[Tinkerbelle67]

Day 1 Dec. 25

Christmas morning started as usual, the kids waking up and racing down the stairs to see what Saint Nick had left for them, then they have to sit and wait until their bleary eyed dad stumbles down the stairs before they are allowed to open their gifts. My mom, dad, and aunt had stopped by because they all wanted to see the kids faces when they got their BIG gift.
They opened up all of their presents and then I sat them down and handed them each two scrolls. I opted for this instead of a treasure hunt because DS suffers from anxiety, the treasure hunt could have possibly been too much for him, things that are fun for most kids can be just too stressfull on him.
They took turns reading the clues and were totally perplexed, I loved every moment, their faces were priceless . The last clue had them search for an ornament on our tree that is of a place, and the only ornament of a place is of Cinderella's castle. DD found it and was screaming, DS was cautiously excited, as I expected. He was a little disappointed that his dad wouldn't be joining us, but then when I explained to him that I had made the plans AFTER his dad had made his plans to go to California, he was fine. I then told them that their aunt would be coming along and they were so happy, they adore her.
I carried up the luggage into the living room and finished up the little bit of packing I needed to do. The kids got some very cute clothes on Christmas morning so I did load of laundery and packed them.
We were off to the airport on time, checked in, grabbed Christmas dinner in the airport in the food court. I just got a coffee, it had been a long day and it wasn't close to being over.
We boarded the plane and it actually departed on time. The in-flight movie was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which we had never seen. Very cute movie, we all loved it.
Landed on time and headed straight to the Magical Express counter where there was just one person in line. We checked in and went over to the bus line where we waited for 5 minutes. We were at our resort within an hour of landing at MCO it was fantastic.
Got to Pop Century, checked in and picked up the groceries I had ordered from GardenGrocer.com. Brought those back to the room and unpacked what I could. We were in room 1147 in the 50's, very close to everything and on the ground floor, it was a wonderful location, I was thrilled. The kids showered and were ready to crash, it had been a long day.
I stayed up and waited for the luggage at around 10:00 p.m., we received three of our four bags. The last one was delivered at 2:00a.m.
Went back to bed and planned on getting up as early as we could. It had been a truly exhausting but "magical" day!

[lovemysons]

I am so glad to see you have started your trip report! I'll wait patiently for the rest. Ok, maybe not so patiently.

[Maria]

What a great surprise! More please

[inluvwithdisney]

Sounds great!! aren't surprises great? We had so many on our trip it made it so fun for everyone!!

[tiggerfan74]

Oh, that is so cool !! How wonderful for your kids. I can't wait to read the rest.

[Tinkerbelle67]

Day 2 12/26

I decided to let my kids sleep in, it wasn't easy I assure you. I woke up early, headed down to guest services, picked up our tickets for the candlelight processional and bought the passes for my kids. I was back in the room by 7:15 and they still weren't awake.
I started to unpack, quietly at first, then as time went by I was making as much noise as I could trying to get their little behinds out of bed. Finally at around 8:30, they woke up. They ate got dressed and we were on our way to Epcot by about 10:15. I chose Epcot because we would be able to see Future World in half of a day. As soon as we arrived we went right to Soarin and fast passed it. Our return time of 1:45 was better than I expected, Since we were there and it was not busy yet, we decided to have lunch at Seasons, we had no trouble finding a seat. After lunch we went to see the Circle of Life movie, my kids have never seen it and there was no wait.
Walked out to the Living Seas pavilion, we had missed it in July so my kids were really looking forward to it. We saw the HUGE line for Turtle Talk and decided that we were going to come back another time. The wait was over 60 minutes, no thanks. The kids had a great time checking everything out and found their first Kidcot station.
We went back to the Land because it was time for Soarin. On the way we passed the Land Kidcot station, so they added more to their passports. We made it down to Soarin' and waited for Section B, Row 1, the CM's looked a touch annoyed but, oh well. Love that ride it's just amazing.
We walked over and went on Spaceship Earth, DS loves this ride. I'm so glad it's getting some TLC soon, I think it totally needs it. After we spent quite a bit of time in Innoventions, the kids had a blast with all of the activities and even tried some virtual bowling.
We had gotten fast passes for Test Track and it was time to use them, DS was a little nervous, but turned out he absolutely loved it. They added more to their Kidcot passports and we were off.I ran and got a fast pass for Mission Space, I knew I was going to do that one solo and wanted to experience it on an empty tummy.
We had some time to kill before Mission Space so I brought the kids to the Wonders of Life Pavilion, they had a great time there as well, doing all of the activities.
It was time for Mission Space, I was really looking forward to this one and I loved it, so glad I waited to eat though!
The kids were having a great time in the huge activity center at Mission Space and DD sent her Daddy a "Postcard from Space".
The kids were getting a bit hungry so we decided to head back to Pop and have dinner. I found the food court great for the kids, but a little limited on the vegetarian options.
We headed to bed a little on the early side because we wanted to get up early the next morning and catch Crush in Turtle Talk.

[Peppertink]

Great TR so far...can't wait to read more! Your kids are sooo cute:)

[iluvwdw]

What an awesome Christmas morning surprise! Your kids are adorable! I can't wait to read more.

[Maria]

I agree cute kids!

[llama]

Your kids are so cute! What a wonderful surprise for them! I'm surprised that Wonders of Life was open.

[Tinkerbelle67]

Originally Posted by llama

Your kids are so cute! What a wonderful surprise for them! I'm surprised that Wonders of Life was open.

It was open , but there really wasn't much going on inside, just "The Making of Me". We skipped that movie .
It's actually quite sad, I used to love this pavilion.

Thanks for the cute kids comments, not only are they cute, but they both are really very sweet, compassionate, healthy kids, DH and I are blessed.

[tinkerbell]

you arrived as we left :( beautiful children!!! wonderful start to your TR, looking foward to more
Wonders Of Life was open when we were there too .. brer rabbit and the girls did Cranium command, Body Wars and the Making of Me.

[Tinkerbelle67]

Day 3 12/27

Woke up and had breakfast in the room. Having the groceries delivered was one of the best things, the kids were able to just get themselves breakfast. I had brought a coffee maker so I was so happy having my Dunkin' Donuts coffee every morning, sitting in bed, waiting for the little darlings to get up.
By the time we all got dressed and made it out the door it was almost 9:00. We were just taking our time this trip, not really rushing around, taking everything at a more relaxed pace.
We arrived at Epcot and went straight to the Living Seas. We got right in line for Turtle Talk and only had to wait about 20 minutes. We loved this attraction. Both of my kids and I were lucky enough to actually get to talk with Crush. he gave the the typical "What exit" line when he found out I was from NJ and called on DD more than once to answer some questions because, "Kylie obviously has all the answers". This is a "must do". Get there early see it fist thing, then go over and get fast passes for Soarin' or another attraction, there are no fast passes for Turtle Talk.
After Turtle Talk, the kids went back int innoventions and played around some more. We left and were passing near Club Cool, so decided to stop in. I tasted Beverly and found it to be awful. My SIL and I had a great time watching other people try it though watching, their faces was very entertaining.
We mad our way toward World Showcase and caught an acrobat act, very cool.
We started in Mexico and when we walked in I noticed that it was lunch time. I walked up to the podium and asked how long was the wait for four, I was told maybe 10 minutes. That sounded great to me, my SIL took the kids on El Rio del Tiempo while I waited with the pager. By the time they got off of the ride I was already seated with their drinks waiting for them, perfect timing. we had never eaten inside Mexico so it was a nice treat. I had the salad,it was very good but I could have done without the slimy cactus slices.
We walked around for a bit, the kids went to the Kidcot station and added to their passports then we made our way to Norway.
The line for the ride was only about 20 minutes so we waited, not worth fast passing and coming back IMHO. The kids had their video games in their waist bags so anytime we had to wait they were happily occupied. We went on the ride, and stayed for the movie, left and found the Kidcot station. The kids and I are really having a great time stopping and interacting with all of the CMs working at the stations.
Next was China and we were lucky enough to catch one of the holiday storytellers. He was wonderfully funny. We went inside and looked at all of the plans and props that are on display about Hong Kong Disney Park. We saw the movie, it was my kids first 360 movie and I had to hold DD up the entire time. I was actually one of they few people who followed directions and didn't allow their child to sit on the lean rails. DS felt a little queasy during the movie, but loved it.
Walked out and found the Kidcot station where the kids had their names written in chinese. While they were doing that I saw something red out of the corner of my eye make it's way outside. It was Mushu! The kids finished and we visited with our first character of the trip, there was no one in line, we had Mushu all to ourselves.

More to come later.

[WishUponAStar]

AWwwww, I LOVE the picture with Mushu!! Absolutely ADORABLE!!! I love reading everything so far, sounds fabulous!!!

Thank you for sharing!!!

[MJD]

Tink67,
How was the food? What did the cactus taste like? I have always wanted to try Mexico. The other thing about Mexico, its dark!!!!

MJD