Trip Report The Happy/Merry Birthday/UnBirthday Wishes Come True TR

We've only been home for four days, but we did so much on this trip, I'm sure I'll forget something if i don't get started!
Let's do this!

Who:
Party of 10
That's me (Ali), my husband Jim, our son Ethan, daughter Gwen, Jim's parents (Mutie and Papa), Jim's sister, her husband and their two daughters

What:
Our very first whole family vacation

Where:
5 bedroom vacation home at Windsor Hills Resort. Because there's 10 of us

When:
July 20th - 28th

Why:
Mutie's 70th Birthday celebration!

Disclaimer: This trip report includes two days of non-Disney events. If that's not your cup of tea, I'll see you at Day 3

Day 1
Wednesday July 20th
I was up like a Pop Tart at 3:30 am for no reason other than the butterflies in my stomach. We had a 9:40 am flight out of O'Hare, and we live about ten minutes away.
TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP!

Our cab came around 7:30, and we were checked in, through security and at our gate by 8:30.
Because my husband is an absolute sweetheart, he ventured off to find breakfast for all of us. He returned with banana chocolate chip muffins and juice for the kids and Intelligentsia coffee for me! For you coffee snobs out there, if you find yourself in Chicago, this is my favorite local coffee. It's pretty easy to find in the city, but out here in the burbs, Starbucks dominates.

Our flight boarded on time, but departure was delayed almost 30 minutes due to the ground crew. It was a very hot morning, and they were moving a bit slow. No matter, both of my kids were happy reading or coloring, and I was passing the time listening to HAMILTON.

Despite the delay, our flight landed on time, and we were picking up our rental car in no time! We reserved a mid-sized vehicle, but were upgraded to a minivan at no extra charge! Score!
This is the part where I thank God for smart phones and GPS. I just looked up the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, hit navigate, and we were there in less than an hour! I can't imagine the stress of navigating unfamiliar roads with hungry kids in tow without it!

Upon check in, we were told our reservation had been cancelled. WHAT!?!?!? Excuse me? No. Where's my room?
So, I'm trying not to freak out, and trying to keep the kids in line. Failing at both.
I turn to Jim, and he doesn't even bat an eye! He was so cool and calm! He was zen like Buddah. He spoke with the desk clerk and had keys in his hand in just a few minutes. Whew!
It turns out the booking site we used went out of business and cancelled all reservations the day before! Insane! They posted a notice online that basically said "It sucks to be you! Don't call us, there's nobody to answer your call"
Luckily, the Hilton had a room available, and they honored our original rate. Jim called our credit card company and got the original charge refunded in less than 10 minutes. Crisis averted!

After the potential drama in the lobby, this was a welcome sight!

We all jumped into our suites as quickly as we could, and headed for the waves!
The water was perfect! I'm used to Lake Michigan, which never seems to get warm. The Atlantic felt like bath water.
We strolled along the shore, Gwen collected shells and Ethan ran through the surf.
NOW we were on vacation!

We eventually went back for showers and headed out to find dinner. We ended up at a beach front restaurant where I enjoyed some very simple but fresh mahi mahi tacos. Perfect!

After a long day of travel, we were all ready for bed early. Seriously early. I think it was like 8:30!

Up next: Kennedy Space Center and Orlando at last!

 

[MerMom1981]

Day 4 conclusion:

After the parade, it was time to head back to the house for a swim!
The kids were happily splashing while we adults relaxed on the patio.
I can't be sure who started it, but the kids began chanting "Everybody in the pool!"
A Disney vacation is made for silliness. I knodded a challenge to BIL and we jumped, fully-clothed into the pool!!!!
"We're the fun ones!" I shouted as I surfaced. The kids all loved it! After a round of soaking wet hugs and high-fives, it was time to get ready for a celebratory evening at The Contemporary.

We began with dinner at The Wave. I am sad to report that dinner was a disappointment. Service was extremely slow, and the food was not as good as I remembered.

I had the appetizers for two as my entree. Both the fish tacos and crab cakes were cold, as if they'd been sitting around. Everyone seemed to feel the same about their fried rice and pork chops and salmon. I don't know what was going on in the kitchen, but they need to work on expediting. Big time.

From there, we headed up the escalators to check in for the feature event of the night, California Grill and Wishes!!!!!!
We were super early, so we headed outside to enjoy the view

There were a few storms in the sky, and lightening in three different directions. I was worried Wishes would get cancelled, but it made a fantastic pre-show! Sorry, no pictures

One item on Mutie's wish list was a family photo. I was hoping to get Cinderella's Castle in the background, but ten people kinda block out the sun, and the castle

We enjoyed Wishes AND each others company! It was amazing!

There are a great many talented photographers on this forum, and I am not one. Jim took some lovely shots. ^^^This one is my fave

Shortly after Wishes ended, our table was ready. We ordered a few desserts and enjoyed the attentive service.

The kids were falling asleep at the table. It was waaaaaay past bedtime.
We basically ended the night with a big group hug and went home to bed

Up next: The longest half day ever

 

[MerMom1981]

Following and enjoying the report! having to lead 10 people through MK - quite a job but seems like you were handling it well.

Thanks for reading!
I survived. They should make T-shirts
The craziness of family vacations makes for great memories, right?

 

[MerMom1981]

Day 5
Sunday July 24th

The plan was to sleep in this morning. I think I made it to about 7:30
Back in the planning stages of this trip, Jim and Papa had talked about playing a round of golf. This day was the perfect opportunity, but Papa was not up for it. At all. He wasn't even up for the parks. :-(

Jim made stacks and stacks of pancakes for the masses while I packed lunches.
We were on the road for Animal Kingdom around noon and we were there in under ten minutes! Woo Hoo!

We made quick business of renting a scooter and made our way towards The Tree of Life

First on our agenda was Festival of The Lion King! As we approached the queue, I noticed quite a crowd. I worried that we wouldn't make it in for the 1 o'clock show. That is when the scooter saved the day!!!
The CM directed Mutie through the handicapped entrance and to the front row of the nearly full theater. If not for the cursed scooter, we never would have made it in.

We were seated in the elephant section and tried our hardest not to spit all over each other when attempting elephant sounds.

The good juju continued, as Gwen, Ethan and my niece were chosen to participate in the show!!

Ethan thought he was too cool to be in a parade. What the what???
Ungrateful!! Every other kid in that theater would love to be in his shoes! Thankfully, he joined in and ended up having a great time!

After the show, we found a shady spot and enjoyed a picnic lunch before our first FP+

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Whew! 10 people sounds a little stressful. I'm not sure I could do it!!!

 

[MerMom1981]

We made our way over to Kilimanjaro Safari, where our FP+ was entirely unnecessary. The posted wait time was only 10 minutes
The kids and I were ready for our adventure!

It was pretty scorching out, and most of the animals did not come out to play

I don't know if the lack of animals threw her off her game, but our driver was mostly mute. Isn't there supposed to be a story about how our two week safari had to be cut short? I haven't been to AK since 2013, so I'm no authority on the matter, but I'm pretty sure awkward silence wasn't part of the schtick.
Moving on.

We made our way over to Asia for our next FP+ at Kali River Rapids. We were all hoping to get soaked. Even me, in my white shorts! I lost. There other half of the raft got good and drenched. Gwen and I barely got our hair wet.

Still needing to cool down, I led everyone to Adanpur Ice Cream Truck. I ordered an orange Fanta Float. So yummy!!!
The kids found a shady bench to enjoy their ice cream cones

Once we were all cooled down, headed for our final FP+
Expedition Everest!!!!!
This was a first time ride for everyone but BIL & SIL, so we were all eager to see if it lived up to the hype. Our family is blessed with fearless children, so even the 5-and-6-year-olds were excited!

Excellent coaster! All the kids wanted to go again, but standby was over an hour. Maybe if they were older, we would've done single rider. Well just have to plan a longer day next time.

After Everest, we headed back towards Discovery Island and the exit.

But there's only a 15 minute wait to meet Pochahontas! Jim and I got in line with the kids while Mutie and SIL enjoyed some live music

 

[MerMom1981]

Ok, we met a character. Now we were ready to leave.
"Hey look, it's Russell and Dug!"
By the time I turned to look, Jim was RUNNING after them! Hahahaha!
They were just arriving at their M&G, so we decided to join the very short line.

Dug was so silly! He kept trying to eat Ethan's autograph book!

After a very busy five hours, we left the park very ready for a swim.

BIL grilled dinner while the kids and Papa cooled down in the pool.
Mutie suggested that Jim and I go out for a little date, since SIL & BIL had a night to themselves earlier in the trip.
You don't have to ask me twice!

We decided to check out the expansion at Disney Springs. I told Jim to use the Lime garage, since it was the most central location. Everyone else must have had the same brilliant idea, 'cause it was full. Somehow, we ended up in the Strawberry lot. Bad decision. Bad

We had to walk all the way from Cirque de Sole to the new Town Center. I typically would've loved an evening stroll with my man, but it was people soup out there. Masses of people, milling around in confusion, stopping abruptly in your path. Gah!!!!
Luckily, I have navigated my share of festival crowds, and I got us out of the crowd before we lost our minds.
Since this night out was spontaneous, we didn't have a chance to make an ADR, which meant we would have to find something QS for dinner. I thought about Frontera Cocina, but
1. We have Frontera Grill in Chicago, and
2. All the people
We ended up at Aristocrepes. I had the veggie crepe, which was really just an arugula salad stuffed in a crepe. It wasn't great, but it was food for my food hole.

We stood on the bridge and watched the sunset over the water. Beautiful!
What struck me more than the sunset was the number of people that didn't even notice. Smart phones

After that, we attempted to do a little shopping, but everything was SO crowded that it wasn't even fun. We gave up on our date night and headed for the car.
We Google maps-ed our way home, and on the way, something fantastic happened!
Fireworks!
I glanced at the time, 9pm.
Star Wars fireworks!!!
Our route took us to World Drive, where we pulled over and rolled down our windows. We couldn't hear the music, but we had a perfect view of the fireworks. Obviously, we missed out on the ground effects and projection show, but we were impressed with what we saw, and it lifted both of our moods.

We drove home happy, and excited for tomorrow's adventure

Up next: The best day yet

 

[FlaggNL]

Following along! Thanks for sharing!

 

[MerMom1981]

Following along! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading! I'll be posting day 5 today

 

[MerMom1981]

Whew! 10 people sounds a little stressful. I'm not sure I could do it!!!

It WAS!!! I won't be doing it again.
I had to remind myself that this was a once-in-a-lifetime birthday celebration for my MIL. She does a lot for us, surely, I can do THIS for her.
I did it. It's done. I'm not doing it again

 

[DimpledDevil18]

I give you credit for traveling with a group of ten! I can totally imagine your frustration. On our last trip we started out as a party of 4 and got SO much done. Then mid way through the trip my sister and her bf came in like a wrecking ball and our pace slowed down considerably. So, I can just imagine how yo felt trying to get a party of 10 in line! It's tough, especially when some members of your party are more of the "take things as they come" types and you are more of the "plan everything" type.

DS at night was crazy on my trip in August too. I unfortunately did not get the chance to really explore it.while I was there, but I was surprised at how crowded it was. I guess since I was there just when the parks started closing a little earlier, a lot of people decided to head there after 9pm.

The Star Wars fireworks seem to be very visible from all over the resort. We caught them coming into WDW on our arrival night from our car and saw them at our pool one night at All Star Movies. I think we even saw them one other night too maybe leaving Epcot (?) I guess it must be where DHS is located.

 

[Trisha Lynn]

Ethan "Hey! Your sword is wooden!"
Lost Boy "You're wooden!"
BOOM!
He got told.

This is my favorite part of this TR so far. Looking forward to the rest.

 

[MerMom1981]

Ethan "Hey! Your sword is wooden!"
Lost Boy "You're wooden!"
BOOM!
He got told.

This is my favorite part of this TR so far. Looking forward to the rest.

Thanks! That boy. He's a character.
Thanks for reading! I swear, I'm gonna post the next day!!!

 

[MerMom1981]

I give you credit for traveling with a group of ten! I can totally imagine your frustration. On our last trip we started out as a party of 4 and got SO much done. Then mid way through the trip my sister and her bf came in like a wrecking ball and our pace slowed down considerably. So, I can just imagine how yo felt trying to get a party of 10 in line! It's tough, especially when some members of your party are more of the "take things as they come" types and you are more of the "plan everything" type.

DS at night was crazy on my trip in August too. I unfortunately did not get the chance to really explore it.while I was there, but I was surprised at how crowded it was. I guess since I was there just when the parks started closing a little earlier, a lot of people decided to head there after 9pm.

The Star Wars fireworks seem to be very visible from all over the resort. We caught them coming into WDW on our arrival night from our car and saw them at our pool one night at All Star Movies. I think we even saw them one other night too maybe leaving Epcot (?) I guess it must be where DHS is located.

I knew traveling with so many people was going to be a challenge, but it still required all of my patience.
I'll keep my travel party smaller in the future!

I'm kinda bummed about Disney Springs. I don't hold the same fondness that I did for Downtown Disney. Something essential got lost in the expansion. I don't know that it will be part of future Disney vacations

 

[MerMom1981]

Day 6
Monday July 25th:

Rise and shine, younglings!
We were all up early with one goal in mind: Jedi Training Academy!!!
Gwen decided she wanted to sleep more than she wanted to battle Darth Vader, so Jim, BIL and I piled into the van with the rest of the kids and hit the road for Hollywood Studios!
We ended up parking waaaaaay at the end of our row, and had to hustle to the waiting tram.
You know when you KNOW the tram is going to wait for you, but you run/walk anyway? That was us.

We breezed though security and were scanning our bands before I realized that it wasn't even 9am yet! They were letting people in, and holding the crowd on Hollywood Blvd. We noticed a sign for Jedi Training and headed left.
I've heard told horror stories of hour long waits and such...
It wasn't bad at all you guys. Maybe 20 minutes.
We hit a minor bump in the road. We were next in line when all the CM's stepped away from their posts. Their online registration system was down. Nooooooooooooo! Don't do this to me!!!
Someonee must have hit Ctrl Alt Del, because everything was back on track before I could break a sweat.
I had (of course) looked at the times in advance, and figured that either the 10:40am or 5:40pm show would work best for us. 10:40am had just filled up, so we went with the later show. We were about half a step away from the podium, tickets in hand, when BIL said "You know it rains like, every day. Like, in the afternoon."
Why? Why you gotta bring the bad juju?
We'll just have to live dangerously.

Well, the sign-up process was way quicker than expected, so we had time to spare before our first FP+ of the day. What to do? How about a warm hug?

I had to get one too!

I was a little sad that Gwen missed Olaf, but as Jim firmly said "That's what she gets for sleeping in at Disney"
Truth

Up next: Everything Star Wars

 

[MerMom1981]

Day 6 continued:

Once we were done cuddling with our favorite snowman, we decided to head towards Muppet Vision. On the way, we saw there was no wait for Star Tours! We had a FP+ in a little while, but we decide a bonus ride was necessary.

After our journey to a galaxy far, far away, we headed for Muppets Courtyard. This was my first time seeing the show. It was cute, but I don't know if I'd make time for it again.

When we exited, Mutie, Papa, Gwen and SIL were waiting for us!
It was time for our Star Tours FP+, so we headed back.
One ride was enough for me and Ethan, so we shopped while the others rode. He came away with a very cool Chewbacca satchel, a plush Yoda and a BB8 Tsum Tsum. If he had another penny to spend, it would be on more Star Wars.

From there, I wanted to head towards The Great Movie Ride, but it was a 40 minute wait, in the sun. No thanks!
We made our way across the park for MORE Star Wars.

SIL and family visited Launch Bay earlier in the week, so they did their own thing while we did ours.

The Stormtroopers immediately descended on Papa and HAD to honk the horn on his scooter!

Chewbacca!!!!

Chewie loved that Ethan has a matching bag, and insisted on a picture of just the two of them!

 

[MerMom1981]

Having soaked up enough Star Wars for the moment, we headed toward Pixar Place for our next FP+, Toy Story Mania!!
AND we rode the new track!
AND nobody else cared. At. All.

I'm pretty sure I had the best score in my car.
I also may have been the only adult in my car. Details

Everyone was ready for lunch, and although there were several empty umbrella tables right at the exit of TSMM, SIL & BIL insisted we walk back to ABC Commissary to sit in the A/C. They had stopped in for drinks earlier and were told by a CM that they could bring in their own food and use the tables. Highly suspect.
I tried to suggest we just stay put and save ourselves the time and energy, but I was ignored.
Fine. We headed across the park, and by the time we got there, the place was packed and the line was out the door.
"It was totally empty before!"
*You mean before lunchtime?*
I cringed as they pryed open the exit doors
*There's a reason there are no handles*
I ate the most uncomfortable lunch of my life as CM's gave us the side-eye.
*I'm not with them*

When everyone was done at last, I leaped from my chair and ran for the door. I was eager to get the heck out of there, and to make our next FP+
Tower of Terror!

It wasn't that long of a walk, but it was HOT out there! We had to duck into a shop to cool down.

This was my first time riding ToT. You can't tell by my face, but I loved it!

Right after we exited the ride, we ended up splitting up. Jim and the kids and I grabbed seats for the 2 o'clock Beauty and the Beast show while everyone else went back to the house.
We agreed to meet at our 3:30 reservations at Beaches & Cream

We relaxed in the breezy theater and enjoyed the show. We skipped it last year, so we weren't tired of it.
We headed toward Hollywood Blvd and stopped for pictures

Just as we finished, we heard the Star Wars stage show starting behind us. I had no real interest in watching it, but Jim and Ethan were both excited. How could I deny them?

After the show, we made our way out of the park and veered left to catch a ferry the The Beach Club.

Up next: The Kitchen Sink

 

[Trisha Lynn]

This was my first time riding ToT. You can't tell by my face, but I loved it!

I love how all the adults in the car are concerned about the little ones who are next to them. That's family togetherness in action.

 

[MerMom1981]

I love how all the adults in the car are concerned about the little ones who are next to them. That's family togetherness in action.

Good thing none of them were sitting next to me! Hahahaha!

 

[MerMom1981]

July 25th continued. Again:

Oh my gosh. That was the longest ferry ride EVER!!!

After a relaxing boat ride, we strolled up to the Beaches & Cream podium right on time.
Punctuality is my favorite!

When we parted ways with the rest of the family, we agreed to meet at 3:30 at Beaches & Cream. I even sent a reminder text that the restaurant was located in The Beach Club.
There we were, at the appointed place and time... and there they weren't
I called, hoping they were parking the car, or making the long walk from the lobby. Nope. Somehow, they thought it was 3:45.
I was told they could not hold our table, but they would do their best to seat us when the others arrived.

I would like to say that the hostess was accommodating, and that my MIL was gracious when she finally arrived, but this isn't Day 1, and you know it didn't go that way.

Whatever else might have happened, Jim and I passed the time in the air conditioned arcade with the kids, and they had a blast! That's the stuff that counts.

When at last our buzzer went off, we crowded around the tiny tables and ordered the biggest sundae I've ever seen!

The Kitchen Sink--before the plunge!

The aftermath

Evidence that she's my daughter

Because we missed our reservation, we were running late for Jedi Training check-in. We decided to split up again, Mutie and BIL took the Jedi in the van, while the rest of us headed for the ferry dock.
We stood in the shade of the lighthouse and enjoyed the breeze and the scenery while we waited. I wish I had taken a picture! The afternoon sun on the water was so pretty!

We boarded the boat and floated back to DHS. I think the ferry boats have become favorite mode of Disney transportation. It may not be the quickest way to get from A to B, but the leisurely pace is refreshing after rushing around the parks.

Anyway, we made our way to the Jedi Training stage just as the Padwans were filing out.

Now, I don't know if it is possible to overstate the amount of parental pride Jim was feeling at this moment. As a patent, you hope your kids are going to love the things that you love, and that you will be able to geek-out together, but there's no guarantee. You endure countless hours of Tomas the Train and Super Why, hoping that one day you'll be able to share Star Wars (or whatever your particular passion may be) with your tiny human.
Satisfaction at last!

It was an epic battle!
But, it was so insanely hot! My body was crying! I was wearing the shortest shorts I own, and a paper-thin shirt, and the sweat was like a waterfall down my back. I can only imagine the inferno under those Jedi robes!
We were all very ready to find some a/c and a bench!

 

[MerMom1981]

Shortly after we retrieved our younglings, we headed toward 50's Prime Time Cafe for our dinner ADR.

This was another first for me and my family.
The waiting area was pretty crowded, but we managed to find a seat for Mutie, and the kids got a kick out of hearing everyone being called to dinner
Soon we were seated and being sassed by our server. I loved it! He and I were cracking each other up!

We also ate food.
I had the salmon which was ok, but a bit dry. Gwen had the kids pasta, and everyone else had either the fried chicken or meatloaf.
Lots of clean plates.
Lots of full bellies.

As we left the restaurant, we found this lonely looking photographer, so we had to stop and say "Hi"

We strolled towards the exit, and were approached by a CM who asked if we had visited a Disney restaurant today, and if we would be willing to answer a few questions.
Jim is not usually the type to volunteer for a survey, but we were all in such good moods that we couldn't refuse!

He led us into this little building just to our right, and while Jim took a very quick survey, the kids and I looked around. This place was full of old cameras and movie props!

Ethan found a hidden Mickey!

Then I was shown three very exciting objects

The hourglass from The Wizard of Oz!!!!!!!!

Holy spoonful of sugar! It's Mary Poppins' carpet bag and umbrella!!!!!

My day was absolutely made! I felt like I had been behind the scenes! Maybe it wasn't that special, but I worry that things like authentic movie props will be lost in the redevelopment of DHS.
Whatever the future holds, I walked away feeling like I had captured a bit of Disney magic.

We floated home on pixie dust and dreamed sweet dreams!