[twinsplusone]

All I can say is: WOW! We are exhausted, but we certainly accomplished a lot. And this is how it goes.....

Day 1: Picked the kids up from school and we are on our way to Chicago! After 3 1/2 hours, with no traffic problems, we arrive at the Holiday Inn Rolling Meadows, and the kids quickly change into their swim suits and I'm off to the pool to supervise while DH and in-laws have dinner in the hotel restraunt. After swimming, I take DD to the restraunt and order food to take to our room. Kids eat free at HI, but only dine in. That ticked me off a little. Would they rather I haul 3 kids into their quiet restraunt so they can eat for free, or take the food upstairs and be out of their hair?

Day 2: After a peaceful nights sleep, we board the shuttle bus to O'Hare in plenty of time for our flight. There are 7 of us, and we are in 3 separate rows, but that's ok because we'll probably have too much together time later. FIL is feeling ill, but fights it off....so he thinks.

We get to Orlando about 10 minutes early, bonus!, and get a wheelchair for FIL (planned on this anyway, because he cant walk long distances). We find the ME and check in. We explain we never rcvd the yellow luggage tags and they take our info about size and color and send us off to wait in line. We wait, and wait, and wait. FIL is feeling ill again. It's hot so we send him outside to sit on the bench to wait for the bus that finally arrives after about 30 minutes. Grr! Its one of the old fashioned looking busses, and we enjoy the ride and the movie. As they scroll past the highlights I'm thinking yep, I'm going on that, and that, and that.. it's building the excitement.

We are dropped off at POFQ and its all decked out for Christmas. I really like the look of the resort, the jazz music is playing and it gets you in a festive mood. We check in just before 3 pm, and our rooms are not ready. Grr! I try not to let it bug me, but I wanted to change clothes and relax. The kids are coloring at the lobby table, so I head into the gift shop and buy a Pal Mickey, hoping it is worth the money. I call about 3:20 and our rooms are ready. My MIL scores a free wheelchair for my FIL, so we head over to our rooms 6233 & 6234. We have a great view of the river, and small courtyard. Our rooms are connecting, so we open the doors and feel like we have more room. DH and I take the kids to the pool, no luggage yet, but I had packed their suits in the carry on just in case this happened.

They are enjoying the sea dragon water slide while DH and I shiver because its not very warm. I actually thought the pool area would be bigger, but it was cute with all the alligators playing music. He heads back to the room to grab jackets for us and stops by the pool bar for some cocktails. We got the kids out and wrapped them in 3 towels to help keep them warm on the way back to the room. FIL is still ill, thinks he has a fever, so we leave him to rest and head down to Downtown Disney by boat for dinner. Oh, its about 5:40 and our luggage still hasn't arrived. I call the front desk and they put me on hold and come back to say it was just scanned 10 minutes ago at the airport and should be here shortly. I was glad to hear it was on its way!

The boat driver was Linda and she was great! The boat was pretty full and she asked us trivia questions and pointed out the treehouses and talked about when they were built and who stays in them now. Someone said that every year at Christmas, families would have decoration contests at the treehouses. I wish they still rented them out! She really started us off on the right foot.
As we pull into the dock, Fulton's Crab House was all lit up and sort of looks like a wedding cake. Very impressive! We were starving when we got there, so we ate right at Rainforrest Cafe. I had the bbq chicken pizza. Very good, but couldn't eat it all. That happened a lot on this trip. I can't believe the amount of food you get.

We walked to Lego store, played around with the legos outside then went inside. I liked all the scenes through the circle windows around the store. The kids liked that they were right at their eye level. I had to bend over to see them, but that was fine. I'm not creative when it comes to Legos, so I always am amazed at what you can make with them.

We traveled all the way over to the West side, checking stores out along the way. Then we trucked back to the Marketplace to Once Upon a Toy where my girls fell in love with the make your own My Little Pony area. I didn't want to buy the first thing they saw, so I told them that we would be back to DD and they could buy it later. I loved the train hanging from the ceiling and the monorail model with the resorts. The kids watched it for a while. We caught the boat back to out room around 9:00, we could see Illuminations starting from the river, cool! Our luggage was there when we returned. Yeah! FIL said he was feeling better but had the covers pulled tightly around his neck and the heater on full blast. He's also thrown up 3 times. Hmmm.... not a good sign.

I unpacked and we decided to have DS sleep in our room so Grandpa could rest better. Truth is, I didn't want DS to get sick. So there we were, DH and DS in one bed, me and my twin DD's in the other. Not very comfy, but we're headed to MK in the morning! Can't wait!

[daisyd]

YAY!! Hooked already

So sorry your FIL was ill. I hope it passed quickly

I hadn't heard of the make your own My Little Pony-my DD needs to do that, lol. She is pony crazy

[tiptonsara]

Very detailed. We loved POFQ too! Sort of wonder if we should have booked there instead of CSR. Hope your FIL feels better.

[Boss Mouse]

Ok, except for FIL, so far, so good.

[ingamba]

Keep 'em coming, I love reading it. I hope Grandpa feels better.

[Peppertink]

Great TR...so sorry about FIL though:(

[susieq76]

I love this TR! It reminds me of my life! LOL. Whenever we go away it's DH & I sharing the beds with the twins & baby. Whatever- it's Disney right? Can't wait for more!!!

[gingita]

Can't wait to read the rest! I hope your FIL got feeling better and wasn't ill the whole trip!

[tiggerlover1971]

sorry to hear about Fil hope he was ok for the rest of the trip

[PrincessJill]

Great TR!! I hope your FIL got better quickly.. can't wait to read the rest!

ps. I love those My Little Ponies too! I can't resist dressing one up when I walk by..

[twinsplusone]

Thanks for the well wishes for my FIL!

Day 3: Magic Kingdom! The heart of WDW! We didn't arrive in time for the opening, too hard getting the kids up, waiting for breakfast, by the way, not a fan of the beignets. They were just big doughy pockets of air with a ton of powdered sugar on them. I was thinking they would be custard or cream cheese filled? I traded with my DS who didn't care for the crossiant sandwich. Anyway, Grandpa's fever broke, but he looked like heck, so he stayed in bed. We walked down Main Street and saw the end of the street car dancer show thing. I think that was part of the welcome.

The castle was awesome! The decorations were fabulous! Really dresses it up and I hope they keep it that way. Cinderellabration was going on and thats where I got teary. I was just so happy to be there with my hubby and kids. All the music and pomp and circumstance of the corronation was just great!

We headed to Dumbo and waited in line for 20 minutes. The kids and I loved it and it was a great start to the day. We rode CRC, Snow White, PPF, IASW. We bought hats, gold mouse ears for DS and princess hats for DD's. DH chose a ball cap, and I passed. I'm not a hat person, and I wanted a sweatshirt. We ate lunch at Cosmic Rays. Slightly incovenient because we had to split up because of what we wanted. DH took DD and DS to the chicken line and I took the other DD to the soup/sandwich line. It was extreemely crowded and DH didn't quite get the meal plan. He ordered adult meals for the kids. Grr! There goes 2 adult counter services! He said it was confusing, and I thought whats so hard about a kids meal? Anyway, I let it pass and we headed back to the room for a rest.

Dinner was at Liberty Tree Tavern. Grandpa came with us, but he only are a small scoop of mashed potatoes and drank milk. Hmmm..... not good! The meal was great! I loved the gravy! Usually gravy from a restraunt tasted like it comes from a can, but this tasted homemade. Yum! There goes the diet! Dessert was apple crisp with ice cream. The characters were great and I took pictures, but forgot the autograph books. Not a huge deal because we had other character dinners to go to.

After dinner Grandpa wanted to go back to the room, and since it was EMH, we stated at MK until after 1am! Never rode Splash Mountain, BTM or Space Mountain. I'll catch them later on in the week. I'd have to say my favorite was PhilharMagic. I loved the special effects, the smell of the food, the water splashes. Very cute! I noticed Disney is all about the senses. A lot of the rides/movies use all of your senses to enhance the ride/movie.

Back to the room, exhausted, but had a ball. MGM tomorrow!

[missy H]

Great trip report, glad your FIL is getting better even if it is slowly!
Can't wait to read more.

[Dopey]

Originally Posted by susieq76

I love this TR! It reminds me of my life! LOL. Whenever we go away it's DH & I sharing the beds with the twins & baby. Whatever- it's Disney right? Can't wait for more!!!

Until just recently we had the same problem. Dh and I had to share beds with the twins because they were kicking each other and breathing on each other, you get the picture.

Now they are old enough to have their own room when we go away. FREEDOM!

I love your report twinsplusone, very detailed and fun. I am hoping that FIL gets better soon.

I am counting people here and am thinking that there should be a grandma aka MIL, but I don't hear anything about her. Is she taking care of FIL? Just making sure that you have all 7 people, as stated in the beginning, with you.

[twinsplusone]

Day 4: Thanksgiving at MGM

Bad start to the day, Grandpa is in the hospital with pneumonia and is so dehydrated his kidneys are not functioning properly! I guess they called the front desk about 4:30 am and asked about the medi-center. Because it was Thanksgiving, no one knew if it was open. They said they are affiliated with Celebration Hospital, so they sent a doctor over at no charge to their room. They advised he needed to go to the hospital and took him by ambulance. We slept through the whole thing! Disney took care of the house call, ambulance ride and my MIL cab fare back and forth to the hospital. We were really surprised! Before I go further, Grandpa is fine, but spent 5 days in the hospital. Not a great vacation for him, but he insisted that the rest of us continue to have fun.

After being up so late, we slept in until 8-ish and missed another park opener. I wasn't sure what to expect with MGM, but ended up loving it! We headed over to ToT and I waited 40 minutes to ride it alone while DH took the kids to Beauty and the Beast. We then went to RnR and I decided to get a FP. We were discussing what to do next and decided to head over to the other side of the park. I said come on and took off glancing over my shoulder to see DH and DD following. I stopped right as you turn the corner by ToT, and look back to see DH and DD but no sign of DS and other DD. Yikes!

I panic slightly and back track, can't find them. I go back to DH and look around there. Back to RnR, no kids. Now this is getting scarry. I go back to DH and we try to decide what to do next. I said let me go all the way back to the RnR FP area. Maybe they went that way while we went the other way?
I spot them together, right by a merch cart. The CM was on the phone and once she saw me, she hung up. I was wondering who she called and where they would have brought my kids if I didn't come back?

Anyway, they were shook up, but I praised them for staying put and telling a CM. I felt horrible for not keeping better track of my kids! I make a mental note to always have them in view from now on!

We head over to HISTK play area and the kids loved it, they didn't want to leave. I even slid down a few slides. I went back to RnR when my FP said to, and rode in the front seat! Yeah baby! What a ride! My daughter asked if I rode through the doughnut, yep, I did! I kept wondering why so many Disney rides/roller coasters are enclosed. Cedar Point is so open, and it was just really strangeto be inside most of the time.

We rode the backlot tour and then onto Lights!Motors!Action! I couldn't believe the size of the bleachers. My DS kept going further and further up and I thought my thighs were going to give out! It was a great show and my DS loved all the action. It was fun to learn all the behind the scenes stuff.

We then went to 50's Prime Time for dinner and I really liked the atmosphere. I had to laugh at the furniture in the waiting area. I grew up with some of that stuff. We ended up with a poor waitress. She must have been sort of new because she really didn't "play" the part. The waitress next to us was really great! She made some lady eat her veggies by having all of us make the airplane sound while she fed the woman.

I ordered the fried cheese to start, very yummy and then the meatloaf. Something about comfort foods. It was ok, not exactly like homemade. DH had the seafood dip (I didn't like it) and the salmon which he said was good. I had cheesecake for dessert and her ordered the biggest ice cream sundae you've ever seen! It was HUGE! We all laughed and I took a picture. He was able to eat just about all of it. The kids got a build your own sundae which they loved. Little cups of sprinkles and sauces that they could pour on themselves.

We went to HISTA, I liked it, but not the snake or mice tails, very freaky! We did Muppets 3D twice and then on to Great Movie Ride - got the gangster. Then to Fantasmic which we had to wait in line for forever. There was plenty of seats, so we ended up near the front. It was really awesome! The girls were a little afraid during the villians and the giant snake/dragon thing, but loved the end with the boats and fireworks.

We went right to Voyage of the Little Mermaid and got right in. I liked it, but didn't like the rain of water. I'm all for a little sprits of water, but this got us wet and we were cold.

After the show we walked through the Osborne Family lights. That was so amazing! Everywhere you looked there were lights and it was snowing too! I liked looking in the buildings and seeing fireplaces and lights and trees. There was even a bike in an alley outlined with lights. The kids liked it too. Left at closing, 10pm.

Off to Epcot on Friday,

[twinsplusone]

Originally Posted by Dopey

I am counting people here and am thinking that there should be a grandma aka MIL, but I don't hear anything about her. Is she taking care of FIL? Just making sure that you have all 7 people, as stated in the beginning, with you.

Yes, Grandma was there, but she spent all day with Grandpa on Thursday. They were thinking he had TB, so he was in isolation. No TB, but Grandma wanted to be with him. She did join us for a few things, but they didn't have the best trip. We're trying to plan another one.

Thanks for the concern!