Not my first trip, but my first trip report

[JessLCH]

Amazing trip report...loving every minute of it!

 

[2wins]

I loved your trip report! Thank you for sharing. You are an awesome photographer.

 

[kkandaj]

Love your TR! We will also be staying at WBC in May and can't wait!

Question--how do you get the designs off the DIS? I love being "that mom" that does the fun stuff that makes my kids believe. Your room with the decorations and treats was awesome!

 

[Bonniec]

Thanks you guys! I probably won't get time to most more until tomorrow. I was so sad at going back to work today. I know we only live an hour and a half a way but I just love being there so much so I was all sad. And guess what happened!......


My DH got a job offer today in Orlando!!

OMG I was afraid to get my hopes up about it. AND it's a lot more money. I am so freaking excited ya'll! We have to sit down and talk about it tonight. I am not sure how we will do this. We have 2 months left on our lease and I have one kid in kindergarten and 2 seniors so that sorta makes it tough. He may have to do some commuting, I'm not sure.

Either way, I get to move to Orlando soon!!!! I just wanted to pop on and share the news!

I'll post more TR soon.



As far as the designs....there is a design section on this board where you can find everything. I know Photopshop well so that makes it easy to customize things. You may need to ask the creator if they will customize. But there are a lot of things that don't need customization.

 

[summerw]

Great report so far. I loved the decorating you did. It must have been great to see your kids' reactions, even if the older ones are adults. Congrats on the job.

 

[Bonniec]

The next day we had more park time. DD and I went to DTD and had a Mergherita pizza (okay I have NO clue how to spell that lol)...

It was yummy. A very light pizza and made a good snack (we shared)


That evening we took a boat over to Whispering Canyon Cafe for some antics...
DD on the boat

Mason posing on a rock...

Wilderness Lodge is gorgeous! Okay well...so far all of them have been gorgeous.

I really loved Whispering Canyon Cafe. Again, my lazy butt took the cell phone for a camera. Right away they made the entire place do the Hokey Pokey. I of course was busy filming it which ticked off DH and the kids. They threatened to tattle on me to see if they would make me do it alone. But then I threatened that moms always come up with the worst revenge so they left me alone. *whew*

Video of the fun

*spoiler alerts*
When you ask for ketchup in this place, the waiters scream out "Does anyone have ketchup?!!!" Then everyone gets up and brings you their ketchup bottles.

Our waiter was freaking hilarious! Sam dropped his fork. The waiters response was, "Too bad dude, use your hands." So we laughed and a few minutes later the waiter passed by and said, "I'm serious, you'll have to use your hands." So he did....

Finally the waiter comes back with this HUGE knife and fork and asked Sam if he could manage to not drop that one....

Then he preceded to tell us some corney jokes. He threw salt on the giant knife and said it was "a salt with a deadly weapon"

We totally loved it all! The downside....the milkshakes have unlimited refills. DH and the kids were all over that. But then they gave us a LOT of food. The twins and DH were soooo sick after lol.

I enjoyed the view from the boatride on the way back (while the twins and DH were hanging over the back of the boat trying not too barf)

Speaking of feeling ill....during dinner my neck and back stated getting really achy as if something was coming on. I brushed it off and ignored it, I was at Disney after all!


Later that night we went mini golfing....

 

[Bonniec]

We went to the Blizzard Beach mini golf place. It was busy but we had a good time.

The best part was when I tripped the snowman off and it spit water which landed perfectly on DH's shorts.

He wasn't too please but we all thought it was funny since we still had several rounds and he had to walk around looking like he pee'd himself!



More tomorrow

 

[nancy155]

This is such a great trip report! I have been following your upcoming trip on the WBC as we will be staying there in July! My son's bday is in December and it is always so cold here and he is in school during that time so decided this year to do a "Bday Celebration in July for his birthday". You have given me some great ideas! Thanks

I cannot wait for your next installment and CONGRATS to your family on your DH new job opportunity near the perfect place on earth!

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Thanks you guys! I probably won't get time to most more until tomorrow. I was so sad at going back to work today. I know we only live an hour and a half a way but I just love being there so much so I was all sad. And guess what happened!......


My DH got a job offer today in Orlando!!

OMG I was afraid to get my hopes up about it. AND it's a lot more money. I am so freaking excited ya'll! We have to sit down and talk about it tonight. I am not sure how we will do this. We have 2 months left on our lease and I have one kid in kindergarten and 2 seniors so that sorta makes it tough. He may have to do some commuting, I'm not sure.

Either way, I get to move to Orlando soon!!!! I just wanted to pop on and share the news!

I'll post more TR soon.



As far as the designs....there is a design section on this board where you can find everything. I know Photopshop well so that makes it easy to customize things. You may need to ask the creator if they will customize. But there are a lot of things that don't need customization.

What great news about the job offer! Sending along some pixie dustixiedust:

 

[mommaof3boys]

Loving your tr. It is getting me so excited for our trip!

We will be staying WBC the end of this month. It will be our middle DS's birthday. He is a leap day baby, so it is his 1st REAL BDay. We have an ADR for Chef Mickey's that day for breakfast. How long did it take you to get from the resort to the Contemporary? Did you use the WBC transportation or your own car?

Thanks in advance!! You have given me great ideas to make the little guys day special.

 

[Bonniec]

Most of the time we used WBC shuttles, but sometimes we drove if we were running late. And occasionally we took a taxi back.

From WBC to the MK it took about 15 minutes after being picked up. From there, you can walk to the Contemporary. That one isn't so bad.
(or Polynesian).
But going to some of the others can take longer.

For example, we were at MK and needed to go to the Grand Floridian for tea. There was no boat in site so we hopped on the resort monorail. The resort monorail took forever and frequently had to stop and wait for other monorails. We had to wait through contemporary, ticket center, and poly before hitting GF.

I don't know how people do dining plans at Disney. We spent a lot of time traveling to restaurants. I didn't mind because I've been to Disney a million times but never the resorts so it was cool to see. But I don't get how people on dining plans eat all those meals unless they are all in the parks.

 

[Bonniec]

The next day we were SUPPOSED to go to Hollywood Studios to try and get Mason in for the Jedi Training. He's a Star Wars fan and wanted to do this since we got our tickets last March. But since we live an hour and a half a way we are never there in the morning. DH got a call for a job interview in Orlando (the one he ended up getting ). So I decided to take the kids to Epcot and look closer at the countries.

As we walked into Epcot, I was approached by one of the survey takers. She was looking for Florida residents and I fit the bill. She offered me $125 gift card to do the survey which would take about 90 minutes. I honestly didn't want to do it but Sara and Sam's eyes about popped out of their heads, lol. I decided to do the survey and let the kids have the money to spend. So we split up and the twins took Mason off to enjoy Epcot.

The survey was very interesting though I have no idea why they wanted Florida residents. The topic would have been better for those coming out of state but whatever . It was conducted in the old building that used to have body wars (it has a yellow dome by the Universe of Energy). It was kinda cool walking through a desserted building. I felt like a prisoner . They gave me a soda and cookies (and my gift card) and I was escorted to a room with a woman who asked me the questions. I sat in front of a computer with a camera on me and she informed me her "associates" were in another room watching me. I'm not allowed to share what the survey was about, but it was kinda fun. After, she excused herself to ask her associated of they had anymore questions for me. I felt like I was in a FBI movie!

During the survery I started feeling achy again. After I left and met up with the kids, DH showed up from his interview....and I was feeling worse. Sara told me to go back to the hotel but we had reservations at Garden Grill in 3 hours and no way was I going to miss Chip and Dale!

Unfortunately I got worse and worse. I ended up having to leave DH and the kids and go back. I was feverish and honestly, had to run to a couple of companion rooms. I was so sick and extremely upset and missing the one character meal I had looked forward to the most.


Surprisingly, I felt better the next day. My stomach was better and my fever was gone. I was surprised because I was so miserable the day before. I felt pretty week but I was up for going out. And thank goodness because we had ADRs at O'Hana's for breakfast and a tea at the Grand Floridian....

 

[Bonniec]

I prefered O'Hana's breakfast over dinner. The food was super yummy and Mason and I love Stitch!

I tried to take a pic of the kids. I finally brought my good camera and Mason was being a turd. Just as I got him to cooperate, this dude photo-bombed us!

Mason got cupcakes for his birthday and he loved the umbrellas...

Sara loves pineapple...

Sara ate too much pineapple!

Everytime I try to take a picture of Sam, he does this...

So I gave him a death threat to cooperate and I got this...

Seriously....my kids torture me!

Pluto biting Mason's head...

I freaking forgot the food pics again!


We headed to MK and they were testing out that new Sorcerer's thingy so we gave it a try....

I thought it was kind of boring. Nothing at all like Kim Possible so I hope they add more. But Mason really liked it!

He tried to do the next round but it broke down in typical Disney fashion. DH took him on the pirates ride. I was off shopping with Sara. And the ride broke down with them on it. They sat there 45 minutes before finally getting walked off.

I told DH I was jealous because I wanted to walk off a boat and see the place with the lights on. He just looked at me like he was gonna slap me.

Finally we were off to the Grand Floridian for tea....

 

[Bonniec]

My kids giving me the evil eye on the monorail. They weren't even in a bad mood, just torturing mom as usual.

And then Sam torturing Sara as usual.

So we get to the Grand Floridian. Okay...this place is gorgeous, and ritzy! But it kind of looked like an old folks home in there.

Now tea was SUPPOSED to be something for just Sara and I. A mother/daughter day out. But Ian and Sam decided to invite themselves along. I seriously have no idea why. Neither drink tea so wth would they want to go?? But of course Sara and I weren't going to say no *sigh*

They didn't like anything! And they annoyed the crap out of Sara and I. We were like, "WHY did you come???!!!) ....men....

DH playing with the sugar cubes. He then started eating them raw.

Sara and I did out best to ignore the boys. We totally loved it! She had some kind of chai tea. I had the Eros which was a citrus vanilla tea. We both drank our entire pots!

FINALLY I took some food shots...the sandwiches were cucumber (my fav), curry chicken (decent), egg salad (good), shrimp salad (NASTY), and pear gorgonzola (yummy). The sandwiches were nice, but next time I will order a la carte and skip them.

Ian got the cheese plate and didn't like anything on it. But this was easily my fav! Look how gorgeous this is! SOOO yummy.

I got the pastries. I was actually disappointed with them. Neither the swan nor eclair was very good. But it sure was cute!

Sara got the strawberries n cream which was wonderful!

I will definately be taking her back WITHOUT the boys!!! Next time I will just order a la carte. Loves the tea, cheese plate, and strawberries. Will try the trifle next time too.

Everything else was just okay.

That night we hit up Downtown Disney again. I was sad because this was to be our last night.

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!!

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Tea @ the GF looks fabulous!

I've made an ADR for my Daughter & her daughter (my Granddaughter) for the Disney Princess Tea. Yours looks just yummy & far less expensive.... May have to switch things around.

Decisions... Decisions.....

Thanks for your pics and reviews.

BTW - I can just picture my DH & grown son deciding to come along to the tea - only to roll their eyes the whole time too! Will just have to whip them into shape if they even dare to try!

BTW - Trifle is my absolute favorite dessert!!! (Have only ever tasted my own recipe, tho.....)

 

[dara00]

what day was it that your family was stuck on pirates?? my in laws were stuck for 45 minutes too. they gave them a fast pass to any ride to make up for it but they weren't happy with that and complained. they said that was the best they could do though!

 

[minerva78]

Congrats on your DH's job offer! That is wonderful news. I couldn't even imagine living in Orlando, I'd want to spend every weekend at a theme park. Has he decided if he's going to take the job?

I'm loving all of the info about the restaraunts you went to. Did you like Chef Mickey's or O'hana better for breakfast? For character interactions and food. I'm probably going to end up needing to choose between these two. Chef Mickey's costs a bit more, but I'm pretty sure I want to do dinner at O'hana, so maybe we should try a different location. I don't know if we could do both, since my top priority is breakfast at Akershus. And also because seeing the dessert party at the fireworks in MK makes me want to try that too! Too many choices, lol.

 

[Bonniec]

what day was it that your family was stuck on pirates?? my in laws were stuck for 45 minutes too. they gave them a fast pass to any ride to make up for it but they weren't happy with that and complained. they said that was the best they could do though!

It was Thurs the 26th. That's what they did for them too. According to Ian, he said the ride stopped because 2 people jumoed out of the boat to take pictures. So of course they stopped the ride and couldn't get it started again. Ask your in laws if they made that announcement.

Congrats on your DH's job offer! That is wonderful news. I couldn't even imagine living in Orlando, I'd want to spend every weekend at a theme park. Has he decided if he's going to take the job?

I'm loving all of the info about the restaraunts you went to. Did you like Chef Mickey's or O'hana better for breakfast? For character interactions and food. I'm probably going to end up needing to choose between these two. Chef Mickey's costs a bit more, but I'm pretty sure I want to do dinner at O'hana, so maybe we should try a different location. I don't know if we could do both, since my top priority is breakfast at Akershus. And also because seeing the dessert party at the fireworks in MK makes me want to try that too! Too many choices, lol.

Yep, he's taking it. We are heading over this weekend to look for places.

For character interaction, I think it's a toss up. Maybe it's just that we don't know how to interact with non speaking characters, but they always seemed to come and go super fast. Sara said Chip and Dale at Garden Gril spent the most time with them. O'Hana's had Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, and Goofy. Chef Mickey's had the Fab 5. So I would choose depending on your character preferences.

Akershus is likey better for characters. Everytime we've seen a princess they spend so much time with Mason. I think they pick up on his shyness so they talk to him a lot (which makes mom tear up). But he doesn't want to eat at a "girls" restaurant, lol.

The breakfasts were different. Chef Mickey's is a buffet with a bazillion choices. O'Hana's is family style so they bring it to you. Scrambled eggs, huge sausages (yumm), bacon, potatoes, cinnamon roll bread thingy, and pinapple bread (yumm(....oh, and Mickey waffles!! I fell in love with those.

I honestly like both breakfasts the same. If I had to choose, I'd likely say O'Hanas's because it's cheaper and I don't have to keep getting up to get it.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I just want to say I'm loving your trip report. I'm not finished yet but wanted to pop in and say hi. .

I love, love, love the Mickey birthday party. Great job!