Our Big Fat Family Vacation 10/11/03 - 10/17/03 - all of day 5, 6, 7 Complete About This Page:

[poohsgirl]

<font color="purple"> Peter sounds like my son, he doesn't like shopping either. Ay caramba, Mexico next! Can't wait ! </font>

[tikibird]

Enjoying hearing about your day at Epcot and looking forward to what you did in the WS!

More, please...

[DrDolphin]

I know what you mean about planning the plan and working the plan at the parks == however when I was there in Oct (the extact same time you were - it was HOT wasn't it?) I realized that I am a whol elot happier if I just go with the flow --= when I am alone I can do the whole plan thing - but with others, esp Disney novices, I take my time, sit back and relax now.

[Happy _Disney_Family]

I'm just not finding the time to write my report or post

But good news. Here is my latest installment. Hopefully, I'll find time to write more and finish it!

Here goes!

Day 4 Part 2 and then on then Day 5

We decided to head to Mexico for supper. We hit the Cantina and grabbed a couple of tables outside. Nikki, Ben and Tori had tacos. Marshall and I shared a Chicken Taco salad it was huge. The kids ran around a bit, mostly by our table where there weren’t too many other people for them to disturb while we ate a leisurely supper. After supper we rode “El Rio de Tiempo” and the kids thought it was cool. Tori really liked floating by the in door volcano. Knowing that our children especially Peter and Tori, would not have the patience for the World Showcase we headed back to Future World. There was enough time to see Spaceship Earth before heading over to Test Track for our fast pass time. Marshall and I really love Spaceship Earth and will usually do it w few times in a given trip, but I don’t think the others were too impressed. They liked it but I think they were expecting something else due to the look and size of the attraction. However, the kids really liked the technology stuff after you get off the ride. Noah was crawling around on the carpet and when he came to the change in the floor that is blue under a glass like floor he just stopped at the edge. He didn’t move on to the floor until he saw others standing on it and new it was safe. I thought this was really neat as he did exactly what developmental psychology books said he would given this situation. There is a theory name for what he did but I can’t remember it. In fact I was surprised that I even remembered that it had to do with developmental psychology.

Next we headed to Test Track, but the line was long. No problem, we had fast passes. Nick, Nikki, Ben, Tori and Peter headed towards the fast pass line. I was waiting with Noah. I waited and waited and both the stand by line and the fast pass line got longer and longer. Pretty soon I heard some one say that Test Track was closed and they were running safty checks. Pretty soon people started to leave the lines. Marshall came running back to me with Peter. Peter had decided he didn’t want to go on the ride because it was so loud. And if you are standing out by where the cars go zooming by it is pretty loud. I tried to convince Peter that he would really like it but he just was too scared, again chalk it up to “Honey, I shrunk the Audience”. So Marshall ran back to line, tey were now at the front of the fast pass line because so many people had left. Finally they re-opened Test Track and they all got to ride. Ben and Tori came bouncing over to Peter, Noah and I telling Peter how much fun the ride was and how it wasn’t scary. Test Track quickly became one of Ben and Tori’s favorite rides and Peter was a bit disappointed that he didn’t go on it.

After Test Track we decided to head home, we wanted to get the kids to bed early. So we headed towards the bus and there was one waiting for us. Nothing beats the feeling of seeing your resort bus waiting for you after leaving Epcot for the day.

Meanwhile, some where in the World Showcase Helen and Connie were having a great time seeing all the countries. They powered through so they at least got a taste or look of all the countries. They then stayed for illuminations and thought the show was outstanding.

Day 5

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

We were up and off to MGM by 8:30. We got to MGM and headed for Rock-n-Roller Coaster (R-n-R). Which isn’t usually how we start our days at MGM. Marshall and I always start off at Starring Rolls Bakery for a little something but this time we decided that maybe the others might not do well with having just had something to eat, so we decided to head toward R-n-R.

Much to our surprise when we got to the end of the street we saw that The Tower of Terror (ToT) was open. We were all so thrilled, as ToT was scheduled to be closed; even better the wait was only 20 minutes. So I grabbed out tickets and ran over to R-n-R to get fast passes. I got back and Peter decided he didn’t want to go on ToT, which we were glad. Peter had been talking for months how he wanted to go on ToT. Marshall plays ToT with him at home. Peter will sit in a laundry basket and Marshall will lift it high above his head and let it come down quickly then back up, then down, then bounce around, basically like the ToT. So I was quite relieved that Peter decided that he didn’t want to go on ToT. I was pretty sure he would have been a tearful crying mess if he had gone on and then all the other people there would be saying to themselves; “What were those parents thinking? Why would you take your 4 year old on a ride this scary.”

Since the rest had just started up the path I ran and caught up with them. I only had to ask to cut in front of a few people. And they were all very nice about it.

I love ToT; it is my favorite attraction at MGM. I scream every time but I love it. Ben and Tori got pretty scared but neither one of them cried. Although Ben was very concerned and kept asking his mom; “This hasn’t ever really happened before.” Helen said her knees were shaking when she got off. Connie had done it once before on a previous trip and was scared to death, but had to do it again to make sure her sister Helen would go on. I’m pretty sure that that was her last stay at the Hollywood Hotel. Nikki decided it was too scary too.

After that we headed towards Rock-n-Roller Coaster. Our fast pass time was up so Marshall, Nikki, Ben, and Connie headed off in the first group. Helen and I stayed back with the little ones. Peter and Tori were not tall enough to ride and of course Noah wasn’t either. I realized we had two extra fast passes so I found a couple that was headed towards line and asked if they would like a fast pass, as we had two extra, and the time was for right now. They were very happy to not have to stand in line for 45 minutes. I love helping to make someone’s day more magical when I’m at Disney World when I can. I made them happy and the extra fast passes we got didn’t go to waste.

After the first group was done Helen and I got our turn. Helen loved it. It became on eof here favorite attractions.

After R-n-R Helen and I headed to Starring Rolls to meet up with the rest for our little snack. The others were just getting their food when Helen and I caught up. I had a mini cheesecake with fresh fruit on top. Yummmmm. Marshall had a mini Key lime pie, which was equally as good.

Next we headed towards the Great Movie ride to see if we would have time to rite it before the next Indy show. After seeing the line I decided that we would have time, so we headed over towards Indy. Helen, Nikki, Ben, Peter, Noah and I went in and got seats for the show. Marshall and Connie were going to have lunch at the Brown Derby, they has priority seating for noon so they headed off that way with plans to meet up with the rest of us at Pizza Planet after they had finished their lunch and we had seen Indy.

Connie had been waiting for two years to eat at the Brown Derby. She and I had planned to have lunch there when she came with us in 2001, but the terrorist attacks had spoiled our plans. That is right, we had planned to have lunch there back on 9/11/2001. When we all met up again after lunch, she proclaimed that the Brown Derby was worth the 2-year wait. She had gotten a bunch of recipes and was excited to bring them home and try them out.

The rest of us enjoyed Indiana Jones Stunt Epic. It had been 3 or 4 years since I had seen it and I was amazed at how much I forgot about the show.

After Indy we headed to Pizza Planet, this was Ben’s request. We had pizza and salads and after lunch the kids all played some games for a bit. The kids really had a great time in there. Sometimes as adults you forget to stop and enjoy the small things. We could have gotten in another attraction or so but the kids wanted to play some games and it was very enjoyable for all. They had such a great time and so did the adults watching and helping them play some games.

After Pizza Planet we headed to the Muppets 3-D theater. The kids really enjoyed this show. I just love watching the expression on all the little ones faces and watching them try and touch the things that were jumping out at them.

After Muppets it was time for Nikki, Helen, Tori and I to head back to the room to start getting ready to have dinner at 1900 Park Fare with Cinderella. Tori was very excited to have dinner with Cinderella. I was just thrilled that I got to go along, because I figured that this would be my only chance to see a little princess meet a big princess. I love seeing all the little girls all dressed up in their princess gowns when they go to meet a princess or in hopes of meeting a princess. Since I have two boys, I’ll never get the chance to see a little princess meet a big princess. I was very glad I got to be there too.

Next up Dinner with Cinderella and the Adults Big night Out while the grandma’s watch the kids.

[poohsgirl]

<font color="purple"> Great installment! Glad that you all enjoyed the Brown Derby.
</font>

[tikibird]

[ QUOTE ]
Tori was very excited to have dinner with Cinderella. I was just thrilled that I got to go along, because I figured that this would be my only chance to see a little princess meet a big princess. I love seeing all the little girls all dressed up in their princess gowns when they go to meet a princess or in hopes of meeting a princess. Since I have two boys, I’ll never get the chance to see a little princess meet a big princess. I was very glad I got to be there too.



[/ QUOTE ]

I'm with you there - as much as I love my boys, everytime I see a little girl in one of those princess outfits I'm a little sad I never had the experience of having a daughter.

Glad you find the time to write more for us - really enjoyed this installment, and looking forward to hearing about breakfast with Cindy!

[DouglasE]

The thing that your trip report seems to highlight is two facts about Walt Disney World that I swear by. One: There is something for everyone. Two: No way you can do everything unless you've got a month or more to spend in WDW. So happy that you are able to go with the flow more. Which reminds me of fact number THREE: A Disney trip is so much easier to handle when you know you will be returning.

[luvnwdwgal]

I am really enjoying your trip report and can't wait for the next installment!

[joyjoy]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought this was really neat as he did exactly what developmental psychology books said he would given this situation. There is a theory name for what he did but I can’t remember it. In fact I was surprised that I even remembered that it had to do with developmental psychology.


[/ QUOTE ]

Heehee! That cracked me up. I'm enjoying your report, sounds like everyone's having a great time!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great installment Can't wait to hear all about your dinner with Cinderella

[Happy _Disney_Family]

Did you think I got lost? I was beginning to think I'd never get time to finish this report.

I had to take a break from my trip report because I had to get the planning done for our February trip.

So here is the conclusion to "Our Big Fat FAmily Vacation"


Day 5 part 2

After Muppets it was time for Nikki, Helen, Tori and I to head back to the room to start getting ready to have dinner at 1900 Park Fare with Cinderella. Tori was very excited to have dinner with Cinderella. I was just thrilled that I got to go along, because I figured that this would be my only chance to see a little princess meet a big princess. I love seeing all the little girls all dressed up in their princess gowns when they go to meet a princess or in hopes of meeting a princess. Since I have two boys, I’ll never get the chance to see a little princess meet a big princess. I was very glad I got to be there too.

While the girls, all except Connie, went back to the room to get ready for dinner with Cinderella, the Boys and Connie continued on at MGM.

After the Muppets they headed towards the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play ground. Now I have never been on this attraction but Marshall told me it was really fun. He had a great time running through it with Ben and Peter. In fact he said if it’s not too busy and you like climbing around and acting like a kid, that all adults should try it too. If it’s not too busy when we go in February I’m going to have to give it a try. After climbing around Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, they headed to the Great Movie ride. Ben and Peter were a little nervous during the gunfight and the Alien part, but otherwise did just fine. Connie loved the Wizard of Oz part, as it is one of her favorite movies.

After the Great Movie Ride they headed back to the room to have supper and go swimming. After swimming Ben and Peter played guns. Both boys managed to talk their parents into letting them get play guns from the shop in the hotel.

Meanwhile all the girls got ready to meet Cinderella. Tori was all dressed up in her Cinderella dress with crown and “glass” slippers. She looked really cute all dressed up. We headed for the boat and took the boat to the Contemporary. WE had some time to kill so we looked around the shops there for a while. Tori got a new Cinderella purse for the occasion. Then we hopped the monorail to the Grand Floridian.

This is the first time I had ever been in the Grand Floridian and it was so beautiful inside, but made me a little nervous like I better remember to use my best manors and hummm, maybe I’m a little under dressed for this hotel. It just didn’t have that relaxed comfortable feeling you get while staying at the Wilderness Lodge. I’ve always said I want to stay their sometime but now I’m not so sure. I don’t know if I want to say at a hotel where I can’t get that comfortable homey feeling. But just the parts of the hotel that I saw were so beautiful, it makes me want to see the rest.

Anyway, we headed to 1900 Park Fare to eat with Cinderella. We got seated right away and had time to get started eating. All the food was wonderful, but my favorite was the Strawberry Soup, this was outstanding.

First to stop was Prince Charming and he was very sweet. Telling Tori how pretty she was and calling her Princess Tori. Tori was a little shy of him so she didn’t really talk to him and we were only able to get a picture of her with him as long as Nikki, her mom, was in the picture. Next came the mice, Suzy and Perla (I think that is her name). Although Tori said their names were Suzy and Mary. Tori loved the mice, she smiled and hugged them and posed for many pictures. Then came Cinderella, and again Tori was a little shy at first but warmed up and did pose for a few photos just here and Cinderella. We had a great time. It was so much fun seeing all the little girls dressed up in their princess clothes to meet Cinderella. And the food was really, really good too.

After supper we headed back to the Wilderness Lodge. Helen and Connie (the grandmas) had agreed to watch the kids while the parents went out. Nikki, Marshall and I headed downtown to do a little shopping and then hit Pleasure Island. We spent lots of time looking through and buying things in lots of shops. After a few hours we decided that we were just too tired to head to Pleasure Island so we headed back home and called it a night, we were home by 11:00 pm.

Day 6

Thursday, October 16, 2003

Everyone decided that they wanted to go to Blizzard Beach instead of spending our last day at Animal Kingdom so we skipped Animal Kingdom. I was a little surprised at this decision, but it is what the group wanted to do, so that was fine with me.

We found a nice shaded area by Tike’s Peak. The kids and adults had a great time splashing around Tike’s Peaks. Helen, Connie, Ben, Tori, and Nikki took a spin around the lazy river while Peter Noah, Marshall and I continued to splash around and slide down the slides in Tike’s Peak.

After a while Marshall and I took Ben over to some of the bigger slides. We took the chair lift to the top. The chair lift is fun to ride, but is was very slow because there were a lot of guests that used wheelchairs visiting that day so it took a bit longer loading and unloading. We could have gotten in more sliding time had we just walked. After we got off the chair lift we headed to Teamboat Springs, the family raft slide. This was a lot of fun. After that we headed to Runoff Rapids. I went down in a single tube and Marshall and Ben went in a double. This was a fun slide too, but you had to climb a lot of stairs carrying your tube. I thought I was going to die by the time I made it to the top. After that we jumped in the Lazy River and rode it back to Tike’s Peak.
By now it was early afternoon and Peter and Noah were getting cranky so Marshall and I decided to head back to the room so Peter and Noah could get rested up for Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party.

The rest of the group was going to take a ride on Teamboat Springs and then Nikki, Ben and Tori headed back for some rest while Connie and Helen were headed downtown.

Connie and Helen never did make it downtown. Partially because of the directions Marshall and I gave them. I told them to hop a bus to the Ticket and Transportation Center and then hop a bus to downtown. I told them to take this route because is all of my visits the Ticket and Transportation Center was a main hub and you could always get to where you need to go from there, not so anymore! Marshall did tell them to just ask a bus driver whom they did once they got to the Ticket and Transportation Center and they told them that there were no busses that went downtown. So they were told to stay on the bus they were on and take it to Animal Kingdom and from there take a bus to any resort and then take a bus to downtown from the resort. So they ended up just coming back to the Wilderness Lodge and skipped going downtown. So (TIP) if you want to go to downtown go to the nearest resort and take a bus to downtown. This is how you also travel from resort to resort (if there isn’t direct transportation to the resort you want to visit from your home resort), bus downtown then bus to the resort of your choice.

Finally it was time for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP). Peter dressed up like Peter Pan, Ben was a bandit, Tori was Cinderella and Noah was dressed in Halloween pj bottoms and a onsie that I had painted on before we left that said “My First Halloween” and had pumpkins and skeletons on it. We headed out to the boat to go to the Magic Kingdom, and wow was there a lot of people waiting. We were the last group to make it on the first boat that came.

The Magic Kingdom was all decked out. It was so cool. They did an excellent job on the decorations. We were using this night as a chance to do the rides we missed and the ones that the group wanted to do again, so I didn’t really get to look and admire decorations as much as I wanted too. I highly recommend that if you ever are at Disney near Halloween to go to a MNSSHP, but don’t use it as an extra park day but rather use it to just take advantage of the other activities and to admire the park’s transformation.

We did lots of rides even though the Park was pretty crowded. I was prepared for crowds but was hopping that it would have been a little less crowded then it was. Although, the wait times for rides were not bad at all, except for the rides in Fantasyland. We did space mountain, Ben was thrilled and thought it was so much fun. Buzz Lightyear, Tea Cups, Peter Pan (twice, even though the wait was long) Pooh, Pirates, and The Haunted Mansion. We ended up missing the fireworks, which was Fantasy in the Sky because we were on the Haunted Mansion. So I was a little bummed out that we missed the fireworks.

Next came the Boo to You parade. This was a great parade that started out with the headless horseman galloping through the park, very cool! I’m not a big parade person, but I loved this parade. It was fun to see all the characters in costumes. And the characters did such a great job of interacting with the kids too. For example Captain Hook spotted my son, Peter, dressed up like Peter Pan and stared pointing at him and staking his hook as if to say “I’ll get you Peter Pan.” Peter got a kick out of that. MNSSHP was a great way to spend our last night. We were all having so much fun that we ended up staying later then we had planned, almost until 12:00, which is late for little ones.

Day 7- Good-bye Disney World

Friday, October 17, 2003

We ended our vacation with breakfast at the Whispering Cannon Café. We all had a big delicious very filling breakfast.

Our flight home was uneventful, not nearly as stressful. And although I was sad to go I couldn’t wait to get home to rest and start planning our winter get away where it would just be Marshall and I and one Big World.

Lessons Learned

I learned many things this trip. Most important, things don’t always go as planned so just kick back and go with the flow and you’ll have fun.

Not only will no two Disney World trips will be the same, but also the trip will differ depending on the players involved. This trip, with 10 people was fun but very different from any other Disney trip I have taken.

Lastly, keep your 4-year-old out of all shops or bring lots of money. I always thought it was so cute how you always end up in a store at the end of most attractions. This isn’t so cute when you have a 4-year-old who thinks he needs everything he sees. I highly recommend investing in a very good blind fold that you can slip over your child eyes at the end of attractions. I will go back to thinking the hops at the end of rides are cute in February, as Peter will not be joining Marshall and I for our winter get away. I know, what bad parents we are, but it gets better. I actually told Peter that Marshall and I are going to Disney World in February, but it is just a meeting for big people. Kids can’t come because it is a meeting so we can learn how to be a better mommy and daddy. I’m not sure he is buying this excuse because he told me we didn’t need to go to a meeting like that. I think he doesn’t want us to go to Disney World without him, and I can’t blame him.

[tikibird]

Jennifer,

Thanks so much for finishing this for us! I loved reading about your trip; you did a wonderful job with this report! Thanks for sharing your special times at WDW with us!

[Colexis Mom]

Jennifer, great report Thanks for sharing your vacation with us. It's hard with a group that big, but sounds like you all managed well!! Looking forward to your TR in February

[dsnytina]

What a cool trip! Thank you for sharing your amazing family's memories with us!
Tina

[DouglasE]

I would love to see that headless horesman. I love parades so this must have been great if you enjoyed it too. That's great that Peter got Hook's attention. I'll bet he'll remember that for a long time to come. Looking forward to your next adult only adventure in WDW.