Trip Report: DisneyGirlMama Does Disney

[disneygirlmama]

Day 4

Today we all “slept in” until 7:30 when DD4 and DD6 woke us up. Sigh. We let them play/watch iPads for a couple of hours…DD8 woke up around 8:30. We had a very relaxing morning full of listening to the grandparents complain about how sore they are and how much they hurt. My mom, at least, has been very vocal about that every minute of pain is worth being here with us, though, so that’s nice. My MIL, though…I really get the impression that she’d rather just stay at the resort and not go with us. That she’s resentful that I’ve made plans and that we can’t just go and hang out or whatever. I don’t know, but it’s frustrating. I’m really, really hoping that she rents an ECV or wheelchair tomorrow because I know it would improve her mood.

DH and I spent some time this morning working on some stuff that the Russian Embassy needs in order to finish processing our visas. We sent everything in on Thursday but of course they’re asking for more stuff. I got some soup out of the freezer and started it thawing/cooking (I brought five meals already prepped that just need to be cooked in the crock-pot). DH took the girls swimming and my mom joined them for a bit. Later this afternoon after getting cleaned up my mom and I took the girls to mini golf. They’d never been before and while they started out melting down because it was hard (and they’re so tired!) by the end they loved it.

We came home and got them all a bowl of soup and got DD4 in bed by 6:00. DD6 in bed by 7:00, and DD8 in bed by 7:30. My kids don’t usually sleep in when they’re up late, so we put them in bed super early sometimes and they usually sleep in a little the next day. Weird how that works. After the kids went to bed the adults all played a couple of games of Catan, which was quite fun. DH and I love to play but since it’s a 3+ players game we don’t get to play much.

I spent some time reworking my TP for tomorrow to accommodate a Tusker House ADR that I found. We were just going to do the one CM on Thursday, but I think my in-laws would appreciate a sit-down meal. So, an ADR it is, and it should be a fun one at that.

I love my in-laws. I really do. They’re good in-laws. But they are “go to the beach” people and it’s occurring to me that we’ve never done much else with them for vacation other than the beach. They came to see us when we lived in Istanbul and we did a couple of touristy things with them, but in general…I’m learning already that we should never plan another “go and do” kind of anything with this set of in-laws.

Also, the television. Ugh, it has been on either sports or news almost every minute that we have been at the resort. It’s making me crazy. I’m so tired of the noise of it. I turned it off tonight as we were getting ready to play a game (DD6 had been watching a show and was headed to bed) and they ended up watching on their phones while we were playing. So annoying. They have four favorite topics to discuss: politics, their various ailments, the weather, and Auburn athletics. I need a spa day or something!

Up tomorrow: Animal Kingdom. 10:30ish arrival until after ROL at 6:15. Tusker House ADR at 4:20. 0% chance of rain but it’s supposed to be chilly. High of 61 and low of 48 with wind chill of 15-20 MPH. I haven’t even checked the weather but I know all about it by now.

[emcglone]

Ugh. I feel your pain with the tv and the noise. My in-laws are the same and I can only handle a day or two of it before I need to go hide. My FIL lived with us for about 8 weeks over the summer, and it was killer!
Good luck getting a little “me” time in, in the next week!

[Leeann98]

Love the trip report, thanks for sharing! Hope you all enjoy the rest of your time!

[disneygirlmama]

Day 5: Wednesday December 5. Animal Kingdom. Predicted CL: 1. Actual CL: 4

Today DD4 and DD6 slept until 7:30. See what I told you about how that works? So, they were much happier today and in better moods overall. DD8 got up around 8:00. We took our time getting ready for the day and left right at 10:00, I think. Today started out a little chilly but it was too hot in long-sleeves in the sun by midday. We made it to AK, used the bathrooms before tapping in, and then headed to Dinoland where we left my MIL and FIL while we booked it to EE to use our FPP. DD4 and DD6 loved it, DD8 didn’t like it much but that may have been because she had to ride with a stranger. We went back to Dinoland, got the in-laws, and rode TTS, then headed to the Boneyard. Actually, first I walked around to see which characters were meeting, mainly looking for Chip & Dale, but I didn’t find them, so then we went to the Boneyard. The girls played, MIL and DH hung out, and FIL and I went to pick up our Flame Tree order that I had mobile ordered. By now he’s realizing that mobile order is awesome. We brought our food back to the Boneyard and ate, then let the kids play some more. Flame Tree food is very good and four orders were enough for all of us. We had a ribs & chicken plate, a half chicken, a pork sandwich, and whichever plate has pork, chicken, and ribs. It was enough, although my girls probably would have appreciated some sides since they don’t like beans or coleslaw.

We headed to Pandora, stopping at the bathrooms on the way, and stopping at the bathrooms once we got there. I swear we visited at least half of the bathrooms in the parks in four days. Anyways, MIL, FIL, and DD4 went to ride NRJ with FPP and DH, DD6, DD8 and I went to ride FOP with FPP. There had been a big drop of FPP a month or so ago for early December so I lucked out and managed to snag some. Of the four of us only DD8 liked FOP. I didn’t get sick on it but did not feel like it was as realistic as Soarin’. The distortion was a little strange and I had problems with my glasses. DH said it smelled funny and made him queasy. DD6 just plain didn’t like it. I think I’ll let DD8 ride it with my other FIL next week and the rest of us will do NRJ if I can switch our FPP.

After Pandora we visited the bathrooms again. Then got Mickey ice cream sandwiches on the way to the 3:00 showing of FOTLK. My in-laws got up halfway through and left because my MIL “couldn’t breathe in there.” I loved it and so did the girls. DH thought it was alright but he’s never enjoyed anything theater/Broadway apart from Riverdance. Anyways, we visited the bathrooms again and went to find Pocahontas. We got in line (the family in front of us must have been Liners…they had a laminated schedule on an o-ring attached to the stroller) and were first in line after the other family left to find a bathroom.

After Pocahontas we headed to Tusker House for our ADR. DH and the girls and I all really enjoyed everything. I thought the food was mostly fantastic. I’m not sure what my in-laws thought, as they did eat and did say everything was fine but they never smiled or anything so who actually knows. The character interactions were great.

After dinner my in-laws left to head back to the resort and we hopped in the FPP line for the safari at 5:30. At 5:50 we got on and had an 18-minute ride where we saw wildebeest, alligators, giraffes, hippos, and lions. It was quite dark and we couldn’t see a lot of animals but it was still nice. We got off the safari at 6:10 and I picked up DD4 and we quick-walked to ROL. We were a couple of minutes late but there were still front-row seats available so we plopped down to enjoy the show. I loved ROL. I thought it was beautiful. I understand why people don’t love it as it’s not flashy and loud…it’s very quiet and serene but very lovely. And there are seats for everyone! What’s not to love?

After ROL we headed to Discovery Island via Asia. There were hanging lanterns in Asia that were just so pretty…I love the atmosphere in AK at night. We went to the Tree of Life and hung out there for a bit watching the awakenings, which were so cool. We headed out of the park stopping at bathrooms on the way out, and stopping by Guest Relations to drop off a park ticket we had found on the ground. We left and were back at the resort and had the kids in bed by 8:30. It was a good, pretty low-key day. I’m looking forward to another AK day next week. Up tomorrow: Bon Voyage breakfast and Hollywood Studios!

[disneygirlmama]

I feel like a horrible person but gosh, it just bothers me. All of my in-laws have the television on all the time. I find myself hiding just to get away. I mean, I have three kids. I don’t need more noise in my life! And I honestly feel that most of what the news channels show is all spun one way or the other, so I don’t even care to watch. I just want peace and quiet, for crying out loud!

[JuliaMc]

I love that you mention all the bathroom stops.

Seriously. This is how it was for us in February with my parents!!!

Loving your recaps! Even better because I can totally hear your voice and personality in the words I’m reading.

[disneygirlmama]

How can I NOT mention the bathroom stops?!?! It was like every other ride! I should seriously get a map and circle every one we visited. It was insane.

And yes, I love that I’ve met two liners now and can picture voices and how tall you are and all of that. It’s so fun!

[disneygirlmama]

Day 6: Thursday December 6. Hollywood Studios. Predicted CL:3. Actual CL: 4

Today we got up and ready for Bon Voyage breakfast at 9:10. DH and FIL dropped us off at the circle and we went to check in. After waiting awhile on them to meet us I go searching for them to find them…guess where? The bathroom. My MIL had already visited the one in Trattoria al Forno upon arrival. This breakfast was really fun, although I have noticed now that the attention given to larger parties is not spectacular. Not that we had bad service, but it almost felt like they knew the gratuity would be added on automatically so they didn’t try very hard. Does that make sense? I’ve waited tables at a lot of places and understand how hard it can be. But still…anyways. Our food was good but not hot when we got it.

Giving the “smolder.” And he would only sign an autograph in our book after making sure his nose was right, ha!

After breakfast, DD8 bought a tiara, we used the bathrooms, and then off to Hollywood Studios. First stop in HS is the bathrooms, of course. We booked it to the Frozen Sing-Along, barely making the 11:30 showing. My girls really enjoyed this, especially the bubbles at the end. They were in heaven about the bubbles. My MIL, on the other hand, did not enjoy the bubbles at all and was rather annoyed with them. We then popped over to meet Olaf with around a 15-minute wait.

After a bathroom stop, we bought the girls popcorn (which resulted in a small argument between DH and I because I told him to buy a bucket and he came back with 3 boxes. So he spent more money and we can’t refill them. I told him he didn’t listen to me. He told me I wasn’t clear. Oh, well. We still love each other.) and headed to the Little Mermaid show at 12:55. Once again, the girls loved this, and they especially loved the mist/rain effect. And once again my MIL “could have done without that.” Her words. Argh. Up to BATB at 2:00, where praise the Lord nothing fell from the sky to annoy my MIL. After BATB my in-laws decided they were done for the day, so they said goodbye and went back to the resort. DH and I took DD8 on RNRC with our first FPP while DD4 and DD6 waited with my mom. DD8 kind of enjoyed RNRC…she didn’t love it, but she didn’t hate it either. After RNRC we headed to TOT with DD4 and DD8, once again using FPP. They both hated it, lol. We got ice cream afterwards to appease them, and it worked until DD4’s ice cream scoops came right off while taking her second bite. We got back in line and explained what happened and they graciously gave her two more scoops, this time in a cup.

By this time it was around 4:15 and I wanted to make sure to catch the Muppets before it closed at 5:00, so we headed that way. DH suddenly expressed interest in Star Wars stuff, which he had said before he didn’t care about. So, he went to ST while the rest of us went to Muppet Vision. We thoroughly enjoyed MV3D. DH did not enjoy ST. He said it was jerky and he was just not feeling well afterwards, much like after FOP. I knew better than to attempt it, ha!

My brother gave them these goofy glasses, so what better time to use them than while in a 70-minute line?!?

We headed to Toy Story Land and decided to get in the stand-by line for SDD. We had FPP for later (6:50) that I had miraculously snagged but knew the girls would probably want to ride twice and so we’d better wait first. So, wait, we did. We waited 70 minutes when it was posted 90 and I’m glad we did. DD4 loves the coasters, and DD6 likes them a good bit, too. DD8 is so funny, partly she loves them and partly she likes to complain. But anyways, I’m glad we did it twice. After the stand-by line we met back up with my mom, told her we’d be back in ten minutes, and then used our FPP.

While in line for SDD we got a message from my MIL saying they’d decided to drive back to Alabama tonight. At 6:00 pm. She fell on Monday and has been in some additional pain because of it and wants to get back to her own doctor ASAP. At least that’s what she’s telling us. I suspect there’s more to them leaving a day early (actually two days, since originally they were going to leave Saturday but apparently there’s a storm coming on Saturday/Sunday and they didn’t want to drive in it) and without saying goodbye or even telling anybody this was a consideration of theirs. I think it’s sad that I’m relieved they’re leaving early. I hope her back is ok and we should know more in the morning.

7:00ish we head to TSMM and wait stand-by for 23 minutes while posted 40 minutes. While in line I submitted a mobile order for Woody’s Lunchbox. As soon as we exited the ride, I hit the “I am here” button and it was ready by the time we got to the pick-up window. The six of us shared a grilled cheese and two turkey sandwiches and a bowl of tomato soup. It was really the perfect amount of food, as none of us was really hungry but we all needed a little something.

We headed to the Chinese Theater to wait for Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam! While waiting we caught some other show…I don’t remember what it was called, Great Movie Magic, maybe? JBJB was cute but I kinda wish we’d done F! instead, as JBJB! wasn’t as wonderful as I was hoping for/expecting. It was cute, just not what I was expecting. We got back and had everyone in bed around 10:00. They were all so tired but we only had one day in HS so we wanted to make it count!

[disneygirlmama]

Day 7: Friday December 7

Today the girls slept in until 7:00. Sheesh, they are not good at sleeping in! They watched the Disney channel for a bit while we woke up. DH worked some this morning and I made a TP for tomorrow now that we’ve done one MK day and I have an idea of what they like. We finished a puzzle, ate breakfast, and took the morning easy. Around 11:00 I took DM and the girls to the outlets to shop. Unfortunately, they didn’t find anything they liked or wanted. So, we headed to the Grand Floridian (I’d wanted to take them there anyways), but they wouldn’t let us park because there were two weddings there today and parking was limited. We tried the Poly and success! They let us park. We browsed their shops, bought a couple of Dole Whips, and took the monorail to the GF. Browsed their shops (DD4 wants EVERYTHING, DD6 found nothing she really liked, and DD8 found plenty she wants but decided to wait and see if she finds something she likes better), checked out the tree and gingerbread house, and headed back to the resort.

The gingerbread house inside the GF

An aside
My MIL wrote and reported that she has bruised ribs but that nothing is broken. I’m glad that she’s alright. I’m also glad that everyone is gone and that it’s just us tomorrow. DH asked me how I’m enjoying the trip, if the magic is still here for me, and I told him I’d tell him tomorrow when I wasn’t trying to make sure I’m not walking too fast for anyone, wondering if they’re having a good time, worried that the ride will be too jerky for my MIL or have some scent that she doesn’t like, etc. I asked for contributions and opinions from people for two years and nobody gave a single contribution other than to say which rides they didn’t want to ride. So, I’m very frustrated to have done my hardest to plan easy things that would be enjoyed by everyone (IASW, FOTLK, FEA, etc.), so to see my in-laws never smile and be irritated has really been a downer for me. I know that they’ve been in pain but it’s still been really hard for me to feel like they wish they hadn’t come.

Being inside the GF always makes me feel underdressed!

Back to regular programming
We had leftover soup for lunch, mom made necklaces with the girls, and then I took them to the pool while mom packed and DH napped. DH took my mom to the airport and I let the girls swim until nearly 5:00. Then we did showers, brushing hair, etc., and had some dinner and got the girls in bed by 6:45 or 7:00. I had hoped for earlier but it just didn’t happen. Hopefully they’ll sleep well and be ready for another early day tomorrow…we’re rope dropping Merida!

[SirGreggLadyV]

How fun! Merida is DH’s favorite M&G!

[Kkerr76]

Your trip sounds planned beautifully. I think I’d like to join! hopefully the next section of it will go more smoothly.

[Wahoohokie]

I can’t believe you can convince your kids to go to bed by 6:45 or 7. I can barely get mine in bed by 11pm any night, even though they get up at 6:40am for school. Even as small kids they never got to bed before 9.
I am sorry things didn’t go so well with the inlaws. We have only taken one trip with another family, and that was with friends, not even family and it was so hard. Touring styles are so different, and as the planner it is frustrating when other adults don’t seem to appreciate the things you planned with them in mind.

[ChooseJoy]

DD4’s ice cream scoops came right off while taking her second bite

Was this at Hollywood Scoops on Sunset Blvd, by any chance? I had a similar experience there last May, but I managed to scurry back and plead for help before the scoops completely fell off … they quickly handed me a cup and I caught the ice cream just before it fell on the ground! Then I didn’t know what to do with the cone, so I crumbled it on top and ate the whole thing with a spoon! They need to brush up on their scoop-stacking technique.

[disneygirlmama]

I have a harder time with DD8 but here I’m like, “Do you want to go to Disney World tomorrow? Yes? Then go to bed.” Ha. The other two are tired and know they are tired so they’re more than willing. When life is normal they go to bed at 7:30/8:00/8:30. DD6 can read until 8:30 and DD8 can read until 9:30. But WDW is not normal life.

My other in-laws got here last night so we’ll see how things go with them!

[disneygirlmama]

Yes, it was at Hollywood Scoops! I had stepped away to help one of the other girls with something so was unable to help. I’m glad they replaced it!

[Tate]

I’m enjoying following along, hope the new set of DIL’s are a better fit.

[faulkh]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Never easy to please everyone, just enjoy your little ones and don’t worry about anyone else, they missed out on seeing the magic through your daughters eyes.

[disneygirlmama]

Day 8: Sunday December 8. Magic Kingdom. Predicted CL: 5. Actual CL: 8!

This morning we got up bright an early in order to change hotel rooms. This was a big pain but we had not had hot water (it had usually only been lukewarm or slightly better) the whole week, so we decided to move, and they couldn’t move us yesterday. Mainly we decided to move because apparently our whole building had problems with the hot water and I didn’t want my other set of in-laws also dealing with the water problem. We’re kind of used to water problems since we live in Russia, but I knew my in-laws would be miserable without it. So, we got up at 5:00 and gathered/packed and were moved out by 7:45 and on our way to MK, just a little later than hoped for.

We got parked, left our jackets in the car, and took the ferryboat over to MK. It was a little chilly for the first hour or so but quickly warmed up. We hit up the bathrooms before the morning show again and then headed to Fairytale Garden to RD meeting Merida. I saved a spot (second in line) while DH took the girls to ride the teacups. They were on the first ride of the day and returned hungry, ha, so we had some snacks in line. While in line for Merida we received a message from some friends of DH’s who live nearby (with whom we had arranged to meet) that they were in line for Merida saving us a spot. Ha! They were a few people behind us but had come while DH and the girls were at the teacups and had never met me before, so they missed us. Anyhow, we met up with them, met Merida, and headed for Astro Orbiter. That was a one-and-done for me, yuck. I thought it would be like Dumbo. It is NOT like Dumbo. I had to close my eyes so as not to get sick.

After this we headed for WTP to use our FPP. But hmm, we didn’t have FPP for WTP. I must have written something down wrong. So instead we headed for ETWB, which we actually did have FPP for. This was cute, and the special effects going from the first room into the second…what was up with that? Amazing. DD4 and DD8 each got a part. DD6 was still pretty clingy from meeting new people at this point so she sat with me and watched. After Belle we headed to Space Mtn. to use our second FPP, stopping at the bathrooms near the teacups on the way. While the girls and I were waiting on DH we saw Alice meeting by the teacups so hopped in line for maybe 5 minutes. She was very sweet.

We rode Space Mtn and all 3 DD’s did not like it at all. We went for the PeopleMover and waited stand-by for six minutes to ride. They loved PM, ha. Next on to MILF where we waited maybe ten minutes? This was hilarious, very similar to TTWC in technology but different, too. Very enjoyable. Next onto Buzz with our 3rd FPP. None of us enjoyed Buzz as much as TSMM. We didn’t even know the “game” had started for like the first two rooms. Oh, well. By this point it was about noon and we were all getting hungry. DH’s friends have Florida AP’s but know nothing, wow. I showed them how to mobile order and we ordered combo platters from CHH. They all headed to CHH (I told him to push “I’m here” when he was close) and I went to Frontierland to find DD6 a corndog, since she had her heart set on one. I met them at CHH but they didn’t have their order yet. That place was a complete zoo…the line was out the door and curving around the building. So, the mobile order pick-up area was also a little like a zoo…they tried to give us some salmon, but I insisted we didn’t order any. Even with the delay in getting our food from the mobile order window we still saved at least 30 minutes, maybe longer, by mobile ordering.

After eating we headed to ride the Magic Carpets with FPP that I had picked up and modified. And then we used the bathrooms, headed to the churro stand, got a few churros, and grabbed a spot for the FOF parade. This was awesome. My girls were so miserable waiting for it (we were standing in the sun) but as soon as it started, wow, they loved it. Tiana saw my girls’ birthday buttons and wished them a Happy Birthday, and Alice saw them and said, “Oh, it’s you again! Hello!” And my girls melted. I melted a little, too, actually. It was just so sweet. Note to Liners: dress your kids in obnoxious pink pants and matching shirts and the characters you meet in the morning might remember them during the parade!

After the parade we said goodbye to DH’s friends. DH took the girls to get in line for BTMRR and I went to fill water bottles. While doing that I called DH and told him to get out of line and come back for CBJ instead because it was only 6 minutes until the next show. Nobody really wanted to wait in a 40-minute line, right? DD8 was quite grumpy at being pulled out of line and had a bad attitude about the bears but she quickly perked up. It was funny and corny and they loved it.

While watching CBJ and I was trying to get another FPP but man, the park was busy this day. And open until midnight, so MDE kept trying to give me super late FPP. I finally had worked a Barnstormer one to fairly close to our current time and CBJ ended. I pulled up the TP app to see what ride waits were and noticed that Barnstormer was offline. And boom! 2 minutes later we all had an anytime FPP to use! It was so fun to look at my kids and ask them if they wanted to ride BTMRR or Splash with FPP when the lines for each were over an hour long. They picked Splash. DH was not so excited about it, but I told him, hey, it’s December. It’s like 75 out. If we’re going to ride it this is a good time to do it. So, we did, and it was awesome. I tried to work the FPP magic thing again but no such luck. I gave up and we headed to Swiss Family Treehouse and then headed to Main Street to shop for a few minutes. The girls have money burning holes in their pockets. DD4 and DD6 bought small coin purse keychains and we headed for the monorail around 4:30 and back to the resort.

We checked back in and got our new keys and ran into my FIL and BIL in the lobby. All got up to our rooms, we got unpacked again, got leftovers for dinner and got the girls in bed by 7:30. And then we began to talk about tomorrow. Tomorrow we’re supposed to RD Epcot, leave by 12 or 1:00 and come back for naps and then head back by 5ish and stay through Iluminations. I have dinner reservations for 8 people (eight!) at Garden Grill. But it’s supposed to rain from like 10-3 and none of them really want to go in the rain. And I get that, but I also don’t want to punt on the dinner reservation that my kids will actually like, the ability to get anytime FPP because our TT FPP will likely convert, and RDing FEA and Elsa and Anna since we didn’t meet them the other day, and we still need Belle’s autograph as well. We’ll see what magic I can work as far as convincing others of the wisdom of my plan.

[Off2Neverland]

I chuckled when you mentioned the television being on. When my parents come to visit my dad inevitably constantly has the tv on and it drives me crazy! It also makes me laugh because, growing up, he was always the one telling me I watched too much television. Talk about a role reversal!

[dlbrand]

Hope week 2 is going well!