that it's HIS trip.
February 14 18, 2006
CAST:
DGM-Darling Grandma (me)
DGS-Darling Grandson (5)
Background: DGS has been begging to go to Disney World for several months. Our last trip was April 2005. We have never gone this long between trips and it was showing (for both of us). If you read my lesson learned post on the family board you will note that I made the huuuugggggeee mistake of telling DGS that this would be his trip. That statement was brought up to me several times during the trip (usually in the variety of I dont wanna do xxxx I wanna xxx and you SAID this was MY trip).
Details:
Airtran Airways $59 each way (ATL MCO)
Alamo Car rental: $138.00 for compact for 5 days
Pop Century: $59.00 per night (AP rate)
Magical Moment/Tip: The view from our room--Illuminations and Wishes!!!!
Monday, February 13:
I return from a business trip around 8:00 pm. DGS is delighted to see me and helps me unpack. After unpacking from that trip I say why dont we do Valentines tonight since everyone has to go to school and work tomorrow? So my DS gives my DGS his Valentines Day card. Inside is a $10.00 Disney Dollar and a 5 day park hopper ticket. My DGS immediately recognizes the ticket and is jumping with excitement. Look Grandmaa ticket to Disney World. So my DS says to him Why dont you and grandma go to Disney World tomorrow? DGS runs to his bedroom and pulls his Pooh suitcase out from under his bed. This is his busy suitcasewe fill it with toys and games for him whenever we travel. He fills it with necessary items and pulls it into my room, where I am beginning to pack. I look inside and ask him Dont you think you should pack some clothes? No grandma you do that. He wouldnt go to bed and insisted on watching me pack. Trying to pack light but also didnt want to have to do laundry. Ended up with: DGS Pooh suitcase (which he pulls); wheeled suitcase with clothes & other items and backpack (which also doubles as our park bag). Then we had the car seat bag (on wheels) for checking the car seat at the airport.
Tuesday, February 14:
Up at 4:30 ---we have an 8:00 flight to Orlando. Load the car, wake DGS and head to the airport. DS drops us off and we head to the Airtran counter where the magic begins. When I went online and printed my boarding passes we were given an aisle and middle seatI wanted a window for DGS. Not only do we get changed to a window but because we are early enough we can get the 7:00 flight and arrive an hour earlierYIPPIEE!!!!!!! Since this was Valentines Day, we brought the Valentines DGS had made for his Pre-K class (the kind with lollipops on them). He passed them out to all of the workersthe agent who checked us in (and gave us the 7:00 am flight), the TSA people, the gate agents at the gate, the pilot, co-pilot, and flight attendants. Everyone fussed over him and their Valentines. They loved them. An uneventful flight (Thank Goodness) and we are at the Orlando airport. NO LINE at Alamo and soon we are in the car and headed to Disney World. First stopPop Century. I had requested a room with an EPCOT view hoping to see the fireworks at night. The room wasnt ready (but then I wasnt expecting it to be). So we set off for EPCOT.
EPCOT: First stopImagination. DGS loves Figment and knows the songs by heart. After Figment we head towards Test Track but stop in at the Character Connection first. What a jackpotMickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip & Dale and Donald. We hit them all for pics and autographs and were in and out in under 15 minutes!!!!! We had reservations for Garden Grill for a late lunch so DGS was telling Chip & Dale See you at lunch. We bought a pretzel and shared it. Went to get in line for Test TrackCLOSED. Reopening tomorrow. WHAT??? Okwe can adapt. We go to Mission Space so he can play in the play area. Then we head back over to The Living Seas. Visit the Nemo areas and DGS is set on seeing sharks. See the sharks and then go to Turtle Talk with Crush. DGS insisted I sit on the floor with him so I did. He got to ask Crush the first question and panicked---so he asked Are you a turtle?. After the Living Seas we did Figment again (two more times). Then he wanted to go back to the hotel. DGS had been eyeing pictures of Pop Century for months on the internet and wanted to go back and see everything. So we skipped some of the regular stuff we do (Energy, Spaceship Earth and a few countries) and go back to Pop.
POP: We check into our room and can see Spaceship Earth from our window. I cant be sure we have a fireworks view because I am very directionally challenged and think the other building will have a better view. WAS I WRONG!!!!!!!!!! After unpacking DGS insists we go SWIMMING! Now this was the coldest day we had and I planned on swimming later in the week. But DGS insisted!! So off we go to the Hippy Dippy pool. Nice in the waterBRRRRRR outside the water!!! After showering (to get warm) and changing clothes we go to Downtown Disney to have dinner at the Rainforest Café (another of DGSs must dos) and play in the Lego area. He cant figure out what to buy at Once Upon a Toy and I constantly have to remind him that we flew this time and whatever he bought has to fit in the plane. Back to the room, where I do more unpacking and ironing. I have the curtains open so that at 9:00 we can hopefully see the fireworks from Illuminations. I hear DGS say Look Grandma fireworks. I check my watch and its around 8:00nowhere near 9:00 and Illuminations. I go to the window and sure enough---WISHES can be seen from our window!!!!!!!! COOL. Then at 9:00---we had a great view of the Illuminations fireworks. WHAT A ROOM!!!!!!!!! WHAT A VIEW!!!!!!! The magic just never stopped today!!!!!!
February 14 18, 2006
CAST:
DGM-Darling Grandma (me)
DGS-Darling Grandson (5)
Background: DGS has been begging to go to Disney World for several months. Our last trip was April 2005. We have never gone this long between trips and it was showing (for both of us). If you read my lesson learned post on the family board you will note that I made the huuuugggggeee mistake of telling DGS that this would be his trip. That statement was brought up to me several times during the trip (usually in the variety of I dont wanna do xxxx I wanna xxx and you SAID this was MY trip).
Details:
Airtran Airways $59 each way (ATL MCO)
Alamo Car rental: $138.00 for compact for 5 days
Pop Century: $59.00 per night (AP rate)
Magical Moment/Tip: The view from our room--Illuminations and Wishes!!!!
Monday, February 13:
I return from a business trip around 8:00 pm. DGS is delighted to see me and helps me unpack. After unpacking from that trip I say why dont we do Valentines tonight since everyone has to go to school and work tomorrow? So my DS gives my DGS his Valentines Day card. Inside is a $10.00 Disney Dollar and a 5 day park hopper ticket. My DGS immediately recognizes the ticket and is jumping with excitement. Look Grandmaa ticket to Disney World. So my DS says to him Why dont you and grandma go to Disney World tomorrow? DGS runs to his bedroom and pulls his Pooh suitcase out from under his bed. This is his busy suitcasewe fill it with toys and games for him whenever we travel. He fills it with necessary items and pulls it into my room, where I am beginning to pack. I look inside and ask him Dont you think you should pack some clothes? No grandma you do that. He wouldnt go to bed and insisted on watching me pack. Trying to pack light but also didnt want to have to do laundry. Ended up with: DGS Pooh suitcase (which he pulls); wheeled suitcase with clothes & other items and backpack (which also doubles as our park bag). Then we had the car seat bag (on wheels) for checking the car seat at the airport.
Tuesday, February 14:
Up at 4:30 ---we have an 8:00 flight to Orlando. Load the car, wake DGS and head to the airport. DS drops us off and we head to the Airtran counter where the magic begins. When I went online and printed my boarding passes we were given an aisle and middle seatI wanted a window for DGS. Not only do we get changed to a window but because we are early enough we can get the 7:00 flight and arrive an hour earlierYIPPIEE!!!!!!! Since this was Valentines Day, we brought the Valentines DGS had made for his Pre-K class (the kind with lollipops on them). He passed them out to all of the workersthe agent who checked us in (and gave us the 7:00 am flight), the TSA people, the gate agents at the gate, the pilot, co-pilot, and flight attendants. Everyone fussed over him and their Valentines. They loved them. An uneventful flight (Thank Goodness) and we are at the Orlando airport. NO LINE at Alamo and soon we are in the car and headed to Disney World. First stopPop Century. I had requested a room with an EPCOT view hoping to see the fireworks at night. The room wasnt ready (but then I wasnt expecting it to be). So we set off for EPCOT.
EPCOT: First stopImagination. DGS loves Figment and knows the songs by heart. After Figment we head towards Test Track but stop in at the Character Connection first. What a jackpotMickey, Minnie, Pluto, Chip & Dale and Donald. We hit them all for pics and autographs and were in and out in under 15 minutes!!!!! We had reservations for Garden Grill for a late lunch so DGS was telling Chip & Dale See you at lunch. We bought a pretzel and shared it. Went to get in line for Test TrackCLOSED. Reopening tomorrow. WHAT??? Okwe can adapt. We go to Mission Space so he can play in the play area. Then we head back over to The Living Seas. Visit the Nemo areas and DGS is set on seeing sharks. See the sharks and then go to Turtle Talk with Crush. DGS insisted I sit on the floor with him so I did. He got to ask Crush the first question and panicked---so he asked Are you a turtle?. After the Living Seas we did Figment again (two more times). Then he wanted to go back to the hotel. DGS had been eyeing pictures of Pop Century for months on the internet and wanted to go back and see everything. So we skipped some of the regular stuff we do (Energy, Spaceship Earth and a few countries) and go back to Pop.
POP: We check into our room and can see Spaceship Earth from our window. I cant be sure we have a fireworks view because I am very directionally challenged and think the other building will have a better view. WAS I WRONG!!!!!!!!!! After unpacking DGS insists we go SWIMMING! Now this was the coldest day we had and I planned on swimming later in the week. But DGS insisted!! So off we go to the Hippy Dippy pool. Nice in the waterBRRRRRR outside the water!!! After showering (to get warm) and changing clothes we go to Downtown Disney to have dinner at the Rainforest Café (another of DGSs must dos) and play in the Lego area. He cant figure out what to buy at Once Upon a Toy and I constantly have to remind him that we flew this time and whatever he bought has to fit in the plane. Back to the room, where I do more unpacking and ironing. I have the curtains open so that at 9:00 we can hopefully see the fireworks from Illuminations. I hear DGS say Look Grandma fireworks. I check my watch and its around 8:00nowhere near 9:00 and Illuminations. I go to the window and sure enough---WISHES can be seen from our window!!!!!!!! COOL. Then at 9:00---we had a great view of the Illuminations fireworks. WHAT A ROOM!!!!!!!!! WHAT A VIEW!!!!!!! The magic just never stopped today!!!!!!
