Mom, Can You Quit Hanging on to Me and Just Hang on to Yourself? Update 11/2/16

[DopeyDonald]

Whew! We are back. For a week now. We are sad. We have the Disney Blues so bad already, that I talked my DH into going back in February, so we could use our AP's one more time. He agreed. Then I looked at our bank account after this last trip and talked him out of it. So mean, I know.

Well I suppose I should elaborate on who we are....and where we are back from....

This was our 7th trip down to WDW since 2010 and our 5th that has been in September. Our trip last September didn't go quite as planned - my littlest daughter got very sick on our 3rd day and to make a very long story short (though you can read about it - TR is in my sig) we ended up flying home for emergency surgery.

All is well with her now - she just had a recheck about 2 weeks before we left and all is clear for now! So we were REALLY feeling good about September this time! We'd been back for a make-up trip for her in February, but this was our first time back at the WL, which is where we were staying when she got sick.

It was a trip FULL of Pixie Dust - like more than I could ever have imagined- and it was a GRAND time.

We flew out of Minneapolis, MN on Saturday, September 6th and returned home on Thursday, September 18th. We stayed at the VWL. Our home away from home. Our first mistake was staying there on our first trip back in 2010...., now there is nothing we can do about it!

We had rented points for a newly minted STUDIO THAT CAN SLEEP 5!!!!!!! Which in and of itself is LITERALLY one of my dreams come true. I wished upon many a star for that to happen. And it did!

So, now you know when and where, I suppose you'd like to know the who. Or maybe not? Oh well, I'll tell you anyway......

Actually maybe I won't right now. It's late and I have to get up early. And photobucket is not my friend right now, and what's the point of telling you who we are if I can't SHOW you??!!

So, I guess you get this. And nothing more until tomorrow....Not that anybody will probably make it this far anyway.....

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTIONS​

DAY ONE - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH, 2014
PLANES, MONORAILS AND AUTOMOBILES
WE GET TO STAY IN THE THROW UP ROOM?!​

DAY TWO - SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2014
SO THAT'S WHY THOSE IDIOTS WERE STANDING IN THE DOORWAY
A LOG WITH A VIEW

DAY THREE - MONDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH, 2014
AGAIN, AGAIN
THE TRIP REPORT GETS ITS NAME
DAY FOUR - TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2014
DONALD BREAKS MY HEART
SO THAT'S WHY YOU SHOULD KEEP TO THE INSIDE OF THE CAR
YO-HO YO-HO A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME
AGAIN, AGAIN (AGAIN) HALLOWEEN PARTY
​

DAY FIVE - WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 10TH, 2014
A LONG, DRAWN OUT, RAMBLING EXPLANATION - FEEL FREE TO SKIP
LAUNDRY, BOATS, AND BEACHES
CLEAN CUP, CLEAN CUP. MOVE DOWN, MOVE DOWN, MOVE DOWN
FIESTA HOY
A WORLD TOUR, A JOURNEY INTO IMAGINATION AND SOME TIME TRAVEL THROWN IN FOR GOOD MEASURE​

DAY SIX - THURSDAY, SEPTMBER 11TH, 2014
NANA'S HERE, NANA'S HERE
DHS AFTERNOON
SOME DRAMA, A FEW PHOTOSHOOTS, AND A HARD GOOD-BYE
DINNER, BOYS WHO BAIL, AND A C.A.K.E GIRLS REUNION

DAY SEVEN - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2014

AND THE RAIN RAIN RAIN CAME DOWN DOWN DOWN
FAVORITE TREATS & FLYING ELEPHANTS
EVEN RIDING THE MONORAIL CAN BE MAGICAL
EATING OUR WAY AROUND THE WORLD

DAY EIGHT - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2014
OK EVERYBODY, SMILE
LUNCH WITH SOME REAL ANIMALS
I'M NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN
CRASHED

DAY NINE - SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2014​

CASSIDY'S BIRTHDAY!!!
A BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST FIT FOR A PRINCESS, ERRR..... A DOC
POOR MIKEY
INTRODUCING PRINCESSES ANNIE AND CASSIDY
RESTING UP BEFORE THE BIG BIRTHDAY DINNER...WELL SOME OF US ANYWAY
DINNER WITH A SIDE OF MAGICAL MOMENTS
DOLE WHIP VIA THE MONORAIL
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS

DAY TEN - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2014
FLAG FAMILY
YOU REALLY MUST SEE THE VIEW FROM UP HERE
AND NOW, WE RIDE!
TEA FOR TWO
AN EVENING IN EPCOT...WITH MOST OF US

DAY ELEVEN - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2014
A WILD AND CRAZY DAY - CRAMMING IN ALL THE FUN WE CAN

DAY TWELVE - WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17TH, 2014
SPLITSVILLE...BUT NOT THE ONE YOU ARE THINKING OF

DAY THIRTEEN - THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2014
THIRTEEN REALLY IS UNLUCKY - WE HAVE TO GO HOME!​

OPERATION BIRTHDAY SURPIRSE- MINI TRIP REPORT FOR
JAN/FEB 2015
OPERATION B.S. UPDATE - DISNEY CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ITS FINEST
OPERATION B.S. UPDATE - REVEAL IS COMPLETE
DAY 1 - TRAVEL
DAY 2 - EPCOT MORNING
EPCOT EVENING
GOLDEN BIRTHDAY DINNER
DAY 3 - MAGIC KINGDDOM MORNING​

 

[MusicMicha]

Glad to see you are starting a new report, can't wait to read about this one!

 

[DopeyDonald]

Glad to see you are starting a new report, can't wait to read about this one!

Glad to see a familiar friendly face

I can't wait to start writing this - we had such a great time - it will be so fun to relive it!

 

[DopeyDonald]

Let's get through these introductions so I can get to the fun part!!

Here is a quick run down of who went on this foray to the Happiest Place in the World.

Me – Emily. I am a part time stay at home mom. I home-school our 3 kiddos. I also work part time as an office manager for an adoption agency.

Some important facts about me include: I LOVE Donald. My kids kind of think I can be Donald.

I also like Dopey. A very wise CM once told me that it was OK, even necessary, for every one to have 2 absolute favorite characters. You need them to balance each other out. An angel and a devil on your shoulder so to speak. Donald and Dopey fit that bill perfectly!

I LOVE Tomorrowland. I think my very favorite place in ALL of WDW is the bridge to Tomorrowland. *sigh. I’m just getting all happy sitting here thinking about it. I also love the People Mover – it’s the perfect ride in my opinion! Not everyone in my traveling party agrees however!

Here is a pic of my with my main duck - Donald:

Speaking of DH: He is a Territory Manager for a company that services and supplies convenience stores. He is on the road – A LOT.

His favorite characters are Goofy and Grumpy. I had to convince him that our trip in 2010 was going to be fun – we’d been together to WDW in 2000 so he was familiar with WDW, but couldn’t figure out how we were going to pass 8 days. Fast forward to now and he’s scheming to move to Florida.

He is a thrill rider (along with the kids - I can't even ride the carousel) and I’m pretty sure his favorite ride is Expedition Everest. Their record (and not a very good one – is 5 in a row and 8 for a trip.) He also LOVES Main Street and the Magic Kingdom – we are there probably 60% of our trip


Here is a pic of DH - I chose this pic of him because it shows that he is willing to be goofy and pose and just let loose and be a kid at Disney.

Next is my DS – Wyatt. He is 12 and if possible, he loves Disney more than DH and I. He is going to be a vet at Animal Kingdom someday (according to him). His biggest concern last year with that was whether or not he’ll be able to ride EE on his lunch break. Now his biggest concern is what College he should attend to be able to reach this goal *sigh – he’s growing up.

His characters are Mickey and Stitch. In fact, we have yellow lab and his name is Stitch. Walt is his hero and he has written a paper or two in school about him. I hope his love continues throughout his life. We were lucky enough to score a Dining with an Animal Specialist reservation for this trip for DH and him for this trip.

Here is my boy - I chose this pic of Wyatt because I think it shows how he's grown. He's not my little Disney boy anymore. Now he's my big Disney boy - He'll never be "too cool for Disney" but he definitely has more of that pre-teen cocky attitude now.

Then there’s my DD – Annie. She is 9 and is my girly girl. She loves Minnie Mouse and the France pavilion. She loves spending time one on one at Disney.

Being stuck in the middle at home a lot, we make sure to schedule some Annie time at WDW. Her and I usually do a Tea together (and we did one this trip) Her and DH usually do something special also. This trip they did a Trail Ride and a special dinner at Artist Point.

My special girl - this is so her - always posing

Last but not least is DD – Cassidy. She turned 6 on this trip. She is my baby. I will probably carry that kid until her feet drag on the floor, like a little girl clutching a dolly. It’s an agreement we both have. She doesn’t mind and neither do I. Though since she’s turned 6, she’s been pulling away quite a bit more. In her mind 6 was a huge milestone.

She has a million favorite characters – I really do believe she loves them all. Last year she wouldn’t ride anything. This year she rode EVERYTHING!! (except the things I wouldn’t let her – like Space Mountain – I think she’d fly right out of the rocket! Lol)

My little baby, who is not so much a baby anymore - I love this pic - she is literally vibrating with excitement - it's right after we checked in and were standing in the WL lobby

So there you have it - that's us.

This trip was so different from the others we've taken. It was a trip of many firsts. The first time with "big kids." Not as many afternoon rests, not as many potty stops, no more sitting with a little one who can't (or won't) ride, and this one hit DH really hard - no more little boy who JUMPS at the chance to refill his daddy's mug.

That last one sounds kind of funny, but it really made DH sad (and not just cause he had to go get his own coffee - ) Wyatt used to beg to go get refills for everyone and anyone. He loved walking the lobby and stopping to pin trade and just explore. Now he'd rather sleep in a bit or maybe just chill in the room.

It's a new Disney season for us - it was inevitable I guess Don't let this sad face fool you though - this season comes with it's perks too!! It just kind of snuck up on us I think...but more on that as the trip report continues!!

 

[elriel]

I can't wait to read more!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Following along!

I look forward to reading about your adventures with you family. We just had our first LO so our WDW experience is about to change too.

 

[DopeyDonald]

Here we are – Travel day! Yay!

And secretly, it’s one of my favorite days to read about in trip reports

We flew out of Minneapolis, MN, which is about a 3.5 hr drive from our house.

Our flight was at 11:05am. This means we left at about 5:45 am – UGH.

Wyatt, Cassidy and I are NOT morning people. Wake us up too early and we are crabby, nauseated (literally) and just generally not nice.

Annie and DH, however, are fresh as can be, no matter how early. Which really annoys the rest of us who don’t usually open their eyes until 9am.

Of course the night before had been spent boarding dogs, doing dishes, cleaning out the fridge, dropping Beta Fish off, and cramming freshly washed undies into all manner of openings in the suitcases. I don’t think I laid my head down until around 1:30.

And then to be completely honest, I’m not sure I slept a wink. I have a fair deal of general anxiety and travel days shoot it thru the roof! I don’t know why. I’m sure it’s the combo of being responsible for myself and 4 other humans in all sense of the manner regarding getting to Orlando. Left to my husband he would still be wandering the Humphrey Terminal looking for the check in counter.

So I pretty much tossed, turned, felt sick and awful and yuck. When DH woke me up at 4:45, it was almost a relief, just to get up and move around. I got the kids dressed, sent them to the bathroom and loaded them into the car.

We have a Chrysler Pacifica, which, while it seats 6, was NOT meant to pack up with 8 suitcases and a jogging stroller. Last year, we rented a stroller because I thought there was no way we could fit it in the Pacifica. This time, I was more budget minded and really tried to tetris it in there. I GOT IT!

Here is a pic I took the day before we left to send to DH to show him my awesome packing skills.

Now, I know Cassidy is 6, and we could maybe get away with a smaller stoller (or none at all), but it really is worth it. She’s never had a lot of stamina, which we found out last year was due to her condition. I wasn’t going to mention too much about her medical issues, but now I’m thinking I will just so you know what’s going on.

In a nutshell:
Cassidy has always been on the very small side, especially compared to my other kids. But then last January, she began running low grade fevers all the time. She had lots of blood work done and everything was OK. She was a bit anemic and her platelets were running a bit high, but other than that – pretty OK.

Fast forward to our trip in September, she began throwing up after a dinner at 1900 Park Fare. That dinner consisted of about a million chocolate mousse cups chased by some cotton candy, so at first we chalked it up to too much vacation diet. But then it continued for another 36 hrs and we thought maybe not.

It escalated to the point of ER, because I thought she was dehydrated. At the Celebration ER, they did a cat scan to rule out appendicitis. It was then that they found the masses. At the time he told me that she had a 15 cm mass in her abdomen and that a ambulance was on the way to transfer us to Children’s.

At Children’s it was determined that it was probably Cancer and we should take her for treatment closer to home. So DH, her and I flew to MSP the next day. After an MRI there, we were told it was NOT cancer, but a congenital birth defect called Lymphatic Malformation.

She had surgery a few days later where they removed 3 HUGE masses, I mean, like 3 small nerf footballs. They were located in a touchy spot – her small intestine. That’s why she was so small – she wasn’t getting many nutrients and also explains her anemia, broken femur and horrible teeth.

They were not able to get it all, as some were too close to her mesenteric artery. And while the cysts themselves are not dangerous, they can really mess up the place where they grow.

BUT – I am super happy to report, that she had her follow up MRI last Oct and an ultrasound on Aug. 21st and she is ALL CLEAR – for now. She does run about a 55% chance that they will recur at some point – it’s a VERY rare condition, so not much is known about it – but for now things are stable.

However, she still gets tired easily as her body is trying to make up for lost growth. I think she eats more than Annie and Wyatt put together. So, back to my original point – the jogging stoller is a must!


Back to the trip report now:

In case you’ve forgotten –

It’s 5:45 am and we’re all loaded in the car getting ready to begin the drive to MSP.

I think Wyatt was actually sleeping again already at this point and we're not all in the car yet!

I actually rode where Annie is sitting, she was just keeping Cassie company while I loaded more stuff. It’s our tradition to let Wyatt have shot gun on the ride to the airport.

Don’t let that wide awake happy smile on Cassie fool you….here is how she spent the rest of the ride…

Here is a view from my little hole in the back

Bright side to horrible anxiety that keeps you up all night?! You sleep the entire 3.5 hr drive! Yay! I woke up in time to help guide DH the right way since, we hit the stupidest detour known to man the exit before our airport exit.

Oh well, we made it! My notes say we arrived at the airport at 9:30 am.
Here we are in the airport parking ramp.

We are able to park in short term parking, since DH has one of his work buddies come and pick our car up and take it to his house for the time we’re gone. We are so spoiled, I know.

We breezed thru check in and security. DH had a TSA pre-screen boarding pass, so they let all of us thru that line – Woo hoo! We were gate checking the stoller, so we had that beast to deal with, so I’m glad we didn’t have to do the shoe and laptop thing too.

Here is a few pics of the kids I took while we were waiting for “Smoky the Bear” to have one last cigarette before we went thru security…*eyeroll

We had a bit of a wait before we began boarding, so we started the crazy spending at the airport. Wyatt and I went in search of some plane snacks. We found some trail mix, m&m’s for DH, some ritz bitz and a great deal – if you bought 3 pepsi products (we bought Gatorade) then you got a free mini cooler bag. Score! This cooler came in so handy at the parks.

Here, you can see how we loaded up on snacks and beverages. You can also see the beginning of my son and his obnoxiousness. I swear I took so many more pics this trip, just because the little turd insisted on making weird faces. Ugh – 12 year olds!

Time to board! We had boarding group A, so we got on, got seats together near the back-ish – I wanna say row 19 or so. Right behind the wing. We got settled in – me near the window with the girls (I’m such a mean mom, but I HAVE to sit by the window) and DH and Wy right in front of us.

Here are the girls on the plane

Here are the boys

After a short layover in Chicago, where we had just enough time to send the boys to McD’s to get some food, we were on the last leg of our journey!

Here is the cool plane wing we had on our second flight…doesn’t take much to entertain us…

Getting close now…. You can see the excitement on these faces…

After a fairly bumpy landing in Orlando, that made me hope I had a barf bag in the seat in front of me, we were on the ground. In the middle of a monsoon. It was so bad that we had to wait a few feet in front of our gate for about 10-15 mins because there was no one available to guide us in, since all the workers have to leave the tarmac while there is lightning.

Once we were cleared and parked, we deplaned. DH and Wy walked up the ramp, while the girls and I waited for the gate checked stoller. And waited. Finally, we were told that all gate checked items would now be able to be picked up in baggage. *sigh. The baggage area that I normally would not have had to stop at since the boys were riding ME and our luggage was going that route.

I should have been able to give the boys the stroller baggage tags to give to the ME desk, but the boys didn’t wait for us *grrrrrr. I was so mad, but really tried to let it go. I’m thinking DH really wanted a cigarette, but I was very unhappy that he and Wy didn’t wait for us at the top of the ramp like I asked him to.

We are notorious for getting into arguments on travel days, so I really really tried to keep my cool and start the trip off right. I was bummed though because I wanted some pics of all of us on the fake monorail and in front of the Ear Port etc.

I got over it though. Pretty quickly too We were in Florida!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DopeyDonald]

I can't wait to read more!

Glad to have you!

Following along!

I look forward to reading about your adventures with you family. We just had our first LO so our WDW experience is about to change too.

Glad to have you, also, and CONGRATS on your daughter! It's funny how Disney experiences change over the years. I sure wasn't ready for this one, though I should have seen it coming.

Enjoy the "little years" at WDW - they go too fast!

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Having read your previous two trip reports, I'm looking forward to this one.

 

[DopeyDonald]

Having read your previous two trip reports, I'm looking forward to this one.

I'm so glad

 

[DopeyDonald]

So when I left, off the girls and I were walking off the jetway, and the boys were headed for ME and a door outside.

I was still a bit peeved at the boys, because I really wanted some pics on the fake monorail and in front of the Ear Port characters. I really was trying not to get upset about it, but I just was bummed about the way the trip was starting. It seems like we can hold it together until we land at MCO, then all of our travel day annoyances come out. In reality, it's probably lack of sleep and hunger playing a huge part.

I was annoyed too, because now the girls and I had to go to baggage claim to get our stroller instead of being able to hand the boys the claim ticket to give to ME.

BUT, I told myself to get over it! So the girls and I took our pics that I wanted and headed down to the rental car area.

On the monorail

First "Disney" pic!

And, hee hee, while we were taking Ear Port pics I found out that the boys had gone the wrong way anyway and were down in the rental car area. So, I had them quick hop in line at Dollar for me, so that when the girls and I finally got down there, we were next!

So the boys redeemed themselves a bit!

Dollar check in was quick and easy and then we headed over to baggage claim. Hindsight, I should have given the boys the stroller baggage claim ticket when I had the chance, but figured with the time we spent at Dollar the stroller would be waiting for us.

And I wanted it for when we got to the lodge to help with our carry ons etc.

MISTAKE.

Holy cow – you would think with all the rain they get in Orlando, that baggage would be a lot smoother during a rain storm. We ended up waiting almost a full hour AFTER checking in with Dollar to get our stroller.

Cassidy actually ended up falling asleep on the floor!

Finally the stoller came out on the oversize baggage belt and we were on our way to choose our van. The girls and I found a van – silver Grand Caravan and loaded up and headed to Super Target.

Somehow, coming out of the airport ramp I got turned around and ended up taking 528 instead of 417,but it worked out just fine.

We found our way to the Target on 192 and began our shopping.

We just needed to pick up some things like bottled water, granola bars, pop tarts, trail mix, yogurt etc. I also ended up getting the girls some cute autograph books and I picked up a trip report journal.

While we were in Target, we got a call from the boys who were at the WL checking in.

DH was at the check in desk talking with the lady who was checking us in – our request for 1st floor was denied for tonight, but available the rest of the trip, so did we want to switch rooms tomorrow?

I said, yes, we do. First floor is that important to me. So he said, “here talk to my wife and handed the phone to the poor gal – ” So, I was able to talk to her and get it all worked out.

So then DH gets off the phone and finishes checking in.

A bit later, I got another call from him, all proud because there was flag family open dates. He got to choose from 3. HE PICKED THE ONLY DATE THAT WE HAD SOMETHING SCHEDULED FOR. *sigh.

I told him this and he got really huffy. Apparently, he wasn’t happy that I hadn’t taken care of this myself. Even though I was in Target. This is why I need to start weaning my family off of being so dependent on me! I assured him that I would take care of it as soon as we got to the lodge.

Then he called back a few more times with questions and just to wonder when we were coming back. I think they were hungry. It wasn’t our finest moment, but the travel day for us never is.

Finally we got done at Target and wanted to stop at Chick Fil A. I called the boys to see if they wanted anything, but they didn’t answer, and I tried like 5 times so the girls and I just went by ourselves. YUM-O!

After stuffing ourselves with Chick Fil A, the girls and I headed to WL to get settled in and take care of our boys. We found out later that the reason the boys didn’t answer is that they were down eating in Roaring Fork and getting their mugs etc. So it all worked out – And everyone was MUCH happier with food in our bellies!

It was so amazing pulling up to the lodge for the first time in about a year, knowing that we were going to be staying there again. We just flat out love the lodge. We parked, called the boys to meet us in the lobby and loaded up the stroller.

When we got inside, the boys were waiting for us and we all went over as a family to greet Humphrey.

Cassidy was literally vibrating with excitement. She just kept saying over and over, “I can’t believe we’re in Disney World and we get to stay in the throw up room!” The throw up room is the Wilderness Lodge Villa room to her. We stayed at the Cabins in Feb, so she was just differentiating between that I guess.

After properly getting reintroduced to Humphrey, Dh and I headed over to see if we could change our Flag Family date.

We could – whew. The day DH had it for was our family picture morning, so I REALLY didn’t want to try and change that. The date we chose was the Monday before we left – so perfect.

We then headed to the room to drop off our stuff. I was SO excited to see it. I’ve been wishing SO HARD that they would have a villa (besides a 2 bedroom) that slept 5 and YAY – now there is one.

Of course we had to stop to ring the bells on the way – one of my kiddos favorite things to do

An elevator pic – poor kids – they love the elevator and the long hall, but me? Not so much. With the stroller it’s just so much easier to be on the first level.

After a LOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG walk down a 2nd floor hallway to our room (so made the right decision to switch in the morning) we opened the door to our studio. What did we think?!

WE LOVED IT. It’s seems pretty spacious – we had no trouble getting all of our 8 suitcases in the closet and get our clothes etc organized. The kids loved the bed and life was good.

The bed is awesome – Wyatt had NO trouble fitting on it. One teeny complaint is lack of another table in the room. DH and his laptop ended up over in the kitchen area and it was kind of a pain for him. I told him (after the fact and we were home, he should have just taken it out the door and sat on the balcony with it or down to the lobby to one of those tables.) Oh well, next time.

Right away the kids set up an elaborate sleep schedule – we were there for 12 nights so each kid would get 4 whole nights on the bed.

Cassidy elected herself to go first, much to Wyatt’s chagrin. Funny story….here is how the sleeping that night ended up….Wyatt and Annie got the sofa bed and fell asleep right away. Cassidy was on the fold down, but was tossing and turning and ended up coming and sleeping with DH and I, but the other kids were already out, so the bed never even got slept in the first night. I thought Wyatt would cry when I told him...

By this time we were pretty tired and we just ended up getting settled – I tried to unpack as little as possible since we’d be switching rooms in the morning.

After getting settled we took a trip to the Mercantile. We were very excited that they had really ramped up the WL merchandise. It’s been the same stuff for many years now, so it was nice to see some different items.

Not as nice for our pocketbook though! We kicked off the trip with quite a spendy shopping spree – Long Sleeve T’s for the boys, a hat and mug for DH, Sweatshirt for DH, and a WL hoody for me.

We were also eyeballing a T-shirt for me and the Pillow. LOL – start off with a bang I guess.

The reason that we bought our stuff right away was because DH had been talking with a manager who approached my dh while he was looking around. Dh was wearing his WL T from 2010 and that prompted a conversation about how long over due new WL stuff was. He told DH it was selling fast, so that we should be sure to snap things up if we saw our size. Good sales pitch or the truth, I don’t know. But we did, so if it was it worked!

Then we decided to just hang in the lobby a bit – by far our favorite place to be.

I’m not sure if they were pretending they were at a Grand March or what….We are so weird.

Chillin in the chairs

After that we bought a few bedtime treats – couple of frozen lemonades, some dips and a Mickey bar and headed up to hit the sack.

Pausing to take a break in front of the waterfall. We were SO glad that the waterfall was up and running and looking beautiful!

Take one….Arg…Obnoxious boy strikes again…

Take two –there that’s better…

However, as you can see a bit of directly to Wyatt’s left there is a construction wall. Now, I knew that the main pool would be closed but the villa pool would be open. We were OK with this as we’ve never swam in the main pool. No big deal to us. We were a bit worried about how busy the villa pool might be, but what are you going to do.

I knew about this ahead of time thru the Disboards and from a phone call from the lodge. I wasn’t too worried about it at all. I was a little bummed not to be able to get the $50 off a night that some people were as we were renting points, but figured that was not a huge deal, comes with the territory of renting points and that inflexibility.

That being said. I was NOT prepared for the walkway from the boat dock to the villas being closed. We use that almost exclusively. Also, we use that way to get to Roaring Fork. It was a HUGE bummer for us and ended up coming into play in a huge way only a few days into our vacation, but that is a story for another day.

Armed with our treats and mugs, we headed back to the room to get some sleep for our 1st big Disney Day in the morning!

 

[MusicMicha]

I love your honesty about travel day, I just had a sigh of relief knowing other families get tense on travel day too! The bed being empty made me laugh because that seems like something our Cassidy would do too.

 

[DopeyDonald]

I love your honesty about travel day, I just had a sigh of relief knowing other families get tense on travel day too! The bed being empty made me laugh because that seems like something our Cassidy would do too.

I know, I just about softened it up after rereading it, because I don't want people to think we're snippy with each other a lot. In fact, we hardly ever fight. Travel day is the exception. Our arrival day is always awful. And not while we are actually travelling, it seems that it's as soon as we hit MCO.

Between MCO until after check in, we are so blech with each other. And we know it's coming and that's why we started going separately. DH and Wyatt LOVE the ME and someone needs to drive the rental van, so it works out.

We did the best last year, when we ate AT the air port before leaving, but this time the rain really screwed us up and we just wanted to get to the hotel. So next year, we know it's a NECESSITY to eat before leaving the airport!!

And yeah, Wyatt wasn't happy with her about the bed situation - though he was VERY happy when we told him that she was giving up her other 3 nights

 

[TheLittleKatie]

This sounds great already, and your family is adorable! I'm looking forward to following along

 

[DopeyDonald]

This sounds great already, and your family is adorable! I'm looking forward to following along

Thanks - Glad to have you reading along. I'll have to come over and check out the report you have linked in your signature!

 

[saralovesshoes]

So glad you're doing another trip report. Can't wait to read all about it.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Joining in Emily!! You have a lovely family and I love the detail you put into your writing. Looking forward to following along.

 

[DopeyDonald]

So glad you're doing another trip report. Can't wait to read all about it.

Thanks I'm excited to get to the "good stuff" as we had so much fun this trip and did so many new things!

Joining in Emily!! You have a lovely family and I love the detail you put into your writing. Looking forward to following along.

Thanks so much! I've been a member - mostly lurking for so long here. I never thought I'd write a trip report, let alone 3, let alone any that anyone would read!

Course, I never thought we'd go to WDW 7 times in 5 years either.... What a great addiction

Next step is coming out of my shell and posting on others' trip reports - I read them all it seems like, but hardly post - going to have to change that!

 

[MissMaryQC]

I LOVE how detailed your writing is; feeling like I was there! You have such a cute family, even your face making son. I remember those days in my teenage years, wait, I still ruin photos will silly faces!

Can't wait to see how the rest of the trip went.

 

[DopeyDonald]

Ahhhhhh, waking up in Disney.

Nothing like it – especially on your first full day We were in no hurry this morning. Our plan was to go get “checked out and then checked back in” to our new room. I had requested a first floor room, but they didn’t have one available until this morning.

Around 9am I was up, packed and presentable. I went down to the lobby to complete the process. She pulled out a room map and asked if I had any other requests. I asked to be as near to the pool door as possible – we ended up being the 3rd door down from the pool door at the villas!! AMAZING location!

Our room was not ready, but I expected that. So I went back down to the room, got everything ready and called bell services. They were there in a jiffy to store our luggage.

Ohhhhh, our luggage. I’m not sure how I forgot to share this little tidbit in the last update – when bell services had delivered our luggage the night before I was in for a yucky surprise. Our luggage was SOAKED. I mean right down to every last sock. *sigh. Thank you rainy day at the airport.

I had taken a few items out to hang dry the night before, but for the most part, since we were moving rooms I left things as they were to deal with when we got settled the next afternoon. *sigh. Oh well, nothing ended up being too messed up by this, I had to iron a few things and wash a few things that got streaked with color from a few “new tags” that bled, but other than that everything survived.

Ok, sorry, back on track. So bell services had just come and taken the luggage to store and we were getting ready to leave for our first park. Animal Kingdom. Now Magic Kingdom is usually our “go to” park on the first day, but we chose AK for a few reasons.

#1 – MK had EMH that we were planning on attending that evening, so we would still be getting around to MK that first day.

#2 – Being that MK had EMH that day we knew it would be busy that morning.

#3 – We are mad at Main Street Bakery for being converted to a Starbucks and no longer carrying the cinnamon roll. It was our first morning tradition for our first 4 trips and we are pouters. So there – take that Main Street Bakery! And yes, I know you can get them at Gaston’s, but it is NOT the same.

Our first fast pass was for Kilimanjaro Safari’s at 11am and it was now about 10, so we hurried up and got on our way.

The boys, who are crazy, wanted to take the bus, while the girls and I opted for the van. I HATE busses. Not Disney ones in particular, just busses. So we took some pics of the boys at the bus stop in their fancy Yeti socks that I found at Kohl’s on clearance, and we were on our way.

Yeti sock picture

Yeti sock dance




I was so excited to drive and park, as I had bought a AAA diamond parking pass off of ebay. BEST. $6. I. EVER. SPENT. I loved that thing. So. Much.

Apparently, I’m really lazy or something. Or it could be that I have such a love/hate relationship with that stroller. I love it because it’s a necessity, but I hate it because it’s a beast.

I can’t take the trams in the parking lots because even folded up it doesn’t fit and it’s a pain. So this parking pass was a lifesaver. Yay scandalous pass from ebay! I don’t feel TOO bad as we’ve been AAA Plus members for 15 years.

Oops let’s try this one more time – my mind wanders a lot….

So the girls and I were all parked in AAA diamond parking and unloading the stroller. We got all loaded up with ice water and my backpack, cameras etc. I hadn’t brought the rain cover or ponchos as they were still all packed up and back at bell services. Oh well it was beautiful out, we wouldn’t need them – right? *eyeroll

We breezed thru the bag check and gates in the non-existent lines and headed back toward the safari to meet the boys.

We took our time and walked along some of the Discovery Island trails. We stopped to see the gorgeous parrots, when Annie’s camera broke. She just has a cheaper Polaroid Kids Digital camera. That thing has never worked quite right. She was pretty upset and this is the picture that resulted. I wanted a nice pic of her with the parrots and I got this.

After a bit of wandering we ended up back near the safari. We ended up waiting for just a few minutes for the boys to join us and we headed to the FP+line.

In no time at all we were boarding our jeep and heading off to the savannah. It was a beautiful, but very warm morning so not a lot of animal action. We did get to see all of the animals with the exception of the lions. I believe this is the first safari I’ve been on where we haven’t seen so much as a hair. Oh well.

We did get an up close and personal visit from a giraffe. The boys later on found out at their “dining with an animal specialist” lunch that, while this is much practiced, it is a big no no.

The drivers are NOT supposed to stop for the giraffes when they are this close to the road. Giraffes necks are VERY powerful and this can do a lot of damage if they were to swing into one of the vehicles with them. Interesting. Oh well, makes for good pics though –.

I don’t take too many pics on the safari, unless an animal is doing something really exciting. I do try and take some pics of my family enjoying the safari or else just enjoy it

End of the line jeep pics

After our safari, we had a fp for Kali River Rapids. This is Cassie’s favorite ride at Disney. She LOVES it. Last trip her and I rode it 3 times in a row.

That ride is like Russian roulette. – you either get WET or you don’t. Lucky for us, we didn’t this time. Cassidy wanted to ride again right away, but by that time the line had grown quite long, and we were hungry, so we had to say no for now.

Here’s a pic on the way out of Kali – you can see we got just sprinkled on.

We hadn’t eaten much other than a granola bar and we were pretty famished. Except no one wanted the same thing. The girls wanted hot dogs, the boys wanted Yak and Yeti and I wanted anything but Yak and Yeti.

I like the food there, but it was so hot and I just wasn’t in the mood for it. So I volunteered to take the girls to Flametree for hot dogs, while the boys went to Yak and Yeti. We had a fast pass for 1:15 for Everest, so we decided to meet up there.

The girls and I headed to Yak and yeti where we ordered 2 hotdogs and a pulled pork sandwich for me. It was SO yummy. I don’t any pics of our lunch, because while we were ordering it started to rain. Nothing outlandish, more of a mist. We picked a table that was under some tree cover and enjoyed our lunch.

After our lunch it was time to head to Everest to meet the boys for their 1:15 fp. Around 1pm they gave us a call to say they were already there and were going to go ahead and hop on, as the wait was only 5 mins. I would bring Annie over and they would all ride again with their fp.

The girls and I got to Everest and decided to look around. I’d never actually been in the dump shop before and I wanted to look around. The boys always complain about lack of t-shirts for this ride, so I wanted to see if they had any new ones.

Since it was misty out, I brought the stroller in. I quickly regretted it as that shop apparently gets pretty crowded pretty quick. We were right in the middle when it began getting VERY crowded.

I cannot stand to be in the middle of a bunch of people with no way out, so I decided that we would just make our way to the exit and wait outside.

People were being ridiculously rude and blocking the walkways and the exits, too, for that matter. So I finally excused and pushed my way to the door.
Where all of a sudden I was committed to leaving. Into a monsoon. With no stroller cover and one sad poncho that was wadded up in my backpack. *sigh.

No wonder that shop had gotten crowded! At that point I was screwed. There is really no other cover either in that area. So. I quick put the camera and my phone in my backpack and covered my backpack with the poncho. Then we pretty much got wet. It POURED.

We found a tiny tree branch that offered little cover, but made it look a bit less idiotic than standing in the middle of an open area. After a good 10 minutes of drenching it let up a bit. Around this time my phone rang and it was the boys. They were off the ride and were waiting for us to meet them so Annie could go.

We dropped Annie off with them near EE and then made the decision to head back. We were just too wet to do anything else. Cassie was pretty bummed. She loves Kali and I had hoped to take her on it again, while the others were on EE.

Her and I headed out over the bridge, past Nemo and the carnival games. She wanted to play some, but mean mom said no. Then she saw Triceratop Spin and wanted to ride, but mean mom again said no. I can't even spin in a desk chair, so I told her that she’d have to wait for Daddy.

Poor kid just kept getting shot down. I did tell her that we could ride Dinosaur if she wanted. (I didn’t think she’d want to.) I think she was getting desperate just to ride something so she said yes. Why do I think this is a good idea?!

She made it onto the vehicle, but by then she was whimpering. Of course, she was sitting next to an older gentleman who kept looking at me like I was a horrible mother, which was proved correct when she began crying. Loudly. For the entire ride. *sigh.

Oh well, she lived to tell about it and I felt bad so I bought her a rock from the giftshop – win win.

Here are a few ride pics from this time frame.

Cassidy and I on Dinosaur. Can you see her –– I was covering her as best I could.

Wyatt and Larry on EE and then Wyatt and Annie on EE.

I LOVED that the magic bands and memory maker caught the pics without having to stop, but it also meant that some pics didn’t quite make it on there correctly.

We got a few where it snapped the car ahead of us or the car behind us, but for the most part it worked awesome!

So, sufficiently scarred for life, we headed out of the park to our awesome parking spot.

On the way there, I had an epiphany. And not a good one. Why I thought of it right at that moment, I will never know.

Annie, before we left, asked me if she needed to bring her tennis shoes. Every year we bring them and she never wears them. She is a flip flop girl.
We decided to throw caution to the wind and leave them at home. Rebels. Rebels who were going on a trail ride and needed close toed shoes!

So, since we were at AK and close to Target, Cassidy and I decided to detour over there to pick up some shoes for Annie before heading back to WL.

Sorry for the lack of pics in this update. I always seem to take less pics at AK. Then the rain didn't make things any better, so........ Don't worry I get better at taking more pics.