The World of Frankenpooh: A Spring Break Trip Report. ** NEXT TO LAST CH. 4/27! **

[frankenpooh]

Prologue ... In Which Frankenpooh Plans a Trip

Cast of Characters

Me – still 39; slack in most areas of life except Disney trip planning. For example, I meant to go back to work full time when the kids started school, but I haven’t really gotten around to it yet.

DH – 40; we’ll call him Mr. Smith. Because that’s his name. “Mr. Patient and Flexible” is how he refers to himself sometimes. He needs to be with this family!

DS13 – aka the Caveman. This formerly sunny, talkative child is now a teen who communicates primarily through grunts and shrugs. At least he’ll be quiet on the long drive down!

DS10 – the second of our “adult” children, as Disney dining considers them. He’s got a lot of my personality traits, so we’ll call him Frank Jr.

Last summer, DH turned 40 and was the recipient of a fabulous surprise party thrown by his loving wife. You see, at age 39, Mr. Smith had mentioned that he wouldn’t exactly mind having a 40th B-day party. But it would have to be a surprise. He felt funny giving himself a party. He probably also felt like it would involve some effort to give himself a party. Whereas if I were to give it ... you get the picture. Anyway, the “surprise” party took place, and DH owed me. Big Time. My own 40th was on the horizon and I told him, “The sky’s the limit.” This wasn’t literally true, of course, but it sure felt good to pretend. As the months passed and I really started thinking about my birthday, I wavered. Should I do something big? A party would be fun, but would I compare it to DH’s (yes)? I’ve always wanted diamond earrings. No, I’d be sure to lose one. This was ridiculous. Hmmm.... Think, think, think. Finally, this woman of very little brain was on the computer and noticed the file chock full of Disney info in my Favorites. We’d just been in October 2004, but ..... tears filled my eyes. This was it. I knew how I wanted to celebrate my 40th.

Now, when to go? Just go on my 40th birthday, you might be thinking. Well, my Bday is in May, which would be a lovely time to visit DW were it not for the dreaded .... school. My birthday is prime time for big end-of-year, state-mandated tests and all that jazz. And I'd like for my children to be promoted to the next grade. So May was out. June would probably be the next logical choice, but you know, we Disney enthusiasts follow our hearts, not our heads. I looked at the school calendar -- why, spring break was not at Easter this year. The last week in March was looking pretty good. Almost two months before my birthday, but close enough.

Next on the agenda: Check with the family. Mr. Smith knows he can't object, so he's on board. The Caveman is actually excited for once and if Mom's happy, Frank Jr.'s happy.

Time to plan! I have almost as much fun with this part as the actual trip. But the timing of our trip quickly began to worry me. We'd been in June before (2x) and in October. Our previous touring strategies had consisted of 1) get there at opening, 2) haul butt to Dumbo, Space Mtn., etc. and 3) use fastpasses. These things worked well for us in the past, but I was concerned about CROWDS. We could definitely handle crowds and probably CROwds. But Peak Season sounded pretty scary.

Serious action was required. I actually bought the Unofficial Guide. Now, I have long been an Unofficial girl. I love to read that book and have used it for all our trips. It's just that the Smiths are cheap. In the past, I've checked it out from the library. This time, it was happy early birthday to me ... my own copy! Which I opened up to find the dates of our trip rated as "10s" for crowd level (on the web site, they were estimated as 7s and 8s). Time for another trip planning weapon -- Tour Guide Mike. Well worth the $18.95 and providing hours of bedtime reading. Buy a ream of paper before you sign up for it.

Oh yeah, I booked a room and bought tickets, too. No package for the Smith family. I made great use (actually, the only use) of my graduate level statistics class by figuring out every possible combination of ticket days, features, etc. We ended up with a room at POR (AAA discount, $148/night) and 7 day, non park hopping, WP plus tickets from Ticket Mania. We also had two leftover park hoppers from the last trip. We plan on spending 5 days in the parks, so we'll have 4 days plus some water park options left over (thus guaranteeing our return! ).

Yikes, this is long! Next installment: We actually take the trip, I promise!

 

[jamal]

Great start! Keep it comimg!

 

[PolyHereWeCome]

Great start, OP! You write wonderfully and I can understand where you're coming from -- we went to WDW for my big 4-0 last Easter/Spring Break (yes, last year they hit at the same time, but, hey, it was really my b-day that week and I wanted to wake up at 40 and see the Castle). DH is turning 40 this summer and we're doing an early/not-really-your-40th trip again.

Can't wait to read more . . .

 

[jes77]

Yea!! Let's get going

 

[TLinden16]

Great planning to get to your trip, now tell us all about the fun!

Thanks for posting. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[frankenpooh]

Chapter 1 ... In Which Frankenpooh is Flummoxed by a CM

Saturday, March 25
Our drive down I-95 is uneventful. We offend the traffic gods by not being thankful enough, apparently, because they bite us on the way home. Blissfully unaware of our fate, we truck on down to Jacksonville for the night, where we use Hilton Honors points for a free stay at the Hilton Riverfront. This strategy has two pluses: 1) It gets us an extra day at DW and 2) It makes our room at POR seem really big. Seriously, we had a nicely refurbished room at the Hilton, but it was tiny.

Sunday, March 26
We check in at POR with quite a few other folks around 10:30 a.m. The friendly CM asks me if I have any room requests. I’m holding my printed confirmation sheet that lists my requests – nonsmoking, trundle bed, 2nd floor, building 14 or 18. Uhhh... I must have stood there looking dumb, so she describes Alligator Bayou and the Mansions. I choose AB since we want the trundle, and doesn’t it say that on the screen in front of you?! The second part of that sentence took place in my head. There’s a room ready right now in Building 28. We’ll take it.

Now I had read a lot about how spread out this resort is and everything is so far from everything else, but it didn’t bother us. We’re used to hoofing it. Mr. Smith is a walker. He always parks way far away, would never hop on a tram, etc. Thank God the AK is 9 miles away or we’d have to walk there.

And what’s this about getting lost at Riverside? Just stay on the grey paths, people! It’s not the POR jungle trek.

The room: It was clean. I know it was because I Clorox wiped and Lysol sprayed the whole thing. There was a water bottle under one of the beds, but I figured if that’s the worst thing anyone left behind, we were lucky. I unpack the kids’ and my stuff into the bureau. DH decides to live out of his suitcase. Crazy man. I also pull out our collection of stuffed animals which we will plant on the bed each day in hopes of getting towel creations (we’ve never had any).

Although we love the resort so far, we don’t slow down to take in much of the ambiance right now ... we’ve got touring to do! Out the door to MGM .....

Why are we going to MGM first, you may ask (other than the fact that Tour Guide Mike and Mr. Sehlinger say it's okay). Take a look at my kids' lists of the top 5 things they want to do on this trip:

Caveman

1. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
2. Eat at Pizza Planet
3. Indiana Jones Show
4. Tower of Terror
5. Test Track

Frank Jr.

1. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
2. Eat at Pizza Planet
3. Indiana Jones Show
4. Mission Space
5. Test Track

Guess they're not so much into the MK anymore, huh? Do you notice anything else odd? Let's sing that old Sesame Street song -- "One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong. Can you guess which thing is not like the others? blah, blah, blahblahblah, etc." Do you see it? Pizza Planet. Pizza Planet?!? We come to Disney and one of your TOP 5 things to do is Pizza Planet? Because mediocre pizza and arcade games is such a novel combination. We'd never find THAT at home.

But, hey, I can handle these lists. CROWDS or no crowds, we should be able to knock out a thing or two at MGM today. So off we go .....

Next installment: Coming soon. I've written it. I just need to type it. Who knew TRs would be so time consuming? Maybe I don't need a full time job after all!

 

[frankenpooh]

Chapter 2 ... In Which Frankenpooh’s Legs Turn to Jelly

Still Sunday, March 26

We’re there. MGM Studios. The smallest of the parks. The keeper of the thrill rides. The home of Pizza Planet. Mr. Smith and the boys head over to the restaurant while I run to get RNR fastpasses. So we know we’ll be crossing at least 2 things off both boys’ lists today. As we finish chowing down, I notice that an Indiana Jones show will start in about 5 minutes. There’s no way we’ll get in, but we’ve got to walk in that direction, anyway. Lo and behold, they’re still admitting people. We have to sit on the far right side, but I am ecstatic because this will make 3 things off the lists! We watch the show. It’s good. If you’ve seen it, you know. They don’t change it. It’s like the “O Canada” of MGM.

I’m sure you were wondering if it was CROWDed. It’s hard to say. As Squeaky Mouse has noted in her TR, there were a lot of people standing around all over the place. People without a purpose. I felt sorry for them. They weren’t DISers, I’m sure. I know that from the standing around and the fact that they weren’t wearing Crocs. In fact, I only saw about 10 pair of Crocs all week. One was on a man. Hee, hee. At least they were a nice subtle beige color.

Anyway, we were on a roll at MGM. Walking in shows, riding rides, zigging and zagging around the standers. Frank Jr. rode RNR for the first time and loved it. We laughed our fannies off at the Muppet 3-D show (I know this one hasn’t changed in years, either. But, come on. The Muppets never get old. You can’t say that about Harrison Ford).

Somewhere in there, we’d gotten FP for Tower of Terror. This was my first time on it. Roller coasters do not scare me. But creepy stuff does. Just the Twilight Zone music gives me the shivers. In fact, I’m getting a little anxious as I type this! We wind our way through the queue, and I’m doing okay. Frank Jr., not so much. He and DH bail out. The Caveman has ridden this before, so he’s cool. We’re strapped into our seats. The man next to me advises me to hold on to the handle. “I’m buckled in ... I need the handle, too?!?” If I could have gotten out at that point, I would have. The anticipation was terrible. There was a young boy (about 5, maybe?) with his parents in front of us. I was sure he’d be screaming in terror and crying, and that just made the whole thing worse. Finally, the drops began. I screamed the whole time (not a laughing scream either, like LaLa). The 5-year old kept laughing, saying, “I feel like I’m floating.”

Boy, did the Caveman get a kick out of that! “Ha, ha, ha, that little kid was laughing and you screamed your head off.” Watch it mister. Don’t forget, there’s still one thing on your list that we haven’t done yet.

After the ride, my legs are shaky and I need to calm down. Time for some refreshment. Mr. Smith gets us each a beer; the kids get ice cream. I don’t know what excuse Mr. Smith used for needing a beer – he didn’t even ride TOT.

While we’re sitting on a bench, relaxing for the first time since lunch, we notice that people are lining up along walkways and such. Oh, the parade. We’re not big parade watchers. Our ignorance of parade schedules and routes will bite us in the butt before the trip is over. But on this day, we‘re golden. We stand up on our bench and really enjoy the Stars and Motor Cars parade.

The whole day really went like that – right place, right time, no troubles. Hakuna Matata.

After the parade, we head for the new Lights, Motors, Action stunt show. I’ve read mixed reviews of it, but we loved it. Temps were cool that day, so I’m sure that helped. We might not have been so positive at noon on a scorching hot day.

At this point, we’ve toured hard. We’ve walked a lot, even for us. We’re getting chilly, although DH made a run to the car for our sweatshirts at one point. We decide to skip Fantasmic. It’s a great show, a fantasmic show even, but we all agree to head back to POR.

We took a nice long scenic route home from MGM to Riverside. We saw Epcot Center Drive, we toured Buena Vista Drive. We even went so far down World Drive that we had to go through the Magic Kingdom turnstiles and be directed back to our resort by a CM. I guess that’s the downside of using your own car.

We were pretty hungry by the time we arrived at the Riverside food court. Apparently the food wasn’t too memorable, because I have no idea what we ate. I can picture where we sat, though. I hoarded some napkins with Mickey on them.

Return to the room, and my legs turn to jelly again. On the night stand, there is the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I have ever seen. They’re early birthday flowers for me! They’re from the WDW florist! Words cannot express what an amazing occurrence this is. Although Mr. Smith is a tremendous husband in many ways, he’s not one who comes up with a lot of these gestures on his own. And the grocery store is his idea of a florist.

If I can possibly figure out how to post a picture I will. These flowers not only lasted the whole week of our stay, they also rode home in a plastic bag, sat out in the car overnight and still had a few flowers and pieces of greenery that looked pretty enough to put in a vase at home.

What an awesome day! We took showers, watched a little TV, set up our wake up call, and turned in pretty early.

Coming up next: A Rest Day??!!?

 

[skiingwife]

I've enjoyed reading your report so far. I have boys about the same age as yours so I can relate. Keep the reports coming.

 

[tinawv]

My five year old granddaughter rode the tower of terror when we went to WDW last September - three times! The first time her eyes got so big and her facial expression was to die for, but she didn't scream. After her thrid time riding it she said, "MeME, that is absolutely the last time I am riding this", and it was. I couldn't believe that we got three rides out of her.

Looking forward to your next report.

 

[frankenpooh]

Thanks for the encouragement! I am working on the Monday, March 25 installment and will try to post it tonight.

tinawv, that is too funny about your granddaughter. I couldn't believe how many little ones I saw in line for that ride. They were braver than I was!

Skiingwife, I followed your TR before we left for the same reason -- kids about the same ages. I'm looking forward to catching up with yours, too!

So much to do on the DIS, so little time!

 

[OhMari]

Thanks for posting, did your husband get you the flowers? you never really said, you just said he was a grocery type kind of guy.

 

[nicolemarie]

Hey Frankie!

It's fun to read a TR that was during the same time frame as our trip. Looking forward to hearing more!! Thanks!

 

[frankenpooh]

Sorry, OhMari, my hubby did get the flowers. Who knows what other relevant details I've left out! Everybody just post if it doesn't make sense. Thanks!

 

[dismom9761]

Great report! I just had my kids make a must see list and my oldest made the same list as Caveman except he added the stunt show.Can't wait ti read more.

 

[Cinerama]

Thanks so much for your report so far...I'll be waiting for more!

 

[jamal]

I love your TR! We looove the ToT. Not DS6, but the rest of us. DS12 has been riding it since the month he turned 5 and it is still his favorite! They are all different.

We're not big parade-ers either.

I made trip notes during LMA.

Most important, though, is that my heart jumped when I read about the flowers! Ohhh; what a sweetie. See, Disney brings out the best in everyone. Even DHs are redeemable under the spell.

Keep it up!

 

[frankenpooh]

Chapter 3 ... In Which Frankenpooh Can't Think of a Title Because Not Much Happens in this Segment (but keep reading anyway!)

Monday, March 27

The 7 a.m. wake up call jolts us all to life. I take a poll on how everyone slept. Me – not so well. The double bed’s not a problem, but the mattress is uncomfortable. It feels just like the mattress we slept on at the Boardwalk Inn on our last trip, just a size down. Makes me glad I didn’t pay a peak season, no discount $415/night to stay there this time. Mr. Smith – slept okay. The Caveman – so-so. I knew that already. His bed squeaks, and I heard every toss, turn and flop. Frank Jr. – slept great! He loves the trundle. This is a 10 year old who is not short. We just brought his sleeping bag to put on it, and that worked fine. Most nights he was snoring away when we still had the TV and lights on. Actually, he doesn't snore; he just breathes loud. That's always been my explanation, too!

We eat breakfast in the room, as we will every morning. I use the coffee maker to heat water for oatmeal. We wash it down with Gatorade because we haven’t made a run to the store for OJ yet. Time to check the weather channel. Oh, nice. It’s 47 degrees.

Well, if you’re reading this, you’re obviously serious about Disney. So I’m sure you, like me, have a plan for each day of your trip. The plan for this particular day was Blizzard Beach. I thought I was being so smart. We’ll miss the crowds because most folks won’t go to the water park so early in the week. I’m sure I had that right – if we’d actually gone to BB that day, I doubt we would have encountered too much business there. The high was 72.

Isn’t my memory great? Okay, I just cheated and looked on the weather channel online.

Time for Plan B. Plan B was not going to be a theme park. Our other days were too carefully selected, and I wasn’t messing with my schedule unless I decided to (I apologize to you teachers out there for ending that sentence with a preposition. It’s bugging me, too.). I had allotted 5 days of park passes, so 5 days it would be.

Frankenpooh’s secret weapon – Disney Quest. It was my secret weapon because I had somehow managed to conceal the nature and purpose of Disney Quest from my kids. Sure, we’d ridden by that building before on jaunts to Downtown Disney. They’d ask, “What's that place?” “Gosh, I don’t know,” I’d fib. They never had enough intellectual curiosity to follow up, I guess.

The time seemed perfect, then, for Plan B. On my terms and conditions, the boys were finding out there was actually video game nirvana right there in Disney World. The only problem was, Plan B did not open until 11:30.

We decide to shop around DTD beforehand. The stores open at 9:30. The kids and I will ride the ferryboat and enjoy what’s said to be a great feature of the Port Orleans resorts. DH will take the car to fill up and meet us there. I know this was a complicated way to do it, but trust me; that’s just how we are.

Setback: The boats start running at 9 a.m., but only between POR and POFQ and back. Huh? The need for this escapes me. But I won’t even go to my own resort food court for breakfast, much less the one next door. Especially not at 9 a.m. We’re fed and on the move by then.

Anyway, I’m unhappy about this news, and not just because Mr. Smith is gone with the car! I’m unhappy that super planner didn’t know the boat schedule in advance. I stamp my foot and frown. Sweet Frank Jr., who is my clone and so hard on himself that he’s heard these words many times, says sincerely, “It’s okay, Mom. Everyone makes mistakes.” He lightens my mood and I say, “I know. I just don’t like to make Disney mistakes.”

Instead of our relaxing boat ride, we get a Disney bus ride to DTD. We do catch the first (mostly empty) bus. Most people are probably headed to an actual theme park this morning. Amateurs.

We spend a pleasant hour and a half shopping, more looking than buying. The kids make their own cookie creations at Goofy’s Candy Company. You choose your base (cookie, rice krispie treat, caramel apple, etc.), have it dipped in white or milk chocolate and add 2-3 toppings. It was a fun idea, and not a bad deal at $3.50. I buy a pack of MGM postcards, which will be mailed on the morning we leave to go home. Mr. Smith has his eye on a polo shirt with a golfing Grumpy on it. Perfect for him, let me tell you.

We decide to have an early lunch before going to DQ. The guys all have their eyes on Planet Hollywood. I agree, but I’d rather eat somewhere a little less expensive. We’re not on the Dining Plan, and I’m determined to come in under what we would have spent on it. I just couldn’t see doing it when we’d have to pay adult price for all 4 of us. There might be some days when we’d spend $160 on food, but every day? Anyway, I haven’t totaled it all up, but I think our in-room breakfasts kept us within budget. I’m also sure we ate less than we would have on the plan, which in my case was a good thing. I really didn’t want to pick up any pounds on this trip. Once they latch onto me, there’s no getting rid of them.

We stick with Planet Hollywood and have a good meal. I have spinach dip w/chips, the Caveman has potato skins. We make Frank Jr. get his burger from the kids’ menu, because the age cutoff is a reasonable 12 instead of the ridiculous 9. When we made ADRs for Disney restaurants, they did ask the kids’ ages, and neither was ever given a child’s menu. It didn't matter too much because skinny Frank Jr. is probably the biggest eater of all of us. I find him clutching his stomach and saying, "Mom, I ate too much" on a regular basis. Sorry, I can’t remember what Mr. Smith ate at Planet Hollywood. My notes on the meals are not very good. How delusional was I to think that I would remember what we all ate over a week later?

It is now about noon on Monday, and we are about to enter Disney Quest. I don't even mind going to this place, because I've read that they have some classic arcade games. Park me in a corner with Centipede or Frogger for couple of hours and I'll be happy.

Well, you will have to tune in tomorrow to read the next exciting installment and find out: 1) Will Frankenpooh get the high score on Centipede? and 2) Will she survive the Virtual Space Mountain ride designed by the Caveman?

Thanks for reading! I get to spend a couple of hours volunteering in the health room at the Caveman's school tomorrow, so I should get some time to write. Lord, I hope no stomach bugs are going around!

 

[dismom9761]

Great report-I am still keeping Disney Quest a secret from my boys.Looking forward to reading how yours liked it.

 

[Beana9802]

Time for Plan B. Plan B was not going to be a theme park. Our other days were too carefully selected, and I wasn’t messing with my schedule unless I decided to (I apologize to you teachers out there for ending that sentence with a preposition. It’s bugging me, too.).

AHH!

Ha, anyway, beautiful writing, I guess I'll leave the "hanging chad" as we call them in our classroom alone because you write beautifully. Bravo.

KEEP 'EM Comin'!

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent start ~ Can't wait to read more.