What a great trip!!! We Drove down from the Chicagoland area(OK Northwest Indiana) with the van loaded down with all our luggage and 8 people, 4 of which were kids. Were we crazy? Maybe, but it wasn't so bad!! We headed out at 5am Friday the 25th, drove until we got about 50 miles or so from the GA/FL line. Stopped for the night in a decent hotel using a coupon from the rest area. Think we paid like 120 for 2 rooms and that included breakfast. Got back on the road and finally got to WDW around 1:30. We checked into the All Star Sports hotel. Seemed like a nice hotel for what we paid. Glad I did the online check in. The line for the other check in was really long! They told us where our room was. It was quite a hike from where we could park the car to our room. Took us almost 5 minutes to get from the car to our rooms everyday. Luckily hubby found a luggage cart to haul all our stuff to the room.
After getting everything unpacked, we headed to the Magic kingdom. We drove to the parks everyday. Did not want to try to put the stroller in the bus all the time. It seemed faster than having to wait on the busses anyway. We looked to go get the boys hair cut but they closed at 5, we were about a half an hour late for that. So while we were figuring out what we were going to do, the Celebration parade came down past us. A cute, short parade that the kids liked. Then we went on Dumbo. To our suprise it was only about a 10-15 minute wait. Then we went onto Small World. Agian a short wait. Then we decided to eat at Cosmic Rays to use our first Counter Service meal. It was all very good. Then we went on Buzz Lightyear. Our youngest, 2year old Nevin, loved this ride and kept the car spinning in circles the entire time. I was alittle sick after that, but recovered quickly.(can't do spinny rides anymore, coasters great, spinny rides not so much) That is when the downpour started. We decided to ride the TTA. even though it was a downpour they still put on the wishes fireworks, which we watched from the ride. Rode the ride again, then decided to call it a night. Of course all our rain coats were in the room...but they wouldn't help with what really got wettest, our shoes. There were places that had about 3-4 inches of standing water. There was no way of going around so we tiptoed through. Luckily I brought an extra pair of shoes for everyone.
Next day we decided to go to hollywood studios. We first took the oldest 2 on rock-n-rollercoaster, and tower of terror. Got a fast pass fot TOT and rode the coaster while we were waiting. Was able to ride them both in 45 minutes. Went to go on toy story mania but 8yo autistic son had a major meltdown fearing the 3D effects. So we skipped out on that one. my husband decided to take to take the older 2 and my dad on Star tours, while myself, my mom and the younger 2 watched the Jedi training show. Then we watched the Indiana Jones show. After that we went back to the hotel for a little rest. Had 3:40 ADRS for Crystal Palace so we headed out to the Magic Kingdom...what a mess. We get up to the Monorail since there was no line and in came a train, but they wouldn't let anyone on. Not sure why. They told us to go over to the resort line and ride that train. Well all the people who were behind us got to the train first and filled all the available spots. So we had to wait for the next train and then something was going on there too. We pobably should've taken the boat. Oh well. Well when we got to the Magic Kingdom, it started to downour again. This time for only about 10 minutes. Finally get to the Crystal Palace, at about 5 minutes until our reservations, to stand in the 30 minute line to check in. Finally checked in and got seated about 25 minutes later. Was an OK dinner, the kids liked the characters. Did the rides in Frontierland, and Adventureland. Watched Wishes without the effects of the rain this time. It was the pm EMH so we satyed and watched the country bear jamboree and teh hall of presidents. Both with the kids really liked. Then we headed back.
Monday we decided to head to the Animal Kingdom. We went and saw the Finding Nemo show. It was awesome. Then we decided to go and eat lunch at the Flame Tree. I was kinda disappointed. The Ribs were super tough. I ate there before and don't remember them being like that. After lunch we got fast passes for Expedition everest, and then took the planet watch train. All the times I've been there I never took the train. It was a nice trip. The kids touched some kind of snake that they were showing. They thought that was cool. Came back off the train, parked my mom and the 2 youngest in a shady spot and rode Expedition Exerest. What a cool ride. the older 2 rode it again with the extrs 2 fast passes we had from my mom and other son. Went back to hotel for a short rest. Then headed to EPCOT. Decided to ride spacseship earth, son was on the verge of another melt down, but manages the ride, and it is now one of his favorites. Decided to start our walk over to Germany fpor our ADRs in the biergarten. Found the food there very good, and liked the entertainment as well. The kids got up and danced. Stayed put in Germany to watch Illuminations. Had a good distraction for the kids in the mini train set. Kept them occupied while we waited for the show to start. Up on the path through the train set is not a bad place to watch the show. That night was EPCOTs EMH so we went over and rode test track and Mission space(I opted out of mission space because last time it mademe sick). Then we headed back and called it a night.
Tuesday we headed back to EPcot. Before we went in we took the monorail over to the MK to get the boys hair cuts. All 4 plus my dad got thier hair cut. SInce it was the youngest first offical haircut he got his mickey ears. All the boys got mickey heads painted on the back too. I thought it was a great deal at $14 a kid. Not much more than what I pay for the place inside Walmart. After that we went back to EPCOT and rode soarin and the nemo ride. We traveled over to Italy and had lunch. To my suprise there wasn't many people in there at 1:00. After lunch we headed back and rode malestrom and the boat ride in Mexico. Decided to call it a day early and went back to the room to do some laundry and swimming.
Wenesday we went to Animal Kingdom and went on the Safari, and then it was time for lunch at yak and Yeti. I think this was the best palce we ate all trip. The ribs were the best ribs I think I have ever eaten. After stuffing ourselves there we went to dinoland where we rode triceritops spin, Dinosaur, Primevil Whirl and saw Goofy and Pluto. Went and saw the Lion King and the boys got up and danced with them. After that we saw Tough to be a bug. Son decided to try this one. HE really liked it and came out saying that he loved 3D movies now. Went to Hollywood studios and saw the Playhouse Disney Show, saw Buzz and Woody, and the looked and looked for something to eat. Figured that they would have something open for the EMH..nope. Went back to the hotel and ate.
THursday we went to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. Ate at the Wolfgang Puck Cafe for Breakfast. It was really good. Then we rode on the Characters in flight balloon. It was really cool. After a bit of shopping. We headed back to the hotel to rest up for the Halloween party. We all dressed up as the toy story gang. We had Buzz, Woody, Jessie, alien, Mr. and Mrs Potato head(I made them), Sarge(I also made that too), and Sid. My DH was Sid, he didn't really feel like dressing up. Party Pooper. Had a great time at the party. Rode a bunch of rides with little wait. And saw the parade. That is my favorite parade!
Friday was my birthday and I wore my button and i made a shirt and bought myself some birthday mickey ears. I never make a big deal over my birthday so I decided this owuld be the time to do it! Went to Epcot for the first part of the day. DH and I went around the world showcase quickly to collect teh stamps on the passprts for the kids. Needless to say we stopeed and had a xouple of drinks along the way. I highly recommend the Grand Marnier orange slush. They need to sell those everywhere!!! Then went on to have dinner at 1900 Park Fair. This was my sons choice. For some reason he LOVES cinderella! The meal was very good. Probably the best buffets we had. Noah got to dance with Cinderella and she gave him a big kiss on the check. He was in heaven!! I cried of course because for him to do that infront of people, without being told beforehand is huge for him!! Then we ended the day with 2 rides on Toy Story. We were able to get him on the ride and he LOVED it. Then we watched Fantasmic. What a great Birthday!! This day we did ride the bus back to the hotel. My parents took the baby back to the hotel and dropped us off. The line for the bus was probably the longest line we waited in all week. I think that they should have a seperate bus for each all star resort. Having all 3 in one is crazy!
Our last day there we packed up the van, and headed for the Magic kingdom for a couple last rides. Then onto Chef Mickeys before heading out. Our server was from a town about 15 miles form us. Small World? I think so!!
OK so there it is my LONG trip report. My mom and I started talking about our next trip on our way home. My husband just rolled his eyes at us. Funniest thing about this trip? We found people that knew where our small town was...knew people from it!!! That was tooo funny!! Again what a small world!
Originally Posted by 4biegelboys
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