Can we go in the pool?... Not Today; Our 8 days on the surface of the sun! Almost Done 4/10!

tbholc81

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Welcome everybody to another trip report. A little late in getting this one started because we got back about a month ago, but still, there is a lot to share from a great trip that included; seeing friends, a guest family member, The Best Day Ever, a lot of zigs and a few zags. Follow along to see some surprises and I'll also show you how to end up with the best souvenirs ever, Disney umbrellas and ponchos. This was a long trip and thus, this will be a long trip report. Deb the photographer took plenty of pictures to share our good time. So here we go!

Trip Dates; Saturday, July 31 to Saturday August 8

Destinations; Walt Disney World of course! We stayed at Wilderness Lodge (again!), one of our favorite resorts and the same resort Deb and I stayed in during our April trip! Also on this trip Universal Studios and 3 nights at Loews Royal Pacific. Our first time to Universal since 2007.

Who went:

Me- Tim
DW- Deb


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Feels like we were just here! We kind of were, but this picture is from 2018 the last time we visited in August.

DD- M


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She's not this tiny anymore, but all her recent pictures have a mask on, so here's a good one without a mask.

DS- D


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He still looks the same though, and he's just as crazy as ever. This trip was the one where he falls in love with all the rides he could never go on before.

Also joining us is my sister or Auntie as the kids call her,


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Yup those nachos were a mistake, thought we were getting like a human size portion.....

This trip had been planned since around Christmas time of 2019. The original trip was supposed to be during our April break of 2020, then we delayed it to August 2020, and thought there's no way we won't go in August. Wrong! Then it was gonna be in April 2021, but there were still quarantine rules in VT in April, so it was delayed again till August. This time we went!

Table of Contents;


Chapter 1- Can We Stay Somewhere Else..... Not Today
-Part 2
-Part 3
-Part 4
Chapter 2- Can We Ride Everest.... Not Today
-Part 2
-Part 3
-Part 4
-Part 5
-Part 6
Chapter 3- Can We Go in the Pool... Not Today
-Part 2
-Part 3
-Part 4
Chapter 4- Can I Get Some Sun..... Not Today
-Part 2
-Part 3
-Part 4
-Part 5
Chapter 5- Is Rise of the Resistance Working..... Not Today
-Part 2
-Part 3
-Part 4
-Part 5
Chapter 6- Is This the Guy That's Supposed to Pick Us Up...... Not Today
-Part 2
-Part 3
Chapter 7- Universal

Follow along to see what it all means!
 
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Following along. Can't wait to hear about your trip. I've only been in August once and that was in 2019 for an anniversary trip my hubby and I took (our anniversary is in May but because of his work schedule we went in August. The heat was terrible and I said the only way I will go back in August is if that's our one and only option.
 




Following - anxious to hear about your trip!


Thanks for Reading!

Following along. Can't wait to hear about your trip. I've only been in August once and that was in 2019 for an anniversary trip my hubby and I took (our anniversary is in May but because of his work schedule we went in August. The heat was terrible and I said the only way I will go back in August is if that's our one and only option.


It was so hot, I feel like way worse than our last August trip.


Can’t wait to hear about your trip!!


Hopefully you'll enjoy reading!
 
Chapter 1
Can We Stay Somewhere Else.... Not Today

Happy Sunday Funday, and welcome to anyone reading. The day had finally come, delayed by 18 months, we were ready for our family trip to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. At some point between April of 2019 and early 2020 I had finished reading all 7 Harry Potter books to M. We started when she was in first grade and read a few pages almost every night. When we finished reading a book, we'd watch a movie. When it was all done and time to plan April vacation decided that we really wanted to see Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade at USO, and my sister wanted to go back and see them again. So, we decided in early 2020 that we would do a few days at Disney (instead of our traditional week), and then 3 days at USO, and this time my sister would come along and meet us in Universal. Well, fast forward 18 months of rebooking, and talking Auntie into adding some Disney days on her end to see Galaxies Edge and here we were.

Now usually we are organized leaving; suitcases lined up, meals planned for when we get to the airport, snack packed for the car ride etc.... This was us waking up and trying to get in the car.... a mess.


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All over the place nothing in the car or ready to go. With expensive airfare out of Burlington, and the usual layovers, we decided for a cheaper direct flight from Albany. We had plenty of time in the morning to get our stuff together load the car and be on our way. It's about a 3 hour drive there and our flight was at about 2, so getting to Albany around noon was our goal. We wanted to be out of the house by 8.....

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And we made it. It may seem early but, driving through Vermont can be tricky and we were destined to be behind a farm tractor (D was hoping a John Deere) or some huge 18 wheeler on Rt. 7 through the countryside. We had nothing planned for other than stopping outside our town for bagels, and once we grabbed them we were rolling. As you'll see in the pictures here, D woke up and decided that dressing for Disney meant it was a bowtie day, while M barely made it out of bed.

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After getting stuck behind not only a giant truck, in Vermont, we also got stuck behind a camper going to Lake George once we were in New York. But we did leave plenty of time and then needed to find lunch. There was plenty around the Albany airport so Deb and I grabbed some salads at an organic build your own salad place. One last healthy meal before a week of restaurant eating. The kids decided on Chic-Fil-A at the airport.

We parked at the local park and fly which was super easy!


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They were ready for the plane, which boarded on time and was ready to go as soon as D read the safety information..... you know, just in case.

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We landed at MCO at about 4:30 and ears went on, then we made our way toward our last ever ride on DME.

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Auntie asked how she would know where to go when she got off the plane, so I took some pictures for her incase she got lost...... somehow...

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Couldn't be more obvious right! In no time at all we are ready to jump in line for our bus.

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Next up getting to the resort!
 
Part 2-

We got right down to the line to check in, which looked rather long.


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Briefly we discussed and UBER, but noticed that the line was actually moving super fast, and in no time we were up at the front.

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They scanned us in, gave us a line assignment and then we almost walked directly onto a bus.

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How good was the time we made? Our plane landed at 4:30 and we were on our bus at 4:55. Must almost be a record for us! Ready to pull out and head to our resort everybody was excited!

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We were rolling in no time and then pulling up to our home for a few days, in the pouring rain. Wilderness Lodge!

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D was quick to point out that he wanted to stay at the Grand Floridian because it's his favorite.

"Sorry Kid, not today!" Then before we got through the lobby and up to our room (which was ready!)

"Dad can we go in the pool?"

"Sorry kid, not today it's raining and we have dinner in a couple hours. We can go in the pool tomorrow"

Then we headed up to our room, all the way on the end of the fifth floor! Deb loves the remodel of these rooms, nice and bright and cleaner looking.


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That little window was actually pretty cool, and it goes straight through the wall next to the bed. We settled in showered and got ready for dinner.

See where next!
 
Yay! I'm excited to read all about your trip. Where are those nachos from? They look delicious!
 
Going smooth so far! Love the Wilderness Lodge - I like the look of the refurbed rooms. Where's dinner??
 
Yay! I'm excited to read all about your trip. Where are those nachos from? They look delicious!

Not Disney...

Margaritaville

Your kids are adorable! Looking forward to reading more.


Thanks! They have their moments I guess.

Going smooth so far! Love the Wilderness Lodge - I like the look of the refurbed rooms. Where's dinner??

Smooth so far is right! You'll have to read about dinner in my next update (Hint: we didn't have to go far!) Hopefully I'll get a few done this weekend.
 
Happy weekend to everybody! I've got a cup of coffee next to me on a chilly Vermont autumn morning and it's time to get a post done with the evening of our arrival day.

After freshening up in our room we had some time to kill before our ADR so we explored the resort for a while and did some shopping. Our room was all the way down on the end of the resort by the boat launch so we had a fantastic view.


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With this nece view also came the constant sound of boat horns, which start early and go late.

Also we could hear the geyser go off, and the kids wanted to go see what that noise was so it was our first stop around the resort. We times it pretty well and it only waited a minute or two before it went off for us.


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The skies had also cleared out from our little rain shower earlier and it was a great evening.

After enjoying the geyser we went to shop a little, not that we were going to buy anything, but the kids wanted to start their wish list for later in the trip. M really liked the sparkly Magic Band, but we've heard they fall off, so she changed her mind.

We must have stopped for a picture along the way.


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After wasting some time we checked in for our 7:30 ADR a little early but we still seated almost immediately. It helped that we weren't going anywhere for dinner, just right across the lobby to.....

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The last time we ate there was during a trip we took in 2015, and we loved it then. There were a lot more shenanigans back then though. I guess we really didn't look at the menu ahead of time (when we were deciding where eat), because we didn't realize it was only really the all you can eat skillets till we sat down. At first we were a little bummed out by that, but we were all able to find something we wanted. First the cornbread and honey butter came out.

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Deb got a fancy drink, and took a fancy picture to go with it.

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For dinner I got The Traditional: Oak-smoked Mustard-Barbecued Beef Brisket, Maple-Chipotle Pork Ribs, Slow-smoked Pulled Pork, Citrus-Herb Chicken, Western-style Sausage, Smashed Potatoes, Buttered Corn, Sautéed Green Beans.

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Seems like alot of food and it was, especially because it was all you can eat. The pulled pork was unreal, the chicken looked so-so but was actually pretty good, the ribs excellent, but the brisket was touch and dry. Overall it was awesome and I'd get it again for sure.

Deb had the Cedar Plank Salmon: House-smoked Salmon, Ancient Grains, Roquette, Fennel, Parmesan, Lemon Crème Fraîche


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She loved it! She said the salmon was awesome she'd get it again just for the salmon.

Kids got some Mac and Cheese and corn.


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They ate it, I think. Corn is not their favorite but Mac and Cheese is.

I'm all out of room for pictures, so next post the rest of our meal!
 
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Everybody definitely enjoyed our meal, but we only saw some of the old Shenanigans from Whispering Canyon. A couple people got gigantic iced teas, but there was not yelling for ketchup or anything.

Most of the Shenanigans at our table came from this guy,


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Also as I was eating the waitress reminded me that my skillet was an all you can eat skillet. The pulled pork was so good that I ordered more.

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and they brought me out a literal pile of pulled pork. Still as good as any pulled pork I've had.

Then we debated about dessert. We could have gone and gotten Mickey Bars, but we decided on whatever this was. It isn't on the menu anymore so I can't look it up. We got two and split them between the 4 of us.


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Full, and satisfied with that dessert we went up to our room get some sleep. When we got there I decided to check out the view towards MK.

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It was pretty good, but I thought borderline to see the fireworks. The kids settled into watching some TV before bed when Happily Ever After started. We decided to check out our view and it wasn't half bad.

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Good enough to see the high flying fireworks, and we could hear the music (barley).

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After the show we tried to settle into bed, but the Electrical Water Pageant decided it was time to start. It goes by this part of Wilderness Lodge twice by the way....

Anyway on take 3 of going to bed all the nightly activities were finally over and the kids fell right asleep. Then our neighbors came back, and were the loudest people we've ever had next to us. They were literally screaming and clapping for each other until about midnight. They didn't wake the kids up but Deb and I were up will they decided to go to sleep. To kill the suspense it was their last night, which is probably why they were up so late. But we weren't bothered again the rest of the trip!

Up next, Day 1 in the parks!
 
We love Whispering Canyon and when we went in 2019 the fun was scaled down a bit for sure. They did do the ketchup then though and the table next to ours always needed ketchup. My favorite trip to Whispering Canyon was also our first way back in 2008. Our oldest son dropped his fork and so our waitress brought him a 3 foot fork to replace it! I knew about all the fun stuff but didn't twll any of the rest of the family before hand so they could be surprised. When we went back in 2014 the waiter tried to find my youngest son a girlfriend and grabbed a girl around his age and brought her to our table and had her sit down. Poor girl was so embarrassed. But the waiter told her family at least they didn't have to pay for her food since my son would because they were on date LOL I miss the old days of WCC.
 
Whispering Canyon was always such a fun place for dinner. We had a similar experience as Bama Mom, the waitress tried pairing up my middle son with the girl at the next table. The waitress was very surprised when my son asked to use her pen and then ended up getting the girl's phone number. They texted each other the rest of the trip.
 

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