A grand adventure of a lifetime! May 2014 ( THE FINAL)

[horse11]

Ahoy There Mates!


Get ready to set sail on the Kelchs grand adventure of a life time. One filled with Pirates and Princess, "The Force" and flowers, A tropical paradise and fine dinning, and a twist of Disney bounding for all!

Let me introduce the crew. Your guide and captain on this adventure is me Kathy whom can be seen below with my partner in crime/Disney husband Bill. I am the planner. I spend hours, days, and months planning a vacation. Bill likes to sit back for the ride and lets me steer the ship!


Bill and I have been blessed to have three active boys. This was to be a once in a life time trip for my boys who were just about to experience there first trip to Disney.


Our first mate and oldest son Jaden is a nine year old little boy going on 25. a boy whom is to "cool" to go to Disney. After all Disney is only meant for mere children in his eyes.






Our second mate and middle child Noah is a 7 year old child that gets so much enjoyment out of life. A boy who does not care how he looks in the eyes of others. Completely different from his older brother.







Our third mate and the baby of the family Alex a five year old child who is very independent. Alex can play on his own and be completely happy. I believe that it is because he is avoiding the battles of his brothers. Alex has become very assertive growing up with two older brothers. No one ever dare take anything from him. He is small but he is mighty. He has to in order to survive this Kelch family

 

[horse11]

It is not always easy to raise three active boys but Bill and I are very lucky to have my parents live next door to us. Many a days they have come to our aid. They are always ready to help so to show our appreciation we decided to treat them to an adventure of a life time! A chance to wine and dine them.

My father Joe a very quite man who does not show his emotions. He would give his life for his family. The boys are his life and are pretty much attached to his hip. My father is always there to help and would give his right arm to any one in need.

URL=http://s63.photobucket.com/user/kitkath71/media/IMG5163_zps17608604.jpg.html]

[/URL]

My mother Pat a women whom has always made life a grand adventure. So full of life and shows every emotion to the fullest. This could be bad when growing up. I was always more afraid of mom than dad. However mom was always there and could always take the blues away. The boys love her zest for life and she always makes every thing "fun" I do believe that Noah gets his love for life from her.

So how did this adventure come to take shape well it came to me in a dream one summers night!

 

[horse11]

Chapters

One Summer Night

A Unselfish Act

A Girl on a Mission

The Planning Process Choosing a Resort

A Bump in the Road

Getting Some Disney Magic

A Diamond in the Rough

OMG!!! I Know Disney Could Not Have Done This!!!

Arrival Day!

Arrival Day Part 2: Catching Our Plane

Arrival Day Part 3: Downtown Disney

Arrival Day Part 4: Our Tropical Hideaway!

The Magic of the Kingdom

The Magic of the Kingdom Part 2: Perfect Planning

The Magic of the Kingdom Part 3: Lady With Out Tramp

The Magic of the Kingdom Part 4: "Frozen" in the Air so Why Rain?

A Taste of Hawaii

A Taste of Hawaii Part 2: On With the Show

Animal Kingdom: Where the Wild Things Are

Animal Kingdom Part 2: Gorillas and Fish and Birds OH MY!!!

Animal Kingdom Part 3: Fitting Everything In

Animal Kingdom Part 4: A Change of Plans

Rest and Relaxation

Hollywood Studios and Star Wars Weekend

Hollywood Studios and Star Wars Weekend Part 2: The Motorcade Parade

Hollywood Studios and Star Wars Weekend Part 3: Feeling the Force

Hollywood Studios and Star Wars Weekend Part 4: Losing Steam

EPCOT The Flower and Garen Festival: The Seas

EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival Part 2: Thw World Showcase

EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival Part 3: "Oh Canada"

Magic Kingdom Day 2: A Family Affair

Magic Kingdom Day 2: The Transformation

Magic Kingdom Day 2: A Feast Fit For Both Man AND Beast

Dealing With The "Disney Blues"

 

[horse11]

It came to me in a dream. I can not explain it but three years ago on our return from a wonderful relaxed couples retreat from the Hawaiian Islands I felt a tinge of guilt set in. It was a much needed vacation for my husband and I to reconnect. I believe that it not only rekindled our marriage but saved our childrens lives! We came home not only with more love for each other but a new found appreciation for our beautiful children. So why did I feel this horrible sense of guilt?
That night I fell asleep long and hard. It was in a dream like a vision that a trip to Disney entered my brain. I awoke with a strong desire to also treat my parents who have had a HUGE hand in helping care for our children. The unselfish act of caring for our children and not accepting anything for it.

 

[horse11]

My parents dreamed of having many children but were only able to bring one into the world, "ME". They longed for more children but who would have guessed that dream would have come true when they were in their "60s"?
Being a newly hired Medical Lab Tec I was offered the night shift. Yeah you read that right, the night shift as in 5:00pm to 5:30am. That is a 12 1/2 hour shift before transportation to and from the hospital. For all you out there that does not know what a Medical Lab Tec does I will give you a little briefing. We live in a small central Illinois town with several small towns around us. How small you ask? Well let put it this way if you blink an eye you would missed the downtown area. Being a small town that I work for as a Tec I do it all. I draw the blood, and run a series of tests on it. I am the first step to helping your Doctor diagnosis you illness. What people may not know is I also run tests on stool, joint fluid, spinal fluid, urine, and sputum. The great thing about being a Tec is right after running a test even on stool and sputum is I can easily go eat my lunch without a blink of an eye. I have come to find that Nurses are also made that way.
A little about my husband Bill. He was going to school in hopes to become a doctor. He was 32 when we met in school. As a young adult he was not very focused and barely made through high school. Very smart man just lacked the desire. Took him until he was 32 before that desire became part of him. At the time I met him he was very focused at becoming a doctor. to make a long story short, we met and he fell head over heals with me. We got Married 2 years later both still going to school. Being thirty something my clock was ticking. Three months after our marriage I became pregnant with my first child Jaden. That changed plans altogether. We decided I would finish school to become a Medical Lab Tec since I only had year to go and he would look for a job. He was hired on by Cat working on the floor building tractors. Jaden was born while I had one semester left. I was hired on at Mason District Hospital right after graduation. Because of Bills determination to get off the floor at Cat he some how landed a IT position at Cat. To this day I have no idea how he did that!
This is where my parents step in. With Bill landing an IT position it meant long hours, many business trips and having to get up at the crack of dawn. I am still on the night shift. It seems no one leaves that hospital lab opening up a day shift position. So what do we do about Jaden? How do we find a babysitter that could come to the house at 3:00am or stay the night when Bill is away on business? How would we ever be able to sign him up for sports?
Mom and dad insisted that it be "family" that care for her precious grandson. Within three months they moved close to us. How close you ask? How about IN with us. They stayed in our guest room while they were having their home built RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO US.
We had two other children after Jaden and I am still stuck on the night shift. Mom and Dad still insist on them being the ones to care for the boys while I am at work. They refuse to take any money for it. It is my moms second chance at motherhood. My parents have been there to see the boys first time crawling, walking, and talking. They do everything from kiss the boo boos away to helping them with homework. They help them work on homework, feed them dinner and take them to their sports and activities on the days I have to work which Bill then meets them there when he can. Mom has taught the boys how to cook, garden, and how to have a respect for nature, Dad has taught them how to fix things, how to help others in need, and how to be hard workers. They take the boys on vacation with them once a year. For all they do they refuse to take any money what so ever! How could we ever repay this act of kindness and unselfishness???? It only made sense, treat them to A TRIP TO DISNEY!!!!!!
Sounds simple but there was one HUGE road block.............

 

[tazdev3225]

Joining in. I love trips that involve grandparents as I have 7 grandkids.

 

[horse11]

Joining in. I love trips that involve grandparents as I have 7 grandkids.

So glad to have you aboard our grand adventure! If you follow along I assure you it will get more intresting. This is my first trip report and so I feel it necessary to give a little background of our family and how this vacation had taken form.
Having 7 gradchildren I am sure you feel the excitement as my parents have. Follow along, sit back, and enjoy as the story unfolds!

 

[BebopAngel88]

Joining! I loved reading on your family background. Your parents are pretty awesome!

 

[horse11]

Joining! I loved reading on your family background. Your parents are pretty awesome!

You betcha!!! I am a very lucky person to have them in my life. I have learn a lot from them and the thing I get from them the most is my dedication to "Ohana" a hawaiian term for family as Lilo would say. So glad to have you aboard!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

joining! Sounds like an amazing and well deserved trip for all involved!

Got a little teary reading about your parents helping with the kids

 

[DrTiger]

Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[horse11]

joining! Sounds like an amazing and well deserved trip for all involved!

Got a little teary reading about your parents helping with the kids

So glad to have you aboard and thank you for the instructions on how to add this TR to my signature.
Yes they are amazing parents! Our whole family would be lost without them!

 

[horse11]

Looking forward to hearing more!

That is great! Hope to not disappoint.

 

[horse11]

Book after book and web site after web site I researched. I was on a mission to plan not only a great vacation but the BEST VACATION OF A LIFETIME!
However there was one HUGE road block within my planning. My husband is a brave and fearless man until it comes to crowds. When in a crowd the anxiety completely takes over and he regresses to a raging monster! One of fear that every one is out to get his family! He becomes very edgy and short tempered. Now I am no therapist but I believe this stems from his days of working in Pontiac at a high security prison as a prison guard before we had met. Now for all you people whom had worked as a prison guard you may understand this condition more than I. All I know is my husband has been through a lot while working there. He has been knifed, kicked, and spit on to name a few. So my first challenge was to have him face his fears and convince him we can do this!
One night we sat down and had a long talk. I explained what a wonderful gift this could be to my parents and a once in a life time trip for our adventurous boys. To my surprise he AGREED!!! YEAH!!! Now we also worked out a plan. If he was ever to feel he was regressing to that monster he would be free to head back to the resort for some R&R. It was agreed. And that is when the planning really started to take shape and IMOP when this thread starts to get interesting.

 

[horse11]

So the trip was a go. Onward to the planning process. Wow Disney has a lot of cool resorts so where should we stay? I really wanted this vacation to be special and wanted the convenience of staying on grounds. After researching my options I really liked all the moderates. POR seemed interesting with the boat ride to downtown and the Royal Rooms with the neat picture behind the bed that looked like fire works going off. The decor was beautiful but yet still suitable for my boys. CSR had beautiful grounds as well as a Spa. The Spa would be a nice gift to mom after walking in the parks all day. CBR had a pool that I know the boys would love. Or maybe I should consider The Poly since that tinge of guilt of not sharing the islands with my children was still haunting me. I would have the chance to expose the kids to the tropical flowers and Hawaiian music that remains close to my heart. Wow what a treat that would be for my parents as well. So can you guess what resort we chose?

 

[horse11]

So did you choose right? If you said the Poly you would be correct!


The Poly a resort with beautiful topical flowers and folliage as Bill and I had seen on the islands themself.

A white sand beach with palm trees swaying in the wind with the georgeous veiw of the castle.

I longed to enjoy the beautiful sunsets a Polynesian Perfection

At night after the sunset we could sit on the beach and watch the fantastic view of the fireworks from Magic kingdom.
This would be a perfect solution to seeing the fireworks without fighting the crowds which I knew would put my husband into instant anxiety mode.

I just knew my boys would have a blast in the pool and I would enjoy the sheer beauty of it. It would be true R&R for my parents.

With decor like this it would make us feel as if we were in the finest of resorts.

Who would not fall in love with the beautiful waterfall at the front entrance. This is what I dreamed of and I knew right at that moment that this was the resort for us!

I booked the Poly with the mid level dining and tickets package right away at rack rates . Yes you heard me correct at rack rates. It was not until later in my reasearch and thanks to these board that I found out about discounts. I was so pleased with my decision and felt a sudden urge to grab my bath and body coconut lotion and enjoy the warm August breeze. I was so confident in my decision and would never look back.

Two months later I found Tikiman's website http://www.tikimanpages.com/poly/ while looking for information to lead me in a decision on which long house to request. Imagine my dissapointment to find out there would be construction going on at the Poly. "MAJOR CONSTRUCTION". I went with the above images in my head to the reality of this!

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I felt my heart drop to my feet. Could this be true? How could this happen? Up to this point I had planned and saved for 2 1/2 years for this once in a life time vacation. With my husband's axiety and the price of a Disney vacation this would be it! My one chance to plan a grand adventure! Everything seemed to be falling apart. I was bound and determined to not give up. Surely it can not be as bad as I had imagined!

I held on to our reservation in hopes it would be alright. As time went by I heard many rummors. Anywhere from the possible closing of the main pool during our stay to the closing of Captain Cooks. For the price we were about to pay this was just TOO MUCH! It was time to give up the dream of staying at the Poly but what resort would replace it? My only hope was to move on in the planning process. May be while planning the rest of our vacation another resort would reveal itself. Possibly a diamond in the rough? May be we would be showered with a bit of Disney's Magic!

 

[vettegirl]

Following along. Your family portraits are just amazing!

 

[horse11]

Thanks! I will be sharring more about them later. We had them done by Disney Fine Art Photography. I will be sharing the link later in my posts in case anyone would be intrested in using them.

 

[ElenaJane]

Yay! I'm here! Your husband was knifed?!?!? That seems like an unbelievably stressful job. I really hope he enjoyed himself at WDW!

Your parents sound amazing. I bet your boys though bring a lot of joy in their lives!

 

[horse11]

Yay! I'm here! Your husband was knifed?!?!? That seems like an unbelievably stressful job. I really hope he enjoyed himself at WDW!

Your parents sound amazing. I bet your boys though bring a lot of joy in their lives!

So glad you can join along! Yes VERY STRESSFUL! Bill got a break when he put in for a transfer to a work release prison in Peoria. SO MUCH BETTER! From what Bill has told me the problem with Pontiac is many of those people are either staying there for a very long time or facing death role. At the work release those people are one step from freedom so they have a lot to lose if they screw up. Bill was working third shift at the work release and going to school to get out of the prison system altogether when I first met him. I am so glad he is out of that scene.
My parent ARE amazing! The boys are their life and my parents are the boys life. I get so much enjoyment watching them interact with each other! I truly believe that they are what is keeping my parents young!