First of all. ALWAYS rent a house.
For around the same price as a hotel room....you can get a WHOLE house. With a laundry room and kitchen and seperate bedrooms and no neighbors above, below or on either side of you. TRUST ME...with 5 kids....that's a good thing.
We also had a pool which I think is a MUST. It was absolutely wonderful to come home after being at the hot park all day, to just throw ourselves in to the pool. We looked forward to it every day.
Second. If'n you didn't know.....now you do. You can TOTALLY TAKE FOOD IN TO DISNEY. unfortunately not into Sea world. (well apparently you can fax headquarters and tell them that you have an allergy and cannot cross contaminate and then wait for a fax to take with you to the park, but we didn't do that)
We spent a total of 15.00 in 3 days at the actual parks in Disney. 2 bottled waters and some cotton candy....fih-teen dollahs.
Doesn't that just make EVERYBODY happy :) WOO HOOOO ! pack treats. lots of treats.
OH and freeze a water bottle (take a little out before) and then pack it in your stroller or bag. It melts through out the day and there you have cold water most of the day.
Flying with 5 kids turned out to be not such a big deal. We prepared for the worst. 1/2 glass empty approach. Expected the worst and were pleasantly surprised.
The first 4 hours we had DVD players and then the batteries died. and it was scary. and then for the last hour they slept.
I have to say....over all...my kids were some of the quietest and best on the plane. Not bad. Not bad at all.
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| So happy for this wonderful man. We couldn't have done it (without sweat and heartache) without him. Best 10 bucks we ever spent. |
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| like monkeys...they were climbing the trees in the airport. feels better than to say they were climbing all over in their potted plants. |
Friends. Always travel with friends. and if you can't meet them there....bring your own.
We were lucky to have both.
We hooked up with some friends who live in Florida. They were the ones who helped us learn the ins and outs of food at the park and what rides to run to first :) Did you know that they actually run out of fast passes ? and fast too.
One is a pediatrician the other a child therapist. They were still boggled as to how to control some of the more vocal behaviors of my children. :) Nice right.
We also brought our babysitter from home and her mom :) They were AWESOME and it sure was nice having someone else to share the responsibility of the house keeping with.
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| babysitters, friends and neighbors all in one. |
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| Florida Friends With babysitters we were able to leave the kids sleeping at home and go out to dinner with just the adults. (insert sighs and the calgon commercial theme song) |
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| I am so super proud of this. 1- it's my first ever plank and 2- look at the balance I had. and that 'moving' hand rail is only 5 inches wide. and yes we are in fact moving. Seriously :) |
Seriously. How do they do that ?
We met up with some other florida friends this day. It's one thing to have spirited children. It's an entirely different thing to hang out with 2 families whose children are especially well behaved. Sheesh.
Always invite my family if'n you want to feel good about yours. :)
Just sayin.
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| There are a few better group shots....but I just loved this one of my boys. :) |
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| That's a lot of kids, yeah ? more than 1/2 of them are mine. |
The only thing that we'd do differently is to maybe plan it in November. September in Orlando is still extremley hot. and humid.
Also. I would plan for more down days. Some of our best times were just hanging out at the house in the pool doing nothing.
Well that and meeting Buzz Lightyear. Dancing with Woody. and of course getting some lovin from Mickey and Minnie.
yip. good stuff people.
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| More than the characters...the ducks and squirrels were a big hit with my gang. :) |
