Movies & DREAMs 1/13 (Recent 11/18) Castaway Cay & MK

[kaoden39]

How did I know that would be your vote Chele

You know me well!

 

[Marshay]

Soooo, soooo sorry I have been delinquent on this TR. I finished my PP photos and am just waiting for the rest of the people in my group so I can get my copies. I'm halfway through my personal photos ... so realistically, I won't be starting this TR until late next week.

but I'm having a blast going through the photos -- wish I was there now!!

 

[Trentmom]

Soooo, soooo sorry I have been delinquent on this TR. I finished my PP photos and am just waiting for the rest of the people in my group so I can get my copies. I'm halfway through my personal photos ... so realistically, I won't be starting this TR until late next week.

but I'm having a blast going through the photos -- wish I was there now!!

No worries

Looking forward to seeing all your pics.

I bet!!!

 

[shalom]

I subscribe, then people can dawdle all they want, and I still catch everything when life happens and a trip report gets delayed a bit. As it is likely to happen at times with the best of us... along with the rest of us.

 

[Marshay]

I subscribe, then people can dawdle all they want, and I still catch everything when life happens and a trip report gets delayed a bit. As it is likely to happen at times with the best of us... along with the rest of us.

Sounds great! Ready to start now.

 

[pld5]

Sounds great! Ready to start now.

Yay! Looking forward to this one!

 

[Marshay]

Today is Saturday, January 12th and we are finally going to Disney World!! After all the holidays and cold weather and sicknesses, we are soooo ready to go.

This is the 10th Autotrain trip (one way) for Rachel and me and the 8th for Jerry and Elizabeth. We definitely are liking the Autotrain!!

So we leave at our usual time around 12 noon and drive to Lorton, VA arriving around 12:45pm. However, there is a LOT of traffic and it is totally blocking Lorton Road, a main intersection to enter the station as well as to get on I-95. We have never encountered this much traffic before and my first thought is that 'something' has gone wrong. This is more than just heavy traffic, although our train is also full.

After an hour of waiting on the side of the main road, we are able to check in and inquire what happened.

Unfortunately, the northbound train from FL only arrived at 12 noon (3 hours late), Amtrak is short staffed b/c of the rampant flu going around and the Coach Lounge car broke down along the way and they were not able to fix it but had to off-load that train car before allowing any new passengers on board.

So 300+ people arrive to get off the train right as 462 people start arriving to get on the train. UGH!!

While waiting to board, we ate sandwiches in the terminal and Elie played with the other kids. Rachel slept on the floor ...hmm, what is up with that?

I give great KUDOS to Amtrak -- they did an awesome job moving everyone and everything around and we actually left on time! We went straight to the lounge car to claim a booth.

What a relaxing way to travel!! Elie and me

Rachel and Jerry

I mean, can you really beat this -- spread out in a booth, drink some wine or 3, play games, watch scenery.

Oh, and did you check out my lovely nails?! Yes, I got them painted a fire engine red (or hot sexy red as Jerry calls them!). I did a gel nail this time which was supposed to last about 2-3 weeks. We'll see...

This is the part of the trip that is so fun!! I mean, as we look out on I-95 and see the traffic or the bad weather or imagine ourselves cramped on a flight or in our vehicle, we are always so thankful that we are on the train. This is really fun!!

Or so we think ...

As we are playing games, snacking and talking ... Rachel announces, "my stomach hurts. I feel like I'm ...."

 

[Trentmom]

WOW, that is a lot of people to get off and get on. Glad they did a great job and got you off on time



Looks like you enjoyed that wine


Oh no, your cliffhanger does not sound good

 

[ButterflyJen]

Dun dun duuuuuuuun....

 

[shalom]

I loved flying as a kid but it no longer tempts me (I swear the seat space has gotten smaller while I have gotten larger), however I keep thinking it'd be cool to take a train to Yellowstone. This is the second TR I've read where someone takes the autotrain, both of which make trains look great!

Except for that cliffhanger part.

 

[TruBlu]

OH NO... the dreaded "I feel like I'm..."


Sent from Tracey's iPhone using DISBoards

 

[hoffmann2828]

Watch out! She's gonna blow!!!! Lol

 

[kaoden39]

Uh oh! Those are not promising words. When you said Rachel was sleeping I wondered.

 

[Marshay]

WOW, that is a lot of people to get off and get on. Glad they did a great job and got you off on time
I was really surprised. Thought for sure we were going to be late!

Looks like you enjoyed that wine
Yes, I always look forward to that wine!!

Oh no, your cliffhanger does not sound good

It's not...

Dun dun duuuuuuuun....

So you like my cliffhanger?!

I loved flying as a kid but it no longer tempts me (I swear the seat space has gotten smaller while I have gotten larger), however I keep thinking it'd be cool to take a train to Yellowstone. This is the second TR I've read where someone takes the autotrain, both of which make trains look great!

Except for that cliffhanger part.

I definitely recommend the train at least once if you can. See for yourself if it works for you. I'd be open to doing a longer train trip, too.

OH NO... the dreaded "I feel like I'm..."


Sent from Tracey's iPhone using DISBoards

Yeah, it's coming ...

Watch out! She's gonna blow!!!! Lol

Watch out!!

Uh oh! Those are not promising words. When you said Rachel was sleeping I wondered.

I should have realized from when she wasn't playing with her sister and the friend...

 

[Marshay]

"Mommy, my stomach doesn't feel good and I thinkI am going ... to throw up -- and bleugh! At least I was quick enough to grab a little box and everything was 'contained'. So we clean up the area and go back to the room to rest.

After a rest, Rachel is feeling better but I admit, I'm not happy. I know it's not her fault or anything but I'm just DREADING that we are all going to be sick on vacation and it'll just hit us one by one until we are all knocked down.

However, we go to dinner (we won't let Rachel eat anything) and then it's early bed for everyone.

At this point I am praying for Safety and Health for our family. Rachel said once she was able to get everything out, she felt much better.

TRAIN FACTS
==========
Maximum speed is 70mph
462 passengers
273 vehicles (including one jet ski!)

 

[Marshay]

Today is Sunday, January 13

Rachel wakes up feeling much better and now I'm thinking maybe she had motion sickness? got too excited for Disney and it caused her stomach to be upset? just ate something that didn't agree with her?

I'm not sure but I'm thanking God that we all seem to be ok today!!

We got up at 6:45am and at breakfast. The girls play with the Lego Friends Brickmaster set that I got them until we arrive in Sanford at 9:20am.

Unfortunately, we had to wait until 10:35am for our SUV since we were one of the last ones. A quick stop to McD's for an early lunch and off to Walmart for groceries and a few souvenirs. Then we check into our room at

Now when Rachel and I went to Pop Century for our Mother-Daughter trip in July, we stopped over at Art of Animation resort and simply fell in love with it. So I knew I wanted to stay here in January.

Our Lion King room was ready on the 1st floor, Building #10, Room 5038 -- the 2nd closest room to the Main Lobby!! We quickly take photos of the room and unpack.

Main shower -- this reminds me of the shower I LOVE so much at Kidani!!

cute bed

The way the designers created these rooms are amazing!! Here is one of the wonderful lamps

 

[Marshay]

The dining room table and leaf chairs ...

that also converts to a bed

A closer image of Simba (this is in the Murphy bed when it is made up as a bed)

The 2nd bathroom

the living room and sofa bed. Note the cloud lamp in the ceiling

Kitchenette

Another really cool lamp. This one turns on by stepping on the switch on the floor (yes, I had to call up the front desk and ask how to turn it on!!

Rachel was happy to find some Hidden Mickeys (sorry if this is upside down...it looks fine on photobucket for me, so not sure what is wrong...but you get the idea)

 

[Trentmom]

So glad Rachel seems to be feeling better the next day

Lion King room is adorable!!

I love the table and then the pull down bed.

All the lamps are great.

Such a pretty , fun room

 

[Marshay]

After quickly unpacking, we head over to DHS to meet up with our friends from Tampa. We can't actually get to DHS from AoA b/c the roads are still closed from the Marathon they had earlier that day. So we end up going to MK and try to find another way to DHS but the parking attendant sends us back the way we came and told us the roads are now open.

They were not.

So we decided to leave WDW property and come back into WDW and go to DHS from the less known entrance. This was completely empty and what we should have done all along!

Anyway, we meet our friends and let the girls run around at Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. However, this was crowded, as you can see!!

Then off to Star Tours where I previously told Rachel that if she gets in her seat and has a big smile on her face and looks up at the screen right away ... she might get picked to be the Rebel Spy!!

And sure enough -- she is!!

Rachel thought that was great and our group of 7 all gave a cheer for her!

Then we went to Muppets and Rachel found some Hidden Mickeys on the ground by where it looks like they spilled paint

Then we rode TSMM, went to one of the last shows for Disney Jr with Little Einsteins/Handy Manny and head over to Sci Fi Dine In Theater.

Now I've heard many mixed reviews on this but I wanted to give it a try. We only had a ressie for the 4 of us but they were able to let us add on 3 more people.

I had previously been warned by my January friends that this restaurant is good as "long as you stick to the burgers. Do not venture away from the burgers!"

Well, since we just had McD's earlier that day, I wasn't in the mood for another burger so I timidly ventured out and got the Salmon BLT. This is not the best pic but you get the idea

 

[Marshay]

And the Salmon BLT was delicious!! It had a little spice to it which was surprising to me but since it is somewhat dark in the restaurant, I probably just missed that ingredient on the menu.

We had a blast laughing at the old movies that were on the screen. Jerry is a sci-fi buff, esp of old "B" movies and was just commenting the whole time on the movies!

I did take the advice of my Dissers and ordered a milk shake for me and got Elizabeth a special Ariel cup with light up figure on it.

Now Jerry got the burger, created the way he wanted it and said it was good. Not great. Not the best burger he ever had but it was good.

So I'm glad with my choice and would definitely eat here again!

After dinner, our friend leave to drive back to Tampa and we just wander the gift shops and take in the ambience of DHS. We get back to our room at 7:55pm and finish unpacking.

We get to bed and are all tired.

Rachel and Elizabeth decide to sleep together in the Murphy pull-down bed. The walls are VERY thin at AoA and they can hear every noise in the hallway ... and we can too, from our room. Boo!!

However, we all fall asleep and about 30 minutes later, Rachel is making all kinds of moaning and groaning noises and crying in her sleep and we can't figure out what in the world is going on. We wake her up but that seems to be worse and she won't talk to us.

Finally we move her to the sofa bed and she finally tells us, "Can you put the trash can near my bed in case I need it?"

UGH ... please not again.