A MouseEars View of Grand Gatherings - Complete with Over 500 Photos!

[MouseEarsJenny]

"There is no good in arguing with the inevitable The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat." -James Russell Lowell

We headed back out to Universal, this time with the intention of visiting Islands of Adventure. Mindful of my role in yesterday's disaster, I was determined to avoid causing problems. Yesterday, I had tried to help by staying with the kids instead of riding Mummy, and upset Cyndy. So I was determined to do whatever she wanted me to do on the second day. Yesterday, I had worn inappropriate clothes for getting wet, and since we were planning early visits to Ripsaw Falls and the Bilge Rat Barges, I wore my swimsuit. Yesterday, I didn't even take many pictures because I was spending too much time comparing with Disney - no more! I was going to be a good little tourist. At least, that was the plan.

I was a little flummoxed, though, when I saw that Cyndy had dressed her whole family in our "thing" shirts. She had wanted all of us to wear Thing 1-9 shirts to the park, and I had helped her make all of the shirts before we left home. But I was carrying our shirts in a bag so that they wouldn't get wet, and we were all wearing bathing suits and shorts. I figured she'd just decided that the girls could get the thing shirts wet, and we left for the park.

Once we got inside, we headed straight for Spider-man. I had already started to like Islands of Adventure better than Universal Studios. The decor was fun and creative, and I liked the comic style look of the Marvel section. We actually talked Nick, ride chicken boy, on to Spider-man. Even more amazing: he liked it! Hey! Nicky likes it!

I have to agree with Nick here. This ride was fun, high-tech, intense and well-designed. It was really thrilling - more so because you didn't know what to expect next - moving on a track? dropping? virtually dropping? fire? noise? 3-D effects? It was amazing.

We had done the Child Swap and we waited for the second group, and then went back to ride again. I caught a lot more of the story the second time when I wasn't constantly panicked about the "drop" that's not a drop. Cyndy decided she didn't want us to wait for another Child Swap, so she stayed in the gift shop with the girls. Juli apparently enjoyed herself here by playing with a Spidey spin toy.

At this point, I was thinking that this might just be fun after all. I really, really liked this park so far. But you know what they say about the best laid plans. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Cyndy had a huge temper tantrum. She realized that we were planning to walk around Toon Lagoon and let the kids play on Me Ship, The Olive while we rode Bilge Rat Barges and Ripsaw Falls. She was really, really angry. Apparently, when she had said the night before that she wanted us to give Faith and Juli something to do early on, she specifically meant she wanted to go to Seuss Landing second. And that was the ONLY thing she wanted to do, and she wanted to do it RIGHT then. Scott pointed out that we were all wearing our bathing suits so that we could get wet, and that Seuss Landing was in the other direction. She blew up that no one cared about "her" kids. Now, I had vowed that I would do whatever Cyndy wanted. So I said, fine, okay, we'll go to Dr. Seuss. She stormed off. We followed her, assuming she was going to Seuss Landing. But she was walking the long way around - all the way past Toon Lagoon, and Jurassic Park, and etc. and we were confused. If she wanted to go to Seuss Landing, why not just turn around and go back past the entrance? It was a much shorter walk. She was also nearly running with the stroller, so we were hustling to try and keep up as she kept weaving through the crowd and leaving us behind. When we finally caught up near Dueling Dragons, we weren't sure she was even still heading to Seuss Landing. So, out of breath, we asked, "Where are you going?" to which she replied, "I'm trying to get away from YOU."

Well, dear readers, I'm afraid that was the last straw. We were trying our very best to have a very nice day and do what she wanted, and she told us that she wanted to get rid of us. Okay, fine. Barry and Hannah were still trying to catch up because he kept stopping to take pictures. I took Scott, Kairi, and Nicky and we turned around and walked away.

Just the four of us now, we walked to Toon Lagoon. I was still a bit hurt by my sister's attitude, but I was determined to enjoy what Islands of Adventure had to offer after the travesty at Universal Studios the day before. We went back to Bilge Rat Barges. We knew we would need to rent a locker to store our "Thing" shirts and my camera and bag. So we rented a locker and put our belongings inside.

I'm still not sure exactly how the following confusion happened, and I don't want to be an evil guest who doesn't follow the rules and expects special treatment. But I could have sworn there was no sign that stated that guys had to wear shirts on the ride. In the exact same ride (eight seat circle boat, rapids, yada) at home, no shirts are required for guys. So we put Nick's Thing shirt in the locker. Also, I'm sure I had read that $8 lockers had in/out privileges. But when we got halfway down the line queue, the employee said that Nick needed a shirt. We left the line, went all the way back to the locker, and opened it up. Once we opened it, it would no longer lock - it was an all day rental until you opened it. Which didn't even make sense. $8 locker for a 15 minute ride?? So we had to pay another $8 to lock back up again. We went back in the line and when we got to the employee who had kicked us out of line, I asked for a refund of one of the two locker fees because I STILL couldn't find a sign that indicated guys needed shirts. She called over a manager, who took us out of line again and said that he would happily refund our money at the end of the ride. We go to get back in line again, but the employee sees us, and waves us over to the Universal Express line. We said no, she didn't have to do that, but she said we would be on the ride by now without all the hassle. So we went straight down to a boat.

Well, we LOVED it. Adored it. Laughed like loons. Had an absolutely fabulous, amazing, wonderful time. It was crazy and bouncy and splashy and all manner of fun. The kids wanted to do it again. When we got off, the manager saw us and came over to deal with the refund. We said forget about it - not only did we get to skip the line, but it was worth the $16. We were laughing and having genuine fun, and suddenly it felt like a vacation again. Thank you, Bilge Rat Barges!

We retrieved our locker stuff and Kai put on her Thing shirt. By this time, Nick's was already soaking wet, so we figured it didn't much matter. After a pause to take a picture of the kids by their new favorite Universal ride, we went over to Me Ship, The Olive and let the kids explore. Kai played the notes on the sheet music in a band geek reflex and was rewarded with the piano playing the Popeye song.

Nick liked using the water cannons to blast people on the Bilge Rat Barges. The only drawback was that from the top of the Olive, we could see the overflow pool from the barges. EWWWW!!!!!! Double, triple, quadruple yuck. The water we had been happily doused with was filthy and covered in foamy scum. Nasty!

We considered Ripsaw Falls, but Nicky wasn't feeling quite that brave. So we ended up just letting the two of them get soaked in a fountain near the Toon Lagoon sign.

Our next stop was Jurassic Park. We knew there was a drop at the end of the ride, but we really wanted to see all the dinosaurs and we thought Nick would like it if we could just somehow get him on it.

I'm still not sure how we did it. But we got him on the ride. We didn't even believe it. The wait was horrific, but at least they got dry waiting.

When we got to the turnstile, someone ahead of us was wearing a Mickey Mouse poncho. The employee said "Ack! You've got a rat on your back!" *sigh* Compensating, much?

The ride itself was AWESOME. We loved the movie-like gates opening to John Williams' great theme music.

And unlike Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom, here you could really see the dinosaurs.

The final climb through the raptors was just creepy enough, and the T-Rex was awesome. Get this... Nicky LOVED it! The drop and all! Completely adored it. We stopped to get him an "I Survived" kind of shirt. And then of course, we had to pose for the classic "There's a dinosaur behind me, isn't there?" picture.

We continued our walk around the park, and ran into the construction area for Harry Potter. With three fabulous rides under our belts, we were feeling much better about the whole coming back to check out the Wizarding World thing. In fact, we were downright excited about coming back when Harry Potter was here.

We decided againsts Dueling Dragons because Nick wouldn't ride and we didn't feel safe leaving him. We thought about lunch at Mythos, but didn't want to take the time to sit down and eat.

That brought us to the entrance to Seuss Landing. We loved the theming, but again, it threw us off a bit that you could look and see other areas. Still, the architecture was oh-so-Seuss and it seemed like a lot of fun. I went to the bathroom to change into my thing shirt and ran into the rest of our group, so I knew they were there. Later, we found out they had been on pretty much every ride in the place.

I didn't know if Cyndy still wanted us to stay away from her, so we went into Circus Mcgurkus Cafe Stoo-pendous for lunch. That's where Cyndy found us in line and apologized for saying she wanted to get rid of us. We remerged our group and ate lunch.

The Cafe was, in my opinion, overpriced and not very good. Probably about the same as your standard cafeteria. But the atmosphere was great, with lots of fun decorations moving and swinging around the room.

We left lunch and went to the Cat in the Hat. It was very cute and Winnie-the-Pooh like. I really liked it.

We were trying to find the perfect place to take a group photo of our Thing shirts, so we tried posing under the giant red and white hat. Unfortunately, the nice stranger who offered to take our picture couldn't get the hat in the shot.

Up Next:
Searching for Seuss

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"We looked and we saw him, the Cat in the Hat." - Dr. Seuss

We had a specific goal in mind now that we were all together and wearing the red shirts. We tried taking the picture under the Cat's hat - no dice. So now we must find the actual Cat in the Hat for the perfect shot. We started by exploring the Seuss themed shops in the area, starting with the exit shop for the Cat in the Hat. Which meant all the little girls had to try on Thing hats.

And one of the big girls, too.

I have to again praise the theming of the area as we walked from shop to shop. I really liked this little topiary critter.

We read on our map that the Cat in the Hat appeared near the bookshop, so we headed there hoping to get the picture. We found out that the Cat wouldn't be appearing for awhile since he was in an afternoon storytelling show. So we browsed around the bookstore.

When we spied this tiny door, we knew just who must live there!

We headed over to the afternoon story telling show still chasing the elusive picture. The little girls really liked it.

It was cute, although it was a bit cheesy. Reminded me of the Peanuts show at our home amusement park.

Finally, the show was over. And the Cat in the Hat turned around and went backstage while everyone else came out for pictures. Oh, no! We asked an employee and they said he would be right out, so we waited by the entrance. Sure enough, we finally got the picture.

And a bonus one with Sam I Am.

We rode on the Caro-Seuss-al (or rode it again in the case of Cyndy and crew) and headed for the exit. Everyone was happy, which was a wonderful thing after all of the earlier stress.

We headed right for our car, but we found out when the rest of the group got home that they had been distracted in City Walk by a play fountain and had gotten completely soaked. Barry took lots of pictures, and believes that this was the happiest any of the girls were all vacation long.

After everyone had changed, we went back out to T.G.I. Friday's for dinner. Hannah had put on a light-colored pair of shorts, and she sat in the same seat as she did on the way home from Universal. Ut-oh! When we got in the restaurant, Cyndy noticed a big muddy brown patch on the back of Hannah's shorts and decided it looked embarrassingly nasty. Trying to diffuse the situation before it became a SITUATION, I quickly took Hannah next door to one of those souvenir shops that's EVERYwhere and bought her a shirt long enough to cover the shorts. Cyndy came along, and we giggled about "wardrobe malfunctions" to help make Hannah feel less mortified.

We couldn't have been gone too long, because we beat our food to the table. It was okay, your basic Friday's food. Juli REALLY loved her ribs, though!

We headed back to Westgate and again crashed directly into bed.

Up Next:
Transportation Blues

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

So glad you started this back up! I just started planning my own grand gathering for this June. We are debating whether to do the dining plan or not, so having those tallies helps too. Glad to see that you are able to overcome the "emotional rollercoaster" moments. I have to admit that has me a little concerned as well.

Glad it's useful to you! We're actually a very loving and tight family, but travelling together definitely brought out a bit of tension. But it was a great trip, and I was showing Juli (the littlest one) pictures of the trip just tonight and she was telling me all about it. So it was more than worth any little rollercoaster moments.

The tallies surprised me - I didn't realize we saved so much! But I was glad I took the time to grab all those reciepts.

Thanks for reading! Hope your gathering is wonderful!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I was a little flummoxed, though, when I saw that Cyndy had dressed her whole family in our "thing" shirts.

At this point we forgot that Cyndy didn't actually bother to get herself involved in the conversation the previous night on how we were going to walk clockwise today.

Once we got inside, we headed straight for Spider-man. I had already started to like Islands of Adventure better than Universal Studios. The decor was fun and creative, and I liked the comic style look of the Marvel section. We actually talked Nick, ride chicken boy, on to Spider-man. Even more amazing: he liked it! Hey! Nicky likes it!

I am an old-school comic junkie, so I loved the theming of this year. I am more of a DC (Batman and Superman) kind of guy than a Marvel kind of guy, but that's OK. Spider-Man was by far my favorite ride in Universal. I might also be willing to say it was my favorite the whole trip, but I'm still not sure about that.

Well, dear readers, I'm afraid that was the last straw.

I don't really have anything more to add about Cyndy's temper tantrum. It sucked, and then we have fun just the four of us. Bilgerat Barges was great, and so was Jurassic Park. I will definitely come back to this park again. Universal Studios can go soak it's head, but Island of Adventure is fun.

We considered Ripsaw Falls, but Nicky wasn't feeling quite that brave.

I think if he tried it after Jurassic Park, he would have been OK.

We continued our walk around the park, and ran into the construction area for Harry Potter. With three fabulous rides under our belts, we were feeling much better about the whole coming back to check out the Wizarding World thing. In fact, we were downright excited about coming back when Harry Potter was here.

Even if nothing else, I will be willing to come back to this park just to go to the Harry Potter section. Disney missed out a lot by not snagging the rights to this.

That brought us to the entrance to Seuss Landing.

A little bit about the Thing shirts: while I didn't like the Custom Quilt shirts, I didn't mind these. 1: Mine fit better. 2: We all had them. 3: Everyone commented on how cute it was (as opposed to get snickered at in Disney).

The Cafe was, in my opinion, overpriced and not very good.

I didn't hate the food, but didn't like it either. I found the Seuss training running around above us to be distracting.

We left lunch and went to the Cat in the Hat. It was very cute and Winnie-the-Pooh like. I really liked it.

I mostly liked it, but you could see some of the machinery and how things moved. Again, comparing to Disney. But still it was a good ride.

We were trying to find the perfect place to take a group photo of our Thing shirts.

At this point, things slowed down and there was a lot of waiting. We killed a lot of time waiting for that cat. In the bookstore, during the storytime, after the story time...

 

[FlightlessDuck]

So now we must find the actual Cat in the Hat for the perfect shot.

This entire adventure seemed like such a waste of time for me. The two little girls liked seeing the showing and meeting the Cat in the Hat, so I guess that is OK.

The Caro-Seuss-al was pretty fun, for a little kid carousel.

After everyone had changed, we went back out to T.G.I. Friday's for dinner.

I don't remember what I had, probably a steak. Dinner was good. Barry was talking about how it was the biggest TGI Friday's in the country, but it didn't seem like that big of a deal. I was annoyed Jenn and Cyndy BOTH left to tend to Hannah, leaving two adults to deal with four children in a restaurant.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

Not only were our feet tired after this many days of so-called vacation, apparently the van was tired too. Cyndy and Barry’s vehicle had issues this morning – I don’t remember what was wrong with it, but it was out of commission. That put a pretty big damper on any possible plans for the day because we had no way to transport 9 people in our 5 passenger vehicle. We were all pretty tired by this point, though, so it was no big deal to hang around and relax in the room.

We started off the day with a quick waffle run. Faith decided that’s what she wanted for breakfast, so we went to a Publix and picked her up some waffles and a bowl of fruit salad for all of us. After breakfast, the girls used the big whirlpool tub in our room to take a bubble bath.

The kids spent much of the day just watching TV and playing with the toys they had brought from home or bought in Florida. At some point, Barry limped the car over to a mechanic with Scott following for safety and to give him a ride home.

We made some pasta salad for lunch, and then went to the Westgate Center to see Toy Story in their movie theater. Unfortunately, the schedule was wrong and they were showing Cars (not that we dislike Cars, but it’s probably our least favorite Pixar movie).

After the movie, we walked to the Sizzler. It was a long, hot walk, and the restaurant was not worth it. The buffet was swarmed with bugs. Tiny little clouds of gnats. I am seriously phobic about bugs and could not eat a bite.

We went to Wal-Mart after dinner to return a movie. While we were out, I got some dinner at a drive thru. The kids colored, we read, and that was the end of our not very exciting day.

Up Next:
So What Else Is In Orlando?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We started off the day with a quick waffle run. Faith decided that’s what she wanted for breakfast, so we went to a Publix and picked her up some waffles and a bowl of fruit salad for all of us. After breakfast, the girls used the big whirlpool tub in our room to take a bubble bath.

One of the nice things about having a week in the timeshare is now we know how to get to a Publix and a Wal-Mart if necessary.

I was really impressed by the amount of bubbles in the tub. Must have been because it had all those jets. It looked like snow. The two little girls had a blast in it.

The kids spent much of the day just watching TV and playing with the toys they had brought from home or bought in Florida.

Jenn and I read and napped most of the morning, I think.

We made some pasta salad for lunch, and then went to the Westgate Center to see Toy Story in their movie theater. Unfortunately, the schedule was wrong and they were showing Cars

And the movie didn't start on time, so we have suffer through 10 minutes of Little Einsteins, first. And Jenn and I were both pretty sure that Westgate was breaking some copyright law, because this looked like a standard DVD version of the movie (with the FBI warning and everything).

After the movie, we walked to the Sizzler.

Meh. I'm sorry Jenn got freaked out by the bugs. I didn't actually see them. But it wasn't great food, anyway.

 

[kate_wdw]

I wanted to say that I'm really enjoying your trip report.

Also your weight loss story is very inspirational! Any chance we could get an "after" picture?

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

I wanted to say that I'm really enjoying your trip report.

Thanks!

Also your weight loss story is very inspirational! Any chance we could get an "after" picture?

Sure, but you need to overlook the dazed expression on my face in the after shot - I've got the flu, which is why I'm sitting around updating my trip report.

Before:

After:

Scott has done much better than I have, and is nearly to his healthy weight range - only about 14 pounds to go. (He's lost 93 pounds.) I'm still about 28lbs. over my healthy weight range, but I have lost 65 pounds according to the scale. I can never see it in a picture, but such is life.

As you can see, the we're not going back to Disney until threat really worked, cause now we're planning two Disney trips.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"A man of wisdom delights in water." -Confucius

We woke up on Wednesday to a beautiful, clear day. We were greeted with this sky writing as we left the condo.

We'd never seen actual skywriting before and we were impressed. Westgate was offering a free breakfast poolside for their owners, and Cyndy and Barry wanted to take advantage of it. So we headed to one of the main pools.

Breakfast was okay. Continental style with muffins and what not. Our next stop was another Orlando destination we'd never visited - the Wet and Wild water park.

I am not a water park fan, generally speaking, and I had gotten more than enough swimming during the week. So I had tried to explain that buying me a water park ticket was a complete waste of money. The rest of the group thought I should come along anyway, if only to hold towels and take pictures and so forth.

We got to the park and realized that the park is basically in the center of a highly developed area and that the parking lot was across the street. It was a long hot walk from our car (in a parking lot that was already very full) to the entrance.

Cyndy volunteered to stay with the two little ones while Barry took Hannah on some of the slides. They both wanted to try out the "Bomb Bay" slide that dropped you out of a chute.

My kids aren't much for big water slides, so they headed straight for the Bubble, an inflated dome doused by a water fountain at the top. The idea is that you grab a rope, climb up the slippery dome, and then slide down into the water.

Every time Nick tried to climb to the top, his feet would slide out from under him and he'd land back in the water.

The same thing happened to Kai, but she finally got the hang of it and slid into the pool from the top.

As they got out of the Bubble pool (it was on a timer), Hannah showed up wanting to go in. So they got back in line. The line took at least 15 or 20 minutes this time. This particular attraction was for ages 12 and under only, and the employee gave Kai a hard time the second time through the line and accused her of being older. He did eventually let her go, though.

Hannah was a natural at climbing the dome.

And even Nicky figured it out the second time around.

At this point, Hannah and Barry went off to ride on the slides. Turns out they hadn't actually gotten on any slides yet because they were spending time renting a locker. I told them I could carry their stuff, but they kept insisting that I would want to go in the water. Scott, Kai and Nick went in the wave pool. To me, it looked far to crowded to be any fun.

I went over to check on Cyndy and make sure she was okay with the two little ones. They had found a really cute tube slide for the 5 and under set, and were having a great time climbing up and splashing down.

However, Cyndy wanted to leave because she thought Faith might be coming down with something. And she was bored. And she had expected Barry back to take over with the girls 40 minutes ago. So I went to round up my own family and see if I could see Barry.

Once Nick and Kai got to the kids section, they took Juli and Faith around the various water features to play while Cyndy tried to find Barry. When we were all together again, the kids played for a few minutes while Cyndy and Barry changed.

Less than 2 hours after we had arrived, we left. I'm really not sure that a waterpark was the best investment for this mixed group. Also, I was a bit annoyed that all of the chairs were covered in towels and flipflops and other belongings to "save" them while pretty much no actual people were sitting anywhere. So I had to sit on the corner of walls or the concrete while I was waiting for my group. The garbage cans were overflowing everywhere, and the music they were playing was crazy loud. If you're the type who will go on slide after slide and wait in line after line, it's not a bad place. But it's nothing special as waterparks go, either. Basically, concrete and water. I don't see us ever returning.

After fending for ourselves for lunch, Barry and Hannah wanted to go back to the waterpark. Cyndy wanted to nap with the little girls. So we decided to go back to Disney! Well, Downtown Disney, anyway. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had come out while we were in Florida, and our whole family are HP freaks. So we headed to the AMC at Downtown Disney.

Just being back on Disney property would have put a smile on our faces, but the AMC was very nice all by itself. We enjoyed the movie. It wasn't our least favorite Harry Potter movie, but it wasn't the best either. I think they are trying to fit too much book into too little movie.

We tried to hurry back to the condo in time to see the launch of the space shuttle, but we missed it by a few minutes, and we weren't sure which direction to look while driving. Scott was a bit bummed about this, since we had thought about taking a day to go to the Kennedy Space Center, but didn't want to interfere with Cyndy and Barry's schedule. As it turned out, the past two days we hadn't even really done anything, so we could have gone. Oh well!

We got dressed up to head to B.B. King's. We had a certificate from Restaurant.com for this restaurant. It was good for $75 off an order of $150 or more.

On the way, we saw some pretty amazing weather patterns - this rainbow...

...and an actual funnel cloud! There was a tornado watch for the evening, but I was shocked to look up and see a finger of cloud spinning and spinning and pulling towards earth. I tried to take pictures, but they just look like a finger of cloud because you can't see the spinning motion. It was both amazing and vaguely scary, but as the kids and I watched, it disappated again. Scott was driving, so I'm not sure he saw it.

B.B. King's is in an outdoor mall complex near the Wonderworks museum.

We were seated near stage left. The kids seemed a bit out of place, but they do offer kids' meals and it was certainly loud enough that any noise our kids made wouldn't have been noticed. They were well behaved though, hanging out and feeling like the "cool kids" for being at a "blues club". Juli especially got into the music and did a lot of dancing in her seat.

We wanted to make sure that we hit the $150 mark to get our $75 off coupon, so we pretty much ordered like we were back on the dining plan. We started with two Soul Samplers for the table to split.

These were worth the price of admission, let me tell you. The fried dill pickles were awesome. The sampler also included BBQ and Hot Wings, Ribs, and Loaded Potato Skins. Everything rocked, but it was the pickles I kept going back to for more.

Scott ordered a Beale Street Bourbon, which was described as Jim Beam, Triple Sec with sour, Sprite and a splash of lime juice. I got the Apple Jazz, which was Vodka, Sour Apple Liquor, Jack Daniels mixed with sour, Sprite and a splash of cranberry juice. We both noticed that the drinks were bigger and considerably less potent than anything we got at Raglan Road. But tasty! And, we got to keep the glasses. I think Scott also had a Sam Adams and a Southern Gentleman shooter. (Southern Comfort with a splash of lime.)

I had the Chicken Fried Chicken for my entree. The chicken was absolutely delicious. Problem is, I had ordered it more for the side dish than for the chicken - it came with white cheddar macaroni and cheese, which I was really in the mood for. The mac n' cheese was a big disappointment - it was bland and flavorless. Oh, well! Barry and Cyndy had the Cajun Carbonara, which was great (I got a bite from Cyndy). Scott got the Bourbon Strip Steak. He'll have to tell you if he liked it - I don't recall.

At this point, we were all fairly full, but some of the desserts looked interesting, so we decided to share a few, again trying to make sure we hit the $150 mark. The banana bread pudding was not very good at all. (But let's be honest, I'm probably comparing with 'Ohana and Raglan Road.) The Fried Snickers Pie was overwhelmingly rich and very gooey. It tasted good, but it was just too much.

Generally, we were pleased with the place. The band was lively and fun. It will probably be our last visit, though, unless we have a compelling reason to be off Disney property. Our total bill came to $207.56 after tax, and after the 20% gratuity and our $75 off, we ended up paying $171.93.

Up Next:
Oh, The Places We’ll Go

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Westgate was offering a free breakfast poolside for their owners, and Cyndy and Barry wanted to take advantage of it. So we headed to one of the main pools.

The whole thing seemed more trouble that it was worth, really. The parking by this pool was limited, and the food wasn't that great.

I am not a water park fan, generally speaking, and I had gotten more than enough swimming during the week.

I was feeling pretty much the same way. I like lazy rivers and smaller slides and wave pools, but that's about it. Most of the rides at this place didn't appeal to me.

We got to the park and realized that the park is basically in the center of a highly developed area and that the parking lot was across the street.

I saw this as a bad sign. The street you have to cross is fairly busy. You would think the park would either have put the parking lot somewhere else or would have constructed a pedestrian bridge or something. Since neither were the case, it gave me a bad feeling about the park.

My kids aren't much for big water slides, so they headed straight for the Bubble

This looked like a lot of fun, and I wish I was the right age

Scott, Kai and Nick went in the wave pool. To me, it looked far to crowded to be any fun.

It seemed smaller and more crowded than the one at home, but it was still fun.

Once Nick and Kai got to the kids section, they took Juli and Faith around the various water features to play while Cyndy tried to find Barry.

The kids were really sweet about taking their cousins around to the little kids stuff.

Less than 2 hours after we had arrived, we left.

It really did seem pointless. I didn't like the place all that much either. I agree with Jenn, I don't see us stepping foot in here again.

So we decided to go back to Disney! Well, Downtown Disney, anyway. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had come out while we were in Florida, and our whole family are HP freaks. So we headed to the AMC at Downtown Disney.

It was a really nice theatre, and gave the two families some time by themselves. Nick hadn't read Half-Blood Prince yet, so he didn't know what was coming. The rest of us already knew how it was going to end, but it was still traumatic to watch.

We tried to hurry back to the condo in time to see the launch of the space shuttle, but we missed it by a few minutes

Yeah, this sucked a little. Although seeing it from this far away wouldn't have been that cool anyway. Not sure when the shuttles get retired, but maybe next time we are down they will have a launch.

...and an actual funnel cloud!

I wasn't nearly as amused as everyone else was about it. "Oh, look!" they said. "We're gonna die!" I said. Still, looking back at it now, it was neat.

We were seated near stage left.

The band was really loud, but they played well. I think it would have been better if we were farther back.

Scott got the Bourbon Strip Steak. He'll have to tell you if he liked it - I don't recall.

The drinks and steak were pretty good. Not the best I ever had, but not the worst, either. The banana bread pudding was OK. Like Jenn said, I don't see us coming back here, though, especially since we probably won't be spending major time in Orlando outside Disney World on future vacations.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

“It's not that bad. I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely.” - Westley in The Princess Bride

We returned to Islands of Adventure on Thursday. We headed straight to the Seuss High in the Sky Trolley, which had gotten huge lines last time. Okay, technically, we headed straight to the bathroom. But that was sort of routine by this point of the trip. While everyone was in the bathroom, Nick and I took pictures near the Seuss Landing entrance.

It was a gorgeous day, with a perfect blue sky. The trolley offered great views of the park.

Nick, with his height phobia, did not like the trolley one little bit. Oh, well, can't win 'em all. After several repeat rides, like The Cat in the Hat...

...we went into the play area themed around "If I Ran the Zoo". This was very cute and interactive. Kids had to climb on stair machines, turn levers, jump on platforms and other triggers to make different Seuss characters appear.

One character was labelled with a quarantine sign, but if you got close enough you could hear him talking below the manhole. And sneezing. Which splashed you with water shooting through the manhole. It was cute.

We got candy at a shop in Seussland, where I had to take a picture of these outlet covers in the floor. Methinks it's in the wrong park...

One of our primary reasons for coming back was to see Posiedon's Fury, a show that Cyndy and Barry raved about.

The theming was certainly promising - the temple was beautiful and yet ruined - great stuff.

The show itself was unfortunately a let-down. You spent a lot of time standing and listening, then standing and walking, then finding a new place to stand after walking from another room and so forth. And the story line made no sense and was poorly and cheesily written. Plus, there were moments where you were in complete blackness - even the exit signs were covered by people with boards on sticks. In a room full of standing people, it caused quite a bit of chaos. It really was a shame because there was some fabulous pyrotechnics and theming - the story was just so pathetic it ruined all the effects.

We had to leave shortly thereafter because Barry and Cyndy were supposed to go to an "owner's meeting" at Westgate. Now, Scott and I are allergic to sales pitches. And we mentioned this, out of worry, several times in the planning for the trip. We didn't want to be exposed to sales pitches by staying at their condo. We told them that this meeting would be a sales pitch, but they scoffed and told us no, it was just a "free lunch" and that they really wanted to meet with management anyway because they had all kinds of concerns. (For one, continually getting put in the old 80's style rooms when they had been promised a beautiful modern condo during their purchase trip, etc.)

Well, when we got there, we were escorted upstairs to a buffet. Surrounding the buffet were tables with suited people selling timeshares to annoyed looking families. (Surprise!) Cyndy and Barry were still insisting that we were just getting lunch and then they would go to the meeting. But when I saw the buffet consisted of hot dogs and salads, I drew the line. Nick is allergic to hot dogs. For real. I mean, probably not the actual hot dogs, but one ingredient. Because whenever he eats hot dogs, he throws up. In projectile, bright red style.

As fun as it would be to have Nick puke on a timeshare salesperson, the four of us left, and grabbed lunch at McDonald's. I know we were not being very considerate, and we probably annoyed Cyndy and Barry. But they were much more annoyed after their lunch when they got roped into an hour and a half consultation that addressed none of their concerns and, you guessed it - tried to sell them an upgrade to their condo. *sigh*

After all that fiasco, we spent the afternoon quietly. I read and napped, the kids and Scott swam.

For dinner, we all headed over to Cici's. If you've ever been to a Cici's, you already know about their food. It's not a favorite for me or Scott, but the kids absolutely love it. So we were all happy.

On our way home, we swung by Wal-Mart to find the kids something to do, since they were getting a bit bored with the condo. We picked up some swim toys and movies. But, as we left, it started thunderstorming, so an evening swim with the toys was out of the question. (I should probably mention that the lightning and thunder wasn't deterring anyone else from swimming loudly in the pool outside, but I guess I'm just a mean momma.)

The kids ended up watching TV because only one of the TVs had a DVD player. We watched "Knowing", which was quite possibly the worst movie ever made. And really kind of a downer. Meanwhile, Cyndy was packing for herself and the two little girls. Grandma and Grandpa were coming back the next day and they would be leaving with the van, so this was her last night of vacation.

Up Next:
Sneaking Back To Disney

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We returned to Islands of Adventure on Thursday. We headed straight to the Seuss High in the Sky Trolley, which had gotten huge lines last time.

I didn't really appreciate this ride, either. I'm still a little antsy with heights myself, even though I got over a lot of that with rides this trip. But the way the ride is constructed, you can't actually see the tracks or anything under you. It's quite disconcerting. But it wasn't that high up, so that's OK.

One character was labelled with a quarantine sign, but if you got close enough you could hear him talking below the manhole.

The splashing water was unexpected and funny. The little boy in me thought it was one of the coolest things in the park.

One of our primary reasons for coming back was to see Posiedon's Fury, a show that Cyndy and Barry raved about.

I really didn't understand this at all. Why did we have to keep walking from room to room and standing to see the show? Why didn't we sit in moving cars or something. And the storyline was incomprehensible. It just wasn't any good.

We had to leave shortly thereafter because Barry and Cyndy were supposed to go to an "owner's meeting" at Westgate.

What a scam that was. At first I took their word for it that it wouldn't be a salespitch or anything. Jenn didn't buy it, and fortunately we didn't have to find out since there was nothing there Nick could eat anyway.

But it would have been fun saying to the salesman "If I was ever dumb enough to buy into a timeshare, it would be a Disney time share, not this dump."

For dinner, we all headed over to Cici's.

Meh, it was OK. It was pretty grubby, and we don't really like CiCi's to begin with. But it worked.

The kids ended up watching TV because only one of the TVs had a DVD player. We watched "Knowing", which was quite possibly the worst movie ever made.

At least the movie only cost us a buck at Redbox.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"Hooray for Hollywood!" -Johnny Mercer

So. We had one day left on our KTTW cards, because we hadn't gone to a theme park on our arrival day. And thanks to the DIS, we had found out that even after our stay was over, that last day was good for 14 days after the first use. Which meant we had admission to a Disney park right in our hot little hands.

Grandma and Cyndy were leaving first thing. Barry wanted to take Hannah to use some of the condo's amenities - bikes, boats, and some of the pools. Grandpa wanted to read and relax. So the four of us did what we wanted to do - went back to Disney! Specifically, we headed to Hollywood Studios. Magic Kingdom is our favorite park by a hair, but we had gotten three days there and only one at Hollywood Studios.

As soon as we arrived, we remembered why we don't go to Disney on the spur of the moment. There was no one at the turnstiles at 8:45. What on earth? Turns out, it was extra magic hours. Ut-oh!

Lucky for us, Toy Story Midway Mania doesn't actually operate during early entry so by the time we got there, the fastpass machines were still spitting out pretty early return times.

Scott and I then did something slightly crazy. We wanted to ride Tower of Terror, since I had gotten saddled with the Playhouse Disney group on our first day. So, we went to Starring Rolls. We got breakfast. And we left Kai and Nick at Starring Rolls with their cinnamon rolls and strict orders to stay put. It was nerve wracking. But they said they'd be okay, and they really didn't want to ride.

The standby wait said 13 minutes, which, given the number, I assumed meant it was pretty much a walk-on. I was right. As we headed through the queue, I barely had a moment to see all the details that DISers rave about before we were in the preshow. I was a bit nervous, but I really wanted to try this.

Guess what? LOVED it. LOVED IT LOVED IT. It was amazing! I actually loved the drop part - the flying up out of my seat, the not knowing if you were going up or down. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.

We bought the picture, but the photo CM insisted on cropping it, which I thought made it look a bit off center. Still, you can see by our faces that we're grinning and giggling.

I think this may be my favorite ride now.

Next, we took another flight on Star Tours.

It's always worth the trip, even just for the theming. We actually waited in a line for a bit, which is a new one for us on this ride - we always have a walk-on or fastpasses. But we were still holding fastpasses for TSM, so too bad! Besides, that meant we got to see more details in the queue.

We walked around through the backlot area, stopping to admire more skywriting.

We were having a great time just the four of us. In fact, at that time of day, it felt like we had the park to ourselves. There wasn't another soul in sight as we posed by the "Singin' in the Rain" umbrella.

We had never been in One Man's Dream, so this was our next item on the mental to-do list.

The museum exhibits were cool, and Scott would have taken much longer in here if we had let him.

The movie itself was so sweet. It made me puddle up.

We had often done the Animation Academy drawing class, but never took the actual tour. We were a smidgen disappointed in the tour, which was mostly just a minor theater production, but I'm glad we did it once. Our main goal, however, was to meet Sorcerer Mickey. He was listed as being at the end of the Animation Tour. Well, if we had realized that just meant in the Animation Academy area, we wouldn't have had to go through the tour. But again, no big deal - we were here to see things we missed anyway.

This was definitely the longest Disney line we encountered, but Nick wanted to meet Sorcerer Mickey more than anything. So we waited. And waited. And... you get the idea. And then, finally...

We let Nick have his moment with Mickey (who teased him about his Phineas and Ferb shirt) and then joined in for a family picture. I got a kiss from Sorcerer Mickey.

From there, it was back to Animation Academy. Would we be learning to draw Stitch for the third time??

Nope! The animator gave us a choice. Goofy or Minnie Mouse? Kai wanted Minnie Mouse, so we all voted with her. (The rest of us actually kind of wanted Goofy.)

Here's Kai's drawing:

And here's Nick's:

Okay, not really. But he did finally find the sketch of Steamboat Willie that he had been hoping to buy all week. And when we got home, he used it to sketch a pretty passable Steamboat Willie of his own.

Up Next:
Saying Goodbye… With Feeling

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Grandma and Cyndy were leaving first thing. Barry wanted to take Hannah to use some of the condo's amenities - bikes, boats, and some of the pools. Grandpa wanted to read and relax. So the four of us did what we wanted to do - went back to Disney!

BOOYA! Actually, everybody had one more day left, and we tried to convince Barry to have Hannah come with us, but he wanted some time with her because she was going to have to go back to her Mom's house after the vacation was over.

it was extra magic hours. Ut-oh!

This was a bit of concern, but no worries, we were going to make it work. And it turned out not to be crowded, which was weird.

Scott and I then did something slightly crazy. We wanted to ride Tower of Terror

I had a lot more fun this time because I didn't have anything to be nervous about going in. Last time it took me a little while to get into the ride, but this time I was gung ho. And besides, this time I was going with my Jenn!

Leaving the children alone did make me a little antsy, though. Kai had a cellphone, and as far I know there has never been a reported kidnapping in WDW, so we figured they would be OK.

The standby wait said 13 minutes, which, given the number, I assumed meant it was pretty much a walk-on.

It was weird seeing that number and it took me a minute to figure out the joke. But last time it was posted at 50 minutes when there was no wait, either.

I liked the picture we got this time because my hand wasn't in the way and we both were smiling and laughing. It was a really fun experience.

Next, we took another flight on Star Tours.

I was thinking about how this ride should be refurbed because of the number of times I had been on it before and how the whole "this is my first flight as well" joke just doesn't work. Back then was before the official announcement of the upgrades. By the time we go back, it will be a different ride! This time, the simulator we were in had some weird squeak going on above us, like there was a hatch open in the ceiling or something.

There wasn't another soul in sight as we posed by the "Singin' in the Rain" umbrella.

This is one of my favorite movies, and Kai has seen it, too, but Nick and Jenn haven't. One of these days...

We had never been in One Man's Dream, so this was our next item on the mental to-do list.

The museum exhibits were cool, and Scott would have taken much longer in here if we had let him.

It was cool. I wanted to read through all of the signs, but Jenn and the kids were moving along, so I just caught up and looked at a few things here an there.

The movie itself was so sweet. It made me puddle up.

It doesn't help this was our last part of our vacation.

We had often done the Animation Academy drawing class, but never took the actual tour.

The tour was a little lame. The CM that hosted the little "sit down with the animator" thing was actually kind of irritating. Either he was doing it a little too sarcastically, or honestly thought he should be a game show host voice or something. The actual presentation was OK, but I was under the impression we were going to see actual animators actually working. But I guess they closed down the real studio here, so that wasn't going to happen.

We let Nick have his moment with Mickey (who teased him about his Phineas and Ferb shirt) and then joined in for a family picture. I got a kiss from Sorcerer Mickey.

Seeing Sorcerer Mickey, going to Fantasmic, and finding something with Steamboat Willy Mickey were Nick's only goals this trip. So he was 3 for 3, which was nice.

From there, it was back to Animation Academy. Would we be learning to draw Stitch for the third time??

No, thank goodness. In fact, my Stitch this time around was worse than my Stitch last time. I wanted Goofy, but I probably would have done a horrible job with him, too. My father and grandfather were good artists, but not me. that's OK, we all had fun.

Saying Goodbye… With Feeling

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"Happy trails to you, until we meet again." - Dale Evans Rogers

While we were waiting for Animation Academy, I had made a quick cell call to Disney Dining. Hey, as long as we were here, might as well try to get an ADR, right? Unfortunately, the only places they had available were 50's Prime Time, which had never appealed to us, and Hollywood Brown Derby, which was on the pricey side for an impulse lunch. She suggested I call back in half an hour.

Our time was finally up for Midway Mania, so we headed over to the fastpass line, which turned out to be the slowpass line. Apparently the park was deserted because everyone was at Midway Mania. As we waited, I called Dining back, with the same results. Oh well, we'd find something counter service.

We rode TSM and loved it again. Unfortunately, when our car rounded the last corner, it turned the wrong way and we were unable to play the last two games because we weren't pointing in the right direction. That was a bit of a bummer and we told a CM so that hopefully they'd fix it for someone else. As we left, we noticed Fastpasses were available for 2:30, and it was already nearing noon. So we grabbed another set.

We started walking across the park, and I saw the Sci-Fi Dine In. This was the restaurant I had kind of hoped to get an ADR for, since Scott's always wanted to eat there. So I said, what the heck, it's worth a try, and we went in to ask if they had any cancellations. The CM apologized and said they were all booked up. I thanked her, and she asked how many of us there were. When I replied four, she said that even though they didn't have any cars open, if we wanted to wait about 15 minutes, we could have a flying saucer table. Sounded great to us, so we settled down to wait. It was only about ten minutes later that we were seated.

We were at a cafe style table with an umbrella that looked like a flying saucer way in the back of the "drive-in". We were all really entertained by the atmosphere and the sillly movie clips. Our food was served quickly and was really tasty. We had heard some bad reviews of the place, but just for burgers and fries, it's not bad at all.

Scott was distracted from his burger by the attack of the 50 foot woman, though.

Nick and Kai both had milkshakes, which were really good.

The whole deal only cost us about as much as a chain restaurant lunch back home. Somewhere in the $50 range I think. (Funny that I keep better track of dining credit reciepts than ones I pay with actual cash, huh?) We're planning another OOP lunch here on our next trip. (Yes, we're picking restaurants for the trip a year and a half away. We're sick, sick, sick people.)

Since the sun was shining, we decided to catch another show of Indy, this time with the complete, non-rain production.

Nick especially liked the scene with the airplane he had missed before.

And just like that, it was time for TSM again.

Again, our car got stuck on the last turn. But it was fun, anyway! We thought about grabbing one more set of Fastpasses, but now the return time was late evening.

We then committed one of the original Disney newbie mistakes. Cause we thought, well, we've had fun, and we kind of need to pack, so let's get going while we're still in a good mood. Only problem - check out the time on the TSM sign above.

How is that a mistake? Well, it's the classic question: What time is the 3:00 parade? Could it be.... 3:00?

So we got stuck in the park by the floats and ropes. Oh well. Time for one more Itzakadoozie!

And Scott and I still hadn't gotten a Mickey bar.

We sat in the sun near the hat and watched the parade from afar and ate Mickey bars. It was a bittersweet moment.

We had some photopass photos taken on the way in and out of the park. Here's a few of our favorites:

Finally, we pushed ourselves out of the turnstiles and headed home. This time, for real.

Back at the timeshare, we took advantage of the sunny skies to let the kids play in the pool with the toys we had bought the night before. They made a game of trying to find the diving rings first.

Problem is, Kai has had swim lessons and Nick hasn't. So she kept winning.

Finally, I told her she had to give him a ten second handicap. I made her close her eyes for 10 seconds.... and handed Nick all the rings. So when she opened her eyes and started to look for rings, this is what she saw.

Silly little goofballs. We don't have our own pool at home, so I think playing in the pool was as much fun for them as anything we did on the trip.

We tried to finish off various leftovers for dinner, since we couldn't really take anything on the train or plane. Finally, we packed and cleaned and got ready to leave.

Up Next:
Departure Day

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Our time was finally up for Midway Mania

We've all gotten quite good at the game. Not super good, but better. We should probably get the Wii version to practice at home

We were at a cafe style table with an umbrella that looked like a flying saucer way in the back of the "drive-in". We were all really entertained by the atmosphere and the sillly movie clips. Our food was served quickly and was really tasty. We had heard some bad reviews of the place, but just for burgers and fries, it's not bad at all.

I loved watching the movie previews. There were a few previews for movies that I actually watched -- as episodes of MST3K years ago. It was quite odd to see a Tom & Jerry short, though. The burger and fries were quite good.

Since the sun was shining, we decided to catch another show of Indy, this time with the complete, non-rain production.

We'll probably see it again next time since Nick loves it. We made a game this time out of "finding the stunt guy" as they were picking volunteers. We think we found the pattern. It is always going to be a guy in a Hawaiian shirt.

We then committed one of the original Disney newbie mistakes...

We sat in the sun near the hat and watched the parade from afar and ate Mickey bars. It was a bittersweet moment.

At least we didn't get involved in a land war with Asia. Seriously, though, nobody thought of looking at the time. Ah, well. We weren't on a tight schedule or anything, so no big deal.

We had some photopass photos taken on the way in and out of the park.

These were my favorite pictures from the whole trip.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one." -Elbert Hubbard

With the van already on the way back to Pennsylvania, Barry, Grandpa, and Hannah needed transportation to the airport. Unfortunately, Barry needed to turn in his keys at check-out, so we couldn't stay at the condo while Scott took the plane travellers to the airport. Instead, Scott dropped us off at the world's biggest McDonald's (which also has a huge arcade component) while he ran back and provided transportation.

It was certainly an odd place.

In addition to the usual McDonald's fare, they had all kinds of other food. I tried these breakfast enchiladas, which were pretty tasty.

The kids played some mini-bowling...

...goofed in the arcade...

...and played skeeball.

They ended up giving their tickets to some other kid because they didn't really want any of the little prizes. Then they crawled around the giant playplace until Scott came back to pick us up.

We headed to the train station in plenty of time and waited in the tents they had set up during the station refurbishment. They had the air conditioning on super artic blast, but the platform was buggy and sticky, so you had to choose your discomfort. Nick was still getting a kick out of his Jurassic Park t-shirt, and we had a lot of good memories to discuss while we waited.

Finally, the train boarded and we were on our way home. Our trip back was uneventful, although we were more than a little tempted to smack the spoiled three year old child behind us who kept kicking our seat and said "Are you kidding me?" about six or seven thousand times on the trip. The train arrived early, but since there were no employees at Lorton to unhook the cars, that just meant that we had to stay in our seats for the last 75 minutes or so with no water or electricity running on the train. By the time we got off, we were pretty much vacationed out. We decided that the train had been a great one time adventure, and that if we ever wanted our car in Florida again, we'd drive.

Up Next:
To Sum Up...

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Instead, Scott dropped us off at the world's biggest McDonald's (which also has a huge arcade component) while he ran back and provided transportation.

I was a little concerned I would be gone too long and we'd miss getting on the train, or at the very least the three of them would be bored senseless.

The trip to the airport wasn't that long. We got a bit turned around trying to figure out which terminal to go to, but after I dropped off Barry, Hannah, and Gordi, I was able to make it back to the McDonald's with no problem.

Finally, the train boarded and we were on our way home. Our trip back was uneventful, although we were more than a little tempted to smack the spoiled three year old child behind us who kept kicking our seat and said "Are you kidding me?" about six or seven thousand times on the trip.

I think we all picked the same meals for dinner as last time, but the food was decent, so that was OK. There was more pinochle, and Jenn and Nick won again. Also, the annoying 3 year old also SWORE. It was quite unnerving.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

Just a few thoughts.

First, I'm REALLY glad I finished my trip report this time!

Reading back over my report, I'm afraid I might have focused too much on the hassles. There were an awful lot of little hassles that were associated with trying to travel with a group of 11. But there were even more moments that were special and magical. I have magical memories with each person on the trip: riding on Soarin' with Mom and Gordi (Grandma and Grandpa), laughing through Star Tours with Cyndy, taking pictures with Barry, the other family shutterbug, dancing with Hannah down the exit ramp of Small World, meeting the Princesses with Faith, swimming with Juli, riding Tower of Terror with Scott, playing carnival games in Dinoland with Nicky, drawing Minnie Mouse with Kairi, and so very many more.

I'm pretty sure I won't have another Disney trip with a group this large. But if I did, the main lesson I learned was that you don't have to be together all the time to have special times together.

Some random musings:

I think before the trip I would have said my favorite parks were Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Now, my favorite parks are Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, and Islands of Adventure. While IoA is way down on the list, it's there. Just a little. (And Universal Studios and Wet n' Wild are NOT.) And EPCOT - well, it's a great place to eat, but I keep having bad days there, and it just keeps slidin' on down.

I think my new favorite restaurant at Disney might just be Raglan Road. Sorry, Chef Mickey's and Le Cellier!

There's something to be said for driving to Disney. You get to be on your own timetable, unlike flying. And you don't have to deal with the confined quarters and uncomfortable sleeping arrangements of a train. I'll probably fly at some point. But I think our next vacation will have us back in the car, especially since we'll be sneaking off-property for one day with Harry Potter.

Last, but not least, I LOVE CORONADO SPRINGS. It's going to take quite a lot to get us to stay at another resort. At least while the kids are still travelling with us. Earlier today, we decided on our next vacation dates and hollered downstairs "What hotel do you want to stay at?" The answer was "Coronado Springs, duh!" To which Scott sighed dramatically and said, "Wow. That will be a hardship...." in his best sarcastic voice.

If you read all or part of this trip report, thank you! I hope you enjoyed the ride.