23 Days...Brilliant or Idiodic?

[my3princes]

Day 9

Today was moving day. I decided that I would allow myself to sleep in. When I woke up at 5:30 AM I made myself fall back asleep and I didn’t wake up again until nearly 7. I showered and by the time I was out DH and DS 4 were awake. DS 4 decided that he needed to go with me to check in. First we loaded most of our luggage into the car. I was hoping that they would have a villa available and I could dump off most of our stuff. I was very surprised by the setup of the Boardwalk. Having only experienced WDW properties at FW, Pop, POR, POFQ and Saratoga I just expected to be able park relatively close to the room. That does not happen at the Boardwalk, in fact you can’t even park close to check-in. Since the Villa wasn’t ready we headed back to Saratoga. We didn’t need to check out there until 11 AM so we had a couple of hours to kill there before heading back to the Boardwalk. I began my hourly calling to check on the Villa. I’m guessing that Saratoga also began checking to see if we had left as we kept getting hang ups on our phone and it hadn’t rang once the entire week we were there. At 11 AM we loaded the rest of the luggage and the kids into our midsized SUV (that was a tight fit) and went to our new home. Of course the room was still not ready and according to the person that was now answering the phone at the Main Desk they didn’t expect it to be ready until 4 PM which is the guaranteed time. I figured that since I had checked in at 8 AM I would be ahead of many people in the waiting game, but apparently that is not how it works there as our room wasn’t ready until 3:30 PM. We used the time between 11 AM and 3:30 PM to explore the pool and waterslide, Community Hall and had a nice lunch at the ESPN club. The kids really liked the Keister Coaster and Community Hall. The scheduled activities are very similar to activities that are planned at many of the camp grounds that we frequent which made the kids feel even more at home. This was the last day that we could use dining credits and we had 4 table service, 3 counter service and 18 snack credit to use by midnight. We used the 4 Table service at the ESPN club, but knew that we needed to go somewhere to use the rest. Another strange fact about Boardwalk is that they do not have a counter service restaurant. If you want counter service you need to go into Epcot or over to the Yacht and Beach Club. We decided to go to MGM.

Anyway, back to my day, we finally got our Villa and went up and took lots of photos of the empty room as I don’t need pictures of all our crap and never remember to take photos until we’ve messed the place up pretty well. We enjoyed exploring our HUGE accommodations. A two bedroom is way to big for what we really need, but it was so nice. We had a one bedroom + studio which may have made it look roomier. We also had 3 balconies and a full kitchen as well as at kitchenette. The boys were thrilled with their little “apartment”. At that point I called and told my parents to jump on the next plane because we had plenty of room for them. Mom was flying down next Friday to meet us anyway so she didn’t bite. I hung up with them and called my DB and told him to catch a plane and bring the wife and kids. He does not enjoy Disney at all (I’m not sure how we could possibly be related) and they were leaving soon on a week long camping trip so he not so graciously declined. I did however mention that our Villa is bigger than their entire camp (and camper for that matter). He seemed unimpressed.

Now we headed to get our luggage. Now we planned to move it ourselves as we are very self sufficient and that is just how it is. Apparently you cannot move your own luggage at the Boardwalk as they swarm the car as soon as you pull up and load it all on a cart which you are not allowed to touch per policy. We really needed our luggage as the kids were still in wet bathing suits and we wanted to clean up and go to MGM. DH said that they would deliver the bags in a few minutes. I knew that was bad as it took them forever to get the villa cleaned. I must say that it is amazing how so many rooms “magically” become available just about 4 PM when they had been vacant since 11 AM. They must clean them all a little at a time then add the finishing touches just as the time is almost up. Maybe it’s the little towel guy that was the hold up. I guess I’ll never know.

As I type this I realize that we have very mixed feeling on this resort. The pool is nice and the room is gorgeous although it could have been cleaned a bit better. Lots of long black hair everywhere and no one in my family has long black hair. The parking situation sucks. The hotel layout pretty much sucks too. The villa that we were assigned to was on the 4th floor facing the Tower of Terror. There is only one area in the hotel to catch an elevator which is what we had to do with the stroller and wheelchair. I swear that we must have had to walk at least 3 football fields to get from the elevators to our room. Moral of the story is that Boardwalk equals LOTS of walking.

So after bell services finally delivered our luggage an hour and a half later…we all took turns in the Jacuzzi tub then dressed for our evening at MGM. We got there around 7:30 PM, hit the Great Movie Ride, used our 3 counter service credits at the ABC Commissary then headed for Fantasmic. Fantasmic is by far our favorite nightime show and we were not disappointed. Judging by the amount of people standing I would say it was filled to capacity. We watched the show and then headed for the Ferry. The line was huge so we decided to do what anyone at the Boardwalk should enjoy doing, we walked back. It took us 15 minutes from the start of the path to the Ferry Dock. We tied the first Ferry so we were pleased with ourselves. We hit the Bakery, but nothing looked to good at 10 PM so we hit the candy store. We bought 5 sweets then went to the general store. We still had 11 credits to use. We were happy to find out that we could get any food/beverage item (excluding) alcohol that was $4 or less. We got several 2 liter bottles of soda, donuts, milk, orange juice and some bags of candy. It totaled $42 and that finished up our snack credits. We used every credit with just minutes to spare.

Once back in the room we did some laundry and showered after our long hikes. Then off to slumber land as we had a date with Donald at 8 AM in the Animal Kingdom for tomorrow.

Goodbye Saratoga

Hello Boardwalk

 

[my3princes]

Day 10

For anyone losing count it was a Monday again. We had 8 AM ADRs at Donald’s Restaurantasarous. This was the Big Date for DS 4 and I. He had asked me at around our 180 window if I would go on a date with him while at WDW. He chose Donald’s since that is his favorite character. We all got up and ready and headed out the door having no idea how long it would take us to get there. We were relieved to find that it was only a 10 minute ride. We pulled up to the parking gate to find out that you cannot get into a parking lot until 7:45 AM. We waited about 20 minutes there watching people join the waiting line of vehicles. Of course they must have had more pressing business with the mouse because they all felt the need to get out of their car’s, walking to the front to find out why they couldn’t get in with their ADRs in hand. We never got out of our car. We could hear all of their conversations and actually we had a good time people watching. Finally they let us through. The lead car decided not to follow the marked signs and headed into the AAA/handicapped parking area. Amazingly all the cars behind him followed him. We did too, but it was because we were planning to park in the AAA lot. As each car got to the lot attendant she turned them all around. Boy they looked mad at that point. We parked and headed for the gates. Security was not an issue and they quickly found us on the ADR list and let us in. We took a couple of quick shots of the tree of life then headed to Dinoland. We were 5 minutes late at that point, but not do to anything we had control over. They took our photo and ushered us in. The food was so so. Basic buffet breakfast fare. The character’s made their way around and we saw them all within about 20 minutes. My “date” decided that it would be ok if I spoon fed him is cereal. It was cute, but it kept him from spilling stuff on himself. We were all full by 8:45 AM and hoped that we could get back to Discovery Island before the rope drop. This was not to be as they hold you in front of the restaurant until rope drop. We headed straight for the Safari. There were lots of animals out. Great time. After the safari we headed to Rafiki’s Planet watch since the kids had had so much fun out there the last visit. We explored and met Rafiki and Pocohontas. They were performing surgery on a homing pigeon so we watched a bit of the prep for that. The kids mentioned periodically throughout the day that they were concerned how the surgery went. We still do not know.

After the train ride back to Africa we headed to Kali. We had grabbed fast passes on the way to the Safari and it was now time to ride. Apparently they do not have all the water features running that early in the day as we were much less soaked then the last time and we noticed many things that were not turned on. It was still fun though. DS 4 was making sure that I was staying with him for the day since we were still on our date. We walked toward Expedition Everest and DH and the 2 older boys decided to ride. Lines were still minimal. They got off and we were about 20 minutes away from the first Nemo show of the day. We figured that we would not be able to get in, but the line was moving as we approached and there were still plenty of good seats. This was a very good show. It was longer than most Disney Shows and the performers were really good. We thoroughly enjoyed it and will see it again. It was now after Noon so we decided to head out of the park. We needed to go to Walmart for some dinner items. We got directions at Guest Relations and were off. We stopped at the Disney Outlet store on 535 first. Nothing exciting there, left without buying anything. We picked up what we needed at Walmart including a can of WD40. I had told DH to lube the stroller wheels before we left, but he was sure that I did not know what I was talking about. Anyhooo. We headed back to our resort. The skies opened up on the way and it was very difficult to even see the road. Of course I am the only one on the car rental agreement so I will need to park or use valet parking. I like to know where the car is as we always tend to forget something so I drop them off at the entrance with all of our bags and I go to park. It was absolute pouring. I had put my bathing suit top on under my shirt so I did what anyone would do…I left my t-shirt in the car and ran in the rain in my shorts and bathing suit top. I was freezing and looked like a drowned rat by the time I got to the room. A hot shower and load of laundry took care of that.

We all took about an hour nap then I fixed us some dinner. It was nice to have a homemade meal instead of eating out. After our much needed break we decided to head back to Animal Kingdom since it was the EMH park. We arrived around 6:30 PM and decided to hit the Safari again. We had an amazing driver. Her name was Beth and she actually made an attempt to stop to show us animals. I’m sure I got some great shots on that Safari. The cheetahs were playing. It remind us of our kitty at home…The lioness was out with the male and that was a first for us on this trip. We saw Giraffe’s us close, elephants, white rhinos and the list goes on and on. What a great way to start our evening. We decided to walk through the jungle trek. The hippos were on the move. I got pictures of them out of the water and some of them up against the glass. Very very cool. The whole animal experience was amazing. From there we headed over to Asia to do that walking trail, unfortunately it was closed. We decided to do Everest. My date saw just a hair too short. I find it amazing that 44 inches varies to widely from park to park and even from attraction to attraction. DS 4 had been able to ride many of the 44 inch ride, but was at least ½ in short for Everest. No problem, Mama stayed with him and he was happy. We then went to Dinoland. I took DS 4 on the Triceratop Spin while DH took the older boys on the Primevil Whirl. We met back up and the dance party was just beginning. We watched for a bit then headed to Dinosaur. The older boys were not thrilled that we made them ride again, but hey they lived. Since we had covered Africa, Asia and Dinoland in a span of 2 hours we decided to head toward Discovery Island to see if we could find any character’s that we hadn’t seen yet. We came across Lilo and Stitch. The line was short. Then off to the Island Mercantile where Meeko and Mushu were signing autographs. That was 4 character’s that we hadn’t seen. We had not done It’s tough to be a Bug so that was our last show of the night. I’ve always liked it even though our boys are scared by it for some reason. DS 4 is not afraid of anything and he loved it too. We left the park around 10 PM feeling very satisfied. I would definitely recommend the Evening Magic Hours at Animal Kingdom if you ever have the opportunity to use them.

 

[my3princes]

Day 11

We slept a little later today, but still had time to walk to the International Gateway to enter Epcot at rope drop. It took us longer to get to Soarin than those entering through the main entrance, but it wasn’t too bad. We all enjoyed the ride again. From their we did Turtle Talk with Crush again. This time Hunter got to ask a question which made him very happy. He asked if squirt could come out, but he could not. We also learned an interesting tid bit of information. Did you know that the sex of a turtle is determined by the temperature of the sand that the mother turtle lays the eggs in. If the sand is cool then all of the offspring will be male and if the sand is warm then all of the offspring will be female. She can lay 100 or more eggs in her nest before burying them and heading back to sea. They have to make it on their own from birth. Crush said that the sand temperature is why Dudes are Cool and Dudettes are totally hot.

We then crossed over to Test Track which is by far one of the boys favorite rides. World Showcase was opened by now so we made our way over. We started on the Mexico side, but we were really just looking for characters. We waited for Mulan as the CM’s had told us she would be out, but only Mushu arrived. We moved on to Germany and found Snow White and her Prince. We also saw Belle and Beast and just made it through when the skies opened up. Oh yeah, somewhere in there we did the boat ride in Norway and got some tasty snacks in the bakery there. We had heard that the school bread was wonderful and we were not disappointed. Since it was now raining we decided to head back to the resort. We had put the rain covers on the strollers so the little two were dry. We did not dig out our ponchos in time so the remaining 3 of us were drenched. We made it to the boat dock and waited a few minutes before being told that the rain and winds had stopped service for an indefinite period of time. Thankfully a boat did dock and they allowed us to sit in it while waiting for the all clear. It was probably ½ wait then we were delivered to the resort. A change of clothes and we were all feeling much better. Since we were planning to return to Epcot later that night for evening EMH we decided to take a nap. After napping, I heated up a frozen pizza for dinner. We finished eating then headed to Beaches and Cream for Dessert. DH had been planning to take the Kitchen Sink Challege for the last 18 months. The challenge is to eat an entire Kitchen Sink by yourself in less than 1 hour. To most normal people that really sounds disgusting, but not to my ice cream loving husband. The record there is 9 minutes, which is absolutely unbelievable. DH managed to eat the entire thing by himself in 39 minutes. He did admit that the last ¼ of it was pretty hard to swallow, but we are all proud of him. He has officially earned his username “Kitchensinkguy”.

We decided to walk to Epcot from there since he had plenty of calories to burn off. We arrived just before Illuminations was to start. We decided to head to Soarin’ first. We ended up stopping to watch the Circle of Life since we hadn’t seen it yet. Then to Soarin’ We waited for a front row. If you’ve never rode in the front row it is so worth doing. No feet hanging above you. It just feels more realistic. Next was the Nemo ride and then Turtle Talk with Crush. Crush had a different voice this time, but I don’t think the kids noticed. Colby was called on again. Crush always thinks his name is Toby and that is what he calls him. He asked how old Crush was and he is 150 years old. We headed for the Character Spot to see who the “VIP” characters were. They were the usual characters except Chip and Dale were replaced with Stitch. We skipped that and went for another spin on Test Track. Feeling satisfied that we had done most everything that was open we decided to call it a night since we would need to be up early the next day for Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[my3princes]

Day 12


We were up early and out the door. We were hitting Typhoon Lagoon for the morning extra magic hours. The kids LOVE the water parks so we were trying to get several trips into this vacation, but we hadn’t been successful thus far. We were there 7:40 AM and apparently missed being the first family by just a few minutes. We didn’t know that there was a “first family” and that they got to open the park until we met them a bit later. Anyway we hit all of the slides, the lazy river and the wave pool within the first 2 hours. By then the lines were getting longer so we headed out. We came back and spent time at the resort, letting the kids have some down time. We left our room around 3 PM and visited the community hall for about an hour. The kids love the video games and Dh and I played a bit of foos ball, air hockey and ping pong. Since it was Wednesday and we were staying on the Boardwalk we decided to hit Welcome Home Wednesdays at the Atlantic Dance Hall. It is a weekly gathering for DVC members. They do a cute little game show and award a few prizes to the contestants and a select few audience members. Lemonade and smart food or crackerjacks were provided. Each person also received a beach bag/backpack as they exited. It only lasted 45 minutes and would be a waste of time if you had to travel any distance to get there, but since we were already there it was something different.

We left there in the rain and headed to MGM. It was their evening magic hours so we thought we’d give it a try. The weather forcast was for scattered showers…They were wrong. It was raining so hard by the time the boat docked. We waited under the docking canopy for about 20 minutes, but no break in the rain. We ended up sucking it up and entered the park. We headed to the animation courtyard to see if any characters were out, but Remy was just leaving and he was the last character appearing for the day. We let the boys explore the different activities and planned to take the drawing lesson, but the line was huge. It would have been at least an hour before we would have gotten in so we left. Since it was still raining we went to One Man’s Dream we had never gone in during any of our previous trips. I’m glad we took the time as it was very interesting. Even the kids enjoyed it. Seeing Walt’s desk reminded me of reading Kingdom Keepers which spurred an interesting conversation between myself and DS 9. From there we headed to the Muppets show. This is one of DH’s favorites. We were hungry by then, but couldn’t get into the Prime Time so we headed back to our resort and made ourselves dinner.

It was a slow day by our normal touring standards, but I must say that it was nice to be able to have a slow day.

 

[my3princes]

Day 13

Since we hadn’t made any other plans we decided to hit Blizzard Beach. We also decided to go early to see if we’d be the “opening family”. We ended up there around 7 AM. A very nice CM chatted with us a bit and gave us our wrist bands. Not long after a photo pass photographer showed up and created small talk. He said that he was supposed to meet a Lifeguard there, but had no idea where she was. Well time passed and it was nearly 7:50 AM when the lifeguard showed up. After she went through the line handing out maps she approached us and asked us if we’d like to help open the park and test Summit Plummit. Of course we said yes. She introduced us to the crowd and off we went. The took photo pass pictures of us on the sleigh and with the melting snow people. The she gave us 5 rental towels, a locker key and 2 refillable mugs. They then walked us to a cabana with a picnic table and some chairs and told us that it was our cabana for the day. We left our stuff there and she walked us to the stairs to Summit Plummit. The ski lift was not yet operating. The photographer took one more group shot at the bottom of the stairs then we climbed. DH and the 2 oldest boys went to Summit Plummit and DS 4 and I went to Teamboat Springs. We all had fun. DH and the boys beat us to the bottom so they got on the now operating charilift and were the first on Slush Gusher. We met up at our cabana and I grabbed some stuff and headed to the locker. I grabbed a life jacket while over there. By the time we got back people were already invading our “private cabana” which was not marked as private. It was beginning to rain so I didn’t really blame them. We headed off and did everything in the park. I ended up back in the cabana when the rain picked up as it was cold. The boys finished Ski Patrol training camp and did the wave pool as I tried to keep our table clear of others. After a while I just gave up. We left around 10:30 AM in the pouring rain. We came back and showered, mostly to warm up.

We needed to be ready to be picked up for our DVC tour at noon. We had bought DVC sight unseen so we were looking forward to seeing what they do on the tour. Our guide met. They gave us light refreshments then we got to see the new Animal Kingdom villas. They are beautiful. I do think that they are darker than any of the other resorts including Wilderness Lodge, but we will definitely be staying there sometime. We also got to see a Saratoga Grand Villa…Amazing…Just Amazing. Then we were given more refreshments and ushered into a little chamber to ask any questions. From there we were taken to a little ice cream parlor and given scoops of ice cream and toppings. After that they provided us with transportation anywhere, but we headed back to Boardwalk. We sat on the front porch in the wicker rockers and watched the little activity that was happening on the Boardwalk in the rain. We were heading to the International Gateway to the Summer on the Savannah party. We took a boat over and were about ½ hour early. We sat in front of the Gateway and even had a nice conversation with the 2 Cms in the Guest Relations hut there.

The party was just a wonderful as last week and the boys enjoyed it more since they now knew more of the dances. It poured through most of the party, but was just ending when we left. The boys were all complaining of being tired so we took them back to our room and let them have short naps. Chris and I used the time to reorganize since we would be moving…gasp…offsite for the next 2 nights. At about 7 PM we woke the up and boy was the little guy ugly. No matter, we needed to get everyone fed. Epcot was open until midnight for onsite guests until midnight so that seemed like the place to go. We stopped at guest relations to check for any cancellations at Le Cellar, but there was none. We opted for counter service at the American Pavilion. The little guy was in a hurry to get to Test Track so that was where we headed. Just as our car was taking off my cell phone rang and my mother was trying to check in on the Southwest website. I told her I’d call her back after the ride. It was fun and everyone’s eyes were open for the picture which was a first. We also had the whole car to ourselves. DS 9 wanted to do Mission Space next so they headed there and the little guy and I headed to the exit area where he enjoys climbing around in the tunnels. There were heated video games going on and when the boys came out I tried my hand at mission control. By then the boys wanted to play too. DS 9 and I became astronauts and DS 11 tried his hand at mission control…for the other team. Too bad for him because my team is undefeated. Woo Hoo. Next we headed to Soarin’ then the Land boat ride. DS 4 loves that boat ride. Next was turtle talk with Crush. The guy doing the voice this time was not nearly as good as the other 2 we had heard, but I don’t think the kids noticed. DS 11 asked him what the inside of his shell look like. He asked why he wanted to know then he “tried” to pull his head into his shell and farted (blew bubbles) in the process which ended that question. DS 9 was also called on, but just to say “totally sweet dude”. DS 4 had been asked to say that the very first time we saw the show. When he said it; it sounded more like “Totally Feet Dude” which has been the saying for the rest of our vacation. After Crush we headed to the InternationalGateway. We boarded our boat just at midnight and headed back, exhausted, but a great exhaustion.

We weren’t planning any specific time to wake up the next morning as it was moving day.

 

[my3princes]

I think that brings us to today. I'll type it up tonight and post. I must stay that staying offsite definitely takes away from the magic and we've only been here for 4 hours. Oh well at least I have internet access today.

Deb

 

[tinknme]

Deb it is so nice to hear from you! Glad to hear you are all having such a good time. I can't believe Chris ate all that ice cream, WTG Thank you for taking time out to share with us, I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip. How long are you staying off site?

 

[Blueeyes101817]

I tried to call my DIS buddy, but she was unavailable. She called me a bit later. All 4 boys were wrapped up in videogame land by then so the new bedtime was set for 10 PM. I got to talk to my DIS buddy for 20 minutes or so and filled her in on all we had done so far on the trip. Isn’t it funny how we live vicariously through each other’s trips until we finally have one of our own.

So nice to hear from you deb--glad you got internet access!
it was so nice talking to you guys on the phone! sounds like you are having a great time!

 

[bear74]

Deb glad to hear you guys are having a great trip. I love reading your trip report.

 

[my3princes]

Deb it is so nice to hear from you! Glad to hear you are all having such a good time. I can't believe Chris ate all that ice cream, WTG Thank you for taking time out to share with us, I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip. How long are you staying off site?

We're only offsite for 2 nights then back to WDW We found an outback steakhouse and had a nice meal tonight. It was at least 1/2 the cost of a Disney meal so I guess that offsite has it's perks too.

We have decided that we will not be switching resorts on future trips though. It has been wonderful trying out different DVC resorts, but all the packing and unpacking stinks. Maybe we'll try out WLV in 2009 since we'll be at FW next year. We're not even finished with this trip and we're already planning next summer's vacation

 

[PNO4TE]

Sounds like you all are packing everything possible into this trip, Deb! thanks for sharing the TR with us.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Sounds like you are having a great time! It also sounds like you are getting rained on A LOT! I hope things dry out for the second half of your trip!

 

[Steffy]

I was so happy to see you posted Deb. WTG Chris on the kitchen sink

I love that you have gotten so much done and gotten a good dose of

Gotta love Crush.

I hope you get to see the Nemo the Musical show..... I loved that...

Glad you're having such a good time!

 

[lovespoohbear]

we had auntie claire when we went in december. she is awsome. very cool auntie.

 

[Nicole786]

So....are you looking to adopt? lol! I clean!



Sometimes.

 

[Avivasmom]

WOW WOW WOW is all I can say of your trip report...we just came back from BWV yesterday...I had them Valet park my car because of my back and had a handicap permit. I guess we got lucky with a room, we had a studio right off the lobby on the same floor (room 2070). Would have said hello if we saw you.

So are you guys tired yet? We are definitely going to see the candy lady in Japan in November.

Cannot wait to read more!!

 

[Tinkaroo]

Sounds like a fabulous trip thus far - you guys are really packing it in! I've loved hearing your thoughts on SSR and BWV. Is the next stop OKW?

And tell me - how does one get one of those AAA parking passes? (Although I did just check eBay, and saw some on there...)

Can't wait to read more!

And OMG, Chris - 39 minutes?!?!

 

[KMH1]

Hi Deb, Chris, Nick, Hunter, and Colby! Can't wait to read more!

 

[tink2020]

Holy cow, 23 days and you're STILL making me exhausted! You've packed so much in! Thanks for taking the time to type this, Deb! Hi Chris, Colby, Nick and Hunter!

 

[Glynis]

Oh, Deb! Thanks for putting a smile on this cranky mom's face tonight!!! I really needed a Disney pick me up, and your TR really fits the bill! Sounds like you are having an amazing time. I'm glad that the boys are all holding up well! Tell Chris congrats on the Kitchen Sink!!! I'm impressed, and I know Alan will be jealous when he hears. Someday, he swears he'll try it!

Can't wait to hear about the second half of your trip!!!