And International Hospital Bingo continues....a pre trip post trip UPDATED 12/5!!

[Scoobymoons]

Intrigued I hope you are... (totally said that in a Yoda voice - DH is also now repeating it and sounding just a little bit like Fozzie Bear....ah well....)


Ok, let's backtrack slightly!


Hi!


So, what is this?
I've posted it under Pre-Trips because it definitely will be that - I am very excited to share details about a 3 week trip to the World this August with you all (presuming of course there is more than one solitary reader....I have high hopes ) but I also intend (with your permission) to indulge in a little nostalgia and create a few memories of my family's last trip (2013) and write the trip report that never was. A little spoiler here as to why the TR never materialised, we're going to play a little game of spot the difference:

This was day 1 of our 3 week trip in 2013...



and this was day 20....



Any ideas? What went wrong?? Hmmm????!!!!

If you guessed 'broken wrist' then you'd be right and you win a speedboat.

So, despite taking copious notes, the TR never materialised. It sounds terrible but in all honesty DH and I were disillusioned - we now realise that this was due to the wrist issues, but at the time we thought it was Disney generally - sorry Walt... we have seen the error of our ways

So basically, what I am really hoping is that you may indulge me in some excitement of pre trippiness in combination of reliving a few memories of post trippiness I'm also hoping very much that mufasa 1982 might join in at some points....yes it's my DH....he's succumbed to a DIS account now....mwah hahahahaha.....the transition is now complete....insert monster smilie here....

 

[Scoobymoons]

I think before I subject you to the story behind spot the difference, some introductions are in order.





This is me - Claire - 39 years young and totally looking forward to being forty later in the year....honestly....hmmmm

It's not the best photo of me, but flicking through photobucket indicated that it is in fact the only photo of me on my own, so that's what you get! It's my charming 'I'm concentrating really hard' face. Please enjoy!


Next up it's DH





He gets a cool photo because clearly I was evil in a former life and don't deserve a 'looking good with Sorcerer Mickey' pic.....either that or DD and I were in the animation class and DH was entertaining himself by meeting characters....needless to say DD has not forgiven him for his treachery.


Which moves us nicely on to DD - Eloise - 7 going on 15 at times and 2 at other times. By the time we hit the House of the Mouse in August she will be 8 (nearly typed 98 then by accident...she's a fast worker!!)





Not sure what she's doing in this photo facially - she is in the process of dancing with Pluto and is imitating his tongue hanging out or something....who knows All I will say is that this is fairly common of DD - she cracks us up on a regular basis


So that's us. Our little family. Disney obsessed and proud


This summer will be our fourth visit to WDW and our third trip lasting 3 weeks Our first trip in 2009 (which I began a trip report for but never quite completed it) was a 10 day stay and we fairly quickly realised that this was NOT ENOUGH TIME We now look at our plans for 3 weeks and wonder how on earth we'll fit everything in...


I seem to have a lot of smilies and am not sure how many are allowed so will stop here for now and then post again soon including some pre trip details and post trip reminiscences.


TTFN

 

[stephensmum]

Oh, I thought it was you, I read your wilderness lodge report, looking forward to this one

 

[Scoobymoons]

Oh, I thought it was you, I read your wilderness lodge report, looking forward to this one

Hi and

It's so nice to be remembered Thanks for joining me - it should be exciting and I am determined to finish this one - famous last words! Going to update shortly with some plans for this year.

 

[Scoobymoons]

I'm very excited to have had a reply to my musings - thanks - it's always fun to hear other people's thoughts.


So onwards with this muddle of memories and future plans. I've given a little bit of back info and done some introductions so I think maybe some thoughts about the upcoming trip this year would be appropriate!

As I said in my first post, following my accident on our last trip - which involved a visit to Celebration Hospital (...erm....oxymoron much?!) and a 3 day stay in Florida Hospital (no Mickey Mouse there...) - we were a little disillusioned and actually discussed whether we would return imminently. As you can tell, this was not long lived and before we knew it, the next sojourn to see the Main Mouse was being planned. We loooooove to plan! The spreadsheet this year is awesome even if I do say so myself - I drive DH mad because I am obsessive about formatting and like everything to be colour co-ordinated - I know, I probably need to get out more

We are going for 3 weeks again We love going for 3 weeks....I mean, who wouldn't?!?! Unfortunately because DH's job has changed slightly, this year could be the last time we can do this, and we'll have to restrict to 2 weeks in the future....although we have already had the 'well surely we could pop a 1 week cruise in there at a different time of year' conversation! Ha! We'll have to wait and see about that!

So, where are we staying???? I was going to say....Drum Roll please....then I realised that it really wasn't much of surprise when my ticker clearly states it....doh! (is there a facepalm smilie?!) Excuse my twonkiness

Ok, so no surprise - we're staying for 2 weeks at the gorgeous Wilderness Lodge:

and then the final week at Jambo House (which I'm sure is gorgeous but having never stayed there before, can't say that for certain ). This is my interpretation in the absence of photographic evidence....


Why thank you. I bet you're all very relieved that I'm a teacher and education of future artists is in my, more than capable hands

This took quite a lot of deciding as I was adamant that I wanted to stay at Boardwalk Villas (being as though I felt that I missed out on a lot last trip!) but our DVC points (yes that happened in 2011...) meant that it wasn't possible. I know right? What a bind....having to stay at Wilderness and Jambo....life's tough at times....And whilst I'll be very sad not to see the ridiculously terrifying clown slide this year, I'm looking forward to being back with the lift beaver....Here is DD in 2011 with said Lift Beaver, possibly licking her fingers in preparation for sticking them in its nostrils...I never said it was pretty......

We'll be heading there on August 8th and then leaving (shhhh....I know I shouldn't say nasty things) on the 29th.

How excited? Errrr lots Already started to book dining and other things - will be back with details....

TTFN

 

[mickeyforpresident]

I'm loving this report.... Thanks.... When's the next instalment?!?! You've inspired me...I might write a pre trip report!

 

[Scoobymoons]

I'm loving this report.... Thanks.... When's the next instalment?!?! You've inspired me...I might write a pre trip report!

and thankyou So glad you're enjoying it! Next instalment should be arriving shortly! Give writing it a go - I've had a few attempts now and think I'm getting the hang of it now!

 

[Scoobymoons]

Hello again!

As a quick 'I told you so' you'll be pleased to know that I found the photographic evidence so sadly missing from my previous post. Hold onto you hats....

SOOOOOOO wrong! You can tell DD is smiling too...

We're so pleased to be going back to Wilderness - such a gorgeous resort - although the villas will be a different experience of course. I perhaps could make this a post about Wilderness and what we're looking forward to...

1. The Lift Beaver - please see previous post!!
2. The Electric Water Pageant

Now whilst this is blurry, consider yourselves lucky....you could have had this...

Only QUALITY photography on this TR!!!!

It's a bit of a first night tradition for us to have a beer (specifically a Coors Light in an aluminium bottle - not that we're obsessive...ahem) in the warmth on the balcony listening to the music of the EWP...ah....We of course also try to get to the beach on occasions to watch the EWP as well - I've only not managed to do this once when I may or may not have fallen asleep on a sofa in the Territory Lounge after one or two glasses of wine..... Oooops! Clearly I had a good nap though as it was the next day that we bought our DVC....oh yeah!!

3. The buzz of crickets (is that what they are??!) as you walk round the resort. Insert cricket smilie here______________ oh! I've had an idea......

Here we go.....


OK, so I don't mean that sort of cricket.....try again......




Yup...this sort of a cricket. Answers on a postcard as to why this particular cricket is in a tea cup. Who thinks 'I know, I'm going to draw a cricket.....there we go.....no....no....it's not quite right.....it needs something....I'm not sure wh......ah yes!!!! of course.....a teacup!'

My DH is currently suggesting that it's a cricket at WDW - presumably on the Mad Hatter's Mad Tea Party ride.....erm...... I wish I'd never started this....I'm not looking forward to them any more

4. The pool.

Very excited about new upgraded pool. DD got particularly excited about the splash zone until she discovered that she'll be too big....doh! We had to convince her that the pay off of that is that she can go on lots of slides at the water parks... We loved the pool (despite the freaky clown) at Boardwalk and the one at BLT (always feel like I'm discussing sandwiches) last time, but sadly I didn't get much pool time after my little accident - broken wrists and pool water don't mix. Sitting watching DD and DH swim was kind of fun with a cocktail in my (good) hand but it certainly wasn't the same.

5. The boat rides to the MK

Yes, I know that's a monorail - but it's taken from the boat...sheesh!

Definitely missed this last time. (I love that this has now represented a cruise and a small boat!) The boat transportation sometimes gets bad press but we can't fault it - so relaxing and the only way of seeing the trainer tree!!! I was just about to add a picture but that would totally detract from my attempt to persuade you to use the boats.....ah....so nearly caught out!!

6. The lobby!

Whoah - I'm a little shocked that this is only number 6...(behind the lift beaver and crickets....) Such an incredible space - we spent more time here last time we stayed, but could definitely happily spend another few minutes (or hours...)there.

There are so many more things that will be added but I'll save them for another time you lucky things...

However... just incase you didn't have enough cricket references....

or this...yes, genuinely photographed on our window at WL....thank you...yes, I am a thorough reporter.....

TTFN

 

[jothp]

I'm loving your report - so funny I'm looking forward to hearing more about your plans.

 

[disneylove69]

Jealous you get 2 weeks. You daughter is adorable

 

[stephensmum]

I think you will love Jambo house, we had 5 nights there last August, it was lush.

 

[Scoobymoons]

I'm loving your report - so funny I'm looking forward to hearing more about your plans.

and

Really appreciate you stopping to say hi!

Jealous you get 2 weeks. You daughter is adorable

We are so excited about it and feel very grateful. We think she's gorgeous (possibly with the exception of when her fingers are up the nose of a beaver...)but then we're biased

I think you will love Jambo house, we had 5 nights there last August, it was lush.

I really hope it will be as amazing as we've heard/read about. Think it might be perfect at the end of the holiday. We're already imagining sitting out on the veranda watching the animals mooching

 

[Scoobymoons]

Hi there and welcome to new readers

Exciting times - we have now made all of our ADRs for August and got everything we wanted

It won't be long before I start to reveal future plans but for now I'll carry on with my musings about WL....and actually my ADR announcement (!?) leads beautifully into...

7. Territory Lounge

Gah! We love it here. It's so relaxing, quiet and....well....it serves drinks As I'm typing this DH is reminding me that we didn't get there during our last trip - I seem to think that we had it planned in for later in the holiday but because of my mishap (boo) everything went just a little bit skew-whiff (crikey that's hard to spell - had to google it in the end ) So we definitely need to rectify that. The photos above are from 2011 and I think they may be from the fateful night I described earlier in the TR when DH and DD made it to the beach to watch the EWP but I decided that the sofa and I needed bonding time....there is a tell-tale wine glass on the table....They do some seriously good chicken wings as well - yum. Expect to see evidence of fairly regular visits!

8. Artist Point

DD remembers very little about our past trips but this is something that has stuck - the Mickey Puzzle at Artist Point. We have been there every trip and just love it. They do a fairly killer port flight too

YUM!!!

Whilst I type Yum, DH is sat beside me making vomit noises....such a charmer....and now you know he is not a port fan

9. The Mercantile store.

We just really like the shop and who wouldn't given that there's a fab totem pole of squashed animals outside....

(Not my photo - taken from tinternet)

It also ....and I can't believe I'm about to admit this publically....sells....wait for it.....

(also not my photo - I've not reached that stage of obsession.....yet....)

WE LOVE SMOOTH AND CHEESY DIP!

There - I've said it - that's good isn't it? Admitting your feelings is the first step to....yeah ok...give it up....
So you can imagine our first night balcony - metal bottles of Coors Light, Smooth and Cheesy Dip, the music of the EWP in the background, Florida heat....perfection!!!

10. Roaring Fork

We love it - sitting outside with a random selection of wildlife - eating great sandwiches. It also has an amazing toaster....I'm easily pleased

So I think that's probably it for WL at the minute until I suddenly remember something else 2 seconds after posting... ah well! So be it. I think next time I'll start sharing the plans for August....

TTFN

 

[Scoobymoons]

ONWARDS!

Can't believe it's been 2 weeks since my last post! Whoah - how time flies.... Ok so that's not time...but it's flying...you can't have it all.....
It's been a fairly eventful 2 weeks not least because DH was in hospital for 1 of said weeks. Seriously, we are in hospital way too much. It says a lot when your DD announces that when she's older she wants to be a doctor because then she'll get to see us......errrrr......(insert scratchy double-take sound effect here) Whaaaaat!!!!! She's not wrong though....we are notorious and our employers are patient!!!! Anyway......Just in case you're wondering, DH is fine, it was investigative stuff which has all turned out fairly positively so that's At the same time DH was in hospital I had to get my school reports out and also organise a massive talent contest - never mind the normal day to day teaching malarkey and looking after DD.....not sure how we're all still standing.....oh yes.....wine....that's how....helpful stuff!! Not that I'm implying that DD had any....no, that did not happen...oh ok I'll shut up...

MOVING ON

I said in my last post that I'd move onto our future plans!! Oh yes ladies and gentlemen....no more blathering about lift beavers and crickets (unless they happen to crop up a teensy little bit...) - it's onto the juicy stuff (although I suspect lift beavers are juicy (?!) as are crickets if you have no other option....)
I feel very aware that this update may be light on the photo side - I'll try to think of some opportunities to blind you with more of my photographic prowess, otherwise you'll have to have more drawings YOU ARE MORE THAN WELCOME!!!

Right here goes.... (finally)

We will be there from Sat 8th Aug - Sat 29th Aug
2 weeks at VWL followed by 1 week at Jambo House AKL

Pre Flight
We've got a room booked at the Travelodge at Heathrow - oh yeah - we totally know how to extend an already excessive holiday.....I suspect that the room will look something like this:

And before long the bathroom sink will look like this:

Weeeeeelllllll, if they won't supply an icebucket......what's a girl supposed to do

Day 1
We're flying to Charlotte first - not a relative...a place in North Carolina:

And then onto Orlando
Flight gets in at 6ish....oh that's really not good enough is it....hang on....6:06 to be precise....
We will mosey on to VWL taking the Magical Express. Last trip was our first experience of ME and it was definitely wonderful and really rather fast
We've really got nothing planned for this first evening as it will feel decidedly late! What will we do? I refer you back to my previous comment: Coors, balcony, smooth cheesy dip, EWP That in combination with sheer excitement will be all we need! Well, that and sleep....

Day 2
We have a surprise breakfast planned at Chef Mickey's - we know we'll be up obscenely early so have taken the chance to get over to the Contemporary early before heading to Epcot. DD always talks about Chef Mickey's. She doesn't remember much about previous trips (which is amazing as it's like the first time she's ever been every time we visit!!!!) but for some reason Chef Mickey's has stuck. Well.....to be honest.....DD doesn't refer to it as Chef Mickey's she always say 'Mummy are we going to that place where you drew on Donald?'
Ok confession time. Short and sweet....first time we went to Chef Mickey's, I turned round with un-capped green Sharpie pen in hand just at the same time that Donald made a dramatic wing gesture whilst visiting the family that was next to us. Long and short of it was Donald's wing was no longer pure white as the drifting snow...it was pure white as drifting snow with an enormous green line down the middle of it....I suspect he didn't feel like this... I felt so guilty I immediately fessed up to my crime of the feather and offered to clean.....oh .....no.......I didn't......that's right.......I shut up and went back to the buffet....

Anyway, DD knows nothing of our trip to see the graffitied Donald so don't tell her

I'm getting slightly concerned about picture numbers so I'll finish up day 2 then leave the further tales for another fun-filled post!

After apologising to Donald, we're heading to Epcot for some of the day at least. The only thing that we have to do its collect our car from the Swalphin -we're then going to go to Publix to stock up on useful things like snacks and beer! At least this time we can see the things we're buying. Last trip we ordered from Garden Grocer which was fab in the most part but did result in a lot of guess work....we ordered ice pops that could be frozen in the freezer - turns out that 100 ice pops is a lot - even for a 3 week trip! And then the Goldfish crackers the size of DD's head also arrived:

Needless to say, we didn't quite finish them all...

We reckon we'll eat a quick lunch at Sunshine Seasons before venturing for dinner at our first off site option: Red Lobster. I totally and utterly blame Libby_Darling for this (and at least one other) dining choice as she sells it so well in her TR. I'd quote it here but can't work out how to - help please! I'm sure DD will be pleased at this as she loves a good buffet - specifically duck defacing ones, but I don't think she's that fussy!!!

I suspect that we'll return to VWL early and crash out - in all probability a combination of tiredness and food coma...

So, that's up to day 2 so far.....only another 19 to go....you lucky beans....

TTFN

 

[Scoobymoons]

Hope everyone is ok - thanks again for reading My posts are somewhat sporadic but I'm just going to go with that and let them happen when I can!

So it's only 129 days until we head off - we haven't sorted out DD's countdown yet - going to have to get thinking sharpish!

I ended the last instalment by finishing off Day 2 of our plans, so let's continue on our Mouse-orientated adventure!

Day 3:
Hopefully by now we'll be settled into some sort of routine and have recovered from the jet lag malarkey. We've planned in a trip to Blizzard Beach on this day. On our 2009 and 2011 trips we had only ventured to Typhoon Lagoon but in 2013 we decided to branch out a bit and head to BB. Well, we loved it here - although DD was still quite small there was still plenty for her to do and she was actually able to do a few more 'grown up' rides. The Ski Patrol section is fantastic and watching DD trying to negotiate the ice bergs again should be hilarious once more I will endeavour to be more careful during the family raft ride this time though. As we're only a family of 3 we were put in a raft with a young couple. We had no problem with this at all and we were all enjoying the ride - I think DD completely entertained them with her screams for the majority of the journey. However, I did feel somewhat awkward at the end when I realised that amidst the fast-paced excitement and twists and turns of the ride, my foot had become wedged under the other guy's bum.... Well, I honestly didn't quite know what to say....

Here we are at the end - DD loved it!

Needless to say we legged it out of there fairly swiftly!! We really enjoyed BB and had plans to return in the same trip....that was until my wrist had other ideas!

We anticipate eating at one of the establishments there for lunch and then heading back to VWL early afternoon - I reckon we'll be knackered and hot! We also need enough time to get ready for our dinner at Artist Point - DH and I discussed the possibility of not going to AP this year...the conversation lasted approximately 10 seconds. It's tradition, it's delicious and it has the Mickey Puzzle for DD's dessert. And we all know what that means, don't we?????! Well just in case you're unsure, it means us being given a paintbrush, green 'paint' and a blank canvass:

What do you mean 'it's a signature restaurant'?? This is entirely appropriate behaviour....ahem....

DD is a very good sport - she has to be with us around Can't wait to eat there again - it's always been fab and the fact that it's on the doorstep makes it perfect!

Day 4:
Onto Day 4 which should (hey we're semi flexible...) be at Magic Kingdom. What can I say about MK? Every little girl's dream - and now with Anna and Elsa....well....!! Really excited about the Mine Train - it was being built in 2013 so this will be a first! Only area I will avoid like the plague is the playground by Splash Mountain which was the scene of my wrist break - booooooooo Hoping to do more Sorcerors of the MK and perhaps venture into the Treasures of the Seven Seas - aaaargh Jim Lad...... Last time we got there super early and to avoid the crowds we walked through the Confectionary. Well we happened to be first in there and before we knew it, DD had been handed a bell and was being told what to say in order to open it for the day! Her reward (as if she needed one!) was a Mickey rice krispie treat......the size of her head.....

Yup there appears to be a theme of 'food the size of DD's head' going on...

It was tasty! The only slight catch was that it was put in a bag - I know, how inconsiderate right?! - but we then went on the tea cups (anyone else imagining a cricket? Only me?) - well there was clearly something wrong with the bag as the combination of bag ink and sweat was NOT GOOD! I got off the ride and looked like I'd gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson, but only using my legs - they were black and blue - it was an interesting sojourn to the toilets - I got some very odd looks!

We've got a lunch ADR at Plaza restaurant which is new to us - looks good and I've heard (well... read on here ) great things about the chips (fries - call them what you will....) and anything potato based is good in my book!

I think we're anticipating leaving fairly mid afternoon - probably for a swim before settling into the Territory Lounge for the evening! Aaaaaand relax ooooh - also want to try the fondue - mmmmmmmm melty cheeeeeeeese! Now why is there no smilie for that?????!!! Hmmmm?

TTFN

 

[Shazzie B]

Following along, your daughter is so cute, the picture with her fingers up the Beaver's nose is my favourite, you can so tell she's smiling even though you can't really see her face. Did have a slight panic about the paint and her pretty dress though.

 

[Scoobymoons]

and thanks so much for taking the time to comment Shazzie B. It's always lovely to have responses when you're writing. DD definitely has her cute moments - not sure the beaver would agree mind! Love that you were concerned about paint + dress combination . Don't worry - no pretty dresses were harmed in the writing of this report Great to have you along. Hoping to update in the next couple of days

 

[stephensmum]

Hi there, just caught up. You make me laugh out loud.

Scew whiff (I can't spell it either, nor could I find it again in your report) - I was wondering it that's where the word scwiffy comes from?

I love the family raft at blizzard beach, were three too & meet some smashing people. The same can be said of kali rapid river ride at ak. When it used to have emh at night we'd be allowed to go around & around, getting to know our fellow passengers.

 

[stephensmum]

Me again. Can you tell me about the scorcerors?

Main st plaza - we ate there and it was lovely, very large meals and we couldn't share because we all wanted different, I had chicken and strawberry salad. We were on ddp but I think the prices were reasonable, kids meals looked really good.

 

[Scoobymoons]

Hi there, just caught up. You make me laugh out loud.

Scew whiff (I can't spell it either, nor could I find it again in your report) - I was wondering it that's where the word scwiffy comes from?

I love the family raft at blizzard beach, were three too & meet some smashing people. The same can be said of kali rapid river ride at ak. When it used to have emh at night we'd be allowed to go around & around, getting to know our fellow passengers.

Thanks for reading and for commenting I really appreciate it! I'm glad to be of some sort of service

The raft was great fun (as long as the embarrassment is ignored!) Totally adore Kali - I still remember the first time we went on that - I anticipated something akin to a UK 'water ride' which are so often designed with our somewhat changeable weather in mind (aka very little water!) - cripes was I wrong! I think I was still wringing out my shorts an hour later - I was very grateful that I hadn't chosen to wear a white top.....

Me again. Can you tell me about the scorcerors?

Main st plaza - we ate there and it was lovely, very large meals and we couldn't share because we all wanted different, I had chicken and strawberry salad. We were on ddp but I think the prices were reasonable, kids meals looked really good.

Sorcerers is great fun and I think we only just touched the surface of it. How much do you want to know?! It's a really nice way to tour the parks without madly rushing to rides - a different experience that DD loved. Basically you go to the fire station between City Hall and The Emporium and there will be cast members there to get you set up with cards, maps and training. They'll explain what to do and how it all works then you're off around MK looking for portals and defending everyone against Hades and other villains by using your sorcerer cards. It's a little tricky to explain but there are lots of different missions which all mean you have to find portals like these:

They're in all sorts of different locations and really take you on a tour of the park! You can pick up new cards every day and I think it gets more complex as you play it more. We're also hopeful that the cards we collected last time (2013) will still be useable this year. We also enjoyed the fact that people would swap repeat cards - just a little bit of different interaction! Does that answer your question? Shout if you want to know anything else and I'll try and help!

Mmmmmm The Plaza - thanks for the recommendation - it's made me even more pleased that we've changed things around a bit!