Were home...Here is our Report on EVERYTHING!!! [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

themudd4

06-23-2008, 06:43 AM

Instead of 1 report for the resort, one for the food, one for the parks...etc, I will try and put everything in this 1 single report and will include pictures to boot! (Nothing beats some good food porn...lol)

Our travel dates:
We left our drive way at 5 PM on Thursday, June 12, 2008.
We pulled back in our drive way roughly at 5 PM on Sunday, June 22, 2008.

There were only us 4...DH38, myself 35, DD14, DS8.

A Bit of background:
We travel to WDW nearly every year and last year we went twice. We have stayed at all 3 levels but with the rising gas prices we went with the Value level this time to hopefully make up the difference.
We had booked ASMusic (standard room), with 8 day park hopper, & Basic DDP for 6/14-6/21.
We dined at our food court...Electric Umbrella...50's Prime Time...Flame Tree BBQ...Yak & Yeti...Pizza Planet...Coral Reef...Crystal Palce...House of Blues...Liberty Inn...Liberty Tree Tavern...Sci Fi...Planet Hollywood...Main Street Bakery...Casey's...Hollywood & Vine...Tusker House...
:( Sad news to report. My DD LOVES the Toll House Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches...They are no more! My DD boycotted all ice cream stands while we were there! I am sure they are second guessing themselves now...lol.

Overall:
All in all it was a great trip. It was HOT, it rained a lil, and it was crowded...but it was June in WDW why would I think it would be anything different! If I had to pick my best time...I would say our dinner at 50's PT (details in will be posted in that portion). Worst time...our dinner at Hollywood & Vine (details to come for that as well.) Aside from that yes there were a few rude people, and people who have no business pushing a stroller and yes there were even a few heeleys, but all in all not bad! I have 1 pet peeve I'll toss in though. Electric scooters. OK, if you need them, rent them and use them...I have no problem with that. But I think the company that rents them to you should require the renter to pass some sort of drivers test in order to leave the property with them. Especially if they plan on driving them onto a bus! lol...ok, I vented, I am done!

Now on with the show...
We stopped for the night on 6/12 shortly after we crossed over into Georgia. Nothing major to report there.
6/13...Yes Friday the 13th...:scared1: we had planned on just finding a room outside the gates and maybe visiting some friends we had on vacation there that week who were leaving the next day BUT, I called and we could get a room at Music for the night so we just did that. When I checked in to Music I asked if they could make it so we kept the same room...The manager at the desk was great! She had to move some things around but was able to give us the 1 room for our entire stay!
Over all I would have to say ASMusic would have to be my favorite Value Resort! We loved it!!! We were in the Country Music section which is honestly a long walk to the main building and food court...but other than that...the staff was GREAT!!! The food court and store were would you'd think of for any value reosrt. The pools were nice, but the extra activies they did at the pool area and the view we had of a picnic type area...I was pleased! We didn't have any real issues with the buses being shared by all 3 all star resorts. The rooms were clean and appeared well kept. Side note: I seem to get a rash everytime i go to WDW. On no other vacation do I get this rash. It is just on my legs, and it just gets red and kinda itches. Our first night there we ate in the food court and hung out around the pool and in the room. The very next morning it was there. So I finally realized (Duh) it was the sheets!I usually sleep in a T-shirt and shorts on vacation so the bottom section of my legs are the only thing in contact with the sheets the entire time. Anyway, I asked them about it at the front desk and I am not the only one. It appears Disney sends their sheets and towels out to a service to be cleaned. Anyway, they sent the housekeeping supervisor up to my room. He was very nice and said he would take new set of sheets and they would wash them on porperty, then change them. He said it may take a few hours, but said he would make sure that they washed me several towels as well. I was impressed to say the least. Since it was already later in the evening, I said for them not to worry about it that night and he assured me it would be done when they cleaned my room the next day. **tipping**...ok...I am not looking for a debate nor do I want one but I know that alot of debates are started over tipping mousekeeping so since I had the "boss" there I asked him about it. He was very nice about it and said this question comes up alot. Housekeeping is not a tipped postion. When a tip is left it is appricated, and all tips are pulled together and used for bonuses, paid time off, etc. The house keeper that comes to your room is only a single person but there are many people behind the scenes that would be over looked if they did not do it that way. That was all he really said, but I thought it was blunt and to the point so I did not go any further with that. So you can take it with a grain of salt...but that's what I can tell ya I was told...which is close to what I had been told before. The sheets were changed and I had a stack of towels of my very own waiting for me when we returned the next day. between that and taking benadryl each night before bed the rash cleared up quickly and was not a issue the rest of the time.

Oops...I just realized I haven't downloaded my pictures onto the computer yet. Let me do that, and I will start posting pictures with my next post!

VanniGirl

06-23-2008, 06:49 AM

Great start - looking forward to more!

Sorry about the rash - if people are complaining, you would think they would do something about it!

TCKK

06-23-2008, 06:54 AM

Sign me up. I'm here for your report. Looking forward to all you have!! We go in August. 6 weeks from tomorrow we leave!!

:( Sad news to report. My DD LOVES the Toll House Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches...They are no more! My DD boycotted all ice cream stands while we were there! I am sure they are second guessing themselves now...lol.

Oh no!! Those are my favorite. I was so looking forward to them.:( Oh well, I guess I'll just have to find a new favorite snack! :)

I'll be waiting patiently :surfweb: for the next installation.

Cathy

MeMom

06-23-2008, 07:10 AM

I'll ride along, too! We had a very nice stay at Music in December, and we'll be back there on our Thanksgiving trip. We thought the CMs were very nice, too. It seems that Music is getting an increasingly better reputation overall with the refurbishing and the pool activities.

Bring on the pictures! Lots of them!

P.S. Good morning, TCKK! I'll take some pictures of some things you can choose from for your next new favorite snack when we are there THIS SATURDAY!!!

This Saturday? That deserves a dancing banana, don't you think? :banana:

jmskinner

06-23-2008, 07:11 AM

I'm in also.

That was great info on the tipping at the hotel. I did the first day and then kept forgetting and felt horrible.

Looking forward to the pics. We were there the same week, 06/13-06/21!

TCKK

06-23-2008, 08:08 AM

P.S. Good morning, TCKK! I'll take some pictures of some things you can choose from for your next new favorite snack when we are there THIS SATURDAY!!!

This Saturday? That deserves a dancing banana, don't you think? :banana:

That sounds great!! I'm sure between you and themudd4's pictures, I can have a new favorite snack by the time we go in August. :rotfl2:

Cathy

themudd4

06-23-2008, 09:13 PM

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008168.jpg
This is such a welcome sight after being trapped in a car for HOURS!!!!!

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008171.jpg
This is an even better sight!

Some Pic's of the Hotel...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008020.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008021.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008048.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008049.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008108.jpg

Can you find the hidden Mickey's in the carpet...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008237.jpg

OK, my Husband thinks I am crazy...but I done up our window in full Disboards style...Plus it was Father's Day so I made a lime green fathers day window...lol
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008178.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008233.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008176.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008179.jpg

jmskinner

06-23-2008, 10:04 PM

Great photos! Love the window treatment.

themudd4

06-23-2008, 10:04 PM

We started off by grabbing donuts in the room for breakfast. This is not something we normally do but it worked for us this day.
Then off to...EPCOT!!!!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008023.jpg
We had a blast in Epcot. We jumped on Spaceship earth first thing. Well I wont say I didn't like the new changes but I felt like I got off before the ride should be over. Before you always got a look into the "future" but now it it all just in the past...well except for the new touch screen you have with you in your car with you now. I dont want to give away to much but to really enjoy the ride make sure you do not do bunny ears on the person your riding with and when the car tells you to smile for the picture...listen! Then as soon as you get off your able to go into the "future area"...it is very neat. I had a hard time getting my son to leave it. Make sure the first thing you do is go to the center where the globe is and follow the instructions on the touch screen. If not your pictures will be deleted from the system and you wont be able to retrieve it. Then you can go do everything else in the room.
Lunch...Nothing special. CS @ Electric Umbrella. The food was fine...typical burgers, chicken, fries etc.
Next we headed off to Disney's Hollywood Studios...If I slip up and call it MGM...oops...sorry!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008185.jpg
We headed over to Toy Story Midway Mania first thing....the line was 140 minutes long and all of the fast passes were gone. So not for us today! (we will make up for it later in the week). The park was crazy crowded as it was Star Wars Weekends...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008191.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008028.jpg
Dinner was at 50's Prime Time:
Sorry I forgot to take pics of the meals. We were all laughing so hard I just never thought about it. First things first...We had the same waiter (brother) we had during our last trip. Our DD14 was being such a teenage girl. Upset with me over something...I think cause I made her get off the phone with her "boyfriend" while we ate. Our "brother" picked up on this right away and he had EVERYONE around us picking on her. A lil boy from another table even came over and pinched her. Our "brother" gave her away to another family because she was "spoiled". It was a blast. Probably one of the best things that happened on our trip. We still will make remarks about it over a week later and pick on her. DS8 wasn't left out at all...he was getting a kick out of sissy being in trouble and him not...plus he was telling on her for everything she had ever done in her life. The food was good too...
I had the pot roast. YUMMMMMM. DH had the steak, DD just had the shrimp cocktail and dessert as she wasn't that hungry, and DS had chicken I believe. I looked down and his plate was CLEAN! While I didn't remember to take pics of the meals, I did manage to get a pic of the desserts we got.
By the way...we had issues with our camera alot during this trip. I think my rechargable batteries were about shot...so some of the pics may be a lil blury but I think you get the idea.

DD had the smores...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008029.jpg
I had the bread pudding with ice cream...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008030.jpg
DH had the brownie sundae...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008031.jpg

Sorry I didn't get to the pictures until after we started eating. You may notice that was a habit of mine. We just couldn't wait to dig in!

themudd4

06-23-2008, 10:14 PM

Great photos! Love the window treatment.
Thanks...I have a BUNCH of pics...But I will limit them on here...lol

princesslily

06-23-2008, 10:53 PM

those smores look yummmmmy!

Chuck65

06-24-2008, 10:25 AM

Hey mudd4 count me in. Looks great so far!

TCKK

06-24-2008, 10:33 AM

It sounds like a blast at Prime Time!! We've definitely got to try that sometime. I love your window decorations! They are so cool! We've never decorated the window, but we're planning to this time. ::yes:: Can't wait for the next installment!!

Shazzie B

06-24-2008, 12:40 PM

Window decorations were fantastic. Great start to your TR look forward to reading more. 140 mins for Toy Story Mania:faint: , Ill make sure we pick up fast passes early.

themudd4

06-26-2008, 12:52 PM

First let's have breakfast...
We headed down to the food court. The food court may not be the best food on property but it is plenty good enough for us and the price was right too. Plus, my DH has medication he has to take with a meal first thing in the morning and we could control the time frame a lil better here then most other places so it works well for us. DH had the Western Omlet with potatoe wedges. He said it was good. I had the mickey waffles with fruit, and the kids had the mickey waffle with bacon. We were all full and ready for Dad's big day...Father's Day!!!
We headed off for Animal Kingdom since it is DH's favorite park.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008033.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008034.jpg
We had a great day. Everyone was in such a good mood even the teenager...lol! We just goofed around acting silly riding rides and having a great time.
Lunch time...I was ready for some BBQ. We had planned Flame Tree BBQ for our lunch this day since before we left home. We had never ate here before even though we had thought about it. We were all looking forward to it. I had the Chicken. It was really pretty good. DH had the beef sandwich and DD had the Pork sandwich. DS had a hot dog...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008037.jpg
Over all the main food (the chicken and sandwiches were ok). We all agreed that the baked beans were just not any good at all. The desserts were just ok I guess. We had more fun with the ducks coming up to us. One of them kept rubbing up against my leg. It was kind of freaky at first but then it reminded me of a cat loving on the bottom of your legs and it was funny more than anything.
Next I finally talked my DH into going to see the Nemo show. Just so you know my DH hates all shows at every park period! But I really wanted to see it so he gave in. It all worked all to because almost as soon as we were seated the sky opened up and a large storm unleased on Disney. The storm wrapped up about the same time as the show so it was a win win for me! Dh wasn't impressed at all and me and the kids were all kinda glad to have seen it but dont know that we would worry about it the next time. It was something that needs to be seem at least once though!
We had done everything in the park we were going to do...except dinner. Yak & Yeti anyone? Ok, just so you know this was our first time. I was a little worried about trying it becasue we had read a few not so good reviews. Glad we went becasue we LOVED it. It was easily top 3 for our trip.
Dh had the shrimp and steak...Loved everything but the rice. He doesn't eat rice!!!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008039.jpg
I had the Chicken LoMein. It was really pretty good.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008040.jpg
Ds had the Lo Mein Noodles too, just a smaller portion & he had applesauce too.
DD had the chicken. She subbed fries for he side with no prob. I wasn't fast enough with the camera on her plate...she had already tore into it.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008041.jpg
For dessert DS had the kids sundae, sorry no pic.
DH & DD shared this huge brownie sundae
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008042.jpg
I had the Sorbet...well DD helped me with the lemon flavor.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008043.jpg
The meal was great. We were all so pleased!!! Our waitress was GREAT! Speaking of her...and all wait staff in general. Before I left I read several posts about people being asked for thier tip ahead of time. This never happened to us once. I think most all of them told us at the beginning of the meal what all was included in the basic DDP. They would say it was the entree, dessert, and non alcoholic drink. They also would say that the tip was not included any longer. I never once felt pressure to tip of of the "disney" wait staff. Anyway, while we were hearing this lil speech about what was included I said somthing on how I am sure that has hurt her tips. She was very nice and said yes it has really hurt her. She went on to tell us that many people are upset that it is not included so they feel cheated and they dont leave anything. I felt so bad for her...but I must say I already knew that from reading what some others had posted. She also went on to say that while each disney place was different and were all doing things somewhat different on this that the wait staff are still being charged taxes on the assumed 18% tip, plus out of that they have to pay out a percentage to the bartendar. Yak & Yei was giving them something like a 3% cash back bonus to help cover the difference but she was still not coming out near as well. I asked her if it made a difference if we paid cash or charged the tip and she said a cash tip was also perferred...which I knew...yes I had a DUH moment! :duck: Anyway, she was great and she made sure our every need was taken care of. My DH asked for steaksauce...they dont have any. She asked him if he would give her a minute and she would get him some. She went and got a manager and her came to the table to ask what type he wanted and was going to have sopme brought there! They offered to keep his food hot while we waited. We just said he would do without it and he said it had a nice flavor even without it. But can you imagine them going through that much trouble for steak sauce. It would have been A1 but still...lol. Just so you know...Even though I dont care for the percentage type tip...I tipped on average 20% this trip. Most of the waitstaff we had was just great!!!! The deserved every penny they got!::yes:: Anyway, back to how they asked for the tip...or didn't ask I should say. When they bring the check it has the place already on the bill for you to add a optional tip. It list the suggested amounts at either 18% or 20%. The waitstaff never brought this to our attention and never suggested that this was even there. I had no problem with how this was addressed to us at all. I thought it was done tactfully considering how things have changed.
That evening we headed over to DTD for some shopping. Then ended the evening at the resort with a dip in the pool! :cloud9:

VanniGirl

06-26-2008, 04:54 PM

Love the window decorations!

Great report.

SnowWhite607

06-26-2008, 07:31 PM

SnowWhite607

06-26-2008, 07:42 PM

And we also ate at 50s for the first time and loved it! I could barely eat! The waitress ("Aunt" Jan) told us that we were drinking so much tea that we were going to wet the bed! LOL!:lmao: The girl at the table next to us (ahe was about 30) was getting sassy with her so Aunt Jan put her in the corner for a time out and the other waiters/waitresses that were passing by would go "oooooooo, you got in trouble!":rotfl2: It was the most fun I have had in a long time! I had the pot roast and smores too. YUM!

irky416

06-26-2008, 07:49 PM

I'm in. Great report so far! I love the window decorations you had at your resort.

themudd4

06-27-2008, 08:32 AM

I just got back from WDW yesterday and we had a Toll House ice cream cookie sandwich from the Main Street Bakery on Tuesday the 24th. I dont know about the carts but I was told the bakery on Main Street was where to get them. It was bigger than the things they sell at the carts anyway.
Dang...bigger then the ones that had in the carts? That thing must of been huge. We usually split one between two of us. God to know they still have them at the bakery. Were they they pre packaged ones or made there?

themudd4

06-27-2008, 11:26 AM

Sorry, I have no food porn today...lol. I just totally forgot about it.
Breakfast started off at the food court. We all ate very light. Just some fruit and Yogurt. I think DS had a bowl of cereal. Headed for a.m. EMH at DHS. First stop...TSMM. We jumped in line since the wait was only 20 minutes long...or so we thought. In real time it was twice that but oh well. Here are some pics...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008055.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008056.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008057.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008102.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008180.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008181.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008184.jpg
We all loved the ride or should I say game. How bout the game you ride....that will work. Anyway, on my very fist ride I earn 3rd place on the board. I was loving it becasue I beat my husband...and I beat him BAD!!! lol :cool1: . Anyway, we jumped off and grabbed fast passes to come back later on.
We kicked it around the park for a while and we were all starving by 11 am and the kids wanted to go to Pizza Planet so we did. Honestly we had ate there before and DH and I didnt care for it but for a kid this place is ideal! Anyway, we all had salads, pizza, and dessert. Surprisingly, the pizza wasn't to bad at all...or I was that hungry one of the too. The sald really hit the spot. They were kinda small, but DD didn't want her's so I ate it and saved my dessert for later.
We ran around the park a lil more. Since it wasn't the weekend it wasn't to crowded at the Star Wars themed sttractions or displays.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008053.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008054.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008188.jpg
After riding TSMM the second time (where I noticed my 3rd place had been bumped off...but I still beat my DH!!!) we headed out of the park for Epcot.
Dinner was at Coral Reef. We had a good waiter. Not the best, but still very good. The food was wonderful!!! The steak was cooked perfectly and the flavor was very good. I only wish they would add a common dessert to their menu. We have a teenage daughter that is sort of pickey...who am I kidding she is alot picky. Anyways, they desserts they have are a lil more "up scale" I guess and just to much for a picky teen or even a tween as kids as young as 10 are supposed to select off this menu as well.
Anyway, we had a very good, very relaxing, very nice meal! This was prob my favorite meal of the week...for the food anyway!

irky416

06-27-2008, 11:36 AM

Great pics from Toy Story Mania!

I also liked the pizza at Pizza Planet, but not from Pizzafari. DBF told me they were the same but the Pizza Planet pizza tasted much better to me!

SnowWhite607

06-27-2008, 12:20 PM

Dang...bigger then the ones that had in the carts? That thing must of been huge. We usually split one between two of us. God to know they still have them at the bakery. Were they they pre packaged ones or made there?

No they were made there. Two huge cookies with 2 big scoops of ice cream. YUM!! My DD and I split it and we still didnt finish it all.

DiningPlanDevastator

06-27-2008, 02:05 PM

I am subscribing!

Love the pics... keep them coming!

TCKK

06-27-2008, 02:25 PM

I just got back from WDW yesterday and we had a Toll House ice cream cookie sandwich from the Main Street Bakery on Tuesday the 24th. I dont know about the carts but I was told the bakery on Main Street was where to get them. It was bigger than the things they sell at the carts anyway.

Yeah,:cool1: At least they still have them here. That's great. My youngest DD will be thrilled. She and I were so disappointed when we read they were gone. :woohoo: Guess where I'll be stopping as soon as we get to MK :laughing:

Love all the pics and the update on the report. ::yes::

Cathy

themudd4

06-27-2008, 07:32 PM

No they were made there. Two huge cookies with 2 big scoops of ice cream. YUM!! My DD and I split it and we still didnt finish it all.
Well good to know they still have some version of them. Thanks for the info!!!
BTW: The carts still have the Mickey Ice cream sandwiches just not the toll house cookie kind.

themudd4

06-27-2008, 07:39 PM

Great pics from Toy Story Mania!

Thank you!!! We had fun taking them too. :3dglasses
Oh, and BTW, I didn't tell you all about Mr. Potato Head making fun of me...twice!
The first time it was because I had my sun glasses resting on my head. He told everyone to look...I was so famous that my hair even needed sunglasses. We all laughed.
The second time I was wearing a visor. He said hey lady...dont look now but some one took the top of your hat. Then he kept asking everyone if they seen who took the top of my hat. I guess I was an easy target! lol. Either that or I reminded him of some spud he knew.

MeLaNie9

06-27-2008, 07:58 PM

I'm really enjoying your report so far! I am interested in hearing about your bad experience at H&V - on our last trip that was actually one of our favorite places to we have booked it again for our upcoming trip...you've scared me:scared1:
I wish that we would drive to WDW!!! This is what we did when I was a kid and so it just seems like the thing to do to me! Honestly, those crazy vacation drives are some of my best memories of childhood! I really don't like to fly and the plane tickets are just so terribly expensive. DH doesn't want to drive and since we will be returning with my MIL and SIL who definitely wouldn't drive, we are flying (I tried the "how about we drive and they fly" too and that didn't work either). We jumped all over the Southwest fares that just came out this week figuring that they probably would only be going up.

I can totally relate to your DD's teen-age pickiness - or should I say that my mom could relate...She said that on our last family vaca to WDW my brothers and I absolutely refused to eat anything!

Looking forward to more of you family's story and pictures!

irky416

06-28-2008, 11:44 AM

Thank you!!! We had fun taking them too. :3dglasses
Oh, and BTW, I didn't tell you all about Mr. Potato Head making fun of me...twice!
The first time it was because I had my sun glasses resting on my head. He told everyone to look...I was so famous that my hair even needed sunglasses. We all laughed.
The second time I was wearing a visor. He said hey lady...dont look now but some one took the top of your hat. Then he kept asking everyone if they seen who took the top of my hat. I guess I was an easy target! lol. Either that or I reminded him of some spud he knew.

We missed Mr. Potato Head because we only went through the Fast Pass line. I didn't realize he was so interactive. That's funny that you got picked on twice. Was it two different times?

themudd4

06-28-2008, 07:50 PM

We missed Mr. Potato Head because we only went through the Fast Pass line. I didn't realize he was so interactive. That's funny that you got picked on twice. Was it two different times?
Yes 2 totally different times. I felt Special! lol He sings, and dances (sort of), tells jokes, talks to people, etc.
During the week we fast passed it twice...one of those times the fast pass line was 40 minutes long...it was a crazy mess!!! And we also rode it through the regular line twice. We all had a blast and I enjoyed kicking my DH's Butt each time:woohoo: :yay: ! He still says I muct be cheating! lol.

mom3sonstt

06-28-2008, 09:53 PM

I have 1 pet peeve I'll toss in though. Electric scooters. OK, if you need them, rent them and use them...I have no problem with that. But I think the company that rents them to you should require the renter to pass some sort of drivers test in order to leave the property with them. Especially if they plan on driving them onto a bus! lol...ok, I vented, I am done!

See - this is exactly why I am debating so much on whether to rent an off - site scooter (saving myself about $200) or renting at the parks and hoping they have some in stock when we get there. I am a nervous wreck about having to drive one of those things onto the bus. I know I will need one but I also know I will be nervous about doing it, and everyone at the bus stop stands and watches you (I'm not complaining about that - just observing - face it, there is only so much to do at the bus stop so watching the scooter get on the bus is about as much entertainment as there is going to be!) I told my husband what the price differences would be renting offsite or day by day at parks and all he said was "I'm not riding the bus with you" :sad2: We still haven't decided. Just when I convince myself to go ahead and rent one I read something (some of the disABILITIES threads) that change my mind again. :confused3

Planning fanatic mom

06-29-2008, 08:37 AM

I really like your trip report. I think mostly because you are writing about the week that we would have been there if we had gone this year. :guilty:

Thanks for the info about tipping. I always leave a daily tip for mousekeeping. In fact, I like the idea that all the money is pulled together. Then I know that all involved are benefiting from it.

I've never done the Dining plan. It sure sounds like you had tons to eat. DD 2 is my picky eater, but she loves steak. Coral Reef sounds like the place for us.

I can't wait to hear more. :banana:

themudd4

06-30-2008, 12:30 PM

See - this is exactly why I am debating so much on whether to rent an off - site scooter (saving myself about $200) or renting at the parks and hoping they have some in stock when we get there. I am a nervous wreck about having to drive one of those things onto the bus. I know I will need one but I also know I will be nervous about doing it, and everyone at the bus stop stands and watches you (I'm not complaining about that - just observing - face it, there is only so much to do at the bus stop so watching the scooter get on the bus is about as much entertainment as there is going to be!) I told my husband what the price differences would be renting offsite or day by day at parks and all he said was "I'm not riding the bus with you" :sad2: We still haven't decided. Just when I convince myself to go ahead and rent one I read something (some of the disABILITIES threads) that change my mind again. :confused3
I honestly had no idea about the savings. But I have never looked into them either. If you do go with renting one from an outside source maybe you could tell them you are worried about this very thing and ask them to work with you briefly on this. There were several times it was an issue...but we only had 1 major time that this was a royal pain. There were 2 scooters getting on the bus. We were already on and seated so it must have been at the Movies resort. Anyway, we sat there what seemed like forever and this guy just could not get it right for nothing. I am sure he was getting worse at it the longer it took because he was getting upset. The bus driver was honestly kinda rude and appeared to be getting upset about it himself. Finally the guy got it with the aid of several people on the bus offering help. The second scooter operator was not much better but she gave up rather quickly and asked the bus driver to just park it for her and she got up and let the driver do it and she sat in the seat across the row. We ended up getting off the bus at DTD and walking to Westside to avoid waiting for them to unload off the bus.
Please no flames from anyone...like I said I am not saying not to rent them if you need them. I just think that the place that rents them be it Disney or not make sure the drivers know how to operate them properly.

themudd4

06-30-2008, 02:09 PM

We started the day off with AM EMH @ MK.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008068.jpg
Normally this is our favorite time to be at MK but this morning my DS8 decided he was going to really show his butt. After a few "If you dont staighten up I'm gonna take you to the restroom"...threats he seemed to straighten up some. We managed to see a sight we had never seen before...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008128.jpg
Sorry the picture is a lil blury. I took it with my cell phone and hard to get a get picture with the ride moving. It is Alice and the Mad Hatter on the tea cups. It was really neat and they really seem like they were having fun in the line and just being silly.
Now it is a lil late for us but off to Breakfast. We headed off to our 9:35 ressie at Crystal Palace. This is a must do for our family each trip we make to Disney. Granted there is nothing special about the buffet...but it was something we done on our first trip and is just something we feel we need to do each and every trip after that! The strawberries were sweet and HUGE! And of course I tore me up some of that breakfast lasanga.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008066.jpg
Pooh and the gang were all great...our waiter was just ok. He seemed as if he was too busy to be friendly...just done his job and nothing more.
This was a morning for kids to act up in every family I guess. Mine were back to behaving now but there were a couple of families seated close to us that made our meal complete with a show...lol. One lil one...I guess about 4 years old was hitting his mom and SCREAMING bloody murder (and I do mean screamed, not yelled...not fussed...SCREAMED ) for at least 15 minutes or so before the mother got up and went off with him. I was shocked that the mother sat there as long as she did. Another kid...I am guessing he was about 4-5 as well we up running around climbing on the table and in the huge flowered areas. His older sisters were trying to get him to set still and the parent's just sat there. lol....suddenly my DS's lil tantrum didn't seem so important! :hug:
After breakfast it was time to head off to the barber shop. Both DD and DS got hair cuts...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008205.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008212.jpg
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http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008215.jpg

For lunch... we had ate so late for breakfast, and were going to eat an early dinner so we grabbed some fruit and I think my DS grabbed a muffin and we we completely happy with that!
For dinner we had ressies at House of Blues. We had been wanting to try it for years and just kept skipping it but decided this year we were making it happen. Well, I made our ressie's online and when I checked in they acted as if they were clueless. She asked if I made them online and as soon as I said yes she stopped looking at the list and seated us right away. I had been told by another Dis board member that they do not pay any attention to the online ressies. So since tis appeared to be the case here as well I would suggest calling if you are planning on going at busier times of the day. We were eating early so it wasn't an issue.
Anyway, The food was pretty good. No complaints about that at all.
We started off with the Voo Doo Shrimp. This had a odd taste and at first we weren't sure we liked it. Then as you can see by the picture we ate all of it...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008220.jpg
DH had a burger & fries...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008221.jpg
I had the Grilled chicken ceacer salad.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008223.jpg
DD had the pizza...she is gonna kill me when she see's this pic on here...lol
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008225.jpg
DS had the kids hot dog and fries...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008224.jpg
OK, now about our waiter. Well lets just say this...:scared1: . He was CLUELESS. He brought us a entire meal extra that we didn't order. Wasn't even anything we had mentioned getting that he may have over heard or something. We'd ask for a refill or napkins or something and he would be gone forever and when he would come back he would have forgotten. When he finally brought the bill...we had to ask for it twice. It had the meal on there we didn't order. They had also added 2 drinks onto our bill that weren't ours...drinks at like $7-$8 each, and over charged us on my DS meal and drink. I brought this to his attention and he went to fix it. When he came back he just laid the new bill on the table and kept walking. I looked at it and he had taken the extra meal off and the 2 drinks. He didn't fix the bill on my DS's meal or drink. I even grabbed the menu to double check what it should of been. So I was upset by this point and I left cash in the folder. Just enough to cover the bill and an extra $5. I wrote a lil note on the bill that if he felt like he could finsih correcting the bill he could keep the rest. It would have gave him another nearly $4. On the way out I stopped at the front check in desk and the manager was there and I told him what I had done and we left. I would assume that had we had a good waiter this would have been a great place to eat.
Later that night we were all tired and hungry. I guess we knew better than to eat so early. We ended up having pizza and wings delivered up to the room. It cost a pretty penny but the wings were great, and I didn;t hafta get out of bed to get them...or eat them. lol!

See ya all soon with Day 5!

irky416

06-30-2008, 04:01 PM

I love your kids hair!

And how cool to see the characters riding a ride. :thumbsup2

SnowWhite607

06-30-2008, 04:16 PM

Were you at CP the same day as me? My DD was throwing a fit too! Well it seemed to be the theme of the trip for us. I dont know why:confused3 . I am not a spanking parent but I almost had to introduce my hand to her butt at the Princess Storybook breakfast.:headache: When my DH grabbed her up to take her out, she started SCREAMING at the topof her lungs!! I wanted to crawl UNDER the table.:eek:

Kids!!

mom3sonstt

06-30-2008, 04:40 PM

I just think that the place that rents them be it Disney or not make sure the drivers know how to operate them properly.

One of the offsite place I looked at will only deliver directly to the user. Some of the others will leave it at the resort for you. But even with a (pardon the term) "crash course" on using it, once the bus pulls up, depending on the type of bus, the attitude of the driver, and the attitudes of the other guests - who knows how easy it will be to load :confused3

Iggipolka

06-30-2008, 05:05 PM

One of the offsite place I looked at will only deliver directly to the user. Some of the others will leave it at the resort for you. But even with a (pardon the term) "crash course" on using it, once the bus pulls up, depending on the type of bus, the attitude of the driver, and the attitudes of the other guests - who knows how easy it will be to load :confused3

We rented a scooter through Buena Vista Scooter and they are located at the Boardwalk, where you can rent Surry Bikes. My wife needed the scooter and she had some trouble learning how to use it. I called them from AKL and within 30 minutes, they met us at the front door and gave us driving and parking lessons. They are awesome and it was great to have a company onsite. We went to the Boardwalk a couple times to chat with them about some minor things and to report damage that a bus driver caused by backing up the scooter on high speed and destroying a tail light!

HonnyDipp

06-30-2008, 05:36 PM

I love your pics! Thanks for sharing!

themudd4

07-01-2008, 12:24 PM

After having a grumpy 8 yr old on day 4 I decided we were going to sleep in and let him decide when we woke up.
For Breakfast we didn't have anything planned so we went down to SURPRISE...the food court. lol. I didn't write down what everyone had...and I haven't pulled out the reciepts to try and figure it out.
We headed off to Epcot again. We enjoyed our day there until early afternoon. For Lunch we were in World Showcase and the kids were not wanting to try anything to over the top so we played it safe and went to Liberty Inn in America. The topping bar was nice for the burger and chicken sandwiches. Sorry no pics...major camera problems.
That afternoon we headed over to MK. We caught a parade...here are some pics from our cell phones...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008076.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008074.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008078.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008081.jpg
I have plenty more pics of it but dont want to over do it...lol.
Next we had ressies for dinner at Liberty Tree. We were all hungry and ready for some comfort type foods and this really hit the spot. Ham, turkey, steak, mashed potatos, gravey, mac-n-cheese, stuffing, salad & rolls. Dont forget the apple cobler alamode. Our waiter was great and Goofy and friends were all there playing the part well!!!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008097.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008096.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008095.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008098.jpg
After dinner DH & DS decided that they were going to go back to the room for a father son game time in the arcade & a dip in the pool. DD & I took this mother daughter time to catch a few rides then down came the rain. It lasted through a few rides and we made do then we headed over to catch the next parade....this one is my favorite though...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008134.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008133.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008132.jpg
After Spectromagic we went over to grab a spot for Wishes...I must admit that after Hallowishes this past October, I felt a lil disappointed...but it was still a special mother daughter time!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008131.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008130.jpg
After Wishes we headed back to the room to join the guys and get ready for the next day!!!

SnowWhite607

07-01-2008, 01:41 PM

Looks like fun!! So nice to see an update! I love reading about other people's trips! I think we were there about the same time - June 15-25 for us?

themudd4

07-01-2008, 01:59 PM

Looks like fun!! So nice to see an update! I love reading about other people's trips! I think we were there about the same time - June 15-25 for us? Same time...we checked in on the 13th and checked out on the 21st. Had a great time. Hope your trip went well too!

irky416

07-01-2008, 03:21 PM

Cute pictures! I always want to try Liberty Tree Tavern but haven't ever made it. I like Spectromagic of the parades the best too!

Remmy

07-01-2008, 04:01 PM

I love all your pictures, it helps tell us about your adventures. I also like all the descriptions about the places you and your family had your meals. I too am interested in your Hollywood and Vine story. It is too bad about your House of Blues experience but thus far it looks like your good experiences have been more than the bad.

I am looking forward to more installments on your great trip report.

jmskinner

07-01-2008, 05:01 PM

Great pics. We were there the same time also, the 13th thru 21st.

I liked how you let the boy determine when you would get up. If I allowed the kids to determine that, we would still be in the hotel room. :lmao: They at least probably would have slept until after Noon, but we probably wouldn't have to deal with grumpy every morning.

Now I want to go check out the parade at MK. Actually, all of the parades. We have only see Spectromagic!

bcbmom

07-01-2008, 05:42 PM

Great trip report!! I'm looking forward to hearing more...:surfweb:

themudd4

07-01-2008, 09:04 PM

Cute pictures! I always want to try Liberty Tree Tavern but haven't ever made it. I like Spectromagic of the parades the best too!
We went years ago and enjoyed it, but after we had it this past October my kids insisted on it being in our ADR's again.

I love all your pictures, it helps tell us about your adventures. I also like all the descriptions about the places you and your family had your meals. I too am interested in your Hollywood and Vine story. It is too bad about your House of Blues experience but thus far it looks like your good experiences have been more than the bad.

I am looking forward to more installments on your great trip report.
H&V coming soon. lol...
House of Blues wasn't bad...We just had a bad waiter. As far as the food went it was fine and I can not really complain there. I would give it a shot again as long as I didn't have that same guy. lol!

Great pics. We were there the same time also, the 13th thru 21st.

I liked how you let the boy determine when you would get up. If I allowed the kids to determine that, we would still be in the hotel room. :lmao: They at least probably would have slept until after Noon, but we probably wouldn't have to deal with grumpy every morning.

Now I want to go check out the parade at MK. Actually, all of the parades. We have only see Spectromagic!
We were worried about letting him sleep in to late too...he can sleep easily 12-14 hours. But I was prepared to let my DD & DH take off and me stay back in the room with him. I think he woke up around 9-9:30 or so. Wasn't to bad at all.

Great trip report!! I'm looking forward to hearing more...:surfweb:
Thank you so much.

themudd4

07-03-2008, 08:41 AM

Your Not going to believe what I just did. As I finished up my Day 6 report :surfweb: I totally wasn't thinking and I hit the browser back botton:scared1: :guilty: :sad2: :confused: . Everything lost:scared:! Sorry it will be delayed:headache:. I will try and work on day 6,7, & 8 to wrap it up this afternoon!

themudd4

07-03-2008, 12:36 PM

I don't think I am going to have time to get to it today after all. My DD14 has her :cheer2: All Star STATE softball tourney :cheer2: starting tonight! I have alot to get done before we have to hit the road:laundy: . I'll finish it soon...:rolleyes1 . Sorry to leave you all hangin!:flower3:

JulieNMM

07-03-2008, 02:31 PM

We started the day off with AM EMH @ MK.
We managed to see a sight we had never seen before...
[IMG]http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008128.jpg
Sorry the picture is a lil blury. I took it with my cell phone and hard to get a get picture with the ride moving. It is Alice and the Mad Hatter on the tea cups. It was really neat and they really seem like they were having fun in the line and just being silly.

We were there on that day, too (I think it was Wed. 6/18?) and we saw Alice and the Mad Hatter on the tea cups. So we must have been in line at the same time as you!!! We didn't go to CP but my DS (also 8!) was acting majorly bad that whole day. He gets really fussy if he doesn't eat and he decided he didn't like anything that day and was starving and acting up. What is it with kids that day???

JULIE

SnowWhite607

07-03-2008, 02:43 PM

I was there on Wed 6/18 but that was not the EMH day. Tour Guide Mike advised me to steer clear of those, and we did and had a great trip, FWIW! And I have never seen Alice riding the tea cups! PRETTY COOL!

themudd4

07-03-2008, 09:39 PM

We were there on that day, too (I think it was Wed. 6/18?) and we saw Alice and the Mad Hatter on the tea cups. So we must have been in line at the same time as you!!! We didn't go to CP but my DS (also 8!) was acting majorly bad that whole day. He gets really fussy if he doesn't eat and he decided he didn't like anything that day and was starving and acting up. What is it with kids that day???

JULIE
I have it being the 17th. We weren't in MK on the 18th until later in the after noon.
Maybe they do this more often then we know...or done it back to back days.

I was there on Wed 6/18 but that was not the EMH day. Tour Guide Mike advised me to steer clear of those, and we did and had a great trip, FWIW! And I have never seen Alice riding the tea cups! PRETTY COOL!
I love AM EMH's. I think the are wonderful! But we likely leave the park by 11 am when it starts getting crowded. When we do we end up at a park that is NOT doing a PM EMH!

themudd4

07-03-2008, 10:01 PM

First things first...My DD14's All Star team won their first game in the state softball tourney tonight. Won big too...19 to 4!

Ok, I am going to go through this kinda quickly as I already worte it all once before....lol. I had a blonde moment! lol.

We had NO Plans for day. No adr's, no thoughts for the day, just took it as it came.
Breakfast began our day...everyone all together now...at the foodcourt. LOL. Last time I promise. While it is fine with us I even was ready for a little more to choose from at this point. Or just maybe skip breakfast all together but not an option for my DH.
Next...lets go beat my DH at Toy Story Midway Manie AGAIN...lol. 2 more times. lol...I love it! I still am ragging on him about that.
For lunch my DS insisted on going to Sci fi. We had ressies for the next day but I was good either way. So off we went to Sci Fi...
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008107.jpg
DH had a burger again...yes he is going to start going Moo any time now.
DS had the pasta. DD had the chicken sandwich, and I had the club sandwich. Everything was good and our waitress was ok! Since we went off our ressie we lost eating in the car which was fine with me. I think it is a neat idea, but I dont like the lil bitty eating area they offer. We ended up with the flying saucer picnic table...DS was mad but then we reminded him it was him that wouldn't wait.
We were all kinda tired of the parks and just wanted to take a break so we headed back to the resort for a midday dip in the pool. This was much needed.
Next we headed over to DTD to finish our shopping and grab some dinner. We ended up at Planet Hollywood!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008071.jpg
DH had the steak fajita's, I had the chicken pasta, DD had a pasta dish and DS pasta as well...Everything was GREAT. Prob the best meal we have had there...and our waitress was GREAT!

Just FYI...new DTD place opening this fall...T-REX!
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008047.jpg
My DS is going to LOVE this place!!!

We called it a day kinda early...but we were all BEAT!

themudd4

07-03-2008, 10:54 PM

Our last full day at Disney.

We thought we would sleep in a lil...We were all feeling the affects of being on the go for a week now. Well, that was before their was a knock...or should I say a BANG on our door at 7 am. Scared me to death. I jumped straight up and opened the door without even looking out the peep hole. It was one of the guys from luggage. He looked shocked when he seen me standing their straight from the bed I am sure. He said, you called for luggage. I said NO. He said are you sure? Now, normally I would have had a witty lil comback for that but not at 7 am from a sound sleep. Then the woman next to use opened her door and said I think your looking for my room. Then he pulled out this lil piece of paper and sure enough he was at the wrong room. He felt bad so I wasn't going to press the issue. I just smiled shut the door and TRIED to go back to sleep.
Well, when we all got up and moving, we headed off to MK for the last time this trip. We grabbed breakfast as soon as we got there at Main street bakery. I learned something there too. If your on the DDP...you can combine 3 snack's and a drink and it counts as 1 cs meal. That may be common knowledge but I didn't know it. Sorry no pics...but there were cinn rolls, fruit, cherry turn over, and yogurt. I was a good girl!!:angel:
We ran around and had some fun then headed back to out must do each trip...CASEY"S. We all love it. I was a lil worried becasue we had heard that they had changed the buns but we all thought they were just fine. I love the topping bar.
After we wrapped up our day at MK we headed back over to DHS for our dinner H&V. We got there plenty early so we could take one more run around the park. I guess we felt like we had to say goodbye or something. Now keep in mind it is Friday and SWW. We didn't really do much with the crowds. We went and got our free photopass picture, and thought it looked like rain so we went ahead and headed over to check in for our ressie. Well the rain's didn't hold off...it unleased on us as we were getting there. Well the check in station is outside so there was no way of not getting wet. I sent my DH with the kids on up to the umbrellaed area to get out of the down poor. When I checked in the woman didn't have our ressie listed. So l pulled out my confirmation number. She tells me I am a day late. I showed her that I had the resort copy (Which I asked them for a print out because one of my copies I had got wet and I wanted another extra just in case) which matched my copy and it was for this day. Anyway she typed us in...so I thought no big deal. Well this is the storm that decided to not move on. We stood out in the weather and rain for 30 minutes and my DH went up and asked about how much longer they thought it would be. The woman never even looked and just said they will call your name as soon as it comes up. Totally didn't answer the question. Well during this time I am talking to all the people and were all getting a lil upset becasue there is no place to really get out of the weather. We all start comparing ressie times and we were the only ones that had been waiting this long, and we were checked in well before most of them. After another 15 minutes the people who had the same size party that had checked in after us and that had a ADR after ours were called up to be seated I went to ask what was going on...but the fact it was going on 45 minutes I was a lil moe forcefull then my DH. When she gave me a brief as soon as your table opens up they will seat you I said well it has been 45 minutes can you ask the manager to step out here. At first she didn't want to but she finally did. He came right out...I will give him that, but when he asked what was wrong I said well we have been waiting out here for 45 minutes and people are being seated that were checked in after us and had later adr's. He told me that I had no ressie and that they were squeezing me in. I said no sir, I had a ressie and he said yes, but that was yesterday and you did not show up so we were nice enough to allow you seating as we are booked. I looked at him in disbelief. I said no sir I had my ressie for tonight and I have my confirmation from the resort and you have brushed us and many others aside to stand out here in the weather. He then told me that when I cheked in I was told it would be a 25-30 minute wait....that did it. No one told me a single thing about having to wait that long but now were going on 50 minutes so even in that time frame your late. He finally said I will have your table ready soon but please know that were honoring our end of the deal and you will be seated in a few minutes. I was MAD. I felt as if he tried to make this out to be my fault. Not 1 of my other ressies were wrong...and the resort copy I had for the remainder of the week were all the same so I think the woman that looked it up simply looked at it wrong. Anyway, we were the next group to be seated. pirate:
The waitress came up and was very nice and asked if we had ever been there before and we said yes and my DH and I at the same time said but this will be our last. It was almost funny. She asked what was wrong and we told her but I assured her that it would not be taken out on her. And I will not take anything away from her...she was great. We were seated we were not being rained on and we were trying to get on with our night. Well we filled our plates can back to the table and well we ate...I am sure the fact I was mad played a factor but this was honestly the worst meal we had. The kids weren't even happy with their food and my DS is like Mikey and will eat anything. (did I just show my age?) I think that baked chicken was the best thing on the bar to eat. and the strawberry cheesecake was alright too...but that is like my favorite thing to endulge in so it would have had to been really bad for me not to have liked it. The manager came back over later and did check on us and ask how things were and we just said well we had have better, but our waitress is great. He said good and walked away. So that was our H&V experience. The service was good. That is the only positive thing about that entire meal. We all were so upset we gave our fantasmic seating ticket to another family of four and told them to enjoy it for us. Even my DS wanted to just go back to the room.
It all worked out...I had to start packing up for the next day anyway.

I just noticed I had no pics for today...Here are some random pics just to have something to look at from our trip.
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SnowWhite607

07-04-2008, 08:17 AM

Ew, so sorry about your bad experience at H and V. I have never eaten there myself. We checked in at the CP behind a woman and they were telling her she had her reservations for the wrong day too even though she INSISTED she didnt. I'm wondering if this is not a problem with Disney Dining when you call?:confused3

I think we got caught in that same rain storm (Thursday the 19th?) We were at AK in line for Kali RR. They said they would have to close the ride and we got out of line and started walking out. About halfway to the exit, the sky let loose! We had no ponchos, nothing. We headnt rented a stroller for DD that say (she and I went to tea at the GF and DH played golf so we didnt meet at AK till about 4pm) so even she got soaked. The water was up to my ankles!! The next day I had to put my comfy tennis shoes in the dryer at the lodge so I could wear them again. It was awful!

Did you see Fantasmic this trip? We missed it (again). I tell myself every year that I will see it this time and every year, we dont for some reason.

jmskinner

07-04-2008, 09:09 AM

I am totally shocked about your experience at H&V. Haven't eaten there but can't believe you were treated that way.

We had ressies for Wolfgang Puck and got there 10 minutes before our scheduled time. They kept apologizing for not having our table ready, that they had tried to accomodate several tables to help people get out of the rain. They seated us only 10 minutes later than our scheduled time, and that whole time 2 different people spoke to us about 4 time each apologizing and saying not much longer. I just can't believe H&V was that awful. What a way to spend your last full day.

irky416

07-04-2008, 10:34 AM

Congrats to your DD on the softball game!

Sorry to hear about your bad experience at H&V.

If the rain storm was indeed June 19th, we experienced it also!

themudd4

07-04-2008, 07:31 PM

Congrats to your DD on the softball game!

Sorry to hear about your bad experience at H&V.

If the rain storm was indeed June 19th, we experienced it also!

Thank you...from me and my DD. Just an update: they won their game this morning 8-6, and lost their game this afternoon by 10-11. They now play tomorrow @ noon...if they win...they play again tomorrow night for the championship...if they lose...were done but will have finished 4th in the state regardless. I am so proud of these girls. If they end up 1st or 2rd place we will go on to the next level (I am thinking it's called regionals but dont hold me to it) and that will be in Green bay Wisconsin.

Yes, were done with H&V. DONE DONE DONE.

And the rain storm I am talking about was shortly after 5 PM on Friday 6/20/07.

Snowwhite607...sorry I didn't mean to skip you. No we skipped it and gave our reserved seats away to another family of 4. I hope they enjoyed them.
It could have been simply a mistake and I am not saying I didn't make it but the copy I had from my resort was the same as I had so I think that the woman either just over looked it or something silly...but just to be treated as if it were my fault I was in so much disbelief.

Anyway I will try and finsih my trip report tonight after the fireworks or sometime tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!!!

SnowWhite607

07-04-2008, 07:40 PM

Ah, the Friday storm as opposed to the Thursday storm! LOL! We were in line at Epcot to see the Sounds Like Summer concert that night at 5:15. We were in line about 4:45 or so and the weather was getting bad. The lady came by and told us that the show was cancelled due to the weather and we JUST made it to Italy (where we were having dinner) then it POURED! We were under the umbrella tables outside and we had till 630 to wait for dinner. Luckily, it slacked up about 530-545 or so and I went inside to check in and they were able to seat us early. We made the 2nd show since it had stopped pouring by then!

It was rare that we had a day where it *didnt* rain. I had been in June before so I knew what to expect but these rains seemed like they were harder and longer than in previous years.

Congrats to your DD. My DH is a high school softball coach but they have never made it to the state tournament. He keeps hoping though.....

irky416

07-04-2008, 07:43 PM

Good luck to your DD tomorrow! Let us know how it goes.

Oh, the Friday rainstorm.... We were stuck at Animal Kingdom for that one.

jmskinner

07-04-2008, 08:20 PM

Congrats to you DD and the rest of her team. That is so great!

We got caught in that Friday storm also. Had went to DHS for our last day. Made it to the Wickets store for a little shopping, did ST and then the rain hit. We were hoping to get to see Indiana Jones and made it in. I was sitting on the far right and the rain was coming in sideways.

They announced we could see the first part of the show but because of the lightning in the area, they couldn't change out the sets.:sad1: We are really meant to not see that show. Decided to head back to the hotel after that. Funny thing was, DH thought oh, we are safe from lightning and then he remember, all the metal pins on his lanyard around hit neck!:scared1: That was the worst rain storm we saw all week though, so I know exactly how miserable you were.

themudd4

07-04-2008, 09:36 PM

Well, we got up and were both relieved and sad all at the same time. Our vacation was wrapping up, and we were heading home that afternoon.
We got up and loaded up the car early. Then we headed off to AK one last time. We still had a bitter taste in our mouth from H&V the night before but were bond and determined to have 1 last good thing happen before we left. We were going to leave on a happy note if I had to pay someone to do something.
We got to AK shortly after 8 am for the am EMH. We got so much done in that time I was amazed...especially how far apart everything seems to be in AK. We had adr's for breakfast at TUSKER HOUSE. (see I didn't go to the food court.) Anyway we checked in and thought the waiting area was a bit packed...but we were seated within 10-15 minutes so I can't complain. Once we were seated I already could tell I wasn't going to like our waiter. He was quick to tell us what was what give us our Monkey juice and he was gone. He didn't bother to ask what if anything else we wished to drink which after trying the monkey juice we all ordered something different. But anyway he changed my mond quickly. He came back to the table quickly and took our order for drinks and he we never went without a single thing. I would say as far as waiters go he was a 8+ out of 10. He really made me regret jumping to conclusions so quickly...He ended up with one of the biggest tips we had left all week. Donald and the gang were also great. They got mixed up in the order some how and they felt bad I guess because they of this they really spent some extra time with us.
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The food was really good to...all except I like my bacon a lil chewy and it was to chrisp for me but I guess that was God's way of keeping me for eating it...lol.
After breakfast we decided on one more ride...and what does my family pick...a water ride. Here I wore a WHITE shirt, were going to be leaving to head home shortly, and everything we have is already packed up and ready to leave. But I said well here is hoping we dont get that wet. LOL>..YEAH RIGHT. I had 2 dry place on my entire body and they were the two spots I had placed my hands to cover areas a white wet shirt would be bad:scared: ...lol. But we took it in stride...we knew what we were getting ourselves into.
We decide to walk the long way out and just do one last loop and my Dh said You know we didn't see devine this year...Guess what...we turned the corner and there she was...
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We got back to the resort and decided to grab some fruit and snacks for the road since we were planning on stopping for a while. We also had some CS credits left...not sure how that happen since it seemed like all we did was eat, but since we did they had these sandwiches in the food court that just looked YUMMY, so we got 4 of them for the road. They came with these homemade chips too. They we got in the car and headed for home. Well an hour or so on the road we all decided to grab one of those sandwiches. I was the only one that liked them. so I ate mine and they all ate their fruit that we had grabbed. So it wasn't to long before they were ready to stop for lunch. I dont remember where we stopped at...but since I had ate already I took over the driving and went through the drive thru some where and they were able to eat. decided to stop for the night around 6ish. We were just shy of Atlanta...which is our half way point. Stayed at a best western.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i45/themudd4/wdw%202008/wdw2008248.jpg
Let me tell ya, that is the most comfortable bed and pillow...I didn't want to leave the bed. But we were hungry and there was a applebees and a mexican place right next door so we walked over and had dinner and when they brought me the bill I felt like I was stealing almost...hadn't seen a bill that cheap in well over a week...lol.

Well, the next day was nothing fancy...we ate breakfast at the hotel...then were in a car and stopped for gas, and went thru a drive thru for lunch. May have stopped at a rest area or two but I will spare you the details! lol

That concludes this years trip report. If anyone has any questions about anything I didn't cover just ask. I hope that you at least enjoyed some part of it. I enjoyed doing most all of it. :rolleyes:

I will let you all know how the DD team does tomorrow. Wish us luck!