You are NOT 5 Until You Eat Cake in the Castle *UPDATE 9-2-14 *COMPLETE

[DopeyDonald]

I read your previous trip report and am very happy Cassidy is doing well. It's great that your family was able to make it back and am looking forward to reading more.

Thanks! She really is doing well. She has her big recheck/scans in August. We are hoping for good news. She has not been showing any symptoms other than a few mild bathroom issues, so we're optimistic. We really pulled out all the stops this trip and spoiled her rotten -

 

[MusicMicha]

I've had a great time reading your report so far. We have a Cassidy who is also five with a Sept birthday. That is something I never thought I would say, so that's pretty neat!

 

[Credit Man]

Enjoying your report. After reading about your trials on the last trip, so happ you made a healthy and happy return!

 

[deserrai]

The title of you report caught my eye because I fully believe all little girls should have cake in the castle for their 5th birthday. We are headed there in one month for that exact reason. It has been planned since pregnancy!

I was so sorry to read of your little girl's illness on your last trip. It made me tear up because I just can't imagine your worry. I'm glad she is doing better and hope it continues.

 

[DopeyDonald]

I've had a great time reading your report so far. We have a Cassidy who is also five with a Sept birthday. That is something I never thought I would say, so that's pretty neat!

Thanks! That is really neat about your Cassidy! It's definitely not a name I hear a lot - and to be the same age is cool - great minds were thinking alike in Sept. 2008!

Enjoying your report. After reading about your trials on the last trip, so happ you made a healthy and happy return!

Thanks for reading along and saying hi. And yes, this trip was so much happier and so much healthier!

 

[DopeyDonald]

The title of you report caught my eye because I fully believe all little girls should have cake in the castle for their 5th birthday. We are headed there in one month for that exact reason. It has been planned since pregnancy!

I was so sorry to read of your little girl's illness on your last trip. It made me tear up because I just can't imagine your worry. I'm glad she is doing better and hope it continues.

I know, I had been planning it also since she was very little. And we are so lucky since her birthday is in September when we always go. What a way to actually turn 5! Well.....that didn't happen, so we told her you will NOT turn 5 until you eat that cake in the castle! We only confused her a little bit....

I hope you have an amazing trip with your little girl and may she have a 5th birthday that she will ALWAYS remember!

 

[DopeyDonald]

We left off with us heading out of the MK to go back and freshen up for our big evening dinner at CRT for Cassidy's Birthday celebration.

By the time we rode the ferry, walked to the car and drove back to the cabin, we didn’t have a whole lotta time before we had to do it all over again!

We spent about an hour just relaxing and getting ready for the evening. I redid Cassidy’s hair as best I could and we all got dressed up.

We left pretty early as we knew we would have to contend with the Wishes crowds and having to go the long way around the castle. Our dinner reservation was for 8:05pm at CRT. YAY! This was THE dinner, the one where Cassidy would finally turn 5.

We split up for the drive over again, with Cassidy and I taking the van and the ferry and DH and the big kids taking the boat from Fort Wilderness. I’m really not sure why they didn’t just come in the van with us, but for whatever reason it made sense to us at the time –

Once again, we made it to the MK at pretty much the same time. We battled our way down Main Street, and turned right into Tomorrow Land. We knew we would have to go wayyyy around and come in from behind.

When we got back around by the carousel it was all roped off for Wishes, but we told them that we had a reservation at CRT and they let us in thru the rope.

We got checked in and were a bit early. I suppose it was about 7:45 or so.

Here is Daddy “arriving” with his princess

We waited in the teeny little area outside by the hostess desk for about 10 mins before they called our names. We waited with a family who had a little 15ish month old boy who was NOT happy. I felt so bad for the mom and dad. Though I do wish they would have just left with him. He was SCREAMING and he was NOT gonna stop for nothing! We got called back before he quit screaming so I’m not sure what finally worked – though something must have as I didn’t hear him in the restaurant.

We were taken back to have our pics taken with Cinderella and again got to have 2 groups – and again we did a family and then with just Cassidy.

We were then led upstairs to our table.
IT WAS AMAZING. AMAZING. We had a huge table by the window and JUST as we sat down, the fireworks started booming. It could have been a Disney commercial. I got very choked up. It was very special. Here we were, 6 months later with our very healthy little girl, enjoying her birthday celebration at last. In the castle. With fireworks. Wow.

Here is a video that doesn’t even come close to how amazing it was to be there…but it will give you an idea how awesome our table was.

FIREWORKS VIDEO

We were also blessed with the best waiter. He was really great.

I had to include this pic of Cassie and her wishing star – you can see that her hair has seen better days – Also, she did her own make-up before we came. She used what they send home from BBB. She thinks eye shadow goes on your eyebrows – And she was adamant about it, so I just let her do it…..

We placed our order, I honestly can’t even remember what everyone had, I was so enjoying the moment. I know that Dh, Annie and I had the beef, but couldn’t tell you what Wy and Cassie had.

Here is Wyatt really enjoying his bread

I should add, since we ordered the Royal Highness Package, our table had a wonderful princess balloon waiting at it when we sat down. Cassidy really loved that – it was a beautiful balloon.

After we ate, it was time for dessert. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. The part I had been waiting for. Cassidy knew this was her birthday celebration, but thought she was only getting cupcake like she had at her past birthday’s at Disney.

Finally it was time, the waiter came up behind her and set it down in front of her – she was ECSTATIC! The cake was gorgeous. I was so excited that they had added Rapunzel to the choices. When we looked at this for September, the only options were: Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Tiana or Belle.

Right behind him was another waiter with Wyatt and Annie’s desserts. I had ordered them a white chocolate crown and slipper filled with chocolate mousse. What a beautiful presentation. They were so excited also.

Prince Wyatt’s Crown

Prince Annie’s Slipper

I am so glad I did this. I really wanted to include them as they were so good during the time when Cassidy was sick. Wyatt stayed with me in the hospital and helped me and Annie was just so good during this time. She kind of got stuck in the middle and was so worried about Cassidy. So it was nice to honor them too.

The mousse and berries were amazing. They really liked the white chocolate also. I gotta be honest – the cake looked a lot better than it tasted. I would order it over again for this particular occasion, but probably won’t order another Disney cake next year. The fondant frosting is just too sweet and chewy and while the filling was good, it was just too rich. But once again, I wouldn’t have changed a thing about this night

While we were eating our desserts the princesses began coming around. Same story as the other meals. Fine interaction, but nothing sticks out as memorable. I didn’t notice as much this night, however, since I was just on such a high from the rest of the evening.

Annie and Ariel

Cassidy and Snow White

Annie and Jasmine

Cassidy and Aurora

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for. Our waiter came by with a covered silver platter. He put it down between the girls and, with a flourish, took the cover off. Underneath, was two glass slippers on a bed of rose petals. The girls were blown away. I took the best Disney picture I think I’ve ever taken. Just look at Annie’s face. I think it says it all.

I was literally almost sobbing with her reaction. She was just so thankful. She was just in disbelief that she actually had a glass slipper. She was giggling, crying and saying thank you over and over. In 7 trips, definitely the best moment ever.

Annie’s was engraved with her name, the date and “You are a true princess” and Cassidy’s had her name, the date and “Wishes Do Come True, 5 at last.”

Here is Cassidy with her slipper – note the green eyebrows

Of course she had to see if it fit –

After all the surprises, we were ready to head out. Our waiter was awesome and boxed up our cake and the slippers for us. Here is Annie with her wand – you can see the boxed cake in the pic too.

CRT well surpassed my expectations. The food was good, the princesses were Ok, but you just CANNOT beat the atmosphere. That being said, I’m not sure I could cough up the dough if we didn’t have the dining plan. I’m thinking it would be one parent with the girls maybe.

We took our time leaving and wandered down Main Street for a few pp pics.

We were pretty beat after a long day, so we stopped in the Confectionary for our treats – they were out of pineapple K-bobs, so I tried a choc covered fruit k-bob and ended up finding another favorite. After our short stop, we pretty much headed back to the cabin to crash. My baby is now finally 5!

Up next, our last day together before my mom arrives, and a breakfast with our favorite alien.

 

[DopeyDonald]

This morning, Wednesday, February 26th, we had a breakfast reservation for our favorite “must do character breakfast” at Ohanas. Over the years, we’ve pretty much done them all, but this is the one we keep coming back to. I think it’s the atmosphere, the family pic, the fact that they bring you the food, and of course it’s got STITCH!

We had our breakfast set up for 11:00 so we had ample time to get moving and get over there.

Or not... Hee hee, here is Cassidy after I had woken her up and gotten her dressed. Guess it's catching up with her.

We actually drove together this morning in the rental van. My DH did drop the golf cart off at the cart area near the front of Fort Wilderness so it would be there should anyone decide to take a bus back early.

When we got to the Poly they were being very strict on checking to make sure you had a reservation, since a lot of the parking lot was blocked off for construction material.

We parked and headed into the beautiful Poly. We love eating and shopping here and would maybe one day consider a stay – if only it wasn’t so gosh darn expensive! We headed right up to the second floor and got checked in. We took our pic right away, but then settled in for a bit of a wait.

They told us our pager would work on the entire 2nd floor so we decided to shop a bit. We ended up getting an autograph book, as Cassidy had forgotten hers. She also bought a Tinkerbell doll with her gift card that she had to spend.

Before we knew it was time to go and EAT! We were led to the front area right near the bathrooms. It was kind of a bummer. It was dark and we missed the activity and brightness of the main area. Not a huge deal, but different. We’ve had great luck in the past and been always been sat by the windows.

Here is a pic of the kids and you can see the area we were sitting in

We also noticed that we didn’t get Leis this time?? We were a bit disappointed as it’s tradition for us to hang our Leis on the rental van’s mirror so we can identify our van more quickly! We wondered if they were just out or if they have done away with them completely.

Our food came out quickly and it was hot and fresh and yummy. We really enjoy this breakfast. This was probably the best character meal interaction of the trip:

Here is Wyatt with his bud

Cassidy too

Also here is Stitch and my DH, right before Stitch tried to pick his nose –

The kids with Mickey – he was in a bit of a hurry and we only got the one pic – no individual pics, much to Cassidy’s dismay

Pluto did have a bit of fun with the kids. After taking their pic, he wouldn’t let them go! It was pretty funny.

Cassidy with her buddy

We had a great time and we will still come back to Ohana’s each trip for a breakfast.

After breakfast we shopped around the Poly and walked the grounds for a bit.

Here is Wy by the surfboard

Kiddos

Cassidy in front of the waterfall

Dad and big kids

With the Tiki

As always, we enjoyed our time at the Poly, but now it was time to get going to our park for the day: EPCOT!

 

[DopeyDonald]

Well it’s OFFICIAL (even though it was a sure thing in our minds already ) we are booked in the VWL for September.

We are going HOME. We were able to snag a studio, now that they are available for 5! Yay. Just yay. We didn’t realize just how much a part of our vacation the Wilderness Lodge was until we didn’t stay there. We had an amazing vacation in Feb/March at the Cabins, but WL is HOME.

We are renting points this year. We’ve done it twice before and always had a good experience. We will be staying the 6th of September thru the 18th. Definitely the longest trip we’ve ever taken. I’m SO SO SO excited. Now I just need to get my airline tickets – . I’m not too worried as SW usually has decent prices for Sept. The key is to be patient. I jumped the gun last year and paid the price. I did however get credit so it all worked out.

As far as park tickets go, we upgraded our PH’s this past trip into annual passes, knowing we would be going for a long trip in September. I also love that 10%off!

So – tickets and most of the room is paid. Need to pay airline tickets still but, DH and I have enough Rapid Rewards points to pay 1 way for each of us.

We had our fill of food in Feb/Mar, so I think we’ll be taking it easy in September.

We’ll miss our 1 bedroom for sure, but the savings give us the ability to stay longer and that’s more important to us. It’s funny because any other hotel room in the US would seem totally claustrophobic to me and I wouldn’t dream of staying 12 nights in a room that small. But at the VWL the studio doesn’t bother me in the least –

We’ve started our count down calendar already – all my friends think we’re absolutely insane, but we’re happy and excited and really don’t care!

I got the idea for the countdown calendar from the boards and the kids love it. We pull off a post-it note a day and uncover more and more of our favorite Disney pics!

We also have a movie night count down poster. It's one movie night a week. Every other one is a full blown movie night with themed food and activities. For the other weeks, we just watch the movie.

Our movie last night was Mulan. We ate Chinese food, made dragon masks, painted our names in Chinese characters and made paper fans. Then we watched Mulan. I love that movie! I think Mulan is my favorite princess. DH loved it too - keeping the boys entertained during a princess movie is always a good thing.

Here is a sample of what we did last night - I'm not sure where the rest of the masks went - I think Cassidy and Wyatt hung theirs up in their rooms...

Next week is the Rescuers! It's been ages since I've seen that.

I’d like to post a bit of my pre-trip plans on this thread, as I know I wouldn’t keep up with a PTR and I like to hear myself talk things out. Sometimes seeing it down on paper helps. I am a planner and a re-planner and not too many dining reservations stick from the first time I make them. I’ve been known to change things up quite a bit.

So here is the basic rundown, which again, I’m sure will be changed quite a few times.

Day One:

Saturday, September 6th – fly in – don’t have a time yet as I haven't booked the tickets. After landing in Orlando, Cassidy and I will pick up rental van and head to Super Target. Big kids and DH will take ME to VWL to get checked in.

Depending on time, we will either hang out and swim, eating at Roaring Fork for supper or we will head to Epcot to get some fish and chips for DH and French ham and cheese baguettes for the kids and I or maybe some nachos.

What we do this evening really depends on the time we land. For us to leave the VWL, we will have to get to Orlando by 4-5pm. Anything later and we will just swim, relax and maybe catch the movie on the beach.

Day Two:

Sunday, September 7th – Magic Kingdom

We always head to MK on the first day. We’ll have toaster waffles or yogurt in the room, then have CS lunch in MK.

Midday break for swimming and to cool off.

1900 PF at 8pm for Dinner with Cinderella and the Step-Sisters.

After Dinner head back to MK for EMH

Day Three:

Monday, September 8th – Animal Kingdom

Breakfast in room, then CS in AK.

AK usually wipes us out in September. It is just so darn hot, that after a day in AK, we usually just hang out at the resort for the evening.

Day Four:

Tuesday, September 9th – MNSSHP DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Depending on finances, we plan to go to breakfast at Chef Mickey’s then head to MK to Pirate’s League. Chef Mickey's is an expendable reservation if money is tighter.

Then onto MK where DH and Wyatt will do Pirate’s League – I will be making appointments very soon – hopefully for the afternoon.

We *may* try and swing appointments for all 5 of us. That had been our plan last September. We all have pirate outfits and were planning on being a family of pirates. We will need to decide this soon, however, to get that many appointments.

Then we will head back to VWL to rest, cool off and gather ourselves and get ready to party! We LOVE LOVE LOVE MNSSHP! Our plan for this night will be to get either a family pic with Jack if we are all Pirates or with the Dwarves if only the boys are.

Otherwise our party plans will be to watch the best parade ever created, see the Villains stage show, and see Hallowishes. Anything else we get done will be a bonus.

I'll end here for now and post more days soon.

 

[MusicMicha]

It seems like the Castle was such a magical time and you all look so happy! I was on the fence about ordering the slippers/ crowns for our trip, but your review has made me lean towards that then cake. We will be eating at the Castle on Father's day. Getting excited now that we are closing in quickly.

 

[DopeyDonald]

It seems like the Castle was such a magical time and you all look so happy! I was on the fence about ordering the slippers/ crowns for our trip, but your review has made me lean towards that then cake. We will be eating at the Castle on Father's day. Getting excited now that we are closing in quickly.

I was very impressed with the slipper and crown dessert. They do a beautiful job writing on the plates and the presentation was just awesome. I was on the fence about them also, since dessert is included, plus we'd have cake. But for the $12.50 each that they cost they were WELL worth it. I would order those again in a heartbeat. It really made my kids feel special.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask. That dinner was the highlight of our trip - they really know how to do the extras well.

 

[MamaMeggie]

I am loving your thread! We leave in less than 30 days to celebrate a 5th birthday in the castle as well, so I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip. So glad your little princess is doing well, I have to say it was giving me anxiety just to read about your last trip in hindsight.

 

[DopeyDonald]

I am loving your thread! We leave in less than 30 days to celebrate a 5th birthday in the castle as well, so I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip. So glad your little princess is doing well, I have to say it was giving me anxiety just to read about your last trip in hindsight.

Thanks for reading along. 5th Birthdays in the castle are the best! I hope you have a wonderful vacation and it's every thing you've imagined it to be.

 

[DopeyDonald]

When I last left off, we had just eaten and shopped at the Poly.

We were ready to leave the Poly around 1pm or so. We hopped in the van and headed over to EPCOT. I don’t have too many pics of this day because it was a pretty drizzly, yuckish day. It didn’t put too much of a damper on our plans, however, I didn’t take the camera out too much. In other words – prepare yourself for a wordy, possibly boring update….

We parked, headed in, cleared bag check and went straight to SE. We love this ride. After our trip thru time we headed our separate ways for our FP.

The big kids and Dh headed over to MS. My DH decided not to heed my warnings to NOT ride the orange side. I told him it was the same ride only more intense. I did NOT want my son or daughter to ride as I’m just not comfortable with it, but he insisted. And regretted it. He said, "That was the same ride – only it made my nauseous and gave me a headache." *SIGH

While they were on MS, Cassidy and I headed over to Nemo. Per usual, we didn’t even need to use our Fp for this, it was pretty quiet. We didn’t get a chance to see Crush after as we got the call that the others were done with MS and wanted to do Ellen. DH and Wyatt had never done this ride, but the girls and I love it. I wasn’t sure what DH would think of this ride, but he really really liked it! He is looking forward to it in Sept when it will be a welcome break from the heat.

DH and I on Ellen – the ride was sooooooo empty we had almost an entire section to ourselves!

After Ellen we decided to head to Club Cool to check out the new flavors and make my husband finally try Beverly. We got separated on the way over as DH stopped for a smoke break. So the girls and I got to CC to start trying some new flavors ahead of the boys. While we were in there the skies OPENED UP. It poured.

The boys waited it out a bit and finally made it over.

Here is a video of the boys grand entrance – Ponco Dance time!

PONCHO DANCE

We all tried the new flavors but really missed some of the old ones. I really miss Mezzo Mix. Then it was time for the big moment – getting the boys to try Beverly. I got some great video.

WYATT TRYING BEVERLY

Dh was appalled – he couldn’t believe that anything could taste this bad –

After Club Cool, we all headed over to visit Figment – love this ride. I saw a shirt I really loved, but never got back to buy. Oh well, next time.

By now it was getting to be around 5ish or so. It was almost time for our Soarin FP, so we headed over to the Land.

Here are Annie and Dh in their lovely ponchos.

And that concludes the photos for this update! I have no idea what happened with my camera, other than it was drizzly and someone starts to not feel well and I was a bit preoccupied with that…

For some reason, I wasn’t feeling like riding Soarin, - Ellen had made me a little woozy with some of the screens, (I have AWFUL motion sickness) so I had DH take the kids.

I honestly can’t remember what I did while they went on Soarin, I’m thinking I just sat and people watched.

I do know that while they were on Soarin, I got the call from back home that the weather was a bit iffy and we weren’t sure if my mom was going to be able to make it out.

This was a big deal because she was flying Allegiant and they only fly on certain days, the next one being Friday. And if she had to wait till Friday she wasn’t sure she would even come. This call began a LONG night of calls and worries. But for now all we could do is wait and see if the weather would straighten out.

After Soarin, we all went for a ride on Living with the Land – another ride we enjoy. Since we were already in the building we decided just to go ahead and eat supper at Sunshine Seasons. We were really excited to have the dining plan here – it worked out awesome. I especially love that Wyatt and Annie are old enough to order and pay with magic bands themselves while we are waiting in our own lines.

Annie ended up with Mac n Cheese, jello and a cookie. Cassidy and I wanted some of the Asian entrees. I got the Mongolian Beef and she wanted the Cashew Chicken, so I just ordered her the adult meal .

I don’t’ feel to bad about this as I had a kids meal one day when I wasn’t that hungry. This took FOREVER as they were making a new batch of the beef.

Oh well, it was worth it as I got a hot fresh batch – yum! We also got to choose dessert – that is an AMAZING thing at Sunshine Seasons – no little cake containers or weird mousse, but real BIG desserts! Cassidy chose a brownie and I got a cheese cake.

We all met back at the table with our meals. Wyatt had gotten them to give him an adult size of the mac n cheese and picked a large carrot cake cupcake for dessert. DH had gotten the Mongolian Beef and a brownie.

Our meals were all wonderful.

BUT...Here is where our night started heading south a bit. Most of it was self induced – Let me explain….

DH finished his meal, most of Cassidy’s and was apparently still hungry so I told him to go get another beef. He did and also got a cheese cake which he gave to Annie since she got the kids dessert, which we saved.

He woofed this beef down also. This meal had obviously taken us awhile, with me having to wait and DH eating so much and going back for more. So, by the time we were done it was close to 7pm.

Throughout this whole time, I’d been in contact with my mom. She was supposed to have flown out at 5:45 central time. It was 6pm central time and they were sitting on the plane on the runway. It seems that the weather had cleared, but the tire pressure on the jet was low. So they were getting an airtank to come and fill it up. Ok, no big deal.

Next, we decided to head over to wander the countries for a bit. We headed into Canada and began browsing.

The kids and I had a goal to buy some candy from each of the countries to try. We found a maple sugar sucker and some chocolate covered peanuts - aka Bear Nuts. It was also here that Wyatt also decided, on the fly, to collect pressed pennies.

No big deal, except we had no change and very little cash. I was able to get a few quarters and pennies with my change since I went ahead and paid cash for our treats.

Then, we had some serious pixie dust. A gentleman was standing near us and heard me tell Wyatt that we would have to find an atm to get more cash etc. He came over to us and gave us all the quarters and pennies he had!!

It was AWESOME. It really made our night. It was enough to get us thru the countries that we would make it to that night and then we would come more prepared next time when we visited Epcot again! I love nice people!!!

It was about now that I got another text from my mom. Now they were having to get off the plane. The air tank they brought over had frozen up and they were having to truck another one in. BUT, they were still planning on taking off that night. We were still OK.

On to the UK. Here we browsed and found our family crest and name history –Wyatt really wanted one, but we told him we would think about it. I was also pleased to find that they had women’s shirts with “keep calm and carry on”. I had bought the men’s version last year and love it, but it’s always nice to have the women’s cut. I planned on getting it the next time we came back, but again, never did stop back. For candy I found a fruit and nut chocolate bar.

From here we wandered over to France. This is my daughter’s fave country . Nana has promised to take her to Paris for her graduation, so they are obsessed with all things Paris. My daughter is even taking French in school.

It was around here that my DH started feeling poorly. He really looked rough. He said his stomach was bothering him and he just looked beat. I tried to get him to head back, but he just wanted to sit down for a bit. So while he sat, I called home to see what the status was.

Now, they were back on the plane waiting to take off. They were originally scheduled to take off at 5:45 CT and land at 10:30 ET. It was now 7:30 CT and 8:30 ET. They would be taking off any moment. So YAY – that was a weight lifted off.

We made our way slowly over to Japan with DH not doing well at all. I was really worried about him. He was moving slowly and looking very green. I offered to head out with him right away, but he really wanted to see Illuminations and thought if he could just find a good place to sit he’d be OK.

He kept saying that he thought it was the Beverly…..all the while I’m thinking that it was more like the 3 plates of Asian food and a giant brownie!!

We slowly made our way thru some more countries so we wouldn’t have as far to walk once Illuminations was over.

We ended up stopping near the outpost between Germany and China- I think? It’s near the bridge that goes up and down.

The big kids and DH parked themselves up near the railing and watched while Cassidy and I stood in line to get her a hotdog. She was starving since she didn’t eat much of her dinner and she loves the hot dogs there. There were a few girls ahead of us in line and when we got to the front it was about 3 mins after 9.

Here we encountered some AWESOME CM’s who already had the hot dogs shut down, but put another one on for her. I told them it wasn’t necessary, but they insisted. It was so nice to come across some CM’s who really went above and beyond. We never had any really bad ones this trip, but these guys went way above and beyond.

Once she got her hotdog and chips, which she ate every bite of, we headed over to watch Illuminations with the rest of the fam. It was a very nice way to end our evening.

After it was over, we started walking out. DH was feeling a bit better, but sill wanted to get back to the room to head to bed. The rest of us wanted to go to DTD. Again.

We wanted to get my mom some food for when she got to us. So, we got DH on a bus (Wyatt offered to go with him as he was a bit worried about him, but DH assured him he was feeling a bit better) and headed to DTD.

I also volunteered to drive him, but he wanted to make sure we had enough time at DTD because by now it was 9:45 and DTD closed (the part we wanted to visit anyway) at 11pm
.
The kids and I got to DTD around 10 so we had an hour to cram in as much as we could! We knew my mom would be hungry when she landed and wanted to get her either a sandwich from Earl’s or a WP pizza. But first we needed to hit Ghiardelli’s!!!!

Cassidy was pretty full after her hot dog and chips and she didn’t want any, so we just got one to split. We got the PB, hot fudge one. It was heaven.

From there we wandered and browsed a bit. We wanted to get my mom's food at the last possible minute so it would be as fresh as possible. She was supposed to be landing at 12:15 and would be to Fort Wilderness via shuttle by 1am. If only it had happened this way…..

We hit Goofy’s for some treats and then made our decision to get WP’s pizza for her. We got a Pepperoni and a BBQ chicken to take back to the cabin. I paid OOP for these and regretted it at the end when we had 11 CS left over. *sigh Oh well.

With Pizzas and treats in hand we headed back over to the cabins. Once there, it wasn’t too long before we got the text that they had landed and EARLY at that!

She was going to get her bags and hit the shuttle and she’d be seeing us soon!! Or so we thought.

We had her booked on the shuttle since we planned this trip, thinking it would just be easiest since she was coming in at night and we had no idea where Sanford airport was etc.

So after getting her bags she headed to the shuttle check in desk – the one ASSOCIATED with the airline. Here is what they told her. Oh…your flight didn’t land when it was supposed to so we don’t have a shuttle for you, but we can get one in about 3o mins.

Ok. Probably partly my fault, as I never even thought about contacting the shuttle, when I found our her flight was delayed. BUT COME ONE, it’s the airlines shuttle – they knew their plane was going to be late!!

At this point I offered to go and get her, but we figured that the shuttle would beat me there and it would be pointless. It’s 12pm at this point, the shuttle would be there at 12:30 – and she’d be to us by 1:15. All good. OR NOT.

12:30 rolls around. No shuttle. Then 1am, NO SHUTTLE. She was the only one in the airport at this point and a cabbie kept trying to get her to just take a ride from him. I kept offering to come and get her, but we figured that as soon as I did that the shuttle would show up. The lady at the desk just kept telling her it was on it’s way.

Finally at 2:30 AM the damn shuttle showed up. Not even kidding. They got her loaded up and headed over to FW.

I had been staying awake this whole time since I didn’t trust myself to hear my phone and I needed to go to the front desk to get her. So I was nodding off waiting for her. I finally got the call around 3:20 that she was finally here!

She later told me it was the ride from hell as the shuttle driver kept drifting around the road – my mom thinks the lady driver was falling asleep!!

We got back to the cabins, got her stuff inside and talked a bit. She didn’t dare eat at this point (she has bad reflux and didn’t know how pizza would sit at 3:30am) so we just hit the sack. What a night!!!

 

[Credit Man]

It is so wonderful seeing your daughter enjoying herself and looking so healthy. Wow! Your mom had the trip from HE double hockey sticks!!!

 

[DopeyDonald]

It is so wonderful seeing your daughter enjoying herself and looking so healthy. Wow! Your mom had the trip from HE double hockey sticks!!!

We think so too! I'll be posting a pic in a future update that is a comparison of her on our last trip and one of this trip. We really didn't see how skinny and sickly looking she was, until we look back at pics.

She really had fun this trip...we all did.

And yes, my mom definitely had a rough night, but it was all worth it!

 

[DopeyDonald]

Ahhhh, the first morning with Nana.

We originally had breakfast for 10:50 at Hollywood and Vine scheduled for this morning. However, with our ridiculously late night, I called and begged Disney dining first thing in the morning to let me change the reservation. I told them what happened and they were very understanding and let me cancel with no penalty. They didn’t have anything for the rest of the trip besides a reservation for the next day for breakfast for 2. So I took it and figured we’d decide who would take Cassidy later.

We took our time lounging around, getting showers in, etc. Since our plans were open for the day we went back and forth on what to do. We finally decided to head to DTD for lunch and then head to AK in the afternoon.

I had also managed to score a reservation for 4 for 1900 Park Fare for 8:30pm while we were still in the cabin. Since we cancelled the H&V breakfast we needed another table service to make sure we used our credits up. My DH does NOT like this dinner due to the food selection, so it actually worked out perfectly. It was decided that my mom, and the girls and I would go.

Now that our day was planned out we headed to DTD.

Ready for a Disney Day!

Wyatt and his beloved golf cart. That boy is counting down till he’s 16 just so he can drive that thing!

We again parked the golf cart at the bus stop and picked up DH and all drove to DTD. Once we arrived there, we actually split up to eat. Wyatt really wanted to eat at Earl of Sandwich, while the girls and I were more in the mood for WP’s. Especially since we were on the dining plan! So DH took Wyatt to EOS and my mom came with us to WP.

Cassidy had the kids spaghetti and meatballs which she really enjoyed. Annie had the kids cheese pizza, which she did NOT like – she didn’t care for the sauce. My mom had the meatloaf sandwich, which she loved and I had the bbq chicken pizza, which in all honesty, I did not care for too much.

I think I wasn’t all that hungry from my late night and just wasn’t in the mood for something like that. Annie and I picked at our pizzas, but we loved dessert – We all had the cheesecake!

Here are some WP Pics

Cassidy busy coloring

Mom and her girls (Cassidy is giving her, “I can barely stand to look up from my drawing for a second, so hurry up and take the darn pic” face –

After lunch, we met back up with the boys at the Christmas store.

It was really, really chilly this day, so we needed to get Cassidy a sweatshirt. I had dressed her in long sleeves thinking it would be warm enough, but it was definately NOT. So we were on a mission for a sweatshirt. While DH and the big kids browsed the Christmas store, my mom, Cassidy and I ran over to World of Disney to look for one.

After just a few minutes, I had a sweatshirt in hand and I had spied a dress I really wanted. (You will see it in a later update.)

The dress was around $42 and the sweatshirt was $30ish? I tell you this because on the way to the checkout I made the command decision. The command decision to BUY ANNUAL PASSES.

We’d been toying with it for a while and dang it I decided we should just do it now so I can get my discounts for the rest of my trip! .

We knew we were going to have to upgrade our tickets regardless since we went to a park on our arrival day, so……why not just upgrade to annual passes?!

So, I gave the sweatshirt and dress to my mom and told her that Cassidy and I would be right back. We headed over to guest services just a short walk away and walked right up to the counter. We excitedly told him what we wanted to do and it was a short and painless transaction. He was even able to let us choose which character we wanted. Yay for Donald!

Annual passes, hot off the press, in hand we headed back over to make our purchases – hey that 10% off really helps! While Cassidy and I were doing this, DH, Annie and Wyatt had gotten to World of Disney and were shopping with my mom. I told Larry that I had gotten annual passes and that he should take the big kids and himself over there and get them some too! So much for finishing our discussion on if we were going to buy them for sure!

While all of this had been going on my mom just kept shopping. She stealthily bought a Snow White Dress for Annie.

Annie is just borderline being to old (in her mind) for princess dresses (and it’s very hard to find some in her size most of the time), but had been looking wistfully at Cassidy’s dress, so my mom just decided to go ahead and get her one. BEST. DECISION. EVER. (more on this later.)

At this point the boys were done shopping, so they hopped a bus to AK. The girls hit a few more stores, including Tren-D, and Run Fit. We finally got the shopping out of our system and headed to AK to meet up with the boys.

 

[DopeyDonald]

We left DTD and headed to AK. We had a 3:00pm Fp+ for dinosaur and got to the parks around 2pm or so.
We took some pics on the way in

Looking thru my photopass, it seems the boys were good to me and stopped for one on their way in too!

Annie and I were hungry due to our picked at lunch at DTD, so we headed to Flame Tree. We got Annie a hot dog kids meal and we also got some onion rings and fries for the rest of us to munch on.

Here is an amazingly awesome picture of me. We are eating at Flame Tree and I am checking wait times, I believe. Apparently, mid-bite. *sigh – Thanks mom.

We finished our treats and headed over to ride Dinosaur.

Once we got there, Cassidy was having nothing to do with Dinosaur again. So her and I just kind of shopped around the shop and wandered the dino trails again. Believe it or not the photo from this ride never made it on our memory maker either! DH must have not been doing it right, I don’t know – poor Wyatt!

Up next, was Kali River Rapids! However on the way to Kali, it started drizzling and was just plain miserable out. Everyone was chickening out. My mom really hates getting wet and it’s not DH’s fave, but the big kids surprised me. However, Cassidy was desperate to go on this. ?!?! She was being so weird about rides this trip. Oh well, I was just happy she wanted to ride something.

Happy Cassie after I told her that I would step up and take her on Kali

So while DH, the big kids and my mom headed to the Maharaja Jungle Trek, Cassidy and I braved Kali River Rapids. We definitely did not need our fp+ for this, with the weather being so cold and drizzly.

In fact, we got a raft to ourselves. And we did NOT get the 2 bad seats – we remained pretty dry. Cassidy was chanting, “Again, again.”

So, we got off and walked up the hill and right back around the handrail and walked right back on the ride – in our own boat again!

And once again we were lucky and it was empty seats that took the brunt of the water.

This gamble was repeated 2 more times. I am sad to report, however, that on our 4th and final ride, our luck ran out. We were SOAKED.

At this point it was almost time for our EE fast passes. However, Cassidy was not done with Kali. I was. So she begged DH to take her on. He finally agreed and the big kids decided they wanted to ride too.

While they headed back to Kali, my mom and I decided to run over to Dinosaur. Prior to this trip she had never ridden it and wanted another ride to try and keep her eyes open this time.

We had so much fun on this ride! I was able to tell my mom where the camera was and we gave our best “oh my goodness” faces.

When we got off it, I checked my phone and I had a lot of missed calls. Seems they had shut Kali down due to lightning and they didn’t get to ride. I had one sad little girl. Oh well.

We still had a bit of time before our EE Fastpasses, so we headed over to It’s Tough to be a Bug. I really thought that Cassidy would try this time, since Nana was with, but again, Cassidy wanted nothing to do with it. This time DH took one for the team and waited outside with her.

I love this show! Also, You can see how wet my sleeve was from Kali in these pics!

Nana and her kiddos

Nana, Annie and I – check out my wet sleeve! Thank goodness for ponchos or the rest of me would look like that too!

Big kids and I - look how tall he’s getting! He’s standing one something to be as tall as me in this pic, but I guarantee you, come September, he won’t have to do that.


Rolling the dung ball – ewwwwww

It was finally time for DH and the big kids to use their EE fp’s. My mom used to be able to ride this ride, but no longer can. She spent some time with the trashcan after our trip in September and didn’t want to chance it again.

I’ve never tried, but don’t think the backwards part would agree with me. I cannot spin, but usually can do roller coasters. Lately though, even BTMRR has been giving me grief.

DH, Wyatt and Annie were able to ride Everest multiple times, while my mom and I shopped our way to the front of the park. I really love AK’s shops. I think they definitely have some merchandise that the other parks don’t carry.
It wasn’t too long, and the boys and Annie were meeting up with us on the bridge for one last PP pic at AK.
This turned out to be one of my fave pics this trip!

After a very productive time at AK, we were headed to the van. We had a dinner to get ready for!

*I’ll end here, but do have to share a funny story about the drive back to our cabin. This was the first time that DH had driven the van back to the Cabins after being in the park. As we approach the Magic Kingdom gates Dh pulls to the far right lane as he knows that the FW turn off is coming up quick. As we approach the open lane, DH doesn’t seem to be slowing down all that much. And he just heads right thru the gate area without stopping!! The lady in the booth immediately jumps out, shaking her fist and and saying “HEY”. *sigh. Dh thought since it was a green light, that it meant go thru. He thought they could see the white piece of paper on our dash. We told him NO, the green light means that the lane is open and they are taking cars. It was SO embarrassing! No more driving for him this trip!

 

[DopeyDonald]

Update to day Four: Today I booked us in for PIRATES LEAGUE. All of us. Yay. We have appointments at 12:20 for 2 of us and at 12:30 for 3 of us. Wooooooooo. Now just to convince the girls to be skeleton pirates with me so we can be Jack’s skeleton crew.

Day Five:

Today we will definitely get moving slowly after a late night at the MNSSHP. I have a lunch booked at DTD for T-Rex at 11:30. We’ll probably just get up and head over in time for lunch. After lunch and some shopping, we’ll probably head back for a swim and to cool off.

I’d like to spend the evening at DHS. We haven’t been there in the evening/at night before – crazy I know – it seems that we are always there in the morning and never make it until the evening! I’d also like to try Pizza Planet for supper – we’ve never eaten there and they have a salad that looks good.

Day Six:

Today is Epcot day – finally! I don’t know if we’ll make it until day 6 before hitting Epcot, but if we do we will definitely make up for it today! On this day I’d like to eat breakfast at Sunshine Seasons. We love to eat here, but have never made it to Breakfast before. We’ll spend the morning in Future World hitting all of our faves I’m sure.

Then at 3:20 Annie and I have tea at the Grand Floridian scheduled. I’m sure the rest of the fam will take advantage of the break and hit the pool while we’re at tea.

After tea, we’ll head back to Epcot to visit our favorite countries. I have Teppan Edo as a possible dinner choice for this night, but not sure how hungry Annie and I will be after our tea.

Day Seven:

I have this day scheduled as a rest/relaxation day. We’ve never scheduled one of these during our vacation and I’m not sure it will stick as one, but there it is….

I think this is the day that DH and Annie will go horseback riding. She has been dying to do this for years, and is finally old enough. I plan on making reservations soon – I’m not sure if this is a 180 day booking or more like the 90 days out booking? I will probably call soon once I firm up some of our other plans.

This is also the day that Cassidy and I go to tea. I gave both girls the choice to have tea as a threesome or with mom alone. They both chose alone time with me

Our tea is set for 2:40pm. I don’t mind this as I LOVE tea at the G.F and lucky me – I get to go twice!!! I have been once with each girl before – Sept 2012 with Annie and Feb 2014 with Cassidy. Both girls said it was their favorite thing of the trip. It is a really neat experience to have with them, definitely a must do.

I’m hoping by scheduling this day we finally make it to something we’ve been trying to do for years….the Chip and Dale Campfire Sing-a-long at Fort Wilderness. We always talk about going, but something always seems to come up or the weather doesn’t cooperate. We REALLY want to make it here this trip. I just hope a decent movie lands on this day!

Day Eight:

Another Animal Kingdom day is planned for this day.
Again, we never make it longer than a half day at AK in Sept. Just too hot. I definitely would like to try to make it here early and get on one of the first safari’s. Then we’ll probably head back to swim/relax etc. in the afternoon.
After our break, our plans are up in the air for now. Possibilities include: Dinner at WCC, Epcot or Chip and Dales (If the night before didn’t pan out).

Day Nine:

Another busy day!! CASSIDY’S BDAY!!!!
Today starts off with a date with Cassie’s fave – Breakfast with Doc McStuffins at Hollywood and Vine. I have a reservation for 10:10am. We’ll probably only go to DHS for breakfast as the girls have another fun experience planned….
BBB!!! I went ahead and made reservations for both girls at the castle!! I wasn’t going to do this, but Annie really enjoyed dressing up on our last trip – I had thought she was too old for that but she proved me wrong and had so much fun. I wasn’t able to get her an apt in Feb, so this will be a treat. Their appointment is for 1:20.

I’m hoping this is allowing enough time for breakfast at 10:10 then heading to the MK. I think we’ll leave the boys at DHS to have some more fun, while the girls and I head to MK. After getting all done up we’ll probably head back to the lodge to cool off and rest. Because……we’re going to another MNSSHP (if they have one) I’ve seen conflicting things whether there will be one on this day….Touring Plans has it on their calendar so……? If not, we’ll take the girls to 1900 Park Fare… I’ll wait and see what happens – I have a Park Fare reservation for another day right now also. I’ll decide what to do once the MNSSHP dates are released.

 

[beyondblessed]

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