Magical & Not So Magical Moments...The Top 10 Things We Learned

[BuzzSaw]

I enjoyed your TR too. Great job!

 

[My2Qtz0205]

I just read the whole thing today. What drew me in is the 10 things you learned. All valuable lessons, btw!

Thanks for a great read!

 

[AshClan]

Great job! Sounds like you really had a great trip. Now, don't forget this next time.....the kids fears and likes may have changed, so don't discount things like Splash and Thunder Mountain. You never know!

Loved your 10 things, BTW. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[2Monkeys]

Oh no. I've been reading your report and can't believe it's over already. In all of our 13 trips to WDW, I've never written a trip report. After reading your's and all of the other fabulous reports, I have decided to finally do one.

It feels like the trip goes just as fast as the report reads! It is always over long before I'm ready! 13 trips - wow!!! I can't wait to read your report!

Looks like such a fun trip! I enjoyed your entire report and it made me homesick for Pop....

Thanks so much for reading! I can't wait til next time when we hear 'Welcome home!'

I enjoyed your TR too. Great job!

Thanks so much for reading!

I just read the whole thing today. What drew me in is the 10 things you learned. All valuable lessons, btw!

Thanks for a great read!

I had actually written the Top 10 first and was going to leave it at that, but got so caught up in writing that I had to write more! Thanks for reading!

Great job! Sounds like you really had a great trip. Now, don't forget this next time.....the kids fears and likes may have changed, so don't discount things like Splash and Thunder Mountain. You never know!

Loved your 10 things, BTW. Thanks for sharing!!

You are so right about the kids fears changing - we are hopeful for next time!! If not, we'll switch up and each kid will get to ride their favorite twice! Thanks for reading!

 

[*Emily*]

Loved it!

 

[meanmom121]

Prologue – I started this trip report before we went on this trip, but got home, got busy with life, and never finished it. I really wanted to finish it, especially now that we are leaving for our next trip in 2 months. So, now I am finishing it and hopefully it is worth the effort. I hope you enjoy it, even though it is 2 years old now!

On with the show….

The Cast:

Me: The Boss – I am in charge of the family, no matter what anyone says! My idea of roughing it is a hotel with no pool or room service!

DH: Goofy – there is just no better description! The biggest kid of them all and the official adrenaline junkie of the family!

DD8: The Princess – she is like me about roughing it, likes to be the center of attention, and can’t pass a mirror, window, or other reflective object without looking at her reflection!

DS5: Lightning McQueen – he is so fast, his motto is ‘I am speed!’. Not afraid of anything, but won’t be tall enough for the major thrill rides!

The Reason:

We irresponsibly decided to use our tax refund to go on this trip instead of putting it toward bills for a few reasons: 1) Princess is VERY into Disney – she ‘rules over’ just about everyone who dares to play against her in Disney Scene It! 2) Lightning is very into thrill seeking – just like Goofy. 3) We currently live 9 hours away from Disney and may be moving 8 hours north, so we wanted to get in one last trip while we could still drive 4) Do we need a reason?????

The Pre Plan:

We made our reservations at the end of January for May 19 – 26. 7 nights at Pop Century (we have stayed at All Star Movies in the past), with 7-day tickets, free hoppers and water parks, and the dining plan.

** NOTE**Something you need to know about us (or maybe not)– we have been to Disney twice before as a married couple, and I have become more obsessive about planning each time. I spend hours on the Dis, and Goofy just shakes his head when I come up with something new to tell him. He is going along with whatever I say b/c he knows how I like to plan these trips. Funny, in real life, he is the obsessive one – checks the door umpteen times to be sure its locked, even though he locked it himself; arrives 30 minutes early because he doesn't want to be late – stuff like that.

Back to our show…After 2 months of planning, I decided I really wanted to stay one more day, because 7 nights is not long enough; but I don't think we could ever stay long enough. Goofy, knowing he will give in eventually, says ‘go ahead’. So, in March, I booked an extra night, but could not add it onto the package, so no dining plan for the last day. We are leaving May 18th after school, and taking DD8 out for the last four days of school. Now, I know that during those last 4 days, the children will be doing VERY important things like wearing their pjs to school, playing games, and watching movies, but my daughter is a very good student so I think they will still let her go on to 3rd grade. We will stay overnight in Tallahassee, then on to Pop on May 19th. Throw the bags at the luggage guy, get the keys, and head to Magic Kingdom!!!!

The Shopping

I am a great procrastinator about a lot of things, but this trip is NOT one of them! I have been shopping for months, so that I can make sure that all of the necessities I buy are enough and if not, have time to buy more items that I cannot live without! However, there was one shopping detail that I was putting off – my swimsuit.

If you are female with a less than perfect body, you know the dread that goes along with this shopping trip. I put it off until 2 weeks before the trip, and decided it could be put off no longer. I dragged myself to the mall, the sense of dread growing with each passing mile. I arrived at my store of choice, and immediately had stomach pains. I persevered. I took 12 swimsuits in 3 different sizes into the dressing room, despite the warning that I should only take 6 items. Yes, I am a rebel! But I thought, if I have to take off my clothes, try on the awful things, look at myself under fluorescent lights in a 3 way mirror, and then decide to actually buy one of them, I am taking in more than 6. Anyway, much to my surprise, I need the smallest size of the 3 that I took in – woohoo!!!

As I was planning my shopping strategy, I had told myself that I was going to look for a color other than my usual black. Upon arriving at the store, and finding the style suit that I needed, I noticed the colors were practically neon. Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but when I am wearing a swimsuit, I don’t want to stand out. I prefer to blend. But since I wanted a color, I dutifully tried on the turquoise, orange, and green suits – and quickly put them back on the hangers. These suits screamed “LOOK AT ME!” and since we’ve already discussed my preferred blending, these were not chosen. However, they had navy and black, so I decided on navy – it’s a color, right? But, I liked the style of the black top better than the style of the navy top, so in spite of my careful planning of bringing so many suits into the room, I had to re-dress and go out in search of the right color, style, size. And, yes, I had to try them on again, just to be sure. Have you ever bought a pair of khaki pants, then gone back to get a black pair of the same style and size, only to get them home and find that they are too small? Armed with this knowledge from past experience, I knew that I MUST try on the one I was going to purchase. You should also know that I did not look at any price tags when I selected the suits I was going to try on. This is HUGE for me, because I always, always, always look at the price tag first. But I decided that I needed to get the best looking one regardless of price, so I did not look until after making my decision. OH…MY…GOSH! Do you know how expensive swimsuits are???? Now that I have decided on the least hideous option, my navy 2 piece tankini (no bikinis or one-pieces, I respect myself and the rest of the world too much for that!), I head to the checkout. I am hyperventilating at this point, because I know that this suit is going to be way more than I would spend if I had actually looked at the price tag. The grand total is $109! I hand over my Disney Visa, and immediately have buyer’s remorse. When did a piece of lycra/spandex/elastic get so expensive???? I bought 2 pairs of shorts, 2 pairs of capris, and a pair of Teva flip-flops for less than that! Anyway, I take my purchase and leave, convinced I will be returning it very soon. However, I decided to keep it, because it did look better than the cheap one I bought last summer, and it will hopefully last awhile. So look out Blizzard Beach and Hippy Dippy pool, I’m ready – well, sort of!

bathing suit shopping - Thanks for the giant dejavu. I was reliving my experience all over. I did however manage to end up with brown and turquoise this year instead of black. Doesn't it just kill you to spend that much on something you are not excited about seeing yourself in. I mean if I knew i was going to look totally hot; I'd shell out $100.00 bucks proudly. But it just isn't the case with me.

 

[meanmom121]

Magic Kingdom - continued

I really LOVE this parade, and so do my kiddos. It is really the only parade we make sure that we see. During other parades, we take advantage of short ride lines!! We went to WDW when the kids were 5 & 2, and by the end of the day they were very tired and cranky. When Spectro started, they became happy, smiling little angels! Any parade that can save a meltdown is worth staking out a spot for!! We chose a spot in Frontierland, right at the rope, and only had about 30 minutes before it would start.

Now, like a good, well-informed Disney traveler should, I had bought several secret ‘goodies’ that I was waiting for the right time to reveal to the kids. For Princess, I got an Ariel spinner, and for Lightning, a Mr. Incredible spinner. I had bought these at the Disney store at home, on clearance, with a coupon, and only paid about $8 for both. Now, here’s a great tip for you that I learned the hard way - take the batteries out of the spinner until you are ready to use it. I left the batteries in, Mr. Incredible’s button got pushed for who knows how long, his gears are stripped, and now he won’t spin! I almost broke down and bought one from a street vendor, but by now we had broken out the glow bracelets and the parade was about to start, so my little guy was happy. I promised we would find him a new one at DD. We also shared some Disney magic with some kids nearby by supplying them with glow bracelets from our stash! It makes me so happy to spread a little !!

We had a fabulous time with the parade! Princess got a wave from Cinderella,

so she was in heaven! Now the parade was over, it was very late, and everyone was very tired. We were in no hurry to fight the crowds, so we hung out for a few minutes until things cleared out. Then we slowly made our way to the Pop bus and back to our room. This night, I passed out from sheer exhaustion, and so did everyone else.

I loved day 1!! I hope my works out this well (except 4 the kids not liking the rides of course) I hope our trip runs this smooth. Hope you can spare the magicixiedust:

 

[meanmom121]

OMG How far is the drop from that Summit Plummit.?
Not this girl. No way
How cool that your kids got to do so many little special things like the car race and how cool was it to be the special family for BB? Your trip really was full of magic
That was the cutest trip report. I truly enjoyed it and tell Lightening "sorry" but I laughed my socks off about the whole Duck thing

 

[2Monkeys]

Loved it!

Thanks!

 

[2Monkeys]

bathing suit shopping - Thanks for the giant dejavu. I was reliving my experience all over. I did however manage to end up with brown and turquoise this year instead of black. Doesn't it just kill you to spend that much on something you are not excited about seeing yourself in. I mean if I knew i was going to look totally hot; I'd shell out $100.00 bucks proudly. But it just isn't the case with me.

I am soooo with you on the bathing suit. It does completely kill me to spend that much on something I'd rather not wear!!!!

I loved day 1!! I hope my works out this well (except 4 the kids not liking the rides of course) I hope our trip runs this smooth. Hope you can spare the magicixiedust:

OMG How far is the drop from that Summit Plummit.?
Not this girl. No way
How cool that your kids got to do so many little special things like the car race and how cool was it to be the special family for BB? Your trip really was full of magic
That was the cutest trip report. I truly enjoyed it and tell Lightening "sorry" but I laughed my socks off about the whole Duck thing

Summit Plummit is the tallest water slide in the world!!! It is 12 stories high and you go about 50-60 mph on the way down! I once lived in a 12th floor apartment, and I can guarantee you I would not go on a slide that tall! That is why Goofy got that honor - which he, of course, loved!

It truly was a magical trip, and we did get lots of special perks! I hope it doesn't make the next one pale in comparison!

Don't worry about laughing at the duck thing, even Lightning had to laugh at that one! We still talk about it whenever we see a duck!!!