Could the Dream Turn the Grump into a Believer? Charleston Update 10/13

[Mndisneygirl]

Just found your TR and anxiously awaiting more! We will be at AKL and then on the Dream in August, so can't wait to read more about them!
Also, I HAVE to ask, how did you go about finding/getting a TA job specializing in Disney vacations? This may be a dream job for me!

We did the Dream and then AKL in March - You're going to love them both!!!

I'd like to know about the TA job too!!! Any info would be helpful.

 

[bonnielynn]

enjoying the trip report~~

 

[Wicket's Mom]

That Wendy thing is just bizarre, polar bears are so cute. I remember the new Coke, nasty! I was a Pepsi drinker in my younger days, but the taste changed. I switched to Coke, I love it, but am no longer allowed to drink sodas. Try to get the Coke that is bottled in Mexico, it's made with cane sugar. It's much better.

Did they happen to mention that the original Coke had cocaine in the recipe?!

You are getting me interested in visiting Atlanta.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Your aquarium pictures are BEAUTIFUL! I love the detail of the aquarium too...but ya, ouch! $25 per person is very steep, and then to charge extra for all the other things. Glad you had a different result over at the Coke museum! I laughed out loud at the Beverly pictures it is awful!

Looking forward to hearing all about Don's dream come true!

 

[Disneygrl36]

World of Coke looks fun. We need to put that on the agenda on a trip to Atlanta for sure! Priceless Beverly pic Michelle.

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!! Can't wait to hear about the cruise!!

 

[Happydog]

Hey Michelle!!! I finally got over here to catch up after being on the cruise the past week! Loved the updates and pics from your days in Atlanta! Seems like you did have a great time! The Baltimore Aquarium here near us is pretty pricey, more than what you paid, but it includes the Imax and dolphin shows... even still, it is expensive. We have been twice since the kids were born, and that is saying something. We spent a good $ for the space center, NASA visitor's center, but we can go twice, so that took some of the sting out of the cost...

Cant wait to see your arrival in WDW!!! AK here we come!!!

 

[brandip22]

Just found and read through to here! I'll have to sub as I can't wait to hear more

 

[SoonerGirl]

I'm a Coke person too!!! I remember new Coke and it was bad!! I was very happy when they brought 'Old Coke" back. I think I need to take another trip to Coke museum!!! DH and I went waaaaay back in 91' before we were married. I'm sure it's changed some sense I was there!

Yep, the new Coke left a lot to be desired for sure! I remember that they had both the new Coke and Coke Classic for awhile, but they ultimately wised up and just did away with that nasty stuff

The Coke museum looks like tons of fun! I'm definitely adding it to our list of "must dos" whenever I finally take Candi on his dream trip to Atlanta

I was fun! Put the Braves stadium tour on your list for Candi too, we didn't get to it, but it sounds like something that would be perfect for a Braves fan!

Yes, it's here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2744972

I'll head over there after I finish these replies

Sounds like a good time was had by all at Coke. How long were you there? Did you feel a better value for your money here?

Can't wait to hear all about Don's childhood dream.

We were there a little over 2 hours, and I noticed after we left that we missed a section so we could've stayed longer. The cost was about $60 for all 4 of us, so yeah, I felt like it was a better value. Of course, I'm sure it doesn't cost nearly as much to run as that aquarium does...

Club Cool on Steroids is the perfect description of that tasting room!!! The lips on the outside of the World of Coke are a new thing. They weren't there the last time we went! Sorry you didn't get to meet the polar bear. Great pictures of you guys trying Beverly!

The lips are part of the new Happiness Factory campaign - all the 'characters' from that are really weird!

I think Wendy is going to be another Coke Flop. LOL! She's pretty freaky. I would much rather see the Polar bear too.

I have never been to Club Cool yet. I might have to give a try someday and see just how bad the Beverly is.

Yeah, the whole group of them are just odd looking, kind of wondering what the advertising execs were thinking here!

Yes - you need to check out Club Cool at least once. It's fun trying the different flavors from all over the world. Just prepare yourself for Beverly, it really is that bad

Great pictures of trying the Beverly! Looks like a neat place to visit! Nice that everything was included in the price!

Yes, we were very glad that there were no 'extras' invovled at World of Coke, helped removed that bad taste in our mouth from the aquarium.

wow...there is a lot about the coke museum that I do not remember! LOL! Now I want to go back. I am thinking about driving to WDW if I can convince DH to go next year. Maybe a night stop in alanta would be neat but I am not sure at 4yrs old...how well Caleb would react to it! Now if it was a train museum he would be all over it! Haha

What hotel did you stay at in Alanta? Was it walking distance to the aquarium and coke museum. I see that there are a combination ticket for the aquariam and coke museum to save some $ and there are other attractions too that have different atttractions you can see!

We missed a section of the Coke museum too - a part about their past advertising campaigns. They've had some great ones over the years, so I was bummed we overlooked it!

We stayed at the Embassy Suites at Centennial Olympic Park and it was just a couple of blocks from both the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coke - great location! The combo ticket saves a little bit, not much but every little bit helps. You can buy them online or they also sell them at the ticket windows at both places.

 

[SoonerGirl]

I love all the Minnie stuff you got for your niece!

Yay on Don agreeing to visit the Aquarium and World of Coke!

Love all the pics - them horseshoe crabs sure look freaky.

Just noticed you have also posted your World of Coke experience! Looks like a fun place to visit. I would be bummed at not meeting the Polar bear either! Love the Beverly faces, esp yours!

My Beverly face was bad! I almost didn't post it, but decided it was too funny not too

I love all the pictures from the Aquarium. It looks like a cool place, but it would get old having so many things not included in the price of admission. Sort of makes the Coke museum even better. I can't believe the mini golf was free.

We were very surprised that the mini golf was included. It wasn't a full course, but I figured they would charge a little something to play - glad they didn't!

WOW what a great day at the Coke museum!! I remember really enjoying myself when I went there...especially the tasting room!! How cool you guys got such awesome souvenir bottles!!!!

Loving your updates so far Michelle!! Can't wait for more!

The tasting room was probably the best part, but that was a lot of soda to taste - and for some reason we thought we had to try them all!

I thought it was neat that they gave out the souvenir bottles too.

Just found your TR and anxiously awaiting more! We will be at AKL and then on the Dream in August, so can't wait to read more about them!
Also, I HAVE to ask, how did you go about finding/getting a TA job specializing in Disney vacations? This may be a dream job for me!

Hi there, thanks for joining in! Now I feel pressure to get this done for you before you leave for your trip in August

I honestly just kind of fell in the TA job. I decided that it was something that I might like to do so I just contacted my TA to see if she would be interested in adding me to her team and she was. I know a couple of other girls here on the DIS that recently got TA jobs as well, I think they just sent emails to as many Disney travel agencies that they could find until they found one that was a good fit.

Okay, I lost track of your TR for a bit, but I'm back and caught up!

Love the aquarium pictures! At the Mall of America we have an aquarium that has a walk through tunnel too. It's pretty cool. I love the penquins and otters!

The coke museum looks cool - but the Wendy character? Uh, a little weird looking and not nearly as marketable as the polar bear! It looks interesting though. I also remember new coke and thinking it was more like Pepsi and they should have stuck to what was just fine to begin with. Coke has a distinct taste, that's why people liked it! I'm sure the executives had a "DOH" moment or two!!

Looking forward to more and I'm going to make sure to sub so I don't miss anything!!

How long has the aquarium been at the Mall of America? I've been there once, but it was ages ago - I sure didn't see an aquarium, but that place is so massive that I'm sure it would be easy to miss a lot things!

Wendy is weird, the whole group from the Happiness Factory are weird

I wonder if anyone lost their job over the whole "New Coke" fiasco?

We did the Dream and then AKL in March - You're going to love them both!!!

I'd like to know about the TA job too!!! Any info would be helpful.

Yep, both the Dream and AKL are amazing!

 

[SoonerGirl]

enjoying the trip report~~

Thank you! So glad you are reading along!

That Wendy thing is just bizarre, polar bears are so cute. I remember the new Coke, nasty! I was a Pepsi drinker in my younger days, but the taste changed. I switched to Coke, I love it, but am no longer allowed to drink sodas. Try to get the Coke that is bottled in Mexico, it's made with cane sugar. It's much better.

Did they happen to mention that the original Coke had cocaine in the recipe?!

You are getting me interested in visiting Atlanta.

I don't remember actually seeing anything there about the fact that the first Coke had cocaine in the formula, I do know I've heard that many times though!

Atlanta was fun, lots to see and do there!

Your aquarium pictures are BEAUTIFUL! I love the detail of the aquarium too...but ya, ouch! $25 per person is very steep, and then to charge extra for all the other things. Glad you had a different result over at the Coke museum! I laughed out loud at the Beverly pictures it is awful!

Looking forward to hearing all about Don's dream come true!

Thanks Brook! The aquarium was really nice, just pricey. We were very pleased that there weren't a lot extra charges for everything at World of Coke.

Not only does Beverly taste awful, that picture of me tasting it is awful! It was just too funny not to include though

World of Coke looks fun. We need to put that on the agenda on a trip to Atlanta for sure! Priceless Beverly pic Michelle.

Check it out if you ever get to Atlanta, we enjoyed it.

Lovely Beverly pic isn't it?

Count me in!! Can't wait to hear about the cruise!!

Hi, thanks for joining in! I've got one more Atlanta update, then a couple of days at AKL before I get to the cruise, but I'll get there eventually

Hey Michelle!!! I finally got over here to catch up after being on the cruise the past week! Loved the updates and pics from your days in Atlanta! Seems like you did have a great time! The Baltimore Aquarium here near us is pretty pricey, more than what you paid, but it includes the Imax and dolphin shows... even still, it is expensive. We have been twice since the kids were born, and that is saying something. We spent a good $ for the space center, NASA visitor's center, but we can go twice, so that took some of the sting out of the cost...

Cant wait to see your arrival in WDW!!! AK here we come!!!

Hey HD!!! You and Anita have me dreaming of a Vero vacation now - I know you guys are having a blast!

We went to the aquarium in Monterey Bay a few years ago, I can't remember what we paid, I know it was expensive too, but everything was included and that place was huge, we easily could have spent an entire day there if we had had the time.

We went to the Space Center after the cruise - we did NOT get our moneys worth there, but more on that later.......

Once more Atlanta update, then we are on to Florida!

Just found and read through to here! I'll have to sub as I can't wait to hear more

Thanks for reading along, so glad to have you!

 

[SoonerGirl]

So, let's finish off this Atlanta portion of the trip so we can get to the really important stuff - Disney!

After we finished our round of mini golf we were all more than ready for something to eat. There was a Johnny Rockets very close by, so that's where we decided to go. We walked in and were seated by our server, Richard. I remember his name because he was fabulous! When he went to take our drink orders he noticed the World of Coke bag that we had with our souvenir Cokes inside. He very wisely smiled and said, "I see you just came from World of Coke, so it'll be waters all around, right?" We laughed and all agreed, we had had our fill of soda for the day! We were also happy to be out of the heat

We placed our order, and of course there are no food pics - we're not in Disney, remember? Don and I split a club sandwich, Jared had chicken strips, Justin had some kind of burger, though I can't remember what, and we also got an order of onion rings and an order of fries to all share. We had plenty of food, and it was all good!

Before Richard brought our food he gave us some small bowls for ketchup, but they weren't just ketchup bowls, he had created a masterpiece for us

Jared loved this and insisted on taking a picture! Richard also came over at one point and wrote something down on a piece of paper. He then asked us what the worst soda we had tasted was, of course we all chimed in "Beverly" at the same. He flipped over his piece of paper and that was what he had written down, he laughed and said, "that's some nasty tasting stuff, isn't it?" Why yes, Richard, yes it is!

After we finished eating we were ready for a little break. We went back to the room and Don and I laid down to take a short nap, the boys decided that they weren't tired and they changed into their swimsuits and headed to the pool.

At about 5:00 Don went down to get them and we got ready and left for the Braves game. We did have to drive to Turner Field, but it didn't take long at all, maybe 10 minutes, it was just a few miles away. The boys were so looking forward to this, especially Don. For those of you who did not read my PTR, let me fill you in. Don is a big Atlanta Braves fan, has been since he was a kid, but he had never gotten to see them play in person. This was a big treat for him!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the entire trip - all my handsome boys

We walked around the courtyard a bit and took a few pictures

Then we headed inside. First stop was a beer cart second stop - I found Mickey!

The Braves mascot (anyone know what this guy is called?) saw me taking a picture, so he jumped in too

The boys wanted to try the pitching and hitting tunnels they had set up, so we bought some tokens and told them to have at it! The tokens were $2 each and it took one token to 'play', really not too bad at all.

They pitched first - my pictures are terrible, that stupid netting/cage wasn't letting me focus on them. Don warned them both that their arms were not warm so they weren't allowed to throw as hard as they could, we don't want any injuries! They didn't get very many pitches, and Justin was mad Don wouldn't let him throw hard. I think the highest velocity he recorded was just over 70 mph. For the life of me I can't remember what Jared's was.

Next came hitting and they both complained that it pitched too slow

Continued in the next post

 

[SoonerGirl]

The boys had decided that they were ready to purchase their first souvenir of the trip, they each wanted a new Braves hat, so we went to the store and they picked out their hats. This was quite an ordeal because all the hats Jared liked were too big for him, he wanted something off of the 'adult' wall and he was determined to find something. He'd put them on and swear they fit fine, but they didn't. I finally convinced him to take a look at the kids wall, and lo and behold, they had something he liked

After that very important decision had been made we decided to go check out the Braves museum that was inside the stadium. It took one token each to get in, so it cost us $8. It was $8 well spent because Don was like a kid in candy store in here! He was looking at everything, reading everything, talking to the boys about past Braves greats - it was really fun to watch! Of course I took a few pictures as we walked through

The World Series trophy from 1995.

Seeing this was bittersweet for Don and here's why: The year before the Braves won the WS there had been a baseball strike, Don was fed up with baseball and he vowed to not watch a single game during the 1995 season. Of course, this is the year his Braves finally win the title. He stayed strong and didn't watch a single pitch.

After we had been in there for awhile Justin started getting antsy, he didn't know how long it was going to take us to get to our seats and he didn't want to miss the first pitch. So, to keep him from going into hysterics (yes, I may be exaggerating) we headed for our seats.

We were about the only people in the entire section!

Later it filled in more, but I bet the stadium was more than half empty - kinda sad. I took a few pictures at the start of the game, but I put my camera away after the 1st inning and just watched.

The first pitch........we didn't miss it

Had to get a picture of Chipper Jones batting. Unfortunately he didn't do that very well on this night!

We left after the 7th inning, with the Braves down 5-3. The boys were exhausted, they had finally hit the wall from their full day. I wanted to get back to the hotel at a reasonable time too because I wanted to be on the road by 6:00 the next morning (ya think that happened?). Don was agreeable to leaving too, it was getting late and he was tired too, and honestly the Braves weren't playing all that well either......

We made our way back to the car and got back to the hotel. It was a little scarier driving that route at night, the neighborhood you drive through isn't the greatest, plus we saw at least half a dozen cop cars with their lights flashing and they all seemed to be headed towards the same place - I'm sure something big happened there, not sure what though.

As we were getting ready for bed Jared told us that his ear was starting to hurt whenever he touched it. We've battled swimmer's ear with him many times in the past, so this was not a good sign.......

 

[mickeystoontown]

I've been reading along but I don't think I've actually posted. Oops! It's funny how the Disney lovers in us come out no matter where we are....you've found two Mickeys already and in Atlanta too.

 

[TanzUnited99]

Your meal at Johnny Rockets sounds like a good experience. Richard sounds like a hoot and love the ketchup masterpiece!

Yay on finding a Mickey during your visit to the game! Love the museum pics.

I hope you made it on the road by 6 the next morning but I'm going to guess it didn't happen.

 

[Disneygrl36]

I love Johnny Rockets, but I have never had such a fun wait person. Love the ketchup art!

Glad you guys enjoyed the Braves game. My DH is a fan as well!

Parts of Atlanta can be very scary. When we saw Mary Poppins at the Fox there last year, I had us booked into a really cool hotel across the street, but my friend from high school that lives in nearby Newnan talked me out of staying downtown. We usually end up staying in Buckhead.

 

[Happy Elf]

I've never been to a Johnny Rockets, not sure if we have them around here. Love the ketchup faces! Too cute!

The boys look excited to see the Braves play!

 

[PirateKate]

Those ketchup faces at Johnny Rockets are so cool! Almost Disney-esque, except then it would have been Mickey's face.

I hope Jared's not getting swimmer's ear. I guess they must have a doctor on the Dream, but I'm sure it's better to not need one.

 

[ariel1025]

Great update on the Braves game - too bad they weren't playing great that night

I love Johnny Rockets - there's one here that is not doing anything to help me lose my baby weight

So excited to read about the cruise portion!!!

 

[Happydog]

Oh great posts and updates about the rest of your day! FUN! YIKES on the EAR though!!!! And I hope that turns out alright...

I also wonder about your NASA trip so I will wait to see what you have to say about it!!!! BUT the Disney portion of your trip is just starting and I can't wait!!!!

Looking forward to the next post!!!!