How much magic can one vacation include? About This Page:

[mfirst]

My parents final night - the boys were so sad to see Lala and Papa go. When we returned to our rooms, I'm sad to say that my camera was no where to be found. I was really upset because this was our first family vacation...and I'd lost all those pictures (not to mention the camera). My husband promised that he'd buy me a disposable before we headed out to a park in the morning. It'd been a long day, and after the boys were asleep, my parents told my hubby and I to "take off" for a bit. It was really nice to have some adult time

The next morning was our last park day and the boys were having trouble focusing. Patrick kept requesting to ride "Winnie in the big silver ball" - and Nolan wanted to play in the fountains, so we decided to scrap the idea of heading to AK and go instead to Epcot. I'm pretty sure my husband suggested this so he wouldn't have to wrangle two strollers onto a bus while I held on to the three boys (boy, having my parents with us had really spoiled us!).

We had breakfast downstairs at the hotel - I was a bit frustrated because I'd run out of Pop Tarts for Patrick and the only item that they had that morning that was "safe" were Cheerios (and he'd had enough of those). Clearly, I should have packed a bit more. After seeing my parents off, we headed off to EPCOT (side note: my husband packed the diaper bag this morning).

Boys being boys, were thrilled with the monorail ride again - Patrick declared he wanted to live in one. Nolan told him "silly, you can't live in a train, but when you turn 8 I'm sure you can drive one". rofl2:

This would turn out to be MY favorite day because we had no agenda, no need to rush and we followed the boys' leads. The crowds also seemed to be really light. We had little to no wait for the rides we choose. Nolan had yet to ride the Seas with Nemo or see Crush in action, so we headed over there. Afterwards we rode "the big ball" ride as the boys referred to it - it was NICE to get in the air-conditioning. It wasn't as hot as it had been the past few days (a mere 90 for a high) but it was very humid and over-cast.

We did a bit of shopping - getting the baby a Mader T-shirt, and the boys each a T-shirt. We slowly worked our way toward the World Showcase - the boys loved The Three Caballeros - and rode it three times in a row. After the 2nd go, the CM just had us remain in the boat because there wasn't a line for the ride. We worked our way around the Showcase - stopping off in Germany for a snack and adult beverages (our first and only of the trip). Two CM's were outside the Biergarten with a soccer ball and they invited the boys to play with them - they had such a blast! Nolan declared that he was going to be a soccer player when he turned 8 (still no idea why he's obsessed with turning 8). As we left Germany, we spent a good 15 minutes inspecting the miniature village.

The sky was starting to get really dark now - the kind of ominous dark sky in Ohio that means a bad storm is going to blow in off the lake. We parked the stroller and headed for the American Experience...when it was time for a potty break. By the time we got the boys taken care of, we were going to have to wait for the next show so we decided to move on. At this point, the boys were voting to return to the hotel and swim before heading to DTD for dinner. We were nearing England when it started to downpour. I frantically started pawing through the bags looking for the ponchos I'd stuffed in at the start of the trip...sheepishly my husband told me he took them out in order to fit in the diapers and baby's bottles. At this point, we were all soaked anyway, so what were we going to do? Play in the fountains of course. The boys thought it hysterical that Mom and Dad were running around with them.

After we'd cooled off, and the rain had stopped, we headed to a restroom to change into dry clothes (at least Brian hadn't taken THOSE out )

Dry clothes on, happy boys in tow, we decided to head back to the hotel (it was now after 3 pm and neither of the younger two had napped). The boys slept on the monorail trip back and were raring to go to the pool - so we headed down. About 20 minutes into our swimming adventure, it started pouring again. We swam for a bit in the rain, which the boys thought funny too. I took the baby up to the room to give him his bath, and found the message light on our phone blinking. The manager had called to check up on Nolan, and there was a message from the front desk...someone had turned my camera in . Camera back in hand, I was a VERY happy person. I had followed a tip found here about taking a picture of the KTW, and it happened to be the first picture I'd taken. The people that found the camera (on the walking path from the Contemporary to the MK) must have hit the memory and saw that - Either way I'm SO grateful for their honesty and kindness! We figured that the day before, as Brian had been taking the boys back to the hotel, the camera must have fallen out.

It was still raining at 5:30, so we decided to skip DTD and decided to head over to the Poly for dinner and one last monorail ride. The boys had a pretty good time - though Patrick was getting a bit tired of eating Chicken nuggets. Neither were looking forward to leaving in the morning. Brian, noticed our receipt showed more credits than we knew we had, said he'd run to the front desk to have them make sure we had charged our meals correctly (we had one incident where a CM at the QS in our hotel had charged our meals to our room instead of our card - easily corrected). Anyway, he learned that our QS meals on Thursday had been comped by Disney because of Nolan's accident the previous day. Seriously? I couldn't believe that again, they would go to such lengths when it was caused by my child's carelessness (side note: the spray area remained closed Wednesday - Saturday that week while extra padding was installed - I'm not sure if this is a coincidence or not).

The pictures: the younger two in their stroller. We noticed the baby ate a Mickey sticker after we'd seen the picture.
Nolan, crying as we were leaving the hotel. He didn't want to go back home.
The boys letting some energy off at a road stop somewhere in Georgia. They were putting their "prizes" to good use.

[mfirst]

There were many lessons learned this trip:
1) Early mornings really worked well for our family...this trip anyway. We also learned not to push too hard in the evening. The boys functioned better with keeping to a semi-normal bedtime.
2) Don't let your husband pack the diaper bag...the last day, when he'd removed the ponchos, he'd also forgot to repack the sunscreen and the baby's diaper wipes
3) The best moments for us, happened when we really had no plan - like when we were talking to the security officer and Nolan was invited to help place the tape for the parade.
4) I've found my voice where my middle son is concerned. He kept asking for his "Disney Cream" when we got home and wasn't satisfied with a popsicle. He wanted the ice cream that he'd eaten at the Sci-Fi, the stuff that looked like his big brother's vanilla ice cream. Our local Dairy Queen didn't have a dairy free option, and the sorbet sold at our grocery store had milk protein in it, so I called Disney and requested to speak with a CM in their dinning department - explaining that I needed to know if there was a brand that they served in the parks. The CM, Maggie, I spoke with was VERY helpful - she even googled stores in Ohio that sold the Tofutti brand. I stock up and now he has a "piece of Disney" when he gets an ice-cream treat.
4) Finally, it is possible to have a relatively stress-free trip with extended family - the key for us was flexibility and knowing what everyone's" #1 must-do" for each park was.
5)It's okay that we didn't get to the Animal Kingdom, water parks, DTD, or see much of Hollywood Studios - we have to leave something for the next trip, right?

Unfortunately, I've been in a bit of a funk because we've had to cancel our plans (it's so hard to let go of a 40% off bounce-back offer) for this summer because I have been RIF (Reduction in Force) from my part-time teaching job, and my husband's job is in very real danger of being eliminated too. So, for now, the boys and I reminisce about our wonderful, magical trip and know that someday we'll be able to get back to our happy place!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great last day! How great they found your camera! I'm sorry you had to cancel your trip this summer! Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us!

[KMB733]

So happy that they found your camera!!! Great finish to your trip! Sorry about having to cancel your plans for this summer though Thank you for sharing your trip with us!!!

[shanmac]

So glad they found your camera! And I love #2 on your list.

[Missy71]

I so loved reading about your trip and your experiences (some great, some not so good). Sorry about the RIF going on, but hopefully you'll return soon. Reading your TR is making me even more excited about my family's upcoming trip (if that's humanly possible). Good luck!

Missy

[Cam22]

Awesome that your phone was returned! Glad you had a wonderful last day, rain and all! for sharing your trip with us!

[sc507]

So glad your camera was returned! Sounds like a great relaxing last day And we're an early morning family too (even though at home, I am definitely NOT a morning person!)