3 kids , free dining , and the un-free alcohol.... UPDATED 11/26

[OhioDisneyLover]

Enjoying your TR. Great pictures. Can't wait for more.

 

[rachel3]

Awe, Arial asleep in her poppa's lap is precious! I'm glad you had a good time at the Cirque. Good tip about the seats!

thanks! LL told me about the seats on tfw, but i had already ordered them. it was nice to be up front for my mom.

Enjoying your TR. Great pictures. Can't wait for more.

thanks!

 

[mymainmouse]

yeah, that road is skeery!!

where did you stay??? are you originally from ohio?

thanks for reading and welcome!!

We stayed at the ASMu on vacation. We have stayed there 3 times now. We really like it.

We are originally from NW Ohio and moved to GA for a few years. My DH mom is from the Youngstown area and so when we went to visit her from GA we would get stuck on I-77. If we were coming to see the rest of our family, who live in NW Ohio where we live now, we would travel up I-75. I'll take I-75 any day.

Thanks for the welcome. I am looking forward to reading more. I found your report and always like to read the ones of people who were there the same time as we were.

 

[rachel3]

We stayed at the ASMu on vacation. We have stayed there 3 times now. We really like it.

We are originally from NW Ohio and moved to GA for a few years. My DH mom is from the Youngstown area and so when we went to visit her from GA we would get stuck on I-77. If we were coming to see the rest of our family, who live in NW Ohio where we live now, we would travel up I-75. I'll take I-75 any day.

Thanks for the welcome. I am looking forward to reading more. I found your report and always like to read the ones of people who were there the same time as we were.

small world. we live close to youngstown. my dh graduated from ysu!

 

[KatGarcia]

OK I'm all caught up like a good Focker...looks like a great trip so far!!

 

[ncsjodi]

Thanks for not updating while I was gone, Rachel! It's made it very easy to catch up!

 

[rachel3]

OK I'm all caught up like a good Focker...looks like a great trip so far!!

hi kat, thanks for reading!!!

Thanks for not updating while I was gone, Rachel! It's made it very easy to catch up!

i was thinking of you!! i really do need to update. maybe tonight or tomorrow! maybe.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

 

[mymainmouse]

Just checking in...

 

[KatGarcia]

Ok still caught up.... now I need an update to read....lol cause I'm one to talk!

 

[rachel3]

okay, i know it's been a while, but it's been insanely busy around here!! but , here is an update!!! wooo whoooo

2nd full day-- sunday 9/14

When i last left you, we had come back to the hotel from a late night at cirque de soleil. Well, I have high expectations, so I still intended to get up early for rope drop at AK. However, I am NOT a morning person, so we got up late!! I believe we finally made it to the bus stop around 10am!! I know, I know, it's really late. So, we finally get three kids ready and lathered up in sunscreen. May I say here that the spray on sun screen is just amazing!! I swear is shaves off at least 20 minutes of our mornings at disney.

Okay , back to the story! We arrived at the bus stop to see nobody in the AK line. Usually, that is a good sign , but we all know it means a bus just left! So , we wait in the hot sun. And we wait, and we wait, and we wait, ....................... more waiting.................... waiting.................waiting........................................................waiting...........................waiting........................................................



Okay, you get the point. We waited a looooonnnnnnnggggggg time!! I'm not even sure how long because it's been 2 months. But, I do know that we waited. Finally, we board a bus. Of course we all clapped and cheered upon its arrival too!! We get to AK and walk over to the entrance when we spot a few characters!!! Chip or Dale (never good at telling them apart... i know one has a red nose, but i never remember which one!!!)

masen actually is not scared!! I couldn't believe it!!​

family pic!​

We finally get through the lines and make our way into the park. awww, the tree of life!!! I love that tree!!! We decided to head straight to the safari. We never have our day planned out. I know it's scary to some of you, but it works better for us. If we plan it out, it always fails. So, we just wing it! We wanted to try the safari because bashful had a bad day a MK and we know he loves animals. We figured it was a good way to get him used to a ride and not be scared. We got right onto the ride with no wait! And bashful just loved it!! He is just starting to talk and was naming the animals he knew. We told him the other names and he repeated them with no problems!! It was so exciting! His favorite is the ya-ya, aka elephant. He was soooo excited to see the ya-yas!! Here's a few pics from the safari. Sorry, no animals, just pics of my kids enjoying the ride!

Ariel in her cute minnie hat​

bashful trying to see the animals​

more bashful, he just loved it!!​

some views (not sure what i was taking a picture of . lol)​

more of bashful intrigued by the animals​

I was so happy after the safari ride!! Maybe basful would learn to love the rides after all!! Next we decided to ride the train to rafiki's planet watch. Bashful also loves trains, so we figured even though there's not much to do , the train ride itself would be worth it. We had a minimal wait to board the train and bashful did indeed love it! Once we arrived, we made sure to wait until we were past the yellow line to unfold the stroller. (made that mistake once before and got yelled at by a cm! )

So my dh ( i forget what i'm supposed to call him at this point) took the kids to the petting zoo, while my mom and I waited in line to get a water. It was taking forever to get a water, so I wandered up to the shop by the petting zoo to get a sprayer since happy had broken ours by falling on it. There was no line, so once i'm done I go back to my mom and tell her to get a water at the gift shop. This was after she waited about 10 minutes in line. Sorry mom. But there was still about 3 people in front of her so it was still worth it. I finally found my dh and the kids and we headed into the indoor exhibit. Bashful just loved looking at the different things in here.

Bashful​

Bashful loved chip or dale, but when we went to get a picture with jiminy cricket, he got like this

we explored more of the exhibits and the kids had a blast.

We saw the talking trash can which was a first for us!!!

then, we decided to get crazy and get close ups with some dangerous animals!!​

We took the train back to the "mainland" and headed over to EE!! The boys decided to be wussy and didn't want to ride. dh-- "makes me dizzy" happy--"makes me dizzy too" and bashful wasn't tall enough. So, the brave girls went on EE all by ourselves!!! We don't need no stinkin' men!!!

We waited about 10 minutes and got seated in the back of the ride. Ariel and my mom rode together. ( they both were a little nervous) I rode with some girl from the single rider line. We didn't talk much. We were all about business here..... business with a yeti!!! It was a blast!! I loved the ride , but I loved the sounds of my mother and daughter screaming and laughing behind me even more!! They had so much fun!!

We found the notsobrave boys after the ride and went to Kali river rapids. My mother didn't want to get wet so me, dh, happy , ariel and bashful rode this one. We got soaked!! But , it was stinkin hot, so wet is just fine!

Next, we head over to dinosaur!!

cont in next post.

 

[rachel3]

We made our way over to dinosaur. Since bashful couldn't ride and my mom has never been on dinosaur, I decided to sit this one out. Although my dh will not admit it, he loves this ride, so I stayed with the little one so they could all ride. I'm so sweet, aren't I??!!!

Bashful and I went over to the gift shop at the exit to wait for them. We had so much fun waiting. We had a blast looking at all the toys. He would pick up a dinosaur and say rrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooooooaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. This may not seem like much, but when your child is not talking at the age of 2yrs and dx with autism, imaginary play is a miracle!! So, we just had a blast playing pretend with the dinosaurs. Then , bashful decided to ham it up for some pictures in front of the dino mural inside the gift shop........

We still did not see the others coming out from the ride, so we took a little stroll outside. As soon as you exit the gift shop, go to the right down the pathway. It is beautiful with all kinds of lush, tropical plants. At the end of the path is a huge dinosaur by the gift shop. (it's also a smoking area. just sayin' ) We played by the dinosaur for about 10 minutes.

We finally meet up with the others and decide to go back to the hotel. It was still early and we wanted to swim before our dinner reservations at 930pm.

Here's bashful.... ready for some swimming.​

Our plan was to swim for a bit, get ready and go to MK, watch wishes, then make it to our dinner ressies at o'hana 930pm. I planned a late dinner specifically so we could watch wishes, then take the monorail to the poly for dinner. What i forgot to calculate into the planning was the extra magical hours. Mk evening emh just happened to be tonight. I knew this before we left home, but I thought " oh it's just wishes, can't be that bad". As we were swimming, I started to get a little nervous. I discussed it with the kids and realized they didn't really care about seeing wishes. They saw it last year, so they didn't mind missing it this year. (they know we come back every year, so i think that had something to do with it ) Besides, they were having so much fun swimming, they knew this meant they could swim longer. You know it's really why I pay so much to go to disney............... for the awesome swimming!! kids. I thought maybe we could make it in time to watch wishes on the beach of the poly. I just love wishes and i didn't really want to miss it. We hurried to get ready. (i didn't even shower after swimming.. sshhhh, don't tell anyone!)

but, we did not make it to wishes. We were wayyyyyyy off. We drove over to the poly and got there around 935pm. late, of course. what else do you expect from this family??? we are late for everything!!! But, we made it and they accepted our reservations. This is all that matters. My dh watched the kids in the tv area while my mom and I slyly steered our way to the bar.

Now, let me explain something here. I have told my mom all about my focker friends. Well, i don't really call them focker friends. I explained to my mom that they are friends I talk to on a disney planning site. I also explained to her how they have enlightened me on this special drink called a lapu, lapu and how we must try these drinks if it is the only thing we do while at disney world. We get in line at the bar and I proudly exclaim that I would like a lapu, lapu. The female bartender states " oh yes, good choice, the drink they had to name twice it is so good". Now i'm really excited!!! We sit at the bar waiting for our drinks and the people sitting next to us start discussing the beloved lapu, lapu. We really sparked the conversation at the bar by ordering them. My anticipation is increasing and finally here comes the beloved pinapple!!! Oh , i hastily grab it from the bartender , take a drink.......................awwwww, the fockers were right...............heaven in a pinapple!!!

We are called to our table right after receiving our drinks..

here are some pics of this extraordinary moment.....

okay, no flames... he is just pretending to drink.​

more of me loving the lapu,lapu!!​

cont. next post

 

[rachel3]

O'hana was just awesome!!! The food was great, the views were great, the service was great, and we already know how I feel about the drinks!!

The entertainment was awesome as well. Here are more pics of our dinner!!

yes, I know. I went a little crazy with the pics at dinner. But, we were having so much fun!! Here's some more!

The Poly in general was amazing!! We fell in love immediately when we walked in the front door. I WANT TO STAY AT THIS RESORT!!!!! It is our type of resort. We are beach people!

oh, i forgot to add..... ariel did not like the food and the waitor noticed she wasn't eating. He asked her if there was anything he could get her to eat that she liked. She told him a grilled cheese sandwich.......... and voila.......10 min. later a grilled cheese and fries!!! i love disney!

 

[rachel3]

After dinner, we walked around the resort. We explored the pool area and found our way to the beach. OMG!!! This place is heaven!! The beach is awesome. We relaxed on the beach while the kids played in the sand. They were feelin it too! They loved it here. We will stay at the poly sometime!

Here's some pics from the beach area.

Finally, we were able to drag ourselves away from this amazing resort. If we weren't so tired, we would've stayed on that beach all night!! We drove back to our room and slept peacefully with dreams of the poly in our heads!!



up next: epcot and the job offer!!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Yay for the update! I too love the Poly and hope that we can stay there one day.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Looks like fun was had by all at Ohana and how nice of that waiter to get the grilled cheese sandwich for you guys, great service.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Wow a mega installment!

What great candids you got at the restaurant!

 

[jcc0621]

I said it before and I'll say it again, your kids are just adorable.

How old is Masen. He has that same mischievous look that Jimmy gets. IT can be cute, but it can be evil too

Sweet that the waiter cought Ariel the GC and fries! Now that's service!

 

[askelton]

She's so sassy!

 

[DisneyJo]

We figured it was a good way to get him used to a ride and not be scared. We got right onto the ride with no wait! And bashful just loved it!! He is just starting to talk and was naming the animals he knew. We told him the other names and he repeated them with no problems!! It was so exciting! His favorite is the ya-ya, aka elephant. He was soooo excited to see the ya-yas!!

That's fantastic

Bashful​

I just love this photo with his reflection!

So, the brave girls went on EE all by ourselves!!! We don't need no stinkin' men!!!

You show em

You know it's really why I pay so much to go to disney............... for the awesome swimming!! kids.

How true is that

My anticipation is increasing and finally here comes the beloved pinapple!!! Oh , i hastily grab it from the bartender , take a drink.......................awwwww, the fockers were right...............heaven in a pinapple!!!

Glad you enjoyed it

BTW Rachel Chip has a black nose like a chocolate chip

Your kids do so well staying up so late, it looks like you had so much fun at the Poly beach