The "I'll never do Disney in the summer", summer trip report!

[simplymama]

I didn't do a pre-trip report, but our trip was so much fun, truly "Magical" so I am excited to share it with others who understand.

We are a large family with nine,yes nine children. Yes they're all ours. Yes we have a t.v. and Yes we have figured out what causes it

Our oldest two are in College now, and planning vacations to coincide with everybody's schedule is quite difficult. So that's how the name of my report came to be. Despite my always saying "I'll never do Disney in the summer" it's the only time that would really work for us.

Cast of characters

Me(Kat, wife, mother, mom, or as my user name says Simplymama)
DH(B,husband, dad extraordinaire to our crew)

Children: 6 sons... Kyle(20),Phil(17),Eric(16),Evan(11),Jack(4) and Baby Joseph(14 months)

3 daughters...Beth(14),Grace(9),Anna(6)

Transportation....one big red Ford E350 (11 passenger) ..FULL to capacity

Approximate Travel Time 8 hours and 41 minutes from our house to the World

ADR's....check
Special surprises packed....check
Golf Clubs......check
Too much luggage....check

Day 1...The adventure begins a day early...........

Sadly, I forgot to take pictures, of our fully loaded van to share but you can trust me when I say it was indeed packed utilizing every sqaure inch to it's fullest potential.

Just the day before we had decided to leave at about 1:30 p.m. on Friday instead of very very early Saturday with the thought that we'd drive part way and stop in Kingsland Georgia for the night and then have a pleasant drive into Florida in the morning.

We stopped in Savannah for dinner at about 6:00, and since all was going well with our youngest, Joseph so far,(in other words no major crying spells) we tossed around the idea of driving straight through. A quick check online with the i-phone seemed to show that the Double Tree Suites in Downtown Disney had rooms for us, so I made a quick phone call to reserve them and we were soon back on the road with even more excitement then before. The baby did really well and fell a sleep for a while, but when he woke up at about 10:00 p.m., finding himself in a dark van which he does not like, he started to cry. He cried pretty hard for a bit, and then just got really quiet and held on to me as I did my best to reassure him and hug him, which was not a very easy feat with him fastened into his car seat. Jack and Anna had both been a sleep for a bit too but woke up as we were nearing the hotel. Dark and late it may have been, but excited they definitely were.

We pulled in right around 11:00 p.m. and I jumped out with the baby, so I could give him a real hug and my oldest daughter Beth to get us checked in. It was surprising to see so many people coming and going even at that time of night.


The 2 rooms were fine for a one night stay. They both had 2 double beds and a queen sleeper sofa and were actually quite large. Of course by now everybody was wide awake and it was probably about 12:30 or so before we all fell asleep.

Day 2
I awoke at 6:30 a.m. and just couldn't fall back to sleep, despite trying my best to do so. Dh woke up too which is pretty surprising because he usually has no trouble sleeping. I headed down to see if the restaurant had some coffee to go, but they directed me to a Starbucks cart in the lobby, which I'm pretty positive had coffee that been there from the night before. Yes, it was very bad. Oh well, who cares, we were in Disney. We showered and were ready to go by 9:00. We decided to head over to Downtown Disney for breakfast at McDonalds.

Afterwards we made a stop in the Disney store for some new hats for little girls and the baby.

We walked around for a bit longer and noticed this cool photo opt in the sky.

It was hard to really enjoy being at Downtown Disney because some of us were just too excited about our real destination. Even though check in isn't really until 3:00 p.m. we knew we could at least get our park tickets and unload the van so off we went.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Wow! I can't imagine driving to Disney with such a large family. I'm one of a family of 10 children, 11 years between the oldest and the second youngest, and then the last came 3 years later.

I love how you started your report with "Yes they're all ours. Yes we have a t.v. and Yes we have figured out what causes it"

The longest trips we ever did as a family (back before seatbelt laws! ) was 1.5-2 hours. And I've never been to WDW with my family! I had to wait until I was 30 and went on my own. I can't wait to read about your family trip to WDW. So exciting!

 

[simplymama]

Wow! I can't imagine driving to Disney with such a large family. I'm one of a family of 10 children, 11 years between the oldest and the second youngest, and then the last came 3 years later.

I love how you started your report with "Yes they're all ours. Yes we have a t.v. and Yes we have figured out what causes it"

The longest trips we ever did as a family (back before seatbelt laws! ) was 1.5-2 hours. And I've never been to WDW with my family! I had to wait until I was 30 and went on my own. I can't wait to read about your family trip to WDW. So exciting!

Oh funny. Do you like having a large family now that you are an adult? I hope so..lol. Thanks for reading!!! The drive down was amazingly happy, with no bickering or anything!!

 

[letstalkboutdisney]

I'm in, I can't wait to hear more. I have four kids and I know how much work it was going to Disney last year. I can't imagine how much time it took you to plan this trip. Maybe I can get some tips!

 

[dismagiclover]

Oh this sounds like fun! It's not everyday I get to read a trip report of a family of 11 I can't wait to hear the stories and all of the craziness. I'm predicting lots of good times

 

[simplymama]

I'm in, I can't wait to hear more. I have four kids and I know how much work it was going to Disney last year. I can't imagine how much time it took you to plan this trip. Maybe I can get some tips!

It did take a fair bit of time to plan, but I had so much fun doing it. You know the first time we ever did Disney as a family was with our four oldest when they were little. It was Disneyland and we had such great memories from that trip. I'd have to say this trip we just took, even though we've been numerous times in between, was the most magical one since that very first one

Thanks for reading!!!

 

[simplymama]

Oh this sounds like fun! It's not everyday I get to read a trip report of a family of 11 I can't wait to hear the stories and all of the craziness. I'm predicting lots of good times

We really did have lots of good times, and yea a few of "those" type moments...lol. Thanks for joining in

 

[LPNmom]

Can't wait to hear more, I am planning a Grand Gathering for 12, but only 2 of those our my kids. So I can't imagine trying to keep 9 children together, happy, and as little melt downs as possible!

 

[rpbear]

Great start. I can't wait to read more.

 

[simplymama]

We arrived at the Grand Floridian and told the guard at the gate that we were checking in. She asked for some ID and then directed us to drive up to the front of the resort. We pulled up to the valet area and just sort of glanced around for a minute deciding where we needed to go, when Dh saw a front desk area that said check in, so I got out of the van and headed towards it, but before I could even approach it, a Cast Member came up to me and asked if I was Mrs. XXXXX. Um yes, I am...!!

The Valet Attendant took care of the van, the Bellman unloaded the luggage and then the Concierge Cast Member took some time to guess who each of the children were, all correctly I should addShe informed us that one of our three rooms was actually ready(the one our three oldest would be staying in) so she would just be taking us up to it, and have all of our luggage delivered there, and then we could just move it to the other two rooms next door once they were ready.

The Lobby of the Grand Floridian was as beautiful as ever. We took the ride in the Gold Elevators, on up to the 4th floor. We exited the elevator and passed through the lounge area and I'll be honest here and admit my heart sank a bit when we turned right instead of left. I had heard here on the DIS boards, that you had to go left for a Magic Kingdom view which is what I had requested. When she let us into the room the first thing I did was walk to the glass doors, push the curtains aside, and stepped out onto the balcony.......













The Beach Pool was straight ahead...

The Lagoon was off slightly to the left...

And the beautiful Poly off in the distance...(zoomed in view)

Oh and even to the left we had a cool view...

It was beautiful!! But silly me was so set on the castle that I was still feeling a bit let down. In my mind I had pictured the castle all lit up at night for the little girls to look at as they drifted off to sleep. I mean how magical would that be, right? More to come on this later


The Cast Member gave us our, Keys to the World, and explained our Deluxe Dining Plan to us, she left us to settle in. Not long after though we decided we were going to head to Magic Kingdom, but as we walked by the lounge area we noticed it was now pouring rain out, so we decided we'd just go for a ride on the monorail over to the Contemporary.

The first monorail ride of a trip is always so much fun!!(I took this with my phone, so not the best_

The kids love the arcade there and wanted to check it out. I had read on the Resort boards that it had been redone but was surprised it had also been moved to a new location. The kids played some games and then the 4 oldest boys decided to head to the Magic Kingdom while the rest of us headed back to the Grand Floridian to get some items we had left without like a drink cup and diapers for the baby as well as some sunscreen, etc. Ok, I'm really letting it all out here when I admit that also at this point in my mind I was still secretly hoping I could get our rooms switched to a Magic Kingdom view.

To save you all from having to here the long story, I'll just say the next hour involved the following..........

1)Me believe it or not getting my wish for the Magic Kingdom view.
2)A BIG TREE
3)Me NOT liking the new view as much as the view we already had.
4)Me holding my head high (or was that tucking my tail between my legs) asking to be moved back.
5)Some rolled eyes I'm sure from Cast Members, because YES I was being ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE.
6)Thankfully having my request granted and being allowed back to our old rooms.
7)Finally all being well in my little fantasy world of what the magic was to be like.

 

[simplymama]

Can't wait to hear more, I am planning a Grand Gathering for 12, but only 2 of those our my kids. So I can't imagine trying to keep 9 children together, happy, and as little melt downs as possible!

As you probably read in that second installment, mom was the one who needed to keep it together...lol. The kids were doing just fine!!!

Thanks for reading!!

 

[simplymama]

Great start. I can't wait to read more.

Thanks for joining in!!

 

[dismagiclover]

Your view looks lovely, but I can understand why you'd want the MK view Can't wait for more

 

[simplymama]

By this time we decided just to text the older boys and tell them to meet us outside Epcot since we had a dinner reservation there at 4:30 and knew there was not much point in going to Magic Kingdom. We got there a bit before them, so found a nice place to sit while we waited.

When they showed up we headed through the gates and decided there was enough time to do a quick ride. Nemo had no wait at all, so we did it. Not exactly super exciting, but Jack seemed to enjoy it, and although I think the Baby was a bit scared by the dark, he just sat snuggled up on my lap quietly.

After that ride we headed over to Rose and Crown. We had a short wait, maybe 5-10 minutes, while they got a table big enough for our family ready, and then they paged us. We were seated on the balcony, which at first disappointed us a bit, since we were all very warm and wanted the cool of air conditioning, but the big fans and covered porch area we were seated on, ended up being just great for our family.

I wish I had gotten more pictures here, but I honestly just kept forgetting.

Quite a few of the kids ordered "Lamb Two Ways" and raved about it. I had the Fish and Chips and while it was good, it wasn't great. Dh and Phil ordered steaks and they seemed to enjoy them. At one point it started to rain realy hard while we were out there. Thankfully we were completely covered and didn't get wet, but a few of the patrons on the lower part of the patio had to be moved quickly. When DH went to check on the strollers, we discovered that the CMs had covered them up with plastic so score one point for Disney!!

When it came time to order desert, I could see how this whole Deluxe Dining thing was going to go. My kids, who love them some sweets, had to actually force themselves to even try anything.

I ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding

I was a bit disappointed in this. The cake part was very dry, although the custard/pudding part was pretty good.

Phil ordered the Trifle

He only took two bites. He said he didn't care for it, but I also think being stuffed wasn't helping.

The rest of them ordered the apple crisp ala mode, and the littles got the "build your own sundaes"

After dinner, the 4 biggest kids headed off to ride Soarin, while DH took the middles to see "Honey I Shrunk the Audience". We took a toddler in that show before, and knew not to do it again...

That left Jack, Joseph, and I. We were walking around, when I saw the building with "The Land" in it and remembered it was a nice little boat ride,figured I could manage that Ok with them on my own, and off we went. It wasn't thrilling, but it was still fun. Just me and my little boys!!

It wasn't too long after we were done there that DH texted and said they were done. So we met up and were going to leave, but J#1 really wanted to go on the "ride in the golf ball"...lol. The baby was asleep by now in his stroller, so I decided to just wait on a bench and people watch while they rode the ride.

When they were done we headed to the monorail and back to the resort. The big kids, showed up and never did get to ride Soarin as it had a 90 minute wait, but they had road Test Track. Now that we were all getting a little hungry again we headed up to the lounge to check out the desserts and get a cold drink.

Turn down service had already been in.

It was lovely.

We sat on the balcony and could actually see the fireworks over Epcot in the distance. We also were out there in time to see the Electric Water Parade.

Of course you can't have a trip without new PJs for the little ones.
Grace had no problem filling the role of princess in her new Cinderella nightgown

Later after the littles were in bed, Beth and I went down to the lounge and found a table that would allow us to view the fireworks over Magic Kingdom. While we waited we listeneded to the orchestra and enjoyed a nice chat.

After that DH and I sat on the balcony. Well that was, until I saw a GIANT Palmetto bug run by out of the corner of my eye. I was gone inside in a flash.

Lights out for me. But instead of sugar plums dancing in my head, it was the thought of GIANT icky bugs taking up residence in my thoughts.

Would I ever be able to get to sleep?

 

[dismagiclover]

Your view looks lovely, but I can understand why you'd want the MK view Can't wait for more

I didn't have to wait long Sounds like you had a nice dinner. How difficult was it to get your ADRS for 11? And you have the Deluxe plan. I bet that was some phone call Cute picture of the turndown service

 

[simplymama]

I didn't have to wait long Sounds like you had a nice dinner. How difficult was it to get your ADRS for 11? And you have the Deluxe plan. I bet that was some phone call Cute picture of the turndown service

It took a lot of work to get all the ADRs. We only booked about 60 days out, so some of the ones I wanted to get were difficult. But a $100 phone bill later and probably just as many calls I had just about everything I wanted. It really is true when they say keep calling and things open up.

The online system, opened up about 2 weeks before our trip, so that helped me get a few last minute ones as well.

I never thought I'd care about turn down service, but you know, it really was very nice

Thanks for reading!

 

[rpbear]

I'm caught up waiting for the next post. I got to work early to catch up before I started my day. You have a very beautiful princess in her new PJs.

Lucy

 

[cosmicrays]

What a lovely family you have.

 

[simplymama]

I'm caught up waiting for the next post. I got to work early to catch up before I started my day. You have a very beautiful princess in her new PJs.

Lucy

Aww thanks. Her birthday was actually the day after we returned, so we made it a sort of celebration for her and did a lot of things for her and her younger sister this trip to make it special for them.

 

[simplymama]

What a lovely family you have.

Thank you so much!