Two weeks at AKV

[dpuck1998]

Just waking up from our second night with 11 nights remaining. Hopefully I can start writing about our days as they happen. I mostly do these because I love going back and looking at them weeks later, but I hope a few of you enjoy it also.

[dpuck1998]

So day 1 is pretty boring, travel day.

Since it is Xmas day, we got up fairly early at home to open presents. The kids had a blast and were able to play with some of their toys before we had to head to the airport at 10am. We packed up the toys they wanted to take with and had an uneventful flight from Kalamazoo to Sanford/Orlando.

Since we are staying in a 1bd at AKV-Kidani we wanted to stock up on groceries. I did some research and found the only store open was Albertsons. They close at 4 and we landed at 3. After getting the rental car we were able to make it with 15 mins to spare. Loaded up on groceries and headed "home". We had ressies for Boma at one point, but decided to cancel them and eat in the room. Well after discussions we decided to try to hit Boma. I checked online and nothing available. Checked with the concierge when we arrived at the hotel, nothing available. Got in our room and called down to Boma and sure enough, they had room. I'm not sure if this is part of Disneys plan, but seems like when no ressies are available there is plenty of room for walkups.

Had a great dinner at Boma, one of my favorite places to eat. I ate way too much and was miserable for a while, but it was worth it. Since I haven't mentioned it yet, the trip included myself, my wife, two sons ages 12 and 11 and one daughter age 6.

After Boma we walked around outside Kidani, my middle son received some spy gear night vision goggles for xmas. Tried those out on the savanah, but the CM had a couple pair of binoculoars also. Makes his poor xmas present look junky, but we used both and had fun.

Not much else to discuss for today, came back and watched a great NBA game (bulls won on a last second shot) and called it a night since we are going to DHS at 7 am.

This is the only photo I have from day 1. Sitting in the AKV-Jambo Lobby.

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[dpuck1998]

Day 2 we head to DHS. While its a busy time to be here, the hours are amazing. We got up at 6am to arrive at the park by the 7am opening. No traffic and there wasn't even anyone at the parking lot gate so we just cruised past. Not only that, but there were no parking lot attendants directing traffic either. We parked as close as you can get to the gate and walked to the turnstiles with no lines. We were second in line at our turnstile with about 15 mins until opening.

(will continue later)

Ok, since we are hitting MK at 6 am I'll finish up the DHS day.

I didn't bring the dSLR with me, so all my photos are what I shot with the Droid.

We went straight to Toy Story Mania of course, there was no line for fastpasses so I grabbed those and the line to ride was also zero wait. We hopped on and rode for the first time. Great ride that everyone loves, no wonder we hit it three times! After the ride on TSM walked the back way to Star Tours. It was empty, completely empty on the streets of america. We were the only 5 people in sight, including cast members. Star Tours was walk on also, if memory serves our first trip included Brady playing the part of the rebel spy, stopping off at the Wookie planet and Naboo. From there we took the walk to Tower of Terror, while Tamra and Trace rode I walked over to grab fastpasses for RnR. Brady and Lily bought and traded some Vinylmations while waiting at ToT. Since there was no line for RnR, Trace and I rode in the front row while the rest of the family grabbed some light breakfast.

After a quick break we hopped on the great movie ride. I could go on that thing 50 times and still enjoy it. I wouldn't mind a little update even if just at the end, but I still love it. Lily was a little timid this trip and hid, but after the "gangster" fried she was fine. We used out TSM fastpass next for out second trip on TSM. My score got a little better this time, Lily was a big help :) Snagged another set of TSM fastpasses. After TSM we were off to muppets, a family favorite. No line here either and it was still pretty early. Stopped off for a sweet dolphin Tattoo, for Lily not me, then off to ride Star Tours again. Such a great ride now that it changes every trip. I think this time we hit Hoth and the Boba Fett battle. Crowds have picked up, but lines (other than TSM) are under 20 mins. As we are heading out we of course have to take the speeder photos.

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Time for lunch at the Sci-Fi. They get a rap for bad food, but the kids love it. This is our first time there since the new menu. I miss the steak salad, but overall the food was better than in the past. We had a great, fun server and enjoyed hanging out in the car.

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After lunch, we ran around for some fastpasses, then went to catch the Disney Channel Rocks show for Lily. She was really into it and finally got up to dance after watching for a while. From there we ran over to the Comedy Warehouse show that is going on in the Sounds Dangerous studio. That is a major improvement over sounds dangerous for sure. I hope it hangs around for a while, a live show is a nice addition.

I accidently left my bag behind at the comedy show, so I ran ahead with the kids to get fastpasses for the little mermaid then met up with Tamra before heading into the animation academy. We skipped the show and went to the drawing class. We all were able to draw at tables and at the end Lily was selected to received the artists drawing. I thought my handy word was pretty good if I do say so myself.

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Since Pooh was right there, Lily and I waited in line to get our artworks signed.

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Our fastpasses were up for Little mermaid so after a stop off at the store so Tamra could buy a small world coffee cup, we hit the show. I'm pretty sure both the boys took a nap during the show, which is a good thing.

Our last trip on TSM after the show, not my best performance, Tamra rode with me this time so I can blame her. (I consider anything under 200,000 a failure)

Another romp trough the streets of america at a leisurely pace with some stops for pressed pennies. We made it over for another ride on Star Tours with a stop in the wookie planet and a battle with boba fett again. We split up so Trace and I could ride RnR again and the younger two looked at vinylmations and traded them. Brady bought a Tron figure to add to his collection and Lily just traded with no success. When I met up with them she had them trained to do tricks.

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Time to dinner now, we had booked the fantasmic picnic package as soon as we heard about it. Two table service meals are too much for us, but this option was great. Found some great tables to just hang out and relax with our picnic style meals for while. The kids played their DS, phones and with toys while we all ate and chilled. Since fantasmic was showing three times tonight we booked the 6:30 show. After eating we walked around before heading to fantasmic. With the new reserved seating they have twice the space for meal plans. We had excellent seats almost in the middle of the the theater. The time went quick and everyone loved the show. It is one of my personnel favorites. I'll take fantasmic over illuminations any day.

Since we have been at the park since 7am, up at 6 am, we took the long walk back to the car. By long walk I mean we walked through the osborne lights on the way out. Not really on the way, but we had to see them just in case we didn't get back again before they were off. Look what we found on the way. Actually the kids found it first. I did no research and wanted it to be a surprise. They found it before I did.

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Got some photos, watched the lights and everyone grabbed a snack before heading out. Tomorrow we sleep in for a while and hang at the hotel before heading off to Holyland the experience. Not sure what to expect, but we love to try new things.

[MEK]

Cool Trip Report so far.

Do you think you will be able to keep updating so early in the morning. Love it! Also love that whatever photo hosting source you use - I can see it at work (can't see photobucket while I'm here which 90% of disers use).

It must be so cool to leave for the world on Christmas day. That is something I have never done. Did you kids know or was it a surprise.

Love AKV Kidani.

Have a wonderful trip! :goodvibes

[Launchpad11B]

This is the only photo I have from day 1. Sitting in the AKV-Jambo Lobby.

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That kid's a monster! Cool report so far. pirate:

[Renysmom]

Yea a trip report from Don!

Hugs to Tamra and the kids. Have a great time!!

[dpuck1998]

Cool Trip Report so far.

Do you think you will be able to keep updating so early in the morning. Love it! Also love that whatever photo hosting source you use - I can see it at work (can't see photobucket while I'm here which 90% of disers use).

It must be so cool to leave for the world on Christmas day. That is something I have never done. Did you kids know or was it a surprise.

Love AKV Kidani.

Have a wonderful trip! :goodvibes

Using facebook right now, so must be unblocked for you.

Not a surprise, we tried that once and it went over like a lead ballon. Now we tell them when we are going months in advance!

[Launchpad11B]

, but we love to try new things.

How about trying a shower, stinko!!!!! :rotfl: :santa:

[dpuck1998]

How about trying a shower, stinko!!!!! :rotfl: :santa:

Well I am at AK, I hear the showers there are a WONDERFUL experience!! :banana:

[Launchpad11B]

Well I am at AK, I hear the showers there are a WONDERFUL experience!! :banana:

True dat, homie! :cool2:

[dpuck1998]

Day 3:

Full day today at EPCOT, but I'll try to update our day 3 events.

We slept in a bit today to recover from a full day at the Studios. Today was our oldest (Trace) day to pick what to do. He wanted to visit The Holyland Experience since the day he heard about it. So we added it to our agenda and off we went.

Since they didn't open until 10 we had some time to kill. We are usually early risers in general so we were all up and ready around 8. We ran some errands and made a pit stop at Target for a car cell phone charger. Of course the kids had to buy some toys. They each have a budget to spend for the vacation and they can buy whatever they want until they are broke.

We pulled into Holyland and the first impressions were amazing. The place is beautiful and the grounds immaculate.

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Hard to write much about this place. It is mostly shows, displays and walk through activities. We all really enjoyed it, but it wasn't a real long day to say the least. We experienced the last supper among other things. The full model of Jerusalem was very cool.

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The coolest thing in the park was the Scriptorium, they didn't allow photos of any kind though. It was billed as the second largest bible collection in the world. They had some very old bibles in many languages and did a nice job with the display and interaction.

After wandering around the grounds and taking photos.....

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we headed back to the hotel. My mom was up so we opened some xmas presents and Lily finally got her sister for her American Girl doll. We relaxed and then hit the road for dinner. We ended up at Joes Crab Shack, ate there in Fort Myers once and enjoyed it. Drove by it and stopped.

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Per my suggestion we drove to the Beach Club for dessert at Beaches and Cream then headed home for some sleep. Big Day tomorrow at the MK. In case you haven't heard, it was packed! Phase 2 closings. Yet somehow we did everything we wanted at least once, the big rides 2 and 3 times.

[15isto2]

Signing up for the report, really enjoying it so far

[dpuck1998]

Day 4:

How to visit the magic kingdom during peak season. Little did we know (we knew it would be busy) but the park would hit stage 2 closings today.

Wake up call for 6am and out the door with snacks and kids whining at 6:30. First bus arrives at 6:45 (I hate buses), but we are at the park at 7:00 just after EMH rope drop. First stop space fastpass and buzz ride with no wait.

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Our next stop was the Indy cars, this ride is so annoying but the kids love it. There was no line but it still took us a good 10-15 mins to get to a car. They had a single lane open..ugh! Stupid, but Lily got to drive and enjoyed it.

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From there we went directly to Fantasyland to ride Pooh and Dumbo. This was our first time riding Pooh since they added the interactive queue. It was cool, although there was no line so we didn't get to play very long. The honey screens are neat for a few seconds, if you wipe all the honey off they have hidden images behind the honey.

During this time we are collecting fastpasses by the handfuls. Some Peter Pan which spit out Philharmagic bonus fastpasses, do people really need those? Jumped on Small World because my wife must ride it every trip. I think the kids enjoy it also, has turned into a so bad its good ride for us.

After some time in Fantasyland we ran over to Splash and Big Thunder. Big Thunder was walk on, so we grabbed fastpasses and rode both Big Thunder and Splash. At this point we have only been in the park a little over an hour. We have fastpasses for several rides and finished the major attractions at least once already. 7am EMH is awesome.

We decide to hit pirates, but its down so we go on the jungle cruise. The posted time was 30 mins. I timed it and we were on a boat in exactly 5 mins flat.

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We hang around and drive the shrunken neds boats and ride aladdins magic carpets a couple times while I run for more fastpasses on Big Thunder. We run into some friends that are here at the same time and gather up for some rides on Big Thunder and Splash again.

The girls all get into one car ahead of us and decide they have to ride with their hands up the entire time.

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Starting to get busy now, really busy. So we begin to look for the lesser attractions to keep up occupied. We take a walk through the Treehouse, haven't done that in years. There is an actual wait to get in even if it is only 5 mins....still...c'mon man!

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we use up some fastpasses and ride space mtn and grab more to ride again later. Time to get out of here and head for the exit. We had to wait in line to exit because they only had one gate open for people leaving, all 5 of us that were actually leaving. As we are on the bus back, people are lined up on the road and turning around since the park was at stage 2 closing.

We come back and take a nap and grab lunch in our room. Since we have dinner plans at Libery Tree we get up and head back to the park. Closings are over and the park is still packed, but not nearly as bad as it was before. We make our way down mainstreet and since the parade is about to start we find a spot to watch, might as well since you can't move anyway.

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This is about the only parade I car to see anymore. The kids are the same way and don't really care for the parades much. We are off to use fastpasses for rides on buzz, splash, space, philharmagic, big thunder. The lines are crazy. Small world is backed up out of the queue area and down to almost the haunted mansion. Haunted mansion is backed up into frontierland. Glad I'm not waiting in those lines, eek.

No problems getting into Liberty Tree and we have a great meal hanging out and relaxing. Liberty Tree gets a bad rap, but we enjoy it.

Earlier in the day Trace had his photo taken on Dumbo with his grumpy stocking cap on. They mentioned he might make into the magic, memories and you show so we stayed to watch. I'm glad we did, while we didn't see him in the show, it was very cool. The projections and effects are amazing. After the show a couple more rides and my wife headed out with the two younger kids. Trace and I stayed for a few more rides, space mountain, buzz lightyear.

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That was the first ride, we went again and I still beat him. I did tell him some of the high score targets so it was at least closer this time.

Our last ride for the night was stitch, while not a very good ride in my opinion, it does hold some great memories for us. Trace and I rode it several times when he was just old enough to stay out late. The two of us spent several late nights at the MK and he loves that ride. I always think of it and the times we spent just the two of us touring the magic kingdom.

Pretty short report for such a crazy day, we spent well over 12 hour total in the park and rode all the rides we wanted. The big attractions we hit 2-3 times each. While the park was as busy as it gets, with a good plan and patience we had a fantastic time. Tomorrow, a quiet day at downtown disney and shopping. If you think the parks are nuts, try the florida mall...YUK.

[dpuck1998]

Well we are home now so I'll try to work on finishing the report. Some days were pretty quiet. I got the flu the last day and didn't leave the room. Also the day before I lost my phone on Living with the Land :( If I'm up for it I'll update a day or two today. If not I'll work on it at work Monday!

[dpuck1998]

Day 5:

Finally some time to get back to my report.

Today we had planned to visit LegoLand, but after hearing reports of them closing for capacity we decide to push that part back until later in the vacation.

Instead we go shopping today, Downtown Disney and around Florida. We are on a mission for an NBA jersey for Trace on top of spending some time in Downtown Disney.

Didn't take too many photos today, but Lily and Brady have been into trading vinylmations this trip as well as pins. We spent time in every store in DownTown Disney looking at pins and vinylmations. Lily loved the big display so we had to get a photo.

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Did some shopping, had to stop in the xmas store to get our ornaments for the trip. Something we do for each kid whenever we are down there for xmas. Lunch at Earl of Sandwich and more shopping. Time for dessert on the way out.

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Since we took the bus to downtown disney, we hop back on to go get the car to head out for the hunt for a jersey. After several stops at Dunhams and other sports stores we end up at the Florida Mall. The only upside of that mall is valet parking. The place is a mad house. I'll take the magic kindom on xmas over the Florida Mall any day. With the craziness though, at least we find what we are looking for here. Trace finds his jersey, well at least one of them he was hoping to buy. A Derrick Rose Bulls jersey was top on his list and Foot Locker had one left in his size. That jersey will come in very handy later in the trip when we tell Trace about his surprise for the last day.

We grab dinner on iDrive at cattlemans steakhouse on the way home and call it a day. Had a fun day, although we did a lot of driving around it was a great down day.

[dpuck1998]

Day 6:

Off to EPCOT bright and early today. We are at the gates by 7:45 ready to get in to the park. We drove today and it was much quicker! First stop when we get in is to ride spaceship earth. Tamra runs ahead to get fastpasses for soarin.

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After spaceship earth we hit test track for a quick ride since the standby line isn't very long.

We have a breakfast ADR for Akershus Princess Breakfast. We decide to let the boys go out and wander the park and take just Lily to the breakfast. That way we don't have to pay a stupid price for breakfast for them since they don't want to go anyway. Breakfast was great, except they were having computer issues and we never received our photos. They were suppose to be mailed to us, but have yet to arrive.

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at least we have some of our own photos.

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After breakfast we decide to use our fastpasses for soarin and then off to the seas with nemo and friends. We usually end up spending a while in the aquarium/play areas, so we wander and hang out here for a while. We make a pit stop at the club cool to get some soda, but mostly to watch people drink Beverly. By the time we are done we decide to hit the world showcase.

Lily has been eyeing the Duffy for the whole trip. She decides it is time to use her money to buy one. We purchase it at the world showcase store when you enter that area, plus they have a buy one get one free deal for outfits so she buys the classic sailor outfit and german outfit.

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next stop in mexico and Trace is sporting his new jersey. Pretty sure he wore it almost every day the rest of the trip.

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The kids want to play Kim possible so we start running around to get tickets and phones. They really make it way to difficult to get the country you want forcing you to run around the world showcase for no reason. On the way we stop at the Karamel shop though! I run and grab phones and stop in France on the way back to Italy so we can begin our Kim possible adventures. Lily and I split up while Trace goes out on his own and Tamra and Brady are off to do their own kim possible. After Lily and I finish the Japan adventure she wants to buy a pearl for her collection. Hard to tell from the photos, but she gets a double pearl!

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Lily and I shop around Japan and she picks out a little stamper she wants, but when we get to the counter they can't find the price. The cashier disappears for a long time, I mean 15 minutes plus. The poor girl that is at the other register watches us stand there and is very apologetic. Finally another cast member is there and takes Lily aside and makes origami for her while we are waiting. We didn't complain, just waited patiently and were treated excellent. Finally she returns with a manager who locates the price and charges us the two bucks that the item costs. Lily still has the origami swan though, so it turned out just fine.

When we meet up in Japan, Brady gets a pearl too. His is almost silver, it looks like a ball bearing, very cool. We are told it was pretty rare, rariest of all the colors. At least I think that is what they said, hard to understand them sometimes.

We spend the rest of the day wandering around world showcase and playing kim possible. We have a dinner ressie at rose and crown so we make our way over there in time for our ressie.

A short wait and we are seated in a fantasic location right on the water. Too bad it wasn't later or we could have sit long enough for illuminations.

Trace and Lily waiting for our table, with Brady pulling a photo bomb.

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We had a fabulous server, she talked to us a lot and gave us great stories and recommendations. Tamra and the kids were playing talk like an english person and she thought it was hilarious. She helped them a little with their accents and wording.

A couple shots for our table.

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After dinner we wander around Canada on the way out, Lily forget duffy, but we get him back! On the way out we use up our fastpasses for mission space, Just Trace and I though the others don't care for it even on the green side. Since we have extra fastpasses for soarin, I give them to some people in line. I guess I handed them one of my annual passes too, whoops.

On the way out we stop at guest services and replace it. I'm always amused to see what is going on in guest services. People complaining about everything from the long lines to not being able to get into a dining location. We head out to the car and call it a night before illuminations starts so we can get a jump on the crowds. Overall a great day at EPCOT. We spent some time in innoventions, etc also during some downtimes and the boys got to do sum of all thrills twice while they were on their own.

Tomorrow we make an effort not to leave the resort once.....

[vassar36]

nice trip report...thanks for posting...

can you tell me more about the Comedy Warehouse show?

[dpuck1998]

nice trip report...thanks for posting...

can you tell me more about the Comedy Warehouse show?

The show was held inside the sound dangerous theater. It was an improv show with audience participation, so it was hit and miss. It was sometimes hilarious and sometimes a little off the mark. I am pretty sure it was just for a short time and only during the holidays, but we enjoyed it very much.

[dpuck1998]

Day 7:

After hitting the parks pretty hard and getting up early, today we are just going to lay low at the resort.

Not a lot to write about, but slept in and hung out in the room for breakfast. Let the kids play with their toys/games for a while. It was a beautiful day today, so the pool sounded good.

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We hung there for lunch, after spending the morning in the community hall making crafts and playing games. Not sure if I already mentioned it, but one of our favorite things about Animal Kingdom, Kidani is the community hall. Lily and I are also on a mission to collect beads. They have a lot of activities at Kidani and Jambo house, some of them give out beads for the kids to collect (and adults if they want) so after the pool we hit a couple more activities.

They do a lot of "conservation" lectures during the activities, but the younger kids really enjoy it. The boys usually just hang in the community hall while we are running around.

We had dinner at Sanna tonight and really enjoyed it. The portions are very small in my opinion, but I enjoy the uniqueness of the food. Not much else to talk about today. We had a nice relaxing day at the resort playing games and running around the activities and the pool.

[dpuck1998]

Day 8:

We start with plans today to just tour resorts, but we have breakfast with friends at O'hana (no pun intended).

We decide to drive to O'hana so we aren't late. While waiting we wander the resort to relive the memories of staying there in the past. Love the main lobby and grounds here.

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We are seated quickly at O'hana and tear into our breakfast. We had a great server who was a riot. We don't usually do character meals, but were meeting up friends. The food for breakfast was excellent, although pricey for breakfast we still really enjoyed it. Some more than others...

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We decide as a group to head over to the magic kingdom. I keep checking the lines on my phone and they aren't very long. We get there around 10 and the place is still pretty quiet. We are able to collect fastpasses and ride the mountains.

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ohh...and of course Buzz

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We always love just riding the train in circle for some down time

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Tamra and Lily had afternoon tea today, so they headed over to the grand floridian while the boys and I hung out at the MK. We had lunch at the main street bakery, nothing like a cinnamon roll for lunch!

After the returned from tea we meet up with them at the exit to head back to the Poly for our car. Can't for the life of me remember what we did for dinner, but I think we just hung out in the room and at the hotel so we just had sandwiches and snacks.

tomorrow is a quiet morning with a busy night.....

[dpuck1998]

Day 9:

We are really starting to feel like this trip could go on forever, in a good way. We have had such busy days and quiet down time that it has been great.

Grammy is coming today but not until later, so we sleep in and hit some more bead activities in the morning. A cold spell is rolling in so it is a little chillier today than days past. Lily and I head over to Jambo house for a flamingo activity then back to Kidani for an hour then back to Jambo, the van driver gets to know us pretty well by the end of the day.

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After running around all day gather beads, we meet up with grammy for a late lunch at Sanna. I left my camera hanging on the back of the chair, but they call my cell phone before I even leave the lobby area. Whew, this is another in the string of things I've forgotten...ugh.

After lunch we decide to meet up with some family friends at the MK for a couple hours. The place is packed, this is why we don't go in the late afternoon usually! We take a ride on the TTA(Wedway) and wait for Buzz fastpasses. We wait in line for stitch and then Tamra and I head out for dinner while grammy gets the kids back to the hotel. We have California Grill ressies so we head there early to check in.

We have a great meal, although we are seating in a back room without a view or the normal hustle and bustle of the california grill. We split an app, meal and dessert so we aren't stuffed, but it was nice to get away for a meal during a two week family vacation.

Time to head back and call it a night so we can be up early for DHS, heard a rumor we can get in a half hour early.

[dpuck1998]

Day 10:

DHS with Grammy

Brrrrr, we are up bright and early and waiting on a bus to DHS by 7:45 for a 9am rope drop. Didn't really plan to get going so early, but it just worked out that everyone was ready. So at the bus stop we wait....and wait...for the second time I walk over to pick up the house phone on the wall to see why every other bus has gone by twice and no DHS bus, right as I pickup the receiver the bus shows up. That thing has magical powers I swear.

We get past security quickly and wait in line. About 8:30 they start letting people past the turnstiles and we walk down the street. I'm still thinking they will have us roped off for the show, but nope. Off we go to toy story mania without stopping. Awesome, love it! But how long can that last before people catch on that they are open 30 mins early and thus the point of no rope drop loses its effectiveness. Don't care, we are in 30 mins early and get fastpasses and ride toy story with no wait.

A great morning collecting fastpasses, riding star tours, seeing muppets, great movie ride, etc. At noon we have ressies for perhaps my favorite disney restaurant, 50's primetime. Our server is average, she has a little fun but not over the top like Uncle Tom or Tim. The food was great and like most sit down meals I eat way too much.

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Shortly after lunch grammy heads back to relax before meeting us for dinner. We of course push on and hit the lesser attractions and experiences. Lily need face paint of course.

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We head over to Tower of Terror and Rock'en Roller coaster to use up fastpasses. I'm finally able to talk Brady, our 11 yo to go on RnR. It costs me 25 bucks, but he goes! Had Lily talked into it also, but well her mama wouldn't go so she didn't either.

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We have to make the boxing pose for a friend back home, we try to pull it off on every photo opportunity.

As we are wandering down sunset blvd, we walk into a streetmosphere show. The sanitation workers I think, Lenny, Spark and...other? Brady volunteers to do the bucket toss game with them and several other kids. It was hilarious, one of those great disney unexpected fun times. His team won so he got his solid gold colored trophy.

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It is about time to head to dinner so we start the 'walk-out' again. It leads us past the osborn lights, I know not on the way, but we have to see it again for the last time this trip. We wait around next to the switch to watch them turn it on.

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We meet up with Grammy in front of the DHS xmas tree and hop the boat over to the Yacht/Beach Club for dinner. Yachtsman steakhouse tonight, YUM! I'm still not real hungry from the big lunch, but I'm able to force myself to eat anyway. The boys pour over the menu and decide on steak, but at least they decide to split the most expensive steak on the menu.

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We call it a night and head to the room, tomorrow........

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[dpuck1998]

Day 11:

You are open how long? for how much?

Another somewhat chilly morning, but by the end of the day it warms up and is a great day out.

We make the approx 1 hour drive to legoland at around 8:45ish and arrive just before 10 after stopping for a quick bite.

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The place is empty, I don't me quiet empty but there are 5 families in the park empty. We grab a map and try to figure out the best rides to hit early. No idea what to expect, but off we go. The park is laid out horribly with lots of back tracking and no 'hub and spoke' system. We hope on the coasters, which are all small kiddie coasters little bigger than the local fair rides. We are the only people on the first several rides so we are able to go a couple times. I'm so glad we waited until later in the trip to go, if we had gone during a busy time I would have been very unhappy waiting in line for 30 mins prior to going on a fair coaster.

Some of the rides were unique at least, fun for the small kids, but anyone over 10 or 11 wouldn't really enjoy this park in my opinion. We hit the boating school, driving school and flying school.

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After hitting some coasters and rides we can enjoy the beauty of the park. We hurried through mini-land earlier so we grab lunch, which was awful. Top of the list for worst park food I've eaten. We head back to mini-land and give Brady the camera. He is the lego junkie and this was his pick on the trip. He wanders around and takes a couple hundred photos. Some pretty good ones.

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The last picture appeared in the latest orlando attractions magazine, not his photo but the same exact scene. We hit the cyprass gardens area for a walk around the old park. Very pretty area, the kids weren't real excited but I'm glad we walked around.

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We hop on a couple more rides, which again are just fresh paint on fair rides.

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A stop off at the imagination station where the kids can play with legos, build cars and test them. The last 30-45 mins of the day we spend there until its almost park closing time. Did I mention they are only open from 10-5. For 7 hours they charge 75 bucks for admission. I was able to get a Buy one get one free tickets so the kids got in free. When I purchased online they only charged me for two adults and credited all three kids for free. So we only paid 150 for all of us. If I paid full price for legoland I would have been very upset. They are charging almost as much as dinsey for 7 hours in the park. Outrageous in my opinion. Glad we were able to get in so cheaply. One the way home we stop in a local quick mexican restaurant for dinner and head back to the AKL.

I always use the GPS on my phone now and it seems like the route is never the same. We took some back roads back to AKL and right when i was sure we were going the wrong way, we were at the gate.

tomorrow....family magic tour at MK :grouphug:

[dpuck1998]

Day 12:

Today is the last day in the parks for us, even though we had planned to go to AK tomorrow it didn't work out.

We are up at a decent hour to hit MK, we have the family magic tour booked. Our arrival at MK is an hour or so after EMH rope drop, but the lines are short to get in. The park isn't overly busy yet, but it does get busy while we are there. I'm not sure there is a non-busy time at MK anymore, seems those days are gone. But I still think that with a good plan and early arrival you can do anything you want during the day.

Grab a few fastpasses and head to city hall to meet up for our tour. It is us and another family taking the tour and our guide gets us going right away. When the tour starts she tells us about all the items that are missing from the characters and how we have to help. While she is away, another cast member shows up to warn us. She tells us not to say the word "magical" or our guide will lose her memory and forget everything. Of course on the way to our first clue, yet another CM tells us to have a "magical" day and then the show ensues.

It begins with us looking for clues all over the park. Our first clue is to head over to the barber shop to find a hamster ball from Bolt.

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more clues and more hunting around the magic kingdom.

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one of the clues takes us on a ride, Pooh has a 50 min wait but we get to hop in the fastpass line.

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One of our next clues leads us to a hidden room by the tea cups where we meet up with Peter Pan.

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After we have some fun with Peter Pan we march around the Magic Kingdom for our next clue. The journey takes us to Main Street and we get in line to Meet Mickey and Minnie. Of course we have all the goodies we collected along the way.

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After we finish up our tour, we hop on the monorail to spend the rest of the evening at EPCOT. On the way out we hand some people coming in our fastpasses for space mountain since we won't be back to the Magic Kingdom.

As soon as we get to EPCOT we head straight to soarin to grab fastpasses and lunch. After lunch we hop a ride on Living with the Land. EPCOT is very busy at this point, but the land area is always busy.

Among the other things I can't seem to keep track of this trip, I leave my cell phone on the living with the land ride. It was sitting next to me and some how I left it on the seat or when I slid out perhaps dropped it in the water. I hope the second because otherwise someone picked it up and never returned it. I noticed I left it within minutes of getting off the ride, stood waiting for it and it never arrived. If someone did keep it, karma sucks and I'm sure they will reap what they sow, I hope its in the water of living with the land still.

It was several stops during the day and calls to guest services, but we pressed on and hit the rides and world showcase. At this point I'm not feeling the best, didn't eat much at sunshine seasons and have been off all day. Perhaps why I lost my phone, who knows.

This is the last photo from the trip, I was carrying my dSLR at this point so was still able to take photos at least.

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After walking around the countries and doing the normal EPCOT 'stuff' we make it around for dinner at Marakeesh. Our ressie is for 6:45 but we get in at 5:00 and the restaurant is empty. They seat us right away. I can't eat but the kids and Tamra have dinner before heading back to the hotel. On the way out we check guest services for the phone again with no luck.

Still a great day at EPCOT and MK today. The family magic tour was a highlight of the day. I'm glad we saved it for the end of the trip, it was a nice way to visit the magic kingdom after having been there several times during the trip.

Back to the hotel, tomorrow was suppose to be Animal Kingdom but we all agree to stay at the hotel. I had a rough night to say the least and didn't leave the room for more than 10 minutes.....

[dpuck1998]

Day 13:

Our last full day in Florida

I don't have much to write about today, other than I was in the hotel sick all day. Today was a big day for Trace though, we bought tickets for him and I to go see the Bulls play the Magic. I keep telling myself that I'll be up for it by the time the game comes but it doesn't work out.

During the day Tamra takes the kids to the pool and community center. I sit and watch TV try to eat and start reading the Help.

Come game time I just can't do it. Tamra has to drive and go to the game with Trace.

backtrack, we had ressies today for lunch that we had to cancel in the morning. When we called they said ok, that will be 50 bucks to cancel, 10 bucks...PER PERSON! What a load of crap, she said we were sick so they said, ohh ok, no problem we will waive the fee. That is stupid stuff, I can tell you next trip my meals will become less and less at the parks and those restaurants can stay empty. Seldom did we see a full restaurant even at the busiest of times.

Back to the game, Tamra and Trace drive to the Amway center. The report back was that parking was a breeze and the arena was amazing. They had seats right behind the basket. Before the game Trace bought a Dwight Howard magic jersey. He wore his Bulls Rose jersey to the game and was in a quandary. Before tip off he settled on the Rose jersey. Good thing since they pulled away and won easily. Right in front of them was someone Tamra thought must be famous because everyone was talking to him. She sent me a photo and at first I thought it was eminem, but after a couple looks I quickly figured out it was Jason Williams former NBA point guard. The are sitting about 20 feet from him and he is right on the baseline with his kids.

The other two kids and I watch the wizards of waverly place episode when the family wizard is named. I go back and forth between that and the game to see if I catch a glimpse of the family.

By the end of the night I'm feeling a bit better and I actually get some sleep. Tomorrow we head home, but have lots of time to pack and get around.

[dpuck1998]

Day 14:

Time to go home.

I forgot to post yesterday, fitting, that I left the camera in the community hall when we returned form EPCOT on day 12. This after forgetting/losing my phone earlier in the day. At least this one turned out ok. They turned it into the front desk and we were able to recover it yesterday morning. I'd much rather lose my phone that can be replaced for 100 bucks over the 1000+ camera that could have been lost.

So up and at it in the morning, relaxing, reading, playing games in the room and community hall/arcade. We pack up the car and just hang at the resort until it is time to go. A stop off at the big mcdonalds on property, which is lame by the way. Not even a play area or anything. What a waste of space. I'm able to eat a little something and I'm feeling better by the minute. I try not to eat too much, but a few fries are hard to resist.

The trip to the airport was easy, we are flying out of sanford direct to kalamazoo. Love flying into and out of the small airports. Security is a breeze and there are no lines. We shipped boxes home so we didn't have to check any luggage. Its cheaper to ship than to pay the fees to check even one back in either direction. Before we know it we are off, landed and are settled back in at home.

Reflections of the trip? I have no problem going at busy times. As long as you can get up early and hit the parks you can do everything you want to do. We managed to ride the big rides many times during peak crowds. We saved the things like the shooting arcade and country bears for the peak hours of the day and used fastpasses like crazy. Some of our best days were during the busiest week. Loved the down days, as much as I fight it they turn out to be some of the most memorable. Once I'm in a park I have a hard time leaving, my commando takes over and I want to do what they say I can't during busy times. We did a nice job of coming and going and spent a lot of quality time just hanging out.

This is our first trip where we stayed in one spot for such a long time. Thirteen nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge was amazing. We started to feel like we were at home, doing laundy dishes, etc but in a good way. Lost track of days and never felt homesick.

Legoland was a big disappointment. We won't return and I can't imagine they will be able to survive that far away and for such a high price. This is the second time the lego company has disappointed me. The discovery center in Schaumburg, IL is just awful. Holyland was half the price and a better value. While they didn't have rides, at least I felt it was worth the cost of admission. Not to mention the food was a lot better.

We currently don't have a plan in the works. Once they open the new fantasyland I'm sure we will be back. We used up all of our DVC points for a while to pull this trip off, so when its time to go back they should be fully operational.

Thanks for reading!!

[Launchpad11B]

Nice job Donnie boy. :thumbsup2

[dpuck1998]

Nice job Donnie boy. :thumbsup2

Thanks buddy, love ya :hug: