"You want to ride Dinosaur again?" - New 10/21 - The End!

[DisMomAmy]

We’re back!!! Now it’s time to get this trip report started!

First, some brief introductions… (with some old pictures)

Me, Amy, 35, SAHM, part-time bookkeeper, family trip planner.

DH, Tim, 35, husband of 12 years. IT Engineer, goes along with my planning.

This is all of us at Story Land in NH last June.

DS8, Alex, 2nd grader, loves soccer, swimming and fast rides. Diagnosed with PDD-NOS/Autism Spectrum Disorder at age 2.

DS5, Zachary, preschooler, loves Mario, Sponge Bob and now Buzz Lightyear. Going through evaluations for possible Asperger’s Diagnosis.

Also part of this trip: (photos of the adults to come later – not posting pictures of the kids)
DBIL, Jeff, DH’s older brother, lives in western Florida.
Karen, DBIL’s girlfriend. She’s awesome!! And she’s been so great for Jeff. His marriage was never very good & he finally seems happy with Karen.
Dnephew, “J”, 16
Dniece, “K”, 13

My boys’ developmental issues came into play a lot during my trip planning and affected our trip from time to time. Walt Disney World has done a wonderful job of accommodating their special needs during our previous trips. This trip wasn’t any different…

This trip consisted of two parts, 2 nights staying with DH’s brother on the west coast and 7 nights at Disney. We usually stay off-site at a condo, 1 or 2 bedrooms and use a rental car. This time we decided to try staying on-site with the Buy 4/Get 3 free deal. We booked a week at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Other than a 2 night stay at POP with my mom last year (and a stay with my best friend’s family in HS, this was my first stay on-site. It was our first on-site stay as a family. We also decided not to rent a car for the Disney portion of our trip. In 2006 we only visited Disney for 3 days. In 2007 we visited parks on 5 days. This year we spent 7 days in the parks!! Our longest trip yet!! Our dates were April 25th - May 4th. We spent April 25th - 27th with DBIL then headed to Disney from April 27th - May 4th.

For the full pre-trip story, check out my PTR “Can We, Should We?”

Now that I've gotten the formatlities out of the way, let's move on...
Up next - "Did you grab the GPS cord from my car?"

And now that I figured out how to do it... here are the quick links to my updates:
"Did you grab the GPS cord from my car?"
The Juice Geyser
Out of Sequence Update: The Lost Wallet
Life's a Beach!
Welcome Home!
The Dolphin, then our first park!! Part 1
The Dolphin, then our first park!! Part 2
Did we break the monorail?
Our First Disney Morning
Ooops... Mystery Picture #2 revealed
Mystery Photo #3 Revealed
"Hold Me In"
Lights! Motors! Action!
Mystery Photo #4 Revealed
A moment off topic
Sad, sad news
Photopass pictures
A Magic Kingdom Morning
Going for a Spin
Tiki Love
Photopass - Take 2
Zachary Graduates
Chef Mickey's
Mystery Photo #8
Walking Back to CBR
Mystery Picture #9 Reveal
A very early start to a day of drama
Where's Jeff?
Time for the Festival!
Those are some dangerous horses!
Time for some cruising!
Finally... It's Jeff!
Mystery Photo #13
Camping mini TR
Camping pictures
An Anniversary
Off to the Movies
Back to the 50s
A swim & a night out!
Teppan Edo
Kim Possible
More World Showcase
Should we stay or should we go?
SpectroMagic...finally!
A perfect end to a perfect evening!
Finally meeting Daisy
Mystery Picture #21
Alex's President Fandexes
Some interesting run-ins
More of Day 7 - part 1
More of Day 7 - part 2
Back to school update
Another back to school update & a new mug!
Yet another back to school update!
Our last park
"Do you have my wallet?"
Departure
Lost & FOUND
Trip Recap Part 1 - How did we do with our wish list?
Trip Recap Part 2 - Dining recap
Help!
Trip Recap Part 3 - On-site vs. Off-site
New trip details
I need ADR help!
Trip Recap Part 4 - Highs & Lows
The End!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Am I first??? Woo hoo!!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Sorry no pictures for this installment... I had my hands full! But I did take good notes this trip so hopefully that will help me remember some of the better details.

Saturday morning (4/25) started with Alex waking me up at 6am saying, “Mommy we’re going to Florida today! Let’s do our sticker!” He was all dressed. When I commented on it, he said , “I wanted to keep myself busy until 6:00.”

After getting Alex his usual morning toast with almond butter, I jumped in the shower. We spent the next few hours packing up, cleaning up and keeping the kids from climbing the walls. DMIL came over after work (she is an RN and works the 11-7 shift at a nursing home) to drive us to the airport. We planned to leave by 9:30 and left pretty much on schedule. About 20 minutes from home, DH says, “Did you grab the cord for the GPS?” Since I had told him to get it from his car, I didn’t think it was necessary to grab it… We had planned to use it to find our way to DBIL’s house…

Fortunately, we were near a Best Buy that we thought opened at 10am, so we pulled into the parking lot. We had wanted to buy a second docking station/cord for the GPS but had never gotten around to it. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any…

We headed back out and turned on the GPS long enough to find out our exit number and to discover that the battery was only half charged. DH thought he could charge it back up on his laptop later on so we moved on.
We continued to the airport without any further issues – stopping at a McDonald’s near the airport for an early lunch at the drive through. The airport was right off Route 95 and we arrived around 11-11:15. A skycap helped us with our mountain of luggage. We checked our bags without issue – 4 free bags, plus the boys’ booster seats for free as well. The kids were quite chatty with the agent & they each got a pair of wings! The agent commented that they love when the kids talk with them. Well I bet she loved Alex then… he tends to chat up anyone he can find with ears.

Our flight was at 12:30 so once we made it through security (with no line) we had time to go to the bathroom and buy some juice & water. The flight before us was late in arriving, but they turned it around quickly and got us on our way. We boarded at 12:15 and took off at 12:40, about 10 minutes late.

Up next: The Juice Geyser

 

[DisMomAmy]

Am I first??? Woo hoo!!!

Yup!! Thanks for stopping by!

 

[cjackearl]

I'm second, I'm second!! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Can someone tell me how to post links to single posts?

I know how to add a link, but I wanted to put links in my first post to all of the subsequent posts. How do I do that?

 

[MRYPPNS]

Ready for take off!!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I'm second, I'm second!! Can't wait to hear more.

Thanks for reading!! Now that I got this thing started I can get caught up on everyone else's reports!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Ready for take off!!!

DISing from your hospital bed? I'm honored!!

 

[MRYPPNS]

DISing from your hospital bed? I'm honored!!

Yup!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Hi Amy!! I'm late....I didn't see that you had started your report!

If you want to post links to an individual post, click on the little number in the right hand corner of the post. That will open a window with just that post. Copy that URL and paste it into the box when you post the link. Is that what you were asking?

Glad to hear the departure morning was relatively smooth! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!!

 

[KathyRN137]

Woo-hoo! Your report's begun!!

How cute that Alex kept himself busy all on his own!!

And Heidi, you are amazing!!


Kathy

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I'm here!!

 

[carissanboys]

I have arrived Amy!!

So I'm confused (and wondering if maybe I didn't read all of your PTR ). You were flying out to the west coast and then flying down to Florida???

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi Amy!! I'm late....I didn't see that you had started your report!

If you want to post links to an individual post, click on the little number in the right hand corner of the post. That will open a window with just that post. Copy that URL and paste it into the box when you post the link. Is that what you were asking?

Glad to hear the departure morning was relatively smooth! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!!

You're not late... glad you're here! Thanks for the help with the posts... I think I figured it out.

Woo-hoo! Your report's begun!!

How cute that Alex kept himself busy all on his own!!

And Heidi, you are amazing!!


Kathy

Thanks for coming Kathy!! Heidi is amazing! And Alex cracks me up sometimes.

I'm here!!

Glad you're here!!

I have arrived Amy!!

So I'm confused (and wondering if maybe I didn't read all of your PTR ). You were flying out to the west coast and then flying down to Florida???

Sorry... we flew into Orlando and drove to the west coast of Florida... I'm trying not to be too specific about where they live - but no, it's not California!

 

[carissanboys]

Sorry... we flew into Orlando and drove to the west coast of Florida... I'm trying not to be too specific about where they live - but no, it's not California!

Ahhhhhh - that makes more sense! I was thinking, "Man! That's quite a detour!"

 

[DisMomAmy]

We got settled into our seats (love the in seat tvs!). I made everyone use some Zicam before take off (and again in the rental car after the flight). I was sitting with Zach and Tim was sitting with Alex. Alex had in his “earplanes” to help with the pressure change. His ears are very sensitive when flying. Zachary was chewing some gum & found a kids channel on the tv. He watched “Zula Patrol” as we took off. Alex wrote then played the Didj. Zachary turned on the DSi as soon as we were allowed to use electronics. The kids kept themselves busy with various activities for a little while.

Anybody ever open a straw sippy cup after the plane has reached altitude? About 30 minutes into the flight I opened up Zachary’s cup of juice and it squired so high it looked like a geyser! It went everywhere. He was oblivious while he played his game… I tried to clean up the best I could with tissues and wet wipes.

There were a mom and toddler sitting a couple rows in front of us on the other side of the aisle. I felt so bad for both of them. She hadn’t brought a carseat along and the little boy was climbing EVERYWHERE! She was trying to keep him contained and he was SCREAMING most of the trip. It didn’t really bother me – it made me think, “Thank goodness that isn’t one of my kids!”

Tim & I switched seats a few times during the flight as the kids got antsy. Mostly because both of them wanted Tim’s help with their video games! I ended up with Zach because the air quality in the plane made him get all congested and his ears were hurting as we started to descend. Even Alex (wearing his earplanes) complained on the way down.

We finally landed 15 minutes early!! We let everyone else get off the plane before us. We made our way to collect our luggage. On the way down we almost lost Zachary in an elevator. He hopped in and the doors started to close. Luckily Tim was quick and got his foot in the door before it completely closed. From that point on an adult went in the elevator first! Our luggage came our first!! We rented two Smart Karts to help us drag everything to the rental car. Then we hit the restrooms. I changed into my shorts and everyone else just used the facilities (the kids changed in the car).

I LOVE ALAMO!! We checked in online the day before and were able to walk right to the van section. Alex said he wanted a blue van – his favorite color (since our van at home is Zachary’s favorite color – red). Unfortunately, there weren’t any vans there!! Tim didn’t look very happy… But within one minute we saw one pull right up, fresh from the car wash. Guess what color it was? RED! Luckily Alex took it in stride and we were ok with the red van. We loaded up, changed the kids clothes and pulled up to the booth. We had to wait for about three cars but we were out of there within 15 minutes. I’d much rather wait 15 minutes in an air conditioned car than in the airport with all of our luggage all over the place.

We had an uneventful drive to DBIL’s house. We stopped at a McDonald’s and got some fries to hold us over until dinner that Jeff would have waiting for us when we arrived. We turned the GPS a few times along the way to check out progress and make sure we were going the right way. At one point we got out Tim’s laptop and tried to connect the GPS to charge it, but it wasn’t working… (we did eventually figure out we could charge it with one of our phone chargers so we had it for our return trip to Orlando two days later).

We arrived at Jeff & Karen’s house around 6:30 and they had dinner ready for us. Dnephew, “J” came over and joined us. We all enjoyed the much needed meal! Then we headed over to the pool at their condo complex with some wine. Finally we could relax!

I think the kids got to bed around 9 and we weren’t far behind at about 10:30. I actually slept pretty well that night.

I think these are from the next day, but here are a couple pictures of the boys swimming:

Up next: Out of Sequence Update: The Lost Wallet

 

[DisMomAmy]

I was going to tell this story when it actually happened during our trip... the last day, but since we had some closure on the issue today I wanted to share.

On our last day, Tim lost his wallet at DHS! We had been there about 2 hours when he realized he had lost it. He had it when we entered the park but three rides later it was gone. We tore everything apart - went back to the three rides we had been on and checked at Lost & Found... nothing. The CM at Lost & Found told Tim to come back after closing (10pm that night), which he did, but still nothing. We had cancelled his room key right after it happened and had a new one issued so he could go back to DHS that night. After he got back to the resort we called cancelled his credit cards and debit card. The really bad part was that we had to fly out early the next morning!

We weren't sure we'd be able to do resort check-in, but it worked out and they let us. Tim had to go through a lot of extra security, but they did let him on the airplane without his ID. When we got home Tim went and got a new license and after a couple days his new debit card arrived. We figured it would never show up. But guess who called today? Disney Lost & Found!! They found Tim's wallet. It didn't have any cash in it... which was probably only about $10 but it appears to have his cards in there! They mailed out the wallet today! Thank you Disney!!

Up Next: Life's a Beach!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Ahhhhhh - that makes more sense! I was thinking, "Man! That's quite a detour!"

 

[cjackearl]

Ugh, missing wallets can be a major pain in the drain, with all the replacing, reissuing, etc but glad your DHs showed up again finally!

re: the apple juice. It would never have occured to me that apple juice +straw+high alltitude=geyser. Glad the plane trip went smoothly.

Your boys look so cute and relaxed in the pool. What a nice way to start your vacation.