“Wow, Disney is Far Far Away” A Single Mom’s Road Trip to Disney: June 2013 TR

[luvmy2babies]

I'm late the party!!

I'm so sorry to hear about your DH. What a wonderful job you are doing with your babies! My mom just passed in April so I totally understand what you mean about when you are on vacation, you can forge the hustle and bustle of everyday life.. We are going in October and I can't wait to get away with my boys and be happy again.


Beautiful daughter and handsome son! Can't wait to read more!

and

I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I hope you all have a wonderful time in October.

 

[luvmy2babies]

I've been quietly following your TR for a few days but that was just to funny to not comment.

Love your report and can't wait to read more.

Glad you are enjoying the report.

My daughter and I have some interesting conversations. A lot of them end with me laughing and her wondering what is so funny. I should finish up our Epcot day tonight.

 

[ThePin Princess]

Great update! Don't you just love those kidcot stations!!

 

[luvmy2babies]

Day 5, 3rd park day, final part: Journey Around the World Continues

When I left off we had visited Italy. Lord help me had I been hungry. The smells were heavenly. Next up was the good old U. S. of A. I took this picture of Mexico across the lagoon. We’d made a lot of progress.



It looked like the rain was being held back, so after a bathroom break, we headed to the American Pavilion.



Dd got her stamp and the CM drew an American Flag on Perry.



Next was Japan.



I figured this one would take a while. I’d heard about that awesome store there. I had no plans to purchase anything except I was hoping to do Pick-a-Pearl. Unfortunately it was a 30 minute wait to pick one and I didn’t want the kids to lose steam, so we just looked around the store.



For some reason I didn’t get a picture of the Japan Kidcot funstop. Dd got her stamp and her name written in Japanese.

Next up was Morocco.



The Kidcot funstop was a bit cramped so I didn’t get a picture. Here’s dd after she got her stamp and her name written in Arabic.



At that point, dd declared she was done. France was in sight as was Belle in her blue dress, but not even that swayed her. So we found the boat dock and took the short ride across the lagoon to Canada. From there we headed back to Future World. When we arrived, the water was on. Someone got a second wind.





Dd’s burst of energy was short-lived and she sat with me while ds continued to play. She wiped off with the towel and her clothes actually dried in the sun. I eventually scooped him up in a towel and we darted off to change his clothes. We made our way to the bus stop and dd had her face palm moment when I counted her stamps and told her she only had three countries to go when we left.
We got back to Pop and ds had fallen asleep. He woke up though when I put him back into his stroller so I figured I better get dinner into him. We went straight into the food court to eat. I got ds a cheeseburger meal off the children’s menu. Dd had one off the adult menu. I had the grilled chicken sandwich. Ds ate his burger, but not his fries.



We did baths and relaxed for the rest of the evening. It never did rain. We had a great day and almost made it around the world. Dd said maybe next time we should start from the other side. Maybe

We went to sleep to rest up for a wild time the next day.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Great update! Don't you just love those kidcot stations!!

Thanks, I did enjoy the kidcot stations. I'm hoping to do more in them next time like maybe get dd to learn a word in each language or something about each country that she can ask. She got a kick out of seeing her name in 3 other languages.

 

[Aurora1972]

The Kidcot stations sound fun. We missed them last time. We only had one Epcot day and simply ran out of time! But I think the kids would have liked them.

We may try them next May but I have feeling my oldest DD (who will be 12) will refuse to do anything with "kid" in the title.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

It's too bad pick a pearl had a long wait, but isn't that store something? It's almost as big as World of Disney. Well actually it's no where near that, but it's still big.

You made it almost all the way around, so that's still pretty good considering you stopped for a bit at each one.

Still glad you got in the "Fountain time" before leaving.

 

[DianeW]

Super fun trip report!! Your kids are adorable and I'm enjoying reading about your adventures. I love how tuned in you are to your kids' needs and limitations at WDW. It's such an overwhelming place, and I've seen way too many parents who freak out when their poor little kiddos just want to take a break. Your TR should be mandatory reading for those parents. A mid-day swim at the pool goes a loooong way toward future vacation happiness.

I would love to do a road trip to Disney! Although with us living in Salt Lake, the driving time is probably prohibitive. We do drive to Disneyland all the time though...it's only 10 hours away, with a stop in Vegas for dinner. LOL

Looking forward to more!!

Diane

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

This was a great trip report. I don't usually read alot of them but yours I just couldn't stop reading. I love your pictures and looks like everyone had a great time. your kids are adorable.

 

[luvmy2babies]

The Kidcot stations sound fun. We missed them last time. We only had one Epcot day and simply ran out of time! But I think the kids would have liked them.

We may try them next May but I have feeling my oldest DD (who will be 12) will refuse to do anything with "kid" in the title.

It was fun. After the 2nd country, dd was really into it. They also have the Phineas and Ferb game, but my dd didn't want to try it.

 

[luvmy2babies]

This was a great trip report. I don't usually read alot of them but yours I just couldn't stop reading. I love your pictures and looks like everyone had a great time. your kids are adorable.

Thanks for reading along. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Super fun trip report!! Your kids are adorable and I'm enjoying reading about your adventures. I love how tuned in you are to your kids' needs and limitations at WDW. It's such an overwhelming place, and I've seen way too many parents who freak out when their poor little kiddos just want to take a break. Your TR should be mandatory reading for those parents. A mid-day swim at the pool goes a loooong way toward future vacation happiness.

I would love to do a road trip to Disney! Although with us living in Salt Lake, the driving time is probably prohibitive. We do drive to Disneyland all the time though...it's only 10 hours away, with a stop in Vegas for dinner. LOL

Looking forward to more!!

Diane

Wow, thanks. It's not always easy, but I try. It would be easy to feel like I'm missing out, but I've begun to see not getting to do everything as just a reason to come back again.

Really though Disney is one of those trips where you could come back feeling like you haven't really had any time off, so I try to stay laid back. As you'll see later, it does sometimes take me a minute to really accept that one or both of them is really done, but it works. This trip was very low on the meltdown meter.

 

[luvmy2babies]

It's too bad pick a pearl had a long wait, but isn't that store something? It's almost as big as World of Disney. Well actually it's no where near that, but it's still big.

You made it almost all the way around, so that's still pretty good considering you stopped for a bit at each one.

Still glad you got in the "Fountain time" before leaving.

We loved that store. Yeah, I've had two Cinderella Carriage pearl holders for about 3 trips now, but this was the first time we made it into the store. I've heard you should go when they open if you want to do Pick-a-Pearl, but with Japan's location that's kind of difficult. Maybe next time.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Day 6, 4th Park Day: Up for a Wild Time

We woke up to another cloudy but dry day. Today was our Animal Kingdom day. We had breakfast in the room consisting of bagels, cereal, fruit and PB&J between the three of us. Then we got dressed and headed to the bus stop.

Dd had turned 10 a month before trip and had a “diva” themed birthday party with 5 of her friends. They had mani-pedis, a fashion show with accessories, pizza, cake and made their own headbands. The colors were hot pink and zebra print and I’d gotten her a skirt on ebay for the day. When we were packing I asked if she wanted to bring it for AK. She did so we packed it. She wanted to pull her BBB crown out as well. Ds spent his time waiting for the bus in his usual spot.



We eventually reached our destination.



There was some confusion here. They had signs up to direct you since there were RFID lines and lines for people with paper tickets. I’d gotten ours through Undercover Tourist so we had paper ones. Trouble was they were just standing there with the signs. I couldn’t tell which way to go. We got in the wrong line at first. We got in to the correct one finally and found a CM with a hand held ticket scanner. It was the neatest thing. She swiped them and we were on our way.

First things first; we got the photopass picture done.



We took our time, stopping to look at all of the animals along the path.




We eventually made it to Africa.



We saw the Okapis and dd listened to the keeper talk about how they are the only animal known to be related to the giraffes.

We got to the Safari ride and started to grab fast passes, but the return time was going to interfere with a surprise I had planned, so I told dd we should walk around Africa first and grab them when we got back. She reluctantly agreed to this plan. Remember she didn’t know why I wanted to delay grabbing them. So we started on the trail.

We always love seeing one of these whenever an opportunity is there.




Dd checked out the skulls in the research center.



We also saw mole rats, giant toads, tarantulas, giant bugs, mice, snakes and more skulls.
This place is a big hit. My children love watching fish.



We made our way back to the fast pass kiosks for the Safari ride and the time worked so we grabbed them. Now it was time to let dd and ds know about today’s surprise. I reached into my pocket and gave dd a folded card.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Can't wait to hear what the surprise is!

 

[GinnerD]

Can't wait to hear what the surprise is!

Me too!

Such a nice TR. Your children appear to be great car travelers. It's so nice that you can read them so well and adapt your plans.

I am enjoying seeing what a great time you had as a family.

 

[nycdisneygal]

Love the trip report so far! You have a beautiful family. I really admire you taking them alone. Looks like you guys have made wonderful memories!

 

[makochibi]

The Kidcot stations sound fun. We missed them last time. We only had one Epcot day and simply ran out of time! But I think the kids would have liked them.

We may try them next May but I have feeling my oldest DD (who will be 12) will refuse to do anything with "kid" in the title.

You never know. My first time to WDW I was 15. Epcot and getting the passport stamped were my favorite things.

 

[makochibi]

Love your trip report. It is awesome that you were able to manage a few extra surprises. I know how it feels to loose a dad at a young age. I was 13 when my dad died. Two years later my mom was able to take me to WDW and I loved it. It was just the two of us and she made sure I had fun.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Day 6, 4th park day part 2: What’s in your pocket?

When I left off, I was giving dd a card letting her know what surprise I had planned.



Tusker House is a favorite of ours, but we had never been there for lunch. Our ADR was close so we headed on over, parked the stroller and checked in.
They took us around to meet Donald. Last year Debby was pouring rain so Donald was inside and we had a regular photo outside. Ds was not cooperative and by the time I got him to sit down, the photographer told me he’d already taken the picture. Seriously? I was surprised they even bought it to me to look at while we were eating. I was really irritated. It had taken me all of an extra 10 seconds to get ds to sit and this guy decides to snap the picture during the struggle. I’d rather he just given me the option of skipping the picture. In the end, I said, “oh well, that’s $30 for something else.”

Today Donald was outside. I love these.



Once we were inside, the server let us know they still had breakfast out as well as lunch. Our ADR was for 11:15. They switch over at 11:00, so they left the breakfast items out a little longer. Score! We really enjoyed combining items on our plates.

Here is my first plate. Next is Dd with her plate and then ds with his plate.





The meet and greets went great as well. Goofy came first.



Then the Big Cheese himself. I love their safari wear.



Daisy Duck was last.



I think we all had seconds. The picture came and I wished I’d prepaid for photopass plus. By the time I got this ADR it was too late to prepay for it. For photopass plus, you have to prepay 14 days prior to your trip. The picture was great though, total redemption after the 2012 visit. I went ahead and bought it. Then the bill came and I paid. We left after that. It was time to use these.