pwwtp@earthlink.net
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 25, 2005
- Messages
- 22
Hi, everybody! We just got back on Saturday. The crew was me-36, husband-52, kids-daugher 16, three sons, 2, 5 and 10. We stayed at Fort Wilderness cabins and it is a very nice resort. We got large towel animals every day we were there. I think they were a bear, dog, turtle, cat, and the last one was an elephant. The kids thought these were pretty cool. The first night there we went out to grab a bite and then stopped at a Winn Dixie for some supplies. Of course we got lost, it was late and my husband was not a happy camper. We rented a mini van at the airport and it was pretty nice but not near big enough for all of us and the luggage. Fort Wilderness was great but if you have a rental car it doesn't do you much good there, they want you to rent a golf cart because everything you need to get to doesn't have parking. O.k on to Day 1
Day 1 was AK day! We drove that morning because we had a PS for Donald's and I didn't want to depend on anyone to get us there besides us. The breakfast was a very big hit, the look on my 2 year olds face was priceless. All of the kids had their pictures taken with all of the characters, except my 2 year old. He wanted no part of that. He did give Goofy a high five. As for the food, it was just o.k. but the characters were what we went for. I did this first because I didn't want to stand in lines for pictures with characters in the parks, and we didn't. We really liked the safari ride, the kids loved taking picures of the animals. We went into the IT's Tough to be a BUG. NOTE HERE: Don't take small children into this!!!!!!!! My sons, all 3 of them were screaming and crying after about 2 minutes of this. We left and my daughter stayed till the end. I felt so bad, and my husband kept telling me why would I do that to them. We rode a couple of smaller things and then went back to the cabin. Of course we got lost AGAIN. Don't the people in FL believe in road signs? Here in Indiana when you stop at a traffic light there is a sign to tell you which road you are on, not the case in FLORIDA! Anyhow, we returned in the afternoon and did the jungle cruise. Everyone liked this one but my 5 year old. He covered his eyes all through it. Oh, we also used the buses on the way back. I think the bus system was great, we usually didn't wait more than 15 minutes at any stop. It started raining and we went back to the cabin.We did get to see the Lion King show, the boys didn't want to do this, they were afraid it was another scary movie, but they ended up loving it. They are big Pumba and timon fans. Later that night we went to the sing-a-long at the resort and saw Chip and Dale. Pictures again for everyone but Hunter, he did give his standard high 5. I might mention the pools were great, there was one a short walk from our cabin.
Day2- Magic Kingdom Day!
Up early and took the boat to MK. My sons did not like the boat ride after the second time over there. I was not impressed either. The boys didn't care one hoot about a castle or princesses. My husband and daughter rode Splash Mountain and they like that. The biggest hit for the boys on this day was the Country Bears show, they were so amazed at the different bears. We took a break in the afternoon and they came back in the evening. We rode the Indy Speedway and that was a hit with everyone. Even with Chandler, my 5 year old, maybe because I let him drive. We did Buzz Lightyear and Chandler and Hunter were a little scared but they were o.k. in the end. My daughter didn't get to go on Space Moutain, she had a fastpass but it wasn't until late and we didn't stay. We rode the merry go round, and I tried to get the boys to ride Dumbo or the teacups but they didn't want to. We checked out Donalds boat and Mickey's house, which the boys didn't like because they thought Mickey was suppose to be home. We took a train ride also, it started to rain very hard. It started to slack off and we left. NOTE-We are now going to rain on the happy stuff for a minute. We decided to go out to eat because of leaving the park so early. We drove to a shopping plaza, don't ask me where, I don't have a clue. Anyhow, we stopped at a Denny's. We were seated by a hostess and waited for a waitress. After 15 minutes my husband asked for a waitress. 5 minutes later, a cook's helper took our drink order, 10 minutes later came back with our drinks and took our order. A half an hour goes bye, meanwhile my kids are fussing and complaining because we are all hungry. I am ready to leave now
My husband asked if our food is ready yet, NO! 15 minutes later I am now extremely mad and ready to tell someone off. Oh, wait a minute we don't have a waitress to yell at. Another table waitress comes over and say they only have one cook tonight, they are probably 20 other people total. Finally we get our food and half of the order is wrong. Sent those back and waited another 10 minutes. We asked for refills several times but never got them. I told my husband that if he left a tip I would smack him 
I let my husband take care of the bill, so I wouldn't cause a scene with my kids present. They gave us a employee discount and took off 15 dollars off the bill. This was the only bad encounter on our whole trip.Day 3- SeaWorld
First off I must say this was the hottest day we had, it was like 99 degrees and the sun was out full force. The rest of the days were humid not hot, and the sun was always behind the clouds. Anyhow, the kids really liked the animals. My daughter rode Journey to Alantis and loved it. The Shamu show was the best thing for everyone. We only stayed for a couple of hours because of the heat. We did make the drive without getting lost
After SeaWorld we went to the Race Rock restuaurant for lunch. This was a surprise for my 10 year old. He is a Nascar Nut! All of the boys we in awe of this place. The layout is amazing, we took so many pictures there. The food and service was awesome 
Day 4-MGM
This was the only day we ate at the parks. We went to the Pizza Planet, the boys of course loved this. I must say the food isn't any thing to write home about. We got to take pictues with Woody and BUzz. We only waited about 3 minutes for each of them. MY 2 year old got his pictures taken with Woody, he is the favorite guy. We took in the Stunt show, and we thought this was great. The procedure to get people in and out of there sucks! But we will just go on. The kids didn't like the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. My daugther rode the Tower of Terror and loved that. Then her and my husband rode the Rock n Roll Coaster. My husband isn't a fan of loops, but she didn't tell him until it was too late. We tried to take in a parade, but we didn't get there soon enough. The boys didn't care anyway. My 10 year old finally started trading his pins in this park. The best part of MGM was Playhouse Disney. That is an excellent show. My 2 and 5 year old were still singing for hours after. This was worth the trip alone!
Day 5-Gatorland and Downtown Disney
We drove to Gatorland and didn't get lost. Yeah! This was included with our package and we didn't pay for it. I wouldn't recommend it every much, the boys did love it though. They do have alot of gators. My 5 year old was picked as a helper. He was to pick out a gator for the trainer to wrestle. The trainer was teasing him and he wasn't real sure about this. He wouldn't let them take his picture with the gator. I wish he would have, it would have been a great sourvier. We had to spend some more time there after we were ready to leave. We had a flat tire and had to wait for the repair people to come and fixed it and of course take our $45. We went back to the cabin for a bit and then took a bus to Downtown Disney. This was just to much for the boys, toys everywhere and they were tired. After lunch and alittle shopping my husband took the boys back to the cabin. My daughter and I stayed for a couple of hours. I think my Visa is still smoking today!
My kids were most certainly happy, they got hats, t-shirts and toys everyday we were there. So that was our trip. My husband does not ever want to go back. I will have to think seriously about it. It was fun, and great for the kids. As for the parks, I would have to say that MGM was the kids favorite followed by AK. Magic Kingdom to me seemed a bit over done.
Don't throw sharp objects at me. We all had fun, but it was extremely stressful and we are glad to be home. IF you are working a budget, double it now. I think the hardest part of the whole trip was getting 4 kids, 6 pieces of luggage, a stroller and a booster seat through the airport. This was also our first flight ever, the kids did great. Chandler was a bit nervous, but I didn't like it one bit. The wait times weren't as bad as I thought they would be. We used the fastpass at MK only. The safari ride was a 30 min wait and everything else was shorter. I gave my kids their once in a lifetime trip and that is the most important thing to me.
