Trip Report Welcome to Beautiful Billings! Wait...What?! A (Late) September 2014 Trip Report

First off, I know that I am starting this trip report a month late but since returning from the World but work has been crazy up until this past weekend and I am finally finding the time to start re-living our trip and sharing the experience with you all!

Our trip took place September 12-21 and included stays at Port Orleans French Quarter and, for the most part, the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. The cast of characters included me, my wife Kelly, daughters Ella and Lennon, my mom Allyson, mother in law Deb and our in-laws Mindy, Jason (Guber) and their two daughters Hayden and Kendall. oh, and I should mention at the time of this trip all four kids were under the age of 4! Get the Advil ready!

For those who want a refresher, our pre-tip report can be read here!

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-wait-is-over-were-finally-coming-back.887278/

Ok...here we go!

Travel Day
After nearly 9 months of waiting, counting down the days on this site and reading all about all the new and exciting things happening at WDW, the day finally arrived. Traveling from Edmonton to Orlando is no easy task which usually involves a very early wake up call and an extremely long travel day just to check into your hotel for a decent night's rest.

That exactly what we had planned on September 12. Up and at 'em at 3 am to get the car packed, the girls up and off to the airport in time for our 7 am flight. Nothing direct from here to Orlando so our first flight was into Dallas, then after a brief layover, over to Orlando. Plan was to arrive at MCO around 5 pm or so.

The SUV was packed as tight as can be with three big suitcases, our double stroller, diaper bag and a carry on full of diabetes supplies for Ella, food for the kids, and a number of devices, books and toys to occupy them throughout this crazy day.

We made it to the airport by about 430 or 5 am. Everything went beyond smoothly once we arrived at the airport which lead me to believe we were in for a very good day! Usually security with kids, especially with a diabetic and all the stuff we had to bring onto the plane, can be a tedious task. Not today, this was the perfect start to the vacation!

Quick bite to eat and we hunkered in to wait for the plane. The girls were surprisingly upbeat for being up so early!

Me and Ella

and Lennon ready to roll!

We boarded, took off on time and everything was as it was supposed to be! The kids didn't fall asleep but were pretty well behaved for the first hour and a bit. That's when things started to get interesting! The captain came across the address system..."Folks, nothing to panic over, but we have a bit of a situation that is going to require us to land at the nearest airport as quickly as possible. Again, no need to panic".

So, now that everyone is panicking, this announcement had become a major concern for everyone. No specifics were provided but you could sense the urgency that was portrayed in his voice. Main concern of my wife "Great, now we miss our connecting flight!"

We end up descending very shortly after the announcement and find out that we are headed to Billings, Montana. As we are about to land the captain returns "Ok folks we will be on the ground shortly. You will see some fire trucks on the runway but again, no need to panic, this is standard procedure." Now we realize this is something pretty serious if first responders are lined up just in case! We touch down, zip by the fire engines and taxi to a gate. The captain finally informs us the we were leaking fuel and were nearly bone dry by the time we landed. Fun stuff!

Before we debaord we are told that mechanics are on their way to look at the plane but it is possible another plane would have to be sent to pick us up. Since Billings is not a hub for anyone, let alone American Airlines, we were told we just had to tough it out in the terminal. Everyone immediately got their phones out to call family, travel agents, whomever, to let them know the news. No different for us. I called the family, Kelly called the travel agent to get us on a new flight in Dallas as it was obvious we wouldn't make the connecting flight.

Three hours passed and we were informed the plane was fixed and we could finally get going. Everyone loaded back up, on the same plane mind you, and after a few minutes to get the flight plan/manifest, we were back in the air. By this time the kids were getting very antsy and iPads were no longer doing the trick to keep them occupied. We finally land in Dallas about three hours late but are informed when we land that we are booked on the next flight out. After a brief layover, we board our next plane and take off.

By the time we take off on this flight, we should have been in Orlando at that point. The kids are an absolute wreck, and I'm sure our neighbouring passengers were not too pleased to be seated around us! Oh well, for a couple of toddlers who have been up well over 12 hours at that point, they did pretty well. Lennon was on the brink of losing it all flight and finally did for the final 20 minutes. Longest 20 minutes of my life but again, can't really blame her!

By the time we finally arrive in Orlando and pick up our bags, it's about 930pm. We did have DME booked to take us to the resort but we opted for a cab instead. Having run out of food/drink we needed to get to Port Orleans as fast as possible to we could get Ella something to raised her blood sugar levels. Thankfully the girls seemed to catch a second wind once they knew we were in Disney World so the cab ride was awesome! They sang together and laughed which made the drive go by pretty quickly.

We arrived close to 1030, checked in and piked up our Magic Bands. We hustled to our room, dropped of the bags and ran quickly to the food court for some chocolate milk. At this point I didnt get any pics of the magic bands or the room...we were so exhausted we just went to sleep. After all this hassle we almost regretted flying down a day earlier than the rest of the group.

So much for having time for dinner and roaming around the grounds of the hotel for a bit. It was get to sleep as soon as possible! At least I did get some good news before falling asleep, my home town Edmonton Eskimos beat the Montreal Alouettes (CFL) so I was able to good to bed in a better frame of mind!

Hopefully you are still with me through that very long winded travel experience! I'll detail day one next but now I am off to the hospital to learn how to use the brand new insulin pump Ella has just received. Much more pictures to come...I promise!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Those Merida pictures gave me chills!! Sooooo perfect!

Thank you! Felt the same way when I looked through the camera later the night at the hotel!

Thanks for reading along.

 

[Mickey2006]

Continuing to enjoy your report. You are right about vacationing at Disney. Some people don't understand, but I am happy and relaxed at Disney.

 

[Doc Disney]

Love your report!! Your girls are so cute! I love seeing all their character pictures…so adorable! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Continuing to enjoy your report. You are right about vacationing at Disney. Some people don't understand, but I am happy and relaxed at Disney.

You and me both. You pretty pretty much know you're going to have a great time when Disney is involved. At least that's been my experience.

Love your report!! Your girls are so cute! I love seeing all their character pictures…so adorable! Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much! I appreciate you reading along. While I am more of a ride guy at Disney, the rides took a backseat this trip with all the kids. It was a very fun, albeit different, was to spend our time at the parks!

 

[coachwnh]

Amazing shot!!! You really had some excellent princess meet and greets!

 

[coachwnh]

Those Merida pictures gave me chills!! Sooooo perfect!

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Very cool to see so many responses, likes and views. Thank you all who are keeping tabs on this report.

On with the show...

Day 6 - September 17

After a long day at MK it wasn't too difficult to get the girls to bed, even with the extra sugar from all that candy in their bellies. I think we all slept quite well that night. Still, we were up around 7 to get things ready for a morning at Animal Kingdom. Pretty typical breakfast for us yet again, cereal and waffles, then we were on our way to the bus stop to meet up with the grandmas who were tasked with taking care of Hayden and Kendall for the day while Mindy and Guber made their way to Universal to check out the Potter set up.

Everyone was in a pretty good mood when we met up at the bus stop which had us looking forward to another fun day. The weather was starting to take a turn for the worse as it was quite gloomy early in the morning. As we loaded onto the AK bus the rain started to come down and it was drizzling pretty good. Nothing crazy but very steady. We arrived at the park not too long after it opened and we took a couple minutes under the bus shelters to get everyone prepared for the rain. Even with coats and whatnot on, the grandmas had to stop for ponchos when we walked in the AK gates just to be on the safe side!

After another short delay inside the gates we were finally ready for our first adventure of the day. We made our way to Africa for our Kilimanjaro Safari FP+. KS might be one of the most underrated attractions in all of WDW and the animals were out in full force in very visible areas for most of the tour which was awesome. The kids loved it and so did I! I did notice the old poacher scenario is no longer part of the attraction. Didn't know that. Guess I should pay attention to these boards more! Anyways, we did get some pretty great shots of some of the animals around the safari.

We got off the safari and somehow maneuvered our way through the insanely jam packed stroller parking before deciding to head down towards Dinoland. We had FP+ for Dinosaur next but there was a bit of a gap in between the window. As we toured through Dinoland we needed to find a snack to boost Ella's blood sugar levels which had dipped just under 4 and while she wasn't reacting like she did at BoG a few days before we wanted to catch it before it got too bad. Lucky for her, and the rest of the troops, we found an ice cream cart and the four girls enjoyed an ice cream bar at 10 am! What a mess but they were a happy crew!

While the girls ate their treat the adults took turns riding Primeval Whirl. Kelly and I rode first and picked up a baby swap card for the grandmas. Posted wait time was only 10 minutes but seemed to take longer than that. Definitely not the quickest loading ride in the park but no bog deal. Gave the kids some extra time to enjoy their ice cream. I don't like this ride as much as say Goofy's Fly School in Cali Adventure but it got Kelly screaming a bit and that always makes me laugh! After much deliberation the grandmas finally decided to ride after we finished and, as I told them, they survived! Neither are big fans of any "thrill"-type rides and they both seem to have the same built in excuses about rides being too jarring for them but at least they took the plunge here.

No worse for wear we walked across to the Triceratops Spin since it was the closet thing that resembled the Dumbo ride for Lenny. A very short wait and a quick spin later we found ourselves on the trail towards our next FP at Dinosaur. Sadly Hayden, Kendall and Lennon were not tall enough to make the ride so it was me, Kelly and Ella heading into the Dino Institute while the others took a walk and looked for potential restaurant options for lunch. Ella wasnèt too sure what she was getting into when we entered the room to listen to Seeker's introduction. She had been very cautious all trip with rides and this was no different.

We made it down to the rover and before she had the chance to chicken out we were loaded into the front row, buckled in and on our way! No turning back for her now! And thankfully for all of us she really seemed to like the ride. She did grab my hand pretty hard the first time the Tyrannosaur roared at us but other than that she was all good!

After we finished up the others were waiting outside the attraction so we traded places with the grandmas and they went on their expedition. Guaranteed Ella handled the ride better than these two did. Only wish I could have been riding along side to see for myself!

While we waited Lennon seemed to be obsessed with the big dino outside the institute. She was roaring at it and running around so we had to take a couple quick shots of her in front of it.

By the time we all met up again it was about time for lunch so it was time to seek out a place to eat. On our last trip to WDW in 2011 we ate a Flame Tree Barbecue which was excellent and I know Kelly kinda wanted to eat there again. Unfortunately we were starting to deal with some unruly kids so we settled on the first place we walked past that had decent enough kids options, Restaurantasaurs. A few days previous we tried to secure lunch reservations at Rainforest Cafe but by the time we started looking they didn't have any options to accommodate our party size. No big deal. I knew I could still get a cold beer and that was good enough for me. I ordered the Angus Bacon Cheeseburger which was pretty awesome when I added BBQ sauce and sauteed mushrooms at the condiment bar. Kelly had a Mac and Cheese hot dog with no mac and cheese and the girls ended up sharing a mac and cheese dog as well. Dining had not been the most pleasant experience for us to this point on the trip and it was made that much more difficult being down two sets of adult hands with Mindy and Gub not being there. To say this was more adventurous than Dinosaur would be putting it lightly. Thankfully we did survive, everybody ate and we could make our way out of the restaurant with just enough time to spare to hit up our Everest FPs before calling it a morning.

We made the walk over to EE will 10 minutes remaining in or FP window. No chance the grandmas were gonna ride, they were way too freaked out after riding it three years earlier so Kelly and I took their magic bands with plans to ride twice in succession before meeting back up to head to the Lodge. Standby was posted at 15 minutes but there was essentially nobody in FP was we pretty much walked right onto the train by the time we made it through the queue. Easily one of my favourite rides in Disney, Everest didn't disappoint. My stomach always gets going during the backwards portion of the ride so I can only imagine what Kelly was feeling! She let out a couple big screams which again had me howling! We got off the ride and had a minute to spare in the FP window so we quickly jumped back on once more using the other Magic Bands.

Perfect way to wrap up our morning at AK and the weather was pretty much back to perfect by then too so good timing to get the kids back to the hotel and down for a nap. We made one quick stop at the Monkey's who were enjoying their lunch before weaving our way back through the park and over to the bus stop.

We loaded up pretty quickly but were delayed in actually leaving for our the Lodge as a family had somehow stopped our drive to try and convince him to drop them off somewhere that was not on our route. For whatever reason he entertained them for far too long but eventually we were on our way and made it back home just in time to get all four girls down for a snooze before they blew they lids. I would have to imagine that the grandmas likely used that quiet time to nap as well as they looked pretty wiped out from pulling supervising duties for Mindy and Gub!

I'll finish up our 6th day by recapping yet another visit to MK to watch the Electrical Light Parade, Wishes and my first taste of LeFou's Brew!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Amazing shot!!! You really had some excellent princess meet and greets!

We got really lucky with the Princesses. It was like the perfect storm, not only were the kids not scared of them, but the characters themselves were amazingly accommodating and friendly.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

So many comments!!

1) That picture of your Mom on Buzz - priceless. She is so into it!
2) Your girls are so cute.
3) Those Merida pictures!!! Please tell me you're framing those!!! Those little faces, wow.
4) So cute how excited Ella was to be able to enjoy some candy. Diabetes is a scary thing.
5) Your girls are so freaking cute!!

HA! Great comments! Thanks for reading along. Ella actually just received an insulin pump two weeks ago and while we are still ironing out some of the levels and patterns, it should create a lot more flexibility for her in terms of what and when she can eat.

Will make future trips to Disney that much more enjoyable for her!

 

[coachwnh]

3) Those Merida pictures!!! Please tell me you're framing those!!! Those little faces, wow.

Agreed!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Finishing off our 6th day, we got back to the Lodge from a busy morning at AK and got Lennon right down for a nap. Was closing in on about 230pm so we had really pushed it. Ella, however, had no interest in sleeping even though she probably needed a snooze. At any rate, she went back to the grandmas room with my mom and Deb took Hayden and Kendall back to their room for a sleep.

Kelly and I used the downtime to relax for a bit in the living room of the villa and plan the rest of the day. We decided to go back to MK, with or without the rest of the group, as I really wanted to catch the Electrical Light Parade that I missed earlier in the trip and Ella was clamoring for more fireworks since watching Hallo-Wishes the night before. We watched TV for a bit and I, once again, went for a good soak in the hot tub while Kelly decided to get a little shut eye on the couch.

After our rest and once Lennon woke up we touched base with my mom and she was happy to accompany us back to MK after dinner. Lenny didn't get up until closer to 430 so we decided dinner in our room was best course of action. We fired up the stove top and I made the kids favourite, grilled cheese! So nice having the ability to cook (if you can call it that) in the room without having to drag the kids all over the place to eat. Ella came back to the room, we ate and then packed up to return to the Kingdom.

By now Mindy and Guber had returned to the Lodge after what sounded like a pretty fun time at Universal. They really enjoyed the Potter rides but seemed parked out. Their plan was to get dinner with their girls at the Lodge and hang out at the pool for the night. No issue with us as it was kinda nice to be on our own for a bit.

We made it back to MK around 6-630pm and didn't have a ton of time to rip through the park before the parade so we asked the girls what they wanted to do. Of course we ended up back in Fantasyland to ride Dumbo (shocker), Ariel and Peter Pan. Those were the three big ones they wanted to do. Before heading over to Dumbo we utilized the Guest Assistance pass to get a ride time for Peter Pan.

Dumbo was a big yet hit again with Lennon and Ariel was a hit with everyone. As we walked back towards Pan, I remembered reading about the debate over LeFou's brew on here so I wanted to give it a try for myself and see what all the fuss was about.

Must admit, after reading the description of what the drink was in Gaston's Tavern, I wasn't anticipating this brew to be something I was going to like but after that first sip or two I was happy to be proven wrong. I really liked it! Not too sweet but I found it to be very refreshing. Kelly didn't mind it either and both Ella and Lennon kept asking for more sips before we had to get in line for Peter. We boarded our ship and were off to Neverland once again. I managed to get a crude shot of the girls favourite part of the ride as well which they still like to look at all the time. They love any puppy, especially Nana!

After the ride it was closing in on parade time. We decided to head back towards the Golden Horseshoe to find a good spot to watch. Thankfully there weren't quite as many people lining the streets as there was the night before for Boo to You. We easily found front row seating, as close to the nearest washroom as possible for Ella. Her diabetes makes her need to take frequent bathroom breaks which she sure did while we waited the 20 minutes for the parade to start. Lennon was occupied by the iPad until the start of the show and once it did start she moved down to street level and actually watched the parade this time. She seemed to take to the array of light rolling past her. It's been years since I've seen this parade and hearing that music again really brought me back to my childhood! Happy I was able to actually see it from start to finish, not just a few floats in passing as was the case a few nights earlier.

The parade was a good as I remember. Ella was happy to have seen it again for the second time that week but she was more excited to watch the fireworks! Lennon was starting to hit the wall and Kelly and my mom agreed it was time to get her back to the Lodge so that allowed me and Ella to spend a little alone time at MK. We still had about 20 minutes or so before Wishes was slated to start so we decided to make the quick trip into Adventureland and ride Aladdin'e Magic Carpets before finding a place to watch the fireworks show.

We walked right on the ride, took a quick spin and were eventually on our way back towards Main Street. Unlike the parade route, Main Street was jammed. We had a great view the night before at the Halloween Party but that are near the Crystal Palace with far too tight on this night. I decided it might be easiest to head down towards the Main Street train station so that once we were ready to go we wouldn't have to battle a lot of traffic and could get to the boat quickly.

Wasn't the greatest view in the world but was definitely good enough. Once again Ella was mesmerized by the sounds and the colour of the show...as you can see!

We didn't stay for the entire show but we did catch the last little bit while riding the boat back to the Lodge. She was happy so I was happy and I really did have a blast spending a little time with just her even if it was only about an hour at the most.

We got back to the room, fed the girls a quick snack and settled them into bed. I was prepping for an early morning wake up call as Guber and I had a 700am tee time at the Magnolia Golf Course! I readied all my stuff either in the bathroom or near the front door to ensure I made as little noise as possible when my phone went off at 600.

That was my plan for the next morning, the rest of the group was off to Epcot for the first time. That's up next!

 

[LisaBelle]

Great report so far! It's great that you got to spend some time with just Ella. Your girls are precious and you can tell that you are all having a great trip.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Day 7 - September 18

Earliest wake up call of the trip, at least for me and Gub. My phone alarm went off right around 600am and I quietly slipped out of bed and made my way to the shower to get ready for an early morning round of golf at the Magnolia Course. My prep the night before made for a pretty quick and effortless transition from bed to course ready. I was out the door by 615 and on my way to the lobby to fill up my resort mug with coffee and meet Guber so we could head over to the course and get settled.

Was still pitch black outside when we went to the valet to set us up with a free cab to the course. There was another gentleman holding his clubs while waiting for his car as we arrived. Obviously he was heading to play some golf as well though it didn't dawn on us to strike up a conversation about where he was headed. Too early I guess!

Quick cab ride later and we were getting lined up at the proshop. Neither of us brought our clubs, one round wasn't justification enough to haul them around with all the other stuff we had to worry about lugging, so we both rented.

They lined us up with our clubs, carts, range balls and shoes for me pretty quickly so we made our way to the range to hit a few balls before we hit the first tee. Still very dark when we arrived at the range but I didn't care. I was pretty excited to play. Here's a view from the range. Picture makes it seem lighter than it actually was.

I had played the Palm course three years earlier on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Ended up being paired with three gents who were part of the US Army. Pretty surreal experience playing with those guys on a date like that. Not to mention it was very cool playing on a Disney course! Really enjoyed the Palm and was looking forward to the Magnolia.

There was one other guy on the range when we pulled up and about two minutes later, the same gent we saw waiting for his car at the Lodge strolled up. By then we had enough coffee in us to actually chat with him. Turns out he would be teeing off with us at 708! Funny coincidence.

After about 10-15 minutes hitting balls and trying to get used to the rentals we made our way to the number one tee. We were joined by our new friend from the Lodge and the other gent who was at the range at the same time as ours. For the life of me I cannot remember both their names anymore but I do recall the fella from the Lodge was named Brian. He was from just outside Philly and the other guy was from California. Both really good guys which made for a very enjoyable day on the links.

First hole was a major challenge. We couldn't see more than 50 yards past the tee box so it was a bit of a guessing game as to where your tee shots were going to land. First few holes were played in the dark and a pretty heavy fog. Added to the fun though! View from the first fairway...which I did hit off the tee!

Made a solid par at the first and we were off and running. Course was in spectacular shape and we really were having a good time with the other two guys in our group. As the sun started coming up the fog slowly started to melt away. A few holes later...

We could hear the opening show for MK going off in the background as we made our way tot he 4th hole which was pretty cool. Drink cart girl made her way to the group right around that time and while it was only about 830 it felt like the perfect time for a beer. Gub and I had a Bud Light, which again is just a tad stronger than water to us Canadians HAHA!

As we hit the back 9 it was absolutely scorching outside. Maybe the hottest we experienced on the trip. Gorgeous day for golf but we were both thankful to have teed off very early to avoid most of the heat. The Ryder Cup was a few weeks away and I could safely say that team Canada would have easily defeated the Americans had that been something we actually been playing. No matter the scores, we had a great time on the course. By the time we made it to 18 it was pretty much perfect!

Finished the round with another par and it was time to hit the 19th hole for a few brews. Oddly enough both Gub and I shot 85 from the tips which wasn't too bad with rentals on a course we'd never seen before. We ended up sharing a few more beers and grabbed a bite to eat with our playing partners. Was a lot of fun getting to know them, hear about their golf stories and shoot the breeze for a while. Being the first group off we played pretty quick and by the time we finished up at the 19th it was only around noon. Brian offered to give us a lift back to the Lodge so we jumped in his car and made the short drive back.

The day was still glorious so Guber and I decided to grab a few more cold beers and sit outside for a bit. Can't think of a better way to spend a morning away from the parks!

While our morning was pretty awesome, the rest of the group was off to Epcot, the only park we had not made our way to at this point of the trip. This day was actually my mother in law, Deb's, birthday and I think she was pretty pleased to be able to spend it with her grand kids in Disney! While I don't have all the details about what the rest of the group did while they were at Epcot, Kelly did take some pictures that will help piece together what we missed!

Sure looked like they had fun!

Sisterly love!

Obviously a visit to Spaceship Earth was in order...

Then it seemed they were of to the Seas!

Might as well have a dance party with the birthday girl!

Sorry I don't have a lot of detail to fill in but hopefully some of the photos paint a picture of some of the fun the girls experienced while the dads drank in the sun!

I received a text around 100pm saying that the group was on their way back. Kelly made it pretty clear the girls were definitely in need of a nap. At this point Gub and I had made it back to my room and were pretty much just waiting for the rest of the group to get back to the resort. Kelly and the girls rolled through the door around 130. It was pretty clear on first glance that the sun had definitely taken it's toll!

Kelly pretty much told Guber he better get back to his room ASAP to give Mindy a hand so off he went without even finishing his beer! I gave it a good home though.

Kelly and I got both Ella and Lennon down for a snooze, even though Ella was pretty dead set against napping. As per usual with her, she fought it for a good couple minutes until she actually hit the bed and was out like a light! Kelly, Mindy and the grandmas planned to do a little shopping so back to DTD they went while I happily planted myself on the couch. The AC and a little quiet time was more than welcome after golf and beer.

Besides, we had dinner plans back at Epcot to celebrate Deb's birthday and a full rack of FP's lined up for after dinner.

I'll detail the birthday bash at Teppan Edo and the very interesting night it turned out to be which saw one of our group member go MIA in my next posting!

 

[FlaggNL]

Such a great report! Thanks for sharing!

 

[mrdrift]

All of the pictures of the girls with smiles are priceless!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats all parents with children hope for when going Disney parks. Looks like the family is having a wonderful time. Following along.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

After a much needed, though rather short, rest for the girls we had them up in time to get them ready for our birthday dinner for Grandma Deb at Teppan Edo in Epcot. Our reservation time was slated for 440 so we had to hurry ourselves out the door and get our butts to Epcot in order to make it on time. Only one issue, we were missing Mindy, Guber and the kids. Me thinks there was something more to them not being there but after some discussion about them potentially not even joining the group for dinner we were notified that they would meet us there. One crisis averted but that would be re-visited later in the evening!

At any rate, the rest of us jumped on the bus and made our way to Epcot. We arrived right around 430 and had to hustle our way to the other side of the park to the restaurant. I was pushing the stroller which is sometimes difficult enough with the two girls, let alone weaving through what was a huge evening crowd as guests were enjoying the food and wine festival. Kelly and the grandmas took off ahead of me and I took my time getting to the restaurant to ensure I wasn't mowing people over in the process.

I arrived to find them waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. Sadly we couldn't be seated because we needed to have the entire party with us but we were ensured we would be seated once everyone did arrive. One good thing, I was greeted with a cherry tasting beer, I believe by Sam Adams, that my mom picked up for me so I had that going for me, which was nice. The girls weren't too keen on sitting still but the stairs and the deck area around the restaurant made for a good time waster for them.

Around 520 or so the rest of the group finally arrived and to the credit of the cast members, we were seated very quickly. The whole place smelled amazing as we were walking to our table. I was very much looking forward to a unique dining experience and a good meal!

We were seated and taken care of by a great server and a fantastic chef who put on a wonderful show. I started with the Spicy Sushi Roll which was fantastic. I ordered the Chicken and Shrimp for my main. Kelly ordered the Chicken and Steak and we decided the girls would just share off our plates based on how little they had been eating for far on the trip. Lennon was in a bit of an sketchy mood but she's still a ham for the camera!

the onion ring volcano went over very will with everyone at the table but, not surprisingly, all four girls were not really digging the meal. Seemed like not enough sleep for them to be in a good mood. Made thing s a little challenging but it didn't take away from the fact the meal was outstanding! The girls did like when a bunch of the servers came to the table with a chef's hat and cake to sing Happy Birthday to Deb! Everyone sampled a bit of the cake as we started to get ready for our next plan of attack. We had three FP's to burn through the rest of the night so we paid our tab and made our way back to the fun!

Our window for Nemo and Friends was actually about to close because of our delay in getting seated but we had just enough time to make it over to the Sea's to utilize our FP. Not that it would have mattered all that much, line was virtually non-existent and we easily could have zipped through the stand-by line if needed.

After our voyage under the sea it was time for another one of my favourites...Soarin'! We didn't even need to move the strollers or anything, just walked from the sea's to the land. I was even more excited about this flight as it would be Ella's first time riding! Plan was for me, Kelly and Ella to ride first then the others would make the ride. Ella, of course, was very hesitant at first but started to settle in when we got to the loading gate and watched the pre-show. She was seated in between Kelly and I and grabbed both of our hands very tightly once the ride went up. As soon as things started flashing across the screen she let go and really got into it. She loved that she could smell different things throughout the ride. We all had a great ride and I think Ella had a new favourite!

We got to the ride exits to find Lennon and Kendall running like wild men around the exit space. Looks like they had found second wind after a grouchy dinner. They were having a blast to it was fun to watch. Guber and Mindy had taken Hayden to get on Soarin' though what we didn't know is Hayden was denied the ride as she was just under the height requirement. Apparently they had made it through the entire queue but at the loading area they were stopped and asked to measure her. Sadly she didn't make it so they turned around and made their way out of the line. When they made it out of the line they couldn't find everyone else as we were all waiting near the ride's exit. They spent some time looking for us, which caused major angst with Guber who is quick to lose his temper at the best of times. I guess he got so frustrated that he stormed off leaving Mindy and Hayden behind.

Eventually we met up with the two of them who had no idea were Gub was off to. Understandably Mindy was pretty upset and this made Deb not feel like riding so she gave her band to Ella so that my mom could take her back on Soarin'. They made it through all the while Kelly, Mindy and Deb were trying to figure out what was going on with Gub and I kept the rest of the little one's occupied by chasing them around the exit area.

No sign of Gub when we went to get the strollers so we just decided to forge on. Our last FP was for the Disney Pals Character Spot. Pitch dark at this point but the lights around the park were outstanding, especially the glowing patterns on the ground that were new from the last time we visited the park. Next to MK, Epcot is definitely the most visually appealing park after dark.

We jumped into the FP line for the Character Visit which was relatively busy. This was likely the longest FP wait that we had all week, even though it only took about 10-15 minutes to get up to greet the characters. Kids were running out of steam and things were kinda tense with the whole Gub situation but moods changed once they got a glimpse of Goofy, who was first in line!

Again, another fantastic character interaction. I know they likely do it all the time but these guys were so willing to get down on the floor and have fun with the girls which, as you can see, meant so much to them and allowed for some great pics.

We finished up with Mickey and the gang and it was pretty much park closing so time to head home, which we all assumed is where Guber was. I snapped one last pic on my iPhone as the colour on SSE was too good to pass up.

Just as we made our way through the gates the sky opened up and it started to pour! It really dumped on us but thankfully we made it to eh bus stop and the covered overhang very quickly before getting completely drenched. The rain got harder as we made our way back to the Lodge and certainly wasn't letting up when we arrived. Made us a bit nervous as the next morning we planned to hit up Blizzard Beach with the kids and allow the grandmas some time on their own.

We went our separate ways after getting back to the Lodge and as far as I know Mindy found Guber waiting for them back at the room. Our room was full of excitement for whatever reason as we gave the girls a little bedtime snack and tried to get them down. No easy task on this night as they seemed very pleased running around the villa playing with each other.

We did eventually corral them and got everyone tucked in. I was beat from a very long day so I couldn't wait to close my eyes. My stomach was already dreaming about breakfast at my favourite breakfast spot, Kona!

Thanks again for reading along, posting comments and coming back for more! Next post will detail our day at Blizzard Beach and the evening in the rain we spent at Hollywood Studios!

 

[FloridaRes]

Thank you, I am really enjoying your report!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Sorry for the massive delay between posts! Was off last week looking after our girls while our day home operator was enjoying her own Disney trip!

Now that I am caught up at work I figured I might as well keep this going.

Day 8- September 19

Another relatively early morning for us as we had the pleasure of starting our day with breakfast at Kona Cafe at the Poly! This was the meal I had been most looking forward to all trip! We were up and at 'em right around 7 in order to meet everyone in the lobby at 730. Our reservations were at 805 so we figured that should be enough time to get there. We got to the lobby but only to meet the grandmas. I guess Mindy and Guber had a bit of a late night after he went MIA and they likely needed some time just as a family. No worries though...onward we marched.

We grabbed the bus over to MK and planned to take the monorail over to Poly but the resort monorail didn't start until 800 so the ferry was our only option. It was a pretty gray day and the wind was up a bit so the water was kinda choppy but after a quick stop to the Grand Floridian we made it to the Poly right around 800am.

It's crazy how much work they are doing at the resort. The new DVC options look like they are gonna be killer though once they are all done. Maybe something to look into for our next WDW trip, whenever that may be! Not only a ton of work on the outside but the entire lobby and second floor had banners and boards up to hide the renos being done at the resort. Made things pretty tight for the big stroller but we made it to Kona. Did't take us long to get seated and pretty soon we were enjoying a pot of the french pressed Kona coffee...Delicious way to start the day!

Kelly and I ordered the Tonga Toast, the girls split pancakes and the grandmas both ordered the Big Kahuna. As I remembered, the Tonga Toast was money! Kelly wasn't the biggest fan but I loved it. One of the rare food pics I took during the holiday...

Breakfast was a little quieter not having the full group there so that made things a little smoother and allowed everyone to enjoy their meal just a little more than we'd been accustomed to.

After we finished we made it down towards the bus stop. The grandmas were off to do some shopping of their own off site while the rest of us were heading over to Blizzard Beach to enjoy the water park. We'd been in contact with Mindy and they were just going to meet us over there. We all took our separate buses off to wherever we were headed.

We arrived just before the water park opened at 1000 but no sign of Mindy, Gub and the girls yet. The weather wasn't near as balmy as it was the day before, still pretty gray and cloudy but certainly hot enough to enjoy the refreshing water. We made our way into the park, got changed into our suits and finally met up with the rest of the gang. The park was pretty much dead so it was easy to get good spots near the kiddie pool and off we went.

Sadly we didn't take a lot of pictures just to ensure we didn't accidentally ruin our camera or phones by dropping them in the water but we did have a blast at the park. The kids loved the toddler area, especially Hayden and Ella who were on the smaller slides non-stop. I think they enjoyed the fact that they needed little supervision and could go on slides continuously without having to wait for someone to take them up there. After allowing the kids to get used to the toddler area for a bit we took the whole group to Teamboat Springs. They seemed very excited until we actually started moving! Kelly, Ella, Hayden and Gub in one raft, me Mindy, Lennon and Kendall in the other. I have never seen such terror on the faces of those two kids the entire ride! Killed myself laughing but made sure to hold them tighter than I have before!

That was pretty much it for the big rides for the kids though me and Gub did take Ella and Hayden to ride the toboggan racers which ended as soon as we picked up our sleds and made our way to the gate. They weren't having any of that ride! So back to the toddler pool for them and Gub and I went to some of the big slides. We did pretty much everything throughout the day but the highlight was definitely Summit Plummet! Biggest waste of time was waiting in line for Downhill Double Dipper. Even if the park was virtually dead it took forever to go through the line, get the tube and climb the stairs for a ride that is over in 10 seconds. Oh well, what can you do I guess?

After a quick lunch at the water park it was back to the toddler area and the slides. Ella just kept going and going. We kept a close eye on her blood sugar levels which did dip a bit low after all the activity but she was quick to drink some juice and keep things going. We finally convinced her that it was time to leave around 200pm and it was back to the hotel. We had plans to head back to Hollywood Studios one last time before the trip was over and with all the playing in the water we wanted to ensure they had a quick snooze.

Lennon didn't want to leave either but was happy to take a picture with her new snowman family! Pardon the mouthful of sandwich!

Our timing was perfect as it really started to rain pretty good just as we made our way through the gates. We made our way to the bus stop, jumped aboard and made it back to the Lodge for some relaxation before another trip to the parks later that afternoon. No issues getting the girls into bed on this occasion and it was back to the hot tub for me while Kelly took a quick snooze on the couch.

Again, I apologize for the lack of pictures during our mornings adventures but there are more to come once I finish up our Friday with our last visit to Hollywood Studios! Thanks again for reading along!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Continuing on with our Friday...

As the girls napped I made my way to the hot tub to enjoy a beer while it slightly drizzled. The rain didn't stick around for too long but it was still overcast and a perfect setting for a mid-day soak. I ended up chatting with a a few different couples, one of which was also at Blizzard Beach that morning and said it was far too cold to be at the water park. I disagreed but that could be because I am from Canada and any weather that doesn't include snow is ideal water park weather for me! The other couple was planning on taking the kids to the water park the next day but based on how the weather was shaping up they seemed a little hesitant. At any rate it was a nice chat with new people!

When I went back tot he room the big debate was what to do for dinner. Mindy and Gub wanted to hit the Boardwalk and the ESPN club which was right up my alley. We tossed around the idea of joining them but both Ella and Len were still sleeping and it was getting close to the time they wanted to head out. We decided against it and planned on heading to DHS to ensure we would make our FP's for Toy Story and just grab a bite there. Mind, Gub, the kids and Deb made their way to ESPN and my mom joined us as we went back to the Studios.

We arrived at DHS right around 530pm. The girls didn't seem to overly hungry at this point so we figured we might as well hit up our 545 Toy Story FP then find something to eat. As we stepped off the bus the rain was back and coming down at a pretty good clip. Still quite warm so it wasn't as bad is it could have been but still.

On Toy Story I rode with Lennon on my lap and sat next to my mom while Kelly and Ella sat together on the other side of the cart. I let Lennon hold the string and she helped take the shots throughout the ride which she really seemed to enjoy! I was enjoying myself as well but the competitor in me pretty much relinquished the fact that my Toy Story winning streak would come to an end. The sad fact was we trailed my mom's score pretty much all ride which, even for having Lennon playing along, was embarrassing! Thankfully the last game provided us with a huge boost in points but I think we only finished around 130,000 which wasn't enough to beat Kelly on this occasion but at least we did soar by my mom!

After the ride we found our wet stroller and decided to grab something to eat. We had FPs for Tower of Terror that were coming up so we figured we could grab some food from Catalina Eddie's on Sunset Boulevard. We grabbed an assortment of food to share with one another and luckily found a spot undercover as it was really coming down pretty hard at this point. The girls tore through their pizza and power pack and we watched a host of others scramble through the sitting area trying to find a place to stay dry while they ate.

I knew my mom wasn't going to ride ToT so before the girls finished their food Kelly and I decided to go on the ride and meet up with them afterwards. Still no word from Mindy and Guber but we did have plans to meet up for our last FP for the Frozen Sing-along. Kelly and I made the quick walk over to ToT and zoomed through the FP line right into an open library before the pre-show. As we made our way into the line we ended up behind a couple who must have been on their honeymoon or something as they were wearing the bride and groom hats and had shirts with their wedding date on in from earlier in the year. Oddly enough we share the exact anniversary date of March 20th! Very weird!

These had to be newlyweds too as they were far to touchy-feely with one another. Something their son didn't seem to comfortable with as they moved along the line. We ended up riding in the same cart with them and they certainly made our ride photo a memorable one. The ride itself stalled right off the bat which had us all freaking out a little, including the CM who was just as confused as we were with what was going on. She played it off well though and after a short delay we were off and running. Kelly once again had me howling with all her screaming which is more fun to me that the actual ride! Notice our friends right behind us continuing their PDA session.

We made our way off the ride, back into the rain and found my mom and the girls just finishing up their food. it was about 730 at this point so we wanted to find our way to the 745 sing-along FP. We had no idea where it was so we scrambled around the park trying to find it. Eventually we did make our way to the proper theatre where we got out of the rain and met up with Mindy, Hayden, Kendall and Deb. No Guber. Apparently they had the same confusion trying to find the theatre as we did and Guber got lost along the way. Mindy left the theatre to go and find him but the two of them didn't make it back on time to catch the show before they shut the doors. Oh well, the girls were pretty fired up nonetheless.

Now like pretty much all parents, I have heard all the Frozen songs a million times over and I'm fairly certain I can sing them (horribly) word for word so I may not have been as excited as the kids but I will say the show itself was very good! The two CMs they have leading the show were hilarious and the enthusiasm the audience showed while singing along to the snippets of the songs was pretty awesome. Once the first song started playing Kendall, who was sitting on grandma Deb, started vibrating, literally shaking with excitement which was way too funny! Everyone was singing and having a good time.

Even though Frozen has overtaken our household over the last year I do admit the show was pretty great. Though Kristoff seemed like a bit of a dud in my opinion.

We made our way out of the theatre where both Mindy and Guber were waiting for us just as the Frozen fireworks show started. Everyone who was in the theatre huddled around the building for a great view of the show. It was still pouring rain so I didn't get any pictures but all four girls were in awe watching the different colours exploding in the sky. Ella used to be terrified of fireworks but she definitely changed her opinion this trip. She couldn't get enough of the firework shows this week.

The fireworks ended and the park was closing so it was time to make our way through the rain back to the exit and home to the Lodge. Bus was packed but we were lucky to get on the first shuttle and back to the resort. Took a little longer than normal with the combination of the heavy rain and the traffic from the closing parks. When we did arrive the rain seemed to energize the girls as they ripped around int he water for a bit acting goofy before we split up for the night.

We made our way back to our rooms and did the nightly routine of bedtime snack while watching Disney Junior. The next day was our last day in the park and we planned on spending it back at MK. Park was gonna be open till 100am the next day and I was looking forward to staying as long as possible so it was off to bed to rest up for one last big day!

And, while we didn't really get the chance to document our water park/DHS day through photos, I promise the last park day installment will more than make up for this lack of photos!

Thanks for reading along!

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Day 9 - September 20

Our last day in the parks

The plan was to spend the final day at MK and spend as much time there as possible! I was planning on being a hero and staying until park close, which was 100am but I wasn't too sure if I could actually pull it off. At any rate, we were up around 700am again to start getting ready and make the girls breakfast. It was a gloomy morning and the rain was already falling so we prepared to get wet as we packed up our stuff to meet everyone in the lobby around 830 or so.

I got the sense that the rest of the group wasn't quite as sad as we were that this was it for our park visits but nonetheless we set out for the boat ride over to the Magic Kingdom. Was raining steady but nothing crazy. Definitely could deal with it but raining just hard enough to make you a tad uncomfortable. The girls didn't seem to mind, they were excited to get back to the park...as was I!

After the short boat trip we made it to MK, just missing the opening show yet again! Oh well, maybe I'll catch it next time when the girls are a little older and can enjoy it like I do. We had three FPs planned before lunch, which was slated for the Liberty Tree Tavern, so we set off to Adventureland and made our way to Pirates for the first of our three FP's.

The park was virtually dead, Likely because it wasn't ideal weather, so FPs were not a necessity but seeing as how we planned so far in advance we still went through the FP line and walked right onto our own boat for the 10 of us. Lot's of empty boats floating through the ride, I think we may have been the first group to ride that morning! Always great floating through Pirates, love the attention to detail the ride exhibits. Ella was still mad she couldn't find Elizabeth Swann but did like seeing Jack Sparrow and all the dogs throughout the ride!

After Pirates, since we were already in Adventureland, we made the rounds and took a spin on Aladdin's Magic Carpets and took in a private showing of the Enchanted Tiki Room. Picking up from the following night, the girls were all dancing around to the songs throughout the show. When we exited the Tiki theatre it was still raining but seemed to be slowing just a tad. It was closing in on our window for Space Mountain FPs so we decided to make our way over to Tomorrowland but stopped for a few pics before we did.

As we were about to leave Adventureland Mindy, Deb and I all had a hankering for a Dole Whip and we didn't care that it was only 10 in the morning! We grabbed a quick treat and enjoyed it as we walked towards Space Mountain. It took years for me to finally try the Dole Whip on a recent Disneyland trip and now that I finally had it will be a staple from here on out.

We were able to finish up our Whip as we made it to the entrance for Space. The grandmas continued to refuse riding anything they thought was to jerky so they stayed out with the kids while the four of us zipped through the FP line and blasted off into Space.

I look far too intense but at least I look like I am enjoying myself unlike Mindy!

As we exited the ride we caught up to the others in the arcade. All four girls seemed to be having far too much fun pretending to drive the race cars!

We spent a little time watching them goof around then finally corralled them to head into Fantasyland and hit some more rides. Park was still pretty quiet and the rain was subsiding so things were really starting to look up. Once in Fantasyland we hit up the usual suspects....Mad Tea Party, Dumbo (of course!), Winnie the Pooh and Ariel's Undersea Adventure. Ella still was petrified of the Barnstormer but Hayden loved it!

The grandmas took the girls on Ariel as I had to find a washroom and Kelly and Mindy wanted to grab a quick snack. Kelly had been craving a big cinnamon bun all trip so she finally found the time to sit down and enjoy one that she picked up from Gaston's Tavern. She had been talking about the cinnamon bun months in advance of the trip so I think she was pretty pleased to finally indulge.

While she was eating I made my way to Peter Pan to get a time to ride with Ella's guest assistance pass. I met the group back at the Carousel, which they rode, before making our way to Peter Pan. Outside of Dumbo I think this was likely Lennon's favourite ride. So fun watching her zip her head from side to side to check everything out.

After Peter Pan we were inside the FP window to ride Big Thunder. We were pushing it pretty close to our lunch reservation as well so we had to hustle to ensure we made it to Liberty Tree on time. Again, no go for the grandmas so instead of following us over to Big Thunder they decided to keep the kids in Fantasyland and take them on Small World. Quite a crazy, productive morning for us to this point!

Sun was out and shining bright now as we made our way down the docks towards Big Thunder. Park was getting busier and line times reflected that but even so we made it through the FP line and boarded our train within about 5 minutes. We were seated around the middle of the train and the ride was good but still didn't seem as fast or wild as the first ride we took earlier in the week. Not sure if there are any plans to refurb Big Thunder like Disneyland but the updated version in DL looks pretty cool.

We hustled our way back toward Liberty Tree to check in for our reservation but the rest of the crew was nowhere to be found. I made my way over to try to find them near small world and noticed the strollers still there so hunkered down to wait. Small World must have been pretty busy because they finally came stumbling out about 10 or so minutes later. Once the whole group was finally in tact they lead us to our seats and we sat down for what would be another hectic lunch! Pretty much the entire table ordered some variation of the Angus Chuck Cheeseburger, I had mine with bacon, cheddar and mushrooms, with Kelly being the exception. She ordered the Pilgrim's Feast. Ella and Lennon shared the Mac and Cheese though Lennon seemed quite content stealing my fires instead. My burger was great and Kelly really enjoyed her turkey feast. One of the better sit down lunches we had on the trip and most every meal we had was darn good.

By the time we finished and paid for our lunch it was about 100pm and both Lennon and Kendall were getting a little cranky. Can't blame them, it had been a busy morning! Kelly and I wanted to stay in the park with Ella so that we could watch the Festival of Fantasy parade so Lennon went back to the hotel for a nap with the rest of the group. We planned to meet back up with everyone after the parade and figure out the plan for the rest of the day.

It was getting really hot now so we stopped for cold drinks before finding a prime spot for the parade. Ella was happy getting to share a slush drink with Kelly as we baked in the hot sun!

I took a quick shot of the castle while we waited as well.

Finally the parade started and it was well worth the wait! Heard nothing but great things about the parade leading up to the trip and it definitely lived up to the hype. Great parade!

Great parade! Already looking forward to seeing it again on the next visit. The dragon stole the show! Was glad I was able to get a couple good shots of the fire breathing.

Now that the parade was done it was finally time to head back to kick our feet up for a little bit. Ella was definitely drained though she had no intention of taking a nap or slowing down. We made our way back to the Lodge, back to our villa and took a load off for a bit before continuing on with our day.

I'll detail the last little bit of our park visits in the next post. Thanks again for reading along!