Hedonists on Holiday: The "Broil Your Butt Off" Birthday Tour! We're DONE! New 8/14

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

DS says he feels fine, so we head to Epcot. We stop at Guest Relations to upgrade our tickets to APs and order a DDE card.

Epcot is not as crowded as I feared, and it is also not as hot and humid as it could be. Since my birthday is Saturday I decide to get a birthday button. The CM sings to me and I listen to birthday greetings on the phone from Goofy. DS is VERY anxious to get to the Japan pavilion, but since they don't open until 11 AM we ride Soarin' and eat breakfast at Sunshine Seasons. This was our first time to get Row 1 on Soarin' and it is MUCH better than the other rows.

We hit the shop in Japan as soon as it opens. DS is disappointed that they don't have any Godzilla merchandise. He considers a miniature robot for $15. I think $15 is a ridiculous price for a tiny metal robot so I tell him he can't buy it until we come back on Sunday because I want him to be SURE.

We have CS lunch in Norway - very tasty.

We decide to try the wimpy version of Mission Space since the wait is only 10 minutes. The wait for the serious version is 50 minutes, but we weren't going to do that anyway! None of us had ever been on M:S because we were too scared, but the wimpy version was fine. We head back to AKL just after 3 PM because my friend from Tampa is coming over to visit us. Good thing, because the sky turned black and we had a terrific thunderstorm as soon as we got back to the resort. I chatted with my friend while DS & DH checked out the arcade. DS wasn't as thrilled with the AKL arcade as he was with the one at Pop because you can't redeem your points for prizes. That actually suits me fine, because in October he was asking to leave the parks and go to the arcade.

We had dinner at 1900 Park Fare. Good food, great characters. Cinderella was not there. We saw Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming, and Suzie & Perla. The mice had a thing for DH and they kept coming up behind him. VERY funny! Unfortunately my camera batteries died after the first pic and the extra batteries were all in the room.

After dinner my friend headed home and we went back to AKL. I left a voice mail for Uncle1 about 10:30 PM. I find it odd that his phone is off, and I take it that they are still on the plane, even though they should have landed about 9 PM. Hmm. I remind them that we have breakfast ADRs at 8 AM, give them our room #, and hope for the best.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We are up by 6 AM to get ready for MK. When I get out of the shower DH shows me that a birthday cake has arrived, compliments of the uncles! We put the cake in the fridge and finish getting ready. Shortly thereafter Uncle1 phones. Their flight was delayed more than 2 hours by mechanical problems, and by the time they reached AKL it was very late. On the other hand, they have a 4th floor room overlooking Sunset Savannah so their luck isn't all bad! (They also booked Standard view!)

We are all wearing our custom T-shirts that I had made for the trip, and I am ready for a fabulous birthday! A CM at the turnstiles asks about our shirts, and when I tell her it is my birthday she gets a birthday pin for me. We have a great breakfast at Crystal Palace. The table had Mickey confetti on it, and after our meal they brought a cupcake and a card signed by the characters. It was very nice.

At some point during breakfast the uncles realize they have left some medication in the room that they need, so after breakfast they have to go back to AKL. The ride between AKL & MK is LONG. I do not recommend leaving something critical in your room. While they are gone DH, DS and I ride Buzz and the Tea Cups and have photos with the Tweedles and Alice. The uncles return about 10 AM and we ride Pooh, see Philharmagic, and ride Small World. The crowds are not that bad. I expected the worst because we have only been in January and October, but the lines weren't too bad. We rode Haunted Mansion and Pirates (loved the updates! ) and had lunch at Columbia Harbor House. The food was OK, I probably won't eat there again. The fish was REALLY greasy and not as good as Long John Silver's IMO. DS and I shared because there wasn't anything he wanted on the kids menu, and he has a tiny appetite. I really want to see the parade because they are changing it on Aug. 10, so we get a spot near the castle. I tell DH to get a poncho out of the backpack so I can sit on it. He says "Your butt will NOT fit on a poncho." What was that? I snatch the poncho out of his hand and open it. DH says "OH! I didn't know you were going to OPEN it." Well, DUH! my butt won't fit on a youth poncho IN THE PACKAGE! That comment haunted DH for the rest of the trip because I brought it up often. He should really think before he speaks.

We went back to AKL for a break and to get ready for dinner at Kona Cafe. There is a plush "safari" Tigger and a signed photo from Snow White wishing me a happy birthday in our room! That was a nice surprise! It took quite awhile to get a bus from AKL back to MK, then it took quite awhile for the monorail to get to the Poly because they kept stopping in the middle of the track to wait for other trains to move. The CM at the monorail said the restaurants will hold your ADR for up to ONE HOUR after your designated time. Who told him that? Has anybody else heard that? Because that sounds grossly inaccurate to me. I am pretty sure if you are an hour late for an ADR you are considered a walk up. Anyway, we got to Kona about 6:15 for our 6:20 ADR.

Dinner was good, but not quite as good as I remembered from our October trip. This ties back in to my adage that how good the food is has a direct correlation to how hungry you are. They still allow substitutions of side items, which is good, but they do not allow an order of sauteed shrimp along witht he entree anymore. Not surprising, and not that I needed more food, just a change worth noting.

After dinner we went back to MK to see Spectro, but we decided not to stick around for Wishes since we could see it later in the week.

 

[ntsammy5]

I can't hide The Camera because I don't know where DH keeps it!

Maybe he'll forget where it is. One can always hope.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Maybe he'll forget where it is. One can always hope.

Interestingly, The Camera wasn't so much of a problem this time. DH got tired of carrying it several days into the trip. He took a few shots around AKL of the animals and such, but he didn't make me stand there while he fiddled with it.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I must take a moment here to admit that we have made an important discovery. We aren't cut out for group travel. Especially the kind of group travel where everyone STAYS in a group, all day, every day, for a week. I am a Park Commando down to the very smallest molecule, and I can not tolerate delay after delay.

Epcot had early entry, so that's where I planned to be. BUT the uncles would only go to Epcot at 8 AM if we promised to eat as soon as we got there. We can't waste the best hour of touring time sitting in a restaurant! So I explain that if we aren't going to be ready to TOUR at 8 AM then we aren't going to Epcot because that would be stupid. OK, fine. We decide to go to MGM for regular opening. We have breakfast at Mara and get to MGM about 9 AM.

We do GMR, Star Tours, Muppets, Backlot Tour, and see some characters. We grab lunch at Pizza Planet. Uncle1 has a curious habit of wanting to go to lunch at 11 AM no matter how huge his breakfast was. We typically STARTED eating breakfast at 8 AM, so there was NO WAY the rest of us could eat at 11 AM. And even more curious was the fact that he never thought to get a snack to stave off his hunger until a reasonable time for lunch. But we are all good friends and I was the Designated Planner so I told Uncle1 he was welcome to eat whenever he wanted but I wasn't going to make DS eat lunch 3 hours after breakfast started. Luckily we got on the Backlot Tour just after 11 AM and by the time we got off it was getting late enough to eat again.

We couldn't seem to get our timing down for Millionaire or LMA, so we did the Animation thing and saw some characters. We all attempted to draw Mickey in the studio. My drawing looked like a deranged bowling ball, but that is DS's favorite thing in the whole park so I was glad to do it.

Dinner was at 5:50 at Le Cellier (because we were supposed to be at EPCOT, NOT MGM!) so we went back to AKL for a quick break. I was worried about having enough time to get to Canada if we left AKL too late, but we actually got there in plenty of time. I picked up my temporary DDE card, we had some photos taken, and we went over to Le Cellier. Let me say that the front of Epcot at 5 PM is the hottest it got the whole trip. The sun is brutal up there by the Leave a Legacy walls.

Dinner was fine, we all enjoyed our food. After dinner we strolled around World Showcase. The uncles were VERY excited to see Bjorn Again (the ABBA cover band) so they went off to the concert while we took DS back to the Japan pavilion. The concert started at 8 PM, so by the time it ended Illuminations was getting ready to start. We stood by the railing between US and Japan and had a great view. The only other time we have seen Illuminations was from the Illuminations cruise, so it was neat to watch from land. I was worried about the crowds going out, but it was fine. It was crowded, but the crowds moved to the front at a decent pace and we got on a bus without too much of a wait.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We have an ADR at Boma for 7:30 AM. We have been here for dinner before, but this is our first time for breakfast. The food is good, but by the time I help DS get settled everybody else is nearly finished so I don't get much food. Oh, well!

Off to Epcot since we didn't go yesterday. Uncle2 has vicious motion sickness, but I tell him I think he will be OK on Soarin'. If you aren't looking at the screen you are basically sitting in a chair with air blowing in your face. We get Fast Passes for Soarin', ride Living with the Land, and see Circle of Life. Uncle2 has some serious reservations about going on Soarin', but Uncle1 talks him into it. The CM has NO sense of humor about assigning rows. We tell her we have 5 people. She says "Row 2". There are still 5 spots in Row 1, so I say "Are you sure we can't have Row 1?" She barks "Row TWO." OK then, row 2 it is! Uncle2 LOVES Soarin' and doesn't feel a bit sick. He is glad he decided to ride.

We do the Imagination pavilion next. We morph DS into a shocking likeness of our cat, and we morph DH into a chimp. We go see HISTA, but the images look kind of funny. There is a "ghost" behind each image as it pops out. At first I think maybe the lenses of my glasses are warped, but later on eveybody else says it looked funny to them, too. This is not my favorite attraction to begin with, so it falls a little flat.

Uncle2 wants to do Universe of Energy, which sounds good to us because we haven't ever seen it. Here we encounter CM #2 of the day who has NO sense of humor. The guy who is monitoring the pre-show area is rather snarky. Not to us specifically, just in general. I fall asleep during the show, but the parts I saw were good! I have horrible Disney insomnia. I don't sleep more than 4 or 5 hours each night at Disney, so I tend to doze off in the long attractions.

DS wants to go to Innoventions and make a robot. Uncle1 reluctantly agrees to go make a robot, even though he has been asking for lunch since 11 AM again. Really, REALLY, if you are in a group you don't HAVE to stay together the ENTIRE time. But anyway...

We go do the robots in Innoventions and everybody loves it. The one problem was that DS designed the robot, then wanted DH to run the course. DH wasn't paying attention when DS did the specifications, though, so DH didn't know the robot would melt in heat and couldn't break barriers with more than one ring. Then DS was mad that he didn't come in 1st place. Sigh. We had never been in that building before, so it was something brand new.

After our robots were complete we had lunch at Electric Umbrella. It POURED rain while we were eating, but it had stopped when we came out. Test Track was closed because of lightning, so we didn't use our Fast Passes.

The uncles wanted to go back to AKL for a break, but I decided this was where I was going to dig my heels in and refuse to stay in a group. I told them we were going to MGM and we would meet them for dinner. All the time we were wasting going back to the hotel was starting to bother me, not to mention missing early entry. So they went back to the hotel, and DH, DS and I hopped a Friendship boat to MGM. DS fell asleep on the boat, so he had a little bit of rest. He really didn't feel sick at all during our trip, which was incredibly lucky! He didn't get nearly enough sleep, but most days he did get at least a short nap. Kind of funny to think of a 9 year old napping, but we were out pretty late and up pretty early.

At MGM we played Millionaire, then we went to see the parade. DS said he wasn't really interested because he had seen it before, but when we got to the parade he was upset because he couldn't see very well. I had him stand where he could look over a stroller, but he moved and another kid got his spot. So much for him not wanting to see the parade! We did Sounds Dangerous, then we stopped to look for another pressed penny book for DS since his others are full. The uncles called to say they had arrived, and we all went over to 50's Prime Time for dinner.

My next petty annoyance is that whenever I went to check in for an ADR we would ALL end up standing at the podium. How many people does it take to check in for an ADR? I would tell DH and DS to scat, but that still left 3 of us standing at the podium. At 50's I wanted to request a fun server because the uncles had never been there before. So I had to request a fun server with them standing right beside me. It was fine, but I wanted them to be surprised. The uncles LOVED 50's. Our server was Tracy Sue and she WAS fun! I was disappointed that the shrimp pasta is no longer on the menu. That was what I had last time, and that was what I was planning to have again. They don't have ANY pasta selections now, so I had the pork loin. It was good, just not what I had in mind when I made the ADR. There wasn't anything on the appetizer menu that DH & I wanted, and we were too full for dessert. Instead of "wasting" credits we decided to pay cash and use our DDE card. Well, that upset Uncle1 because I was deviating from the plan. It had absolutely no impact on their use of credits, it didn't make anything cost more for them, and it was NOT a big deal. But he got very flustered. That made DH mad because he was getting tired of the drama. Not good. The deal with credits actually continued through until the credits were all gone. Uncle1 was worried about using snack credits, he was worried about which meals to use CS credits for and which to pay cash, he completely freaked out later in the week when he saw that they had 6 TS credits but we had 9. He was sure there was something wrong until I pointed out to him that I have THREE people in my room, which means I have MORE credits! We also were there for 9 nights and the uncles were only there for 8, so we had more people AND more nights on our ressie than they did.

We left 50's and headed for Fantasmic. Uncle1 wanted to ride ToT. The wait was posted 20 minutes, so that was fine. DH agreed to go with him (which shocked me). DS, Uncle2, and I went to get seats. I told DH we would be in the Sebastian section since that's where we have always been before. The CM's were directing everybody to go LEFT, which was a problem since we needed to go RIGHT. But I told them we planned to sit in Sebastian and that's where the rest of our party would look for us. They were very nice about allowing us to go to the Sebastian section.

They got through ToT in under 20 minutes and we all enjoyed Fantasmic. Again, not too much of a problem getting out of the park, BUT the park was still open with another Fantasmic show at 10:30, so that might have had something to do with it.

 

[OhMari]

You guys sure did eat a lot. My fil is the same way, he eats at a precise time everyday and we all have to follow his schedule when we are with him.
Looking forward to reading the rest.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

If we were traveling with just DH, DS and I there is NO WAY we would have stopped that many times for food. At home DH & I have coffee in the morning, a snack late afternoon, and a big dinner. We rarely eat breakfast or lunch. Of course we give DS 3 meals every day, but he is NEVER hungry so we space his meals as far apart as possible. Eating every 3 hours doesn't work for any of us. The other thing that just drove DH mad was that after every meal Uncle1 would complain that he was too full, he ate too much, he was so uncomfortable, if he went on a ride he would throw up, whatever. Yet as soon as we left the restaurant he was wanting to go on EE, ToT, etc, and 3 hours later he was fussing to eat again!

We always tell DS that he should stop eating when he is full. There is a REASON that mechanism kicks in - when your body says it has had enough food, you stop eating! If you override that signal at every meal there will ultimately be unpleasant consequences! Just because there is food on the plate you haven't finished or food on the buffet you haven't tasted, when you are full you STOP. OK, off my soap box now.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Great report so far, keep it up

 

[exwdwcm]

enjoying your report! doing the group thing is hard! thankfully it is just DH and I this trip!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

This was by FAR the worst day of the trip. The humidity and lack of sleep combined with the unnecessary drama was pushing me over the edge.

We had an 8 AM ADR for Donald's, which was fine. The uncles had presented us with another set of custom shirts on Saturday, so we were wearing them in hopes of restoring our sagging morale. We got there in plenty of time, had our photo taken, got to our table. Our server came by to take our drink orders and explain the character rotation (this is our third time at Donald's, so no explanation was really needed). Then the chef comes to our table and wants to talk to us about our special dietary needs. Our WHAT? Finally DH figures out that it is because Uncle1 PREFERS soy milk. They have flagged us in the computer as having some sort of dairy thing. I explain to the chef that we are FINE, and he goes to the next table where they have REAL dietary issues.

We get our food, Goofy comes by, so far so good. The man brings the photo package, and it is actually very nice. He says the package is $30. Uncle1 does not want the whole package, but they won't split it up. He wants it on the Photo Pass, but they won't do that, either, unless we buy the package and then have it added to the pass later. We finally agree to split the cost of the package and share the pics. Crisis averted. Then Donald comes in and starts at the back of the room instead of the front, where we are sitting. Uncle1 throws an all out toddler tantrum, complete with fake cry, outstretched arms, and whining "Doooonnnalllld!" DS and I were MORTIFIED! Both of us snapped "Wait your turn!" I wasn't smiling when I said it, either, because it wasn't funny. I think Uncle1 thought it was funny, but I also think he really believed Donald skipped us and he wanted to call attention to it. The server brings Uncle1 his soy milk, but it is vanilla, not plain, so he gripes about that. Not to the server, just to us. Then he drinks the milk instead of politely asking her to switch it. (It was in a sealed plastic bottle - switching it would have been very simple.) Then he swipes a banana to put in his backpack for later. I pretend not to notice, but I know he will go to DIS hell for that.

After breakfast we went out to the rope at Dinoland. The CM said they would walk the rope to EE, but when they actually started walking they stopped to let the people from the front gate catch up! That sort of defeated my purpose of having an 8 AM ADR. When they dropped the rope it was a MOB. I was heading for Fast Pass, but Uncle1 went to stand-by. That left Uncle2, DS & DH trying to figure out which way to go. They finally caught up with me and got Fast Passes. Since Uncle2 won't ride he got a Fast Pass for Uncle1 to ride with us later. Uncle1 loved the ride (even though he went without any of us). From there we went over to Dinoland to ride Primeval Whirl. PW doesn't count in my book as a "big" coaster so I can ride it early in the day. The foam on the restraint bar REEKED! It was hideous! It smelled like old, nasty, sweaty athletic equipment. Not sure if it was from too many sweaty people, or being rained on, or what, but we didn't ride it again. YUCK!

From there we rode Dinosaur, which gets rougher every time we ride. Maybe it depends on where you sit.

The uncles decided to shop at Chester & Hester's, which makes DH nuts. He hates to putz around in the shops. I finally told the uncles I was going to Guest Relations to redeem our free ride photo coupons for EE before we rode with the Fast Passes. On the way to EE my cell phone rings. It is Uncle1 calling to see where we are because it is TAKING TOO LONG!!! Excuse me? I e-mailed him the link for the game so he could get a coupon, but he refused to download it to his computer. I made an effort to get a coupon to share yet when I walk all the way to the front of the park to redeem it (while he is shopping) he decides it TAKES TOO LONG?

We get to EE and the 4 of us ride while Uncle2 waits in the shop. I LOVE EE! I am not a huge coaster fan, but I really, really liked EE! It was terrific. We walked over to KS and rode since the wait was only 20 minutes. After that DH said he was going back to AKL. I figured it was good that he was admitting he wanted to go back instead of suffering silently. DS stayed with me. We had more Fast Passes for EE - 2 that a couple gave to us (very thoughtful!) and 3 that we got with our own passes. The ones the couple gave us were valid first, so I rode with DS. After that my head was hurting, so DS rode again with Uncle1 while Uncle2 and I waited. I decided we weren't going to go again, so I gave our last 2 Fast Passes to some people at the end of the stand-by line.

We have lunch at Tusker House (my choice). The food was excellent. I think it is my favorite CS!

We go to Camp Minnie Mickey to see some characters, then FOTLK. After that it was getting close to parade time, but DS was tired and wanted to leave. I didn't want to ask the uncles to take him back (even though they would have been happy to take him, since DH was there and they were going back anyway) but we all left. That made me mad. DS was being kind of a brat so I told him I was taking him to DH then I was going to go off BY MYSELF. I'll admit it wasn't very nice to speak to him that way, but it was a bad day.

DH wasn't in the room when we got back, and his phone WAS in the room. He came back a little while later with his Mara mug. I told him I was mad about the parade and that I was going to go have some time by myself. I filled my mug and walked around for a bit. DH took DS to the arcade and out to look at the animals. We were going to dinner at Boma, but DS had time to do a game with the CM's in the lobby and earn a bead.

Dinner at Boma was nice. I decided to use the DDE card to have a drink - Pretoria Punch. It was yummy. But it wasn't yummy enough to offset the trouble it caused later.

After dinner we went to Downtown Disney. It was a suicide mission. World Of Disney had more people per square foot than any other shop I have ever seen. The 10% discount was NOT worth risking life and limb, and the stuff we bought was stuff we could have found in the parks. DS was grouchy, I was getting mad at him, the line at Ghirardelli was impossible, so we gave up and went back to AKL.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

By this time DH is thoroughly irritated with trying to stay in a group. We eat breakfast at Mara, then go to MGM. Today we have Lunch with an Imagineer, and I am very excited. We go on GMR first. We always get the gangster. One of these days I want to get the cowboy!

From there we go to the area in front of the hat for characters. The uncles head for Pluto, DS heads for Chip, Dale, and Clarice. After we get through the line we can't find the uncles. We had talked about going to see Mermaid, but the next show wasn't for 35 minutes and we didn't see the uncles anywhere. We took DS back to the animation studio where we drew Goofy, then we took photos with Snow White and the Prince, the Wicked Queen, and Frozone.

We made our way over to Brown Derby about 11:10, even though lunch wasn't until 11:30. The uncles were already there. They had already checked us in and claimed our name tags for us.

Lunch was delightful! There were the 5 of us, 2 ladies from Kansas City, and a boy from Chicago. Our Imagineer was Jerold Kaplan. He does the "fire" effects for Illuminations and the stunt show, and he is currently working on the Nemo ride at Living Seas. He was very interesting! The food was good, even though it was a little fancy for DS's taste. They allowed him to order from the kids menu for his soup and entree, so he had plenty to eat. Each one of us got a souvenir plate personalized by Jerold at the end. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

After lunch the uncles decided to see the stunt show. I had a serious headache, so I didn't want to go sit in the heat. We took DS's picture with Mr. Smee, then Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh. We walked through "One Man's Dream" and saw the movie. When we came out my head was still hurting, and DS had a nosebleed. He got blood on his shirt, so at that point we gave up and went back to AKL for a rest and some Motrin. Dinner was at Coral Reef, and the uncles knew to just meet us there.

We got to Epcot early enough that we had time to look around the Living Seas before dinner. We never did do Turtle Talk this trip because the lines were so horrendous. We liked the manatees, and DS loved the rays!

Dinner at Coral Reef was good. They did ask us to order appetizer, entree, and dessert all at once, but the spacing of the courses was fine. We didn't have a table next to the tank but we could still see pretty well. I don't know why, but I was shocked at how crowded the restaurant was, and how LOUD it was.

After dinner we went to World Showcase so DS could go BACK to the Japan pavilion with the uncles. Uncle1 took DS in for some shopping while DH, Uncle 2 and I went to find a spot for Illuminations. Uncle1 bought DS one of the tin robots he was so interested in. DS was THRILLED! We enjoyed Illuminations, and again exited the park with no trouble. I was really intimidated by the stories of the masses at closing, so I have to say I was happy that the crowds weren't as bad as I envisioned.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

This was an interesting morning.

I told the uncles I was going to early entry. They could come or they could skip it, but I was going and nothing was going to stop me. Early entry at MK is my favorite.

While I am in the shower DH turns on CNN. Uh-oh! Terrorists. No liquids in our carry-ons. Not good. Well, we will deal with it. I fantasize about staying an extra day.

DS has a light breakfast of applesauce and Pop Tart, DH has a cinnamon roll, I have the other Pop Tart. The uncles call to say they are running late and will meet us at the park. I tell them to turn on CNN. We were at the bus stop by about 7:30. Where we waited. And waited. And waited. While we were waiting the crowd going to MK grew and grew. Despite being one of the first families at the bus stop, when the bus came all the people who had JUST walked up jumped up and surged forward in a big mob. I have decided that is the one bad thing about AKL - the bus stops have no queues, so if you are first for the bus you may very well end up standing when you get ON the bus. The bus driver is so obviously ex-military it is almost comical. He tells us in no uncertain terms that we will fill this bus from back to front. He stands beside the bus and watches. He raps on the windows and tells the people already on the bus to MOVE BACK. We make it onto the bus, but we are standing. We are packed in there like sausage in casing. The bus starts moving. DS falls into a lady's lap. Luckily she is not angry. There isn't a good spot for him to hang on, and he is too short to reach the overhead bar.

By the time we get to MK it is after 8 AM, but not by much. We ride Buzz, then we go over to Fantasyland. We are getting on Small World when the uncles call. They are on Main Street waiting for a pic with Chip & Dale. When we get off Small World we see them in the line for Peter Pan, so we all ride together. We ride Pooh, then the carousel (the uncles were in a shop), then Tea Cups, then we go to the go carts. (I know they have a name - it escapes me.) I ride with DS. He is a terrible driver! Then we ride Buzz again. The uncles decide to buy their ride photo, so we go on the ride again. When we get off they are gone. DS is mad because DH beat his score, so we ride again. We have an 11:20 ADR at Chef Mickey's so we decide to ride Pirates first. I leave Uncle1 a voice mail because we still can't find them. After Pirates I have a voice mail from Uncle1 saying they were going to CM's at 10:30 so we wouldn't be late. Okey dokey. We get to CMs about 11:05. The uncles are there and they have already checked us in and have the pager. I notice I have blisters from my Crocs. This is the first trip I have gotten blisters! They are on the inside of both feet, just above the arch toward the top. I know it won't help, but I stick Band-Aids on the blisters.

The food at CM's is good, and so is the character interaction. The banana pudding is lovely. As we are leaving DH says "You have something on your shorts." Hmm. I twist around so I can see my butt. Blueberries. Brilliant. I have no clue how that happened, because when I first went to sit down there were some drops of water in my chair. I wiped the chair with a napkin, so I know the chair was clean. So in 24 hours DH has gotten into grease on one of the buses, DS has bled on his shirt, and I have sat in blueberries. Next trip I will bring a stain stick.

We go back to MK. The line for Jungle Cruise is 30 minutes and the Fast Pass machines are closed. The line for BTMRR is long, so we get Fast Passes. The Haunted Mansion says 10 minutes, but the line is out to the Fast Pass machines (which are also closed) and the line is not moving. We give up and go back to AKL so I can put on some shorts with no blueberries. We have to be back at MK at 5:10 for AAA story time, so we want DS to have time to rest since we are planning to stay for Wishes.

The Story Time is held in the small theater in Exposition Hall. It is a very nice venue. Our character was Aladdin. The uncles had reservations to attend with us, but they decided to skip it. The theater holds maybe 40 or 50 people, and most of the seats were filled with the kids on the floor down in front. Aladdin read a story, then took photos and signed autographs. Of course Aladdin asked the kids if they saw the parade because it was the FIRST DAY of the NEW parade! YIKES! I completely forgot about that! DS was probably a little old for story time, but I think he enjoyed it. We didn't have his autograph book with us, so the AAA guy let us keep DS's voucher for Aladdin to sign. When I was sorting things out today I asked DS if he wanted to keep the autograph (fully expecting him to say no) but he put it away in his room. Maybe he isn't quite a mature as he thinks he is. After the story we looked around Exposition Hall for awhile, then we rode Haunted Mansion and used our Fast Passes for BTMRR from earlier. We had a 6:40 ADR at Crystal Palace. My original plan was to have dinner at WCC, but then the park hours changed and that knocked Specro and Wishes up an hour. I figured if we were going to watch the parade we needed to be finished in time to get a good spot. We ended up not watching the parade - I can't remember what we did. CoP and more Buzz, I think. And I think Uncle1 and DS rode Space Mountain. We watched Wishes from the bridge between the Castle and Cosmic Ray's. The trees were too tall for us to see very well, but it was OK. I decided we would come back the next night for a GOOD view. I tried to go get ice cream before Wishes started, but that was futile. I made it about 15 feet and hit a solid wall of people. I ended up with a bottle of water instead.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

It's our last park day! We need to make the most of it! We grab some breakfast at Mara before we head to MK for the Mickey's Magical Milestones Tour. DH and I get the Mickey waffle, and when the CM asks if we want sausage, bacon, or fruit we figure the fruit is fresh fruit as a side. Wrong. It is strawberry topping. I accidentally get some on my finger and it stains my finger worse than a Sharpie marker. Hmm.

As we are finishing up the uncles come in. They will meet us at MK. When we get on the bus the uncles get on right behind us! I ask Uncle 2 if he chewed his food. He said it wasn't worth chewing! He is very funny, but he is quiet, too. We were watching something that had a black and white picture of Sleeping Beauty's castle from a long time ago. Uncle1 asked me if it still looked like that. I said I don't know because we have never been to DL. Uncle2 pipes up "I think it's in color now." He has a great sense of humor. He also thanked me multiple times for planning the trip and helping them see and do so much more this trip than they have done on previous trips.

We get to MK and check in for the tour. This was an AMAZING opportunity to get pics on Main Street, with the Roy & Minnie statue, etc. We got our name tags and headsets and got underway just after 9 AM. The tour was great, but it is definitley geared for older kids and adults. DS is almost 10 and he ADORES Mickey and the history of Walt. He loves trivia about Disney movies, shorts, cartoons, etc. so he was all about this tour. Every time the guide asked a question DS's hand shot up. Most of the time he knew the answer, and if he didn't know he took a guess. It was very informative and a much better fit for us than the Family Magic Tour. We did Family Magic last year and felt it was too young for DS. Mickey's Magical Milestones took us through Exposition Hall, over to the train station, on the train to Toontown, through Mickey's house (where we saw Mickey!), over to Philharmagic where we watched the show, and around to a courtyard by the castle where we concluded the tour with a visit from Goofy! It was really a lot of fun.

After the tour Uncle1 wanted to go have lunch, but we wanted to do some rides. We rode the Flying Carpets, ate lunch at Casey's (our first time there), and then went over to Tomorrowland. We rode the People Mover (I know it isn't called that now, but that is what I call it) and Uncle1 left a message saying he had Fast Passes for Space Mountain. Even with my phone turned up as loud as it would go I couldn't hear it inside the backpack. They were coming out of Cosmic Ray's as we were coming off the People Mover, so from there we went to Space Mountain. I was NOT going to miss the parade, but I also wanted to get the Photo Pass CD out of the way. Between 2 cards we had 171 photos, so I thought it was a pretty good deal. We split the cost with the uncles and we will share the CD. I will just borrow it from them and go print off my pics at Sam's. We went up to get the CD, and DH decided he was ready to go back ot the hotel. DS waffled back and forth, but in the end he decided to go with DH. Uncle1 wanted to shop, so Uncle2 came with me for an ice cream cone and to find a spot for the parade. The ice cream was delicious, but I had to put the cone upside down in a cup because it was melting so fast. We stood on Main Street and watched the Dapper Dans, then some CMs came by and played jump rope with the kids. I was sad that DS was missing it, but he isn't a big parade guy, and he needed a nap.

The new parade didn't do much for me, but hey! I got to see it! I LOVED the music from the old parade (so much that I bought the CD) so the new music just wasn't up to my expectations. The new princess float is beautiful. The rest of it was nice - not too different than the old one except the globes are off.

After the parade we went back to AKL to get ready for dinner at Jiko. DS and DH were both sound asleep, so I took my mug down to Mara and wandered around taking some photos. I came back to the room, changed clothes, and woke up DS and DH. We went down to Jiko at 5:30. Uncle2 said they had been waiting because Uncle1 insisted on coming down early. I told them Jiko didn't even OPEN until 5:30, but Uncle1 had several episodes of not hearing what I said. We were all out of credits, so Jiko was with the DDE card. I was still full from the ice cream, so I didn't have an appetizer. I had the pork entree, which was good. I also had a gigantic bottle of Evian, which I drank all by myself much to the waiter's amazement. It was wonderful. Nobody had room for dessert, but I ordered a Nutty African coffee. It tasted a bit too much like alcohol for me, so DH helped me drink it.

I managed to drip something on my shirt, so I wanted to run upstairs and change before we headed back out to MK. I needed like 10 minutes. Uncle1 asked if we were leaving in an hour. Um, NO. So then he suggested leaving in 30 minutes. That put us at 8 PM. I couldn't believe we spent 2 hours in Jiko. It didn't feel like it took that long! I knew Main Street would be a zoo at 8 PM, but I said OK. While I was putting on a clean shirt my phone started to ring. DH answered it, and he said "Here. Talk to her." Oh, dear. What now?

Uncle1 had just realized he needed to go to the pharmacy! He phoned the front desk and they gave him the number for the pharmacy. He called the pharmacy but they could not do a delivery for him, he needed to go in person and they were closing at midnight. He wanted to know if he should come to the park first, or go to the pharmacy first. I wondered why it mattered what I thought about the situation, because it was kind of a no brainer. GO TO THE PHARMACY! So off he goes in a taxi while the rest of us go to MK. And MK is an absolute zoo, just like I thought it would be. Getting down Main Street was the worst time we had with crowds the entire trip. A group of teenagers were pushing one of their friends in a rented wheelchair, but they STOPPED to chit chat. I tried to go around them, but a stroller was coming the other direction. The stroller bumped the wheelchair because she was trying not to run into me. She apologized to the wheelchair, and the wheelchair driver replied (while GLARING at me) "Not your fault!" No, stupid teenager, it is YOUR fault for STOPPING to chat in the middle of a gridlocked sidewalk at parade time. Whatever.

Uncle1 actually made it back in time to see Wishes with us, and we proceeded to enjoy some rides during EMH. Uncle1 and DS rode Space again, and while they were riding DH said he had a blister on his little toe. He tried to mess with it, but I think that made it worse. Against my better judgement we rode Stitch, and I still hate it. We rode Haunted Mansion and Pirates, but DH was kind of limping so we decided to call it a night. On the way out we passed the Dole Whips and decided to stop for one. Uncle2 really likes them, and we have never tried them before. DH and I each got a float. They were amazing, just like everyone says! DS took a few licks from mine, but his stomach was a little rumbly so he didn't want very much. We were able to get on a bus without any wait, which was a pretty good way to end our last day of parks for this trip.

 

[Linzybrooke]

Alright my dear, we need some pictures to go with the madness!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Alas, Lin, I am computer illiterate. Our computer at home would laugh itself off the desk if I asked it to download pics. It is ancient, like Grandmother Willow. I don't know how to download pics at work, either. I don't have the Photo Pass CD in my possession, so that's not an option. The digital camera pretty much befuddles DH and me, though I do think I can take the memory card to Sam's and get some workable media from it.

Saturday, August 12

Just a few last little events to report!

Saturday we were supposed to have breakfast at Boma at 7:30 AM. On the way out the door I grab the account review from the doorknob. We didn't charge anything to the room - NOTHING - and the room was paid in advance as part of our package so it should have been basically blank. Nope.

There is a $10 charge from Boma. Well, I did buy that drink at Boma but I paid $10 CASH for it! Now they charged it to my credit card, making that drink cost $20! Yes, it was good, but it wasn't $20 good! I can NOT figure out how that happened. The drink was $7 to begin with, minus the DDE discount. No matter how you twist it, there is no way it would have cost $10 even. I am not happy. I send DH & DS to breakfast and I go to the front desk. The girl says she has no way of knowing what really happened and she refuses to adjust the charge. She tells me to go get the manager at Boma to fix it. I go up to our room and dump out all of the receipts. No Boma. I have no clue where the receipt went. I go down to Boma and ask for a manager. I explain to her that I paid CASH for that drink, and even if I walked out without paying and they charged it to my room it still would NOT have cost $10. It was $5.60 after the DDE card, and they added 18% on top of that. It did not equal $10. She asks who the server was, but none of us can remember her name. We show the manager where we were sitting, and we tell her what time our ADR was for. She goes to research the transaction. By now everybody else is finished with breakfast, but I am too mad to eat. The gist of it is that I should have remained at the table that night until the waitress took the cash and brought back a receipt showing that I paid $10 cash. How many people continue to sit in a restaurant if they put cash in the folder and don't need change? I figured the $10 covered the drink and she could keep the extra as an additional tip on the meal. We paid cash for DH & DS's breakfast while we were waiting for the manager to come back. The waiter never brought back a receipt, so if he felt like it he could have pocketed the $30 and charged our room for the meal? Nobody ever gets a receipt from TS showing the amount of cash they paid!

The manager was able to find the transaction and she couldn't explain why it was charged that way. She refunded the $10 to our credit card, but it was a HUGE hassle. Now in December I am questioning if we should demand a cash receipt for every meal since we will be doing all DDE. Either that or we will just charge ALL of our meals to the room.

We went back up to the room to finish packing, then bell services helped us get the bags down to airline check in. It was completely flawless. No problems checking our bags at all, we got our boarding passes, they held our carry-ons for us to claim later, and that was that. We went back to the room for about an hour, then down to Mara to use our last 2 CS credits. Since I skipped breakfast I was getting hungry! I went upstairs to buy MVMCP tickets with our leftover Disney Dollars. We took some pictures around the resort, then we went to claim our carry-ons and get on Magical Express. The bus was right on time and we had no issues at all. We left AKL about 3 hours before our flight. We got to MCO, cleared security in a few minutes, and went to our gate. No problems whatsoever. I was quite pleased, since I wasn't sure what to expect.

Our flight was delayed by weather on the Dallas end so we were very late getting off the plane. The airport has those lovely construction walls in the terminal, so it was a little tricky to figure out where to go. There was a BIG sign that said "exit" so I started down the hall to the door. DH refused to come down the hall because he swore that was NOT the way to baggage claim. I turned around to walk back toward him and this BIG alarm sounded! WAH WAH WAH! Then there was some distorted automated voice yelling at us. I never even TOUCHED the exit door! Apparently there are motion sensors that prohibit you from turning around after you start down the hall. The TSA lady was just sort of laughing. We all 3 went through the door to make the alarm stop. Lo and behold, that WAS the way we needed to go. I won't listen to DH anymore at the airport.

We got a cart for the luggage and I called Super Shuttle. It took forever for our last bag to come out, but we finally got everything and went out to the sign on the curb. The shuttle came and we got on at 9:40 PM. (Our plane was supposed to land at 6:40 PM, but it must have been close to 9:00.) There is one man in the van with us. The driver circles around to another gate. A lady gets on. He circles around to another gate. Some passengers waiting there argue with him because he isn't going where they need to go. One more man gets on. We FINALLY exit the airport. That was partly my bad for booking "shared" ride.

We get home at 11 PM, after dropping off the lady and man who were picked up last. The poor man who was on the shuttle when we got on was still in there when we got off! We don't have the remote for the security gate. Nobody else is coming in, and for the first time EVER all of the gates are working properly so NONE of them are open. We unload all of the luggage at the front gate, and DH goes through the pedestrian gate to go get one of our cars AND a gate remote. We load the luggage into our car and drive it around to our apartment. UGH!!

Our cats were happy to see us! We were happy to see them! As much as I adore Disney and hate to come back, it was kind of nice to be home.

Now I can start getting excited about our December trip!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Overall the trip was not as bad as it sounds. The crowds were lower than I expected. The heat was not as bad as I expected. The humidity was much worse than I expected, but what can you do? Bring plenty of outfits if you are going in August because you will need them.

I was only bumped one time by a stroller, and it was after Spectro when Main Street was jam packed with people. It was not a huge bump, either. The people were putting their child in a rental stroller, and it swiveled around and bumped into me. Not a big deal. We actually saw very few ECV scooters.

I did see kids in Heelys, but I was watching for them. I saw them in all the parks and at the resort. Nobody ever said anything to them. On the flip side, they never bumped into us so it wasn't an issue.

None of our meals were bad, none of our servers were bad. Mousekeeping had our room done every day when we went back, even when DH went back at noon.

We saw some characters we hadn't seen before, and we found some pressed pennies we hadn't done before.

We only dragged those Brita bottles around for the first few days, and we only used them the first day.

Nobody got sunburned or bitten by bugs. We didn't go through nearly as much sunscreen as I thought we would. I came home with 2 brand new containers.

I only wore a baseball cap one day. It was such a pain to take it off for each ride I decided it wasn't worth it.

DH & I got blisters, but not until the end of the week. The Band Aid blister block pads were great for me since my blisters were on the top of my feet.

The buses to and from AKL were pretty good, with the exception of the bus to MK for early entry.

The cookies must be made with obscene amounts of butter. If you put one in your backpack make sure you wrap it well or everything will get all greasy.

Our liquids all survived the trip home in a checked bag. I put everything in Ziplocs inside the suitcase, but none of it leaked.

We never wore a single poncho. The only one we opened was the one I sat on to watch the parade. It only rained 3 or 4 times during our trip, and we were never out in it.

Wrinkle releaser spray is the best invention ever, right behind spray sunscreen.

 

[amarberry]

Great trip report! I have a question for you...how does getting the DDE card work when you buy your AP upon arrival for your vacation? We've been mulling around the idea of upgrading our 1 day base tickets that we purchased for free dining for AP's and I would love to get the DDE card (for drinks, etc. on this trip and food on subsequent trips). For some reason, I thought that you needed to order it a couple of weeks before your trip.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We went to Guest Relations at Epcot and upgraded to APs. Once we had the AP we called DDE from my cell phone and ordered the card.

WARNING:
You MUST charge the DDE card over the phone when you call! I wanted to pay cash for it like we were paying cash for the AP upgrade, but you can't. Epcot Guest Relations will not accept payment for the DDE card.

Anyway, if you call early in the morning the card can be at Guest Relations by 5:30 PM that same day, as long as it is not a weekend. We ordered the card on Friday morning, but we left the park about 3 PM and the card wasn't there yet (I checked on the way out). We were back at Epcot on Sunday so I picked up the card then. Obviously it had been sitting there since Friday. If you order on the weekend I imagine you pick up the card late Monday afternoon. It is a temp card with your DDE number on it. They are sending the permanent card to our home.

It worked well for us because we had the dining plan for the majority of our meals, then we used DDE for the 4 extra TS meals towards the end of the week.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

On our last morning DH took DS to the arcade to use up his game card. I was freezing in the arcade so I went outside. A lady STORMS into the arcade carrying a wooden paint stir. She comes out a few minutes later with a boy about 12. She is chewing him out in a big way. I fully expect her to whack him with the stir, but if she did whack him she did it when I couldn't see. She hollers at him all the way from the arcade up the sidewalk past Mara, on up into the building. Apparently he did not have permission to be playing games, he was supposed to be getting on a bus.

I used to know a mom who carried a wooden "spanking spoon" in her purse for her unruly preschooler, but I have never seen a mom carrying a paint stir to chase after her unruly tween. You just never know what you will see at Disney!