Groundhog Day at Walt Disney World - New 5/2 - pg. 20 - 3 Updates/new PTR link

[irish dancer]

Wow, what a fun night!!

BIG Amazing Race fan here too!! Deirdre and I watch it together every week.

 

[Charleston Princess]

How fun that the boys got to see the Harlem Globetrotters! ESPN had one of their games on awhile back, and Charles and Connor watched it. Connor was in absolute stitches during it! I always think of Scooby-Doo when I see them -- remember when they "guest-starred" on the show? What a great way to spend the weekend!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great pics!! Aw it looks like the boys had so much fun.

I know what you mean about the lines for autographs. We took the boys about 4 years ago. Lots of fun but it was crowded & we did not get any autographs because of the crowds. They are so fun to watch though. I wouldn't mind going to see them again.

It was a lot of fun - but yes, those "lines" were crazy - everyone pushing & shoving - total chaos!

I love this one. I can picture the blue mouth smile that came after he finished the drink.

Zach loves a good slushie! I had already bought him a drink when he spotted the slushies! Luckily I like lemonade.

I watch the Amazing Race too!

What a fun day, the boys looked like they had a blast!

I the amazing race! I'm glad the Globetrotters didn't get eliminated last night - I was a bit worried for a while!

Love the Amazing Race!

What a great way to spend the weekend. It looks like you all had a great time!

It was nice to have the game on Saturday to break up the long weekend.

Wow, what a fun night!!

BIG Amazing Race fan here too!! Deirdre and I watch it together every week.

Zach couldn't sleep last night so he was watching part of it with me - he made me record it so he could watch the end of it today.

How fun that the boys got to see the Harlem Globetrotters! ESPN had one of their games on awhile back, and Charles and Connor watched it. Connor was in absolute stitches during it! I always think of Scooby-Doo when I see them -- remember when they "guest-starred" on the show? What a great way to spend the weekend!

Zach thought the game was hillarious. Alex kept saying how they had to stop fooling around or they were going to lose the game! He was really worried!

 

[Cory's Gal]

Great updates Amy! Busch Gardens sure has changed since the last time I was there, Feb of 1989!! Your Villa looks very nice! Tons of room! That master is huge! The balcony looks wonderful too!! Great pics from AK too, even though you didn't spend too much time there you got some great attractions in! The Globetrotters looked like a lot of fun too!! The boys look great in their jerseys!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great updates Amy! Busch Gardens sure has changed since the last time I was there, Feb of 1989!! Your Villa looks very nice! Tons of room! That master is huge! The balcony looks wonderful too!! Great pics from AK too, even though you didn't spend too much time there you got some great attractions in! The Globetrotters looked like a lot of fun too!! The boys look great in their jerseys!!

Hi Beth! Busch Gardens was pretty cool - even though we didn't spend much time there!

The villa was great - unfortunately we didn't realy use the screened balcony - I dried our ponchos out there. We did sit with the door open soemtimes though.

The Globetrotters were a ton of fun!

 

[DisMomAmy]

The boys came back from the pool a little while later and Alex was starting to develop a cough. We spent the rest of the afternoon resting & settling in at the condo. We left for Chef Mickey’s around 5pm and got there really early.

We checked in at the podium at 5:20 and got in line for our picture.

Right after our picture our buzzer went off. We were seated in the back section but it was a great spot – up and out of the way a bit and one of the last tables in that section to be seen by the characters – which was good because we had plenty of warning as to when they would arrive.

We had lots to eat & enjoyed all of the characters. Zach wrote a review using the cards that Julie (mousescrapper) made for her son & let me use, but I can't find his little booklet right now so I'll have to add that later... sorry!

After leaving Chef Mickey’s the GPS sent us out a strange way and we ended up passing a monorail service station!

It was so cool to see the end of the line for the monorails. We also passed CM parking & Disney University.

We didn’t go down any roads that were marked as private but it was obvious this was intended as a CM area not for the general public. It did however get us back out into the real world and we were on our way home in no time. But first we stopped at Walmart. Tim wanted to buy some basketballs so we didn’t have to go sign them out every time they wanted to play. He took them and I grabbed a cart to pick up a few groceries to save Tim the trip later. It was CRAZY busy there – there were bare shelves in some spots! Obviously Sunday is a big check-in day at the off-site resorts. After having visited the Marketplace at Vistana, I should have just picked up a few things there – even though they would have been more expensive. I found myself over-buying at Walmart to avoid having to go back out. After Walmart we took a quick stop at the liquor store next door for Tim to grab a bottle of Captain Morgans. He left his bottle of gin at Jeff’s and decided he was more in the mood for rum & coke anyways. I had remembered my wine so I was all set. At this point Alex had had enough – he was getting really worked up, yelling at us for making another stop and just wanting to go “home”. He was also coughing more and was pretty constipated – that’s not unusual for him but it was even worse being away from home. We got back to the condo and they went right to bed. We put Zach to bed in our bedroom and Alex in his bed. We always get Zach up to go to the bathroom when we go to bed so that’s when we moved him to his bed. Tim & I were pretty tired too but we stayed up for a bit and relaxed & got ready for the next day – our first full park day at Epcot!!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Our GPS took us some crazy way into the MK as well..we didn't see all that, but it was definitely an out of the way area we were in!

Chef Mickey's looks so fun! It's first on my list of new character meals to try on our next trip. If your boys' smiles are any indication, we need to check it out!

Sorry about grumpy Alex..... long day, tired boy....never a good mix!

 

[disneyfan61]

Great pics of the boys with the characters at CM.

Wine is good.

 

[mousescrapper]

The Globetrotter game looked very cool...have never seen one myself and looks like a nice CM's dinner for you all...hope this coughing does cont too much, poor kid.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Checking in....finally.

Gotta get caught up now.

 

[brookelizabeth]

All caught up!

Love those Globetrotter pics! It looks like a fantastic time. Do they really jump that high?!?! Incredible! I'll have to keep that in the back of my mind for an event with Henry when he gets older.

Great report! Sorry to hear about the few bumps (and scrapes!) you've already encountered. Looks like a lot of fun in the midst of them though - great Chef Mickey's pictures!

The Vistana villa is beautiful. I haven't caught up on Heidi's report yet, but I'm excited to see hers too!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Great pictures at Chef Mickey's! I'm excited to get back there this fall. Nice little detour trip on the way back, always good to see something new.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Our GPS took us some crazy way into the MK as well..we didn't see all that, but it was definitely an out of the way area we were in!

Chef Mickey's looks so fun! It's first on my list of new character meals to try on our next trip. If your boys' smiles are any indication, we need to check it out!

Sorry about grumpy Alex..... long day, tired boy....never a good mix!

That little detour was our only strange GPS route. Luckily we got to see something interesting.

I think we might do breakfast next time we eat at Chef Mickey's... it's a fun restaurant but I'm ready to switch it up a bit.

Great pics of the boys with the characters at CM.

Wine is good.

Yes - wine is good! I'm not a big drinker but a glass of wine at the end of a day on vacation keeps me from running around and cleaning the villa.

The Globetrotter game looked very cool...have never seen one myself and looks like a nice CM's dinner for you all...hope this coughing does cont too much, poor kid.

Ugghhh.. there will definitely be more about the coughing in this TR!

Checking in....finally.

Gotta get caught up now.

Woo Hoo!! Brook made it!

All caught up!

Love those Globetrotter pics! It looks like a fantastic time. Do they really jump that high?!?! Incredible! I'll have to keep that in the back of my mind for an event with Henry when he gets older.

Great report! Sorry to hear about the few bumps (and scrapes!) you've already encountered. Looks like a lot of fun in the midst of them though - great Chef Mickey's pictures!

The Vistana villa is beautiful. I haven't caught up on Heidi's report yet, but I'm excited to see hers too!

I'm sure Henry would love the Globetrotters - it was a lot of fun & my boys don't sit well for anything! They really enjoyed themselves. And yes - they jump pretty high!

Great pictures at Chef Mickey's! I'm excited to get back there this fall. Nice little detour trip on the way back, always good to see something new.

The detour was strange, but pretty cool too.

 

[DisMomAmy]

We finally figured out where we're going to stay in November...

Today I made an agreement with a DVC member to rent points & he booked us at the Boardwalk Villas in a 1BR standard view room!!

We may or may not switch the reservation to the Beach Club when the 7 month window opens up on April 8th. It would cost us about $400 more to make the change so we need to discuss it when Tim gets home from his business trip tomorrow night. The kids would love SAB but they'll also love the crazy clown pool too - and they won't miss what they don't know about, right?

We're also probably getting on the waitlist at BLT - that will cost us more money, maybe a lot more money, depending on the view we can get, but it's our first choice resort. I'm writing up two different itineraries based on being in the Epcot area vs. BLT to see how the transportation will effect our plans. I want to minimize buses for Tim's sake - he's not a big fan at all!

I'll keep you posted but I can tell you for sure that we aren't staying off-site this time around. Happy Anniversary to me!!

 

[mousescrapper]

they'll also love the crazy clown pool too - and they won't miss what they don't know about, right?

great news Amy but hey don't know why this didn't occur to me before...but I don't when or how long but I vaguely remeber reading in the DVC mag that BWV pool/slide was going under refurb....look into that

 

[disneyfan61]

Good for you-staying onsite!!! No matter which resort you stay at I am sure you will love it. Woo Hoo!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

great news Amy but hey don't know why this didn't occur to me before...but I don't when or how long but I vaguely remeber reading in the DVC mag that BWV pool/slide was going under refurb....look into that

I think that's done Julie - I believe it was February/March. But thanks for the heads up!

Good for you-staying onsite!!! No matter which resort you stay at I am sure you will love it. Woo Hoo!!

Thanks Doreen!! I'm so excited!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

2/28: Epcot!

Alex had us up around 6am with his cough… luckily Zach stayed asleep for a bit long. To start the day Alex was irritated that we were spending our first full day at his least favorite park. “I hate Epcot” and “This is the worst park.” Again we should have laid down the law and made him do what we wanted, but instead we decided to dangle a carrot and told him that if he behaved, we’d stop at DHS after Epcot so he could get his fix and chill out... Well we didn’t tell him that last part. He sort of behaved… considering he was coughing more & more and still hadn’t gone to the bathroom…

We left for Epcot at 7:50 but had to stop at Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast & coffee. This Dunkin Donuts is really busy & takes forever… luckily we were running ahead of schedule & arrived at Epcot & were in line by 8:40.

They let us in at about 8:45-8:50. I tried to take some before pictures for my Flower & Garden comparison so you may see some of these photos again later in the report. (There were actually quite a few F&G things already set up today.) Our plan for today was to go to Sum of All Thrills first thing since I’ve heard it can get busy later in the day. I try not to use the GAC in places that don’t have FP lines so I wanted to get there early. When the inside rope drop happened they waited about 5 minutes to open Innoventions to prevent people from cutting through and beating the other people who have been waiting for the rope to drop. We waited five minutes, Zach traded a pin, then made our way to SOAT and it wasn’t open yet! So we continued out the other side of Innoventions & rode Test Track.

The boys were proud of themselves for spotting this hidden Mickey:

A great way to start the day for Alex. While we were in the car he actually said, “I guess I like Epcot.”

After TT we headed back to SOAT & the boys loved it – especially Alex.
We decided to check out "Don't Waste It." Alex complained a lot but Zach enjoyed it.

Next we picked up a KP mission FP as we cut through the other side of Innoventions and made our way to Soarin’. We spotted these on the way:

The boys decided we should ride Nemo before Soarin’ so that’s what we did!

They enjoyed it but Zach wanted to explore the aquarium a bit and Alex didn’t. We checked out some of the exhibits but didn’t stay too long. He really enjoyed the manatees:

And we had to stop for this pose:

We decided everyone needed a snack at this point so we went to Sunshine Seasons & got drinks & the boys had some fruit. Finally it was time for Soarin’. Zach was disappointed that we were in the bottom row & “couldn’t see the top”… I assured him we could see everything but he was still a bit disappointed. At this point Alex started complaining that he wanted his “Guide to the Magic” book that we’d left in the car. He really wanted it to have something to look at during lunch. It’s not a big surprise as he doesn’t usually just sit and eat so we went to Mouse Gear and let him spend some of his money on a journal. I didn’t realize until after that he bought the 40th anniversary edition. Zach wanted one too. Alex also wanted a Toy Story version of Operation. We bought it and dragged it around with us. I don’t know why we didn’t send it to the front of the park?? I also bought each of them a passport & Tim threw in a pin for each of them. It’s funny… Tim really got into pins during this trip. He kept wanting to buy them for the boys. I think he needs a lanyard.

Continued next post...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Continued from previous post...

After Mouse Gear it was time for lunch. Today was our Teppan Edo day!! We saw more signs of F&G on the way:

Alex was cranky as we made our way to Japan but once we got inside and sat down he seemed better… except we didn’t have a pen for his journal. I took him over to the check-in podium to ask about borrowing a pencil. Luckily they had one for him. We had a 12:00 ADR which is when the restaurant opens so we got to see the little opening ceremony that they do – it was cute but I didn’t have the camera handy so I don’t have any pictures.

Continued next post...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Continued from previous post...

As always we had a great lunch! We also had one of the same cooks we’ve had before.

I had the filet, Tim had the steak & shrimp, Zach had the chicken & shrimp and Alex had the Tori (chicken). We ate with another family with two kids. After lunch we went to get the boys’ passports stamped in Japan then off to Kaki Gori for Zach’s dessert. Then we made our way around toward Mexico stopping at each of the Kidcot stations for stamps. I only have a few pictures of this side of the WS because we were focused on the passports.

Alex was getting annoyed at this point and wanted to ride Test Track but when given the choice if he wanted to go ahead with one of the adults he decided to stick with us so he could get all of his stamps. Zach decided to skip his KP mission for today so he could ride Test Track again with Alex.

After Test Track Alex was done so he & Tim started walking toward the car while I took Zach over to Club Cool. This was the first thing I saw that wasn’t ready for F&G:

He loves getting to drink soda so I thought I’d take some pictures.

Time for Beverly:

I think the aftertaste got him:

Moving on… he wanted to try them all:

His favorite was the watermelon soda from China.

I guess there was one more thing that wasn’t ready for F&G:

On our way out we stopped for some PP pictures:

Up next... DHS??