Mom, I Got a Bad Pig - our Sept 2013 Trip Report

[texasroni75]

Here I sit nearly 3 months after our amazing 7th trip to Walt Disney World. I had written and posted a huge Pre-trip report, with glorious ambitions of having a cupcake a day on our Free Dining Plan. Well, let me just say that I failed my mission horribly. On the good side, though, the trip itself was a huge success, even if a lot of my plans were sidetracked. Our “go with the flow” attitude helped avoid some headaches and overall I couldn't be happier with our trip.

That said, I hereby cancel out our Pre-trip report and am posting my Completed Trip Report with a new format, new title (which will make sense on Day 2 in the Parks), and lots and lots of pictures. We took over 800 but I managed to narrow it down for the report!

Ok, where do I start again? Let's do some intros:


Who:

Me (38) – Disney-mad Mom of 4 kids – After working 15 years in the IT field, I'm now a stay-at-home mom who just started back at college on a totally new career plan.


DH (42) [No Picture because hubby was being Grumpy, but I've got him in a bunch of group photos later on.] Loves Disney too but not nearly as much as me!

DD(12) My sweetheart who is now too big for Princess stuff but is now my thrill-ride buddy in the parks.



DS(9) Loves, loves, loves Star Wars and MATH (where did he get that from!?!) He was so brave this trip, going on all the thrill rides he was tall enough for!


DS(2 – who hadn't quite turned 2 yet at the time our journey). My baby. He has some developmental delays and sensory issues, and he doesn't talk yet, but he lets you know what he likes and doesn't like. We have watched Chicken Little and Toy Story about 200 times in the last 6 months at his request.


Oldest DD is 18 but she didn't join us due to college commitments. She would have loved to come but her schedule just wouldn't allow it.

When: September 15 – 21 2013

Where: All-Star Movies Resort


Why: Well, because we love WDW! But we were also celebrating a few things. DS's 2nd birthday and 1st visit, our 7th family trip to WDW, and DH and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary this year.

 

[texasroni75]

THE PLAN!

A 17 hour roadtrip from Central Texas to WDW, split up over 2 days.

Travel Day 1:

Our plan was to leave Friday September 13 as soon as the kids got out of school, so that we could miss rush hour traffic through Houston.

What really happened: Had the truck packed, gassed up, and ready to go on time. But, DH decided to stop and pay our cellphone bill in person on the way. What??? We've paid it online a zillion times, but I guess the travel anxiety made him worry our phones would be turned of mid-trip due to a payment glitch or something. So, ACROSS TOWN we headed to pay the bill. Through our town's Friday late afternoon traffic. By the time it's paid, it's nearly 5pm. The kids are hungry. We stop for our very first roadtrip meal. Burger King. I try a french fry burger, and it isn't as good as I think it's going to be (I love burgers and fries, but it turns out that smooshed together, not so much!).

Finally, the kids and DH are full and we are on our way to Beaumont, TX. It's a four-hour drive and it's 5:30pm now. The GPS points us right back towards our house, and DH starts to question the directions. UGH! I tell him, nicely, that the directions I have written down and the GPS are in conflict, so let's take my written directions, as I know they are right. (Our GPS can sometimes point us in a much longer route – which is why I have the written directions – the GPS is really just for detours and as backup). DH grumbles, and listens to me, but I can tell he's thinking I don't know what I'm talking about. NOTE: We find out on the drive back that my directions were, in fact, much better than the GPS route. Hah!

So, after wiping the kids' hands off from the BK grease, I hand out their tablets and headphones, and turn on Chicken Little DVD for youngest DS and we begin the real drive.




We make excellent time, and we arrive in Beaumont around 8:30pm. We decided not to book our hotels on the road ahead of time because the savings wasn't significant, and randomly choose a Super 8 and get a great rate using our AAA discount. I did full hotel reviews on Yahoo travel, so I won't go into major detail here with my impressions. But, overall it's a beautiful, very clean room and I am happy with our choice.



Me and the kids shower while DH goes out to get Jack In the Box for himself and shakes for the kids. Not the healthiest of choices but it's literally a 2 minute walk from the hotel. I'm still full from the Burger King, so I decline to eat again. The kids eat, and everyone sleeps well.

 

[texasroni75]

Day 2:

We are up and ready to go by 8:00am, and hop in the truck. We decide to stop for fast food again, as the kids are begging for McDonald's hashbrowns, and those are one of the few things our youngest will eat (he has some sensory issues and he's quite picky about food). I'm still not hungry, so I just get an orange juice. DH just has coffee, and the kids have sausage mcmuffins and hashbrowns.

We hit Louisiana about 9:20. Why do I remember the time so well? Well, just a mile or so past the “Welcome” sign, DH gets pulled over for speeding. He doesn't argue – he knows he was going too fast In fact, he and the State Trooper have what seems to be a jovial conversation at the side of the freeway for about 10 minutes – DH takes his ticket, and we are on the road again – a bit slower this time! The new theme for conversation with DH on the road was “the limit is 60 here”, and “slow it down a little”.

Pictures of the lovely bayou.



I'd like to note that our drive down we encountered thousands of love bugs. I had researched going to WDW in September so thoroughly that I was prepared to see them. DH and the kids however, were kind of grossed out by them. Every stop for gas, bathroom or food, there were swarms of them. We had to scrub our windshield at least 20 times on our drive to FL. They don't just wash off with windshield washer fluid...they stick like tree sap. And ruined nearly every attempt to take pictures from the front passenger seat during the roadtrip. But, hey, at least they don't bite.

We get to Mississippi at around 1:30pm. (Note the smooshed bugs on the windshield ruining my picture!)



And Alabama about an hour later.

We end up reaching Tallahassee on Day 2 at around 7pm – but we are all exhausted. Did I mention my big blunder in my roadtrip plan?! I spent countless hours mapping this trip out, only to neglect the TIME ZONE CHANGE partway through FL. DUH! So, we lost an hour of travel time on our way there. The good thing is, we gained an hour coming back. But I felt like a bonehead for forgetting the time difference. Live and Learn.

So, we are in Tallahasse, and the kids want to get out of the car. We pick a hotel that looks ok from the outside. Bad choice. DH books the room without looking at it because he's so tired, and it was a big mistake. We lug our luggage up to the 3rd floor only to find a room that hasn't been updated since 1985 and despite being a smoke-free room, smells like an ashtray. The linens are clean though, so I proclaim “no showers here”, and sleep. We all wake up smelling like cigarettes, but we don't care because we know we are going to get to our final destination in just a few hours!

 

[texasroni75]

Day 1 in the parks: (Day 3 of trip)

Up and out of stinky-town, and drive the last 4 hours to our resort. We have to stop several times again to scrub the windshield, which slows us down a bit. We wanted to check in at 10am so we could park-hop even if our room wasn't ready. But, we end up arriving at 11:50.

Picture ruined by bugs again!



And finally!!! (Taken out the side window to avoid bug guts!)



We are so happy! It's actually pretty hot outside, but not nearly as hot as at home (we had weather in the 100s at home at the time). We get inside to check in and I instantly regret not doing online check-in.



DH gets in line with our paperwork and I take the kids for a snack and to run around a little.



Head back to DH, he's still in line, not even halfway now. So I tell the kids to walk youngest DS around.




Snacks are finished, kids are tired of walking around, and DH STILL is not to the front of the line. I pass the time by making the kids pose for pics.


About an hour after we arrive, DH finally gets us checked in, our room is ready early! YAY! And DS gets his birthday and first visit buttons and a balloon. We are in the Mighty Ducks section, and we drive and park basically across from the All-Star Music bus stop. We end up taking their bus to and from the parks most days because it's so much closer to our room than the ASMovies buses. We hurry and unload our luggage – and I forget to take pics of the room before it's messed up. But, I did take pics of the door and window later in the trip.

We were in Building #2, Room #2953.



I later decorated our window with a few things we brought from home. I didn't put up our lights that I brought because I forgot to bring an extension cord and my light starndes were just too darn short!



We had a parking lot view – but we didn't care. We were just using the room to sleep and shower.

View to the right:



View to the left:



The Mighty Ducks pool was super-cute, but we almost never saw anyone in it. Most people used the Fantasia pool near the main building.

Everything was clean, didn't look run-down, and was just like we remember from our stay in 1999.
But, we were hungry for lunch and headed to our first park of the trip.....

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS!



I took a ton of pictures along the way, but we didn't do any attractions yet because we were HUNGRY!
We stopped at Studio Catering Company, and used our very first meal credits on our Free QS Dining Plan.

Here's what 2 adult meals and 1 Child meal looked like:



DH was AMAZED at how much food we got. Everything was delicious! It was honestly one of the top meals we had during our stay. We compared all others to it. Whether it's just because we were starving, or whether the food was just pretty darn good there, we'll never know!

Once we were full, we headed to our very first attraction of the trip.

MUPPETS!



A favorite in our family. Not just because of the new movie (which I haven't seen yet!), but because I grew up watching them and the kids and I regularly watch the Great Muppet Caper on DVR.
Oh, and can you tell how NOT CROWDED the park was this day? There were like 3 strollers parked at Muppets. We pretty much walked on whatever we wanted that first day.

We then head to Star Tours (which is SO much better now – hadn't been on it since they renovated it), and Indiana Jones. But the show started already so we miss it. Did get some more great pictures just outside. Again, totally empty of other people!





We head over to Sunset Blvd and me and DD get on Tower of Terror. It's starting to drizzle a little but nothing requiring a poncho.



Note that just outside the exit to TOT is the BEST frozen cappuchino in the parks. You can't use snack credits for them, and they are $5, but they are SOOOOO good. We probably bought a dozen this trip. Even our two-year-old likes them!

We spend a little more time on the attractions, and we decide it's time to start thinking about dinner. We have never eaten at Pizza Planet in all our other visits, so we decide to head over there. By the time we get there (completely across the park!), we find it JUST CLOSED! Boooo! So we look at the maps and event times, and decide to go to Catalina Eddies (all the way back across the park!) since they have pizza too. We get there, and the lines are short. Our meal looked like this:



Two adult pizza meals and one kids meal. Again, we were starving but the food really did taste good. I'm originally from NJ and I'm pretty picky about pizza – but these were really tasty. We end up with a TON of food left over that we just don't have the room for. It's the end of Day 1 and we haven't used ANY snack credits and and still have 2 adult credits for the day unused. Wow! DH and I are impressed so far with the Dining Plan.

We do a few more attractions and decide it's time to head back to our room to unpack, shower and SLEEP. Again, I forget to take pictures of the room.

 

[texasroni75]

Day 2 in the parks: (Day 4 of trip)



We are up and dressed and ready for breakfast by 7:00. Now, I had ambitions of being up this early every day, but we only made park opening ONCE the entire trip. But, because crowds were so low, we really didn't need to be there at opening anyway.

DD loved her Micky toiletries and packed them away each day so she could get more from Mousekeeping. She has a small shoebox FULL of them at home now!



We stopped along the way to the food court to take some pictures of the Dalmation section (where we stayed in 1999 and were a tiny family of 3). I have a picture of my now 18 year old when she was just 4 in this very same spot and it made me all emotional to be right back there with 3 more kids!!



DH had picked up our refillable mugs the night before, so we filled them up with no problem at the drink area. I had brought a big container of breakfast foods and planned to supplement our breakfasts with that stuff, but it just didn't work out that way since everyone wanted Mickey waffles every – single – day! I paid for breakfast Out of Pocket because I felt it was more cost-effective to use our dining credits for lunch and dinner. Looking back at how many dining credits we had left the last 2 days, we could have gotten by just fine using credits for breakfast too. I know better for next time!! So, anyway, we got:



and



Plus our mugs (kids got hot chocolate most days), I got minute maid, and DH got coffee.

We ate, went back to the room to clean the mugs and leave them behind. Bathroom break and then off to the buses. As mentioned before, we walked to the All-Star Music buses because it was way closer from our room.

On the bus.....DH looks mad but he just can't help from doing the tough-guy face for every picture!




Today we were headed to EPCOT! And this is what it looked like upon arrival...they were just about to open.



Once inside we took our obligatory Spaceship Earth photo. Every day at Epcot turned into about 5 or 6 rides on this. The kids just loved it.



Even with lines at the gate, the park was pretty desolate. We headed to the Land – intending to go on Soarin' – but we got sidetracked by Nemo and the Seas.





DH took the older kids and I let youngest DS out of his stroller to run around. He loved the “Mine Mine” birds. By the time they were done, we headed to Soarin' and picked up some Fastpasses for later.

Then we headed to the World Showcase. It was early, and still pretty empty.



But it was warm, so we stopped by the splashpad.



We sat in the shade and watched the kids play until we noticed our toddler was shivering. I changed him into dry diaper and pants and we were off. We stopped at a restroom and DS found the woodchips to be a lot of fun.



It was almost 11am now, so we headed over to Mexico...where we browsed the shop and took a ride on the Gran Fiesta Tour. The kids were hungry, so we stopped at La Cantina for some tacos. They were AWESOME!!!! Not a fan of the caramel sauce, but the churros were fresh and sweet enough without it. We know our Mexican food, and it did not disappoint – very authentic and close to homemade flavors.

Again, we did 2 adult credits and 1 child credit.



I don't know what DD was talking about here, but I loved this picture because it captures her rambling chatty personality!



I love the new seating area and setup. It's very different from the last time we were here (2009). The view was so pretty!



After eating and chatting – we decided to backtrack and head towards Canada.





We didn't stay for the movie, but did wander in and look at the maple syrup and goodies in the store.
I still haven't eaten at Le Celier, because I never seem to snag a convenient reservation time.

A view of the gardens.



I was definitely more on my game with the picture taking this day because I have about 4 times the amount of pictures from this day compared to the previous day. It's taking forever to go through them, and SO many of them are good! But I can't post 'em all here, so...I'm working on narrowing them down so I don't bore everyone to sleep.

Next up: The UK

 

[texasroni75]

DAY 2 in the Parks (continued)



After watching the improv group outside the Rose & Crown, the men decided they had hot, tired feet and needed a rest...



After letting their dogs breathe for a while, we made our way across the International Gateway to France.




We stopped at Boulangerie Patisserie for the most disappointing dessert of the trip. I didn't even take photos. We got the Napolean and the Chocolate Eclair. DISGUSTING. I'm not exagerrating. The cream was just awful. I could have cried, since this was the dessert I loved most on previous trips and I had been dreaming of having these. What a disapointment! We left, passing some more areas being set up for Food & Wine Festival (which started a few days after we went home).



Then Morocco …



Some rainclouds were moving overhead, but we didn't think too much about it...



We took the ferry across to try and catch Soarin' in time for our Fastpasses...






But we missed it by about 10 minutes. So, we backtracked over to Morocco to eat. I could see the clouds building, so I grabbed a table inside for us while DH ordered.

We got



and



DD realized that the baklava that comes with all adult meals has walnuts. She has a mild walnut allergy so she couldn't try them. They weren't that great anyway so she didn't miss much. But, the staff overheard us and brought her a water bottle in place of her dessert – which was very thoughtful!

By the time we started digging in to our shwarma platters (which were AWESOME!)....the skies opened up and dumped rain on everyone outside. Crowds formed around where we were sitting, but we didn't mind – we totally understood and were thankful we weren't outside when it started. Even the tables with umbrellas were getting SOAKED!

We finished up our meal (again with a TON of food left – we just couldnt' fit it all in our bellies!). We put on our ponchos and headed over to Italy.



It was still pouring so me and the kids found a bench while DH window-shopped in Italy's stores. Too many breakables for me to feel comfortable dragging the kids in there. Besides, they weren't interested in any of it!




The rain finally let up enough to start walking again, passing up Germany, and stopping to make some music!



Can you tell DD was tired of posing for me?!



We circled around to Norway again where we had an AWESOME troll horn.


We took the ferry back over to France for a bit but decided to finally call it a night well before Illuminations. A few rides on Spaceship Earth, glow sticks around their necks, and we took our bus back to the resort. We filled up our mugs at the food court, and the kids decided they wanted ice cream. I couldn't even look at at it! But we had a ton of snack credits to use so DH endulged them. Aftwards, a walk back to the room and went to bed.

 

[texasroni75]

Day 3 in the parks (Day 5 of the trip) – The day we (sort of) lost a kid!

Finally – our Magic Kingdom day! I picked this day for MK as it was supposed to be the lowest crowds. Welll....I dont' think we truly had a low-crowd day at MK during our trip. But it wasn't awful.

First up – breakfast – (OOP)



We arrived at the park around 9:30am. We got to see a little bit of a show on the way in...



And I was really enjoying the Fall decorations. I've never been to WDW in the Fall so this was a real treat.



Unfortunately, the big ugly crane was ruining our photo ops this day. We did get a few later on the trip without it though.



Matching Minnie shirts today!



We decided to head to Tomorrowland, and DH and the older kids walked right on to BuzzLightyear's Spaceranger Spin.



Younger DS and I walked over to the concrete seats near the exit and facing Carousel of Progress (which we sadly did not get to go on this trip!). While sitting there, the Castmember running the toy kiosk saw my son's birthday button and gave him some stickers. He was so excited, and he kept trying to pick up any stickers he saw on the ground to stick them to his shirt for the rest of the trip.



After BuzzLightyear, we hopped onto the TTA (PeopleMover). Why did I forget that a big portion of the ride is in the dark!? Youngest DS was NOT having it. He cried for most of the ride. Bad mommy!

 

[texasroni75]

Next we headed towards Tomorrowland Speedway, but we had to stop at the misting station outside of Space Mountain first.



Here's the part of the trip that took a few years off my life and gave me probably a hundred new grey hairs. DH took the older kids on Tomorrowland Speedway while younger DS and I sat across from Cosmic Rays and hung out playing with bubbles. I watched the line to make sure I was over at the Grandstand to take pictures of everyone in their cars. I got there just in time to get pictures of all three of them, and then went back by Cosmic Ray's to wait.



About 10 minutes later I look over by the exit and see DH and DD with worried looks on their faces. I walked over and asked what was going on. They lost DS! He was ahead of them in his car, and when they got off he was nowhere to be found. I panicked! I looked left, right, strapped younger DS in his stroller and ran off in the direction of the misting station thinking DS might have walked there looking for us. Not there!

I ran back to the Speedway, when all of a sudden DS comes out the exit looking red and upset. It turns out that DS wasn't so great at controlling his car, and he drove up too far past the unloading area when he completed his lap. So, a Castmember got in with him and drove him around one more time. It was a huge relief, but DH was livid. I calmed him down and said this was a good lesson for all of us to remind the kids each and every time we split up for an attraction that if we can't see each other to wait there – don't wander off! Sigh. That drama over, we decided to head to the new Fantasyland area.

The kids and DH went on Barnstormer while I took the youngest to the new Casey Jr splash area. This was new for us, and we loved it!



But, I made a mistake. DH was still cranky from the Speedway incident and when he found us by the splash station, he pointed out that I had neglected to put on our toddler's water shoes, and his regular sneakers were soaked. My bad! I was so caught up in him enjoying the water I totally forgot. So, we had to take his socks and shoes off, and put a new dry pair of socks on with his sneakers. DH was so mad at me, that we sat in different areas of the train to Frontierland.



Once in Frontierland, we noticed the kids were getting red in the face and droopy, so we decided we needed to cool them down. We stood in the shade just past Pecos Bill's while DH ran to a kiosk to get a drink.



We then got to see some entertainment on our way over to lunch.



And a surprise Peter Pan and Wendy sighting! (I didn't get my camera out fast enough to catch their faces.)



We let the kids get on the carousel first, and then walked across to Pinnochio Village House to look at the menu outside to see if DH saw anything he liked. So, lunch snafu and minor annoyance occurs. There is a lot of construction going on over there. A huge area of the restaurant is enclosed with scrims. So, we stop at the door that has a menu on it (knowing it's an exit but wanted to see the menu). Immediately a Castmember stationed there yells at us that we can't go in there. Yes, yelled. I'm sure she was aggravated because people try to walk in there all the live long day. But, jeez! I kindly responded that we just wanted to see the menu. DH saw some good stuff on there, so we decided to make the long trek around to eat. Finally we get there (and we are quite hungry by now!), only to be yelled at again! The Castmembers at the entrance scolded us about our stroller. Now, I hadn't even stopped walking yet, and hadn't actually parked. Honestly, I had no idea you couldn't park your stroller there, and there were several parked there actually. They could have been nicer – they were pretty loud because I was still several yards away from them! Ugh! So, I let DH and the kids go in while I parked over by the carousel. I have to admit I was super cranky by then from hunger and from being chastised. Sigh.

We go in and order this:



It was yummy. The mango gelato was “meh”, but everyone liked the chocolate. While we were there, the ugly stepsisters showed up outside and we had a good view of them being obnoxious and playful. I wanted to get in line but DH didn't so we skipped it. This would be a theme throughout the trip as well – DH felt the older kids were “too old” to bother getting in line for most characters. And youngest DS was a little afraid so we only have a few pics with characters.

Next we headed to It's a Small World. All the kids loved it!




Restrooms (Tangled tower!)


We made our way to Adventureland – where we all went on Pirates of the Caribbean. I took a lot of pictures – don't worry, not on the actual ride, but through the queue on the way to our boat. Youngest DS was a little scared at some points, but he did pretty good.



DH then took the older kids onto Splash Mountain while I went to get Fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We still had time, so me and youngest DS hung out at the playground near the railroad.



Through the castle,




To Sleepy Hollow for a tasty Funnel Cake. Youngest DS was asleep in his stroller while we discussed what to do next. We decided we were done with MK for the day and hopped on the monorail to Epcot.




Not hungry for dinner just yet, we headed to Innoventions. This was actually the first time we ever went in here in all of our trips. The kids LOVED it. Youngest DS was diigging the firetruck near Where's my Fire.



And the older kids found their favorite attraction of the trip....



Yep! The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. Youngest DS fell asleep again in his stroller while his siblings did the game over and over and over and over! DH was falling asleep on the bench when I told the kids they were done for the day. This is where our new Trip report title came from. My daughter begged to play one last time because the last game “I got a bad pig mom”. It was just so funny, and made her explain what a bad pig is exactly, and how she could have gotten one. (Basically her game was jacked up), so then I let them play one more time before we headed to Sunshine Seasons for dinner.

As for dinner, they had such a great selection of meals there I was sure it was going to be spectacular. The dessert options were endless. We had a variety of meals that we all shared, but honestly, they were pretty mediocre. The roasted chicken was dry, the yellow rice tasteless. The desserts made up for it, though, and dinner ended on a good note with Carrot Cake, Tiramisu and Strawberry shortcake. MMM!



After such a great dessert we did Spaceship Earth AGAIN and then home to our room.

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!