Trip Report for 3 day Land /4 day sea (with one land day added on our own) May 15 19 (land) 19 -23 (sea)
WARNING: If you are looking for a concise report, DONT read this one!
Cast of Characters: Myself, DH, DS11, DD9, DD6, DD2.
15 May: Left Manchester, NH in shorts and short sleeves but the outside temp was 47 degrees! We were freezing! The flight was as uneventful as a flight can be with 4 kids. Honestly, we did have a fairly good flight. I saw other parents struggling with their kids who were fussing and whining. For once, my kids were not among the whiners! I had a package of pipe cleaners that I broke out as soon as any hint of fussiness developed. That kept our kids, and many others around us, busy for quite some time.
I believe the pilot said it was 82 degrees and partly cloudy in Orlando when we landed. It was very pleasant and such a nice change from where we left.
I kept looking for someone from Happy Limo holding a sign with our name on it, but there were none to be found. We collected our luggage and wandered a bit longer looking for Happy Limo. Finally, I got out my cell phone and called their office. They told me they would have someone there in 5 mins and told me where to meet them. Sure enough, they were there. Cindy was our driver. She was WONDERFUL with the kids! She apologized for having to bring the older limo, which was a bit worn, but seemed fine to us. She promised us wed get the brand new one for our next leg. Apparently our intended driver had gotten tied up with his previous customer. She told us that there were 4 bottles of Sierra Mist chilled in the back, as requested. Dinosaur, the movie, was in the VCR. We had arranged for a grocery stop at Albertsons on the way. Cindy offered to let my dh and I go into the store and shed keep the kids in the limo. We passed up this offer. Im not one to just leave my kids with someone I just met, no matter how nice they are. (but it was nice of her to offer)
Cindy kept telling the kids what they would see out the window and where to look as we drove by places of interest. They were very excited, but my kids are not the boisterous type with people they dont know. She expected them to scream in her ear when she had them all looking out the front window while we crossed into the Magic Kingdom. They hardly made a sound, but they were excited. We pulled up to the Grand Floridian. What a place!
We were greeted by Bell Services and so the tipping began!
I had booked an extra night at the GF myself using the overflow rate from Shades of Green. I had decided that for our first night there we could make do with a Garden view room. We ended up in Conch Key with a Marina/monorail view. (room 7217) It was very nice with a floral décor. (a bit busy for my taste but nice just the same) There are 6 of us so we had a room that had a daybed in it. We called Bell Services and they were prompt in delivering our bags tip #2! (or #3 if you count the skycap at the airport. Happy Limo figured the tip into your price at that time. They dont anymore.) The Bellhop was very friendly and gave us a few hints to make our visit more enjoyable.
We decided to explore the hotel a bit. Just as we were reaching the top step to the second floor to get to the monorail, there across the atrium was Mickey and Minnie Mouse! They were just getting into the elevator. We didnt get to see them for long or close up, but at least my kids (especially the 2 yr old) had seen M & M! (and we had only been there about an hour!)
At the monorail platform, I asked if it was possible for us to ride up with the driver. The cm told us shed see what she could do. (and only 4 could be up there) When the monorail arrived, there was already a family up front and they were not getting out.
( Too bad. Maybe next time.) We rode the monorail around until we reached the Polynesian. All of a sudden I had a brilliant idea. (at least I thought it was) I got out of the monorail and asked the cm at the Polynesian if the front car was available and would it be possible to ride up there. He said, not at this time. I was going to walk back to the car the rest of my family was in when he continued, but youve been waiting here for two trains, right? I began to explain that no, we were already riding but just wanted to move up front when he interrupted, just shake your head yes. I shook my head yes and he said, then go right ahead. I grabbed the rest of the family out of the car and told them to hurry up to the front car. My 2 yr old and I sat in the car right behind the driver. (I still havent quite figured out exactly what the cm was saying or why, but I really dont care now. My kids and dh got to ride up front!) Thats something I would never have known about had it not been for reading these boards. THANK YOU! As the kids got out when we returned to the Polynesian, the driver handed them each a co-pilots license. When he saw my 2 yr old in my arms, he gave her one too! Very special. She wouldnt let go of it for the longest time!
We had a PS at Ohanas for 6:45 that evening. We explored around the Great Ceremonial House for a bit and then decided we were ready to eat. It was only 6:15 but we checked in anyway. Apparently even though the GF concierge pre-planner said he could make our PS for the first night (when we werent staying concierge), he didnt follow through. At least they couldnt find our PS in their system. It didnt matter. There were plenty of tables. We were shown to a nice window table. DD9 wasnt feeling very well. She had come down with a cold the night before and she also had taken Dramamine for the plane ride. It was all catching up with her. She was miserable. I did what I could to make her feel better, but she just sort of moped. We were not thrilled with the food at Ohanas. I really had hoped that we would love it, but it just didnt happen. The food was ok, but the steak was very tough to chew. The shrimp was difficult to eat because you had to peel them with all that sauce on them. The pork was rather dry in my opinion. We all loved the turkey! My ds loved the chicken wings on the appetizer platter too. We also loved the fresh pineapple with the caramel dipping sauce! Use the sauce! It was soooooo yummy! My kids are very shy so they werent interested in participating in the hula hoops. My dh had just taken my 2 yr old for a walk when they started the coconut rolling! She would have loved to do that, but they got back just as the kids were finishing. She did however see them handing out gummy worms to the participants. All she could talk about from then on was that she wanted gummy worms. We ordered 2 desserts to split between us all. I jokingly asked for the Toasted Snowball and the Raspberry somethingorother torte plus 6 spoons. The waitress brought the desserts and showed me that she had brought 6 spoons! I had also asked her if she could bring my 2 yr old a gummy worm since she couldnt talk about anything else since she saw them. The waitress brought her, not just one, but a whole PLATEFUL of gummy worms! She reluctantly shared with her brother and sisters. She ate as many as she could get away with while we all devoured the other desserts. My 9 yr old really loved the raspberry torte thing so I let her eat most of it. She hadnt eaten much dinner and I figured it would be better if she ate whatever tasted good to her at the time. Amazingly, her whole spirit changed after just that little bit of dessert. She was doing fairly well the rest of the evening. We all really enjoyed the desserts at Ohanas and I would consider going back to just have dessert some evening. (Do they even do that?)
My plan (on paper) was to walk down to the beach and watch the Electric Water Pageant, but we were done with dinner before 8pm and the wait would be too long. We decided to stroll along the path back to the GF. It was a really nice walk. We got back to the Beach Pool just as it was closing. (8pm) The kids were disappointed. We decided to go in the Courtyard Pool instead. DH and the older kids got into suits and went down to the pool by about 8:45pm. I did a few things around the room and then got my suit on and my 2 yr olds suit on and we went down to the pool too.
I really wanted to see the EWP and it was almost 9:15pm by the time we got to the pool. I told my dh I was going to watch it. He didnt seem interested so I mentioned it to a couple of the kids. They and I ran down to the boat dock. It had already started, but we didnt miss much. We all really loved it! My kids went back and told their Dad that he HAS GOT to see it! They didnt tell anything about it so as not to spoil it for him.
We enjoyed time in the hot tub and my 2 yr old loved MY little pool! (the wading pool) Before long we all decided it was time to go to bed. We have a big day ahead of us. We will be going to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow.
Back in the room, we got ready for bed. I bemoaned the fact that the daybed had not been made up. It wasnt a big deal, but I just figured we spent all this money and they have a record of how many people are staying in the room. It seemed to me that they could figure out that we needed the daybed made up. Also there were only 4 chocolates for 6 people. We just let the kids have them. Again, not a big deal.
I called for a wake-up call for 6am. We arranged to have the 9yr old get it the first morning and wed switch each morning. (ya right!) Soon everyone was asleep but me. Since wed be moving to another room first thing, I needed to have everything laid out for the morning and everything else packed! I took out all the stuff that had been packed in our backpack for the airplane and repacked it with everything for the parks. It was not a quick process. I wanted to be sure I had everything I could possibly need. (Thanks again to these boards, I was all prepared.) After getting all of the luggage repacked and the park bag packed, I began to write my daily journal. As you can tell, I am far from concise! I think it was about 2am when I finally went to sleep, only to be awakened at 3:45am by the alarm clock. I had not checked if it was set before I went to sleep. Big Mistake! Check the clocks people! How stupid could I be?
After that I just kept thinking about too many things and I couldnt fall back to sleep. Would we get packed up on time? Would we be able to get our park tix even though we couldnt check in until 3pm? Would our next room be in Sugar Loaf Key or Royal Palm Club? How could I tactfully and nicely ask for RPC? Would they give me a complimentary upgrade if I asked? Could I ask for a castle view without seeming too pushy after asking for RPC? I stewed for the rest of the night. Finally, I looked at the clock and it was 5:15am. I thought about getting up but then decided to just lay there and see if I could get even a few mins sleep before Mickey called to wake us up. I must have drifted off for a few mins then I heard dhs watch alarm going off. I knew that soon the phone would ring.
Lisa
WARNING: If you are looking for a concise report, DONT read this one!
Cast of Characters: Myself, DH, DS11, DD9, DD6, DD2.
15 May: Left Manchester, NH in shorts and short sleeves but the outside temp was 47 degrees! We were freezing! The flight was as uneventful as a flight can be with 4 kids. Honestly, we did have a fairly good flight. I saw other parents struggling with their kids who were fussing and whining. For once, my kids were not among the whiners! I had a package of pipe cleaners that I broke out as soon as any hint of fussiness developed. That kept our kids, and many others around us, busy for quite some time.
I believe the pilot said it was 82 degrees and partly cloudy in Orlando when we landed. It was very pleasant and such a nice change from where we left.
I kept looking for someone from Happy Limo holding a sign with our name on it, but there were none to be found. We collected our luggage and wandered a bit longer looking for Happy Limo. Finally, I got out my cell phone and called their office. They told me they would have someone there in 5 mins and told me where to meet them. Sure enough, they were there. Cindy was our driver. She was WONDERFUL with the kids! She apologized for having to bring the older limo, which was a bit worn, but seemed fine to us. She promised us wed get the brand new one for our next leg. Apparently our intended driver had gotten tied up with his previous customer. She told us that there were 4 bottles of Sierra Mist chilled in the back, as requested. Dinosaur, the movie, was in the VCR. We had arranged for a grocery stop at Albertsons on the way. Cindy offered to let my dh and I go into the store and shed keep the kids in the limo. We passed up this offer. Im not one to just leave my kids with someone I just met, no matter how nice they are. (but it was nice of her to offer)
Cindy kept telling the kids what they would see out the window and where to look as we drove by places of interest. They were very excited, but my kids are not the boisterous type with people they dont know. She expected them to scream in her ear when she had them all looking out the front window while we crossed into the Magic Kingdom. They hardly made a sound, but they were excited. We pulled up to the Grand Floridian. What a place!
We were greeted by Bell Services and so the tipping began!
I had booked an extra night at the GF myself using the overflow rate from Shades of Green. I had decided that for our first night there we could make do with a Garden view room. We ended up in Conch Key with a Marina/monorail view. (room 7217) It was very nice with a floral décor. (a bit busy for my taste but nice just the same) There are 6 of us so we had a room that had a daybed in it. We called Bell Services and they were prompt in delivering our bags tip #2! (or #3 if you count the skycap at the airport. Happy Limo figured the tip into your price at that time. They dont anymore.) The Bellhop was very friendly and gave us a few hints to make our visit more enjoyable.
We decided to explore the hotel a bit. Just as we were reaching the top step to the second floor to get to the monorail, there across the atrium was Mickey and Minnie Mouse! They were just getting into the elevator. We didnt get to see them for long or close up, but at least my kids (especially the 2 yr old) had seen M & M! (and we had only been there about an hour!)
At the monorail platform, I asked if it was possible for us to ride up with the driver. The cm told us shed see what she could do. (and only 4 could be up there) When the monorail arrived, there was already a family up front and they were not getting out.
( Too bad. Maybe next time.) We rode the monorail around until we reached the Polynesian. All of a sudden I had a brilliant idea. (at least I thought it was) I got out of the monorail and asked the cm at the Polynesian if the front car was available and would it be possible to ride up there. He said, not at this time. I was going to walk back to the car the rest of my family was in when he continued, but youve been waiting here for two trains, right? I began to explain that no, we were already riding but just wanted to move up front when he interrupted, just shake your head yes. I shook my head yes and he said, then go right ahead. I grabbed the rest of the family out of the car and told them to hurry up to the front car. My 2 yr old and I sat in the car right behind the driver. (I still havent quite figured out exactly what the cm was saying or why, but I really dont care now. My kids and dh got to ride up front!) Thats something I would never have known about had it not been for reading these boards. THANK YOU! As the kids got out when we returned to the Polynesian, the driver handed them each a co-pilots license. When he saw my 2 yr old in my arms, he gave her one too! Very special. She wouldnt let go of it for the longest time!
We had a PS at Ohanas for 6:45 that evening. We explored around the Great Ceremonial House for a bit and then decided we were ready to eat. It was only 6:15 but we checked in anyway. Apparently even though the GF concierge pre-planner said he could make our PS for the first night (when we werent staying concierge), he didnt follow through. At least they couldnt find our PS in their system. It didnt matter. There were plenty of tables. We were shown to a nice window table. DD9 wasnt feeling very well. She had come down with a cold the night before and she also had taken Dramamine for the plane ride. It was all catching up with her. She was miserable. I did what I could to make her feel better, but she just sort of moped. We were not thrilled with the food at Ohanas. I really had hoped that we would love it, but it just didnt happen. The food was ok, but the steak was very tough to chew. The shrimp was difficult to eat because you had to peel them with all that sauce on them. The pork was rather dry in my opinion. We all loved the turkey! My ds loved the chicken wings on the appetizer platter too. We also loved the fresh pineapple with the caramel dipping sauce! Use the sauce! It was soooooo yummy! My kids are very shy so they werent interested in participating in the hula hoops. My dh had just taken my 2 yr old for a walk when they started the coconut rolling! She would have loved to do that, but they got back just as the kids were finishing. She did however see them handing out gummy worms to the participants. All she could talk about from then on was that she wanted gummy worms. We ordered 2 desserts to split between us all. I jokingly asked for the Toasted Snowball and the Raspberry somethingorother torte plus 6 spoons. The waitress brought the desserts and showed me that she had brought 6 spoons! I had also asked her if she could bring my 2 yr old a gummy worm since she couldnt talk about anything else since she saw them. The waitress brought her, not just one, but a whole PLATEFUL of gummy worms! She reluctantly shared with her brother and sisters. She ate as many as she could get away with while we all devoured the other desserts. My 9 yr old really loved the raspberry torte thing so I let her eat most of it. She hadnt eaten much dinner and I figured it would be better if she ate whatever tasted good to her at the time. Amazingly, her whole spirit changed after just that little bit of dessert. She was doing fairly well the rest of the evening. We all really enjoyed the desserts at Ohanas and I would consider going back to just have dessert some evening. (Do they even do that?)
My plan (on paper) was to walk down to the beach and watch the Electric Water Pageant, but we were done with dinner before 8pm and the wait would be too long. We decided to stroll along the path back to the GF. It was a really nice walk. We got back to the Beach Pool just as it was closing. (8pm) The kids were disappointed. We decided to go in the Courtyard Pool instead. DH and the older kids got into suits and went down to the pool by about 8:45pm. I did a few things around the room and then got my suit on and my 2 yr olds suit on and we went down to the pool too.
I really wanted to see the EWP and it was almost 9:15pm by the time we got to the pool. I told my dh I was going to watch it. He didnt seem interested so I mentioned it to a couple of the kids. They and I ran down to the boat dock. It had already started, but we didnt miss much. We all really loved it! My kids went back and told their Dad that he HAS GOT to see it! They didnt tell anything about it so as not to spoil it for him.
We enjoyed time in the hot tub and my 2 yr old loved MY little pool! (the wading pool) Before long we all decided it was time to go to bed. We have a big day ahead of us. We will be going to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow.
Back in the room, we got ready for bed. I bemoaned the fact that the daybed had not been made up. It wasnt a big deal, but I just figured we spent all this money and they have a record of how many people are staying in the room. It seemed to me that they could figure out that we needed the daybed made up. Also there were only 4 chocolates for 6 people. We just let the kids have them. Again, not a big deal.
I called for a wake-up call for 6am. We arranged to have the 9yr old get it the first morning and wed switch each morning. (ya right!) Soon everyone was asleep but me. Since wed be moving to another room first thing, I needed to have everything laid out for the morning and everything else packed! I took out all the stuff that had been packed in our backpack for the airplane and repacked it with everything for the parks. It was not a quick process. I wanted to be sure I had everything I could possibly need. (Thanks again to these boards, I was all prepared.) After getting all of the luggage repacked and the park bag packed, I began to write my daily journal. As you can tell, I am far from concise! I think it was about 2am when I finally went to sleep, only to be awakened at 3:45am by the alarm clock. I had not checked if it was set before I went to sleep. Big Mistake! Check the clocks people! How stupid could I be?
After that I just kept thinking about too many things and I couldnt fall back to sleep. Would we get packed up on time? Would we be able to get our park tix even though we couldnt check in until 3pm? Would our next room be in Sugar Loaf Key or Royal Palm Club? How could I tactfully and nicely ask for RPC? Would they give me a complimentary upgrade if I asked? Could I ask for a castle view without seeming too pushy after asking for RPC? I stewed for the rest of the night. Finally, I looked at the clock and it was 5:15am. I thought about getting up but then decided to just lay there and see if I could get even a few mins sleep before Mickey called to wake us up. I must have drifted off for a few mins then I heard dhs watch alarm going off. I knew that soon the phone would ring.
Lisa
