The "Are you CRAZY?!! April trip with 2 moms, 7 kids and 2 grouchy, grandparents TR

[Momof626x3]

Great report! Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[OK GRUMPY]

I'm enjoying your TR!! I enjoyed meeting you guys at Trails End! When we left we went to Epcot!! It rained most of the day! But we just got a poncho and walked around Epcot. Didn't get eveything we wanted to get done that day but we got it done before we left! We had planed to go out the back gate and go to the brewery on the Boardwalk! Didn't make it! We made up for it when we got back to the camper(Had our own brew!) Can't wait to here more!

 

[All7OfUs]

Hello All,

I'm lovin' sharing with everyone. So glad to hear it's been fun for you too. OK Grumpy, it was great to meet you too! We left for a tailgate lunch, then a- oops, if I told you now, it'd sure be a spoiler But doing our photo was fun! Hey, do you think TuffCookie would share the pic. for my scrapbook? or can I print that off from the thread?? It's been quite a wonder that I've been able to just figure out how to post photos on this board! I'm such a numb-head when it comes to technology

Well, I'd love to stay up and write some more tonight, but instead I think I need to write up some notes (on real paper with a real pen) about days 7-10. Like I said before, my memories are getting a little fuzzy, and the days are melding together too quickly. I guess that happens when you turn 40 something, and I swear each of my 5 kids stole a large portion of my grey matter during development.

Good night, all; and until next time...

 

[Shannone1]

Liesa....I've really enjoyed reading your TR. Looking forward to the rest of it.

 

[DznyRulz]

Liesa

I'm loving it. Where's the next installment? I don't know if I can hold out untill the end.

 

[momoffive]

Liesa,
As you said

. I guess that happens when you turn 40 something, and I swear each of my 5 kids stole a large portion of my grey matter during development.

My husband calls it gestational stupidity . My pregnancy with the quads really did a number on me and it has stayed around, just can't seem to get the brain cells to regenerate . Once you get it, the gestational stupidity, you can't get rid of it.
Loving you TR. Looking forward to the rest.
Loretta aka momoffive

 

[All7OfUs]

Ha, LOL, Loretta! It's so true, and it gets worse with each one! I can't even keep their names straight. When I call the youngest, she's usually, "AndrewRebekahMichaela, aargh, forget it- YOU!" Poor thing, I know I'm setting her up for identity crisis!

Okay, finally, a few more minutes to get out the next installment!

After we left DTD, we all hopped into our 3 vehicles and headed for FW- or so I thought! I was so excited I could hardly stand it! I had such wonderful memories of being there in Jan.,2000, and hoped it would be the same. Now, the adventure of the day... Mom and Dad have this "wonderful", little gadget called a GPS system- they call it "Nagitha" because she's such a nag. They programmed in the Fort, as if Disney doesn't put about 4 billion signs up telling you EXACTLY where to turn. What a JOKE! So instead of just following the signs to FORT WILDERNESS, they missed some turn somewhere and ended up at Wilderness LODGE!!! Obviously, they just were taking forever to show up, so me, DD, 15, and DD, 5 got impatient, and headed over to the Tri Circle D for a quick peek at the horses. My oldest daughter is WAYYY in to horses, and told me all about Percherons (sp?), which I'd never even heard of before! Here's a good one we got of one of them scratching it's rearend on the fence. I guess even horses get that problem once in a while

My youngest, noticed the white horses and just KNEW that they were Cindy's horses! How sweet!

The rest of our party still wasn't at the outpost, so we boarded a bus for the Settlement, to buy our re-fillable mug! Okay, these are the BEST value in the parks anywhere! I LOVE my mug!!!!!! We hung out on the porch at Trail's End and watched a great thunder shower. It was so relaxing and refreshing! What a great place to just chill out and rock your cares away.

Well, they finally showed up about 4:00 (we left DTD at 3:00!) and said that they walked over from the Lodge! OH, if they had just done a little planning and followed the signs. Okay, enough of that; it was time to check into Hoop-de-Doo! We went to the little window, and they printed out our ticket. It is all pre-arranged seating, so there is really no need to be standing in line until a few minutes before your show. But, you DO have to check in by 4:30. While we waited, we went over to the Settlement trading post and looked around. There was still lots of rain, we waited on the porch over there for a break. Still looking back on those rocking chairs with fond memories

Time to get to the show! Okay, this a MUST do dinner show! We loved HDDR in every way. The food was fantastic, and the show corny, but good old fashioned, pun-filled fun. You start with the salad and cornbread already on the table. The very helpful servers come around and get your drink orders, which are bottomless- even the sangria, which was too watered down for my taste. But knowing that I needed to drive, I only had one. Here is an okay picture of the salad and tables.

The chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes, baked beans, and more cornbread, if you want it, come out between acts of the singing and dancing. The finale is fun, because the servers get into the act as they bring out some of best strawberry shortcake I've ever had. Yum, yum!!

My advice, if you go with small kids, go to the early show. I saw some folks later in the week getting off a bus for the 9:30 show with kids, and they were already in meltdown mode.

Okay, here's the real-life finale to an all-around GREAT day. Fasten your seatbelts. My DBIL calls from Bowling Green, and says nasty weather is on the way. He heard that there was even the chance of tornados, so my Dad INSISTS we bail to a hotel for the night!!!! What does this mean, you guessed it, we hot-foot it over to the KOA we were at, and break camp in the dark, in the rain, and check into a hotel. At the time I was just really p*ssed off, more at the circumstances than the people. Afterall, this is supposed to be a CAMPING trip, not a hotel deal. The next morning when I was checking in at FW, I heard that some tenters and even some awnings on RV's were soaked, blown away, or worse. In the end, I'm glad we went to the hotel, and that our tents, bags, clothes, etc... were kept safe and dry under the tarps in the truck bed. We got a good night's sleep, and were ready for our next day of fun.



Okay, now for the what-I'd-do differently- next-time feature...

1) If you are staying off-site, or even just need to travel around Orlando, DON"T forget your quarters for those d*mned toll roads. How stressful to get to a toll booth and be out of them! Luckily, I has stashed a bunch in my purse for pressed pennies!

2) Be flexible and patient with those who are inept, or didn't do the research you thought they would do. Enjoy where you are (even if you aren't where you thought you'd be at that given time)- it's easy to do in Disney, because there is something new to discover at every turn.

3) Don't always rely on the restaurant board's reviews to make your choices of meals. There were loads of bad reviews about HDDR regarding the food; but it turned out to be great. We chose our meals for the theming and were pleasantly surprised about the food!

 

[Us3]

Yeah, I've been waiting to hear how your evening went! Sounds like the "trials of family" kept you on your toes! It can be really difficult to travel with others...even in your own family!

Our awning took a little beating in that wind! Several tents and screen rooms blew over in our 100 loop too! Some rough weather that day!

Keep 'em coming. I'm looking forward to hearing about your time in the parks!!

 

[kc5grw]

Ha, LOL, Loretta! It's so true, and it gets worse with each one! I can't even keep their names straight. When I call the youngest, she's usually, "AndrewRebekahMichaela, aargh, forget it- YOU!" Poor thing, I know I'm setting her up for identity crisis!

I've only got 3 and one of ems away at college and I still have that problem. He even gets added back in the mix if one of the girls pulls something really stupid. "HarriVictElizabeth!"

3) Don't always rely on the restaurant board's reviews to make your choices of meals. There were loads of bad reviews about HDDR regarding the food; but it turned out to be great. We chose our meals for the theming and were pleasantly surprised about the food!

I will never, ever make a dining decision based solely on the reviews on the restaurant board. If it looks like something I might like I'll try it and make my own determination.

 

[proudmomof4]

We didn't have any issues with our awning that day from all the storms, but it did hail and my kids were amazed to see ice falling from the sky when it was 70-80 something degrees outside

 

[stacktester]

We didn't have any issues with our awning that day from all the storms, but it did hail and my kids were amazed to see ice falling from the sky when it was 70-80 something degrees outside

That's because your son put the stakes in the ground good Denise.

I think he could just about set that thing up by himself next trip.

 

[WildDisNut]

I love your TR. I never knew TR were posted here. I look forward to more.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

I have to agree with you on the dining reviews! My family LOVES the food at the Hoop Dee Doo... We are simple folk however.

I can just imagine taking my father to Victoria and Alberts some day....

"You want me to eat frog eyeballs soaked in wine???"

 

[All7OfUs]

I have to agree with you on the dining reviews! My family LOVES the food at the Hoop Dee Doo... We are simple folk however.

I can just imagine taking my father to Victoria and Alberts some day....

"You want me to eat frog eyeballs soaked in wine???"

OMG, too funny! I so had to laugh, because in real life, we live in Kazakhstan, and one of their delicacies is sheep eyeballs. If you are the guest of honor, they REALLY will give you the roasted head of the sheep, and carve out the eyeball just for you! THANK Goodness, we've never had to endure this, cuz there's always been someone older than us at the parties we've gone to. We keep praying it stays that way!

 

[my3princes]

Loving your report so far. Can't wait to read more.

 

[All7OfUs]

Day 3- Sunday, April 6th-

Sunday, a brand new day- We're dry, we're well rested, we get a free breakfast (hot one!), and we're headed to set up camp, right??!! Wrong!

By now, you're probably thinking, OMG, what wussies!! Yes, we camped with a bunch of wussies- explanation needed!

Today we needed to check into FW! Finally. The kids and I head over to the Fort around 9:00, after Mom and Dad picked up my little ones for a couple of hours. What they did is a complete mystery to me; a lot of details of this trip are irretrievably lost from my dimming memories. But I can tell you that the 3 oldest and I showed up around 11:00 to check in. We went straight to the check in desk at the outpost and the total process took around 20 minutes. They did tell us that we could not get our space # until 1:00 and to check back then. Meantime, the kids and I went up to the Settlement to check things out, fill up my mug, (did I mention that I LOVE MY MUG?) look around in the shop, and wait for our DIS-er's photo meet. By 12:15 we were finished up with that, and I just want to say that the folks on this board are some of the nicest, fun-loving, full- of - info. people I've ever "met". At least now I can really say, I've MET some of them.

After the photo, the rest of the fam. calls and says they are at the Outpost with stuff for a tailgate lunch. Mmmm, sandwiches always taste better at the Fort, don't they?

Next, we're ready for our long-awaited monorail tour of the resorts. We didn't have to wait too long for a bus back to the Settlement, so we could get a boat over to MK. From there, we got a monorail over to the Poly. But not just any monorail- one that my kids got to co-pilot!! What a fun thing to do if you haven't ever. The kids LOVED looking out the front end, and felt very special when the driver gave them all a co-pilot's card. The only bummer was that it was (still) raining, and I couldn't get any decent pics. But here's one to give you an idea..

The Poly is such a lovely place. The gardens and pool area alone are so peaceful to just BE in .

Alas, it was still raining- hard enough that we just couldn't trapse around in it. So, instead we found a couple more of our pressed pennies, and a few of our hidden Mickeys. By now, it was getting too late to stop off at the Floridian, as I needed to be on my way to a meeting for our employer that I had to be at. I know some purists would say that these aren't really hidden Mickeys, but my kids spotted them in about 3 seconds, and they insisted we put them in our collection. Good job, kids!

Heading back to FW, we get to our loop with the truck and sit in the bus shelter for literally 20 minutes of pouring down rain! It was quickly becoming more than apparent, that there was NO WAY that our camp was going to go up that evening! It was back to another hotel! I'm no wussie, I've lived in a 3rd world country for over 7 years now, but this just wasn't going to happen. The kids were hungry, it was getting dark, the rain was coming down in buckets, so off we went to find a pizza, and motel, and I was off to speak at my meeting.

The kids loved it because, well what kid doesn't like pizza, AND Pirates of the Caribbean was on TV. I returned about 9:00, we tucked in and had a decent night's sleep. We knew it would be a long day tomorrow because we were headed to MK with evening EMH until 2:00 am. Woohoo!!!

Things I learned from this day's events:

1) Always plan on more time than you think it will take to go anywhere if you use Disney transportation. Murphy's law dictates that your yellow bus will always pull out of the outpost when you are driving into it with your car.

2) Make more money than we do, if you want to camp even if it rains. It would be really nice to have an RV, or trailer or 5th or anything other than a leaky tent.

3) Don't fret over pizza and a movie, if that's what your vacation ends up being for a short time. I know, I know, you don't have to spend $2,000 to get pizza and a movie, but at least it's away from the e-mail, to-do list, schedules of someone else's making, and hey you didn't have to cook or do dishes. The kids are pretty happy with anything.

 

[tci1212]

Great trip report thanks for taking the time. I almost feel like I'm there! lol

 

[All7OfUs]

Great trip report thanks for taking the time. I almost feel like I'm there! lol

You're very welcome! Glad to have you along for the ride.

 

[MomofPirate&Mickey]

Don't feel too bad about not remembering your kids names!! I only have 2, but half the time Leo gets called Luke (which is the cat ) & Luke, Leo.

Great TR, too!!

 

[Shannone1]

we waited on the porch over there for a break. Still looking back on those rocking chairs with fond memories

3) Don't always rely on the restaurant board's reviews to make your choices of meals. There were loads of bad reviews about HDDR regarding the food; but it turned out to be great. We chose our meals for the theming and were pleasantly surprised about the food!

Make sure you add your porch picture to the porch picture thread...it's a nice one

We agree about the HDDR menu...it was one of our favorite meals