The Torba Tribe (ALL 8 OF US ) Head for the WORLD !!!

[amytx5]

The Cast Members
Me...Renewed Disney addict 36 SAHM
Dh 43 Not really excited about the trip FEDEX DRIVER
DS 15 Wants to stay home
DD 14 Ditto
DS 10 Is frustrated about missing homework
DS 7 Excited
DS 7 Estatic
FIL RETIRED last minute add-on , thrilled to have him ALONG


We were scheduled to leave for Philly on Friday the 29th as soon as the kids get home from school. I had EVERYTHING prepared, planned and packed. At the last minute Dh looks at me and says "Are you gonna carry all of this junk in your purse ?? " Its gonna be really heavy to carry around later.
(This becomes important later on in the story )

So ...needless to say I grab my purse grab a handful of heavy "junk" such as my planner, address book and wallet (I already had my credit cards seperated ) and toss it in a drawer and we board our 12 passanger van to leave for Philly.

We arrive at the Sheraton 4 points hotel 3 hours later and DS 7 complains of a headache ..we are all hungry and decide to go to the local pizza hut to get something to eat.
I feel DS's forehead and of course he is warm. With my liquid motrin packed safely away , I decide to buy another in the grocery store and head to pizza hut where the waitress's act like they are on vacation instead of working.

The girls are dancing around to the music on their ipods , checking their cell phones and just looking past us like we werent even there.

We FINALLY get seated and after a long 1/2 hour our breadsticks arrive. Man what a way to start out the trip of a lifetime.

Back at the hotel , the beds are super comfy ..the kids are excited but know they need to go to sleep ..so lights out by 10 pm..our flight leaves at 7am and we need to be at the airport by 5am.....

Soon I hear gentle breathing and everyone is settled in....until 2:30 am when I jump up from my bed ....OMG .......I think I left something behind
...TO BE CONTINUED

 

[agnes!]

Oh NO, hope everything turns out for the best...please?

agnes!

 

[amytx5]

Panic sets in as I start thinking ..where is my drivers license ?? Yep ...It is HOME in the drawer with the JUNK that my husband wanted me to remove from my heavy purse ....!!!!
I am in Philly 3 hours away from home about to board a plane with no DL. I am freaking out ...
I call the airline which simply tells me "no way you are getting on the plane" Dh is still sleeping , I am hyperventilating and looking for my pre-flight Xanax . I call the airline back begging for a solution..telling them I am going on a dream trip with 5 kids to DISNEY WORLD ....the airline rep starts asking me if I 'LOST" my license >>?
I tried insisting that I am sure that I left it home however she assured me that I LOST it ..And that I needed to go to the local police station to report it lost and file a police report which would then allow me to board the plane.

3 AM Southern Philly Police station...There were more people on the street than daylight in NYC ....I am alone with my 15 yr old son who thinks I am nuts to begin with..
We find a sweet Policeman who files a report , does a background check and then sadly tells me he cannot hand over the police report !!
But he does give me his badge number , cell phone number and the police station number and assures me that he will talk to the airline. ( The man was an angel)

We rush to the hotel to pick-up the rest of the travelers and head to the airport.

 

[Hound 109]

our 12 passanger van to leave for Philly.

Soon I hear gentle breathing and everyone is settled in....until 2:30 am when I jump up from my bed ....OMG .......I think I left something behind
...TO BE CONTINUED

Did you count the kids when you got on the passenger van?

Looking forward to the next installment.

Hound

 

[amytx5]

Dh parks the family car ( 12 pass bus) and we all board the transport van ,gee.... it looks smaller than our car....
We load the gang ...12 bags and all and head for the airport.
We arrive at the checkout counter and hand the girl my little pink slip with the kind Policemans name etc... and she looks at me like "are you kidding ??"

I try to explain what happened but all the TA wants to know is if I have any other adults traveling with me ...Thank Goodness for DH and FIL ..as they have their ID's ready and waiting.
I get through one check-point as she writes in big letters "NO ID" on my boarding pass.

Once upstairs, I am ushered to another line ( to the left ) while my whole family is on the right . I see a slew of uniformed people ahead and sticky little fingers pointing on the right of me ,poking at the glass. I could see their little mouths forming ("thats our mommy" )

I am a little humiliated as well as thankful that our security is the way it has to be in order for us a country to be safe while flying, I try to keep that in mind while I am in line ,taking off my shoes and jacket (remembering then that I didnt put a bra on this morning with all of the hassle ) .

After an extensive search of my personal bags and a little pat down ,,,I am free to go ......

NEXT..DS and his little fever ......UGHHHHHH

 

[amytx5]

hAHA Hound ...I always count heads in our van...

I truly feel like a bus driver !!!!!

Amy~~

 

[pumba]

hey a head count is always good especially in extreme emergencies.......sounds like a rush job to me and I hope you are all safely in DiSNEY....Now who has a fever.......

 

[Hound 109]

..our security is the way it has to be in order for us a country to be safe while flying

After an extensive search of my personal bags and a little pat down

Whew...you had me going there. I had this visual of a "Nurse Ratchet" looking Security Lady..snapping her latex gloves on.




(& am glad that all kiddos made it into the 12 seat "truckster"....that cliffhanger could have gone in about 6 directions.)

hound

 

[Bounce_Tigger]

I've always wondered how "big" familes (which Disney apparently thinks is anyone with more than 2 kids) do the World. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[amytx5]

Well my DS (AGE 7 ) one of my twins ...had a headache the night before , so I gave him liquid motrin and he was doing fine , well with ALL of the confusion in the morning I hastily threw my new bottle of liquid motrin in a to-be-checked in bag ...The last thing I needed was to have "NO ID" and try to take liquids on board .....

So we are sitting in the terminal ,waiting for our boarding call and DS (7) looks pale, Sure enough He has a fever. I have motrin in pill form (he has never swallowed a pill) I start begging ,,then bribing ...Please Please try to swallow this pill. "you can spend 25 dollars in Disney ", "You can sit by the window on the plane" You can ride the front of the monorail ...Anything ... !!! Please Please swallow the pill .....He does ......we get called to board and he starts gagging ,he thinks that the pill is caught in his throat ....I give him more to drink and we are literally walking from the ramp to the plane and he is dragging his feet.


At this point I dont know if he is just afraid of the plane or really thinks that the pill is lodged in his throat !!!

I begin to pray silently ...Please Lord help me settle him down enough to find out what is really wrong...I can see all of the stares from the other passengers wondering if this is going to be a nightmare flight with a screaming child.....
We sit in our seats and he settles and we're off ...He falls asleep for an hour or so and when he awakens , he begins to gag , while my husband and I scramble for "little white bags" ...Believe it or not our seat ...out of 8 seats on the plane that we took up ...was the ONLY seat that had a "puke bag" ...Thank Goodness ....he didnt miss .....

The kind flight attendants bring us some wet wipes and we settle back in for the rest of the flight , which I am happy to say went rather smoothly .

We happily land in Orlando , on time and no worse for wear..to beautiful weather , albeit humid but I'll TAKE it ~~~

 

[amytx5]

Well check in goes smoothly ...even though there are a lot of people in front of us, It seems to go by quickly. The CM that helps us is very sweet but difficult to understand. I am still more than a littl econfused about the dining plan. But I decide to figure it out as I go.

We are told that our room will probably not be ready until 2-3 pm . It is now 10:30 am ..What to do ??
We still have our carry-ons so we decide to park ourselves out by the pool , in the glorious sun and get some drinks from the hotel resturant.
The kids quickly decide that they enjoy playing ping-pong with FIL and swimming ( I brought their suits in the carry-ons) and I am loving every minute of basking in the sun. So for now we are relaxed and happy to be at this most colorful resort ....Far from home and listening to Hakuna Matata...."No worries " on the loud speaker .....For now all is well ...Until the kids start getting hot and tired and want to go to their ROOM !!!!!!

They start calling the main desk from inside the hotel to see when our room will be ready .. Thankfully it was ready about 1- 1/2 hours before schedule so we could relax and cool off before dinner.



I am so happy that I made NO plans for today other than "HOOP DE DOO" DINNER at 7:20. We have the whole day to check in , swim , relax ..see how DS is doing and why he is running a fever.
Next Up....
Hoop De Doo ...Revue ...Review

 

[amytx5]

So we decide to take the bus to the MK and then the ferry to FW ...No bus wait for MK ...maybe 5 minutes and another 10-15 mins for the ferry . Not bad, We arrive at FW in plenty of time for the show and see long lines waiting to get "tickets". I tought that our reservation # was our ticket but I am wrong.

And to top it off , computers are down so everything is being hand written. This is my 1st experience with dining reservations and the DP ..and so far I am not impressed.
We get to our turn in the line and we have 2 seperate rooms. The CM explains that she has to seperate our tickets based on 4 people per room. She does her calculations and Now I am beginning to see why everyone loves FREE DINING. $321.00 would be our total if we were paying for this meal/show.

WOW ....I dont think that my kids would ever have gotten to witness this fabulous dinner show at THOSE prices.
We wait in line and find out table already set for 8 .
Quickly we are met by a great smiling man , who takes our drink orders.
Then proceeds to tell us whats on the menu and brings us some corn bread. I am really liking this place.
The show begins , the characters are loud and silly with a touch of hokey..But we love it !!
Ds with the fever is a little quiet but begins to perk up as the show progresses . There is a ton of audience interaction and laughs.

We are served Ribs and fried chicken in big metal buckets and corn on the cob and bbq beans. The ribs are awesome but messy and I wouldve liked more white meat with the chicken but it was an ok meal.
Our server is awesome and refills our drinks quickly.
They pass out old washboards at the end and let the kids make "music" with their metal spoons ...
The kids , even the teens loved it and the best part was ....When we left the tip was included and there were buses waiting to take us directly to our resorts !! Disney Magic at its finest !!!!

Next Up....Animal Kingdom

 

[amytx5]

Sunday Oct 1st.. We are awake at a reasonable time and headed for Animal Kingdom ...DS (fever boy) is complaining of ear pain, Luckily I brought prescription ear meds from home ..My other DS is prone to ear infections.
So we give him his motrin and we are on our way.
No wait for the bus, It seems that everyone else is headed for Magic Kingdom (GOOD) :}
Our first stop in Animal Kingdom is EE ...I knew some of the particulars of this new thrill ride (from reading the boards) but I didnt share them with my family.
FIL is even willing to ride ..he is like a big kid ..nothing scares him ! Well ( later I found out that Tower of Terror WOULD NOT be geting a ride from FIL )
We all pick our partners .. Every small child has an adult with them and we are set to go. What a cool experience ..Not as scary as I Expected yet thrilling none the less.
I look back at DS & DS 7 *(THE TWINS) and they have a look of terror on their faces , close to tears but not quite.
I start telling them how their friend (who came the week before) could not ride this ride because he wasnt tall enough and how they could go home and tell him all about it . That made them forget just how fast and backwards !!! The coaster went !!
We proceed to Dinosaur which was a walk on... No lines anywhere ..This is going to be a GREAT day. Next we back track to the Kali river rapids ..we get soaked , Especially ME ..we laugh we have a great time.
The longest wait we had the whole trip was for the Kilamanjaro Safari and that was a 20 minute wait. Mostly because there were a lot of wheelchair bound people that needed to be loaded seperately which took some time.
But it went by quickly.
The kids loved the safari ..the animals were plentiful. The giraffes were right next to our truck , great photos ...The lions and tigers were not out. The tour guide said they sleep or lounge 20 hours a day and it was warm out when we went. 90 degrees and humid.
We head down to the tree of life and inspect it , the kids are in awe and I love it myself ..what an awesome masterpiece.
We see "Its a bugs life" ..DS 7 wants to leave ( not fever boy) , he braves rollercoasters but is scared to death of wind blowing in his face and cartoon bees on the screen.. Who knew !!???
We are all getting hungry and are frustrated to learn that so is the rest of the park. The lines for food are non-ending. There is no place to sit to eat and we are all getting miserable.
Dh and I make the decision to head back to POP to eat and rest and let DS (fever boy ) who is doing really well ) cool off in the pool.
All in All I think that we didnt get to experience all that the Ak had to offer. But we were satisfied with what we did see and were so looking forward to our next adventure.
Next Trip ......MGM or is it ???????????????

 

[SueM in MN]

The longest wait we had the whole trip was for the Kilamanjaro Safari and that was a 20 minute wait. Mostly because there were a lot of wheelchair bound people that needed to be loaded seperately which took some time.
But it went by quickly.

Does that mean they were loading people using wheelchairs at the regular loading area onto the same Safari cars as everyone else?
Every time we've ridden, people using wheelchairs get on and off at an accessible loading area to the right of the 'usual' boarding area (just before the regular line gets to the boarding area) and have not been loaded onto the same Safari cars as everyone else. That way, people using wheelchairs can leave them there and have them waiting when they return.

Every time we have ridden, the 'wheelchair' tram wait time has not affected the wait for the 'regular' tram since we were waiting for a car that only serviced the accessible boarding area. (Our longest wait for the Safari was 40 minutes, when the regular Safari cars were often being sent out partly empty because people were not coming down the line fast enough to fill them).

 

[amytx5]

Sue ..No they were boarding people with wheelchairs at a ramp to the left of us. However , all of the family members that went along with them were boarding the same tour bus and it seemed to be a lot of Large families /groups were there at one time. *We had 8 in our party and of course we all wanted to ride together.
So by the time they loaded 2 people in the WC with their groups , 1 tour bus was filled. The second tour bus came up a few minutes later and they also stopped at the WC ramp loading dock ...they loaded about half of the bus there and half of the bus at the stand -by line.
So we waited for a few more tour buses until we got around to our turn. It did, as I said go by quickly.
Hope this makes sense.
Amy~

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

Did you have to use both room cards for the DDP every time you ate or just at the Hoop dee Doo? We have 2 rooms (2 adults and 4 kids) and are checking in in 2 weeks with the DDP. They told us all the credits from both rooms will be on both cards. Was this the case for you? Thanks, I am loving your report.

 

[amytx5]

We did have to use 2 room cards each time. It may have been because my FIL was with us and they assumed that he was seperate in the other room. It was definately not a problem to use 2 seperate cards , we just split up in groups of 4 each. In fact it was easier because of long lines at checkout. 4 of us would go to seperate registers.
Hope this helps.
Amy~

 

[amytx5]

Sunday Night my DS *(fever boy) woke several times. He was not himself and complianing of ear pain.( I would find out later why the drops werent working. )
We made a decision to take him to the Redi-Care center in Orlando *(after a discussion with the front desk)
The Pop Century made a call and a transportation Bus picked us up 15 minutes later. Dh went with me and we left the rest of the kids with FIL at the hotel.
We arrived At Flordia Centre-Care 15 minutes later and checked in, They do not accept insurance so we had to pay up front and contact our insurance company when we got home. $160.00 + prescriptions, x-rays and anything extra that was needed.
We waited around and hour to be seen by the Dr and he immediately confirmed a double ear infection. *( I was only using the ear deops in one ear)
He prescribed a 5 day strong antibiotic and we went right next door to the pharmacy. The prescription was filled in 5 minutes and we were outside waiting for our return shuttle.
This experience was a good one for us. It is good to know that there is a system in place if you need it. It was run very smoothly and we felt good about the money spent.
We called ahead and told the other kids we were heading back. DS took his medicine and motrin and seemed to be feeling ok.
Now we had a decision to make ...What to do Next ???

 

[amytx5]

We head back to the hotel. The other kids and FIL are waiting for us by the busses. They are so excited to be going to MGM ...What do we do ? DS seems to be doing well. We decide to go to MGM (which is the closest resort to our hotel) and to Immediately return if DS doesnt feel well.

The weather is awesome. Around 85 , not a cloud in the sky. We get to MGM and rent a stroller. DS isnt too thrilled with the idea but he complys. We head straight for Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller-Coaster , which I am suprised to learn are almost right next to one another.
10 min wait for TT. FIL decided he will stay with DS ., DS *TWIN)..also DD *(she has a HUGE fear of elevators in general ) FIL was watching the doors open and all of the screaming people and quickly volunteered to stay behind. so ELDEST DS , Middle DS and Dh and myself ride TT. As soon as we got and and started going forward , I wondered what I got myself into ...I had ridden this before in '98 and I am quickly reminded why I hated it !!!

With my luck...WE WILL get the longest ride in history !
I close my eyes scream and hold on for dear life ! If this ride can lift My LARGE FRAME OUT OF THE SEAT ......what about all of these little kids on it .... OMG ...I am sick to my stomach.....Thank Goodness we only went up and down a few times. I was thrilled to have my feet on the ground.

On to RNR...I really wanted to ride the rollercoaster. But someone had to stay with DS ..DD decided she didnt want to go. So FIL , 3 other DS and DH went in ...It was a 40 minute wait and went by in about 30 minutes. DS slept in the stroller. We decided not to get FP because we knew we wouldnt be staying at the park long (wanted to get DS back) ....
We did a few other rides ..Star Tours , Muppet ADVENTURE , Great movie ride...all while DS slept.
We had dinner ressies at Hollywood and Vine which was great ..the buffet choices were awesome. My kids tried a little of everything. Our server was wonderful ...I even tipped him an extra 10 $ ...(we were on the dining plan so our tips were included) but he filled our drinks before we even asked and cleared our plates so efficently . He was a very nice boy.
He gave us our pass for FANTASMIC but DS was really not holding up and the rest of the gang was tired , so we headed back to the POP FOR A BREAK.
Swimming and ping pong were a daily inclusion for us and DH and FIL took a nap with DS.
Next up ....MAGIC KINGDOM

 

[ThemDawgs]

Hey, come back and write about the Magic Kingdom! A castle photo would be nice, too.

Dawg