Escape From Craziness Part II to Fireworks, Food and A DVC Tour - A June 2018 Trip Report - Completed 3/30

[Djjsperry]

Hello have enjoyed your adventures. Last visit we had a split stay stayed at Dolphin and then Beach Club they did transfer our bags just fine. Excited to stay at Beach Club again in May but first will stay at Caribbean Beach it was less expensive then Dolphin and with the new transportation it should be fine.
janelle

 

[LindaC]

I enjoy your trip reports. What I especially like is that put parenting first over staying in the park when a kiddo is not behaving. So many times I see parents yelling at their kids rather than taking them out of the situation (the park). You two seem like very good parents.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Flight of Passage is so fun. It does take awhile to do even with fastpass.

 

[cstorm65]

Hello have enjoyed your adventures. Last visit we had a split stay stayed at Dolphin and then Beach Club they did transfer our bags just fine. Excited to stay at Beach Club again in May but first will stay at Caribbean Beach it was less expensive then Dolphin and with the new transportation it should be fine.
janelle

That's great to know about them transferring bags, I didn't even try and check! I'm excited to stay at Caribbean Beach in the future. That was DW and I's first trip spot and now it has been refurbed and has the skyliner.

I enjoy your trip reports. What I especially like is that put parenting first over staying in the park when a kiddo is not behaving. So many times I see parents yelling at their kids rather than taking them out of the situation (the park). You two seem like very good parents.

Thanks..sometimes it doesn't feel like it. We have always said if we need to sacrifice one night in the park to help a situation we will do it. I don't think we've ever had to do it more than once on a trip and they seem to get the picture and we can teach a lesson in the process. Now, after saying that I need to say, "Knock on Wood!"

Flight of Passage is so fun. It does take awhile to do even with fastpass.

Awesome! Nothing like it...of course I can't wait for Rise of the Resistance this summer. I'm trying to avoid spoilers until July...not sure if I can do it.

 

[cstorm65]

Day 11 - Part 5 - More Time at Stormalong Bay

Before we got ready to head to the pool for a bit we had a little family meeting to decide what we wanted to do that evening. We had left this evening empty so that we could decide what else we wanted to do at this point in the trip. The consensus was to hang out at the resort, rest, and then DW wanted to take DS6 over to Hollywood Studios just for the Star Wars fireworks. Me and Brooks would find something to do in the resort area before getting him down for a good night's sleep.

After settling on a plan we headed out to the pool. The boys were ready for this:

We absolutely loved the side of the pool where they could play in the sand. The boys would just sit out there and play and DW could sit back and watch them.

We spent at least two hours at the pool and it was great! That pool on that side is nice and shallow which was perfect for the boys. I took DS6 over to the deeper part of the pool and the lazy river several times while we were out there and he enjoyed that too!

We got back to the room at about 4:30 and we had decided no naps so the boys would get in bed at a good time and sleep well. At one point the boys and I were inside when DW started banging on the glass door. It turns out a duck had walked up on the patio while she was sitting out there...and she did not like it! haha

The boys and I had a nice laugh out of it. We eventually saved her from the duck and we all came in and rested a bit more before figuring out what we were going to do for dinner.

While resting DW did her collage of the day:

We decided to go back over to Beach Club Marketplace for dinner. It is much better than the quick service at Yacht Club and I actually really enjoyed the flatbread I had earlier in the trip. I got the Pepperoni and Sausage flatbread again and it was excellent!

DW got a Pepperoni flatbread, which I didn’t get a picture of, but she liked it and DS2 ate almost half of it himself! DS6 went with a salad and he also had a couple of pieces of my flatbread.

We headed back but not before the boys stopped to take in a few cartoons in the lobby:

And we had a nice walk by Stormalong Bay, although DS6 got sad. I think we were going to try to swim for about an hour, but there was severe weather moving through.

So, we stopped in the arcade instead and the boys had some fun playing the car games. Well...DS6 played the game. We just told DS2 we put money in the game and just let him watch the demo and act like he was driving! I know...parents of the year award!

We finished in the arcade at about 6:45 and the weather had cleared so DS6 and I headed to the pool, but we only swam for about 30 minutes as DS6 and DW had a date to do something special!

Up Next: Star Wars Galactic Spectacular and Ample Hills​

 

[cstorm65]

Day 11 - Part 6 - Star Wars Galactic Spectacular and Ample Hills

After dinner and some arcade time it was about 7:30 and it was time for DW and DS6 to catch a bus over to Hollywood Studios for the Star Wars Galactic Spectacular, but more from them later. While they went to have fun doing that I asked DS2 if he wanted some ice cream so before I got him in bed for the night, which he needed a good night's sleep, we were going to head across Crescent Lake for our first visit to Ample Hills. First we had to head out here though to catch the boat:

We got on the boat quickly and it was a beautiful night on the water looking back towards the Yacht Club.

Before heading to get our ice cream we did walk around the Boardwalk for a few minutes. I hadn’t really been around this place since we stayed here when DS6 was just 15 months old. That seems like so long ago! We headed up into the lobby first and stopped in the small gift shop up there. I thought this shirt was pretty cool. I usually am not a huge fan of the merchandise that has a year on it, but the design of this one was just pretty cool.

And the nice lobby here at the Boardwalk:

We then took a stroll down by the pool. We loved this pool when we stayed here, so I guess none of us had a big problem with the clown!

The pool bar is pretty creative here too. It had been storming prior to this which must be why this was shut down and the pool not very crowded.

We went back by the nice lawn they have here and were quickly on our way to Ample HIlls.

Finally, we made it:

I thought the signage in here was pretty creative and funny!

I ended up deciding on the Peanut Butter Wins the Cup shake. It was pretty good, but I hate to say I’m not sure I would go out of my way to come get it here again. I think part of that was that it was only about 12 oz and it cost me $9 which was pretty steep. I could get a bigger shake at Beach & Cream that I would enjoy just as well and not cost quite as much.

I didn’t get a picture of it, but I just got DS2 some of the Ooey Gooey Buttercake Ice Cream. He ate about half of it and liked it quite a bit, but it was just a bit too big for him. I ate the rest of it and I think I liked this ice cream flavor better than the peanut butter one I had chosen, which is odd for me because I am a big peanut butter guy. Anyway, we had fun going over and exploring the Boardwalk, but it was about 8:30 and time to be getting him back in bed. I decided to walk back to the Yacht Club and it was a great walk with a beautiful sunset tonight.

DS2 was in bed before 9:00 and fell asleep really quickly. He was really wanting to know where DW and DS6 were, but tiredness overtook him before too long!

I did forget to ever write down many notes from DW specifically on the fireworks, but she said DS6 loved it! They even got to meet some stormtroopers while there:

She said they were able to find a good place to watch the show pretty easily.

Before long it was time and DS6 was in heaven!

They had a great time going and doing this together and I forgot to get more detailed notes on how they thought the show was, but I know DS6 loved it!

Anyways, they made there way back to the Yacht Club, I think via the bus since the boats were not running, and DS6 fell asleep really quickly! Another great day down...two more to go!

Up Next: “Honey, I Found Another Reservation!”​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Too Funny!

OMG! That duck doesn't care!!!!

We decided to go back over to Beach Club Marketplace for dinner. It is much better than the quick service at Yacht Club and I actually really enjoyed the flatbread I had earlier in the trip. I got the Pepperoni and Sausage flatbread again and it was excellent!

The flatbread is not too bad. And def the girls favorite.

We just told DS2 we put money in the game and just let him watch the demo and act like he was driving! I know...parents of the year award!

I used to let my youngest sister think she was playing nintendo with me, but I just had her controller unplugged in the back.

He is so cute!!! I know I say it all the time, but man those dimples!

 

[cstorm65]

Too Funny!
OMG! That duck doesn't care!!!!

We laughed so hard at this! haha

The flatbread is not too bad. And def the girls favorite.

Not bad at all...of course compared to other Disney flatbreads. Not a gourmet meal by any means, but definitely a better quick service option than at the Yacht Club.

I used to let my youngest sister think she was playing nintendo with me, but I just had her controller unplugged in the back.

He is so cute!!! I know I say it all the time, but man those dimples!

He sure is...and he knows it!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 12 - Part 1 - “Honey, I Found Another Reservation!”

After a fun, but fun evening the night before we slept in on Day 12! And it was much needed for us. I didn’t even write down in my notes what time we were up, but at some point I went down to the quick service at the Yacht Club and got some stuff for breakfast. I think it was about 8:00 when I went down there. I grabbed a quick picture of the pastry items.

I ended up getting this for breakfast for me and DW to share. It was a spinach and feta puff pastry and it was absolutely delicious.

For not loving much about the food offerings at this quick service location this dish was excellent! I told DW…“umm, I may need to run down and get another one of these.” I don’t think I did, but I thought about it!

Also, sometime while we were hanging in the room I got on the app and was able to once again snag a Beaches and Cream Reservation for dinner at 5:40. Can you tell we like this place! We loved the food, but I mainly just wanted another No Way Jose! I yelled at DW, “I found another reservation.” She knew exactly what I was talking about.

At about 9:00 DS6 and I went to the pool for just a quick swim as we had a few FP’s to go use today. We also encountered a cast member named Clarence, who was doing the wristbands when we went into the pool today and he was super friendly. What we didn’t know was that we saw him the day before and he remembered our names! How great is that? We heard him doing this with other people too...what a fun “Disney” thing to do! Let me also say Stormalong Bay is great early in the day. DS6 almost had the whole thing to himself.

Now, I’m going to apologize here about something. If you have read any of my other trip reports...well...I’m sorry you had to endure that. But anyway, you may know that for some reason I have about one day on every trip where my picture taking skills just go to crap and ding, ding, ding...that’s today on this trip. I just don’t have a ton of pictures for some reason. So I’ll do my best to connect the dots, but today will only be three updates, which is less than normal.

Back to it...After some pool time we went back and got ready to head to Animal Kingdom because we had some FP’s to use. We got to the bus stop at 10:15 and waited less than 2 minutes for a bus. Only problem was it was completely full. I mean they squeezed us on, but all four of us were standing. Turns out they were doing all five Crescent lake resorts in one route...not good Disney, not good!

We made it to Animal Kingdom at 10:45...finally!

Arriving later we decided to spend a little time doing something we don’t do as often, let the boys look at some of the animals in the Oasis area. It was pretty fun and a nice change of pace.

After a few minutes of this we got some photopass pics in front of the tree.

Before heading to get in line at an attraction we had never tried before. We’ll see if you can guess where with these next three pictures...it should be pretty easy I think!

Up Next: “Dad, I Just Want to do the Dragon Ride”​

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

In all my trips to WDW we have never eaten at Beaches and Cream... We're headed down in October (no Disney, just Discovery Cove and Sea World but staying at AKL)... I might have to see if I can "find a reservation"...

 

[cstorm65]

In all my trips to WDW we have never eaten at Beaches and Cream... We're headed down in October (no Disney, just Discovery Cove and Sea World but staying at AKL)... I might have to see if I can "find a reservation"...

Definitely worth it. Of course I would do it just for a No Way Jose!! haha

 

[cstorm65]

Day 12 - Part 2 - “Dad, I Just Want to Do the Dragon Ride”

We left off doing our first attraction of the day and it was It’s Tough to Be a Bug. This is not something we do very often, but the boys are at the age they really enjoyed it this time, especially DS6. After the ride we headed back and DS6 and I took a ride on Kali River Rapids.

The detail in all of the queues is so great at Animal Kingdom.

It was about 12:00 at this point and DS6 just kept saying, “Dad, I just want to do the dragon ride.” So we headed over to Pandora to use our FP on Flight of Passage. The arrival into Pandora is great and makes you think you are actually being transported to this place.

DS6 got his ride on Flight of Passage and it was great as always! Our plan had been to go to Hollywood Studios to use a couple DVC Fastpasses because DS6 wanted to do Rock ‘n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror again, but when it came down to it he just decided coming back to swim was what he wanted. So, we headed out of the park at 1:30 and after a bus showed up quickly we were back at the Yacht Club by 1:45.

Everyone except me laid down for a nap, but I was hungry since we didn’t really have lunch. I had seen the seafood roll at Hurricane Hanna’s a couple of times and wanted to try it, so I figured this was my shot. The view from my table was pretty good!

And...here it was:

I wasn’t all that impressed and I think I actually preferred the lobster roll at Boardwalk Bakery. Also, this one was hard because you couldn’t really pick it up and easy it, you just had to use a fork which made it a little messy. Anyways, at about I went and got DS6 and took him down to swim. We swam for a while, but at about 4:30 a storm moved in and we had to get out. Of course DS6 talked me into the arcade:

While it was raining outside.

We had fun though and headed back to the room at about 5:00 to get cleaned up for dinner. I had found another ADR at one of our favorite places.

Up Next: Beaches & Cream...Yes, Again!​

 

[cstorm65]

Day 12 - Part 3 - Beaches & Cream...Yes, Again!

So, we liked Beaches & Cream so much a couple of days ago I tried to get us a reservation again for tonight and we did it! We were already ready for this place again!

We did go with a different entree this time as DW and I decided to split the Chicken Fried Steak.

That picture was after I cut off about half of it for DW, so it was really good size. We really enjoyed this and the gravy was very good, which kind of makes a chicken fried steak great!

We were sharing a meal, but we decided to try both of the specialty fries. First, the chili cheese fries:

They were delicious as were the second kind we tried, the bacon ranch cheese fries:

We got the bacon ranch ones the first time we came and loved them so much we got them again! Either way they were both great! DS2 ended up with the mac ‘n cheese kids meal and he ate it fairly well.

DS6 got a grilled cheese kids meal. They didn’t have this on the kids menu, but the waitress said we could indeed get it as a kids meal since they make the grilled cheeses on the adults menu too.

As much as I wanted a No Way Jose DW and I decided we’d try something different so we split the Fudge Mud Slide Sundae.

And...it was awesome just like the different sundaes we had the last time we were here! The brownie was great that went with it and paired perfectly with the ice cream. Overall, we loved this place again and it was awesome that both of our reservations were made the day we wanted them!

After dinner we headed back over towards the Yacht Club.

We caught this cool view on the way back:

We were back at the room by about 7:30 and I went to start some laundry before heading to take DS6 swimming a bit before bed. DW was going to put DS2 to bed. DS6 and I swam until 9:00, but instead of going back to the room we headed out to the boat dock to watch this:

DW was busy posting her collage of the day after DS2 went to sleep!

But what an awesome night around the Yacht Club. Stormalong Bay and IllumiNations...not much better than that.

We headed back towards the Yacht Club after IllumiNations ended and DS6 and I got a Mickey Bar before going back to the room.

Who doesn’t love a late night Mickey Bar? We put DS6 in bed at about 9:45 and I went to get the laundry out of the dryer. I got it all in packing cubes as tomorrow would be our last full day before heading home. By 10:30 though I was exhausted too and ready for some sleep. We wanted to make the most of our last day!

Up Next: “Dad...That Was Scarrrrry!”​

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

It would be hard spending too much time at the parks while staying at that beautiful resort!!! And that Fudge Mud Slide Sundae looks AH-MAZING!!!! Hot fudge beats peanut butter!!!!

 

[cstorm65]

It would be hard spending too much time at the parks while staying at that beautiful resort!!! And that Fudge Mud Slide Sundae looks AH-MAZING!!!! Hot fudge beats peanut butter!!!!

Well...it was amazing. I'm a peanut butter person, but i enjoyed this one as well! haha

 

[cstorm65]

Day 13 - Part 1 - “Dad...That Was Scarrrry!”

After getting a good night's sleep we were up by 7:15 for our last day at Disney World. After discussing things the day before DS6 really wanted to ride Rock ‘n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror again, so Hollywood Studios was where we were heading when we left the room at 8:00. We walked since the boats weren’t running due to bridge construction and it really is a beautiful walk.

Getting closer:

Before too long on the walk we were seeing some Skyliner construction...I know, I know, this is old news now!

Eventually DS6 saw one of the things we were going to Hollywood Studios for that morning:

By 8:30 we had navigated the walk over to Hollywood Studios and that included stopping to fill up our water bottles and stuff before we left the Yacht Club.

They opened the park at 8:40 and we were held just inside in this group until about 8:54.

DW and DS6 were heading to Tower of Terror right off the bat. DS2 and I hung out on Sunset Boulevard.

Once the crowd heading to the rides had disbursed DS2 and I made it into the Tower of Terror gift shop. I didn’t remember ever really stopping to look around this gift shop in the past and it had some cool stuff.

This was especially cool for me, the Physics teacher:

DW and DS6 eventually came off and they had a great time. DW isn’t a big fan of drop rides, but DS6 wanted her to go with him. She enjoyed it...maybe!

Up Next: More Thrill Rides for Us​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I love that mug!

Last days are always bitter sweet.

 

[cstorm65]

I love that mug!

Last days are always bitter sweet.

It was a cool mug and I can't figure out why I had never really looked through that shop before. haha

 

[cstorm65]

Day 13 - Part 2 - More Thrill Rides for Us

After DW and DS6’s ride on Tower of Terror we headed over for me and DS6 to take a ride at one of our favorites:

It was about 9:16 when we arrived and DS6 wanted DW to go with him first so they took a quick ride to the concert! When they came out they had a great time, though I’m not sure why DS6 has the sad face here. He enjoys messing with us when its time to take a picture!

After they were done DS6 and I went on Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n Roller Coasters with the child swap passes we had gotten earlier. DW and DS2 went on down Sunset Boulevard to do some shopping!

DS6 and I had some great rides and it was about 10:05 when we finished up. We met back up with DW and DS2 on Sunset Boulevard and got a few pictures.

By 10:15 we headed towards the front of the park, yep, the two thrill rides were our goal and then DS6 wanted some more time at Stormalong Bay! We did stop and look for a shirt for DS6 on our way out. This one was pretty clever:

We also took a minute for a quick photopass picture before leaving the park:

We were out of the park by 10:25 and a bus was waiting to take us to the Yacht Club so we jumped on it. The walk is ok, but it’s certainly nice to have a ride back.

As you can imagine leaving the park this early gave us a pretty un-crowded bus.

Also, this pic kind of sums up the trip for DS6...we had a great time, but even with all of our breaks and rest times we were tired!

We were back at the Yacht Club by 10:45 and got our swimsuits on and headed to the pool. On the way I saw some of the cool Yacht Club merchandise. I ended up getting the mug the next day and still have it hanging in my office and drink coffee from it at school!

We headed out to the pool at 11:15 and were able to find a table with an umbrella to put our stuff on while we spent our last bit of time at Stormalong Bay.

It was an awesome late morning at the pool and we stayed until about 1:00 before heading to find some lunch. It was hard saying goodbye to this view:

Up Next: A Final Trip to the Magic Kingdom​

 

[cstorm65]

Day 13 - Part 3 - A Final Trip to the Magic Kingdom

After our time at the pool we stopped into the Ale & Compass Market to have some lunch. This place doesn’t have a ton of options, but we just wanted something quick and easy before resting a bit before our last evening at Disney World. DS2 had himself a kids turkey sandwich.

He liked it well enough. DS6 was very happy they had a little salad that he could get and he ate everything in this! This kid and his salads!

I got the Ham and Cheddar Sandwich on a pretzel roll. It was pretty good. Nothing special and the pretzel roll was a little bit thick for me, but it was still ok.

Finally, DW got the Grilled Chicken Panini. She said it was ok, but that there just wasn’t much flavor to it.

So, the Ale & Compass Market is pretty good for grab and go stuff, but we would definitely recommend eating somewhere else for a meal. The Beach Club Marketplace or Hurricane Hanna’s are both much better and a short walk.

DS2 decided to explore a bit and wanted to play with the freestyle machine:

And here’s a sampling of some of the grab and go thing they have here.

After lunch we headed back to the room and finished up some of our packing since we were leaving the next day...everyone’s least favorite part of the trip.

At about 1:45 DS6 and I went to the arcade so DS2 could nap a bit before we went back to the Magic Kingdom tonight.

We had fun playing (“spending the rest of our money”) in the arcade and by about 2:45 we headed back so DS6 could nap a bit before leaving. He slept until 4:00 and shortly thereafter we were at the bus stop ready to head back to the Magic Kingdom one final time!

A bus came at 4:25 and we were here by 4:45:

We got our traditional train station picks on our last night to commemorate another great trip!

We headed inside and looked around the train station a bit as we had about 10 minutes before our first FP of the night. DS6 likes this picture of the train station:

We headed into our first FP of the night at 4:55. We always like to meet Mickey on our final night!

We had a great meet and greet and got to say goodbye to Mickey on this trip.

It was 5:15 when we finished up and the night was just getting started...so what would we be up to next?

Up Next: Our First Time at the Laugh Floor​