The Lessons Learned Trip Report Oct 4-9, 2009 About This Page:

[mpwife153]

for finding a new job quickly.

What a start to your trip. I too was afraid DH wasn't going to make it to the gate one time. Looking forward to your next update when your feeling up to posting!

[bsblady01]

more please

[disneydreamer33]

I love your approach to your TR. I think you will be giving some great tips for everyone.
Glad your DH got back with the carseat in time. Sorry you didn't think of the booster seat.
Can't wait to hear more lessons learned.

[KMB733]

Sorry about your job

[truenancy]

Sorry about your job! That's rotten. Good luck!

[jagmom08]

Finally, an update coming. I might not have the pictures right away though.

[jagmom08]

I think we land on time or a little early, but since we are on vacation, I didn’t watch the clock real close. First stop, restroom for ds. Then we get the kids changed into shorts, since we can already tell its warm here. Tram to baggage claim and collect our luggage. Again, dh and I look at each other, wondering how all of this stuff is going to get on the rental car shuttle. Somehow, we collect everything and get over to the elevator. It takes awhile but we get down to the rental car shuttle level and get to the Hertz area. Already, dh and I are feeling the heat. It was sweltering down there. Over 90 degrees and humid! Yikes!

The Hertz shuttle comes and we get everything on. We did not have to break down the strollers, which was quite nice; we just rolled them on and put them where the golf clubs usually go. Ds loves riding a bus like this because he doesn’t have to sit in a car seat. We got to Hertz and collected our car with a minimum of fuss. We got ended up with a Nissan Altima, which neither of us were impressed with after driving. The brakes were grabby and it had no acceleration. However, it did have a very roomy trunk and well working air conditioning, as well as a Hertz GPS device, which was nice. So, I quickly programmed our route. First stop, Target. I was pretty sure I had forgot my hair gel, so we had to stop. So, our lunch consisted of hot dogs and a sandwich at the Target deli. I would not recommend the hot dogs, but the sandwich was good, as was the brownie that I snuck by my kids.

Then, we were finally on our way to POFQ. GPS worked like a charm, although I did cross check with the map in my Passporter, just to be sure we weren’t going on some weird back roads.

Dd fell asleep in the car on the way to the hotel, so I went in to check-in while dh and the kids stayed in the car. Check in was painless, with no line and a very nice CM. I did change rooms, which was no problem, since they had us in Building 6. It would have been nice, but I wanted a room close to a parking lot since we had the car. So, they quickly moved us to Building 3. Honestly, after being at POFQ all week, it probably wouldn’t have mattered what building we were in, as everything seemed to be in reasonable walking distance.

We drove around and parked by our room. Dh unloaded the car and ds and I stayed in the car so dd could keep sleeping. I called dh and asked him to call housekeeping and have them put bed rails on. Then I had him call Bell Services to see if our Garden Grocer order had been delivered. It had so he waited up there for it. A couple of minutes later, dd woke up, so we decided to go up and check out the room and collect sunscreen and things before we heading to MK. Ds and dd enjoyed running around and checking out the room.

We loaded up our diaper bag and my purse and headed out to MK. It was a quick trip by car and soon we were waiting at the boat dock for the ferry. The nice thing about the ferry was that we didn’t have to get the kids out of their strollers; we just wheeled them right on. In no time, we were at the gates.

The first thing we did was get some ice cream, using our snack credits. When on vacation, ice cream is a requirement! Plus, lunch wasn’t anything to write home about. Ds said he wanted green ice cream with cookies, which meant mint chocolate chip for him and dd. I got ds a single scoop and it was more than enough to scoop some off into a cup for dd. I got cookies and cream and dh had vanilla. We left the ice cream shop and found some shade under an awning. A very nice CM asked us why we didn’t go in the Bakery and sit in the air conditioning. I thought it was closed, which it was, but they had the seating area open any way. That was very nice, since it was exceedingly hot out.

Our next stop was the Harmony Barbershop. Ds really needed a haircut and what better place to get a haricut than MK? I had heard good things about the barbers being really good with kids. All 3 seats were full when we got in there and there were 2 people waiting ahead of us. Ds was not thrilled about getting his hair cut, but we were going to do it anyway. While we are waiting, ds decided to strike up a conversation with a little girl that came in after us. It was so cute. He just starts telling her about completely random stuff, talking about his shoes and how he has ‘wedding’ shoes at home. He can be so cute sometimes, it really makes up for the times he is naughty. Dh and I were just sitting there trying to stifle our laughter.
It wasn’t a long wait and it was ds’ turn to get his haircut. Personally, the cut was fine but I thought the barber would be friendlier. All 3 of the barbers looked really grumpy. At any rate, the haircut was done shortly and we were on our way.

The next thing we did was go get fast passes for Buzz Lightyear. We didn’t have a ton of time before our 4:45 p.m. ADR at the Crystal Palace so I didn’t think we had time to on any rides. We walked back towards the restaurant and we were going to go in the castle, but we noticed that a show was starting in about 1 minute. So, we decided to stop and watch. Ds really enjoyed it. Dd wasn’t so sure what was going on, but since she wasn’t screaming or crying, I took it as a good sign. J We didn’t stay to watch the whole show, since I knew we were supposed to check in early for our dinner. Ds was mad that we had to leave and he kept mentioning it all week that he wanted to go back and watch it.

We strolled over to CP and I checked in. Then the waiting began. I thought with a 4:45 ADR we would be okay since that is pretty early for a dinner. However, I found out after about 25 minutes of waiting, they were running 20 minutes behind. Oh well! It did give the kids time to run around, but it was so darn hot I couldn’t wait to get in the air conditioned restaurant.
As we were waiting , ds discovered one of the highlights of the trip for him. He discovered the fountain in front of the baby care center. Nothing made him happier on this trip than playing in the water, any water area. Lesson Learned: Fountains are our friend. Its not really much of a lesson, but hey, I have to keep up with the theme, right?

[OhToodles!]

You've arrived!! Sorry your CM at the Barber Shop wasn't too friendly. Both times DS had his haircut there were only women doing it and they were great.
Sorry about the heat! I'm thinking it doesn't get any better as it seems like everyone says it's just hot since like May until now.

[mcc0313]

Glad that check in was easy and that they were able to chenge your building for you. Sounds like a great start at MK (what is better than ice cream). Can't wait to hear how the kids enjoyed the characters.

[HiddenMickey]

Ice cream was a great way to start! And I'm with your kids on the green ice cream !

[coasties]

My youngest DD loves that fountain too! Since we do CP every trip she has visited that thing since the age of two ( now 7) LOL. But it keeps her cool and occupied while waiting

[disneydreamer33]

Glad you made it safely and got a room close to the parking lot.
How cute of your DS with his conversation with the little girl. Too cute. Sorry the barber wasn't friendly.

[KMB733]

Glad to see you arrived!!! Sorry about the unfriendly CM at the Barber shop, but that is the cutest story about your DS striking up a conversation with the little girl.

[Colexis Mom]

Great start!

[debrabrown]

Bummer on the grumpy barber! Yea for ice cream and the fountain though!
And yes, CP always seems to be running behind!