Return to the True Path: 12 Days of Bliss

[skent10]

It is with much fear and trepidation that I have decided to post a trip report here on the DIS boards. There are so many great writers out there who have offered up equal parts of inspiration and intimidation with their brilliant sagas, that I’m afraid my efforts will pale in comparison. Oh well, at least it’ll make it easier to journal in the scrap book later.

I suppose I should start off with introducing the cast of characters. They include:

Me, Jan, 34, who finally managed to convince DH that it was time to return to Disney, and who obsessively planned for almost a year;
DH, Scott, 37, once a Disneyophile who, in recent years, had strayed from “the true path”;
DD, Megan, 7, huge Stitch fan
DS, Ryan, 6, huge sport and video game fan
DS, Parker, 5, a mama’s boy who, ironically, loves thrill rides his mama refuses to go on;
DD, Amanda, 5, a girly girl who considers herself one of the Disney princesses

And, no, none of those numbers are typos—we had 4 children in 2.5 years—and, no, we didn’t plan it like that (who plans twins?) and, no, we wouldn’t trade our family for the world!

Background Info:

When DH was growing up, he was a huge Mickey Mouse fan. All through college (where we met) he was a huge Disney fan. Every Spring Break would take him to Florida, not to the infamous Daytona Beach, but to Orlando to see the Mouse. We considered having our wedding at DW (ultimately nixed because very few friends and family would have been able to join us) but did have a Disney themed reception with Mickey and Minnie as cake toppers and a wonderful honeymoon at the World. We visited Disney World the following year and twice again over the next three years, until we started having babies. I even managed to sneak in a last minute trip to Disney World with my parents one December (leaving DH at home to work and pay for it) with a 2 year old, 1 year old and while 7 months pregnant with twins! If that doesn’t prove how much I enjoy Disney …

Now my DH works hard at his job, and doesn’t get a whole lot of time off during the year, but we do manage to take a vacation for the last two weeks of June, every year. It’s a given that once June 16 hits, our family will not be found at home. Because our vacation is so precious, we like to make the most of it. DH and I scuba dive, so our vacations are usually to a location that lets us indulge in some great diving. Unfortunately Orlando doesn’t qualify as a great diving locale, so it had fallen from our list of potential vacation destinations since our last visit in 2000. Until this year!

After returning from last year’s vacation, I sat DH down for a serious talk and explained to him that, for the past five years, we had been vacationing where WE wanted to go and just dragging the kids along with us for the ride. Now they were getting old enough to take into consideration and I felt it was time to choose a destination with them in mind. He reluctantly agreed, and so Disney was immediately chosen. We picked our dates, chose the hotel (the Villas at Wilderness Lodge) and booked the package. Then DH walked away from the computer saying, “There. I’ve done my part. The rest of the planning is up to you.”

This, from the man who planned EVERY aspect of our last 5 vacations?! From the man who found a rafting company that would let us take along a 5 and 6 year old when the travel agent said the minimum age was 8?! From the man who knew more about Australia than our travel agent, a native Australian?! Leaving me to plan the entire vacation?!

I took it as a challenge. I would plan a better vacation than he had in the past. I hit the internet, stumbled across the DIS boards, and settled in for some serious planning …



Thursday, June 15 (11 months later)

At 5:01 p.m. with the car packed, I placed a call to DH’s office to see how much longer he thought he’d be. At 5:24 p.m. I called him back to see if he was off that conference call I had interrupted. At 5:43 p.m. I called him to see if I should go ahead and go get some supper for the kids (since our fridge had been emptied) or if he thought he’d be home soon and we could grab some food on our way to the hotel. At 5:44 p.m. he called me back to say he was on his way home and to quit leaving so many voice mails!

At 6:30 p.m., with DH home and changed out of his work clothes, we all piled into the car and headed north (yes, I know, the wrong direction) to Milwaukee. We live in northern Illinois, about equal distance from Chicago and Milwaukee, one hour either way. We usually fly out of O’Hare airport, but had found a great deal on a direct flight from Milwaukee to Orlando that left very early in the morning. So we (that would be the royal “we” since I was the only one involved in the decision) decided to drive up and stay at a hotel close to the airport before catching our flight. I had found a Comfort Suites that offered free parking for 14 days, a free shuttle to the airport, an indoor swimming pool, free continental breakfast and a room large enough to accommodate all six of us in the family (Hah! Top that one, DH!)

We arrived without much incident (if you don’t count the argument over which drive-thru to get supper at) and by 8:30 the kids were in the pool in an effort to wear them out before bedtime. We did spend several minutes after lights out playing musical beds. Never played that game before? It’s where DH and I trade places with whichever child is annoying his or her sibling in the bed the most. First I traded places with Ryan and made him sleep with DH. Then I traded places with Megan and made her sleep with Parker. A couple of shuffles later, I somehow ended up on the pull out sofa with Amanda, the “Thrasher,” but everyone was quiet so I let it go. And by 10:30 p.m. I was slowly drifting off to sleep with visions of our vacation …

Until I awoke violently to the realization that I did NOT have the children’s birth certificates! Now most of you may be thinking, "So what?" but for me it was a big deal. All our air travel with the children in the past 7 years has been international (Canada, England, Australia) where birth certificates and, more often, passports have been required. Our daughter Megan got her first passport before she got her first tooth. Have you ever tried to squat down on the ground, hold up a six week old above your head (since you aren’t allowed to be in the picture) and convince it to keep its eyes open and mouth closed for a passport photo? That was a fun three hours at the Post Office! But I digress …

So I threw on some clothes, grabbed my purse and car keys and raced out to the car. I quickly checked the glove box on the off chance the kids’ birth certificates were still in it. (Huh?! Well I keep them in there when we drive up to Canada to visit my family, and since we’d only been there a couple of months earlier, I was hoping I’d been lax about returning them to their rightful place. No such luck.) Now my adrenaline was really coursing through my veins and my head was spinning. "Do I jump in the car and race back down the interstate to grab the kids’ birth certificates? Do I tell Scott where I’m going so he won’t wake in the middle of the night and wonder where I’ve disappeared? Should I try to sleep for a few hours first, then get up at about 3:00 to go home to get them?"

Finally, I became rational enough to phone the airline to make sure I really needed the birth certificates. I was on hold for a good 15 minutes, pacing the parking lot with cell phone to my ear ("Come on, people, I’m wasting time here! I need to get going if I have to drive home tonight!"), but a lovely Customer Service Representative at Midwest Airlines named Jenny—I’ll never forget that lovely woman—reassured me that I.D. was not required for minors under 18 traveling domestically, unless they were traveling alone. I do believe she only had to repeat it twice before I hung up in relief and tiptoed quietly back into the hotel room to collapse on the sofa bed. With one last kick to my shin from the “Thrasher,” I relaxed into blissful dreamland.

UP NEXT:

Official Day One
“Why I didn’t quite plan enough”

 

[goofymom23]

Starting out to be a good trip report. Keep it coming...

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent start ~ Looking forward to reading more.

 

[OhMari]

Love the picture of your family. I have 4 kids too. 2 boys and 2 girls, but the age difference is 8 yrs.

Glad your sharing your report with us.

 

[MagicMe]

Wow - with your hands full, where to you get the time to write?

Great report so far

Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[AussieAngel]

Yay! Off to a fun start!!

I've never heard of having to show a birth certificate as well as your passport... Is it just because they're children and have no other ID?

 

[skent10]

Yay! Off to a fun start!!

I've never heard of having to show a birth certificate as well as your passport... Is it just because they're children and have no other ID?

No, sorry for the confusion. When we travel from the US to Canada, they only need to show their birth certificates (although the governments are in the process of changing that rule to require passports). When we travel to other countries (i.e. England and Australia), the children don't need their birth certificates, they need their passports. I lumped them all together.

Thanks for all the encouragement everyone. I do most of my writing after the kids are in bed for the night (I'm a night owl), so will try to post my next installments in the morning after a good night's sleep lets me go back to proofread.

Please note: I'd didn't promise EVERY morning!

Now on to the next installment.

Jan

 

[skent10]

Friday, June 16

I did sleep a few hours before my inner worrier managed to wake my body up, terrified that somehow DH had managed to mangle both the hotel room’s alarm clock and his own Blackberry alarm so that we’d miss our flight. So I lay on the bed listening to the quiet sounds of my sleeping family and watched the minutes slowly tick by on the clock beside me. Finally, at 5:10 a.m. the first of the alarms sounded, and we eagerly aroused the family with the words I’ve longed to utter for almost a year, “We’re going to Disney today!”

I had arranged for us to be on the 6:00 a.m. shuttle to the airport, and we were out front waiting for it by 5:50 a.m. In my enthusiasm over finding such a great hotel, I had neglected to verify in advance what time that free continental breakfast actually started (“Why I didn’t quite plan enough” #1 of the day). So, with empty stomachs, we boarded the shuttle and glanced one last time back into the hotel lobby where they were only beginning to set up for those travelers fortunate enough to stay until at least 6:30 a.m. But that’s okay, because we were finally headed to Disney!

The Milwaukee airport was already bustling with other early morning travelers, but nowhere near the peaked frenzy of O’Hare, so we easily checked ourselves in at the front desk (where I held my breath waiting for that one question that could sink the whole ship: “Can I see the children’s ID, please?”) and sailed through security. I immediately spotted a restroom, and announced it was time for our first Forced Potty Break (hereafter known as the FPB). In our family, if someone goes, we ALL go. I think it started when I had four little ones in diapers. Back then, I set up an assembly line and, if one of them needed a diaper change, I automatically changed all of them to get it over with. That routine carried over into potty training (each bathroom had two potty chairs in addition to the regular toilet) and the tradition continues to this day.

After the FPB, my kids lined up by the water fountain for their pre-emptive dosage of Dramamine. DH never gets airsick, and I never used to until the first time I flew while pregnant (and now even the memory of that flight turns me a slight shade of green ). We found out the hard way 2 hours into a 16 hour flight to Australia last year that Megan gets airsick as well, so now it’s standard to dose everybody up before we get on a plane, just to be on the safe side. It just makes for a nicer flight for our family and those who may end up sitting in the seats surrounding us!

We only had to wait a few minutes before our flight began boarding, but we stayed in the gate area until the last group was called to get on. I can understand how some with young children may want the extra time to get settled on the plane, but I always found it better with my own children to keep them out of that small, enclosed space as long as possible.

With no delays we took to the air right at the scheduled 7:30 a.m. departure time and were on our way to Orlando! My kids each had their own backpack filled with games, toys and crafts to amuse themselves on the flight and I settled in for a nice 2 ½ hour nap, only briefly interrupted by the beverage cart and continental breakfast trays we bought for the kids to eat.

We were scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 11:05, and Midwest Airlines sailed in right on time. The plane was full of families with kids about the age of our own, so everyone was eager to get off. There was a steady stream of people marching from our gate down the hallway to the restrooms. Time for the next FPB, and most of the plane joined in this time!

As we waited for the tram to take us to the main terminal, I explained to DH how I needed to stop at the Disney store inside the airport. He looked at me like I was crazy, and then I was forced to explain the little problem I had (“Why I didn’t quite plan enough” #2 of the day). It seems that the six months since I had booked our breakfast at CRT had flown by slightly more quickly than I had expected. Although the girls had enthusiastically requested to dress up for the breakfast, I had neglected to get around to buying them outfits. Not that I didn’t try. For the last two days I had been to every Toys R Us, Target and Wal-Mart within a reasonable driving distance from our home. But the shelves that had been overflowing with Disney Princess paraphernalia for the last year had somehow emptied moments before my entrance into the store. And so, less than 24 hours before our coveted ADR at the castle, our own princesses were without appropriate attire. And that just wouldn’t do!

DH, with a huge sigh and slight shake of the head, herded the boys over to the hat section of the Disney store and left the girls with me to debate the merits of Snow White’s gown versus Sleeping Beauty’s. Less than half an hour later we emerged with our chosen apparel and headed down to find the Magical Express counter.

Now I had read a lot about Disney’s Magical Express service, both the good and the bad, and had decided that, for the savings, I could deal with whatever headaches it might bring. In preparation for the worst case scenario, I had packed an extra change of clothes as well as a bathing suit for each of my children within their carryons. We could live without luggage for a good 48 hours if necessary. In fact, we’d learned to live without luggage for a whole 7 days when DH’s suitcase took a trip to Cancun one year while we spent the week in the Virgin Islands. But that’s another story …

And I was prepared for the worst case scenario since we never did get any supposed packet from Magical Express before our trip. I had heard rumors about booklets and vouchers and lovely little yellow luggage tags, but they remained only rumors to our family. Even now, two weeks after our return, the packet remains undelivered. But I had a copy of our e-mail confirmation in hand and I had written out a description of our checked luggage in advance. I honestly think we would have been on the bus within 10 minutes had the computers not frozen while I was standing in line. With the computers “down,” it became a 30 minute ordeal to get things straightened out (and it didn’t actually get straightened out as I found out a few days later).

But by that point we were so excited to be getting on the bus and heading to our resort, we couldn’t contain our glee.

Not even the grouchy woman sitting in front of Amanda (with the striped hat in the picture above) who turned around and curtly yelled “STOP!” (when Amanda’s foot accidentally released the footrest and it snapped up again) could dampen my family’s enthusiasm. Although I sure hope she could see me with her peripheral vision as I sat glaring at her for the whole ride! (“Come on! If you can be that easily annoyed by a small child, can you at least be polite when you ask them to cease whatever it is they’re doing to annoy you?!”)

A couple of stops at the Grand Floridian and Polynesian first, and then we were welcomed home to the Wilderness Lodge! We were in that impressive lobby with our mouths gaping by 12:30 p.m. I left my family to stare in awe and amazement while I went to check us in (and slip into line ahead of Grouchy Lady. Hah!) We were booked for a 2 bedroom Villa, and the only request I had made was for a dedicated two bedroom with 2 queen beds rather than a lock off with 1 queen and a pull out sofa. In my excitement at finally checking in, I forgot to reconfirm my request. But on a sticky note plastered to the front of my paperwork I had written the words, “Flag Family” so I wouldn’t forget to ask. The CM laughed when she saw the note and offered to check for me before I even got the words out. Yes, we made it on the schedule for Friday, June 23! This was another one of those things I didn’t tell the family about that I wanted to surprise them with during the vacation. Just to prove that I can plan as exciting a vacation as DH could have.

Not surprisingly, our room wasn’t ready yet, so we headed off to Roaring Forks for a late lunch. It was there that I received my first shock. According to my calculations, an 11 night stay x 6 people = 66 counter service credits. But according to the receipt, we were already down to 36. What happened?! So while DH and the kids chowed down, I traipsed back up to the front desk to get the dining credits straightened out.

It was there that I received a huge shock that threw me into a tailspin. Because Disney’s computer system is incapable of realizing people might actually want to stay longer than a week, it can only recognize 7 night reservations. Don’t ask me why it doesn’t have a problem with park tickets longer than 7 days, because it doesn’t, but apparently everything else at the World only lasts that long. When I made the reservation (way back in September 2005), they told me that they would have to give me a “continuing reservation” with a 7 day part and a 4 day part. They also told me that, in order to get the Dining Plan for our whole stay, they would have to chop our park tickets into two parts with 6 days on the first part and 1 day on the second part. But they did NOT tell me that they would likewise be chopping our Dining Plan credits as well and that I would only receive the first 7 days’ worth now, and the remaining 4 days’ when I “re-checked in” on the morning of day 8.

Stunned, I thanked the CM for the explanation and made my way back to the family. My mind was frantically working the numbers, trying to figure out what to do. I had been very careful during the planning stages to keep the total number of dining credits in check. But most of my ADRs (requiring the TS credits) fell at the beginning of the vacation. With the current configuration, I would run out of TS credits by Tuesday morning and not get any more until Friday morning. And then I wouldn’t have enough ADRs at the end of the week to use all those credits up! What on earth to do?!

I did not want to admit to DH that this “perfect” vacation had already hit a major snag, so I kept my mouth shut as I sat down to eat my lunch. By this time, the rest of the family was done, so they wandered out to take a look at the pool area and left me at the table to stew in peace.

Unable to settle on a solution, I joined my family for a quick tour of the Lodge. We walked over to the geyser area, and down around by the beach and past the Teton rental area. We stumbled upon the quiet pool by the villas and decided to take a dip. By this time it was just past 2:00 p.m. and I decided to call the front desk on the off chance our room was ready. It was! So we excitedly made our way up to the 3rd floor and down the hall and around the corner and then down another long hall to room 3549—our home for the next 11 nights.

We were pleasantly surprised by the room. We had seen the pictures and done the virtual tour on Disney’s website, but we were expecting small and cramped. It was huge and spacious and, best of all, was the dedicated 2 bedroom with queen beds I had been hoping for. Our view was mediocre (not overlooking the pool, but then again, not overlooking any parking lot or dumpsters); we were satisfied and quickly changed into swimsuits and headed back down to the pool. By this time, DH was a little tired (and I think a little overwhelmed by the kids’ enthusiasm) so offered to stay and wait in the room for the scheduled grocery delivery. Less than an hour later, the groceries had been safely delivered and stored away and he had joined us poolside.

It was such a beautiful afternoon by the nearly deserted pool and the kids were having so much fun that we stayed a little longer than we should have. I finally shooed them all back upstairs at 4:00 p.m. and told them to get dressed for dinner. My surprise for the evening was dinner at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue, so while they headed for the room to change, I jogged back over to the Concierge to pick up my tickets. I thought all my clever planning would save me some time, since I knew they could print out my tickets there, but I didn’t realize there was a 1 hour cut off before the doors opened at 5:00 p.m.(“Why I didn’t quite plan enough” #3 of the day). So I arrived back at the room empty handed to be pleasantly surprised to find our luggage waiting for us. Magical Express, despite the lack of yellow tags and a finicky computer system, had managed to deliver our luggage safely and promptly.

My original plan had been to take our time walking over to Fort Wilderness along the trail (our family is always up for a good hike). But because we lingered too much in the pool and I now had to pick up our tickets at Pioneer Hall, I hustled everyone over to the boat dock to take the ferry. We could see the ferry approaching as we walked along the boardwalk and were quickly ushered aboard. On the ride over to Pioneer Hall, I explained to the family where we were going and what we were about to see. DH was hesitantly curious and the kids could have cared less where we were going as long as it involved food and Disney. I, on the other hand, had fond memories of this show from a visit with my family while still a teenager, and was looking forward to sharing the experience.

I left my family to enjoy the shenanigans outside Pioneer Hall while I made my way over to the ticket booth, armed with my detailed list of confirmation #s should they give me any problems. But there were none, and I happily signed off for the bill (Gasp! “Look how the number of our remaining TS credits has sunk so dangerously low already!” ) and rejoined my family in time to make our way inside.

Since this isn’t a Dining Report, I won’t go into details, but I’ll let you know we did get a table right up front by the stage, our kids absolutely loved the show, the food was fine, and our kids didn’t eat 2 TS credits’ worth of food (a recurring theme throughout the trip). It was still early evening when the show was over, so we meandered over to the petting zoo for awhile, then the horse stables for awhile, and then decided to hike the trail back to Wilderness Lodge instead of taking the ferry. In my planning, I had researched exactly where the trail began at the Wilderness Lodge, but had not paid much attention to where it ended at the campground, merely noting that it was somewhere in the vicinity of Pioneer Hall. So we were forced to wander the campground for 20 minutes and make several false starts on dead end paths before stumbling across the one that eventually led us back to the Lodge (“Why I didn’t quite plan enough” #4 of the day). And might I add that we were a good 15 minutes down the path before I was confident that it was indeed, finally, the correct one.

So after that little adventure, we headed back to the room to get ready for bed. The kids were still going strong, so we let them stay up to watch a little of the Disney Channel (what else would you watch while on vacation at DW?!) before DH and I were so tired, we sent them to bed. The giggles and whispers could be heard all the way into our room, but neither DH nor I had the energy to get up more than once each to storm across the villa for the requisite “Settle down!” We could hear faint music drifting in from the water parade as we lay in bed (while the kids threw open the drapes of their room to catch glimpses of the parade through the trees). By the time the noisy explosion from the Wishes fireworks sent our kids into hysteria, DH and I were fast asleep.

UP NEXT:

Our first day at MK
“It’s a Beautiful Thing When the Plan Works”

 

[scanne]

This is going to be a great one! I'm looking forward to more.

 

[skent10]

I have spent 15 minutes fiddling with the picture of the boys on the plane, and can NOT get it down to the same size as my other photos. If anyone knows anything about Photobucket and thinks they might be able to help me, please let me know!

 

[disneyfamilyof5]

Great TR so far!! Can't wait for the rest!!

 

[roberrl187]

Great start to your vacation. I'm hooked.

Because Disney’s computer system is incapable of realizing people might actually want to stay longer than a week, it can only recognize 7 night reservations.

I'm surprised at this. I had a 10 day package w/dining last year and everything was fine.

 

[skent10]

I'm surprised at this. I had a 10 day package w/dining last year and everything was fine.

Oh, don't tell me this! The splitting of our vacation package into two parts was the sole source of all the annoying blips on our whole vacation--not that there that many, but still. It affected our dining plan, Magical Express reservation and Mousekeeping.

Was your package for a regular hotel room? Maybe the difference is because we were staying in a villa. Even though we booked through CRO and paid for it per night like a hotel room, perhaps it was the Disney Vacation Club computer system that could only recognize a maximum 7 night stay.

 

[roberrl187]

Oh, don't tell me this! The splitting of our vacation package into two parts was the sole source of all the annoying blips on our whole vacation--not that there that many, but still. It affected our dining plan, Magical Express reservation and Mousekeeping.

Was your package for a regular hotel room? Maybe the difference is because we were staying in a villa. Even though we booked through CRO and paid for it per night like a hotel room, perhaps it was the Disney Vacation Club computer system that could only recognize a maximum 7 night stay.

That could be. It was at AKL.

 

[skent10]

Saturday, June 17

I had put in for a wake up call at 7:05 a.m. and was sitting on the edge of the bed, eagerly staring at the phone when it finally rang. I let it ring four times to give one of the kids a chance to answer it, but they didn’t move fast enough and I eagerly grabbed the receiver to listen to the playful interchange between Mickey and Stitch. Then I was off to the kids’ room to throw open their drapes (which ended up still being open from last night’s antics), add a few big bounces on the beds to get them going, and then race back to my own room to get ready. Scott would have to take care of himself.

This morning would include one of the most anticipated activities of our trip: a breakfast ADR at the coveted Cinderella’s Royal Table. I was so proud of myself for making such an effort to set my alarm so early on a cold, dark Sunday morning way back in December and sneak downstairs to the office in order to synchronize my watch to the atomic clock, pre-dial both the home phone and cell to make re-dialing faster, and watch that minute hand move imperceptibly towards the 12 on my wristwatch. I had magically gotten through on that first try and scored a 9:10 a.m. ADR on my chosen day. Golden!

(Now there are some of you that may be tempted to point out that my achievement was less than extraordinary—few people knew about the new 180 day window and CRT’s recent change to a 2 TS credit had lessened my competition on that cold dreary morn. I would ask that you keep your opinion to yourself; I prefer to continue with the delusional self-image of a mother willing to go to extreme lengths for her children’s happiness.)

We were all dressed and ready to go in record time, leaving us a few minutes to snap some picks of the girls before their dresses were tarnished with the remnants of their breakfast at the castle:

We were first in line for the 8:30 ferry to MK and were at the turnstiles by 8:45 a.m. Now I was aware that there was a separate entrance for those who had early ADRs in the park. I also knew that even though our ADR wasn’t technically until after the park’s 9:00 opening, Disney Dining requests that you be 15 minutes early for your ADR, so I was willing to argue that point with the CM should the need arise. But I wasn’t ready for the fact that SO many people were already packed into the small area between the turnstiles and the entrance to Main Street, and that they had ALREADY REMOVED the sign pointing the way for early ADRs. What was I supposed to do now?

I maneuvered my way over to the left side of the crowd, told Scott to stay put with the kids and slinked my way through the crowd as politely as possible. I personally dislike it when people push their way past others who’ve waited a lot longer, and here I was doing it myself this morning. I inwardly cringed, but kept my eyes focused on my goal: the CMs holding the crowd back up ahead.

When I finally got to the front, I got the attention of the closest CM and explained my situation. She politely pointed out that, since my ADR was for 9:10, I would have time to make it once the park opened. “What?! Fight this crowd down Main Street while trying to drag four kids, two of them in highly impractical princess attire? Are you crazy?!”

Well, that’s how the conversation in my head went. But out loud I explained that I had been told to be there by 8:55 a.m. She told me she’d check with someone and crossed over to the other side, apparently to speak to her supervisor. I don’t think he even let her finish her question before motioning me to come on through. I quickly turned around and caught Scott’s eye (ah, one of the blessings of marrying a very tall man) and motioned for him to bring the kids through. While listening to the shouts of the CM supervisor behind us, “It’s only for a character breakfast. THE PARK IS NOT OPEN YET!” we made our way under the train station and down the deserted Main Street toward the castle. It’s a beautiful thing when the plan works!

Eating at the castle was an amazing experience, perhaps even once in a lifetime (especially for those prices) and I’m thrilled we got to do it. But by the time we were through, I was itching to get going in the park. My children had never been to the Magic Kingdom before and I wanted them to experience the wonder of it all. My vacation itinerary had allotted 3 days for this park, so I planned to take it slowly and do as much as possible. Today’s goal: Frontierland, Adventureland and Liberty Square.

We worked our way back down Main Street against the flow of crowds to deposit the girl’s dresses in a locker for the rest of the day, then hopped the train to take us around to Frontierland. Our first mission was to secure Fastpasses for Splash Mountain. I had no idea if any of the family would end up on the ride or not (I certainly had no intention of getting on it) but I got the FPs while my family waited off to the side. Then we were off to Tom Sawyer’s Island.

Scott had loved this book as a boy and, in preparation for this trip, had begun to read it to our children at night before bed. Unfortunately, their appreciation for both Twain’s overly descriptive narrative and Scott’s warbled attempts at a southern accent never did develop, so he had given up in less than a week and rented Disney’s version of the tale in order to familiarize them with the story. At least the movie did the trick, as they had so much fun exploring every inch of the island as it related to the story.

We spent a good hour on that island before hoping the raft back over to the “mainland” in search of the next adventure. By this time, we were eligible for another FP, so I trotted over to Big Thunder Mountain and grabbed a set. Then we walked around the corner to check out the next show time for Country Bear Jamboree. Talk about lucky! They were just opening the doors, so we walked right in for a nice break in the cool theatre after all our running around on the island.

Once the mildly entertaining show was over, I asked who was ready for the thrill of Splash Mountain. Now Scott loves a good thrill ride and has been praying since the day they were born that at least one child would join him in his love affair; he had married badly in this regard. To my utter shock and amazement, the only child to enthusiastically raise his hand was Parker! Parker? My little mama’s boy who still climbs into bed with me for a cuddle in the morning? The one who insists on sitting on my lap during bedtime stories? The one who (to Scott’s and my utter public humiliation) still sucks his thumb? He’s the thrill ride lover?!

Apparently so. Armed with FPs in hand, Scott set off with Parker while the other three kids and I searched for a good vantage point, hopefully in the shade, with which to witness this amazing turn of events. We were lucky enough to find a spot on the bridge that offered a reprieve from the hot sun while allowing us to view both the big drop on one side and the reactions of those who survived the plunge on the other.

We waited for several minutes before being rewarded with the sight of Scott and Parker, headed towards their doom with big smiles on their faces. I think I videotaped their descent (I’m not sure since my eyes were clamped shut in empathy for my little boy’s imminent terror) and then we turned to look over the bridge at their reaction. Parker popped his thumb out of his mouth long enough to offer us a huge grin and enthusiastic “Two thumbs up!” Scott’s prayers had finally been answered.

By this time, the kids were getting hungry and thirsty. Since we were so close to Pecos Bill, I came up with the brilliant plan of leaving Scott with the boys to get us some lunch while I detoured over for some FPs for the Jungle Cruise. It wasn’t until I got to the ride’s entrance that I realized leaving Scott with his room card to pay for the meal would mean no FP for him. So much for that idea. We’d have to get them after lunch instead.

And that’s what we did. The afternoon went pretty quickly: FP for Jungle Cruise, then a tour through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (where the family constantly on our heels seemed to think stopping to actually look at things was a stupid idea), a quick rest during the Enchanted Tiki Room show and then time to use the Jungle Cruise FPs. The only things left in Adventureland were Pirates of the Caribbean (sadly closed for refurbishment) and the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, which my children vetoed in order to return to the hotel for a swim. So back towards the exit we went.

As we were heading down Main Street, I noticed people were starting to line up along the edge of the street. A quick glance at my watch (2:30 p.m.) and I pulled Scott aside to ask him if he thought we should stay for the parade. It hadn’t been in my plans for the day, but we happened to be in the right place at the right time, and there happened to still be enough room on the sidewalk RIGHT THERE for our family to have a seat. I don’t remember what his response was, as I was already pulling out the rain ponchos to lay on the pavement in an attempt to mark our spot and save our bottoms from the scorching heat. But I was paying attention when he offered to go find us some ice cream while we waited.

I’m glad Disney has recognized that people wait A LONG TIME for the parades and therefore has begun to offer entertainment to pass the time for the children along the route. Mine participated in the game of “Simon Says” that was organized in front of us (and none of them came even close to winning) and then we settled in to wolf down the ice creams before they melted. My kids enjoyed the parade so much that they even forgot to whine about not returning to the hotel to swim like we’d originally planned.

That plan was only delayed, however. As soon as the last float went by, we scurried down the sidewalk to the exit and hopped aboard the waiting ferry (I love it when the timing works out that way). The kids were in the pool by 4:00 p.m.

By 5:30 p.m., I managed to coax them back out again with the promise of a return to MK and supper. They dressed quickly and we made our way back to Liberty Square. I was still carrying FPs for BTMRR that I had gotten earlier in the day, and I wanted to grab some FPs for the Haunted Mansion as well. When we got there however, the machines were covered over—no FPs for us. So we decided to slip into the Hall of Presidents for the show (which our kids enjoyed very much) with an audience I’m relieved to say contained no political hecklers that evening.

The whining and grumbling began as we exited the theater, so I consented to supper at Columbia Harbor House (a really good meal) and then we made our way back over to Frontierland to ride BTMRR. Apparently Parker’s earlier enthusiasm for Splash Mountain was contagious, as all of the kids agreed to try out this ride once we assured them it was just a fast train ride with no big hills. I had read that the cars at the front of the train provided a calmer ride than those at the back, so asked the CM if it would be possible to ride up front, since it was the first time all my kids would be riding a thrill ride (I didn’t mention the churning of my own stomach to the nice man). He happily granted my request, so we were in the front rows right behind the little engine.

I must say the ride could have been much worse. I spent most of the time with my foot holding my cell phone to the floor of the car after it popped out of the pocket on my fanny pack, and that distracted me from the terror I would have normally felt. Afterward, Parker and Megan both exclaimed how great it was while Ryan and Amanda agreed that, while not so bad, they had no inclination to ever ride it again. I offered up the remaining unused Splash Mountain FPs but Scott vetoed that, claiming it was too late in the evening to get so wet again. Instead, we all headed over to the Haunted Mansion.

I talked up (down?) the ride the whole way over, explaining that it was a silly scare like Casper the Friendly Ghost and that Disney wouldn’t make anything that would hurt them. They all seemed fine with that, and we didn’t have to wait long before entering the mansion. Amanda was still getting over a fear of the dark so she was a little nervous and held her daddy’s hand for most of the pre-show. When we got to the Doom Buggies, the girls climbed in with Scott while I piled in with the boys. I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun they all thought it was and how much they wanted to do it again—even Amanda. But a second ride didn’t fit with my plans for the evening, so I promised we’d come back again another day.

By this time it was heading towards 9:00 p.m. Spectro was at 9:30 and I wanted to secure a good vantage point in Frontierland. We were lucky enough to find an empty spot on a porch right behind the rope (so no one could stand in front of us) and plopped down on the edge. There was more entertainment for the kids (a rope toss) and it wasn’t long before the music from Spectro could be heard down the street. I had never seen this parade before, and I was enthralled. I absolutely love the music and the lights and believe, without a doubt, that this was the best parade of any of the parks. It was over too soon!

We steered the kids over to Fantasyland to get ready for Wishes. We had just enough time to get a little snack before standing by Dumbo and Ariel’s Grotto for a great view of the fireworks. Magnificent! When I close my eyes, I can still see the kids’ faces, staring straight up with eyes wide and mouths open in silent “O”s as they watched the spectacle overhead. My eyes are misting as I think about it.

It was an amazing end to an amazing day. It’s a beautiful thing when the plan works: all of my efforts had resulted in a relaxed tour where we rode everything we wanted, where the only significant waiting we did was for the Character Meets (which the kids loved), and where we got to discover some of the things that makes Disney so unique in this world.

As we made our way to the entrance with four tired but happy children, I looked over at Scott and saw a smile on his face. Aah, he was beginning to remember the magic of Disney! I smiled in return as I thought about the next day. It was both Father’s Day and Scott’s birthday tomorrow and I had made several surprise plans at Epcot, his favorite park, that would surely get him turned around and on the true path once again. And if it also helped to prove that I was the superior vacation planner, then so be it! (Insert Evil Laughter Here)

UP NEXT:

Father’s Day at Epcot
“Where DH Tried to Hijack the Plan”

 

[fizz13]

What a great start, i know I'm going to love this report I know exactly what you mean about waiting to board the plane with kids. I have 3 small ones and with a 9 hour flight already they certainly don't need to be starpped in for an extra half hour first. I think you're handling the planning great and the most important thing is that when you hit a snag no one else is any the wiser Anyway can't wait for more and will be waiting patiently (BTW your kids look adorable, your older son reminds me of my own, big eyes and a gorgeous cheeky face)
Claire xx

 

[nicolemarie]

By this time it was heading towards 9:00 p.m. Spectro was at 9:30 and I wanted to secure a good vantage point in Frontierland. We were lucky enough to find an empty spot on a porch right behind the rope (so no one could stand in front of us) and plopped down on the edge. There was more entertainment for the kids (a rope toss) and it wasn’t long before the music from Spectro could be heard down the street. I had never seen this parade before, and I was enthralled. I absolutely love the music and the lights and believe, without a doubt, that this was the best parade of any of the parks. It was over too soon!

Isn't it great? Spectro is our family favorite as well. We bought the soundtrack CD as we left MK our last night. We listened to it in the car just yesterday, singing loudly every word!!!

I love your report. I am most jealous that you were able to spend 11 nights in the World - wow!! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[Goobergal99]

I am really into this report!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Great report! I am having fun reading about your adventures. Maybe this will help the next 4 weeks pass quickly!

 

[lonegirl]

Thank you for posting so promptly! I am very intrigued, as I feel my two DS will be apprehensive about some rides as your children were. It's nice to see that it was quickly resolved on the first full day.