Trip Report SSR - 6/18-6/27

[Peggy Jean]

Well we're back from our first trip home:sad: and I have finally caught up enough:laundy: to start a trip report. Let me say that we had a blast:yay:
For me the trip began about 10 months ago when I told DH, that this year I wanted to take a longer trip to WDW, because I was tired of the shorter trips and doing the parks commando style, hitting only the "must dos". So he agreed and for me, the "overplanner" the fun began. Much of it right here getting great hints and tips.

Here's what our trip was like:

The cast - Me, DH, DS21, DS's fiance 21, DD20, DD's friend 23.
We stayed at SSR, for the first time, we had a dedicated 2BR in the Grandstand section. We didn't request this, I thought I'd just let it happen and see. We were really happy.
We all flew SWA from Baltimore, Providence and Detroit. We had saved our Rapid Rewards and had 3 free flights. Can't beat that ;)
We all used Disney's ME, DH hates driving on vacation.
DH and I bought an AP and one DDE (lots of savings here for us). We bought 7 day PH's for the "kids". These we bought from Undercover Tourist and saved $20 per ticket, savings-$80. And we took past passes for the "fun" options that were left on them.
I ordered groceries from Wegoshop.

Let me start by saying that our trip was all we expected and more. :love: It was so nice for us to all be together, we don't get to see our son too much, we live in MD and he goes to school in IL. We just had such a great time from the very beginning.

DH, DD and I arrived at MCO on time and we were at SSR by noon. Our villa was ready and the folks at check in were so very nice. They really took their time with us and answeres all our questions. I was able to get our keys for our entire party so the rest of the "kids" didn't have to go to check in, all they had to do was come right to the room. That was great!

So I called Marge from Wegoshop to let her know we had arrived and our room number so our groceries could be delivered. She had her employee, Amy, call me and about 20 minutes into our room, she was there with all our groceries. Let me say, I would use this service ANYTIME. They were great, got everything on my list, even all the extra additions I made after my initial order. Our order came to $97, plus a $17 delivery charge, then tip and it was worth every penny.

We were thoroughly pleased with our room. We were at the Grandstand room number 9321. As I said our room was ready when we for there at noon. It was clean and well equipped. Since there were 6 adults we did have to purchase an extra towel package so we'd all have enough bath towels.

After we checked out the room, put the groceries away the 3 of us headed off to DTD to Guest services to get our AP's and DDE. We ate lunch at Earl of Sandwich and it was really yummy. We didn't want to eat too much as it was pushing 1:30 andwe had ADR's for Turf Bar and Grill at 5:30. So DD and I split a sandwich and DH got the tuna salad. It was very good. Once we got our passes DS called from the airport he and our future daughter-in-law had just got on the ME. So we headed back to SSR to meet them. We decided to walk. Let me say that I am usually very good with maps, but those SSR maps were very confusing to me. But given that it was the first time we were there, I guess it wasn't too bad.

Let me do a side here on the buses. I had read here often about Bus nightmares to and from SSR. Our first experience was to take the bus to DTD since we were one of the farthest areas from there. HINT HERE, if you are at the Grandstand and don't want to do the longer walk to DTD, take the first bus that comes, regardless of where it's going, get off at Congress park, THEN do the very short walk to DTD. We did wait 35 minutes for a bus :mad: , but that was the only time that happened :woohoo: Everyday when we arrived at our bus stop, ther was somone there from transportation who would ask where you were headed and about how long your wait would be.

OK, so now we meet my son and his fiance at check-in, gave out our :hug: and :love: and took them to the room. When we got ther our suicases were there. The next hour was spent catching up and unpacking. So the 5 of us head on over to the Turf Bar and Grill for dinner and it was wonderful. The kids were just happy to have food they didn't have cook or that didn't come from a school cafeteria:lmao:

DH and I had the ribs, DD had the steak, DS had pasta, and Daughter-in-law to be had a burger. Everything was cooked as ordered and it was quite tasty. The ribs were meaty and well seasoned. DH and I ordered a couple of drinks, and my son had to order the lava cake, which took a little while to get to us, but we did have alot of catching up to do. Plus it was the travel day, so we were in no hurry. Let me say here, that the DDE for us was great!!!!! :cheer2: So after dinner we headed back to the room and my son's luggage was there and they did their unpacking. Now we were just waiting on my daughter's friend to arrive.

We made the pullout up for him, he got in about 11pm, she met him outside. When he got to the room, I gave him a quick tour, and went to bed. I know, not very Disney of me, but I hate travel days, they make me soooooo tired:upsidedow

Up soon, day 2 :dance3:

[disneynutz]

Thanks for the report. Waiting for more. popcorn::

[alldiz]

I'm inpopcorn::
Great start....sounds like you made some wonderful family memories:goodvibes
Kerri

[BlakeNJ]

Sounds like a great start! Nice that your room was ready--and you had a positive experience with the bus system!

[dallastxcpa]

Great trip report. I can't wait to read more.:surfweb:

[DisDaydreamer]

Nice reporting. Thanks. We just got back last weekend and last night DW was already talking about doing a short HHI trip in the fall and maybe a criuse next summer. Something about looking forward to a trip is half the fun.

[BWV Dreamin]

Nice reporting. Thanks. We just got back last weekend and last night DW was already talking about doing a short HHI trip in the fall and maybe a criuse next summer. Something about looking forward to a trip is half the fun.

Ha! Your doing my trips in reverse! I'm cruising the Wonder in May '09, and HHI in Nov. '09! Please post a trip report for HHI....I can't wait to get there!:goodvibes

[lanand3]

Thank you for taking the time to post this.It gets me real excited about my 1st trip home in May:)

[2giddy4wdw]

I love reading reports from our home resort and knowing that other people like it too!!!popcorn:: i'm in for the long haul now!!! Can't wait to hear more!!!

[bonnielynn]

:surfweb: :woohoo:

[Peggy Jean]

With a good night of sleep :goodvibes for all of us and a chance to get rid of the travel doldrums we were ready to go...........

Sidebar..........I took a notebook with me for the very intention of keeping notes so I could give this trip report. Just went looking for it in my "Disney" suitcase, you know the one you keep all your Disney stuff in for your trips, anyway not only did I find my notebook there, but also a pair of flip flops I forgot to unpack a week ago :lmao:

Okay, back to our EPCOT (you know Every Person Comes Out Tired) day. We started out by having breakfast in our room, thank you Wegoshop, I told everyone, I'm not cooking, so there's the cereal, toast, bagels, cream cheese and peanut butter.

We were in the park by about 10am, so we sent DD and her friend, who are both cross country runners, off to get our FP's for Soarin', and they met us back at Spaceship Earth. That was alot of fun with all the changes. After that we headed off to TT (did the single rider lines since we had all been there before), Universe of Energy, Nemo, and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We really didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for any of these. We then used our FP's for Soarin'. I must admit, that is one attraction I'd push my wait time to an hour to see. I really do love that one. :dance3:

Some time during all that we ate at the Electric Umbrella. DH had a salad and I think the rest of us had chicken nuggets. Not our first choice, but they were decent enough, hot, not greasy and plenty of condiments. After eating we caught the Jammitors just starting their show so we stopped and watched. These guys are really good, I always enjoy seeing them. :cool1: The kids liked listening and watching too.

Then we headed for the Showcase of Nations. We started out at Canada and worked our way around. We were passing through England when the Showcase Players were getting ready to begin. So we decided to stake out a spot on the curb in the shade and wait for the show to begin. One thing I noticed about such shows throughout the world, is that whenever possible Disney tries to put the audience in the shade while the performers are in the sun, both the Jammitors and the Showcase players did this. I think that's nice. As usual this was a hoot. :laughing: They are sooooo funny. :laughing: Because of the audience participation the shows are slightly different each time. We spent the rest of the week going around saying, "Grail, grail, grail HUUH!" and "Gitchy, gitchy yaya wawa", :rotfl: the guy they chose for King Arthur was way funny. Actually all the participants were real troopers, I still laugh about it.

After the show we headed over to Japan for dinner at Teppan Edo. This restaurant does not participate in the DDE, but the kids wanted to eat here and we couldn't get Coral Reef, after many phone calls, so I settled for this. Well they have recently reopened and there is a pleasant difference. The rooms are a little more intimate, though it was hard to get past tables when folks were sitting there. Our chef was a young woman who was quite talented and funny. Her entertainment skills were honed well. The one thing I have noticed different was how you meals came. No longer is soup, salad and dessert included with your entree. Everything is a separate charge. DD and I had the shrimp and chicken, I had a side salad, loved it, nice, crisp and just yummy. DH got the shrimp, and everyone else got some cut of steak. All our food was delicious, fixed the way we liked it, lots of veggies and rice. Why is it I like the sticky rice? None of us had room for dessert, we figured we get something later from around the world.

So after dinner we headed to the American Experience, we got in just as they were moving folks up the stairs, we missed the Liberty Singers this time around, but we did take time to check out the museum there, they had some really neat stuff. After the attraction, the skies opened up for the first time. We had 3 rain ponchos from previous trips so the girls got them. Actually we just hung out by the American Adventure, there was this cute little duck that was swimming in the fountain there. DH dared DD to swim in the fountain,:scared1: and she said she'd do it for $$$. I at least convinced her that she'd be banned from Disney for life if she did. You just don't dare my daughter to do things. She's really funny.

The rain let up and we headed toward Germany to stake out a good spot for Illuminations. Our guests had never seen Illuminations, so we wanted to be sure we had a great spot. DH and I spread out a rain poncho on the area that juts out right there by Germany. DS and his girl went and got canolis, DD went for the funnel cake. They all met us at 8:15, then we just sat and laughed about the fun of the day. Oh yeah while we were there DH and I could hear the band that was doing the tribute to the Bee Gees. They were good. And as usual Illuminations was wonderful.

We left after the show, just taking our time, reflecting on the great day we had. How we got to do so much and at a human pace, no rushing and that we really weren't too tired. While leaving we took time to enjoy the fountain, the CM's waving goodnight with the Mickey hands, and lit up sidewalks, my personal favorite. :angel:

Bus service back to SSR was great, though there was someone there talking rather loudly about something to do with the shared stop. Didn't get all of it. We got home and unpacked the backpack and repacked it for the next day at the AK.

Next up, Day 3 - Boatwright's for breakfast and Animal Kingdom

[jpolak]

Sounds great. I Like that they had a transportation rep at the bus stop. Maybe Disney realized they need more busses there.:confused3

[Mahusky]

great trip report ..... sounds like a blast!

[vicki_c]

I'm enjoying your report - we just spent 2 nights at SSR (Springs) and checked out on 6/18. We loved SSR - it was our first trip home, and I'm a very happy DVCer.

[bobbiwoz]

I'm glad you had such a nice vacation. I'm enjoying reading about it!

Bobbi:goodvibes

[uicbear]

Enjoying your report so far. Was just talking to my brother the other day about how we should spend some extra time in World Showcase to enjoy some of the side acts they have going on. :goodvibes

[ahalla]

Great trip report....unfortunately it makes me want our trip to come faster while it still feels so far away!:sad:

Looking forward to hearing the rest of your trip!!:yay:

[Peggy Jean]

Every trip to WDW we always ask everyone what one thing must you do? and where would you like to eat? And for 3 years running now, Boatwright's at POR has won hands down for breakfast. :)

First of all, getting there. The night before I called the front desk to see if what I thought was the best way really was. Well it's a good thing I have some knowledge of how to get around. When I asked what was the best way to get to Boatwright's the cast member must have misunderstood me because he had me going to the Boardwalk :confused3 So I repaeated my question and he confirmed that we needed to get to DTD, then catch a bus to POR.

Our ADR was for 9:30 so we were on the bus to DTD by 8:20ish. You know we need to allow for the travel time. Well we were to DTD by 8:30 and went to the bus stop for POR only to read the sign that siad busses start at
9am.:eek: Obviously we would have had enough time if a bus came about nine, but it would have been nice to know ahead of time. I did let the CM know the time of our reservation. I don't know I guess I felt he should have mentioned this, if he knew.

Oddly enough a bus going to POFQ came by about 8:40 so we hopped on this one. We had stayed at the FQ in the past and knew how to get there from there. It was a nice morning adn the walk was a pleasurable one.

Upon arrival we were seated promptly and thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Let me just sayyyyyyyyyy banana stuffed french toast with strawberries, and sweet potato pancakes with cinnamon pecan butter. UM, YUM :woohoo: These are mine and my daughter's all time favorites, and DH loves the omelets. We were so full when we were done we knew we'd be satisfied for a long while. :rotfl:

After that delicious breakfast we hopped on a bus to the Animal Kingdom. Once there we went to ME to check out the lines and the time for the FP. We decided on the FP, then headed out to the safari. Even though the sign read a 30 minute wait, it was more like 10, not like I'm complaining, but there weren't as many animals out as in the past. It was a hot day and we were already pushing the afternoon. From there we went to see the Lion King show. It was quite enjoyable, the aerialists were really fun, and the main singers were a pleasure. Here we pulled out our waters we packed along with the granola bars, and fruit snacks. Really helps to keep us all refreshed and energized, Florida heat can really take its toll on even the most seasoned veteran.

After the Lion king we went to do Mount Everist. :banana: Now there are a few things DH will not do and this is one of them. We talked him into a few years ago and I think we lost our trustworthiness with him when we decide if it is something he can do.:lmao: Anyway the five of us were on in about 5 minutes. Since one of us rode with a stranger, she went in the single rider line, we asked her how long her wait was there. She told us about 15 minutes, so we thought that would be a real consideration in the future.

After that we met back up with DH and headed over to It's Tough To Be a Bug. Now our guests had neve been to Animal Kingdom, so this was a real treat. We laughed so hard I almost peed myself. :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: Next came the turkey leg. This is on the must do list for us. We only buy one and we all take turns acting like a savage. Actually this is DD's must do, she just shares because it's way too much for her. Funny thing is she is DEATHLY afraid of birds, thanks to Alfred Hitchcock, and DH finds an out of the way alcove to sit in while ravishing the leg. Well this spot must be where EVERYONE goes who gets one of these, because there were NUMEROUS birds there of all sizes, just waiting to be fed. DD was freaking out. :scared1: I told her I couldn't laugh anymore, she was so funny, maybe we could pay her to feed a bird to get over her fear.

We cleaned up and went to the Dinosaur attraction, we have only done this once before, so it was a real treeat, then it was the whip like ride, forget the name and lastly we did the Kali River Rapids, which we also got a FP for. We decided to do this last so we didn't have to walk around wet all day. Well we all got wet, but not like some of our other guests in out float. They got drenched.:lmao:

Then it was back to the room to change and refresh. We ate at Artist Palette for dinner and it was really good. DS and I had flatbreads, DH had a salad and soup, and the others did chili and sandwhich. I must say the chips they serve with their dishes were wonderful. We headed back to the room to out our feet up for a little then went to the Magic Kingdom. I'll tell you all about that later, but it was FUN!:yay:

[uicbear]

After that we met back up with DH and headed over to It's Tough To Be a Bug. Now our guests had neve been to Animal Kingdom, so this was a real treat. We laughed so hard I almost peed myself. :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

I had a similar experience with my sister the first time I took her to see this show. She is definately a non-bug enthusiast and had several jump out of her seat moments.:rotfl2: It was great.

[betsywdw]

I'm really enjoying your report! Looking forward to more :goodvibes

[granmaz]

I'm really enjoying your report. We are staying here for the first time in December and are really looking forward to it.

[alldiz]

Sounds like a great trip....I'm gettting tired reading all the stuff you got accomplished:laughing:
Kerri

[toocherie]

I'm enjoying your report too!

[georgemoe]

Nice report Peggy Jean. Can't wait for the next installment. :goodvibes

[DVCJones]

I am really enjoying your trip report:thumbsup2

Thank you for sharing!!!

[dvc at last !]

subscribing...

:cool1:

[ses1230]

I'm enjoying your report!

We are staying at SSR for the first time in Nov. and I can't wait :)

[mickeysmate65]

Peggy Jean -
I am loving your trip report! Glad everyone had such a wonderful time. I haven't had the chance to catch up with you since you got back.

-- It is such a "small world" - you may not even know who this is!
Think about it - we left for WDW the week before you!

See you soon!

[Eventer98]

Your TR makes me excited for our trip home SIX weeks from today! Can't wait for your next installment! :thumbsup2

[dbprimeaux]

:surfweb: ...waiting for the next addition.

[Peggy Jean]

:laughing: Day 3, Part 2

Sorry for the wait, let's just say yesterday was Monday :upsidedow Anyway after eating and resting up a bit we decided to go to the Magic Kingdom. Now I don't care how often I go to the MK, but when I get my first glimpse of the castle from the bus, I get all gooey inside. :wizard: After going through the bag check and gate we all got wristbands so we could stay late if we wanted. This is the first time we experienced this, I like it, works real well. I was excited about being there at night, there's nothing like the MK at night, the lights, music, attractions.

We headed to the Grand Prix Raceway, this is something we hadn't done in years!! The wait was only about 20 minutes so we hopped on. I had to laugh because DH "drove" our car and he was ALL OVER the place. Good thing we're on a track.:laughing: Next up, Mad Tea Party, now this is another that DH and DS will not do, all that spinning :eek: So 4 of us, and may I say all "adults" squeezed into one cup, I was thinking, "where will all our butts fit?", but our knees were the problem, so we were laughing even before we started spinning. We spun soooooo fast I couldn't see when the ride stopped. My ribs were killing me from laughing so hard. :rotfl:

From there we checked the line and FP to Space Mountain, too long, and since we knew we'd be back, we figured we'd do it later. So I suggested It's a Small World. I thought for sure the suggestion would be met with lots of :rolleyes: and :eek: but I guess they figured they'd humor the old lady. :lovestruc At least it was cool and again somethig we haven't done in along time.

We figured by now we shoud start looking for a place to check out the fireworks. So we headed to the bridge that leads from LS to the hub. THOUGHT we had a good spot until the fireworks started and realized there was a big tree in the way. How'd we miss that??? :confused3 Well we were able to move a little closer to the hub and that wasn't too bad, not ideal, but not bad.

After that the tiredness of the day was taking over a few of our party, so DH, DS, and DS's future bride went home. Me, DD and her friend stayed on. So we :hug: everyone goodnight and we went to Frontierland. First up, BTMRR, the wait said 30 minutes, we asked the CM if that was accurate and she just smiled, the wait was more like 15 minutes :woohoo: . Next, Splash Mountain, again only about a 10 minute wait. So we got on and were moving along laughing at the folks in the boat ahead of us, because they got SPLASHED from the boat that went down the hill. As we were approaching that area, another boat went down and we were spared, but then we were in that spot, you know where I mean, and then, you got it, another boat came down and we were DRENCHED!! :lmao: Even more so than when we were on Kali River Rapids. All we could do was laugh. :rotfl: Once off there we decided to "dry" off by going on BTMRR again!

We then walked over to check the wait on Space Mountain only to find that it was down for the time. By now it was midnight, so we thought we'd go home and rest up for the next day.

I was pleased to see the CM were checking wristbands before entering attractions and you did have to show your KTTW card to get the band.

Another funny thing happened, as we were on the bus going back home, DS called me to see where we were. I just thought that was funny that he was checking up on us.

Next up - Typhoon Lagoon and Spirit of Aloha

[Peggy Jean]

Peggy Jean -
I am loving your trip report! Glad everyone had such a wonderful time. I haven't had the chance to catch up with you since you got back.

-- It is such a "small world" - you may not even know who this is!
Think about it - we left for WDW the week before you!

See you soon!

Howdy neighbor!! Thanks for following along.

And thanks to all of you for your kind comments, I really love sharing my vacation with a captive audience. You know how it is at home, not EVERYONE gets the excitement of a Disney vacation, they just all look at you like, "Okay, that's nice......." ;) and you're like "But it's Disney, really it's great!!!" :banana:

[dizney4us]

You're trip sounds fun! Gets me excited for my october trip at SSR with just me and my hubby!:cool1:

[byoung]

Nice report thanks.

[dgaston]

I'm really enjoying your trip report. Our children are now older too, but we have a hard time getting them to WDW with their limited vacation time. I know how special a trip like this is.

[Eventer98]

Great update! :thumbsup2

[Peggy Jean]

:yay: Saturday was a non-park day. We had reservations for the Spirit of Aloha Luau in the evening so we figured we'd go to Typhoon Lagoon for the day. Since we had been out late the night before, (well some of us were, the other 3 pooped out around 10) it was nice to sleep late. This is someting we don't often do in WDW, seems we're always up early and out late. So this was a real treat.::yes::

Once again, it was breakfast in the villa. I must say it is really relaxing being able to get up, stay in my jammies, leisurely drinking a cup of tea,:coffee: maybe even having two,:coffee: and eating when I want. Not being at a food court, having to get up and get presentable so early is great.

So about 11ish we were at the stop and the bus came almost right away. We needed to purchase 2 one day passes for our guests as DH, DD, DS and I all had 6 "fun" options left on old passes. We were able to get $4 off each ticket because we are AP holders. In no time I was renting a large locker and jamming as much as possible in there.:lmao:

First up, Crushin' Gusher. We haven't been to Typhoon Lagoon for about 8 years or so, so we were looking forward to it. This was FUN,:hyper: we ended up doing all 3 chutes and each seemed a little different. Two chutes are for 2 riders and one is for 3 riders.

We spent the first part of the day doing all the raft rides, none of us are really fond of body slides. so this was perfiect. Well as the afternoon approached it began to get cloudier with each passing moment. I don't remember the name of the last one we were on, but as soon as my raft hit the water a huge bolt of lightning struck and a really LOUD clap of thunder. :scared1: Even the lifeguard had a surprised look on her face. Well she didn't have to tell me twice to leave the water ASAP!! I was the first down and the rest of my family, all 5 of them, were in the chute, riding down as the storm continued on. Each one of them really looked relieved to be done.:laughing:

So we walked around and around and around trying to find the store and waste a little tiem to see if the water areas would open back up. Why is it that rain in WDW always costs us money?;) DD and DS found a few things they wanted to buy. After about waiting 45 minutes we decided to leave since there seemed to be no break in the storm and we were tired of being wet, just standing around. We were all a little disappointed about the rain particularly since we didn't even get to do the lazy river or the wave pool. :(

On our way out I overheard a CM telling someone about a rain check if you purchased a one day ticket and if you were in the park less than 2 and 1/2 hours. Well we had been there like 2 hours and 45 minutes. I told DH, had I known about this we would have left earlier instead of waiting around for the weather to break. So I went to the CM, outside the turnstiles to politely plead my case, but there was no need, I showed her the 2 passes I bought and she handed me 2 raincheck tickets, for a one day entrance, that had no expiration. I pleasantly thanked her and counted my blessings and thought to myself, this is why I love Disney.:jumping1:

So we headed back to the room, I made some grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit salad. After drying off and resting up we played some cards and just chilled out. We have reservations for the Luau at 8, and we figured we'd leave by 6:30 to go to the Polynesian. So we took a MK bus and then rode the monorail to the Polynesian. After checking in and getting our picture taken, we perused through the shops.

Right around 8 they herded us down the walkway and seated us. Let me say that the food was tasty. We especially like the coconut bread and pineapple. There also was salad, this too was cold and crisp, just what was needed, because even thoug there are fans it was a bit warm, or it could have been the wine.:drinking1 Entree included juicy chicken, meaty and tender ribs, rice and veggies. The rice and veggies were average, nothing to write home about, but they were ok. Dessert was a show in itself with steaming volcaoes and a parade of servers, then the actual dessert was a chocolate rasberry somthing that was tasty. They did a last call for beverages and the show went on. Let me rephrase that, there were bits and piecesof the show between and during each course. Teh show was good and entertaing. We did this back in '97 and while it was worth revisiting, I din't think it would be on the "let's do every time" list.

While we were leaving we could hear the 10 o'clock fireworks going off at the MK,so we hustled down the walkway and were able to catch the tail end. It was a different perspective.:cool2: So onto the monorail and off at MK to catch the bus back home, along with what felt like a million other folks too. But once again, no problem. On our way to the bus we caught a portion of the boat parade? I can't rememer the right name for it, but it's the one where different floats go around the lagoon abd they're all lit up. It was cool.

Back home we all felt like we had to shower again form being out in the heat and humidity, so once we were all clean and cozy we started sawing some zzzzzzz's dreaming of tomorrow at the MK.:tinker: The whole day there including another extended hours there.

So see you soon :tink:

[DISNEY CRAZY 69]

Enjoying Your Trip Report -thanks For Sharing, You Are Making Me Look More And More Forward To My Trip In Dec.

[Peggy Jean]

Hi All,

I know I've neglected my reporting, but life has managed to take over for a bit.:confused: I had my sister and brother-in-law here visiting,:lovestruc then DD went in for surgery on her foot.:guilty: She had an old break that didn't heal well and has been painful for what seems like forever. She ended up in surgery this past Tuesday and they had to fuse a bone, put in a plate and 6 screws.:scared1: DS wants to see if a magnet will stick to her foot.:rotfl:

Anyway she's been a 24 hour patient. Well,it wouldn't have been too bad except for the fact that she had to go through 3 painkillers in as many days to find one that would work well.:eek: Painkiller #1 left horrible headaces,:sick: painkiller #2 had her throwing up all day,:sick: so now painkiller #3 seems to be agreeing.:woohoo: She actually slept in 4 hour intervals last night.

And to make this REALLY interesting DH is all the way across the country at a work conference until Friday.:upsidedow

So I PROMISE, I will try to get at least another day or two of trip up asap. I think DD and her freind will probably be able to steal away tomorrow after church to go to lunch and I may be able to post then. She's sleeping right now so I can do this little update.

So thanks to all for hanging in there, I'll be here soon!:cutie:

[Eeyore18]

Thanks for sharing-hope your patient is getting better. My kids are 3 and 10 right now. I hope they will enjoy Disney like yours all grown up!

[Coach81]

I'm in. popcorn::

[SLM]

I've enjoyed your trip report so much! Traveling with our older "kids" is so much fun-different from when they were little, but still fun! And, one day we'll have grandchildren to bring! :goodvibes
Hope your daughter is feeling better!

[Peggy Jean]

Before I get beck to the report, let me tell you about aomething that happened when we got home. We were home about 2 weeks when DD came home from work and opened her mail. One of which was her credit card statement. Much to our shock:scared1: there were 9 charges to her card that she did not make! 6 in Hialeah, FL and 3 in Bowling Green FL. All were made on the 24th-26th of June, during our vacation.

Most of the time I carried her card with me, but I did give it back to her when she went to DTD, though she did not use it. So we called the credit card company to report the fraud and they informed us that the card most likely was counterfieted because the card was swiped.:mad: So it was more likely done from our room on a day that her card was in her purse in the room. We kept it in the safe on our full cleaning day, but on towel and trash day it must have been in her purse. It's so hard to remember. :confused3

Anyway the charges were for a little under $400. Weird ones too, like 4 charges to McDonald's,:confused: 2 to another restaurant, then 1 to a Bosch? But 3 were to a BP oil for $100 each. Sounds like gift cards. DH is a cop and he said thiefs keep it under $500 that way it's not a felony and they do the gift cards because then it's not traceable. And these locations are not even near Orlando.

So I called DVC to let them know that we felt that someone who had access to our room committed this crime. Later that day someone from security in WDW called me to take a report. He also suggested that we file a report with Orange County , which we also did. WDW said that they will be looking into the housekeeping staff, etc.. I don't think we'll ever hear anything more, but I sure hope they get somewhere.:faint:

Just another bump in the road of life. Part was our error in not having all that stuff in the safe, but then again, even in the safe, if someone finds the key your items aren't safe either, unless you carry the key with you too. Well, live and learn.

So now onto better things..............................

Sunday, 6/22 Magic Kingdom..............All Day!!!!!!!!!!:jumping1:

Once more our day began with breakfast in the room. And again I cannot express enough how much $$$$ we saved by using the services of wegoshop. Once we arrived at the MK we headed up to the railroad. DD's friend loves trains, so we decided to tale the train around to Frontierland and check out our 2 faves, BTMRR :woohoo: and Splash:love: . First up SPLASH, only about a 20 minute wait, we were so happy. We love the MK and we're particularly fond of these two attractions. We didn't get too wet, but tha wouldn't have mattered. We then got in line to go on BTMRR, the wait was about 30 minutes and the weather was looking quite ominous. It started raining, but stopped before we got on. It was alot of fun. We were going to be in the front of the car, but we really don't like the front so we asked to ride in the back, and they accommodated us. I must say the back is so much more fun.:jumping2:

From there we headed to Adventureland and POTC. There was a bit of a wait here, like 40 minutes, but again the rain was starting so we figured we'd be under cover and in air conditioning, so, why not? Well, we got to where we were nearly on the boats and something happened and it malfunctioned. So our 40 minute wait stretched to an hour. But we passed the time by playing silly alphabet games, like we did when the kids were little. DS totally missed a letter and no one caught it till 2 letters later, that gave us all a good laugh.:rotfl: Once we were on the boat, the ride was as enjoyable as always. We looked around a little in the shop, didn't buy anything though. I guess that can be a good thing. Next up, Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.

We have only done this one time before in all our visits to WDW, so this was a real treat. It was still raining, but there was alot of cover here and we all had our ponchos. But it can get steamy under those things.:idea: Once out of the treehouse we went on the Jungle Cruie. Oh yeah, we tried to kill some time in the stores there in Adventureland, hoping the rain would let up, but no go. So we asked at the JC if they still run in the rain and they said as long as there's no lightning. So we started our long trek through the line. And, oh what a line. It's amazing how many people they can pack into a small area. I had fun looking at and reading all the fun items as you go through the area. The names on the chalk board are especially fun. As usual the ride is cheesy in a fun way, our guide was funny and we reminisced about when DS was little and got to "drive" the boat.:teeth: He still swears that the ride was not on a track, and he drove it. Well I guess that's the fun of make-believe.:tink:

By now we were hungry and I had heard good things about the Columbia Harbor House, so that's where we went. It was not crowded at about 1pm and since we had ressies for Liberty Tree Tavern at 7:25pm we figured we wouldn't ruin our appetite for later. Let's see, we had the fish, chicken nuggets and blt salad. I'm not one for fried foods, but the fish and nuggets were hot, tasty and not greasy. DH had the salad and he really liked it. He also fell in love with the Minutemaid diet lemonade.:drinking1 A great alternative to soda, and by now we were all craving to drink something with taste, I know water is a necessity, and we bought 3 cases, but every now and then it gets boring.

So after lunch we decided to head back to the room for some swimming and rest. I think this was probably the only day that the kids got to use the pool for more than 20 minutes. Seemd everytime they went it would start to rain. I think they went to the big pool near the Carriage House. DD really liked it, of course she likes anything that's busy and hopping. I didn't make it to a pool at all. But I'm not real big on that anyway.

So after rest and a time of refreshing we went on back to the MK about 6:30 pm. Again we had no problem with the buses. Once there we headed up Main Street, just taking our time and looking at all the great windows. We wanted to be sure DS and his fiance saw the one window with all the wedding things in it, the one where it's displayed in a wedding gown.:hug: So pretty.

We checked in at the podium of LTT about 7:10, ressies are for 7:25. I must say, they need to find another way to check in here, it always seems to be a bit confusing:confused: and there really seems to be no rhyme or reason. Oh yeah, it was raining again, so our ponchos were really getting a workout. We took our pager and sat down to watch party after party get seated before us. We even saw someone whose reservation got given to someone else, not happy in LTT. DH went up at 7:35 to check on our status and were we're the next 6 top. I took about 15 minutes later and we were seated. One thing I was disappointed in was that they didn't make the announcement like they have in the past. You know, "Now seating the _______ family from the great colony of Maryland." :woohoo: I always liked that.

Well the meal ws great and plentiful.:thumbsup2 We love the mac and cheese, the potatoes and the beef is scrumptious. Our waiter was attentive and refilled our glasses promptly and brought out our extra food as requested. But we were there long enough to see the characters go around twice. All in all a good meal, we'll do it again. It's one of our family's favorites, plus it's close to home cooking, and sometimes you just feel the need for some regular food while on vacation, know what I mean?

I'll be back later to tell you about our evening. DD just got out of the shower and needs help getting her boot back on. She just went back to the surgeon yesterday and all is going well,:) as well as can be expected. He put her in a boot and it must be on 24/7 except when showering. At least she can get it wet now. She'll go back to work on Monday, so that's a good thing. College textbooks are really expensive,:eek: and she pretty much works here at home over the summer to pay for her books for both semesters and for Christmas.

So I'll be back later to finish our day at the MK. For those of you who have been following along, thanks, I hope you're enjoying this as much as I enjoy reliving it.

[lugnut33]

I wish you vacation hadn't ended because I love reading your trip report.

[Megsmachine]

Loooove hearing about all your MK adventures! Thanks so much for taking the time to up date your trip report.

[TenThousandVolts]

Great report! That is terrible news about the cc. Really a shame.

I am glad you all had such a good time. Wishing a speedy recovery for your dd.

[dbprimeaux]

....waiting for the next chapter. popcorn:: This is the best trip report I have read. It is like reading a nightly storybook. Thanks!:cloud9: