Graduation Celebration at SSR...8/7-8/14 TR

[Chellymouse]

Hello Everyone! I am finally getting around to writing my TR...this was an interesting trip as DH and I invited our friends to join us and they were first timers! I have some pics loaded, but am still waiting on my Photopass to arrive!
A short PTR....
I decided to go to grad school so this trip took place less than 24 hours after graduation! This is also the first time that DH and I have had "company" if you will, at WDW. This trip was 8 months in the making and our friends think I'm neurotic about Disney...duh...I don't answer to NDW#1 for no reason. I should mention that our friends are also our neighbors and they live 5 houses down from us so we see them all the time!

The Cast:

Starring...the Veterans
Me aka Chellymouse aka NDW#1 32 and this was my 10th trip to the world
DH aka Grumpy 36 and his 8th trip to the world

The Newbies:
Rick aka Eyeore 40
Cindy aka Cinderella 48
Beau aka Stitch 8

The Visitors:
Tom and Kevin aka Chip and Dale

Arrival and Part 1, Day 1.

The "vacation" started on 8/6. I had just finished school and found out that I had aced my final giving me straight A's this semester (yes, I did wear my graduation ear hat to class so I thank the Big Cheese for my grade!) Managed to get home and we partied it up for awhile.. (hey we're leaving for Disney in the morning....we were all too excited to sleep!) and finally, it was morning! As per my custom, I was fully decked out in my Graduate Mickey Ears and even took some good natured ribbing at the airport. I always say...I may look silly in OH, but I will fit in just fine when we land!
Stitch didn't know it, but we had arranged to have a limo to and from the airport (it was less expensive than parking 2 cars or having to fuss with the nerd dome ) So the limo driver called when he was 10 minutes out, a quick call to Eyeore to keep Stitch indoors and here comes the limo! (I'm waiting for Cinderella to send me her pics so I can post). Grumpy and I get in the limo and we cruise down the street. Stitch is sent outside and thought it was cool that there was a limo in the 'hood. We could hear Stitch yelling for Cinderella and Eyeore and then Grumpy and I jumped out. The look on Stitch's face was priceless. I looked at him and asked..."you didn't think we were driving to the airport did you?" They quickly got their luggage in and we were off the airport. Upon arrival, we checked our bags, made it through security rather quickly and headed to the gate. Grumpy and Eyeore were complaining because it was 11:10 and the Great Lakes Brewing Co. wasn't open (after hearing them griping, the worker finally lifted the gate) I had to fish them out by 11:30am because our plane was boarding and by 11:50am we were airborne! This was Stitch's first plan ride so he was quite excited. We landed early at MCO and made our way to ME. I have to say, I like their new way of getting people to their motorcoach. Beats waiting in that line! We were on a bus and pulling into the Carriage House at SSR by 2:30pm. After a quick check in (didn't use the online although we might next time) I sent Eyeore and Grumpy with our room number to bell services to grab a golf cart and our groceries (thanks Garden Grocer!) while I stayed with Cinderella to have their MYW tickets put on their key cards and it was off to 1865 Congress Park, our dedicated 2 BR home at WDW! Grumpy and I have a system to which we had taught the newbies so within 15 minutes, we had our groceries put away, coolers packed, spray fans filled up and were heading to the bus stop. Now, we ALWAYS go to MK when we arrive and today was not any different. Do you think a bus could show up? Nope! After 30 minutes (and quite a bit of grumbling on my part) the MK bus came and we were on our way. So far, Eyeore, Cinderella and Stitch are amazed (and we've only been to SSR) and are getting pretty excited. We arrived at Mk and NOTHING in this world beats the first walk down Main St. Stitch wanted his pirate Mickey ears right now, so we made a quick stop at the chateau, purchased the ears and would stop back after dinner because there was an hour wait to have his name put on the back. Now, are we done with the delays? The group nods a yes and it's off to POTC. I start and end every trip with POTC. That's how it goes. POTC was walk on (thank goodness!) so we all enjoyed POTC together! After POTC we went over to Splash and the FP were gone for the day so we grabbed FP for BTMRR and then it was time for our ressie at CP.

Coming up: Our first evening at MK....will the newbies make it until 2am?

 

[cj9200]

Congrats on the grades/graduation. Let us know more on how it goes.

 

[Disney Princess]

Congratulations on graduation! Enjoying the report so far.

 

[Chellymouse]

Congrats on the grades/graduation. Let us know more on how it goes.

Thanks! It was a rough 2 years! I don't recommend accelerated programs!

 

[Chellymouse]

We had decided to forgo the Haunted Mansion to make our ressie a few minutes early so we went over to CP. May I suggest to any CM who may be reading this...there needs to be 2 lines at CP. One for people with ressies and one for people without. We waited for nearly 15 minutes to check in due to the number of people who were trying to find a place to eat! We waited about 20 minutes past our ressie before we were seated (and this was arriving 15 minutes early!) We were led to our table and as we were being seated Tigger bounced over. Cinderella is trying to figure out how we are supposed to eat when characters keep coming to our table and Grumpy and I just laughed. We told her to follow our lead and she would be fine. Well, to say that we ate like piglets is an understatement as we didn't really have lunch and we avoided the "I need my popcorn and Dole Whip RIGHT NOW" that usually has taken place on our walk to POTC. The food was excellent as always and the service was ok. I really don't think that we should have to ask for refills when our glasses are empty and our plates are full, but what do I know? Here are a few pics from Dinner.

[/IMG]
Eyeore and Stitch

[/IMG]
Grumpy and I

After Dinner, Stitch and his family went to pick up his ears while I went over to Guest Services to trade in my voucher for my new PAP. I was quite pleased to learn that my PAP was going to be good for 15 months..hmmmm...more trips to Disney?? After the "errands" were completed we made our way over to HM, used our FP for BTMRR, did POTC again and had just enough time for a quick spin on Dumbo before it was time for our dessert party. The Wishes Dessert Party was worth it's weight in gold. Yes, the desserts were wonderful, but the view and not having to fight the crowds for a good spot to watch Wishes was wonderful. Even Grumpy commented on how great it was! Here are a few pics from the party.

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]


By now it was 10:30pm and we had decided to take the "back way" over to Frontier Land to try to ride Splash (that was all Stitch wanted to do) so we got over to Splash and to our dismay saw a 60 minute wait, which was pretty accurate. Bless the kind family who had some FP that they couldn't use because their little ones had fallen asleep. Thank you kind family!! Armed with our FP, we quickly were boarding our log and heading for the Briar Patch. After Splash, Stitch wanted to do it again, so we told him we would come back when the park emptied out a bit. We all rode BTMRR again and then Eyeore (who by now has decided HM is his favorite ride) decided we needed to do HM again. I had planned to run for FP for Peter Pan, but they were already up to 1:30am and Grumpy said that pehaps that wasn't a wise idea.... are you kidding me? I got the FP anyway and we did HM. We checked Splash after HM and they did not turn FP back on and the line was still looking and showing about an hour. By now it's 12:15am and Stitch is starting to feel the effects of his first limo ride, first ride on an airplane and his first few hours at WDW. I was outnumbered and the decision was made to call it a night. I wanted to stay however Grumpy pointed out that since Stitch had decided he was my new BFF, I would be doing everyone a favor if I returned home with the group. After some grumbling, we went to the locker to grab our coolers and made our way to the bus stop. Thankfully an SSR bus was pulling in so we were home pretty quickly. Stitch was asleep before we were out of the parking lot. Once we arrived home, Grumpy and I quickly unpacked, showered and headed for bed and told our guests that we were out the door at 8am for breakfast and Epcot.

Coming up...our first full day at WDW, Epcot and how much meat can we possibly eat?

 

[Chellymouse]

Congratulations on graduation! Enjoying the report so far.

Thank you!

 

[Sammie]

Great report and congrats on the Graduation, did you make someone's day and pass of the FP to Peter Pan?

I love getting those unexpected moments of Pixie Dust.

 

[toniosmom]

What a whirlwind first day! I'm enjoying your TR and can't wait to read more.

Most importantly, congratulations on your graduation. I took an accellerated program for my BS and it was a killer, so I know what you mean.

 

[Chellymouse]

Great report and congrats on the Graduation, did you make someone's day and pass of the FP to Peter Pan?

I love getting those unexpected moments of Pixie Dust.

We went out that way and overheard a family complaining about the wait so we did pass on our FP. I think it's rude not to especially since we couldn't use them and someone had shared the magic with us as well earlier in the evening.

 

[Chellymouse]

What a whirlwind first day! I'm enjoying your TR and can't wait to read more.

Most importantly, congratulations on your graduation. I took an accellerated program for my BS and it was a killer, so I know what you mean.

Thank you! I did my MSN in 23 months and it was pretty brutal! I don't recommend it!

 

[Chellymouse]

Well, it's not 7:30am on Saturday, our first full day here and Grumpy and I were up, showered, dressed and filling coolers and spray bottles. I swear, those things are a must in August! Thankfully, Eyeore is an early riser and was prodding his brood out of bed. Good thing we were at Disney because I think Cinderella and Stitch would have slept until noon had we let them....
We were out the door at 7:55am and heading up to AP for breakfast. Yes, I know it's less expensive, faster and easier to eat breakfast in the villa, but I cannot live without my Mouse waffle and bacon every morning . Thankfully, Eyeore, Cinderella and Stitch fell in love with the Mouse waffles so it wasn't too hard to convince them why we didn't do breakfast at home We headed over to the Springs bus stop and of course, had just missed the Epcot bus by about 2 minutes. There goes making it on time for RD. I have to say, the bus service was overall pretty lousy for this trip, especially first thing in the morning! The Epcot bus finally showed up and we missed RD by about 5 minutes. Grumpy and crew took care of getting the locker and stowing our junk for the day while I made a FP run for Soarin. I knew we were going to have issues when I arrived at Soarin at 9:15 and the FP was already up to 11:30am. I also didn't the boat in the Land was closed, so I was a bit bummed about that. I know it's cheesy, but it's one of the few "educational" things we like at Epcot. I met up with the rest of the clan over at TT, which thankfully was only about a 15 minute wait. I think 90% of the people who went to the park went to Soarin so we did TT, Eyeore, Cinderella and Stitch loved it, grabbed our photopass pic (will post pics once my photopass cd arrives) and then went over to Mission Space. Now, Grumpy and I were on hand when this beast opened and we've ridden many times. Always orange...we can't seem to garner the strength to check out the "weenie version" We had discussed this ride quite a bit and Cinderella and Stitch headed over the green side and Eyeore went with Grumpy and I to the orange. Eyeore couldn't believe it and after we'd ridden had said it was a good call although when we met up with those two, they thought the weenie version was lame and wanted to try the orange. (insert lengthy discussion amongst Eyeore, Cinderella and Stitch here) Grumpy and I had decided to break up the discussion and we marched over to "the giant golf ball" as Stitch had been calling it. Sorry, but that ride is still lame and our guests agreed. By now it was 10:30am and thankfully, the character connection wasn't horribly busy so we decided to go and greet the Big Cheese and company (still waiting on the photopass cd). After hanging out with our "old friends" we went over to see Nemo and friends. This attraction, while slow, it pretty cool and then Stitch wanted to see Crush. Grumpy and I hadn't done this before (I know, shame on us ) so it was off to see the Crush-man. Personally, when they invited the kids to come up to the carpet, I was trying to go until Grumpy reminded me that it was for the little kids, not the big kids. After a few minutes of pouting, we settled Stitch then went and took our seats with the other big kids who weren't allowed to sit on the carpet. Wouldn't you know that Stitch was the first kid that Crush called on. He loved it. It would figure that "Dude" was the word of the week at this point. Here's a pic of Crush:

[/IMG]

Now, I have to back up a minute. I had forgotten that we had ridden Jungle Cruise the night before at MK...note to everyone...this ride is WAY more fun in the dark. Our "captain" had obviously had a long day and was the queen of one-liners. Well, that was also a trend for the trip, complete with sound effects (ba boom boom crash) from Eyeore. Ok, back to Epcot.
Since Grumpy and I finally had someone to take pics, we finally got our shot with Bruce. I think it's funny that Bruce's teeth cover Grumpy's head!

[/IMG]

Finally, it's time for Soarin. I have to insert a disclaimer here and I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I will anyway. Grumpy is the only human, known to mankind that does not like Soarin. I know...he should he be flamed, but he was a trooper and we all did Soarin. Our friends loved it and wanted to do it again, but by the time we got off, FP were up to an 8pm return time so we decided against them. We then went to try to get a Kimunicator but we weren't able to find anywhere that had any that weren't all signed out so we took our guests over to Club Cool. Yes we did! I know, I know, but for everyone shaking their heads...you know you've done it too! We told them how wonderful Beverly was and boy did they fall for that one hook, line and sinker! Cinderella is still made at me to this day for that one! So after Grumpy and I had our laugh for the day, we made our way over to WS. Here's where Stitch wasn't very happy. There aren't many rides and he said he was too old for the Kidcot stops, which at going on 9, I could see his point. Well....guess what the grown ups were doing....yup.... Margaritas in Mexico, wine tasting in Germany and Italy (Grumpy and Eyeore stuck to their beers), Grand Marnier and Grey Goose slushies in France, Hard cidar and black currant juice in the UK...you get the idea...Stitch was a little bored and the adults were a little tanked since all we'd had for lunch were popcorn and snacks. So, we all took Stitch on the boat ride in Mexico, which appeased him. Now, Remember Chip and Dale? That is our neighbor across the street from Grumpy and I and 5 doors down the other side of the street from our guests. Chip and Dale were in Clearwater and had driven...that means...I don't have to find a way to get wine home for a change! They were coming on Monday so the wine tasting was very important! By now it was 4:20pm and we had a 5:15 ressie at Ohana so we started making our way up to the monorail while stopping at the coolers for some much needed waters! It was kind of eerie getting on the monorail after the accident. It was the first time we'd been there since and it was just strange. After hearing me repeat "por favor mantangase alajado de las puertas" for the unteempth time (and quite a few sound effects from Eyeore) we were on our way to TTC. The monorail seemed very slow so it's a good thing that we had left early. We made it to TTC then jumped over to the resort line and arrived at Ohana just as they were opening. We checked in and had a table within 5 minutes of our ressie. I could eat at O'hana every night and after this meal, we had discussed changing all of our ressies so that we could eat at Ohana every night until Cinderella mentioned that it was not good for our "girlish figures"...ok she had a point. The grown ups had a round of lapu lapu (like we needed anything else to drink) and Stitch had Sprite.

[/IMG]

The food starts coming to the table (I swear I could eat a bowl of the pork treats by myself) and then comes the meat! OMG did we put away alot of meat! None of us could move after that meal and of course, we had to have the bread pudding (btw...the recipe is no longer a secret and can be found in one of the cookbooks...it's pretty close and a word to the wise...be careful when lighting the sauce at home! ) Well, needless to say none of us was moving very quickly so after a quick trip to the gift shop (where I found my park music cd set and had to buy it) we boarded the monorail to head back to Epcot. The plan was to ride a bit, hang out for Illuminations then head home, but none of us felt like riding...even Stitch who is usually a picky eater and was stuffed to the gills. We made a quick run to Mouse Gear to browse, grabbed our gear out of the locker and then made our way to the bus stop. Mercifully, a bus was pulling up as we were walking up. We made it home and then decided to go swimming...probably not the best idea in the world, so we all changed and went over the quiet pool (I call it our backyard pool) and floated around for awhile. By 10:30pm we had headed back in and by 11:30pm everyone had showered and was heading for bed.

Up next: DHS (the park formerly known as MGM) and do we make it to MK EMH?

 

[Sammie]

We went out that way and overheard a family complaining about the wait so we did pass on our FP. I think it's rude not to especially since we couldn't use them and someone had shared the magic with us as well earlier in the evening.

That is wonderful, I so believe in Karma, someone passed it on to you and you and returned passed it to someone else. Way to Go!!!!!

 

[zalansky]

So glad to hear you are big fans of O'hana! We are eating there for the first time ever in about a week and we can't wait. I, especially, cannot wait for the dessert! Love your TR, keep it coming.

 

[rascalmom]

Great trip report - can't wait to read more!

Curious though - how does it work that your PAP will be good for 15 months? I'/d take that 3 month bonus!!

 

[zalansky]

We renewed our kids annual passes at the park window and also got the additonal 3 months on them. I was PSYCHED! I called when i got home to ask about it and they told me that is something they are doing at the parks and not over the phone. I need to renew mine so I am going to wait until we go in person next week. Not sure if this is 100% correct but its what the person told me at the passholder phone #.

 

[Chellymouse]

So glad to hear you are big fans of O'hana! We are eating there for the first time ever in about a week and we can't wait. I, especially, cannot wait for the dessert! Love your TR, keep it coming.

O'Hana is wonderful! Stayed tuned because this wasn't the only time we had O'hana! Remember, you have to save room for the dessert and that is a challenge!

Great trip report - can't wait to read more!

Curious though - how does it work that your PAP will be good for 15 months? I'/d take that 3 month bonus!!

I have no idea. Didn't even know about it when I renewed. I renewed online at the 30 day mark which was about 28 days before we left and when I took my voucher, old pass and all other required stuff, the CM gave me my pass and said that our gift from Disney was a 15 month pass. I'm not real sure what the promotion was/is, but I do know that I'm going to get a whole lotta use of it!

We renewed our kids annual passes at the park window and also got the additonal 3 months on them. I was PSYCHED! I called when i got home to ask about it and they told me that is something they are doing at the parks and not over the phone. I need to renew mine so I am going to wait until we go in person next week. Not sure if this is 100% correct but its what the person told me at the passholder phone #.

I'm not real sure. I renewed online and took my voucher with me to the window and received the upgrade!

 

[Kris10luvsDisney]

love your TR!! I can totally relate to walking down main street and tearing up. It happens to me everytime we are there (DH never fails to laugh at me ).

We also love O'Hana - it's our favorite restaurant and I may have to try one of those drinks... it looks yummy!!

Would also love to hear your thoughts on SSR. We are going in December.

 

[Chellymouse]

love your TR!! I can totally relate to walking down main street and tearing up. It happens to me everytime we are there (DH never fails to laugh at me ).

We also love O'Hana - it's our favorite restaurant and I may have to try one of those drinks... it looks yummy!!

Would also love to hear your thoughts on SSR. We are going in December.

We really enjoy SSR. I know it has a bad rap for being a large resort, but we have grown to love it. I would recommend either Congress Park (if you like a DTD view and less than 5 minute walk to DTD) Springs (last bus stop and close to Carriage House) or Grandstand (ist bu stop and also close to Carriage House). I think the Paddock and Carousel are way too far away, but that's MHO. Our villa has always been very clean and in good repair.

 

[Chellymouse]

Hopefully the network problem is now corrected and I can continue! Wrote out the whole next segment to have my internet crash! So...let's try this again!

We had decided to try to get out a bit earlier this morning to make RD so we were packed up and out the door at 7:45am for our daily dose of Mouse waffles. Once our tummies were happy, we made our way over to the Springs stop only to see the DHS bus pulling away. Are you kidding me..? Finally, after nearly half an hour, the next bus pulled in and of course we missed RD by about 5 minutes! Grumpy and company had locker duty while ran to TSM to grab FP. We met up at RNR and only had about a 15 minute wait before we were on. As luck would have it, we managed to get the front seats and Eyeore, Cinderella and Stitch (after having watched it take off a few times) graciously gave Grumpy and I the very front seat! They all loved RNR and Stitch pronounced it "the best coaster ever!" After RNR, we went over to TOT and were on within 10 minutes. The line was still pretty short so we rode a second time. Stitch wanted to do RNR again, but the wait was up to 60 minutes (in less than an hour after the park opened) so we decided to make our way over to the other side of the park. One thing I did notice on this trip is that while the parks weren't horribly crowded, the wait times for everything was pretty miserable. I attribute this to the fact that park hours were greatly reduced from what we normally have this time of year. Stitch wanted to try out for Jedi training so we waited around for that, only Stitch wasn't picked. No worries though. We rode Star Tours (one of Grumpy's favorites) then it was time for TSM, where I lost my Undefeated title to Eyeore. We'd been joking around so I was none too happy to get beat by 1500 points. (needless to say, I didn't hear the end of it for awhile!) After TSM, we grabbed FP for later then made our way over to the back lot tour. It's still lame and I'm just not feeling it after the refurb. I miss the live CM. After the tour we went in search of some characters, but not before Grumpy and Eyeore decided that they needed some refreshments. (still waiting on my photopass cd....)

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

After some characters, we were hungry so we grabbed some lunch at Backlot Express. DHS is not my favorite park for CS meals, but we didn't have enough time to run to Epcot and make it back in time for the Lights, Motors, Action show (one of the few things that Stitch requested). After lunch we went to the show and they all loved it! Grumpy and I hadn't seen it in awhile so it was a nice break for us. After the show, Cinderella requested a trip on the Great Movie Ride. This isn't a huge favorite of Grumpy and I, but we acquiessed to her request and the Great Movie Ride it was! I should mention that she LOVES Wizard of Oz and I had to open my trap!

[/IMG]

After the movie ride we went over to grab FP for RNR only to find them gone for the day at 3:30pm. I can't remember the last time that I've seen FP gone for that ride so early in the day. Thankfully, there were still some TOT left in the near future so we grabbed some FP for that, then made our way to the locker for some fresh water and gatorade. After the locker stop we were all pretty hot so we went to the animation studio for some characters and shopping. DH had planned to let me have some artwork for graduation so of spending later and some characters, it was time to ride TOT. After TOT it was time for dinner at 50's Prime Time and I have to say that this was not only one of the best meals of the trip, but one of the best meals that Grumpy and I have had there ever. Our server was absolutely awesome! Grumpy, Eyeore and Cinderella were all scolded for "tattling" on Stitch and I for misbehaving when she wasn't looking. Cinderella was often in trouble for elbows on the table. It was very entertaining and the food was fantastic! After dinner it was 7:25pm and I had decided it was time to head over to Fantasmic. Now, Eyeore, Cinderella and Stitch have been troopers so far, but they have now decided I have lost my mind. Cinderella dared to ask why in the world were we going to get seats for a show that didn't start until 9pm, and before I could give her a good solid talking to, Grumpy intervened, with a good "don't say it" look. Within a few minutes, we, ok I, was happily en route to my favorite spot, 8th row center, Sorcerer Mickey section. Grumpy and Eyeore went off for refreshments which gave Cinderella to chance to ask her earlier question. By now it was almost 8pm and I told her to look around. She was shocked to see the people pouring into the theater. I told her that within another 20 minutes or so, the line would be cut and then the line would start for the late show. She then inquired about what was so special about Fantasmic and I just told her to wait and see. By now, the big boys were back so it was our turn to head up the loo and of course Stitch had to buy a toy. We made our way back to our seats and then it was 9pm and one of my favorite phrases was uttered "Welcome to Fantasmic" Ahhh...music to my ears! Suffice it to say that after the show, there were no more doubters! The nice thing is, they didn't question a single thing after that!
Here's a quick pic from Fantasmic!

[/IMG]

[/IMG]

After the show we went back to TSM to use our FP only to find that it was broke! Bummer! I can honestly say, I can't remember the last time that Grumpy and I spent all day in that park without leaving and coming back or just leaving altogether. We decided to head to the locker and by now it's after 10pm. I wanted to try to go to MK, but Grumpy wasn't overjoyed about it. Cinderella and Eyeore decided that while Stitch has been awesome on the trip, they didn't want to risk a meltdown, so we decided to head home. Thankfully a bus was pulling up and we were back to the villa in no time. By now, I'm getting......I know...a little tired so Grumpy suggests a trip to the backyard pool. Eyeore, Stitch, Grumpy and I went to the pool for a bit and now Grumpy and I had our second winds...until we went in to grab showers and debate about heading back out. Grumpy was out cold by the time I got out of the shower, so alas, no EMH for us tonight! Oh, well!
Next up...Animal Kingdom....and could it possible get any hotter in that park? Plus a visit from Chip and Dale!