OUTPLAN-OUTPLAY-OUTLAST: a Sleepingbooty TR! New Princess trip update 4/2

[NMW]

Subscribing

 

[KatMark]

Love the snow pictures and Woody in the snow. Our dog HATES snow.

Sounds like a fun trip. We've never stayed at POR, but we have visited a number of times and it would be the moderate we would stay at if ours wasn't available. I bet when you get to Chef Mickey's that they'll be able to fit you all in at the same time.

 

[Minnie824]

Thanks for reading! Is this your family's first trip in June? My parents LOVE going to WDW with us - great granddaughter bonding time for them

No..I've been since I was 4...DH & I honeymooned...girls have been every year since the older one was 4. This is our 2nd trip with my parents. they definitely love coming along w/the girls too. Have fun at the marathon!

 

[princessjv]

Are you going to dress in a tutu? I think it would be GREAT! When else can a momma dress like that in public and {NOT} get giggled at?

I love Port Orleans! You guys are going to have an amaazing time... and I have heard NOTHING but {GREAT!} things about the new Mexican spot!

Btw- I wish our schools would close. We rarely close for any amount of snow. Today our current temp is -21. OUCH! {still school though!}

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Ooh How exciting , another trip to plan !!!

I know I know! And since this will be a totally different type of trip, that makes it even more fun.

Hey, sounds like a fun trip. Glad you're getting back to POR. I really like that resort.

I'm looking forward to hearing how you like the new Mexican restaurant at Epcot. It looks pretty good.

I think it looks good too, on the other hand - I'm not sure it will go over extremely well with the rest of my party. I've looked at the menu, and it doesn't have the typical things like enchiladas and quesadillas. Hope they can stretch themselves and order something new.

Subscribing

Glad to have ya!

Love the snow pictures and Woody in the snow. Our dog HATES snow.

Sounds like a fun trip. We've never stayed at POR, but we have visited a number of times and it would be the moderate we would stay at if ours wasn't available. I bet when you get to Chef Mickey's that they'll be able to fit you all in at the same time.

I was surprised he like the snow. But it was a pain in the patooty every time he wanted to go out. He'd come in covered in snow and even after I rubbed him down with a towel, I wouldn't be able to get it all off so he'd have to go in his crate for a while to drip dry.

You are a big CSR fan, am I right? Its hard to switch from your favorite!

No..I've been since I was 4...DH & I honeymooned...girls have been every year since the older one was 4. This is our 2nd trip with my parents. they definitely love coming along w/the girls too. Have fun at the marathon!

Multi-generational trips are awesome

Are you going to dress in a tutu? I think it would be GREAT! When else can a momma dress like that in public and {NOT} get giggled at?

I love Port Orleans! You guys are going to have an amaazing time... and I have heard NOTHING but {GREAT!} things about the new Mexican spot!

Btw- I wish our schools would close. We rarely close for any amount of snow. Today our current temp is -21. OUCH! {still school though!}

If I was running, I'd TOTALLY wear a tutu. Heck, maybe I'll just wear one anyway to show my support

Wow, you real temp is -21? Not your windchill? Brrrrrr! I thought we were bad at 6 degrees this morning. Bright and sunny though, so that helps! We do have a small section of our district that is more rural with narrow windy roads. So I always assume that's why they call off school so often.

 

[KatMark]

I

I was surprised he like the snow. But it was a pain in the patooty every time he wanted to go out. He'd come in covered in snow and even after I rubbed him down with a towel, I wouldn't be able to get it all off so he'd have to go in his crate for a while to drip dry.

You are a big CSR fan, am I right? Its hard to switch from your favorite!

Yes, we put our Cookie in her crate too so that she can drip.

Yes, we are bigt CSR fans (stay number 10 will be this year). But I do think one of these days we'll do a split stay with POR; but first I want to do AKL (which we are doing this trip as you know) and the Beach Club.

 

[All7OfUs]

That's great you got so many girls to go on this trip with you!h What a fun time - even if you don't run. You can cheer them on and encourage them!

I wouldn't worry about the CM timing; show up at your first ADR time and tell them you're willing to wait for tables near each other when they become available.

Hmmmm.... T-shirts? Not a clue...

WOW! You all got a great snowfall! I'm sure your girls LOVED having a day off AND getting to go to a fun place to play in it. If you have school off tomorrow as well, the snow should be even better to sled on!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Yes, we put our Cookie in her crate too so that she can drip.

Yes, we are bigt CSR fans (stay number 10 will be this year). But I do think one of these days we'll do a split stay with POR; but first I want to do AKL (which we are doing this trip as you know) and the Beach Club.

I'm thinking about a split stay next time as well. Just to defray the cost of staying a few nights Deluxe.

Love the name Cookie for a dog, how cute!

That's great you got so many girls to go on this trip with you!h What a fun time - even if you don't run. You can cheer them on and encourage them!

I wouldn't worry about the CM timing; show up at your first ADR time and tell them you're willing to wait for tables near each other when they become available.

Hmmmm.... T-shirts? Not a clue...

WOW! You all got a great snowfall! I'm sure your girls LOVED having a day off AND getting to go to a fun place to play in it. If you have school off tomorrow as well, the snow should be even better to sled on!

Liesa - I am counting on you to come up with something clever for me! Maybe when I give some more details about the trip you'll hit on something!

 

[englishrose47]

Just checking in !!!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Hi Rosie!

 

[Poolrat]

Saw the survivor logo and finally had time to click.

All caught up.

Castle with the crane huh. I have never been so lucky.

 

[jenbear123]

Have room for one more? That's great news about the trip! How exciting! Sure beats sticking around in the snow.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Saw the survivor logo and finally had time to click.

All caught up.

Castle with the crane huh. I have never been so lucky.

Hi Pat, thanks for clickin'!

Have room for one more? That's great news about the trip! How exciting! Sure beats sticking around in the snow.

Yay, Jen's here! Wait, is this your first post? I thought you'd already been over. I'm SO ready to leave this snow behind. We've got about 12 inches on the ground and more expected tonight. These kids NEED to go back to school!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

Episode 5: "There's Six of Us"

When I last left off, we were riding the TTA when I looked down and noticed no wait at Space Mountain.

I so want my girls to man up and ride some rollercoaster with me. I asked if they were ready. Um, nope. Nada. Not gonna happen. Well, at least not today. When I ask them if they will ride say, Space Mountain, or even Big Thunder, when were are in the safety of our home 1000 miles from said ride, they always tell me, with complete nonchalance, that yes, they'll probably ride it this year. The tune always changes when we get within walking distance of it. Oh well, maybe another day - the trip has just begun after all.

Scott took the girls on Buzz Lightyear (also no wait) while Nana, Papa, and I rode Space. Then we met them for another spin on Buzz.

My attempt at a redneck photo:

I can't ever seem to get these exposed right. What's the trick? I guess I'm just not enough of a redneck

Next we headed over to Carousel of Progress. With the luck we were having with wait times, we probably should have raced across the park to hit some other headliners, but I just can't get into that commando mentality. Not anymore. My first few trips - without a doubt!

Next we made our way past the Speedway (which we pretended wasn't there. Don't love that ride) towards Fantasyland. I'm not loving all these construction walls! We grabbed a set of fastpasses for Peter Pan and then asked the girls what they wanted to do. The verdict? Cinderella's Carousel (or whatever they're intending to call it now. I don't like change. I refused to call the Peoplemover the TTA for years. Of course, now that they've added Peoplemover back to the name, I'm stuck on TTA).

Its interesting that my girls, now at age 7 and 10, still pick the most mild of rides to do first. I guess they are easily amused. At least they didn't ask for Dumbo. After the Carousel, we rode Snow White and saw Philharmagic - no wait for either. For me, Philharmagic is still one of the best attractions anywhere on property. It just puts the biggest smile on my face. Somewhere in there we stopped for a picture with Peter Pan & Wendy.

They insisted on taking one with us grownups. We gave in.

Poor Scott. He's not very good with a camera. I'm not sure why he framed the shot like that, cutting off half our bodies. I think Peter's saying, "Why you do us like that?" Oh well. He was next:

We used our fastpasses for Peter Pan next, and then headed towards Columbia Harbor House for a bite to eat.

I'm not sure what time it was, but I know we didn't want to stuff ourselves since we had a dinner at Ohana coming up. We ended up splitting 3 meals between the 6 of us. And with the desserts, it was just enough and I'm glad we did it that way. Man I love those tuna sandwhiches!

Haunted Mansion was the next logical stop, being right outside the door to CHH, and it only showed a 5 minute wait so we got in line.

The line did move very quickly and we were ushered right into the stretching room. However once the stretching room door open, it seemed to be SO crowded as we moved towards the Doombuggies. We were packed in like sardines and had to keep a strong grip on each other to avoid getting separated. I wonder if they were using more than stretching room? Not sure how that would work. I'd like to see a floor plan. Or maybe I wouldn't - I guess I kinda prefer the illusion. We got stuck for about 10 minutes. My parents shot this while they were stalled:

We decided it would be a good time to cool off at Splash Mountain so we headed in that direction.

Splash had a 20 minute wait, so we got in line. As we wound our way through the shady queue, I realized this was the first time we'd ever rode standby on this. I love the lanterns hanging from the trees in the courtyard. Unfortunately, the 20 minutes in line gave Jenna (yes, the 10 year old) time to get all worked up. She's ridden Splash several times, but she has yet to... shall we say, gain an appreciation for it. The girl does not like drops. Or hills. Or speed. She's not a risk taker, that girl. Well, she was fine once the ride was over, but I looked over at Lucy and could see she was all shaken up. Poor thing. And she's my brave one!

We attempted to dry ourselves off a bit in the bathroom. I don't know why we did this. Surely we would have dried in the sun? But you know, it really wasn't that hot. In fact - it was actually VERY nice weather all week. We've been this same week in September like 5 times and never had weather like this. Usually its in the low 90's, with mega-humidity and some afternoon thunderstorms thrown in for kicks and grins. I'd say this time, we were in the 80's all week. The humidity seemed much lower than usual - and best of all - NO rain! It was like we were being reimbursed for the week of horrible weather we'd had at WDW in May the previous year.

I suggested a quick zip on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I mean, we were RIGHT there, and there was only a 5 minute wait! This did not fly with the little chickadees. Maybe if I'd suggested it pre-Splash. Instead, they wanted to go to Tom Sawyer Island. We compromised. Scott & Nana would take the girls over to the island. Papa & I would ride Big Thunder and then meet them over there.

We had a blast barreling through the wild west, I even captured us on my cell phone:

There was a large crowd forming in the sheltered queue for the ferry to Tom Sawyer Island. We saw one boat go and come back empty except for a couple CMs. Then another CM with a gurney came through the crowds down to the dock. We watched as they took the gurney over and came back with a woman strapped to it. As we were watching we struck up a conversation with an older woman waiting by herself. She said her husband was over there and had called her to tell her he wouldn't be back for a while. Apparently, the woman had tripped and fallen and had cut her face. Supposedly there was a lot of blood. But there would be, facial cut and all. I'm not sure how badly she was hurt, it could be the gurney was just a precaution. Anyhow, by the time they resumed normal operation of the ferries, our crew was headed back to meet us.

We continued our circuit around to Adventurland, stopping for ice water from the McDonalds cart first. Pirates had no wait, so of course we hopped on. Now I don't know about you all, but when I'm in this part of the world, I HAVE to have some tropical refreshment. You know what I'm talking about - DOLEWHIP!!!!

From here we decided to take a cruise through the jungle. As we approached the standby queue, my mom told the CM standing there, "There's 6 of us." Um, okay. He just nodded and ushered us into the line. We just shook our heads and laughed at her. She tends to do things like this a lot. I don't even know how to explain why it was funny. She's just always saying something extraneous or inappropriate to someone. Happens with waitstaff at restaurants all the time. Gets a little embarassing. Anyway, I told her that he doesn't care how many we have, they'll ask us at the front. So, from then on, "There's 6 of us" became the catch phrase for the trip. Scott, my dad and I said it to EVERYONE, whether they needed to know or not. Luckily my mom is a good sport (that, and she is so very use to being made fun of by her horrid family)

At this point, it was time to head out. We had an appointment to devour mass quantities of meat. OHANA! We took the boat over to the Polynesian.

It was while we were on the boat that Jenna realized she'd lost her sunglasses. She thought she'd handed them to Nana at one point but no one could find them anywhere. I had just gotten her these at Justice, and they were really cute. She was inconsolable, even though I told her I'd get her a new pair.

We checked in at Ohana and were given a pager. While we waited (it would be about a 20 minute wait) we browsed the gift shop. Jenna ended up finding a pair of sunglasses she sort of liked, and Nana insisted on buying them. I found some cute halloween merchandise, but I decided to hold off for now.

We were seated at a great table in front of the window with a view of the castle. However, this was a pretty early dinner - we wouldn't be around when they did the fireworks. Still, it was a nice spot.

Our server was from St.Louis! That's the second time we've had that happen. The first was in 2009 at 50's Prime Time. That server wasn't only from St.Louis, she was even from our particular suburb!

Of course, the food was fabulous. Its so hard not to gorge yourself silly here. So we didn't even try. The girls love the potstickers. The only thing I wish they'd change is to bring back the Maui Scalloped Potatoes. I do miss those.

There were no coconut races while we were there, but Ukulele Lady did come out and lead the kids in a Limbo parade and give out leis.

We rolled ourselves back out to the boat dock to hitch a ride back to Magic Kingdom. We didn't enter the park as they were starting the Halloween party. We'd be attending that another night. For us, it was back to CBR to enjoy some pool and hot tub time.

Up Next: The Storm of the Century and Planning News

 

[Flossbolna]

What a wonderful day at the MK! Those September non-crowds sound sooo tempting!

You know, there is still hope for your daughters. I was so frightened of rides, even as a teenager I would ride only fairly basic coasters, but now I think I would go on nearly every ride... I even went on a real free fall tower ride once and that was much worse than a coaster for me!

I love your catch phrase of the trip! I am sure CMs are so used to being told so many strange things that "There's six of us" really does ot seem very outlandish to them at all.

 

[Sleeping Jilly]

I'm so happy you started your tr, I followes along in your ptr. We were there the same week it was beautiful weather! I love your survivor theme it's my all time favorite show. I love all your pics and updates so far!!!

 

[All7OfUs]

WOW, you had some awesome touring luck with lines and (no) waits!

yes! the tuna sandwiches are so yummy there! So large and filling and tasty, and perfectly positioned to hit up HM afterwards.

I think your girls will come around. Maybe showing them the other kids getting off might help? OR you could just resort to bribery like Glenn and Marc to.



'Ohana---- what can I say?? Such fond and wonderful memories from here; and it wasn't just the meat.

 

[glennbo123]

Whoo hoo, a nice day at MK.

Oh, you look plenty redneck to take a redneck photo. First, you've gotta get closer. I'm trying to remember what I do...I think I put the camera on the Time-value setting, meaning that the shutter speed has priority, and I set it at 1/60th of a second.

A lot of people have said that the tuna sandwich at CHH is really good. I'll have to try it someday. Must be full of lots of luscious fat.

Scott took a nice picture of that window that you and Peter Pan and Wendy were blocking. He he he.

"There's 6 of us" Oh, the teasing would have been relentless if I'd have been around too. Good thing your mom's a good sport!

I think your girls will come around. Maybe showing them the other kids getting off might help? OR you could just resort to bribery like Glenn and Marc to.

I heard that.

 

[TeaForTulips]

Catching up!

I love the the pic of the girls showing their muscles The joke with your mom is adorable. It reminds me of the silly things my family does also. If a lost pair of sunglasses is the worst thing all day what more could you ask for. Great posts!

How exciting for your trip! That is coming up quick! I will be handing out water at the princess marathon. The company I work for has a water stand and I jumped to volunteer!

 

[Sleepingbooty]

What a wonderful day at the MK! Those September non-crowds sound sooo tempting!

September is hard to beat!

You know, there is still hope for your daughters. I was so frightened of rides, even as a teenager I would ride only fairly basic coasters, but now I think I would go on nearly every ride... I even went on a real free fall tower ride once and that was much worse than a coaster for me!

That's good to hear. I went on Space Mountain at Disneyland with my dad when I was three (they must have had different vehicles with a lower height requirement!) so I've always been thrill junkie.

I love your catch phrase of the trip! I am sure CMs are so used to being told so many strange things that "There's six of us" really does ot seem very outlandish to them at all.

We had fun with it, that's for sure!