donaldbuzz&minnie
Happy to be here!
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2004
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We just got back from our first family vacation at Disneyworld since our now adult "kids" were young themselves. A few health and weather glitches, but we still had a lot of fun! Grandchildren and Disneyworld are an unbeatable combination!
We took our two daughters to Disney World when they were young several times, but those trips were always associated with my husband's business trips. He'd work, we'd play. Not fair to him, but he was always great about it - never complaining that he'd get just an evening at Epcot for all his efforts.
Then a few years ago he and I took a spontaneous trip to Disneyworld one Valentine's weekend, just the two of us. We had such a great time that we did it again, and and then again, and then started dreaming about taking our kids and grandkids the first chance everyone got. Taking 2 babies to Disneyworld is many people's definition of insanity, but we were so excited to see the Magic Kingdom from our toddler grandson's viewpoint that we just couldn't wait any longer! Fortunately our daughters (one is from now on referred to as "the mom", and the other is "the aunt") and their husbands were as happy to go as we were, and we all thought that a ratio of 6 adults to 2 children would be almost enough. (Turns out that 8 adults might have been more like it for part of the trip!)
"Bopa" and I flew in a day ahead to get as much ready before the rest of the family arrived as we could. Hackneyed, I know, but it really did feel like a dream come true to pick up our rental cars and drive toward WDW, knowing that we'd be seeing everyone the next day (our 2 daughters and their husbands, and our almost 2 yr old grandson and 8 month old granddaughter live all the way across the country from us.)
We decided to save some money by using Marriott points for all the rooms and staying off-site until our first real day at Disneyworld, so we checked ourselves into the Fairfield Inn on Vineland, and went right over to Bahama Breeze to split a salad, order of paella and key lime pie. Perfect meal - just enough for two. I was so excited I hardly tasted anything, though - nothing seemed real!
The next morning we did all the grocery shopping we needed to do on Orange Blossom Trail - there's a wonderful Costco and a perfectly servicable Publix down the street from one another. We both went up and down the aisles at Costco (reminding ourselves we were only there to buy food - almost impossible discipline at Costco). Then "Bopa" wrangled ice and coolers while I shopped at Publix, and we finished everything up within a couple of hours. I spent more time than I wanted to at the hotel trying to straighten out rooms and cribs for our kids, and then it was time to go to the airport to pick everyone up.
We were waiting for everyone as they came through security - they were all exhausted, but happy to be in Florida. Our grandson took a few minutes to place us - the last time we saw him was at Christmas. He was a baby then, and a real, talking 22 month old toddler now. He recognized pictures of Mickey Mouse, and when we asked him if he "wanted to go see the Mouse", he said, "yeah. And Donald." (Turns out he thinks all the rest of the characters are Donald - he kept pointing to pictures of Goofy and calling out, "Donald!") Our 8 month old granddaughter was google-eyed and not very interested in re-meeting us after 6 hours on a plane, but I just concentrated on how cute she was going to look in the Minnie Mouse costume and ears I had waiting for her to wear the next morning at breakfast and waited her out!
We offered everyone the golden opportunity to eat fast food at the airport food court, but for some reason
, they decided they'd take their chances at the hotel. It was now about 8:00 at night, and so Bopa and I drove everyone to the Fairfield and made arrangements to meet in the lobby at 6:30 am to make a 7 am breakfast at Chef Mickey's. Big mistake!
We took our two daughters to Disney World when they were young several times, but those trips were always associated with my husband's business trips. He'd work, we'd play. Not fair to him, but he was always great about it - never complaining that he'd get just an evening at Epcot for all his efforts.
Then a few years ago he and I took a spontaneous trip to Disneyworld one Valentine's weekend, just the two of us. We had such a great time that we did it again, and and then again, and then started dreaming about taking our kids and grandkids the first chance everyone got. Taking 2 babies to Disneyworld is many people's definition of insanity, but we were so excited to see the Magic Kingdom from our toddler grandson's viewpoint that we just couldn't wait any longer! Fortunately our daughters (one is from now on referred to as "the mom", and the other is "the aunt") and their husbands were as happy to go as we were, and we all thought that a ratio of 6 adults to 2 children would be almost enough. (Turns out that 8 adults might have been more like it for part of the trip!)
"Bopa" and I flew in a day ahead to get as much ready before the rest of the family arrived as we could. Hackneyed, I know, but it really did feel like a dream come true to pick up our rental cars and drive toward WDW, knowing that we'd be seeing everyone the next day (our 2 daughters and their husbands, and our almost 2 yr old grandson and 8 month old granddaughter live all the way across the country from us.)
We decided to save some money by using Marriott points for all the rooms and staying off-site until our first real day at Disneyworld, so we checked ourselves into the Fairfield Inn on Vineland, and went right over to Bahama Breeze to split a salad, order of paella and key lime pie. Perfect meal - just enough for two. I was so excited I hardly tasted anything, though - nothing seemed real!
The next morning we did all the grocery shopping we needed to do on Orange Blossom Trail - there's a wonderful Costco and a perfectly servicable Publix down the street from one another. We both went up and down the aisles at Costco (reminding ourselves we were only there to buy food - almost impossible discipline at Costco). Then "Bopa" wrangled ice and coolers while I shopped at Publix, and we finished everything up within a couple of hours. I spent more time than I wanted to at the hotel trying to straighten out rooms and cribs for our kids, and then it was time to go to the airport to pick everyone up.
We were waiting for everyone as they came through security - they were all exhausted, but happy to be in Florida. Our grandson took a few minutes to place us - the last time we saw him was at Christmas. He was a baby then, and a real, talking 22 month old toddler now. He recognized pictures of Mickey Mouse, and when we asked him if he "wanted to go see the Mouse", he said, "yeah. And Donald." (Turns out he thinks all the rest of the characters are Donald - he kept pointing to pictures of Goofy and calling out, "Donald!") Our 8 month old granddaughter was google-eyed and not very interested in re-meeting us after 6 hours on a plane, but I just concentrated on how cute she was going to look in the Minnie Mouse costume and ears I had waiting for her to wear the next morning at breakfast and waited her out!
We offered everyone the golden opportunity to eat fast food at the airport food court, but for some reason
, they decided they'd take their chances at the hotel. It was now about 8:00 at night, and so Bopa and I drove everyone to the Fairfield and made arrangements to meet in the lobby at 6:30 am to make a 7 am breakfast at Chef Mickey's. Big mistake!
