POLY, BLT & THE DREAM, WITH A TEEN AND A TWEEN…APRIL 2016***COMPLETED 8/15****

[lilluv117]

Hi! I just found your trip report and I'm loving it! What an amazing trip you had! We'll be doing a Poly/Beach Club split stay this August for the second time and we just love it at the Poly!

We also have a Disney cruise booked for this November with my DH and 2 kids - DS is 6 and DD is 4 1/2. We are all so excited! It's on the Magic sailing from NY to Puerto Rico. Because it's a repositioning cruise, it was significantly cheaper making it possible for us to FINALLY try a Disney cruise!!! I am soooooo excited! You're trip report is making me even more excited. We'll be spending a night in PR after the cruise, then flying back home. Sadly, this cruise doesn't stop at Castaway Cay so I'm hoping to take one that does eventually. For this cruise we went all out and got a verandah room thinking this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I love your views from your verandah! It looked very relaxing and how nice to pack with the breeze flowing in and a Disney movie playing.

Your view from BLT was fabulous! I would love to stay at the Contemporary someday just for the convenience to the MK. The 1 bedroom looks so sleek & nice!

I can't wait for your next update!

 

[buzzrelly]

I am back from WDW and all caught up again! We also stayed up to watch the Jungle Book, premiEAR. I didn't know about the 3 anytime FP. Was that given during the DVC presentation at the start of the cruise? We didn't show up for that but I went to one of the presentations during the cruise. I got a pin which i did not expect. That was nice.

Nice! I wish I was just back again! And it looks like you're heading back in 6 months and 11 months too? I'm jealous!

So we went to the DVC talk on the first day. I think it was for current DVC members only. They explained that if we signed up that day to meet with a rep that we could get 3 Anytime FastPasses, so I signed up and went right before dinner on the first day and was a little late getting to dinner because of it. At the presentation we went to they gave us baseball caps that I had absolutely no use for. I would have LOVED a pin

 

[buzzrelly]

Hi! I just found your trip report and I'm loving it! What an amazing trip you had! We'll be doing a Poly/Beach Club split stay this August for the second time and we just love it at the Poly!

We also have a Disney cruise booked for this November with my DH and 2 kids - DS is 6 and DD is 4 1/2. We are all so excited! It's on the Magic sailing from NY to Puerto Rico. Because it's a repositioning cruise, it was significantly cheaper making it possible for us to FINALLY try a Disney cruise!!! I am soooooo excited! You're trip report is making me even more excited. We'll be spending a night in PR after the cruise, then flying back home. Sadly, this cruise doesn't stop at Castaway Cay so I'm hoping to take one that does eventually. For this cruise we went all out and got a verandah room thinking this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I love your views from your verandah! It looked very relaxing and how nice to pack with the breeze flowing in and a Disney movie playing.

Your view from BLT was fabulous! I would love to stay at the Contemporary someday just for the convenience to the MK. The 1 bedroom looks so sleek & nice!

I can't wait for your next update!

Wow,

Thanks for reading along!

The Beach Club is absolutely amazing too! I stayed there on an adults only trip and I would love to bring the kids there, but I just can't give up the convenience of the the monorail resorts!

We went on the Magic out of NYC in 2012. She is a BEAUTIFUL ship! Just as lovely as the Dream, and I was on before all the new updates! You will not regret getting the Veranda. We didn't have one on that first cruise but after having one, I could never go back

BLT is my home resort and we just love it there. But Poly was awesome too and I would stay there again in a heartbeat!

 

[nenglim]

Nice! I wish I was just back again! And it looks like you're heading back in 6 months and 11 months too? I'm jealous!

So we went to the DVC talk on the first day. I think it was for current DVC members only. They explained that if we signed up that day to meet with a rep that we could get 3 Anytime FastPasses, so I signed up and went right before dinner on the first day and was a little late getting to dinner because of it. At the presentation we went to they gave us baseball caps that I had absolutely no use for. I would have LOVED a pin

My DH absolutely would not sit for one of those presentations. I sat alone for the presentation to get a pin while he sat at the atrium watching our daughter do cartwheels. I had no plans of adding on just wanted the pin. We got the gold dvc annual pass this year and timed our vacations so we can use it on 3 trips. And my disney math says that is saving a lot! hahaha.

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

WOW you had an amazing view at BLT!

 

[oceanmarina]

Loved the updates.

Your daughter's hair came out adorable! My daughter got a bun at BB and they shellacked that bun so well it really holds up! I loved reading about pirate night, we wound up missing the fireworks on our dream cruise, for some reason we were exhausted that night & wound up going right back to the cabin after dinner , we regret not going up to see the fireworks. The buffet looked great too!
So funny the picture of your mom in the car, my mom's exactly the same way, it's like "light's out" when she's in the car. I forgot how long the ride was from the port to WDW, how long is it would you say?

 

[disneyAndi14]

I am all caught up, your BLT room looks so nice, we have stayed at CR garden wing once but never in the BLT area. I see some foreshadowing about your race, oh no!

 

[ariane37]

Oh man, you are SO right about there being less and less for moms to do with sons as they get older I actually get excited when it's just DS14 and I in the car because we can talk - well, try to talk, if he takes his earbuds out

I don't know that I've ever seen pictures of a 1 bedroom at BLT but it's gorgeous! And that view DH really wants to stay there, and we've tried to rent points there a couple times but we're always too late. It's on our bucket list, though.

Your daughter's hair came out so cute at BBB! But holy moly I can't believe the picture of how thick and curly it is lol, it doesn't look like that in any other pictures! They really do a great job. I think it's nice she got to try it before she passed the age limit. Again, just growing up too fast..........

 

[buzzrelly]

My DH absolutely would not sit for one of those presentations. I sat alone for the presentation to get a pin while he sat at the atrium watching our daughter do cartwheels. I had no plans of adding on just wanted the pin. We got the gold dvc annual pass this year and timed our vacations so we can use it on 3 trips. And my disney math says that is saving a lot! hahaha.

I have the Gold Annual Pass that'll expire in December. I wish I could squeak in another trip, but with selling and buying a house I just don't think it is going to happen

Loved the updates.

Your daughter's hair came out adorable! My daughter got a bun at BB and they shellacked that bun so well it really holds up! I loved reading about pirate night, we wound up missing the fireworks on our dream cruise, for some reason we were exhausted that night & wound up going right back to the cabin after dinner , we regret not going up to see the fireworks. The buffet looked great too!
So funny the picture of your mom in the car, my mom's exactly the same way, it's like "light's out" when she's in the car. I forgot how long the ride was from the port to WDW, how long is it would you say?

Aw, you'll have to book another cruise JUST for the fireworks! Oh, AND the Pirate Buffet!

The drive was probably just about an hour with no stops. We could have stopped at the grocery store but had no need for it.

I am all caught up, your BLT room looks so nice, we have stayed at CR garden wing once but never in the BLT area. I see some foreshadowing about your race, oh no!

We love regular CR rooms too. That's the biggest reason I bought at BLT. The VERY first time I stayed onsite was in a Garden Wing room and I was HOOKED!

Oh ya, the big race…ugh!

Oh man, you are SO right about there being less and less for moms to do with sons as they get older I actually get excited when it's just DS14 and I in the car because we can talk - well, try to talk, if he takes his earbuds out

I don't know that I've ever seen pictures of a 1 bedroom at BLT but it's gorgeous! And that view DH really wants to stay there, and we've tried to rent points there a couple times but we're always too late. It's on our bucket list, though.

Your daughter's hair came out so cute at BBB! But holy moly I can't believe the picture of how thick and curly it is lol, it doesn't look like that in any other pictures! They really do a great job. I think it's nice she got to try it before she passed the age limit. Again, just growing up too fast..........

I hope this grumpy teen phase passes quickly. It's like he's unrecognizable to me at times. Where did my sweet baby go??

The view is amazing at BLT, but the BEST thing, to me, is walking back from the MK when EVERYONE else has to catch some other form of transportation. The convenience cannot be beat!

That poor woman didn't know what she was in for. DD has hair like Merida! But to her credit, she didn't yell or cry once. If that were me trying to comb out her DRY, UNCONDITIONED hair, there would have been LOTS of tears and DRAMA!

 

[buzzrelly]

APRIL 16, 2016: THERE HAS….ERRRRR…NOT??BEEN AN AWAKENING??



So the day of the big race had finally come. I had been planning this ever since the announcement that the Star Wars races would be held the week were were there. It was PERFECT timing…or so I thought! I had sent in the registration forms for DS and me (which was definitely NOT cheap!), I had purchased some extra pins, etc., just to celebrate our first race together. I had also purchased DS a new arm band phone holder the day before at the RunDisney Expo, just so he wouldn't have to worry about his phone when he was running. I was so excited! I laid out our bibs, and our waters and our bananas for the morning. And then I set my alarm for 3:30 am and went to bed feeling super ready and excited and prepared I was so prepared…what could POSSIBLY go wrong??

At 3:30 am, my alarm went off, as planned. I got up right away and went to DS who was sleeping on the pull-out chair and gently rubbed his back…nothing. I rubbed a little harder and said his name…nothing. I kind of shook his arm…not gonna lie, I was starting to get a little worried here…nothing. Ugh…ok, so I went and threw my clothes on, knowing that we needed to walk out the door by 3:45am to catch the bus. I went back to DS who hasn't budged…shook a little more, said his name over and over…shook…rubbed…"DS, DS…get up, we need to leave." NOTHING! UGH…Now I'm starting to worry that we will miss the bus and miss the race…I tried a few more times, but it was getting late, it was already 3:50am and I was REALLY starting to worry After a few more attempts, I finally just decided that either just DS would miss the race, or we would BOTH miss the race! A couple more attempts and finally just left and went to catch the bus myself

Needless to say, I was REALLY upset, but in hindsight it TOTALLY makes sense. DS had been out late EVERY night on the cruise. He was staying up until midnight most nights and that last night was out until 2am watching that movie. He was literally exhausted and needed to do some serious catch-up sleep! I know what that's like because I worked nights for 9 years and I remember the feeling of being totally exhausted even days after my night shifts. This is NOT what I was thinking that morning I was upset that I had planned this special thing for us and it totally went out the window. However, as I was leaving, I decided that I was not going to let it ruin this for me. I was excited to run the race, with or without DS. I was actually fine with it and even stopped thinking about it during the run, until about Mile 5 when I got a VERY ANGRY text from DS, asking why I didn't wake him and telling me he was never going to forgive me…Aaaarrrggggghhhh!! OMG! He had absolutely NO recollection of me trying to wake him! I swear…a herd of elephants could have run past him that morning and he wouldn't have heard them!! He was in a DEAD sleep, the likes of which I have NEVER seen!

He was so mad that by the time I got back to BLT after the race, he had left. We were going to DHS that day and he went off on his own. We met up with him later but he wasn't talking to me and didn't stay with us most of the day. He actually met up with a friend from the cruise that he had been texting and was going to be in DHS that day as well. I knew he had his magic band which he could use to get in the park and charge with to get food, and he stayed in touch via DD who he would text with updates of where he was and what he was doing, etc…

It made me sad not to be spending the final full day with him, but honestly, it was the best thing for both of us. I am probably sharing too much, but this day was perhaps that SINGLE HARDEST DAY of motherhood I had experienced to date. His message to me that day was loud and clear…he will grow up and be independent someday, and there's not a darn thing I can do about it. Oh, and in the mean time, it will be a struggle and it will hurt, because he doesn't know how to do this any other way. And because I am his mom and I LOVE him, I will have to do my best to continue to support him in this process and not give up on him while he is doing this because, after all, he is only 14 (almost 15 now) and he still really does need me, whether he thinks so or not. My heart hurts again now, just thinking about it, but I guess such is life

Obviously, all this perspective came much later. This day at DHS I wasn't really giving this that much thought. We did end up meeting up with DS just before the fireworks, but it definitely wasn't as fun as it had been the week (Had it only been a week? Did he SERIOUSLY just grow up in just ONE week??!!) before.

Okay…sorry to digress so much! I guess I really didn't need to explain this so much. I could have said, "oh, he didn't wake up and it was all fine after…blah, blah, blah…," but that wouldn't have been authentic. SO I am making the choice to be real here. I'm TRULY sorry if that bothers people or makes them uncomfortable. And just FYI, life is pretty much back to normal and just now, DS was standing here asking me to take him to a friend's house. I guess these are the day to day ups and downs of motherhood, like it or not

Ok….as for me, OFF to the big race! Much lighter posts up next!

 

[Rich M]

Thanks for keeping it real. Your report is great and I am sure many other Mom and Dads out there can relate. Teenagers are very difficult sometimes.

 

[buzzrelly]

Thanks for keeping it real. Your report is great and I am sure many other Mom and Dads out there can relate. Teenagers are very difficult sometimes.

Thanks!

 

[nenglim]

Teenagers! I have a 16 yo son too and definitely there are ups and downs. i sometimes have to just go with flow...i am channeling my inner Crush here. And sometimes when we get really lucky we get "pixie dusted" with a glimmer of their old preteen self...smiling and giggling and just being silly. Then all is well in our mommy world.

 

[buzzrelly]

APRIL 16, 2016: THE DARK SIDE 10K



When I got outside, there was a bus waiting to go to the race. It was sort of eerie walking around there so early in the morning, and I ended up taking the bridge over to the CR and walking through there since the bus stop for the race was over by the convention center. There were a couple other racers getting on, as well. The bus left shortly after I boarded and I was here waiting to walk to the corrals but 4:25am…




We started walking over to the corrals around 4:45 and I had NO idea where I was going, so I just followed the crowd. When I got my bib number I learned I was supposed to be in Corral D, but when I was walking I somehow ended up in Corral E which is the last corral. I didn't even realize it until the race was just about to start , and honestly, this was my first real race ever so it didn't really matter to me where I was starting from.



There was some entertainment going on, but I was waaayyyyyyy in the back of this sea of people and could't see or hear much of what was going on. I just made some small talk with the people around me. There were a lot of people really dressed up and super into Star Wars, which was cute.


The people in Corral A started the race at 5:30, I believe, then they would wait a little bit and we'd move closer and closer to the start. My corral ended up starting at 6:10am


So it looks like it took my an hour to run 1 mile, but it was actually only about 15 minutes…this is even slower than my normal pace, but there were millions of people and it was all kind of blocked up. There were actually also a LOT of people walking and they really held things up as they didn't stay over to one side of the road. I was a little frustrated. I'm not the fastest runner, but it was waaayyy too slow, even for me. And then, of course, I had to find a girl's room since I had been up since 3:30 and drank a bunch of water already… The running course took us into the back of EPCOT right near Mexico and then we took a right and started running towards the front of EPCOT. I ended up literally running into one of those rest rooms


Remember I said earlier that DD had been trying to teach me how to take a good selfie? Ya…well…I WISH I had paid more attention I have to post them, even though they are quite possibly the WORST pictures ever taken of me


Running right in front of The Boardwalk…so pretty (the view…definitely not me )



Mile 2…another great selfie



It started to lighten up by the time we got to DHS, and there were some characters to see along the way. There were lines and I didn't really feel like stopping for too long.





Mile 3…I don't know which of us looks scarier…me or Emperor Palpatine We both have the SAME look on our face!



Up next…miles 4, 5 & 6...

 

[buzzrelly]

Teenagers! I have a 16 yo son too and definitely there are ups and downs. i sometimes have to just go with flow...i am channeling my inner Crush here. And sometimes when we get really lucky we get "pixie dusted" with a glimmer of their old preteen self...smiling and giggling and just being silly. Then all is well in our mommy world.

Thanks! Crush is a really wise turtle It must be so hard for them too, all this growing up business! I guess I just wasn't expecting him to finally start acting teenager-y on my Disney vacation!

 

[buzzrelly]

APRIL 16, 2016: THE DARK SIDE, MILES 4, 5 & 6



I have to say, it was really cool running through DHS. I had to stop for a selfie...



but then I noticed a PhotoPass photographer, and I stopped again for a pic. I love how this came out, with the TOT being all dark and foreboding



There were some other PP photographers along the way that I just ran by. When I got home I downloaded these photos. Nice touch And, SORRY to the man next to me who looks like he's getting whipped with my ponytail



Another mile, another awful selfie.



Yup…same. Seriously…why didn't I close my mouth?! Argh



Hey, Jango Fett



One of the Sand People. These guys were all lined up just before we reached the ESPN Complex...

Yay! Mile 6! Almost done!!



And the Finish Line is in sight!

 

[buzzrelly]

APRIL 16, 2016: THE FINISH LINE & ANOTHER DAY AT DHS



YAY! I just finished my first 10k race, ever!



And I have the Medal to prove it!!




It was actually really fun, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! I would actually LOVE to go down with friends and do some of the races, but haven't really been able to coordinate it yet.

I have just one tip that I learned that day…see that cute shirt they gave me with my bib. Ya, well, that sucker scratched up my skin underneath right on my sternum. I actually had a scab and it was really sore. I met a lady on the bus later that day and she said you should always run in clothes that you've run in before and have proven comfortable. Lesson learned I noticed a lot of people in the park wearing it that day and that's what I would do next time.

After the race, I stopped for a PhotoPass picture and my box of snacks and then went off to find the bus back to BLT. I think I was by by 8:30-9am. I had a cup of coffee and showered and then DM, DD and I went to DHS.

We took it easy there and did our usual FastPasses. I got Best in Vehicle on TSM


We had an ADR for Via Napoli in EPCOT this night that we ended up being really late for. I totally misjudged how long the boat would take to get there and how far of a walk Italy is from the International Gateway. It probably took us an hour and a half just to get there from the time we walked out of DHS. There was a line for the first boat and we had to wait for the second boat, then that boat makes 3 stops before the IG... the Boardwalk, the Swan/Dolphin, and the Beach/Yacht Club, and THEN the IG. And then you have to get through bag check, etc to get in and then hike it to Italy. My poor mom was pooped after all that walking and I swear, we were over an hour late to our ADR. Thankfully, the host still allowed us to check in. While we were sitting there, many many people who were trying to walk in kept getting turned away.


Once we were seated, we had a great time though. DM and I split a salad and we all had pizza which was pretty good. However, I would NEVER attempt to do this again. It was a pain in the butt. I'll just stick to making ADRs for the park I will be in, unless I was planning to leave completely anyway.


We took our time getting back to DHS and met up with DS to watch the Star Wars fireworks again. Of course, we watched from the street this time and not from inside the dessert party ropes. We still had a great view and they were just as amazing to see. I didn't take anymore fireworks pics, but this is the view from where we were standing.


After the fireworks, we headed back to BLT on the bus. Tomorrow was to be our last day and we planned to spend it as we always do, at the Magic Kingdom...

 

[unwritten01]

Grats - great job on the race! Love the sand person!

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

YAY how fun! The race photos are great. I am signed up to run this 10k for next year in April! I can't wait-if you do it also I will have to find you! I am doing Wine n Dine half in November.

 

[buzzrelly]

Grats - great job on the race! Love the sand person!

Thanks! He was creepy, but cool!

YAY how fun! The race photos are great. I am signed up to run this 10k for next year in April! I can't wait-if you do it also I will have to find you! I am doing Wine n Dine half in November.

Thank you! I wish I could go again next April but our school break is the week before Easter and the DVC points were crazy! We are going in June instead! The Wine & Dine looks awesome, and such a great time of year to go! Good luck!