Chellymouse
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2007
I'll begin with a quick PTR....June 2011 Las Vegas....I find that my conference for 2012 will be at the Orlando convention center...quick check on google maps shows it's 8.4 miles from the parking lot at CP/SSR to the convention center. SWEET! no dirt bag hotels for me! DH and I decide we're both going. DSIL (who cancelled on us the year before) decides that they ARE going this year and after a series of events and discussion, the family trip is planned. June 14-24...yes, that is 11 days, however, 5 of those days I had to attend my conference.
The Cast:
The "Vets"
Me--chellymouse 35 years old and a Disney addict, Disneyfile, NDW#1, Disneyaholic...ect. (pick your adjective...) Started at DL at age 2 (thanks to family that lived in LA) and finally made it to the world at 22 where we've been going ever since.
DH-39 years old and as we call him...our "closet mouse lover" Started going to the world at 26 (with me)
Those "earning their ears"
DMIL-aka Fairy Godmother (FGM for short) she's the best MIL anyone could ask for. On a side note...DFIL (RIP) passed away suddenly in Feb 2008 however, he was with us in spirit...more on that later
DSIL-aka Grumpy and DH's sister. Again...awesome to have amazing in-laws (DH's other sister and her family did not join us)
DBIL-Grumpy's spouse and aka Dopey
DNiece-8 aka Minnie
DNephew-turning 6 aka Stitch
So, it's finally June 14th and for the first time in a long time, we had to be at the airport at the crack of dawn. Had a 7am flight which meant we needed to be at the airport by 5:30am. Grumpy and family live about 2 hours away in Columbus, FGM lives about half away from DH and I, so they arrived Wed evening as it was cheaper to fly out of CAK then Columbus. At 4:10am the alarm rang and DH and I were up pretty quickly. I don't thing Grumpy found my WAY too happy text messaging at 4:30 humorous though.. We all arrived at the airport on time and by the time we checked bags and were through security, it wasn't long before it was time to get on the plane! DH and I felt a little bad as we had an upgrade we had to use or lose so we sat business class with everyone else in coach. No one was annoyed though so that was good. Eventually Stitch and Minnie both sat with us a for a few minutes just so they could say they were in business class..
We took off and landed on time and everyone heeded my "you'd better go before we land because we don't stop at the powder room until we get down to ground level" Family was surprised at how big MCO is, but we managed to get down to groun level, everyone took care of business and then it was off to ME. Thankfully, our bus was loading so were on our way to SSR by 9:45am (not bad having landed at 9:05) We made it to SSR by 10:20am and here's where we had our first hiccup. Everyone (except DH and I ) was NOT ready to go to the parks...everyone had to change and blah blah...grrr. I had done online checkin which took all of 5 minutes then went to get the family's tickets placed on their room cards. (DH and I have AP) Long story short, the CM was trying to put the kids tickets on the adult cards and vice versa which a manager pointed out so that took WAY longer than necessary! Finally by 11am we were on our way to MK. DH and I sent everyone with our stuff to bag check while we picked up our AP and TIW (which took all of 5 minutes) then it was time to head in.
Here we are a few minutes after arriving in the park:
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Now everybody is hungry..I want snacks and POTC however, I was heavily outvoted so we made a pit stop at Casey's. Minnie, Stitch and I were done and I desperately needed a Dole Whip so after grabbing some $$ from DH, I took the kids to the Dole Whip stand. Bought the kids a rootbeer float to share while I got my beloved Dole Whip. Just as we were receiving our yummies, DH was bringing the rest of the family to meet us. Now the kids decide they need a pit stop...... it's time for POTC!! Oh well...now that everyone has been fed, watered and pottied, it's time for POTC! Awww...much better. I left DH with the family in the gift shop and ran ahead for FP for Splash. They had a hard time getting Stitch out of there with a promise they could go back if he behaved....there is a reason he's Stitch! DH and family met up with me at the popcorn stand where I was getting my fix on. Grumpy makes an observation about how much I've eaten...I say we haven't been here for 13 months, leave me alone! (this will come back later) and it's off to HM. We chose the new queue as we thought the family would enjoy it. Here's a few pics:
Minnie and Stitch
[/IMG]
Minnie, Stitch and FGM
[/IMG]
Minnie, Stitch and Dopey
]
[/IMG]
After HM, we did ISAW (where we pointed out that any misbehavior would result in being placed on this ride repeatedly) then the carousel. It was close enough to head back to Splash so I ran ahead to grab FP for BTMRR then met everyone. We had a few minutes to spare so stopped in the gift shop. DH and I take notice that a storm is brewing.....up next...will we make it onto Splash? and what happens at dinner....
The Cast:
The "Vets"
Me--chellymouse 35 years old and a Disney addict, Disneyfile, NDW#1, Disneyaholic...ect. (pick your adjective...) Started at DL at age 2 (thanks to family that lived in LA) and finally made it to the world at 22 where we've been going ever since.
DH-39 years old and as we call him...our "closet mouse lover" Started going to the world at 26 (with me)
Those "earning their ears"
DMIL-aka Fairy Godmother (FGM for short) she's the best MIL anyone could ask for. On a side note...DFIL (RIP) passed away suddenly in Feb 2008 however, he was with us in spirit...more on that later
DSIL-aka Grumpy and DH's sister. Again...awesome to have amazing in-laws (DH's other sister and her family did not join us)
DBIL-Grumpy's spouse and aka Dopey
DNiece-8 aka Minnie
DNephew-turning 6 aka Stitch
So, it's finally June 14th and for the first time in a long time, we had to be at the airport at the crack of dawn. Had a 7am flight which meant we needed to be at the airport by 5:30am. Grumpy and family live about 2 hours away in Columbus, FGM lives about half away from DH and I, so they arrived Wed evening as it was cheaper to fly out of CAK then Columbus. At 4:10am the alarm rang and DH and I were up pretty quickly. I don't thing Grumpy found my WAY too happy text messaging at 4:30 humorous though.. We all arrived at the airport on time and by the time we checked bags and were through security, it wasn't long before it was time to get on the plane! DH and I felt a little bad as we had an upgrade we had to use or lose so we sat business class with everyone else in coach. No one was annoyed though so that was good. Eventually Stitch and Minnie both sat with us a for a few minutes just so they could say they were in business class..
We took off and landed on time and everyone heeded my "you'd better go before we land because we don't stop at the powder room until we get down to ground level" Family was surprised at how big MCO is, but we managed to get down to groun level, everyone took care of business and then it was off to ME. Thankfully, our bus was loading so were on our way to SSR by 9:45am (not bad having landed at 9:05) We made it to SSR by 10:20am and here's where we had our first hiccup. Everyone (except DH and I ) was NOT ready to go to the parks...everyone had to change and blah blah...grrr. I had done online checkin which took all of 5 minutes then went to get the family's tickets placed on their room cards. (DH and I have AP) Long story short, the CM was trying to put the kids tickets on the adult cards and vice versa which a manager pointed out so that took WAY longer than necessary! Finally by 11am we were on our way to MK. DH and I sent everyone with our stuff to bag check while we picked up our AP and TIW (which took all of 5 minutes) then it was time to head in.
Here we are a few minutes after arriving in the park:
Now everybody is hungry..I want snacks and POTC however, I was heavily outvoted so we made a pit stop at Casey's. Minnie, Stitch and I were done and I desperately needed a Dole Whip so after grabbing some $$ from DH, I took the kids to the Dole Whip stand. Bought the kids a rootbeer float to share while I got my beloved Dole Whip. Just as we were receiving our yummies, DH was bringing the rest of the family to meet us. Now the kids decide they need a pit stop...... it's time for POTC!! Oh well...now that everyone has been fed, watered and pottied, it's time for POTC! Awww...much better. I left DH with the family in the gift shop and ran ahead for FP for Splash. They had a hard time getting Stitch out of there with a promise they could go back if he behaved....there is a reason he's Stitch! DH and family met up with me at the popcorn stand where I was getting my fix on. Grumpy makes an observation about how much I've eaten...I say we haven't been here for 13 months, leave me alone! (this will come back later) and it's off to HM. We chose the new queue as we thought the family would enjoy it. Here's a few pics:
Minnie and Stitch
Minnie, Stitch and FGM
Minnie, Stitch and Dopey
]
After HM, we did ISAW (where we pointed out that any misbehavior would result in being placed on this ride repeatedly) then the carousel. It was close enough to head back to Splash so I ran ahead to grab FP for BTMRR then met everyone. We had a few minutes to spare so stopped in the gift shop. DH and I take notice that a storm is brewing.....up next...will we make it onto Splash? and what happens at dinner....