Cars, Trains, and Planes Oh My! A Feb 2014 TR

[ashw100]

To my first trip report!

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A little about myself, I am a mom to three boys ages Connor 4, James 2, and Nicholas 2 months. I love all things Disney but my favorite movie is Little Mermaid with Frozen being a close second. My favorite park is Magic Kingdom and favorite character is Winnie the Pooh .


This was a first trip for my husband, Joe (he went when he was 2 and doesn’t remember) and my children. I had only been to the World one time when I was 12 so everything was pretty new to me as well. We were joined by my mom and dad and Joe's parents. Joe's parents decided to join us two weeks before our trip so unfortunately, I was unable to include them in a lot of our plans and they were only there for three days. Even though most of us had been to WDW before, it had been so long and everything was different, so in many ways we were all first time visitors.

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Not the best picture but only one with all of us

We went from 1/31/2014-2/6/2014 and stayed at AOA in a Cars family suite. We had an amazing trip despite some obstacles and I hope you join me for the report.

Table of Contents
Day 0 Pre-travel day
Day 1- AOA and Magic Kingdom
Part1​

 

[ashw100]

Day 0 Pre-travel day

We had a 6:00 am flight on the 31st and we live an hour from the airport so we decided to stay in a hotel the night before. We live in central Michigan and it snows pretty much every day and this day was no exception .


Connor is ready to go


James too

We were pummeled with a huge snow storm so the hour drive to Grand Rapids took 3 hours . The GPS lead us to nowhere and by the time we got to the hotel we were tired, cranky, and hungry. Our nice relaxing night at the hotel was shot so we grabbed dinner at Noodles & Company and went to bed early.

Going to bed early did not work for me so I woke up at 1 am too excited to sleep . I was also nervous that something would happen to our flight with the snow storm so I decided to check Delta’s app. Sure enough our original flight from Grand Rapids to Atlanta was cancelled. We were supposed to get to MCO by 11:30. The rerouted us through La Guardia but now we were not getting in until 1. There was one upside on the leg from La Guardia to MCO they put us in first class! Alas nothing is perfect, so they separated the three of us (James 18 months at the time was a lap child). I assumed they would kick us out of first class when I asked to be seated together . I finally was able to fall back asleep at 3 am.

Read on to find out if we get first class and how these changes affect our plans.

 

[ashw100]

Not sure is anyone is reading and thanks if you are but I am having fun reminiscing about our trip .

Day 1- Here We Go
We woke up bright and early at 4 am. Joe ran to Meijer since, it was the only thing open that early, and brought us a breakfast of granola bars and milk.


Yummy Breakfast...Also you can just barely see the shirts I made. They say I'm going to Disney World. Unfortuantely this is the only time they will be seen since the boys kept their Mickey hoodies on the rest of the day.

We had a shuttle picking us up at 4:30 to take us to the airport. While waiting, we found out many more people had flights cancelled or changed and were not as lucky as us. Our trip to the airport was uneventful and we got on the plane without incident. James started to get cranky waiting for the plane and I gave him some fruit snacks.



Flight was fine with boys occupied in any way to prevent any sort of unruliness on the plane.


Bribing with the iPad? Yup!

When we got to La Guardia, I talked to someone to inform them that my three year old could not sit by themselves. She was very nice and put me next to Connor and Joe two aisles away. Not ideal but hey its first class . We waited about a half an hour to board an they boys occupied themselves with a Color Wonder Cars coloring book.




FYI the nice man I mention below is sitting right behind James

We boarded the plane first in order to get the boys settled. I love first class and don't get to do it often but, I always feel like people are judging us being in first class with kids. I don't know why and maybe their not but, you know those stares you get when you have small kids on a plane? Its like that but worse, I don't know but it felt like everyone was staring at us as they walked by, it makes me uncomfortable. As a side note I have never gotten any stares from the actual first class passengers, you would think they would be the most upset having to share the cabin with kids. The flight started off fine but James was getting antsy and it was hard to keep him still. Luckily, the man sitting across the aisle from me saw me trying to talk to Joe and let him take his seat since he had a row to himself, it was so sweet. I doubled checked a million times but he said it was fine. This definitely helped so I didn't have to take care of two children by myself the whole flight. The flight was without indecent, James fell asleep and Connor played on the iPad the whole time.




We enjoyed a yummy breakfast and watching Disney Junior and our flight landed in MCO right on time, well not our original time but on time for this new flight.


I think he was mad at us for making him get off the plane.

We grabbed our luggage and heading to the rental car lot to pick up our minivan. I opted to get a van because I am super impatient and have heard terrible things about Disney transportation. Then, we headed to WDW!! Boys fell asleep on the way there so they didn’t see us drive under the sign.








We got lost trying to find the hotel. That should say Joe got lost trying to find the hotel, I should have followed the signs and yet again we followed Siri and she led us astray. My one promise I made to myself was to keep my cool during the trip but, I was NOT a happy camper to say the least. We arrived at AOA and checked in.



By this time it was 2:30 we had already missed our appointment at the Barber Shop (notice the boys long unruly hair?) and one Fastpass + reservation. I knew that everyone would be tired so I was okay with missing things that I planned, as long as we saw Mickey and made our ADR, I was happy.

 

[smga1]

Your boys are adorable.

 

[ashw100]

Thank You!

 

[marmalade]

Can't wait to read more!

 

[ashw100]

Thanks for following along!

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Following along!

 

[ashw100]

Glad to have you.

 

[leahlefler]

I love this! I can't wait to read more!

 

[ashw100]

I love this! I can't wait to read more!

Thanks! I see your going in February next year, hopefully you can get a feel for Disney at this time.

 

[ashw100]

So, when I originally conceived this trip to WDW, it was because of AOA opening. I thought it looked adorable and had to take Connor. A lot of things happened between that first ad I saw and actually going (having our second baby being one) but, I had finally arrived! Check in was super easy, as I had done online check in and we were off to the room. Connor and James loved walking down the "road" with the Lighting McQueen rolling suitcases (wish I had a picture). We were in building one which was perfect, close to parking and Animation Hall. We checked out the room very quickly and, I have to say, Connor and James reaction to it was all I hoped for and more. Connor declared this the best day ever and James (who I say likes to take life seriously) was so excited and running around, instant mood lifter.























After quickly checking out the room, we headed out to make our way to Magic Kingdom. I had to go to bell services to pick up our stroller from Kingdom Stroller (clean and easy to use). I made a quick stop at the Ink and Paint shop. I had forgotten my hoodie in the car back in Michigan and since it was chilly I need something. I also needed to pick up an autograph book for Connor. We were going to wait for the bus since, I heard it was quicker than driving but decided against it at the last second so, we drove to Magic Kingdom.


Joe excited for his first Disney park visit.


Yay we're here!!

We took the boat over because the monorail was closed for much of our trip.


Waiting for the boat


Ah...one day I will stay here.

By the time we got to Magic Kingdom it was 4 and we had all but one fastpass left and we didn’t want to use it. When I tried to get one to see Mickey there were none left for the day (this would be the rule not the exception this trip). We grabbed some popcorn on the way and then got in line to see Mickey with a 20 minute wait. By this time the boys were cranky as they did not have their usual amount of sleep. James was throwing a tantrum and I almost gave up on the day. Joe did and pretty good job of distracting him though.


Smiles for daddy



We got popcorn and ate in line but were told to put it away before we entered the first waiting room. This prompted a meltdown from Connor. I had become one of “those parents” forcing my children to do something even when they were over it . At this, point we were so close and refuse to give up. They both love Mickey so much I was sure all would be forgiven once we saw him. When it was finally our turn, they both were apprehensive about meeting him and chose to admire from afar at first.



Okay James was terrified. I had shown him Youtube videos of the talking Mickey and he loved it so much but I was not surprised by the reaction. Mickey had him feel his nose and pet his head and this warmed James right up. He really didn't try to interact with Connor but that's okay. Connor was okay keeping his distance. It funny, he loved all the character interactions except talking Mickey. He liked non-talking Mickey but something about him speaking really freaked him out I guess.

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When we went to take a picture I put James down and this was a mistake. He threw himself on the floor and I was ready for a tantrum but Mickey got down with him and it is one of my favorite pictures of the trip.


This is a horrible picture of me but you can see James about to throw down






Up next...dinner with my favorite bear

 

[Benchley]

I can sympathise with you. We brought our nearly 2 year old from the uk and it took a couple of days for him to adjust to est. mind you, so did my husband, so it was great managing both cranky men

 

[ashw100]

I can sympathise with you. We brought our nearly 2 year old from the uk and it took a couple of days for him to adjust to est. mind you, so did my husband, so it was great managing both cranky men

Oh man, I can't even imagine that sort of jet lag with a 2 year old. Luckily, we stayed in out time zone but it was just too long of a day.

 

[marmalade]

OMG!! That picture with James and Mickey on the ground

 

[ach222]

Coming over from my PTR - love the Cars suites, my DS would flip over them! Your boys are adorable, can't wait to read more

 

[ashw100]

OMG!! That picture with James and Mickey on the ground

I know, couldn't believe he did that just to entertain my cranky guy. James was so impressed with him that he gave him a wave bye-bye(new thing he learned & only reserved for special people ).

 

[ashw100]

So I should probably be cleaning because my mom is coming tonight and I have surgery tomorrow but, I would rather be on the Dis. This is important too, right? Thanks to those of you that have stopped by to read or comment! Now on to the report!



This was the thing I had waited for, walking down Main Street. There is just something so magical about the first walk down Main Street. We headed over to Crystal Palace and everyone was in a good mood. We weren’t going to let a little rain or delay dampen our renewed spirits.



When we got to CP, the line was long and daunting looking but, we got to a cast member quickly. We waited about ten minutes to be seated and I gave the boys a lollipop to enjoy while we waited and watched some of the Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it Street Party.



We were called to be seated and someone was sitting at our table so we had to wait in the lobby by the topiaries. Connor started to freak out, I guess the topiaries scared him (I’m afraid of his reaction when we go to F & G in May).





Dinner was okay at best. I had not heard great reviews about this but, with Winnie and friends being my favorite I had to at least give it a try. The boys did enjoy their chicken nuggets though. We met the whole gang and character interactions were great. I don’t plan on doing this one again unless it is for breakfast. On a side note, my birthday had been 9 days before and I decide I wanted to celebrate at Crystal Palace and I put a note on our reservation. I've seen pictures of confetti on the table or a signed card from the gang and thought that would be fun. The only problem? They didn't do anything. Not a big deal but I was slightly let down. Oh well, it wasn't really my birthday anyway.










Excuse the bad hair...I blame the rain.




We headed back to the hotel and we had a surprise waiting for us.



The black it just our last name blackened out.

I ordered this to be delivered to our room. This was a great park bag that we just kept in the stroller with snacks and diapers and such, the bottom has a cooler for drinks too. Funny story about this is that I told my mom I was thinking about ordering one of these. I must have forgotten to tell her that I actually did it because; she sent us one too as a surprise. Now I have two bags.

Joe laid down with the boys in the bedroom. Joe would have to pick up my parents later so he wanted to get a nap in. I unpacked, watched some of the Stacy person I had heard so much about, and took notes from the day. My plan was to tour the resort but I was too stinking tired for that. Once Joe left to pick up my parents at around 11:30 I went to bed.


Follow along to our first full day at Magic Kingdom.

 

[ashw100]

Coming over from my PTR - love the Cars suites, my DS would flip over them! Your boys are adorable, can't wait to read more

Thanks for coming over. Hopefully, this will help with your trip too.

 

[ashw100]

So I was pregnant during our trip and needed a lot of sleep because of it. Luckily, my second trimester energy had arrived by our first full day and I was up and ready to go by 6 am. I went over to Landscape of Flavors to grab some coffee and milk for the group. We were out the door by 6:45 to head over to our pre-rope drop breakfast in Cinderella’s Castle. I remember being so disappointed during our last trip, when I was 13, that you couldn’t go inside the castle (I didn’t know about the restaurant). So, I couldn’t wait to eat there, not for the food but the experience. It started off being rainy this day but that was only in the morning.





Our reservation was for 8:15 so when we were let in we took some pictures of an empty main street.






The fog at least hides the crane





Side note about the shirts. I got the words off an etsy shop. I Printed them at home and ironed them on. I had just found out the week before that we were having a boy and I wanted to announce on facebook through my shirt. You can see however that its not super clear so I didn't end up doing it. We did get a TON if compliments on the shirts so that was nice.




This I do remember from our trip in 2001


secret door to Cinderella's Suite????




Lots of construction while we were there








Gus Gus!!! I love him


We met Cinderella and Connor was a little shy, he definitely warmed up to characters as the trip went on.










Up next: lets eat!