Working our way through Disney!! (again)

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My Disney odyssey started many years ago. My mother and father always had a tight budget and we didn’t vacation. Unfortunately, my father died when I was 12. Because of good planning and investing my mother was able to take my younger brother and me on some nice trips. The summer after my father died we flew to Fort Brag, North Carolina to visit friends. On that trip my mom and her friend rented a tent trailer and loaded up 5 kids and drove to Disney World. What an adventure! The drive was long and the packed station wagon was noisy. My mom and her friend made sure that everywhere we went they could pull the car and trailer through – they couldn’t back up the trailer!

We stayed at Fort Wilderness. We had come from New Mexico and I was amazed at the beauty of Florida. The camp site was gorgeous and my mom and her friend found a nice man to back the trailer into our camping spot. This was the summer of 1981 –and Magic Kingdom was the only park to visit. I was hooked. I couldn’t believe how wonderful Disney was. I knew then and there (at the age of 12) that Disney World would be where I would go on my honeymoon.

Fast forward 13 years and I have met my Prince Charming and we do indeed honeymoon where I had dreamed of going. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Luckily for me, my husband is now hooked on Disney as well! We are able to make another trip on our second anniversary. I was teaching middle school at the time and our jump rope team had made it to the national competition which was held at Hollywood Studios. Very good excuse for a trip On that trip we stayed at Port Orleans.

During these trips my husband and I noticed a lot of small children being carried around by their sweaty moms and dads. At that time we vowed not to take our future children to the World until they could walk everywhere under their own power!

We have been blessed with 3 children. We have twin daughters who are now 11 and a son who is 9. We finally took the Disney plunge with our kids in 2006. It was a marvelous trip and now we all are hooked on Disney and the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We are so hooked, that we plan on traveling every other year to the World, and as of last month, we have purchased Disney Vacation Club points!

Our Disney obsession and planning led me to the Dis. I have been a lurker since 2005 and now I have also become hooked on the Dis. My kids have also become hooked (especially my daughter who I will refer to as Belle). It was her idea to create our own trip report. So this is our spring break project. She will be able to add her own touch to the report.

So thanks for joining my ramblings. On the next post you can meet my very own cast of characters and start our trip!!!

I started this trip report a a long time ago - and due to a busy schedule it has been moved - so I'm just starting over!!!

 

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Cast of characters:
Me and my Prince charming – we have been married 14 years.
Twin daughters (Belle and Aurora) 11 years old
My son (Donald – as in duck!) is 9 years old.

Our trip started on Monday August 4th. We live in central Washington. We normally fly out of Seattle but I found great airfare leaving from Portland Oregon. It takes us 2-3 hours to drive to Seattle and it took about 6 hours to drive to Portland. It was worth the extra drive ($220 roundtrip non-stop to Orlando – great deal!). We also love to fly the red eye to Orlando. It works out well for us, even though we start out on the tired side.

We left our house around 10 am.

Don't they look excited to leave the driveway? On the left is Belle, center is Aurora and on the right is Donald (he should be Goofy, but Donald is his favorite character.

We drove two hours to my DH's family for lunch. We had a nice lunch and visited then hit the road again around 3:00.

What did we do before built in DVD players?

Our plan was to stop at Multnomah Falls once we were in Oregon. The falls are beautiful and our kids had never been there.

It was very hot and the walk up hill was tiring. Once we made it to the second viewing area it was well worth the hot hike. We stood and admired the water falls, took pictures and tried to cool off.

Such cute kids!

We headed back down to use the restroom and wander through the gift shop.
After we left the falls we went to Troutdale to have dinner at Wendy’s. Of course my lovely children dropped food on their clothes. Tip: Tide Stain Sticks are wonderful – but incredibly expensive when bought at an airport!

We parked at the airport parking lot and caught the airport bus to the terminal.

Waiting for the bus to take us to the terminal.

Portland airport parking is fabulous and very reasonably priced. We checked in and went through security without a hitch.

Now a word from Belle:
It was a very, very, very long trip. I thought that the waterfall was beautiful and nothing can ever be created that is that pretty. It was nice to visit with my family in Yakima and the food was good. Dinner was quick and nice. There was a small airport outside Wendy's and we could see small airplanes and helicopters take off. There were also a lot of firefighters eating at Wendy's. There was also a nice sunset.

 

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Here is a picture of my kids before we boarded the airplane. Notice the wet sponts on their clothes. That would be from the Tide stain stick. Being that we were flying all night and arriving in Orlando around 6 am, I wanted to have them look half way decent for their first day in the parks. No- I didn't pack extra clothes! Not sure why

The flight was packed. Not only was it full, it was full of a bunch of little kids. At first I was apprehensive about this. All in all, the kids did great. It wasn't as loud or full of "little child distress" as it could have been. My children did well. They try their best to sleep, but also like to rent the digiplayers and watch movies. I try and rest the best that I can, but I believe that sleeping and plane seats aren't usually a positive combination.

This Disney trip was something we had all been looking forward too. We had spent a week at Disney World in August of 06. It was an amazing trip. We had traveled with our best friends and their two kids. They came away from it with good feelings, but not the love that we have. Aurora and I cried when we had to come home that first trip.

I love that we are together as a family. Not interrupted by work, yard responsibilities, sports or music practices. We can focus on each other. That along with the Disney magic can't be matched! After we left in 06, we had decided to return to Disney in 08. We couldn't imagine going more that two years without visiting Disney World! We invited our friends to join us, but they weren't interested in returning so soon! Crazy people! And I try not to hold it against them

 

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I haven't been posting due to family spring craziness. My husband is the president of the girls softball league, my son plays baseball and the girls are on a softball team. It keeps our spring jam packed with activity, but it also helps us feel like summer is closer!

I must apologize for my crazy posts. I have read the Dis for years, but posting is still new to me.

Aug. 5
I left off with us on a full flight from Portland to Orlando. I sat with Donald and Aurora. They selpt a couple of hours. Belle and my DH were sitting with a snorer, and didn't get as much rest as us! We landed in Orlando at 6 AM and went straight to the Magical Express coutner. After our check in we hopped on a bus and headed home - to Animal Kingdom Lodge. There were only 5 other people on the bus, it was a peaceful ride.

Once we arrived at the AKL we checked in and went to the Mara for some breakfast. After breakfast we headed to the MK. Thre is no other place to start a trip! The castle - what more can I say?!

The first picture in the park!

Love it!

We had a marathon of rides. We walked right on to Pirates of the Carribean, went and rode Splash Mountain, and rode Big Thunder Mt. Railroad - twice! We are a ride loving family! We enjoy the thrills and the theming of all the rides. We then rode the Haunted Mansion - loved the updates! We also rode It's A Small World. This was more to cool off - it was getting hot outside!

 

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Now onto one of many great memories from this trip. But first some background on our first trip in 2006. I do believe we came away from the trip without too much mental scarring of our children, but the impact of some of our experiences from the first trip popped up occasionally on our second trip.

In 2006 after our arrival we went to AK - it turned into a mistake. That park is HOT, and we were unfamiliar with the lay out and where things are located. Yes - we had a map. It was new to us and we were a party of 9 with no direction! I felt lost. Our next big mistake was to go to "It's Tough to Be a Bug." OK - my kids were 9, 9 and 7. I had talked to them for months about "Mickey Magic." We had trained by walking everyday and I was always telling of the magic they would experience. None of that helped! Our first experience (the 3-D movie) was a complete and utter nightmare!!! Imagine: 4 adults, excited to share the magic with their kids, and 5 kids - slightly apprehensive but excited sitting in the theater. The movie starts out alright, but then it gets "WAY TO SCARY" according to 4 out of 5 children. They spent the whole show screaming at the top of their lungs and crying. I was mortified and couldn't believe that they were acting that way. It was foreshadowing for the rest of our trip! Every ride was preceded by fright (especially from Aurora) and the desire to back out. Eventually, she figured out that she was afraid of EVERY ride, before she rode it and LOVED the ride, by the time she was done! However, we could NEVER get any of them to see a 3-D movie the rest of the trip. They were ruined, scarred and firm in their beliefs that 3-D movies are evil.

Fast forward to Aug. 5, 2008. Mickey's Philharmagic is ready to begin. We beg and plead with our children to see it. They dug in their heels and after much cajoling from the parents they decide to see it. We were unable to see it in 2006, so I was excited to finally get to see it! What a magical experience! I sat next to Aurora, my reluctant rider/viewer. She was so into the movie! The sounds of wonder and excitement were constant and more entertaining to me than the movie. She kept reaching out and making exclamations of "ohhhhh" and "ahhh!" I kept my eyes on her the whole time and found myself in tears as she enjoyed and loved every minute of that movie! It was magical! A child's thrill and wonder (even at age 11) is priceless and something that I will cherish! What a fabulous movie and a nice "reintroduction" to the 3-D movies!

After that wonderful experience we went to Monsters Laugh Floor - that was a first for us as well. We enjoyed it and at this point anything that allowed us to sit and be cool was wonderful!! At this point we were slowing down (the parents especially!). Our red-eye flight was catching up with us!

We then wanted to ride Space Mountain, but the wait was too long. We then decided to ride the Carousel of Progress - big mistake! I love this ride - it has been there forever and it is something that we always ride. But put two very SLEEPY parents on the Carousel, turn out the lights and cool off and the parents end up sleeping. Embarrassing, but true! Yikes - it must be time to go back to AKL!

Our room wasn't ready, but the children were happy with the TV in the lobby and I tried to stay awake as we waited. It was hard to do, but falling asleep and snoring in the beautiful lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge wasn't very appealing to me! Next post...how long will we have to wait? Will she drool on the cushions in the lobby as she sleeps? Will the kids allow the parents time to rest?!

 

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Here are our first photopass pictures from this trip. This is a service that I LOVE. We don't have many (if any) pictures of our whole family from past vacations.

I have discovered that when my husband doesn't wear his sunglasses that his eyes look closed! His eye are open - just squinty!

 

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So, I struggled with staying awake for the 45 minutes that we waited for our room! I don't think I drooled or snored! Just snoozed.

Our last trip we stayed in a savannah view room with bunk beds. It worked out great - we were completely bummed out when we discovered those rooms weren't available anymore. However, we stayed in one of the newly renovated rooms that are part of the DVC. I loved it!!!! It was wonderful to have a room for us and the kids could take over the living room. No TV sharing and we could escape each other for a little bit! I also (can't believe I'm saying this!) loved doing our laundry! What a wonderful thing!

After a nap (a short one!) we headed to HS. We had one mission - to get Donald on Rockin Roller Coaster! In 2006 he was about 1 inch too short and it was his mission to ride it!

On our way to HS we noticed an interesting phenomenon - Belle was always walking 10 feet ahead of us. She would occasionally turn and tell us to hurry. The girl was on a mission! She felt the need to head everywhere at break neck speed and the rest of us just weren't traveling up to her expectations. She was becoming quite annoyed with us. We had to have a talk with her and tell her we had a whole week and that walking everywhere at that pace would kill her parents!

Here is Belle - waiting for a bus - that was the only way she would slow down!!

When we arrived at the HS we were hungry. So was everyone else in the whole park. We had a hard time trying to find some place that wasn't overly crowded. We ended up at ABC Commissary. We had fish and chips and chicken nuggets. After dinner we left and went to Tower of Terror - I LOVE this ride!! This was the first time that we had ridden it at night. It was fabulous! Next to Donald's number one goal - RR. We waited FOREVER to ride. We all did it out of the kindness of our hearts just for him. It lived up to all his expectations. I sat with him. I was scared that he would be scared - no need to worry. He loved it!

After that it was back to the lodge for some sleep!

 

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Aug. 6
We slept in until 8 today. That was enough to throw Belle of her “power touring plan.” We assured her there was still plenty of time to see everything that she wanted to see!

We had breakfast at the Mara. We like to eat at the Mara – but by the end of the week, we were getting tired of the food there! We then headed to the front desk and told them that Aurora and Belle were having a birthday. It was actually exactly one month after their birthday –close enough. The girls had wanted to spend their birthday at the World but the price difference between July 6th and August 6th was enough to convince their parents otherwise! They loved the added attention and they felt special throughout the day. Where else could that happen!

Today we decided to go to Epcot. I love Epcot! That was the first park that DH and I went to on our honeymoon! It holds fond memories for me! Our goal was to ride Test Track and see the changes that on Spaceship Earth.

On our 2006 trip I had taken a great picture of the girls on our trip into the Magic Kingdom. I love the shot.

I tried to replicate the shot on the way into Epcot. I don’t find it as lovely as the first – but I think it will be a new “photo tradition!”

Do you think will do that when they are 16?

After some photpass pictures we headed to Spaceship Earth.

Remember when I said his name should be "Goofy"?

I loved the updates. Being a family of 5 (with kids to big to squish in!) I had to ride by myself. I had fun with the quiz at the end! We then went to Test Track to get fast passes then to the mild version of mission space. My children were pushing for the extreme version – we held them off – temporarily!

We then went to Ellen’s Universe of Energy – more back story! In 2006 I was sooo looking forward to this ride – I love Ellen and wanted to see how it had changed since 1996! Well we waited in the huge waiting area. Donald announced that he had to go to the restroom! What?! Why is it the mom always has this job?! So, we missed the ride and never returned on that trip. Aurora even wrote a letter to Ellen telling her of the incident – she never heard back. I, again, was looking forward to this ride. We also made sure everyone went to the restroom BEFORE we entered!

After Ellen’s ride we crossed over to Nemo – that was our first time on that ride too. Very cute – but I found the animation distracting – my ADD setting in! We also took the kids on Living With the Land – that was their first time on that too. A nice cool, relaxing ride! By the time we were done with that, it was time for our fast passes for Test Track. We love that ride too – I guess we love all the rides!

Fast Passes are a great thing. It is an amazing powerful feeling to pass all those people waiting in line – it is a total power trip. However, I have been in the slow line with the Fast pass people moving right on by – double edged sword! After TT we had lunch at the Electric Umbrella – your basic burger/fry place. It was so crowded we had to stake out a table and chairs and guard it!
After lunch we went back to the lodge for a rest/nap. It is a tradition and a necessity for our family to do this! Up next - birthday dinner at Boma!

 

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After a lovely nap, we cleaned ourselves up and went to Boma for a birthday dinner. Boma is the perfect restaurant for our family. Everyone (besides myself) are what you might call “safe” eaters. They aren’t going to try anything that they deem “out of the ordinary.” They are definitely meat and potato eaters. So, they can have that at Boma – and as much of it as they want! I am more adventurous and love the opportunity to try new things.

The girls were treated to birthday cards from the staff with “Happy Birthday” written in different dialects from Africa. They also received very cute (and large) birthday cupcakes! A great end to a great meal!

Aurora likes cake!!

Belle does too!

Cute plate!

We decided to head back to Epcot and try to hit some of the rides we didn’t get the first time around. Unfortunately, the park was VERY crowded. We did stand in line for TT, but as we waited patiently there were problems with the ride and it was shut down. So what did the kids talk us into?!?!??

Intense Mission Space! It was indeed intense – but we enjoyed it. I was worried about motion sickness, but none of us had any problems.
By that time, it was time for Epcot to close! Wow – we didn’t get much done! It was a great day, but in the end, we felt that we didn’t get a lot of touring done.

Once we were back at AKL, we decided to try the night vision goggles. That was super fun! There was a short line and we only had to wait a few minutes for our turn. It was a great experience. Luckily, there were several giraffes in the area for viewing and rocks for the kids to stand on to see over the fence. I was nervous that the cast members handed over those expensive goggles to the kids. But the kids did great and the cast members were very helpful and friendly. By the time we finished viewing there was a -very long line – that was the one thing we timed well that day!

We headed back in, bought some water and a snack and headed to our room. The kids took baths and showers and we all settled down for the evening. We planned on setting the alarm for the next day – early start! Have I mentioned how nice it was to have two separate areas for the adults and kids?! I think I have!

Tomorrow – Animal Kingdom and our very favorite dinner!!

 

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Thursday August, 7

We woke up early today. We had a BIG plan. We hadn’t done Kilimanjaro Safari. I was so excited, I am a big animal lover and I couldn’t wait to see all the animals.

We had breakfast at the Mara and then headed to the bus. We power walked to the safari. There was a line but we didn’t have to wait long! I loved it! I know the story line is a little cheesy, but I loved seeing the animals! I was able to take lots of pictures.

In Line:

Animals!

When we got off the ride there was a cast member playing drums and the kids had their picture taken with him.

Our next stop was Expedition Everest! This is my all time favorite ride. I love it! We ran into Devine along the way!

Next we headed to Dino Land and rode Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur.
After that, we amazingly convinced our children to try It’s Tough To Be A Bug. This took some work. As you recall that was the first attraction that they had seen last time we went to Disney and they screamed and cried through the whole thing. We enjoyed it and there were no screaming children (that belonged to me anyway!).

It was an extremely hot day. I have written in my journal that the sweat was running down out backs. Animal Kingdom is a great park, but there is very little relief from the heat.

It was way too hot for us so we went back to the lodge. We rested and cooled down for a couple of hours.
The girls looking out on to the savannah:

Then we cleaned up and headed to our favorite dinner!!! Hoop Dee Doo Revue! I have gone to Hoop Dee Doo every time I have gone to Disney, since I was 12! It has now become a favorite for the whole family! I love the cornball comedy, the washboards and swinging of the napkins! If you haven’t tried it – we would all HIGHLY recommend it!

This time we were on the floor, but all the way to the back closest to the doors. It was a little far, but we were all still very entertained. The food was great!

The first time we saw the show with the kids, Donald had the bucket of chicken slammed down in front of him. He thought it was great, but he was startled.

He was thrilled when Aurora received the bucket this time!

Donald love him some ribs!!!!!!!!

Next: Magic Kingdom

 

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Sooo – school is done! Softball is done! Baseball is done! We are free and clear for the summer! I hope to now dedicate time to this trip report and get it done!! The weather here in the Pacific Northwest has been cool and VERY windy! It has seriously impacted our pool time, but it is very conducive to computer time!!!

Aug. 7th Continued
After a great dinner at the Hoop Dee Doo we jumped on the boat and headed to the Magic Kingdom. It was a nice evening and entering the MK at dusk is always a great experience. OK – it is a great experience any time of day, but evening has a great magical quality. Once again I look at my journal and what we did. It was another marathon of rides! Obviously my family hasn’t branched out and experienced some of the other great things that Disney has to offer!

We headed over to Tomorrowland and rode Space Mountain and Buzz.

We chose not to do Stitch’s Great Escape – we did it in 2006 and once is enough! Next we went on the Transit Authority. It was a great time of day to ride! It is also a welcome rest for the whole crew. I love moving above the crowds and taking in the sights and sounds around me! I hope they never get rid of it!

Next we headed over to BTMRR – a family favorite. That is also a great ride to experience at night. One more trip on Pirates and then we headed over to the Jungle Cruise. This was a magical experience for us! The girls were chosen to alternate as captains of the boat. The CM was amazing and was able to read the body language of the girls and realize it would have been a mistake to take one twin and not the other! Thank you, thank you!!! The beauty of this trip is that the girls played (unbeknownst to them) into every goofy thing the captain threw at them! At one point he shouted “DUCK!” Aurora (who was the driver) ducked and he told her she couldn’t duck – and she peeked over the wheel to continue to steer us to safety!
The best part of the trip was when we got off the boats, the girls walked ahead of us and excitedly chattered about how they were, “really steering the boat.” They were (and still are) totally convinced that there was no track and that they were in complete control of the boat and passengers. It still makes me smile!
Next we headed back to the bus stop. While waiting for the bus Wishes started. We had a decent view of the fireworks, and it provided entertainment for us until the bus arrives. Another great day at the World!