Is That Real Chocolate? (May 2016 Trip Report)- UPDATE-2017 INVITE!

[luvflorida]

Happy Birthday, Harrison! What an adorable little dancer--and hey, Megan's top is really cute.

What a coinkidink! Our youngest DGS turned 3 this weekend as well! We had his party last weekend because that set of grands live about 2.5 hours away so we have to coordinate schedules and guest rooms, lol.

Yes, seeing WDW through their eyes and experiencing things with the grands is wonderful. Grandchildren are magic, they are so much fun. I enjoyed raising my children (mostly anyhow, at least until about 14, ha ha) but nothing compares to the grands--nothing! Our kids call it the 'Mutual Admiration Society'.

WOW! Free underwear!!! Exciting! (I guess it is the little stuff for me these days...)

We are staying at BWV for part of our December trip. Can we take a boat to Disney Springs? And what did you think of the Lego store? My oldest DGS is all about Legos, is it worth the time to go to it?

I'm anxious to hear how Stormalong Bay was. I have always wanted to stay at the BC or YC, if only for that pool, but since we always go in December I get voted down. They claim the pool is not a big deal in December.

Well, Happy Birthday to your grandson as well! You are so right- nothing compares to grandkids!

To get from the Boardwalk Villas to Disney Springs, you'll have to drive or take a Disney bus. No boat there from BWV. The nice thing about BWV, though, is that it is a short walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios, or you can take a boat to either park.

If your grandkids love Legos, then yes, I would recommend a stop there! It's a great place to take a break while the kids build with Legos at the outside stations. And the Lego structures all around the Lego store are really neat to see.

Stormalong Bay is AMAZING!

 

[luvflorida]

For those of you interested in seeing pics of the Hanes room at the conference center, here you go!

Megan said those bras were gone in a matter of minutes! She didn't get any pics of the other freebies (socks, t-shirts) probably because she was too busy finding the bras she wanted! I know she did manage to get bras for herself, along with socks and t-shirts for Daniel and the kids.

 

[luvflorida]

Day Four- continued

Okay, on to Stormalong Bay!

This is actually a photo I took on a different day when I was walking around the BC Resort, but I'm putting it here so you can see the entire shipwreck. The front part of the ship has a water slide that goes into a part of the pool area. You can see the platform about halfway up the mast of the ship. The flat bottom half of the ship contains a smaller water slide.

Here's a better pic of the enclosed water slide.

In addition to the shipwreck/water slide, Stormalong Bay has a large pool area, a lazy river, and a sandy beach. The pool in the beach area is zero entry, where the sand actually continues into the pool, making it much like a real beach.

Vanessa in the beach area. The water and sand she is in actually leads right into the pool.

The kids loved the sandy-bottom pool!

In a deeper section of the pool.

After playing in the pool for awhile, we went over to the section of the shipwreck with the smaller slide. Carter kept eyeing the larger water slide and saying he wanted to try it, so I suggested we go to the small slide first!

"Okay, Gramma, done! Now I want to go down the really big slide!"

Vanessa loved the small slide and had no desire to try out the bigger one!

But Carter was very eager to try it out!

 

[luvflorida]

Here he goes, up the spiral staircase!

I was so nervous that he'd get scared and change his mind at the top of the stairs, or worse, get scared on his way down the slide! So far, so good! He's smiling and waving!

Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnd...here he comes!

He LOVED it!

He couldn't wait to go again! I'm so glad he had such a good time! He must have gone down that slide at least ten times!

The hardest part with the two grandkids was trying to watch them both at the same time. I could easily keep an eye on them when they were in the pool area, but the slides are situated kind of back to back, so it wasn't possible to see the grandkids if they were on different slides at the same time. So Carter played with Vanessa for awhile in the small slide area, then I had Vanessa come with me to the pool area so we could see Carter when he splashed down into the pool. So, it was a bit of back and forth.

Both Vanessa and Carter have been taking swimming lessons for awhile and Carter, especially, is very comfortable in the water. Living in Phoenix and having a swimming pool in our backyard, swim lessons are a must. Even so, I had them wear swim vests (provided at Stormalong Bay) whenever they were in the water (Carter was okay in the very shallow pool area). I just felt more at ease!

We were at Stormalong Bay for close to two hours. The time flew by! It was around five o'clock when we left Stormalong Bay and walked back to our room. Harrison had taken a good nap, so he and Megan were rested and ready to hit a Park! And we were all hungry!

Next up- An evening in the Magic Kingdom!

 

[CaliTex]

I MUST try that pool. My family are not feeling it for BC or YC but I'm going to have to get to work on them. Love your photos, and good for Carter, going down the big slide. I love the sandy bottom pool idea.

Other coincidences--I have a daughter named Meghan (the mom of the just turned 3 year old) and we lived in Phoenix (Alta Mesa) for about 5 years. I loved it there.

Bummer there is no boat to Disney Springs. The bus--the dreaded bus... Oh well. We have reservations at T-Rex for our DS evening. I've read mixed reviews but my grands will probably love it. I've read that it is loud, and this worries me as we are not fans of loud anything. Really a table outside and something simple appeals more to me.

My DGS is a Lego fiend. I'm afraid there is nothing for it but to go in the store--after all, he sits through the princess breakfast at Akershus for his little sister, and the princesses drive him batty. Last time we went Belle kept asking him and asking him for a kiss and/or a hug, and he finally told her, "I'm going to get a restraining order on you." I told him to be nice, he would hurt her feelings and he replied, "Grandma, you have to be firm with women! Right, Grandpa?"
I just turned slowly and LOOKED--with the looking LOOK at my DH. As did Belle. And about 4 other women waiting in line. The silence was palpable. I said, "Beauty, meet the Beast." Which made everyone laugh and saved my DH from a good old fashioned lynching.

I told him when we were seated, "hey, I can't keep bailing you out like that." My DGD said, "It's okay Grandpa, I know you are really nice. I love you."

So he's got that going for him.

Yes, we are looking froward to just walking to Epcot and DHS. We are doing a split stay at WL. I love the boat ride to MK. I could spend half the day going back and forth on the boat!

Overall, how did you find the heat in May?

 

[luvflorida]

I MUST try that pool. My family are not feeling it for BC or YC but I'm going to have to get to work on them. Love your photos, and good for Carter, going down the big slide. I love the sandy bottom pool idea.

Other coincidences--I have a daughter named Meghan (the mom of the just turned 3 year old) and we lived in Phoenix (Alta Mesa) for about 5 years. I loved it there.

Bummer there is no boat to Disney Springs. The bus--the dreaded bus... Oh well. We have reservations at T-Rex for our DS evening. I've read mixed reviews but my grands will probably love it. I've read that it is loud, and this worries me as we are not fans of loud anything. Really a table outside and something simple appeals more to me.

My DGS is a Lego fiend. I'm afraid there is nothing for it but to go in the store--after all, he sits through the princess breakfast at Akershus for his little sister, and the princesses drive him batty. Last time we went Belle kept asking him and asking him for a kiss and/or a hug, and he finally told her, "I'm going to get a restraining order on you." I told him to be nice, he would hurt her feelings and he replied, "Grandma, you have to be firm with women! Right, Grandpa?"
I just turned slowly and LOOKED--with the looking LOOK at my DH. As did Belle. And about 4 other women waiting in line. The silence was palpable. I said, "Beauty, meet the Beast." Which made everyone laugh and saved my DH from a good old fashioned lynching.

I told him when we were seated, "hey, I can't keep bailing you out like that." My DGD said, "It's okay Grandpa, I know you are really nice. I love you."

So he's got that going for him.

Yes, we are looking froward to just walking to Epcot and DHS. We are doing a split stay at WL. I love the boat ride to MK. I could spend half the day going back and forth on the boat!

Overall, how did you find the heat in May?

Too funny that you have a daughter named Meghan and that you used to live in Phoenix! We've been in the Phoenix area for about three years, and before that Tucson for four and a half years. I do miss Maine at times, usually in the fall! Fortunately, we go back every year to visit family and friends. We're heading back in August for ten days, and I can't wait to be in cooler weather for awhile!

Your grandson is hilarious!You never know what kids are going to say!

We had beautiful weather when were there in May. The last few days were the warmest, but nothing like the heat in the summertime. I wouldn't hesitate to go again in May!

 

[luvflorida]

Day Four- continued

Rested and refreshed, we headed out to catch the bus to the Magic Kingdom. If I'm remembering correctly, it was around 6 or 6:30 when we arrived at the gates. I DO remember that we were all hungry!

We walked over the bridge to Tomorrowland and over to Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café for dinner. It wasn't crowded, so we were in and out fairly quickly. This is the only picture I have of dinner. I guess we were too hungry to bother with pics!

After dinner, we took a ride on the People Mover, one of my favorite attractions!

Next up- Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. But first, a picture of the castle. It was especially beautiful with the sun setting behind it.

 

[luvflorida]

Megan and Carter went on Stitch's Great Escape, while I waited by the Monsters, Inc. theatre with these two cuties.

While waiting in line for Monsters, Inc., announcements were made encouraging guests to text a joke, and maybe it would be used during the show. Carter had a joke in mind, so Megan texted it, but it didn't get picked. Carter's joke: "Guess what I saw today?" pause "Everything I looked at!" Well, WE thought it was hilarious! LOL!

I have mixed feelings about Monsters, Inc. I thought it was cute, but not really all that funny. Evidently, plenty of people enjoy the show, though, because there was a lot of laughter going on all around me. Carter was picked to interact with the characters on the screen, so he was excited about that! It was cute seeing him on the screen, but it was hard to hear what he was saying, due to a couple of kids sitting behind us talking and trying to get in the picture. So, overall, I didn't really like this attraction. And, I wasn't the only one that didn't think the show was very funny. As we're walking out of the theatre, Vanessa said (rather loudly ) , "I don't know why they call this show a Laugh Floor. It wasn't funny." Okaaaaay...moving on to another attraction!

Here is Carter after the show, wearing the button he was given for being a participant. He can be a bit shy sometimes, so we were glad that he had fun being a part of the show!

It was dark by now so we headed over to the castle to find a spot for the nighttime show and fireworks.

It is an absolutely beautiful display on the front of the castle!

Harry was mesmerized...and a little messy! This is the way to watch the fireworks!

 

[luvflorida]

After the fireworks, we went over to Fantasyland. First up, the tea cups. I don't know what it was about this ride, but Harry LOVED it! "Want to ride tea cupths!" He got to ride at least three times that night!

Carrousel

It's A Small World. Vanessa actually fell asleep halfway through this attraction! Megan had to wake her up as our boat came to the end of the ride.

We were all starting to fade, but we hit one more attraction before heading out of the park. Buzz Lightyear!

It was after midnight by the time we got back to our room, and we all practically fell into bed! I know the grandkids were asleep within minutes!

We had to be up early the next morning for a special DSMMC event- A Mother's Day Breakfast in Epcot! Sunday was also the day that Larry and Daniel would be joining us!

 

[CaliTex]

Good to know about May, thanks for replying. We always go in December, lower crowds, cooler weather, and my slow season at work--but I've always wanted to go to the flower show.

I enjoy reading your report, I guess because we go with our grands and we sometimes even let their parents come. If they think they can behave, and stop asking me stuff like, "Uh, Mom, how many Mickey bars has she had so far today?" Just to annoy them I say, " I dunno. Three, maybe? Four? I forget. But only 1 Goofy candy bar! AND we had Dole Whips for breakfast, and so there is the fruit, right there! Probably loaded with Vitamin C!" < Big Smile >

It's a few days a year...sheesh! Relax! We will go back to the organic sustainable whole wheat gluten free protein high fiber bars, all washed down with almond milk, when we get home! Oh, and we will apply 5 coats of sunscreen before we leave the house, too!

It's funny--when my DH and I go to WDW it's very enjoyable--but when we go with the grands, it's FUN!

 

[ariane37]

I love Disney -
I LOVE DISNEY!
But free bras??? Now that's something to get excited about Seriously I would've been all over those, especially since mine usually cost upwards of $80 each. Of course, they probably wouldn't have had my size............

I hear you on Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor except I do think it's fairly funny most of the time. I think it depends largely on the crowd and then the jokes that are sent in. My boys really like it so we end up doing it once or twice when they're with us, but DH and I never do it on our adults only trips.

I'm looking forward to trying out SAB for the first time in Nov.! Love the pool pics!

 

[awalker1015]

Love your report! Can't wait to read more. Your grandchildren are adorable!

 

[TEAMJACOB]

Enjoying your trip report.
I also am from Maine. Born and raised in Bowdoinham. Left in 89 and moved to GA. At least I am closer to WDW.
Looking forward to the next update.
Planning on going to Disneyland next year. It will be our first trip there. Looking for any tips if you have some to share.

 

[luvflorida]

Good to know about May, thanks for replying. We always go in December, lower crowds, cooler weather, and my slow season at work--but I've always wanted to go to the flower show.

I enjoy reading your report, I guess because we go with our grands and we sometimes even let their parents come. If they think they can behave, and stop asking me stuff like, "Uh, Mom, how many Mickey bars has she had so far today?" Just to annoy them I say, " I dunno. Three, maybe? Four? I forget. But only 1 Goofy candy bar! AND we had Dole Whips for breakfast, and so there is the fruit, right there! Probably loaded with Vitamin C!" < Big Smile >

It's a few days a year...sheesh! Relax! We will go back to the organic sustainable whole wheat gluten free protein high fiber bars, all washed down with almond milk, when we get home! Oh, and we will apply 5 coats of sunscreen before we leave the house, too!

It's funny--when my DH and I go to WDW it's very enjoyable--but when we go with the grands, it's FUN!

Spoiling grandchildren is part of the fun of being a grandparent. One more cookie? Of course, you can have another cookie! What? You want a pony? Of course, you can have a pony!

I love Disney -
I LOVE DISNEY!
But free bras??? Now that's something to get excited about Seriously I would've been all over those, especially since mine usually cost upwards of $80 each. Of course, they probably wouldn't have had my size............

I hear you on Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor except I do think it's fairly funny most of the time. I think it depends largely on the crowd and then the jokes that are sent in. My boys really like it so we end up doing it once or twice when they're with us, but DH and I never do it on our adults only trips.

I'm looking forward to trying out SAB for the first time in Nov.! Love the pool pics!

Megan said there were bras of every size, shape and color! I'm sure you could have found some that fit, if you were fast enough! Megan said it was so funny the way everyone was just waiting for a break in the sessions, and then when it came, everyone was off and running!

Love your report! Can't wait to read more. Your grandchildren are adorable!

Thanks for following along! I appreciate it. Yes, the grandkids are keepers!

Enjoying your trip report.
I also am from Maine. Born and raised in Bowdoinham. Left in 89 and moved to GA. At least I am closer to WDW.
Looking forward to the next update.
Planning on going to Disneyland next year. It will be our first trip there. Looking for any tips if you have some to share.

Hi fellow Mainer! My husband and I are heading back to Maine in three weeks. We tell our friends and family that we're coming to visit them, but we're really going back just to eat! We have to get our fill of good (fresh!) seafood, Wicked Whoopie Pies, Amato sandwiches and Nissen donuts!

We LOVE being just a five and a half hour drive away from Disneyland! I don't know the ages of your kids, but I've done several trip reports about our trips to Disneyland with the grandkids. One of the reports actually has a list of tips that I posted toward the end of the report. The tips/thoughts are geared toward little ones under six or so. Here are the links to my Disneyland trip reports:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/carter-gives-cars-land-two-thumbs-up.2948312/
http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-four-year-olds-touring-plan-this-ones-not-in-the-books.3124405/
http://www.disboards.com/threads/first-trip-to-Disneyland-with-all-three-grandkids.3248477/

The two parks at Disneyland are right next to each other which makes it nice for park hopping. You'll find that you'll spend a lot less time on transportation issues and have more time to spend in the parks!

 

[luvflorida]

I haven't had a chance to update this report, because I've been away! But now I'm back. My husband and I went to Denver, Colorado to visit our younger daughter. Megan and Daniel were also away the same weekend (Megan was a featured speaker at a Blogging Conference in Chicago). The older two grandkids spent the weekend with Daniel's mom and other relatives (lots of cousins to play with!) and Larry and I took Harrison with us to Denver.

We had a great time! Here are a few pics from our five-day trip.
These were taken in Red Rocks. Such a gorgeous place!

Harrison checking out the Amphitheatre.

At the Denver Zoo with our daughter, Mallory, or as Harry calls her, "Aun Malph"!

Okay...back to this trip report!

 

[luvflorida]

DAY FIVE- Sunday, May 8th.

Sunday, May 8th- Mother's Day! This was a very busy day for everyone! A special DSMMC breakfast event, arrival of my husband, Larry, and our son-in-law, Daniel, two parks, swimming...but let's start at the beginning!

We had to be up early this morning to attend a very special breakfast event held at a venue in Epcot. We were kind of in a hurry and I was in and out of the bathroom helping Megan with the kids' baths and getting them dressed. On one of my trips out of the bathroom, I almost tripped over this:

Well, the bag, not the chair! This pic was taken after we returned home.

The grandkids and Megan were waiting for me to see it. Apparently, I walked past it several times before I spotted it! Megan had bought the tote bag for me for Mother's Day!
The funny thing is that the day before, I went down to the Beach Club's gift shop by myself just to look around. I saw the tote bag and almost bought it. What I didn't know was that Megan had seen it a few days earlier and knew it was my style of bag, so she bought it and hid it. Good thing I didn't buy it when I saw it! It was a nice surprise and a lovely Mother's Day gift! I love it!

After everyone was showered and dressed, we headed over to the convention center to catch the bus that would take us to the breakfast at Epcot. We arrived at the building and found it...empty! There was no one around. Very strange. Every other day when we walked over to get the bus to an event, there were always plenty of people already waiting in line. Megan checked her cell phone to see if we had somehow missed a change in the schedule. As she was checking, another family showed up, and they were confused, too. A few other families started to show up, and we soon learned that there was indeed a change in time. Somehow, not everyone got the message that the pick-up time was changed by an hour in order to give everyone more time to sleep in. Apparently, a lot of attendees (including us!) were out late the night before! Unfortunately, not everyone got the memo on the time change!

Oh well, at least we'd be first in line and the first ones on the first bus!

And the kids had time to race up and down the huge hallway!

We also passed the time playing a Disney version of Heads Up.

 

[luvflorida]

We also had time for a few Mother's Day photos.

A silly pic! Harry looks like he's about to lose his shorts! I guess they were a bit loose on him. And Carter likes to wear his shorts low. I'm always pulling his shorts up and he's always telling me, "Gramma, that's too high!" And, Megan had packed a cute pair of pink ballet-style shoes for Vanessa to wear with her Frozen outfit, but we forgot all about them, and she ended up wearing her sneakers instead. Oh well, it was all good!

Silly Vanessa!

Me with my three loves!

Finally on the bus and on our way! Harry and Carter in the driver's mirror.

My littlest love bug!

 

[CaliTex]

I love that tote bag--very cute. My daughter bought the cutest one with Mickey on it--very similar to yours, and I loved it so much that I want to try to find one like it in December. Can never have too many bags, purses, or shoes!

The kids are darling. LOL@the shoes. We are always doing stuff like that, too. Usually involving hair bows, or matching socks. That were specially made/purchased for a particular outfit or event. And are now sitting in...the suitcase. Back at the hotel...

Fun road trip! Beautiful scenery, and I love that you had some one on one time with Harrison. We will have our 4 year old DGD for the night and part of a day this weekend; we won't get the chance to do much that is special (it is soooo hot here now) but swim and maybe take a drive to the lake for lunch. We have noticed how different they can be when they have zero cousin or sibling competition/distraction.

I was thinking just the other day that although we are a fairly close family and two of my grands are only 10 minutes away, what with my work schedule, everyone else's work schedule and the kids activities, we just don't see them enough. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to our trip with them in December!

 

[ariane37]

I love that tote bag! What a nice Mother's Day gift Can't wait to hear about the event that morning at Epcot. We spent Mother's Day in Disney back in 2013 and it was very special, of course no event for us but the day was still fantastic!

Ugh on not getting the message about the time change At least your grandkids are still young and didn't get mad about having to get up extra early. My oldest DS14 would have given me the evil eye all day if I got him up an hour earlier than he had to be lol!

 

[luvflorida]

I love that tote bag--very cute. My daughter bought the cutest one with Mickey on it--very similar to yours, and I loved it so much that I want to try to find one like it in December. Can never have too many bags, purses, or shoes!

The kids are darling. LOL@the shoes. We are always doing stuff like that, too. Usually involving hair bows, or matching socks. That were specially made/purchased for a particular outfit or event. And are now sitting in...the suitcase. Back at the hotel...

Fun road trip! Beautiful scenery, and I love that you had some one on one time with Harrison. We will have our 4 year old DGD for the night and part of a day this weekend; we won't get the chance to do much that is special (it is soooo hot here now) but swim and maybe take a drive to the lake for lunch. We have noticed how different they can be when they have zero cousin or sibling competition/distraction.

I was thinking just the other day that although we are a fairly close family and two of my grands are only 10 minutes away, what with my work schedule, everyone else's work schedule and the kids activities, we just don't see them enough. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to our trip with them in December!

I love the beach, sea turtles, flip flops and Disney, so the bag is perfect for me!

Isn't it a great feeling to have a Disney trip to look forward to! December will be here before you know it!

I love that tote bag! What a nice Mother's Day gift Can't wait to hear about the event that morning at Epcot. We spent Mother's Day in Disney back in 2013 and it was very special, of course no event for us but the day was still fantastic!

Ugh on not getting the message about the time change At least your grandkids are still young and didn't get mad about having to get up extra early. My oldest DS14 would have given me the evil eye all day if I got him up an hour earlier than he had to be lol!

True, the grandkids didn't mind getting up early, and they loved having an empty hall to run around in!