Madzac
05-27-2009, 02:45 PM
Sunday May 17- departure day
As always, every much anticipated trip has to come to an end... It always seems to take forever to get to a trip and then you are off with so many days ahead, and next thing you know, you are heading home! We got up at our usual time and starting packing up our things. We had our suitcases stuffed and went down to the resort airline check in to check ourselves and our bags in. This seemed to take a very long time and was not a speedy process, but we made it. We had 815am ADRs at WCC for breakfast and we were looking forward to it. This was a GREAT choice! We had a terrific server who was really funny and knew all the kids by name quickly. We saw a sing a long, they did stick pony rides with the kids, we had straws thrown at us, and I even tricked DH into asking for ketchup! Too funny! You should have seen his face! We really loved it here and had a very good breakfast... two had the skilet and the rest of us had pancakes or french toast. The smoothies were also very good here. I would certainly come back again.
After breakfast we had about half an hour prior to the ME bus. I wish we would have been able to get out later and swim our last day, but everyone had to be back for work and school, so we had a flight out at 1230ish. We went back to the room and put our carry ons together and boxed up the crib to get it ready for bell services to take back. We then hit the store one last time and spent what we could of our remaining disney dollars on our disney rewards card. We meant to hit RF and spend our remaining snack credits but didnt remember that until we were on the bus! The bus was right on time and made two other stops before heading to the airport. We had the BEST driver who was really funny and told us all the reasons why we should come back next month and how to solve the "barriers" ie, money, vacation time, etc, to be able to do that! I always feel so sad heading back to the airport and leaving the world, not knowing just when we will manage to get back. It is also always sad to watch the travelers all just arriving at MCO to start their vacation as we are heading home (though with the sounds of reports from last week, the weather was pretty lousy!). We boarded the flight on time, made it into Atlanta and had a several hour layover. We grabbed a quick meal and then hit the last leg home. DD and I worked on her trip Journal much of the way. DS1 slept and DS4 played a little and slept. All were really great travelers, but boy were we ready to be back home! We arrived home on time, grabbed the bags and made our last car ride back home! A very uneventful travel day!
FINAL THOUGHTS
WL- we loved this resort so much! It was simply beautiful! Housekeeping was very good and for the first time ever we had towel animals several times during our stay. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Our rooms were very nice and comfy, beds were great. VERY quiet. We enjoyed the water pagent, the pool, the activities. We loved the proximity to the MK especially! The boat was wonderful. Bus service was great in the mornings, but slower mid day and at night then I have experienced in my last two trips. IT was nice not to have to drive and park, but at times a little frustrating too. I do love staying onsite and being immersed in the magic though... if we can talk grandma into going back with us again, we just might be back to WL!
The parks- wonderful as always. MK is still our favorite, but really we liked every one for something or other. The best for us were Soarin, TT, the Biergarten at Epcot; Splash, BTMRR, Pirates and CRT at MK; EE and the Nemo and Lion King shows at AK; and Playhouse disney, character greetings and TSM at DHS. We could have used another morning at Epcot and half day at DHS. Everything was clean. LAst trip we didnt enjoy DHS as much but this time, we enjoyed all four. Despite predictions of high crowds in May, we found it to be as pleasant as our previous two trips in May. While there were a lot of people, the waits were not bad at all. We walked on many things, and used FP. Ridemax worked very well for us and I would get it again. It organized our days, and allowed us to get a lot done. We did veer from the plans at times, but it worked well. The longest we ever waited was that last night at Epcot for Soarin at 40 min. Otherwise, we usually had 5-10 min waits for most everything else. The parades are still all wonderful, and evening shows worth seeing for sure. My favorite is still the Spectromagic/Wishes combo!
Eating and the dining plan- we had really good food the whole week we were there. There wasnt a single meal we didnt enjoy I have to say. I think CRT or Ohana were our favorite TS meals, and Sunshine Seasons was our fav CS meal. There was always plenty of food! Usually DS1 ate off our plates, but a couple times we used an extra CS on him. This was our second trip on the basic DDP. We like having it already paid prior to going and not worrying about the expense at the time of the meal. We used our rewards card for tips and that worked well. Last time we got great value out of the plan. This trip, unfortunatly with DH and DS arriving late, and then illness in several of us causing us to miss some meals, we ended up not using one table service and several CS meals. We also had a few snacks that remained. I would still do the plan again though... although next time we go DD will likely be 10 and considered an adult...my one year old eats more than she does, so we will have to see.
Traveling with young children- it is certainly a different trip, good and bad, when you take young kids with you! It is so magical to see things through their eyes! Seeing their eyes light up at the characters, the parades, the fireworks. Watching DS4 on his first roller coaster. Seeing DD after getting her hair done up! Watching little DS at the playhouse disney show. Awesome memories! I think the key to traveling with kids is that you have to scale back a little. You cant see it all in a week, and you wont make it if you do! You HAVE to take those breaks. The parks are huge and overwhelming for anyone, especially young kids! Getting the boys to the hotel for a real nap several days was key to making our nights better. Also having a few days we didnt plan rope drop. And the pool is a big part of vacation for them! Our DD at 7 was just a perfect age, so easy going and enjoyed it all, was able to do it all. I felt pretty guilty taking her out of school though she is a great student, but it worked out well and she has been enjoying sharing her journal with her first grade class. DS4 was probably the most challenging, as he did get pretty worn out and didnt always handle the heat very well. He hated to give in to nap too, but did so much better when he did. DS1 had a ball! I know many dont want to take kids who wont remember, but I will remember and have so many great pictures! He still gets a big grin when I ask him if he met "Duck"! He went on every ride without a height requirement and there wasnt anything he didnt seem to enjoy. I will say though, that at his age of 18 months, renting a full size crib was the best thing we did! He just doesnt sleep well in a pack and play. Also be sure to have plenty of snacks each day. And strollers... we purchased two maclaren strollers on ebay and they were a lifesaver. We definitly needed one for DS4 and there were times DD would have liked to have riden! Anyway, all three kids really did well and had fun. Also, if you can take a grandparent, and we saw so many grandparents... this was fantastic for an extra pair of hands, and a chance to get some one on one time with the kids too. I cant thank my mom enough for coming with us. I know it was exhausting for her and I hope she enjoyed it for herself too... she did say she would go back with us again!
What I learned.... I really did have to learn to go with the flow this trip. I am such a planner, and have been planning this trip for so very long. I had each day pretty mapped out with parks, rides, shows and ADRs. I wanted the trip to be one to remember forever for everyone. Well, it doesnt always work that way. Lots of things, even on a vacation, are out of our control. And we have two choices... we refuse to adapt and are unhappy, or we let it go and make the best of it, and make our fun the best we can. This is what we chose to do. And you know what, it was a wonderful trip. When I look back now, especially after writing this trip report, I can say that we certainly had more good times than bad... and some of the bad created some memories we may not have had otherwise (ok, my son needing staples in his head isnt one I will cherish, but our bonding as a family is!). so anyway, you can only plan so much, and even more important than a plan is a good attitude.
Would I have done anything differently? Well, if I could next time, i would certainly add another day or two. It would be nice to try the waterparks as we have never been, and just have more days with breaks or where we take it easier. Otherwise, I wouldnt change much else! Though I may strap DS down in the airport next time!
Thanks for reading along with us and sharing our journey! I look forward to reading others' trip reports to get my disney fix until we can all head back again!!! :mickey::mickey:
As always, every much anticipated trip has to come to an end... It always seems to take forever to get to a trip and then you are off with so many days ahead, and next thing you know, you are heading home! We got up at our usual time and starting packing up our things. We had our suitcases stuffed and went down to the resort airline check in to check ourselves and our bags in. This seemed to take a very long time and was not a speedy process, but we made it. We had 815am ADRs at WCC for breakfast and we were looking forward to it. This was a GREAT choice! We had a terrific server who was really funny and knew all the kids by name quickly. We saw a sing a long, they did stick pony rides with the kids, we had straws thrown at us, and I even tricked DH into asking for ketchup! Too funny! You should have seen his face! We really loved it here and had a very good breakfast... two had the skilet and the rest of us had pancakes or french toast. The smoothies were also very good here. I would certainly come back again.
After breakfast we had about half an hour prior to the ME bus. I wish we would have been able to get out later and swim our last day, but everyone had to be back for work and school, so we had a flight out at 1230ish. We went back to the room and put our carry ons together and boxed up the crib to get it ready for bell services to take back. We then hit the store one last time and spent what we could of our remaining disney dollars on our disney rewards card. We meant to hit RF and spend our remaining snack credits but didnt remember that until we were on the bus! The bus was right on time and made two other stops before heading to the airport. We had the BEST driver who was really funny and told us all the reasons why we should come back next month and how to solve the "barriers" ie, money, vacation time, etc, to be able to do that! I always feel so sad heading back to the airport and leaving the world, not knowing just when we will manage to get back. It is also always sad to watch the travelers all just arriving at MCO to start their vacation as we are heading home (though with the sounds of reports from last week, the weather was pretty lousy!). We boarded the flight on time, made it into Atlanta and had a several hour layover. We grabbed a quick meal and then hit the last leg home. DD and I worked on her trip Journal much of the way. DS1 slept and DS4 played a little and slept. All were really great travelers, but boy were we ready to be back home! We arrived home on time, grabbed the bags and made our last car ride back home! A very uneventful travel day!
FINAL THOUGHTS
WL- we loved this resort so much! It was simply beautiful! Housekeeping was very good and for the first time ever we had towel animals several times during our stay. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Our rooms were very nice and comfy, beds were great. VERY quiet. We enjoyed the water pagent, the pool, the activities. We loved the proximity to the MK especially! The boat was wonderful. Bus service was great in the mornings, but slower mid day and at night then I have experienced in my last two trips. IT was nice not to have to drive and park, but at times a little frustrating too. I do love staying onsite and being immersed in the magic though... if we can talk grandma into going back with us again, we just might be back to WL!
The parks- wonderful as always. MK is still our favorite, but really we liked every one for something or other. The best for us were Soarin, TT, the Biergarten at Epcot; Splash, BTMRR, Pirates and CRT at MK; EE and the Nemo and Lion King shows at AK; and Playhouse disney, character greetings and TSM at DHS. We could have used another morning at Epcot and half day at DHS. Everything was clean. LAst trip we didnt enjoy DHS as much but this time, we enjoyed all four. Despite predictions of high crowds in May, we found it to be as pleasant as our previous two trips in May. While there were a lot of people, the waits were not bad at all. We walked on many things, and used FP. Ridemax worked very well for us and I would get it again. It organized our days, and allowed us to get a lot done. We did veer from the plans at times, but it worked well. The longest we ever waited was that last night at Epcot for Soarin at 40 min. Otherwise, we usually had 5-10 min waits for most everything else. The parades are still all wonderful, and evening shows worth seeing for sure. My favorite is still the Spectromagic/Wishes combo!
Eating and the dining plan- we had really good food the whole week we were there. There wasnt a single meal we didnt enjoy I have to say. I think CRT or Ohana were our favorite TS meals, and Sunshine Seasons was our fav CS meal. There was always plenty of food! Usually DS1 ate off our plates, but a couple times we used an extra CS on him. This was our second trip on the basic DDP. We like having it already paid prior to going and not worrying about the expense at the time of the meal. We used our rewards card for tips and that worked well. Last time we got great value out of the plan. This trip, unfortunatly with DH and DS arriving late, and then illness in several of us causing us to miss some meals, we ended up not using one table service and several CS meals. We also had a few snacks that remained. I would still do the plan again though... although next time we go DD will likely be 10 and considered an adult...my one year old eats more than she does, so we will have to see.
Traveling with young children- it is certainly a different trip, good and bad, when you take young kids with you! It is so magical to see things through their eyes! Seeing their eyes light up at the characters, the parades, the fireworks. Watching DS4 on his first roller coaster. Seeing DD after getting her hair done up! Watching little DS at the playhouse disney show. Awesome memories! I think the key to traveling with kids is that you have to scale back a little. You cant see it all in a week, and you wont make it if you do! You HAVE to take those breaks. The parks are huge and overwhelming for anyone, especially young kids! Getting the boys to the hotel for a real nap several days was key to making our nights better. Also having a few days we didnt plan rope drop. And the pool is a big part of vacation for them! Our DD at 7 was just a perfect age, so easy going and enjoyed it all, was able to do it all. I felt pretty guilty taking her out of school though she is a great student, but it worked out well and she has been enjoying sharing her journal with her first grade class. DS4 was probably the most challenging, as he did get pretty worn out and didnt always handle the heat very well. He hated to give in to nap too, but did so much better when he did. DS1 had a ball! I know many dont want to take kids who wont remember, but I will remember and have so many great pictures! He still gets a big grin when I ask him if he met "Duck"! He went on every ride without a height requirement and there wasnt anything he didnt seem to enjoy. I will say though, that at his age of 18 months, renting a full size crib was the best thing we did! He just doesnt sleep well in a pack and play. Also be sure to have plenty of snacks each day. And strollers... we purchased two maclaren strollers on ebay and they were a lifesaver. We definitly needed one for DS4 and there were times DD would have liked to have riden! Anyway, all three kids really did well and had fun. Also, if you can take a grandparent, and we saw so many grandparents... this was fantastic for an extra pair of hands, and a chance to get some one on one time with the kids too. I cant thank my mom enough for coming with us. I know it was exhausting for her and I hope she enjoyed it for herself too... she did say she would go back with us again!
What I learned.... I really did have to learn to go with the flow this trip. I am such a planner, and have been planning this trip for so very long. I had each day pretty mapped out with parks, rides, shows and ADRs. I wanted the trip to be one to remember forever for everyone. Well, it doesnt always work that way. Lots of things, even on a vacation, are out of our control. And we have two choices... we refuse to adapt and are unhappy, or we let it go and make the best of it, and make our fun the best we can. This is what we chose to do. And you know what, it was a wonderful trip. When I look back now, especially after writing this trip report, I can say that we certainly had more good times than bad... and some of the bad created some memories we may not have had otherwise (ok, my son needing staples in his head isnt one I will cherish, but our bonding as a family is!). so anyway, you can only plan so much, and even more important than a plan is a good attitude.
Would I have done anything differently? Well, if I could next time, i would certainly add another day or two. It would be nice to try the waterparks as we have never been, and just have more days with breaks or where we take it easier. Otherwise, I wouldnt change much else! Though I may strap DS down in the airport next time!
Thanks for reading along with us and sharing our journey! I look forward to reading others' trip reports to get my disney fix until we can all head back again!!! :mickey::mickey: