5th timers 1st experience with DDP(free!) TR!

[lori1043]

Hey Dis'ers! This is my family's TR for the week of September 12-19, 2009! This trip was a longshot for us b/c of my hubbys' pevious layoff(thank goodness he had a severance and is nowemployed again!). All depended on his being re-employed and it happened! So off we go....

Like said, this is our 5th time to WDW as a family. We DID have a WDW hurrication in September '08 from Gustav, so I guess you can count it as a 5 and a HALF timers TR! The hurrication was 2 nights at ASMovies with a family day at TL and a girls day(daddy worked) at MK.

Family cast:

DH39- audit manager for a big bank, LOVES God and his girls, LSU and Saints fan, loves the Cubs and the Stars too. Watches lots of financial shows, keeps up with the stock market(his passion), loves Jim Kramer's Mad Money.
Favorite Disney character: Donald Duck
Favorite WDW ride: Rock'n Roller Coaster
Favorite DL ride: California Screamin

Me39-homeschool mom, also loves Jesus and is thankful for all He does for our lives, BIG Disney fan from the time I was 16, likes to draw(but hasn't done it except at WDW or DL for years), loves her laptop and iTouch (a little too much I think). Enjoys her kids being around, trying to cook different things but very happy to have free food made for me for a week!
Favorite Disney character: Mickey
Favorite Disney ride: Splash mountain
Favorite DL ride: Space Mountain(only b/c Splash Mtn was closed!)

DD11-loves to sing constantly, hum, or whatnot, became a thrill seeker this trip. Cancer(leukemia) survivor.
Favorite Disney character: Donald Duck, and Aurora
Favorite Disney ride: Expedition Everest

DD9-loves to draw, color, has these big brown puppy dog eyes, likes horses, loves her teddy bear named 'Rose Beary bear' who is a princess!
Favorite Disney character: Belle
Favorite Disney ride: Soarin' and Pirate of the Carribean

So, we left last Saturday, September 12 and stayed at All Star Sports with 4 day PH's with water park and more. I will tell you about each place we ate and what each of us thought about it.

We have never had so much food, ever!

We are a family who does Disney on a budget. I love the budget boards for tips and ideas. We usually bring sandwiches every other day and eat CS meals on the days we don't bring sandwiches. I always bring a hotpot and make macn cheese and soup and grits, etc in that little wondrous appliance. We usually pick 1-3 TS places to eat per trip and we have a habit of going to Rainforest cafe after a long day at AK. We eat b/fast every morning in our room b/c #1, we're not big breakfast people, and #2, I want to spend my money where I want to spend it, and b/fast is not usually one of them. IF we choose to do a character b/fast on a trip, we go at the latest time possible. before this trip we really learned to hate the DDP b/c we could no longer walk into our favorite TS places. Everything was booked. We used to walk into Crystal Palace and we no longer could do that since the DDP has started.

I have a slightly different view now, but will explain as this TR goes along.

Soooo, the 1st day, we had no park plans, but we did have plans to meet my aunt and uncle in DD at Capn Jacks and to get my Disney reward card from Guest Relations. I had quite a bit of money accrued on it! $250! So we decided to use it for tips for our TS meals plus some! I had previously stuffed a bunch of cute little made up envelopes(from themouseforless.com) with cash for tips for each TS place we ate at.

So, I am not a fan pof DDP, but since it was FREE and has been for the past 5 years in the fall, we decided to try it.

pictures and story coming soon! uploading pics to site....

Day 1.....http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33654957&postcount=13
Day 1, part 2......http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33662859&postcount=21
Day 2......http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33662834&postcount=20
Day 3 part 1-EPCOT.......http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33688477&postcount=48
Day 3, part 2.........http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33688980&postcount=49
Day 4.........http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33756112&postcount=63
Rest of day 4.........http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33784297&postcount=79
last of day 4...........http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33784320&postcount=80.

 

[scoot241]

Gotta join up for this simply because you're Tiger and Saints fans!

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on, can't wait!!!!!

 

[Terry36]

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I'm in!

 

[zipuzee]

I'm here. Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[mymainmouse]

Signing on. We were there almost the same time as you were. I am curious to hear what you thought about the past week.

 

[rie'smom]

Can't wait for more!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Another Louisiana resident and Jesus lover here! Looking forward to reading all about your Disney adventures!

 

[portocall]

I made it, can't wait!

 

[Katie's Gram]

count me in

 

[jwhtewolfd]

I'm here. GO SAINTS!

 

[lori1043]

Okay, so we tried to make this a suprise for the kids, but that didn't work out... 26 days before the trip we found out that all of thier friends knew, so we broke down and told them one day after church.... they squealed like they've never been!

So they came home and IMMEDIATELY begged me to print up the countdown chain off of themouseforless.com

Anyway- 26 days later we found ourselves with one last chain link and packed and ready to fly to Orlando to go to Disney.

We always have driven, except for the 2002 Make a Wish trip for Ashton. It is a 10 hour or so drive from here to there. Not horrible, BUT since my hubby used to trvel often with his job, he had accrused some free flights, so we flew b/c it was much cheaper and faster than driving-yay!

My DD9 was a bit nervous......

just buckling in on SWA.

But she ended up LOVING it!


Stitch

I spontaneously was thinking we should have a theme for our pics on the trip b/c i wanted a little different type of pics, so Bethany(a dis friend) and I were at Disney store having fun and we picked out birthday Stitch for the pics since we were celebrating birthdays on this trip. BUT he was BAD and DH decided he needed to stay in when we went to the parks(so he stayed in the window with the towel creations from the mousekeepers)....he read and tore my magazine, he stowed away in the town car, he kept biting our doxies, etc.... here are some pics of him....

Disney
So we get to the airport in Orlando and the town car guy was holding that sign with our name!! We picked Tiffany towncar. It was $104 round trip. My friend Caron suggested it from a Disney site she was on. The guy Steve was nice enough, and we had a 30 minute grocery stop to get waters and cokes, apple juice and a foam ice chest, which was a smart thing to do we found out!

We arrive at All Star Sports, check in, got the top floor as requested(no one above you making noise) in the baseball section(yay! we've been there before and liked it)- our room was ready so we got settled, ate 2 QS meals and split it 4 ways(we had a Capn Jacks ADR for 4pm and it was abhout 1:30). We took a short refreshing nap, then headed for DD marketplace to play till our dinner with my aunt and uncle , who were driving from Gainesville to see us!

I SO want this table!

BTW- I picked All Star Sports b/c the kids and hubby said that the next time we did Disney, that was the place they wanted to stay.

So I call my aunt from the bus.....


...and she and her hubby were there already(it was about 3pm) walking around browsing. We had a GREAT meal at Capn Jacks. This meal was our family's overall favorite TS meal we had the whole week. The kids asked to come back here a couple times. We didn't though since I had made ADR's at that 6 month mark.

DH and I had the crab cakes, DD11 had chicken alfredo, DD9 had mac n cheese and we shared a spinach dip. Our first DDP TS meal and we skipped desert we were SO full!

I thank DD's for these pics! they are taking after mom with pics of food!

After dinner and a walk to say goodbye, we headed to Disney Quest- our first time there.

We did not stay long- it was cool and all, but didn't keep our interest. Put it off to having girls or just that all the games were a teaser to the REAL rides awaiting us in the upcoming days. Of course, we didn't get to every floor there and while we DID have fun, we were just anxious to get a good night sleep and head to Typhoon Lagoon the next day(Sunday). We DID find time to walk through the T Rex restaurant- it was pretty cool, esp the ice cave room-it was like the castle at night colors, but inside a icy room...

DD11 loves rocks and crystals...

for some reason photobucket didn't upload my ice cave pics....hmmm.

and we passed this place up....

next update.... Day 2, Typhoon Lagoon incident with a Garbage Pail, teaser in MK and dinner at the wrong time at 1900 Park Fare....

Lori

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Yay! An update! AND I got a shout out!

As always, your photos are great!

I'm glad to hear Haley did well on the flight. I know she was really nervous!

Your teaser is....hmph! *Scowl* I wanna know NOW what happened!

 

[zipuzee]

Wow! Those crab cakes look awesome. We'll need to consider this when we go next year. Cute pics of the kids, too. I guess its been a while since I've seen pics of them, they look so grown up! Can't wait for the next installment.

 

[FloraFauna]

Hey Lori, I'm enjoying reading your report. Its getting me excited for my trip

 

[lori1043]

I am uploading some pics from day 2- I do not have many from day 2-yet! We did a photopass with a family who's there this week, and I didn't bring th camera to Typhoon Lagoon, but I have a crazy, funny-from-a -spectators- point-of-view to tell about TL.

I think I am actually uploading day 2 and day 3's pics!

And re-trying those ice cave pics....

Lori

BTW- i am posting some of the same and some different pics from what put on my FB page

 

[mickeystoontown]

I've never given Captain Jack's much thought but after looking at those pictures, I need to check out the menu.

 

[shovan]

Hey girl! Loving your TR so far! It's great fun seeing your family enjoying it all! Can't wait for more! Never even thought about Capn Jacks before! We'll have to give that a try sometime soon. I don't have room for it during our upcoming trip, that's already booked solid!

 

[lori1043]

so on to DAY 2!

We got a great night sleep Saturday night at woke up and had a poptart or granola bar before heading to Typhoon Lagoon. We debated over the past 26 days about which water park to visit first. We had done TL before , so at first we were going to do Blizzard Beach first, but then decided that we LOVE TL, and had a whole other day saved for BB, so we did TL first!
Remember that we are a family of GIRLS and daddy pretty much goes with the flow here! All DD11 was bent on doing was Summit Plummet at BB and she decided she needed to try some other slides to get her nerve up.

As of right now I have NO pics of TL until my friends get back from WDW next week as we split a photopass CD, so I can show you those next week!

But here is the not so funny, yet kinda funny story about my time at TL;

Previous to this trip, we had read about and discussed with my friends(who are there THIS week) about this awesome ice cream thing that you can get at Happy Landings in TL called a Garbage Pail. It is a $10 bucket-O-ice cream sundae. People have said it could feed 4-6, but we think it can easily feed 7-10! I looked all over creation for a photopass person to take a pic of it for us, but they were all gone, trying to get out of the RAIN STORM that had started when i was getting this concoction for my family. The family went to the wave pool while I walked over the Happy Landings, when it started to rain. We agreed to meet back at the covered spot we had found to put our towels and bag in about 5 -10 minutes to share this monstrosity. So I order the humongously huge soft served hot fudged, cookies, whip creamed and Mickey sprinkled sand bucket of sugar. Literally a sand bucket- although a small one, but softserve about the same height as the bucket over the top.

Soooo, I get it and am walking back to our "spot" and the rain is not hard but it is moderate and kinda big drops, steady with no thunder or lightening, so the park stayed open. Picture me walking, walking, no hurry but at a steady pace, rain pouring down, whipped cream starting to fall down my arms from heat and rain, with LOTS of attention from other guests commenting on the large ice cream in my hands(looking like a pig who didn't NEED a gallon of ice cream!)......

...going over a smallish hill near the lazy river, and WHOOSH!!! My butt hits the ground HARD.... so hard tears came to my eyes and I am stunned. Ice cream and whipped cream everywhere, bucket upside down on pavement.I sat there for a moment and was trying to evaluate if I could get up at all, but it was hurting so bad I couldn't move. Some really nice man stopped and asked me if I was ok and if I needed medical care- he stayed with me till a CM finally yelled from down the path if I was ok and she called the manager-I think she was a lifeguard for the lazy river, so she couldn't move to far away from it. I had visions of an emergency room and wheelchair the rest of the trip.... I also knew that NOTHING was gonna take away from this trip, even if my tailbone WAS broken. I was GONNA be HAPPY, no matter the circumstances.

So the "manager", some 25 year old looking guy came and made light of the whole thing. This British woman came over and asked if I fell b/c she did too-in the same spot. She had bloody knees from it. The guy kept saying, "I'll get you another Garbage pail", and I was like, "i don't care about the stupid ice cream". All inknew was that my feet came out from under me with no warning and my butt/lower back was throbbing. He also told me, "ok, I am asking you for the last time, do you need to go to the hospital?" And i really had no idea IF I needed the hospital.

The nice guy who stayed with me was still there and he helped me up during that whole thing. I was able to take a few steps, painful ones, and started to work it out. I could walk so I felt I didn't need an ER. The manager walked me back to Happy Landings to get another Garbage Pail(for my kids, right?!!!) and I walked really slowly back to our spot- still raining, but lighter, losing whipped cream. By the time I got to DH and DD's, I was in tears and peeee-oooood. We all took about 5 bites of the concoction- which WAS really yummy( I suggest it, but everyone should be nearby when it is ordered, not in another part of the park), and we threw it out. I wanted that darn bucket though- as a souvie so i could remember why I have lower back/butt pain- DH was all about BUYING me a darn sandbucket and shovel at Dollar Tree b/c he just wanted to throw it all away. I was all about taking that da-- pail home!!!
So he cleaned it and we walked to First Aid for ibuprofen as the adrenaline was going away and pain was still stinging. She gave me about 5 packs of ibuprofen and i took them the rest of the trip. That and aleve. Oh and ice packs.

Thankfully we had done just about everything we wanted to do and we were ready to leave.

We rented a locker so DH went back for our $5 and came back with a TL coffee mug. It's cool looking, but I told him for BB I wanted my $5 and not a BB coffee mug. yeah, so I was grumpy at the time.....

We bussed it back to the room, showered and rested a bit, then when the meds kicked in, I felt better and we all agreed to go to MK for about 2 hours until we had to leave for our 7:55pm ADR at 1900 Park Fare.

We had some suprises when we got to our room after TL from mousekeeping...

Funny thing is that we had this app on my hubby's iPhone called "Mouse memo"- it's a cool app- but little did we know that all of our ADR's times were changed to an hour later due to being in a different time zone-plus, i booked them so long ago that I never even thought twice about it till AFTER our 1900 Park Fare experience. The app never asked me what time zone I was in when inputting the info, so WHY would it change!!????!! Was it the app or the iPhone? who knows, but we figured it out....

Okay, so back to our 2 hour MK jaunt....

We were AMAZED at the crown levels-lower than I have ever experienced. In ONE hour and FIFTY minutes we managed to do POTC, SM(my fave!), BTMRR 2x, Teacups, Space Ranger Spin, and Haunted Mansion. We left MK at 7:15 to get to the Grand Floridian...
first look!

No waits anywhere...

Haley looking down at SM loading up
fall at MK!

on monorail b/t Contemporary and Poly(or TTC)

At destination! Checked in....

waiting....

waiting...

waiting....

we waited a LONG time and it still never hit that our ADR was actually for 6:55 but we went by the iPhone app!!

Thankfully, we ARE pretty patient, most of the time..... and we finally got there...

This trip was a birthday gift to our family-ourselves! So, of course we had each picked a place to celebrate our birthday. We will have a smallish family party at home for the kids-and as DH and I are turning FORTY very soon(HIM sooner than ME!)-we didn't want a big deal, so this was our big deal(WDW)...

Anastasia dn Drusilla and her step mpom were SOOOO freakin funny!

When Lady Tremaine came to our table we were all just looking up at her quietly while she signed autgraph books- she commented on our family's "stimulating conversation".....

Oh, we enjoyed 1900 Park Fare-the food was okay, the ambiance was hilarious and cute all at once. This night was the night I realized just how much my kids were getting older-watching all the little dressed up girls dancing around.......DD9 is on the edge of wanting to dress up vs not wanting too. We brought her Belle dress, but she never put it on. DD11 is all about the rides this time. DD9 is still a princess and loves all that, but not over the top like she used to be. All of this is fine and dandy-I LOVE watching them grow up, I just don't want us to miss the small things.

Anyway, that is what I noticed that night....

here are some hidden Mickeys, or obvious ones-in the GF- that the kids wanted pics of .....

By this time we have been to 2 TS places with free DDP, and only use 2 adult CS and 1 kid CS for each meal- it is a lot of food for us!
1 adult and 1 kid could easily share 1 adult meal with dessert!

Lori

Day 3- EPCOT.....