Just Keep Swimming - a January 2019 TR (Complete & new TR link 8/26)

[cinderaimee]

Seriously though, glad it was a very brief "lost" son moment. So scary, I'm sure!!

Can't wait to hear what the most infuriating experience is!!

Yes, it was so scary because my younger son is just a loose canon and fast. When DH caught up to him, he was just having a grand old time, not looking for us, not scared. My older son has always been more cautious.

You have such good luck with same day FPs - teach me your ways!

It's all about the refresh!

I love this trivia - and I love that bus driver for being so enthusiastic!

He was the best!

I'm late to yet another TR but thought I'd come say hi!

glad you're here!

I actually didn't know the ME went that late, I've avoided late flights because of this...good to know!

Yes, I'm pretty sure ME runs 24 hours, but after 10:00 or 10:30, you have to haul your own bags.

Isn't the whole point of an adults only trip that you don't have to blow $60 on a character meal? Perhaps I just feel that way because I planned such a kid-centric trip and I got a bit jealous of people who didn't have to factor preschoolers into their meal plans.

I am right there with you. I would be 100% happy to not do a character meal, or even a character meet the whole trip. We'll see what my sisters want to do. I'd much rather blow $60 at Trader Sam's.

Regardless, if your kid gets upset because he's soaked on the ride, the appropriate parenting decision is always to point and laugh, perhaps while taking a picture.

I was honestly flabbergasted at their reaction. Did they not see the water before we got on? The splashes? Did they not see how wet the boat was? What did they think was going to happen? It was funny, so I laughed.

 

[cinderaimee]

Sunday, January 13 - Magic Kingdom (Part 3)

While we were on the Peoplemover, I grabbed a FP for the Little Mermaid, so we headed back to Fantasyland.

After a quick trip under the sea, we wandered around a bit and saw a PP photographer doing pictures in front of Gaton's Tavern so we stopped there for a few minutes.

Gaston wasn't out meeting when we were at the fountain, but I did notice there were a couple people standing in his line. I checked the app and saw he was supposed to come out in five minutes, so we got in line and met Gaston a few minutes later.

He was impressed with the size of the boys for being only 6 and 4 years old. I told Gaston that they ate lots of eggs and then he asked what else they were doing to grow big like him and they both just stood there like

Poor Gaston with my awkward children.

We had a snack next - the boys got popsicles at a cart, then we went into Gaston's Tavern and also got some drinks and little veggie cup with dip to share.

I found another FP to meet Ariel so after we finished our snacks and had a bathroom break, we went over there.

While we were waiting to meet Ariel, I got a FP for Dumbo and then while we were in line for Dumbo I got a FP for Barnstormer, then another Dumbo and another Barnstormer.

DS2 was starting to throw a fit every time a ride ended because he didn't want to get off, so that was super fun to deal with.

In line for Barnstormer the second time, I got a FP for Pirates so we headed out of Fantasyland. Fairy Godmother had texted me that they had landed and were picking up a rental car and offered to get us a few things from the grocery store, so I sent her a short list.

DS1 liked Pirates, DS2 spent the whole ride freaking out and convinced something was going to jump out at him. Thanks, Dinosaur ride on the first day.

(This appears to be where we stopped taking pictures for the day, sorry!)

It was getting dark at this point and about dinner time, so we decided after Pirates we'd go to Pecos Bill's for dinner. I ordered while DH got a table with the kids. When I went to pay and said we were using the dining plan, the cashier said there was only one QS credit on my band, not the 24 we should have had. There wasn't a lot she could do, so I used the one credit on there and paid cash for the rest, which was like $65 - a bit of a sticker shock after being used to just using credits! We decided to just worry about it when we got to the resort.

I got beef nachos, DH got the fajita platter, DS1 got the three beef tacos, and DS2 got the kid's Uncrustables meal - he's so picky, but this meal came with all his favorite things: a PB&J, applesauce, mandarin orange and milk. We were all super happy with our food, it was all hot and seasoned well and the toppings bar is great. DH said his fajitas were the best meal he'd had so far at Disney. While we were eating, there was a family at the table next to us and the mom asked if DS2 wanted her kid's oranges since he ate his so quickly and her kids didn't like them. I don't know if I'd take food from a stranger anywhere else, but it was Disney and another mom, so we took them.

By time we finished eating it getting close to time for HEA to start. Adventureland had pretty much cleared out. The crowds all day had seemed pretty light so 10/10 I would recommend MK on marathon days. We got up to the hub and found a spot along the side, right at the edge of the tape of a walkway so no one could stand in front of us. We were kind of behind a tree but could see a good 80% of the castle, so we were pretty happy with our spot since we showed up so close to the start of the show.

This was my first time seeing HEA in person and I just really loved it. Then, during the "You'll Be In My Heart" section, all I could think about was my mom and I cried like a little baby. Ugh, Disney what are you doing to me?

After the show was over, we headed out of the park - we cut through Casey's and the shops and the crowds were not bad.

We headed for the boat to Wilderness Lodge for the first time! They had the big boats out, so we didn't have to wait long to get on our way.

Our first stop when we got there was the front desk - DH went to pick up our bags from Bell Services and I went to talk to someone about the dining plan. The guy at the desk was super nice and pulled up our reservation, could see the dining plan on there, could see the full allotment of credits, transferred our 7 remaining snack credits to the new portion so we didn't have to use them up that night, and he put a $65 credit on our room to make up for the meal we had to pay out of pocket for earlier.

I wanted to pick up our refillable mugs before we headed to our room because we were going to stop by Fairy Godmother's room and say hello and I wanted to give them two of the mugs since our first mugs from CBR were still activated, and we really didn't need 8 resort mugs. So I leave DH and the kids in the lobby, go down to Roaring Fork, grab the mugs and go the cashier. She scans my band and says "you don't have any mug credits". I explain I was just at the desk and they were supposed to have fixed it, but she said all she saw were 7 snack credits.

Back to the front desk I go. Now there's a new guy sitting there. I explain everything that happened so far. So he takes my band and scans it and says that yes, he can see the dining plan and all the credits right there. Then he thinks he knows what the issue might be, does a bunch of clicking and typing and then hands me my band back and says it should be okay now.

Back to Roaring Fork, still no mug credits showing up there. (This cashier, btw, could honestly care less about the ordeal)

Back to the front desk, now the first guy is back. I catch him up and he is still super nice and sympathetic. So he goes into the system again, thinks he sees the problem, clicking, typing, band scanning, etc. Has me follow him to the gift shop next to the front desk to buy something with a snack credit to make sure it worked. I successfully scan my band and get a bottle of water, so he thinks whatever he did worked.

Back to Roaring Fork and SURPRISE, still no mug credits. The cashier says "here, let me print this out so you can show them what I see" and hands me a receipt showing 6 snack credits, 0 TS, 0 QS, 0 Mugs. Why she didn't print that out in the first place, I have no idea but at this point I was just done and close to tears. After a full day in the park, my feet hurt, I was tired, my DH and kids were just exhausted, sitting in the lobby waiting for me. I couldn't deal with it anymore at that moment. I went back to DH and told him I was giving up for now, I just wanted to get up to our room.

We checked out the room, I didn't get any pictures, but DH did a quick walk through video, so here are some really bad shots from that.

We looooved this room, and coming from that tiny room at CBR, this felt so huge and comfortable. My kids immediately each claimed a big drawer in the living room, one under the TV and one in the coffee table and unpacked all their toys and souvenirs - I guess I wasn't the only one tired of living out of a suitcase.

FG's room was just down the hall from us, so we went by there next, and it was so good to see her. My kids were so excited to show her and her DH all their toys and tell them about all the things we had done so far. It was great to just sit and catch up with them. I got my groceries (some fresh fruit, milk, and bottled water) and saw that they had stocked up with tons of soda and coffee so I didn't feel bad about not being able to deliver a resort mug to her. They had a room overlooking the Boulder Ridge pool and the lake, which was really nice.

We said goodnight and went back to our room. DH got the kids ready for bed while I called the resort number and got a manager on the phone. After being put on hold and transferred around a few times, I finally was connected to someone who told me they knew exactly what had happened and how to fix it on their end. I didn't have a lot of confidence at this point in it, but I decided to wait until morning to try again.

We made up the sofa bed for the kids and let them watch Disney Jr. until they were both asleep, which didn't take long. I finally unpacked all the bags, which was amazing. At CBR we didn't even have anywhere to keep the stroller without collapsing it. In the BRV room, there was plenty of room in the entry for the stroller, a big closet for our jackets, lots of drawers everywhere, lots of counter space. I loved this room.

Tomorrow, we're going to Epcot, and we'll find out if the dining plan has been sorted out or not!

 

[missjackiemcg]

DS2 was starting to throw a fit every time a ride ended because he didn't want to get off, so that was super fun to deal with.

Sounds INCREDIBLY fun!!!!

Then, during the "You'll Be In My Heart" section, all I could think about was my mom and I cried like a little baby. Ugh, Disney what are you doing to me?

Oh


What a pain in the keister!! I hope you got more than just that room credit by the time that headache with the credits is all over!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

How utterly frustrating for you at the end of a long day!! Disney technology at its best, ugh!!

I hope it all got figured out

It looks like a great day in MK

 

[missangelalexis]

Cute pics with Gaston & Ariel! Sounds like you were making great use of the FP system! What a fun evening at MK!

How frustrating about the mug/dining credit situation I hope after all your back and forth it did end up working in the morning!

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

What good FP luck, to be able to keep picking them up right in that area. You probably rode twice as much because you weren't backtracking all over the park.

Sucks about all the dining plan hassle. I've heard that transition day on a split stay can be rough with the dining plan, so hopefully things were worked out by your next day.

 

[disgeek009]

I love how DS2's bicep flex is more of a show-your-elbow move.

What a hassle with the dining credits! I hope they got it fixed.

 

[SweetSerenity]

Ugh, I am so sorry about all that mix-up. We did a split stay for our honeymoon in 2015, and we had a lot of similar issues. It's so frustrating going back and forth with no progress.

 

[ariane37]

While we were waiting to meet Ariel, I got a FP for Dumbo and then while we were in line for Dumbo I got a FP for Barnstormer, then another Dumbo and another Barnstormer.

Doing good with the FP's!

Then, during the "You'll Be In My Heart" section, all I could think about was my mom and I cried like a little baby. Ugh, Disney what are you doing to me?

We headed for the boat to Wilderness Lodge for the first time! They had the big boats out, so we didn't have to wait long to get on our way.

One of the BEST parts of staying at the WL!!! I'll take a boat ride to/from a park to a resort over a bus any day.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Sorry to hear about all your trouble with the dining plan. I probably would have felt like you and just given up, after so many return visits to try sorting it out. I have never done a split stay, but I guess that is one thing I would be a little worried about. I hope things went smoother after that.

 

[cinderaimee]

What a pain in the keister!! I hope you got more than just that room credit by the time that headache with the credits is all over!!

Ugh, I wish!

How utterly frustrating for you at the end of a long day!! Disney technology at its best, ugh!!

I hope it all got figured out

Thanks! It was literally the last thing I wanted to deal with after being in the park for 11 hours.

Cute pics with Gaston & Ariel! Sounds like you were making great use of the FP system! What a fun evening at MK!

Thank you! Gaston is such a fun meet!

What good FP luck, to be able to keep picking them up right in that area. You probably rode twice as much because you weren't backtracking all over the park.

Sucks about all the dining plan hassle. I've heard that transition day on a split stay can be rough with the dining plan, so hopefully things were worked out by your next day.

With my kids, we are FP or bust When I go on my adults trip in August, I won't mind waiting in a long line if we have to, but waiting with kids is stressful lol

I love how DS2's bicep flex is more of a show-your-elbow move.

Ugh, I am so sorry about all that mix-up. We did a split stay for our honeymoon in 2015, and we had a lot of similar issues. It's so frustrating going back and forth with no progress.

You would think Disney would have this figured out by now, right?

One of the BEST parts of staying at the WL!!! I'll take a boat ride to/from a park to a resort over a bus any day.

I loved the boats, but I don't think it beats walking into Epcot from the Boardwalk.

Sorry to hear about all your trouble with the dining plan. I probably would have felt like you and just given up, after so many return visits to try sorting it out. I have never done a split stay, but I guess that is one thing I would be a little worried about. I hope things went smoother after that.

It was super frustrating and I just reached the point where it was obvious the people I was dealing with didn't know what was going on and weren't going to be able to fix it so I had to walk away from it for a little bit.

I did a lot of research on the dining plan and split stays and I had the impression it would be pretty seamless.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Omg how frustrating about your dining plan! I would have been on the verge of tears too! Especially because the walk from the front desk to Roaring Forks is not an easy one! I hope they were able to figure it out!

 

[cinderaimee]

Omg how frustrating about your dining plan! I would have been on the verge of tears too! Especially because the walk from the front desk to Roaring Forks is not an easy one! I hope they were able to figure it out!

I think that walk was what was killing me. Like, why was the one who had to keep walking back and forth to figure it out? How come the front desk couldn't see the same thing they saw at the cash register? It was just ridiculous and I didn't even care about the stupid mugs by my second trip back and forth, I just wanted to make sure I would have my credits for the rest of the trip.

 

[cinderaimee]

Monday, January 14 - Epcot (Part 1)

This morning we had planned to sleep in and relax a little bit - the first thing we had scheduled was lunch at Garden Grill at 11:30. We had breakfast in the room - I brought a pack of those mini cereal boxes and it was such a novelty to my kids to pick one out in the mornings. So they had cereal and bananas. DH and I didn't have anything for breakfast since Garden Grill is AYCTE and we take that kind of thing pretty seriously.

First things first, back to Roaring Forks to see if the dining plan issue had been resolved. This not being my first rodeo, I went to the cash register first to check my credits before I even bothered collecting the mugs. I scanned my band and held my breath until the cashier handed me the receipt showing a glorious full allotment of credits.

Doing some research after the fact, I *believe* the glitch was either caused by (1) not physically checking out of CBR - on the resort tab of the MDE app, it still had me at CBR until Monday morning, or (2) that you have to use every single credit of the first dining plan before the second one is activated. Either way, it was a pain in the rear and I wish the whole thing was more seamless.

Victorious, I picked up our new mugs and got some coffee for DH and myself and headed back up to the room. It was a beautiful day and this was the first time I had seen WL in the daylight, and oh yes, she is a pretty one.

Since we weren't in a huge hurry and the boys (DH included) really wanted to ride the monorail (boys and trains, amiright?), we decided to take the boat from WL to the Contemporary, then take the monorail from there to the TTC and switch to the Epcot line.

My DH is a fisherman and has a small john boat and a kayak for fishing and loves being on the water, and I think his new retirement goal is to move to Florida and drive a resort boat. He loved it. We got to the CR and it was pretty deserted outside and we took our time looking around and getting up to the monorail.

For the record, this is not the way to get to Epcot quickly. Between the security line and waiting for the monorail, and then the other monorail and then the Epcot security line, even though we already went through security to get on the monorail was just A.LOT. From leaving our room to getting through the gate at Epcot was about 75 minutes. (spoiler alert: our second Epcot day we took the bus and it took all of 20 minutes, so.)

Anyway! We finally made it to Epcot. There were huge Brazilian tour groups at the entrance and I was fascinated by them. Who pays for the matching shirts and backpacks? Do they have to wear the same color every day or do they have different matching shirts for each day? How do they get anything done in such large groups?

We took some pictures by the fountain.

We were all pretty hangry by the point so we didn't wander for too long before we headed over to Garden Grill.

We had to wait a few minutes after we checked in to be seated, but I think they were still switching over to lunch. We got a table on the outside and when we sat down we were facing the jungle/forest scene and my kids were freaking out because they thought something was going to jump out at them and OMG YOU GUYS THIS IS NOT THE DINOSAUR RIDE

We were so hungry that the food is kind of a blur at this point, and I did not take one picture of our table, but I know DH and I really liked the bread and honey butter, and the pot roast and mashed potatoes was my favorite. I think we got three helpings of that pot roast. DS1 loved the mac and cheese, which is weird because he refuses to eat it at home, but they put a goldfish cracker on top of it, so I guess that totally changed the dish.

The characters were so fun here and we loved meeting all of them.

(literally no one is looking at the camera but okay)

My only complaint about this restaurant was it felt like our server was rushing us and kept trying to clear the dishes while we were still eating, which is a big annoyance of DH. The food was great though and more than made up for it.


Next up, a fun Future World afternoon!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a nice laid back morning and a great time at GG!

 

[missjackiemcg]

OMG YOU GUYS THIS IS NOT THE DINOSAUR RIDE

This would've been a good TR title, too LOL

 

[disgeek009]

I'm enjoying your trip report so much!

I scanned my band and held my breath until the cashier handed me the receipt showing a glorious full allotment of credits.

Phew! The suspense!

DS1 loved the mac and cheese, which is weird because he refuses to eat it at home, but they put a goldfish cracker on top of it, so I guess that totally changed the dish.

Ah, the power of the goldfish.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Doing some research after the fact, I *believe* the glitch was either caused by (1) not physically checking out of CBR - on the resort tab of the MDE app, it still had me at CBR until Monday morning, or (2) that you have to use every single credit of the first dining plan before the second one is activated. Either way, it was a pain in the rear and I wish the whole thing was more seamless.

I'm glad it got sorted out for you. You're probably right about why it was happening. It seems like enough people do split stays that Disney should be able to address that issue. Maybe allow CMs to transfer credits from one meal plan to another, or something like that.

We were all pretty hangry by the point so we didn't wander for too long before we headed over to Garden Grill.

I have always thought about Garden Grill but never eaten there. The breakfast seems especially good to me, but nice to hear that you enjoyed the lunch.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Doing some research after the fact, I *believe* the glitch was either caused by (1) not physically checking out of CBR - on the resort tab of the MDE app, it still had me at CBR until Monday morning, or (2) that you have to use every single credit of the first dining plan before the second one is activated. Either way, it was a pain in the rear and I wish the whole thing was more seamless.

I feel like I've heard the leftover credit issue before. Good thing it was all worked out without any more back-and-forth for you.

Since we weren't in a huge hurry and the boys (DH included) really wanted to ride the monorail (boys and trains, amiright?), we decided to take the boat from WL to the Contemporary, then take the monorail from there to the TTC and switch to the Epcot line.

Why take one transport when three will do?

DS1 loved the mac and cheese, which is weird because he refuses to eat it at home, but they put a goldfish cracker on top of it, so I guess that totally changed the dish.

My girls loved the idea of goldfish on mac and cheese, but didn't actually like the texture. It doesn't help that they were so busy looking around that the crackers were mushy and the mac and cheese was cold by the time they tried to eat it.

 

[cinderaimee]

Sounds like a nice laid back morning and a great time at GG!

Yes, it was a great morning!

This would've been a good TR title, too LOL

Ah, the power of the goldfish.

For my kids Goldfish is a food group!

I'm glad it got sorted out for you. You're probably right about why it was happening. It seems like enough people do split stays that Disney should be able to address that issue. Maybe allow CMs to transfer credits from one meal plan to another, or something like that.

It seems like one of those things Disney would have figured out by now

I have always thought about Garden Grill but never eaten there. The breakfast seems especially good to me, but nice to hear that you enjoyed the lunch.

Go for lunch/dinner. Eat all the pot roast. Thank me later.

Why take one transport when three will do?

It's the journey, man.

My girls loved the idea of goldfish on mac and cheese, but didn't actually like the texture. It doesn't help that they were so busy looking around that the crackers were mushy and the mac and cheese was cold by the time they tried to eat it.

Ah, that stinks. We didn't have that problem, my boys are human garbage disposals. I think we got two or three refills of the mac and cheese. I'm genuinely worried about my grocery budget in their teenage years.