Our 1st Trip to WDW and In-Laws Invite Themselves Along! January 2010

[kaetra]

Dates: Friday 01/15/2010 through Tuesday 01/19/2010
Resort: Disney's Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
Package: Magic Your Way Plus Dining

The Cast
Me, Traci – 39 again this year, DH Brad 36, DD Kythe – 7

The Cast II
Brad's mom - Nana 54 & Stepdad - Larry 58

Pre-Trip, The Nuclear Plan
Practically since the day she was born, my dream has been to take my beautiful princess to WDW for her Magic 7th Birthday.

DH is from western Canada, but we live in the Chicago area. So, for the last 6 years (since DD was born) we have spent all our vacations with his family out west. I love my In-Laws, especially MIL, but I told my husband what I really wanted this time was a quick (4 night) vacation for just us three – no big deal right?

I excitedly booked our package in August of 2009 and the countdown began! Shortly after I booked, DH mentioned it to his mom, and when she got all excited and said maybe she and FIL would come too, DH didn’t have the heart to say some nice version of the word “No”. *sigh* OK, fine, whatever. It would be OK I told myself.

Over the next five months, there were multiple rounds of “yes, we’re coming” and then “no, we can’t make it”, “yes”, “no”, etc. So I went ahead and meticulously planned as if it was a Nuclear Family Vacation. I made all our ADR’s, researched, planned, made crazy levels of detailed documentation about what/where/when for each and every single day of our stay – maps, spreadsheets (yes, spreadsheets!). You know the drill right? It’s our FIRST trip. It was DD’s MAGIC 7th BIRTHDAY. It was going to be AWESOME!

The Anniversary Present
My FIL really is a good person, but he has a very particular type of personality that I can only handle in short doses. Many words come to mind but I don’t want to be uncharitable. Anyway, about 1 month before our trip, he calls me and asks if I can book the trip for them on his behalf so he can give it to MIL as an Anniversary Present. But he doesn’t want a package, he wants me to manually check flights in at least 8 different to/from/date configurations, hotels and tickets all separately and could I please make sure to get him the absolute best deal possible. And I should pay for it on my credit card and he’ll reimburse me. I immediately recommend he get a travel agent. He says, “well, I’m sure you’ll find a better deal because you’re so good with the computer.”

A couple weeks went by, and he wasn’t very happy with the prices I was coming up with, so I thought for sure they would wind up not coming. There were only 2 weeks to go and there’s no way they could book anything in time, right?!

Guess Who’s Coming to WDW?
Literally days before we’re leaving for our trip, MIL calls to tell us that she and FIL will be joining us in WDW. Yay. They booked a super cheap, off-site hotel, and all they have to do is listen to a time share presentation. They’ve rented a car, and will pick us up at the airport. Joy. Oh well, at least DD is excited to see Nana.

Next…. The Encroached Upon First Trip to Disney World Begins

Links to TR Posts
Day 1 - Mickey Here We Come!
Day 1 - No, no...NO! Universal Studios is NOT an Option!
Day 2 - MK, Cinderella's Royal Table & The Whispering Canyon Incident
Day 2 - Spectromagic, Wishes and the Birth of a Disney Addict
Day 3 - I LOVE Animal Kingdom
Day 3 - Downtown Disney
Day 4 - Last MK Day & The Crab Shack Fiasco
Day 5 - Goodbye to Disney World

 

[kaetra]

We packed the car the night before, and when the alarm rang at 4:30am I had already been awake for at least an hour. I was ready to go go go! We loaded up DD, still in her pajamas, and hit the road for the Milwaukee airport. The parking situation had changed quite a bit since the last time we were there, but all was well and we were all checked in at the airport and eating breakfast well before our 6:45am flight.

Our flight was with AirTran, and the seats on the plane were very tight. I’m 5’0” and my knees nearly touched the seat in front of me. When the people in front of us leaned back the cramped-ness reached the level of highly ridiculous. Other than that we were all in GREAT spirits and of course unable to sleep any of the 2 ½ hour flight.

We arrive in Orlando at about 10:30am, and DH immediately starts calling his mom to see if they are there yet to pick us up. No answer. Hmmm, OK. So we head down to the Magical Express area to see what it’s like. A few more calls to both MIL and FIL’s cell phones – no answer. Some time passes and I say cheerfully “Let’s just hop on the Magical Express and we can hook up with them later.” DH agrees and we all get in line. DH then decides to take DD for one last walk to see if they can find Nana anywhere. I get up to the podium where you fork off to your respective bus line. I tell the conductor I’m waiting for DH & DD and he says no problem, I can wait by him. My phone rings. It’s DH -- he’s found Nana.

I reluctantly leave the ME line, looking over my shoulder as I walk away. Here we go. I put on a pleasant face and head over to meet them.

As we walk to the car chatting, I show MIL the table I have prepared and laugh to her about how crazy I’ve been with the planning, how we’ve been tickled with anticipation for 5 months and how glad I am that they could come share the our first trip to Disney World with us. She nods and smiles and says “That’s great! We’re just along for the ride so whatever you kids want to do is great with us!” I am relieved. We all load up into their rental car.

From Orlando Airport to Disney World in only 3 Short Hours!
We get in the car and I am prepared, I hand a zip lock bag full of quarters to FIL, who’s driving, and tell him they are for the tolls. He says “Oh, I’m not taking any toll roads! Those toll roads are a big rip-off! They’re not getting a dime from me!” I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. This is only the beginning.

About 2 hours and 25 wrong turns/double backs later (even WITH a GPS) we arrive somewhere very near Disney World. FIL says “The food is going to be crazy expensive in there, so let’s stop at Wendy’s first.” Ok, fine. In the drive through he has an argument with the Wendy’s employee about what a double cheeseburger is, exactly. I look out the window, wanting to jump out of the car and run to Disney World. I look at my 7 year old, I can carry her all the way there, no problem. DH can deal with his parents. Of course Wendy’s gets FIL’s extremely customized dollar menu double cheeseburger wrong. FIL proceeds to have a fit over the condiment configuration of his double cheeseburger. He wants to drive back to Wendy’s and go inside and speak with the manager. I speak up and say we have to get to WDW soon or we’re going to miss our first ADR at Les’ Chefs. He grumbles and drives on, complaining about his food.

Next... No, no….NO!!!!!! Universal Studios is NOT an Option!!

 

[kaetra]

No, no….NO!!!!!! Universal Studios is NOT an Option!!
Next stop…… no it’s not Disney World or our resort. Even though the In-Laws have been in Orlando since the day before, they had not purchased their WDW tickets. So, of course they want to drive past Disney World, and go back to their hotel to buy them. They are not interested in buying them at the WDW gate, because that’s just a big “rip-off”. So, MIL and I go into their hotel’s lobby, while FIL, DD & DH sit in the car waiting. The lady at the hotel ticket desk goes into a 20 minute schpeel about all the money she can save on tickets if they agree to go to a second time share presentation for their sister-property. The ticket sales lady then offers MIL a Universal Studios package. MIL looks at me and says “You know, Larry and I have been to Disney Land so many times that Disney World isn’t going to be all that fun for us. We’ve seen it all already at Disney Land. How about if we go to Universal Studios instead?” My jaw literally drops. I think I’m going to throw up. I calm myself. I say, as kindly and sweetly as I can “If you and Larry would like to do Universal that’s OK with me hun, but we’re going to Disney World.” She says “Oh. (long pause) Ok.” and buys Disney World tickets. I love my MIL but I’m kind of sort of wanting to throttle her at this point.

I see the Disney World Sign! But we’re not there yet!
As we drive I am noticing a huge trend. The nice GPS lady voice says “turn at so-and-so” and FIL completely ignores it and drives by the place he’s supposed to turn. We get to Port Orleans Riverside through an intricate series of turn-arounds and double-backs. Not just a couple, but many. Too many when you have a flipping GPS TELLING YOU WHERE TO TURN and 3 people, including the 7 year old, in the back seat screaming “Turn here, Papa, turn here! There! No! Ugh, you missed it again!” This will be our method of transportation for the entire trip every time we sit in their rental car. I won’t repeat it over and over – but know. If I say we’re driving in the rental car, we’re driving in circles for 10 times longer than it would take to walk to anywhere on property.

Arrival at Port Orleans Riverside
Yay! We’re finally at our resort! Check in at POR is quick and easy. DD got a Happy Birthday celebration button, we all get our “First Visit” buttons (*teary eyed just thinking about it*), we got our KTTW and we’re off! A quick stop by the room, it’s wonderful! And waiting for us is a Mickey ears towel and the cutest little duckie washcloth at the sink. We change quickly and I should have remembered at this point to grab DD’s jacket, but I forget. We head back to the rental car for another “circle-driving-adventure”, this time to Epcot.

DD in POR Lobby

Mickey Ears!

Our First Disney Park is Epcot!
We arrive at Epcot in the late, late afternoon. Literally hours after I thought we would arrive. Oh well, no worries! We’re here now and nothing is going to get in the way of the MAGIC!

DD poses for her first in park picture ever – it’s the Victory pose!

The temp was in the high 60’s, and it was a beautiful sunny day. Upon consulting my neatly typed table, I see that we should have enough time to do a couple things before we have to be at Les’ Chefs at 7:10pm. DH, DD & I are blown away by it all! First we stop for pictures at the Epcot Character Spot and the queue here is not bad, but a bit of a wait. Some people cut by us saying they are with another group ahead of us. FIL & MIL seethe and are really ticked off about it. Understandable, I wasn’t all that thrilled either but whatever. After the pictures with all the Disney gang, we head back outside towards Figment. DH & I think Figment is super cute, but DD is uncharacteristically frightened by the loud horn noise, upset by the fart of all things and is then cross with us for taking her on it for the rest of the ride. She has loads of fun in the music room after it though. But to this day she still remembers Figment as a ride she didn’t like. (This kid goes on upside down roller coasters, but a horn and fart is too much for her? I put it down to just being tired.) We ride Nemo and I’m totally amazed at the Nemo characters swimming with the real fish! Then we do Crush which is super cool, but my poor tired peanut freezes up when Crush asks a kid next to her a question and then she runs back to us and wants to leave. We’ll definitely do this again next trip though because it’s like the coolest thing ever. DD gets her very first pin ever in the Nemo store for her lanyard – the black and white Mortimer. First pin – First Mickey. How appropriate!

Helllooooo Mickey!

Nemo!

Shark Attack!

Les’ Chefs
Time to head over to the World Showcase and when we arrive at Les’ Chefs I am so so so happy I made an ADR for all 5 of us because the place was packed! We got in about 10 minutes after our rez time. DH spent some time in Paris and he was really digging Les’ Chefs. We got to see Remy! It was amazing! DD was tickled pink!

Remy

The food was incredible! The three of us had the dining plan, so we picked from the dining plan combos on their menu. I had the Beef Bordelaise, DD had the kids fish, can’t remember what DH had. We got Crème Brulee for desert which was to die for. Our waiter was fabulous and really seemed to enjoy speaking French with DH who was tickled to speak French again. The In-Laws paid OOP but said they enjoyed their meal as well, although they balked at the tip recommendations on the receipt. This started an ongoing tipping requirements debate for the rest of the trip, which was quite wearisome and un-fun. When we left the restaurant it was really, really cold, low 50’s and I wasn’t prepared at all. So we spent some time looking for something warm to buy DD to wear as she was freezing.

Brrr, Mom I’m Cold!

Illuminations
By the time we finished dinner and did a little shopping it was time for Illuminations! Yay! The crowd was really thick, and we went into a little shop which had a side door that opened on the lake side of the building. To our surprise there was a bit of an open area away from the huge crowd so we stood there and watched the show, our view only minorly obstructed by a lamp-post.

Oohs, Aaahs and we were all in awe! Then it was time to leave, and sadly we walked out of the park ending our first day at Disney World. I remember the waving Mickey hands as we walked out and thinking how cool that was.

Next ..... Day 2 – Magic Kingdom, Cinderella’s Royal Table & The Whispering Canyon Incident

 

[jlhill4444]

Subbing. Your daughter is so cute! I love her long hair. I can relate to your inlaw problems, my MIL invited herself to Disney with us in May and like you I get a redo in December. Can't wait to read more.

 

[kaetra]

Subbing. Your daughter is so cute! I love her long hair. I can relate to your inlaw problems, my MIL invited herself to Disney with us in May and like you I get a redo in December. Can't wait to read more.

Oo! Thanks! I'd love to read your TR for your In-Law trip! Is it available?

 

[kaetra]

Our first morning in Disney World! We wake up bright and early, and I notice the message light on our phone is blinking. What’s this? A happy birthday message from Mickey! Yay! DD is so happy, it’s adorable. We start getting ready for our 9:10 am rez at Cinderella’s Royal Table! DD is dressing up like Rosetta, I do her hair and makeup and she looks sparkly and fairy-iffic! Her wings are pretty big and rather pointy on top and I’m thinking she could possibly take somebody’s eye out with them!

The In-Laws were not coming to the Cinderella event, so we hurry out the door and walk to the bus stop which is just outside our room, through a little wooded pathway. The bus arrives in about 10 minutes, and we climb aboard. A fast stop at French Quarter and we’re off to the Magic Kindgom! The bus trip is pretty quick. We arrive and there is a group of people waiting outside for the Rope Drop show. I’m not sure what to do since we’re supposed to be at Cinderella’s Castle at least 15 minutes before our 9:10 rez time. I see a CM by the entrance and tell him we have rez’s for Cinderella’s Breakfast. He smiles brightly and lets us right in! So for our first moments of our first visit to Magic Kingdom we have the place nearly all to ourselves! The morning is a bit chilly, and DD has her jacket on so you can’t really see how pretty her Rosetta costume is, but she’s so cute anyway!

I thought the Wish Ceremony at CRT was a tad cheesy and very rushed, but it was cute. I’m glad we did CRT once and if you have a little princess it is a MUST do at least once, but we definitely won’t have to do it every time we go. The food was pretty good – the stuffed French toast was very sweet and heavy. I actually preferred the croissant tray and fruit. DH loved the chocolate croissants so much, it reminded him of the pan au chocolat he had in Paris, so our server packed him up a few to go! Nice touch – I love CM’s! Meeting Cinderella was our favorite part of the event – she was awesome and it was a big, big deal! Of course DD loved meeting all the princesses during breakfast. After breakfast we check out the mosaics.

After breakfast we call the In-Laws to arrange meeting up. They are shopping at WalMart and say they’ll call us later – so we have some nuclear family time to spend on Fantasyland! We have the pleasure of experiencing our first showing of Mickey’s PhilharMagic and it quickly becomes one of our favorite do-again-and-again attractions!

After a pleasant and relaxing morning, we meet up with the In-Laws around lunchtime at Cosmic Ray’s. We grab a quick bite and make our way over to Frontierland for some Big Thunder Mountain and Tom Sawyer fun!

By about 3pm a new trend is emerging that lasted the rest of the trip, every hour or so FIL disappears without telling anyone to go get food. So, we have to hunt him down because he’s not answering his phone, then wait for him to get his food and then we all get to listen to him say over and over how expensive it was for the next hour. The phrase “$6 dollars for a hot dog! Can you believe that? $6 dollars!” will be forever burned in my brain because I heard him say it at least 5,000 times. He kept repeating it over and over, all day long. It was absolutely Magic-Draining behavior. Actually he alternated between hot dogs and popcorn so by the end of the day even DD was irritated and started saying “No more popcorn for you Papa, we’re going on rides!”

Next was our dinner at the Wilderness Lodge’s Whispering Canyon Café. This was an interesting experience. FIL mistakenly took the server’s behavior all wrong and thought the game was to insult the waitress as much as possible. Also, he drinks at least 8-10 diet cokes at every meal, and if his glass isn’t instantly refilled the moment he drains it, he complains loudly about the “sh**** service”. Those of you who’ve been to Whispering Canyon know that it didn’t take our server long to figure him out and bring him the GIANT mug o’pop. He did not appreciate this at all and complained that it would be flat before he could finish it and that he wouldn’t be able to drink it all. (You can’t win with this guy.) I thought the food was OK, fabulously tasty sides of slaw, salad and cornbread but the potatoes are really greasy and the meat was OK but not great. Our waitress was really awesome and fun. I was devastated when as we left FIL said very loudly to her “Thanks for the sh**** service!”. All heads turned and I just shook my head. He meant it too, but tried to play it off to us like he was joking. I was so ticked off that that I couldn’t speak to him for the rest of the night.

Next …. Our First Tear-Jerking Wishes Experience!

 

[jlhill4444]

Oo! Thanks! I'd love to read your TR for your In-Law trip! Is it available?

I did not do a TR, I figured I would wait and do one for our dec trip so I would only have good things to say. I did do a dinning report, but kept it to strickly food. I am really enjoying yours though!

 

[kaetra]

We took the boat ride from Wilderness Lodge back to Magic Kingdom. I absolutely love the Disney World boat transportation. As soon as we walked in the gate, there was a large crowd assembled on the Main Street circle. We had arrived just in time to catch the last half of Spectromagic! Amazing! Gorgeous! Best. Parade. Ever. But you know this already don’t you? (DH was so awed he got only ONE picture! Unbelievable! At the very end when they were going back down Main Street) My favorite float was Chernabog, he was breathtaking. I was grinning and waving at the parade members like a maniac, completely transformed into a 9 year old little girl. DD and even DH were practically speechless.

Check out the couple kissing in the lower center-right, so romantic!

*cries*Wishes!*cries*
We followed the parade up Main Street, toward Cinderella’s Castle. Once there I realized Wishes was coming! FIL says “Let’s get out of here, this crowd is crazy.” And I calmly tell him that the fireworks are about to start. He says “What, you never seen fireworks before?” I just glare at him, with my left eye literally twitching, holding the crazy inside for me. Soooo we find a cozy spot in front of the castle and wait with anticipation. Down go the lights and up comes the music. Within about 10 seconds, I have sobless, wide-eyed tears streaming down my face that don’t stop until after the show ends. I’m sure DH & DD were impressed but I don’t remember because I was completely absorbed in Magic. All I remember is DD saying “Mama, are you crying?”.

Wishes

The Moment of Realization
The end of day 2, we leave the park and head back to POR. But I don’t remember any of that, I’m still wrapped in Magic. Exhausted, we all get ready for bed, laughing and smiling, filled with joy and wonder. A bit later, as I lay awake in the quiet room, listening to DH breathe heavily as he falls asleep and hearing my sweet DD’s tiny snore in the bed next to ours IT happens. I realize something wonderful - Magic is Real. This was the moment I became a Disney addict.

Next …. Day 3 – Yeti! Yeti! Yeti!

 

[Later_Mater2009]

I absolutely LOVE your TR, and I feel sorry that you had to endure any like you say Magic Draining (BUT this has taught me never to invite mine )
THANKS and I look forward to reading MORE you DD is super cute BTW!!

 

[wdwdavem]

Great report so far!!!! I always get goosebumps watching wishes.(my wife thinks I'm nuts). It just sucks you in. I love reading trip reports with several families or groups, they are always hilarious. I have traveled with other families before and swore I will never do it again. My friends wife made us stop at a walmart for 90 minutes because she said she had to have her nails filled on vacation.

 

[wdw_l0ver]

More! More! I love the way that you write - it feels like I am right there with you. I got goosebumps when you described seeing Wishes for the first time with the tears running down your face! I'm very sorry about how your in-laws impacted your trip. This is a situation that my DH and I face each time we plan a trip. We live across the country from our families, so EVERY vacation becomes an opportunity for people to tag along.

We are planning a trip for 11/26 - 12/3, and when my parents heard about it, they said, "We'll go too!" It was so hard to say, "Sure, but you can't be there for the whole time. I need time alone with my DH. How about we overlap?" That turned into the obligatory invitation of my in-laws, who thankfully turned us down. I think my FIL and yours would get along swimmingly. You however seem to be much nicer to yours!

Anyways, great TR! I can't wait to read more!

 

[CdnBuzzFan]

I have to read more... Looking forward to your next post!

 

[CdnCarrie]

Oh man I feel for you! What a unmagical way to start your 1st trip. I would have been livid.

 

[kaetra]

We get an early start on day three, and actually make it to Animal Kingdom just as it’s opening. I get the feeling that MIL had a little chat with FIL last night when they got back to their hotel because I can tell he’s had a bit of an attitude adjustment today. I know I’ve been complaining a lot about him, but he can be fun when he’s in the right sort of mood. Today was a good mood day for him for sure. Also, I took a Xanax, which may have made all the difference! LOL! First order of business, the incredible Tree of Life.

Wow, the bug movie was really cool. I’m not sure I’ll do it again though, the bug spray bit made me a little gaspy and clostro. Definitely a must see at least once kind of thing. Next we head off to the Everest side and DH, who is a super fast runner, takes all our cards and heads to Everest to get FPs for everyone. I stop off at the awesome tea shack to get a cup of hot tea. I am really digging AK, this is a serious contender as my favorite park. I know a lot of people don’t feel that way, but it has this vibe to it that really tickles my biscuits. And that’s not just the Xanax talking either!

I mean, Expedition Everest is absolutely my FAVORITE roller coaster in all of Disney World – it seriously is! Before our trip we watched a special on TV that was all about the creation of Expedition Everest, so we came in with a lot of interest in this coaster. And the three of us are all huge coaster fans. Not so much the In-Laws, but they are good sports and go on the coasters even if they are not their favorite kind of thing to do. Here is a quite redeeming photo of FIL, he and MIL are having a really good time and you can tell he’s not a huge fan of roller coasters in this one – it’s cute

After Everest, I can’t stop hollering “Yeti! Yeti! Yeti!” at intervals throughout the day. Who’s the annoying one now? Me! I am! On the way over to the safari side, we get in a few character greets and see this lovely lady who reminds me of the Renaissance Faire. Absolutely Gorgeous!

Autographs are a Must!

DD gets her face painted with the best face paint I’ve ever seen – then we visit some shops and buy a hair tie so as to not get her hair in her pretty tiger face. After the face painting and shopping excursion it’s Safari time! The animals are a bit sleepy, but we still get to see at least a glimpse of almost all of them. MIL is a huge fan of all animals, so she’s really enjoying herself today as well!

Soon it’s time for our ADR at the Tusker House for lunch. We have told the In-Laws that they have to let us buy them lunch, and they reluctantly agree. The food here is a-maze-ing and my favorite of the entire trip second only to Les Chefs. Tusker House will be an ‘always go’ thing for sure, not missing it ever. The waitresses are talking about FIL because they all know his name from hearing MIL hollering at him, and they keep saying hi to him and taking turns bringing his diet cokes nice and steady. He is a happy camper. After lunch we head off to DinoLand to hang out there until the Nemo show starts. We don’t get to spend a ton of time in DinoLand, we’ll more there next time for sure. We received front seat vouchers for Nemo at the Tusker House lunch. DD is a huge Nemo fan and she is not disappointed! The show is fabulous and we enjoy it immensely.

After Nemo we do Everest twice more, then head back to the Safari side for a bit, we miss the bird show but we do catch the tail end of the parade. When we hear the park is closing announcement we realize if we RUN we can hit Everest one more time! Told you it was my favorite!

Next …. Day 3 – Downtown Disney

 

[Jdougherty]

You trip report is great. I have relatives like that, aleast I don't live with them or vacation with them often. I too am stuck using all my vacation to visit Family. It's nice to sneak a trip just for YOUR family now and than.

 

[kaetra]

I absolutely LOVE your TR, and I feel sorry that you had to endure any like you say Magic Draining (BUT this has taught me never to invite mine )
THANKS and I look forward to reading MORE you DD is super cute BTW!!

Thank you so much! I guess I'd rather go with In-Laws than not go at all...well on 2nd thought.... j/k! hehe

Great report so far!!!! I always get goosebumps watching wishes.(my wife thinks I'm nuts). It just sucks you in. I love reading trip reports with several families or groups, they are always hilarious. I have traveled with other families before and swore I will never do it again. My friends wife made us stop at a walmart for 90 minutes because she said she had to have her nails filled on vacation.

Wishes is so inspiring! Family trips are "character building" and have taught me how to say "NO"! Non-essential WalMart visits on Disney vacations are just plain crazy!

More! More! I love the way that you write - it feels like I am right there with you. I got goosebumps when you described seeing Wishes for the first time with the tears running down your face! I'm very sorry about how your in-laws impacted your trip. This is a situation that my DH and I face each time we plan a trip. We live across the country from our families, so EVERY vacation becomes an opportunity for people to tag along.

We are planning a trip for 11/26 - 12/3, and when my parents heard about it, they said, "We'll go too!" It was so hard to say, "Sure, but you can't be there for the whole time. I need time alone with my DH. How about we overlap?" That turned into the obligatory invitation of my in-laws, who thankfully turned us down. I think my FIL and yours would get along swimmingly. You however seem to be much nicer to yours!

Anyways, great TR! I can't wait to read more!

Thank you so very much, that is very sweet of you to say. I feel your pain totally! I'm so glad you get to spend your 11/26 trip In-Law free!

I have to read more... Looking forward to your next post!

Thanks!

Oh man I feel for you! What a unmagical way to start your 1st trip. I would have been livid.

Thanks lots!

 

[Dugette]

Just found your TR and loving it! Wow, the frustration! I'm so glad you have a do-over trip planned! By the way, it looks like we were at POR during the same time as you! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[kaetra]

With AK closing at 5pm, it makes it a perfect evening to go to Downtown Disney – so that’s what we did. We caught the boat from POR and had a lovely journey in my favorite mode of WDW transportation. We were pretty hungry, so we stopped at the Earl of Sandwich for some really delicious sandwiches and soup. I highly recommend it! Then it was off to the Pin Trading shop where we picked up the Birth Month broach type huge January pin for DD. I guess they only sell one month at a time, so you have to go during your birth month to get yours – is that true? Seemed that way. It’s really cute. She is quite the little pin trader. We visited mostly shops, and didn’t do any of the activities. It was a bit chilly out that night and the time seemed to fly. Here are a few pictures –

Stitch SPITS! AWESOME!

Next…. Our Last MK Day & the Crab Shack Fiasco

 

[daytondisney]

On our last trip we took my wife's parents, along with our 2 boys, and our experience was just the opposite...laughing and joking the entire 8 days, all under one (large) roof. Not a hint of disagreement.

But I love reading this TR. I feel like I am right there watching this.

Maybe because I drink about 6-8 Diet Cokes with every meal as well.

Thanks!

 

[kaetra]

Day 4 - Our Last MK Day & the Crab Shack Fiasco
We begin day four with a character breakfast at the Liberty Tree Tavern, sans In-Laws. Unfortunately the Crystal Palace is closed for renovation, so they substituted this instead. The characters are Pluto (DD’s favorite), Minnie, Chip & Dale. The food is really good and is all you care to eat. We get lots of attention from the characters, especially Pluto who jiggles his leg when DD scratches his nose. It’s so cute! DD is beaming. Her autograph book is filling right up!

Then we went over to meet the Fairies! DD and I have been dying to do this! DD has had a Fairy bedroom since she was born, and a lovely fairy collection. It’s really me who loves collecting them and thankfully she seems to like it too. When the Disney Fairies came around I was really thrilled, and now we get to meet them in person! The wait was over an hour, but we stuck it out. We hadn’t waited for anything really in our whole trip, so one long wait wasn’t a big deal. The Fairies and Princesses are in the same place, and there are two lines. The poor Princesses had no one in their line - not a single soul and they were there too, because we asked the CM if the Princesses were in. When you walk into the Fairy area, you get shrunk down to Fairy size. You can tell because everything gets bigger and bigger as you walk down their hall. DD met Silvermist, Rosetta and Tink! Tink was very sassy. She sat right down with DD and they had a nice, long chat. Which was why the line took so long but I am glad for it!

After the Fairies visit, we met up with the In-Laws (who were enjoying another morning at WalMart ) Of course we had to ride Big Thunder Mountain lots and lots! Check out this face – hilarious! Poor Papa, he really does not like coasters

We did the obligatory Small World – DD liked it. It was nostalgic and relaxing. Then we finally did Peter Pan’s Flight. What an amazing, memorable experience this was! As the boat took off, DD said “Mama, we’re really flying!” and she was engulfed in Magic by this wonderful gem of adventure that’s been around like, forever. I couldn’t have been more pleased. And when the boat landed I pointed out the tiny sparkles on the moving black conveyor belt on the ground and whispered “See, pixie dust” and she whispered “Oh! That’s how they get them to really fly!”. What a wonderful, beautiful moment. I will never in all my life forget it. What a beautiful, wonderful child I have. I am truly TRULY blessed! An angel from heaven and I get to be her mom! How cool is that?

We headed to Tomorrowland next, where the line for Space Mountain was really long and there were no FPs available. So we did…. Stitch. Um, wow. Worst. Ride. Ever. To go from PPF to Stitch is like suddenly getting an ear wax flavored jelly bean after you’ve been eating buttered popcorn jelly beans! Ok, I know the little beast is one of the most technically complicated animatronics in the park – but wow. Um. Yeah.

We did the Monster’s Inc. comedy club – awesome! DD was laughing her butt off, so I know she’s gonna dig Crush next time! And man, the day just gets away from you ya know? Pretty soon dinner time is rolling around and the In-Laws are not wanting to eat on site so FIL says “You know, the restaurants here are so expensive and the food isn’t that good – lets go to Sizzler.” Yep. Sizzler. That’s “better” than WDW food. Okee then. As much as I *ahem* love Sizzler I’m afraid I have to pass. So they suggest Joe’s Crab Shack which is confusing because that’s at least as expensive as any table service in WDW – but whatever. No big. I love crab, it’s my favorite food actually. So we head back to the rental car for some good ole circular driving to the Crab Shack.

The Crab Shack Fiasco
I mentioned earlier in my report that we have been subject to an ongoing debate with the In-Laws on tipping requirements. Not just at WDW, but in general. I have bypassed the tedium in the TR by not covering it every time it happened. You’re welcome. But now, I will give the details of the final battle that my foreshadowing suggested. As a 3rd generation former waitress, I have a great appreciation for the industry. So, I am extremely embarrassed when the check is say $60 for 5 people on a Friday night and MIL digs up 2 dollars worth of coins from the bottom of her purse – including a few Canadian coins – and leaves it for a tip. This is not in anyway a derogatory comment towards my MIL. She just has a different concept of tipping. It’s not her fault I am embarrassed by it. So, at the Crab Shack the tipping debate continues and it dawns on me that being from another country perhaps they don’t know that wait staff in the U.S. do not get paid even minimum wage. I mention this, not snidely, just as a reason as to why I tip the way I do. The way I tip frustrates them very much because they think a 15-20% tip is absolutely insane and unnecessary in any circumstance and a total waste of money. What do you think FIL does? He immediately calls the waiter over and ASKS HIM HOW MUCH MONEY HE MAKES. I am so embarrassed for the guy, but he answers - $3.80 per hour plus tips. FIL chats with him a bit more, not in a mean way but just an ignorant one if you know what I mean. The waiter leaves and FIL says “that’s bull****, he just says that so he’ll get a bigger tip.” Tada! Nice huh? I always take cash with me and run back to the table and leave money when we eat out with them and they “get the tip”, and this case was no exception.

Next – Final Day – Goodbye Disney World *sniff*