"Knock it off right now or you're going back to the hotel for the rest of the day!"

[TaraPA]

​

lovely kids you have !!!

You wanna take them to Disney next time?????

 

[TaraPA]

The day was actually going extremely well so far, the boys were happy & excited, and I had lots of snacks along the way. I got to ride Dinosaur twice which is one of my favorites. The boys both picked a pin series they wanted to trade for & had a lot of fun with the CMs trading pins. After the ice cream break we headed to DHS since it was open til 8:30. The boys had never ridden ToT of RnRC so they were excited.

First up, ToT. I don't love this ride, but I can take it. The boys were nervous about this one, but they both came off saying "that was awesome!" Wait time was only 10 min. so we rode it again right away.

Well the excitement didn't last once we got to RnRC. It was totally my fault, I thought I had checked online & that Dane wasn't tall enough to ride, and he was ok with that. So I send Ty on alone - then I realize there's a single rider line - so we run over to the entrance to try & tell Ty to get out of the regular line (20 min. wait) and hop over to the single rider line. At this point Dane sees the height requirement isn't 52" like I thought, it was only 48", which he clears. I absolutely refuse to do roller coasters that go upside down, so there was no way, even for my kid, that I was getting in line with him. Plus, I had told Ty we'd be waiting in the gift shop when he got off, and we wouldn't be there if we were in line. There was also no way I was sending Dane in the single rider line for his 1st ride. MAJOR MELTDOWN. I dragged him into the gift shop waiting area (man that is one LOUD waiting area!) & he sobbed the entire 20 minutes. I did feel bad but it just wasn't going to work out. I told him if Ty wanted to ride again he could go on with him. "That's still not fair, he got to ride one more time than me, blah blah blah." Well, Ty gets motion sick, and I had given him his meds earlier in the day, but he came off the ride feeling dizzy. NO WAY was I letting him ride again feeling like that, so Dane had another meltdown. Ty sat outside for awhile, turning shades from green to white. I said we had enough, it was time to leave & head home. That walk to the Friendship Boat (and 20 min. wait) was about to put me over the edge. They were both crying & whining that they weren't done in the park, it wasn't fair, I'm so mean, blah blah blah. If you were in line that night waiting for the boat, I'm so sorry you had to put up with them. I seriously wanted to throw them both in the water & be done with it!

We made it back to the hotel, them grumbling the entire time, and watched Illuminations from the balcony in our room. Then we all were in bed by 9:30. Somehow Dane got his second wind & was wound & chatty which really drove Ty insane. It was actually quite funny if you ask me.


The only happy looking RnRC pic from that night:

 

[TaraPA]

Ok it's a new day, and it's going to be a good one. That's what I wake up telling myself every day. I notice DH is still in bed (he shared with Ty)...he had been here the whole time so far but at a conference - and they go out til 2 or 3am, so we hadn't really seen him at all yet. I'm finally in a good mood about the sun shining outside & DH says "I'm blowing off the conference today & spending it with you guys." I give a fake little "yay." DH is not a Disney person AT ALL. I'm a little nervous that he will put a crimp in our style, but at least we're 2 on 2 now, so we can split up if we need to (totally my plan!)

Daddy & Ty on the balcony getting ready to start the day:

As we're ready to head out the phone rings. It's the front desk, we need to change rooms. What? I knew in thr back of my head this was a possibility, but was told when I made the reservation & when we checked in that we could keep the same room the whole time. We had booked a split rate reservation - it was 3 nights of a corporate rate (paid for by DH's work) and then 3 nights paid by us with a special ESPN weekend discount rate. When DH checked in he was given an upgarde to a deluxe room with Epcot Fireworks view & balcony (as opposed to a standard view corporate rate room) because he has Starwood Gold status. On this 4th day, that room category was sold out, someone had paid for that room type, so we had to go. Packing up for 4 people is NOT an easy thing to do. DH called down when we were done packing (it's now 10am & I'm not happy that we already missed an hour in the parks) & they said just to leave the luggage in the room, they'd transfer it to the new room & call us when it was ready.

So off we go to Epcot. Got FP for Soarin (60 min. wait) & rode Living With the Land. I LOVE this ride. I remember riding this as a child with my grandparents who were farmers. I remember my grandfather being totally amazed at the technology they used to grow their crops. I get teary every time the ride comes to the farmhouse with the dog, and shows the pictures of farmers.

On to Soarin. My friend Cindy made me ride this in 2008. I HATE heights, and I hated every second of the ride that time. Why I thought this time would be any different, I don't know, but they convinced me to try it again. I HATED IT! The only nice thing was that the family in front of us in line was from Conshohoken, near where DH works, and the dad's brother went to the same college DH did, and they knew each other. Small World!

Had lunch at Sunshine Seasons that was YUCK! I had loved my vegetarian platter from there before, but this time was just yuck. Clumpy rice & mushy "steamed" vegetables (90% onions & celery) that were drowing in soy sauce.

DH had the ham & cheese sandwich. He said it was ok but wouldn't get it again:

The kids each had the chicken leg & mashed potatoes kids meal which they both liked, but the chicken looked undercooked to me which freaked me out.

 

[TaraPA]

We're sitting there plotting our day when the phone rings. It's the hotel, where are we? Um, what? They are waiting for us to move our luggage out of the original room to the new one. Excuse me? They said they do not transfer luggage between rooms. DH nicely exaplins that we were told earlier in the day it would be taken care of. Nope, sorry, you have to come move it now. I'm gesturing for DH to give me the phone because no way are we leaving a park to schlep back to move the freaking luggage & I'm ready to tell them that. He asks to speak to the manager & throws around his Starwood Gold status a little (LOL) and they agree to move it for us. I thought the whole thing was bizarre since we were told earlier in the day it was no problem, it would be taken care of. This was our 1st & only glitch ever with The Dolphin. Normally they bend over backwards to accomodate their guests.

We hit Honey I Shrunk the Audience (if I ever have to sit through this again I might scream - seriously - this needs to be updated or better yet replaced!) , Journey Into Imagination & then on to Test Track. 45 min. wait. Thank God for Sinlge Rider lines. I LOVE Single Rider! We rode a few times in a row through the Single Rider line & saw the same people in the Standby Line the whole time.

Now it's off to World Showcase for Kim Possible Missions! We had never done these before, and the boys wanted to split up. We got their transmitters & DH & Ty went off to China, Dane & I were assigned to Mexico.

I have to admit, if you're not familiar with World Showcase this could be tricky. It will say something like "Go to Casa del Oro and stand under the parrot pinata." It also shows a picture of the spot you're supposed to find. Now if you're as clueless as DH who doesn't even know what countires are there let alone where they are in WS, you're going to have a problem. Thankfully after 10+ trips to WDW I know my way around pretty well, so Dane & I were able to breeze through the mission. At the end of the mission you get to choose to end, or do another one. We chose France, DH & Ty chose UK.

 

[TaraPA]

Off we went to France, one of my favorite countries in WS (Morocco is my favorite but there are no KP missions in that country for some reason). We knew we had time to kill because DH & Ty had gone the wrong direction looking for UK. Hey we weren't going to tell them, let them figure it out! We stopped to watch the street performer:

and for a little snack....

I had Raspberry Shuss, my favorite thing from Boulangerie Patisserie! We were sort of wandering around also waitig for Marie to come out. She's Dane's favorite character, and mine as well. I had seen her here in France back in Nov. and really wanted Dane to be able to see her. DH calls to ask for help, they can't find UK. They thought France was the last country because of the bridge - they thought WS ended at The International Gateway! I was nice & told them where to find it. So on to the mission we went...France was a cool one. The transmitters make things react that you'd never even know about - like in Mexico if you point it at the volcano back on the wall by San Angel, it makes the volcano erupt. Here's a pic of a clue in a bookshelf in France:

There's also a camera in the Eiffel Tower that takes your picture doing the mission when you point your transmitter at it. Cool!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Loving your report! I see you flew on Allegiant and Airtran...did you like them? Was one better the other?
We're hoping to fly out of LVIA in November!

 

[TaraPA]

Loving your report! I see you flew on Allegiant and Airtran...did you like them? Was one better the other?
We're hoping to fly out of LVIA in November!

Hi Loveysbydesign! I think I answered a post you had about LVIA once - about security lines there. We got to the airport around 5:30pm last Tuesday & went thru check-in (we had to get seat assignments - didn't pay ahead for them with Allegiant) & security in about 10 min.

We had never flown either Allegiant or Airtran before, but I was so excited to go non-stop from Allentown. Usually I redeem frequent flyer miles on USAir or United so I have to have a flight with stops. For Allegiant I'll say you get what you pay for. I got those seats for $39.99 each (they had been down to $19.99 each but I didn't move fast enough). The boarding process wasn't very smooth & not explained very clearly & everyone was rushing trying to get on first & they weren't controlling it. Everyone was cranky after sitting there for four hours waiting. The flight staff was indifferent - I didn't see anyone smile the entire time. Ty asked the stewardess at one point if he could get up to use the bathroom (we were in flight but the seatbelt sign was on) and she just pointed to the seatbelt sign & said with an attitude "don't you know what that means? No!" Maybe I was just really tired & cranky but I thought that was out of line. There are no snacks or drinks onboard unless you buy them. There are no pillows or blankets if you want to try & get comfortable to rest. The plane felt very cramped & our seats didn't recline - not even a button to push - maybe that was just our category of seats. There was trash leftover from the last flight on the floor & in our seat pockets. I did not pay for seat assignments, priority boarding or premium seats, so I got what I paid for! When we landed at 12:30am they BLASTED "Move it" over the loud speakers which was really annoying. They kept coming on the PA system saying "let's go people, we all want to leave the plane too." I thought that was totally unprofessional. I think I'm dubbing Allegiant "Ghetto Air" from now on.

Coming home on Airtran was much better. Boarding was explained in detail (they board by zones - and we were zone 1 since I used vouchers to pay for Proirity Boarding & Premium Seat assignments) - when people rushed up to try & board outside of their zone they were turned away & told to wait - as it should be. (not the case with Allegiant - it was a free-for-all with them) I wanted Priority Boarding because we had 6 items of carry-on luggage & wanted to be able to stow them, not have to gate check them. The flight staff was nice, flight seemed a little more spacious, plane was clean. They offer free pretzels & drinks (including Vitamin Water) - and free refills on both as well. We were greeted by the flight crew when we boarded & when we got off the plane.

Maybe it was just the fact that we had been waiting in the airport for 4 hours & it was late & everyone was tired & cranky, but I won't fly Allegiant again with the kids unless it's dirt cheap. That same ticket had been up to $169 one way, I'd have been so mad had I paid that (times 3!) I'll try Airtran again in a heartbeat!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Hi Loveysbydesign! I think I answered a post you had about LVIA once - about security lines there. We got to the airport around 5:30pm last Tuesday & went thru check-in (we had to get seat assignments - didn't pay ahead for them with Allegiant) & security in about 10 min.

We had never flown either Allegiant or Airtran before, but I was so excited to go non-stop from Allentown. Usually I redeem frequent flyer miles on USAir or United so I have to have a flight with stops. For Allegiant I'll say you get what you pay for. I got those seats for $39.99 each (they had been down to $19.99 each but I didn't move fast enough). The boarding process wasn't very smooth & not explained very clearly & everyone was rushing trying to get on first & they weren't controlling it. Everyone was cranky after sitting there for four hours waiting. The flight staff was indifferent - I didn't see anyone smile the entire time. Ty asked the stewardess at one point if he could get up to use the bathroom (we were in flight but the seatbelt sign was on) and she just pointed to the seatbelt sign & said with an attitude "don't you know what that means? No!" Maybe I was just really tired & cranky but I thought that was out of line. There are no snacks or drinks onboard unless you buy them. There are no pillows or blankets if you want to try & get comfortable to rest. The plane felt very cramped & our seats didn't recline - not even a button to push - maybe that was just our category of seats. There was trash leftover from the last flight on the floor & in our seat pockets. I did not pay for seat assignments, priority boarding or premium seats, so I got what I paid for! When we landed at 12:30am they BLASTED "Move it" over the loud speakers which was really annoying. They kept coming on the PA system saying "let's go people, we all want to leave the plane too." I thought that was totally unprofessional. I think I'm dubbing Allegiant "Ghetto Air" from now on.

Coming home on Airtran was much better. Boarding was explained in detail (they board by zones - and we were zone 1 since I used vouchers to pay for Proirity Boarding & Premium Seat assignments) - when people rushed up to try & board outside of their zone they were turned away & told to wait - as it should be. (not the case with Allegiant - it was a free-for-all with them) I wanted Priority Boarding because we had 6 items of carry-on luggage & wanted to be able to stow them, not have to gate check them. The flight staff was nice, flight seemed a little more spacious, plane was clean. They offer free pretzels & drinks (including Vitamin Water) - and free refills on both as well. We were greeted by the flight crew when we boarded & when we got off the plane.

Maybe it was just the fact that we had been waiting in the airport for 4 hours & it was late & everyone was tired & cranky, but I won't fly Allegiant again with the kids unless it's dirt cheap. That same ticket had been up to $169 one way, I'd have been so mad had I paid that (times 3!) I'll try Airtran again in a heartbeat!

WOW---thank you so much for the review!
We are leaning towards AT if I can get $69 flights once they open up Nov. Do you think paying for seat on AT was worth it and did you pay for it when you booked the flight? Thanks

 

[TaraPA]

I actually hadn't been planning to pay for seat assignments (I think it was $14 extra, per person) - but I got 3 $10 vouchers - so I really only paid $4 per person. You can add seat assignments to an existing reservation after you book - and there are a lot of AT vouchers floating around out there that you can use towards that (watch the Transportation Board). I don't know what I'll do next time. I got the seats for $89 each (one-way), that was the lowest they had gone, they were never down to $69. They had been as high as $189 a seat when I first started looking! I'd have to say I probably wouldn't pay $14 each to guarantee it - my kids are older & could sit without me - but we did see some families split up that hadn't paid for seats. The flight was completely full. So if your kids are young & you don't want to be split up I guess I'd do it for peace of mind!

 

[janloz]

Loving your TR....I think we could exchange kids (DS 12 and DD 9) and have the same experiences. I swear they live to bother each other which leads to DH and I wanting to do the same things as you. We often play "quite game" in the car for some sort of prize when we get home like staying up a little later just for some peace and quite. Rules: who ever speaks or makes noise first loses. if the other makes you talk/make noise by hitting, punching, etc you lose. (2nd rule added after DS punched DD )

DH and I do the same thing at WDW. Divide and conquer. It keeps everyone sane. Ds won't do the princess things DD wants to do so he get to go with DH to another ADR.

We want to try Kim Possible this time. I didn't think of getting 2 and trying different one, good idea especially if they are fighting. Which countries would you recommend?

 

[TaraPA]

janloz - nice to know it's not just my kids that annoy each other! Since mine are both boys it does tend to get physical rather quickly - but it almost always starts with the noises, taunting, stupid looks, etc.

I can't remember exactly which countries have a Kim Possible mission. I know there is none in Morocco or America, and I don't recall seeing Canada either. Unless there are & they just weren't options for us that day. Maybe they limit the number of people participating in each country.

Dane & I did Mexico, France, Norway & Germany. DH & Ty did China, Japan, UK & Norway. The only thing they said about theirs was that they didn't like the UK one - but they did get a free tea bag on the mission! None of the others had freebies. I liked France the best, Germany second. It's very dark inside Mexico which made it difficult to read signs. It's neat to see how they incorporated the Kim Possible missions into everyday things in the countries. You'd never suspect the things were there. For instance in Germany, we had to find the display of beer steins on the mantle in the clock shop - when you go by the cuckoo clock the transmitter sends a signal that sets off the clock. When you get to the steins they open & close while they sing. I honestly would do the missions as an adult without the kids!

 

[Señor DonDuck]

The title drew me in and the beginning go me hooked. What a great report!

 

[happybratpack]

Loving your trip report!!!

 

[janloz]

janloz - nice to know it's not just my kids that annoy each other! Since mine are both boys it does tend to get physical rather quickly - but it almost always starts with the noises, taunting, stupid looks, etc.

I can't remember exactly which countries have a Kim Possible mission. I know there is none in Morocco or America, and I don't recall seeing Canada either. Unless there are & they just weren't options for us that day. Maybe they limit the number of people participating in each country.

Dane & I did Mexico, France, Norway & Germany. DH & Ty did China, Japan, UK & Norway. The only thing they said about theirs was that they didn't like the UK one - but they did get a free tea bag on the mission! None of the others had freebies. I liked France the best, Germany second. It's very dark inside Mexico which made it difficult to read signs. It's neat to see how they incorporated the Kim Possible missions into everyday things in the countries. You'd never suspect the things were there. For instance in Germany, we had to find the display of beer steins on the mantle in the clock shop - when you go by the cuckoo clock the transmitter sends a signal that sets off the clock. When you get to the steins they open & close while they sing. I honestly would do the missions as an adult without the kids!

Thanks for the suggested countries. About how long do each mission take? we are staying at BC so we could come over in evening and do one if kids are looking for something to do.

 

[TaraPA]

They recommend 35 min. per mission but Dane & I were done in 15-20 since we knew our way around. I can see it taking the full 35 min. if you're not sure where you're going! I didn't see anyone doing them at night - so be sure to check what time they close. Around 8pm the Kim Possible kiosks in WS and FW were closed up.

 

[janloz]

They recommend 35 min. per mission but Dane & I were done in 15-20 since we knew our way around. I can see it taking the full 35 min. if you're not sure where you're going! I didn't see anyone doing them at night - so be sure to check what time they close. Around 8pm the Kim Possible kiosks in WS and FW were closed up.

thanks, that helps with planning. We are doing later ADRs in Epcot around 7pm so we could see if we can do a mission around 5-6pm before dinner.

 

[Magic2000]

Lovin your trip report! We stayed at the Dolphin in 2008 and had a great view of Epcot too! We watched the fireworks from our room (didn't have a balcony).

Hate to tell ya, but the fighting never stops. I have 3 girls - 27, 23, and 14 yrs old. The older two pick on the younger one, or sometimes, they're all mad with each other. We often play the SILENT game.

Sounds like yall had a great trip!!!

 

[TaraPA]

After the missions we hopped back to DHS since we had a 4:05pm ADR at Sci Fi. My kids request this every time. For whatever reason, Ty was in a mood, and claimed that there was nothing on the menu he liked. He was mad because he wanted to ride RNRC 1st thing but we had no time, had to go right to the ADR. When Ty doesn't get his way, he gets an attitude. Heaven help me get through these pre-teen & teen years without hurting the kid! We all ordered (I had the BLT soup - YUM) & then no one was thrilled with what they got. Ty was mumbling & griping about his food, Dane barely touched his. Ty was seated behind Dane in the car so of course he kept flicking Dane in the back of the head. 30 min. and $70 later I dragged them outside & gave them the "if you don't knock it off you're going back to the hotel for the rest of the day" speech.

Here's the BLT soup that I get every time, I just love it:

It was the 1st day of ESPN Weekend so we split up to check it out. Ok really I insisted we split up because I couldn't take much more from Ty's mouth. I told DH not to ride RNRC or ToT without both boys, since they both wanted to ride it first with daddy (DH had never ridden either). So Dane and I go to the Animation Building to find the Up charcters & DH & Ty head over to the interactive sports things behind RNRRC.

Dane & I headed over to the sports activities & to meet up with them so they could all ride RNRC & ToT together. That's when it got ugly. As we walk by RNRC we see DH & Ty coming off the ride. Dane was so upset that he didn't get to ride his 1st time with his dad, and set him off. Meltdown city! In his eyes, his brother not only now got to ride it twice, but he got the 1st ride alone with dad, and he got zilch. An adult would get over this in about 1 second flat, but to a sensitive 9-year-old this was the end of the world. So Ty's telling Dane he's a baby & taunting him, etc. THEN to make matters worse Ty pipes up & announces that not only did he & dad ride RNRC, they hit ToT as well. He only said that to upset his brother And he said it with a grin. If looks could kill he'd be dead on the floor. Along with his father for not saying "let's just wait til we're all together to ride these things because it's important to your brother."

We tried to do some sports things but Dane was still crying & DH had given Ty the "knock it off right now or you're going back to the hotel for the rest of the day" speech, so he was all attitude. I finally had enough. It was 6:30, we still had 30 min. of park time but I put an end to it all. I did it. I followed through with my threat, and we dragged them to the Friendship Boat to head back to The Dolphin. Once again, sorry to anyone waiting for the Friendship Boat that day. It was not pretty. The only thing that kept my sanity waiting for that boat (which seemed like a 3-day wait at that point) was that Fantasmic was going on & I love the music from that. I could hear it loud & clear & just ignored my whining, crying, attitude-filled kids. I let their father deal with them. I didn't even sit with them on the Friendship boat. I made them sit outside & I went inside!

Somehow everyone changed moods (they're all bi-polar, I swear!) til we got back to the hotel. DH offered to take the boys to Disney Quest since we had a free Fun Option on our conference tickets. This THRILLED me since I'm used to having kid-free time in WDW, here was my chance. And it was early enough that I could walk over to Epcot & watch my very favorite show in the world, Illuminations. We all changed into warmer clothing & headed out. I must have been skipping & singing the whole walk across The Boardwalk, I was so excited to have time to myself in Epcot! It was Epcot EMH too, so I could stay til midnight if I really wanted to!

I went straight to Spaceship Earth, one of my favorites. I love the corny shows & educational things, and it was a walk-on. It was also WARM in there. It was down to about 40 degrees at this point & windy. Brrrrr!! I love that Dame Judy Densch (sp) narrates this trip through time. If you haven't done SE since they did the refurb you have to try it. It's now an interactive ride, you have a computer in your car that asks you questions. It takes your picture & inserts your head onto these cartoon heads that act out your future life from the questions it asked you. It's HILARIOUS. The 1st time I did this in 2008 with my friend Cindy we almost wet our pants. We were laughing so hard that we were shaking & crying. When it was time to get off the ride the CM's ran over to us & asked if we were hurt - were both hanging over the side of the car just shaking in hysterics, we were laughing that hard. It's not as funny when you're on the ride alone, but I did chuckle. Here I am in my future world:

It was FREEZING when I got off the ride, so I turned around & rode it again! I ran over to Ellen's Universe of Energy - one of my alltime favorite rides, one that I get made fun of all the time for liking. I knew that usually closed by 7, but I was hoping that just maybe they were keeping it open for EMH. No such luck. Bummer. Looks like this might be my 1st trip ever without seeing Ellen.

STUPID JUDY!

By now it was 8:45 so I went to find a new spot for Illuminations. I had always watched from somewhere in WS, but on the Nov. trip a friend suggested we watch from FW and it was equally as good. This time I found a spot on that little walkway along the water by the old Odyssey restaraunt. I don't think people know about that back way from WS to the Test Track area, it's always deserted. If you've never seen Illuminations up close, it's a must to really enjoy it. It tells a story - the story of humanity & peace on earth - and it just moves me. I've probably seen this literally 100 times & I've cried 99 of them. The music is phenomenal & this night was no exception.

After Illuminations I just waited about 10 min. for WS to empty out. It seemed like no one realized it was EMH - there were hoardes of people exiting. No problem, I can wait! I'm kid free! There's no whining! There's no crying! No back talk!! I was over by Mexico so I slowly made my way around WS, poking in & out of stores but not really shopping. Just enjoying my time. One complaint I do have is that WS is really, really dark at night. I think I'd enjoy it more, and it would be safer, if they had a little more path lighting. But I was kid-free so it could have been pitch black & I still would have had a blast. Once I got to France I was half frozen so I stopped for coffee & a strawberry-filled crepe. OMG YUM!!!! Just what I needed. It was only 10:15pm but I was freezing & exhausted, and the International Gateway was right there, so I went back to The Dolphin. The boys called to say they were staying til 11 & then heading home, they were having a blast. Whew. Seems like all went well!

 

[TaraPA]

OMG I forgot the picture of the strawberry filled crepe!!!

 

[happybratpack]

I just wanted to say that you have a billion times more patience than I do.

Enjoying reading along!