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Our trip included Me (36), DH (36) DD (13), DD (9) and DS (4). It was my 3rd trip as an adult (5th in all) and DH and the girl's 3rd trip too. DS
was here for our last one but was a baby... so this really counted as his first trip...
Day one... Monday Oct. 14.
We (DH, Me, DD (13), DD (9) and DS (4)) left Nashville midday. No probs in the airport and we had an easy flight. I found a lady on a parenting board
that does machine embroidery and had a denim tote bag made for each kid. She had all the Disney characters (we did Minnie and Mickey, Lilo and Buzz)
and I had their names put on them too. I had been picking up treats for the kids for the last few months. At our dollar store, I found Disney Gummys,
big swirl lollipops and Pez. I also took advantage of the Disney Store sale a few weeks ago and had pens, stamps, stickers etc. My youngest had a new
set of Color Wonders markers and book (which was a HUGE hit!). I have been printing off Disney coloring pages and I made up crosswords and word finds
too and put them all in a folder for each. Also, a couple of packs of crackers and juice boxes. I gave the bags to them as we arrived at the
airport and they were a HUGE hit! The kids were so excited and they really kept them busy on the flight. And I think they will be a great remembrance
now. (If anyone is interested in the lady that did these bags, just let me know and I can e-mail you pics and a web site!)
We arrived in Orlando around 2pm. Tiffany Towncar was waiting at baggage and we were off w/ in 20 minutes. The driver was very nice and the kids
liked the fancy car. We made a grocery stop at Publix and spent about $40. (bread, Poptarts, lunch meat, sodas, donuts, fruit snacks, Chips, Little
Debbie cakes, ...) Then on to the hotel. We were staying at Port Orleans Riverside w/ a trundle. I had requested one of the closer building to the
lobby and got building 15, so we were pleased. Check in was easy, we had paid everything off already and already bought our tickets.
The room was nice... not huge, but plenty big enough. We unpacked, went to check out the foodcourt and buy mugs (which are now 10.99... the price went
up since I last had checked) We freshed up for dinner and headed down the the bus stop. We had 8pm PS at Chef Mickey's. We took the bus to MK, and
then the monarail to the Contemp. We arrived about an hour early and checked in and were seated w/ in minutes. Dinner was fine... We saw Goofy,
Mickey, Donald, Chip and Dale... The food was fine.. Picky DH did okay... I thought everything was good. The kids ate pretty well and had a good
time. They loved all the desserts and frosting their own cupcakes. Dinner for all of us (3 adults and 2 kids) was $99 w/ tax (and then we added tip)
The price of this had gone up also since I last checked. Be sure and make sure you have current prices! We were using an "envelope" system w/ money
and it was a bit upsetting to have figured two expences wrong already (mugs and dinner)
We headed out to the shops and the girls got to do some pin trading. This turned out to be the big hit of the trip. They LOVED it. Each had the
Disney Store starter Princess lanyard and I had bought one of those dreaded "lot of 10 Dwarf pins" off ebay. LOL A very kind lady on a pin site sent
each girl 5 very nice pins to start them out (Disney fans are great!) and I had the set of all 8 Snow White pins to split. (minus Gurmpy that I found
out is HTF and worth more than the others... so we kept this one) The girls had a great time.
We headed back to our hotel, went and filled our mugs and headed to bed.
Day Two... Tuesday Oct. 15
Mickey woke us up at 7 and after breakfast in the room, we were headed out to the bus stop around 8. (oh, we had blueberry muffins for breakfast... I
baked them yesterday morning and packed them in Tupperwear ... they were great w/ butter from the food court!)
Easy ride to AK... I'd say on the whole trip, we never had more than a 15min. wait at any bus stop and we prob. ended up standing about half the
time.
We arrived a AK just before opening.. .and got right in. The bag check was very easy. We headed right for the Safari ride, then the River Rapids,
Dinosaur and Bugs Life. No lines really at anything and the kids and DH rode the River ride twice w/ out having to get off. DS was just tall enough
to ride all the 40" rides. We tried the other rides in the Dinosaur section and got stuck on the Primevil Whirl (sp?) and ended up having to walk down.
Yikes...it was kinda scary, but DD (9) thought it was great. DD (13) doesn't do roller coasters and DS was too short, so luckily we didn't have
them. We had lunch at Resturantasauras and stayed on budget. It took a bit explaining to everyone about the budget...and sharing. Honestly, this rest.
was not the best choice for introducing my Dollarless planning! LOL Most every other place we ate had very large portions and 2 kids sharing was easy
and the 13yr. old eating a kids meal was fine... but this place served standard sized Happy Meals... It turned out to be enough... but just
bearly. We ended up getting two of the Kids Meal Voucher Deals and they were def. a good thing. The kids meals were about $4 and the voucher was
only about $6 and it added on a snack and another drink (which we shared at parade time)
We loved the Lion King show, didn't make it to Pocohantas, 4yr. old HATED Bugs Life, 9yr. old loved Dinosaur (13yr. old chicked out) 4yr. old loved
train ride, we saw a bunch of characters on the conservation station at the end of the train ride. Favorite place here was the sound "booth". Very
cool (though this freaked out the 4yr. old too)
The parade was fun and as it rained about an hr. before, crowds were low and we had great seats. We did the rapids a few more times and headed out just
before closing.
We took a bus to Epcot and did Spaceship Earth w/ no line and then headed straight for World Showcase and Germany. DD (13) had saved for months for
an Engel Puppen doll and was desparate to get her. She had a ball and took "forever" to choose. Total in a Disney Dress was $130 plus tax which I
wasn't ticked about her spending (each DD had saved about $150) but she was sooo happy, I'm glad she did it now. It was raining now, so DS was pretty
antsy now and ended up getting a Playmobil set to calm him. LOL
The rain stopped and we got dinner in "America" and found a spot to watch the parade. (hot dogs, burgers and chicken...shared!) The parade was great,
the kids loved it. We headed across the street and staked out a spot for fireworks and took turns wandering w/ one kid while the others saved our
spot. We all loved the fireworks (we've been twice before and never caught these!) Then we headed to the gate w/ Everyone! LOL
Easy ride back to the hotel, picked up hot choc. in our mugs (the kids were kinda damp) and off to bed.
Day 3 Wednesday Oct. 16.
Up at 7 again.... kinda dragging, but we still made it out of the room by 8. We arrived by bus at the MK just before 9 and got to see the coolest
"Opening". I don't know if they do this everyday, but we've never seen it. It was super special and was a great way to start the day. Mickey arrived
by train and there were dancers and singers... just wonderful. We made it through the gates (they stopped entries while the "show" went on) and headed
for Fantasty Land. We were able to do a number of rides w/ out any lines (4yr. old did not like Snow White and loved Peter Pan and Small World.) We
then headed to Haunted Mansion (4yr. old was not happy about this...) and Pirates (a big hit!) We took the train to Toontown and walked to Tomorrow
Land. We got FP for Buzz and did the Transit Auth. (another big hit w/ the 4y. old) We had lunch here and shared very large chicken baskets and a
turkey leg. We all enjoyed Buzz. We got to the parade route a bit late and didn't have great seats, but the kids were able to get close enough to see.
Next was Adventure land... Tree house (DH and I sent the kids and we snuck a soda!), Aladin, Tiki Birds (fun!) and waited in our first long line at
Jungle Cruise (we should have gotten a FP). We walked to the train and headed over to Toon town again to see characters. Now it was about time to
find seats for Spectro Magic. We found a good curb and DH got ice cream sundaes for the kids. The Parade was great... Snow White kissed DS and he
is still talking about it. LOL We headed back to the hotel and had sandwiches for dinner. We even had enough time for a quick pool dip! Great
day! DS discovered the $6 metal ride models and started his collection...these kept him VERY busy. The girls were still trading pins
and having a great time. We kids were also buying pressed pennys from the stash of quarters we had saved just for this for the past month or so. We
actually had "extra" money in Tues. and Wed. envelopes. Yeah!!
Tomorrow... a day off and MNSSHP at night.
Day 4... Thursday Oct. 17
We slept a bit late today... until around 9. We had a light breakfast in the room and headed to Downtown Disney. Through MyPoints and buying Disney
Giftcard online to buy our tickets, I earned GC for lunch at Rainforest. I'm kinda glad it was "free"... we were not that impressed. The menu is
much smaller than our local one and we missing many of our favorites. The prices seemed higher too? The kids meals didn't come w/ drinks or fries.
We got the free Orlando Magic card appet. .. Quesidillias (sp?) but they were already fixed w/ peppers and onions so I was the only one that liked
them. Lunch was fine... and fun, but if we had paid the $50+, I would have been disapointed.
We enjoyed DD.. the toy store, the huge Disney Store, and the Lego Store. The girls did more pin trading. Not too much buying, DS added to his car
collection, DD (9) finally spent some of her money on two pins and a coloring book and had a nice walk.
DS, DD (9) and DH headed back to the hotel to swim and DD (13) and I shopped a bit more. We all were back at the room but around 3 and laid down for
naps. We got up around 5, had sandwiches and got on costumes ( Capt. Hook, 50's girl and a soccer player) MNSSHP turned out to be great! DS was a bit
nervous but very little was actually scary. We had a free family picture done (it will be mailed) and I got up the nerve to try Space Mountain .. DD
(9) did too!(no lines!) No FP tonight, but lines weren't bad at all. We were able to redo many rides w/ very little wait. The trick or treating
went smoothly. There were some lines but they moved VERY quickly and the kids were very pleased to get "good" candy! (chocolate! LOL) The fireworks
were great... and it was cool to see them come from "allover" at the end. We skipped the early parade and got great seats for the late one. We shared
popcorn and sodas and really enjoyed it. We had enough time to head back to the Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan and got stuck on Small World for about
15m! (Yikes! LOL) We stayed till close and decided it was def. money well spent.
Part One, Part Two
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