Just returned, Jan2-5

[nkjzmom]

Our family just returned yesterday from a 4 day trip to Disney World. Myself 28, DH 30, kids 7,4,2, & 11 months. We stayed at the Contemporary (which was a dream come true for me b/c every summer my Gma would take me to MK and let me nap on the benches in the hotel then we'd hop back on the monorail to finish our day). It was perfect being so close b/c we were able to go back to eat lunch and take naps during the day without wasting alot of time traveling. The best surprise for us was when arrived to check in and were upgraded from a garden wing to a tower room....AWESOME!!! We were facing the MK and could see the fireworks from our balcony. That made it all worth it!

We arrived on the 2nd in the afternoon and took that day to travel all over "the World" on the monorail, get some groceries, and enjoy dinner at Chef Mickey's. The characters made up for the food (parmesan potatoes were great). It also saved us alot of time standing in line at the parks to get autographs and pictures during dinner. We spent the next 2 days at the MK, choosing only to go there since the kids are so young. The mornings were definitely better than the afternoons. We were able to get through 5-6 rides with relatively little wait times. It was really COLD the few days we were there...getting below freezing at night. The day we left was nice, just our luck. We were able to see the show in front of the castle. It was nice to see all of the characters in one show and even better to have them come down after the show. We never made it down to the lobby for the character caravan. We just went straight to the monorail and out to the park. Our big purchase for the trip were the 100 Magic Years Pins. At $15 each they were almost $100 by the time we each got one. But I think they were worth it for the times they lit up. During the parades, at Pirates, small world, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, and even in the hotel. Maybe they would have lit up at Splash and Space Mountains but we didn't ride those. We're going back in October for a short visit after a friend's wedding and will bring the pins with us.

This is just a short synopsis of our trip. I am in the process of getting our pictures on our family website and will post that address soon. The laundry must come first!!!

Happy New Year and many happy visits to the World!!!!

 

[pumba]

you had.....we enjoy the MK and hubby and I are by ourselves usually when we go to Disney......love it all......I am curious about the pins that light up......hope to see them in 98 days......thanks a million for your report......anxious to see the pictures

 

[joshua4]

Thanks for posting! We are leaving in 5 days and also are staying at the CR and also are just going for 4 nights. A few questions that maybe you can answer between loads of laundry . . .

1. How did you get that upgrade? Did you ask? We have a garden room and asked for a first floor room so that we can hang out outside while my 1.5 DD naps BUT I would also love to hang out on the balcony and watch the fireworks.

2. How did you deal with naptime? Did one person take the older kids and one stay with the younger ones in the room? Do you have any tricks for getting them to sleep in a strange place?

Thanks in advance!

Josh's mom

 

[nkjzmom]

To answer your questions....

1. My husband insists that when he checked in they just told him that we had been upgraded to the tower but that the room was one facing the back of the hotel. He just asked if there were ANY available facing the MK and there it was! Now, I wouldn't put it past him to pull some magical strings for me but he insists that it had already been done. Maybe it was because we had booked a few months ago...I don't know. I had heard that it was possible for an upgrade if the hotel wasn't full, so we were already planning on asking. I do know that we called every few weeks just to check up on our reservations and always inquired about an upgrade. Maybe it was put into the computer and when it became available, they did it.

2. We just wore the kids out and tried not to be stressed ourselves. Our 7 & 4 year old don't take naps so they just watched the Disney channel (we don't get it at home) while Dad, the 2 yr old and baby slept. Of course the baby slept whenever he wanted to in the stroller. We kept the rest time to about an hour so that the big kids didn't get bored. Our kids are pretty easy-going. All but the baby have spent the night at aunts, uncles, and grandparents houses so they're used to sleeping in a sleeping bag, on a couch, whatever. They do have blankets that my gma makes every Christmas that they love so we just make sure they have those and they're happy. The first day our rest was at dinner time and the big kids stayed up late at the hot tub with Dad. We were up early the next day so our rest was right after lunch. Dad took the little two back to the room around 9pm that night and the older two and I stayed late at the park. They really did well and were not grumpy at all.

A great help was packing surprise bags for the kids to open while waiting in line or for parades. My sister & I packed small party bags with bubbles, small toys, snacks, springy bracelets, etc. The kids loved them and other people were relieved when their kids loved the bubbles!

Glad to help!

 

[joshua4]

Grest idea on the little treat bags. Mickey is sending gifts for our plane trip and will send gifts for the ride home, but I think a trip to Walmart is in order to get some of the little things you mentioned. It will help add a little more magic to the trip!

Thanks for your advice.

 

[nativetxn]

Welcome to the DIS njkzmom, I'm very glad you found us.

I enjoyed reading about your time at the Magic Kingdom. How great they you got an upgrade at the Contemporary. I'd love to stay there some day

Thanks for posting this for us to enjoy.

Katholyn

 

[Misti]

Thanks for sharing your report with us! Can't wait until our stay on the monorail line in February. Reading your report is making me even more anxious!