Celebrating 9 days with my 4 kids(7,6,4,2)May 2009, I know I'm late starting this TR

[MadiMouse]

I hate that you missed Fantasmic but oh my goodness, that brownie sundae is calling my name. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow and guess what I'm making for dessert tomorrow night??????? Lol.

 

[smithpack]

Yay an update!

I'm so jealous. 50's Prime Time is the only table service restaurant I wanted to go to, but alas, I never got there. Good excuse to plan another trip it think..



Don't I hate it when DH is right about something (not that it happens often ) Every time it happens I tell DH go write it on the calendar so we can always remember the day that you were right and I was wrong.

I am going to have to use that line.

My DH is always telling me that he doesn't understand why everything is always a competition. I have to keep telling him it's because we mom's have to do so much, and we just don't get any credit for all that we do. All I want is some recognition for all of my greatness. You know, some flowers, a day at the spa, a trip to Disney, etc. etc.

I hate that you missed Fantasmic but oh my goodness, that brownie sundae is calling my name. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow and guess what I'm making for dessert tomorrow night??????? Lol.

Let me think..... ummmmmm.....let's seee....... ummmmm. Maybe some ICE CREAM SUNDAE'S??? Bring some of over here. I want a bite.

 

[smithpack]

Moving right along! I was so excited about today and there is a reason why. Do you want to take a minute to guess? I will give you some time to think about it. I will give you a hint..... It has to do with FOOD!!

Do you give up yet? Alright, I was excited because today we were doing two TS meals. That's right, two sit down restaurant meals in one day!! I was super excited about one of the places that we were going too because I had been wanting to eat there for a very long time. I am not telling you which restaurant it was yet, madimouse, you know you are going to have to wait!

Soooooo, the kids awoke at their usual time. I don't remember the exact time, but it was around 7:00. I am telling you, it does not matter what time my kids go to bed, they never sleep in. We got ready for the day, ate some little debbie snack cakes for breakfast, applied some sunscreen, and headed out to the bus stop. We got to Epcot about 8:30. We saw these beautiful topiaries, in the front as you walk in.

I couldn't remember why I took this next picture, and then I saw it. Can you see it? right there in the middle.

That my friends is the rope. The very rope that they drop at rope drop. It's a beautiful sight, isn't it. That is also how close I was to the rope. I could have, should have reached forward and touched. But alas, I didn't want to be pushy so I just stood right where I was. Next thing I know, the character's from the character spot came out, and there was the man himself. You see him? the one with the big round ears?

The characters came out for a few minutes, and then they waved goodbye and headed into the character spot. Now, I know at this point I am supposed to be poised and positioned to head straight to Soarin since that is where the rest of the herds go, but I wasn't heading there. Instead, I was headed straight ahead to the character spot. I didn't really want to be ran over, and I wanted my kids to enjoy their time with the characters before it got to be a madhouse in there. We were the second family in. The first character we saw was Mickey Mouse!

My kids were really enjoying their autograph books, but I had to keep reminding them to open them up to a blank page for the characters to sign. They would hand over the book while it was closed almost every time. This became a problem when I got to Minnie Mouse, we will just say she was not happy about it. More on that in a moment. Next was Pluto. Pluto was very kind and kept patting the boys on the head.

Wait, that is not Pluto, that is a Princess. Here is Pluto.

Here is one of those pat's on the head

After Pluto, came Minnie Mouse. At first, she was very, very sweet. She danced with Princess(DD2) for a minute and got down on the boys level to hug them.

 

[smithpack]

Now, this is where it got ugly. The boys all started handing their books to her. I was telling them, "guys, open your books to an empty page." Now maybe Minnie got stressed out when she saw that all of a sudden she had 3 books to sign,(I admit, that would probably stress me out if I were a mouse) but she came over to me kind of in a tiffy. She poked me in the arm, flipped open the book in her hand,(which she had yanked out of Lego's hand) poked me in the chest and then pointed at the other two boys with their books. I know they like the books open and all, but she didn't have to get physical about it. I was standing there telling them to open the books, but that wasn't good enough. She wanted me to open the books for them. I guess she was mad that I was just standing there taking pictures. So, I went over and opened the other books for her.

Here she was right after she had jerked the book out of Lego's(DS6) hand.

Here is Lego's(DS6) face because he wasn't too sure what to think about it.

Here she is signing the book.

Here I am opening the other kids books.

and then she posed really nice and pretty for the pictures.

At least the kids didn't notice Minnie's mood swing. Except for maybe Lego(DS6), but he got over it pretty quickly. Now we moved on to Donald, not my son Donald, but the real Donald Duck. My kids were really loving the Character Spot.

Last but certainly not least, was our favorite, Goofy. Goofy was so funny. He did a little jig and tried to get the kids to do it with him.

Now that the characters were behind us and the stampede had settled, we were now headed to experience what it was like to fly.

 

[gallmcduck]

"We r staying at POR for our first 7 days"

How long are you planning on staying, you lucky duck? and where are you going after POR? I am so jealous.

I bet your son is thrilled that his chances of seeing a Princess at some point in this trip are pretty high, considering your DD1 is 3. I know you have to have a Princess visit squeezed in there somewhere?

We r staying for 17 days. First 7 at POR, then off for some beach time down in clearwater then last 7 at the Hilton Resort across from downtown disney. We can't wait had lots of planning so far and phone calls making our ADRs.

We've def got princess visits scheduled. Infact our very first morning has an ADR at MK to meet Cinderella to start our trip off. Then a few days in we've got princess storybook breakfast booked at epcot. Pirates league may be an option for DS but he is happy with a cool dude style at BBB when we visit with DS1. DS is happy with CRT as he gets a sword.

Your epcot pics look good with the characters pity minnie wasn't as pleasant as normal. Can't wait to hear about your TS meals and where you go at epcot.

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Taken a while but I have read your report so far and I am really enjoying it. Your family are lovely - love the cheeky pics of your boys and your DD is adorable!!!

How strange for Minnie to be stroppy. Not good. At least she had a smile on her face!!!

Looking forward to the rest of your report! x

 

[MadiMouse]

First, I received a shoutout in your TR. Thank you very much! Lol. I hope you have some pictures of the food.

Okay, I'm with DS Lego on this one. Was Minnie serious or did you get a playful vibe from her? Wow!!!!

Okay, I'm waiting on the food...

 

[blessedby3]

Joining in on your tr. We are going in May and I am excited to see how your trip plays out. We will be there the 15-23, a little later than yours.
Your kiddos are so cute. I have a dd2 that also knows all the Princesses and most characters. I cant wait for her to get there and see everything in person. She has already been twice (at 3 1/2 mos and 17 mos) but this trip she will be the most aware. Our other kids are 19 (turning 20 in a few weeks), 14 1/2, and 11.
Cant wait to read more..

 

[TokyoDina]

Your TR is getting better and better. So sorry about Minnie's reaction that really stinks!

Seeing your kids makes me want to have one more and more. I think the clock is going off. I said one more year though. I know your never ready. But I think I'll be at least mentally ready in a year.

Can't wait to ready more~~~~~~

 

[tigerdragon]

What a weird experience with Minnie. Maybe she's not a morning mouse.

I can't wait to read more!

 

[JLR]

Great update! I missed over the weekend - so it was nice to catch up over lunch today. What a wierd Minnie! Your kids all looked adorable in thoses photos!

 

[smithpack]

We r staying for 17 days. First 7 at POR, then off for some beach time down in clearwater then last 7 at the Hilton Resort across from downtown disney. We can't wait had lots of planning so far and phone calls making our ADRs.

We've def got princess visits scheduled. Infact our very first morning has an ADR at MK to meet Cinderella to start our trip off. Then a few days in we've got princess storybook breakfast booked at epcot. Pirates league may be an option for DS but he is happy with a cool dude style at BBB when we visit with DS1. DS is happy with CRT as he gets a sword.

Your epcot pics look good with the characters pity minnie wasn't as pleasant as normal. Can't wait to hear about your TS meals and where you go at epcot.

I am packing my bags right now and coming with you!

I think I am going to do CRT on our next trip, I am sure my boys will love that one. They actually really didn't mind the Princesses. All of the princesses were nice and would call the boys princes so they liked that.
At the end of our vacation I had the boys do a Pirate Cruise from POR. They really enjoyed it and it didn't cost that much. I want to say it was about $18.00 a kid. They take a pirate boat and go in search of treasure. Then when they get back to the resort they find the treasure chest and get some loot. This pirate cruise also included lunch. They loved it. I will post pictures when I get to it, but it will be the very end of the TR. I better get to writing.

Taken a while but I have read your report so far and I am really enjoying it. Your family are lovely - love the cheeky pics of your boys and your DD is adorable!!!

How strange for Minnie to be stroppy. Not good. At least she had a smile on her face!!!

Looking forward to the rest of your report! x

Thanks for all the kind words. Stroppy is another new word for me.

That is so funny about the smile on her face part. I was thinking the same thing when looking at the pictures. I could just see her so mad on the inside, but smiling away on the outside.

First, I received a shoutout in your TR. Thank you very much! Lol. I hope you have some pictures of the food.

Okay, I'm with DS Lego on this one. Was Minnie serious or did you get a playful vibe from her? Wow!!!!

Okay, I'm waiting on the food...

No playful vibe there. In fact, I could feel the coldness oozing out from her. I get chills just thinking about it. She was definitely hormonal.

Joining in on your tr. We are going in May and I am excited to see how your trip plays out. We will be there the 15-23, a little later than yours.
Your kiddos are so cute. I have a dd2 that also knows all the Princesses and most characters. I cant wait for her to get there and see everything in person. She has already been twice (at 3 1/2 mos and 17 mos) but this trip she will be the most aware. Our other kids are 19 (turning 20 in a few weeks), 14 1/2, and 11.
Cant wait to read more..

I bet you are one busy person. You have to do all the run arounds with the older kids, and then you have a 2 year old to keep you busy around the house. She is going to love the Princesses!! Are you going to eat with any of them?

Your TR is getting better and better. So sorry about Minnie's reaction that really stinks!

Seeing your kids makes me want to have one more and more. I think the clock is going off. I said one more year though. I know your never ready. But I think I'll be at least mentally ready in a year.

Can't wait to ready more~~~~~~

Once you have one there is no going back.

No, once you have one you will be like, I can't imagine my life without this child. There are no words to describe the love you feel for your children.

What a weird experience with Minnie. Maybe she's not a morning mouse.

I can't wait to read more!

You are probably right. I will have to go see her in the evening next time.

Great update! I missed over the weekend - so it was nice to catch up over lunch today. What a wierd Minnie! Your kids all looked adorable in thoses photos!

Thanks! I am glad I could make lunch enjoyable. I hope you had something delicious to eat as well.

Minnie, Minnie, Minnie Next time I will take her some chocolate. That makes everything better.

 

[gallmcduck]

I am packing my bags right now and coming with you!

I think I am going to do CRT on our next trip, I am sure my boys will love that one. They actually really didn't mind the Princesses. All of the princesses were nice and would call the boys princes so they liked that.
At the end of our vacation I had the boys do a Pirate Cruise from POR. They really enjoyed it and it didn't cost that much. I want to say it was about $18.00 a kid. They take a pirate boat and go in search of treasure. Then when they get back to the resort they find the treasure chest and get some loot. This pirate cruise also included lunch. They loved it. I will post pictures when I get to it, but it will be the very end of the TR. I better get to writing.



Thanks for all the kind words. Stroppy is another new word for me.

That is so funny about the smile on her face part. I was thinking the same thing when looking at the pictures. I could just see her so mad on the inside, but smiling away on the outside.



No playful vibe there. In fact, I could feel the coldness oozing out from her. I get chills just thinking about it. She was definitely hormonal.



I bet you are one busy person. You have to do all the run arounds with the older kids, and then you have a 2 year old to keep you busy around the house. She is going to love the Princesses!! Are you going to eat with any of them?



Once you have one there is no going back.

No, once you have one you will be like, I can't imagine my life without this child. There are no words to describe the love you feel for your children.



You are probably right. I will have to go see her in the evening next time.



Thanks! I am glad I could make lunch enjoyable. I hope you had something delicious to eat as well.

Minnie, Minnie, Minnie Next time I will take her some chocolate. That makes everything better.

I would recommend CRT for the experience meeting princesses and prince charming (depends on when you go for this). Our food review wouldn't be that good for breakfast but dinner was good. Hey we didn't go for the food really it was for the early ADR and to see DD1's face.

The pirate cruise is worth a think look forward to reading about it and seeing your pics.

Minnie let us girls down but I'm with you on the chocolate front

 

[smithpack]

Well, since we looked BRILL in our hats, and we had put STROPPY Minnie behind us, we decided to head over to the Land Pavilion. The stampede had been calmly herded into the waiting line, so I didn't get run over on the way there. The wait was still only 15 minutes, so I sent DH on in with the older two boys and got a parent swap from the closest CM. I then went and got some FP's so we could come back and ride it later in the day.

At this point, Donald(DS4) was starting to have a little temper tantrum. He was mad because he was 38 inches, so there was no way he was going to get to ride the bigger rides this year. He was really wanting to be like his big brothers. So, I did what any good mom would do. I picked him up and carried him over to the snack area, right there in the Soarin waiting area, and let him pick out some candy. He picked out some gummies and Princess(DD2) picked out a Mickey rice krispie treat with chocolate ears. Of course, once they opened their snacks Donald(DS4) wanted the rice krispie treat that Princess(DD2) had. I didn't want to make a scene, so I quickly grabbed another rice krispie treat and got one for Donald(DS4). You all know you would do the same thing. The bad news is that I don't think anyone ate the gummies the whole trip. Oh well.

Donald(DS4) and Princess(DD2) decided that they were done with their snacks after eating the ears, so I put the rest in a bag and saved them for later. We then headed over to the living with the land ride. My kids have always liked this ride. They must be like me, they love to look at food. There was no line for this ride. In fact, I don't know that I have ever seen a line for this ride. I know that I, for one, have never had to wait on this ride. I didn't take too many interesting pictures, but here is what I have.

Here are the fish that will later be dinner at the Garden Grill.

After we got off of Living with the Land, we headed back over to the exit area of Soarin. We got there right as the boys were getting off. DH then took the younger two while I went to ride Soarin with the older two. The older boys were more than thrilled to ride it again. We got in the ride and the weirdest thing happened. I started getting a little motion sick. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I could not believe it. This was one of my favorite rides and now I was starting to feel a little queezy. I had to close my eyes off and on to help with the motion sickness. After I got off of the ride, I was fine again. I don't know what happened. I am finding that every year that goes by I get more and more sensitive to motion. We still had our five FP's that we were going to use later in the day, but we gave them away a couple hours later when we decided we wouldn't be going back on Soarin this trip. At least the kids got to ride it a couple of times, and they can still ride it with dad. I probably will try it one more time whenever we get the chance to go back, just to be sure, but it was not a fun ride for me. I hate that because I don't know one person that does not like that ride.

After I got off the ride I saw DH and kids in the waiting area. I asked him what they did, and he said they rode Living With the Land. At least the little ones like that boat ride since they rode it twice in a row.

At 10:30 we decided we had enough land and that now it was time to head over to The Seas with Nemo. We love this ride, and I think it is so neat to see the real fish in the background of the nemo ride. I think I was video recording more than pictures this day because I have dvd's of our first day at Epcot, but I don't have as many pictures. Too bad I don't know how to get some of my video's off of the DVD's onto my computer. I have a hilarious clip of my son drinking Beverly. Oh Well. We continued walking around the aquarium area and watched the Manitee's for a minute before we headed back out into the dreaded heat.

Next we walked over to Test Track to get some FP's so we could come back and ride it after our lunch. It was so hot this day that we gave in to the pocketbook and decided to spend the money to get one of those fan's connected to the water bottle. I sent DH to go get us two, and he walks back with one. I asked what happened and he told me that they were $20 so he decided to get one. I was shocked that they were so much money. I thought for sure they were no more than $10, so here is some advice. Get one of those fan water bottle thingy's at walmart and bring it with you to the parks. It definitely was a life savor, but our kids did fight over it. I could see the cool mist hitting them in the face, but I never did get to feel it for myself because one of my kids had it at all times. Plus, we kept running out of water so we would have to refill it with the warm water bottles that I had in my bag. Then we would refill those water bottles with the water at the water fountains whenever we passed them.

So after a little bit of brawling and cooling off we went to Spaceship Earth. This is really the way to cool off because it is a nice long ride in the cool air conditioning. The boys were so excited that they were big enough to sit by themselves so even though we could have sat 3 to a seat, we sat in groups of two. The buddies, Goofy(DS7) and Lego(DS6) sat in one seat. Then Me and Princess(DD2) sat in another seat, and DH and Donald(DS4) sat behind us. Here are pics of the ride.

Here are the pics of Princess(DD2) and I.

and then when you come out they have everybody's picture up on the wall so I took a picture of some of my boys.

I went to one of those machines and emailed my SIL our little video of the ride, because she was coming out to WDW for her first time the week after us. I know, I know. You are wondering, "Why didn't you wait and go with your brother and SIL since it was their first time? You and all of your Disney knowledge should have gone with them and helped them out." Well, I was going to put our trip off a week so we could go together, but the kids for free deal was only until May 1st. So I had to have the first day of our vacation booked by May 1st. I would have loved to stay longer, but that dad burn pocketbook wouldn't let us stay that long. Next time I am tagging along with Gallmcduck or ScotsMinnie. They get to do the long Holidays!

 

[smithpack]

We got off of Spaceship Earth at 11:40. Our lunch reservation was for 12:20. We probably should have headed that way, but I wanted to go and ride the Donald Duck Gran Fiesta Tour over in Mexico. We had been to Epcot 3 times before and never ridden this ride. So, we decided we had enough time to book it over there, ride the ride, and then head over to our Lunch. Any ideas where lunch was? I am almost to that part, so I will tell you in a minute.

We made it to the Mexico Pavilion at 11:50, and rode the Gran Fiesta Tour, which my kids loved!! It is kind of like IASW, except it has Donald duck in it a lot. My kids were begging to ride it again because they were wanting to see the part where Donald gets sucked in the Whirlpool? I must have missed that part. We didn't have time to ride it again because now it was 12:10 and we had to make it to the Canada pavilion for our lunch at, you got it, Le Cellier. We rushed back to the Canada Pavilion and got there just in time for our ressie. We had no problems getting in and were seated immediately. One thing I did notice was that the tables were very close together, but that doesn't bother me. It probably bothers the people around me more. Plus, I like to look at other people's food! I knew before I went here what I was going to get. I was originally going to get the Le cellier experience because you could get the Canadian Cheese soup with it, but I was also wanting to get the Filet Mignon. Then I noticed that the kids food came with Cheese soup as an appetizer. That would mean I could get the Filet Mignon because I could eat the kid's soup. So that is exactly what I did.

Here is my drink. It is a strawberry/pina colada smoothie.

This is the canadian cheese soup which you hear a lot about on the DIS. I got some recipe book at the Mexico Pavilion just for this recipe, and it is so good.

This next picture is dark, so I can't tell if it is mine or DH's. I can tell that it is a steak though.

and here is what I had for desert. The chocolate Mousse.

You are probably wondering what my kids ate for lunch. You will never guess. You are right!! Hot dogs, except for Goofy(DS7). He actually got steak. I was really working on the kids to get steak since this was a steakhouse, but the others insisted on hot dogs. And of course, DH and I ate their soups. I will say that since I have been making the soup at home, they have really been eating it up. They actually request it about twice a month. I guess that means next time we eat at Le Cellier, they won't share their soup with me.

Now that we were full, we left the restaurant and saw a photopass photographer just outside. He took some pictures for us. I love how Lego(DS6) was hanging on his best bud, Goofy(DS7). The photographer did not tell him to do that. Although Lego(DS6) can be a nag, he is also my most lovey boy. He is always giving hugs and kisses and sharing his toys with his siblings. He loves to see others happy.

Sweet kids. I just love them to death. Alright, my original plans at this point were going to be to go around the world showcase in counterclockwise motion, but I was really wanting to use the TT FP's that we had. So, we headed towards TT at this point. When we got there, Lego(DS6) was really back and forth on whether or not he wanted to ride it. He decided he was going to ride it and started following DH and Lego(DS7) to the line, but then at the last minute he panicked and ran back to me. I took Princess(DD2), Donald(DS4), and Lego(DS6) over to a little playground they had set up close by. It was in the fairy garden. It was so beautiful in the fairy garden. Here are some pictures I got, but I know I have more. I just can't find them on my computer.

I couldn't get the boys to stand in any of the pictures with the fairy garden. Again, Princess's(DD2) count in the pictures goes up, and the boys goes down. I really do have so many more pictures of Princess. SHHHHH don't tell the boys. Well, we only stayed at the playground area for about 10 minutes because the equipment was really hot. The kids couldn't really touch it. Then we heard an announcement that they were getting ready to have a fairy parade. So someone came and got all the girls out of the garden and had them march around. It was super cute, and Princess(DD2) looked like she was having fun! She then got some seeds and a certificate for participating in the parade. She carried around those seeds all day. Now we were dying of heat so we started making our way back towards TT. There was an area that had a car wash looking thing. You could stand in it and it would mist you on occasion. We stopped in this area for about another 10 minutes, then we saw DH and Goofy(DS7) coming off the ride.

Here is another good piece of advice. Whenever you are doing parent swap always let your spouse ride first. That way you can occupy the kids in area's close by while they are still excited about the play area's. Then when it is your turn to ride the kids are done with the play area's and the spouse is the one who has to find some way to occupy the little kids while you are happily enjoying your ride. So I said, "See ya, wouldn't want to be ya!" to my DH and grabbed Goofy's hand and ran towards the ride. This time Lego(DS6) comes running behind me because he has made up his mind that he is going to defy his fears and ride TT. The whole time we were in line I listen to Goofy(DS7) explain every detail of the ride to Lego(DS6). While in the mean time I was thinking in my head,"please don't say anything to scare Lego, please don't say anything to scare Lego". I haven't had it happen to me yet, but I dread the day when I wait in a line with my kids and one of them backs out last minute. I don't think I would let my kids back out after waiting in line for 20 minutes. They would just have to hold my hand and scream the whole time. I am such a mean mom. I bet you are worried about my DH having to occupy the little ones, well don't be. He can handle it. Actually, everytime I would come off of a child swap ride, he would be feeding the kids some sort of snack. Which worked out good because then we wouldn't have to stop for a snack later and take up more of our precious time. Alright, back to TT. We finally made it to the front of the line and both boys got into the car excitedly. I was so glad. I will say that Lego(DS6) held on to my arm the whole time, but he loved it. He said this was his favorite ride. In fact, he talked about it so much that Donald(DS4) ended up throwing a big tantrum when we went back to Epcot 3 days later because he still wasn't big enough to ride, and that was the one he had heard all about.

I love that you can get your TT pictures on your photopass card.

It was now 2:20, and we knew now that the little kids needed to do something fun for them, plus we needed some air conditioning. The older boys were asking if we could go back on the Donald ride, so we decided we would start on that side of World Showcase and make our way around clockwise. We also figured that we would probably still be close to where we were going to eat dinner when it got to be our dinner time by going this direction. So off we went to ride the Grand Fiesta again. The kids loved it again, and this time I saw the whirlpool, but I didn't see Donald Duck in it. Huh. When we were done with the ride, we walked outside and who should we see? The man of the ride, Donald Duck. I must say, he looked very Fiesta ish. Mexico Donald is so cute!

these poor characters were probably so overwhelmed with my kids.

I must end here for now. My kids are in the other room fighting. I have been just ignoring the chaos, but I must go intervene at this point. Time to put on my referee hat. Any idea's where we had dinner this night?

 

[TokyoDina]

That's what I'm scared of! I'm scared of getting sick on Soarin' so I tend to avoid that ride.

DH loves Spaceship Earth! We rode that ride at least 5 times. He's such a history lover. Which is fine for me. Cause it gives me a break!

OMG your kids are too cute!! I love the pictures in the fairy garden~~!

 

[gallmcduck]

I would do exactly the same thing as you, sometimes it is just not worth the stress, hey you are on vacation why not . Oh soarin love it but only since I went on the ride last trip! I can’t do rides like mission space, astro thingy, tea cups, spiderman (IOA), simpsons (US) makes me feel yuck but DH convinced me to give it a go, well I’m hooked. Those spaceship earth pics of you and princess are so clear. Woop long trips are great, it so expensive to fly it needs to be long My DS is not in as many of our pics from last trip as he doesn’t like getting his pic taken whereas DD1 is a total poser, i’ve shared some on my ptr will add more during report. Love the parent swap and going first ideas. My quite time is now over as well DD2 has woke up feeding time now and

 

[smithpack]

That's what I'm scared of! I'm scared of getting sick on Soarin' so I tend to avoid that ride.

DH loves Spaceship Earth! We rode that ride at least 5 times. He's such a history lover. Which is fine for me. Cause it gives me a break!

OMG your kids are too cute!! I love the pictures in the fairy garden~~!

You should still try Soarin once. Your new avatar picture is so cute. It is a good one of you and your DH!

I would do exactly the same thing as you, sometimes it is just not worth the stress, hey you are on vacation why not . Oh soarin love it but only since I went on the ride last trip! I can’t do rides like mission space, astro thingy, tea cups, spiderman (IOA), simpsons (US) makes me feel yuck but DH convinced me to give it a go, well I’m hooked. Those spaceship earth pics of you and princess are so clear. Woop long trips are great, it so expensive to fly it needs to be long My DS is not in as many of our pics from last trip as he doesn’t like getting his pic taken whereas DD1 is a total poser, i’ve shared some on my ptr will add more during report. Love the parent swap and going first ideas. My quite time is now over as well DD2 has woke up feeding time now and

I can't believe I didn't notice you had started a PTR. I already went over and read it this morning. I can't believe what an awesome deal you got!! Love the pics. Your kids are adorable.

I think girls like to have their pictures taken more than boys do!

I have to do that laundry too. DARN!

 

[blessedby3]

Im sorry Soarin made you feel icky. I love this ride, but I get a little dizzy during the "going up" through the clouds part. I have found that if I keep my eyes shut until we get up over the clouds, then I am fine. I just have whoever Im riding with tell me when we are up. Dont know why that makes a difference, but it does for me.
I hate hearing that the heat was so bad. That is what I am afraid of when we go in May. We usually go in the winter months since we dont like the heat, but with my oldest in college, we have to go on her breaks or during the summer. I figured we would try the day after she gets out of college, but Im thinking we may melt in May

 

[smithpack]

Now that we had seen Mexico, we decided to continue our adventure on over to China. I know, I know what you are thinking. We skipped past Norway. That is because it was almost 3:00, and we were wanting to watch the Chinese Acrobats. We made it over to China in time and even got a front row spot. It was a really awesome show. I guess I was too hot to take pictures because I don't have any. I did video record the whole show, but again I can't get that footage on my computer. The first girl balanced a tray of wine glasses on her nose. She must get a serious kink in her neck, because I can't imagine holding my head back for as long as she did. She even put a ladder on each side of her, and walked up them while balancing the glasses.Then these 6 girls came out and did some very awkward bendy moves. They could all balance on top of each other, and then bend backwards and bring their head up between their legs. It was really awesome!! Their spines must be made out of jelly or something though. I don't know how you can bend like that.

My neighbor and I were talking the other day about how even though we age on the outside, we still feel young on the inside. We were sitting with the kids on the trampoline and all of the sudden my neighbor friend decides that she can do a backflip like in the old days. Next thing I know she tries to do a flip and lands on her head. We were both dying laughing. We feel like we can do these things, but we definitely can not.

Now back to our show currently in progress. So, the chines acrobat show was awesome. I highly recommend it. I will admit that there were these guys in uniform sitting on the bench waiting their turn, but they never did anything. After the show everybody left,and I was still sitting there waiting. My DH asked me what I was doing, and I said I was waiting to see those guys perform. They never did anything. Just carried all the girls stuff around. Oh WELL. I was wanting to see some muscle action, but no such luck.

My oldest son, Goofy(DS7), has always had an obsession with China. From the time he was 4 he would bring me this book we have with the wall of China in it and say he wanted to go there. Then he would constantly ask for dragons and tell me he wanted to go to China to get a dragon. Year after year he has asked if we can go on vacation to China, and he was super excited about the olympics being there recently. This past birthday all he wanted was a chinese flute with a dragon on it. Thank goodness for ebay!! I was able to find one, but now he is constantly on ebay looking at other stuff he wants to get from China. So, he was super excited that we could kind of visit China by going there in Epcot. He knew that this was where he was wanting to spend his money. So we decided to explore this area very well, we would go and get one of the Kim Possible missions. Thank Goodness they could get us one for China. We did the mission and explored every inch of China. My Goofy(DS7) loved every minute of it. All though the rest of us were dying of heat. It was 98 degree's out this day. Of course the mission has you go through the gift shop, and once we were in, it was impossible to get Goofy(DS7) to leave. He must have been in there for an hour. I finally told him that we would get something when we came back later in the week, just in case he saw something somewhere else that he might want. He finally agreed and we went to look for some air conditioning. We didn't have to go far before I realized that we still hadn't gone in and seen the 360 degree movie that they have there. So we did that. Of course Goofy(DS7) loved it, but the others, not so much. When we came out of the movie we saw this lovely Princess all by herself. I could not believe it.

Mulan was soooooo sweet. She went on and on about my Princess(DD2) and told the boys that they would make good warriors.

The only problem about the World Showcase is that it is a LOT of walking with kids. I love it, and find it interesting, but the kids are not as appreciative as I am. I do love all the shows and entertainment they have going on now. We decided the little kids might like to ride a ride so we went back to Norway since we had passed over it earlier. Again, I can't believe I wasn't taking pictures. I am blaming it on the heat.

We got to Norway and, you guessed it, headed straight to Maelstrom. We had never ridden this ride before and I was afraid it might scare my kids, but I was wrong. They loved it. In fact when we got off, we decided to get right back on and ride it again. We also wanted to stay close by because it was almost time for our dinner reservation for 5:45 at Akershus!! After our second ride on Maelstrom we decided to go check out bakery in Norway, I don't remember what it is called. I made a note to myself to come back after dinner and get some stuff to take back to the room!!

It was now time for our dinner at Akershus. I knew Princess(DD2) was going to love it. When you first go in they have you get a picture with a Princess and then they bring you the photo in an 8x10 and some 5x7's while you are eating. Our first Princess that we saw was Belle. She is the one that my kids got their photo with. This is the exact photo they brought to us while eating, and I just loved it. Except the one they gave us was better because it didn't have the red eye. I love how Princess(DD2) is holding Belle's hand.

We then were taken to our table.

The server took our drink order and told us to get some food off of the Salad bar. Before we went to get our food though we saw Ariel. All of the Princesses were so sweet.

It was at this point that I realized that my video camera was out of space to record so I couldn't get any of the princess visits on video. Then I realized that my camera battery light was blinking. In fact while I was taking the pictures with Ariel, the camera shut off.

Every time a Princess came around I would just pray that my camera would come on long enough to get a picture, and it did. I was able to get one picture with each of the Princesses. Everytime I would take a picture, the camera would shut off. Man, I am so glad I was able to get these next pictures!!

I was not about to get Princess(DD2) out of her seat, because I knew if I got her out that she would want to sit in my lap the rest of the meal. That is why she is in the seat in every picture. Lucky for you guys, I was able to snap some pictures of our food. So, after we had some yummy salad and deli meats from the salad bar, we put in our order. I had the Salmon, and I loved it!!

I knew ahead of time that DH is a picky eater and would only want one thing here. The Kjottkake. It is kind of like a meatloaf, I guess. Anyway, he loved his food as well.

I know the dinner plates don't look like a lot of food, but you can keep going to the salad bar, and we liked the salad bar. You also get a bunch of desserts. Before I show you the dessert plate that they bring out, I will show you Lego's food. He was the only one I took a picture of because I didn't have any battery in my camera, and because the other kids had yet again........ hot dogs!Can you believe it? Lego(DS4) had the pasta and meatballs, and then told me after dinner that he wished he would have gotten a hot dog because he didn't like his pasta.

Here is the moment you all have been waiting for. The dessert Plate..

rice cream, school bread, and something chocolatey. I don't remember what it was called. My DH fell in love with this school bread stuff. In fact right after we left Akershus we went straight to the bakery and got two school breads to take back to the room for our breakfast the next morning. They have a pudding like filling and were very yummy!! I know that sometimes Akershus doesn't get great reviews, but we loved it!! I was really nervous about eating here because DH is a steak and potatoes kind of guy, but he loved his kjottkake and everything else we had there. So we will definitely go back here again. It was great to see so many princesses in one place!

The kids were really dying to go swimming since we were already drenched in sweat so we decided to call it a day and head back to POR. Epcot is so big, there is no way anyone can do it all in one day. At least, I don't think so. If anyone has ever done it all in one day, I want to know. I don't think we could even get around the world showcase in one day! Here are some pics we got on the way out. I don't like the lighting they had, but oh well.

and this concludes the end of day 4. Tomorrow we were headed to DHS!