Bumps, bruises, too many teenagers & swimming with sharks! NEW 11/17 pg. 32

[DisMomAmy]

The large groups of teenagers is what keeps me from trying a family suite at All Star Music. I know my two teenage boys wouldn't mind but I want to relax at the resort!

So sorry about all the bumps and bruises...you sound like me! My family just waits for me to take a fall! And I usually deliver!

I love the photos with Zach's camera. They are so much better than what we ended up with when I gave our boys cameras on our first family trip in 2007. Most of what we had was blurry and completely out of focus!

The Jedi training looks like fun! Great PP pics!

I had to laugh at the boys having a "kid's meeting"! That's great!

I bet the boys would love all the cheer & dance groups!

Luckily none of my bumps or bruises were too serious! I'm all healed up.

Zach had a lot of fun with his camera & I think they came out pretty good. I haven't looked at all of them yet, but so far so good.

I love that they have the PP photographer at Jedi Training! Great way for them to sell those PP CDs!

The kids meeting cracked me up!

Amy, great update.

You guys got a lot accomplished that morning at DHS. I love the Jedi photos (I really wish they had something like that when my boys were younger or they did and I didn't know about it ). The ice cream photos are too cute.

Sorry about the rain and no pool; love that the boys wanted to give you massages

There's nothing like ice cream at 9:30 in the morning!

The weather was a bit of a disappontment but at least we had a nice morning before the rain rolled in.

Hi, Amy! I don't know how I missed the start of this but I'm all caught up now. Sounds like you had a productive morning at DHS, I should tell my aunt about the Jedi training academy, my cousin is 8 and she loooooooves Star Wars. They go to Disney every other year and are due for a trip next year.

I would LOVE to stay at Beach Club...someday!

The Beach Club was really nice! It was my dream resort & I'm happy that I finally got to stay there. I bet you will get there someday too.

I bet your cousin would love the Jedi class - just get there EARLY!!

What a fun DHS morning, Alex Jedi Training pictures have me wanting to sign my kids up. So fun

Love your family picture at the end of your time in the park

the boys telling you guys to lay down and offering massages is so sweet

Can't wait to see if you make it to MK

Just make sure boys really want to do the class before you wait in the long line. There was a family behind me with a little boy, maybe around 6 or 7 and a little girl around 4. There's a lady that comes through the line asking the kids a few questions before you get up to the front where you get your ticket. She asks things like, "Are you ready to face the dark side, ALONE" and "Are you afraid of Darth Vader". The little girl didn't seem ready to face the dark side. The parents kept saying, "you'll be fine" and "she really wants to do it" to the lady. But the lady wouldn't let her do it! She said something like, "Maybe when you get a little bigger" or something like that.

You could also explain the situation & they might let you go up with them & help. I believe Kathy's DH helped Billy participate in a class.

Maybe go watch the show on one day, then go back and sign up for the class on another?

 

[DisMomAmy]

So after a little while of snacking, resting & people watching, we got ready to head to MK. Even if we only had dinner and rode a few rides, it would be a good evening. It was still raining when we got on the bus (our only time for this trip). Luckily the rain pretty much stopped when we arrived at MK. Since we’d snacked all afternoon, we decided to tackle a few rides before having dinner. It was probably around 6:30.

We headed to Splash Mountain first. We were going to get wet anyways, so why not! We rode Splash, then headed to Pirates. I was experimenting with my new camera settings trying out certain features like low light. None of these are with flash:

After Pirates we wanted to eat at Cosmic Rays so we could hit Tomorrowland after that. We timed it right because it poured buckets while we were inside eating dinner. My receipt says it was about 7:20 when we got dinner. Alex & I each got a half chicken meal. I think Tim & Zach got a burger & hot dog. We found a table (it was pretty crowded for it being that late) and took our time eating. It was still raining a little bit when we left so we threw on the ponchos & swiftly made our way to Space Mountain. Since it’s a lovely indoor queue, we rode twice! And again, we got “Kermit Hands”! (No picture this time but I’m pretty sure I have one later.) I think Tim only rode once, then waited for us in the gift shop.

After Space, we took the path behind Space Mountain out to get our first look at the new attractions in Storybook Circus. It didn’t disappoint! It looked so beautiful at night. We visited the really nice bathroom first, then got in line for the Barnstormer. We skipped Dumbo to ride on our MK morning. Unfortunately, these pictures don't do Storybook Circus justice!

Continued...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Here is where we went wrong… we had planned to catch the Storybook Train to the front of the park to miss the parade. We decided that we still had time so we went to ride Peter Pan & It’s a Small World.

Then we backtracked to the train station only to find it already closed! I didn’t realize it closed during the parade. It makes complete sense since the parade has to cross the tracks to the backstage area in Frontierland. So instead of an easy train ride out of the park, we had to battle the crowds during the parade. The parade was ending as we made our way down Main Street so many of those people were now trying to leave too. Luckily we made it out and there was a bus waiting for us.

One last picture of the castle as we made our way out:

We stopped at the Yacht Club first, then the Beach Club. Zach was mostly asleep and we had to convince him to walk up to the room. We just missed the lounge closing so I took the boys up while Tim stopped at the Marketplace for a piece of key lime pie. We were all in bed in no time!

Up next: Our resort day... how much of the resort would we actually see?

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Just found your fantastic TR. Planning our first trip to BC (sadly not CL) so particularly interested in your reviews of the resort. Love your son's photos. DD loves taking photos but is particularly obsessed with the theming of the bus stops at resorts ?????? (and bins but hey) looking forward to more.

 

[MEK]

You got some great low light pictures. You also got a ton of stuff done in MK! Wow! Too bad about missing the train and having to walk to the front of the park with the masses, but at least you walked right onto a waiting bus.

Great evening! Great update!

 

[MeMom]

Glad you kept going in the rain. It's not ideal, but at least you got in a few things.

It's so nice when a bus is waiting.

I imagine we will be going over to Magic Kingdom on our first day of the summer trip to check out all of the new stuff. That will be five weeks from right now, by the way.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Storybook Circus was really cute. DS10 rode BS at night as well. We also had the same problem with the train so we stayed right in SC to watch Wishes. What an awesome viewing spot!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Catching up a bit...

The kissing PhotoPass pic made me laugh out loud - I've seen those before, but that is a GREAT one!

Love the Jedi Training Academy shots too!

HILARIOUS about the kids meeting and massages! Love it!!!

Sounds like a very nice night at MK, glad it stopped raining too!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Love the pictures of Alex at the Jedi Academy. Very fun!

Also love all your pictures on the ToT and the new Barnstormer. Great angles!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I love the MK at night. You got some great pictures!

 

[natebenma]

I'm so glad you made it over to the MK that night. You did a lot and got some beautiful pictures. WOW on the face in the mist at Pirates!

 

[Angies1274]

It sounds like you had a great evening!! You got a lot accomplished! Love your pictures of Storybook Circus! I can't wait to see it in person!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Just found your fantastic TR. Planning our first trip to BC (sadly not CL) so particularly interested in your reviews of the resort. Love your son's photos. DD loves taking photos but is particularly obsessed with the theming of the bus stops at resorts ?????? (and bins but hey) looking forward to more.

It's fun to look at kids pictures because they really do focus on some interesting things. Zach's next photo tour coming up next.

You got some great low light pictures. You also got a ton of stuff done in MK! Wow! Too bad about missing the train and having to walk to the front of the park with the masses, but at least you walked right onto a waiting bus.

Great evening! Great update!

Thanks Mary Ellen! We did get a lot done at MK that night, unfortunately too much, which is why we missed the train!

Glad you kept going in the rain. It's not ideal, but at least you got in a few things.

It's so nice when a bus is waiting.

I imagine we will be going over to Magic Kingdom on our first day of the summer trip to check out all of the new stuff. That will be five weeks from right now, by the way.

Fortunately we weren't actually out much in the rain.

Woo hoo for less than 5 weeks to go!!

Storybook Circus was really cute. DS10 rode BS at night as well. We also had the same problem with the train so we stayed right in SC to watch Wishes. What an awesome viewing spot!!

It probably would have been smart for us to stay for Wishes at that point... oh well!

Catching up a bit...

The kissing PhotoPass pic made me laugh out loud - I've seen those before, but that is a GREAT one!

Love the Jedi Training Academy shots too!

HILARIOUS about the kids meeting and massages! Love it!!!

Sounds like a very nice night at MK, glad it stopped raining too!

Zach had a pretty funny expression in that PP picture! The massages were pretty funny too!

MK was pretty fun!

Love the pictures of Alex at the Jedi Academy. Very fun!

Also love all your pictures on the ToT and the new Barnstormer. Great angles!

The Jedi Training class was fun. I think Zach wants to do it next time.

I wish the ToT pictures came out better, but you get the idea.

I love the MK at night. You got some great pictures!

It was a fun way to end our first park day!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I'm so glad you made it over to the MK that night. You did a lot and got some beautiful pictures. WOW on the face in the mist at Pirates!

I'm glad we went to MK too - the weather didn't end up being too bad.

Thanks - I was having fun with the new camera.

It sounds like you had a great evening!! You got a lot accomplished! Love your pictures of Storybook Circus! I can't wait to see it in person!

Storybook Circus looks great - you'll love it!! You're getting so close!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Day 2 through the eyes of Zach:

Continued...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Photobucket is acting up so I'll have to continue this tour later.

 

[eandesmom]

What great great Jedi pictures! I love them!!!!!

Thunderstorms make me crabby in FL, they have been the bane of more than one day for us for sure.

When we got back in the room, the boys went out on the balcony to have a kids meeting. Then they came back in and told us to lay down and they wanted to give us massages. It was so funny!

Up next: Do we make it to MK? [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

That is HYSTERICAL! So cute.

 

[MEK]

Did Zach take those scenery pictures? If so, he has a VERY good eye!

 

[disneyfan61]

I remember the rain when we were at AKL waiting for our ADR at Boma. It was coming down good!!

Glad you got some things done at MK that night.

The lounge was not open 24 hours.
I have the sheet we got when we checked in & here is what it says


Food & Beverage Offerings

Coffee 6:30 am to 7:00 am
Breakfast 7:00 am to 10:30 am
Light Snacks 11:30 am to 4:00 pm
Hors d'oeuvres & beverages 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Desserts & Cordials 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm

So it closed between 10:30 & 11:30 am & 4:00 pm - 5:00pm, 7:00pm to 8:00 pm and it closed for the night after 10:00pm.

 

[WDWCP96]

Don't know how I missed the start of your TR but I love it so far. The view is fantastic. I love Zach's photo tour, it is fun to see it through the eyes of a kid.

Looks like DHS was a fun time and you were able to get quite a few attractions done. The pictures of the Jedi training are great and it looks like he had fun!