Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Three... C 32, P 39 - The End...Or Is It?

I am sorry you had such a horrible experience at Boma.

I am a bit relieved, though, to hear that it was breakfast that was bad for you. We have a dinner reservation there for our upcoming trip.

The only I have been to Boma in the past was for dinner and the food was delicious. The service, however, was TERRIBLE. But we thought the food made up for it. Back to your trip, though. It stinks to start off your day with a bad breakfast. I am happy that it turned around with Festival of the Lion King.

I can't believe your DS fell asleep on the safari ride!
 
I am sorry your Boma Breakfast was not a good start to your morning. That stinks because I know you had really been looking forward to it.

I am so jealous you got to meet Koda from Brother Bear! I can't believe you had never seen FOTLK. I think it's a great show, definitely on the list for May. I love watching the FOTLK portion of the Christmas Parade, and last year three of the four main singers were the ones that I had at my show so that made me feel like I had some of the top notch performers if you know what I mean.

I can't believe the safari was walk on! The ride gods were taking care of you since the ADR gods slept in that morning. ;)
 
Ah, Boma... I'm no longer even tempted to try it, honestly. I think at some point we'll visit the lodge and get some zebra domes from the CS just for fun... but that's about the extent of my excitement there.
 
I'm so sorry to hear that Boma was horrible for you. I've always enjoyed dinner there, but never tried the breakfast. I think every trip gets the one bad dining experience. Mine this year was Ohana. My love for the place was killed this trip. I might go again, but it will take lots of begging.
 


I am sorry you had such a horrible experience at Boma.

I am a bit relieved, though, to hear that it was breakfast that was bad for you. We have a dinner reservation there for our upcoming trip.

You know, I've been hearing good things about dinner lately.

The only I have been to Boma in the past was for dinner and the food was delicious. The service, however, was TERRIBLE. But we thought the food made up for it. Back to your trip, though. It stinks to start off your day with a bad breakfast. I am happy that it turned around with Festival of the Lion King.

Okay, glad to hear it's not just me! I always feel bad after I write such a scathing review, but it was just so awful, I couldn't sugar coat it. And the FOTLK was awesome, and really did help to make up for it.

I can't believe your DS fell asleep on the safari ride!

I can't either. I really can't. The tour guide even commented on it, it was too funny.

I am sorry your Boma Breakfast was not a good start to your morning. That stinks because I know you had really been looking forward to it.

I think that added to the disappointment. I had so been looking forward to it, and for us to take the time out to go there, which it does take a bit from where we were, you know? DH said never again.

I am so jealous you got to meet Koda from Brother Bear!

You've never met him? Sometimes he and Kenai are in Canada, too, just so you know.

I can't believe the safari was walk on! The ride gods were taking care of you since the ADR gods slept in that morning. ;)

I couldn't believe it was a walk on either! I was fully expecting to get fastpasses for later. We had some good timing. :thumbsup2

Ah, Boma... I'm no longer even tempted to try it, honestly. I think at some point we'll visit the lodge and get some zebra domes from the CS just for fun... but that's about the extent of my excitement there.

You know, I used to get really excited about the zebra domes, and I know LegoMom enjoyed them, but I read in a post once the exact flavor combinations, and it just doesn't sound like my cup of tea.

I'm so sorry to hear that Boma was horrible for you. I've always enjoyed dinner there, but never tried the breakfast. I think every trip gets the one bad dining experience. Mine this year was Ohana. My love for the place was killed this trip. I might go again, but it will take lots of begging.

I agree, I think each trip has one bad dining, whether it be food, or service. I find it easier to ignore bad service if the food is good. Does that make sense? Because I'm more optimistic, and I know what a high turn over of waitstaff they have. That's probably why Mom and Nana are so well remembered, they request the same servers, if they're still available.
 
Well, DH and I did have a bit of a debate over whether or not to stay and see Nemo. We knew the show times, but DS hadn't been asleep that long. And there really just wasn't much more I wanted to do at the Animal Kingdom. We'd seen a great show, had some great character time, gotten on the safari, and just had some fun walking around soaking it all in. I was sort of...well, done. And I just didn't want to hang around waiting for DS to wake up to decide if he really wanted to see Nemo. Even though I'm sure we would have enjoyed it, I made the command decision that it could wait until next year. :thumbsup2

So off we headed toward the bus stops, not really sure where we were going. We had time to kill. The general idea was to head to Downtown eventually, but we had a TON of time before we'd even planned to mosey that way.

And then it hit me. And I looked at DH and blurted out, "Do you want to go check out Caribbean Beach?"

Because that was also one of our game plans. To take a look at that resort and see if it would be good for the next year. Bounceback. Free dining. New resort. PIRATE theming. Ah, sweet bliss. :cloud9:

We decided we were game, so we boarded a bus to CBR and let the adventure begin. It should have been a clue to me that despite the whole getting off and on the bus rigamarole, normally enough to wake my sleeping toddler, actually didn't wake him. At. All. :confused3 Now, having never been there before, and not really remembering what the preferred sections were, I couldn't even think of where to get off the bus. Since there are a ton of villages to choose from, eventually I picked one that sounded good. Don't even remember what it was.

It wasn't preferred. It was pretty far out. And we got sort of lost. But had a lovely little stroll that I really enjoyed. :lmao:

DH, not so much. Not because the surroundings and company weren't lovely. Because he had a rip roaring headache that was getting worse by the minute. And although we were equipped with Tylenol, we had nary a drink in sight. And although he's no stranger to choking back some meds without anything to drink, he just wasn't looking so hot. Which is very, very weird. My DH never, ever gets sick. It's rare. Maybe, maybe once a year. That's it. Given his overall pallor, he needed something to drink and to get those meds down. So we needed to find Old Port Royale, and fast! It seemed like once you got into the individual villages, there was really a lack of signage. Being that I was new to the resort, it was so easy for me to get turned around there. Eventually, we found our way to OPR, and got DH some water so he could get some Tylenol and fix that headache.

Or so we thought. :rolleyes1

Overall first impression?

I was in love. I loved that it was quiet. I didn't even mind our getting lost and taking that walk, and we eventually saw the lake and the whole resort and how pretty it was, I was in love even more. I only felt badly about it because DH wasn't feeling well.

We decided to pass some time in the arcade, since it was cool in there, and DS was still sleeping. Eventually, he woke up, and we ended up getting him something from the food court. Well, since DH's Tylenol had started to kick in, he was feeling a little bit better. Before we were going to head out to check out more of the resort, I took a closer look at the Food Court, and the shop.

Loved both.

Loved, loved, loved them. This resort SCREAMED relaxation to me. And the shop SCREAMED pirates. Well not really. It more whispered. In a soothing, rum-soaked voice, "TK...you need to stay here...savvy?" We all know how I feel about that. Pirates. Jack Sparrow's rum-soaked voice in my ear. :lovestruc

We headed to check out the new pool and the kiddie area was awesome. Just awesome. The theming was incredible. pirate: As we wandered along, I loved the beaches, loved the hammocks, and loved the whole feel of it. DS really like the white sand, and wanted to play, but we didn't have anything with us for him to use. We let him run around a little bit, and then back to the stroller.

Now, I'd had my fun looking around, and although DH's headache was held at bay by medication, it was still there. Our idea of going to Downtown faded into the distance. We had time, anyway. We could easily do it another day. Even though we were at the end of our trip. It didn't matter. We would go with the flow, and fit it in when we could.

And then, we hit the nail in the coffin.

The one thing that had DH using the executive veto (something rarely, rarely employed by my husband) on the resort. He didn't mind the walk, other than his headache. He liked the theming. He was a little perturbed about the signage, but knew we were newbies, so that was to be expected that we wouldn't know our way around.

The nail in the coffin was the busses. :sad2:

Dang busses.

We picked a village, and sat at the bus stop.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited. :rolleyes:

It took the full twenty minutes for the bus to come to the Magic Kingdom. Okay, we're aware that's a normal wait time, so alright. The only problem was that SO many other busses pulled up in that time frame, it became a bit frustrating, like we had just missed one, savvy?

And not only did we feel like we were waiting, then we had to stop at every single village on the way out. Which takes time, guys. And it's not something that really bothered me. Because I was in LOVE with this resort. LOVE, I tell you. But it bothered DH.

A lot. And he pulled out the executive veto based on that fact alone. Carppy busses. How thou hast forsaken me. And DH said, right aloud, "We are not staying here next year." :sad1:

Oh, CBR.

You will be mine.

Someday...you will be mine. ::yes::

Now since DH wasn't feeling on top of his game, so to speak, we decided to head back to our resort. Hence the bus to the MK. Quickest way to get back to the Lodge, you know? Bus to MK, then bus to WL.

We had some time, and I asked DH if he'd like to take DS to the pool so I could get some laundry done.

I don't know when it hit me. As I was doing laundry, I had to go up and down the elevator a couple of times, and it suddenly came on like a freight train. The headache. The weird feeling. :sick: I went to check on the boys in the pool, and DH wasn't feeling good. They were having a great time, but he was feeling worse.

A lot worse.

And mine was just starting. The headache.

And the weird feeling. :sick:

It just...wasn't...right.

And I ignored the clues. The signs. Oh, how foolish. How DS never woke up despite being taken in and out of the stroller during his nap. How earlier in the week, as we were leaving our room, a father and son was leaving their room, and having a conversation with Mousekeeping about how they didn't want any service today because his wife wasn't feeling well. Never mind the unscheduled cleaning in the pool on our first day. And a thousand other little things that should have clued me in. But I was on vacation. I was worried when DS didn't feel well, but I chalked it up to the heat, the fair skin, the sun. Not anything else. :confused3

We ended our evening with a late dinner from Roaring Forks in our room, rounds of Tylenol and Ibuprofen (some of us have a preference).

And off to bed we went. :laundy:

Up Next - What would tomorrow bring?
 
I'll put another nail in your CBR coffin. If you stayed there I know you would be tempted maybe even driven to book one of the new pirate rooms....in Trindad South. My DH walked from Trindad South to the main pool/food court and he timed it. 15 full minutes! And that was just him pushing a stroller in mild weather.
 


I'll put another nail in your CBR coffin. If you stayed there I know you would be tempted maybe even driven to book one of the new pirate rooms....in Trindad South. My DH walked from Trindad South to the main pool/food court and he timed it. 15 full minutes! And that was just him pushing a stroller in mild weather.

You know what? Although I'd love to stay in one of those rooms, in that case, pirate loving gal that I am, I can't justify the additional cost. You're paying the price of a preferred room to be in the least desirable location. I'd rather pay for preferred and enjoy the new Nemo theming.

I know you haven't gotten to it yet, but did you have a Nemo room? If you don't want to reveal too much, PM me. :goodvibes
 
You know, I used to get really excited about the zebra domes, and I know LegoMom enjoyed them, but I read in a post once the exact flavor combinations, and it just doesn't sound like my cup of tea.

I figure it's one of those things I need to check of the mental list of things to do, so it'll get off my mind and make room for the endless numbers of other things trying to make their way in. ;)

And I'm so bummed to hear about the buses at CBR! The pirate theming sounds like fun, but not at the cost of convenience.

Not unlike the loss of my P&PP. :rolleyes:
 
Oh no! Oh no! You guys can't be sick!!! :sick:

I totally know that horrible, horrible feeling...Being in Disney...and sick...

I hope you are not sick!

Gosh, it feels like this trip is happening right now! "Gee, Maroo, it's over...she is not "really" sick..." tells self!

Yikes!!!

More! More! More!

popcorn::
 
And I'm so bummed to hear about the buses at CBR! The pirate theming sounds like fun, but not at the cost of convenience.

I think it's just going to have to be a resort we stay at when we don't go with extended family.

When I can convince DH that we have 7-8 days to get around and it's not a big deal.

Further increasing the debt to be repaid. That should make him happy. :lmao:

So sorry you were all feeling carpy! Being sick at Disney is so lousy!

Thanks!

Oh no! Oh no! You guys can't be sick!!! :sick:

I totally know that horrible, horrible feeling...Being in Disney...and sick...

I hope you are not sick!

Gosh, it feels like this trip is happening right now! "Gee, Maroo, it's over...she is not "really" sick..." tells self!

Yikes!!!

More! More! More!

popcorn::

Hon, I'm okay right now. Other than my allergies acting up, we're all peachy.

But I must confess....

well, no, I think I'll make you wait. ;)
 
Bummer about the buses at CBR!

I am sure you can use your pirate-y ways to convince DH to stay there!

Uh oh. Bad headaches coming on at the same time is NOT a good sign...
 
Stupid sickness hitting you while you are in Disney. :headache: So not fair!

Maybe if you took DH back to CBR when he didn't have a headache he would be willing to overlook the buses? :rolleyes:
 
Oh TK---so sad to hear about how everyone ended up sick in the end!!!! How crazy!!! No fun at all for sure!
 
Oh TK---so sad to hear about how everyone ended up sick in the end!!!! How crazy!!! No fun at all for sure!

Not fun, but as you'll see in the next chapter, for the most part, I had the right attitude. :thumbsup2
 
No joke. In this part of my journal, for September 19, 2008, it says "my memory is getting hazy." :lmao:

DH and I woke up that morning "under the weather."

That's the biggest understatement I've probably written in this trip report. Although I guess to say that we were under the weather on this day makes sense, because the next day, it was that much worse.

Oh, yes, dear friends. We were sick. Very, very sick.

However, I ascribe to certain theories about illness. And one of those theories is, better sick in Disney than well at work. :thumbsup2

Now the night before, I left out a little tidbit.

I booked bounceback. Not tellin' where yet. You'll just have to wait for me to start that pre-trip report. ;) But suffice it to say bounceback was booked. For myself, and for my FIL. I was able to get two rooms for our dates, no problem. The cast member was awesome. His name was Asher. I remember it distinctly because I thought of Anne Rice's novel Lasher. Similar, yet different. Anyway, Asher was great. He ran through different dates, different pricing, all sorts of whatnot with me. Now I've booked bounceback, and at the time, I wrote, "just to have, don't know if we'll go." Ha. Ha. Ha. When Mom and Nana went in October, they were able to book same dates, same resort. So it looks like the family hoopla for the as yet unspeakable birthday is on.

Now I called back this morning, doubting myself even then, and wanting to check out some more pricing. Fortunately, the server was down. I say fortunately because the switch I wanted to make (in theory) would have been big bucks. I take it as some sort of cosmic sign. However, even though that wasn't working, the reservation system for ADRs was. And I had an idea in my head. And if I'd thought about it more, I probably would have realized it may not have been the best idea. With us sick. DS was better, but I should have known. Ah well.

See, in order to dine with the fair and lovely Tink the next day, I'd had to cancel my Crystal Palace ressie, because there was just no way I was doing that much food in one day. Now, I'd been trying the whole week we were down there to score a ressie for this day, Friday, with no dice.

Until that very morning. When I called and got someone's (THANK YOU) cancelled ressie for lunch. I was so excited. We were ready to go anyway, so we headed to the Magic Kingdom with as much spring in our step as you can possibly expect from people loaded up on Tylenol and Ibuprofen.

I was excited as we got there to be spending some good quality time in the Magic Kingdom. And I took lots of pictures to prove it.

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Unfortunately, DS was having a day. :sad2:

You know. Let's call it a toddler day. That's the kindest thing I can say about his behavior at that point. Fine one minute, then any little thing sets him off. We're not sure what to do, but we have time to kill before our ressie.

Where do pirates belong? pirate: pirate: pirate:

ADVENTURELAND!

We head over to POTC and it's a walk-on. DS is apprehensive, but he wants to go on the ride to find Jack Sparrow. Who's surprised? That boy loves him some Jack Sparrow. I have no idea where he gets that from. :rolleyes1 Well, we all loved the ride, but I was bummed that the Davy Jones in the beginning wasn't working. Not turned on at all. Ah well. There's always next year. Now, DS would get a little nervous but we played our favorite game, find Jack Sparrow. It's similar to finding Figment, but much nicer for TK. ;)

Now on our way out, what to our wondering eyes would appear?

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Oh, heaven.

Oh, joy.

Oh, rapture. :cloud9:

And finally, the question will be answered.

What you waited the whole dang pre-trip report to find out.

Did TarzansKat meet Captain Jack?

Well, not exactly. But I came pretty dang close. And actually, we stayed to watch the tutorial, and as Jack was giving his discourse on piracy, eventually he wandered over our way, stopped right in front of my son, looked him right in the eye, and said, "Eh, redhead?"

I smiled. It may not have been me. It wasn't my moment. But it was good enough. Plenty good enough. :goodvibes

Unfortunately, and feeling quite sacrilegious, we had to leave the tutorial early, because it was time for our Crystal Palace ADR. Now that place is always mobbed. Always, always. And today was no different. When we were seated, I was excited. It's one of my favorite places to eat. I love Winnie the Pooh, and...

Oh, my goodness.

Do you know what I did?

We briefly interrupt your regularly scheduled trip report programming to bring you this delightful TK digression?

:happytv:

Do you know that in writing about my Animal Kingdom day, I totally forget to tell you all about my character interaction before we left the park? I only think of it now because it was with our dear friends from the Hundred Acre Wood! It was after DH and I had decided not to stay for Nemo and on our way out. We happened by the spot where Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore do meet and greets, and since DS was sleeping, I practically begged DH to wait in line with me so I could get my picture taken and meet my favorites. I love Winnie the Pooh. He's the mecca of character hugs to me. There is nothing like a hug from a silly ole bear to brighten your day, let me tell you.

So, we waited in line, DS sleeping snugly in his stroller. Eventually it was my turn. I have no shame people. I march right up to Pooh all by myself, give him a big huge hug, and say the same thing I say every year, "You're my favorite." And Pooh always squeezes me a little tighter when I say it, like he knows. :goodvibes

This year, I also told him, "Pooh, you know, every time I come to see you, you always look the same! So young! But I keep getting older..." And I shook my head. I asked him what his secret was. He pointed to the hunny pot, and tried to give me some, to keep me young. I love that bear. We had a great time getting our picture taken, and then I moved on to Eeyore.

I asked Eeyore if he'd found his tail. He turned around to show me that it was firmly attached. We had a big ole hug over that and took our pictures together. Next, it was Piglet. Piglet was very, very shy, but also, quite huggable. We took our pictures together, and up next was Tigger.

Oh, Tigger. You know that the wonderful thing about Tiggers is, right? Well, one of them, anyway? They're bouncy.

Would you all like to know what I told Tigger? Walked right up to him and said, "Tigger, my son doesn't like it when I sing. But, he lets me sing the most wonderful thing about Tiggers! And then we bounce!" And then, Tigger and I bounced. It was so much fun. It was so corny and childish and awesome. I felt five all over again, and in such a good way. Just thinking of that moment now brings tears to my eyes. So simple. So pure. Just bouncin' with Tigger. And, also, all captured on film. So that years from now, DS will look at those vacation photos, and say, geez, MOM!

Now, we thought it might be nice to have at least one picture with DH and me in it, so he hopped...well not literally, DH is not a bouncin' with Tigger kind of guy...on over and we took some shots together.

And that is my happy little segue that brings me back to the present. At the Crystal Palace. One of my favorite places to eat.

So remember if you will, all of that great character interaction I'd had the day before. Now Eeyore was great. They give the kids these little memory cards with the characters on them to promote the new Super Sleuth movie on DVD. And Eeyore was awesome when DS showed him his card. Actually, I think Eeyore was quite flattered. It was time for the parade, and DS got right behind Eeyore, and they went around, having a great time. I sent DH with him, I didn't feel comfortable with him by himself.

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Now DS had been doing okay eating wise, but I'm just guessing he still wasn't feeling up to par. He had some ice cream. Then a sandwich, then some ice cream, and for some reason unbeknownst to us about halfway through the meal he had an absolute meltdown and laid down under the table.

And wouldn't come up. At. All.

And Tigger and Pooh tried. They did try to entice the little nugget up to see them, but no dice. For some reason, unbeknownst to us, DS was done. And it wasn't nap time, it wasn't late, it wasn't hunger, he was just done.

And that tainted the whole experience for me. It just wasn't what I thought it would be. It wasn't what I pictured in my head. It didn't have that magical quality that I'd had the day before, bouncing with Tigger.

And I know why. Instead of thinking of a nice relaxing day at the Magic Kingdom, I did it. I fell prey to the concept of the perfect vacation. I hadn't eaten at the Crystal Palace in two years. I wanted to eat there so badly, I figured we had to cram it in.

In all reality, it would have been better if we hadn't. The food was good, but we were those parents. The ones you see arguing at a table, in a hurry to just pay the check and leave. It happened. We were tired, we were sick, and we were maxed out. In that moment, I realized something. The way I'd been so disappointed in Boma, the way the Crystal Palace wasn't what I thought it would be. We're really Chef Mickey's people. We've had a great time there every year. DS loves those characters, and without fail, he loved it again this year. And maybe some day, the season for Chef Mickey's will pass, and the Crystal Palace will have it's turn again. You have to love that about Disney. Something for everyone. So even though it was a let down, it was also enlightening. :rolleyes:

But never fear, intrepid readers. Because for each bad thing, there is always something good, and everything happens for a reason.

Up next - Our Magical Moment
 

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