Gallafamily's pre-trip report

[gallafamily]

This will be my very first trip report, so I hope it goes well.

Cast of Characters:

Myself-Shannon-35 y/o mom--I work full-time as a 911 dispatcher, am a full-time mom of 4 wonderful children and fast becoming a disney addict .

Husband-Alan-36 y/o dad--Also works full-time as a 911 dispatcher, volunteers as firefighter, great father and also loves disney!

DS-Jacob-11 y/o son--Fast becoming a teenager and has the additude to prove it . Loves to read, play video game and drive his little brothers crazy.

DS- Zachary-5 y/o son-Is excited about starting school next year and his favorite toys are Cars.

DS-Noah-21 month old son-Likes to watch Blue's Clues, draw and has a bad case of Eczema that we hope he will someday outgrow.

DD-Savannah-7 month old daughter-Yes, our only girl. Spoiled rotten and our little princess.

Ok, so this is our family. Most say we are crazy for having so many children, but we love it. We always wanted children so that we could have lots of fun experiences with them. We have always taken our children with us on vacation. We went on our 1st Disney Cruise when our oldest 2 sons were 7 years old and 5 months old. We had a blast and went back 2 more times. Our youngest 2 have never been, but we hope that will change soon. Noah was our "little souvenir" from our 3rd cruise, just like the commercial. We had to cancel our last 2 cruises because I was pregnant. That brings us to our upcoming trip. We could not afford to do the cruise this time, so we decided to do a WDW trip instead. It worked out great for us! We did a surprise trip for Christmas.

 

[earthfaries]

Hello I'm in!

So what are your dates for your WDW trip? I see it says Jan. in your signature. We are leaving a week from tomorrow for our 5th trip to the World, and I just started my first pre trip report too!

I can't wait to read your itenerary and all the fun things you have planned

 

[gallafamily]

Since my husband and I both work, we got the great job of working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day . So, we decided to make the best of it and do our Christmas morning on the Friday before Christmas so that we could spend the weekend with the family. I got up early Friday morning and got the kids dressed (you know I didn't have to wake them ), and we waiting anxiously for my husband to get home (because he had to work nightshift, and had just gotten off work at 7am). Once he got home, we let the babies open their gifts first and then let them all open the gifts from Santa, which was a Wii. They were very excited, as were we . and then sat them down and told them that we had a really big gift for them. They started looking around and we explained that they would have a scavenger hunt to figure it out. I handed them a card that read:

"Twas the morning of Christmas and all through the house, the kids were all running and searching the house. They checked and they searched and they found each last clue, Til they all were discovered and ripped open too. Each one has a story to tell you...you see? The first clue will be where you can climb a tree."

They stood around scratching their heads for a few minutes and then decided to start looking outside. They quickly found the box at the swingset near the tree that they climb. They came running back in the house to open the box. Inside was a rolling backpack for each of the boys, and a regular backpack for Savannah. The next clue was also in the box.

The next clue read:
Here is a clue to a special surprise. Look for the next one where you can see your eyes.

Again, they just kind of looked at each other, and couldn't quite think. My husband kinda helped out a little, and they were both off, to look in both bathrooms. They were very happy when they discovered the next box in the upstairs bathroom near the mirror.

They quickly came back down and tore open the present. Inside was Disney blankets. They are the ones that you tie the edges together. I had already done the one for Savannah, and told the older 2 that I would show them how to do it when I did Noah's blanket. Jacob got Mickey, Zachary got Cars, Noah got Nemo, and Savannah got Princesses.

(As you may notice in this picture, our Noah is scratching his legs. He had a few issues that morning with itching, and we got him all fixed up later, poor little thing )

Anyways, the next clue was:

The clues will tell you the next place to go. If you miss the next one, it might tickle your toes.

Well, Zachary instantly decided to look in the shoes, while big brother Jacob said, it can't be in there. Well, Zachary was right, much to Jacob's surprise. Inside they found Disney crocs for each of them. Jacob got black ones, Zachary and Noah got red ones, and Savannah got Cinderella ones that she will have to grow into.

The next clue read:

WIth the surprise, you may see a duck and a mouse. Find the next clue where you exit the house.

They are starting to catch on quite well, so they both go running for the back door, where they find the next box. Inside they find a bunch of stuff, such as autograph books, activities for keeping them busy on the airplane, handheld games, sticker books, etc.

The last clue was:

There will be laughter, magic and fun. Find the next clue were the cooking is done.

They go to the stove and find a small box. They open it to find a puzzle. They start to put it together, and I quickly decide this is taking too long, so I go get the countdown calendar to tell them the surprise. I do not have a picture of this yet, but I will get one and post it. They were surprised, but not quite the excitement I was hoping for. Oh well. They were happy, and later they told everyone about their upcoming trip. That made me very happy!

By the way, we are going January 28 through Feb 1, 2008.

 

[OhMari]

Thank you for posting.
I am going to put you in our pre-trip boards. When you return, just give me a PM and I can move you back.
A lot of times, you can find other people on our pre-trip boards who are going at the same time.

OhMari

 

[gallafamily]

Ok...so I have figured out how to fix my small pictures . Thank you for all your patience.

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Looks like a fun "pre" Christmas morning. I love all the clues you gave the kids for the trip. Looking forward to more!

 

[gallafamily]

Here is a picture of our countdown calendar and chain. I had to do 2 things because my oldest 2 boys were fighting over who got to take the next one off, so now they just fight over which one they get to take off.

I am also including a picture of a dress that I made my 7 month old DD. I also made matching shirts for everyone else. I have many more things to do, but this is a start!

 

[gallafamily]

So....we are really getting close! We are all getting really excited. We have a little over 2 weeks to go, and I am spending alot of time on these boards & many other places getting as much info as possible. This will be our first time flying in about 7 years. Last time we flew our oldest was about 4 years old & and only child. This time will be much different with 4 kids & all the security changes.

We will be staying at Port Orleans Riverside. We will be using Magical Express for transport to and from the airport. We have planned to go to MGM the first day. We arrive in Orlando at around 9:30 am. I hope we can be in the park by noon. We plan to go to Epcot on Tuesday, AK on Wednesday & MK on Thursday. Friday we plan to spend time in DTD.

I don't plan on us being able to do everything this visit, but we sure hope to do alot .

 

[gallafamily]

So....we are really getting close! We are all getting really excited. We have a little over 2 weeks to go, and I am spending alot of time on these boards & many other places getting as much info as possible. This will be our first time flying in about 7 years. Last time we flew our oldest was about 4 years old & and only child. This time will be much different with 4 kids & all the security changes.

We will be staying at Port Orleans Riverside. We will be using Magical Express for transport to and from the airport. We have planned to go to MGM the first day. We arrive in Orlando at around 9:30 am. I hope we can be in the park by noon. We plan to go to Epcot on Tuesday, AK on Wednesday & MK on Thursday. Friday we plan to spend time in DTD.

I don't plan on us being able to do everything this visit, but we sure hope to do alot .

 

[gallafamily]

I see I don't have very many visitors, but I will keep going. We are 11 days out, & I am very excited! I took a fall 2 days ago over a baby gate, & I have a HUGE bruise on the back of my leg from my butt to my knee. It is very pretty! Thank goodness I was not holding the baby, but no shorts for me for quite some time.

I thought I would also share that we have been visited by a large group of black birds. Here is a picture or 2...

This does not do it justice. There were literally thousands of birds! I have never seen anything like it in my life. They didn't bother anybody, but it was just so strange, & loud!

So, enough about all that excitement. We just got snow today. We were very busy at work, with all the accidents. Things have cleared up now, but it was very busy for several hours. I have been inside since 7am, so I have no pictures. My work area has no windows and I work in a dispatch center, so no time to go out and get any. I also work until 7pm, so no luck on getting any then either.

I just hope we don't have any of this weather when we go to leave.

 

[swwake]

Hi there! I find your PTR interesting. I am new to these boards and seriously considering starting my own PTR. I am very excited about your trip and can't wait to hear more! You are quite creative and crafty. I can't believe you come up with these awesome ideas. I loved the scavenger hunt and the dress and shirts. Thanks for posting!

 

[gallafamily]

Well, we are 5 days to go, and have a sick kid! He started running a fever with no other symptoms early last week. Gave him lots of vitamins & motrin, & told him he was not allowed to be sick for the trip, it was against the rules! He then started with the coughing & stuffy nose. We doctored him for several days & finally took him to the doctor on Sunday. He has an ear infection & upper respiratory infection. They also gave him a breathing treatment because they said he was really congested & was concerned that he may have pnemonia. They ran test for that & strep, both were neg.

So, we are getting better, & hoping & praying no one else gets it!

Lots of vitamin c being taken in our house!!!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Seems to be a trend on these boards that the kids always get sick before the trip - at least it is not during the trip. Hopefully everyone will be recovered and healthy before your trip!