J5 and Family--The Vincelettes Hit WDW-Updated 4/19

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Well, I attempted a pre-trip report, but I got a little sidetracked. Now we've been home for 2 months (!), and I am finally going to write a trip report. Come along with me, and I promise I'll keep it up! Let's go!

First, here we are:

This is me...

My husband...

My two youngest, Ruby and Johanna

My oldest, Faith

Our flight was at 7AM, and it is about a 40 minute drive to the airport. I think we got up at 4AM or something crazy like that! The pictures above are of all of us in the car when we were leaving for the airport. See how dark it is outside?? Even at such an early time we were all smiles-A trip to Disney will do that for you!

I thought that a 7AM flight would not be too busy, but boy was I wrong! What I didn't know was that there was a local dance school headed to WDW, too-to perform at Downtown Disney. When we got to the gate, it was packed! We were flying Southwest, but since Jo was only 2 we got board with the families. That meant we pretty easily found seats all together. Jason and I sat on one side of the plane with Jo in between us and Faith and Ruby sat across the aisle from us. They have flown several times before, so they act like they are seasoned travelers. I did feel a little bad for the, ahem, larger, older gentleman who had to sit in the window seat. But, he slept for most of the flight, so I am sure he didn't notice how uncomfortable he was! Here are Faith and Ruby on the plane:

A bit off topic for a second-see the matching pink jackets?? Target clearance-only $3.00 each!! I Love Target!

Ok, back to the trip:
A pretty uneventful flight. Lollipops in the morning make 2 year olds quiet! SSHHH don't tell on me! HeeHee

So, we get to Orlando, and head to the Magical Express counter. I recognized the lady standing in front of me in line as having been on our flight, so I struck up a conversation. While part of me was just trying to be friendly, another teensy part of me was just trying to get info on the dance group. You know, just in case I was going to be sharing my hotel experience with a thousand teenagers! Ok, not a thousand, but I have heard horror stories about Pop Warner, etc. So, after just a couple of minutes, we were headed over to the red carpet-and straight out to our bus!

Lollipops make two year olds happy-see the proof?? (And another Target jacket??)

Finally! Off to my favorite place-see the sign??

Next time-Checking in to Wilderness Lodge, lunch, and an easy afternoon at Animal Kingdom!

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

So, we arrived at Wilderness Lodge! It was just as impressive and beautiful as I imagined. Okay, and saw in about 500 pictures here on the DIS!

I know that I hopped in line to check in, but I am not sure where everyone else was. I think they were exploring the lobby. At check in I asked about being flag family, but they were all booked for our entire stay. Oh, well...that just gives us a reason to come back!

After I checked in I found my family hanging out in the rocking chairs over near the little bridge.

Next, I had the girls visit Humphrey! I wanted to make sure we had as much good luck as possible on our vacation.

Now, remember, we got up VERY early this morning (which by the way was Saturday, January 24th-I forgot to tell you when we vacationed!), and by now we were getting hungry. Our room wasn't ready yet. I knew that would probably happen, so I planned for us to eat lunch at Roaring Forks and then head over to Animal Kingdom. We found Roaring Forks, but at this point it was only about 10:45 AM! They were still serving breakfast, so we decided that eggs and bacon would be just fine for lunch. We ordered our food, tried to remember/figure out what we could get with our dining plan, and Jason headed out with the kids to find a table while I paid. It was such a beautiful day that we wanted to eat outside in the sunshine!

I forgot to take pictures of our food, but I did take pictures of our visitors:

And, NO, we did not feed the wildlife (even though they wanted biscuits-I am sure of it!)

After lunch and a potty break, we headed for the bus stop. I picked Animal Kingdom for our first afternoon because I knew it had the big play area over in Dinoland. I figured that would be a low key, low stress, low chance for meltdowns kind of way for us to spend a few hours until our room was ready. Plus, I love Animal Kingdom!

Here we are headed into the park:

Yes, Johanna is missing! I was taking a picture of Jason with Faith and Ruby when a very kind man offered to include me in the shot, too. Only after I got home, when my sister was looking at our pictures and said "Where's Jo?" did I realize that she was still in the stroller, with the back of the stroller facing the camera! So, I edited her out, rather than look like the terrible mother I am! Of course, now I have confessed.

We played at The Boneyard for a little while.

I think we sent Daddy to get FastPasses for Expedition Everest while we went to check the wait time on Dinosaur. While we waited for Jason to return, the girls did the first of the Kids' Discovery Club stations. They had to match up the jaws for different dinosaur skulls.

We walked over to Asia. I think we did the Maharaja Jungle Trek, and then had a snack of french fries and frozen lemonade from the Yak and Yeti counter service area. Yummy!

The girls did their second Discovery Station, while I went to buy a Coke at a little shop near Yak and Yeti. Inside the shop were about 8 people who spoke little English who were buying ponchos to get on Kali River Rapids. They were buying them one at a time with $100 bills! It took forever. While I was waiting there patiently, two other people (NOT part of the first group) just walked right in front of me and jumped in to buy ponchos, too!
But, I eventually got my Coke, and I didn't even mind the wait-after all, we were at Disney!

After that, Faith, Ruby, and Jason rode Expedition Everest while I walked around with Johanna. We decided it was time to head back to the resort. We wanted to settle in our room, freshen up, and get ready for dinner that night at Whispering Canyon Cafe! On the way out, we stopped near the waterfall by the Rainforest Cafe for a photo. This picture just cracks me up! It is one of my favorites from the whole trip:

Up next: Whispering Canyon, Baths, and Bed

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Once we got back to the hotel, our room was ready, so we went up, checked it out, and unpacked. Our room was nice (I'll have pictures later in the report), but I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the view. I had requested a Woods view, secretly hoping we'd be able to see at least a little bit of the fireworks at Magic Kingdom. Our room, however, was on the opposite side of the lodge-facing the Villas. After my initial disappointment, the view did grow on me!

We had a 5:20 ADR at Whispering Canyon, so down we went! The girls were excited to play with the Lincoln Logs in the waiting area-but they didn't get to play for long. I think we were called in about 5 minutes.

Before our trip I was apprehensive about this meal. Even though I had looked at menus online and read some of the food reviews here on DIS, I just wasn't really excited about going here. I am glad I decided to keep the ADR, because it ended up being one of our favorite meals. In fact, Jason said it was his best meal of the entire trip!

We had a lot of fun:
Coloring

Doing the Hokey Pokey

Pony Ride

Cheering on the Riders

We NEEEEEEEEEEEEDed Ketchup!

And now the food:
Cornbread

Orange Milkshake (all you can drink, but I didn't really like it-I didn't even finish this one)

Everyone else liked their shakes though!

Salad that came with Skillet (DH's meal)

Skillet

My meal, the grilled ribeye (delicious!)

Kids grilled chicken strips

By the time we finished our food, Johanna was getting very, very tough to deal with. We had been up for many hours, and everyone was getting tired and cranky. Jason took the kids up to the room for a bath while I waited for our desserts to be boxed. It took a LONG time to get our desserts and check! By the time I got upstairs baths were done and everyone was in bed.

Jo had been crying-and Jason said it seemed like I was gone forever! But soon we were all resting/asleep-and headed to Magic Kingdom in the morning!

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Am I really first? Well- off to a great start!

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Am I really first? Well- off to a great start!

Yep, you're first! Congratulations! HeeHee

Actually, I want to say Welcome! I am glad you are enjoying it so far. There's lots more to come!

PS My husband is from Red Sox/Patriots country! Almost all of his family lives in Western Mass

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Good Morning everyone! I am off to visit the Disney Store today with my sister. I have a $25 gift card, so I am hoping to find something I want! I don't think that will be too hard.

I'll post another "chapter" later today. Is anyone out there? Say hello if you are!

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

Hi!!!

I just found your trip report and I can't wait to read more

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Hi!!!

I just found your trip report and I can't wait to read more

And thanks for reading! I am working on my next installment now!

I just got back from the Disney Store. There were lots of things I wanted, but I settled for buying some cute stuffed animals for my daughters' Easter baskets and to send to my niece and nephew. I got Marie dressed as a butterfly, Pooh dressed as a bee, and three of Thumper holding a flower. I also got a really cool red reusable tote bag that has Mickey's face on it.

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

I just got back from the Disney Store. There were lots of things I wanted, but I settled for buying some cute stuffed animals for my daughters' Easter baskets and to send to my niece and nephew. I got Marie dressed as a butterfly, Pooh dressed as a bee, and three of Thumper holding a flower. I also got a really cool red reusable tote bag that has Mickey's face on it. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

My mom and I went there the other day and spent tons of money
We also go the reusable Mickey tote bag

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Up bright and early on Sunday morning-We wanted to be at Magic Kingdom when they opened.

We headed out to the boat dock. This was our first time using the boats at Wilderness Lodge, and look at this view across the lake. I took this while we were waiting for the boat.

It was beautiful, and we LOVED that boat ride! My husband said he'd stay at Wilderness Lodge again just to be able to ride the boat. Of course, now that Johanna will be 3 we will be a "family of 5"-and that makes staying at WL a lot more expensive. That's why we stayed there this time, because I knew that once Jo was 3 we'd probably have to stay at Port Orleans or POP Century from now on.

So, we rode the boat over, and we got there in time to see the opening show.

I took more pictures of this, but I don't want to bore you with 6 pictures of basically the same thing! I choked back some tears-I didn't want my husband to think I had gone completely insane! But, it turns out that he got a little choked up, too, thinking about how excited the kids were to see the characters arrive on the train. I guess we are a match made in heaven!

We headed in and just soaked up the atmosphere. I love those first few minutes in the park-especially first thing in the morning. Up Main Street-and when we got to the castle the Dream Along With Mickey show was in progress. I had seen the show in October and thought the kids would enjoy it, so we stopped to watch.

There's that castle!

Watching the show

I think we sent Jason to get FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and we headed around the castle to Fantasyland. We spotted Cinderella's Wicked family in Belle's little theatre, and stopped for our first character photos and autographs. We were the next to last people they let in line!

We made it to Fantasyland and met up with Daddy. Our cellphones and text messaging were a life saver on this trip.--You'll see that we split up many times. I would take Johanna to things she liked (or try to get her to nap), and Jason would take the older girls on the bigger rides. We headed to the Winnie the Pooh ride. This was going to be Johanna's first ride at Magic Kingdom. But, she wasn't really interested in having her picture taken. (She must have still been a little tired!) See this series of pictures:

HaHa-She didn't like the ride much either! I was surprised because she has ridden rides before. We live near Busch Gardens Europe and go there all of the time. She did like it eventually (although she still says she did not like Owl's house). I am not sure we helped her fear of rides by taking her on Haunted Mansion, It's Tough to Be a Bug, or The Great Movie Ride.

I think we went on It's a Small World after that, but I don't seem to have a picture. After IASW Jason raced off with the older girls to ride Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I walked around with Johanna. We watched the Liberty Square Riverboat.

After we joined back up with the rest of our family we headed to ToonTown. We went through Mickey's and Minnie's houses, and then the girls played on the little playground. We met some not so nice kids there. One little boy was yelling at Johanna to stay out of the house and then was creating trouble on the slide. He wouldn't wait for her to slide down the slide before he would climb up. He even stepped on her hand! His mother was just ignoring it all, and we decided to just leave. We walked through Donald's boat, but they didn't have the water on.

We walked the pathway that goes between the railroad tracks and Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. Once we made it to Tomorrowland Jason got fastpasses for Space Mountain and then we headed to Buzz Lightyear. I love that ride, and I used some of the tips I have read on DIS to increase my score. I think I scored around 88,000 on this turn. Not the biggest score in the world, but definitely good for me!

Up Next: Lunch at the Castle!

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

Aww I am so sorry about that little boy!

It sounds like you had a good day despite some of the Grumpys out there!

 

[MushuGirl06]

Love your TR

i am also in a family of 5 and we always stay at POR or ASM suites, i love them to death but sometimes wish it was just 4 so we could stay at the deluxe resorts

your girls are adorable and cant wait to hear the rest of your TR

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Hi there!

I am also in the SE VA area, and I suspect (based on how far you are from the airport), that we live pretty close to one another!

I'm interested in reading how a Disney trip goes with small children, since we will be taking our children for the first time in October. Our son will be turning 7 while we are there, and our daughter will be almost 4.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Aww I am so sorry about that little boy!

It sounds like you had a good day despite some of the Grumpys out there!

We had a great day! I was more annoyed at the boy's mom than at him. There were also a few very loud kids who were climbing on top of the play equipment and yell-singing. I was glad when they left!

Love your TR

i am also in a family of 5 and we always stay at POR or ASM suites, i love them to death but sometimes wish it was just 4 so we could stay at the deluxe resorts

your girls are adorable and cant wait to hear the rest of your TR

Thanks for the compliment on my girls. I'd be really interested in hearing what you think of POR and ASM suites. Please share!

Hi there!

I am also in the SE VA area, and I suspect (based on how far you are from the airport), that we live pretty close to one another!

I'm interested in reading how a Disney trip goes with small children, since we will be taking our children for the first time in October. Our son will be turning 7 while we are there, and our daughter will be almost 4.

Can't wait to hear more!

Are you on the Southside or Peninsula? I'm on the Peninsula. The first time we went to Disney Johanna was only 8 months old. I think you can have a great time with small children-you just have to know your limitations and go with the expectation that you'll see what you can and not everything. It is better to have a GREAT time doing a lot of things at WDW than to have an awful time rushing around and trying to do it all! JMHO though

 

[ProudMommyof2]

I haven't gotten to see the opening show at MK yet- it is a must do this trip!

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

I haven't gotten to see the opening show at MK yet- it is a must do this trip!

It is definitely worth getting there early to see-if you are a complete sap like me! I mean, really, it isn't anything amazing as far as what they actually do-it was just amazing to me because it was that I'm-finally-here-after-all-the-months-of-planning-and-we-are-going-to-have-so-much-fun-and-boy-this-place-is-magical kind of way!

 

[tinawv]

Looking forward to reading more about your trip. Your girls are so adorable. Sorry that your little girls hand got stepped on. I can't believe how some parents let their kids go wild; especially at someone elses expense.

 

[My2Qtz0205]

Are you on the Southside or Peninsula? I'm on the Peninsula. The first time we went to Disney Johanna was only 8 months old. I think you can have a great time with small children-you just have to know your limitations and go with the expectation that you'll see what you can and not everything. It is better to have a GREAT time doing a lot of things at WDW than to have an awful time rushing around and trying to do it all! JMHO though

Ah, we are on the southside--just off the MMBT. Just curious, why did you decide to fly Southwest instead of Air Tran? We will probably fly Southwest. I'm anxiously awaiting their October schedule!

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Looking forward to reading more about your trip. Your girls are so adorable. Sorry that your little girls hand got stepped on. I can't believe how some parents let their kids go wild; especially at someone elses expense.

Thanks and Welcome! You can see from the picture of Jo on the slide that her tears over being stepped on lasted only briefly! There was just too much fun to be had-thank goodness!

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

Ah, we are on the southside--just off the MMBT. Just curious, why did you decide to fly Southwest instead of Air Tran? We will probably fly Southwest. I'm anxiously awaiting their October schedule!

We are on the OTHER side of the MMBT. We live in Newport News, and are only about 5 minutes away from Newport News/Williamsburg Airport. We flew Airtran out of that airport when we went in 2007. In October 2008 I went for 3 days with my sister, and we flew Southwest out of Norfolk. There were two main reasons she and I chose Southwest-the price and the flight times. Southwest had a nonstop flight to Orlando in the morning, and Airtran's is mid-day. We were only going from early Tuesday until late Thursday and we wanted to make the most of our time. I like that you can make changes at Southwest without being charged a fee, too.

When I traveled with my family in January we picked Southwest for basically the same reasons-price and flight schedule. We were checked into the hotel by 10:30 AM, and if we had flown Airtran we would have still been at the airport. It did help us that Jo was only 2 because we got to board with families (between the A group and B group.) Have you ever flown Southwest? They don't assign seats-and that could be stressful if you don't get to sit together. I think that their family boarding is for groups with children under age 4, so you might get to use it too. I am going with my sister again this October, so I am also waiting for those October flights to be released! When are you going in October? Are you doing Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party? We did it last year and it was great!

(The flight prices from Airtran were not a lot more expensive than Southwest-maybe 5 or 10 dollars each way. If Southwest had been a lot more expensive we would have definitely used Airtran again-and just flown in the middle of the day!)