Trip Report It started with a toot and "Welcome to Hawaii"!!!! - Complete

Day 1 - Arrival Day

We woke up bright and early...in fact it was still dark outside. We rolled out of bed and scurried around to get out the door by 6:30am.

We made a quick pit stop at Wawa for some donuts (breakfast of champion).

This is my lil prince Evan and my daughter Hayley as we headed out of our neighborhood. I'm not quite sure what was shocking (Evan) and slightly funny (Hayley)?????

Btw, that brown piece of fuzz and fur that Evan has is his pillow pet, otherwise known as "P-pet". He goes everywhere with us and is probably the most well traveled pillow pet around!

Again, I think we all woke up too early and everyone was slightly confused. Lil Evan looks like he thinks he is Muhammad Ali and Hayley is trying to look awake and pose. That's Manny to the left.

We arrived at the little local airport that just recently started having commercial flights. It only has one airline that flies out so it wasn't bad in the way of crowds, etc.

As we are getting the luggage out of the car, I grab my daughters suitcase by the attached handle and it flies off and the bag goes flying to the ground. No problemo....we still have the telescoping handle and nothing is going to stop us or get in the way of going on this trip.

**Here is the first explanation of our TR titl e**
As we are standing in line waiting to check our bags, the guy in front of us just lets it rip!!!!! Really loud and long!!! I turn around and take one look at my husband whose eyes are popping out of his head. Hubs turns around and literally walks out of the airport!

Meanwhile, Mr. Tooter just stood there and didn't even flinch...as if it never even happened and so did Mrs. Tooter!

We finally got through check-in and security and here is us waiting to be called to board!

Isn't my lil prince and P-pet adorable?

Here is our plane and saver of our sanity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, it was pouring outside that morning and because the airport is so small...you literally walk outside up to the plane. Again, nothing was stopping us or getting in the way of this vacation. Onward we go!!!!!

Frontier is known for their animals on the tales of their planes....we got this guy!

I wasn't sure how Evan would do on the plane and I came prepared with his Innotab, plenty of fruit snacks and a sticker book. Hayley on the other hand was slowly talking herself into a frenzy of nervousness. This was her first time flying too.

Here is the fam........

I still don't know what is up with these "shocked" looks on his face!

He is such a clown!

The day was so dreary and this was the view out of my plane window:

Out of picture space...gotta make a new post.....

 

[TinkandCrew]

Now this was the view when we were almost ready to land in sunny 'ol Florida:

What a difference huh? Stay tuned...our weather doesn't stay that way.

FINALLY...Orlando International Airport.

The men folk trudging along ahead of us ladies. My lil boo did a good job of pulling his own suitcase and he did extremely well on the plane. Not a peep out of him the whole time! When we were landing he could see the buildings out of the window and said, "Look mom, I see buildings, I see the waterpark!". Too adorables!

Hayley also survived and said it was not as bad as she thought. She slept some of the way and listened to her iPod. We all made it!

Baggage claim was hilarious. The hubs rushed down to our baggage claim area to be the first to get there. He picked his spot nice and close to right where they come out and instructed me, Hayley and Evan to stand back with the other bags while he took care of those ones. Well.........the conveyor belt started and guess what...he was at the completely wrong side where they first come out.

I started cracking up and he just gave me "the look" and walked over where they rest of the crowd had gathered. It wasn't long and we were off to pick up our rental car. The line wasn't too long but either they were extremely slow or I was just getting inpatient (I think they were slow).

Our rental car was a white Town & Country minivan. This thing was NICE! I never thought I would be in awe over a minivan. The kids loved it too so that says a lot!

We hopped in and proceeded to track down the home away from home that we rented for the week. Our plane landed at 10:20am and by the time we got out of the airport it was about 11:30am. Our check-in wasn't until 4pm, but we just wanted to find it.

Guess what??? We lucked out and were able to settle in as soon as we got there. Here was our gorgeous place:

Above is the master bedroom.

This was the room that the boys were going to share.

The kitchen and dining room (with a dishwasher!!!!!!! Yes, I am thankful.).

The living room that I never once spent time in! The kids did a few times. They played the Playstation that was hooked up there and watched some t.v., but there was a t.v. in every room as well as a pool table which got most of their attention.

And then there was this..........drumroll please............

This was the view outside our sliding glass door of our master bedroom. It is the screened in hot tub and pool. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....this is the life!!!!!!!

Do you remember what that view looked like out of the plane window when we left this morning? Do you? Honestly....I couldn't be happier to be at this house at this moment in time.

Out of picture space again....be right back........

 

[TinkandCrew]

We ate off site a lot since we weren't staying on site and I will admit I was bad about taking food pics at first, but I make up for that later, promise!

After settling in, we ran and ate lunch at Ponderosa. Everything was fine and the kids gorged themselves. I had an issue with my order. I ordered Sirloin Tips and they brought me out Top Sirloin. I was really wanting the Tips because it brought back memories for me from when I was little (is that weird?), but I settled for the more expensive mistake because I didn't want to wait to have them fix it and hold everyone else up. I'm the slowest eater in the world. EVERYONE will tell you that.

We left Ponderosa and stopped by the little IGA store next to it to grab a case of water and some cereal. Good Lord what were we thinking? Cereal in this joint was like $5 or more a box! No way....we will track down Publix instead.

The kids spotted the oversized football helmet and had to have a pic:

Here is one pic of our pool I forgot to include:

And here is my little goofball at it again, I swear he is a comedian:

The house comes equipped with every need for an infant and he found this and thought it was funny...so did I! Again, my hubs just gave me "the look" and said I have problems for immortalizing this.

Our night ended with a quick trip to Downtown Disney to check out the happenings. We saw this for the first time:

All of that smudge on our window is from a bazillion bugs that kept sacrificing themselves.

Downtown Disney was hopping. The smell coming from the House of Blues was amazing! BBQ something...it didn't matter..it just smelled wonderful.

We wandered by the T-Rex Cafe knowing we have a reservation there for a later date and my lil guy got nervous. He's normally not like that and I chalked it up to being tired and prayed that on our reservation day his nerves were better!

**Now for the second explanation of our TR title**

As we are walking along with the crowds throughout Downtown Disney, minding our business, some random guy walks up to us and says, "Welcome to Hawaii!". The smell of alcohol then hit us all in the face and we looked at each other and busted out laughing. This was going to be an interesting trip!

Finally, it was getting late and our tummies were getting rumbly for dinner. We drove out of Downtown Disney and stopped at Steak & Shake. The prices are very good and cheap, the pictures on their menus looked very good, but what we got wasn't so great. The fries were cold and the sandwiches were very thin and lacked something, but the taste wasn't bad. Service was also slow even though they weren't really busy.

Here is prince Evan with his complimentary hat:

We made it back to the house and crashed so we could get ready for our big day the next day.

Here are a couple pics of the front of our house:

There is the fly minivan! I know you're jealous....say it, just say it!

Up next: Day 2 (Epcot Day).

 

[ml123_9]

Loving the TR! I know what you are saying about the minivan. We rented a T & C once and now my wife wants one. I swear I will never own a minivan.

 

[TinkandCrew]

Loving the TR! I know what you are saying about the minivan. We rented a T & C once and now my wife wants one. I swear I will never own a minivan.

You are too funny! That is us too! My husband swears we will never own one either. I'm normally not a fan, but this thing was nice. It has the dvd player, the sirius radio, TONS of room and the self closing doors. I was impressed.

 

[FlaggNL]

Love the TR, the house looks similar (from pictures) to the house we will have with you upcomming October trip

 

[Zipadeelady]

Love the report and can't wait for more!! I had a mini van just like that but red. It was great for road trips.. I still miss my van.

 

[stevehousse]

Very funny start! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[mrdrift]

Great TR, looking forward to hear about the rest of the trip.

 

[Disney Shib]

Loving this trip report. We rent vacation homes alot. Reminds me alot of our trips.

 

[Maggie Mae]

Looking forward to your TR!

 

[fractal]

Great start! Where is the house you rented? Having your own pool must have been great.

 

[TinkandCrew]

Love the TR, the house looks similar (from pictures) to the house we will have with you upcomming October trip

It was great! So sunny, bright and clean. It was perfect!

Love the report and can't wait for more!! I had a mini van just like that but red. It was great for road trips.. I still miss my van.

The minivan was awesome. With five people it was the perfect size for us and our luggage. Everybody had plenty of leg room. I saw one on the road next to us yesterday and got nostalgic!

Very funny start! Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! There is all ups and a couple of downs. You'll hear about it all!

Great TR, looking forward to hear about the rest of the trip.

Thanks so much!

Loving this trip report. We rent vacation homes alot. Reminds me alot of our trips.

It was a first for me. I had previously stayed in Fort Wilderness and loved it. I thought all of us would be disappointed in staying off site, but it wasn't bad at all. We were so close to the parks and it was nice to hop in our own car and ride wherever we wanted, ya know? I was just nervous about it being legit...thankfully it was!

Looking forward to your TR!

Thank you much!

Great start! Where is the house you rented? Having your own pool must have been great.

The community is called Lindfields Reserve and I think it has a total of 16 homes in it. Some are owner occupied and some are used as rentals. It was super quiet and we rarely saw other people while there. I think twice in the whole week I saw someone walking a dog. The pool was outstanding. This kids loved it and couldn't wait to get back to it. Only down side was it is screened in so when bad weather comes it's off limits. You'll hear about that too! Thanks for following along!

 

[TinkandCrew]

Day 2 - Epcot

Our first park day finally arrived. I don't think I ever got up so fast in my life! My husband said, "Really Deb?" I was on a mission. Since we all had our own bathrooms, it was perfect for everyone to shower at the same time and we were all up and ready to go!

We are on the road heading to Epcot and got to "the sign" in daylight for the first time:

It was a beautiful day, but they were calling for a 60% chance of rain so we were a little nervous about how it was going to go.

As we are riding along, my husband vears off to the right to "Epcot Resorts". I said, "Honey, I don't think this is right. You are going to the resorts, not actual Epcot." He proceeded to blame every passenger in the van for not helping him read the signs. A funny side not about this, I asked him before we left home if he wanted directions printed to anything and he says, "No, I got this!". Okay...............

The van erupts in a blaming frenzy of whose fault it is. To end the argument, we all decided to blame Evan since he is only four and doesn't know any better to defend himself. Argument squashed and we are back on track to the right "Epcot".

Then.............................this!!!

Hubs calls it the golf ball and Evan just says, "Look mommy dah ballllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!" He asked where the castle was and when we were going to see it. I had a flash of hearing this every day for the next five days because MK was planned to be our last day. That's a whole other story (7DMT fault).

In this family when you refuse to join the picture you are forced to anyway. See?

The bag check line and entrance lines were not that bad at all. We got through without issue and I was on a mission to hit up the Character Spot first. My boo boo was going to see Mickey if there was anything I could do about it!

We ran and ran, not even knowing where the heck we were running to. You would have thought my stepson had just been to the place last week because he somehow instantly knew where to find everything. He says, "It's right there."

We get there and there was only one other family in front of us waiting. Guess who comes out right away to open the door?

 

[TinkandCrew]

continued....

In the excitement of the moment, I realize that I forgot to bring the autograph books! How, oh how did I forget the autograph books on the day I knew they would meet Mickey? My loving family proceeded to ask me this continuously, "Mom, how could you forget the autograph books?" My husband, "Mommy forgot the autograph books!" Finally my daughter felt bad for my guilt and said, "It's okay mom."

It haunted me the rest of the trip and I was then on a new mission to make up for it. Do I get to make up for it? You'll have to keep following to find out!

Evan was genuinely happy to see this fab trio! Look at the genuine smile and remember it. Then compare it to some of his smiles later on in the trip.

The older two weren't left out. They joined in on the love fest too! Manny just turned 19 and we actually met a CM that works on Disney cruises at the airport we flew out of. He told him that the worst thing he can do is try to act "too cool" for Disney. He told him to enjoy himself. What do you think?

Goofy and my goofball. Goofy needs to watch out with those whiskers...they could take an eye out...sheesh!

Now onto Minnie! She was so girly and cute with Hayley and flirty with the boys! She kept fanning her face when Manny walked up to her like she was "hot"!

I was upset with my camera because it was acting up with some of the pictures, not wanting to focus right. Some of my pics came out blurry and some didn't. This is where the Disney Photopass comes in handy. We collected at our photopass card from the first photographer and it ended up being great, having access to all the shots in "non-blurryy" form!

I promised Minnie I wouldn't tell Mickey about her crush and we said our goodbye's. It was time to go hit up some attractions. Our first FP+'s weren't until later so we had time to find some short lines.

 

[TinkandCrew]

continued.........

Since I had a FP+ for Soarin later, I decided it would be best to see what Test Tracks wait time was. It was 30 minutes and we figured that was fine because nothing else had a wait or we had FP+ for it later. Test Track here we come!

 

[TinkandCrew]

Okay...this TR wants to act up on me! Let me try this again:

The line for Test Track moved pretty quickly, it didn't feel like the estimated wait time at all. We finally got to the part where we could make our cars and here is how they turned out!

Hayley and Manny made this one:

Hubs, Evan and I made this one:

The smack talk commenced about whose was better and the ride began! Game on and who do you think came out on top? The parents! Of course we did! Whoop, whoop!!!!!

Now during the ride, my hair proceeded to wrap around my face and blind me. I had no idea where we were going and what was happening and there was no trying to control it once it happened. Here is proof of when it started:

Why is Hayley nearly sitting on Manny's lap? I think she connected herself to his arm. Wait until you hear about her escapades later! Manny and Evan appear to be enjoying it!

Now, anyone that knows me knows that I hate having my picture taken. Every picture I take turns out horrible and I criticize myself for it. You will see me in very few pictures and the fact that I have inserted this one is, well, it just is a rare thing! I don't know if you should consider yourself lucky or un-lucky!

After we got off Test Track, Evan, Manny and Hayley headed off for a restroom break so Hubs and I took the opportunity to ride on Mission Space since Evan isn't big enough..it was a prime opportunity.

My whole childhood was spent being fascinated with the space program and dreaming of being an Astronaut. I swore if I ever had the opportunity, I would take it in a heartbeat!

One ride on Mission Space killed my childhood dreams and made me question everything about it! I don't know if it was actually the ride that made me feel funny or if it was all psychological because they pound it into you with all of the constant warnings about it.

"Blah blah blah, people with health problems, blah blah blah, people with motion sickness, blah blah blah if you don't like confined spaced, blah blah blah, don't close your eyes or you will be disoriented." Huh???????????????

WHAT KIND OF RIDE IS THIS???????????????????????? Should I fill out a living will? I have children Pete's sake!

I had all those warnings running through my mind and the ride started. I didn't get to hug my boo boo one last time. Oh God I want it to be over!

In all honesty, the ride itself isn't really long and we all survived. I walked off vowing to never ride it again and my husband laughed at me bragging that it wasn't that bad at all.

For anyone who hasn't been on this ride, there is an intense version and less intense version. We chose the intense version.

We met up with the kids and headed for SSE! The balllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!! When Evan says, "the balllllllllllllll mommy!" it reminds me of Toy Story when the lil aliens say, "the clawwwwwwwwwwwww".

There was actually a line going on for it at the time, but again, we had FP+ for other stuff later so figured the time would be fine. At this point the humidity was affecting my hair and I was frizzing up baby!

Evan has a thing with holding his head down while putting his eyes up. He did it in this picture, but this is the face I get when he wants something from me.

Trying to decipher the map........

Father and son....

Hayley and I rode together and this is how our lil people turned out (blurry versions of course...dang it)!

 

[TinkandCrew]

continued...

I couldn't remember what time our FP+ were for exactly so I visited a kiosk and this is what it looks like when it brings it up for you:

At this point we made our way over to Nemo. I'm sure you all have seen the same topiary designs over and over, but I never get tired of looking at them:

Evan was amazed by them. He would be the first to find them and point them out:

We finally made it over to where Nemo is and the stroller parking was out of control. I've never seen so many piled up in one place. Some were so blocked in you would have to peel away three rows just to get to it! And this was not a very busy park day.

On the count of three let's all say "He's so adorable!" You have to say it several times during this TR....just forewarning you! Now say it...I'm waiting!

This lil guy was swimming around in the water and got out to walk up and see us:

A friendly CM insisted on taking a family picture of us here. She was really sweet and kept trying to make Evan smile because he really didn't want his picture taken again. She tried and tried.

See what the Florida humidity does to my hair? I promise I straightened it before we left the house that morning.

Btw, we are doing good at this point and no sign of rain still! Woohooooo!

So the wait for Nemo wasn't much at all and we figured instead of waiting for our FP+ we would just go ahead and ride and by that time it would bring us right to our FP+ for Turtle Talk w/Crush.

Peek-a-boo....I see you:

 

[TinkandCrew]

After Nemo, we went to check-in for our FP+ for Turtle Talk w/Crush. Even though it was our FP time, the next show wasn't starting for another 20 minutes. The CM proceeds to tell us we can either wait -or- zap our FP+ and come back in 20 minutes.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure what the benefit of that would be, so my husband and I said we would wait. They have live marine life you could look at and it would allow the kids to be the first to pick a spot on the carpet.

Here they are patiently waiting:

....oh and patiently texting of course! Can't live without texting ya know!

The CM in the waiting area was truly very funny. He kept telling everyone to be careful because they were stepping on their socks. My daughter needed me to explain that to her later. Should I be worried?????

I have to say that this ended up being one of my favorite attractions. I love how it is interactive and spontaneous. "Crush" is really a comedian and had us all cracking up. I would go to this attraction even without the kids because you never know what is going to be said.

My boo boo was upset because he raised his hand to ask Crush a question and didn't get picked. What is wrong with Crush? How can you not pick my boo boo? I forgive him...I'm a sea turtle stalker and must look over this error on his part.

After Crush we were all starving! We were going to eat at Sunshine Seasons but decided the kids wouldn't really like the options there.

Instead, we ventured over to the UK for some fish and chips and met this guy:

At this point, I was still slipping on the food pics (so sorry)! I have to tell you.....this fish was the bomb! So crispy and flaky and good. Anywhoooo, back to our feathered friend. He made quick friends with Evan who kept dropping him chip crumbs. These birds probably get fed all of the time and should easily way 600 lbs.

So, the fish and chips were $8.99 and I would gladly pay it again. YUM....SUPER YUM!

We needed to head back over to do our FP+ for Soarin and we happened upon Ms. Alice!

She had quite a line so we kept going I'm sad to say!

Soarin ended up being an experience. Holy Cow! Hayley is not the bravest in the bunch and will easily talk herself out of everything. For some reason, she is okay with some rides and not others. Well, the whole time we are waiting in the FP line for Soarin, she is talking about how she doesn't know if she will like it and blah blah blah.

A nice elderly lady in front of her says, "Awwww, sweetie. If little kids like your brother can get on I'm sure you'll be fine!" She was being very sweet and comforting. Hayley never changed her mind about getting on, but slowly worked herself up into her "Hayley Frenzy". You will get to know that term.

Long story short, they seated us for the ride and I look over and she is crying. The nice elderly lady is next to her saying something to her, but Hayley is not having any of it. It was madness! I'm two seats over and can't help much. Meanwhile, she never once wanted to leave the ride!

The ride started and there are little kids leaning forward in their seats and everything. I wouldn't go that far, but it was a nice ride and everyone else in the family loved it.

Hayley got off and was angry at the world. I don't know how that all escalated to that, but she was mad for a bit after that.

Here is her Dad trying to give her love and she is still resistant:

My boo boo was obsessed with wanting to know why Donald Duck wasn't with the fab trio that morning and we were told to look for him in Mexico so it was time to start our world tour.

Hola Mexico!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We find Donald and just then the dark clouds hover overhead. We scamper in line and the photographer proceeds to say that if it starts raining, Donald will leave.

What????????????? No, he can't leave! I already goofed up leaving the autograph books behind, we can't miss out on Donald!

The line was not long, but it wasn't short either. I found myself getting impatient with the families in front of us for taking their time. What kind of mother am I? Oh my gosh..........these people have like five autographs books to sign. Then a pic with the kids, then a pic with the kids, but let's add mom in at the last minute. Come on already!!!!!!!!!!!!! The rain is coming!!!!!!

Finally..........we made! Hola Donald!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at those faces! Priceless!

We meandered over to Norway and decided to ride Maelstrom.

It started raining very lightly at this time. VERY lightly.

We came, we saw, we rode Maelstrom. Everybody except for Hayely. She read the sign that said you will go forwards, backwards, has hills and you may get wet. She opted out at that point. Sigh!

Evan rode with us and got off and said, "What else is gonna happen?" I was cracking up....he knew there needed to be something more! I told Hayley she definitely could have survived that ride, but I don't think she believed me.

 

[mrdrift]

Great report and awesome pictures. Listening to your story reminds me that most families have one person that is just like Hayely,my oldest is the same way. Each person has there own way of enjoying WDW some enjoy rides and some just enjoy character meets and scenery. All that matters is that the family gets to spend loving and quality time together at Disney World and it sounds like that is happening. Will be watching for more of the report.