My better late than never TR

[kschafer]

Hi!!

Followed you over

Can't wait to hear more.....I think I'll have to refer back to this first page with your family pics

Always better late.....than never!

There are a lot to keep track of!! I am so glad you have joined me, I LOVED your christmas pictures from last year and am hoping for a December trip next year

wouldn't you know it.....me and erica are right next to each other.

glad you're writing a TR! can't wait to read about your trip. what a great tip with all the family!

It only seems fitting the Vandy girls are together! Loving your current TR! It won't be long and you will be back again you lucky dog! Do it while you can, when a family addition comes along, a lot of time and money will change priorities.

I found this while going through old pictures and thought of you of course:

I love all the pictures from 'the old days'! Those are treasured pictures, I am sure. There are a lot of happy times showing through in those pictures, and I think the striped shirts picture is awesome!

It's a bit painful for me to look at . When I recently laughed at that picture my Mom got a pained look on her face and told us that she made those for us as christmas gifts that year. I guess I shouldn't laugh because there are a few pictures I will share that have semi-matching shirts.

if I had two and a half weeks of vacation! Maybe someday we'll be able to stay that long, and if we ever do, we'll probably venture out and check out more activities over on I-Drive, too. We want to go to SeaWorld. We haven't been there since the kids were young, and I know Brooklynn would enjoy it. And, as much as I like to push the fact that I am a teacher aside as soon as I walk out of the building, I know I would enjoy the educational aspect of SeaWorld, too.

You will notice that we were there in June because of our teaching schedules last year! SeaWorld was nice too, they did a nice job of incorporating that educational aspect in but thought it lacked the of Disney.

Lovng your trip report and the pictures are priceless.
Would love to have a family reunion trip to WDW.
Your sons are so adorable.

Thanks It was definitely a memory to cherish!

I followed you over from MeMom's report. We were there in June this year too and I've thought about doing a trip report, but I don't know if I'll ever get around to it. Maybe I'll write one after the next trip.

Is the picture of you, your husband and boys on the train at the St. Louis Zoo? If so, that's right in my backyard - about five minutes away.

Looking forward to reading about your adventures. I'm hooked on these trip reports.

I am too!! It's my Disney fix every day! If you have time, they are an awful lot of fun to write and relive it.

It is a zoo train and does look like St Louis (we were there last summer) but it was at the Des Moines zoo, much smaller but less exhausting!

I love your "old" pics. They are awesome! Thanks for putting them in your trip report! I also visited in June and wrote my trip report in August/Sept, so you are never too late! My first June trip was in 2002 and it was supposed to be a "one and done" trip. If you look at my signature and read the first chapter of my trip report, you will see that I have been back many times since then! I hope the same thing happens to you!

Oh I hope so! I'll have to hop over and check out your TR. Thanks for reading along.

Update coming up...

 

[MeMom]

You are one lucky lady! After seeing the car, I'm even more glad the kids weren't with you. That, in itself, is a blessing! Take it easy the next few days and let those boys pamper you a little.

Hopefully your fingers won't be too sore to Dis, though!

 

[kschafer]

June 9: All packed and ready to go. Lists are checked and double checked. Hubby has even packed his bag by the night BEFORE and almost all the stuff is packed in the van, now this is vacation progress!

Day 1 was pretty uneventful. Sorry not many pictures.

The trip to the airport went off without a glitch with 1 (OK, pretty big) exception. My friend lives in Des Moines and was going to keep our van at her house for us so we didn’t have to pay to park. We arrive at the designated time and…nobody is home. OK! We drive to the airport and park in extended stay parking and get all checked in. As we are eating breakfast at the airport, she returns my dozen phone calls. She forgot about us and was in an early meeting at work, and feels awful! She was kind enough to drive to the airport to pick up our keys so she and her BF can come back that evening to pick up the van. Problem averted, I don’t care, I’m going to Disney World!! On with vacation!

We had a non-stop flight into Tampa (actually, St. Pete’s). We were able to get on the plane first and the boys were invited up to see the cockpit which was pretty cool for me too! The flight went fine except Patrick got sick on the plane and had to use the barf bag, poor kiddo, what a way to spend your first flight. We arrive on time, get our rental van and head to Orlando. The drive was also uneventful except for (I’m starting to see a pattern here) a MAJOR thunderstorm as we are snailing our way through Tampa traffic and construction.

We arrive to the rental house at the same time as my older brother and his family. My parents and younger brother had arrived a couple hours earlier and assigned bedrooms. The rental house had 6 bedrooms and we had agreed ahead of time that we would share a room with our kids (while both brothers’ kids had their own rooms) as long as we got the largest room. The master bedroom was UNBELIEVABLE!! There was a king size bed that probably took up at most 10% of the floor space. We had a closet approximately the size of my DS’s bedroom at home and a bathroom complete with Jacuzzi tub, now this is living ! Kids were excited about the large screen TV with playstation.

The family hung out, went for a swim (in the private pool ), had dinner and tried to get to bed at a decent time, tomorrow is our first Disney Day!!

I am disgusted at how few pictures I have of the house we stayed in. Here are a couple.
Hanging out at the pool:

This was not from the first night but shows the kitchen/dining area:

 

[kschafer]

You are one lucky lady! After seeing the car, I'm even more glad the kids weren't with you. That, in itself, is a blessing! Take it easy the next few days and let those boys pamper you a little.

Hopefully your fingers won't be too sore to Dis, though!

Not a chance!! They are very concerned tonight that they will miss the old van, tears and all (that's my sensitive guys ) I suspect it will be declared totalled when the insurance person comes on Monday. They were excited when we mentioned going shopping for a new one.

 

[Happy Elf]

Followed you over from MeMom's TR. Great start! I can't wait to read more! I am hoping for a Family trip with grandparent sometime! (We'll see if I can talk them into it! They aren't Disney crazy like me!) Your boys are sure cute!

After seeing the pictures of your van, I am amazed you walked away without more serious injuries! On the upside: Have fun shopping for a new van!

 

[KittyKat08]

I'm in and ready for more.

 

[mama2girls]

I hope you join me for this walk down memory lane. Please say Hi and let me know if you decide to hang around.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

I followed you over from MeMoms TR so I will hang around! How are you feeling tonight? Sore? Alieve, a glass of wine and a hot bath might help. Ok, off to meet your family!

 

[kschafer]

Followed you over from MeMom's TR. Great start! I can't wait to read more! I am hoping for a Family trip with grandparent sometime! (We'll see if I can talk them into it! They aren't Disney crazy like me!) Your boys are sure cute!

After seeing the pictures of your van, I am amazed you walked away without more serious injuries! On the upside: Have fun shopping for a new van!

I definitely got the most of the Disney crazy gene in my family but it was good because I was the super planner for the group. Everyone else was glad to have someone take charge of it and were glad it wasn't them. I loved every minute of it.

Thanks, I think my boys are pretty sweet too

Yeah, I am a little amazed too. I have to admit I'm a bit sad because my van was so pretty and I don't know if I will be able to find one that has all the features I love. The good news is the lots appear to have lots of '08 vehicles left but also are getting the '09's in. With the economy in the toilet right now, we may be set up to snag a good deal, here's hoping!

I'm in and ready for more.

Thanks for joining me! Stay tuned.

I followed you over from MeMoms TR so I will hang around! How are you feeling tonight? Sore? Alieve, a glass of wine and a hot bath might help. Ok, off to meet your family!

I did take the doctor up on the offer for some pan meds. I didn't think at the time I would use them but I'm glad I got them. What is killing me though is when I have had vicodin before, it knocked me out (of course that was after C-sections so the surgery might have had something to do with it) It seems to be having the opposite effect on me this time. I had a physically and emotionally draining day but it's past midnight and I am still up Maybe a glass of wine is the solution, luckily I have just that remedy available complete with Mickey bottle stopper I got in Epcot

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

Hi, I'm here for the adventure. I came over from MeMom's TR.

So sorry to hear about your accident. Glad you are okay, and able to hug your two boys & DH. Seatbelts are the greatest!

I hope you find a van that's better than the one you lost.

I'm enjoying your pics of the family, what a great thing for all of you to meet up for your parents anniversary. A Disney trip is a perfect place for everyone.
Young and old.

The vacation home sounds like it was so nice. Private pool.

 

[mama2girls]

I did take the doctor up on the offer for some pan meds. I didn't think at the time I would use them but I'm glad I got them. What is killing me though is when I have had vicodin before, it knocked me out (of course that was after C-sections so the surgery might have had something to do with it) It seems to be having the opposite effect on me this time. I had a physically and emotionally draining day but it's past midnight and I am still up Maybe a glass of wine is the solution, luckily I have just that remedy available complete with Mickey bottle stopper I got in Epcot

Well, it may be your adrenaline. When I was in my car accident my doc put me on Darvoset (I hallucinated there were butterflies attacking me!!! ) and I didnt sleep for a couple of days. After that I crashed pretty hard though. Just be careful mixing Vicodin and wine though! I was on Vicodin after my knee surgery. Great stuff!

 

[kschafer]

Hi, I'm here for the adventure. I came over from MeMom's TR.

So sorry to hear about your accident. Glad you are okay, and able to hug your two boys & DH. Seatbelts are the greatest!

I hope you find a van that's better than the one you lost.

I'm enjoying your pics of the family, what a great thing for all of you to meet up for your parents anniversary. A Disney trip is a perfect place for everyone.
Young and old.

The vacation home sounds like it was so nice. Private pool.

MeMom, you have such a following!

Van shopping was less than thrillng yesterday I'm sorry to say. I had an '07 grand caravan that I bought only last summer. We were able to get all the features we wanted and I LOVED it. For '08, they redesigned the body and changed some of the features and I just don't think it's as nice as what I had (and they got rid of my pretty blue color )

Unless someone finds another pretty '07 with low miles for us (but who would trade that in?), we will be getting a new '08. The deals are decent on them this time of year because the '09's are all on the lots and dealers are cutting prices on the '08's to get rid of them.

The Disney trip really was a dream come true. I was a special memory for everyone! Coming up you will see how that pool plays into our Disney plans...stay tuned

Well, it may be your adrenaline. When I was in my car accident my doc put me on Darvoset (I hallucinated there were butterflies attacking me!!! ) and I didnt sleep for a couple of days. After that I crashed pretty hard though. Just be careful mixing Vicodin and wine though! I was on Vicodin after my knee surgery. Great stuff!

I'm sure it was the adrenaline. When my hubby took me to the emergency room to get checked out, my blood pressure was sky high!

I was worried about mixing the vicodin with alcohol so I did skip the wine and eventually fell asleep.

Butterflies, funny! Were they less scary than other animals?

Everytime I have woken up the last 2 nights I start reliving the accident and crying because I am so sad that it happened but so happy nobody else was hurt. It's a bit on an emotional roller coaster. We were out of town van shopping yesterday and DH asked me to drive part of the way home, it was a little scary to get behind the wheel again.


Stay tuned...the start of day 2 will be coming up later today, our first Disney day

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Enjoying the TR. I am very interested in how the 6 bedroom house worked out for you along with traveling with large group.

Sorry about the accident. It sounds very scary.

 

[VandyFan10]

Friday morning van rolling is NOT a good sport to participate in!

I will agree with MeMom on this one

But I'm very glad you are ok and did have your seatbelt on they are definitely lifesavers for a reason!

There are a lot to keep track of!! I am so glad you have joined me, I LOVED your christmas pictures from last year and am hoping for a December trip next year

Thanks and meeee tooooo!! I would to go back next December!

I am disgusted at how few pictures I have of the house we stayed in. Here are a couple.
Hanging out at the pool:

It's because it's NOT disney!!!

I'm sure that was a WONDERFUL place for such a large party to stay at. I would give anything for my family to do a trip like that!!

Sorry about Patrick getting sick poor baby, sounds like he was ok after he got that out of the way

I haven't looked back at the front page but that little girl w/the HMS shirt is precious!! I know you have 2 boys so I know she's not yours

 

[punkin413]

I found this while going through old pictures and thought of you of course:

glad your first day was pretty uneventful except for a few minor issues. it's always nice to have an uneventful travel day! the house looks really nice.

 

[kschafer]

Enjoying the TR. I am very interested in how the 6 bedroom house worked out for you along with traveling with large group.

We loved the house. It was perhaps one of the best things we could do to ease the challenge of being with a large group. We could be together easily in the living areas or get away to our individual bedrooms. The adults could be in the kitchen/family room and talk while the kids were in the living room or one of the bedrooms and play together. The private pool and hot tub right outside the back door was awesome!

My family generally gets along well so being together was mostly fun. We had agreed ahead of time what days we would go to the parks as a group and what days we would take off. Everyone agreed that we would have a loose plan for the day but anyone was free to follow their own needs at the time. On the days off, families could decide for themselves what they wanted to do which sometimes meant a trip to a park, sometimes not. There was a little tension every now and then and that was another time we appreciated the space of the house. I can't imagine having enjoyed the vacation as much if we had stayed at a hotel.

I would to go back next December!

You would be totally cool to hang out with! Who knows, maybe we will get to have a Dismeet!

It's because it's NOT disney!!!

You are probably right about that!

I haven't looked back at the front page but that little girl w/the HMS shirt is precious!! I know you have 2 boys so I know she's not yours

That's my niece Caroline. She is such a doll! She cracks me up and has a lot of my middle child characteristics. Her parents should maybe be afraid!

glad your first day was pretty uneventful except for a few minor issues. it's always nice to have an uneventful travel day! the house looks really nice.

The house really was nice, you will probably love your condo in December even if it isn't Disney. Definately the way to go with a larger group in my opinion!

 

[kschafer]

June 10 – Our first Disney Day!!

The plan for today was to be at DHS for rope drop and head to Toy Story Mania first. Now, keep in mind, it had only opened the end of May so I had no idea what we were in for! We were walking through the turnstiles as the rope drop ceremony was taking place and I thought we were basically on track…

Oops, here comes our first character road block. My nieces and nephew scurried off to meet a couple of them.

Rewind to this past March…the band at the high school where I taught was taking a spring break trip to WDW so I sent money with one of my students and asked her to pick up a few things while there to give to my boys as a “we’re going to Disney” gift. So our first character encounter is when I discover the autograph books might have been a waste of money because my kids do NOT want to get in line.

A quick stop for a few photos…

You may be wondering - Where is everyone, isn’t this June, the busy season? We rounded the hat to find they all had the same plan we did – hit Toy Story first!! It was approximately 9:25 am and the standby line was already an hour! I was thinking: all that research and my well laid out plans were shot on step 1!!

We decided to get our first fastpasses and head toward the first Playhouse Disney show. I know lots of people without little kids skip this show. I would encourage you to take the time to watch it if you can. Even if you don’t have kids with you, I think watching other kids would be a lot of fun. You would get to see kids with faces like this (aww!)

It’s got Mickey and the gang…

Handy Manny and his tools…

Little Einsteins…

And Pooh and the gang…

It is full of fun complete with music and dancing…

falling leaves, steamers and BUBBLES…

We still had a little time before our fastpasses time so we checked out the Great Movie Ride. Those of you who have been there before know the queue can be deceptive, what looked like a short line became a long line as we entered the room full of people watching movie clips. After several loops through the same clips and whining kids who needed a snack (Aunt Katie’s backpack full of fruit snack and granola bars to the rescue!) we finally boarded…

I love this movie!

Can you believe our ride got hijacked by this gangster chick?

Luckily our driver Jose managed to take over once again (No WAY! Come on, you were thinking it too!) and we were off into another of my favorites...

Honestly, I thought this ride was cute but NOT worth the wait we endured. My (this will become a theme) not very brave kids, thought it was scary because it was dark. I would only go again if I had time to kill and there was a minimal wait. But I will confess my sappy self teared up at the end when they show all the movie clips.

It was finally our fastpass time so we headed off to TOY STORY MIDWAY MANIA!!! For those who haven’t been on this yet, it is AWESOME. I think all the generations thought this ride was a lot of fun. We grabbed more fastpasses on our way out.

My dad, me and Daniel and my SIL Amy going through the line...

My younger brother and nephew Andrew...

Joe's daughter Ellie...

My mom, Patrick, niece Margaret, Amy and nephew James

(Helpful hint, the blond kids are mine and my younger brothers, the dark haired kids are my older brothers)

It was starting to get hot and people were getting a bit tired so we decided to take a break and have some lunch so we headed over to Pizza Planet. I was really looking forward to going here because it sounded fun. I had heard pizza is not great at Disney but I thought this was OK (I personally like thin crust with lots of toppings and this was the opposite of that but still not bad in my opinion). I was SO hoping to find a claw machine with aliens like in the movie but was surprised to find the standard carnival games, no thanks.

We tried to go meet Woody and Buzz but the line was being closed down. (I am not having character luck! ) We then went to see the Muppets. This was very cute and a nice break from the heat. You can't get very good pics in here...

The next plans were for someone to go get fastpasses for Rock n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror, try to stay cool and catch the 3:00 parade.

Do we make it? You’ll have to wait and see!

 

[punkin413]

Honestly, I thought this ride was cute but NOT worth the wait we endured.

ray and i did this back on our first trip in may 2007 and we now call it the lame movie ride. we thought it was boring. and i think what really did us in is we forgot about the parade and when we came out of the ride, we had missed 90 percent of the parade, which we wanted to see. so that made it an even bigger waste. i know a lot of people love this ride - i'm just not one of them!

It was finally our fastpass time so we headed off to TOY STORY MIDWAY MANIA!!! For those who haven’t been on this yet, it is AWESOME.

glad you got to ride it during that busy time! my sister went in july and they never got to ride it. she's stubborn and won't listen to the advice of her older, wiser, DIS-informed big sister! such a great ride. i can't wait to do it again in december!

hope you guys make it to the block party bash!

 

[MeMom]

glad you got to ride it during that busy time! my sister went in july and they never got to ride it. she's stubborn and won't listen to the advice of her older, wiser, DIS-informed big sister!

I hope she has learned her lesson!

kschafer - How are you coming along? Still very, very sore, I'm sure.

Didn't you volunteer to be a chaperone (you guys go play your music and I'll wait for you inside the shops) for the school Disney trip?!?!?

 

[kschafer]

ray and i did this back on our first trip in may 2007 and we now call it the lame movie ride. we thought it was boring. and i think what really did us in is we forgot about the parade and when we came out of the ride, we had missed 90 percent of the parade, which we wanted to see. so that made it an even bigger waste. i know a lot of people love this ride - i'm just not one of them!!

I thought the sentiment was cute but there was little magic in those robots! It lacks something disney-like in my opinion

glad you got to ride it during that busy time! my sister went in july and they never got to ride it. she's stubborn and won't listen to the advice of her older, wiser, DIS-informed big sister! such a great ride. i can't wait to do it again in december!

hope you guys make it to the block party bash!

Some peope just don't get it! Leaves more fun for the rest of us I guess!

I hope she has learned her lesson!

kschafer - How are you coming along? Still very, very sore, I'm sure.

Didn't you volunteer to be a chaperone (you guys go play your music and I'll wait for you inside the shops) for the school Disney trip?!?!?

The bruises were probably the most sore yesterday, this morning they seem a little better, we'll see how the day goes.

Actually, I asked if they needed more chaperones and I was told they had to pay too. WHAT? Since I was planning my June trip, I wan't paying to take the teens on my week off!

 

[heaven2dc]

Just getting updated again on your report and am SO glad you were not hurt too bad in the accident (except for bruises and cuts and they can't be any fun either)!! How scary that must have been for you and am glad your kids weren't in the van What a great testimony to give about wearing your seatbelt.

I forgot to mention that I had also lived in Ames for a short period when I was little - hard to keep track of the towns since we moved about 6 times from the age of 4-9.

I can't wait to see TSM when my DS15 and I are there in December! I'm wondering if he will like the Great Movie Ride (I liked it when I saw it for the first time in January/February this year but parts were boring for me too).

What a great extended family you have - how lucky you are!