NEVER AGAIN! A holiday family vacation report...

[MHTeacher]

By this point, we were all getting cranky and cold,

AND who can blame you?

Where would we go next? Would my trip improve? And just how COLD would it be in Florida???

I don't know, but I hope things get better. You know the saying, "Too many cooks spoil the soup? Well, how about, "Too many family members on a vacation spoil the trip!"

 

[michellem1118]

I can relate to your TR. That is exactly why DH and I just go ourselves. I get to be the park orgainizer and DH just follows along. It works for us!

This was the first trip we took with others, and might very well be the last... until we have kids, of course... I'm guessing we won't be able to leave them at home every time we go to Disney, right?!?!

I don't know, but I hope things get better. You know the saying, "Too many cooks spoil the soup? Well, how about, "Too many family members on a vacation spoil the trip!"

This is exactly right!

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Am subbing!!!

Loving your trip report! Feeling a bit sad about the fact you are not enjoying it due to having to please so many people. Hopefully it picks up for you!

We had considered going with friends once but we know that we would want to do different things and thought better of it!!!

Looking forward to day 2!
x

 

[michellem1118]

Am subbing!!!

Loving your trip report! Feeling a bit sad about the fact you are not enjoying it due to having to please so many people. Hopefully it picks up for you!

We had considered going with friends once but we know that we would want to do different things and thought better of it!!!

Looking forward to day 2!
x

Thanks for joining in! I think traveling with friends would be easier, because friends are much less likely to be offended if you want to do your own thing one day, eat at different places, etc. We still think we'd like to take a trip with friends eventually, but I'm not sure if we'll ever really do it.

I'll probably start day 2 tomorrow or Monday. Stay tuned...

 

[billyvmom]

can't wait to hear the rest

 

[dd50]

I would have never taken my MIL. There was a reason that she lived in NY and I am in FL.

I think that if you go with any one except your immediate family you need time to yourself at least once in a while.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Catching up on your trip report today....
Just called Baylor up to see the Beverly pictures!
Ugh to them not taking the time to investigate the countries! What's up with that???

Back to read....

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Oh really, she was put out because you didn't have your AP, come on.......

I hope you got the chance to eat at Earl of Sandwich it's really good!

 

[michellem1118]

can't wait to hear the rest

More coming soon! Thanks for reading along.

I would have never taken my MIL. There was a reason that she lived in NY and I am in FL.

I think that if you go with any one except your immediate family you need time to yourself at least once in a while.

Yeah, there's a reason we live in TX near my parents instead of still in NY near my MIL too...

Catching up on your trip report today....
Just called Baylor up to see the Beverly pictures!
Ugh to them not taking the time to investigate the countries! What's up with that???

Back to read....

I hope Baylor enjoyed the Beverly pictures! I saw in your TR that he likes to torture people with the Beverly.

I'm not sure why they didn't take any time to explore the countries... it's my favorite part of EPCOT! I can't wait until the March trip so I can spend some time there!

Oh really, she was put out because you didn't have your AP, come on.......

I hope you got the chance to eat at Earl of Sandwich it's really good!

Oh, we've eaten at Earl of Sandwich before, thanks to the DIS. The question is, will we make it there this trip???

 

[michellem1118]

Day 3, morning

Tuesday, December 29 dawned as a beautiful, but COLD day. We were at the bus stop before 7:00am, and I used my phone to check the weather. It was 39 degrees that morning! Yikes! Thankfully, we were on our way to Disney’s warmest park – Animal Kingdom!

Our bus arrived at SSR around 7:15, and we arrived at AK around 7:40. The turnstiles were already open, so we zipped through, and I was gathering up KTTW cards to go FP Expedition Everest when… BIL realized he didn’t have his card, and was "stuck" outside the park. I directed him to Guest Services, and then ran ahead with everyone else’s KTTW to get the FPs. Official park opening was 8:00am, but there were no ropes up anywhere, and the rides were already running. I grabbed FPs, and then jumped in the standby line by myself. I was just about at the front of the line (it was walk-on, of course) when DH called to let me know they were in the park and on their way to EE. I told him I was riding standby, and that I would meet them in the gift shop at the exit.

I had a thrilling trip to see the Yeti, and when I got to the gift shop, only my parents were there. DH, MIL, and BIL had decided to get in the standby line themselves. I was freezing – it was still barely 40 degrees – so I walked back to get a hot tea, and then returned to EE, where I found that the rest of the group had returned from their own Yeti adventure.

Our touring plan called for us to head to Dinoland next – we enjoy Dinosaur, but not enough to wait in line for it – but the group was hungry. This is another major difference… DH & I are not big breakfast eaters, and rarely eat more than 2 meals a day – usually a fairly early lunch (11/11:30) and then dinner around 6:30/7, with perhaps a light snack in between. But everyone else, my parents especially, are breakfast eaters. As it turns out, Pizzafari is the only CS place at AK that serves breakfast, so we headed there instead of to Dinoland. Judging from my Twitter posts, it looks like we were at Pizzafari for at least 30 minutes. We finished eating, and thought we would head towards Kilimanjaro Safari. My dad wanted to finish drinking his coffee, so he said he’d meet us there. I took his KTTW card so I could grab FPs, and off we went.

Once outside, we decided to run back to Dinosaur before the line got too long, and got over there just after 9am. The standby wait was posted at 10 minutes, and that was about accurate. We journeyed back in time, and successfully brought our dinosaur back with us. As we were getting off the ride, my dad called. He was at the safari waiting for us, so off we went.

As we walked, we passed the sign for FOTLK. MIL really wanted to go get seats for the 10am show, but we were on our way to meet my dad. After a brief discussion, we sent my mom, MIL, and BIL towards FOTLK, and DH & I continued on to meet dad. We may have told the moms that we’d come back once we found dad… Dad, however, didn’t want to see the show (I knew he wouldn’t), so I grabbed FPs for the safari for everyone, and then DH, dad, & I rode it standby (posted wait – 20 minutes). I got some pretty good pictures…

Ankole Cattle

Giraffes

first-ever decent lion picture

This guy was right next to our safari vehicle!


After returning to Harambe, dad wanted more coffee, and since it was cold, DH & I both got a hot chocolate… and I think I got a cinnamon roll since I hadn’t eaten breakfast. We had just gotten our snack when MIL called to see where we were – they were out of the show and on their way to join us. We finished our snack as the group was reunited, and decided to head down the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail while we waited for our safari FP time…

… and then headed back to try that 2-week safari again…

Following trip 2 on the safari, we were all getting pretty hungry, so we headed to Flame Tree for lunch. We ate lunch around 1:00pm. We always have a pretty good meal here, it’s probably our favorite CS place in AK. BIL & I had the pulled pork sandwich; DH, mom, and dad had the ribs; and MIL had a fruit platter. Everyone enjoyed the meal.

After lunch, my parents decided they wanted to head back to SSR to rest. We still had our EE FPs to use, and I really wanted to go see the tigers on the Maharajah Jungle Trek, so we told them we’d be close behind them, and headed off (with MIL and BIL) to do the only two things I still wanted to do. First up – Maharajah Jungle Trek:

(a hidden mickey)

And then, we headed to EE. The FP line was all the way back to the bridge! Apparently, EE had been down for a good part of the day, so the FP line was backed up. The standby line was 125 minutes, and even though the FP line was long, the CM assured us it was less than 20 minutes, so I got in the line. BIL almost immediately started complaining, because we’d already ridden it, and kept asking if we really thought it was worth it to wait in line to ride it again. At this point, I almost snapped, and in a not-quite-polite way responded that it was, in fact, worth it to me, and he was welcome to head back to the bus if he didn’t want to wait in the line. He muttered a bit, but ultimately stayed in the line with the rest of us, and even enjoyed himself.

We headed back to SSR around 2:30 for our afternoon break from the family. We learned something important though – those same leafy plants that hold in the heat & humidity in the summer prevent any heat from building up in the cooler months. AK was freezing cold all day, and felt much colder than the weather app on my phone said it actually was.

How would we spend our chilly afternoon? Would we enjoy our dinner ressies tonight? And which member of our group would decide to spend the rest of the day in the resort?

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Oh, man! I have been there sister!! We had a trip with my in-laws once that was a doozy. After the second night ,we were happy for every moment that we had away from them!

Anyway, I'm on board

 

[sharonW]

I have been in disney many of those christmas wks to the same cold you and yours experienced. We wore winter coats and gloves even on some of those trips! So much for tropical florida weather! I hope it warmed up some while you were on your diz adventure!!! No matter what though, its still magical!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Your tiger pictures are fabulous! I'm glad you stood your ground and stayed in line for EE!
Waiting to see what happens next....

 

[dd50]

I don't know I would have probably stayed in the park when they left home except it was really cold.

I have been to the park with teens so I do feel your pain. Everyone's idea is always different.

 

[RockinDisney]

Loving this report!!
The only thing I have going for me is my parents and my brother do NOT like Disney. They just don't get it so I never have the Family problem
Although sometimes it makes me sad, cause I will be going on and on about Disney and they look at me like I am an ALIEN

 

[MHTeacher]

BIL almost immediately started complaining, because we’d already ridden it, and kept asking if we really thought it was worth it to wait in line to ride it again.

YES, BIL, it is worth it!

We had a trip with my in-laws once that was a doozy. After the second night ,we were happy for every moment that we had away from them!

 

[KathyRN137]

I'm another admirer of your tiger photos... the faces on those beauties!

They say, "The more the merrier" but I don't think that applies to WDW vacations! Just too many different styles, personalities, and temperments...

You said earlier that BIL was not feeling too well, so I'm guessing that he's the one who stayed behind at the resort.


Kathy

 

[luckylady]

What a great shot of the lion. Have never gotten a good view of them any of the times we have gone. As for in-laws and Disney, nope never again. Even DH has said he will never go with his parents again.

 

[michellem1118]

Oh, man! I have been there sister!! We had a trip with my in-laws once that was a doozy. After the second night ,we were happy for every moment that we had away from them!

Anyway, I'm on board

and... yeah, that's definitely how we felt (only for me, those feelings kicked in the first night )

I have been in disney many of those christmas wks to the same cold you and yours experienced. We wore winter coats and gloves even on some of those trips! So much for tropical florida weather! I hope it warmed up some while you were on your diz adventure!!! No matter what though, its still magical!

This is the 2nd time I've gone during that week, and both times it was colder than I expected. If I ever go that week again, I'm packing a heavier coat just in case, even it if means paying extra bag check fees!

Your tiger pictures are fabulous! I'm glad you stood your ground and stayed in line for EE!
Waiting to see what happens next....

Thanks for the compliment on the tiger pics... I probably drove the in-laws crazy with my obsessive tiger photo-taking. I think I spent 30 minutes or so trying to get photos of all the tigers from every possible angle!

I don't know I would have probably stayed in the park when they left home except it was really cold.

I have been to the park with teens so I do feel your pain. Everyone's idea is always different.

If we had stayed, they would have stayed. We chose Disney as our holiday get-together place precisely because everyone would be able to do their own thing easily when they wanted to... unfortunately, MIL expected us to always do "her" thing...

Loving this report!!
The only thing I have going for me is my parents and my brother do NOT like Disney. They just don't get it so I never have the Family problem
Although sometimes it makes me sad, cause I will be going on and on about Disney and they look at me like I am an ALIEN

My parents never got it either, until we took them. Now they get it, and my mom at least can't wait to go back. We haven't told her we're going for Spring Break b/c I don't want her to invite herself along!

YES, BIL, it is worth it!

I'm another admirer of your tiger photos... the faces on those beauties!

They say, "The more the merrier" but I don't think that applies to WDW vacations! Just too many different styles, personalities, and temperments...

You said earlier that BIL was not feeling too well, so I'm guessing that he's the one who stayed behind at the resort.


Kathy

Thanks for the photo compliments. I think Disney works well for a group vacation if the whole group is comfortable being on their own some of the time...

I've noted your guess for who skips dinner...

What a great shot of the lion. Have never gotten a good view of them any of the times we have gone. As for in-laws and Disney, nope never again. Even DH has said he will never go with his parents again.

That's the only remotely decent photo I've ever gotten of the lion, and believe me, I try repeatedly every trip to catch him (or the female) in a position where they're ready for a photo op.

We'll never take my parents & MIL/BIL at the same time again, that's for sure. And we probably won't invite any of them until we have kids.

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Great update. I can't believe your dad didn't want to see FOTLK. It is my favorite show. Keep the updates coming.