How We Became Addicted to a Mouse...A Family's First Trip!

[Jasmine_710]

I just love the Disney pedicure. Such a fun idea!.

 

[Disneychix]

How cute is your son playing with his rifle? Sounds like a very relaxing end to the day

 

[CastleGazerMom]

It is really cool to know that Ft. Wilderness has such great cabins where kids are able to play outside and be kids! Your TR makes me miss my days when mine were little, so adorable!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Your Jay and Annie sound a lot like my Tyler and Skyler...personality wise...

She is 7 and he is 12 and I think she takes better care of him that he does! I find it hard sometimes to believe she is only 7...and that he is actually 12!

Loving your TR so far...

 

[DizFan101]

I'm now joining in.
Sorry about all the hospital stays and about your cousin. Everyone is in our prayers.
Looking forward to your next addition to your trip report.

 

[cinderella73]

Coming out of lurking to let you know I am enjoying your TR. You have a beautiful family. Cant wait to hear how your first day at Mk went .

 

[Pimama]

Also enjoying your TR. Fort Wilderness sounds great!

 

[sbnewhampshire1]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Glad everything worked out for you..We also started out staying at the cabins,, We loved them.Eventually moved on to the resorts.Port Orleans in nice. ( It was Dixie Landing ) at the time we stayed there. Very nice.Eventually after a few years (many) all 5 children grewup and we retired. We invested in a Motorhome. We try to come back to the Fort every year now.. We love it..We now bring the Grandkids..

 

[amandaw]

I'm in!

First of all, I'm so glad that Annie was ok. It's so heart-wrenching to watch your child be in pain. And very stressful when no one knows what's wrong.

I would also like to send along my condolences to you & your family over the loss of your cousin.

You have a great start going! I love how different all your kids seem to be. They are precious. Jane sounds a lot like my 3 y/o son. It's funny how you say she was sent to you last or you wouldn't have had any other babies. I tell my mom all the time that my son (Reid) must really want to be an only child! My husband & I have decided that we'll try to have a second baby next year. But, hopefully, Reid won't make us chicken out before it happens!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[francis6306]

Jane sounds adorable. And CLEARLY, she doesn't need her carseat anymore momma! My 2.5 year old was beyond thrilled to be in a moving bus without a carseat. I could have saved money and just rode buses during our trip in Dec (TR link in my siggy- shameless plug! ). She seriously loved those buses. She was rear-faced until she was 2 and outgrew her seat limits in weight. I have a HEALTHY eater.

Can't wait to hear about your trip- but I LOVE it so far!

 

[Thadine]

I am along for the ride!
So glad to read that your daughter got well again. Must have been quite a scare!

Hope that the rest of your vacation was magical

 

[jorybella]

So sorry for the loss of your cousin.

Also, wanted to say I am truly enjoying your report. Very interesting. Your kids sound so fun!

 

[3tiggerstoo]

Enjoying your TR! The cabins at FW sound great! We've stayed in our camper at FW, but now you're making me want to try the cabins.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

This has me . Can't wait to hear hear if Jane will be an during your visit to MK.

 

[Lucille1963]

Loving this trip report! I can't wait to read more!

 

[BlueEyes78]

Still reading, glad to see the latest update. Making me have fond memories of our own family's "first" trip at the Fort!

 

[imama]

So sorry for such a long delay. We've been on vacation in Destin, Fl...ahhh...so close to the Mouse and yet so far away! This is the first time I've had a chance to write and get caught up on my trip report. I'm working on the next installment as we speak and hope to have it up today or tomorrow.

Your family is incredibly charming, and your trip so far, sounds like a wonderful adventure!

Awww....Thanks so much! They are such fun to be around...MOST of the time! We certainly have our moments with Jane, and more and more with Jay as he gets older and tries on a big kid attitude from time to time. I knock him down a few notches though and he goes back to being pleasant to be around...

I just love the Disney pedicure. Such a fun idea!.

That pedicure is what I kept telling Annie we would do when she felt better and was out of the hospital. It was a fun time spent with her.

How cute is your son playing with his rifle? Sounds like a very relaxing end to the day

Do you know he still LOVES that rifle? He takes it into our front yard and lets his imagination run wild. I'm so glad I worked so hard to get that thing home!

It is really cool to know that Ft. Wilderness has such great cabins where kids are able to play outside and be kids! Your TR makes me miss my days when mine were little, so adorable!

I absolutely LOVE the cabins! It was just the perfect environment for my kids. It reminds me so much of the way I grew up. It was wonderful to be able to send them outside to run and play.

 

[imama]

Your Jay and Annie sound a lot like my Tyler and Skyler...personality wise...

She is 7 and he is 12 and I think she takes better care of him that he does! I find it hard sometimes to believe she is only 7...and that he is actually 12!

Loving your TR so far...

Yeah...I know just how that goes! All day today Annie has been keeping track of Jay and telling him when he is about to get into trouble. He really owes her one, though HE doesn't think so!

I'm now joining in.
Sorry about all the hospital stays and about your cousin. Everyone is in our prayers.
Looking forward to your next addition to your trip report.

Thanks and WELCOME!

Coming out of lurking to let you know I am enjoying your TR. You have a beautiful family. Cant wait to hear how your first day at Mk went .

Thanks so much! So glad you're joining in!

Also enjoying your TR. Fort Wilderness sounds great!

Thank you! It was a FABULOUS trip! I hope to finish this report before my next trip...

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Glad everything worked out for you..We also started out staying at the cabins,, We loved them.Eventually moved on to the resorts.Port Orleans in nice. ( It was Dixie Landing ) at the time we stayed there. Very nice.Eventually after a few years (many) all 5 children grewup and we retired. We invested in a Motorhome. We try to come back to the Fort every year now.. We love it..We now bring the Grandkids..

What a great story! Jamie and I have dreams of getting a motorhome one day and spending a long time at the fort. I can't think of a much better way to spend my time.

I'm in!

First of all, I'm so glad that Annie was ok. It's so heart-wrenching to watch your child be in pain. And very stressful when no one knows what's wrong.

I would also like to send along my condolences to you & your family over the loss of your cousin.

You have a great start going! I love how different all your kids seem to be. They are precious. Jane sounds a lot like my 3 y/o son. It's funny how you say she was sent to you last or you wouldn't have had any other babies. I tell my mom all the time that my son (Reid) must really want to be an only child! My husband & I have decided that we'll try to have a second baby next year. But, hopefully, Reid won't make us chicken out before it happens!

Can't wait to read more!

So glad you are joining in! My kids are QUITE different from each other. It will be interesting to see what Jane's personality is like when she gets older. Sweet girl that she is NOW... Hopefully Reid won't make you chicken out...I keep looking at Jay, who was quite trying HIMSELF when he was Jane's age and thinking that there IS hope for Jane.

Jane sounds adorable. And CLEARLY, she doesn't need her carseat anymore momma! My 2.5 year old was beyond thrilled to be in a moving bus without a carseat. I could have saved money and just rode buses during our trip in Dec (TR link in my siggy- shameless plug! ). She seriously loved those buses. She was rear-faced until she was 2 and outgrew her seat limits in weight. I have a HEALTHY eater.

Can't wait to hear about your trip- but I LOVE it so far!

I love a shameless plug! And since I am always looking for new trip reports, I WILL check it out! So glad to have you join in!

I am along for the ride!
So glad to read that your daughter got well again. Must have been quite a scare!

Hope that the rest of your vacation was magical

The rest of the trip was BEYONG fantastic! Can't wait to tell you about it!

So sorry for the loss of your cousin.

Also, wanted to say I am truly enjoying your report. Very interesting. Your kids sound so fun!

Thanks so much on all accounts! And welcome! So glad to have you!

Enjoying your TR! The cabins at FW sound great! We've stayed in our camper at FW, but now you're making me want to try the cabins.

And that's funny because I am totally looking into campers to rent for our next trip... Welcome!

This has me . Can't wait to hear hear if Jane will be an during your visit to MK.

Let's just say that we are planning another trip, so she couldn't have been TOO bad!

Loving this trip report! I can't wait to read more!

Welcome! So glad to have you!

Still reading, glad to see the latest update. Making me have fond memories of our own family's "first" trip at the Fort!

Yay! So sweet! I am hoping our next trip will compare...although I know it will be great. I think it will be hard to top that first trip though. Although, I think the excitement level will be even higher with the next trip.

 

[imama]

We got a bit of a late start, what with Jane FINALLY falling back to sleep after two hours of talking to herself in the middle of the night. I didn’t want to wake the kids too early after our long day the day before. I had planned to make rope drop, but knew that was out of the question. Even with our late sleep in, we were out of the cabin by 8:45, which isn’t too bad, considering. We took the bus down to the marina and then only had a short wait for the boat and then were able to board.

What a great boat ride! We got to see where the old River Country was. I took lots of pictures (that I am evidently not going to show you because I have obviously hidden them from myself. ) of this since they are about to tear it all down and build on it. We could see the Grand Floridian and the Contemporary on our ride. It was so neat to see the monorail going into the Contemporary and then pull up to the TTC and see all the hustle and bustle of the Magic Kingdom entrance.



People were swarming in, but we were through the bag line in no time flat. Because I am awesome and packed tiny bags. For everyone except Jamie... Then it was time for me to figure out how to use our Key to the World cards. I promise, I am no idiot, but that whole finger print thing totally threw me off. Had no idea they would be doing that. Our first time was a bit awkward, but we managed to get through it.

Suddenly, the moment I had been anticipating for years had arrived! We were on Main Street for the very first time! The street car was running, there was a singing show going on right beside us, the smells were AMAZING and all the kids were SO caught up in it all! We had to walk on the sidewalk because of the street car and singing that was going on on the actual street. As soon as that was over, we stepped off the curb and I looked up and there was THE CASTLE! Annie had not spotted it yet and I told her to look up. Her face was PRICELESS...it was so sweet as she stopped short, quickly inhaled and said “Oh...WOW!” with her mouth hanging open. I wasn’t prepared for that. I figured because she’d seen it on television so much that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but I LOVED that it was. It got me a little teary. Seriously, when you plan a trip for this long, spotting the castle is a BIG THING. And for it to be a BIG THING for my little girl was awesome! So, I literally stood in the middle of Main Street with tears in my eyes and watched her watch the castle. And Jamie didn’t even make fun of me.

We did manage to tear ourselves away from the sights and smells long enough to take a PP picture. And then it was off to Fantasyland to check out our very first ride on Peter Pan!! I had planned to ride this first and then pick up a fast pass for later in the day. The que said it was a 20 minute wait, but it wasn’t anywhere near. More like ten. The line moved quickly and then we were boarding our pirate ship and off to Never-neverland. Jane was a little scared, but never cried. She sat still and took everything in. Jay and Annie were in the pirate ship ahead of us. And when I looked down and saw how high we were, I almost had a heart attack thinking that they were by themselves and what if one fell out! Then my brain kicked in and I realized that we really were NOT flying that high over London, it’s all an optical illusion. Duh. Still was on the edge of my seat a little, but I managed to calm down a bit. What a great ride though! I can’t believe the details that went into this one.

After we got off the ride we grabbed a Fastpass for Peter Pan for later. It was a two for one deal with a Fastpass for Mickey’s Philarmagic later that day. We thought we had hit the jackpot.. Then it was time to reveal our surprise to the kids. It was time to leave the Magic Kingdom! “WHAT??” They shouted at us. “We just got here!!” But, it was time for our dining reservation at Chef Mickey’s! They were THRILLED by this news since we had told them that we could not eat with the characters since it was too expensive. So, we bade The Kingdom farewell (for a few hours) and headed to meet Mickey and the gang!

Here’s a side note comment: Jamie and I really didn’t intend to do a character meal at first. It was not until a few weeks before our trip that he changed his mind and really wanted to get into one. I lucked out and found a reservation for around 10:45. I wouldn’t change a thing about it for this first trip, but going into the second trip, I will not schedule anything where I have to leave the park and come back because I want to maximize my time...lol!

We took the monorail over and arrived VERY early for our ADR. Because we are anal about being late...that’s why. To kill time, we headed to the gift shop and spent a bit more of Jay and Annie’s money. Because Jay NEEDED to spend more money! Jamie changed Jane’s diaper while I paid for the stuff we were buying and then we all met in front of Chef Mickey’s. We had a good ten minute wait to take our picture and then wait for our table.

We were seated in the upper area overlooking the pool. It was perfect up there and I wisely sat Jane against the wall so that she would have the table separating her from the characters. We weren’t sure how she’d do with them and I didn’t want to take any chances that she would feel threatened by them. And yes, Jamie and I both made the comment, "No one puts baby in a corner..." Jamie got her settled and drinks ordered while I went and fixed Jane's plate. At first she wouldn’t sit down in the chair and wanted to run. We had a high chair brought over and sat it by her place. That seemed to do the trick and she sat nicely for the rest of the meal.I find that the threat of containment often helps Jane to behave better. I filled her plate with grapes, a cinnamon roll, tater tots, a mickey waffle and a few other goodies. She sat and ate and ate and ate. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her eat that much in one meal. It really was Disney Magic!

First up was Goofy. Y’all, Goofy is BIG. He’s HUGE. And he’s also a little intimidating for a two year old’s first character. I knew not to push that one and just to let it ride. Jane eyed him warily from across the table. When I asked if she wanted to hug him she said, “No!” with a very firm shake of her head. Sorry Goofy. But the big kids LOVED him. He got lots of hugs, signed everyone’s books, took some pictures, teased Jamie and then was off to another table. Jane kept her eye on him the whole time though...you never know about that guy.

Next up was Mickey. He messed around with Jamie, making us all laugh. Mickey gave hugs, signed books and posed for pictures. Jane knew he was “Mouse!” and called to him from faaaaar away, but would not let him get near her. She was so glad to have that table to protect her from the big, bad Mouse.

Same story with poor Donald, who was great with the kids. Not Jane, of course since she told him “No!” from far away. She did seem taken with his feet though. Donald interacted great with the kids and even turned back to have a “conversation” with Annie after he had moved on to another table. Annie had asked me where Daisy was. Donald turned around and “told” us that she was busy swimming in the pool and that her favorite thing to do is go down the slide. Annie loved that and loved figuring out his sign language.

Jane gave Minnie a little bit more love than the rest of the gang. She didn’t get a hug, but did dance a bit with Minnie before she ran over to me and hid. Jane was getting tired of sitting in her seat, as this meal lasted a LOOOONG time, so was walking around our little area and dancing. Minnie had already been to our table to give hugs and autographs, but came back over when she saw Annie and Jane dancing. She danced with them for a bit, which made Annie’s day and made Jane a little scared.

Pluto was last in line and Jane would have NOTHING to do with him either. He was a large dog, so we let him move on by with no hug from Jane. Pluto was pretty quick since he was the last one and it was about time for us to head back over to the Magic Kingdom.

I wondered if doing a character breakfast would be worth the money. Absolutely and positively YES. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. It gave us great memories and was a wonderful way to start our morning. The kids all had such a great time. I worried that I would feel rushed to get back to MK and touring, or that I would be clock watching the whole time, but that was not the case. I think the kids' reactions to the whole experience made it just as magical as being in a park and helped me not to be in a hurry to “get to the next thing”. It was wonderful relaxing, enjoying the characters and really living in the moment. And best of all, Jay and Annie absolutely LOVED every aspect of it. And Jane was adorable watching all the characters but giving them an emphatic NO if they got too close.

So, after our experience with Chef Mickey’s, we walked back to the Magic Kingdom. Though I will admit it took us a WHILE to find the "going out" door at the Contemporary. SOOOO proud of that 1st Visit button! Lol! While going down Main Street, we got caught in the Celebrate parade. At first, I was anxious to move along so that we could finally hit some rides, but seeing the delight on the kid’s faces made me stop right there and watch. We saw a bunch of characters in the parade and got some good pictures. You just can’t beat standing in front of the castle while watching a great parade with your kids. I was shocked at how much Jane loved the parade. She couldn’t get enough and we couldn’t leave until it was over. Not because of crowds, but because SHE WOULDN’T LET US.

When it finally WAS over, we headed to Adventureland and practically walked onto The Jungle Cruise. I think we were in line for about ten minutes, which to the big kids was tooooo loooooonnnnggggg. Until we explained what a line was supposed to actually BE like. After that explanation, they didn’t complain about lines again. The Jungle Cruise was great. Corney as always, but everyone had fun.

We went to Pirates of the Caribbean next and just about walked onto that one as well. That was a FUN ride and was always my favorite at Disneyland. I loved the changes they had made after the movie came out. Jane didn’t seem to mind the drop, though she did not appreciate the dark. *I*, on the other hand, FREAKED OUT about the drop. Not because I was scared, but because, in MY head, it was a BIG drop and I was afraid Jamie would let Jane fly out of his arms. Bless him for not wanting to kill me. And no worries on Jane flying out of any rides as she had a DEATH GRIP on Jamie's shirt.

And since we’ve had lunch/breakfast at Chef Mickey's, what would be next? Would Jane make it the whole day or would our happy little group have to split up?? Horrors!!

 

[imama]

Annnnnndddd....I'm sorry for the ENORMOUS pictures. I resized them too big on this post. Now I have a scary large head. Hope your monitor is not too big and that they don't scare you! Better next time!