Plan vs. Actual "Friendly" trip report: 12/8 - 12/13

[catherines_mama]

This trip was honestly a dream come true. We were hoping for a relaxing, enjoyable, FUN trip, and we sure did get it!

This summer we started planning our trip with a very good friend of mine from Indiana. We rarely see eachother so a week in Disney with our 2 families was gonna be FUN.

Here's the crew:

Me (29) single mom who LOVES Disney and Catherine (5) on her 5th trip to WDW. LOVES characters. --Staying at POP

Holly & Justin from Indiana with their awesome kids Jacob (10), Mason (8 on this trip), Hannah (5) and Justine (4). ALL Disney Vetrans -- Staying at VWL (rented)

Guest Starring: Andrea (my bestfriend who lives in Bradenton) joins us for a few days

SO I think we all have the same amount of trips under our belts but this is our first together. Holly & I always help eachother plan our trips, so we feel like we are there anyway.

Day 1: Friday 12/8 (Travel day)
We get up EARLY, pack the car, and the dog and head an hr south to my mom's house. The plan for the day is to work there until noon while Mom & DD make Christmas cookies. WELL - This changes! I FORGOT to pack my power cord and after some careful power saving, my battery dies at 11am and we get to leave a bit early.

Doggy is staying with my mom while we're at Disney so we hug mom, kiss dog and HIT THE ROAD!!! WOOHOO!

Andrea is in Orlando today with some job interviews so she's meeting us for a few days at Disney. We were supposed to have her longer, BUT her company closed down and she needed to job hunt (side note: she did GREAT and got a GREAT job offer that week)!

Drive down 77 > 26 > 95 is smooth. 95 is BORING!!! We make great time and stop in Savannah for gas, potty, and milk shakes. We get on I-4 from 95 and after about 30 min.... we sit. and sit, and sit! There was a fuel spill and the 2 right lanes were closed. I took a pic of my spedometer and sent it to Andrea. Wanted to show her how fast we weren't going... 0 mph! We counted 6 fire trucks, 3 ambulances and 4 police cars. What a mess! We finally got to Orlando around 7:30. We meet Andrea at Country Inns & Suites (it has my approval), and after check-in, we head to Uno for dinner. This was my first time there, it was yummy!

9:30 back to the room, shower, ready for bed. At this point I realize.... I forgot EVERYTHING!!! Now I have SOME stuff but forgot Pal Mickey. Forgot Lanyard & Pins. Sorry Catherine! She does well with it.

Set the alarm for 6:30, as we want to get up, get out, checkin at POP (want that good room) and get to Epcot for open.

So today wasn't exciting. Average drive with one narly back-up, average hotel, average food. Nothing big.

 

[catherines_mama]

Day 2: 12/9 - Check-in at POP and EPCOT

So today Holly & gang flies in and we HOPE to catch up with them but NO exact plans. It ends up being the only day we'll have with Andrea so we plan to enjoy it with her.

PLANS: Up at 6:30, get ready, continental breakfast, check-in at POP, Epcot, Princess Breakfast, break at hotel, dinner -somewhere (yeah, I'm in denial that I had NO PLAN) meet Holly & crew in Epcot.

ACTUAL:
I wake up and feel really refreshed. Humm, is it because I woke up at 7am!!! OMG I overslept. Why did I NOT get a wakeup call? I should not trust hotel alarm clocks.

We RUSH to pack up, get dressed and run through to grab food we can eat on the run. We arrive very quickly (really, it was so close) at POP to check in. Catherine goes to watch TV while Andi and I check-in. It all went really easy! I asked if we could get a room over the lake and she said "oh I already assigned your room" "and its facing the lake". well YAY I like that!

Of course since its 8am our room is not ready, so we leave our luggage with luggage assist and head for the bus. The bus to Epcot is pretty empty and we start thinking.. hmm does anyone have EE today. YUP! MGM did, Andrea looks at me and rolls her eyes. She LOVES RR and is totally shocked that I didnt realize it was an EE day and we could probably do THAT AND make it to Epcot for open. Oh well, the fearless planner screwed up.. sue me!

We get to Epcot REALLY early and are 4th in line at our turnstile. Andrea & Catherine get comfy and sit down. Andi is a work-aholic who has not yet adjusted to not working. She still was making calls to contacts, networking, looking for a new job. SO I engaged a RULE!!! NO CELL PHONES! I allowed her to call her DH, then I took her cell phone AND blackberry and put them in my bag. HA! You'll have to relax for a day. She was SO lost!

We're let through the turnstile and the nice photopassers take our picture with MY camera I don't think I have ANY pics of me in front of the ball!

Thanks photopasser!

Being the Disney freak that I am we hustle to the spot right next to Innovations. There were 2 other families at that rope and we join them while a few other families join us. I've never been this close to Epcot rope drop. The park family come through and get introduced. They get to ride in the cool test track car. Then all the CMs from the rides come over. We had 2 from Soarin' and 2 from Nemo. They are all laughing that they KNOW we'll all follow the Soarin' CMs. Ya think? LOL Now DD had ridden Soarin' in June and cried the entire time. Well she's a bit older and was begging to ride it again. We're crossing our fingers!

Rope is dropped and off we all rush to Soarin'. We are well behaved and stay behind the CMs. The ground was a bit wet and a poor lady slipped and fell. Everyone kept going. I felt bad for her and stopped to help her up. She was laughing about being trampled at rope drop. I rushed and caught up with Andi & Cat. We get into the Soarin' queue. It's really sad that people have written on these silver walls. I don't know why people have to dispresct things like that. Come on people!! I was a kid once too! I was a snot nosed teenager once too! I never thought to deface anything, much less a nice new ride at WDW. *sigh*

So we get up to the lines and make it onto the 2nd flight!! YAY!!! We take our place on our gliders and listen to the intro. I love that guy. He's in so many voice-overs, he's cool!

We board our 'glider' and Catherine is excited. She's promised not to cry, but to just close her eyes if she decides she doesn't like it. "Thanks babe". Up we go and so far so good. I actually got to experience it this time instead of paying attention to the child whose head is buried in my lap. Well, she LOVED it! And I loved it! It's such a great ride!!!

Well! I had to go potty, so Andi and Cat head to TT while I run to the bathroom. They walk slow as I caught up with them at the fountain. Catherine was hitching a ride on Andi's back. (This was NO stroller day... we were trying to save a days rental) I make the lazy bones walk and we get to TT with a stand-by line of 10 min. We decide to grab FPs to ride again and in we head. NOW!!! DD was too scared to ride this in June, but again, begged to ride it. We basically walk on, and hop in our car.

Catherine was VERY excited! Needless to say... she LOVES the ride. She was squealing by the time we're outside and screams AGAIN AGAIN as we get off. Good thing we have FPs.

Well, NOW in our PLAN is princess breakfast. Well since Andi joined us this day we ended up canceling it (48 hrs in advance to get my deposit back). Instead we head to meet Mickey, Goofy, Minnie & gang at Character Connection. I love this place! Its great! Andi and I wanted OUR picture taken with Chip & Dale so Catherine took it with her disposable. (still need to get those developed). Chip KISSED ME! After I asked Andi if Dale kissed her? NO!!! it was just me! LOL

Off to an old favorite, Spaceship Earth. DD doesn't like this Oh well, she got over it! As we exit the ride, we pass the Dream Team going in the exit! Oh well! We head to TT for our FP return time and enjoy yet another ride (of many) on TT! Weeeee!

Next up: Plans change, but we have a blast!

 

[pumba]

I love love Soarin too but the first few times I did it I was not impressed...may of been something to do with a stomach upset.....but I LOVE IT.....
Thanks for your report and your photos of your little princess....she is adorable...

 

[catherines_mama]

Day 2 - Part 2

PLAN: More Epcot, break at hotel & back to Epcot

ACTUAL: Since this is Andi's only day with us, she wants to do some MK. So we hop the monorail to MK. Its only 10:30, so the monorail to MK is dead! YAY! So we ride in the front, another YAY! We've been in the front twice before and this is the 1st time we've gotten co-pilots liceanses. YAY again!

We get off the monorail at MK and head down to security & the turnstiles. DD is asking for a stroller and ya know... I don't really care. I'd rather have her happy then crabby so I cave and get one. This is our 1st time renting strollers and it really was not a problem! It took me a minute to realize I had to make my own nametag, but I figured it out. I was amazed with these strollers, they roll awesome!! VERY easy to push!

We went down Main St. It was so fun to see all the decorations!
I LOVE Christmas! We head left after Crystal Palace and into Adventure land. Cat stops to see Rafiki

We went through Adventure land and rode Aladdins Carpet. Andi sat out to go find Catherine her 'surprise' for the day. She was wanting the monkeys that hang from you and velcro hands together and Andi really wanted to get it for her. She found it!!! After Carpets we saw Genie so went for his autograph! DD nearly knocked him over! LOL

After Genie we headed to THUNDER MTN. DD's Fav ride!! We grab FPs (although the line is only 20 min) and go get lunch at Peco Bills. We sit outside as its a BEAUTIFUL day. We were trying to talk Cat into SM, but she wasn't ready to be THAT brave. That's okay! After a yummy lunch (you never lose with Peco Bills) we head to BTMRR. We rode it the first time SANS FP becuase standby was only 20 min. As soon as we got off we got back on WITH FPs. this ride was our 1st and thankfully only encounter with cheerleaders. They were in the FP line behind us and when filling in the rows before you load acted VERY entitled to the row they wanted with no regard for all the other people who had been waiting also. Thank GOODNESS we weren't on their train.
See, look how much DD loves this ride.

We get off BTMRR and grab FPs for a bit later and head to HM! *sigh* DD has YET to ride this, and really is not wanting to... BUT! She does. We have about a 20 min wait so I allow Andi some phone priviledges. She checked her email on the blackberry and checked her voice mail. The phones get put back up! On HM we go! It's been FOREVER since I've ridden this. On past trips DD wouldn't ride it and when we were with Andi & my sister, we let them ride it while we did a potty break. WELL! We ride it... DD and all! yeah.. not a fan! She hid in my lap the entire time. Oh well, I tried. She hopefully isn't scared for life.

We sneak into IASM and DD gets her 1st ever line check tag. She felt VERY special!! Wait was 20 min but took about 30. AND I picked the wrong side when they split off. Oh well! We weren't paying much attention to time so I COULD NOT tell you what time it was, but we were having tons of fun! We ride IASM and it was fun. We glance around FL and waits are up. Peter Pan is like 50 min so we duck out of FL. We'll be back later this week! (that's the PLAN, right)

Head to BTMRR for our FPs (yes, this is ride #3 for the day). Here DD is again given the line check card. She was super excited! After BTMRR we finally pay attention to the time and its almost 3pm so we find a spot for the parade and I run to get a dole-whip (FIRST EVER). So, Dolewhip for me, Diet Coke for Andi, Lemonade for Catherine and we enjoy the parade.

Okay.. its been a long day, and you are probably bored by now! OH WELL!

The ph finally rings and its Holly! They made it in just fine and had checked into VWL and were headed to Epcot! We'd call them later and try to meet up. I then call and get our room number and we head over to POP to settle into our room.

On the bus Andi decides that since she has 3 interviews on Monday she's going to head home tonight and prep for them. We get our luggage and into our room. It was NICE! It was on the back bldg of the 50s facing the lake. NOW it was the 2nd to last room on the hallway and yes, THAT far from the lobby, but we don't care! We like the secluded feeling, and DD does just fine with the walk.

Okay, so its dinner time and I DONT have plans! I NEVER do NOT have PLANS for dinner. We decide to drive over to BC and eat at Beaches & Cream, go into Epcot and meet Holly & watch Illuminations. Yup.. the PLAN.

BC - YES, Dinner at Beaches & Cream - YES and YUM! It was great! I can't remember what we ate, so don't ask, but it was really good. We asked to eat at the counter as we enjoy that kind of atmosphere and loved it. And a PERK of eating at the counter. They made a dessert on accident and just GAVE it to us! YUMM It was the peanut butter one and we ate only like 1/3 of it before we were too stuffed!

While I paid Cat and Andi went to play on the beach. DD really enjoyed that. It was around 7 and Andi was exhausted so she headed back to Bradenton while DD and I went to Epcot to watch Illuminations. Holly & crew had headed back to VWL already to meet their groceries so DD and I were on our own. Guess what we did -- Test Track (ride 3). I was EXHAUSTED but wanted to try Illuminations so DD played with her monkey while I drank a margerita and we walked around WS. INSANE!!! Is all I can say!! It was SO busy and with CP about to start the walks were SO crowded with the people coming out and the people in standby. OMG I wanted OUT!!! DD said we could catch Illuminations later in the week (it was PLANNED) and we headed home. And NO I don't let my DD dictate the plan, but I had promised it to her and didn't want to pull the plan last minute.
Oh... a few silly pictures of DD in UK and Canada.. silly girl!!

We get home (parking at POP was easy, I cannot believe when they 1st opened there were such ISSUES), and get into the room. DD had sandy feet from the beach so took her shoes & pants off and was about to wash her feet in the tub.
I sit down and turn on the TV to figure out the weather when I see it!!!!!! THE SHUTTLE! I grab the room key, scream at DD to put her PANTS ON nad we run outside! I mean RUN!!!!!! I'm glad we weren't the only ones! We are all running around "which way is EAST?" We find it and are really excited to see it. I sat down and DD got in my lap and I explained to her what it was. It was SO cool to see. It's been a really long time since I've seen a launch. what fun!

Okay.. back into the room. Wash feet, get into bed and say GOODNIGHT!!!

Wow, that was a long day!

Tomorrow: the PLAN! AK to meet up with Holly & have breakfast with Donald. Enjoy AK, Epcot for dinner & Illuminations.. yeah.. that's the PLAN!

 

[catherines_mama]

Why did I change my title! LOL WELL I realized that our PLAN & ACTUAL ended up not matching AND I'm studying to get my PMP and Plan vs. Actual is a concept I'm studying.

 

[KangaFan]

Great pictures! Your DD has a beautiful smile! Can't wait to read the rest . . .

 

[OhMari]

Do you ever get scarred driving that far. Me and my husband do a lot of road trips, and he never lets me drive. When I do, it takes me about an hour to stop holding onto the steering wheel so tight and just relax. I'm pretty good too with taking the by-passes around cities instead of going through. I did Nashville for the first time and Chicago a couple of times.

Cool with the Space Launch. You are about the 10th person on the TR Dis boards that saw the Launch. I wonder if any of you met each other.

Thanks for sharing your TR.

Where did your friend get a job, what kind of work was she doing before she got laid off.

 

[catherines_mama]

Do you ever get scarred driving that far.

Nah, I've been a single mom forever. If I don't do it myself, we wouldn't go anywhere! With friends and family in FL we do the drive twice a year, its not bad.

Cool with the Space Launch. You are about the 10th person on the TR Dis boards that saw the Launch. I wonder if any of you met each other.

That would be cool! There were a few people around while we were looking for it.

Where did your friend get a job, what kind of work was she doing before she got laid off.

She was an acct exec for a mortgage comp. It was a small one and it went under. She's awesome at what she does and was heavily recruited. She got a job with CitiBank!!

 

[JamesMom]

Loving the report so far. Makes we wanna go NOW! Looking forward to more.

 

[catherines_mama]

Day 3: Sunday 12/10 - Animal Kingdom / Epcot

We wake up VERY excited this morning! We finally get to see Holly & crew! First time in 3 years!! YAY!!!

PLAN: Animal Kingdom for Breakfast with Donald. Epcot for LeCellier & Illuminations & HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASON!!

ACTUAL (we did really good this day):
Stitch (yuck) calls at 6:30 and I'm up and rolling. Fix my hair, get dressed & turn on the TV. DD starts to stir and she realizes we're at Disney still and bounces up and gets ready. We head to the bus at 7:15. We had an 8am date with Donald AND HOLLY!!!! We open the room door and HELLO! We have visitors. They wanted to come in, but we wouldn't let them. We told them we had another duck to go see.

Bus pulls up around 7:20 and we all get on. Some more people get on, and then come the runners. I always laugh at runners. I run too sometimes, but usually I just figure.. Oh well! So a runner gets on, on her cell ph and says "they are coming, can you wait" So we wait, and wait, and wait. They seemed to be nice people, but I had a date with Donald! Well we finally see someone with a stroller, strolling up. Its like 7:35 now and I was getting ansy. We FINALLY leave, YAY!

We make it to AK and head to the turnstile. I called Holly and got her voicemail. The CM asked us for our name and I checked in with Holly's name and they were already there. So CM let us through and we hustled through stroller pick up and ran (literally, see I run) to Donald's. I park the stroller next to Holly's and checkin at the podium. She told me what 'side' of the house they were on and in we walk! HELLO!!! Holly & Hannah were in line for food Catherine and I get in line behind them and strip! Literally! It was HOT!!!! in there! Holly & I hug, Catherine and Hannah wave. Kids are so cute they KNOW they know eachother but are still weary. We mosey over to the table with food piled high! This breakfast was YUMMY!

We weren't sitting down a second when we started getting characters. They came one after another.

It was Mason's 8th Birthday so they did a fun ceremony for him in our room. It was another little boy's birthday too so we got to do it for both of them! VERY fun!!! Okay so now we finally eat and it was SO YUMMY! OMG I love breakfast!

Introducing Holly's crew since they'll be mentioned going forward
We have Jacob, Mason, Justine & Hannah

After breakfast the girls and I go potty. Thats me and 3 girls 5 and under. "okay now, everyone stay in your stall until I'm done" hurry pee... "okay now everyone wash hand" then off to have fun with the air dryer. The waitress told us to grab some cereal & bananas for later, so heck, why not!!! And we did.

Outside to load up the strollers and boogie to Everest! WOOHOO! Catherine wanted to ride it!!! We'll see! We get to the rope at the Boneyard and are held there. They said they'd let us go at 9am. 8:58.. 8:59.. 9:00 okay lady, its 9. We have both strollers AT the rope, we're ready.. Holly and I had done our stretches! Note: I'm a dork, Holly is just a big a dork, she bred 4 little dorks. WATCH OUT! Her DH is just looking at us and shaking his head "oh great, someone to feed Holly's goofiness" he's just as goofy. We're STILL standing there 9:02. They finally let us go! YAY Just to stop at the rope at the bridge. Now these CMs deserve hazard pay! They walk holding the rope with fanatic Disney freaks in search of the Yeti hot at their heals. They walk SO slow so to keep pace with the rope at the OTHER bridge. Is there a Disney law that we have to all get there at the same time? geesh!

EE, strollers parked, kids measured.. Justine is too short & Hannah does not want to ride, Mason decides he doesnt either. Holly, Jacob, Catherine and I head in! Catherine is a dork like her mother and starts acting scared. Kiddo! Its fun! She says OK. We fly through the line. Get assigned to our rows, jump up and down so excited! I am looking around. See the DREAM TEAM at the exit. I tell Holly.. eww eww HOLLY LOOK!!! we wonder.. hummm....

Our train pulls up.. we get in, the bar comes down.... Catherine starts to cry! MAN!!!! CM lets us out. I pout. What? I am a good mom! She would LOVE it, I know my kid. The CM gave me a return ticket for 3. and I go find Justin & the other kids. I never realized how quick this ride was. Holly & Jacob were off in no time.... WEARING DREAM FPs!!!!!!! That whole train got DREAM FPs!!! Thanks Catherine!

I dont remember how it worked, what passes we used when but Justin, Jacob and I rode. I think we rode with my parent swap return, I don't remember. Jacob wanted to use his FP but he didnt need to with my swap ticket. Anyway.. we all 3 rode it and LOVED IT!!!

From here we head to Dinoland. We all do the dumbo like ride, can't think of the name. Just a cute picture of the girls (Hannah & Catherine) they warmed up to eachother quickly

After this the boys go do Primevil Hurl. The girls are all too short and I really don't care. I don't like to spin like that. Ride took forever! But we had fun waiting. The girls had the cereal from earlier.

Holly & her dream FP.. see we're dorks because we had to take a picture of it. She came running off of EE jumping up and down "Deedee, Deedee LOOK LOOK" mmhmm LOL

Then we head over to Boneyard. Half the crew wanted to go to Dinosaur but the little ones didn't want to. I'm not a HUGE fan of Dinosaur so I volunteered to stay ... with 4 KIDS (3 that weren't mine) what was I thinking!!! LOL The kids were great. I just stood in one place and kept a general idea of where they each were. Justine just kept going up and down the slide next to me. Mason was all over on his own, and Cat & Hannah were everywhere. We all decided at one point to go to dig.

DD can dig for hours but everyone else wanted to go play some more, so we dumped out their shoes and headed back to the playground. Holly, Justin & Jacob finally showed up and we gathered the crew.

Now.. it seemed like it took awhile for them to ride Dino and get back. It couldn't be THAT busy. Well going through Holly's pics to help me do this TR.. I see WHY? mmhmm, stick me with the kids and go watch a street show... mmhmm LOL (she knows I'm just kidding)

Humm where'd we go next? Its hard to remember so long ago.

We walked back through Asia on our way to Africa. We stopped for some Mickey Bars and sat down having a good time relaxing. The girls had fun getting all messy.

We wandered towards Africa and saw Devine. DD and I always see her but Holly never has. She almost walked right by her until I pointed her out. DD actually took this picture with my digicam, she's not too bad is she...

Safari was only like 20 minutes posted so we got in line. It was not bad at all. We had a great safari and thankfully saved little RED. Took lots of safari pictures but they look the same as everyone elses. We'd had better drivers in the past, but it was still fun.
Silly one of the girls on safari

After the safari we checked the times guide and had a bit of time before Lion King. Holly and I exchanged looks and rush over to ITTBAB. 5 minutes posted, we walk right in and begin playing with the dung ball. We file into the theater and cannot get enough seats together. I get stuck with the 3 girls LOL not STUCK i love the girls. And the other sit 2 rows behind us. Let me tell you.. through the show. I had one girl under one arm, another in my lap and the other was in DDs arm on the other side of her. They were all just hiding!

I love this show.. all over and out we go. We get seperated on the way out, but meet up at the strollers. The natives were restless, but we head to Lion King anyway. We walk up just as they are letting in and didn't get great seats. the little ones could not see very well but I STILL love this show.
Lion King over we head to the potty and glance at the character trails. DD LOVES characters. Holly's kids arent as HUGE on it as Cat is and the line is SUPER long so we begin the rule of distraction. We see a character with a long line and don't want to hear DD ask so we just distract her "look Catherine, over there, singers" and Holly and I scoot by quickly.

The kids wanted to stop and put their hands in the log. So they all do that and have a great time. The CM notices its Mason's birthday and makes a fuss over him.

Justin veers into Pizzafari. I love him. No "hey guys, wanna eat?" he just disappears down the sidewalk. I look at Holly "hey, lets eat" LOL

Holly & the kids go get a table while we get food. I get the chair on the end of the table and Catherine and I share our pizza & breadsticks and enjoy our food! so nice and peacefully! mmhmm.... A tour group of some sort all in yellow shirts starts filling in the room. A young boy (teenager I guess) walks behind me to get to the table next to us and... DRINK DOWN MY BACK! and on my backpack thats hanging on the back of the chair. I just sat there.... shocked for a few minutes! I looked at Holly like "did that REALLY just happen". I got up. walked and got some napkins and dried myself off. dried the floor, let a CM know there was a need to mop that area and sat down at the OTHER end of the table. Yeah... I didn't hear a single "I'm sorry" or any offer to help clean anything. THEM THERE ARE SOME MANNERS MA'AM!

We head out of Pizzafari and see a long line for Stitch. "Hey Catherine LOOK a pink bird to the right!" I am a bit wet still, why not get wetter!!! We decide we want to do Kali, If you were in WDW this day, you know it was a bit chilly, not too bad but a bit. We totally walk onto Kali with NO wait at all. We're all laughing b/c we KNOW we'll get wet. We were laughing trying to figure out WHO would get it all. We voted Holly b/c she was next to Justine w/ the KIDS arm down. I don't think we stopped laughing the entire ride..... We all did get it. Holly got the MOST, I picked up my feet and only got my shirt wet. Hannah was next to Justin and he shielded her from all of it as it hit on HIS side so she was like bone dry. LOL We were laughing SO hard. Justine's teeth are actually chattering. We'd left the sweatshirts in the strollers so change out of wet shirts and into dry sweatshirts / sweaters and decide its time to go home. Hey, do you realize they sell SOCKS at the end of Kali? I've seen socks in other stores but never a dump shop and it just made me laugh, I think they sold undies too there. Heck, who wants to be wet. Dry undies & socks are good enough.

We want to do EE one more time. I think we had FPs.. I DON'T know! but we rode it again this time.... WITH CATHERINE!!! I think we used my swap this time and Justins before.. I don't know but we also used 1 of the Dream FPs b/c we needed 4.. I dont know.. but Catherine rode it... And LOVED IT!!!

We walked by Nemo AGAIN on our way out and really thought about it, but the line was huge, it runs down the sidewalk and even blocks the way to DinoLand... why don't they have a better queue for this?

We stopped on the way out for some 'surprises'. Catherine got Mickey Ears w/ Santa hat and Hannah got the glitter ears with the veil. They were happy girls.

Justine had her lizard & she was happy with that

We hug goodbye (still shivering) and say "see you at Epcot". DD and I board the POP bus and look over to see everyone still waiting at the WL line, huddled together to stay warm.

Next up: Le Cellier & Epcot

 

[catherines_mama]

Day 3 - Part 2: Sunday 12/10, Le Cellier

So we left off leaving AK on our bus back to POP. We get to our room, change into dry / warm clothes and watch a little TV. We head over to the buses and jump on the one for Epcot. We had 6:50 ADRs at Le Cellier for Mason's birthday. Holly & crew had eaten there before, but I never have, and was REALLY excited.

We grab a stroller and head to.... you guessed it.. Test Track! Anyone keeping track, I think we'd been on it... 2 or 3 times already. I think 2 only. Okay.. it was 3. Its 6pm and posted wait is 50 minutes. The other day it was 40 and just took 20 so we wondered. There were a lot more people in the single rider and FP line this time, and we were not moving quickly AT ALL. So... we left. DD pouted but I didn't want to be late for dinner. We grabbed FPs for later just in case. I was a bit late and I wondered if it was really OPEN that late since FW closes at 7.. but oh well... took them anyway.

We had a photopassser take our picture at the fountain, did some shopping in MouseGears... I really wanted to buy DexBF a tie, he'd love it .. it was the light blue one with the silouette of Mickey's head in black, and I even imagined what he'd wear it with, itd look SO good... but he IS DexBF now (its recent, I'm still in denial) so I decided not to. oh well. We get my sister a charm bracelet for Christmas and head to WS. We got stuck at the tree lighting and could not get through. I should have went around towards Imaginations but Oh well... we all know about hindsight. We finally get around the tree and are dancing a bit to the Christmas music. We duck into the store there and I get DD a cute little gift to basically appease her. It was cheap, no big!

We get to Canada and park the stroller next to Holly's and meet up with them down at KidCot, we had to wait a bit for our table.

Is it me or is it tiny? Oh well

We were finally seated in Alberta! the corner booth and table next to it. Yeah, if you were near by.. SORRY! We had a lot of fun!
Girls:

Birthday boy:

And the real source of our rowdiness: Holly and I ordered the GLO-TINIs.

1st one

We all get the breadsticks and Holly and I got the famous soup. YUMMY! I'm loving this place! I really wanted a filet but didn't want the sauce it came with so got the other.. butter herb sauce. Dinner came and it was AWESOME! YUMM-Y! Time for another drink.

2nd one

Justin kept encouraging us to have more drinks. Be glad we didn't we'd have been LOONEY!!!

And after that we were all so happy!

LOL, Holly showed that picture to Justine and she said "Ms Deedee looks SO happy"

We pack up and leave Le Cellier. Catherine and Hannah wanted to STROLL together so I get Justine!! We were loving the Christmas music and Jacob busted out in a dance on the sidewalk of WS. If you were witness, I'm SO sorry! LOL we were rolling he was so funny! He was pulling out some INSYNC moves or something. Then Holly & I decided to have a clicking our heels contest! I needed the stroller to help me with balance (I'd had 2 GLOWtinis) but she did them really good! She IS also taller .. i think that helps! LOL Again, if you were witness to us, sorry, but I'm sure you enjoyed yourself.

We take the Oasis route to TT and WOW... it IS still open!!! NO WAY! its like 8:30. It was a 9:30 Illuminations night. Hannah & Holly sit out and the rest of us ride TT. It was a blast!! that is ride #4 if you are counting. That hairpin is WAY crazier after a few drinks. Through the mother-of-all-dump shops (they want you to buy a CAR) and we find Hannah pushing mommy around in the stroller! LOL We load back up and want to try BEVERLY. We got there honestly 2 min after it closed that night Catherine wants to stay for Illuminations as it WAS the plan, while the others want to go home. We get in the proper strollers, hug GOODBYE, say see ya tomorrow and we head to find an Illuminations spot. We luckily walk up with 10 minutes to spare and get a good spot a few people back from the fence just off the path next to Imagination. Well... Illuminations started at 9:30. We were at the bus by 9:35. DD HATES close fireworks and freaked out at Illuminations Oh well!

We got a great view from the bus stop and watched the end from there. Back home and we're alseep in NO TIME!! Tomorrow: MK and I seem to have a stamp on my forehead!

 

[catherines_mama]

Day 4: Monday 12/11 MK and a special surprise

GOOD MORNING!!! I get woken up by Stitch.. SO sick of him! DD won't wake up when the ph rings, she barely wakes up! We had breakfast with Pooh planned at 8:05. Holly & crew had CRT but they could only get a table for 6 so we went to CP, we LOVE CP! DO it every trip. No ducks waiting for us today But we had some duck POO so they'd been there. Guess we weren't early enough for them today.

Bus to MK with no problems at all. We get up to the turnstiles and join Holly & Crew in line. If you were behind them, really, we were just 2 extra people, the line wasn't that bad anyway. Get into MK and do some photo sessions.. its nice to have someone to take my picture. I DO EXIST!

They head straight, we turn left. Park the stroller and are off to enjoy a yummy breakfast with Pooh. Now just LAST NIGHT I read ZZUBs review of their CP breakfast. I'm not as good with words but I do enjoy this place. I love the biscuits with gravy (yeah you have to add LOTS of pepper and some salt, but it still good). The eggs are kind of like eating foam, but hey, they are good! DD Loves the muffins. We know the drill so we enjoy our food and gage the characters. I love this picture b/c DD really looked up to Jacob. He was always doing the peace sign so I think its cute that she did it too.

I pay, sign the bill and we wait. We just has Piglet left. Usually he doesn't circulate.. least whenever we've been there, but today he is.. so we wait. He was about 5 min out.. no big deal. DD took some pics with the digi cam b/c she was bored and we just sat and talked. SO Piglet is 2 tables away.... (this is when I think the stamp got put on my forehead reading "CUT IN FRONT OF ME, I WONT CARE"). okay... you see this coming. Piglet is NEXT TO US, we're the NEXT table and a family of I swear 12 approaches the handler and says "we've seen everyone, we're just waiting on Piglet before we go to the park, may we [insert gesture to CUT LINE]" ARE THEY KIDDING!!! DON'T THEY KNOW THE ROUTINE! YOU WAIT YOUR (undisneylike words) TURN!!! But no, the CM says "sure". ARE THEY KIDDING!!!

NOW! The CM in this case was a bit ... slow. Bless his heart he really was. If he weren't I would have approached him and informed him that my ONE child has ALSO been waiting to JUST see Piglet and we ARE NEXT!!!!! But.. I waited, the guy really was 'slow'. *deep breath* I'm at Disney, go with the flow, so what if Holly wants to meet us at the Barber shop for surprise hair for the kids, who cares that its past 9 and the park is open So family of 12 visits with Piglet while I GLARE at them over the rest of my OJ. THEN.. THEN.. THEN.. the parade starts and off goes Piglet and pouts goes DD. *deep breath*. Parade over, Piglet back, DD happy! ME happy! "Come on kid, lets go!"

Glad THAT'S over with!

Now, this is a 1st for us, the barber shop. Holly has had her boys hair cut here before but we wanted the girls to get pixie dust etc too! We get there and are like 4th in line. Holly and crew show up minutes later and we discuss waiting.. heck, we're on relax mode today... why not! We have all week to get everything done.. well today and tomorrow for us.. all we for them, but I was in laid back mode on a high from the biscuits & gravy I guess.

That wait took honestly 1 1/2 hrs. But it was worth it! The boys got good haircuts with mickey heads in the back and the girls got very cute princess hair with gel and pixie dust! Justin took Justine to get personalized ears since she's a little tomboy, she had her own special thing. (note: i love this kid, she ROCKS). so We're all happy.. OH Pics of my kid... She has got the thickest hair... look at the contrast
BEFORE....

AFTER....

It was really fun! The kids looked great and we got TONS of compliments all day long. Tons of people stopped us to ask us where we got it done. Harmony should slide us some marketing money!
The 4 with their hair (Thanks HOLLS)

And Justine in her hat (watching us a little later in the day)

Okay.. time to think... what next ... today was Left side of the park day. Adventure Land, Frontier Land & Liberty Square. Fantasy, Toon & Tomorrow were for.. well Tomorrow (thats the PLAN at least). SO! we head Left and enjoy a ride on the carpets. The girls HAD to have a purple carpet! LOL Luckily we got it! Then off to Splash & Thunder.

Okay, this is where it gets funny, and it just made me realize something! SO Hannah is dressed in a princess dress from CRT and has her hair all done up from Harmony. A group of 3 people of Asian decent come up and ask to take her picture (it made me realize Holly prob wouldnt care if I posted pics of her kids since a STRANGER TOOK pictures of her kid). Anyway.. they wanted Hannah's picture, not Catherine's because she's a slob in jeans and a tshirt LOL. Holly was like "umm OK" WHAT in the WORLD! They wanted Holly in one of them too! LOL Sorry, even the memory has me rolling! It was really too funny. We were all like even the boys were like "why are they taking a picture of Hannah?" Yeah guys.. WEIRD! Moving on...

hmmm I cannot remember the order we did this stuff. BUT I THINK we got Thunder FPs and rode Splash Holls is out there somewhere.. she'll correct me eventually. I think we did Thunder 1st. Holly & Justine sat out while the rest of us went .. yeah thats it. I got to sit with Mason b/c Catherine wanted to sit with Jacob. Mason was a bit weary, but LOVED IT! Catherine of course.. could live on this ride & be happy. Then Jacob, Holly & I got in line for Splash and Catherine LAST minute joined us while Justin took everyone else to the play place. We passed out ponchos and literally WALKED on. Everyone was looking at us wondering if we were total dorks. yup, we are.

Catherine LOVED Splash, it was her 1st time!

After Splash, we collected everyone else and went for our BTMRR FP return. We get up, go around, and around and stand... and stand... and stand... And hear "we're sorry but there is a malfunction with the ride. You can chose to wait, as the ride will be back up momentarily" something like that. Well everyone left "bye, see ya". We wait and fill in the empty spaces from all the people who are gone. We got up to the guy who collects FPs and he told us to exit the bldg. The ride would not be back up soon and they were emptying the entire building. well they stink!

It was time to see some Pirates so we headed that way. We stopped and ate at Peco Bills but really sat in that other place that isnt open anymore.. dont know the name. I stayed with Catherine & Hannah while everyone else did Pirates. My next trip... I get to go see Jack Sparrow.. if I have to blindfold my kid to do it!!! I take the girls to see Capt. Hook & Mr. Smee then we have fun waiting for everyone. There were like 100 photopassers around so I asked them what was up with THAT! They said they were in training and had to learn about character greet photos etc. Umm OK! Tons of people stopped to say HI b/c of the girls hair, it was fun!

After this ... We decided to ride Haunted Mansion. Catherine had HATED it a few days before, but there was peer pressure today! She enjoyed it and did really good! I had Hannah on one side & Catherine on the other.. they both hid a BIT but not too bad. Holly had to promise them she wouldn't scream while on the ride. Hey, its fun to scare your own kids.

HM conquered we ... ah (brain lapse).. it was starting to rain a bit, but not bad so we decided to watch the parade. We pulled up for a quick spot. Holly went to get their snacks while I .. took the girls potty! Hey, I was good at that! Then I went and got mine . While in line for popcorn there is a guy 2 people back in line with a "I (heart) hot moms" tshirt on. Too much! So Jacob ran Holly's camera over to me and I snapped a shot. LOL She's a hot mom, she needed that as a keepsake. Me.. I'm a cute mom

The parade was great, it started raining a bit so all the kids had the ponchos on them like blankets and were curled up in the strollers while we stood behind them.
The kiddos

WHY people were trying to elbow us out, I don't know, there was a wall behind us they could have just stood on, but me, I like to be in reaching distance of my kid, she's all I have and I lost the receipt.

I think today is over.. well this part of today. At this point we say GOODBYE , see you tonight (surprise) and head out. DD and I do a bit of shopping. Since I forgot her lanyard we'd been buying pins each day to put on at home, one from each park to remember that stop.

If you know POP you know its the LAST stop at MK. The bus was there and I thought... "to run or not to run" I didn't run, and it still waited. Thanks busdriver Bob.

Back to POP to change, grab dinner & relax.

 

[catherines_mama]

sorry about the big pics... the little ones (that look normal are from Holly) mine are just large!! Oh well!

 

[catherines_mama]

How do some of you put so much time between chapters.. I'm having too much fun doing this. Its making me miss WDW and very excited about planning another trip!

Day 4 - Part 2: My stamp is back and we have an AMAZING night

So.. we left off after strolling to our bus and heading back to POP. Its around 4 by now and we need to be over to WL at 7:30 for a eeeeek WISHES CRUISE!

So we get home and drag ourselves to our room. I take a shower and pull my hair back. I was just tired! My feet hurt! DD wanted to swim! It was chilly! Instead she just layed on the bed like a veggie. (veggie veggie Fruit Fruit - I miss that show). Okay.. so we get dressed and mosey over to the lobby. Plan: check my room charging (how good have I been?) do some shopping & have dinner.

I get in line for Guest Services and DD has to go potty. I was in line and wanted to get this done. She's 5, she has a peircing scream and knows to use it when a stranger touches her so I send her to the potty, but I watch her the entire way, that kind of "I'm in line but I'm craning my neck" kind of thing. SO! This is when I realize my STAMP is back. Its my turn to step up to the desk and I take my 1st step then I was SHOCKED! A woman comes rushing up and gives me the "one minute" finger (the good one LOL). 'No she didn't'. She said to me "I'll just be one second" and walked on up to the desk! I was like the women in line behind me were like we looked at eachother like . She asked me (the woman behind me) if I was going to say anything. Umm I wanted to .. but I really could not get a grip of what just happened and didn't really know what to say. AND I am a relaxed Disney traveler this week. I don't want to get all UNDISNEY-LIKE on her *rearend*. But whats up with that rudeness. and NO it did not take 1 second. It took 3 minutes! I walked up to the same CM as soon as she walked away and was a bit and said "This one REALLY will just take a second" and you know what... it did. 40 to be specific. He put in my room # and hit print. Handed it to me, I said THANK YOU gathered up DD (she was back, in one piece) and went on my way. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Why didn't the CM inform her that she is NO more important then me or the ladies behind me. NO MORE! I paid my money, I have a schedule and I WAS IN LINE!!!!! *deep breath* okay.. thanks

DD and I go spend more money and buy some things for those back home at the POP gift shop. We then go eat really healthy. I made DD eat some apple slices but then she ate some cheetos. LOL hey, we're on vacation.. what can it hurt? (mmhmm, you'll see)

So, we're excited! I know where we are going but DD doesn't! Heehee. We get in the car and head to MK, DD was like "where are we going, what are we doing" We pull into WL and ... WOW I LOVE this place!

We find VWL and head up to their room. They were down in the lobby (how'd we miss them) but we found Justin & Justine in the elevator and went with them to the Lodge lobby. While there the girls came out to sing so we sat down to enjoy that. The cruise left at... 8:30 I think so we enjoyed watching the show.

And I have mentioned that I love Holly's kids.. look they love me too!

Yeah.. we're already planning our next trip together.. we had TOO much fun!

Okay so after that, we headed to the dock. This is where we had 2 heads. Justin asked the front desk where we go.. we didn't know and hey, they didn't either. So we kind of wandered around, and YAY we found it! Disney should hire us, we know more then they do now.

Holly had gotten a special Birthday Cruise for Mason and the boat was done up with streamers & ballons. The capt. (Michelle - she was great) came out with the cake and gave all the kids life jackets. This was so that if we threw them off for being snots in the parks, they'd float. Oh well! Good things they are all good kids. We had chips and sodas on the boat and it was SO FUN!

We headed around Bay Lake and saw the SHOE TREE and the smelly birds then cruised into 7-seas lagoon. Justin (the construction man) was so excited b/c it is a ... aquapher (is that right?) anyway.. I had to show Catherine b/c she did NOT believe cars were driving under us. "yeah honey, and when WE go under it tomorrow on the bus I'll show you" (mmhmm, thats the PLAN).

We cruise over to GF and see the water pagent coming out. Well the little red lights of it anyway. So Michelle shows us some other cool stuff and we park facing the POLY for the pagent. It was SO COOL!!!! OMG.. I had not seen this since I was a kid. And if any of you know the songs that go with it, and are in your 20s or 30s you'll know the DINOSAUR song. we had the kids going all night with that. Holly even downloaded it at home for Mason b/c he had so much fun with it. okay... If I laugh anymore today I'll pee myself.

Some cruise pictures... I'm just uploading these.. okay
The boat (and Michelle, bet she didn't think she'd make the www, she was awesome though)

Me & my girls!! My little diva "no pictures please" LOL

Holly & Justin (they DO exist)

Mason's cake - it was YUMM

And... the mummy.. it was a bit cold out there, at least for Jacob it was LOL

Then we taxid over and parked for Wishes... It was the Holiday Wishes for MVMCP and WOW!!! It was AMAZING! from out there.. when the fireworks go all the way from left to right.. and the music.. and the fireworks.. and the red & green.. yeah.. I loved it! A LOT!

THANK YOU THANK YOU SOOOO Much Holly & Justin & Mason for letting us be a part of the birthday cruise it was once in a lifetime AMAZING!

We walk them back to VWL lobby and say GOOD NIGHT, see ya tomorrow and Catherine drags her sleepy butt to the car where she is OUT in 2 seconds flat. Back to the POP and I'm out in 2 seconds flat! Good night..

Tomorrow: the PLAN is MK in the morning (the right side) and MGM at night for dinner, some rides and... Fantasmic MY FAVORITE!!! mmhmm. thats the PLAN

 

[catherines_mama]

Again, how do ya'll wait.. I'm having WAY too much fun

Okay Day 5: Tuesday 12/12 MK & MGM

Lets flashback quickly to what DD ate last night. Apples, cheetos, more chips, cake, soda. Okay... Lets now FF to 4:00am, Location: POP bedroom. I feel a tap on my shoulder "Mommy, there is throw up in my bed". Half awake "Okay honey, get in Mommy's bed". 5:00am, hear feet running across the room, hear splat on the carpet, decide I should probably get up now. She was sick! with a capital S!

I stripped her bed. TRIED to clean up the mess on the floor. (sorry mousekeeping). Got her a drink of water. THEN decided I might want to put the trash can next to her. I curl back in bed and tell her to go back to sleep. We had nothing early and I was hoping this was just "I ate junk" sickness. If it was, I don't know b/c she kept throwing up. At 7 the phone rang, it was Stitch, but I was already awake. I called Holly and cried! It was our last day there anyway and DD was so miserable. We were just gonna check out early, save the $ and head to Bradenton today instead of tomorrow. I was scared I'd spend the next 24 hrs in a puke smelling room with a sick little one. She had the sweats & shakes by now and it was definetly the flu. I packed while she hung her head over the bed. I went to check out and cried some more. DD was there with her popcorn bucket, in case of emergency. We got in the car and headed west. The bucket came in VERY handy btw.

poor thing!

We got to Bradenton around 11 and stopped at Walgreens. Poor DD sat in the aisle while I got medicine for her and ... well filled her bucket. Good thing we emptied it outside before going in. The people working there took pitty on me and ran around getting what I needed while I sat with DD. We got to Andreas and nobody was home (but we know how to get in). I gave DD a bath, gave her some cola syrup, crackers & ginger ale, laid her in Andreas bed (with a towel and bucket) and turned on the TV. She slept for a few hrs and then laid around until about 8pm. She finally felt good enough to come join us then and she curled up with Chris (Andrea's DH) and watched Cars.

Holly & crew remained at WDW until Saturday. We spent the rest of the week in Bradenton & Tampa with friends & family then drove back to NC on Sunday as planned.

In closing... our trip ended NOTHING how we wanted it to! It was not fun having a sick child. I missed the other half of MK, missed Sci-Fi, missed RnR & TT AND Fantasmic, missed saying a REAL goodbye to an absolutely AMAZING friend and her awesome family... BUT it was still the best trip to Disney we've had. We were all laid back, wanted to enjoy eachother more then the parks and we ended up enjoying all of it - together, and that was perfect!


I cannot wait to go back, and trust me... I'll PAINT DD with anti-bacterial next time.

So that was our trip. Hope you enjoyed it, please come visit again soon!

 

[GoldenAfternoon]

I loved reading your trip report It reminded me so much of a trip I took with my then- 5 yr. old niece. She and I also met up with friends & family, but had our own little adventures together. Unfortunately, I also got the "my belly hurts" tap in the middle of the night. It doesn't get much worse for a little one than having the 24 hr throw up bug in WDW. Sorry your vacation ended on a sour note, but that's all the more reason to start planning another one! That was my excuse that year How much did your stop at the MK barbershop cost? My now- 7 yr. old niece would love that sparkley hair-do. Fit for a princess, of course! Thanks for sharing

 

[catherines_mama]

GoldenAfternoon : I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun to write. I was rolling all over again at a lot of it. I added pictures just moments ago that I got from Holly, so if you missed some of the new ones, they are funny.

The barber shop: It was only $5 for the girls, cuts are a bit more. For the girls they will 'fix' their hair, put gel in it and add the pixie dust. Look at that compared to Bitty Boppity Boutique and its a great deal.

Sorry you had the tummy bug trip too. I just know we were lucky to have an exit path. If we were mid-trip, or had to wait until the next day for a flight. I'm not good being cooped up.

 

[marsha123]

your baby is a cutie, enjoyed the read

 

[tinawv]

So sorry that your daughter got sick. Hope she feels much better now. It really sucks to be sick, but especially when you get sick at WDW. Thankfully it was towards the end of your trip versus the beginning. I loved your pictures. Your daughter is beautiful.

 

[KangaFan]

Poor thing, what a sad end to your vacation. Glad it was at the end at least. Sounds like you had a wonderful time, otherwise. Thanks for sharing!