Mickeylovinmomof5's long over due, very small trip report..

[Magicbus]

That's a pretty niffty setup. Is it safe to assume you've camped before? Looking forward to seeing pics of you and the kids. I think you should change your user name to SuperMomOf5.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Directions ???What are those ??
Oh wait,, I remember!!!Those are what my wife say that I have no sense of !

Great start, I'll be back tomorrow,

 

[Jarrshel]

Great report , keep it coming.

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Loving your trip so far!

 

[liv luvs disney]

You are cracking me up! I believe I have the same sense of direction as you do...and proud of it! Can't wait for the next installment!!

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

That's a pretty niffty setup. Is it safe to assume you've camped before? Looking forward to seeing pics of you and the kids. I think you should change your user name to SuperMomOf5.

Well thank you lol and no I have never really camped before, i dont think field activities in the Army counts, everything I bought and did was from stalking all you kind people here! Gander Mountain is now my favorite store in the whole wide world! I will tell you, I loved tent camping but a small trailer would make my little adventures alot easier, so I'm hoping by our april trip I'll have one, if not, I'll be loading up the truck and heading out again. Next trip is just for the big kids however, daddy again is going to stay with the little ones. But never fret, mom and dad are getting a week in december to camp all by their lonesome!! I tried to book the fort but no luck, so now I'm trying to figure out where we are going exactly... I call disney every day in hopes that something opens up but I'm not hopeful being the week after CHristmas and new years eve

 

[ftwildernessrick]

You did a great job on your kitchen set up.

Those cheap poly tarps (usually blue) are good for ground cloths. At the end of the trip just roll them up, dirt & all, and wash it off later when you get home.

I know what you mean about the GPS's. They will generally get you there, but do not necessarily know the best way to do it. Also, their little computer brain does not know some of the roads, especially around Disney, have restricted access. I bought a Magellan 1700 for my cars and it allows me to modify my route by inserting waypoints on the route.

But for my MH, I use a laptop & run Delorme Street Atlas on it. I can modify it anyway I want.

 

[TOGA]

Wow, that's a real nice setup you got there!

 

[Tri-circle-D]

You are doing a great job so far.

I'm looking forward to reading more!

I love your kitchen set-up!

TCD

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

We chose to go to Hollywood studios fist because it was the only day that had EMH for this park during our stay. I should tell you that I had my agenda all planned out for the week. We had 6 day base tickets and I knew (in my mind) where we needed to be and when. However, I threw it out the window after day one.. you’ll understand why as we go along. We got up, cooked breakfast at the campsite (LOVE LOVE LOVE doing this) and we headed for the ferry.

My kids thought the ferry between the parks was the coolest thing since sliced bread, so did I for that matter. I know your saying.. “now why would that crazy lady be on the ferry if they are going to HS?..” well this is where my bad luck kicked in.. I FORGOT TWO OF MY TICKETS AT HOME!!!! I had to call AAA that morning and buy 2 more. I had previously purchased paper tickets from MWR and sure as I’m breathing I ran off and left them. AAA said for some reason they couldn’t leave them in will call they would have to email me the tickets and I could print them out at my resort. Sounded easy right? No one could help me on a Sunday on FW so I headed to the contemporary. There is a business center there, printed my vouchers and then took a bus from the Contemporary to HS. Now, this is just my humble opinion.. I’d rather chew my own arms off then use the bus system at Disney again. I don’t know in what alternate universe it’s said that the buses run every 10 – 20 minutes. That was more like every 30 to 45 minutes. I’m sure it’s a great system for people without young children and a lot of patience but this girl has lots of the first and none of the 2nd LOL. WE FINALLY MADE IT TO HOLLY STUIDOS….

We spend most of the day there, that place was sold out. Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania were all gone by the time we got there. I was bummed but what can ya do. We did get to see the Little Mermaid Show, do the back lot tour, enjoy some of the street shows and for the first time in my life I got to see Fantasmic!! We stood in line for 1hr.. took 45 min’s once we dropped off the stroller to get seated, but the show didn’t disappoint. I have been to Disneyland several times and never been able to see this show so hell or high water, we were getting in.. both came but we made it. A note to people who rent strollers from Disney here, at Fantasmic, they make you empty your stroller before entering the pavilion, EVERYTHING comes out. I know I would have been upset and you can believe they were plenty of people who were angry but the CM’s gave them the choice, empty the stroller and watch the show or do it again next time. My big kids wanted to do Tower of Terror but they wouldn’t do it without mom… it was late by now and the little green eyed devil was getting beyond reasonable so we had to go..

My overall opinion of Hollywood Studios.. ehh.. it was ok, but I don’t think I’ll do it again unless it’s just me and the big kids, my little one got bored quite often through the day. I would have loved to take him through Toy Story Mania but OH WELL! Then we made the hellish trip back to camp. The bus wait was just silly.. almost a hour. I ask the driver if there was a reason the buses were taken so long ( I was nice.. he didn’t realize I wanted to run him over) he said that this was a slow time of year and it was common for the bus schedule to be stretched out a little further than in the busy months. We slept like babies that night..

Stay tuned for Magic Kingdom day!

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

We were finally ready to head to the Magic Kingdom, we had been at FW for 3 days now and were getting a little more “settled”. My 2 year old was getting more comfortable with his surroundings which just generally makes life easier for all of us LOL.

After the awesome ferry ride over, we made it into the park without to much drama. For some odd reason my finger print scan didn’t want to work, after the issues I had the previous day with getting tickets I almost had a breakdown positive that I was about to get told to get out or something of that nature. The CM was wonderful and let me through with no issues. The park looked so pretty with all the fall decorations! It was crowded but not over whelming.

We headed straight to Adventure land as I’m a huge fan of Pirates. WE WALKED RIGHT ON PIRATES OF THE CARRIBIEAN! I saw my future ex husband there.. LOL

We really enjoyed the ride, even my fussy baby boy thought it was cool. He really enjoyed the spitting totem poles..

We then were then able to walk straight onto the Jungle Cruise..

I was very disappointed that our guide was a real downer, I remember one of the things I enjoyed most about the jungle cruise was the humorous monologue from the guides but this lady wasn’t impressive at all. Not one joke. You can tell this is one of the older rides, it’s starting to show it’s age. Kids enjoyed it however and that’s all that matters to me!
We spent some time walking around checking out shops, eating some Dole Whip and letting the little one play in the fountains some more. I had planned on going back to the campsite for lunch and a nap but we were having such a nice time decided to just snack and hang out a bit longer. We stopped on the steps of one of the shops and crowd watched for a while. It was very cool.

Notice here my one socked child.. his shoes got wet from the fountains and he took it upon himself somewhere along the way to toss his shoes.. I mean literally. I never did find those shoes.. I ended up buying a pair of crocs at one of the shops. At least he’s cute right? LOL
We then went to the Haunted Mansion, it was about a 10 minutes wait time, not to bad. We all really love that ride, even the baby was tickled. At the end when your doom buggy faces the mirror and there is a ghost in your seat.. PRICELESS!! Made all 4 of my kids mouth drop open, I’d give anything to get that on film.. I thought for sure there would be a photo booth there but I sure didn’t see it. After this we strolled around and the kids started getting mouthy so I had to get tough on them..

I have to share my troll experience here. There was a OLDER man here, probably in his late 40’s in line to get pictures. There were probably 4 other kids besides my 3 in line. A couple of stray kids would run in but still not overly crowded and no body waiting for more than a few minutes. My kids were all in a row, this guys turns to me and says “lady you need to hurry the hell up, people are waiting..” I kid you not. Now, I’m a sweet lil’ southern lady with Red hair and blue eyes that turn green when I’m mad.. this guy pushed my buttons in all the wrong ways. I couldn’t believe him! I just told him that the seniors line was down the street a bit he might want to try that one.. waved at him with the special secret squirrel wave and moved on. I have never in my life had a incident like that at Disney. I felt this was a good time to head back to camp I need a breather! After a nap and some lunch we decided we were to pooped to go back to the park so we went looping and to the pool. This was our first visit to the pool and the kids absolutely loved it!

More Magic Kingdom stories next post!

 

[Magicbus]

Why were you using the buses? For future visits, other than taking the boat to the MK, if you have a car, it's best to use it.
Buses are for those that don't have a car. And if someone told you 10 to 20 minutes, wrong. Disney will never tell you that. What you'll hear is approx. 20 minutes. Key word approx. It all depends on the time of day, how busy it is, destination, how many buses are available, etc.

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

Why were you using the buses? For future visits, other than taking the boat to the MK, if you have a car, it's best to use it.
Buses are for those that don't have a car. And if someone told you 10 to 20 minutes, wrong. Disney will never tell you that. What you'll hear is approx. 20 minutes. Key word approx. It all depends on the time of day, how busy it is, destination, how many buses are available, etc.

Yes Sir, valuable lesson learned that day. I did end up driving the truck to Epcot and once to MK.. that's a whole other story though

 

[lklasing]

Just found your report and am loving it! I am totally in awe that you took 4 kids tent camping by yourself. I'm not sure I could ever pull it off, but I sure do think it would be fun to try. It looks like you did a great job and everyone is having a ball.

Looking forward to more!

Leslie

 

[RNmomnFL]

Fun trip report. Can't wait to read more. What a bunch of cuties you have. Can totally relate to the lost shoes. Been there, done that so to speak. Great times.

 

[storyteller]

More TR adventure please

 

[heathriel]

Why were you using the buses? For future visits, other than taking the boat to the MK, if you have a car, it's best to use it.
Buses are for those that don't have a car.

Buses are also for those who are inebriated, or planning to be. Won't happen at MK, but Epcot, HS, AK, Downtown Disney...

Let Disney drive, and deal with the wait

 

[Magicbus]

Buses are also for those who are inebriated, or planning to be.

Absolutely not. If I know they are, they will not get on my bus. It's my call.

 

[MICKEYLOVINMOMOF5]

Absolutely not. If I know they are, they will not get on my bus. It's my call.

I didnt realize that you were a bus driver .. I hope my comment about chewing the arm off didnt offend you.. it just doesnt fit my situation with all the "house critters" as Frank called them

 

[Magicbus]

I didnt realize that you were a bus driver .. I hope my comment about chewing the arm off didnt offend you.

Of course not. I've heard it all before. I'm the first one to bash them when deserved. Buses are not for everyone. They are what they are. If you don't have a vehicle, it's cabs or buses. If you do, you should use it. In most cases cars are better if speed and flexibility are your priorities.