Can we change the 16 year old's opinion of WDW? 3/20-3/27

[Rock'n Robin]

I am going to write as much of this as I can, and when I'm done, it can be moved, I guess. I didn't post any pre-trip planning so I'll have some of it as well.
Cast:
Me(44): English teacher, "Disney Queen"(according to my kids)
DH(44): remodeling business manager, has been converted to Disney
DD#1(newly 16): in an "I hate Disney" mode, as Disney is uncool, she thinks
DD#2(12 but almost 13): 7th grade genius,
DS: (9 1/2) totally sweet boy--my only one that is still a "child" by Disney standards

I figured out last August that we would do a spring break trip. We have never ever gone away for break--in fact the last time I went for break, I was a senior in college in 1985. Did I go to Florida? No, since I was student teaching and had a late break, I went to CA with my parents--and actually went to Disneyland, LOL. We usually never go away because I teach in one district and live in another, and the last time we had the same break was probably 2001.
At first we were going to Anna Maria Island so we could hang out on the beach like all the other people in our area seem to do (some of DD#1's friends went to Destin, Daytona, Fort Myers, etc.). But I realized that even though DH was going along with it, he would be bored stiff. We tried beach vacations and that led us to WDW in the first place, because DH was so bored. So we canceled that out and came back to planning a Disney trip. It was hard because DH just started a new job. Things were really looking up $ wise, but we were paying all off other things and DH didn't want to charge anything. I had to wait until we had cash to get the plane tickets. Since we left the Thursday before Easter, the best I could do was $340 each when I bought in November. But at least we left Detroit early and came home late on nonstop flights. I booked the room through AAA to get the 10% discount and just paid one night, paying the rest 48 days out in February when we had it saved up.
DD#1 was mortified. She would tell people she was going to Florida, or Orlando, but only if pressed would admit she was going to WDW--AGAIN. She would mention that NEXT spring break maybe we could go here, or here, or here, but not Disney again. Sitting at my keyboard making plans, looking at a picture of her cute little face 6 years ago BEAMING at Mickey and Minnie, she was killing me with her teen attitude. "I'm never going to Disney. I'll never take my kids to Disney. DD#2 was OK with it (her reply to DD#2 was "I'll take your kids to Disney") and DS was very excited. They remembered the SAB pool from our August trip. And of course they realized all they had to do was go along. As for DD#1, I teach HS, and NO WAY will I ever leave a child in HS home alone. Too many bad possibilities.
I got the kids' school vacation forms filled out and got a sub for the last day before spring break (saved me $400 over leaving Friday). The last week or so was just packed with kids' activities--DD#2 was a munchkin in Wizard of Oz 2 weeks before we left, DS finished up basketball, DD#1 is in a musical 3 weeks after we return and has nightly practice, plus the day we left was the last day of the quarter. So it was actually relaxing to get to the airport and get on the plane!
Robin M.

[Rock'n Robin]

Our flight was a teensy bit late so we got into Orlando about 9:30 after leaving home at 3:55 and taking off at 7AM. We were in the next to last row, so that took some time. DD#2 got to sit by a girl from Germany (the girls sit together in a row of 3 so someone is always next to them--DH, DS and I sit together in another row across or in front of them).
DS and I got to the ME desk quickly. The man wanted DS to sit down and I said I didn't want him to sit alone, and he said "where is the rest of your party?" I said "Slow!" Actually by the time they got down there I was through the line and waiting with the vouchers. We were in line 10-15 minutes. We dropped off at Caribbean Beach, then YC (I am assuming BC and BW after). It was a full bus. I called my parents to check on the dog and another passenger laughed because she had done that as soon as her plane landed!
We got to YC and our room was ready. Finding a room is always an adventure! We had a great room at YC last August, overlooking the wedding gazebo. This time we were in 3118. We went down the hall--and took a right, and a left--and we were in the far corner of the building overlooking a service road and some trees. Not my magical fantasy! But hey, it was Disney. DH asked if I wanted to upgrade, and I said only if you want to, but nothing was available, so I resolved to make the best of it--even if my nickname for that room was the armpit of the third floor.
We didn't have our bags, so 4 out of 5 of us wore jeans to MK. It was only about 73 so it was fine. The first thing we got there the parade was getting ready to go. I've never seen this parade (we aren't really parade types, DH doesn't like sitting on a curb for 2 hours) but since there was a great spot in that front circle we just stopped and taped the whole thing. Of course then I have to cry when I see the castle because I'm a sap. We got a photopass, got our first photo taken and headed to tomorrowland. I got a FP at Space Mountain which wouldn't be good until 6, but I figured we could get another one at 3 and use them both later. We thought about eating at Cosmic Rays but it was insane! This, I told DH, is why we eat lunch right when the CS places open. We ended up getting hot dogs and pop from a vendor because we were starved.
We actually couldn't do much of anything. We ambled back and rode HM since we hadn't seen it since the upgrade. I really like the whole "Bride" thing! It was cool. We then rode the Liberty Belle which was, in my mind, a complete waste of about 45 minutes with loading, the ride, and unloading. At that point we got separated from DH. I saw him ahead in the unloading line, but when we got out of it he was gone. We waited 10 minutes. He borrowed someone's cell phone to call DD--he had gone ahead to splash, assuming since that was my plan I would head there without him. Thanks a lot! We all went there and got an evening FP for Splash. At the same time a nice man told DH he was leaving, and gave us 4 FPs for Splash and BTMRR for later.
We went over to the Contemporary for our traditional dinner at Chef Mickey's. We did some shopping but nothing jumped out at me. DH did get me one of those tote bags everyone is getting for $10 because he says I looked frumpy with my baggalini!
We went back to MK after dinner. I took the kids on BTMRR, and then we all rode Splash and got a LOT wetter than we remembered. By that time it was 7:45 and getting a little chilly so we did not ride it a second time. We hopped on the train to toontown and walked to tomorrowland for our space mt. fp, then we walked through the spectromagic crowd and got on the nearly-empty bus to leave. We got to the room, set up, and went right to sleep.
Robin M.

[Rock'n Robin]

I rousted the troops at 6:30 to get a 7:15 bus to AK, which was opening at 8 for spring break. I didn't use any EMH this trip (except MK which had EMH every morning). We hadn't done AK since 06 since we tend to skip it on shorter trips. We got to AK, waited through the ceremony to open the park and went to Asia after getting our photo taken by the tree. I got FPs but the line was so short we rode it 3 times standby. Honestly, I rode it that third time because a dream squad person was waiting outside the exit queue--but she was gone the 3rd time. I don't like spinny rides like teacups or MS Orange, and usually take dramamine if I'm going to face any of them, but the backward part of this ride really got to me after 3 times. Next time I'll take a dramamine on the AK day too. We strolled back to see the safari. DS noticed the monkeys playing up in the ropes and said what if they get mad and throw bananas at each other. There was a CM there and she and I laughed and she said "That's not what they throw honey, it's something nastier". He thought that was funny.
The wait for the safari was 10 min. and we got on a car pretty quickly, but in the back seat--we got some major air time on the bumpy roads! Surly DD#1 was taking a bunch of pictures and her mood was improving. We saw a lot of animals and white rhinos. We stopped by TTBAB on our way up front and while we lifted our feet while the "bugs" exited, we didn't remember they went under the seats too! The girls shrieked.
It was about 10:30 so we ate at Flame Tree. I discussed this in another post but we really like the atmosphere, although the stalking ducks were around and one nipped DH in the behind. Wherever we were the rest of the weeks, ducks were waiting. DD#1 was getting a little freaked out.
We went to Dinoland, got a FP for Dinosaur and went to Primeval Hurl--I mean whirl--which the kids and DH rode (too spinny for me, I tried it once). When they got off we noticed two things: 1) a skywriter was writing things like "Jesus saves" in the sky which fascinated DS, and 2) they had their own version of whack-a-mole. DH RULED at whack-a-mole when we were dating. He played and won me a dinosaur, with DD#2 coming in second. Next time DD#1 won and DD#2 came in second. DD#1 did something nice, though--she gave her dinosaur to a random little girl going by and getting into a stroller, probably 3-4 years old. She just said "Excuse me, would you like a stuffed dinosaur?" This little girl was thrilled to death and thanked her profusely, as did her mom.
After DD#2 came in second one more time, she switched to the squirtgun game--where she promptly came in second to her brother. He first got a green and yellow turtle, but she was a little bummed, so he traded it for a purple/yellow one and gave it to her. He's a sweetheart.
We rode Dinosaur, and then headed to the Nemo show. Now here is my dirty little secret--I saw "Lion King" with DD#1 on a field trip last spring and I was bored. I didn't know if it was the fact that I'd seen it at AK several times, or the puppet/performer thing, or the fact that annoying child actors always bother me. But at the end DD#1 and I had to force ourselves to join the standing ovation because she didn't want to look bad to her drama teacher. So after seeing part of the Nemo thing on travel channel, I didn't think I'd like it, but I try everything once at Disney, right? We walked to the theatre and were way in the back because it was 15 minutes prior. (Maybe it's the theatre, I didn't like Tarzan Sucks--I mean Rocks--either, although DH did). It started out fine, but I noticed a steady stream of people leaving--and once Dory came on with her squeaky voice I started to lose patience with it. Soon after the boat blew up we were out of there. I know how it ends anyway.
We went back for our EE fastpass, and then headed up to the front. We shopped actually looking for those cool windsock type things they had at flame tree, but didn't see them. The bamboo wind chimes were really pricy--I got a small set at a local nursery here for $10 last year! So I got a magnet and we got on the bus for the resort.
We decided to swim at YC for an hour or so. I didn't get my hair wet at SAB because the water was a little cold for me (it was about 74 outside). I was sitting on my chair when I heard someone say "does any other family want to sign up for Disney trivia?" DH looked at me and pointed me over--I'm a trivia whiz and he knew I would get a kick out of it. I ended up getting 10 of 11 questions right (we missed "which dwarf finds Snow White"--I had no idea and guessed Doc instead of Dopey). We tied with 2 other families and won Disney Trivia board games. These look nice but I think they aren't sold anymore because none of the stores had them when I looked later. But it was a nice bonus.
Before we headed to DTD our toilet stopped working correctly. The water wasn't going down. DD#1, clueless about plumbing, flushed it again and we overflowed. DH turned the water off and we called maintainance. They came out quickly, but our carpet was wet.
We got on the bus and headed to DTD. We first ate at Earl of Sandwich, then went to Once Upon a Toy and World of Disney. I spent over $50 to get my 10% AAA discount, and then got a $15 throw on top of it. The girls went to Summer Sands to look for Roxy stuff and got some trendy $2 bracelets for their friends, and a sundress for DD#2. DS got some pirate toys. I got misc. stuff. I was starting to hit a wall so I skipped the Christmas store, thinking the same stuff would be at Mousegear. I did go to Goofy's candy kitchen and got one of those custom Mickey rice krispie treats--mine was dipped in dark chocolate, rolled in crushed M&Ms and drizzled with white and milk chocolate. It took the kids and I 5 days to finish it.
We went back to the YC and housekeeping had picked up the wet towels and left clean ones, although the carpet was still damp. We all headed off to bed.
Robin M.

[Rock'n Robin]

I woke up about 4AM Saturday morning and went to the bathroom--I'm old now, and do those things. When I got back up at 6:30 I noticed the water never went down all the way. Great, three kids to get up and the toilet is still on the fritz. The carpet was still damp too. DH, the master of customer service, went down to talk to someone at the front desk at 7AM (and to use the lobby bathroom, LOL). It was a manager and she said that if the problem wasn't fixed she would move us. DH offered to pay if we had to upgrade but she said she'd take care of it.
We loaded everybody up to be at the boat by about 8:20 for a 9AM studios opening. I had one of my refillable mugs (DH had bought me 2) and in one of those moments that could never happen again if you tried, I turned one way while DD#2 was spinning another way and she knocked it out of my hand--we watched as it rolled right into the lake. It was right by the dock and DD#1 tried to cliimb down the ladder to get it, but the boat guy yelled at her. I watched my $12 float under the dock.
At our stop at the Swan/Dolphin I noticed a family waiting (we were on the back seat--DD#1 was on my lap, actually). I said "boy, that kid looks just like so-and-so", mentioning a kid she is in the play with at school. Surprise, it was a family from our hometown! It was the same kid. His sister knows DD#2 so they waved at each other. They did not stop to chat, however, which is fine with me, we had our own studios agenda and didn't want to really hang with some parents we didn't know. This boy had told DD that he was going to "Florida" too--like her, never mentioning Disney World. What is the matter with these teenagers, I tell ya.
At the studios we walked down the road to Sunset and waited for the rope drop. At rope drop people started to run and I sprinted off to ToT to get fastpasses. By the time DH and the kids rounded the corner to R&R, I met them with FPs in hand. We waited about 15 minutes to get on R&R, and by that time it was our ToT time and I got a set of R&R passes for later. We rode ToT. It was a good sequence, mostly drops. DD#1 wanted to shop at Planet Hollywood for her friends, and they had a good T shirt sale, 2 for $30. I went to Rosie's to get a lunch spot, but they don't open until 11, so we went over to Animation courtyard and did the first tour. We all got to draw Pluto. Now I am POSITIVE I put our 5 Pluto drawings in a suitcase for our move to our new room, but now at home they are nowhere to be seen. I am bummed out. DD#1 and I did a real good job. DD#1's suitcase zipper was breaking and we taped it, and the TSA retaped it, so I'm wondering if they flew out at the Orlando airport. IN any case, now we will do it again next year.
We headed over and ate at the Backlot Express. We let DS play in the HISTK playground, and I was making conversation with another cheer mom (her shirt said cheer mom). Cheerleading in Alabama, I found, is way more expensive than Ohio! Then DH wanted to do the backlot tour. I think this is one of those "once is enough" things, but he likes it so we did it. We got Star Tours fps for later and went back to the hotel.
At the YC we changed rooms to room 4078, one floor up and a view of the quiet pool. MUCH nicer. The next day we got an ME reminder for another family, who must have not liked that room and been moved--I hope not to 3118!
We headed back to the studios and did the Muppet movie, then went to the 5PM Indiana Jones. It was pretty full but we got down in front on the side and ended up moving over to a more centered section. DS does not remember this at all since we hadn't seen it for a few years and he really enjoyed it, although it was raining lightly and they did not do the airplane sequence.
We then went to 50s PTC which the kids love. I covered this on the dining reviews, but if you want a fun time, ask for Lookili from Morocco. He was a riot.
We then went over and did Star Tours--I held out OK--and headed across the park. I stopped at the restrooms by the movie ride and it was the most unclean, every-toilet-is-full-of-something restroom I've ever seen at WDW. I used the handicapped stall just to have a clean one.
We rode the GMR (and the girl at the door went to my college BGSU, hurray!). Then we went back up Sunset to ride R&R with the FP I got that morning. We then went on ToT standby. The wait was 13 minutes--the girls thought that was cool and I explained the whole themeing concept again. After the first time DH, DD#2 and DS went on again while DD#1 and I waited. By that time it was 10 and I wanted to get a boat before the late fantasmic got out. DH and DS shopped a little, but didn't buy anything and we all ended up on the same boat. They did a little snack shopping downstairs and we went to bed.
Robin M.

[Rock'n Robin]

We got to sleep in a little today because we had planned to go to typhoon lagoon for Easter. A little bizarre, yes, but I planned 2 non-theme park days this trip. It was about 65 in the morning so it turned out to be a good day, mostly sunny and probably got to 78 or 80. The wave pool is heated too.
We got there about 9:40 and were let in, and there are two rope drops, one on each side of the pool. I was once again the designated sprinter. Last time we were there we had a little cove right up against the wave pool, behind fake rock and some ropes. It has 4 chairs in it. We spend most of our time in the wave pool so it is ideal, and I got it. No, I didn't knock anyone over.
The girls and I went and did all 3 crush and gushers. First we did the pineapple and coconut ones with 3 people. Then we wanted to do the banana one, which only allows 2. DD#2 was going to go alone, but she was not allowed--seems you can do the other ones alone, but not banana. So DD#1 did it with her and then came back up and did it with me. That ride is a blast but you must keep your but up.
We then did humunga kowabunga. I have done it before but maybe I'm too old or too fat to enjoy it now; I was pretty uncomfortable. We had tentative BB plans Tuesday so I was wondering if I could handle summit plummet--we were last at BB in 2000.
The girls wanted to do shark reef, but I didn't want to do that cold water, so I hopped into castaway creek and floated back to the front and got in the wave pool with DS and DH. They would stay in that thing for hours. Soon the girls came back. At about 11:15 we headed over to leaning palms for some lunch. DS's eyes were all swollen so DH took him to first aid--the chloring must have been way high. We got him some goggles after that and he and DH got fake tattoos--DS got a dragon and DH got Mr. Incredible. The downside? As of today, DH has a big Mr. Incredible shaped white spot on his arm surrounded by tan.
Speaking of tan, the girls did NOT sunscreen as much as they should have despite my sweet motherly nagging and got a little red on this day. Even in March, every couple of hours is very important.
We did try to go on the family raft ride about 1:30. The wait said 20 min., but after 15 we were only at the point where the rafters hit the bottom, and there was a long way to go. Then 6 rafts came down at once, one girl fell out, and the CM hit the stop button. I heard her tell a supervisor that the water level was really low and they were sending too many rafts at a time. Luckily the girl who fell out was pulled up quickly by a lifeguard. That was all I needed to give up on this one and go back to the wave pool.
We stayed until 4PM. We had decided to come back Tuesday instead of BB, so we didn't shop, which we would regret later. I was worried about a bus because we had a 6PM adr at Yachtsman and I wanted a shower--my hair was like straw.
We went back to the YC, showered, and ate our Easter Dinner. I can't recommend this place enough if you want to spend 2 TS credits. It was awesome; my best steak ever.
After dinner the kids changed and went to watch "Enchanted" on the beach. They and DH later went to check out the boardwalk and ESPN store. It was very nice out that evening. Most nights, though, unlike our summer trips, it was too cold to swim.
We noticed that night that the forecast for Monday night was a low of 45, which put our water park plans in jeopardy. Hmmmm. We would have to figure out an alternative.
Robin M.

[Rock'n Robin]

Epcot opened at 9 today so we left YC about 8:30 and walked over We got in and waited at the bridge to France for the rope drop. This is the only downside of staying at Epcot resorts. Now that it is almost a necessity to get a soarin' FP right away, you are at a disadvantage to the folks who came in the front gate.
I was the designated sprinter--but I'm 44 years old and 40 pounds overweight so most of it was a brisk walk. When I rounded the corner where I could see the Land pavillion it was obvious more hoards were coming from the front--and many folks from the international gateway had passed me. Once you get to the Land, you are channeled into one door and one way downstairs. Now I remember before this pavillion had Soarin', it wasn't crowded. They added this huge E-ticket ride and didn't add anything in the way of capacity. It is like mice in a box getting downstairs to get the fast passes. Mine were for 10:45 by the time I got there.
I then met the family at Test Track, which had gone from 10 min. wait when I left Soarin' to 20 when I got there. DS LOVES this ride. So it is always worth it. Afterward we have to pry DS and DH out of the new car area. DS got a fake Test Track driver's license in a machine for $5.We then did Ellen's energy adventure. This is a big chunk of time but last year we ran out of time and DD#2 wanted to do it and we promised. Well, just at the end (as it is final jeopardy) they came on and said there were technical issues and we would have to get out right there. OK! But they told us how it ended.
At this point it was our FP time, so I was able to get MS fastpasses for later. We walked over to the Land and rode the ride, which I love. Then we ate lunch at Sunshine Seasons, which is a great CS alternative.
Now DH and DS and DD#1 wanted to go to the house of tomorrow in Innoventions. We were just there in August, and I figured it couldn't have changed much, so DD#2 and I went to the garden town pavillion. I have a garden but I'm not a freak about it. I never weed enough and prefer to spray anything that doesn't belong with weed killer. My roses always get black spot no matter what I do. But I have a new little area I dug up last year and I was looking for a focal point, and I'd seen a Mickey gnome in a flyer. They were sold out of them, but I saw some other items that caught my eye. DD#2 and I also sat in a presentation about baskets, which makes no sense because I'm lazy and just buy one, which will promptly die by August because I forget to water it enough. After the presentation we made luggage tags with dried flowers we had on the table, which was cool. The rest of the family came and got us, we did some shopping at mousegear and we walked back to the resort. I do love the topiaries too.
We watched the weather and it looked pretty chilly for Tuesday still. We all put long pants on because by 9 it was supposed to be 54. Although I have a MK sweatshirt jacket and a Mickey jean jacket I got at mousesurplus.com, DH picked out a nice hoodie for me to wear that night. We had a 6:30 ADR at Tutto Italia, so we headed that way. I stopped to listen to Petula Clark without going into the theatre. I listen to oldies so the kids all knew "Downtown". While we sat there DH set up a DVC tour the next day with a 9:40 pickup time at the American Adventure DVC booth. We used to be DVC but had to sell our points when DH's business closed 4 years ago. DH really missed having our own room. We ate our dinner, then walked counterclockwise to see the whole pavillion and get my traditional fiesta margarita. It was coming up on Illuminations time but we decided to just do some future world stuff--our MP fastpass (green for me, orange for everyone else), and spaceship earth, which had a 45 minute wait earlier. We got some fastpass photos and walked out through the illuminations throngs who who going one way--we were going the other way to international gateway--more than one person complained that we were going "the wrong way".
We got to the resort and hung out, and I checked the boards to see some resale prices to see if DH was serious about DVC--to check dues, etc. Then we went to bed.
Robin M.

[Rock'n Robin]

This morning was chilly, and we were glad we didn't go to a water park. We decided to let the girls sleep a little, with strict instructions to meet us at DD at noon for lunch. We took DS and went off in the DVC van at 9:40.
Last time we were in DVC the preview center was at BWV (this was in 2000). Now it's in a huge building at SSR, and prospective buyers were all over the place! The organization has grown quite a bit. They offered us coffee, tea, or juice and sat us down waiting for a guide. I am going to post most of this on the DVC board, but it was a very pleasant process and we ended up buying 160 SSR points. DH, it turns out, really missed our DVC accomdations, esp. when in a regular room with our 3 growing kids. We sacrificed a lot financially when his business closed, and he said he'd been trying to get us back to where we were, and this was about the last item on the list.
The only complication was I did not have my license with me. I knew it was in the safe. I quickly called the girls who had just stepped on a DD bus--I told them to get off NOW--they did, and I had them go up and get my license. They got the next bus. We had the DVC driver take us over to the marketplace(after prying DS out of the kids' activity room) and we met the girls for lunch at Wolfgang Puck's Express. Then we got another DVC van back to SSR, put DS back in the activity room, showed the girls around SSR and the model (DD#1 said "there are a lot of cute boys here!" and liked the ratio of teenagers she saw). We then sent them to the ice cream parlor to sign our paperwork, picked DS up again, got ice cream, got a photo, and a van took us back again to the marketplace.
We did a little shopping--DD#1 wanted a rainforest cafe shirt, I wanted to go the Christmas store (I had skipped it before but saw no interesting ornaments at Mousegear) and then we got on the bus back to YC. We dropped off our stuff and my huge new DVC tote full of DVC stuff, then got on a bus to MK. We had a dinner adr at Kona at 5:25. We got to MK and got on a launch and soon we were there.
We had a good dinner at Kona and walked off to TTC to get a bus to DD (some of you know where this is going). We have one of those bricks from our first trip, right at the end where the Poly sidewalk turns into the TTC sidewalk, and we visited it--it is really getting beat up and harder to read. We got all the way to the TTC bus area to find out you need to get a DD bus at a resort ! My point: even seasoned veterans screw up!
We walked back to the Poly and got a DD bus but this time went to the West Side. This is another place we hadn't been since 2000. We tried DQ then but the kids were 2,5 and 8 and our options were very limited. After stopping at Virgin records so DD could get a T-shirt (she didn't get one Disney shirt but got a Virgin, RFC and Planet Hollywood shirt) we went into DQ for about 2 1/2 hours, using one of our water park and more options. The girls went off and left DS, DH and me. We did virtual Pirates, which DS loved, although we told the girls poor DS and I had to man 6 cannons and could have used their help! We did the magic carpets, then DH and I found the classic games floor and that was it for a while. I went down and found the girls at virtual space mt. They had done it a couple of times already. They showed me what to do and I made my own coaster--they laughed because I only had one "red" feature and mine was a 2/5, while their's was a 4/5. Well my only "red" feature--a knot--about made me lose it. I guess I need dramamine for here too! The girls had also made songs up and had a blast together.
We got back to YC about 11:30 and couldn't get a tea refill, couldn't get chocolate milk for DS, anything--everything was closed. It's kind of silly I think to close up a deluxe resort like that at 11PM.
We had a very early day the next day so I tried to get everyone to bed early, but I know DH was checking his work mail until 12:30. I warned them about our early wakeup call!
Robin M.

[Rock'n Robin]

I couldn't sleep past 5:30. I was up and dressed when the phone rang at 5:55. I forcibly got the rest of the family up (the girls had wisely slept in the clothes they intended to wear). By a miracle we were at the bus stop by 6:20 and on one by 6:25. It stopped at BC and then headed off.
There are not many people at MK at 6:45 on spring break! It was very cool to see it with the sun coming up--even on early days in summer the sun is up way before that. A family opened the park and we were off. It was so uncrowded I got some good main street photos! I got a gorgeous one of the castle as the sun rose--I have plenty of night castle photos but this is my first "dawn" one.
First I rode Dumbo. It's a tradition. I love fantasyland. I don't care if I'm the only family member who rides it. In fact, only DS rode with me. In fact, we rode it twice because there was no line at all. Then we rode Peter Pan, Snow White, Pooh, saw Philharmagic, took some photos by the castle, and rode Small World all by 8:10. We took some good photos looking from the castle down Main Street without the usual thousands of people in the way!
By now things were getting more crowded so we headed back toward frontierland. We first went into HM which we walked right on. We had seen it on day 1 but it was much quicker this time. Then we headed back. I got a FP for Splash but we were going to use it later as it was too chilly. We walked through adventureland and did Pirates. We went off to the left and walked right on, while people on the right had a much longer wait. We decided to go right back on, but everything stopped and the line started to back up--we ended up leaving after 5 min. and went into the shop. It was probably 10 more minutes before people started coming off again and the 5 min. wait had become 20. We got DS a Pirate "no trespassing" sign and a Pirates III game for his PSP, and 2 Jack Sparrow books (it is a series for kids his age, and he had read 1-8--these were volumes 9 and 10).
We walked through adventureland but didn't do any more rides there--no tiki room this time, and the line at Aladdin seemed long--we did the treehouse last year and found it pointless. We cut through Main Street (crowds were really picking up) and went into tomorrowland. We got a FP for Buzz, went to the Laugh Floor show, and ate lunch at Cosmic Ray's, then did Buzz (I won with 124,000). We then cut out and went back to the hotel.
At this point we had promised DS a surrey bike ride and DD that since she was 16, she could drive a "mouse boat". DD#1 and I went to lay in the sun while the other 3 rode a bike. Turns out DS still wasn't tall enough, but DD#2 and DH did the work--we ended up on beach chairs (every chair in the sun at SAB had a towel on it) and waved as they rode by. DS was starting to seem a little off. By the time we got too hot and went in to the room, DH called and said to come to the marina. We used our new DVC discount to get 3 "mouse" boats--one for DD#2 and me (turns out you can drive at 12--mistake!), one for DD#1 alone, and one for DH and DS. DD#2 CANNOT drive. She was swerving like crazy and almost hit a wall and DH's boat at one point. She couldn't make any slight turns, only sharp ones. She blamed the steering but I was about to jump out of the boat.
After this we went to the room. The kids stayed there and DH and I went to the hot tub by the quiet pool our room overlooked. When I got back upstairs DS was asleep.
We had 5:25 adr at CP. so I got everyone up and dressed and ready for a night at MK. Just as we were leaving DS had to go to the bathroom. The girls and I went on to the bus stop. A few minutes later DH brought out DS with a plastic bag--he had thrown up. We rethought our plans but DS said he felt better and DH said it was all liquid (sorry if TMI). When we were walking between the busses and bag check, DS threw up again. It looked like the fries from lunch (sorry again!). But he felt better again, he said. We went in and right to CP. While we waited for a table, DS leaned against me on a bench. He barely ate, but really perked up.
AFter dinner we went to Splash for our FP. I had learned from day One and wore a poncho. I looked like a dork but my bag, camera, etc. were dry! We tried to get a train to tomorrowland (I had another Buzz fastpass) but it was such a long line we decided to get off the platform and walk We leisurely ambled through frontierland, liberty square, etc. over to tomorrowland. There was a huge crowd in front of the castle and I don't think they liked us walking on through--even though we didn't want their parade spots. We did Buzz and were going to leave, but the surly 16 year old and the other 1 said "Oh, can't we do carousel of progress?" Just think, a week ago it was "I hate Disney", now she wants to do CoP! We sat through it and sang along and then tried to leave,but it was a total mass of humanity. WE got to the front of Main Street and had to stop and watch Spectro from about 3 rows back. I was getting all weepy at this point, much more when I tried to get a drink from a fountain and tripped on a step and my whole leg, knee, etc. were killing (hey, sorry about the profanity to the lady next to the fountain). Plus I love MK, and always get weepy when we leave. DH said we could stay for Wishes if I wanted to, but I had things I wanted to do at the YC--pack, look at pearls, think about upgrading our passes to no expiration--and we had seen Wishes at the P&P party in August, and I didn't want to fight the whole after-Wishes crowd, so I said no, that's OK, said goodbye to the castle, and we went off to the bus.
At YC we went to the Pearls in the oyster booth. I had done this in Hawaii at the start of 1990 on a trip DH's old employer paid for. I had an ring from that trip in a jewelry box, but wanted to try it again. I closed my eyes and picked an oyster out. The girl said I picked a boy oyster (it's an "outie") with a slight pink cast and it is 7.2. She said she'd never picked on over 7.1. Of course now that I'm home my older ring is the same size pearl, so either I'm very lucky or she's full of it. I picked a "regal heirloom" setting, more of a band than one of those wispy settings, with a plumeria detail to it. I couldn't wear it for 24 hours while it set into the setting, so I put it in a snap pocket in my purse.
When we got to the room I packed everything up (well, mostly DH did, since he's better at it). We had a brief emergency since we sent the kids to the BC shop for snacks, and they called at 10:58 and said no one had taken a card. DH ran down there (I'm sure he was late and they weren't happy) with a card to save the day.
Robin M.

[Rock'n Robin]

Today we got up about 8, got all of our stuff together after showering, etc., and had it all packed up and picked up before 9. We said goodbye to our room and our bags at ME, got our boarding passes, and walked to Epcot.
We had some magic fastpasses we got from DVC that print out the time right then, and we used them at Soarin' and then TT. At some point that morning after the bags were gone, DS said "have you seen my wallet"? Now he's only 9, but his wallet had 4 gift cards and $51 in it. He's usually very good with it. Now I know the only place I didn't check in the room was between the TV and the daybed. His camera was on the edge of the dresser by the TV, so I'm wondering if his wallet fell there--the daybed cover was all balled up. If so, I hope it comes back to us, because so far it isn't at WDW lost and found and I haven't heard that YC found it (we thought that if it wasn't in the room, he lost it at either MK, the marina, or the BW bike place on Wednesday--but he had last year's WDW ticket with his name on it inside, so I"m hoping against hope if someone finds it they'll figure out where it needs to go.)
Of course this kind of thing distracts me to no end!
We were going to use those special FPs twice on TT, but even with a FP it took us 1/2 hour to get through and we had other things to do. WE got a couple of small items at mousegear, then went to the garden town center. The Mickey gnomes were in--now I love Mickey, but these were a little much for me. Very bright, but I didn't think the paint would hold up if he was sitting in a garden very long, so I took a pass. I did, though, get a fake stone that said welcome with a picture of Mickey, and some Mickey wind chimes.
At this point we split up for a while--DH took the girls to the camera store to get our photopass CD and DS and I went to see Off Kilter. I know, I know, you can order the photopass CD online and do borders, etc. I am not a scrapbooker. I don't have the time or patience. I'm not going to sit here and play with borders. I'd rather have the CD in hand when we go home, go to Meijer, and get the prints I want. They also give you 3 5X7s with your CD.
We heard a set of Off Kilter and said goodbye to Epcot, heading off to ESPN to eat lunch. Then we strolled around the boardwalk and got to YC about 3:30, getting my carryon and DH's laptop out of storage, and caught the ME bus at 4. We left in 80 degree sun and came home to a snow/sleet storm and 33. Welcome to spring in Toledo.
We had a really good time this trip, but I always have a good time. The question--have we converted DD#1 back to Disney, although temporarily? I think so. She was in a hurry to get to the resort, Tigger "proposed" to her at CP and I haven't seen her smile that big in ages, and she begged to go see CoP, of all things. She has 2 friends going to Orlando for spring break next year. They aren't doing disney because the one girl did it last year with her two smaller brothers and "they were all bored", but since we will be at SSR she may meet them at DD for an evening. She isn't begging to go elsewhere in Florida and seems genuinely excited about being in DVC again. And of course all the cute boys helped, so I'd like to thank all the parents who took cute teenage boys to WDW for spring break this year!
Only,hmmm, between 369 and 371 days to go until our next trip!!!! (Our departure day is still up in the air).
Robin M.

[Rock'n Robin]

bump....let's see if anyone cares!

[Rock'n Robin]

bump....sorry no cute title.

[IloveDMB]

Hi, I saw the post about the sweet thing your daughter did at AK. Came to look for your trip report.

I think if you ask OhMari, she'll move this to the Trip Reports section.

I've always wanted to stay at YC/BC, nice to see you got switched to a better room.

I'm still on a values budget, so all I get a view of is other buildings when I step outside my rooms, but the service road would have gotten on my nerves, too.

Thanks for sharing your trip!