"I smell Elephants" and Forbidden Journey's, Jaydens Make a Wish trip !

[Moodyzblu]

We were looking forward to the Halloween party tonight, but it was bittersweet because it was also our last night at GKTW ! I can't believe how fast the time went while we were there. I didn't want to go !!
So we got back to the Village and the boys grabbed their wands and we headed off to the party. They village was all decorated for Halloween and they were playing fun music which included the the from the Harry Potter movies which Jayden thought was SO cool !

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The boys were given treat bags and we went to the different candy stations to get candy. My guys aren't huge candy eaters .. so we didn't get a whole lot. Plus they both have appliances in their mouths for their teeth and have to be careful what they eat. They had a few stations set up to do crafts too .. but my boys weren't interested in that. (my boys are SO boring !)

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We ran into Daniel and the boys WERE excited to see HIM !

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The boys proceeded to cast various spells on each other and I was waiting for someone to grow a tail or something .. but they all came out unscathed.

We walked around a bit and met Woody Woodpecker ..

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The woodpeckers loved the boys wands and tried to cast spells on each other ..

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We met this cute little puppy that is a therapy dog .. SO sweet ..

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And then .. of course .. we had to get one last ice cream ..

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Once we finished with the ice cream we saw a guy using a telescope .. and he invited the boys to take a look ..

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After that we explored the Amberville train station since we hadn't been inside yet ..

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It was getting late and I wanted to do some laundry before packing up for our next phase of the trip. I was surprising the boys the next morning with a surprise resort .. so we said our goodbyes to Daniel and headed back to our villa for our last sleep at GKTW ..

 

[mommy2mrb]

looks like a fun night! happy they got to hang out with daniel for a bit...lucky none of their spells took

 

[Moodyzblu]

What great footage of all three of your boys on Kali! We tried Flame Tree BBQ this past time and it was "truly scrumptious"!

Thanks ! I had my camera in one hand and my Flip in the other trying to do both. The still pics didn't come out .. but I'm glad the video did .. I LOVE my Flip !!

Flame tree is one of our fav QS meals.

looks like a fun night! happy they got to hang out with daniel for a bit...lucky none of their spells took

Daniel is a great guy .. the boys adore him ! He's also good for casting "get well" spells .. which oddly enough have worked !
It was a great last night at GKTW !

 

[PrincessKeeves]

I'm really enjoying your trip report Sounds like an awesome trip for you and your boys.

 

[kaileighbug]

Hey I want a banana too....only thing missing is the nuts on it. That was our favorite snack last trip.

Looks like you have a great day. The video of the boys getting sung to was great.

 

[amazingact21]

Took me awhile but I followed the link at the bottom of your signature to this TR. I also read your PTR. Both have been very good, and it's great seeing how much fun you and your family had on your MAW trip.

I didn't know anything about the GKTW hotel, and so I'm really happy you shared your experience there. It looks like a wonderful place, and I was thrilled to see how many activities they have going on each night. I found it funny that you celebrated Easter, Christmas, and Halloween in less than a week.


Looking forward to seeing how your kids reacted to the surprise resort change!

 

[newdrama12]

Daniel is a great guy .. the boys adore him ! He's also good for casting "get well" spells .. which oddly enough have worked !
It was a great last night at GKTW !

Those are my favorite spells to cast. I don't like my wish kids or their siblings being sick.

 

[KatMark]

Michelle, I am all caught up again (sorry I got so far behind).

I love your day at the Magic Kingdom, and so glad that Jayden got to drive the boat (awesome job ). Love the character photos at the MK.

Thrilled that they did Splash Mountain and it is now their favorite ride.

I love the Animal Kingdom, and you got great safari pictures. And Flame Tree is the best.

What a fun time at the Halloween Party. They really do things up...it's so great.

 

[luckylady]

Found and read your pre trip report so I came on over and have caught up. Loads of fun the boys are just to handsome. I so can't wait to read their reaction to the second part of the trip.

 

[Moodyzblu]

I'm really enjoying your trip report Sounds like an awesome trip for you and your boys.

It was MOST awesome ! Glad you are enjoying my TR !

Hey I want a banana too....only thing missing is the nuts on it. That was our favorite snack last trip.

Looks like you have a great day. The video of the boys getting sung to was great.

I loved that guy .. he was SO cool.

Took me awhile but I followed the link at the bottom of your signature to this TR. I also read your PTR. Both have been very good, and it's great seeing how much fun you and your family had on your MAW trip.

I didn't know anything about the GKTW hotel, and so I'm really happy you shared your experience there. It looks like a wonderful place, and I was thrilled to see how many activities they have going on each night. I found it funny that you celebrated Easter, Christmas, and Halloween in less than a week.

Looking forward to seeing how your kids reacted to the surprise resort change!

Thanks for reading along !

GKTW is like no other place and we had an amazing time.

Only HERE can you celebrate SO many holidays in one week !

Those are my favorite spells to cast. I don't like my wish kids or their siblings being sick.

Thank you Daniel .. I don't like to see them sick either !

Michelle, I am all caught up again (sorry I got so far behind).

I love your day at the Magic Kingdom, and so glad that Jayden got to drive the boat (awesome job ). Love the character photos at the MK.

Thrilled that they did Splash Mountain and it is now their favorite ride.

I love the Animal Kingdom, and you got great safari pictures. And Flame Tree is the best.

What a fun time at the Halloween Party. They really do things up...it's so great.

It's wonderful how they do so much for these kids !

Jayden was a little shy driving the boat .. but I'm
happy he gave it a try !

Found and read your pre trip report so I came on over and have caught up. Loads of fun the boys are just to handsome. I so can't wait to read their reaction to the second part of the trip.

Thanks for reading along !!

 

[miprender]

All caught up... love the new update.

The Halloween party looked cool. My son went as a Ghostbuster for Halloween last year, so that must have been cool to meet one.

 

[MHTeacher]

I had some catching up to do!

I love all the character pics with the boys! So cute! Their smiles are the best!

I like the FoW show at AK too. Birds aren't my favorite, but it really is an informative, and funny, show!

 

[Moodyzblu]

All caught up... love the new update.

The Halloween party looked cool. My son went as a Ghostbuster for Halloween last year, so that must have been cool to meet one.

I thought it was great .. but the boys had no idea who he was !

I had some catching up to do!

I love all the character pics with the boys! So cute! Their smiles are the best!

I like the FoW show at AK too. Birds aren't my favorite, but it really is an informative, and funny, show!

It was fun .. but unless I have a first timer with me .. I probably won't do it again anytime soon. Unless .. the boys ask to do it.

Thanks ! I was so happy to see the boys with the characters .. and those smiles melt my heart every day.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Surprise resort change day !!

I went to bad the night before thinking about how if I hadn't extended our trip we would be going HOME the next day and I was FAR from ready .. the fun had just begun !! So I was excited to think that our trip was only half done.

I did one last load of laundry before heading over to breakfast. I am happy to say that I had not ONE item of dirty laundry for our next leg of the trip.

Going into the Gingerbread house one last time was bittersweet. I was sad to know it would be our last meal here but I also knew that there were many more families that would be coming after us and would sit down as a family and enjoy meals there like we did.

We had to get a pic of the Three Stooges dolls ..

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We weren't in any rush because we really had nowhere to be today so we strolled back to our villa and I began to gather all our luggage together. (so I thought )

Once we had everything packed in the car .. we sadly closed the door to our villa one last time and I said goodbye to our beautiful "home". As I was driving away, I noticed other families packing up and I wondered where their next journey would take them. I knew where our was .. and I was giddy with excitement !!

We went to the lobby where it all began and got our going away packet.

I had the boys dress in there swimsuits knowing that the resort I was surprising them with had the BEST pool !

Now we had driven past this resort a few times during the week so I knew right where it was .. and in no time we were there !! had told the boys we were staying at POP for the rest of our trip .. but had changed resorts a few weeks earlier. This would prove to be NOT the best idea .. but not the worst either .. let's just say it would prove to be a learning experience.

The boys saw the sign and immediately said "are we staying here ??" and I said "YES !!" Where are we, you ask ?? Caribbean Beach resort is where we are !!

Jayden LOVES Pirates and so he was very excited to be staying at the "Pirate hotel" as he calls it.

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Now days before I had done online check-in and had asked for a room in Martinique. I was told this was one of the better locations .. so thats what I requested. They did have Pirate themed rooms here but personally, I thought they were ugly and somewhat tacky. Plus I was working on a budget and didn't want to spend the extra money. (those rooms are pricey).
So the lady gets off the phone and says with excitement "I was able to get you an upgrade .. you're getting a Pirate room !" The boys cheered and so I was like "thank you !" Then she pulls out a map of the resort and proceed to show me where our room was located. She explains that it's about a 10 minute walk from Old Port Royale (the food court and pool) I was like "10 minutes ??" and she says "Oh it's a beautiful walk" plus she said there were shuttles that could take us back and forth .. oh there's shuttles ?? Ok .. now that will be great .. I can handle shuttles.
So we grab our GTTW and head back to the car .. I have to turn the car in later that day .. so we needed to empty it all out.
I drove (and drove and drove) to our room. Holy crap .. this resort is HUGE !! We finally get to our room and open the door. Yup .. it was as gaudy and tacky as it looked on the website. But the boys loved it .. so I guess that all that matters .. plus it's just a place to sleep right ??

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Ok .. it's NOT that bad .. it's just not what I wanted. I know I should have spoken up right away .. but I felt bad .. I mean .. the girl thought she was doing a nice thing and I really DID appreciate her kindness and generosity.

I couldn't wait to explore !! So we grabbed some towels and headed over to OPR. First we had to explore our beach. It was VERY hot out though and so we just took a quick stop by.

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Like I said .. it was hot and there was a lovely pool waiting for us and so we headed on over.
I could sort of see it off in the distance and couldn't believe how FAR away it was from our building ! Now they have closer pools .. but they don't have a food area and no drink stations to fill our mugs ! So we walked and walked and walked. The boys started complaining and I don't blame them. My arms were getting tired from holding my purse and beach bag. I hated this. But maybe I'm just hungry .. it will be better after we eat. I also wondered where these so called "shuttles" were that took people back and forth. See now I was picturing little tram-like things that picked people up and dropped them off. Nope . no such thing .. but I didn't know that just yet.
We finally arrived at OPR and I was hot and tired and hungry. So we went in and ordered food. Burgers and chicken nuggets. Plus grabbed some mugs.

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The boys were having the best time .. and were excited to hit the pool !


continued in next post ..

 

[Moodyzblu]

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Withing minutes of playing Jayden got knocked over by a another kid who was WAY too big to be in the kiddie area and had to get bandaged up.

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So we headed over to the other area of the pool (which is huge !!).

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Here's a video of the one and only time the boys went down the water slides .. I didn't realize how deep it was and neither boys are "swimmers" so they ended up just swimming in the shallow end for the rest of our trip.
You can clearly see how disastrous this would have been if Jeremy had not been there to catch them !

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We stayed for awhile and then headed back on our LONG journey back to our room .. but we made a quick stop ..

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The boys had a great time and i really wanted to explore more .. but it was HOT and we had to get ready to bring the car back and go to DTD .. so we headed back.
Along the way I kept my eye out for a much needed "shuttle" but to no avail .. I immediately "hated" this resort and began to regret my decision to switch from POP.

Up next .. DTD !

 

[lorasmom]

Love it. That room is pretty obnoxious

 

[mommy2mrb]

sorry you had to be out in the boonies ...hope you started feeling better about the resort, the pool area looks really fun, except for the ouchie!
nice the CM you got the upgrade for the boys! even though they aren't the prettiest rooms for you.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Love it. That room is pretty obnoxious

Yeah, I thought so too !

sorry you had to be out in the boonies ...hope you started feeling better about the resort, the pool area looks really fun, except for the ouchie!
nice the CM you got the upgrade for the boys! even though they aren't the prettiest rooms for you.

I really wanted to feel better about the resort, but each morning when I had to walk SO far while starving and without my morning tea yet .. it just never happens. But YES I was very thankful to the CM for trying her hardest to give us some extra pixie dust and I really DID appreciate the thought !

 

[Moodyzblu]

We made it back to our room (finally ) and got changed up. I had to take the car back to a hotel directly across from DTD which was perfect since I had no park plans for today .. just pool and DTD.

We returned the car and walked (here we go again) over to DTD. The walk wasn't so bad .. I'm just grumpy now.
Our first stop was Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate shop.

My tummy wasn't feeling great, so I passed on the ice cream (as did Jesse) but Jeremy and Jayden got some.

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Jesse and I shared a Sprite ..

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After a quick refreshment stop we headed over to spend the boys much loved Lego gift cards !
After looking around a bit, the boys settled on these ..

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Saw this ..

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Then a quick pose with these guys ..

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After that I was pretty hungry. T-Rex was right there .. but I wanted something quick. So we settled for this place ..

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The food was pretty good AND it was quick and cheap ..

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After dinner we wandered around a bit and looked into some stores. I was still not in a shopping mood so we just browsed.

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By then it was getting late and the boys wanted to go back to the resort to play on our beach. So we found a resort bus and headed back .. just in time to see Illuminations from our beach ..

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Needless to say I was thrilled to be able to see this .. after all it's always a struggle to get the boys to watch them with me .. and they didn't .. they were too busy rolling around in the sand having wand duels with their big brother. But that's ok .. we were having a great time !!

At that point I really wished it wasn't so far to walk to the OPR or I would go fill my mug up with soda and grab a snack .. but instead we opted for bed.

Epcot tomorrow !

 

[mommy2mrb]

great photos from DTD and cool you could see Illuminations



we stayed at CSR back in 2002 and were on the opposite side from the restaurants, etc, wasn't fun with a toddler.... I really like the smaller resorts, we stayed at POFQ in Oct and had the perfect location....very close tothe bus stop and food court...POP we always stayed perferred to be closer to the front also