Trip Report: Day 5

We were over the halfway point of our trip. All of our bones and muscles were starting to feel it! But we pressed on, there was so much more to see. We have already decided that on our next Disney adventure we will schedule more down time. It is such a tough choice to make…but I think Disney World can be a great place to strike a balance between trip and vacation! You just have to be okay with missing some things for the sake of a little R&R.

It was Saturday and we knew it best to avoid Magic Kingdom on the weekend, so we went to EPCOT again to finish up what we didn’t get to on Thursday. Of course there was time for the family picture upon arriving. Notice the sun glaring in Allie’s face and me looking down with a fake smile on my face at the boys who were messing around….classic! And why is there like 5 feet between Matt and I? I think we were still feeling the love after 5 straight days together as a family:)

It seems funny to write this as I look outside at feet of snow on the ground, but day 5 of our trip was cold. It was a high of 60 and there was a brisk wind. Allie didn’t seem to mind the cooler temps!

The first ride of the day was Ellen’s Energy Adventure. We plugged our ears at all of the not-so-biblical explanations of our world and enjoyed the very cool dinosaur animatronics. This ride is pretty intense for little ones, but by this point, I think our brood was too tired to care!

Matt and his dad went on Test Track and we hung out with the kids and waited for a bit.

Next we started the journey around the world by going to the World Showcase. Our first stop was Mexico. It is a lot of fun just to browse through the shop inside the Mexico pavilion. I think everyone has this sombrero picture in their Disney scrapbook!

After riding on the Gran Fiesta boat ride in Mexico, it was time for lunch. Our options were Mexican (ha!) or Moroccan. We choose Mexican. We ate at the counter service stop called La Cantina. The food was authentic (read:not Taco Bell) so I wasn’t sure the kids would like it. We paid the highest amount that we had all week for lunch, close to $50, and to my surprise, the kids did eat it. This restaurant had a gorgeous view of the World Showcase.

I really think EPCOT is a cool place. The countries each offer a great deal of wonderful entertainment and interesting shopping and eating. However, I think if I had to skip one park for toddlers, this might be it. EPCOT is big, there aren’t many “rides”, and much of the cultural stuff is over their heads. We spent two days here this time because last year we hadn’t gone there at all. I think one day would be plenty if you were selective about what you did.

Matt and I both love the Norway ride. The whole viking theme just cracks me up and I also love this enormous troll that you walk by as you exit through the gift shop.

Allison, my sweet little viking.

Gotta love this boy!

While touring China, we were on the lookout for Mulan. She was very sweet and the kids loved meeting her as they had watched the movie before our trip.

Now is the time when I take a brief pause in talking about our day at EPCOT and tell you about caramel. You see, there is this new shop in Germany (you can read about it here) that is so amazingly, sinfully, lusciously fabulous that you must go there when you visit EPCOT. The shop specializes in caramel and offers everything from caramel dipped apples, to caramel and chocolate covered marshmallows, to caramel covered pecans. It is a little piece of heaven…trust me!

As we waited in line, we captured a few pictures of our faces filled with anticipation of the deliciousness about to come.

This place could really blow your food budget, I think we spent only about $14. Matt got a caramel and chocolate pecan cluster, I got marshmallows on a stick covered in chocolate and caramel, and the kids split a gigantic rice crispy treat covered in the what else…chocolate and caramel. The rice Krispy treat was a great buy (under $4) because it was the size of a brick (literally) and I asked the girl at the counter if she could cut it into four pieces. The kids loved it, and they also loved my marshmallow.

You probably won’t believe me when I say this, but I’m on the fence as to whether it was easier to have 4 kids in diapers at Disney last year than to have 3 potty trained and 1 in diapers. If I had a dollar for all of the trips to the potty we made in those 8 days, I’d be rich. Of course the kids never had to go all at the same time…and there is no convincing a three year old to go when he/she doesn’t “feel it coming!” Our diaper-change-stops last year were quick, efficient, and on our time schedule. This year we had urgent sprints to find a bathroom, like this one…

As we were finishing up our sweet treat, Brady grabs himself and says, “I have to go pottyyyyyyyy!” When this boy says he has to go, you have like 10 seconds to get him to the bathroom. Not wanting to miss a thing, he holds it until the last possible minute and then the rush is on to find a bathroom.

I picked him up and told the others that we would meet them in the toy shop. I looked around at my German surroundings, having no idea where the nearest bathroom was. I saw a sign for the Biergarten Restaurant and went running, carrying Brady who just kept saying, “Hurry!” I rushed past the hostess as she asked me if we had a reservation and suddenly we were running through a huge German banquet hall. There were people who looked like they stepped out of the Sound of Music performing on stage, and buffets of sausage and sauerkraut all around us. I saw the bathroom in the distance and just kept hustling my way through the crowd. We made it to the bathroom and I plopped Brady on the potty. We had made it! As I was waiting for Brady to finish and trying to catch my breath, Brady says, “Mommy, this place smells bad. Even the bathroom smells bad.” I think he was referring to the overwhelming smell of sauerkraut that yes, even stunk up the bathroom. This little bathroom trip in Germany will always be a funny memory of our 2011 trip!

We relaxed a little bit at the American Adventure Pavilion. The kids had some fun playing follow the leader in a garden next to the building.

Our final stop in the World Showcase was the United Kingdom. We spotted Alice in a pretty garden and got in line to meet her. I’ll never forget Eli saying to her, “Hey Alice in Wonderland, I’ve got a new toy.” To which she replied, “Oh, you have a Mickey!” Eli answered, “No, it’s a new stick!” He then showed her some random stick he had picked up along the way.

Grandma and Grandpa had a dinner reservation at Artist Pointe in the Wilderness Lodge, so they left us in the late afternoon. Right before we said goodbye to them, we got to meet Chip and Dale. They were some of the most fun and playful characters that we met all week!

We had completed the World Showcase, but we weren’t sure if we wanted to leave EPCOT just yet. We decided to redo some of the attractions that we saw earlier in the week. Crowds were very low, so we went on the Nemo ride again and explored the Living with the Seas Pavilion some more. I found a hidden Mickey in one of the large aquariums.

We grabbed dinner at the Electric Umbrella (very average) and jumped at Spaceship Earth one last time. It was really, really cold by this point and the kids were tired.

Sometime between Saturday and Sunday, Disney World got very busy! Tomorrow we would be shocked at how crowded everything had become. And I would take part in a my fist official race…the Toy Story Mania Fast Pass race! Stay tuned…

Home!

The Williams clan has returned from our Disney adventure!



Pictures and recap will be coming soon.



I'm trying to get out from underneath some laundry piles! There is also the task of getting the kids back on a normal, not-quite-so-magical routine:)



Here's a little sneak peek!

Trip Report: Day 5

Oh Disney! Just writing these posts every night makes me happy! I hope you can tell by reading about it what an unbelievably fantastic blessing this trip was for us! From our accommodations (still in awe of the Grand Floridian) to all of the great places we saw, we won’t stop smiling about this experience for a long time! We just love love love Disney! And we just can’t thank Make a Wish and Give Kids the World enough!

By Thursday, temperatures were in the 40s when we woke up. So we put on some warmer clothes, jumped on the bus, and headed out to Animal Kingdom. It was a sunny day and the temperatures topped off in the upper 50s (certainly not warm, but much better than western NY!) I don’t think I mentioned before, but at every Disney resort there is at least one bus stop. You can reach all of the parks, and other areas, by taking these buses. We never waited more than 10 minutes for the bus we needed.

Animal Kingdom is the park where you can explore Disney’s wildlife habitats and get up close with some fantastic animals! This is a huge park we just did a few things that day.

On our way in, a Cast member stopped to show the kids an animal skull and tell us about it. There are very knowledgeable Cast Member’s all throughout Animal Kingdom who are doing mini presentations about certain animals.

One of the best attractions at Animal Kingdom is the Kilimanjaro Safari. You ride on safari-type vehicles through man-made, but simply stunning, landscapes of the African savannah. As you ride along, you encounter animals that appear to be roaming freely. Some of the animals actually are wandering freely-like this beautiful giraffe who literally walked right in front of our vehicle! Another giraffe stood so close to us that I could have reached out and touched him. Just gorgeous!

Look how close these rhinos were!

Sweet little Allie wasn’t as impressed as the rest of us!

Here we are exploring a nature trail that simulates the jungle. I thought it was so cool that this black bird flew right in front of the camera as I clicked the picture.

The two amigos loved chatting in their stroller!

Everyone else checked out the Affection Section of Rafiki’s Planet Watch while Allie and I had a photo session! Anyone who knows me well knows that petting animals, especially those who are not in cages, is not my thing. I was happy to spend some time loving this cutie pie!

For lunch we had reservations at Yak and Yeti’s Asian Restaurant. I’ll give this place 3 stars (***). The atmosphere was very good here, but we were disappointed that we had to sit at two separate tables. The food was really good. I had sweet and sour chicken and my mom had lettuce wraps. I just LOVE the variety of food available at Disney. Unlike other places I have gone with my kids, at Disney you aren’t feeding your children chicken fingers and french fries every day. Actually at this place they did eat that! But they also had vegetable lo mein and applesauce.

On our way across the park, we saw a sign that said that Pooh and Friends were doing a meet and greet down one of the paths. There were only a handful of people in line, so we decided to check it out! Brady’s wish for the trip was to meet his favorite Eeyore! Wish granted Brady:)

I just love this next picture! Throughout our time in the parks, Eli and Brady always wanted to have their own maps. They would look at them, point to them, and chatter about them as they rolled along.

We headed back to the resort for naps. Ah---it was delightful to go back to that gorgeous place everyday! Did I tell you that the Grand smells just beautiful. The scent when you walk in the main building is this distinctly lovely, but not overpowering, flowery smell. When we would return to our room each night, our beds would be turned down, towels refreshed, and little chocolates would be on the pillows. What a place…

Thursday night was date night for Matt and I. The grandparents took the kids for a whirlwind walk around EPCOT. I don’t think they actually went on any attractions, but they had fun showing the kids the sights in Future World and the World Showcase.

Matt and I also went to EPCOT and knew that we wanted to go on some of the attractions geared towards adults. We practically ran around Future World and were able to go on Soarin, Test Track, Living with the Land, and Mission Space. We loved all of these attractions and a few of them are new since we last visited in 2003.

We had a great counter-service dinner inside the Land Pavilion at the Sunshine Seasons Foodcourt. We each had absolutely delicious sandwiches (SO GOOD!) and even though it was food-court style atmosphere I’m giving it 4 stars (****). Perhaps my rating is slightly skewed given the fact that we were alone—no bibs, no sippy cups, no cutting food for anyone. Ahhhh…

After Future World we walked around the entire World Showcase. It was quite cold that night—in the 40s—but we made it to all of the countries and did as many of the attractions as we could. If you have never been to EPCOT, it really is a strange, but very cool place. In an a few hours, you can wander around the globe and see some almost-authentic sights and taste great cultural food. We had dessert at “France” which was so yummy even though we ate outside in the cold!

Thursday was a great day! Friday we were returning to the Magic Kingdom for one last day of Disney fun…

P.S. If you haven't already, please scroll down and read my post from earlier today about Brady's doctor's appointment!

Trip Report: Day 4

Before I get on with our trip report, I wanted to ask you if you would keep our family in your prayers. Tomorrow Matt and I will take Brady for our long-awaited appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. If you remember, we are seeing a new doctor hoping to get a more “hopeful” 2nd opinion. Although we are praying that there are options available to intervene and fight against Brady’s spinal deformity, we are nonetheless sad and afraid that we may have to interrupt Brady’s life once again with some form of treatment. We have read about several different approaches, all of which are quite ground-breaking, and they each come with their own risks and discomforts for Brady. Of course our greatest prayer would be that the XRAYs tomorrow would show no further progression in his spinal curve. Our God has shown us many miracles along this journey, and we trust that nothing is outside of His reach. Thank you for continuing to pray for precious Brady:)

We are already on to Day 4! That means that reliving my vacation is almost over too:(

Before I share what we did on Wednesday, here are a few pictures from my mom’s camera from our first 3 days.

Inside the main building at the Grand Floridian.

Daddy and the boys enjoying a break in front of the castle.

Toddlers in rain ponchos…too cute! They look like little E.T.s! By Wednesday we had been at the parks for two straight days and we were ready for a break day. At the beginning of our trip report, I told you a little about Give Kids the World Village.

It is a little confusing to understand how the Make a Wish process happens, but I’ll do my best. The Make a Wish Foundation of Western New York and Give Kids the World Village of Kissimmee Florida partnered together to make Brady’s wish come true. Give Kids the World village is a not-for-profit resort where families who are on Make a Wish Trips to the Disney-area can stay. The provide free food, lodging, and transportation to the families staying there. Even though we opted to stay on Disney property, we were invited to visit Give Kids the World as often as we wanted during our week. They are also the ones who provide Wish Families with tickets to Disney and other parks.

Matt and I went the first night of our trip for orientation and then brought the whole family back for the day on Wednesday. The moment we arrived, we knew it was a special place that we would never forget.

Give Kids the World Village has areas of villas were guests stay that look like a pretty neighborhood with curved streets and lovely landscaping. The common buildings of the Village are all themed for children and are simply amazing.

Here is the Gingerbread House Restaurant. We went here first to enjoy a free (and very delicious) breakfast. The Restaurant is staffed by volunteers, most of whom were retired men and women who were so sweet and accommodating. They served your food cafeteria style and then one of them would carry your tray for you back to your table.

Brady was such a goofball! Did I mention that he never stopped talking throughout the entire trip? When everyone else fell asleep in the car? Brady was chatting…While we were dead-tired on our way back to the resort? Brady was chatting…blah-blah-blah-blah!

Next the kids took rides on the Enchanted Carousel. There were no other kids on it that morning, so the Williams 3 got as many rides as they wanted! Allie of course sat that one out!

Our next stop was the Castle of Miracles. This place was full of interesting places for the kids to explore. When you walk in, you instantly notice the ceiling which looks like this…

The ceiling is covered with thousands and thousands of individual stars. Each star represents a child who has been a guest at Give Kids the World. I couldn’t help but be humbled knowing I was standing where so many families had stood before, each facing their own child’s illness, many of them knowing this is the last vacation they will ever take with their child. It was a special place…

When we arrived, Brady and I got to write his name on his star. Then he put in in a magic box and the Star Fairy came (via a few cleverly set up TV screens) and took his star and promised to fly up to the ceiling that night and place it among all the others. In a few weeks we will receive a certificate letting us know where his star was placed.

Here we are writing his name on his star. Look at his sweet little hand on top of mine.

The kids each also got to use the Magic Pillow machine. This was the most clever and adorable thing! The kids pushed a button to choose what type of pillow they wanted. The machine started shaking and making chicken noises (indicating that the “chickens” inside were busy stuffing the pillow with their feathers!). Then bubbles came pouring out of the machine! Finally a toddler-sized pillow dropped out of the bottom of the machine. SO super cute!

The castle was filled with all sorts of surprises for the kids. Here is Brady opening drawers and doors that covered one of the walls. Each time he did, he heard a silly noise!

Here are Cara, Grandma Kathy, Eli, and Matt on the way to the Amberville Train Station.

On the way there we stopped at a fish pond and got some great pictures!

This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip. I love how it really captures a spontaneous moment in time.

Always time for a hug!

“WAIT! Don’t move…I’ve almost got the picture….Oh forget it!”

At the train station, there was an incredible model train display!

I love taking pictures of my kids’ feet!

This monkey was showing us the way to the train rides. There were volunteers waiting there to give just us a ride (as many as the kids wanted!)

It had been drizzling all morning, but we were happy to find out that the mini gold course opened up after being closed due to the rain. Matt, who loves to golf, took the job of teaching our kids putt putt pretty seriously!

The kids of course don’t take anything that seriously!

It was time to eat again, this time we enjoyed food from Boston Market who sponsors a food stand inside Give Kids the World. Afterwards we enjoyed ice cream that the kids at the village can have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

We said goodbye to Give Kids the World Village in the early afternoon, but we knew we would be back someday! The Village welcomes all former Wish Families to stop back and visit for a day when they are in the area again. I will never, ever forget this place and we are so grateful for their generosity and love.

Even Brady was tired out. Notice he is snuggling up with his new pillow!

I must have put away my camera for the rest of Wednesday as I have no pictures to show! During naptime mom and I went to the Main Building at the Grand and asked a concierge to help us find a dinner reservation. Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Ron had reservations at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian Resort. We were able to get a dinner reservation for mom, the kids, Matt, and I at the Wilderness Lodge Campground. This campground area is part of the Wilderness Lodge Resort. By this point in the week, the weather was starting to change. Temperatures were dropping and it was a dark, rainy night. We got on the monorail and headed to the Magic Kingdom. From there we boarded a boat that took us to the Campground, which was about 10-15 minute ride in the cold rain! We docked and had to run into the woods and to the Trail’s End Restaurant.

Matt and I had been in this area on our honeymoon, but we had the pleasure of going to see the Hoop Dee Doo Review which was one of our best memories! That dinner show is right next door to where we had dinner. (By the way, I give the Hoop Dee Doo Review 4 very enthusiastic stars!)

The Trails End Restaurant was a rustic buffet with good country-style food. I’m giving it 3 stars (***) for good service and satisfying food. I’m not much of a country girl, so the rustic atmosphere didn’t do much for me:)

After dinner we headed back to the resort the same way we had come. This time it was just a bit colder and windier. We huddled together with the kids and told them that we were on a big adventure!

I want to take a minute to brag about my kids. Each of them really exceeded our expectations with their behavior throughout the trip. They were so much fun, so enjoyable, and truly well behaved. There were very few tears, I can’t remember any tantrums, and it reaffirmed what I already know…

I have four great kids!