Our family trip... overcoming obstacles! About This Page:

[m_green]

First of all, I have to admit I would have never believed that winter coats, gloves, hats & blankets would not be enough to keep you warm in Florida!!

Well, here goes my trip report...

We arrived in Orlando on Friday, the 29th of December. David, our Tiffany Towncar driver, met us, helped us get all of our luggage (12 pieces counting carryon for the 6 of us), and off we headed. I loved not having to wait for the Mears shuttle to be full, or for one to arrive. David had that we were staying at the BC, but I told him no, we were transferring there after a few days and that we were staying at the Travellodge. David knows a lot about the area there, and ended up giving us a scenic tour. (We ended up at the BC, and had to tell him that we weren't staying there until Monday!) He drove us by Opryland and we were surprised to hear of Opryland going in there.

By the time we got to our hotel, and checked in, we had two children who were crashed. We woke them up, and went out to find some dinner. After dinner, we walked to a little store nearby and bought some pop, etc and then headed to bed!

Day one...at the parks. The whole reason we went down before gym mom was to see the Millennium items at Epcot, so where else to hit the parks, but Epcot. We caught the shuttle from the hotel over to Epcot and spent the whole day there. We picked up our CP passes and bought my MIL and younger BIL their 7 day park hopper plus tickets. When we got into the park, my DD wanted to immediately go on the "big ball". To the rest of us, that translates into SpaceShip Earth. We decided to do it, since the wait was only about 35 minutes. We got in line, and immediately broke out the gloves and hats. The wind whipping through there was unbelievable!

We then headed for the Millennium Village. On our way we stopped at the Coca-Cola Ice thing... can't remember the name of the igloo. We sampled drinks from all over, and my favorite is still the watermelon drink. We spent quite a while at the Millennium village. We went through the "forest" and DD loved the hitting blocks that sounded like animals. DD and my younger BIL played minature golf, and had fun doing that. DS was having a problem with it... he wanted to get down and run around and get the balls. (Can't you see a 17 month old who loves to throw balls with a handful of golf balls?) We stopped here for lunch, and had a variety of different foods. I sampled some Caribbean food, and my DD didn't approve too much of it. (guess she can't be mine after all!! )

Afterward lunch, DH took DS and let him run around outside, while the rest of us went on the trip to Jerusalem. We then went to find the boys, and headed for Universe of Energy.

DD was really concerned with the dinosaurs at Spaceship Earth, but I reminded her that we rode it last time we were there. I told her they weren't real, and basically talked her in to going on it with us. Some may say that's not a good choice, but she enjoyed it. When it was over, she asked when we could go back on it.

We had reservations for the 5:00 CP, and 6:20 dinner PS at Rose & Crown. We headed for the CP after Universe of Energy, and found a spot to watch it. By this time, DS was ready to run, not sit in a stroller or quietly on a lap. We had the kids flannel blankets, and we were all huddled up under the blankets. Lavar Burton was a great narrator, and I would recommend the CP to anyone going at Christmas. The choirs were amazing!

After the CP, we headed to Rose & Crown for dinner. By this time, everyone else but me was freezing, and the thought of sitting in a warm restaurant was appealing to all. When we got at the Rose & Crown, we were informed that the wait was about an hour to sit in the restaurant, or they could seat us immediately on the porch. They had heavy plastic covering all the openings and two propane heaters in there. We opted for the patio, and in the midst of dinner, I got cold... very, very cold! (Not really sure why, it was warmer than outside) Dinner was good, my MIL & I had the cheese & fruit appetizer, then my DH & I had prime rib. For dessert my choice was the millennium dessert... a dark chocolate spaceship earth filled with chocolate mousse.

Unfortunately, by the time dessert came, I had a bad headache, and just couldn't get warm. So, most of my dessert was eaten by my DS...

We headed back to the hotel to warm up and get ready for the next day.

Day Two... New Year's Eve...
DH headed to WDW on the shuttle to pick up the rental car at National Car Rental. The rest of us stayed back and got a lazy start on the day. We had decided to head to Universal this day, and just had to wait for DH with the car to come back. Once DH got back, we all loaded in the car and headed off for Universal. I made a request to stop at Characters Warehouse first, and so we headed there first. There were numerous signs that said Belz Factory outlets two miles. We had to laugh at the "two miles" since we must have seen that sign four different times. Once we got there, DD, DS, MIL and I headed for Characters Warehouse. My DH & BIL headed for somewhere else... we ended up spending a lot more time there than we planned, and then stopped to eat. When we noticed the time, it was almost 3. We decided that we didn't want to go to Universal that day after all since it was so late. We headed back to the hotel, but stopped at FAO Schwarz first. We walked around the toy store and stopped for ice cream. When we got back to the hotel, DH went down to the convenience store to purchase some bubbly... sparkling cider. After taking a short break, we got back in the car and took off for Downtown Disney.

We parked near Planet Hollywood, and made our way towards LegoLand. I was glad there were many younger children out and about. We had DS in the stroller, and DD walking with us. I think DS was the warmest in his coat, hat, gloves and flannel blanket wrapped around him. We decided to head back to the hotel when MIL was feeling queasy. (OBSTACLE #1) We didn't make it too far from Downtown Disney, when she got sick. Later on, we decided that it was something that DH, BIL, & MIL ate. Luckily, DS, DD & I all had something different for lunch! We got back to the room just after midnight... a minute at most. We opened our bubbly, and toasted the New Year. Then we all headed to bed.

Day three... moving onsite!
We woke up early, and DH took DS, DD, myself & all our luggage to the Beach Club. There, I checked us in, and we waited for DH, MIL & BIL. I was told our room would be ready after 3:00, so I left our bags with bell services. The three of us strolled around waiting for the rest of our party to get there. When everyone got there, DH took off to return the car, and the rest of us headed for Animal Kingdom. My MIL was still feeling queasy, but was up to going to the park. We needed a locker, well two actually, since we weren't able to get into the rooms, and we had soooo much stuff... after getting the lockers, we took off to see the park. We met up with DH, and went to watch the Lion King show. After the show, we saw Pooh and got his autograph and then headed off for something to eat. We got a fastpass for Dinosaur and then headed to Pizzafari for lunch. Lunch was okay, and then we headed for Dinosaur. DD was not sure she wanted to go on the ride, but she decided to give it a try. Leave it to say that I don't think she'll be lining up for that one any time soon. After Dinosaur, we headed over to the Safari, and waited to get on. The line said 40 minutes, but I think it was more like an hour. As soon as the ride was over, my MIL, DS, DD & I headed out to go meet gym mom and the rest of the family at the resort. DH & BIL stayed behind to get all the stuff from the lockers and look at the picture the kids had taken with Pooh.

Back at the resort, we were told that gym mom and the rest of the family hadn't checked in yet, so we headed up to the rooms. We opened the door to room 2536 and DD decided that was the room she wanted. We then opened the door to 2538 just as gym mom was opening the door to come out. DH & younger BIL showed up after a few minutes, and we decided the schedule for the rest of the night. Gym mom and her family headed to Epcot, and the rest of us decided to hang out at the resort and then go over to the ESPN club for the Fiesta Bowl. We had important things to do... such as putting our temporary tattoos on!

Okay, we got to the ESPN club at 7:40 or so, and found out that there was a line waiting to get in. We got in line, and hoped that we would be able to get in by the time the Fiesta Bowl started. As the Rose bowl ended, people started leaving, so we were able to get two tables close to each other for the 10 of us. We went in, and then I went out to see if gym mom was there. I ran into them coming down the boardwalk, and we all went in. We watched the entire game at the ESPN club. I had to laugh when they did an interview at half and wanted to know if the people cheering for the Beavs were OSU fans, or if we didn't like Notre Dame. Now, how many people do you know that cheer for another team because they don't like a particular team go all out? We had OSU shirts or sweatshirts on, temporary Beaver tattoos on... if I was cheering for OSU just because I didn't like Notre Dame; I wouldn't go to that extreme. Even though the game was late, we had a great time watching the game on the big screen at the ESPN club.

Well, enough for now... I'll write more later.


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Michelle




6/88 - Off property
6/94 - Contemporary
9/98 - Port Orleans
1/01 - Beach Club
8/01 - ??

[This message has been edited by r_m_green (edited 01-14-2001).]

[m_green]

I forgot to mention that on New Year’s day, it was so cold that when we went out to get the car in the morning, there was ice on the windshield. Now in Oregon, that is to be expected. But in Florida?

Day 4… MK

The plan today is Magic Kingdom. We assumed that the crowds would have gone away by now… don’t all these people know their kids have to be back in school and they should be at work?? Okay, so you get the idea. The crowds at MK were anything but light! We started our day late since we were up late the night before. Our first stop was the Crystal Palace for our PS. We had a nice breakfast/brunch here. My DD still loves Pooh and enjoyed seeing the characters. I forgot to mention that we discovered our 17 mo old DS absolutely loved the characters. He wasn’t afraid of them at all and this pleasantly surprised us. He would hug them, high five them, and just didn’t want them to leave.

After breakfast, we headed out. The crowds were so bad that unless we had a fastpass for something, the lines were too long. We all got a fastpass for Space Mountain, and then our group split up. The kids, my MIL, DH and I headed for Fantasyland. Gym mom and her family, together with our younger BIL headed off for Alien Encounter. We went on the TeaCups, Snow White’s Adventure, and the Carousel. After that, we got a fast pass for the Pooh ride, and then headed off to meet up with the rest of the family at Space Mountain. We were there before the other group, so we tried to get on Space Mountain since we would have to go in shifts with DS. DD was turned back at Space Mountain for being too short. She was very disappointed as she rode Space Mountain at Disneyland and loved it. After riding Space Mountain, my DH decided to take DS and head back to the BC and get DD’s black shoes. We thought with these shoes, she would be tall enough to ride. It was decided that we would meet him at BTMRR in 1½ hours. When it came time to meet him, we couldn’t find him. It was as though the flood gates opened. After almost an hour, we finally located him. It had taken him that long to go from MK to BC and back ~ he was only in the room for about 15 minutes! By this time, we decided we would get something to eat. (and we discovered that DH wasn’t thinking… he left DD’s shoes in the room!!!) We ate at the Plaza Pavilion and then headed off to get our wristbands, and then DH left for another trip to BC to get the shoes, and the rest of us split up again. My younger BIL, MIL, DD, DS & I headed for Fantasyland. We stopped to see the Electrical Parade since neither my MIL or younger BIL had seen it before. After the fireworks, we headed off to meet up with everyone. The e-rides were the best thing! We did more in 3 hours than we had managed to do all day! We started with a couple of rides on Buzz Lightyear, moved on to Space Mountain (yes, DD was able to ride with the other shoes on), rode the Astro Orbitor twice, rode BTMRR, and hit the Haunted Mansion. There were many people that wanted to know how to get the wristbands. It was well worth the cost of purchasing the wristbands!! At 11:00, we headed back to the BC to relax.

Day 5… MGM
After all of the walking yesterday, my MIL was beat. (Obstacle #2) My DH borrowed a wheel chair from guest services and we headed off. We took the boat from the dock to MGM. We couldn’t believe that the crowds were still here… we still were wondering if everyone knew that they were supposed to be gone! We booked the Fantasmic dinner package when we got into the park, and then headed off to find something to eat. We ended up eating at Starring Rolls Bakery and then headed to get a fastpass for Rockin’ Roller Coaster. We got our fastpasses, then went to the Great Movie Ride. We headed back for our fastpass time at Rockin’ Roller Coaster, and rode it. All I can say about this ride is Move over Space Mountain… a new hands down favorite has been found!! We all loved this ride! What a great coaster! Just what Disney needs… say four more, all this great… After Rockin’ roller coaster, we headed for Tower of Terror. My DD wanted to ride this. We’ve been working on it for weeks, telling her it was 5 ups and 5 downs. We waited in line for this, and then got another fast pass for Rockin’ Roller Coaster. We did a baby swap on this one, and my DH stayed back with DS, and the rest of us went on the ride. Then, DD & DH went on the ride again. She did great, and again I was pleasantly surprised! We hit Star Tours and then caught part of the Mulan parade from across Echo Lake. We stopped and tried “Waffle Pups” (once is plenty!) and then had dinner at Hollywood & Vine. After dinner we headed to Rockin’ Roller Coaster for our second ride, and then off to Fantasmic. What a hike when you do the dinner package! We were really thrilled that we had the wheelchair. Fantasmic is definitely different here than at DL. I like that you are able to sit down to watch it here… DL you have to stand for the most part. After Fantasmic, we headed to the boat landing. The line was huge… we would have been at least 4 boats out, and so we headed to the buses. (Obstacle #3) Once there, we discovered that there are no buses that go to the BC. We decided to get on the bus to Epcot, and then walk from Epcot to the BC. Well, we got the scenic tour on that bus ride! We ended up at Animal Kingdom, and then back to Epcot. There were others on the bus that had the same idea, and when we saw AK through the window, we were all wondering if we were on the wrong bus. It was a long trip, but we finally made it to Epcot. We couldn’t walk pass Spaceship Earth without going on it per DD’s request, so we ended up on the ride. After the ride, we walked through to World Showcase. We were walking through as Illuminations was starting, so we watched it from a distance. We then made our way to the BC. Once there, we went downstairs for a drink. My DH had to leave the next day, so we went down to sit and chat for a while. It was last call as we walked in (before 10) and the guys ordered a drink. DD was exhausted, and we had laid her in the stroller. She slept the whole time we were down there. DS on the other hand, was full of energy.

Day 6… Epcot
DH had to catch the shuttle at 5:00, so I got up with him and helped him get off. With another late night, nobody had a lot of energy to get up too early. Gym mom and her kids, and DD, DS & I decided to get up early and go to MK for early entry. We spent about 2 hours there, and then headed back to BC to catch up with everyone else. We got together and headed over to Epcot for the afternoon. We spent most of our time in Future World, and hit Spaceship Earth, Wonders of Life, Imagination, Honey I Shrunk the Audience (which is another thing I will probably never get DD into again!), the Land and the Living Seas. I like the old Imagination better, but this one is okay. It was nice to see Figment in there every once in a while. We ate lunch at Sunshine Season Food Fair and then went on the Living with the Land ride. We had picked up a fastpass for Test track, and after all the rides, we headed for Chef Mickey’s via the monorail.

Dinner at Chef Mickey’s was probably DD’s highlight. She absolutely loves Minnie, so getting to see Minnie was great. We hadn’t seen Minnie at all up to this point, and she was very worried that we wouldn’t be able to see her. The food was good, and it was a fun atmosphere for the younger kids. We headed back to Epcot quickly to try and get on Test Track as our fastpass time was quickly expiring. We practically ran from the monorail to Test Track, leaving DS with my MIL. She was tired, so we were hoping that it would be quick. We got in line, and then were surprised at how long the fast pass line was. We were probably ½ through the line, and then they told everyone that the ride was down, and that they would stamp our fastpass and it would be good for any day, any time. We got our passes stamped, and headed out. It was still cold, but the days were getting a little warmer. Once back at the resort, some of us decided to brave it, and we went down to the hot tub. It was great while in it, once you got out though, your feet about froze on the cement!

Day 7… AK

Once again another late night, and so another late morning. We decided that we would hit AK for a while, and then head to Downtown Disney for dinner. When we got to AK, we went and got a fastpass for the Safari, and then went to Tusker House Restaurant for lunch. I think this is my favorite restaurant at AK. The prices were not bad for the amount of food you got. I split my fried chicken with DD and DS, and we were full. We got out of the restaurant in time to catch the fastpass for the Safari. The driver we had this time was great! She drove as though you were on a Safari. It was definitely a little more wild than the other day, but it just contributed to the fun. We then hit “It’s Tough to be a Bug”, and this is another thing I’m sure DD will not agree to do anytime soon! I think after Honey I Shrunk the Audience, she was too apprehensive about this one. The only other thing we did was go to the Tarzan Rocks show. DD liked this one, and agreed that could do it again sometime.

We all headed back to the resort, and gym mom and I took the kids to the pool. DD, my niece, my nephew & I all went swimming. The slide at the BC is great. The walk and climb to the start though, was COLD! The wind was blowing, and the climb up the stairs was no fun in the wind. After the swim, we all headed over to DD for dinner at Rainforest Cafe. The wait was 90 minutes, so we tried joining the Safari Club. Unfortunately, you can’t use the walk up privileges the first day you join.

With that said, we headed out to check out the shops. We decided to meet back at 9:00 for our 9:15 dinner seating. We wandered through Disney’s Days of Christmas, the Art of Disney, 2 R’s reading and riting and the Home with Mickey store. I love all the Christmas items, but I don’t think I could work in Disney’s Days of Christmas. The smell of pine was too strong… it made my stomach turn! Don’t get me wrong, I love the smell of Pine, but it was way too strong. I bought a Mickey cookbook at 2 R’s reading and riting, now all I have to do if find the time to actually try some of the recipes!

We went back to the Rainforest Café, and waited for our name to be called. By this time we were hungry, and just wanted to eat. Our name was called just as I was waiting in line to find out how much longer. After dinner the plan was to stay and hit Pleasure Island. Okay, here comes obstacle #4… We ordered dinner and an appetizer and were waiting for the dinners to come. All of a sudden, DS throws up everywhere. Okay, remember that DH is back home now, and we are across the World from our resort. I take DS to the bathroom quickly to clean him up as much as possible, and gym mom cleans up the table and floor as best she can. The waiter brought a cup, and left for DS. I asked him if I could get my food to go so that I can take DS back to the resort. Dinner is served shortly thereafter, and my dinner is there. I decided it would be just as easy to eat there, so I start eating. Then here comes the server with my to go order. I eat quickly, and then DD, MIL, DS & I head back to the resort. While we are waiting for our bus, younger BIL meets up with us and heads back too. We get back to the room, and DS is doing okay. I put him to bed with a towel underneath him, just in case. He doesn’t throw up anymore, but now has the runs too.

Day 8… favorites
This is the last day for my MIL, younger BIL, DD, DS & I at the World. DD & I get up early to hit MK for EE while everyone else sleeps in. My MIL stayed with DS, and DD & I head to MK. In the two hours we were there, we hit Buzz Lightyear, Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, Dumbo, Peter Pan’s flight (twice), It’s a Small World, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (fast pass for this one), the Tea Cups, and the Barnstormer at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm, Minnie’s Country House, and took the WDW Railroad back to the Main Gate. Then DD & I headed off in search of something DS could eat. We finally found a couple of banana’s and headed back to the BC. My MIL, younger BIL and DD then went to Epcot, and DS & I took a walk around the Boardwalk. I was looking for diapers since we now needed some, and I was looking for some Pedialite also.

We all met up at the resort, and decided what we were going to do for the evening. We ended up splitting up for the night, and my MIL, younger BIL, DD, DS & I decided to go back to MGM and eat dinner at the Sci-Fi theater and then head over to view the Osborn Lights. We caught the boat to MGM, went straight to the restaurant, and had dinner. I was in the mood for a hamburger, and our server said I could order it even though it wasn’t on the dinner menu. We all ended up having hamburgers… Halfway through dinner, DS threw up again. This time I was at least prepared, and had the plastic cup from the Rainforest Café with me. I had even brought a change of clothes just in case, so I went and changed him, and came back. He nibbled on a few items and then was okay the rest of the night. We walked down to the Osborn lights, and had a great time. We looked in this one little building at the end of the lights, and found Santa Goofy, Chip and Dale there. DD & DS had their pictures taken with the characters. It was a great way to end our trip!

We headed back to the boat dock, and found a line that was as long as the other night. We decided that we would try to locate the walking path and walk back to the resort. We found the walkway, and headed back. It didn’t take us very long at all to get to the resort, and it sure beat waiting in that line! I’m sure we beat the people at the end of the line by at least an hour.

Day 9… heading home

Our flight was at 7:10, so Tiffany Towncar was to pick us up at 5:30. I called the previous night and verified our return trip and when they would be there to pick us up. They said David would be there at 5:30. By about 5:40, I was getting nervous. Just as we were contemplating calling, he drove up. He had gone to the Yacht club instead of the Beach Club. Finally, we were on our way.

We get to the airport by 6:10, and start to check in at United outside the terminal. They check our flights, and tell us that our last flight has been cancelled,(obstacle #5) and we will have to wait in this huge, monstrous, outrageous line inside. We are in line, and there are four curves to the line. In 20 minutes, we haven’t even made it ¼ of the way… I’m thinking this is not looking too good. I went to the phones to see if I could call United’s reservations, but no luck. All of the pages have been torn out of the phone books. I finally remember that you can call 800 directory assistance without $$, so I call them. I get the number, and call about our flights. The lady on the phone says that they can get us on the next flight out of SF, but that it will put us in Portland at 10 pm. Portland is the other end of the state from us…a 4 ½ - 5 hour drive. This is not a good option. I ask about a local airport, and they can get us in here at noon. Okay, it’s set, noon local is better than 10 pm at the other end of the state. I decide that we will just have to send DH and BIL to Portland on Monday to retrieve our truck… Needless to say, they finally start pulling people out of the line at about 6:50, and when we get on the plane we are literally the last 5 people on. The crew is reminding everyone to find a seat as soon as possible so that people with connections in SF can make their connections. Well, the good news is we are on the plane, and all seems well. I couldn’t reach DH, so I figure we will worry about this when we get to SF.

We land in SF, and head to our gate. I figure I’ll try DH again once we are there. As I am pushing the stroller through the terminal, an airport employee starts saying something about DS. I go around front and find him throwing up ~ everywhere! Not only is his pants soaked, his shirt is covered and now the stroller. Okay here is the biggest andfinal obstacle, a sick child and one more flight! Well, I had packed an extra set of clothes in the diaper bag, so we go to the gate, and I grab him and head off for the restroom. People are making comments about him having too much fun eating… I just didn’t have the energy or desire to tell them he was sick, not a messy eater. I get him all cleaned up, and leave him with DD, MIL & BIL while I go to find a plastic bag for his clothes. I went to a store, got a bag, and came back to put the clothes in the bag. I pick DS up, and can feel that he had another case of the runs and it has completely overfilled his diaper and his clean (as of 10 minutes before) pants are now not so clean. Off we go to the bathroom again. I get him cleaned up, but this time I have no clean pants for him. I figure we are close to being home, and I’ll just keep him wrapped up in his blanket. I try to call DH again, but he had been called back to work, so he wasn’t home yet. (The life of a fireman!) I checked my cell phone, and I have some battery left, so I go and page him. He calls shortly thereafter, and he is on his way home from Medford. I told him to turn around and come get us at the airport.

That is how we ended our trip. We arrived in Medford with no further problems. DH dropped DS, DD & I off at home before taking his mom and brother home. DH & BIL decide to get the trip to Portland out of the way, and they took off to retrieve our big truck. I stayed home with DS & DD, and DS didn’t get sick again.

All in all, it was an eventful trip. Must have been okay since everyone still wants to go again. Now all that is left is to decide when we want to go. Halloween or sometime in the summer. After the cold weather, we are contemplating the summer… late August, early September or the 2nd or 3rd week of June. Guess you could say we like Disney… we are even talking seriously about joining the DVC.

[This message has been edited by r_m_green (edited 01-14-2001).]