11 Days of Fun for Disney First Timers

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

I have wanted to go to Disney my whole life. My siblings out voted me when my parents asked us if we'd rather have an above ground pool or a Disney trip. I was disappointed but I do love the pool and we swim everyday during the summer. My husband and I married young and then had our son just 2 years later. Needless to say we were broke.

So Finally about a year and a half ago we were able to start thinking about a Disney trip. I started stalking the other disney message board and stumbled across the camping board. I fell in love with the Fort through all the wonderful trip reports. We had originally thought we were going to go over fall break in October 2011, but if we were going to haul our pop up all the way to the fort from Oklahoma then we wanted to be able to stay there for a long while. The only time we could do that was summer. My dd's birthday is July 6th so we figured that we'd go then.

I am going to warn you that this maybe a long trip report. We were there 11 nights! We had never been to Disney and jammed packed a lot into those 11 days. And yet as I knew, we didn't get to do everything we wanted. There just wasn't enough time. However, we had the most fabulous trip.

My story starts on June 25th. We broke up our trip into 2.5 days of driving so that my husband could have a break from driving. My kids were so good in the car. I am so thankful for children that like to go on road trips. I will spare you the boring details and skip ahead to June 27th at 12:30.

We got to the fort and thankfully there wasn't a line to check in.

We pulled right up and talked to a nice young guy and were quickly on our way to site 1514!

We set up quickly. Went to the biggest Walmart I had ever been to and then we were off to explore.

First, we checked out the Fort. It's so beautiful. Then we decided to check out how the boats and monorail worked. We hopped on a boat to the Magic Kingdom.

We then jumped on the monorail and took it to the Polynesian.

Later that evening we checked out Downtown Disney and then went to bed early because we wanted to make it to Epcot by rope drop. :)

My daughter was super happy to get these mouse ears.

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[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

Great start! I know what you mean about children and them being use to long car trips. We travel from Alabama to central Nebraska at least once a year to see dh's family and if we aren't traveling in that direction we are headed to Maryland to see mine. My son has been traveling so much see he was a baby (he's 15 now) that as soon as we get in the car to go on a trip he just falls right to sleep. On our last trip we hadn't even made it out of the driveway yet. :rofl2: My girls do pretty good too, but my youngest tends to pack her whole playroom of toys.:rofl2:

I wish we had done what you did on our first trip there as a family (January 2010). We did go to DTD, but I didn't even think of seeing how the boats work and visiting some of the other resorts. Oh well gives me something to look forward to on our next trip.

[polkadotsuitcase 12]

So cute! I can tell this is going to be a great TR already. (And I'd give anything to have a pool, so believe it or not, that would be a hard choice for me, too!)

G My son has been traveling so much see he was a baby (he's 15 now) that as soon as we get in the car to go on a trip he just falls right to sleep. On our last trip we hadn't even made it out of the driveway yet. :rofl2:

:rofl2:

I so wish my guys would fall asleep when we drive. That was me as a kid, but unfortunately now I'm the driver so that's a no-no. I'm always saying, "Just sleep! That's what I'd do!" but my guys are awake, awake, awake, no matter how long the drive.

[anolefan 8]

You are off to a great start!

I love your pictures and can't wait for the rest.

[stefa70 205]

11 day TR!! Cant' wait to hear all about it! :suspense:

[SCTigerCock 171]

Thanks for sharing. Can't wait for more. :popcorn:

[GOBA Mom Lynn 18]

An 11 day trip!! What a great way to spend your first trip to the Fort!

Wish we had that much time to spend.

Can't wait to read about your trip.

(Comic sans is my "go-to" font for most things, too. When I'm not too lazy to change fonts. )

[Just Whipperwhirl 24]

Your first disney vacation and its for 11 days! At the Fort! You rock - excellent choice. Usually rookies make the mistake of going only for seven days and they stay at one of the hotels. Im impressed already.

[campingpixi 11]

Great report and very nice pics. You and your family must of had a blast! :banana:

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Can't wait for more! :popcorn:

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great start. Your kids are precious. Now on with the show :banana:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great job!

Take as long as you like on your trip report!

I knew this was your first visit to the Fort, but I didn't realize it was your first trip to WDW.

I am glad that you did your research, and that it all worked out for you.

You are proof that the Fiends rock!

Looking forward to reading your whole long report!

TCD

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Great start! I know what you mean about children and them being use to long car trips. We travel from Alabama to central Nebraska at least once a year to see dh's family and if we aren't traveling in that direction we are headed to Maryland to see mine. My son has been traveling so much see he was a baby (he's 15 now) that as soon as we get in the car to go on a trip he just falls right to sleep. On our last trip we hadn't even made it out of the driveway yet. :rofl2: My girls do pretty good too, but my youngest tends to pack her whole playroom of toys.:rofl2:

I wish we had done what you did on our first trip there as a family (January 2010). We did go to DTD, but I didn't even think of seeing how the boats work and visiting some of the other resorts. Oh well gives me something to look forward to on our next trip.

We have been traveling since my oldeest was 6 weeks old. My dh was stationed in North Carolina so we made the trip to Oklahoma and back several times. They usually just watch movies the entire way. It's so nice.

So cute! I can tell this is going to be a great TR already. (And I'd give anything to have a pool, so believe it or not, that would be a hard choice for me, too!)

Thanks. We do love the pool. I think we are actually on our second pool now. My kids are little fish in the water and get upset if we don't get over to swim at least once a day. :)

Thanks you all. I will try to get this moving. At the same time I am doing this I am also uploading a ton of pictures to Snapfish. They have a buy 1 get 2 free photobook deal going on right now. Gotta make those Disney photobooks. :)

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Ugh! Computer locked up and I lost everything I had written. Must type these out in Word first and save as I go. Blah! I'll be back later.

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

Cant wait to see more! My kids are seasoned travlers, we drive ALOT, our longest venture was from Fairbanks, Alaska to Hazard Kentucky, 4 days of driving and we only stopped over night once. They watch movies and sleep and snack. I have been blesses with very flexible kids, as my tag says.. luckily my kids were born with a sense of humor! ANYWHO, looking foward to more! The pic of your DD with the mouse ears says it all!

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Cant wait to see more! My kids are seasoned travlers, we drive ALOT, our longest venture was from Fairbanks, Alaska to Hazard Kentucky, 4 days of driving and we only stopped over night once. They watch movies and sleep and snack. I have been blesses with very flexible kids, as my tag says.. luckily my kids were born with a sense of humor! ANYWHO, looking foward to more! The pic of your DD with the mouse ears says it all!

Wow, that's a huge trip! I would love to travel more than we do, but my husband has a shoulder injury from when he was in the marines and that limits us. I was suppose to practice driving the suv with the pop up but I didn't and I am a nervous driver so my husband drove the whole way there and back. I know his arm and shoulder hurt him bad but he didn't complain one bit. Next time, I will have to drive. I am going to just have to get over my fear especially if I want to go back to the fort someday.

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

We had hopes of getting to Epcot by rope drop.

Did we make it?

Nope, but we were close. Got there around 9:25. We are not morning people. During the summer my children sleep until 10am most days.

We had a bit of Disney magic at Epcot. First thing we wanted to do was get fast passes for Soarin but when we got over there the line wasn't long at all. Yay! Soarin became our first ride at Disney World and we Loved it. What an amazing ride.

After that we decided to head over to Test Track to get fast passes for it. But for some reason Epcot confused the heck out of me. We made a wrong turn and ended up right next to Tinkerbell's meet and greet. My friend had told me to get there by 9:30 if we wanted to see her during the 10am greet. Well, it was 10:10 so I figured no way would we be able to see her right then. However, we got some magic. There was some space available for us. Woohoo! The CM said that most of the time it was filled by 9:45. My husband ran to get those fast passes and we got to see Tink.

We had a lovely day at Epcot. Everything was just so wonderful. The kids really loved Talking with Crush and well I did, too. How neat is that?! Here's Daisy fixing my Natalie's mouse ears.

We have a Disney Visa so we did the special meet and greet with Minnie and Goofy and then headed back to the fort for some rest time. This picture didn't turn out all the well, but thankfully the photopass picture did.

When we got there no one could sleep. I think we were just all too darn happy to be at Disney. So we decided to swim for a bit. As soon as we got to the pool they closed it for a bit. Evidently, they thought someone used the slide as a restroom. Turns out it was just mud. Haha!

Here's my son practicing his snorkeling skills in the baby pool when the big pool was closed.

As we were going back to Epcot it rained but that didn't stop us. We put on our ponchos and headed off. The rained cooled it down and had such a nice time that evening. :)

And this is what happens the second you lay down after a full day of playing.

We have a break day the next day. However, our break days aren't much of a break. Again we kept busy from morning to night.

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

I forgot to mention that Tink thought my son's mouse ears were funny. My mother-in-law picked them up at a thrift store and evidently they haven't been around for a long time. Everyone kept asking us about them. But they are basically steam boat willie's pants with his hat on top of them. It is a strange hat when you think about it. Well, Tink made a huge deal of Mickey's patoon (bottom) being on my son's head. It was so funny and she had my son dying of laughter.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great pictures. I am so glad you had so much pixie dust come your way. :banana:

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

I love the look of an exhausted child sleeping. I have some great pictures of my daughters.

Best Regards,

Norm

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

[font=Comic Sans MS"}

And this is what happens the second you lay down after a full day of playing.

We have a break day the next day. However, our break days aren't much of a break. Again we kept busy from morning to night.

This mom, is how you know all the planning and preparation paid off.. :)

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

There is nothing like that first time magic! I am looking forward to hearing more!

\

[Memphis 105]

Great start!

FYI, they always say "it" was just mud!

Exactly how do they determine “it” is mud?

Those life guards are WAY underpaid.

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Thanks you all. Both my kids were worn out like that every night we were there. Normally, I have to give them both melatonin to sleep. I didn't need to give it them once. Also, I slept better than I had in years while there. Apparently, all you need for a good night's sleep is the fort and spending all day in a theme park.

I don't know whether to be grossed out about the "mud" or just shake my head and laugh. Yuck!

[kampfirekim 260]

Yay! Firstimers...you stayed at the Fort AND Soarin' was your first ride at WDW! :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: I'm in love with this TR already. The adorable kiddos aren't hurtin' anything either. :heart: