Well we made it. It was hot, but it was fun. I wont go in to detail about the rides and things but just detail the highlights and logistics of going with 8 people.
We read the discussion board and learned lots of tips. So our trip began with buying some of those handy dandy little items we would need and then we were off (more about them later). Me, DH, DD, DSIL, and 4 grandkids 11, 9, 7 and 2.
We arrived on Sep 2nd to Shades of Green Hotel around 4 pm and the celebration began almost immediately as it was my hubbies birthday. The cake was yummy. We stayed in two room and I will have to say that the SOG hotel has the largest hotel rooms Ive seen. Beautiful place.
We took advantage of the hotel transportation and headed off to Epcot for dinner at the Biergarten. The food was great and we loved the entertainment and the grandkids loved being able to dance. Eight of us had dinner and 3 had beer with dinner which is extra, for a total of $293. The beer was $13 each but they were huge! (no we were not on the Disney Dining Plan).
The Illuminations fireworks were absolutely beautiful. First time I had seen them.
On day 2 we went to Magic Kingdom. Here is where we decided to split up. With the two older children being boys and the 7 year old a girl (2 yr old boy), doing this everyone got to see what they wanted and we used cell phones to meet up.
It was a hot weekend and very humid, so in the afternoon we heeded advice to return to the hotel and hit the pools. Everyone really enjoyed cooling off.
The oldest wanted to go back to Epcot, so off he went with DD (mom) to hit a few rides missed on Friday. They ate the fish and chips from the quick service area and said it was great. The rest of us enjoyed pizza at the hotel and we all met up at Downtown Disney for a visit to Legos and a walk about.
Sunday we were off to Animal Kingdom and made a bee line for the Safari ride. It was awesome. We had been told to go early because the animals are more active and they were right. We saw everything! Lions, cheetahs, giraffes, elephants, and lots more. Then we took the train to the petting zoo. We ate at Yak andYetis restaurant and the food was very good. We chose the appetizers for lunch for the adults. They had something that was a basket for two for $13 (we got 2 of those) and we added egg rolls (3) and it was plenty of food. The kids got kids meals. I got a non alcoholic pina colada and with two beers and drinks for the kids the bill was $102. (BTW both meals had 18% gratuity added in because there were 8 of us).
On Monday we went to Hollywood Studios. The 3 older kids got to be in the stage show at Star Tours and were thrilled! The 2 year old saw his characters at Disney Playhouse and our little Princess got a front row seat to the Little Mermaid show. We ended the trip with everyone on cloud 9! Success We ate at the ABC Commissary for lunch and found the food to be good. We all had kids meals. The turkey sandwich was plenty of food for me and it came with a few fries and a drink. Lunch was a little over $40. For dinner we ate in our hotel.
Like I said earlier we got some great tips from this discussion board. We rented a double stroller from Magic Strollers for this adventure and it was great. We paid just $80 for the stroller and insurance for Fri-Tues. They dropped it off and picked it up at our hotel at no additional charge. The stroller was a lifesaver. One of those handy dandy little items the Dis board told us to buy was a large D-ring. We bought two at Wal Mart for $2.88 each and they were the best tip we got. They came in so handy to hang our bags, our book bags, our hats, whatever onto the straps. We got lots of comments on them too.
The 2nd tip was the clip on fans for the stroller. Got two of them at Amazon for $10 each. Another handy item. The 3rd tip we used a lot was a large Ziploc bag filled with stuff. Bandaids, wipes, disinfectant lotion, sunscreen.
But the best advice we got on the Dis board was relax and dont try to do everything. Great advice. There was so much we (adults) wanted the kids to do, but since they had never been before they were so excited they were thrilled doing what they did and didnt miss not doing all we had planned (a good reason for future trips). When it got hot, they wanted to go swim in the pool instead of riding more rides. Our hotel also had a few arcade areas and Disney movies and they were happy to spend an evening at the hotel resting and playing so Grandma (me) and my DD went back to Epcot just the two of us for a stroll in the evening while Grandpa and Dad babysat. It was great. On the morning we went to Hollywood Studios my hubbie and I left early to have a bit of time by ourselves. We went on the Toy Mania ride when it opened and by the time that was over (the waiting and the ride), the rest of the gang had arrived. By allowing a little "adult" time here and there for the 4 adults, dealing with the kids was easy. And like I said, they were happy doing anything.
My DH and I got our tickets upgraded to the Mon-Friday annual passes (were retired and live in Florida) so we are planning on returning for Halloween for an adult trip.
We want to thank all of you for your tips. Oh and before I forget. I had read a tip on getting the raincoats from the dollar store or Wal Mart so I did eight of them. On the night my DD and I went to Epcot we didnt have the kids so we didnt take anything but our waist packs. Well, you guessed it, we had a small shower and ducted into a store to buy Disney raincoats ugh! But we had a good laugh and we have a souvenir. Thanks again for the tips.
We read the discussion board and learned lots of tips. So our trip began with buying some of those handy dandy little items we would need and then we were off (more about them later). Me, DH, DD, DSIL, and 4 grandkids 11, 9, 7 and 2.
We arrived on Sep 2nd to Shades of Green Hotel around 4 pm and the celebration began almost immediately as it was my hubbies birthday. The cake was yummy. We stayed in two room and I will have to say that the SOG hotel has the largest hotel rooms Ive seen. Beautiful place.
We took advantage of the hotel transportation and headed off to Epcot for dinner at the Biergarten. The food was great and we loved the entertainment and the grandkids loved being able to dance. Eight of us had dinner and 3 had beer with dinner which is extra, for a total of $293. The beer was $13 each but they were huge! (no we were not on the Disney Dining Plan).
The Illuminations fireworks were absolutely beautiful. First time I had seen them.
On day 2 we went to Magic Kingdom. Here is where we decided to split up. With the two older children being boys and the 7 year old a girl (2 yr old boy), doing this everyone got to see what they wanted and we used cell phones to meet up.
It was a hot weekend and very humid, so in the afternoon we heeded advice to return to the hotel and hit the pools. Everyone really enjoyed cooling off.
The oldest wanted to go back to Epcot, so off he went with DD (mom) to hit a few rides missed on Friday. They ate the fish and chips from the quick service area and said it was great. The rest of us enjoyed pizza at the hotel and we all met up at Downtown Disney for a visit to Legos and a walk about.
Sunday we were off to Animal Kingdom and made a bee line for the Safari ride. It was awesome. We had been told to go early because the animals are more active and they were right. We saw everything! Lions, cheetahs, giraffes, elephants, and lots more. Then we took the train to the petting zoo. We ate at Yak andYetis restaurant and the food was very good. We chose the appetizers for lunch for the adults. They had something that was a basket for two for $13 (we got 2 of those) and we added egg rolls (3) and it was plenty of food. The kids got kids meals. I got a non alcoholic pina colada and with two beers and drinks for the kids the bill was $102. (BTW both meals had 18% gratuity added in because there were 8 of us).
On Monday we went to Hollywood Studios. The 3 older kids got to be in the stage show at Star Tours and were thrilled! The 2 year old saw his characters at Disney Playhouse and our little Princess got a front row seat to the Little Mermaid show. We ended the trip with everyone on cloud 9! Success We ate at the ABC Commissary for lunch and found the food to be good. We all had kids meals. The turkey sandwich was plenty of food for me and it came with a few fries and a drink. Lunch was a little over $40. For dinner we ate in our hotel.
Like I said earlier we got some great tips from this discussion board. We rented a double stroller from Magic Strollers for this adventure and it was great. We paid just $80 for the stroller and insurance for Fri-Tues. They dropped it off and picked it up at our hotel at no additional charge. The stroller was a lifesaver. One of those handy dandy little items the Dis board told us to buy was a large D-ring. We bought two at Wal Mart for $2.88 each and they were the best tip we got. They came in so handy to hang our bags, our book bags, our hats, whatever onto the straps. We got lots of comments on them too.
The 2nd tip was the clip on fans for the stroller. Got two of them at Amazon for $10 each. Another handy item. The 3rd tip we used a lot was a large Ziploc bag filled with stuff. Bandaids, wipes, disinfectant lotion, sunscreen.
But the best advice we got on the Dis board was relax and dont try to do everything. Great advice. There was so much we (adults) wanted the kids to do, but since they had never been before they were so excited they were thrilled doing what they did and didnt miss not doing all we had planned (a good reason for future trips). When it got hot, they wanted to go swim in the pool instead of riding more rides. Our hotel also had a few arcade areas and Disney movies and they were happy to spend an evening at the hotel resting and playing so Grandma (me) and my DD went back to Epcot just the two of us for a stroll in the evening while Grandpa and Dad babysat. It was great. On the morning we went to Hollywood Studios my hubbie and I left early to have a bit of time by ourselves. We went on the Toy Mania ride when it opened and by the time that was over (the waiting and the ride), the rest of the gang had arrived. By allowing a little "adult" time here and there for the 4 adults, dealing with the kids was easy. And like I said, they were happy doing anything.
My DH and I got our tickets upgraded to the Mon-Friday annual passes (were retired and live in Florida) so we are planning on returning for Halloween for an adult trip.
We want to thank all of you for your tips. Oh and before I forget. I had read a tip on getting the raincoats from the dollar store or Wal Mart so I did eight of them. On the night my DD and I went to Epcot we didnt have the kids so we didnt take anything but our waist packs. Well, you guessed it, we had a small shower and ducted into a store to buy Disney raincoats ugh! But we had a good laugh and we have a souvenir. Thanks again for the tips.
