Coming back to Minnesota, it could have been much smoother. We were supposed to be able to check in for our flight at the hotel. When we went to do so, they said that they couldn't pull up the reservation because it was under Gwen's name. WHAT??? I had already paid our checked bags fee, but since they couldn't print out our tags, I would have to deal with the ticketing agents at the airport to try to print out the tags there.
We were to get on the bus to the airport 3 hours before our flight take-off. The bus was a little late, and we were the second concourse run around the airport, so we got there about 2 hours before our flight was to take off. I had already noticed that I couldn't assign us 3 seats together, from even when I was checking in for our trip down to Orlando.
So we went to meet with the ticketing agent, and I had to explain how I needed my checked bags fee refunded and then re-purchased according to the people at Disney. She said that was correct, but had to get on the phone with someone who could do that. And then we had to explain all over again, given the fact that no one understood what was going on. They still couldn't assign us seats together, but that I was supposed to check with the ticketing agent before we got on the plane.
We ate a quick lunch, and got to the gate. I was happy to see that the plane was already there. We were flying back with a group of cheer/dance high school girls from Blaine. So that's where most of the seats went on the plane. The best they could offer us was two together and one in a bulkhead seat. So we ended up using that configuration. I took Gwen in the bulkhead seat and Russ and Trevor sat 15 rows behind us. I ended up sitting with half of a Canadian family that had came from Universal Studios. He was very nice and helped me with the big backpack that I carried with me.
The flight itself was good. Gwen slept for about half of it, I believe. That was the best scenario as she had been wanting to sleep since we were in the bus. We arrived a few minutes early although being as how MSP is such a big airport, it took us a while to get to our gate and off the plane. My mom picked us up, and Russ's mom stayed with Russ to get the bags. The car ride from the airport to our house was hilarious. BOTH Trevor and Gwen were talking a mile a minute and just wanted to tell all their stories to Bubba that day. We came back to an immaculately clean house with a crock-pot of beef stew started for our dinner. It is such an easy landing to come home to a house like that. And so appreciated. THANK YOU MOM!!!
A few overall thoughts on our trip:
- I had made 2 breakfast and 4 dinner reservations before going down to Disney. The only day that I kept to my plan was the first park day. The only dinner reservation we kept was at Cinderella's castle. It seems the best meal to do "counter service" would be for dinner. And our lunches should be early. Walking around in the morning really burns through your energy! (All of our dinner reservations were switched to lunches)
- Although yes, it was a good idea to come back for a rest time, Gwen only napped once during those times, and Trevor never really did.
- At the first character interaction, Gwen was very afraid. The more we talked about all the characters, the more comfortable she was with them. Now, she only needs a minute before she gives them hugs and kisses.
- Gwen's vocabulary of Disney/Pixar characters is hilarious to me - "Mouse" for Mickey, "Minnie" for Minnie, "Hot Dog" for Goofy, "Puppy" for Pluto, "Ack-ie" for Mike Wazowski, "Ta-Doug" for Mr. Potato Head, "Duck" for Donald Duck, "Manny" for Handy Manny, "Rocket" for the Little Einsteins characters, "Pooh" for both Tigger and Pooh, "Sich" for Stitch, and "Buzz" for Buzz Lightyear. Before coming here, she wasn't talking much at all of these names. But meeting them has sure given her an impression of them.
- Being at the Polynesian, and using the monorail with a stroller was INVALUABLE. Yes, we paid more to stay at a nicer hotel, but not having to fold up the stroller when we went to Magic Kingdom, the Contemporary Resort for breakfast one morning, and for our trip out to Epcot was SO NICE.
Using my friend Christine's awesome knowledge of Disney trips, as well as her suggestions of using the Disney discussion boards and Touring Plans....it just helped everything go that much smoother. There will be a learning curve since this isn't something we do every year, so we aren't sure how the kids are going to react, but trying to get some idea of what we were going to do and when really helped me.
And with that, I will conclude my trip report. Now I just have to get back into what has happened the past few days.....
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