Disney 2015

*** I am adding to this post day by day.... scroll down for more.... **** :)

Second go-round for an August Disney trip.  Last trip was in August 2013.

This time, we took my parents and a family friend. Mom and our friend Joan took the train and had left the day before. (my mom didn't want to fly... this figures in later... so stay tuned.). My dad flew with us.

The morning of, I made us some mouse-eared pancakes!

Off to the airport..... sailed through luggage checkin and security... only to find out flight was delayed for two hours due to weather in Florida. Little did we know, this was only the tip of the "delay" iceberg! More on that later...

At 12:30 instead of 10:30, we finally got on the plane.  Off to Neverland!

Around the time I felt like we should be landing in Orlando, my dad noticed the plane was doing an AWFUL lot of turning. I thought it was just a runway approach.... dad pulled out his phone compass and saw we were heading northwest.

?!

A few minutes later, the flight attendant got on the speaker and explained that we had been in a holding pattern and should have landed in Orlando awhile ago, but that the airport was shut down for weather and we were running out of gas and had to reroute and go land in Jacksonville, about 120 miles north.

He went on to say that we did not know how long this would be, or whether we could get off the plane when it landed in Jacksonville... oh, and that they would be turning off the a/c when the plane landed, so close the windows and turn off the lights. 

Mercifully, for this fearful flyer, we landed safely in Jacksonville where we sat waiting to see if they would give us a gate. The flight attendant, who at this point was ONLY the bearer of bad news, came on and said it could be 20 minutes, could be 2+ hours... also that we had no gate, so we'd be sitting on the plane for an indefinite period of time. 

Lovely!

Ultimately, it ended up being about 45 minutes. The kids were great. Every kid on the plane (and, it being a flight to Orlando, there were a lot of them) was great. We took off and finally were allowed to land in Orlando close to 5p.m., about four hours after we were supposed to.

The baggage claim took forever because, since all flights had been delayed coming in, EVERYONE was coming in at the same time... also Orlando's airport baggage claim situation is a nightmare on a NORMAL day anyway.

Our rental car wasn't quite ready, so there was more sitting and waiting. 

FINALLY... finally... we made it to our Disney villa around 7p.m. The kids were such troopers. No one cried or complained. :) I, on the other hand may have done both. 

We met up with my mom and Miss Joan who had taken the train and were already there. Said hello, put our things down and then went to have a quick dinner by the pool. :)

After a good night's sleep, we were all ready for a park day!

Jonathan spent breakfast watching the attractions channel. LOL. 

After everyone was ready, we set off for the Magic Kingdom and our first monorail ride!

We had a tight schedule, trying to cram a TON of Magic Kingdom into our morning. Touring Plans did not fail us and we managed to hit ten attractions in 3-1/2 hours. WOO!

Got a little wet.... but had ponchos on hand. ;)

 We ended the morning with Minetrain, which caught my parents by surprise.  LOL. Loved that ride! It was our first time on it since it wasn't open yet last time we went.  This was the first of Jonathan's favorite rides! Simon was not a fan. Ben still isn't sure.

That night, we headed into Epcot for dinner at the Rose and Crown. Everyone was hanging in there nicely, so we stayed for the fireworks! First fireworks for us in a LONG TIME. :)

Here's my mom in the red telephone booth in the UK. ;)

 On the way into Epcot, we stopped at Guest Services to get our Tables in Wonderland card. Something went wrong with the computer and it took awhile, so the guy gave us two free fastpasses! We only had time to use one, but we all got to hit Soarin that evening. So fun. Simon was nervous (so was my dad)... but everyone ended up having fun!

The next day, we took a day off from the parks. The kids and Tom and I were changing rooms to be closer to my family. As you can see, the boys amused themselves while we packed up. (sigh)

My parents and Joan and I hit the grocery store. (it had been raining so much the previous two days and with the late flight and all that, we just hadn't had time) After we were all stocked up, we hit Downtown Disney for a little shopping and some lunch. For those who go to Disney frequently, Downtown Disney is kind of a mess right now. I don't especially recommend a visit, however, the crowd wasn't too bad the day we went. 

I bought a couple new pairs of earrings, mom bought a Malificent sweatshirt, Joan shopped for her granddaughters, and dad got a Ghiradelli's milkshake. The boys spent some of their vacation money in the toy store. :)   Jonathan had a little birthday giftcard from Aunt Debbie and bought himself some Lego guys. (which we then had to keep track of the rest of the trip, but I'm pretty sure we came home with all the pieces! WOO!)

Later that night, we hit the Hoop Dee Do Revue, one of our favorites. We hadn't been in a long time and really wanted my family to see it. As usual, it was a blast!

Even more exciting, Ben got picked to go on stage! SO funny. Jonathan was also recognized for his birthday! :) Best time ever at the Hoop Dee Doo! 

The next morning, we were off to Epcot BRIGHT and early. Several members of our troop are not morning people, but they were troopers. ;)

Grandmom and Poppy with Ben and Simon

Bruuuuuuceeeee!!!!

Ben chickened out of Test Track (not sure why, he has ridden it before), as did Simon (same!).... so my parents sat out and Tom, Jonathan, Joan and I rode. Jonathan LOOOOoooOOooooved it!

Ben waited patiently for our stop at Club Cool, his favorite.

That night, my parents and Joan had a reservation at Narcoosee's, and we headed off for dinner in Mexico and visiting the countries. 

The Pokemon section of the Japanese store very nearly caused Ben's head to explode.

Simon played a little Agent P in Germany and I discovered a fantastic grapefruit beer while we waited....

Dinner in Mexico was fantastic! Jonathan approved! :)

The next morning, we hit Disney Hollywood Studios....  

 Jonathan rode Tower of Terror for the first time. He came out and this was the only photo he would let me take. He claimed he didn't like it, though since we have been home, he has changed his tune. Nevertheless, he was the only one of my kids (and me) brave enough to ride! So, hats off to him!

 Everyone loved Toy Story Mania! :) So excited they are making a whole Toy Story area soon!

The next day, we gave the other adults the morning off. They were most grateful. It was HOT and we were ALL exhausted. We would have skipped Animal Kingdom too, except the kids were pretty insistent about going to ride Kali River Rapids. It's one of Ben's favorites. Simon was wary, but ended up loving it. Jonathan thought it was awesome. 

Ran into DeVine on the way in. Jonathan was the only one brave enough for a photo. (shaking my head...)

Two out of three were in the REALLY wet seats. LOL!

We rode Dinosaur, Ben and I rode Primeval Whirl, and Jonathan and I rode the Tripceratops Dumbo ride ripoff and then we left... really not feeling the heat that day and we had a big evening planned at the Magic Kingdom!


Did the Enchanted Tales with Belle for the first time. Cute, but probably won't do it again. Kids weren't that into it. Pretty magical though! Ben was a horse and got his photo with Belle. ;)

Posing with the gargoyles while waiting for our table at Be Our Guest. :)

We were seated in the West Wing this time. Super cool. Neat special effects all over! Dinner was delicious, Jonathan and I tried the grey stuff. It was delicious. Mom got her photo taken with Beast. ;)

Jonathan, Joan and Tom rode Splash Mountain (J loved it, of course) The rest of us did the Hall of PResidents, much to Tom's dismay. LOL. I promised him we'd see it again next trip.

Headed for teacups!

Stopped for a quick pic at the castle and packed it in. Did I mention it was hot? SO hot.. Gah.  Had intended to stay for the Electrical Parade, but none of us had it in us... 

Disney Planning….

We are just a few weeks away from our Disney trip. Haven't been since August 2013, which I have decided is just the right amount of time for us…. at least right now. I swear, I need that much time just to recover from packing for five people, plus the flying, which I will always dislike.

We're so excited my parents and one of our best family friends are going with us. It will be so fun to show Disney to people who haven't been in a very long time. The last time my mom was there was the year it opened and the last time our friend Joan was there was when her oldest daughter and I were 13 years old. Lots has changed! ;)

I've meticulously planned out our park days so as to avoid the huge crowds and make sure everyone sees all the neat things I think they'll really enjoy. :) We've also built in lots of down time because lord knows you need that when visiting Orlando in AUGUST. Wondering if the cool summer trend we are having here will translate to down there.. that'd be nice!

We have some fun dinners planned including the Hoop Dee Doo Review, which I know my dad is just going to love. :) We also chose Be Our Guest, which my mom will love, Rose and Crown in Epcot's UK, and the Fantasmic dinner show at the Brown Derby, which will be new for all of us!

As much as I hate flying, I will admit I'm getting really excited. It's always so much fun to share "our" Disney!

Party Kid, New Year's Day, and Other Randomness....

Ben, we have discovered lately, is perhaps our most social kid. LOL. He LOVES having parties and having people over. The more people here, the happier he is. As with his sleep habits, this is completely the opposite of the rest of the family. LOL.  Anyway, it's very funny.

At any rate, he has been in his element the last two weeks as we have gone from one family event to another and had people over our house constantly. Last night, we had his Uncle Taylor and two cousins over (Aunt Sarah was home sick) and Nanee and Pap.  Earlier in the day, he had his friend Tommy over.

I'm hoping all this peopling is enough to tide him over until at least Sunday. I told him I need a people-free day today.... if for no other reason than to catch up on the dishes and clean up the playroom, the state of which currently, resembles a tiny frat house.

In contrast, his youngest brother is all out of sorts with the lack of routine lately, constantly having people in his space and not having me to himself.

We have had a WONDERFUL Christmas break though. I didn't realize just how much I needed OFF the school-schedule train for a little while.

We had a nice time last night with Tom's brother and his parents. Since Aunt Sarah didn't come, I didn't really have anyone to talk to (my mother-in-law doesn't really have a whole lot of interest in conversing with me, honestly), which meant I was pretty free to just do my thing in the kitchen and keep to myself, only occasionally entering into the ongoing-20-year conversation about Disneyworld. (they all always just pick right up where they left off)  I really don't mind this!

[begin Disney tangent] Speaking of Disney, we are planning our next trip for August. We just haven't figured out any way around going in the summer. I have a problem with the boys missing school for vacation... especially Ben now that he is in the intermediate grades and misses a TON when he is even home sick for a day. Simon is not a huge fan of make-up work and missing a week, or even 3-4 days for Disney would be a huge disaster right now.  So summer it is. And it's okay.... no worrying about flu season or whether our car will be iced in when we return.... we don't mind the Florida summer heat either.  It's the crowds that are more annoying to me... but the way we do Disney, even that isn't so bad. We just do as much as we can in the mornings and early afternoons and spend the rest of the time at the pools or doing other things, then sometimes go back to the parks in the evenings depending on how everyone feels.  Plus, the new Fastpass magic band system, while limiting our flexibility some, makes it easy to plan everything out before we go.
[/end Disney tangent]

I have been toy purging like crazy over here. Only, no toys have actually left.  I just moved them to the storage room until I can get them out the door without the kids seeing. The whole time i'm cleaning, Jonathan follows me around nervously... "Where are you taking that? What are you doing?" LOL. So I have to be sneaky.   In the meantime, the boys have re-discovered bunches of toys and games they haven't touched in awhile.... everyone is super into Jenga right now.

Today, we are just hanging out. I might de-Christmas some. Hoping the boys are happy to entertain themselves. :)  Right now, two out of three are still asleep... oh so nice. :)

Dutch Wonderland 2014

Ben has been asking to go back to Dutch Wonderland since we went LAST year, so we promised before the end of the summer. Well, summer weekends are quickly dwindling.... so we took advantage of beautiful weather yesterday to go.

Apparently everyone else had the same idea because it was WAY more crowded than last time we went. Still not ridiculous though.

As we worked our way through the rides, an amusing pattern emerged.

Simon was pretty good about riding everything, but not without complaining and worrying he would throw up or the ride would be too fast or scary.  At the Turtle Whirl, he actually tried to climb the fence to get out of line before we got on. (you may also remember he got us kicked off of Splash Mountain last time we went to Disney because he screamed so much getting into the boat.....)

Ben sat out the majority of rides for fear of various and assorted random things including "sparks" on the bumper cars, drops, spinning, speed, and "lameness" (translate: I'm scared but don't want to say so, so I'll say it's too lame).  He is my child through and through. Tom was getting SO ticked at him. People seriously HATE going to amusement parks with me because I always just want to sit out while everyone else rides the scary stuff. (on the positive side, I will happily watch your stuff while you ride!) Anyway, Ben was having fun in his own way..... so all good. I always encourage him though that if *I* tell him a ride isn't scary, he shouldn't worry about getting on it. We're working on it....

Jonathan, on the other hand....the kid got on EVERYTHING. And I mean.... EVERYTHING. It started with the slides where he declared it was like Tower or Terror and "SO AWESOME!". Then Tom took him on the log flume -- "Let's do that again!" We passed up the Kite Flight on the first go-round because it seemed a bit much for a not-quite-four-year-old. But on the way back through, he wanted to go.... so..... he did.  I could barely watch.  I asked Tom (who had to ride with him) what he was saying and Tom said he was just yelling "Wheeeeeeee!!! This is so fun!!"  OMG.



I was in line with him for the Frog Hopper but there was a huge kid in line in front of us who took the adult seat in the middle. I asked Jonathan if he wanted to wait until the next round or go by himself. You can see which one he chose.




We did get Ben AND Simon on the cars.... Ben sadly, was two inches off the height requirement even though he would have been totally fine driving this thing himself. He was rightfully irritated. I had a flash forward as I sat in the passenger seat....



We got everyone on the Merry Go Round.... though not entirely without angst.

Everyone handled the pretzel picture okay....

And after Tom threatened to make Ben pay him back for his ticket if he didn't ride SOMETHING that wasn't a ridiculous tiny-kid ride, Ben acquiesced and rode the hopper with Jonathan. Then he loved it so much he rode it two more times immediately after. (Again, so me.... when I finally rode Test Track at DW, I rode it six more times that day until I could keep my eyes open during the "barrier test")

We also spent some time in the water park, which was absolute and total craziness, but the kids had a blast there too. No pictures because I was chasing Jonathan in a Where's Waldo scenario the entire time. 

All in all, a totally successful and great day. We left the house at 9 and didn't get home until six, which is HUGE! We are finally to the point where we don't have to leave places for naps. :) It's a hard-earned milestone, for sure!