A Smile in my Heart–Magical Week of Friends,Fun & Freezing-10/28-COMPLETE!

[ladybugmom]

Oh--don't leave us hanging too long!! I'm so sorry it was raining--that's no fun--and you know that I know from experience! I was cold back in May so I cannot imagine how cold it can get in Feb. when you're all wet!! AI looks like sooo much fun! How fun that the host picked Emily to interview!!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Glad you guys enjoyed American Idol, we always have also. That is so cool that Katie and Emily were used in the warm-up act!

Have you ever seen the One Man's Dream movie? If not, you should.

Can't wait to see where you all end up for dinner!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

UGH, rain. Boo!

I really need to get in to to see One Man's Dream at some point. Maybe next time. Love all of Katie's pictures!

American Idol sounds like fun! I think you did all the things in this update that I've never done....VOTLM, One Man's Dream, AI! I need to start a to-do list for my next trip!

Oh boy, meltdown alert....that doesn't sound so good!

 

[taymacsmom]

 

[mom2mek]

Oh--don't leave us hanging too long!! I'm so sorry it was raining--that's no fun--and you know that I know from experience! I was cold back in May so I cannot imagine how cold it can get in Feb. when you're all wet!! AI looks like sooo much fun! How fun that the host picked Emily to interview!!

I'll try to update soon about the rest of the night! Becky - it was a chilly trip that's for sure, but when it rained, it really got COLD!!! Something about wet feet makes your whole body get a chill! The Idol show was good - the warm-up guy definitely "made" the whole experience though!

Glad you guys enjoyed American Idol, we always have also. That is so cool that Katie and Emily were used in the warm-up act!

Have you ever seen the One Man's Dream movie? If not, you should.

Can't wait to see where you all end up for dinner!

Nope Michelle, I have not seen the movie yet. I'm not sure why we didn't go in that day, maybe they had just started one and we didn't want to wait for the next one (but I don't know why...it was raining...it would have been the perfect opportunity). Next time, I guess! Loved the rest of OMD though!

UGH, rain. Boo!

I really need to get in to to see One Man's Dream at some point. Maybe next time. Love all of Katie's pictures!

American Idol sounds like fun! I think you did all the things in this update that I've never done....VOTLM, One Man's Dream, AI! I need to start a to-do list for my next trip!

Oh boy, meltdown alert....that doesn't sound so good!

Those were all things I had never done either Missy! American Idol hadn't opened when we were last at DHS (Oct 2008) and we have always managed to skip VOTLM and OMD! It was nice to try some new things!

Ugh...meltdowns....at least this wasn't a "fit", just an emotional moment!

Hope to have the rest of the day up soon!

Sara

 

[vamassey1]

Sorry about the rain and cold. Not a good combination. We did American Idol for the first time in Feb too. We loved it! I wish we could have seen another show. We enjoyed the warm up guy the most too. How neat that your girls were featured.

VOTM is a family favorite, it's just so short.

Meltdown? I'm worried.

 

[mom2mek]

Sorry about the rain and cold. Not a good combination. We did American Idol for the first time in Feb too. We loved it! I wish we could have seen another show. We enjoyed the warm up guy the most too. How neat that your girls were featured.

VOTM is a family favorite, it's just so short.

Meltdown? I'm worried.

The warm-up guy was hilarious, wasn't he? He was so over-the-top with his physical humor! I was surprised at how short VOTLM was too! It was like puppets-mermaid-ursula-legs-done!

Sara

 

[stinkerbell007]

I was surprised at how short VOTLM was too! It was like puppets-mermaid-ursula-legs-done!

and


......more please.......

 

[mom2mek]

Day 3 - February 9, 2010
Disney Hollywood Studios
Chapter 5


When I last left off we ladies (Me, Monica, Peggy, and the little girls) were hanging out in the gift shop next to the Animation Studio/VOTLM since it was POURING outside. Monica handled the three girls while I sat on hold with the Disney Dining folks. I actually had to say yes to the whole "are you in the Walt Disney World area right now or will be in the next 7 days" (or something like that) question, which apparently puts you on hold FOREVER!!!

When the lady came on the line, I explained to her that we were looking for a reservation for 10 people at one of the monorail resorts for that night.

I knew it was a long shot, but I asked for Chef Mickey's first.
Nothing.

Then 1900 Park Fare.
Ha!

Then 'Ohana.
I'm lucky she didn't laugh at me.

Ok, plan B. How about ANY of the other ones...Grand Floridian Cafe? The Wave? Kona? Ding ding ding...we have a winner! She actually had a 5:30 ADR for 10 at Kona or a 7:00 ADR at the GF Cafe.

Just as I was about to tell her "yes, we'll take it," to the Kona reservation Monica's Mom whispered to me to check and see if we could add 2 to the reservation for her sister and brother-in-law who were coming to Orlando and were spending one night at Disney World. So I asked. She didn't have anything for a party of 12. DRAT! However she was able to get a separate reservation for 2 people at 5:15 so I snatched those two ADRs up and scribbled the confirmation numbers on the back of my park map. Phew. Done.

So I got off the phone and filled in Monica and her mom on the "plan". The girls had a few things they couldn't live without at that point that they proceeded to beg for (after 30 minutes in the store, this was inevitable), -Katie had found a very fancy Minnie Mouse, complete with glitzy lipstick, and silver, strappy, stiletto high heels, and Emily had found a pin and a pressed penny souvenir book along with a Star Wars pin for Michael that had the stormtrooper with the mickey bar just like what was on his shirt he was wearing. So we paid for our new-found treasures and gathered up our stroller to go meet up with the guys who had been on RNRC.

Let me just tell you that the cheap-o poncho that I had attempted to drape over top of our stroller was worthless. The stroller was completely drenched to the point where no one could even sit in it at that point. Ugh.

I believe we left the Studios around 3:30 to head back to our respective resorts with plans to meet back up at the Kona Cafe for dinner at 5:30. We attempted to dry the stroller off a little bit before putting it in the back of the truck but it was no use - it literally had puddles of rain collected in every section. Ugh - I almost think the poncho I had on it made the whole situation worse! LOL!

As we pulled out of the lot, I felt reassured that we had made the right choice to leave. Most of what we wanted to do, we had done, and the thought of hanging out that much longer just to eat at Sci-fi was just not appealing at that point (even though we LOVE Sci-Fi!!).

The girls didn't seem to mind that they missed BaTB either - I think they were wet and cold and ready for warm showers and hanging out with friends at that point, too!

We arrived back at the Poly in short order and Shawn dropped us off at the front and went to park the car. I took the kids (and the very wet stroller) back to the room and wheeled that thing straight out onto the balcony to dry off. It was cold air, but I figured it would definitely be better sitting outside. On my way out to the balcony, I saw that two things had been delivered to our room that day while we were gone! Both Shawn's tripod had arrived and been delivered to our room (yay) and also....drum roll please.....Katie's rainbow shoes that she had lost on the beach on our first night. They were cleaned up and wrapped up in a little plastic bag. We figured that the beach "combers" who rake the sand every night probably found them and brought them in and then when they got my sheet that I had filled in Monday night that described them, they matched them up. Very cool!

I jumped in the shower and when I got out Shawn had returned from parking and had brought me a present - a Pina Colava! What a nice surprise! The kids got their showers next as I was getting ready and enjoying my pre-dinner cocktail. Then they just relaxed on the beds and played.

There is nothing like a warm shower and new, dry clothing to make everyone feel better!! (Oh, and the Pina Colava).

We headed out around 5:30 and found Monica and crew upstairs waiting for us already! Monica's Aunt and Uncle had made it over to the Poly and the group had already mentioned to the Kona folks that we would like to be seated all together if possible (the 10 of us with the later ADR and the 2 of them with the earlier ADR) - Not a problem at all!! They were getting our table set up for us and we waited maybe 5 more minutes before they called us over. I could hear the Lapu Lapu calling me already!

Katie loved the little umbrella from her drink. What kid doesn't, right? She kept holding it over her head saying she didn't think it would have done a very good job at keeping us dry today at the park! Ha!

The boys wasted no time in getting out their Bakugan figures and planning a strategy. They were very excited because we told them that after dinner, Michael could ride "home" with Hunter to BLT and go back to his room to play Bakugan for a while that night! It was like a play date from heaven! Traveling by monorail to go between your two "homes"!!

Monica and I wasted no time ordering up the lapu lapus!!

After we ordered our food, it seemed Michael and Hunter were drawing some attention to themselves from other little boys in the area....hmmmm....this Bakugan thing is really a phenomena....

It wasn't long before two boys just came on over and they were all instantly "bakugan" friends, talking, discussing, strategizing, plotting, planning, etc, etc. It was quite hilarious! The parents were sitting behind Shawn and just kind of looked over with a "is that ok" look and we flashed back a look of "it was fine."

The service at Kona that night was fabulous!! We had an outstanding waitress! She was so thorough and really explained everything on the menu and was very clear that they would make any substitutions that we needed, take any sauces off we didn't want, etc,etc,... she was thorough but not annoying!!

After much deliberation, Shawn ordered a sushi platter (I'm not sure what exactly) that wasn't on the dining plan, a cocktail, and the Teriyaki-style New York Strip - sirloin strip grilled with pineapple teriyaki glaze served with sticky rice and stir-fried broccolini, and I got the Coconut Almond Chicken - sauteed chicken breast served with Asian greens tossed with honey-lime dressing, golden pineapple, strawberries, and toasted almonds .

We both really loved our food. Shawn said his steak put Chefs de France from the night before to shame, and his sushi was fabulous! My chicken was crunchy and yummy on the outside and juicy and delicious on the inside. We were both very happy with our food and the service from Kona that night. I'm pretty sure Monica got the steak as well and loved it (if she ever gets back on the DIS maybe she can confirm that for me), and I have no idea what the other adults ate as they were all at the other end of the table! Everyone appeared to enjoy their meal though!

The kids took time out from playing with their various toys to eat their meals but this is where our little "meltdown" of the day happened. Emily had ordered a hot dog, as did Katie. Katie requested french fries with hers and Emily did not - I think she assumed that it came with the fries, but it actually came with the soup that she said she wanted (my fault for not explaining to her that it was one OR the other) and when her meal came out she was very disappointed. In typical Emily fashion though, she did not voice that to anyone - she just didn't really eat and as a typical Dad would, Shawn snipped a bit when telling her to eat her dinner, and that was it....she burst into tears.

It was then that we realized what the problem probably was and through sobs and tears (that were made worse because she had been holding them in), she explained that she wanted fries. Oh dear....I felt kind of bad as I realized I did not make it clear to her that it was a choice between the two, not both - so I told her to just share Katie's fries.

The nice waitress came along and noticied that Emily was upset, so she asked what was wrong. I explained it to her, and she quickly offered to bring her out some of her own fries.

All was right with the world. Or so we thought.

Now she gets this honestly, as this is just like me, but even though the situation had been resolved, she was still very emotional (probably more out of embarrassment) and every time Shawn would talk to her, even being as nice as he could be and trying to make jokes about the situation, she would start to cry. Eventually, I asked her if she just wanted to come sit on my lap to eat. I knew she was tired, I was done with my food, and sometimes you just need your Mommy.

After a little while, she was fine.

Now....dessert time!!!

Monica and I both ordered the Kilauea Torte - one of the best desserts in all of Disney World in my opinion. I didn't take a picture of it, but here is one from my trip with Shawn last May! Yum!!

I think Shawn got the White Chocolate Cheesecake but he had her box it up to take it back with him to the room for later as he was too full to eat it then (this is when it would be great to have the ability to swap out an appetizer for a dessert on the dining plan. He got an appetizer and would have been fine without a dessert, but instead we paid out of pocket for an appetizer and he just had to take home his dessert. Oh well).

The kids all had sundaes (shocker) and enjoyed them very much. Nothing makes a little girl feel better than sitting on Mommy's lap and eating ice cream!

(Yes, the new fancy Minnie Mouse was invited to dinner that night)

The table:

Before long, we were finishing up and settling the bill. Michael was off to go back to BLT with his buddy, and Emily and I were also going to take an adventure of our own!!!

Sara

 

[MeMom]

The girls didn't seem to mind that they missed BaTB either - I think they were wet and cold and ready for warm showers and hanging out with friends at that point, too!


There is nothing like a warm shower and new, dry clothing to make everyone feel better!!

Sometimes those are some of the nicest moments of a trip - a warm shower and some down time.

We've eaten at Kona twice for dinner, and I got the steak both times. So good! When we ate breakfast there, my oldest son got steak and eggs. He gave me a bite of his steak, and again - so good!

 

[mom2mek]

Sometimes those are some of the nicest moments of a trip - a warm shower and some down time.

We've eaten at Kona twice for dinner, and I got the steak both times. So good! When we ate breakfast there, my oldest son got steak and eggs. He gave me a bite of his steak, and again - so good!

So true! It made a big difference. If we had stayed at DHS until our ADR (even if we had tried to check in early) I don't think we would have had as good a night. The Sci-Fi is kept pretty cold, so I think in wet clothes we would have been freezing in there. This was the best idea and it turned into a really fun evening! Shawn said that was the best steak he had had up to that point in the trip (we had LC later on...)

Sara

 

[mermaid764]

Wow your dinner at Kona looks fabulous!

The food sounded so good and that dessert looks heavenly. We'd debated on doing Kona, but decided to stick with Ohana, but seeing your pics of it makes me want to try it sometime.

Too bad about the rain, but luckily you guys were able to make the best of it and lucky she was able to find you a dinner reservation together.

I love the pic of Emily sitting on your lap...too precious!

 

[mom2mek]

Wow your dinner at Kona looks fabulous!

The food sounded so good and that dessert looks heavenly. We'd debated on doing Kona, but decided to stick with Ohana, but seeing your pics of it makes me want to try it sometime.

Too bad about the rain, but luckily you guys were able to make the best of it and lucky she was able to find you a dinner reservation together.

I love the pic of Emily sitting on your lap...too precious!

'Ohana is one of our all-time favorites, but Kona is definitely up there in the top group! The atmosphere at 'Ohana is so fun though!

We felt very fortunate that we were able to get an ADR for that many people at such a great place with only 2 hours notice! A slight downside of the dining plan - gotta use up all those credits, right?

Sara

 

[vamassey1]

Good call on getting out of the rain and into a hot shower. Dinner sounded great. We've had 'Ohana several times but I'm dieing to try Kona. I think I've just about convinced DH to switch next trip.

Poor Emily. She sounds like you sensitive child. Just needs a little extra Mommy time. What a sweet girl.

I can't think of a better play date than one that involves getting there and back on the monorail.

 

[mom2mek]

Good call on getting out of the rain and into a hot shower. Dinner sounded great. We've had 'Ohana several times but I'm dieing to try Kona. I think I've just about convinced DH to switch next trip.

Poor Katie. She sounds like you sensitive child. Just needs a little extra Mommy time. What a sweet girl.

I can't think of a better play date than one that involves getting there and back on the monorail.

That's a tough one to decide between - 'Ohana and Kona! I love them both. 'Ohana definitely has a fun atmosphere but Kona can be nice for a change of pace.

Isn't that the truth about the playdate! They were so excited! Michael even thought he could just ride home by himself! Ha!

Sara

 

[therussells08]

Oh no! I hate getting rained on at WDW! I'm always like, "Umm...hello sky?! Can't you see I'm on vacation here?!

A Pina Colava sounds delicious! DH and I are going to go to the Poly to eat a few times on our upcoming trip I think, and I definitely need to try that and a Lapu Lapu!

Poor little Emily! I am the exact same way- I am sooo emotional! I will cry about something for hours and hours. And sitting on my mommy's lap still makes me feel better, even though I'm 23!

That dessert looks delicious! It's making my stomach growl!

I can't wait to read more!

 

[stinkerbell007]

Hey Sarah,

I just noticed that of your two trip reports, one was cold (freezing in Feb.) and was was hot (melting in May). bwhahahahahahaha. good one.

Linda

 

[mom2mek]

Oh no! I hate getting rained on at WDW! I'm always like, "Umm...hello sky?! Can't you see I'm on vacation here?!

A Pina Colava sounds delicious! DH and I are going to go to the Poly to eat a few times on our upcoming trip I think, and I definitely need to try that and a Lapu Lapu!

Poor little Emily! I am the exact same way- I am sooo emotional! I will cry about something for hours and hours. And sitting on my mommy's lap still makes me feel better, even though I'm 23!

That dessert looks delicious! It's making my stomach growl!

I can't wait to read more!

Yeah, the cold rain is the worst! I don't actually mind the quick rain storms in the warmer months because it cools down the sidewalks and clears out the parks, plus you dry off so quickly, but in February, it just made everything colder and we never could dry off!

Definitely try the lapu lapu and the pina colava! They are both yummy!!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Hey Sarah,

I just noticed that of your two trip reports, one was cold (freezing in Feb.) and was was hot (melting in May). bwhahahahahahaha. good one.

Linda

That is so funny, Linda, because like the 2nd or 3rd day I was talking to Shawn and I said that exact thing..."You know how we froze in February? Now we are melting in May" and he said "that's what you should title your trip report!"


Woo-hoo on your 100 posts!!!

Sara

 

[laashley]

Boo on the rain. It looks like you made the most of it though. Kona sounds delish! Poor Emily. My dd Chloe has those meltdowns too, especially after a long day. Glad you could cheer her up! Piña Colavas and Lapu Lapus need to have a taste next time!