March 2012: The Year I Almost Survived Spring Break

[Dreamsdocometrue9112]

I'm joining in! I get a feeling this is gonna be a good one

The cliffhangers really got me hooked.

Reading about your Chef Mickey's experience with your husband smiling but the biggest smile on my face. I love seeing people genuinely happy and immersed in the magic...especially ones that "deny" Disney.

Looking forward to reading about the your next day...I hope it wasn't horrible but now I have to find out!

 

[dara00]

that pool looks neat - I hadn't seen picture of it before!

 

[MissPrice]

Hey There I'm joining in....you had me at "I play WOW" lol..me too!! reading the rest now -Amanda

 

[DMGeurts]

In all my chatting - I missed your update! Grrr... If I would just be quiet for a minute... LOL

That pool looks so awesome right now! It looks like the kids had a great time. How far of a walk was it for you to get to the pool?

D~

 

[sjs314]

Enjoyed the update. I love Disney pools at night, not a fan of crowds. It was too chilly for me too in the evenings so I just took pictures this trip.

Your kids looked like they had a goodtime

 

[solana131]

Here's some pictures from my walk.

We packed up our items and walked back to the room... this time I stayed close to DH. He laughed at me, but honestly, I wasn't too thrilled with how poorly lit the island was. It was pretty creepy. I wasn't worried about safety ... but I think I would have had a heart attack of something came out of the bushes to say "hi".

The walkways were the same way at the Poly. I would've been freaked out if I ever went anywhere on my own too. Even with hubby I made sure I kinda scuffed my feet along to scare any little creepy things away. The geckos that were everywhere were cute, but not running up my leg at night!

This first picture makes it look about the same size as the "lake" between Boardwalk/Beach Club. Is the resort really that large?

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Yes, I agree with everyone else...the pictures of the pool at night time are amazing! We never do get around to visiting pools at night. They always look so inviting when we are coming in from parks, but we are always just too tapped out at that point. So sweet, your DH had to be your protector going back to the room that night!

On the topic of DH's, here is my theory: I think my DH started to drink the koolaid early. He has some friends at work who are big Disney fans (man friends). Also our best friends (married couple) are Disney fans too. So therefore, he has many male influences on the Disney front. So for him, he can be a Disney fan and still be cool with his friends!

You ladies need to find some dude friends for your hubbies who can apply a little positive peer pressure!!!

Your teaser line about "WAS going to be" is great. If I am thinking correctly, I may know what you are referring to...must wait and see!

 

[DMGeurts]

Yes, I agree with everyone else...the pictures of the pool at night time are amazing! We never do get around to visiting pools at night. They always look so inviting when we are coming in from parks, but we are always just too tapped out at that point. So sweet, your DH had to be your protector going back to the room that night!

On the topic of DH's, here is my theory: I think my DH started to drink the koolaid early. He has some friends at work who are big Disney fans (man friends). Also our best friends (married couple) are Disney fans too. So therefore, he has many male influences on the Disney front. So for him, he can be a Disney fan and still be cool with his friends!

You ladies need to find some dude friends for your hubbies who can apply a little positive peer pressure!!!

Your teaser line about "WAS going to be" is great. If I am thinking correctly, I may know what you are referring to...must wait and see!

Hmmm... Off to find DH some dude friends...

D~

 

[vyse22]

In and can't wait to read more.

 

[Lidian]

Fun update. I'd be with you with not well lit walkways and critters (especially snakes!).

Looks like the kids were having fun at the pool.

I was really shocked at how poorly lit it was on the island. Around the villages, it was fine ... just the island.

The kids had a blast in the pool and didn't want to get out! They love CBR's pool, but they prefer CSR's slide.

I'm joining in! I get a feeling this is gonna be a good one

The cliffhangers really got me hooked.

Reading about your Chef Mickey's experience with your husband smiling but the biggest smile on my face. I love seeing people genuinely happy and immersed in the magic...especially ones that "deny" Disney.

Looking forward to reading about the your next day...I hope it wasn't horrible but now I have to find out!

I'm not so sure I'd claim it was a "good one" ... but it was our trip and we came home scarred, but we had an absolute blast.

My DH really surprised me. I was so in love that night! I really think CM will be a must-do every year now ... just so I can see that big Goofy grin!

Hoping to get started on the next few updates tonight (after class). And I think everyone's definition of "horrible" is different ... so I'll anxiously await to hear if my day fit your definition.

that pool looks neat - I hadn't seen picture of it before!

The pool was great! The kids talk about the slide at CSR and the pool at CBR. They want a resort that has both combined.

Hey There I'm joining in....you had me at "I play WOW" lol..me too!! reading the rest now -Amanda

So... I have to ask, which server and which side? I run a guild on Scryers (my heart is Horde, but my guild is Alliance).

It's rare for me to meet fellow WoW players who love Disney!

In all my chatting - I missed your update! Grrr... If I would just be quiet for a minute... LOL

That pool looks so awesome right now! It looks like the kids had a great time. How far of a walk was it for you to get to the pool?

D~

D, I don't think you know how to be quiet. And that's good, because it makes you, you!

The walk wasn't bad. I stopped for quite a few (blurry) pictures. I'd say it took less than 10 minutes with my stopping. I should have timed the walk back. It was surely 5 minutes or less. Honestly, I think it was probably quicker to walk to OPR and catch a bus than it was to the Aruba bus stop, but I never clocked it. I just hated the walk to the bus stop.

Enjoyed the update. I love Disney pools at night, not a fan of crowds. It was too chilly for me too in the evenings so I just took pictures this trip.

Your kids looked like they had a goodtime

I'm so not a fan of crowds. And I'm sure there is a body limit to the hot tub, and it was over capacity. People were sitting on people. Ugh. But the kids had a blast, so I just sat with my phone and checked FB, sent some text messages (I had to remind Kouga what time to be where for the week), and played some games.

The walkways were the same way at the Poly. I would've been freaked out if I ever went anywhere on my own too. Even with hubby I made sure I kinda scuffed my feet along to scare any little creepy things away. The geckos that were everywhere were cute, but not running up my leg at night!

This first picture makes it look about the same size as the "lake" between Boardwalk/Beach Club. Is the resort really that large?

Now I don't want to stay at the Poly.

The entire time I was walking... (running) ... back to DH, I kept picturing that scene from the original Parent Trap where the "future step-mom" was tapping the sticks together to scare off the animals. Yeah, I wanted some sticks, too.

The resort is MASSIVE. I don't remember the statistics about it, I'll have to look it up. IIRC, it's the biggest resort on all of WDW property, and it ranks really high as the biggest resort in the world. I'll try to dig out exact numbers later when I'm not trying to get ready for class.

Yes, I agree with everyone else...the pictures of the pool at night time are amazing! We never do get around to visiting pools at night. They always look so inviting when we are coming in from parks, but we are always just too tapped out at that point. So sweet, your DH had to be your protector going back to the room that night!

On the topic of DH's, here is my theory: I think my DH started to drink the koolaid early. He has some friends at work who are big Disney fans (man friends). Also our best friends (married couple) are Disney fans too. So therefore, he has many male influences on the Disney front. So for him, he can be a Disney fan and still be cool with his friends!

You ladies need to find some dude friends for your hubbies who can apply a little positive peer pressure!!!

Your teaser line about "WAS going to be" is great. If I am thinking correctly, I may know what you are referring to...must wait and see!

I'm always too tired as well. We usually close down the parks (or close enough), so we're drained and ready for the beds. But we love the pools on our "free days" ... when we can afford to schedule some. lol

DH's friends all agree with him on WDW ... so ... he's kinda stuck. I'd love for him to make WDW-loving friends, but that's not going to happen.

Hmmm... Off to find DH some dude friends...

D~

G'luck! Lemme know how it goes!

In and can't wait to read more.

Glad you can join us!

 

[johnsonginad]

Your trip is literally right around the corner! I'm so excited for you! I'm anxious to hear all about it. Are you doing any live updates or anything? I'd love to follow along if you do!

I haven't decided if I'm going to do any live updates or not. Right now, DH and I are trying to decide if we want to take the computer, or leave it at home. Too many decisions to make! LOL

Right now, I think we're actually leaning toward leaving the computer at home. I'll be sure to let you know for sure though.

 

[Lidian]

I haven't decided if I'm going to do any live updates or not. Right now, DH and I are trying to decide if we want to take the computer, or leave it at home. Too many decisions to make! LOL

Right now, I think we're actually leaning toward leaving the computer at home. I'll be sure to let you know for sure though.

I always take my laptop, but that's just in case I need to empty out memory cards ... so I was happy that I was actually able to USE it this year since we had FREE WIFI! While waiting for everyone to shower up for bed and dress and such, I'd pop on the DIS and check it out. I did live updates from my phone to FB and text messaging.

Granted, now that I have an iPad, I'm not sure if I'll take my computer next year. I'll probably bring extra memory cards and some way to mark them (so I'll know what is what).

Anxiously waiting to hear about your trip though!!!


P.S. Working on an update momentarily! Grabbing lunch and then will start sorting through pictures and writing things up!. This will be a very long update, and will span over many posts. So you'll probably get multiple updates pretty quick. I'm keeping the Table of Contents updated in case anyone thinks they missed one.

And a Stormy update: He went back to the vet Tuesday for x-rays. The vet says his leg is healing nicely, but was afraid it was still too fragile. They put another cast on him. She was worried the first time he jumped he'd re-break it ... then we'd be back at square one. So he's in a cast for two more weeks, then should be FREE! This means, NO SURGERY!!!!!

 

[solana131]

The entire time I was walking... (running) ... back to DH, I kept picturing that scene from the original Parent Trap where the "future step-mom" was tapping the sticks together to scare off the animals. Yeah, I wanted some sticks, too.

The resort is MASSIVE. I don't remember the statistics about it, I'll have to look it up. IIRC, it's the biggest resort on all of WDW property, and it ranks really high as the biggest resort in the world. I'll try to dig out exact numbers later when I'm not trying to get ready for class.

Parent Trap! That's classic.....I can totally relate after the week walking around the Poly I was never scared and the tiki torches were a great addition to the ambiance, but I just kept picturing those little geckos I guess with the size of CBR, I'm glad we didn't stay there for our first time. Someday.

On a side note and totally in the wrong direction.....

Liddy I just have to tell you. I'm not sure where you wrote it or when or what it was about, but you wrote "Huzzah" once and I thought it was cute. I haven't heard that in a while. Well, Nick Jr (the preschool channel my son watches) came out with a new show called Mike the Knight recently and in every episode they say "Huzzah"! It makes me think of you every time I hear it

Anyway... on with the show

 

[Lidian]

Parent Trap! That's classic.....I can totally relate after the week walking around the Poly I was never scared and the tiki torches were a great addition to the ambiance, but I just kept picturing those little geckos I guess with the size of CBR, I'm glad we didn't stay there for our first time. Someday.

So you were looking for some sticks to bang together, too?

I wasn't scared ... but it was SUPER creepy hearing things rattling in the bushes and only enough light to see where the pathways were on the island!

I think CBR is an amazing, and stunning resort. But it is big, and anyone who goes there must understand it's size. Otherwise, they'll be unhappy and disappointed.

On a side note and totally in the wrong direction.....

Liddy I just have to tell you. I'm not sure where you wrote it or when or what it was about, but you wrote "Huzzah" once and I thought it was cute. I haven't heard that in a while. Well, Nick Jr (the preschool channel my son watches) came out with a new show called Mike the Knight recently and in every episode they say "Huzzah"! It makes me think of you every time I hear it

Anyway... on with the show

I write "huzzah" all the time. It's one of my favorite lines to yell. (And I do yell it quite often.) I haven't heard of the new Nick Jr. show, but we love watching Nick Jr. in our house (just not as much as Disney Jr.). I'll have to check out the show though.

And I'm glad I can leave an impression.

 

[Lidian]

So let me backtrack for one tiny moment ... Remember how at the Super 8 I said I didn't have my flip flops and DD loaned me hers? I meant to type in there that we found them once we arrived to WDW. Someone had tossed them into a bag, so they were packed, and I did wear them for the remainder of the day and DD was able to wear hers.

Okay, back on track.

After a good night's sleep, the alarm went off bright and early. DH was not thrilled. Nor were the kids. But ... we had a big day with lots to do! Making RD was a must today. Plus, we were supposed to meet up with Kouga.

So everyone crawled out of bed and dressed. I checked the weather. Then I double checked. Then I checked DH's phone. Then I turned on the TV. Seriously? The high was only going to be 52? So I made sure the kids were in pants and had their jackets.

Then it was off to OPR for breakfast. We decided to walk (I'm really not sure why, as it didn't make any sense to walk). The entire walk, my teeth are chattering and I'm cursing the weather. I told DH that I was going to buy a sweater or something in the gift shop (as I only had a light sweater). When I saw the prices, I told DH I'd wait and see if it warmed up. lol

So we see all the different stations to order food. We walked to each one and read the menu (as they each had a few different items, but mostly the same). DD wanted an omelette, so I got in line with her. DH took DS and got into a differnet line. We made it through first, so we checked out and grabbed a table.

The Bounty Platter:

DD's omelette:

(I didn't realize she got a CHEESE omelette until she ate most of it. KIDS!)

And the boys got ....

MICKEY WAFFLES!

Review of Bounty Platter:
The eggs were really good (and I don't care for scrambled eggs). The biscuit was "okay", but jelly made it better. I tried to give the bacon away. I'm not a huge bacon fan, but I did try it. I ate half of one slice and was trying to get the other half and the second slice away. The sausage was okay, not great. It was pretty mild, so I was thankful for that. The (hidden) diced potatoes were DELICIOUS! I didn't care much for the French Toast, but it was okay. All in all, I think the food would have been better if it had been WARM. The food was cold, just like the weather.

Review of Cheese Omelette:
DD ate almost all of it. She said it was very good. I don't remember trying it (maybe she ate it all). She didn't like the potatoes ... but I fell in love with them. So I ate hers. lol

Review of Adult Mickey Waffle:
He said it was a really delicious waffle and he was pleasantly surprised! He didn't care much for the bacon either.

Review of Kid's Mickey Waffles:
YUM! DS loved them. He didn't care for the bacon either.

So after we were fed, we cleaned up our mess and walked to the car.

Wait, why are you walking to the car?

Once we got in the car, I'm realizing we should have DROVE to OPR. It would have made more sense. Less walking ... and we'd get plenty of that this week!

So we get in the car and DH hands me his phone. Ugh, not this again. But yes. I get to play Navigator because following road signs is apparently TOO MUCH WORK. Men. lol

Isn't this just an amazing, beautiful picture?

Okay, so not really. But yes, this is how the sky looked. The picture was taken at 8:19 AM. Let's see if it clears up any later in the day.

So I'm navigating to DH so we can get to the park. I'm also worried that we won't make RD. It is VITAL that we make RD. We aren't too far from our destination when I get a text from Kouga saying that he's arrived. We text back and forth about the weather (I blamed him for it -- but there's a story behind him getting the blame -- you see, anytime something bad happens in WoW, we automatically blame Kouga: we failed to defeat a boss, it's Kouga's fault; we fell off the platform, it's Kouga's fault; etc.). Kouga is our residential blame-getter. I even told him that I thought we were friends, and he wasn't supposed to make it cold.

Oh, look! We're almost there!

At this point, I was bouncing in my seat so much (from excitement) that DH told me to settle down or he'd turn the car around. Way to ruin the fun. lol

And then another sign!

We have arrived and it was 8:24 ... the park opens at 9! We made it! Or did we?

First, we had to pay to park.

Ouch, those prices hurt! Comparable to WDW, though, right? We've never paid to park at WDW, since we always stay onsite and take the bus.

Parking was paid and we were directed to the parking garage. For those who have never been to USO / IoA ... a bit of information. They share a parking garage. It's MASSIVE! And today, they had the "roads" marked off with little cones ... and it was super confusing. Actually, it was h____. I'm sure you can fill in that blank. I think DH took a few of the cones out.

So we finally come up on a parking attendant and she instructs us to go down to where everyone was parking. Well, I kind of figured that. But halfway down, one of the attendants stopped us. I told DH he must want to see our receipt for parking. So DH holds it up. At this point, I can only imagine how DH looked holding a receipt up to a window. The guy was shaking his head "no" and I told DH to roll the window down. DUH! What a novel idea, I'm so glad I listen to my wife.

So he rolls the window down and the guy said that he noticed we had disabled tags (remember, it's Dad's SUV we're driving and he has a disabled license plate). I leaned over and explained to the guy that we borrowed the car and we were fine for walking and didn't need disabled parking. The guy was pretty shocked that we were honest. He thanked us a billion times for our honesty (it was a very old gentleman, too). He finally let us go (after a million thanks) to the parking area.

And since we had never been here ... I noticed the signs on the garage ceilings stating to remember where you parked.... So being as Dory-brained as I am, I decided ... take a picture. That way, we could just flip through the camera.

We parked in Spiderman:

We took an elevator up and it came out into this rotunda area. I saw Kouga hugging up next to a post, trying to stay warm. He sees us and about this time, DS's hat flies off. Thankfully a guy behind us stepped on it while walking, so it didn't go far. If he didn't step on it, I wouldn't have caught it. I dusted the hat off and held it for a bit. Kouga comes over and tells us which way to go. (Remember, Kouga is a local and he has APs to IoA and USO).

We talk the moving sidewalks ... which are GENIUS! We walked across them, so we moved even quicker ... but then it got too cold, so we were huddled together and just letting the moving sidewalk do it's thing. It's a very lengthy walk. There's two moving sidewalks that you go across, and they're both very long.

Here's my boys on the moving sidewalks:

I don't know what DH was pointing out to DS ... but DS doesn't seem too interested.

We even went over a Mini Golf course:

~~ You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich....

This is Citywalk:

It's massive! So much to see and do! I took several pictures here across two cameras, so just sharing some.

Here's the USO store:

And then.... there it was ... what I have waited YEARS to see ...

Just moments from now, I'll be immersed into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I've dreamt of this since the first announcement of it being built.

So we get to the ticket queue. Wow ... those ticket vendors, they try to sell you everything under the sun! It took forever. I was sure the park was going to be open before we even got our tickets and it was only around 8:40AM.

So we were next in line, and as soon as the next window opens up and I start to walk towards it, this couple comes out of nowhere and takes my spot. Seriously? What jerks! Wait in line like everyone else. I was livid. And to top it off, they were at the wrong place! They ended up being directed to another window after several minutes of arguing. Ugh.

So we finally get to the window and I very carefully tell her exactly what we want, no frills, no add-ons, no lanyards, NO NOTHING. Just base tickets plzkthxbye. The woman looked at me and said "You've been here before!" Nope, first time here, but I saw how long it takes for people to get tickets after you try to sell them things they don't want or need.

I probably should have kept my mouth shut, because then she proceeded to try to sell me stuff. Ugh. I kept shaking my head and I was starting to get a little ticked. "But these are $8 in the park! I'm going to sell it to you for only $5!" We don't need any lanyards. What would we do with them?

So FINALLY....

We only have 9 minutes to wait for the gates to open. So the kids start playing with the second camera. Going through these pictures... there's about 15 random shots. There's my feet, DD's feet, DH's feet, Kouga's feet, DS's feet, some random person's feet. There's the ground. There's something blurry. You get the picture. Here's the three shots that actually came out decent (that weren't of people's feet):

Kouga:

DS took these next two of me:

There's one of DD and one of DH, but they're so blurry, I couldn't make out what they were. I'm just guessing. lol

They had some sort of pre-show ... I think ... we were on the far Right side of the gate. After a bit, I thought I heard something ... and it was them opening up the park. Not a clue what they looked like, what they did, or anything. I heard a bit of a commotion, then lots of cheering, and the gates opened.

So on that note .... we walked through the gates....

And boy, it was an adventure....

 

[Lidian]

Quick notes:

According to time stamps, it took a little over 10 minutes from the car to the gate (walking without stopping, except to get DS's hat that blew away). It took about 6 minutes to make it through the turn styles to get into the actual park.

More is coming.

 

[DMGeurts]

OMG!!! I've been waiting forever for this update!! ACK!

OK - I love that you're honest too...

Second - I can't believe how cold you all look!!! Holy cow~!

Look at those cute n' cold kiddos...

I am here... I am waiting...

D~

 

[pinkxray]

I'm a little late, but all caught up.

I can't believe that there was no first floor room in CBR I am the opposite way though, I usually request no first floor. Last year for our 1 night stay at Pop, I didn't make a request b/c I figured other people requested the first floor. Guess what we got, first floor

I can't wait to see some more pictures of CBR. We almost stayed there instead of Pop, but cheapness won over.

CM looked like a success. I thought the ravioli was gross too. I think it was too cold and the sauce was

I can't wait to see your day at IOA. I am excited already and you aren't in yet.

The mini golf place looks pretty cool.

 

[Corrine 1973]

I'm here to. I better be carefull because I have been thinking about spending a day there next year. It will all come down to money though. I will be watching your updates with much anticipation.

I must admite that I want to go just because Harry Potter, they were building it when we went in 2009. I am sure the my DD would love the Dr Suess area as well.

So sorry it was so cold this morning, hope it warms up for you.

 

[Lidian]

OMG!!! I've been waiting forever for this update!! ACK!

OK - I love that you're honest too...

Second - I can't believe how cold you all look!!! Holy cow~!

Look at those cute n' cold kiddos...

I am here... I am waiting...

D~

I'm uploading more pics now. I want to get up to lunch today ... that's my goal.

And it was FREEZING! I was so not happy with it.

I'm a little late, but all caught up.

I can't believe that there was no first floor room in CBR I am the opposite way though, I usually request no first floor. Last year for our 1 night stay at Pop, I didn't make a request b/c I figured other people requested the first floor. Guess what we got, first floor

I can't wait to see some more pictures of CBR. We almost stayed there instead of Pop, but cheapness won over.

CM looked like a success. I thought the ravioli was gross too. I think it was too cold and the sauce was

I can't wait to see your day at IOA. I am excited already and you aren't in yet.

The mini golf place looks pretty cool.

I don't mind if there are elevators ... but stairs are a huge issue on my hips (speaking of which, I'm waiting on the doctor's office to call back about my hip x-rays to see how much more damage has been done since I'm struggling with the stairs at school, too). If they had elevators, I wouldn't care what floor (and would probably prefer non-ground so I can get better views).

I hear ya on cheapness! 2013 discounts pending ... we'll do a value. If we can get FD again, we'll move to a mod. But if we're going on little or no discount, then it will be a value!

My ravioli was warm, but yes, the sauce was just awful! The cheese in it wasn't too horrible ... but still bad.

I agree, the Mini Golf place did look really neat!

Don't worry, as soon as these pics finish uploading, I'll get to go in the park.

I'm here to. I better be carefull because I have been thinking about spending a day there next year. It will all come down to money though. I will be watching your updates with much anticipation.

I must admite that I want to go just because Harry Potter, they were building it when we went in 2009. I am sure the my DD would love the Dr Suess area as well.

So sorry it was so cold this morning, hope it warms up for you.

Fingers are crossed your money will be good enough so you can make at least a one day visit. Your DD will love Suess Landing! My DS could have stayed there all day if I let him.