Aug09 -- Phibbles does it again...

[Phibbles]

Thought I would post a trip report I wrote buy never posted on the Dis.

 

[Phibbles]

Welcome to my trip report. This will be a tale of a really big guy (yes, you can say fat) and his family's adventure in Disney World. We went for about a week, taking advantage of WDW's buy 4 get 3 free offer.

The characters:
Me: Phibbles (aka Kevin). I have been a Disney nut for a very long time. Longer than I can remember. My family took us to WDW many times as kids. It was always a blast and I love sharing that fun with my family now.

The Wife: Nutsy. Why nutsy? Because she is! Trust me, she knows it and may even be a little proud of it. Don't get me wrong, she isn't a lunatic or anything. She is just a lovable nutsy woman...now a nutsy mom.

Finally the boy: Skoochy. The nickname is self-explantory. He is a major skooch. Ants in the pants. Hands on everything. Never stops. Even in his sleep he talks. One might get mad at him, if it wasn't for that little 6yr old boy grin.

When: July 30 - Aug 6

So it all begins on Thursday, July 30. Our flight left Newark at 7:25a, so we had the car service pick us up at 5:00a. The drive to the airport was uneventful -thank goodness.

I had checked us into our flights online at home, but we still went to the desk to have our bags checked. I was worried the bag guy at the curb would mess up my ME tags.

So after waiting online for 10 minutes (yes, 10 minutes. at 5:30 in the morning. RIDICULOUS!!) we were all set. Our big suitcases weighed in at only 33 lbs each. :frown: I could have packed more. :shame:

Then we proceeded downstairs to security, so we could go wait by the gate. It took only a moment to find the rite terminal. And we got there to discover a HUGE ASH line.

WTH!! Doesn't the airport know they should be fully staffed at 5:30!!! It took us at least 20 minutes, maybe longer, to get to the check-point. Fortunately we flew right through the scanners and made it to the gate with a little time to spare. We all took a potty break and shared the extra muffin from our breakfast at home.

Shortly there after, we boarded and took off. Flight was wonderful. JetBlue staff (all men, weird ) was very friendly and attentive. The seats did indeed have a little extra room for my long legs, but not an extra inch for my big tush. :redface: Fortunately the three of us sat together. So there was plenty of extra room for me. Just had to put my armrest up. Yes, the flight was very nice. Just one complaint; the little TVs weren't running perfect. Someone rebooted them after take-off, so they were down for the first 15 minutes of the flight. Then they came back on. Well most of them came back on. Mine decided to flash on and off during the flight. :no:

We landed and made our way straight to the ME counter. It was easy to find, following the directions that came in the mail. We walked right up to the little red carpet, checked in, and was ushered to a very short line for a bus. We waited just a few moments before a bus arrived for us. We boarded and enjoyed the nice leisurely drive to our hotel.

Before we left home, I used Disney’s new Online Check-In service. So when we got to POP, I looked for a special line for online guests. It was barely 11am, so the lobby was still quiet. Found the line no problem, just look for the little symbol. Video on ME bus helped to explain this.

I walked up to the desk, no wait at all. Mentioned my name, showed an ID and that was it. The clerk turned around, grabbed a folder that had already been prepared for us, and passed it to me. Inside was our Key Cards, a hotel map, and the assorted other brochures you normally get at check-in. She explained to me how to find our room, since we have never been to POP. Asked me if I understood how the dining plan worked (ugh, yeah I think we know). And that was all it took. Check-in took like 90 seconds. It was crazy. I stood there dumbfounded that I was done already.

Not only was check-in done, but our room was ready too. :jaw:

When I did the online check-in, they did ask me what time we would be arriving. I guess since they new we would be there so early, they made sure to have a room ready for us. Checking in 10 days early was well worth it! :thumbs:

We were assigned to room 4205 in the 60’s building. Second floor overlooking the Ippy-Dippy pool. Wonderful view. Real close to the food court. Perfect. Paying extra for a preferred view room was worth it this time.

After finding our room, we dropped off our carry-on bags and went to POP Everything for a light lunch. Afterwards we would venture off for our first theme park visit…

 

[Phibbles]

Day 1 – Thursday, July 30 – Part 2

So when we last left off, we had just finished having a quick lunch at POP. I forgot to mention what we decided to order for lunch. The three of us shared two Cheesesteak Wraps, a slice of Tie-Dye Cheesecake (that was Mickey’s favorite, he held it while we ate) and some kind of Chocolate Cake. All the food was good.


Now with full tummy’s, we decided to run to our first theme park. Where should we go? Well, it is my least favorite park at Disney but has perhaps my most favorite ride: Disney Hollywood Studios.

We jumped on a bus and booked straight there. Didn’t take long at all. It was about noon, so we went straight to Toy Story Mania. Here are a couple pics I took on the way.

The FastPass machines were still giving out tickets, but for 9pm returns. Yeah – no thanks! I don’t think we will be staying up that late on our first day. We have been awake since 5am. So instead we jumped on the standby line. Sign said 90 minutes, but I think it only took 60 at most. Went very quick due to our high level of excitement and all of the various distractions on the queue. As expected, the ride was just AWESOME! We all had so much fun. I don’t remember the scores, but I was the clear winner in our group.

So now that we had gotten the big ride out of the way, we decided to make our way over to Muppets 3D. While on the way we stopped for a pic under the raining umbrella.

Then we ran into McQueen and Mater. Had to get a nice family pic with them. I love their new location outside Mama Melrose.

The heat was starting to get to some of us, and the crankys were emerging. Thankfully the cool of the Muppet Theatre help to settle Skoochy’s foul mood. He usually hates the Muppet show, but it was his idea to go see it. He knew it was my favorite, and he was trying to do something nice. From devil to angel, in a blink of an eye. That is my little Skoochy.

We didn’t take any pics inside the Muppet show though. I did snap a pic of this door – made me laugh because of my work.

After the show, we were very close to our dinner start time. Skoochy was dying for cold drink, so we stopped and got him a Glacier Chill from the coffee shop next to Sci-Fi. He liked it’s sugary blueness a lot. While he was enjoying I took him inside Sci-fi to show him the cool restaurant. Sci-Fi wasn’t in our plans this trip, but I knew he would think it was cool. And I was right.

After this break we meandered around a bit just killing time before dinner. We caught a few minutes of the parade. Browsed the gift shops. Nothing special. Then it was finally time for dinner.

We had an early ADR for dinner at 50’s Prime Time Café. We showed up the advised 10 minutes early and was told to wait in the den. Now the wait here is usually long. But I thought since we were here before the usual dinner crowd, that things might move along faster. Boy was I wrong! It was another 30 minutes before we were finally called for our seats. Ridiculous!

You can’t tell from these pictures, but Skoochy was being a huge PITA. He wouldn’t select a meal from the menu. Was ignoring my requests and questions. Yeah, he was making me quite angry. Thankfully our server, Aunt something, came to the table and saved the day. She was great. Slow, but great. She slid in next to Nutsy and joined us at the table to chat for a bit. When Skoochy wouldn’t order, she picked something for him (Fried Chicken, which isn’t even on the kids menu) and he loved it. As usual, the experience here is great and the food is good comfort. I just hate the wait to be seated.

When we finished we headed back out to the “den” to discover it was raining HARD!!!! Since our ponchos were still in our luggage, which we hadn’t gotten back yet, we were in big trouble. We debated trying to sit it out, but it was just raining too hard. So we made the decision to just make our way back to the bus and call it a night.

Didn’t take too long to get back to the room. When we did our ME luggage was thankfully waiting for us.

We dried off and decided to hit the beds early. Tomorrow would be our first official full-day and I had a very long day planned for us. The extra sleep would do us some good.

 

[Phibbles]

Day 2 – Friday July 31

The plan for today was simple. EPCOT and more EPCOT. No park hopping. No pool break in the mid-day. Just a long, full day at EPCOT. Hopefully last nights rain will stay away and we will have lots and lots of fun.


We woke up at about 6:15 to start getting ready. While Nutsy showered I fed Skoochy from the small stash of food we brought with us (cereal, muffins, cheese/crackers). When she was done, I took my turn while she got him dressed. All went very smooth and relatively relaxing. I even had time to run and get us drinks using the mugs we purchased the night before.

We got to Epcot a few minutes before rope drop. They had already opened the turnstiles, so we made our way up to the crowd at the fountain to wait for the official opening. Didn’t take long and the mob was off. I took our tickets and ran to the Land building to fast pass Soarin with the rest of the mob. They took their time and met me inside.

While Nutsy and Skoochy were making their way over, they walked past the Character Spot. Goofy saw Skoochy with his Pal Mickey and tried to steal him through the window. I wasn’t there, but it sounded like it was a very funny experience.

With fast passes acquired, we decided to go back and visit Mickey & Friends. I knew the line this early would be short. The line get very long later in the day.

Then of course we had to go get our shots of soda. Skoochy actually likes the Beverly. :shame:

On our way to Mission Space and Test Track, we cut through innoventions. We saw this great new exhibit about trash, “Don’t Waste It”. So I demanded we get on the short line to try it. The wait was maybe 10 minutes, but it was a lot of fun. You start by calculating how much garbage your family produces. Then you “drive” your garbage truck to the recycling center to sort your garbage on touch screens. Then you have “drive” to treat the garbage at another facility. Finally, you “drive” to the landfill and build your own. Being a video game fan, this was lots of fun to do as a family.

Next we jumped on Mission Space for a green ride. So much fun! We hope to do Test Track, but the line was huge. I got FP for later though. Will we ever use them?
The line for the Universe of Energy was long too, so I decided it was time to go get lunch.

I selected the QS in Mexico because I know Skoochy likes his Mexican food. We walk to the place and I read the menu to Skoochy, expecting him to be thrilled with his meal options. Instead he gives me TOOD, like we saw the night before at 50’s PTC. Since it was early and the restaurant was empty, I decided it was a good time to shake the tood out of him. I grabbed his arm and told him I was going to throw him in the lake for being such a crab. (By told, I really mean expressed loudly. Not a yell though. :wink: )

I think that did the job. His behavior at meals got much better as the week went on. He and Nutsy grabbed a seat while I got our food. No complaints here. All was very good. We just about had everything on the menu. The best part was of course having a Churro for dessert.

Up next: We tour the world and accept a mission (or two, or three, or four, or five…)

 

[Phibbles]

Day 2 – Friday July 31: Part 2

With our Mexican lunch done, it was time to explore the world showcase. On the way over to WS, we stopped at the Kim Possible kiosk and got our Mission Ticket. Our first mission would start in Italy any time after 12:15. Time and location worked out pretty good for us.

Here is a twitpic of Nutsy’s lunch.

We went into the Mexico Pavilion to browse around. Skoochy wanted to run straight to Italy to start his mission, but I explained it was too early and I told him about KidCot. Now that got him to go inside.

And of course we went on the boat ride:

Listened to a little music on the way out:

The México pavilion is so pretty inside. I love the twighlight atmosphere.

Where to next? My highly anticipated stop in China. Since I talk to China everyday for work, I was excited to stop here and browse around.

While I shopped around, Skoochy went and updated his KidCot mask. It was so neat. They wrote his name on the back in Chinese. Too cool. They really did put a lot of thought into these stations.

We stopped to enjoy a nice sip of tea. Then it was off to Italy. Now we obviously had to skip a lot of countries to get there, but Skoochy was focused on starting his mission. And when he gets a plan in his head, it is sometimes easier to just follow along. :shame:

We loved the KP adventure. In fact, we liked it so much, that we did 4 more quests. Everytime you finish the mission, the phone gives you the option to accept another assignment immediately or to end your adventure. We got to explore Germany, China, France, England, and Japan for our missions. Took us like 3 hours. I am going to post a couple pictures, but I am trying to be vague so the experience is new for my readers when they try KP the first time.

Japan was our last mission. Skoochy would have kept going but it was close to dinner time and I was exhausted from running back and forth across WS to start the new missions. My only complaint is it would be nice if you could play the games in the order the countries are organized around the lake. We had to go from Italy (where we got our communicator), to Germany (1st mission), to China (2nd mission), then ALL the way across the lake to England (3rd), then back to France (4th), finally Japan. That is a lot of walking in 90+ heat.

Anyhow. It was lots of fun and you should all do it.

We explored the gift shop in Japan before dinner. When Skoochy realized the store was filled with Bakugan and Pokemon toys, he was very happy to be shopping. We had to convince him to put stuff back on the shelf. He was ready to blow his entire budget on toys he could get at home.

After shopping it was off to dinner. It started to rain while we were shopping in Japan, so we had to toss on the Ponchos for our walk to Italy.

We got Tutto Italia a little early, but they were happy to seat us right away. We failed to take any pictures because of the rain. Once that camera gets packed away, we always forget to take it back out.

But the food was wonderful. It was a great meal. I was a little frustrated because it was hard to understand the soft spoken waitress with her accent, but it did not matter. We will definitely go here again. This would be a great restaurant for a BIG meal. I would have loved to have ordered 4 courses (appetizer, pasta, entrée, dessert) because there was so much that sounded good on the menu. Maybe next time…

After dinner we headed back to FW to catch a couple rides. We used our Soarin fast passes (even though they were long expired). We hoped to do Test Track, but we were very tired and it was still raining. So instead we opted for Spaceship Earth. Good fun.

We finished the night with a game at Power City in the SE exit area. The fam loves to play this game and the line wasn’t too long.

Next: A morning at MK.

 

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Day 3 – Saturday, August 1st

We woke up this morning with a plan. We wanted to make it to the Magic Kingdom by rope drop, enjoy rides on the left side of the park, get a hair cut, and then head to Epcot for dinner.

Everything started off gangbusters. While the wife showered, I ran to get us all drinks in our Disney mugs. We all enjoyed some of the breakfast food we brought with us from home. I got cleaned up and we headed out the door. No headaches. It was great. We even didn’t have to wait for a MK bus. It was waiting for us (as it should!)

Got to MK with plenty of time to spare. The wait for the rope drop is annoying though. The boy was getting pesky. We did our best to entertain him till they started the show.

Once through the gates we head straight to the Haunted Mansion. We love this ride and Skoochy wanted to ride it first. No problems here. :thumbsup:

Next I wanted to do Big Thunder. But Skoochy wasn’t ready. :tantrum with stick: So instead we went around the corner and jumped on Small World and Peter Pan.

While that was all fun, I was itching to get on that train. Again Skoochy tried to talk his way out of it. But not this time. I put my foot down. So we made our way to Big Thunder. Of course, we had to stop for a little punishment.

Such a lovely view.

The line was still very short. And once we finished the ride Skoochy was thrilled that I pushed him onto it. Oh, it was so much fun. I hammed it up for him too. I kept acting like I was scared and the ride was over already. Which would get him giggling because he knew it wasn’t.

With the big ride for the morning conquered we took a breath to relax. We were going to jump on Splash Mountain, but it was broken. Oh well. We didn’t really miss it.

I decided it was time to refuel before Skoochy had a melt down. So where should we go. :think:
Only one place to go. Dole Whip!!! :drool:

On the way, Skoochy made us detour on that stupid Swiss Family Robinson thing. What a waste of time. They need to add some pizzazz to this thing if they are going to continue to keep it open. It is sooooo boring.

Anyhow, I got this as my reward:

After enjoying our delicious treat we made our way to the jungle cruise. Again, lines were still very short. Waits were maybe 10 minutes.

Our captain wasn’t the best…but okay.

Afterwards, Skoochy tried to convince me to pay for the RV boats outside the ride. Yeah…not going to happen.

So instead we took a little pirate cruise. I tried the left line trick, and boy did it work. The right side was jam packed. The left side, not a soul waiting. We got to the bottom and found a CM practically napping. I woke him up so we could be shown to our row in the boat. He looked at me like I was nuts and said sit anywhere. Okey dokey. Front row – private boat. Doesn’t get much better. It is a shame this ride doesn’t have a photopass inside. Would have been a good picture.

After browsing through the dump shop, I decided it was time for lunch. The weather was bright and warm. We were in good spirits. So I thought it best to keep things moving along with food.

But where to go? Then I remembered a place Buzz and Linnie raved about. So we gave it a go.

I have got to tell you – Pirates make the best taco salads in the world. So simple but delicious.
Even Skoochy loved his meal.

Now this was the first QS meal I decided to cheat on too. According to the dining plans rules, kids must order kids meals for their QS credits. But, I realized last year that Disney’s system doesn’t have any way to verify if we have ordered adult or kids meals for QS. TS credits they do. But not QS, it is all lumped together. So instead of ordering him the smaller kids meal, I got him a full size adult taco meal. Now he may only be 6, but this moose of a boy can really put down the tacos. It was good move! (Plus I felt like I stole $$$ from Disney… :grin: )

After our delicious lunch (thanks Buzz and Linnie). We decided to hit one more ride, get my haircut, and then head back to POP for a break before dinner.

What ride will we choose? Will I get my haircut? Stay tuned for part two…

 

[Phibbles]

Day 3 – Saturday, August 1st Part II

So with full belly’s we start heading out of the park. But we can’t leave without riding the fake-Dumbo. That’s right, I call it Dumbo-lite. All the same thrills without the excessive lines. We love Aladdin’s Flying Carpets!

Look out! They SPIT!

Nice View though:

So after the nice spin, we headed back to main street. The plan was to stop and get a quick haircut before heading back to the hotel for a swim. We made our way to the barber shop and found a line of people waiting with their adorable little kids. The shop is SOO small and with a few people in-line was quite crowded. There was not any space for us to sit and be patient. So I waved the flag of surrender and pulled out. I really wanted that haircut too. Spent the rest of the trip wishing I had just buzzed my own head before we left NJ.

Took this one picture inside the shop though:

So we left MK – grabbed a bus – and took a nice swim at POP. The pool was so nice and warm.
Felt good to swim before dinner.

Skoochy really liked his new toy:

After swimming, we cleaned up and headed to Epcot for dinner with the rat. Yes, you heard me right. Dinner with a rat. No, not THE mouse. A RAT! We had been awaiting this meal for a long time. We were very excited.

The sights on the way:

We didn’t stop to watch the show. I was hungry and excited to check-in for our ADR.
Did you figure out where yet?

 

[Phibbles]

Day 3 – Saturday, August 1st Part III

Our server, also named Kevin, was delightful. Very informative and attentive. Since we were on the meal plan, we had the option of ordering a la carte like normal or doing the price fixed menu which would be three courses (app, entrée, and dessert). We knew right away we would not be doing the price fixed menu. All the good food is not available on that menu.

But since we were anxious for this meal, I splurged and treated us to a cheese plate for an appetizer. Yum.

Hey, get your paws off my Cheese Mickey!

Skoochy’s meal came with this baked Cheese Croissant thing as an appetizer. It was delicious too.

Waiting for our entrees:

Nutsy had the Duck (so good, I should have ordered it):

I had the beef. Really good. But the duck was better. My potatoes were good though – very creamy!

Skoochy had a burger. Though don’t call it a burger, but it is a burger.

When he gets French fries, he always searches for the longest one. Then he calls it the “piggy” and saves it for last. :shame: He is so weird sometimes.

Now we ordered dessert, but no one took any pictures. They were good though. I had an Orange Mouse cake and Nutsy had the Apple Crepes. The boy had somekind of fruit ice cream or sorbet. But we didn’t get pictures because we got rudely interrupted by a rodent!

Oh, and this guy pushes the RAT around.

He was funny. Kept asking us to post pictures and videos of him on the internet.
After a quick picture with the rodent:

It was “Remi-Time” (dancing to Can’t Touch This).

What a fabulous meal and an unforgettable character experience. They should really keep Remi at the restaurant full-time. It was very amusing.

After dinner we grabbed a shuttle to Mars (again). Then headed back to POP.
Tomorrow is Nutsy’s Cough_Cough_th birthday. So I wanted us to bed a little early. It will be a long day in the hottest place in Disney.

 

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Day 4 – Sunday, August 2nd

NUTSY’S BIRTHDAY IN DISNEY!!!!!


We awoke bright and early this morning, just like we do every morning. Quick breakfast in the room. I filled our mugs and got some milk for cereal. We all cleaned up and got dressed. It is Nutsy’s birthday, so the first thing we have to do is go and get her birthday present from Disney.

So we hop on the bus to Animal Kingdom and after some confusion, eventually realize we need to find the Will Call window to get her celebration gift.

The line was a little long. But we were early, so we weren’t going to miss any park time.
This is what Skoochy thought of the wait though.

Since we already had park tickets, they gave her the option of the FastPass for the family or a merchandise gift card. We took the gift card. And she got lucky. On this day, her birthday, they raised the price on park tickets. So she got a few extra bucks.

With all our business settled, we marched straight into the park. They had just opened, so we didn’t have to wait for any silly rope drop ceremonies or anything. We ran right past the CMs holding the weird bugs and stuff. Yep, no thanks. Not interested. Our first mission of the day was to secure FastPasses for the Kilimanjaro Safari. Normally this would require one of us to RUN all the way to Africa and then meet the rest of the family in Dinoland. But I knew a secret. Disney had just installed a FP Kiosk station in the middle of the park. GENIUS!

But first Winnie the Pooh waved hello to me. Hey little buddy.

The kiosks are located next to the entrance for “It’s Tought To Be A Bug”. They had machines for Dinosaur, Safari, and Everest. We quickly got our Safari tickets and then ran off to Dinoland.

On the way to Dinoland, we passed heavan.

Oh man. I have been longing for a Turkey leg forever. Both of our previous trips in 2008 and 2004, we never found time to enjoy the smokey goodness of a Disney Turkey Leg. Will I get one this trip? :scratch: I sure hope so. But it was too early to get one now. So we pressed forward to our first ride.

DINOSAUR! The ride.

Now this shook us all up pretty good. In fact, I think it shook the grumpies out of Skoochy. He was finally smiling. A good dino-scare can do that to you. We stopped for a second and played in the dump shop.

Then we made our way to the silly-side of Dinoland.

First we rode Primeval Whirl. This was the first time we ever rode this death machine. Last year Skoochy was too short. But not anymore. Our little moose-boy is tall enough for all rides at Disney world. YIKES! The ride was fun, but a little painful. I had some trouble getting my large self underneath the awkward restraint. But I did manage to fit in and we had a good time. Will I do it again? I would like to say no, but Skoochy liked it so much I probably will.

Then we rode a sentimental ride. Triceratop Spin. Why is it sentimental? Because this was the first ride Skoochy ever asked to ride twice. It was in 2004 when he was 18 months old. We got off the ride and went to put him back in the stroller. He turned to us and banged his fists together in glee. Which in baby sign language meant “more…more…more…more…” So we rode it again and he smiled so much. Sniff, sniff. Still brings a tear to my.

So yes, this Dumbo-lite ride is a MUST-DO for our family.

A couple pics from up in the air:

 

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With Dino-land all done, we thought it would be a good time to head to the Safari. So we wandered our way back when saw ITTBAB again. So I grapped new FPs for Everest. Then Nutsy suggested we go in and see the movie. :scream: What?! She hates this show. And it’s her birthday, so I thought for sure that she was going to make us skip it. So I didn’t argue and ushered us into the line quickly.

A few shots of the tree while on the very fast moving line:

I love the signs inside this queue. So I took lots of pics.

As always, the show was great. Skoochy was very surprised, as this was his first time. But he had some idea what to expect just from doing the other shows. I love this show. Especially the end when the bugs leave the theatre before you. TOO FUNNY!


So what’s next? Well the safari. Or is it?!
Stay tuned.

 

[Phibbles]

So did we go to the Safari? Yes, yes we did. We jumped right on the short FP line and made it very quickly to our jeep for the trip.

I like to take pictures of the signs:

Then, of course, there are the animals:

This is the upside down tree. Makes me giggle.

The back of one of the jeeps.

 

[Phibbles]

After our lovely trek through the woods, we were hungry. So we made our way over to Yak & Yeti’s QS. The food here was good, but seating sucks. They couldn’t build a pavilion with a little AC? ***??!!! :angrywithstick:

Anyhow. Skoochy was having a TUDE again, so we didn’t order him any food. Instead he just ate the frozen lemonades which came with our meals as desserts. This was fine with me. It was hot and the sugar would pep him up again.

While eating, I ran and got FPs for the Rapids ride.

After our nice lunch, Nutsy had request to see “Flights of Wonder”. I was happy to do this, it is a fun show. Skoochy didn’t think it was a good idea. So I took him aside and reminded him what day it was and that if he ever wanted to see his birthday he would be good. The veiled threats worked and he agreed to go to the show.

It is a fun bird show. If you aren’t petrified of birds, you should check it out. It was cool in the open theatre too.

See, the show made him laugh.

Next we decided to take the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. We thought some goat petting would cheer Skoochy up some more.

Nope…not really.

Okay, maybe a little bit.

We did find something to make him smile though. At Planet Watch he discovered AK’s version of kidcot. I can’t recall what they named it. But it is the same concept. You go to different stations throughout AK, complete a task, and get a stamp on the kidcot card. Skoochy loves anything with a “mission”. So this was perfect for him. I just wished we had started them earlier in the day. Here it is late in the day and he wants to start chasing down all the kidcots.

But look, it did make him smile.

When we got off the train, back in Africa, we went on the jungle trek so he could find the kidcot station. They ran ahead while I strolled behind to enjoy the animals.

This little fella must have escaped from an exhibit. :wink:

I’ll stop here. Next we tackle Everest, get wet, and search for more KidCots!
Then the big birthday dinner!!!!!

 

[Phibbles]

Day 4 – Sunday, August 2nd --- Part III

So we made our way over to Everest next. Skoochy and Nutsy rode this last year without me. They hated it. Swore the thing went upside down. I bullied them to try it again, since I missed it last year. Skoochy rode with me. Surprisingly, I was able to squeeze my tush and long legs into my seat. Thankfully the train’s restraints are separate for each passenger.

I thought the ride was awesome. So much so, when we got off I ran and got another set of FP for the afternoon. :thumbs: I checked with the fam, and they changed their tune this year. We all were now in agreement, this may be the best coaster at Disney!

After Everest we jumped in a raft down the rapids. Sorry no pics. The camera got put away to prevent damage.


But as soon as we dripped dry, over an ice cream treat, we dug the camera out and continued on on our faux-kidcot missions. Here is Skoochy in dinoland trying to identify bones for his stamp.

Those giant bones made me hungry. Yes, I know we just had an ice cream treat, but it is hot and I am hungry. So what did I return find? Yep…yep…yep…yep…yep…yep…TURKEY LEG TIME!

Cover the eyes of small children for the next couple pics. They may not be suitable for work.

Even Skoochy got in on the Turkey Leg action.

:drool: oh man, they are so smokey good. I wish I had one right now. :drool:

While I finished my treat, the rest of the fam hit up the boneyard. I decided to wait outside for them, hoping to avoid getting covered in sand.

It was just about closing time now, and Skoochy had a couple more stamps to earn. I can’t recall when, but somewhere we did sneak in another ride on EE. Then we rushed to the Tree just to discover the kidcot stand was closed.

Oh no. This was going to put Skoochy over the top. We ran to Camp M&M, just to discover this stand was closed too. CARP!!! I looked at Skoochy and it was happening. He was melting in anguish. I sat him down and told him we could always change our schedule and come back tomorrow to get the stamps he missed. This plan was kind-of working, but not really. He was really upset and didn’t know if he should punch or cry.

When just then, Disney magic happened. A CM walking by heard our conversation and interrupted us. He told us we could go to Guest Relations outside the park and they would have all the stamps we missed so we could get our kidcot card finished. Smiles were back!!!

So that is what we did. All in all it was a great, long day at AK. It us fun to close this park, if you can survive the heat. We did with drinks, frozen treats, and rest time at shows and in the shade. The kidcot stations were also a great distraction for my son.

 

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Now it was time for some birthday dinner. We decided to eat at Raglan Road for Nutsy’s birthday. I had read so many good reviews on this place, and I knew she would love some of the hearty European fare they offer. But how do we get there. Me, the Disney-buff, thought fur sure there would be a bus from AK to DTD. Right? :no: :shame:

I couldn’t believe it. I stood in front of the bus board for like 5 minutes with mouth agape in awe. What did I do? How would I ever get us to RR in time for our ADR now? Then it occurred to me that SSR is very close to DTD. So we jumped on the bus to SSR.

But then I realized, I had never been to SSR. Where do we get off? Which bust stop at SSR could we grab a bus to DTD from? Are any of these stops near the boat to DTD? Oh my. What have I done? CARP!!!!!!

To calm my nerves, Skoochy and I cleaned our teeth with Wisps.

So we get to SSR and we notice at the first stop that there is a bus that says DTD on it. So we jumped off the AK bus and SQUEEZED into the DTD bus. The bus was way overloaded and Skoochy was cranky. He started complaining that he couldn’t ride all the way to DTD standing. I was ready to knock him out, when another dad sitting with his kids squeezed in and made room for my Skoochy. Thank goodness for nice people. :biggrin:


Well our franctic plan b worked. We got to DTD with plenty of time to spare for the quick walk to RR. We even stopped so Skoochy could play a moment.

Our dinner at RR was wonderful.

The bread was dry. But the Olive Oil and Beer Reduction you dip it into was dynamite!!!

I had the Mixed Grill, which was delightful.

Nutsy had the Chowder, that isn’t a Chowder dish. This was even better than my selection.

Skoochy had the burger, which he said was very good.

Then of course came dessert. Mine was the best, the bread pudding, just soooo yummy. But we all loved our selections.

This was a great selection for the wife’s birthday dinner. She was very happy, but I am sure you can tell that from the photos. Just one complaint. The restaurant did not do a single special thing for her birthday. No birthday song. No candle in her dessert. Not even one of those cards signed by Mickey Mouse. She didn’t mind, since all day long in AK people wished her happy thoughts like a million times. But I expected more from such a great restaurant. They weren’t even that busy. I think we just got a server that was interested in going that extra step.


What’s next? It has been so long, I can’t remember. We will both be surprised when I upload the photos next week. :wink:

 

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Day 5 – Monday, August 3rd

So last night was Nutsy’s big birthday bash. We had lots of fun and this morning were feeling a little worse-for-wear. (Is that the phrase??)

Our original plan was a morning in Epcot, early dinner at Liberty Tree in MK, followed by a special fireworks celebration. But, we just couldn’t do it. I had laundry that was calling my name. Sore feet that needed resting. So we scrapped the plans.





I know, I know. After all the work I had done on our perfect park plan. To just toss it out the window like that. I must have been crazy!!! Well, yes. Yes, I was.

So instead we slept in a little bit. Swam at the pool. Did some laundry. And ate lunch at POP. It was a delightful and relaxing way to spend the first half of the day.


Several hours later, feeling much better, we finally headed out to a park. We decided to just go straight to MK.

We entered the park with no plan. We strolled slowly up main street. Peaking in a few shops. Just enjoying all that is Disney. Then my spidey-sense kicked in overdrive. I looked at Nutsy and announced that rain was coming and soon. She thought I was crazy. Which I am. But this was not a crazy moment of hysteria. I could smell the rain rolling in. I demanded we take shelter, preferably somewhere with food.

So after a big dramatic debate with my son on where to eat, I put my foot down and selected the Harbor House. I can’t remember all the details of the drama, but he was in a mood for some reason. Thinking about it now, he probably would have preferred to just stay at POP all day.

Inside CHH, we decide to just order two meals to share. As may recall, we use this trick often to stretch meals. Especially when we know we are only hours away from a sugar-coma. But for that you will have to stay tuned.

The good news: CHH food was good. The bad news: Nutsy wouldn’t let me order the so-called magical tuna. She likes to tell people she doesn’t like tuna. Which is simply not true at all. And normally I would call her on the lie and force it upon her, but this day I was worn out. The fight to get Skoochy into CHH had done me in and I couldn’t take anymore. So that’s 1 point for Nutsy.

(Wow, this is a very wordy update. Sorry about that!!!!!)

Any hoots – we took our food upstairs and discovered my spidey-sense was spot on. The rain had returned and was raining HARD! Poor suckers outside didn’t know where to go. We watched from our 2nd floor window with much amusement.

We sat the ran out here for like an hour, before it seemed slow enough to venture out.

I thought it would be fun to do something different. So we went to Mickey’s Toon-a-ma-thing. (I can’t remember the name). Skoochy and Nutsy rode barnstormer. Which they hated. Not that the ride wasn’t fun, but it wasn’t worth the wait apparently.

We poked around a few places. Taking our ponchos on and off every few minutes as the rain came and went. It was very frustrating. Here are the pics we took for the little bit of time the rain had stopped.

At this point we put the camera away so we could just have some ride fun. I can’t remember exactly what, but we jumped on several attractions. Anything we had done early in our trip. Maybe repeating one or two we loved earlier in the trip. It is all a fog now…sorry.


Up next? Our fireworks special and sugar-coma party. For this I have photos.


For this…you will all have to wait another day (or so...).

 

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Day 5 – Monday, August 3rd - Part II

So after lots of good times, it was finally time for our Sugar Coma. We had purchased tickets for the Fireworks/Dessert Party. The show was at 9:00, but you were allowed to arrive up to an hour early. So we did. The location was good. Nice side view of the castle. No obstructions or people blocking your way. Oh, and the desserts were delicious. This was a lot of fun. Just look for yourself.

This was a real good idea. I wouldn’t do it every visit, but it was a nice treat. My only complaint was table locations. We had to stand at the edge of the terrace to watch the show. Would have been nice if the tables had been out there so we could just sit and watch. But I think they moved them in because of the heavy rain earlier. My tired son was complaining about having to stand for the show, but he got over it once the boom-booms started.

 

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Day 6 – Tuesday, August 4th

The plan today was to try to spend the whole day at DHS. Since we cancelled our TS meal at Liberty Tree yesterday, I had decided we would add a lunch at Sci-Fi today. This made us all happy since we had originally left it off the list for this trip. I like Sci-fi, even if the food isn’t that great.

To my best recollection, the day started without any problems. I was a little sore from all the touring we had already done, but I think I was still in good spirits. No one was complaining at least.

Nutsy and Skoochy headed to Rock N’ Roller Coaster first. Skoochy was tall enough to ride, so he was excited to go on it. It was his first upside down roller coaster. Of course, he thinks EE was his first upside down coaster in Aug08. But I keep telling him that coaster doesn’t go upside down. After riding it once in 08 and twice in 09, he still doesn’t believe me.

While they rode RNR, I hoofed over the TSM for FP tickets.
I skipped RNR because I figured there was little chance that support bar would lock me in.

While I waited for them I took a nice survey for Disney. Gave them all thumbsup. I was hoping to get a gift after taking the survey, but no luck. :shame:

Next we went to ride Star Tours. I love this ride and really can’t wait for the updates.

We wandered around some, just killing time till lunch. We may have done Muppets again. I don’t remember. It was nice just to wander though. Well, I enjoyed it. Skoochy was less than thrilled. I remember buying him a frozen drink to chill him out. He was really cranky.

Once he finished, we decided to see if American Idol was taking a seating soon. We got there just in time and walked right into the theatre. SCORE!!!

I had low expectations for this show. How much fun would it be to watch fake judges, a fake host, and some park bumpkins put on an impromptu show? :no:

I was surprised. It was actually a lot of fun. We would definitely do this again. Skoochy got mad at me though. No one was sitting in the seat next to me, so I voted twice since I had acess to two voting pads. It bugged him a lot because I was voting for someone different than he and my wife. He still talks today about how I cheated and how he won’t let me do it next time. I love listening to him recall memories like this. Makes me glow and is the reason I am very happy we spent the money on our trips to Disney. :smile:

After AI, we went to Sci-Fi for lunch. Now I didn’t have an ADR, so I was taking a big chance they would be able to seat us. We got lucky, they could squeeze us in and we only had to wait ten minutes. The downside was they had no more cars. We had to sit at a flying saucer table in the back. Which actually turned out to work very well for our family of three.

No I know a lot of people bash this place. But I am not one of them. I like it…a lot!!!
Food was good. The theme is great fun. Milkshakes are delicious. You can’t go wrong.

Here’s our view:

Our table:

Skoochy’s Burger:

My salad:

Nutsy’s pasta:

Nutsy and I skipped dessert. I know. Relax. It might be a dining plan sin, but we were full and figured it was better to go with out. Skoochy did get his ice cream sundae though.

After lunch we decided to call it quits. We rode TSM and headed back to the hotel to relax. Skoochy wasn’t in the mood for ToT and we had already all the other cool stuff at DHS. So a little relaxation seemed like a good idea.

I believe while at POP I napped and they swam. Sorry, no pictures were taken. The weather had been beautiful all day, then it happened again. Just in time for dinner, the weather turner for the worst and rained BUCKETS of water. We had just gotten on a bus to DHS when it started raining. We were heading to Yacht/Beach Club to eat at the Cape May Café. Had we known it was going to pour like this , we never would have left POP.

We got off the bus at DHS in ridiculously heavy rain. Ran to the boat for YBC. Got on the boat just to find out it was not going anywhere. Apparently somewhere in Disney World there was lightning, so all boats had been docked. We sat still hoping the rain would pass soon, like it had on other days, and the boat would get going again.

The rain got harder, the lightning and thunder found DHS, and they started to make announcements that they had added a bus to take guests to YBC if anyone was interested. We were already late for dinner. So we sat still.

It took forever, but eventually the thunder stopped and the boat was allowed to travel again. By the time we got to YBC we were like an hour late. They still accepted our ADR, but the made us wait almost forever for a table. I want to say we waited for an hour, but it may have been 30 minutes. I was soaking wet and not happy. Skoochy had to get a snack from the gift shop to relax his pesky twitches.

When we did get seated, I was not impressed with the Clam Bake Buffet. This was the worst meal of the trip. Such a shame, I loved this place many years ago. Maybe it was my ‘tude, but the food was not so good. Skoochy made the best of it though, which made me very happy.

Since we were soaking wet, we didn’t take many photos. Sorry. Here are a couple though.

After dinner I went back to POP. My feet were killing me. Skoochy and Nutsy went to DTD to goof off. Here are the pics she took from their adventure without me.

Tomorrow is our last full-day of the trip. And it will be Nutsy’s favorite meal of all time.

 

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Day 7 – Wednesday, August 5th

Our last full day. So sad :frown:

When we woke up, we discovered that our Pal Mickey had broken into Skoochy’s treat from last night and had already started eating breakfast. Bad Mickey! Naughty, naughty!

Even Skoochy knew it was our last day. He didn’t want to get out of bed.

But he did. And we went to the MK for some last minute thrills.

First we rode the Grand Prix thing. I don’t care for this silly ride, but we all went on to have some fun. Skoochy and Nutsy shared a car. I took the one across from them in the next lane. I was hoping I could snap pictures of them while driving. Unfortunately, the car in front of me had a little pip-squeak behind the wheel, and she had no idea what to do. They went so SLOW. I actually stopped at one point to let them get ahead.

I did take a couple pics though.

Next we went to Pooh’s Playful Spot. Which I did not want to do, but Skoochy insisted. I tried to get him to understand:
a. he’t too old and too big
b. we could come back later in the day when there was long lines on the actual rides.

Arghhh…I lost the debate thanks to a certain wife not taking my side. :no:

So to teach her a lesson I sent her on the teacups with Skoochy. She hates the tea cups because of the spinning. I love the tea cups, but was still angry and needed a break from them. The 5 minutes it took them to ride was a perfect break. I believe I found myself a frozen drink while they stood on the line.

Then we caught rides on some classics that we had missed on previous trips. Snow White, Small World, Peter Pan. I took pics while on Show White. Shh…I’m not sure you are allowed to. I couldn’t resist.

Afterwards I madee a bet with Skoochy. I told him if he could remove the Sword from the Stone, that he could plan the rest of the day at Disney. He took my bet and gave it his best effort.

Lucky for me, they no longer do the Merlin show where kids do actually get a chance to remove the sword. Lord knows I did not want him to run the show for the rest of the day. :no:


Now that I was rightfully in charge of the family again, I ordered us to go and see Philharmagic. I love this movie. Skoochy doesn’t like wearing the glasses, so he would rather skip the 4D shows. But I was king, so he had to go along without any arguments.

He he he he he…

My next decree had us head to Cosmic Ray’s for a snack. We again shared two meals, likely burgers because they rule at Ray’s.

The remainder of the day was spent on the other side of MK. We did several rides that we had missed on our previous day at MK. It was lots of fun, but the camera missed most of it. We did take these two shots. I can’t remember if the cameras stayed packed because of rain or heat exhaustion. :scratch:

In my next installment we have two meals, one of which is Nutsy’s very very very very very favorite meal ever at Disney!!! We will definitely be doing it again.