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

[4boysrus]

My name is Melissa, and I'm (becoming) a disneyholic.

This will be our second trip to the happiest place on earth. Our first trip was last February (the link to the PTR/TR is in my siggie), and we've been wanting to go back since we pulled out of the resort parking lot. We'd planned on going in December, but when I saw the words FREE DINING, we had "the talk". We ran the numbers and decided to go for it. We can't wait!

Now, I'll introduce you to the cast...

Of course there's me, Melissa, the mom-may (as my 2 year old says).
And then there's, KJ, the daddio (again, courtesy of the 2 year old).
(this is us on our recent 10 yr anniversary trip to NYC)

Next comes the kiddos.
Michael is 8 1/2, Matthew is 6 1/2, Max is 4 1/2, and Miles just turned 2.

(this is them last year, before we went into MK for the first time)

I'll post some newer pictures of the boys soon, but I'm on the laptop, and the newer pictures are on the desktop.

Anyway, I'll be back in a day or two to share the details of the when and where!

 

[MomofCKJ]

I'm first! I am signing on Melissa, I want to hear all about your plans!

Allyson

 

[mom3sonstt]

Can't wait to hear your plans - I've traveled with 3 boys, it'll be fun watching your trip with 4. Mine are all "old" now - they're all teenagers....

 

[4boysrus]

Miles on his 2nd birthday!

Max hamming it up for the camera, like always!

Matthew hanging out at the park.

Michael after a football game last fall (yes his hair was green, lol).

So, there you have some more recent photos of the boys. Michael and Matthew are currently playing baseball, and are in the middle of their End-Of-Season tournaments. It's been 2-3 games a day for the past 4 days. If Matthew wins tonight, his team wins the tournament and they'll be done. Michael's will last through atleast tomorrow night. This is also their last week of school, so it's a busy one!

Now, back to more important stuff. Our DISNEY trip!

So, the when is 9/6-9/12. We'll be leaving home after the boys play their football games on 9/6 so we'll get there late. We'll head home on Friday 9/12 so that they won't have to miss a game. They'll each have to miss 2 practices, but this will be their 2nd and 3rd years playing football, so I really don't think that they'll miss much. They'll also be missing 5 days of school. I know, I know. Bad mom. However, it will be at the beginning of the school year, so I think that they'll be fine. They are allowed to have up to 10unexcused absences, and considering any other absences they have will be excused (sickness), I'm not worried. We refuse to do Disney in the summer (it's hot enough up here in Ga!), so really they'd have to miss school even if we went in a different month. The last time we went I was homeschooling, so it wasn't a big deal. Which was great! The trip will also come just ONE day after KJ's 30th birthday!! I didn't even think about that when we booked, but I plan on having a few surprises in store for him. We'll be dining at Coral Reef on the 8th, so I'm thinking of having the diver/sign plan. I'm open to any ideas and suggestions that you all may have.

Sheesh, I get sidetracked easily. So since we'll be there 9/6-9/12, we'll obviously be getting FREE DINING! As I said in my last post, that was the deal maker for this trip. Another cool thing is that we were able to get Michael on the adult meal plan. This is good for a few reasons. #1 he's a big eater and he gets sick of the same ole kids meals. #2 there'll be plenty of food to supplement his younger brothers who get stuck with the kids meals. I sure hope that eventually Disney gets smart and changes the kids menus.

Now, for the WHERE. We decided to go for POR. In one room with a trundle. There are a few reasons for this. Last time, we did 2 rooms at Pop. This was convenient for the 2 bathrooms, but we all ended up using one room except for sleeping, and then there was still an empty bed. So, we decided that since Miles is still under 3, and we can still get a POR trundle room we'd go for it. The older 3 do not nap, and if Miles still naps by the time we get there (my 4 year old quit napping at 2), then KJ and I will take turns staying with Miles while the other takes the boys for a swim. I can tell you right now what the biggest problem is going to be.....one bathroom. But I don't think that it'll be too bad. We're excited about POR. It looks nice and quiet. I also love the boat to DTD.

So, there's the WHEN & WHERE.

Up next, I'll tell you more about the kiddos, and what Disney character I think they are most like!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Another disneyholic signing on ...

 

[4boysrus]

I'm first! I am signing on Melissa, I want to hear all about your plans!

Allyson

Hi Allyson. Thanks for stopping by!

Can't wait to hear your plans - I've traveled with 3 boys, it'll be fun watching your trip with 4. Mine are all "old" now - they're all teenagers....

Hopefully this trip will be just as fun as the last. I'm sure it'll be just as memorable. I see that you are going in August. Are all of your boys going with you?

Another disneyholic signing on ...

Hi! Welcome to my pre-trippie.

 

[4boysrus]

WHEW!! What a week it's been!

Baseball season is finally over for us, and we are the proud parents to 2 champions! Matthew won his championship on Wednesday, and Michael won his last night.

I'll be back this weekend to give the family history I promised, and since it has taken so long, I'll make it a double post, and start to tell you all about our last trip (and I'll share some pics from it).

Have a great day! It's the boys' last day of school so I'm off to enjoy the last little bit of peace and quiet that I'll have for the next couple of months!

 

[MomofCKJ]

Congrats on the baseball champs! Woo Hoo! And we don't get out of school till 6/18, still a few weeks away! Fine by me though!

How did they let you get Michael on the Adult plan? Did you just have to pay the difference between a kids and adult? That works out great for you!

Allyson

 

[4boysrus]

How did they let you get Michael on the Adult plan? Did you just have to pay the difference between a kids and adult? That works out great for you!

Allyson

I just asked Jessica if it was possible. Since it's free dining, we still had to pay nothing for it, but I think we had to pay the difference in park ticket prices. It was like $36 for the whole trip to upgrade him!

 

[5 crazy kids]

Nice to find a PTR with someone with several kids. I'd love to hear some of how you dealt with the 4 boys last time and how meals and rides worked for you!
Free meals, oh that would be nice!

 

[4boysrus]

It's been a busy one for us. Saturday we went to my moms and rode 4 wheelers. Sunday we spent the day at the pool, and today we took the 3 older boys to the Braves game. But I'm here now, and I'm here with an update!

I'll start off with a little family history.

KJ and I met as sophmores in high school, and have been together ever since! We celebrated our 10yr wedding anniversary in April. We've been together for over 13yrs now. It's crazy really. I'm a full time SAHM, and I worked pt at a preschool last year. I hope to go back next year, I really enjoyed it! KJ is a builder. He's been with the same company for 8yrs now! I'd say compare myself to Tinkerbell On our last trip, I bought a Tink hat that says "Mood subject to change without warning." Well, that's me. I'd compare KJ to Peter Pan. He's such a kid at heart. But since he needs a smilie, I'm gonna give him Chewy. Hey, he is on the hairy side!

We had Michael in 9/99. He's your typical oldest child (I was the oldest as well). He's a very smart boy, and he loves to read. He's cautious, and thoughtful. He's into video games and sports, in that order. Unfortunately he has some problems with his anger, and he's really selfish lately. I hope that these are results of the age. Right now, I'd say he's a Donald Duck. He means well, and he's a good guy, but he's got a temper!

Matthew was born in 8/01. He is our free spirited, tender hearted one. He's a bit of a dare devil too. He's a really big helper, and loves to play with his brothers. He LOVES sports, but mostly football. He's very athletic and agile. I'd say that he is a Goofy. He's fun, and not afraid of embarrassing himself!

Max joined the family in 7/03. He is our "typical boy". Loves bugs, and candy, and action figures, and everything else that boys love. He loves to play video games, but he also loves to be outside. He can't wait to be old enough to play baseball and football. Right now he wants to be an army guy when he grows up, but that changes monthly. I'd describe Max as a Peter Pan. I'm so sad they don't have a Peter Pan! He believes everything is possible, and he never wants to grow up! He also has the biggest, cheesiest smile, so I'm going to also call him the Cheshire Cat.

Miles rounded out the family in 4/06. He's a good listener, and the only one whom people say looks like me! Right now, he likes to do whatever his brothers are doing. He really loves sports and cars, though. He can already get down in a football stance, and can hit the baseball with a bat! He is the cutest little thing, and is pretty spoiled . I guess that happens when it's the last baby. I'd call him a Pooh. He's cute and cuddly, and what's not to love?!?!


Up next, highlights from our last trip!

 

[MomofCKJ]

I love your choices of which character fits which person, esp KJ! Made me laugh!

So happy to be along for your ride! I really wish our trips overlapped! Are you planning on meeting up with Fiona on your trip?

Allyson

 

[4boysrus]

Believe me, there were highs and lows!

For a more detailed account of our first/last trip, then you can click on the link in my siggie down there. I'll give a quick, short TR here for those who are interested.

At the time of the trip the boys were 7, 5, 3, and 9 months. It was a first trip for ALL of us, so it was really exciting! We had connecting rooms at Pop Century. We really loved this resort. Of course it was our first WDW trip, so what do we really know? No, seriously, we all really liked it. We stayed for 6 nights and had 6 day park hoppers. We also enjoyed the DDP, but that was back when tips and desserts and appetizers were included. Oh, and I can't forget TGM! I can't sing enough praises for Mike!

Aside from Miles not sleeping very well, the trip started out wonderfully! I chalked Miles' sleeping problems up to the fact that he wasn't his own bed, etc. By going in February, we really got lucky with the crowds. Very rarely did we see a stand by line longer than 25/30 minutes. We visited MK first, and seeing the castle for the first time, was amazing. I clearly remember Matthew saying "Look, there's the Magic Kingdom Castle" as we got through the gates. So cute. We got it on video too. We enjoyed all of the parks, each special for their own reasons. The favorite park was MK though. It's just special.

We enjoyed a couple of character meals. Donalds' Breakfastasaurus and Garden Grill. The boys like Donalds Bkfst the best, but KJ and I enjoyed Garden Grill the most. I'd give them both 2 thumbs up though. We also went to the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show. The food was FANTASTIC, and the show wasn't bad (not great, but not bad, so good/ok). We also ate at Hollywood & Vine (we didn't really like it here, it was not the character meal), and Whispering Canyon Cafe. We really liked the food and atmosphere at WCC, but unfortunately we didn't get a "prankster" for a waiter so it wasn't as fun as I was hoping.

We each had our own favorite rides. The ones that top the lists are Goofy's Barnstormer, Expedition Everest, Rock N Roller Coaster, Buzz Lightyear, and Soarin'. We also loved Philharmagic and A Bug's Life, but we don't really think of those as rides. There really wasn't a ride/experience there that we didn't like.

Now to the "lows". We had some attitude issues with . I'm sure you could have guessed that before I told you. I also had the pleasure of being puked on at the Aloha show. Poor Miles. When we got back I took him to the dr, and he had a double ear infection, so part of me thinks that he had it for the whole trip and that is what caused the sleeping issues and the puking.

All in all, it was a great trip, and we are really looking forward to going back! I'm sure the next trip will have it's on "highs and lows", but it'll be worth it!

 

[4boysrus]

Now, I'll share some of my favorite pictures from our last trip. They're all clickable images.

The gift baskets from www.memoriesbysarah.com





A few shots of the boys with the characters...













A family one and a funny one...



Face-painting fun..




And possibly my fave picture from the trip!

Miles reached up and grabbed Mickey's nose, so Mickey returned the favor.

Up next....Things we won't do again, and Things that we missed that we'll be sure to do next time!

 

[4boysrus]

I love your choices of which character fits which person, esp KJ! Made me laugh!

So happy to be along for your ride! I really wish our trips overlapped! Are you planning on meeting up with Fiona on your trip?

Allyson

glad I could give you a giggle.

I'd love to meet up with Fiona, but I haven't contacted her yet. I will though. I wish that our trips overlapped too. It'd be so great to finally meet you after, what, 9 years?!?!?

 

[4boysrus]

There are so many things that we missed last time that we can't wait to do this time. And there are a few things that we'll skip out on this time.

To start with, we did not attend the P&PP. This time we are attending a party, the MNSSHP (hence the name of the TR)! The boys are really excited about this.

We also missed out on Wishes. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if we'll catch it this time either. Since we'll already have one late night at MK, I'm not thinking that we're going to get back.

We also missed out on Illuminations. I'm hoping to be able to make it this trip, but we'll have to play it by ear. My boys don't do so well once they get tired. Especially since there really won't be any sleeping in.

We did see Fantasmic last time, but we'll be skipping out on it this time. Again with the late nights.

Here's a quick list of the rides that we missed out on last time, and that are on our must do list time:
Peter Pan
Splash Mountain
Tower of Terror
Teacups
Spaceship Earth
Mike's Comedy Club
Turtle Talk with Crush

And of course we'll be revisiting all of our favorites.

Up next.....Itinerary and ADR's!

 

[MomofCKJ]

Melissa, I am glad you are hitting a party! We did our first one last trip. Before then I hadn't been entirely sold on spending the money for another ticket but the party was so much fun and to be in the park when it is not so crowded was just so fun!

You have some really truly must dos on your list girl! You didn't do Splash last time? Oh you must must must! It is so fun! And I think your boys would love Turtle Talk with Crush! And TOT? Oh so fun for at least your older/taller ones! Yes you have lots to do!

Wishes is lovely but I bet MNSSHP will have some great fireworks too. And I just love Illuminations. But I hear you on the tired kids. Mine are NOT late night kids and we missed most all the nighttime shows this past trip. I think every night but one we were actually all in bed, lights out, by 9pm.

Allyson

 

[4boysrus]

Melissa, I am glad you are hitting a party! We did our first one last trip. Before then I hadn't been entirely sold on spending the money for another ticket but the party was so much fun and to be in the park when it is not so crowded was just so fun!

I'm pretty excited about the party, and the boys are too. I know that it will be a late night, but I have an "off" day planned for the next day so I think that we'll be ok. Atleast I hope so!

You have some really truly must dos on your list girl! You didn't do Splash last time? Oh you must must must! It is so fun! And I think your boys would love Turtle Talk with Crush! And TOT? Oh so fun for at least your older/taller ones! Yes you have lots to do!

We had planned on doing Splash on our last trip, but the day that we had "planned" to do it the weather was COLD. It was February and like 50 and misty rain. I couldn't justify getting soaking wet and hearing whining kids. Turtle Talk was closed for refurb the week we were there, and I no one wanted to ride TOT last time. This time, I've told them that we are going to try it once. They're hesitant, but good sports.

Wishes is lovely but I bet MNSSHP will have some great fireworks too. And I just love Illuminations. But I hear you on the tired kids. Mine are NOT late night kids and we missed most all the nighttime shows this past trip. I think every night but one we were actually all in bed, lights out, by 9pm.

I keep telling myself that if we do miss Wishes and Illuminations, then atleast we'll have something to look forward to on the next trip!

 

[4boysrus]

Unfortunately, I'm not here with the update that I had promised...Itinerary and ADR's. I'm sorry.

is starting to have 2nd thoughts about the trip. He and I spent a good amount of $$ on our trip to NYC in April, and he's having a hard time justifying spending $3000 more this year for another trip. I understand what he's saying, but I also know that if we wait until next spring then not only will we not get Free Dining, but the baby will be 3 and then we'll have to pay for him too. So, you're looking at about $5000 there.

Anyway, I've told him that we have to make the decision soon. I went ahead and broke the news to the boys, that the trip may not happen. I didn't want to just throw it on them all at once if the decision is for no trip. I'll be back to let you all know what's going on as soon as the decision is made.

 

[MomofCKJ]

Oh Melissa!

Allyson