[asp8tis]

O.K., I've been home for a little over a week and I'm finally ready to start posting my trip report. I hope I'm not putting too much detail in to bore you all, but it's been fun going back over all of the great details of our wonderful trip and it's hard to leave anything out (feel free to skim if there's too much info.! ).

[asp8tis]

Spaitis Family Trip to Disney World

The Cast:
Me – Allison (asp8tis = A. Spaitis, get it?)
DH – Nate
DS – Austin (5 yo)
DS – Kyle (2 yo)

Day 1 – June 10th, 2004

Our flight out of O’Hare airport in Chicago was to depart at 1:35 p.m., so we arrived at about 11:30 only to find out at check-in that our flight would be at least a half hour delayed (Ughh! Not the way I wanted things to start). The agent explained that the plane was on its way to O’Hare from Orlando, but that it had left late and it was having trouble getting around some bad weather on the way. The plane didn’t even arrive until about 2:30 and we didn’t take off until almost 3:00. I was disappointed, but the kids had handled it fairly well, and both slept for at least a portion of the flight (thank goodness!). I'll include a picture of the boys at O’Hare during our delay.

We arrived in Orlando, picked up our baggage and phoned Happy Limo to send our towncar. To our surprise, the car that pulled up 10 min. later was a beautiful white stretch limo! I’m assuming we got the upgrade because our flight had been delayed, but whatever the reason, it was WONDERFUL! Our driver, Chris, was so cheerful and courteous. He got us into the car and loaded everything for us. Austin was thrilled to find Shrek playing on the t.v. in the car. It was pouring in Orlando and was already after 7 p.m. there. I had requested the grocery stop when I reserved our car, but I remembered the reservation saying that it would not be provided if your flight was more that a half hour delayed. While the driver was finishing loading, I was telling my husband that I would beg him to make the stop if I needed to. Then Chris suddenly popped his head in and asked if we preferred to make our stop at a grocery or convenience store. I was so relieved! (No begging necessary). We arrived at the grocery store and he pulled right up front and held an umbrella over us as we got out. He told us that he knows 15 min. isn’t very long to shop, so to take our time and stay longer if we needed. I was really organized, though, and had our lists divided up, so we had everything we needed and were back out in a hurry. Once again, Chris held the umbrella over us to get us in the car and told us he’d load our groceries for us. Everyone was looking at us like we were someone really important, talk about the royal treatment (after our long day of traveling, we were really loving this – we’ll never take the Mears shuttle again)!

We arrived at POFQ shortly after (still raining, we later found out that this was the worst rain day they’d had in recent weeks, glad we missed most of it). Unfortunately, there were a few people in line at the check-in desk and it took quite awhile to get helped (at least 15-20 min.). We were assigned a room in Building 1. I asked if there was any possibility of switching to one of the more centrally located buildings. The CM said, “Sure”, but when she checked there was not another room to be had in the entire hotel! Our room in Building 1 was perfectly fine, though. POFQ is a small hotel, so everything is really close together. Once we got settled in our room, we headed straight to the food court, which has great décor and a good selection of food. We hadn’t eaten since we had the PB & J sandwiches that I’d brought to O’Hare for lunch, so we were starving. We used our PO mugs (which I had actually found on ebay a month before our trip, and they were the same ones that were being used currently, so that was a bit of a money saver.) After eating we headed back to the room to check out the weather forecast for tomorrow and get ready for bed. Our first day was going to be spent at MK, and we were very excited about that. Needless to say, after our long day of traveling, everyone slept great!

[tiggerlover1971]

great trip report . LOL I remember getting stuck in that monsoon so well guess what I have that same tigger shirt in Adult size hahahahahah you wouldnt have guessed since I am such a tigger fan that I wouldn't have it right

[lisalovesmickey]

Your boys are darling.

I can't wait to read the rest of your TR.

Lisa

[crystalrp]

Can't tell by looking at the boys that they are brothers can you? LOL Except for their sizes, they look like twins!! Looking forward to the rest of your TR. Glad you like POFQ. Our family loves it!

[mickaholic4077]

Wonderful report so far. Your boys are adorable!!!

[Dana]

Happy Limo sounds like a dream come true for your famil,y after a rough start. I am so glad they were so accomidating and helped get you in the magic mood. Your boys are gorgeous. I look forward to the rest of the report.

PS: There is no such thing as to much detail, so please draw it all out for us. The longer the better IMO.

[tinkerbell]

except for the delay and the rain ..it does sound like your WDW experience is off to a magical start. and I am so pleased at the wonderful driver you got from Happy Limo!
your boys are just darling!!! Those smiles brought one to my face !!
oh and how smart of you, getting those mugs ahead of time! I am really looking forward to the rest of our trip report!

[asp8tis]

Day 2 – June 11th – Magic Kingdom

I purposefully scheduled our days so that we were never going to the park that had EMH. I knew the kids would need to be able to sleep in each morning after the long days they’d be having and there was no way we’d ever make it to a park (or even out of bed) by 8:00. We headed to MK on our first day and arrived around 9:30. We grabbed the cereal bars for breakfast and headed straight to Fantasyland and Dumbo when we arrived. We only waited a few minutes and then went over to ride Pooh. The boys loved both of these rides. We then headed to Crystal Palace for our character breakfast. We’d never done this one before, but Kyle just adores Pooh right now, so we thought this was a great year to try it. We had a 10:30 PS, which is the latest that they serve breakfast, and this worked out great (I think this was MerlinMatt’s suggestion, so thanks!). It was great for a couple of reasons. First, by the time we finished it was almost lunchtime, and we were so full that I knew we’d be set until dinner. Also, it seems that the restaurant takes a break between breakfast and lunch to switch over, so we were one of the last parties seated for breakfast. The restaurant gradually emptied out, and by the time we were finished, there were only a few families left. As a result, our kids got lots of attention from the characters, it was a relatively quiet and relaxing breakfast (a great escape from the heat and crowds), and we were able to get lots of great pictures. I’ve included a few below. I love the picture of Kyle and Pooh. Like I said, Pooh is his favorite, so he wouldn’t let go of the hug that he had around Pooh to have his picture taken, he just turned and looked back over his shoulder at me! I got in the picture with Piglet because I have quite a collection of Piglet stuff and was wearing one of my Piglet shirts that day. After breakfast we rode Haunted Mansion, P of the C, Magic Carpets, and Jungle Cruise. By now it was about 1:30 and we debated whether to go back to the room for a nap. We decided it was probably a good idea if we wanted the kids to be awake for SpectroMagic and Wishes, so we went back to POFQ and everyone slept. This ended up being the only day that we were able to do this, so I’m glad we did.

By 4:30 we were on our way back to MK. Right after we arrived the sky started looking very bad and I was wondering if maybe we’d made a bad decision in going back to the room (after remembering how it had rained all evening the day before). We headed first to Tomorrowland and grabbed FP for Buzz Lightyear. It was starting to rain and a lot of people were heading for the exit. We went on Carousel of Progress, which we really enjoyed again (it actually ended up being one of Austin’s favorites – he is still bringing it up 3 weeks later and asking when he can go on it again. I sure hope it’s not closed the next time we go!) When we got out of C of P, the rain had already stopped and, thank goodness, that was the end of it for the night! We went on Buzz (this is a definite family favorite) and TTA. Austin decided he wasn’t ready for Space Mountain (he’s not much of a thrill seeker and quite the little intellectual – does anyone else have kids who prefer C of P over SM?).

Next we went to Toontown. We did talk Austin into going on the Barnstormer with Dad. Nate was a bit surprised by the ride you get on that little roller coaster. I went with Austin last year and he didn’t believe me when I got off and told him that it whipped you around pretty good! We spent a little time touring Mickey & Minnie’s houses and Donald’s Boat. So far I have been successful in avoiding the whole autograph book thing, so we skipped the character meet & greets. We always get plenty of great character pictures from our character dining and encounters in the parks. I try to avoid standing in line for them in Toontown when there’s so much else to do at MK.

We went back through Fantasyland and finished up the things we hadn’t seen in the morning. We rode Snow White and saw Mickey’s Philharmagic (our first time for this show. Kyle was crying when the water splashed on him. Otherwise we all really enjoyed it). We stopped for dinner at Pinocchio Village Haus (that breakfast had finally worn off) and then rode Peter Pan. We should have tried to grab FP for Peter Pan before we ate, because by the time we got there they were no longer issuing them. We stood in standby and this ended up being our longest wait of the day (about 25-30 min.).

After that we headed around to Liberty Square to wait for SpectroMagic. We got pretty good seats and the boys loved the parade. As I watched, I kept remembering the first time we saw that parade 10 years ago on our honeymoon, and here we were 10 years later sharing the same magic with our boys! It was a wonderful feeling. We followed the end of the parade to Frontierland in an attempt to get to Splash Mountain. It was the only thing we’d missed that we really wanted to ride (especially since I’d finally acquired a copy of Song of the South a couple of months ago and watched it with the boys). We made it and the wait was pretty short. Our boys were screaming and crying on the small drops, though, so you can only imagine what they were like by the end! (Like I said, not thrillseekers). Oh, well. Nate and I enjoyed it. Lucky for us there was a pressed penny machine at the end so that we could get a couple to add to the collection and make them forget about those drops. By the time we got out of there, Wishes was already starting, and although we could see it from the bridge, we couldn’t really appreciate the whole show. Next year we’ll have to make it a priority to get out front where we have a better view.

After Wishes, we joined the mass of people heading down Main Street. Unfortunately, we had a long wait for a bus (about 30 min.) and didn’t get back to our room until about 11:00. Even with the nap we’d had earlier, everyone was exhausted and we went right to bed. The next day we were headed to Animal Kingdom.

[tiggerlover1971]

too funny we were there that day too lol but we had CRT that morning

[tinkerbell]

:) I just love the pictures!!!! We have had the late breakfast at CP too and for the very same reasons :)
As for your son liking COP, our granddaughters have loved it since they were toddlers.

[royorb1]

Love your report, love the details, and love your pictures. Can't wait to hear more.

[MerlinMatt]

Allison:

We want more!!!!

I can't take complete credit for the late breakfast idea. I may have passed it on, but I read it somewhere else here, although I can't remember who it was.

I think next time, we're going to follow your lead and sleep in. We NEVER slept beyond 7:30 and we were generally in a park by 9am each day. We were wiped out when we got back.

Sounds like MK was a real magical day. Your TR really brings back the feelings we had in May.

[asp8tis]

OK, here's another day. Sorry for the delay (busy holiday weekend!). BTW Matt, I see you're officially a Mouse Meister now, congrats!

Day 3 – June 12th – Animal Kingdom

We were a little disappointed by the bus transportation on this day, because after our bus arrived it went on to stop at all 4 POR stops (our MK buses yesterday didn’t do that), then stopped at Blizzard Beach to drop off people before going on to Animal Kingdom. The result was that even though we were at our bus stop at about 9:15, we didn’t get to Animal Kingdom until almost 10. I thought that was a bit long. Anyway, we got in, and since there was a Legend of the Lion King show starting in about 20 min., we headed toward Camp Minnie-Mickey. We decided that Nate would run up to Africa to get Fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris while I took character pictures with the kids in Camp MM, then we’d meet up for Lion King. This worked out great. There were no lines for the characters, we got to see Chip & Dale (Austin’s heroes - see picture below. Tink sent him a postcard from them, so I think he thought they were just standing there waiting for him to get there!). We also saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy. We were finishing our last picture when Nate came back with the FP’s. We went right into L of the LK just as the show was starting. Even though we were in the last section (giraffes), we were right in the center of it and had a great view of the entire show. As always, the show was great. When it was over we headed to the Safari and had I think our best safari ever. We saw a lot of animals and had a giraffe standing right next to our vehicle. I got a great picture of him!

After that, we went to Dinoland. We got FP for Dinosaur, then went on TriceraTop Spin. We had to do a child swap for Dinosaur, so Nate rode while I waited with the kids, then he waited while I rode with Austin. Kyle fell asleep in the stroller while he waited, so he had it pretty easy! (Also, he saw Tiggerlover1971 and her DH and niece while I was in there, but he was too chicken to say anything to them! Cheryl had told us to watch for her husband’s Saint’s hat, and of course that’s when he had to spot it, during the 10 min. that I wasn’t with him!) Austin was scared to death on Dinosaur, so I spent most of the ride trying to comfort him and didn’t feel like I really got to experience it for myself. I’ll definitely have to give this one another chance next time. Nate and Austin went to play in the Boneyard while I watched Kyle sleep. By now it was definitely time to get something to eat since we’d only had the cereal bars in our room, so we went to Flame Tree BBQ. It was our first time trying it, and we thought it was pretty good.

We went up to Asia and got FP for Kali River Rapids. We’d never rode that one before (we were there in March and Jan. the last 2 trips and we thought it was too cold). We went on the Maharajah Jungle Trek for the first time and found it interesting and enjoyable. We headed out to the center of the park to watch Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade, and then back to KRR. Nate rode with Austin and then I rode with Austin (he was pretty wet after 2 trips, but didn’t seem to mind). After that it was getting close to closing time and the sky was looking really bad again, so we headed for the exit. We had a PS for Ohana, so we jumped on a bus to the Poly.

It started to rain when we were on the bus, but when we arrived at CR to drop off, it was not raining. We made a big mistake here, because we should have gotten off there and taken the monorail to the Poly. Instead we stayed on the bus and on the way there, the heavens opened up. Unfortunately, the bus shelter at Poly is very small and not right at the lobby. We got off the bus in a torrential downpour. We were getting wet even standing under the shelter, and there was a crack of thunder so loud it sounded like it struck a building at the resort! Kyle was screaming and crying because he was so scared. When it kept pouring, we (and the other family we were under the shelter with) eventually decided to make a break for the lobby. It wasn’t far, but in that kind of a downpour, we got pretty wet. Once inside we took a few minutes to dry off and then checked in at Ohana. This dinner was really wonderful, and I have all of my friends at DC to thank for it! With all of the times we’d been to Disney, we didn’t know of its existence and would never had eaten there if I hadn’t read so many great things about it on DC. The food was delicious, and a really nice change of pace for us. Austin loved the coconut race (and the gummy worm that he got when he finished – he actually thought that meant he was the winner!). We took the monorail to MK so that we could catch a bus back to our resort. We got back around 9 and headed to bed. Next up would be Epcot!

[BDavis932]

Great trip report!! I'm really enjoying it!!

Did you know that your son Austin could have rode Dinosaur with your hubby and then again with you. That is what we always do on kid swaps...they let the child who is old enough/tall enough to ride twice!!

Can't wait to read more!!