MINMATES Trip Report: Pre-trip Drama
I think Im Gonna Be sick
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8284795#post8284795
MINMATES Trip Report: (Day 1) I Need A Vacation! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8284821#post8284821
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.1) Lions & Tarzan & Mickey, Oh My! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8288435#post8288435
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.2) Visiting WDW-One Potty At A Time! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792642
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.3) Magic Kingdom Nirvana
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8301761#post8301761
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 3 (PT 1) POOL Is One Letter Short of POO!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792687
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 3 (PT 2) Dont Rain On My Parade!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792750
ME (minmate)
DH -- Joe
DD6 Cali
DD5 Meg
DS4 Buddy
DD2 Jay Jay
4/5-4/12 7 nights at Pop Century
WEDNESDAY 4/6 FIRST FULL DISNEY DAY!
Ring, ring, ring I realize I am in Disney! I realize it is only the first full day of vacation! Yay! Still lots of fun ahead! Answering the call, I remembering hearing that Stitch was going to be on the phone along with Mickey. Okay, whatever. Id set the phone in the kids room too, so they could hear it. Cali is up and happy and excited. She listens to the call and thinks its cute. She also thinks shes special because shes the only kid that ended up hearing it today. Bouncing out of bed, I turn into Mary Poppins singing, Its another beautiful Disney Day! Get up, get up, get up zip a dee doo dah!
With the moppets all awake, we get dressed without incident. Some minor scufflings about why are we going to Animal Kingdom instead of Magic Kingdom. I try briefly to explain that AK will be less crowded and earlier in the day is a good time to go there, before it gets too hot. I remember Im talking to preschoolers and I give up. I realize Ive lost my sunglasses. I simply cant go without them. Cali is wearing my lime green hat for shade (she has glasses so she cant wear sunglasses to shade her eyes). Oh, I forgot to mention, Joe bought himself a new hat last night. It was a nice navy blue with a patriotic Mickey on it. After an infinitesimal amount of time in line to simply buy sunglasses and postcards, I happily meet up with my family in the AK bus line. Oops. I forgot that starting around 9 a.m. this bus also stops at the water park. Oh well, after a 20+ minute bus ride, that seemed more like a HALF AND HOUR we arrive at AK, about 9:45 a.m. The lines are long at security and the ticket gate. We hadnt used our tix yet. We went through Rainforest Café and were the only ones there. Joe laughed when he saw the finger scanning thing. He said thats exactly what hes been trying to explain to me that he was installing at work this past few weeks only theirs is a full hand thing in lieu of a time clock punch. Good, we get how to use the finger scan. Not so scary. We head over and get a multi-day stroller rental. I think it turns out to save us an insignificant amount of money but the bigger part is we didnt have to stand in the line to pay everywhere. We always go to jump to the pick up your stroller line.
We have a PS at Breakfastasaurus and get right in. Great, right? We get a good seat with lots of space around us near the door. After juggling plates for six people and kids wandering the buffet, Joe and I make our way back to the table. We lose track of JayJay. In a momentary panic I race back toward the buffet two rooms away. This restaurant is kind of broken up into the front room, a large room to the right, a long narrow buffet room that turns to the right after that and another dining area after that. Off the front room by the main door (where we sat) there are two more smaller dining areas, each with only about 6-8 tables a piece. JayJay saunters out from the buffet area, casually waving hello to all the people at the tables as she passes them. She must really think she is a Princess! She doesnt even bat an eye when she sees me. Panic! Okay, now that all parties are accounted for (really this was maybe 30 seconds!) I realize we will need to have a better plan of attack at the buffets from now on. Normally, we are more organized but today, we were just hungry. We also learned here that the chairs are extremely slippery. JayJay normally sits on chairs but this was no good. She spilled her milk, fell off the chair once and nearly fell off of it several more times. Our server was sparsely available so we just had her sit on our lap. 30 minutes later wed wolfed down our food and were now stuffed. We had yet to see one single character. As he does in his usual fashion when hes bored, Buddy starts up hes cold, hes bored, he wants to go on a ride. It wouldnt be so bad, but he delivers this litany with such dramatic flair, arms flailing, teeth gritting, face contorting into a smart-alecky pout. We meander in and out of the restaurant and I admonish myself for the fleeting thought of how easy it would be to just walk out and not pay for our meal. Oh, I would never besides. Im sure Disney could track us down somehow. They have your name on the table assignment anyway. So, not a good idea! Finally, some characters make their way into our dining area. Pluto is here and Buddys whines morph into glee. We watch Pluto make his way up the row of tables, about five, and start his way down the row we were in (1 or 2 more) Were next wait What the heck? Pluto turns into one of the smaller private areas and totally skips us! The kids are deflated, annoyed as we have yet to ride any rides and weve been in this restaurant for nearly an hour. Somehow, I get them to hang on and SLOWLY but surely, all the characters make their way to our table. We saw Pluto, Goofy, Mickey and Donald. It was a cumbersome wait and disappointingly minimal interaction. Id read they like to rush you out of here and I was somewhat counting on that. I just felt like I was making all the wrong picks this vacation and it was only the first full day. Despite our miserable character experience dh likes the food there and said hed be happy to go back. He was right after all. We must have just walked in after they rotated through our section; therefore, we had a long wait until they made their way back. On a funny note, the server got me with the old ketchup string trick. I truly jumped, covered my face and yelped. Everyone laughed. Joe thought I was totally gullible and Cali couldnt believe I didnt remember that from last time we were there. Later our server got us with the pose for a picture and Ill squirt you with water trick. Again, funny. Meg did not find it so funny. She has a thing about getting squirted with water unexpectedly. Her thing is, SHE DOES NOT LIKE IT! Thankfully, she got over it.
Finally, Buddy gets to go on a ride. We do Triceratop Spin. They love it Dino Dumbos! More potty breaks I really wish I had taken pics of all the bathrooms we used! We probably visited just as many bathrooms as we did attractions. If we timed it right, wed make it to Lion King. We tried to corral the kids in their strollers in that direction. Oh yeah, I forgot, we go right past the Boneyard. Well, there goes Lion King. Darn 5 and 6 year olds that know how to read and pay attention to their surroundings! Off we are to the Boneyard a place specifically designed to wreak havoc on my blood pressure. Four kids split off into four different directions. I guard the door. Joe follows JayJay so she doesnt hurt herself. Three seconds later Buddy is climbing the net thingy. I see Cali and Meg paired up so I dont worry too much about them. Their pretty responsible for their age. The hard part here is trying to regroup the kids and keep them in one spot. Thank goodness our cell phones worked in there! After nearly a HALF AND HOUR in the Boneyard, the kids were sufficiently red-faced and sweaty enough to need a drink. It was getting hot out.
We hadnt seen Tarzan Rocks yet so we figured since it was close by wed head there. The timing was right. Joe decides to burn some of our snack points on drinks and ice cream. We didnt know that they sell this stuff inside the theatre while you sit nice and comfy in your seat. Instead he and Cali book back over to an ice cream cart we passed earlier. I look down and JayJay is in a puddle of tears. She wanted to go with Daddy too. Now, Im standing in line with two strollers and three kids, one who is crying loudly. The line starts to move. I am struggling trying to get the strollers to move simultaneously but JayJay will NOT get in one. She kicks at me and pushes me away. She will not move. I cant pick her up because she does that back arching thing and wriggles down. People start moving in front of me and push me out of the way. Thankfully, a young guy helps me push one of the strollers until we get to the stroller drop-off point. Meg is pushing the other and Im holding JayJay. We get a good spot next to the ramps just to the right of center. Joe returns with the ice cream but no napkins! I start to relay the Drama With Mama moment we had and he decides we do indeed need napkins! No Sh@@! Are you a new parent hon?! He decides to go get them and I dread what drama will ensue. Im left alone with the kids again! Nothing major. JayJay drops her ice cream. Cali is awesome and shares hers. We get her another one. Buddy wants a different kind. Cali trades her new one for his. She earns some more Disney Dollars for that wonderfully mature display! Way to go sweetie! Tarzan Rocks was great! I enjoyed it anyway. One of the dancers dropped down right next to Buddy. It was a priceless moment.
After Tarzan we debate on staying until the 2 oclock Lion King show or to go take a nap. Since it was MK EMH eve, I felt naps were the priority. Buddy clearly needed one! We swing by Triceratop Spin again and blew off the rest of our AK plans (Kali River Rapids, Safaris and LK mainly) to go back to Pop. On our way out Meg and Cali say they want to do the Dinosaur ride. Huh? They were ticked at us for 2 days for taking them on that last year! No way. Lets go! Another long bus ride back to Pop, stopping first at the water park. Its okay though because Id planned for this to be a slower paced, relaxing type WDW vacation with the kids. Do you smell Oxymoron here? Lol
MINMATES Trip Report: (Day 1) I Need A Vacation! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8284821#post8284821
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.1) Lions & Tarzan & Mickey, Oh My! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8288435#post8288435
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.2) Visiting WDW-One Potty At A Time! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792642
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 2 (Pt.3) Magic Kingdom Nirvana
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=8301761#post8301761
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 3 (PT 1) POOL Is One Letter Short of POO!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792687
MINMATES Trip Report: Day 3 (PT 2) Dont Rain On My Parade!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=792750
ME (minmate)
DH -- Joe
DD6 Cali
DD5 Meg
DS4 Buddy
DD2 Jay Jay
4/5-4/12 7 nights at Pop Century
WEDNESDAY 4/6 FIRST FULL DISNEY DAY!
Ring, ring, ring I realize I am in Disney! I realize it is only the first full day of vacation! Yay! Still lots of fun ahead! Answering the call, I remembering hearing that Stitch was going to be on the phone along with Mickey. Okay, whatever. Id set the phone in the kids room too, so they could hear it. Cali is up and happy and excited. She listens to the call and thinks its cute. She also thinks shes special because shes the only kid that ended up hearing it today. Bouncing out of bed, I turn into Mary Poppins singing, Its another beautiful Disney Day! Get up, get up, get up zip a dee doo dah!
With the moppets all awake, we get dressed without incident. Some minor scufflings about why are we going to Animal Kingdom instead of Magic Kingdom. I try briefly to explain that AK will be less crowded and earlier in the day is a good time to go there, before it gets too hot. I remember Im talking to preschoolers and I give up. I realize Ive lost my sunglasses. I simply cant go without them. Cali is wearing my lime green hat for shade (she has glasses so she cant wear sunglasses to shade her eyes). Oh, I forgot to mention, Joe bought himself a new hat last night. It was a nice navy blue with a patriotic Mickey on it. After an infinitesimal amount of time in line to simply buy sunglasses and postcards, I happily meet up with my family in the AK bus line. Oops. I forgot that starting around 9 a.m. this bus also stops at the water park. Oh well, after a 20+ minute bus ride, that seemed more like a HALF AND HOUR we arrive at AK, about 9:45 a.m. The lines are long at security and the ticket gate. We hadnt used our tix yet. We went through Rainforest Café and were the only ones there. Joe laughed when he saw the finger scanning thing. He said thats exactly what hes been trying to explain to me that he was installing at work this past few weeks only theirs is a full hand thing in lieu of a time clock punch. Good, we get how to use the finger scan. Not so scary. We head over and get a multi-day stroller rental. I think it turns out to save us an insignificant amount of money but the bigger part is we didnt have to stand in the line to pay everywhere. We always go to jump to the pick up your stroller line.
We have a PS at Breakfastasaurus and get right in. Great, right? We get a good seat with lots of space around us near the door. After juggling plates for six people and kids wandering the buffet, Joe and I make our way back to the table. We lose track of JayJay. In a momentary panic I race back toward the buffet two rooms away. This restaurant is kind of broken up into the front room, a large room to the right, a long narrow buffet room that turns to the right after that and another dining area after that. Off the front room by the main door (where we sat) there are two more smaller dining areas, each with only about 6-8 tables a piece. JayJay saunters out from the buffet area, casually waving hello to all the people at the tables as she passes them. She must really think she is a Princess! She doesnt even bat an eye when she sees me. Panic! Okay, now that all parties are accounted for (really this was maybe 30 seconds!) I realize we will need to have a better plan of attack at the buffets from now on. Normally, we are more organized but today, we were just hungry. We also learned here that the chairs are extremely slippery. JayJay normally sits on chairs but this was no good. She spilled her milk, fell off the chair once and nearly fell off of it several more times. Our server was sparsely available so we just had her sit on our lap. 30 minutes later wed wolfed down our food and were now stuffed. We had yet to see one single character. As he does in his usual fashion when hes bored, Buddy starts up hes cold, hes bored, he wants to go on a ride. It wouldnt be so bad, but he delivers this litany with such dramatic flair, arms flailing, teeth gritting, face contorting into a smart-alecky pout. We meander in and out of the restaurant and I admonish myself for the fleeting thought of how easy it would be to just walk out and not pay for our meal. Oh, I would never besides. Im sure Disney could track us down somehow. They have your name on the table assignment anyway. So, not a good idea! Finally, some characters make their way into our dining area. Pluto is here and Buddys whines morph into glee. We watch Pluto make his way up the row of tables, about five, and start his way down the row we were in (1 or 2 more) Were next wait What the heck? Pluto turns into one of the smaller private areas and totally skips us! The kids are deflated, annoyed as we have yet to ride any rides and weve been in this restaurant for nearly an hour. Somehow, I get them to hang on and SLOWLY but surely, all the characters make their way to our table. We saw Pluto, Goofy, Mickey and Donald. It was a cumbersome wait and disappointingly minimal interaction. Id read they like to rush you out of here and I was somewhat counting on that. I just felt like I was making all the wrong picks this vacation and it was only the first full day. Despite our miserable character experience dh likes the food there and said hed be happy to go back. He was right after all. We must have just walked in after they rotated through our section; therefore, we had a long wait until they made their way back. On a funny note, the server got me with the old ketchup string trick. I truly jumped, covered my face and yelped. Everyone laughed. Joe thought I was totally gullible and Cali couldnt believe I didnt remember that from last time we were there. Later our server got us with the pose for a picture and Ill squirt you with water trick. Again, funny. Meg did not find it so funny. She has a thing about getting squirted with water unexpectedly. Her thing is, SHE DOES NOT LIKE IT! Thankfully, she got over it.
Finally, Buddy gets to go on a ride. We do Triceratop Spin. They love it Dino Dumbos! More potty breaks I really wish I had taken pics of all the bathrooms we used! We probably visited just as many bathrooms as we did attractions. If we timed it right, wed make it to Lion King. We tried to corral the kids in their strollers in that direction. Oh yeah, I forgot, we go right past the Boneyard. Well, there goes Lion King. Darn 5 and 6 year olds that know how to read and pay attention to their surroundings! Off we are to the Boneyard a place specifically designed to wreak havoc on my blood pressure. Four kids split off into four different directions. I guard the door. Joe follows JayJay so she doesnt hurt herself. Three seconds later Buddy is climbing the net thingy. I see Cali and Meg paired up so I dont worry too much about them. Their pretty responsible for their age. The hard part here is trying to regroup the kids and keep them in one spot. Thank goodness our cell phones worked in there! After nearly a HALF AND HOUR in the Boneyard, the kids were sufficiently red-faced and sweaty enough to need a drink. It was getting hot out.
We hadnt seen Tarzan Rocks yet so we figured since it was close by wed head there. The timing was right. Joe decides to burn some of our snack points on drinks and ice cream. We didnt know that they sell this stuff inside the theatre while you sit nice and comfy in your seat. Instead he and Cali book back over to an ice cream cart we passed earlier. I look down and JayJay is in a puddle of tears. She wanted to go with Daddy too. Now, Im standing in line with two strollers and three kids, one who is crying loudly. The line starts to move. I am struggling trying to get the strollers to move simultaneously but JayJay will NOT get in one. She kicks at me and pushes me away. She will not move. I cant pick her up because she does that back arching thing and wriggles down. People start moving in front of me and push me out of the way. Thankfully, a young guy helps me push one of the strollers until we get to the stroller drop-off point. Meg is pushing the other and Im holding JayJay. We get a good spot next to the ramps just to the right of center. Joe returns with the ice cream but no napkins! I start to relay the Drama With Mama moment we had and he decides we do indeed need napkins! No Sh@@! Are you a new parent hon?! He decides to go get them and I dread what drama will ensue. Im left alone with the kids again! Nothing major. JayJay drops her ice cream. Cali is awesome and shares hers. We get her another one. Buddy wants a different kind. Cali trades her new one for his. She earns some more Disney Dollars for that wonderfully mature display! Way to go sweetie! Tarzan Rocks was great! I enjoyed it anyway. One of the dancers dropped down right next to Buddy. It was a priceless moment.
After Tarzan we debate on staying until the 2 oclock Lion King show or to go take a nap. Since it was MK EMH eve, I felt naps were the priority. Buddy clearly needed one! We swing by Triceratop Spin again and blew off the rest of our AK plans (Kali River Rapids, Safaris and LK mainly) to go back to Pop. On our way out Meg and Cali say they want to do the Dinosaur ride. Huh? They were ticked at us for 2 days for taking them on that last year! No way. Lets go! Another long bus ride back to Pop, stopping first at the water park. Its okay though because Id planned for this to be a slower paced, relaxing type WDW vacation with the kids. Do you smell Oxymoron here? Lol
I'm enjoying them! Your kids sound like my two when they were little. I have a very mature daughter and a son who wiggled, squirmed, and wasn't happy unless he was playing or riding something. 
I am tired just reading this.... I have 4 kids of my own (6, 4,4 and 2) and this is EXACTLY the way our trip went last Dec. We are going back this summer- Is it like the labor pains, you know that you don't really remember the pain?!
