"Knock it off right now or you're going back to the hotel for the rest of the day!"

[TaraPA]

Ok yes, I will admit it. I was one of those parents. I was one of those parents that threatened to end the trip early, send the kids to the hotel with a babysitter, feed them to the crocs on Kilimanjaro Safari, throw them off a moving Friendship Boat, etc.

I've been spoiled. VEREEEEEE spoiled. The last 3 trips I took to WDW were either solo or with friends. No kids. None. The trip before that was just myself & 1 son. Before that myself & the other son. So we hadn't had a family trip to WDW in quite some time. Let me just say up front that yes, I really do love my kids. They are great kids, generally speaking. I swear though that in WDW someone steals my kids & replaces them with someone else's. It seems like they bottled up a year's worth of punching, kicking, tantrums, nit-picking (think "he's touching me, he's breathing towards me, he's looking my direction", etc. etc.) meltdowns & attitude just for this trip. I remember it being exactly the same way the last time we all went together, I was just hoping they had matured in the few years since we'd gone. HA!

This trip was sort of thrown together since DH was staying at The Dolphin for a work conference. I figured why not go & let his company pay for our room and his airfare? Plus we get discount WDW tickets through his company for conference. He wasn't able to book his room or airfare until 2 weeks before, so I spent countless, angst-ridden days checking rates, wondering, waiting, hoping for the best, etc. I actually was starting to feel guilty for taking my last 3 trips to WDW without the kids, so it was now or never.

I was lucky enough to score cheap airfare at the last minute - a week before - $39.99 down non-stop from PA on Allegiant, and $89 non-stop back on Airtran. I'd never flown non-stop from PA before, and since DH was going a day ahead of us for work, this was great to be able to get there quickly with the kids.

Oh yeah, the kids. They are Ty, age 12 (ok ask him & he's "almost 13") and he thinks he's 21....and Dane, age 9. They do not get along well, they eaily annoy each other (and me), but I was hoping for some Disney magic. They are total opposites - Ty is a leader - loud, dominating, thinks ahead & wants to make all the decisions. Dane is more quiet, shy, sensitive & just goes with the flow. Dane is at the age where he likes to be silly & there's nothing more annoying to his big brother! Ths picture pretty much sums it up - Dane giving a big goofy grin, Ty acting all cool & annoyed. I'm sure right after snapping this picture Dane made some silly noise & Ty's arm flew out of his pocket & puched his brother in the stomach which in turn caused Dane to have a full blown crying meltdown. Which in turn caused me to say: "Knock it off or you're going back to the hotel for the rest of the day!"

 

[lynn71092]

I'm in!!

 

[15isto2]

looks good

 

[PrincessAlways]

Tara....lol!!! I can hear the pickering now!!
Guilty about our trip(s)????????? NEVER!!!

 

[Piglet4Ever]

Sounds very interesting, count me it

 

[TaraPA]

This had to be the longest day of my life! The kids got off to school as our flight wasn't until 7:35pm. The weather looked iffy all week - rain, snow, freezing rain, ice, etc. were all in the forecast, but it was just rain all day. Until 10 min. before we were to leave to drive to the airport.

"Mom what's that noise outside?"

Sleet! Lots & lots of sleet, accumulating fast. So a 20-min. drive to the airport ended up being 35 min. because of the icy roads. Not a good way to start the trip! Ends up the flight is at a 30 min. delay when we check in. No biggie. Then there's a medical emergency on the incoming flight, so they up it to a 60 min. delay. Then they need to de-ice, up to a 2-hour delay. It's now 9:45pm, everyone is cranky, we've been sitting in the airport for FOUR hours!

Overall it went smoothly. We flew down on Allegiant, all I'll say is you get what you pay for. Had I paid more than $39.99 for that flight I wouldn't have been thrilled. Landed at 12:30am and headed straight for the taxi stand. THERE WAS A LINE at 12:45am!!!!!!! Unbelievable! Thankfully a businessman in front of us in line offered to share a cab to keep the line moving. We all got in after about a 15-min. wait & off we went, he to DTD Hilton & us to The Dolphin. We got dropped off first & he insisted on paying the whole fare (since his company would be reimbursing him anyway). Pixie Dust for mommy!! $65 Pixie Dust!

Check in at The Dolphin went smoothly at 1am. Believe it or not there were others checking in at the same time. We got to our room (DH had checked in a day earlier) & here we had a sweet upgrade to an Epcot Fireworks View with a balcony! ZZZZZ we were fast asleep in no time.

 

[ga disney mom]

joining in. My girls can be like your boys at times, they are 8 and 4 Looking forward to reading more.

 

[DFD]

 

[reyasmommy]

Reading your first post, cracked me up. I have a little girl that turns 4 on the 25th of this month and I also have a 11 week old son. As of now I don't have to deal with the fighting and bickering, and I'm going to enjoy every second of that fact. She hasn't shown any signs of jealousy either and it's beautiful. I know in another year, it's going to be a completely different story, and I'm not looking foward to it.

I think it's funny that you can't wait for your child to start talking, and then once they do, you'd do anything for them to just shut-up for a minute or two.

Your TR is great thus far....looking forward to more.

 

[TaraPA]

We were all excited to get up even though we had a long night. I couldn't wait to see the view from our room. We had the 1st half of the stay booked under Corporate Rate which is a standard room, but DH said they gave him a Starwood Gold upgrade at check-in. That's one reason I love The Dolphin so much, they have a generous rewards & repeat guest program. We've earned many free nights & upgrades by being Starwood members. So I rip open the curtain to see this straight ahead:

and this to the right:

oh what a glorious view! If anyone follows the Worst Room View thread, you'll remember my Dolphin dumpster view I had once. This trumps all!

We quickly dressed & headed to Picabu, Dolphin's CS. Then off to MK where we hoped to find a paintbrush on Tom Sawyers Island! Dane & I had found one on our mommy & me trip in 2007, so Ty was anxious to get in on the hunt. We searched for almost an hour & found nothing but this:

 

[TaraPA]

It was very cold this day - and with the rain, that really emptied out the park. We were able to walk on everything - Space Mountain, BTMRR, POTC, Buzz, HM, Indy racecars - everything! It was so empty that we rode BTMRR twice back to back without even getting off, there was no one in line! The kids had never ridden SM before, and they loved it. We rode it 4 times in a row. I have to say I loved it too! Supposedly they added some new interactive things in the queue, but we didn't see any of it since there was no line to even go through. Here is a shot coming off of SM - to show how empty it was:

We stoped for churros over in Frontierland. Now, if any of you have tried to eat anything over there, you know about the birds. I thought maybe the rain would keep them at bay - nope! A bird swooped down & took the churro right out of Ty's hand! Here is a pic of a bird that chased Dane around while he furiously shoved his churro in his mouth to finish it! It was hilarious, the boys laughed & laughed over this. This was one moment they actually got along & had a good time! Once again, notice how few people are in the picture:

We hit Monsters Inc Laugh Floor - if you've never tried this you have too! Dane got singled out & Mike Waszokwski asked why he was advertising the Gap in his teeth on his shirt (he had a GAP sweatshirt on)...then asked if that was his brother aside of him & what was his name. Dane paused, I thought because he was shy & didn't know what to do, and then he blurts out "POOP FACE!" OMG the place rolled with laughter. I was MORTIFIED. Mike Waszowski didn't quite know what to say (is it politically correct to say poop in WDW??)...he then says he has a joke for the boys - why was 6 afriad of 7? Ty leans into the camera & says "because 7 8 9" and Mike Waszowski jumps up & down & says "way to go POOP FACE!" Priceless!!!!

 

[DFD]

room view ~ Nice

park being empty ~ Great

Poof Face ~ Priceless!!

 

[PrincessAlways]

Beautiful view!!

Not so beautiful!!!!

I don't think they hide the paintbrushes on Tom Sawyer's Island anymore.


Can't believe a "little" rain scared everyone away!! Hey People....it's Disney!!! Put on a poncho & go!!!

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Love the start to your tr. DH went without kids and I now think that that is the only way to do Disney.

Wow, I can't believe how empty the park was. What is there to fight about? It would be worth the cold and rain to do so many rides. SM is my all time favorite ride and to go 4 times....

Can't wait to read more.

 

[Nancy for Disney]

We hit Monsters Inc Laugh Floor - if you've never tried this you have too! Dane got singled out & Mike Waszokwski asked why he was advertising the Gap in his teeth on his shirt (he had a GAP sweatshirt on)...then asked if that was his brother aside of him & what was his name. Dane paused, I thought because he was shy & didn't know what to do, and then he blurts out "POOP FACE!" OMG the place rolled with laughter. I was MORTIFIED. Mike Waszowski didn't quite know what to say (is it politically correct to say poop in WDW??)...he then says he has a joke for the boys - why was 6 afriad of 7? Ty leans into the camera & says "because 7 8 9" and Mike Waszowski jumps up & down & says "way to go POOP FACE!" Priceless!!!!

 

[dawnandnala]

Wow great start - loved the laugh floor story!!!

 

[TaraPA]

Hi everyone! Thanks for following!

Linda - I wasn't sure about the paintbrushes either so we asked & they did hide them both mornings we went, and we saw on family with one, but we just couldn't find them! Last time we found one they were sooo obvious that a 2-yr old could have found them. Maybe they are really hiding them now! We had 3 things we wanted to find on this trip - a painbrush on TSI, Push the talking trash can in Tomorrowland & Devine in AK. We never saw a paintbrush or Push but we did see Devine - and boy was she stunning as usual! Pics of that later.

Now, on with the show...

After a few more rides on Space Mountain we were shivering cold & soaked, so we decided to head back to the room for hot showers & to change into something dry. The plan was to head to AK since they had EMH. I was so excited since I absolutely love AK, and had never been there for evening EMH. I couldn't wait to ride EE in the dark!

All was going well until we left MK. The boys were havng a blast & no one was even complaining about being wet & frozen (it was just ME that was complaining!) So we're getting in the line for our bus back to Dolphin. Ty was ahead of us so when the queue line wrapped around that he was facing us, of course he couldn't resist, and stuck his foot out to trip his brother. Yep, you can see where this is going. Dane hit the ground, nothing was hurt except his feelings, but he started bawling. Which is of course the reaction Ty wanted so he starts laughing & calling Dane a baby. I'm ready to start throwing out a punishment but had to stop. Wait - we're in Disney in a hotel - what the heck punishment do I give him?? I can't make him stay in the hotel all night, I'm alone here with them, that's not fair to Dane to make him stay at the hotel. I can't take away video games & things like that, they're not here. Hmmmm. The first thing that came to mind was his cell phone. I made him hand it over & of course that started an attitude. "Fine. Take it. I don't need it anyway. I wasn't going to use it. I don't care." Blah blah blah. I had to institute the NO SPEAKING rule for the ride home because it was getting ugly. So Dane wimpered the whole ride back to The Dolphin, Ty snickered & made faces. Shoot me now!

 

[TaraPA]

We all showered & changed (in silence - I kept the no speaking rule in effect) & headed out to the bus for AK EMH. Now I don't know if they don't run busses as much after regular park closung when it's EMH or what, but we stood in the wind-whipping rain for 30 min. & no AK bus. The boys were MISERABLE, so I said fine, let's just take the boat over to Epcot & watch the fireworks. Illuminations is my favorite fireworks show ever, it's such a moving story to watch it up close. At that point I really just wanted to call it a night & go to bed, but hey those Park Hoppers were calling my name, I wanted to make use out of them.

We get to Epcot & it's sooooo cold & windy & rainy that we grabbed a snack, tried to get on Test Track (it was temporarily closed due to weather - it was storming), rode Spaceship Earth (of course the computer in our car was broken so we couldn't even do the interactive stuff), and then headed back. They were at each other's throats the whole time nit picking, so we left before Illuminations which I wasn't happy about. I couldn't even use the "If you don't knock it off you're going back to the hotel for the rest of the day" because we all really just wanted to be back there anyway!

This is the only pic I took that night in Epcot:

 

[TaraPA]

Ok so we all got a good night's sleep - so all will be better, right? Right!

The morning started off with them "wrestling" which turned into a good old fashioned fist fight. They were each assigned to sit on a bed in silelnce til I got ready. No way was I letting this get my day off to a bad start!

I usually have a plan for every minute of every day in WDW but I decided to let them pick. They wanted to go back to MK to try & find a paintbrush on TSI. Again. The weather was much better - still cold but at least nice & sunny. So we trekked back to TSI & after another hour of searching, found none! We did see another family with one, so we know they were hidden that day. They must really be hiding them these days! We decided we needed breakfast, so off to Main Street Bakery! This was my 1st time going there, it always seemed so crowded. We only waited in line about 5 minutes in line & then this appeared...

We had a great breakfast of cinnamon rolls & chocolate croissants! Nothing like a little sugar to get them riled up!

We rode everything we wanted to (once again most everything was a walk on), the boys traded some pins & then we headed to AK for the afternoon. Since the boys loved SM, they were anxious to try EE. I have ridden EE before & I absolutely love it, and knew they would too. I was right, we rode 5 times, 4 back-to-back!

I learned something new - when riding EE I had always been on the right side, so I overlooked AK when going up the hill to the top of the ride. Well today I was on the left, and when I looked out high above everything - there was The Swan & Dolphin! How very cool!

After 5 times on EE it was time for a snack:

 

[DFD]

​

lovely kids you have !!!