Details, Details, Oh how I LOVE the Details! UPDATE 5/30

[ksl5f123]

The first trip that we took with a child was in January 2005. Our only child at that time (now DD6) was 16 months old. We had gone to FL to visit the in-laws for the week after Christmas. A few days after New Years, we did a one day visit to WDW.

DH and I still had days on our tickets from our rainy 2001 trip. We just used those and DD was still free so only MIL needed a ticket. I remember a way-too-long discussion about whether on not she should add park hopping to her one day ticket. In the end, she did - and we didn’t hop. Oops.

We spent the entire day at Epcot. I remember two experiences. First, MIL and DH rode Mission: Space. Back then it was only the “orange” side - and they both got sick. It was horrible! The other thing I remember was much happier. At that time, DD was fascinated by fish. I remember spending a lot of time looking at the aquariums in the Living Seas. Below is a Photopass pic from that trip showing, MIL, me, DH and DD.

We also ate at Coral Reef that night (no ADR needed, we just walked in). We were seated at a tank-side table and were able to put DD’s highchair right up against the tank. She was mesmerized!! We also bought her a drink with a glow cube and she was in toddler heaven! I remember being really happy with the choices available for DD to eat and I really wish I could remember what they were! I know she had a great day and we still have the plush Nemo she got on this trip and is holding in the photo.

Next trip, two kids and AKL in 2006!

 

[ksl5f123]

Our next trip was in August 2006. Again, we were in FL visiting the in-laws (seeing a pattern develop here?) MIL made reservations for us to go to WDW. I think we were there for 2 or 3 days and we stayed at …. AKL!!! This means one morning, I woke up to this just outside my window

I LOVE AKL!!! On this trip, my oldest DD was 23 months and my younger DD was 8 months. This was my first time with a nursling in the parks, but we did great. If you are thinking about taking a nursing infant, have no fear - you can do it! I have to say that having a room with a balcony was also GREAT for naptime. We could put the DD down and go outside to watch the animals.

I had a few more problems with the older one. As many folks have observed, age 2 is the most common time to have “character fear” and even though she was a month shy of that “magical” age, boy did we ever have this problem!! Here is a pic of her crying with the great mouse

. I know a lot of folks say they won’t force their kids to go up if they are scared and if she had been acting nervous in the line we would have skipped it, but she didn’t melt down until he waved at her.

Of course, this started us out on the wrong foot and she would not go near any other characters. Notice her conspicuous absence in this shot

Oh, well. By the end of the trip we did manage this level of comfort

On the other hand, 8 month olds love characters!! Here she is with Jasmine

, a mouse (uh-oh, bad DISer. Is it Suzy or Perla??)

, and Prince Charming.

Anyway, on this trip, we spent a morning at AK and then hopped to Epcot for our first (of many) dinner at Akershus. The next day we spent in the MK ending at 1900 Park Fare. If there was another day, I don’t remember it, but I thought we spent 2 nights at AKL.

Next time, princesses in 2007!

 

[ksl5f123]

Our next trip was in late July/early August 2007. The girls were now nearly 4 years old and 20 months old and we stayed in a 1BR at OKW. This trip started off with a real THUD! First, about 2 weeks before we left I was diagnosed with positional vertigo. If you have never had vertigo, it works something like this: you stand up, get dizzy, and fall over - you look left, get dizzy, and fall over - you look right, get dizzy and fall over - basically, you move your head in any direction, you get dizzy and fall over. I was just finishing up a round of medication when we arrived at WDW. As mentioned several times before, I am already a “hesitant” rider, this made me pretty much a non-rider.

Now, if that wasn’t enough, before going to WDW, we first spent a week with some friends in a beach house in NC. Somewhere between the beach house and our arrival at WDW, I lost my wallet. Panic!!! I have very vivid memories of DH at CP on the cell phone with the credit card companies trying to cancel my card. Of course, he had an operator in India with a thick accent.. Couple that with being on a cell phone in Crystal Palace (LOUD!!!) and it is simply amazing that he managed to cancel my card while keeping his active (same account). I don’t know how we would have gotten home with no credit cards!

Then we went out to tour MK. The kids had a GREAT time playing in the water at Ariel’s Grotto. I am SOOO going to miss this!!!

Also, on this trip I had arranged for older DD to go to BBB. We were the first appointment of the day at the DTD location. When we arrived, the store was still locked!! After standing around on the sidewalk for what felt like eternity, the store finally opened and we were led straight back to the Boutique. DD had the mid-level package (hair and nails) and we brought a Cinderella dress (from “a big box store”). She sat VERY quietly. Her FGIT did a good job with the hair, but she was as quiet as DD. I would have liked a little interaction. Here is the before

and the after

After the appointment, we wandered around DTD which was really neat because we had never been there before. We also picked up some breakfast which we missed since we had been in such a hurry to get to a locked store! We then headed over to the MK for a lunch ADR at CRT!! DD had a great time, but we couldn’t hear any of the wishing ceremony. DD was now well over her “character fear” and had a good time with the princesses.

I have to say that while I really enjoyed breakfast here in 2000, I found lunch less exciting. The food just wasn’t my thing.

My funniest memory (also rather embarrassing) shows my DD’s true nature. Here she is, decked out in her Cinderella dress, all “princessed up”, and climbing a tree! I was doing something with younger DD when I overheard a CM say “Princess, please come down. We don’t want you to get hurt.” How MIL, FIL, and DH who were all standing around her failed to notice this behavior before the CM, I will never know.

We had a great time at MK, but then decided to try to hop over to AK for a few hours before heading to MIL & FIL’s condo (about 2 hours from Orlando). We got on the bus to AK and before we could get there we saw this:

So, we just took a bus back to our car and headed out.
Next time, 3 kiddos in November 2008!

 

[ksl5f123]

Our most recent trip to WDW was just after Thanksgiving in 2008. On this trip, we stayed at POR and the kids ages are now 5 years, almost 3 years, and 4 months. There will be no pictures in this post as the memory card that contains them suddenly claims to be blank!!!!! Hopefully, some nice people at a data recovery place will find them all back (a year’s worth of pictures were on that card ).

We spend Thanksgiving with MIL and FIL at their condo every Thanksgiving. This year, DH was on sabbatical (another GREAT benefit of being a professor ), so we took DD out of kindergarten for a couple of extra days to extend our trip. We were at WDW the Monday - Wednesday after Thanksgiving and it was chilly, wet, and not very crowded!

We spent all of this trip at MK and Epcot. If I had pictures, you would see lots of shots of the wet kiddos playing in Pooh’s Playful Spot (I will miss this too!!!) and some wet kids meeting princesses in Toontown. My then 2 yo rode the Barnstormer for the first time on this trip and HATED it. She may end up being a “limited” rider like her mommy.

After a wet morning at MK, we hopped over to Epcot for our traditional supper at Akershus (our 3rd trip there). We still LOVE this meal! Walking out of the Norway pavilion, we decided to take the long way around World Showcase. As we approached Germany, 2yo DD saw her!!! Yes, her idol was outside. She took off toward Snow White at light speed - only to be stopped by a CM who was closing the line. Tears flowed as this desperate momma tried to explain to a devastated 2 yo that Snow White needed a break. Ugh!

The next morning we headed back into MK and just as we entered, 2 yo DD started jumping up and down. What now, I wondered? Then, looking to my right, I saw her. Snow White was on her way out at the Exposition Hall. I dropped everything and rushed DD into the line. We were the 2nd family to meet Snow White that morning and I have (or at least had) one of those great pictures of an awestruck toddler hugging her hero (I do have a print of this one). Snow White was wonderful and took several minutes talking to DD!!! Thank you, Snow White, you made our trip!

DS was pretty much just along for the ride on this trip. I am looking forward to our trip this June when he will be more interactive with all the things we are doing.

Up next, our daily plans!!!

 

[ksl5f123]

I consider the first day of our trip to be the day that we leave home. Most of that day won’t be very exciting as we are just driving 450 miles. It will be a Saturday, so we don’t have to worry about rush hour traffic. That said, we still want to leave early - hopefully about 7 AM. This will get us to a hotel about 5 PM which allows time for supper and some swimming in the hotel pool. The kids will need this after that many hours in the car.

Something that I do on all of our long driving trips is to give the kids maps of the route. Locations that occur about every 50 miles are marked on the maps. When/if they find these locations as we drive, they get a “surprise” bag. For a 450 mile drive, I need 8 bags for this day. Here are the current plans:

Bag 1: Ratatouille DVD
Bag 2: snack - probably poptarts or a donut (special things we don’t usually eat)
Bag 3: Pocahontas DVD
Bag 4: Disney toy - I have picked up a couple of coloring sets on sale so probably one of those.
Bag 5: A Bug’s Life DVD
Bag 6: snack - probably cookies and grapes
Bag 7: Cars DVD
Bag 8: Disney toy - probably stickers and paper

The order of the movies follows the order that we have watched them during our countdown. When we had 115 days until we leave, we made a paper countdown chain. Lots of people on the DIS have really fancy chains, but ours was just alternating red, yellow, and black construction paper with the number written on them. My girls take turns tearing them off. When we get to a multiple of 10, we have a party.

At 110 days from departure, we watched Ratatouille. I made ratatouille and chocolate souffle and served store bought croissants. DH and I had wine and the kids had apple juice in plastic wine glasses. Here is pic of the table:

While supper is cooking, the girls do coloring pages of the characters from the movies. After supper, we and !

At our 100 day mark, we watched Pocahontas. I made turkey, corn on the cob, squash soup, berries, and fry bread. At 90 days, we watched A Bug’s Life. We had store bought fried chicken, fresh fruit, and chips. Unfortunately, the pics for these are on the defunct memory card.

At 80 days, we watched Cars. This was a cute movie. I hadn't seen it before. We made “car” shaped sandwiches using hoagie rolls (filled with tuna salad), 4 stick pretzels for the axels, and 4 chocolate covered donuts for the wheels. We also had fruit salad and ice cream sundaes. Here is a pic of that table:

Of course with this many DVDs as their surprises, I have to figure out a way for them to watch them. We have a minivan with two front seats, two middle seats, and a bench seat in the 3rd row that seats three. Right now, DS1 sits behind the driver in a rear-facing car seat, DD4 sits behind the passenger, and DD6 sits behind DD4. We have a portable DVD player that has 2 screens. In the past, DS has been too young to care so we put one in front of each girl. Now that DS will want to watch the movies too, I have no idea how I am going to arrange these so that all three kids can see. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[elizablake]

OMG, you're so creative. I love the movie themed dinners! A present every 50 miles will really help with the long drive. I wish I had a suggestion about the DVDs but I don't. Unless you can change the seating and have DD4 and DD6 share.

 

[TinksThree]

I love how you have done the movies/meals countdown! What great ideas!!

When we had 3 wanting to watch the dual videos, the oldest sitting in the back would move to the center back seat and look at the passenger side video. BUT he was also a teenager and not always interested in what the other two were watching, so probably not that much of a help to you!

 

[ksl5f123]

OMG, you're so creative. I love the movie themed dinners!

I love how you have done the movies/meals countdown! What great ideas!!

Thanks!!!! I got some of the ideas from a great thread over on the DIS for Families board. Some very creative folks post over there. We have enjoyed the nights so much, DH asked if we could continue them after the trip!!

As far as the video screen, I would love to be able to connect a 3rd screen onto our current setup, but I haven't had time to see if that is possible. If it is not, I am trying to decide between suspending one screen between the two front seats and turning DS around (they can turn around at 12 months and 20 lbs and he will be 23 months and is now 28 lbs, but I like to keep my kids rear-facing until I have to turn them at 35 lbs). That would allow DS and DD4 to share. The other option would be to move DD4 to the back seat and have the girls share. The disadvantages of this are that DD4 cannot buckle/unbuckle her own seatbelt so we would have to count on her letting DD6 do it for her and the screen will be directly in front of one girl, but not the other which may cause some sibling issue?

 

[ksl5f123]

Day 2 is also not too exciting. We will go to church in whatever town we stop in. I have already consulted masstimes.org for different churches in each possible stopping city. We will probably get on the road at about 10 AM. On this day, we want to do 350 miles. That should put us at our hotel by 7 PM including stops for lunch and supper.

The “surprise” bags for this day will be:
Bag 1: Mulan DVD
Bag 2: Disney toy - probably Color Wonder books and markers
Bag 3: Princess and the Frog DVD
Bag 4: snack - probably cookies and grapes again
Bag 5: Mickey & the Beanstalk or Tinkerbell DVD
Bag 6: Disney toy - maybe a Leapster game? I haven’t decided on this one yet.

Again, the movies are in the order of our countdown parties. At 70 days until departure, we watched Mulan. I am slightly surprised about the degree to which my girls this movie. I think they have watched it every day since our party three weeks ago! This night, we had Chinese take out and ate with chopsticks. These pictures are also victims of the corrupted memory card.

At 60 days out, we watched the Princess and the Frog. DH and I saw this in the theater, but the kids hadn’t seen it before. It was fun. I made red beans and rice, macque choux corn, green apples shaped like frogs and, of course beignets!!! Here are pics of the table, the frogs, and the beignets.

At 50 days out, we watched Mickey and the Beanstalk. DH made cheese pizza which we presented shaped like Mickey, green beans, and Mickey ice cream sundaes. The movie was new to us. It is a collection of five shorts from the 1930s-50s. I had seen a couple of them as a kid, but not for a really long time. It was kind of funny the things that I had to explain to the kids - old fashioned telephones, radio, etc. Here are pics of the food and the table.

When we reach 40 days out, we are going to watch Tinkerbell. This is another movie I have never seen before. I am still a little stuck on the food I am going to serve. Anybody who has seen the movie have an idea? I will wait until after we watch this one to decide if I am going to have Mickey be a “surprise” or go straight to Tinkerbell. The Mickey movie is only 69 minutes, so it may be perfect or it may be too short.

Next up - Day 3 we finally arrive!

 

[ksl5f123]

On day 3, we still have 120 miles to before we arrive at WDW. I hope to leave the hotel by 9 AM and be in Orlando by 11 AM. This will be a Monday morning, so I want to avoid high traffic times. Before we go to POR, we will stop for some groceries. I want to pick up some milk and fruit. Given how long our drive is and the heat of the summer, I don’t think these are things I can bring with me.

After a quick grocery trip, we hope to arrive at POR between noon and 1 PM. We will check in then and see if it is possible to go to our room. If it is not, we will probably ask them to hold the groceries while we hop into the MK to get DS1 his first haircut at the Main Street Barber shop. If we can get into our rooms, I will send DH to take a tour of POR with the kids while I set up their arrival surprises! I have been working on these baskets for months and am so excited to see their reactions! I am about these!

Here is what I have for the girls baskets so far: 18” plush characters (Minnie with a pink bow for DD6, Daisy with a purple bow for DD4, Tiana shirts (in honor of their arrival at POR! - An aside here, who else thinks that sometime in the future there will be a TS dining location in POR or POFQ named Tiana’s Place? Seems obvious to me and POFQ lacks at TS restaurant! ), hairbows that match the shirts, pajamas, flashlights, lanyards with pins, hats, backpacks, suckers decorated like Mickey, Minnie, and Winnie the Pooh, autograph books, jibbitz for their crocs, sunglasses, bubbles, and a mister fan. I will post some pics when I get everything assembled.

For DS1, I have a 18” plush Mickey, a Disney t-shirt, a flashlight, a hat, some suckers, an autograph book, sunglasses, bubbles, and a mister fan. I will probably still try to pick up some kind of sippy or straw cup for him.

The girls baskets will be actual baskets that I will wrap in cellophane wrap with lots of ribbons. For DS, I picked up a Mickey Easter “thing” at Walgreens at an after Easter clearance for $2.50. It is a clear plastic cylinder about a foot tall and the lid is black Mickey ears! It was filled with stickers, tattoos, a coloring book, and candy. We have already removed all of that so I will just put his stuff in there! There is a pic of it in my previous post. It decorated the table at our Mickey party.

At about 4 PM, we will head over to Epcot. We have a 5:20 ADR at Tutto Italia. This is DH’s only request of the trip, so I put it right up front. My plan is to ride the Mexico ride, get a FP for Maelstrom, eat supper, ride Maelstrom, and leave. Hopefully that timing will work out. If not, we have plenty of other days for rides!

Up next, Day 4 = Animal Kingdom!

 

[TinksThree]

I have thought the same thing about how natural a TS with Tiana at POR or POFQ would be! When I was trying to decide where we would stay, I kept thinking, that is a perfect fit!!

Cool to think what I will be doing on your arrival day!! ...DHS and then who knows...pool, DTD or EMH at DHS??

I love the basket ideas! We may have to have a mickey night because that is sooo cute. But the Princess and the Frog table is too cute, especially the frogs!!

We did movies on the way to Orlando and even with teens it worked great. What I liked about it was that it kept them "in the car" with me instead of inside the cell phones and I-Pods!! Plus it really broke the trip down, we kept saying 3 more movies, 2, 1 and then we were there!!

 

[dellasgirl]

Wow--the baskets sound great--why didn't i think of something like that when my kids were younger
When you watch the Tink movie--maybe you could have flower shaped cookies
coupled with a flower centerpiece?
the bags sound like fun--we still--well we meaning me--pack a surprise bag for the kids--family tradition

 

[ksl5f123]

I love the basket ideas! We may have to have a mickey night because that is sooo cute. But the Princess and the Frog table is too cute, especially the frogs!!

Thanks again! I decided to do the baskets after looking at the stuff that Disney Florist can deliver in a welcome package. I couldn't bring myself to spend what they charge so I thought I would just do it myself. I think the total spent for all 3 baskets is about $65 (most of which went toward the trading pins).

I loved the frogs too. They were so easy to make - 3 slices of green apple, 1 green grape cut in half for feet, 2 1/4 teaspoon dots of cream cheese and 2 chocolate chips for eyes. My DS1 ate all of the grapes and chocolate chips, so the rest of us only got apples. Good thing I got a picture before he got to the plate!

Karen

 

[ksl5f123]

When you watch the Tink movie--maybe you could have flower shaped cookies
coupled with a flower centerpiece?

That is a good idea! Thanks! I bought some paper cupcake wrappers with Tink on them. I am thinking of serving all of our food in them - small sized serving dishes for fairies! The menu currently is cut up fruit and cheese cubes. Obviously, I still need more! Maybe some finger sandwiches.....

Karen

 

[TinksThree]

For the Tink movie night I had thought the same thing...flowers and little miniature foods. We did a miniature meal one time and used those rolls with sausage in them for "baby hotdogs". Like pigs in a blanket, sort of. Of course don't forget the Pixie Dust!!

 

[ksl5f123]

Of course don't forget the Pixie Dust!!

Oooooh. Actually, I had forgotten!! What would I do without my DIS friends? Our Day 40 party should be on Monday, but DS1 and I are flying to San Diego for the weekend for my cousin's wedding and we won't be home until after the girls should be in bed Monday night. I have class all day Tuesday. So, it looks like the Tink party will be Wednesday!

Karen

 

[ksl5f123]

Day 4 is our first full day of touring!! We plan to get up at 7 AM, have breakfast in the room, and make rope drop at Animal Kingdom. I really want to see the opening show - we have never been to rope drop here. Here are pics of the outfits for the kids that day.

and the girl‘s hairbow.

We will probably drive this day and the current plan is to use both strollers. Here is the touring plan:

- FPV get Expedition Everest fastpasses for DH and nephews
- DH and nephews ride Dinosaur while DD6, DD4, DS1 and I ride Triceratop Spin. MIL and FIL can choose which they prefer
- walk the Pangani trail - I love the gorillas
- get fastpass for the Safari
- Donald’s Safari breakfast at Tusker House (10:15 ADR) - our first time here as well. I hear the food is pretty good and I am looking forward to seeing Mickey on our first day!!
- meet other random characters - DH and nephews ride Everest with fastpass
- Festival of the Lion King (noon show) - we have never seen this either
- ride Safari with fastpass

At this point we have two options: Option 1) We can’t stand the heat. We leave, grab a quick meal at Riverside Mill, and go to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon. Option 2) We are having too much fun to leave so we

- get a fastpass for Kali River Rapids
- walk the Maharajah Jungle Trail - watch some probably sleeping tigers
- see the 2 PM Nemo show - not sure about this one. I want to see it, but don't know if DS1 can sit that long. It will, however, be his nap time so maybe if it isn't too loud he will just doze off....
- get a meal from Pizzafari or Flame Tree - I would prefer Flame Tree, but DH is a vegetarian and I don't see anything for him on their menu. Of course, we could just split up...
- see the parade - I parades and we haven't seen this one
- ride Kali with fast pass
- leave and do nothing the rest of the night.

Up next, Day 5 = Princess Day!

 

[elizablake]

An aside here, who else thinks that sometime in the future there will be a TS dining location in POR or POFQ named Tiana’s Place? Seems obvious to me and POFQ lacks at TS restaurant! ),

Disney should hire you!

The baskets sound perfect.

Day 4 is our first full day of touring!! We plan to get up at 7 AM, have breakfast in the room, and make rope drop at Animal Kingdom. I really want to see the opening show - we have never been to rope drop here. Here are pics of the outfits for the kids that day.

and the girl‘s hairbow.

We will probably drive this day and the current plan is to use both strollers. Here is the touring plan:

- FPV get Expedition Everest fastpasses for DH and nephews
- DH and nephews ride Dinosaur while DD6, DD4, DS1 and I ride Triceratop Spin. MIL and FIL can choose which they prefer
- walk the Pangani trail - I love the gorillas
- get fastpass for the Safari
- Donald’s Safari breakfast at Tusker House (10:15 ADR) - our first time here as well. I hear the food is pretty good and I am looking forward to seeing Mickey on our first day!!
- meet other random characters - DH and nephews ride Everest with fastpass
- Festival of the Lion King (noon show) - we have never seen this either
- ride Safari with fastpass

At this point we have two options: Option 1) We can’t stand the heat. We leave, grab a quick meal at Riverside Mill, and go to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon. Option 2) We are having too much fun to leave so we

- get a fastpass for Kali River Rapids
- walk the Maharajah Jungle Trail - watch some probably sleeping tigers
- see the 2 PM Nemo show - not sure about this one. I want to see it, but don't know if DS1 can sit that long. It will, however, be his nap time so maybe if it isn't too loud he will just doze off....
- get a meal from Pizzafari or Flame Tree - I would prefer Flame Tree, but DH is a vegetarian and I don't see anything for him on their menu. Of course, we could just split up...
- see the parade - I parades and we haven't seen this one
- ride Kali with fast pass
- leave and do nothing the rest of the night.

Up next, Day 5 = Princess Day!

Your plan sounds really reasonable. We love riding Triceratop Spin first thing in the AM. The CM's let us just stay on the ride since no one was waiting.

We have never seen the Parade at AK either. I heard it is the best at DW. I think you guys might choose option 2 since it is your first day and you will be so excited and not exhausted yet.

Also, the AK hair bow is soooo cute! Did you make it?

 

[ksl5f123]

Also, the AK hair bow is soooo cute! Did you make it?

I did. Glad you like it. I hope the girls will too. I found the Mickey/Minnie with safari hat ribbon on ebay and just had to have it!

 

[TinksThree]

Oooooh. Actually, I had forgotten!! What would I do without my DIS friends? Our Day 40 party should be on Monday, but DS1 and I are flying to San Diego for the weekend for my cousin's wedding and we won't be home until after the girls should be in bed Monday night. I have class all day Tuesday. So, it looks like the Tink party will be Wednesday!

Karen

I am sure they do not care which day it officailly is!! Do your children know when each movie day is coming up and what it will be, or is that a surprise? I am so glad I mentioned the Pixie Dust!!

I love AK but I am a little concerned about the heat...I have not been in the warmer months! I really like how your two options are laid out, you can go with the moment!! And I love the ribbons! I wish I could get away with wearing those bows!!