A Very Special Trip Report to Celebrate My Daughter's 6th Birthday (Updated 11/1 pg6)

[aaaateamsgrandma]

I hope you are having an awesome time. Can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[cmskok]

We are fresh faced and a bit tired after 10 days at Kidani Village!

It was an exhausting and fun trip, full of birthdays, fun, Halloween and sickness! Yes, lots of sickness, from various members of our travel party! Needless to say, we took it easy, slept in, and enjoyed th Kidani Village amenities! I have to get my photos up and running on photobucket and then I will be able to show you our views!!!

It was an exciting trip, filled with wonderful memories! Hopefully everyone will enjoy it!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

We are fresh faced and a bit tired after 10 days at Kidani Village!

It was an exhausting and fun trip, full of birthdays, fun, Halloween and sickness! Yes, lots of sickness, from various members of our travel party! Needless to say, we took it easy, slept in, and enjoyed th Kidani Village amenities! I have to get my photos up and running on photobucket and then I will be able to show you our views!!!

It was an exciting trip, filled with wonderful memories! Hopefully everyone will enjoy it!

Glad to have you back. Sorry about the illnesses. Hope it was nothing serious but I guess expected with a group. Ready for pictures anytime.

 

[OhMari]

Hi,
Hope you had a great trip.
Sorry about the sickness. yuck.

 

[cmskok]

September 1st 2009

We started out at 3:00 in the morning...ugh...to drive to Pittsburgh to catch our flights...we flew for $420 for our family of 4 which was so great, but that early morning start was a killer!

So we carried the kids from their beds to the car, picked up my mom (Nani, as the kids call her) and we were off! The trip was uneventful for the first hour and then my dear son woke up because he needed a bathroom. So, being the good mom that I am, I said, "put your shoes on and we will go in here" at the rest stop..UH...what..."Mom, where are my shoes?" OH MY GOD. I FORGOT HIS SHOES. Yes, I packed 4 pairs for me, 5 pairs for my daughter and NONE for my son! Since we carried him out of his bed, we failed to grab the shoes waiting for him at our front door so he was a shoeless boy. Needless to say, we improvised and he wore my brown and blue crocs flip flops (that looked like clown shoes on him, poor guy) and then we headed the rest of the way towards the Pittsburgh Airport.

The Pittsburgh Airport was fine, clean enough...If only so many Steelers fans weren't there ( I will explain later.) I am a Cleveland girl, and even though our teams are terrible, sans the Cavs, I have learned to hate the Steelers. It's in my blood. We boarded the Southwest plane with no trouble, thanks to 24 hour ahead check-in, and we were on our way. The kids did beautifully on the flight, despite their exhaustion.

We landed in Orlando in no time, headed to the Crocs store where Spencer gor some new black crocs, and then we boarded the Magical Express, which I love! Going under the Walt Disney World sign is the best! We finally arrived at our destination, the Animal Kingdom Lodge-Kidani Village! It was beautiful!!! Our room was ready! Here is the view!

Here are my mom (Nani) and my gorgeous girl!

Beautiful!

We would have loved to admire the view, but we were starving, and my daughter who was fighting a cold was getting cranky, so were headed to the Mara for counter service. We arrived there, and by the time our food was ready, she was sound asleep..so much for that! So we ate, packed up her food and got on the bus towards Epcot, because we had 4:30 dinner ressie's at Teppan Edo.

Here are all of us waiting in line at test track...my mom's first and last roller coaster, by the way!

And the Beast, my favorite Prince:

We finally made it Teppan Edo for a so-so meal...

Our server was not the greatest, but the food was decent...suffice it to say, we are skipping Teppan Edo on our next trip!

Here are my son and I...I love him- he is a ham!

We headed back to the AKL...we were exhausted!

Coming up: Day 2...Our Girl's 6th Birthday!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

You look so much like your mom, your darling precious daughter looks llike you. You are a beautiful group of women. Too funny forgetting your son's shoes. I could easily see how that would happen.

Looking forward to more

Ginny

 

[cmskok]

You look so much like your mom, your darling precious daughter looks llike you. You are a beautiful group of women. Too funny forgetting your son's shoes. I could easily see how that would happen.

Thanks Ginny! In hindsight I can see how I lost the shoes, but in the moment...I admit it...I cried....But, it ended up fine!

 

[cmskok]

My big girl turned 6 and her Birthday Wish of a Disney World Trip to the Animal Kingdom Hotel had been realized! So what's next on a 6 year's old's list? PRESENTS!!!

The skirt she REALLY wanted!

And then a Disney Princess lunchbox from her Nani!

After a quick breakfast in our room, we headed to the Magic Kingdom for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique! She of course chose the same hairstyle she always chooses, but I am so thankful because it's my favorite too!

She is so beautiful!

My darling husband had the birth certificate in his hands so that DD could get her birthday gift card and he left it in the room..so he went back to retrieve it. In the meantime, we were killing time so we headed to the Main Street Barbershop and my son got his hair painted and pixie dusted...so cool!

And the both of them!

We then headed to Hall of Presidents and made it out just in time for the Celebrate You Parade!
Here's Minnie!

We then headed back to Epcot for our dinner Birthday Party at Coral Reef! I must admit that I was a bit disappointed in our seating there as we were in the very back. I would just think that we would get a decent table closer to the aquarium since it was her birthday but, anyway...I digress.

My BFF and her family arrived from Cleveland that afternoon so they met us at the restaurant. It was so great that they came! My daughter was so happy!

The cake that we ordered from the cake hotline arrived and it was exactly what we wanted!

So Happy!

After dinner, we headed to Test Track and Mission Space. My BFF did not handle the Intense Mission Space very well, so it was a rough ride home on the bus, poor girl..

Coming Up: Day 3--Hollywood Studios and the Cape May Cafe!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

I have not been getting your updates, so I unsubscribed and subscribed again....
Your kids are cuties! The cake was awesome! I can't wait to read more.....

 

[cmskok]

Day 3 started out very slowly. All of us were tired from all of the Birthday Festivities and our friends travel day so we decided to sleep in and get a later start.

We headed straight to Disney's Hollywood Studios and saw a bunch of shows. We saw Indiana Jones and the "big ball rollin'" as my son calls it didn't happen...gotta love the live shows! We have seen that show way too many times, IMO, but my son and husband still love it!

Then we headed to Beauty and the Beast, my personal favorite!

Here are some great pics from the show:

After I cried, like I usually do after B and the B, we headed to watch High School Musical, which is always a fave of the kids, and me, I must admit! Our pics came out badly, so I have none.

Then we saw Playhouse Disney, Little Mermaid and the Block Party Bash. I have no pics because I videotaped it all....ugh!

We had very early ADR's for Cape May Cafe that night so we promptly headed to the Beach Club for dinner!

Here are the kids after dinner, being the cuties that they are!

Our Family:

Goofy Kids:

After dinner, we headed to the Studios to see Fantasmic...ugh...I hate the new 2 shows a week policy. We were too late for the 8:30 show. So we waited around and caught the 10:00...We were like cattle...My BFF and her husband were new to Fantasmic and I felt really bad for them. It was a miserable crowd to push through..This is a huge mistake on Disney's part! However, I still LOVE THIS SHOW!!! It is a must-do for us on every trip!!

Then we went home to sleep!

Coming Up: Chef Mickey's!!!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Just great pictures the kids are hilarious! Looks like they were having a blast! Sorry about Fantasmic, I wish they would see the light and go back to more shows! Oh well, they must be saving money cutting back, with all the specials Disney is offering maybe they need to.
We would love to see it in December but I'll bet it's going to be really crowded!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

What a wonderful birthday for your 6 year old darling Victoria. Love that cake. So very cute. Your children are oh so cute. What a nice pic of you, children, mom and DH. He is a fine looking fellow also.

How fun for a child to be there for their birthday. We had adults and they loved it also. I loved Fantasmic. I could see that everytime I'm there. It does stink how they have changed it but I would still arrange my schedule to get it in.

Ginny

 

[cmskok]

Sorry about Fantasmic, I wish they would see the light and go back to more shows! Oh well, they must be saving money cutting back, with all the specials Disney is offering maybe they need to.
We would love to see it in December but I'll bet it's going to be really crowded!

I loved Fantasmic. I could see that everytime I'm there. It does stink how they have changed it but I would still arrange my schedule to get it in.

It is a bummer about Fantasmic! But it is still a must see for us!!!

Thanks for reading! I am doing this at a snail's pace!

 

[LKD]

:O I didn't know they did boy's hair too!
I love the clips behind your daughter's hair though I want some!

Sorry about Fantasmic D: I wish I could see it too

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Take your time. I obviously don't get to go anywhere soon.

 

[cmskok]

:O I didn't know they did boy's hair too!
I love the clips behind your daughter's hair though I want some!

Sorry about Fantasmic D: I wish I could see it too

I love the Barbershop on Main Street! it was like $7...definitely worth it!!!

Take your time. I obviously don't get to go anywhere soon.

I am moving along!!! Just happy that the swine flu hasn't hit our house (keeping fingers crossed!!):

 

[cmskok]

We were well rested from our early night in and we were so excited for breakfast with Mickey and Minnie! It was an uneventful trip in and all of the kids were so excited in the lobby. Two of the girls had the Minnie Mouse outfits on so they were ready to roll!!

The Main Man:

My boy and his favorite character!!!

My sweet girl's absolute favorite!!

Goofin' around!

The whole group!

The future Mr. and Mrs. (aren't they gorgeous?)

It was MNSSHP day so we headed back to the Kidani Village for some fun in the sun!

We had a disMeet with Lynn (septbaby) and her nephew Zeke, but somehow none of the pics turned out!!! (We have more of them tomorrow!!) Spencer and Zeke had a great time swimming together and it was so nice to meet Lynn! She introduced me to a delicious tomato basil sandwich from the Main Street Bakery...yummy!!!

Well, we had MNSSHP tix so we called it an afternoon and went in to get dressed!

Coming Up: Alice and Anakin get ready for one of the "coolest" nights of their lives!!

 

[cmskok]

We were so excited to go to the Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom! We had never been there before, so it was a first for us!

Here is Alice in Wonderland:

and Alice with her protector, Anakin Skywalker:

We arrived early on purpose so we could be in the park before the "rush." After seeing the park at night though, I almost wished we had arrived at dusk..the effect was great! But, I digress!

Here are Anakin and Alice at the MK entrance:

We had dinner at Cosmic Ray's and as soon as we were finished the official party had begun! We headed straight for some treat lines! After a bit of that, our stroller got a flat tire so we headed back to the top of Main Street to the stroller rental to see if they could fix our tire, and they did! Whew!!! We were up there pretty early, so we decided to stay there and wait for the headless horseman and the beginning of the Boo to You parade!

We LOVED every second of the parade. I videotaped the whole thing and didn't take many pics though..bummer!

We then took in the dance party in Fantasyland, where a good time was had, at least by my DD!

The sword in the Stone!

We then caught some of the villains show

and then Hallowishes, which was great..again, no pics, we videotaped it!

We headed to the facepainting line, which was much shorter than when we first arrived! It was great!

Even Dh and I got some!

Then we went on some rides! BTMRR 5 or 6 times, and the Haunted Mansion! It was a lot of fun! On the way out, through Adventureland, there were lots of characters to be seen, so we stopped in for some end of the evening fun!

Here is some of the scenery on the way out:

We were all sugared up and exhausted, but it was a great time! We headed back to Kidani and tried to gear up for a fun-filled (and hopefully not too crowded) Labor Day Weekend!!!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Isn't MNSSHP the best? You really took some great pix! My plan is to make it an every other year occurrence for us. I really missed going this year and your pictures just took me back!

 

[cmskok]

Isn't MNSSHP the best? You really took some great pix! My plan is to make it an every other year occurrence for us. I really missed going this year and your pictures just took me back!

I hate to admit that I was skeptical about going, but I don't know what I was thinking...nothing at Disney is half (you know!) LOL

We adored it! It was so great. The best part, though, were the characters in the parade...not just the furry ones, but the dancers...AMAZING!! We have watched the video over and over since we got back!!!

"t's Really Not so Scary. Not very very scary."