A Jersey Family in WDW During Jersey Week

[jsfein]

Cast of Characters

Me – 34 year old “planner” of this Disney adventure. The obsessive type when it comes to the planning, but, for the most part, willing to go with the flow when it comes time for the trip. As the story unfolds, you’ll probably figure out my profession too.

DW – 30 something (I can’t really say, can I?) non-Disney planner. It seems like most of us on DIS have a significant other that finds our Disney obsession/planning to be a disease, but realize when you’re at WDW that this so-called “disease” is an invaluable asset to any Disney trip. Sometimes referred to as the “Stick in the Mud” throughout this story.

DS 6 – the most reserved and reflective of the clan and, usually not the adventurous type, but that is about to change on this trip.

DS 4 ½ (not 4, but 4 ½ as he tells everyone) – typically, the most easy-going, agreeable and adventurous of the bunch, but not necessarily so on this trip.

DD 2 ½ (she gets the ½ thing from her brother) – this trip is about me, myself and I, and not anyone else and I will do everything in my power to remind you of this at every possible opportunity. If you too share the pleasure of such a child, you have my deepest sympathy.

A few other characters will join the plot as the story progresses.

Epilogue

When our heroes were last seen, they had completed their first trip as a family to WDW in May 2003. Two additional super heroes had accompanied the family on last year’s trip – my mother and DW’s mother. The kids were all one year younger and we outnumbered them in May 2003 – 4 adults to 3 kids. A piece of cake you say. Far from it. The grandmas were, to put it mildly, a complete liability. Did they take the kids on one attraction over 5 days in the Parks to allow Mom and Dad a moment to catch their breaths? NO. Did they do anything to save a nearly drowning oldest DS in the resort pool while they were responsible for watching him? NO (good thing Dad was in the area). Did they offer to watch the kids one night so that DW and I could have dinner alone or go to PI? NO. Did they abandon us on final day of last year’s trip to Park Hop on their own? YES (this was a blessing as we had our best day in the Parks without them). Despite my complaining, it really was nice having the grandmas on last year’s trip. Indeed, we invited them to join us again on our recently completed trip, but they politely declined without having to give the issue much thought. I think that when the kids are a little older they will muster the energy to tackle WDW again. What were we about to get ourselves into being outnumbered by the kids 3 to 2?!?

We had one primary objective in the months leading up to this trip. Preparing the kids, in particular, the boys (now 6 and 4 ½ (don’t forget that ½)), to overcome the psychoses we inflicted upon them during last year’s trip. On the first day of last year’s trip we started out in the Magic Kingdom. All was going well as we rode Buzz and hit Tomorrow Land (I knew to stay away from Snow White). We thought maybe we could unsuspectingly sneak the kids onto Haunted Mansion, but were mistaken. Before we ever even entered the greeting area, my oldest son freaked out from the music, grave yard, etc. and BOLTED. He turned around and took off leaving us in a panic. After finding him hidden behind a turnstile we scratched HM off the list. The beginning of the end occurred 2 attractions later … we were fine on the Jungle Cruise, but POC was the “Be all End all” for last year’s trip. Of course, the attraction doesn’t have much a scariness factor to it at all. However, the darkness and the loud noises were all my kids needed to require intensive psychiatric intervention. They cried, shrieked and shook through the ride and every subsequent attraction over the next 5 days in MK, Epcot, AK and MGM that had the slightest amount of darkness or loud noise. Thank you POC. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we left WDW last year with some great family moments, many fond memories, and a love for our newest favorite place – The Wilderness Lodge.

Before departing on our recent trip, the boys were certain that they had overcome their fears and were prepared to ride not only POC, but actually cross the threshold into the HM and enter the greeting area. You will have to read on to find out whether they maintained their brave faces. As for my DD, if you were in WDW from October 28 to November 5, I apologize for her behavior … yeah, that was my 2 ½ year old you remember.

If you enjoy stories about various bodily functions, including pee, poop, and vomit, injuries to children, other guests and characters, and have any interest about a Jersey family tackling WDW during Jersey Week, read on in the days to come.

 

[MrsJ Henry]

Cute!
Can't wait to read on.

 

[llij]

Can't wait to read more!!

Sounds like you had an interesting vacation!

 

[JMCDAD]

Good stuff
Keep em coming
I live in NY but work in Jersey
I also have 3 kids, about 3 years older than yours down the line.
So I can relate


Did you drive down?



:thewave:

 

[Maverick]

Looking forward to the rest....

Just remember! If you really think about it.... Children 3 years or less really can't do anything wrong at Walt Disney World.



Mav

 

[jsfein]

I started reading the DIS trip report board around 2-3 months ago and the very first trip report I read was Gopherit’s. After becoming completely addicted to Gopherit’s reports and checking the board for each new posting by her daily (at least 2-3 times per day – if you haven’t read them, skip mine and go to hers right now), I knew that I had to try to capture some written memory of our WDW trip while it was somewhat fresh in my mind (in addition to the 300 digital photos and hours of digital video that have found a home on my hard drive). Gopherit’s reports inspired me to write these reports as a “keepsake” of our 2004 Disney trip primarily for the benefit of my young children who will hopefully one day find an interest in reliving this vacation as recorded here by Dear Ole Dad. And that is what this trip report is … a telling of events as recalled by me, with my prejudices, selective memory, and revisionist history. If my DW were to write this report (but alas has neither the interest nor desire to do so), you would undoubtedly be convinced that she and I vacationed in Disney with different families. Since you’re stuck with me for this journey, you have no choice but to accept everything I say as true.

I recall Gopherit opening her trip report (remember, Gopherit is my gold standard of trip reports), by making the observation as to when should a trip report begin. Conventional wisdom is that your trip begins on your day of travel to the Most Magical Place on Earth. But if you are a member of the DIS boards, we all know that your Disney trip begins at the latest when your last Disney trip ended (and for many of you out there even earlier as you somehow juggle the planning of multiple trips at one time). I would say that the planning for this trip really took off in early May 2004 (about 6 months ago) when I purchased my MNSSHP tickets and grabbed my Liberty Tree Tavern PS on the day the tickets went on sale. For those of you that were in the same boat on that Spring day, Disney’s computers were down most of the day and every ½ hour that I called I was told to call back later. As I sit here today, it doesn’t seem like it was such a big deal. But I remember how frustrating it was and the endless number of phone calls that I had to place. Eventually, while sitting on the sidelines of DS 6’s t-ball game, I got through and got what I needed. The scream of jubilation I let out when I hung up with WDW was met with odd stares from the other T-ball parents. I didn’t care – I was going to the MK for Halloween on Halloween night!!

I work in a profession where I am required to capture every task I perform in 6 minute intervals. If my DW or, more importantly, my employer, had any idea how many 6 minute intervals I spent on the DIS boards, spent calling 407-WDISNEY and 407-WDW-DINE, spent planning, tweaking, replanning and retweaking, in the 6 or so months prior to this trip, I’d have more 6 minute intervals to make up both at home and at work than I could possibly find. I have no doubt that if I were to try to calculate the number of 6 minute intervals I spent from that day in May to the day I departed on my trip, I would probably find that the revenues I could have been generating for my employer would have entitled me to that corner office and parking spot on the first level of the parking garage. Oh well, maybe next year.

The next installment will fast forward to the conventional wisdom beginning of our trip -- our departure.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Looking forward to the next segment.

 

[jsfein]

Have you ever heard this one before? “Yeah, well, I live in central New Jersey, but flew to WDW out of JFK in New York because of my dog.” No, well then read on. I would imagine that there are threads on DIS concerning what people do with their pets when they visit WDW. I spent the first 6 months of 2004 agreeing to dog sit my MIL’s dog (who I don’t care much for; the dog, not my MIL), because I knew I would be returning the favor with my creature when I needed MIL’s dog sitting services. I believe I catered to MIL’s pooch for a 2 week stint and a 1 week stint, for a total of 3 weeks. Certainly, quid pro quid dictated that I could drop off my guy for our 9 day trip. However, a couple of months beforehand (and after I had already put in my 3 weeks with her dog), MIL decided to take her own vacation the week we would be away and, consequently, was no longer available to dog sit. A dog kennel was not high on our list of options as my MBF (Man’s Best Friend) is in his older years and not terribly friendly towards people not in the immediate family. Although I had no chips to cash in with my mother, she charitably agreed to watch the dog. The problem – my mother lives in Long Island 2 ½ hours away.

A plan had to be hatched. We were leaving to WDW on a Thursday, and DW and I both work full time; how to get the dog to Long Island on the eve of our trip? We had not yet purchased our airline tickets so we decided that we would drive to Long Island with the dog, 3 kids and suitcases the night before and depart out of one of the NYC area airports. As it turned out, the fares out of JFK were considerably cheaper than what was available out of Newark. A win-win all around. Is that pixie dust in the air?

The instructions I was given for packing for this trip were similar to the no non-sense instructions I was given when I was married 10 years ago. Back then my marching orders were: get measured for a Tuxedo and show up with black socks. DW knows that I follow simple instructions well and doesn’t ask too much of me. DW’s instructions to me for packing for this trip were – “I’m packing the kids and myself into 2 suitcases, fit your stuff in when I’m done.” When DW was done, she had packed 2 suitcases, as well as a backpack for each child containing toys and other air travel items and 2 adult backpacks containing back-up clothes, Florida clothes for our arrival, and other air travel items (for a total of 5 backpacks). The 2 suitcases were packed so full that I could not find room to put in my toothbrush. Despite my inquiries, I received no explanation as to why we were traveling with multiple cans of canned string beans (Del Monte if you’re curious). There were other items that produced quizzical looks on my face, but I forget what they were. Additionally, each suitcase must have weighed 100 pounds. (As the story progresses, we will find out exactly how heavy those suitcases actually weighed.) I packed into a third suitcase.

So, late afternoon/early evening Wednesday, we depart from NJ to Long Island in 2 cars. Yes, 2 cars. Car 1 had DW, kids and most of the luggage. Car 2 had me and dog (who is large) and the rest of the luggage. For those of you familiar with rush hour traffic on the Belt Parkway, Southern State Parkway and LIE, you know how brutal this ride can be. However, this dreadful drive turned out to be my last moments of peacefulness and quiet for the next 9 days. Savor them I did.

By the way, at the 30 day mark before our trip, I created a set of “countdown” index cards numbered 30 to 0. Every morning the first thing the kids did was remove an index card from the deck and countdown to how many days were left. This was something I read about on DIS and it created a real interest for the kids. The excitement really grew in the last few days as the deck grew smaller and we approached the 0 card which the kids had decorated with Mickey Mouse stickers. We will do this again on our future trips.

I must send out major kudos to the 3 transportation companies that helped this family from NJ arrive at our hotel at WDW – Avistar, Delta Song, and Tiffany Towncar. **Disclaimer: I don’t work for any of these companies and am not being compensated for this promotion.** Avistar is an off-site long-term car parking facility which operates at the NYC area airports. I had debated as to whether I should drop DW, kids and luggage at the airport and then park the car and take the Avistar shuttle or go to Avistar as a group. I elected the latter option as I could not imagine DW trying to shepherd 3 excited kids, 3 suitcases and 5 backpacks at the outside of an airline terminal. My decision worked out great. We were out of the car, loaded onto an Avistar shuttle and at the airport terminal within 10-15 minutes. This worked out much better than our last trip when we took a car service from our home to the airport. The problem with 3 young kids is 3 car seats. With the car service, we installed our 3 car seats into the hired car and the car service company was supposed to store our car seats until our pick-up one week later with the car seats in place. The plan was foiled when the car arrived for the pick-up with no car seats and the kids were driven home in no car seats to the great dismay of DW. This time, we had our own car with the car seats in place for the entire round-trip.

Delta Song was fantastic (and cheap airfare to boot!!). We took Jet Blue on our last trip and liked Song just as much if not more. First off, although there are no first class seats on Song, the plane is still set-up with a small set of rows in the front of the plane and a larger set of rows in the middle and rear of the plane. We happened to be seated in the front of the plane where there were maybe a total of 8 rows of seats. It felt more private and we had our own bathroom (important when you have 3 kids). The beauty of Song, however, is the console/monitor on the seat back head of every seat. This monitor was good for Dish Network t.v., an endless number of radio stations and music cds, trivia games where you compete against other passengers, and for purchase movies and games. We had 5 seats in total – 3 in one row and 2 in the row on the other side of the aisle. DW and I had not discussed before we boarded how we would configure ourselves. I knew that the configuration would consist of the 2 boys with a parent in 3 of the seats, and DD and a parent in the other 2 seats. Although I said nothing, I was secretly praying and hoping that I would end up with the boys. They each had their Gameboys and we had purchased new games for them for the trip which I had not had a chance to play. Yes, I am a kid at heart (but aren’t we all that are addicted to Disney). But, more importantly, I wanted away from the 2 ½ year old. Now, I love my daughter dearly (and am constantly reminding myself of that), but she is a handful times infinity and beyond. I know that this is neither the time nor place for such a discussion, but the differences between young boys and young girls are mind boggling. I could handle a dozen of my boys easier than my one DD. To her credit, when she is “on” she can be more delightful and charming than my boys put together, but when she is “off” you wish you were somewhere else. She started the trip “off”, but I was so preoccupied with the Gameboys and the t.v. screen I barely noticed (a/k/a ignored) my DW pleading to switch seats for a while. I was not swapping seats unless the pilot told me the flight would not continue unless I did so. However, not long into the flight, the stares of death from across the aisle subsided and I noticed DW was playing with her t.v. screen. Our angel had fallen asleep and the world was peaceful for a while.

Krystyna from Tiffany Towncar met us as promised at the bottom of the escalator as we headed towards baggage. I know everyone’s experiences are different, but this was the second time I used Tiffany Towncar and could not have been more pleased. I will specifically request Krystyna on my next trip. I don’t know whether this is typical or atypical, but Krystyna operates her own personal vehicle when she drives for Tiffany which happens to be a relatively new Ford Excursion. The car seats were in place as requested and there was plenty of room for my family of 5 and luggage. Although I had not requested a grocery stop when I scheduled with Tiffany, we asked for a stop for a few reasons. It was around 1:00 pm at the time and we had not eaten lunch. I figured I would pick up a case of water and some deli meat to get a couple of meals out of. Additionally, DW was in need of certain feminine hygiene items. Now, while DW may not be thrilled that I’m sharing with the DIS community this issue, its not likely that she will be reading these reports and feminine hygiene items always make for a good laugh when a man is involved – that’s me. Now, as I can’t figure out the workings of the female mind, I am not about to try to figure out the workings of the female body. DW told me that she had manipulated things such that feminine hygiene items wouldn’t be needed on our trip, but she apparently miscalculated and was unprepared. The dilemma – do I remain in the car with the 3 kids during the grocery stop or head into Publix and take on the responsibility of having to purchase the feminine hygiene items. Giving due consideration to the amount of time I would be spending with the kids in Disney, I opted for a chance to explore Publix. Now, of course, Publix was totally unfamiliar to me, about as unfamiliar as feminine hygiene products. Not only did I have no idea where to find such products in this store, I wasn’t quite certain as to what I needed to procure. Being a man, I wasn’t about to ask for assistance to locate the proper aisle and thus, began my journey. It took a long while, but I eventually found what I thought I was looking for and picked up the other items needed. By the time I departed, my 30 minute stop had turned into a 45 minute stop and the driver was on the verge of sending in a search team for me. DW later advised that I purchased one item correctly, but selected the wrong brand for the other item. I figured that batting .500 on this issue was pretty darn good.

When we arrived at the resort, I asked Krystyna whether she had a preference as to whether I tipped her now or at pick-up. As she deferred to me, I joked that I better tip her now for the round-trip while I still had the money in my pocket. We had a good laugh over that one; such a kidder I am. Oh how I wish that I could have retracted that foreshadowing. Krystyna was fortunate that I tipped her then because the amount of her tip would have been decreased through no fault of hers 9 days later as a direct and proximate result of the Disney money pit.

All was well in the world, we had just arrived at our resort, Krystyna was paid in full, we had food and feminine hygiene products in tow, and the magic was supposed to begin now. Coming up next … our Disney resort.

 

[Mary Anne]

I am really enjoying your report.

Looking forward to the rest.

 

[Minniespal]

Can't wait to read more.

 

[jsfein]

Although I haven’t come across such a poll on DIS, how would you answer a poll which asks what is the maximum number of different resort reservations you have held at the same time? Although I’m sure my response would not be the “record holder” response, I held 4 different resort reservations for this trip at one time – Poly, WL, Contemporary and AKL. Why do you ask? Because I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure that no one else could book a room when I was in Disney. Upon reflection, its kind of hard to remember exactly why this occurred, but here’s the gist of it.

We fell in love with WL in May 2003. The theming, the lobby, the pool and geyser, the CMs, Whispering Canyon, just everything about WL appealed to us. It was a no-brainer that we would return to WL again and again. After I purchased the MNSSHP tickets 6 months ago, I decided it was time to book a room. Discounts had not yet come out for my dates and the best I was able to do was get a AAA rate at WL.

When the discounts came out at the end of August, I was busy trying to get through to Disney with the rest of the DIS community. Nothing was available at the WL, but AP rooms were available at the Contemporary and AKL. Although we are not AP holders, I figured I would purchase one AP to get the room discount and booked rooms at both resorts (while keeping my WL ressie). We had never stayed at the Contemporary or AKL. Unfortunately, the Contemporary held no visual appeal to us, but sort of reminded us of an Atlantic City styled casino – kind of blah (sorry Contemporary lovers). However, the appeal of the Monorail was influential and I figured we weren’t going to spend too much time at the resort anyway. The AKL held significant appeal to us, but we were not renting a car and had concerns about relying on the busses with 3 young ones and a stroller. Over the ensuing 4-5 weeks, I made numerous phone calls to try to get a better rate at WL, but had no success. However, the Poly had become available and piqued my interest. We had also never stayed at the Poly, and had only once entered the GCH when dining at O’Hana. The cost of the Poly (non-concierge GV) was comparable (a bit higher) than my AAA rate at WL. So I booked it and, thus, had my 4th different resort ressie at one time.

Over the next couple of weeks I tried like heck to get a better rate at WL, but did not succeed in doing so. At this point, I had decided to give up the Contemporary and AKL (which made me sad) ressies, and kept the Poly and WL ressies. I was torn as to which to choose and waited until nearly the last moment (the 10 day window Disney allows to get a refund) before deciding upon the Poly. As I was the planner of this vacation (or dictator, whichever term you prefer), I made a unilateral decision to go with the Poly without conference with DW. I had read such good things about the resort (until I was about 4 weeks away from departing when the reports on the Resorts board turned particularly negative) that I figured it would not be a let down compared to WL. When I broke the good news to DW that we would be staying at a Monorail resort for about the same price as the WL, I was met with a “I can’t believe you’ve ruined our vacation” reaction. That’s how much the WL means to us. I spent the next few days trying to convince DW how great the Poly was going to be, but she just couldn’t believe we would not be returning to the WL. What had I done.

After researching the Resorts board and Tikiman’s website, I had decided that I preferred either the Samoa or Tokelau longhouses and had these requests added to my ressie notes. The CM at check-in (Catherine I think) was not particularly friendly, but efficient. She advised that neither of my requested longhouses were available and asked me for my next choice. I didn’t have one prepared. I had hoped that these longhouses with the views I read on Tikiman’s site would persuade DW that we (errrrr, I) had made a good choice in the Poly. I was about to explain to Catherine in hushed tones that I absolutely needed one of these longhouses or I would be in the doghouse, when Catherine suddenly left me at the check-in desk and disappeared to the back office. When she returned she told me that she had found me a great room and, best of all, it was available now (it was around 2 pm at the time). Not knowing the Poly, I put my faith in Catherine. As Catherine was completing my check-in, I watched others checking in around me receiving their Leis. After the check-in process was complete and my set of Leis were not forthcoming, I asked for them and they were provided. I made a big deal about placing them around each of the kids in front of the waterfall of the GCH. Within seconds, DS 6 said that the Leis were itchy and he took his off. The other 2 kids immediately followed his lead. Thus, I ended up wearing 3 Leis and DW 2 Leis.

As for our room, we received Rarotonga 3812. Although I was initially disappointed that my requests could not be met, over the course of our stay I was very pleased with both the Rarotonga Longhouse and our room location. Rarotonga is the longhouse immediately next to the GCH, with the arcade, Neverland Club, and laundry room adjacent. It is very close to the bus stop and a short walk to the TTC. Our room had a balcony and we overlooked the quiet (East pool). Had our room been on the other side of the Longhouse we might not have been quite as pleased as that side overlooked the Monorail/parking lot. Catherine was right, she had found us a great room. Mahalo.

I was getting kind of excited that the kids would get a chance to ride in a cart with the luggage to our longhouse, but with Rarotonga being located immediately next to the GCH, the bell captain advised that we would be walking. Good thing I hadn’t said anything about that cart ride. Consequently, no one but me was disappointed.

The number 1 best thing about the room set-up for us was the day bed. On our last trip to WL and a non-Disney trip we took this past summer, the boys shared a bed, and DW, DD and I shared the other bed. DD is impossible to sleep with. She likes to sleep horizontally on top of the pillows and leaves DW and I to make do with the rest of the bed. The day bed made all the difference in the world on this trip and I will not return to a Disney resort without some type of individual sleeping option for DD again. We made a very big deal about DD’s day bed when we arrived in the room and how special it was that she had her own “Princess Bed.” We immediately adorned the Princess Bed with the Princess’ stuffed animals and other sleeping paraphernalia. DD immediately embraced the bed as hers and became quite territorial about it. We anticipated that getting DD to sleep in the day bed would be a battle, but the transition turned out to be seamless. Whew!!

We had requested a refrigerator and bed rails and within minutes after we arrived in our room there was a knock at our door. To my surprise, it wasn’t the refrigerator and bed rails, but a basket delivery. The basket was from the WDW florist and simply had our family name printed in to the “To” line with no “From” line on the card. The basket came from the WDW florist and was in the shape of a Mickey head with lots of chocolate goodies inside. DW and I could not, for the life of us, figure out where the basket had come from. Could the Poly had sent it to us because our room requests were not met. I figured that was highly unlikely as the basket had to easily cost $50 and probably more. I had noted on one of my PS ressies the day before we traveled that we would be celebrating DW’s birthday at that meal. Could the basket be some sort of birthday basket for DW? If so, wouldn’t the card had indicated so? I told DW that she should call the front desk to find out who had sent the basket so that we could properly acknowledge this wonderful surprise. The next thing I knew, we were devouring the contents of the basket and the phone call to the front desk wasn’t placed. But the origins of the basket were very much on my mind and I made a mental note to inquire at the front desk later that day. Here’s a photo of the basket.

(I have no idea how to upload an image directly into a post and really don't feel like reading the FAQ. Hopefully this will work. If anyone out there can provide me with simple (remember, I can only follow simple instructions) as how to do this, it will make life easier to include a few photos as the story continues. Thanks!!)

We were now well settled in our room, ate our sandwiches from our grocery stop with plenty of chocolate goodies, and started thinking about that night’s Second Annual opening vacation meal at Chef Mickey’s.

 

[janets]

I know exactly what you do (or at least where you do it) as I must do the same. If my bosses knew how much time I spent daily on the boards, they would take away my internet access.

Really enjoying your reports and looking forward to the next.

BTW, where in Central NJ are you? We currently live in Morris County, but moved up here from Monmouth about 18 months ago. Moved between there and Middlesex for about 8 years. DH was raised in E. Brunswick.

 

[jsfein]

I forgot to mention in my last installment that when we checked into the Poly, I was not asked for my AP. I had read on these boards that it is the rare occasion that one is asked for their AP at check-in, but I did not want to violate Disney’s rules, nor take the chance that I would be that rare occasion. I was also a little concerned that the only AP I had purchased was a Child’s AP and whether, if asked to present it, having the Child’s AP would be sufficient for the AP rate. I did not receive a definitive response to this inquiry on DIS before we departed, but rather received a “this shouldn’t be a problem” response. Lastly, the Child’s AP had not yet been activated; all I possessed was the voucher from the Disney Store. Before we departed, I made a mental note to ask the Tiffany Towncar driver to detour to TTC to activate the AP before I checked-in, but the feminine hygiene product thing must have blocked my mind about this issue and I forgot. All this became moot at check-in when I wasn’t asked to present anything.

Before we left the Poly for our Second Annual opening vacation meal at Chef Mickey’s, I pulled out a surprise for the kids – Disney pins. At the time, the boys were back to it on their Gameboys and were in their zombie-like state when those things are powered on. As there were only 2 Gameboys and they were both in use, I had none to play with and decided that if I couldn’t play, I would put an end to the boys’ games. Very mature, I know.

Before taking this trip, I didn’t know the first thing about Disney pins and the pin trading phenomenon. I had read a little bit about it on the Internet and determined (again unilaterally) that my kids might enjoy pin trading. I figured that if I purchased each kid a few pins once at Disney they would undoubtedly pick out pins they liked and would not want to trade. And, at $6.50/pin, why should they trade away a pin they liked. Based upon my research I was convinced that Ebay was the way to go.

I did not know the first thing about Ebay and approached with some trepidation. After researching Disney pins for a few days and seeing that many sellers sold the pins in large batches 10, 25, etc., I decided a large batch was the way to go since I had 3 kids. Would the kids want just 3 pins on their lanyards and be limited in their trading adventures. No I figured. Again, not knowing the first thing about pin trading or Ebay, I rationalized that a batch of 50 pins was needed. I somehow successfully managed to create Ebay and Paypal accounts, giving out way too much financial information than my comfort level allowed for, and jumped in with a purchase from a seller from CA who was rated highly. With delivery, the cost was just over $3/pin – a nice savings I figured. This would not be the last time Ebay and Paypal came into play for this trip.

While awaiting the arrival of the pins, DW came across the various e-mails that had arrived in our in-box from Ebay, Paypal, and my pin seller. Now, DW is typically not one to complain about the cost of anything that is intended for the children, but such was not the case with my pin purchase. At $160, the purchase was, admittedly, substantial, but only a fraction of the cost of our trip. DW’s point was that maybe it would have been wise to see if the kids had an interest in pin trading before buying 50 pins, instead of just a few. Phooey I said, have you forgotten who is the dictator here? Thus, DW’s “Stick in the Mud” moniker was hatched. I rationalized that over the course of 9 days at Disney, for $160 I wouldn’t even be able to purchase one pin per day for each kid at $6.50 per pin. Additionally, I thought to myself that after spending $160 on pins, I was going to encourage (i.e., force) the kids into loving pin trading, even if it took threats of taking away the Gameboys to compel their newfound interest in this endeavor. Did my twisted logic work with DW? No. Although this went unstated, I suspected that DW had probably reached her limit with all the time I had spent planning for this trip and her frustration blew over a little bit with the pins. Naturally, I took DW’s assault with a grain of salt and continued with my obsessive planning.

When my pins arrived a few days later, I was convinced that I had been taken for a ride by the pin seller, but could not dare say a word of this to DW. Of the 50 pins, none had the WDW imprint on the back, a few had the Disneyland imprint, and the rest had Disney Paris and Disney Tokyo imprints. As for the pins themselves, a small few would be of interest to my kids, but not too many. And there were lots of duplicates. I wasn’t too concerned about the duplicates or the lack of variety because I purchased the pins with the intent for the kids to trade them. I remember having read the pin-trading rules and etiquette on the Internet for trades with CMs, and also remembered having read that CMs routinely did not accept certain pins for trade. I was concerned that the 40 or so Paris and Tokyo pins might not be tradeable. All I needed was for the kids to approach a CM for their first ever pin trades and the CM rejecting their pins as not good enough. There would be no living that down with DW. In a bit of a panic, I didn’t know whether to contact the seller. The seller had sent me an e-mail asking me to provide a (favorable) rating of the transaction. I wasn’t sure whether a favorable rating was in order. I jumped on the Internet, did some more research, and posted my dilemma on one of the pin trading sites. I was assured that I had received tradeable pins and there was nothing to worry about. Hakuna Matata. I gave the seller a favorable rating.

So, with pins picked out (but no lanyards as of yet), we departed the Poly for the Contemporary and Chef Mickey’s. Now, of course I knew from DIS that at some point during our 9 day trip I would have to get the boys to ride in the front of the Monorail. To both my pleasure and eventual displeasure, the boys rode with the Monorail driver on our very first trip. They received their Monorail driver’s license cards or whatever they are, and were very pleased with the experience. So much so that an expectation had been created on their part, especially with DS 4 ½, to ride the front of the Monorail on every subsequent ride. Although we succeeded in getting to ride up front 1 or 2 more times during our trip, DS 4 ½ did not cease to ask to ride up front on every occasion. There was genuine disappointment on his part whenever the front was not open and at the end of a couple of long days a few tears shed by him when we could not get the front car. Disney needs to come up with some type of Fastpass to ride the front of the Monorail for people like my DS 4 ½.

We were a little early for our Chef Mickey’s PS, checked in, and headed to the pin station to buy the kids lanyards. After some pins were affixed to the lanyards, the boys and DW headed into some of the Contemporary stores to start trading. Thankfully, DW had taken an interest in the kids’ pin trading once we got down to Disney and she was the pin trading supervisor. I oversaw a number of pin trades over the course of the trip and kept my mouth shut when the boys would trade, for instance, a really cool Stitch or Lion King pin for something like an Asia (Animal Kingdom) pin. I had decided when I purchased the pins that the kids could do with them what they wished, and never interfered with a proposed trade (despite my inclination to do so). As best as I can recall, just about every CM the kids traded with had that certain Disney “magic” about them and made pin trading a welcoming event for the kids. This was true both at the resorts and in the parks. Pin trading was a success and trades were made every day of our trip. Score one for me (if you’re keeping score – you know I am).

I wouldn’t say that Chef Mickey’s was disappointing, but it wasn’t the great experience we remembered from last year’s trip. Last year like this year, we made Chef Mickey’s our inaugural meal of the vacation. Maybe it was the excitement of being in Disney for the first time as a family last year or the first opportunity to watch the kids and the characters interact, but there was just something “off” about our meal this time around. Our table location wasn’t the greatest – we weren’t in any of the large dining areas, but situated against a wall across from the buffet. There were no St. Louis style ribs on the buffet that I had so enjoyed the year before. The boys, and in particular, DS 6, were not in a playful mood for the characters. DS6 and characters did not see eye to eye on this trip. He is in that phase when he is sensitive about every little thing and cannot stand to be the center of any attention as he perceives such attention as embarrassment. By no means were we going to force the characters upon him, but rather we would let him decide whether a character could evoke some reaction from him. He found this moment to be particularly embarrassing.

http://www.imagestation.com/mypictu...574795297623f3c/f6446af4.jpg&caption=.avi0004

DS 4 ½, who we knew from our last trip is our character hugger, was for the most part more interested in the peel and eat shrimp than Mickey and friends. However, he found time to squeeze in this hug with Dale.

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DD sat on the side of the table with me and DW by design to avoid the characters. However, she decided to share her baby dolls with Dale for this photo op.

http://www.imagestation.com/mypictu...71ff476e96f82e4/f6446aa0.jpg&caption=.avi0014

Speaking of DD, she had apparently decided at Chef Mickey’s that since we were no longer in NJ, she no longer needed to exercise control of her bladder and simply peed whenever she felt like it. Now, DD who I remind you is only 2 ½, potty trained herself several months ago. She decided that she wanted to wear panties this past Summer and the rest was history. Much different story than potty training my DS’s which took forever. However, there must have been something about the water in Florida that took a hold of her bladder. The first of many pee “accidents” (I use the term “accidents” generously; other terms could include vindictiveness, punishment towards her parents, intentional and deliberate action) occurred at the dinner table at Chef Mickey’s. Subsequently, over the course of the dinner, each kid needed to use the bathroom on separate occasions. I took them on each such occasion. You would think at a restaurant the size of Chef Mickey’s a convenient bathroom could have been installed. Instead, you must walk down a flight of steps. I guess if you need to go just once, like most normal people during the course of a meal, its not so bad. But when you have to go 3 times with 3 kids, it was a royal pain. The other phenomenon that developed with DD on this vacation was her utter panic and fear of the automatic flushing toilets. Now, just about every department store DD uses back in NJ has automatic flushing toilets these days, but in Disney paranoia had set in. DD absolutely refused to pee for DW over the course of the entire vacation in any bathroom with an automatic flushing toilet. Of course, the toilets in the Men’s bathroom also flush automatically. If you heard a shrieking child in late October to early November in a bathroom stall in just about any Men’s Room in Disney, that would have been my DD who I was physically restraining to remain on the toilet long enough to pee. I will save you from the details as to where much of her pee ended up on each trip to a toilet. Let’s just say that DD wasn’t the only one who needed a frequent change of clothes during this vacation.

This was a MNSSHP night and we saw so many people in great costumes in the Poly and Contemporary and on the Monorail. Seeing the costumes really got us excited for our MNSSHP in a few more nights.

When we returned to the Poly, we hung out on the beach to watch the EWP and MNSSHP fireworks. Ah, the pleasure of a Monorail resort. We got into bed on the early side to get rested for our first day in the parks.

 

[nancyL]

Keep it coming- I cant wait to hear more!
Hey, JanetS- check your pm's. (and while you're at it, check out my countdown compared to yours- lol)
NancyL

 

[jsfein]

As you will recall, the grandmas were invited, but chose not to join our recent crusade to WDW. Undoubtedly, one of the reasons why they declined was their less than fond recollection of my efforts to round up the troops to take advantage of early entry. On last year’s trip, we used early entry every day. From my perspective, we made tremendous use of early entry, hit the main attractions and then returned to our resort and hit another park later in the day. However, avoiding crowds has its trade-offs, especially the impact of waking up young children who are on considerably less rest than they are accustomed to. Even though we would be gaining an hour shortly into our trip due to Daylight Savings and thus, we really weren’t going to be waking up any earlier to take advantage of early entry, I determined to let this extra hour inure to the benefit of my clan.

We received, rather I should say, I received a call from everyone’s favorite mouse at 6:30 a.m. sharp every day of our trip. Amazing how punctual that mouse can be. Of course, I was awake prior to the phone ringing on each occasion and had hoped to get one of the kids to answer the phone on at least one morning, but their beauty rest kept them from this activity so it was mine to enjoy all alone. (Admittedly, after a few days I hung up the phone shortly after hearing Mickey’s voice and didn’t listen to the entire recording.) With DD’s new found love for her Princess Daybed, the night had been peaceful and restful for all. Further affirmation that the Poly had been a good decision.

One problem which persisted for the entire vacation was the room alarm clock. Some previous guest of our room had set the thing for 7 a.m. Now while I’m pretty good at figuring out electronic gadgets, and alarm clocks typically fall on the easy end of the spectrum of gadgets, I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to turn off the 7 a.m. alarm. Thus, the alarm clock went off every day at 7 a.m. A second wake-up call if you will.

We ate breakfast at Captain Cook’s and made a significant mistake that would not be repeated again this trip. The mistake: allowing the kids to pick out what they wanted to eat. Of course, they picked out way more than they could eat and much of their breakfasts were thrown away. As this was our first full day at Disney, the financial impact of this event was not too bothersome. My outlook for this trip was that the costs would not affect my enjoyment and if DD wanted a donut, cereal, bagel and OJ for breakfast (for $15), it would be okay. As the week wore on, I kept reminding myself and increasingly chanting to myself, “Who cares what it costs, we’re on vacation.” What Disney really needs is a nightly support group that meets at each resort where guests can share with each other what ridiculous amount of money they expended that day so that we all don’t feel so bad that the vacation budget has been exceeded on the 4th day of a 9 day trip.

I love that scene in Finding Nemo where the sharks open their group support meeting with the saying, “Fish are Friends, Not Food.” In my proposed support group, the participants would say, “I’m in Disney, here’s my blank check.” Followed by, “I’m Joe from New Jersey and today we spent the day in the Magic Kingdom. My family of 5 started our day at the Crystal Palace for breakfast, followed by a mid-morning snack at the Main St. bakery. We then picked up a water spray bottle. Each kid decided they needed their own water spray bottle so we picked up 2 more. We purchased our ride photos on Buzz (2 since we were in 2 different cars) and Splash Mountain, as well as photos in front of the castle and from Mickey’s tent. We took it easy for lunch and went to Cosmic Ray’s. I had to get in all 3 lines at Cosmic Ray’s. You say there are only 2 lines at Cosmic Ray’s. Well, technically, you’re correct. But one kid wanted chicken, the other a burger and the third wasn’t hungry, until we finally sat down to eat and decided she wanted chicken. Thus, I was in line 3 times. A couple of Dole Whips for the parents and Mickey Bars for the kids got us through the afternoon. The boys made out like pirates in the POC gift shop, as did DD in Tinkerbelle’s Shop. Dinner was at the Liberty Tree Tavern. Kids loved the glowing ice cubes in their drinks. While waiting for Spectro to start, we picked up some popcorn and soft pretzels and purchased each kid something that glowed in the dark. We probably bought 8 or 9 waters throughout the day. We thought we’d save a few bucks and skipped the shops on Main St. on our way out of the park. We spent about $500, give or take a few dollars.” If only Joe from New Jersey called to wake me up each morning instead of that mouse I would have felt a little better about our first breakfast at Captain Cook’s.

Off to Epcot via Monorail at the TTC. What a convenient feature of the Poly that you can walk over to the TTC. This was a real time saver. This was my first time ever traveling to Epcot via Monorail and I thought it was so cool how the Monorail runs through a good portion of Future World. I had never really noticed the Monorail overhead on prior trips to Epcot.

I know that the detail of my trip report may be boring some of you to death, but it is the details that I am trying so hard to recapture in my mind. What I remember on this morning are my boys taking their good ole sweet time walking down the ramps off of the Monorail when we arrived at Epcot. They had attached themselves to the railing on either side of the ramp and were descending the ramps while scaling the railing. As we impatiently waited for them to finish their Spider Man role playing, the guests on our Monorail had all passed us by and another Monorail had just arrived with another onslaught of people. We somehow pulled them off the railing and got in line waiting for the gates to open. DS 4 ½ and DD fought us when we tried to get sunscreen on them during this wait, and DD decided it was time to draw some attention to herself. She started screaming and wailing like you would not believe, but not atypical for her. It was 8:40 a.m., we had not yet even been in the park, and I had a screaming child. Thankfully, they started letting people through the gates to the rope drop shortly after her episode began, and she quieted down. Once through the gates, DW needed a bathroom and could not wait until the 9:00 a.m. rope drop. We had already passed through the turnstiles and with the throngs of people behind us she was not about to exit to use one of the exterior bathrooms. She said that she would find me and disappeared ahead of us. So now its me, the 3 kids and hundreds of others waiting for the ropes to drop, and I have no idea where to find DW. Just as the ropes are about to drop, DW finally reappears and somehow does so where we are waiting. Maybe I’m just lucky, but nature rarely, if ever, calls to me so strongly.

If you recall from one of my earlier installments, our previous trip was doomed, at least from an attractions perspective, on the first day when the darkness and loud noises on POC created intense fear and shaking on the part of my boys. So, naturally, we should start off slowly. Maybe hang out with the characters which everyone ignores on their way to TT and MS, or head to The Land or The Living Seas. Hah, I say. What did we do? We joined the throngs of people headed to TT. DS 4 ½ was just 40 inches and qualified to ride. I played the martyr (although I had ulterior motives) and let DW ride with the boys and grabbed a baby swap/fastpass ticket from a CM that would allow me to ride again with 2 other persons. I hoped that the boys would want to ride again either right away or some time later that day. DD and I killed the time in the TT gift shop and climbing in and out of the GM cars. It seemed to take forever waiting for them to finish their ride. But the reaction when they found me was familiar. DS 4 ½ had regressed to the vegetable state he had been in a year earlier on POC … crying and shaking all over. I later learned that he was doing fine until the ride speeds up and shoots you outdoors. He had a hard time with the unexpected speed, surprising considering how DW drives. DS 6 was uncertain about his TT experience, but knew that he wasn’t ready to ride it again right then. Maybe later I was told. That fastpass was burning a hole in my pocket .. I sure hoped so.

So you must have made a bee line to The Land or The Living Seas at this point, right? Nope. We headed to the Universe of Energy and on the way I grabbed some fastpasses for MS for DW and I. DS 4 ½ was very concerned about this attraction and, in particular, whether it was “like a rollercoaster” (his take on TT). We assured him it was very slow in a moving car and you watch a movie. Just as we were entering, we did a quick pin trade with a CM and that seemed to settle him down. I was particularly interested in DS 6’s reaction to Universe of Energy as to gauge whether the dinosaurs presented a problem to take him on Dinosaur at AK later in the week. I was completely unable to gauge DS 6, or for that matter hear anything Ellen, Alex Trebeck, Jamie Lee Curtis, or Bill Nye the Science Guy had to say over my completely hysterical DS 4 ½. Everything about this attraction spooked him – it was dark, it was loud, it had dinosaurs, it had Albert Einstein – you name it and he freaked. After Universe of Energy, it was time for DW and I to make amends and to allow DS 4 ½ (and the other kids) to enjoy their favorite part of Epcot, a bit earlier in the day than we had planned.

Of the 4 major Disney parks, there is but one where we packed bathing suits for the kids. I see that quizzical look on your faces. Epcot? Yes. One of the highlights on last year’s trip was the boys playing in the shooting fountain/water play area in front of TT and MS. I cannot tell you the number of parents of young kids that passed us by last year who had wished they too had brought along a bathing suit. The boys were very excited to return to Epcot for this reason. Panic set in when we found that the water play area in front of TT was closed. Uh oh. DW and I made a silent prayer and headed over to the less exciting water play area in the walkway that leads to the World Showcase. Ahhhh. It was open.

It was now time for my ulterior motive. Me to DW: “Dear, would you mind if I ever so briefly shot over to MS and used one those fastpasses while the kids are splashing around. When I return you can take a ride with your fastpass.” On last year’s trip, I had departed DW and the kids just once at MGM to ride ToT and RR, and they all “melted” while I was away. I wanted to avoid last year’s ugly scene, and hoped that the kids were good to play in the fountains for at least 20 – 30 minutes. I had sacrificed TT earlier in order to play this hand. MS had not opened when we were there last year, and I really wanted to experience it. Although I did not get an enthusiastic “go ahead and enjoy yourself” response, I heard “just go” and that’s what I did. MS was a walk-on with my fastpass and I occupied the engineer position. I was amazed by the number of warnings for this attraction. Anyone uncertain whether they want to experience this attraction must find the repeated warnings less than reassuring. I really enjoy thrill rides and found MS less than thrilling. I would have no problem bringing any of my kids that meet the height requirements onto this attraction in the future.

On my way back to the family, I detoured through Mouse Gear and picked up a towel for each of the kids. Although there were no melt-downs while I was away, DD had another “accident.” Using the new beach towels, we prevented the kids from flashing any indecent parts and got them out of their wet bathing suits. Lunch was at the food court in The Land and was less than stellar. I would have much preferred heading into the World Showcase, but we were planning on leaving Epcot early and didn’t want to take the walk. Unfortunately, we had just missed the Nestle Jr. Chef Program and made a note to try for this again when we returned to Epcot. I’m not a fan of The Land ride and thankfully the wait was 30 minutes so we passed. We next took our chances on Figment. Yes its dark, and yes it is loud, but it has Figment. This was a success. DS 4 ½ proclaimed as he departed Figment, “I wasn’t scared.” We headed out of Epcot and asked the kids if they wanted to try out SE which had no wait. They had never been on SE and passed. I was a little disappointed as it had been 6 or 7 years since I last rode SE, but figured we would be back later in the week.

We returned to the Poly to rest up for our night at MGM.

 

[kupperman]

I want to read some more. Keep it comming!

 

[jsfein]

Now, I only have 2 resort pools to compare and contrast, but I’ve got to say that the Poly Volcano pool beats the WL pool hands down (but I still love the WL pool too). The Volcano pool was simply perfect for my family in so many ways. DS 6 and the Volcano slide were a match made in heaven. I took the first ride down the slide so that I would be waiting for DS 6 in the pool. What a rush … a long, dark tunnel. DS 6 is just a little boost of confidence away from becoming an independent swimmer, so I thought it best to be waiting for him as he shot off of the slide. The smile on his face as he hit the water was priceless. It also turned out that he could stand in this area of the pool. DW then took a couple of turns riding down the slide with DS 6. It took a couple of days, but before long DS 6 was up and down the water slide without any parental figure waiting for him at the bottom. He was extremely pleased with this independence and the water slide became his second home at the Poly. DS 4 ½ is also on his way to earning his water wings, but is not quite as far as long as his older brother. Despite offering DS 4 ½ a life vest to give the Volcano slide a try, he adamantly refused. He certainly was not too young to give the slide a whirl. To my surprise, I saw parents shooting kids down the slide as young as 2 ½ to 3. I couldn’t believe it. These little tykes would come off the slide, go under the surface, and pop right back up with their life jackets as happy as a clam. However, the escapades of these 2 ½ to 3 year olds were not enough to convince DS 4 ½ to give it a try. Even without the water slide, DS 4 ½ loved the pool. There are not too many areas of the pool deeper than 4 feet, so DS 4 ½ had quite a bit of area to play in. He was the first to find the underwater speakers piping in the Polynesian music, and we dove under to listen countless times to find a tune we recognized, but we never did find one we knew. The zero-entry aspect to the pool was great for DD. She went in as far as she felt comfortable and had a grand time splashing and showing us how she swam (with her belly flat against the surface). DD also enjoyed the water play area next to the Volcano pool. DS 4 ½ tired of the play area quickly and I don’t think DS 6 ever even saw the play area as he was continuously climbing the steps to slide again. The kids also loved the fact that the bathrooms were in a “secret” location in a cave behind the waterfall. Despite overlooking the quiet (East) pool from our balcony, we never made it to this pool our entire trip.

As my reports will bear out, we found the bus service from the Poly to be hit or miss, with very little in between. Today it was a hit as we had virtually no wait for a bus to MGM. We headed to GF and then to MGM. As we pulled up to the GF bus stop, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a family of 3 with the child in a wheel chair getting ready to board. Something about the family seemed familiar. After a few moments I realized that I knew this family. Remember, this is Jersey Week and the ENTIRE state of New Jersey descends upon WDW. The family (in actuality, the child) were clients I represented in a matter several years earlier and who I had become very friendly with, but had not been in contact with in the prior year or so. As they boarded, I yelled out, “This bus doesn’t stop for New Jerseyans.” Within moments, there were handshakes and hugs, and we had the most enjoyable bus ride of our entire trip. I was pleased that DW finally got the chance to meet this family that meant so much to me and they got the chance to meet my family. The best part for me was seeing the child. This child had been through more in his short lifetime than I could possibly begin to explain. When I had last seen the child, he was very reliant on using crutches and a wheelchair, and was about to undergo a very significant surgery. Now, 2 ½ years later, I could not believe how much progress he had made. He and I walked side by side (him with a single crutch) from the bus stop to the entrance of the MGM, talking and chatting about all he was going to do on his vacation. We were just arriving in time for the Stars & Motor Cars parade and asked them to join us, but they were off to the Star Tours gift shop to pick up a costume for their MNSSHP party that evening. We exchanged cell phone numbers with the hope that we would find time to get together later in our vacations.

We are big fans of the Stars & Motor Cars parade. Of all the parades, the characters represented in this parade are the most familiar to my kids as it captures more of the recent Disney/Pixar movies than any other. For me, I love the Muppets car. I got a great photo of Sweetums (the big, hairy monster looking guy from the Muppets who makes a live appearance in Muppet Vision 3D) when he stopped directly in front of where we were sitting. What more could one ask for. From the parade, we headed into the Indiana Jones show which was the first time for the kids. When DS 4 ½ proclaimed at the end of the show, “I wasn’t even scared,” we knew we had found another keeper. I ran over to Star Tours for fastpasses while DW and the kids headed over to Hollywood & Vine for our Fantasmic Dinner Package. One of my passes wouldn't produce a fastpass and a CM had to print one for me. More on this later.

Our H&V PS was for 5:30 and we must have waited about 20 minutes for our table. This was by far the worst meal of our trip. So much so that I will not return to Hollywood & Vine. We were a little short on time as we wanted to eat a quick dinner, use our Star Tours fastpasses, and make it to Fantasmic in advance of 7:30. Our server was as slow and inattentive as they come. She took forever to take our drink orders, even longer to bring the drinks, and was never to be seen again for drink refills or to clear our dirty plates. After placing our drink orders, DW left to go to the bathroom. Within seconds, DD announced that she had to go potty after stating with certainty before DW left that she didn’t need to go potty. I told her she needed to wait until DW returned before I could take her. We were in the furthest location from the bathrooms and I really didn’t want to gather all 3 kids and all our stuff for a bathroom visit that may prove to be unproductive. Of course, when DD suddenly stood up in her chair and a puddle formed by her feet I knew that I had not chosen wisely. Hitting the buffet had to wait a bit longer until DD returned to the table with clean clothes. With each delay, I’m getting more concerned that we will have to forego Star Tours. Well, I shouldn’t have been too concerned with the delays because the buffet was, and this is just my opinion, awful. The variety was awful, the food was awful, and I knew that there was no way in the world that we were going to get our money’s worth here. I then started chanting to suppress that thought, “I’m on vacation, I don’t care what it costs.” Not long after, DD needed the bathroom (again) and it was my turn. As we approached the bathrooms, I saw the corridor to the 50s Prime Time and wished I was dining there instead. We are big fans of the 50s Prime Time and had an awesome meal there last year with Uncle Dave of delswife fame ("Love ya, mean it.") We chose Hollywood & Vine because of the Fantasmic Dinner Package. The bathrooms were filthy and did not look like they had been cleaned all day. There was simply nothing redeeming about H&V other than that blue ticket that granted us special seating privileges at Fantasmic. I will try Mama Melrose's next time around for the package.

By now it was 6:50 and we decided to give Star Tours a go. We would have walked right on even if we didn’t have the fastpasses. This was again a first for the boys (DD was not tall enough to ride). Just before we were about to board, DS 4 ½ had a panic attack, turned on the waterworks and ran to DW who was headed to the gift shop to wait for us. I knew that DS 4 ½ would really enjoy this ride and tried with all my might to change his mind, but it was not to be. DS 6 loved Star Tours and wanted to ride again which we could have since there was no line, but we were now less than 20 minutes away from the start of Fantasmic. We rushed over to Oscar’s for the Fantasmic Dinner Package entrance and started to make our way to the arena. What a long walk. A really long walk. I couldn't believe how long a walk. It had been a long day and the boys were tired, but they made it (with DS 4 ½ up on my shoulders). This was everyone’s first time seeing Fantasmic and it did not disappoint. Although there where obviously better seats in the arena, our seats in the upper right hand side were fine. No way would I stake out a seat 90 minutes before the show. I couldn’t believe the size of the arena and the number of people packed in like sardines. The two younger kids were tired and wanted to sit on our laps. This caused their feet to be that much closer to the people in front of us who were repeatedly kicked in their backs by our squirming kids while we were waiting for the show to start. Ummm, sorry. We thought the show was great and will add this to our must-do list.

On the way back, DW and the boys exited the bus at the Contemporary to attend a pin-trading event we had learned about when we were there 2 nights earlier. I told you that DW had gotten into the whole pin-trading thing. Again, another convenient feature of the Poly that they could hop on the Monorail and return to our resort so easily. DD and I returned to the Poly alone and got ready for bed. Just as DD was climbing into her Princess Daybed, the MNSSHP fireworks began. With the blinds pulled open, the fireworks were mostly visible from the Princess Daybed which sat next to the sliding glass doors. We sat in the dark of our room watching the fireworks together. DD said to me, “Daddy, I say oooh and you say aaaah.” We then proceeded to oooh and aaah together for the next few minutes. Before the fireworks had ended, DD’s head had hit her pillow and she was asleep. This was one of my very favorite moments on this trip. As you will see, just about each of my favorite moments involve one-on-one time with each of the kids. I think I may have been asleep before DW and the boys returned.

Next up, AK and our Epcot mistake.

 

[MrsM]

I'm really enjoying your report!

 

[jsfein]

Last year at AK we squeezed in as much as we could into one day. On this trip, we had allotted 2 partial days to AK as there was much we did not get to experience last trip. We arrived at AK approximately 20 mintues before the park opened and got in line. DS 4 ½ and DD were not in good moods this morning and were not making life much fun standing in line. Applying sun screen and keeping the kids within eye sight was a challenge (this was a familiar occurrence every day we waited in line to enter the parks). I looked around and it seemed to me that my kids were the only ones being less than cooperative. It appeared that way to me an awful lot on this trip. Then Wes Palm (the robot palm tree thingy) suddenly appeared and immediately shot over to the other side of the turnstiles from where we were situated. Although we were some distance away, the kids were fascinated by Wes Palm and battled each other for turns on my shoulders to get a glimpse. Just before the gates opened, a CM with a tarantula started entertaining the children in our line and we were saved for a few minutes.

For those paying attention, remember that pass that would not produce a fastpass at Star Tours the day before, well that pass did not work to get admission into the park today. I was told that it had probably become demagnetized and instead of immediately getting in the stroller rental line, I was diverted to guest services. This will not be the last time you will hear about problems with my park passes. While I obtained a new parkhopper at guest services and then rented a double stroller for the boys, the kids were entertained by the various creatures displayed by the CMs at the entrance of AK. It was difficult prying the kids away from the creatures and to avoid stopping at the various animal displays scattered throughout the pathways in the front of the park. Exploring these pathways was something we intended to do on our way out or on our second visit to AK later in the week. Last year we entered AK on an early entry day and did not see the opening ceremony performed in front of the Tree of Life. It was cute, but with the masses of people in front of us, impossible for the kids to see so it was back up to our shoulders. We then experienced our next problem with DD. She wanted to ride in the double stroller we rented for the boys instead of the umbrella stroller that we had brought for her. A war was waged between her and her brothers and you know who won … DD was firmly planted in the double stroller while DS 6 climbed into the umbrella with his limbs dangling to the ground. This war was waged on numerous other occasions during our trip and DD proclaimed victory each time.

We proceeded directly to the Safari. As we zig zagged through the long line of the Safari we were chatting with another family that attended the sold-out 10/29 MNSSHP. They had a terrible time due to the crowds and commented that it was a waste of money. Uh oh ... we would be attending the sold-out 10/31 MNSSHP the next night. I didn’t let this family’s bad experience bring me down. Although I didn’t ask any questions about their MNSSHP strategy that had obviously not worked, I chalked up their bad experience to bad planning and knew that the MNSSHP pointers I had picked up on DIS would provide my family with a better experience. The Safari was as I had remembered it from a year earlier … an open air bus ride with some animals. I wasn’t too enthused, but the kids loved it and that’s what it’s all about. I was planning that when we returned later in the week, I wouldn’t be the one to suggest another ride on the Safari. DS 6 was in urgent need of a bathroom when we got off the Safari and he and DW ran off to find one. Unlike when DW ran off to find a bathroom at Epcot and luckily found us right away, we didn’t see DW and DS 6 again for at least 15 minutes. I forget why we didn’t use our cell phones to find each other. When we reunited, we took a stroll through the Exploration Trail which the kids loved. A CM (Dave) who was working by the meer cats chatted up a conversation with my kids who were wearing their Guest of Honor badges. He presented each kid with a Magical Moment certificate and they all posed for a picture with Dave. What a nice man.

As we headed towards ITTBAB, we passed numerous characters (Lilo & Stitch, Baloo, Uncle Louie, and I think others), but no one but me was interested in stopping for photos, so we moved on. The boys had remembered the intricate carvings on the Tree of Life and had a hard time keeping up with the moving line as they were quite interested in each animal carving. ITTBAB was one of those disaster attractions last year … dark and loud noises, not too mention lots of smoke and Hopper. DS 4 ½ was beginning to panic and we tried to reassure him that he had done the attraction when he was only 3 years old. He sat on DW’s lap and, as if on cue, was terrified by the experience for the second year running. Our torturing of this sweet child must have seemed endless to him. DD sat on my lap and was also a bit shaken, but not to the extent of her older brother. DS 6, who did not enjoy ITTBAB last year, thought it was cool. 1 out of 3 wasn’t too bad. FOLK was up next and had a calming effect on the two younger ones. In the week or two before our trip, DD had taken a sudden fascination with the Lion King and Simba, and the music from the movie. Watching her dance in her seat and pointing out to us “her Simba” was very sweet. One of these days I’ll have to get to FOLK early enough so that the kids are sitting up front and can participate in the parade at the end of the show.

It was time for Lunch and I wanted to go to either the Tusker House or the Flame Tree BBQ to take advantage of the Meal Plus Certificates. We chose the Tusker House and were very pleased with the food. This will be a definite place to return to. I had the Turkey Wrap with corn chowder and thought that the chowder was very good. I think DW had the chicken sandwich. The kids had the Mac and Cheese. The drink sizes are huge and they gave the same size drinks with both the adult and kids meals. DW and the kids had staked out a table and I had 2 large trays of food. A very nice CM from behind the counter offered to help me bring the other tray. I was very thankful. When I arrived at the table, DW and DD were not seeing eye to eye. This only worsened as we began to eat, and DD insisted on drinking her milk her way and proceeded to spill it everywhere. Now, I’m the first to admit that in our daily lives, DW has a much higher threshold to tolerate the kids (and particularly DD). However, on this, our 3rd day in Disney, DW’s toleration level had not only been exhausted, but way surpassed. While DW may hold a different view on this topic, I think that, surprisingly, I was better able to tolerate DD’s antics on this trip. Perhaps it had something to do with DW's need for that grocery stop at the outset of the trip. Anyway, DD switched her seat location to be next to me, and we finished the meal in peace. We were all well fed and felt like kings with certificates in hand for drinks and treats. But this euphoria did not last long. Once back in the FL sun the kids quickly lost their good moods. Time to cash in those certificates, so we headed into Asia and made an ice cream stop. It felt good not having to pick up that $15 tab. We also picked up a water and I still had 4 drink certificates left. On our way, we came across Devine, which spooked DD. I was fascinated, but DD shrieked until we left the area. Since we were returning to AK later that week, I was inclined to leave the park at this point. However, Tarzan Rocks was soon starting and for some unexplainable reason, DW got addicted to this show last year. For me, last year’s experience was enough … did I really need to hear every single song from the movie performed in remix edition? Off to Tarzan Rocks. As we were leaving the park, it occurred to me that each attraction we did today was identical to the attractions we did on last year’s trip … Déjà Vu. My to do list for our return to AK included Pocahantos, Flights of Wonder, Kali, Dinosaur and to enjoy some of the nooks and crannies of the park. As you will come to find out, these attractions continue to remain on my to do list.

Upon returning to the Poly, the boys and I went for a swim and DW stayed behind with DD for a nap. We then made our first tactical mistake of the trip. When I originally put together our schedule, I had erroneously thought that this was going to be the first night of fireworks (Wishes) at MK on our trip. One of the things that had so appealed to me about the Poly was to spend one night watching MK fireworks from the beach. Well, I had forgotten about MNSSHP the previous two nights and I had watched fireworks from the Poly the previous two nights. Our plan called for dinner at O’Hana and to spend a relaxing night at the Poly. A change in plan was needed. Since we had done Fantasmic the night before, MGM was out. We would be attending MNSSHP the following night and had plans for Wishes later in the week, so we crossed off MK. Epcot made the most sense … dinner at the F&W festival. As we didn’t want to miss out on a dinner at O’Hana, we made a PS for later in the week.

We arrived in Epcot and passed on SE and HISTA to go directly to the food … we were hungry. We knew the kids would not eat from the F&W booths, so we went directly to the Liberty Inn and stocked up on chicken nuggets and hot dogs. I then went in search of finding us some food. This was a Saturday night and the place was packed!!! The lines in the nearby booths were 10-15 deep. I kept searching for a booth not too busy, but failed. I finally returned to the U.S. booth, waited in line, and picked up a chowder and a crab cake … hardly an appetizer for 1, let alone dinner for 2. The kids had finished their dinner by the time I returned. Survivor then took the stage and we enjoyed the beginning of the concert from our table in front of the Liberty Inn. I knew every song and thought each one belonged to REO Speedwagon. I think those groups are interchangeable. DW and I were starving at this point. We were near Japan, so she waited on the Japan booth line, while I took the kids for shaved ice. We beat her by at least 5 minutes and she came back with some chicken and a vegetable tempura … gone in 60 seconds. Although we would be returning to Japan later in the week to eat at Teppanyaki, the boys were dying to go to the gift shop so we did. Holy cow … it was Japanese anime heaven in the gift shop. For those of you not acquainted with the likes of Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon, be thankful. This was better than a candy store to my boys. They anguished over what they wanted and finally decided on Pokemon cards on this visit, with plans for Yu Gi Oh cards when we returned later in the week. World Showcase was too crowded to enjoy, so we decided to get out. We stopped at one or two booths on the way out that had relatively short lines, but nothing we ate was memorable. DW and I were quite hungry and decided that we would be better off leaving Epcot than sticking around for Illuminations or hitting attractions in Future World. I felt terrible for the kids … we had dragged them into Epcot and really got nothing accomplished other than the purchase of the Pokemon cards.

We returned to the Poly in need of food. The kids had already eaten, so O’Hana and Kona Café didn’t make sense. I needed a break from Captain Cooks. We decided on ordering off of the Tambu Lounge bar menu. We found some chairs and a few tables and the boys occupied themselves with their Pokemon cards. There were 2 food/drink items I wanted to try during our stay at the Poly – a Lapu Lapu and tonga toast. I ordered a Lapu Lapu and DW had a Lava Flow. I didn’t care for the taste of the Lapu Lapu, but the kids were mesmerized by the pineapple it was served in. DW’s Lava Flow was really good. DW had a stash of pez in her bag and the kids dug in. We ordered Chips and Salsa which were fried wontons with a mango sauce, and teriyaki wings. The wings were good and really hit the spot, the fried wontons were kind of blah. Although I wasn’t really satisfied by the meal, I was full and in a better mood, but still disappointed that we had lost valuable vacation time with our Epcot decision. DW returned to the room to put DD to bed, and the boys and I went to the arcade. DS 4 ½ wanted to play everything, but really didn’t know how. DS 6 knew how to play some of the games and was very selective about the games he chose. DS 4 ½ was quite upset when he lost to DS 6 in air hockey, but his spirits lifted when he then beat me 7 to 0. Amazing comeback skills I tell you.

Our third day in Disney was not quite as magical as the day before and ended, at least in my mind, on a down note. Would Day 4 and MNSSHP turn things around? Stay tuned.

 

[kupperman]

Can't wait to read more!