Dreams come true...WDW 8/30-9/16

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Oh dear, dropping both phones into the puddles.

Hope you and the family are doing well.

 

[disneydusted]

Hi Jaycns...
I have been watching and reading the Boards for about a year and have finally gotten logged on! Your trip reports have been such fun to read! I have enjoyed your photos and "living" your trip with you. My kids have even gotten involved, wondering what "that Disney Family" has done! Thanks for all of your reports and congratulations on your new little guy!!
disneydusted

 

[Spartangirl]

Great update!!!

We went on the "new and improved" haunted mansion over New Year's and LOVED the changes too!

Can't believe BOTH cell phones fell in the water.......

Best wishes to you, your family, and the new little prince! Hope all is well!

 

[SoonerGirl]

An update from jay!!!

I'm so sorry about your camera battery AND, the water logged cell phones!! I sure hope that is the last mishap of the night and that the rain goes away!


Hope you and yours are doing well

 

[jaycns]

Well first, a picture of the three big brothers This picture was taken on Christmas Eve.

 

[jaycns]

Double post

 

[Nicole786]

Congratulations!!! What a cute little baby! Whats his name??

 

[jaycns]

Well first, a picture of the three big brothers This picture was taken on Christmas Eve. Yes I am aware that it is considered child abuse in 28 states...but it's way too cute to pass up the chance to make them wear matching pajamas on Christmas Eve.

This next picture is of the little prince and I planning his first trip to WDW! A very important event in the life of any little one!! His first trip will be this year...in Sept/Oct!

And a sleeping prince!

I will update the next trip report installment momentarily.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

How sweet! He already looks a lot like his brothers.

 

[jaycns]

After meeting up, we made our soggy way to Cosmic Ray's. Upon entering we saw HOARDS of people eating, sitting, standing, cramming into every nook and cranny trying to stay dry. I think I may have even seen a few people shaking out (imagine a shaggy dog) to dry off a bit. Wait, I guess that was us.

After our quick "shake off" we got in line and purchased another tasty counter service meal. This time we had:
Dh-BBQ ribs with mashed potatoes and corn and a slice of triple chocolate cake (he gave this meal 2 thumbs up)

Me-Hamburger with french fries (and about a cup *no exaggeration* of the sauteed mushrooms on the topping bar) and strawberry yogurt. Another great meal. YUM!

"Aladdin"-Beef Hot Dog with french fries and a brownie. He said it was a good meal.

"Goofy" and "Stitch"- Chicken nuggets, french fries and a chocolate chip cookie (this was our last night of vacation, I couldn't make them get carrot sticks and some jello like substance as sides).

Then the real fun began, WHERE TO SIT?! After looking high and low for inside seating, we wandered out to the outdoor patio area which was covered and again found not a table that was unoccupied...but in the spirit of friendliness that seems to shine at WDW, another family of four invited us to share their table for four. They moved their own kids to the ground behind the table, we deposited our boys there too and then us parents took the table. HOW NICE WAS THAT?! We tried to thank them but say no thank you but the mom insisted. She said she was an OB/GYN and she had heard so many of her patients talk about how they were never offered seats, etc that she had promised herself she would be conscious of offering pregnant women a seat if she ever could...GOOD JOB LITTLE PRINCE!! Finding mommy and daddy seats before you were even born. Turns out we had a lot in common. Dh and the other husband both worked in same field and spent almost an hour and a half talking about it while the wife and I talked baby talk, kids, and of course WDW tips. Hopefully we paid back their kindness with a bit of Disney info. She was unaware about asking to ride in the front of the monorail, the free plastic robots you can assemble at EPCOT and bead activities at AKL (where they happened to be staying). Not only did the adults hit it off, but the kids got alone great as well. Their two little girls were 7 and 10...the ages were a perfect match! The kids didn't seem to even notice that they didn't have a table or chairs. I have no idea what they talked about for so long, but we constantly heard laughing and sometimes even small bits of musical breaks (IE parts of High School Musical songs).

When we left the table together and both families made the decision to make our way to the front of the park (the rain was finally starting to let up...it was now about 9:30 PM). We were hoping to find a bench near Cinderella's castle and watch the fireworks together. The rain had finally let up and the message that was repeating from the PA system kept promising that we would soon see MNSSHP fireworks. We spent another half an hour visiting with this very sweet family before we finally gave up waiting for the fireworks (and had all but given up hope of the second parade taking place either) when the rain once again started. We said goodbye to our new friends and wished them a happy rest of the vacation while they wished us a safe trip home the next day *sniff sniff*.

On our way out of the park we stopped and bought a few gifts/last minute must have them this trip items. It was then we found a perfect gift for MouseTriper daughter. She was going to be wearing a Nightmare Before Christmas outfit to a MNSSHP on their vacation and we found the sweetest little Zero dog beanie with a glowing pumpkin nose. We were really looking forward to leaving it for her. *This will factor into the next morning's installment.*

After that we stopped by guest services to see if something could be done about our tickets...and they were offering a pass good for one year for admission to the Magic Kingdom OR tickets to another MNSSHP that year since the party was rained out. *TIP-never be afraid to ask what (if anything) is available in these kinds of situations. I felt badly for the many families I saw leaving without getting those passes beforehand. I told three families about it on our way out to try and share the silver lining.*

We did end up seeing most the MNSSHP fireworks that night...from one of our favorite vantage points in all of the world, the fire escape at the Contemporary. We had hopped off of the monorail at the Contemporary in order to let the kids pick up a Jedi Mickey they had seen in the shop there earlier in our vacation and just as the monorail pulled into the Contemporary we heard the fireworks start to boom over the Magic Kingdom so we high tailed it over to the fire escape stairway and made our way up to the first empty landing. It wasn't the way we had planned it, it wasn't the way we had envisioned wrapping up our WDW vacation...but in it's own way, it was a perfect ending to a great vacation. We stood there, more then a bit soaked, tired, a tad bit on the cold side and my pregnant feet and twisted ankle were screaming for bed. However, all of that being true, it was a moment I never want to forget. "Aladdin" was holding one of my hands, "Goofy" was holding the other, "Stitch" was standing right in front of me, leaning back on me and dh was standing right behind me with his arms around me. If you could have seen us, you would have offered us a towel (and maybe a blow dryer as well ) but it was a beautiful moment for our family.

As the fireworks faded, we returned from la-la land and made our way into the shop for a quick, Jedi Mickey purchase. As soon as we had that in hand we hopped back on to the monorail for our last ride of the vacation and then headed quickly back to our room. A few warm showers later, all of my men were soundly asleep. Except for my littlest man who was kicking my kidney's for exercise. While he did that, I wrote a longish letter to MouseTriper to enclose with her surprise package (the little Zero dog and a pin). Finally, the little ninja stopped kicking and I fell fast asleep with a tired smile on my face on the very last night of our Disney vacation! Although I wasn't looking forward to leaving my favorite place on earth, my body was in need of going home for a good rest.

Up next: A final morning at WDW and the trip home.

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[2ScottishPrincesses]

Fabby!!! two posts at the one time. This was definately worth the wait. It's sad you got rained out but as you said there's always a silver lining if you look hard enough.

The little prince is gorgeous, he looks like he has a bit of all his DBros in him and he must be a pretty contented baby to allow you to write two posts.

Looking forwart to your next post...take care to all

 

[MomofCKJ]

Just found this report and I'm on your first day at AKL. Work calls but I am subscribing to come back. I read your old one and loved it! You take the most amazing trips! I can't wait to read the rest! And congrats on your 4th little man!

Allyson

 

[momoftriplets]

WELCOME BACK!!!! I missed you!

Great installment, of course. Can't believe you BOTH dropped your phones in the water. Seems like something DH & I would do.

Wonderful photos of your boys. "Child abuse in 28 states." I noticed there is a WDW planning book on the chair next to you. It never stops, does it?

Barb

 

[TheDISneyFamily]

This next picture is of the little prince and I planning his first trip to WDW! A very important event in the life of any little one!! His first trip will be this year...in Sept/Oct!

And a sleeping prince!

Jay! You did it! I am so happy for you! Congratulations on your new son. He's beautiful, and so are you! You look absolutely radiant. Motherhood definitely agrees with you. I'm sending a huge hug and all of my best wishes to you and your wonderful family.

Take care,
Michelle

 

[AshleyMWC]

What a beautifl family and TR! I have enjoyed reading your TR so much- and I can't wait to hear about your next pic with the Little Prince. I have to say, in that last picture, I think he looks a lot like your little Stitch, who is quite the charmer I'm sure

I can't wait to hear about your last morning of vacation!

 

[LindaBabe]

Oh what a lovely photo of you and the prince <sniff>

 

[DisneyJo]

What a gorgeous photo, so sweet

I absolutely love the way you describe your family moments you sound like such a wonderful close family

 

[starrzone]

I am really enjoying your TR! The baby is gorgeous!

May I just say, I was thinking "Prince" goes so well with "Aladdin", "Stitch", and "Goofy". Then I thought some more, and realized that giving your youngest son an 80s pop star nickname might make him feel left out later on in life (i.e. NOt being named after a character in a Disney animated feature!), but really, will the little guy know the difference? My kid brother didn't know who the SMURFS were, and he was born in 1992! I'm sure you'll think of something that will describe his young personality to a tee!

 

[Mini Sorcerer's Mom]

I LOVED your report, and congrats on your new addition. We are staying at AKV in April and now I really can't wait. Did I miss your trip report on Bush Camp? I'm thinking about it for my son but do not know if it is worth it. What do you think?

 

[jaycns]

Bush Camp at AKL is for kids ages 6-14. It takes place on Saturdays from 1:00-4:00 PM. The cost is $70 per child (with a portion of that going to the Disney Conservation Fund). The official description was "Learn about African culture through games, activities, foods and crafts. Play along with a character from the Lion King!"...

In reality it was so much more then that! My boys ADORED Bush Camp! I would highly recommend it. They started out by making hemp and bead bracelets. Next they played some African instruments and had a snack of African food (chicken of some sort and some tomato something or other...helpful descriptions from my kids ) . After that they went for a safari around the resort viewing the animals and learning about them. When their safari finished Timon was waiting for them at Simba's Clubhouse and they got to play the "Bongo" with him (it was a game like bingo played with questions about African animals). They finished up by each getting to take a picture with Timon and being presented with a certificate of completion of AKL's Bush Camp.

On top of all of that fun they each also got a safari hat and a backpack (a small sling one) full of goodies. They got small stuffed African animals, stickers, a notebook and a few other small goodies. Of course they also got the photo of them and Timon. All three of my boys had a lot of fun.

We were not to discover just how much fun our boys had until very late that night. Directly after Bush Camp our boys were staying at Simba's Clubhouse for the nightly children's club. When we dropped off the boys for Bush Camp we had filled out the paperwork and picked up the beeper for Simba's that night. We had also picked out a dinner for each of them (I think they asked for hot dogs and fries all around).

There ya go. I dug up the portion about AKL's Bush Camp. My boys all loved it. All three of them said they would do it again if given the chance. I know it's a sort of condensed review, but I was working with the information that I could pry out of three little boys...so...I think I actually got quite a bit of information out of them. Hope that helps.