Dreams will come true! Hearts will soar! May 2016 TR *NEW 7/6 x2!*

[hokieinpa]

"Dreams will come true!
Hearts will soar!
And YOU will become part of the magic!"





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Welcome! This is my 3rd TR in as many trips to Walt Disney World. You can find all of the planning details of this trip in my PTR - 7 nights, 3 boys, 1 wild trip - AKL in May 2016

If you've read my previous TRs, welcome back! If you stumbled upon this, then I'm glad you're here! We had a great trip and I can't wait to relive it!

I'll go ahead and clear up introductions and details here so we can get right into the magic!!

I'm Jamie, a stay at home mom and Disney travel specialist, and my husband is Jim, an engineer. We have 3 crazy, precious little guys. Nate is 6 and loves Star Wars. Colin is 4 and loves anything his big brother does. And the little guy is Jake who turned 3 right after this trip. He is Mickey obsessed through and through!

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My parents joined us for this trip once again. It's really great that they can join us to help make magical memories...and maybe help keep track of the wild boys!

For this trip, we spent 1 night at Wilderness Lodge and the next 7 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge. This was our first stay at a Deluxe resort and it went just about as magical as you would think!

I'm excited to get started so thanks for joining me!

 

[hokieinpa]

Table of Contents

Saturday, April 30
Travel Days are the Best Days...right?
At least the room is pretty!
Food first, then bridge!
A Splash Pad and a Geyser...what more could a boy want?
How much dessert can we eat?

Sunday, May 1
Fist Bump!
Hi Nemo!
Is that a Peanut Butter Sandwich tree?
Let me see your smolder!
I like everything but the skunk smell...
I am Speed.
Welcome To Your Future
Frushi and Pizza
These flowers are fun!
Disney Ducks

Monday, May 2


Tuesday, May 3


Wednesday, May 4


Thursday, May 5


Friday, May 6


Saturday, May 7


Sunday, May 8

 

[jot.and.jet]

I'm here!! Sounds like a ton of fun!!!☺

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

I'm in! The pics from Instagram have told me it was an awesome trip and I can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[ArielSRL]

Yay! Can't wait to read all about it! Though I may miss an update or two because we are headed there in 2.5 weeks!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am following along as well! Can't wait to hear the whole story. I am dyeing to head back but just don't know when we can afford it!

We have stayed at the Wilderness Lodge the last two trips. It is an amazing resort. We love it. (And it's one of the cheapest deluxe resorts)

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Joining in!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Here for more magic Let's get started!!

 

[cajunfan]

Can't wait to read all about the magic!

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay you've started! I'm already in love with all the pictures and it's only the intro! Can't wait to hear all about this trip

 

[Meghaen]

Following along! Looking forward to reading.

 

[AllysonL]

Joining!!

 

[amberg93]

Also joining in

 

[Whit64130]

Following along!

 

[Dugette]

I'm in and can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[jandlinz]

I'm here. So excited to hear about your trip.

 

[hokieinpa]

I'm here!! Sounds like a ton of fun!!!☺

Glad you're here - thanks for following along!

I'm in! The pics from Instagram have told me it was an awesome trip and I can't wait to hear all about it!

Yay! Happy you're here!

Yay! Can't wait to read all about it! Though I may miss an update or two because we are headed there in 2.5 weeks!

Thanks for joining in! And that's a 100% acceptable excuse to miss out on a few updates!

Yay! Looking forward to re-living your trip!

Happy you're here and following along!

I am following along as well! Can't wait to hear the whole story. I am dyeing to head back but just don't know when we can afford it!

We have stayed at the Wilderness Lodge the last two trips. It is an amazing resort. We love it. (And it's one of the cheapest deluxe resorts)

Thanks for following along! Post-Disney blues are 100% real!

And we loved Wilderness Lodge - I need a longer stay there ASAP!

Joining in!

Thanks for following along!

Here for more magic Let's get started!!

Hi! Glad you're joining in!

Can't wait to read all about the magic!

Thanks for joining in! Happy you're here!

Yay you've started! I'm already in love with all the pictures and it's only the intro! Can't wait to hear all about this trip

Thanks for following along! I got some great pictures this trip. I can't wait to share them!

Following along! Looking forward to reading.

Yay! Glad you're here!

Joining!!

Thanks for joining in!!

Also joining in

Thanks for following along! Happy you're here!

Following along!

Glad you're joining in!!

I'm in and can't wait to hear all about it.

Thanks for following along again!

I'm here. So excited to hear about your trip.

Thank you! Happy you're joining in!

 

[hokieinpa]

Travel Days are the Best Days...right?

It's everyone's favorite - travel day! Fun to do and fun to read about...am I right? You feel me??

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Trying to make it at least sound exciting and fun!

Our travel day actually began a day early. We live about 2.5-3 hours from any major airport. Airline fares are ridiculous out of the tiny airport here so we end up driving to either Pittsburgh or BWI for cheaper fares. It ends up being $300-$400 less per person so it's worth the drive for us!

This time, we flew out of BWI because the fares were lower and the times worked out best for our schedule. Our flight was at 9:45 on Saturday April 30. Our options were to get up extra early and drive the 3 hours to Baltimore or spend the night at a nearby hotel. For everyone's sanity, we decided to drive down to Baltimore on Friday night. And I found a park and fly deal at a Country Inn & Suites! So we would spend Friday night and then leave our car at the hotel while we were in Disney. A hotel shuttle would transport us and our luggage to and from the airport. I loved not having to deal with airport parking!

We arrived at the Country Inn & Suites fairly late (8pm-ish) and had already stopped for dinner on the way down. Our room was a standard hotel room and I have zero pictures from this night. But all we did was the bath and bed routine because the next day was an early wake up call for DISNEY!

Our shuttle was leaving at 7:20 so we had to get up pretty early to get packed and ready to go. I grabbed some muffins, fruit, and yogurt from the continental breakfast when we got downstairs and we took our luggage to the waiting shuttle. It was finally happening!

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There were 2 FedEx pilots on our shuttle as well and they were dropped off at the commercial terminal first. The shuttle then took us over to the Southwest Departures and the driver helped us unload our assortment of suitcases, carryons, and strollers.

We managed to cross the street and not have any of the boys get hit by a car (always a triumph) and made our way over to the Southwest Curbside Check area. There was no wait and we dropped our bags off quickly! Travel day was going pretty well so far!

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Even though we still had 2 hours before our flight, we decided to go through security at this point. I had been reading horror stories of long TSA lines at BWI so I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time.

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The line was short (well, as short as it could get) at this point. We waited about 20 minutes and breezed through. A TSA officer pulled me and the boys to the side to go through a regular metal detector but Jim had to do the full body scan with everyone else.

We met on the other side and gathered ourselves up to make the trek to our gate.

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There was still plenty of time before our flight so Jim and I took turns taking the boys on walks, getting coffee, and doing restroom breaks. It was finally time to board and we managed to get at the front of the Family Boarding line!

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We found seats easily. I sat with Jake and Nate and Jim sat behind us with Colin. The boys spent the 2-hour flight reading and playing their Kindles.

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And doing whatever this is.

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And maybe a selfie or two as well.

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This was our first trip without a carseat on the plane for Jake. He did much better than I expected and was content to stay in his seat with his books and Kindle...as long as I kept the snacks flowing!

We finally landed at MCO! SO close to Disney! We made a restroom stop, took the baby monorail, then headed down to catch the Magical Express!

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After we made our way downstairs, we scanned our bands and they directed us to Line 2 - maybe the only time I'll see this sight! We were headed to Wilderness Lodge!

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We were the 2nd family line and waited about 10 minutes before being directed to a yellow Mears bus. No Disney bus (and no movie) for us. Boo!

I checked my phone at this point and saw that I had a text saying our room was ready!!

https://flic.kr/p/H9y4cC​

Room 3016 here we come!

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The order of our stops was Polynesian - Grand Floridian - Wilderness Lodge - Contemporary. So that meant we got to drive under the Magic Kingdom gates to get to our resort!

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Our first stop was the Polynesian.

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Then the Grand Floridian.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/GgZ8xA]
https://flic.kr/p/H9ysC5[/URL]​

And finally...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Hcuuwe]​

https://flic.kr/p/GgZ8xA​

https://flic.kr/p/Hcuuwe

Our home for one night only - Wilderness Lodge!


Next up

At least the room is pretty![/URL]

 

[MissMaryQC]

Yay!! Travel day(s) went smooth, which is really what you're looking for in a travel day.

Can't wait to see how the trip went! If IG was even a little close its gonna be a great TR!