First Trip report, The Parents and the Three Boys, completed!! 11/10

[llouda30]

So I think I started a pre-trip report once and never finished, and I know how much I enjoy reading about other peoples trips, so I am going to start my own, which may also help me survive my Disney depression that will set in when I have to start making dinner and doing laundry again!!

So who are we??

Well, I be mama, mother to these three boys, my family was always big Disney lovers and we came a few times during my childhood, enough to imprint, I never even knew about staying "on property" however growing up, so the first time I did that as an adult I thought I had died and gone to heaven!

My hubby went once as a kid, but since he met me has schlepped along and over the years I think looks forward to it just as much as I do. I mean really who wouldn't? When people ask me why I like going to Disney so much, I say well lets see, I don't do laundry, don't make beds, my only worry is what treat I will eat next and what ride I will be entertained with, so hmmmmm, let me think, what could possibly be appealing to that

Then the three boys, one 16 year old smug teenager, one 13 year old will not admit he is excited, and an 11 year old who Thank God still really likes me and is just as excited about this trip as me.!

 

[llouda30]

So the kids have gotten old enough that I can't take our cheaper free dining trips that we used to take in Sept, now they really get in trouble if they miss school, DARN it!! So this trip had to be when they were off anyway, well basically they will miss one day of school on Monday. I thought I could bribe them if we came during F&W because they are typical boys and love to eat, so any excuse for that should be appealing, I am going out of my comfort zone and getting a room at BC, I have never stayed at an Epcot resort so this should be interesting!! Also I have never been here in November so an super excited to see Christmas decorations!!



We arrived last night at almost midnight and I am currently sitting in a gorgeous 3 bedroom condo at Lake Buena Vista Resort Village, I told my boys, don't get used to this much room, because what they say is always true, once we get to BC we will probably be squeezed into a room and we are literally paying for location, location, location! I had to get one of those credit cards where you pay no interest for 1 year, but I really want to see what it is like to walk to Epcot. So we shall see!!



Like I said before, we flew in last night, uneventful other than full planes every which way but loose!! We got this room just for the one night and I can absolutely see the appeal to staying off property, space, space, space. But basically I am just dying to get going right now! I am letting the kids sleep a bit, then we have morning ressies at Kona and then off to the MK. Someone may have to walk me through this pic posting thing, for now I will post this and play around with the picture, image only and see if I can get it to work. The morning is beautiful, btw, it feels warm already, I am not even at Disney yet and I feel great!!

 

[llouda30]

Ok tech people, the only way I know to load pictures is to go to "upload a file" but then it keeps saying it is too large? Thanks for any help

 

[luckylady]

Oh a live report! I love those. BC is a nice place too stay. If by chance you have an off day and are there when Illumanations is going on, you will hear the booms from fireworks. Have a magical time and I can't wait too read all about it.

 

[llouda30]

We left the Vista Resort earlier than my kids wanted to but I am so glad we did, holy monorail slowness!! This sounds a little mixed up but we were headed to Kona for breakfast, but had dinner resie later at Cali grill, so we parked at the contemporary and then took the monorail over to the poly, lots of tech issues and that ended up taking about 40 min! Oh well, we got to the Poly and while I do really miss the sound of the water from the fountain they did do a nice job, it seems pretty. We ordered 3 Tonga toasts and my 13 year old wolfed down a steak and eggs breakfast, The tonga toast was the best thing I have ever eaten in my life, yum yum yum!!! Hubby and son say maybe too sweet, NEVER!! KONA was good flow but slow as molasses, waitress, meh, but the food made up for it!!




Then we walked down to get on one of those sweet little boats over the MK, I love that ride, definitely sets you in the MK mood!

I loved the Christmas decorations, but like everyone has says, the park was packed, and mama it was hot!! We had FP for Splash so we did that first, the BTTM had almost a 45 min wait so we went over to HM, 30 min and not too bad, then we hit philharmagic, Buzz, FP for Space mountain, then people mover and Carousel. All of the rides were at a 30-40 min wait, so when we didn't have the FP we waited and honestly it was not that bad. We saw a little of the Fantasy parade and that then raced over with everyone else to get on BTM, that was about 35 min by the time we waited, again not too bad but I wondered, have I ever waited in this q and not been sweating bullets, maybe people that come in the dead of winter??


After that we waited 40 min to see POTC!! Now that is usually a walk-on when we came in Sept about 3 years ago, so dang!!! But, I can honesty say, as much as I feel pitty and empathy for the parents with the screeching exhausted toddlers (because that was us not too long ago) it is SO much nicer to come with kids that can hang and not freak out so much so the wait for POTC was not as bad as it would have been for me, us, in the past.

Then we walked over to the CR for the first time ever dinner resie at CG. Let me just say that was the BEST DINNER EVER!! All of the serves, people that check you in were awesome!! Service and food where PHENOMENAL!!! The fritters wersn't so great, but the steak I had was the best ever!! When we got there the sun was up and as we ate it went down, I said to my kids, I am happy as a pig in **** sitting in the CR eating the best steak I have ever had, watching the castle change colors.


We went crazy this year and got the deluxe DP, I have 3 boys that all like to eat, plus it made it fun for them to feel like they could order whatever they wanted and they weren't limited to the 5 dollar and under spot

After that fab dinner, we took the monorail back to the MK, and used the best FP plus option I would have never thought of if not for the DIS, we got a wishes FP, sat in the astroturf and watched the show. What a great way to end the night!! Great first day.



Now I am at BC, we got a first floor room overlooking a quiet pool, we have really loud neighbors and I have not had a chance to walk around BC in the daytime, so I have no idea of my bearings yet, and am not overwhelmed with the beauty of it yet, I think I like the POLY better, but I will give it a chance

 

[llouda30]

Oh a live report! I love those. BC is a nice place too stay. If by chance you have an off day and are there when Illumanations is going on, you will hear the booms from fireworks. Have a magical time and I can't wait too read all about it.

Thanks!! So far so good, wish I could stay here longer, oh well, must enjoy every minute and bank them!!

 

[ohboyx3]

We have the boys too ! Ages 16,14,and 11! So... If anyone understands you... It's me! Wow. Sounds like a fantastic first day!

 

[llouda30]

They are tricky, the only thing with three I have noticed on this trip is 2 always gang up on 1, and you never know which two it will be!! Thanks for joining, I am adding this ph

 

[llouda30]

So Friday we got up and went to breakfast at Cape May, breakfast was pretty good, standard buffet fair, the characters were cute, trying to get my too cool teens to interact with them.


After that we took the boat over to Hollywood studios, it was packed and holy humid!!! I have no idea why I thought November would be so much cooler. 2 hour wait for RR and we could not get fast passes, not today boys, not today!

We had FP for Toy Story so we did that, which was a blast as always!

then went over to Start Tours with a FP, urp, I actually close my eyes on this ride and pretend I am getting a massage, I have major vertigo issues but want to be able to do these things with the whole crew, so keeping the eyes closed seems to work Then we went to muppet vision, I am a huge beaker fan, always was before he was cool!! I have been trying to collect the stuffed versions of these, and got the stuffed beaker a few years ago on a trip and whenever I look at him I smile. My husband got me Bunson honey dew last year for Christmas, he said the darn thing was almost $50!! I got Animal this time and will hopefully have all of them before I die, I put them in my office and they give me a little chuckle, but you have to be careful when you get to a certain age and have a room full of stuffed animals, I don't want to be borderline cat hoarder next

After muppet vision we hot TOT, my 11 year old had been too afraid to go on this for many years, so this was a first in a long time. He loved it and felt very brave after!!

Next we had lunch ADR ar 50's. I had never been there before but again, holy crowded!! I like a cocktail here and there don't get me wrong, and I am not sure if it was food and wine bringing out the drinking connoisseurs, but the 50's place reminded me of a college bar, where you are all standing around trying to get bar tenders attention for a drink. My kids had never been here and thought it was hysterical when the waiter said hey Peggy Sue get those elbows off the table and made me say please and thank you!! They laughed at every restaurant we went to after, elbows off the table! The food was good, nice comfort food, and the peanut butter chocolate cake!! OMG!! The best dessert I think I had!! BUt I like sweet and rich, so the boy tasters thought it was too rich. NO way!




After lunch the boys ran and did TOT again because there was not too much of a wait and I shopped around, still over 2 hours for R&RR, nope. WE took the boat back to the resort and went swimming. So now I could appreciate the BC a little more, nice pool. They were scanning bands too, I am not sure if they do that everywhere? We swam for about an hour and a half and then went over to WS at Epcot. I wanted to see the American Adventure, it always makes me cry, my 11 year old said, that boring movies?? Yes my son, that awesome, not boring movie!!

Then we wandered, had a little time to kill before a france ADR, WS was busy but nothing like we were going to see the next day. We watched the move in France for the first time, and I kept thinking, is this really just pictures? Or are we going to learn a little something? NO, just pictures, my hubby ans the boys all liked it, I said, well I thought it would have more info about france?

Then we went to dinner at Chef's, first time for that. Now you readers may think that is a lot of food!! And while yes I would agree, I paid for Deluxe dining because I have a hubby and 3 kids that can eat!! and I really wanted them to feel like they could try things, the tips are totally killing us though and I did not factor that in,woops, well now I know if we do this again.

The dinner at France was good, we sort of screwed ourselves by doing CG first, because nothing could compare, and even though the food was good, we probably would have thought it was better if it was one of the first places we ate

Then we sat on the bridge and watched the show, this is when I love Disney, their shows are just beautiful!! What a great night!!

We were quickly back in the room (1515) by the way, and my feet were absolutely throbbing!! Thank God I had a few left over norco from some football injury from my big boy maybe, because I took a half of one, I know, I know, what a wus, but dang, my little pigs are not used to almost 10 miles a day!!

 

[llouda30]

Saturday we got up and went to Captains Grille, the lemon curd pancakes were calling my name, the lazy waiter tried talking us into the buffet, he said it has all of the same things as the menu, really? It has lobster omelet and lemon curd pancakes, I am a disser dude, I want my a la carte, now again if my kids were younger I would have probably dove for the buffet, because when they want to eat, I want them to eat now, but in our case, we wanted to try some new stuff.






After that we went into Epcot, holy crow that place was a mad house and got absolutely nuttier, wilder and drunker as the day went on!! Figment had a 10 min wait so we did that first and it was cute, then I had a FP for spaceship earth thank God, they had a 40 min wait otherwise. The over to energy, then we checked out the Festival area. Then we were going to do the free Chase visa pic and there was about a 40 min line, nope, not today!

We had a FP for Soarin so we did that, waited for the front, and laughed at all of the drunks screeching and screaming through the ride. Epcot was getting crazy!! I was glad my kids were older, the crowd was really nuts, loud and wasted!!! One girl had mickey ears made out of wine glasses, then we did living with the land and finally did what my two older boys were dying to start, eating around the countries. Thank God we started at about 2pm, the lines were long but moved pretty quick, but we were usually standing in the blazing son and it was about 90 degrees all day. They tried all sorts of things and liked just about all of it. Big groups of men dressed up a vikings, german dude's and all sorts of other groups were loud screaming and laughing all over the WS. Lots of ladies stumbling and it wasn't from the crowds. By the time we got to America I decided I was done in, I could not stand it anymore. My and my youngest stopped at France so I could get one of those strawberry tarts which in my humble opinion is DA BOMB!! Then we went back to the room and to the pool. The older boys and hubby kept going, they were enjoying the craziness I think, and I kept thinking, please don't let this be one of my kids someday, even though I know they are just having fun, not driving, so I guess in that sense it's a fun way to have a crazy party night.


They met us back at the room at 5:30 and we did the best thing, AK was open until 8pm that night, so we got there about 6:15, totally EMPTY!! No Fp's, the kids did everest twice in a row and then the water ride twice, none of the shows were on, but it was such a nice respite from the crowds I was ok with that. We had an ADR at 7:15 for Yak and Yeti, and that was again, pretty good, the ribs were great, the rice for all of us was icky, I got the wontons for dessert, os so yummy!! My 11 year old got the choc cake and said it did not taste right to him, uh uh, never thought of a pre-warning. We strolled out of AK and agrees that was a great way to do some rides there, in the dark when it was not crowded, and even with no sunshine we still had sweat leaking out of us at that park!! See the fog in these pictures, that there be humidity at 8pm!


We got back to the room and crashed, another 1/2 of a norco for me, my feet are done it. At about 4am my 11 year old woke me up, MOM I threw up, right in the bed. Darn kids, why can't they get up and run to the toilet like normal people!! It was all chocolate cake!! Maybe too late at night, or too much, or a combo of everything, but I rolled it all up, got him a different blanket, and the rolled up one is currently sitting on my patio trying not to stink up the room. I am hoping he is better today, but it was all cake he puked, so I think we just need to slow down, we only have one more day today anyway Hey I got a picture to work!! This is actually from day 1!!

 

[llouda30]

So I woke up early on Sunday and enjoyed sitting in the lobby and drinking coffee, people watching too. I don't know I wanted to love the beach club, and it is beautiful, but I think I liked the poly better. Maybe next time. But I had to chuckle, the marketplace opens at 0700 and there was a pyscho mad dash by all the grown ups to run in and get coffee the minute the place opened. So I was up early and my kids all want to desperately sleep in, as far as I am concerned, sleeping until 0900 on a Disney trip is pretty good I mean come on boys, sleep at home on a weekend, lets enjoy this place!! So I dragged their butts out of bed and we were off to Chef Mickeys, my youngest's one request.


Aww yes I am looking very tired and blowed up, too much good food and not enough sleep!! I got no food pictures but we had a nice breakfast and I loaded up on Mickey waffles and my youngest loaded up on donuts, oh well we are on vacation!

Then we took the monorail over to the MK, here is my beauty picture, and other than still being hot as hell, what a beautiful day!!




We had a FP for seven dwarves, I was super excited for this, the line was always over an hour and this was the only day we could get a FP, it was fun, fun cute!! I hope it is not always so long to wait! I rode with a nice brit, it sucks always getting broken up with an odd number group, and holy small seats on this thing!

 

[llouda30]

After seven dwarves we went over the Little mermaid, I thought this was cute, I heard it was dumb so was not expecting much, maybe that was for the best. Then we hit splash with another FP, and I think I am getting the hang of the pictures, my husband being a doof!



The wait for thunder mountain was about 45 min and at this point it was so dang hot and humid I could not do that que again, so we went down to the barber shop, we did not have an appt, so I opted to wait the hour, so glad we did, my youngest is the only one who will still do a little something fun and with no girls I don't get to have fun at the bibbity bobbity like I'm pretty sure I know I would.


At this point in the day we strolled over to tommorowland and I am in love with the MK, when it is a glorious day and the people are playing, I mean, wth could be better? We hit buzz and used our last FP for Space mountain. One thing I did note on this trip, the FP basically worked for the three you picked out, at least for when we were here, there was little to nothing left by the time you used those. But still I liked the way the 3 worked, I just wish maybe you could pick out four ahead of time?



Then we did the people mover, and then something I had never done before, laugh floor. What a great little show I will definitely be back for that again! Then we did Stitch and I remembered why we never did that one, , dumb? Yes dumb, sorry, I'm sure someone out there loves it

Then we did philharmagic because I love that show, I insisted we sit in the front row because the last time we did someone's big head sort of blocked everything? Well the front row was almost scary!! WOW, ok bad move on Mom, we won't do that again, talk about a crik in the neck. We had ressies for Ohana for dinner so we started heading back down main street, and I wanted one of those silhouettes, I have two from past trips with the boys and love them. This will probably be our last trip while my 16 year old is still in high school so I really wanted this , the people that do this are SO talented!Even my two older surly boys were impressed with her. You basically get two sets for the price, so one is for me and the other will be a good present for nana!



Next we headed to Ohana, the kids had many questions, no pictures again, sorry, they were all worrying about the bread pudding, they said they wanted something else because they don't like pudding and especially not bread pudding whatever that was. Shut up boys and try it, and well now what do you know, they LOVED it!! It was a good solid dinner, the only not so great thing was the steak, sort of tough and rubbery, but everything else was great.


UP next, back to the studios we go!!

 

[llouda30]

After dinner we waddled out of Ohana and loaded back into the car to head to Hollywood Studios. I really wanted to see the lights and at this point we had not done RRR. We had no fast passes so I was a little worried about the waits, but they had evening hours and I was hoping everyone else would stay at Epcot!!

We headed over to the lights and that was just so COOL!! How beautiful, the CM's were herding everyone which was kind of annoying at first but once we got in the area, I could see the logic in it.




We walked back through and waited in line for a Photo pass photo


The wait time for Toy Story was listed as 1 hour and we decided lets just do it!! The ac was not working, or maybe they turned it off so it was a muggy wait but ended up being only about 30 min and fun fun. My 16 year old loves this ride for some reason!!

Next we waited for Rock N roller coaster, only about 40 min at 9pm, this ride really makes me feel like I am going to pee when it takes off, so while I LOVE it, my eyes seem to always be closed when it takes the picture, I think because I am usually desperately holding my breath and trying not to go


After that we headed over to Tot, at this point my feet were absolutely throbbing, like a complete and total idiot I wore flip flops!! and our little step counter said we averaged about 10 miles a day, you can tell from my pics I am not a runner so this moving all day was new for me!! I was dying, I chuckled when I heard someone else say, man my dogs are really barking, lol, I love that expression. Mine were barking, screeching to be put in a kennel and euthanized



Not sure what my husband was doing on this one, but they had fun, we gimped out of the park and back to the hotel, 2 more pain pills and yes I know how pathetic that sounds!!

 

[ELSA711]

What were your trip dates? Loved reading this report.
We were there 10/30-11/6!!! Fun fun times

 

[llouda30]

What were your trip dates? Loved reading this report.
We were there 10/30-11/6!!! Fun fun times

Hi, we arrived 11/4 late and left yesterday 11/9, maybe we passed you somewhere!. I am a long time lurker, and I love looking around the parks for Dissers I recognize but would feel weird if I said something to someone that I spotted.

 

[ELSA711]

Your trip report was great! I love to hear other families of 5 trip reports.

 

[llouda30]

Our last day I was planning on sleeping in, but that just does not seem to be my style when I am on a trip, or at Disney maybe, so I was up early. I really wanted to try the cronut at Epcot so me and the hubby were up early and over the bridge right at 0900 to get into the parks. I took some empty pics of the scenery because I love it.



Got over to the refreshment port and DOH they don't open until 11, oh well, back to the room. Time to pack, the one thing I threw away that I never used on this trip was my dollar store ponchos!! I can't believe it, I guess that would be one major difference from Sept to November.

So we woke up the slugs, boys I mean, packed all up and check out was super easy. We were going back to my most favorite breakfast, in the world ever. Kona!!

This time is was fast, easy and awesome tonga toast as always for me, and 4 big Kahuna's for the rest of them. My big boy who we lovingly call baby Huey does not understand that he is big, and he thought the big Kahuna should have been called the little Kahuna because he did not think it was enough food



After that awesome sweet, tangy, oh so good breakfast, we were back in the car for our last stop Disney Springs!!

 

[llouda30]

Your trip report was great! I love to hear other families of 5 trip reports.

Thank you!! I am re-reading and realizing my typing and spelling are pretty horrendous, but you guys catch my drift I am always looking for trip reports from "people like me" too so maybe that's why I wanted to try and write one too I am so happy people are reading it and enjoying it!! My crew said to me, why exactly are you writing that? They said, what do they care, they don't know us, and I said ladies, I read other peoples and live vicariously through them!! So stuff it and let me type

 

[llouda30]

I had read on the Dis about the nightmare that is Disney Springs, so I was prepared, however I was also convinced there would be closer parking to the marketplace so we went by the parking garage twice before I realized, that um no, that is the place to park. The guys were all impressed with the parking garage though, for those that don't know it tells you how many spots are left in each aisle and there is a little light at the end of the opening's so you don't have to drive around in circles.

We got out and check out the stores, we had some time to kill before our flight, and like I said earlier, we had only 3 snacks left!! and that was on deluxe, so yes we are a family of eaters, the American way I suppose

I got my BFF who was watching my dog a few things and some little presents for the kids at Christmas. Then we went to use our last 3 snacks and had to still buy 2!! But these little babies we always look forward to bringing home and eating later to drag out the disney feeling!



Then back to Orlando International, which was crazy busy too!!!

Back on the plane and we were home by 6pm

and so end our Disney trips, currently I am doing laundry and already worrying about what to make for dinner. Oh Disney how I miss thee, thank you to everyone for reading along and I think I will do one last post with my final thoughts because I like when other people do that

 

[llouda30]

Final thoughts, November weather was still hot as hell, but I think better than September, but at the end of the day I don't think I care, I would rather be at Disney during any weather than sitting at home. The crowds were pretty crazy for me, but with the FP plus and lots of planning it is doable and does not ruin the trip in any way, you just have to be prepared for it and ready to walk from a ride if you don't feel like waiting. That is the nice thing about Disney, there are usually plenty of other things to do that you don't have to wait for.

I did not prefer beach club, we were in room 1515, I like ground floor rooms because I like to be able to "get loose" if I need to, but because we were on the "secret route" out of Epcot, there was constant noise, screaming going by, and trust me I am used to noise, it was nuts. The smell was great in the lobby though and of course it was beautiful.

The deluxe dining was perfect for us, the kids felt all grown up ordering all of these swell things we would never get at home, but I had thought I had already paid for everything until I realized that a 20% tip on all $250 meals and better adds up, so I would do it again, but be prepared with lots of extra cash for tips.

This is a note to myself!! BUY BETTER SHOES!! My feet were absolutely killing me and I did it to myself by not planning better and getting some great broken in walking shoes.

Next time I will plan that better and not just my ADR's and FP

It was a blast, a whirlwind, we did sort of go commando, I did not try but there was just so much I wanted to see. I think I say I would do it differently next time but I don't know if I really will.

I am happy to report my BFF and I, her son and his fiance are going back in Jan. She is treating us all to the room and it is something we have wanted to do together, so hopefully I will have another, different type of trip report later.

Again, thank you for letting me type out my most happy times and reading along with me, I can't wait to read other peoples too throughout the year!!