Texan Mouseketeer
DIS Cast Member<br><font color=blue>I hurt people'
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2005
- Messages
- 1,139
Trip Report
Cast: Me - 29 still, thank goodness, but turning 30 on the last day of this trip, DH - 30, DS - 4 and DD turning 11 months on this trip
The Prater Family from the Republic of Texas! Day 1
3:15 A.M. Alarm goes off. 45 minutes until Nana gets here to drive us to the airport. We have a 6:20 flight and live about 50 minutes from DFW airport. DH and I wake up and scurry around as quietly as we can to get ready without having to wake up the kids until the last possible moment. Nana gets here at 3:45, kids are being loaded into the car at 3:50 yes, they slept in their clothes to wear for the day! No, we didnt change DDs diaper yet! Were trying to leave at 4 and having trouble making it. Finally, were all loaded, DH is locking the door and wait! Halt! Doorknob falls off the door. WTH? Poor DH has to go grab some tools from the garage and get the dang thing back on before were off and running again. DS is all excited, not sleepy at all. DD is looking like she didnt know what hit her yet and very confused.
4:10 Heading for the airport. Must be there by 4:50. How important was this early flight, I am now wondering?? Luckily, we get to the airport only a little late and get all checked in with no problems.
Once were past security, we start looking for bathrooms, then breakfast. As were heading for McDonalds, we hear, flight 600 now boarding. What? Already? We look at our gate and there is a long line of people waiting to get on the plane. Is that our flight, DH asks? Yep. DH heads to McDonalds very quickly to get some food to go while the rest of us get in line. This is going much faster than I thought! I figured wed be getting bored at the airport waiting for the flight. We get on the plane and get all settled in. Give the kids their doses of Benadryl. They both have tubes in their ears and we dont know if it will hurt or help. Were trying not to stress, but were wondering if DS will be scared and if DD will cry the whole time. Shortly after takeoff, DD falls asleep and I get the fun position of holding her and having to be perfectly still for the flight so I dont wake her. Luckily, she sleeps over 1 ½ hours and there are only about 45 minutes left of the flight when she wakes up. DS loves flying. He was excited the whole time. He loved looking out the window. In preparation for this, we told him the flight would take ALL DAY. Imagine how happy he was when we arrived at 9:30! That worked! The Gameboy helped pass the time, too. We arrive in Florida before our scheduled time, but unfortunately it takes almost an hour for our baggage to come off the belts. See, DS, I told you this would take all day! We had FL Tours pick us up with a van. The guy was really nice about the delay and still gave us our grocery stop. We stopped at the Publix store. Its funny, the cashier pegged us as tourists right away. Howd she guess? My camera was NOT around my neck!
We got to Coronado Springs by about 11:30. By this time were very hungry, and both kiddos are getting worn out and badly needing a nap. We know we may not get a room until after 3, but were prepared to beg! When we were checking in, I told the lady we would take anything, no preferences and would be willing to upgrade to the water view if it meant we could get in a room. She was very nice, felt our pain, and gave us a room right away. And, she said with a confused look, you have some packages waiting for you? Yes, I was expecting those. One from the company we ordered all our baby supplies from and two from a very nice person on the DIS boards. Bavaria had a change of travel plans and offered up the groceries that had already been ordered. What a treat! There were two boxes full of food and water to help us out for the week. Thank you, Bavaria!!! We stayed in the Ranchos section room 7694 and loved it! The bellman got all our things to our room. We had all our suitcases, the stroller, our carry on items, our bags from the grocery store, the crib, the crib mattress and a bag of all the crib bedding to load onto the cart. What are you doing, moving in? No, I told him, just staying for 7 days with a baby! Nuff said!! Shortly after, another bellman arrived with those three packages we were expecting. After a little unpacking and DH putting the crib together, we decide were pretty hungry and head off to the Pepper Market. Not much of a place for those with little kids. I probably would have liked it better if we had older ones like my niece and nephew that could have gone and gotten their own food. DD had fallen asleep in the stroller, so we had her parked by the table. DS was coloring and we had to wait while DH had to go wait in three different lines to get all of our food. It took quite awhile. And after all the time it took to get there, we werent wanting to wait anymore!
2:00 Lets go to the Magic Kingdom! Since DD took her nap and DS can sometimes go without one, we went back to our room, packed the backpack, smeared ourselves down with sunscreen and headed out to MK and our first run of how things were going to go. Getting on the bus was no problem. Our stroller folded up great and the bus was not crowded. The kids were wide eyed and excited. We get to MK and are walking down Main Street finally! You cant imagine how excited I was. Since 1997 I had been dreaming of when I would be back and to be there with my family and the people who mean the most to me just made my heart soar that is for about three seconds. It was hot and humid, the kids were already wilting, so nice emotional moment went by quickly as I figured out how we were going to run this day. When I micro planned this day, we only had dinner reservations in the MK at Liberty Tree Tavern. I figured if we got here early, it would be a bonus so I only had some general ideas of what to do. I was so excited when I saw the ropes up and figured they were getting ready for the parade. DH checks his watch, yep, its after 3 and the parade is supposed to be starting any minute. We get a good spot in the shade behind the rope and wait for the parade to start while fanning the kids with the battery powered fans we had. The snowglobe parade comes by. How lucky are we? Perfect timing and a great spot to view it that we didnt even have to wait for! DS loves it but is a little moody, things are starting to overwhelm him, so we just let him have his quiet time to brood. DD is looking at me from the stroller like, what in the world are we doing here. I have a picture of it, too! I am starting to worry that this heat may be too much for them and how are we going to manage a week of this? After the parade, we wander through the shops on Main Street for awhile as we try to get a game plan together. Dinner isnt until 5. We walk into Liberty Square not wanting to get too far from our dinner reservations. The Haunted Mansion has a 35 minute wait and a lot of it is outside. Nope, well have to save that for later. We stop into a shaded snack area and get a coke and a water. The kids are redfaced and hot. Finally, we decide to just go to the restaurant when they open at 4 and beg for a table or a place to wait.
4:00 Were in luck! They let us go ahead and put our names on the list to be seated! We dont even have to wait 5 minutes before the CM calls out, The Prater Family from the Great Republic of Texas! I am loving every bit of the colonial theme. We get a great table by a fireplace with a view of outside and the lobby area, but far enough away that we dont feel crowded. Our server is a nice guy from Morocco. The family style buffet has ham, turkey and flank steak. We also have stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and rolls brought out to the table. Whatever you run out of, they refill. We saw Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Pluto as they came around and made their rounds. How would the kids react to them? They loved them! It was so much fun. DS was so excited. Each time he would jump up and give them a hug or a high five, say hi and talk to them some. DD would smile, squeal and reach out to touch them. The characters seem to have a lot of fun with DD. They would play peek a boo with her and things like that. We took picture after picture. Of course, the kids could hardly eat, they were too busy looking for characters and enjoying themselves. For dessert we had cherry cobbler with ice cream. All of us, even DD loved that! What a fun time for all of us.
After dinner, we headed straight back to the hotel. We unpacked our things, organized all the food we had, gave the kids a bath, set DS up with the bedtime stories on the TV and turned in to get ready for yet another fun day at the Magic Kingdom. Gotta get up early again Pooh Bear and friends are expecting us for breakfast at 8:00!
Cast: Me - 29 still, thank goodness, but turning 30 on the last day of this trip, DH - 30, DS - 4 and DD turning 11 months on this trip
The Prater Family from the Republic of Texas! Day 1
3:15 A.M. Alarm goes off. 45 minutes until Nana gets here to drive us to the airport. We have a 6:20 flight and live about 50 minutes from DFW airport. DH and I wake up and scurry around as quietly as we can to get ready without having to wake up the kids until the last possible moment. Nana gets here at 3:45, kids are being loaded into the car at 3:50 yes, they slept in their clothes to wear for the day! No, we didnt change DDs diaper yet! Were trying to leave at 4 and having trouble making it. Finally, were all loaded, DH is locking the door and wait! Halt! Doorknob falls off the door. WTH? Poor DH has to go grab some tools from the garage and get the dang thing back on before were off and running again. DS is all excited, not sleepy at all. DD is looking like she didnt know what hit her yet and very confused.
4:10 Heading for the airport. Must be there by 4:50. How important was this early flight, I am now wondering?? Luckily, we get to the airport only a little late and get all checked in with no problems.
Once were past security, we start looking for bathrooms, then breakfast. As were heading for McDonalds, we hear, flight 600 now boarding. What? Already? We look at our gate and there is a long line of people waiting to get on the plane. Is that our flight, DH asks? Yep. DH heads to McDonalds very quickly to get some food to go while the rest of us get in line. This is going much faster than I thought! I figured wed be getting bored at the airport waiting for the flight. We get on the plane and get all settled in. Give the kids their doses of Benadryl. They both have tubes in their ears and we dont know if it will hurt or help. Were trying not to stress, but were wondering if DS will be scared and if DD will cry the whole time. Shortly after takeoff, DD falls asleep and I get the fun position of holding her and having to be perfectly still for the flight so I dont wake her. Luckily, she sleeps over 1 ½ hours and there are only about 45 minutes left of the flight when she wakes up. DS loves flying. He was excited the whole time. He loved looking out the window. In preparation for this, we told him the flight would take ALL DAY. Imagine how happy he was when we arrived at 9:30! That worked! The Gameboy helped pass the time, too. We arrive in Florida before our scheduled time, but unfortunately it takes almost an hour for our baggage to come off the belts. See, DS, I told you this would take all day! We had FL Tours pick us up with a van. The guy was really nice about the delay and still gave us our grocery stop. We stopped at the Publix store. Its funny, the cashier pegged us as tourists right away. Howd she guess? My camera was NOT around my neck!
We got to Coronado Springs by about 11:30. By this time were very hungry, and both kiddos are getting worn out and badly needing a nap. We know we may not get a room until after 3, but were prepared to beg! When we were checking in, I told the lady we would take anything, no preferences and would be willing to upgrade to the water view if it meant we could get in a room. She was very nice, felt our pain, and gave us a room right away. And, she said with a confused look, you have some packages waiting for you? Yes, I was expecting those. One from the company we ordered all our baby supplies from and two from a very nice person on the DIS boards. Bavaria had a change of travel plans and offered up the groceries that had already been ordered. What a treat! There were two boxes full of food and water to help us out for the week. Thank you, Bavaria!!! We stayed in the Ranchos section room 7694 and loved it! The bellman got all our things to our room. We had all our suitcases, the stroller, our carry on items, our bags from the grocery store, the crib, the crib mattress and a bag of all the crib bedding to load onto the cart. What are you doing, moving in? No, I told him, just staying for 7 days with a baby! Nuff said!! Shortly after, another bellman arrived with those three packages we were expecting. After a little unpacking and DH putting the crib together, we decide were pretty hungry and head off to the Pepper Market. Not much of a place for those with little kids. I probably would have liked it better if we had older ones like my niece and nephew that could have gone and gotten their own food. DD had fallen asleep in the stroller, so we had her parked by the table. DS was coloring and we had to wait while DH had to go wait in three different lines to get all of our food. It took quite awhile. And after all the time it took to get there, we werent wanting to wait anymore!
2:00 Lets go to the Magic Kingdom! Since DD took her nap and DS can sometimes go without one, we went back to our room, packed the backpack, smeared ourselves down with sunscreen and headed out to MK and our first run of how things were going to go. Getting on the bus was no problem. Our stroller folded up great and the bus was not crowded. The kids were wide eyed and excited. We get to MK and are walking down Main Street finally! You cant imagine how excited I was. Since 1997 I had been dreaming of when I would be back and to be there with my family and the people who mean the most to me just made my heart soar that is for about three seconds. It was hot and humid, the kids were already wilting, so nice emotional moment went by quickly as I figured out how we were going to run this day. When I micro planned this day, we only had dinner reservations in the MK at Liberty Tree Tavern. I figured if we got here early, it would be a bonus so I only had some general ideas of what to do. I was so excited when I saw the ropes up and figured they were getting ready for the parade. DH checks his watch, yep, its after 3 and the parade is supposed to be starting any minute. We get a good spot in the shade behind the rope and wait for the parade to start while fanning the kids with the battery powered fans we had. The snowglobe parade comes by. How lucky are we? Perfect timing and a great spot to view it that we didnt even have to wait for! DS loves it but is a little moody, things are starting to overwhelm him, so we just let him have his quiet time to brood. DD is looking at me from the stroller like, what in the world are we doing here. I have a picture of it, too! I am starting to worry that this heat may be too much for them and how are we going to manage a week of this? After the parade, we wander through the shops on Main Street for awhile as we try to get a game plan together. Dinner isnt until 5. We walk into Liberty Square not wanting to get too far from our dinner reservations. The Haunted Mansion has a 35 minute wait and a lot of it is outside. Nope, well have to save that for later. We stop into a shaded snack area and get a coke and a water. The kids are redfaced and hot. Finally, we decide to just go to the restaurant when they open at 4 and beg for a table or a place to wait.
4:00 Were in luck! They let us go ahead and put our names on the list to be seated! We dont even have to wait 5 minutes before the CM calls out, The Prater Family from the Great Republic of Texas! I am loving every bit of the colonial theme. We get a great table by a fireplace with a view of outside and the lobby area, but far enough away that we dont feel crowded. Our server is a nice guy from Morocco. The family style buffet has ham, turkey and flank steak. We also have stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and rolls brought out to the table. Whatever you run out of, they refill. We saw Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Pluto as they came around and made their rounds. How would the kids react to them? They loved them! It was so much fun. DS was so excited. Each time he would jump up and give them a hug or a high five, say hi and talk to them some. DD would smile, squeal and reach out to touch them. The characters seem to have a lot of fun with DD. They would play peek a boo with her and things like that. We took picture after picture. Of course, the kids could hardly eat, they were too busy looking for characters and enjoying themselves. For dessert we had cherry cobbler with ice cream. All of us, even DD loved that! What a fun time for all of us.
After dinner, we headed straight back to the hotel. We unpacked our things, organized all the food we had, gave the kids a bath, set DS up with the bedtime stories on the TV and turned in to get ready for yet another fun day at the Magic Kingdom. Gotta get up early again Pooh Bear and friends are expecting us for breakfast at 8:00!
