My impulse trip. 
Ok, so on Fri, 10/12 I realized there was no school
the next week on thurs & fri and I had custody of the girls and no
plans. What did I do? Booked a spur of the moment trip to Disney, just
me and the girls. On Wed, my ex, decided he wanted to come and he said
he'd spring for airfare. I took the offer. Another pair of hands
with these 2 is always welcome!
The Cast: Mom, Dad, Allie 4 & autistic, Shelby 2
We all met at my house and took a cab to the airport which thankfully
had reinstated curbside checkin. The girls were excited and running
around the terminal excitedly waiting for the plane. They were both
fantastic during the flight. The bags of dollar store goodies that I
packed were a big hit and kept them occupied. I had arranged for a
Tiffany Towncar to pick us up at the airport. The driver was there at baggage
claim waiting for us. It was great to not have to deal with the luggage
or the long line for the Mears bus to Disney. On the way to our resort,
we stopped by the grocery store to pick up snacks and drinks.
We arrived around 5pm at Port Orleans Riverside and after a quick
check in, went straight to the room. The girls stood patiently in line
with us! The luggage was delivered to the room along with the baby
equipment I had rented from A Baby's Best Friend. Everything I rented
was spotless. It was wonderful! So, we threw them in the rented stroller
and off to the food court, where all hell broke loose. The girls were tired from
the flight and wanted to swim and didn't want to eat. After paying way too much
for uneaten food, we went back to the room, popped a video in and the
girls crashed.
Allie, our virtual alarm clock, awoke as usual at 6:30am. They played
with the rented toys while we dressed. We jumped on the bus to the
Magic Kingdom at 8am and then the monorail to the Contemporary Resort
for breakfast at Chef Mickey's. It wasn't as packed as we thought it'd
be. As we were waiting for our table, Shelby spied Mickey and screeched
his name at the top of her lungs. It was very cute. Again, the girls
didn't each much. As the characters came around to greet us, the girls
were very shy and Shelby hopped into Dad's arms to hide each time. She
was definitely frightened. Allie's smiles are tenative in all the
pictures at Chef Mickeys. They got to see Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy,
Chip, & Dale.
From Chef Mickey's we went to Animal Kingdom. We let the girls lead us
at their own pace. We spent an hour on the slides. Surprisingly, they
didn't want to go into the bone sandbox. Shelby went on the high
tube slides, which surprised me. The highlight of the park for Allie
was Kali River Rapids, the raft ride. The line was only 15 mins long
and she and I rode it 3 times before she'd had enough. We walked around
a lot and saw the animals, but Allie didn't want to do the safari
and Camp Minnie-Mickey was packed, so we passed on it. We went back to
the hotel and went swimming for 2 hours and the girls were happy.
Around 7 we packed the girls up and went to the Polynesian to catch the
fireworks at the Magic Kingdom.
Sat morning started with breakfast at 1900 Park Fare... Mary Poppins,
Alice, Mad Hatter, Pinnocio, and Gepeto. The girls were again lukewarm
to the charachters. Shelby again leapt into dad's lap to hide, but did
eventually smile for pictures. Allie was all smiles when Mary Poppins
remembered her name as we were exiting. From there we went to the Magic Kingdom.
Again, we did what the girls wanted to do. They were both wonderful
waiting in line. Allie rode the Barnstormer roller coaster. Both girls
rode dumbo and the carousel. We also got to meet Ariel in her grotto,
tour Mickey & Minnie's houses, and play on the little playground.
We had the last seating for lunch at the Crystal Palace. This was the absolute
highlight of the trip! We got there just as the characters were making
their rounds to our section of the restaurant. Both girls practically
tackled every last character. It was tooooo funny! Allie sent Eeyore
grasping for something to keep him from falling down. Shelby grabbed
Tigger's tail and wouldn't let go. We had to pry Allie from Pooh's
tummy. Piglet was attacked by both girls at once. We were laughing
soooo hard!! The best part was that we got to watch them do it all over
again. In all they got to see each character 3 times! What a great
time. They were both exhausted by the time lunch was over at 4, so we
headed back to the resort. We swam again for 1.5-2 hours and both girls
were asleep by 7:30.
Sunday morning, it was raining. We decided on Downtown Disney. We
didn't have too much fun there, but it was nice to get out. In the
afternoon, the girls were feeling pretty sick, so we went back to the
hotel. Around 4, the sitter arrived from Fairy Godmother's and we went to
Epcot's F&W Festival. We were disappointed in the tiny food portions, but
it was fun, even if we did get soaked! We had dinner at Boatwrights at Port Orleans,
which was mediocre at best. The sitter had no trouble with the girls.
We awoke Monday morning at 3:30 am to catch our 7am flight. Bell services
arrived right on time at 4:10am to get our luggage and the towncar was
right on time. This is really the only part of the trip we had trouble with. Both
girls were tired of waiting in lines by now and were all over the place. USAir hadn't
opened their curbside check in this early and the inside line was horrendous. We're
home, tired, and sick, but we had a great time!
Ok, so on Fri, 10/12 I realized there was no schoolthe next week on thurs & fri and I had custody of the girls and no
plans. What did I do? Booked a spur of the moment trip to Disney, just
me and the girls. On Wed, my ex, decided he wanted to come and he said
he'd spring for airfare. I took the offer.
Another pair of handswith these 2 is always welcome!
The Cast: Mom, Dad, Allie 4 & autistic, Shelby 2
We all met at my house and took a cab to the airport which thankfully
had reinstated curbside checkin. The girls were excited and running
around the terminal excitedly waiting for the plane. They were both
fantastic during the flight. The bags of dollar store goodies that I
packed were a big hit and kept them occupied. I had arranged for a
Tiffany Towncar to pick us up at the airport. The driver was there at baggage
claim waiting for us. It was great to not have to deal with the luggage
or the long line for the Mears bus to Disney. On the way to our resort,
we stopped by the grocery store to pick up snacks and drinks.
We arrived around 5pm at Port Orleans Riverside and after a quick
check in, went straight to the room. The girls stood patiently in line
with us! The luggage was delivered to the room along with the baby
equipment I had rented from A Baby's Best Friend. Everything I rented
was spotless. It was wonderful! So, we threw them in the rented stroller
and off to the food court, where all hell broke loose. The girls were tired from
the flight and wanted to swim and didn't want to eat. After paying way too much
for uneaten food, we went back to the room, popped a video in and the
girls crashed.
Allie, our virtual alarm clock, awoke as usual at 6:30am. They played
with the rented toys while we dressed. We jumped on the bus to the
Magic Kingdom at 8am and then the monorail to the Contemporary Resort
for breakfast at Chef Mickey's. It wasn't as packed as we thought it'd
be. As we were waiting for our table, Shelby spied Mickey and screeched
his name at the top of her lungs. It was very cute. Again, the girls
didn't each much. As the characters came around to greet us, the girls
were very shy and Shelby hopped into Dad's arms to hide each time. She
was definitely frightened. Allie's smiles are tenative in all the
pictures at Chef Mickeys. They got to see Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy,
Chip, & Dale.
From Chef Mickey's we went to Animal Kingdom. We let the girls lead us
at their own pace. We spent an hour on the slides. Surprisingly, they
didn't want to go into the bone sandbox. Shelby went on the high
tube slides, which surprised me. The highlight of the park for Allie
was Kali River Rapids, the raft ride. The line was only 15 mins long
and she and I rode it 3 times before she'd had enough. We walked around
a lot and saw the animals, but Allie didn't want to do the safari
and Camp Minnie-Mickey was packed, so we passed on it. We went back to
the hotel and went swimming for 2 hours and the girls were happy.
Around 7 we packed the girls up and went to the Polynesian to catch the
fireworks at the Magic Kingdom.
Sat morning started with breakfast at 1900 Park Fare... Mary Poppins,
Alice, Mad Hatter, Pinnocio, and Gepeto. The girls were again lukewarm
to the charachters. Shelby again leapt into dad's lap to hide, but did
eventually smile for pictures. Allie was all smiles when Mary Poppins
remembered her name as we were exiting. From there we went to the Magic Kingdom.
Again, we did what the girls wanted to do. They were both wonderful
waiting in line. Allie rode the Barnstormer roller coaster. Both girls
rode dumbo and the carousel. We also got to meet Ariel in her grotto,
tour Mickey & Minnie's houses, and play on the little playground.
We had the last seating for lunch at the Crystal Palace. This was the absolute
highlight of the trip! We got there just as the characters were making
their rounds to our section of the restaurant. Both girls practically
tackled every last character. It was tooooo funny! Allie sent Eeyore
grasping for something to keep him from falling down. Shelby grabbed
Tigger's tail and wouldn't let go. We had to pry Allie from Pooh's
tummy. Piglet was attacked by both girls at once. We were laughing
soooo hard!! The best part was that we got to watch them do it all over
again. In all they got to see each character 3 times! What a great
time. They were both exhausted by the time lunch was over at 4, so we
headed back to the resort. We swam again for 1.5-2 hours and both girls
were asleep by 7:30.
Sunday morning, it was raining. We decided on Downtown Disney. We
didn't have too much fun there, but it was nice to get out. In the
afternoon, the girls were feeling pretty sick, so we went back to the
hotel. Around 4, the sitter arrived from Fairy Godmother's and we went to
Epcot's F&W Festival. We were disappointed in the tiny food portions, but
it was fun, even if we did get soaked! We had dinner at Boatwrights at Port Orleans,
which was mediocre at best. The sitter had no trouble with the girls.
We awoke Monday morning at 3:30 am to catch our 7am flight. Bell services
arrived right on time at 4:10am to get our luggage and the towncar was
right on time. This is really the only part of the trip we had trouble with. Both
girls were tired of waiting in lines by now and were all over the place. USAir hadn't
opened their curbside check in this early and the inside line was horrendous. We're
home, tired, and sick, but we had a great time!
