First I want to say thanks to everyone here, you helped make the planning and the trip a blast!
This was our 3rd trip with our 3yr old foster-to-adopt son.
He is potty trained and we did it with no stroller this time! Woo hoo!
Stayed 3 nights at the Sheraton Safari, after spending 2 days in St Augustine and 1 day in Daytona Beach.
1st two trips were both "all-dayers" to MK.
First time - stayed at All Star Movies
2nd time - stayed with my family in a 4 bedroom villa with a pool for a week...heaven! I hope we do it again!
This is actually what I wrote in my son's journal, but it's pretty close to being a trip report. I hope it sprinkles some magic into your planning. Let me know if you have questions.
We finally got checked into our hotel after the desk screwed up our room 3 times, giving us the wrong keys, the wrong room, etc. We had to rush to Ohanas in wrinkly clothes for our reservation, but we made it and managed to have a fantastic time. I had a Blue Hawaii drink while waiting for our table which made me content to just sit with you in that comfy giant half circle bamboo chair all night. The food was awesome! Daddy loved the wings, you devoured some fried rice and I was ecstatic to get the window seat I requested. We had a perfect view of the Wishes fireworks over the castle in Magic Kingdom, and the music was great. Of course, I boo hood as I looked down at your sweet profile and wide eyes. You kept pointing to the castle and telling everyone that it was Mickeys home, good thing the sweet girl we saw in the lobby dressed as Cinderella didn't hear you. After our meal, you were too adorable in the hoolahoop contest wearing your cool Hawaiian shirt and sandals. You would just spin it as hard as you could around your waist and wait for it to fall to the floor. For desert there was fresh pineapple dipped in carmel sauce, which was the yummiest stuff ever. It was one of those perfect feel like youre on vacation without a care in the world dinner/occasions, a great beginning to a new year.
Friday morning, I woke up to clothes being tossed all over the room as you dug through the suit case looking for your babing soup (thats one cute mispronunciation Im really going to miss). I groaned and tried to talk you into watching tv, but nope, our room looked right out over the pool and there were already kids splashing and playing and you were going to be one of them, with or without me. I rolled over, thinking I could ignore you, but then I heard the little slap slap of your sandals and you wispering to yourself (sounding way too grown up and independent) now, where are my water wings? I knew it was useless. I jealously kissed your sleeping Daddy and told him to meet us at the pool. You immediately went running up the stairs to the snake slide which had a sign saying...(no contacts in yet)...Must be 48 tall? uh oh! there you go! .I dashed to the bottom to see if you made it out ok you said yes mama, but its for big kids, I dont want to do it anymore. I was secretly relieved, although you went up and sat at the top a few more times, but chickened out at the last minute. Daddy finally made it down and said that Uncle J and Anut S had called. They were on their way over with free 1 day park hopper passes! I couldnt believe it! I didnt think wed actually get to hook up with them AND get into a park for free as they had casually mentioned before we left. They spotted us playing on the playset next to the pool and you ran up to them saying youre here, youre here!. It was so cute and it was exactly what I was thinking! We thought wed be spending the whole day at the pool, but you were already getting wrinkly and cranky so we decided to go and see Ice with Uncle J and Aunt S , which ended up being pretty awesome. It was an ice sculpture display complete with ice slides in a big hall kept at a freezing 9 degrees in the beautiful Gaylord Palms hotel. We were given funny big blue parkas to wear and we had a blast! The sculptures of the giant Christmas nativity and angels were incredible. Later, we had dinner at Chevys, where you were so tired, you fell a sleep half way in the hard wooden chair and half in my lap. When we got back to our hotel you were ready to go again, so you and I went down to the pool, but since it was so chilly, we ended up in the hot tub with all the other shivering kids and tired parents.
FINALLY it was time to go to Disney World! We had decided to go to Animal Kingdom and if we had time wed head over to MGM for a few hours before our reservations that Aunt S had made for us for the Polynesian Luau. It was going to be a great day and I couldnt wait! Your favorite thing was the Bug Life movie. Youre still talking about the "stinky bug inside the Tree of Life. My favorite attraction was the Kilamanjaro Safari where we saw so many animals and they were actually closer than they are at the zoo. The zebras, elephants and lions were incredible, but the giraffes were so beautiful and majestic walking in that natural setting, that I was just awe struck. I loved the whole bumpy jeep ride too. It made if more of a fun experience, rather than just a quick peek at some animals. You got your face painted as a really fantastic looking lion with beautiful bright paint and sparkles. It looked like an exotic mask for the time that it lasted. We went on the Kali River Rapid ride immediate afterwards and got soaked, so a lot of it came off. Poor Daddy got drenched and spent the whole day pretty soggy and cold. Uncle J fast became your favorite person as he bought you a big tiger claw when we first got into the park and then a big rubber dinosaur when he took you to the gift shop because you were too small to ride the dinosaur ride. I was so disappointed that you couldnt go on it with us, but then afterwards I realized how scary it would have been for you. I myself was scared and in the picture they take of you that you get to see at the end, I was ducking and holding my head, he he, so it was really a good thing. You spotted Baloo and started to chase him, which was so cute, you could have been a Disney commercial. He spent lots of time with you, and there was hardly a line to see the Winnie the Pooh characters, so you got to hug all of them too, but I forgot your autograph book, which fortunately you never asked about, whew! You fell fast asleep on the bus ride over to MGM, and Daddy pointed out a rather larger burly guy silently sleeping with a sweet newborn curled up on his chest. It would have made the perfect Anne Geddes photo, but of course I had to ruin the moment by pointing to the older lady next to me sleeping with a big thick glob of drool hanging out of her mouth... we almost died laughing, and I desperately wanted someone riding with her to politely give her a nudge. You woke up just in time for us to run through the gate and catch the Christmas parade. It was a neat 50s like motorcar parade with all the characters and as usual you waved and yelled over here to Mickey, Sitch, Kermit, and Buzz, and I got the greatest shot of Jasmine blowing you a kiss! We didnt have much time so we only got to see the Muppet movie, ride some terrible simulator Star Wars ride which made me terribly sick, but you loved it, and then your all time favorite part of our whole trip, the Indiana Jones Stunt show! You were so into this show and so excited, that you couldnt stay in your seat and youre still going on and on about it a week later! the rock almost crushing Indiana Jones, the bad guys falling off of the building, the truck flipping over and catching on fire, you loved it from beginning to end! Well, we couldnt have asked for a better day the weather was absolutely perfect, the crowds were small, we hardly had to wait in line for anything, and we didnt have to pay to get in. Im still trying to think of a way to thank J and S, especially since they also treated us to the luau dinner, which was a fun festive dinner show with great food. You kept begging to go up on stage and surprisingly they did call all the kids up to do a hula dance, and you jumped right up in the middle and acted like the star of the show, even though a few minutes later you were sound to sleep in my lap, too funny!
This was our 3rd trip with our 3yr old foster-to-adopt son.
He is potty trained and we did it with no stroller this time! Woo hoo!
Stayed 3 nights at the Sheraton Safari, after spending 2 days in St Augustine and 1 day in Daytona Beach.
1st two trips were both "all-dayers" to MK.
First time - stayed at All Star Movies
2nd time - stayed with my family in a 4 bedroom villa with a pool for a week...heaven! I hope we do it again!
This is actually what I wrote in my son's journal, but it's pretty close to being a trip report. I hope it sprinkles some magic into your planning. Let me know if you have questions.
We finally got checked into our hotel after the desk screwed up our room 3 times, giving us the wrong keys, the wrong room, etc. We had to rush to Ohanas in wrinkly clothes for our reservation, but we made it and managed to have a fantastic time. I had a Blue Hawaii drink while waiting for our table which made me content to just sit with you in that comfy giant half circle bamboo chair all night. The food was awesome! Daddy loved the wings, you devoured some fried rice and I was ecstatic to get the window seat I requested. We had a perfect view of the Wishes fireworks over the castle in Magic Kingdom, and the music was great. Of course, I boo hood as I looked down at your sweet profile and wide eyes. You kept pointing to the castle and telling everyone that it was Mickeys home, good thing the sweet girl we saw in the lobby dressed as Cinderella didn't hear you. After our meal, you were too adorable in the hoolahoop contest wearing your cool Hawaiian shirt and sandals. You would just spin it as hard as you could around your waist and wait for it to fall to the floor. For desert there was fresh pineapple dipped in carmel sauce, which was the yummiest stuff ever. It was one of those perfect feel like youre on vacation without a care in the world dinner/occasions, a great beginning to a new year.
Friday morning, I woke up to clothes being tossed all over the room as you dug through the suit case looking for your babing soup (thats one cute mispronunciation Im really going to miss). I groaned and tried to talk you into watching tv, but nope, our room looked right out over the pool and there were already kids splashing and playing and you were going to be one of them, with or without me. I rolled over, thinking I could ignore you, but then I heard the little slap slap of your sandals and you wispering to yourself (sounding way too grown up and independent) now, where are my water wings? I knew it was useless. I jealously kissed your sleeping Daddy and told him to meet us at the pool. You immediately went running up the stairs to the snake slide which had a sign saying...(no contacts in yet)...Must be 48 tall? uh oh! there you go! .I dashed to the bottom to see if you made it out ok you said yes mama, but its for big kids, I dont want to do it anymore. I was secretly relieved, although you went up and sat at the top a few more times, but chickened out at the last minute. Daddy finally made it down and said that Uncle J and Anut S had called. They were on their way over with free 1 day park hopper passes! I couldnt believe it! I didnt think wed actually get to hook up with them AND get into a park for free as they had casually mentioned before we left. They spotted us playing on the playset next to the pool and you ran up to them saying youre here, youre here!. It was so cute and it was exactly what I was thinking! We thought wed be spending the whole day at the pool, but you were already getting wrinkly and cranky so we decided to go and see Ice with Uncle J and Aunt S , which ended up being pretty awesome. It was an ice sculpture display complete with ice slides in a big hall kept at a freezing 9 degrees in the beautiful Gaylord Palms hotel. We were given funny big blue parkas to wear and we had a blast! The sculptures of the giant Christmas nativity and angels were incredible. Later, we had dinner at Chevys, where you were so tired, you fell a sleep half way in the hard wooden chair and half in my lap. When we got back to our hotel you were ready to go again, so you and I went down to the pool, but since it was so chilly, we ended up in the hot tub with all the other shivering kids and tired parents.
FINALLY it was time to go to Disney World! We had decided to go to Animal Kingdom and if we had time wed head over to MGM for a few hours before our reservations that Aunt S had made for us for the Polynesian Luau. It was going to be a great day and I couldnt wait! Your favorite thing was the Bug Life movie. Youre still talking about the "stinky bug inside the Tree of Life. My favorite attraction was the Kilamanjaro Safari where we saw so many animals and they were actually closer than they are at the zoo. The zebras, elephants and lions were incredible, but the giraffes were so beautiful and majestic walking in that natural setting, that I was just awe struck. I loved the whole bumpy jeep ride too. It made if more of a fun experience, rather than just a quick peek at some animals. You got your face painted as a really fantastic looking lion with beautiful bright paint and sparkles. It looked like an exotic mask for the time that it lasted. We went on the Kali River Rapid ride immediate afterwards and got soaked, so a lot of it came off. Poor Daddy got drenched and spent the whole day pretty soggy and cold. Uncle J fast became your favorite person as he bought you a big tiger claw when we first got into the park and then a big rubber dinosaur when he took you to the gift shop because you were too small to ride the dinosaur ride. I was so disappointed that you couldnt go on it with us, but then afterwards I realized how scary it would have been for you. I myself was scared and in the picture they take of you that you get to see at the end, I was ducking and holding my head, he he, so it was really a good thing. You spotted Baloo and started to chase him, which was so cute, you could have been a Disney commercial. He spent lots of time with you, and there was hardly a line to see the Winnie the Pooh characters, so you got to hug all of them too, but I forgot your autograph book, which fortunately you never asked about, whew! You fell fast asleep on the bus ride over to MGM, and Daddy pointed out a rather larger burly guy silently sleeping with a sweet newborn curled up on his chest. It would have made the perfect Anne Geddes photo, but of course I had to ruin the moment by pointing to the older lady next to me sleeping with a big thick glob of drool hanging out of her mouth... we almost died laughing, and I desperately wanted someone riding with her to politely give her a nudge. You woke up just in time for us to run through the gate and catch the Christmas parade. It was a neat 50s like motorcar parade with all the characters and as usual you waved and yelled over here to Mickey, Sitch, Kermit, and Buzz, and I got the greatest shot of Jasmine blowing you a kiss! We didnt have much time so we only got to see the Muppet movie, ride some terrible simulator Star Wars ride which made me terribly sick, but you loved it, and then your all time favorite part of our whole trip, the Indiana Jones Stunt show! You were so into this show and so excited, that you couldnt stay in your seat and youre still going on and on about it a week later! the rock almost crushing Indiana Jones, the bad guys falling off of the building, the truck flipping over and catching on fire, you loved it from beginning to end! Well, we couldnt have asked for a better day the weather was absolutely perfect, the crowds were small, we hardly had to wait in line for anything, and we didnt have to pay to get in. Im still trying to think of a way to thank J and S, especially since they also treated us to the luau dinner, which was a fun festive dinner show with great food. You kept begging to go up on stage and surprisingly they did call all the kids up to do a hula dance, and you jumped right up in the middle and acted like the star of the show, even though a few minutes later you were sound to sleep in my lap, too funny!
