Nevertheless, we went over to customer service and were able to finally get our bands activated and then headed into the park. I just want to point out that we were not the only family that this happened to. If I had to give one to tip to families travelling to Disney it would be CHECK IN FIRST. There was no info given to us about this and it was never mentioned in any of the literature. We immediately went and waited in line for about 45 minutes to get the boys signed up for Jedi training. We got them signed up for an afternoon time slot and then moved on to some rides and shows.
Throughout the course of they day we were able to enjoy all the things we had hoped for. The main thing the boys wanted to do was Jedi Master Training. They had been talking about that since we told them we were going. We met Chewbacca and Kylo Ren. We ate a delicious meal at an Italian restaurant (It was fantastic!), and later we forgot we had reservations for Fantasmic as part of the dining package and missed it. Reilly did ride Tower of Terror once, but he was definitely not going to do it again. TJ was able to ride Rockin' Roller Coaster for the first time, and he loved it. For some reason, for at least three rides TJ had to poop. He would forget about it until we were just about on the ride and then it was like he would remember. Our last ride of the day was Rockin' Roller Coaster and just as we are bout to zoom off, TJ looks over at me and says, "Mom, I really have to poop." I calmly look over to him and said, "Kid, you better hold it tight." Overall it was a great first day at Disney.
The hotel was, well, it was really a motel by my definition. You entered your room from the outside. It was well taken care of, but to give you an idea of how dated it was, the wing we stayed in was in the theme of The Love Bug (you remember Herbie, right?). But it had a food court with decent food that was included in our meal plan, so we were able to eat dinner that night. Reilly fell asleep at the table (literally). Jase was upset for I can't remember what reason. There was no reason. He just lost his mind.
Day 2 at Disney was at Animal Kingdom. There are really not a lot of rides there, and definitely not a lot for kids. TJ was terrified of the Dinosaur ride (he had been on it before) and wanted so much not to ride it that he pretty much had a breakdown and cried. The boys did enjoy Expedition Everest, although Jase could not ride. They all enjoyed Kilimanjaro Safari, which we rode twice, including at night. This is something relatively new according to the workers. The rhinos were super active and were basically walking right up to our truck. The lions were out and actually sitting up where you could see them. I have never seen them like that there! It's definitely another great tip for that park! That was pretty cool. One of the highlights was Jase getting to enjoy meeting Donald, Goofy, Daisy, and Mickey during our buffet lunch. Day 2 at Disney was about the time that the boys began to get really worn out and ready to go sleep at the motel.
Day 3 we had an adventure at Epcot. Maybe the favorite ride for the boys was Test Track. We had a late breakfast over at the Polynesian so that Jase could meet Stitch, his absolute favorite character for some reason. Stitch is Jase's spirit animal (alien) for sure. If you know anything about Stitch and have met Jase, you understand this completely. Ohana restaurant is the only place that one can meet Stitch, so that's what we did. Jase loved it. Before returning to Epcot we let the boys swim in the hotel pool for a little while. It was going to be our only chance. This was a long day. We didn't leave Epcot until after 10:30 to head back to the hotel. I might have sneaked off to meet Anna and Elsa. I love how when I told the princesses that I had all boys and I was all alone, they made me feel normal and not like a total crazy.
The last two days were spent at Magic Kingdom. This was great for Jase because he could ride almost every ride. The other two rode Space Mountain. Jase actually believed he rode Space Mountain because he rode the People Mover which goes right into Space Mountain. Jase loved all the rides, including the Tea Cups, The Barnstormer, the Carousel, Pirates of the Caribbean, Small World, and most of all the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We got there early on the last day to be one of the first in line. So we rode it first thing and then again as the last thing we did. It was great. We also got to eat lunch with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and my favorite Eeyore (Anthony's spirit animal). I just want to point out that we got that reservation at the Crystal Palace the day before. I thought that was pretty awesome. We thoroughly enjoyed the last of our snack credits from the dining plan on some junk food.
Overall it was such a fun trip. It is something that Jen has wanted to do for the boys for a long time. I have only been saving since I started my photography business. It wasn't always perfect. The boys complained that they were tired. The adults complained that their heels hurt, really bad (mostly Anthony). But it was an opportunity for us to make memories that we will remember for a long time. I'm so thrilled that we had the opportunity to do this, and much of it is owed to Jen's hard work in photography and so many other ways. Oh yeah, I also saw Iron Chef Morimoto. So there's that. The sad thing is I didn't believe him when we saw him and he is my absolute favorite Iron Chef. We also so the hosts of The View and John Stamos.
Things they said...
Reilly-as we're driving to the parking lot: We have to drive through this obstacle course?
Reilly-Is that the hotel we're staying in? TJ-No. That's Tower of Terror.
Jase-As we're in the back seat of the safari ride and another safari vehicle is trailing a little way off: Dad! They're coming for you!
Jase-After he ate an entire box of popcorn and then finished a sucker: Dad, there's more popcorn in my mouth. (He had some stuck between his teeth.)
Reilly-At the end of the meal at the Italian restaurant: I think we should leave this place before I get colder.
TJ: If you lose my balloon you're going to own me $12 and a dream. This is after I told his brother that if he popped it, he would owe him $12.
Reilly: Mom, I think we are in the slow pass line.
TJ: Why do they even put this nutritional information on water? It's completely useless.
Reilly: I don't think you would even miss us is we were in prison. (This was after I told him that his dad and I were moving to Orlando to work at Disney when we were old.)
Things they did...
Chip motioned to me that I had a nice beard as I walked by.
Buzz Lightyear asked me what the PC on my hat stood for. I told him, and he just threw it at me in disgust.
Jase, waiting in line to see Kylo Ren, was repeatedly hitting a lady in the butt with his stuffed animal Stitch.
I might have waited in line to see Rapunzel. I might have also ran up to her squealing about her being my favorite princess.....maybe.
We had the characters signing autographs with a sharpie. Reilly hugged Pooh a little too hard with the sharpie between them. He had a huge mark on his face that we couldn't get off till the next day.
My husband harassed stormtroopers any chance he got. I just motioned to them to move along.
Jase almost took out Baymax. If you know what he looks like, you would understand.
Reilly made me take a picture of him with a random Chevy SUV at the end of Test Track. He didn't choose any of the cool concept cars, he thought the SUV was way cooler.
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