Everything is Satisfactual - A TR (9/22-9/31) Updated 12/9 Last Day

[Hedy]

Aww, the princesses are too cute. I'm amused, their personalities sound in line with Mordie and Ferdie.

 

[MRYPPNS]

Looking forward to the stories!

 

[trixiequilts]

My DSis is an incredible aunt, just like you. My DDs adore her, as your nieces adore you. It's so cool to hear about your princesses, it's kind of like hearing what my DSis would say about my girls. Keep it coming, can't wait to hear how everything went.

 

[Donald is #1]

Pa Eeyore (69) - Father of Minnie. One of the few sources of tension this trip. More on that later.

Oh no, cue the ominous music!

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

Here I am! Here I am!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I'm here to read all about it!!!

 

[micandminforever]

I am looking forward to your report.

 

[MRYPPNS]

Wings....I think your Title dates might be wrong....unless I'm missing something and you get to go again!

 

[If U Had Wings]

Thanks Heidi! That would be some wishful dreaming on my part!

 

[Princesskeyblade]

I am in too!! :

 

[If U Had Wings]

After many calls back and forth with my family in Florida a date for the funeral was finally set for Saturday 8/23. While normally we fly into West Palm Beach when visiting my relatives, my parents chose to keep their original flight into Orlando and just drive down from there so they wouldn't get hit with a charge from the airline. From there they would rent a car, drive to Port St. Lucie, attend the funeral, and drive back to Orlando Saturday evening. My brother had already told my mother he was not going to the funeral. They would be leaving Thursday morning for their drive, arriving in Orlando Friday evening. That left me.

While theoretically I had a choice, really it didn't feel that way. Part of me was tempted to just fly down and head to the resort for 2 days of peace and relaxation by myself. Very tempted.

On my pre-trip report I said that my feelings about my Uncle were pretty non-existent. I hadn't seen him since a family wedding back in 2003, and truthfully he had been virtually non-existent my entire life. He'd occasionally breeze into town when he needed money and then disappear again. No one ever knew where he was or what he was doing. I honestly had zero interest in going, but there was my mother and my grandmother to think about. My mother at least had good memories from childhood of him, and as the only son in a very traditional Italian family he was my grandmothers not so secret favorite child. I had to go, no way around it. Sadly, I called Disney Dining and cancelled our ADR's for the Crystal Palace, and the Hollywood Brown Derby, and then CRO to cancel our first night at POFQ.

Thursday arrived quickly, and I really wasn't feeling the excitement of the trip any longer. The funeral had definitely put a damper on our enthusiasm. Plus my mother had managed to her siatic nerve the previous week, and it wasn't feeling much better. She was getting tingly pains down her leg, and stomach cramps. Not necessarily good for a trip to Disney. Nonetheless they were all set when I got to their house about 7pm that night. (Which reminds me - I'm never working a full day before I leave for a vacation again. Way too stressful). We loaded up the car, made a detour to Costco to pick up my new glasses that just came in that afternoon and stopped for a bite to eat before hitting the road.

We arrived at the La Quinta Inn in Armonk, NY about 10 pm, which was a relief. The GPS was leading us on some very dark, windy roads in the middle of what felt like nowhere. We were nearly convinced that we were driving in circles. The La Quinta was nothing fancy, but they had a good stay and park for the week package that was cheaper than taking a chance at parking in the airport lot. When we checked in they tell us that since we need to park for 10 days, we would have to pay an additional $30. I had thought that up to 10 days was included, but it was only 7. Of course that was the one piece of paper that I hadn't brought with me.

Next morning we caught a 7am shuttle to the airport for our 8:20 flight. It was a quick drive, and much more relaxing than when we leave from home and have to leave the house at about 5:30 am. (Really bad traffic!)

White Plains airport is very small. There are about 2 gates, a tiny coffee shop, one baggage claim belt, and a small check in area. That's about it, so it was nice not to have to wait too long around the airport. There was a Jet Blue flight boarding right before ours and they were actually calling people by name who hadn't boarded.

They started to board early, and as we were waiting in line a child with the family in front of us (about 5-6 years old) throws herself down on the floor and starts throwing a temper tantrum. Ugh! I swear it happens to me every time on a trip to Florida. I end up with a screaming and/or kicking child in back of me the entire trip. This time was no exception. The tantrum child ends up behind me where she proceded to scream the entire trip to Florida. I think what I found most annoying was that the parents did nothing to tell the child to stop or to remedy the behavior. I get less annoyed if I see parents trying to take control of the situation and failing. These two were flat out ignoring their child as if the behavior would miraculously go away. It didn't. I got to enjoy 2 1/2 hours of non-stop screaming.

We arrived in Orlando, and I wistfully watched the majority of people heading off to the Magical Express window. Not us. We trudged off to baggage claim and the car rental counter.

We hit the road and had about a 2 hour drive down to my grandmothers house. The remanants of Faye were all over the place on the drive. The toll booths were actually all free because the automated system had shut down, and their were rivers running along side the roads from all the rain.

We arrived in Port St. Lucie around 2/3 and headed right over to my grandmothers house, where my cousins all stopped by to visit with us. It was horrible that it took such a circumstance to get us back together, but it was wonderful getting to see my family again. Growing up we spent so much time together it was like having additional brothers and a sister. I miss them all terribly. One of them had been pretty sick for awhile, so it was great being together. We were up half the night sitting around the table chatting and laughing, just like old times.

It was up early the next day for the funeral. It made for a long day, and I tried to help keep my cousins kids occupied when I could. One of my cousins and I sat discussing how sad the whole event was. Not because of his death, but by the fact that no one showed up for the funeral other than our immediate family. No one, even his roomate didn't show up. It just struck me as awfully sad that he had lived his life without making enough of an impact on anyones life that they would want to show up to pay their respects to you.

We went back to the house and stayed until about 4pm or so when we decieded to head back up to Orlando. The rain was starting again and we wanted to get there before it started getting dark. We said our goodbyes and hit the road. About half way there it started to pour. The kind of rain where you can't see anything in front of you kind of rain. Very scary! That's also about the time that we lost our GPS signal and had to dig our the old fashion written directions. Just as we were arriving at POFQ the rain finally stopped.

Ahhh!!! Home. I adore POFQ. I keep saying one of these days I'm going to try another moderate, but in the end keep coming back here. It's my Orlando home away from home.

When I had made the reservation back in March I had requested a ground floor room. At check in I mentioned it again to the cast member. With my mom's nerve problem, now this was even more important to us, as steps where a problem for her. We ended up being assigned to a 2nd floor room in building 1 (one of the furthest buildings away). I was not happy , especially as I had put the request in so early. We weren't really concerned about the being in building 1, as POFQ is so small it's really not that much further away. For me being on the 2nd floor wasn't really an issue as I have to walk up more steps to get in my apartment, but my mom was getting an attitude as she hates elevators and with her leg couldn't walk up the stairs. I ended up riding the elevator with her all week so she wouldn't have to ride alone.

I tried to talk with the CM, and was told that if we didn't want to change our room when we checked in for our 2nd reservation the next morning this was the best she could do. The majority of 1st floor rooms in many buildings were undergoing renovations. Our reservation was probably messed up when I had to cancel our first night as my travel agent had cancelled the entire reservation and made a replacement one.

After the drama our room was very nice. We only had enough towels for 2, but after a quick call to mousekeeping they brought us a huge stack of towels and told me to have a magical day. Very nice. We had eaten after the funeral at my grandmothers, but were starting to get a little bit hungry so we headed over to the food court where I introduced my mother to beignets. (I don't know how she ever managed to not try these). Yum!

Mickey (who was now on my mothers *&?! List for not going to the funeral) showed up to drop off a case of water in exchange for our parking permit and to make our plans for the next morning.


After the long day, we all crashed that night watching Stacy's top 10 on the tv. Tomorrow we'd be seeing the princesses and heading to the Animal Kingdom!

- Sorry this entry was so long, but I didn't want to have to waste 2 entrys on all this pre-park stuff. Much more entertaining stuff to come!

 

[MRYPPNS]

I'm glad you got to spend so time sitting around the kitchen table with your cousins....that is always fun.

 

[Hedy]

Glad you got there in one piece.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Oh, I want to stay at POFQ or Riverside....so badly. I can't wait to hear more about the resort. I didn't think POFQ had elevators!

 

[MiaBella05]

subscribing

 

[If U Had Wings]

I'm glad you got to spend so time sitting around the kitchen table with your cousins....that is always fun.

We grew up so close, it's always funny not having them around any longer. They've been living in Florida for ages now. One of them I see occasionally since she makes it up to CT to drop her son off with his father, but the other two I miss.

It's amazing how it always feels like no time has passed when we see each other again. It makes me a bit sad that I haven't provided any cousins for my nieces. They will never get to have that extended family that I had.

Glad you got there in one piece.

Thanks. The drive was a bit harrowing! I was playing co-pilot and was so afraid I was going to miss a turn or something because of the rain.

Oh, I want to stay at POFQ or Riverside....so badly. I can't wait to hear more about the resort. I didn't think POFQ had elevators!

I love POFQ. When I stayed there the first time in 1992 I was disappointed because I had my heart set on a mansion building at the then Dixie Landings. Once I stayed there I was so happy for that Dixie Landings had been sold out. POFQ was just fit me perfectly. It's smaller too so that no matter where your room is your not that far away from the main buildings and bus stop.

I keep saying one day I'll try another moderate, but when I try to chose they all look so big and none of the theming really appeals to me. I just rebook POFQ. Other than a balcony it has everything I want.

I think I'm just going to give up claiming I'm going to try somewhere new!

subscribing

Welcome!

 

[If U Had Wings]

Sunday morning came and I think we were all about ready to start our vacation, even my mom. A little princess therapy would do us all good.

We needed to check out of our room only reservation this morning and check in for our free dining package before we could do anything though so we would have passes. I had thought, from my research on the boards, that we'd be able to check in at about 7am. My father headed down between 6 and 6:30 (he always has to be first), and was told they weren't going to start until 7:30 . They had a special line set up just for people continuing stays with the free dining plan. Luckily they were ready early and he was able to check in just before 7am. When we left for the parks the line was starting to get pretty long.

We met up at the Sassagoula food court for breakfast before splitting up. Pa Grumpy needed to return the rental car to the car care center before 9am, so Ma Tink and I deceided to head over to Animal Kingdom and wait for everyone there. We could sit and relax, and partake in one of her favorite activities - people watching. I don't consider myself to be a morning person at all, but even I enjoyed sitting back and watching everyone wander up the gates to start their days. We'd sit and laugh when we saw a few women entering with heels on, and watch in amazement at a couple coming in wearing long sleeve sweaters and jeans . (It was about 90 degrees out already. Were do you live that your cold at 90 degrees?)

Finally the princesses arrived! Along with Minnie and Pa Eeyore.

Did I mention that today was our first doofus dress alike day? (That's what Mickey was calling it). We were hoping the power of the matching shirts would bring us luck today.

Mickey, who can be a bit of an airhead, had forgotten the tickets in the car so had to walk all the way back. Lots of big hugs to go around. The girls were overjoyed to see everyone. Pa Grumpy finally made it to the entrance as well, just about when Mickey arrived from his return trip to the car. He had a bit of difficulty finding the car care center and it had put him into a mood , but some princess hugs seemed to do the trick. (For the moment at any rate).

We headed up to the gates, where we rented a wheelchair for Ma Tink for the week. She wasn't happy about it, but didn't want to take the chance of walking around all day with the bad nerve. Princess Cin tried to talk us into letting her push Ma Tink around.

Cin is tiny, but mighty. She managed to push the wheelchair for several feet even with the parking brake on. Definitely a menace to the sidewalks though, as she couldn't see where she was going.

Once we got in the park we split up. The grandparents headed over to Dinoland, while Mickey, Minnie and I hustled over to Everest to pick up FP's. What a mess over there! There was no organization at the lines whatsoever at Everest. The lines for fast passes and the ride itself had all merged into one crazy, maniac line. We wormed our way into line for fastpasses and then made the dubious decision to sneak in a ride before heading back to everyone else. It ended up being a pretty bad decision.

We ended up getting stuck in line for 20 minutes, and the grandparents were calling us wondering where in the world we were. We told them to take the girls on a few rides, but obviously they didn't hear us or something because when we got back they were all sitting on a bench doing nothing.

The girls didn't want to ride anything without us, and the grandfathers had gotten into a bit of a tiff when Pa Eeyore had made a bit of a derogatory, racist comment and my dad told him off. Poor Princess Jasmine, our peacekeeper, was asking everyone to be nice to one another. Yes the day was off to a lovely start, and it was only 9:30.

We soothed things over and headed over to Dinosaur for our first ride. I sat next to Princess Cin, who promptly told me that she was a bit scared of this ride, but if she could hide on my shoulder she'd be fine. I don't think she saw much of the ride, but she said she had fun.

When we got off Pluto and Goofy were nearby for a photo op.

I love this picture. That was Cin for the entire vacation. Every time she saw a camera she would race over and pose with a big hammy grin. Pluto was trying to get her attention and play with her, but she only had eyes for the camera. She'd be quite put out if you told her that you didn't necessarly want her in a particular picture.

We headed over to Kalli after Dinosaur to find out that it was closed down temporarily so we picked up some FP's. Pa Grumpy was really living up to his name by this point because he hadn't been on any "real" rides yet. To keep him quiet and happy we headed over to Everest after dropping Pa Eeyore, Ma Tink and Cin off at the Maharaja Jungle Trek. After a ride on Everst Pa Grumpy was much happier, and was pleasant for the rest of the afternoon. We still had 3 more FP's for Everest so while Mickey, Minnie and Grumpy rode again I hung out in the Everest gift shop with Princess Jasmine whose tummy was bothering her a bit.

She got a big kick out of the Yeti hats and slippers.

We met back up with the rest of the group and headed over to Flights of Wonder where a show was just starting. I had never seen the show before, and was pleasantly surprised. Although I had an Alfred Hitchcock moment when one bird flew a bit to close to my head for liking. Princess Cin loved the show, and at the end when they brought out some birds to see up close she took off leaving me chasing after her. Turns out she had a bunch of questions to ask the CM.

We headed over to Kali River to use our FP's. Jasmine decieded to pass because her stomach was still bothering her. Of course it was bothering her because she hadn't really eaten any breakfast that day. Ma Tink stayed with her while the rest of us rode. Cin however loved this as well. She kept telling me she wanted me to get soaked, so I got a good laugh at her when she ended up the wettest on the raft. She wanted to reride, but we only had 2 FP's and the line was getting long. The day was getting pretty hot, and it seemed everyone wanted to cool off a bit. She told us the ride was way too short. I went to show her the squirting elephants on the bridge as we were exiting, but they've been shut down. So sad. I always got a kick out of trying to squirt people. I don't know when they shut them down, I know they were working last September.

To come lunch, cheetahs, and sleepytime.

 

[Hedy]

The girls didn't want to ride anything without us, and the grandfathers had gotten into a bit of a tiff when Pa Eeyore had made a bit of a derogatory, racist comment and my dad told him off. Poor Princess Jasmine, our peacekeeper, was asking everyone to be nice to one another. Yes the day was off to a lovely start, and it was only 9:30.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Wow. I can feel the drama brewing!

I love your matching t-shirts! So cute. If I remember correctly you said Mickey ordered them off of ebay?

Princess Jasmine in the Yeti get up is too cute!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I love your matching shirts, they turned out really great.