The digested version:
October 12-18, 2014
Day 1-5: Visited Walt Disney World for 2 days. Stayed with my cousin Cassie and her family. Drove to Clearwater Beach. Stayed for 1.5 days in a Hyatt Hotel.
Day 6-7: Flew to Atlanta, Georgia. Visited the Georgia Aquarium. Stayed in a Hyatt Hotel. Flew home.
Earlier this Spring, before SWA (Southwest Airlines) points values increased we reserved our plane tickets for this trip. We used our two companion passes and Colin was free. Then we used points for Jocelyn so we paid about $60 for all of us to fly there. We had a layover in Denver and then the 3 hour flight to Orlando. The kids did really well. Security wasn't bad. They had to check every baby bottle and baby food which took a bit longer but the kids were really patient waiting. Luckily, Tyler and I were doing this together. I don't imagine flying solo with 4 kids. That would be tricky. We had tons of snacks and lunchables for dinner to avoid paying for airport food. The 3 older kids sat on a row together and after drinks/snacks they watched a movie on the ipad, each with their own earphones. Tyler and I sat behind them with Colin on my lap. He was a great traveler. Didn't cry at all.
Day 1: Not thinking clearly we booked our tickets for a Sunday arriving at 11pm at night. After renting the car and driving to Cassie's we didn't get in until about 12:30 am Monday morning. Cassie and Jacob were greats hosts. They tried to stay up late to greet us upon arrival by watching a movie but couldn't make it that late which was totally fine (they have a new baby!). Knowing we'd get in very late, they left the lights on for us to direct us to our rooms. Gave us the door code so we didn't have to disturb them, their girls.
Day 2: The next morning the kids actually got to "sleep in" until 9am. We woke up, met Cassie's girls (our kids hadn't really met before) and ate breakfast. The kids saw her pool and immediately wanted to go swimming. Because it's sooo humid and still warm, somewhere between 70-80 degrees it was a great temperature. The kids swam while Cassie and I chatted. Then Tyler wanted to mow their lawn. Their grass is soooo different there. It's very course and weedy. It's not like the plush blue grass that we see everywhere else. He enjoys mowing and it was an extra way of saying thanks for the accommodations. After getting a briefing on where to park, tips and such from Cassie and Jacob (he used to work there and they could go all the time....so they're pretty experienced) for WDW (walt disney world) we quickly got ready to go. The time was already escaping us. I wanted to stay and visit with Cassie longer!! We got the kids in costume, packed our stuff for the evening and drove off. We had to stop at Walmart first to get our food for the next few days. We ended up packing a whole suitcase of Costco/Sam's Club goodies for the week which saved us a lot of money and was very convenient. Plus, because we opted not to pay extra for the magic bands (free if you stay on Disney property) we used "cards" for fast pass lanes and I didn't want to keep them in my pocket or have the kids lose them. When I was leaving Walmart I saw they had a whole separate Disney store. I bought lanyards for $5 each. I am so glad I did. It kept our cards nice and safe and it was another "gift" for the kids to get them excited. On Disney property they cost $15!!! So we saved money there. Paying $20 for convenience was totally worth it.
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| See how flushed I am from walking briskly in the warm Florida weather? yikes. It was too hot for Colin to wear his pumpkin costume. |
We were able to be admitted to the park at 4pm. We decided to get a Halloween ticket (Not So Scary Halloween event) for the first day. And a full day the 2nd day. We only went to Magic Kingdom (not Epcot, Animal Kingdom, etc. We'll save that for another trip....or maybe Harry Potter land...a. completely different park). We parked and walked (because it's easier with a stroller than taking the tram) and then the ferry. The kids were already complaining about how tired they were and we hadn't even got into the park yet. There was no line to get in but the cast member had a hard time finding our passes (because we switched them a few days earlier) and it took foreeeeeever to get our tickets (next time...buy in advance enough to have them mailed to me). As a result, we missed our first fast pass so she gave us a free voucher to use on another ride to make up for it. yay! Great service.
We decided to get a Halloween party ticket because they were $65 per ticket instead of the $95 for a full day. If we would have got a one day pass it would have cost $95 and we would have gone from 9am (and had to wake up the kids super early) until 7pm when they would kick us out for not paying for the Halloween party. So....10 hours for $95 or.....pay $30 less and go for 8 hours! We made the right decision in saving money and having a great time at the special Halloween party. We got to go on the major rides until 7pm, using fast passes and the trick-or-treating started at 7 and more rides. It was less empty than during normal hours but still a bit crowded. We had to stay close to each other. Luckily, Cecily our wanderer, never got lost!!
DON'T read this part if you don't care about WDW tips. We definitely saved time by using the fast passes and child swap. Because of Colin we were able to take advantage of the child swap plus the fast pass that you can sign up for in advance online (on your phone, computer, kiosks in the park etc....you sign up for 3 rides, then once those were redeemed we could sign up for 1 ride at a time after that). So the kids could ride the ride back to back, twice in a row. So, for example, Tyler would go through the fast pass line (MUCH shorter) and I would show them Colin (in my arms or asleep in the stroller...this only works on the non-baby rides like splash mountain,etc. The child swap doesn't apply to haunted mansion, small world, etc) and they would give Tyler the child swap pass. When he was done with the ride he would give me the pass and I could go on the ride, after going through fast pass lane, with two other children. So typically, one of the kids didn't want to go again so it wasn't a problem. Sometimes, however, the cast member would let all 3 kids go again. The kids favorite was Thunder Mountain. It's old and rickety but it was the least scary of the "scary" rides. Between the two days they went on it about 7 times! Jocelyn and Cecily liked Splash Mountain. Samuel only wanted to go on it once. To be honest, the drop at the end scares me enough that I only needed to go once too. Jocelyn was scared and went twice. Cecily went three times.
Back to the Halloween party. Everyone was dressed up (kids anyway and some of the adults). I read online (yay Pinterest) to buy our kids glow sticks and glow toys in advance (from Dollar Tree, Michaels) and bring them with us because once it got dark there were cast members pushing carts around selling these toys for waaaay more than typical retail value. So I whipped out the glow sticks and spinny glow toys that they could carry around. Once it was dark you could see a lot of people walking around with all type of glow toys/hats/sticks, etc so I am glad I bought them for the kids so they never had to ask for one. I accidentally lost one of our pumpkin lights right away though. We were in the haunted mansion and I put one in my lap (turned off) and when I got off the ride it fell off (I forgot it was there) and it fell underneath the track. Darn it. oh, well...it was only $1 and we still had Colin's that Cecily could use. Luckily, that was only one of two casualties the whole trip (the other was Samuel leaving his stuffed angry bird somewhere between Florida and Georgia).
We ate sub sandwiches (pre-made from Walmart), chips and salad for dinner. We brought water bottles and I bought a $2 insulated bag and a bag of ice. It was perfect for keeping our water cool and food "refrigerated" even though there was a puddle of cold water left at the bottom. I am glad we brought our big stroller because it hauled all our stuff.
Trick or treating was fun. They had 13 stations and gave us each a bag upon entering the park. We didn't make it to all 13 stations though. But we each got (including Tyler, me and Colin) about 2-3 lbs each of candy. They would give us a handful at each station. 2/3 of it was chocolate candy! My favorite. We got to see the special Halloween parade and the special fireworks show. I haven't been to a fireworks show in years so I was really glad we got to see it (since we didn't the 2nd night). I love being right underneath, to hear the crackling and feel the boom in your chest. It's so magical. And the kids weren't even scared! yay! The Halloween one is even cooler than the normal nightly one because the finale includes 360 degree fireworks. It lit up the sky so brightly it felt like it was daytime. It was sooo awesome. That was Tyler's favorite part of the Halloween party. It was unforgettable, for sure.
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| That is Belle's (or the Beasts) castle below. |
I like parades and they did not disappoint. The choreography was spot on and they make it so fun to watch. The kids, who normally don't like parades, enjoyed it too. By then, however, it was nearly 11pm. We got kicked out at midnight. We thought after the parade we'd leave, like most people do. But we wanted to fit in as many rides as possible while it was less crowded. The kids were soooooo tired and begging to go home. But we wanted our money's worth. So we convinced them to stay a bit longer. We rode the teacups like 3 times in a row because there was no line while Tyler went on the new Snow White and 7 dwarf mine ride. The line is usually over an hour so it was shorter at 11pm. (no fast passes during Halloween party). Tyler and Cecily went on first while I stayed with Samuel, Colin and Jocelyn (who were too afraid and tired to go). Tyler liked it so much (I think we may have had a child swap for this ride) that he convinced Samuel to go with me. Jocelyn regretted not going because we couldn't get a fast pass for it the next day and she never got to ride it. It's about as "scary" as thunder mountain but not as rickety. It was fun! Then as we were leaving at midnight we saw the princess line thing. They let us go in (the girls and I) even though they were closing. Once we got inside we saw the line for the Frozen girls! It was at least 30 minutes (at midnight) so we saw Rapunzel and Cinderella. The girls were thrilled, even Jocelyn. Cecily was so excited/shy she wouldn't stand next to them. Super fun to see the "magic" at work. I think her age is the perfect age for Disney stuff. She was still wide awake then (however....she's naturally a late owl). Another regret....not waiting earlier that day to meet the Frozen girls (which the girls didn't think they'd like at all). Then we had to walk all way back to the car (the kids were dying by this point) and drove 20 minutes back to Cassie's. They were out like a light, 1 am.
So...this is taking waaaay longer than I thought. I will write about Day 3 in another post!
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