March 17th-19-Peak season adventures: We don't do lines!**3/30-Final installment up**

[MommyPoppins]

I actually started this on Friday, but my DH came home in the middle and I didn't get a chance to finish it and post. So it's pre-trip and the ride up.

The trip:
March 17th-19th

The cast

Chad - DH loves WDW, but doesn’t understand my obsession with it.
Me(Amanda) - I haven’t always been obsessed. It wasn’t until our first trip as a family a few years ago. We went pretty unprepared, but not ignorant. Had the best time ever and I couldn’t get enough after that.
Jeremiah - DS5 - Loves WDW, informed me that he doesn’t want to go on the baby rides anymore, only the fast rides.
Seth - DS4 - Also loves WDW, doesn’t really think too much for himself these days, just follows what Jeremiah says he wants and does. So while I know he would still like the “baby” rides(Fantasyland) he also says he doesn’t want to do them.
Ethan - DS2.11 - Yep, were getting in one more trip before we have to pay for the squirt, he’ll turn three in 2 weeks. He is my son, he is every bit as obsessed as his Mom. Everyday he asks me, “We go to Disney World today?” “I ride Goofy’s airplane?”, is another of his daily questions. Everytime he does a big boy thing he says, “See I’m big now(pulls on pant leg).” I say, “Yes you are a big boy.” He says, “Now I go on Choo-Choo train ride(BTMR)” I sadly have to say, “No, you aren’t that big yet.” Poor boy is my smallest. Seth rode the Barnstormer when he was 2. Ethan hasn’t ridden yet. I measured him yesterday, he was 35 inches with his shoes. So I have my fingers crossed.
Kaleb - DS14months - Doesn’t have any opinion on Disney yet, but he will. This is like his 4th trip. The last time was when he was only 8 months, so I am looking forward to him being older now and reacting more to everything.

None of the kids know where we are going. We just told them that we are going on a trip for the weekend so get away. (We’re living with a friend while we build our house.)

The plan:

I packed 2 days ago when DH came up with the idea of getting our AP’s early(we’re going in May and taking the boys in Dec.) and taking a weekend trip. It sounds like I have the best DH in the world, taking me to WDW last minute and all. I do. AND we were going to have to go hang out with my family Sat. The whole family, including my older sister, who DH has come to dislike a little…mainly because she’s a snob. So he said instead we would just get away. Fine with me. I’d be stupid to turn down a trip to the World! So we finalized it with, well with the way we have come to make a final agreement on all things Disney. and then got to sleep. The next morning I had us booked by 9 am and we were packed by 12.

DH wakes up this morning with his weird horrible stomach pains that he gets sometimes…he is out of commission.. The rest of us, well we call it gas. Life goes on. Not so much with DH. So he stays homes, throws up, once, goes to the Dr. gets, well, he gets gas medicine. He’s fine now, so the trip is on. It was touch and go there for a while. I had my hopes down and told the kids that we might have to stay home. But, he farted and all is well.

We plan to leave when Ivy (my 2nd cousin that I babysit for during the day) gets picked up. Anytime after 4, but not later than 6. I HOPE! It’s 4:30 now and she’s still here, so…. Drive 3 hours to Orlando. Check-in at the Sheraton Safari hotel. We stayed here last May, Oh YAY! Jeremiah just informed me that Ivy’s Mom is here. Yahoo. Okay, now we’re free to leave. Except DH isn’t back yet. He left at 2 to get his haircut, get ice, get gas and clean the van. I guess he waited like an hour to get his hair cut. Which makes me want to scream. He didn’t need a haircut. He thinks he needs a haircut every 3 weeks. Anyway, aside over back to my pre- trip.

So today, I didn’t have much to do except laundry and throwing some last minute things, like toothbrushes in the bag. Can’t pack toothbrushes 2 days in advance. Chad and Seth finally get here and we pack up the van and head out at about 5:30PM.

We go to McDonalds drive thru around 6:15. At this point DH couldn’t stand keeping the secret any longer(He already told Seth when they got their haircut.) so he told me to go ahead and tell them. I got the camcorder out and turned it on and started shooting the boys while I told them where we were going. Their reactions were priceless, well Ethans was, Jeremiah the know-it-all said, “I knew it.”. I of course forgot to press record. I tried to get them to do it again…but they thought I was losing it. We stopped at 6:45 for Chad to get coffee and the big boys to go potty. It was a very quiet and uneventful ride because we bought a 2 screen DVD player for the van the night before we left. Best purchase we ever made.

We hit some traffic when we got on I-4, as usual. As soon as we passed the accident, which was pulled over to the side, traffic miraculously cleared up. I hate when people cause traffic because they slow down to look at accidents.

Now a little aside that I feel compelled to tell you about. You see, when you’re driving up 27 and you enter Haines City, you know you’re almost to I-4. But no matter how many times we go up there, I can never remember just when I-4 is going to come up. I always think, “It must only be a couple more minutes.” But it’s always not. So finally someone kindly put up a landmark I can remember..I mean really, once you see it you could never forget. Once I see it, I know that 1-4 is less than 5 minutes away! It is a cross, not just any cross. It’s only slightly shy of needing a blinking light. There is a church there, it’s not just sitting in the middle of no where, which would be really scary…but even with the church, it frightens me. I mean, it’s REALLY big. I don’t know exactly what they were thinking when they put that thing up. I don’t even know how they got it there. But I thank them profusely because now I know when I-4 is coming up. Without traffic, which never happens except on the way home, you can get from that cross to AK in 22 minutes. Not too bad.

So anyway, we arrive at the hotel at 9ish. Longer than it should have taken. DH and I can make the trip in 2 ½ hours. But kids really slow us down. Plus I had us get off the wrong exit, by accident and we got slightly lost for a few minutes. Our room was decent, the carpets stained and I didn’t like the different comforter they had on the beds. Plus it just had a stale smell. But it was clean and the beds are oh so comfortable. Everyone was calmed down and in bed by 10:30. Although I didn't actually sleep. I never do the first night. I've tried wine, tylenol PM, and I meant to take my allergy alixer, which always makes me fall asleep, but I have to take it before 7:45 and I forgot. So I tossed and turned all night. DH pains came back again around 4:30am. I of course was awake when he got up. He took another gas pill and was okay in the morning.

Up next: Day 1, Magic Kingdom. Lime green shirts, disobeying, destroying Disney property, more gas and cracked heels.

 

[Peg]

More....
Peg

 

[MommyPoppins]

Day 1, Magic Kingdom

I think I finally fell asleep and stay asleep after my 4:30am run in with Chad. I woke up at 6 and even though the alarm wasn’t going to go off until 6:30, I got up and started getting ready while everyone slept. I did as much as I could in the dark because I knew as soon as I turned on a light the kids would wake up. We managed it get out of there on time, around 7:30. We arrive at the TTC, park in like the 3rd row, and right at the end where you are so close to walk to the front. Yes! We got in a short line to get our tickets. We each had a 1 day MYW ticket that we had to buy last Sept. so we could get the free dining. I knew that I might run into trouble here and have to go to guest relations, but our wonderful CM, Mark, knew he needed help and called his manager. So we were able to upgrade right there with only a few minutes wait. We got out AP’s and headed toward the monorail. When we got to the CM’s that have the power of letting you in or not, I started getting my tickets out and she saw the Passholder folder they were in and said, “Oh! You’re Passholders? Come on in.” I held my head high and my family walked past all those other people pulling out their tickets. We had a nice quiet monorail ride to the front gates. The monorail was running past the Poly and GF, so I got some really great pictures. We were all excited and ready for a fun filled day.

We got to the gates at 8:25. Short line and we were through the turn styles. We went and sat on the bench right in front of the train station.

Enjoyed the cool morning air and people watched while we waited for the opening. The first thing I noticed were all the lime green shirts. They were everywhere. I was looking around and wondering if any of those shirts were DISers. I’m too shy to actually go up to a stranger and ask them if they are a DISer. Can’t you imagine the looks I’d get if they weren’t? I doubt ALL those people were DISers….I’m thinking a new color is in order.

The opening was cool. We never actually saw it before. We are usually there by 9, but usually just miss it. Ethan really liked it, he waved at the Characters on the train. Kaleb loved the music, he clapped and smiled. After the rope drop people were squeezing in on the left hand side like mad. I had forgotten about the train station rehab and the stroller rental moving. That must be why they were fighting to get in over there, when we casually strolled through on the right hand side. We always have a plan, but I was very stern in telling Chad the plan and to keep to it! It was going to be way busier than we were used to. So the plan started with Chad taking Jeremiah and Seth to get Buzz FP’s and to ride the Indy Speedway. Blech. I wish they would get rid of that ride so we didn’t have to waste precious time…WHY do kids like it so much? Then he was supposed to call me and we would meet in FL to do Peter Pan together. My part in the plan was to take Ethan and Kaleb to FL and do Dumbo is the line wasn’t too long yet. It was, so plan 2 was too skip Dumbo and take them on Winnie the Pooh which is my favorite ride in FL. We walked on, they loved it, I loved it, especially the walking on. Then I took them on the Cinderella’s Golden Carousel.

It was Kaleb’s first time riding by himself and not with me. He laughed every time the horse came back down.

After that I called Chad, because surely they were done by now and we HAD to get to PP now! Well, he disobeyed, yes that’s right. My DH disobeyed my commando command and they didn’t come RIGHT to FL after that danged Indy Speedway. They stopped at the Tea Cups. I reprimanded him for deviating from the Plan, he didn’t care. So the babies and I went on Snow White, when we came out, they still weren’t back. We waited a few minutes and they showed up. Peter Pan was already 20 minutes and it was only 9:40. I knew we didn’t have time to wait and do it and keep to the Plan. So we skipped it for now, with hopes of coming back for a FP later that evening. We headed for Toontown and awaited the rope drop. It was important to get there because it was going to be Ethan’s first time on the Barnstormer. He’s been looking forward to it for a LONG time. I was sick in the stomach the whole time, hoping he would still be tall enough. He was 35in. the other day, so as long as Disney’s 35in and my 35in. were the same he’s just make it. First we had to make a beeline for the bathroom for the big boys. Don’t you love wasting time in the bathroom? We walked onto the barnstormer, only had to wait about 4 minutes. Ethan was so excited. He started down the first hill and he FREAKED! He stiffened up, scratched at me, whimpered. He didn’t like it. I was horrified. He had looked forward to it for so long, and I looked forward to his reaction for so long. He said, ”Goofy's airplane no big fun.” Well you live and learn. We were going to walk over to Frontierland now, but a train just pulled up so we hauled tail over there got jumped on. Well, it took a little longer than that. We had to yank the kids out of the stroller and the backpack and Chad slammed that thing shut in record time. I threw the kids up on the train one at a time, ok, well, maybe not. But we made it, and it was a really nice ride around the park. Something we hardly ever do. When we got off in Frontierland Chad went for SP FP’s while we went to BTMR and waited. It was a posted 20 minute wait, so we got a child swap and Chad took the big boys. I waited on a bench in the shade near the end of the ride. He called when they got on(less than 15 minutes) and we walked over to the look out place so we could watch them go by. After that I took the boys back on. We were in the second set of seats after the front, so it wasn’t a very good ride. I hate BTMR in the front, you slowly go halfway down each hill before it releases and everyone else gets a fun fast ride. But it was still fun.

Next we went to the Haunted Mansion. We walked right in. It was fun, as always, but my speaker was crackling, which made me want to jump right out of my doom buggy. It was soooooo annoying. I love when we get to the part where you see the ghost in your doom buggy. I rode with Seth and he kept looking at the seat next to him and back at the mirror. It was funny. On the way out Chad and I raced to see who could see the wedding ring first.

Now we split up again, Chad took the babies to get FP for Mickey’s Philharmagic and I took the boys to use our Splash FP’s. On the way we stopped for some pictures. There weren't a zillion other people taking pictures here so for the first time we did it.

It was a short wait and before we know it we were seated in the front. I LOVE the front, I’ve ridden there many times and never get more than a tiny bit wet. So I even ask for the front sometimes. Well, in my opinion since the rehab, there is more splash to the mountain. Ya know what I mean? The water level was higher than normal and at ever drop the water “splashed” or more like poured in over the front and sides of our log. Plus a log came down the drop right as we were sitting next to it. You know, where the water comes shooting at your like a fire hose? Yes, we got hit with that, BIG time. Not just our log, no, pretty much just that precious front seat. But it was fun and at the end I took a picture of our picture, or I tried to. A very wonderful CM came up behind me and said,”Turn your flash off, but you didn’t hear that from me.” I couldn’t get the dang flash to get off and she was even trying to help me. Finally I came up with this.

I stink at taking pictures without the flash, I can’t hold still enough. I’m too shaky. But that’s us in the front seat. Seth is in the blue, with his hands up. Jeremiah is on the other side of me ducking his head.

We met up with Chad at the SM play area and we went off to lunch. It was about 12:15 and crazy busy. We always try and eat before 12 because of the crowds, but we didn’t make it. We found and table and horror of horrors I sat with the kids at the table while Chad got our food. While we were sitting there Ethan says, “Mommy, smell.” I look at him and he’s ripped a flower off the fake tree. Oops. Guess I should have taken it with me, you know that whole, ”Taking a piece of WDW home with you “ thread a while back. That could have been our “piece of WDW”. Last year it was a towel from Pop. I was washing my laundry when we got home and the DIS police showed up at my door because somehow a towel fell into my laundry at the resort it came home with us. I use it proudly because it reminds me of WDW and by golly, I sure as heck wasn’t mailing it back. BTW we ate at Pecos Bills.

After lunch we decided to head out and take naps so we could try and make it to the 11PM parade.

Something funny that happened: While DH was getting our FP’s for Mickey’s Philharmagic he ran into a couple of family’s from our church. They all bumped into each other in front of It’s a Small World. Ha.

We take naps, all of us. I even sleep for an hour and we head back at 5.

The first thing we do is get a single stroller for the boys to share, because we wanted them to make it all night and well, were cheap like that and weren’t paying 18 dollars for a double. On our way to Buzz we passed Stitches Great Escape. It was a walk on. Ha! I guess the secret is out. It sucks. Then we were off to Buzz to use our old FP’s. I never knew you could use old FP’s. But then last year we weren’t able to make it back for our Splash FP’s and later in the day tried to use them. The CM was very nice about it and said it’s no problem. So we figured we’d try again. I figured if they said no, we could just get another set and rush around trying to make it back in the window. I hate that, but that’s what we used to always do. So I asked him and he said, ”It’s no problem.” So we walked past all those poor people waiting in a 40 minute line. I always wonder why people actually wait in those lines. I just thank the Lord that he’s showed me the DIS and I learned how to be a line snob. We NEVER wait in lines. hehe. It was fun. I only got like 25,000 and my hand was cramped up afterwards. Then we went to ride Cinderella’s Golden Carousel. Chad waited with the baby and I waited a couple of minutes with the other boys. It was a crazy mad dash to the horses and we weren’t able to get 3 in a row. Jeremiah rode behind Seth and Ethan and I stood by Ethan because someone stole the other horse before I got the kids all strapped in. Then we went to Mickey’s Philharmagic, we were going to use our old FP’s, but didn’t need to. We walked all the way into the waiting area. It was great! I love this one! I love watching the boys reach for all the things. After it we went to Pinocchio Village Haus for dinner. We ate in the room that overlooks IASW. But couldn’t get a table at the window. The food was good., but Chad didn’t want it. He wanted a Turkey leg, so after dinner we had to go get him one. We stopped to get the boys those dang Spinning toys. Seth and Ethan got Buzz and Jeremiah got Stitch. We’ve never let them get those before because they look like someone they would use to hurt each other with. But we said they could get something and that’s what they wanted. We should have gotten one for Kaleb too because he kept grabbing Ethan’s from him. The boys and I waited on a bench on the wooded walkway that goes through Frontierland, along the water. Chad waited in the longest line we had to wait in for his turkey leg. While we were waiting Jeremiah, of course, had to go poop. So I did commited another DIS sin and let him push the single stroller while I pushed the big one so we could go find Chad. He didn’t run into anyone so if you saw him and it peeved your pet (can you reverse that statement?), get over it. We find Chad as he is on his way back to us and I leave him with the 3 and the double stroller and Jeremiah and I take the single and race off to the bathroom. By the time we get back Chad is done with his turkey leg and we head off to Adventureland to use our FP’s for Jungle Cruise. I forgot to mention that we got those on our way out of the park. We figured we would ride the late FP wave all the way in. Well turns out we didn’t need them, we walked right onto a waiting boat. Our Skipper did a great job, he obviously loved his job. I laughed at all the lame jokes, again. We never rode at night before and it was cool. When we got off Jeremiah asked to go to the Tiki Room. yuck. The things we do for our kids. Chad walked around with the baby trying to get him to sleep while I took the other 3. It was okay, at least those seats have backs, for some reason I thought they didn’t and wasn’t looking forward to that. Ethan enjoyed it, he was just a baby last time we went in there. When we came out and found Chad the baby was still awake but he was at least just laying down and chilling. We only had 10 minutes before the 9 parade and we didn’t want to get stuck in Adventureland. So we hightailed it over to FL and into Toontown Fair. Chad was running up a hill with the boys in the single stroller and all of the sudden he stops and say, "Oh no, they cracked, they're dripping." He was talking about his heels. They're gross, all hard and caloused and sometimes they get cracks because he is lazy and doesn't use the cream we bought for him. So he's freaking and dying and finally he stops freaking and we decide that no theya re not bleeding and we go off. Of course he's limping around though.The boys wanted to go on the Barnstormer again and Ethan said he wanted to too. I guess he forgot how it made him feel the first time. Well, he remember when they got to the top of the hill. A little late. But I was proud of him for trying it again, makes me want to try TOT….almost. While they rode (they walked right on) the baby and I went shopping. I got my magnet for this trip. Every trip I get a new magnet, or two. We met up and walked to Tomorrowland using that quiet secret path that no one seems to know about. Lets keep it that way, right? We rode the TTA, which is one of my favorites. I especially love it when it goes through SpM. The neat thing is, when you ride TTA at night and your eyes are so adjusted to the dark and then you go into SpM you can REALLY see the whole coaster. It was SO neat. I had never seen it so well before, I guess because in the day time your eyes aren’t adjusted to the dark and you can’t see in the dark as well. Really cool. After TTA we went to Adventureland to watch Wishes, it was about 9:45. We sat on a bench, with a slightly obstructed view, through we could see Tinkerbell, or bill whoever it was that night. Kaleb really liked it. He laughed and smiled and clapped.

It was awesome. That's what Ethan kept telling me all night. ,"That was awesome." He sang along, he sings to everything, he loves to sing. Near the end he was singing and he put his arm around me and gosh, it was so sweet. One of those moments, the reason we all go to WDW. When it was over Chad took Jeremiah and Seth to ride BTMR again and I took the babies to use our Peter Pan FP’s, which we had gotten earlier in the evening. We had a very short wait, less than 5 minutes. Would have been 4, but this incredibly rude family cut in front of us. The CM let the boys and me through the rode and into the main line and the she closed the rope. Well when she opened it again and next FP family just pushed me out of the way and got in front of me. A mom, dad and 2 kids. Ethan was openly miffed and she looked at him and said said, “Oh, you have to wait your turn.”. EXCUSE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get this, she was wearing lime green. So, hey, if your reading this, that was really rude and you’re now voted out of the DIS. NO DIS FOR YOU! We had a fun ride anyway. Ethan had been waiting all day for Peter Pan. We then went to get some seats for the parade. This was the first time we had ever been allowed to watch the parade. Chad hates them for some reason. But he said we could watch one tonight. I opted for the later one. I knew it would be better to not fight the crowds. So I parked my double wide, stroller that is, on the curb. I sat next to it and layed out a hand towel(it’s all I had) next to me to save more space for when the boys came back. This family came and sat down next to my towel and kept looking at me and at it and at me and at it. They kept trying to move in on my area. I mean come on, go to the other side of the street where there are more spaces. There weren’t a lot of people around, I don’t know why they wouldn’t just sit somewhere else it they didn’t want to be squished. Finally Chad and the boys came and the parade started, a little late though. It was worth it!!! Kaleb and Ethan both waved and Kaleb clapped. Ethan blew kisses and was ever the charmer. The best thing about staying till the 11 o’clock parade, other than walking up to your choice of seats only 15 minutes before parade time, was walking out of there without any crowds. No waiting for the monorail, or tram. It was great. Only we were parked at Epcot, well not quite, but it seemed like it. We never had to park so far away. When you go in the off season they don’t even use that parking lot. In off season at the end of the day there aren’t even parking CM’s. You just drive around and park, usually in the front where people have left. But not so much during peak season. But we made it and were back at the hotel, packed and in bed by 1:30. Everyone else was in bed much sooner, but someone had to pack us up. We had to check out in the morning.

Oh yeah and his stomach pain kept coming back, so maybe it isn't gas. Guess we'll see if it continues.

Up Next: More cracked heels, not getting up, being late, the infamous cell phone tower tree, TGM lied about AK, and finally I relax and we have fun.

 

[nicolemarie]

We are heading down this Saturday and I love hearing that you can still have fun with crowds!! We've never been in a busy season either - so the 11:00 Spectro is the way to go, huh?

By the way, I can't see your pics - can anyone else?

Looking forward to the next installment - I'll bet DH has gall bladder issues...

 

[MommyPoppins]

Yeah, I'm getting that on another thread. I think maybe I can't direct link from the Kodak site? Not sure...I'll upload them to a different site and try too repost them today.

11 Spectro is the way to go for sure! I walked up at about 15 minutes to 11 and had my choice of curb. It was even less busy in Liberty Square, but I wanted to be closer to the front of the parade so we could leave sooner.

 

[tinawv]

Great pictures. I am really enjoying your trip reports. It takes a lot of nerve to crowd, and then make a statement to the people you crowded in front of that they have to wait their turn. I guess we win when we don't let those type of people ruin our fun.

 

[1000thhappyhaunt]

Ahhh! A trip report from the Mommy of the cool kid who coined the phrase "Pinecone Poop"!!!! Which we, in our family, have now adopted to replace our old trusty "Spikey Poop". Excellent. Fine work. Enjoying it.

Your kids are gorgeous. Finally, I can see the pictures. heh, heh.

By the way... I LOVE your Crocs avatar... that's the very SAME shoe I have. Except... I have TWO of them. Na na na na boo boo! Cheers, Mel.

 

[MommyPoppins]

Wow, I'm moving up in the world. Mel's reading my trip report. AND her family uses our favorite family phrase, "Pinecone poop."

Oh and BTW, I also have 2 green pairs of crocs.

 

[1000thhappyhaunt]

Wow, I'm moving up in the world. Mel's reading my trip report. AND her family uses our favorite family phrase, "Pinecone poop."

Oh and BTW, I also have 2 green pairs of crocs.

You have THREE pairs of CROCS????!!!!! Who are you? Paris Hilton? I'm a shoegirl and I only have one pair. I'm gonna go shoppin'... now.

Blessed is the woman who has a quiver full of CROCS.

 

[MOMOFMNM]

You have THREE pairs of CROCS????!!!!! Who are you? Paris Hilton? I'm a shoegirl and I only have one pair. I'm gonna go shoppin'... now.

Blessed is the woman who has a quiver full of CROCS.

you do realize I am going to CrocHell for throwing away a NEW pair of pink Crocs at the MK don't you...yeah so don't get too attached to me... I may not be here long

OP!!!!Your trip report is awesome and your pics are great!! I can see them just fine!! Hows come you sound so prepared and your kids are so itty bitty...your gooood!!!!

love the pics once again!!!

 

[MommyPoppins]

Day 2, part 1

This morning came way too soon. Just about as soon as I settled into bed and fell asleep(around 1:30am) it was time to get up. My internal disney alarm woke me up at 7am, 15 minutes before the alarm was set to go off. I woke up Chad to see how his heels were.

You see, we met in the middle of the night again. The baby started making crying sounds in his sleep. I heard something, smelled something and well, I knew he hadn't pooped yet since we left home on Friday. I layed there for a minute, and he kept making noise. So I make DH get up and check his diaper. When he did, he limped around in circles like someone had placed glass all over the floor. I said, "Are you okay? Do your heels hurt?" Yep, I know, "Here's your sign." So, I didn't have high hopes for this morning. I tried to get him to go to First Aid the night before to get them bandaged up with some kind of ointment, but he didn't want anyone looking at his feet.

So back to waking Chad up to see how his heels are....he mumbles something about not knowing if he will be able to walk and goes back to sleep. I'm laying there thinking, "Okay, well, if we are going to try to go we need to get up in less than 15 minutes. We can go to 7-11 across the street and get some vaseline and maybe that will help." Finally I just got up and started getting ready. The boys woke up, I got them dressed and finally DH decided to get up and try to walk it off. He decided to push through so he didn't ruin the day for the boys.

We didn't even leave the 7-11 parking lot until 9:07. I was hyperventilating because we were supposed to be in the park by now. I was scared of lines and crowds and with good reason. I never saw so many people trying to get into the park at once.

We did take time to look for the cell phone tower tree.

Now I don't know what it is about Animal Kingdom, but for some reason people go crazy trying to get on the tram there. I don't understand what it is...but it scares me. Last year when we went in May it happened for the first time. People pushed my family apart and we ended up at different ends of the tram. Chad got on with the stroller and people pushed the kids and me aside and got in with Chad. I had to try and fit us in on a already full tram. Seth actually had to sit in a seperate row and with a stranger. So this year I was aware of what might happen. We arrive just seconds before the tram pulls up. We rip the babies out of the stroller, I yell, "We've got to be agressive." Throw the kids on the tram get on with them, turn around, there are strange men sitting where Chad should be. The tram is pulling away and he's still standing there with the stroller. I look at him and try and comunicate to him my thoughts, "I said WE HAVE GOT TO BE AGRESSIVE!" But, he was raised in Georgia and doesn't know the meaning of being agressive, or being fast. So I was on my own with all 4 kids, and a 50 pound backpack. Really people, you didn't think that maybe that man standing there with a folded up double stroller and myself with my 4 little ones, who by the way where like,"Why isn't Daddy coming with us?", might actually be traveling together? I'm sure by now there was actually steam escaping from my ears.
We get to the front and since I'm sitting on the end farthest from where you get off, I have to try and get them to get off before me. I actually had to push/throw/yank them out of my way....kinda. We sat on a bench and waited for the next tram to pull up so we could collect Daddy.
While we waited I snapped this picture....scary.

We were going to get a stroller for the boys today, but because we were late(Chad's fault) and because it was soooooooooo crowded(so much for TGM's recommendation. Sat. at MK was a yellow day and it wasn't near as crazy as Sun. at AK which was supposed to be a green day.) I said, "No stroller, we need to get right to the Plan."
We used to be like everyone else and rush back to the safari because everyone says that's the best time to see the animals. Well, last year I started thinking about that....the kids like to spend some time in Dinoland and by the time we would get there it was HOT and crazy. So I figured if we bypassed riding the Safari first we would be alone in Dinoland. So in Sept. we did just that. We were alone, it was great. So we decided to do that again. The boys wanted to go back on Dinosaur again and Ethan wanted to go on Triceratop Spin. So Chad took Jeremiah and Seth to Dinosaur and I took the babies and the stroller to get FP's for safari. We got our FP's and walked to Dinoland through Aisa, my favorite park of the park.

I love the little foot prints in the walkway. We stopped for a picture with a character that I do not know....we stopped because there wasn't a line. hehe. Then when we passed by the Pooh and friends greeting area I decided to check it out and see if there weren't too many people there. I thought we had walked all the way back to the van, which BTW was parked in Butterfly 13, 3 cars from the end of the row, finally the place came into view and there was only a couple of people in front of us. The nice CM took the stroller and put it on the other side for me so both the boys could be out of it. Ethan had a blast. He ran up to Pooh, threw his arms around him and just stared at him. It was so sweet. I didn't get a pic. of that. But I did get one of him hugging piglet.

We had fun and I enjoyed having some character time with Ethan without worrying about the lines building. (we were waiting for CHad and the boys to be done.) After we were done we met up with them and rode Dino Dumbo.

Then we went to get FP's for Kali and went to ITTBAB, which had a 17 minute wait, exactly. I timed it. The wait time was 20 and we never had to wait before. We always walked into the waiting room before the movie and got in the next show. We actually had to wait on the winding path and I looked the time because if 20 minutes came we'd get out of line if we weren't close to the front. But it moved fast and we were soon seated. Chad was holding Kaleb which was a mistake on my part. I know that I can always handle him better as far as him fussing. Which he does when he wants to eat, which is whenever he's awake. No, seriously, we were feeding him a PB&J while we were in line and when we put it away he was not overly excited with us. So just seconds before the screened turned to 3D he starts crying....

Up next: Day 2, part 2. Kaleb crying, more disobeying, flying pizza and losing Ethan.

I'll post my pics for day 2 part 1 tomorrow, don't have time now.

 

[MommyPoppins]

So Kaleb starts crying and so I very quickly take him from DH and stand to get out of there. In a matter of seconds there is a CM there to lead me out. A thing you must know about me is, I am blind as a bat in the dark and I don't have sonar, or whatever bats have. So this CM says to "follow her light" and shes waving this flashlight back and forth behind her, kinda like a tail, a wagging, light beam tail. Then she stops, says something in less than a whisper, I look at her like, "what?" I say, "What?" she says it again in less than a whisper, I say,"Excuse me?" She then proceeds to wag her flashlight tail again. I can hardly see anything, the baby is of course fine now, I'm slowly walking and losing the flashlight tail because she can obviously see int he dark and thinks I can too. So finally we clear all the people and I slam smack dab into the curtain. Thank goodness it was just a curtain because it would have hurt, bad. Thanks a lot for leading me into the curtain with your flashlight tail, BTW. So I sit on a bench outside the theater and finish feeding Kaleb his sandwich. I then decide it would be wise for me to go find our stroller before everyone pours out of the theater, which was FULL. So I went and got our stroller and waited outside the exit.

Chad found me and we decided it was time for lunch. I wanted to try Pizzafari, because we never had., but he wanted to go to Flame Tree. I said, "Fine we'll just go where you want to." and he said,"Well, just let me get some of these chicken wings." and we can go eat at Pizzafari. So as I take the boys aside to wait for him to get his wings Jeremiah says,"Remember you said I could get a hat?"

Friday I gave Jeremiah and Ethan a haircut. They get very short cuts with clippers, which I can do. Seth, not so much. He has a really funny head and if you take his hair away he looks like a dork. So Seth has to get a real haircut, which he did with Chad. Anyway, when I was buzzing off Jeremiah's hair I realized that his weird head fungus was back with a vengence. We just can't get it to go away. So he has two ugly caked up patches on the top of his head. AND you can't cut that hair that's all caked down. It's gross. So we said, we'd get him a hat first thing to hide it. But he HATES hates, he says they're itchy. So we didn't push it even though his head looked gross.

So he decided he DID want a hat. He picked out some stupid ball cap with mickey ears, which he wore for a total of 5 minutes. While we are standing there and he's getting his hat Seth decides its a good time to take a fit because he too wants a hat. He doesn't actually throw himself down and fit or anything, but he mainly just gives me MAJOR bad attitude, which I do NOT like. So DH comes back and takes Seth to the bathroom to have a little "discussion". I take the others to Pizzafari to secure our table, as is our right, and tell him to meet us there. The place still isn't busy and we have our pick of tables. We sit there and I give Kaleb aka "fat baby" aka "the Hoover"(because he sucks up food like it ain't no one's business) some puffs. Not that kind of puff, the gerber baby food puffs. I call Chad and find out where he is:
Chad : "Where is Pizzafari?"
Me: "It's right outside of Camp Minnie, Mickey on the path to Africa"
Chad: "Okay"

Later I call him again and it goes something like this:
Me: "Where are you?"
Chad: "Is it by Flights of Wonder?"
Me: "You're in Aisa?"
Me: "Stop right now and ask a CM to point you in the right dirction!"

He finally gets there and by now I'm getting stressed because if you're ever sat around a table with 4 young boys who want to eat but don't have any food yet, you'll know why. The Hoover was running out of puffs and Ethan aka "the badger"(because he eats anything, like a garbage disposal. A plumber friend gave him that nickname.) is upset because he too wants some puffs, but there just isn't enough to go around.
So I let him sit with the kids and I go get our food. One pepperoni pizza, one cheese pizza, breadsticks, kids meal, 2 milks. Two trays. I only have 2 hands and I need both for 1 tray. So I let jeremiah hold the tray with only the pepperoni pizza and breaksticks. He does so good, turning to the side to weave in and out of people because heaven forbid someone move an inch to get out of the way of a 5 year old. But then when the crowd clears, he gets distracted, I think he was looking at me for some reason and low and behold it starts to tip. I see it all in slow motion, I yell, in slow motion, Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooooooooo. Just as my pizza is falling off the tray and I'm seeing smeared cheese and sauce all over the floor.

Sorry the baby is crying at my feet pulling on my clothes. Guess what? He wants a snack. I gotta go for now.

 

[MOMOFMNM]

great installment!

I bet you were about ready to pull your hair out right about then!!

 

[nicolemarie]

TGM has led you astray? I am not believing this! I did not need to hear this before we leave on Saturday for a trip that has SOLELY been planned based on TGM recommendations. I am going to ASSume that if you had gotten there early, that horrific picture of the entrance to AK would not have been taken...

 

[MommyPoppins]

TGM has led you astray? I am not believing this! I did not need to hear this before we leave on Saturday for a trip that has SOLELY been planned based on TGM recommendations. I am going to ASSume that if you had gotten there early, that horrific picture of the entrance to AK would not have been taken...

It's always easier to blame someone else, like DH, or TGM. Right?

But is was WAY more crowded than MK. Maybe just because of the lay out, I'm not sure. On Sat. I looked out from the train around 10:30 and there wasn't as many people getting there as there were at AK on Sat. around 10. So It was still do able, just get there when TGM says.

 

[dismom9761]

Great report!

 

[MommyPoppins]

Last time I left you Jeremiah was losing the battle for my pizza. Well, at the same moment that my pizza started falling off the tray an angel appeared. Only she wasn't really an angel, but a wonderfully helpful and aborably sweet teenage girl. I didn't even know those exsisted. She saved the huge mess, that would have been my pizza all over the floor, by her quick thinking and even quicker reflexes. In one swift motion, I don't even think she knew what/ why she did it, but she grabbed/pushed the pizza back onto the tray. Everyone in the whole place was looking at us, I was like, "thank you thank you. thank you soooooooooo much." and she said,"Oh my gosh, I just put my hand in your pizza, I am SOOOOOOOOO sorry." WTH? Are you serious? I'm about ready to give her a reward, like my firstborn and she's afraid I'm going to be mad? I guess there ARE a lot of crazys at disney, but by golly, she just saved the day. I could have hugged her. I was like ,"Thank you so much, thank you so much," you get the point. So, she touched my pizza a little, you couldn't even tell where, and it was pippin' hot so I'm sure the germs were killed and if not, well that's why we have immune systems, right? So, I gave that pizza to the kids. lol So we get back to the table and I talked to Jeremiah about how proud I was that he carried that tray for me and I'm sorry for getting upset when he almost dropped it. Then I went to get napkins. When I came back Chad had spilled his maranaria sauce all over the table. So we ate, and good grief the pizza is stinking HOT, and yes I'm complaining. hehe Seth said that they saw "chicken-dale" walk by the window and I guess they banged on the window and all the kids thought it was great. After we finished I cleaned up the mess we made, I guess that's another one of certain DISers "pet peeves" is people not cleaning up all their crumbs and the kids cheerios, or in our case, puffs. I even used my "Wet Ones" to clean up every bit of maranaria.
Off to the Safari! We used our old FP's, as is our right, and had the shortest wait ever. Last Sept. we waited for a LONG time, even with FP because they were only running one side. So I guess there are perks to peek season, oddly enough, less waiting. I know most people go to the Safari first thing, because they seem to think that the animals all go into hiding later in the day. Well, we don't like to do what "everyone else" does, because we are anti-social and line snobs to boot. So we always get a FP and ride after lunch. We saw more animals this time than ever before, including once when we went in the morning. First we saw this thing...

I don't remember what it was called, but it was so close I could have touched it, but I didn't because I would have gotten yelled at and I don't too much care for public thrashings.
We saw this and that and blah blah blah. The elephants were out, they are my favorite part. We got to see the new baby, she's(I think it's a she) was so cute! Both the new baby and the old baby were out, they were following the mom. The mom stepped over a fallen log, then the older baby stepped over the fallen log. When the new baby got to it, she tried to step over it and stumbled, over and over again. It took several hilarious attempts for her to make it over. Here is my pic.

The safari put Kaleb to sleep, as it always has. I then carried 25 pounds, 33 in. of 14 month DEAD weight back to find the stroller...which is practically in Asia. He actually stayed asleep when I layed him down and all the way over to the real Asia.

Now, I like Devine as much as the next woman whose husband stands, drooling, taking pictures, videoing, for 20 minutes or so...so really I'm over her. At first it was cool, but now she is ALWAYS out, and husbands are just drawn to her. So we walk up there and it was complete gridlock. People were just standing there in the middle of the walk way, single people, couples, familes, strollers. I think Devine needs a new place to hang out, NOT in the middle of the main pathway from Africa to Asia. It was HORRIBLE! We finally get through and make it to Kali. Chad takes the little ones and heads off to sit somewhere while I ride with the older boys. Only first Seth had to go to the bathroom and it took FOREVER. Then I realized that Chad had the FPs, so we spend another 15 minutes walking around looking for him, because of course he also had my phone. Finally we get our FP and it's a very short wait. We didn't get soaked, yay!

It was time to start winding down our day. We needed to get home. Chad wanted to get out of there by 2:30. So we headed to the Boneyard to let the kids get more tired in hopes of them sleeping all the way home. I hate those mad house playgrounds. Seth has a habit of leaving the playground for no good reason, other than he's blonde. So I told Jeremiah and Seth to STAY TOGETHER, no matter what and I went off with Ethan. Well, not 3 minutes later Seth comes walking up to me, and I see Jeremiah 1 level up. I called him down and asked why he wasn't with Seth, his answer was that, Seth wanted to play on the car longer than he did, so he left him. So now they all had to follow Ethan around and do what he was doing because I couldn't be in 3 places at once and since they don't let strollers in those places Chad had to sit outside with Kaleb. So they play in the "sand" part for a while and then we go to do some slides, because thats what Ethan wanted. We do 1 little slide and then they want to go down the really big twisty slide. So, Jeremiah goes, then Seth, then Ethan, I went about 5 seconds after Ethan and when I came out at the bottom he was gone. Jeremiah and Seth were standing there, and Ethan was gone, and they had no idea where he went. How do you not see where your little brother just ran off to? So we start calling him and I'm looking around, not panicing yet. Then I see him, he's running around like a madman, only looking slightly freaked out by being by himself. I catch up with him, pick him up and say,"That's it, we are leaving right now because you disobeyed." I was SOOOOOO ready to get out of there. We found Chad, I got a Mickey's ice cream and we headed out.

For the first time ever neither of us was depressed, neither of us wanted to stay. It was a great weekend, we really needed it, but we were tired and ready to go home. Plus we are going back by ourselves in May and we taking the kids for 10 days in Dec....plus we have AP's and NOJ is in Sept, and F&WF is in Oct...so I might be able to talk him into a couple days in those months. hehe Of course he is reading this report so, I guess I won't be catching him by surprise now.

The ride home was for the most part, uneventful. We stopped in Haines City for coffee, while Chad went inside to get it, Kaleb pooped, or atleast I saw him trying to. He hadn't pooped since Friday, so I pulled him out of his seat and sat him with me so he could poop without sitting on it. He didn't do anymore, and I figured Chad would be back soon, so I layed him down on Chads seat and started changing him. I get his diaper off(with the clean one under him already) and after the first wipe he starts going. and going and going and I am just praying that it stops before it starts come out of the diaper. What is with our family Disney trips and Craptastropies? When Chad came back I was still trying to clean up the mess. THANKFULLY nothing got on the seats, or anywhere but him and his diapers. I think he went through 3 clean diapers during that changing.

We get back on the road and the kids did sleep, except Kaleb, he didn't fall asleep until about 40 minutes from home. The best purchase we ever made was that DVD player for the kids...it was WONDERFUL!!!! Well, that was our trip. I hope you enjoyed it. I might just post another TR after Chad and I go in May. So until then.......

MAELSTROM!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[Grammyof2]

Somehow, I missed the last installment and only found it today. There are so many trip reports and I try to read them all.

Don't you just love it when the poop keeps coming & coming. We have all been there. Life is good.

BTW, congrats on the new crocs. You should be the spokes person (?)

 

[horsegirl]

Thanks MommyP for finishing your story! How you hve time to home school, build a house, clean up diapers and write a trip report is beyond me, and yer a youngun'!

Thanks for letting me know that green vixen on stilts had a name- is that official or your title? Your observation of all the dad's was right on! She was like the pied piper when we were there. But I have to admit, I followed her too.

Please post your report about your trip with only your DH, and how you find people to watch 4 little ones while you go away. I will have to live vicariously through you!

Great Job!