1 Aunt, 1 Mom, 2 kids - Will we be sane? - Updated 2/3

[CJsMom]

Hmm, thinking about their ages, I'm not sure about the getting up early part! Although at least they are old enough to understand the logic of getting up early to beat the crowds and the lines...

 

[WDisneyWforMe]

Count me in for your trip report, the characters in yours are very similar to mine. We leave in 21 days, 3 weeks from today!! Mine is my DNiece and her two DD's and me the Great Aunt! So I'm eager to hear how your multi generation trip went....LOL. Mine does have one more generation involved so mine may be a bit more complicated!

Great start keep it coming!

 

[Donald is #1]

Hi! Everyone I started up-loading my day 2 photos to Photobucket tonight. If they finish up-loading soon, I'll be able to get an update up tonight. Otherwise, it will be up tomorrow.

Sounds like a great strategy, I hope it worked out fine!

We'll start to find out how it worked on Day 3 which will probably be 3 updates from now.

Hmm, thinking about their ages, I'm not sure about the getting up early part! Although at least they are old enough to understand the logic of getting up early to beat the crowds and the lines...

You may be right. I kept reminding them prior to the trip that we would be getting up early. Here is how the conversation usually went:

Me to both of them: Remember when we are at WDW, we will be getting up early. Probably as early as 6:30 some mornings.

Belle: OK, that's like a school day.

Pluto -> would usually just be quiet but didn't protest.

Count me in for your trip report, the characters in yours are very similar to mine. We leave in 21 days, 3 weeks from today!! Mine is my DNiece and her two DD's and me the Great Aunt! So I'm eager to hear how your multi generation trip went....LOL. Mine does have one more generation involved so mine may be a bit more complicated!

Great start keep it coming!

Welcome! Cool 3 weeks away? We may see each other in the parks. My next trip starts the 3rd and I come back on the 14th.

 

[Donald is #1]

Hi! I will have to split day 2 into 2-3 posts because it looks like I took a lot of photos.

So, when I last left off, it was about 2 AM and we finally got to bed. Well, I was over tired so it took me a while to get to sleep. I think that everyone else was asleep well before me. So can you guess who was the first one up?



Yep, me! I was awake at about 7 AM. Oh well, since we had just got in a few hours before and basically just dropped our bags anywhere, there really wasn't much for me to do. I think that my looking out the curtains, eventually work DSis up and then we got the kids up by opening up the curtains and then being even more obvious.


The view from our room:

Now do you remember when I said that our up-grade didn't end up being as great as you would have thought? Well here is where we had the first melt-down of the trip. Belle went to the end of the bunk bed (remember that she is on the top bunk) and suddenly decides that she can't get down.

So first we try telling her that she doesn't have any choice which of course is very true. But that doesn't work and she is in full tantrum. Then DSis tries to help her but just as Belle is about to get her foot on the ladder she decides that she can't. Now, Belle is 10 years old and she is too big for DSis and/or me to pick her up off the top bunk. I think that both DSis and I have a few moments of panic. What are we going to do now????

Luckily DSis figures out that if she gets a pillow, then she can raise the level of the bed to the top of the rail. She then gets Belle to lay on her stomach and pulls her legs down until her feet are on a ladder rung! Yeah! DSis has saved the day!

Now to be honest, the bed is difficult to get out of. The railing goes along all 4 sides including where the ladder is. So you have to climb over the railing to get to the ladder.

Finally, we can get ready and head down to find breakfast. First we check out Roaring Fork and it is crowded. Then we head over to WCC but the wait is 20 minutes. So we decide to go back to Roaring Fork. It was crowded but the line moved quickly. We ended up getting:
Me = Adult platter
Dsis = Adult platter
Pluto = Pancakes with bacon
Belle = bagel plus a banana.

We all really enjoyed our breakfast. Now it was time to explore. So we headed to the lobby and stopped at the pin trading chart.

Aside on pin trading:
I have been into pin collecting for many years and got into pin trading in 2007. We had debating about pin trading on this trip and I had decided not to do any since it was a short trip. Well then Pluto decides that he wants to trade some of his pins. So that put pin trading back in the plan. So I brought pins for me, plus I made up a bag for each of the kids with 15 pins that they could trade. Once we got to WDW, I also told them that I would buy them a lanyard each if they wanted. Well Belle found her lanyard at this card. So I bought her a cutie's lanyard along with some pins for myself.

OK back to the story, after stopping at the pin chart, we headed into the main lobby to look around and of course I had to take a picture of the kids next to the totem pole.

I think that we checked out the store and then we headed outside to check out the grounds and pool. Here are some of my pictures of the building and grounds.

Everyone loved the lobby and the pool area!

Well, we headed back to our room to get our bags and checked out about 10. But not before Pluto and Belle were able to trade their first pins. Yes! I have corrupted them! (evil grin here)


So our plan for the morning was to play mini-golf at Winterland Summerland. Since I have an AP, I was able to get all 4 of us in for 50% off. Since they had done the winterland course on their previous trip, we decided to do the Summerland course. It was a lot of fun! Then after the first round, we were debating about doing a second round. DSis and I were torn between doing a second round and heading to AKV. Well Pluto really wanted to do the second round, so a second round it was! This time we did the Winterland course. Both courses are a lot of fun. However, there was a lot of glare on the Winterland course so many of my pictures were washed out until it dawned on me to change the camera setting to "snow".

Here are a bunch of pictures from Winterland/Summerland.

We all had an awesome time playing mini-golf! I love to play mini-golf but I just don't seem to play very often.

After finishing our second round, we got our golf balls with hidden mickeys and little sharpies and it was time to head to AKV.

 

[WDisneyWforMe]

Another great installment!

Don't you just love WL, it is truly one of my happy places We stayed there in 2005 and had a similar experience with my niece concerning the bunk beds they really need a small opening!

And by the way that little pin cart at WL is one of the best, I've gotten some really great pins there! Pin trading is the devil, it sucks you in :evil:

We've played the winter/summerland course both sides we had a wonderful time it really is an hidden disney treasure if you ask me!

Our December trip starts on the 13th and we will be there through the 20th.

Keep it coming enjoying your report!

 

[Donald is #1]

Another great installment!

Don't you just love WL, it is truly one of my happy places We stayed there in 2005 and had a similar experience with my niece concerning the bunk beds they really need a small opening!

And by the way that little pin cart at WL is one of the best, I've gotten some really great pins there! Pin trading is the devil, it sucks you in :evil:

We've played the winter/summerland course both sides we had a wonderful time it really is an hidden disney treasure if you ask me!

Our December trip starts on the 13th and we will be there through the 20th.

Keep it coming enjoying your report!

The WL is incredible! I had stayed there in Oct '06 when DSis, DBIL, and the kids were over at FW and had an awesome time. The lobby and the grounds are just so impressive. I recently saw pictures of the DVC building and now I am going to have to stay there on some up-coming trip!


I agree on the bunkbeds. Even a small opening where the ladder is would make them so much easier! I believe that this is the first time the Belle had even slept on a bunk bed so that probably didn't help. Of course, it was also my first time sleeping on a bunk bed! DSis, our other sister and I didn't have bunkbeds when we were growing up so we didn't have any advice really either for Belle.

 

[Flossbolna]

I love the minigolf pictures. We don't do fancy mingolf courses here in Germany and I love the colourful American ones. But the Disney minigolf has intrigued be since my first trip, I really must find the time for it on my next trip (whenever this might be )

Looking forward to the next installment!!

 

[Donald is #1]

I love the minigolf pictures. We don't do fancy mingolf courses here in Germany and I love the colourful American ones. But the Disney minigolf has intrigued be since my first trip, I really must find the time for it on my next trip (whenever this might be )

Looking forward to the next installment!!

Thank you! I never thought about it, but now that you mention it, I don't remember seeing mini-golf places similar to the USA ones when I have been in Europe.

Definitely try it on your next trip! It is lots of fun and you don't have to be a golf expert to enjoy it.

 

[Donald is #1]

OK, let's see if I can get a post up before I have to leave to head down to visit my mother.


So, when I last left off we were leaving mini-golf and heading to AKV. We drove over to AKV easily and I decided to valet park the car so that bell services could get the luggage. Thank you DVC for free valet! We went in and I think that the kids were really amazed at the lobby. I went to check us in and since it was about 1, our room wasn't ready yet.

Well, we were hungry so we went down to Mara to have some lunch. There were plenty of tables available so we picked a table dropped off our stuff and then headed over to see what we wanted.

Both of the kids got the cheese pizza which Belle liked and Pluto thought was ok. I got the half chicken dinner which was awesome as usual and DSis got a cheeseburger which she said was ok. Also, for those of you with me for my pre-trip report and the refillable mug debate, we ended up getting mugs for all of us. And yes, we definitely got our money's worth out of them.

After lunch, we first headed over the to Uzima savannah.

And then back through the lobby to the Arusha Savannah. We probably spent 20-30 minutes over here enjoying the animals and just enjoying the setting.

I just love watching the zebras!

OK, I also love the giraffes.

Pluto saw the chairs and decided to sit down and just watch from there.

The rest of use wandered around a bit and then found the chairs ourselves.

Remember the kid that had trouble getting out of the bunkbed? Well, she was climbing on everything for the rest of the trip!

One more animal picture

and then it was time to head back into the resort.

Next we headed over the the sunset savannah and spent a little bit of time over here. One of the CMs was at the overlook and she spent some time with Belle answering questions. Pluto had decided to sit inside and enjoy the AC.

The room still wasn't ready so we decided that it was time to head to the pool. Only Belle decided to change into her bathing suit and she ended having an awesome time in the pool. She was probably in the pool for 2.5 hours going up and down the slide.

The rest of us found chairs near the slide and decided to enjoy the sun. I probably should mention that it was a really nice day. It was probably 75 and very sunny! After coming from the northeast, we really enjoyed the warmth.

I probably called every 1/2 hour to see if the room was ready and by 4 I was getting worried. I had ordered a surprise for the kids from in-room dining and it was due to be delivered at 4:30. At 4 I went inside and called in-room dining. I explained by situation to the CM and she said that she understood and she was watching the rooms to see when our room was ready. She said to just call them when we were ready. Aw big relief!

I should also mention that by this point, my cell phone was dying. I guess that I should have charged it the night before.

Well at almost 5, we got Belle out of the pool with some protests and headed inside. The plan was to go the the gift shop, but when we got to the lobby and I called from a lobby phone, guess what???


Our room was ready!

 

[PNO4TE]

Thanks for the update!

 

[CJsMom]

Great pictures! Poor Belle with the bunkbeds! We stayed in a bunkbed room last year and both boys had some trouble getting down at first. They are definitely tricky!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Loving your TR so far! You got some really fantastic pictures of the animals. When we were there for our breakfast this past trip we didn't see SQUAT. I was so disappointed. But, the lodge was still beautiful and we enjoyed it.

Looking forward to more!

 

[Donald is #1]

Loving your TR so far! You got some really fantastic pictures of the animals. When we were there for our breakfast this past trip we didn't see SQUAT. I was so disappointed. But, the lodge was still beautiful and we enjoyed it.

Looking forward to more!

Thank you! I must admit that you have been much better at updating your trip report than I have. I have been too busy with work and with my trip that starts tomorrow. But the good news is that I up-loaded photos for the next 3-4 posts so I will be able to do some updates while I am at WDW.

 

[Donald is #1]

Well, I promised an update or 2 (or was it 3) while I am at WDW. So since 3 days in to my trip, my feet are protesting, here we go.

OK when I last left off, it was 5 PM and our room was just ready. So off we go in search of our room. Our 2 bedroom lock-off ended up being (5266 - 1 BR and 5268 - studio). The room was on the sunset savannah and overlooked Kidani near the center. So we only had 30 minutes before we had to leave for Chef Mickeys. So we decided to wait until after dinner to get our luggage but I called down right away to in-room dining to get the surprise sent up. All 4 of use were like kids in a candy store! We were all running around checking everything out with DSis and I taking lots of pictures. The room was awesome including down to the artwork.

So it is picture time. Here we go:



Kitchen:

Living room:

Bedroom in 1 BR:

Bathroom in 1 BR:

Some of the artwork:

Studio portion:

I'm probably getting close to exceeding the picture count so more to follow.

 

[Donald is #1]

So, while we were running around checking out the room, In Room dining delivered the surprise - The Indaba. It is a combination of chocolate, cookies and brownies. It was incredible. And of course, I have pictures!

All these pictures and I haven't posted the view from the room!

We were visited by animals fairly often. We had a few animals out there almost all the time.


Well, very quickly it was 5:30 and time for us to leave for Chef Mickey. I was surprised at how easy the drive was and also it was shorter (only 15 min?) than I expected. We went to check in and we didn't have to wait too long once we got through the check-in line. I thought that the character interaction was very good but the food was just ok. Luckily DSIs gave me a copy of her pictures because I forgot to bring my extra batteries with me to Chef Mickey and my camera died after about 2 pictures.

(These pictures are not in order)

Well after we stuffed ourselves, we shopped a bit at the Contemporary but I don't think that we bought anything and headed back to AKV. By this point it was probably about 8:30. We called to have the luggage brought up and it was delivered in about 15 minutes. Since it was now dark, we noticed that some of the lights weren't working. So we called maintenance and while we were waiting for them, Belle and I went down to check out the night vision goggles. We were lucky this night and there were 4-5 animals in the area that we could see with the night vision. By the time that we got back, maintenance had come. Both DSis and I had looked all over for a circuit panel but couldn't find it. Well when Belle and I left DSis found the panel and yes one of the circuits had been tripped. Maintenance reset it and all was well.

We were all tired, so we were all in bed by 10!

 

[Flossbolna]

Great update!! The room is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful!

I hope your feet will feel better soon, enjoy the rest of your stay at WDW!!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Wow!! What great pics! Thanks for the update!

 

[John's Mom]

Love the pictures of your villa!

 

[BigDogHU75]

Great update and love the pictures of the room. It makes me excited about my upcoming trip.

 

[ILuvCrush]

Hey Donald!!

I'm all caught up and totally enjoying your TR

I have to figure out how to get my hands on that Indaba, for our GG trip in November... The kids will love it!

Paula