Goober, you are such a champ! Completed 9/9

[Stitch#001]

I have just returned from my trip to the World this week. Next post, I will do formal introductions, explanation of the trip title, etc. Hope you come along.

 

[Stitch#001]

Introduction

Night Before We Leave

Departure Day

The Arrival

Package Arrival and Meeting David

Start to our First Official Day

Festival of the Lion King and the rest of Animal Kingdom

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and the start of the Rain

And then there was more rain...

And the rain continued

Finally Some Sun

Time to Go

Final Thoughts


Pre-Trip Report October 2012

We are going back
​

 

[Stitch#001]

I finally got some time at my lunch break to start the report.

Let's Start with Introductions.

First, there is me. I have been to Disney too many times to count. That was in part when I was living in Tampa and had an annual pass to WDW. I would pretty much go ever other Saturday and spend a day in one section of a park and see and do everything in that area. That was the life. Anyways, I have not been to Disney since 2009, since last year, I gave birth to my son.

Next is Jorge. He is my boyfriend and the father of our son. This was his first time to Disney. He always claimed to be part of the Universal Studios camp and that Disney was for little kids and such. But, did I finally change his mind on the Disney?: That I will get into later.

Finally is our son Michael. He was 10 months for this trip. This was his first time to Disney and on a plane. He is also how I came up with the title for this trip report, which will be explained in greater detail.

Also making appearances in this report will be my parents, my sister and her fiance. I will not post any pictures of them since I did not tell them that they would be in the trip. As you will see they only made appearances throughout the trip due to different schedules.

So, back to the details.

Hotel: Port Orleans French Quarter
Dates: October 6-10, 2011
We got the Disney Dining plan for free and this was to celebrate Michael's first visit and my parents anniversary.

Anything else you want to know, let me know.

 

[Stitch#001]

So, the week before the trip, Jorge was working 10 hour shifts at his job. Before and after work for me was making sure that we had everything that we needed for this trip. It was a bit crazy and Michael was learning to become more mobile with being able to grab on everything to walk and he was more curious in getting into things. A typical 10 month old. The night before the trip, I packed last minute items and brought all our luggage downstairs. When Jorge got home, we put everything in the car except for the carry-on and diaper bag. I finished getting everything for the dog sitter. And, we went to sleep. We wanted to be up in time to make it the airport for our flight.

 

[Stitch#001]

Sorry that I have not updated this in a awhile. We lost power and heat from the snow storm and have finally moved back home.

On to Departure Day.

Thursday morning, I had the alarm set for 5 am since we had to be out the door by 6. I figured since everything was aready packed in the car the night before except for a few last minute items that we should be ok. Pretty much, I got ready than woke up Michael and Jorge. I got Michael ready as Jorge got ready and took the dogs out. We did last checks and were set to go. We left 10 mins before 6. We stopped at Starbucks on the way and got coffee and breakfast before we got on the highway to the airport. Starbucks had a great deal on breakfast snadwiches for $2 which never happens when I go there. We got onto the highway alittle after 6. Jorge and I thought this was great timing.

But, then, we hit some unexpected traffic, which sets us back by 20 mins. Now, Jorge is starting to panic about arriving at the airport on time. We park the car a little before 7 and the shuttle drops us off at the airport alittle after 7. We go over to the ticket counter and try to check our bags but the machine is not working properly and it takes about 10 mins to check our bags. By the way, we had a 8 am flight with JetBlue. So, we head over to security and they put us in the family lane. We get through security and head over to one of the stores so I can get a magazine and Jorge could get a soda. We finish paying for our items and head over to our gate. JetBlue states that they will be boarding shortly and to get a tag for our stroller. At this point, I can't find our tickets. I ended up having to go back to the store and they were on the counter. By time I get back to Jorge they are loading the plane.

Now through all this, Michael is just hanging out, still not quite awake. As soon as we get on the plane, Michael wants to walk a little and have something to eat. Since we were on JetBlue and I got us the extra leg room, I let Michael walk between Jorge and myself while the plane was still loading. Then, a man take his seat next to me. He had the aisle. He looks at Michael rolls his eyes and gives this big sigh. Sooo, I got what every parent dreads when flying, sitting next to a person who is not thrilled to be sitting next to an infant. Once it is time to leave, I give Michael is bottle and he is good to go. My little man did not give a peep during the whole trip just played until we landed in Orlando. You would not have known that there was an infant sitting there. I know this because someone actually said this to me.

Next.. the arrival

 

[Stitch#001]

We arrived at the airport and everyone needs to go to the restrooms. Jorge is in and out while I am waiting forever. So we decide, lets just head to the Magical Express instead and I can go when we get to the resort. As soon as we get to the Magical Express, they send us to our row and we are the last ones to board our bus. We are the last stop but that is totally fine with me since Jorge will get to see some other resorts prior to ours. The ride was uneventful. We forgot to take a picture of the Welcome Sign and our resort that day due to sheer excitment.

We get to our hotel, head over to on-line check-in and find out that our room is ready. We also had some packages sent so the CM was going to call to have that sent to our room. We were told that we needed to be there to receive our packages. Once we are in the room, Jorge calls his friend David who was coming to visit and see where he was. Jorge's friend lives in Florida and had to drive a couple of hours.

Next- Did our packages arrive right away and meeting David

 

[Stitch#001]

I am sorry to my readers for not updating this in awhile. I had so much going on between work and home that I never knew if I was coming or going. I promise that I will finish Day 1 today and this will be the last posts without pictures.

Back to the trip.

So, we are waiting in our room for our packages and for Jorge's friend David. I was told at check-in that we needed to sign for our packages and was told that they would be sending someone right over. I was like ok, how long could the wait be. Just to set the scene, we had just arrived and it was close to lunch time and we have not eaten anything since our plane left CT. After 45 minutes of waiting in our room, I call the package delivery to check on the status. They keep appologizing and said it should be there any minute. I normally don't mind waiting. It was just that we were hungry and I would have stopped in the food court for something to hold us over.

After 5 minutes since I hung up the phone, there was a knock at the door and our packages arrive. For Jorge and Michael, there was a special Halloween package for them. I forgot to take a picture of the package. Jorge was shocked that I had something sent but really enjoyed it. Michael enjoyed his stuff Mickey that came with the package.

By this time, we were so hungry and David had not arrived yet. Jorge called him to find out where they were. About 30 minutes later, they arrived. We met David's family and caught the boat to DTD for lunch. We went to Earl of Sandwich. I got the All American, Jorge got the Italian and Michael got the Kid's grilled cheese. For desert Jorge and I both got the bread pudding. Lunch was so good. I love eating here and must at least once a trip. David's family seemed to enjoy what they got. I am not sure what they ordered. After lunch, we walked around DTD and stopped at D-street for some vinylmations. Jorge got the scary baby for Toy's story and decided to do a trade right there. He got one from the urban series, which I am sorry to say but it looked like poop. We knew that we would be trading that later on. Around 5/6, we decided to head back to the hotel and get dinner at the food court. I do not remember what we got for dinner. After dinner, we headed back to our room and David's family came with us and hung out until about 8/8:30. After they left, we got ready for bed and got Michael to sleep. About 9, my parents, sister and boyfriend stopped by our room to say that they arrived and that they were leaving for dinner at Ohanas. They had 10pm reservations.

After they left, we watched a little tv and went to sleep since we were probably going be up early. Michael usually gets up between 6:30 and 7 everyday so we knew that he would probably be up at that time on vacation.


Next, 1st Park Day.

 

[Stitch#001]

I hope that I still have readers. This week I hope to post some updates to this trip report things have been crazy. I hope to have several complete.

 

[zuzu310]

I have been reading since we are taking our 17 month old on his first trip in September (I know there is a big age difference there but still). Looking forward to an update!

 

[Stitch#001]

I have been reading since we are taking our 17 month old on his first trip in September (I know there is a big age difference there but still). Looking forward to an update!

Yay. A reader. I hope that this is helpful. Let me know if you want to know anything specific.

 

[Stitch#001]

So, it was our first full day and we were heading to Animal Kingdom. Michael woke up this morning promptly at 6:45 am. We got ready for the park, fed Michael his cereal and headed out the door. We caught the bus and headed to the park. We arrived slightly after 8 am and rope drop. It was EMH that morning. We headed over to Expedition Everest to grab fast passes and headed to the safari. It was pretty much a 5 minute wait since it took us that long to get to the loading area. Then, we were off to see animals and save Little Red from the poachers. Jorge took tons of pictures of the Safari and Michael was just in awe. We saw tons of animals out.

The giraffe was actually that close to our vehicle. When we were done with the ride, Jorge and I grabbed bagels and headed to the Baby Care Center. I changed Michael’s diaper, fed him his fruit and let him crawl around a bit. He was just starting to walk while holding on to things so the baby center was a nice break for him to get some energy out. Jorge and I ate our bagels while Michael played. I had also gotten a call from my mom letting us know that she had gotten there and that they were going on the safari. We decided to meet up once they got off the ride. After the baby center, there was not that bad of a line for Lilo and Stitch. They had not come out yet and Jorge and I figured what the heck. We decided to see how Michael would do with these characters. If he did not like them, we would not see anymore characters during this trip. So, we waited in line for about 15-20 minutes and then it was time. Our turn was up. I had taken Michael out of his stroller and it was time for him to meet his first characters.

And....



He loved them.

Michael pretty much was jumping out of my arms for Lilo. He was giggling so hard.

Then, Stitch got his attention.

The meet went well. When it was time to go, he started to wimper a little. He did not want to leave his new friends.

After this was so successful. We decided to head to Camp Minnie and Mickey to see more characters. On our way to Mickey, we got to see Meeko.

Michael was very interested in him. We then decided to get in Mickey’s line. When it was our turn, Michael was so excited to see Mickey. We got really great special moments. He just latched onto Mickey.

He did not want to leave. We said bye to Mickey and Michael started crying. He did not want to say good-bye to his new friend. On our way to Minnie, my mom called to see where we were and she came to meet us there. When she arrived, we decided after Minnie to wait in line and see Festival of the Lion King. Michael just loved Minnie and gave her a kiss. He also decided that when it was picture time that we wanted to be next to Minnie and hold her hand.

Now, it was time to say good-bye and wait to see my favorite show.

 

[Stitch#001]

We started waiting in line for the Festival of the Lion King with the stroller. While in line a CM told us to move the stroller to stroller parking. Jorge got annoyed since he wanted to put the stroller in parking prior to getting in line.
Ooops.
I went with hime to park the stroller and left Michael with my parents, sister and her boyfriend. When we got back to the spot that they were waiting, they were not there. So, I spotted my sister right by the CM post. My family told the CM’s there that we were parking the stroller and they said it was ok. But, when we got there, there was this angry older CM who pretty much yelled at us for meeting up with my sister. As soon as we passed the post, another CM asked if everything was ok and we told her what he did. After that little mishap, it was finally time for the show. As soon as it began, Michael fell asleep. We also had great seats for the show.

Jorge loved the show. As soon as we exited, it started to rain. We got Michael into the stroller and decided to head to a store towards out lunchtime destination. Once we were on the bridge leaving Camp Minnie and Mickey, it was down pouring. He were getting soaked. My mom then yelled at me to see if I could find my dad a Pizzafari. Jorge was yelling about us getting Michael out of the rain. I told Jorge to head into the store and I went to quickly look for my dad. I could not find him, told my mom and headed back to my family in the store. Jorge was mad at me and I understood since I should have taken care of Michael and my mom and sister should have looked for my dad. And while we were in the store, the diaper bag broke. I got a new shirt for Jorge, a towel to clean up with and a backpack to use as a diaper bag. While in the store, the rain stopped and we cleaned up.
We started to head to Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. We got the ribs and chicken combo platter and I had brought yogurt for Michael. As we were looking for a table, we saw my family. We sat at a table not far away since there were no extra seats at their table. After lunch, we all headed to Dinosaur. Jorge and I went on together and got rider swap passes since my parents were watching Michael. Jorge loved Dinosaur. We met back with my parents so they could go on Dinosaur. My sister and her boyfriend came out a few minutes after my parents went in. My sister’s boyfriend did not like the ride. After my parents got out, we all headed to Expedition Everest. My sister’s bf sat out of the ride and Jorge and I had a great time. After this everyone else weren’t sure what they were doing, so we headed to the animal trails, and then it is Tough to be a Bug. Michael fell asleep for Tough to be a Bug. As we exited the show, it was almost parade time. We found a good spot, Michael woke up, and we watched the parade. It was enjoyed by all. We left the park and headed back to the resort to put Michael in his Halloween costume for MNSSHP.

 

[Stitch#001]

As soon as I finished getting Michael ready, I called my parent’s room to see if they were ready to leave. They were not. I told them that we were going to head to the party and that I would be at their room to pick-up the tickets. When I stopped by, my mom asked to see Michael in his costume because she will probably not get to see him at the Halloween Party. I ran and grabbed Michael to show her. I was starting to get tired of the drama. I forgot to mention earlier that when were in line for Minnie Mouse that my sister’s boyfriend was in a bad mood because he was tired and hungry. He just kinda stormed off while we met Minnie. After Jorge and I rode Expedition Everest, my sister was crying. She want to ride EE with her boyfriend but he did not want to ride. She got in line with my parents then ran out of line crying. So by time my mom was acting like she was not going to see us, I was ready to break free from the drama. I wanted to enjoy our trip.

So with tickets in hand, we headed to MNSSHP. We got to Magic Kingdom by 6:30pm and we were starting to get hungry. We decided to get Michael’s first Mickey ears and a Halloween shirt for Jorge. Then, the rain came and we went over to the restrooms by town hall to wait. At this time, we called my mom to see if everyone wanted to head to get something to eat and to see if they were their yet.

Here is Michael in his costume and waiting for grandma.

My mom arrived and said that my sister and her boyfriend would be coming. She also said that they were not hungry so they wanted to hit some rides. My dad also decided that he did not want to come to the party and that he needed to rest. Side note, my father has really Crohn’s disease with some other things so he gets tired out quickly. Generally when he is too tired, it is best he rests so he does not end up in the hospital.
Anyways, we are waiting for my sister and she comes back telling us her boyfriend proposed in front of Cinderella’s Castle. Tension mounted. I said a quick congratulations and all Jorge said is that he was hungry. I was a little upset for a few reasons. When planning, we decided on doing the party again for Michael so this part of the trip was suppose to about him. Second, my mom knew that he was going to propose and did not tell anyone that this was happening. It kind of threw everything off. And, at the time, I feared that the trip was going to be surrounded around the engagement which did kind of happened. So, we went off in search of food in the rain as my mom, sister and her fiance went off to some rides. We did not see them the rest of the night. I do know that I could have been more excited but at the time I just felt very caught off-guard especially after the earlier drama.

On our way in search of food, we saw Rafiki. He had no line so we got our picture taken. Unfortunately, I can not find my electric copy of the picture. After Rafiki, we went on POTC and then headed over by Pecos Bill. But right before we went in, we decided to go on splash mountain. Jorge went on first. As I was waiting for him, they decided to open up the Seven Dwarfs line. After he got off, we went in line for that. We had our ponchos on and waited in the rain. They changed the location of where the dwarfs would be seating. He finally got to the front and was able to get our picture.

Then it was my turn on Splash Mountain. As I was on the ride, Hallowishes started which I was surprised since it was still kinda raining pretty hard and I also felt horrible. Jorge really wanted to see the fireworks since he heard so much about them and now he was missing them. When I got off the ride, Jorge just wanted to go back to the resort. I convinced him to get something to eat since I knew it would help. By this point we were really hungry. We went to Pecos Bill’s. Jorge had the double cheeseburger and I had the chicken wrap. Michael had fallen asleep. As we were eating, we were both feeling better. We decided to wait for the second parade and try to hit as many rides as we could. We found a spot and right before the parade Michael woke up. Jorge brought him a little closer to the parade and then watched together as Jorge pointed things out. I actually teared up a little. This is what Disney is all about. Michael just looked so wide eyed and Jorge was excited to watch the parade with him. After the parade, we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. We also went on It’s a small world and Peter Pan. Michael was awake for the rides and seemed to enjoy them. After Peter Pan, it was time to leave. Michael fell back to sleep has we headed out. We made sure that he was covered as to not get wet. We got on the bus with no wait. Once back at the hotel, we all got ready for bed and passed out.

 

[Stitch#001]

Michael had us up at 6:30 am for our EPCOT Day. We got ready and had to get a picture of Michael in his new ears.

We met my parents, sister and her fiance for breakfast at the hotel. As we were going to breakfast, we had to put on our ponchos since it was still raining. We trekked through the rain and went for breakfast. I can’t remember what we had but I remember no one was in a hurry to head out because of the rain. After breakfast, Jorge, Michael and I headed to EPCOT. My parents, sister and her had to head back to their room. I do not remember why they had to head back but that they had and it was not going to be quick. We got in line for the bus and it came pretty quick. As soon as we got into EPCOT, we headed to Soarin to grab fastpasses. Jorge started having problem with his sandals. The sandals started to fall apart. We went over to Mousegears and got him the croc sandals. My mom called and we decided to meet at Spaceship Earth. We trekked back in the rain. We got in line for Spaceship Earth and Michael was all smiles.

We all had a good time and headed over to The Land Pavilion. Michael was getting hungry so Jorge and i went downstairs to feed him. As we were feeding him, my family went on Living with the Land. We went on after Michael was fed. It was a nice relaxing ride and one of my favorites. After the ride, Jorge and I went on Soarin while everyone else watched Michael. I enjoy Soarin, but unless I get fastpasses or there is a short wait, I will wait in the line to ride it. Jorge enjoyed it since it was his first time. We got off and then it was time for everyone else to ride it. While they were riding it, it was decided that while everyone was else was on the ride. We went to the Living Seas to eat at the Coral Reef. Michael started to get antsy and started to get very ornery. It could be from one of two things; either he was getting tired or he was hungry. While we were waiting, Jorge started to look at the Menu. He was not sure what to eat since he has a shellfish allergy. Everyone arrived and we were shown our seats. Once seated, Michael went into total meltdown. I tried giving him something to eat and he was eating but he was still in meltdown mode which did not set a good mood at lunch. We eventually got our meal and ate quickly. Jorge took Michael out of the restaurant as we waited for our cards to be brought back by our server. It took her about 15-20 minutes. During this lunch, our server was really slow. When we told her that Jorge had a shellfish allergy, she said that she would get the chef but never did. Everywhere else we ate on this trip, the chef came out and told Jorge what he could and could not have.

My parents, sister and her fiance decided after lunch that they wanted to go on rides. Jorge and I decided that we would head back to the hotel to put Michael down but that we would meet up for dinner. As soon as we exited the restaurant, Jorge had gotten Michael to sleep. Jorge and I decided to head to World Showcase and walk around with Michael so he could sleep. We put on his poncho and covered him from the rain. We walked around World Showcase but it was so empty for a Saturday because of the rain. There were not waits at any of the food booths for the Food and Wine Festival. Some of the booths were not even open due to the rain. Eventually Jorge decided to get a beer, I brought Michael over to a booth that was closed so that I could wait with him under the umbrella there. As we were waiting for Jorge, Michael woke up and he was in a good mood.

Jorge returned with his beer. I had a sip and we continued on. We arrived at Japan and Jorge bought me a pick a pearl. We were getting a kick out of the guys in Japan doing the pick a pearl. At first, it was very hard to understand what he was yelling and everyone in the area was having a good time. Finally, it was my turn and we had a good time. We continued on and had to make a stop in Germany. I got the chewy carmel bar which was fabulous. I really wished that I would have gotten more. We continued on to Norway and Mexico to go on the rides. We were flying through World Showcase since it was empty. Michael was enjoying ride through the rain. After the ride through Mexico, it was time for our dinner at Biergarten. We met up with everyone minus my dad. He was tired and went back to the hotel. We got our food and enjoyed the atmosphere. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel since it was still raining. Illuminations was still going to be shown soon but no one wanted to wait in the rain. Once back at the hotel, we got ready for bed and prepared for our next day.


Sorry that this post was skimpy on pictures. Unfortunately, the rain made it difficult for picture taking. We have more pictures for the next day.

 

[Stitch#001]

I decided to add my pre-trip report for our upcoming trip to this trip report. In some ways, this new upcoming trip is related to this current trip.

For this trip, things are going to be slightly different. I had learned a lot from this past vacation and decided to use what I learned hoping not to repeat some previous mistakes.

Tonight, I plan on giving more details to this new trip and to complete another day to this current trip report.

 

[Stitch#001]

Today was Sunday and we had a very special breakfast that we definitely wanted to get to. My sister and fiance were sleeping in and spending some alone time in the morning before lunch. My parents were coming with us to Hollywood Studios for the Disney Junior breakfast. For Easter, we got Michael a Handy Manny plush that he loved. Handy Manny would always capture Michael’s attention so we wanted to make sure to see him. We got ready and looked outside. And..... it was raining again. We put on our ponchos and headed out to catch the bus to DHS.

We arrived at DHS 5 minutes before they started letting people in with 8 am reservations. We headed over to Hollywood and Vine and hoped that we would be let in soon since it seemed that the rain was getting worst. They called our name, I found a dry place for our stroller and went inside. As soon as we entered in, Handy Manny decided to help show us to our table. Michael was in awe with him and had a lot of great interaction.

We went to get food. When we got back, we had another guest, Agent Oso.

Again, we had a great interaction. In between, they had the kids come up to dance along. Michael sat in his high chair and danced along to the music. Then, it was time for Little Einsteins. First up was June, then Leo.

June was great but Leo just wanted to get a picture and leave. After we saw all the characters and we had finished eating, it was time to go. It was still a monsoon outside so we ran over to the Great Movie Ride to take a tour through the movies. The line was not bad and there seemed to be no one in the park. We were seated in the front row. Michael was on my lap and I was right next to the CM running the vehicle. We get to the gangster scene where our vehicle was taken over by Mugsy. Michael just looked at Mugsy like can I help you. Every time the CM was making comments, Michael just looked at her like she was a strange. It was so funny. When our tour had ended, the monsoon had not let up. We put back on our ponchos and rigged the stroller with ponchos to protect it from the rain. Michael fell asleep and we decided to go on Rockin’ Roller coaster. After, Jorge, my dad and mom went on Tower of Terror Nothing had a terribly long wait. Then, we went on Star Tours. I was excited about this. I wanted to see what the new ride was like and it was awesome. I cannot remember which planets we went to but it was definitely worth the wait. After, we saw Muppets. We tried to go on Toy Story Mania but there was no fastpasses and everyone in the park was in line.

We decided to head to the Animation building to see what characters we could meet. We met Mr. Incredible.

We met Handy Manny again.

We met Pooh but I can’t find the pictures electronically.

After all the characters, we allowed Michael to get some energy out while in the building. He pretty much just kept crawling up the stairs.

Then, it was time to meet up with my sister and her fiance for lunch.

 

[Stitch#001]

Jorge, Michael and I will be going back to the world from October 27- November 3. It will just be the three of us since my sister will have just gotten back from her honeymoon and my parents would have just finished paying for my sister's wedding. Jorge and I have talked on how we just needed a vacation of just the three of us since it has never been just us three. We are also going to celebrate my 30th birthday. My birthday is in June right before 4th of July. When we were planning the trip, it would have been during peak season and we would have been paying top dollar. So, we looked at September. This would have been right before my sister's wedding, and since I am maid of honor, it would be hard to relax on vacation and making sure that things were ready for the wedding. So we decided to go 3 weeks after the wedding where we can relax and enjoy our vacation. This is also during the break in wedding planning for us. During the vacation, it will also be Jorge's birthday. So, that takes care of the who and why. Next time, the where.

 

[Stitch#001]

We were meeting up at Sci-Fi for a late lunch. On our way over Michael was starting to get sleepy. My sister had put in our names and we were seated in about 5 minutes. Michael fell asleep on me as soon as we sat. We ordered lunch. Jorge and I got the Spinach Artichoke dip for an appetizer. We both loved this. I loved how creamy it was. For my meal, I got the grilled chicken sandwich and Jorge got the double bacon cheeseburger. We both enjoyed out meals. I was not hungry for desert so they used my vanilla milkshake as a desert credit. I was unsure on what everyone else got but I know that they enjoyed it. I love the Sci-Fi. I enjoy the theming and like the food. After lunch, we decided to split. I cannot remember why. Jorge and I put MIchael (he was still sleeping) and decided to walk around. It had finally stopped raining. We waited in line to see Phineas and Ferb. Michael loved them. After we met up with everyone, we decided to head over to the EPCOT. Once we arrived at EPCOT, we went straight to Test Track. Jorge, my dad and I went on while my mom watched Michael. I think that my sister and her fiance waited with my mom. The ride was good and everyone enjoyed. I met back with my mom while Jorge and my father headed over to Mission Space. My mom, sister, and her fiance went on Test Track. After my father and Jorge got off we were going to try to see my friend Figment but it had already closed. I called my mom and we decided that we would just meet for the fireworks. We stopped for a photopass picture and went to sit between the two International Gateway stores. I like that area. You can see all of the countries and get a really great view. The only downside to our seating night was the infamous Brazilian Tour Groups and they were chanting. I think that there were 3 different groups. Michael was passed out so I stayed with him as Jorge and my father went to get drinks. They came back but the others had not arrived. I called my mom to see what happened and they had to go to the countries for something. They ended up being able to watch the fireworks close by but did not make it to where we were sitting. Everyone really enjoyed the fireworks and we met in front one of the stores. We waited for a while until the area was a little easier to manage with the stroller. Eventually, we left and it seemed like we had the place to ourselves. We got to the buses and headed back to the resort. Jorge and I got some chicken fingers and we headed back to the room to prepare for tomorrow. We had to pack up for our flight home but also for the last park before we left.

 

[Stitch#001]

Today, we were leaving Disney and heading home but not before going to a park. We got up and went to check in for our flight and check our luggage. We waited in line for about 15 mins and then it was our turn. It took about 20 minutes to get us checked into the flight because they CM was having a hard time finding me. Eventually, they did find me and we were on our way to Magic Kingdom. We headed over and got on the bus and I called my mom to see where they were. They had not even left their room yet. We had a 9 am breakfast and we arrived at the park for 9. Everyone else caught the bus after us. We were not heading into the park until 9:15. We were rushing to check-in to Crystal Palace for breakfast. Then, meltdowns ensued. Jorge wanted to go on rides since we had to be headed back to the resort by 2 to pick up ME. I got upset and Jorge was storming off. He was getting tired of waiting around for everyone to show up and actually tired from lack of sleep since we have been going non-stop since we arrived. Eventually things got smoothed over as we went on the Jungle Cruise and my parents put in our name for breakfast. When we were done, everyone else had just been seated. Jorge, I and Michael quickly ate and then left to go to Fantasy Land. We went on Dumbo, Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey’s Phillarmagic, and then went on Buzz Lightyear, Peoplemover and Monster’s Inc in Tomorrowland. Then it was time to head out. We really enjoyed ourselves after breakfast. I knew that we needed to eat. We get back to the POFQ, got our carry-on items from bell services and waited for the ME. The bus showed up on time and it was an uneventful ride to the airport and uneventful flight. We did have some excitement leaving the airport to pick-up our cars. On the shuttle, my sister’s fiance was completely smashed and making a lot of noise. Michael was asleep and another family had to tell him to be quiet because a baby was sleeping. Lets just say my sister was mortified. We picked up our cars and headed home.

 

[Stitch#001]

Before I start my final thoughts, I am going to try to scan the photo book that I had purchased for the photopass pictures.

I had learned a lot during this trip about changes to touring style and traveling in larger groups. In the past, when I went with my family and if friends came along, we always stayed together and never went in separate directions. My mom had originally told my sister and I that she understood that we may not be able to stay together so it was okay as long as we met up for meals. When the trip came along, my mom was very upset that we did not stay together and that caused some tension and unnecessary drama.

Second, it is very different traveling with an infant. It is important to tour on their schedule and be prepared that an infant may need a break from the stimulation. If they will nap/sleep in their stroller, definitely do rides that they normally can't do or more grown-up activities. In a group, don't be afraid to speak up about plan changes if your little one needs a break. You know your child the best.

Third, build in breaks for those who are not used to touring commando style and plan on a longer vacation than a long weekend for those new to Disney. I forgot what it is like to be new to Disney and wanting to see and experience everything. Since I have been so many times, I may only hit certain things each time I go. If I miss things, it is okay since I will get it next time plus it is usually I have seen it in the past.

Overall, the trip was okay. It was not the best trip but not the worst (I remember that trip that was a really bad trip). I enjoyed parts the trip but there are some parts of the trip that I wished had never happened. This was a learning experience. So, for the next trip, I definitely took some of the things that I learned when planning.

I will keep this trip report open to put in my pre-trip report for my next trip and will definitely try to post photo book pictures.