Kittylady Family does Kidani May '09 - updated 10/16 FINALLY

[kittylady1972]

So much to tell on such a FABULOUS trip! We had sunny weather every single day and temps in the 90s and absolutely NO Florida thunderstorms. I think that's the first time ever I've been to Walt Disney World and not had at least one rain shower. We had a surprise FREE upgrade to Business Class seating thanks to Air Tran which made our flight down even more fabulous. We may be spoiled for Business Class forever now! Beach Club Resort was wonderful...our room was practically right next to the walkway to EPCOT, though we didn't take advantage of that on our one day and night there. The kids LOVED the Beach Club Pool and I can finally say we have eaten at Beaches and Cream and it lived up to the hype, though I was unable to get the Kitchen Sink this time. There is always next time.

Kidani Village was AWESOME! I can't say enough great things about the resort and the staff there. The Savannah View room was totally worth it to be able to sit on the balcony and view giraffes and zebras every day. The pool and play area at Kidani get TWO THUMBS UP and the slide I daresay rivals that of the slide at Beach Club Resort, not for height but for the speed and fun factor! I'll return soon to give a daily recap of our vacation...PROMISE!

 

[MEK]

Really excited to hear about your trip. So glad you had such a good time and that you liked Kidant. Can't wait to see pics!

 

[kittylady1972]

So I thought it would be interesting to show each of my daily trip report reposts by precluding them with the PLAN for the day so you'll see how we did. Do you think we stuck to the plan? We shall soon find out!

 

[kittylady1972]

DAY 1: The day is finally HERE! I hardly sleep the night before and we're up early and ready to leave the house by 6:30am for our 8:45am flight out of Baltimore. It's a short ride to the airport and after some confusion about if we were picking up Frank's parents at their house or they were meeting at ours, I remind my husband that the FINAL decision was for us to go get them. No worries...they live only a quick 5-10 minute drive away. So we get the kids packed in the car, pick up the 'rents, and we are headed to the airport. Yippee!

After some real issues with Southwest during our last time using them in January of 2006, we have chosen AirTran for this trip. Checkin is smooth, we are through security without any issues...well almost. My MIL, as I may have mentioned, had hip replacement surgery in February of this year. She still uses a cane and has a card designating the hip replacement, but of course she sounds of the alarm and is whisked back to the "special" room of security to be wanded while my FIL waits for her. Frank, myself and the kids get through security no problem and we all make it to the gate in plenty of time. We end up grabbing some breakfast at the airport since we did not eat before leaving the house.

We glance at our boarding passes as we wait at the gate which happen to have a level on each of them that designates how early you get to board. This is similar to Southwest's A, B, C designation, only we all have assigned seats so there's no advantage really for us and well checked in at the same time on the same itinerary, so it's odd that some are different. A man at the gate assures us that since we are travelling with kids, they'll be okay with us all boarding together and they won't make the kids, if they have lower numbers, go without us! My FIL actually approaches the gate agent to inquire about MIL boarding a bit earlier due to her lack of movement and the cane, and they assure him that won't be a problem.

About 30 minutes before board, they call our name at the gate: "<LASTNAME> party of seven, to the front please" and I'm thinking "what now?" As it turns out, they are upgrading us to business class, ALL OF US, for FREE! AirTran is now our new FAVORITE airline! The problem, as we soon find out, is that the 7 seats are scattered randomly among the 12 available seats. I'm in row 1, my kids are scattered in row 2 and 3, etc. but thankfully the 5 passengers already in business class are very accomodating and allow us to all sit together. Yeah!

This business class thing...what a deal! From the moment our butts hit the seats they are all about helpful...can we get you something to drink? The flight isn't even all loaded yet. Wow, this is awesome! It turns out to be an extra blessing as 8:45am (our flight time) comes around and we are not moving...at all. Turns out there is an issue where the cabin emergency lighting is not working properly and they can't take off without it and they are fixing it as we sit there. The poor people in coach just sit and wait, while we are being given drinks and snacks and such. The captain even walks up and talks to me in business class, very nice. After about 25 minutes, they announce the replacement bulb doesn't work and we will probably need to switch airplanes. Oh wonderful! As we all start to stand up and gather our stuff, we hear "It's FIXED!" and then a few more minutes as they get clearance to stay put again. We're off about 30 to 45 minutes later than planned, but we are OFF! The kids, who have not flown since 2006, are just SO EXCITED during takeoff. All you hear among the business class area are "Wow!" and screams of joy from each of them, it's too cute!

 

[kittylady1972]

We arrive at the airport and head to get the luggage. While the rest of the party waits there, I head over to the rental car place to pick up our minivan with the youngest child. I am very glad to be a Dollar EXPRESS user after seeing the long line there...but I am in and out of there in no time with the key to the shiny new Dodge Caravan in my hand. It doesn't take long for the rest of the party to catch up to us, we load up into the van and drive to Beach Club Resort.

We arrive at Beach Club and head inside to check on our room. I had done the early checkin for both of us, so we find that area and our keys and package are all waiting and the room is ready for us! Yeah! We head back out and decided to just have them Valet Park the car (it's a DVC Free Perk after all...may as well use it) and then go up to our room, leaving the luggage to bell services. I check at the bell service desk for both the wheelchair and stroller I had requested from off-site companies. The wheelchair has arrive, but not the stroller, so we grab that, throw Noah into it (it's for my MIL, but so far she's good with walking with the cane) and we head up to the rooms.

Now my only room request was a room close to transportation...as it turns out we are on the far end of the farthest building...but also the CLOSEST room to the walkway over to EPCOT! So if by close to transportation they meant being close enough to walk right over to EPCOT, they got it right I guess! HA! It's a nice view of the water overlooking the Boardwalk and Dolphin/Swan though.

We had promised the kids the pool when we arrived, and it's certainly hot enough, so we all get into our bathing suits and head down to the pool. First order is lunch though, as it's after 1pm now and we have not had food! I really want to try Beaches and Cream, so we go there first. Of course, there are cries and complaints about wanting to do the pool first (oh, from the kids too) and once the wait is designated 20 minutes my DH is just not happy. I try to appease him, and end up telling the seating person we'd be happy to be seated at different tables if it gets us in faster since my husband is quite impatient! Yeah, I said it. Soon we are inside, my husband heads to the counter with the 2 older kids and I sit at a table with my in-laws and the youngest.

DH and the kids must have ordered pretty quickly, because I swear after the waitress took our order I glanced over to see DH and the kids eating their food! They also had milkshakes, and I send the youngest over to snag a few sips since he's outwardly complaining about how HUNGRY he is at the table.

Eventually our food arrives...I got a burger to share with the young one, and the in-laws each got turkey sandwiches. My FIL got a MALT which he just LOVES! The burger I get is INCREDIBLE...well that is when I get to eat it. As I am cutting it to split and about to take a bite, daughter comes wandering over from her place with daddy and needs to use the restroom. Why daddy can't take her, I don't know...but I do know that you have to go outside the restaurant and down to the Beach Club Lobby area to use the restroom, since the ones right outside the restaurant were closed. GREAT! Did I mention DH and the kids have already eaten and I'm STARVING? No matter, off I go with daughter to the restroom.

I return and finally sit down to enjoy my burger. Before long, DH and the other kids are done, so since we are still eating I send him off with the kids...all THREE of them...to the pool while I finish eating. FIL goes with them, so MIL and I sit and finish eating...and order dessert to share as well! We split the banana split...SO GOOD! After that, we head out to meet the group at the pool. So yeah, no kitchen sink as planned...we see some of them come out and there's just NO WAY we can finish it by ourselves without help from the family. Now I have a goal for the next visit I guess!

We spend a few hours at the pool and have a great time. Noah insists he does not know how to swim, but in his defense he learned how to swim without floatation at the end of August last year...and two weeks later all the pools were closed so I'm sure he's just forgotten! I spend a lot of time with him in the kiddie area, DH wanders off and ends up renting a tube for a little while so he can take the kids on rides in the lazy river, so he alternates switching off kids in the tube and taking them on laps around the lazy river. We do the slides a few times, I end up with the kids in the main pool area enjoying the games going on there. Noelle and I decide to play Disney Name That Tune where I score pretty poorly on that due to my lack of more recent Disney tunes...I RECOGNIZE the songs, I listen to Radio Disney in my car all the time, but I can't come up with names or artists for many of them. We don't win of course.

Around 5:30pm or so we head back to the rooms to get cleaned up for dinner. While getting ready, I send DH and FIL over to EPCOT (after all, it's so close) to guest relations to get our annual passes that we have preordered, as well as get a Tables in Wonderland card for us to use. He is successful, but strangely they allow DH to get all the passes and activate them, yet for my FIL (who has somebody else helping him) they won't activate MIL's pass for him...so she'll have to do that later. Weird.

We have a dinner reservation for Spoodles that night but honestly we decided we'd really like to give Captains Grill a try. DH and I loved it for dinner back in October, and it's MUCH closer. We walk over there YES WITHOUT AN ADR and wait only about 10 minutes or so before we're seated. While sitting there, Noah falls asleep on the bench at our table, the other two kids eat a little bit, and we enjoy a fabulous meal there. It does not disappoint...everybody loves their food. Score!

Now it's closing on evening and everybody is pretty tired. We get everybody ready for bed. The kids had really wanted to do the campfire or the evening movie, but DH does not want to run them ragged on day one, so we put them all to bed instead.

Oh, and I discover after being in my pocket since dinner, my phone has been resurrected. Yeah, failed to mention that while at the pool, I took my cell phone to snap photos of DH and the kids, and Noah decides to splash me and even though the phone is in a protective case and does not get very wet at all, it completely STOPS working right then and there at the pool. I am devastated! After all, I was expecting a call that evening to meet up with a high school friend and her family who live in Florida, and her only contact information is IN THAT PHONE! I have no way to reach her! Thankfully the phone came back partially when we got back to the room after the pool. I could dial and answer but I could not view the screen, and during that time she called me and I wrote down her number and gave her DH's phone number as well. We made plans to meet the next day since it was already so late and she hadn't heard back from me. So that night I get back use of the screen (hooray) but soon will lose use of the number "8" key. I can call any contacts already in my phone with "8" in their phone number, but I can't call any new numbers and texting using the letters "t, u or v" is pretty insane. I'm updating my Facebook and blog with updates using the plus key for the letter T and using a "*" for the letters U or V, so all week people think I'm cursing!

 

[kittylady1972]

We just returned on Saturday from a FANTASTIC trip to Walt Disney World May 1st thru 9th! During our trip we introduced the family to two new resorts...well new to them at least. We stayed one night at the Beach Club Resort (2 connecting rooms) and then the next day we checked into the ALL NEW Kidani Village Villas in a 2BR unit for the week. The weather in Florida was HOT HOT HOT...especially for May! To our shock, we did not experience ONE SINGLE FLORIDA RAINSTORM during our nine days there. UNBELIEVABLE!

Will we stick to the schedule I've laid out for us? Will my MIL use the wheelchair we have rented for her or will we end up convincing her to rent a power operated scooter instead? Stay tuned!


PRE-TRIP REPORT - AKA All about US!

Ok, so here is the PLAN for Day One as I wrote in my Pre-Trippy:

Day 1 - Arrive at airport, pick up rental minivan, drive to Beach Club Resort for check-in. Our DVC room has never EVER been ready before 4pm but we have 2 different regular rooms this time so maybe we'll get lucky. Since we arrive around lunchtime, I'm thinking of hitting Beaches and Cream for lunch...how I'd LOVE to try a kitchen sink! Then we'll hang out at the pool for the rest of the day, have dinner that evening at Spoodles around 7pm, then if we are up for it maybe we can hit EPCOT in the evening, even if only to catch Illuminations.

What actually happened:

DAY ONE: Today's the DAY! Here we GO! (AKA We love AirTran!!)
DAY ONE Cont'd: ARRIVAL AT BEACH CLUB RESORT

Day 2: The Original Plan
Day 2 - Early morning checkout of our room, see if our rental stroller is ready for pickup. It's early entry for Hollywood Studios so we'll hop the boat over there and hit Toy Story Mania at rope drop. Lunch that day is at the Brown Derby. We'll catch the 3pm Block Party Bash because the kids want to see it even though DH does not enjoy parades. We'll also try to get in line for photos with the Cars characters as my youngest LOVES them (anyone know if you still have to line up a good 30 minutes for that?) We'll leave around 4pm, boat back to Beach Club, drive over to Animal Kingdom to check into Kidani Villas. Boma for dinner that night.

What Actually Happened:
Day 2: Hollywood Studios 1st Time Riders
Day 2: What a VIEW! Kidani does NOT DISAPPOINT![/COLOR]

Day 3 - The Original Plan
Leave hotel bright and early for breakfast at Chef Mickey's and spend the morning at the Magic Kingdom, hopefully getting there close to opening and heading to Tom Sawyer's Island first thing. Spend most of the morning there, back to the hotel for a light lunch and rest if we need it. If we can withstand, we can stay all day and go right from there to the CA Grill for dinner if we don't feel a need to clean up first. After dinner, catch Wishes from the CA Grill. If we are up for it, MK is open until 1am so we could head there for a little bit.

What Actually Happened:
Day 3: The Chef Mickey's Tradition
Day 3 Cont'd: Hello Dole Whip - Ice Cream is NOT lunch?!
Day 3 Cont'd: That is one TASTY bird...tastes just like...BEEF?


Day 4 - The Original Plan
If we aren't out too late the previous night, we can plan to hit Animal Kingdom by 8am for EMH and do the Safari first thing. Ride all we want to do here, catch Flights of Wonder and maybe Nemo; kids to the playground there if they are up for it (we never miss it). Back to the room in the early afternoon for some pool time and cleanup before dinner that evening at the Kona Cafe. Catch monorail over to MK after dinner for 9pm viewing of Spectromagic.

What Actually Happened:
Day 4 - Where they learn a HARD lesson about listening to MOM!
Day 4 Cont'd - ADRs...just a guideline right? HA!HA!

Day 5 - The Original Plan
Drive to the TTC, park and monorail over to the Poly to hit Capt Cooks and get some Tonga Toast for breakfast! I just didn't want to schedule another Kona Cafe meal for the sake of saving time. Monorail over to EPCOT afterwards and spend some time there, try the Kim Possible Mission with the kids. Leave EPCOT and back to the hotel for rest and cleanup before our dinner at 1900 Park Fare that night. I'm still worried about this one. Never done it for dinner, but reading increasingly bad reviews about it. Maybe some mini-golf this evening?

What Actually Happened:

Day 5: When Lady Tremain speaks, CHILDREN LISTEN

Day 6 - The Original Plan
Weather permitting, this will be a water park day for all. We'll spend most of the day at the water park, return to the hotel for rest, and then dinner that night at Captain's Grill. We'll drive over to the Y&BC or Boardwalk. After dinner, either walk around Boardwalk or head to EPCOT. Mini-golf if we haven't squeezed it in yet.

What Actually Happened:
Day 6: Surfin' and Adventures in All-U-Can-Eat Lobster

Day 7 - The Original Plan
Alternate water park day if the previous day was not a good one. Otherwise, return to Hollywood Studios or maybe Magic Kingdom for the morning. If choice is MK, we'll do another early entry day there and do Tom Sawyer's Island if we didn't do it before. Sometime late afternoon we'll head over to EPCOT and remain there until dinner at Tutto Italia.

What Actually Happened:
Day 7: So THAT'S why they call it SPLASH! Mountain!
Day 7 Cont'd: Yes we are the PERFECT parental examples OBVIOUSLY!

Day 8 - The Original Plan
Our last full day. Our stroller will be returned this morning. We have our choice of parks or shopping or whatever we want to do with this day. This is the day I have Garden Grill for dinner. We'll see if that sticks.

What Actually Happened:
Day 8 - Meltdowns, Dole Whips and Last minute MK shopping

Day 9 - The Original Plan
Our last official day. Check out of our villa, drive to either EPCOT or Hollywood Studios since both parks make for an easy and quick exit. Leave park by 3pm at latest, drive to airport for flight back home! [/I]
What Actually Happened:
Day 9 - DHS and EPCOT and airport chaos - fun!

 

[kittylady1972]

Anyone wishing to follow, I'm going to continue this on the Disney Trip Report Board. You can find it here!

 

[kittylady1972]

This was an early entry day at Hollywood Studios and we had to check out of the Beach Club Resort rooms as well. So we packed up our stuff and took it all down to bell services, requesting that they move it to our room at Kidani Village for us. Perfect.

Frank had picked up our rental stroller from bell services the night before, so we had that ready to go. MIL decided she'd attempt the park without the wheelchair so we checked that with bell services also. Then we headed out to the boat ramp at Beach Club to catch a boat over to Hollywood Studios. It was about 7:30am when we left and yes we are all wearing the shirts I've made for the group, FIL and MIL included!

We arrived at the park before opening and MIL got her Annual Pass activated. Since everybody was lined up in the streets ready to do the mad dash to Toy Story Mania, I told Frank to take our passes and go get Fastpasses and we'd meet him over there so MIL would not have to rush through the crowds on her cane, and I wouldn't have to rush through with the double jogging stroller. So the older boys (FIL, DH and DS9 Nicolas) were off with the crowd and we slowly wandered towards Toy Story Mania at our own pace. Noelle had mentioned before that she really wanted to have her photo taken with Minnie Mouse and I told her we'd do that if we saw her. Well who do we encounter as we are walking towards Toy Story Mania but Minnie herself and very few people waiting to greet her. So of course we stop and get in line for a photo. DS4 Noah stays in the stroller, wanting no part of Minnie, and it doesn't take too long before we get that photo. As we finish and make our way to TSM, here come the boys back with the Fastpasses, so it's perfect timing. We all head to TSM together to ride it first by waiting in the line, planning to use our Fastpasses for a second ride.

Of course everybody loves it and it's only about a 20 minute wait. We have a while for the FastPass, so we decide to hit Tower of Terror next. We stop on the main road there and I go get some fruit and drinks for myself and the kids while Frank and his dad hit Starring Rolls and get some goodies there. I'm trying to be good since we have lunch planned for the Hollywood Brown Derby at 11:30am!

So this will be the first time for Noah to ride this one and he seems okay with that. There is a 5-10 minute wait, but of course it's not even that long before we're on the ride together. It turns out to be one of the BEST drop sequences we've ever had, with 4 or 5 ups and downs which is great for us...but DD6 Noelle ends up in tears when it's all over. Noah proclaims afterwards that it's okay but he has no desire to do it again. He does, however, want to buy a tshirt, and we promise to come back later for that.

The older boys want to do Rock N'Roller Coaster, but the little ones can't do that...it will be the first time for DS9 Nicolas to ride this one. They grab FastPasses for it and then we head to TSM together to all ride that again. After the ride, the boys go back to do RNRC and MIL and I take the little kids and do something with them. I give them several options, Muppets Movie, Little Mermaid Show, etc. but they choose the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground. So we head over there with them and let them run themselves ragged, promising to meet the boys back at Hollywood Brown Derby for our 11:30am lunch.

 

[MEK]

Loving your TR so far. Can't wait for those pictures of Kidani! I have 3 weeks to go!

 

[kittylady1972]

So we meet the rest of our group back at the Hollywood Brown Derby for our 11:30am ADR and we are NOT disappointed in the food here. Frank and have been dying to get back here to eat since our October 2008 trip! Frank was not splitting the Cobb Salad with me THIS time, so he got his own but MIL and I split one because I had every intention of getting dessert here. DS9 Nicolas orders the fish and chips...did I mention he's a picky eater? Obviously the minute his food hits the table and it is NOT looking like Mrs. Pauls Fish sticks we know he's not going to eat, but the waitress quickly replaces it with a hot dog for him. DS4 orders the chicken noodle soup. Now he's NOT my picky eater, but this is NOT Cambell's soup and he is also not eating that...but DH helps out there. Food is all really good, and of course we get dessert too. I get the Banana White Chocolate Toffee Tower for dessert as I did last time...LOVE this one, so cool and refreshing. FIL decides to give the Grapefruit cake a try, and he enjoys it. I taste it and it's not really my thing...then again, no chocolate in it!

After lunch, we walk outside to see the High School Musical 3 Street show happening and DD6 is a HUGE HSM fan. She and I grab a spot to sit and watch the show.

Noelle, in the shirt I made for her, watching the show:

The rest of the party is not interested so they all go off to see the Lights, Motor, Action Stunt Show. After the HSM3 show, we decide to hit the Great Movie Ride which has no wait time, and that ends just as the show ends for the rest of the group. We meet up and then head over to Star Tours, which is one ride I do NOT do as I just don't handle simulated rides that well. The rest of the group rides while I wait with MIL who isn't willing to chance it with her new hip. After that, we grab some ice cream and make our way towards the front of the park. The Block Party Bash is starting and the kids had really wanted to see this. As we are on the side of the street, a cast member has us pull the stroller right up to the front to block a walkway so we are in the front row. DD6 is LOVING this, she dances and sings to the show and at one point is pulled out into the street to join in a dance as well. It's great.

We then head out of the park, catching a boat back to the Beach Club Resort. We pick up our van and head over to Kidani to check into our room there for the rest of our stay. We arrive there and are checked in immediately of course, get a "welcome" gift of a small tree, and head to our room. I glance over to the Savannah as we are walking down the hall to realize the giraffe's look like they are right in front of our room, so of course we open the doors and head out to the balcony and THERE THEY ARE!

The kids are SO excited! We animal watch for a while and unpack our stuff. We have plenty of time to relax before our dinner that evening at Boma.

Our 2 bedroom unit...sorry that I did not get the MAIN room...just our room, the bedroom with the 2Q beds!

6pm or so is dinner, we drive over to Jambo house and are seated right away. This is our first time trying dinner here. Did I mention yet I'm a picky eater? The food here is okay, and of course I have to try the zebra domes, but overall I am not terribly impressed. I don't think we'll make a return trip to this one, but I'm glad I tried it.

After dinner, we decide to walk down and check out the pool. It's late and it's bath night for the kids, so I agree to just let them run around the kids play area. Who cares if they get wet? They have a blast getting soaked in their clothes of course.

Once that's all done, we call it an evening and head back to the room to get cleaned up and rest.
\

 

[OhMari]

AirTran does rock.
Little secret.
At check-in you can upgrade to Business for $35 a person.
At the gate the up it to $75.
If you try to do a stand-by, you can usually get these seats too.

Great report.
It's finally warm to day in Wisconsin, like 78 and it is so wierd, we just aren't used to heat yet. I can't imagine what Florida is like right now.

 

[kittylady1972]

We were up bright and early for our 7:30am Chef Mickey's breakfast. What was I THINKING? It's okay though...we arrived with a few minutes to spare! This is a tradition for us, as we ALWAYS have at least one meal at Chef Mickey's and get a family photo here. It's not always breakfast, but we aren't as fond of the dinner there.

It was interesting to see the changes here and how they've moved things around. Photos are now OPTIONAL not done automatically and are in a different spot than in Nov of 2007 and before, but we head right there for the photo. It's my worst photo yet I must say, but the kids look good.

Chef Mickey 2009:

Oh, and in case you are interested, here is our Chef Mickey History:

I'm quite disappointed with the location for our meal. We are seated to the far left of the restaurant near a window, which means when the music and festivities begin, we can BARELY hear it. It's hard to become involved, even though we have Pluto dancing in our area. Food was good though and we leave all stuffed!

Chef Mickey Photos:

Minnie catches DH from behind:

Noah is not sure he wants to meet Mickey:

Noah practically jumps out of my lap to run and greet Pluto first:

So we catch the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom.

(to be continued....)

 

[kittylady1972]

AirTran does rock.
Little secret.
At check-in you can upgrade to Business for $35 a person.
At the gate the up it to $75.
If you try to do a stand-by, you can usually get these seats too.

Great report.
It's finally warm to day in Wisconsin, like 78 and it is so wierd, we just aren't used to heat yet. I can't imagine what Florida is like right now.

Yes, I had started to do the online checkin the day before but realized I still wasn't sure how many bags we'd be checking...or the in-laws. At that time, I was offerred the upgrade...I think it was $35 a person. I declined. My FIL has already said that next time (that would be our return trip this December) he would be willing to PAY for the upgrade if it's offerred again at checkin. We may take him up on that, or at least make sure he and MIL get it. Flying with kids in the seats next to us really isn't all that bad for us...since they are our kids!

 

[MEK]

Your Kidani savanah pictures are great. So glad you posted them. But I really love your montage of Chef Mickey photos. It was fun to see your family evolve and grow!

 

[kittylady1972]

Your Kidani savanah pictures are great. So glad you posted them. But I really love your montage of Chef Mickey photos. It was fun to see your family evolve and grow!

Thanks so much! Yeah, during our trip in 1999 (my in-laws FIRST trip to WDW) I was actually pregnant with child number one. During Sept/Oct 2003, we are pretty sure that's when child number 3 was conceived (our little Disney souvenir!) We returned just a few months later because the in-laws had to cut out on day number 2 of that trip due to MIL getting ill. So it was during the 2004 trip that I was about 4 months pregnant with child number THREE. So I've spent a lot of time pregnant at the World!

 

[kittylady1972]

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom just after 8am and it was already getting pretty HOT! The kids wanted to stop and watch the show at the caslte Forecourt Stage, so we did that. After that it was RIGHT to Fantasyland and the Teacups first, followed by the Tomorrowland Speedway...did I mention DS4 Noah LOVES cars!

From there we hit Haunted Mansion, since lines for the rides in Fantasyland were already getting long. Then it was BTMRR followed by Splash Mountain, both first time rides for DS4 again. He seemed to enjoy both.

Next we made our way around to POTC, as the ninety degree heat was getting rough and we had decided to call it a day.

Three kids waiting in line:

It's now noon, but after our big Chef Mickey's breakfast and with our upcoming dinner at California Grill, there's no need for a big lunch...so we introduced the family to Dole Whips! My in-laws were hooked, the kids were thrilled with ice cream for lunch. Hey it's vacation!

Well actually DS4 decided that ice cream was NOT lunch (who IS this child?) and wants HOT food, so on the way out of the park after our ice cream break, I grab a hotdog from Casey's for him, and he eats it on the way back to our room. Oh yeah, before leaving the park DS4 Noah spots Chip and Dale and since they were absent from Chef Mickey's (sad!) he wants a photo with him. Did I mention that the only character he really warmed up to at Chef's was Pluto? All the others he really wasn't too happy to meet.

So here is his Chip and Dale photo:

We drive back to our hotel and immediately get on the bathing suits to hit the pool...finally! The kids are ready to try out our pool and it does not disappoint! The slide is just a blast for all ages. We spent many afternoons at the pool during our week and always saw adults as well as kids enjoying the slide! Here are some pool shots as well as some more water play area ones:

Oh and they had all kinds of games at the pool. BINGO was $1 a card, so DD6 Noelle and I got a few cards to play. It was blackout and we were both one or 2 numbers away from winning of course!

 

[kittylady1972]

After our swim for a few hours, we cleaned up and drove out to the Cali Grill for dinner. When we were waiting for our table, we walked out to get a few photos from the lookout there...what a view!

The nice shot:

The silly shot (I have to bribe them with a silly shot before they cooperate for the nice one first):

As usual, it was a stretch to find something on the menu for the kids. We got mac n'cheese for DS4 Noah...and DS9 Nicolas, who originally wanted nothing, ended up eating it. DD6 chose steak...yeah she loves to do that to us in restaurants. Sometimes she's picky, other times...STEAK. She did eat it though. My original dinner plan for this evening was going to be some flatbreads, the awesome Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli and a salad. When DH and I ate here for our 10-year anniversary back in October, I was so full with the flatbread and Ravioli that I knew this would be fine for me. So you can imagine my disappointment when I see NO FLATBREAD on the menu. WHAT??? I ask the waiter who says their oven is broken so no flatbread right now...but it will be back. I guess I have an excuse to come back now.

So I get the ravioli and DH hedges on the sushi until I agree to help...and so does his mom. Did I mention I'm a picky eater? I've tried sushi before and haven't been too impressed, but I'm willing to try again. This time I seem to enjoy it a bit more! I also love my ravioli...it does not disappoint me. I think I get a caesar salad as well, though I'm not overly impressed with it and I love a good caesar. I decide I need to have a main dish but really can't decide until the waiter suggest the Ostrich, saying it tastes just like beef only leaner. Hmmm...picky eater takes a chance so I order it and so does MIL, while my husband sticks with what he knows...the filet. He would later regret that after my Ostrich arrives and he tastes it...it is GREAT! I am also loving it! That's one tasty bird...I'll never look at it the same again...and I can watch it march up and down from my balcony back at our hotel room! We also end up splitting the molten cake for dessert and it's great as well. This is a fabulous and expensive meal...and my FIL picks up the check though I try NOT to let him do that. At least we used our TIW discount card to help out a little bit. After dinner, we decide to wander over to MK to catch a few more rides...after all it's still early.

We hit Fantasyland hoping to catch Peter Pan...but not for a 50 minute wait. So instead we did Snow While (10min wait) followed by It's a Small World and the carousel. Now it's close to parade time and DD6 wants to see Spectromagic...but DH is not a big Parade fan. So we decided to split up and meet back at the Contemporary, only then DD decides she wants to do rides and DS4 is all about the parade, so I head back to the front of the park with the in-laws and DS4. We walk all the way down Main Street hoping to get as close to the front of the park as possible so we can walk out afterwards and avoid the crowds and I'm thinking we'll be at the end of the parade route. Just as we reach the front of Main Street and are about to cross into the center area and flag area, the parade begins...right in front of us. So we park ourselves right there on the corner, a great spot, and watch the parade!

Once it's over, we head out and catch the monorail back to the Contemp Resort where we wait in the lounge next to Chef Mickey's for the rest of the group. It's now approaching 9pm...time for Wishes and we can view it from the Cali Grill lounge! DH calls me to say he's heading back with the other two kids, so I take the in-laws and Noah back up to he Cali Grill and we grab a spot on the outdoor catwalk to view the show, DH showing up with the kids about 1 minute after it starts. We view the show, though I end up taking the kids inside to the lounge to finish watching it, then we drive back to our hotel that evening.

 

[MEK]

Love the pics of the Kidani pool. It's hard to believe I am going to be there in less than 3 weeks. Seems sort of surreal.

I love the Cali Grill. So glad you had a nice meal and went back to watch fireworks. I loved seeing the fireworks from the deck. Next time I go I promised myself to get out from behind the camera and really watch them.

 

[kittylady1972]

Love the pics of the Kidani pool. It's hard to believe I am going to be there in less than 3 weeks. Seems sort of surreal.

I love the Cali Grill. So glad you had a nice meal and went back to watch fireworks. I loved seeing the fireworks from the deck. Next time I go I promised myself to get out from behind the camera and really watch them.

We really enjoyed the pool. I liked that I could sit in a lounger by the pool and be able to watch all three kids at once...when I could keep track of them and they weren't heading down the slide over and over again!

See my toes?

My lounger was on the far side of the pool, which meant I could glance across at the shallow zero-entry area where DS4 chose to play most of the time, and to the right outside of the photo was where the bigger slide would empty out.

They played all kinds of games at the pool too to really get people involved. I can't tell you how many Bingo cards we purchased only to lose by one number each time!

I also understand about being able to see the sites. I swear I am behind my camera 80% of the time so I never really see stuff except through the viewing screen of my camera or on the computer AFTER the vacation!

By they way I jumped over to your trip reports to read a little bit of those and I LOVED your kitty photos! I used to have three cats but am finally down to just one myself...a 14-year old DSH that I rescued from a Navy base when he was just weeks old and bottle-fed when his mommy abandoned him. Now he's a big old fat cat!

See?

 

[kittylady1972]

Ok, that plan for early entry to Animal Kingdom wasn't happening since we didn't get everybody in bed until 10pm the night before, but everybody was up at 7am on this day, which is actually SLEEPING IN for our 6am early-risers! The in-laws had decided this would be a pool day for them since they had opted out of it the day before with us, so we are on our own for Animal Kingdom.

We drove over to Jambo House first to grab some breakfast there and then it was off to Animal Kingdom, not too late after the 8am opening. We decide to hit Dinoland first. I take the little kids on Triceratops Spin and DH takes DS9 on the Primevil Whirl since he's finally big enough to do that one and I'm not too fond of spinning rides.

The little kids and I get through two flights on the Triceratops Spin, then head over to just catch DH and DS9 on their ride and watch them. After this we head right to Dinosaur since this would be a first-time ride for Noah, and it's early enough to not have a line. Of course nobody has any interest in riding it again, but we get through it just fine.

Now we decide to check out the line for the Safari and we head over in that direction. I decide to send DH off to get FastPasses for that, while the kids and I cool off in the shade. Another 90+ degree day in Florida and it's not even 10:30am yet and we are HOT!

There is an 11:20am showing of Flights of Wonder and I've really wanted to catch this show, knowing how much DS9 especially LOVES birds. So we head over there next.

This show does NOT disappoint, the kids LOVE it and so do we! They can't stop talking about it later. It's great.

Next we catch our Safari ride via Fastpass. Not too many animals out this late unfortunately, and besides we can see many right from our room! Then we decided it's certainly hot enough for the Kali River Rapids, so we head there next! DS4 gets a special stamp and wristband for the "captains" chair, which basically means he gets an extra restraint once we are loaded into the raft. We ride with another group and are lucky enough that one of those people takes the brunt of the water. Yes, we get wet but not SOAKED and the kids do enjoy it for the most part. Now it's just too hot and our pool is calling our name, so we make it a day and head back to the hotel, doing some shopping at the gate on the way out. This is the first time in years we've been to AK and the kids have not been on the playground there, but when it's HOT it's hot!

Back at our room, we grab something to eat and hit the pool.

DD6 Noelle wants to play some of the games at the poolside, so we grab paper and pen for Disney Trivia. It's about fifteen Disney Trivia questions, and between myself and with the help of DH, I think we do pretty well. Noelle gives us the team name "Disney Gold" and turns in our paper.

The kids want to have some fun in the water play area, so I head over there and snap some camera phone photos as they play.

Now I should mention that much of this area is cement, though an area to the left for smaller kids has some foam. Cement + water = slippery! I have warned the kids many times NOT to run...so you know where this is going right? Sure enough, I glance up on the higher area with the water gun to see DD6 Noelle flat on her back...yep, fell and hit her head. Of course overall she seems okay, but when DH finally returns we check her over and then after getting her somewhat calm I head back over to the main pool area with her.

As I approach the pool what do I hear but "Team Gold? Team Gold?" Hey that's US...we must have won something! Yeah, forgot all about the Trivia game we had turned in for them to check over! It appears we won second place, which I only know because after that they award the 3rd place prize. Of course DD6 is thrilled, bump on the head forgotten, she chooses a prize:

Then they go over the answers, and as we are yelling them out loud I realize that I seem to be answering most of them myself. Of the two I get wrong, one was an answer I knew but DD6 had changed on me and the other I wasn't really even close. Either way, it's cool to have won!

After a while we head back up to the room to change for our Kona dinner reservation that night.