Our Sweaty, Stickey, is my BIL on the Phone AGAIN, August Disney Vacation Trip Report

[WDW Traveler]

Walt Disney World Trip Report
August 20 – August 24 – Treehouse Villas
August 24 – August 29 – Saratoga Spring Resort

Cast of Characters:
Me: Gail, 37, Lover of ALL things Disney and the only reason we go so much
DH: Marc, 39, Only goes because I make him
DD: Haillie, 10, Loves Disney as much as me, would love to go more if she could convince Daddy
MIL: Claudette, 67, DVC Owner, goes to Disney because her sister does (the whole competition thing)
FIL: Paul, 70, DVC Owner, started going when his wife wanted to keep up with her sister
BIL: Alan, 38, Went because he was invited by Mom and Step Dad
Nephew: Zachary, 11, See above, Doesn’t eat ANYTHING (you think I’m kidding, wait!)

Ok, a little prequel. My in-laws own at Saratoga Springs Resort. They attended a members’ cruise in October of 2008. On the cruise, they purchased into Bay Lake Towers and part of the incentive was 4 free nights at the new Treehouse Villas to be used between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010. Since it slept 9 people, they invited all of us (my BIL’s girlfriend and her son were invited at the time, but they broke up so they didn’t go). It was our Christmas present. We would get the 4 nights, they would pay for our Park Tickets and the Dining plan for each of us. We had to pay for our flights and anything else we purchased. Originally they were going to tell us at Christmas since they were supposed to be able to make reservations sometime in February. Well they got a phone call and were told they could make reservations in November! So they told the adults early so we could pick dates and get the reservations pinned down. Since my DD has not missed a day of school, I told them I wanted to go in the summer as I would not pull her out of school and half of us lived in NH the other half in MA and our school vacations were not the same. I told them it might be better for us to go at the end of August since lots of southern schools go back to school before we do. So they took my advice and we picked Thursday, August 20, to Monday, August 24. Now these strange dates came about because my BIL’s then girlfriends son’s birthday was 8/25 and he needed to be back to spend the day with his father. So the dates were picked. To my surprise, my DH told them almost right after they told us about the 4 nights that he didn’t want to go down there for only 4 nights, so we would probably add days to our trip and stay longer. But we weren’t worried about that yet since we didn’t need reservations that early for a regular hotel. So the reservations for the Treehouses were made and we were all set. After the holidays, we decided to book a room only reservation for Pop Century so IF free dining came out for our dates like in the past, we would have an easier time getting a room at a Value Resort. Our friends also booked for the same time we were there, I’ll introduce them later. By this time, my BIL was on the outs with his girlfriend and it wasn’t looking good that her and her son would be going with us. He then decided that he was going to stay the additional days too now that he didn’t have to rush home for the kids’ birthday. So I made his room only reservation as well. We were booked at Pop from Monday, August 24, to Saturday, August 29. When Southwest flights opened, we purchased our tickets and now we waited! Oh yeah, when Free Dining was announced we changed our reservation and added the Free Dining.

Up next – Day 1 – Arrival Day

 

[WDW Traveler]

Day 1 – Thursday, August 20th – Arrival day

Ok, this time we got lucky and Southwest’s earliest nonstop flight was for 8:10am instead of the butt crack of dawn like they usually are and my DH always wants to take the first non-stop flight out in the morning. I get up at 5am since my BIL and his son stayed at our house and I didn’t know who needed showers in the morning. In-laws are already there as they have in in-law apartment over our garage. I was ready to go by about 5:30am and got Haillie up. She just had to get dressed, she showered the night before. DH took a shower and we were basically good to go. BIL got up and dragged Nephew out of bed to get ready to leave. We wanted to be on the road for the airport not later than 6:15am. We packed up the car and headed out, much to my surprise with the other people, on time. The airport is only about 25 minutes from our house, but my FIL has knee issues and walks really slow, so we wanted to be there in plenty of time for him to get to where we needed to be. Plus we like to eat when we get there instead of stopping somewhere. We unloaded on the curb to use the curbside check in for Southwest. The security guard even let us leave the vehicle there while we were checking in, he didn’t make one person go park it. There were only a few people in front of us and we checked in no problem! Love the Manchester Airport!! BIL brought the car to the parking garage and we went inside to wait and have some breakfast.

The flight was fairly uneventful, oh other than the fact that my Nephew didn’t feel well. He had only flown once in his life and that was when he was like 4 and his parents were still married. He didn’t know about the trip until that morning. His mother would have tried to talk him out of going if either of them knew, so we had to keep it a secret (long divorce story for another time!). So we think it was more nerves about not going with Mom, etc.

We arrived in Orlando on time and proceeded to gather up our bags at the baggage claim. After we get all the bags we head to Alamo to pick up the car with the infamous code which gave us a great rate of $198 for our mid-sized car! Every other car rental company was either empty or had a few people in line. Alamo, of course had at least 50 people in line waiting to pick up cars! How is it that everyone arrives at the same rental car counter to get their car at the same time as you do?? OIY! So after at least an hour wait, it was finally our turn. My FIL was renting a van (using the same questionable code) and we were renting a car. We were at opposite ends of the counter getting checked in. He seemed to be having a problem as the clerk was showing him the computer screen and pointing to things. I thought maybe it was because he didn’t print out his coupon. So I had an extra one and proceeded to bring it over to him. Oops, wrong move. The woman who was helping him wanted to know who was helping me and she stormed over and told the gentleman helping us to not accept the Code we used for our rental as it was an out of the country code and not for use by us. (Even though she told him, the guy said it would have spit it out when he entered the license info.) So after fiddling with the reservation, he quoted us an almost $500 price tag for the “American” same exact car rental. Luckily I had a back up priced at $216 and told him to use that one. He states “So you knew it wouldn’t work?!” Told him “Nope, anal, always have 2!” with my fingers crossed behind my back. LOL My FIL got Lucky. His rental was using the same code, with a price of like $235 for his van. He did have a back up, but it was off airport. They tried to charge him like $600 A DAY to rent him the same vehicle for the “American” price. (Isn’t it funny how they screw the Americans?!) A manager came over and he showed them his other rental agreement and told them he was just going to go there and the manager played with the numbers and ended up charging him like $240. So after much waiting and groveling, we were on our way to get the cars and head to the hotel! Finally. FIL got a Toyota Sienna and we got a Kia Rondo. Cute little SUV, but better than just a car. I love that Alamo puts the smaller SUV’s in their Midsized car row and lets you choose the vehicle you want.

So off to the Treehouses. Took us less than ½ hour to get there. A few tolls later and we arrived at Saratoga Springs to check in. WELCOME HOME!! Of course the unit wasn’t ready yet. So we gathered all the bags up and brought them over to get held by bell services so we could go to Epcot for our dinner reservations.

Off to Epcot!

Haillie and Zachary. Notice the excitement and joy on Haillie’s face and the less than excited look on Zach’s face? This becomes the norm for the trip.

Now I didn’t keep notes like I wanted to, forgot to bring a notebook to write things down, so I’ll do my best. So we head into the Park and FIL gets a scooter since he was awaiting knee surgery when he returns.

We toured around

and went into Club Cool. Haillie of course was in heaven because she is not allowed to have soda so this is a treat. Of course Nephew didn’t try anything.

Our reservations in China at Nine Dragons were for 4:45pm. It was almost 4:00pm and since none of us had lunch, we decided to head over there and check in to see if we could get in a bit early.

Look who we met along the way....

The acrobats were just about to perform so everyone stayed outside while I went in to check us in. She never asked for my ADR #, name or anything. Just my party size and handed me my paper and told the party to wait and we would be seated. The place was empty at this point. So I ran outside to get everyone and we were seated right away. We had never been here before. Everyone, except Zach, ordered their meals. Zach’s dinner was pretzels. Remember I said he doesn’t eat anything? Well, his diet consists of aforementioned pretzels, graham crackers, pop-tarts, cinnamon rolls, yogurt and Burger King French Fries and Vanilla Shakes. Now mind you, not only does he only eat these few items, he will only eat certain brands of the particular item!! Not my kid – if he were my kid he would have starved to death a long time ago because I wouldn’t cater to him! Although if he were my kid it never would have gotten to that point!! Anywho…. Dinner was great. Haillie was all excited because she was now an adult according to Disney so she had many more choices than just mac & cheese and hot dogs (my daughter eats real food). We finished up and head out. We stopped in Mexico and Norway to ride their boats.

We walked over to Test Track to ride that before the night was through.

I’m sure we did a few more things, but of course I can’t remember. After Test Track we decided that it had been a long day and we wanted to just call it a night, since we hadn’t even been to the room yet to unpack. After arriving and getting our room, DH and BIL headed to find the Walmart to get bottled water and some snacks. Everyone else stayed and unpacked and settled in. Haillie took a shower and then crashed on the top bunk. Zach watched his movie on his laptop (which he did whenever we were in the room, that’s another story and part of the reason that he was never really happy. If what we were doing didn’t have a plug attached to a wall or have batteries powering it, he wasn’t happy.).

We all crashed in anticipation of our first full day tomorrow.

Up next - Day 2 – Hollywood Studios

 

[WDW Traveler]

Day 2 – Friday, August 21 - Disney’s Hollywood Studios

We started our day at a fairly normal time. We are not early risers, but we don’t sleep in either. I got up around 8am to shower and get ready. DH and DD followed. MIL & FIL were up and getting ready as well. BIL slept on the sofa bed while everyone muddled around him getting ready to leave, eating breakfast, etc. Nephew was up watching TV (of course). Finally BIL got up around 9am to get ready. We left the Treehouses around 9:40am or so. Later than I wanted to leave, but what are you going to do??

On the way to Hollywood Studios with her movie star shades.

We park, of course we have to wait for FIL to get his scooter then we make a b-line to Toy Story Mania to get fast passes. It was probably about 10:30am and our fast passes were for like 4:30pm-5pm in the afternoon! I knew they went fast, but didn’t realize just how fast.

The only crowds in the whole place were around TSM!

We then decide to head over to Tower of Terror. MIL and FIL won’t go on, and then Nephew decides he doesn’t want to go on. So myself, DH, BIL and Haillie go to wait in the 50 minute standby line (since we just got FP’s for TSM). LOVE Tower of Terror!! It was awesome, we got in the front row and went up and down several times!

After that ride, Haillie wanted to try Rock n’ Roller Coaster for the first time. Well BIL decides that he doesn’t want to wait in another 60 minute line because of course Nephew won’t go on that either. So unfortunately, we skipped it. Nephew didn’t want to go on practically anything the whole time we were there. So, we head for rides that are tamer for the wimpy Nephew.

We ride the Great Movie Ride,

then head over to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play Set

Wow, he smiles!

and then over to the Backlot Tour.

I think it was somewhat in that order.

We ended up seeing the Lights, Motor, Action Extreme Stunt Show at some point ….

as well as half of the Indiana Jones Show, they only did half because of an approaching storm.

We had lunch at the 50’s Prime Time Café. It was fun.

Sister Emily was our server. She was a hoot!

Haillie and Sis Emily with the GIGANTIC Brownie Sundae!

Of course my BIL tried to pick her up the whole time, but she ignored him. LOL Speaking of BIL, side note, here he is, with his phone plastered to his ear, like it was the whole trip. He was either texting or talking. Trying to hook up with women in FL and back home. He’s a man hoar!

We then went to ride Toy Story mania using our fast passes. What an awesome ride! I knew the concept but would have never guessed it was going to be that fun!! We had a blast.

Well, I can’t for the life of me remember what else we did here today so I’ll say we went back to the hotel to relax and rest.

Up Next - Day 3 - Animal Kingdom

 

[WDW Traveler]

Day 3 - Saturday, August 22 – Animal Kingdom

We had breakfast reservations at Boma this morning at 8:45am so everyone had to get up and moving by 8:00am. Not an easy feat with some, but we managed it. Boma was delicious. A definite must do on our next trip. The food was incredible and there was plenty to choose from. Our server was a blast. I think he was studying to be a stand-up comic, because that’s what he reminded me of. Always coming up with funny things to say to us. He of course ragged on Nephew for his choice of a pop-tart for breakfast. He looked at me and said “well why is he that way Mom?” I’m like “Oh no, don’t put this on me, he’s not my kid, this one’s mine and notice her plate was full of real food and is now empty!” LOL

After breakfast we head over to Animal Kingdom. Now I know a lot of people don’t care for it, but this is one of my favorite parks. I guess it’s just because it is so laid back and relaxing to just walk around and go at a slower pace for a while to see everything that is there. Although, today we didn’t see much. Of course Nephew doesn’t want to go on Dinosaur or Everest and since it was a family trip, paid mostly by my in-laws, we were trying to be nice and stay with them. So we had to skip those rides. My DD was not happy because she still didn’t know that we were staying an extra 5 days at the end of the trip. So she is mad thinking that we are missing everything because of wimpy Nephew. I kept telling her to not worry about it and to trust me. I knew we would be back and I knew the in-laws would not be there and I’d go on whatever we wanted even if wimpy didn’t want to, he could wait or go do something else.

So we head over to the Safari to take a bumpy jeep ride. Saw lots of different animals.

After the Safari we headed over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. We met Pocohontas, Rafiki and Jiminy Cricket while we were there.

One of the few characters Zach would go see and he went because his father made him because she was hot!!

Family picture for possible Christmas card photo.

I know we went to the Nemo show

and then the Lion King show, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why DH did not take any pictures of the Lion King so I have nothing to post about that!? I prefer the Lion King show, don’t know if it’s just because I liked that movie more, but I like that on better. Oh wait, I stand corrected, found this picture that DD took of a bug on the floor before the Lion King Show.

We walked the trails and got some great pictures of the tigers and gorillas.

Haillie met lots of characters on the way.

Notice Nephew is nowhere to be seen? Of course he wanted no part of seeing all the characters and he and BIL were sitting on a bench while BIL was talking and texting of course!

 

[WDW Traveler]

Funny picture, us in Pizzafari at the end of the evening (around ½ hour before closing) with NO ONE else in the restaurant.

After pizza, we decided to head back to the hotel to relax and let the kids swim.

Up Next – Day 4 – Magic Kingdom

 

[glennbo123]

Enjoying your trip report. I'm a big Animal Kingdom Lodge fan, especially Boma, although I've never been there for breakfast. I also eat a lot of pop-tarts -- but never would at Boma! Kids.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

I can totally sense your annoyance with BIL and nephew! Oh my gosh - how frustrating. Its such a good thing you tacked on days to the end of the trip. Do you have any pics of the Treehouse? How was it?

 

[MouseKTeer]

Joining in

Your DD looks so cute on the water slide!

A question for you: did you take some photos of the Treehouse Villas? If you did, I'd love to see them

 

[BlueBayou]

Sounds like a fun trip so far. I like your honesty about what it is like to tour with a large group.

Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[WDW Traveler]

Thanks for reading everyone.

Here are some pictures of the Treehouses while I put some more of the report together.

Outside. This was the unit nextdoor. Our unit was #7047 a hanicapped accessible with long ramp. (no picture, sorry)

Entry when you walk in facing the Dining & Living Areas and reverse view facing the door.

Bar has the sink, dishwasher coffee maker and toaster. Behind you in the stove, fridge and microwave.

Kids bedroom with bunks, flatscreen and closet.

Bedroom 2 with flatscreen and closet. Master bedroom with flatscreen, closet and bathroom.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

The treehouse looks really cool! Did the living room sofa fold out?

 

[WDW Traveler]

The treehouse looks really cool! Did the living room sofa fold out?

It was totally cool! Very rustic and fun feeling. And yes the sofa did pull out. And it wasn't like a regular sleeper sofa, it was like thick, thick foam. My BIL slept there and said it was very comfortable. No bars in your back. The chair next to the couch (I think I was sitting on it to take the picture) folded out too. The unit slept 9 people total. The only downfall was that the person/people sleeping on the sofa bed or chair, didn't have any place to unpack their stuff. There were no extra drawers for them to put their clothes. So if you had a big group for a long vacation, you would either have to share space in bedroom drawers or certain people would have to live out of their suitcases the whole time.

 

[leeann32]

Great start!
How were the August crowds?

 

[WDW Traveler]

Great start!
How were the August crowds?

Not too bad. The first part of the vacation (8/20 - 8/23) was a bit crowded. Regular rides were mostly over 30/40 minute waits with the big rides being over 50/60 for the most part. By the second part of the vacation (8/24 - 8/29) I think lots of southern schools went back so the crowds faded. The lines times pretty much dropped in half for the regular rides (some were non-exsistant) and the big rides were still over 30 minutes and longer sometimes. I have been in early August and it wasn't nearly as bad as early in the month. Very manageable! Would definately do it again.

It was HOT though. It doesn't really bother me, so I was fine. I think some of the others were not happy to be there in the heat (the in-laws - think that's why they only stayed for 4 days!).

 

[WDW Traveler]

Day 4 - Sunday, August 23 – Magic Kingdom

This was the last full day we would be staying with the in-laws. When they booked the trip with the 4 free nights, they had decided that they were only going to stay those 4 nights (they had been in February and are going back next February). They just wanted to spend the few days with the family. And we would get to surprise Haillie in the morning with the rest of the trip.

Of course now that it has been so long, I can’t remember too much (I knew I should have bought a notebook to write things down!!). We left the Treehouses at around a regular time, like 9:30am or so, to head to the Ticket & Transportation Center. DH and I & the in-laws probably would have been out the door earlier each day if it weren’t for BIL who likes to sleep in.

The parks were still kind of crowded so we didn’t get too many autographs as the lines were fairly long. We head in and just walk and ride whatever we come to first. I know we rode Pirates, Small World,

Snow White, the Autopia,

Haunted Mansion, etc.

While we were on Haunted Mansion, my FIL dropped his cane off the ride in the graveyard scene! We get to the bottom and he tells the CM. They won’t stop the ride so the CM walks up with a flash light looking for the cane. She sees the cane, although it is on the other side. She walks all the way down, then back up the other side to retrieve the cane. You would think that stopping it for 30 seconds would have been easier. Oh well!

This took quite a long time, probably about 45 minutes, so by this time, we had to catch the boat over to Fort Wilderness for our 5pm dinner reservations at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue.

This was not my choice and I like the food, like the show, but still think it’s kind of hocky and not worth the 2 TS credits. We had fun though.

My BIL got picked to be in the show. He was the Indian Chief.

This made his son laugh out loud for the first time the whole trip. He got a big kick out of that part.

After dinner, we jump back on the boat and head back to the Magic Kingdom since there were Extra Magic Hours and the park was open until 1am.

When we get back we decide to stake out a spot for Spectro and Wishes. By this time, we have been in contact with our friends from work who flew in that day. I’ll introduce them (without most ages, since I’m not sure):

MaryAnn: The mom, her and I planned part of the trip together. Her first time since a really young child
John: MaryAnn’s husband. First trip ever, going with the flow
Bob: MaryAnn’s Dad. First trip since his kids were little – probably over 30 years
Christine: MaryAnn’s Mom – See above
Emily: 8 DD – First trip ever. Found out the day before they left
Adam: 4 DS – See above

They were heading to the hotel then hoped to meet us at MK for the parade and fireworks. I’ll admit that I was skeptical that they would make it. They had about 1 hour to get to the TTC, park, get on the monorail/ferry, get in the park and then get to the castle with the thousands of people waiting for the same parade. Well much to my surprise, they made it!! With about 10 minutes to spare. Haillie was so excited when she saw Emily – finally a GIRL to talk to! LOL She loves her cousin, but doesn’t like him if you know what I mean. We watched Spectro.

We just stood there to wait for Wishes. I was kind of disappointed that the fireworks were so low behind the castle, and we could barely see them from where we were. I guess I’ve never watched them from directly in front of the castle before.

After Wishes we decided to wait for the masses to exit and then headed to Aloha Isle for some Dole Whips! Yummo! DH does not like these so he just sat and watched. A few of us got them to enjoy. Could have kicked BIL in the butt. As he is joking around with DD, he decides he’s going to take her Dole Whip Float and push the ice cream in her nose, well, DUH, there is liquid in the cup!! He proceeds to spill most of her pineapple juice down the front her. Of course now she is wet, sticky, and smells like fruit! Always gotta play doesn’t he?? I was so mad as was she because now half her Dole Whip was gone too. Needless to say Uncle was not her favorite person for a while.

So after that mishap, we decided we wanted to head for Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. Emily and Adam were having a rough time since they had traveled in that day. They were tired so they decided they were going to head back to the hotel. BIL, Nephew, MIL and FIL also decided to call it a night since wimpy Nephew didn’t want to go on those rides. MIL & FIL were leaving in the morning, so they all headed out around 11:15pm or so. We headed over to the Mountains. Splash was still a 45 minute wait. BTMR was about 30 minutes so we decided to hit that one first. After about 20 minutes of waiting in the long, crowded, smushed together line, I started to feel very hot. Mind you it is about 11:45pm and it is still like 90 degrees. I have some water, break out our little fans and start fanning my face and neck. I try breathing in and out slowing to stop the feeling. I was either going to throw up or pass out. Neither of which I wanted to do in that line. Finally we make it to the edge of the line and we were right next to the Fastpass lane. I told DH and DD I needed to get out of line. I told them I would meet them at the exit. I climbed over the rail and went out the Fastpass line and waited for them. I was still not feeling very well and just wanted to go back to the hotel. It was about midnight so we called it a night. Luckily that was the only time the heat really got to me, I was fine the rest of the trip.

On our way out of the park, DD breaks down. She still thinks we are going home in the morning. And she is so upset that Emilly is there now and thinks it would have been so much fun to spend some time with her. She cries/sobs all the way back to the Treehouses. While walking to the unit DH tries to comfort her and tells her he has a secret. He says “ask your mother”. I’m like “ask your father”. He again says “ask your mother”. I tell him that I’ll tell the secret if he says ask your mother one more time. He’s like go ahead it was after midnight and we had planned on telling her on Monday. So I break the news that we are staying until next Saturday! She was ecstatic!

So we’re back at the hotel to crash for the night with a very happy child.

Up next – Day 5 – In-laws go home, we return to Magic Kingdom

 

[WDW Traveler]

Day 5 – Monday, August 24 – Checkout of Treehouses and check into Saratoga Springs and then back to Magic Kingdom

We slept in a little late this morning knowing that we needed to check out of one hotel and then check into another. We had planned it that way so we didn’t feel rushed. I got up and showered and proceeded to pack up the remaining items into the suitcases so we could change resorts. I’ve decided that if I can help it, I’m never doing this again. What a pain to have to pack up in the middle of vacation and then unpack again when you get to the other resort and know that you will have to pack up again when it’s time to go home. Too much wasted time for my book!

Now we were supposed to be staying at Pop Century. That is the hotel we booked. But, maybe about 3 or 4 weeks before the trip I got an email. It stated that I was selected to receive a free upgrade to either Old Key West or Saratoga Springs. I was like “HUH?” Figuring that I could not get two free things, i.e. the free dining and a free upgrade, I reluctantly called. I told her that I got the email but I probably didn’t qualify because I already had the free dining and I didn’t want to give that up. She asked me if my email stated I would have to give up the free dining. I told her no. She said than no, you will keep your free dining AND get the upgrade! SCORE! She told me that so many people were still trying to book the free dining at the Values, they were offering the upgrade to a certain number of people who booked when it first came out. So I requested OKW since we had never stayed there before and wanted to try something new, but those rooms were already gone. So she checked SSR and BINGO! She was able to get us as well as BIL upgraded to Studio rooms. Unfortunately, our friends were not able to get an upgrade. On the day the email came out, by the time she got home and got all her information, all the rooms were gone.

The in-laws have a mid-afternoon flight so they are taking their time as well. They decide to go have breakfast at the Artist’s Palette so they can get moving. We head over to the Carriage House to check into our Pop to SSR upgraded rooms. We meet FIL & MIL there after they finish breakfast. As we are walking in, I realize that I forgot my Chamila Bracelet at the Treehouses! (Like a Pandora, but they have the Disney license so I got theirs). I remember starting to put in on, then think that someone asked me something and I must have put it back down. I knew it had to be on the nightstand. I sent DH in to check in and FIL drove me back to the Treehouses to look for the bracelet. It was exactly where I thought it would be, sitting on the nightstand. So after my stomach untied itself, we head back to the Carriage House. Of course our rooms aren’t ready, so DH and BIL gave them their cell phone numbers to get the text message notifications. MIL & FIL decide they want to head for airport to drop off the rental car and then just relax before their flight. We wish them well, say good bye to them and send them off.

We talk to our friends and find out that they are going to Magic Kingdom so instead of just roaming around like we had planned, we decided to go meet up with them so the kids could spend some time together. We head to the TTC and jump on the monorail (tried to take the ferry, but tons of people were waiting and we are guessing they were having issues because the ferry never came after a long period of time so we gave up).

When we get into the park the Block Party Bash had just started, so we watched that for a few minutes from the train station.

We decided to take the train over to Mickey’s Toontown to avoid the crowds and trying to walk through the party.

We walked through Mickey’s house.

We decided not the wait to see Mickey because we had breakfast at Chef’s Mickey’s on Wednesday so we knew we would get pictures then. Plus the line was pretty long. Haillie decided she wanted to see the Fairies. The wait was an hour so DH told BIL to take a walk and go do something, we were going to wait in line for Haillie. Took probably the whole hour but it was worth it.

We finally find our friends! LOL We lost BIL but he is a big boy and can handle himself for a bit. The kids decide they want to go on the carousel. Of course Haillie would have thought she was too big, but Emily was going on so it was ok!

We decided to head over the Splash Mountain since our friend John really wanted to go it. As we are headed in that direction, we notice people staring and pointing up the mountain. Much to our surprise, there were people standing up towards the top! Apparently, the ride was stuck and they were escorting them off. So I guess we weren’t going on Splash right now.

Somewhere in the midst we ran into Donald Duck.

This was Emily and Adam’s first character interaction so Haillie didn’t go so they could be by themselves.

At some point during the day, we got our texts with our room number assignment. We got room #5436 and BIL got room #5412 in the Paddocks section. We weren’t too sure about this since we asked for connecting/adjoining/close rooms so we figured we would just wait until we go there to see how close (or far) they really were.

We finally caught up with BIL and Nephew and went to check in for our Crystal Palace Dinner with Pooh and Friends! It was quite a long wait. It took me like 15 minutes just to check in, then, we probably waited another 30 minutes to get seated.

The kids waiting patiently, sort of.

Table for 11 please. Ok, two tables to split 11 people, but it was fine.

Ok, usually DH takes the pictures, but he was sitting at the other table, so I was a little flustered taking pictures and trying to eat at the same time (what you’re supposed to eat at these things??). So I only got Haillie.

After dinner we all ride some rides. I can’t really remember which ones because we went back to Magic Kingdom another day with everyone and it’s just blending right now. LOL

Here is the whole gang in front of the castle.

I know they did Aladdin’s Magic Carpets because I have pictures.

Surprise, BIL is using the phone!!

While the kids were riding Aladdin, I walk over the Splash to see what the wait time is. Hmmm, same thing, people staring up at the mountain where the big plunge is. Sure enough, there is one log that is stopped right at the edge of the big drop and there are again, people stuck in the same spot as last time. So, guess we won’t be riding Splash any time soon.

We enjoy a few more things together then decide to head out after an exciting and fun but long day.

Everyone was very tired on the ferry.

Now we haven’t even been to our rooms yet. Bell services has all of our bags. It’s late and we are all tired. We find our rooms and of course BIL’s is at one side of the building and ours is way on the other side. So much for close rooms. We were willing to deal with this, not such a big deal. Well when we went to our room we opened the door to the lovely smell of stale cigarette smoke. Now neither DH nor I smoke and never have and DH is actually allergic to tobacco. So he called his brother to see if he room was ok, he said his was fine. He then called the front desk to tell them we wanted another room because this one stunk like smoke. While he was talking to them he also mentioned that we were supposed to be close to BIL and weren’t even near him so if they had to, move us both. They told us there were no more rooms until the next day. Say what?! You mean to tell me there is not a single hotel room available anywhere on this property? She tells him she will check and have to call him back. DH gives her his cell phone number and tells them to either call that or call BIL’s room and gives them that number. We gathered up the couple of small bags we had kept in the car and lugged them to BIL’s room so nothing we had ended up stinking like smoke. Now by this point it is almost 11pm. I tell Haillie to take a shower in Uncle’s shower. We called Bell Services to have all the bags delivered to his room so we at least had our stuff. After about ½ hour and not hearing from the front desk, DH calls back. They told him they couldn’t reach him because he didn’t answer the phone in the original room! Hello?! He gave them his cell and the other room number! They tell him there is one room available for us on the first floor of the same building and if we wanted to move closer to BIL we could both move tomorrow at some point. (They did offer us a 2 bedroom unit which we could move into in the morning, but we really didn’t want to share a room/unit with BIL and Nephew anymore so we told them no. Plus I know it was a free upgrade, but we paid for 2 rooms. We shouldn’t have to share one, even if it is bigger.) So we have to wait for the front desk to bring us new keys to get into the new room on the first floor. She shows up and helps up carry our bags down and we finally settle in around midnight.

In the morning there is a message telling us that if we want to be moved, we needed to be out of the room by 11am and bring all of our stuff back to the front desk and then they would reassign us. We were like, “forget it”. It’s just not worth it anymore. We stayed where we were for the rest of the trip.

Up Next – Day 6 – Animal Kingdom

 

[WDW Traveler]

Day 6 – Tuesday, August 25 – Animal Kingdom

It was off to Animal Kingdom this morning. BIL decided he was going to sleep in and meet us there later since the only ADR we had was for Tusker House at 5:30pm. We got there around 9:30am or so.

We went over to get a Fastpass for Everest and then we went to ride Dinosaur. We had about a 10 minute wait. By this point in the vacation, the wait times were definitely much shorter than last week!

After Dinosaur, we head to the Safari to meet our friends to spend the rest of the day with them. The kids loved the safari.

After the safari we took the train over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch.

We saw him the other day but our friends met Jiminy Cricket!

We were walking and the girls decided they wanted to get their hair wrapped. So Emily went first because they wanted to catch the Nemo show and we had already seen it. So Haillie went second. It came out really cute and it wasn’t as expensive as I thought it would be. It was only $21.

Other than progress pictures, I don’t think I got a picture of the finished product. Oops.

Oh, I found one from later on in the week that shows her hairwrap.

We met up with Lilo and Stitch. I’m so angry that I had my sunglasses on. DH rarely smiles and he smiled so good in this picture. Everyone looks good accept me. I would have used it for our Christmas card if you could see my eyes! LOL (I’m having my friend try to Photoshop another one of my heads sans sunglasses on to this to see what it looks like! LOL)

Ok I had to add the picture that my friend Photoshopped. He only had to do my eyes. I was so happy it looks good. So this will probably be our Christmas card. I even found cards with a Hawaiian theme!

We head over to use our fast passes for Everest. DD and I love this ride, DH, not so much but he was going on. The fast pass line was nonexistent. We walked right on. I love the ride but always feel weird after getting off! It’s that whole backwards, up the hill, really fast thing that gets to me. I was fine after a couple of minutes. DH complains about the same part.

After Everest, and still waiting for our friends who decided to go see Festival of the Lion King after Nemo, we decided to find a seat in the shade and wait for the parade. That was like the hardest part of the trip, sitting still. We were sweating bullets even though we were in the shade. It was hot when you stopped. Not so bad the rest of the time (to me anyway).

Haillie trying to stay cool on the rocks.

After the parade we headed over towards the Tusker House to meet up with our friends. Oh yeah, BIL finally showed up while we were watching the parade.

We got into dinner very quickly, this was the dinner that they messed up. When 90 days was released the park was open until 7pm. Later on they changed the park closing to 5pm so my guess is that a lot of people changed their ADR’s to earlier times. There wasn’t too many people here. It was a good buffet. We enjoy it and took our time.

After dinner, we wanted to go to Kali River Rapids to try and get in a ride before we left. They were closing in about ½ hour. It was thundering at the time so we were trying to beat the rain. Well we walked all the way back there and they had shut down the ride because of the approaching storm. So we just headed for the exit to try and beat the rain.

Nope, didn’t happen! LOL It started to rain while we were making our way out of the park. It wasn’t too bad, I only pulled out my umbrella, figured a poncho would be a waste. Haillie grabbed a poncho as did our friends.

A sea of colors!

Well about 300 feet from the car, someone unzipped the sky and it started to pour! Haillie and I just took our time getting to the car figuring we would get wetter trying to run. We weren’t that wet by the time we got there. DH and BIL and Nephew walked faster than we did and were only about 100 feet from the car when the skies opened up. Our friends on the other hand still had to jump on the parking lot tram to get to their car. They said they were pretty wet when they got to their car. Emily proceeded to tell her father (who was disappointed that he didn’t get to go on Kali) “There, you got your water ride!” LOL

The rain didn’t last very long. We had to head to Wal-Mart so BIL could pick up food for the Nephew who only eats his choice items. Even though it was a waste because he didn’t eat them anyway because they weren’t in the right package!!! It only gets better doesn’t it?!

We headed back to the hotel for the night.

Up next – Day 7 – Free Day, ended up going to Magic Kingdom

 

[WDW Traveler]

Day 7 – Wednesday, August 26 – Free Day

This morning we had ADR’s at Chef Mickey’s at 8:50am so we had to get up and out. We decided to drive to the Contemporary and park since we weren’t going to go to any park after breakfast. This saved us some time and we left the hotel by 8am to make our ADR’s. BIL & Nephew were on time to come with us. We parked the car and headed up to Chef Mickey’s. Our friends were not there yet so I didn’t check us in. A few minutes later, they arrived so I checked us in. We had our pictures taken and then we had to wait about 15 minutes or so for our table. It was nice that they had a table big enough for all of us to sit together. Breakfast was good and the kids loved meeting all the characters.

After breakfast, BIL and Nephew took off to go to one of the water parks. We are not water park people, never have been, never will be! DD would go, but DH and I could care less. We decided to try and walk over to Bay Lake Towers to see what it looked like. Nothing much from what we saw. We thought they would have their own, cool lobby, nope, just a space with a DVC desk. There was a cool fountain outside though leading to the pool.

After our exploration gone boring, our friends decided to head back to their resort to go swimming. We bid them farewell and headed off to find the Disney Outlets. We found one that was like 10 miles from where we were located in a big outlet shopping area. We got some good deals. Haillie got some pins for $3.99 each. I got some Tinker Bell PJ’s and DD got some Minnie PJ’s. We found some cute golf shirts for our neighbors boys for like $6. DH got a couple of nice sweatshirts too. We didn’t want to buy too much because we knew we had to get it all home!

After shopping we decided we were hungry. While the Artist’s Palette at SSR is ok, we think the food courts at the Value Resorts have a much bigger variety of things to choose from. We decided to head over to Pop (where our friends were staying) to grab some lunch. We were supposed to stay at Pop and DH had never seen it before so he wanted to go see it as well. I think we would have been happier over there! LOL We are so simple!

Our friends finished their swim and then showered and joined us for lunch. After lunch we decided to head back to the Magic Kingdom to see anything we might have missed. When we were there on Monday, nothing, by the time we returned on Wednesday, the Halloween spirit had began to set in.

We ended up all over the place. I know we did the Jungle Cruise, Mickey’s Philharmagic, we finally rode Splash Mountain, Snow White, Peter Pan, Pooh, you name it, we did it, I think. The lines were pretty short by this point in the week. The girls enjoyed going on the rides together.

We came across the cart that has the silhouette sketches and decided to have the kids done. Emily and Haillie were a breeze and they came out so nice. Adam, well he was sleeping, but the guy was a pro. MaryAnn just had to hold his head up! (Yup umbrella was out, it was raining a bit.) Even though he was sleeping, his picture came out good too!

After the kids got their silhouettes drawn I think we decided to call it a night. I really can’t remember. I know it was raining. I think we went back to the hotel and let Haillie use her 30 minutes of free arcade play. Well, ok, we TRIED to let Haillie use her 30 minutes of arcade play. They give you the paper card that you’re supposed to scan in their machine, well of course that didn’t work. I had to schlep up to the front desk to find out how to get the thing to work. She asked me what the CM at the arcade said. I told her there was no CM at the arcade. She told me there was supposed to be. She gave me a plastic card to use. Went all the way back. Finally the thing kind of starts to work, but what a strange system. Haillie lost like 10 minutes of play because the card stopped working. We gave up and went back to the room to relax and get ready to hit the hay.

Up Next - Day 8 - Disney's Hollywood Studios