oneforme
06-18-2003, 11:14 AM
Cast:
Me – Dina (34) Complete Disney Fan
DD- Alexis (9) Well on her way
DF – Russ (56) Goes only when I drag him
SIL – Pam (36) 3rd trip (2nd with me)
DN1 – Amanda (10) 2nd trip (I took her when she was 6)
DN2 – Ashley (7) 1st trip
DN3 – Allison (6) 1st trip
Background
The planning for this trip started around October of last year (while my family was in DW!) I came home and suggested to my Dad that he buy the girls 1-day tickets to MK and 1 day to BB as Christmas presents. We would spend a week visiting him at his new house in Sebastian FL. He loved the idea of us coming for a visit and by the beginning of November called to say he bought the 1-day park passes but couldn’t get BB. (No problem we created our own for the girls and Dad gave me the cash for save keeping). We went round and round about the best time to go, finally deciding we didn’t want to take the girls out of school. Alexis was done school on the 5th and my DN’s were to be done on the 6th. Okay we leave the 7th (after Lexie’s gymnastic exhibition) We are driving from PA to save my SIL airfare. Thanks to Karen P we booked POFQ with a great FL resident discount. Of course POFQ closed for refurbishment so after 2-3 changes we settled on Coronado Springs. Paper chains were made and all we had to do was wait . . . . . .
1 month before our trip my SIL receives a notice from her school stating that they allowed for only 1 snow day and used 7. The girls would be in school until the 16th!! OH NO Pam says heck with it we’re going to Florida!!!!
The Trip
Saturday, June 7 – Sunday, June 8
We wake up extremely excited to - - pouring rain. Not that this is unusual, it’s been raining in PA since the last snowstorm in March! No problem we’re on vacation! Load the car go to gymnastics head to my SIL reload her car stop for a quick lunch and we’re off. The girls were great in the car but the rain!!!! HOLY MOLEY it poured the ENTIRE trip! We rarely went above 40 until we reached Orlando. 23 hours is a looonng time to be in a car. We made it to my Dad’s by 11:30 Sunday morning and all the girls wanted to do was go to the Beach. We spent a great day jumping waves and all died by 9:00.
Monday, June 9
The plan today is for ½ day on the beach and then leave for Disney. I’m not sure how but we manage to get 6 females (and my Dad) out of the house and to Vero Beach by 9:30! There are a number of beaches near Sebastian, but Vero is my favorite – it may have something to do with the big Disney Hotel down the street- or it could just be that they have lifeguards on duty and picnic tables!
Bribe the girls with ice cream around 2:00 so we can take our showers and get moving. We have 6:30 PSs for Chef Mickeys.
Chef Mickeys was wonderful. Donald was the greeter so the 6 and 7 yo got their first taste of the Disney critters. There was no hesitation in either of them and we got great pictures.! My Dad bought the portrait package too. The pictures were good, but I think he just loved the idea of all of us being there! During the meal we saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale. Dale sat in my SIL’s chair and refused to leave. The 6 yo told her Mom to find another chair!!! Next stop was to ride the Monorail around one time before checking into our hotel.
No trouble finding Coronado Springs. Lots of WOW’s from everyone when we walked in to check in. We had a very friendly CM who quickly checked us in. I had faxed a room request Friday before leaving work and they exceeded my requests! We were put in adjoining room in Cabanas 9B (nonsmoking) 9625 and 9626 overlooking a pond! This was wonderful since both my Dad and SIL smoke and spent time outside! (Now I had a water view room on a FL resident discount price!! I’m just saving $ all over the place here!)
Oh one footnote here. On our drive to Disney this afternoon I realize that the park passes and BB $ are safe and securely locked in my safe in PA!!!! After kicking myself in the butt for ½ hour I call home for the purchase numbers off the backs of the tickets. My Dad and I take a drive over to Downtown Disney and they print us new tickets. (Start to finish it took less then 1 hour, but I felt like a real idiot!)
Tuesday, June 10
The girls are awake before Mickey’s call. Bouncing off the walls ready to go. We make it to MK before opening so we can see the morning show. I love to hear the train whistle and watch for the characters! We’re all wearing our perma-grins and are ready to start the day. First up a walk through the castle. We hit Dumbo, Peter Pan, Snow White and Small World in the first 40 min. The girls go to the Teacups and I run to get a FP for Buzz. We ride the TTA so my DN2 can get a look inside Space Mt. She’s a bit afraid, but agrees to try. SM is a 15 min wait so we go in. Ashley teeters back and forth the whole line but hops in her car and loves it!!!!!! Both Ashley and Alli scream the entire ride. (I’m in front of them) but immediately start begging to go back on! We use our FP for Buzz (Dad wins this one) and by this time the kids are dragging and we need food. Did I mention it’s like 95° with 95% humidity? We have a yummy lunch at Cosmic Rays and then cut across Main Street to Adventureland. The group climbs the Treehouse while I run for Splash Mt FPs. (I’m told Alli keeps trying to open the doors and go into every room. Lexie and Amanda dream of living right there in MK!) We hit Aladin then the Tiki Room. Though Lexie’s been to Disney 5 times, this is her first visit to the Tiki Room. All 7 of us love the show. It really is cute. Next stop Pirates of the Caribbean, (I get a FP for BTMR) Country Bear Jamboree and finally Splash Mt. This is another ride Ashley was afraid to go on. She went, but didn’t like it, and refused to go again!! I’m about to melt at this point so I suggest and ice cream break. I ask the grown ups how they feel about a swim break and we agree to go back to the hotel for 2 hours. (before leaving I grab another FP for Space Mt.) Back at the hotel we swim for about 1 hour. The girls LOVE the slide. Back to MK. We hop on the train and go around to Toontown. The girls want to see Mickey and Minnie’s place. Toontown was surprisingly uncrowded. We skip the Barnstormer and head back to Space Mt. This is such a great ride! Walk back through Fantasyland so we can ride Haunted Mansion, then head for our last ride on BTMR. Ashley refuses to even consider another roller coaster so Dad and I take the other 3 girls. With the extra FP we allow Amanda and Lexie to ride alone. This is a big deal for them, and of course the 6 yo cries because she wants to go too! We shop our way out of the park and see Mickey’s goodnight to everyone. I’ve never seen this before so there I am waving to Mickey with tears in my eyes!!
The girls are to tired for another dip in the pool so Dad and I go to the food court while Pam over sees showers. We’re all pretty giddy at this point so we have a great late dinner and laugh until midnight!!! (the girls are out by 10:30) but with the help of a couple of beers and a few rum and diets Pam, Dad and I have a great evening.
Next up BB and then back to Sebastian.
Me – Dina (34) Complete Disney Fan
DD- Alexis (9) Well on her way
DF – Russ (56) Goes only when I drag him
SIL – Pam (36) 3rd trip (2nd with me)
DN1 – Amanda (10) 2nd trip (I took her when she was 6)
DN2 – Ashley (7) 1st trip
DN3 – Allison (6) 1st trip
Background
The planning for this trip started around October of last year (while my family was in DW!) I came home and suggested to my Dad that he buy the girls 1-day tickets to MK and 1 day to BB as Christmas presents. We would spend a week visiting him at his new house in Sebastian FL. He loved the idea of us coming for a visit and by the beginning of November called to say he bought the 1-day park passes but couldn’t get BB. (No problem we created our own for the girls and Dad gave me the cash for save keeping). We went round and round about the best time to go, finally deciding we didn’t want to take the girls out of school. Alexis was done school on the 5th and my DN’s were to be done on the 6th. Okay we leave the 7th (after Lexie’s gymnastic exhibition) We are driving from PA to save my SIL airfare. Thanks to Karen P we booked POFQ with a great FL resident discount. Of course POFQ closed for refurbishment so after 2-3 changes we settled on Coronado Springs. Paper chains were made and all we had to do was wait . . . . . .
1 month before our trip my SIL receives a notice from her school stating that they allowed for only 1 snow day and used 7. The girls would be in school until the 16th!! OH NO Pam says heck with it we’re going to Florida!!!!
The Trip
Saturday, June 7 – Sunday, June 8
We wake up extremely excited to - - pouring rain. Not that this is unusual, it’s been raining in PA since the last snowstorm in March! No problem we’re on vacation! Load the car go to gymnastics head to my SIL reload her car stop for a quick lunch and we’re off. The girls were great in the car but the rain!!!! HOLY MOLEY it poured the ENTIRE trip! We rarely went above 40 until we reached Orlando. 23 hours is a looonng time to be in a car. We made it to my Dad’s by 11:30 Sunday morning and all the girls wanted to do was go to the Beach. We spent a great day jumping waves and all died by 9:00.
Monday, June 9
The plan today is for ½ day on the beach and then leave for Disney. I’m not sure how but we manage to get 6 females (and my Dad) out of the house and to Vero Beach by 9:30! There are a number of beaches near Sebastian, but Vero is my favorite – it may have something to do with the big Disney Hotel down the street- or it could just be that they have lifeguards on duty and picnic tables!
Bribe the girls with ice cream around 2:00 so we can take our showers and get moving. We have 6:30 PSs for Chef Mickeys.
Chef Mickeys was wonderful. Donald was the greeter so the 6 and 7 yo got their first taste of the Disney critters. There was no hesitation in either of them and we got great pictures.! My Dad bought the portrait package too. The pictures were good, but I think he just loved the idea of all of us being there! During the meal we saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale. Dale sat in my SIL’s chair and refused to leave. The 6 yo told her Mom to find another chair!!! Next stop was to ride the Monorail around one time before checking into our hotel.
No trouble finding Coronado Springs. Lots of WOW’s from everyone when we walked in to check in. We had a very friendly CM who quickly checked us in. I had faxed a room request Friday before leaving work and they exceeded my requests! We were put in adjoining room in Cabanas 9B (nonsmoking) 9625 and 9626 overlooking a pond! This was wonderful since both my Dad and SIL smoke and spent time outside! (Now I had a water view room on a FL resident discount price!! I’m just saving $ all over the place here!)
Oh one footnote here. On our drive to Disney this afternoon I realize that the park passes and BB $ are safe and securely locked in my safe in PA!!!! After kicking myself in the butt for ½ hour I call home for the purchase numbers off the backs of the tickets. My Dad and I take a drive over to Downtown Disney and they print us new tickets. (Start to finish it took less then 1 hour, but I felt like a real idiot!)
Tuesday, June 10
The girls are awake before Mickey’s call. Bouncing off the walls ready to go. We make it to MK before opening so we can see the morning show. I love to hear the train whistle and watch for the characters! We’re all wearing our perma-grins and are ready to start the day. First up a walk through the castle. We hit Dumbo, Peter Pan, Snow White and Small World in the first 40 min. The girls go to the Teacups and I run to get a FP for Buzz. We ride the TTA so my DN2 can get a look inside Space Mt. She’s a bit afraid, but agrees to try. SM is a 15 min wait so we go in. Ashley teeters back and forth the whole line but hops in her car and loves it!!!!!! Both Ashley and Alli scream the entire ride. (I’m in front of them) but immediately start begging to go back on! We use our FP for Buzz (Dad wins this one) and by this time the kids are dragging and we need food. Did I mention it’s like 95° with 95% humidity? We have a yummy lunch at Cosmic Rays and then cut across Main Street to Adventureland. The group climbs the Treehouse while I run for Splash Mt FPs. (I’m told Alli keeps trying to open the doors and go into every room. Lexie and Amanda dream of living right there in MK!) We hit Aladin then the Tiki Room. Though Lexie’s been to Disney 5 times, this is her first visit to the Tiki Room. All 7 of us love the show. It really is cute. Next stop Pirates of the Caribbean, (I get a FP for BTMR) Country Bear Jamboree and finally Splash Mt. This is another ride Ashley was afraid to go on. She went, but didn’t like it, and refused to go again!! I’m about to melt at this point so I suggest and ice cream break. I ask the grown ups how they feel about a swim break and we agree to go back to the hotel for 2 hours. (before leaving I grab another FP for Space Mt.) Back at the hotel we swim for about 1 hour. The girls LOVE the slide. Back to MK. We hop on the train and go around to Toontown. The girls want to see Mickey and Minnie’s place. Toontown was surprisingly uncrowded. We skip the Barnstormer and head back to Space Mt. This is such a great ride! Walk back through Fantasyland so we can ride Haunted Mansion, then head for our last ride on BTMR. Ashley refuses to even consider another roller coaster so Dad and I take the other 3 girls. With the extra FP we allow Amanda and Lexie to ride alone. This is a big deal for them, and of course the 6 yo cries because she wants to go too! We shop our way out of the park and see Mickey’s goodnight to everyone. I’ve never seen this before so there I am waving to Mickey with tears in my eyes!!
The girls are to tired for another dip in the pool so Dad and I go to the food court while Pam over sees showers. We’re all pretty giddy at this point so we have a great late dinner and laugh until midnight!!! (the girls are out by 10:30) but with the help of a couple of beers and a few rum and diets Pam, Dad and I have a great evening.
Next up BB and then back to Sebastian.