I can't believe he said yes! We conquered June! the end...9.10.10

[jwwi]

How exciting to have bonus days at WDW. CRS rooms do look nice. Your trip looks like so much fun.

Just a question, couldn't you upgrade your 99.00 military tix to add a day? I know most other tix can be upgraded if you decide to add days.

There is so much to see going to all the resorts, esp the Boardwalk area. I thought you may have returned to the Poly to eat again, but it sounds like you enjoyed going back to T Rex.

Can't wait to read about your decision for Friday.

 

[TinksThree]

CSR is a resort I would never have thought of staying at before, but your pics have defiinetely made me rethink that.

It sounds like you guys had an awesome vacation day and I can't wait to hear what you decided to do on your last day at WDW

I would not have considered CSR either and I had only looked at it originally when I decided to upgrade to a moderate. I am glad we had the opportunity to give it a try becasue it is very nice!!

The day was so relaxing which was so nice after all the running we had been doing!

I had a few long waits at POR back in '07 but only a few times. I'm sorry you had so many.

Our waits for the most part were so long at POR!

Ship Island, the Casinos and Natches. Pretty much sums it up.

Yes, that is about right, but you can't forget Tupelo if you are an Elvis fan (his childhood home is there) and Muppet fans can go to Leland where Jim Henson grew up! But then that is about it! You can't pay me to step foot into the coast waters unless I am at Ship Island!!

We felt the same way over at DHS around this time. In fact if this is around 4-5 pm we were just getting back to the Poly via bus.

It was about this time....we may have passed each other!! We saw a lot of buses unload!

You had a great deal! Too bad you couldn't extend the days at the reduced rate. Disney really wants you to get 4 or more days in a bundle to make it economical.

That would have been so great! Maybe if we hadn't had the really good deal tickets!

You and your cliffhangers again!

Some are better than others!!

I remember those skywriters! We had been so lucky with the busses leaving from the Poly all week. Our Typhoon Lagoon/DTD bus had arrived within minutes on Wednsday. You would not be the first to report long waits from the Poly though.

I really can't talk badly about the buses from the Poly since this is the only time I had used the system from here, but my 1st impression was not a good one!!

I'm glad we had planned to eat at 'Ohanas then!

Oh, my hindsight really kicked in!! I later thought we could have enjoyed Ohana or Kona Cafe and then watched the fireworks from the beach or headed to WL to check it out! At that time we were just thinking haning out at DTD since everytime we had previously gone was to basically eat and leave. Madison had the shopping bug!

It looks like T-Rex was a hit again. I know our kids loved it!

I was impressed that it impressed Keith so much!! It is just so different from anythign we have around here!


It looks like a lot of fun and with little money needed for entertainment! I guess DTD has a lot of this going on all week. On Saturday I remember a lot of bands setting up but we left a little early to really catch them.

The great thing on Thursday night was it wasn't half as crowded! We could actually move and see things!! We coudl also get into the stores and not be shoulder to shoulder!!

Well, i'm guessing not Sea World or Universal...so maybe this?

No?

Too funny!!!!

How exciting to have bonus days at WDW. CRS rooms do look nice. Your trip looks like so much fun.

Just a question, couldn't you upgrade your 99.00 military tix to add a day? I know most other tix can be upgraded if you decide to add days.

There is so much to see going to all the resorts, esp the Boardwalk area. I thought you may have returned to the Poly to eat again, but it sounds like you enjoyed going back to T Rex.

Can't wait to read about your decision for Friday.

Because the tickets were a special deal, those could not be upgraded. We could have added the waterparks option but we weren't interested in going to the waterparks or Disney Quest. If we had had the regular military package tickets, we could have done an upgrade. Last year the $99 military tickets were a 5 day ticket but it dropped to 4 this year. I wish it had been 5days because I really wanted to do more at Epcot!

I had a lot of hindsight ideas, but we were letting keith choose and he didn't know all of the options. I was just happy to be there so I later thought of all kinds of options we could have done! But T-Rex and DTD was fun and we had a great time! I think no matter what we chose we would have had a good time at this point! I keep learning that I don't consider all of the options when I am thinking on my feet!! I need to improve on that!!

 

[ksl5f123]

Interesting that you had long waits for the bus at POR. We never waited more than 10 minutes and were there right after you. Which depot did you use? We only used the South Depot. When we have used other stops in the past, the waits always seemed longer.

The walk to SOG sounds terrible. Walking in the heat is so much easier when you are in a park and have all of that entertainment.

I can't believe you had to wait 50 minutes for a bus! That is crazy! It is good that you got to be at DTD when it was less crowded.

 

[TinksThree]

Interesting that you had long waits for the bus at POR. We never waited more than 10 minutes and were there right after you. Which depot did you use? We only used the South Depot. When we have used other stops in the past, the waits always seemed longer.

The walk to SOG sounds terrible. Walking in the heat is so much easier when you are in a park and have all of that entertainment.

I can't believe you had to wait 50 minutes for a bus! That is crazy! It is good that you got to be at DTD when it was less crowded.

Most of the time we used the West Depot, so maybe that was the problem! We did get off at the South Depot several times. The walk wasn't that bad to me!

The heat was just overwhelming! I think it was uphill also which added issues! When we saw SOG it looked to be perched on a mountaintop with a long sun filled walk way leading the way!! That was the way I remember it anyway!! LOL

DTD and less crowds is lovely!! You can appreciate the lego figures!! Plus the entertainment was pretty good!!

 

[SimmerBaggins]

I really like DTD, even when we don't have a lot to spend! Hey, I'd take a day there, right now!! The only thing is that sometimes it's hard to figure out where and how to stop and just sit and relax a while -- when it's really crowded, that can be a problem.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed your "off" day...and could pat yourselves on the back for not spending the $$ & going commando in another park!

 

[TinksThree]

I really like DTD, even when we don't have a lot to spend! Hey, I'd take a day there, right now!! The only thing is that sometimes it's hard to figure out where and how to stop and just sit and relax a while -- when it's really crowded, that can be a problem.

I'm glad you guys enjoyed your "off" day...and could pat yourselves on the back for not spending the $$ & going commando in another park!

I think we replied to each others TR at the same time!!

I totally would like a day there right now!! I am having some major withdrawals! Or it could be that I work at a university and this is the first week of school....I NEED A VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night I was tryign to talk Keith into booking something....anything!!!

It was a good "off" day! In the end we were glad we did not spend the extra $$$ on tickets. The things we did filled the entire Thursday and Friday and we were very fulfilled, although I still really wanted to go back to Epcot!! DTD can be very nice when it isn't jam-packed with people!

 

[Garth]

Hi TinksThree,
I just want to chime in here and say the I have been loving your trip report! I've been reading on my lunch breaks and it has taken me most of the week to get through all the pages!! Your pictures are wonderful! Especially the night shots you got of the MK fireworks. It is really a joy to see how your [beautiful] family is enjoying this trip! I almost got a tear when I read the post about your DH telling you that he wanted to extend your stay!

Too funny, also, that you stayed at POR then went to CSR. My DW and I will be staying at POR this fall for our 25th anniversary! Our first choice was CSR! Unfortunately, CSR was sold out for the dates of our stay. POR looked like a nice 2nd choice and your report has really cemented that! Thanks.

Hope you and your family can get back to the World real soon! My last trip was 9 years ago!! I'm very excited for our trip this fall!

 

[TinksThree]

Hi TinksThree,
I just want to chime in here and say the I have been loving your trip report! I've been reading on my lunch breaks and it has taken me most of the week to get through all the pages!! Your pictures are wonderful! Especially the night shots you got of the MK fireworks. It is really a joy to see how your [beautiful] family is enjoying this trip! I almost got a tear when I read the post about your DH telling you that he wanted to extend your stay!

Too funny, also, that you stayed at POR then went to CSR. My DW and I will be staying at POR this fall for our 25th anniversary! Our first choice was CSR! Unfortunately, CSR was sold out for the dates of our stay. POR looked like a nice 2nd choice and your report has really cemented that! Thanks.

Hope you and your family can get back to the World real soon! My last trip was 9 years ago!! I'm very excited for our trip this fall!

Thank you so much! I am glad you have enjoyed the journey with me! Your comments were too sweet!

Congratulations on 25 years and what an awesome place to celebrate! I think you will love POR! For an anniversary trip, I think it is a great choice!! You should check out the carriage rides one night. If we had been at POR for our extended stay, we would have probably done this!

The rooms at CSR were decorated better than POR but we just loved POR so much!

Before our trip last year, it had been 10 years since I had been to Disney and I was beside myself with anticipation!! I hope to keep the trips within 2 years now....the 10 year break was just too long to wait!!

 

[TinksThree]

Friday, June 11, 2010

Friday began very slowly. We had been going all week long and getting up very early. So the decision for today was to sleep in some and take our time, after all it was our last day!

I usually wake a lot earlier than anyone else and today was no different. I decided to go do laundry…isn’t that exciting?? I figured it is more fun doing it now than when I get home!! So I gathered everything together and head to the Ranchos quiet pool area. After I was robbed…oops, I mean after I start the washers , I go poolside with my book. It is pretty quiet and the temperature was so pleasant. There were a few people swimming (this is around 8am) but basically I am all alone. I guess for some people sitting by a pool all alone reading would sound like a bore, but it was so wonderful to have an hour or two of uninterrupted reading!!

With the laundry finished, I head back to the room where the rest of my gang is up, dressed, and ready to head out. So I quickly get ready and we head out. We know where we are going but first we need food!! It is 11am now and although a little early, we have not had anything other than a few Fig Newtons and goldfish so we are hungry!!

Disclaimer to all of my Disney enthusiast readers….this is non-Disney related. Sorry! Our first stop is the World’s Largest Entertainment McDonald’s. On our way in Madison decides to visit Ronald McDonald first. I had the opportunity to get a great picture of Keith here but he jumped up too quickly and it isn’t as funny!!

I brought Madison here when she was 4 years old and thought it kind of cheesy then and basically it has not changed! But they did have a Bistro section and I got chicken quesadillas that were very good!! We listened to some Moon Guy sing at a piano and watched World Cup soccer….a very odd combination. And for those who have never been here (I wish I had taken a picture) the singing Moon Guy is an animatronics half moon with a face and tux and sits at a piano and plays/sings…..as I said, cheesy!!


We finish lunch and head around the corner for our destination:

When we arrive the building looks nothing like the one they were building in Pigeon Forge last Thanksgiving! That one looks like a ship! We may have to check it out and compare this Thanksgiving!!

Now that I think about it, Titanic is not a movie we watch a lot but we do keep our television on ESPN, any station showing the Atlanta Braves, History Channel or Discovery Science so since we see so many documentaries, we have seen more actual footage of the Titanic documentaries than the movie itself. However, for some reason, I go into this thinking we have watched this movie a lot….like we have Pearl Harbor. Maybe this is because the kids chose we go here?? We arrive at 12:10pm and find out the tours leave on the hour so we have 50 minutes to waste.

We purchase our tickets and we are each given a card with a name of a passenger on it. Arguments ensue over who gets which one…like it matters! And finally all is worked out. We look around the gift shop (which isn’t much) and they also have some pictures and models. It was a long 50 minutes yet not really if that makes sense!

Before we know it we are escorted into the museum part and we are introduced to our fearless leader (who sadly, doesn’t make it to New York City ).

There are two guides and they had the greatest Irish brogue! I am a sucker for accents, especially Irish! Turns out, they aren’t really Irish at all!! They are very hilarious and I wish I could remember the jokes they told because they were so funny!!

We enter into the first room which is the dock area

and we are introduced to how the classes were made up and separated, how the doctors observed the 2nd and 3rd class passengers and so on! Basically there was no difference between 2nd and 3rd class passengers….something I did not know!

The walls were covered with pictures of the ship prior to setting sail. One wall was the “side of the ship” where the 2nd class passengers were located:

Next we went through these doors:

Continued in next post

 

[TinksThree]

Continued from previous post...
And then we saw the radio room. The Titanic was actually warned by the Californian of ice burgs in the area! But, sadly, the people manning the Morse Code machines had closed up shop for the night!

We then entered a room with salvaged artifacts from sister ships (and maybe some from the actual wreckage?) I was too busy taking pictures and reading the signage, which caused me to miss some of the talk!

A lounge chair:

I thought the scrollwork was cool on this…this came from the Olympic (I think that was the name of it):

Next up was a stateroom! Classy!!!

And then we entered into the dining area:

China and silverware that (I think) also came from the sister ships.

A typical menu of the food offered on board! Roast chicken sounds good to me!

At this point, the atmosphere is still somewhat upbeat. The impending doom is not yet “known”. We then leave and enter into the Grand Staircase area. The staircase is not quite as “grand” as you would imagine, but the guide says this was actually built to scale. In the movie, the staircase is larger so that the proportions would seem more to scale with the actors.

Madison in front of the staircase:

Can’t you just see Jack waiting for Rose?

The rotunda above the staircase:

And then we make the journey into the 3rd class area. Now at this point the mood begins to become more somber. At this point, the guide explains why the 3rd class passengers were kept separate and then the lights begin to blink…eerie!!

The guides are so good! They keep in character and when a lady asks a question about the gates being locked (as they were in the movie) and the people being trapped while the ship sank….He said “But this is the Titanic! This ship is unsinkable!” The banter was great and we had a wonderful laugh!!

We then go into the storage portion of the ship. This car was actually on the Titanic! Quote: “But the hand prints were not!” I forget who owned this car but it was a name I recognized!

Next up we went into the boiler rooms. Another cool thing was how the temperature would change in each area we went to. So this area was pretty hot!

There was something striking about this sign….just the imminent doom, I suppose.

We then made our way onto the decks where the lifeboats were being boarded. The men and women were separated….and it was so cold!! There were even stars all around. It was very moving, especially when you know the outcome of this story!

We then made our way into a room with these large glass panels.

The panels were divided into 1st class, 2nd class, 3rd class, and Crew. On the panels were the names of all the people that sailed on the Titanic. Little did they know what fate awaited them! At this point we were instructed to look at our cards and find our name on the panel. We then learned if we survived the sinking of the Titanic or not. The names were either black lit or white lit depending on if the person survived or not. All of our people survived except Chris. However, an interesting note was that the infant daughter of Chris’ person was the oldest survivor and just recently passed away. This was a very somber room which then led into rooms that held more “after the sinking” information. Also at this point, our guide lost that wonderful Irish brogue since he did not survive and he became just a regular old guide!

In this room was a block of ice. Volunteers were sought and in our home we have a rule: if you are asked to do something and you volunteer someone else…you get the task! Well…..the guide asks for volunteers and Keith proceeds to (gently) shove Chris to the front. The guide sees this and repeats the rules that apply to our home! Guess who is “volunteered”?!

It was too funny and the kids did not let that one die! That ice was around 28 degrees and they had to keep their hands on it for one minute. Most dropped out after seconds! It was to illustrate how cold the water was! Chilling…no pun intended! I couldn’t keep my hand on this for more than 15 seconds! I could not imagine being submerged in water this cold!

A replica of what the ship looks like on the bottom of the ocean:

And the final gallery represents the film, which according to the museum was very accurate….except for Jack and Rose. This room had items that were used in the filming of Titanic:

Supposedly Leonardo DiCaprio wore this exact clothing in the film. There is a note to not touch because it is authentic!

And then we were on our way! I must say if you have even a little bit of interest in the Titanic that this is a really nice museum and very informative! It cost the four of us less than any one one-day park ticket. The tour lasted for a little over one hour. They say it is 1 ½ hours but it didn’t last quiet that long.

By this time it is close to 2:30pm. We exit the dimly lit museum into the bright Florida sunshine and make our way to our next destination! We have done the kids choice, so Keith lets me choose where to go next and then we head to where he wants to make one last visit! So it is back into our car and we head back to the resort area.

We had talked about miniature golf and possibly a Sea Raycer but decided against both. I hope to try these at least once in my lifetime! I also had thought about doing some resort hopping but since we had a few things left we wanted to see again and our morning got such a late start, there just was not enough time.

Up next:
I choose and then Keith chooses!!

 

[amyrella]

not gonna lie i totally want to go to the titanic museum now!!! that seems really interesting!! i think there is sometimes a titanic exhibit in NYC, next time i see that i'm gonna head on down there to check it out!

i'm interested in seeing whats next on the agenda...

 

[mermaid764]

Wow I did not know that Orlando had a Titanic museum and now this is definitely something I want to see some day.

Your last sounds awesome and i'm glad you were able to find something else to do aside from paying high prices for theme park tickets

 

[jc040404]

Wow! I sooo want to go there now!! I'd never seen a thing about it other than it existed. Very nifty. The ice thing cracked me up! Guess someone should've listened to the rules, huh?

Loving this & can't wait to see where you go next!!

 

[SimmerBaggins]

Yeah, I totally enjoyed our trip with you through the museum! That kind of stuff is very interesting to me -- and that cold water...wow. It never occurred to me that ice would represent it!

Can't wait to see what you choose!!

 

[ksl5f123]

Another person here who didn't know that Orlando had a Titanic museum. We also saw the one in Pigeon Forge under construction last year. If that one is as neat as the one in Orlando we will certainly go on our next trip.

I love that your guide did most of the tour in an Irish brogue!!! That is awesome! I really would have enjoyed that although I wonder if the kids would be able to understand him.

28 degrees! Yikes, that is cold!

 

[Bookstamper]

Wow, what an interesting visit for your last day! The Titanic exhibit looks really good - how long did it take you to travel over there? Is it far from WDW? Looking forward to hearing what your plans for the rest of the day were

 

[taymacsmom]

My DDs would LOVE that Titanic museum! Maybe we will leave the boys behind and check it out sometime!

 

[TinksThree]

not gonna lie i totally want to go to the titanic museum now!!! that seems really interesting!! i think there is sometimes a titanic exhibit in NYC, next time i see that i'm gonna head on down there to check it out!

i'm interested in seeing whats next on the agenda...

It was very interesting! Even after watching documentaries, there were things I was not aware of!

Wow I did not know that Orlando had a Titanic museum and now this is definitely something I want to see some day.

Your last sounds awesome and i'm glad you were able to find something else to do aside from paying high prices for theme park tickets

A TR I had read a while back included a visit to this museum on an off day. When we saw the one in Pigeon Forge being built, Keith had made a comment on it so I made a mental note. The TR I had read looked pretty interesting! I am glad we chose to go because it was fun, air conditioned and the prices were better!! The day was great...just another no rush, relaxing vacation day!!

Wow! I sooo want to go there now!! I'd never seen a thing about it other than it existed. Very nifty. The ice thing cracked me up! Guess someone should've listened to the rules, huh?

Loving this & can't wait to see where you go next!!

It is definitely worth the visit! The brochure would not have been enough to entice me but a TR including it and lookign info up online made me think it was worth a look!!

Thankfully Keith has a great sense of humor because he definitely got ribbed!!

The rest of the day isn't super exciting but we had a great time!

Yeah, I totally enjoyed our trip with you through the museum! That kind of stuff is very interesting to me -- and that cold water...wow. It never occurred to me that ice would represent it!

Can't wait to see what you choose!!

Yay!! Glad you enjoyed the tour! We love these kind off things! We go to the D-Day (well WWII now) museum in New Orleans about 3 times a year...we just love it so much!

It is like you always know the water was frigid but to actually touch something symbolizing the temperature is !!!!

 

[TinksThree]

Another person here who didn't know that Orlando had a Titanic museum. We also saw the one in Pigeon Forge under construction last year. If that one is as neat as the one in Orlando we will certainly go on our next trip.

I love that your guide did most of the tour in an Irish brogue!!! That is awesome! I really would have enjoyed that although I wonder if the kids would be able to understand him.

28 degrees! Yikes, that is cold!

I think it may be a hidden gem of Orlando!! What looks so cool about the one in PF is that the outside looks like a ship. We are seriously thinking of trying it at Thanksgiving for a comparison!

Even with the Irish broque, he was pretty understandable...but I have teens and I am an adult (I think) so younger children may have trouble understanding. They were awesome though! We did not know that it wasn't their real accent until the end when he switched to his "normal" accent!!

So cold!!!

Wow, what an interesting visit for your last day! The Titanic exhibit looks really good - how long did it take you to travel over there? Is it far from WDW? Looking forward to hearing what your plans for the rest of the day were

It isn't far at all...well from CSR it wasn't but maybe 10-15 minutes. It is on International Drive. I can't remember the exit but it was literally right around the corner from the McDonalds so maybe a block or two from the interstate.

I would have preferred getting to go back to Epcot but we still had an awesome time and really filled our day!! I had to adjust to going with the flow and not having a plan but it was fun just saying "Ok, what is next?!"

My DDs would LOVE that Titanic museum! Maybe we will leave the boys behind and check it out sometime!

You really should!! It is definitely worth it!!

 

[SurfinTX]

Now that is something I didn't realize they had in Orlando. My Mom and her sister visited the Titanic Museum in New York City and loved it! It looks like a lot of fun and educational for the kids.

We purchase our tickets and we are each given a card with a name of a passenger on it. Arguments ensue over who gets which one…like it matters!

That would have happened to us I'm sure.

My mom is a historian and just about walked out of Titanic the movie. Why oh why did they spend so much time following two fictional characters acting so atypically for the early 1900's?

It looks like you really enjoyed the last few days of your trip! Too bad it is all wrapping up.