Exclusive Baby Gorilla Photos! (plus bonus Trip Report) - June '15 - completed 10/23 - Page 31

Oh it's awful! Many years ago I went out to dinner with some friends and had a couple drinks before dinner was served. That was the first time I noticed it - I remember feeling so sick plus I start sweating, my heart was racing and it felt like I had shards of glass in my stomach. One of my co-workers has the same problem and she said it has to do with the lack of an enzyme needed to break down alcohol. Sometimes I'd love to tie one on but it's not worth how I'll end up feeling. Oh well....my friends & family always have a designated driver when we go out!

BTW - I'm so jealous you are going to Disney in October (I'll check out your PTR). That's when we usually go and we L-O-V-E it! DD is starting college this year so we are going in August instead. I'm still super happy we are going this year but I sure will miss the Food & (i can't drink) Wine Festival!

It is awful. You don't even get the fun of having a few once in a while. But you're right, it is so not worth the way you feel. I am often the DD as well...since I'm such a lightweight I won't have anything at all if I'm driving. But I do like the odd really fruity girly cocktail...that's just perfect for me...I can have that and feel ok...as long as I don't push my luck and try to have another. So it will take me several days at WDW to try a few different drinks lol. I am excited about food and wine too...well less so the wine lol...but there are some really good looking non-alcoholic drinks that I hope to partake in and maybe one of the real drinks lol. Sorry you are missing it but what can you do....at leat you are still going!
 
Glad you were able to get a better room. I think if the views are that different, it should be a different room class. Just my opinion - a peek a boo or ugly view does not warrant the premium paid for a 'view' class.

The resort looks huge. Was the walk to the main pool as long as it looked?

Love The goofy face Dylan was making and look....you got a lovely photo to follow. Emily is too young for the attitude look - hopefully it was just for a silly pic. She has plenty of time in her teenage years to perfect that look. :rolleyes:

What flavor stood out in the shake? I didn't realize you could pick chocolate ice cream with it. Peanut butter and chocolate shakes are my fave....curious as to what the 'J' would taste like?

I thought there were 3 FP+, yet I believe only 2 were listed. Are you holding out on the TR? :upsidedow

Can't wait to read more.
 
Disney food is SO expensive. Last year Emily got a chicken nugget meal at the QS place at the GF and brought it back to the room. The meal cost $9.99. We had the TV on in the room --- not on the WDW info channel (blasphemy I know) --- and there was a commercial for Burger King advertising a $2.99 chicken nugget meal. Crazy!

When Emily & I go out to eat without Steve our bill is always so much cheaper. Not only because we are paying for one less meal but because Steve always has at least 2 beers whenever we eat out. I usually just get an iced tea and Emily gets water. I'm not a big drinker mainly because I think I might have an allergy to alcohol; it only takes one drink and I'm feeling pretty lousy. It's a bummer. Steve used to home brew but he gave that up because he didn't keg the beer, he had to bottle it which was a major hassle. He didn't keg because I wouldn't let him take over the garage refrigerator with beer kegs. Bad wife.

It's insane! I like having the DDP for that very reason - so I can ignore the cost of each mean. And the cost of the DDP.

Beer is one of the big offenders, as you said, but it's one of the few times I drink anymore. When I eat out, I love a beer with it. So I ignore the cost of each beer. Ignorance IS bliss!

Nice update! I love the resort pics. I have stayed at CBR a few times, usually in Martinique but once in Jamaica. I always liked the color scheme in Aruba.

I'm very impressed with the resort so far!

Fun evening at HS. I would like to try 50's Prime time. That Fried chicken looks really good.

For some reason, I was thinking about the Hoop Dee Doo Revue before the trip and got to really craving fried chicken. This was perfect! Just as good as the HDDR, if not better.

Glad to hear that Dylan has been eating more at times, funny about the peanut butter. My nephew has sustained himself for many years on pizza and bread. Luckily he is a cross country/track and field athlete so he can burn it all off. He only recently has branched out to hamburgers, LOL.

He's slowly becoming more adventurous. But not that adventurous.

Glad you were able to get a better room. I think if the views are that different, it should be a different room class. Just my opinion - a peek a boo or ugly view does not warrant the premium paid for a 'view' class.

Agreed! I'm so happy this room was available. It was really the only other one on the first floor with a water view available, so we were lucky to get it.

The resort looks huge. Was the walk to the main pool as long as it looked?

Yes!

Emily is too young for the attitude look - hopefully it was just for a silly pic. She has plenty of time in her teenage years to perfect that look. :rolleyes:

I agree. Kristin agrees. Dylan agrees.

Emily doesn't.

What flavor stood out in the shake? I didn't realize you could pick chocolate ice cream with it. Peanut butter and chocolate shakes are my fave....curious as to what the 'J' would taste like?

It tasted like J.

:)

The PB was the most dominant flavor. What a great shake, though.

I thought there were 3 FP+, yet I believe only 2 were listed. Are you holding out on the TR? :upsidedow

We decided against using our Fantasmic! FPs. We have a Fantasmic! (man, I hate having to keep typing the exclamation point in "Fantasmic!", but it is called "Fantasmic!", and not "Fantasmic", so I feel obligated to be Disnically accurate.) dinner package for next Thursday, so we opted for sleep instead...

...and it was a good decision! Magic Kingdom updates now...
 


Day 2 - Tuesday - Magic Kingdom

Itinerary:

  • Sleep in, past Rope Drop
  • Mid-Day return to Caribbean Beach after lunch
  • Monorail to the Polynesian
  • Return to Magic Kingdom after dinner

FastPass+
  • Spash Moutain: 9:20-10:20am
  • Space Mountain: 10:20-11:20am
  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: 11:30-12:30pm

ADR:
  • 'Ohana, 5:35pm
 
Kristin wants to sleep in today, so I get the wake-up call for 7:00. Baymax awakens me with his prescription for fun and happiness. I get up, get ready, and iron whatever needs to be ironed. We iron very rarely. Weddings, funerals, Disney. But consistently at Disney.

I eat my Clif Bar, which I must admit, is much better than it was last year, when it brought with it the sensation of eating compacted sawdust. They're actually really good now, and the perfect breakfast for people who are far too impatient to eat a proper breakfast.

While Kristin and the kids get ready, I made my way to Caribbean El Cen- um, I mean, Centertown to fill up our mugs with beverages only one of us (me) will drink before we leave for the Magic Kingdom. So, more CBR photos and such.





Since it's a Disney lake, there has to be, by corporate policy, at least one turtle in here. And there he is!





Red-earned slider! We used to have two of those.

More photos!



Hey, are we back at Coronado?



That building there, dead center, is Aruba 55.



And there.



I get back, and the rest of the family is still getting ready. C'mon!
 
Emily left a great note for Mousekeeping...



..., but got embarassed when she saw me photograph it that she tossed the note in the trash.

Don't know if they would've acted differently had the note stayed, but they were not the least bit creative with Duffy. All he did all day, it would seem, was lay on the bed.

We're finally out the door and at the bus stop around 9:20. Our Splash Mountain FP window opens RIGHT NOW, but we still have an hour to get there. Shouldn't be a problem.

...

Ok, 10 minutes and no bus. Be patient.

...


20 minutes. Where is it?

...

Alright, we're at FORTY MINUTES now without a Magic Kingdom bus. I know it's June, but the park's been open for two hours already. We're going to be late for our FastPasses!

FINALLY, the bus pulls up, and on we go. I thought, "we're not going to make it."
 


...and we didn't. We got to the Magic Kingdom at 10:20 and watched our FP window slam shut. Darn it.

Or not. Kristin takes it up with guest services, and we've got FPs for Splash Mountain! At any time! Awesome!

So here we go, walking right down the middle. Wait - wasn't that building scrimmed last year, too? What on Earth are they doing to it?



But never mind that - did you see the Castle? We're here! At the Magic Kingdom!

Up the refurbed hub...



...and straight on 'til Tomorrowland.



Though we just missed our Splash FP window, we're right in the middle of our Space Mountain window, and on we go.



Afterwards, we all agree that we like this ride more and more every year. It may just be my second-favorite ride now, behind the obvious.

Oh, and if you didn't like the first photo, here's one from outside:



It's kind of tough, if you ask me, to get a good shot of Space Mountain. It's largely obstructed from the front, so the PeopleMover and Train are the best options.

And since PeopleMover = lots of photos, here are...lots of photos!





More Space:



And the Speedway:



We only go around once, since time is limited this morning. Then, it's out of Tomorrowland and into Fantasyland. NEW Fantasyland, to be exact. Or rather, NEWest Fantasyland, since it was NEW last year.

 
Thanks to our FP scheduling, we can finally ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train! If you recall from last year, we missed the official opening of this ride by days. We were originally planning to make it our first ride of the trip this year, but slept in instead. No matter, we have FPs, so we can ride it right now!

That is, if it were running right now!

Yep, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is currently down. So much for those FastPasses. Fortunately, we'll be able to use them later.

It's after 11:30 now, so we should probably eat something. Speaking of lunch, it was brought to my attention that I didn't say anything about our lunch on Day 1. I then remembered that was because we didn't have lunch. Kristin and the kids snacked most of the plane ride, and I....well, had that Clif Bar at 5:00am. That should hold me over for 13 hours, right?

Anyway, that was yesterday. I lived.

Today, Kristin gets the audacity to ask if Be Our Guest is accepting walk-ups for lunch today. Yeah, no chance of that.

Instead, we will be eating lunch, at Pinoccio's Village Haus, in Old Fantasyland.

The Haus isn't packed, but there are enough people that we send Emily and myself to save a table (yes, we're THOSE people), while Kristin and Dylan get the food. We find a spot, and Emily asks to be the one to enter the day's notes into Dylan's iPad.



This would be the last time notes were entered there, since I gave up that task in favor of the remember-and-handwrite method at the end of each day. That worked out pretty well, to be honest, and was a fun way to recollect the day's events.

Anyway, I notice that the area of the restaurant next to us is roped off, with the flag reading "reserved". I asked the CM standing guard how one gets seated in there, and she tells me all I have to do is have my food. Interesting idea! I like that they do allow for squatters elsewhere in the restaurant, but that we're able to get into the exclusive area once Kristin and Dylan return, away from the other foodless wretches.

As for food, I opted against the usual flatbreads and went for a meatball sub:



Really good for a meatball sandwich, but still just a meatball sandwich. Kristin got the Caprese flatbread:



Dylan got some other sort of flatbread:



Emily got mac & cheese:



The meals were all good, and this is a fun location, even if you're not seated near the window overlooking It's a Small World.

Unfortunately, Kristin's not having fun. Her stomach's bothering her. Immediately after eating. This is not good. She had this problem after 50's Prime Time, too. What is it with our family, Disney World, and stomach problems?

She avoids eating her gelato, but I eat mine, and it's perfect for a June day in Florida.

Alright, moving on! Hope she feels better :(
 
Kristin thinks she'll be ok if she keeps moving, and eventually, this proves true. Quick shot of the outside of the Haus...



Or was that the House? Anyway, it's on to the House! Or, the Mansion, rather! Or, actually, the Store for the Mansion!



This store is A W E S O M E, but, to be honest, I have a hard time finding things I end up buying. The shirts are always great but not exceptional, and the merch is either something I have a lot of, like coffee mugs, or something that would require a lot of money, like this:



I'm drooling right now thinking about it.

Dylan checks out the merch...



As do other people...



...and ultimately, it's back outside without a single purchase. Not 100% true - I did find a Madame Leota tombstone antenna topper, but that goes on the "percent off at World of Disney" list for later in the week.
 
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There's a long wait for the actual Haunted Mansion, so we move on toward Frontierland next.

Considering we loathe the saun- um, I mean, "raft ride" to Tom Sawyer Island (and don't really care about TSI in general), we will NOT be seeing the area any more closely than these photos:





We WILL be seeing this more closely:



As in, we'll be on it. Soon.

Or not. 75 minute standby. Wow. Welcome to June at Walt Disney World!

Instead, we decide to use our Dream FastPasses to ride Splash Mountain. That is, if we can break through the wall of humans and actually get to the FastPass return line.



We get through, but find an overly long line stemming from the entrance. Some people blame this on the new FastPass+ system. Others, like me, blame it on people in the front of the line who don't know how to scan their own MagicBand. I use the opportunity for a quick photo:



..and we're in line. Standby line is HUGE.





It blows my mind that people wait in those lines. I guess some people don't have a choice.

These two, however, do have that choice, and it makes them happy:



Voted "Most Photogenic Ride at Walt Disney World" by nilla Trip Report Quarterly, Splash Mountain inspires me to take even more photos, if you can believe that.





So much detail on this ride! Inside we go...

Blurry, yet satisfying!



One of my two favorite rabbits on the ride, the other being his sister:



More bad lighting, and bad photography:



Later in the week, I heard someone describe the ride to a friend by saying "it has the fox who chases the bear around". What? Did you even go on the ride? Get out of my Disney, please.

For that blasphemy, you get more blurry photos:





Hey, that one wasn't bad! Because it was outside.

I love that part of the ride, btw. It's officially called, Ohpleaseohpleasedontturnthisoffwhenourboatreachesitbecauseitsreallyhotandwedidntreallygetthatwetonthebigdrop Falls, and the CMs hook me up by letting it run when we're alongside of it. Ahhhhhh

From the looks of this one, we're about to hit a drop here. Look out, kids!



The ride ends, and we exit, as is standard protocol. Wet, but not drenched. Dylan, of course, was making a ridiculous face in the ride photo, which we did not opt to purchase. Ugh.

Alright, let's go ride the Mine Train!
 
Or not. Still down.

It's after 1:00 now, so we decide to exit the park for the mid-day break. If you haven't heard, the people who use to decry those, do those now.

But not until after successfully lobbying Guest Services to get us FastPasses we can use for 7DMT later. PLUS FastPasses for Big Thunder tonight, since 7DMT would've been our 3rd FP of the day. Kristin, who is the best at this, convinces the CMs to let us book the 4th FP, even though we hadn't used the 3rd yet, since we won't be able to use the 3rd until after dinner. So grateful for that talent!

But not until after walking through Adventureland, which I failed to mention two paragraphs ago.

Pirates is closed :(, and the Orange Bird has swapped places with the Dole Whip stand:



Out of Adventureland now and into the Hub. Hey, it's the Duck's birthday!



We finally get out of the park and onto the bus back to CBR.

But not until after getting this shot:



Not much to see there. But I took it, so you have to see it anyway. As long as I remember to renew my Photobucket account. When does it run out, again?

Anyway, the bus arrives reasonably soon after we do, and it's back to CBR for a mid-day swim!

(Next update)
 
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Wow you had a crazy wait for the bus in the morning. I hope that isn't the norm. The food looked really good...sorry it didn't agree with Kristin's stomach but glad it was short lived. And wow...what amazing negotiation skills...I wish I could do that...never have the nerve. I can't believe how crowded the park looked...and here I thought March was bad...
 
Another great update. I'm really studying anything you write about the crowd levels and the weather. Crowds look big...weather looks nice. Was it super hot?

I eat my Clif Bar, which I must admit, is much better than it was last year, when it brought with it the sensation of eating compacted sawdust. They're actually really good now, and the perfect breakfast for people who are far too impatient to eat a proper breakfast.

I just ate a Clif Bar - "Cool Mint Chocolate (contains caffeine)" - it was pretty good!

...and we didn't. We got to the Magic Kingdom at 10:20 and watched our FP window slam shut. Darn it.

NO!

Yep, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is currently down.

NO!!

Unfortunately, Kristin's not having fun. Her stomach's bothering her.

NO!!!

But not until after successfully lobbying Guest Services to get us FastPasses we can use for 7DMT later. PLUS FastPasses for Big Thunder tonight, since 7DMT would've been our 3rd FP of the day. Kristin, who is the best at this, convinces the CMs to let us book the 4th FP, even though we hadn't used the 3rd yet, since we won't be able to use the 3rd until after dinner. So grateful for that talent!

Kristin has some mad skills! She's awesome!
 
Others, like me, blame it on people in the front of the line who don't know how to scan their own MagicBand.
I also found that 1/2 the time only 1 MB scanner was working.... :sad2:

Thats great that they let you have a free fastpass AND let you schedule a 4th. Amazing, A+ job Kristin.
 
I am all caught up and enjoyed reading all of the updates!! :) I stayed at CBR once a few years ago. I enjoyed it but I didn't get to explore the whole resort as much as I wanted to. I love all of your pictures thought!! We have never stayed at Coronado but every time we drive by it, we always say we should stay there! I think a trip there may be in my near future!! :)

We went to 50's PTC as well! We loved their fried chicken. I have never been to HDDR before, but I hear their food is awesome. If the chicken is anything like 50's, then we will enjoy it!!

What a fun morning at MK! I am glad you ended up being able to ride Splash! That is our favorite ride. This past trip we got so soaked! Although, I despise walking to that ride. It is so congested and just set up very poorly. And it never fails that someone who does not have a FP will pretend they do and then argue which builds the line up, thus making it even more congested. I still think it is weird that they switched Aloha Isle and Sunshine Tree Terrace. It looks strange to me.

I can't wait to hear about the rest of your day and what you think about the mine train!
 
Aw, Emily's note is TOO cute!
That's no good that Kristen started to feel sick, especially during the heat in June!! :crazy2:

I'm glad that Disney worked with y'all on the fast passes for Splash. Funny story, when I was like 7 or 8 I was terrified of the big drop on Splash. I forced my dad to MAKE me ride it no matter how scared I was. When we reached the line and saw it was a 2+ hour wait, my dad tried to talk to me about skipping it but I refused. After standing in line for hours in the heat, I faced my fears! lol. Now we look back and think about how ridiculous it was to stand in line that long, and I could never imagine doing so again!!

As always great update!!!!
 
could I borrow your wife the next time we go to disney? or at least have her on speed dial for any occasion when I might need to visit guest services? She seems to have the magic charm.
 
Love the note Emily wrote. She should have left it. Perhaps they have different Mousekeepers in Aruba then they do in Trinidad South? Our kids animals were rearranged every day, and we never asked that they be. Both times we stayed there they did this.

Um, where is that Haunted Mansion store? I have never seen it. Is it new? I need to stop there.

Sorry Kristin wasn't feeling well and that you got there late and 7DMT was down. Glad you got a good ride on Splash!

Go Kristin on the FPs! I have to remember this for future trips!

Looking forward to the rest of your day. Can't wait to hear how you DID like the Mine Train!
 
Great TR so far Nilla. Not to inflate your ego but, your my first "Follow" ever on the Dis. :thumbsup2 Really getting me pumped up for our upcoming trip.
 

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