Five Little Ones Take the Adults - 15 Nights SSR/DDP, UPDATED 23/3 More Grand Welcome

Apparently I had a bandwidth problem with PB but it is sorted now so my pictures should all be showing.
 
Wednesday September 25th

Travel Day Part One

I finally got up at 5.30am after giving up on trying to sleep and also because I wanted to be at the airport early to check that we still had our ‘Seat Plus’ seat and get our seats allocated to us. As Kaley was an infant when we travelled, we had been unable to do online check in. (Seat Plus is where you can pay a fee to have an empty seat assigned next to you.)

Phil had a shower and Kaley was up not long after. We had two happy little girls.



We all got dressed and packed up everything we had out of our cases. Phil took all of our stuff and packed up the car.

We met at Mum and Dad’s room at 6.30am as they were driving Ryan, Bethany and Piper as they too wanted to be there early as they couldn’t do online check in. Phil, Ryan and I took all there stuff and loaded up the car. (My Dad had hurt his back a few days before and we did’t want hime doing anything to make it worse.)

Dan and Marie had done online check in the day before so they were going to meet us at the airport later. Michelle and her family were on the later flight so were having breakfast at the hotel.

We left at 6.45am and drove the few minutes to departures. I called the meet and greet service for the car on the way and they were waiting outside the terminal when we arrived. We unloaded the car and went inside. Even though it was barely 7am, it seemed to take quite a while. Thankfully, we still had our Seat Plus seat and had been allocated the four middle seats on row 34. Mum and Dad were row 35, Dan and Marie 36 and Ryan, Bethany and Piper 30, all window seats.

We dropped our car seats at the oversize bag drop place and went through security. One of our trays of stuff was pulled aside for extra checking but it just sat there with no one coming over. We then realised that the hold up was that Piper’s stroller had somehow broken one of their machines, oops!
:rolleyes1
We finally got all of our stuff back and they decided that Piper’s stroller was not some sort of evil object and let us all through! :rotfl: We went straight to Frankie and Benny’s to get some breakfast. Kaley was really hungry so I asked for some toast for her to brought out and that arrived a couple of minutes later.

Piper is ready for her milk



I had a voucher for kids to eat free with every adult meal purchased so they each had bacon, sausage, baked beans and toast. You can kind of see in these pictures





Got to have the ketchup! :)

Phil had the New England breakfast and I for some reason had a mozzarella and ham panini and fries. :confused3



I wasn’t overly hungry and barely ate any of mine.

We left and looked for somewhere quiet to sit to let the girls use up some energy. We left them with Mum and Dad and went to get some snacks for the plane, a bit of duty free and some books.

We went back and they were both playing





Once everyone was done having a wander, we made our way to our gate. The plane took off a bit late at 11.30am.

We got settled and got teddies, blankets and toys out of the girls carry on.



Ryan and Bethany had great bulkhead seats, they had so much legroom in front of them.

I tried for a long time to get Kaley to sleep



She woke up when I tried to move her so only had about 5 minutes.

The cabin crew brought the kids meals around, we only had one for some reason. It was pasta bolognese, a bread roll and a lemon dessert.





She didn’t eat much of this. Phil, Madison and I all had sausage and mash. It was ok, just standard plane food.



Continued in next post
 
Continued from previous post

Travel Day Part Two

We passed the time by walking up and down the plane a few times, stopping quite often to see Ryan, Bethany and Piper.

Madison enjoyed playing on the iPad



Kaley tried to figure out Madison’s headphones! :love:



There were some empty seats near us. Phil and Madison sat by the window for a while and three of the four seats behind us were free which was great when Madison and Kaley wanted to sit with someone else.



Dan spent quite a bit of time here as Madison wanted to sit with Marie.

I finally got Kaley to sleep and she slept for about two hours



Madison watched Peppa Pig, Phil watched Olympus Has Fallen and I watched Identity Thief. I tried a few times to watch Monsters University but gave up as I kept being interrupted.

Kaley sat with Phil when she woke and Madison spent more time with Marie



Kaley played musical chairs, sitting with Dan, then Mum, then Dad then kept going to see Ryan.

Finally we saw this on the map and it was nearly time to land.



Considering it is such a long flight, all three girls were really good.



We landed at 3.15pm and had joined the immigration line by 3.30pm. There was no other flight in front of us, only the people on the plane who had got off first. To start, there were only two members of staff working, holding things up. As we were waiting, more staff did arrive and they started getting through the line fairly fast.

When we got near the front we could see one guy who was taking forever to process people. As in, two to three families processed by other staff compared to his one family! :confused3 Of course, the four of us were directed to his line! Ryan, Bethany and Piper were already through and getting the cases. Marie went through. Mum, Dad and Dan went through. We were still waiting for him to process the people in front of us! :eek:

Finally it was our turn. I don’t even know what took him so long, he just seemed really slow in every action he had to take. On the plus side, the others had already got all of our luggage :) by the time we were done with immigration and we were on our way to the second bag drop by 4.15pm.

With two kids, two car seats, four suitcases, four pieces of hand luggage and a stroller, we had no option but to do the second bag drop. :lmao:



This is a right faff if you are using Disney’s Magical Express as you have to go to A side to collect your cases again and then go back to B side to get the Magical Express. We asked a porter with a trolley if he could help as we had so much stuff. He was great as we waited quite a while for the cases, then he took us back over to B side, down to the Magical Express check in and then waited until our bus came. I think we tipped him around $15 for this.

Mum, Dad, Ryan, Bethany and Piper were picking up a hire car so they went to get this and were going to stop at Walmart for supplies on their way to Saratoga Springs.



Loading our stuff



We were on the bus at 4.55pm, it seemed like the whole process had taken long than that.







Sorry, these are a bit blurry. Kaley looks so tired.

We were on our way at 5.05pm. Kaley and Madison loved the film they play and was happy eating the snacks left over from on the plane.



We came off at exit 6 and saw the Characters in Flight balloon up. The girls were really excited seeing this. Then we saw this! :)



Part three coming soon!​
 

What a great little play area for the girls to get some wiggles out before sitting on a long flight. Looks like they were all very well behaved. It must have been nice not to have a full flight so you could move around a little.

How frustrating to get in the slow line through immigration, but at least all the luggage was there when you were done.

Can't wait for the next update!
 
I remember you from the Mom's Panel, I used to go on that all the time reading the questions and answers. What an amazing experience for you. I have started reading your TR from that too, what I have read so far is amazing! :)
It really was a great experience and I hope you enjoy my TR :goodvibes

Your girls sounded like they were very well behaved, the worst bit about WDW is the flight isn't it! I get fidgety after about half an hour :rotfl2:
 
What a long travel day but your girls did so well! (How long is the flight?) That photo of Kaley with the headphones on her head is adorable! :)

Seeing that WDW sign has to be pretty exciting! :banana:
 
Joining in :wave2:
Love the pictures of your wee one covering her "ears" and using her lovely big sister's headphones. We do the same ting as you and travel to the airport the night before to lessen the stressful side of travelling plus I like getting an extra days holiday of sorts ;)
Looks like a lovely uneventful flight which is great but gosh I hate what Virgin have done to their kids meals :crazy2: They used to be so much better in the past :confused3
Cant wait to hear all about SSR as we often think of staying as the deals tend to be the best for there :)
Oh and Jo I remember you from the Moms panel and reading all through your TR and loving it! It was great having someone from here on there to answer questions that only people who stay as long as we tend to would understand. Do you still keep in touch with your fellow panellists? You all did such a great job :thumbsup2
 
Panini and fries for breakfast. Sounds good to me.
Nice uneventful flight. Sorry for the delay by the slow guy.
Nice shot of the arch entering property.
 
Great update! :)

Thank you. :)

What a great little play area for the girls to get some wiggles out before sitting on a long flight. Looks like they were all very well behaved. It must have been nice not to have a full flight so you could move around a little.

How frustrating to get in the slow line through immigration, but at least all the luggage was there when you were done.

Can't wait for the next update!

They were good and loved spending time running around and playing. Having empty seats was lovely. While we were walking up and down I noticed it was full at the back of the plane so we definitely got the best deal! :thumbsup2

It is funny to think of the immigration queue now, it wasn't so fun at the time. ;)

It really was a great experience and I hope you enjoy my TR :goodvibes

Your girls sounded like they were very well behaved, the worst bit about WDW is the flight isn't it! I get fidgety after about half an hour :rotfl2:

I LOVED your trip report, it was brilliant to read. Such an amazing experience for you.

The girls were really good. I don't mind the journey too much, it was just so much easier when I only had myself to entertain! :lmao:

What a long travel day but your girls did so well! (How long is the flight?) That photo of Kaley with the headphones on her head is adorable! :)

Seeing that WDW sign has to be pretty exciting! :banana:

It is a long day but so worth it! ;) The flight is around 9 hours, long but manageable. I love that picture too, she really is a quirky little girl.:hug:

Seeing the sign was so exciting! :)

Joining in :wave2:
Love the pictures of your wee one covering her "ears" and using her lovely big sister's headphones. We do the same ting as you and travel to the airport the night before to lessen the stressful side of travelling plus I like getting an extra days holiday of sorts ;)
Looks like a lovely uneventful flight which is great but gosh I hate what Virgin have done to their kids meals :crazy2: They used to be so much better in the past :confused3
Cant wait to hear all about SSR as we often think of staying as the deals tend to be the best for there :)
Oh and Jo I remember you from the Moms panel and reading all through your TR and loving it! It was great having someone from here on there to answer questions that only people who stay as long as we tend to would understand. Do you still keep in touch with your fellow panellists? You all did such a great job :thumbsup2

Hi :wave2:

I love those photos too, she really is funny. :)

The holiday definitely starts for us on that pre-travel day, we're off work so the holiday has started! ;)

The kids food wasn't the best at all. They obviously went down the 'healthy' route. :rolleyes:

SSR is beautiful, I loved staying there. Phil took lots of pictures so I have plenty to share.

Panini and fries for breakfast. Sounds good to me.
Nice uneventful flight. Sorry for the delay by the slow guy.
Nice shot of the arch entering property.

It probably was really nice, I just don't usually eat that early.

It was a good flight and the immigration line wasn't too bad really. We could have been on the flight that arrived just after us and had to wait a lot longer.

I love the Disney World sign. :)
 
Travel Day Part 3

Kaley was very excited to see the Disney buses.



We stopped at Port Orleans French Quarter, Port Orleans Riverside and Old Key West before arriving at Saratoga Springs just before 6pm.

The Magical Express driver unloaded all of our stuff while I asked Bell Services for a trolley. We tipped the ME driver $10 or $12 I think.

Dan, Marie, Madison, Kaley and I went inside to check in while Phil stayed with the luggage. Marie entertained the girls and Dan and I went to the desk and we were there for quite a while!

We had two bookings, each for a two-bed villa and had noted on both reservations that we would like a high floor in the Grandstand area. We found they had allocated us a high floor in Congress Park. We didn’t want here, especially with the walkway to DTD closed. We asked if we could be moved to the Grandstand. She made a call, did some typing and then got off the phone and said that we had been allocated villas in Grandstand. She told us the numbers and Dan realised that they were on the ground floor. (My Mum and Dad had a frog problem last year at OKW and my Dad did not want ground floor again!) We asked if we could have two villas, near to each other, in Grandstand, on a high floor, which I know is asking for a lot. She got back on the phone, did some more typing and after a few minutes was able to confirm rooms 9421 and 9427 in Grandstand, yay! :cool1:

This took around 30 minutes in all. The lady at check in then advised us that she had four parcels waiting for us. I had done some online shopping beforehand and had everything delivered to a lady who then delivers to your resort/villa on arrival day. Well worth the money spent! :thumbsup2 I had actually forgotten about this, oops.

She went to get these and we were then finally on our way in a golf cart that was full with us and our luggage and boxes! :rotfl:





We pulled up outside our building and went up to the 4th floor.





Finally we were in our villa.



We got everything in, tipped the guy from Bell Services, again around $15 I think as he had done lots of waiting, and the girls started exploring. They loved all of the doors and had lots of fun going through them all. Phil took lots of photos, here are a few













Once the girls had calmed down, we got them to bed just after 7pm. The others arrived in the car so Phil, Dan and Marie went to help Ryan unload the car and take everything to their villa.

While they were doing this, I was unpacking one of the our cases which was full of stuff for my own ‘Mickey’s Grand Welcome’. I had lots to sort out for the next day but I will post some photos of this later.

Mum, Dad, Dan and Marie went to Artist’s Palette to get us a late dinner. Phil and I unpacked while they were out and got the clothes and bags ready for the next day.

I had the cheeseburger flatbread



This was good but wasn’t like the one I had in 2010 at Vero Beach which is what I was expecting it to be like.

Phil had chicken tenders and crisps. Dan and Marie each had a chicken parm, which was a special that day I think. No pics of these, sorry. We each had bottled drinks and cookies.

Mine and Phil’s food would have cost just under $30 but we are on the DDP so cost us 2 quick service credits.

We stayed up talking for a bit and went to bed around 10pm after a very long day.

Day 2, Animal Kingdom, my ‘Mickey’s Grand Welcome’, DTD and Wolfgang Puck Cafe coming soon.
 
Enjoying your TR! :thumbsup2 The kids did great on the plane considering such a long flight. So glad you got Grandstand and upper floor - room looks so beautiful!
 
Saratoga springs looks beautiful-the villas are so roomy :thumbsup2
Love that you organised packages to be delivered for your arrival and I had to laugh when you said you'd forgotten about doing so as I can imagine doing that too:rolleyes1 Sounds like you got the girls into a good routine right away:)
I always breathe a sigh of relief when we finally unpack;)
 
Oh and Jo I remember you from the Moms panel and reading all through your TR and loving it! It was great having someone from here on there to answer questions that only people who stay as long as we tend to would understand. Do you still keep in touch with your fellow panellists? You all did such a great job :thumbsup2
Thanks :goodvibes Yes I chat with lots of my year and others quite regularly. I met up with a few when I went to NYC, when they've come here to the UK and I have planned a meet in the summer in WDW :thumbsup2 There is also a new Brit Mom on the panel this year!

I LOVED your trip report, it was brilliant to read. Such an amazing experience for you.
I'm so pleased, thanks for reading :goodvibes

SSR is beautiful, I loved staying there. Phil took lots of pictures so I have plenty to share.
I know this reply wasn't to me but we're staying at SSR in July so I can't wait to see all your photos!

She got back on the phone, did some more typing and after a few minutes was able to confirm rooms 9421 and 9427 in Grandstand, yay! :cool1:
Yay how great you got the rooms you wanted, it was definitely worth asking :thumbsup2

While they were doing this, I was unpacking one of the our cases which was full of stuff for my own Mickeys Grand Welcome. I had lots to sort out for the next day but I will post some photos of this later.
Oooh sounds interesting, I can't wait to see what you do!
 
Great update! :goodvibes

Thank you! :)

Enjoying your TR! :thumbsup2 The kids did great on the plane considering such a long flight. So glad you got Grandstand and upper floor - room looks so beautiful!

Thank you. :) The room was lovely, very spacious and bright. We were very pleased with where we were. :)

Saratoga springs looks beautiful-the villas are so roomy :thumbsup2
Love that you organised packages to be delivered for your arrival and I had to laugh when you said you'd forgotten about doing so as I can imagine doing that too:rolleyes1 Sounds like you got the girls into a good routine right away:)
I always breathe a sigh of relief when we finally unpack;)

SSR is really beautiful, I loved it there. It is such a pretty resort.

It had completely slipped my mind that I would have parcels waiting for me, oops! :headache:

I was definitely pleased when we had unpacked. :)

Thanks :goodvibes Yes I chat with lots of my year and others quite regularly. I met up with a few when I went to NYC, when they've come here to the UK and I have planned a meet in the summer in WDW :thumbsup2 There is also a new Brit Mom on the panel this year!

I'm so pleased, thanks for reading :goodvibes

I know this reply wasn't to me but we're staying at SSR in July so I can't wait to see all your photos!

Yay how great you got the rooms you wanted, it was definitely worth asking :thumbsup2

Oooh sounds interesting, I can't wait to see what you do!

It is lovely you are still in contact with your fellow 'Mom's'. Hope you have a lovely meet in the summer. :)

I do have lots of photos, we had a new camera so Phil took so many photos.

We were so happy when we got where we wanted, it really is worth asking.

My mad, crazy idea of the Grand Welcome will be coming soon! :yay:

:)
 
Great update and pics.

Glad they were able to switch you to Grandstand. I love that area and the fact of first on and off on the bus is a plus.
 
Great update and pics.

Glad they were able to switch you to Grandstand. I love that area and the fact of first on and off on the bus is a plus.

Thanks. :)

We really liked the Grandstand area and being the first bus stop is a massive plus, especially in such a big resort.
 
I've missed so much! I was just checking my very quiet old TR to do a possible update and noticed I missed a post from you. I can't believe your trip is over and you've even started a TR! Where have I been? :confused3 I haven't read anything yet, but you're on my reading list for tonight! Hope you had a great trip!! Excited to follow along! :thumbsup2
 
I've missed so much! I was just checking my very quiet old TR to do a possible update and noticed I missed a post from you. I can't believe your trip is over and you've even started a TR! Where have I been? :confused3 I haven't read anything yet, but you're on my reading list for tonight! Hope you had a great trip!! Excited to follow along! :thumbsup2

Hi Jessica, thank you for reading! :)

I had been away from your TR for too long and it was lovely to catch up reading it. So excited you have AP's again. :banana:

Our trip was good, I didn't do as much as I would have liked but the girls had an amazing time which is all that matters.:love:

Thanks :)
 














Save Up to 30% on Rooms at Walt Disney World!

Save up to 30% on rooms at select Disney Resorts Collection hotels when you stay 5 consecutive nights or longer in late summer and early fall. Plus, enjoy other savings for shorter stays.This offer is valid for stays most nights from August 1 to October 11, 2025.
CLICK HERE













DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest

Back
Top