Colexi's 10 Days of Fun in the Sun May 2003 - Complete with Pics! About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

Introduction/Prelude:

The lucky travelers were: Me (Marnie aka Colexi’s Mom), 34
DH (Matt), 36
DD (Alexa), who turned 4 the day before we left
DS (Colin), 15 months

We were meeting up with my parents (Mom and Dad), who go every year now. I’ll spare them by not giving their ages out.

This was our first family trip to Disney World. I was (and am) fortunate to have parents who have caught the Disney spirit and I had 5 childhood trips to Disney (‘76, ‘79, ‘81, ‘83, ‘85). Plus, one last family trip to the BC before I got married (’94). Matt and I had our first trip together in ‘98, 3 weeks after Animal Kingdom opened. I had always talked about bringing the kids when they were older (I was 7 my first trip), but it was Matt who wanted to go now, and since my parents go every year, we could just hook up with them and have 2 sets of extra hands around. So, I caught the planning bug, found the Passporter boards (thank God), and let the planning begin. It originally started as a 7 night trip, but then I learned all about codes, and we stretched it to 9 nights and decided for the same price as staying at BC for 7 nights, we could split it between WL for 4 nights and BC for 5 nights (when my parents come) and get to experience two resorts. Trust me, I would have gone longer if Matt had more vacation time (I have 4 weeks, he only has 2). Another issue we had was we had wanted to go to Kennedy Space Center as well, so we needed a car (I had learned about towncar service and was planning to do that to save more money). We finally decided (pretty much last minute) that we would rent a car at MCO and return it to the Car Care Center after we checked into the BC, that way we would have our stuff with us when we transferred. The last thing that came up was Colin had been getting ear infections off and on since late January. He was just getting over one again, and I took him to the Dr. the day before we left. He still had fluid in his ears, but the infection was gone and the Dr. said he could fly. Thank goodness. The Dr. also gave us another round of Augmentin to take with us since we’d be gone for so long and he didn’t want anything to happen while we were away (now I need a fridge). So took the cat to the cattery, tried to finish packing, and let’s go, it’s finally here!!


Day 1 (Thursday May 8th) – Our Journey Starts, Let the Magic Begin!!

Our flight is scheduled for 6:50 AM, so we had to leave for the airport by 4:45. I had set a bunch of alarm clocks for 4:00, so Matt and I could take showers. Needless to say, I didn’t go to bed until around 11 PM, and I think I was up at 3:30 (I kept looking at the clock in case the alarms didn’t go off). We were rolling down the driveway at 4:45 AM. We were trying a new car valet this trip, and they were on the other side of the airport, but we were still at the airport by 5:50. Did curbside check-in, and off to the security line. I think we were at the gate by 6:15, and boarded about 15 minutes later. Yeah!! Both kids were very good on the flight (maybe because they both slept)!! I was worried about Colin and his ears, but he started sucking on the bottle on the way up, and then his thumb, and he was asleep before we made it to cruising altitude. We were in the air for 10 minutes before Alexa started asking “are we there yet?” Oh oh. But off to sleep she went. I of course, couldn’t sleep with all of the excitement.

We land in Orlando, and Matt decides he wants to be He-Man. We had 2 small carry-ons, 2 car seats, and 2 strollers that we gate checked (which Matt covered in garbage bags so they wouldn’t get dirty during flight), plus the two kids. He didn’t want to unwrap the strollers in the gateway, so he tried to carry the strollers and car seats up the gateway by himself. He paid the price. He split his pants right down the middle of his backside. So off to the bathroom for him, we had to change Colin because he soaked thru his diaper, and Alexa had to go as well. About a half and hour later, we made it down to baggage claim. But guess what?? No baggage!! MCO is certainly an efficient airport. We had to go to the claim counter, present our claim tickets, and got the luggage back. Word to others: don’t dilly dally on the way to baggage claim!! We got to the National counter, got the car, and we are on our way. A little later than I had hoped, but we made it. We had planned on stopping at a Super Walmart to get some water, milk for Colin, and ice, but we kept passing stores closer than the Walmart, so we stopped at a Publix on John Henry Parkway (I couldn’t find a loaf of bread in the store, other than their bakery made (wheat only, not white, so I took Italian), maybe I was just looking in the wrong place).

We finally make it to the Wilderness Lodge around 11:45. There was quite a line to check-in. We get CM Amanda, who kindly asks us if we’d like to upgrade to concierge for $55 a night (we had a standard room with a code rate). I made the mistake of asking Matt, who said no, so this is where I should be flamed!! Duck, incoming!! We should have done it, it would have been a great rate for concierge, with a better view, so we’ve learned our lesson (and Matt as well – always take the upgrade). I guess my rationale was, I could justify $30 for meals, etc, but not $55/day. Stupid me!! I also forgot to ask about being a flag family, as I was concentrating on getting the fridge for Colin. While she is going thru all the stuff, our room became available, thank goodness, and we went upstairs to unpack. I also asked Amanda for a fridge, as the doctor gave Colin another round of Augmentin for his ears since we were traveling (his infection was gone, but he still had fluid so he wanted to make sure it wouldn’t get worse on our trip). We weren’t charged for the fridge!! I just love the lobby in the WL. It is just so grandiose and beautiful. The room view was not great (smokehouse), but we were very close to the elevator that went down to Roaring Forks/laundry/pool, so that was a great help. We ended up in Room 4042. We went down to RF for lunch, and wanted to sit outside, but the birds were very pesky, and we decided to go back inside. Did I mention yet how hot it was?? Florida was in the middle of a heat wave. I think it was around 95 degrees with full humidity. Argh. So, back to the room to change, and off to the pool we went. The kids loved the pool. That’s were they wanted to spend all their time. WL has a nice little kids pool, it is only about a foot deep, and they both had such fun!!

I forgot to pickup the package I had sent to WL ahead of time (30 lbs of diapers, swim diapers, snacks, etc. I would recommend to anyone to do this, it was so much easier). Then, time for showers, and quick naps for the kids, then off to Cinderella’s Gala Feast at the GF for our 5 PM PS.

We were trying to figure out the best way to get there (boat to CR and then monorail, or boat to MK and then boat to GF). We ended up going boat to MK and then boat to GF. We got all the way down to the dock to wait for the boat, when we realized I forgot the diaper bag (argh). So I ran all the way up, and of course, we missed the boat. We ended up being 15 minutes late, but were seated right away. I wasn’t sure how the kids were going to react to the characters, as this was their first interaction. Colin wanted nothing to do with Suzy and Perla. He was scared. He did a little better with the face characters, but only if they kept their distance (they were not allowed to hold him). Alexa did fine, but she wasn’t really interested in them either (either one).
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Dinner was ok, nothing spectacular, except the prime rib. It was to die for, and so was the bread pudding, but everything else was just ok. Then off to Epcot, since it was now about 6:30, to activate our 30 day Fun in the Sun passes. We were just 1 family away from being able to ride in the front of the monorail on the way to Epcot (darn!!). I did these passes mainly because we were going to be there for 10 days, it included admission to Kennedy Space Center, which we had planned on going to, and included a breakfast voucher (which we ended up not using) for $885 for 2 adults and 1 child. I thought it was a great deal, and wasn’t sure if we’d be going back so soon, so I didn’t want to get an AP. The CM I had had never activated these before, so with a little coaching from the other CM, we got everything worked out. We headed into Epcot and did SE (no line). At this point, the kids were at the breaking point, so we decided to take the bus back to WL. We all went to sleep, and got ready for another day!!

Up next: Our first day at the MK!!

[ 06-03-2003, 07:35 AM: Message edited by: Colexi's Mom ]