Longtime lurker finally posts a PTR...8/6 - 8/13 @ POP

[kiranic]

I have enjoyed reading your pre trip report. Gets me even more excited for our upcoming trip! You are going to be in Disney in only a few short days! Enjoy yourself. Sounds like you have planned everything out.

To everyone who talked about Mousekeeping. Last year I did an envelop every day because I was worried about having different Mousekeepers by the end of the week. Worked well for us! (Our Mousekeeper at WL, Pio, was absolutely great and left a nice note for our daughter at the end of the week!)

 

[davidb69]

Dave69 did your mousekeeping do a good job? I was thinking of leaving money the last day but worried they wouldnt do anything extra (towel animals etc...).

Half the time they only seem to do the towel animals for us half the time and last year it seemed like they did it even less, maybe because we didn't leave anything till the last night? DW said because the change who does it everyday that we should tip everyday which does make sense. Maybe they would do more if you tip every night, I havn't thought about it.

 

[KAMKIM]

Well its Monday already - just 2 more days.... DH is all packed, the girls will be packed tonight. I'll pack for myself tomorrow...lots of work to do at work but other than that we're ready. I wish we were leaving today. I'm still a little anxious about flying but its a straight flight and alittle over 2 hours long. It should be over pretty fast.

Oh, I also downloaded the Spongebob movie for the girls on their Ipods which are fully charged now and packed so when they get on the plane they will have a new movie to watch - it says it is 1hr and 15 mins long so they should keep them busy for a while.

 

[scoot241]

Well its Monday already - just 2 more days.... DH is all packed, the girls will be packed tonight. I'll pack for myself tomorrow...lots of work to do at work but other than that we're ready. I wish we were leaving today. I'm still a little anxious about flying but its a straight flight and alittle over 2 hours long. It should be over pretty fast.

Oh, I also downloaded the Spongebob movie for the girls on their Ipods which are fully charged now and packed so when they get on the plane they will have a new movie to watch - it says it is 1hr and 15 mins long so they should keep them busy for a while.

The Spongebob movie should occupy them for the entire flight. On takeoff and landing electronics aren't allowed, so that should cover the remainder of the time.

Flying can be a little nerve-wracking at first, but once you've done a few flights it's no big deal.

 

[davidb69]

The Spongebob movie should occupy them for the entire flight. On takeoff and landing electronics aren't allowed, so that should cover the remainder of the time.

Flying can be a little nerve-wracking at first, but once you've done a few flights it's no big deal.

Flying from Philly we basically had several shows for them to watch. Generally they watched 3 or 4 shows each way, adding up to about 1 hour 30 minutes. There are times when they serve drinks and stuff as well to take up time. Kids love the experience of flying so much(unless there are delays and they get bored). Kids can color if not watching the shows as well. Also if you are taking the Magical Express, please be aware, of probably a 30+ minute wait in line to get on a bus and a 30 minute ride on the actual bus itself. The service is great, just letting you know our experience but then again, we arrived on a saturday and it would probably be a busier time. I love the magical express video, which helps with 5-10 minutes of the trip but the kids just want to be there now when they land. Have a great time.

 

[Nuwanda9]

Yea!! It's getting closer!!

 

[KAMKIM]

Yeah I leave the day after tomorrow

We are all packed now.

Everything is by the front door.

Tonight I am going to clean out my fridge (get rid of fruits, veggies, milk etc.)

And I dont really have anything else to do besides that so I'll probably just swim to kill some time.

 

[davidb69]

Have a safe trip and a wonderful time. We'll be ready to follow you there on Friday night. I look forward to your post trip report.

 

[KAMKIM]

Yeah!!!!! this time tomorrow - I'll be landing at MCO

A few updates

I have been looking forward to my 24hr window for our flight so I could print our boardin passes and hopefully get A so I would know we'd all get to sit together.

Last night I was finished packing and put the suitcases by the door, washed and dried the clothes we wore yesterday (I'm real funny about leaving any dirty clothes in the house while we're gone) did the dishes put those away etc.

My SIL brought my nephews clothes and such last night so we could make sure he had every thing he needed (he asked if he could sleep over which I thought was funny because he wont see his parents for 8 days!) Silly little man. He is sleeping over tonight though to make things easier tomorrow morning...so once they left we got the girls in the bath, finished cleaning up - put the last minute things in the carryons....time to relax....I was hoping to get to bed early because the last few nights I haven't been sleeping well...probably airplane/flying jitters...well that didn't happen..

I mentioned before my mom lives next door to me so her and I were on the porch discussing what we needed to do today and the girls wandered out of bed....DD4 comes out on the porch with us and says I cant wait until my big birthday on Thursday, I wonder what you and Grandma bought me I didn't even think about a birthday present on her birthday! We took her to Toys R Us last week and let her pick stuff out....but now the mommy guilt was kicking in and I knew my mom felt the same...thank God for 24 HR Walmart supercenter DH took the girls back to bed and my mom and I went for a quick shopping trip to grab something for DD's BIG birthday Thursday....

So we get back home and are sitting on the porch again - I mention I plan on giving myself extra time in the morning before work to print our boarding passes....5 minutes later the sky is lighting up and the thunder is rumbling...all of a sudden we hear a huge BOOM and a crack....sparks flying off of the pole infront of our house....cable and internet are out Seriously?!?!??!!?!?? Are you kidding me?!?!?! I gotta have internet cause I gotta get A boarding passes!!!!

So I figure worse case scenario - if the cable/internet isn't back on by this morning I'll go to work extra early and print them here....well I woke up and what do you know the little lights on our modem were blinking

So our flight leaves at 6:50 I print our passes at 7:04 and I got B! B? B! Not happy! But there is nothing I can do about it....it is what it is I guess. I just hope the kids all get to sit with us I really think they (I) will be upset if we cant. Hoping there will be a sympathic soul on the plane tomorrow if we need to ask someone to move so at least the kids can be with an adult from our group. We shall see...

So after all that chaos we get ready to leave for work this morning and I notice DH has his sandals on....I said aren't ya gonna grab your sneakers for work today? He says yes....we leave...get half way to work .....oh no....he forgot his sneakers.... UGH...turn back around and go home to grab his sneakers (along with my look of I told you so!) So needless to say I was a few minutes late coming in this morning...no big deal but not how I wanted to start my day.....

Well I have no other news, I will probably be back on tonight if not I'll see you all when we get back!!! Have a great week!

 

[KAMKIM]

Oh one more thing

TOMORROW TOMORROW I LOVE YA TOMORROW YOU'RE ONLY A DAY AWAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Be glad you didn't actually hear me sing that out loud

 

[davidb69]

Yeah!!!!! this time tomorrow - I'll be landing at MCO

A few updates

I have been looking forward to my 24hr window for our flight so I could print our boardin passes and hopefully get A so I would know we'd all get to sit together.

Last night I was finished packing and put the suitcases by the door, washed and dried the clothes we wore yesterday (I'm real funny about leaving any dirty clothes in the house while we're gone) did the dishes put those away etc.

My SIL brought my nephews clothes and such last night so we could make sure he had every thing he needed (he asked if he could sleep over which I thought was funny because he wont see his parents for 8 days!) Silly little man. He is sleeping over tonight though to make things easier tomorrow morning...so once they left we got the girls in the bath, finished cleaning up - put the last minute things in the carryons....time to relax....I was hoping to get to bed early because the last few nights I haven't been sleeping well...probably airplane/flying jitters...well that didn't happen..

I mentioned before my mom lives next door to me so her and I were on the porch discussing what we needed to do today and the girls wandered out of bed....DD4 comes out on the porch with us and says I cant wait until my big birthday on Thursday, I wonder what you and Grandma bought me I didn't even think about a birthday present on her birthday! We took her to Toys R Us last week and let her pick stuff out....but now the mommy guilt was kicking in and I knew my mom felt the same...thank God for 24 HR Walmart supercenter DH took the girls back to bed and my mom and I went for a quick shopping trip to grab something for DD's BIG birthday Thursday....

So we get back home and are sitting on the porch again - I mention I plan on giving myself extra time in the morning before work to print our boarding passes....5 minutes later the sky is lighting up and the thunder is rumbling...all of a sudden we hear a huge BOOM and a crack....sparks flying off of the pole infront of our house....cable and internet are out Seriously?!?!??!!?!?? Are you kidding me?!?!?! I gotta have internet cause I gotta get A boarding passes!!!!

So I figure worse case scenario - if the cable/internet isn't back on by this morning I'll go to work extra early and print them here....well I woke up and what do you know the little lights on our modem were blinking

So our flight leaves at 6:50 I print our passes at 7:04 and I got B! B? B! Not happy! But there is nothing I can do about it....it is what it is I guess. I just hope the kids all get to sit with us I really think they (I) will be upset if we cant. Hoping there will be a sympathic soul on the plane tomorrow if we need to ask someone to move so at least the kids can be with an adult from our group. We shall see...

So after all that chaos we get ready to leave for work this morning and I notice DH has his sandals on....I said aren't ya gonna grab your sneakers for work today? He says yes....we leave...get half way to work .....oh no....he forgot his sneakers.... UGH...turn back around and go home to grab his sneakers (along with my look of I told you so!) So needless to say I was a few minutes late coming in this morning...no big deal but not how I wanted to start my day.....

Well I have no other news, I will probably be back on tonight if not I'll see you all when we get back!!! Have a great week!

I think you said you were flying southwest?

Southwest lets families with kids 5 and under to preboard and those needing assistance before everyone. That allows you to board and have everything set before everyone else no matter what your boarding pass letter is. I think other airlines have simular policies.

Ignore all I said above, they used to do this 2 years ago when we went but apparently changed there polices. See below

This is from southwest.com's website FAQ

Southwest Boarding FAQ

Do families still get to preboard?
A: An adult traveling with a child four years old or younger will board between the "A" and "B" boarding groups, unless you have an "A" boarding pass. Those Customers holding an "A" boarding pass should board with the "A" boarding group. With an all-jet fleet outfitted with comfortable, leather seats, our families traveling with small children are easily accommodated together


With this you should still have plenty of room to sit together, but it's still annoying.

 

[Disney Since 73]

Hope you and your family have a great trip! Ride Tower of Terror at DHS and you won't ever fear flying again!!!

 

[KAMKIM]

The annoying thing is DD is 4 today....but will be 5 tomorrow

 

[KAMKIM]

Hope you and your family have a great trip! Ride Tower of Terror at DHS and you won't ever fear flying again!!!

oh heights dont scare me...plunging to my death from 40,000 ft scares me....I love rollercoasters, bungee jumpee, sky coaster....no fear....but planes and ferris wheels

 

[davidb69]

The annoying thing is DD is 4 today....but will be 5 tomorrow

It's her birthday, I am sure they'd make an exception.

Hope it all goes well.

 

[Nuwanda9]

Oh one more thing

TOMORROW TOMORROW I LOVE YA TOMORROW YOU'RE ONLY A DAY AWAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Be glad you didn't actually hear me sing that out loud

YEA!!!!!!! Have a GREAT time! Can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!!

 

[Nuwanda9]

oh heights dont scare me...plunging to my death from 40,000 ft scares me....I love rollercoasters, bungee jumpee, sky coaster....no fear....but planes and ferris wheels

Heights don't scare me, either, but I do not do roller coasters, bungee jumping or flying!! As long as I am secure in my surroundings it doesn't matter how high I am. It's the falling that scares me!!

 

[KAMKIM]

Well we are home, got back at about 4 this afternoon. Words cant describe this trip. Everything was amazing....from the sweet smell of Main Street, to the liquid sunshine we felt everyday.

It was busy, and it was HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT.

Highlights

Seeing the castle made me cry the first day and the last....buses ran pretty regularly even when the parks closed we didn't have to wait too long...well except for the time the kid standing infront of us puked all over the place. Pop Century was great...we were in the 50's building by the bowling pin pool...next time I will pay for the preferred room for one reason...when your walking back from the bus stop after a long hot day at Magic Kingdom that walk is like the walk of death....Our room was nice and our mousekeeper left us animals with the washclothes each night. We actually got to go to our room early last Thursday, they say your room wont be ready until after 3 but ours was ready by noon. And our luggage was there shortly after...little note - they dont start delivering the luggage until after 3 but if you've been there and your room is ready you can just call down and they will bring yours right up. The beds were okay...kind of hard..we have a pillowtop at home so it was def too firm for us but after a long day at those parks I could have slept on the bus and not cared.

The food court was okay but be prepared by 9 it is PACKED!

I really liked their gift shop they had everything you could imagine/want/need

The pool was ahhhhh not what I expected...I needed something refreshing in that heat and getting into those pools was like stepping into a warm bath - we went swimming everyday cause it was a little relief from the heat but I'd like it alot cooler.

The dining plan was awesome...for the 4 of us most of our gratuity ran about 15 per meal which is exactly what I budgeted for....we got lots of snacks and lots of food

The refillable mugs more than paid for themselves by the second day...we got drinks in the morning, afternoon and when we got back at night.

The plane ride there - scared the crap out of me but the plane ride back was alright...I knew what to expect so I wasn't scared at all.


I will most likely start my Post Trip Report tomorrow night....I am somewhat Disnied out lol...I missed my cat, Pepsi, and my front loading washing machine It was heartbreaking leaving Magic Kingdom after Wishes last night but man is it good to be home.

 

[briarbear]

Welcome home! I can't wait to read your report. Did u have a lay-over or was it a direct flight? I think I'm most nervous about the flight, so any advice on making it a smooth flight would be so fantasic!!??

 

[KAMKIM]

Well I am well rested (almost) and back to work already - got my last load of laundry done last night and souvenirs all have a home now.

Regarding the flying, I was so terrified of getting on the plane, I was VERY quiet on the way to the airport and getting into the plane and everything, take off was a little nerve wrecking and landing made me nervous but from Buffalo to Orlando it took a little over 2 hours - it really was over very quickly. I didn't bring anything to read but the games on my phone kept me a little distracted. I dont think I could have concentrated on reading anything anyways....on the way home I was much more relaxed and was even looking out of the window..and then fell asleep, well as much as I could in the tiny seats you have...the pilot talked to us more on the way back and I think that calmed my nerves a little.