Today was our Animal Kingdom day.Since the girls had come back from extra magic hours at the MK, and we had waited up for them,and then taken showers yet,we all got to bed a little before one. So I set the alarm for eight thirty.I had already figured that we would get a late start to a park this morning,because extra magic hours had been the plan for the night before.
So the alarm went off the next morning, but I seemed to be the only one who wanted to get up.So I got ready in no time,and because no one was up yet, decided to hook up to the internet and check my email,and send some pictures to my dh. I did this for a little while,and finally Kaitlyn wakes up and gets ready,and she begins messes with Kylie so she soon wakes up too. And then we all start talking louder and making noise ,hoping to wake up Cruella. Instead she tells us all to lower the noise! It was almost a quarter to ten by this time!
Well,I was getting annoyed just waiting all this time for her to get up and ready,so I think about going to the food court for some breakfast and taking the girls with me.At the same time though,this worried me,because if we did that,Cruella would probaly sleep even longer.So I mention it to Kylie,if she would like to go with us to eat breakfast and then head on over to Animal Kingdom awhile,and I tell Cruella she can call us when she gets there to meet us. Well,Cruella didn't like that at all. She gets up in a nasty mood,telling Kylie she isn't going anywhere without her and she can just wait for her." Then she heads to the bathroom.
I am thinking,"Good Lord,please not another bad day, please."
I whisper to Kaity,"let's just go awhile."
But Kaitlyn looks over to Kylie,who is texting a friend,and not looking happy at all.
So I say,Kaity,I need to go check on those
MNSSHP tickets,come with me so I have company." I give her the look that tells her she has no choice but to follow.
We walk to the concierge desk,and I am trying to explain to Kaity that she needs to keep in mind that this is a mother daughter trip too,and not just a Kaity/ Kylie trip. That I planned this trip to spend time with her,so we were going to go back to our room,get our things and head out to AK awhile,and we would meet them when they called.
Kaitlyn tells me that Kylie doesn't want to spend much time alone with her mom either."
I guess I am a pushover,because I say I understand that,and I do feel bad for the kid. I know her history though,and it is too long and personal to go into here,but I really do feel like a second mom to her,and she has confided things to me,so really,I can't in good conscience just walk off with my dd and actually enjoy our free time at the AK as I want to,knowing that I left her there to face her mothers wrath because of it.
So I agree that we will wait for Cruella. Maybe I am just being too much a commando,always going,going,going? I didn't think so,but....
At the concierge desk,I inquire about the MNSSHP tickets,and they had some left for the very first party of the season. Friday was going to be mother/daughter day,and I wanted to find something special for my dd and I to do.I really wanted to go too. So I order two,and am about to pay,when Kaitlyn tells me she really doesn't want to go to the party.She says she thinks it is too much money to spend on the tickets. I tell her I worked it in our budget and had plenty.But she still didn't want to go.She says she just doesn"t get into the MK enough to pay that much extra.
So I was bummed and didn't buy the tickets. I asked her what did she want to do. She said,"let's just see what we feel like doing when the time comes."
Well,I wasn't too thrilled with that, but as long as we had the day together,I really didn"t care what we did either,and I told her that.
Back at the room,Cruella was still getting ready,and it was almost 11 by this time.We sat and waited another 20 minutes or so,and finally she was ready,but complaining she was hungry and wanted to stop and eat at the food court yet. I say "well,I really want to eat at Flame tree Barbeque,and since we didn"t go the other night,I was thinking of just waiting and getting lunch there. The girls and I weren't really that hungry because while we were waiting,we snacked on some of the breakfast food we had brought.I suggested she grab something and take it with her to eat.So she did,and finally we are walking to catch a bus,until she gets tot he check in desks and makes another stop to complain about why her hat hadn't been found yet. I was looking in the store at bracelet charms,Kaity was thinking of buying,but then I made the mistake of walking over to Cruella,trying to see what the problem was now.She was taking longer then I wanted her to.When I got there,she was talking to the cast members with a snooty
and unpleasant attitude,and I felt bad for them. She saw me there and started making remarks about the lousy lost and found system Disney has,but in a louder tone,making sure they would hear. I really hated when she treated people like this,and she seemed to do it alot. I had just been ther earlier,and everyone was no nice,and now they were seeing me there with her.
I turned,and went back to join the girls,and was debating whether I should just catch the bus with Kaity after all,when Cruella comes up from behind.
Finally we are ready to catch a bus! And when I think about it,we really didn't detour off of my plans too much. My original plan was that we would have a more relaxed morning and get to AK around this time anyway. It was then that I realized,I needed to back off pushing everyone too.
I don't intend to do it,but I get frustrated sitting in a hotel room,no matter where we are,for any legnth of time. I guess I get bored and restless,and just want to get going and do something.
Anyway,we arrive at AK a little after 12,and as we are walking in,Cruella spots a little store,even before we get to the entrance itself! She heads over there to get a hat,as she is still griping about loosing her hat. We spent almost a half hour in there,while she looked for the right hat.I decided I would get one as well,as my head had burned the day before,and I find one in less then five minutes. Well,after she looked for a hat for almost half an hour,she decideds to buy the exact same hat I bought,when we first entered.I didn't mind her buying the same hat...I minded her wasting all that time looking and then still getting the same hat we saw when we first got there.
Finally we enter the park,and right away,she begins to take lots of pictures of the animals and birds that you see when you first enter. So that took some time. The girls were getting really gretzy and impatient now.They just wanted to get on Mount Everest already!
Cruella was really in no hurry though,since she doesn't do roller coasters,and she kept stopping,finding more pictures she wanted to take,so I told her to take her time,and we would just walk over to Mount Everest,and she could meet us there.She had a map.
I didn't hold anything against her for wanting to take pictures,because it was her vacation too,and she could do what she wanted.I understood wanting to take pictures in a place like this park,never having been there before and all,so I had no problem with that,but the girls couldn't care less ,and I had enough scenery pictures already at home,so I was as anxious as the girls
So off we went.The line was about a 15 to 20 minute wait,not too sure,but it didn't feel like we waited very long,thankfully. The girls got the front seat,and were thrilled over that,and I sat right behind them.
When we came out,Cruella was waiting for us,eating a popsicle.That made me realize we forgot to eat lunch,so I mentioned it to everyone,and the girls really wanted to ride dinosaur first. I did too,so off we went that way. It was leterally a walk on!I have to say,not to seem as if I am advertising for Tour Guide Mike,but I follwed his plans when I figured out what park we would go to each day,and it really did pay off! We hardly had any lines. I think the week we went was helpful too,as it seemed everyone who was going for free dining had either gone earlier at the start of it,before school started,or they were planning to go in September.The schools where we live didn't start until Sept 8th,and I wanted to book this trip before the start of school,since the girls are seniors now,and it wouldn't be good for them to take off.Anyway,I think I picked a great week. We hardly had crowds unless we were in DTD,or when it got closer to Labor Day weekend.
Anyway,the girls rode Dinasaur twice,I rode only once because I had to go to the rest room.Cruella didn't ride at all,and took picturesinstead,and then went to get a cup of coffee. When the girls were done thier second ride,we all decided to go get lunch.Well,I was looking at the map because I forgot where Flame tree barbeque was exactly,and that is when Cruella finds Rain Forest Cafe. She wants to go eat lunch there she says.
So I go into the whole adr thing again,and that Rain Forest Cafe doesn't take dining credits,blah,blah,blah. Well,the girls want to go there too,and next thing I know,we are heading there and asking if they have room for us. And they do. Seriously,I wasn't thrilled over going here at all.It was screwing up my plans again. I had an adr for Whispering Canyon for 6:40 that night,and we had these dining credits to use,and now we had topay out of pocket again,and we really didn't need another table service at this time.Don't get me wrong,had she actually told me she wanted to eat here when I was planning the trip,I would have gladly worked it into our schedule,but now it was just throwing everything off!
Anyway,we order,and have our lunch,and Cruella gets her cocktail,and now she begins to be happy and more relaxed again.After our lunch,with a price that got Cruella all tensed up again, we end up in the gift store,where we spend another eternity shopping. Kaitlyn and I got bored so we began taking pictures again.(Which I will upload before the next post,since I seem to have forgotten to upload those photobucket for some reason)
Cruella did have a moment of nice here however,as she bought Kaitlyn and Kylie each a t-shirt.I was shocked,especially after her complaints about our very expensive lunch.
After lunch,we head to ride the safari,and then we do A Bugs Life. On the way out, I see the Flights of Wonder show,and mention I want to do that.
The girls decide to skip on that,and they go get a drink while Cruella and I go in.
When the show was over,the girls want to head back to our resort and swim for awhile. I really didn't want to go just yet,but I also knew we had a dinner adr at Whispering Canyon,and I wanted to freshen up before then.So we all head back to the resort,and the girls swim for awhile,and Cruella gets her shower first,and I get mine,and we get ready for dinner.
Until,Cruella doesn't understand why we are going to another resort to have dinner when we could just stay in ours and eat. And relax. Oh boy!
And the girls,they just wanted to go to DTD and go to Disney Quest again!
Now,I took a bit of offense at this moment here,and kind of lost it. I was annoyed because I really wanted to go to Whispering Canyon. Actually,I really wanted to go to all the adr's I had set up. It was me who had gotten up at 6:30 am on our 90 day mark,and it was me who would search the online reservation system in search of getting the places we wanted,or switching things around to fit the parks we would be in,ect..and to be honest,I booked this trip in part because of the free dining. Normally when my family comes,we eat at the same places,because my dh and dd's are very picky eaters.I have always wanted to try places like Boma,and Ohana's,ect.
Okay anyway,I was frustrated and just went with the moment, and cancelled the adr.And I still regret doing that.
So the girls head off to DTD,which made me even more annoyed at them,because it seemed they would always leave me with Cruella. I wanted them to have a wonderul trip together,and I know they took advantage of that somewhat.
So I was sitting on the bed,pouting a bit,and decided I was going to go out somewhere. Then Cruella decideds to join me too,because she is bored after all! Well,of course our adr is cancelled ,and now she decides she wants to go out somewhere after all!
I tell her I am going to just go over to explore Hollywood Studios some more. So we head over there,and again,she wants to look in some stores. We are in the park for less then an hour,and it begins to rain...no I mean pour! And thunder and lightning.We had just left the store,when the rain come,but luckily,we are close to another,so we duck inside and she looks around that store then,but I don't mind this time so much since it was coming down really hard outside.It lasted for awhile,so then we dash across the street and join the rest of the park crows under some umbrellas,seeking shelter from the storm and trying to eat a soggy dinner. I had no intention of eating dinner like that,so we just ordered a soft drink and waited out the storm,and I called my dh awhile to talk to him.Finally the storm was over,and I was hoping to see if we could get into 50;s Prime time,but they would only take us at the counter,and I didn't want to do that. So we asked for Hollywood and Vine,and again,the answer was no. I went to guest services to see if there was any place available,and the only place was at Narcooses's and it was in 25 miutes,and we were really not going to make that,or even looking decent enough .We looked like drowned rats.Anyway,we just went back to the resort,and grabbed something,I think I had a meatball sandwich which I wasn't too impressed with.Perhaps it was because I knew we could have had a great time if we had gone to Whispering Canyon like I had planned! This is what happens when you mess with months of planning! I was in a really bad mood,because the night just turned out very wrong.We ate and went back to our room,and I decided to do some laundry and sit in the jacuzzi. Cruella wanted to do laundry too,but she went swimming instead. Soon the girls came back and we all went swimming,while finishing up the laundry.
I went back to the room,took a shower and watched some tv before falling asleep. Cruella decided her hair doesn't come out good,when she showers at night,so she needed to take her shower in the morning. I went to bed knowing that we would get another late start the next day.
I didn't really take too many pictures today.We didn't spend much time doing anything at AK,besides shopping and eating,and the few attractions we did manage to do. Whatever pictures I do have,other then what I have here already,I will upload on my next post.Thanks for reading this far my friends!
Here is Kaitlyn trying to hide from Kylie and surprise her.
[/IMG]
[/IMG]
I just thought this was cute and didn't have a picture of it yet,so...
[/IMG]
I'm so sorry to hear about how poorly that family was treated. I can tell it was very tough on you too. I hope your vacation gets better from here.
)
