AFRICA HOT IN THE MONSOON SEASON- but the food was free

[i12go2wdw]

Tonight is our first time at Chef Mickey’s. Nicole and I met up with the rest of the family and we were taken right in to be seated, well, after our picture was taken. The characters all made their way to our table and Pluto even came twice, this is my favorite picture of the whole trip

That is Jordan’s embarrassed look.

The food was very good, the only thing is that Jordan is allergic to dairy and every side dish had cheese in it except the soup and salad. Good thing he likes meat (the pork was amazing). Overall it was an excellent dinner and we did not feel rushed at all, the place didn’t even start to fill up until we were leaving at about 6:45.

I haven’t really commented on the crowds this trip yet. We planned this trip for the end of the summer and to be away for Rebecca’s birthday so it was Aug.21-Sept.7 and I guess a lot of schools go back in session mid August because there were hardly any crowds at all. Some rides had long lines but it was very easy to make a plan to do those rides first or fast pass them. We were even able to ride Toy Story about 5 times during the trip with no more than a couple of minutes wait. Most of the rides were walk on, it was great.

So after our dinner at Chef Mickey’s we tossed around a few ideas of what we might like to do with the rest of the night but everyone was happy to just go back to the resort and hang out and swim. We took the monorail to MK then we had just missed the monorail to the ticket and transportation centre so we took the boat, it is so peaceful and quiet and the sun was just going down, and we saw lightning in the distance, very cool. The kids were well fed and very happy.

Dan and Mitchell and I were not interested in just hanging out and the pool was closed due to a storm (this happened quite often on our trip) so the three of us walked over to the All Star Movies (we were surprised how close it was). Mitchell really liked all the big icons from the movies.

Once we finished our tour we made it home just before the skies opened up.
Today was a nice relaxing day off from the parks, I think we all needed that.

 

[i12go2wdw]

Friday Aug. 28

Today was our long awaited and much stressed over morning at Hollywood Studios. We had gone over our plan for this day in more ways than I can count. We researched all kinds of scenarios and read all we could on what other people had experienced all this just to ride Toy Story Mania. After all that contemplation and work we decided to get there early and ride Toy Story Mania first then try to get fast passes for later. We decided we would ride Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror while we waited for the FP to be good. That was the plan.

We woke up and got organized and fed and we were at the bus stop just after 8, DHS opened at 9. We were at the park by 8:30, that was one long half hour, wondering if we had the right plan, studying the other people in front of us in line to try to guess what their plan was, going through all the routes in my head as to how to get to TSM. Funny thing was nobody else seemed to care!?!?
We got through the turnstiles and were held at the rope, we were really close to the front on the left hand side. Have I mentioned how hot it was on this trip? Anyways, we were just near the door to a shop and before the rope dropped they opened that door and invited us in. I thought I had just come across a hidden secret entrance to TSM. We quietly slid into the nice cool shop and went right to the door that was beyond the rope thinking it would magically open as the rope dropped and we would be 10 steps ahead of the crowd. But I thought I should ask just incase. And the answer was,” we don’t open that door until the crowd has passed.” OH NO!! Now we only had a minute or two until rope drop, we had to fight our way out of the store and get in the back of the rope drop line UGH!! Fortunately just as we left the door of the store the rope had dropped and we just joined in the rush of people, right around the spot we would have been in had we not gone in the store.
We followed the crowd to the ride 99% of the people at the rope drop were on their way to TSM, it was hard to keep DD7 up to speed but we did it. After all that stressing we walked right onto the ride, didn’t even slow down, right onto the ride, no wait. It was a lot of fun and almost worth all the stress. When we got out the plan was to get FP’S but the line was huge so we just carried on. We got FP’s for RR and rode TT with a 15 minute, very hot wait. Then we were able to use the FP for RR. Nicole didn’t really love TT but she did love RR so we got more FP for that.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hey! I'm still here! For some reason, I wasn't getting email telling me when you posted an installment. Anyway, I am all caught up now and looking forward to more.

 

[i12go2wdw]

Hey! I'm still here! For some reason, I wasn't getting email telling me when you posted an installment. Anyway, I am all caught up now and looking forward to more.

Hey thanks for reading, I was getting lonely, I will try and update tomorrow.

 

[i12go2wdw]

After our very stressful morning of trying to do all our favorite rides without a wait, I don' know why we didn't want to wait it is stinkin’ hot and some of the line ups are inside where it is air conditioned, we started to take it easy. We felt a certain sense of accomplishment at getting on those 3 rides before 11 though. We went on the movie ride

then watched Beauty and the Beast which is my favorite show,

it just barely wins out over the Aladdin show in Disneyland.

Dan got us all some icecream and cool drinks as it was smokin’ hot.

After the show we made our way to the Animation Building, we had never been there before but the animation building in Disneyland is Rebecca’s favorite so she decided we had to try it out. The pre show is cute and we all enjoyed the cool, and Mitch and Becky really liked the drawing classes.

Nicole wasn’t interested in the drawing so she stayed out with Dan Jordan and I and we got to meet the Incredibles, they were a lot of fun!!

We had made an autograph book with pages for each of the characters we were sure we would see and the Incredibles had a page and they were thrilled and they made a big fuss over Nicole.

Next we braved the blazing sun again and went to the Lights, Motors, Action, show. It was so hot and crowded it nearly did us all in but the show was good. Rebecca and Jordan had enough and the heat was making their teen moods even worse so they went back to the room. Dan and I took the youngins to Pizza Planet for lunch, it was our first time there and in was a nice cool diversion and the pizza wasn’t bad. After lunch we went to use our Rockin Roller coaster FP’s but the ride was down. We waited for a while but decided to give our FP’s away and go back to the room for a rest.

 

[i12go2wdw]

After a nice nap and cool down we were raring to go again, but just Dan, Mitchell, Nicole and me, the teens were done. That is ok, we are all on holidays and if they want some quiet TV time we are all good with that. So the 4 of us hearty soles braved the heat at about 5:00 to go to Epcot to make some World Showcase masks. The first stop was at the take-out window in UK for some yummy fish and chips, why don’t they have forks and knives at this place??? That fish is hot and when you douse it with vinegar it is really hard to eat. Oh well, we did our best.
After dinner we wondered over to the other side of the street and watched the British Invasion. The music was great but the people watching was amazing. This group really has a following and they are very enthusiastic.

The purpose of this very hot night was to do the masks and make our way all the way around the world. The kids were so into it but we had to make a time limit at each country’s mask table so we could get it all done. Once they had the charm and the stamp from the Cast Member they were given 3 minutes to colour. We started in UK and made our way around, the kids only fought a little, they are so competitive with each other it is maddening.

At about 8:55 we found a second rate spot to watch Illuminations, we were on a mask mission so we didn’t much mind that our view stunk. We ooohed and ahhhed and really enjoyed the show.

We cooled off with a kaki gori, Jordan took a trip to Japan for 3 weeks when he was in 10th grade as a recipient of a Lions Exchange trip. The following summer we hosted a Japanese student for 3 weeks and he brought us a kaki gori machine and all the fixings so they are now a family favorite. We really enjoyed the treat. By the time we finished the World Showcase loop Canada was closed so we missed our goal by one country, and our own country to boot. We caught our bus and were home by 10:45. Jordan and Becky had spent the whole evening in the room, just left long enough to bring dinner up to eat, to each his own!!

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Loving your trip report - I hope it continues?? I am going practically the same dates this year August 22nd to September 11th (3 weeks) so am really interested in the weather!! I have a DD who will be 9 during the trip and I am considering making her some dresses. I have always dressed her in T-shirts and shorts before (we usually go NOvember) but wondered if cotton dresses would be cooler and dry quicker if we get caught in the rain or a water ride. I would be very interested in your thoughts.

Can't wait to read more - please carry on

Sara xx

 

[mickeystoontown]

Yes, carry on please!

 

[i12go2wdw]

Loving your trip report - I hope it continues?? I am going practically the same dates this year August 22nd to September 11th (3 weeks) so am really interested in the weather!! I have a DD who will be 9 during the trip and I am considering making her some dresses. I have always dressed her in T-shirts and shorts before (we usually go NOvember) but wondered if cotton dresses would be cooler and dry quicker if we get caught in the rain or a water ride. I would be very interested in your thoughts.

Can't wait to read more - please carry on

Sara xx

Thank you so much for reading. My daughter much prefers to wear dresses and I really think they are so much cooler. Have you visited the Disboutique thread on the Family page? They make some amazing things and they are really not that hard to make. The ladies over there are so helpful too. It was so stinkin hot, I bet a lot of people would go naked if they were allowed. It didn't ruin our fun (except for a few short moments). We just got used to it and stayed in the airconditioning as much as possible.
You could even just sew a simple gathered skirt onto a t-shirt, quick and easy and a lot cooler than a pants or shorts (lets the almost non existint breeze blow up)
I will carry on with the next installment soon. It is nice to know someone is reading and it that it may be helpful. It will be very quiet while you are there!! It was only crowded on the Sat. of Labourday and even then it was not bad at all. Good choice of dates!!! You will probably get free dining too.
We just loved that. We are going back Aug 18-Sept 6 again this year but spending the first few days at Universal.

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Thanks for all the advice. I have been over to the Disboutique thread but it was a while ago and it seemed to early to think about what to pack but now I think I really should get started!

How strange - our date are very similar. We are staying 22nd August to 11th September. We are staying at the Portofino Bay for the first 4 nights - want to make use of the front of line passes!!

Did you have much rain last year? I keep worrying that we will be rained out of everywhere!! I am taking lots of precaution from the heat - we are from the UK - it never gets over 75!!! I've been preparing my DD for how hot its going to be and she knows she has to drink loads so hopefully that side of things will be OK. Just don't want to be stuck in the room *** of thunderstorms!!!

Thanks for replying and I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip and what you have planned for this year - we may bump into each other somewhere!!!

 

[i12go2wdw]

Saturday Aug.29
We decided before we left home that we should avoid the 4 main parks on Saturdays as much as possible to avoid the crowds. We only had 10 day hoppers (why don't they sell longer than 10days?? The jump in price from 10 days to annual pass is huge) so we were forced to have a few non park days. Today was a water park day so we slept in because they don’t open until 10. We had breakfast at the food court then made our way out to the bus. We couldn’t decide which water park to go to so we decided to go to whichever one had the first bus show up. Turned out to be Typhoon Lagoon, we concluded that it was our favorite anyways.

We got there at about 10:20 but it wasn’t crowded at all, we found great chairs right over the bridge and down the stairs from the main food place. It was on a little island on the edge of the wave pool but there were trees buffering the sound from the wave pool so it was quite relaxing and a good place to people watch and read. We played in the waves first, they are so much fun, and as long as someone had a good grip on Nicole she was fine, even in the deeper water.

We spent a lot of time in the lazy river, the kids never seemed to want to be on a tube but nobody ever said anything so I guess it is ok. It was hard to get a tube sometimes as it was so hot nobody was ever getting out.

We did do a couple of water slides, I am very aerodynamic feet first and have a history of over taking slow sliding strangers on waterslides so I have a personal ban on them. The family slides are ok, the rest of the family keeps me at a good speed. I won’t even tell you about the time I was going so fast I fell out of the slide ½ way down and had to get stitches!!

We had a good lunch at the counter service place, so much food and it was so hot, I think we wasted some. Dan took the kids for a few fast slides and I had a few minutes of peace and quiet to read and look at all the people go by.
All too soon it was time to go. We had the Hoop De Doo tonight at 7 and I knew we were all going to need a nap if we were going to make it. It took a while for out bus to come but back at the room there was no arguing about naps after we all had a cool shower, we were exhausted!!

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Yeah and update!! We also love Typhoon Lagoon. You guys look like you had so much fun!! Can't wait to read about the Hoop de Hoo xx

 

[i12go2wdw]

Yeah and update!! We also love Typhoon Lagoon. You guys look like you had so much fun!! Can't wait to read about the Hoop de Hoo xx

Here you go, two updates in one day, can you tell it is a slow Monday at my house Thanks for reading!!

 

[i12go2wdw]

We all slept for 2 hours and even then it was hard to get everyone up, the sun and the water sure make for exhaustion, but it is so much fun. Once we got going again we were excited to get to Fort Wilderness. This is where we stayed the first time we ever took the family (minus Nicole) to WDW. That trip was just 3 weeks after Sept. 11 and we had a hard decision to make as to whether to fly or not. We had planned and saved for that trip for over 2 years and obviously we did decide to go. The place was empty, not only were there no lines there were no people, I remember taking Becky to the bathroom near Honey I Shrunk the Audience and as we walked there we did not SEE one person, it was a bit creepy. When we got back to HISTA there were only 6 other people in the audience.
But it was such a magical trip!!! So Fort Wilderness holds a special place in our hearts (except Nicole, but after tonight it will for her too).
I had made Nicole an up-cycled dress from an old pair of overalls, cut the legs off and sewed on a skirt made from fabric with a similar pattern as the napkins at the Hoop De Doo. I have a confession to make and I hope I don’t get flamed. When we went to the Hoop De doo the first time I really wanted to take one of the napkins, my kitchen is red and white and I just wanted a souvenir. I decided that since we are not big eaters and neither Dan nor I drank any beer or wine (which is included in the price) that it was still a savings on their part if I took just one. I know it is still stealing but whatever. I tell you all this so you know how I know what the pattern on the napkin is, that napkin is in regular use at our house. I also did her hair in two braids so she really looked like a Hill Billy. It paid off.

We got to the bus at about 6:15; we were a bit worried about getting there on time because Fort Wilderness is a bit hard to get to. We were supposed to be there by 7:15 to check in for the 7:30 show. To get there we were taking a bus to Magic Kingdom then the boat to Fort Wilderness. We had to wait a few minutes for the bus but not too long and then we only waited a few minutes for the boat too, so we were ok. Once we were on the boat Nicole was invited up to ring the bell because the driver thought she looked so cute. The dress had already paid off. We got to Pioneer Hall and checked in and met up with our friends the P's, we were going to the same show but had separate reservations. On the Dining plan we were to have tier two seats which meant not the best but not the worst either. Here is a little background on our past meals at the Hoop De Doo. The first time we went I made the reservation on the first day I could and we ended up with a table front and centre, right up at the stage, it was great!! The next time Nicole was 7 months and again I called on the first booking day and this time we were front but in the corner on the left hand side if you are facing the stage. There was a big barrel on the stage just where our table was and it was so hard to see what was going on. I actually complained and got ½ our money back. I figured this time we would be somewhere in the back or even upstairs because of the dining plan.
Now back to this trip, we waited with the Pratts and the kids were just having a ball together,

When we were seated, can you believe it, we were at the very same front left corner table where we sat 6 years ago. As soon as we sat down we all pushed that table out from the corner and away from the wall until we could all see. There was plenty of room so we were not infringing on anyone else’s space. The barrel had also been taken off the edge of the stage so these seats turned out to be great. We are not sure how we scored these seats on the dining plan; our friends the P's were at the back of the hall. The show started and we all got in on the fun, the kids find this whole corny show so hilarious, it is silly.

Here you can see how the napkins match the skirt.

The food is ok; we really loved the corn bread and had our fill of the rest, nothing great but tasty and filling. Then about ½ way through the show I see the two ladies on stage look at Nicole and nod at each other. The next thing you know

Nicole was picked to be the Texas Ranger in the grand finale. She wasn’t shy at all and didn’t even look to me for reassurance that it was ok, she just said ok and was off. Good Girl!!
She was adorable and did exactly what she was suppose to, even kissed the hero (but she says she just kissed “near” his cheek)

When the show was over Nicole was brought back up on stage to get a certificate, it was such a special night.

The show ends with every table getting a washboard and everyone plays and sings, it is a lot of fun!!

We were trying to plan what to do with the rest of the night but I think we were just too tired to do anything else. We rode the boat and bus with our friends, the kids sat together, boys on one side

Girls on the other

They giggled and were silly with the last bit of their energy. It was nice for the adults to have a break too. By the time we got on the bus we were done, but the girls had just enough energy to eat a chocolate sundae, with 10 minutes to spare before the 11:00 closure. Those sundaes at the All Star Music are huge!!

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

I have been spoiled! It's great reading as I to am having a very quiet Monday night

 

[Stacie96]

I just found your trip report today and I have loved reading about your family and your many adventures!!!

I cannot wait for another update

Stacie

 

[albertamommyof4]

love your report it is awsome.
Got a quick question
wheredid you get the girls pick back packs, they are so cute and love that there is a place for the water bottle
Thanks

 

[i12go2wdw]

I just found your trip report today and I have loved reading about your family and your many adventures!!!

I cannot wait for another update

Stacie

Thank you so much, I am working on another update this afternoon, probably have it done by morning. I see you have a trip planned in the very near future, where are you staying?

 

[i12go2wdw]

love your report it is awsome.
Got a quick question
wheredid you get the girls pick back packs, they are so cute and love that there is a place for the water bottle
Thanks

Hello fellow Canadian,
I am happy to tell you that I got those back-packs at our very own Canadian Tire!! It was a while ago so not sure if they still have them but they did work out very well, the bottle just slips intl it's own insulated (?) sleeve on the bottom of the pack. The boys had black ones too. They were cheap to boot. Under $15 if I remember. Good luck and I will take a look in my CT next time I am there.
Do you have a trip planned?

 

[i12go2wdw]

I really enjoyed this trip report . Nicole is so cute and you make me feel like im there enjoying disney right along with you. Good job

Welcome, thanks for chiming in and I am glad you are enjoying it, stay tuned more to come.