Preggo, pennies, and pastries!!! **FINAL UPDATES 4/25**

[jenseib]

Great update...I know about things not going smoothly...but you jsut have to keep going...and not think about it and let it ruin your trip.

 

[Tink9721]

And that's when things got interesting on the Third Floor of the Beach Club. . . . .

Uh oh, cliffhanger!

 

[PopArtGal]

Awe, I'm sorry Luke wasn't having a good time. He'll grow up, don't worry

 

[photographymom517]

Great update...I know about things not going smoothly...but you jsut have to keep going...and not think about it and let it ruin your trip.

Thanks for the encouragement, Jen!!! I should've text you on our trip! Maybe it would've helped

You'll see a recurring theme throughout the entire trip -- and yes you are right!!! You have to keep going no matter what & just make the best of things!

Uh oh, cliffhanger!

Don't grab your popcorn just yet -- maybe a kleenex box instead!!!

Well, you girls may not need the kleenex, but maybe I'll grab mine to relive the whole experience!

Awe, I'm sorry Luke wasn't having a good time. He'll grow up, don't worry

I know, it was just frustrating because I soooo wanted him to enjoy it. And we wanted to enjoy the trip too

Everyone keeps saying that he's too young for trips like this. But I have 2 questions for that: 1) Why do some of my friends have kids the same exact age & they are fine at Disney? and 2) Why was he ok at 10 months old and 2 years old, but not at 3 1/2 years old ? We just weren't expecting it at all & I'm not even sure how to explain it to you guys. I guess it's just one of those things that you have to literally see it to believe it, you know? Hopefully I'll explain better in future updates!

 

[Stefy]

Great update Loving the Beach Club pics, your room looked gorgeous

Its a shame Luke wasn't having the best of time at MK, but it was arrival day. I love how inquisitive he is asking lots of questions, so cute

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Haha! Great cliffhanger, Hope! I really can't wait to hear more!

That's such a bummer that things weren't going as well as you had hoped. I completely understand your frustration and I would have been really upset too.

 

[stephielela]

Excellent cliff hanger! I know how difficult it can be when things don't go the way you want. That's how our December trip was, and while I enjoyed lots of things, overall it was not a favorite trip of mine. Jack didn't get scared, but he did throw fits ALL THE TIME when he didn't want to do something. It made everyone miserable sometimes. I wish it had been different, I hate fighting with him, it's exhausting, but it did teach me a lot about traveling with a child, especially one who has a mind of his own!

 

[photographymom517]

I'm going to post an update tonight, but first I need some help!!! I'm filling out the baby book and would LOVE to have some other opinions!

This is for the page entitled "The World Around Me."

World News & Leaders

The economy

Musical Groups

Popular Songs

Famous actors & actresses

Sports figures

Fashion trends

Popular movies

Best sellers

The rest of the questions were things similar to "What's the price of..." which I found an awesome website for! If you're interested here's the link http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/pricebasket.html

Thank you in advance!! I think it would be fun to write other people's opinions in the book and not just mine. Things like tv, books, music, etc. are always different depending on the person since we all like different things -- so I'd love to include a variety!

 

[photographymom517]

Great update Loving the Beach Club pics, your room looked gorgeous

Its a shame Luke wasn't having the best of time at MK, but it was arrival day. I love how inquisitive he is asking lots of questions, so cute

Looking back on the entire trip, the first day actually was one of the best days we had! I just love the feeling of walking into the resort for the very first time -- and also seeing the castle and Main Street at Magic Kingdom

That was the first Beach Club room -- there's a second!

Haha! Great cliffhanger, Hope! I really can't wait to hear more!

That's such a bummer that things weren't going as well as you had hoped. I completely understand your frustration and I would have been really upset too.

Grr -- I've wanted to post another update for weeks now! I actually wanted to post the rest of the first day and part of the second when I posted the last update. But I can't find my emails or PM's when I wrote to people regarding "the incident" and it just isn't the same without all the little details!!!

I learned a few things on the trip & I'll do a summary at the end listing what I would've done differently. I think when traveling with young children, it's best to just make a Top 10 List & go with the attitude of "whatever happens, happens!"

Excellent cliff hanger! I know how difficult it can be when things don't go the way you want. That's how our December trip was, and while I enjoyed lots of things, overall it was not a favorite trip of mine. Jack didn't get scared, but he did throw fits ALL THE TIME when he didn't want to do something. It made everyone miserable sometimes. I wish it had been different, I hate fighting with him, it's exhausting, but it did teach me a lot about traveling with a child, especially one who has a mind of his own!

I honestly cried a few times!!! Once it was even on a bus on the way back to the resort!

I think I just built it up too much. I was so obsessed with having "the perfect trip" even knowing ahead of time that it wouldn't be! It's impossible to ever have a "perfect" trip, you know?? The unexpected always comes up & you just have to go with the flow & deal with it as it comes.

Thanks for sharing your own experience! I was beginning to think that Luke was the only toddler at Disney who threw fits!!!

 

[MeMom]

I choose Pooh since they have the new queue. I wanted to check it out for a number of reasons! First, this was my first time traveling to Disney since I became a Travel Agent. I was really seeing the parks from a different set of eyes! I was there for both research and fun!!! I also wanted to see the queue because I thought Luke would enjoy “playing” while we waited in line and I’m doing a Pooh theme in the baby’s nursery. I really wanted to take some good pictures to use in the nursery.

Sorry things didn't go as planned. My friend's granddaughter was scared of Voyage of the Little Mermaid when we went in October. She loves Ariel, so I figured that would be a sure hit, but she stayed cowered down in her seat nearly the whole time.

A Pooh and friends nursery will be very cute, especially if you got some pictures that can help give you the official Magic Kingdom touch to it.

 

[photographymom517]

Sorry things didn't go as planned. My friend's granddaughter was scared of Voyage of the Little Mermaid when we went in October. She loves Ariel, so I figured that would be a sure hit, but she stayed cowered down in her seat nearly the whole time.

A Pooh and friends nursery will be very cute, especially if you got some pictures that can help give you the official Magic Kingdom touch to it.

The entire trip seemed to be a pattern! Luke was terrified of things I thought he would love -- and he LOVED things I thought he wouldn't even go near!!!

I will definitely share pictures of the nursery when it's completely finished! It was done, then a few hiccups occurred along the way, but hopefully very soon it will be 100% complete!

 

[photographymom517]

I had an update typed up last night and fell asleep! My computer is set to automatically shut off, so of course the entire update was lost!

No worries -- I have my updates saved in Word (learned the hard way to save a back-up copy!) so here you go!!

Our First Night at the Beach Club

When we last left off, I was unpacking our suitcases while everyone else was sleeping. I knew the next few days were going to be busy with little resort time. I wanted to make sure we didn't forget anything we needed for those days.

Now the reason it took so long for this update is because I've been SEARCHING everywhere in my PM's, emails, facebook messages, etc. to try to find a complete event-by-event description of what happened next! You really don't get the full effect without the specific details!

Well, needless to say, its been so long that I can't find anything (hence the importance of updating RIGHT after a trip instead of 3 months later! ) I know I wrote to a bunch of people regarding this & even posted on the BC thread here on DIS. But it's probably better that you're getting the shortened version with less details! Trust me on this one!

I began to unpack our suitcases. I was surprised at how quiet it was this late at night. I figured people would be in the hallways after coming back late from the pool or the parks. But no noise at all. I remember wishing I had charged my iPod so I could listen to Disney music while unpacking, but since the tv wasn't bothering anyone, I watched Stacy instead!!!

I liked having these drawers for our clothes in addition to the closet space!!! I ended up using the top drawer to store my maps & paperwork in. The rest were Luke's tops, Luke's shorts & pjs, my tops, my capris/shorts.

Since Luke had fallen asleep with his dad, I was looking forward to having a good nights sleep in my very own comfy Queen bed!!! I haven't been sleeping well throughout my entire pregnancy, so I figured after a long day of travel & being exhausted from MK, I would sleep very well tonight!!! Well, I was only asleep for maybe half an hour when I woke up to my husband standing right over the bed. I swear I almost had a heart attack – I felt like I had just gone to sleep (which I actually had!) I hate when people wake me up, but its especially hard when you wake up to people screaming!!! My DH didn't have to say much -- I knew immediately why he was awake and why he was trying to wake me up.

We had an adjoining room, which may be great if you’re traveling at the same time as family or friends. But in this case, it was horrible! Next door, we heard an older couple screaming at each other. After hearing their “conversation” we learned that she was in her 50’s and he was almost 80. Yes I could probably tell you their entire life history – and it doesn’t sound like a good history either! I wish I would’ve written this update while it was fresh in my mind (or video recorded it so you could HEAR it for yourselves! LOL!) but to tell you the truth, it was such an "experience" that I tried to block as much of it out as I could!!!

I’m honestly not exaggerating at all – it was traumatic. I wanted to leave. I wanted to go somewhere else. I wanted to cry. I wanted a trip re-do already. As if I wasn’t already tired from being pregnant & staying up to unpack, now I had to stay up and listen to this!!! I wondered if they'd do this every night. Or how long they were staying. Maybe this was their last night? I didn't really want to find out! I planned on switching rooms asap!

We seriously sat up until sometime around 3am listening to them. It wasn’t our choice at this point, we had no choice but to listen because it was just too loud. At one point, I seriously just started laughing out loud!!! It was just so ridiculous! They were fighting over the dumbest things & they were saying HORRIBLE things to each other!

Let me tell you from experience, I have stayed at hotels with 500 teenagers running around and at hotels on major highways and at hotels with conferences with thousands of people – and they have ALL been better experiences than listening to those 2 people!!! I used to live in the city – I used to listen to lots of noise all night long. I’m used to it – but there’s no way I could listen to their "argument" and still sleep.

I have no idea what started the argument -- luckily at that point I was sleeping! They fought about soooo many different things that I don't even know where to start. I remember her yelling at him & calling him a miserable #*%&$ and telling him that his own children HATE him! She said that he never wants to do anything except watch tv when he's on vacation. She called him lazy & cheap & pretty much any other name you can think of! Then she got really, really mad because he was apparently just sitting there not saying a word & she wanted him to fight back!

I also remember her yelling at him about IASW. I guess they went on it with their entire family (kids & grandkids -- those POOR family members!!!) He must have been making comments about it because she said that no "normal person" goes to Disney and hates IASW. (Ok, Mister -- quit dissing on my favorite ride!!! )

Moving on -- POTC argument! Seriously?! How can anyone fight about POTC ??? Well apparently he complained the entire time during that ride too! She said that he was "correcting" the ride and ruined it for everyone on the boat. She said that he made his own grandkids miserable & it was obvious because after that, the kids & grandkids separated from them for the rest of the afternoon. This was the first I heard him say anything back to her. He said "Well, did you SEE the movies? No, you didn't. Well guess what? I DID!!! I saw all the sequels. That ride is obviously NOT a true representation of any of the Pirate movies. Seriously everything here is so outdated, no wonder I just want to watch tv."

It just went on and on and on and on like this! They fought about the food, the restaurants, the gift shops, the tv, past vacations, the possibility of having no future vacations, their family, their grandkids, etc. They fought about so much stuff, we honestly learned about their entire life -- past, present, and what they see in the future!!!

Then they started arguing about who was going to LEAVE! I felt like screaming at this point "Why don't you BOTH just leave?! You are obviously not enjoying your vacation." She said she was leaving, then decided that she "earned" the vacation so he should leave. Then she started yelling at him about how long they saved up to take all their kids and grandkids on vacation. I believe at one point, he asked her to move out of his way so he could watch tv -- not a good call buddy! That only made her more mad and she started screaming louder! Finally, he said that he would leave, but he wanted to finish watching his tv show first!

There was a part of me that wanted to knock on their door & scream back at them! There was a part of me that just wanted to laugh at them (it was sort of comical at first). There was a part of me that wanted to head straight down to the Check-In Desk and get our room moved that night. And there was a part of me that just wanted to sleep!

I've honestly never experienced anything like this in my life. And I so wish I would've recorded parts of their conversation for you guys to hear. It was simply ridiculous! We all have some small hiccups along the way. None of our trips are 100% perfect. But their behavior was worse than any fight between 2 year olds that I've ever witnessed! It was just uncalled for & completely unnecessary. Especially when you're at DISNEY!!!

Anyway, we decided right then that we would switch rooms first thing in the morning. I didn't feel comfortable at that point leaving the room. I wasn't sure if they were serious about leaving & if they were, I didn't want to run into EITHER of them in the hallway or elevator. The situation had just escalated way too much over the course of a few hours. We decided to get ready in the morning quickly, pack our suitcases, and head down to the front desk to see what they could do about it. Looking back, I probably should've called the Front Desk right then to at least report the situation. Who knows if they were violent or just loud. Had they hurt each other in anyway, I would've felt partially responsible considering I hadn't notified anyone of the situation. I just didn't want to take a chance in someone coming up & saying "Oh the people next door to you called us" -- that would've been bad!

I'll add some pictures so this update isn't totally negative! I had packed our "park bag" the night before, so it was easy to just pack up everything else. I found it sort of amusing that it had taken me weeks at home to pack everything just right & we were literally throwing all of our clothes into the suitcases. We didn't care about neatness or wrinkled clothes at this point -- we just wanted to get out of there!

So we took turns getting ready, woke Luke up, and headed downstairs.

Good-bye Room!

Headed to the elevators!!

Will we get a new room? How do you move luggage when you have a day packed full of ADR's and tours ?? How do you move your room when you planned on staying at Epcot for Illuminations??

Answers coming right up!!!

 

[photographymom517]

We headed to the Front Desk and explained the situation. I began to tell the CM the basics of the situation & how the people next door to us were screaming all night. There was a Manager on duty at this point & she came over to help the CM switch our room. They had a particular location in mind for us & asked if it was ok if it wasn't ready right at that moment. I told them I had never switched rooms before so I wasn't aware of the procedure or what to do. We had two ADR's scheduled in addition to a tour and would be at Epcot all day. I told them I could give them my cell number if they needed us to come back at some point.

It turned out to be A LOT easier than I thought! All we had to do was pack up our luggage, wait for Bell Services to pick it up, and when we returned at the end of the day our luggage would already be in our new room!!! Simple as that!

I know a lot of people would be really angry -- but I just said "Thank You" probably a thousand times! They did apologize to me & were very nice about the situation. I told them it wasn't their fault. It wasn't really anyone's fault, except for the couple next door to us.

I was just soooo thankful they were taking care of the situation -- so efficiently & quickly too!!!

They gave us new KTTW cards and took our old ones. Then we headed to Bell Services to arrange for pick-up of our luggage. They were extremely busy and said it would take awhile, but we weren't in a hurry to get to Epcot. We were just thankful to get a new room. They asked for our old room number and our new one. I gave them the information & then we headed up to our room to wait for them to arrive.

Even though they said it would probably take at least 30 minutes, they were there in less than 10. The man put all of our bags on a luggage rack and counted them. He gave us a "receipt" showing the number of bags & where he was taking them to. He explained that they would be stored until the new room was ready & then they would deliver them there. In addition to our carry-ons and suitcases, he also took Luke's Woody hat (his costume for MNSSHP) and the 2 bedrails they had delivered to us earlier that day. It's hard for me to give up control of things & I was just hoping everything would go smoothly with the transition, especially considering we wouldn't be back to BC until after Illuminations.

Up Next: EPCOT!!!! Our first full park day!!!

 

[photographymom517]

According to the time on my pictures, we headed over to Epcot at 10:43am on September 15th. Now, at this point, I have to share with you my absolute FAVORITE part of staying at the Beach Club. The walkway to the International Gateway!!!

Enjoy!!!

Because Epcot is our favorite park, we LOVED this!!! It was super convenient with this walkway & park hoppers to head to Epcot whenever we wanted! While I did learn on this trip that I'm not exactly a "Beach Club person," I will honestly cry next trip when we can't walk to Epcot anymore!!! Wait until you see how many evenings we went to our favorite place!

Continuing with our morning -- we actually arrived at the perfect time! They were JUST taking down the ropes to let people in World Showcase!

Each country's Cast Members line up at the entrance & either sing or hold up a banner or just Welcome you into their country! I was lucky enough to be heading to my favorite country & get this picture!!!

Our first stop for this morning -- breakfast!

I was so relieved to have the room situation taken care of & have plans for a wonderful day ahead of us! I just wanted to sit back & relax & enjoy France!!! We went into the bakery -- while I've eaten here EVERY trip, I have never been inside! I either walk around France taking pictures, wait in line for character greetings, or get a table with Luke while my DH goes in. This is because I always get the same thing!!!

Chocolate Mousse -- of course!!!!

Well this trip, I decided that I wanted to go inside since I have never been. It wasn't very crowded at the France Pavilion since they had just opened WS so we parked the stroller at a table, I grabbed the park bag & Luke's hand, and inside we went!

I described each item to Luke but he said he didn't want anything. I could tell he was acting sort of odd, but I wasn't sure what was wrong. He asked for a Lemonade. So I asked my DH to get my mousse and a lemonade for each of us while I took Luke outside to our table. Before we even made it out the door, he began throwing up. It was just clear fluid and I figured it was just from flying the previous day. I know it takes my stomach awhile to adjust and he didn't have any other symptoms so I assumed that's what it was. I stationed him next to a garbage can & was planning to wait for my DH to come out and watch him while I found something to clean it up with. Luckily at this point, I looked over and noticed napkins right at the exit of Boulangerie. How convenient!!! I grabbed a handful of them & quickly cleaned it up, threw the napkins in the garbage, took Luke to our table, and got out our hand sanitizer! Those Bath & Body Works anti-bacterial PocketBac's really do come in handy!!! I have one attached to pretty much all bags I own in addition to having a couple in my car!

I could tell by the look on his face, he wasn't feeling well. I offered to hold him on my lap, but he wanted in his stroller. He laid down until his dad brought over his lemonade. I explained to my DH what had happened & we decided to just stay there & relax for awhile. We weren't in a rush to be anywhere and it was nice to enjoy France!!!

View from our table

I decided to head into the gift shop to explore a little bit while they finished their lemonades at the table. I love France, it's my favorite country, and I've never shopped in their giftshop! We always walk through it after watching Impressions de France -- but I've never actually stopped to look around!

I ended up buying a pen to use with Luke's Autograph Book and a small Eiffel Tower keychain. I also made a list in my cell of things I wanted to buy later. I wrote: hoodie, Eiffel Tower, photo album, France Minnie or Remy, postcards, maybe a tshirt. I didn't want to buy a lot on my very first day at Epcot.

I went back to check on Luke & he was still feeling sick. He threw up again (luckily no one was around eating their breakfast/lunch at this point!) so we decided to move to a shaded bench & sit for awhile and take turns walking around. I immediately spotted Marie & had to get a picture with her!

I also had pictures taken with Princess Aurora and Belle while Luke was resting.

We decided to keep walking. We checked with Luke to see how he felt. If he was still sick, we were planning to head over to Future World & sit in an air conditioned QS restaurant until our tour. We figured we could take turns on Nemo, Soarin, Living with the Land, etc. if he needed to sleep in his stroller. But he said he was ok & wanted to walk around. He also told me he was hungry.

So we continued on our way to

 

[photographymom517]

We didn't need to be anywhere until our Behind the Seeds Tour at 1:30pm and my DH had his sites set on:

Via Napoli!!!

I told him that I doubted we would be able to walk in. I remembered last September when my parents tried. They had to wait over 45 minutes and it was less crowded during their trip dates. I told him it never hurts to ask, but not to get his hopes up. They went to sit on a bench to wait & I told him to think about an alternative while I was gone. Much to my surprise, they asked me if we were ready NOW!! Seriously?!

I went out to tell my DH & he asked me how long of a wait. I told him there wasn't a wait, took the stroller and parked it, and in we went!!! I was soooo excited! After the horrible night we had, I felt like we were getting some much needed Pixie Dust!

I love their stroller parking area! (It's located to the left of the restaurant & is clearly marked)

We were both excited to eat here! It was one of the ADR's we had wanted but couldn't get ahead of time. We are both Italian so this felt like "home" to us more than any other restaurant at Epcot!!!

Let me tell you, I used to work in a meat department at a local grocery store & everyone tried telling me I needed to try Veal. I said "no way" -- its not really a moral thing, although it does gross me out to think I'm eating a BABY cow. Its just more of a "it grosses me out" thing!

Well, guess what I tried???

At the recommendation of my very good friend, PopArtGal, I tried the spaghetti with veal meatballs -- and I am THRILLED that I did!!! It was beyond delicious! Probably one of the best things I've ever eaten in my life. And I am Italian, I eat Italian food all the time, my great-grandma used to make it from old Italian recipes, and I am VERY picky about sauces. I usually won't try spaghetti, pizza, etc. unless I know who made the sauce. If I don't know its good before eating it, I won't even try it. I'm not picky about any foods, it's just one of those things -- just sauce!

Well, as I said, it was delicious & I immediately text her & posted to FB to let her know I had tried it!!!

Luke got the cheese pizza and my DH got the pepperoni pizza. His was about 2-3 times the size of Luke's but I don't have a picture of it.

Our waitress was also amazing!!! I took a picture of her with Luke, but I'm not going to post it since I don't have her permission to do so. Although, I'm sure she wouldn't mind, she was a super sweet girl!!! She spoke to us a lot about Italy, especially after finding out that both of our families are from there! She refilled our drinks at least 4-5 times and checked on us to make sure everything was ok. She also quickly cleared the table after one course was over. Luke got an appetizer with his meal. I believe he got the fresh fruit, but I don't have a picture I remember he ate it all except for the raspberries, but I didn't mind, I ate them for him! She also brought the bill quickly when I explained that we lost track of time while eating (because we were seriously enjoying ourselves that much!) and had to walk all the way over to Future World for a tour. She was wonderful!!!

After a quick restroom break, we headed out of the restaurant, got the stroller and continued on our way.

We soon arrived at our destination!!!

To be Continued after the Holidays with the Behind the Seeds Tour!!!!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Hi! I just read through your PTR and your TR so far. I can't imagine having such awful resort neighbors! I don't think I would have waited until morning to complain! I hope your son isn't sick the entire trip!

 

[DisKate]

Oh Hope....why did you have to post that yummy review? Now I'm trying to decide if Ohana is really want I want for my birthday meal....

 

[stephielela]

I'm going to post an update tonight, but first I need some help!!! I'm filling out the baby book and would LOVE to have some other opinions!

This is for the page entitled "The World Around Me."

World News & Leaders

The economy

Musical Groups

Popular Songs- Anything by Adele
Famous actors & actresses-

Sports figures- Tim Tebow
Fashion trends

Popular movies- Twilight

Best sellers

The rest of the questions were things similar to "What's the price of..." which I found an awesome website for! If you're interested here's the link http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/pricebasket.html


Thank you in advance!! I think it would be fun to write other people's opinions in the book and not just mine. Things like tv, books, music, etc. are always different depending on the person since we all like different things -- so I'd love to include a variety!

Wow, I wasn't much help, lol. It's hard to pinpoint some stuff I guess!

I honestly cried a few times!!! Once it was even on a bus on the way back to the resort!

I think I just built it up too much. I was so obsessed with having "the perfect trip" even knowing ahead of time that it wouldn't be! It's impossible to ever have a "perfect" trip, you know?? The unexpected always comes up & you just have to go with the flow & deal with it as it comes.

Thanks for sharing your own experience! I was beginning to think that Luke was the only toddler at Disney who threw fits!!!

I felt the EXACT same way about our December trip. I kept wondering what was wrong with me, I was so lucky, this trip was so amazing and my parents were spending so much money but I wasn't really having a fantastic time. I have really learned that it's not about all the $$ you spend or how many cool things you get to do, when you build something up like that, it never lives up to expectations. I had a much better time on our MR Wonder cruise and it cost way less, it's all about the attitude you have! So no, you aren't the only one!!

 

[Megablocks]

Oh my gosh, that couple! You didn't mention it, so I'm assuming at least Luke slept through it?

You make Via Napoli sound sooooo good! You're a lot braver than I am; I'm still not sure I'd try the veal. I will honestly try anything once just to say I did. My best friend has studied abroad and tried frog legs, snail, and camel, and it makes me insanely jealous (we were going to try to see if there's any French restaurant in Boston that serves snails ) But...veal? I'm not sure. I think the name has bad connotations for me.

I hope Luke ended up feeling better! That's too bad that he was sick but I am glad he ended up feeling hungry.

 

[Stefy]

Aww poor Luke, that's not how you want to start the day. Hopefully he felt better afterwards

Yikes about the couple next door. You totally should have called the front desk, they are very discreet (had a similar situation last year). But glad you got your new room sorted and didn't have to deal with that couple again