Our "Not So Scary" Return to WDW! (updt 11/14) Day 4 - Magic Kingdom - pg. 12

[4boysrus]

Day 1 - Saturday 9/6 - On the road....

Morning came way to early. I'd been up to nearly 2:00 finishing up the packing. We still had to go to 's football game and 's practice, and then back home to pack the van. Luckily, was feeling better. He'd been sick and had missed the 3 days of school prior to the trip, so I was worried. He was still a little worn down, but he was excited about his game, and most excited about Disney!

So, off we went to the park. The game was good, but we ended up losing. got to go in on defense for a few plays and sacked the QB, so according to his coach, he earned some more defense time! Both boys were done by 11:15, so we headed back home. They both took showers while I loaded the van and got everything set up to leave. We left the house about 12:45. Our first stop was McDonalds . We were on the road for good at 1:30.

The drive down was actually uneventful! Movies were watched, games were played, and pages were colored. There was no fighting , and only 3 stops. We finally stopped for dinner about 6:00. was feeling bad again, and I was getting worried. Thankfully after a slice of pizza he perked up. I think he was just hungry and tired from his game as well as still recovering. We were back on the road by 7:00, and there would be no more stops until Disney. I'm a mean mom like that. We were only about 2.5 hrs away, so it wasn't that far.

took a few pictures with his camera phone of the trip down. The good camera was packed away in the back. The pictures aren't great quality, but they are cute anway...

As soon as we got on the Fl. Turnpike, had to "go" and just couldn't wait. So, I took advantage of the fact that we have boys, and stopped on the side of the road and let them hope out to pee. Less than 2 minutes later, we were back on the road.

We made it to POR at 9:45. We unloaded the bags and sent them off to bell services, and then we went to check in. We all really liked this hotel as soon as we walked in. It took maybe 20 minutes total of wait time and check in time. Here's a few pics of the boys while waiting. Again, on the camera phone. Sorry.

With map in hand and 4 young monkeys, we headed off walking to the room. drove the van over to our parking area, but the boys and I wanted to look around on the walk over. This would have been a good idea, except we took the bags/pillows that didn't go to bell services with us instead of sending them with . The boys were tired, so guess who ended up carrying nearly everything! You guessed right, me. Now since I'm carrying everything, I can't look at the map. So, we ended up going the looooooooooong way to the room. After what seemed like forever (but was probably only 5-10 mins) we made it to the room. I sent the boys to wash up while I got stuff ready for the next morning. We finally got everyone settled down and in bed at 11:30. The sleeping arrangements were as follows and on one bed, me and on the other, and and on the trundle.

How would these sleeping arrangements work out? Would we get any sleep? Stay tuned!

 

[lmillercrew]

I like uneventful traveling. We are traveling this weekend to WI and hope that nothing eventful happens. I'm glad you made it safely and there are many times that I wish I was. Peeing on the side of the road would be much easier.

 

[4boysrus]

Hope you guys have a great trip this weekend!

I like uneventful traveling. We are traveling this weekend to WI and hope that nothing eventful happens. I'm glad you made it safely and there are many times that I wish I was. Peeing on the side of the road would be much easier.

 

[4boysrus]

I'm working on getting my pictures uploaded to photobucket for Day 2, and then I'll get my next installment posted. Tonight or tomorrow.

 

[lmillercrew]

I hope you post more pictures before we leave. We're not leaving until Friday afternoon.

 

[4boysrus]

Day 2 - Sunday 9/7 - Animal Kingdom

So, our wake up call came at 7:00, but we were already up. I think everyone slept pretty good except me. Donald flopped like a fish outta water all night, and I literally woke up like every hour because I was going over and over in my head what all I needed to do when morning came. Finally at 6:45 I gave up and went ahead and got myself dressed and everyone's clothes laid out. Within 5 minutes all the kids were up as well. I got everyone to brush their teeth and get dressed while I woke Chewy. When the wake up call came at 7:00 I let Donald answer. It took him a few minutes to figure out what was going on. Stitch chasing Mickey, I think. Chewy finally got up and got ready and we headed to the bus stop right about 7:30. Everyone was in a pretty good mood AND we were on time. I was a happy mama!

We didn't wait very long for the bus. Maybe 5 minutes. (notice my LGMH tags on my bags, like a good DISer! )

I *think* that there was one other family that got on the bus with us.

(Side note: I'm really wishing that I'd made notes at the end of each day like last year, because I'm having a hard time remembering what happened what day and when.)

Our ADR was for 8:35, but I wanted to get in early so that we'd be done by 9:00. We arrived around 8:00 and snapped a few pictures. I snapped this one...

and then a nice CM coming in to work offered to take one of all of us...

I loved this shot of the Tree of Life...

We made our way to Tusker House and got checked in. We had barely sat down to wait when they called our name. It was 8:15. We got to our table and ordered drinks. I took Donald and Goofy to get food and grabbed some pastries for CCat (short for Cheshire Cat) and Pooh. I ran them back to the table while Donald and Goofy waited. They fixed their own plates and I grabbed a few more things for CCat and Pooh. We went back to the table and I sent Chewy to get him and I some food. The characters entered the room one by one and I was anxious to see what Pooh would think about them. He was very excited to see them when they came in. He was still talking about giving them hugs, so far so good! Chewy got back in time for the characters to arrive at the table. As they got closer Pooh started saying "*insert character name* too big". I said, "Maybe you can just give them a high five". Pooh says "Ok." Well, you can see the results for yourself....

We didn't get pictures of it, because it happened so quickly, but I was able to convince him to give Donald, Daisy, and Mickey a high five. He wasn't terrified and screaming so I had hopes that by the end of the trip, he'd be giving them big hugs. You'll just have to wait and see if that happens or not! We really liked the food here and the Guava juice was a big hit!

So, we finished up and made a potty stop, and headed out to wait for rope drop. Expedition Everest here we come!! So, we see the mob heading our way, the rope drops, and off we go. I kept looking around thinking the mob wasn't very large...

We get to EE and I take Donald, Goofy, and CCat to the ride. Now, CCat had all of a sudden decided that he wanted to ride. I wasn't even sure if he would measure up, but I figured we'd try. The wait time said 10 minutes but it was like less than 5. We go through, CCat can ride, and we load the train. He actually did really well during the whole ride except for the backwards part. A few tears were shed, but when the ride ended I looked over and saw a blank face. I wasn't sure what he was about to do. I asked what he thought and he said "Not so bad." He did NOT, however, want to ride again! Chewy took Donald and they went to ride with the Parent Swap pass. While waiting for them (which took longer, because they waited for front row) I lathered on the sun screen and grabbed EE fastpasses for later on. It was like 9:20, and the return time was 9:50. Where were the crowds?!?!

So, after Chewy and Donald came back (they LOVED the front and ended up riding up there again later), we headed over to Dinoland. Donald and Goofy wanted to ride Dinosaur, and Chewy was gonna take them. I was a little uneasy about this, because I *knew* that Goofy would be crying when they got off. I told them that it was dark and loud, but it was fake, and they insisted they wanted to ride. So, off they went. Chewy rode this on the last trip, so he knew what to expect. We got a Parent Swap for later in case they liked it and wanted to ride again. I figured if they did then I'd be brave and give it a try. Thankfully there would be none of that! CCat, Pooh, and I headed off to Triceratop Spin while we waited on the others. On the way we spotted these guys.

Pooh waved from afar.

Unfortunately Triceratop Spin was not open yet because they were working on it. We headed back to the Dinosaur gift shop to wait for the others. The 2 little ones relaxed in the floor while I watched the TV's waiting for their ride picture to show up. Finally it popped up and poor Goofy had his head buried in Chewy's chest. A few seconds later, they rounded the corner and yep, he was crying. Not really crying, but a little teary. It was a little before 10, so we headed out and sat down outside of Dinosaur to have some water and juice boxes. Today was a HOT day. I think it was high 90's before humidity. Luckily, it would be the hottest day of the trip!

(continued in the next post)

 

[4boysrus]

(Day 1 continued)

So, we finished our refreshments and headed out. Triceratop Spin was up and running so we gave it a whirl. This was Pooh's first ride of the trip, so I was anxious to see how it would go. Remember he has big plans for Goofy's Barnstormer!

All was well, and he wanted to ride again, but we decided to head on to "It's Tough To Be A Bug". So, we walked over to Discovery Island. Once we got there I decided to send Chewy over to grab FP's for Safari. Donald and Goofy went with Chewy and CCat, Pooh, and I walked through some shops. Once they returned we walked right in to "Bug". CCat and Pooh did not enjoy this at all. The fog freaked them out, and neither of them wore their 3D glasses very long.

At this point since we were zooming through the park with no crowds, we decided that we'd just finish up and then head back to the resort instead of leaving and coming back later. This would mean that we'd miss the parade, but the thought of going back for good was nice.

We left Discovery Island and headed back into Asia to use our EE FP's. On the way we stopped to pick up something to cool us off...

While everyone cooled off, I went to get FP's for Kali. The wait was only 10 minutes and the FP's weren't even opened. So, I headed back, and grabbed Donald (Goofy didn't want to ride) and off we went to EE. We literally walked right on since we had FP's, but the stand by line at 11:15 was.... a whopping 10 minutes!!! I was sooooo hoping that this was going to be the trend for the week! EE is such an AWESOME ride. I'm not a big fan of coasters, but Disney's are so smooth, that I actually enjoy them very much!! When we got off, Chewy and Donald got on, and rode in the front again.

We cleaned the ice cream off of everyone, and headed off for our 2 week safari. On the way we saw....

The stand by line at 12:00 was 5 minutes!! We loaded into our truck and away we went...

They storyline has changed a bit, like I'd read here on the DIS. But obviously, the animals are the reason you ride. We didn't see as many animals as last time, but we did see a good amount. During the part when you hear gun fire, and the driver says take cover (or whatever she says) this is what happened...

Yes, Goofy really thought that someone was shooting.

Our safari came to an end and we headed back to Asia to eat CS at Yak & Yeti. Kali wait time was 5 minutes, but we were going to wait until after we ate so that we could leave immediately after Kali. The food here was just ok for us. Donald and I had the Honey Chicken, Chewy had the Sweet & Sour Pork and an order of egg rolls (the best part of the meal to me), CCat had the cheeseburger, and Goofy had the chicken nuggets. Pooh shared with everyone, but really didn't eat. This was the trend for the whole trip. We finished up and made a potty stop and headed to Kali. Can you believe in the time it took us to eat, the wait time went up to 50 minutes!!?? Well, of course you can because I told you how hot of a day it was, but we were bummed. No way were we waiting that long, so after promising the boys that we'd go swimming after a short rest at the hotel we headed to the bus stop.

We got back to the hotel around like 2:00 I think. We relaxed and headed to the pool a little after 3:00. We really enjoyed the pool, especially the boys. They loved the water slide and went over and over again. Pooh alternated going down with Chewy or I a few times and then the life guard said he had to go alone. We gave it a try, and he actually liked it! He went a few more times by himself (me waiting at the bottom and Chewy taking him up). I'm sad that we didn't take any pictures because we wouldn't make it back to the pool for the rest of the trip!

About 4:30 we headed over to the food court to get something to eat. We had some snacky foods in the room (crackers, fruit cups, cheese sticks, yogurt) and we weren't starving so we just used a few snack credits on a couple of garden salads, and a fruit salad.

We went back, ate, watched TV, and took showers. Pooh was tired (no nap) and refusing to sleep on the trundle, so he and CCat slept with me while Donald slept with Chewy and (lucky) Goofy got the trundle. The boys were all asleep by 9:00 and Chewy and I watched TV for a little while. I think I fell asleep around 10:00.

With the wake up call set for 7:00 and a busy day at Epcot planned I had high hopes of a restful sleep.

 

[4boysrus]

they're up!

I hope you post more pictures before we leave. We're not leaving until Friday afternoon.

 

[4boysrus]

Sheesh, I forogt one of my MOST favorite moments this trip! As we were headed towards Dinosaur Goofy and Pluto walked by heading to their photo spot (where you saw CCat with them).

Let me give a bit of background before I tell what happened. Donald is the oldest child. He's the typical oldest, thinks he's too big for little kid stuff, thinks he's an adult, etc. Rarely do we see him playing with toys, etc. It really makes me sad. He's almost 9.

Now, back to the story. So Donald sees them coming towards him and out of nowhere he yells "It's Pluto. Hey Pluto!!" (waving wildly). He runs up and gives Pluto a high five. I was so happy I was fighting back tears. To see him act like a little boy just made our day.

Just wanted to share our "Magic of Disney" story.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

adorable boys!! Great report! more please!

 

[lmillercrew]

Great update! You're boys are too cute! Too bad your younger two didn't like Bugs. My youngest DD didn't like it either the first time we took her. We had to leave in the middle because she was crying. Poor things.
I saw the picture of the bus stop at POR and just confirmed that my decision to stay there was a good one.

 

[4boysrus]

Update with pics and VIDEO is coming tonight!

 

[4boysrus]

What's funny is last year CCat liked Bugs, so I don't know why he didn't this year.

We really enjoyed POR. It was a very quiet resort. Very relaxing!

Great update! You're boys are too cute! Too bad your younger two didn't like Bugs. My youngest DD didn't like it either the first time we took her. We had to leave in the middle because she was crying. Poor things.
I saw the picture of the bus stop at POR and just confirmed that my decision to stay there was a good one.

 

[4boysrus]

okay, so I'm just now getting online. We had football today and it was Donald's bday so the day got a little busy. I'll post an update tomorrow.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Great updates! Love the story about your Donald and Pluto!

 

[lmillercrew]

okay, so I'm just now getting online. We had football today and it was Donald's bday so the day got a little busy. I'll post an update tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Donald

 

[4boysrus]

If you're interested, here's a video of us on Tricera-top spin...

 

[4boysrus]

Day 3 - Monday 9/8 - Epcot

Mickey woke us up today, and Goofy got to answer the phone. I was pretty tired this day. I'd slept with CCat and Pooh, and both of them are bed hogs. So, that left me on the edge (pun intended). Not to mention tonight was Coral Reef. I was so worried that my surprise wasn't going to work out. We got dressed and headed over to the food court for breakfast. We ate and got cleaned up (Goofy spilled syrup all over his shorts , thankfully it cleaned up well). We got to the bus stop a little after 8:00. We waited a little while for a bus (maybe 10 mins). This bus was actually pretty full. I ended up sitting next to a family with 4 boys, so we chatted on the ride over. It's always nice to see families with lots of boys like us. We got to Epcot, through security and entrance, and all the way to the rope with about 5 minutes to spare . Again, the crowds were nearly non-existant.

We were heading to Soarin' first. We got there and grabbed some parent swap passes, and Chewy took CCat, Donald, and Goofy on the ride. Pooh and I were going to head over to Test Track to get FP's but I decided to do Living with the Land with him instead. We were the first people of the day to ride. Chewy got Dream FPs here last year, but no such luck this year . He doesn't like thunderstorms so you can imagine how much he liked this ride from the very beginning. When we got off we waited like maybe 5 minutes before the others were done with Soarin. CCat had liked Soarin, but not at first, and did not want to ride again (it was his first time on Soarin). So Chewy took him and Pooh to get Test Track FPs while I rode Soarin with Donald and Goofy. I just really love this ride. We got front row, a first for us, and it was just awesome!! I could ride this ride over and over again. We headed out, and found the others pretty quickly.

Now, it was time to head to Nemo. Pooh had been pretty patient, but I could tell that he was getting sick of waiting and sitting in the stroller. He really enjoyed this ride, and loved looking for Nemo. When the ride was over we went straight into Turtle Talk. We didn't get to do this last time because it was being refurbed, so we were excited. We were the 2nd family in line, so we were able to get front row seats and the boys sat down front. I think there were maybe 10-15 kids total. Goofy was the first kid that they talked to. They asked his name, and a few other things, and asked for his parents to raise their hands. Then they talked to Chewy. It was pretty funny. Chewy said something about raising 4 kids, and Crush said "Dude, I know, I have (don't remember the number, but several hundred) myself." Then when they were letting the kids ask questions, they picked Donald. He asked Crush what his favorite sport was. Anyway, the show was a lot of fun, and the boys were very excited to be picked.

After the show we headed out, and I heard someone behind me say "Excuse Me." So, I apologized and moved out of the way. She said "Are you on the Disboards?" I turned around and said "Yes." It was GlendaMax (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1960839)! I'd read her posts and TR's previously so I felt like I had met a celebrity. So, here we are...

After my very first DIS meet (and only, ), we headed towards Figment. On the way Chewy stopped in to grab FPs for Soarin. We hadn't rode Figment before, but we all really enjoyed it! It'll definately be one that we visit again! After the ride we hung out for a LONG time in the play area. The older boys (Chewy included, ) enjoyed playing with the picture makers...

Goofy...

Donald...

Pooh...

CCat and Pooh enjoyed the area where you run around and step on the squares...

We probably spent atleast 20 minutes in here just playing around. Afterwards we headed off to a potty/snack break. It was probably around 11:00 and as we passed by the big sign with wait times, nothing had more than 15 minutes! At that moment we decided that the heat/humidity and possible hurricanes are worth it in order to have such light crowds. It was more crowded than this when we went last year in early February!

Our next stop was Test Track. We grabbed some parent swap passes and Chewy took Pooh to walk around and hang out in the gift shop while I took CCat, Donald, and Goofy to ride. We had FPs, but the stand by was just as short. This was another first for CCat. He got to ride a lot of new things this trip. He thought that this ride was fun, but he decided not to ride again with his daddy and brothers. While they rode, CCat and Pooh colored at the Kidcot station. They each also bought one of those compressed towels with Mater and McQueen on them. It was taking a loooooooong time for the others to come off the ride. When they finally came out, we found out why. The ride had stopped and they had to wait for about 5-10 minutes for it to start again. Here's a little video of Goofy's reaction to this....



Here's one after they got going again..



We looked around the cars in the showroom (and found one we loved), and then decided to head back for a rest. We'd be coming back later for dinner and World Showcase.

When we got back to the hotel we went to the General Store and picked up some snacks, and then headed to the room. Here's a couple of pics of Pooh and Goofy walking back towards the room...

Once we got back to the room we ate some chips and dip, and then the boys wanted to go swimming. Right outside of our room was one of the smaller pools at POR, so Chewy took Donald, Goofy, and CCat swimming for about 45 minutes.

Pooh and I stayed in the room. I was hoping to get him to take a nap. Thankfully he did fall asleep, and I was able to have a little 30 minute rest as well. I got up, and called Chewy to tell him to come back to the room so we could get ready. Pooh got in a 40 minute nap, and thankfully woke up in a good mood. We got ready and headed back to Epcot for our dinner at Coral Reef. This was a first visit for us.

 

[4boysrus]

As I said earlier I was a little anxious to get there. I was so hoping that they'd gotten the pictures that I had emailed and that the diver was still scheduled. We got there and I got in line to check in. Chewy was hanging around, and walked away for a second. I told Donald to distract him and get him away from the counter, so the quick thinking boy that he is asked his daddy to take him to see the tank. Thankfully everything was all set, so we got our pager and had a seat. We were a little early for our ressie, so we waited maybe 10 minutes before they called us. While we were waiting Chewy called me over. If you read my PTR you know that last month Goofy let it slip that we had a surprise scheduled for Chewy at Disney. At this time, Chewy asks me if the surprise was still going to happen. I about fell out on the floor! I asked why and he said that he was just wondering. I said yes, it's going to happen but not for a day or two. He said ok. I didn't know if his asking was a coincidence or if one of the boys had let it slip at the pool.

Our buzzer went off, and away we went to our table. We were on the lower level up against the wall. There was a sea turtle sitting right up against the glass, and he stayed there the whole time. He'd swim away for a few minutes and then come back. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture of him. Anyway, so once we got seated, our waitress (who was FANTASTIC, we really loved her) handed Chewy his menu.

He was pretty surprised, and he asked if that was the surprise. I said yes. Goofy said BUT...., and thankfully he was sitting beside me so I said something along the lines of "Shhhh, remember this is what I told you about." He got the point. He hadn't known about the menu, so that is why he was wondering what was going on. Our waitress came and we ordered. Goofy and CCat had carrots and celery for their appetizers. I tried to talk Goofy into the lobster chowder, but he said no. Our wonderful waitress brought me some to try anyway. They had mac-n-cheese for dinner, and so did Pooh. For dessert they all had the build-your-own-sundae. Donald, Chewy, and I all had the NY Strip for dinner. I had the Chocolate Wave for dessert (yummy and WOW are those brandied cherries strong!), Chewy had the Bailey's & Jack Mousse (again with the alcohol, strong!), and Donald had the Key Lime Tart. Everything was reeaallllly good. As soon as our entrees came, the divers entered the tank. The boys and I were soooo anxious and excited. It took a few minutes and then they finally started swimming toward the windows. The time was near!! Only, they went to a different window and held up a sign for somebody else. hmmmmm.... Ok, we must be next. Nope, they swam away. I was still getting nervous. The divers were swimming around and some were goofing off in front of the windows. Then they all disappeared. Goofy and Donald are looking at me like . I was trying to act like it was ok, but I was FREAKING on the inside. I had really wanted this to happen. The waitress came out and cleared the table. She kept looking at me because she knew it was supposed to have happened. Finally she came back and I don't remember what she said, but it was something along the lines of "the divers are coming back". She took our dessert order. Finally we see another diver heading our way. PHEW! He came to our window and pointed to Chewy. Chewy was busy trying to get Pooh to look at the diver. Finally he looked up and waved at the diver. The diver held up the sign and it took him a second for it to sink in. Everyone around our table started clapping and the diver called him up to the window. The waitress took our camera and snapped a picture for me.

At this point I had tears in my eyes. Part of it was relief, the other part of it was seeing that Chewy was actually surprised! He's so difficult to surprise! So, he came back to the table, and dessert came. We finished up. Our waitress came back and said that she had went to the manager and he had called the divers and that she was stalling with the dessert order taking and delivery to give time for them to get it set up. The manager came over and apologized. I didn't care, I was just glad that I had succeeded!

After dinner, Chewy thanked me for the surprises, and we headed out toward World Showcase. But not before a trip to Club Cool. My weird kids had to try Beverly again. Here's a picture of all of my guys at Club Cool.

Then we stopped at the water play area and let the boys play. Pooh was the only smart one who didn't get soaked..

This year we started with Mexico. Instead of just walking by the fronts of the countries, we decided that we were going to go "into" the countries and look around. Not all of them, but atleast some of them. The boys went to the Kidcot station in Mexico and colored for a few minutes. Then we headed into "Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros!"

The ride was pretty cute, the boys enjoyed watching Donald in the film clips.

Next up was Norway. We didn't do Maelstrom last year, so another new ride for us! We enjoyed this ride, but we did not like having to wait afterwards for the doors to open. Considering how light the crowds were, you can imagine how long it took for there to be enough people for them to open the doors. We seriously waited almost 10 minutes after the ride was over. We grabbed the Kidcot boats to put on our lanyards and headed out. The boys weren't up for sitting around coloring at the time.

I can't remember what all countries we stopped in but there was about 6 of them. Sometimes the boys colored and sometimes we just got the little things to hook onto the lanyards. There was a nice breeze blowing and it was not crowded so we just took our time walking around. When we got to France Chewy and I got a Grey Goose Slushie and a Grand Marnier Slushie. Both were YUMMY, but the Grey Goose Slushie was nearly just a slushie. We took a seat on nearby bench and the boys had some juice boxes and we just relaxed. Pooh wanted some of my drink so he pitched a bit of a fit, but he got over it eventually. It was 8:20 by the time we were done, and we considered staying for Illuminations. I knew that with the light crowds we could get a good spot, but since we had an early morning the next day and also a late night the next day, we decided to head back to the hotel. WOW is it a long walk from World Showcase over to the buses. It was a crowded bus ride back to the resort. When we got back to the room I snapped one last picture of the boys in their matching shirts before I started getting everyone in the shower.

Pooh and CCat asked to sleep with me again, so I knew that I was in for very little sleep AGAIN. Not to mention that all of a sudden my allergies were TERRIBLE. My nose was literally dripping every time I'd stand or sit up. So, I doubled up on my allergy meds, grabbed a box of tissues and went to bed. I had to get some rest and hoped that I would be feeling better because tomorrow was MAGIC KINGDOM!!

 

[Glendamax]

Heyyy!!!!!

I JUST found your report! I've gotta LOT of catching up to do!

OH! Here are the pics I took of you! So glad I spotted you all!

-Gmax