lllovell
04-12-2006, 05:46 PM
PJ woke me up at 5 am for a feeding on Sunday morning (4 am before the time change for those playing along) and when I was finished, I woke hubby, took a shower, rolled the boys into the car with the now sleeping lil Miss and off we went! I was hoping the boys would go back to sleep, but I should have known they were equally as excited as I was to be on our way to Disney!
The trip down was fairly uneventful...we stopped at our normal gas station/Stean N Shake for breakfast (got some advice from a grandfatherly trucker who was concered about me traveling with 3 children *smile*), filled up our tanks and the car and we hit the road again. This ride seems sooooo long to me when we are on it yet it is never long enough to discourage me from wanting to drive it again and again. The funny thing is that for most people, going home seems to take longer. For the Lovell clan, the trip down is almost too much to bear!!!
We arrived at OKW around 2 pm. The guard was very nice, even giving the boys a couple of Mickey Security stickers that they loved. I was somewhat surprised that we had to wait in a line about 5-6 families deep to check in, but I guess being spring break time, the resort was probably full. Our room wasn't ready, so we took the time to watch a few cartoons, eat our first Mickey ice cream sandwich from Goods and ate it overlooking the boats and water. We found the play ground area while waiting for the room and the rest of the party to arrive and while the boys had fun, it seems in need of an update to me. My basic park back home has better play ground equipment than the playground by the pool at OKW. (funny thing here, every time I would say to the boys all week that we were going to a park, they would say "the one by the pool" :p Kept having to explain the whole "theme park" thing to them lol)
Right at 4 I called and our room was ready. At that same time, Marge from Wegoshop called and she was on her way back, so by the time we drove over to the room and unloaded the luggage, she arrived with our groceries. We were assigned room 6322 which is diagonally across the first intersection from the HH and while there was traffic in and out of the resort that you could see if you tried from the balcony - the location was fantastic!!! We could walk to the bus easily, get off when returning at the first bus stop which wasn't a bad walk back to our room (instead of waiting until the end to return to the HH), we walked almost everyday to the pool, shack bar, store, etc. I really liked the location and we were overlooking one of the holes on the golf course and PJ and I enjoyed sitting on the balcony each day watching the golfers and enjoying the breeze while the boys slept (they NEVER napped together this trip - go figure!)
Off to the ESPN club for dinner which was good food with quick service and then it took FOREVER to get the check. We have eaten there twice and gotten consistently good service and food, but there was obviously some issue this evening. Finally got that settled and we headed back to the room. I had forgotten PJ's diapers - so the kids and I went to Winn Dixie after dinner and then back to the resort for swimming and finally to bed!
Monday, we decided to head to MGM (trying to play the "avoiding the EMH" game) and it was busy, but not too bad really. Saw the standards - Lil Mermaid, Bear in the Big Blue House, the film in Animation and the Bearty and the Beast stageshow before heading back around lunch time. For those interested, they now have Chicken Little characters signing autographs in Animation, not the Incredibles. The kids and I went back to the room on our own, stopping at all of our favorite picture spots and just enjoying the stroll through MGM. I do love getting to the parks earlier in the day and leaving about lunch time as it seems like the sea of humanity gets up later on vacation and arrives about the time we are leaving. Later that afternoon. we headed over to Epcot. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the balking from my psuedo niece. She wouldn't ride anything once we were there, so we had to split up a few times. We toured the Living Seas and then headed to the WS for dinner. Now, I am not a big fan of wandering for dinner in the WS with kids with no good idea where you want to eat. It was getting busy and we finally ended up in China. (my boys will eat just about everything on the kids menu at WDW, but my niece doesn't do hamburgers or peanut butter, so that whacked several restaurants). I really liked this counter service place and thought the food was quite good. We staked out a spot for Illuminations, bought the kids some cookies, they rode the Malestorm to kill some time and then we got to see my favorite show! It was wonderful as always. I was worried that PJ might cry since it is incredibly loud, but she was a trooper all week. The only thing that sent her over the edge was that she doesn't like her car seat as a stroller anymore. Big girls want to sit up!!! so I got some fussing from her about that, but she did great!
Tuesday morning, we headed over to the Animal Kingdom. No chance to do Everest this trip, but we did hit our favorites - the safari and the Lion King show. After lunch and a nap, the kids and I needed a break (my boys had to walk most of this trip and they were getting pooped easily) so we first went to see Ice Age 2 and then went swimming. Pj also loved swimming BTW. That child is just very laid back and happy :) Charlie, my oldest, gives the slide at OKW a big thumbs up. Richard got brave at the end and went down once, said he wanted to do it again when Dad got there later in the week, but the look of fear in his eyes when he hit the bottom of the slide told a different story. I was proud of him for trying!
Tuesday evening we did our "one big thing" for that trip. (I try to pick something we haven't done each trip to keep it fresh). We went on a fireworks cruise. We all came from different areas around the World and met up at the Marina at the Contemporary about 9:15. Our captain arrives, we did the necessary money transfer and were on our way. They provided blankets (it was chilly on the water), drinks and snackies while he took us around the first lake showing us the sites. We talked about the DVC wing on the Contemporary (for sure in June he says - North wing and the tennis courts to be demolished), the "shoe tree" over by the old River Country, the "face" in the Wilderness Lodge building, and finally we got a private showing of the Electric Water Parage as it came out of the docks. It was so cool. Hearing the music and being so close was amazing! We then traveled across the water bridge (which goes over the road to the Contemporary) to the Seven SEas Lagoon. More history there with stories about the Poly, GF and Wedding Chappel (where our capt had been married the year before) and finally finding a spot among the boats for wishes. He timed it beautifully as we arrived about 2 minutes before Wishes started. Pj was a bit fussy on the boat because she didn't like the life jacket, but the kids seems to love it. We were floating next to the Grand One which is the Yacht from the GF and the boat captain kept us out of harms way while we listened to the piped in music and watched the fireworks. It was $250 for the 10 of us to do this and I would highly recommend it if you ever get a chance! It was amazing!
Wednesday morning saw us to the Magic Kingdom. We had to ride Buzz first (somewhat of a tradition with the boys) and then hit the TTA, the Indy Cars, the tea cups. After that, the kids and I split off with a "cousin" of our friends with us. He is a "special" young man, about 15 but more like a 7 year old, but the boys loved him and I am glad we got to spend time with him. Big heart and he loved the rides the boys wanted to do. We did Pooh, got an ice cream, watched Philharmagic, ate lunch at Pinocchios (which the new menu is very good), rode IASM and finally hit the Country Bears during the parade. It was another scorcher, so we hit the Dole Whip stand on the way out! YIPPIE! My favorite! Back to the room for nap time and Dad arrived! YIPPIE!!! *whew* Tired mommy! ME took about 45 minutes from the time his plane landed until he arrived at the hotel - so it was a snap. PJ and I walked over to the HH to meet him and she did the bouncing in my arms thing. (new for this trip - she is getting so annimated!) We cooked dinner for everyone (plus some of the others along in different rooms) that night and just relaxed. The GV was really spacious and wonderfully comfortable and it held us all very well!
The trip down was fairly uneventful...we stopped at our normal gas station/Stean N Shake for breakfast (got some advice from a grandfatherly trucker who was concered about me traveling with 3 children *smile*), filled up our tanks and the car and we hit the road again. This ride seems sooooo long to me when we are on it yet it is never long enough to discourage me from wanting to drive it again and again. The funny thing is that for most people, going home seems to take longer. For the Lovell clan, the trip down is almost too much to bear!!!
We arrived at OKW around 2 pm. The guard was very nice, even giving the boys a couple of Mickey Security stickers that they loved. I was somewhat surprised that we had to wait in a line about 5-6 families deep to check in, but I guess being spring break time, the resort was probably full. Our room wasn't ready, so we took the time to watch a few cartoons, eat our first Mickey ice cream sandwich from Goods and ate it overlooking the boats and water. We found the play ground area while waiting for the room and the rest of the party to arrive and while the boys had fun, it seems in need of an update to me. My basic park back home has better play ground equipment than the playground by the pool at OKW. (funny thing here, every time I would say to the boys all week that we were going to a park, they would say "the one by the pool" :p Kept having to explain the whole "theme park" thing to them lol)
Right at 4 I called and our room was ready. At that same time, Marge from Wegoshop called and she was on her way back, so by the time we drove over to the room and unloaded the luggage, she arrived with our groceries. We were assigned room 6322 which is diagonally across the first intersection from the HH and while there was traffic in and out of the resort that you could see if you tried from the balcony - the location was fantastic!!! We could walk to the bus easily, get off when returning at the first bus stop which wasn't a bad walk back to our room (instead of waiting until the end to return to the HH), we walked almost everyday to the pool, shack bar, store, etc. I really liked the location and we were overlooking one of the holes on the golf course and PJ and I enjoyed sitting on the balcony each day watching the golfers and enjoying the breeze while the boys slept (they NEVER napped together this trip - go figure!)
Off to the ESPN club for dinner which was good food with quick service and then it took FOREVER to get the check. We have eaten there twice and gotten consistently good service and food, but there was obviously some issue this evening. Finally got that settled and we headed back to the room. I had forgotten PJ's diapers - so the kids and I went to Winn Dixie after dinner and then back to the resort for swimming and finally to bed!
Monday, we decided to head to MGM (trying to play the "avoiding the EMH" game) and it was busy, but not too bad really. Saw the standards - Lil Mermaid, Bear in the Big Blue House, the film in Animation and the Bearty and the Beast stageshow before heading back around lunch time. For those interested, they now have Chicken Little characters signing autographs in Animation, not the Incredibles. The kids and I went back to the room on our own, stopping at all of our favorite picture spots and just enjoying the stroll through MGM. I do love getting to the parks earlier in the day and leaving about lunch time as it seems like the sea of humanity gets up later on vacation and arrives about the time we are leaving. Later that afternoon. we headed over to Epcot. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the balking from my psuedo niece. She wouldn't ride anything once we were there, so we had to split up a few times. We toured the Living Seas and then headed to the WS for dinner. Now, I am not a big fan of wandering for dinner in the WS with kids with no good idea where you want to eat. It was getting busy and we finally ended up in China. (my boys will eat just about everything on the kids menu at WDW, but my niece doesn't do hamburgers or peanut butter, so that whacked several restaurants). I really liked this counter service place and thought the food was quite good. We staked out a spot for Illuminations, bought the kids some cookies, they rode the Malestorm to kill some time and then we got to see my favorite show! It was wonderful as always. I was worried that PJ might cry since it is incredibly loud, but she was a trooper all week. The only thing that sent her over the edge was that she doesn't like her car seat as a stroller anymore. Big girls want to sit up!!! so I got some fussing from her about that, but she did great!
Tuesday morning, we headed over to the Animal Kingdom. No chance to do Everest this trip, but we did hit our favorites - the safari and the Lion King show. After lunch and a nap, the kids and I needed a break (my boys had to walk most of this trip and they were getting pooped easily) so we first went to see Ice Age 2 and then went swimming. Pj also loved swimming BTW. That child is just very laid back and happy :) Charlie, my oldest, gives the slide at OKW a big thumbs up. Richard got brave at the end and went down once, said he wanted to do it again when Dad got there later in the week, but the look of fear in his eyes when he hit the bottom of the slide told a different story. I was proud of him for trying!
Tuesday evening we did our "one big thing" for that trip. (I try to pick something we haven't done each trip to keep it fresh). We went on a fireworks cruise. We all came from different areas around the World and met up at the Marina at the Contemporary about 9:15. Our captain arrives, we did the necessary money transfer and were on our way. They provided blankets (it was chilly on the water), drinks and snackies while he took us around the first lake showing us the sites. We talked about the DVC wing on the Contemporary (for sure in June he says - North wing and the tennis courts to be demolished), the "shoe tree" over by the old River Country, the "face" in the Wilderness Lodge building, and finally we got a private showing of the Electric Water Parage as it came out of the docks. It was so cool. Hearing the music and being so close was amazing! We then traveled across the water bridge (which goes over the road to the Contemporary) to the Seven SEas Lagoon. More history there with stories about the Poly, GF and Wedding Chappel (where our capt had been married the year before) and finally finding a spot among the boats for wishes. He timed it beautifully as we arrived about 2 minutes before Wishes started. Pj was a bit fussy on the boat because she didn't like the life jacket, but the kids seems to love it. We were floating next to the Grand One which is the Yacht from the GF and the boat captain kept us out of harms way while we listened to the piped in music and watched the fireworks. It was $250 for the 10 of us to do this and I would highly recommend it if you ever get a chance! It was amazing!
Wednesday morning saw us to the Magic Kingdom. We had to ride Buzz first (somewhat of a tradition with the boys) and then hit the TTA, the Indy Cars, the tea cups. After that, the kids and I split off with a "cousin" of our friends with us. He is a "special" young man, about 15 but more like a 7 year old, but the boys loved him and I am glad we got to spend time with him. Big heart and he loved the rides the boys wanted to do. We did Pooh, got an ice cream, watched Philharmagic, ate lunch at Pinocchios (which the new menu is very good), rode IASM and finally hit the Country Bears during the parade. It was another scorcher, so we hit the Dole Whip stand on the way out! YIPPIE! My favorite! Back to the room for nap time and Dad arrived! YIPPIE!!! *whew* Tired mommy! ME took about 45 minutes from the time his plane landed until he arrived at the hotel - so it was a snap. PJ and I walked over to the HH to meet him and she did the bouncing in my arms thing. (new for this trip - she is getting so annimated!) We cooked dinner for everyone (plus some of the others along in different rooms) that night and just relaxed. The GV was really spacious and wonderfully comfortable and it held us all very well!