My Family:
DH (39), doesn't want to do any of the planning, but reserves the right to do all of the complaining. Eyes actually roll back in his head when I ask for his input. Opened one eye when he found out the Paintball World Cup would be in Orlando when we were there.
DD (11) Celebrated her 11th birthday early at CRT. I Bought her two rubber bracelets that say "Social Butterfly" and "Drama Queen". 'Nuff said.
DS (9) Celebrated his 9th birthday at AK on our last day of vacation. Charming, delightful child, even if he did get us thrown out of a theme park.
FayeW, 40, wife, mother, official disney planner for both families despite having only been to MK! Happy to report that my head didn't actually explode planning this trip.
Family 2: Very close friends, our children have grown up together. We camp together several times a year.
DFriend (43), has been to disney as a young adult many years ago. Not good with paperwork, doesn't like to plan, (or hurry, as it turns out.)
DFriendH (38), Never been to disney. Watched a special about the world's top theme park attractions, and thought it would be cool to come with us. Unlike his wife, he hurries very well. We lost him.
DFD (11). She puts the "queen" in Drama Queen. Excited to be on this trip with her very best friend. Inherited her mother's non-hurrying gene.
DFS (9), Sports nut. Brought his mini-hockey sticks with him, just like you would expect any good Canadian boy would. Excited to be going on all the cool rides with DS, his best pal.
When we last saw our heros...
We were staying at Sheraton Safari for 2 days, waiting for our friends to arrive at which time we would all be checking into BSC. We got up early, packed and went to breakfast. SS has an excellent breakfast buffet ($8.99 but kids eat free) that we enjoyed the previous day. Like idiots, we decided to try the Sizzler next door. One word of advice: DON'T! We paid more for this horrible food than we had for the delicious food at the hotel. After we ate (and I do recognize the irony of using that word) DD and I left to get groceries for the week at the Winn Dixie down the street (we were also picking up the groceries for our friends), and then to check in at BSC and get rid of some luggage and the groceries. We were pleased with our condo, however our unit had a musty odour that we never got rid of all week. Our friends' unit next door did not have an odour.
The humidity was horrific, we were sweating buckets bringing in the groceries and luggage. We hightailed it back to the hotel, arriving just 5 mins before checkout. DH & DS had everything else ready to go, and after I went back and forth to the check out desk twice looking for the car keys (that I had dropped in the trunk when I put a bag in) we headed out to meet our friends at the condo. They had just arrived when we got there, but were starving and exhausted, having been up at about 3:30am for the flight.
Remember how I said I had gotten good rates on our rental cars, and that it would be important later? When we arrived my friend said "Ask me how much our car cost" and then told me that they had to pay an ADDITIONAL $200. over the reservation price because when we changed all the reservation info because of the airline fiasco, she forgot to accept the changes, so they didn't have a reservation for her! She had printed out the "confirmation" but it turned out that all she printed was the page confirming the changes, but you had to accept the changes to actually change anything. As a result, they did not have any compact cars, could not use the $15 internet coupon, and had to pay rack rate for the intermediate car. This was to become a reoccuring theme, misplacing or not bringing the correct paperwork. In case you are wondering, I was feeling quite superior
.
I had hoped to be at MK by 1:00pm, but alas, we had to stop for them to get something to eat, so it was closer to 2:00 when we finally arrived. At the monorail station I made arrangements for our friends to ride up front. My husband was a little cross with me because he wanted to do that again, but I thought that would be something nice for their family to do (we had done it our last trip). When we arrived at MK I did apologize in advance, but told everyone that I was going to be a bit of a tyrant because seeing the "Share A Dream Come True" parade was important to me, we've never seen it and this would be our only chance this trip. I dragged them to Tomorrowland to try to get on SpaceM, but ended up getting FP instead. I didn't WANT to go to Tomorrowland, because I knew that getting back to FrontierLand to watch the parade would be problematic but it was DH's turn to be a tyrant! We made it up to FL and got prime viewing spots in front of Splash Mountain, and everyone enjoyed the parade. After which, we immediately hightailed it back to SpaceM, and had a terrific ride. I have to say one of the nicest memories we have of our trip was catching the two boys walking through tomorrowland holding hands! The girls, at age 11, still do it but with girls it's no big deal, they are just more touchy and huggy. Our 9 yr old hockey playing/soccer playing tough guy boys were just so sweet and so innocent walking hand in hand. It's hard to remember with all the rough and tumble that they really are still LITTLE boys. It brings a tear to my eye.
We had a 4:30 reservation at CRT for dessert, as a special surprise to celebrate DD's birthday. They had the tables put together and decorated with mickey confetti, and brought her a cupcake with a candle and slipped us a card for us to get the characters to sign. The kids had sundaes with chocolate crowns, and the adults enjoyed delicious coffee and chocolate cake.
When we left the dining area, I asked DD if she enjoyed her birthday surprise and she said the only thing that would make it perfect would be to see Cindy. As we rounded the stairs, there SHE was, signing autographs in the lobby. It was a total fluke, because had we not stopped for the bathrooms we would have missed her; the men had gone down about 5 mins ahead of us and she wasn't there. DFD was able to slip Cindy the birthday card for her to sign for DD. This was a good move, because later in the week she lost her autograph book, but she still has the card! I'm glad we had the opportunity to eat at the castle, even just dessert because now dinner is plated meal as well.
It was pouring rain when we were eating, and still raining quite hard when we came out. We got out our raincoats, and did a few rides in fantasyland. We were able to walk right into Philharmagic and HM. we went back to Frontierland and rode Splash & BTM. When we came off Splash, DFriend, her children and DD stopped to look in the gift shop and then use the washrooms, while the rest of us waited in the exit area. I went to the washroom and when I came back, DS had disappeared! Although DH & DFH were both still in the exit area, he thought we had left and he didn't notice. We spent about 10 mins looking for him and DH found him up on the bridge. I had notified the CM, but we found him ourselves. It was very stressful, and he was pretty upset.After that our friends were getting quite tired, so we decided to get some burgers at Pecos Bill's. I really wanted to see Spectro as it is my all time favourite thing, so we rested a bit and headed up to Main St. We were able to see most of the show, and then our friends really had to leave because they were wiped.
The biggest mistake we made travelling with friends, was not making them independant early on. For the first several days they would either follow us to and from the hotel, DH would ride with DFH to show him how to get back. It lead to some frustrations (on both parts, I'm sure) when not everyone wanted to go at the same time, but more about that another time.
DH (39), doesn't want to do any of the planning, but reserves the right to do all of the complaining. Eyes actually roll back in his head when I ask for his input. Opened one eye when he found out the Paintball World Cup would be in Orlando when we were there.
DD (11) Celebrated her 11th birthday early at CRT. I Bought her two rubber bracelets that say "Social Butterfly" and "Drama Queen". 'Nuff said.
DS (9) Celebrated his 9th birthday at AK on our last day of vacation. Charming, delightful child, even if he did get us thrown out of a theme park.
FayeW, 40, wife, mother, official disney planner for both families despite having only been to MK! Happy to report that my head didn't actually explode planning this trip.
Family 2: Very close friends, our children have grown up together. We camp together several times a year.
DFriend (43), has been to disney as a young adult many years ago. Not good with paperwork, doesn't like to plan, (or hurry, as it turns out.)
DFriendH (38), Never been to disney. Watched a special about the world's top theme park attractions, and thought it would be cool to come with us. Unlike his wife, he hurries very well. We lost him.
DFD (11). She puts the "queen" in Drama Queen. Excited to be on this trip with her very best friend. Inherited her mother's non-hurrying gene.
DFS (9), Sports nut. Brought his mini-hockey sticks with him, just like you would expect any good Canadian boy would. Excited to be going on all the cool rides with DS, his best pal.
When we last saw our heros...
We were staying at Sheraton Safari for 2 days, waiting for our friends to arrive at which time we would all be checking into BSC. We got up early, packed and went to breakfast. SS has an excellent breakfast buffet ($8.99 but kids eat free) that we enjoyed the previous day. Like idiots, we decided to try the Sizzler next door. One word of advice: DON'T! We paid more for this horrible food than we had for the delicious food at the hotel. After we ate (and I do recognize the irony of using that word) DD and I left to get groceries for the week at the Winn Dixie down the street (we were also picking up the groceries for our friends), and then to check in at BSC and get rid of some luggage and the groceries. We were pleased with our condo, however our unit had a musty odour that we never got rid of all week. Our friends' unit next door did not have an odour.
The humidity was horrific, we were sweating buckets bringing in the groceries and luggage. We hightailed it back to the hotel, arriving just 5 mins before checkout. DH & DS had everything else ready to go, and after I went back and forth to the check out desk twice looking for the car keys (that I had dropped in the trunk when I put a bag in) we headed out to meet our friends at the condo. They had just arrived when we got there, but were starving and exhausted, having been up at about 3:30am for the flight.
Remember how I said I had gotten good rates on our rental cars, and that it would be important later? When we arrived my friend said "Ask me how much our car cost" and then told me that they had to pay an ADDITIONAL $200. over the reservation price because when we changed all the reservation info because of the airline fiasco, she forgot to accept the changes, so they didn't have a reservation for her! She had printed out the "confirmation" but it turned out that all she printed was the page confirming the changes, but you had to accept the changes to actually change anything. As a result, they did not have any compact cars, could not use the $15 internet coupon, and had to pay rack rate for the intermediate car. This was to become a reoccuring theme, misplacing or not bringing the correct paperwork. In case you are wondering, I was feeling quite superior
.I had hoped to be at MK by 1:00pm, but alas, we had to stop for them to get something to eat, so it was closer to 2:00 when we finally arrived. At the monorail station I made arrangements for our friends to ride up front. My husband was a little cross with me because he wanted to do that again, but I thought that would be something nice for their family to do (we had done it our last trip). When we arrived at MK I did apologize in advance, but told everyone that I was going to be a bit of a tyrant because seeing the "Share A Dream Come True" parade was important to me, we've never seen it and this would be our only chance this trip. I dragged them to Tomorrowland to try to get on SpaceM, but ended up getting FP instead. I didn't WANT to go to Tomorrowland, because I knew that getting back to FrontierLand to watch the parade would be problematic but it was DH's turn to be a tyrant! We made it up to FL and got prime viewing spots in front of Splash Mountain, and everyone enjoyed the parade. After which, we immediately hightailed it back to SpaceM, and had a terrific ride. I have to say one of the nicest memories we have of our trip was catching the two boys walking through tomorrowland holding hands! The girls, at age 11, still do it but with girls it's no big deal, they are just more touchy and huggy. Our 9 yr old hockey playing/soccer playing tough guy boys were just so sweet and so innocent walking hand in hand. It's hard to remember with all the rough and tumble that they really are still LITTLE boys. It brings a tear to my eye.
We had a 4:30 reservation at CRT for dessert, as a special surprise to celebrate DD's birthday. They had the tables put together and decorated with mickey confetti, and brought her a cupcake with a candle and slipped us a card for us to get the characters to sign. The kids had sundaes with chocolate crowns, and the adults enjoyed delicious coffee and chocolate cake.
When we left the dining area, I asked DD if she enjoyed her birthday surprise and she said the only thing that would make it perfect would be to see Cindy. As we rounded the stairs, there SHE was, signing autographs in the lobby. It was a total fluke, because had we not stopped for the bathrooms we would have missed her; the men had gone down about 5 mins ahead of us and she wasn't there. DFD was able to slip Cindy the birthday card for her to sign for DD. This was a good move, because later in the week she lost her autograph book, but she still has the card! I'm glad we had the opportunity to eat at the castle, even just dessert because now dinner is plated meal as well.
It was pouring rain when we were eating, and still raining quite hard when we came out. We got out our raincoats, and did a few rides in fantasyland. We were able to walk right into Philharmagic and HM. we went back to Frontierland and rode Splash & BTM. When we came off Splash, DFriend, her children and DD stopped to look in the gift shop and then use the washrooms, while the rest of us waited in the exit area. I went to the washroom and when I came back, DS had disappeared! Although DH & DFH were both still in the exit area, he thought we had left and he didn't notice. We spent about 10 mins looking for him and DH found him up on the bridge. I had notified the CM, but we found him ourselves. It was very stressful, and he was pretty upset.After that our friends were getting quite tired, so we decided to get some burgers at Pecos Bill's. I really wanted to see Spectro as it is my all time favourite thing, so we rested a bit and headed up to Main St. We were able to see most of the show, and then our friends really had to leave because they were wiped.
The biggest mistake we made travelling with friends, was not making them independant early on. For the first several days they would either follow us to and from the hotel, DH would ride with DFH to show him how to get back. It lead to some frustrations (on both parts, I'm sure) when not everyone wanted to go at the same time, but more about that another time.
