Groundhog Day at Walt Disney World - New 5/2 - pg. 20 - 3 Updates/new PTR link

[DisMomAmy]

How kind of that woman to take the time and compliment you on your parenting! Too often we assume others are judging us and its nice to be proven wrong from time to time!

That pool looks so inviting!

I don't like to pack at the last minute, either. Too stressful!


Kathy

I always assume people are judging me and was feeling kind of low about dealing with Alex's behavior by this point in the trip so it was really nice to hear a positive comment from that lady.

I have missed so much in your report! Things have been crazy here so I haven't had much time to spend here.

Bummer about Mama Melrose. We have an ADR there in October. It's one we have never been to. Now I'm wondering if we should cancel. The reviews are split 50/50 so I just don't know.

I'm glad you found some time to stop by!

I wouldn't necessarily change your ADR. I think every restaurant is worth trying at least once. To each his own so maybe you'll like it??

Fun pool pictures!!! How nice of that woman to compliment your parenting! It is always nice to hear you are doing a good parenting job!

It was a very nice conversation with that lady! The pool was great!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Pool time is one of the best parts of a vacation.

You are a good mom not to give up and give in. Your boys will be so much better off for it.

When we were leaving the movie theater yesterday, a lady complimented the girls on their good behavior. She said that when they sat down, she told her friend that they had probably made a mistake sitting behind us with two little kids, but it turned out that they were good as gold. Bella fell asleep in my lap, and Brooklynn watched the movie without incident until about ten minutes before it was over, when she had to go to the bathroom. She and I slipped quietly out. It was very nice for the lady to take the time and effort to say such a nice thing.

The boys really enjoy their pool time.

I'm glad the girls behaved at the movie & that someone took the time to notice... especially after making the assumption that they would be loud!

Happy Easter Amy & family.

Wow that pool looks amazing. It looks like you had a section all to yourself!!

That is wonderful that someone complimented you on your parenting. You do not see too much of that down there.

Thanks Doreen! We had a nice day yesterday. Luckily the weather cooperated - it doesn't look like it's going to be a very nice week for school vacation. We were at Disney this week last year and it was 85 degrees here!

Nice job snagging the KP mission you wanted. I had no idea you could tell by which pick-up location you got....good to know!

UGH...a stroller faux-pas! Oh well...I'm sure you were more apologetic than most! Accidents happen.

Pool time looks like so much fun! How nice that someone took the time to compliment you on your parenting with the boys. I agree that we too often assume we are being judged...it's nice to know that there are those who appreciate that we hold our kids accountable, even on vacation!

I like to get all packed early as well....I hate the rush and stress of packing as we are flying out the door. I always feel like I'm forgetting something that way.

Can't wait for your last night of fun!

Hi Missy!! I'm glad we've learned how to get the KP FP of our choice.

The stroller... What a disaster!

The little chat with the lady really turned my mood around.

Last night coming up!

Amy...

nice pool break and that is nice about your conversation w/ the other guest good for you spreading some awarness and I get the of the constant feeling of keeping the control

I don't always mention autism to people but felt like I should since more often than not, autism comes up in the context of their negative behavior. It was nice to talk about it in a postive way.

Pool time is always nice! I want to make sure to take enough time on our October trip to take a dip a few times. I hear you on the behavior Amy. Autism is so different for each kid, isn't it? We had lots of behaviors this weekend from Michael, including ripping his wallpaper off of his wall. I was sort of ready to send him back to daycare this morning.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who looks forward to Mondays. Except this week is vacation week! I find Alex's behavior much more unpredicable than Zach's. Zach is almost always sensory related so I feel like I have more control over that. Alex, on the other hand, can be set off by anything.

 

[DisMomAmy]

After our morning at Epcot & afternoon swimming, we headed out to MK around 4:00 for our last Disney night. We were lucky to get a front row parking spot at the TTC. We had to park & take the monorail:

When we got into the park it was almost 5:00 and we were hungry. We thought about Casey’s but I told Tim about the whole wheat buns so he wasn’t interested so we headed to Columbia Harbour House again.

But first we stopped for a few Photopass pictures:

Youc an tell it was a parade night...

We saw people already camped out for the parade? There was one family on the ground right where the parade turns in Liberty Square. They were sitting on the ground with their tripod set up for parade pictures. Crazy!! After dinner we headed to Tomorrowland. Space was closed so we rode Buzz. Space was still closed so we went to BTMRR.

After BTMRR we found a spot for the parade – it was around 6:30. Tim took the boys on Splash while I camped out with the stroller on the parade route. We were across from Pecos Bills. Tim & the boys met up with me just before 7:00. Tim went over to grab popcorn & a popsicle for Alex. There were people trying to squeeze in around us and next to us but luckily they found better spots elsewhere and moved on. At 7:15 we got an announcement that the parade would soon be starting. I guess it was late?? Or does it take that long to come through the park and they don’t announce it until 7:15 in Frontierland?? Anyways, we were getting a bit antsy but made it through and were rewarded with a few marching bands, which Alex thought was very cool:

Finally the parade started! I texted Julie a couple pictures while we watched.

This is the string toy thing Zach got at RnRC earlier in the week:

Continued...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Continued from previous post...

After the parade we got in line for Splash. This is when I saw something unbelievable happen. A lady jumped out of the stand-by line with her daughter (appeared to be about 8 or 9) and started walking up the fastpass line. I figured they’d be sent away when they didn’t have FPs at the front. She tried to talk her way out of it but the CM showed them the exit. After that CM turned back to her post, the lady went over to the loading CM and somehow talked her way back in!! The little girl was trying to pull her mom out and looked totally embarrassed but the mom dragged her in. I almost said something but didn’t want to ruin our night. They ended up two logs in front of us and the mother was acting drunk the whole way through the ride.

The boys wanted to ride together so we let them. They tried to ask for the front but somehow it didn’t work out and they got the middle with me & Tim in the back. But we rode again and this time they got the front. All was well.

After Splash we decided it was time to head out. We left via Adventureland but rode Pirates first. I was going to grab a Dole Whip but the line was pretty long so I skipped it. We had hoped the crowds had thinned, but they hadn’t. There was a HUGE line at the monorail. They had a whole roped off area extending down from the station. I’d never seen anything like that before! We don’t handle lines well… any of us… Alex was acting up, Zach was crying that it was our last night. Mom & Dad were getting cranky too. We’d had a good night but it was definitely time to get back to the villa. Zach actually fell asleep in the car again.

After we got the kids to bed I poured some wine, got out the fudge & did some more packing. We were actually in pretty good shape for the morning.

Up next: Departure Day

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Great parade pictures Amy! I seriously cannot believe that mother snuck into the FP line and actually got to ride. Who does that?! Some people's children I tell ya. Sorry the ending of your night was tough. That definitely happens to us on vacation too. The boys' pictures with them all wet are so cute!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Looks like you got in a bunch of rides that night despite it being so busy. And the boys seemed to have a nice time. Love all the ride pictures, the boys look so happy

Sorry about the less than pleasant wait/trip back to the car. Glad you were able to relax a little with some wine and fudge

 

[irish dancer]

Sounds like a pretty good MK night minus the obnoxious person line jumping, what a great example she was setting.

Bummer on the monorail at the end of the night, that can back up when it's crowded.

Wine and fudge to end the evening - perfect!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Awesome parade pics Amy!

Line jumpers...so annoying! I hate it when parents set such bad examples for their kids. Sad.

The Splash pictures of the boys are so cute...you can tell they are just eating it up!

 

[disneyfan61]

Great pics from your last night at MK. I am anxious to see the parade.

The last night is very sad But the wine & fudge sounds really good!

So your kids are on vacation this week??? Cody had vacation last week but next year we will have the same April vacation?? That is strange. Yeah they are saying lots of clouds & possible showers but at least it is supposed to reach 70 by Thurs. but still cloudy I think. I hope you have a great week besides the rain. Jeff & I were in Florida the first week of May last year & it was beautiful here. I keep saying we are not going to have a Spring & go right from Winter to Summer.

 

[Charleston Princess]

We saw people camped out super early for the parade as well! I just can't imagine sitting there for hours.

Great pictures from the MSEP! I that parade! I may have to listen to the parade music this morning.

That woman on Splash! Some people are unbelievable!

Fudge and wine while packing? What a super idea! I may have to adopt that one!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great parade pictures Amy! I seriously cannot believe that mother snuck into the FP line and actually got to ride. Who does that?! Some people's children I tell ya. Sorry the ending of your night was tough. That definitely happens to us on vacation too. The boys' pictures with them all wet are so cute!

The line jumper was crazy! I couldn't believe my eyes!

We were definitely cranky at the end of this day!

Looks like you got in a bunch of rides that night despite it being so busy. And the boys seemed to have a nice time. Love all the ride pictures, the boys look so happy

Sorry about the less than pleasant wait/trip back to the car. Glad you were able to relax a little with some wine and fudge

We got a lot done but between waiting for the parade longer than we expected & the huge line to get "home" we'd had enough.

Sounds like a pretty good MK night minus the obnoxious person line jumping, what a great example she was setting.

Bummer on the monorail at the end of the night, that can back up when it's crowded.

Wine and fudge to end the evening - perfect!

The night was pretty good but looking back, maybe we should have skipped the parade? The kids still talk about the parade so I'm glad we did it, but maybe it should have been a different night.

I definitely needed the wine & fudge.

Awesome parade pics Amy!

Line jumpers...so annoying! I hate it when parents set such bad examples for their kids. Sad.

The Splash pictures of the boys are so cute...you can tell they are just eating it up!

The line jumping lady was so obnoxious - I felt so bad for her daughter. I could tell she was embarrased & didn't want to cheat the system.

Great pics from your last night at MK. I am anxious to see the parade.

The last night is very sad But the wine & fudge sounds really good!

So your kids are on vacation this week??? Cody had vacation last week but next year we will have the same April vacation?? That is strange. Yeah they are saying lots of clouds & possible showers but at least it is supposed to reach 70 by Thurs. but still cloudy I think. I hope you have a great week besides the rain. Jeff & I were in Florida the first week of May last year & it was beautiful here. I keep saying we are not going to have a Spring & go right from Winter to Summer.

Yes - we have vacation this week. That's strange that we have differet weeks this year but the same next year.

It was a sad last night.

We saw people camped out super early for the parade as well! I just can't imagine sitting there for hours.

Great pictures from the MSEP! I that parade! I may have to listen to the parade music this morning.

That woman on Splash! Some people are unbelievable!

Fudge and wine while packing? What a super idea! I may have to adopt that one!

Fudge & wine make packing much easier - especially Disney fudge.

I couldn't believe the people who were camped out at 5pm for the 7pm parade. What a waste of time!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Your TR is the first of many I need to get caught up on! I took notes

I think you should eat in the dark more often! Maybe you'll try more F&W stuff that way

Our pool time with you and the boys was great! A highlight of our trip.

No worries about using the International Gate via the Beach Club from me since it was me that reminded you about it when we were in the pool! We did it several times on our trip and ended up at Beaches and Cream each time.

I never realized how much your family splits up at the parks. I think we'll end up doing that more as Danica gets older.

I remember seeing you in Epcot when you were headed to Canada. A bit surreal to just be standing in Epcot and your friend just walks by and says hello. John saw Tim in Canada (he was at the movie) but wasn't 100% it was him until I told him I had just seen you.

I couldn't believe how busy MK was that Saturday night. I ended up texting back and forth with Brook that night (they were at MK too) as I tried to figure out what we should do that night and she told me the Tree House had a wait!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Your TR is the first of many I need to get caught up on! I took notes

I think you should eat in the dark more often! Maybe you'll try more F&W stuff that way

Our pool time with you and the boys was great! A highlight of our trip.

No worries about using the International Gate via the Beach Club from me since it was me that reminded you about it when we were in the pool! We did it several times on our trip and ended up at Beaches and Cream each time.

I never realized how much your family splits up at the parks. I think we'll end up doing that more as Danica gets older.

I remember seeing you in Epcot when you were headed to Canada. A bit surreal to just be standing in Epcot and your friend just walks by and says hello. John saw Tim in Canada (he was at the movie) but wasn't 100% it was him until I told him I had just seen you.

I couldn't believe how busy MK was that Saturday night. I ended up texting back and forth with Brook that night (they were at MK too) as I tried to figure out what we should do that night and she told me the Tree House had a wait!

A wait at the tree house! Now that you mention texting about the crowds, I remember texting with you about the waits too - I think you made the right choice by going elsewhere. I guess those crowds could have had something to do with our crankiness by the end of the evening.

Looking back in my phone, you texted me at 6:30 asking what time DHS closed. I replied 7pm and that we were at MK and it was a mad house. You were driving around trying to decide what to do and decided on Epcot. I reported an 80 minute wait at BTMRR and 50 minutes for Buzz. I also said "Don't go near Fantasyland" and "We've been here since 5:00 and have only been on 3 rides and that's with the GAC"! Then at 7:30 I reported that MSEP was running 30 minutes late! It's funny to look back at those messages!!

It was a lot of fun to see you at the resort & Epcot. I wish we could have chatted longer but as you read, I was running late for lunch.

I definitely recommend splitting up, at least a little bit. You get more done in less time while keeping both kids happy. Plus each parent gets some one on one time.

 

[mousescrapper]

OK so I got distracted and opened the post reply box and now completely forgot what I was going to say

sorry about the crowds and how it semi spoiled your last evening... but glad otherwise it was a good day...sad to see the trip is over but looking forward to your next adventure!

 

[DisMomAmy]

OK so I got distracted and opened the post reply box and now completely forgot what I was going to say

sorry about the crowds and how it semi spoiled your last evening... but glad otherwise it was a good day...sad to see the trip is over but looking forward to your next adventure!

Thanks Julie!! I'm excited to get this TR finished so I can start sharing the details of our fall trip!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Sunday 3/6 – Departure Day

It’s funny how our memories work… Something happened this day & I can’t put my finger on it… Remember how I talked about upgrading Tim’s & the boys’ tickets to APs before leaving? Well for some reason I was so down when we left Magic Kingdom this day, I didn’t think we should come back in the fall so I didn’t upgrade the tickets! I even tried to call and see if I could do anything about it after we left but didn’t have any luck.

We got up this morning and finished packing everything. The boys helped Tim load the car. We did express check-out the night before so we just had to turn in our keys at the security gate on the way out. After a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts (which was almost never quick) we were headed back to MK. We did the usual tram, monorail deal (which I’m excited to avoid this fall) then headed up Main Street:

We made our way toward Space Mountain, which had been closed the night before.

After Space, Alex wanted to ride Haunted Mansion but Zach didn’t. We all headed toward Haunted Mansion but Zach & I stopped at Winnie the Pooh. A few pictures of the old Toontown entrance:

Zach & I enjoyed Winnie the Pooh and I tried to snap this shot:

Unfortunately that’s it for pictures today! I did take a couple on the drive back to Tampa but I posted them as part of our drive to Orlando. Whatever was causing the funk, post-Disney blues kicking in early, behavior issues, apparently caused me to tuck the camera away.

After our ride, Laura texted that they were in the park & headed to Winnie the Pooh! I texted Tim to let him know we were riding again with Laura & the girls. We met up with Tim at BTMRR after Pooh. Alex had already had his first popsicle of the day!

We rode BTMRR then Splash Mountain, luckily we didn’t see any line jumpers. After Splash, the boys were wet & cold and wanted to leave! Our last day until who knew when, we still had a couple hours to spare and they wanted to leave! What’s the best thing to do when you’re wet & cold, get ice cream! I was happy to grab a Dole Whip float then we headed to the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. Tim & the boys got ice cream and then it was time to make our way out of the park, once again riding the monorail to get to our car.

I won’t get into the details of our trip home but in short, we had an easy drive to Tampa, easy rental car return and an easy trip through check-in and security (other than Tim getting his hands swabbed & having to go through the scanner). Then we faced a 90 minute delay! The kids did really well with it and we only got home 60 minutes late but it made us rethink the late-ish flights on Sunday nights…

And that’s it!

Up next: Some odds & ends and final thoughts.

 

[MRYPPNS]

Sorry your last day was a little lack luster (especially compared to the one you had in January). I'm interested in hearing your final thoughts about the trip because I remember how you were feeling right after you got home.

 

[mrsksomeday]

Amy I am so sorry your trip ended that way. It can be very draining when behavioral issues are going on. Thank you for sharing your trip with us. Looking forward to your final thoughts.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Sorry your departure day was less than magical, hopefully your upcoming trip will make up for it

I'm be very anxious to read your new plans and your TR after it, as I had the same feelings about the tram/monorail to get to and from MK

 

[mommytothreeboys]

The last day is always sad. I'm sorry you were in a funk....been there!