Escape from Tornado Alley to Food, Tropical Storms and Mickey - Completed 3/22

[cstorm65]

Thursday, June 13 – Part 3 – Does this Store Ever End?

We are getting close to the end of this report. I can’t believe I am still going!

After our lunch at Sunshine Seasons we headed over to take a ride on The Seas with Nemo and Friends. We actually had to wait about 10-15 minutes for this, which is pretty long for this ride. Braxton actually fell asleep on my shoulder while we were standing in line, but he woke back up enough to enjoy the ride.

April and Braxton headed back to the room at this point while my Mom and I went back in to use our Soarin’ FP’s. My mom loved the ride. It may have been her favorite ride of the entire week. After this we headed back to the room to join April and Braxton for a little afternoon break.

Braxton took a short nap and then woke up and played with this all afternoon.

We also spent some time at the pool this afternoon, as it was a beautiful day.

By 6:00 we were refreshed and ready to go again and headed back towards the World Showcase. We walked by the under construction Spice Road Table. This restaurant looks really interesting now that it is actually open and the menu is really intriguing with the small plates and such.

We then headed over to Japan and the Matsuriza show happened to be going on. Braxton loved it and was just dancing as much as he could in his stroller. It was actually a pretty cool show I thought and they were really talented at what they do.

We then stopped into the store in the Japan Pavilion for the first time ever and discovered this was the biggest store we have ever seen. Or so it seemed. We eventually made it to the “dress room” and I tried to get April to try on one of the dresses, but unfortunately she wouldn’t do it.

Then I tried to get my Mom to try one on and she turned me down as well!

By that point we were about halfway through the store. I mean that store just keeps going and going and going. Finally we got to the end and got some pictures coming out of the Japan area.

Up Next: Sausages, Schnitzel, and Strudel…Oh My!​

 

[MEK]

First of all, I have to say that I totally want one of those Mickey pillows! Wow - that thing is SO cool. No wonder Braxton loves it so much!

I'm glad you had a great meal at Mama Melrose. My last meal there was just "eh" so its good to hear about a good dining experience.

Bummer on not getting the reserved seating for F! That really stinks. You would think there would be a better system when the seating is delayed. It was nice of them to try to honor it another night, but when you only have so many nights and plenty of plans it just doesn't always work.

 

[cherylsmike]

I am so glad I found your report! I am just loving it. That first photo of Braxton is super adorable! I get a little queasy on those simulators just like April. My DH and I always smile at each other when the MK music plays too.

Someday..... I will let my DH plan a trip. For now it's all me. We cut the distance between OKC and Dallas in North Texas. I have a cousin in Moore (a mile south of tornado path) and his sister actually lives in Bethany (I noticed your shirt!). She is moving in a couple of weeks but I thought that was pretty cool! I have another cousin in Mustang and an Aunt in Tuttle. We are the only Texans at the moment, so all family stuff is in OK. I can just imagine how scary the storm was for a trip send off.

For our first couple's trip the kids "nanny", a friend of mine, had the kids in the ice/snow storm of 2011. My husband couldn't have off when the kids had off for school but turns out they weren't in school anyway. Weather. But we made sure we sent the photos of the pool board at Coronado that said the temp was 85 .

 

[cstorm65]

First of all, I have to say that I totally want one of those Mickey pillows! Wow - that thing is SO cool. No wonder Braxton loves it so much!

I'm glad you had a great meal at Mama Melrose. My last meal there was just "eh" so its good to hear about a good dining experience.

Bummer on not getting the reserved seating for F! That really stinks. You would think there would be a better system when the seating is delayed. It was nice of them to try to honor it another night, but when you only have so many nights and plenty of plans it just doesn't always work.

He still loves this pillow to this day. I like it too as that is what I use if we have to lay in his room for a few minutes if he is ever having trouble getting to sleep!!

I was really not expecting a great meal since I had read just so-so reviews of the place, so it was a nice surprise. We may have just caught it on a really good day, but I'll take it.

I am so glad I found your report! I am just loving it. That first photo of Braxton is super adorable! I get a little queasy on those simulators just like April. My DH and I always smile at each other when the MK music plays too.

Someday..... I will let my DH plan a trip. For now it's all me. We cut the distance between OKC and Dallas in North Texas. I have a cousin in Moore (a mile south of tornado path) and his sister actually lives in Bethany (I noticed your shirt!). She is moving in a couple of weeks but I thought that was pretty cool! I have another cousin in Mustang and an Aunt in Tuttle. We are the only Texans at the moment, so all family stuff is in OK. I can just imagine how scary the storm was for a trip send off.

For our first couple's trip the kids "nanny", a friend of mine, had the kids in the ice/snow storm of 2011. My husband couldn't have off when the kids had off for school but turns out they weren't in school anyway. Weather. But we made sure we sent the photos of the pool board at Coronado that said the temp was 85 .

I bet he loved you sending that photo to him...how thoughtful!!!

Thanks for reading along.

 

[cherylsmike]

Don't worry, DH took the photo. We sent it to the kids and the "nanny". Though I do confess the kids and I did leave him home for our Christmas trip later that year. And then we left the kids home again in April 2013. Now DD(17) and I are leaving DH and DS(almost 15 and says he is Disney done) home. It's so hard to be the one that always has to go...sigh .

 

[cstorm65]

Don't worry, DH took the photo. We sent it to the kids and the "nanny". Though I do confess the kids and I did leave him home for our Christmas trip later that year. And then we left the kids home again in April 2013. Now DD(17) and I are leaving DH and DS(almost 15 and says he is Disney done) home. It's so hard to be the one that always has to go...sigh .

Oops. I misread your story. Poor kids! And poor you for having to go on those trips!!

 

[cstorm65]

Thursday, June 13 – Part 4 – Sausages, Schnitzel, and Strudel…Oh My!

From the title of this section you can probably guess where we were having dinner, but we had a few more countries to make it through on the way. Braxton stole April’s sunglasses at some point.

Then somewhere around Italy Braxton decided he was going to just wilt away to nothing if he didn’t have a snack. So we stopped and had some goldfish or something of the sort.

Finally, we made it into this pavilion for dinner…

…and to our 7:00 pm ADR here:

I checked us in at 6:45 and the area was just slammed. There were three groups in front of me that wanted walk up reservations and they were told it would be 90 minutes before they could accommodate walk-ups. Unfortunately it took about 10 minutes to explain that to these people, as they just couldn’t understand why a reservation was needed in a theme park. They might want to do some research! We looked in the Germany shops after we got our pager and Braxton tried on an interesting hat.

We were finally buzzed up to be seated at around 7:20, so it was a little bit of a wait. We were sat with a mother and her two kids and forgive me, but I didn’t get were they were from. We had a very nice time chatting with them, but Braxton was getting a little burned out on table service meals at this point. He wasn’t very interested in sitting still and 7:20 was a little later than we had been eating.

We were set on the upper level and here was the view from our table.

I didn’t get many food pictures as we were really trying to entertain Braxton. He was ok while the band was out, but they went on break after about 20 minutes of sitting there and he did get a little cranky after that. I did remember to take a picture of my plate, sorry I had already eaten half of it!

We really enjoyed the food for the most part. I really like schnitzel when eating German food and I found the schnitzel was unfortunately just ok, but that was probably because the food has to sit on a buffet for a little while before being eaten. The sausages were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. I also tend to really enjoy German potato salad and it was good here as well, and that is a good thing as I am not a potato salad fan in real life. The highlight for me during this meal was the German Mac ‘n Cheese which was awesome and really cheesy. The other highlight was a fish in a mustard type sauce, which was incredible and I had 3-4 pieces of it. That dish was certainly not what I was expecting to be the highlight of this meal. The desserts were solid from the Bavarian Cheesecake to the strudel. We have a German town not to far from us and we always pick up some strudel when passing through and this was not as good as we get there. But again, anytime food sits on a buffet it is probably going to not be as good.

So overall we really enjoyed Biergarten, but it may not be an every trip location for us. Their were some unexpected highlights in the meal, but some of the things we were really looking forward to, like the sausages, schnitzel, and strudel, were just okay. We will definitely be back at some point in the future though.

After dinner it was about 8:30 and we had planned on staying and catching IllumiNations on our next to last night, but Braxton was getting ready for bed so we headed back towards the International Gateway. I think we were all way to full from dinner to even care about watching IllumiNations or not. We got back into the room at about 9:00 and with the Boardwalk view we were treated to IllumiNations from our balcony as we got ready for bed.

Up Next: Disney Transportation…A Love/Hate Relationship​

 

[cstorm65]

Friday, June 14 – Part 1 – Disney Transportation…A Love/Hate Relationship

We are finally to the last day!!!

We got up around 7:30 this morning and Braxton decided to play with his new Mickey pillow a little bit before we headed to the bus stop.

We hurried to the bus stop by 7:55. April looks tired doesn’t she?

The bus came at about 8:10, which was a little behind the schedule we wanted to be on to make sure we saw the welcome show one final time. I’m sure with the title of this report you figured out we may have a problem with that plan. Here is our time schedule over the next 50 minutes:

8:10 – Bus Arrives at Boardwalk
8:14 – Bus Leaves Boardwalk
8:19 – Bus Arrives at Swan (or Dolphin I can’t remember which comes first on the route)
8:25 – Bus Leaves Swan (Took a while to load as the bus stop was crowded)
8:29 – Bus Arrives at Dolphin (Only one family can squeeze on because bus is so full)
8:32 – Bus Leaves Dolphin
8:38 – Get in line at MK toll plaza
8:41 – Pull through toll plaza and down the road around the lagoon
8:43 – Hit traffic jam between the toll plaza and Contemporary…Cast Members going to work
8:56 – Arrive at stop light by Contemporary after traffic jam
8:57 – Unload bus
9:01 – Walked under train station.

First of all the Boardwalk/Swan/Dolphin is just awful for Magic Kingdom bus transportation. It is the only place on property where three resorts share one bus route. Second, the bus driver informed us the traffic jam happens every morning because of Magic Kingdom cast members going to work. Can they not figure out how to get cast members to the parking lot a better way than the only one lane road to get buses to the parks? So by this point I had been standing on a bus for 50 minutes, we missed the opening show, and I was not happy. Once we finally got into the park I ran over and grabbed FP’s for Big Thunder while the April, Braxton, and Gigi headed to get a ride on Dumbo in.

I got FP’s with a 9:45 return time and got back just in time to see April and Braxton ride.

I then went and rode Dumbo with Braxton again with a very short wait before heading over to ride Under the Sea. It was colorful as usual!

Next up we headed into Big Top Treats and got a couple of breakfast pastries to split. This was a great value as I got a cheese Danish for only $2.99. It was huge and April and I both ate off of it. I will definitely be going back here for breakfast pastries in the future.

After having a little breakfast it was about 9:45 and we were headed to see Minnie and Daisy at Pete’s Silly Sideshow. Braxton loved meeting the ladies.

By this point our window was open so I grabbed a FP for Space Mountain for 11:15 am. We headed around to use our Big Thunder FP and stopped for a ride on the Haunted Mansion. Braxton sat through this ride just fine, as I don’t think he was old enough to know to be scared yet. I am not sure he will do this on our trip this summer though because he will probably be old enough to get scared. We used our Big Thunder fastpass and whoever stayed with Braxton first found a spot inside Pecos Bills for a snack.

After Big Thunder we were headed through the hub and happened upon the Move It Shake It Dance Party and we ended up being right next to the float with Mickey on it and so Braxton wanted to get out and dance.

After finding this little bit of Disney magic we headed over to and used our Space Mountain FP and grabbed a ride swap pass for later in the day. By this point it was around 11:45 and we had a lunch reservation to get to.

Up Next: Kona Café ADR​

 

[sommergirl25]

Last day.... how is that possible??? I have enjoyed reading! I love y'alls touring style. So exciting that y'all are going back this summer. Hopefully we won't have any tornadoes to deal with.

 

[cstorm65]

Last day.... how is that possible??? I have enjoyed reading! I love y'alls touring style. So exciting that y'all are going back this summer. Hopefully we won't have any tornadoes to deal with.

I know...I always hate the last day. It certainly makes it easier to write this though knowing we are heading back down in less than 4 months. Fingers crossed for good weather!

 

[cstorm65]

Friday, June 14 – Part 2 – Kona Café ADR

We left off as we were heading out of the Magic Kingdom to our lunch ADR at Kona Café. Braxton fell asleep on our way out in the stroller as it was about time for his nap. We headed through the Emporium and some of the Main Street Citizens walked out from the back while we were going through and they put on quite a show while looking at Braxton since he was sleeping. One of the ladies had to call the others over to see him and they were whispering about him and how cute he was!

By 12:10 we were boarding this…

We stopped at the Contemporary to look around as we had about 45 minutes to kill and my mom wanted to stop in a few gift shops. We had never been in the Contemporary so we hopped off the monorail and looked around for a while and my mom got something in the gift shop. Braxton on the other hand was still fast asleep.

As we were waiting on the monorail to pick us up after our detour I shot a photo through the windows of the new bus station at the Magic Kingdom. It is by this point open, but we were kind of impressed with how big it was going to be.

We then hopped aboard the monorail to the Poly and enjoyed the short ride over.

We checked in at 12:35, about 10 minutes early and were seated right away. Braxton was still asleep. I will say the staff was great in that they gave us a table where it was convenient for us to just pull the stroller up next to us so Braxton could continue sleeping. This allowed him to get another 20 minutes or so of his nap in.

We all shared an appetizer of the Sticky Wings, which had good flavor, although we were a little disappointed in the number of wings you actually get. It did not seem like you got a whole lot, but I guess that is what an appetizer is for.

About the time we finished the wings Braxton woke up and decided he wanted to color a little bit.

We all ended up going with the tacos as April and I have had them before and know how unbelievable they are. I got the fish tacos, which were awesome, and April and my mom got the Pork tacos. The taco shell they serve them in is just fantastic. Here is a picture of April’s. Sorry again, I forgot to take any pictures until we were into the meal.

Braxton was enjoying his milk.

Braxton also spent almost the entire meal pointing and laughing at the odd shaped fans that were up on the ceiling of the restaurant. He thought they were really funny for some reason.

Then at some point April said something he thought was funny as well!

Kona Café was a great meal for us once again and the quality of the food was excellent. The only negative was that our waiter was a little slow and inattentive. We didn’t want a super fast meal, but we wanted to get back to our resort for an afternoon break at a relatively decent time. It was still a nice meal, is fairly reasonably priced, is a great location for a lunch after a Magic Kingdom morning, and it is never all that crowded so you don’t have to wait long for your table. Overall we had a great final morning and were now ready to get rested up for our last night at Disney World…but not without a little dessert first.

Up Next: How High Can I Make it Go?​

 

[cstorm65]

Friday, June 14 – Part 3 – How High Can I Make it Go?

After we finished our lunch at Kona Café we headed downstairs at the Polynesian to grab some dessert. I rounded the corner into Captain Cook’s and for the first time was able to lay my eyes upon the glory that is a self-service Dole Whip machine. I then embarked on a quest to see how high I could make it go. I didn’t do as well as some other people I have seen in trip reports, but I still had plenty. I had eaten some before I remembered a pictures…I know bad trip reporter!

We found a seat on a bench in the hallway outside the restaurant and had our treats. Braxton did not love his bite as you can see from the picture below. Boy does he have a lot to learn. He is not going to have the option in the future of disliking Dole Whips!

We thought about taking a taxi back to the Boardwalk, but we didn’t know how much of a hassle it would be to find a taxi with a car seat so we just decided to ride the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom.

I think April was about sick of pictures by this point!

We then caught a bus to the Boardwalk and were back by 2:30 for a break. We were a little later than we wanted, but would still manage to rest for about 3 hours or so before heading out again. We had a really nice break and at about 6:00 we headed to the bus stop for our last night at the Magic Kingdom.

Let me make one final rant (you can only hope!) about the transportation at the Boardwalk. This trip took us about 50 minutes due to stops at the other two resorts on the way. I think one of the main problems with transportation is how Disney is adding DVC additions at many of the deluxe resorts. We observed this when we stopped on a bus at the contemporary earlier in the week as well. It is very cost effective for Disney to build DVC at the already existing resorts because many of the amenities are already in place, but it definitely affects the efficiency of the services and the transportation. So a place like the Boardwalk Inn now has the Boardwalk Villas to share a bus with and on top of that it has to stop at the Swan and Dolphin. You are just asking for long bus rides. People staying at the Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower have to share with the Polynesian, which will soon have its own DVC, so it also is four resorts sharing one bus. It is a good move monetarily for Disney, but I think it would benefit them in guest satisfaction as well if they would re-think some of the things like transportation and quick service options. Ok, I will finish my rant about that and maybe someone from Disney is reading my trip report to fix it!

We were back at the Magic Kingdom by 7:00 and ready to take some pictures in our family shirts.

Up Next: Braxton’s Good Bye to the Magic Kingdom​

 

[cstorm65]

Friday, June 14 – Part 4 – Braxton’s Good Bye to the Magic Kingdom

I left off at about 7:00 on our last night of the trip and we had just entered the Magic Kingdom. We first of all wanted to take some pictures in front of the train station in our shirts we had all gotten over the course of the trip. My mom was gracious enough to be our photographer out here as there were no photopass photographers out in front of the train station.

We then stopped right at the beginning of Main Street to take some pictures with the castle in the distance. Again, there were no photopass photographers in this area so my mom just took them. Braxton, for some reason, just wanted to lay his head on April’s head while we took these pictures here. It was quite funny as we were trying to get him to hold his head up, but he just didn’t want to. At some point we made our way down Main Street and found some photopass photographers. The last one we found, closest to the castle, was awesome. He caught Braxton by surprise with one picture and then had ud do a fun pose at the end.

After having our photos we headed to grab a bite to eat. I think April and my mom stopped at Casey’s again and we met up at Pecos Bills where Braxton and I ate. I didn’t take any specific notes so I guess everything was good.

After dinner we headed over to one of our favorite attractions…Mickey’s Philharmagic. I actually think we may have rode it’s a small world in here, but I must have forgotten to put it in my notes. Anyways back to Philharmagic. We walked in right as the previous show started so we had to play for a while in the lobby area waiting for the doors to open. This, of course, gave us an excuse for some 3D glasses pictures.

We shopped a little after the show and Braxton tried on a hat.

After this it was about 8:30 and Braxton was about to crash and I think we had worn my mom out as well so she decided that they would try to get out of the park before the parade and go back to the room. April and I walked them to the front gate and with this Braxton and Gigi said their good bye to Magic Kingdom for this trip. It is a little sad knowing the trip is coming to a close, but it always helps to know you are addicted the way we are so we will be back! I think we actually parked the stroller by Town Hall so my mom wouldn’t have to mess with getting it on and off the bus. Hopefully we would remember it when we left in a few hours when April and I leave!

Up Next: Until Next Time​

 

[sommergirl25]

I love the pictures in the shirts! We got the same shirt for Gabe when we were there in February!

 

[cstorm65]

I love the pictures in the shirts! We got the same shirt for Gabe when we were there in February!

We thought it was a nice way to get some good pictures. Not sure we are going to buy the yearly shirts like every trip as they aren't the cheapest t-shirts around, but it is a nice thing to do once in a while. Thanks for reading along!

 

[cstorm65]

Friday, June 14 – Part 5 – Until Next Time

April and I headed back into the park for our final few hours of time. I know I have mentioned it before, but we love late night touring at the Magic Kingdom. The park has a great atmosphere that late at night. Our first stop was obvious…Aloha Isle for our final Dole Whip of the trip. After eating our Dole Whip we headed over to ride Big Thunder Mountain with a fastpass that we had gotten earlier. This ride is so much better at night. As we got off I discussed with April how I can’t wait until Braxton is a little older so we can do some late night touring as a family. April then slapped me (figuratively) for suggesting that I wanted him to grow up faster. She wants him to be a baby forever!

Anyway, we moved on around the park and did the Haunted Mansion a final time before heading to the Storybook Circus area. We grew to really love this area at night. It has a great atmosphere with all of the lights in the darkness.

We walked over and did Under the Sea before heading into Big Top Treats. That store became one of our favorites in all of Disney World during this trip. The mix of shopping, atmosphere, and sweet treats make it an awesome store.

After finishing up in the Storybook Circus we headed over for one final pass through Tomorrowland. We took a spin on the most relaxing ride anywhere…the TTA. Which speaking of this ride it is scheduled to be down until the last night of our trip this summer. Thank goodness it is going to open up as I don’t know if I can go a trip without relaxing a little bit on the TTA. Following our relaxing ride we finished by using a child swap pass we had from earlier in the day at Space Mountain. It is a fantastic ride to end our trip on.

We headed out at around 10:45. The park was going to be open until midnight, but we had a long travel day ahead of us and we had done about all we wanted anyway. We said goodnight and “until next time” to the Magic Kingdom. We headed towards the bus stop and yes…we remembered the stroller. People must have thought we were crazy as we just put the backpack in the stroller seat so hopefully they didn’t think our kid was underneath it!

We were back to the Boardwalk by 11:30 or so and in bed by midnight for the final time.

Up Next: Packing, Check Out, Shopping, and the Tragical Express​

 

[MEK]

I see you were an updating fool was I was away. It always takes me forever to catch up on everyone's TR when I get home. I've got some serious reading to do.

I just finished you update with your MK PP pictures (last day pics). Yeah - I skip around a lot when I am behind. But I just have to say that those pictures are wonderful. You all look so happy. That photographer really captured the magic.

I promise to be back soon to catch up properly!

 

[cstorm65]

I see you were an updating fool was I was away. It always takes me forever to catch up on everyone's TR when I get home. I've got some serious reading to do.

I just finished you update with your MK PP pictures (last day pics). Yeah - I skip around a lot when I am behind. But I just have to say that those pictures are wonderful. You all look so happy. That photographer really captured the magic.

I promise to be back soon to catch up properly!

Welcome home! The last photographer we got closest to the castle was awesome. He spent forever with the family in front of us and then with us and then had another family or two waiting, but he got some great shots.

 

[emmysmommy]

Oh my! What a trip! I must admit that I skimmed through most but I am going back to read every word since I'm very interested in your adventures. Of course, now you have almost concluded this.

Isn't God good how he blesses us with the most amazing gifts - your little Braxton is adorable!!

My mom is from Oklahoma and we were in that area for a family road trip in May last year when the Moore OK tornado hit as well as the one the day before in Shawnee. We were camped out in my parent's motorhome watching the news and praying that all was well for those in Shawnee. Little did we know the one the next day would be so deadly. I remember those two days in May so vividly so your story captured my attention.

Thanks for sharing your family's vacation!

 

[cstorm65]

Oh my! What a trip! I must admit that I skimmed through most but I am going back to read every word since I'm very interested in your adventures. Of course, now you have almost concluded this.

Isn't God good how he blesses us with the most amazing gifts - your little Braxton is adorable!!

My mom is from Oklahoma and we were in that area for a family road trip in May last year when the Moore OK tornado hit as well as the one the day before in Shawnee. We were camped out in my parent's motorhome watching the news and praying that all was well for those in Shawnee. Little did we know the one the next day would be so deadly. I remember those two days in May so vividly so your story captured my attention.

Thanks for sharing your family's vacation!

We are so blessed with him. We went through so much in the two years prior to him being born we were so discouraged, but now we can look back and see God's plan was bigger and better than ours!

The tornados last year were just heart breaking. The church we attend went and cooked meals in Moore in a mobile kitchen for weeks afterwards. We still drive through there now, almost a year later, and new homes are finally being built again. Thanks for coming over. I'm almost done with this report, but I guess I will do a pre-trip report for our first cruise this summer. We hit 99 days yesterday...so double digits!!!