'OHANA means CHUNKY! An Aug 2017 Family TR THE END 4/26 - The Last Day and Trip Epilogue!

[natebenma]

Welcome to Chunkyland!! <-- Title of my next family TR, LOL

That is the PERFECT title!

I have not even caught up on this trip, and you haven't finished, but I am already excited about the sequel!

 

[natebenma]

I smiled through this whole update!

SO many awesome photos!

Sienna loves the monorail!

Case in point:

Thanks for the info about rider swap. We have never done this, so I didn't know the details about how it works.

We have never dined at Garden Grill. From all of the reviews I have read, that is a mistake. I keep forgetting, or maybe I never knew, that they have POG there. Worth it for that alone!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I knew we could walk to the Ticket and Transportation center in a reasonable time which is one of the reasons I picked the Rarotonga long house

That's also why I requested Rarotonga!! Would our request be fulfilled? Only time will tell...

But we made it there, and had to go through bag check, as I expected.

As we exited the monorail I realized there are some things at Disney which are not fully thought out, that despite the feats of imagineering we see in the parks, it has come to a sudden and complete halt as to our utter dismay, we had to go through BAG CHECK again. What the hell?!?

I was SO unimpressed with this!! Such a waste of time! It would be reasonably easy to create a separate line for entering monorail guests, or just to have it come out in the "safe" area. Of course you'd have to make guests taking the monorail from Epcot to MK have to go through bag check to get on the monorail like they already do for MK, but I don't see that as being a problem. As someone who hates spending time in bag check lines, I wasn't thrilled with this system...

Welcome to another Chunky Boat! Please keep all arms and legs inside the boat at all times!

Chunkyboat is hilarious!! I love this!

otherwise I think some of us could have partook in a mimosa or two. But maybe that is a good thing as I would get to later...

Uh oh...

Sienna: Oh Mickey, you so fine!

Oh my gosh, Sienna!! Precious!

SUCH a great Pluto selfie!!

I love how Eva was holding her skirt up ala princess pose. I think she saw Chunkysis doing that and wanted to emulate her!

That is SO cute. Love!!

 

[annie170]

I can't think of a better way to start a day than Soarin' and Mickey Waffles!

That heat looks intense. Better than rain, but wow!

I agree with you regarding bag check. Come on Disney! It's not rocket science that people who have already gone through to get on the monorail should not have to go through again.

All of the kids are adorable, but Eva is just too much. Her excitement and poses had to make the trip totally worth for your sister and her husband.

 

[Jenny Sanders]

We did Garden Grill breakfast for the first time in July, and LOVED it!

 

[ONUAtrain]

Character breakfasts are so much fun! The kids look like they had a blast!

 

[KathyM2]

Apparently at Epcot, the monorail line gets dumped out into the general pubic line so we HAD to go through it again. Absolutely ridiculous and I don't understand why they cant just create a separate enclosed line for those who have already gone through bag check.

Funny, we just talked about this lol.

Great pics. And the food at GG looked really good actually. For some reason I didn't think this place was that well liked for the food, but I think I will try for it next time, for that sticky bun lol and for the proximity to get on Soarin' at RD lol

 

[Momee]

Loving these Chunky adventures!! How can one family have so many adorable kids?! Seriously.
The double bag check issues have totally not been "imagineered" properly, but I guess we should give the big D a pass because just about everything else is purely magical.
How did I never know that Mickey is in overalls for the character breakfast at GG? I love seeing characters in their not-so-standard outfits.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Great updates, I too was not impressed with the double bag check, stupid! Hopefully this will be fixed at some point when they discover how dumb it is lol!

You all made great time with a large group to hit both the land rides before breakfast! Yummy Garden Grill breakfast, we have done it several times and I love it!

 

[cinderkelly]

Eeek! I just found this! Sorry I've been a bad friend and haven't been on the boards since we got back from DW 3 weeks ago . Can't wait to go back and read his adventure!

Ps, it was so great getting to see you again! Even though it was short and sweet

 

[chunkymonkey]

Great Morning the girls look so happy at the M&G

They had a great time! It always was surprisingly not that crowded so there was a lot of space to just run around which helped.

That is the PERFECT title!

I have not even caught up on this trip, and you haven't finished, but I am already excited about the sequel!

Haha that family trip part 2 will probably not gonna happen for a few years, LOL, unless I can convince the adults otherwise. But good to know I'll have a follower in 4 years time!

I smiled through this whole update!

SO many awesome photos!

Thank you! I kept smiling while writing it!

Thanks for the info about rider swap. We have never done this, so I didn't know the details about how it works.

We have never dined at Garden Grill. From all of the reviews I have read, that is a mistake. I keep forgetting, or maybe I never knew, that they have POG there. Worth it for that alone!

I tried to read up on it but it's easier when you just have first-hand experience. It doesn't even matter if the kid is too short to ride it, it could just be because they don't' want to ride, or is sleeping.

Yes! GG is one of those underrated restaurants. I think people think it's just sort of old-fashioned and not as exciting as other character meals, but honestly the food has been great and I have not been disappointed with the interaction here.

That's also why I requested Rarotonga!! Would our request be fulfilled? Only time will tell...

Oooh, I wonder....

I was SO unimpressed with this!! Such a waste of time! It would be reasonably easy to create a separate line for entering monorail guests, or just to have it come out in the "safe" area. Of course you'd have to make guests taking the monorail from Epcot to MK have to go through bag check to get on the monorail like they already do for MK, but I don't see that as being a problem. As someone who hates spending time in bag check lines, I wasn't thrilled with this system...

Sigh, I can't believe they didn't think this out. They do so much with all the rides and everything but then they screw up with the monorail line? It's like it was an afterthought, oh lets just dump them all out into the general line...

Chunkyboat is hilarious!! I love this!

Haha thanks to @ariane37 who coined the term.

Oh my gosh, Sienna!! Precious!

It was so funny she decided to touch Mickey's head!

SUCH a great Pluto selfie!!

Aw thank you!

That is SO cute. Love!!

The kids loved the meet n greet! Well, most of them did!

I can't think of a better way to start a day than Soarin' and Mickey Waffles!

That heat looks intense. Better than rain, but wow!

I agree with you regarding bag check. Come on Disney! It's not rocket science that people who have already gone through to get on the monorail should not have to go through again.

All of the kids are adorable, but Eva is just too much. Her excitement and poses had to make the trip totally worth for your sister and her husband.

There's nothing better than Soarin and Mickey waffles first thing in the morning! Anyone deserves it after having to go through bag check twice!
Oh the heat was INSANE. Take the hottest day in your life and add about 10 degrees to that plus 10% more humidity. It was brutal. In all honestly at some points we could have used some rain, it's not like we weren't dripping with sweat already! Gross I know but it was just the reality of it!
Oh Eva is already convinced we're going back every year much to the chagrin of her parents, LOL.

We did Garden Grill breakfast for the first time in July, and LOVED it!

 

[chunkymonkey]

We did Garden Grill breakfast for the first time in July, and LOVED it!

It's a really great breakfast especially in Epcot where there are so few places for breakfast.

Character breakfasts are so much fun! The kids look like they had a blast!

They definitely did! although I hoped they did not expect every meal to have characters now, LOL.

Funny, we just talked about this lol.

Great pics. And the food at GG looked really good actually. For some reason I didn't think this place was that well liked for the food, but I think I will try for it next time, for that sticky bun lol and for the proximity to get on Soarin' at RD lol

LOL, yes we did!
GG has always been a go to of mine and although we don't go every trip it is fun to go there every few trips. I wish they didn't change out the fish they had for lunch and dinner, it's now a sausage and I'd rather have the seafood!
But yes, breakfast the sticky bun bake is AWESOME.

Loving these Chunky adventures!! How can one family have so many adorable kids?! Seriously.

Aw thank you.

The double bag check issues have totally not be "imagineered" properly, but I guess we should give the big D a pass because just about everything else is purely magical.
How did I never know that Mickey is in overalls for the character breakfast at GG? I love seeing characters in their not-so-standard outfits.

Definitely the day so far was great except for the darn double bag check!
Yup Farmer Mickey makes an appearance at GG! It's so cute!!

Great updates, I too was not impressed with the double bag check, stupid! Hopefully this will be fixed at some point when they discover how dumb it is lol!

I don't understand how they thought that would be a good idea and geta way with it! Haven't they read the DISboards?!? LOL

You all made great time with a large group to hit both the land rides before breakfast! Yummy Garden Grill breakfast, we have done it several times and I love it!

It's so delicious! I was so excited to eat here again after our delicious breakfast last year, and now that I look at the pictures I want to eat here again, LOL.

Eeek! I just found this! Sorry I've been a bad friend and haven't been on the boards since we got back from DW 3 weeks ago . Can't wait to go back and read his adventure!

Ps, it was so great getting to see you again! Even though it was short and sweet

Hi Kelly! I figured you couldn't stay away from the boards. Hope all is well! We really enjoyed see you guys again, and it was definitely too short but very sweet

 

[Stasieki]

I'm all caught up (we were at the World right before Irma as well). You are doing a great job with such a large group. I know it isn't easy.

 

[Ruthie5671]

As always, I adore Chunky Sis' outfit - but wasn't she just melting on this day in those black leggings???

And your nieces and nephews are just so cute.

 

[Dentam]

Very cute breakfast pics and the food looks good too!

I hate bag check lines so I never bring a bag with me to the parks. I know that wouldn't be an option with all of the kiddos though!

 

[wdwnut61]

CS has character sonar
Another great outfit for her as well.
I can't believe you had to go through bag check again that's insane
Steve looks so happy on LWTL.
Garden Grill breakfast looks great.

 

[Raeven]

As we exited the monorail I realized there are some things at Disney which are not fully thought out, that despite the feats of imagineering we see in the parks, it has come to a sudden and complete halt as to our utter dismay, we had to go through BAG CHECK again. What the hell?!?

I've never gone to Epcot from one of those resorts, but that's really stupid. If you go from Epcot to MK or the resorts to MK you don't have to go through again.

It was soft, warm, gooey and crisp in the right places....delicious!

Sounds delicious!

I love how Eva was holding her skirt up ala princess pose. I think she saw Chunkysis doing that and wanted to emulate her!

Case in point:

This is so cute!

 

[Neverland_Girl]

Sienna loves the monorail!

She's so cute I can't handle it!

I don't remember what row we sat in but I think we were on the 2nd row on the A side. We took up an entire row! Welcome to Soarin' with the Chunkies! I was so happy for everyone to experience Soarin' especially the newbies, and the ones who have only seen the old Soarin' movie. Eva though, was not that impressed with having to dangle from the seats while in "flight" but she held on to me and her dad on the other side of her tightly and seemed to be ok through it, definitely not "Mine Train" scared but I think she's not one for heights in general it seemed, but we made it through her first big-girl ride! Everyone really enjoyed this!

Poor Eva can't catch a break on these rides! Glad everyone else enjoyed it though!

Soon we had three of these placed on our long table...behold this beauty called the Sticky Bun Bake:

It was soft, warm, gooey and crisp in the right places....delicious!

Then we got a couple of these skillets:

Your GG breakfast looks awesome! I need to make time to try this if I can ever pull myself away from the bakery in France.

I love how Eva was holding her skirt up ala princess pose. I think she saw Chunkysis doing that and wanted to emulate her!

Case in point:

She's definitely got the pose down!

Apparently Dale missed signing the autograph books so Mimi went to fetch him to come back and he obliged!

It seems like you guys had great character interaction too!

 

[xlsm]

Minnie and Daisy, BFFs for life!!

Steve was in his element!

king of Living with the Land 2.0!

I love this. Everyone looks so happy!!

Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy! We've got some Hamilton level Werk going on there with the pose. So, so, so cute!! CS has her in princess pose training and it's paying off!!

It sounds like you had such a good breakfast! It doesn't look too crowded from the pictures, that's how it was for us last December. Our food was just ok, but the character interaction here was AMAZING. Looks like you had great luck with that too. Characters make me so happy!

 

[elaine amj]

Glad your GG breakfast worked out so well! We had lunch there a few weeks ago and it was such incredible character interaction! The food was good, but the characters always steal the show here. Plus everyone enjoys the rotating restaurant.

And glad you finally managed to get a rider switch! It's actually good until the end of the month you are visiting - so mine was valid for almost 3 weeks That said - like you, we didn't get as many rider switch passes as we thought. Many times, we just didn't feel like lugging the little one all the way to whatever ride it was. Plus of course - the logistics of moving a large group...