Three boys and a mom: family trip leads to a couples only trip

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So I have decided to join the many fantastic writers of the dis (not to say I am a fantastic writer...I'm no Steven King or Danielle Steele) and write a TR for our Disney trip. I wrote one of our cruise last year, and it is so much fun to relive it through writing and picture posting....and it will make it easier to scrapbook later.

So our cast is as follows:
boy 1 Dave (DH) the merry husband that will follow my every Disney whim
boy 2 Max (DS turned 8 in the MK) The 4 timer, Disney cruise taker, Makes mom happy because he hugged Goofey on 1st trip
boy 3 Alex (DS recent 4 y.o and first timer to Disneyworld) took right away to the characters
Mom Cheryl (that would be me) the disney-a-holic that can't wait to cry at check in time each time we pull in


We decided to save money for this trip and would take the long drive down Rt. 95 from RI to the happiest place on earth. Yes it is 1500 miles, however it would save us money and allow us to buy into the disney dining that we had tried the trip before and loved...didn't love it so much this time. My sister booked a trip for the same week (took advantage of the buy 4 get 3 free deal) and said they would follow us down...so on Saturday morning at 3:00 am....that's right 3:00 am we started our journey southward.

We drove all day, stopping every 2 and 1/2 hours for a quick gas and go break. We packed food for the drive to avoid fastfood joints...although we do love our McDonald's Side note; we met at McD's when we were just teens, and now everywhere we go, we need to stop at least once and take our picture. Corny I know, but that is me....it's why I am a good scrapbooker.

We got to Pedro's South of the Border, and decided that we would keep on going.

We stopped around exit 90 at around 5:00 and spent the night in a HoJo's that had a hotel full of golfers....which really only became apparent the next morning at the hotel's free breakfast and we were vieing for a seat, coffee, and only one waffle maker.

We were back on the road by 9:00am, much to the irritation of my sister's teenage girls, and were in Disneyworld by 2:00pm.

We got them settled at the All Star Movies, and then headed to our home in Old Key West..... We just love being told Welcome home.

There was nobody in the lobby, I walked up, told her I signed in online, she hit a magical button and all the info appeared, gave me my packet and to room 3711 we went. It was a wonderful spot, close to Turtle Pond Pool, a good view of the course, and very close to the bus stop. It was the 1st time in this building and the 2nd time on the bottom floor. There are definite advantages to being on the bottom floor of the OKW villas, however the view is always a tad better from the 2nd.

We had friends that were already in DW for the past few days, so we had made plans to meet up at the Wilderness Lodge Whispering Canyon for dinner.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Lovin' the report so far. I have said it soooooo many times....trip reports and pictures are what get me through to our next WDW vacation.

 

[chepic]

Lovin' the report so far. I have said it soooooo many times....trip reports and pictures are what get me through to our next WDW vacation.

Thank you!

 

[chepic]

KETCHUP

we met up with our friends at the Canyon and partook in very classic American meals; meatloaf, chicken, ribs, salmon...all very good 3 1/2 stars. But it was very funny when my 4 year old first heard them yelling for the ketchup--he ended up covering his ears!!!

But then the smile on his face grew when they asked for all the cowboys to come out and play...

He circled that floor hootin' and hollarin' with the best of them. The only disappointing thing for me was that they did not give out the little certificates that they used to. As an avid scrapbooker, I really like those extra touches. After dinner, we squished some pennies, and took the standard pole shots....

and the picture of the lion bush

and headed back to the ranch.

Good thing about being a DVC member....free valet parking at all the DVC spots, including Animal Kingdom Lodge.


Next up, first day in the parks (Animal Kingdom), lots of birthday wishes, and a very tired little man.

 

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Monday morning and the sun is shining, but there is a chance of sprinkles...a good day to head to Animal Kingdom. The kids are wiped but in my usual happy Disney self I proclaim at 6:30....time to get up, we have a date with the mouse for breakfast at 8:15!!! I call my sister's room to be certain that the teens and the adults are awake, they are groggy and mumbling "why are we getting up so early again?" they had gone into MGM for the evening and stayed to watch Fantasmic.

Alex, who is the first timer, was so excited when the bus came to get us. I think he thought that this was part of the rides.

We get to AK, meet up with sister and the other family that we know, and boom, it starts to rain (sprinkle more than down pour) and we are left cursing the Florida Gods and wondering why oh why we forgot our ponchos at home. I looked at my husband and said, "I'll be darned if I am going to fork over another $30 for ANOTHER set of ponchos from here!" I put my foot down. Meanwhile, my sister shells out the money to equip her family.

We all head into the park, making our way over the small crest of a hill to view the Tree of Life in all it's majesty. It never stops taking my breath away. The boys ooed and aahhed over it, and as we make our way to our breakfast area, we formulate the plan for fastpasses. The 3 men run to the safari to grab some passes as we check in. The buffet was decent (3 stars) and the characters did not disappoint.

my little one is obsessed with shoes!!!

We were unfortunately seated deep within the restaurant, with the window behind where the characters stood for photos, so my camera acted up on me.. but we fired away.

After we stuffed ourselves with fruit, pancakes, mickey waffles, and Krispy Creme donuts, we head out to the park where the sky has cleared and not a drop of rain will fall. I was glad I put my foot down.

The safari was good, as usual, with animals roaming around. Wendy had read that the animals were often active when the weather was overcast, so we were hopeful that the lions might be more mobile. In the 10+ visits to the AK, I have yet to see that big ol' male lion move....always lieing around sleeping...much like my 3 men!!

We hop off the Safari and my sister/spouse/teens head to Everest and the more "adult" rides, while we do my favorite thing, meander through the jungle trek, the bat caves, the monkey areas, the tigers, etc. I love animals and zoos and try to find one where ever we travel.

She was being quite playful today, and was hiding herself behind the branch that she had in front of her. The kids loved her!

On our way over to the dino land area, we caught some musicians, and Alex took advantage of the invitation to join the singing, dancing, and playing.

He had a blast!!

Having bought the meal plan (the last time we do that) we stopped to use up some of our snacks. We ended up sitting next to a cast member that was eating a turkey leg giving us his view of how to do the park...it was great. Meanwhile this white crane swooped down and took some turkey meat/skin that this other guy threw down; the kids were amazed.

Both kids had money burning a hole in their pockets due to their birthdays, so they were itching to buy something. They wanted the rubber dinos and I told them to wait until we left the park and get them at the kiosk outside the entrance, so they wouldn't lose them. Well.....Warning They don't carry them on the outside Kiosk any longer!!! Yeah, that would haunt me for the next 3 days.

Back to the condo we go, to head into Downtown Disney later.

 

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We enter our humble home for the next week, a little tired, and ready to swim to revive ourselves. As we are changing there is a knock on the door. When we open there is no one there......but on the door there is a card!! Maxim received a card from Mickey telling him to have a good time this week, with a photopass card that will give us a discount. I would later forget that card when we make our way into the MK, but, there is still hope that they will accept it when I make my purchases this week.

Dave takes the car and drives over to get our friends from the Wilderness Lodge, and then we all take the boat to DDD. Of course the kids enjoyed it.

I don't know if you can see it, but this ferry was really leaning to one side....I would have been freaking out.

Once in DDD, we went over to see the new T-Rex; very cool inside, however my 4 y.o. was upset by the loudness, so we made ressies over at the Crab house for later. We saw some new lego statues...

(our boys are Russian so this was a very cool Lego thing to see)....checked out some hats in the hat store, and continued to look for dinos.

When it was 6:00, we headed over to Fultons. I would have to say overall that I would only rate the place a 3 out of 5, the food was o.k., although Wendy was up later that morning (3:00 am) swearing it was food poisoning. The restaurant just isn't condusive for young, active, kids. It is pricey, and the service is very leasurely, which is fine when you are a group of adults enjoying each other's company....what were we thinking???

But, Alex had a good time making his chef's hat.

We took the bus back to OKW, grabbed a bottle of wine from the fridge, and the adults sat on the deck and chatted while the kids watched Disney movies inside...sigh...a nice way to end the night.

At this point we realized the stress of the on the go pace from the last few days and made the decision to stay at home for the next 3 days, and to build up the excitement for the MK on Friday for Max's 8th birthday!!

 

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So we wake up the next morning, I cancel our ressies for the character breakfast at the MGM/Disneyplayhouse and we decide that it is the perfect pool day. Obviously, others agree, because the pool is already quite busy with lots of towels, with no bodies!! Hummmm, where can all the people be? We scope out 4 lounge chairs that will be in decent sun; settle our towels; kick off the crocs; re-apply the lotion; put the swimmies on the little one; double check to see if we remembered the phone; checked to make certain I had the room key to get food; double checked to see if I remembered my diet coke in the cooler; do I have my book; who knew sitting at the pool could be this exhausting?

The kids naturally had a great time at the pool...I mean who doesn't like to slide down the slide of a giant sandcastle?

***Warning, someone stole our chair*****

So we are wading in the small area, and then head to the slide. Alex was able to go down because of his superman life-vested bathing suit. I take some pictures, and head back to the chairs to see a person in one? I don't want to blow my cork on the 2nd day of vacation; so I go over and just quietly remove my things from under the chair, and grab the towel that was on the back; "oh, was this your chair?" "No, I commonly place things under random chairs at the pool---here's your sign" was what I was thinking. Instead, I calmly state; "yes, that was one of our chairs, however, I can make my young boys sit together." No sorry, no excuse me, no let me give it back....I get, "well, I should be out of here by lunch." (she and her daughter weren't)
As I try to read, while watching the kids and the husband frolic, this large family with a baby sit on the unoccupied seats to my right. They were a nice family from Minn. that were glad to be missing the BLIZZARD that was hitting their home. When the baby fell asleep, the mom asked if she could use one of our seats until we needed it again so she wouldn't have to move the baby. "of course I don't mind, you asked." and then I leered over at the other woman. Boy that made me feel better....LOL.

After lunch, we go back to the room for a quick nap, and then back to DDD to see if we could locate a dino. Then, we were meeting friends of ours at the Beach club to put the kids in the playroom, so we could enjoy some adult time.

My sister, meanwhile was in Epcot. She is my younger sister, and is prone to not listening to me clearly, even to this day. (she is 38 and should know better by now that I am the older and wiser one and should be listened to!) While we were trying to find the dino, get our new Christmas Mickey Ornament with Alex's name on it, find the siloette person for Alex, and use up some of our snack credits at Goofey's candy store I get the call..."we have been in line for Soarin for 1 and 1/2 hours, we are going to miss our dinner in Japan. Should we get out of line or what?" I tell her to stay there, after I ask why in the world did she not get a fast pass when she first got there like I told her!! Hind sight is always 20/20 and it is never good to hear "I told you so" when you are hot under the collar....she hung up!! But, big sister to the rescue, I went over to the guest relations counter in DD, and had them call dining and let them know about the entire situation. I called Kim back and let her know not to panic, to stay in line because is really is a cool ride, and Japan knows she will be late. (They ended up 45 min. late, and had to wait 15 minutes before being seated. Not too bad.)

I get all my shopping done, find a Dino, (see them in the picture) and we head to the Beach club. While we are there, I book us a photopass session with our DVC discount. We checked the kids into the SandCastle club and away we went to find John and Wendy. The SCC is $12.00 per child per hour, with a min. of 2 hours. As a DVC member we get the rate of $10 per hour. A bit pricey, but the kids ate dinner and had a good time, so it was worth it. We adults ate at the Captains Grille. The food was good; 3 1/2 out of 5, the dessert was a 5/5...chocolate tort with Rasberries. We got it to go, and ended up eating it on the ride home to RI, and it stayed fresh!!

Back home to OKW after all the excitement of the day. The boys took a quick jacuzzi, and then off to slumber land, so we could spend another busy day on Wed. by the pool.

Tomorrow: Dave goes golfing, we go swimming, and other "relaxing" stuff.

 

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Wednesday morning dawn bright and early. Dave is going golfing at the Oak Trail 9 hole. A few years back we bought the 7 day plus tickets that gave the 7 days plus 3 plus days at the water park or to Pleasure Island. Since PI closed, you can use the plus part for 9 holes of golf. When I booked the ressie the woman kept asking me if I understood that it was a walking course....yes, he walks on the courses in RI, it is free, he is going to walk the course in Disney!

Anyway, we figured with a tee time at 7:30 he wouldn't be back until around 9:30-10, so the kids and I walk over to turtle pond pool/play area. We were there very early and got some good seats. The kids played on the swings and we played a rousing game of shuffleboard, while trying to dodge the debris that the cleaning guy was spraying while cleaning around the pool It seemed where ever we moved to, he followed with the darn hose!!

Max makes a Mickey.

While we were getting the swim gear on, my cell phone rings and it's Dave. He is by himself, shooting 2 balls off the tee, and is on the 8th hole...it was only 8:30! So I gave him our location, and let the kids jump in.

After a few hours, we headed back to the room for napping....big night ahead of us, we were HoopDeeDooing it tonight!!

My husband and I love the HDDR, have attended more times that one should, but this would be Alex's 1st time and I was secretly hoping, praying that this would be the year I would get picked to be on stage as the can-can dancer. Everytime we have gone, someone from our table gets picked for something...telling where we are from, my brother Pete was picked by Dolly one year for his tooting ability, Dave has been picked by Claire--twice--as her secret boyfriend, and my SIL was chosen for a can-can dancer...so I just knew this would be my year! Anyway, after nap, we head over to the Beach Club for our prof. shots...they did a decent job...for 30 minutes we got 70+ pictures on a CD with 2 8 x 10's, 2 5 x 7's, and 2 4 x 6's all for $70.

The only real negative thing I can say is that the wind was blowing, so my hair wasn't always the best, and because the sun was so bright, we had our eyes closed for at least 15 photos.

But generally speaking we were happy with our decision to buy it. Also, when we were done, you had to go back so they could download everything, and then you had to pick the pictures you wanted, then they had to print them...so all told you need to plan for at least an hour and 30 minutes total time...which when trying to keep a 4 y.o. tied down after a good nap is not easy!!

We drove over to Fort Wilderness and hopped on the internal bus to get to Pioneer Hall. I have to admit, I was a little giddy!! I re-applied my lipstick and we got our tickets and headed over to the stairs to wait to enter.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Lovin' your report so far.

 

[starlight_003]

Great start on your TR. I have booked the a photo session at Poly and told them i pre-ordered the cd. They said it would cost me $70. Does that include the package you got or just the pic's to go on the cd?

 

[chepic]

Great start on your TR. I have booked the a photo session at Poly and told them i pre-ordered the cd. They said it would cost me $70. Does that include the package you got or just the pic's to go on the cd?

Actually, the package we bought was originally $99 but as DVC owners we got 20% off, and I think with tax the total was just over $80: which was the CD with the rights to make prints at home, the 2 8x 10's, and the 4 5x7's....I was wrong above there were no 4 x 6's. They actually had a few "packages" to choose from as far as what you wanted to have printed there. The big thing for us was the CD.

 

[chepic]

Lovin' your report so far.

Thanks for taking the adventure with me!!

cheryl

 

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So when we last left our fearsome family, we were finishing up at the Photopass studio...

....and were heading to Pioneer hall to go to the HoopDeeDoo.

As luck would have it, Alex was standing next to the rope along the stairs and when the woman came out to announce we would be going in to dinner, she asked Alex if he would like to ring the bell.

My gosh, I was smiling from ear to ear. He gets his own certificate, and we are the first seated. We had a great table in the middle of the room...Dolly's side for those who are past Hoopdeedooers...and one row of tables back. As our server comes over, we realize we have had him before and we exchange pleasantries, I grab my lipstick and re-apply. (I was told by my SIL that whenever you re-apply, you are certain to get noticed!) So the night begins with the banjo and piano, the wagon train pulls up outside, they all come bounding in...start singing and hoopin' it up. The boys are having a great time watching Sixbits do his thing...

...

...

...and then the moment that I am waiting for...they go out to get volunteers for the big ending. I do my best to sit up straight, stick my girls out, lick my lips to shine them up...and what happens, they walk by me and pick someone else WHAT IS UP WITH THAT!!! Anyway, with a sigh of rejection, I sit back to watch the tale of Davey Crocket. Then it happens, the person who got picked to be the CanCan girl's tablemate stands right in front of Max and starts to take pictures/video of the show and effectively blocks his view... So we shift around a bit so he can see. And guess who is on the bus with us on the ride back to the parking lot...yep you guessed it, the woman, her friend, and their 5 children who are hitting each other with stuffed animals, bumping into other people on the bus, and yelling making quite the racket. Dave is holding me back at this point, and the family who was being wacked around by these kids keeps giving me the rolling eyes.

Whew, I feel better now that I have gotten that off my chest.

So, that ends another exciting day in WDW. We have decided that we won't be returning to the HDD, I just don't think I can take that rejection again....besides the price is just too costly. The first time we went it was $25 per adult, it is now over $50. The food is good, the show is great, so I think that everyone should do it at least once.

 

[SunnieRN]

What an awesome trip report so far!! Your children are soooooooo cute! My daughter left today and is at OKW, and transfers to SSR on the 10th using developer points. I join the family on the 14th and we all come home the 21st!! Looking forward to more!!

 

[chepic]

What an awesome trip report so far!! Your children are soooooooo cute! My daughter left today and is at OKW, and transfers to SSR on the 10th using developer points. I join the family on the 14th and we all come home the 21st!! Looking forward to more!!

Thank you, and have fun!!!!

 

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After the Hoopdee doo, we drove over to the Boardwalk so that we could ride on the surrey...we had promised the boys. Also, it is such fun with all the magicians, jugglers, etc. that are there.

Thursday morning I wake up a bit tired but decide to go for a walk and try to take some early morning pictures.

I try to figure out the what I can do with our meal plan, because of a change in plans on Tues., we are going to have an extra sit down kids or extra counter for all of us. I head over to the take out window and find that I can't get any warm counter meals... (figures) so I make the decision that we will eat at Olivia's. I get Dave his coffee, and head back. I decide to hop the bus at the 1st stop and I get into a conversation with the busdriver. He ends up giving me these special transportation cards that the kids can collect. They have some on the buses, the monorail, and the boat services...very cool. I wake the family up, and we go to Olivia's for breakfast.

While there, they notice Max's birthday button and comes out with this yummy sundae breakfast thing and they all sang to him....it was very nice.

We called my sister and they have decided to forgo going into the parks and to head to our place for some pool and sun time. The kids are psyched....

I head back after lunch to put Alex down, so he will be awake for our evening of fun planned...Boma for dinner, a little Boardwalk, and then Mom and Dad are heading to Jellyrolls. The girls come with me, do what teen girls do in the bathroom, and then decide they are going to explore OKW and head back to the pool. I tell them to hop on the 1st bus at Turtle Pond, and just make certain to get off at Hospitality House. Do they listen? NO, of course not, they ride the bus all the way to Epcot!!

When everyone was done at the pool, they came back, showered, changed, and we got in the car and headed to Animal Kingdom Lodge. When driving in, the entrance is not so well marked on the right, and we ended up driving into the new area...looks like it is going to be great... We turn around and find the right way and head into the resort. We have eaten at Boma before and it did not disappoint that night either. We all sat together and ate until our bellys were going to burst. The potato soup was scrumptous, the beef was cooked perfectly, the salads were yummy...and the desserts, well just perfect. Earlier that week, I had ordered a cake for Maxim's birthday (a surprise), and I had to keep reminding everyone to save room.

It was all chocolate, with light chocolate filling, covered in chocolate, with a white chocolate Mickey face that was hand painted!!! It was $48, and could have easily fed 15 people. They said it was for 8 but it was big, and we had leftovers.

After dinner we decided to walk some of the cake off....and boy did we need to.

Next up....fun for the adults at Jellyrolls.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Still here and enjoying your report.

 

[shera]

great report,love the pictures,your boys are so cute,keep up the great work

 

[chepic]

Still here and enjoying your report.

thanks for checking in....I am just so excited because after 2 years on this board I have finally figured out how to multi-reply!!!!

great report,love the pictures,your boys are so cute,keep up the great work

thanks!! Here comes more.

 

[chepic]

So for the past...I don't know 7 years or so, everytime we have tried to get into Jellyrolls, something prevents us. We have gone a few times where they have had groups pre-book it, we have been there when they were referbing it, all sorts of issues. We were even willing to go in even though we are non-smokers. One of the PT's that works for me raves about this place and she and her husband go whenever they go down...but alas, we had yet to get in. So when we drove by on the surrey the night before, I stopped to make certain that they would be open on Thurs. night and that there were no private parties going on to prevent us from going!! We had my nieces to babysit, and my sister and fiance were ready to party.

So like the piano bar newbies that we are, and because I am psycho, we arrive at 7:15pm and I am already nervous that it would be standing room only. We were 4 of maybe 8 people there!!! That's o.k., gave us the choice of our seats.

The waitress comes and takes our order....I order the pomergranate martini, my new drink of the month, and she comes back with our drinks and a stack of napkins...what do we look like, slobs? We would later realize that they were to write the requests on and to wrap the money around to get the piano guys to play what you wanted....what do we know?

Here's me during the "Unicorn" song...love that one.

When the waitress came around for our next round of drinks, she lets me know that they are out of pomergranate liquor...what she told me that no one orders them and it is usually her that drinks them at the end of the night, so they don't order a lot of it....here I am thinking I am finally doing something that is "in" and I'm not!! Anyway, I return to the reliable and delictable Cosmopolitan.

I should have said at the start that my sister and fiance are not ones to stay out late, and since the arrival of our children, we tend to be early to bed people too. We told the girls we should be home by 10:00ish. Well by 10:00 we were singing "American Pie" and swaying to the music, running up with request after request, trying to outdo the rest of the crowd...and by then the place was hopping. We had the best time. At around 11:30, with my voice almost gone and feeling really good after the 3rd Cosmo...I split that one with my sister...we decide that 8:00am breakfast is going to come really early and we needed to go. So we head out, laughing and giggling down the Boardwalk.

look how rosey our cheeks are.

Kim and Doug with spaceship Earth in the background.

The obligatory picture on the too large sofa.


We got back to the condo, and the girls are passed out, so we do a little shifting, and Kim and Doug head to the All Stars alone, for their 1 night without kids. We give them directions on how to drive back, and then we head to bed, calling to get a wake up call.

The next morning at breakfast, Kim tells us that they realized they did something wrong when they ended up leaving Disney and were on I4!!! Some people should just not drink!!

The next chapter: Maxim's birthday in the Happiest Place On Earth.