How did a trip that start out so well end so bad??? Updated 8/17 post 173

[ccgirl]

Sorry it has taken me so long to post. I had all intentions of finishing this TR up this weekend but I had a water pipe burst under my kitchen floor this weekend so was very busy with that... UGH!

Anyway....
Since the night before was such a late night, we decided we wouldn't wake the kids up and just to to AK when the kids woke up. Our friends were going the same. We were going to use the GAD FP here so I was not too worried about the lines.

When we got there (I think it was around 10 am) the park looked very crowded. We walked to EE to get FP's but there was only a 15 minute wait. We were shocked. My DD had done Space Mountain and LOVED it so decided she wanted to see this. I tried to prepare her as much as I could and she still wanted to do it so she went on with my DH while I waited for my son. We did the child swap here just in case she wanted to go on it again. We waited in the store for them. When they got off, my DD was totally pumped and LOVED it and couldn't wait to go on again. So, she and I went on and I think I screamed more than she did. It was fun as usual. After that we went to Kali River Rapids. Again...a 10 minute wait. My DS did not meet the height requirement of this ride either so my DH and DD went on first and then I went on with my DD.

Our friends had then called so I went to the front to meet them so we could get the GAD FP's. I told my DH I didn't think it was a good idea since the park was not too crowded but he said - what else would we do with them.....we're not going back again before the end of December. Oh....how wrong he was!! Anyway, we go the FP's and volunteer buttons. We went back to EE as my DD wanted to ride with my friends son. We did not do rider swap on this one as I really didn't need to ride again. Then it was off to Kali River Rapids again. We did child swap here again. The kids were really loving the rider swap since it meant they were going on twice in a row. We then all went on the safari and we all loved it.

It was then time for lunch. I had really wanted to try Picnic in the Park but it was still not being offered so we ate at Flametree BBQ. I had the chicken meal so I could share my son. As usual, the food here was really good. The birds were insanely annoying though. They would go under the table and peck at your legs.

We never got to the Conservation station or Pangani forest. After lunch, we went to DinoLand. My DD had gone on Dinosaur the year before and HATED it. However, after her newfound courage she wanted to try it this year. We were still with our friends so I think she wanted to impress their son. Anyway, we did child swap again... same drill....kids went with dads first as moms waited with babies. When they got off, my DD said she would go again but the friends son did not want to. I told everyone to go to the Boneyard as we had never been there and my son would love it. WHen the ride was over, we spent quite a bit of time there. We all rode TriceraTopSpin.

We then decided to make our way over to the buses to go to the hotel and get ready for dinner as we had 5:40 ressies for Coral Reef and could just walk there from our hotels. We stopped for a frozen adult drink on the way out. It was so Yummy!! The kids got frozen smoothies as well.

We got to the Coral Reef about 5:15pm to check in. This was the only time I had left the itinerary in the room and lo and behold...Murphy's law...they couldn't find our ressie. I called my friend. They hadn't left their hotel yet so she checked on the intinerary they had left in her CL room and gave me the confirmation number. I gave the CM the number and they said it had been cancelled. I assured them it had not since I was standing right there. He as very nice and said they were having some issues with their computer. He checked with someone else who said it was auto cancelled because it was for the night before. Uh...no it wasn't. Friend then showed up with the itinerary the concierge had given her which clearly showed the reservation was for that night. Then then sat us. We got the table all the way up the furthest from the tank. Of course, the kids wanted to go down to see the fishies. I would not let them because I think that is rude!!!! Anyway, we ordered and Thank God we were on the DP. This place is expensive. The waitress was horrible. She finally came to take our order. I told her we also had the TiW card as I knew we would be ordering some alcoholic beverages. She told me I could not use that in conjunction with the DP. I let her know that I could, indeed, use it for anything not covered by the DP - which included alcoholic beverages. After checking with another server she got all huffy with me. I ordered a bottle of wine and the other adults ordered drinks too. I ordered the fish of the day. This place was S - L - O - W!!!! By the time the food came my son was already pitching a fit. The food was okay but nothing great. The server never came back to refill the soft drinks. My DH ended up leaving with the kids so I could finish my wine and meal in peace. I had to flag the waitress down for the check after sitting there for 20 mintues (no exaggeration) by myself after I finished eating. Let me tell you...she was very quick to pick up the check though. This was the only place I was upset the tip was already added as we were a large party. At all other places I actually left cash as they had only included an 18% tip (as we were a large party) and I usually tip 20%. Instead of having them readjust the bill I would just leave cash as well. If there wasn't such a long wait I would ask to speak to the manager to get the tip readjusted. Anyway, I left adding Coral Reef to the places not to visit any time soon. I met everyone else at the Land and we rode the boat ride. Then we made our way over to the countries. However, the kids spotted these fountains. I don't remember seeing them but they were in them for SOOOOO long that Illuminations had started. So, we watched Illuminations from there as the kids played.

Japan, again, was out. If you remember, I REALLY wanted to do Pick a Pearl for my DD. I had the pearl cages and everything. I knew we were going back to Epcot on Friday so I didn't worry about it too much.
Here is a cute picture of my kids at Animal Kingdom...

Up next...full day at Magic Kingdom and Crystal Palace.

 

[2kids2luv]

Enjoying your TR. What fun that your DD now enjoys the "real" rollercoasters and got the benefit of child-swap. I can't believe what aweful service you received at Coral Reef. We really liked it their in the past and have ADR for Dec. The pictures in the fountain are so cute.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

That really stinks about the bad service at Coral Reef. Sometimes you get lucky and get a good one, and then you sometimes get the "not-so-Disney" waiter that can just ruin the whole vibe.

I love the fountain pictures afterwards. It seems the children were having a really fun time. I love the T-shirts, too. Were those DISigns that you ironed on? I've got some designs made and I am looking forward to making my own T-shirts for next year. How did that work out for you?

 

[ccgirl]

That really stinks about the bad service at Coral Reef. Sometimes you get lucky and get a good one, and then you sometimes get the "not-so-Disney" waiter that can just ruin the whole vibe.

I love the fountain pictures afterwards. It seems the children were having a really fun time. I love the T-shirts, too. Were those DISigns that you ironed on? I've got some designs made and I am looking forward to making my own T-shirts for next year. How did that work out for you?

Thanks! Yes, they did have a great time in the fountains. It was an unplanned activity but they just LOVED it and it provided some great pictures. Yes, the shirts were from the Creative Disigns board. I also have one for going to Disney in the first post. I loved how they turned out but spent so much $$$ making them. Mostly due to my own stupid mistakes. First, I didn't flip the image and printed them out so I had to get all new transfer paper. The next thing is that I tried to save money by buying light transfer paper and using it on a dark shirt. Yeah...didn't work - they say to get dark transfer paper for a reason. I think I also started WAY TOO LATE! I started making them the week we left and it provided a lot of late nights. I also made stroller tags and mentos wrappers for pressed pennies. This trip, I am just making pillow cases and one shirt each for the MVMCP. It was fun once I realized how to do it though.

 

[DisneyTiger]

Ok, how did I not know what a TIW card is? Is it a yearly fee you have to pay? I am sooo interested!


LOVE the B&W fountain pics! Too cute And, the one and only time I've eaten at CR sounds about like yours. The only cool thing that happened was someone was proposed to via scuba diver. He came down holding up a sign. It was really neat. We'll probably not go back. It was super expensive and the food was less than average. And, do you know that is one of the hardest ADR's to get!

 

[chrissyc72]

Loving your report so far!

 

[TyRy]

Just wanted to say I'm enjoying your trip report. Coral Reef is on our agenda for our upcoming trip, but I've heard more horror stories, than good stories about it. I'm doing it for DH and if it's bad, it'll be our one and only visit for a while.

 

[ccgirl]

Ok, how did I not know what a TIW card is? Is it a yearly fee you have to pay? I am sooo interested!


LOVE the B&W fountain pics! Too cute And, the one and only time I've eaten at CR sounds about like yours. The only cool thing that happened was someone was proposed to via scuba diver. He came down holding up a sign. It was really neat. We'll probably not go back. It was super expensive and the food was less than average. And, do you know that is one of the hardest ADR's to get!

TiW is the Tables in Wonderland card. It was formerly the Disney Dining Experience. Florida Residents and AP holders can get it. It is $75 a year for AP holders and is good for 20 percent off your food and beverage at a ton of places for up to 10 people in your party. There are some black out days. Mainly the major holidays. We got it when we got our AP at guest relations last October. We weren't using the dining plan as we were staying off site but we were there for an adults only trip during the F&W festival so we figured we would more than make our money back on that one trip. And we did....Actually, I think we made out money back on Cali Grill alone. Expensive but good. We also used it in conjunction with our DDP this trip in May at a lot of places; Biergarten, Coral Reef, etc. It is also good at the restaurants at the Swam & Dolphin which don't take the DDP. There is a great list of participating locations on all ears.

Glad I could help you learn something new since I have learned so many new great things from you.

 

[ccgirl]

Just wanted to say I'm enjoying your trip report. Coral Reef is on our agenda for our upcoming trip, but I've heard more horror stories, than good stories about it. I'm doing it for DH and if it's bad, it'll be our one and only visit for a while.

So glad you are enjoying it. Hopefully, you will have a great time. Some people love it. Definitely worth trying once.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Thanks! Yes, they did have a great time in the fountains. It was an unplanned activity but they just LOVED it and it provided some great pictures. Yes, the shirts were from the Creative Disigns board. I also have one for going to Disney in the first post. I loved how they turned out but spent so much $$$ making them. Mostly due to my own stupid mistakes. First, I didn't flip the image and printed them out so I had to get all new transfer paper. The next thing is that I tried to save money by buying light transfer paper and using it on a dark shirt. Yeah...didn't work - they say to get dark transfer paper for a reason. I think I also started WAY TOO LATE! I started making them the week we left and it provided a lot of late nights. I also made stroller tags and mentos wrappers for pressed pennies. This trip, I am just making pillow cases and one shirt each for the MVMCP. It was fun once I realized how to do it though.

Thanks for the info on the shirt making! I am making about four I think, and maybe one for my niece for Christmas and I was nervous how they would turn out. Esp if I were going to make one for a gift.

One more question, how washable are they? Do they hold up well?

 

[ccgirl]

Thanks for the info on the shirt making! I am making about four I think, and maybe one for my niece for Christmas and I was nervous how they would turn out. Esp if I were going to make one for a gift.

One more question, how washable are they? Do they hold up well?

Some other tips that I learned the hard way...

If you are going to be using a dark shirt, get the dark transfer paper as I said. You do not flip the image. However, you do want to trim the image as the white in the transfer paper will stay white. Does that make sense?

I think the washable depends on the transfer paper you use. I bought the Wilton's from Michael's and it was awful. The transfer paper from Wal Mart (Avery I think) has held up well to washing. As a matter of fact, I am going to be using the on our way to Disney shirt for our next trip in December as well. My DD uses her t-shirt as a night shirt sometimes so they have been washed multiple times and still appear okay. There is also a Diser on here (AmyMickey) that sells transfer paper that people rave about. I believe you need to PM her for her link.

Good luck and it really was fun once I learned how to do it.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Some other tips that I learned the hard way...

If you are going to be using a dark shirt, get the dark transfer paper as I said. You do not flip the image. However, you do want to trim the image as the white in the transfer paper will stay white. Does that make sense?

I think the washable depends on the transfer paper you use. I bought the Wilton's from Michael's and it was awful. The transfer paper from Wal Mart (Avery I think) has held up well to washing. As a matter of fact, I am going to be using the on our way to Disney shirt for our next trip in December as well. My DD uses her t-shirt as a night shirt sometimes so they have been washed multiple times and still appear okay. There is also a Diser on here (AmyMikey) that sells transfer paper that people rave about. I believe you need to PM her for her link.

Good luck and it really was fun once I learned how to do it.

This information helps me a bunch. Thanks so much! I have heard about Amy. I may have to check her out as my iron ons appear to be growing by the day, LOL!

 

[ccgirl]

So, today is going to be the last full day we get to spend with our friends. They want to take it easy tomorrow and the in-laws are arriving tomorrow.

So, we decide we would just meet at MK when we got there. No "planned" time. I tried to make rope drop but that didn't work. I think we got there around 10am and my cell phone rang. It was our friends and they could see us as they got off the bus right behind us. Once again we were on the same schedule. To funny..

We headed to Splash Mountain/Thunder Mountain first. They only had a 15 minute wait. We rode them both using our usual child swap routine. We then rode Pirates of the Caribbean so the little ones could go on. We headed over to the TTA, another ride we could all go on. But...we got FP's for Space Mountain first. After TTA, we got a yummy smoothie at Auntie Gravity's. We rode TTA again then it was time for Space Mountain. My friend and I didn't want to wait around so we said we would meet everyone over at the Haunted Mansion as that was our next ride. We were then going to have lunch at Columbia Harbor House (even though I wanted Cosmic Rays). So...we were waiting...and waiting...and waiting.....after 30 minutes we call them. They coudln't remember where to meet us. Nice!!!! Let me tell you it was H-O-T so my DS2 was not happy at all. We then rode Haunted Mansion. We went to Columbia Harbor House, I told my DH what we wanted and went upstairs with my DS. Ugh..he was already pitching a fit. I knew this was not going to be good. By the time my DH came up, I believe my son was already on the floor pitching his fit. We quickly ate. A CM came up to us and asked us if our son was okay...Apparently, he thought we were kidnapping the child because he was screaming so much. Luckily, my DS starting yelling me not like you daddy. Not really funny but at least the CM knew he was ours. After this, the day started becoming blurry. I remember we rode a bunch of other things. WE went to Crystal Palace for dinner. My DS was really looking forward to this as he loves Tigger and Eeyore. Well..guess what....he was asleep. Luckily, they let us bring the stroller in with him asleep. We have a beautiful table. The service, food, and character interaction was wonderful here as usual. My son slept throught the majority of the meal. He even slept through Eeyore wheeling him around the restaurant. Too funny. He did wake up in time for the parade though and had a blast!

The kids with the characters

As you can tell my son is missing from the pics because, once again, he was sleeping. So glad he was free.

He did wake up to eat a bit and this is how he had to eat...

Some other random pics from the day

So..my MiL and Fil had called and wanted to meet us with us at the BWV that night so we called it a night shortly after dinner so we could meet up with them.

We swam at the pool with them and enjoyed a bit of entertainment on the BW. My DD loved that but my DS was not interested at all. After swimming we went to our room, did baths and put the kids to bed.

My DH and myself enjoyed a beer on the balcony and then went to bed.

Up next....Hollywood Studios with MiL, FiL, SiL, BiL, DNi and DNe. We will be meeting our friends for one last dinner at T-Rex at DTD 6:45pm.

The plan is to meet everyone at HS at 9am. Do we make it??? Stay tuned!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

I know how you felt dealing with the little one pitching a fit in the restaurants. When my little one was smaller, we dealt with those same issues. He's six now and we still have a little trouble keeping his mind on his food.

Love the CP pictures. Too bad your son missed Eeyore pushing him around in the stroller! Priceless!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Oh wow. I so feel your pain with the fit pitching. It looks like the meal at CP was a success though. Sorry it was so stressful at Columbia Harbour House. I do love that place and the upstairs is usually a nice place to unwind. That is, when you don't have a child in the middle of a break downAhhhh, kids. Gotta love em!

Ok, so I have another question about TIW. So only one person in the party needs to have the card in order to get the discount? Meaning, we just need one for our family? And you can get discounts throughout the countries on things like, eh, beer? That would be great!!! That stuff adds up.

 

[ccgirl]

Oh wow. I so feel your pain with the fit pitching. It looks like the meal at CP was a success though. Sorry it was so stressful at Columbia Harbour House. I do love that place and the upstairs is usually a nice place to unwind. That is, when you don't have a child in the middle of a break downAhhhh, kids. Gotta love em!

Ok, so I have another question about TIW. So only one person in the party needs to have the card in order to get the discount? Meaning, we just need one for our family? And you can get discounts throughout the countries on things like, eh, beer? That would be great!!! That stuff adds up.

CP was a success as usual. We love that place.

TIW..yes, only one person in your party needs it and it is good for up to 10 people. Not everywhere takes it though. I pasted the list for Epcot below. Allears has the full list if you search on Tables in Wonderland. Notice, you could go to the Rose&Crown pub to get a drink. An 18% tip is added to table service transactions. Since that is what I tip anyway it was not a problem. For example, at Coral Reef...the food was all on one bill and we used our Dining Plan for that. Then, we had another bill for the alcohol. An 18% tip was added to that but we got 20% off with the TiW card. Since the alcohol would have been tipped at 18% in the other bill anyway we still saved. I say that only because some people say you are not saving if you tip 18%. You are tipping that anyway so you still save the 20%. Makes sense? As I said, allears has the full list so check it out. We did the math and it actually paid for itself in our first trip. Also, keep in mind that if you have more TS ressies than are included in the Dining Plan, or you are not getting the dining plan and paying OOP, you can use the TiW card for a discount on that entire bill.

Epcot
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Biergarten Restaurant
Bistro de Paris Restaurant
Chefs de France Restaurant
Coral Reef Restaurant
Tutto Italia Ristorante
Le Cellier Steakhouse
Nine Dragons Restaurant
Restaurant Marrakesh
Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room
San Angel Inn Restaurante
Tokyo Dining
The Garden Grill Restaurant

 

[trinaweena]

Sorry my first post was so short. Reading through, I left out a good deal of information so I am going to back track a bit if you don't mind.

First...if it wasn't for bad luck my family would have no luck at all. So, all the "good luck" the beginning of the trip was really quite refreshing. My DH is somewhat of a pessimist. He kept saying how crowded it was going to be, how hot etc. I just kept saying it was going to be a wonderful trip!

The Dates: May 1 - May 8, 2010. We were fortunate enough to trade our Hawaii timeshare thru RCI for a 2BR at BWV. We previously stayed at POFQ and swore we would never stay on property again unless we could walk to some of the parks. So, we were really excited about this location. I had my excel spreadsheet all done up and ADR's made. We were doing the Dining Plan. I wanted the counter service as my DS2 does not really like to sit at restaurants and it is very stressful for me. My DH, however, wanted to include TS as he likes to sit down and eat. In the end we went with the dining plan that has 1CS, 1TS, and 1Snack per day.

We were meeting dear friends of ours that were already down there and staying at the Beach Club. They have a 6 year old and 1 year old and were eating all meals with us.

My MiL and FiL also decided to come down once they heard we were going. They were staying at an off site timeshare and actually staying for 2 weeks.

My BiL, SiL and their 2 children (6 and 2) also decided to come long after we had all plans in place. I was a little nervous about this as the last time I travelled with them it was a horror show. They are staying with the inlaws so I was "hoping" that would be better. They weren't coming down until mid week so we still had some along time with our other friends.

This is suddenly turning into a very crowded vacation.

My family and I had volunteered through the Give A Day program. The plan was to get 3 GAD Fastpasses since my DH and myself already had AP's and my DD had a multi day ticket. Since my son was only 2 he did not need a ticket. I was going to use one GAD with our friends and 2 with the inlaws. That was the plan anyway.

I purchased the pearl carriage cages off of eBay for my DD and my DNiece. I was really looking forward to doing the pick a pearl in Japan. The countries are my DD favorites. I didn't tell her about the pick a pearl as I wanted it to be a surprise. Good thing I didn't tell her or she would have been terribly disappointed like I was.

I think that is enough background. Thanks for letting me back track. Next up....travel day May 1st and our good luck begins.

Just catching up on your TR and wanted to ask a quick question. We also have a timeshare through RCI and heard you could trade through Disney now, but have found no evidence that you CAN actually do this until i just read this from you! Was it difficult to book a Disney resort and how did you go about doing it?

 

[ccgirl]

Just catching up on your TR and wanted to ask a quick question. We also have a timeshare through RCI and heard you could trade through Disney now, but have found no evidence that you CAN actually do this until i just read this from you! Was it difficult to book a Disney resort and how did you go about doing it?

Where is your timeshare? They have a 30 mile exclusion area; meaning if your timeshare is within 30 miles of WDW it won't trade.

I own in Hawaii. I deposited my week. I was searching one day last July and noticed there was a ton of availability of DVC. We were limited on 2BR's so got very happily "stuck" with BWV. So...we booked in July for May (11 mths out). DVC availability with RCI changes extremely quickly. I was on there about 10 times a day. I should also mention that we own a weeks and not points resort. I just searched again (as we have another Hawaii week banked) and there is good availability. Not near as good as last year but there is definitely availability. I just use the RCI website and search on the keyword of Disney.

Good luck!

 

[trinaweena]

Where is your timeshare? They have a 30 mile exclusion area; meaning if your timeshare is within 30 miles of WDW it won't trade.

I own in Hawaii. I deposited my week. I was searching one day last July and noticed there was a ton of availability of DVC. We were limited on 2BR's so got very happily "stuck" with BWV. So...we booked in July for May (11 mths out). DVC availability with RCI changes extremely quickly. I was on there about 10 times a day. I should also mention that we own a weeks and not points resort. I just searched again (as we have another Hawaii week banked) and there is good availability. Not near as good as last year but there is definitely availability. I just use the RCI website and search on the keyword of Disney.

Good luck!

Thank you for the information! I will have to double check with mom to see which timeshare is RCI, as we have a Florida one, a Cape Cod one, and Atlantic City. We also have a week, not point based so that is some good information to have!

You may not know the answer but do you know how far out you can book? i see you booked 11 months out but can you do it farther out?


As for your trip i can relate to all the fit pitching! Altho I have no kids of my own (enjoying my early/almost mid twentys!) my brother who is 5 years younger than me was just like that as a kid. Probably even worse! He suffers from ADHD and is also bi-polar so we went through a lot on family vacations! I always felt bad for my mom but i'm glad to see you are making the best of it! Enjoying the trip report, keep it coming!

 

[ccgirl]

Thank you for the information! I will have to double check with mom to see which timeshare is RCI, as we have a Florida one, a Cape Cod one, and Atlantic City. We also have a week, not point based so that is some good information to have!

You may not know the answer but do you know how far out you can book? i see you booked 11 months out but can you do it farther out?


As for your trip i can relate to all the fit pitching! Altho I have no kids of my own (enjoying my early/almost mid twentys!) my brother who is 5 years younger than me was just like that as a kid. Probably even worse! He suffers from ADHD and is also bi-polar so we went through a lot on family vacations! I always felt bad for my mom but i'm glad to see you are making the best of it! Enjoying the trip report, keep it coming!

The way DVC works is the owners can begin booking 11 months out. As such, you won't usually find anything more than 11 months away. The Cape Cod one would only trade if a summer week is owned. Otherwise, there just won't be enough trading power. The same probably holds true for Atlantic City. Florida is red all year round so as long as it is further than 30 miles from Disney you should be all set with that one. The best way to find out is to bank the week with RCI and do a search and see what is pulled up. I just did a search and there is not a whole lot available for the next year. There is Animal Kindom for a studio in Sept 2010 and a 1Br in Jan 2011, OKW 1 BR in Feb 2011, Saratoga Springs 1 Br in Feb 20100 and Wilderness Lodge 1 BR in Jan 2011 as well as Feb 2011 and that is it. There was so much more available last year but this year has been slim pickings. Keep in mind that the DVC contract with RCI was for only 2 years, I believe. After that; they could go back to trading with Interval International instead.

Yeah...the whole fit thing really stunk but I get that at home sometimes too. He just hates being out of his familiar surroundings so travel is tough with him.