Back From Big Easy-Mishap Central w/PICS--update 9/11 (DAY 7-LAST DAY)

[katdocnorf]

lovepurple--yeah I guess near the water it would be more of a problem. I think I saw a couple when we were down by the marina/beach. I saw some of the trucks spraying down the ground under the trees where water can acculate and cause more misquitoes. So I think thats why there is not really a problem around the cabins and campsites. Poison Ivy wow I didn't even notice any....


KathyRN137 -- Yeah we tried to keep most of them relaxing. Justin caught the worst of it and of course he didn't understand to well and kept saying "fire, burn, call the doctor"...Mine wasn't so bad, it hurt for a couple of days then started peeling.... I'm about half way through my 'BIG EASY' Trip report so I will try to keep them coming about every 2-3 days.

 

[katdocnorf]

PART ONE

We wanted to get up early today and just like any other day the baby always wakes us up early. We don't need an alarm clock or a TV Guide, she knows the Wiggles are on at 7am. So we get up and have breakfast and I check to see if everyone else is waking up.

The answer is NO

And I don't know what DS10 was dreaming about but that was a big smile on his face. DSS20 woke up just as I walked in and then he did is usual morning routine since we arrived.

Sit on the deck. So I got him a bowl of cereal which he ate on the deck. A couple of days before we had struck up conversation with the people across the street and come to find out they are also from Virginia. The were from the Northern part though. Today was the day they were leaving. The flew in and bought all kinds of food for the cabin and did not finish it and of course couldn't take it with them. So they gave it to us. Nice people and if you are up here THANKS AGAIN.


BUNNIES WERE OUT BY THE DRIVE WAY THIS MORNING

We then headed out to try to hit the Outlet Malls for souvenirs. We headed to Prime Outlets first. There is 2 Character Premiers in that mall. Upon arriving we noticed a lot of construction going on, but we parked at the front mall and then would walk back to the back one where the second store is. Once we entered the mall we noticed alot of vacant stores????? "Maybe they moved into the new ones they are building in the back." Arrived at the Character Premier Store...Vacant also. Walked around a bit and decided to drive back to the back where we could see some construction and check to see if they all moved back there.

We noticed a Sbarro when we came in and everyone said they were getting hungry so we decided to eat there before leaving out. Even though it was a little early for lunch, we went ahead and got lunch out of the way. We had eaten there on previous trips and it was always good. This it was YUCK....I don't know if it was because of the lack of business or what, but it outright stunk. So we continued out to the SUV and loaded everyone in to drive around to the back and see if that one was open. Well everything was still under construction NO STORES THERE. So by this point everyone is getting a little aggravated. Lets head to the Premier Outlets. They have one Character Premier in there.

 

[ILMICKEY]

That's all????

I'll take more trip report please!!!!

 

[katdocnorf]

PART 2--TAX FREE???, CHEAP CAKE, FIREWORKS, LATE NIGHT POOL

So we headed down to the Premier Outlets. 535 was very backed up, bumper to bumper creaping backed up. I told DH well it is about lunch time and plus there is alot of hotels around here so it is just crowed. Turned off on side ride to the mall. SAME THING. Said to DH well there is 2 hotels and 3 restaurants right here so once we get past this we will be fine. NOPE. All the way to mall entrance and in the mall. People were parked everywhere, grass, up on sidewalks... We drove around a bit and couldn't find anything. People were just going nuts fighting over parking spaces. Waiting for an eternity for a parking space. DH said aw heck no. Now there is serious frustaration happening. So we just went to the cabin and called it a day.

We still needed to order cake for DD11months B-Day so once back to the cabin me and DH went up to concierge desk to find out easiest place to get cake from so that it won't melt before we got it back to cabin. So we stood in line for a little bit and then got up to desk. I asked CM about cakes. Told him I wanted a Disney cake and if maybe we could get it delivered to here somewhere so that it would not melt. He went in the back and came out with a piece of paper and handed it to me and said here is the numbers to WalMart and Publix they both do disney themed cakes. "THEY ARE MUCH MORE AFFORDABLE"

ME--thinking in mind "DO WHAT!!!!"
"No sir I would like a Disney made cake."
CM--"I am sure they are much more expensive"

Do they think because we are at Fort Wilderness we are just high classed trailer trash or what.??? This is a first for me. I just repeated what I wanted and he finally said let me check I am not sure. Good grief... So he went in the back again and came back out and told me.

CM--"The best thing is to order it from Wilderness Lodge in room dining and then they can deliver it to Pioneer Hall for you to pick up."
ME -- "Sounds good."

So he then called WL In Room Dining for me and started telling them that he had a guest that wanted a birthday cake. Then he asked me filling and cake and all of this. Then handed me the phone for the personal information --name, etc... When I got on the phone I asked more specific "Is all I can get is a standard cake? I mean I have heard of people getting Mickey Shaped cakes which is really what I want."

CM on Phone--"Oh yeah you can get that if you want it. It would be $45.00."
ME--"No problem."
CM on phone--"You can not pick frosting flavors on outside because of it being like Mickey, it is chocolate buttercream for ears and vanilla buttercream for the rest of the face."
ME--"That's fine."

Finally I got it ordered and CM said it would be at Pioneer Hall on Tues 8-7 at 5pm. If I did not push it and did not know better about different cakes and such I would have just gotten a junk cake from Publix. I can't believe this CM wanted to give me Publix and Walmart because it was Cheaper. I didn't want cheaper I wanted a nice DISNEY cake for my daughter's 1st B-Day.

On the way back to cabin from Outpost (we drove the SUV up there) we heard on the radio that it was TAX FREE Days right now. No wonder it was so crowded at the mall. All the local people trying to get school clothes this weekend. 'We will try in a couple of days, when it is during the week.'

Well we decided to try the chicken for diner that the neighbor gave to us. He had it in a ziplock back marinating is something. We put the charcoal on the grill and got it going and put the chicken (about 6 pieces) on. There was also 2 pieces of pork chops, not enough to feed all of us, so I put them up there too. If they didn't get eaten tonight we could put them on a sandwich for lunch tomorrow. Put together some salad to go with it. IT WAS GOOD CHICKEN. Then headed out to watch the fireworks.

We went over to the Polynesian to watch from their beach. You get a good look over MK and the fireworks reflect in the lake. We grabed a table right by the beach and DSS18, DS10 and DD6 went down on the beach and sat in the beach chairs.

Video




Then we got back to cabin and DSS18 and DS10 wanted to head over to the pool. I said fine and told the older one to watch our for DS10. They stayed until well after Midnight. But they had a good time.

COMING UP:

HOT, HOT & MORE HOT, NO MORE WALKING, ANOTHER LATE POOL

 

[KathyRN137]

Oooh, I'll bet she went ga-ga over that cake!! Did you get any pix? Hope so!


Kathy

 

[katdocnorf]

Oooh, I'll bet she went ga-ga over that cake!! Did you get any pix? Hope so!


Kathy

Oh but of course.

 

[katdocnorf]

I guess nobody is out there reading today....

bumping

 

[ILMICKEY]

Hi, just came over to read about Ohana!

Honestly I can't find it.

Help me!

 

[katdocnorf]

Hi, just came over to read about Ohana!

Honestly I can't find it.

Help me!

Sorry I wasn't talking about Ohana specifically, just watching the fireworks from Polynesian. Choice of watching from Ohana or from the beach. We watched from the beach and you can see how well they looked from there as well as the video.

 

[katdocnorf]

(I am going to make this a little short as I am at work and then I will finish and give a synopsis at home later, plus I don't have my notebook so I am just going by memory. THATS SCARY with all the semi-fake blonde and senior moments that I have )

After our experiences the previous day with mishap after mishap of trying to go shopping and it just not happening and everybody getting rather disgusted over it, then staying out late to watch fireworks, we just kind of hung out at the cabin today. Plus another deciding factor in this was it was HOT, HOT, HOT AND MORE HOT today. It was so hot we probably could have fried an egg on the deck. I believe the heat index ended up being about 115 degrees. Talk about crispy crittered. We definitely would have fried today. I feel sorry for the people that went into the parks today. Better have plenty of frozen bottled water and cool ties and misty fans and anything else you can think over. PORTABLE FREEZER YOU CAN JUST STEP INTO WHEN YOU JUST HAD ENOUGH OF THE HEAT MAYBE ....

Anyway we did somemore movie marathons and played video games. I fell asleep on the couch and DH videoed me snoring but I won't post that. He can post that on his myspace which I am sure he will do eventually. He has already threatened. But Anyway as you can tell from these shots it was pretty leisure today.

Early on I figured it would be good a time as any to go down to the comfort station and wash some clothes also. Mid way point of trip, I always wash even if I brought plenty for the trip. I have a couple of reasons for that; less to do when I get home and just in case. With little ones you never know. And DD11months already messed up one outfit and I had to change her in the middle of the day so I may run short on her if I don't wash. So DH decided to come with me. We check for quarters before we left and we have none and then we don't have many dollars either. I told him that's ok when I checked it out the other day the change machine takes ones and fives. He said OK I got fives. So we get over there and load the washer and he walks over to change machine and it doesn't work. Great I am not off loading the washer to go walk twice as far to another comfort station. So I sent him down to the meadows and see if he cant get some change. While I was waiting and man and his daughter came in. Same thing no change so he sent his daughter back to his cabin. He said he had plenty of quarters just didn't bring them with him.

SO WHILE DH AND LITTLE GIRL WERE GONE GUESS WHAT HAPPENS???

I'LL TELL YOU IN PART 2

 

[ILMICKEY]

Sorry I wasn't talking about Ohana specifically, just watching the fireworks from Polynesian. Choice of watching from Ohana or from the beach. We watched from the beach and you can see how well they looked from there as well as the video.

Oh, I get it now! I was dying to read your Ohana review.

Can you just make one up?????

Plus another deciding factor in this was it was HOT, HOT, HOT AND MORE HOT today. It was so hot we probably could have fried an egg on the deck. I believe the heat index ended up being about 115 degrees.

Can you imagine the people sleeping in tents?? YUCK!

SO WHILE DH AND LITTLE GIRL WERE GONE GUESS WHAT HAPPENS???

O.k.
The guy says "hey baby! I'm a millionare. Run away with me and let me take you away from all this"???????????

How about~~The power goes out in 115 degree heat and the doors automatically lock you in????

It snows????????

Ed McMahon comes in with the Prize Patrol and gives you a 12' x 4' check for $1,000,000?????????????

You see the ghost of Walt coming from a dryer???????????

You know, I could go on with this all day! Please forgive me, I got up at 4:30 and that ain't normal.

I mean I ain't normal !

 

[katdocnorf]

Oh, I get it now! I was dying to read your Ohana review.

Can you just make one up?????

It was a very beautiful night. Perfect for going to Ohana.... We arrived and our host was very helpful and seated us along the windows facing Cinderella Castle so that we may watch the fireworks while we ate our meal.

<pic here> "!': <--fireworks picture

Our meal was exceptional. Everything was cooked just right and very flavorful. <picture of plate> The kids got to play games which they enjoyed.

<picture of kids rolling coconuts around with broom>

How is that???

Can you imagine the people sleeping in tents?? YUCK!

I actually saw a post up here with pictures where someone rigged up a window air conditioner on their tent... Great idea in that heat...

O.k.
The guy says "hey baby! I'm a millionare. Run away with me and let me take you away from all this"???????????

How about~~The power goes out in 115 degree heat and the doors automatically lock you in????

It snows????????

Ed McMahon comes in with the Prize Patrol and gives you a 12' x 4' check for $1,000,000?????????????

You see the ghost of Walt coming from a dryer???????????

You know, I could go on with this all day! Please forgive me, I got up at 4:30 and that ain't normal.

I mean I ain't normal !

Try staying up all night working. I like yours better than mine anyway... I think I'll try to take all of yours and finish off the story with each one before I actually give the real scenario...I'll post it later tonight if I'm not busy at work.

 

[byoung]

Nice report and photo's.

 

[katdocnorf]

ALTERNATE SCENARIOS -- Brought to you by ILMICKEY

O.k.
The guy says "hey baby! I'm a millionare. Run away with me and let me take you away from all this"???????????

Then we leave and go to MCO for a flight to Paris never to be seen again.

How about~~The power goes out in 115 degree heat and the doors automatically lock you in????

We try and try to get out but can't. It steadily gets hotter and hotter in the comfort station. Eventually it is getting so hot that we are beginning to sweat to death. The only thing we can think of at this point is to take off our clothes........

I'LL JUST END THAT ONE ON THAT NOTE...USE IMAGINATION FROM THERE...

It snows????????

Eventually we end up snowed into the comfort station and can't get out. SEE ABOVE

Ed McMahon comes in with the Prize Patrol and gives you a 12' x 4' check for $1,000,000?????????????

Now I don't need change. The heck with washing these clothes. I'll just go buy more. So I went on a shopping spree never to be seen again....

You see the ghost of Walt coming from a dryer???????????

Walt comes over to us and says "And to think it was all started by a mouse."

 

[ILMICKEY]

Love it!!

So, when are you going to let us in on what really did happen??????

 

[katdocnorf]

Now that I have kept everybody in suspence. Well a CM showed up not 10 minutes after they left to go get change. The only thing wrong with the machine.....Some DUMMY put a wet dollar bill in it when there is a big sign which says:

'PLEASE NO WET DOLLARS IN MACHINE'

I guess some people can't read. (See it was nothing exciting about it but just had to make some kind of suspence out of the story )

While DH was at the Meadows getting change, he was eyeballing the Golf Carts. And says to me "You know we sure would get around here a lot quicker if we had a golf cart." He also states, "Plus we have to pick up DD Birthday cake and I would hate for it to melt because we had to wait on a bus. " You know husbands try to pull anything out of their hat to talk you into something... So I gave in and after we got the clothes all started, we went on over to the Meadows and got a golf cart. $100 for 2 days ..woooo... You don't pay that much for a rental car. We had fun though. Me and him would just take off on it and we were like to little kids.

After running around in between switching clothes to dryer and waiting for them to get done, we headed back to the cabin. We had some lunch and then watched movies again. (IT ALMOST FELT LIKE WE BROUGHT OUR WHOLE LIBRARY OF DVD'S) Then had dinner. Me and DS10 decided to head over to the main pool about 8pm and DSS18 headed over to the quiet pool. (He had met a girl one of the previous nights and was suppose to meet back up with her tonight and he didn't want us there ) Everybody else just kept watching movies and called it an early night.

I forgot to take my camera so I didn't get any pics, but we had a good time just me and him. When we first got to the pool there was probably about 5-6 families in the pool area. Lifeguard left about 9 or 9:30 and by 10 there was only a few people left and that was nice. I started getting tired but DS wanted to hang around a while longer. We stayed until almost Midnight. Circled through a couple of the loops (SINCE WE HAD THE GOLF CART ) and just looked at how some people had decorated their campsites. I love to look at that. And then back to the cabin to crash out. DSS18 still wasn't back. From what I understand he returned about 4am...

NEXT DAY: Stable, MALL AGAIN, Cake, Campfire

 

[KathyRN137]

You may have looked like two prunes when you got home from the pool, but at least you weren't going to get sunburned again if it was from 8pm-12 midnight!!


Kathy

 

[katdocnorf]

You may have looked like two prunes when you got home from the pool, but at least you weren't going to get sunburned again if it was from 8pm-12 midnight!!


Kathy

EXACTLY...<INSERT SUNBURNED SMILEY HERE>...As hot as it stayed all week and the experience we had that 2nd day we went to the pool in the middle of the day. We decided we would not go to the pool again except at night <INSERT MOONTAN SMILEY HERE> or early morning.

We need a sunburned smiley. I'll bet it would get used alot.
Or I guess we could use or (bitelip: looks burned) or (blush: has burned cheeks) or (cool: got a little tan)

 

[katdocnorf]

Our Big Easy is almost over .. Only a couple more days left. We got up early this morning and decided to go down to the petting zoo and horse stables at the Settlement Area to start our day. It was already hot and it was only about 9 - 9:30 when we left our Home Away from Home.. We hopped in the Golf Cart (that was fun crambing 6 people and 1 baby into a golf cart designed for 4, but we did it/wish I took a picture) and headed down to the Settlement Area. That was so much easier and quicker than waiting for a bus... Walked over to the petting zoo and no other animals were out besides the horses. I never found out why; I can only assume it was because of the heat. But we continued on anyway and went through the petting zoo part and then over to the stables.

(Sorry I forgot to shrink the pictures down before I uploaded them.)

look a hidden mickey

The really little horses

Once we arrived over at the stable, one of the CMs was taking one of the horses out, I guess to use on the Carriage or Wagon Ride. So I quickly took a picture (so it kind of blurred, sorry)

They have a small area where all the pictures of all the Disney Horses that appeared in films are. That was kind of interesting to see all of them. Then of course they had pictures of Snow and White the 2 horses that pull Cinderella's Coach. I love them. Sometimes they have them available in the pony rides and you can request them for your child to ride. My DS10 was able to ride Snow twice when he was 3 and 4, but my DD6 has not gotten the opportunity. It seems like everytime we go over there with her, Snow or White hasn't been there. I do have a picture with her petting Snow when Snow was in one of the Parks (don't remember for the life of me which park) for pictures. My DD6 was about 1 1/2 YO then. And it is such a cute picture. Anyway let me get back on topic. We went around and looked at all the horses in the stables. They were all quite beautiful and a got a couple of great pics.

CONTINUED ON PART 2 (to many pictures to post all on one)

 

[katdocnorf]

Again forgive me for the size of the pictures...

This is DSS18 looking at one of the horses(I like this picture)

This is DD6 and DSS20

By this time it started getting really HOT outside. So we decided to go back to the cabin and plug in the Golf Cart and hop in the SUV and try the Outlet Mall again. This time we got a much earlier start. We headed straight to Premier Outlet, we didn't go to Prime this time... This time there wasn't a line on 535 waiting to turn onto the side street, nor was there a line waiting to get into the parking lot. However the parking lot was still rather full. We had to drive around for about 15 or 20 minutes before we got a spot and we had to park on the side away from Character Premier. So we had a little bit of a walk. By the time we walked into the center entrance, it was almost lunch time and of course we walk through the food court to get to Character Premier. Everybody starts smelling the food, "Let's eat first..." "fine, fine, fine" Then DSS18 spots a prize game where you can win a XBOX 360 so he tries his hand at that. Came close but did not win. If he did not put in for top prize he would have won a moderate prize.... SILLY... Almost everybody wanted something different. But I got most to get Chinese.. DSS20 wanted a hot dog so DH, DD11months and DSS20 went to A&W. Once there DSS20 saw a huge burger and wanted that instead. So we all got our food and sat down to eat. My DH got DD11months some French Fries, but while he was at A&W getting everything DD was eyeing my bourbon chicken. There was several little pieces so I let her try it and she loved it. "Forget the fries maaa, I'm eating your chicken."

After eating we walked out of the food court and turned into Character Premier. I limited the kids to $15 a piece for whatever they wanted. A couple of them stretched the $15 a little and I was okay with that as long as it was a shirt or something. I just didn't want them to go hog wild. DD6 tried to maximize hers. She I can tell is just like me. If I have a certain amount of money I will spend several hours in a store until I figured out how to get the most bang for my buck. She went back and forth through the store and kept asking me "how much is this?" "Well how much does this and this add up to?" "Can I get this, this and this for under the $15?" Everybody else picked out shirts, I got a beautiful sweatshirt, reg. price $39.95, I paid $14.95. DS10 got a POTC Polo Shirt (very nice shirt) $9.95 and a pin $4.95. DSS18 also got a shirt $10.95 (but part of the deal was that what he blew on the prize game got subtracted from his allotment, so he actually went over). DSS20 a shirt $10.95 (he actually spent a portion of his when we were in Prime Outlets the first attempt day at the malls, he bought a replica motorcycle for $9.95). And DD6 finally decided on a Tinker Bell pillow $9.95 and a Tinker Bell Purse $4.95. Both very pretty. See there, maximized right? I should take pictures of what they bought. (Well DS10 is wearing his shirt on Day 7 in the pics I took)

On the way back I finally got some good pictures of the WDW entrance

Then I had to get DH driving

to be Continued.....PART 3 CAKE MISTAKE, CAMPFIRE