Our last trip as a family of 4 but wait new friends too?Updated 8/16 Day 3

[adisneymama]

Well we are back from our trip to the world over July 4th! We had a great time and are still exhausted!

Anyway here is the cast again:
Me the trip planner of course
DH our chauffeur LOL
DD age 8
DS age 3

Our trip was booked for 7/2-7/10. DH was able to leave work early on 7/1 and we were on the road around 12:45. We drove to Mobile, AL and spent the night with friends.

Thanks to Alex making landfall south of the Houston area...this is what we encountered until we entered into Louisiana....

It was not fun! Houston traffic is bad enough, but add in that kind of weather and bad isn't the word for it.
The kids were handling it well though!

We finally made it into LA!

At some point in time Heather (martinolichfamily) and I began emailing one another. We realized while reading pre-trip reports that we are neighbors! So we had a mini dis meet before we ever left for Disney. It just so happened that they would be going the same exact time as us! We had planned on meeting up our first day there as it was our only day in the same park together...did that happen?
Aside from that the ride was pretty much uneventful. We stopped for dinner and changed the kids into PJ's for the remainder of the trip. I think we pulled into Mobile around 9 PM. The kids were wound up for sure! Our friends daughter was playing with them and with the adults all gabbing next thing we knew it was after 11 PM! And the kids were still up!

Day 2 of the drive consisted of our getting up around 7 AM taking quick showers and heading out to meet the inlaws and my mother for breakfast. Thankfully we weren't there long and we were back on our way after making a quick pit stop for gas.
Getting closer!

See

We were cruising right along when all of a sudden traffic was deadlocked. We counted 8 wrecks in about a 10 mile stretch! Thankfully KYcruisecrazy was able to give us an alternative route and we were finally on our way again! We pulled into ASMO around 8:30 ish Eastern time. Check in was a breeze and we walked over to the food court for dinner. After dinner we headed up to our room and unloaded the van. Before long we were all settled into bed and sleeping well.
The kids playing in the room while DH and I unpack..

Towel art that greeted us.

Up next: Day 1 Breakfast at Chef Mickey's for my birthday and then onto Magic Kingdom. Would we be able to meet up with martinolichfamily? Could she and I actually hear each other on the phone....????

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Tell me more more more!!

 

[martinolichfamily]

I am here!!! Glad you started!
Whew....I am so glad we decided to leave that morning cause the sky didnt look that bad at 8am!!

Love the colors in ya'lls room!! Nice towel 'animal'....we never got one!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Oh boy! Another trip report is starting!

 

[adisneymama]

I hope to get the next installment out today. Now if only the kiddos would cooperate with that, life would be good!

 

[Goofy442]

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[adisneymama]

We were "up and at em" pretty early. We had ressies at Chef Mickey's for my birthday. Once everyone was showered and ready to go, we headed out to the van and were on our way. The kids were ecstatic when they saw this...

We made our way to the parking lot and then hopped a tram to the TTC. I rode the trams all but 1 day we were in the parks. I wanted to save my feet and the swelling for later in the day. I figured at 7 mos pregnant I had the right! Next up was the resort monorail over to the Contemporary. First stop was the gift shop so that I could buy autograph books for the kids. We checked in and then was given our pager. We decided to skip the picture taking and had no more sat down when the pager went off. I managed to get everyone a plate before the characters made their way over to us. Here are a few pics..

The kids had a blast twirling their napkins etc and thought that my birthday cupcake was theirs! I did share it don't worry. Things were going smoothly except we had not seen Goofy. Meal was done and paid for and still no Goofy. Finally a handler came around. I don't know what the problem had been but we finally saw Goofy and we were on our way. Of course I had to make one of my million potty stops of the trip on the way out. I swear if I wasn't pregnant I think dh would have wanted to leave me there.

Finally we made it back onto the monorail. I called Heather to see if they still wanted to meet up. We set a meeting place or so I thought. What I didn't know is that Heather couldn't hear me and had sent an email asking me where I said. Except I didn't read my email! So I head my gang over to Splash Mountain. This was the one ride that Aubrey and Hunter had specifically said they wanted to ride together at our mini dis meet. We get there and no Heather! So we wait for a few minutes and I get my phone out to call her. Only I realize that now she has called me! So I call her back and tell her where we are and she comes right over. Ashton and I had to sit this one out, so we sent the rest of the gang on their way and he and I shopped (ok so we bought one set of kids cups! LOL) and hung out in the rocking chair. After a while he was having nothing to do with sitting around so I took him out to see if the gang was done and about the time I discovered the playground underneath the railroad area (why did I not know that was there?) here comes everybody. Aubrey and Hunter rode in the front and were soaked! They were laughing hysterically. After yet another quick bathroom run we headed over to BTMRR. This time Heather took Aubrey and Hunter while the rest of the gang sat it out. If I remember correctly, Ashlynn was tall enough but didn't want to ride so James stayed with her. Ashton was not tall enough and I couldn't ride and dh doesn't do well on rollercoasters. So Heather had it all to herself. We waited on the platform so we could watch them and Ashton and Ashlynn were playing together some while we waited.

When they came off BTMRR we decided it was time to do some rides that the little kids could do (ok and myself I hadn't been on a single ride since entering the park!) Ashlynn was not liking the dark rides so I remember we were walking toward FantasyLand and asking Heather which rides Ashlynn would like. I am pretty sure we skipped HM and made our way over to It's A Small World. After getting that song stuck in our heads we meandered over to Peter Pan. Heather thought Ashlynn would ride it, she had before. But would she? Would our group stick together or go separate ways? Stay tuned!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

So was this day July 2nd? We arrived on the 3rd....
Will be fun to look at your pictures to see if we happen to be in the background of any of them.

There is no feeling better than diving under that Magic Kingdom sign!

 

[adisneymama]

This was the 3rd. We left Houston on the 1st but split the drive into 2 days. We checked in the evening of the 2nd at AsMO.

Welcome Goofy442!

 

[martinolichfamily]

Yay!! MK day!! It was so much fun!
My poor little Ashlynn....not many rides for her....I think we messed up by taking her on Dinosaur!

 

[adisneymama]

Yay!! MK day!! It was so much fun!
My poor little Ashlynn....not many rides for her....I think we messed up by taking her on Dinosaur!

LOL poor kiddo!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

You didn't scare your kid on the Dinosaur ride did ya? Was she scared like the one in this photo?

The scared kid was 8 and the 2 little ones were 4 and 5. I love this photo
This is also the same trip when we met the bag lady of St Thomas

 

[lace7725]

Hello .... love reading your trip report! We will be leaving July 30th for our road trip from Houston (inside the loop) to Disney! My DH, 2 1/2 year old DD, and me (BTW - I will be 4.5 months pregnant when we leave!)

From one pregnant lady to another - any advice other than TONS of water

Thanks for sharing - can't wait to read more

 

[nessz79]

Following along

 

[adisneymama]

You didn't scare your kid on the Dinosaur ride did ya? Was she scared like the one in this photo?

The scared kid was 8 and the 2 little ones were 4 and 5. I love this photo
This is also the same trip when we met the bag lady of St Thomas

Who is that holding onto Rachel?

 

[adisneymama]

lace and ness! Thanks for coming along!
lace other than lots of water, I can probably tell you where every bathroom and every bench is! Just take it easy and make sure to rest when you need it. The heat will get to you.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Who is that holding onto Rachel?

Vicky K. The lady we also met on DIS who had the Roy Disney suite.

 

[adisneymama]

Ahh I remember her, but didn't recognize her.

 

[TheThomsLuvDisney]

Subbing in after reading your friend martinolich's thread. This will be fun to compare your trips!!!
You are soooo brave to go when pregnant, especially so far along IN JULY!

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Must be busy again Debbie!! We miss your TR!!