My Famly MADNESS, 5/27-6/3 - COMPLETED - UPDATED 8/8 About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

You're absolutely right Tanya, it's a vacation and to some people it just doesn't matter if it's Disney or just around the corner! I'm glad your DMIL had a great time at the pool with the kids! Here's hoping it's smooth sailing for the rest of the trip

[Icegoaliemom29]

[quote=disney_duke;1673683]Tuesday and Wednesday (MGM, Sea World)

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SEA WORLD
So I suggest to first go see the Sea Lion show, it starts in 15 minutes. Uhhhh, well, we can watch a sea lion show at the zoo in Milwaukee. (what??) Uggh!

OMG, You missed the Clyde and Seamore show! It's the best show there! You will most definately have to catch it if you ever go back to Sea World (maybe without the in-laws).

[RobDVC]

Enjoying your trip report. I'm glad the lack of enthusiasm from your in-laws didn't get you down.

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

I know the stress of traveling with in-laws. Sounds like you really tried hard to make it magical for them. Hope your new outlook results in a grand vacation for you (as grand as possible with little kids. I've done that, as well!)

BTW, where in WI are you from? I used to live in Kenosha.

[DyanKJ130]

I agree with your way of thinking Tanya! Here's hoping tomorrow goes well! More please

[disney_duke]

Thursday - Animal Kingdom

So I knew this morning would be slow and easy since we weren’t planning on spending the entire day at AK. We slept in a little, went swimming, and then got ready to head to AK. Good thing I had my big revelation and renewed patience level the night before because the parking lot was jam packed and it would be our first wait for the parking lot tram shuttle. And oh boy - were the other guests pushy and greedy! I guess I’m old school and actually do wait behind that yellow line, and I actually do wait until the tram has come to a full and complete stop before casually walking up and getting a seat. These “guests” (I use that term loosely, they really should be called animals) skipped the line in front of us and the yellow line, bolted for the tram before it stopped, and claimed their row like they paid for it. Well, I guess I can be greedy too because I just pushed right past the guy claiming his row and climbed aboard. I looked at him and said “my family has been standing and waiting, yours has not. Now it’s your turn to wait, “and proceeded to have my girls and MIL climb aboard. He wasn't very happy, but he was all alone - his family was still walking up to the tram! Pete and John had to get pushy too since Pete had the double stroller to fold and bring onboard too. Not really a good way to start, but I didn’t let it bother me. Now, I’ve only been to AK three times before this trip and I have never, ever seen it so busy. There were people everywhere!! It was so different for me, but the rest of the group thought it was just another normal day at a Disney park…. After picking up our rental stroller, I began to just be kind of like a tour guide -- explaining where stuff was, what there is to do, and asking if there’s any interest in this, that, or the other. Now that I could see more clearly, I realized that they are all truly lost and are totally relying on me to tell them what to do. I should have just done this right from the start! So after looking at the time board, I quickly try to come up with a plan. I noticed that the Lion King show had just started, so I figured the lines for the meet-n-greet would be shorter, so we headed to Camp Minnie Mickey.

We waited to see Mickey , Minnie, and Goofy . Mickey played with Wyatt a little bit, it really was cute! Since nobody wanted to wait and see the next Lion King show (which is soooo good), we started to head towards DinoLand. Along the way I noticed a 10 minute wait for It’s Tough to be a bug. My kids are too little, but I explained the show to Carol and John and encouraged them to go see it, and they did!!! I was so happy because I think this is one of the best 3D shows! We waited for them by shopping and then met up outside the store. We spotted Carol and she said John went to get a soda. Well he got a soda all right. And some BBQ to go with it! OK, even with my renewed patience I still was a little ticked at this. If he was getting lunch, why didn’t he tell Carol so that we could all eat together? All right, benefit of the doubt, apparently he changed his mind while waiting in line. Oh well, we waited in line and got some lunch too. Everyone's reviews on FlameTree BBQ are right, this place was really good!! Now on to DinoLand, and Jaden and I take a ride on Triceratops Spin. Camille chickened out, even though she rode it on our last trip! The rest of the group walked around the dinosaur jungle area while we rode. Then the girls blew off some steam at the Boneyard while Wyatt ate some cereal. (What a trooper Wyatt’s been. Haven’t talked much about him since he’s been so cooperative. He either sits in the stroller or in the backpacker and has been so good! ) While watching the kids play, I told Carol that I wanted to ride Everest, but that it’s no big deal since I’ll be back in January anyway. So on our way over to EE, the Nemo show just let out and Carol wanted to see that one. Well, it didn’t start again for another hour and she decided not to wait for it. This time, I didn’t care! See, yesterday this would have frustrated me. But since I realized that they just don’t get it, I’m beginning to just let things go and say “oh well!!”

By the time we got to EE, there was a wait of 70 minutes and the FP was about at a 2 hour return. Since I couldn’t figure out what they would do without me, and it’s getting awfully hot, I decided to pass on this. I’ll try it again next January. Now we took our stroll through the jungle walk to see the tigers and then headed over to the Safari ride. I told them over and over that this was the signature ride for this park (well, it used to be) and it’s an absolute must see. Well, the wait was 50 minutes and the FP return was 2 hours later. Neither sounded good to anybody. We were all super duper hot and exhausted. So I suggested that we can come back later, it was only 3:30. So we left. When we got back to the condo, Carol and John took a nap, that’s right – they took a nap!!!! Wow, I can’t imagine taking a nap in the afternoon. How lucky are they?

About 5:30, I asked if anyone wanted to go back for the safari ride and much to my surprise, Carol did!! But not John because there was a good baseball game on. So the boys stayed to watch the game and go out to dinner, and the girls went on the safari ride. This time, we could park right in the first lot and walk in, no fighting for the shuttle! We just about walked right on the ride, maybe a 5 minute wait. And it was pretty good. I’ve seen more animals before, but we got up close and personal with a white rhino! I kid you not; it was like 5 feet from our truck. That was awesome. And the girls used up all their film on their disposable cameras snapping pictures along the way. It was definitely worth the drive back, for me anyway! We headed back home for dinner, but decided to stop at IHOP instead. Nothing like breakfast for dinner, yummy!! Best get back to the condo for some sleep since tomorrow was our big day at Magic Kingdom, the ultimate in Disney magic. This night, Carol actually went to sleep before anybody else. Either she’s changing, or exhaustion has caught up with her! Probably the latter. Pete said it’s the first time that he ever stayed up longer than his mom!! I had a difficult time sleeping this night because I was so excited for Magic Kingdom, and now Tropical Storm Barry was brewing out in the ocean. I was so glad I brought all our rain gear. But I was also trying to figure out the fastest ways to get to all the attractions before the rain was going to start, predicted to begin at lunchtime. And also was wondering what this would mean for Pete and John’s scheduled bass fishing charter on Saturday morning…. Only time will tell!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Tanya Glad you're mood has greatly improved and you're able to just brush things off And how great that you went back for the safari and had a great time Love the character pics! More please

[disney_duke]

Originally Posted by mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince

BTW, where in WI are you from? I used to live in Kenosha.

I live in Grafton, about 20 minutes north of Milwaukee! But I was born and raised in Waukesha.

[RobDVC]

Great update! So glad MIL decided to se the safari with you.

[DyanKJ130]

Sounds like a nice day at AK! Glad you were able to take things in stride and just go with the flow! Waiting for more

[mattnkatsmum]

Glad you're now going with the flow.

As I said before, I think you're brave even attempting a holiday with the in-laws. You'll be lucky to find me in the same county as mine!

Sounds like a fun day at AK.

[PrincessSharon]

Sounds like a better day (except for the tram hogs ). Looking forward to more!

[disney_duke]

Friday – Magic Kingdom, Part 1

I was so excited for this day, this is my favorite park! It killed me having to wait all week to come here. Usually we hit this park twice, first and last. But we just didn’t have the time this trip due to Carol and John’s requests. And even more exciting is the fact that this is our very first breakfast in the castle at Cinderella’s Royal Table!! I still couldn’t believe that I snagged this ADR only 3 months ago for all 7 of us, and at 8:10 to boot – before the park opened!! The girls got up and dressed quickly in their princess attire, they were so excited too! But I decided to have their regular clothes on underneath to save some time later since we would be trying to beat the clock against the approaching tropical storm. I had to pack our rain ponchos and umbrellas since TS Barry was due to make landfall shortly and the outer bands were to start hitting the Orlando area by noon. But I can’t complain because Florida so desperately needed this rainfall. I did forget to pack the double stroller rain cover, so we grabbed the extra garbage bags from the condo and all packed into the minivan for our most magical park!!

I love getting to the parks early and parking in the first row. It’s the best! We boarded the monorail (which Jaden thinks is a ride too, and she just loves it) and waited to move. And waited, and waited. Then that voice came on that I hate to hear; we had to wait for another monorail to move before we can move. I had allowed an extra 10 minutes for taking pictures in the virtually empty park, but with this delay we didn’t have time for pictures. We finally get to MK and enter the park. After picking up the rental stroller and Jaden’s birthday button, it’s already 8am and I wanted to be checking in for breakfast at this time, uh oh. We better take a brisk walk up Main Street, no time for family pictures today. Oh well, next trip – and then Wyatt will be able to stand in the picture! We finally check in right at our reserved time and proceed to wait in line for the pictures with Cinderella. The girls were so excited. Jaden thought it was so cool that she had on the exact same dress, right down to the gloves and headband! We decided to just have the girls have their pictures taken individually, not the whole family. I wish this could have lasted longer, but I guess they got enough time with her. Upstairs to breakfast!

We had an excellent server, and I thought the food was delicious. Definitely not worth the money, but all of it tasted sooo good to me! It even stayed warm while I had to wait to eat it because I was feeding Wyatt. Everyone else at the table gobbled up the fresh fruit though. I didn’t get any of that. And by the time I finished my food, it really was time to go, so I didn’t ask for extra. The characters that day were Snow White, Jasmine, Belle, and Fairy Godmother. Camille was disappointed that Sleeping Beauty wasn’t there, even though I warned her that she may not be there. All came around and did their thing. Snow White was the only one a little rushed, the others took their time. And they all signed Jaden’s birthday certificate! Our server even brought out a cupcake for her, she was so embarrassed! That’s her personality though, shy with others and silly with her family! Just about when we’re all ready to go, Wyatt had a little surprise in his pants for Daddy and it even spread out onto Pete’s arm while he was feeding him!! I know, “eewww, gross,” and I apologize if you don’t have kids. But that’s the way it goes! So Pete took him to the bathroom to change him while I finished eating. Then the girls had to go too. Perfect timing, then I could take off their princess costumes and get ready for Dumbo.

The skies were actually clearing up since earlier in the morning and we had to stop and apply some sunscreen on the kids. I should have earlier (I know the rays go through clouds too), but it was cloudy when we left and it’s supposed to rain later, so I figured it would be cloudy all day! This made me happy and as it turned out we had a few extra hours before the rain would start later in the day. So we used my usual approach to FantasyLand – Dumbo first!! The line for Ariel grew from 10 minutes to 30 in the short time it took us to ride Dumbo. The girls decided not to wait to see her so we headed over to Pooh’s Adventure and grabbed FP’s for that while they played in the Thotful Spot. The girls got soaked in there! They usually shy away from water pads but for some reason they liked this one. Carol called my name to tell me Pooh and Tigger were coming out for pictures, so we were first in line for Tigger. Even Carol posed for this one! Then we went over for the Pooh picture. At this time we turned to see that the standby line for the Pooh ride was so short, people were walking on! So we walked on too, and then I gave our FP’s to another family to use (they were good immediately, instead of the now 10 minute wait). Next, we head over to get FP for Peter Pan, and then walked on Small World. Jaden and Camille did not like this ride, even though they've been on it before. “I don’t like dolls!” Jaden kept saying (which she doesn’t) and Camille just plain didn’t like the ride. But Carol loved it. She must have taken 20 pictures in there. Well, we still had 15 minutes to wait on our FP, so Jaden and Pete rode the carousel. I told Carol and John about PhilharMagic, but they didn’t seem interested. I still have yet to see this show, definitely in January!! Jaden loved the Peter Pan ride, but Camille wasn’t too sure. I think it was a little to dark for her, but she did insist on going on the Snow White ride. I told her it was scary but she didn’t seem to care. Jaden passed on Snow White. Well, that just about covered FantasyLand, so up next – part 2.

[disney_duke]

Here's a couple more pictures from the first half of our day.

Jaden and Camille with a very friendly Belle!

Wyatt - my happiest baby of them all. What a sport!!

The girls with Pooh, you can see their shorts are still a little wet!
Note to self, next time bring the swimsuits!

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures Tanya Glad you enjoyed CRT The girls look adorable in their princess outfits