I Knew You Would Eventually Get Tired of Disney World - April '12 TR - Completed 2/9

[stacopp]

Hello Nilla-
I spend a lot of time lurking, not so much posting but I had to come out of lurkdom to tell you how much I enjoy your trip reports- I started reading this one and then spent the last three nights reading your last trip report! They are fabulous and make me want to go back...so thank you and keep writing!

 

[KatMark]

Jon, so sorry I got so far behind; we went out of town to see our son and his fiance and then we had a busy Mother's Day weekend and I had one of my assignments at work leave this week for "personal leave" and it has just been super busy.

You got some great pictures of our "home away from home." It is still a beautiful resort.

Looks like you had a great day at the Studios (those portions at Mama Melrose were huge).

And what a great start to your MK day; you are doing a great job with your photographs.

Now that I finished my January TR I should be able to keep up without falling behind.

 

[shan23877]

Sounds like a great day at MK. Lucky that your DW decided that she has enough Dooneys

I love Emily's crazy hair, hope that the Camel didn't muss it!

We wanted to try the Sorcerer game, but never got around to it. I hope that you got to play eventually.

 

[MEK]

Read your post before I even left for work yesterday and then never got a chance to comment. Sheesh!

First - I think I want that same dessert at CHH! Yeah - I know - its all about the food.

Second - that Sorcerer's thing is looking cooler and cooler.

Third - I haven't been on the JC in forever so its definitely on my June list with my nephews. I am looking for the attractions that everyone can do together because I thinks it going to be 50:50 on who does the mountains. I enjoyed the pictures!

What else - oh yeah - I think the People Mover will always be the TTA to me!

 

[Queila]

Great update.
Planning to eat at CHH this Summer but still not sure of what to get. First instinct is to get the lobster roll but i am afraid it will be too much mayonaise and not enough lobster. The fried shrimp looks amazing though.

My daughter in only 4 yrs old and she is an only child so I cannot really relate to the struggles of visiting WDW with two kids but man I love your parenting skills.

Enjoy your weekend,
Q

 

[megan511]

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom looks really cool. I'm sure we will be checking that out next week.

 

[teekathepony]

I had been wondering about the Sorcerers game, sounds pretty neat.
Love the food pictures. That might be my diet talking actually. Mmmm mayo...
Never realized how many apes are around MK until you pointed it out. That's fun, I'm getting a kick out of you taking pictures of them all.
A great MK day so far!

 

[Pixie*Pirate]

I'm a little late but I'm loving the TR. You're cracking me up!! Can't wait to read more.

 

[nilla]

Hello Nilla-
I spend a lot of time lurking, not so much posting but I had to come out of lurkdom to tell you how much I enjoy your trip reports...

Thanks! I hope you like the rest.

Jon, so sorry I got so far behind;

No worries! You caught up pretty quickly.

You got some great pictures of our "home away from home." It is still a beautiful resort.

Still my favorite. No question.

Looks like you had a great day at the Studios (those portions at Mama Melrose were huge).

And what a great start to your MK day; you are doing a great job with your photographs.

HS was a great day, and a different way to start it for us. I enjoyed it this year more than any other year. New rankings when this TR wraps up?

Sounds like a great day at MK. Lucky that your DW decided that she has enough Dooneys

She's gotten so many comments on them, but really, enough is enough!

Third - I haven't been on the JC in forever so its definitely on my June list with my nephews.

Do it at night! It's an almost completely different experience.

Great update.
Planning to eat at CHH this Summer but still not sure of what to get. First instinct is to get the lobster roll but i am afraid it will be too much mayonaise and not enough lobster.

There is no such thing as "too much mayonnaise"

Everything is good there, especially the shrimp. You can't really go wrong.

My daughter in only 4 yrs old and she is an only child so I cannot really relate to the struggles of visiting WDW with two kids but man I love your parenting skills.

They're supposed to entertain each other - I mean, that's why we had two - but that doesn't happen that often! We do what we think works, which is often not what really does work

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom looks really cool. I'm sure we will be checking that out next week.

More on it when we return!

Never realized how many apes are around MK until you pointed it out. That's fun, I'm getting a kick out of you taking pictures of them all.

We're at Animal Kingdom the next day, so you ain't seen apes yet.

I'm a little late but I'm loving the TR. You're cracking me up!! Can't wait to read more.

Glad you like it. Stick around!

Updates next...

 

[nilla]

If you recall from my last TR, Space Mountain last year was Emily's "worst favorite ride", so it's surprising that she wants to go on it now. She wasn't too traumatized after her last ride, though, at the end of our trip last year, so there is hope. The only picture I got today of this ride is my Day 3 Icon runner-up.

We set the seating order, and Emily's in front, then Kristin, me, and Dylan. Dylan wants to be up front, but Emily wins this first round. Kristin is right behind her, then me, then the boy. Kristin is in charge of holding Emily's head, which she deems necessary, though I find it a bit excessive. Emily actually likes the ride, though, so it's well worth it. It's really grown on me, too, even though it is the most painful ride by far in WDW!

After space, we hit Buzz Lightyear and a hidden Mickey.

Emily wanted to ride with me, and I agreed. However, Emily also wanted to be in control of the turning mechanism, which would put me at a serious competitive disadvantage to the two in front of us. Sure enough, all the aiming in the world can't overcome poor positioning, but I'll get another shot at some point this trip.

Mandatory picture stop...

...and it's back outside. Dylan's been excited to hit up Merchant of Venus, so we stop in. He's checking out Vinylmation, but we're telling him to wait and see if he can find any better ones. They trade some unwanteds, and I'm not exactly sure who they get. I think Dylan got a Boba Fett, which Emily amazingly got last year. It doesn't feel so special now!

We decide to check out Winnie the Pooh. The standby time is 20 minutes, but those times usually seem exaggerated to me. Into the queue we go. Halfway up, Kristin reassesses the situation and suggests we get out of line and go somewhere else. She is some sort of queue time psychic, so I agree and off we go. We leave the stroller outside Pooh, then grab a few construction shots.

Evidently, this is where the entrance to the expanded Fantasyland will be. Wow - the wall will stretch past It's a Small World, and the Little Mermaid area is HUGE. I can't wait until this is complete. Kristin hates the refurb wall, though. It's really soured her opinion of Magic Kingdom since last year.

Kristin and Dylan want to do some more Sorcerers stuff, so Emily and I head over to the Prince Charming's Regal What Can We Do to Get Boys to Ride this Thing Oh I know We'll Name it After a Male Character No I'm Not Kidding Carousel. But first, let's see if she still has it.

No luck, but it's ok - there weren't any CMs around to witness it, anyway. Onto the Carousel we go, with the only wait being the one for the previous ride to conclude. Amazingly, I have no photos from this one, so I'm guessing Kristin had the camera. Our ride concludes, but Kristin and Dylan are still off on their own. We ride again. Still, no sign of the others. We're supposed to meet right next to the Carousel.

We look at the Fantasyland map. Very cool. But still, they're not here. I call Kristin, but she rarely hears and/or answers her phone, so it's no use. How long does it take to play that game?

Finally, we run into them again, and they only have one stop. But Kristin's not happy. She was gone so long because their cards weren't recognized the last few times they tried to play, but they finally managed to get it done. Or somewhat done. Kristin informs me that they aren't even close to beating the game, but she has now turned against it, so it doesn't matter. It's become a complete day-killer for her. I don't get it, but I know that she doesn't like to do anything halfway.

Ok, maybe dinner will change the moon. Unlimited fried chicken! Unlimited ribs! Unlimited beer and sangria! Where could we POSSIBLY be going?

 

[nilla]

...but you knew that, didn't you? First things first, we need to get there.

The captain points out that the road coming into MK goes under this straight, which I'll definitely remember next time we're here.

We arrive at Fort Wilderness, and it's truly unfamiliar territory. My parents say we were here for the Hoop Dee Doo when I was a kid, but I don't really remember. It's an interesting place, though. Horse drawn carriages, pincic tables, the ever-present playground...

"Hold on! First, we need to check in! Sheesh, reading this post is like watching Memento!"

No, Memento was much better than this post. But you're right; we do need to check in. There is one family in front of us, and they have all the signs of "first child/grandchild", i.e. far too much worrying about the kid, IMO. Again, that's just me. I leave my kids in hotel rooms to murder each other, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.

The kids play, we get in line, and in we go. The food starts coming out almost immediately.

I'll eat salad, but it's not my favorite. I do love me some cornbread, though. Dylan agrees.

The loudspeaker suddenly booms, the lights go down, and this malarky starts:

"The show is great, but let's get back to the food!"

Ok, gotcha.

Do you like how I smacked you with that beer/sangria photo, then followed it up with the food pics? It's almost like you each got a drink before seeing the food. It's like you're THERE. This Trip Report is in 5-D!

 

[nilla]

Whatever that means. To summarize, the food was amazing "regular" food. Nothing fancy, but what they had was delicious. I was partial to the chicken, which rivals even Maryland Fried Chicken, for those of you fortunate to live within a 10 mile radius from where I'm writing this report.

The ribs were great, too, and I haven't met corn I'm incompatible with yet. Normal, everyday American cookout artery-clogging garbage, but it tastes sooooo good. There was a table of cheerleaders from Poland, and I had to wonder what they made of all of it.

As for me, as if I was channeling Dan from Coronado Springs, I nearly needed to be carted out of there. Just when I knew I couldn't eat anymore, I had that last chicken leg. I needed that last go at it. I would've felt incomplete without it. I would be able to stand up, but incomplete nonetheless.

The show was hilarious, even if not as hilarious as Dylan would have you believe:

He made a pretty weak effort at eating, but he had fun and didn't complain, so we let it slide. But wait, the shows not over!

It reminded me so much of the New Main Street Singers from "A Mighty Wind". Someone got the bright idea of giving Dylan a washboard.

They finally kicked us out, and we got a horse shot on the way out:

Another great thing about this place is the fact that there are resort buses here. I remember being annoyed that EVERY park bus from Wilderness Lodge insisted on stopping here first, but I won't argue with this. So where's the driver?

There's only one other family on the bus, but we all get a performace.

It was a medley of the Wanted's "Whatever That Song is That They Sing", and that "Something to Wish For/TTYLXOX" song from the Shake it Up girls. The other family is somehow disinterested.

Dylan gets annoyed by it, but I can't see how. It's hilarious. Our kids' school had a talent show the other night, and it seems that every girl in elementary school does this type of thing.

The driver finally arrives, and it's back home to CSR. We're all tired and some of us are stuffed, but the ride home has one item of interest - it's officially the start of "Every Night, Someone is Going to Get Angrily Concerned that the Bus Just 'Passed' the Entrance to Coronado Springs" week here in WDW. Yes, there's a second entrance. No, the driver didn't mysteriously forget how to get here after having done it every day for who knows how long. Everything will be fine.

We get back to the room, and hit the bed pretty quick. We're doing Epcot tomorrow, but there probably will be no World Showcase. It's almost like the teaser trailer, especially with Test Track down. We'll see how that all goes.

[POST=44974286](next update)[/POST]

 

[nfggirl5454]

I'm glad to read such good things about HDDR since I'm going there for the first time for my birthday in July. When you're leaving, they have buses for all the resorts? I don't see how the other family can't be interested in Emily's dance, it looks pretty cute/funny.

 

[teekathepony]

Great review of the Revue! I'm going there for my first time in September and I'm so excited. That chicken looks delish.
The Sorcerers game is starting to sound a little frustrating. Perhaps I'll skip it after all.

 

[Disneymom77]

Love HDDR! We wanted to go there in October, but they are refurbing it??? . My 6 yr old will do impromptu performances too, much to her older sisters dismay.

 

[MEK]

I rushed through your update this morning before I left for work so let's see if I can remember anything.

I am not trying that Sorcerers magic thing if my card is going to stop working. Forget that.

I remember two years ago when the sword in the stone did come up for Emily and Dylan's face - OMG!

Love HDDR - such a great show. Wish I could take my bro's family there this June but since its a first trip for them, we'll pass. Still - such a hoot.

 

[shan23877]

That's disappointing that the game was giving you guys so much trouble. Especially since it's new, but maybe that's why it wasn't working properly. 2 rides on the carousel? You're a good dad.

I love the Hoop De Doo! It's so cheesy, but so fun!

Emily's dance performance looks perfectly normal to me. Why wouldn't everyone want to watch? Poor Dylan, he's getting closer and closer to being embarrassed by everything his family does.

 

[TheNewMrsB]

Loving your report!

That's pretty much the most interesting thing I have to say.

 

[Sam33]

I'm so glad I stumbled upon this TR! I read your last two but after they were all done and closed. They're hilarious.

I'm a fan of any fan of beer

 

[rndmr2]

Great Update! Love your new "name" for the Carousel.

Glad you liked the Hoop De Doo, I really like it there too, I wanted to do that on our last trip but my SIL and BIL had done it before (and my Dad and I had too) and we voted to do the Luau so it would be something new for all of us. I will make sure we do it next time.

Can't wait for the next update!