Let it Snow, Let is Snow.... That's not snow!

[veggiemama]

Hi everyone and Welcome! This is my TR about our Christmas Holiday trip to Disney world.

I attempted to write a PTR and was doing fine over summer but once I went back to work in Sept things got a bit crazy and I did not have a lot of time to plan much less keep my PTR up and current. If you want to read some of my plans you can find the link in my Sig line.

This was our second trip to WDW but our first time staying on site and completely immersing ourselves in all Disney had to offer. I thought it was great.... I'll let you know what the other thought later.

So some details first:

Our trip was from Dec 10 -17 2011
We stayed at AKL for Dec 10-11 and then stayed at POFQ for the 11-17

We are from snowy, coooooold, wintery Manitoba Canada, so the idea of warmth and sunshine in December was exciting for us all!!

So, feel free to join in and follow (or lurk) along as I travel down my memory lane of warmth and fun.... btw I'm sitting here right now in -25C (-13F) weather, bundled up in sweater and blanket and dreaming of that lovely warm sunshine!

Up Next:

INTRODUCTIONS

 

[swwake]

Hooray for starting your trip report! I can't wait!

 

[veggiemama]

So let me introduce you to my crew:
I don't have any individual photos right now loaded up to use so here is a Family picture taken on our Last day

First up: My dear Hubby. He is my hard working, loving husband of 19 years. He is a reluctant Disney lover. His statement was " I don't know why we would go again... what would we possible do?" LOL I know, he just does not get it! He is a techie and does not like crowds so WDW can be a bit of a challenge for him. He does not have a favorite Dis character though he suprisingly has a number of Mickey shirts, which he seems to buy for himself!

Then there is me: I'm Laura, I'm 36 and I'm a disney-aholic! I love all things Disney, am obsessed with character's, movies, and of course DW. I'm also the obsessive planner, and do all the planning for these trips. My Dh says he comes to be with me, he doesn't want to worry about anything.... hmmm I have a feeling a lot of husbands say that!

Then we have my DD: B is 14 years old. And yes we call her B which is the first letter of her name. I do use her full name but she is going through a stage right now where she does not like her name? Must be a teenage thing! LOL She loves Disney and I'm working very hard to make her into a complete addict like me! Her favorite character is Tinker Bell and favorite Princess is Aurora. She is much to 'cool' to WANT to meet anyone but I know she really did want to meet Aurora (one of those things that didn't happen last time)

last but not least is my son: his name is John and he is 12. He is not really into the whole Disney thing but was looking forward to the rides and Disney Quest. I'm glad that I can still tap into that little boy though and in the end he enjoys all parts of the Disney experience, not just the rides.

So there you have, that's us!

Not sure about the photo. I'm trying to resize and flip it but it does not seem to be working. I'll keep trying but here it is for the moment! LOL

Up next: day one: Travel day

 

[annmarieda]

I am so glad you started your TR!! I think your dh and mine sound a lot alike.... I swear my dh wears more disney shirts than I do... but can't see why what we would do if we went again.

Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[Monknmom]

I'm here reading along! I was wondering and meaning to ask the other day on your PTR but how did your piano concert ever go? And you were going to remake the studio right? How is all of that coming along? I haven't read yet, but will come back and read today!

 

[15isto2]

Subscribing, going over to read your PTR now

 

[veggiemama]

Hooray for starting your trip report! I can't wait!

Thanks for joining in. Hope it's worth the wait! LOL

I am so glad you started your TR!! I think your dh and mine sound a lot alike.... I swear my dh wears more disney shirts than I do... but can't see why what we would do if we went again.
I don't understand husbands somedays..... how can he NOT like the characters, the rides, the atmosphere, the decorations ... DISNEY?!!
Can't wait to read more!!!

Stay tuned... more coming up!

I'm here reading along! I was wondering and meaning to ask the other day on your PTR but how did your piano concert ever go? And you were going to remake the studio right? How is all of that coming along? I haven't read yet, but will come back and read today!

Thanks for asking! I guess I should do a life update too! Short version: concerts so far have gone well. I have 4 more coming up in January so I'm not quite done yet! Renovation: Didn't happen.Not enough time to get everything done... and .... well.... we have another house that we might buy... AGAIN!

Subscribing, going over to read your PTR now

Glad you are here! I might need to go back and read my PTR too! I think I have forgotten some of the stuff that happened over my year of planning!

 

[veggiemama]

Day one: Dec 10 Travel day.

We were up bright and early on our first day. We have a 45 min drive to the airport from where we live, so we were up at 3:15 am! to pack and get out of the house by 4:00 am. We were close... we left at 4:15.

Not a great picture... but we were off!

We got to the parkade just before 5 am and the shuttle was 'waiting' for us. It was just about to pull out to go to the airport so we loaded up our stuff and headed over. Took only a few minutes to get there and then we went through the line ups and security. they did the 'full' check on my stuff, scanned me and all that fun stuff but, of course, everything was fine and off we went. My curious son, was just dying to ask questions about what they were doing but we had coached them not to speak unless spoken too during this process. Didn't need to be held up for a silly reason!

We thought we had spotted a Starbucks on the other side of security so we headed over for breakfast but unfortunately there was no Starbucks and Tim Horten's. Not our favorite but we were able to get some muffins and coffee. Not great for my DH who is hypoglycemic and that much sugar can be bad for him, but there were no other breakfast places. If we had known that we would have grabbed food BEFORE going through security. Oh well.

Our plane left at 7:15 am, right on time. And I was very thankful that this was a direct flight. I'm not a great flyer, get motion sickness and my back gets really uncomfortable so long flights are hard. My son John is like me, and has problems with motion sickness. I had considered giving gravel but since we were going to land before lunch and gravel can knock me out for 10 hours (I have allergies to medications) I decided not to use anything. Thankfully flying went well. I have "earplane" plugs for the kids and myself that helps to stabalize the cabin pressure and with that and chewing gum, we were all ok. The flight was just over 3 1/2 hours. Actually got there 5 minutes faster than planned. We landed at 11:40 Florida time.

First things first, everyone was starving since we had no food, just a small snack on the plane. We went to the food court which was very busy and got some food. Nothing for me though.... allergies prevented me getting any food. I was a little light headed at this point, naseaus a bit and of course starving. I get a little louppy when that happens and have a hard time completing sentences. So to the best of my memory, we were by the chairs at a long table (like a bar table) , there were only 2 chairs but a lady was getting up to leave. I think I must have leaned onto the chair a bit and made it difficult for her to get out and before I knew what was happening, she turned to face me, shoved me back, told me to "back off" and let her leave already! My lovely, clueless hubby had no idea what had happened and why I was upset! He was still sick, head cold, and with flying, he had vertually no hearing at all. So he did not hear a thing! They ate, I had a protein bar and then we started making our way to DME.

Up next... our First line up!

 

[annmarieda]

That has to be hard traveling with allergies. So much of our eating habits as a society are convenience based. What is gravel, btw? And holy cow? What a cranky woman!!! I am sorry you had to deal with that..especially when you were not feeling great.

Other than a couple issues...sounds like you are off to a great start!

 

[Monknmom]

Thanks for asking! I guess I should do a life update too! Short version: concerts so far have gone well. I have 4 more coming up in January so I'm not quite done yet! Renovation: Didn't happen.Not enough time to get everything done... and .... well.... we have another house that we might buy... AGAIN!

Well that sounds good! Congratulations so far and I hope that the ones in the future go just as successful! But I'm sorry about the renovation- not sure about Canada, but I know that there are certain times of the year that certain things go on sale (like flooring in March/April and linens in February) so if you don't end up buying this new house that you like then I would consider buying a little at a time- that is what we have been doing so that in April when we begin it's not that big of a deal to buy things because we have most of it!


I'm sorry for the crumby time at the airport, maybe it was just too early and the women wasn't a morning person, but still no way to treat someone!

 

[veggiemama]

That has to be hard traveling with allergies. So much of our eating habits as a society are convenience based. What is gravel, btw?
Right! I forgot you don't have gravel! It is my life saver. It is a small little pill I take that you don't need a prescription for and it controls motions sickness, naseau, dizziness and all that kind of stuff. It also tends to make you drowsy and because I react so strongly to meds, what makes others drowsy, knocks me out for hours and hours!

And holy cow? What a cranky woman!!! I am sorry you had to deal with that..especially when you were not feeling great.
You know, I barely notice the issues with food when traveling anymore. I have gotten very used to packing my own food because I never expect to be able to eat when I'm out. That is part of the reason I love Disney so much! They are really good about adapting to allergies and only get better it seems as the years go on.

Other than a couple issues...sounds like you are off to a great start!Yes, it really was a nice easy start to our trip. Other than hubby still being sick with a head cold it was pretty uneventful.

Well that sounds good! Congratulations so far and I hope that the ones in the future go just as successful!
Thank you! For the most part I enjoy performing. Sometimes it's a little stressful but then again, what isn't at times?
But I'm sorry about the renovation- not sure about Canada, but I know that there are certain times of the year that certain things go on sale (like flooring in March/April and linens in February) so if you don't end up buying this new house that you like then I would consider buying a little at a time- that is what we have been doing so that in April when we begin it's not that big of a deal to buy things because we have most of it!
My motto is: Everything is negotiable!! In Canada, and especially in Manitoba, we are all about 'finding the deal' I often actually travel to North Dakota which is only a couple hours away and buy certain things (like flooring) because it is so much cheaper, even with travel time and cost. Part of the reason the reno didn't happen, was that I'm not exactly sure that the solution is the right solution. I'm afraid that by closing off part of the basement it will end up feeling really small and cramped. I'm really leaning towards moving or building but it will depend on how things go for us in the next couple years. We do really like our house, which is great and take the pressure off having to move. Now we would move for little things, not because we HAVE too.

I'm sorry for the crumby time at the airport, maybe it was just too early and the women wasn't a morning person, but still no way to treat someone!

It funny, but when I remember it now, it does not seem like a big deal. We just kind of shrugged and moved on. It takes a lot to really get me irritated and I think I was too out of it to really be upset. I was emotional more probably because of lack of food - I just realized that on that morning I had only had a few sips of coffee... I hadn't eaten anything yet.

 

[veggiemama]

This is going to be a short update. Takes a long time to upload my photos so instead of posting a lot I'm going to do short little clips so that I can keep doing photos and not taking a whole day to do so!

Ok, so I left off with heading over to DME at the Florida airport.

Here is where I say... thank goodness I plan! Hubby was sick, and really couldn't hear a thing so I was not able to talk to him. He was feeling pretty gross at this point so he really didn't care where we went... he just wanted to get there. So thank goodness I had looked at the map of the airport ahead of time, had talked to a CM about where to go and was able to get us to the DME without any difficulty.

As we were walking over to the area, I saw this HUGE line up of people and had this brief moment of thought.... oh please don't let that be our line, we'll be here all day!! Unfortunately it was our line but having never traveled with DME before what I didn't realize at first was that each line was for a different resort. Once we were sorted out and figured out what line we had to be in, I breathed a little easier. Hubby's ears were feeling slightly better so we were able to chat a little. We were amused (annoyed) listening to others complaining about how long the line was. And the level of frustration that I kept hearing and seeing between parents and kids was almost sad. I remember continually thinking that this is just the start of the trip, and hoping that people would calm down. Even B looked at me at one point and said how sad she was watching a mom yell and shake her child around and literally through him into his stroller. As B said " I know that mom is tired her child is tired too, I would hate to be treated like that"

There was a couple infront of us : Mom , dad and small child. At one point I over heard the dad complaining about the line (we had been there about 20 min) and how they should have rented a car, it would have been so much faster. He was really getting heated and the mom was starting to get emotional. Well, I caught the mom's eye at one point and I just couldn't keep quiet. I told the mom how thankful we were to be in this line up. She looked at me funny and I said that the last time we came, we rented a car and waited almost 4 hours for one. This was nothing! The dad looked up and kind of stopped his tirade and mumbled something about maybe he shouldn't be complaining.

My kids, being the nut jobs that they are! started goofing off together. The couples daughter in front of us, started giggling and having fun so instead of squirming and causing grief for mom and dad, now we started chatting and sharing stories instead. Made the time go faster.

Can you see the irritated people in the lines behind us?

We waited about 45 minutes before we were able to get on our bus.

We got a Mears bus but the bus driver made up for it. He was hilarious. I don't know if all bus drivers do this kind of stuff but he talked the whole way and had the Mickey voice down pat so he 'called' Mickey and talked to him before we left. The couple of little girls on the bus were so excited you would have thought Mickey walked on the bus and sat down beside them. It was very cute!

we made only one stop before heading over to Animal Kingdom Lodge and I actually enjoyed the bus ride. It was nice not to worry about driving and navigating like we had to do last time.

First photo of AKL

Here is where I will say for the first time, but probably not the last time. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new camera. We ended up buying a new camera 2 days before we left and it was one of the best things we did. This photo was taken, in a moving bus, through a tinted window!

Up next, our night at AKL.

 

[annmarieda]

Holy cow! That is the DME line? I have never waited in line for DME. NEVER. Usually we make our way to DME and there is not a single person in line. In fact, I can't even remember there ever being anyone waiting. I wonder if it is a time thing. Our flights either come in super late...or super early. Never mid day. Glad you were able to stay positive though! I mean..wait or no wait, you are on vacation, right?

 

[Monknmom]

I don't think that if I go into Home Depot they are going to negotiate a price with me... I have to find out how you do that lol! That's nice that you have the options that you have for the house! I want to get the bathroom, porch, deck and kitchen made over this summer/fall and then see about building up next year for a 2nd floor and how much that will cost and such so we can resell at a much higher value! I don't want Damien to attend middle school or high school here so I need to get that stuff done in the following years! But then again we have only been here for a year, so with time I guess that you get more options!
Oh your better than I am! When I am tired and cranky and hungry I am not so friendly! That's really nice that you were able to make some people smile in the line and your kids were occuppying the little girl! That is am awesome camera! I want to stay at AKL someday! It was really pretty when we visit it!

 

[veggiemama]

Holy cow! That is the DME line? I have never waited in line for DME. NEVER. Usually we make our way to DME and there is not a single person in line. In fact, I can't even remember there ever being anyone waiting. I wonder if it is a time thing. Our flights either come in super late...or super early. Never mid day. Glad you were able to stay positive though! I mean..wait or no wait, you are on vacation, right?

That's my attitude too! I'm on holiday's, I'm not in a hurry and I'm there to enjoy EVERYTHING including our first line!

Have never experienced DME before, I had no idea of this was a long wait or not. Time wise, it was a Saturday at lunchtime, so I could imagine that it would be busy. I'm sure later at night it is much quieter.

I don't think that if I go into Home Depot they are going to negotiate a price with me... I have to find out how you do that lol! That's nice that you have the options that you have for the house! I want to get the bathroom, porch, deck and kitchen made over this summer/fall and then see about building up next year for a 2nd floor and how much that will cost and such so we can resell at a much higher value! I don't want Damien to attend middle school or high school here so I need to get that stuff done in the following years! But then again we have only been here for a year, so with time I guess that you get more options!
Negotiating?? I'm the QUEEN! I have actually coached my husband to be quiet and let me do my thing! I have gotten 'deals' on all my cars, including what I sell my old ones for, my brand new piano (you'd probably fall off your chair if you knew what I ended up paying and what I got out of that deal!) my furniture and even at times I have negotiated for certain clothes that I get in store. I'm not mean, cranky or annoying... just good!

Oh your better than I am! When I am tired and cranky and hungry I am not so friendly! That's really nice that you were able to make some people smile in the line and your kids were occuppying the little girl! That is am awesome camera! I want to stay at AKL someday! It was really pretty when we visit it!

Not sure my family would agree that I'm not grumpy. LOL but I just figure, I'm on holiday's, I'm having fun no matter what. And once I get going my kids (and hubby) happily follow along It's actually a little scary sometimes just how much of my attitude they adopt.

 

[veggiemama]

I have to say this was my hubby and my favorite place. we would happily stay a week here. But both of us said, not with kids, it would just be a nice relaxing place to go together.

Anyways.....
We arrived at AKL. I think I stood in the foyer for 5 minutes just staring before I moved!

We headed up to our room and saw this on the bed:

The kids were very excited to see this and starting snapping photos right away. they both got digital cameras before we left so they were pretty happy to take their own photos.

I headed straight to the patio. This is what I was waiting for.

I could have sat here all night. DH and I rested for a bit on the patio and took a bunch of photos. we were very impressed with just how far we could zoom and get great shots like these:

No giraffes but I had been assured that we would see some. Giraffes are B's favorite animal of all time. She has at least 20 of them in her room.

B looked around the room and came out on the patio to show me this:

The card reads: It all began with a mouse.
Can you see my poor hubby in the back ground... poor guy he looks a little pale!

So we hung out for a bit in the room. Settled in and then we went to check out the AKL. It was amazing! I could have spent hours looking at everything!

(don't know how many photos I can do in one post so I'm going to continue in the next one)

 

[veggiemama]

We headed to the lobby, here was where I thought I would not like to have small children in the resort and spend a week. It's a LONG walk to get anywhere! We didn't mind too much but if I did a week of that every day I think I would have gotten pretty tired of it.

Lobby was gorgeous!
The tree

The lights

looking out the back, towards the Savanah:

We decided to walk outside to the Savanah and then we saw:

This, of course, had B almost giddy with excitement. I think we spent almost 30 minutes out there taking photos and looking at everything. I won't bore you with all the photos... we took hundreds just in this one spot (I'll save till later to tell you just how many photos we ended up taking on this trip )

Heading back inside

We checked out the gift shop and then I heard some drumming. I got this picture, not great but I was standing almost 2 floors above them. I really enjoyed the drumming.

We then headed down to check out the pool area and walked around out there for a bit as well. The kids decided to swim for a while before we headed to dinner.

 

[veggiemama]

One more to finish this off

We headed here for dinner:

We were all a little queasy yet from flying (something to remember for next time) so we were not able to really do this place justice. The kids and DH enjoyed sampling things but no one was really hungry.
This was my first meal dealing with my allergies. In case you don't remember here is what I don't/can't eat. This is almost verbatum of what I said to each and every server and chef.
I need a vegan meal. I do not eat meat but I also have a dairy and an egg allergy.

I actually have more allergies than just that (lots of chemical allergies) but I can't do anything about those, i just have to deal with side effects.
Once I told the server, she allerted the chef who then came out and walked me around the buffet to let me know what I could and could not eat (not a lot of choices) She then, to my surprise, made me my own couscous, heart of palm salad with lentils and some wonderful pita chips and chickpea chips. Very yummy!

Not sure why that ones blurry! LOL

My son John's attempt at photo's with the new camera
We lingered for a while but eventually we all wanted to get up and walk around again.
We went back to our room to relax for a bit and then headed out once again to the pool area.
We had been told that we could use night vision goggles so we found the CM's that were doing this and checked it out. It was really cool! None of us have ever used night vision goggles so we were very impressed. Unfortunately we did not see any animals but we had fun checking out the night time Savannah.

Silly son! LOL

The kids wanted to go swimming again, so once again we headed back to our room to change and back to the pool.
DH was not feeling well at this point so he stayed in the room.

Once the kids were done swimming we headed back to our room to sleep.

Took these photos on the way:

Then off to sleep we went.

Next up: our morning at AKL and transfering to POFQ

 

[Monknmom]

I'm glad that you got to really spend time in the hotel and enjoy it instead of just checking in and heading to the parks! It seems like you guys really liked it! And those pictures of the animals- very nice! I bet that was beautiful when you woke up in the morning to the view!

 

[annmarieda]

What a nice day. AKL is very pretty. I was a bit surprised though at how far out it actually is from everything.

I hope your dh felt better. I know how taxing a flight and first day can be on guys... at least it seems to be on mine.