Not very good at this LOL

[flminivanmama]

I'm totally impressed with everyone's trip reports - mine will never measure up! just warning you all now also just so you know my "d" key only works if I really hit it hard... so if some words are missing a d you'll know why.

cast: me - 37 year old disney fanatic
dh - 38 year old disney fanatic

kids - 5, 5, and 4 - AKA "the boys". the four year old was celebrating his birthday that week

in laws - MIL & FIL. FIL is also celebrating his birthday this week

my parents also joined us for 2.5 days



Day 1. we live about 2 hours south so we got a fairly early start and got to the hotel at around 10 am and checked in. Surprisingly they gave us our room right then and we went to the room for a few minutes before heading over to spend the ay in EPCOT. the plan was to concentrate on future world this trip and then the world showcase next time. (we go at least 1x a year).

first off we got our FP for soarin LOL, rode on the land and then had lunch at the seasons food court there. I ha a roasted beet salad which was good but the beets were a little flavourless... when I roast my beets they always taste super sweet

then it was off to figment but we decided to skip HISTA. seen it too many times to see it one more time LOL

After that we went to the living seas - Turtle talk with crush was funny. My four year old was loud though so my dh took him out.

we also went to the pavillion at mission space (not the ride just the fun stuff - my kids LOVED the play area)

after that since the pavillion that body wars is in was closed (it's only open seasonally?) we went to innoventions. the boys made paper and played a bunch of games and stuff. this was fun for them.

At some point my dh had got fast passes for test track and took ds (5) on it while we went to get a snack.

also when it started to pour I realized I had not packed the raincoats. the boys had been playing with them earlier in the week and I threw them on the top of their closet. sigh.

We skipped energy an spaceship earth since we had BTDT so many times. we will do them again another trip

Rode on soarin which was amazing. the only complaint I have was the feet of the people in front of you - it's just distracting though, not something terrible. the other complaint was the transition (or lack thereof) between many of the scenes. but really this was a highlight for me.

then we were off to le cellier for dinner. food was lovely but the service was eh. my dh & I both work in the industry and we are pretty forgiving - he is the kitchen manager/ executive chef at a very busy resturant so we were surprised at some stuff and not too pleased. I'd probably try again though b/c it might have just been our server. plus the chocolate moose was a highlight of the trip for the kids.

We were tired and ecided not to stay for illuminations.

we got back to the hotel got the kids settled and dh and I went to the food court for a snack. we got a mug and dh asked if the old mug was good (this had been an ongoing dispute. I said no - I mean it's plainly written on the sie, dh said "what's the big deal?") The CM surprisngly said that the old mugs are fine.

had a snack and hit the hay.

I'll do day 2 in the same thread.

 

[flminivanmama]

so day 2 we were off to Sea World. I was pretty excited since I have never been there but right off the bat it was hot, I couldn't read the map, everything seemed far, and I had spent hours on the site reading menus so I could find what to eat for lunch (I have a lot of dietary restrictions LOL) and I forgot my list of places with salads at the hotel. I know "salad sounds simple" but the three places I went out of everyone's way to check in did not have so I skipped lunch that day. hot, hungry, and cranky. fun.

the boys however loved the shows we did go to so that's all that matters, right?

at around 3 I said "I had enough. let's go home and we can come back" so we left. we did not end up going back.

maybe another time when it is cooler.

we spent the rest of the day in the pool and ecided to eat dinner at the food court and go to the boardwalk for dessert. this was delightful.

we saw magic shows and two other acts plus we rented a three row surry - too fun. that sucker was HARD to rive though! OMG. and people on't move! oy. Everyuone got ice cream an I had coffee and then we headed back and went to sleep.

day 3 in the next post

 

[flminivanmama]

Day 3. lazy day

the boys were up and ready to go pretty early - chomping at the bit to get Mickey waffles in the food court

we swam a bit after breakfast and then decided to go to DTD. this was fun - the boys loved the lego store. we went to earl of sandwich for lunch but I waited b/c as soon as we left there I took my mother and MIL to tea at the GF

ahh this tea was lovely! I had the cheese plate and my companions both had the tea sandwiches. I took photos of the swan shaped pastried filled with tropical mouse but none of had those LOL

My mom and dad left after the tea b/c it looked like it was going to POUR. they had a 3 hour drive so they didn't want to get stuck.

we had dinner at the food court and then tried to go to the ft. wilderness campfire but we got rained out. we then drove on I Drive for a little while and decided to head back w/out doing anything b/c the boys fell asleep in the car. DH and I also went right to bed without taking avantage of the sitters LOL

 

[flminivanmama]

this day was perfect from beginning to end. I only wish we ha stayed for wishes - next time. we only had one meltdown (details to follow)

got up EARLY and went to the park and saw the train ride opening for the first time. that was truly magical.

we saw a TON of characters. I think they do that to make up for the crowds? (which were not horrible). this was the boys first time with the autograph books so it was thrilling!

Let's see if I can remember who all we saw - Perla, Dale, Chip (didn't get his signature), Pluto (him either), Stitch, Buzz, Alice, Tweeledee and tweedledum, white rabbit - that was first thing in the morning. they rode all the rides in tomorrowland and toontown they wanted to (just buzz, goofy, and the tea cups). We also saw push the talking garbage can. this was one of the funniest things the whole trip. he had everyone sing happy birthday to my ds. it was so funny.

we headed over to fantasyland and did as much as we could. we decided to skip Dumbo which my four year old keeps mentioning (yes a week and a half later and he's still bugged by it). we went to pinnocio haus for lunch which was expensive! Mybe we would have been better off at a sitdown do I could use my DDE?? who knows.

after that we went on HM an the riverboat. between those my dh got Splash Mt FPs.

then we watched the parade. this was truly truly an amazing parade. the man next to me said "oh they are the same every year" but this was just beautiful.

what did we do after that? oh yes, tiki room - one of my kids favorites! when we got out it was pouring but just as we got our (newly purchased) raincoats on it slowed own and we decide to go on alladin. no line at all b/c of the pouring rain. the boys loved it. I hoped it would make up for missing dumbo but no dice LOL

then we went on POTC - love this and so do the kids

after this it was basically time for dinner - I had ARs at tonys which was just as nice as I remembered, despite the universally bad reviews on here. I'm sorry more people don't like this. it really is pretty and light and nice. they ha a barbershop quartet sing happy birthday and they decorated our table...

after that dh took ds to ride splash mt. ds (4) cried and screamed the entire time that he was not on it too but I think he wouldn't have been able to handle it. I do not know what the right thing to do here would have been. my other ds would efinitely not go on an I felt quite torn. Next year I will try sending him I guess.

we went to the country bear jamboree after that to rest and then went and got good spots for the parade and then left before wishes.

next time we will do MK in 2 days so we can stay late one night to see wishes.

ETA all the other characters! Near POTC we saw Meeko, Capt Hook, Peter Pan, Rafiki, and Timon. We just stopped for Meeko - the other lines were too long. Outsie of Tonys we saw Pinnocio, Geppeto, Gideopn and Jiminy Cricket!!! we stopped for them OF COURSE!!

We also watche cinderellabration at the 6ish show and it was nice - i liked it, dh thought it was silly LOL

 

[Alicnwondrln]

your boys are so cute
nice job with your report
i REALLY liked that you put them all in the same thread
easy to read
thanks again

 

[flminivanmama]

we had a CB at 1900 park fare for 9:10 am - - wheew it was hard to get up for that. I also had to run to walgreens to burn my memory card to a disk b/c I had no more room for new photos LOL

next year I will NOT make breakfast that early - actually I think next year we'll do chef mickeys on the first night (& no park)

after breakfast we did pony rides at FW. I efinitely recommend this.

then we went back to the hotel for lunch at the food court and to be lazy and swim

that night dh and I ha a real live date. I wore a dress and everything. we went to Roys on Sand Lake (dh works for the same company) and the food was OUTSTANDING. I had about 3 different tuna dishes. mmm.

We were going to go out to PI but I suddenly was overcome with exhaustion and asked to go home

one of the boys had fallen asleep at about 5:30 when I was showering to go and so of course he was up when we got back. LOL

I watched LOST in bed and put my knees up so he couldn't see LOL (The beds in the POP are doubles so dh and I found it way better for each of us to sleep with a child)

 

[flminivanmama]

Day 6 we went to MGM. let's see if I can remember all we did -

first off we went to star tours. ds (5) had been so excited about this and then chickened out at the last minute. MIL took him off.

we had 11:30 ARs for HBD and went over there. we went b/c my dh loves their cobb salad. I had once had the most fabulous caprese salad there but they didn't have it. i would up sharing my dh's cobb - we had them bring the meat on the side so my dh could put it on his.

after that we di a bunch of things - oh first we met minnie

what did we do? ariel, playhouse disney, the walt disney movie (my ds 5 was staring at the screen so intently the whole time!) we also did muppets, the car show (they LOVED this), and catastrophe canyon. I wanted to see beauty and the beast but we missed it

we went to prime time for dinner which was SO GREAT AND FUN!

then we went to fantasmic. I might have the order wrong there LOL b/c this was not a dinner show. we must have done one of those shows after inner.

The boys have fantasia on tape and they call it "mickeys magic" an they loved all the references to it they saw in MGM - it's one of their favorites

I loved how during fantasmic when the snake appears and Micky is right there my ds turns to me and says "what's Mickey going to do?" all concerned

someone else said, and ITA, that the real magic of disney is watching our children see it all...

OK then we went back an I think dh and I went out for a snack

 

[flminivanmama]

Friday - what the heck did we do friday??

no really I can't remember.

oh yes - we went to the food court for breakfast, I am truly over the food court now. all I can eat are eggs (limited diet) an if I don't see another scrambled egg for a while that will be fine.

We went in the pool then and FIL went in with his cell phone! so we had to go to find a verizon store - while we were out we found someplace that looked good for lunch (Camilles?) and I had a nice salad and tuna wrap

what di we do when we got back? I guess we went back in the pool? LOL

oh my In laws napped and the kids played in the room. then we had dinner (again at the food court - ugh) and went to ft. wilderness for the campfire. fun

then DH and I went to PI We went to the comedy club and adventurers club and walked around. we got back around 1 am

 

[flminivanmama]

saturday we checked out an rove to Kennedy Space Center. this was very expensive and my kids were too young. does anyone want me to go into detail on KSC? just LMK.

Oh at breakfast a family sitting behind us (at the food court at POP) told me I was too loud. what a lovely ending for the week. I was too upset to say anything but I was really mad. if you want quiet the PC is NOT the hotel for your family. please. we had been there for 7 days, we were tired and the place is loud. sheesh.

okay I wanted to post some pictures

DS(5) watching a horse get new shoes at ft. wilderness

DS(4) riding Gus

Minnie!

the pool

a towel animal every day mousekeeping did cute things - mostly re-arranging the boys stuffed animals and other toys...

"Look Shamu! I have your lunchbox!"

big whale!

The infamous chocolate "moose" at Canada

a waterfall at Canada

DS(4) in a play area at mission space (no we did not go on the ride!)

DS(4) waiting for a show at KSC

at EPCOT

near the 70s building LOL

My mother, mother in law, and I went out to tea at the Grand Floridian

Perla

Buzz Lightyear!

Zurg!

Push - told DS(4) not to suck his fingers b/c he needed them to pick his nose, asked for a hug, had everyone around sing happy birthay, etc. SO FUNNY!

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Gepetto and Jiminy Cricket!

by the staue of roy and minnie, waiting for the spectromagic parade

mmm

 

[flminivanmama]

thank you Kelly

 

[choru]

Day 1
Great report, Andrea!
Fun to read and lots of info!. Thank u so much for posting.
I will order the chocolate moose on our next trip.

 

[choru]

DAY 2
NO Lunch!
I would be VERY cranky. lol

I like Sea World, but DH dont want to go on the next trip...

 

[choru]

Day 3
lazy days is what vacations are all about.

Day 4
glad to hear that the crowds are no so bad

despite the universally bad reviews on here

I have PS for Tony´s for september. I hope you are right

 

[choru]

Day 5

I think next year we'll do chef mickeys on the first night (& no park)

Great idea! We did last trip and was wonderful

Day 6

the real magic of disney is watching our children see it all

(I can waaaaaaaaaait!!)

Day 7 and pictures
You have a lovely "troope"!
Thanks for sharing you memories!

 

[Cinerama]

Great report, looks like you all had a great time. The boys are so cute!

 

[flminivanmama]

thank you all for the nice comments!!!

 

[meeko_33785]

Just read your trip reports and you did a wonderful job. Thank you for sharing your report and photos with us.

 

[kathymc]

thanks for sharing
- your boys are adorable!

 

[flminivanmama]

thank you!!

 

[agnes!]

I loved your series of trip reports. Sounds like your family had a great time! (It was also nice to hear about an extended family spending time together without ending up at each others' throats...)

agnes!
PS - I can't believe that the mother of such wonderful-looking children would
*ever* be accused of being loud. (I'm *sure* that this other family is practically perfect themselves, eh? And I was just wondering, as I type this...did the whole family jump down your throat or just the witch/mother ?)