Trip Report Our (mostly) Dream-y June 2014 Vacation

Hi all! We returned from our trip 5 days ago, and I'm ready to relive it through this report!

First, let me introduce myself and my family in case you aren't familiar (here is my PTR if you are interested: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/my-dream-vacation-a-june-2014-ptr.865397/)
Here we are on the last day of this trip:

Me (Amy), my 6 year old, Owen, my 11 year old, Logan, and my 9 year old, Lily. Also on this trip were my parents (Nanny and Papaw to the kids), my brother, Scott, my SIL, Beth, and my twin 4 year old nieces, Macy and Allison.

Unfortunately, my husband wasn't able to take this trip with us. I am greatly disappointed by this, as he ended up not starting the fire academy like he was supposed to! Long story short, the city of Columbus sucks! They told him that one of the 40 spots was being held for him as long as he passed all of the testing. Well, he did pass all the tests, but they said his labwork took too long getting back and they already gave all the spots to other guys. They guaranteed him a spot in the December class, but he also had to be available the first three weeks of the June academy, "just in case" someone didn't show up or dropped out. Of course, that didn't happen, so he missed the whole vacation and still won't start until December!:( The only good thing to come of this, is that my mom had me schedule a cruise in October for just me and Brian!

Ok, back to the actual trip! Let me just say that I will not be going on any more family vacations with my SIL and nieces. I will say that their time management (or lack thereof) is much different than mine, and not say anything else about it! We had a great time despite our differences!

We had a 6am flight on Wed. morning, so we drove from Dayton to Columbus Tues. night and stayed in a hotel. Here are the kids getting ready to leave our house:

We made sure to leave early enough so we could visit a few stores for the kids once we got to Columbus.


We grabbed dinner at Max and Erma's. It was about this time that my stomach started bothering me. I just assumed it was nerves (I was really nervous about making sure 9 other people had a good time on this vacation!) and being upset that Brian wasn't going with us. Well, it was more than that, and I was up sick all night!
 

mrdrift

Well-Known Member
This is a really awesome trip report with some really great pictures. You have a beautiful family that seems to be having the time of their lives with the cruise and now the parks. Great job on the 5K, I hear that heat can really take a toll on you during the run, jog or walk. Will be following.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This is a really awesome trip report with some really great pictures. You have a beautiful family that seems to be having the time of their lives with the cruise and now the parks. Great job on the 5K, I hear that heat can really take a toll on you during the run, jog or walk. Will be following.
Thank you! The 5k wasn't as bad as I was fearing it would be, but it definitely was hot!
 

DisneyMorgan

Well-Known Member
Mainly a lurker here :D But just had to comment!

I am really enjoying your report!! Love love love all the personalized shirts!! And those pillow cases are adorable! Giving me ideas for when I take my little one on her first Disney experience!

Your family is beautiful! Can't wait to read more :)
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Mainly a lurker here :D But just had to comment!

I am really enjoying your report!! Love love love all the personalized shirts!! And those pillow cases are adorable! Giving me ideas for when I take my little one on her first Disney experience!

Your family is beautiful! Can't wait to read more :)
Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We were able to sleep in a little on Monday, as we didn't have a breakfast ADR and I had stopped at Everything Pop the night before and grabbed PopTarts and fruit for the kids and a chocolate croissant for myself along with OJ and milk. We were at the bus stop a little before 8 for a 9am opening.


Yes, that is a DHS bus, but we were not able to get on that one because my brother's family was not there yet! That is one of the problems with traveling with multiple families! Live and learn!! We still made it in plenty of time!

My first sighting of my absolute favorite ride!!


A few more pics before getting in line:


Then one while in line:

One while waiting for the rest of our party to get through the turnstiles:

Finally, it was time to head to our first ride!

Actually, this was the first ride:

My mom stayed with Lily, Owen, Macy, and Allison while the rest of us rode. She got them drinks and people watched.


Poor Dad, had to ride by himself! Logan and Beth both look terrified, but they both said they really enjoyed it. In fact, Logan wanted to go again. I told him he had to wait until later in the day. I used to be able to do it multiple times in a row, now I'm getting old and have to have a break between rides!
We decided to hit ToT next since there was no wait. Beth and my mom took Lily, Owen, Macy, and Allison to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid while Logan, Scott, my dad, and I rode ToT.





Fun was had by all!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We then made our way over to the Animation Courtyard to wait for the others.





The performance was not over yet, so I took a meander over to Pixar Place for some pics.










 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Lily and Owen had to have their pic taken before we could move on!

Then it was time for Toy Story Midway Mania! using a FP+.



We met this guy on the way out:

We had just enough time to squeeze in a ride before our next FP+. We chose:

Of course, right before we were getting on, Owen decided he needed to go to the bathroom! I told him he had to either skip the ride to go, or wait until the end of the long ride. He chose to wait, but he was dancing around the whole time!! He managed to make it though!
We got the western scene!

After rushing to the potty, we split up again for our next FP+. My mom took Owen, Macy, and Allison to see Disney Jr. Live! and the rest of us went to ride ToT.







I'm not sure what I was doing! Lily looks scared to death!! After we got off, she said, "I don't remember it being that scary! I don't think I'll ride again!" That's ok! I'm just proud that she is trying things!
Logan, Lily, and I stopped for a few PhotoPass pics on the way to get the others.


 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It was a little early, but we headed over to check in for lunch anyhow! We got there about 1/2 hour early.

We looked around in the Muppet store while we waited.



We were doing the Fantasmic! package, so we got appetizers. I ordered the minestrone soup. It was good.

Lily had fun playing with her straw wrapper!

For my entree, I ordered the strip steak and macaroni. The steak wasn't quite as good as the last time I had it, but it was still good.

They brought a dessert sampler for the table to share, but I forgot to get a pic. None of it was fantastic, but I was pretty full by that point! The kids' desserts were really cute!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We decided we had time to hit Muppet Vision 3D before our last FP+.




Star Tours was our last FP+. We found a PP guy doing these along the way!



I was excited! The kids couldn't figure out why I was so excited! They understood after we looked at the pics on my phone later!





Scott and Beth headed back to the resort when we were finished. The rest of us stopped for these:


 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We decided we would do the Backlot Tour next.
We had to stop along the way to cool off.

Then Owen insisted on a picture in front of the fountain.





Did you notice the dark clouds in that last picture? Well, that ended up being the end of our tour. They stopped operating Catastrophe Canyon because of lightning in the area! They told us we could return later through the exit and do the tour again. We decided to see if we could get into our Sci-Fi ADR early to avoid the rain. It started sprinkling on our way over, but it was just enough to feel really good!
We got there, checked in, and were seated within 10 minutes, even though we were close to an hour early!



The kids and my dad ordered milkshakes and I ordered spinach and artichoke dip. It looked good, but was just ok. The kids liked eating the chips, so it worked out ok.


We then headed toward the front of the park to find this Magic Shot:

We then headed back to Pixar Place to see how long the wait was for TSMM.

 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The wait was 75 minutes, which was too long for us!! Instead, we hopped in the line to meet Buzz and Woody. I love all the photo ops they provide in the line!















It was finally our turn! Woody was playing keep away with our Sharpie with Owen! It was cute.

 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We then went and finished the Backlot Tour.


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We then hopped over to San Francisco Street to see if we could catch CharacterPalooza. We did!! We met the Evil Queen! I think I was more excited than the kids!

We also saw, but didn't meet Mulan, Jasmine, Pinocchio, Gepetto, the Queen of Hearts, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
By this point, everyone was ready for some downtime, so we did a little shopping and then got some ice water and found a seat to do some people watching. I could not sit for very long!! I got up and took some pics instead.



 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We entered the theater as soon as they opened it.

The dining package section was wide open, so we basically got to sit wherever we wanted. We got settled, then my dad and I went to get popcorn and pretzels for our dinner! It just has to happen at some point while in WDW!!:D


The kids waited very patiently for it to get dark!

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the show!



My parents volunteered to take Lily and Owen back to the room so Logan and I could get a few more rides in during EMH. First up:




Logan laughed at me when he saw what I did for the picture!
Then we headed over to Rock N Roller Coaster. I had to take a few pics while in line:


It was a great ride!

Logan claims he didn't hear me tell him to stick his tongue out! So I look like an idiot by myself!! Oh well!


Then we made our way to the bus stop.


I really enjoyed getting to spend some quality time with Logan throughout the day!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Fantastic Report !!! I am loving all the matching t-shirts and Disney touches. It looks like you guys had a great trip, isn't AOA amazing ?!?! Can't wait to read more :)
Thanks! The trip really was great! And yes, AoA is awesome. I can't wait to go back with my husband and the kids and stay there again!
 

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