Holy cow what a morning!!!!
I did that walk from DHS all the way to Epcot and you know... It was not that bad. I was waiting at DHS for a boat and finally gave up and of course as I get to the pathentrance, I see it approach. I made it to EPCOT a few minutes before the boat did.
It did save 2 credits (though selfishly we'd hoped to use them for Evan who was OOP) but they used 4.I can only imagine you reading that text and the frantic text back about the credits. I can only hope that their late arrival on the first day saved a couple of credits.
So glad you could make the time to cool off ( somewhat literally) and eat so you could deal with those who choose to rewrite the plans.
A little (o.k. o.k. a lot) late but subscribing none the less.![]()
Ouch. Sorry to read that your well-thought-out plans for using the dining credits were being dashed. And that Taylor had some "must-do's" that had gone unvoiced up until now. I'm afraid I'd have trouble working up any sympathy for someone who was bored, but didn't get up until noon.
At least it sounds like you were able to get some things done at DHS. Where's the general vicinity of the Writer's Stop?
I love that you started your morning at the Writer's Stop. We must try that front nook this summer! Well, that you went there after waiting forever for a boat.
We actually got a TON done. We left feeling like, for the most part, we'd really done all we wanted to at DHS that trip which is always a really good feeling.Sounds like you managed quite a few rides that morning at DHS, but what a bummer that the other four used dining credits for lunch.![]()
Thanks! Those are probably my favorite pictures of the tripI love, love, love the pictures of the four of you on the Boardwalk. So cute! I had to laugh over the picture of Eric with brownie all over his face.Connor sometimes looks like that, too, after eating chocolate of any sort. They do eventually outgrow that, right?
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I vote for throwing Taylor in Crescent Lake. Well, maybe not, but it is infuriating when kids decide to try and get the sympathy vote from the grandparents by playing the "Oh, woe is me!" card.![]()
Oh my! I would have had a meltdown over the dining credits! Oy!! Not sure if they just didn't listen and/or didn't appreciate how precisely everything is planned out and accounted for. But either way, how inconsiderate!
I've never taken the bus to DHS from BC, just the boat and the walk. I think I will speedwalk the loop while Mary Ellen runs. Or run when she's not looking. LOL.I LOVE the walk b/w DHS and Boardwalk/Beach Club. So much so, in fact, that I'm not sure I've ever been on the bus. Sometimes I do that loop "speedwalking" in the morning for exercise. Sure wish I could roll out of bed and do that this morning!!
Sure looks hot. Can see the steam in some of your shots!
I'd never really considered BB for a lunch option... those sandwiches all sound good. May have to try it out sometime!
Yikes! I can't believe they used their TS credits for lunch!!
Short sighted decisions that throw off all of the well thought out plans are what really drives me crazy about being at Disney with a big group! I totally feel your pain!
I'm really annoyed for you! More so at the grandparents then the kids. Why did it never occur to Paul to mention his breakfast thing if it's such a must do for him everyday.![]()
Ughhhhhhh! I could feel your frustration over the whole breakfast/lunch/TS thing! You just spent HOW LONG planning and making ADRs to have them waste the credits.Really, okay, they want food - I get it - if they had just asked what to do instead!!! Arg.
Aside from that, sounds like a very nice morning! I love all your "waiting for the boat" pictures and cannot wait to be there in 6 days.And your PP pictures at the Beach Club are beautiful! I am going to keep an eye out for one in that area and request that same shot with the BW in the background.
Sorry to hear about Taylor and his whining - I laughed out loud about throwing him in Cresent Lake though.![]()
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Drama aside, we really did have a great morning and I think you can see that in the pictures. We almost didn't want to hook up with them at that point!Wow Wow Wow!
Well...the positive turn of this post is the fabulous PP pictures, the lovely walk from DHS, the drifters and the proposition of throwing Taylor in Crescent Lake!
Sorry that all of your planning seems to be going awry this am. I might have thrown myself in Crescent Lake
Tracy
I'm glad we have never had to deal with Dining credits - I can just imagine how they would be wasted by my crew. And as a mother of 3 teen-age boys (well the 2 oldest are 20 & 21 but still verry teenager-ish!) I can totally sympathize with throwing Taylor in the lake! And a well-intentioned grandmother can cause sooooo much trouble. My mother and my oldest son have a good bond - which was nice when he was little But the older he got the more often he would go to grandma when he didn't get the responses he wanted at home. I tried to explain to my mother that she had her opportunity to raise her kids and she should let me raise mine. But she doesn't think she is doing anything wrong. maybe not - but it has definitely strained the relationships between us and our oldest boy and us and her.![]()
Wow. Just wow. I think between the teeange angst and the grandparents, I'd be ready to tell them all to have fun on their own.
That's why no more whole family trips for us. I just can't do them anymore.
I swear I see the early morning haze of a hot day in your first photo there.
but love that you can spend some time with just the E's in the morning and split up into smaller groups.![]()
I LOVE LOVE LOVEthe brownie face! toofunny!
and yeah, I can get ignoring a few texts.I remember having to just manage one extra person with the dining plan issue....can't even imagine having to manage a whole gang of extras.
Bet that beer tasted especially good!!![]()
quite the eventful morning.
i can see my in laws doing something like that.
too bad he didnt tell you ahead of time what his wishes were for the trip.
was TSM scheduled to be done for maintanence?
LOVE the family pic. You look terrific and great shirt.
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Using accounted for credits?Who are these people?
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It was!!!!!!!!!!!! The rain actually helped quite a bit, it was about perfect out during those photos.It looks warm and muggy in the photos.
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Seriously. We'd expected it from Kendall but no, it was Taylor. Threw us for a loop.I vote for throwing Taylor in the lake! Paaaaleeezzzzzeeeeee! Bored! I know for sure that he and Brian would be fast friends because they are cut from the same mold. Teens! OMG!!!!!
I love your PP pictures of the 4 of you. They turned out great.![]()
No, you can't, and they are big people so would just have to live with the consequences. LOL!I don't blame you for being upset about the TS credits. Total waste. But you can't be there every second, can you?
It was! You can see that I went bagless again by the lack of photos of much of the day, apparently I was too lazy (or hot) to get the camera out of Jeff's daypack. Or not in the mood for him to make fun of me taking pictures of everything.Fun morning at HS. I love that pathway between HS and the boardwalk. I am totally up for walking (unless its a bagillion degrees at 1pm). I plan to run there in the mornings.
Bored!Maybe if he'd get out of bed and stop hangin' with the grands he wouldn't be... Kids are funny. It must be hard to try to keep all the TS credits straight when someone is playing right.
Love the brownie photo
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Very late to the party, but finally caught up. We leave shortly for the Boardwalk, so your report is helping me get through these last few weeks. Sorry about the problems with T & K and MIL. I hope things get better. Luckily none of your credits were wasted.
We did a 12 person family trip in Dec of 10. My sister and her family ended up blowing up all but one of our ADRs. Since we were not on the dining plan it did not hurt, but I was embarassed when we kept showing up sort of people and I went to a lot or trouble to make them. You just have to let it go and have a good trip on your own,
Can't wait to read more! Thanks for sharing!
Writer's Stop is the PERFECT place to start a DHS morning; caffeine and pastries.
I am so sorry that the DDP credits were used.![]()
Traveling with a group can be so much fun, but it does involve some stress. I'm happy some cold drinks and lunch helped the situation.
Coffee and pastries are key to a good morning!!! It was a great first stop.
Ah well, I can see how it happened, it's like they thought the DDP was an all inclusive plan or something. I should have just left them out of the DDP entirely and it would have avoided it. We probably made a bigger deal about it than was warranted, we were just freaked out at the time that we'd be at dinner later in the week, they'd be out of credits and somehow we'd be to blame. They had a hard time understanding the difference between the CS and TS credits and so of course, this meant not only did they use up TS ones when they shouldn't, they now had 4 extra CS ones!
The DDP can be confusing. Even some of the CMs were confused when we tried to use credits last summer.
While I love idea of prepaying food, I also think sometimes it's easier to just not use the plan. Right now, we have no intention of adding the plan to our summer trip and will just use TiW.
What did your boys think of the kids options at the CS places? I thought some of the kids meals at the CS places are ick and lack variety. Peanut butter jelly uncrustables, while good, is just not what my nephews eat. They prefer salmon and mahi mahi.![]()
The DDP can be confusing. Even some of the CMs were confused when we tried to use credits last summer.
While I love idea of prepaying food, I also think sometimes it's easier to just not use the plan. Right now, we have no intention of adding the plan to our summer trip and will just use TiW.
What did your boys think of the kids options at the CS places? I thought some of the kids meals at the CS places are ick and lack variety. Peanut butter jelly uncrustables, while good, is just not what my nephews eat. They prefer salmon and mahi mahi.![]()
I am going to definitely have this problem with my 8 year old. He's almost nine and has the tastes of an adult. He would MUCH rather steak than a cheeseburger or mac n cheese.
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If you were Mike, you' d have thrown in a shoulder shrug as well.
cynthia, are you getting any snow?
TiW is a great option, if you have it! Not an option for us but if it were I could absolutely see going that route. I actually love the DDP as it lets our kids really order whatever they want without us having heart attacks that it's too expensive and they won't eat it all, it lets them feel spoiled rotten and us not stress about the $$.
Honestly we tend to steer towards CS places that don't have official kids menu's for that reason, it opens up their options. In some cases, we asked if they had to get a kids meal (But I think that was only in 09) but honestly, I don't know that outside of the kids burger in the sand pail at TL and HH, we got a single kids meal, Eric would just get a regular CS meal. He had schwarma in Morrocco, the tuna sandwhich at CHH, a Caprese from the Boardwalk Bakery...and I don't recall what else but I also don't recall it ever being an issue. As he was 9, but a tall 9, I think they assumed he was an "adult" DDP'er anyway!
But, if you plan appropriately you can avoid those kids CS options, we did that in 09 as that is not what my kids eat either.
Look at the CS and TS menu's online (I like the allears set up the best). It definitely has influenced where we've eaten for both TS and CS to try to give the kids the flexibility they need. We've had really good luck thanks to some extra planning.
I agree with you about ordering on the DDP. You don't have the sticker shock when it comes to prices.
We got the TiW card last year and will make good use of it this summer. We did the deluxe dining plan last August and could not use all of the snack credits and we got whatever we wanted! Appetizer, entree, and dessert was just too much at some of the meals. For character meals it was great, but it was a waste of money everywhere else.
Good idea about looking over the CS menus as I usually just focus on the TS ones. That's exactly what I'm going to do this week! I have to start gathering menus and listing places where the boys will find something to eat.
Have you tried House of Blues or Bongos?
HOB for lunch once. We really liked it. It was OOP. Kids split a pizza, Taylor had wings, I had a really great salad and no clue what Jeff got. I'd go there again for sure.
I'd looked at Bongo's but the reviews were so bad, we steered away from it.
There are actually a lot of places that don't have kid specific meals if you avoid the resort quick service spots lol!
Better kids TS meals off the top of my head are any of the buffets, Teppan Edo, Raglan, Kona, WCC, Tutto. While not a ton of options, there is at least one non pizza/burger/mac and cheese option on all of those.
Deluxe is a crazy amount of food, especially with kids. I love that DVC now lets you do it for just part of your stay, that way you can spread it out and really maximize the savings. We are going to do it for 2 of our nights in May, it will cover 3 days of food!![]()
Seriously. We'd expected it from Kendall but no, it was Taylor. Threw us for a loop.
Thanks! Some of my favorite shots from the trip for sure
No, you can't, and they are big people so would just have to live with the consequences. LOL!
It was! You can see that I went bagless again by the lack of photos of much of the day, apparently I was too lazy (or hot) to get the camera out of Jeff's daypack. Or not in the mood for him to make fun of me taking pictures of everything.
I'm going to try to head out with you when you do that. I may, or may not run though. Probably not as you'd get it done in twice my time I'm sure!
Seriously. He missed out on RRC for what. To sleep and eat a burger? Have quality grandparent time when he likely just laid around and didn't even speak?
I do think he was frustrated to not have his guitar in the down times and there wasn't anywhere he could skate and get some energy out which would be his normal activities so that part was probably a little hard on him.
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