May 2011: The Year of Surprises! [TR]

[Lidian]

For those who may not know who we are ... Let's get some introductions rolling!

Let's start with ... me I guess. Why do I have to always go first?

32 year old mom of two. I stay home with the kids while DH works. I absolutely love Disney. No one in my family "gets it" like I do. Not even the kids. They'd be happy with any amusement park with rides, but not me. It's WDW all the way baby! I can't imagine not going every year.

My favorite park is DHS. I have too many favorite rides/shows to list them all. I'm a thrill seeker, but I'm terrified of ToT. I love the shows and parades.

Up next is DH

He's 30 and dislikes Disney - but once down there, he usually gets into the magic. The biggest thing I can say about him is that he loves us so much, he'd be miserable for a week just to make us happy!

He has no loves at Disney, but he tolerates Epcot and DHS the best out of the parks. Well, AK as well. His least favorite park is MK - but loves the educational values of EP and AK - and he's a geek - so he loves Star Wars at DHS.

Then we have DD

She's 9 and loves Princesses and Pirates (of the Caribbean). She helped so much with the planning the past two years, I was lost without her this year. She's very knowledgeable about WDW and has learned the thrills of rides. Her favorite ride is Tower of Terror.

Her favorite park is MK, her favorite character is Tinkerbell (and princesses and all the others ), and her favorite show is the Move It Shake It Celebrate It Street Party.

Last, but not least, we have DS

He's 5 and he knows EVERYTHING! He's a daddy's boy, so he prefers to shadow DH more than me.

His favorite park is MK or AK. His favorite ride is the MK RR - granted last year, he adored BTMRR - only because he thought it was a real RR. His favorite character is Donald, but he did ask this year if we would meet Tinkerbell (we'll discuss this later).

Now that you know who we are ... you can perhaps understand our craziness just a bit.

Up next, the kids first surprise: a trip to WDW!

 

[Lidian]

That's not good. I was afraid it was the resort. I'm glad you caught up on some good sleep.

No, it wasn't the resort at all! I didn't sleep at the off-site hotel either. I think it was just stuff on my mind or something. I dunno. Perhaps I was missing my kitty.

Hi! I'm going to join in for your TR!

Good to have you!

 

[KatMark]

Great intros. Your kids are adorable. I can now see the craziness; thankfully, I have a hubby who loves Disney as much (if not more) than me.

 

[Lidian]

Great intros. Your kids are adorable. I can now see the craziness; thankfully, I have a hubby who loves Disney as much (if not more) than me.

Thank you Kathy!

I just posted my CSR review on the FAQ thread. And I don't mind that DH doesn't adore Disney ... so long as he adores me enough to do what I want.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Joining in! I didn't get the chance to follow your PTR but I look forward to the trip report.

I was there the same time as you, also staying at CSR, maybe we passed each other and didn't know it.

 

[PixieMama]

Great start... I can't wait to hear how the surprise went down!!

 

[mtgirl29]

Subbing. Cannot believe I didn't make the first page. I am here now. Cannot wait to read more!

 

[Lidian]

Joining in! I didn't get the chance to follow your PTR but I look forward to the trip report.

I was there the same time as you, also staying at CSR, maybe we passed each other and didn't know it.

I loved your pics on the CSR FAQ thread! I checked for myself, but I didn't wander in front of your camera.

Our room was in the same building - we had 5344. I'm headed over to your TR right now!

Great start... I can't wait to hear how the surprise went down!!

Hoping to get the video posted soon! It was cute. Not commercial-like, but it was cute anyway!

Subbing. Cannot believe I didn't make the first page. I am here now. Cannot wait to read more!

Some friend you are.
Glad you're here! (You have a good excuse for missing page 1, so I'll allow it this time! Have a blast and ride Star Tours an extra time for me tomorrow!!)

 

[lovethattink]

In meeting your husband, I would have never known he didn't like the Magic Kingdom. He always had a smile on his face, even when he got deserted from us! He must have been excited for the kid's excitement!

I love your family and look forward to reading on!

 

[taylor91]

Joining in, looking forward to reading more

 

[dtr_angel]

I'm here!

 

[Lidian]

In meeting your husband, I would have never known he didn't like the Magic Kingdom. He always had a smile on his face, even when he got deserted from us! He must have been excited for the kid's excitement!

I love your family and look forward to reading on!

He loathes MK! But he adores me and the kids, so he does his best to keep his happy face on. Plus, he just had a Dole Whip.

Joining in, looking forward to reading more

Glad to have you along!

I'm here!

YAY you're here!


Today, I'm going to work on getting the video uploaded and start on arrival day.

 

[MickeyLuvrLauren]

Can't wait to hear more about your trip! I'm in!

 

[Lidian]

Can't wait to hear more about your trip! I'm in!

Nice to have you!

 

[jm106]

Wow, you were quick! Hope it was great, looking forward to hearing about it all.

 

[Lidian]

Third time's a charm?

I'm getting really tired of my browser crashing and losing this post ... so forgive me if the pictures don't match up at first. I'll fix it later.

Let me start off by saying ... the kids had no clue we were going back to WDW - ever. Not an inkling. Sure, we talk about how I'd love to go back, but they didn't know that we planned a trip for this year.

In January, DH finally gave me the green light to plan a trip back to WDW. So once our income tax return came back, I booked and paid off a trip using the Kids Stay & Play promotion for a trip 5/22-5/27 at POP.

Once the Free Dining pins came out in March, I ran the numbers and my math showed we'd save with FD. (My math was wrong, btw, but the price difference was less than $20.) Once I showed DH numbers, he said we could upgrade to a moderate resort and chose CSR. I really had my heart set on POFQ, but he really wanted CSR. So since I was just thankful for more space and a better pool, I agreed to CSR. I wanted to try them all out anyway, so we would have stayed at CSR sooner or later.

Now came the biggest issue. How do we surprise the kids with the trip? Since DH's bestie (Ben) was getting married on 5/21 - and thus delayed the start of our trip a bit since DH was Best Man - we started to come up with a game plan. Ben was getting married and he was moving away. The kids knew this. However, they didn't know what kind of time line the move was on, nor did they know where he was moving to. So DH and I decided that the best way to get the kids in the car for 9+ hours was to tell them we had to help Ben move.

Saturday, after the wedding, I told the kids we were helping Ben move. DD9 immediately threw a fit and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to find someone to keep her while we went. She begged my cousin, my dad, and my mom to let her stay with them while we helped. Each time, she was shot down. Mom did finally convince her to calm down about it by stating that if by Sunday evening she was miserable with helping Ben move, she'd come get DD. DD agreed, and promised to be calling Sunday night for a ride back home. Mom felt it was a safe promise to make, as she was sure that once DD realized it was a Disney trip, she'd be okay.

I tried to keep the kids up as late as possible, so they'd sleep more in the car and not drive us nuts. They both went out around 11pm. At 1:30am, I woke the kids and had them potty and grab their lovies. DD was concerned with medicine and clothes, but I let her know that I had everything taken care of, so it was just lovies they needed to worry about.

The kids slept most of the night and was up around 7am. We stopped at a McDonald's for breakfast. At this point, I am frustrated with the cigarette lighter in dad's SUV. (Dad loaned us his SUV for the trip, so we didn't have to take my tiny car.) I ended up calling dad after 9am to ask what I was doing wrong, since it wouldn't work. My phone was nearly dead, and the kids were wanting to watch a movie. Dad didn't know, but we assume a fuse had been blown. (It worked last year when we borrowed dad's SUV.)

So I'm going into withdrawals because I can't use my phone, and the kids are restless as they've run out of things to do. Then came the whining. DD wanted to call mamaw NOW as she was already over helping Ben move. DS was getting cranky and loud. Then the "are we there, yet" phrase creeped in. The kids had always done well in the car, but this year, they were cranky and not patient. (This was understandable, since it was for something they didn't want to do.)

When I knew we were getting close, I pulled out my video camera. I thought I had more time before we saw the signs, but the kids piped up, excited to see them.

Forgive my video shooting, DS is mostly cut out. I was focused more on watching the kids than watching the screen. I wanted to enjoy the moment.



As you can see, DD didn't believe us. After I shut off the camera, I handed them the Birnbaum Kids guide so they could look through it. They had some questions about the resort, so I pulled out the regular Birnbaum and showed them the CSR page.

When we arrived, we checked in with security. After passing up the left turn into the parking area, we circled around. The guard was not amused and was kind of hateful about telling us it was our first left. We almost passed it again, as it was hard to see - especially when having to watch for other cars and people, and trying to take in the beautiful sights!

We parked and walked in. There was lines everywhere. Since I did online check-in, I headed there first. We stood in line for over 10 minutes before the next CM was able to help us. She said our room wasn't ready, and I asked if my requests had been met. She said our room was in Casitas 5, 4th floor. I asked if Casitas 4, 1st floor was available and she checked. She said she had nothing available in C4 or C5 on the first floor, but could move us to a ready room in C5 on the 3rd floor. So we had our room assignment, 5344. We headed back to the SUV to find our room and unload.

As we drove around to the rooms, we was a bit confused by the gate. The CM told us we'd have to stop at a security gate, but our card would let us in. It was open. It wasn't very reassuring.

We finally found our room. I was very sad to not see a towel Mickey on the bed. It was the first time we've walked into a room without a towel Mickey and a towel animal somewhere (usually in the window or holding the pen). It just didn't feel right - very ... unDisney. It wasn't anything to make or break a stay, but at this point, I felt more like we were at a Holiday Inn than a Disney resort.

We unloaded the car and decided it was time for lunch. We were exhausted from the drive and wasn't sure how long the walk would be, we decided to drive to the main building for lunch at Pepper Market.

There was some confusion with our server. She said that all of the kids beverages could be picked up at the Kid Station. Once we got to the Kid Station and ordered, we learned that not to be accurate. We never saw our server again, but we was able to flag down another server and get DD a soda. She had completely finished her meal by this time, so I was very unhappy with the lack of service we received ... but I knew it was just an issue with the server, and not the restaurant - as I saw other servers who were attentive to their tables.

And before you ask, yes, I did take some food pictures. Enjoy!

DD had the spaghetti and meatballs. It included a bag of chips, a quarter of an orange, and a chocolate chip cookie. She did not like the meatballs at all. She said there was something wrong with them. I tasted one and it was fine. It tasted more like pork than beef (I'm really not sure if it was a pork meatball or a beef one, but it just had a porky flavor to it). I thought it was good, anyway. But she refused to eat the meatballs. She ate all of her noodles and sauce, along with her chips, her orange, and DS's orange.

DS had the mac'n cheese. It included a bag of chips, a quarter of an orange, and a cookie as well. DS was more excited about being in Disney than eating, so he kind of picked at his food. He did eat his chips and both his cookie and DD's.

DH had the steak burrito. He said it was good, and he cleaned his plate. It included a side of rice and beans.

I had the steak fajitas. It included rice and beans, as well as sour cream and guacamole. The fajitas were soooo yummy. And I could eat the guacamole all day! I didn't care much for the rice and beans, but I did clean my plate outside of that.

DH went to grab out desserts while I sat with the kids and went over the plans for the week. He returned with a Strawberry Shortcake for himself and some type of Oreo cake for me. I just requested something chocolatey. One of the kids (DS, I think) swiped my Oreo, but the cake was very yummy! DH said the Strawberry Shortcake was one of the best he had in a long time.

After lunch, we drove back to the room and changed into bathing suits. I had planned for DH to take a nap while I took the kids to the pool, but DH wanted to swim. So we all walked down to the pool.

We loved, loved, loved this pool. Granted, I was kind of grossed out by it Sunday. I found several bandaids floating in the water. Gross!!! It was a turn off, and I did get out of the pool after the 3rd one. It didn't phase DH, so him and the kids stayed in. I went back to the room and took a shower since we planned on heading to MK for the evening. I was just finishing straightening my hair when DH and the kids walked in. We tossed them into the shower to rinse the chlorine off and then dressed to head off to MK.

Up next, our evening at MK!

 

[Lidian]

Wow, you were quick! Hope it was great, looking forward to hearing about it all.

Yay, you're here! When are you going to get yours started?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Your story about the surprise is too funny as was the video. Way to go with keeping it a secret!

Too bad about there not being a Mickey Head Towel in the room, guess it is luck of the draw with who your mousekeeper is.

I wasn't too happy with the gate being open all the time either. Anybody could have driven back there, not very secure although I suppose anybody could take a bus into the resort as well... I was also annoyed that the convention guests took up all the parking by our building.

 

[Lidian]

Your story about the surprise is too funny as was the video. Way to go with keeping it a secret!

Too bad about there not being a Mickey Head Towel in the room, guess it is luck of the draw with who your mousekeeper is.

I wasn't too happy with the gate being open all the time either. Anybody could have driven back there, not very secure although I suppose anybody could take a bus into the resort as well... I was also annoyed that the convention guests took up all the parking by our building.

Thanks! I was kind of stunned when DD asked me to pinky-promise her that we were going.

Must be, because I do recall seeing towel animals in most windows. I remember this, because I checked my window one day. Nothing. The kids did ask several times where their towel animal was, and I had to explain to them that it was just a plus if we got one.

And yeah, it did give a feeling of insecurity ... but I didn't think about it too much - especially since I didn't recall seeing a gate at any other resort either. Just the security guard gate. And yeah, anyone could ride the bus, or even follow a car into the gated area. But with Disney, I do always feel safer than I would if it was any other place.

Sorry that you had issues with convention guests taking up parking. We parked not far from the entrance to the elevator in C5 and left it there until it was time to go - we used the buses everytime we went somewhere.

Speaking of conventions, I did offend a CM. I saw some convention guests as we were paying at PM our first day. I commented how terrible it would be to come to WDW to work. The CM thought I meant being employed by WDW - and I just meant having to sit in meetings instead of going to the parks. (Granted, I'd take a business trip to WDW anyday if it got me down there - it would just suck to be on property and not being able to play.)

I did have to explain to the CM what I meant, but she still gave me the evil eye as we walked off.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Speaking of conventions, I did offend a CM. I saw some convention guests as we were paying at PM our first day. I commented how terrible it would be to come to WDW to work. The CM thought I meant being employed by WDW - and I just meant having to sit in meetings instead of going to the parks. (Granted, I'd take a business trip to WDW anyday if it got me down there - it would just suck to be on property and not being able to play.)

I did have to explain to the CM what I meant, but she still gave me the evil eye as we walked off.

Oops!