Former Commandos returned with our Kiddo! Updated 6-15-08(pics)

[duckyislost]

Breaking News !!! I have to interrupt my trip report for an important announcement!

We just booked our next trip!!!

Ever since we got back we've been talking about going back this fall, so we finally just did it.

Sept 21-26, 2008 at The Carribean Beach Resort. (5 nights this time!) This is after free dining, but we really don't eat much at TS restaurants so that didn't really matter to us. I did get the 20% off AAA rate, I'll keep watching for codes throughout the summer to see if I can do better.

This will be one week after the refurb of the main pool at CBR is scheduled to end. So I will be watching Safetymom's CBR FAQ thread like a hawk all summer to see if they finish on time. Bring on the pirate ship slides!

We liked POR very much, but we want to have a new adventure this time. DH saw the sailboats in the CBR pics and was sold. The whole place looks fun to me, I especially like the little beaches around the lake with hammocks!

The main reason we wanted to go in the fall was to go to MNSSHP! I've seen the Boo to You too parade videos on Youtube and can't get enough. It looks like so much fun and DH and DS love dressing up like pirates so I'm sure we'll have a blast.

Now I just have to get a ticker up on my signature! LOVE having another trip to look forward to!!!!

 

[duckyislost]

Day 2, Part 1: Sunrise at POR, off to MK

OK. The first park day was like Christmas to me. I was wide awake around 5am even though DH and DS were snoring away. So I got up and showered, etc. That curtain around the sink area came in very handy! I headed out to Riverside Mill with our mugs at 6:30am or so and took some pics on the way.

I got some fresh fruit and a Danish at Riverside Mill and headed back to wake up the boys. This is one of the lush walkways that leads into AB39.

When we checked in we got these first timer buttons, I think this was the only day we wore them. Basically zero reaction from CM’s so why bother?

I had made tags for my backpack and stroller like the one below. My DH teased me, but I showed them with pride!

Off to the Magic Kingdom… the long way. Our DS loves trains and all he kept talking about before the trip was the monorail. So we decided to take the monorail to the MK our first day, this is after all the way I always remembered going there as a kid. There were no early EMH for the parks on this day so we got on a bus to Epcot and took our time. We took the monorail to the TTS (practically empty) and then waited about 15 min for another monorail to the MK. DS LOVED it!!!

Rare photo of me!

First topiary pic! Pirate Mickey outside the main gate.

Once inside we got right on the steam train to head to Toontown. DS was in heaven.

There is no one in Toontown! What should we do first?

 

[duckyislost]

Day 2, Part 2: Morning at MK

We successfully steered DS past Donald’s boat, too early in the day to get drenched again. Now that I think about it, we never did get back to Donald’s boat and should probably try and visit it next time. There was zero wait for Goofy’s Barnstormer so we went on that first. DS got to carry the red pass and we zipped in and DS and I sat in the front car. I was kind of surprised by this one, a little intense for a kid coaster, but DS liked it and walked out all cocky having ridden his first roller coaster.

Next we walked up to Fantasyland. We didn’t want to do Dumbo so next priority was Pooh or Peter Pan. We came to Pooh first and the wait was only 15 min.

I miss Mr. Toad’s wild ride, but the Pooh ride is excellent. I loved the bouncing in the Tigger section and the way they did lighted raindrops at night.

After this DS saw Pooh’s playground and there was no stopping him, he practically lept out of DH’s arms to go explore it. Tigger and Darby were out front taking pics, but DS didn’t even notice. He loved running around in Pooh’s house, and you guessed it, got completely soaked in the popper fountains.

No big deal this time. I had learned my lesson at DTD. For the rest of the trip we carried a change of clothes for DS and a hand towel from the hotel everywhere we went. Since he was having such a great time I went to get Fast Passes for Buzz Lightyear.

Saw Alice and the Mad Hatter outside the teacups taking pics.

We finally talked DS out of the fountains. Since he was soaked I didn’t want to drag him all over looking for a restroom so we just changed him right there.

On to Tomorrowland….

We had some time to kill before Buzz so we went for a ride on the Peoplemover (TTA). DS loved this ride, in fact he says it’s his favorite. So of course that is one that I got absolutely no pictures of. (DOH!) Luckily we were shooting video that morning as well, so we have some footage of it. DS really liked peeking into all the other rides.

When we got off the people mover we spotted Buzz in character taking pics over by the Carousel of Progress. We got in line, but DS protested that he didn’t want to get a picture. Again, statue of Buzz fine, character Buzz not fine. OK, we didn’t want to scar him for life so we got out of line. By that time our Fast Passes for Buzz’ Space Ranger Spin were good, so we went to do that.

DS sat on DH’s lap. DS was lukewarm about the ride. All the noise and bright colors, and spinning of the car are a lot for a little guy to take in. It was hard to see whether your shots were hitting the target, the only feedback you get is your score. I think he expected stuff to move or make a noise when he shot it.

After Buzz we stopped to get some pressed pennies by the souvenier carts. (Buzz, little green men, Zurg, and I think a Woody) Then we went to Cosmic Ray’s for lunch. I don’t have pics of the food, but DH and I recommend the ½ chicken and ribs plate which we split. Yummy!

DS wanted to go on Pirates of the Carribean so we headed across the park to Adventureland. Obligatory Castle pic.

We went the long way.

Of course having a full belly, DS passed out in his stroller on the way there. The line for Pirates was posted as 40 mins and sprawled back to the Magic Carpets so we said no way. (One of our rules for the trip was not to spend all our time in line.) I decided now was the time for my favorite park treat. Everyone raves about Dole whips, but my favorite has always been the citrus swirl (I always called it an orange whip) that you can get at Sunshine Tree Terrace near the exit of the Tiki Room. It’s a softserve twist that tastes like an orange creamsicle.

You can see we had to turn it because we already ran a spoon through one side! We sat at the tables behind the magic carpets and watched Jasmine do a meet and greet by one of the gift shops.

Since DS was passed out we decided to head back to the hotel for a break. On the way we ran into the Family Fun Day Parade.

We got our first Photopass Pics at Town Square while DS was asleep.

By Tony’s Town Square I also got pics of Mary Poppins and Pinochio.

We had a minimal wait for a bus back to POR. There were separate buses to POR and POFQ.

Next up - Pool Hopping at POFQ

 

[Mickeefan]

I'm enjoying reading your trip report. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

I must agree with you on one point. The citrus swirl is my family's favorite snack ever since I was a little kid. On one of our earliest trips to WDW, we went the the Tiki Room (I miss the old Tiki Room ) and then we had our first citrus swirl. While it's still good, I liked the old variety better. The old one was more like soft-frozen orange juice, and not so much like orange ice cream. But, it's still good. One visit the Sunshine Tree Terrace was closed for refurbished and we decided to try a Dole Whip. Needless to say, we were very happy when, on the next trip, the Sunshine Tree Terrace was once again open.

 

[duckyislost]

Thanks Mickeefan!

You're right, I do remember them tasting more like unprocessed OJ. Maybe even a little pulp in it? I have a confession to make. In all the years I have gone to Disney, this time was the first that I tried a Dole whip! I was so enamored of the citrus swirl I never went looking for anything else. I do like the Dole whip too, but the citrus swirl will always be first in my heart. ~ducky

 

[duckyislost]

Day 2, Part 3: POFQ pool

DS woke up as soon as we got back to POR and wouldn’t go back down for more napping. So we changed into our swimsuits and hopped the water taxi to POFQ. Because these are sister resorts pool hopping is allowed. (We were never asked for any ID, room card, etc. at either pool during our stay by the way.)

DS liked the tamer slide here and rode several times.

Also handy at this pool – there was a chest full of life vests right near the pool. We tried one out on DS and that worked a lot better than his water wings. He was very daring on the slide after that.

After swimming we headed to the main lobby to look around. There really isn’t a whole lot there compared to POR. The gift shop is much smaller as is the food court. We stopped for some quesadillas and had brought our refillable mugs along for drinks. (Also technically legal since POR and POFQ are sister resorts.)
Made a pressed quarter in the lobby, Pinnochio, and then we headed back to the water taxi.

These are posts along the walkway to the boat dock.

We changed clothes again and walked to the North Depot (which is the closest bus stop to AB39) to catch a bus back to the MK. This ended up being our first bus wait issue. Multiple buses for every other destination came by before we finally got an MK bus, maybe 25-30 min. Here is DS at the water fountain while we waited.

Next up: MK by night.

 

[LaurenMic]

I'm all caught up on your report now...great updates! I want to try your "orange whip" now, it looks so good and I've never even heard of them!

 

[dreamer17555]

Im in! You take great pictures and I love how cute your son is playing in those fountains!

-Becca-

 

[duckyislost]

Yay! Somebody is reading this! Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Here's my next installment.

Day 2, Part 4: MK at night

We got back to the MK as the sun was setting and the castle was being lit up.

As you can see from the Photopass pics below, it pays to hit up multiple Photopass photographers as you walk down main street. We were able to get different color castle pics within a few minutes of each other. I wish we could have gotten a few more, I don’t think we got one where all 3 of us had good smiles in the same shot.

The green castle pic almost looks photoshopped the way the light looks. I don’t care, it ended up being the cover shot I used for our photo album for this trip. As you can see I’m partial to the Tinkerbelle border. I made a bunch of other versions online, but I always end up liking Tink the best.

I have to admit we did not have the greatest dinner. DS had eaten a kids meal at POFQ food court, so he wasn’t hungry. We were getting the munchies, but didn’t want to stop for a meal so we got some popcorn on Main Street and then stopped for a Dole whip in Adventureland. Not exactly fine dining, but hey we’re on vacation and there are no calories in the Happiest Place on Earth!

Finally we got back to Pirates of the Caribbean and this time only a 15 min wait! (Spectromagic was just a few minutes from starting.)

I tried to get a good shot of the “perpetual check” scene, but it is a point and shoot camera afterall.

For some reason the projection of Davy Jones was not lit up on our ride, but I liked the audio anyway. This was the first time I had seen the Jack Sparrow update of POC. I think they worked him in very well. I like that they added him only in a few scenes and didn’t completely refocus the action on him. My DS liked trying to spot him. We told DS there was a drop in the ride and that he could scream if he wanted. Well he let out a holler like he’d just touched a hot stove, mostly for effect. He liked the ride and the drop didn’t scare him.

Unfortunately we didn’t take any time to explore the gift shop at the end of POC, we wanted to take advantage of the parade distraction to get on Splash Mountain. We crossed the throngs waiting for the parade in Frontierland and there was only an 8 minute wait for SM! DS just barely made the 40 inch height requirement.

I just love all the stuff they have hanging in the trees around there.

DS sat in between DH and I. We told him there was a big drop coming, so the whole ride he was asking “Is this the big drop?”. At that part near the beginning where you circle the big drop we got absolutely soaked. You can see it happening to the cars in front of you and know that there is nothing you can do. As soon as a log goes down the big flume, their splash shoots up and lands on you. DH and I both bent over DS and got it on our head and back, DS for once was completely dry! DS did fine with the big drop, probably because he couldn’t really see much from his spot in the middle and it was dark out so it was harder to tell how high up we were. After we got off he had this little cocky strut going….yeah people, I ride the big rides. We gave him some time to play in the Laughing Place and I pressed 7 pennies.

We headed back toward the parade and caught the end of it coming through Frontierland.

Then we strolled along the wooden causeway next to the river and on to Fantasyland. There was no wait for Small World so we did that next. DS really liked IASW, I think he needed a little breather after doing a couple of big kid rides. When we came out, Wishes had started. DS was not OK with this, it was very loud behind the castle. We decided to try taking the Steam Train back to Main Street. Well we got over to ToonTown and the train wasn’t running, it didn’t occur to me that they would shut it down during Wishes. We ended up walking back to Main Street via Tomorrowland now in search of food again. DS fell asleep in the stroller again. DH was getting hungry so we went over to Casey’s for a hot dog.

This is some of the baseball memorabilia on a shelf above the condiments.

There were tons of people on Main Street so we cut through the Emporium to get back to the park entrance. We took our time and I managed to snap a few pics along the way.

When we got to the bus queue we had quite a shock. The POR bus line was backed up at least 6 buses deep with people. (None of the other queues were so long.) So POR bus issue #2, but thankfully the last for our trip. The POFQ line was pretty short so we took that bus instead. When we got to POFQ we headed for the boat dock, hoping to catch a boat back to POR. We were too late, I think the boats stop at 11pm. So rather than play bus roulette again we walked back to POR along the river. It’s actually a very nice walk between the resorts and I liked seeing all the mansions lit up at night.

Next up: Day 3 - Back to MK again for early EMH

 

[VanniGirl]

More great photos - thanks for sharing!

 

[dreamer17555]

Aww that is so great that your son wasn't scared of Splash! And I love all the different castle pics.

-Becca-

 

[kathymc]

enjoying your report - thanks for sharing

 

[Disneychix]

Wow, that was a lot of walking in one day!

Trip sounds great so far. Great shoots of the POFQ pool. That's were we are heading in Sept and it's nice to see pics of the resort. Hey, we'll be there the same dates as you'll be at the CBR. maybe we'll see eachother

 

[LaurenMic]

Aww your son is so brave! That definitely makes for a better trip, because you can all ride together

 

[ta2edgoofy]

i just found your TR. and im happy to be aboard and looking forward to the next installment

 

[duckyislost]

Thanks for all the kind words, I'm really having fun going over the pics and remembering the trip.

Disneychix - Great timing on the next trip! We'll be going to MNSSHP on Sept. 23rd. Are you going to that? I would love to run into other Disboarders, but as you'll see below I kinda blew it the one time it happened!

~ducky

 

[duckyislost]

Day 3, Part 1: Morning EMH in the MK
(4/3/08)

This was a Thursday and the MK was having early EMH. We were a little late getting up, so we stopped at Riverside mill and grabbed danishes and juice and ate breakfast on the bus. We had planned to eat at South Depot while waiting for the bus, but it showed up and we got seats so off we went. We got to the MK a few minutes after rope drop and had no problem getting up Main Street. It was a foggy morning and the Castle looked really cool.

We went through the Castle to Fantasyland and I managed to get a pic of one of the murals, just beautiful.

Our first stop was Peter Pan since the notoriously slow line was under 15 minutes.

From the line you can look over at the former turnaround for the skyway buckets, now stroller parking.

Here’s me with the skybuckets in 1990. Ah, the fannypack years!

The girls ahead of us at Peter Pan found this hidden Mickey near the end of the queue.

DS liked the ride, I especially like the part flying over London.

After Peter Pan we headed for Mickey’s Philharmagic. This is us waiting in the pre-show area.

We entered the theater and it was only half full. Then the coolest thing happened – another Disboarder spotted my green Mickey tag and said hello. She and her boyfriend (or could have been husband) sat in the row in front of us. He was wearing a lime green Disboards shirt. Unforturnately we only had a few minutes to chat before the show started.

This was DS’s first 3D movie and I think it was a good one to start with, one of the least scary. He did take off the glasses a couple of times trying to figure out how it all worked. He just loved it when Donald crashed through the back of the theater! He kept pointing and yelling “Duck butt!”

Now here is where I completely blew it. We filed out and I completely forgot to get a screen name, user name, or even a photo of the Disboarders that we met. So if you guys are out there, brunette with a ponytail and bald guy with a goatee, I apologize if I dissed you. (bad pun, boo hiss.)

Since DS had done so well with POTC and Splash Mountain the night before DH and I decided to head for our favorite, BTMR. By the time we got there the main gates had opened and the wait was 30 min. We got fast passes.

Instead of hanging out nearby we decided to hop on the Steam Train to Toontown.

Details of BTMR that you never get a good look at while you are on it.

From Toontown we decided to head to Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor in Tomorrowland. DH and I hadn’t seen it before and we wanted to hit the new stuff. (If you haven’t caught on already, we could have really used a better touring plan, we criss crossed the park several times!)
Here are some signs from the waiting areas. Roz just cracks me up!

We liked this attraction a lot, also couldn’t for the life of us remember what was in that space before.

We strolled back across the hub next and had some Photopass pictures taken.

I finally found a photographer who could do the Tinkerbelle pic!

As you can tell by his expression, DS was getting a little cranky. To perk him up we stopped for an ice cream bar at Liberty Square.

This is one of my favorite pics of the whole trip.

I love these little Disney details, looks like a birdhouse, but really it’s a speaker.

BTMR – Well DS did not like this one. It wasn’t so much the speed as the noise. He started saying he wanted to get off after the first cave. Oh well, can’t win em all.

He actually liked watching the trains go around much better than riding it.

We saddled DS back up in the stroller and stopped to make some pressed pennies at the exit to Tom Sawyer’s island. BTMR, cowgirl Minnie, Chip and Dale as Indians, and another one I can’t remember. As we strolled toward Main Street DS fell asleep so we knew it was time to head back to POR for lunch.

Besides, DMIL had arrived at POR and was waiting for us! She had driven over from Tampa in the morning. So we headed back to the buses. We did cut through the Emporium to look for T shirts and I snapped one pic of this great castle.

Next up – DMIL arrives, POR pool, and EPCOT

 

[ZZUB]

I am really enjoying your Trip Report. Your pictures are quite good. We loved our two stays at PORiverside. Your pictures take me back to some very good memories. We stayed at CBR a thousand years ago. I remember really liking it because it had a relaxed, laid back feel to it. I've seen some renderings of the new pool and if your boy is as nuts for pirates as he seems, he's going to really like it.

Thanks for taking us along with you on your trip. It looks and sounds like y'all had a great time. I'm loving how y'all stop for food whenever you want. That's the nice thing about not being tied down to ADRs, isn't it?

Funny thing about the citrus swirl, for the longest time, when I read people talking about a Dole Whip, I assumed that's what they meant. I haven't had a swirl in a long time, but I remember really liking them a lot.

I'm looking forward to reading more about your trip. Your enthusiam for Disney is infectious.

 

[duckyislost]

ZZUB - Wow, thanks! On the ADR's - we do love to eat well, but figured this time around we didn't want to feel tied to them. We booked our trip less than 6 weeks out, so all the good times were probably booked anyway. We really did like the flexibility of just eating when we felt like it and going with the flow.

I may try for one character meal on our next trip as we'll be there at a slow time. Thanks for reading! ~ducky

 

[Cindeegyrl]

Love your trip report and all the pics!!