Our Magical Birthday Tradition

[IloveJack]

*We've taken each of our kids to the World for their first birthday. This trip was for our DS' first, but we celebrated 4 birthdays during the week; June 1-8.*

Cast of Characters
Me, Susan, 33, 9th trip
DH, David, turning 29, 7th trip
ODD, Sammie, 5, 5th trip
YDD, Lily, turning 3, 3rd trip
DS, Joey, turning 1, 2nd trip
My Mom, Connie, turning 63, 3rd trip
My Dad, Sam, 66, 3rd trip

Day 1(ish): Travel and DTD

Since both of our younger children have birthdays only 6 days apart, and neither understand "boy" vs "girl" parties, yet, we decided to have their party on Saturday afternoon, go home and get as much rest as possible, and head out at 3am Sunday morning. Mom and I went party shopping on Friday, and while driving around, she said, "Your dad said we should just leave out after the party tonight and drive to Atlanta, get a room, then get up and drive on down tomorrow." So I said, "Sounds good to me. We'll have to have time to unpack the gifts and repack the luggage and gear, though."
So our trip got moved up a day (or really a matter of hours).
Saturday was busy, to say the least. I left DH home trying to finish dishes, take off the trash, and all the other things that need to be done before leaving the house for 9 days. I took the kids to the park for a playdate with some of their friends. Then it was back home for attempted naps (only DH ever actually got to sleep... that seems to happen often right before our trips), and to pack up for the party. The party was from 4-6, but people arrived early, and stayed late, so we made it back home around 8pm. It was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed, though, so the kids got some Disney toys to take with them, and some clothes, too.
We rushed back home to unpack and repack, and take showers as quickly as possible. We got on the road at 8:45, made it five miles down the road and I realized I didn't have my medicine with me. I'd felt very rushed with the unpacking and repacking, and I didn't feel sure about anything we'd taken. We turned around and went back home (knowing that my parents were already 30 minutes down the road from us), only to find that my medicine was buried in the bottom of my backpack, with us in the car. It wasn't a wasted trip, though, as DH had left our basement lights on, and didn't want them on the entire trip.
We were back on the road by 9pm, and headed straight toward Chattanooga. The plan was to drive as far as possible, but my dad had been working in the garden all day, and he was already tired out by the time we stopped at 11:30. It took some work (my mother isn't well versed in Travelocity), but we found a not-so-shabby room, in a very shabby looking Knights Inn. I couldn't sleep well, though. I lied in the bed for quite a while thinking about bed bugs. However, I can NEVER sleep right before a vacation, and often during a vacation (if you remember our December trip report), so it wasn't much different.
I'd set the alarm for 7am, hoping to be on the road by 8:00, but everyone was slow getting up and going, and my parents voted for Waffle House, which was an hour long meal. Oh well, I knew this trip wasn't going to be as commando-style as we normally take it.
We made it to Macon, GA before we stopped again. I knew I hadn't been able to find YDD's flip flops the night before, and I KNEW that I'd left them in the car after the party, but she was going completely barefoot so far on this trip. Since she's only 2, it hadn't mattered, but she's also only been potty training for about a month, so barefeet and service station floors weren't so cool. This specific station had one potty that worked, with 8 people in line. Grr... there's a reason I bought pull-ups!
Finally, when we stopped in Valdosta, DH was willing to drive. I'd driven every mile so far, knowing that he'd stayed up the entire night before the party, fishing with his buddy. However, my generosity was wearing thin, and I wanted to drive. It didn't last long, though, and within two hours, I was back behind the wheel again. For a boy who grew up in the sticks, he absolutely HATES driving on the interstate, and I could handle the stress of driving much better than his stress. We were able to get lunch at McDonald's, where we remembered that Florida doesn't participate in the same value menu that Tennessee does, so lunch was more than usual. (Not exorbitant, of course, it was just McDonald's).
We made a wrong turn getting on I-4 due to construction work, and then another on WDW property trying to find the campground. However, we were finally there by 6:30, two and a half hours later that I'd originally intended. My plan for the afternoon was to set up camp, swim, see Chip and Dale, and then watch the fireworks/water parade from the marina. Well, the only thing that got done was setting up camp.
DH and I work quickly at something we've done so many times, but my parents are much slower at things now. And after so many hours of sitting in a truck, neither were well motivated. When my mother asked what time the campfire was, and I said, "8:00." She said, "Well, that's in 15 minutes." I went from steady and motivated to throwing things in the tent and tossing clothes at the kids telling them to get ready.
And here's where my mistake showed up. I know A LOT about WDW. But I knew very little about the campgrounds. I'd done my research as far as what went on there, but not so much as where. And I had no clue that you couldn't park anywhere in the grounds except up front and at your site. We drove around for 20 minutes trying to find a place to park to see Chip and Dale, and weren't even in the right area anyhow. I was trying to go to the Settlement, not the Meadows. We finally gave up and decided to go back and get my parents and go watch the fireworks.
They were surprised to see us back so soon, and in no big hurry to do anything other than get dinner. So I convinced them to go watch the fireworks and then we'd go to DTD and eat. That was a big bust, as well. I didn't check the time and we got there an hour early. No fireworks, no water pageant, just a trip to the marina for nothing. Wow, our arrival day isn't going so well at all.
We finally hopped a bus for DTD. Of course, when we got there, it started raining. It just wasn't meant to be a good first night. We walked through as many stores as we could to get to World of Disney, as I wanted to buy DS a gift for his actual birthday tomorrow. When we got there, we sort of split up, although my parents were very unsure of where to go, and reluctant to leave us. It'd been 12 years since they'd been to Disney, and they felt completely lost as far as navigating.
We let the kids each pick a toy, plus the gift. ODD chose a Cinderella music box, YDD chose a medium plush Angel (Stitch's purple friend), DS "chose" one of the MM Clubhouse sets (the 5 piece ones that are bendable figures, about 6 in tall, and can be chewed on or go in the tub). I also got him a basketball that is green with an eye, like Mike Wazowski, since he loves to play with a ball right now.
DH had found a watch that he loved in December, but didn't buy it, and I found it in the jewelry case, but he decided not to spend the $90 on it this time, either. In his line of work, he can't wear nice watches anyhow.
We did do a little pin trading, with ones I'd brought from home. I mostly let the girls trade on this trip, but I did trade for some Duffy heads (the ones with the character hats).
I'd wanted Earl of Sandwich, but was voted down for Wolfgang Puck's. I got the half chicken and DH got the spaghetti and meatballs. We shared with the kids. Mom got the alfredo, and Dad got the spaghetti and meatballs. Neither of the guys liked the spaghetti at all, which is weird, cause every time we've eaten here before, DH has really liked it. He said it tasted like they dropped the entire container of sage in the pot.
We closed them down. In fact, we closed DTD down, and they were already cleaning the restrooms when I went to change diapers.
We took an empty bus back to FW with the exact same three other passengers that we'd ridden with before. They noticed us first, saying "It's Santa Claus (my dad) again!" We got in bed a little after midnight, with the alarm set for 6am.

[faline]

Traveling can be really tiring!! Seems like you got off to a bit of a stressful start. Now that you're there, I'm hoping you can get in a good sleep.

I haven't seen many trip reports from folks who have tent-camped in Fort Wilderness. We did that on our first several trips to Disney World so am very interested to hear how it all went for your family.

[2MuchWDFun]

Even though you had a rocky start seems like everyone is not letting it get them down.
I'm sure the rest of the week goes a lot smoother...looking forward to reading the rest of your trip report.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Oftentimes, the getting there can be the hardest part (at least for my family).

Hope the rest of the trip is smoother!

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[yjgirl32]

AAAWWWW that sounds like one of our trips on the first day. Hope your trip gets better.

[princessgirls]

A busy first day! You are in Disney, set up camp, and are ready for your first full Disney day!!!

Julie

[cer]

Sorry for the rocky start, but it is a great read. We had a rough day once on the last day of a trip. For us, we just could not get anything done. We spent a lot of time looking for gifts for other people who were at home and just felt like we wasted time on Disney transportation running errands and not really doing anything we wanted to do.

The lesson learned from our experience is when you see it, buy it. Don't just automatically think you will see it somewhere else, because that might not be the case.

By the way, I love the Duffy pins with the Character Hats - super cute!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Hope things go smooth now..

[emerzmom]

Whew...a lot to deal with but at least you all got there safe and sound. I hope the rest of your trip went well. I am reading on....

Julie

[KylesMom]

Susan, I'm sorry your first official day at Disney was not what you had planned. Although we stayed in a cabin and not a tent, back in 2004 we had the same type of first-day frustration that you experienced at Fort Wilderness. I hope that Day 2 brings a new sense of excitement and enjoyment for you and your family!