3rd Times a Charm! Mar. 8-14..lots of pics

[jenseib]

Hello everyone! We just got back from a 6 night trip to WDW, celebrating my 40th birthday! The trip was March 8-14, but my birthday was actually Feb 14.

The cast was
Me~ Jen
DH~ Skip
DD~ Claire, who is 4.

We have gone to WDW in March for the past couple of years (2007, 2008, and now 2009) and really enjoy it, and the weather is usually pretty decent, and crowds aren’t too bad.

I did a pre-trip report for anyone interested. It does state some ideas I had, and most I did use. Also, it gives the background and more about my family.

Here is the link.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=30188542&posted=1#post30188542

I’m going to pretty much dive into the trip report right off. If you want any background info, there is a lot about us on the first page of my pre trip report.

I took A LOT of pictures this trip, and will post a lot of them. It may start out slow, but once I get going, there will be a ton. And once I get my photopass CD, I’ll post those too. (I had over 200 of those before I even added borders!)

The basics…
DH is a dairy farmer. I’m currently a stay at home mom. I have two older children, but they really don’t do Disney any more.
Claire is DH’s only child and she is much younger than the other two, so we both tend to treat her like the princess she is. LOL! Claire also loves to dress up…so we brought a lot of costumes, and she prefers dresses to shorts, so I also brought some sundresses for her too. She’s a very girly girl, who likes to wear a dress out to the barn to help dad!


I also want to add that we have always started our trip on a Sunday, and the last 2 trips, on Thursday , Claire has gotten sick. We figure the reason for the sickness was over stimulation.... (AND last year she licked a pole on the bus too ). So the goal was to try to take it a bit slower and let her get her sleep. (and no pole licking )

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

I'm in! Great start

I'm really looking forward to seeing all the photos as Claire is so adorable.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I read your PTR while you were away at Disney and I'm looking forward to reading all about your trip.

 

[heaven2dc]

Can't wait to read all about your trip Your daughter is adorable - I just loved your comment about her wearing dresses to help her dad in the barn (she definitely is a girly-girl!)

Happy belated Birthday!! (what a great day to have your birthday on (Valentine's day) plus you got to celebrate in WDW!!

 

[jenseib]

March 8th
The big day!!!!

My basic plans were to fly to Sandford, pick up rental car,
check in at Pop Century,
drop off bags in room,
stop off in gift shop to get an autograph book,
head off to MK right away,
watch spectro magic,
eat at CRT at 9:35,
and get in what rides we could and stay as late as we could handle. (the park had EMH closing at 1.

Here’s how our day went.

I think I got up around 6:30. I got showered and ready. I packed the last minute stuff into the luggage and then loaded the car up. DH had gotten up to do some last minute work, and make sure the farm would be running smoothly while we were gone.
I think I woke Claire up a little before 9.

She was so excited. I got her dressed and showed her that a little note and present had been left on the counter for her. It was from Nemo.

She wasn’t to open the gift till the airport, so we packed it in her carryon. She kept asking how Nemo got to our house. Did he swim here? And how did he open the door?
It was so cute.

My dad arrived a little after 9 and was prepared to load the car, but I told him it was done. DH came in to shower, and I told him I was going to go put gas in the car to be sure we had no problems, since it was less than a quarter tank.
(we have some gas pumps on the farm)
It was pouring so I put on a hooded coat and drove out to the pump and filled it. Of course there is a big puddle in front of the pump.....
We then piled into the car, and I was elected to drive. Toledo airport is only about 10 minutes from our house.

My dad and Skip kept cutting up my driving, I was going too fast, then too slow, waiting to long, etc. I was getting ticked off. I swear sometimes it’s so scary how much my DH is like my dad. What did I do!!!!
I also reminded DH that this trip is supposed to be celebrating my 40th birthday, and he’s supposed to be nice to me. (he totally forgot that part, of course)

We got to the airport about 9:45 and took our luggage in, and dad drove off in the car to take it back home.
The line for Allegiant was very long. So we waited our turn. Very hard for an excited 4 your old, but she did fine.

We headed through security and Claire’s bag had to be ran through several times. They pulled out her leapster and her gift, and wanted to know what was in it. Luckily she wasn’t paying attention when I told them it was a game for her leapster.

We headed upstairs and got a seat. DH laid down immediately.

Claire and I went and got a cinnamon bun and she chose a chocolate muffin. We got a couple of drinks to take on board with us too. We sat down and I ate the cinnamon bun and Claire didn’t want any, and she gave DH the chocolate muffin. LOL! What a nut!

She then opened her gift from Nemo, which was a Nemo game for her leapster. So that kept her busy for awhile.

 

[jenseib]

I'm in! Great start

I'm really looking forward to seeing all the photos as Claire is so adorable.

Thank you!

I read your PTR while you were away at Disney and I'm looking forward to reading all about your trip.

Thanks. I'm slowly but surely getting it started.

Can't wait to read all about your trip Your daughter is adorable - I just loved your comment about her wearing dresses to help her dad in the barn (she definitely is a girly-girl!)

Happy belated Birthday!! (what a great day to have your birthday on (Valentine's day) plus you got to celebrate in WDW!!

Thanks you!(on all the commnets! LOL)
Most of the stuff I'm posing now is the boring stuff. LOL! I prmise I am working on pictures to get them uploaded so I can get to the good stuff!

 

[jenseib]

We got called to board at 11:15. Of course at that very minute DH decides to go to the bathroom. I kept telling him we would board shortly after 11, as my parents took this same exact flight a month ago, and thats when they boarded, but he doesn't listen to me much. (As you can see a pattern is forming ...DH driving me nuts alot on this trip. LOL )
So Claire and I headed up to board and then had to wait a minute for DH, but they still allowed us to do the pre-board with a child, even though they had started calling others too.

We took off on time. The flight was uneventful. It was a bit bumpy the whole way, but not bad. I read a little and played with Claire some, and we ate snacks that I packed.

We landed about 10 minutes early and got right off.
We decided I would get luggage, while they went to get the rental car. Our luggage came through fast and I had it right away and headed off to the rental counter only to find them still in line.

DH’s sister works for Hertz, so we got out car about half price of what it would normally be. I had told her I would like a van, but she booked some kind of Mazda. She said she would email them and tell them to upgrade it. Well our upgrade was a Malibu.

We walked outside and the weather was awesome! 83 degrees! The first thing Claire said was "I like Florida"

She asked me if there was a pool at the hotel (she must not have remembered, but we have stayed there the last 2 years as well.) I said yes, and she said she would need to swim right away to "cool off" before we did anything. LOL! What a sweetie!

DH never paid attention to where the lady told him the car was parked, so we had to wonder a bit to find it. He went in the total opposite direction, and I kept saying I see a Hertz sign over there. But would he listen… NO!
We finally asked someone where Hertz was and sure enough I was right. LOL!
We loaded up the car and Claire started to panic. “Where’s our car?” “It’s at home, remember Pappa took it back home”, “we can’t use this, I want our car”…LOL!

Finally she accepted this car and got in. When I loaded the trunk, I found all this plastic junk that look like it fell off the car or some other car. I put it in the back seat because it was oddly shaped and wouldn't allow our luggage to all fit back there. I was a little mad that they left this JUNK in the car. We needed all available space with several suitcases, carryon's and a stroller.

Finally we were off to Pop. The Hertz lady gave DH different directions to Disney. I had Mapquested it, and we decide to go with Mapquest because it told us how to get to Pop directly.
We had no traffic (several tolls) and we got there in under an hour.


Our official trip is about to begin!

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Wooohooo i love fast updates!!!

 

[Disneychix]

Hi Jen! Glad you are posting a TR! We had a fabulous vacation and I can't wait to read about yours!

 

[jenseib]

Hi Jen! Glad you are posting a TR! We had a fabulous vacation and I can't wait to read about yours!

When did you go?
(if you told me before I am terrible at remembering . LOL)

If you have a trip reprot direct me to it, so I can read it!

 

[lizet313]

am on board

 

[Disneychix]

When did you go?
(if you told me before I am terrible at remembering . LOL)

If you have a trip reprot direct me to it, so I can read it!

We were there the 7-10th. No TR yet for me but I'll let you know if/when I get around to it!

 

[jenseib]

We arrived at pop Century and parked the car. DH had to make a mad dash to the bathroom, so Claire and I took our time walking up to the lobby.

The line was long. We got into it and waited our turn. It did move pretty fast. For those doing online check in prior to going, there was no separate check in spot that I noticed, but did see a sign for it that was pushed to the side, so maybe once it becomes more popular they will separate the lines. (We didn’t do online check in)

DH joined us in line and we checked in. I had faxed our room request (and had it on our reservation as well), on Wednesday. We got the exact location I had requested. YAY! I had asked for first floor, poolside, in the 60’s section. We were right next to Mowgli, in room 1572. Basically 3 doors down from where we were last year.

I did have to remind her that we got the $200 gift card. She said it wasn’t noted, but she would get one. (I did have my paperwork that showed we got one, but she never asked to see it)

We got our KTTW’s and the gift card and off Claire and I went to the room. DH went to pull the car up close to unload the luggage. We dropped off our bags in the room ,and Claire and I met DH and got the rest of the stuff. He went back and re-parked the car. This was not an easy task. It was heavy, and DH basically got out of doing it all.

I think this is the ONLY picture I took of our room. I wanted to take a bunch, but I guess I was too busy and excited.

Here’s our room. It’s the one under the sixties sign with the magnets on the door.

Last year our room was 2 doors to the right of Baloo.

 

[jenseib]

Claire could hardly wait to get in the pool.

I got her swimsuit out and out we went the few steps from our room to the pool. We got a life jacket and in she went. She was soooooooo excited!

Some shots around the pool.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

I love how your room stands out over the rest, spot the DISer

 

[Lady Lallie]

You are cruising right along on your TR! Good for you.

I'm so glad that your room requests worked!

Claire looks so cute in the pool.

 

[shebaxric]

Ah, I love trip reports. It makes the time go by so much quicker! Especially when you have 8 months to go!! I am subscribing, thanks for taking the time to give us all a piece of WDW!

 

[MinnieLove]

Darn It! Darn It! I new you would be doing your trip report and I wanted on the first page, but you started while I was at work.
Our family (20 miles down the road - Genoa) was there 3/6 - 3/13. I never saw you, but was looking for Claire in one of her gorgeous dresses. No luck.
I think we had just the greatest weather.

Cant wait to read your report. I want to read about all the little girl stuff you did. I miss it.

Write on.....

 

[Picabo]

I'm enjoying your TR so far! Claire is precious! Reminds me of my 3 yr old - everything is pink and princess-y! Just curious - is there always a line that long to wait for check in? YIKES! How long did it take?

 

[jenseib]

You are cruising right along on your TR! Good for you.

I'm so glad that your room requests worked!

Claire looks so cute in the pool.

I'm trying to write as fast as I can so I keep the memories in my head. I did write alot down in a journel too, so I could trigger my head! LOL!
Claire loves to swim. I think we could just never even go to the parks and let her swim all day and she would be happy.

Ah, I love trip reports. It makes the time go by so much quicker! Especially when you have 8 months to go!! I am subscribing, thanks for taking the time to give us all a piece of WDW!

No problem. This helps keep the trip lingering for me. LOL!

Darn It! Darn It! I new you would be doing your trip report and I wanted on the first page, but you started while I was at work.
Our family (20 miles down the road - Genoa) was there 3/6 - 3/13. I never saw you, but was looking for Claire in one of her gorgeous dresses. No luck.
I think we had just the greatest weather.

Cant wait to read your report. I want to read about all the little girl stuff you did. I miss it.

Write on.....

We had awesome weather. it was just great. Claire wore her dresses most of the time. We did change into normal clothes a few times. I have a zillion pics from all the girl stuff we did, but it's going to take time to get them loaded. LOL!

I'm going to post this in the report, but...while we were there on Tuesday at HS we went to Beauty and the Beast show. Claire just loved it. We got to talking to the people behind us alot before the show. After the show, some lady coming from a different direction asks me, "How did Claire like it?" and I said she loved it and then went on our merry way...then thought about it. How the heck did this person know her name? I don't think she was with the group behind us, and she was coming across the top of the bleachers from a different direction. So either she was a DISer who recognized her, or she just happened to hear us talking to the group behind us. LOL!

I'm enjoying your TR so far! Claire is precious! Reminds me of my 3 yr old - everything is pink and princess-y! Just curious - is there always a line that long to wait for check in? YIKES! How long did it take?

In the past 2 years when we checked in, it was NOT that long. We did arrive at 4 though and I think 3-4 is prime check in time. The line moved REALLY fast though. They had a ton of CM's at the desk. In fact I worried DH wouldn't be back by the time we got up there and had just pulled out my phone to beep him when he came strolling up.