October 5th, 2009 - WDW Day 2

At about 6:25, Hartley was up playing/watching her crib rainforest (score!), very content. Both girls had slept well (double score!) despite coughing in stereo, which meant I didn't sleep. I'd take it though because - despite appearances - I'm less prone to a meltdown than my 15-month-olds! :) Eventually, I snuck over to peek at her and my heart melted watching her hug and sway with her musical glow worm and rainforest (never mind that the songs were very obviously clashing :)).

Once the other two were up, Zach took the girls for a walk to get some coffee/diet coke while I unpacked and settled in a bit more. As a side note, I'm sure it was during this time that I heard it would once again be hitting record highs in the mid-90's. I'm also sure I wasn't thrilled about it. But I digress...

It was pretty difficult to get "settled in", per se because - as mentioned - there was very little storage space in the room, but it was nice to at least have access to all of our stuff. Eventually we were ready to start our day, after Emmersyn put on some sunscreen :)

The girls were adorable on the bus again (though not quite cute enough to keep me from wishing we had a car as we waited 10 minutes then cruised around the rest of the resort for 5-10 more before heading to our destination). There were constant "Whee!"s, dancing to the Magic Kingdom music, pointing out Snow White and Mickey Mouse on the ads, etc. They were, as we would hear several times throughout the remainder of the trip, "an attraction of their own"! ;)

Despite riding the busses, we got there just in time to see the opening (my favorite!) and check out our brick. Can I just tell you how frustrating it is that ours is the worst looking out of any we saw, and it's only 2 years old? Unacceptable, for the premium we paid. No, I can't tell you? Sorry, too late :)

First stop once inside was Fantasyland, to ride Dumbo before the line was too out of control. Thankfully it was just 10 minutes, because it was the hottest 10 minutes of my life, I'm pretty sure! We then walked on the carousel (which the girls ADORED), and rode It's a Small World (with the girls dancing like maniacs throughout), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Snow White's Scary Adventures & Peter Pan's Flight (with a fastpass).

Before we knew it, it was 10:30 and the girls were in desperate need of a nap! (Oops!) Zach walked around with them while my mom, Addy and I walked onto the Haunted Mansion. You know, I just don't love this ride. Still, anything is worth riding when it's a walk-on! :) Next Zach, Amy and Addy rode Splash Mountain (~20 minute wait) while the girls and I waited in a nearby shop. There were rocking chairs and air-conditioning, so it was a nice break!

Since the girls had napped late, we opted to change our plans a bit. Instead of rushing home after lunch (for a nap), we'd stay in the park just a bit longer and go back to the room just for an afternoon break. So next stop was Casey's for lunch, where I was very pleasantly surprised! Zach got the staple hot dog (with all the crap on it that grosses me out), us girls all got corn dog nuggets. Between that, large fries all around (without any argument) and gourmet brownies, we were all stuffed, making it a much better deal than I had anticipated. We saved plenty of food for the girls who ate just a bit after us (when they finally woke up!)

As we headed from Main Street to Adventureland, we ran into Lilo & Stitch! I wasn't sure if we should start on a bit more familiar character with the girls at this age, but we decided to give it a shot. They were hesitant at first, but warmed up very quickly - giving fives, kisses, etc. Lilo noticed that their dresses matched hers, too, so we told her we were headed to dinner in Polynesia later!

In Adventureland, we walked into the Tiki Room with perfect timing. The girls enjoyed dancing and clapping and weren't at all scared of the storm! We also rode Pirates (~10-15 minute wait) and stopped on the way out of the Magic Kingdom for the girls' first Dole Whip Floats!

What a fun, productive morning! :)

Back at OKW, Zach and Addy went for a swim, my mom and I hung out in our room and the girls played for about an hour, when we put them down in hopes that they'd nap. It was pretty clear fairly quickly that naps in the room might not be an option....

Just before dinner time, we took the Bus to the Magic Kingdom and hopped on the monorail to the Polynesian where we found a LONG check-in line (as usual). Once Zach got to the front of the line to check in (while all 5 of us girls either shopped or slept ;)), we were seated right away. Dinner was spectacular (always one of our favorites!) but poor Hartley was having a really rough time. She wasn't really interested in eating and was VERY fussy, but dinner was enjoyable overall.

Let me just take a second to point out, if you hadn't noticed already, how freaking cute the girls' dresses were on this particular day. When I saw them at Gymboree I HAD to have them, just for pictures at the Polynesian. Of course Emmersyn and Hartley don't care about my plans most of the time, and were fairly uncooperative (eventually accredited in part to the massive blowout Hartley experienced in the meantime (a ha!), but I'm not sure you needed to know that) ... but we got a few cute ones!

After Zach joined us, we all got on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom to get a spot for Spectromagic! Amy and Addy used fastpasses from earlier in the day to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad while Zach, the girls and I grabbed our favorite seats. Despite being past their bedtime, the girls stayed awake for Spectromagic and were captivated by it!

Zach and I decided that Wishes was going to be out of the question since they weren't falling asleep, so we said goodbye to Mom & Addy and called it a night.

The girls entertained the other couples on the bus with us by kissing all over one another, playing peekabo with other guests, etc and were exhausted by the time we finally made it back to the room! Emmersyn fell asleep immediately, but Hartley was over-tired and had a really hard time getting to sleep without me being nearby. Still, we were all asleep by 10 and slept super soundly - without so much as a cough - until 5am the next day!

Next: October 6th, 2009 - WDW Day 3

October 4th, 2009 - WDW Day 1

3:40am -- There I was, lying wide awake... not because I was "too excited to sleep" (cutest WDW commercial ever, still), but because I lie in bed awake at 3:40am (give or take a few minutes) almost every day of my life. I tried (though not too desperately, so as not to be counter-productive) to fall back asleep for 45 minutes, until the alarm would wake us up for Emmersyn's & Hartley's 2nd trip to Walt Disney World(!). Then I tried to go to sleep (though not too desperately) for just 30 more minutes, to try and get a little bit more rest before what I assumed would be a long day of travel. Then, I faced the dilemma of sleeping 20 minutes - IF I could somehow fall asleep - and decided it would do more harm than good. I got out of bed, but only partially excited about our trip. I had had 11 hours of sleep (total) over the course of the previous 3 nights, had been sick yesterday (which I now attribute to medicine, but I could only hope and pray that was the case while it was a present-time dilemma), and knew we had a long day ahead of us. I was worried how the girls would sleep (if at all), whether or not this would be "The [Second] One with the Mommy Meltdown". I just couldn't muster "thrilled" just yet. Those feelings had bubbled up now and then while packing, etc... it would come!

Because I had showered the night before so that I could sleep as long as possible (always the optimist(?)), I quickly and quietly got ready while everyone else slept. I went downstairs and unloaded the dishwasher, looked for other tasks to occupy my time. Of course I always make it a priority to clean before vacation (just a weird thing I have, because I HATE to come home to a dirty house when I already don't want to be home), so there was very little to do!

Eventually, 5am rolled around, Zach was downstairs ready to go, and the Baldwins' arrived to follow us to the airport. We got the girls up at the last possible minute (of course this was the one day they hadn't so much as stirred during the 4-6am time frame), and finally we were off!

(In case you were wondering, yes we listened to the CD I had previously created with great intentionality, just for such drives).

Check-in at the airport was phenomenal - super friendly employee, smooth and fast trip through security (other than getting the girls through - I hadn't thought about easy slip-on shoes for them, in addition to the stroller, etc). I got my Mountain Dew before heading to the Land of Coke Only (another thing I just have to do!), and we waited!

When we arrived at the airport, we found out that our plane was only about 2/3 full. I had noticed (excitedly) prior to our arrival that we had an extra seat next to us to help give us some space for the girls (and have nobody else in our row), but sometime during our wait they moved passengers from a delayed flight that was supposed to go from DAY>ATL>MCO onto our direct flight - lucky them! Not quite as lucky for us, but not really a huge deal. We did get to enjoy the empty seats while remaining zones boarded, at least! :)

Emmersyn and Hartley were surprisingly well-behaved on the plane, despite being very tired. They cried out one time each for fewer than 5 minutes at a time, and even snuck in a 15 minute catnap. It helped that I had an entire bag o' diversions (including some, um, creative ones like ribbons (you'd be surprised what 16-month-olds can do with simple things like that!)). It also helped that we turned the barf bags into " puff bags", and that Emmersyn ate 6 of the Biscott cookies in record time, as if they were made mostly of crack. They had short attention spans (true-to-form) but we made it through the flight with very little drama. :)
popcorn

At the airport, we changed the girls into their Day 1 outfits - adorable blue Nemo shorts & tank tops, perfect for our Epcot plans that afternoon. They really loved the "fishy" on their shirts, even attempting (non-stop, for a while) to give it hugs and kisses! :-P

We skipped baggage claim and waited about 10-15 minutes for our Magical Express bus. Old Key West was the first stop once we arrived through my favorite gates anywhere, and we were checked into our rooms around 11am! Our rooms were not ready yet (of course), so we grabbed some lunch at Goods to Go, the onsite counter-service restaurant. The experience there would be an accurate portrayal of our experience at the resort as a whole - very mediocre at best. Kind of rude, argumentative cast members that did not really exemplify the Disney spirit, little selection, tolerable but not great food. We were hungry though, so it was good enough for us at the time! After lunch (which the girls thoroughly enjoyed), we debated waiting for the room in hopes to let the youngest members of our travel party nap, or heading to Epcot knowing that it could be hours before we had anywhere to even hang out. We meandered around the Hospitality House at Old Key West, checked out the fitness center, community center, pool and playground area, Hanks Rent n Return (where guests can rent sporting equipment, boats, bikes, etc) and finally settled in at the bus stop. I'm not sure if it was just God being extra gracious knowing that I was terrified of how the trip would unfold without my own rental car, but immediately we saw our ride, there to take us to my favorite park!

When we had finally arrived, we walked in and immediately onto Spaceship Earth. My mom and sister had not ridden since it was completely refurbished (to include this really cute tech-loaded ending, where you star in your own "future"), and they really enjoyed it. The girls were enthralled as well, as they always are on any dark rides.

From there we rode Journey Into Imagination with Figment (one of my favorites! (characters, that is - not really this incarnation of the ride)), and - despite my being very anxious about a big "blast" toward the end - Hartley and Emmersyn loved every minute of it. I went ahead of the group to get Fastpasses for Soarin' (the best ride anywhere) and we met up at The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Apparently, while I was away from the group, my daughters were the cutest kids ever. I mean, I know they always are, but listen to this one :)

Upon seeing Spaceship Earth (you know, the "big golf ball" at Epcot? which apparently they hadn't noticed until we had been there an hour), they got very excited about the "ball", and encouraged everyone to "throw it!". Repeatedly. They're funny, if I do say so myself.

We walked right on to the Seas with Nemo and Friends (which surprised me, because it looked fairly crowded!) and once again, the girls loved it. It was definitely one of their favorites throughout the trip, since "fishies" always top their list anyway! After the ride, we spent some time in the rest of the pavilion looking at aquariums, etc. Despite loving them at the zoo (in a similar environment), Emmersyn was terrified of the manatee. Apparently they're more scary in their native state, who knew? Hartley loved them still, hugging and kissing the tank when they'd swim by.

We saw Turtle Talk with Crush, which Emmersyn loved (and Hartley couldn't have cared less about), then it was time for the girls to (hopefully) nap. It was obvious that we weren't going to have a room to help us with the task, but no worries. It was time to put my fabulous Stroller (which I think I need to name, because I seriously love it enough to do so) to the test. One of the features we had loved about it when doing our research was the full shades and the way it reclined -- creating sort of a "cave" in which each girl could sleep without being distracted by the outside world. We thought it would be just perfect for WDW, and really hoped we were right in this, the (first) moment of truth!

While the girls napped - and they did, falling asleep in under 10 minutes - we spent some time making goofy postcard pictures in the Imageworks! section of the Imagination Pavilion. We hung out in Innoventions, and rode the Segways... though I must admit it was awfully boring after our Curb-Jumping, Speed-Limit-Pushing Eden Park experience. I was thrilled to finally get my mom and sister (who is now 16, going on 17, and allowed riding) on one!

After the Segways, Addy and I stood in line for the Chase Visa meet & greet. Since the girls were sleeping (and the window of opportunity would be over once they woke up), we decided to make it a sister picture. It was fun, even if Mickey did try to knock my head off with his big ears. I still like him :)

When it was nearing time for our dinner reservation at Coral Reef, we made our way back to the Seas Pavilion to try and get there early enough to score an aquarium table. We did, and the girls enjoyed the fishies, though not as much as they would have if they had gotten more than 70 minutes of sleep since 5am. There were a few meltdowns at the beginning of dinner, but we made it through and really enjoyed the meal as usual - especially the butterscotch creme brulee! (Don't worry, I would only get creme brulee maybe 1 more time this trip -- pretty good, considering in May 2007 we were there for 11 dinners and I had some variety of it 7 times! :-P)

We did run into some minor annoyances that evening. There were no cribs in our room - thankfully we called ahead to "make sure". We were told we were being charged an automatic 18% gratuity on our "party of 6" ... now don't get me wrong. We are usually very generous tippers, giving more than 18% if service is at all decent, but to consider the babies in the "party of 6" rule was downright criminal - especially when it meant poor service and/or service at buffets would be an additional 18% just because they were there. In most cases we didn't mind tipping that much or more, but the principle was still ridiculous. As was the turtle's pace of our server that night, on a night we were already reaching our limits. But I digress...

Eventually, we made our way out of the restaurant and over to Soarin' to ride with our fastpasses. Amy and Addy were in line for over 30 minutes (so much for fastpasses?), so Zach and I skipped it that evening in favor of keeping our sanity, as the girls were getting pretty cranky. We stopped at the Photo Center to pick up our free 5x7 from the Visa Meet & Greet, and were on our way "home".

The bus ride to OKW was uneventful, and around 7:15pm we were finally in our rooms. My first impression was that they were all they were touted to be -- nice and open. I'm not sure it's the few extra square feet in comparison to other Disney Vacation Club rooms as much as it was just the unique layout. We put two pack & plays (not even the small cribs we had initially requested to save on space) in the room without making so much as a dent in the open space.

We didn't have time to really unpack and settle in that night (which you know drove me nuts!) but we did have time to do our usual bedtime routine (a story, our song we sing each night, etc). We were thrilled we had decided to bring their crib toys from home (Fisher Price aquarium & rainforest toys) because they ended up making a HUGE difference throughout the whole trip. Hartley and Emmersyn still screamed like banshees when we put them down that first night, but thankfully my sweet husband was willing to sit with them while I went with my mom and Addy to grab a few necessities from the store. (It turns out they stopped crying in under 5 minutes, but we really didn't think they would - so I still give him credit for being willing! ;))

We found out that night that the walk to the hospitality house, main pool, etc was ridiculously long and not at all scenic, but whatever. Our feelings on the resort are for another time and place, for the most part. While we were up there, we got drinks in our refillable mugs, fixed our room keys (hadn't been set to allow charging) and bought milk at $3 per half gallon (ahem, annoying! I called specifically to ask this and was told it was $3/gallon which - while steep - made it worthwhile to buy at the resort rather than have it delivered with a grocery service).

Once back at home, Zach and I watched the Steelers game and called it a night. A few thoughts after this, our (long) first day -- We were actually 2 for 2 on hitting the buses quickly, but I wasn't becoming a believer just yet. There were still a lot more rides to consider! I still adore my stroller, and am so glad to have factored these trips into the research and purchase. Seriously, I could write an entire entry on its benefits, but I'll spare you the details. Unless you're looking for a stroller (single or double), then let me know. I promise, it's worth the investment. The crowds looked pretty substantial throughout the park this afternoon, but the lines for rides were very reasonable. For example (and very few of you reading will garner any meaning from this), Soarin' was only 40 minutes by mid-day and evening. Take my word that it's often upwards of 120 minutes by the end of the day. Really, considering we did an average of 1-2 things per day in the beginning of our March trip, this was an insanely productive day!

Regardless of any of these things we had thought all day - both good and bad - the biggest truth was this one: Emmersyn & Hartley are So. Much. Fun! While we throughly enjoyed their first trip and know they enjoyed taking in all of the sights as well, this trip was already so different and equally fun. When people are surprised we're taking the girls at this age or that, I tell them this -- if we went for a once (or twice) in a lifetime trip, this would not be the time we would choose. Absolutely true. But since that's not how our family does WDW, we are really getting SO MUCH out of each trip with them, and know they are learning and experiencing so many great things, too!

See for yourself, if I can ever get through the trip report! ;)

Next: October 5th, 2009 - WDW Day 2

March 12th, 2009 - WDW Day 8

Departure Day.

After we woke up, though I'm not at all sure of the time, we finished packing any last minute things that were still out. We finished our treats from Goofy's, taped a video promo for Owner's Locker, returned the OL and the stroller to their appropriate stations and headed out of the room one final time.

Before leaving the resort, we bought some taffy for my family (which I had already done once, but couldn't resist eating! ), talked ourselves out of the $60 DVC fleece jackets that we eye every trip, refilled our mug and called for the car. We drove to Epcot, for the first time other than the race morning.

We planned to get our free Disney Visa 5x7 until we were reminded that it didn't open until 1:30pm, so instead we rode Spaceship Earth. Zach has only ridden once (and not at all since the refurb), so he was due. I was glad to see, as I had assumed when I rode during a soft opening in December 2007, that they did finally use your picture in "the future". I was very impressed to see that you could send greetings, etc with the future you had chosen, especially considering ours were hysterical. The ride obviously uses the "face finder" technology that is is all of our cameras and photo software now, which means - as I'm sure you know - it isn't perfect. Throw two faces in very close proximity (as we each had the girls' in front carriers), and it's really confused. Zach and I looked fine, but every time you saw Emmersyn or Hartley they had a chin (at the very least) growing out of their head. Fabulous!

We walked through Innoventions and laughed as the instructor said that Segways are "not to be taken over obstacles". We laughed, you see, because that is only true at Disney.

We rode Living with the Land (which Zach and I both admittedly love!) and had lunch at Sunshine Seasons.

The girls were starting to get very crabby, which we knew would happen without a stroller or hotel room (and therefore without a nap). We prayed it wouldn't be a repeat of Day 1, and were thankful they had slept until later than 4:30am at least! We knew that we had plenty of CS meals left to eat a light lunch and a larger "linner" before heading to the airport, so the four of us split a lunch from the Grill and 2 desserts. LOVE me some Sunshine Seasons desserts... one of the best uses in Epcot for a snack credit!

(If you'd like to know, it was at this lunch that the light went on for Emmersyn, who started signing the word "more", appropriately! See, Epcot is educational! )

To our (pleasant) surprise, the girls fell asleep immediately upon getting back into the carriers!

We walked around the park a bit in search of something useful on which to spend our snack credits, but hardly anything was open that wasn't ice cream. Since we had planned to take snacks to the game (considering we had just eaten), that wasn't going to work. Instead, we transferred the girls to the car (sort of) and headed to Pop Century to use the credits up there, since it was on the way to the Wide World of Sports complex.

Since the girls were still asleep in the car (praise the Lord!), I spent my time in the resort and bought a few things that weren't on the list. You know, just because they needed to sleep longer. Eventually though, it was time to head to the Braves game!

At Wide World of Sports, we were thrilled that we purchased our tickets in advance - the line to buy them there was insane! Instead, we spent the time before the game soaking up the atmosphere and, of course, shopping. I got an adorable shirt and a pin. I couldn't believe I was FINALLY at Braves Spring training! You see, I have been a fan since I was in about the 5th grade, and couldn't have been happier than when I found out that there was a place that combined my two loves, Disney and the Atlanta Braves! We had yet to make it work during our trips, so as soon as we booked this trip I knew it was going to happen this time!

It certainly wasn't a game at Turner Field (which is one of my favorite places to be outside of WDW!), but it was fun anyway... if for no other reason than to feel like Baseball Season was finally about to begin! The girls had a good time playing on the lawn (and looked VERY cute, if you ask me! ) until it was just too hot and they were too sleepy from a less-than-sufficient catnap.

We tried moving back to the stands for the remaining innings, but nothing worked to chill them out. In my opinion, I'm still owed a Spring Training game!

We left the stadium for the Wide World of Sports Cafe, so as to stay in proximity for the duration. It's not as if we were in a rush to get to MCO, anyway! Lunch here was FABULOUS, and was something between a counter service and a table service set-up (though it just "costs" 1 CS credit). I had an excellent blackened tilapia sandwich and the best (only) chocolate chip cookie dough soft serve I've ever had! Yum!

The Braves beat the Nationals 6-4 and that also meant our trip had come to an end.

On the way out, I just had to buy Hartley and Emmersyn their first Braves hats

We changed the girls into their pajamas for the trip home, and before we even pulled out of the lot, they were asleep.

(Of course we kept an eye on the balloon! )

The Garmin took us I-4 to the airport (and reminded me how much I hate that road), so it was an interesting ride back at least (seeing different sights than we were used to). We got to the airport with time to spare, talked with my mom and found out it would be 20 degrees when we got home , and went in to check the luggage while Zach returned the car. Check in was smooth again (seriously, people just must not be able to be rude to the girls, because we ALWAYS have jerks at MCO!), and we were at our gate long enough to grab a drink for the plane and get ready to board.

The girls didn't sleep on the way home, but they were very well behaved. Emmersyn entertained the drunk guys next to me by spending 20 minutes tearing up a napkin and putting it (very deliberately) into cups, the back of the chair in front of us, etc.

We waited forever and a night at Dayton (as per usual) for our luggage, but were eventually home safe and sound. The girls fell back to sleep very quickly after sleeping the whole ride home, and slept wonderfully in the familiarity of their cribs.

For the first few days after the trip, it was an interesting dichotomy of emotions. I suffered the usual post-Disney Depression , but also enjoyed regaining some semblance of control over the girls' routine. Of course, this was short-lived until they were battling hospital-worthy illnesses again, but that's an entirely different story.

This one ends here, though you know it's always just another episode for us. I am so blessed to have a husband who enjoys the magic of WDW as much as I do, and now we are both blessed tremendously moreso with the addition of our beautiful daughters to accompany us on future ones.

The next of which, by the way, begins October 4th, 2009.......

Next: October 4th, 2009 - WDW Day 1