Healing at our Happy Place: making GOOD 2017 memories: Mar, May, Aug, Oct, Dec TRs (3/24 UPDATE)

[dalmatian7]

Best wishes for a wonderful trip. You truly deserve it. Savor that Le Cellier steak for me. I haven't had one in a very very very long time.

 

[kittylady1972]

Greetings from the Beach Club Resort. We are on day 3 already and overall having a fabuMOUSE Time!

This was our very first night where we hit MK after our travel. While I did give up watching the new Happily Ever After show in favor of rides via our FP I do plan to return to watch it, hopefully on our last night.

We have had some firsts...introduced the family to this:

Favorite. NEW. Ride.

I'm trying to take this at a somewhat relaxing pace so I'm not forcing anyone up for rope drop. This means we most likely won't do a 4 park day today as after a close to 11pm or later bedtime last night I have two kids still out cold.

Plus today I may search for a massage for my DH suffering from severE back pain right now and NOT due to rides. He's had to skip a few already.

Anyway loving Beach Club and hoping for more pool time today even though I can't get in above my Stomach!

 

[piglet1979]

Sounds like you are off to a good start. I hope your husbands back gets better. Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

So happy to hear everything is going so well. I'm flying as we like to call it...SouthWorst tomorrow. I too just wish they would take the plunge and assign seats...I HATE the dreaded cattle call. YIKES! Unfortunately, it seems like most of the airlines are lacking in customer service these days...

 

[kittylady1972]

Sounds like you are off to a good start. I hope your husbands back gets better. Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip.

He managed to get through the massage which helped a little bit. Now back home, he has more follow-ups with doctors to see if he can get it resolved for good.

So happy to hear everything is going so well. I'm flying as we like to call it...SouthWorst tomorrow. I too just wish they would take the plunge and assign seats...I HATE the dreaded cattle call. YIKES! Unfortunately, it seems like most of the airlines are lacking in customer service these days...

SouthWorst Honestly it's not our favorite...but they are cheap and at least a few steps above SPIRIT. Our experience overall with them was good, except for our very much delayed return flight which put us home at around 10pm instead of 7:30pm as planned, but at least we were home the day we had planned. I'm not a fan of the cattle call either but we were fine even with 5 of us flying on FULL planes both ways.

 

[kittylady1972]

Back home again...as always our trip was way too short. I'm hoping to start documenting it soon. I took some notes the first day or two we were there...and then nothing so let's hope my memory works well enough.

For now, here's a quick recap of the trip for you.

Travel: We arrived in plenty of time at the airport both times and the flights were mostly uneventful. Even with 5 of us on totally full flights, we all managed to sit together without a problem. Our flight to Florida got in on time and was not a problem. Our flight FROM Florida to Maryland was a different story, with two delays and one gate change and it eventually left the ground about 2 hours after it was planned to depart. We had a rental car while in Florida to get around, which we used instead of Disney transportation most of the time. My only complaint about it was it smelled like fish.

Resorts: Our stay at Shades of Green was nice but man are those walls thin! We had a room in Magnolia Wing and the people next to us had a crying baby. I only noticed it after waking the next morning and before sleeping, but DH is a lighter sleeper and said the baby cried from 3am to about 3:30am to the point he was tempted to ask if they needed help! We introduced our kids to the Shady Shuttle for the very first time, and took advantage of it three times...it was awesome! Also hats off to their housekeeping because I left TWO jackets hanging in the closet of the room when we checked out Saturday. I returned on Sunday to ask about them and they had them bagged up (with the wrong room number) so when I asked about them I did get them both back. Yay! We checked into Beach Club from Saturday until Wednesday and absolutely LOVED it there. Unfortunately the whirlpool part of the pool wasn't working, which disappointed my kids as that was one of my selling points to them. They even asked about it and were told something was broken on it and that parts were on order for it. They did take advantage of the lazy river though. The place was definitely JAM packed for the weekend to the point where we barely found two chairs together on Saturday. However by Tuesday the place was pretty empty. My kids spent more time at the pools than we did, but of course I was unable to get in above my stomach due to surgery anyway. I was glad they enjoyed so much time there though. We loved how close we were to EPCOT, so much that when I sat on our tiny 3rd floor balcony that faced woods and a road, I could hear the music playing at EPCOT from one of the bands.

Parks: We managed multiple visits to each park and I even visited four parks in one day, but didn't ride anything at two of them. Crowds were pretty high initially and got better Tuesday and Wednesday of course. We missed out on a few favorite rides, but that's mostly because I booked all of our Fastpasses in the afternoon/evening to allow us to sleep in every day and NOT do any rope drops. I think the family appreciated the slower no-rush mornings. We did visit the Pandora area three or four times during our trip and were amazed at the lines and waits for the two rides there. The area theming is pretty nice though. We waited in line TWICE for the gift shop (once for a purchase, a second time for an exchange) and I actually liked the fact that they limited the people there and you could walk around once inside. We rode both new rides there as well. Flight of Passage was completed by seven of us using a Fastpass on Monday night. Tuesday night we visited during the evening extra magic hours and rode the River ride with only about a 10 minute wait (and really that's all you should wait for it) and then Flight again with about a 45 minute wait (and yes it is worth the wait). Sadly the Rivers of Light FP we had for Monday night was a total waste, as that show was cancelled due to technical difficulties. If you can believe the CMs there, they basically said they were pushing the limits as it was doing ONE show every other day or so and now that they are doing more than one a night...well let's just say it's not going very well. So if you want to see Rivers of Light, you may want to ONLY try for the first show. I still haven't seen it and I'm just not sure I will at this point. I cannot imagine the engineer(s) who designed that show and how much flack they much be getting for it.

Weather: It was in the 90s during the day every day with low to no humidity most of our time there, which was nice. It got a bit sticky on Monday evening and we experienced our ONLY rain during the time there on Tuesday night....of course on the one night I had planned to finally see Happily Ever After. They ended up delaying Happily and it finally went on around 10:30pm that night...on an 11pm park closing night and we had already left the park since we were wet and tired by that point. Just another reason to return so I can see it I guess. Oh and it rained as we were out the airport on Wednesday, which was one of the reasons our flight was so delayed.

I did manage to at least see the Star Wars Fireworks on night, and those were nice. That was the only evening entertainment we managed to see during the trip.

We are considering a few days before or after our Vero Beach trip in August, but that's still up in the air until I know the remaining plans for my cancer treatment. I hope to know more when I see my oncologist next week. I was still happy to have had this escape from reality for a while and look forward to returning again this year!

 

[KathyM2]

Anyway loving Beach Club

What's not to love there! Such a great location and beautiful hotel. Would love to stay there some day.

We managed multiple visits to each park and I even visited four parks in one day,

Wow, I'm impressed. This is pretty awesome with the heat and crowds that you managed this!

I was still happy to have had this escape from reality for a while and look forward to returning again this year!

It really is such a great escape.

 

[kittylady1972]

Long time, no update for me...sorry but life has just been busy since our return. Between my endless doctor appointments, our kitchen redo, returning to work, my weekend away to visit my family...I'm just way behind on keeping up here again.

However I feel like I need to start a TR sooner rather than later because if I think my memory is bad now...well from what I read chemotherapy will turn it to complete mush! And so...I am hoping to start here very soon. In fact, let's see if I can do at least day ONE next!

 

[kittylady1972]

May Trip Day One: Let's get this VACATION PARTY STARTED!

So the day started off with me heading to work for a few hours. I had a few things to finish up but I was home probably by 10am or so. My dad had been visiting for a few days, so he was hitting the road before we left. I did some final cleanup at home and by about 1pm my husband had packed the car and we headed out.

First stop was the kids' school. We were there a bit early and we wanted to give them time to finish up some tests. Finally the kid taking a test let us know she was done...and my husband headed in to get them while I waited (IM)patiently in the car.

It wasn't too long and the kids arrived...and it was another 15 minutes before we were at the airport parking lot. The place where we park picks us up right at our car, so the shuttle to the airport was waiting right there for us and soon we were in the airport. Since only 4 of 5 of us had the TSA Precheck, my DH went with the oldest child through the regular lines while I took the younger two with me through security precheck, but both were pretty fast. I'd say it was easily before 2pm and we were at the gate waiting for our 4:10pm flight.

We spent time on our electronic devices, and even got some food since the kids were hungry. While it seemed like forever, eventually they announced the cattle call and we were lining up at our designated spots:

Since I was still on post-surgery restriction from lifting anything over 10 pounds, all I had to do was take myself and my small backpack onto the plane, while the kids took care of my luggage. We had two kids packed into one suitcase already, leaving room for one of them to haul my suitcase around. We were able to get seats close to the front of the plane and across from each other, and since the plane was full I ended up in a middle seat next to my husband with the kids across the aisle. They were very excited to be on a plane again:

Well most of them were excited...the 17yo does not like having a photo taken.

Flight was uneventful, though I think it took us a little while before we took off from the airport if I recall. Still once we landed, we deplaned quickly and made our way to the rental car place. That was quick also, and before long we had our little mid-size car packed up and we were on the road to Walt Disney World!

It was great to pull up to Shades of Green again, and of course our room was ready so we headed there to drop off our stuff. There would be no unpacking, just some quick downtime as we decided what to do next. The majority ruled and food was in order...but where? We discussed a few options and eventually the winner was Captain Cooks.

The kids knew well the drill to walk to the Polynesian...but they were not aware of the Shady Shuttle and that was about to change. See we have always stayed at Shades with other people, so the Shuttle only takes 5 passengers...and that's all of us. I inquired at the bell desk about it, and the guy told us to hop in and I had to call back my kids who were already walking down the path towards the Poly. DH thought he got to drive it...ummmm nope. Kids hopped in and strapped in and this would be one of their FAVORITE rides of the trip! The driver was so friendly as everybody giggled and I explained that it was our first time using the shuttle service!

Blurry shuttle photo:

We soon realized we really had to make haste to get to our first Fastpass reservation and it was already a bit late...after 8:30pm and we had a window of 8:10pm-9:10pm for 7DMT. We decided to skip the meal and just get something at the park instead. And so, we hopped the monorail and made our way to the Magic Kingdom.

My plan had been to ride 7DMT and then catch the 9:30pm showing of Happily Ever After fireworks. Yes you read that right...I had 9:30pm in my mind for those but in fact they were 9pm and so when we hit Main Street it was PACKED and we were like salmon swimming upstream as we made our way to Fantasyland! We got there just before our window closed, and soon we were on our first real ride (besides the monorail) and as we ascended one of the hills of the ride it was like riding directly into a firework as they were going on the entire time we were on the ride...which was cool. They were still happening when we got off and were looking for food also:

Finished with that ride, our window for the next ride was open...Space Mt from 9:10pm-10:10pm...but we wanted food first. Little did we know how difficult this would be as we headed toward Pinnochio Village Haus first...and found it closed. Next we headed to Pecos Bill...also closed. That's when we learned that within two hours of park closing, very few restaurants remain open. And so, against our better judgement, we backtracked to Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe with some HANGRY children and family. We grabbed a table and some food and chowed down. I love Sonny.

The kids were not impressed. The food was okay, I ended up with a rotisserie chicken dish and some green beans which weren't too bad. It also came with mashed potatoes but my daughter and I shared and she ate most of those.

The kids were anxious for the next ride Space Mt, but DH was having back pain and I wasn't sure it was a good idea for me post-surgery and so we told them to make their way to the ride and we'd meet them outside the ride exit...and that's what they did.

DH and I found a table next to the Speedway and laughed as we watched endless kids try to drive while USING THEIR CELLPHONES! Yes it starts early folks!!!

Kids were done soon enough and we had one more FP to finish up...BTMRR at 10:10pm. I feel like we stopped at another ride that night before that one, but perhaps not as most rides would have a wait at that point. We hit BTMRR and figured we'd had a good night once we were done, so we'd make our way towards the front of the park. However we passed Pirates and thought...why not? One LAST ride of the night on Pirates it would be for us, and as we walked down Main Street to leave I finally heard them do the Kiss Goodnight for the very first time as well. I loved it.

Of course as we exited the park we noted the LONG line for the monorails and the boats...ugh. So we decided to just walk to the Contemporary instead and we'd catch the monorail to the Poly from there.

We got to the Contemporary and decided we were just tired...and close to our resort anyway...and so why not just take a cab instead? We approached the bell hop and asked him to call us a cab to get to Shades of Green and it was totally worth the money spent to get us there quicker.

It was pretty cheap and again another first for us...cabs within the World...what?? Actually kids first time in a cab at all, so this was a highlight of the trip for them.

Before long we were back to get showers and climb into bed so that we'd be well rested for our very first full Disney day!

 

[piglet1979]

Sounds like your first day went really good. Since I have heard about the Kiss Good Night I have wanted to stay for it. But with the being younger we just don't make. Maybe our next trip after SWL opens.

I am glad you posted today. I was going to write this morning to see how you were doing but I had to get some work stuff done. I am glad things are going ok.

 

[KathyM2]

Shades of green looks really awesome! Too bad I will never be able to stay there lol but it's nice that they do something special. That shady shuttle does look like fun.

You accomplished quite a lot on your arrival day! I'm very impressed!

 

[ariane37]

I'm glad you just started the TR portion because I'm not that far behind now!

We loved how close we were to EPCOT, so much that when I sat on our tiny 3rd floor balcony that faced woods and a road, I could hear the music playing at EPCOT from one of the bands.

That's why DH loves staying at the Epcot resorts, being just steps away from Epcot (and very close to HS). From our balcony in Nov. we could also hear the U.K, band

rode the River ride with only about a 10 minute wait (and really that's all you should wait for it

I agree. It's very well done but......kind of boring. I have a FP for it for our Aug. trip simply so the kids can experience it but I expect them to be bored, also. FoP is definitely awesome and worth a longer wait!

Your arrival day sounds like it went very well! So funny about kids trying to use cell phones while driving on the Speedway but I'm not surprised I hope you're feeling good

 

[Jenny Sanders]

I'm so glad your trip was great! I can't wait to read more about it!!!!

 

[kittylady1972]

Sounds like your first day went really good. Since I have heard about the Kiss Good Night I have wanted to stay for it. But with the being younger we just don't make. Maybe our next trip after SWL opens.

I am glad you posted today. I was going to write this morning to see how you were doing but I had to get some work stuff done. I am glad things are going ok.

Yes we just lucked out that we were walking out and I heard the music and the announcer and so I walked more slowly down Main Street to enjoy it. I'm doing okay so far, but I still have a long way to go. This summer will be long and full of chemotherapy treatments and then radiation. We will most likely be cancelling our plans for August.

Shades of green looks really awesome! Too bad I will never be able to stay there lol but it's nice that they do something special. That shady shuttle does look like fun.

You accomplished quite a lot on your arrival day! I'm very impressed!

Shades of Green is actually very nice and I'm definitely glad we can take advantage of it. It's a great alternative when we can't stay in our DVC Resorts but of course we don't get the 60 day FP+ advantage there. Yes I agree we felt pretty good about what we got done in just 2.5 hours in the parks our first night.

I'm glad you just started the TR portion because I'm not that far behind now!
That's why DH loves staying at the Epcot resorts, being just steps away from Epcot (and very close to HS). From our balcony in Nov. we could also hear the U.K, band

I agree. It's very well done but......kind of boring. I have a FP for it for our Aug. trip simply so the kids can experience it but I expect them to be bored, also. FoP is definitely awesome and worth a longer wait!

Your arrival day sounds like it went very well! So funny about kids trying to use cell phones while driving on the Speedway but I'm not surprised I hope you're feeling good

Yes it may take me a while to get the next post done but we'll see. I definitely enjoyed how close we were to EPCOT also and while I have no idea WHAT band I could hear it was definitely cool to know I could listen from the tiny, tiny balcony that faced mostly the woods and a road with some traffic!

Glad you are going to at least ride the River ride but I agree...it's one that can be skipped for most people. However since the other ride is so intense I guess it's nice to have a low-key ride in Pandora for other people (like little ones) to experience.

I'm feeling pretty good for now, thanks!

I'm so glad your trip was great! I can't wait to read more about it!!!!

Yes it was definitely a great trip overall. I'm hoping to post more about it soon.

 

[jenkel]

Glad you are doing well. Nice reading your trip report, it makes me excited about our upcoming Nov trip. Look like a great trip.

 

[kittylady1972]

MAY TRIP DAY 2: Magic and Mickey!

So let's see if I can get another trip report update in here while it's still relatively fresh in my mind. Beginning tomorrow, chemo brain may make things WAY more difficult for me!

Here was my original plan:
SATURDAY: I'm thinking this is MK morning for us. We should try to get there early so we can ride as much as possible with no FP+ reservations. We can walk from the park to the Contemporary for our brunch at Chef Mickey's around 2:30pm. Hopefully by that time our room at Beach Club will be ready for checking in so we can head there around 3:30pm/4pm. Once checked in, we can walk or boat over to Hollywood Studios where we have 3 FP+ reservations: ToT, RnRC and Star Tours. We have an 8pm Prime Time Cafe reservation in case we want some dessert or late snacks. I'd love to catch the 9:30pm Star Wars: Galactic Spectacular Fireworks this evening.

After a late night, we were in no rush to wake up our sleeping kids and start the day off with 3 of the same dwarfs: Grumpy. Therefore we slowly woke and waited for everybody to wake up mostly on their own. When it comes to the last person awake...well that one is always out of luck because if the rest of us are up and ready then we can't wait forever!

This morning we had to pack up our stuff and check out of our resort. Now normally I'm VERY good and checking every single drawer and area for stuff left behind. However let's just say I guess I was in a Disney fog and that did not happen this time...and we would find out very soon what that would mean. I ended up sending off the family with the suitcases to get the car packed (since I was unable to carry my own) while I finished up doing a sorta last minute check of the room. We met in the lobby area where I turned in our keys and then we were working on breakfast ideas. The majority voted for Captain Cooks...yeah for Tonga Toast...and so we walked outside around 8:30am to catch our favorite ride over:

Kids were loving the Shady Shuttle!

Time for Tonga Toast:

Not everybody is a fan...and that's okay...and it's not a part at all of my new way of eating...so I only took a bite (or two) of my husband's.

Kids enjoying their food:

Bellies full, it was time to make our way to Magic Kingdom. Children had grand ideas of the metro...but we opted instead for the boat, much to their dismay. That's okay...we were happy.

And the boat ride was lovely.

Once through the gates and inside and on Main Street, DH was stopped by a survey taker. That meant I had time for my first priority and I had my Disney popcorn bucket filled with some fresh Disney popcorn. This is a GREAT way to combat the HANGRIES with everybody...and even though we had just had breakfast, it didn't take long to bust into the popcorn.

Next I recalled a photo from years ago of my daughter with this statue, and since nobody was there we stopped to take a photo recreation, though I didn't quite remember the pose.

We would return later and redo it properly:

(Noelle at front before and after)

We had not Fastpasses at this park, since ours were all for later at HS, and so we had to choose things with little to no wait, especially early in the day. And since it's been a while, and we were here It was time to walk through the Treehouse!

There are some great views from this place:

And it's a good place to take some photos:

Once that was done, the Jungle Cruise line wasn't terribly long...and we were here...so that was next. I can't recall the posted wait...maybe 25 minutes...but we were there every bit of that time in the regular queue for sure. Again...there were complaints...but we had the popcorn! We also kept reminding everybody...everything would have a wait here!

Might as well take some photos and selfies!

Next I think we checked on wait times of some of the bigger rides...and they were crazy. However Haunted Mansion wasn't too far away...and it's a favorite...so we headed there next.

There wasn't a lot of time left as it was after 11am when we were finished, and we had Chef Mickey's for brunch at 1pm or so. There was one thing I had wanted to check out...and I checked the schedule and saw that we had the time...and it wasn't too far away. What could that possibly be you ask? Wait and see....

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Hi Kitty! Your trip sounds GREAT! I'm looking forward to what comes next...We leave tomorrow. The limo is picking us up at 2:45AM. Yep, you read that right, AM...

 

[ariane37]

We haven't been in the treehouse in ages! The views from up there are lovely; however I've heard they're even prettier at night so we need to try that soon!

 

[camper06]

Enjoying your trip report and pics! Hope your treatments are going well.

 

[kittylady1972]

Hi Kitty! Your trip sounds GREAT! I'm looking forward to what comes next...We leave tomorrow. The limo is picking us up at 2:45AM. Yep, you read that right, AM...

Thanks! Yes we had a great trip and I guess by now you are also on yours and hopefully having a GREAT time!

We haven't been in the treehouse in ages! The views from up there are lovely; however I've heard they're even prettier at night so we need to try that soon!

Yes when looking for a place without a line the treehouse is a good one. Ah I bet at night would be nice too...we may have to do that next time!

Enjoying your trip report and pics! Hope your treatments are going well.

Thanks so much. Only one treatment done so far and I'm about 9 days post that one and so far so good...thank you!