[gcbdad]

A couple of weeks ago I had asked for your opinions on if I should tempt fate and take my 3 DC's to WDW for a day trip by myself. We have the Seasonal Passes so the admission cost was not an issue. The issue was that my DC's are (DD) 6, (DD) 4 & (DS) 4 and I was concerned about trying to handle the 3 of them and go on the rides. My little ones always want to ride with Mommy and Daddy so I didn't know if this would be an issue or not.

On Friday morning, I packed up my DW (DM to the DC's), the DC's and the obligatory backpack in the van and headed out towards Orlando. By the way I live only 60 miles away from Orlando. The DC's only knew that we were taking DM to a Home School convention in Orlando, but had no idea that I had secretly planned to take them to the MK and then meet up with DM at EPCOT later that evening if she felt up to it. I brought my beeper with me and DM was to call and leave a coded message stating that we should go to EPCOT to meet or come and pick her up. After all DM is pregnant and still nauseaus.
When we woke up there was a 70% chance of thunderstorms in Orlando but, being a Florida Resident, I knew that the rains come and go so you can usually plan your day anyway. Just bring the ponchos.
We dropped DM off at the Gaylord which happens to be off of an exit the runs directly into WDW. The DC's were asking me what we were going to do for he day but I played it cool and said that it was a surprise. Now it didn't take long for them to notice the signs as we headed towards the main gate parking. At that point they started laughing and singing because they knew they were going to the "Happiest Place on Earth".
We parked the van in the Pluto section and headed off to the tram. Now this was the first time that the DC's ever rode the tram so they didn't know what to expect. We have always stayed on-site so they thought you had to take a bus or monorail to get to any WDW park.
The tram dropped us off at the ticket center and we decided to take the monorail over to the MK. After backpack and fannypack check, I rented our usual double stroller. All 3 DC's can fit in in a double stroller, lucky for me, and we headed off. We were in and it was only 9:20 and the weather wasn't too bad. A little overcast, no rain but not too hot due to the clouds.
We headed straight off to Fantasyland and went to Peter Pan's Flight. Luckily for me, we all 4 fit in the boat, so seating was not an issue. We then went on It's a Small World and sang that wonderful song that always stays with you. Then we headed off towards FrontierLand. Normally we do not spend allot of time in FrontierLand but I wanted to take the DC's to The Country Bear Jamboree for the first time. I hadn't seen it in years myself. They loved the show. My 4 year old DS has a newfound appreciation for Davey Crockett so we had to stop and try on the Coonskin caps and take a look at the shooting gallery. We didn't shoot any but just holding the rifle with the cap made him happy.
We then strolled down by Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain to watch the riders but my DC's wanted no part of either ride.
Then we headed over towards AdventureLand. First, we stopped to get an autograph and a picture with Captain Hook, Mr. Smee and Peter Pan. The characters were especially great and interacted with my DK's in a way that kept them talking about it all day. Next we hit Alladin's Magic Carpets. My 4 year old twins sat in the front and my 6 year old and I sat in the back. Of course with my DS driving we stayed right at level with the spitting camel and got hit every other time around. No problem. The water felt great.
At that point it was around 11:40 so we needed some lunch. When you exit from The Country Bear Jamboree you go right by the Pecos Bill's counter. I checked it out at the time we passed by and noticed that the kids meal of choice for that place was a hotdog. We headed back to Pecos Bill's and all of us got a hotdog. Lunch hit the spot and we headed off towards TomorrowLand.
We got Fast Pass tickets for Buzz Lightyear and had 40 minutes to kill. Of course like most of us we hit the TomorrowLand Transit Authority. I love this ride. I wish they had something like it fo the whole park. The trouble is it doesn't take that long so I decided we would kill some time at the closest shop. Now we ran into my first real issue. We could not all fit in one car so we would have to split up. After several minutes of trying to negotiate with the little ones, my DD's decided that they would ride in the car in front of my DS and I. The ride was fun except that my DD's initially couldn't figure out how to move the car around. I was finally able to tell them and they finished the ride just spinning around. (A Precurser to later)
Next it was off to the Tea Cups. Now normally I let my DW ride the Tea Cups since I do not like to spin. But being a good father I sacrificed and went on with them. It wasn't that bad. I actually had a good time.
Then since we were so close we went to see Mickey and Minnie's houses. We have seen these two building allot so we sped through them stopping only in Minnie's house to play in the kitchen. We walked over to Donald Boat but lost interest and then the cry for ice cream came up. After sitting down to discuss our options I explained to them that we should first go into the Toontown Tent to see who was there then we could head out for ice cream. We saw Cinderella, the two female mice (don't remember their names) and Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore.
The weather had warmed up and the sun was shining through so ice cream was next on the agenda. We always stop and get ice cream on Main Street right by the walkway towards TomorrowLand. The DK's got the usual, DS - 1 Vanilla and DD - 2 Mint Chocolat Chips, all in a cup.
The ice cream went down and next we headed back toward's AdventureLand where I had planned on seeing the Tiki Birds, but my DS decided that he needed to have a little melt down. He is the one who normally is the reason we go back to the hotel during the day when we stay over night. Since this was a 1 day trip it was a small issue. I calmed him down and we strolled back over towards FrontierLand.
Checking my watch it was 2:45 and luckily there were actually spots to watch the parade. We parked ther stroller and I got us a drink. The parade came by right on time and the kids lit up. The parade has a few stops when the characters choose kids to dance with. This occurred twice during the parade and both times it happened right in front of us so my DC's got to participate twice.
When the parade was over we headed towards Liberty Square and saw that the next Riverboat was heading off any minute so we go on and found a nice spot upstairs to enjoy the ride.
Just as we were pulling into dock my beeper went off and the code was to met DM at EPCOT. The time was 4:00. I loaded the DC's and strolled over to the main gate to return the stroller. We hit the monorail to the Ticket Center and caught the connecting monorail to EPCOT.
DM rode the shuttle from the Gaylord to EPCOT and was waiting by the Guest services counter when we arrived and had a small reunion. The DC's were telling her all about their day so far.
We headed in and picked up another Double Stroller. Remember since we already paid for a stroller, with a receipt, we can just pick one up. DM and the DD's wanted to ride the Ball so DS and I got a drink and waitied by the exit for the girls.
Next we headed over to Test Track. Now I had never been onthis before but the DD's wanted to ride it so I took the two of them. As you can tell, my DD's are much more adventurous than my DS is. Having just gotten there we didn't get a Fast Pass so we waited in line for 25 minutes. The ride was definitely interesting. I can definitely see us doing again in the future.
Now DM was getting pretty hungry so we checked the map for counter service and decided that America was the best option for our DC's taste's. Now DM doesn't like the same things as the DC's so she stopped a the counter service in Japan and got her food then brought it along to America. We walked to America and got a table inside. Air Conditioning is great. Now the real reason we went to EPCOT was that the act for the Flower Power Concert Series was Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits at the 7:00 show. After dinner we got decent seats and enjoyed the show. Now DM was beat so we walked back towards the gate stopping in Mexico for a quick boat ride.
We hit the monorail back to the Ticket Center and took the tram to Pluto 11-15. Now since the MK closed at 7:00 the parking lot was already pretty empty. We walked to our van, paked hte DC's in and headed home. This was the first single day trip we have taken our DC's on. I would always prefer to stay a few days but day trips are a close second. :) :) :)


Unfortunately, the blackout period for Florida Resident Seasonal Pass holders starts at the beginning of June through August 14th so we will not be going back until August. :( :( :(

[goofygal1975]

I'm so glad you decided to take the kids to WDW for your day trip! Thats what is so great about living so close, you can take day trips!! It sounds like you guys had such a great time, and the kids had an extra special time going to WDW with just you for the afternoon!! Thanks for sharing your special day with us!!

[preidel24]

I'm glad you had a wonderful day trip with your DC. Just hearing your trip report has me dreaming for disney. Well only 139 days left I'll keep dreaming.

Paula

[iluvwdw]

What an awesome trip! I wish I lived close enough to have the option of going for day trips :cry:

Trip reports really get me in the mood for WDW...only 80 days to go for me!!! Can't wait!!!

[tiggerlover1971]

what an awesome trip I havent done a day trip in years we used to do them and I had so much fun

[Willbegone]

I knew this would turn out great. It sounds like a wonderful day and I'm glad you shared it with us.

[neen626]

What a great dad you are to treat your DC to a surprise trip to WDW!! Sounds like the 4 of you really had a great time!!

Gotta love those day trips...we have not done them in a while, and we are going to start taking advantage of living so close :)

[mickaholic4077]

I love going for the day too!! Sounds like you guys had fun.