Our 2nd Trip to Disney! Did it Measure Up? (w/pics) **THE END**

[jordanyosh]

Great start to your trip.

Gameboys I'm a little nervous that I'll forget something as well. However, once I'm on the plane there's no turning back.

 

[winkers]

I would have gone back after the gameboys too!

I totally understand the disapointment when your kids don't show the kind of excitement you expect! I just tell mine now when I'm expecting alot of excitement and they obliege me!

 

[carissanboys]

Great start to your trip.

Gameboys I'm a little nervous that I'll forget something as well. However, once I'm on the plane there's no turning back.

After we got the Gameboys, I said I wasn't turning around for anything else!

I would have gone back after the gameboys too!

I totally understand the disapointment when your kids don't show the kind of excitement you expect! I just tell mine now when I'm expecting alot of excitement and they obliege me!

LOL If I hadn't been in a hurry to get on the road, I might have done a "retake"

 

[pamouselover]

OMG...................NO WAY!!!!!!!!!! JOSIE THE CAT did need a shot.
I am so sorry about that. I was the one who thought she was a dog!
Slim pickins is right for the radio. I heard Journey more on our ride to Fla. then I did back in the ealry 80's.
Can not wait for more. We still have not book our cruise.
I have family members staying with us now, on a Temporary bases.
Lord help me!

 

[dddisrunner]

Great start! Too funny about the boys not reacting the way you hoped. Isn't that always the way Scary about the gameboys! We cannot drive 10 feet without them A must have for every long trip! Looking forward to more!

 

[carissanboys]

OMG...................NO WAY!!!!!!!!!! JOSIE THE CAT did need a shot.
I am so sorry about that. I was the one who thought she was a dog!
Slim pickins is right for the radio. I heard Journey more on our ride to Fla. then I did back in the ealry 80's.
Can not wait for more. We still have not book our cruise.
I have family members staying with us now, on a Temporary bases.
Lord help me!

Yes, there is some Journey to come

I hear ya about the family members in residence. Understood

Great start! Too funny about the boys not reacting the way you hoped. Isn't that always the way Scary about the gameboys! We cannot drive 10 feet without them A must have for every long trip! Looking forward to more!

I love anything that keeps my children quiet, happy and engaged for a short time

 

[Blueyed Girl]

Yay!!! A great start to your TR! Loved the video. Sorry the boys reaction wasn't what you expected. I get disappointed when DS does that to me too.

Oh my gosh, I probably would have turned around for the gameboy's too. My mom and dad NEVER would have turned around.

.........A TORNADO???

 

[DisDancerina]

Great Start! Your DS was picking his nose in the video, he's like "So wha??" LOL.

 

[carissanboys]

Yay!!! A great start to your TR! Loved the video. Sorry the boys reaction wasn't what you expected. I get disappointed when DS does that to me too.

Oh my gosh, I probably would have turned around for the gameboy's too. My mom and dad NEVER would have turned around.

.........A TORNADO???

Yeah, I'm sure my parents wouldn't have either. Remember my saying that my dad wouldn't stop for me to pee?!

Great Start! Your DS was picking his nose in the video, he's like "So wha??" LOL.

LOL Yes, I noticed that. Thankfully it was a little pick

 

[ehstrojette]

ok the tornado story has me on the edge of my seat.. subbing

 

[carissanboys]

After a decent night's sleep (albeit one that left me with a crick in my neck, on top of the usual neck pain I have every morning) we awoke around 6:50 a.m. Chuck and I took quick showers and got the boys dressed and then headed downstairs for the FREE breakfast

I was a bit disappointed with the breakfast as the only hot items they had were sausage patties and over hard eggs. I like to eat protein for breakfast to help hold me over so I grabbed some sausage and eggs, while the boys had cold cereal and muffins. It wasn't a great breakfast, but it did the trick.

We were on the road once again at 8 a.m. Not bad for not setting an alarm. I just didn't feel a need to rush since we couldn't check into our hotel until 3 p.m. I didn't want to head to the parks before checking in so my plan was to take our time getting to Orlando.

As we gassed up the van, this is what it was like outside:

On our last trip to Disney we'd had rain on arrival day. No biggie. The drive to Florida was pretty uneventful. I worked on some homework that was due Sunday night. The boys played their GB's and watched movies. No fighting, no bickering, and not even very many "Are we there yet?"s

We stopped for a pee break at one point and realized that we kept stopping at the same exact rest areas that we'd stopped at last time

Remember the whole radio station issue? Well, outside of Jacksonville I found a GREAT station! It's 102.9 and they played some of my favorites. First up was Journey (one of my all time favorite bands), followed by Foreigner's "I've Been Waiting for a Girl Like You", and then the Police. You can't get much better than that!

We stopped for lunch at an Applebee's (per Connor's request). We chatted with our waitress a bit about Disney. She was very excited for us. Here's a couple of pictures from our lunch:

Chuck was making a funny face. His lip isn't usually that big

Thankfully this time around we had no traffic issues. Once we hit I4 I rolled the windows down and checked the temperature (our van has a temp. mode). It was 74!! I can't even tell you how happy I felt driving along with the warm air and the sun beating down on me. Seriously. There's something about sunshine at this time of year that causes the endorphins to run through my veins.

We easily found our way to the Hampton Inn on International Drive. We had never been in that area before so it was neat to see. It was 2:30, but they let us check in a bit early. Our room was HUGE!! I was really impressed with it. Here are some pictures:

After quickly getting settled into our room and taking off our jackets, we headed to MK. I was afraid that it would be quite crowded there since it was a Saturday of a holiday weekend. But, we had no major plans except eating at Cosmic Ray's and watching Wishes.

Important Info

*gas before leaving Santee - $48

* lunch at Applebee's - $44

* 102.9 is a great radio station outside of Jacksonville, Florida

* 6 1/2 hour total time from Santee, SC to Orlando (including stops)​

Up Next...Day 2 - Part 2

 

[carissanboys]

ok the tornado story has me on the edge of my seat.. subbing

I had to break Day 2 up into 2 parts, but the tornado part is currently being written (make that 3 parts )

And

 

[carissanboys]

We decided to take the ferry over to the MK. We did that on our first visit last time and I think it just makes it extra special to see the castle on your way over

After paying for the week's stroller rental, and receiving Mickey stickers from a CM, we decided to check out Pirates and see how long the wait was. On the way, we saw Aladdin's Magic Carpets and the boys decided they wanted to ride. They had opted out last time so I was all for doing something new! The wait was about 15 minutes or so. Not bad. Here's the boys waiting in line:

The park was pretty crowded by the way. But, not horrible. I think it's all in your attitude anyway. We went in knowing it would be busy and setting our expectations low. This was just an extra park day and we were there mainly to soak in the atmosphere.

The boys enjoyed Aladdin, although it was extremely short. We then headed to Pirates, but the wait was too long for us. We decided to get FP's for the Jungle Cruise and then go eat. On the way to Cosmic Ray's, WE had a slight accident.

Well, make that Connor had a slight accident. See, Connor was pee potty trained for 4 months. He had NO accidents. He stayed dry all night. Then, once we saw the specialist for his other problems, all of a sudden he stopped going on the potty. Now he tends to hold his pee for as long as he can and go all at once in his pull up. This causes leakage. Are you starting to get the picture yet?

We're standing across from Casey's, you know where the fence is and lots of birds hang out right by Main St? We think Connor is getting ready to poop when I notice liquid dripping on the ground Silly us had forgotten to bring a change of pants with us (we wouldn't forget again for the entire trip). I sent Chuck down Main St. searching for a pair of pants to purchase while the boys and I watched the birds. I did take some pictures!

So, Chuck returns pantless. He says he couldn't find any that would fit Connor. I took his word for it. We headed towards the rest rooms (the ones by the Plaza) and I brought Connor in to see what I could do. I changed his pull up and decided he could live with his slightly damp pants. He didn't complain (and he's a big complainer about being wet or messy so I figured it couldn't be too bad) so we headed to Cosmic Ray's.

(that's me who is very excited that I finally get to use my Mickey system!!)

This is one of those times that I forgot to take pictures. I had the half chicken with mashed potatoes, Chuck had the chicken sandwich, and the boys had the nuggets. I got the food while Chuck found a place to sit. They ended up with a good view of Ray. It took me a while to get back to them though as the condiments area was crazy. I finally gave up on trying to get ketchup (they were running low).

I thought the atmosphere at Cosmic Ray's was neat, although a bit loud and crazy for my taste. The chicken I ate was ok, not nearly as good as Tusker House. The potatoes were LOUSY. They totally tasted like instant, but they had potato skins in them I guess everyone else thought their food was ok.

After finishing up dinner, we headed out to use our FP for the Jungle Cruise. However, it was starting to rain.

And thunder.

And lightning

Up Next...Day 2 - Part 3 (we finally get to the tornado part)

 

[carissanboys]

Chuck wasn't too keen on staying in the park, but I told him everyone says showers in Florida don't last long. I just wanted to do the Jungle Cruise and then we'd head out. We'd already decided over dinner that we weren't going to stay for Wishes since the boys were really tired. See how flexible I am?

As we were walking towards Adventureland, I overheard a CM say that there was a tornado watch The CM he was speaking to asked if it was for this area and the guy said he wasn't sure as he hadn't heard the whole report. This freaked me a out a little bit, but I figured it was fine. Tornadoes never go through Disney World!

Just as we were getting ready to cross the bridge, the rain began to come down much heavier. I quickly did a turn around and decided we better head out. Many other people had the same idea.

Getting on the monorail was easy. When we arrived at the TTC it really began to come down. We made a run for the covered area where you wait for the Trams. There were quite a few people waiting there already. As we're waiting the wind really picked up. I mean REALLY. It began to look very eery out. The covering really didn't do much for us since the wind was blowing the rain right onto us.

I'll admit it. I began to freak. I tried not to let it show since Sully tends to get nervous about tornadoes and storms (you can bet I didn't repeat what the CM said to him). At one point Sully said, "I think it's the end of the world!" So, what did I do? I mean, how do you react when your child says that and you're freaking out inside too? (I don't think I would have been as scared if I hadn't overheard the CM mention the tornado.) I broke into song, that's what I did! I told Sully there was a song that had the lyrics, "It's the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine." I'm not sure the people around us were too amused though.

It seemed to take forever to get a tram. They were coming pretty regularly, but the line was long (did I mention the line was long?). Finally, our turn came and we were rescued!

The driver told people to not bother trying to find a dry spot on the tram because once we took off it would get worse

We were one of the last stops. Shortly before getting to our area a woman asked if she could get back on. It appeared they'd forgotten where they'd parked and they'd been walking and searching for a while and were soaked. Her husband was still out there somewhere looking. At one point I turned around and saw that she had a young baby in her arms and a toddler sitting next to her I felt so bad for this woman. I must say she was in better spirits than I would have been! I probably would have been bawling. I offered her a raincoat for the baby or little girl, but she declined. The driver told her she should get off at the next stop and try to find her husband and a security person because he really couldn't help her. Then the woman behind me offered her an umbrella. Everyone was like, "Wow! That's so nice of you!" I was like, Hey! I offered her a raincoat!

Anyway, I wonder if they ever found their car...

We had no problems finding our van as we always made a point of looking at the section we were in and the row and saying it out loud many times to make it stick in our memory. Sometimes I'd try and come up with something to help me remember. Such as the time we were in row 43 and I said, "Oh. That's Chuck's age backwards." To which Chuck replied, "That'll be YOUR age too soon." Nope. I'm in Disney and I'm 33 and there's no need to go down that road.

The drive back to the hotel on International Drive was not fun. I4 was congested (and we really didn't know our way around enough to find an alternative...I didn't trust the GPS). Too many lights, too many cars, too much of everything. There's no way I could handle a week of that kind of drive after the parks each day. I began to have second thoughts about our choice to stay off property.

Connor fell asleep on the drive back and stayed asleep even as I undressed him and put him to bed. Sully was on the sleeper sofa,

Chuck and Owen shared a bed,

and Connor and I shared one.

Around 11 p.m. I was woken up by Connor kicking me. He seemed to think that he had to sleep horizontally. No matter how many times I turned him back to the right position, he'd immediately squirm his way back to horizontal. And proceeded to kick me in the head and side. I finally gave up and went to sleep with Sully.

By the way, a few days later I was in line somewhere (waiting to go into the Animal Kingdom I think) and a woman heard us talking about that storm. She said it was so funny (not funny haha, funny odd) because they were watching the news and this storm was only isolated around Disney World. It wasn't happening anywhere else. Odd.

Important Info

* Hampton Inn - $110

* Cosmic Ray's - $30

Food -

Atmosphere -

Overall -

* Be sure to pack an extra pair of pants for accident prone children.​

Up Next...Missing Disney

 

[irene_dsc]

Eeks on the tornado! At least you were already thinking of heading out, anyhow!

(And, am I really the 1st to comment on all 3??? wow!)

 

[dismagiclover]

We got caught in the rain as well. We were sitting out waiting for Spectro (which never happened) with our ponchos, but when the monsoon came in we got soaked even with the ponchos. You're right about everyone leaving the park. We stayed and walked on to quite a few rides. Wishes happened, but it was in the rain. Your trip only goes up from here, I hope

 

[carissanboys]

Eeks on the tornado! At least you were already thinking of heading out, anyhow!

(And, am I really the 1st to comment on all 3??? wow!)

I'm glad it happened on a day when we really didn't have any special plans and it wasn't a big deal to leave.

We got caught in the rain as well. We were sitting out waiting for Spectro (which never happened) with our ponchos, but when the monsoon came in we got soaked even with the ponchos. You're right about everyone leaving the park. We stayed and walked on to quite a few rides. Wishes happened, but it was in the rain. Your trip only goes up from here, I hope

We were wondering if Spectro was going to happen since everyone was lined up for it as we were heading out. We didn't have our rain ponchos with us, just windbreakers. The thunder and lightning made me nervous though.

 

[carissanboys]

I know you all will understand how I'm feeling at the moment. I'm sad. I'm missing Disney World. I want to go back. Now.

But, I said this would be our last trip for a while so that we could pay off our credit card debt. Why did I say that?!

The whole time we were there I kept saying things like, "Next time we come back I want to stay here." Or, "On our next visit I'd really like to do that." Chuck would look at me funny and say, "Well, next time is a long way off."



I think I could handle it if I had an upcoming trip to look forward to. Even if it wasn't for two years, at least I'd have something to plan!

The problem is that because Chuck is military, we're due to PCS (that's move to you non-military folk) next June. I have no idea where we'll be in two years so it would be kind of difficult to plan a trip at this point. We could be living overseas. Maybe in Japan, if we're lucky (and as Liz pointed out, there's always Disney Tokyo!).

On this trip my dad said something about going back next year and I told him (rather relunctantly) that we wouldn't be going back next year. He said he bet I'd be calling him in two weeks with plans for a trip in 2009.

How I wish it were true

Up Next...And It Begins

 

[dismagiclover]

I understand. We too probably won't go back for a while (maybe holidays2010). We can't all be as lucky as Liz. Dr. Suess said, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." I try to keep that in mind when I'm feeling blue. Hopefully writing your report will cheer you up. Keep at it!

 

[winkers]

I had a good chuckle over you singing "it's the end of the world as we know it"! I'm sure you did get alot of interesting looks!