A 2 Week Grand Villa Extravaganza! 2.5 Years Late... FINAL DAY!!

[Duffy Lover]

Eeeeee!!!! I love the pictures!!! We are planning for pictures in December for our little's 1st birthday!!

Thanks!! OMG, how sweet ~ a first birthday photo shoot at Disney! It will be lovely...

Great family pics! I love the family ones with your parents in focus in the front & you guys behind them.

You have a Poly trip booked? I'm jealous!

My mom really dislikes those pictures. I can't get my head wrapped around that though, as I feel as you do. I think those pics are priceless! In terms of the Poly trip, spoiled am I. My mom is taking us "big" girls for four nights in September. MNSSHP, Food and Wine, Harry Potter, lounging at the Poly. Oh yea. And to top it all off, I don't have to take time off for this trip. I just need to work it into my new work schedule. Three cheers for my new job!! So with that in mind, I arrive one night before everyone else, and I'll stay at All Stars (music? sports?) for cheap. Woo Hoo!

HaHa! We've been cleaning clutter from the basement and selling/donating as well! Just had a garage sale this past wknd! My youngest had a ball with his lemonade stand.

We will be at the World next week as well!! CANNOT WAIT!!

Also, your pictures turned out beautifully!! Wonderful update.

Look for Eme, Josh, my parents and Brie! How exciting! One week! Squeeeeeeee!!!!

Don't you just love purging?!? So liberating...

 

[Angeejoe]

Tell your mom they're great pictures!!

That's so cool you have a girls trip planned!

 

[Pirate Granny]

Great Job Maggie, hard to believe it was almost a year ago. Can't wait as one week from today we'll be in the airport waiting to take off to our happy place! Ten nights !?!

 

[DisneyGuy758]

I'm waaaaay behind here...but I'm catching up. I just got to the part where you had to quickly finish the La Fin Du Monde. You're lucky you were walking straight after that...it's a 9% Belgian Tripel. Yikes! Anyways...I'm really enjoying the report. Some day I'm hoping to stay at some place other than a Value (not that there's anything wrong with them...), for now I live vicariously through others.

 

[Duffy Lover]

Tell your mom they're great pictures!!


That's so cool you have a girls trip planned!

I think the pics are awesome too... I'm super stoked about our trip this September! I love, love, love the Poly and I can't wait to lie about with my sisters and Mom and soak in some heat and humidity.

Great Job Maggie, hard to believe it was almost a year ago. Can't wait as one week from today we'll be in the airport waiting to take off to our happy place! Ten nights !?!

Time flies when you're writing a trip report! I'm so excited for you and the kids. The weather looks great, too. I'm most jealous of that since it has been raining non-stop for two weeks with no end in sight...

I'm waaaaay behind here...but I'm catching up. I just got to the part where you had to quickly finish the La Fin Du Monde. You're lucky you were walking straight after that...it's a 9% Belgian Tripel. Yikes! Anyways...I'm really enjoying the report. Some day I'm hoping to stay at some place other than a Value (not that there's anything wrong with them...), for now I live vicariously through others.

We stayed at the values a lot before my parents bought DVC. I love Pop with all my heart. As for the beer, living at almost 8,000 feet above sea level and then coming down to sea level makes alcohol pack less of a punch, but I was feeling no pain after downing that beer! Though it was a shame as it is such a good beer, it should've been savored, not slammed! Oh, and I love your Goonies profile pic! Classic...

 

[DisneyGuy758]

We stayed at the values a lot before my parents bought DVC. I love Pop with all my heart. As for the beer, living at almost 8,000 feet above sea level and then coming down to sea level makes alcohol pack less of a punch, but I was feeling no pain after downing that beer! Though it was a shame as it is such a good beer, it should've been savored, not slammed! Oh, and I love your Goonies profile pic! Classic...

I consider myself well versed in the realm of alcohol (on a imbibing level, and the history of it all level), but I did not know that about the change in altitude. I'm pretty luck that La Fin is almost considered a shelf turd here, as the brewery is about an hour from me (think where NY, VT and Canada all meet...that's me). I've always loved the Goonies, and about five years ago I took a trip to Portland and was able to hit up Cannon Beach. Even got pictures of some of the rocks they used in the movie.

 

[Duffy Lover]

A 2 Week Grand Villa Extravaganza! Day 14: The Last Park Day, part 1 5/25

Day 14: Friday June 13– Resort: VGF – Parks: EP/DAK/MK

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all our vets for protecting our nation, granting us the freedom we enjoy today…


We’re having a chill day at home just putzing around. I could be packing, but with school being officially over, I will have plenty of time on my hands to get us ready to move. It occurred to me today that with us moving, and the kids going to the new school, they would have to miss the last two weeks of school if we want to go during the same time period two years from now. Eek. Anyways, we are going to rent out our home, and hopefully that will be wrapped up tonight, so we’ll be able to pile boxes up without putting off potential renters. I also need to pack Eme up- she leaves on her Disney trip this Wednesday! It will be strange to be home with just Clara. I think some time apart for them will be good, they’ve been quarrelling a good deal lately, which is unusual for them.


Day 13 ended with a lovely dinner at the Cali Grill, and a quiet night at VGF. The plan was to let the kids sleep in, as we were planning to stay through Wishes at MK that night. No dice. Eme was up early. Like 7:30 am early when we were hoping to sleep until 9. I was not happy with her. She pretty much woke everyone up. But our souls were soothed with this amazing view:

Anyways, hopefully she can sleep in on her upcoming trip- it will be much more challenging in a studio with three adults along with Josh and Eme! I wouldn’t hold my breath...


The plan for our last day in the parks was to split up in the morning and then regroup at MK in the afternoon. Drea, Brie and Andrea were going to DAK, Papa was golfing, Buszia was staying in to enjoy the patio at VGF, and my family unit was heading over to Epcot. I’ll continue with Drea, Brie and the boys…


Their plan was to get to DAK as close to rope drop as possible, so little Ry-guy could ride EE one more time. It was his birthday wish, and when you have a wish like that, you must grant it. So they made it there just after rope drop, and Brie and Ryan walked on EE, while Drea and Josh went to Dino:

Brie thought it would be a good idea to ride in the front:

Ryan was terrified!

They went over to ride Dino with Drea and Josh, but Ryan was a little shell shocked and refused to ride.

They headed over to play at the Diggin’ Dino playground, where Drea and Brie tried to get a lunch reservation for the Rainforest. There was nothing available, so they decided to stroll over there and see if they could get a walk-up, pausing to shop along the way:

They were able to secure a table (the restaurant was mostly empty - strange that they couldn’t get a reservation), and right when they sat down, the skies opened up with a huge rain squall. The restaurant promptly filled in. They all enjoyed their meals:

It was still raining when they were done, and they didn’t bring their ponchos, so they bought super adorable Rainforest ponchos, which were pretty high quality. The quartet then headed back to VGF and took a nap.


My family unit left the villa at about 8:45 and took the monorail to the Epcot Monorail. Have I mentioned how much I love the monorail? Anyways, we strolled in and got some pics taken at the front of the park:

This next one cracks me up. I thought we should get one without our sunglasses, so right before the PP person snapped the pic I pulled off my and Caz’s glasses. I was ok, but Caz doesn’t handle the sun very well as you’ll see…

We stopped to say hi to Gramps:

We decided to go on Ellen’s Energy Adventure first. In hindsight I wished we’d skipped it - we missed some pretty good touring time there, but I guess we weren’t planning on getting to the park until 11am when WS opened, so it was bonus time. I suppose that was a plus to Eme getting us up early. Right when we got inside the waiting area, I realized I had left my wallet strapped to the stroller, so Caz ran out to get it. Unfortunately (I thought at the time), he couldn’t get back in. In the end it was the best thing that could’ve happened as while we were on the ride it went from sunny to torrential downpour. Caz was able to cover the stroller and get us Starbucks! Bonus. It actually wasn’t even raining by the time we got out. So we strolled over to the World Showcase that was due to open shortly.


Our goal was to meet Mulan, whom Eme missed on our last trip. Clara got to see her on the last trip, where she told Mulan some shocking news…

She told her how her boy Barbies go poop, and girl Barbies go pee. Classic two-year-old moment. So Eme was really keen to meet Mulan, and Clara who thought the whole incident with Mulan two years earlier was super funny, was prohibited from mentioning the whole Barbie thing…

We snapped some nice pics and strolled towards the Norway so we could enjoy some pastries:

Just as we stepped into the covered seating area, the skies opened up again and a huge thunderstorm passed overhead. It was possibly the closest thunderstorm I had ever experienced, and the girls were freaked out, rightly so. We enjoyed our treats, used the close by restroom and waited for the storm to abate. Eventually it was just raining, so we decided to don our ponchos and headed on our way. The next stop, face painting. We promised the girls we’d get it done today, and they were adamant, despite the fact that it was raining and humid and it would probably wipe off easily:

It was still lightly raining, and it was perfect timing for us to enjoy another new to us attraction: The American Adventure.

We cozied up and enjoyed the show. Afterwards, Caz and the kids shopped at the Japan pavilion while I ran back to China (literally) to get Mom the back massager I promised to pick up. Then we strolled through Morocco, and we decided to head across the lake on the boat to then have lunch at the Land. I actually wanted to hit up Boulangerie Patisserie les Halles, but was vetoed by Caz. The boat had just departed, so we waited, and waited, and I got cranky. You can’t always be chipper on vacation!

It was a nice journey in the end, and I was back to my cheerful self after picking up a cronut to share after lunch. Anyways, who can resist the cheerful eating area of the Land Pavilion?

Not I… I’ll wrap up this update with an adorable Daddy/Clara selfie:

Our goal was to be at MK no later than 2pm, but it was looking like 2:30 would be more realistic. So many questions… How will our final park visit of the trip go? Will the weather clear up? How will we use our “Golden” Fast Passes from the snafu at ‘Ohana? Will there be anymore meltdowns? Funny pictures? Time will tell... See ya real soon!

 

[Angeejoe]

That grey sky behind you guys at the China arch did look pretty ominous!!!!

 

[Duffy Lover]

I consider myself well versed in the realm of alcohol (on a imbibing level, and the history of it all level), but I did not know that about the change in altitude. I'm pretty luck that La Fin is almost considered a shelf turd here, as the brewery is about an hour from me (think where NY, VT and Canada all meet...that's me). I've always loved the Goonies, and about five years ago I took a trip to Portland and was able to hit up Cannon Beach. Even got pictures of some of the rocks they used in the movie.

Sweet! Who would've thunk it possible that being waaaaayyyy above sea level affects alcohol ingestion. Go figure. I get that corner of the world, I grew up in Ottawa. Way too cool about the Goonies location...

That grey sky behind you guys at the China arch did look pretty ominous!!!!

Right?!? Scary, huh? It looked that way out our back porch tonight... It hasn't stopped raining here for weeks. Weeks. Eme is so excited that she's heading to where there is temperatures over 60 degrees... I'm just a wee bit jealous.

 

[Leleluvsdis]

AHHHHH!!!! I cannot believe your trip is coming to a close to soon!!! I recently started my PTR for December. Feel free to follow along if you'd like http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-whole-new-world-of-a-disney-trip-dec-15-ptr-update-5-21.3338442/

 

[Angeejoe]

Right?!? Scary, huh? It looked that way out our back porch tonight... It hasn't stopped raining here for weeks. Weeks. Eme is so excited that she's heading to where there is temperatures over 60 degrees... I'm just a wee bit jealous.

Im a wee bit jealous of her trip too......

 

[PartOfYourWDWorld]

Just started and finished your trip report this week. Can't wait to hear how it ends. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Duffy Lover]

AHHHHH!!!! I cannot believe your trip is coming to a close to soon!!! I recently started my PTR for December. Feel free to follow along if you'd like http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-whole-new-world-of-a-disney-trip-dec-15-ptr-update-5-21.3338442/

I followed your link. Your daughter is adorable! I am so excited for you!! A first trip at Christmas time, too fun...

Im a wee bit jealous of her trip too......

They are chilling at the pool at AKL as I write this. It is cloudy today, but the kids are having a blast. I think my parents are going to have a wonderful time and make some great memories with the kids. I'm getting weepy just thinking about it.

Just started and finished your trip report this week. Can't wait to hear how it ends. Thanks for sharing!

Right on! I think it is always best to find a trip report nearing its end. Then you don't have to wait for the updates!

Speaking of updates one will be coming today! It is summer vacation after all!!

 

[Duffy Lover]

A 2 Week Grand Villa Extravaganza! Day 14: The Last Park Day, part 2! 5/29

Day 14: Friday June 13– Resort: VGF – Parks: EP/DAK/MK

As I type this update, Eme, Buszia, Papa and Josh are enjoying the amenities at AKL! Brie joins them tomorrow, and tonight they switch resorts to VWL. Like many of the refurbed DVC deluxe studios, it sleeps five. I’ll let you know how having three adults and two eight year olds in one room for 9 nights goes...

We brought Eme to the airport yesterday morning. She was so excited she didn’t fall asleep until after 10pm and woke me up at 3 am with her wiggles. Luckily last night she and the rest of the family slept from just after 9 pm until 8:30 am! Thank goodness. I just remember the first day of our last trip and how tired Eme was at the BBB. It was Eme’s first time flying alone, and she was a champ:

I handed the gate agent her ticket, and she was down the tunnel without a backward glance. Here are Josh and Eme on the first “monorail” ride of the trip:

They had a great view from their balcony:

My mom said that she always knows exactly where the kids are in the pool as Josh is constantly shouting "Eme, Eme, Eme!"

I think my Mom must have some sort of filter on her phone camera, the photos seem rather “blue”. Anyways, this evening they are headed to Epcot, where they’ll have dinner at Biergarten, along with FP+ for the Seas, Turtle Talk and TT and then they'll stay to watch Illuminations before heading back to VWL. I love living vicariously through them. Clara has been super through this - not a bit jealous, and actually pretty stoked to have her mom and dad all to herself.

Enough about their live trip, lets go back in time about a year and head over to MK, the last park visited on our half month adventure at WDW. When we got to the park, we didn’t stop for any PP pics, and for that I am regretful. I loved our pics in front of SSE from earlier in the day, but I can’t remember why we didn’t have any taken in front of the Castle. Either way, we headed to Adventureland and tried out the Treasure of the Seven Seas game while we waited for Papa, Brie, Drea and the boys. Buszia was already in Adventureland. This game was super fun and comes highly recommended from our family:

I have to be honest and tell you I don’t have the best notes from the rest of the day. Actually, my notes aren’t in my journal, but on Drea’s receipt from the Rainforest Cafe from earlier in the day. And, to be quite honest we did A LOT in our final hours at MK. Like 16 attractions, according to my count. The rest of the family arrived and Drea and the boys snagged a photo in front of the train station:

When we regrouped, we headed towards our first attraction: Splash. Remember the “golden” fast passes we got from being delayed at ‘Ohana? Well, we used the first one on Splash:

Boy, do I love that ride! The looks on the children’s faces are priceless! After splash we headed back to play the Pirate Game:

And since we were close by, we decided to climb the Swiss Family Treehouse:

It was actually quite crowded in the attraction… At this point we used our next Golden FP on one last ride on Peter Pan’s flight. Everyone loves soaring above London and Neverland, right? I believe this was Buszia’s choice. We were loving the Golden FPs, along with the three we originally scheduled, these three and the additional ones, I think we had 9 FPs at the MK this afternoon/evening. After Peter we headed over to New Fantasyland for some refreshments before enjoying the new Ariel ride. In the meantime, Clara posed for some PP pics:

And then the boys and Drea:

It was super sunny! Too bad the kids refused to wear their shades… At this point we took some family photos, which is good because we have so few of all 10 of us for various reasons. Unfortunately, Clara was in the middle of an epic meltdown. I thought she had wanted a raspberry lemonade, but she wanted a plain one. Water works ensued, as did a series of humorous photos:

And now with shades, and Clara still refusing to look towards the camera:

She insisted Caz put her down and this is what happened next:

I think the previous photo might be one of my favorite of the whole trip. It’s not all smiles for the kids all the time, nor the adults, but sometimes a little tantrum can go along way to make a silly memory. Yes, that’s my child crouched in the corner. Oh well! Classic Disney moment. After the pics, we used our first FP+ at the new Ariel ride. Blurry photos anyone?

By the time we were done with the ride Clara was her cheerful self again, and we headed to Pinocchio's for dinner, snagging everyone’s favorite seats by the window overlooking IaSW:

We all princess waved at the boats as they sailed by:

After dinner it was time for our next FP+ at the new 7DMR!

Caz and I rode together at the end of the train, which is the BEST spot in the train. One more pro tip… Work with whomever you’re sitting with to rock side to side and you’ll get an even more exciting ride. Caz and I really got it going! We still have quite a bit of this day left to cover, so I think I’ll wrap it up here. Whew. It was just after 6pm and we had done so much in just over three hours.

More to come later this weekend (I hope!) Sunday marks the one year anniversary of the day we left for this journey. Maybe, just maybe, I will wrap it up by then. I don’t know that I want this report to end, though! With the year + of planning before the trip, and this report, this was the trip that didn’t stop giving. See ya real soon!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Say it isn't so!!!! I feel like your TR is a TV series that I die a little each week when it end haha What is going to happen next? Where are they going to eat? What are they going to ride? Are they going to like it? Is catastrophe going to strike? Ohhhh the agony!!! haha

 

[Duffy Lover]

Say it isn't so!!!! I feel like your TR is a TV series that I die a little each week when it end haha What is going to happen next? Where are they going to eat? What are they going to ride? Are they going to like it? Is catastrophe going to strike? Ohhhh the agony!!! haha

I know I've enjoyed writing every post, and I will miss it too! The one year anniversary came and went yesterday and I couldn't bring myself to write a post. I think there is enough info for three more updates.

I look forward to reading your report...


Here's a pic from Day 3 of Eme's trip with her grand parents, cousins and aunt:



They are at Typhoon Lagoon today, then DTD tonight to eat at T-Rex. They seem to be having a blast! I should get an update posted in the next few days... And spoiler here.... There are NO catastrophes! Can you believe it? A 15 day trip, and nothing horrible happens! We were so blessed to have a healthy happy time with our family. See ya real soon!

 

[Duffy Lover]

A 2 Week Grand Villa Extravaganza! Day 14: The Last Park Day, part 3! 6/5

Day 14: Friday June 13– Resort: VGF – Parks: EP/DAK/MK

Howdy friends! It is time to face the facts… This report is winding down. Sigh. It had to happen sometime! So I will soldier on, with the last of the Magic Kingdom…

We had just finished dinner at Pinocchio's and our first ride on the 7DMR, and had time to kill until our next FP+ at BTMRR. So we took a ride on the happiest cruise around the world:

She is just too precious! Sadly, as we exited the ride it had begun to rain again. Drat. We rushed to the Rapunzel restrooms to poncho up indoors, and then decided to ride HM. Alas, the wait was over 30 minutes, and we being seasoned park commandos, would not wait that long. So we decided to go to the Country Bear Jamboree (which we saw earlier this trip) and Eme just melted down. She did not want to see the show AT ALL. To be honest, I wish I would’ve recalled that the Tiki Room was just around the corner, because I much prefer that show to the Bears, but in the heat of the rainy moment it slipped my mind. So Eme carried on and was difficult through the whole show. Of course right before we were seated, Nina had to go! Even though we were just in a restroom, Clara claimed she was all good, but of course 10 minutes later Caz had to take her to the potty, and missed the show and all the Eme drama. Oh well.

After we got out of the show, the storm had already moved on and there were blue skies once more. Bonus! So we headed over to BTMRR - this is the only photo I have from that period:

We got off the ride and I bee-lined it over to the FP+ kiosks in Frontierland, and got us FP+ for HM, in which the window opened just as the rest of the family reached us. So onto HM we went, and then again I went to the kiosk and got us FP+ for PotC. FP+ works amazingly well at MK as they have so many attractions. As we waited in the short FP+ line for Pirates, we decided to use our last “Golden” FP for 7DMR. So when we wrapped up treasure hunting with Captain Jack we headed to New Fantasyland.

At this point the sun had set and everyone was excited to ride the new coaster in the dark. Here’s where it got sticky… Apparently the Golden Fastpasses were the white copy, and in small print at the bottom of the coupon it said that the guests should have the yellow (pink?) copy and that the CM who issued the FPs would retain the white copy. The CM at the FP+ line told us she wouldn’t honor the coupon! She asked how we got it and then pretty much called us liars when we told her the ‘Ohana story. She pointed out that this was a transportation delay coupon, so our story must be made up. Oh dear, that set my Mom and I off. We insisted they call the manager listed on the ticket, and the CM did call someone, I’m not sure who, and eventually she let us on. How horribly ironic that the manager at the Poly gave us the wrong coupon! They couldn’t even get that right. Yeesh.

I rode with Eme, and right before the main lift the ride lurched and all the kids smacked their heads really hard on their seats. Eme hit hers so hard she cried the whole ride. So be aware parents - this only happened once out of the three (?) rides we took on the coaster, but she had a wicked headache until the ibuprofen I gave her kicked in. It was a shame and it sort of ruined what was a beautiful ride through Fantasyland.

I’m sorry I don’t have more pictures up until now. My phone had died, and I think we just wanted to enjoy the evening… The kids wanted to ride Space Mountain again, as did Drea and Brie who missed out when they had to go back to the resort to change after getting soaked earlier in the trip. With the wait being only 40 minutes they headed off. It would be cutting it close with the goal being the family watching Wishes together, but they went for it:

In the meantime, Buszia and I took the littles to Dumbo where they had the play area all to themselves. Then we used the last FP+ (that’s 6 official FP+ for the day) at Winnie the Pooh. We made it to the hub just in time to watch the Castle show and stake out a spot to watch Wishes with the family. Since my phone was dead I was out of reach, and Mom didn’t hear hers we didn’t get a chance to hook up with the others who were on the bridge to Tomorrowland. We were all sad that we weren’t together for the show, and I know the tears flowed down my face as it ended. After the show, we were able to meet up only to split up one more time.

Brie took Josh and Eme, my parents took the littles and Drea, Caz and I hooked up. Brie took the kids on the Speedway, Tea Cups and then used the FP+ on Winnie the Pooh. Papa and Buszia took the littles home straight away as they were exhausted:

Caz, Drea and I settled into a table at Casey’s Corner and enjoyed some hot dogs. This is where I picked up Drea’s receipt from the Rainforest as I was so tired I knew I wouldn’t be able to write this in my journal when we got back to VGF. We had done so much at MK this last day. It was truly magical, meltdowns and mishaps included. After the hot dogs, we shopped in the Emporium and then Drea headed home. Caz and I lingered and caught part of the late showing of MSEP, which Caz had yet to see:

As we exited, I was crying freely. There is nothing worse than leaving the parks for the last time. I felt a little guilty about being so sad, though. Not many people can say they’ve spent a half of a month at the most magical place on Earth. My parents are so generous and without them none of this would’ve been possible. We are so blessed. We passed through the “see ya real soon” tunnel to out in front of the park where a nice family took this photo for us:

We took the boat over to the GF, where I proceeded to take a variety of pictures of the resort:

Our villas were the ones on the top floor, the only one with the lights still on:

As late as it was, we still needed to do a lot of packing, as Papa was leaving early the next morning since he was driving. It was some sort of special full moon:

So that about does it for day 14. It was a good one! One for the record books. Up next, our last day in Disney, one last ADR and time to just lounge around the pool, enjoying the opulence of the Grand Floridian. See ya real soon!

 

[Leleluvsdis]

this is what I feel like haha

 

[Wood Nymph]

I just spent the entire evening reading your trip report. What a wonderful trip you had. It was fun to relive it with you. We've stayed in 2br villas at both the BCV and OKW and loved them both. And the WL is one of our favorite resorts although we've only been in regular resort rooms.

Our OKW trip had seven people - DH and me, our son with his two sons, and my two sisters. It was our first time there and we loved the spacious 2br villa. And we all got along great. It was the right combination of family members and accommodations. Since we were all in one villa no one felt left out like they have when taking other trips.

By the way, our daughter, son in law, and two grandchildren live in Longmont. They moved there five years ago from the Chicago suburbs and love Colorado. I also have a cousin who lives in Walden. Is that anywhere near you?

 

[Angeejoe]

It's almost over