Tears, Treats, Tumblr and Tropical Storm Isaac

[Tink-erin-belle]

Oh, Ann, I completely understand what you are talking about with Victoria’s internet usage! Just as I said before, Coy does the same thing. Even though I know it isn’t personal and I know that he likes to talk to his online friends, I feel left out and sad. He completely ignores me when he is online and I miss my little man. He’s back to normal when he’s not online and he is his usual loving self, but still. I think it might be a single parent thing. I guess I’m jealous! And I know it was just you and Victoria for a long time before Peter came along, so it must be a little weird for you too. You’re so lucky that you have Peter there now, though, because he must’ve worked his magic on her to get her to have some family time at the pool!

That’s cool that you had a nice dinner at Planet Hollywood and that you got to get a box of Mr. Potato Head parts! I’m so glad you met PUSH!!! He is hilarious! I will never forget him calling me and the kids the “Same Shirt Family” Also, how awesome was it that Peter was “That Guy” in Monster’s Inc?!? I am so jealous! I don’t think I can be That Guy since I am a girl! That is a really good idea to make Peter a “That Guy” t-shirt for next year. It sounds like you had a busy day at MK! No wonder you were tired! It looks like you had a good HS day, too! The Weather Channel app is a lifesaver! Love it!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Saturday, August 25

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS DAY

Now, I have always loved US! I just love movies and movie making, so this park has always been fun for me. I think the majority of my problem this time around is that I put too much into the trip. I wasn’t expecting a perfect trip, but it wasn’t the magical trip I had conjured up in my head.

I had forgotten to mention my lack luster experience with the Pearl Factory in DTD. Well, we had gone there on our break day and I usually get 2 oysters per year. First of all, the counter wasn’t busy whatsoever and there were 4 workers there! Um..hello??? Paying customer here….sorry to take you away from your chit chat, but I would like to pick a pearl. I was waited on by this lady who made me feel like I was inconveniencing her. She didn’t do any of the ceremony or showed any type of enthusiasm at all! Really? Well, I got my two pearls (2 really nice blue ones) and she then asked what setting I would like them in. I stated none, I’ll just take them as they were. She then noticed the pearl and pearl cage I was wearing (the Cinderella coach from ebay) and started telling me how bad it was for the pearl to be in that setting and that I really needed one of their settings, etc. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I worked for a jeweler for 6 years and strung pearls for them. I know all about pearls and pearl care so don’t lay this crap on me just so you can increase sales. Thank you for a sucky experience lady. At least I have 2 nice pearls to show for it. Next time I will definitely go to Japan in Epcot. I don’t care how busy it is (that’s why I didn’t get them there) I will wait for proper service!

We caught a taxi from CBR to US as it was practically the same amount of money as a Mears shuttle would be and we weren’t “locked” into a certain time to return. That was kind of cool. I rarely ever take taxis here at home, so it’s a neat experience when I do. I was watching that meter climb and climb, though. I had purchased the tickets online prior to our trip, so those were all in order for the turnstile. A lot of the attractions are not open right at 9am so we wondered for a bit and found ourselves next to ET and we hopped onto that.

Oh, look…..an artistic picture of Victoria on the internet….

After ET we went to meet Sponge Bob and have our picture taken with him. What? You mean I can’t put this on my Photopass?! The nerve of this place!! I believe it was $29 for the picture I got and a clear plastic frame. We spent some time in the gift shop that was there and had some fun playing around with all the Sponge Bob stuff.

Yeah, I was having fun in there!

We went to The Simpsons Ride after that. Victoria and I both love this ride, but it’s a little too intense for Peter. It makes him dizzy as it’s a lot like Star Tours with the simulator. There was a rude dude in our car. You see, you can enter the ride from either side of the car so my family and I entered from the left and I moved over 3 spaces --- enough for all of us. Well, instead of going around to the other side, he expected all of us to slide over. And then he’s like “there’s another person to get in the car you know”. I felt like saying, “and there’s another side you can enter from, too, you moron”, but I didn’t. I just slid over. Again, this isn’t a big deal, just annoying. I seem to always be the one expected to give in. It’s just frustrating at times.

We were all getting hungry by that time so we went to the International Food place (I can’t remember the title, but it’s near the Animal Actor’s Studio). The meal was good and at least it was something different than burgers or chicken nuggets.

After lunch we went and rode the MIB ride. I think this one is soooooooooo fun!!

Then it was my favorite part of the day ---- DISASTER!!! Again this year I got picked to be one of the evil villains. Is fate trying to tell me something? Am I really evil? Maybe? Anyways, one of my fellow villain was named Nemo (seriously) and he was so fun and so into character! I really had an awesome time!

Can’t you just feel the reality of my acting? I’m amazing, huh? You all really feel scared of me don’t you!! Hee, Hee, Hee!!!

After that (how can you really follow that up) it was off to watch Beetleguise’s Graveyard Review. I love, love, love this show. First of all I find the Wolfman and Dracula very attractive and the music is awesome! I notice a difference this year when the performers came out into the audience. That’s an awesome addition. Again, I just love this show.

OMG --- I just noticed I took ANOTHER bathroom picture. I wasn’t even doing this on purpose! I swear!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Universal cont'd...


Victoria and I went to ride the Revenge of the Mummy and then we all headed over to Twister.

They had changed up the queue since I had been there and it was awesome! I really enjoyed that movie and to see a real “fake” twister right in front of you was cool! Peter was expecting a little more from it, but I had seen it before, so I knew what to expect.

Now it was time for the Animal Actor’s show. I think it’s just amazing what they can train these animals to do. I wish I could train my Cutie dog to do half the things these guys do! And they even had chickens for Peter. He was happy!

See??? I told you!

Next on the agenda was the Horror Make-up show! We really enjoyed this show last year and this year didn’t disappoint. It was different actors than last year, but I enjoyed these guys even more. There’s a host-type person and an effects expert. I loved the expert. He acted like such a big dork and he was sooooooo funny!! I even got to meet a monster during the wait.

We were able to get into the new Despicable Me ride before it was time to eat. Although the wait was 35 minutes, it was worth it to be able to do this one. Afterwards you can dance with the Minions, so that was fun!

Can you see me??? I’m on the screen holding a camera. Hey, we had to document the moment, right?!

Shrek 4-D was the last thing we did. We were going to stay for the new nighttime show on the water, but we were all too pooped, couldn’t find a space to see it, and when we did catch a glimpse, it was just like Epcot’s Illuminations, so totally not worth it for us to stay for. Without everyone trying to leave at the same time, the walk out of the park was nice and peaceful!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Yeah baby! Love me some Mulch Sweat & Shears! I am so glad that you got to see them perform and were able to get in on the act too!

It sounds like ya'll had a great time at Hollywood Studios despite the fact that the darn line for Rock -n Roller Coaster turned out to be longer than you expected.

If you gotta do laundry while on vacation, there's no better spot to do it than at the CBR quiet pool.

Yep, I loved the landscapers!!! How fun it must be to be able to perfom like that everyday! And yes, if ya gotta do laundry, you might as well swim at the same time!

What a fun first few days! We went in August one year and won't ever do it again! It wasn't too back but, given the option of going in the fall/winter or winter/spring we would rather go either of those times!

Lines suck. I'm NOT a fan! HA!

How awesome what they did at Whispering Canyon! We really enjoyed it when we ate there last year. No "fun" stuff for us either though

Hi and welcome!!! Unfortunately, August is now the time of year we have to go at least until we either don't bring Victoria along or she's out of school. That means another 8 years of school as she's a freshman in high school this year. Yeah, if we go to WCC again, I will definitely ask to be put in the main room to be part of the action. I'm not sure we will be going back for the next trip, though. I thought the food was just ok, nothing special.

Crazybusy weekend for me, but I keep popping onto the computer to read your updates!

Well, I'm glad I'm worth popping on the computer for!! The feeling is mutual, babes.....although someone is being very lax about posting to their PTR since they have TWO trips to WDW coming up!!!

I am so glad I am not the only one who cries when they leave the parks for the last time. I can't help it I feel it coming on.....I also have to say out loud good bye until next time and wave as we are pulling away in the bus. Towards the end of our trips I stay so emotional....oh who am I kidding I am emotional when we get there too!

Oh, Jennifer, we haven't even gotten to the real tears yet......

Oh, Ann, I completely understand what you are talking about with Victoria’s internet usage! Just as I said before, Coy does the same thing. Even though I know it isn’t personal and I know that he likes to talk to his online friends, I feel left out and sad. He completely ignores me when he is online and I miss my little man. He’s back to normal when he’s not online and he is his usual loving self, but still. I think it might be a single parent thing. I guess I’m jealous! And I know it was just you and Victoria for a long time before Peter came along, so it must be a little weird for you too. You’re so lucky that you have Peter there now, though, because he must’ve worked his magic on her to get her to have some family time at the pool!

That’s cool that you had a nice dinner at Planet Hollywood and that you got to get a box of Mr. Potato Head parts! I’m so glad you met PUSH!!! He is hilarious! I will never forget him calling me and the kids the “Same Shirt Family” Also, how awesome was it that Peter was “That Guy” in Monster’s Inc?!? I am so jealous! I don’t think I can be That Guy since I am a girl! That is a really good idea to make Peter a “That Guy” t-shirt for next year. It sounds like you had a busy day at MK! No wonder you were tired! It looks like you had a good HS day, too! The Weather Channel app is a lifesaver! Love it!

Erin, you are describing exactly how I feel with Victoria being on the internet. I know she's growing up, but sometimes I miss my baby so much. Usually she is my baby on vacations again, but not this time. Oh, I finished the "that guy" t-shirt last night. I think it's cute and Peter loves it. My iron-ons are never perfect though. I don't know if my iron is too hot or what, but it's still good.

 

[Nurse_Mommy4]

Hi Ann!

I told myself that I would stop lurking and post.

I have a 15 yr old DD who was constantly on the internet this past trip. So much so that I made a "only in the room or on the bus" rule. I work hard to take these annual trips with my kids and dang it I want some quality time.

Anyway, I am really enjoying your TR. I am also booked at POR for next August (gotta love BB). but I am seriously contemplating trying a different resort. As much as love POR , I think I may be ready to try something else.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Sunday, August 26th ---- choice day

Well, here’s where Mr. Tropical Storm Isaac really affected us. We had two “park” days left and Monday we absolutely had to go to EPCOT as our dinner reservations were at the Garden Grill and since we don’t purchase park hoppers, we were stuck. Now, the night before and also this morning I tried to make this point to my family and they just weren’t getting it at all. Ok, what part of “we have to spend the day at EPCOT on Monday” is so confusing??!! TS Isaac was expected to be the worse in the area Sunday evening into Monday morning and their thought process was “what if we can’t get to go to EPCOT on Monday”? Um, hello?? We have a ressie in EPCOT on Monday, we are going on Monday, even if it’s just for the ressie, we are going on Monday. Nope, this argument was not getting me anywhere so guess where we ended up going today ----EPCOT! That means 3 days in EPCOT during this trip. I would have so much rather go to MK or HS for this choice day, but I was overruled. Without Test Track being open and the drizzly type of rain, I just didn’t think we needed 3 days here.

We started the day at Lilo & Friends breakfast at O’Hana’s. I love this one! I love the characters and the food. Yummy!! We were seated by the window, which is a little bit of pixie dust right there! My favorite place to sit is by a window so that I can “spy”, I mean look at everything around me. We all enjoy the Stitch juice!

Nobody knows what Peter is doing here…..and I won’t even mention what Victoria is doing…..

This is Victoria not doing a very good job at hiding her iphone…….

After breakfast, we hopped onto the resort monorail and headed to the Ticket & Transportation Station to transfer to the Epcot monorail. Big, Big Mistake!!! We waited and waited and waited. We were finally told (after waiting 20 or so minutes) that the Gold line is down and that we needed to go to take a bus to EPCOT. Seriously? You want to get all these people (much more than 2 buss fulls) onto a bus to go to EPCOT? And here is my public service announcement to make sure you go to the bathroom after breakfast while still in the restaurant as you don’t know how long it will take for you to be near another rest room. HEED THIS WARNING!

Disney really impressed me on this one as they had 3 non-Disney coach busses lined up and ready to take us all to EPCOT. Again, that was amazing how they had this all worked out to accommodate its guests. As much as I was mad (and had to go potty) I was pleasantly surprised how they can plan for things like this. I love you Disney!

So, EPCOT we go. It was basically the same thing this day….doing our favorites over again….seeing shows (the American Adventure) that we hadn’t caught the first day.

Here we are waiting on Captain EO!

Another cute little bunny rabbit by Canada

Yep, this was about it for this day……

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

That is too bad about your pick a pearl experience in DTD! I would have been so mad! Yeah, she was definitely working on commission if she was trying to sell you some of their settings. Everyone on the Pick a Pearl thread on DIS swears by the Cinderella cages on Ebay! Can we see the blue pearls? Is it true that you have to pick the ugliest, hairiest oysters to get the good pearls?

OMG Spongebob and Squidward’s houses! I can’t wait to go to US!!! You are so lucky to get picked to play the evil villain all of the time! We never get picked for anything. I think I am going to have to start jumping up and down, waving my hands in the air until someone finally picks me or one of the kids to go on stage Your acting was amazing! I was totally scared! Ahh! The Minions!!! They are adorable! You got A LOT done on your US day!

I am at you taking pictures of Victoria trying to hide her phone under the table at O’hana!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Monday, August 27th ANOTHER EPCOT DAY

(aka THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL)

Let me preface this day by saying it was the absolute worst day of the trip!! I will never forget it! Well, I may be over exaggerating it, but I felt so bad and beat up! I just wanted to turn around, pack up and leave right then!

See this?

It is about to be no longer……..

We made it through bag check and I was walking a little ahead of Victoria and Peter. I reached back to hand Victoria her card and BOOM!!!! She was on the iphone, not paying attention, when the card hit her iphone sending it crashing to the ground. The screen cracked and shattered. OMG!!! I swear time stood still! She started in yelling at me as if it were my fault. Oh no you don’t, Little Girl! You will NOT yell at me in front of all these people and not expect me to go into a tirade. After all, my breakdown had been building since the beginning of this trip regarding her iphone and I let her have it with my speech. The look on her face was priceless as she was shocked to hear me lose it like that, especially in public! (I believe in scolding, etc. out of the public eye as no one needs to know our business) After I let all of that out I just started balling! It was not a pretty sight. I’m extremely surprised that security didn’t come over and see what was going on as we were barely passed bag check and I’m sure they saw what had happened. I told Peter I wanted to go home NOW! (the brat in me). He was trying to calm me down while Victoria just stood there speechless. I feel so bad for Peter. He convinced me to continue with our day, but I cried the entire time we were on Spaceship Earth and beyond. My makeup was a disaster! (always have pressed powder and tissues with you…..you never know when you will need them!)

Peter and Victoria then went to Mousegears to see if they had any clear packing tape so they could at least make sure none of the glass fell out. No packing tape, just regular, but it will do for now. Peter took the iphone away at this point. (Thank you, honey!!! You may have just saved my sanity). I purposely got "lost" in the store and they had to look hard to find me! Retail therapy anyone??? Victoria was too afraid to say much to me for the rest of the day. Smart girl!

Not really many pictures this day, as I wasn’t up to it. I was just spent! I knew I was going to take pictures at Garden Grill so I knew I had to snap out of it. This was not the end of the world, I had said my piece and it’s time to move on. So, I put on my happy face and enjoyed my dinner.

You guys can tell by the pictures what kind of day it was, can’t you? We were seated in the upper level which isn’t as much fun as on the outer floor. I’ll have to make sure to request that next time. Apparently the pixie dust fairies didn’t appreciate my tirade!

This is when Victoria was being a little crude and told Mickey that she and Minnie could be sister wives and that they could all be polygamist because she loved Mickey and was willing to share. I can not believe she started this conversation with Mickey! I straight out told Mickey that this was NOT how I raised her and I apologized for her. Poor Mickey couldn’t take anymore and had to walk off!!! I can just imagine what he must be thinking! I don’t think Victoria should be watching Sister Wives anymore! I could not believe she did that after the day we had. I think she was trying to make me laugh (and it was kinda funny) but she shouldn’t have done that!

Mickey’s reaction before leaving.

Another ride in Spaceship Earth and look, I was twins!!

We did manage to salvage the day, but I think the Magic was over.

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Wow! I do not blame you for going off like that after the iPhone accident. Yes, this is definitely a teenager thing because that sounds like something Coy would do too. I can’t remember what it was that he was mad about – or made him think that he could yell at me in public – but he was shocked when I yelled at him right back! I think that he thought that he could get away with talking to me like that because he knew I wouldn’t yell in public. I am like you and I try to keep personal family matters private. It was all I could take, though, when he yelled at me in public. I don’t tolerate disrespect from anyone, so I certainly wasn’t going to let my child talk to me any kind of way. Ever since then, he hasn’t dared act like that in public. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that my kids feel that they can tell me whatever they want to and that they feel comfortable enough to disagree with me, but they sometimes have to be reminded of their limits. I know it wasn’t a good feeling when you had to go on your tirade, but it sounds like it was effective and Victoria knew not to cross that line with you again I don’t mean to laugh about it, but sometimes it is funny to see kids get a taste of their own medicine! I am sorry, though I’m glad that you had a pretty good dinner at Garden Grill! With what you have said about Victoria’s funny comments here and there – including the Sister Wife one – she reminds me a lot of my good friend who will say things just for the shock value. Victoria sounds like she has a hilarious, sarcastic sense of humor. I think she would get along well with my kids! I say things for shock value too, but I don’t think I would be bold enough to propose polygamy to Mickey! At least you know she was trying to make you laugh! If my daughter said that, I think I would have literally fallen on the floor and

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Tuesday, August 28th

Well, here we are at the last day of our vacation……

I had packed most of our stuff the night before and it was just the carry-ons with medications, etc, that we needed for the day. This morning we had a ressie at Chef Mickey’s for 8:10am. Yeah! I liked it last year, so I’m sure I was going to like it this year. And I had made sure to have a ressie early enough so that we would have plenty of time to return to the resort to pack the last few things and be out by 11am.

So, we took a bus to MK that morning and was planning on hopping on the monorail to CR. Well, we had walked all the way from the bus stop to the beginning of the ramp to the monorail. It was there that the transportation cm’s informed us that the monorail was down (again) and that we should walk the path to the Contemporary. UGH!!!! So, what choice did we have but to hike all the way back to the busses and over through the walkway….Now, mind you, I did not plan for the extra time this would take us and it was taking up a good chunk of time! Oh, and did I mention Peter had to pee? Yep! So he practically ran to the Contemporary ahead of us. We were finally all at Chef Mickey’s about 15 minutes past our ressie time, but it seemed to be no problem for them to take us late. Again, we enjoyed the character interaction and the food was yummy!!!

Our meal was done and it was time to head back to the resort…..It’s now 10:30am and we have only ½ hour to finish packing and book the bounceback for next year, but guess what ---- the resort monorail is still down. Really people? Again we hiked along the path to the MK and hopped our bus from there. Oh, and we waited for our bus for about 15 minutes this time ----- the one time it was extremely important to get somewhere ontime.

I was so worried that our keycards wouldn’t work anymore! But we were able to get in. I hurried and got everything else packed and I had Peter call to book the BB. Poor him. He kept asking me the questions they were asking him on the phone. Good thing I knew what I wanted (at that time) and could just answer without too much thought. I believe we were finally out of the room by 12:15pm. No one said anything to us about being so late (thank goodness!!!) Victoria went into the arcade for a little bit and Peter and I sat in the food court. I ate a little bit of lunch (we left with 7 cs meals still on our card. Don’t ask me how we managed that one!) and Peter fell asleep…yep asleep sitting at a table….whatever! I thought maybe we’d go in the pool as I had our swimsuits in the carryon. Nope….it started to rain.

Yes folks, I was ready to leave….after these last two days, I certainly was!!!

We were picked up by the UnMagical Express at 3:25pm and it was off to the airport for us!

So folks, that was our trip.

Lessons learned:
• Never plan to return to Maine only 6 hours before the first day of school
• We will be flying out of Portland from now on and not spend 3 hours driving back from the airport when we were all exhausted
• The internet will be used only at the resort room
• No one thought this resort was out of this world, so it’s back to POR for next time
• Groceries will be ordered and delivered to the resort
• Reservations/plans will be made by me and not by a travel agent
• Requests specific seating in restaurants if it’s important where you sit
• Do not kick your feet with crocs on when you are in a Doombuggy

I’m sure there are more, but I can’t think of any at the moment. I do not have my photopass cd, but once I do I will post them here, so be on the lookout.

 

[Nurse_Mommy4]

Oh No! Is it over all ready?

I was just getting into to it, guess that's what I get for lurking.

I love the lessons learned. We also made the "no internet at the parks rule". They are only allowed at the resorts or on the bus.

I guess it's time to plan our 2013 trips! Can't wait!

 

[beachmama3]

I guess it's time to plan our 2013 trips! Can't wait!

YAY!!! Aug 2013, here we come!

Loved reading your trip report.

1. Thought the same thing about Kingdom Keepers on IASW. HA! My son and I actually chatted about it on the ride. Love those books...

2. You and I were in Epcot on the same day. We were there on Monday, wish I had run into you!

3. I HAVE to take my boys to Universal next year when we are there- looks like lots of things they love. They will really appreciate it.

My trip in 2010 was not the magical experience I had been planning...this past year was a thousand times better, so I hope that is your trip next year. POR is awesome, I can't wait to stay there again. We are loooking into DVC, so we may stay at BLT, but I would NOT be disappointed to stay at POR again.

Love all of your pictures! You all look so happy in them, no matter what was going on! Looking forward to chatting with you on the new August '13 thread!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Nooooooo! It can't be over yet!!! I'm sorry your last day was so rough, but maybe that's the best way to go out...then you aren't wishing you didn't have to leave! We've certainly had our meltdowns and bad days at WDW...wouldn't be a proper trip without them!

I'm assuming you had more good times than bad because you booked bounceback! POR sounds great for you guys, have you ever done POFQ? Just wondering! You'll have to start another PTR now so you can plan the next trip!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

Oh no! Is your TR over already??? All in all, it seems like you guys had a wonderful trip and you have so many beautiful family photos to show for it I can’t wait to see the Photopass pictures! Those are always fun!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

POR sounds great for you guys, have you ever done POFQ? Just wondering! You'll have to start another PTR now so you can plan the next trip!

Yes, we stayed at POFQ last year and also liked it but the family favorite it POR!

OH, and as for that "another PTR" comment.......see my siggie.....already taken care of, babes!!!