Family, friends, teachers & Stacy too! - The End 9/27 page 14

[MRYPPNS]

Amy your arrival day is starting to look a lot like mine.....copy cat

So how long does it really take to drive from Tampa to Orlando. Total time - once you get off the plan, get the rental car, and actually get near Disney world (don't count the food stop). I was trying to talk Denny into flying to TPA in June because we would arrive on site a little earlier. He is not convinced, but I can still change things around if I decide to. I noticed the rental cars are cheaper.

We do the Tampa arrival drive to Orlando too. It's nice to have the option when pricing flights and rental cars. We always fly home via MCO. Tampa has a great little airport. I think it took us about 3 hours from landing to Disney property.....but that includes bathroom breaks with 2 little ones, slow lunch at McD's and we were not in hurry up mode. If you do it make sure you use a rental company that you can skip the counter...there always seems to be a lot of people in Tampa at those counters.

It was pretty crazy that people would steal the batteries from the remote! They must have been on a tight budget!

Maybe they got those light up toys at Disney and the batteries died. If that happened with Liam I'd be stealing remote batteries too!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Me and the boys waited in line for test track for over a half hour before they announced tech. Difficulties what a bummer. But we did get FP that we could use anytime/day we wanted. DH was working that day so we only got 3FP. So when he met us after work they rode with dad.
The boys did like the new ride better. The designing your own car was cool and ended up being some nice bonding for the 2 boys. That doesn't happen very often b/c they are 4 yrs. apart. It almost brought happy tears to my eyes.
They do get along a little better in Disney lol.
We haven't been to LeCellier since 2009. We'll have to try it again soon.
The camelback looked like a great idea!!

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!

 

[carissanboys]

I'm glad you guys enjoyed TT. Next time I go I'll have to try and go through the regular line instead of FP.

We have a camel back. I think we bought it when we lived in Australia. Glad it worked out so well!

 

[wiigirl]

Love your pics!

 

[KatMark]

Fun update, Amy.

We have yet to meet Daisy coming into the park...need to rectify that.

I have to admit I am one who was not impressed with the new Test Track (we totally skipped it last month).

But it sure looks like the boys enjoyed it.

So glad that you had a good lunch at LeCellier.

What a marvelous thing that Camelback turned out to be for Alex.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

This is good so far!!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Wow!!! The villa looks amazing. Beautiful. I have always been a firm "on property" kind of gal but you are making me think twice. Wow!!

I am so excited for the new Test Track...can't wait to see it.

Glad the Camelbak worked for you - looks like a great solution!!

 

[KatMark]

Happy Mother's Day, Amy.

​

 

[DisMomAmy]

LOVE, LOVE this update! My favorite park!

We enjoyed the Test Track updates as well. I was skeptical as I had seen pics and wasn't impressed. But, we really liked the design aspect of the ride and had "competitions" to see who could design the better car! I'm glad you all enjoyed it as well! Love the cars the boys designed!

One of these days we are going to try Le Cellier. Jeff and I are discussing a possible second honeymoon of sorts for our 25th anniversary in 2017....maybe then!

4 parks in 2 days! You go girl!

I'm glad you liked Test Track too... the boys loved it... especially the design aspect!

You have to try Le Cellier! It's definitely one of our favorites!

I love the Monsters University topiaries! SO cute.

Nice day so far, over Tim's healthy snack.

I can't wait for Monsters University! There was a lot going on to promote the movie while we were there... we saw the monorail overlay & were there the night they were going to light up SSE as Mike. We didn't stick around long enough to actually see it though.

Thanks for the information about the drive from Tampa. It sounds very straightforward and you had your rental car in no time.

Woo hoo for an early arrival to Epcot! And two rides of Test Track. Glad that everyone liked. I am looking forward to riding it this summer.

And another woo hoo for front & center on Soarin! What a productive morning at Epcot.

I like that you decided to use a camelback. What a great idea.

Great pictures of the boys!

It really is a very easy drive from Tampa!

There's nothing better than front & center on Soarin'!

The Camelbak worked out great!

Loving it!!

ASMU/POR Dec 16-22, 2012 & POFQ Sept 8-15, 2013

Amy your arrival day is starting to look a lot like mine.....copy cat

I got there first... you copied me!

We do the Tampa arrival drive to Orlando too. It's nice to have the option when pricing flights and rental cars. We always fly home via MCO. Tampa has a great little airport. I think it took us about 3 hours from landing to Disney property.....but that includes bathroom breaks with 2 little ones, slow lunch at McD's and we were not in hurry up mode. If you do it make sure you use a rental company that you can skip the counter...there always seems to be a lot of people in Tampa at those counters.


Maybe they got those light up toys at Disney and the batteries died. If that happened with Liam I'd be stealing remote batteries too!

We have found that the rates are better, both for flights & rental cars when arriving in Tampa. It works out well for us.

Luckily I had brought AA & AAA batteries so I didn't need to "borrow" any from the hotel remotes.

Me and the boys waited in line for test track for over a half hour before they announced tech. Difficulties what a bummer. But we did get FP that we could use anytime/day we wanted. DH was working that day so we only got 3FP. So when he met us after work they rode with dad.
The boys did like the new ride better. The designing your own car was cool and ended up being some nice bonding for the 2 boys. That doesn't happen very often b/c they are 4 yrs. apart. It almost brought happy tears to my eyes.
They do get along a little better in Disney lol.
We haven't been to LeCellier since 2009. We'll have to try it again soon.
The camelback looked like a great idea!!

I hate that Test Track has so many technical difficulties! It does seem to break down a lot. Luckily we didn't run into that in April.

I love when the kids have moments of getting along well & actually enjoy doing somehting togetehr!

Count me in!!

I'm glad you guys enjoyed TT. Next time I go I'll have to try and go through the regular line insteadti of FP.

We have a camel back. I think we bought it when we lived in Australia. Glad it worked out so well!

Honestly we didn't notice much of a difference between the stand by & FP lines... maybe it's because we went through the stand-by line first thing in the morning so we zipped past some of the interactive stuff. When we went in the FP line, we thought we were going to miss the design part but we didn't. We got to do it too - we just missed all the stuff before that.

Love your pics!

Thank you!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

What a great start to your trip and TR. We love t-rex but haven't eaten at the WDW one yet. What did you eat? I love one of the big salads there.

Love the Villa, what a great home away from home for your vacation.

What a fun first park day so far. We can't wait to try TT with the updates. It was closed on our last trip. Love the chips and a coke snack/breakfast, that is something my husband would do.

Can't wait to read more.

Happy Mothers Day!!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Fun update, Amy.

We have yet to meet Daisy coming into the park...need to rectify that.

I have to admit I am one who was not impressed with the new Test Track (we totally skipped it last month).

But it sure looks like the boys enjoyed it.

So glad that you had a good lunch at LeCellier.

What a marvelous thing that Camelback turned out to be for Alex.

We definitely hadn't planned to stop for Daisy but with no line at all we figured we could spare a few minutes. Alex hates that she isn't at Chef Mickey's so it was a nice way to start our trip.

Sorry you didn't like Test Track... but I think you are the reason I liked it... you lowered my expectations.

This is good so far!!

Wow!!! The villa looks amazing. Beautiful. I have always been a firm "on property" kind of gal but you are making me think twice. Wow!!

I am so excited for the new Test Track...can't wait to see it.

Glad the Camelbak worked for you - looks like a great solution!!

We really enjoy the space (and price) off the off-site villa! I love staying on property too though!

Test Track was fun... going to Disney so often, it's nice to experience new things.

The Camelbak worked great!

Happy Mother's Day, Amy.

​

Thanks Kathy! I hope you have a great day too!

 

[DisMomAmy]

What a great start to your trip and TR. We love t-rex but haven't eaten at the WDW one yet. What did you eat? I love one of the big salads there.

Love the Villa, what a great home away from home for your vacation.

What a fun first park day so far. We can't wait to try TT with the updates. It was closed on our last trip. Love the chips and a coke snack/breakfast, that is something my husband would do.

Can't wait to read more.

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Hmmm... what did we eat? Honestly I don't remember! I know we started with some nachos. I think I had a burger. I believe Alex had the rotisserie chicken, Zach might have had some kind of fish (and a slushie in the giant plastic bone cup). Even looking at the menu, I have no idea what Tim got!

The villa worked out well, especially with DBIL & DSIL coming to visit.

I'm sure your boys will love Test Track as much as mine did!

Happy Mother's Day to you too Jess!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Day 2 – Thursday, April 18th

Bellies filled, we headed to Animal Kingdom.


We always go to Animal Kingdom in the morning so I was hoping to see the parade since we’d be there in the afternoon this year. However, I’m sad to say, it didn’t work out for us. We had other priorities & waiting for the parade wasn’t one of them. We decided to get out of the heat and start our visit with Festival of the Lion King. Apparently it had been a while since I’d seen it with the family as Zach barely remembered it. We made our way in for the 2:30 show at about 2:15. We were seated in the elephant section. As always, the show was fabulous! Everyone loved it!

























After FoTLK, we went to Dinoland to ride Dinosaur… twice.





I got the photopass pictures & will post those later.

We picked up a bucket of popcorn in Dinoland and headed toward Expedition Everest! It was right around 4pm.








Continued...​

 

[DisMomAmy]

We rode Expedition Everest then decided to do the safari. Of course, I have 5 million safari pictures… I’ll just post a few of my favorites.


















After the safari, we decided we’d ride Kali, eat dinner, then head out of the park. I'm not sure where we saw this guy...


Of course, we got soaked! Actually Tim & the boys got the wettest & I managed to only get partially soaked! We used the free lockers so our stuff stayed dry!

Flame Tree BBQ was as good as always. For some reason, Tim didn’t get anything. Alex & I each got the half chicken (with no sides) and Zach got the kids chicken drum stick meal with grapes & carrots (I think Alex at the carrots). We also got some fries. Tim ended up going out and picking up a pizza later that night. The birds were annoying to all of us, but really freaked out Alex. They always freak him out so I’m not quite sure why he loves eating there so much!

After dinner we made our way out of the park. It was about 6:00. The rest of the night was uneventful. There were probably showers involved and early to bed as we had another early morning ahead of us.

Up next: Day 3 - DHS & MK​

 

[DisMomAmy]

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

After being lazy all morning, I'm going to head out to the garden center & pick up flowers for my planters. If the weather cooperates, I'll get to plant them later. If not, I'll plant them sometime this week. We'll see my mom & Tim's mom tonight for dinner at our favorite pizza place that has a big wood fired oven in the middle of the restaurant!

Have a great day everyone!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

After being lazy all morning, I'm going to head out to the garden center & pick up flowers for my planters. If the weather cooperates, I'll get to plant them later. If not, I'll plant them sometime this week. We'll see my mom & Tim's mom tonight for dinner at our favorite pizza place that has a big wood fired oven in the middle of the restaurant!

Have a great day everyone!

Happy Mother's Day to you as we'll!! Have a great day.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

How long was the wait for EE?? Just curious b/c we are usually there in the morning too.

 

[KatMark]

Fun afternoon at AK. We've not done Kali River Rapids in ages...must try to remedy it this year.

Love Flame tree.

It's a little chilly here to be planting flowers...so unspringlike here.

Can't wait to read more.

 

[gr8leg8]

Great Giraffe pics.

Enjoying the report very much!