Live TR OKW 5/30-6/6, 1st stay as Members with DDP

[frkymcky]

Hi everyone!! We made it here, finally. It has been an experience so far so let's begin.

The cast:

Me - DW(34) I am recovering froma broken foot, still wearing a medical boot. Love all things Disney. Mother of 2 wonderful children

DH (38) - soon to be 39 had to add that. Likes Disney allowed us to get our DVC but doesn't need that fix like I do of Disney.

DD (6) - graduating Kindergarten in 2 1/2 weeks. Loves princesses and adores "Cindy", her nick name they seem to be very close.

So on with the show.........




Oh, forgot to mention that we are celebrating our 9th anniversary and DH is wearing his pin, I can't believe it. Also we are celebrating DD kindergarten graduation.

So Day 2....what to do, what to do....after day 1 we figure we need to rethink our plans, go slower and ease DD into Disney.

So as promised since DD and I were up before DH we went to the pool. Turtle Pond pool at OKW. (Sorry we are in OKW bldg 32, love our 2 br and love the view of the water with fountain). We spent about 1 1/2 hours there when we returned to our room we had breakfast, baths and were about to leave for somewhere when it happened....another meltdown from DD what about I can't remember but bad enough that we were tempted to just stay in.

We got through that meltdown and decided to ease her into all things Disney by going to Epcot. We arrive and decide to go on Spaceship Earth, no line, no waiting at 12:45pm, get to the line and she won't go...are you kidding me??. Well after threatening if she didn't go we would leave she went and LOVED it. (this will become a theme of our day!!!) She plays in the area i believe called project tomorrow, but could be wrong. She loved the games was having a great time and wanted more rides, ok let's go!!!!!!!

Off to find Nemo, somehow we found KP, so we get our mission time for 3pm in Italy and walk around a bit in that area and decide to start heading over since I take so long getting around. We get to World Showcase, and go on the ride in Mexico, of course she didn't want to go then changed her mind. Getting on our boat she drops her flip flop....No problem they have a grabby thingy (like my term) and fish it out of the water I dry it off and we go on our ride. She LOVED It, of course!!!!

My DH needs a snack, he goes to San Angel Inn (I told him I wasn't sure that he could get a snack here on the DDP) he asks and she said she could give him the children's plate which was a taco and nachos with cheese with a drink it was $4.99, he said great, got his food, off we went. Looked at the receipt a while later, she charged him for a counter service. I understand that but not right considering he specifically asked for a snack. I will deal with that later.

We get to Italy get our mission for KP and off to Japan, my DD loved the mission. I had to sit for most of it because of my foot, it was KILLING me. We got a nice cold snack, waffle cone with vanilla ice cream for DH, soft ice cream in a cup for DD and frozen lemonade for me or so I thought. DD wanted the lemonade, no problem crisis adverted and on to eat the ice cream. We then decide to take the ferry over to Mexico and go find NEMO. Waited about 10 minutes for the ferry, which she did not want to ride, but did and LOVED it. Get to Nemo and loved it, I was so impressed by how they had Nemo, Dory and all the characters from the movie in the tank during the ride. Very neat played in the seas for a while. She loved the Pop quiz, and the tanks with the turtles and stingrays.

After that we went to the land, rode the ride there, no waiting then off to see the movie there. Waited about 6/7 minutes for the movie. DD appreciated the movie since they are learning about recycling and saving our planet, (i was happy i was able to get some education in there for her!!!) After that we were off to dinner.

Now before dinner, let me say we didn't do a bunch of things in Epcot, but for our newly revised trip this was about all we could do with DD. So we accomplished everything in Epcot (so wish we could do more). It was a pretty good afternoon overall. We had fun and best of all she smiled ALL DAY.

Dinner was at Kona Cafe at 7:55, checked in at 7:40 was told we would be seated pretty close to our ressie time. We were not seated until 8:25 but no a problem. Service was good, food was out quickly. Here is what we had:

DD - fruit salad with chicken nuggets and fries, she wanted the raspberry lemonade (which she had the night before) our server told me it wasn't included in the DDP because it was served in the special cup. So i asked him to serve it in a regular cup - he had to check if he could and guess what.... The lemonade also fits in a regualr cup, no alarms went off or anything and DD was happy. (That wasn't a huge deal but I couldn't believe he had said we would have to pay for it... come on use your noggin, regular cups work too)

Sorry, back to food......

Me - Coconut Encrusted Chicked with Asian Greens - 16.99 and very good.

DH - Shrimp and Scallops with sticky rice. 3 good size shrimp and 3 scallops. He commented that he would need a snack later and did, but tasty. $20.99

We both had sodas, we were also served bread with a macadamia nut butter which was delicious.

Dessert - DD wanted cotton candy, we saw it being served with a cone... asked our server and was told it comes with the adult dessert, Kona Kone...ok so we decide to get that for her as one of our desserts and also get the chocolate fondue. She ate the cotton candy, DH had the cone with ice cream (kind of a build your own sundae) and shared the fondue with me. It came with fruit and cookies.

Dinner done, off to our room for some sleep!!! And now here I am the start of Day 3 doing my TR while my family sleeps. They need it so I am not complaining. We don't run off to the parks early anyhow.

So to recap.... we had no lines on any thing we did... I did notice test track at 1pm had a 30 min. stand by wait, not to bad i thought....Weather was fantastic. A little warm mid day but manageable, blue skies no clouds. Cool in the evening but not cold.



Day 3 has just begun will update tomorrow morning...this is what it looks like so far.....

Today it looks like it will be another wonderful day of weather... keep your fingers crossed for a good day with DD. We have ressies at Boma's tonight which I know will be great, after our events today we will decide if we need to cancel Storybook Dining Breakfast we have scheduled for Thursday and Tea with Alice (seems like we will need to cancel, now to decide where to eat on Thursday without characters)

Thanks for reading....see you tomorrow.

Any questions please let me know and I will do my best to get the answers for you.

Day 1

Saturday 5/30, began uneventful. FIL picked us up drove us to Newark Airport, i did online check in so we checked our bags curbside, somehow was only charged for 1 checked bag . Our flight on continental was good, a little bumpy but on time.

Arrived at MCO on time also, retrieved our luggage and went down stairs to meet our shuttle to Hertz. We rented our car using priceline, $12 a day plus tax (total rental $146.) Used the express checkin at Hertz, very easy, and off we were. We brought our GPS so no need to get directions, we had all the addresses we needed, thanks to all of the greater DISSERS!!

Quick stop at Walmart for some necessary items and on to OKW. Also used online check in (notice a theme here) requested first floor. We had a cast member earning his ears, so it took about 5 extra minutes to get our stuff. No biggie he was very friendly and sufficient. Got our box we shipped ahead of time and off to our room.

We had a 6pm ressie at 1900 Park Fare with "Cindy" we were all excited. I dreamed about this dinner with my DD, thought to myself I couldn't wait to see that smile. We get there check in at 5:55 and were seated promptly at 6pm. Right when were are being seated they introduce Cinderella, I look at my DD sitting to my right and she isn't there. Where did she go you ask......under the table hysterical crying, she wanted to leave. Are you kidding me??? All the planning and time on the phone to get this darn ressie and you want to leave. I try to get her out, no luck, DH tries, no luck. She is HYSTERICAL, my DH drags her out from under the table and into the lobby. He tries to calm her down, she just kept saying she wanted to go somewhere else, she was scared. The manager, Julianna (fantastic BTW) came over to me to try and help. At this point my DH and I switch, he sits at the table and I go in the lobby to deal with DD, she will have nothing to do with this and wants to leave NOW!!! After a good 20 minutes of this, Julianna tells us to follow her. She got us into Grand Floridian Cafe for dinner. Good dinner, not what I expected the night to be but ok.

The entire staff took care of us, brought DD a light up tink drink, which she loved. My DH and myself were so pis**d beyond belief at her behavior. There was nothing we could do but try to let it go and now try to figure out what to do with our other character meals. Sadly we will need to cancel them. So back to our room for a good night sleep.

Stay tuned for Day 2................

 

[frkymcky]

So we had a late start this day, DD slept until about 10:45. We figured we should let her sleep. We decided to go to MK (a recommended day by touring plans)

We got there pretty late, around 1:30. DD wanted to take the Monorail over to MK so we did. I expected the face of awe and excitement when we entered and she saw Cinderella's castle, no such look. We decided to do IASW which she loved and only waited about 10 minutes. We needed something to eat so we were going to Cosmic Rays for a counter service and decided to get on the carousel, waited in line for about 5 minutes and when it was our turn DD didn't want to go on, she was scared. So off to the exit we go and on our way to eat I decide to grab a fastpass for POOH, much to our surprise we received a "surprise fast pass" for Mickey's Philharmagic for that immediate hour. We went to eat than off to our 3D show, DD thought it was fun but a little "scary". After that we went on to Tiki Room which she was a little scared at also, after that it was POOH and yes she was scared. We went over to Minnie and Mickey's house then onto the train and left.

Dinner was at Boma's, while we waited we walked the hotel to check out the viewing areas, which she just LOVED!!! We saw lots of animals, zebras and giraffes and lots of others as well. Our buzzer went off and we were seated. A fantastic dinner as always.

After dinner it was back to the room for some sleep. Today our plan is to hang around OKW goto the pool, get involved in some of the activities and possibly rent a boat.

Overall weather is great, crowds at MK were a little much although wait times for what we did were not bad, did notice Peter Pan's flight had a 60 minute wait and Jungle Cruise was 45 minutes.

 

[kristenrice]

Your TR is bringing a smile to my face...

First, I am glad to hear that we are not the only ones with a DD6 who likes to meltdown at the oddest times. OK, ours won't be 6 for three more weeks, but she is the same way. I can totally relate!

Second, I am really glad to hear that the weather has been decent. We will be passing you since we arrive on the 6th for our first "summer" vacation with kids. DH and I went the first week of September 2002 and we remember that it was very hot. Looking at the forecast, I have been really concerned about the heat and rain. DH has vowed that he will not leave the villa if it is "90 degrees and raining" so I guess I will get the kids to myself in the parks. Oh....yippee....

Enjoy the rest of your trip. I am looking at my countdown timer right now and picturing our arrival at the AKV...and that wonderful fragrance!

 

[bookwormde]

Glad the weather is nice and you are for the most part having a good time.

It is not at all unusual at this age for children who are place in a “new world” to have lots of anxiety (which sometimes are form new social and sensory considerations) Anxiety =meltdowns.

If I might offer a suggestion since you have a computer, go on Utube and watch some videos of what you have planned in the future (often watching them multiple times can help), often this will greatly reduce any anxiety that might exist since she has already “been through the experience”

Thanks for the great report, we sill arrive the 9th and be at OKW the 14ht for our “dose” of meltdowns (although compared to our first trip these are extremely rare now and only happen when we are “pushing”).

bookwormde

 

[frkymcky]

First let me say thank you for those words of wisdom. They are greatly appreciated.

Day 4:

Resort day, decided by DD6. (we have decided to go mostly with her suggestions)

So we have breakfast in our villa, lost power at 11(which we were notified about, power loss was for 2 hours). After breakfast we headed over to the pool, but first decorated a stuffed animal at community hall. We then scoped out our chairs and off we were into the water (about 11:30). At 2pm we got out of the water and purchased some Bingo cards for the bingo game at 2:30. We got our seats by the pool and waited for bingo. DD was very excited she loves to play bingo and usually has good luck (was i praying for her to have luck I did not need another meltdown). First game was straight bingo took a while for someone to get bingo, then we hear it "BINGO" look over it was my DD . Second game was corners or straight bingo, that game was over pretty quickly as well after DD called BINGO So yes you are counting correctly she won 2 games of Bingo and at this point we have 2 board games that we will need to ship home (no biggie). Third game was 6 numbers, anywhere on the board. First 6 numbers called DD had 4 of them, next 6 numbers to be called my DD get, wait for it.....BINGO. Yes, first 3 games and she wins them. Fourth round was 5 numbers, they call the first 5 numbers and she has 4 of them...I told her if she won, I was walking the other way....then here comes the next number and we hear BINGO, but it didn't sound right, it was a different voice OH MY GOODNESS, someone else WON. She was fine with that and said bingo was great.

After bingo we decided to grab some lunch at GOOD's I had a salad, DD a hotdog and DH a burger. We then played at community hall for a bit and went back to our room about 5pm. We freshened up a bit than off to dinner at Beaches and Cream. I have to say I heard wonderful things about the burgers but thought they were nothing special. After dinner it was back to OKW for a late night swim. After swimming we came back to our room about 11:30 and went straight to bed. It is now 11:11 and both DH and DD are sleeping.

Had the week not of shaped up the way it is going I would usually wake everyone up to get out to a park. As it seems we may not see another park this week, which is fine. I would rather have fun with my family than stress and argue. So not sure what today will be or where we will be but will update tomorrow!!!!

 

[KyleRayner]

My DH needs a snack, he goes to San Angel Inn (I told him I wasn't sure that he could get a snack here on the DDP) he asks and she said she could give him the children's plate which was a taco and nachos with cheese with a drink it was $4.99, he said great, got his food, off we went. Looked at the receipt a while later, she charged him for a counter service. I understand that but not right considering he specifically asked for a snack. I will deal with that later.

That happened to my sister, also at San Angel Inn. We ate there and wanted to use our Counter Service points from DDP. It was only the 2 of us, so one person had to stay and save a table while the other went and ordered. So I went first, came back to the table, no problem. Then my sister went and came back. I looked at her receipt because I wanted to see how many points we had left. I noticed there was no points balance. We had a credit card linked to the room key so they charged her lunch to the room instead of using the DDP. I asked her if she told them that she was using DDP and she said she did. So after we ate, she had to go back and wait on line so they could reverse what they did.

 

[frkymcky]

So on Wednesday we also decided to just hang around and take it easy. We went to DTD, DD was able to do some shopping - she picked up some things for her brother and friends. She rode the little train (which I think she loved more than any ride at the parks). After DTD we went to dinner at Cape May Cafe which was FANTASTIC!!! They were serving snow crab legs (this was a special only til Saturday 6/6/09), our waitress brought DD a special dessert since she was celebrating her kindergarten graduation . DD was just in love with the waitress and the restaurant. After dinner back to hotel and pool for a bit, than bed.

Thursday we went to MK...we got there during the street party parade so we had to wait before we could walk down Main St. We noticed Daisy doing a meet and greet, DD was about to loose it but we managed to avoid a meltdown. We basically stayed in tomorrowland did the Laugh Floor, DD's joke was picked !! We did COP, Buzz, tried doing Speedway but due to rain it was closed. We also in between did lunch and the 3:00 parade. Again due to rain the 3pm parade was cancelled mid-parade (rain was awful). While we were hiding out from the rain we noticed the photographers setting up and Goofy came down. While I was trying to catch a few pics of Goofy I saw a woman come walking down toward him and it hit me it was........Gwen Stefani with guys from No Doubt, her hubby, family/friends and kids. So we grabbed a few shots of them. We ended up leaving MK about 7pm back to OKW for dinner and pool.

Friday was a pool day after the rain passed. DD participated in the Unbirthday party at community hall and had fun, of course she won at the Bingo game they played. We had dinner ressies to go back to Cape May (since DD loved it so much), well DD didn't want to get out of the pool she was "having fun". So we decided to let her play about 7:30 she wanted to eat so we explained we would need to eat at OKW which she did NOT want to do. We tried to get back into Cape May Cafe at our concierge desk but they couldnt help us. So we decided to head back to Beach Club and cross fingers to get in. At the podium I explained we missed our ressie due to some difficulties (DD) and asked if they could get us in and they DID!!!!. So we had another fantastic dinner and special dessert for DD.

Saturday we headed home, our flight was delayed leaving MCO due to a storm which caused the airport to be closed for about 30 minutes. Once in flight we had no problems. Oh - on our way to MCO we used DD's booster seat on the plane, leaving MCO the flight attendant told us we could not use it for take off/landing stating it wasn't safe. I was confused and DD was VERY upset but we took off without her using the seat, once in the air they allowed us to use the seat.

One other thing, mouse cleaning never cleaned our room. We should of had 1 trash and towel service but never got any. DH and I decided not to worry about it since I washed the towels myself - it would of been nice but again no biggie!!

So all in all it was a good vacation, DD was very tempermental, not sure why. She basically called the shots the whole time which usually we wouldn't allow. But we decided we really didn't want too much stress and just went with it!!

We are already planning our next trip sometime March-May of 2010.

Thanks for reading, any questions please ask - I will answer as many as I can