Hillbillies head South! March 2-11, 2012 COMPLETED 6/26

[sandym718]

Ugh, I have been soooooo busy, I've hardly been on the boards!! But I haven't forgotten about this trip report!! I promise an update soon...maybe tomorrow, Tuesday at the latest.

In the meantime, I did update my Dining Report today - see the link in my siggy.

And a quick photo to share...Tink made her First Communion yesterday!!

 

[newtexan]

Got to check the dining report as we are staying at the Contemporary and I've been wondering about the cafe.

Tink looks very sweet in her dress.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Ugh, I have been soooooo busy, I've hardly been on the boards!! But I haven't forgotten about this trip report!! I promise an update soon...maybe tomorrow, Tuesday at the latest.

In the meantime, I did update my Dining Report today - see the link in my siggy.

And a quick photo to share...Tink made her First Communion yesterday!!

OMG~so beautiful!!! What a sweet girl, made Mommy proud I am sure!
Waiting for an update...

 

[sandym718]

Day 5 - Tuesday, March 6 - Animal Kingdom
Finally back for another update!! It's our 3rd full day in Disney and we've been to 3 of the major parks already...today was time for the 4th!! Animal Kingdom here we come!!

We all went to AK this morning, but didn't end up spending too much time together. All of us at the Polynesian drove, Beast and PC took a bus. They had busing issues and arrived a little later. As did Eeyore's family...can't remember what was going on with them this morning.

So we arrived right around 9 AM, as did Grumpy and crew. We waited a bit around the front area for Beast and PC, before we found out they were running late due to the buses. I can't remember what Woody was checking out here.

Once we got word from our bus travelers, we decided to head to Expedition Everest and they would meet us there. I do not ride this one, so I am designated picture taker.

I also grabbed FP's for everyone (planning to use mine for Beast once she arrived - PC doesn't ride it either). This was Nemo's first ride (not tall enough last time). He said he liked it...but didn't want to do it again, LOL!! Grumpy and family then headed off to the Dino area for Nemo to play.

Lotso, Tink and Woody rode EE again, with Beast this time. Wait was still almost walk on.

Then we decided to head over towards the Safari. I was so excited to do this after not getting to last trip.

Along the way, we grabbed Fast Passes for Kali...just in case. It was overcast and still cool this morning. We'd never done Kali, but the kids LOVE Thunder Canyon here at Cedar Point and wanted to try it. We had to wait a few minutes for our window to open (had those EE FP's). Somewhere in that area, Tink found these flowers. A few had fallen on the ground and she saved one. The Lorax movie had just come out on the day we left for Disney, so we hadn't seen it yet -but we all thought these looked like those trees!!

Saw some monkeys too!

Over to Safari we went...40 minute wait. Fast Passes were too far out...we knew we wouldn't be at AK that long, it's just not our favorite park (spoiled by great zoos here!) So we decided to just wait. It was the FULL 40 minutes, by far our longest wait of the trip (no fairies or Princess this time, those are usually long too). But we chatted with Beast and PC and it wasn't too bad. I'll keep my Safari pics for the next post - I took a bunch, I won't bore you with them all, but enough for their own post!! Here's some from the line:

After the Safari, we headed over to ride Dinosaur with just a short wait. Don't think I took any pictures. We enjoy this ride....our favorite, no, but still fun.

AT this point, still debating Kali, but still not too warm. Decided to use the EE FP's first. Now this was the LAST day where you could use FP's late. I knew this. We were definitely late for both EE and Kali. No problem at EE. The 4 of them rode it again.

Now it was time to decide...we had nothing else we wanted to do at AK. Were we going to ride Kali or not??? The sun was in and out. When it was behind the clouds, it wasn't all that warm. We were worried we'd get soaked and be freezing. But Tink REALLY wanted to ride.....so us 3 girls decided to ride and the boys opted not to. Gave them all our stuff and on we went. They DID give us a hard time here about the late FP. I told them I knew the enforcement started tomorrow and they agreed and let us on, with lots of warning about tomorrow. OK, we know..that's tomorrow and this is today!

This ride was really fun!!! I like the hill...none of those on Thunder Canyon! DH took this pic:

The lady directly across from us got soaked - TWICE!! We were lucky enough to just get a few sprinkles. We were really glad we did it. Woody sort of regretted not doing it.

Time to leave AK. It was probably around 11:30 at this point. We had done everything we wanted to. Never saw Grumpy and clan again, we did see Eeyore's family once. They had done the Safari first and were heading to EE.

Where were we headed next?? You'll have to wait to find out ...until after the Safari photos!!

 

[sandym718]

 

[sandym718]

Day 5 - Tuesday, March 6 - continuedSo where were we headed??? Over to the CSR! We had enjoyed a lunch and swim there last year with Beast and PC and knew we wanted to do it again. Especially once we heard Pepper Market lunch was now a buffet.

So we headed over there, had lunch (not great - see the dining report for more info) and then changed in their room.

Headed to the pool for a couple hours. It still wasn't REALLY warm, sun still in and out. The kids, of course, didn't care. They finally got to do a pool slide, since the Poly's was still closed, and they swam all around. Lotso, Beast and PC, swam with them off and on. I hit only the hot tub, alternating with reading in a lounge chair. Lotso bought us Pina Colada's from the pool bar, which I really enjoyed. It was a nice, relaxing time.

The pool wasn't crowded at all. It's huge, and the weather contributed I'm sure. I felt sorry for the girls trying to run pool games. No one was interested. I encouraged Tink to participate, she's sometimes into that kind of thing (Woody never is), but she wasn't today. Felt bad for them!!

Around 3 or so is when I think we left. We said goodbye to Beast and PC. We had different dinner ADR's tonight, so we wouldn't see them again til morning.

We drove back to the Poly for showers and a little rest.

And this is when things went South a bit. I was the last to shower, and when I got out, I heard odd noises in the room. stepped out of the bathroom to find....

Tink vomiting in the trash can. Oh boy. I had read reports on FB that back home, a lot of this was going around the school. We were so sad. How long would this last? Who else would get it??

This was around 5 or so. We had 7:15 PM ADR's at Hoop Dee Doo. Of course, 24 hour cancellation policy. Lotso said he'd stay back with her.

But Tink perked right up after getting sick. I wasn't convinced...you know how it goes. But almost an hour later..she still felt and acted just fine. Maybe something she ate at that buffet didn't agree with her? So we decided we'd try it. Lotso put a plastic bag in his pocket and the plan was that if she got sick, he'd just get a cab back from HDDR.

Before we left for that, though, we went to see one of our favorite, free things at the Poly - the Torch Lighting. We enjoyed this quick show as always.

Then we hopped the monorail to the MK. It was a little after 6 - we had over an hour to ride to the MK, and hop the boat to FW. No problem, right? WRONG!! Oh my, luckily Tink was feeling OK still, because this was an ordeal.

We waited a few minutes on the monorail. We tried to keep Tink away from the other kids, without much success. You can tell here that she's feeling fine:

Monorail gets us to the MK. We get in line for the FW boat. One comes right away....and we can't get on. Ugh!!! They tell us 7 minutes until the next boat. 25 minutes later and the boat is finally there. We're a bit stressed at this point, but it's still OK. Then as soon as we get on the boat...Woody has to go to the bathroom. Sorry, kid!!! Poor thing was miserable for the next half hour or so.

So the boat goes to...WL first! Wasn't aware of that!! And we can't dock yet as there are other boats there. Woody is dying, Cruella is having a panic attack about being late to HDDR, I'm worried about Tink (who is fine), Eeyore's family is laughing at us all!!!

Finally we get in and out of WL, over to FW...only to wait AGAIN to dock!

We finally walk off the boat RIGHT at 7:15. We practically run to Pioneer Hall. Lotso takes Woody to the bathroom and the rest of us check in. Luckily, no problem. Lots of people still checking in.

We are seated on the first floor, all the way to the left, towards the back (Category 2 seating). Excellent view - if I were paying out of pocket, I wouldn't bother with Category 1. However, shortly after we were seated, another family was seated "in front" of us - to my right, but for everyone on the other side of the table - right in their line of view. The father was disabled and in a wheelchair. But one of those gigantic ones, he had all kinds of equipment, some sort of tube it seemed he had to either breathe or spit into every few seconds. His wife had to feed him, etc. I was worried at first that Woody and Nemo wouldn't be able to see - this was a very high back wheelchair and it seemed to be right in their line of view. But they said they could see just fine. Thank goodness...because what on earth would we have done?? Switched seats of course, if that would work, but if that didn't - what then? Seems so insensitive to speak up (to the server of course), when obviously that family had a lot going on. But at the same time, it's a lot of $$ to not see the show! And with such a large group, where would we go? Really, that family probably should have been in the place we were - there was no one "behind" us to that side. I don't know how they do the large tables and stuff, though, and I don't know if that family had made the restaurant aware of the equipment they were bringing. Luckily it was not an issue, but I'm telling you, with the size of it, it easily could have been.

Anyways....I'll save most of the food details for the dining report. But suffice it to say, we LOVED this show/dinner!! Had a great time!!!

Tink, however, started to go downhill slightly. At first, she just didn't want to eat anything, which she didn't. No way was I going to force food on her!! But she got really tired as the show progressed, even putting her head down on the table. You can see here she's not looking as good:

But she would perk up now and again:

And denied any stomacheache or anything.

everyone else had a great time!

After the show, we all went to the bathroom and then when we got back outside....Tink did not look good. Now I had been telling her all night to give us warning if she didn't feel good. No warning. Just a look on her face and she started to get sick on the asphalt. We quickly got her over to bushes at least, and then cleaned up the best we could. Poor thing

So now what to do? Call a cab? Well, the bus to the Poly was right there, so we figured that would be quickest. We just sandwiched Tink between Lotso and I and again told her to give us warning. Lotso had the bag at the ready. And we sat on the bus, and waited, and waited. I guess they don't leave till a certain time, but this bus was packed to the gills. It was really dumb and everyone was irritated, especially me!!

Luckily, Tink did not get sick again and we made it back to the Poly and hit the sack.

BTW, Beast and PC enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Fulton's Crab House this night. After missing Ohana earlier in the week, they had an extra TS credit. They cancelled Cape May and booked FCH. They loved it!!

So, what will tomorrow bring??? How will Tink feel? What will we have to miss?? Stay tuned...

 

[sandym718]

Got to check the dining report as we are staying at the Contemporary and I've been wondering about the cafe.

Tink looks very sweet in her dress.

OMG~so beautiful!!! What a sweet girl, made Mommy proud I am sure!
Waiting for an update...

Thank you both!

 

[sandym718]

Day 6 - Wednesday, March 7th -- DHS

Another Disney day!! We all got a good night's sleep including Tink. No more sickness from here, but she was very tired. We had planned to hit DHS for Rope Drop this morning, mainly to get to TSM since we hadn't been able to ride it on Monday. Tink clearly needed more sleep, though, so we decided that just Woody and I would go meet Beast and PC at DHS while Lotso stayed back with Tink. We'd check in with each other to see how she did after some more sleep.

So Woody and I headed out. After our disastrous bus attempt to DHS on Monday morning, I wasn't looking forward to that. However, I wanted Lotso to have the car to meet us later or just in case, with Tink, so the bus it was. We followed Grumpy's advice and went to the TTC to get one though. We were there early, caught a bus right away and made it to DHS before the turnstiles were open. Beast and PC made it there shortly after and we high-tailed it to TSM. I think we ended up waiting about 15 minutes, not bad at all. We love this ride, so fun!! This was Beast and PC's first time as they had skipped our DHS morning last year (stormy, rainy). They enjoyed it as well.

After TSM, we made our way to RRNC. I can't remember if Beast and Woody rode it this morning or not? I know one morning it got shut down, I don't think it was this morning though. I think they rode it Single Rider.

They both also still had their FP's from when ToT broke down on Monday. Woody got freaked out by that and decided not to ride it, but Beast wanted to try it, so off she went. While she was doing that (she loved it, btw, yuk!!), I touched base with Lotso. Tink was doing much better and had eaten a pastry from Captain Cook's. She was ready to go!!!

We arranged for Lotso and Tink to pick us up with the car after Beast finished at ToT. That worked out very well, as we wanted to head to DTD for lunch. I was so happy to see Tink much closer to her normal self (the illness was over for the duration of the trip, though her energy and appetite remained fairly diminished for the rest of the time).

Over to DTD we went for some shopping and lunch. I didn't take any pics here at all I guess. We had lunch at Earl of Sandwich, which we always enjoy. And then did our souvenir shopping. I got, as I always do, a Christmas ornament and a magnet for the fridge. Tink bought some jewelry for herself and her BFF. Woody bought a Mickey golf bobblehead for his teacher. She is a HUGE Disney fan and he adores her - he was lucky enough to have her twice - 2nd grade and now 4th grade. He has the Mickey baseball bobblehead from an earlier trip, so he really wanted to get this for her (she's a big golfer too). He also shopped at the Lego store with money and gift cards he had been saving and bought himself his 2nd Lego train.

After our shopping, Beast was not feeling well again. They headed back to CSR for a nap. We dropped them off and went back to the Poly for some pool time. Enjoyed the afternoon at the quiet pool. I got some good reading time in a lounge chair. It rained at one point, but the kids and Lotso just stayed in the pool and I moved under one of the little pavilions until it passed. Sun came right back out afterwards!!

Later in the afternoon, Eeyore and crew came to the pool as well. We had some margaritas from their room and just hung out until it was time to get ready for dinner. ***BTW, I barely remember what we did each day anymore - I have no idea where the others went this morning, sorry!***

The rest of the day coming up in next update!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Oh, I had missed two updates somehow! Poor Tink...being sick at the happy place is just sad! So glad it was just a quick stomach bug.

HDDR looks like fun~ we have debated doing it, but so far we have not been willing to give up 2 TS credits for it. I have heard from all fronts that it is so much fun and good food too.

Ohhhh~ how I miss WDW!

 

[newtexan]

great updates.
too bad Tink got sick, thats no fun
Short day at AK.
We are looking forward to Earl of Sandwich on our arrival day!

 

[sandym718]

Oh, I had missed two updates somehow! Poor Tink...being sick at the happy place is just sad! So glad it was just a quick stomach bug.

HDDR looks like fun~ we have debated doing it, but so far we have not been willing to give up 2 TS credits for it. I have heard from all fronts that it is so much fun and good food too.

Ohhhh~ how I miss WDW!

I miss it too!! HDDR was great and we will return. Tink has requested it for our arrival day in 2014 - her 10th birthday!!! Even not feeling well, she enjoyed it and wants to get the full experience. Plus they make a big deal out of birthdays - specifically saying THAT day has to be your birthday.

great updates.
too bad Tink got sick, thats no fun
Short day at AK.
We are looking forward to Earl of Sandwich on our arrival day!

yeah, we're not good for long days at AK. Just not really our thing I guess. EoS is delish!!

 

[sandym718]

Day 6 - Wednesday, March 7th (continued)

Just a quick update here (but I did do TWO updates on my dining report, so check that out!!).

When we left off, we were all (except Beast and PC) at the Polynesian quiet pool...kids swimming and adults enjoying pre-dinner margarita cocktails. This was one of those days where we kind of wished we didn't have dinner ADR's. At least not early ones. Unfortunately, due to our group size, most of our ADR's were early. Often that was our only choice, or maybe 9:30 or so, which was too late for the kiddos. Most days it was fine, but today we were just so relaxed, hanging at the pool.

But our ADR was for Chef Mickey's, so we couldn't pass it up. Especially since Eeyore's family had never been. We squeezed out a last few minutes at the pool, and then all showered and dressed quickly! Beast and PC drove over to the Poly to meet us and then we all had to drive to the Contemporary for dinner (monorail not running midday again). I think our ADRs were for 5:15?

I'll save the Chef Mickeys details for the dining report. Basic summary -OK food, not great service, frustrating experience for me and Tink overall.

Did get some cute photos though of course:

And after Beast was playing with some salt on the table, making a line...we made her pose for this pic. Was going to text it to our Mom, but decided not to give her a heart attack (if she'd even have a clue, LOL):

After dinner, we drove back to the Polynesian. It was another cool night. We dressed warmer and then all split up. The 6 of us (with Beast and PC) went to Epcot I think. I only seem to have this one photo!!

I think we did Spaceship Earth and then Test Track. Oh, now I remember. We DID to Test Track -we did it single rider for the first time. They questioned Tink's age, but I think you have to be 7, so she was fine at 8. I was very happy that she got with a nice couple who put HER in the middle (between them!) and the lady talked to her throughout and made sure she got to me after. They were Hispanic and I think their English wasn't great (I don't think Tink understood a lot of what she said), but I was SOOOOO grateful that she got with such a nice couple and they went way above and beyond in taking care of my girl!!

Then Woody wanted to do Mission:Space. But only Woody. Lotso took him while the rest of us staked out a bench for Illuminations. It's not our favorite show, so we weren't overly concerned with great viewing. Most of WS looked full, so we went out on one of the bridges to the right of Test Track. Not sure what that area was called. Lotso and Woody found us right before it started. Not great viewing, we missed some, but it was just fine.

We were all tired at this point, so it was monorail to the Poly and then straight to bed.

Sorry, again I have no clue at this point where anyone else went!!

Two and a half Disney days left...what's up next???

 

[sandym718]

Getting closer to the end here...Can't believe the trip was over 3 months ago. I finally last night finished up our PhotoBook through Shutterfly and have that ordered. Here's a link to it if you'd like to see:

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=764e1ed898c25983&sid=0EbOGbNs1bMXcw

This being our 4th Disney trip in 6 years, I didn't really want to do another regular scrapbook, so I decided on this. I'm happy with it so far, we'll see when I have it in hand.

Onto...

DAY 7 - THURSDAY, MARCH 8TH - BLIZZARD BEACH
Today was a change of pace in that our big meal was breakfast. This one was Nemo's request - 1900 Park Fare, he really enjoyed it on their previous visit. So we slept in this morning a bit, did a little packing up , took it easy. We had 11:15 ADR for all 13 of us. The monorail was running in the morning, but we knew it would not be when we finished eating. Eeyore and Grumpy made the decision to just drive to the GF and then go directly to BB. We knew we wanted to come back and change though. Beast and PC had to drive to GF, so we monorailed over and then just rode with them back to the Poly where we all changed.

The breakfast/brunch was wonderful. Not-great service again, but GREAT food, great character interaction. Tigger and Pooh are so funny here! Tink really enjoyed seeing Mary Poppins and Alice. Mad Hatter is crazy!! We will do this one again!!

So after a pit stop back at the Poly, we were off to Blizzard Beach!! This is always favorite of the kids'. Ever since our first trip, when Tink was barely 3, yet could go on almost everything. They ALWAYS look forward to the Zip Line and Teamboat Springs is always a favorite.

Downhill Double Dipper is a newer favorite, now that they're both tall enough. No one braved Summit Plummet this time, but Beast, Tink and Woody all did Slush Gusher!! I hate those body slides.

We were all here together, but because of the difference in kid ages/preferences (my kids are more ride/slide daredevils than the others), we pretty much just hung with Beast and PC)

We did do the Wave pool for quite awhile. The kids enjoyed this area where there the waves crashed against the wall.

Oh, and Cruella saw a snake in the lazy river, yikes!!!

We were at BB from probably about 1 til 4:30 or so. Only lines were for Downhill DD and Slush Gusher, everything else was walk on.

I'll share all the Blizzard Beach photos in the next post, so I don't go over the limit!

At this point we headed back to the Poly, where we were all ready for an ice cream treat!!

Showered up, relaxed a bit and discussed what to do for the evening. I again can't remember what everyone else did tonight (sorry!) But the 6 of us went to the MK again. Can't get enough!!
Before getting on the monorail, I was thrilled the kids let me take this picture. I have one of them in this spot from every trip.

We finally got a short line for the Pooh Bear ride (and they enjoyed the new queue).

I remember it getting quite cool this night, yet we did Splash twice in a row (didn't have to get off), trying to not get too wet. Haunted Mansion again, I think we also did Buzz and CoP.

We got a later dinner at Columbia Harbour House. Something we had been looking forward to. Woody loves fried shrimp, so this is the place. I used to love the BLT salad that's gone, but the chicken tenders are soooooooo good here (not something I usually order). And both PC and I were looking forward to that yummy apple dessert, it didn't disappoint.

I don't think we stayed too late tonight. Got this PhotoPass picture taken this night I believe:

We had just one more full day left in Disney!!!

 

[sandym718]

Blizzard Beach photos

 

[sandym718]

Knock, knock...anyone here?? I wish this wasn't stuck in PTR, I've asked for it to be moved, but no dice.

Getting down to the end here, hope to finish it up later today!

 

[jedijill]

Knock, knock...anyone here?? I wish this wasn't stuck in PTR, I've asked for it to be moved, but no dice.

Getting down to the end here, hope to finish it up later today!

I'm still here! Just been too busy to comment.

Jill in CO

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I'm here, Sandy! Read your updates yesterday, just wasn't able to post a reply yet. Blizzard Beach looks AWESOME!!! Tink looks like she is having a ball~ big smiles on that face!

Our oldest DD is asking to do a water park next time. The added expense is just soooo much. But she is Daddy's girl, so my guess is that he will give in when push comes to shove...

You know, next time we go we will probably be having a cookout with our FL relatives....that will leave us with an extra TS credit...~ HDDR could very well happen for us! You are not the only one I have heard rave reviews from...just may have to try it out. We shall see...

 

[Lidian]

I'm still here, too!!!

I'm here, Sandy! Read your updates yesterday, just wasn't able to post a reply yet. Blizzard Beach looks AWESOME!!! Tink looks like she is having a ball~ big smiles on that face!

Our oldest DD is asking to do a water park next time. The added expense is just soooo much. But she is Daddy's girl, so my guess is that he will give in when push comes to shove...

You know, next time we go we will probably be having a cookout with our FL relatives....that will leave us with an extra TS credit...~ HDDR could very well happen for us! You are not the only one I have heard rave reviews from...just may have to try it out. We shall see...

Oopsi, they've changed the add-on costs a bit with the new tickets. Now it's $57 to add on hopper or WPFM ... OR ... $79 to add both. So if you're going to add one, might as well pay $22 more and add the other. And it's only a good deal if you plan to PH and hit up some of the WPFM stuff. They also added Mini Golf to the package ... That said, if you aren't going to hop, or you're just going to hit one WP and not the other fun places, it's cheaper to buy a one day WP pass. We're totally looking at the $79 option for our next trip.... That way we can hop to a park after AK or go somewhere else if it's too crowded and not have to worry about sticking to a certain park because of ADRs. Plus, we have a free day planned, and a WP sounds nice and refreshing!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

I'm still here, too!!!



Oopsi, they've changed the add-on costs a bit with the new tickets. Now it's $57 to add on hopper or WPFM ... OR ... $79 to add both. So if you're going to add one, might as well pay $22 more and add the other. And it's only a good deal if you plan to PH and hit up some of the WPFM stuff. They also added Mini Golf to the package ... That said, if you aren't going to hop, or you're just going to hit one WP and not the other fun places, it's cheaper to buy a one day WP pass. We're totally looking at the $79 option for our next trip.... That way we can hop to a park after AK or go somewhere else if it's too crowded and not have to worry about sticking to a certain park because of ADRs. Plus, we have a free day planned, and a WP sounds nice and refreshing!

Thanks Liddy~ that ROCKS!!! When you are already forking out "several" bucks for a Disney trip, what is an extra $400 for the park hoppers and water parks? That is totally doable for us, especially if we luck out with FD again!!!

 

[Lidian]

Thanks Liddy~ that ROCKS!!! When you are already forking out "several" bucks for a Disney trip, what is an extra $400 for the park hoppers and water parks? That is totally doable for us, especially if we luck out with FD again!!!

Well, $400 is still a TON ... but if you're planning to do the WPs and maybe want flexibility, it's totally worthwhile. We've never had PH's before... so it will be new to us to have flexibility!