1: ARRIVAL AND MK DAY
Our day started out at 3:15am, yes you read correctly, 3:15am! UGH!!!! The alarm went off and I felt like I just fell asleep a minute ago! There is a commercial on TV about going to Disney World where the sister asks the brother on the night before they leave for their trip, Are you asleep? And he replies, Im too excited to sleep!! in this crazy voice. My husband and I spent most of Monday night saying that as we were getting all the last minute stuff done. I think we got to bed around 10ish and of course he fell asleep in one minute and I was still up at 11:30. Awake
..Awake
..not sure when I finally fell off to sleep, but I do know that 3:15am came way too soon! The limo to the airport was coming at 4:15am and we had to shower and make sure all the little stuff was ready when the limo came.
The limo was on time and by the time we loaded all of our luggage, carry ons, diaper bag, stroller, and secured the car seat, got our son up and in the car, and dragged our daughter out of her crib, changed her and put her in the car seat, it was after 4:30am.
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But, we were still doing ok on time, our flight wasnt leaving until 6:30am. My son was so excited because it was a stretch SUV, and had lots of cool things to look at!
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We arrived at the airport quickly because no one in their right mind is out at that time of the night. We used curbside check in because we had too much stuff. We learned a valuable lesson in that you are allowed 2 pieces of luggage per person and that luggage can not weigh more than 50pounds per bag. We took one large suitcase and filled it and one med suitcase and one small suitcase for all 4 of us. We should have taken at least 2 suitcases per adult and maybe one each for the kids, leaving room in each case for purchases. You had to know that the large suitcase was overweight. So here it is 5am on Tuesday morning at Ohare airport, about 29F, and we are unpacking the large case and moving stuff around to decrease it by 5 pounds. We were successful at least on the way To Orlando, not so much on the way home.
After checking in our luggage and rearranging their contents, we make our way to security. Here we are, a mom, dad, little boy and a one yr old, stroller, diaper bag, camera bag, and laptop bag and of course the laptop. Oh and of course, a full size car seat for my daughter who wont sit still any way else. We all take off our shoes, my son and I were smart and wore our
crocs, daughter was still in her footy jammies, and my husband insisted on wearing his gym shoes and socks instead of easy to remove sandals. Plus he had on a belt, many keys in his pocket, and had to remove his laptop from the case. He is so easily flustered and this time was no exception. He had to also put the full size car seat and stroller thru the x-ray so I could be on the other end to catch it all and put it all back together. Plus hold the baby and answer the 1,234,457 questions my son had about everything under the sun. Of course the machine beeped when my husband went thru it. He did not originally take out his keys, belt, etc
and it made it all beep. (duh!) Anyway, that sent him on a mumbling tirade about the current administration and how we wouldnt have to have all this security if it wasnt for them
..blah blah blah blah. The last thing I like to discuss at ANY time is politics, especially at 5:15am on my way to Disney, aka: The Happiest Place on Earth. My only response to him was that I believe we had airport security before 9-11. I then took the children and walked away so he could continue his mumbling rant while he put his belt back on, put all his keys (non of which he needed at WDW LOL!) back in his pockets and put on his shoes and tied them.
By now, everyone was hungry and knowing that airlines no longer serve food on the planes we decided to go to McDs and get some breakfast before the flight. So off to McDs and then on to the gate.
I had a surprise for my husband in that I had checked us in online and had upgraded us to the business section of the plane for more leg room. My husband is over 62 and is always cramped on a plane. He was very happy again when heard of his surprise! Thank goodness I had saved that info til the last minute. Because we had a baby, car seat, stroller etc
I asked if we could board early and at least install the car seat ahead of time so we would not hold up the rest of the plane when we got on, seeing that we were in row 1 and 2 of the plane. Of course the answer was NO.
No preboarding for small children anymore, only if you are in first class. (Which this plane did not even have 1st class as it was Ted not United). So instead of being considerate to my fellow passengers, like I wanted to be, we blocked the aisle while we installed the car seat and got both kids settled. I drove MYSELF crazy, Im sure the rest of the plane loved us!!!
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We finally took off on time and both my son and daughter fell asleep for exactly 30 mins. They were up since 4am and by now they should be so tired that they pass out, right? No such luck, I get 30 mins of twilight sleep and am just about to crash hard when I hear my daughter awake and fussing. Well so much for a little power nap. We finally arrive in Orlando and of course I cant get the car seat unbuckled from the airline seat. They had to call maintenance to come and undo it. This made us the Last people off the plane. Oh well, were on vacation and headed to the Happiest Place on Earth. So off to collect our luggage, this by this time was waiting for us in the unclaimed luggage area, due to our needing maintenance to remove the car seat. Thankfully our pre-arranged Limo driver was there and waiting for us with a cart and he led us outside to the limo pick-up area. Immediately all the stress of the trip there went away when we felt the warm air saw the blue skies and the palm trees. Something about palm trees always makes me relaxed. We had left 29F and gloomy so the warm air was such a nice change! He brought the car around for us and thankfully it was a full size suburban. We loaded all of our stuff in and off we went. We always use the same car service so we know they are dependable. At this point we usually go on a 30min grocery stop, but after reading many posts we decided to try ordering groceries to the room to save time. This turned out to be a great idea and I will do it again! More on that later.
We arrived at All Stars Music about 30 mins later, and were greeted by luggage services that helped us unload, (again), all of our stuff onto a cart.
As an aside, we usually stay at Wilderness Lodge, so we were a little leery about staying at one of the value resorts from all that we have read. The WL is so majestic and the lobby so cool and well themed, you immediately feel like you are someplace special. As I said earlier, we picked ASMu because it was a last minute trip and we did not budget for WL.
So when we arrived at the Lobby of the ASMu, it was a little disappointing but OK. I had seen pics of it online so I wasnt shocked, just not as blown away as with the WL. I do have to say though in defense of the ASMu, for the value of it all it was fine. We really have no big complaints. Basically you get what you pay for. Our room happened to be the farthest from the bus stop in the Country Faire building, although that made it very quiet back there. It was also the farthest from the food court so we did not take advantage of the refillable mugs as we also had the dining plan and that included a drink with all your meals anyway. When we checked in, the manager was in the lobby handing out balloon animals and helium balloons and stickers to all the kids.
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He was very welcoming and upbeat. The counter staff was very accommodating and nice. They had assigned us a room that was not ready and offered to look for another room that was ready so we could go directly to our room and unpack. We also needed a connecting room for my cousins for one night and they were able to accommodate that as well. Customer service I would have to say at that resort is A+.
We checked with luggage services and gave them our room number and they said they were going to bring our luggage right away. We also had groceries waiting for us from gardengrocer.com and a refrigerator we had reserved from all stars frig swap.
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Otherwise you would have to rent one for $10 a night, and this was free! (Great idea in my opinion) All was present and accounted for and ready to go. WOW! Was all I could think. This is really going well. Usually our trips dont have so much ease and convenience. We make our way across the resort to the room following a map, and the luggage guys beat us there! We let them in and they help us with the luggage and the frig and helped us take it out of the box and set it up. Again, great service! When we arrive, we also find a Mickey towel welcome on our bed! Nice!
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We have read complaints about the ASMu resort but we did not find anything wrong with the resort or the room. It was a little small, but "cozy" and was fine.
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My cousins had not yet arrived from Clearwater, so we decided to unpack a little and get ready to go to the MK when they arrived. We unpacked the groceries, filled the frig, and got organized and were all ready to go when my cousins arrived. They were very excited to see us and quick threw their suitcases on the bed and off we went to the food court for a quick lunch and then on to MK!
Our lunch in the intermission food court was good. We hadnt eaten since the McDs at 5am so we were starving and willing to eat dirt at this point. This was our first try at the dining plan and getting used to the guidelines again. It was certainly enough to eat for a counter service, and everyone seemed to go away satisfied. I had the chicken Alfredo and breadstick, with a drink and a desert. My husband had an Italian sandwich with a pasta salad, desert and drink. My son had spaghetti and meatballs, Jell-O and a choc chip cookie and drink. My daughter ate off all of our plates LOL! She was the best fed of the whole trip. It is nice that there was no charge for her, and most of the places we ate, asked if they could bring her something. All of the places brought her a beverage of our choosing. Mostly we chose milk for her as we brought a lot of small juices with us. We also ordered milk from the grocery delivery and next time, I probably wont order it knowing that we can get it at any of the eating places. She also started liking to drink out of water bottles. Gerber has these caps you can put on a reg bottle of water and it makes it spill proof! Very cool, in fact I put it on my water bottle too, because I am just as big as a mess maker as my daughter! LOL!
I usually put Propel packets in the water and she seems to like it.
So with lunch done and everyones tummy happy we head off to our first bus ride to the MK. We have never traveled to WDW with a baby, stroller, and all the paraphernalia you need when you have a baby. It was an enlightening experience to say the least. Enjoyable but a lot of work! Especially for a stay at home mom whose daughter is very attached to her. I came home with muscles in my arms that were not there when we left.
Part two coming: Magic Kingdom, and the commando riding experiences!
10th trip to Disney 
41 5th trip to Disney
3rd trip to Disney
1st Trip to Disney
Of course me being a disney freak, wanted to say yes right away! I did have to check with my husband and it took him all of 2 seconds to say of course, we all could use a vacation! Let’s go. Hurray!! We were on our way to Disney!!!
questions asked, 
information updated, planners ordered, supplies gathered, you all know the drill !!! Fun! Fun! Fun!!!
Hi ya!
. Our children really are a blessing. Glad to hear you were happy with ASMU. We are a deluxe family (Poly & WL) and will be staying at POP or ASMu in March for a long weekend for DD'S Bday. I'm a bit worried having never stayed in a value resort. Would you stay there again? Thank and waiting to read the rest 
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