The "I'm sick, no I'm sick" May 2009 Polynesian Trip-O-Rama Report

[PracPerfPatricia]

Originally Posted by ryansall

A little backstory - DS had been on an allowance system since January. The goal was to teach him responsibility. He had to learn to clean his room, do his homework, read a book above grade level (he's trying to get an Accelerated Reading certificate) and take a quick shower. We told him to save some of his allowance for SWW, because he would inevitably want some of the toys they had there.

I totally applaud your attempt at teaching responsibility and money management-but having done almost exactly the same thing-I have a feeling I know where this is heading...

Of course, being a 7 year old boy, he didn't save any, and when we got to WDW, all he had left was his $25 gift card he got for Christmas from some friends of ours. So as DW and I are deciding how to manage the parade, TSM and lunch, he's doing this:



Mine DS is 6 and 5/6-do not forget the 5/6...-I saw the dearth of funds on his part coming-my guy also has it bad for Legos-and trust me those sets add up...

And suddenly exclaims, "I want to go to Wicket's Warehouse."

OOPs this sounds dangerous...

To explain for those of you who haven't been to SWW, Wicket's Warehouse is the big open space right next to TSM, where they stock all the SWW merchandise. It usually has horrendous lines, and it was not in our plans. But, we had told him we would let him have this day to do mostly what he wanted. What to do?

OOPS-DANGER...DANGER...DANGER...-I want to see if you stick to your guns or supplements his $$$

DW and I insisted that he see the parade, because he's a Star Wars fanatic, and especially loves clone/stormtroopers. So, we told him we would watch the parade, ride TSM, eat lunch, ride Star Tours, then do Wicket's Warehouse. He consented, but not happily.

Absolutely support your decision-your in DW-you're there for all that special stuff-like rides and parades... you shop at home-ok maybe not at Wicket's Warehouse but still...


We figured he was hungry, but also grumpy about not getting his way to go to Wicket's Warehouse. The parade finished, and we headed through to the backlot to get something to eat. We ate at Studio Catering Co., which refreshed everyone. Very good grilled chicken and black beans and a salad that DW and I shared.

Good to know-have read some bad Studio Catering reports-aren't little boys always happier after eating? Mine is a little eating machine (like pacman-but he's really slim.... DH tells me I will be in shock by the grocery bills we'll have when he is a teenager...

After lunch, DS and I rode Star Tours, which, combined with lunch perked him up, as we waited for our TSM FPs to come due. So, we toured the backlot area. I managed to find the Singin' in the Rain umbrella for the first time.



great picture...I think most Disneyophiles who visit the parks have a version of this....

DS posed as a Stormtrooper, which made him happy.



Awesome smile!

Soon, it was finally time for TSM! While there, the ride broke down while we were in line, so they called in a supervisor. So we waited, and waited. We passed the time taking silly pictures of the kids.







Nice Photos!!!

The ride got fixed after about 10 minutes, and I look over as I'm getting ready to get on the ride, and there's one of my former co-workers! He's the back end operations supervisor at the Studios now, so we chatted briefly then it was time to rock TSM!

I hope the ride was good!!!

We finished that, and DS finally got to go to Wicket's Warehouse.

So, after all that commotion, what did he get? Two action figures he could have bought for about 2/3 the price at Target.

Is this Wicket's there year round or just during the Star Wars Weekends-It is good to be forewarned-knowledge is power...

It was his money, though, so we got them and left, and headed to our last Studios attraction of the day, the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.



This was another one DS had been clamoring to do. He's a big Indy fan as well, so we kept meaning to do this, but the times would always not work out. You can tell he was happy.



Unfortunately, the other member of our traveling party was not feeling so great.



As far as we could tell, she wasn't sick, but tired. We had monitored her carefully today, to make sure there were no problems after the previous evening's rain and her freezing experience in Crystal Palace.

Poor little girl...she seems like a trooper-I hope she feels perkier tomorrow....

We watched the show (loved it!) and decided to call it a day at the Studios. I still wanted to see Block Party Bash, and thought DS would enjoy it, but we figured discretion was the better part of valor, considering we had several more days to go. But there was a stop to make on the way back to the hotel...

Very Wise Decision-always leave up an up note...

[ryansall]

PracPerfPatricia Is this Wicket's there year round or just during the Star Wars Weekends-It is good to be forewarned-knowledge is power...

It's only SWW, but this year, none of the stuff they had was that different from what they have in Tatooine Traders outside of Star Tours. The funny thing was, after he got to go in the Warehouse, and he picked out his toys, he spent all his money, and he never asked for another toy the rest of the trip. So, I think he learned something.

Pikester Loved your DD doing her silly face! That must be the universal silly face for the younger set as I remember my kids doing that face whenever I asked them to strike a "silly pose".

My older son would have pouted for maybe a couple of minutes and then got into the parade while my younger son would have kept the pout going through the parade, TSM, lunch and even a little bit in the store. That kid can hold a pout!

Now I finally see what the umbrella looks like. I've tried looking for it before and other times I've completely forgotten about it. I did remember to check out "the-net-full-of-jello" at the Muppets 3-D.

Ooops! I didn't realize you had to work the race in NH. Our local news station was down there keeping an eye on the race and the crowds. Looked like the stands were pretty full considering the economy. I think I saw where they were selling tickets on the cheap to get people there.

Yes, her silly face is pretty funny.

DS can hold a pout, but if you can rationally explain things to him, he tends to get over it a little quicker. But there are things going on in that kid's head that kind of scare me.

Loved the umbrella. I've been trying to find it for a while now, but always get caught up with other things. It's just one of those great Disney details.

No worries, I still had fun at the race. The stands were very full, I just hate that it rained out the finish. The fans were really into it.

shannon47142 at least your son ended the day happy
love the umbrella pose

He generally will change his mood if you show him that you're trying to do things in his best interest. This was much better than our Dec '08 trip, when he pouted and forbid us from going on rides.

Thanks for the compliment on the pose. I've been dying to find that thing, so I took advantage when I did.

[ryansall]

So, to pick up where we left off, we piled back in the car around 4:00 p.m. and headed over to the Beach Club!



Part of our goal with this trip was to do things a little different than what we normally do. We vowed to try something new every day, be it a restaurant, a ride or just varying our usual WDW routine. What was today's new thing?



First though, some fun pics on the way in...





As we walked in, I showed DW the villas, and tried once again in vain to convince her that a DVC membership would be worth the money. "See, honey, we could stay right here, play in that pool, and walk over to Epcot for dinner. Without the kids! It would be great, right?"

Yeah, she didn't buy it. But I tried, right?

So, we got to Beaches and Cream, and it was a 30 min wait to get in. That put us a little closer to dinner time than we wanted, but we decided to play in the arcade next door while we waited. Then DD had to go potty, so DS and I waited outside.



We finally got seated, and our original plan of just getting ice cream went out the window. I was a little hungry, and so was DS. So, we all decided to share a burger and fries, then have dessert. At first, this seemed to please DD.



She was seated in a booster seat, but the waitress came by and said that the booster seats were unsafe, and forced us to put her in a highchair. To say this did not go over well would be an understatement.

Now, there are some sound decibel levels that should not be heard by man. My daughter's screams are one of them. We managed to calm her down briefly, until the burger came.

She got all excited, until we cut the burger up!



She wanted her own burger, then she didn't want a burger, then she wanted ice cream. DW and I were still concerned that she was sick, but she would not calm down. DW finished her burger and managed to get DD to eat some fries.

Meanwhile, our DS was polishing off the burger, and asked if we were going to eat the lettuce and tomato. Not wanting to despoil our burgers with healthy food, we said no. So he grabs it as we are dealing with DD, and then I look over to see this:



"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I made my own salad, DaDa."

Seriously, that was funny. DD continued to act out, alternately pouting, screaming and fussing until our dessert came:



Yep, the No Way Jose! A true classic. But DD couldn't take it, and DW had to take her out, while DS and I finished it. When we finished up and paid, I met DW outside, and she had just taken DD for a walk along the beach, which seemed to calm her down.

We got to the car just in time, as the rains came right when we got in. We made it back to the Poly, sprinted into Rarotonga, and settled in for a Phineas and Ferb marathon. DD was obviously tired, so she sat on the bed and watched TV glassy eyed.

DW and I discussed, and we decided to take it easy tonight, grab some dinner from Capt. Cook's, and maybe head to the pool or the beach.

After a couple hours inside out of the heat, the kids were hungry, so we grabbed some dinner.



That's the Polynesian chips, Polynesian salad and a pepperoni flatbread with some bottled water. We got some muffins for dessert to save for the next morning.

And guess what DD decided she had to have:



Yep, a cheeseburger!

So, we all ate, then headed down to the beach to wait for the Electrical Water Pageant. I managed to get some great shots of the sun going down.









DS found a comfy spot to watch from, even though it was soaking wet after all the rain:



We managed to get a swing on the beach to watch the EWP. None of my pictures turned out, but it was great to see. The music is awesome, the light are good, and it's fun for the kids. DD fell asleep as we were swinging and waiting, and DW and I smiled. She had just been tired, not sick. Whew!

We finished up the EWP and headed back to the room, with another happy Disney day in the books.

Next: We head to Animal Kingdom, an eventful dinner, and another member of the party gets sick

[ryansall]

So, after a busy day at the Studios, Beaches and Cream and the Poly beach, we got in a good night's sleep and got ready for Monday, Memorial Day, at Animal Kingdom. We only had regular Magic Your Way passes, no park hopping, because we wanted to take it easy this trip. So this was our only planned day to see the wonders of Animal Kingdom.

In case you can't tell, I'm not a fan of Animal Kingdom. I like the theming, but some of the attractions are just not great, and it has some of my least favorite things, like Dinoland USA and the Boneyard.

Anyway, we got up and I ran over to the Great Ceremonial House for Capt. Cook's and some coffee from the Kona bar to bring back to the room.



For the record, that's the ciabatta breakfast sandwich from Capt. Cook's, which was not good at all. The bread was really tough to chew, and the eggs were cold. Not recommended.

The coffee and the muffin, however, were recommended, and soon we were on our way to the car. Per advice from others, we drove to AK and DHS, but took the monorail everywhere else. DW and I enjoyed our coffee, all the way up to the gate, as you can see.



They let us in around 8:30, to go up to the bridge to Discovery Island and wait. We managed to snag a quick picture in front of the Tree of Life as everyone ran in.



While we waited, DW and I reviewed our plan. We wanted to get in, ride our rides and get out. Our plan was to do the Safaris, FOTLK, Kali River Rapids (DS request), the Boneyard (ugh...another DS/DD request) and get out as quickly as possible. DD was still a little sluggish, and DW wasn't feeling great this morning, although she chalked it up to being a little tired.

The rope dropped at 9:00, and we were off to Africa, to ride Kiliminjaro Safaris!



When we got there, though, there was a massive influx of people, and we were worried.

"Never fear," I said, and steered the family to the FP line. We got FPs for 9:40, and decided to hit the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail until our return time. First, though, a quick potty break for DD and DW. While we waited, DS and I spotted a hidden Mickey!



We also spotted this little detail on the wall outside the bathrooms:



Quick story - when one of our very good friends got married in Tampa, DW and I stayed over and went to Busch Gardens. They had all the Swahili names for things all over the place, and we just fell in love with "Twiga" for giraffe. Ever since we say "Twiga" to each other at random times. Oh, the things young lovers do...

DW emerged with DD with good news. DD had...taken care of things, and was feeling much better. DW, though, was still feeling under the weather, a little nauseous. I mentioned that it could have been her half of the breakfast sandwich, and she agreed. I bought her a Coke, and we headed down the trail.



If you don't do the trails at Animal Kingdom, you're doing a disservice to the park. The trails are really interesting, and great for occupying your kids!



DS really got a kick out of things, enjoying the skulls, the drawings and the live animals more than DD did.





That adventure over, we headed over to the safaris...but I'll have to get to that next time.

[ryansall]

The morning continued as we took on the Kiliminjaro Safaris with our FPs. This has always been a favorite of the kids, who enjoy looking at the animals and the bumpy ride. You can see they're looking forward to it:



As is usually the case, the morning ride is the best on the Safaris.

We saw lots of great animals, such as:







The kids got a real kick out of it, laughing and pointing at them the whole way.



We finally finished the Safaris and looked at the show schedule to figure out where to go next. There was a Festival of the Lion King show coming up soon, so we headed down to Camp Minnie-Mickey to get in line.

While DS and I grabbed a hot dog for a snack, DD got to meet Pocahontas.



No matter how much we tried to tell her that this was a princess, she didn't believe us. Poor Pocahontas!

Soon, though, it was time for the show! FOTLK is a great show, and we never have time to see it, so I made sure we took the time this time around. The kids had never seen it, and neither is a huge fan of the Lion King movie (I know ), but I knew they'd like this show. And I was right!







We enjoyed the show, but it took up a lot of time. We had lunch reservations at Tusker House at noon, so we had to hustle that way, since it was already 11:35 when we got out of the show. But the kids had to stop and check out the Kid's Discovery Station.





It was hot, hot, hot by now. We were moving pretty slow, trying to stick to the shade and trying to avoid the sun. When we got to Tusker House, there was a huge line of people trying to get in, even though they had no ADRs. What are you people thinking?

That's a pet peeve of mine, people who don't plan their Disney trip and try to "wing it," then get upset when they don't get a table at a good restaurant. Grrrr....

We checked in and got a seat outside for the moment while we waited for them to take us in. DD was feeling much better, DS was enjoying his morning, and whined a little about having to eat lunch instead of ride rides, and I was enjoying having 30 less pounds to carry around than last time I went to Animal Kingdom. But DW was not feeling so good...

More to come, including lunch at Tusker House, the rest of the afternoon at Animal Kingdom, back to the Poly and more illness...

[Pikester]

Sounds like you are having a good time! Well, most of you. Poor DW.

I'm with you on the people who don't plan! I have a friend who I am helping to plan her August 2009 trip to WDW. She told her DH all the stuff that I told her and he was adamant that he was not going to plan his trip to death. And if his DS wanted to go do something on that day (meaning they wake up and DS7 wants to do whatever) they were doing it! All I could think of was Good Luck! Besides, they have never been so how is DS7 going to know what he wants to do unless you tell him.

[ryansall]

Pikester Sounds like you are having a good time! Well, most of you. Poor DW.

I'm with you on the people who don't plan! I have a friend who I am helping to plan her August 2009 trip to WDW. She told her DH all the stuff that I told her and he was adamant that he was not going to plan his trip to death. And if his DS wanted to go do something on that day (meaning they wake up and DS7 wants to do whatever) they were doing it! All I could think of was Good Luck! Besides, they have never been so how is DS7 going to know what he wants to do unless you tell him.

Don't worry, we all get a turn with illness. Hers at least was somewhat quick.

The not planning thing drives me insane. I know I'm a type A planner, but just the bare minimum of making ADRs is all I ask, people! Whether or not you get to ride rides is your problem, but it kills me when people I know come back and say, "It was miserable. All we did was wait in line, in the heat and we couldn't find a place that would let us sit down and eat." Make me want to pull my hair out.

[ryansall]

When last I left our humble crew, we were sitting outside in the heat of a summer day at Animal Kingdom, which is just slightly warmer than the surface of the sun. We were getting ready for lunch at Tusker House, because I'd never been there before. This was our something new for this day.

We got seated and the waiter took our drink order, and we helped ourselves to the buffet. Here's my first round:



They had some great hummus and pita bread, a variety of salads, and some sort of cold rice type salad. All of it was pretty good, especially the hummus.

Once again, though, other members of the party were having issues with eating. DD was unwilling to eat, but she was happier than she had been at Crystal Palace.



DS was eating, but he stuck to the typical kid menu of meats, fried foods and potatoes.



It was DW who was not having such a great time. Her stomach was bothering her for some reason. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she was able to eat. I figured it was something like the bad breakfast sandwich, but she wasn't sure.

We kept eating, figuring that it would be alright. Here's my second plate:



The curried chicken on the right was the best of this round, but the other stuff wasn't bad. The food was hot and fresh, but the lines to get it were rather long. The place wasn't really designed to be a buffet, but it was converted into one rather crudely.

DW was still feeling a little ill, so she passed on dessert. I did not:



They were good, not great. We pretty much decided that Tusker House was a good meal, but not really worth the time or money at Animal Kingdom. Especially in the heat, it's a lot of food and not great food. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed it, but it stuck with us for a while.

DS wanted to head to Kali River Rapids next. We were a little scared, because the only time we had been there before we had gotten totally soaked, but we were willing to do it for DS.

We walked over from Africa to Asia, curving around back towards Kali River Rapids. When we were about to get there, DW grabbed my arm and gave me this look -

She had figured out what the problem was, and ran to the bathroom. I didn't know what to do.

While she was in the bathroom, DD, DS and I wandered over to check the line for Kali River Rapids, but it was closed. This was not turning out to be our day.

I walked back to the bathroom to see what was the matter with DW, hoping it wasn't serious. She came out and asked right away if I had any change.

Females reading this are probably catching my drift by now. I wouldn't even tell the story, except for this: DW went into a small stand nearby that had Cokes and other stuff, trying to get some change. She went up to the counter and asked the cast member for some change. At first she refused, but DW explained what it was for, and the woman quickly changed her tune. Then, her cohort in the stand came up and said, "We don't give change, what are you doing?" and the first cast member quickly leaned over and whispered in her ear. The second lady immediately whipped out four quarters from her own pocket and gave them to DW.

It wasn't funny at the time, but we were able to continue, deciding to take on the Maharajah Jungle Trek to see if Kali River Rapids would be open when we finished.





We finished that, and came back out, only to see a 90 minute wait for Kali River Rapids. We explained to DS that we couldn't possibly do it now. He was disappointed, but then we told him that we were going to the Boneyard, and he perked up.

We managed to survive the Boneyard, but it's a harrowing experience for me. It's a huge area, and the kids run around there like crazy, I lose track of them half the time, and it's scary for me. But, the kids like it.



By then, it was close to 3 p.m., and we had had it. The heat in Animal Kingdom was unbearable, and we had to get out of there. We beat it back to the car, headed to the Poly.

We got there, and decided to take a quick swim in the pool. DD got dressed in her bathing suit, a crochet bikini that one of her great aunts had sent her. She calls it her "kini", because she can't say bikini. How cute is this?



After a quick dip in the pool, we hurried through showers, got dressed and took the monorail over to the Contemporary for dinner at the Wave. I forgot the camera for this one, but it was just as well.

DD was tired, and she fussed through the entire meal. We were all starving, and DW and I decided to order a crab cake appetizer, which was good, but tiny. By the time we ordered, I had eaten the crab cake, and we were splitting a bottle of wine. DD was constantly crying, and DW had to take her out a couple of times.

The food wasn't bad, but it was expensive, even though we were on the DDP. Even after the DDP, paying for DD's meal, the wine and the appetizer cost us a good amount. I was unable to enjoy it, knowing that.

We finished up with dinner and took DD back to the hotel and put her to bed. DS went in soon after. We read for a little while, and I started feeling a tickle in the back of my throat...

[ryansall]

Where did everyone go? I'm going to keep going on this, because I've never finished a trip report before, but if there's more info you guys want, let me know.

Anyway, Monday night was not a good one for me. I could hardly sleep, and had drainage all in the back of my throat. I woke up once and took some Sudafed, but that kept me awake. It was no use. I was getting sick.

Tuesday morning was supposed to be DD's day. Our plan was to go to Epcot for the Akershus Princess Breakfast then spend part of the day at Epcot and wing it in the afternoon. This was supposed to be one of our easier days.

We headed out bright and early for our 8:00 a.m. reservation. DD got dressed in her Belle gown, even though she tells us that Snow White is her favorite princess. She had a Snow White dress, but preferred Belle. She looked great!



They let us in and we managed to snap a few pictures before heading back to Norway. I was walking slower, as was DW, since we didn't sleep well, I was sick and she was not feeling so swell at the moment. So, we took our time heading back to Norway.







Soon, though, we made it back to World Showcase and pulled into Norway to check in. There was a short line, and DD was super excited to see the princesses. This was her reward for getting potty trained before we left, and we had been talking about doing this for almost 6 months.



We waited for about five minutes, then they called our name to let us in to the banquet hall. There was a line, but we weren't sure what the line was for. At the end, though, we saw that it was for getting your picture with Belle. DD was super excited:



She can't really say "princesses," so as we go to the table after taking the picture, she keeps saying "I'm gonna see the princesessessses". Its' so cute.

We sat down and I begged our Nordic waiter for coffee, to soothe my sore throat. I was feeling pretty miserable, and needed coffee and some breakfast food to feel better. Fortunately, they had a cold bar buffet, but they brought the hot food to us. So, while DD and DW were up getting some fruit and pastries, DS and I got this on our table:





I know it's just breakfast (eggs and four kinds of pork), but it was great! I ate like a maniac, the cold medicine making me more hungry, and went up to get some pastries. DD was also lapping it up, eating lots of stuff while looking for the princesses.



As soon as we started digging in, the princesses started coming by. First up was Sleeping Beauty.



She was really cute, and fawned over DD and her dress. They all did, really. She was lapping up the attention to be sure. Next was Cinderella, and DD got down from her chair to give her a hug.



For some reason, DD didn't warm up to Cinderella. She's only seen the movie once, so that might be part of it. But Ariel came next, and there's a constant competition between Snow White and Ariel for DD's affections.



Ariel was great. She really played with DD a bit, and even tousled DS's hair when he didn't want to talk to her. Finally, it was Snow White:



I have to say, all the princesses were great, and they showed DD a ton of affection. She was talking about meeting the princesses for weeks afterward. The food was amazing, and not just because I was on cold medicine. The pastries were super fresh, the fruit was great, and the eggs/sausage/bacon were super hot. You can probably tell that we enjoyed it:



We were able to finish up right as the park opened, and headed over towards Test Track. DS wanted to ride it, so we figured we would ride TT, then head over to Soarin'. So DW and DS went to TT, while I went to first aid to beg for cold medicine. All they had was some Sudafed, which helped a little, but I was going to have to have something stronger...

Next: More EPCOT, a unique midday break, and a DtD disaster

[Pikester]

Don't you know that your suppose to bring the whole medicine cabinet with you when you go on vacation!

The food at Akershus looked awesome! I don't think DH and my two DS would care about seeing the "princesessessses" though. Although, DH did like getting his picture taken with Alice when we went 2 years ago.

[shannon47142]

love your daughter's bathing suit!!
so sorry you also started to feel sick
but breakfast looked awesome--I'm glad DD enjoyed the princesseseses

[cmfranklyn]

We were at Dis in June and a cold virus/fever made the rounds in our family too! Can't wait to see how you did compared to us! Hopefully better!

[Disneyvirg]

I got a little behind on your trippie. I'm all caught up now.

I love all the pictures. Looks like you all had a wonderful time in spite of not feeling well.

The pictures of your daughter with the princesses are adorable.

I'm ready for more!

[heaven2dc]

Sorry to hear you were feeling sick now! During my trip in Feb 2008 I was feeling sick (well actually 2 days before I left). I did what my mom told me when I was little and put drops of hydrogen peroxide in my ears on the side where my throat was hurting and it stopped it. But the 3rd day at WDW I started feeling rough and didn't have any peroxide w/me & the general store at BWV didn't carry any so I had to load up on throat lozenges and orange juice. I felt a little better but still could hardy talk.

Your daughter is so adorable in her Belle dress. What great pics you got during breakfast! Anxious to hear how the rest of the day went!

[whchipmunk]

So sorry you were all not feeling well. I know first hand how that can put a huge damper on your trip. This is how my trip in March went.

Arrived on Sunday everyone was feeling great. Early Monday morning DD2 (who is 1) started screaming, we got up to see what was wrong and she had gotten sick in the crib. She was sick all day Monday.

Early Tuesday morning I heard my DS (11) in the bathroom. Yep he was sick and was down for the count all day on Tuesday.

Wednesday during the day we all were feeling fine. Wednesday night we went to dtd and as soon as I got off the bus it hit me. I had to turn right around and go back to the hotel.

Thursday - I was feeling better and eveyone else seemed fine so we went to MK. On the bus ride there DD2 got sick. Yep right there on the bus, it was really disgusting and I felt very bad for all of the other passengers. Poor baby came down with it twice.So we had to turn right back around and go back to the hotel.

Friday was our last day and everyone felt ok but by that time I had pretty much written off the trip and wanted to go home.