Next trip I'm booking a resort w/out a pool! *Pg 25 Final DxDP numbers & last update!

[AKL LOVER]

I have a quick update that isn't a trip update, but it's something Disney related, so I thought I'd share!

Those of you that followed me over from my PTR already knew that my van was stolen. For those new to my TR--you can read about it here. Basically, it was taken from our driveway Easter Sunday (we think around 4 a.m.). It was 6 days before we left for our trip!

A week after we returned from Disney we got a call from the police--they had found it. We were about 5 days from settling with the insurance company. It was an '06 Honda Odyssey--so we assumed it had been taken and stripped for parts. We never expected that they would recover it. It was found about a 1/2 mile from our house (through the woods; about a mile driving distance) parked in a neighborhood in front of someone's home on the side of the road. According to the resident, it had been parked there for approximately 3 weeks, i.e. the entire time it was missing. It still had a full tank of gas. And while they took my purse (with all of my canceled credit cards and bank account!) they left my expensive laptop in the trunk. Go figure. They even left a jacket in the van, an L.L. Bean one--I hoped they're pissed they lost it! (And I don't feel one ounce of bad for thinking that either!) So, I don't think we're talking about very smart thiefs here...

Getting it back did not give me the sense of relief that I thought it would. There were problems with it when we got it back but it was certainly fixable. However, I felt weird knowing that someone, somewhere knew my van and my liscense plate and they might see me out and know it was me. Besides, it smelled funny now, not bad I guess, just not like our van! Is that weird?? That combined with the problems that had to be fixed and taking into consideration the regular maintanence that was going to be due on it soon, we decided it was in our best interest to trade it in. And if you're going to do that, you might as well upgrade, right . As much as I don't like having a car payment again, I do like my new ride:

Still confused how this is Disney related? Check out the back of my van more closely and you will notice one of my purchases from our trip:

So, alls well that ends well. I'm gald to be done with the whole situation and put it behind us. It was such a negative experience (obviously) and I'm glad everything is finally offically taken care of. Done and done!


And thanks for letting me rant about it all to you guys! You're the best!


Also, before I end this 'it's not a trip update but it's still Disney related' one more thing. Today we went to Old Navy to purchase matching flag tees for 4th of July. They had a ton of new Disney shirts for boys and girls in case anyone is looking for some for their upcoming trips. I saw cars, mickey, minnie, phineas and ferb and I'm sure there were others, but the kids got tired of looking. I also scored this beauty:

I will definitely be rocking this on the 4th!!



So that's that. See, told you this update was Disney related!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Congrats on the new car even if it came around due to rotten circumstances!

 

[Aburns8]

Congratulations on the new van!

 

[Lidian]

Love the new ride! Sorry to hear of the issues, but glad it came out nice in the end. And I hope that jerk is missing his jacket, too!

Totally love the window decal, wished I had gotten one. I never thought to look for window decals ... I did get an antenna topper though ...

And now I need to make a trip to ON so I can get me a Mickey 4th shirt!! Thanks for letting us know!!

 

[Queenofallthings]

My DD18 feels the same way as your DH about IASW...she goes on simply to keep her mother happy

I love the reactions of the kiddies before during and after their "first" big rides! This August my niece who is 6 is finally tall enough for RnRC so we can't wait!!

We too leave the parks around noon for an afternoon by the pool....AKL just has the best pool doesn't it? It's our favorite!

 

[beebeeryan]

YAY on the new van!, I think I would have done the same knowing someone had been in there and all.

LOL at the "lame" FB post. Your DH sounds just like mine, he was so happy last summer that IASW was closed for refurbs. This year I told him we're going on it, the kids have to experience it and he's already complaining about it.

Enjoying your TR, great pics too!

 

[taymacsmom]

Congrats on the new van! I would be "weirded out" by knowing that other people were in my car too! I got the same shirt for myself at ON and I love it!! It's really comfy!

Kelly

 

[Joyciemc]

The new van looks very swanky!

At least finding your old van meant getting your laptop back, though!

 

[ozzyla]

I'm in, can't wait to hear more about cl.

 

[Motocross Tink]

Hi just got caught up on your TR! Can't wait to hear more and congrats on the new car!!

 

[AKL LOVER]

Congrats on the new car even if it came around due to rotten circumstances!

Congratulations on the new van!

Thanks! I'm lovin' it so far

Love the new ride! Sorry to hear of the issues, but glad it came out nice in the end. And I hope that jerk is missing his jacket, too!

Totally love the window decal, wished I had gotten one. I never thought to look for window decals ... I did get an antenna topper though ...

And now I need to make a trip to ON so I can get me a Mickey 4th shirt!! Thanks for letting us know!!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had the thought about the missing jacket!

I love the antenna toppers, but I don't have an antenna! Hence why I went with a decal. I was torn between Mickey and Tinker Bell...but I'm happy with my Mickey. Now I get a little bit of Disney every day just by looking at my van. And I bought that decal on a particularly happy day of my trip, so looking at it makes me think of that.

The shirt from ON is so comfy.

My DD18 feels the same way as your DH about IASW...she goes on simply to keep her mother happy

I love the reactions of the kiddies before during and after their "first" big rides! This August my niece who is 6 is finally tall enough for RnRC so we can't wait!!

We too leave the parks around noon for an afternoon by the pool....AKL just has the best pool doesn't it? It's our favorite!

DH is convinced that most people who ride IASW really think it's a lame ride, they just do it because it's so "Disney". Or at least that's what he says to make himself feel better about being a lame-o.

I wish that I had been coordinated enough to turn around and snap a pic of DS during the ride--we was SO SO cute!!

And I'm glad to hear there are other families out there who are walking out of the parks at noon...maybe my family isn't that weird afterall!!

YAY on the new van!, I think I would have done the same knowing someone had been in there and all.

LOL at the "lame" FB post. Your DH sounds just like mine, he was so happy last summer that IASW was closed for refurbs. This year I told him we're going on it, the kids have to experience it and he's already complaining about it.

Enjoying your TR, great pics too!

IASW closed for refurb during a trip? That would put my DH on !!

Congrats on the new van! I would be "weirded out" by knowing that other people were in my car too! I got the same shirt for myself at ON and I love it!! It's really comfy!

Kelly

Thanks on the van. I finally got to try the shirt on and it is super comfy. I love it too!

The new van looks very swanky!

At least finding your old van meant getting your laptop back, though!

Swanky is actually the perfect word to describe that van. You know, swanky is a great word that doesn't get used often enough. I think I'm going to start saying that word more to bring it back into style. Boy my 7th graders are going to love that...swanky...hehehe

I cannot believe that my laptop was still in there. Biggest surprise ever. I'm glad if someone was going to steal my van, at least they were stupid about it...

I'm in, can't wait to hear more about cl.

Thanks for joining. I have some more CL pics coming up soon in the next few updates. However, I'm actually worried that I should have taken more pics while we were there. I kept getting weird looks from other guests every time I took pics in the CL lounge. Obviously they aren't on the DIS boards!

 

[AKL LOVER]

Hi just got caught up on your TR! Can't wait to hear more and congrats on the new car!!

I promise to have another trip update soon--I'm in the process of writing it right now. I am so lame putting up an update about my van but I wanted to keep my readers entertained between updates!

 

[Lidian]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had the thought about the missing jacket!

I love the antenna toppers, but I don't have an antenna! Hence why I went with a decal. I was torn between Mickey and Tinker Bell...but I'm happy with my Mickey. Now I get a little bit of Disney every day just by looking at my van. And I bought that decal on a particularly happy day of my trip, so looking at it makes me think of that.

The shirt from ON is so comfy.

Swanky is actually the perfect word to describe that van. You know, swanky is a great word that doesn't get used often enough. I think I'm going to start saying that word more to bring it back into style. Boy my 7th graders are going to love that...swanky...hehehe

I got the antenna topper, but it doesn't fit. So now I'm REALLY wishing I opted for the decal. Yup, I'm officially jealous.

Glad the shirt is comfy! Now I really need to get motivated!

Swanky... I can see the new TR title:
Next trip I'm booking a swanky resort without a pool

I promise to have another trip update soon--I'm in the process of writing it right now. I am so lame putting up an update about my van but I wanted to keep my readers entertained between updates!

I'm so glad you did update us on the van! You left your PTR readers hanging, so we were entitled.

 

[The Marsons]

A little late but may I join in?

Great trip report We are staying at AKL for the first time in August and also CL. Can't wait to hear how you got on.

Congrats on the new van. The exact same happened to my Dad two months ago and he decided to buy a new van as the old one had been used in a robbery and was badly damaged. I am a stong believer in what goes around comes around.

Thanks

Sarah

 

[AKL LOVER]

I got the antenna topper, but it doesn't fit. So now I'm REALLY wishing I opted for the decal. Yup, I'm officially jealous.

Glad the shirt is comfy! Now I really need to get motivated!

Swanky... I can see the new TR title:
Next trip I'm booking a swanky resort without a pool




I'm so glad you did update us on the van! You left your PTR readers hanging, so we were entitled.

Hey--I had to leave you guys on a cliff hanger so you'd come over to read my TR, right?? And I am definitely thinking I need to work the word swanky into my next PTR/TR title somehow...

Sorry your antenna topper doesn't fit--what a ! Maybe you can cut the hole bigger so it will fit?

A little late but may I join in?

Great trip report We are staying at AKL for the first time in August and also CL. Can't wait to hear how you got on.

Congrats on the new van. The exact same happened to my Dad two months ago and he decided to buy a new van as the old one had been used in a robbery and was badly damaged. I am a stong believer in what goes around comes around.

Thanks

Sarah

Of course you can! Glad to have you along--the more the merrier!

That sucks that your dad's van was stolen AND used in a robbery. Shesh...what is wrong with people these days? Believing in Karma has really helped me with this situation. I just gotta believe that one of these days they will reap what they sowed!

 

[AKL LOVER]

When I last left off, we were enjoying an afternoon at the pool (go figure!). It was on this day that we became introduced to the AKL pool party held every afternoon from 2-4. CM's would bring out a table and blast music and do all sorts of fun stuff with the kids. They had them dancing, playing games, diving for treasure and just having fun. I have to admit (but don't tell my family I said this since it's pool related!) this really was a lot of fun. My kids didn't really participate a whole lot--they preferred to just swim!--but I had fun sitting back and watching the other kids take part. And watching the CM's--they were a hoot! They really got into it which made it great fun for everyone. And a couple of the gentlemen CM's weren't too bad on the eyes either


This was something new to AKL this year. Just another reason, as if I needed one, for me to adore the resort. Are other resorts doing this now too??



I did manage to drag my crew out of the pool and get them back to the room. This little guy was visiting our area of our backyard when we got back to our room:

After showering and changing, we were on our way to dinner at Ohana. This was a new restaurant for us, so I was excited to try it and so was DH. I decided that we'd take the bus to MK and then take the monorail to the Poly...BAD IDEA, note to self. I think it was because of the time of the day. I didn't think about all the people streaming out of MK and clogging up the monorail. We got to MK at 4:30. At 4:40 a resort monorail pulled up, but there were so many people, we couldn't get on that one. Then it took FOREVER for another one to get there. Well it seemed like forever at least--the next one pulled up at 5:05. Is waiting 25 minutes for a monorail a long time? We've never had to wait that long before, but truthfully, we only ride a few times each trip, so I'm not really sure if 25 minutes is a long time or not. But it seemed like a long time. So then of course by the time we made the stops at the CR and TTC, we didn't get off the monorail until right at our dinner reservation time--5:15. Luckily, Ohana was easy to find, so we only checked in a few minutes late.

Somewhere in between getting off the bus at MK and getting on the monorail, the kids fell asleep in the stroller. When I checked in I asked if we could just bring the stroller into the restaurant and they said no problem. Thank goodness. It would have been world war 3 up in that place if I had to wake the kids up after they had only been sleeping for like 20 minutes--all you other parents out there know what I'm talking about! We only waited about 10 minutes before our buzzer went off.

So DH and I unexpectedly sat down to an adults only dinner...Ohana is probably not the best place to have dinner with just the 2 of us...more on THAT later.

We both ordered Lapu Lapu's...hey, we didn't have to drive!

DH proclaimed his *strong* which is saying something. I told him--didn't you listen to our server when she told you how much rum was in it?? Hey said 'Yup. I sure did. That's why I ordered it!'

Here you will see our not-so-dining companions for the night:

Of course the food started coming immediately. I only remembered to take a few pictures before a food coma started to set in, so this is all you get folks:

They were perfect in serving the salad, noodles, wings and pot stickers. All of these were DELICIOUS. I could make my entire meal out of those and be satisfied. But then they were slow in bringing out the meats. I remember the pork being really dry and overcooked. I took one bite and that was it--there were better things to fill up on. I really like the shrimp though and DH's favorite was the steak. The slow serving of the meat caused DH and I to fill up more on the appetizers and salad than we should've because we were hungry. That along with the copious amounts of food all for just 2 people = ...keep this in mind for a few minutes.

After dinner was the infamous desert. DH was LOVIN LIFE when that arrived. His post on FB right before desert was as follows "More Hawaiian cuisine than I can eat" coupled with this uploaded photo:

DS woke up at the very end of dinner (of course!) and the server brought him his own bowl of ice cream. Lucky him--ice cream for dinner! I figured it would hold him over until we could get him a CS meal somewhere later. All in all, we both really loved Ohana and will definitely be going back. Especially since the kids didn't get a chance to try it out. They would have really liked it. My only complaint: and I didn't even realize this until I was home and reading other TRs, we didn't get leid! Bummer.

Perhaps DH enjoyed Ohana a little too much because as we paid and left DH was not loving life so much at this point. He had started to feel sick. But don't feel sorry for him--he ate too much, bottom line. And I wasn't about to offer to go back to the room, I wanted to see Fantasmic darnit!! So off to DHS it was.

DD woke up on the bus to DHS, we got off and got into the park. First on our list--find the kids something to eat. I say, let's head down towards F! way and we'll stop at a CS place along the way. We can get the kids a meal and wait in line for F! while they eat. Perfect way to pass the time, right? Then we rounded the corner and there it was. Yes, that's right. The F! line was already all the way down the street past the beauty and the beast entrance and it was only 7:05 Really, at that point, I should have turned tail and ran. Honestly. I think maybe it was this night that turned DH off the go-go-go touring plan for the rest of the trip.

But I wanted to see F! and bad. Luckily as soon as we get in line it starts moving--they were already letting people into the amphitheater. The line moved slowly, but at least it moved. We finally get to the top and DH says, "I'm not staying in this mess. I'll wait for you to be done and I'll meet you on the way out". He heads off to the side near the bathrooms at the entrance to the theater. Now DH is not as Disney savvy as all of us And I'm sure right now you are thinking exactly what was going through my head at the time--he doesn't realize what a mad house it's going to be on the way out. There is no way on God's green earth that he is going to find me in the mass exodus at the end of the show. I refuse to let his piss-poor mood and upset stomach ruin my time. I head with the kids to sit down. We got to sit in the near the top of the very center section--we got great seats! By then the kids were REALLY hungry and I couldn't very well leave the kids to get food. But if we got up we'd lose our seats. So I text DH and explain my dilemma. It's enough to convince him to join us. Thankfully, he seems to be in a better mood. I go get food for the kids--a hotdog, popcorn, sprite and cotton candy (to surprise them). I got DH a beer thinking that would help ease his pain and get him through the show. I think at this point I didn't realize that he was feeling that badly. The kids eat and I pull out the glowing wands I bought them at the dollar store.

All is going good until about 8:40 when DH turns to me and says--"I think I'm going to go back to the room. I just don't feel well." Okay--guess a beer on top of his upset stomach wasn't such a good idea.

So then DD says, "I want to go to. I don't want to see the show".

And then DS chimes in, "I want to go back too."

Great, so that leaves me here to what, enjoy the show by myself??? Just wonderful. Finally 2 nice ladies behind me help me talk DS into staying with me (somewhat). They were talking about how awesome the show was and telling him that Mickey was even in it. DH and DD leave without incident, but up until the show started DS kept saying he wanted to go too. Luckily, we only had 10-15 more minutes to go. And yes if you're keeping track that means we waited 2 hours for F! I must be crazy; at least DH thinks so

Once the show started however he was totally into it. And for the rest of the night he couldn't stop talking about the fire, Mickey, the dragon, Milificent and seeing all the princesses. He was so in love! And later that night after getting back to the room and hearing his stories, I did hear a little bit of regret in DD's voice for not staying. I'm upset now that I didn't think to take any pictures at F! I think I was too preoccupied by DH to remember. Oh well.

As for me, I really enjoyed the show. I'm glad that I stayed for it, especially since we waited in that line. The dragon was phenomenal! But, if the family isn't really into seeing it and braving the crowds again, it's unlikely that we'll go back. At least I've seen it once.

DS and I made it back to the resort rather quickly and with no problems. At least DH had a glass of wine waiting for me that he had brought down with him from the CL lounge before they closed at 10. Another point for CL, I guess. Wait, make that 2--DH and DD hung out in the CL lounge once they got back to the hotel until it closed at 10. DD enjoyed all the desserts that were out in addition to all the attention she got from the CM's!

So once again, after putting the kids to bed, DH and I ended the evening watching animals from our balcony, enjoying an adult beverage and each other's company.


Lesson learned for next trip: take more pictures even when they seem random (I didn't have enough for this update!) and book Ohana for the end of our trip so if DH feels sick, at least it's near the end!


Up next: The plans are to return to DHS in the morning, but would DH want to go after the F! fiasco???

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Pool Party - CSR had this too, it was fun!

Fantasmic - Too bad DH and DD left, it is a great show. If you can convince them to see it on another trip try and go on a night when they have a second show. There is no need to wait in a two hour line if you go to the late show.

 

[lbuzz52]

this update sounds familiar to me... one of the reasons are that my dh ate too much at ohanas and felt ill afterwards too.
I'm curious- did they charge you for either of your children?

i felt the same way about IASW as your dh (and my dh) do- however, James was in love with it as an infant so now i love it!

 

[Lidian]

Hey--I had to leave you guys on a cliff hanger so you'd come over to read my TR, right?? And I am definitely thinking I need to work the word swanky into my next PTR/TR title somehow...

Sorry your antenna topper doesn't fit--what a ! Maybe you can cut the hole bigger so it will fit?

Well, I didn't need a cliffhanger ... but whatever works.

And cutting the bottom won't help ... its the Mickey Ice Cream Bar, and the stick is smaller than my antenna.

Pool Party - CSR had this too, it was fun!

Fantasmic - Too bad DH and DD left, it is a great show. If you can convince them to see it on another trip try and go on a night when they have a second show. There is no need to wait in a two hour line if you go to the late show.

I must have missed it! I know they didn't do anything fun on our pool day (at least not the hours we were there). I heard them doing something at the bar when we were there on arrival day. We would have loved a pool party. Another reason to go back. Check!


Sorry to hear that your DH over ate and wasn't feeling well. That's never fun, and I'm guilty of it at WDW as well. Glad to hear you saw F! I absolutely loved it! (Saw it for first time this year myself.) I'm not sure I would have had the motivation to wait 2 hours - so good for you! And glad you didn't have to watch alone!
And that drink looks awesome!

 

[Joyciemc]

Ahhh, nothing like a case of the 'Ohana sickness... it has taken us three times to learn how to eat there without leaving ill!

As I was reading about your Fantasmic! experience, I had deja vu. Then I remembered that you told us about it in Epcot!