark so I couldn’t see them anywhere. I was starting to freak out because he wasn’t coming and he couldn’t hear me on the walkie over the screaming. I asked some ladies at another table to watch our food and went to go find him, which I finally did. DH was mad at DS for having a tantrum and DS was still really upset. Apparently a CM tried to help and gave DH a bottle of water and when DS took off his hooded sweatshirt there was a cookie in the hood! That must have been our Magical Moment!

In retrospect, DH should have switched places with me but I didn’t want to get out of line since I had already ordered and paid and I didn’t know where they went (plus the fact that I was embarrassed ). DH does not handle tantrums well. I wish we had come up with a plan on how to handle bad behavior at the parks. I had assumed that the kids would be so well behaved at Disney that we wouldn't have any problems! After this, DH always ordered and I took the kids to a table.

Everyone calmed down for the most part and it was almost time for Spectromagic. We found spots in Frontierland and enjoyed the parade. Somehow DS ended up with a light-up Mickey sword thing.

I thought we could make it on IASW before Wishes. I underestimated the time the ride took (and of course the boats stopped for several minutes in the last room with the words) and Wishes had already started so we ran out of there. It was the first time the kids had ever seen a real fireworks show and they were absolutely enthralled.

We left right after the fireworks and joined the huge mass of people leaving at the same time! We had to wait about 10 minutes for the boat to the WL. When we got back we thought the kids, especially DS, would fall asleep right away, but no they wanted their bedtime stories just like at home.

 

[scottny]

great update.

tantrums happen to all. I took tweens and a teen and had tantrums. but I showed them who was boss.

how nice they got to see there first fireworks show.

 

[stagemomx3]

Great update, and Scott is right tantrums happen. Hey I think I had at least two myself during our trip.

 

[scrapnmom]

It sure is hard to get two kids and two adults dressed and sunscreened in a timely manner. Plus, DD refused to wear the Epcot outfit I had made for her! It was my best work! We got down to the bus stop and had to wait about 5 minutes for the bus.

Unfortunately, it ended up taking us over a half hour to get to Epcot since we
had to wait so long for 3 ECVs to be loaded at FW. We arrived at 10:30.

DH went in to the Land to get FPs for Soarin and I took the kids to watch the water fountains at Imagination, they loved watching the water.

DH caught up with us and we went on Journey into Imagination which of course was a total walk-on. The kids played there afterwards until it was time to check into the Garden Grill for lunch!

When the chef came out to talk to us, I was disappointed to find out that almost everything had egg in it. The biscuits and rolls, potato casserole (which I was really looking forward to!), the kids chicken strips and mac & cheese, and all desserts were off-limits for DD. He offered to make a separate plate for DD but I said I didn’t want anything with egg so we came up with a new plan. He got rotisserie chicken legs from Sunshine Seasons for the kids and fries and subbed savory rice for the potato casserole for the adults (the catfish nuggets had egg, too, but dd doesn’t eat fish so I said those would be okay). For dessert he offered a fruit bowl, which was healthier for all of us anyway. I was really sad that DD wouldn’t be able to decorate her own cupcake since I know she would have loved it.

Our server was excellent! We had a really nice time. The character interaction was fabulous! They each came around twice. The chipmunks were really funny. I would definitely recommend the Garden Grill. DH went nuts over the catfish, he ate all of them plus a whole second helping. The kids actually ate their chicken and not just the fries. The turkey was very good, too. We were getting full when our server brings out HUGE bowls of mixed fruit for each of us, sliced bananas, grapes, strawberries, and melons. We barely made a dent in them.

Okay, see if you can spot DD in this photo:

 

[scrapnmom]

After lunch we went to The Living Seas. The wait time was listed as 45 minutes. I said that had to be wrong, the line wasn’t out the door, so we went in. We even walked through the twisty ramp part right when you come in and then we hit the queue. Wow, that was a lot of people! The kids were quite entertained by the projection of the school of fish making different shapes so they handled the wait really well. The kids had a good time in the aquarium.
I purposely took this picture because I had one of DS here on our last trip.

For fun, here is DS in May of 2005 when he was 22 months old:

When we got out, I came up with a plan. We had 3 tickets. We got a FP to Mission:Space and a rider switch pass, then we went and got 2 fast passes and a rider switch pass to TT. I love TT and had not been able to ride on M:S the last time, when it was new so I was really looking forward to that. We also decided to just stick it out for the whole day. If we went back to the hotel we wouldn’t be able to get anything done. DD ended up dozing on and off the rest of the afternoon.

It was finally time for our FPs to Soarin. We got a rider switch pass for later and DH and DD went on Living with the Land. DS and I went on Soarin. This was our first time and we both loved it! We were in the front so we got to go to the top! I was very glad that DS has no fear of heights.

Then, DH and DS went on Soarin and DD and I went back to the Seas aquarium. She could have watched these fish all day.

I went on M:S next, I thought it was funny when the CM asked at the entrance “spin or no spin?” He was from overseas. I chose spin (orange side, right?). I was actually pretty nervous but it was so amazing, I was so glad I chose that side. I met up with the family and we went to TT, but it was down. We wandered through Innoventions and saw the looooong line for the Disney Visa meet n greet. DS gravitated to the video games and DD fell asleep on my shoulder so I told DH to go do M:S and I sat on the bench nearby.

When DH finally got back the line for the meet n greet was gone so we went up. Right before we went in I woke up DD, I felt kind of bad doing it but I wanted a family picture! We have very few pictures of the four of us. Mickey and Pluto were there and they had a lot of fun with DS.

We used this for our Christmas card:

I had to pull DD's thumb out of her mouth and hold it, she sucks it when she's tired.

 

[scrapnmom]

After leaving Innoventions, we saw that TT was back up. DH and DS ran to get in. Here's a pic of him on the ride:

While they were gone, I went into the Mouse Gears shop with DD in the stroller.

On our first day, we got a length of stay rental for a double stroller. We assumed that DS would want to ride, but he didn’t want to and walked the whole time at MK and Epcot. DD was not thrilled with the stroller and we had to strap her in (she didn’t want to walk, she wanted to be carried). I was trying to walk around fast because she kept saying she wanted out. In the shop, I was pointing out various things to DD. Meanwhile, the fabric was over the canopy so I wasn’t looking at her and I was concentration on maneuvering the double stroller through the shop.

We went by the Mickey crocs and I pointed them out to DD. She said “I want some” and I told her no, she had her own crocs with a Minnie jibbitz. It was only 2 minutes later that she starts yelling “My crocs! My crocs!” I look down and she is BAREFOOT and there are NO CROCS in the stroller.

I calmly ask “Ellie, where are your crocs?”
“I threw them”
“but where did they go?”
“Grandma took them to her house!” I was starting to get upset. On the day we left, I had packed the crocs and planned for the kids to wear their tennis shoes to the airport. But, as we were leaving, both kids wanted to wear their crocs so I left the shoes at home.

I immediately backtrack and there are NO crocs on the floor or anywhere. I ask a CM who is arranging tshirts if she’d seen them. Honestly, I was expecting her to stop what she was doing and help me, but no she said “No, I haven’t seen them, go ask at the registers.” I was quite taken aback by her lack of concern. I asked a male CM on my way to the registers if he had seen them and got the same response! I went up to the nearest registers and asked and was told “They're not here, go ask at the other registers.” That was it! I was about ready to cry. No one cared that my DD was barefoot! Also at this time DD was screaming to get out of the stroller so I had to carry her while pushing it. I went to the other registers and explained the situation and added “and no one will help me!” and the CM took pity on me and went to help. DD’s crocs were not in the store! So, I had to buy her a pair of $24.99 shoes and $5.99 socks so she would have something on her feet!

I was so mad because I was now thinking that someone took the crocs and kept them knowing that there was a barefoot child somewhere! And, wouldn’t you know it but all week people kept commenting on her cute shoes and asking where did I get them!

You better believe I tied these on tight!

We met up with DH and DS and ate at Mexico and did the ride. We decided it was time to go but I hopped on TT while DH took the kids on Living with the Land. The temperature has really dropped by the time we ate so we were ready to leave. I stopped at Guest Relations on the way out to check the lost and found, no crocs!
A parting shot:

 

[scottny]

great update and pics.

how nice how they accomodated u at the restaurant.