Day 4 - Sunday, March 4 - Disney Day!
I forgot to mention above but for anyone that is following along, my parents did not convoy with us after the funeral. They actually drove back to Tulsa after the funeral so they could get a good night’s sleep then they drove to Birmingham on Saturday (about 1/2 way), saving the rest of the drive for Sunday. DH was relieved with this situation because he hates to convoy with people. Driving with a wife and 4 kids is stressful enough, he didn’t want to have to worry about another car keeping up with him! So back to the story…
Around 3am in the morning I was awakened by a loud thud and I knew right away someone had fallen out of bed. DD4 was on the end of the bed next to me and it happened to be her. Honestly, I was frustrated having been woken up and I basically got out of bed and told her to get back in bed again. I felt so bad because I didn’t even ask her if she was ok. But she didn’t make a peep and seemed almost like she was still asleep. She crawled back in bed and I didn’t hear from her again. Our alarm went off at 6 so I got myself dressed and ready then started waking the kids up. DD4 got out of bed and DH noticed right away something was wrong. Her lip was swollen and she had dried blood on her lip and face. We looked at the bed and there were spots of blood on the sheets and pillow. I felt so bad for her and it actually took me a minute to realize what happened…when she fell out of bed she must have hit her face on the nightstand. Poor little girl…she never complained once and was such a trooper about it. We cleaned up her face and she was good to go. This girl is one tough cookie (she was born in the car and she also happens to be a redhead!) We left the room at 7 and headed down with the normal routine of the big boys helping load the car with DH and I helped the littles get breakfast. We were ready to leave the hotel by 7:30am. We made it to the Walmart in Ocoee about 8:15 and waited on our grocery delivery. In the past we have always gone to this Walmart as it seems to be the closest one without going too far out of the way, but we have always gone in to shop. So thankful for grocery pickup! They came out with all the stuff and I know the worker was thinking “Where are they going to fit all this stuff?” We had a case of water, three 12 packs of soda, a case of beer, milk, coffee, creamer, plus several other snacks. I didn’t want just random Walmart bags scattered throughout the car so I had packed an extra collapsible storage bag in the car. I brought that out and put all the loose items in that. We shoved the drinks on the floor and on top of the cooler and anywhere else we could fit them. Then we were on our way!
When you drive to the MK resorts off of 429 it takes you in the back away, by Disney University and all that, which is pretty neat. One of the kids spotted the castle first then we drove right by Space Mountain which is really cool to see from the road. We were following our AAA TripTik and for some reason it took us to the back entrance of Wilderness Lodge. It seemed strange because the signs didn’t point to WL but a couple people followed us that way so we thought we were ok. However, once we got to the gate we knew right away it was the wrong one. DH tried his Magic Band just in case but of course it didn’t work. However, there were 2 cars behind us and both of them had to back up so we could turn around. Funny thing is, they must have had the same directions because we saw them turn around too. We finally arrived at the correct entrance, told the CM we were checking in and he directed us where to go. We actually just wanted to park and head to MK so we found a parking spot. We got the double stroller out and the park bags and headed to the lobby of WL to use the restroom. It was close to 9:30 at this point and we had fastpasses starting at 10:30 so we were not in a rush. We took a few pics in the lobby and then we headed out to the boat launch. It took us a couple tries to find the correct route with a stroller but we eventually got there! We waited about 15 minutes for a boat, but it did happen to be the small boat where we were required to fold the stroller. We were then on our way to MK!
As soon as we got off the boat we brisked through security (the dedicated security for boats is really nice). Our first fastpass was for Buzz so we headed to that and arrived right at 10:30. The FP line was pretty long but we didn’t mind as DS2 loved looking at all the Buzz stuff inside the queue. I noticed that even though we rode Buzz several times during the trip, this ride photo was the only one that showed up in our photopass account (we had purchased memory maker). Anyone know why that would be? After Buzz I could tell it was pretty crowded and since our next FP didn’t start until 11:30am we decided to grab a quick bite at the Lunching Pad. (I tried moving our Space Mtn FP up but couldn’t). We ordered a pork sandwich (for DH and DS2), Coke, Mickey pretzel (for DS8 and DD4), Salted Caramel Pretzel (me), and a hot dog (DS6) for all of us to share. My pretzel seemed a little overcooked and heavy on the caramel. The Mickey pretzel seemed a little undercooked and even though DS8 lived off these on our last trip, he barely ate any of it and didn’t ask for another one the entire trip. Go figure! The snacks filled us up enough and then it was time for Space Mtn. DH and DS6 rode this with their FP and we walked up with them to get a rider switch pass. Once they gave DH the lanyard the rest of us went to ride the Peoplemover (a favorite of my cautious DS8). The line was a bit long but we were on in about 10 minutes. When we got done and headed to the down moving platform, DS2 thought it was a slide so instead of stepping onto it, he sat down at the top thinking he could slide down. There were people behind him so I had to grab him up quickly. He wasn’t too happy about that but thankfully the people behind were kind and thought it was funny. Once we got down we ran into DH and DS6 and moved on to our next FP which was also scheduled at 11:30 and that was 7DMT for me, DS8 and DD4. I wasn’t sure if either of them would ride it because on our last trip DD4 rode it once and was done. DS8 rode it back when he was younger but didn’t ride our last trip. However, they both surprised me and said they wanted to ride! So we approached the FP line and asked for a rider switch pass. I got a lanyard and then DH waited with DS6 and DS2. When they gave me the rider switch pass they did mention that it was good for that day only. I’m glad they told me that because I may not have noticed! DS8 had to ride in his own row and they seated him with another boy close to his age so it worked out great. DS8 was nervous but talking to the other kid helped. They both ended up loving the ride! It was then DH’s turn to ride so he took DS6 and DS8 while I took DD4 and DS2 on the carousel. DS2 loves the carousel anywhere we go. We had to wait about 20 minutes and that line was really hard for him. Plus, he was tired. But we pushed through and he loved it, along with DD4. After that we all met up again for our next FP at 12:30 for Winnie the Pooh. As soon as we scanned in I was trying to book a 4th FP, but at this point DS2 was tired and wanted to be held, which makes it really hard to use my phone. I couldn’t find anything and once the ride was done I checked again but the next thing available wasn’t for another hour. I should have just grabbed something and tried modifying but I didn’t really put this practice to use until later in the trip. After WTP it was definitely very busy and I checked the times guide and noticed that the Muppets show was starting at 1:25 so we walked over for that. We stood in some shade and the kids had some snacks while we waited. We saw the Declaration of Independence version which the kids enjoyed. After that I asked the kids if they wanted to ride some more rides or go back and swim. They all yelled “Swim!” So we decided to head back to WL. On the way out of MK I bought a refillable popcorn bucket, hoping to make good use of it on the trip.
We took the boat back to the resort and got the big boat this time, so no stroller folding necessary. We had gotten our room ready text while at MK but I stopped by the front desk anyways to pick up a resort map and some Hidden Mickey scavenger hunt papers. We still had all our luggage to unload which was not going to be easy. I kept the kids outside while DH went to get the car. The bellman gave us a luggage cart and we started loading that thing up. Amazingly we were able to fit everything on it! I had to carry a couple of small food tubs but that was it. DH went and parked the car again while I waited with the kids and luggage. While we waited we enjoyed talking with other families which is one my favorite ways to pass the time at Disney while waiting. DH came and then pushed our cart over to the Boulder Ridge Villas section. Our room number was 4563, which was on the lakeside and on the 4th floor, both things we had requested. However, it was the last room at the very end of the hallway. But we made it work and it was nice and quiet down there. We got everything unloaded and put away. There was so much storage space in our studio villa! I had brought a hanging shelf to put the kids clothes in, but it broke on me due to too much weight. Each day had a gallon size ziploc bag filled with their clothes so I just lined those up on the top shelf of the closet instead. The kids were anxious to swim so we got changed and finally headed to the pool. DS2 had still not taken a nap and it must have been at least 3:30 by then. I heard from my parents and they were still an hour away. We went to the main pool and found a spot. The lifeguards were great so I felt comfortable sitting in the hot tub while DS8 and DS6 swam in the big pool. DS2 and DD4 would wander around from pool to splash pad to hot tub, depending on where we were. We spent about 2 hours there and then I heard from my parents they were caught in traffic. We finally headed back to our room to change and decided to meet my parents for dinner at Geyser Point. They texted me when they arrived to their room so I told them we would head over. Keep in mind my kids did not know they were coming as they wanted to surprise them. So we told the kids we were heading to eat but needed to stop at the lobby first. We walked over to the main building then took the elevator up to their floor. When we got off my parents were standing right there! The kids were so excited! We headed to eat at Geyser Point and got seated right away. They had heaters going in there and it was nice and warm. DS2 ended up falling asleep on the couch chair and they brought him a blanket and said we could take it back to our room to keep him warm. That was so nice! DH ordered the bison burger, I got the cheesy brisket (one and done for me), and the kids got chicken nuggets and grilled cheese. We finished just in time to watch the HEA fireworks at 7:55. We had to walk to the pathway by the lake to get a good view of them, but it was such a great way to start the trip. It was quite breezy by the lake so I was somewhat relieved when they were done! We were tired by then and the next morning planned on rope dropping the 7am EMH at Animal Kingdom, so we headed to bed and made plans to meet my parents for the 10am Lion King Show at AK (they are not morning people and had no desire to RD the next day).
We went back to the room and got the kids situated in bed. DS6 on the murphy bed (I remember what my incentive was for the one that volunteered to sleep on the floor the night before…he would be the first one to sleep on the murphy bed). So DS6 hopped on that while the other 3 slept on the pullout couch bed. It’s wider than a normal pullout bed so I was thankful for that! After the kids went to sleep I started my normal nightly routine…lay out the kids clothes for the next day, put a new bag of snacks in the backpack (At home I packed 5 separate gallon size ziploc bags full of snacks and just put a new one each day in the park bag to eliminate having to do inventory, refill, etc), fill water bottles with water, prep the coffee maker, plug all electronics in to charge, check the park bag packing list for any items that can be placed in the night before, etc. Then I showered and finally got in bed and DH did the same. The alarm was set for 4:45 as we planned to leave the room at 5:40 to head to AK (crazy I know!) My fitbit says I was in bed by 10:30!
Up Next…Will we make our planned AK EMH rope drop adventure??
We discussed what time to leave in the morning, but we both just kind of said we should sleep as late as we can as it would really be our last night to sleep in before Disney! We had about 730 miles to drive the next day, plus 1 hour time change from central to eastern. But we were ready! So far our mileage amounted to 1,080 miles down with 820 to go! (We added an extra 100 with my wallet debacle)
So I asked him why he didn’t come to our spot after the parade, knowing that’s the last place I was and would be waiting for him. He said because he thought I would come find him since he told me where he was on the phone. Ugh! Such horrible communication. But that’s ok, we still love each other unconditionally despite all of our flaws. We needed to get going at this point because it was 3:45 and we needed to be at Ft. Wilderness by 4:30 and you never know how long the boat is going to take. However, the boys were not happy because they had just 1 Pirate Adventure left to complete. DS8 is a highly anxious and task oriented person (like me and DS2 has some similar qualities we can already tell). We actually took him to some occupational therapy for a few months after he turned 4 to get help for his sensory processing disorder. Anyhow, when he starts something he wants to finish it. He was about to have a meltdown so we told him we would come back the next day to finish. He wasn’t happy but well that’s life.