Running, Raratonga (!!), Ressies, and Resolutions

Finalllllllly getting around to my trip report from our Jan 10-15 trip. We had some challenges to say the least. Overall, it was a great trip.......I'd say 95% successful. The 5% irritation/lack-of-success was more irritation with my in-laws than anything else.

Without further ado..........

Day 1 Thurs Jan 10 -- Arrival day: In-laws spent the night before at our house, and FIL was up at 4am for our 8am flight. LOL Flight went great, the kids did wonderfully. You'd never know they've never flown before.

Checking into Polynesian was problematic - no fault of Poly staff. I wanted all three rooms to check-in
together. Since I and my in-laws were 5King on Friday, I wanted my parents in the room connecting ours so they could wrangle the kids in my absence. Although I specifically asked MIL and Mom to check in with me (or at least use the same CM), MIL directed my Mom to "go" to the next available CM. We all get placed in Raratonga (yay!!!!) and in three consecutive rooms (double yay!!!!) and the rooms were ready for us (triple yay!!!). We go up to the rooms annnnnnd MIL/FIL's room is the connecting one to ours.

I was so irritated that this was screwed up, and Mom kept slanting her eyes towards MIL. Later, Mom told me my MIL told her to "just go" to the next available CM when checking in (rather than, you know, listening to me). Anyway, the in-laws and my parents/aunt/uncle can't simply switch rooms with each other due to different meal plans and potential charging to room. Siiiighhhh Mom and MIL went back and got it straightened out.

We rolled from our room noonish, hit bell services to pick up our double stroller. Easy peasy. Got on the Expo bus and headed for WWoS complex. We then split up a bit: my parents and aunt/uncle taking the kids for food; in-laws, DH, and I getting race packets. We met them at ESPN Grill, and devoured lunch (2pm and I'd only eaten a cinnamon pretzel all day).





Hoofed it over to the track for kids' races at 3pm. My kids had been up since 5:30am. DD4 took a brief nap on the bus over to WWoS, DS2 no nap. They both did great for their races. DS2 did 100 yard dash with me and my Mom. DS2 wanted to be "monkey in the middle." He ran between Mom and I until the last 100 feet or so, when he spotted Mickey at the finish line. DS2 took off for Mick' and he and Mickey crossed the finish line together. So sweet. DH ran the 200 yard dash with DD4, and she did great too. Mickey gave her a high five and BIG hug at the finish.

We headed back to Poly for naps (pleeeeease??). DS2 conked in the stroller and slept on my lap the whole ride back to Poly. DD4 conked on the bus. We got them relatively snug in the stroller, but once back to the room......no dice on naps.

At 5pm, I headed over to GCH to get our Garden Grocer delivery and check our 'Ohana reservation. I was told to get there early as we are a party of ten. Although I checked earlier, we still got to 'Ohana ~6pm while my parents and aunt/uncle took the kids for a walk. Reservation was 6:30, we were seated 6:45. While DH and I were waiting for the others in our party, he got word that his grandfather (in hospice) had passed away.

Anyway, at 'Ohana, the potstickers were very good, but dry/crunchy. I thought they be more tender (like a pierogie?). /shrug. All of our food was soooooo good. Our server, Cathy, brought drink umbrellas when DD4 wanted an umbrella drink (a little girl the next table over had one ). Cathy also brought out cupcakes for DS2 and DH (Jan birthdays). When DD4 said she wanted a cupcake too, Cathy obliged.

The MK fireworks started going off, but we were seated on the farthest side from the windows. We could see OK, but not great. The kids were losing steam fast, so I took them to the beach to watch (from verrrry afar) CTM. We were going to meet everyone on the beach, but DS2 had to potty. LOL

I headed back to the room with the kids for potty/PJs. The in-laws stopped in to say goodnight, and we called it a night.

Tally: 0 rides, 0 M&Gs, 0 character meals, parade/fireworks 6/10 (watching fireworks from far side of 'Ohana)

 

[Witchy Chick]

Day 2 Friday Jan 11 --- 5K , Epcot and DHS: DH, the in-laws and I left Poly ~ 5:15am I guess, headed for Epcot 5K start. I was in Corral C, in-laws were in D (I think corral placing was based on bib #). Also in Corral C, was this guy

Even his race bib said “Santa” which I thought was AWESOME.

The weather was warm and HUMID. I did more walking than running, I think, and finished in about an hour. In-laws started 10 min after me, and were walking so I knew we'd be tight getting to Akershus for our 8:05 reservation. Sure enough, we were. Fortunately, we got there within the 15 minute grace period. The kids LOVED Belle and the princesses. DS2, did an adorable kneel on the floor when Ariel was teaching them to bow/curtsy (during the parade).

We left Norway and headed to FW. FIL's ankles were bothering him and MIL had a headache, so they headed back to the resort. My uncle, DH, and I got on Test Track which we all liked. I had not yet picked up my PhotoPass+ lanyard so we had to get our picture # to add it to the card later. We met up with the rest of the gang, and headed to SSE. I got my PhotoPass+ lanyard first. DS2 rode SSE with me and was a hoot. He kept waving at all the animatronics (newspaper boy is still facing away from ride vehicle BTW).

After SSE, it was about 10:15 (and we had 12:05 lunch scheduled). We headed over to The Seas and rode the Nemo ride and did Turtle Talk. My aunt and uncle (and I think my Mom and Dad) had never seen it, and they enjoyed it. DD4 asked Crush why turtles pull into their shells, and Crush explained only land turtles do that. Crush tried to demonstrate, and strained so hard he farted. LOL

Leaving The Seas, we split up from my parents and aunt/uncle. It was about 20 min to our Rose and Crown reservation so headed to WS. Going past some gate just before Canada (?), we see Stitch doing a M&G. DH noticed Smee and other characters up the "alley way" behind the gates, doing M&Gs. He went to catch up with his parents and I took the kids to see the characters. They got pictures with Smee, Pluto, Chip and Dale (we told them we'd see them at dinner the next day and the chipmunks were very excited LOL), Donald, Mickey, and Minnie. AWESOME.

Lunch was good food-wise, but not a great experience. DS2 was whiny and getting tired. DD4 was fidgeting in her booster and fell completely out of her booster/chair (sitting between DH and MIL). Food-wise, I got the Scotch egg which i lovvvvvved and the Cottage Pie which was also very good. I also got the Sticky Toffee for dessert. Yummmmm. We got done lunch about 1:30 and split up again. The in-laws were staying to tour Epcot, DH took the PhotoPass+ lanyard to go get our Test Track pic added, and I took the kids to the monorail. DS2 conked before we hit the exit turnstiles, DD4 conked on the monorail. I got back to Poly, and just let them nap in the stroller. LOL

I got a shower and got ready for our 4pm ressie for H&V at DHS (the four of us plus my parents, meeting my in-laws there). We didn't leave our room until 3:40-something for our 4pm ressie. Fortunately, the bus gods were with us. After dinner at H&V, I thought we would kill some time by seeing Disney Jr Live show, but we missed it by about 10 minutes. And the next show would be cutting it close for us to get to Fantasmic!. Jake was just walking off from a M&G, but Manny was still meeting kids....or so I thought. LOL He left just we're getting into line. We started to meander Pixar Place to find something to do when Manny and Jake came back out. Yay!!!!! We got pics with both characters.

DH and FIL went off to find the entrance for F! while my parents, MIL, kids and I walked around Pixar Place. Green Army guy was doing M&Gs so we saw him too. DS2 had a flower head he had ripped off (sighhhh) outside of H&V. He was very possessive of this thing. Dropped it a couple times, "where's my flower?" etc. Well, DS gives this flower to Army guy. I was cracking up. Army guy played it up - "for me?" kind of look etc. Then he puts the flower in his pocket. LOL

We walked all back thru Pixar Place and up Streets of America. Some of the Osborne Lights were still up (but, obviously not lit). We met up with DH and FIL, and headed over for F!. After F!, we were debating staying for some EMH, but we were pretty wiped out. DS2 realllllly wanted to ride another ride, so we hit up GMR. As we headed out, a CM who was closing up a churro cart brought the kids some complimentary churros. Pixie dust!!! As we headed to the exit, DH and I got a PhotoPass pic in front of the BAH.

Rode the bus from DHS with this boy (and his mom) who was totally into Star Wars. I asked about his dual light saber, and that kid talked SW with me the whole ride back to Contemp (where they were staying). LOL. Once we got back to our room my kids had some issues settling down and conking out, so we ended up putting DS2 on the the fold down trundle. DD4 wanted "company" so I laid down with her in one of the big beds......and we conked approx 9:30. I woke at 12:15 to get into my bed, and was not able to get back to sleep (2:18am when I was writing this......yikes).

Tally: 5 rides/shows, 9 M&Gs, 1 character meal (Princess Breakfast Norway), parade/fireworks 8/10 (F!)

 

[Witchy Chick]

Day 3 Sat Jan 12 -- MK and Epcot: After a rough night sleeping, we got up 6:30ish to get showers and bathe the stinky children. Haha. We had breakfast party of ten at Kona Cafe at 8am. I got the Big Kahuna as I was sharing with DS2. That and sharing some of his sister's meal was perfect for him. DD4 chowed on the Mickey pancakes. She ate the entire head and one ear (with the other ear going to her brother). I ended up giving her about 1/2 of one of my pancakes as well.

We hopped the monorail to MK, and immediately headed for Adventureland. On the way, we saw Peter Pan and got some pictures/autographs. We then went to Tink's M&G and saw her and Peri. Tink was very in-character.

We left that M&G and headed for Jungle Cruise - about a 10 min wait. We then walked on to Pirates and then Magic Carpets. I stopped for some Citrus Swirls (we had not used ANY snack credits yet - LOL) while the rest of the gang headed for Liberty Square. We all got on Haunted Mansion (walk on), which the kids liked. I decided to see how long the wait was for BoG, so we split up. Both sets of grandparents, the kids, and my aunt/uncle got on IaSW while DH and I checked on BoG. The line was all the way back across the bridge and turned towards LM. 45 min - 1 hr wait. No thanks. We met back up at Cinderella's Carousel, and we rode that with the kids (DH stayed off with his parents).

We then grabbed FPs for ten for LM (return time 12:35 - 1:35). There were some snafus as MIL misplaced her KttK card, but eventually we all had FPs. The in-laws headed for their noon ressie for LTT; the rest of headed for PVH. I got the Caprese flatbread (thanks Mrs. @lebeau). After lunch, we hit PhilHarmagic then headed to LM. After riding LM, I checked out the Ariel M&G but it was a 25 min wait. We decided to head back for naps; the in-laws, my parents, and aunt/uncle stayed in MK for a bit. On the way out, we got a PhotoPass pic taken, and picked up some SotMK cards for a co-worker’s daughter. DS2 conked on monorail; DD4 is the Energizer bunny. LOL

I take that last comment back. DD4 conked on the way into Epcot after “naps.” Haha

We had a little time to kill before Garden Grill, so DH and my parents took DS2 on Imagination. I stayed outside with conked out DD4. I woke her as we headed to The Land. She was a cranky pants but settled down after a few minutes. We enjoyed the food in Garden Grill but our server was not the greatest. 18% gratuity on party of 6+ really cheeses me off. This dude got ~ $30 in tips from us ($18 from us and $12 on my parents' bill) and his service was soooooo not worthy of a $30 tip.

After we left dinner, we tried getting into Circle of Life or Living with the Land. I totally forgot they close at 7pm. Instead, we went to The Seas to see Crush again. LOL As we were waiting, DH decides to head back to Poly for an early night since has to get up at 3am for the Marathon. He left, and we rode Nemo, and then had to wait about 15 min for the next Crush show. DS2 was very excited because he didn't get to ask his question last time. ???? He didn't have a question last time. Goofball. Anyway, he planned on asking Crush why Squirt couldn't get there in time (which was a riff of how Crush answered a question from another child on our earlier visit). After asking questions of other little dudes and dudettes, my little guy got to ask his. Crush responded "I don't know what you just said, but you are soooooo cuuuuuuute." I translated, and Crush told DS2 that Squirt was with his friends and Mr. Ray at school (at night?).

We rolled out of The Seas and DD4 had an epic meltdown over wanting to climb in Bruce the shark's mouth again. OY. Glad DH was not with us. LOL

We took the monorail to TTC and walked to Poly from there. DD4 was losing steam, but DS2 entertained us all singing "Some Day my Prince will come" and various Christmas songs. LOL Crush is tooooooootally right; he is soooooo cuuuuuute.

The in-laws and I made plans to meet at 6:30am the next morning to see DH run the Marathon past Poly ~6:45 depending on his splits. DH decided to sleep in their room Sat night so he didn’t inadvertently wake the kids at 3am.

Tally: 9 rides (11 for DS2 (IaSM and JIYI without me), 10 for DD4 (IaSM without me), 3 M&Gs, 1 character meal (Garden Grill dinner), did not watch any parade/fireworks

 

[Witchy Chick]

Day 4 Sun Jan 13 -- Marathon Day: I got up around 5:30am to get showered before hitting the Poly spectator area to look for DH. I texted MIL as I left ~ 6:20am (we were supposed to meet 6:30) that I would be in GCH getting coffee and would meet them in the lobby. No response. I text again - nothing. I call her - no answer. So, having DH's first split and knowing he's approaching in the next 15 mins (approx), I say "Screw it and screw them - I'm hitting the viewing area." I walk over.......and they are already there. Really?!?! SMH I was livid, but bit my tongue (I did that a lot this trip).

I texted DH that we were kind of across from Lilo and Stitch photo op. I used my iPad to record about 5 mins of runners before I saw him. LOL

After seeing DH, I headed back to the room to help Mom and my aunt get the kids dressed for our 8am ressie at GFC. The in-laws headed over early to check the place out and get us checked in. By the time we got there, they were seated (??? thanks for waiting ). For our 8am ressie, we were served our food at 8:30. Not impressed. The in-laws were in a hurry to get to Epcot to see DH finish, so they paid the bill and skedaddled as soon as they were done eating. After the rest of us finished, we headed to AK. As we walked to the AK entrance, many marathoners were still running the course (mile 18 or so?). God bless them, 'cause it was getting hot and humid.

Once into AK, we walked onto KS. The kids loved seeing all of the animals. We then hit Conservation Station to see Rafiki.

We headed back from Conservation Station to Tough to Be a Bug. I bought the kiddos some hats they had been eyeing up.

I thought that would be it for us, but DS2 wanted “one more ride." We headed to DinoLand to ride Triceratops Spin, which the kids enjoyed. After that, we decided to grab something quick to eat from Restaurantasaurus. About 5 mins after sitting down, DS2 starts snuggling up on my Mom. Then he gets down, comes over to me, snuggles, then pukes up his juice box all over me and my half-eaten lunch. Yay.

We asked for some empty cardboard food baskets, and it's a good thing we did. DS2 yakked again on the bus back to Poly. Got him into the room, dosed with Advil and settled down for nap. I took a nap too. Yay!!!!

I woke before the kids, and headed over to the PhotoPass+ kiosk in GCH to consolidate PhotoPasses into one (PhotoPass+) card. As I headed back to Raratonga, I see @Donald Duck and his better half, waiting to check into 'Ohana. He was easily identifiable with his all-black outfit. LOL



I went back to the room and checked up on DS2, who seemed fine. We got the kids moving for our 5:30 Chef Mickey's ressie (us, my parents, my aunt and uncle).
That was a lot of fun. We celebrated DS2's and DH's upcoming birthdays, and the kids loved meeting the characters.

Their autograph books are FULL. Hahaha. After Chef Mickey's, we walked over to MK. Stubborn Dad did not take his scooter, and I think all the walking wore him out.

I was concerned we'd be walking into the 7pm parade, but no parade that night. We grabbed some more SotMK cards for my co-worker’s daughter and headed for Tomorrowland. Walked right onto Buzz and TTA. We headed for the Tea Cups (yay!!!!!) and rode that. We hit up Dumbo, which is gorgeous at night.

After our Dumbo ride, the CMs invited everyone to ride again.....so we did.

We then walked next door to Barnstormer. Dad rode with DS2, DH rode with DD4, and I was solo. The kids liked it so much, we got back on again. LOL. After Barnstormer, we headed more towards FantasyLand to check out PPF. My app told me 20 min wait, we got there and it was 30. On the way to PPF, though, Pooh appeared to be a walk on so we did that. With PPF being 30 min wait and the kids (and my Dad) fading, we rode (walk on) Small World as our last ride for the night. DH and I had originally planned to stay for EMH, but we are both exhausted. I didn't run any marathons haha, but my pedometer was reading 16.5 miles walked for the day. Yikes.

Tally: 12 rides (counting Dumbo and Barnstormer twice), 1 M&G, 1 character meal, 1 sick kid, parade/fireworks 6/10 (saw parts of Wishes and CTM while riding TTA and walking around)

 

[Witchy Chick]

Day 5 Mon Jan 14 -- MK: We all headed to MK early for Crystal Palace breakfast. I was pretty glad the trip was almost over as MIL was plucking my nerves pretty much all the time. Sitting down for breakfast, I suggested DH sit on the booth bench with one of the kids while I have the other kid in a chair for easy access to the characters. Somehow, the in-laws sat with DH on the bench while I got to wrangle both kids. sighhhhhh MIL also was very interested in joining me, DH, and the kids for BoG. I was like "You have already reservations at Tony's and it will cost me 20 bucks if you no show." OY. Did I not explain all of this when we were kicking around ADR ideas months ago???

Anyway, breakfast was good, but I barely ate with wrangling kids, cutting up food for the kids, taking pictures when characters came around, etc. I lost it a little bit when DD4 was acting up and I blasted DH saying "do you think you can handle this so I can eat SOMETHING???" UGH DH and I also got into it over the location of the Merida M&G. I was certain it was in the TL side of the castle, he said AL side. Guess who was right??? LOL

After breakfast, I suggested they all head for another ride on LM while grabbed everyone's KttK cards to get FPs for PPF. I zip over the bridge to Adventureland, head to the hub, through the castle, bam!! I'm leaving the FP distribution thing, and the rest of the gang are headed toward me.....from Liberty Square. Lord. DH really does not know what the heck he is doing. PPF was a 5 min wait, so a few of us (not me) got on at that point. Then, we all headed to LM.

On the way to LM, I stopped in to check with the BoG CMs on what time we should line up for lunch. CM said 11:30 for noon lunchtime. We get to LM and ride. After LM we then hit the M&G (10 min wait; queue in LM is grafitti'd already, I saw a Sharpie "Kayla" with a heart on a rock wall, left side of the queue....people are jerks ). Anyway, Ariel was wonderful. So in character and funny. LOL She commented on our large party and asked who the captain was. Unequivocally, everyone (including me) deemed me the captain. hahaa

We left LM and my aunt wanted to check out Belle's stuff. I told her the only Belle thing was ETwB, and that usually has a long wait (sure enough 50 min (at 10ish)). We took a bathroom break and came out to Gaston having a M&G. The kids got in line for him, and I requested some "bicep" when the picture was taken. LOL

After seeing Gaston, DH said he would stand in line for BoG while the rest of us rode PPF. As we're walking to PPF, MIL says "Do you think we (her and FIL) should stay with him?" I was like "No, he's a big boy; I think he can stand in line by himself. If you want to stand in line rather than ride some rides with your grandkids, have fun." I was pretty much done with her. I didn’t expect us all to be joined at the hip during our visit, but they had hardly hung out with us/the kids AT ALL (aside from meals). I was annoyed, and more annoyed that she has to “hand hold” my almost 40-year-old DH.

Anyway, 8 of us get to PPF to find it 101. Awesome. While we're in FP line, people are bailing out of the FP line. One guy said he'd been waiting 15 mins. We stuck it out though, and the ride came back up in about 5 mins. DH is texting me, though, that we are getting close for BoG entry. We got off PPF and we all split up -- in-laws to Tony’s for lunch, my parents and aunt/uncle doing their own thing for lunch, and I hustled the kids to BoG. Lunch was good. I got the grilled ham and cheese, DH got the pork, and we got pasta for the kids to share.
We left BoG and hit the Carousel again. We found Cinderella's horse and DD4 rode that.




(you can kind of see the golden ribbon on the horse's tail)

We headed left (from the back of the castle) to check out the Merida M&G which was mobbed. We called it a morning, and headed back for naps.

I had a lot of stuff we ordered from Garden Grocer but did not use. A coworker of mine was here for the next 8 or 9 days, so I texted him to see if he wanted a case of bottled water and 10 pack of juice boxes. He monorail-hopped over from BLT and got the stuff from me. I then chilled in the Tambu Lounge with a couple of Island Sunset drinks. Ahhhhhhh.

We headed over to Narcoossee's around 5 and DH wanted to go early with me (I was making sure our ressies of 6 and 4 were made into a table for 10). While DH was in the restroom at Narcoossee’s, I asked the host if he could alert the server to not offer us dessert as we were going to the Dessert Party afterwards.

Dinner was good - I got Buttermilk Fried Oysters as my appetizer and lobster and filet for my meal. Despite my previous request, our server offered us dessert and seemed confused when I explained we were off to the Dessert Party.

My parents and aunt/uncle took the monorail from GF due to Dad's scooter. The in-laws and us took the boat over. We all walked into the MK right into the 7pm parade. Great. We got past most of the crowd by going through the Main St shops so it wasn't too bad.


We were a bit late to the Dessert Party so I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. The desserts were tasty, and the seating was excellent. Many desserts were picked over, though, and it felt like new stuff would not be brought out since it was getting close to 8pm. I don't know. We did get to see Tink fly over us, so that was something.

After the fireworks, my parents and aunt/uncle headed back to Poly. Mom's stomach was not feeling good, and Dad was pretty wiped out too. My parents and aunt/uncle had helped me a lot with the kids, and they graciously "backed off" at times to allow/encourage the in-laws to participate. I was kind of ticked that the in-laws kept "doing their own thing" and then my family felt compelled to "back off" so the in-laws could finally spend some time with the grandkids.

Anywho, after the Dessert Party, the in-laws and us stayed in MK for a bit. We rode Buzz, and I got those (hilarious) pictures added to my PhotoPass+. DS2 wanted "one more ride" so we rode the PeopleMover (he loves this thing). We headed back to Poly where DS2 had an EPIC meltdown at bedtime. I finally laid down with him and directed DH to call his parents and tell them NOT to come in to say goodnight to the kids (as they had been doing every night).

DS2 and I conked out in one double bed, DD4 conked out in the other. DH slept with her rather than trying to move her so I could sleep in that bed. LOL

Tally: 5 rides (6 for the kids, who rode PPF twice), 2 M&G, 1 character meal, parade/fireworks 8/10 (hard to hear Wishes and CTM music from the Dessert Party Terrace

 

[Witchy Chick]

Day 6 Tues Jan 15 -- checkout day : I had asked DH to go "cash in" our 23 (!!!!!) unused snack credits on stuff we could take home. Cookies, couple lollipops, Rice Krispie Mickey ears, etc. He asks if he can get some Skittles, Doritos and "regular" snacks that he can use at work. I’m like "uhhhh, can't you buy that stuff at home?? I want to take some Disney stuff home." He comes back with no Rice Krispie ears, multiple bags of sweet and sour candy (yuck) and two bags of kettle corn!! How am I gonna fit these huge bags of kettle corn in my carryon???? Siiiighhhhh

We all had breakfast at Kona Cafe. We were short one credit (I think) on the DDP, so DH initially was not going to order anything. Then the morning of, he mentions doing something else (I can't remember now) while we eat. I was a little irritated 'cause, you know, at least he could socialize if he wasn't going to eat. Not to mention, I didn't know if I'd get dinged for a one person no-show if our party was 9 vice ressie made for 10.

He ended up sitting with us for a while. I asked him to order my Big Kahuna (sharing with DS2 again) while I straightened out the room bill (my credit card was charged and I wanted to use gift cards I'd accumulated). I got that done, and he and I tagged off.

Since we still had one-day on our park hopper and close to two hours before the Magical Express picked us up, DH and I took the kids over to MK for one last attempt to meet Merida. Success!!!

We got to MCO with plenty of time to spare, and I picked up lunch (McDonald’s for DH, DD4, and I; cinnamon/sugar pretzel for DS2). DS2 fell asleep on the plane, DD4 was good for the most part. She started having some meltdown and was getting louder and louder as DH was hissing at her to “be quiet” and to “stop.”

We got all our bags quickly after landing, headed back to the parking lot, and headed home.
Tally: 1 M&G

And now for the "resolutions" aspect.....I am nevvvvvver traveling with the in-laws again (and likely, they will never want to travel with me again -- LOL). I was perusing the "first timers" thread last night, and that is my in-laws to a T. Had I not done any "organizing" for them, I'm sure they would have come home thinking "What's the big deal?" or been upset that they weren't able to eat at Brown Derby or Narcoossee's whenever they felt like it.

Thanks for reading the report, and for all the kind comments about my kiddos. As of today, I have to refer to "DS2" as "DS3."

A couple weeks before we left on our trip, BIL/SIL mentioned they would likely be going to WDW in a year or two (once their DD is 5 or 6). I'm not sure when our next trip might be, but I do know it will not be in a year or two with BIL/SIL. I am tentatively thinking in 2-3 years of visiting DL (before DS outgrows "McQueen") but we shall see.

 

[Ariel484]

Hi Tracey...I'm so sorry about your husband's grandfather.

 

[Ariel484]

Looking forward to the rest of your report! Cute pictures of the kiddos racing. Too bad we didn't get to meet the morning of the 5K! Traveling with family is always tough...I get it.

 

[Bama14]

Day 2 Friday Jan 11 --- 5K , Epcot and DHS: DH, the in-laws and I left Poly ~ 5:15am I guess, headed for Epcot 5K start. I was in Corral C, in-laws were in D (I think corral placing was based on bib #). Also in Corral C, was this guy

Even his race bib said “Santa” which I thought was AWESOME.

The weather was warm and HUMID. I did more walking than running, I think, and finished in about an hour. In-laws started 10 min after me, and were walking so I knew we'd be tight getting to Akershus for our 8:05 reservation. Sure enough, we were. Fortunately, we got there within the 15 minute grace period. The kids LOVED Belle and the princesses. DS2, did an adorable kneel on the floor when Ariel was teaching them to bow/curtsy (during the parade).

We left Norway and headed to FW. FIL's ankles were bothering him and MIL had a headache, so they headed back to the resort. My uncle, DH, and I got on Test Track which we all liked. I had not yet picked up my PhotoPass+ lanyard so we had to get our picture # to add it to the card later. We met up with the rest of the gang, and headed to SSE. I got my PhotoPass+ lanyard first. DS2 rode SSE with me and was a hoot. He kept waving at all the animatronics (newspaper boy is still facing away from ride vehicle BTW).

After SSE, it was about 10:15 (and we had 12:05 lunch scheduled). We headed over to The Seas and rode the Nemo ride and did Turtle Talk. My aunt and uncle (and I think my Mom and Dad) had never seen it, and they enjoyed it. DD4 asked Crush why turtles pull into their shells, and Crush explained only land turtles do that. Crush tried to demonstrate, and strained so hard he farted. LOL


Leaving The Seas, we split up from my parents and aunt/uncle. It was about 20 min to our Rose and Crown reservation so headed to WS. Going past some gate just before Canada (?), we see Stitch doing a M&G. DH noticed Smee and other characters up the "alley way" behind the gates, doing M&Gs. He went to catch up with his parents and I took the kids to see the characters. They got pictures with Smee, Pluto, Chip and Dale (we told them we'd see them at dinner the next day and the chipmunks were very excited LOL), Donald, Mickey, and Minnie. AWESOME.

Lunch was good food-wise, but not a great experience. DS2 was whiny and getting tired. DD4 was fidgeting in her booster and fell completely out of her booster/chair (sitting between DH and MIL). Food-wise, I got the Scotch egg which i lovvvvvved and the Cottage Pie which was also very good. I also got the Sticky Toffee for dessert. Yummmmm. We got done lunch about 1:30 and split up again. The in-laws were staying to tour Epcot, DH took the PhotoPass+ lanyard to go get our Test Track pic added, and I took the kids to the monorail. DS2 conked before we hit the exit turnstiles, DD4 conked on the monorail. I got back to Poly, and just let them nap in the stroller. LOL

I got a shower and got ready for our 4pm ressie for H&V at DHS (the four of us plus my parents, meeting my in-laws there). We didn't leave our room until 3:40-something for our 4pm ressie. Fortunately, the bus gods were with us. After dinner at H&V, I thought we would kill some time by seeing Disney Jr Live show, but we missed it by about 10 minutes. And the next show would be cutting it close for us to get to Fantasmic!. Jake was just walking off from a M&G, but Manny was still meeting kids....or so I thought. LOL He left just we're getting into line. We started to meander Pixar Place to find something to do when Manny and Jake came back out. Yay!!!!! We got pics with both characters.

DH and FIL went off to find the entrance for F! while my parents, MIL, kids and I walked around Pixar Place. Green Army guy was doing M&Gs so we saw him too. DS2 had a flower head he had ripped off (sighhhh) outside of H&V. He was very possessive of this thing. Dropped it a couple times, "where's my flower?" etc. Well, DS gives this flower to Army guy. I was cracking up. Army guy played it up - "for me?" kind of look etc. Then he puts the flower in his pocket. LOL

We walked all back thru Pixar Place and up Streets of America. Some of the Osborne Lights were still up (but, obviously not lit). We met up with DH and FIL, and headed over for F!. After F!, we were debating staying for some EMH, but we were pretty wiped out. DS2 realllllly wanted to ride another ride, so we hit up GMR. As we headed out, a CM who was closing up a churro cart brought the kids some complimentary churros. Pixie dust!!! As we headed to the exit, DH and I got a PhotoPass pic in front of the BAH.

Rode the bus from DHS with this boy (and his mom) who was totally into Star Wars. I asked about his dual light saber, and that kid talked SW with me the whole ride back to Contemp (where they were staying). LOL. Once we got back to our room my kids had some issues settling down and conking out, so we ended up putting DS2 on the the fold down trundle. DD4 wanted "company" so I laid down with her in one of the big beds......and we conked approx 9:30. I woke at 12:15 to get into my bed, and was not able to get back to sleep (2:18am when I was writing this......yikes).

Tally: 5 rides/shows, 9 M&Gs, 1 character meal (Princess Breakfast Norway), parade/fireworks 8/10 (F!)

I love Turtle Talk! Crush is so funny. It is always a must do for us. That shirt about Donald's pants (or lack of) is great!

 

[Witchy Chick]

Looking forward to the rest of your report! Cute pictures of the kiddos racing. Too bad we didn't get to meet the morning of the 5K! Traveling with family is always tough...I get it.

Thanks for the (above) condolences. It's cliche, but he really is in a better place. I was just sorry that FIL and grandmother-in-law (she was getting her hair done (???)) were not with DH's grandfather when he departed.

The kiddos had a great time racing, and they wore their medals for the first 3 days of the trip wherever we went.

I'm sorry we weren't able to meet up either, or for me to at least get some bib numbers so I could track you guys in your races. How did things go? I haven't caught up really; do you have a race report in the running forum?

 

[Ariel484]

Thanks for the (above) condolences. It's cliche, but he really is in a better place. I was just sorry that FIL and grandmother-in-law (she was getting her hair done (???)) were not with DH's grandfather when he departed.

The kiddos had a great time racing, and they wore their medals for the first 3 days of the trip wherever we went.

I'm sorry we weren't able to meet up either, or for me to at least get some bib numbers so I could track you guys in your races. How did things go? I haven't caught up really; do you have a race report in the running forum?

Glad your kids had fun! Someday when we have kids I can totally see making Marathon Weekend a family affair. I love those cute little kids' race medallions.

It was a tough weekend but good overall. Here's my trip report: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...5k-half-and-full-marathon-trip-report.858491/

And now I'm going back to re-read yours since I see you posted a bunch already!

 

[Katherine]

Enjoying reading! Totally saw Santa at the Marathon, I think he might have been going Dopey! That's one way to work off all those Christmas cookies. PS your kids are adorable and I love all the character pictures!

 

[disneysince71]

Thank you for sharing!

 

[Kristia]

So sorry about your DH grandfather. Wow! Sounds like you had a busy trip! Love all your pictures! I can't imagine traveling with either my parents or in-laws, let alone both together! Congrats on your 5k and to your DH in the marathon. That was some tough temps to run in! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[lebeau]

Cute kids!

Sounds like you guys packed a lot of fun into your trip. I can't imagine running a race on top of a WDW trip! And with little kids and in-laws no less. You're a better person than me.

Glad you liked the flatbread at PVH. They aren't earth-shattering, but we were pleasantly surprised.

 

[Tiggerish]

Just to jump on the bandwagon, those are some cute kiddos you've got there.

And I sympathize with learning the hard way about traveling with the in-laws. Been there, done that, ain't goin' back. I particularly loved your expression about MIL trying to hand-hold her 40yo son. That's my MIL to a T. Thankfully, DH has no patience for it.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

Great TR so far-we also love Raratonga!!!