Sarah! How excited are you? It's almost time to go!
Shawna~You should move up here. It is GORGEOUS this week. 82 degrees and NO humidity. It couldn't be more perfect.
I never do "real" trip reports because I am always so afraid that no one will read them LOL At least here, I know that I'm among friends
Our trip started off with a LONG 17 hour, non-stop, overnight drive from PA to Florida. We had a detour through downtown DC due to US Open traffic jams and then a 45 minute nap around 3:30 the next morning. We also had countless gas and potty stops throughout the journey. Both boys did amazingly well with the long trip. I've mastered nursing Chase while he was strapped into the carseat. Not fun but became necesary.
We spent our first night at the Hilton DTD and were able to get into our room very early. Everyone tried to nap but that didn't work so well. DH and Ry walked over to DTD with us so that they could meet up with DH's niece and nephew. They headed to the Rays/Marlins game while Chase and I hung out at DTD and at the hotel. I had my first of two visits to Earl of Sandwich, which is fabulous, btw. I had a Caprese Sandwich and it was amazingly good.
The guys got home pretty late so we decided to just get up the next moring and go with the flow. It was our check in day at the Poly. I really wanted to get checked in and head over to MK by rope drop but that didn't happen. It was ok, though. We got checked in early. The room I had requested (Tokelau, 3rd fl, quiet pool side) wasn't ready yet so we took something else that was available. Still Tokelau, 1st fl, opposite side). We loved the room, though. Sitting on the patio, we could look to the left and see the ferry coming and going. It was so nice and quiet on that side, too. So lovely.
Our first day at MK was kind of blur. We headed straight for Space Mountain for Ry's first trip into space. Of course, he loved it. he's a little daredevil. We took full advantage of baby swap and Ry got to ride twice. We also got to his first of many trips on Splash Mountain. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Splash. I think the second drop is my favorite. We also made it to Pirates. We learned that Chase is not nearly as tough as his big brother. He didn't like anything dark or a little bit loud. He would immediately call for "mama!" He was usually ok once he was on my lap, though. We cut our time short so that we could get back to the room and shower for dinner. Hoop Dee Doo!! Before showering, Chase and I took a dip in the quiet pool while Matt and Ry ran to DTD, giving Ry time to spend every last cent of his hard earned allowance at the
Lego Store. Every. Last. Cent.
Rylan was a little grouchy from being up late the night before but we were managing. Ry didn't want to even try the chicken at Hoop Dee Doo. He had two bites of cornbread and that was it. We suspected that would be the case, as he is THE pickiest eater ever. Chase did eat a little here and there but he is nearly as picky as Ry. We had fantastic seats, right up close to the stage but off to the right. One of the cast members included us in the show "oh they come from all over when they come . . ." sing it with me! Food was yummy, as usual. We waddled out and made our way back to the Poly.
Chase and Matt stayed in the room while Ry and I explored the MK some more. We rode BTMRR in the dark and Splash . . . again. Did the Haunted Mansion twice. We accomplished a lot that evening and finally got back to the room around 10:30. Way past Ry's bed time. Lesson learned! Don't keep 6 year old boys out past their bedtime LOL He turned into quite the tyrant the next day.
Day 2 was Father's Day. Another scorcher! Our plan was to go to Animal Kingdom and then have dinner at Ohana. Matt loves the "meat on a stick place". He's a protein maniac. The more the better. Animal Kingdom was packed, so we came up with our plan. We wanted to head straight for E:E for. Matt and Ry rode stand-by and got a baby swap and then I went after FastPasses. As suspected, Ry loved E:E. He is a trill ride junkie. He happily rode it twice and then again later. We hit up Dinosaur and Tough to Be A Bug. We did get FP for Kilimanjaro Safari but never used them. We saw that the stand by line for Kali was only 30 minutes so the guys jumped in line and grabbed a baby swap. I waited and waited and waited. I had Matt's phone because he didn't want it to get wet. 90+ minutes later, I started having a panic attack. They were nowhere to be found. The park was crowded and it was beyond hot. Chase was still napping in his stroller and I was starting to pace. I walked to the exit and finally saw them coming out, soaked of course. I was about done by this point but Ry wanted to ride again. This time we went throught the FP line. it still took us 30 min because of some minor break down. This was my first trip on Kali and it was fun. Ry loved it. LOVED it. It's all he talked about the rest of the trip.
By this time, we were all crazy hot and just wanted to get out of the heat. Ry went back and played with his legos and Chase and I went swimming before Ohana. Ohana was great! The service was exceptional and the food was great. Again, I felt like I had to be rolled out. Ry was a grump beyond grumps so we went back to the room and prepped the boys for bed.
Day 3 was Epcot. It was total flop. Ry was totally non-cooperative and was down right nasty by 11 am, I was ready to leave the park and go back to the room. Matt talked me into having lunch first, hoping to cool my head. it worked. We rode Spaceship Earth before going back to the room.
Dinner was to be at the Whispering Canyon Cafe, but there was only one boat running and by the time it returned to the CR dock, it was well past our reservation time. We grabbed something quick from Captain Cooks and scheduled something different for Thursday (our open night due to HDDR being 2 table services) Bed time couldn't come quick enough for me. I was mentally drained because we had spend all day fighting with Ry. At that point, we committed to strict bed time for both boys. I prayed that the following days would be easier.
Day 4 Hollywood Studios . . . and it WAS better. Ry awoke on the right side of the bed. He was happy and cooperative. He danced in to DHS and kissed his baby brother. Needless to say, we all had a much better day. Lots of good Karma on DHS day. The day before, we had gotten FP for Soarin' at one point and due to Ry's outburst handed them off to an unexpected family on our way out of the park. The lady was so happy that she kissed me LOL. It came back to us 3 fold at DHS. While in line for TSM (yes, I ran with the bulls and got a great FP time), a young mad stood in front of us in the FP line. he asked if it was just the 4 of us because he was alone and had a FP for 5. his uncle worked there. He told us to hold onto our FPs and he would take us along on his pass. In addition, he gave us FP for ToT and RnR. Super nice kid. Couldn't have been more than 19 or 20.
We ended up using the ToT fastpasses for our second round but couldn't use the RnR as Ry was just a hair too short for it. By the time we were done with that, we were all fried from the heat so we made another family super happy with our unused TSM fastpasses. I think Rylan really liked giving them away. he was always looking for the perfect family to use them.
We had planned on dinner at 50's PrimeTime but decided the day before that we would never make it in the park until 5:00 so we scratched that for dinner at Kona. It would prove to be our best meal of the trip. I had my first Lapu Lapu and can I say YUMMM? It was so good and not too potent. My steak was so great. The service was amazing, too.
Day 5 was another fabulous day as we anticipated our dinner at Chef Mickey's. I have no memories of the park (MK I think) that we visited but I can tell you that our experience at Chef Mickey's was so memorable. Chase and Ry (who claimed that he was too old for the characters) were enchanted. As Chase saw the characters come his way, he named them all: Donald, Mickey, Pluto, Goofy and my favorite "Mindy" Mouse. LOL He has no idea what my name is but it cracked me up LOL We left there feeling happy and full and were ready for showers and bed.
Day 6: Things go back down hill. We tried to revisit Epcot since the first time was an epic flop. We made it through lunch, Soarin, Imagination, Living With the Land boat ride and aroudn the countries unscathed. By the time we got to Mexcio and Norway, we were all much too tired to even ride. Ry was looking flushed and said he wanted to go to sleep. We had reservations for a repeat performance at Kona so we prepped and got ready to go. In the room, Ry complained that his stomach didn't feel well and had and "incident" I'll spare you the details. We got him cleaned up and he said he felt better. We opted to just substitute our TS meal for a CS meal at Captain Cooks. While there, Ry was near tears, claiming he didn't feel well. We took the food back not a moment too soon. Another incident and subsequent vomitting episodes later, we figured that he was either suffering from a touch of heat exhaustion or stomach bug. his temp was up to 103 by bed time. Mousekeeping was amazing, though. They came and remade the bed for us once and took a second set of linens from the daybed away.
By the next morning, his temp was still up and his stomach was still a mess. No more throwing up, though. It was our check out day, so we headed back over to the Hilton for the night before beginning the drive back home. Ry was still not 100% but he seemed to be coming around. It was nice to give him that day to recover a bit. I shopped at DTD and grabbed dinner for everyone there. It was the most relaxing part of our vacation LOL
The drive back on Saturday was uneventful. We had two extra passengers which caused some crowding in my SUV but we survived. We pulled into the drive way just before 1:00am. We climbed into bed and were all out within minutes.
Bottom line . . . I love Disney. I can't wait to go back, but I'll never go in the summer again. I will only be going when the temps are cooler. I can tolerate the crowds when it's not 100%. I also discovered that I might actually enjoy an adults-only trip at some point. Maybe during Food and Wine. I also learned that as much as I like going to Disney, I love coming home.
Lots of pics to come
(HOLY COW! ELEVENT DAYS!!)
Luckily, I put on my good quality sneakers, have been stretching, and taking some pain medication and I'm doing fine. But at least it's a reminder that I am not superhuman 
mode! Our semester ends with our trip to Disney!!!
did you get a bounceback offer?i am soooo hoping for one in Nov...I told Mike if we get a good one it would be almost criminal not to take it!
banana
expensive during that week. 
but he doesn't think that would happen! 
I guess it's time to get the body used to Florida?!
He was willing to talk about Tokyo Disney though, so I guess he's more of a one trip at a time type of a guy. As long as he's not saying no, I'm good.
