Welcome, welcome, to my first official Disboards trip report!
We have historically been a family of cruisers and so I am no stranger to writing a trip report, but this was our first "true" time venturing into the world of Disney as a family and therefore, this is my first time writing here. I am not one of those minute by minute reporters, and I try to include things that will be helpful to all readers instead of focusing entirely on personal things. There were so many incredible things we learned on these boards, particularly regarding a trip with young ones on a budget, that I hope I can return the favor.
Before I dive into the "why" of this trip, perhaps I should start with the question of "Who?"
I am K, a planner at heart who loves the research almost as much as the trip. I LOVE traveling and every extra penny we can squeeze out of our budget goes towards an adventure somewhere. I primarily stay at home with our three kids and I home school our oldest. I love being a mom and finding ways to let my kids be creative and explore.
This handsome young man at my side is A. He is perfectly content to sit back and enjoy the ride while letting me plan every detail of a trip, which makes him my perfect partner. He is a fantastic father and will do what needs to be done to make his kids happy, but I do try to throw him a few treats on a trip as well.
Now, for the three that run the show!
Our oldest, M, has been on two cruises already and loves to travel almost as much as I do. He is usually game for about anything and is very easy going, which helps immensely when his travel mates are two toddlers.
Our middle child, N, is the star of this trip. Although he has been with us since he was 3 months old, his adoption just finalized in June, and this trip is a celebration of the completion of our family. He is one giant ball of energy and it is almost impossible to get a picture of him because he never stops moving. He keeps us on our toes, but I can't imagine our life without him.
Rounding out our crew is our youngest, G. She is the most cheerful and loving person you will ever meet, as long as she is getting her way! She keeps up very well with her brothers, speaks her mind, and has no problem holding her own.
At this point, admit it, you think we are certifiable. Three kids 6 and under including two toddlers for an 11 day trip to Disney? Are we gluttons for punishment? Before you write me off completely, have no fear, we didn't completely lose our minds. The final member of our party is Grandma...and pretty much the savior of the trip. A jack of all trades, Grandma was game for whatever was thrown at her and throw we did...she helped us in the parks, cooked and did the laundry, kept cranky little ones entertained, and generally just carried the trip. We are working on her clone to loan out for future trips, so stay posted if you want details.
So now that you know the Who, it is important to set up the "Why?"
As I said, we are cruisers at heart. I have been on maybe 8 cruises, and my husband is not far behind me. For us, a cruise offers the perfect mix of relaxation and exploration. I can ride an ATV through a rainforest, eat authentic local Caribbean cuisine, drink a Pina Colada with nothing but water in sight, take in a Broadway style show, and watch the sun set on my private balcony listening to nothing but the waves all in one day, there is nothing like it. I would live on a cruise ship if I could.
So how the heck did someone who could spend hours listening to the sound of the ocean in perfect bliss ending up sitting on a plane destined for a castle? One word...potential.
Our first cruise with our oldest son was in January 2014 and we went with our best couple friends who happened to know a cast member at Disney who could get us into the parks for free. They loved all things Disney while I had never been as an adult. I happily planned every detail of our cruise while I handed the reins over to them for our days in Disney. We had a lovely cruise!
After debarking, we got our rental car and made the trek up to Orlando for 2 1/2 more days of vacation before headed back home. Did I mention I was 14 weeks pregnant at the time?
Ok you seasoned Disboard veterans full of knowledge, I will prewarn you, you will shake your heads in shame at the 2014 us. We went to Disney. On MLK Jr. weekend. With no plans, no FP+, no reservations, and no clue what we were doing. See this crowd of people? This is the parade crowd we had to fight to leave the park...
I'll give you a minute. We deserved this.
Show up at T rex on Friday night at 7 pm on one of the busiest weekends of the year without a reservation? Check. Strolled into MK on a Saturday at 10 am with crowd level 10 and EMH until 3 am (which we couldn't do since we were staying off site)? Oh yeah. Park hopped 3 times in one day fighting massive waves of people on the monorail? Bring it on.
Yes, if it could've been done wrong that trip, we did it. My husband decided all Disney lovers were absolutely insane and swore never to return. While I agreed it had been chaotic, stressful, and not at all how I pictured ending my vacation...I saw it. I saw it in my son's face the first time he took a turn on Pirates of the Caribbean.
I saw it when my husband took him to dance under the big Sorcerer's hat at Hollywood Studios. I saw it in the moments that shouldn't have been special, like when the cast member messed up our tickets and we waited two hours outside Animal Kingdom until he brought the right tickets. I bought a bouncy ball at Rainforest Cafe and my son and I had a blast chasing that thing all over the sidewalk.
And I even saw it in the stories when we got home, like how our first "ride" was at Fairytale Hall and how mad our son was at us when we made it to the front and all he got was to meet a couple of "dumb" princesses and it wasn't a ride after all. (His face in this picture is priceless...he is SO mad!)
It was there...the potential for a great vacation. I secretly swore at that point we would be back, and we would do it "right" next time. And so it began...
That is it for me tonight, Photobucket is angry at me so I will upload photos tomorrow and start our journey!
Great start! Joining in, although I am having computer issues at the moment and cannot see any pictures
We love cruising also, but there is something magical about the parks. If I could only ever choose one or the other, I would choose parks. I have a few of those stories about the first time we went…like staying in The Contemporary and NOT knowing we could WALK to the MK…duh. Or totally not using the old paper fast passes even though they were available…"why would I want to do THAT when I could just stand in this line for 2 hours?" We've all been there and we somehow loved it anyway! It only gets better from there
I'm joining in too! You have such beautiful children! Loved the cute story about your son on his first visit - always fun to see Disney through a child's eyes
Anxious to see how Grandma enjoyed the trip too! As a grandma myself, it's fun visiting Disney parks with our grandchildren and being able to be a guest and leave the babysitting/chores behind!
Hello readers! Just checking in with a life update....right after my last post I went out of town for a night with my sisters and my husband called me to tell me he dropped our laptop and the screen no longer worked!
Thankfully, we were planning to get a new one soon anyway, but right now I am ordering it and moving pictures over. I will be back though, and will restart our trip report soon!
Our new laptop if officially arriving the beginning of next week and I can transfer our photos over then...but for now, I thought I would continue on our somewhat PTR of how we ended up back here again.
When I left you on my last post, we had tackled a brief and chaotic two days at Disney that left me desperate for a "redo". I really felt if we could have that much fun doing it all "wrong", we certainly could have a blast doing it "right!"
But if you remember, my husband was content never to grace the doorstep of another Disney park again. This as going to take some work. I began to casually mix our mistakes into conversation... "Did you know that we went to the parks on one of the busiest days of the year? We could've totally ridden twice as many rides if we planned it better." or "I read that Disney's bus system runs at way shorter intervals than Downtown Disney hotels. We could've saved a ton of time by staying on site." You get the picture.
During this same time period, the goal for our foster son had changed from reunification to adoption by us. We had the blessing of his biological mother, there was no father to contest, DCS had the adoption handed to them on a silver platter. We couldn't wait for N to be officially ours, and thought it would be a matter of months.
It had been a tough road already as N had many issues even as an infant due to trauma, but we had no idea what was ahead. The goal changed to adoption in August of 2014 and all necessary actions (post adoption contract, cessation of parental rights, etc.) had been completed by November of that year. All in all, the adoption was not finalized until June of 2016, and only then because the judge basically threatened them that heads were going to roll if this adoption wasn't taken care of. It was a classic case of an awful system and getting dropped through the cracks.
During this process, we talked about a way to celebrate this next stage of our life. The first 18 months had been EXTREMELY difficult with behaviors and therapy and N was just starting to become functional emotionally, and we felt victorious as a family to have survived both that and the adoption process.
We began seriously looking at our options around October of 2015, and were aiming for a trip in May 2016. Because our youngest two would be under 3, it would actually be a fairly inexpensive trip for us to stay at a moderate that slept five. Our daughter would fly free and when I ran the numbers by my husband, he was pleasantly surprised. There was a glimmer of hope that my evil scheme might work.
Well, as any good Disney planner knows, our final trip costs were nowhere near that number I had thrown at him. N has some serious sleep issues, and eventually the thought of us all in one room wasn't feasible anymore. We switched to an off site rental which would've been lovely I am sure, but I just couldn't get as excited as I wanted about staying off site. I really knew the kids would love the Fort, but renting a camper would be our only option that came close to our price range and that was still well beyond.
Then...the adoption got pushed back. Again. If we went in May 2016 we would be going before he was officially ours. My husband also got a great job offer and started a new job in February and couldn't get off that soon after starting. But pushing the trip back also meant N was over 3 and G was no longer free to fly.
Even my husband had to admit though, the seed had been planted deep enough it would've been disappointing to go back, particularly for me. The adoption was final in June (yea!), my husband got extra days off, we decided we needed the extra help and invited along my mom which meant more room was needed, and we got some unexpected funds that allowed us to extend the trip.
So, are you still there? Our inexpensive little 7 day trip at a moderate with a few park days thrown in was now a 10 night bash complete with a split stay and 8 days planned at the parks! The planning was overwhelming, even for me, but in the end, it was worth it.
So for those who are still here....this was our final plan!
Fly out of Indy on Thursday, October 20th
Stay 3 nights at ASMu in a family suite
Switch over to the Fort in a rented camper from Greenberg RV Florida
Fly home Sunday, October 30th
So there you have it...the trip that never was. It was funny how far we ended up from that original plan! Now we move on though to the trip that was always meant to be!
As I stated earlier, I really like to throw in things that can be helpful to others that I learned along the way. I was, for the most part, a complete Disney planning newcomer and in total it ended up being a solid year of planning between when we officially started to go and when we left and I still felt like there was so much I didn't know. It is truly a daunting task, but resources like this website were what truly made our trip special. Everyone vacations so differently, but these are a few tips I think might help someone who is more budget aware, traveling with young kids, or a first timer.
1). There is no such thing as a perfect trip.
I wasted way too many hours researching each of the Disney resorts, off site option, DVC points, etc. Disney has so many options that even someone who comes every year couldn't do them all, and there isn't a single perfect one. Find one that you think will work for your family and be comfortable with your choice. We stayed at two very different resorts and honestly loved them both.
2) When it comes to your kids, don't by into the "It's Disney, they'll ______" hype.
You can be pleasantly surprised if they do, but at least in our case, the same kids we had at home were the same kids we had at Disney. They didn't magically sleep in because they were tired from the parks, they didn't become stroller sleepers, they didn't suddenly love walking for hours in the mid day heat, and they didn't instantly become great table mates at a sit down dinner (sadly). God love them all, but darn it, those faults were still there.
I felt a little bit crazy while planning paying so much more for the bigger camper with the separate sleep spaces, or not planning more RD or late nights, etc. but I went with my gut and I was so glad I did. Even with the preplanning, we had to adapt a LOT to have a successful trip.
3. If you can bring a helper, DO IT!
Have I mentioned yet how amazing it was to have Grandma there? Besides the amazing memories we have of her with us in the parks, meeting the characters, etc. it made the trip as a whole so much better for the family. I was worried we wouldn't have enough family time, but that wasn't the case. She took care of so much of the little stuff (running a load of laundry, getting a cranky G down to nap so we could swim, getting up with the little ones after we were up late for our date night, etc.) that it made the trip run so much smoother. She took most of the candid shots so I could really BE there with my kids while they met Mickey for the first time or soaked in Main Street. Plus, she was totally content relaxing by the camper with a good book so we didn't feel bad doing things with just us either. Did I mention I am totally game for cloning her? Regardless, if you have someone who can come along and help with little ones, you won't regret it! We have so many great memories with her there.
4) Research and utilize good resources!
Spoiler alert: I did not use a single Touring Plan. Yes, those personalized, beautiful plans that I painstakingly spent hours perfecting and changing for an epic day in the parks. Nope, not a one. It took me about 20 seconds to realize my wonderful little ones would not adapt to my finely perfected plans.
Working on them over and over again, however, allowed me as a first timer to effectively adapt on the fly. When I realized after our long day at Animal Kingdom that there was no way we would be out the door by 7 am the next morning, I was able to switch our MK day to start at 10 and still allow us over the course of our trip to hit everything we wanted. And when my husband had absolutely no interest in Food and Wine (waaaah), I knew what FP+ changes were top priority to change to let us take advantage of Future World instead. If I hadn't spent so much time becoming comfortable with the parks, rides, etc. I would've been scrambling and we couldn't have salvaged those on the fly changes (and trust me, there was a bunch).
I think Touring Plans is a great resource, especially for the Reservation Finder. We got every reservation we wanted without picking anything more than 3 months in advance (even though we ended up cancelling all but one, we still got them darn it!). EasyWDW is another great resource, I felt like there park maps were the best by far. Obviously, these boards are another great resource. Knowledge is power, particularly when it comes to Disney!
Well, I believe you can officially all say you are caught up! Next post...the trip that was always mean to be!
Great update! Congratulations, again, on you new little family! They are all adorable!
I also always bring my mom to Disney . She loves it as much as I do and she has always been an enormous help with the kids, especially when they were little. Now that they are bigger and don't necessarily need help anymore, she's just part of our Disney Squad and trips wouldn't be the same without her. She is happy to sit on a bench and wait for us while we ride TOT or EE and next trip we will be taking my great-niece (her great-granddaughter) and I'm sure she will be happy to have a little company while she waits.
Your first tip is right on …there is no such thing as the perfect trip or the perfect resort. We have stayed at many different places at many different levels and have had great trips at them all. We have learned over the years which ones we prefer, but everybody is different. You're smart to have figured this out on your own on just your second trip!
Can't wait to read more…total bummer about your computer, by the way! I'd be having withdrawals without my Mac
New computer is officially here and loaded! It always amazes me how much technology can advance just in the couple of years between our computer purchases. Our new one is so much nicer than the old one and costs about the same as the old one 5 years ago. Anyway, I digress. Let's go to Disney!
Day 1: Arrival
As I stated earlier, about 3 months before the trip, we received some unexpected funds that allowed us to add a couple of days on the front part of our trip. Because of the TA deal we booked with and the Fort being sold out, we ended up with 3 days at ASMusic in the family suites first. I was nervous about a split stay for our first Disney vacation, but it was the way it worked out and I was excited to see both resorts.
In true "trip that never was" fashion, the trip changed several times in the weeks before. My lovely husband who had been consulted with along the way and had no opinion suddenly decided he wanted a full day to dedicate to the water parks which meant some shuffling of park days and FP+ reservations. Then, the Star Wars fireworks schedule came out and it was not scheduled the day we would be at Hollywood Studios, and so things were shuffled again. Finally, as we got close to our departure date, we got a better idea of the weather. The weather was looking gorgeous...almost no chance of rain and all but the first day would be in the 70s or low 80s. I was sooo happy! But, that also meant our water park day was scheduled on a day where it was supposed to be mid 70s. Sooo...we flip flopped again.
Tip: Don't sweat the FP+. I was on my computer at 7 am with my typed list of FP+ reservations in order of importance. Yeah, we ended up switching almost all of them even hours before with pretty much no issues, just slight schedule adjustments. Now, we weren't trying to do Frozen and I didn't switch our 7DMT, but by checking a couple of times a day and adjusting the schedule slightly, we had no issues. Book your FP+ as soon as you can, but don't be so stuck on your reservations that you make yourself miserable.
Tip #2: Pay attention to flight times, not just non stops. I was dead set on a nonstop flight, and thankfully we were able to find one in our budget. I did not, however, think too much about times. I chose a later flight to save about $150 and I regretted it later, as you shall see. You don't want to start your vacation out on the wrong foot, so unless your kids are seasoned travelers, dragging them out of bed at 4 am or flying over nap time is probably not the best choice.
Back to Disney! My mom arrived the day before, as did my mother in law who was graciously driving us to the airport and watching our puppies for us. We had taken her with on a cruise last year, so didn't feel quite so bad about leaving her behind this trip. I had started packing weeks before, but once they arrived it really started to set in. Grandma had been way better than me about coordinating Disney attire and we let the kids try on their Magic Bands. They were so jazzed I didn't think they would sleep!
Unfortunately for them, our flight was not until 5:40 the next evening. I knew it would be a late night and N can really struggled when he misses sleep, and so we needed him to nap. Napping is not his strong suit though, so I sent A with the boys to the park to wear them out while Grandma and I got the house cleaned up.I HATE coming home to a messy house, it is a weird quirk of mine.
Not before a big Mickey pancake breakfast of course!
N managed to find a hidden Mickey in his grapes, so I knew we were ready to roll.
We did our last minute packing, loaded up the car, and then we put the kids down for a nap. thankfully, they both went down just fine and we watched the minutes tick by.
At around 2:30, it was finally to wake them up and head out! The kids were so excited.
Thankfully, we live nice and close to the airport and so it was a short, uneventful drive.
We were dropped off in no time and then stood around like idiots...we were planning to cook a good chunk of our meals and so we had 2 giant suitcases full of kitchen items, plus all of our regular luggage, 3 kids, and 2 strollers. I had no idea how we were going to get it to the check in counter.
Thankfully, the outside check in counter opened right about that time and they scurried over to grab the bags. The idea that we wouldn't see them again until the hotel was such a fantastic feature about staying on site (at least we thought so then, but I digress). It made the airport side of things so much easier.
We had experienced a harrowing trip through O Hare airport the previous year on the aforementioned cruise where we literally came within 30 seconds of missing our flights after many, many things going wrong, so we generally get to the airport well in advance.
Thankfully, Indianapolis has a fantastic new airport and we were through security and headed to our gate in under 5 minutes. Everyone was so friendly, as opposed to O' Hare as well. 10 points to Indianapolis! Unfortunately, we now had plenty of time to kill before our flight with some very antsy kids. M and G had flown before, but this would be N's first time and I think he was as excited about that as he was about the trip itself.
We had brought Lunchables and amused ourselves with moving sidewalks and watching the planes land. Eventually, we had to pull out the electronics, but we did make it to boarding time without too much craziness. We aren't big on electronics at home, but man do they help with travel!
We were flying Southwest, which is my favorite airline, but this was our first time flying as a family and I was really nervous about boarding. So much so, in fact, that I had bought my mother EBCI just a few weeks prior that in the event that they didn't do family boarding because there were too many families on the flight, she could at least block off the 2 seats next to her and our youngest two wouldn't be stranded.
Thankfully, it was not an issue at all. There was only one other family that was doing family boarding, and we got on and all got to sit together. We ended up seeing them later that week at the Fort, which was fun. We decided at the last minute that "divide and conquer" was the best strategy and sat 2x2x2, each with a kid. G is a Momma's girl, and so we were together.
The flight was uneventful and the kids kept busy with their new toys from Grandma and I. N did great and we were landing before we knew it. We took a minute to use the restrooms and orient ourselves to the airport before heading to Magical Express. It was about 8:00 pm at this point and we were tired, but excited.
We rode the "fake" monorail which the kids thought was fun, and then found Magical Express easily.
Our timing was perfect, we were the last ones on the bus and we immediately left for our first family trip to Disney! I couldn't believe how smoothly the trip had gone up until this point. Sadly, our luck ended at that point, at least for the first 12 hours on Disney property (don't worry, it does turn around!).
We were the second stop after Coronado Springs and pulled up to ASMusic at about 8:45 pm. I failed to mention earlier that we never had received a "room ready" text, which was frustrating as we had completed online check in weeks earlier. It was also super chaotic when we arrived, people were just kind of milling around and we weren't quite sure what to do or where to go.
Just then, someone walked up and said "Welcome M, N, and G!" I stared at her baffled until she explained that our Amazon Prime Now order had arrived but they couldn't fit the bag in the fridge and so they were anxiously awaiting our arrival so they could get our permission to open the bag to put it in. I thought that was a little odd, but was tired and confused at this point and so I just asked her what we needed to do. She directed us to the front counter and told us to let her know when we were checked in and she would get us squared away. She also grabbed our carry ons which was nice.
The lobby was very chaotic as well. I got in line while the kids played the free games up front..there were about 8 people ahead of me and 2 people already at the counter working with agents. I sat...and sat....and sat. The kids were so antsy and hungry at this point and I was close to tears as it had been almost 30 minutes and not a single person had moved yet! At this point, we could easily be in line until after 10:00 pm. Finally, the bell services girl I had spoken to earlier had mercy on us and wandered over asking if we were ok. She said she had double checked and there was no issues with check in, and so even though she wasn't supposed to, she gave us our room number. I thanked her profusely and we headed to Intermission to grab some food.
We got a mug for the refills all week (which we really enjoyed) and some food. The kid's meals were plenty big for the adults as well and overall, we enjoyed the food, but were ready for bed. We were in Calypso in room 0428, which was not the room we requested with Touring Plans but met all of our requests...away from the pool, first floor, etc. We really liked the room location at the proximity to the pool and lobby. It was also really quiet and very close to the playground.
We got to our room right around 10 pm, ready to put some tired kids to bed. I had requested 2 pack n plays (again, N doesn't sleep well and kind of needs his own space even though he is 3 1/2) and even though I had put in a request 3 different ways, there was no pack n plays in the room. I called and asked them to bring 2 ASAP as the kids were ready to melt down. We explored the room a little bit while waiting...the family suites are very nice! Plenty of space, the room seemed well kept up, and such unique sleeping arrangements. The double bathrooms are awesome as was the separate bedroom and kitchenette. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.
We waited 45 minutes, then called again and said we needed them ASAP. We waited another 30 minutes and at this point, we were beyond frustrated. I went down to the lobby and begged the concierge for beds for our kids. We waited another 20 minutes and finally housekeeping shows up with one pack n play. I let her know we needed two, and she get a little attitude with us. Finally another one showed up and the kids went to bed a little before midnight.
Unfortunately, our bad luck upon our arrival at Disney was not over yet. I waited until 1 am for our luggage from our 8 pm arrival with no sign of it. We finally had to get to bed and so I put the privacy sign up and we tried to get some sleep. Nobody slept well as the younger two had coughs and kept everyone up, but we got what sleep we could.
My lovely children were up bright and early despite the late night and I removed the privacy sign and called to check on our luggage, which they said was out for delivery. We were headed to the waterparks that day and unfortunately, I had packed my husband's swim suit in the checked bags assuming we would definitely have it by morning.
Our Amazon Prime Now order was perfect for breakfast in the rooms and the kids enjoyed cereal and sausage with some cartoons, a rare treat. Still no luggage, and so I call again and they assure me it is coming. We get our park bag packed, refill our mugs, and wait some more. At this point, it is close to 10 am (we had removed our privacy tag and called to check at 8 am) and I was absolutely in tears. Nothing had gone right since we had arrived and I could tell my husband was frustrated, which didn't help. None of us had slept, we had all gotten to bed late, and now we were antsy to leave and stuck in the room waiting on a suit.
I finally went back to the lobby, now fighting back tears and really stressed. I grabbed the first person I saw and explained that it was our first trip and our first day and everything had gone wrong and could he please just get us our one bag so we could get to the waterpark?
It turned out to be the manager and he was beyond amazing. He didn't make me feel stupid at all for crying, calmed me down, and got someone on the phone immediately. He took care of us for our time lost and apologized profusely. I was so thankful for him turning the trip around.
Our luggage finally arrived at around 10:15 am, A was able to get his suit, and we said our goodbye to Grandma who was going to "suffer" by the pool with a book while we hit up the water park.
Sorry for the wordy post with no pictures, I wanted to get the nasty part over with. That was the very end of our bad Disney luck and we had nothing but good experiences with both the staff and the resorts from that point on! As I hinted to earlier, I wouldn't recommend a late flight for the very reason that if something isn't right, you have no time to fix it. Getting in 3 hours earlier would've made the whole experience still frustrating, but much more tolerable.
Thank you to those who made it through the rough start. I wanted to include all the details of our trip, good and bad, and I hope it helps a first timer or two. I think online check in is great in theory, but as a new Disney goer, we kind of fell through the cracks a little. It was confusing and chaotic, and if we had just checked in at the front counter (with a line that was actually moving) we could've taken care of most of our problems in a much simpler way.
As I said though, we definitely got the negatives out of the way right in the beginning and it just went up from there! A few notes about the resort before I get too far along.
As I stated, we were in the Family Suites at ASMusic in the Calypso building. It is the least expensive option on property for a group of 6 or more and although far from cheap, we really thought it was a pretty good value. We were still adjusting to Disney our first couple of days and so I have very little pictures of the room, but I know there is a whole thread dedicated to them as well. The fold out ottoman, chair, and couch were pretty ingenious and made for plenty of different sleeping options. The extra bathroom was a really nice feature as was the kitchenette.
The nice thing about the family suites is that they are all in the preferred section of the resort and therefore a very short walk to the food court, pool, bus transportation, etc. Our next stay was at Fort Wilderness which we LOVED, but we did miss the convenience of mug refills being so close as well as the easy transportation and food options here. Everything is so spread out at the Fort!
One final note...I hear complaints frequently about the All Stars sharing busses and people staying away because of this. First of all, they all had dedicated busses in the mornings. The afternoon and evening they did share busses on our stay, but the resorts are so close together it is hardly a big deal. I am also baffled by AS resorts bad rap for this as Fort Wilderness also shared bus and boat transportation with Wilderness Lodge and on our date day at the Poly, we shared a bus with GF to HS. So the bus sharing is hardly limited to the value resorts. The busses were very efficient to the parks and way more reliable than the Fort as well.
Alright, I left you with our troubles behind us, waving goodbye to Grandma at the pool, and off at our first attempt to enjoy some Disney. We really lucked out on weather this trip, it was not humid a single day and this day was the hottest of our trip, hence the switch from DAK to the water park. It was 86 degrees that day with no humidity, breezy and enjoyable in the shade but plenty hot to swim. Talk about perfect.
We got in line for the bus. As you probably now know, the busses drop off at Disney Springs and then you switch busses to Typhoon Lagoon. It seems a little silly since you basically pass Typhoon Lagoon to get to DS, but it didn't end up being too big of a deal. I really liked that the bus area had chains to keep everyone organized.
We waited about 15 minutes for the Disney Springs bus and then took about a 15 minute ride over to Disney Springs. A TL bus was waiting and so we whipped over to there and took the very short ride over to Typhoon Lagoon. Even though it is "off" season for the water parks, there were quite a few people there, probably because Blizzard Beach is closed this time of year. It didn't feel overly crowded though.
We went in, found a chair, and then studied the map that was handed to us. We could not figure out where the kid's area was, we looked for about 10 minutes before realizing we were looking at the map of Blizzard Beach. Totally didn't think to flip it over! Anyway, at this point the kids were so ready to swim that A took them to the shallow part of the wave pool while I looked at the locker situation and looked for the kid's area.
The lockers only took cards or cash which I didn't have, so I tried the old "shove the phone in the bottom of the stroller and no one will guess" trick. Must've been sneaky enough because it was just fine. I went back and got the kids and we all took a turn around the lazy river. It was a little crowded, but I am a big fan of lazy rivers and this was a really nice one! The kids loved it.
At this point we wandered over to Ketchakiddee Creek which is all the way in the back behind the wave pool. This area was so perfect for the little ones, they could've spent all day back there! M was the perfect height for this trip, exactly 48 inches. He was tall enough for all the rides but still short enough to go in this area.
We stayed back there for a good hour. They have a cute little water slide that even G can ride and all the kids went down it several times.
By then, we were all getting hungry and so we grabbed some Laguna Nachos at the stand right outside the kiddie area. There wasn't a ton of seating, but we managed to snag a table and shared the nachos.
At this point, A and M were getting anxious for a little action and so all three boys hit up Keelhaul Falls, Mayday Falls, and Gangplank Falls. One of the things I would really come to appreciate about Disney is their attentiveness to the little ones. N is a typical middle child, always wanting to do what his big brother does. He was so proud of the fact that he could ride these "big" slides.
While the boys were gone, G and I did another turn on the lazy river. I could tell she was fading fast from the late night and so we went back to the kiddie area and I got her to sleep in the stroller.
A brought N back so the boys could do some of the bigger slides, but first I wanted a little bit of action as well and took the boys back on the tube slides. The lines had been longer around noon, but by now it was 2ish and the rides were pretty much a walk on.
After that, the older boys left and we hung out in the kiddie area while G slept and I shot an email out thanking the manager for taking care of us that morning. A and M came back without having ridden anymore slides as they had discovered the mega waves in the wave pool. They thought N might enjoy them too, so we packed up and headed that direction after G woke up.
The boys headed back towards the wave pool but I was pretty intent on getting G some real food as she hadn't liked the nachos so we wandered over to what I believe was Leaning Palms. I got a chicken and black bean plate that was amazing. It came with fried plantains and rice. We shared that and a little thing of fruit and I still had plenty to take back over to A to eat as well.
Unfortunately, N hadn't dug the wave pool and M was exhausted from the late night. A was bummed they didn't get a chance to do more slides, but M wasn't budging and although in good spirits, was ready to go. We headed towards the exit, intent to find our first Mickey bars, but couldn't find any so we settled on some Dippin Dots. We left the parks at about 4:15 pm. We could've easily done another whole water park day, we will remember that for next time!
The kids were loopy tired at this point but having so much fun, G kept hugging M and refusing to let go and shouting "I love you, I love you!" It was super cute. We had an easy bus ride back and met up with Grandma. She had explored the other All Star Resorts and taken some fun pictures as well as made our crockpot meal, baked ziti.
We grabbed the baked ziti, picked up an order of breadsticks at the food court, filled our mugs, and ate outside by Intermission. It was a beautiful night and so relaxing. The kids made their first pressed penny (thank you Disboards for this inexpensive souvenir idea, the kids loved it!) and we stopped at the playground for awhile before calling it an early night around 7 pm.
We rearranged our sleeping arrangements in an attempt to get better sleep, putting all 3 boys in the bedroom, G in the bathroom in the pack n play, and Grandma and I in the living rooms on the fold outs. Spoiler alert, it didn't really help, but the kids passed right out. The day had really turned around and we were ready for our first park day with Grandma the next day!
This was our one and only Animal Kingdom day and we wanted to make it count! This was one of our stops back in 2014, but as I mentioned earlier, our visit was extremely short and crowded. I believe we rode It's Tough to be a Bug which we all hated, watched the Birds in Flight show which we all loved, and ate lunch. That was it.
We woke up to about as perfect of a day as you can expect at Disney....mid to high 70s, sunny, with no humidity. Which was good, as no one had slept the night before and we needed a nice boost. We had rearranged our sleep positions to see if that help, but N hacking all night long and G waking up several times did not improve sleep. G was up about 7:15 and the boys were up at around 8 am. We had some cereal and yogurt and headed out the door at around 8:30. The plan was to try to get to the safari ASAP before the lines got too bad and then work our way around the park.
ASMusic is extremely close to DAK and the bus arrived as soon as we got there. I think we were to DAK in under 5 minutes and breezed through security. A small note about security, we had no issues at all with bag check or getting through to the parks. The kids having to use their fingerprint was annoying as it didn't work half the time, but we never waited more than a minute or two for bag check and lines were short. Oddly, at the beginning of the week, we were chosen for the scanners almost every single time, which was quick but slightly annoying because the kids and/or strollers couldn't go through, but we must've learned how to look less suspicious by the end of our stay because we were rarely chosen our last few days.
This day was also exciting because Grandma was joining us this day! Grandma had an old super duper pass with a few days on it and was planning to join us our 2 family days at MK and this day at DAK. We waited for awhile and got some Photopass pictures before I wandered over to see what the hold up was.
The lady at the ticket counter was saying she only had 2 days left on her pass when we knew for a fact she still had 3. She had to go over to GS and it took a good 15-20 minutes for it to get straightened out, but she said the lady there was great and didn't blink an eye.
While we were waiting for her, we took in the birds around the front and just relaxed.
I had begun to realize at this point my Touring Plans were not going to work, but we had those extra 3 FP+ from our mess at the resort and so at least for today, I wasn't stressed. Grandma finally joined us and we wandered back through Discovery Island for our first stop which was signing the kids up for Wilderness Explorers. I knew our oldest in particular would love this and sure enough, he was obsessed with it all day. They had places for him to get badges all over the parks and they didn't take long at all to complete. It was a really neat activity and one of the nice touches I've come to appreciate about the parks.
We made our way back to the safaris and it was just about 9 am now. The park had opened early for EMH which we obviously hadn't made, but since the regular park opening had just occurred, the safari was still a walk on.
We all LOVED it, particularly the area with the giraffes. So well done and the animals were amazing. I didn't take many pictures as I was trying to be in the moment, but I will try to upload more when I get my mom's pictures on Thanksgiving.
The giraffes running were very cool and we also saw a momma and baby rhino pair playing together which was very neat. Afterwards, I took N for a potty break and then met the others by Patagoni (sp?) Trail. My husband is a huge fan of gorillas and the Indianapolis Zoo doesn't have any. The trail was actually super crowded, I don't know if that was normal? But it made it difficult to stay together and push the stroller down. The kids really enjoyed stopping and looking at everything, but I could tell A was getting antsy so we sent him ahead to find the gorillas. M did lots of badges and had great fun with that.
We caught up to A at a glass enclosure with a gorilla and I kind of thought it was underwhelming...until we all stepped outside and saw the real gorilla exhibit! Poor A had thought that was it too and wasted time he could've spent looking at the male gorillas which is what he wanted. We spent quite a bit of time there before moving on.
At this point, as I said, we were nowhere near what my schedule said so we had to make some choices. The kids decided to do Rafiki's planet watch and we went to wait for the train, but then they said they were having technical difficulties. We couldn't get a good feel for how long the wait was, so we changed course and headed over to the Lion King show.
We were all getting hungry, so the kids played the drums while I grabbed us the chocolate waffle sundae thing at the snack shop there.
They were making fresh ones so it took forever and so we rushed over to Lion King while shoveling it into our mouths. It was good, but not fun to eat on the run! The line looked long but I think we would've actually be fine to take the 5 minutes to eat. We decided at the last minute to use a FP+ here, which probably wasn't necessary but we didn't need it elsewhere and it got us seated faster.
The show was amazing! I teared up watching the kid's faces and hearing all the familiar songs. We found N's calling, he was enthralled with the monkey acrobats and re enacted them later that night at the Dino Dig. After that it was time for our FP+ for the big couple, Mickey and Minnie themselves!
We stopped to try to meet Baloo and Louie, but it was quite a line and they went on break, so we gave up.
The character meet went just as I expected... M loved it, N was enraptured but nervous, and G wanted nothing to do with it and sat by Grandma.
It was about 1:00 pm by this point and we had a choice to make. We knew we wanted a mid day nap break and were going to grab lunch on our way out. I had signed up for the Landry's card specifically to do Yak & Yeti, but I knew our kids (and A!) were teetering on the edge and I wasn't sure if I wanted to push my luck with a long sit down restaurant. We went over by Flame Tree, but the line was super long at this point so we decided to try our luck with Yak & Yeti.
We didn't have reservations, but as most of you know you get first available seating with your Landry's card. Even with that, because we were a party of 6, it took about 15 minutes, but much shorter than the 90 minutes they were quoting other walk ins. We busied ourselves with a penny press.
We all decided to split some food and went with the Ahi Tuna Nachos, the lettuce wraps, and some shrimp lo mein. The lo mein was fine, but the other two were so good! I am fantasizing about the nachos right now. Oh man were they good.
The kids did great, the food was fast, and the extra $25 off for the birthday bonus worked perfectly. We headed out and had another easy bus ride back to the resort where A and the kids all napped in the room.
Grandma and I went out by the pool and I took a quick dip, but even with the mid day sun the water was quite chilly and the air was breezy, so we mostly laid out and read.
I went back to the room around 4:45 pm, woke everyone up, and we headed back into the park around 5 pm. I was excited about the nighttime festivities. My "plan" had us at EE and Kali first, but it was too chilly for a water ride so we headed straight over to the Dino Dig. I wish we could've had 2 hours here, the kids had so much fun!
It is a little hard to keep track of them but the boys are usually fine together and Grandma took G so we could relax and chat. It was really nice. We were going to do the rest of Dinoland next but the lines were still longer than I liked so we decided to do our first ride of the trip, Expedition Everest!
Of course, N was NOT happy that he wasn't tall enough to ride and threw quite a fit. A and M rode first and then M, Grandma, and I rode again with rider swap. I wish there was something more for the little ones to do while waiting, we pretty much just wandered the gift shop. Grandma didn't care for the ride, too rough for her, but the rest of us loved it, even M! It was his first real roller coaster.
We brainstormed together and decided we wanted to retry the safari at sunset. It was a little early so we had a first for us, Mickey bars! Unfortunately, we spent a lot more on those little treats by the end of the trip than I had budgeted for! So good.
We got on the safari and loved it again, although the morning one was better. The giraffes were running all over for this one though which was really cool to see. We strolled back across the park to the Dino Dig again and let the kids play for quite awhile. N and G finally got to ride their first ride, Triceratops spin and they liked it so much they did it again.
M and A headed over to Primeval Whirl (I don't like jerky or spinning rides so didn't want to do this one), and then all finished up at the Dino Dig.
We wandered past the tree as it was finishing up its Awakenings show, but honestly didn't see too much of the night stuff. Oh well, we had a great time at night anyway. We closed the park down, headed back to the resort, and grabbed a bite in the food court before we all collapsed into bed.
This was our last night at ASMusic and we were going to Fort Wilderness the next day. The plan had been to pack our bags that night, dropped them off at 6:45 am the next morning, and leave for the parks around 7 am to do Fantasyland all morning. We had an amazing, but exhausting day and at this point I realized doing what worked for us made more sense than following any sort of schedule or plan. I messed with our FP+ and schedule that night and was able to rearrange our MK days so that we didn't need to be there until our first FP+ which was at 10:15 or so the next morning. That was a huge relief and we were glad we could take our time.
Side Note: When I loaded my mom's card onto our MDE account, it loaded as a 5 day parkhopper instead of 3 days! This was a few hours after her visit to GS and we were shocked. The only thing I could think of was maybe they gave her the full ticket for her trouble instead of just the 3 days. I double checked and sure enough, I was able to book FP+ for her for 5 days and not just 3. We decided she would join us on our second Epcot day as well as our final day at HS and were happy for the extra help. Spoiler alert: We were wrong...but I will update later on that.
We were up bright and early at 7:30 am to start packing up our room and end our stay at ASMusic. The kids had never had a chance to swim there and we hadn't explored the resort much, but we really enjoyed our stay.
I was nervous about the split stay with it being our first trip, but overall it worked out well. We packed up, finished our breakfast, and dropped our bags off with bell services around 9 am. They brought them over to the Fort for us while we were in the parks and we headed over to the buses to make our way over to the Magic Kingdom!
Once again, our wait was short and the bus ride was about 20 minutes over to the parks. We were through security and the ticket counters in just a few minutes and then we were on Main Street!
I felt silly even thinking it, but there certainly is something magic about watching your kids take it all in.
Our first ride was 7dmt with a FP+ and we had plenty of time to get back there, so we enjoyed the views and let the kids soak it all in as we meandered back.
We stopped so I could use the restroom and A said the kids met Cinderella while I was gone! They were trying to find a speaker in a bush and Cinderella walked past on her way to a break and asked "Are you looking for a bird?" The kids were in awe, I was sorry I missed it.
We made it to 7DMT and once again poor N was mad that he didn't get to ride with his brother. A and Grandma swept them away to the carousel though and he recovered quickly. M and I rode first and it was such a cute coaster, just the perfect amount of excitement for him. Grandma wasn't feeling a coaster after riding Expedition Everest yesterday, and so we both went back with M to do rider swap while Grandma bribed the younger two with ice cream for brunch.
We all rode the carousel one more time as a family and then headed over to Splash Mountain.
I felt bad for N being left behind again, and so we decided to send Grandma and M on Splash Mountain and save the rider swap for Wednesday when we would be doing EMH with just M in the evening. This ended up being M's second favorite ride of the trip.
A and I decided to take the younger two over to Tom Sawyer Island.
From the way it was described, I thought it was a giant playground with cool caves and forts and such. We really were not impressed with it at all. The raft was really slow getting us over and packed full, and then it was a lot of walking with not much at all for the younger two to do. G was refusing to walk at all and we couldn't bring our stroller over and we just wandered looking for the cool part.
We finally found the fort but N was freaked out by the animals there and we didn't want to waste time waiting for M and Grandma. We called them and they were waiting for the raft. We told them to hang tight and we would head back. Again, there was a huge back up and a long wait for the raft. We were lucky to get on the next raft, the family next to us had waited 30 minutes for a return raft and missed a FP+ because of it. We thought the place was a dud. My husband's face on the ride back says it all...
Unfortunately, it was a personal double whammy because it took the wind right out of A's sails. He will do anything for the kids and out of respect for the time I put into the trip, would never complain about things, but he hates wandering in the heat, long lines, crowds, etc. He was putting up with them in stride for the fun stuff, but wasting that time and energy on Tom Sawyer's place I could tell had left him tired and a little over it.
Thankfully, I knew the way to his heart and that is cheap, yummy food. We went to Pecos Bills and my husband went to town on their toppings bar. A little tip for those who have never been, there is a side of chips for $4 and you can add all the topping you want. I got the fajita platter and my husband got the chips and we loaded up with toppings and it was $20 total for the two of us. I think our family of 6 ate for less than $40 so it was a steal and very good.
After our yummy lunch we headed over for our Pirates FP+ but lucked out and stumbled onto the Pirates Tuturial. The kids are huge Jack Sparrow fans and so I knew they would love it. It was pretty warm in the direct sun, but they loved the show and M got chosen to recite the pirate's oath. It was really cute.
We then all rode on POTC, M's favorite ride from the previous trip. G wasn't so sure, but everyone else enjoyed it. I checked the TP app and Magic Carpets had a fairly short wait, and so we headed there next. Of course the younger two were big fans, and it is a cute easy ride.
We went across the way to Jungle Cruise for our next FP+. The kids loved it of course, but I am a little over this ride. It was nice to do once. Everyone was still hanging in there, but there wasn't a lot of shade and we were all dragging as the lack of sleep was catching up to us. We had thankfully gotten our room ready text for our campsite and passed it along to Greenberg so they could set up our RV, but I really wanted to last until the parade since this would be the only day we were there at that time.
G and A took a break in the shade while Grandma, the boys, and I did a round of Pirate's Adventure. I had managed to get some sunscreen in my eye and was half blind the whole time, but it was really well done and I wish we had time to do more rounds during a more off time (it was crowded which meant I basically was dragging the kids and my mom around from place to place while keeping the eye on the time for the parade). The effects are really cute, our first stop some tikis in the bushes shoot pretend darts and my son ducked out of the way really quickly and left us for dead. We teased him about that for quite awhile.
We wrapped that up right about 2:30 pm and went to stake out a spot for the parade. In hindsight, I should've sent A over to stake a spot as all the shady spots were already taken and no one cared enough to join me on the sunny side which was completely empty.
We got second row spots right in front of Pecos bills and I ran to get Mickey pretzels for us while we waited. We sat and ate for a bit and right at 3 pm, the parade started. We ended up being able to see just fine and the parade is a favorite, just very well done. That was it though, we couldn't do another ride, we were exhausted! I don't know how people go all day, there is no way! You can see how tired G is in this pic, and still refused to be put down or held by anyone but me.
We made our way back to the front and took a boat to our next resort, Fort Wilderness! Although not a fast means of transportation, the boat is a fun experience in and of itself and one that we enjoyed several times throughout the rest of our trip. It is a pretty ride across the lake and you get to see the other resorts along the way.
This is where I really messed up though...the Fort is HUGE, which I knew, but I think I didn't truly grasp how large it was. I knew there was a bus system internally, but for some reason I didn't take the time to really figure out where to get on the bus. I blame the exhaustion, as this was a stupid move on our part.
Instead, we got there and we immediately began walking in what I knew was the general direction of our campsite. We walked...and walked...and walked. It was beautiful and in other circumstances, would've been lovely, but we were desperate to be done walking and all get some rest! Finally, we took a moment to really study the map and figure out what the heck we were doing. We were still quite a ways from our site, but nowhere near a bus stop so we trekked the rest of the way and eventually made it to the 1700 loop.
We had requested this loop near the comfort station and we were in 1736 which was perfect. Right near the comfort station and close to the front of the loop to access the bus stop.
The camper was exactly what we were looking for.
It was a newer camper and had lots of nice touches like a fireplace, designer lighting, etc. It had 3 slides and the back bedroom for the boys was nice and big. We had our own separate bedroom and they had set up outdoor chairs, a rug, etc. for us. We were really pleased with the rental and the whole set up. The kids of course were elated and would've loved to explore more, but it was nap time for everyone....sort of. Now this is the life...
I had called when we arrived to let them know they could bring our stuff figuring it would be slow like the other resort, but they were there with our grocery order from Garden Grocer and our bags within a few minutes. We quietly unloaded and filled the fridge while the kids and A got some rest. A also took some time to get a workout and get a feel for the resort.
By around 6:30 pm, we were up and ready for our first evening at the Fort! A had figured out the bus system and directed us on the yellow bus to Trail's End. The Fort has a nice carryout area and we had planned to utilize it tonight by getting the Giddy Up and Go deal, which is 8 pieces of fried chicken and a couple of sides. The kids played with the hula hoops and on the playground while our food was prepared and then we found an empty picnic table and enjoyed our dinner.
We then took the bus back over to the pool area where the campfire was held. I had brought smore supplies and we enjoyed some of the singing before making our way over to the fire to make some tasty treats.
We had planned to stay and watch the movie, but it wasn't a good one (can't remember what it was though), although the kids became obsessed with the Safety videos with Timon and Pumba.
We went back to the camper and let the kids watch Finding Nemo while we got unpacked and settled in. G LOVES Nemo. At the part where Nemo is misbehaving and touches the boat while Marlin is calling him back, she shouts "Nemo, listen!" At about 9:35 pm we make our way back to the bus stop to head to the beach to catch the fireworks.
Side note: If you are considering a stay at the Fort, do it! It is amazing! I would consider a golf cart a necessity though. Yes, they do have internal buses that run fairly regularly, but it gets really old waiting 15 minutes to go anywhere. It also got frustrating by the end of the week to have a second bus to take after coming back exhausted from the parks or anxious to get somewhere. They don't wait like park buses, so unless you happen to time it just right, you are guaranteed an additional 20 minutes on top of any trip to the park. Not cool.
We found some chairs and the kids had a blast playing in the sand while we waited for the show to start. It was a party night and so the fireworks were Hallowishes. My husband is not a fireworks guy and he still said it was one of the better shows he had seen and was impressed. I am sure they are great at the parks.
At this point, we called it a night and went back to the camper. We ended up with M in a top bunk, N in a little nook we made him out of cushions in the back room with a little blanket up to kind of give him his own space, Grandma on the sofa bed, G on the dining room table bed, and of course us in the bedroom. I don't know if we had finally adjusted or what, but we all slept way better here. Not as great as home of course, but the mattress in our room was really comfy so I slept better than I had in days.
Hi!
Enjoying reading your report! We love the Fort. We've only stayed in the cabins but we used to own a trailer so we're used to the camping life. We rent a golf cart and it is a fun way to get around the campground and it is so nice in the evening to jump on the cart and be on the way to the cabin without extra waiting.
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We've all been there and we somehow loved it anyway! It only gets better from there 
…there is no such thing as the perfect trip or the perfect resort. We have stayed at many different places at many different levels and have had great trips at them all. We have learned over the years which ones we prefer, but everybody is different. You're smart to have figured this out on your own on just your second trip!
