Updated 9/6**I must be crazy cause I took 5 kids to WDW alone! -

[debraW76]

I forgot to mention that while Jenna was waiting with the kids by the fountain Tau could see the monorail go by and every time he was trying to chase it because he wanted to ride it. I had to promise him again that we would ride the monorail before we left that day.

We walked through the countries to Morocco trying to make our lunch ADR. We were a tad late so she said it may be a few minutes. I had the kids go to the bathrooms to wash up and our table was ready before everyone was done with washing their hands.

We were seated adjacent to the floor where the performers would be. Our server came out immediately and took our drink orders. He joked around with Chi and Delta even putting his hat on them and posing for pictures. He even wrote their names in Morocan on their coloring sheet and said they couldn't have their drink until they learned how to write their own names! He was great with them and I kinda expected him to do the same for the other kids but he just seemed to ignore them? Omicron could probably care less as he was much more interested in asking me tons of questions.

Mom, is someone coming out to sing? What are they going to play? Is it a whole band or just one person? What instruments will they have? What are we doing after this? Are we going to ride Space ship earth where we get assigned jobs and have to press the button?



Tau was getting very tired and he gets restless when he is tired. First he wanted to sit by his sissy (Chi), then he wanted to sit in my lap, then he wanted to sit with the family across the restaurant.

So I am dealing with a tired and cranky 2 fixing to be 3 year old, Omicron is asking me tons of questions of which I can't answer, Chi is complaining that she doesn't like anything on the menu, Delta is complaining that he is hungry and can't wait any longer to eat, then Alpha starts. He apparently just realized we were in EPCOT and asked if that is where all the countries are. I said yes. Then he says that he forgot his passport that we brought and wants me to drive him back to the condo to get it.

Uh, no. I say. Sorry. I told all of you this morning to get all of your stuff. You said you didn't want to bring anything because you didn't want to carry it around all day long.
But I didn't know that we were coming here today
OK I dont even know what that means because I had it written on the calendar in our kitchen for a month that we would be in EPCOT on Saturday. This morning I tell you all where we are going so please don't even go there.

Alpha pouts.

And pouts.

And I start to feel really bad because WDW isn't the place to try to teach your child about personal responsibility. Besides he had never been this far away from his dad since he was born and he was probably missing him by now. So I thought about trying to fix the situation by purchasing him a passport from one of the gift shops or something. So I ask him "Alpha, how important is the passport book to you"
It's not important, just leave me alone!
Well I was at least glad that he made the decision easy for me.

Shortly after that the entertainment came out. Two men were playing music while this lady

danced for us.

I thought it was very entertaining. She danced one song then took off the wrap revealing just her bra-top and I couldn't help but to laugh at the face Alpha made. He turned all red then looked straight ahead. Yep, I think puberty is soon coming his way.

After a couple of songs she made her way around the room and invited children to come and dance with her. Chi and two other girls came up with her and she showed them some simple moves. Tau wanted to dance too but made me go with him

Then our food came. Jenna and I had the couscous- she the vegetarian and I the chicken. The kids all got chicken except I ordered Tau the pasta since he wouldn't tell me what he wanted. I was expecting something semi-exotic, but instead he got speghetti.

The food was delish and the entertainment was just as great. The kids chicken was just the same ol' chicken they serve everywhere but the couscous was definitely different than the normal WDW dining choices.

It was very quiet when the entertainment was not out and we all received a much needed rest from the heat and the hustle and bustle outside. It's not one that we will just rush back to see again but I am glad that we went.

Sorry, I thought I had pics of the food but apparently I didn't.

Next...EPCOT Continued

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm here now and you have had me in stitches with the gas in the van story, the "Is she our servant?" line and then of course the SE/M:S dialogue.

 

[debraW76]

Yep, that is exactly what the day would be like with Omicron and his list of the itenerary. He kinda reminds you of a bulldog with a bone. He couldn't be more singleminded even if he had blinders on. This TR sounds like it is going to be more fun than the one from Oct. 08.. I can't wait until other days come up. This is still only the first day.......right ? Got to hurry off again. Got lots to get done between now and 6:00 P.M. I'll talk to everyone later. Bye, Sugah. Love you.

bulldog with a bone? yep that is him.

I am wiping the tears from my eyes over the conversation between you and Omicron about Mission: Space and SSE. Kids can be particularly infuriating, can't they??? I also found it very funny because I guess it can be confusing since at one point in the trip I told Charles to meet us at SSE and he ended up in front of Mission:Space.

There are some days that I really hate those dump shops!

yes, dump shops really earned their nickname didn't they?
I love Omicron but when he has a thought he cannot stop talking until that thought is out. And when he doesn't understand something he will not stop asking questions until he is satisfied. He is definitely the most talkative of the bunch.

I'm here now and you have had me in stitches with the gas in the van story, the "Is she our servant?" line and then of course the SE/M:S dialogue.

Yes, and unfortunately we will have that conversation again!

 

[DisneyJo]

Wow you had your hands full at that meal and how funny about Alpha going all red when the dancer came out

 

[jcc0621]

We've only had the CS at Morroco and were not very impressed. I'm thinking Jim would like the entertainment though

 

[cmp1111]

We did Marrakesh in 2007 and we all loved it. The boys, then only 5, still were fascinated by the dancing lady.

 

[debraW76]

Wow you had your hands full at that meal and how funny about Alpha going all red when the dancer came out

Alpha's face was pretty funny. Yea for about 5-10 minutes I was regretting taking this trip on without DH. But we have one of those meals at home at least once a month LOL!

We've only had the CS at Morroco and were not very impressed. I'm thinking Jim would like the entertainment though

haha! I did text DH a picture of her and he texted me one back with his hand over his eyes! It was quite funny

We did Marrakesh in 2007 and we all loved it. The boys, then only 5, still were fascinated by the dancing lady.

She had everyone's attention. My friend Melody really wanted to eat here and that is why we reserved it. I think I would have preferred somewhere else but by the time we realized Melody wasn't coming it was too late to get another ADR.

 

[debraW76]

After leaving Marakesh Chi and Delta wanted to get their passports stamped. Omicron wasn't interested and of course Alpha forgot his book. So Jenna took Delta and Chi into each country to find the kidcot station while I looked around with Tau, Omicron and Alpha. We left Morocco and made our way around back to Canada stopping at each country.

On the way I had yet another conversation with Omicron:

So what are we riding next mom?
Soarin
Then are we riding Spacechip Earth?
No, we already rode spaceship earth, do you mean Mission Space?
I mean the one with the pilot & engineer jobs
That is mission space
So are we going to ride that next?
No we are riding Soarin then we will go over to M:S and ride either that or Test track depending on how long the line will be
What time will that be?
I don't know, just when we get there
M:S is in that big ball right mom?
no, that is spaceship earth
O OK. Can I be the pilot and you be the engineer, and Delta be the commander?
I think they are assigned honey, we don't get to pick
But if they don't assign them and we get to pick can I be the pilot?
I dont know.
But can I be the pilot?
I don't know. I am not going to tell you anything right now because it will start a fight when we get there if everyone wants to be the pilot
But if I asked to be the pilot first then I get to be the pilot right?
Omicron i am not answering your question until we get there.
Delta, do you want to be the commander and let me be the pilot?
Mom, Delta says he will be the commander and I can be the pilot so you can be the engineer, ok MOM?
​

My kids were definitely driving me crazy.

At this point I texted Nathan. it read: I don't think I can make it until Illuminations without a Margarita.

He texted back I'm with you but Cheryl wont let me

On the way we ran into Peter Pan and Jenna took some pics of Chi and Delta with him as they got photographs. Then she motioned at me with her camera. Thinking that she wanted me to get in the photos, I said "no, thanks." Afterwards she told me that she was motioning for me to take her camera and take a picture of her with Peter Pan. oops. Sorry.

Finally, we made it to Soarin'. Jenna didn't want to ride so she stayed outside with Tau while I took the big 4 on using our FP. Delta was nervous because he thought it was going to be scary. I had to tell him the whole time that I would not lie to him and that I would tell him if it was scary.

Soon the ride started and we were Soarin above California. I really enjoyed the ride and look forward to doing it again. We departed and met Jenna waiting on us with Tau. He was shirtless and Jenna looked a little nervous. She said that she fed him carrots then was throwing him up in the air and he threw up. So she took his shirt off to wash it.

I examined him and thought he was good to go so we headed towards Test Track (still shirtless). Again passing under the monorail and again Tau pitched a fit because he wanted to ride right then! After I carried him away kicking and screaming, we used our FP for TT but had to split into two groups and took turns riding. Again, Delta was afraid that I was tricking him into getting onto a roller coaster or a haunted elevator so he needed a little convincing to get on. We took our turn then headed to Mission Space.

Jenna passed on M:S also and happily stayed with Tau in the play area while we all rode. The kids wanted the extreme side but I said OK then secretly took a green card. I felt really bad about lying to them but honestly I just couldn't handle the orange side and didn't want to argue with them about it. The whole time in line Omicron was still conversing with the other kids about what jobs they wanted. I don't think it worked out exactly as he had planned but he was ok with the CMs selections. After the ride Chi and Alpha emailed postcards to their dads. Chi even surprised me with a postcard of which I found later when I checked my email.

We lingered in the gift shop for a while. Omicron wanted to buy an air-zooka. Then Delta wanted one too. I tried talking him out of it because he usually just buys what Omicron is buying and it is never what he really wants. Alpha bought some pins and started trading. Then Tau bought a pack of cars that included a train, the seat to the RNRC, police car, seat to TT, and a spaceship.

By then my niece had texted me wanted to know what time we wanted to leave. The kids were reaching their limit so I said to start heading this way and we would meet them in the van. We started heading to the exit and once again Tau saw the monorail and started screaming he wanted to ride. Now this is partly my fault. My MIL bought him a book about trains which has a monorail in it. For months leading up to our trip I would read him the book and say "I want to go to disneyworld and ride the monorail" and he would repeat after me. So probably to him he thinks the the monorail is Disneyworld and vice verse.

So I announce that we will ride the monorail to the TTC and back then we are going home. Chi looks up at me with her big blue eyes and with one tiny tear rolling down her cheek says "I thought we were going to all the countries"

Now this is where having Zeta would have helped because i could have told him to take the boys on the monorail and I would have walked with her around to the other countries and met back up at the car. But he wasn't here and I just couldn't ask Jenna to do that. She doesn't have kids and doesn't plan to ever have children and I don't want to ask too much of her because I didn't know what her limits were. My kids were driving me crazy and I just couldn't get a feel for how she was feeling at that moment. So I looked at Chi and said I was sorry but we needed to let Tau ride the monorail and that her brothers were tired and I couldn't make all of them walk around the park now. She said ok but I could tell she was upset.

Then Jenna, the miracle worker, volunteered to take Chi around the other countries while I rode the monorail with the boys. I was so relieved by this! We decided to meet at the van and then we separated. Alpha traded some more pins then we exited the park and I pushed that darn stroller up the LOOOOOONG ramp to the monorail. As we were waiting I asked Tau if he was happy to be riding the monorail and looked down to find him asleep!



Oh no he doesn't. I had to wake him up because if I didn't he wouldn't know that we were on his monorail that he has been wanting to ride for months and he would keep asking to ride until he was satisfied.

TAU. YOU NEED TO WAKE UP BABY WE ARE GETTING ON THE MONORAIL. TAU! TAU!!! WAKE UP WE ARE GETTING ON THE MONORAIL. YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!!!!

He wasn't budging. A hurricane could have went over us and he would not have known. We boarded the monorail and I was determined to wake him up. I shook his arm and shouted his name until he finally opened his eyes. I said "TAU WE ARE ON THE MONORAIL CAN YOU SEE IT?" He nodded yes, smiled, then went right back to sleep.

As we passed the parking lot it was fun to look for our van. We found it easily because of the blue writing all over it. LOL!

When we got to the TTC I told the boys to stay on. Another family tried to explain to me that this was the only stop and if we didn't get off we would just go back to EPCOT. I said yes, that is what we want to do. My sleeping baby here just wanted to ride the monorail. They looked puzzled and really thought that I was just plain nuts. Oh well. I took 5 kids to WDW so I must be nuts right?

We made it back to EPCOT, departed, met up with everyone and finally left to go back to the condo. We were all hungry so we went to Chic-fil-A. Then we stopped at the grocery store and headed back to the room.

Exhausted, I got all the kids bathed and in bed.



Next...Day 2

 

[cmp1111]

Omicron wanted to buy an air-zooka. Then Delta wanted one too. I tried talking him out of it because he usually just buys what Omicron is buying and it is never what he really wants.

Ah, this happens in my house ALL the time. Woody is the dominant personality, and then Buzz says he wants the same thing, and then...

I'm glad Jenna helped out - my BFF (whom I always call Dr. Belle on the boards) is childless herself, but a real trouper and would do the same thing. Gotta love the helpful friends.

 

[KatGarcia]

I don't know how you do it, you are superwoman.

 

[debraW76]

Ah, this happens in my house ALL the time. Woody is the dominant personality, and then Buzz says he wants the same thing, and then...

I'm glad Jenna helped out - my BFF (whom I always call Dr. Belle on the boards) is childless herself, but a real trouper and would do the same thing. Gotta love the helpful friends.

I feel guilty now for thinking that she wouldn't want to help or that she was annoyed or whatever. She was such a trooper. She really loves my kids but with us only visiting with each other once a year or so I sometimes forget that. She really did make my day sooooo much more enjoyable.

I don't know how you do it, you are superwoman.

Aw Kat. I am by no means superwoman. I'm sure you would have fared just as well

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

You are a more patient woman than I, I would have blown up. Yet another reason I don't feel I am suited to ever be a mother, I lack the patience to deal with children for extended periods of time.

 

[PrincessV]

YIKES, I fell seriously behind!

We were out the door by 10:00 and in EPCOT’s parking lot just 8 minutes later. I was floored by how close we were to Disney property without staying onsite.

That's awesome!

Chi was wearing her Auburn hat and received quite a few "War Eagles" on the way. She loved the attention!

Fun! I love being at WDW on a Gators game day - there is much chomping in all directions!

Is M:S inside that big ball
No that is SE
What is SE?
It's a ride about the history and future of the earth
Does it have the pilot, navigator, commander, and engineer?
No that is M:S
Where is that?
On the other side of the park
Are we going to ride SE
Yes

What is M:S?
That is the spaceship ride that has the different jobs you were just asking me about
Oh, then what is in the big white ball?
SE
Are we going to ride that?
Yes

I'm dying here - I totally had almost the same conversation with Leo the other day... and we're not even in WDW yet!

WDW isn't the place to try to teach your child about personal responsibility.

Truer words have never been written! And yet, I forget that critical truth each and every time we go.

At this point I texted Nathan. it read: I don't think I can make it until Illuminations without a Margarita.

I know that feeling!

As we were waiting I asked Tau if he was happy to be riding the monorail and looked down to find him asleep!

NOOOOOOO!!!!!! Did he remember being on it when he woke up?

 

[kimbo0569]

Your TR heading has me intrigued...I had to check it out!

 

[kimbo0569]

I also had an interesting conversation with Omicron about the difference between Mission:Space and Spaceship Earth. It went like this

Mom, what is in that big ball?
Spaceship Earth
Is that the thing that has the green side and orange side?
No that is M:S
Where is M:S
Its on the other side of the park
Oh, are we going to ride it?
Yes
When?
Probably after lunch
What time?
I don't know what time exactly but I promise you we will ride it today.
OK
Is M:S inside that big ball
No that is SE
What is SE?
It's a ride about the history and future of the earth
Does it have the pilot, navigator, commander, and engineer?
No that is M:S
Where is that?
On the other side of the park
Are we going to ride SE
Yes
When?
after Nemo
I thought you said after lunch?
No that is M:S that we will ride after lunch
What is M:S?
That is the spaceship ride that has the different jobs you were just asking me about
Oh, then what is in the big white ball?
SE
Are we going to ride that?
Yes
When
After NEMO
What time will that be?
Listen I am going to tell you this one more time then I don't want you to ask me any more questions. OK? SE is inside that big white golf ball over there. It is a slow moving ride that shows you the history and future of the earth. We are going to ride that after NEMO. M:S is a different ride that is across the park that you cannot see right now. It is the one that has the two side (orange and green) and the 4 jobs that you have to push the buttons. We will ride that and TT after lunch today. I do not know what time it will be because it all depends on how long everything else takes.

This conversation was about 15 minutes long and we had it about 4 times that day!
[/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT]
EPCOT...Continued

I was reading the conversation and was literally chuckling because I've had many of those conversations with my almost 4 year old daughter and after 15 minutes, it's about all I can do before wanting to bang my head against the wall....

 

[debraW76]

You are a more patient woman than I, I would have blown up. Yet another reason I don't feel I am suited to ever be a mother, I lack the patience to deal with children for extended periods of time.

Me? Patient I don't feel very patient sometimes but I guess you have to be when dealing with my bunch.

YIKES, I fell seriously behind!


That's awesome!
I thought so too

Fun! I love being at WDW on a Gators game day - there is much chomping in all directions!

Yea, she ate it up!

I'm dying here - I totally had almost the same conversation with Leo the other day... and we're not even in WDW yet!

Ugh! I think when he gets excited he just wants to talk for the sake of talking. He is always the one to ask the questions but this day he even broke his own record for "the most redundant questions I can ask in one day" award

Truer words have never been written! And yet, I forget that critical truth each and every time we go.

I felt this was really my fault because good behavior should be taught at home before you leave for vacation. I was just very aggrevated because I told them numerous of times to get everything they needed and even went over everything that included (sunglasses, money, autograph books, etc). His hands were empty because he said he didn't want to carry it around all day. He may still get his passport signed though you will have to wait and see

I know that feeling!


NOOOOOOO!!!!!! Did he remember being on it when he woke up?

Yes, or at least he remembers it as well as a 3 year old can remember. For the rest of the night I kept saying "Did you have fun on the monorail?" At first he looked surprised but by the end of the night he was saying yes On second thought, maybe he didn't remember but just said yes so that I would quit asking

Your TR heading has me intrigued...I had to check it out!

I hope you stay just as intrigued

I was reading the conversation and was literally chuckling because I've had many of those conversations with my almost 4 year old daughter and after 15 minutes, it's about all I can do before wanting to bang my head against the wall....

I might have hit a wall or two myself

 

[debraW76]

Sunday, June 7, 2009​

I didn't have anything specifically planned for Sunday because I wanted to leave it open to do what Jenna wanted to do. She was leaving today to go back home and since EPCOT was my idea I wanted to get her input for Sunday. My SIL and niece volunteered to babysit for us so we could go out for lunch in exchange for the extra room in the condo. Jenna and I eventually decided on DTD since I have 3 boys and a toddler who hate to shop and I knew I wouldn't get to with them without a fight.

I got the kiddies up and cooked a full breakfast. They wanted to go swimming so I dressed them in their bathing suits and slathered sunscreen on them, packed the cooler and pool bags, etc.

Before we left Cheryl called and asked if Alpha could come to EPCOT with them for the day. I thought this would work out great because he could get his passports book signed and a break from his brothers.

Finally Jenna, Alpha, and I left and headed towards OKW to drop Alpha off with Cheryl and family. We chatted with them for a while and I snooped around the resort before heading to DTD.

Our first stop was guest relations as I wanted to get our tickets taken care of. First of all, and I think I forgot to mention this, I was missing two tickets. Luckily for me I had a copy of the back of the tickets. So the first thing I did was have the CM re-print the missing tickets for me. THen I had her scan all of the tickets while I wrote down how many days each person had left. The CM seemed rather annoyed with my many, many tickets. Then I used the old KTTW to add the days to each person's cards as needed. I made some notes as to which cards we should use on which days so that I wouldn't need to rely on my not so reliable memory.

After that we hit the Christmas Shop for this:

We have purchased an ornament every trip since we've been married. I chose this one to remember the theme for this year and also to remember Tau's birthday party at GCC.

Then we went over to GCC to check out the party room and to see if I needed to take care of anything.

We browsed through TrenD but we had to leave because my purse was about to explode if I didn't buy something.

Found the Design-A-Tee store where you can create your own t-shirt design or make your own mouse ears. I wanted to see how it worked before taking the kids since DaisyDuck7 had given the kids money to do one or the other. Zeta wanted to see this so I had to wait until he was here before we could.

We wandered through the world of Disney store where I purchased Tau a baby Dumbo (he has the baby mickey and baby Simba) for his birthday.

I saw this

and wanted to buy it but decided to send a picture to Zeta instead.

After our shopping we got a drink and a pretzel and listened to a high school orchestra play. I think they said Lincoln high school but I can't remember what state. They looked miserable in their full length black dresses and suits.

After we finished we headed back to the room and sadly Jenna packed her bags, said good bye, and left for St. Pete.


Next...Day 2 part 2

 

[thegreggersmom]

Fun report! And it's making all my concerns about taking ONE kid by myself just disappear.

 

[overthemoon4mickey]

 

[PrincessV]

Our first stop was guest relations as I wanted to get our tickets taken care of. First of all, and I think I forgot to mention this, I was missing two tickets. Luckily for me I had a copy of the back of the tickets. So the first thing I did was have the CM re-print the missing tickets for me. THen I had her scan all of the tickets while I wrote down how many days each person had left. The CM seemed rather annoyed with my many, many tickets. Then I used the old KTTW to add the days to each person's cards as needed. I made some notes as to which cards we should use on which days so that I wouldn't need to rely on my not so reliable memory.

My head would be swimming trying to keep track of all that!

Awww!