Our January 2019 vacation with teenage boys!

brewhome

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 11, 2010
Hi, everyone! My family and I just got back from a great family vacation to WDW from 1/10-1/15! The last time my hubby and sons were there was in January 2013, when the boys were 12 and 10. They are now 18 and 16, are hungry all the time, and were excited to have their own room and some freedom, although they ended up hanging out with us most of the time! I've been to the world several times since they have, so it was really fun to show them all the new things and watch them re-discover what they had long forgotten.

None of my guys are big fans of getting their picture taken and they absolutely hate it when I take pics of food... but I do have some scenic pics to share along the way and can give you descriptions of our meals!

So here is the Cast of Characters:

Me (the mom!) - I'm 46 and am fairly obsessed with Disney. :lovestruc If I'm not planning a trip, I'm crabbing about the fact that I don't have one in the works. This year I bought an annual pass since we took the family trip and my sister and I are going on a girls trip this November (in 293 days, but who's counting?!?). It's my first time using the annual pass, and I love the discounts and having Memory Maker, even though the boys didn't want to get their pic taken very often! It was worth it for some absolutely hilarious ride photos. This trip, Toy Story Land was new to me since my last trip, so I couldn't wait to try SDD, and the only other thing I really wanted to do was ride FOP because it is my absolute favorite. The rest of it was all gravy since I've been there several times without my guys.

DH (the dad!) - He's 53 and does not share my obsession with Disney. He absolutely enjoys it when we go, but does no planning and tends to glaze over when I attempt to give him too many pre-trip details. He did ask to have sushi at Splitsville and to ride the People Mover. :rolleyes1 I adore him!

DS1 (always hungry!) - He's 18 and a freshman at our local community college. He also is a bartender/cook and works six days a week on top of going to school, so he was very ready for a break. All he wanted to do was ride ToT, RnR, and the Safari, and eat whatever he could get his hands on. He asked to go to Cape May Café for crab legs, and to have good lobster bisque, a whole lobster, and steak somewhere. More on that later. :P

DS2 (also always hungry, but mostly for snacks!) - He's 16 and is a junior in high school. I actually pulled him out of school to go while DS1 was on break, so he really liked that - but now he's in homework catch-up mode. He also is a cook at the same restaurant as DS1 and works four or five days a week, so he too was happy to have a break from work. He asked to eat at Tusker House for breakfast (he loves their bacon and donuts, of all things!), and to go on RnR, POTC, and the Safari, and swim in the pool. :D

I'll start off with 1/10 in the next post - our VERY early travel morning with a dicey weather forecast, our resort (new to us this trip), fun at HS, and Cape May Café.

Welcome aboard!
 
1/10 - Travel, HS, and Cape May Cafe for dinner!

We had a super early 5:50 am direct flight out of Buffalo, so we packed everything up the night before and got out the door by 4 am. DH, DS1, and DS2 thought I was crazy for wanting to be at the airport by 4:30, but I’ve had bad experiences with long security lines for early flights in the past and didn’t want to risk it this time. Luckily, the lines were short and we got through in about fifteen minutes. We also lucked out with the weather... there was snow and freezing drizzle in the forecast, but you’ll see in this pic that it conveniently went right around our travel route (the red line)!

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The flight landed around 8:15 and we walked right onto the bus for our ride to a new resort for us... Copper Creek at the Wilderness Lodge! I was able to rent vacation club points for two suites, and it cost me the same as it would have for two rooms at a moderate. DH has always wanted to stay here ever since we had dinner many years ago at Whispering Canyon Cafe, and I was so excited when I was able to rent the points. We got to the resort just after 9:30 and were greeted with this beautiful sight....

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Absolutely breathtaking. There are so many awesome details to look at, it smells fantastic, and the music is so relaxing. We were all blown away. Check in was a breeze, but of course our rooms weren’t ready... so we wandered around a bit and then grabbed some breakfast at Roaring Fork. DS2 and I had Mickey Waffles, DH had a breakfast flatbread, and DS1 had a platter. It was all good, typical counter service food. I did manage to sneak in a pic of my Mickey Waffles before all three of them told me not to take food pics!

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After we ate, the early wake up time was hitting the guys hard, so we chilled out in the lobby for a while and DH and DS1 actually snoozed for almost an hour in the comfy chairs. Once they felt a little human again, we decided to head to the buses to catch a ride to HS! (Will continue in next post.)
 
Hi there! Joining in the day before we leave for our Jan. trip :goodvibes We're also from NY but just a little bit a ways from you lol in Dutchess County.
WL is my absolute favorite resort :love: We did stay on the Copper Creek side once and loved that just as much. The resort is just so beautiful and relaxing........

Looking forward to reading more!
 
I'm in. We stayed at Beach Club in April 2018. My boys were 16 and 17. We have a tentative trip scheduled for early December 2019, but it would just be my husband and I and my youngest son who will be 17. The oldest is in his first year of community college as well and won't have the ability to take the time off, and he doesn't care enough about going to have us try to find a time that works for his work schedule. My youngest is the one who really enjoys going. We haven't stayed at Wilderness Lodge yet. I love AKL but the convenience of Beach Club was so nice. I think I'd like to try Boardwalk next. We ended up having to walk over there EVERY SINGLE NIGHT so my youngest could get nachos from the margarita stand. I'm excited to read about your trip!
 


Hi there! Joining in the day before we leave for our Jan. trip :goodvibes We're also from NY but just a little bit a ways from you lol in Dutchess County.
WL is my absolute favorite resort :love: We did stay on the Copper Creek side once and loved that just as much. The resort is just so beautiful and relaxing........

Looking forward to reading more!

Thanks for joining, @ariane37! WL is so amazing... we have talked about trying AKL as well, but it will be really hard for my hubby NOT to go back to WL. He is a hunter and loves the woods, so the vibe in there is right up his alley. The only thing that may convince him to try AKL is the savannah view so he can watch the animals.

I'm in. We stayed at Beach Club in April 2018. My boys were 16 and 17. We have a tentative trip scheduled for early December 2019, but it would just be my husband and I and my youngest son who will be 17. The oldest is in his first year of community college as well and won't have the ability to take the time off, and he doesn't care enough about going to have us try to find a time that works for his work schedule. My youngest is the one who really enjoys going. We haven't stayed at Wilderness Lodge yet. I love AKL but the convenience of Beach Club was so nice. I think I'd like to try Boardwalk next. We ended up having to walk over there EVERY SINGLE NIGHT so my youngest could get nachos from the margarita stand. I'm excited to read about your trip!

Thanks for joining, @JWeston8716! I totally loved exploring the convenience factor of the Beach Club/Boardwalk area... I would definitely love to stay there someday. You'll see later in the report that we used the back entrance to Epcot a couple of times and it was such a great alternative to the traditional buses! DS1 was obsessed with the fish & chips in the UK pavilion this trip, and DS2 was on the hunt for churros everywhere we went! Teenagers... their appetites are relentless! :-)
 
1/10 Continued...

We got to HS around 12:45, and man, the construction for the gondola station and all of the supports is really something! I can’t wait to try them out this November when I go back with my sister. The bus stops are definitely further away than they used to be; I think it was around a 5-7 minute walk to get to the front of the park. I activated my very first-ever annual pass and then into the park we went! Right when we walked in we were immediately surrounded by the March of the First Order...

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We followed them to their stage show and watched that for a bit, and then headed to see one of our favorites, Indiana Jones to enjoy the special effects...

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We then headed back across the park to our first FP of the day - one that DS1 was really excited for - Tower of Terror! Back in 2013 when DS2 was 10, he made it all the way to the elevators and then bailed on us... and this time he wouldn’t even attempt it, so he went and found the first of his many snacks (a Mickey pretzel this time) while DH, DS1 and I went for a sweet ride on the coolest elevator ever...

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We met up with DS2, stopped and split our own Mickey pretzel, and then made our way over to Toy Story Land for our next FP at Toy Story Midway Mania. Toy Story Land is soooooo adorable! It really does feel like you are in Andy’s backyard, but it was pretty crowded in there! There’s really not a lot of room to wander around. Slinky would have to wait until a later day...

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We battled it out on TSMM, and DS1 kicked everyone’s butt. He and I did a lot of trash talking while we were shooting but alas, he beat me. Mom has finally been defeated... the young padawan has become the master.

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On our way out of Toy Story Land, we caught a glimpse of the coolest drummers...

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Where did we head next? I’ll let you know in the next post!
 


1/10 Continued...

We had some time to kill before our next FP, so we headed back across the park and walked right on to Star Tours, where we saw one of our favorite droids and had an adventure on the snowy planet...

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Then we headed to another much anticipated ride, Rock ‘N Roller Coaster! DS1 and DS2 both play guitar so this is their favorite part of the queue, but unfortunately, the interactive poster boards were not working today...

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After our rocking ride, we criss-crossed to the other side of the park just one more time to watch our favorite guys, Waldorf and Statler, crack corny jokes at Muppetvision 3D...

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It was about 4:45 and even after all of the back and forth we did within the park, we were enjoying the sunshine so much that we decided to walk to the Beach Club for our dinner reservation at Cape May Cafe. On the way, I snapped a pic of the gondola construction...

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...as well as the beautiful Yacht Club...

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We were about ten minutes early for our 5:30 dinner reservation and were seated right away. We really enjoyed the Cape May dinner buffet... DS1’s favorites were the crab legs, mac and cheese, and clam strips, and DS2 absolutely loved the coffee rubbed tenderloin. DH and I really enjoyed all of those items plus the seafood pasta, cod nuggets, paella, and some other items as well. And the desserts... you can’t go wrong with mini bites of deliciousness! The guys all tried a bunch of things, and I went for the flourless chocolate Mickey ear cake, Oreo bon bon, and fruit tart! I did manage to sneak a pic of my dessert plate because they’re just so darn cute!

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After eating our fill, we contemplated going back to HS for the Star Wars fireworks, but decided it had been a long enough day since we had been up since around 3 am. We walked back to the bus stops at HS and headed back to the Wilderness Lodge, where our Copper Creek suites were ready and waiting for us. Here are a couple of pics of our gorgeous room!

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We did some unpacking and then DS1 and DS2 got their second wind and explored the resort a little more. They ended up watching the Electrical Water Pageant from Geyser Point before heading in for the night. They even bought cotton candy and mini donuts at the store and shoved those down before bed... teenagers. :-)

Next up... a gorgeous day at Animal Kingdom and a power walk around Epcot in the evening for what else... more food for the teens!
 
Following along! Enjoying it, especially the sneaky food pics before others can stop it. Haha

Thanks, @DisDreaming4116! I snuck the dessert pic when they were all still up at the buffet! Tee hee!

Enjoying your TR.
We are also from Western NY.

@dvc at last !, it is FREEZING this morning! We got about 10” of snow in Hamburg overnight... how did you guys do?

Following along...I can relate to the teenage boy and non-stop eating. I have one too!

@TNGirlwCamera, it never ceases to amaze me how much teenagers can eat. And at all times of the day and night, too!
 
1/11 - no ifs, ands, or “butts” - we love Animal Kindom! Plus a power walk through Epcot to feed the teenagers!

After catching up on some sleep and waking up to a beautiful sunny day, we were all ready to get to our favorite park, Animal Kingdom! We arrived around 9:10 and headed right to our first FP at a family favorite, Kilimanjaro Safaris, but not before snapping a pic of our favorite tree...

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You’ll notice the reference to “butts” in the title of this post... and that’s because we saw tons of animal booties all day! First up was a great big hippo butt - we watched this guy walk up and out of the water and the whole truck oohed and aahed at his size...

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We all loved how adorable the young giraffes are!

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As we rounded a corner, our driver warned us that an adult giraffe was right on the side of the truck and we were not to reach out and touch him or her... but I snapped a series of pics to show how close we were!

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I love the close encounters that happen on the safari! More to come in the next post...
 
1/11 Continued

As we continued on our safari, we saw a couple of elephants, and of course, one showed us its bootie...

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It was feeding time, so they were really active, picking up hay and carrying it around...

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We ended up stopping for a while due to a rhino in the road up ahead, which gave us a chance to enjoy the elephants and flamingos for quite a while...

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That baby elephant was so adorable! Once the rhino moved his issues off the road (sorry, had to throw in an “Ice Age” quote in there that the boys kept saying!), we got to see said rhino... and of course, he showed us his butt...

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And then I actually was able to snap a pic of a lioness! Every time I go on the safari, I only get a glimpse and can never get a good picture. So, even though this one isn’t great, at least I got one!

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After our ride through Harambe, we headed back through Africa and saw our favorite band...

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Seriously, I love these guys! Then we had a delicious breakfast buffet at Tusker House. We all love their jungle juice, carved ham, pastries, and all of the other goodies. DS1 said their scrambled eggs were the best he’d ever had, and while the guys all stuck with the typical breakfast foods, I enjoyed some of the specialties, like beef bobotie and plantains. Everything was delicious and we had some fun character interactions, too! I was surprised the boys “played” with the characters and actually let me take their pics with them, but I promised them I wouldn’t post those pics on social media... wouldn’t want to embarrass them. :-)

Continued in next post... where did we head next?
 
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Hi @brewhome just found your TR
We also love WL the CCC look so nice and sounds like you got a great deal with renting points.
The bus stops are definitely further away than they used to be;
Yes too far we noticed that in November :sad2:

We followed them to their stage show and watched that for a bit, and then headed to see one of our favorites, Indiana Jones to enjoy the special effects...
This is a great show years back I embarrassed my kids by being one of the audience members selected to be in the show. I still get teased about it :o

Very cool love the Green Army men
Great shot


The rooms look so nice

They ended up watching the Electrical Water Pageant from Geyser Point before heading in for the night.
The views from Geyser Point are so beautiful

You’ll notice the reference to “butts” in the title of this post... and that’s because we saw tons of animal booties all day!
:rotfl:

I love the close encounters that happen on the safari! More to come in the next post...
Wow he got really close
 
Hi @brewhome just found your TR
We also love WL the CCC look so nice and sounds like you got a great deal with renting points.

Yes too far we noticed that in November :sad2:


This is a great show years back I embarrassed my kids by being one of the audience members selected to be in the show. I still get teased about it :o


Very cool love the Green Army men

Great shot


The rooms look so nice


The views from Geyser Point are so beautiful


:rotfl:


Wow he got really close

@wdwnut61, that so cool that you got to be in the Indiana Jones show! I would totally love to do that, and it absolutely would embarrass my kids. :P
 
Following along.. looking forward to reading more about your adventures. I had brunch at Tusjrr House my last trip - it was great.
 

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