Mom said I had to go! The "Melting in May with Mom" Report! Updated 11/9 - EPCOT!!

[goofy's_gurl]

You were deff making good time. But the 45 mins do kinda drag. But hey you are there before noon at least.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

The whole mess of leaving the kids for a week with someone who doesn't do the daily grind on a regular basis sounded very familiar to me! I think I wrote my mom a short novel when we left for our cruise! LOL!

Wow...no wait for DME! Sweet!

Sorry about the delay getting to the Poly, but it's hard to be too frustrated...you're at Disney!

 

[mom2mek]

Love the spreadsheet idea for Shawn, did he actually use it? You know he went rouge on the TSM thing, so I don't trust him .

It is great how quickly you made it through ME only to get caught up in the Ironman stuff .

I can't believe you stopped there . I am dying, too many more days until we are at the Poly, I NEED your report Sara, I NEED IT !!!

LOL Tracy! I think he used it! The kids all got to where they needed to be for the most part. I did see a picture of Katie's field trip and she was wearing the wrong school shirt, but other than that I guess he managed!

It's funny Tracy, because my next post might be of some interest to you with your upcoming trip... I'll try not to take too long!

We love those early SW flights, too. We're at the resort and sitting by the pool or heading to a park by lunchtime.

Getting sleep before an early a.m. flight is so hard. You are too keyed up to relax, as much as you want and need sleep.

Yay for zooming right onto a Magical Express bus.

Look forward to AK pictures and seeing where your room was.

I was tired that day from getting no sleep, but those early morning flights are fabulous! You still have your whole day ahead of you!

You were deff making good time. But the 45 mins do kinda drag. But hey you are there before noon at least.

Oh yes - we were at the Poly by 10:45 so it was all good!

The whole mess of leaving the kids for a week with someone who doesn't do the daily grind on a regular basis sounded very familiar to me! I think I wrote my mom a short novel when we left for our cruise! LOL!

Wow...no wait for DME! Sweet!

Sorry about the delay getting to the Poly, but it's hard to be too frustrated...you're at Disney!

It's funny how much stuff you do without really thinking about it and then when it's time to leave it in someone else's hands you realize....

Yes, we weren't that frustrated....especially since we were still getting there so early!!

Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

I never thought about all that had to go into not only getting you ready for the trip, but your three kids! I know how crazy the end of school year can be. I totally would have used a spreadsheet too and would have been calling to check on everything often! I'm sure the kids had a great time with Daddy all week though.

Too bad you went from first stop to last on the bus, but yay for getting there still early enough!

 

[vamassey1]

Love the spreadsheet idea. How did Mr. Mom do while you were gone?

I believe in the earlier the flight the better, more Disney time. Breezing through ME is great! Being the last ones off the bus, not so great. But at least you're there!

 

[mom2mek]

I never thought about all that had to go into not only getting you ready for the trip, but your three kids! I know how crazy the end of school year can be. I totally would have used a spreadsheet too and would have been calling to check on everything often! I'm sure the kids had a great time with Daddy all week though.

Too bad you went from first stop to last on the bus, but yay for getting there still early enough!

Getting Shawn ready to handle 3 kids for a week was much more preparation than me traveling! LOL! Daddy ran a tight ship that week but they all survived!!

I was tired, but so glad we took the earlier flight!

Love the spreadsheet idea. How did Mr. Mom do while you were gone?

I believe in the earlier the flight the better, more Disney time. Breezing through ME is great! Being the last ones off the bus, not so great. But at least you're there!

He did fine - no major mess-ups! Everyone was still alive, looked fed, and in good spirits when I got home, thank goodness! He even did laundry while I was gone!

The trip to the Poly took way longer than expected, but it was all good...we were there and had the majority of the day still ahead of us!

Sara

 

[laashley]

I'm in. You are such a brave girl doing two tr's at once looks like you are off to a good start! I know we won't have your wonderful husbands pics, but I bet you did a pretty good job

 

[mom2mek]

I'm in. You are such a brave girl doing two tr's at once looks like you are off to a good start! I know we won't have your wonderful husbands pics, but I bet you did a pretty good job

Awww thanks Ashley! You are right - I was going to mention that and forgot - I won't have Shawn's great pictures to post, so you all will have to endure my mediocre camera pics and a lot of cell phone pics too! Plus, no cute kids in this trip report. I hope you guys stick around!

Sara

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Sara:

It looks like I am a little late getting here! I can't wait to read all about your mother/daughter trip. A great start so far!

Erika

 

[mom2mek]

Sara:

It looks like I am a little late getting here! I can't wait to read all about your mother/daughter trip. A great start so far!

Erika

Thanks for coming over Erika! Not too much longer for you now!!

Sara

 

[my2disneyboys]

Sara!!!!! I can't believe what a bad DIS friend I have been!!!! I had NO idea you started a new trip report!!! I SO LOVED the pics from all the years at Disney with your Mom! That is just so amazing that you and your Mom have shared so many memories at Disney together!!!

Such a shame we were both at the Poly in February and missed a DIS Meet!!! A bunch of us are starting the C25K program and plan to RUN (I cant believe I am going to run) a 5K in October 2011 in Disney!!! You should join in!!!!

Ok, I am going to go get all caught up on your other trip report now ... (lucky girl!!)

 

[cdotla]

Joining in! Can't wait to hear about your trip!

As for the ME - definitely take a tip from me and get off at the 1st monorail resort next time. I would have died to be on that bus for 45 mins after passing under the gates!

 

[mom2mek]

Sara!!!!! I can't believe what a bad DIS friend I have been!!!! I had NO idea you started a new trip report!!! I SO LOVED the pics from all the years at Disney with your Mom! That is just so amazing that you and your Mom have shared so many memories at Disney together!!!

Such a shame we were both at the Poly in February and missed a DIS Meet!!! A bunch of us are starting the C25K program and plan to RUN (I cant believe I am going to run) a 5K in October 2011 in Disney!!! You should join in!!!!

Ok, I am going to go get all caught up on your other trip report now ... (lucky girl!!)

Hi there!! So glad you came over! Hmmm....a year to get ready for the 5K - I might could do it!! I absolutely hate to run but I have another friend that is doing the C25K program and has had a lot of success with it! Might have to think about that. At the very least I can wait at the finish line with GGLCS for everyone!!

Joining in! Can't wait to hear about your trip!

As for the ME - definitely take a tip from me and get off at the 1st monorail resort next time. I would have died to be on that bus for 45 mins after passing under the gates!

Man - that would have been a good idea! CR would have been the first monorail resort and it was the second stop once we changed course. Oh well...now I will know better!

Sara

 

[leamom2princesses]

Yikes on the extened bus ride! We usually go the week of the Iron Man but went a week later and missed it. The alternate bus routes really mess with timing.

Glad you made it to the Poly!! Looking forward to hearing about your room and your first day!

 

[mom2mek]

Even though we were arriving to the Poly about 45 minutes later than I had hoped, we were still pretty early for check-in. But when we got up to the desk, she told us that our room was indeed ready! Woo-hoo!!! I had hoped to be placed in the Tuvalu longhouse, but instead we got the Tahiti longhouse. No worries though - that's where I stayed last year with Shawn and it was very nice. A little further away from the GCH, but we were both just so excited that our room was ready!

That's when it dawned on Mom that she wouldn't have anything to wear to the park, (remember she was in jeans and a long sleeve, white, button down shirt ) so she thought she should look for a tshirt in the gift shop before heading to the room. That way, she could get changed in the room before heading to the AK. So first stop – Boutiki - where we found Mom a shirt and we were off to Tahiti.

The Polynesian is so beautiful but the smells were particularly wonderful this trip! We had the most gorgeous and fragrant tree right outside of Tahiti (I think it was gardenia) and every time we got close to our longhouse we could smell it and we would take a deep breath and sigh….so pretty!

Our room was on the first floor, 1016, and when we went to open the door, it wouldn’t shut behind us. I kept pushing on the door for a few seconds until finally I realized it was an automatic door and that we had been placed in a handicap-accessible room. Hmm….

The room was fabulous and when we checked out our view, we were amazed. It was gorgeous.

I wasn’t sure about being first floor until I saw how nice it was to have the grass right outside the door, and the beach just beyond that. I could picture myself walking back from the pool bar with my Pina Colava and enjoying the fireworks from the patio.

However, once we thought a bit about the fact that it was handicapped-accessible, we thought that maybe we should call and have our room switched. I know most people who need a HA room would request it on their reservation, but I also thought that perhaps some people forget or were just injured and using a scooter and therefore might not request the HA room but could really use the extra amenities. So we thought maybe we should ask for a different room to free that one up for someone who really needed it. As much as we loved the view, we decided to call the front desk to see about switching.

The CM told us to come back to the GCH and she would get us switched into a different room. But like a good DISer, I took a couple of pics of the room/view/bathroom before we left in hopes that it might be of some help. Again, this was room 1016 in Tahiti. It had a roll-in shower with a bench and a shower curtain and it appeared to have a small lip on the edge of the shower to keep water from running out all over the floor. The room had an automatic door that had a button in the hallway to push to open. The door stayed open for quite a while to allow easy access.

Beyond those two things, the room looked identical to other Poly rooms. I would think the 1st floor location would be great too, as well as it’s placement within the hallway – it was on the closest end towards the GCH, not the far end near the TTC, which means you could enter through the side doors and your room would be right there. Having the quick access out to the beach would be nice too.

So back to the GCH we went, by now it was about 11:30. Sigh. At least the walk was beautiful. Hot, but beautiful. We explained our situation to the CM at the desk and she quickly switched out our KTTW cards and told us our new room location. This time it was 2nd floor, but still in Tahiti, room 2030. So back we went. We were getting our exercise in and we hadn’t even been to the parks yet.

Upon entry into this room, we realized we might have just made a big mistake asking to switch.

Now, I hope no one minds what I’m about to say, but we had about the worst view for LAGOON view prices, that you can get. I kid you not when I tell you that the palm trees (albeit very beautiful in and of themselves) were exactly in front of the castle and Space Mountain. It was like they were placed there in a perfect formation to block out anything at the MK. Now I know that lagoon view means just that, LAGOON view, and that is exactly what this was, but after sitting there for a moment, Mom decided it was worth a try to see if they had anything else. She said she just couldn’t bear the thought of being there for a whole week without being able to see even a partial view of anything. She even went out on to the balcony and sat on the ground to see if she could get a glimpse of anything and she couldn’t. Oh yes, we were turning into THOSE people…..

I have to share this picture I took of the teeniest, tiniest, towel mickey head I have ever seen! It made me laugh out loud! It was made with the hand towel and washcloths as opposed to the regular towel! LOL!

Mom made another call and explained the situation but they didn’t have anything available right then. So we decided to leave our stuff there (our carry-ons that we had been lugging around with us all this time) and head out to the bus stop to go over to AK. Before we did that, I gave the car rental place a call to schedule a pick-up time for later that afternoon. We needed a rental car to get back and forth to the Gaylord for the convention, however, we still wanted to take advantage of the Magical Express service.

Well, low and behold, thanks to TGM boards and these forums, I found out that Alamo has an office right there at the MK (right at the Hess station) and they would pick you up when you needed to come pick up your car, and drop you back off after you return your car. Perfect! Plus the prices were lower since there weren’t quite as many airport fees to pay. This is such a great idea if you are planning on needing a car to go to Seaworld or (gasp) Universal, or just want to take a day trip to the coast. You can still have the Magical Express transport you to the hotel, still not have to worry about getting your luggage, but still have the convenience of your own vehicle when needed. I’m so glad I know about that now!

They closed at 6:00 so I scheduled a pick up for 5:40 that afternoon and we were off to the bus stop.

As we left, I headed to the bus stop (so convenient from Tahiti) and Mom decided that she would just walk up to the GCH and ask in person about switching. She wanted to let them know that she was willing to pay for a Theme Park View if that’s all they had but she had failed to tell them that when she called from the room. She also wanted to let them know that If they didn’t have anything that day, she was willing to move the next day if something came available. My Mom was on a mission!

I sat at the bus stop and after a few minutes she joined me. They told her they would take down her number and give her a call if anything came available. We waited quite a while for a bus, I’m guessing due to all the traffic detours that were going on, but around five after 12 we boarded our AK bus!

Back when I was making plans for this trip, I wasn’t sure if we were going to go to the MK upon arrival or head to the AK. So I made ADRs at both parks to hedge my bets. I know…I know…. Anyways, since the only other time we could get to AK that week would have been for evening EMH, we decided to go there on this day. I called and cancelled our dinner ADR at the Plaza for that night at 4:45 and we kept our ADR for Yak and Yeti for 1:00. Neither of us have been to Y&Y, so we were hoping we would make it in time!

After stopping at Blizzard Beach, we were pulling into AK about 12:30.

We made our way back to Asia and found Yak & Yeti with no trouble whatsoever. At that point, we would have eaten bird seed we were so starving, so everything smelled really good!

The restaurant was busy, but I noted that they were indeed taking walk-ups. The CM doing the check-ins told the party in front of me that it would be about 30 minutes if they wanted to wait. Not too bad for a Saturday afternoon. We waited about 5 minutes in the lobby and then they called us to be seated. The restaurant is really interesting and I enjoyed that we were able to sit upstairs in one of the rooms off the main area. It was nice and quiet and we only waited about 30 seconds before the waiter was there to see if we wanted a drink. Well, yes we do……

I ordered up the Yak Attack (even though I hate the name) - Mango Daiquiri, Bacardi Light Rum, and Wildberry Flavors (on the left), and since Mom is allergic to mango, she got a Shanghai Express - Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Banana Liqueur, Peachtree Schnapps, and Tropical Fruit Juices , on the right:

We had a real hard time deciding what we wanted because it all looked so good. We ended up each getting an order of lettuce cups - minced chicken breast, chopped vegetables, maple tamarind sauce, crisp lettuce cups, and then we got an order of Pot Stickers to share, and an order of Wok-fried green beans to share. We pondered our timeline and got a game plan for the rest of the day and before too long, our food was there. It was all SO delicious, but our eyes were bigger than our stomachs because we couldn’t finish all that food! Maybe the gigantic drink had something to do with that as well.

So, bellies full, we headed out. What can we get done in the time we have left?? Would our room change request be fulfilled upon return to the Poly??

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Yikes on the extened bus ride! We usually go the week of the Iron Man but went a week later and missed it. The alternate bus routes really mess with timing.

Glad you made it to the Poly!! Looking forward to hearing about your room and your first day!

Leanne - it's so true - they really do mess with your timing for getting places. Oh well - we managed!

Just posted about our room!

Sara

 

[cdotla]

Great update!

Sorry about the room assignment. Jeesh...you were trying to be helpful by freeing up a handicap room and get stuck with a worse view? Not exactly a rewarding experience, huh?

Hopefully you get switched to something better soon!

Those drinks at Y&Y look mighty fine!

 

[ladybugmom]

Ugh!! So sorry about all of the issues with the room! Ya'll were so nice to give up the handicapped room that I hope they were able to get you a new room with a view just as good! Don't leave us hanging too long!!

 

[mom2mek]

Great update!

Sorry about the room assignment. Jeesh...you were trying to be helpful by freeing up a handicap room and get stuck with a worse view? Not exactly a rewarding experience, huh?

Hopefully you get switched to something better soon!

Those drinks at Y&Y look mighty fine!

Those drinks were really good! I tasted Mom's and I have to say, the Yak Attack I had was more to my liking. It was frozen and hers wasn't so it also took me a while longer to drink mine! We hadn't had anything to eat other than our 1/2 a muffin at the airport in VA at 6:00, so those drinks had to be sipped slowly in order for us to keep our wits about us!

Ugh!! So sorry about all of the issues with the room! Ya'll were so nice to give up the handicapped room that I hope they were able to get you a new room with a view just as good! Don't leave us hanging too long!!

Yeah, we were kind of bummed about it, but I think my Mom was more bummed than me....if you remember, I have only stayed garden view and she has stayed Theme Park View (and only a couple of weeks before this trip ) so her memory was fresh and even though we only had Lagoon View as opposed to TPV, we still knew there were better rooms to be had! That room was almost comical how the trees blocked everything you would want to look at! One room over on either side and you would probably see some of the castle or some of Space, but room 2030 - nada!!

Sara

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Sara..your mom is cracking me up! She is gonna see the castle come hell or high water! LOL! Can't wait to see if it all works out. Oh...and it was very nice of you to give up your HA room with the great view. That deserves a view of the MK, I believe!

Considering your timeline for the week, AK was a good choice. And those drinks just look YUMMY!! What a great way to start off a trip!