A Christmas Surprise of a Lifetime - Accomplished

Well we have returned to reality (sadly) and have an amazing assortment of memories that I will cherish forever.

As a reminder, the wife and I planned a surprise for our 3 children (5, 2 and 6 months) from Santa. We guided them into putting Disney on the brain and their letters to santa included a trip to Disney.

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4 days/3 nights at Art of Animation starting on Christmas Morning.

We knew we were in for crowds. We were prepared ... and because of careful planning, rational decisions and going at the kid's speed... we had a magical experience even while the parks were at capacity.

(I don't yet have all the pictures uploaded to the interwebs, so for now... you just got woven a tale.)

Our story begins on Christmas Eve. I spent the few hours at work preparing the last items for the big reveal. I filled a large back with Mickey balloons, I created a binder with maps, pictures and a letter from Santa, I packed the new individual suitcases for the kids and put a big red bow on them... and then as soon as I got out of work I went and got the rental car. I got a rental car because the wife and kids drove down to orlando to stay at the In-Laws house on the Friday before... more time with family.

The plan for Christmas Eve was for me to arrive and then we would open the "few" non-santa presents. My in-laws went a little overboard with the presents, despite me asking everyone to avoid presents this year. Following presents, we would put them in bed, have a nice adult Christmas Dinner and then santa would visit.

Of course I couldn't sleep soundly, I was way too excited.
 
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monkeysammich

monkeysammich

Active Member
Original Poster
So after Be Our Guest we headed back to the bus and to the resort. Apparently I was much more tired than I realized... because I don't remember this.

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The next morning, Mackenzie woke me up with a hug.... and Jacob was already in the stroller ready to go.

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The first thing we encountered upon entering Epcot was Daisy... with no line!

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After that, Spaceship Earth was walk on so we parked the stroller and got on. My daughter and I love this ride... and I love going on it with her, because she asks questions about history in each scene... she loves learning and I like facilitating that. During the descent our ride stopped for a few minutes... until a maintenance man came up to my wife and son, inspecting their car. Of course I was thinking "What did my toddler do?!" ... but no, it was just that the door on their ride vehicle didnt close... and no one caught it until almost the end of the ride. No harm, no foul.

After SSE we wanted to start doing the Agent P adventures... but they didn't open to 10 am, so we decided to stop for a snack to enjoy the beautiful weather and empty park... fruit salad, popcorn and juice.

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We headed off to get our OWCA F.O.N.E. and chose France as our location for the mission.

Let me take a moment to say how amazing this scavenger hunt-esque system is. I enjoyed it just as much as my kids and we loved finding the little hidden items. It took about a half-hour in France... and we decided to do another one in Japan (the finale of the Japan mission is hilarious).

It started getting very windy and overcast, so I figured it'd be a good idea to walk over to Norway for our lunch reservations at Akershus, hopefully get inside before the rain. The wife took the kids to the restroom, so I started playing photographer...

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And here's the wind...

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I went in to get a poncho to cover the stroller... and get a crown and helmet for my kids.

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To be continued....
 
corey154

corey154

Active Member
monkeysammich said:
Now, I will admit... according to this forum... I am a terrible parent. I brought a double stroller and let my 5 year old ride around in the front, 2 year old in the back while the infant stayed in the carrier. Clearly they will grow up to be addicted to Meth and make poor life choices. :rolleyes:.....
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Well that makes two of us that are bad parents. I don't see anything wrong with the kids in the stroller. Disney is alot of walking and it makes our trip so much nicer not having the kids whinning about their legs hurting or being tired
 
monkeysammich

monkeysammich

Active Member
Original Poster
I got our valuables out of the stroller and then tied the poncho to the legs and punched a hole through the edge so I could hook it to a clip on the handle. I felt pretty confident that if it started raining our stroller would be mostly dry. More on that later... :mad:

We got a call for our Royal Family... so we got in and got our pictures with Belle...

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The food was okay. It wasn't amazing... and it wasn't bad... it was average. If it weren't for the princesses, I probably wouldn't eat here again.

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Now, at the first three... Jacob just said they had pretty dresses. With Ariel, however... he became smitten.

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After lunch, we noticed that the rain had come and gone and there was a chill in the air. I walked over to the stroller... and what I saw made me livid. The poncho was dangling off the hook and the stroller looked as though it was dragged from where I left it... the seats were soaked, the jackets were drenched... and by the way the stroller and poncho were... someone tried to take it when the rain started. Sure, I have no proof of it, nor do I really have anyone to blame it on... but the evidence pointed to someone trying to take it and the hook stopped them from taking it while they were running to get out of the rain... which dragged the tail end of the stroller. I couldnt sit the kids in the stroller and we couldnt put on our jackets in the dropping temperatures... so we decided to bee-line to the buses to try and dry out the stroller and get some naps in.

Well, we got back to the room and I used the blow-dryer to get the stroller nice and toasty... however the jackets had to be hung up. Everyone else brought an extra jacket or long sleeve shirt... why? because my wife, in her infinite wisdom, packed those suitcases.

Who packed mine? Me. Extra warm clothes? Just takes up space!

I think there's a lesson to be learned here...

Well back in the room, my wife started telling me that she wasnt feeling well. I asked her if she wanted to skip out on dinner at Garden Grill and just relax. She said no, because its her favorite and we never get to go there.

The food was delicious... I love the roast beef there... though they didnt have the green beans that I truly love... but it was all good, I ate 3 plates worth. This will be a theme... overeating.

Here is also where Jacob decides that "smile" means "stick out your tongue!"....

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We thought that we'd have her take the two younger ones back to the hotel, while we had a daddy-daughter date for more rides...

She changed her mind and said she would need my help with the kids as she was feeling worse. No problem at all, pack em all up and get them back to the room.

We relax, i get her some drinks, some medicine...

(Sidebar: I was genuinely surprised that the store at the resort sold condoms. I mean, it makes sense and is responsible... but I just didn't expect it at all. No, i didn't buy them ... but they were right above the tylenol :) )

Get back to the room and we get some rest and let the wet clothes dry out overnight.

And in the next morning... she was feeling better! Huzzah!

Next up... Hollywood Studios!
 
luv

luv

Well-Known Member
I love the pic of Jacob with the Viking hat on. So cute.

The WDW resort gift shops sell booze, condoms and cigarettes. Not everyone needs these things, but they are all available. :)
 
monkeysammich

monkeysammich

Active Member
Original Poster
So, my daughter insisted that I get a picture with the Rafiki statue every time we passed it... so on our way back from Epcot we grabbed the picture...

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We rested up... got up nice and early and got in the line for Hollywood Studios.

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I didn't get a lot of pictures at DHS, but I'll go over the pertinent details. I sent the wife and kids over to starring rolls to get us some breakfast while I got our fast passes for TSMM. I came back to a nice big coke, the kids had hot chocolate... and we split a chocolate muffin and a cinnamon roll, casually enjoying breakfast and singing Deck the Halls (Jacob wanted to). Mackenzie decided that she wanted to go on the Great Movie Ride and we were able to walk right on. We hid the kids from the Alien portion, but the rest they loved.

Once we got off GMR we saw that Star Tours only had a 10 minute wait AND Mackenzie was tall enough to ride with me.... so we went on our first Daddy-Daughter thrill ride, which she was incredibly excited for. I haven't yet introduced her to Star Wars in depth yet, but she loved it... the ride, the story, the space... everything. It was amazing.

We got out of there and walked right into Muppets, which is a solid classic that I love. Upon exiting, we saw two of my kids favorite characters... Phineas and Ferb! They literally squeeled in delight when they saw them.

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We checked the time for our fast passes and it still wasnt ready, so we decided to head over to see Playhouse Disney... and I am glad that I did. Both of the bigger kids were singing along with every song, clapping and smiling. It was the second best moment of the trip, seeing them with such unbridled joy. The shocking part is that Jacob didn't get up or try to run away once. I was also amused that they have a Sharky and Bones puppet. Row your boat, drink your tea....

We headed over to Toy Story for a little midway mania... and while the ride is fun, I don't understand why the lines get as crazy as they do. Not my place to understand it, I suppose.

Lunch was at Pizza Planet... and man they give you a lot of food. Personal Pizza, bowl of salad... and a giant gingerbread cupcake? Yes please!

Originally we were going to go to Kona Cafe for dinner... but I decided I wanted to go to Downtown Disney to hit Little Miss Matched, the Lego store and.... TREX! My wife adores their nachos so she was on board.

We risked it with a walk up and the wait was only 30 minutes... while waiting we noticed that a cloud in the sky matched the giant t-rex skeleton...

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Kind of neat.

Charlotte was tired and cold... but adorable!

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We were seated in the Ice Cave which I love... even though it makes my eyes go crazy. We had the Nachos for an appetizer. The kids had corn dog nuggets. The wife had a burger... and I had the Boneyard Buffet. A full rack of Ribs and half a chicken. Remember what I said about overeating? For desert the kids got the tar pit and the wife got Ice Age Indulgence... an ice cream sandwich lasagna-type thing. She said it was the best part of the trip for her. I chose not to have desert as I was full of tasty tasty ribs and chicken.

Here's some pictures. I do not know why I am making that face.

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After such a long day full of fun and exploration... the kids may have been slightly tired.

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We picked up an apple tray, a fruit cup and some 20oz sodas to snack on in the room and watch some TV while we packed up for our final day (*sob*)....
 
tropicalsmile

tropicalsmile

Member
Great trip report, it looks like you had fun! The theming at the AoA is amazing! It would be fun to be there with little ones! (Your kids are adorable, btw!)

I love the picture of the cloud at the TREX, that's awesome!
 
monkeysammich

monkeysammich

Active Member
Original Poster
Thanks for all the compliments everyone!

Sam: From what the concierge at AoA was telling me, Disney only gets 20% of T-Rex's assigned reservations... so you should be able to walk right up without any issue... we did and it was shoulder-to-shoulder busy in DTD.
 
WishIWasAtWDW

WishIWasAtWDW

Well-Known Member
Loving the trip report! What a wonderful surprise for your kids on Christmas morning! It sounds like you all had a great time! Dinner at Be Our Guest on Christmas day...so perfect! That main ballroom is breathtaking and with it snowing outside the window, I can't think of a more magical restaurant to dine in for Christmas dinner. Great planning! And that was so sweet of you all to give your waitress such a generous gift! It sounds like you all made her night! :D Can't wait to read the rest of your report.
 
LizC

LizC

Well-Known Member
What a great trip! I hope I can do something like this for my kids when they are older.

Also, nice thinking with the Christmas tip. I worked as a waitress in my twenties, including many times on Christmas and it sucks, I am sure you made her day. :D
 

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