The "Goodest Vacation Ever" Trip Report! Part 7: The Final Goodbye

[4boysrus]

Lovin your TR. Your boys are adorable! Can't wait to
hear more!

Thanks for reading!

 

[4boysrus]

Just wanted to tell you I'm really enjoying your TR. Your boys are sooo cute!!!

awww, thanks.

we think they're even cuter when they are sleeping.

 

[4boysrus]

Enjoying your report Melissa! The kids are so cute all decked out in their Disney shirts. I can't wait to hear the rest. So glad you rode Everest, it is just one of the best rides there!

Allyson

Thanks for reading Allyson. If it wasn't for enjoying your TR so much, I never would have thought to do one of my own.

Everest really was a great ride. Probably our favorite roller coaster there!

 

[4boysrus]

Great report and pictures!

thanks for reading!

 

[4boysrus]

Loving your TR!!! Hope your son gets better soon!

Thanks for reading!

Little Miles was feeling better by Saturday.

 

[4boysrus]

Loving the trip report so far!!! Lots of fuN!!!

Glad you are enjoying the TR! It's a lot of fun to write.

 

[4boysrus]

I love your TR! Your family is beautiful! Keep it comin!!!

Thanks for reading, and thanks for the compliment!

 

[4boysrus]

That is a classic! Must be saved for HS grad photo board...I mean blackmail!

Good idea!!

 

[4boysrus]

Subscribing!! Love your report so far.

Thanks for subscribing!

 

[4boysrus]

I am loving your trip report! It brings back memories, when my boys were little Of course, now they are teenagers...but they still love to go to WDW. Hang in with your oldest, mine was the same way. They feel a little left out when new siblings come along.

Your boys are adorable.

I keep telling myself that what doesn't kill me, will make me stronger. Not sure which way it's gonna go yet though.

 

[4boysrus]

Oh no for beer and baby puke....Glad you were at least able to see some fireworks while waiting for the bus!!

Seeing the fireworks were for sure the highlight of the evening. It wasn't the location that I would have chosen to see them (and we didn't get to see them all), but atleast we didn't miss them completely!

 

[4boysrus]

You sure needed Pixie Dust with the beer spill and puke. I think if I wouldn't have found any clothes, I would of jumped into a pool, (just kidding!!)

Where do you live, I saw that you drove to WDW.

If I had to leave that store without clothes I would have left in tears!

We live in Georgia. 40 miles north of Atlanta.

 

[4boysrus]

I can't imagine taking four kids! I am enjoying your report.. and I hope that fun is ahead.

It wasn't so bad since it wasn't a really busy time of year. I can't imagine going with the 4 of them when the crowds are bad. I'd surely leave there thisclose to a nervous breakdown!

 

[4boysrus]

Loving your trip report, don't we just love our children , we do everything for them and then they go and throw up on you

Ain't that the truth! Miles also says DaDa ALL the time, and has yet to say MaMa. What gives?

 

[4boysrus]

Wow...you are SUPER MOM!!! Four little boys, beer in your pants AND baby puke...I'd have quit. I'd have called my husband, tagged OUT and cried like a big baby! You ROCK!! Your boys are absolutely darling. Knowing what I know about planning and all the little Disney extras...from Disney Tees to welcome baskets and crocs...you went the EXTRA mile! It must have been a wonderful first visit!!

My step son is five...I'm sure that one of these days that "attitude" will pop up and need to be readjusted! His 7 year old sister already tried using "whatever" with the eye roll...of course that landed her a one way trip to time out! I think we've got our hands full with two...I can't imagine FOUR!

I'm loving your report!! I called my husband over too look at your little ones and he gave me a sideways look and said "We are NOT having four kids!"

we'll see...

can't wait for the next chapter!!!

Thanks for reading the TR! I'm not super mom, I was just determined that nothing was going to ruin my first trip to WDW. After the Luau fiasco, I was near giving up though. Thankfully, things did get better, but you'll have to wait and read about that later!

Despite all the hiccups during the trip, it really was a wonderful first visit.

4 kids (boys at that!) is a hard job, and somedays I wanna run away , but I love it!

 

[4boysrus]

LOL, funny how the line to see the Storm Trooper and Darth Vader outside of ST is always so full of grown men.

Loving the report, Melissa!

Hey Lydia! Thanks for reading!

You're right about the line. The guys (young and old) definately dominated that line!

 

[4boysrus]

Oh boy, i'm glad you can laugh about it now! I once had a chocolate martini spilled in my lap, then a few minutes later a nice, tall cold beer and I wasn't even drinking! I hope things turned around for you!

Oh my! That's bad, and especially so since they weren't even your drinks!

 

[4boysrus]

Day 5-Thursday 2/15/2007

After the Luau, I didn't have high hopes for the day. I was surprised to find Miles was feeling better. No fever, no throwing up, a seemingly happy little guy!

So, we all got up and got ready to head to Epcot. This was our first day to Epcot, so we were pretty excited. We had lots of things at Epcot on our "must-do" lists so we were ready to go! The weather was to be a bit cooler, so we all dressed in jeans and t-shirts. I was sure that we'd be fine since the high was supposed to be in the mid 60's. I was wrong, but more on that later!

We got to Epcot right at 9 a.m. We first headed to Soarin'. It was one of the things that I really wanted to do! We got our parent swap pass, and decided that I would take Michael and Matthew to Soarin'. There was a 20 minute standby so I suggested that KJ take Max and Miles on Living with the Land to help pass the time (thanks to TGM for the suggestion!). Soarin' was FANTASTIC. Wow, I loved it, and so did the boys! It was just really amazing. As we exit, I see KJ standing and waiting for us. When we get over to him, he tells me that he got something from the Year Of A Million Dreams. As this is computing (I'm in disbelief!) he starts pulling out 6 (SIX!!) Dream Fastpasses.

I ask all the how, who, when, why, where questions, and find out that he and the little ones were on the boat and some of the YOAMD people got on with them. We'd seen them in the parks all week, so he didn't think much about it. After the ride, they stopped him and told him that he'd been chosen to receive a prize from the YOAMD and they asked how many people were in his party. He said 6, and they handed over that many Dream Fastpasses. I was still in shock, but we decided to head over to Test Track. We got a Parent Swap for me, and KJ, Michael, and Matthew used their DFP and rode first. I hung out with the 2 little ones for a while, and realized that it was COLD and it wasn't warming up very quickly. About this time, the others exited. I sent KJ, Max, and Miles to MouseGears to get us some sweatshirts while I rode Test Track with Michael and Matthew. I wasn't very impressed with this ride. It was fun when it got out on the track, but the rest was kinda boring. By the time we were done, they were back with our sweatshirts. Ahhhhhh, sweet warmth!

It was almost 10:30 so we decided to head over to The Living Seas with Nemo. Not a long line at all. Maybe 10 minutes total wait time. This was on Max's must see list so he was very excited about it. He loved it too. I thought it was pretty neat, but the others weren't so impressed. We were disappointed that Turtle Talk was closed, but we knew ahead of time so atleast we were prepared. The boys all got a turn to be Shark Bait (oh ah ah).

By the time we were done looking around, we headed towards Garden Grill where we had a 12:20 lunch date with Chip & Dale, Pluto, and Mickey. We got there about 11:45, and checked in. We all went to use the bathroom and wash up. We waited for about 15 minutes, and then we were taken to our table.

We all liked the fact that the restaurant rotated, and we got to see some of the Living with the Land scenary. This would turn out to be our favorite character meal of the trip. The characters were very interactive, and the food was good too! Our kiddos aren't picky eaters so we enjoyed the family style meal. The boys loved their Interactive Dessert (decorate your own cupcake), and our dessert was delicious (bread pudding with yummy bailey's sauce). We saw the characters 2-3 times during the meal and got lots of great video and pictures.

The boys with Dale

And Chip

This picture cracks me up, because it looks like Miles is telling him something serious.

Mickey and the Boys

Miles and Mickey (I can't decide which is my favorite. I'm a little partial to the with Miles touching Mickey's nose, and Mickey touching his).

This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip. Michael had a bad attitude for some of the trip, and I wasn't sure if he was having a good time or not. This picture tells the truth.

And of course the others with Pluto.

After lunch, KJ went on Soarin' with Michael and Matthew. When they were done, we all went on Living with the Land (Max loved this ride and couldn't wait to ride it again). The weather was nice and cool outside and Miles fell asleep as soon as he got back to the stroller so we decided that we'd take a quick trip around the World (Showcase, that is). The older 2 weren't too excited about walking that much so we rented a double stroller. What a sight that was! They are only 7 and 5, but they are big for their ages.

We didn't take a lot of time in World Showcase, mainly because we didn't have a lot of time. It was after 2 now, and we were all tired. This was our first full day in any of the parks, and to top it off, I had laundry to do back at Pop. On our next trip, we will definately spend more time enjoying World Showcase!

Matthew and Michael wanted to ride Mission:Space, and since we had our DFP, we decided to stop there on the way towards the park exit. We did the gentle version, and while it was fun I wish we had done the regular version. Next time! KJ snapped this CUTE picture of Miles while waiting on us in M:S, so I have to share.

We decided that we wanted to share the magic and give away our DFP. Since we were able to use the Parent Swap passes, and the lines were never more than 20 minutes, we didn't use many of them. I wanted to keep 2 of them for memory and scrapbooking, so we had 4 to give away. They each still had Soarin', Maelstrom, and Honey I Shrunk The Audience. 3 of them had those plus Test Track and Mission:Space. I was looking for the perfect family, and then I spotted them. A couple with their 2 teenage sons. We're partial to boy families. :wink: They were so happy to get the passes even if some of the tabs were missing. It felt great to see them so happy.

We finally boarded the bus to Pop at 4:45. We went straight to the room, and I started getting together some dirty clothes. I took Michael and Max with me to do the laundry, and the others were gonna meet us for dinner at Everything Pop a little later. The boys ran around and played Ping Pong, and we just sat by the pool and relaxed. KJ, Matthew, and Miles met up with us about 6 to have dinner. After eating, KJ took the boys to the Arcade while I finished up the laundry. We all got back to the room around 7, and got everyone ready for bed. It was going to be another long day tomorrow, so I wanted everyone well rested! It was our last full day before our trip was over. I didn't even want to start thinking about that, but I knew that it was inevitable. After I got the boys in the bed, I packed up everything that we wouldn't need before we left.

I was hoping that our last day at Disney would be as great as today!

 

[sharonW]

I'm really enjoying your tr. Your boys are adorable!!

 

[ellebeegee]

I'm loving this, Melissa, thank you!! I can't believe we've had 7 trips in 3 1/2 years and I've never done a trip report. All mine have been: we went; we had a blast, crashed, woke up and did it all over again.

I have to say, my first time on Test Track I was SORELY disappointed. Really thought I'd never ride it again but of course I did. I honestly enjoy it MUCH more now after a few times through, for some reason. I LOVE the theming in the queue. I don't like to wait long but if we have a little bit of a wait I don't mind it at all. I've found a few Hidden Mickeys in there; that's what always keeps me occupied in the queues.

Epcot is the park that always wears me out. We made the mistake, one time, of going to Epcot the first day and honestly never recovered. It was a short trip, anyway, and we were exhausted the whole time. I don't get to World Showcase unless DH wants to eat at Le Cellier -- if I ever had a dream trip it would include at least one whole day in WS BY MYSELF with unlimited funds and clouds for feet.

So many people think Living with the Land is lame but I love it. It's a nice chance to sit and chill out for a while and I never get tired of going through the greenhouses. Last time, though, two women in front of us were apparently trying to resolve the marital crisis of one of them and mistook the ride for a private place to talk through the whole ride. I could barely hear anything besides them. I really wanted to give her some unsolicited advice -- HEY! If you'd just SHUT UP while he's trying to watch Star Trek! I can relate, woman!

Wow, I can't believe it's your last day already. I'm not sure if I want to read that or not!