Return to the True Path: 12 Days of Bliss

[missummer]

I am really enjoying your trip report! Can't wait to read more. I also love the t's that your kids are wearing in the pic. Did you make those?

 

[skent10]

ADDENDUM to Saturday, June 17

There were a few things that happened on Saturday that I neglected to include in my last installment. I thought I’d add them here rather than go back to edit the post, since most of you are probably not in the habit of reading a trip report installment more than once anyway.

I had still been stewing about what to do with the Dining Plan mix-up (which is part of the reason why I was awake before the phone call that morning) and decided that I would simply explain my problem to the Concierge at the hotel and see what they offered as a solution. I had an unhealthy emotional attachment to all my ADRs (considering how long I’d been working them over, tweaking them to just the right day and time and poring over the menus on Allears to reassure myself these were the best choices for my family), so I was hoping the solution would not involve having to sacrifice one of my precious little babies. Since our morning was going to be busy, I resolved to approach the front desk when we got back to the hotel for our afternoon break.

And then fate decided to add another wrench into the mix. When I received my bill at the end of our breakfast at CRT, I noticed another error in the deduction of credits, but this time in our favor. From what I had read on the DIS, it seems the waitstaff have very little control over fixing errors, so I decided to wait until we got back to our hotel and added that to my mental list of things to speak of with the Concierge.

On the ferry on our way back to the hotel that afternoon, I admitted to Scott that I had run into a problem with the dining plan and explained the imbalance between the two parts of our trip. He listened with as much interest as he could muster by that point in the day, and told me that I’d figure it out. It was strongly implied that any solution would NOT involve paying for meals out of pocket.

So after changing into swimsuits, the rest of the family headed down to the quiet pool while I headed back over to the front lobby with my list of ADRs in hand. Fortunately it wasn’t a busy time of the day, so the CM was able to take her time to help me out after I explained my troubles to her.

I decided to go with the easiest problem first—why had CRT not charged me the proper amount of TS credits? She looked up my ressie on the computer and printed out a listing of used credits. There it was in black and white: a CRT reservation for that morning for 6 people, with only 6 credits deducted for the meal. The CM was as puzzled as I was. She said that since it had only happened earlier the same morning, she was going to leave it be and wait for someone at the restaurant to notice the error when they were totaling the day’s receipts. She would, however, make a note in our file that I had brought it to her attention in case the error was missed by the restaurant.

That solved, I moved onto the larger problem. I explained to her how I had been unaware of the dining credit split and had booked a disproportionate amount of table service meals toward the beginning of our stay. I held my breath, secretly hoping she’d volunteer to just give me all my credits at once and let me go on my merry way, leaving all my precious ADR babies right where I wanted them.

But it was not to be. Her solution was to help me rearrange some of my ADRs to later in the week and restore the proper balance of credits. Rats! Now I had to figure out what to move where. It really wasn’t that hard a task, since I had brought my Excel spreadsheet showing the plans for each day (which park, where to eat, ADR numbers, etc.) that had caused Scott to laugh in scorn at me. I was able to quickly spot the two ADRs that could be most easily postponed into the two slots that wouldn’t mess up any of my park strategies. It wasn’t an ideal solution (I ended up with two character meals on one day and a lunch instead of a breakfast) but I no longer needed to stew about the dining plan and could focus all my concentration on making this a much better vacation than Scott could have possibly planned.

 

[skent10]

I am really enjoying your trip report! Can't wait to read more. I also love the t's that your kids are wearing in the pic. Did you make those?

Thanks for all the wonderful encouragement, from not just missummer, but all who have let me know this trip report is helping them (and hopefully entertaining them too).

Thank you for the compliments on the t-shirts. Yes, I did make them, thanks to the creativity of some wonderful people over on the DISigns board here. Altogether, there were six matching shirts for the trip (the villa had a washer & dryer).

With four kids who get easily excited and run ahead, we needed something to make it easier to keep track of them (we didn't use any strollers that week). By having them dress in the same shirts every day, it was simple to quickly count 4 blue shirts than to individually spot Megan, then look for Ryan, then Parker, then Amanda (I hope that makes sense to other parents?!) Plus, should a child get separated from the family (which, thank God, didn't happen in the whole twelve days), other park guests would be able to quickly help by telling us they saw the fourth blue shirt over by Dumbo, etc. If we had been forced to recruit the help of a CM to look for a child, it would be easier for a very panicked me to point to another child and say, "They're dressed like that!"

We also ordered some of those rubber bracelets and had both Scott's and my cell phone number engraved on them. We drilled it into the kids that, should they get lost, they were to find a CM and immediately show them the bracelet so they could call Mommy or Daddy. Again, never needed in the end, but it sure made me feel much better!

 

[krismom]

Oh I love when I stumble onto a great trip report! You are my new hero! I took my 4 little ones in March and it sounds like you need to give a seminar in how to handle large families at Disney for people like me... we had 2 strollers, a buggy board, no CRT ADR, only two set of matching t shirts, and many meltdowns. You make it look too easy!
Can't wait for the rest!

BTW- how old are your kids? they are adorable, and I love the excitement you captured in every picture!

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Great report, your kids are beautiful!!! We have also have four kids.
Isn't it wonderful. I think we will be doing t-shirts next trip too.

 

[mommykds]

With four kids who get easily excited and run ahead, we needed something to make it easier to keep track of them (we didn't use any strollers that week). By having them dress in the same shirts every day, it was simple to quickly count 4 blue shirts than to individually spot Megan, then look for Ryan, then Parker, then Amanda (I hope that makes sense to other parents?!) Plus, should a child get separated from the family (which, thank God, didn't happen in the whole twelve days), other park guests would be able to quickly help by telling us they saw the fourth blue shirt over by Dumbo, etc. If we had been forced to recruit the help of a CM to look for a child, it would be easier for a very panicked me to point to another child and say, "They're dressed like that!"

Great trip report so far!!!

I have 3 kids & that is why I love the matching shirts so much..for all the reasons you stated above..

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[TwinkieMama]

I second the idea of a thread entitled "Disney Tips for Large Families".....mine are too far apart to tolerate dressing alike but we too have the EPB. Can't wait for more! I am waiting for the end when your DH looks in the eyes and tells you that this was the best vacation EVER.

 

[tubachick]

 

[sulleyfan]

Gotta suscribe to this trip report, it's great so far. Can't wait for more

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Your kids are absolutely adorable!
Loving the report... keep it coming!

 

[disneychickforever]

OMG, I would love to do the matching shirt thing for my trip!!!! My mom and sisters would have no prob....its convincing my bf, my dad, my nana and the aide to do it that'd be hard.....

I will have to keep this in mind and widdle my way into doing it, and I'd just have to make *does quick math, gives up since its so late, and pulls up the calcualtor* 32 shirts (I got it right, right? 4 days times 8 people, 4x8 is 32....)

anyway, I wanna read more!!! keep it coming!!!

 

[Nee Nee and Biddy]

Great trip report so far! I am also planning on doing matching shirts for our next trip in 2008. I agree that it's a good idea so if one of the kids gets lost, you know exactly what they are wearing.

 

[skent10]

Sunday, June 18

Since we had had such a late evening at MK, I decided to let the kids sleep in a little bit this morning—Mickey and Stitch didn’t call us until 7:10 a.m. I patiently waited for one of the kids to answer the phone (“One ring … two rings … three rings … FOUR!”) and then slipped over to their room to rouse them from their slumber. No dramatic bouncing on the bed, shouting, or throwing open of the drapes this morning. I simply leaned over each little face and whispered, “It’s time to get up. You get to wear the light blue shirts today!”

And four little kids popped out of bed as if I’d lit a match to the soles of their feet. This was the long awaited light blue shirt day! The day over which we’d been secretly conspiring for months (well, months for me. I only told them about it the week before.) because today was both Father’s Day and Scott’s birthday!

The kids quickly dressed in their matching attire while I dug out the birthday card we had made for Scott before the trip. Then we all marched into the master bedroom and climbed up on the king bed (We all fit! Gotta get one of these at home!) to awaken the slumbering patriarch. After a few jumps on his solar plexus, Scott was awake and ready for his surprises.

The first surprise of the day was the light blue t-shirts. Each child was sporting an image of Mickey with party hat and balloons with the words emblazoned at the top “TODAY IS MY DADDY’S BIRTHDAY!” There was no way anyone in the park would be able to claim ignorance now. Whether Scott wanted it or not, he was going to get attention with these four charges trailing after him.

The second surprise of the day was contained in his birthday card. It explained that he was scheduled to scuba dive in the Living Seas aquarium at 4:30 p.m. that afternoon. HAH! I had staged the ultimate coup in the war of vacation planning! Not only were we at Disney World, the greatest place on earth for families to vacation, but he STILL got to get his scuba diving in, his main excuse for veering off from the true path for so long. Beat that, Scott! Oh yeah, and happy birthday.

It was 8:15 before everyone was dressed, fed, greased (with sunscreen) and ready to go. Today was an EMH morning and, while I hadn’t been aiming for the 8:00 a.m. park opening, I was hoping to slip through the front gates ahead of the general public. The bus stop is mere steps away from the Villas however, so it wasn’t long before we were on a bus bound for Scott’s favorite park (if you don’t count the 10 minute trek from our room down the hall to the elevator. Did I mention how long those hallways are?)

By 8:50 a.m. we were making our way past the “Leave a Legacy” quarry and headed for Future World. My planning had allotted two days for Epcot, so our only goal for today was Future World and I had it all mapped out; I was unaware that Scott would attempt to hijack my plans and throw us off later in the day.

I sent Scott off with the clear directive to secure FPs for Soarin’ while I took the kids over to Innoventions to explore. He returned a few minutes later with the FPs and we played around on the computers with the kids until 9:30 a.m. We could have spent much more time there (both Scott and his offspring are techno geeks) but my plan explicitly called for a new direction. Off we went to catch the first showing of Turtle Talk with Crush.

Now all of my research indicated that this was a popular show and that the line would grow exponentially longer as the day progressed. Ergo, we had to get there for the first showing at 10:00 a.m. All of my research also indicated that being at the entrance by about 9:35 a.m. would allow us to be one of the first in line when it eventually formed (at around 9:45 a.m.). My research was wrong!

By the time we got into the building (and we don’t dawdle) there was already a significant line, snaking its way through the ropes already set up. I quickly ducked under the ropes to join the end of the line and sent Scott off with the kids for their FPB. By the time they were done, there was a throng of people behind me. If not for Scott’s superior stature (i.e. he’s tall), we might have been in trouble. But he was able to walk the kids around to the side, slip them in without pushing past too many other families, and join me in the line.

As it was, there were already too many people ahead of us and we didn’t make the first show at 10:00 a.m. There was only two other groups, all adults, ahead of us for the second show, so my children were able to sit right in the front row on the floor while Scott and I found seats on the front bench. It was a great show and, if not for the hordes of people waiting in line as we exited, we would have seen it again.

By this time, we were able to use our FP’s for Soarin’ so we backtracked to the Land and made our way downstairs. There was a small moment of panic when we lost Scott (the kids and I had gone right, and he had gone left in order to videotape us from across the mezzanine WITHOUT TELLING ME) but we were soon waiting our turn to board. There was a second small moment of panic when Disney decided to use a CM who had failed math to direct people to the boarding area (“Huh? Nine people and only 7 triangles?”) but our family wasn’t split up and we all found our seats and buckled in for the ride.

I had heard so much hype about this ride, that my expectations were pretty high. In those cases, I usually end up disappointed. All in all I thought it was pretty good, but was forced to close my eyes a couple of times (I’m telling you, my motion sickness gets worse the older I get). Everyone else in the family, who hadn’t read hundreds of reviews on the DIS board praising it as the absolute best ride of all time, loved it.

Because of the unexpected crowds at Turtle Talk, we were running slightly behind schedule after our ride over California ended at 11:00 a.m. Yesterday’s experience at MK showed me how well things can work if we kept to the plan, so I knew we needed to make up some ground. I told Scott that I would run over to Test Track to secure the next set of FPs while he took the kids on over to ImageWorks and Journey into My Imagination without me.

After securing the FPs, I went into ImageWorks through the back way and walked around the displays, hoping to spy them playing around. No sign of them. I made my way up to the ride exit and leaned against the wall to wait for them. Ten minutes later, still no sign of them. So I exited the building and walked around to the ride entrance to see if there was a huge line or if the ride had broken down. No—it was a walk-on and everything was functioning properly. A CM let me slip through a side door back into the exit area so I could walk through ImageWorks again to see if we had missed each other. I still came up empty.

Finally, worried that something had happened to someone, I ran outside to get a strong enough signal on my cell to call Scott. And as I walked out into the sunshine, who should be waiting there with bored expressions on their faces?!

Now Scott and I have known each other for almost 16 years; we’ve been married for more than 12 of those years. As the parents of 4 kids, you’d think our communication skills would be really honed by now. You’d be wrong.

I don’t remember the exact words I had used as I headed off to Test Track. I am, however, positive that the words implied, “Go do the Journey into My Imagination ride without me, but when you get off the ride you probably won’t have enough time to watch all the demonstrations and play with each interactive display at ImageWorks.” Scott, however, heard those same words and inferred, “Go over to ImageWorks and Journey into My Imagination with the kids. But you won’t have time to do ANYTHING so just stand around and wait for me to come find you.” So in the 20 minutes we’d been apart, they had managed another FPB and nothing else. “What?! That does not help me keep us on the plan, sir!”

And then, I am loathe to admit, the unimaginable occurred. At 11:40 a.m., with a 12:00 ADR on the whole other side of the park, Scott suggested we hop on Journey right then! And I acquiesced! Now in my defense, I did look at my watch and note that we were cutting it way too close. But Scott seemed frustrated at our communication breakdown and had just spent 20 minutes trying to keep the kids happy outside in the hot sun; it was Father’s Day, his birthday, and we were in his favorite park. I just wasn’t strong enough.

I won’t go into details about the next half hour, but just let me summarize by saying that it involved a sprint through ImageWorks (“No stopping! No looking!”) and a power walk through Future World, then into the World Showcase past Canada, UK, France, and I don’t which other countries because they became a blur. We were standing at the base of the stairs leading to Teppanyaki Dining Room by 12:05 p.m. We were tired, cranky, sweaty, and hating each other; I recall the faint sounds of our children crying softly in the background as well. But I was NOT going to lose this ADR!

In case you haven’t noticed from the pictures of our children, we are good old-fashioned, plain-Jane, white-bread, WASPS. There is no ethnicity about us whatsoever. I’m so white, my skin is translucent underneath all my freckles. Blessedly, I grew up in a city overflowing with all nationalities and in a family that encouraged me to explore other cultures at every opportunity. On the other hand, Scott grew up in a family where Chef-Boy-Ardee was considered ethnic food and sprinkling parsley on the boiled potatoes was taking a walk on the culinary wild side. While in college (in a small town in Tennessee) we had stumbled across a wonderful Japanese restaurant and Scott was hooked. A few years later, married by then, we had moved to a larger city in Tennessee and were fortunate enough to find another Japanese restaurant close by that served the same delicious food. Since moving to Illinois two years ago, we have been unable to find a Japanese restaurant that could match the experience in Tennessee (who’d have thought the Japanese food would be better in redneck country than in Chicago?).

So Scott was suffering from Hibachi withdrawal, and this ADR was another surprise for him. Despite the mad dash and dirty looks we’d exchanged a few minutes earlier, this restaurant meant something to him, and he appreciated it (I think). We slowly dragged ourselves up the stairs and through the front doors.

Ironically, we had to wait a couple of minutes before our table was ready, but we were finally led to our long grill table and slumped down in our seats. We were here and we were going to celebrate, whether we felt like it or not. And I’ll admit, by the end the meal we were back to our normal selves. The food was really good, and the kids’ t-shirts had worked to secure a couple of extra shrimp on Scott’s plate as well as his own personalized chef hat and slice of birthday cake, candle included.

With our stomachs beyond full, we rolled ourselves back outside and down the stairs to commence with the rest of the plan. I had FPs for Test Track, and then it was back to the hotel for a little rest before Scott needed to be at Epcot’s Guest Relations at 4:15 p.m. in preparation for his dive. Unfortunately, Scott had other plans. Perhaps it had been the adrenaline rush he had felt when we deviated from the plan at ImageWorks before lunch. Perhaps my post-lunch stupor had left a leadership vacuum and he felt the need to step in. Whatever it was, he started off for the USA—the wrong direction!—before I could stop him. My poor innocent children, like lambs to the slaughter, followed their father while I watched in stunned silence. By the time I regained my senses, they were past the funnel cake stand and headed for the American Adventure. Scott was hijacking the plan!

UP NEXT:

Sunday, June 18, Part 2
“How Everything Went Terribly, Terribly Wrong”

 

[gopack]

Loving your report!

 

[KathyRN137]

With us, there's always at least one of these communication breakdowns each trip. Well, you seem to have had that Disney/Birthday/Father's Day going on!

Looking forward to more....

 

[Bev J]

I am soooo enjoying this report! Hope you got that family back on the right track....

Bev

 

[Biscuitsmom31]

My husband is a plan hijacker too. I'm very interested to see where this is going.

 

[TinkerBess_SnowTori]

Everything goes terriblly wrong -- oh no!!!

I can't stand the suspense... I must subscribe

 

[CareBlair]

It's deja vu all over again. Lovin' your trip report & can so identify with plans gone awry, high expectations & a hijacking husband! You are a talented storyteller & I can't wait to read the rest. Keep up the good work!

 

[cjhinch]

Your report is WAY too much fun to read!! I am totally hooked, and I can't wait for the next installment!