MLM5's "moved" TR

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

Hello my fellow fiends, I'm working on cutting and pasting from the "other" place so it might not make sense in places as I'm learning that when I cut and paste, peoples comments and some of the tags are coming through weird but here's the first "redone" installment

Well, this isnt going to be a lengthy trip report, sadly I did run into some bad luck along the way and a few trolls, but I can tell you, I have been bitten by the FW bug and I'll be back!

It started by packing me, my DS-12, DD-10, DD-9 and DS-1 1/2 into my Armada.  No pop up, no travel trailer, just me, 4 kids, my coleman tent, and enough stuff to survive a cold war if necessary.

Here's the finshed set up..

not sure if this is gonna work so I'm going to post this first and then I'll continue with my story..  I cant believe I didnt get better pic's of the set up.. I was super proud but had a lot going on!!  Now that I have figured out the whole picture posting thing, I'll work on the rest this evening.. this is just a teaser  need to figure out how to change the signature to.. baby steps!

We left Alabama on Friday and decided to drive at least half way.  I made it a whooping  70 miles from home to Guntersville AL.  I was sitting at a stop light when BAM!!!!  Rear ended by a truck pulling a horse trailer.  Traffic was crazy, it was a young kid (probably shouldn?t have been pulling such a huge load) and he was nothing but apologetic, yet, who wants to start their vacation by getting smacked in the rear??  Err..well.. you know what I mean LOL.  The damage to my vehicle was minor, we exchanged numbers and I kept on trucking.  We made it to Macon GA before mama gave out and the baby boy was getting cranky beyond reason so we stopped at Super 8 somewhere along the way, small, clean, did the trick. 

I have to tell you I?m throwing my Garmin GPS out the freakin window next time I go to FW.  It lead me through every back road, into every sub division between GA and FL.  It kept telling me I was close but I seriously couldn?t believe I had come within 2 miles of Disney and not seen one sign, no I have no idea what road I was on.. so please don?t ask ?  ANYWHO, right when I was about to U turn and head back towards the LAST subdivision I drove through.. I saw a metal sign with mickey shaped ears.. I heard the halleluiah bells go off!! I was in a CM parking lot somewhere but heck I was at Disney.    We managed to find FW and got in line to go through the little guard shack thingy.  I was only a few cars deep and it was around noon time on a Saturday so not to bad.  When I got to the guard I mis interpreted his ?go this way? wave and took the first right that lead into the over flow parking area.. geeshhh.. took me 10 minutes to figure out how to get out of there, back around to the guard gate and THEN finally to check in.. seriously gentlemen, stop giggling.. I?m horrible with directions and my GPS was possessed by the devil..  (I think a lot of women can understand my dilemma..) 

Our site wasn?t ready but the CM was as sweet as pie and set us up for a text when our site was ready, she saw the disappointment in my face no doubt when she let me know it would be a while, she gave us all ?First Visit? buttons and it made it all better ?  She also reminded me that I had ask for something next to a comfort station and that they were working hard to accommodate me.  So we pulled out and was heading to the gate to find a walmart when the text came in.. yes seriously, less than 5 minutes.  So again I made the loop back  to the guard shack and the guy looked at me like I might be crazy.. this was my 3rd time through there.. LOL  in less than 15 minutes.

We managed to find site 2048 and low and behold it was right in front of the comfort station as I had requested.  I have learned my lesson on that, close is good, directly in front of not so much.  A lot of people keeping odd hours and I?m a light sleeper so I heard every body that went to potty at 2am every day of the week we were there.  I did like being able to let the kids go potty without me having to cart them on the golf cart however.  I could see them the whole time which was nice. 

Now about the golf cart.. here comes a HUGE Kenny and Tee Time plug.  So because we actually checked in a day earlier than I had golf cart reservations for I didn?t expect to have a cart til Sunday.  When we got to the site and I realized how far everything was from our loop I thought I would take the chance and see if I could get ahold of Kenny and have the cart dropped off that night.  Sure enough, not only did he get me a cart there within 2 hours, he delivered it my site because he knew it was me and 4 kids and I would have had to take a bus from my site to the front and he didn?t want me to have to deal with that.  What a wonder man!  We talked for quite a while, he was intrigued by my last name, he knew it was from the islands and he use to be a flight attendant for ATA and few the Maui route for along time.  I will not even try to deal with anyone other than him ever when I do FW.  Of less of course I get my own cart , that?s on my ?daddy mama wants wish list? to.. 

Ok, so I have already given you a snap shot of the set up, this is one of the pictures of the inside of the canopy with my ?kitchen? area.  As I said before, I took enough to survive a cold war if necessary.  Some things I can honestly say I wont ever camp without, but something?s I could have lived without and saved on space.  I?ll save that info for my ?lessons learned? post.  One thing that I did that I highly recommend for tent campers is lay down painters plastic under my tarps, this stuff saved my tent.  I?m pretty sure that I would have tossed the $300 coleman at the end of the week had I had to clean all that sand off it.  It wasn?t just sandy but almost like a padded mud.. it never rained while I was there so I can only assume it was condensation but ewwww.. what a mess!  I did actually toss one tarp because the plastic had came up and there was no getting that stuff off easily.  About the rain, I really liked my set up a lot, however I?m sure that if we had hard rain, I would have gotten soaked.  The canopy was sitting directly in front of the tent opening with a gap which basically would have been a gutter.. I?m exploring the idea of either  1. Finding a canopy that completely goes over the top of my 19 x 12 tent or 2. using a tarp somehow to ?redirect? the rain.  I just don?t like the look of all the tarps hanging around..    My honey gave me sooooo much grief about taking the outdoor carpets, but I can tell you it was so nice to walk out in the morning, I?m keeping those on my ?to keep? list for sure!  I had a rv type mat down in the tent so it didn?t really feel like it was on the ground.  I don?t mind camping but I need to be comfortable! LOL

I wanted to get some lime green undies for my clothes line but I ran out of time so I just used it as a clothes line was meant to.. I did have a touch of Mickey everywhere you looked though..  I didn?t want the kids to lose sight that we were at Disney!!

So that?s about enough about my site, me and my 12 year old son got everything up and organized in about 2 hours, not to bad for first timers..  my girls had the duty of keeping baby boy busy.. trust me, me and the big boy had the better end of that deal!! LOL

Tomorrow I'll give you the low down on the parks and such, I can tell you.. we didnt stick to a strict agenda, we let the little guy be our guide.  I didnt want to be that mom dragging a screaming kid around.. stay tuned!

[beccaewert 10]

:dance:Great set-up! Especially for doing it by yourself! Can't wait to read more!

[kampfirekim 260]

Way to go MLM5!    :barf:  Great reporting! 

[H in SC 85]

Thanks for sharing the TR, glad you had a good time.    :banana:

[stefa70 205]

Looks like you had a nice set up! Can't wait for the rest :banana:

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

I can't wait to hear more!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great report. Setting up all by yourself, I am very proud of you. 

We call our Garmin Beatrice, we argue with her all th time, she has no sense of direction :banana:

Can't wait to read more :banana:

[Just Whipperwhirl 24]

Love your tent set up!  Thanks for sharing!

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

We chose to go to Hollywood studios fist because it was the only day that had EMH for this park during our stay.  I should tell you that I had my agenda all planned out for the week.  We had 6 day base tickets and I knew (in my mind) where we needed to be and when.  However, I threw it out the window after day one.. you?ll understand why as we go along.  We got up, cooked breakfast at the campsite (LOVE LOVE LOVE doing this) and we headed for the ferry.

My kids thought the ferry between the parks was the coolest thing since sliced bread, so did I for that matter.  I know your saying.. ?now why would that crazy lady be on the ferry if they are going to HS?..?  well this is where my bad luck kicked in.. I FORGOT TWO OF MY TICKETS AT HOME!!!!  I had to call AAA that morning and buy 2 more.  I had previously purchased paper tickets from MWR and sure as I?m breathing I ran off and left them.  AAA said for some reason they couldn?t leave them in will call they would have to email me the tickets and I could print them out at my resort.  Sounded easy right?  No one could help me on a Sunday on FW so I headed to the contemporary.  There is a business center there, printed my vouchers and then took a bus from the Contemporary to HS.  Now, this is just my humble opinion.. I?d rather chew my own arms off then use the bus system at Disney again.  I don?t know in what alternate universe it?s said that the buses run every 10 ? 20 minutes.  That was more like every 30 to 45 minutes.  I?m sure it?s a great system for people without young children and a lot of patience but this girl has lots of the first and none of the 2nd LOL.    WE FINALLY MADE IT TO HOLLY STUIDOS?.

We spend most of the day there, that place was sold out.  Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania were all gone by the time we got there.  I was bummed but what can ya do.  We did get to see the Little Mermaid Show, do the back lot tour, enjoy some of the street shows and for the first time in my life I got to see Fantasmic!! We stood in line for 1hr.. took 45 min?s once we dropped off the stroller to get seated, but the show didn?t disappoint.  I have been to Disneyland several times and never been able to see this show so hell or high water, we were getting in.. both came but we made it.  A note to people who rent strollers from Disney here, at Fantasmic, they make you empty your stroller before entering the pavilion, EVERYTHING comes out.  I know I would have been upset and you can believe they were plenty of people who were angry but the CM?s gave them the choice, empty the stroller and watch the show or do it again next time.    My big kids wanted to do Tower of Terror but they wouldn?t do it without mom? it was late by now and the little green eyed devil was getting beyond reasonable so we had to go..

My overall opinion of  Hollywood Studios.. ehh.. it was ok, but I don?t think I?ll do it again unless it?s just me and the big kids,  my little one got bored quite often through the day.  I would have loved to take him through Toy Story Mania but OH WELL!  Then we made the hellish trip back to camp.  The bus wait was just silly.. almost a hour.  I ask the driver if there was a reason the buses were taken so long ( I was nice.. he didn?t realize I wanted to run him over)  he said that this was a slow time of year and it was common for the bus schedule to be stretched out a little further than in the busy  months.    We slept like babies that night..

Stay tuned for Magic Kingdom day!

[4mickey2 41]

Wow!  you set up all by yourself (with the help of your kids)..  that's awesome.  not a lot of people would even think about attempting a trip like this.  :banana:  you done good.. ok, more now.

[stefa70 205]

The "green eyed devil" is ADORABLE!!  :banana:

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

We were finally ready to head to the Magic Kingdom, we had been at FW for 3 days now and were getting a little more ?settled?.  My 2 year old was getting more comfortable with his surroundings which just generally makes life easier for all of us LOL.

After the awesome ferry ride over, we made it into the park without  to much drama.  For some odd reason my finger print scan didn?t want to work, after the issues I had the previous day with getting tickets I almost had a breakdown positive that I was about to get told to get out or something of that nature.  The CM was wonderful and let me through with no issues.  The park looked so pretty with all the fall decorations! It was crowded but not over whelming. 

We headed straight to Adventure land as I?m a huge fan of Pirates.  WE WALKED RIGHT ON PIRATES OF THE CARRIBIEAN!  I saw my future ex husband there.. LOL

We really enjoyed the ride, even my fussy baby boy thought it was cool.  He  really enjoyed the spitting totem poles..

We then were then able to walk straight onto the Jungle Cruise..

I was very disappointed that our guide was a real downer, I remember one of the things I enjoyed most about the jungle cruise was the humorous monologue from the guides but this lady wasn?t impressive at all.  Not one joke.  You can tell this is one of the older rides, it?s starting to show it?s age.  Kids enjoyed it however and that?s all that matters to me!

We spent some time walking around checking out shops, eating some Dole Whip and letting the little one play  in the fountains some more.  I had planned on going back to the campsite for lunch and a nap but we were having such a nice time decided to just snack and hang out a bit longer.  We stopped on the steps  of one of the shops and crowd watched for a while.  It was very cool.

Notice here my one socked child.. his shoes got wet from the fountains and he took it upon himself somewhere along the way to toss his shoes.. I mean literally.  I never did find those shoes.. I ended up buying a pair of crocs at one of the shops.  At least he?s cute right? LOL

We then went to the Haunted Mansion, it was about a 10 minutes wait time, not to bad.  We all really love that ride, even the baby was tickled.  At the end when your doom buggy faces the mirror and there is a ghost in your seat.. PRICELESS!!  Made all 4 of my kids mouth drop open, I?d give anything to get that on film.. I thought for sure there would be a photo booth there but I sure didn?t see it.  After this we strolled around and the kids started getting mouthy so I had to get tough on them..

I have to share my troll experience here.  There was a OLDER man here, probably in his late 40?s in line to get pictures.  There were probably 4 other kids besides my 3 in line.  A couple of stray kids would run in but still not overly crowded and no body waiting for more than a few minutes.  My kids were all in a row, this guys turns to me and says ?lady you need to hurry the hell up, people are waiting..?  I kid you not.  Now, I?m a sweet lil? southern lady with Red hair and blue eyes that turn green when I?m mad.. this guy pushed my buttons in all the wrong ways.  I couldn?t believe him!  I just told him that the seniors line was down the street a bit he might want to try that one.. waved at him with the special secret squirrel wave and moved on.  I have never in my  life had a incident like that at Disney.  I felt this was a good time to head back to camp I need a breather!    After a nap and some lunch we decided we were to pooped to go back to the park so we went looping and to the pool.  This was our first visit to the pool and the kids absolutely loved it!

More Magic Kingdom stories next post!

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

check out the "I'd rather be naked shirT

Ok, well we sorta got side tracked from the trip report so I?m going to roll the ending all up into one.  The bottom line is, my almost 2 year old just really didn?t like the crowds associated with the parks.  He liked the characters a bunch, didn?t care much for the rides at all, liked the fireworks but the crowds associated with those things was more than he could handle.  At first I felt bad for my 3 big kids but I have been blessed with patient and loving children who instead of feeling ?cheated? wanted to do things that their baby brother enjoyed as well.  So we only used 1 more day of our 6 day tickets at the magic kingdom, skipped the rest and hung out at the Fort.  We did a lot of swimming and the big kids participated in all the activities and had a blast!  The life guards were awesome and before the week was over knew my kids by name.  Here?s some pic?s..

Here?s one of the green eyed devil outside of splash mountain..

My big girl dancing with the parade people..

My precious boys..

We were the only people on the ferry boat.. the captain was rather entertaining and wanted to take our pic..

Ready for the daily looping..

Playground by the dog park.. OUR FAV!!

More pool shots..

So as you can see, we enjoyed the Fort A LOT!  Even more so than the parks.  I am bringing the big kids back for a special trip in April because I really did feel bad that we didn?t get to do a lot of the things we had planned for.  My hubby was ready to kill me when I told him we weren?t using the rest of our tickets for the parks because as you all know they cost a fortune, but once he saw the pictures of the kids playing at the fort and how much they enjoyed it, he forgave me LOL:flower3:

I have only a few more things that'll share with you about this trip and we will be done, I'll post those up tomorrow, this posting is time consuming for sure!  Thank you to everyone for the nice comments, I'm working on planning our April trip now, we will be there from the 10th to the 16th, I'm hoping to meet some of you nice people! 

Here's the culprit.. look what he did to my camp kitchen!!

Bad bad squirrel!!

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

The "green eyed devil" is ADORABLE!!  :heart:

Thanks to everyone for the kind words, I apologize that in parts it's jumbled and seemed to flow in a awkard manner, when I was cutting and pasting from the other place I tried not to include others comments

and yes, my little green eyed devil is rather adorable isnt he :)  he sure keeps his mama hopping but I wouldnt have it any other way 

[H in SC 85]

MLM5, Your family is just too much!    Looked like one great trip. Thank you for sharing them with us.   

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Your family sounds precious and all the kids are adorable! I'm glad they had such a good time!

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

MLM5, Your family is just too much!  :D  Looked like one great trip. Thank you for sharing them with us.    :banana:

Thank you very much! We try to enjoy our life, they arent going to be young forever so as I have said before, I'm sucking all the time out of them i can while they still think mom is cool  :banana:

[disney92 7]

Your kids are all so cute ! What great kids you have! My kids also love spending a great deal of time at the fort.

There is so much to do. Thanks for sharing!

[homebrew 14]

Thanks for all the work getting this over here and sharing with us. :banana:

[ciciwoowoo 0]

Love the trip report!  Your little green eyed devil looks a little like mine... Mine is just 14 months, but he is heck on wheels!!!

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

LOL, good thing they are cute right??  He is wide open terrible two's right now, but all he has to do is bat those eye lashes and I turn into a pile of mush..

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

You have a beautiful family.  Loved your set up, but squirrels, I hate squirrels.

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

You have a beautiful family.  Loved your set up, but squirrels, I hate squirrels.

Thank you Queen Doodle!  Let me tell you, I think that squirrel was possessed or something, it squared off with me on several occasions, had I not feared my children would have required years of therapy, I would have thrown his cocky little rear end on the grill and made a squirrel -shish-a-bob!!    Darn thing taunted me the entire trip, and it wouldn't touch the other food, just the hamburger buns!  It was no amatuer!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Squirrel are just glorified rats.  shish ka bob would have been too good for him :banana:

And kudos to you, I would never have been brave enough to take my kids on a trip all by myself. :banana:

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

Squirrel are just glorified rats.  shish ka bob would have been too good for him :banana:

And kudos to you, I would never have been brave enough to take my kids on a trip all by myself. :banana:

It was a good time, we really enjoyed it, I just wished I had met some fiends on that trip, I sure could have used a nice adult beverage and adult conversation once they were asleep!  I was talking in tongues by the time we got back home  :banana:  Me being the hard headed women that I am, will do it again next week.  My hubby is somewhat of a city boy and works more than he should, so it's only for 3 days this time and we will only be a few hours from home so if the house critters get to rowdy I can call in the back up crew!  The halloween trip I have convinced him that we ALL need to go and that he will LOVE the fort.  If he doesnt, I will duck tape him to the nearest fiends RV and run a IV drip of rum to keep him happy until the kids and I get our mouse fix..  :banana: