Escape From School to Crazy Christmas Crowds - A December 2017 Trip Report - Finished 5/20

[cstorm65]

Those early morning flights can be a pain but the pay off is great, arriving in Disney early enough for a fun day!

The kids look like they traveled pretty good this early morning, so cute!

It was definitely a pain to get up early, but it was nice to be on the ground by around noon for sure! The kids did great!

Yay another trip report. Your kids are so adorable and they grew from your last trip report! Looking forward to more.

They grow so fast for sure! Wait until I get through this trip and you see our one from this past summer!

That's awesome that your youngest co-operated so well on both flights. That's a feat for anyone so early in the morning, much less a 1 yr old.

He was really good, luckily we got him to nap on that first flight which was a big key!

Hopping over from your last TR. looking forward to reading more about your adventures.

Thanks for coming over and reading along!

 

[annie170]

I've read a couple of your past reports. The boys are getting so big!

I also work in education, high school teacher, working with students with mild learning disabilities. Never a dull moment!

Are there no direct flights from Oklahoma City to Orlando? The kids handled two flights so well!

I love the early flights with arriving so early in Orlando. On our January, 2017 trip, we flew out of Chicago at 5:50 am and landed in Orlando at 9:00. It was amazing to spend pretty much the entire day at Epcot. However, by the end of the day, the grandkids were better behaved than the adults! That early flight caught up to most of us!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:10 and I will always plan on being two hours ahead of time,

We always do the same, you just never know with security!

We snapped a quick family selfie...sorry for the bad quality.

It's ok, it was 4AM! I still love it. Everyone is very happy for it being that early.

DW looks like she is not happy that you are taking that picture...

I know I have said it before, but he is just too cute!

 

[Lesley Wake]

We ended up at check in about 4:10 only to find a long line at the Southwest counter and no workers there. Turns out they didn’t open until 4:30 am to check people in. I could tell DW wanted to say something about 20 more minutes of sleep, so I just did it for her saying, “Why did we get up this early again?” She was not amused!

Ugh, thats the worst! Especially when you are still taking off in 2 hours so you have to rush after security!

 

[cstorm65]

I've read a couple of your past reports. The boys are getting so big!

I know...it happens so fast!

I also work in education, high school teacher, working with students with mild learning disabilities. Never a dull moment!

No doubt about it! It keeps us on our toes!

Are there no direct flights from Oklahoma City to Orlando? The kids handled two flights so well!

Funny story. The only consistent direct flights to Orlando from OKC are on Frontier Airlines...I'm not a big fan of them. Southwest offers a nonstop flight on Sunday's from OKC to MCO, but it only started this past summer. It is weird that we can get there now on that direct flight, but can't get home on a nonstop. I guess we'll take what we can get!

I love the early flights with arriving so early in Orlando. On our January, 2017 trip, we flew out of Chicago at 5:50 am and landed in Orlando at 9:00. It was amazing to spend pretty much the entire day at Epcot. However, by the end of the day, the grandkids were better behaved than the adults! That early flight caught up to most of us!

That's a dilemma for sure. You want to enjoy that first day, but not at the expense of being to tired to move the next day!! haha

Looking forward to reading more!

Thanks for reading along!

We always do the same, you just never know with security!

So true. Sometimes we breeze through security in 5 minutes and sometimes it takes 45.

It's ok, it was 4AM! I still love it. Everyone is very happy for it being that early.

Yes, it was early!!

DW looks like she is not happy that you are taking that picture...

More than anything she was probably still trying to wake up. I think she slept most of the way with DS1 and woke up as we were landing!

I know I have said it before, but he is just too cute!

He is, but the problem is he knows it too!

Ugh, thats the worst! Especially when you are still taking off in 2 hours so you have to rush after security!

I know. I never even thought that the counter wouldn't be open since they tell you two hours before, but at least now we know!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

He is, but the problem is he knows it too!

The really cute ones always know...

 

[cstorm65]

Day 1 - Part 2 - Your Room Is…….Not Quite Ready

After we landed we headed over and jumped on the first “ride” towards the main terminal. Of course the boys love this as all kids do. Although you can tell by the way he laid down in the second pic, DS5 is still not quite awake.

After reaching the main terminal we got our obligatory photos with the Mickey statue.

We actually persuaded DS1 to look at the camera here!

We made our way to the Magical Express counter by 12:45 and we pretty much walked right onto a bus by 12:50. We let DS5 pick our seat as the front of the bus was full already and of course he went straight to the back of the bus. Oh well...we will all get where we are going!

We were able to snap one selfie of the entire family before the bus pulled out, which was less than five minutes later.

It’s a good thing we took that picture when we did because no sooner had we started moving than this happened!

Overall, Magical Express was great at this trip. We walked right onto a bus when we arrived at the Magical Express area and the bus left less than five minutes after getting on it. And...our first stop was at All Star Sports, which is exactly where we were going.

Let me say...we certainly would have liked to stay at a moderate on this trip, but Christmas prices are high and of course there weren’t any discounts I could get so value it was. Also, I had used my one week of travel agent rooms in our summer trip so that wasn’t an option either. But, we were experiencing a new resort and that was somewhat exciting. Also, one positive feature was that we’d get to take advantage of our Tables in Wonderland and get a 20% discount at all of the meals at the resort.

We walked in at 1:30 and hadn’t gotten our room ready text or e-mail yet and the check in area was slammed, so we decided to walk around a bit and see if we got it so we wouldn’t have to wait in that line. I have no idea where this pic was taken, but this is where it is in order so I guess it happened here somewhere.

After about 15 minutes we decided to go eat and see if we get the text since the check in line was still long. We headed into the food court to decide what we wanted.

I ended up deciding on the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich - chicken breast tossed in Buffalo sauce, blue cheese coleslaw, and bacon with fresh fruit and french fries for $12.99.

This meal was ok, but not something I would probably order again. The buffalo sauce was pretty good on the sandwich, the chicken breast was just pretty dry and tasteless. If the chicken had been better the overall sandwich would have been pretty good.

DW ended up with the Pepperoni Flatbread - topped with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni served with a breadstick and side salad for $11.99.

This was actually a pretty good value. She could have easily shared with one of the boys since she got not only the entire flatbread, but the side salad as well. She said it was good, but not quite hot enough, like it had been made a little while ago and had sat for a bit.

DS5 had a hot dog and enjoyed it we got corn dog nuggets for DS1. He didn’t eat a ton, but I helped him finish them! DS1 was really into french fries on this trip so he ate a bunch of those.

At this point we headed out to just look around a bit. DS1 was looking tired again in the stroller!

While we were looking around at 2:45 and we were about to jump in line to see if our room was ready when I got a text message that said… “Welcome to Disney’s All Star Sports Resort. Thanks you for doing Online Check-In. Your Room is Not Quite Ready. We will text you a room number as soon as we can.” I had never gotten one of those text’s before. We had plans to go to Epcot for an early dinner and a couple of FP’s before heading back to get the boys in bed early by 8:00 or so. Well, our plan had been to check into the room by at least 3:00 and get settled before we left for Epcot so we could just come back later and put the boys to bed. We’ll see if we get in by 3:00 or not in the next update.

Up Next: Will Our Room Ever Be Ready?​

 

[Lesley Wake]

We actually persuaded DS1 to look at the camera here!

No tongues out during photos this trip!

 

[disneyAndi14]

We have got that text before, usually we get the room shortly after that, I hope you did! DS1 does look tired, hope he makes it at Epcot, lol!

 

[amberdc1987]

Gracious. Hopefully it wasn't to much longer for your room to be ready. I know it's exhausting after a long day of traveling....it's a lot on anyone. Your boys are precious!!

 

[annie170]

I stayed at All Star Movies last month and arrived at 2:30. I got the very same text while riding the Magical Express. I thought that maybe the room would be ready by the time I went through the check in line, but it was not. I got my mug and headed to Disney Springs. Never got room ready text, but the room was ready when I got back about 8:00 when my daughter and grandkids arrived. I was beginning to worry.

I noticed the All Star resorts food courts give an insane amount of fries with their meals. I needed your sweet son to help clean up our wasted fries!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Best spot on the train!

Let me say...we certainly would have liked to stay at a moderate on this trip, but Christmas prices are high and of course there weren’t any discounts I could get so value it was.

Hey, you are in Disney, who cares where you stay?!?!

This was actually a pretty good value. She could have easily shared with one of the boys since she got not only the entire flatbread, but the side salad as well. She said it was good, but not quite hot enough, like it had been made a little while ago and had sat for a bit.

that is a lot of food! The pizza does look like the cheese was already starting to cool. Blek.

 

[cstorm65]

No tongues out during photos this trip!

Well, we will see if that lasts! haha

We have got that text before, usually we get the room shortly after that, I hope you did! DS1 does look tired, hope he makes it at Epcot, lol!

About to post an update so you can see how quick we got in the room.

Gracious. Hopefully it wasn't to much longer for your room to be ready. I know it's exhausting after a long day of traveling....it's a lot on anyone. Your boys are precious!!

It was exhausting, but we were at Disney, can't get too frustrated!

I stayed at All Star Movies last month and arrived at 2:30. I got the very same text while riding the Magical Express. I thought that maybe the room would be ready by the time I went through the check in line, but it was not. I got my mug and headed to Disney Springs. Never got room ready text, but the room was ready when I got back about 8:00 when my daughter and grandkids arrived. I was beginning to worry.

We ended up getting a room ready text on this day, but I'll let you wait until in the next update to see when that was!

I noticed the All Star resorts food courts give an insane amount of fries with their meals. I needed your sweet son to help clean up our wasted fries!

I thought the same thing. DS1 didn't mind though! haha

Best spot on the train!

He loved laying there. Of course I think he might have fallen asleep if the ride had been longer.

Hey, you are in Disney, who cares where you stay?!?!

That was our thought for sure! And DS5 loved all of the sports stuff, especially the football field.

that is a lot of food! The pizza does look like the cheese was already starting to cool. Blek.

It was a good amount of food. Don't mean to spoil anything, but DW got it again later in the trip, but she made sure there weren't any sitting there first. It took about 5-7 minutes for them to cook one up and she really liked it that time.

 

[cstorm65]

Day 1 - Part 3 - Will Our Room Ever Be Ready?

We left off at about 2:45 after getting the text that our room wasn’t quite ready. We were holding out that meant it would be ready close to after 3:00, which is when they theoretically should be ready. To pass a little time I took DS5 in the arcade. He had seen it when we arrived and was already driving us crazy to get in there and play some games!

We played for just a few minutes and then went out to find the playground. On the way DS5 found the football field and was super excited about being able to play there!

We eventually found the playground, which was sand? I mean really, all that sand in everyone’s tennis shoes. Seriously Disney?

Anyway, the boys enjoyed it and while they played I headed back into the lobby since it was 3:15 now to see if our room was close to ready.

There was no line at check in now so I walked right up to have them check our room status and the cast member very nicely told us it wasn’t ready and that they weren’t sure when it would be. She wouldn’t tell me what was going on or anything, but I told her we wanted to get in before we headed to Epcot for our FP’s and she hinted that we should go ahead to Epcot. I figured it wasn’t something worth getting frustrated over and it certainly wasn’t her fault so I text DW to come on to the lobby so we could catch a bus. We headed over to check our carry on bags with bell services and saw this cool picture frame on the way.

After checking our bags we decided we’d make the most of our day and head on to Epcot. We got to the bus stop at about 3:30 and a bus came at 3:40.

We were at Epcot by 4:00 and heading into our first park of this Christmas trip. Our plan was just to hit our three FP’s in Future World and then head back and get to bed at a good time. First stop was to use our FP here to thank the Phoenicians!

It was a great ride with a FP and when we got off DS5 decided he would consult his map to get us to our next location. He really got into maps on this trip, although in this picture it looks like he was trying to taste this map!

We were going to head over to Club Cool since our next FP was not until 5:05 at Nemo, but on the way we got sidetracked by some fantastic music behind the fountain. This show is called “Joyful! A Celebration of the Season” and it was fantastic. The music talent was great and we stayed an watched about 15 minutes of this show.

After watching we headed in to get a quick drink from Club Cool and DS5 enjoyed it as he always does. I think this is one of his favorite places in all of Disney World!

We’ll pick it up there next time as we use our last two FP’s. And maybe we’ll finally get a text that our room is ready. As of 5:00 we still didn’t have a room assignment.

Up Next: “More Applesauce Please”​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

It was a great ride with a FP and when we got off DS5 decided he would consult his map to get us to our next location. He really got into maps on this trip, although in this picture it looks like he was trying to taste this map!

I mean that is one way to "read" a map!

Ugh I hope your room is ready soon!

 

[amberdc1987]

Oh my goodness. I can't believe it took them so long on your room. Wow! I know you obviously get in your room at some point but gracious, the anticipation is killing me. Like you said though, you are at Disney so you can't get to angry. I love Club Cool...well I mainly like tricking people into drinking Beverly...but same thing...right?
Love your leggings!!! And are you wearing booties? How did that do walking around the parks?

 

[cstorm65]

I mean that is one way to "read" a map!

Ugh I hope your room is ready soon!

We shall see. We were definitely ready to be able to get our stuff organized!

Oh my goodness. I can't believe it took them so long on your room. Wow! I know you obviously get in your room at some point but gracious, the anticipation is killing me. Like you said though, you are at Disney so you can't get to angry.

It took them forever for sure. I'm not sure what the hangup was, but we definitely didn't let it get us down.

I love Club Cool...well I mainly like tricking people into drinking Beverly...but same thing...right?

Who doesn't enjoy that!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 1 - Part 4 - “More Applesauce Please”

After our visit to Club Cool we headed over to use a FP at The Seas with Nemo. We always try and get a good selfie on this ride and it is so dark they never turn out well. DW tried a scared face pic this time with DS5.

We enjoyed our ride and then let the boys spend a few minutes looking at the Manatee. DS1 was mesmerized by it.

We had to get over to The Land to use our next FP by 6:00 at Soarin’. I let DW and DS5 go with the FP together and I took DS1 over to Sunshine Seasons to find something to snack on and we decided on some applesauce. He was in a stage at the time where he loved these little applesauce containers.

He sucked this one down in about 3.5 seconds and promptly said, “More Applesauce Please”. So we headed over and I bought two more this time for him and he polished both of them off. I was actually pleasantly surprised that these only cost 99 cents each which I thought was pretty reasonable for a snack that DS1 loved so much!

It took DW and DS5 about 35 minutes to ride with a FP and they returned at 6:25 and I headed onto the ride to use my FP. I got on the ride much quicker than them and was off by 6:45.

While I was waiting to get on the ride I finally got the text message we had been waiting on...our room was ready!!! We had been assigned room 9142 in the Home Run Building at All Star Sports. When I got back to DW and the boys we decided to head on back. We had used our three FP’s and done what we wanted and were ready to get settled in the room so the boys could have a good night's rest. So, we headed out towards the bus stop, but not before a few pics around Spaceship Earth.

We were at the bus stop by 7:05 and a bus came at exactly 7:08...very lucky!

Up Next: “Those Are Some Good Chicken Wings”​

 

[cstorm65]

Day 1 - Part 5 - “Those Are Some Good Chicken Wings”

It was actually a very quick ride back to All Star Sports as we were back by 7;20. We headed straight to the room and were super excited to be in the baseball section. This pool area with the lighting like a baseball field is awesome as you can see here:

We got in our room easily and I snapped a few pics before the boys made it messy.

Our luggage was already in the room, but I had to call down to have them send our carry ons we had checked as well as our groceries and a pack ‘n play. It took us about 30 minutes to unpack and then I headed down to the food court to pick up some dinner while DW got the boys ready for bed. I loved snapping pics of the resort, it was actually very photogenic for a value resort.

I got us dinner to take back to the room and we were so busy getting things settled in the room I forgot to snap any food pictures. I had a bacon cheeseburger which was good and had a good deal of bacon. DW ordered the Chicken Wings with Honey BBQ sauce and she exclaimed, “These are some good chicken wings”! We really weren’t expecting that, but it was a nice surprise. DS5 wanted mac ‘n cheese and he ate almost all of it, while DS1 wanted cereal. He wanted to eat it himself so naturally he ate about half of it and spilled the other half.

While I was gone all of our other stuff had been delivered, so we had the room all set up and organized by about 8:40 and the boys were ready for bed!

I headed back to fill up DW and I’s drink while the boys went to sleep. It didn’t take long after the early morning and even DW and I were asleep by 9:30 or so. We were ready to sleep and get ready for our first full day of this trip!

Up Next: The Great Bag Check Nightmare​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Man, good thing you guys didn't wait around for the room to be ready! That is really late. I wonder if they were having issues. I hope that isn't normal for there!

I am sure that location was perfect for you guys! It would have been TOTALLY lost on my girls.