The Once in a lifetime trip again….

Dates : Aug 12-19 2008
Cast: Me 35yrs , DH 34yrs , DS1 14yrs ,DS2 8yrs , DS3 6yrs -2nd trip for all of us.
Supporting cast : DM 58, DD 58, 2nd trip for both. DMIL 53 & DNephew 11
1st trip for both.
Details: Port Orleans French Quarter 7 nights, BLDG 3 rooms # 3324 3325 & 3326. 8 day Magic Your Way tickets with Park Hopper option & Basic Dining Plan
Transportation: Originally traveling by car, DH, DMIL, DN, & DS1 in one car, driving straight through to Florida from South Dakota-24 hours give or take a few hours. Me and DM, DD, DS2& DS3 in another car driving 2-3 days.
DH followed original plan to drive straight through and the other drivers were less than helpful in the driving and it took 27 exhausting hours. DH also stopped several times along the way to see the more touristy sites( Graceland in Memphis, Holly Springs, AL, The Strip in Branson,MO)
DH arrived Aug 11 and stayed in Titusville,FL. I booked him a fishing excursion on the Miss Cape Canaveral, a large party boat that takes groups out fishing in the ocean without the large charter boat fee. DH, DS1, DMIL, & DN went shark fishing at night, and my husband says this was his favorite part of the trip.
I decided to shell out the money to fly after DS2 convinced DM to get on a plane again. We flew from Omaha,NE to Orlando,FL with a stop in Memphis,TN. The flight only took 5.5 hours and it was the smoothest flights I have ever been on. My kids also amaze me on plane rides because they are so well behaved and are never scared. DS3 even had to be woken up after landing both times to get off of the plane.
We took DME to Port Orleans French Quarter and had about a 20 minute wait before boarding the bus. DME was very crowed when we arrived but there were 13 or so agents and the lines moved quickly. But I can’t believe how rude people are to the agents after waiting in line. One lady started yelling at the DME agent because she left her travel documents at home and it took a short while to fix her own mistake.
On the bus, the driver misunderstood us and skipped our stop at POFQ, my dad started to get upset, but after we reminded the driver where we needed to be, he was very apologetic. On the upside of our little mishap, we got to see Old Key West and Saratoga Springs resorts.
Day One: Aug 12
Arrived at POFQ and met up with the other half of our party. Check-in was quick and the Front desk CM was friendly and knowledgeable. Also received 2 birthday buttons for my DMIL and DS2 who were celebrating birthdays. DM &DD room was ready but the other 2 weren’t so we went to the room to drop off our carry-on luggage and head to the parks.
We had ADR for Biergarten at 5:30 so off to Epcot we went. We rode the bus and had only a short wait. We met up with DS1 sister and her family for dinner and strolled around World Showcase until 5pm. I booked this ADR not so much for the food, but for the atmosphere and the entertainment. Most in our party found something on the menu they liked, and my DH got to have another German dark beer. We left the Biergarten and met Donald Duck in front of the Mexico Pavillion on the way to get our wrist bands for EMH.
While getting our wristbands at one of the expo areas near Mexico I had to laugh at a Dad who walked all the way to the wrist band spot, without has family , but with their tickets and was turned away by the CM, and told to bring his family with him next time. This man had a total meltdown and was yelling about their rules as he stomped off. People need to remember they are on vacation………….:~D:p:~D
After getting our wrist bands, we rode Mission Space green side, Spaceship Earth, and Living with the Land. Then we watched Illuminations from over by Italy before calling it a night…

That's a great start!!!!

Sounds like a great start to the trip. I always try to catch IllumiNations toward the beginning of a trip, 'cause I think it is absolutely fantastic--the best "end of day" spectacular that Disney puts on.

Glad you got to meet Donald--he's one of my favorites :).

I'm looking forward to reading more !!

Day 2: Aug 13, 2008

Today is Magic Kingdom Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I originally had an ADR for 8:30am at Ohana for Breakfast w/Stitch. What was I thinking???????? My family was dead to the world until at least 9am. I called around 8am and cancelled the ADR in hopes of some lucky family getting seated without an ADR. My parents and MIL were up and ready by 8am and DS2 was ready by 9am, so off to Magic Kingdom we go. We got to the bus stop just as the bus pulled up, so no waiting (yea!!!!!!!) The weather called for rain so I had a bag with raingear and my camera, so I was the last one through the gates. We all grabbed a map and thought about our plan of attack as DF is a commando tourist. He left us in the dust throughout the whole trip, always 10 feet or so in front of us. My DM and DMIL were busy taking pictures of Main Street as we made our way to the Haunted Mansion. The wait time was posted as 5min. and it was a walk on. This ride seemed scarier to DS2 than last year, and the improvements were great. He doesn’t scare easily so we were impressed.
Next was Splash Mountain, my DS2 favorite ride, we grabbed fast passes and then went through the standby line and basically walked on. DS2 and I were in the front of the log and got soaked. My DM and DMIL had never been on this ride before and very nervous when we started. They liked at later on in the trip, but decided not to ride it anymore today.
After our first time down the mountain, DS2 and I used the fastpasses for another ride. The line was filling up fast this time around, but it was a walk-on in the FP line. After SM we went to the Pirates of the Caribbean , back to HM and on to the Hall of Presidents. It started to downpour at the Hall of Presidents, so it turned out to be a nice cool break. The heat was starting to get to DF and DM so they went back to POFQ for a long rest. We stayed in the park and were joined by DH and the rest of the gang at Cinderella’s Castle. We went over to Mickey’s Toontown and take some pictures, DS3 took a break at Toon Park , then we rode Goofy’s Barnstormer, and the cars at Indy’s Speedway. The older kids went to ride Space Mountain before we left for the afternoon.
Back at POFQ we ate a late lunch at the food court and I took the kids swimming at the wonderful pool at POFQ. The kids didn’t even want to leave. After showers and a little nap we headed back to MK to make sure we caught SpectroMagic parade before the refurb of a bridge by Frontierland.
We shopped a little on Main Street and went to Buzz Lightyear, Stitch’s Great Escape and then headed over to Frontierland to see the parade. The older kids decided to ride Splash Mountain as many times tonight as they could. There was no line and the rode 5 times during the parade. DH, DMIL and DS3 watched the parade and I joined DS1, DS2, and DN for a few rides down the mountain before the park closed. The kids were excited to tell DH they rode Splash 11 times from 9-11pm and sang Zippidee-Do-Dah on the ride and on the bus ride home.
We made it back to POFQ and the kids just passed out on the beds, we had to peel their shoes and clothes off before we joined them. Tomorrow brings Epcot and dinner at LeCellier.

It sounds like you had a great time. Don't you just love POFQ, we stayed in the same building as you in room 3233 but on a different floor, it was so close to everything, I can't wait to go back in a few weeks.

I really enjoyed POFQ, but it just seemed so busy staying in BLDG 3.
I stayed at POR last year in Alligator Bayou and it seemed more peaceful.

Thanks for all the comments, this is my 1st trip report.
Jamie

Day 3: August 14,2008
Today we decided to take it easy and sleep in. We had breakfast at the food court at POFQ and took our time getting to Epcot today. Our hope was to ride one ride and get to Le Cellier for our afternoon ADR. My DF & DM took the kids to Spaceship Earth for a ride and then we looked in the different pavilions until we got to Canada for dinner.
We had an ADR for Le Cellier and we had about a 40 min. wait. The wait wasn’t so bad and we took a lot of pictures around the gardens in Canada, but it was soooo hot and humid today. After we were seated our waitress was prompt and attentive. My husband ordered one of those Canadian beers (that have the same effect as moonshine ) and I had a glass of wine. I think every adult ordered a NY Strip. All of the orders were prepared exactly as requested and didn’t take too long. However, I still think you can’t get a good steak outside of South Dakota. Our local Lonestar Steakhouse has better cuts of meat, and if I paid for this out –of-pocket I think I would have had a stroke. The desserts were good, and my DMIL got a special birthday dessert and we sang Happy Birthday to her.
After we left the steakhouse, we decided to ride Soarin in the standby line- posted wait 100min., and it was 100min . . . . The ride was fun but the wait was too much for my kids. We then rode Living with the Land and then headed over to the Character Spot where DS2 had a little meltdown waiting in this long line. All of his tears turned to smiles when he got his hug from Mickey Mouse. Seeing the characters really revived all of the kids and we got a snack. We left the park and took the monorail over to MK and caught SpectroMagic again, rode Splash Mountain and shopped in Frontierland and Main Street. The funny thing about this trip is I really wanted to see Wishes and the only time I got to see it was riding Splash Mountain or hearing it while waiting to get on the Jungle Cruise. It is pretty magical riding Splash Mountain with your kids while the fireworks explode overhead. We walked with the sea of humanity heading out the gates and queuing up for the buses. I have never seen so many tired parents carrying sleeping kids in all my life. Staying at POFQ I thought we would avoid the crowd heading over to POR, or at least getting off the bus first, but every time we left MK, the bus would stop at POR first and in the reverse order, confusing people getting off at POR.
We finally made it back to our rooms and tucked in our little darlings to rest up for our fun-filled day at AK and our Luau at the Poly.:D:D:D

Day 4: Aug 15,2008
Today we all got up early and had breakfast at the food court before heading out to AK. The bus didn’t take too long and within 30 minutes we were at AK. My family made it through the turnstiles much faster than I did because the one I picked had a new CM and it wasn’t working too well. We all decided we were hungry for lunch and had one of our favorite meals of the trip at Flame Tree Barbeque. The food was fresh and fast. The seating areas had plenty of shade and it was in a beautiful area with a stellar view of Mt. Everest.
After lunch we rode Kali River Rapids and my kids all argued about who got to sit next to the heaviest person (me) because I always got the wettest. DS2 lost the argument and sat next to DH, and they were absolutely drenched. So there fat lady logic didn’t pan out. After KRR DH, DMIL, and DS3 went to get their faces painted and go on the Safari, while I took DS1,DS2, & DN to ride EE. The wait time for EE was pretty long so we got a FP and went to Dinosaur, always a great trip back in time, and then we stopped to wring out DS2 socks and shirt. Our FP were ready so we went to EE and didn’t have too long of a wait. Only DS1 had rode EE so we were all a little nervous. DS2 said he didn’t want to ride it ever again, but he wanted a shirt and a pin to commemorate conquering his fear.
After EE we called my DH to catch up with him and DS3 and DMIL, they were 6 people from the front of the line at the Safari, but the ride was shut down because some animals had wandered onto the path, and Disney doesn’t try to chase them off. I think this is a good idea, because the animals will ignore the visitors more, and act more naturally. But I felt sorry for my DH and everyone else waiting in line. It is HOT!!!!!!!!!!!! In this park and I was ready to leave. My DS3 was tired of standing in line, and didn’t want to go on the Safari anymore, so DS1 pulled him out of the line near the stroller parking and we booked it out of there.
The only ride DS3 really wanted to do was “It’s Tough to Be a Bug” and as luck would have it, we passed this show on our way out of the park and walked right in to a show that was beginning to start. DS3 loved it, but he still jumped at all the right scary parts.
After the show we left the park for the hotel and , started to walk toward the bus stops. The kids shuffled on at an agonizing pace and just looked melted.. I decided to spring for a cab back to the POFQ. I told the kids this way would be faster and they would have time to swim and change before heading to the Poly for the luau. It would be the best 15 dollars I spent on the trip so far. It was nice to sit in a real car with upholstered seats and air conditioning. The cabbie took us straight to the hotel vey directly and it took about 7 minutes to get there. The kids headed for the pool to cool off before the luau. They got to swim for about an hour and then we took another cab over to the Poly. This cost about 18 dollars for the ride and the tip, and we still made it 30 minutes before check-in time. My parents rode the bus to MK and then took the monorail around to the Poly. All of this travel took over an hour and then they had to wait around to be seated I definitely recommend taking a cab or your own vehicle from the hotel once in a while. The time savings alone pays for the ride.
We were checked-in for the Spirit of Aloha luau within minutes of arriving and seated very quickly. Even though we used to credits from the dining plan on this, we were seated right in the front with a great view of the stage. The food was served quickly and I couldn’t get enough of the fresh pineapple. Most reviews of this show are mixed at best, so I was a little worried at blowing 2 credits . I think most people who didn’t enjoy the show are expecting something a little more upscale. I think the luau was my favorite part of the trip. DS3 and Dnephew got up and danced, all of the music and dancing were very good, and it really was something the whole family enjoyed. I definitely recommend this event to relax and have fun with your companions in this beautiful atmosphere.
After the luau the whole gang took the monorail over to MK for the night. We started with the haunted mansion and rode as many rides in the park as we could. We skipped fantasyland again but caught a ride on the jungle cruise, pirates of the carribean, BTMRR, splash mountain several times, and then went over to tommorrowland for a spin with Buzz Lightyear, Stitch’s great escape, Monsters Inc laugh floor, Space mountain, and then we got a snack and my parent headed out for the night. After a ride on the TTA and some hat shopping DH and DMIL took DS3 back to the hotel for the night. Me and DS1, DS2, and Dnephew got our wrist bands near space mountain for EMH until 2am tonight, and made our way over to Splash for a few more rides. We caught Wishes riding Splash Mountain again.
I think we rode Splash Mountain 6 or so times before we decided we were al Splashed out for awhile. We took the Jungle Cruise again, and I think it is a lot of fun at night. We walked down to Casey’s Corner at got hot dogs and a drink before heading over to pirates for a spooky ride in the dark. I think all of the rides were more fun in the dark. Haunted Mansion is the best one to ride at night. This was our last ride of the night, and as we made t over to Main Street we took a bathroom break and a rest on a bench.
My favorite memory of this whole trip happened at closing time in front of City Hall in the MK. My son Christian aka DS2 who is 8 yrs old , sat on the bench next to me and asked me how my foot was feeling. I had broken it about a week before the trip, and boy were my dogs barking on this night.
Christian, with his bloodshot eyes and exhausted little voice asked me if we could just sit here on the bench for 13 minutes so he could tell his friends he stayed at the MK until 2 am. We could just sit on the bench and rest my feet and look at the Castle change colors. I told him we could stay, so he took my watch to keep track of the time and laid his head on my shoulder until 2am.
We walked slowly out to the buses and made it back to the room around 3 am and passed out again as soon as our heads hit the pillows. Thank goodness tomorrow is a sleep late day.

Aww how sweet. 13 minutes and yet a lifetime.
Sorry about the POFQ bus situation. We've always had POFQ on and off first. I have noticed that the busses are MUCH more crowded these days....

Wow, what a great day you had. I bet you slept like a rock after all that fun. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the luau since DS & I are doing it next week. :D

Day 5: Aug 16,2008
Today we took it easy. No wakeup calls, but my Dad still managed to start knocking on the door at 8am. DH and DS3 had a day just for them to do some kiddie rides at DHS. They hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Playhouse Disney, Star Tours, Indiana Jones. The other kids and DM & DMIL and myself just took it easy at the resort, swimming and shopping. We ate counter service for lunch, late breakfast and just enjoyed the resort until it was time to go to DHS for our Fantasmic Dinner package at Mama Melrose. We showed up on time for our reservation dur to some slowpokes in our group and the hostess at Mama Melrose was very rude and didn’t want to seat us. If I didn’t have my handy passporter w/my confirmation number we would have been SOL. After a long wait and some eye rolling from the hostess we were seated and the meal was mediocre at best. DS2 & DS3 liked their pizza and I enjoyed my chicken parmagiana, but everyone else didn’t like theirs. Also the server charged us double the meal credits that we had to straighted out at the resort. If I didn’t like Fantasmic so much I would never come to DHS.

After dinner we got our ticket to fantasmic , DNephew, DS1 and I decided to ride a few rides before the show. We each got a fastpass for Tower of Terror and then went through the standby line, which never stopped moving until we got to the library. I had never ridden ToT and I was a little nervous after being stuck and dropping in a real elevator before. DNephew was also a little apprehensive the closer we got to the front of the line. DS1 was excited to finally get to ride his favorite from last year. DNephew kept talking about leaving the line, and DS1 & I wouldn’t let him. I was scared but I tried not to show it. In the library the CM was very thin and creepy . The lights went off and he was standing by the door, at the end of the film, the lights came on and the CM was standing so close to my DNephew when he told us to move along, my DNephew jumped. He really was scared now and wanted to leave, but the line moved too quick. We sat in one of the front rows and took off. I liked the ride and rode it a few more times over the next couple days, but it wasn’t my favorite , I guess I am just getting old.

DNephew screamed the loudest little girl scream I have ever heard, but said he liked the ride as he got off the ride. As soon as we got outside he declared he would never ride ToT again. DS1 and I used our fastpasses and did another quick drop. The we hopped in the single rider line of the Rock n Roller coaster (one of my favorite rides). We thought we would move fairly quickly, as the gates for Fantasmic would open soon and they wouldn’t let DH, DMIL, and DS2 & DS3 in without us. I think the ride broke down while we were in line for a little while and I thought we would have to jump out of line. But we got closer and closer and decided to take our chances. DS1 & DNephew didn’t understand that we would be split up when we rode and were nervous who they would have to sit with. DS1 got paired up with a 50ish lady, and then Dnephew and I were paired up together. DS1 just looked at me all pitiful, pleading with his eyes for me to do something. I asked the CM if I could switch with DS1, and this made DS1 night. The ride was great and then we had to almost run to the amphitheater to see the show. DH was not happy how long we took, and everyone was hot and frustrated by the time we got there.

The show was great, and even though we got there late, we couldn’t have better seats. Unfortunately our pictures from the show really didn’t come out. After the show the park closed, and no other parks were open late so we hit the hay early.


Day 6: Aug 17, 2008 Girls Day Out!!!!!!!!!!
This is the day I was looking forward to the most on the whole trip. DMIL, DM & I had a reservation for the Garden Tea Room at the Grand Floridian at 1:40pm. !:40pm you ask, doesn’t the Tea Room open at 2:00pm. Yes this is what I thought by the CM at dining reservation assured me it opened earlier and we would have a great time at our tea.

This is what really happened. We slept in and got ready at our leisure for our reservation and took the bus over to MK and then took the monorail over to the GF. We got there before 1:00pm so we would have time to look around and take pictures. DS1 came over with us and I put him on the monorail to Epcot to meet up with his dad. We were really impressed with the Grand Floridian and took a LOT of pictures. At about 1:20pm we went over to the Garden Tea room to check in and all of the CM were hanging out in the booths and no one was at the hostess stand. I thought maybe I had wrote down the ADR wrong and so I decided to call WDW dining to double check the ADR. The CM that took my call told me my ADR was for the Grand Floridian Café which was open until 2pm, exactly 5 minutes after she took my call. I felt the blood rush to my face and my ears got very hot as I was furious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did have enough sense not to take it out on the CM, I calmly asked her if there were any openings for the Tea Room and she said it was all full up for the rest of my stay. She apologized for the mixup but did not offer me any ideas and told me to go over to the GF café. I said good-bye and hung up the phone and walked over to tell my DM and DMIL to tell them the news. I don’t know exactly what their reaction was, because I was livid. I called WDW Dining back and asked for some alternatives to my ADR, and explained my extreme dissatisfaction with the original CM who booked my ADR. There is a big difference between the Tea room and the GF café and I was about in tears at this point. My DM and DMIL gave me a little space as I called to fix what happened.
The CM wasn’t very helpful and everything was booked or very far away. She just didn’t understand how to help me, but I got more frustrated the more she tried to help me.
The conversation with the CM reminded me of the scene in Tommy Boy when they are trying to get a flight to Chicago and the gate agent was offering to fly them everywhere but where they need to go.

I told this CM good-bye and hung up and called a third time to try and get some help. After calling so much so quickly I think I was routed to a manager, or just got lucky to talk to someone who knew the layout of the parks and also how frustrated I was. She suggested the Kona Café at the Poly for an ADR in 10 minutes. I agreed and we hopped on the monorail over.
We made it in plenty of time and had a wonderful time. The CM were all great and the seating CM got us a breakfast ADR for the next day at 11am for a party of 9. The desserts are fantastic and next time I would even order those first. We left a generous tip and hopped the monorail over to MK to look around and meet up with the rest of group.

We got some pictures with Pluto and Chip & Dale before our boys found us. They had been at Epcot riding TT and Finding Nemo. DS3 had wanted to get Chip & Dale’s autograph and some pictures, but they went in for nuts and water as soon as we got in line. He met the other characters, but never did get to meet C & D.

We poked around the castle and rode all of our favorite rides. Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Splash Mountain, we rode them all day. We grabbed supper at Pecos Bill and then went back over to Splash. After Splash we went for a night-time jungle cruise and got a French CM tourguide. His accent was so thick all of his jokes were lost on the boat passengers. The ride wasn’t as good as our previous rides.

We heard Wishes in line for the Jungle Cruise. My DM was upset that my Dad rushed us to get in line for the ride instead of waiting 10 minutes for Wishes to start. After the ride my DF & DM left for the hotel and we stayed to ride. MK had EMH until 3am and the kids wanted to give it a try. After a few more times on Splash Mountain, we decided to call it a night. We were getting tired of the parks, if that is possible. The kids hit the arcade when we got back and the older boys went to the pool for a while.


Day 7: Aug 18,2008

Tropical Fay is on her way. This is a picture perfect day. The morning started out cool, with a clear, sunny sky. You would never know a tropical storm is supposed to make landfall tomorrow. WDW was very prepared and we left the worrying to the professionals and headed out to Kona Café for the second time in less than 24 hours. We took the bus to MK and then the monorail to the Poly. We were seated promptly at the Kona Café and they even remembered us from yesterday. Our server was excellent, the food was huge, and we had a magical time. I tipped 40% and headed out to MK.


***A good tip about the Kona Café is book an ADR for anytime except Sunday morning. The CM said you can get in for breakfast or lunch anytime except Sunday. I don’t know about dinner, but they were empty when we were there both times. Also split the Tonga Toast with someone. It is as big as a whole loaf of bread.*******

Today we just played it by ear and rode our favorites, walked in and around the castle, and looked in more of the stores on Main Street. Around 7pm we went back to the hotel so the kids could eat and swim. DH, DS1 and I went to DHS to ride ToT and get a new tote bag for DS1 that he wanted. DH doesn’t really like amusement park rides, so I rode ToT with DS1, and somehow my DH was taking pictures of RRC and ended up riding, I still don’t know if I believe him. We hit up a few Photopass spots and looked around until we were tired. We went back to the hotel around 11pm and called it a night.


Day 8: Aug 19, 2008

The big question of today is will we make it out of Orlando, or will Fay keep us in Florida.
We were all kind of excited for the storm to come as it was something new for us, and would never happen in South Dakota. I have been through every type of weather except a hurricane. I called my work to let them know I might be back a day late, so I took another day off.

In the morning I finished packing our clothes and decided what my husband took with him in the car (all of the souveniors and most of the clean clothes), and I took most of the dirty clothes in my bags. I went to the lobby around 9am to check my bags and discovered because of the storm, we would have to check our bags at the airport. DME wasn’t supposed to pick us up until 1:20pm so I checked them at Bell Services until we left.

My DH loaded up the car while I checked out of our room. We still have some table service credits left, so we headed over to POR to show my DMIL around and eat at their counter service.
We checked out the gift shop and pressed some pennies before heading over to the food court. We all enjoyed our food, but something hit my DS2 wrong and he crawled under the table, saying he felt sick. Right after he said I feel sick, he puked and puked all over the floor and a tray by our table. I scooped up as much of the mess as I could while my DH alerted a CM.
After our CS fiasco we left to look around the grounds and take the boat back to POFQ. It had been cloudy and a little rainy so far, but nothing like what was coming later.

We made it back to POFQ and I claimed my bags from Bell Services and met up with DF & DM. Since we had to check our bags at the airport we were able to take an earlier bus. I hugged and kissed DH & DS1 goodbye and we loaded up the bus and headed for the airport. It took a while to check the bags, so I was thankful for the extra time.

I forgot to take out some lotion in my carry-on bag I just bought at the Poly, so thanks to the nice airport security screener who let me keep it. We all got a drink to take on the plane and waited for our flight. It was still on time and we boarded on time.

As we taxied down the runway, the pilot came on to explain the take off would be very rough until he got the plane over the storm. Boy was he right, It felt like the tail of the plane (where I was sitting) was hydroplaning on the runway and I didn’t think we would make it over the clouds. But as soon as the plane got to about 15000ft. it was smooth sailing from there.

We changed planes in Memphis and got pulled pork sandwiches from Corkys BBQ in the airport (I highly recommend these) and left on time for a smooth flight into Omaha,NE. We collected pur car and fell asleep on the way home. The kids and I were in our own beds by 11pm.

My DH drove home from Florida with DMIL, DS1, and DNephew, they spent most of today on the gulf coast wading in the ocean and seeing the sites. I think they took too long to leave because they hit severe thunderstorms all the way to Nashville,TN. It took him about 2 ½ days to get home.

Final thoughts:
I think any kid over 1 year old will have fun at WDW, younger babies will like it depending on their disposition.

I wish I would have gone during the school year again for the lower crowds, but the super-late EMH was fun.

We have done the basic dining plan twice and we will either get the counter service next time or pay out of pocket. I think the ADR system is too restrictive for optimum park time.

Never schedule an ADR too early for breakfast. My family was dead to the world until about 8 or 9 am.

Giving my kids their own money for souviners really kept my costs down, and they actually play with what they bought.

Pressed pennies are great souviners, we were always on the hunt for pennies we didn’t have.

Kona Café was our favorite sit down meal, and Flame Tree BBQ was our favorite CS.

Always double check your ADRs when you start your vacation, correct any mistakes that have been made. Keep your receipts for meals, you never know when you need them.

We truly had a magical time at WDW, we saw everything we wanted, rode almost everything we wanted, and ate way too much. We also took our time touring the parks and changed our plans when we needed to. We really got our money’s worth with our park hopper passes and EMH hours. We are already planning a trip for next year, the only questions now are Halloween or Star Wars Weekend and where to stay.

Thanks for reading my trip report
Jamie and the whole Smith family

Thanks for a great trip report. For it being your first attempt you did an awseome job.

Thanks again.

Ellen

I'm glad you liked Kona. Too bad about tea. It was SOOOO good and the highlight of our trip. I hope you get to try it the next trip!!!

Great job on the TR!