Snowed in at disney with that guy from the matrix! The official tr

[bunkkinsmom]

THE INTRO

Alright, here we go! I guess I should start with the cast of characters. There is me, Emily, 39 year old mom, manager of retail/restaurants, reality tv junkie (if and when I have time) and enjoy planning for Disney as much as going there! DH, owns his own audio/video production business, which means I do a lot there as well! His first trip to Disney was in November 2001 a few months after we got married. DD7, in love with Tink and thinks she's a rockstar. DD5, thinks he is Ben Tennison and has his school convinced as well. DD3, self proclaimed princess, and sometimes that is all she answers to. DF John, used to play drums in DH's band and has been a family friend for several years. DF RyRy, a friend we are tyring to get out of his shell and thought this would be a great way to help him have fun.

Our journey began on January 22nd, we left home and headed for the Amtrak station. We took two cars and took off for Cary. Now I lived in Cary for quite some time so I was not worried at all about finding the station. Plus DFJ had some sort of app on his IPhone that would GPS us there. We decided to get something to eat in Cary because by the time we got on the train the dining car would be almost closed. And frankly, Meatball subs from Subway are better and cheaper than the hotdogs on the train!! Oh, and we also needed to make a stop to pick up some last minute incidentals. We started looking for a KMart/Target/Walmart to get our last minute stuff and DFJ looked it up on his IPhone. His directions kept taking us through neighborhoods and backroads that I had never seen before! He kept saying, "It should be right here, we should be right on it!" Finally we turned onto the street that it should have been on. Well we knew right away something was wrong, considering there were no street lights and the sign said DEAD END. The IPhone took us the the back of KMART, not even the loading entrance. There was just a dead end road, then a lot of trees, then a gray brick wall! WE LAUGHED SO HARD!!! So finally we got back around and into KMART. The pharmacist told me about this stuff called Metatonin? An all natural sleep aid that is safe for kids. So we picked up a bottle and headed for Subway. We once again plugged it into the IPhone and went through another battle of "We should be right on it. It's supposed to be right here. And we passed it." We were laughing so hard by the time we got into Subway that it was hard to keep a straight face to place our order!

So after a couple of Meatball subs we headed out to the train station. We found it without TOO much trouble and before we knew it, TRAIN 91 came a'rollin in!!! We boarded, got the kids into their jammies, took some Metatonin, popped in SpyKids 3, and settled in for the night. Very uneventful trip and the kids as always loved the train ride!

We pulled into Orlando Amtrak and there was our driver, ready with our sign and waiting to take us to POP. We used the same company as last year, First Choice. They were Soooooo nice and the most economical as well. We have never not been able to get in touch with them, and we have business and cell numbers for them. I will definitely use them again. So we were dropped off at Pop around 11 am and we had done the online checkin. I jumped into the specific line and we were helped right away, and our rooms were ready!

I have only stayed in two resorts prior to this trip, Old Key West and Coronado Springs. I had decided on Pop because I had heard great things about it and it seemed so, well, POPular. It was Ok. Our plan was to stay there Saturday night before we transferred to OKW, and then stay OKW from Sun-Thu nights leaving on Friday. Remember, that was the PLAN. We had rented points for our OKW stay and were on the dining plan there. We purchased tickets through the Youth In Education Series for a discounted rate, so we were not on the Dining Plan on Saturday. We decided to grab a quick bite at the food court before we headed out to the parks because our reservations for Rose and Crown were for 735 and we were HUNGRY!!!

We got the KungPao Beef from the food court and it was pretty good. But I will tell you this, and DH will totally back me up on this. Disney World has the BEST Coca Cola in the entire world. There is something different about the Coke here, and I can't quite put my finger on it. But it is totally a different product and I just can't get enough when I'm there! I don't even drink soda that much at home, but at Disney I can't put it down!

Next up........Is that lizard alive? and OWW! There's ashes in my eye!!

[JoBird]

:wave:

I'm here! I'm here! Now..... back to read it.:goodvibes


Glad you're home safe!

Jo

[mickeystoontown]

Signing on for more! Now, I gotta go back and read all the fine details.

[JoBird]

Okay wait- you are home now, aren't you????:lmao:

LOL at the dead end. Sometimes those things are so--- wrong.:lmao:

Great beginning-- looking forward to getting my daily WDW fix with this and a couple other TR's ....:goodvibes

[OceanAnnie]

I'm in! :)

[Disneymaddness]

Count me in! After reading about the last days I have to read about the beginning!:goodvibes

[bunkkinsmom]

Signing on for more! Now, I gotta go back and read all the fine details.

Hey Welcome!!

Okay wait- you are home now, aren't you????:lmao:

Yep, I'm home! And with great timing....Ice in the forecast for tomorrow!

LOL at the dead end. Sometimes those things are so--- wrong.:lmao:

You should have seen us! I was crying I was laughing so hard!

Great beginning-- looking forward to getting my daily WDW fix with this and a couple other TR's ....:goodvibes

I'm in! :)

YEA!!!!

Count me in! After reading about the last days I have to read about the beginning!:goodvibes

HAHAHAHA!!! Yep, the ending makes for an even better retell of the week!

[funkychunkymonkey]

Waitin for more... I hate reading trip reports bt this one looks good

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I'm in! :wave:

Thanks for the link. Can't wait for more! popcorn::

[MiaBella05]

popcorn:: joining in popcorn::

[bunkkinsmom]

Waitin for more... I hate reading trip reports bt this one looks good

I love your name!! That's awesome!

I'm in! :wave:

Thanks for the link. Can't wait for more! popcorn::

Hi Momof2! So glad to see you again!

popcorn:: joining in popcorn::

Hey Mia! Welcome!

[bunkkinsmom]

Day 1, Saturday 1/23

On our way out the door of our room to the Food Court (or the trough as DFJ puts it) my DS screams DADDY DADDY COME HERE!!! LOOK LOOK!!!

All the kids go running into the bathroom and there he his. The lizard. Poor thing probably had a little lizard heart attack with those 3 kids squealing around him! He just froze, like those goats that pass out when you scare them. DH scooped him up and put him in a ziplock bag (Tip from the DIS!) to take him downstairs and set him free. My son named him Junie. No idea where he got that name. I will post a pic of Junie probably today, once I figure out how to do that.

So after the KungPao Beef we headed out to Epcot for our first day. My DH is a big big fan of Illuminations. Remember he owns a Production company, so this is right up his alley and he just normally stands there, mesmerized. He's so cute!

DH's mom had given us these backpack/leash things for our 2 youngest. DH and I have always been anti-leashes, and I really don't wanna start a leash war, but we did for a very small second consider it. Simply because of DD3. She is, well lets just say she is her own person, for sure! Ya'll know Dora right? The explorer? she looks a lot like her, so we call her Dora the Destroyer. I will post some pics pretty soon and ya'll will see what I'm talking about. At any rate, even being anti-leash, how bad would it be if we did get separated and we couldn't find her. The guilt of having the leash and not using it would be devastating. So in the end we reached a compromise. We folded the leash part in the bottom of the tiny backpack and also put their jackets in there. Then we would just see if we felt like we needed them AND they would have them on during any pictures we sent to DH's mom. SOLVED!

And off we go to Epcot. At this point it's like 130 or 2, and that's fine with me because Epcot is not my favorite park and 1/2 day seems about right for me. We ran into our first character this afternoon, Alice in Wonderland. She was soooooo cute! DFRyRy really really liked her, and frankly he met more character than we did!! I remembered later in the afternoon about Kim Possible!! So around 6pm we head to a recruiting station to sign up! You can do different countries, so we chose England to be close to our ADR. The mission took us about 30 minutes and this was the only thing all week that DD3 was afraid of. Now she wasn't scared of the things on the mission, she was scared because DS5 and DD7 were SOOOOOO worked up!!! They had a blast! They got to alternate clues every 2 or 3 clues so they both got to hold the Kimmunicator (they are very good at sharing!) Those two literally RAN around to find all of the clues. Really really cool thing to do. We will do this not just every time we are at Disney, but every time we are in Epcot. This is one of the high points of our trip for them and the CM's were fantastic!! At one point they have to go into the Tea shop and give a secret phrase, the CM so played the part!!! Excellent excellent adventure, a must-do for sure! Especially since there are SEVERAL different adventures in SEVERAL different countries!

So we head off to our ADR and ask for an outside table. I picked Rose and Crown because of the "private viewing area" for Illuminations, and because I love Fish and Chips! We had never eaten there before and this would be the start of eating at places we had never been to before. We only had one repeat from last year, and that was our last night at Chefs. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be our last night!

There were no outside tables available so we sat inside, and our waitress was fantastic, and the food was delicious. Again, will post pics when I figure it out (Or ask hubby to do it!) Everyone enjoyed their meals and we were ushered to the "private viewing area". This was a very small area on the side of the building just behind the lower patio. Within 2 minutes after it started we moved for a couple of reasons. My DD7 was bawling her eyes out screaming that her eyes were burning. The wind was pretty heavy that night and the ashes from the show were falling all over us and into her eyes, so DDJ and I went to take her out of there. When we turned around DH was leaving as well. I told him to stay and he shook his head and quite loudly said that if the only smoke was from the fireworks he could handle it. The others in the small "private viewing area" were smoking quite a bit and with DD3 on his shoulders it was all headed right to her.

Now let me just say, we are non-smokers who both used to smoke over a pack a day. When I got pregnant with DD7 I quit, and DH quit after DD3. It took about 2 years for him to not crave them, and now the smoke makes him crazy. I remember when we went in 2001 and would find little alcoves or spots that were more private to catch our cigarette breaks. That's how I have found some of the out of the way spots at the World, looking for a place to have a ciggy! And if it's allowed for them to smoke there, I think they should. Just means I won't be viewing from there, that's all. However, Rose and Crown has the terrace outside that I would love to watch from, but you can't reserve those tables on your ressie, you just have to see where they sit you. All in all a very good meal, very good server, and I could totally see eating there again!

We headed back through the park and found a more suitable place to watch the show. And then we were off through Future World to hop on the POP bus. We had to transfer to Old Key West in the morning and I was SUPER excited about our breakfast plans!!!

Up next............. Where can I get a cajun bloody mary and watch live gospel music at the same time?!?!?

[OceanAnnie]

Day 1, Saturday 1/23

On our way out the door of our room to the Food Court (or the trough as DFJ puts it) my DS screams DADDY DADDY COME HERE!!! LOOK LOOK!!!

All the kids go running into the bathroom and there he his. The lizard. Poor thing probably had a little lizard heart attack with those 3 kids squealing around him! He just froze, like those goats that pass out when you scare them. DH scooped him up and put him in a ziplock bag (Tip from the DIS!) to take him downstairs and set him free. My son named him Junie. No idea where he got that name. I will post a pic of Junie probably today, once I figure out how to do that.

So after the KungPao Beef we headed out to Epcot for our first day. My DH is a big big fan of Illuminations. Remember he owns a Production company, so this is right up his alley and he just normally stands there, mesmerized. He's so cute!

DH's mom had given us these backpack/leash things for our 2 youngest. DH and I have always been anti-leashes, and I really don't wanna start a leash war, but we did for a very small second consider it. Simply because of DD3. She is, well lets just say she is her own person, for sure! Ya'll know Dora right? The explorer? she looks a lot like her, so we call her Dora the Destroyer. I will post some pics pretty soon and ya'll will see what I'm talking about. At any rate, even being anti-leash, how bad would it be if we did get separated and we couldn't find her. The guilt of having the leash and not using it would be devastating. So in the end we reached a compromise. We folded the leash part in the bottom of the tiny backpack and also put their jackets in there. Then we would just see if we felt like we needed them AND they would have them on during any pictures we sent to DH's mom. SOLVED!

And off we go to Epcot. At this point it's like 130 or 2, and that's fine with me because Epcot is not my favorite park and 1/2 day seems about right for me. We ran into our first character this afternoon, Alice in Wonderland. She was soooooo cute! DFRyRy really really liked her, and frankly he met more character than we did!! I remembered later in the afternoon about Kim Possible!! So around 6pm we head to a recruiting station to sign up! You can do different countries, so we chose England to be close to our ADR. The mission took us about 30 minutes and this was the only thing all week that DD3 was afraid of. Now she wasn't scared of the things on the mission, she was scared because DS5 and DD7 were SOOOOOO worked up!!! They had a blast! They got to alternate clues every 2 or 3 clues so they both got to hold the Kimmunicator (they are very good at sharing!) Those two literally RAN around to find all of the clues. Really really cool thing to do. We will do this not just every time we are at Disney, but every time we are in Epcot. This is one of the high points of our trip for them and the CM's were fantastic!! At one point they have to go into the Tea shop and give a secret phrase, the CM so played the part!!! Excellent excellent adventure, a must-do for sure! Especially since there are SEVERAL different adventures in SEVERAL different countries!

So we head off to our ADR and ask for an outside table. I picked Rose and Crown because of the "private viewing area" for Illuminations, and because I love Fish and Chips! We had never eaten there before and this would be the start of eating at places we had never been to before. We only had one repeat from last year, and that was our last night at Chefs. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be our last night!

There were no outside tables available so we sat inside, and our waitress was fantastic, and the food was delicious. Again, will post pics when I figure it out (Or ask hubby to do it!) Everyone enjoyed their meals and we were ushered to the "private viewing area". This was a very small area on the side of the building just behind the lower patio. Within 2 minutes after it started we moved for a couple of reasons. My DD7 was bawling her eyes out screaming that her eyes were burning. The wind was pretty heavy that night and the ashes from the show were falling all over us and into her eyes, so DDJ and I went to take her out of there. When we turned around DH was leaving as well. I told him to stay and he shook his head and quite loudly said that if the only smoke was from the fireworks he could handle it. The others in the small "private viewing area" were smoking quite a bit and with DD3 on his shoulders it was all headed right to her.

Now let me just say, we are non-smokers who both used to smoke over a pack a day. When I got pregnant with DD7 I quit, and DH quit after DD3. It took about 2 years for him to not crave them, and now the smoke makes him crazy. I remember when we went in 2001 and would find little alcoves or spots that were more private to catch our cigarette breaks. That's how I have found some of the out of the way spots at the World, looking for a place to have a ciggy! And if it's allowed for them to smoke there, I think they should. Just means I won't be viewing from there, that's all. However, Rose and Crown has the terrace outside that I would love to watch from, but you can't reserve those tables on your ressie, you just have to see where they sit you. All in all a very good meal, very good server, and I could totally see eating there again!

We headed back through the park and found a more suitable place to watch the show. And then we were off through Future World to hop on the POP bus. We had to transfer to Old Key West in the morning and I was SUPER excited about our breakfast plans!!!

Up next............. Where can I get a cajun bloody mary and watch live gospel music at the same time?!?!?

Awesome! I learned something new! I didn't know about the Kim Possible adventure in Epcot! My kids would love this. We'll definitely do that! I'm glad I'm reading your TR. It's amazing all of the things that are available at Disney.

I'm glad you have food pictures. I drool over the food porn thread all the time. I'm always up for more food pictures. Fat free! :laughing: Seriously, it's surprising to me the things I remember from looking at those pictures. There are some restaurants and dishes I want to try.

I took some food pictures on our last trip. At first my DH was whispering, "What are you doing?". I explained it to him, and after awhile he was asking me, "Have you taken the picture yet?". :laughing:

Enjoying the TR!

[drakes]

I'm here! Hoping to be inspired to get on with my TR :)

[ga disney mom]

joining in. Enjoying your TR so far.

[bunkkinsmom]

I'm here! Hoping to be inspired to get on with my TR :)
HEY DRAKES! Good to see you!

joining in. Enjoying your TR so far.

Hey GA! Is that Georgia? Are you an UGA fan?

[bunkkinsmom]

Ok, so the ride back to Pop was pretty uneventful. We headed up to our room between the bowling pins and passed out pretty quickly. The next morning we got our luggage ready for the transfer to OKW. Between all of us we had like 16 pieces. They all had to be fairly small because of the carry on limit on the train, so that's why we had so many. We dropped our luggage at luggage services and hopped on a bus to DTD.

Now, for the best buffet of the trip. We were trying something new this year and I really hadn't heard much about it, so I will take a little time on this one. Bear with me! When in planning mode for this trip I really wanted to do something different and I thought that maybe someone cool would be playing at the House of Blues :cool2:. So I checked out the site and saw "Sunday Gospel Brunch". Hmmmmmmm, what is this? I love love love good Gospel music and talk about putting on a show!! For those of you that have never seen a live Gospel show, it is spiritual for sure, no pun intended! These people do not hold back, if you know what I'm sayin. :banana::banana:

So we made the trip over to the West Side and picked up our tickets at Will Call. Let me just tell you what was on the buffet: Carved Ham, Carved Roast Beef, Peel and Eat Shrimp, Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya, Cheese Grits, Scrambled Eggs, Sausage, Bacon, Red Beans and Rice, Rosemary Corn Bread, SEVERAL different cold salad options, Cajun Catfish, and I am for sure leaving some stuff out. The desserts were fudge brownies, blondies, key lime tarts, and a caramel banana bread pudding with caramel cream sauce. Oh, and something with Jack Daniels in it. It was FANTASTIC! The music was incredible! And they offer Bloody Mary's and Mimosas for $3. This is a definite must do again. My inlaws would love love love this show. It was like $37 for adults and $18 for kids, but I got a 15% discount because I was staying on points. They didn't ask for proof of DVC membership, but my room keys at OKW said DVC. They didn't ask for that either. Normally I would not gravitate so heavily towards such a pricey meal, but it was truly worth every penny.

After brunch we were more than stuffed and hopped on the boat to OKW. We arrived and I jumped into the Online Check-in line and was helped right away. Guess what? My villa was ready!! WOO-HOO :thumbsup2!! AND I got my room request, building 62, right across from Hospitality House with an amazing view. Garden Grocer had delivered my few items and all was well with the world! We headed out to Hollywood Studios for the rest of the day, we had ADR's and wanted to see Fantasmic!

Next up...... who is that woman with her hands on my man?!?!?!

[ga disney mom]

To answer your questions yes and yes. The House of Blues brunch sounds really good. We might have to try that next time we go.

[Monny2AE]

Joining in! Great start!

I loved your description of your DD. If yours and mine got together we'd be a heap of trouble! Gotta love those spirited preschool princesses!

[bunkkinsmom]

Joining in! Great start!

I loved your description of your DD. If yours and mine got together we'd be a heap of trouble! Gotta love those spirited preschool princesses!

Hey Monny! Come on in! Yeah maybe we should get them together to go bowling or something. Imagine what they could accomplish if they used their powers for good! :lmao:

[bunkkinsmom]

To answer your questions yes and yes. The House of Blues brunch sounds really good. We might have to try that next time we go.

Yeah definitely give it a shot. I mean it was by far the best buffet of the trip, even though the chicken chowder at Boma was superb! How are the All Star suites? I've thought about those since there are 5 of us. Points at OKW go way up on the weekends and next time we talked about staying longer, so maybe I will look into those for the 2 weekend nights. Any feedback would be great!

[bunkkinsmom]

Once inside Studios we wanted to go DIRECTLY to Rockin Rollercoaster. MY DD7 was about 3/4" too short last year and that is all she has talked about since. Well of course the wait was about an hour, so we grabbed our fastpasses and headed over to Tower of Terror. The wait there was about 40 minutes so I went to get fastpasses. What's this? No fastpasses? That's when the CM at the machines told me that you could only get one at a time. I had no idea?!?!?! I guess we have been so blessed the last 2 years with crowds that I never really had to get more than 1 at a time! ;)

So no worries, we headed up Sunset to towards The Great Movie Ride, which I love and DH hates. I really really like the end where they show all the clips. I am a preview nut when I go to the movies, so that part really appeals to me. If I get to a movie and the previews are over it takes away half the fun. Well we ran into the most interesting fella just outside of the Theater, his name is Bucky Greenhorn, Hollywood's Next Leading Man. He was strummin away on his Ukelele and I immediately fell in love :love::love: . He is soooo cute! I guess DH could tell I was totally enamored, because after one song he was ready to move on. **SIGH**

But wouldn't you know it, not far up the road some hussie had her arm around my man!!!! I mean how am I supposed to compete with the World's Greatest Movie Star?!?!?! That's right folks, Dorma Nesmond had her paws on my fella, AND HE WAS SMILING!!!!! THE NERVE!!!! She went on and on about how handsome he is, and how she loves her latin men. She asked him why he brought me, and he just laughed! WELL! First of all lady, he's American Indian, not latin. Apache in fact, get it right. And yes, my children ARE beautiful, now BACK OFF! :mad:

Kidding, Dorma was awesome and she was totally hubby's favorite. We saw her so much this week that I really am starting to wonder if something's going on...................:eek:

Now about Sunday is when the Brazilians came out. There must've been 5 or 6 groups of at least 200 and evidently they hacked into my disney vacation planner on disney.com and stole my schedule, because they were EVERYWHERE we were all week long! Truthfully the crowds on this trip were heavier than last year for sure, but we still had very low wait times for most things. We finally rode Rockin Rollercoaster, and DD7 LOVED it. We had to promise that we would come back and ride again. DS5 was wayyyy to scared to ride Tower of Terror, and DD3-the daredevil, was about 1/2" too short.

We ended up at 50's about 15 minutes late for our ressie but we were sat within about 10 minutes. I have to tell you that I really enjoyed this place! Our server was great, he made DD7 set the table and made DFJohn put his "toys" (IPhone) away at the table! The potroast was fork tender and everyone at the table raved about their meal. We were eating at Cindy's the next night and using 2 credits, so this meal was out of pocket. For 3 adults and 3 kids with 2 desserts and sodas it was about $115 without tip. That's not too bad for Disney. And the smores dessert was yumilicious!

By now it was starting to sprinkle so we did Tower and Rockin one more time and headed into the theater for Fantasmic! It was just as good as I remember! That show really is amazing, the production quality is superb even by Disney standards! We had no issues getting seats, and even when we were leaving we saw that there were still plenty of seats to be had, even with like 3 brazilian tour groups there. We sat down front so we got spritzed quite a bit, but it was drizzling anyway and we're at Disney, so who cares!

Afterwards, we headed to DTD and picked up some treats at Goofy's. I swear every year I get a rice krispy treat dipped in chocolate and Peanut Butter chips and it takes me 3 days to eat it. And every year I say I'm not gonna do that again. Guess what I had..........

Well DH landed a nice big job yesterday doing some video work for Daimler :lovestruc, so he will be occupied for the next 12 days doing production. Looks like I will have to figure out how to post pics on my own. Any help is appreciated (that means you, all of you veteran Trip Reporters!)

Ya'll have a great day!

[bunkkinsmom]

Today was the big day, our first day in the Magic Kingdom! DD3 had been talking about Cinderella's Castle since we got off the train! I was very nervous about the refurb going on and wondered what that would look like, but I rounded the corner on Main Street, and saw NO DIFFERENCE! Honestly, I thought maybe they finished early. No crane, no scaffolding, so I forgot about it! The Fire Chief and the Mayor were out singing to everyone so we stopped and hung out for a while. The Fire Chief pulled DD7 and me up to do the can can line with him :thumbsup2 It was TOO CUTE!!! We moved a little further up Main Street and ran into the Jim Dandy's? I think that's the name of the group. They are a barbershop quartet. They were using these odd chimes that DFJohn and DH found fascinating! Both being musicians they were captivated by the show, so we stayed for the entire thing. Then they started talking to the fellas about the instruments. Turns out they are called Organ Chimes, and one set had just arrived from a Chicago Museum and was close to 100 years old! WOW!! Somehow I thought maybe most of that stuff was from a huge Prop Warehouse on property, but evidently a lot of it is really authentic! Anyway, to us some of the most amazing things in Disney are the street performers. I think that's why MK and DHS are our 2 favorite parks, because we love the citizens of Main Street and the Streetmosphere in DHS.

We headed to Columbia House for lunch based on recommendations from friends on the Dis, and it did not disappoint! Very good fish and chips, and the salads were good as well. We sat upstairs by the windows so we could people watch. This Counter Service is a definite star on my planning map now, we will be back! Afterwards, we headed to BTMRR and DD3 rode her first coaster :cool1:! She had her little baby hands up the entire time! She LOVED IT!!!! She squealed the entire time, so we got off and got right back on, and the squealing continued. Now when we took DD3 to the doctor the day we left she measured 38 7/8" in her stocking feet, so in her tennis shoes she was still a little shy of 40, but no one checked her?? We found out that she was a little shy a couple of days later when she was turned away at BTMRR and we went to color with a CM instead of riding. This info will be important later in the TR!! ;)

From there we went to tomorrowland for Space Mountain!!!! WOOOOOO!!!! This was my first coaster as a kid and I was looking forward to seeing the refurb. There was a wait so we grabbed fastpasses and hopped on Buzz Lightyear a few times. I still can't find the 100,000 point target!! I have tried and tried but just can't find it. At any rate, at least I beat my 3 year old. So we head back for our fastpass time and DD5 is starting to get a little hesitant, so we made jokes and headed in. He sat right behind me and frankly, I was a little nervous. HE LOVED IT!!! I don't remember that ride being so long! It was fantastic and I loved the new seats, very very nice.

Next up...... teacups and dresses in backpacks!

[Monny2AE]

Hey Monny! Come on in! Yeah maybe we should get them together to go bowling or something. Imagine what they could accomplish if they used their powers for good! :lmao:
The world would be cured of all bad things if we could get all the *spirited and spunky* preschool girls to use their powers for good! :lmao:

I'm with your DH when it comes to the The Great Movie Ride. Luckily my DH doesn't like it too much either. We skipped it this time. The only part I like is the Wizard of Oz part.

Don't get me started on the Brazilian tour groups!!!! They were EVERYWHERE this trip. :headache: It was so frustrating. I'll have some comments about it in my TR coming up soon so I won't hijack your TR with it.

[MEK]

Nice job with the TR. What a great trip you are having so far. I love your description of the Sunday gospel brunch. I would love that. Too bad I won't be able to go there on my next trip.

To post pics you have to upload your photos to a secondary site. Most people use photobucket. Once your photos are there you copy and paste the the IMG code into your TR.

[Goofy442]

Great TR :goodvibes can't wait for the rest. I hope the crowds settle down before we get there.:cool1:

[bunkkinsmom]

Sorry for the delay, ya'll. Just been bogged down! I should be posting more tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

[Monny2AE]

I definitely understand the bogged down feeling! Hang in there!

[ga disney mom]

We enjoyed staying at the Family Suites at All Star music. There was plenty of room, a kitchen and two baths. The pools don't have slides but there lots of activities for the kids. The kids enjoyed all the oversized musical instruments. I think it would be a good place to stay for the weekend.

[sherylcin]

Subbing

[bunkkinsmom]

YEA!!!! MY TR ISN'T CLOSED!!!!!

So after we spent most of the day in Tomorrowland, hubby and I discovered that our favorite ride is the TTA. Does that mean we're old? HAHAHAAHAHA!!

So tonight was the big night......Cindy's castle!!!!! I must say we had a beautiful table, right by the window. Cindy was super gracious and the FG was AMAZING! Having said that, we probably won't do that again for a while. Lemme break it down:

So we carried dresses in DD3's backpack for the girls because they wanted to dress up for Cindy. We changed in a bathroom near the entrance, and needless to say, ewwww. I mean, Disney does an amazing job with cleanliness, but going potty and changing clothes for dinner are very different things. At any rate, we got ready and checked in and waited our turn for pictures. After that we were called to our table, and we ordered fairly promptly. The negative in this whole thing is that we were very rushed. Very very rushed. And the food was good, but not 2 TS credit good. You are paying for the atmosphere and I really only have one character meal to compare it to, which is the Norway Princess Breakfast. In that meal the food was superb, service was fantastic, Princesses were amazing, and it was more relaxed. But you must do Cindy's once, and we did. Afterwards we did the teacups in dresses, and ...... oh my. That's all I can really say about that!

For those of you hanging on, thanks so much! I'll try to do better!

[MEK]

Glad to see you didn't abandon your TR. I have heard so many comments about Cindy's that are similiar to yours, that I have no desire to go there. Of course, I don't have little girls....or any girls at all in my house.

I have a friend from work who is taking her grand daughter to disney in a couple months. They have 2 ADRS' at Cindy's.....:confused3 I tried to recommend askerhaus, but live and learn!

[bunkkinsmom]

Glad to see you didn't abandon your TR. I have heard so many comments about Cindy's that are similiar to yours, that I have no desire to go there. Of course, I don't have little girls....or any girls at all in my house.

I have a friend from work who is taking her grand daughter to disney in a couple months. They have 2 ADRS' at Cindy's.....:confused3 I tried to recommend askerhaus, but live and learn!

Yep, we will be returning to Akershus next year for sure! We will have 2 breakfast ressies, there and House of Blues! NUMMY!!!

[bunkkinsmom]

So on to Tuesday, at the Animal Kingdom!!! This was the day that DD7 and I were to be together all morning, just the two of us!! We had enrolled in Disney's Y.E.S. program and we were participating in the Wild On Nature series. We got up, had breakfast quietly, and headed out. We were both already so excited because we could spend Quality Time together that honest we could've just sat on a bench all morning and we would have been grateful! We get to AK and register for our group and meet our guide. Frankly, this was pretty boring, but educational none the less. The lady who was in our group had 3 kids with her, all homeschooled. So these kids knew answers to questions that I didn't even understand!?!?! I mean the guide could have asked what the latin name for the third galaxy from the black hole on the left was and these 3 would've known the answer! But the guide was super in calling on my DD plenty of times and we did learn a bunch! The program lasted until 1130 and we met up with the rest of our party for lunch.

We wanted to eat at Yak and Yeti counter service so we headed that way. On the way we passed that stand that has all of the drums out for the kids to play. And my kids just FLIPPED OUT!! Now the reason this is baffling is because Hubby is a musician, and we have almost all of those drums out at home, all the time. They didn't care, these were DISNEY drums!! We had lunch, made some bird friends, and went off to EVEREST!!!!! DD3 being too small and all, we switched off and DS5 loved loved loved it! And DD7 remembered it from last year, so she of course loved it too!

We did Kali River Rapids with DD3 and she got SOAKED!! I mean, I'm not sure if there is a word to describe how wet she got! When it happened there was a big long pause just waiting to see what she would do, because frankly, it really could've gone either way. BUT she squealed and laughed, so we all squealed and laughed right along with her!

Then we got on Rafiki's Planet Watch train. Yeah, I won't do that again. We are blessed to have a beautiful Natural Science Center here in my town, with amazing animals and lots of exhibits. This was a lot like that, and we can do that here, know what I mean?

Next up, our first real wait for an ADR.......

[bunkkinsmom]

OKOK!!! GOING TO TRY TO UPLOAD PICS>>>>>>

Ok I don't get it. How do I do it?

[bunkkinsmom]

cant figure it out!

[bunkkinsmom]

<a href="http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/bunkkinsmom/Disney%202010/?action=view&current=photo-9.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/bunkkinsmom/Disney%202010/photo-9.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[bunkkinsmom]

OK Seriously!! Why can I not figure this out!!???!?!?!?!?!

[bunkkinsmom]

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/bunkkinsmom/Disney%202010/photo-9.jpg

[bunkkinsmom]

YESSSSS!!!!

The previous pic is the view outside of our OKW villa. Just beautiful to wake up to everyday! Here is what the beginning of our days normally looked like:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/bunkkinsmom/Disney%202010/photo-8.jpg

[bunkkinsmom]

Here's my boy sleepy time on the train!:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/bunkkinsmom/Disney%202010/photo.jpg

and lunch at CHH people watching from upstairs:

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/bunkkinsmom/Disney%202010/photo-3.jpg

[sherylcin]

Yea! You figured out the picture thing!:banana:

I, having never posted any pics could offer no help. I love that you're posting pics from OKW since that's a place we're considering for our next trip.
BTW, your kids are adorable!

Totally agree about the Castle too. Overpriced for the food; definitely paying for the experience and ambiance. My little princesses (granddaughters) do love it though. We've done breakfast and lunch - never dinner. I think if we do it again, it will be for breakfast. It's less expensive and the food was pretty good.

[bunkkinsmom]

Yea! You figured out the picture thing!:banana:

I, having never posted any pics could offer no help. I love that you're posting pics from OKW since that's a place we're considering for our next trip.
BTW, your kids are adorable!

Totally agree about the Castle too. Overpriced for the food; definitely paying for the experience and ambiance. My little princesses (granddaughters) do love it though. We've done breakfast and lunch - never dinner. I think if we do it again, it will be for breakfast. It's less expensive and the food was pretty good.

I think we will do Akershus next year. We have done that before and LOVED it! The breakfast was outstanding, it was 1 TS, and the Princesses were great!
But, you must do it once I suppose!

[bunkkinsmom]

So we arrived at Boma for dinner after our day at AK. I mean, it fits you know. We get there about 5 minutes early and they are packed. I mean packed. Piz-acked. I was SOOOOO glad we had an ADR.

By the way, I must tell you that almost every day we walked into a park there was a huge sign saying that there were no Table Service Reservation times available. I am sooooo glad I got up at 5 am and got the ones I wanted!!

We got to the resort and looked around a bit before trying to find the restaurant. There is the coolest little alcove right off the lobby that has rocking chairs looking over the savannah. I couldn't believe there was nobody out there!!! Then I walked outside to check it out, and realized why. What is the deal with the music there? I mean, I get the theming and all, but if I had to listen to that music all the time I think I would go nuts. To each his own I guess.

We took off down the trail and met the nicest cast member who told us all about the animals that we could see from there. I loved the fire pit and huge chairs outside as well. But again, shocked that no one else was taking advantage of them. But don't worry, we did!

Now we are off to Boma, and as I said earlier, we were about 5 minutes early. We took our pager and had a seat. We waited. We waited. We waited. Seriously about 30 minutes. Meanwhile the place is getting more and more packed! We finally got our seat and I took the kids up to the buffet. They were a little apprehensive about the looks of things, but they all absolutely loved it. My kids are big soup fans, so Boma was right up their ally. DH loved it as well. For me, it was probably my least favorite meal of the trip. I mean it was fine, but it didn't WOW me.

DD3 fell asleep at the table, so we headed straight home after dinner. However, note to the rest of you, evidently you can hit the trails after dinner and there are CMs with night vision goggles so that you can see the animals in the dark!!!

Very cool, we might go back next year just for that! :thumbsup2

[Monny2AE]

Hooray for figuring out how to post pics!!!

And night goggles...seriously! Too cool! :cool1:

[bunkkinsmom]

Hooray for figuring out how to post pics!!!

And night goggles...seriously! Too cool! :cool1:

I KNOW!!! I can't wait to check that out next year!

[Nettaboo]

Hey..I am subbing!! Can't wait to read your report! We are staying at OKW this summer so any tips you can give me would be great!!

[bunkkinsmom]

Hey..I am subbing!! Can't wait to read your report! We are staying at OKW this summer so any tips you can give me would be great!!

Welcome!!! We love OKW and right now have no desire to stay anywhere else. We've decided that in 3 or 4 years we will try Boardwalk because of the walk to HS, but our little one is too young for that just yet. Will this be your first visit to OKW?

[dd50]

I'm in.:surfweb: Sounds like your having a good trip. Didn't know about the gospel Sunday. Will have to look into it.

When we went to CRT (dinner) we weren't rushed which surprised me as we were at all the character meals. I was expecting not to like the food but for me it was the best of our trip last year. It is to expensive for what you get tho.

[Nettaboo]

Welcome!!! We love OKW and right now have no desire to stay anywhere else. We've decided that in 3 or 4 years we will try Boardwalk because of the walk to HS, but our little one is too young for that just yet. Will this be your first visit to OKW?
Thanks for the welcome! Yes, this will be our first time at OKW..our first time on property actually!
What room location is the best one with a little one(she is 5)

[bunkkinsmom]

I'm in.:surfweb: Sounds like your having a good trip. Didn't know about the gospel Sunday. Will have to look into it.

When we went to CRT (dinner) we weren't rushed which surprised me as we were at all the character meals. I was expecting not to like the food but for me it was the best of our trip last year. It is to expensive for what you get tho.

Hey! Come on in!! Have you done Akershus yet?

[bunkkinsmom]

Thanks for the welcome! Yes, this will be our first time at OKW..our first time on property actually!
What room location is the best one with a little one(she is 5)

We love buildings 62-65. Right across the road from Hospitality House, but not in the HH category. All of these buildings have elevators, so easy up and down. Quick quick walk to the HH, which means Olivia's (yummy!!) and the boat to DTD. AND.... you can see Illuminations from the bridge behind building 62.

Are you in a 1 bedroom?

[Nettaboo]

We love buildings 62-65. Right across the road from Hospitality House, but not in the HH category. All of these buildings have elevators, so easy up and down. Quick quick walk to the HH, which means Olivia's (yummy!!) and the boat to DTD. AND.... you can see Illuminations from the bridge behind building 62.

Are you in a 1 bedroom?

We are actually in a 2 bedroom at OKW (half of us) and half of us at a 1bedroom at SSR...
My mom traded in her RCI points...but I am going on a tour and considering maybe buying into something(don't tell DH!!).
When should you put in your request for a room request?? When you book(we didn't) or when you do online check in??

[bunkkinsmom]

We are actually in a 2 bedroom at OKW (half of us) and half of us at a 1bedroom at SSR...
My mom traded in her RCI points...but I am going on a tour and considering maybe buying into something(don't tell DH!!).
When should you put in your request for a room request?? When you book(we didn't) or when you do online check in??

I think that you can call anytime and add a room request. I would go ahead and call, just to get it done. The villa we were in was a 2 bedroom and we had a TON of room. There were 4 adults and 3 kids. The couch pulls out and there is a loveseat as well. So my girls slept on the pullout and my boy slept on the loveseat. Rumor has it that the remodel this year includes the single chair being replaced with a twin pullout chair.

OKW is a HUGE property and there is the potential to be in a villa that requires a lot of walking. I have seen lots of posts here where people don't recommend staying here without a car. We have always stayed in 62-64 and have never had a car.

Here's a link to a map of OKW and you can see how big it is.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/okwmap.htm

There are 6 busstops I think. I liked 62 because HH is the last stop on the route. So when leaving the resort you go straight to your destination. Coming home if you don't want to ride all the way through the resort, the first stop is by building 26 and it's not a long walk from there to 62. It's just across the bridge. So you can ride the whole route and get off at HH or jump off the first stop and take a little longer walk.

When are you going?