Spears Family's WDW Trip Report

Day One

This was my first trip to Disney since I was a 12 in 1986. The rest of my crew had NEVER been. We did so much stuff I don't even know where to begin. This trip was the most wonderful, amazing, fabulous thing we have ever done in our 11 years of marriage. I just don't know what took us so long to take it. Here is a brief history of who we are and when we went. My name is Krista and I am 28. This trip consisted of me my DH Michael(31), our 3 children---DS Taylor(10), DS Emory(5), DD Lauren Emily who goes by "Sissy"(4), my MIL Susan and my FIL Raymond.

We are a large family and rather than trying to cram all of us in one room we opted for a 2 condos with 2 bedrooms in each one. My oldest son Taylor is a diabetic and having a kitchen was invaluable for us. We also stayed seperate and drove separate from my in-laws. That was a must for everyone's sanity. We live in the Northwest Florida area and was able to dive the trip in about 7 hours. It was a smooth trip with many potty stops. The TV/VCR combo was what made the trip so nice. It kept the kids entertained. There was no fighting the whole trip up or back. Go figure on that one!!!! I guess Disney is truly magical!!!!!!

Well, we left on Sunday 9/22 at around 6:30 and arrived down there about 1:30pm. We were able to check into the condo early so we took advantage of that and got all settled in before we went to our PS at Chef Mickeys. The condo we stayed in was the Westgate Town Center and it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!! It was 6 months old and had everything we could ever want. The master had a King sized bed and the master bathroom was just had a Jacuzzi the size of a small pool. It was WONDERFUL after a long day at the parks. The kids bedroom had 2 double beds and a separate bathroom off their with an entrance off the hall too. The kitchen was a full sized kitchen with all the things we could ever need to cook with (we never cooked in the room though). The living room had a huge leather sectional sofa that made out into a queen size bed and a 52' big screen TV with a VCR and surround sound. We also had a screened in back porch overlooking a lake. You could say we were in PARADISE, and we hadn't even been to Disney yet.

Well, after exploring the condo and getting settled in it was time for us to get ready for our PS at Chef Mickeys. It took a lot of doing to get the kids out of the Jacuzzi (Swimming pool as they referred to it) to get ready for dinner. Finally we were ready to go. We left in plenty of time in case we were to get lost. We got to the Contemporary just in time for a huge rain storm to come up. It rained sideways that night. We explored the Contemporary for a little while and took time to buy each of the kids an autograph book and fat pen. Finally it was time for our PS and we made our way to the check in table. We got right in and had our picture taken. I was sure that it was NOT going to come out because the guy just snapped it as soon as we walked up there. It ended up being the best picture we had made all week and the best $27 I spent all week too. Dinner was great with a lot of character interaction. The only thing that was a little lacking was the service. Our waitress was not very attentive, but I guess she might have just been having a bad day. We were celebrating Taylor's 10th birthday on this trip, and they gave him a pin and placemat. He ended up forgetting the placemat when we left. Oh Well. There will another time to get one. Minnie Mouse was all the kids favorite of the characters we saw tonight. She came up and kissed Emory who is 5 on the nose and made him turn 50 shades of red, then she proceeded to sit in the chair with him while signing his book. He thought it was great!!!!! Sadly dinner came to an end and we had to leave. The night was still young so we decided to ride the monorail. WOW, that is still my favorite ride of all the parks.

We ended up taking the monorail to EPCOT to get our tickets and watch Illuminations. We are Florida residents so I was able to get seasonal passes for $850 for the 5 of us. They are good all year minus a few weeks for major holidays and summer. Illuminations was BEAUTIFUL. We just stood there in awe. None of us have ever seen anything so beautiful in all our lives. I am still amazed at how much detail there is in Disney World. When Illuminations was over we left and went back to the condo which was located only a mile from maingate. It was a WONDERFUL day. We went to sleep dreaming of the next 5 days we would be having in the parks.

We are staying at the Westgate Town Center about 1 mile from Main Gate. Today we planned on doing Animal Kingdom in the morning before it got too hot and then going over to EPCOT to finish up our day. We have a whole week in Disney with nothing but the parks planned, so we thought the best way to see Animal Kingdom was in the am. By the way this is basically all of our first times down there. I am the only one who has ever been, and that was way back in 1986 and I was 12 years old. Knowing that, you can probably guess I basically knew nothing about where things were and was being looked upon to be the one with ALL of the directions. This list helped out a ton, but I still had a few problems the first day getting turned around in the parks (NEVER give me a map unless you want to end up completely lost). Today ended up being the most trying of all the days we were down there, and the day we learned the most. Getting all that out of the way here is how Day #2 went......

We woke up this morning around 7:30, dressed, ate breakfast in the condo (cereal and oatmeal), packed ALL our many bags for the parks (This was the biggest mistake of the week), and off we go to tackle the parks. We were armed for war when we got there. We had 1 backpack with about 30 pounds of gear, a softsided cooler on wheels (which turned out to be the best thing we took), 2 umbrella strollers, 4 adults and 3 kids.

We arrive at Animal kingdom at around 9:30am, find a parking spot, get unloaded, catch a tram, then proceed to the entrance. Security checks go great---NO problems with the cooler (we took all our snacks and water in the cooler for the 7 of us), but as we are walking to the place where you enter the park my hubby says to me "Look at Emory's[5 yrs old) arms." So I look at this arms and they are covered with what looks to be hives or heat rash. That was the first adventure of the day. We spent the first hour in the park locating a first aid station to see about getting him some benedryl for the itching. That was quite a hike. Every one we asked where the first aid station was said "Look for the lady bug lamp posts." So after walking and asking I felt like I was in OZ--- Just follow the Yellow Brick Road. We finally found it, and after $8.40 plus tax for the benedryl we are off to see the park. Em was so grouchy the whole day. We figured it was either from the benedryl or from the itch. He ended up keeping this rash all week, and being a grump all week too. After a day with it I just figured he got in to something he was allergic to (water or bed linen). So all week we kept giving him benedryl because everytime he go hot it made it itch worse. This rash ended up being Fifths Disease (a common childhood illness that is just viral and will go away on its own). I found this out when Sissy (Lauren who is 4) broke out the night after we go home. I took her to the DR the next day and she said it was a common thing kids get. Go figure!!!!!

When we finally got to really start our day in Animal Kingdom it was already going on 11:00am and was really hot and humid. The rain started, and all I had were ponchos in the backpack. Picture this---We were 7 people with 2 single umbrella type strollers with no storage space on them with a cooler in tow and a 30 LB backpack. Needless to say we were getting very cranky. The park was hot and now wet, Em was broke out and really ill, we were getting hungry, and all of the animals were either sleeping or gone for the moment. We took a vote and decided to skip the rest of Animal Kingdom and go on over to EPCOT for the rest of the day. It had to be cooler there.

Well, we load up and get to EPCOT with no problem. We get checked in and have a 2:20 PS at the Coral Reef for a late lunch (see my restaurant review). We get there on time, enjoy some nice cool air and regroup on the day ahead. In the back of my mind I was thinking if this is the way it is I want to go home. I knew it had to get better somehow. We were just doing it wrong. We spent the rest of the day in the future showcase doing all the really cool things. Test Track is AWESOME!!!! We did it 3 times in a row. By nightfall we were getting hungry again. So we start around to the World Showcase because my hubby thinks Japanese food sounds good. When we were about half way around the World showcase the bottom drop out and it is raining as hard as I saw it rain all week. We have no protection and the ponchos are in the backpack. When we got to EPCOT earlier we decided to leave the strollers in the truck because no one wanted to ride in them earlier. We had no idea EPCOT was SOOOOOO big. Well, after waiting the rain out under a covering of one of the many bathrooms we start around again. We finally find the Japanese place that serves counter service and order. It was fair at best, but at least if was out of the weather. We finish up and leave just in time for the next round of showers. By this time we are completely soaked. We leave and are rounding the back of World Showcase just in time for Illuminations. We watched as we walked back to the truck to go back to the condo. There will be another day. Right now all any of us wanted was a nice warm shower and bed.

We got back to the condo with no problem around 10pm. The kids went swimming [as they called it] in our Jacuzzi in our bathroom for about an hour. Then we hit the hay. We decided to do tomorrow a lot different starting with the rental of a double stroller and a lot less stuff to tote. Tomorrow had to be better!!!!!!

Day 3---Tuesday 9/24/02---MGM Studios

After yesterday today had to be a better day. We slept in a little so we wouldn't be so tired today. We got up around 8:00am and ate breakfast in the condo. We packed our backpack a lot differently today. We left all the ponchos except for one home and took the umbrellas instead. The ponchos were too heavy in the back pack (we had 5 of them), and when they were all out they took up lots of room. We also only packed the bare necessities today, making the back pack a lot lighter. We also too all our snacks and drinks in our collapsible pull behind cooler. We would freeze half of the water bottles the night before and put the other half in the refrigerator. Then when we were ready to drink them the frozen ones would keep the others cold. By the end of the day the frozen ones were thawed out enough to drink. So off we go to MGM Studios to spend the day. By the way we ate snacks for lunch because we weren't that hungry and mostly wanted to drink.

We arrive at MGM around 9:30 to 10:00 am and the line were already pretty long for getting into the parks. Security check lines were the longest at this park. Finally we get into the park and go to rent our double stroller. We decided to rent a stroller today instead of taking our 2 umbrella ones. That was the best thing we did for the kids and us too. We always had a place for our stuff and when it would rain we would cover the stroller with the one poncho we brought. Also if it were raining we would cover the kids and stroller with the poncho leaving the hat part open for them to see out of and get air. It worked soooo good. They stayed very dry under there. We all loved MGM Studios. The shows were all wonderful. The only one we did not get to see was Beauty and the Beast. It was not showing that day. We did almost everything else today. My two boys favorite was Tower Of Terror. I have to say that this was NOT my favorite, but was fun the one and only time I did it. I do not like to fall very much, and this was a little intense for a second ride, but I will ride it next time because I am a sucker. The only ride my hubby and I did not do was rock n roller coaster because of the weather and having to wait with a 4 and 5 year old who could not ride. We took them to do the Little Mermaid instead with my MIL. My FIL stayed with my 10 year old and they did Rock N Roller Coaster. They LOVED it. I wish we could have done it too. They will be other days this week.

It was clear most of today until around 4:30pm. Then the rain came to stay for the rest of the evening off and on. We had PS for 50's Prime Time Cafe at 5:30pm. At 4:45 we decided to see if they had anything available earlier, and they did. We were seated almost immediately. I had been hearing about how they got on to you about all kind of stuff and how it was a fun place to eat because of that. I guess tonight was an off night for our waitress because she never got on to us for anything. Maybe we were just good. She was a GREAT waitress and played the part well, but never was anything more than really sweet during the whole meal. The food here was wonderful. It all tasted home cooked. The salads were huge, but very delicious. This is a place I would highly recomend. My kids loved it. After dinner we were supposed to connect up with a couple of friend from this group and go watch Fantasmic. As I said the weather was not being very nice this evening so we did not get to see Fantasmic. We stood around and visited and had a really nice time getting to know some new friends. We left tonight thinking of what a nice day it had been even though we were a little damp and tired. Disney World is my favorite place on earth. We went back to the condo to swim (in the Jacuzzi), put the kids into bed, planned our next day and fell into bed ourselves. I have never slept better than the nights we spent at Disney World.

Day 4---9/25/02---Magic Kingdom

Today we all woke up around 7:30, dressed, ate breakfast in the condo and were at the parks by 9:30am. It was already really hot and humid out. We live in Northwest Florida, and are used to the heat, but this is almost unbearable. Security checks go smooth, and as we are in line having our stuff searched the guard that is searching our stuff asks my oldest son if it is his birthday (he is wearing the pin he got at Chef Mickeys) and he says yes. The guard ask how old he is and then proceeds to tell everyone in all the lines it is Taylor's birthday and have them all sing Happy Birthday to him. That was a great start to his day. Everywhere we went people would wish him a Happy Birthday. It was so much fun!!!!

Well, we get into the park, rent our stroller (today we opted for 2 singles instead of the 1 double), get our park maps and proceed to make our way down Main Street. Right now at this point I am smitten. I had been to the Magic Kingdom so many times as a child, but I thought it would all be different. In a very special way it all looked the same to me. I was even able to get us around this park with great ease. We started on the left in Adventureland. The kids all wanted to do the Swiss Family Treehouse. I had never done this so it was a first for me too. It was a lot of fun, but very hot and humid. After that I told the gang I need to find a store that sold sundresses or something cotton. Why I had chose to wear skorts and a shirt that was 100% polyester I do NOT know. We went to the store right across from the treehouse, but they were all out of small sizes. Oh well, we would look somewhere else. Next we did the Magic Carpets of Aladdin and the little ones just love this ride. Then we did it again. So far no lines over a 10 minute wait in any of the parks. After that we go to the Pirates of the Caribbean. That was just as good as I remember it to be, and the hallway you have to go down to get to the ride was nice and cool. After that we headed over to Frontierland to catch the Country Bear Jamboree. That show was a lot shorter than I remember it. I guess as a child things seem a lot longer. It was still good and the kids loved it. It was also in the air-conditioning. Next we went over to Splash Mountain. There was no wait so we were able to get right on. Everybody loved it except for Sissy(my 4 yr. old DD). She was terrified of the drop. So we promised her she would not have to ride it again. We did not get as wet as I thought we would. When we got out of there the kids were getting hungry so we bought a turkey leg and pretzel to split along with all the snacks we brought with us. My in laws are separate than us and did there own thing for lunch. They paid for their stuff and we paid for ours all week. We found a seat outside of one of the store and sat down to enjoy our snack. We attracted a few birds that looked hungry so we let the kids feed them crackers and turkey pieces. The birds were so tame and ended up being one of my little girls favorite things about the trip. After eating we headed over to Liberty Square to do the Haunted mansion. This was a GREAT ride!!!!! Longer and better than I remember. Sissy(DD 4) kept looking for Scooby Doo in there. She was so cute. It was hard trying to tell her that he was a character in another park, and not Disney. After that we headed over to Fantasyland and rode all the rides there except for Buzz Lightyear and Winnie the Pooh. We will be coming back here tomorrow and will ride them then. The lines were rather long and rather than use fastpass we just went on over to Tomorrowland to do Space Mountain (me and Sissy sat this one out), Astro Orbiter and Tomorrowland Transit Authority. When we got through with these rides it was time to start making our way to the Polynesian for dinner at Ohana.

We arrived at the Polynesian earlier than we thought we would. It was a rather fast trip over there with no lines for the monorail. I check us in at Ohana and we were the first to be seated for the night. Let me stop here and say this. My MIL had been great this whole trip until today. Today, she was a total pain and tried to ruin everyone's day by being rude and bossy. This started this morning and lasted the rest of the day. Now back to Ohana. This is in my opinion one of the best places to eat and the service can't be beat. We had a blast here all of us except my MIL. She complained about where we sat (which was right by a window and looked out over the water), complained about how much food they kept bringing, ect. We all just tried to ignore her and have a good time, and we DID. They had coconut races for the kids and everyone in the restaurant sang Happy Birthday to Tay. When we were through with the meal they all wanted dessert. I didn't. I had NO room for it. I ate so much real food. The kids wanted the Beach Bomb and Taylor (who is diabetic got a sugar free strawberry sorbet thingy). My hubby and FIL got the moose and coffee. The kid's Beach Bomb (which is basically a snow cone type thing) was served in a small beach pail with a shovel to eat it with. It was soooo cute and fun. We ordered them each one not realizing how big they were. They only ate/drank about 1/3 of it. Dinner ended and it was still early so we decided to go try to see Fantasmic again (the night before it was rained out for us).

Here is where the fun begins. We decide we will take the bus from the Poly to MGM because we were parked at the TTC and instead of trying to go and get the truck and get to MGM it would be faster to take the bus. Boy were we wrong. We waited for about 20 minutes for a bus and when it came there was standing room only left. We all crowd on and some nice person gets up and lets the little ones sit down because they would have flown through the middle of the bus. Here I stand trying to hang on to a strap in the middle of the bus while juggling two half eaten pails of slushy the kids wouldn't let me pour out. All is going well until the bus driver starts to drive. He slams on brakes and takes off like he is in a race. We are doing all we can to just stay standing. I do really good with the pails of slushy until the last stop and then they slosh out down the front of my white skorts. Oh well, we are going to see Fantasmic if I have to wear the slushies all over me. When we finally get there all we could think about is that we would have to take a bus back to somewhere to catch the monorail to get our truck at the TTC (moral of this story for us is never be without or truck). We get in line, finally get in the park (I think everyone from all the parks combined is coming to see Fantasmic tonight), and proceed to get us a stroller. That goes rather smoothly and we are off to see FANTASMIC!!!!!!!!!! We get to the entrance along with 5,000 other people and are at a basic stand still trying to find a seat. The line is moving really slow, and my MIL is trying her best to get to the front and wanting us to follow her. We will not cut in line just to get there a few minutes earlier. She is ticked now because she is not in control. Thankfully she is on her own along with my FIL, and they have their own condo and transportation. When we finally get to where we can go down an isle and get a seat she is waiting for us on a row with only a few people so we go on down and sit with them. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!! The show starts and is WONDERFUL!!!!!! It is as good or better than what people say it is. About 10 minutes from the end my MIL leans over and says "You ready to go, I want to beat the crowds." I tell her to "go ahead, we wanted to see the WHOLE show." That ticks her off more, but she stays. After the show there are thousands of people trying to get to the exit at one time. My hubby says that the best thing for us to do since we don't have anywhere to be was to stay put until the crowds thinned out a little. As you can guess my MIL was READY to go and was totally ticked off when my Hubby (her son) told her to go on ahead, we were staying until the crowds thinned out. She was totally ticked off now, standing at the end of the row patting her foot and blowen up like a toad frog. They finally decide to leave with the crowd and leave us there. That was fine with us. We had had enough for one day. When we finally left Fantasmic we did some shopping and were one of the last people leaving the parks. When we got to the bus line for the Poly who do you think was in line? Your right, my MIL and FIL. Leaving that early only got them stuck in crowds, and we got to visit with a nice family while we waiting. My oldest starts to yell out "GRANNY," but my hubby puts his hand over his mouth and tells him to Hush, Granny does not want to see us right now. We wait for the next bus which takes probably 30 minutes to come. While we are waiting the little ones fall asleep. So here we are with two, sleeping 45lb kids, 2 umbrellas, a back pack and a roller cooler. We are tired, but really happy at this moment. It has been a great day overall minus MIL's mouth. We catch the bus back to the Poly and he tells us we can walk to the TTC from there. That is a really long walk so we ask one of the valet guys if there was another way and he says he will take us on his golf cart. He was such a blessing that night. We tipped him well and thanked him over and over. Finally we are at the TTC and can see our truck. When we finally get to the truck it is 11:00pm. We are so tired when we get back to the condo we just fall into bed without unloading anything.

The moral of this day........Never travel with my MIL again and always take our truck unless there is a monorail that goes to all the places we are going. NEVER TAKE THE BUS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!

Day 5---9/26/02---Magic Kingdom

Today is the day we had to do our time share presentation at the Westgate Resorts. My hubby must have fallen asleep while setting the alarm clock because when I woke up the clock said 7:18am. Our tour was scheduled for 7:30am, and the alarm clock was above my hubby's pillow still in the set mode. We were so tired last night I guess he fell asleep while setting it. We made it to the presentation 2 minutes late. I was a sight to be seen. I through on some clothes and went with no makeup. I hoped to not scare them to death. We were supposed to have a separate tour from my in laws, but guess whose table we were put at. Considering the way yesterday went with my MIL this morning was very tense and quiet. She informed us then and there that she had had enough of Disney and was going to stay at the condo today and get some sleep. That was fine with us because we were not going to let her come with us anyway. My FIL is as good as gold and never says a cross word or complains about anything. He went with us for part of our day today. After the presentation which lasted 90 minutes including a breakfast that was yummy we were on our way back to the condo to get ready for our day.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 11:00am, and got through security without any probs. I kept looking for someone to say something about my cooler, but they never did. Some of the guards even commented on how good some of the things looked. We rented 2 single strollers again today and were on our way to do some of the things we missed yesterday and some of the things the kids wanted to do over. We started today in Mickey's Toontown Fair. The kids all wanted to do The Barnstormer and Sissy wanted to see Minnie's house. The barnstormer was so cute, but so short. I wish they would let you ride a couple of times in a row without getting off or stopping. That is the kind of roller coasters I like. Next we went to Minnie's house and Sissy got to look around. It was very nicely decorated and we got some really great pictures in there. After that we went to do Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin. The lines were not long and we were able to do it two times making up for yesterday. That is a favorite ride of our now. We need to work on our scores, but enjoyed it nonetheless. After that we headed around to Frontierland to do Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We did not get to do that yesterday because it was closed. Everyone liked it except Sissy. She does not like fast jerky rides, but she did it. That is all I asked her to do. Do it once and if she did not like it I would not make her do it again. After BTMR we were very hungry and went to find another turkey leg and pretzel. We found us a seat right beside the Frontierland Shooting Arcade. The kids enjoyed shooting and getting pressed pennies there. I can't tell you how much money we spent on pressed pennies and quarters. I know all the kids came back with a baggy full. After that we went and did Pirates of the Caribbean and the Carpets of Aladdin again. After that the Tiki Room. Then we made our way back through Fantasyland and tomorrowland to do the astro orbiter again. Me my hubby and a sleeping little girl sat that one out. It was a good thing too because while they were on the ride it came a great rain. They were quite soaked when they came down. After that it was time for my FIL to leave and for us to go to the 1900 Park Fare for dinner.

We took the monorail, and got there with no problem. We had some time to kill so we shopped and walked around a bit. The Grand Floridian is a beautiful resort. Finally it was time for dinner, and I was very excited because Eeyore and all his pals are a favorite of ours. Eeyore is my very favorite character. The meal was superb with lots of character interaction. Tigger was a trip and tried to steal my hubby's money and then tried to take me away. He was a GREAT character!!!!!!!!! After that we were to meet up with some friends we met through this group---Scott and Diana. We were going to meet them for Spectromagic in front of the bakery on Main Street. When we got there they were just finishing up there snack and we were able to get a good place to view spectromagic. It was WONDERFUL!!!!! We had never seen anything like it. At this point in the week I am sooooooo in love with Disney World and everything they do. I can't stand the though of leaving it. After Spectromagic, Scott and Diana invited us back to the Poly to watch some fireworks they were going to send off because someone got married. That was the first time we had gotten to see the the Poly's pool and beach. The beach was so cool. Being from the Gulf Coast and living near the gulf of Mexico we are used to the beach with white sand, but the fresh water and ducks were a strange twist. It was too cool. My kids enjoyed playing in the water and chasing the duck. We enjoyed a time withour friend just sitting on the beach and talking. They are great people and I hope we can stay in touch. Maybe oneday meet up again. Finally we had to leave because it was getting late. Luckily I packed the kids a change of clothes and after a quick stop at the bathroom to change we were on our way back to the TTC. I think time speeds up in Disney. the days don't seem nearly long enough. We arrive back at the condo around 11:00pm, bath the kids, shower ourselves and turn into bed. It was a WONDERFUL day today!!!!!! Did I mention I LOVE DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!!

Day 6---9/27/02---DTD, AK, EPCOT

Today is day 6 and the last day we will have at the parks. We get up this morning a little sad and teary. This will be our final time to do anything we missed. My in laws are leaving for home today(yeah), and are heading to Downtown Disney for some final shopping. We bid them farewell, and they are on there way about 9:00am this morning. We are not too far behind them, and decide to go to DTD too because we haven't seen it yet. I wanted to let the kids do some shopping before they were too tired and cranky to care. We made them save most of there money for the last day. I get a 10% off in The World of Disney because we are seasonal passholders. We arrive at DTD about 10:00am and proceed to the Lego Store. I have two boys who love nothing more than Legos. That is all they do when they are home, and getting to go to the Lego store was a dream come true. I think they liked it as much as they liked Disney World. While we were walking around looking we ran into my in laws. My MIL is in a whole lot better mood today. She is doing her favorite thing----shopping. We hook up with them for a while because she has to show me all she has found. My MIL takes my DD to The World of Disney Store to look while we (me, hubby and FIL) help the boys make there final selection at the Lego store. Boy was that a hard one. So much to choose from. After they are finished we head over to The World of Disney Store and begin the quest for the perfect tee shirt, hat and stuffed animal/doll. That is not a simple matter. Everything here is decorated so pretty. The kids want it all. We finally settle on 5 tee shirts, 2 hats, 1 pink fuzzy pair of Minnie Mouse ears, 3 stuffed animals (Eeyore is ALL mine), 1 doll and Sleeping Beauty dress, a bunch of postcards, and a magnet. The grand total was $280. Wow, where does it go? The kids all got some really nice things, and are happy so we don't argue. Finally we are through with shopping, and now very hungry because shopping is hard work.

We head over to the Rainforest Cafe in DTD and are seated immediately. The food here is really good. We all had the pizzas except for Tay who had the burgers. The service was a little lacking, but the theming made up for that. The kids just loved all the animals and storms. The birds out front are a big draw, not to mention the pressed penny machines here too. When lunch is over we bid granny and grandpa goodbye. Now it is time to go back to the parks.

We decide to go back to Animal Kingdom because this is the park we did not get to do much of due to Emory's rash, heat and rain. We get there and it is soooooo hot, but we are really wanting to do some of the things we missed. At least it is not raining. We get to the park rather quickly. It is amazing how fast you can learn your way around in a week. We enter the park with no problems and get a double stroller for the little ones. I know that there are some people who think a kid past the age of 4 should not be in a stroller, but this was a life saver for us. In the strollers they were happy, but when they had to walk they got really grumpy. I say do what works. If they did not want to ride we did not make them, but they had the option. It also made getting from one place to another faster. Little feet get tired. Animal Kingdom turned out to be one of our favorite places. We are animal lovers anyway so that only added to the enjoyment. Even though we went back today we still did not get to do all that is there. Something to look forward too next time. Primevil Whirl was really fun even though the little ones were not tall enough to ride, and the Triceratops Spin was great too. Dinosaur was a little too intense for the little ones. They wanted to do it, but came off with a different view. The Safarri was GREAT!!!!!! We enjoyed everything we saw here today. The park is closing soon so we start making our way back to the exit. Now we are going over to EPCOT to walk around.

We get to EPCOT about 5:30pm and walk around just looking and wishing it was not our last night. There is something really sad about the last time you get your pass out and run it through the machines. We were near tears. The kids were getting tired and we were getting hungry. We decided to leave EPCOT and go to TGIFridays for supper. That is a favorite restaurant of ours. The food was wonderful as usual, and the entertainment couldn't be beat. There was a girl there that made almost anything a kid could want out of balloons. She was super sweet and patient with all the kids. I have to say we enjoyed this meal as much as we enjoyed the ones in Disney. It was a lot less busy and the food is out of this world. After we finished eating we decided to go to the condo, take a shower, and go to DTD for the rest of the night.

We get to the condo, shower in record time, and are now feeling like new people. We head out to DTD and decide to go to Ghirardelli Soda Fountain for ice cream. That was some of the best ice cream we ever ate. After we got our ice cream we went over to the Lego play area and let the kids run around. We just sat on a bench and reflected on the week.

This has been the best week of our lives. We are Disney Nuts now. I never could understand how people could love it soooooo much. I do now. This was our very first trip as a whole family since we had the little ones. I can honestly say it was well worth all the tired feet, hot sun and rain. We are already planning another trip the first week in May. The planning of this next trip is the only thing that is keeping me from being so sad that it is all over. I know that in just a few short months we will be there again, enjoying all the thing we grew to love.

To everyone who has followed these trip reports---- THANK YOU for your time in sharing some of the best memories we could ever have. This group has been the best in giving advice and answering questions. Thank you all!!!!!

Bye For Now, Krista and the Gang