Working our way through Disney...one trip at a time!!!

[5DizFans]

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!!!

 

[5DizFans]

Alright, my next installment is completely ready. I just need to figure out how to include the photos!

 

[5DizFans]

So now I have been given a message that I need 10 posts to add a picture to my own post. That will be my next goal! You patience is appreciated!

 

[5DizFans]

 

[5DizFans]

 

[5DizFans]

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.

 

[5DizFans]

double post

 

[5DizFans]

triple post

 

[5DizFans]

I will figure out this posting thing, sometime!

 

[wdwdavem]

Cant wait to hear more. Great so far

 

[5DizFans]

This trip report is a joint effort between Belle and I. I will do the main posting and she will interject her point of view.

Belle's Thoughts:

It was nice to get out of town because my dad had to get his sunglasses fixed, because he can't live without them. The waiting for my dad was practice for waiting in line at Disney! It was also nice to visit with family at lunch. The waterfalls were very, very pretty and they can never be replicated.
The Wendy's that we ate at was right next to a small airport. We got to see small planes and helipcopters take off and land. There were also a lot of firefighters there having dinner.
When we were waiting for the shuttle to pick us up, I was so glad, because we had finally gotten to the airport!

 

[5DizFans]

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

 

[5DizFans]

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!

 

[5DizFans]

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?!

 

[5DizFans]

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!

 

[5DizFans]

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!

 

[cglaura]

Enjoying so far!! You look like such a fun, happy to be together - enjoy each other's company family.

 

[5DizFans]

Thank you for the compliment! We love spending time together. When you are at Disney World - the rest of the world can be easily put aside - and you can focus on each other

 

[crgfsu1]

Hi! I just stumbled on your TR & love it so far.

I am amazed that you went straight to the park after all that traveling - wow, you are superwoman

I share your love for photopass - isnt it the greatest???

I'll be here waiting for future updates.

Cathy

 

[carone0318]

Fun report, can't wait to hear more!

I agree with PP, doing all that you did the day you arrived without really any sleep is crazy!

Waiting for next installment...