Our January 2019 vacation with teenage boys!

[brewhome]

Following along.. looking forward to reading more about your adventures. I had brunch at Tusjrr House my last trip - it was great.

Thanks for joining, @DLo! Tusker House is definitely one of our favorites! We caught a few lunch selections too, which is a nice perk of having a reservation more around brunch time.

 

[suse66]

Joining in! I am a mom of teenage boys too (three of them) and can totally relate to all the food being consumed, lol! I am enjoying your report so far! Your room looks lovely! My DH and I are staying at Copper Creek this summer on our anniversary trip (renting points as well) and are really looking forward to it.

 

[brewhome]

Joining in! I am a mom of teenage boys too (three of them) and can totally relate to all the food being consumed, lol! I am enjoying your report so far! Your room looks lovely! My DH and I are staying at Copper Creek this summer on our anniversary trip (renting points as well) and are really looking forward to it.

@suse66, we LOVED Copper Creek. The rooms were fantastic and the Wilderness Lodge is just so beautiful. I’m sure you will love it as much as we did. I’m also sure your grocery bills are big like mine!

 

[brewhome]

1/11 Cont’d - more butts!

Hi there, sorry for the delay in updating this TR! Real life gets in the way, unfortunately. If only I could just focus on Disney all day, every day. . Let’s see... we left off in the last post leaving our delicious breakfast at Tusker House. We had some time to kill before our EE FP, so we checked the Safari wait time to see if we could squeeze another one in, but it was up to 60 minutes and there was no way my boys would wait that long. We decided to meander through the exploration trails in Africa and Asia instead, which were actually pretty packed with people!

I had to take a pic of my favorite rock... I’m a born and raised Buffalo, NY girl so this one always makes me giggle...



Silly, I know, but it’s a tradition! They were feeding the hippos while we were there so we got some great up close views... they are huge!



As had happened all day, we got another bootie show, from a zebra this time.



The adorable little meerkats zipped back and forth with so much energy and showed off their little booties, too. Scurry! Sniff! Flinch! (The boys were quoting The Lion King 1-1/2...)



Unfortunately, the gorillas weren’t out, so we headed over to the Maharajah Jungle trek to check out some awesome cattle...



...and a very sleepy tiger with his back (dare I say bootie?) to us so we could admire his beautiful stripes.



Bootie alert! I can’t remember what type of deer this was, but it was chewing away and so cute.



My sons liked these fuzzy flowers... they reminded us of The Lorax.



We ended our trek through the jungle with a great view of another gorgeous tiger!



Continued in next post...

 

[brewhome]

1/11 Cont’d...

Next up, we headed over to our FP at EE! I truly believe this is one of the best photo ops in all of WDW...



DS1 had never ridden EE on our previous trips, and he ended up loving it! We were cracking up through the whole ride because now that he is older, DH can’t handle the rides as well... so when we went backwards, he kept yelling, “No, no, no, no, no” and yelled “Oh sh*t” on the big hill... we were rolling. He actually had to sit down and re-group for a few minutes after that one. So what did we do right after that? We made him ride Dinosaur since the line was only 10 minutes! Ha! He definitely was feeling the hurt again after that, so we again sat down to rest a moment and DS2 took the opportunity to have his first Mickey Bar of the trip.

After DH felt better, we meandered over to the Tree of Life and watched “It’s Tough to be a Bug”. We all get a kick out of that one. Then it was time to go to Pandora for our FOP FP! They had not been there before, and they were all totally impressed by the theming... it’s such a great place for pics.













They also couldn’t believe that the line was 180 minutes for FOP, and decided I was pretty smart for getting FP! everyone absolutely loved FOP, and DH didn’t feel sick, so that was a bonus! It really is an absolutely breathtaking ride.

It was around 4:30 so we decided to head back to the hotel to chill out for a couple of hours, and then ended up at Epcot around 7:30. I literally only took one pic this night because we were on a mission to feed the teenagers! It truly was a power walk around the World Showcase to get what they wanted before closing time! We ended up eating the following:

UK - fish and chips from Yorkshire Fish Shop. These were fantastic! The fish was light and flaky and the chips were nice and thick. Yum! DH ended up running into a rose and Crown for a Harp, too.

France - Lobster bisque, a whole baguette, and chocolate eclairs from Boulangerie. DH and DS1 were totally loving that bisque... so much so that we decided to change a dining reservation later in the trip from Trail’s End to Chefs de France so we could get more! The baguette was so fabulous, as usual, and the chocolate eclairs were divine.

Japan - pork ramen and sushi from Katsura Grill. Both were good, not fantastic, but serviceable for the hungry ones!

America - bacon cheeseburgers and fries from Liberty Inn... but the boys ended taking these back to their room and eating them later because we were running out of time to get to Mexico!

Mexico - churros and flavored sodas from the QS that I can’t remember the name of at the moment. We love the caramel sauce they serve with the churros, and DS2 liked the mango soda!

Whew! That was a marathon sprint around WS. After that, we headed out to rest after a long day of walking!



Next up... Disney Springs for an amazing lunch, NFL playoffs for DH and DS1, and DS2 and I on our own adventure! Not a lot of pics, but I can share what we did!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Joining in! I'm from Niagara Falls myself so its always fun to read a fellow WNYers report!

A dinner around the WS in EPCOT sounds like such a fun idea! And I'm sure your hungry boys probably loved all of the food options! haha

 

[cinderaimee]

Following along! I was at AK the same day. My boys are 6 and 4 and they already eat so much. I am truly terrified of the teenage years.

 

[brewhome]

Joining in! I'm from Niagara Falls myself so its always fun to read a fellow WNYers report!

A dinner around the WS in EPCOT sounds like such a fun idea! And I'm sure your hungry boys probably loved all of the food options! haha

Hi, neighbor! It really was fun with the boys now that they are older - a totally new experience. When I go with my sis, sis-in-law, and niece, we do something similar, but it's sampling our way through the many Food & Wine Festival booths and splitting everything 4 ways so we each get a few bites of lots of things. This was a teenage-shove-it-all-in-myself-no-sharing-get-your-own-damn-food fest! Ha!

Following along! I was at AK the same day. My boys are 6 and 4 and they already eat so much. I am truly terrified of the teenage years.

How cool, @cinderaimee! It really was a gorgeous day, wasn't it? I think AK is my favorite park overall - I just love the vibe in there. And yes, look out - the eating gets even more intense the older they get! We were all stuck in the house for a couple of days last week during a snow storm, and they went through a ridiculous amount of food. They were bored so they literally ate about every two hours. I'm sure your grocery bills will be as ugly as mine!

 

[ariane37]

UK - fish and chips from Yorkshire Fish Shop. These were fantastic! The fish was light and flaky and the chips were nice and thick. Yum! DH ended up running into a rose and Crown for a Harp, too.

France - Lobster bisque, a whole baguette, and chocolate eclairs from Boulangerie. DH and DS1 were totally loving that bisque... so much so that we decided to change a dining reservation later in the trip from Trail’s End to Chefs de France so we could get more! The baguette was so fabulous, as usual, and the chocolate eclairs were divine.

Japan - pork ramen and sushi from Katsura Grill. Both were good, not fantastic, but serviceable for the hungry ones!

America - bacon cheeseburgers and fries from Liberty Inn... but the boys ended taking these back to their room and eating them later because we were running out of time to get to Mexico!

Mexico - churros and flavored sodas from the QS that I can’t remember the name of at the moment. We love the caramel sauce they serve with the churros, and DS2 liked the mango soda!

That's some good eating! We all love the Mexico QS, La Cantina de San Angel. My youngest DS loves the empanadas, DH and I love the nachos, older DS loves the tacos. However it is so true with boys and the eating We'll get back to the room when in Disney at night, after dinner and snacks, and at least one will need to go to the quick serve for "before bed dinner" lol.

Following along! I was at AK the same day. My boys are 6 and 4 and they already eat so much. I am truly terrified of the teenage years.

And you should be afraid! You should also plan to be at the grocery store every other day, constantly be told "we have nothing to eat" and asked "why didn't you buy 2 boxes/bags of that??" One of my favorites is being asked "when are you going to the grocery store again" - 4 hours after I'm BACK from the grocery store
#lovemyboys

 

[reyasmommy]

I have a 9 year old son who has the appetite of about 5 teenage boys. I swear every time I blink he's grown an inch. I'm actually not surprised on how hungry he constantly seems to be, he's by far the tallest kid in his 3rd grade class. Lord help me!

Anyway, I love your trip report and your pictures. Thanks for sharing!

 

[brewhome]

1/12 - DS and a trip to ??? with DS2

After our race for food around Epcot the night before, everyone slept in for a little while - man, the beds at Copper Creek are comfy! Even DH, who usually is an early bird, slept in! We finally got ourselves together and on a bus to DS around 10:30 for our lunch reservation at The Boathouse. We wandered around for a while and all of the guys were amazed at how much DS has changed since they were there in 2013. I was excited to see that the new Wolfgang Puck restaurant is open, and we’ll be checking that out on our girls trip in November, for sure. We loved the food at the previous sit down restaurant so we are hoping the new one is just as good.

On to The Boathouse! This is such an awesomely themed restaurant...





And it has a great little store attached, too. They have the cutest towels... we especially liked this one because DS is a Captain Morgan fan...



So I knew going in that this place is pricey, but DS1 absolutely loves seafood, and I’m so glad we tried it. It was AMAZING! The service was outstanding - our waiter was fantastic, and the bus staff is on top of things! DH and I enjoyed a couple of beers in icy glasses while we dove into their fantastic rolls... they must put some sort of honey glaze on them. We split a basket of clam strips and french fries as an appetizer and they were so delicious - even DS2 loved the clam strips and he’s not a huge fan. The fries are phenomenal... I think they are the best I’ve ever had in WDW, honestly. DH and DS1 got lobster bisque and it was sooo good (note this is bisque #2 of the trip, more to come later...). For entrees, DH got the Mahi Mahi tacos, which he really enjoyed... he liked the little spice kick. I had the filet mignon sliders with more delicious fries and those little sliders were amazing. They had a garlic shallot butter sauce on them that was so delicious and it made the perfect size lunch for only $14! DS1 went to town and got a filet with a whole lobster! He literally smiled and nodded with every bite. The lobster was super fresh and perfectly cooked, and it came already split. DS2 had filet and fries and inhaled every bite. What a fantastic meal... and I realized that a lot of their dishes are really reasonably priced, so unless you are going all out with steaks and lobster for everyone, it’s pretty much in line with the cost of other restaurants. We will definitely be going back and I highly recommend it.

After we rolled out of there, we all needed to move, so DH and I wandered up to Goofy’s candy company to get some treats for home and the boys decided to go bowling at Splitsville! They said they had a blast! DH and ended up recovering from our big meal enough to grab a drink at the coolest themed bar in DS...



I am a huge Indiana Jones fan, and had never stopped in here, so DH indulged me while I fan-girled over all the cool stuff in there!



It didn’t hurt that the drinks were tasty, too. DH enjoyed a Tusker Lager and I had a Florida Mule, which was orange based instead of the typical lime, and it was really yummy.



The boys ended up finding us here after bowling, and this is where we split up for the day. DH and DS1 headed back down to Splitsville to watch playoff football for the rest of the afternoon and evening. They hung out at the upstairs bar, made some new friends, ate a bunch of pizza and wings, and ended up back at the hotel around 8. I had scheduled evening FP at HS and wanted to keep at least the one for SDD from 7-8, so DS2 and I went off on our own adventure. I let him choose where he wanted to go next and how he wanted to get there... I’ll tell you what he decided on the next post!

 

[wdwnut61]

Perfect

Silly, I know, but it’s a tradition! They were feeding the hippos while we were there so we got some great up close views... they are huge!

What a great shot you got

As had happened all day, we got another bootie show, from a zebra this time.

They are either facing the wrong way or get too close for a good pic.

My sons liked these fuzzy flowers... they reminded us of The Lorax.

Aww the Lorax my girls love that book

Great shot!

Stunning

I really like this one so pretty

They had not been there before, and they were all totally impressed by the theming... it’s such a great place for pics.

I agree Pandora is beautiful

It really is an absolutely breathtaking ride.

Agreed it's our favorite ride with ToT a close second

Glad you got to see it

It didn’t hurt that the drinks were tasty, too. DH enjoyed a Tusker Lager and I had a Florida Mule, which was orange based instead of the typical lime, and it was really yummy.

Love this place the drinks and food are great

 

[suse66]

DS1 had never ridden EE on our previous trips, and he ended up loving it! We were cracking up through the whole ride because now that he is older, DH can’t handle the rides as well... so when we went backwards, he kept yelling, “No, no, no, no, no” and yelled “Oh sh*t” on the big hill... we were rolling. He actually had to sit down and re-group for a few minutes after that one. So what did we do right after that? We made him ride Dinosaur since the line was only 10 minutes! Ha! He definitely was feeling the hurt again after that, so we again sat down to rest a moment and DS2 took the opportunity to have his first Mickey Bar of the trip.

Haha! My DH is the same way....he swears he will try all the rides this summer but only once! He is more a Jungle Cruise/HM kind of guy...lol!

They also couldn’t believe that the line was 180 minutes for FOP, and decided I was pretty smart for getting FP! everyone absolutely loved FOP, and DH didn’t feel sick, so that was a bonus! It really is an absolutely breathtaking ride.

It is absolutely incredible!

The boys ended up finding us here after bowling, and this is where we split up for the day. DH and DS1 headed back down to Splitsville to watch playoff football for the rest of the afternoon and evening. They hung out at the upstairs bar, made some new friends, ate a bunch of pizza and wings, and ended up back at the hotel around 8. I had scheduled evening FP at HS and wanted to keep at least the one for *** from 7-8, so DS2 and I went off on our own adventure. I let him choose where he wanted to go next and how he wanted to get there... I’ll tell you what he decided on the next post!

Sounds like a fab DS day! I need to check Jock Lindsay's this summer, I know we would love it. Glad you loved the Boathouse.

 

[brewhome]

1/12 cont’d, and DS2 picked...

Epcot! Since the night before we breezed right through Future World to eat around the World Showcase, DS2 decided he wanted to do some of his favorite rides, and he also wanted to ride the Monorail. So we hopped on a bus to from DS to the Poly and checked out the beautiful lobby. I think it was here the DS2 really started to appreciate how unique the theming is in each hotel, right down to the music. He decided he’d like to stay there someday. I didn’t argue with him on that! We hopped on the Monorail and took the long way around to the TTC, and saw tons of construction... it was cool to see the spot where Tron is going to be! Fun trip, but it took us about an hour and fifteen minutes, so by the time we got to Epcot, it was already around 5:15.

We loved looping through Epcot on the Monorail... and when we exited, we headed for Mission:Space (with a quick stop for DS2 to scarf down a churro) and took a flyover of Earth. There was literally no line so we were the only two in our rocket ship and we had to pull double duty to make it back to Earth safely! Next we wanted to hit Test Track, but it was down, and for a long while. Actually, all four times we were at Epcot this trip, it was sporadically up and down and we never ended up riding it. Hmmm... I wonder what’s up with that. DS2 made me buy him churro #2 because he was embarrassed to buy two in a row from the same stand (ha!) and then we decided to head over to Soarin’. The app said 45 minutes, but we ended up waiting a little over an hour. DS2 liked the new movie, but missed the smells of the pine trees and orange groves. By the time we got out of there, it was already around 7 and our FP for SDD was from 7-8, so we decided to grab some popcorn and then power walk through the World Showcase to the back exit, down past the Beach and Yacht Clubs, and on to DS. We ended up getting through security and to SDD right around 7:45. Whew, did we book it! We definitely loaded up on our steps this day.

Toy Story Land at night is so awesome. The theming in there really is incredible, and as we walked up to the FP line, a green army man told us to tell Slinky that soldier #26 said to slow down! We both got a good giggle out of that... and then off we went on our ride! What a great coaster, and the views at night are awesome! I can’t wait to go on it again in November.

We got in and out of Slinky so fast that we were able to walk right on to TSMM for our last ride of the night at 7:58! We battled it out and I beat DS2, and as any good mom does, I totally rubbed it in his face. Luckily, he forgave me quickly. After that, we headed out of the park and onto a bus back to WL. We decided we were pretty hungry so we went to Roaring Fork and got a flatbread, some chicken nuggets and fries, a magic cookie bar, and a mint chocolate cupcake. Everything tasted good after a long day of walking, and it felt really great to lay down!

Next up... a 1/2 day at MK, some pool time, and our third visit to Epcot for - what else? More lobster bisque! And I promise, the next post will have pics!

 

[ariane37]

We love Jock Lindsay's! DH and I have been there twice and the boys came with us once, live the food as well as the Cool,Headed Monkey Our boys also,enjoy Splistville and I can handle,their nachos pretty well lol

Splitting up sometimes is nice. Our boys now will often go off on their own or even back to the room while DH and I stay at a park, take away some stress if everyone isn't feeling the same thing at certain points of the trip

 

[brewhome]

We love Jock Lindsay's! DH and I have been there twice and the boys came with us once, live the food as well as the Cool,Headed Monkey Our boys also,enjoy Splistville and I can handle,their nachos pretty well lol

Splitting up sometimes is nice. Our boys now will often go off on their own or even back to the room while DH and I stay at a park, take away some stress if everyone isn't feeling the same thing at certain points of the trip

I was surprised that the boys hung with us so much, actually. We told them they could do whatever they wanted but they were good staying with us! They did like wandering around the hotel on their own in the evenings, and in Epcot they did things at their own pace a couple of the days. It was fun to bump into them here and there.

 

[JWeston8716]

I was hoping my boys, who were 16 and 17 on our last trip, would do some things on their own, but they refused. Well, my older son stayed in the hotel to sleep a bit when we first got there (he and I had taken the non-drowsy Dramamine that morning to make it through our last day at Universal - all those VR rides there kill us - and we both fell asleep on the drive to Disney. I perked up at check-in. He needed more of a nap) so he was supposed to meet us in Germany for dinner that night, but he got lost on the walk over from Beach Club so my husband had to go find him. Other than walking down to the boat dock from our room to meet my brother who rode over from Boardwalk and bring him up to our room, he didn't venture out on his own again on the trip.

 

[cinderaimee]

Fun trip, but it took us about an hour and fifteen minutes, so by the time we got to Epcot, it was already around 5:15.

We did something similar since DH and the boys wanted to ride the monorail - Wilderness Lodge boat to the Contemporary, resort monorail to TTC, switch to Epcot monorail, which stopped on the tracks about 10 times before we got to Epcot for some reason. It took forever. The next time we went we just took the bus!

we were the only two in our rocket ship and we had to pull double duty to make it back to Earth safely!

Whew! You know, I missed a few buttons and we still landed fine. Almost like the rocket was flying itself.

 

[Bama Mom]

Just now joining in. Hubby and I will be at Wilderness Lodge for the first time in August. It's been one of my dream resorts every since eating at WCC in 2008.

 

[brewhome]

I was hoping my boys, who were 16 and 17 on our last trip, would do some things on their own, but they refused. Well, my older son stayed in the hotel to sleep a bit when we first got there (he and I had taken the non-drowsy Dramamine that morning to make it through our last day at Universal - all those VR rides there kill us - and we both fell asleep on the drive to Disney. I perked up at check-in. He needed more of a nap) so he was supposed to meet us in Germany for dinner that night, but he got lost on the walk over from Beach Club so my husband had to go find him. Other than walking down to the boat dock from our room to meet my brother who rode over from Boardwalk and bring him up to our room, he didn't venture out on his own again on the trip.

Funny how they want to be independent at home but not so much on vacation!

We did something similar since DH and the boys wanted to ride the monorail - Wilderness Lodge boat to the Contemporary, resort monorail to TTC, switch to Epcot monorail, which stopped on the tracks about 10 times before we got to Epcot for some reason. It took forever. The next time we went we just took the bus!

Whew! You know, I missed a few buttons and we still landed fine. Almost like the rocket was flying itself.

It did take a long time! And I do think the monorails need to be updated... they’re pretty musty smelling.

And it is amazing that we all make it home safely every ride, given the chance for human error...

Just now joining in. Hubby and I will be at Wilderness Lodge for the first time in August. It's been one of my dream resorts every since eating at WCC in 2008.

You will absolutely love it! It’s so beautiful and relaxing. Have fun!