Palmetto Bugs,Chicken Dale,TinyLand&craptastrophes OR WDW w/4 boysday1**day3new3/23**

[MommyPoppins]

September 2-6, 2005
Pop Century

Cast of Characters:
Mandee(me-24)
Chad(DH-27)
Jeremiah(DS-5)
Seth(DS-4)
Ethan(DS-2)
Kaleb(DS-8months)


9/3 We had an early breakfast, 7:50am, at the Kona Café. We were on the free dining plan and couldn’t wait to start using it. We drove there as we did almost everywhere and we both amazed at how beautiful the poly was. Breakfast was great, the smoothies were to die for, but my Tonga Toast(which I had been dying to try) was nasty, IMH. After finishing up there we drove over to Epcot, and rode Spaceship Earth for the first time(Cool!!!) got FP’s for Soarin’. Then we headed to TT to do that. The Jeremiah and Seth had never done it and couldn’t wait. DH was selfish and wanted to go first and he then proceeded to forget to get a child swap. So that was the LAST time HE went first. Then we went to the Figment ride(So CUTE!) and played the games and such there. I think after that we went to check in for our lunch at Coral Reef…but DH had a freak out moment we ended up leaving and going back to the hotel(without doing Soarin’.) He apologized when we got back and we walked up Everything Pop to have lunch. On the way there we encountered Mr and Mrs. Potato Head, Ethan thought that was the coolest.

After that we went back to the Computer Pool and thankfully the baby decided to take a nap in his stroller so while DH played in the pool with the other boys I actually had like 30 minutes to myself to lay out by the pool.

Ahhh…pure bliss. Which was short lived because then we had our first craptastrophe. For some reason every time Ethan got in the pool he pooped. Anyway with children know that swim diapers and even rubber pants don’t too much for wet poop. So thank goodness for strong chemicals. We went back to the room threw away his swimming shorts and some towels…sorry disney..but I don’t think anyone wanted to dry their face off with THAT. After cleaning up and resting we headed out to MK. While driving their we notice the weather isn’t so great…well we know the Florida rainy season and usually afternoon showers are quick moving and then it’s over so we weren’t worried. While in the Monorail, which stopped mid track for a while it started pouring. We are still not too worried there is time for it to let up before we get to MK. It didn’t…and the amount of water rushing down hill from MK was shin high on me(thank goodness for my CROCS) the poor boys were soaked before we even got into the park. The plus side is that the lines were real short. We had a good time and ended up staying late. The rain would let up to a drizzle for a while and then pour down again. We spent some time in the Child Care Center, drying out and avoiding a downpour, the ladies in there are always WONDERFUL! It was a great night, we rode Splash a couple of times and BTMR and couple of times(which is awesome in the rain) and we rode some things in FL too.

Everything was going great until I saw some kid throw up in the middle of the walk way, then I started to not feel so great, so we didn’t stay too much longer. At one point in the evening we were standing near the bathrooms in FL waiting for the rain to let up a little and Jeremiah kept saying something to me about tiny land. It took a while, but I finally figured it out, he wanted to ride tiny land…okay I get it now. He wants to go on It’s a Small World. Not today, we need to get out of here, we get all the way to the train station and DH realizes he left his phone at Cosmic Rays. So the boys and I sat down and waited for him and got to watch some of Wishes. We left before it was over and avoided all crowds and lines. Yay! Back at the resort I got all the kids bathed and in bed while DH sat at the dryer and waited for his and the boys shoes to dry. Next year everyone is getting a pair of CROCS. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom, DH and my favorite park!

 

[pumba]

you sure do have a good group of men there.......Loved your report ....hope that the rain would stop so you could enjoy the pleasure of walking in dryness.......thanks again

 

[disneylizzy]

Hee Hee .... tiny land. That's cute.

 

[MommyPoppins]

I decided that I would finish my trip report now. hehe. Sorry about that.


Day 2 Sept. 4, 2005

Cast of Characters:
Mandee(me-24)
Chad(DH-27)
Jeremiah(DS-5)
Seth(DS-4)
Ethan(DS-2)
Kaleb(DS-8months)


My notes say we took the bus. I honestly don't remember. I know we did drive a lot of the time...but I think we did take the bus because getting on the tram at the AK is heck. This was going to be a rest evening, that was the plan at least. We got to AK, got our stroller and headed off toward Dinoland. DH took the big boys on their first ride on Dionsaur while I let Ethan play in the boneyard...which is nice in the morning, not so much later on in the day. When they finished, I took them back on while DH sat with the babies. We get in our car thingy and Seth proceeds to sit on the far side and snap his belt into place...uh oh, I thought. He's too far away from me, he's going to be scared...there was nothing I could do about it now. We take off into the past...I LOVE this ride..I don't know why. I just do. I LOVE being scared. I don't like ToT scary, nope, I don't want to feel that feeling of dropping. I like, Jeepers Creepers, Wrong Turn, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Saw 1 and 2, kind of being scared. I watch scary movie through a crack in my hand, it makes it less scary that way. I ride Dinosaur the same way. Looking through a crack in my hand, at least towards the end, when I know "its" coming. Our picture was priceless, me cowering and looking through my hands with my mouth opening screaming, the boys, sitting there looking at the dinosaur like it's a butterfly. I should have bought it, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Next we all rode Dino-Dumbo. I think we got a FP now, either for Kali or Safari, I can't remember exately, it was too long ago and I didn't take sufficent notes, like I did this past trip. So, which ever one we got a FP for we went on the appropiate trail...I'm thinking it was Kali because we never go on the other before the Safari. I like the trails, yeah, they are a pain in the neck with the kids and by kids I mean strollers, but still, I think they're cool. Maybe we didn't FP Kali....maybe we just went on the trail and then waited, it would have been a short line then...that's probably what happened because I remember sitting and waiting by the entrance feeding the little ones to keep them happy. We did the child swap as always and I don't know about DH and the boys, but the boys and I had a blast. I still haven't gotten completely soaked on that ride yet. Today we were having lunch at the Flame Tree, it's our favorite place to eat at AK. We had a really nice table on a patio down on the water under a fan...ahhh yeah. Sometime during the course of our lunch the boat came by with characters dancing to the music. It was really fun. While we were eating there was a large group of people in at some tables next to us. By large I mean, there were a lot of them, not that they were large. Better make that clear, I know someone will come charging my way with a flame thrower if I don't and my flame suit is in the shop. Anyway, one lady was clearly the "leader" she knew everything, and was giving out directions and such...she wasn't wearing lime and I didn't see any buttons or ribbons. So I don't know for sure, but when you see someone like that, someone like you, don't you always wonder if they're a DISer?
Well after lunch I'm guessing we went to use our Safari FP and it was a good ride...I like going in the early afternoon, there are lots of animals out, I don't care what people say. We saw elephants throwing dirt at eachother, so that was cool. Afterwards we went on the Africa trail, and I guess we left after that. I had intentions of going to Rafikis Planet Watch, but the whole leave your stroller behind thing, is always a bad idea with 4 kids. We also always have honest intentions to see Festival of the Lion King, but never have...so I guess we leave early afternoonish.
We had to make a stop at Goodings because we were running out of formula and diapers. We thought it would be cheaper to get it there, rather than at a Baby Care Center...not so much. My receipt is for 27.38. I know, how could a mother of 4 not pack enough formula and diapers? Seems our little Kaleb, aka Fat Baby as I affectionately call him, drinks a lot more than normal when he isn't taking his regular naps, which in turn causes him to go through more diapers.
I don't really remember what we did when we got back...rested, swam. Not sure. I DO know that we had dinner at Everything Pop and decided to take a swim in the Hippy Dippy Pool...then we decided that DH would go back to the room to get our little cooler with a couple of beers in it(which we must have also stopped to buy that afternoon.) and we would sit by the kiddie pool and let the kids play while we just relaxed. So the kids start playing and I am just sitting there withthe baby and they're playing and I'm sitting and then I notice Ethan. He has that look, you know the one....the one where he's pooped in his diaper whilst swimming in the pool. So I call him over and I just don't know what to do, it's a mess, he sure as heck isn't sitting in my strolelr like that, no one has their shoes on, everyone is wet, Jeremiah and Seth are complaining because they think it's cold(yes, in Sept. they think it's cold because it's a nice breezy evening.) and I have all this crap and Ethan literaly has crap. DH is no where to be seen. I am freaking, so I do the only thing I can, I hid him behind the stroller, lay out a towel, and take his pants off. I must have had something else there to put on him, because I'm pretty sure I threw those pants away, along with the swim diaper(which BTW are a joke and when poop gets wet it doesn't stay firm and concealed in those stupid things. Now we always just use underwear and plastic pants.) and the towel. Yes, I know, I know, but I don't care. I didn't want to be drying my face off with that thing, in a few days after it went through the laundry and I didn't think you did either. So I threw it away...that was like the 2nd or 3rd towel we had to throw away because of craptastrophies...everytime Ethan got in the pool he pooped. EVERYtime!! So anyway, while I am trying get him cleaned up, Seth is freaking out because now he too has to poop. DH still isn't back and you may be wondering why I didn't just go to the bathroom. Well, it's not that close to the kiddie pool and it was near impossible to do that with all the kids. So I'm telling Seth that he can hold it, well, he HAS to. I'm franticly looking around for DH, but no DH...it's been forever. Seth can't wait, and you guessed it. Another Craptastrophy. Seth is 4 and he's been potty trained since before he was 3 and NEVER has had an accident, and I was pissed, and embarrassed, because surely someone was going to post about this on the most shocking thread. I wrap him up in towels, threaten him with his life to keep his mouth shut.(For some reason he felt the need to be very LOUD about what had happened.) and we went off to the room, which was in the 80's. We run into DH I am SO mad because of what happened and why the heck did it take 30 minutes to go to the room and back and I was hearing a loud hum and was just totally freaking out. So DH takes Jeremiah and Seth with him and they go back to the room and I slowly make my way back with Ethan and Kaleb. DH is mad a tme because he always gets mad when I don't handle everything perfectly or because I get stressed out when I'm left with all 4 boys at a place like WDW. Of course he's never been in that situation because he would NEVER go for watching all the boys while I did something. Anyway, I get back, we get cleaned up I talk to Seth about how sorry I am for getting mad at him. Chad and I talk everything is okay now. So we head to Everything Pop for dinner and I'm pretty sure I had a drink. I needed one, or 2 or 3....
I guess we all just went to bed after dinner.
Up next: Day 3 - Chef Mickeys, Magic Kingdom, Chicken Dale and more complaining about being cold.

 

[MommyPoppins]

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom

We had a 7:40 ADR for CM. This was a first for us, and we were really looking forward to it, especially since it was, well free. We drove and parked at the TTC and then took the monorail to the CR. We were in like the first row 4 cars in. It was awesome! We had a little trouble trying to figure out how to get to CM when we got off the monorail, but someone finally pointed us in the right direction and we were soon having our picture taken. Then we stopped for pictures with Goofy, who Ethan LOVED and started calling him "Goo goo". I realized though that CM is not the place for our family, I know now we probably wouldn't enjoy WCC either. When they do the napkin thrilling, I feel weird, like I'd look stupid thrilling a napkin. Well of course I would, but so does everyone else. We've really missed the ball with the kids too. We've spent so much time and energy with rasing them to be quiet in public, respectful to adults, and to just be good and pleasent in general, that they also feel stupid doing the napkin thrilling. Oops. I guess we're going to have to go to the WCC and I'm going to have to swallow my pride and ride a wooden horsey. If I show them that at WDW it's okay to be silly while in a restaurant, then hopefully they will too. Of course that'll backfire on us next time we want to go somewhere quiet. We had about a split second with Mickey, and he's the only reason we went there. Minnie, too was a quickie. I forget if anyone else was there....except Chip and Dale. Or Chicken Dale as Jeremiah and Seth still call them to this day. We always have good interaction with them. I forget which one and don't want to look at the pics right now to find out. But anyway, lets just say it was Chip. Well, Chip took time with each of the kids for pictures and then he made such a HUGE fuss over the baby. He asked me to take him out so he could get a picture with him. Then he sat down on our bench and picked up Ethan on his lap.

He was playing with all the boys and fussing over the baby. It was wonderful. Meanwhile the family at the table next to us was stocking up on the fruit. Those kids would walk past us to the buffet, come back with armloads of apples and bananas and then the mom would put them in her purse. They'd go back and get more, and it went on and on and on. I guess they were gonna get their $$ worth. Granted we did take a banana for Kaleb. 8 month olds can only eat so many things you know. After breakfast which lasted entirely too long due to the fact that we actually had to sit around after we ate because we had not seen all the characters, we headed to the MK. I don't remember at ALL in what order we did things. But I'm pretty sure we started out with me taking the babies to FL while DH took the older boys to that cursed Speedway and Teacups. Then we met up and finished up FL and moved onto Frontierland. Where we always get Splash FP and child swap BTMR. We had lunch at Pecos Bills, and of course I saved a table with the kids while DH went and got our food. Why? Because were snobs like that and think we deserve the table more than the next guy. No not really, we're just smart enough to get a table before we have a tray full of food with no where to eat it and have you ever tried standing in line with 4 kids 5 and under while balancing trays of food and holding hands? Not DH and I, DH and kids and me and kids. lol. I can see the flame throwers in the distance. I have to go pick up my flame suit now. More later.....

 

[dismom9761]

Great trip report!I love reading about the trips that incude big families.

 

[javamom]

have you ever tried standing in line with 4 kids 5 and under while balancing trays of food and holding hands? Not DH and I, DH and kids and me and kids. lol. I can see the flame throwers in the distance. I have to go pick up my flame suit now. More later.....

I don't see anything wrong with this, personally. Keeping my kids out of the line helps everyone because then we don't end up tripping over them, and sitting there listening to them change their order 3 times. We set them down, give them one chance to pick and then get in line to order it. No tripping, no whining, no waiting. Makes things better for everyone in line. And let's face it, no one likes lines.

 

[MommyPoppins]

Most people don't see anything wrong with it, atleast not the nice people over here on the Trip Report board...but my oh my you should hear how they rant and rave over this on the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies board.

 

[pumba]

guess I need to be flamed too.....when we go with the grandkids and everyone else........some go and get the food and the rest of us go and get the tables ready with napkins and forks and catsup and all the nice things we need to plan a good meal......I know I am a control freak.

 

[horsegirl]

Oh Mommy Poopins- I am so sorry for your craptastrophies! Ugh! Double Ugh! Ick!!! That shocking thread is a hoot, and so was the poopy story! My Dh disappears like that too, but he would't dare do that to me at WDW. I have to say I am really, really impressed that you have 4 dks under 5 and do the dis thing. We have 3 each a year apart and that is tough. I cannot imagine 4. your boys are just precious and you sound like a thoughtful mom. keep up the great work mommy poopins!