Sand and Sun ~ Trip Number Ten Was Lots of Fun! Clearwater Beach & YC, August 2013

[wdisneyaholic]

So glad you are enjoying the TR. It was our first time at the YC and we really enjoyed it.

So, how about this lovely weather we've been having?? With this much snow in what is still technically fall, I shutter to think about what the winter has in store for us. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]



You know, for the most part I'm ok with the weather, I actually enjoy the snow. I DO NOT like the really cold weather. Sunday is supposed to be in the 60s. Guess I should finish cleaning up the leaves that the snow covered !!

We have been going to the YC for the last 6 years. My boys love it. It's really the only hotel the want to stay at. We did decide to try the BC this year. We always drive down so we usually splurge on the hotel.

 

[monica23535]

Nice new ticker Shelly!

 

[mickeyplanner]

We have been going to the YC for the last 6 years. My boys love it. It's really the only hotel the want to stay at. We did decide to try the BC this year. We always drive down so we usually splurge on the hotel.

I am from SW PA too. How old are your boys? I don't know if we will ever be able to drive to FL. I would love to hear how it goes and find out your stops along the way.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hey Shelly...ever been to Arkansas? Just got an email from Magic Springs in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Daughtry is playing there on June 28th. I don't know if their concert will be the same price as those in the past but reserved seating used to be just $10 in addition to your park pass admission. We may just have to make a trip to Arkansas in June!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

You know, for the most part I'm ok with the weather, I actually enjoy the snow. I DO NOT like the really cold weather. Sunday is supposed to be in the 60s. Guess I should finish cleaning up the leaves that the snow covered !!

We have been going to the YC for the last 6 years. My boys love it. It's really the only hotel the want to stay at. We did decide to try the BC this year. We always drive down so we usually splurge on the hotel.

I do not enjoy the snow or cold weather at all. I think we're in for a long winter.

It is supposed to warm up this weekend, but I'm afraid that's going to make for a big, wet, slushy mess when all this snow melts.

We really liked the YC. I was afraid because we didn't have the best time at the BC.

How long is the drive??

Nice new ticker Shelly!

Thanks!

I am from SW PA too. How old are your boys? I don't know if we will ever be able to drive to FL. I would love to hear how it goes and find out your stops along the way.

I know we sure couldn't do it!! And we even have family half way (Charlotte, NC) that we could stop & stay with. But I'm usually done with driving/riding by the time we get to Charlotte, I sure couldn't imagine driving twice as far!!

Hey Shelly...ever been to Arkansas?

Just got an email from Magic Springs in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Daughtry is playing there on June 28th. I don't know if their concert will be the same price as those in the past but reserved seating used to be just $10 in addition to your park pass admission. We may just have to make a trip to Arkansas in June!

Nope - not yet!

You should go!! Saw him this summer and it was awesome!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I love this picture! I want a fence around my yard just like this!

I hate you got your schedule all messed up with DQ opening so late. I hate it when stuff like that happens. Although... passing the time by eating a WPE sounds like a really good idea to me! Too bad the CM was snotty. I don't think we had any bad CMs on this last trip! Everyone was so nice and helpful this time. I really don't think they realize how much they can make or break people's vacations.

I'm very interested to hear about DQ. I'm 99% sure that we will never go because that sort of thing is not really my cup of tea (and I'm the trip planner ), but I'd still like to hear what you think about it. I don't think I have ever heard from anyone who has been there. It's probably more of a boy thing anyway, isn't it???

Got all your Christmas shopping done? I got so excited because I found the cutest little Disney candy stocking stuffer things today at Walmart (yes, I braved WM just a few days before Christmas! ) I always like to have something Disney in the stockings though! Gotta have a touch of Mickey on Christmas morning!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Someone on one of the January threads said that Be Our Guest has opened for fastpass reservations for lunch in January.

 

[Huff]

Someone on one of the January threads said that Be Our Guest has opened for fastpass reservations for lunch in January.

Opened up for our Jan. 25 trip.

Does getting a FP for Be Our Guest use one of the 3 FP+ selections for the day? It's not on the normal FP+ webpage so was wondering.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Opened up for our Jan. 25 trip. Does getting a FP for Be Our Guest use one of the 3 FP+ selections for the day? It's not on the normal FP+ webpage so was wondering.

The FP for BOG does not affect the FP+, has nothing to do with it. If you can get one, go for the lunch FP. It was great got us on right away, the stand by line was long.

 

[wdisneyaholic]

I do not enjoy the snow or cold weather at all. I think we're in for a long winter.

It is supposed to warm up this weekend, but I'm afraid that's going to make for a big, wet, slushy mess when all this snow melts.

We really liked the YC. I was afraid because we didn't have the best time at the BC.

How long is the drive??



Thanks!



I know we sure couldn't do it!! And we even have family half way (Charlotte, NC) that we could stop & stay with. But I'm usually done with driving/riding by the time we get to Charlotte, I sure couldn't imagine driving twice as far!!



Nope - not yet!

You should go!! Saw him this summer and it was awesome!

The drive is not bad at all. We usually leave at about 6pm and drive all night. It's about 15.5 hour drive. We make less stops because the boys sleep. There is a lot less traffic too.

I agree this is going to be a long winter!!

We did YC CL last summer and I was very disappointed. So this year we decided to do standard room at the BC and just hang out at SAB. We have a one day ticket left to use but other than that it's just a no park trip. We are stopping at universal for a few days before Disney. So we will at least get some park time. Have you done Universal?

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I love this picture! I want a fence around my yard just like this!

Thanks!

I hate you got your schedule all messed up with DQ opening so late. I hate it when stuff like that happens. Although... passing the time by eating a WPE sounds like a really good idea to me! Too bad the CM was snotty. I don't think we had any bad CMs on this last trip! Everyone was so nice and helpful this time. I really don't think they realize how much they can make or break people's vacations.

Yes, I was slightly annoyed by this. I hate when things mess with my plans!!

Breakfast at WPE was very good. I think everything I've ever gotten from there has been very good!

I'm very interested to hear about DQ. I'm 99% sure that we will never go because that sort of thing is not really my cup of tea (and I'm the trip planner ), but I'd still like to hear what you think about it. I don't think I have ever heard from anyone who has been there. It's probably more of a boy thing anyway, isn't it???

I probably wouldn't pay to go there, but since it was free is was okay!! It actually wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. I'm glad we went.

Got all your Christmas shopping done? I got so excited because I found the cutest little Disney candy stocking stuffer things today at Walmart (yes, I braved WM just a few days before Christmas! ) I always like to have something Disney in the stockings though! Gotta have a touch of Mickey on Christmas morning!

I am done!!! Congrats on finding some awesome Disney stocking stuffers!! Your DD will love it!!

Someone on one of the January threads said that Be Our Guest has opened for fastpass reservations for lunch in January.

Opened up for our Jan. 25 trip.

Does getting a FP for Be Our Guest use one of the 3 FP+ selections for the day? It's not on the normal FP+ webpage so was wondering.

The FP for BOG does not affect the FP+, has nothing to do with it. If you can get one, go for the lunch FP. It was great got us on right away, the stand by line was long.

Well, I just tried. It let me sign in this time, but it will only allow me to pick a date between now and December 26. Which makes no sense, I don't even arrive until January 25.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

The drive is not bad at all. We usually leave at about 6pm and drive all night. It's about 15.5 hour drive. We make less stops because the boys sleep. There is a lot less traffic too.

I agree this is going to be a long winter!!

We did YC CL last summer and I was very disappointed. So this year we decided to do standard room at the BC and just hang out at SAB. We have a one day ticket left to use but other than that it's just a no park trip. We are stopping at universal for a few days before Disney. So we will at least get some park time. Have you done Universal?

That would be the way to do it -- drive through the night.

When are you going this year?

No, we haven't done Universal yet. I really should, I took all my courses with them and can sell trips there, but haven't been there yet. I am tempted, the agency I work for was able to get some awesome deals there (as well as Disney of course!) this August... Thinking about going to Universal for a few days, but not sure we want to give up any of our Disney time...

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

When we reached DQ is was about 11:10. There was one other person waiting. And pretty soon a line formed behind us. It was so stinking hot standing outside on that pavement.

At about 11:25 they let us in the doors, but said that they weren't quite ready to open yet. We were first in line at one of the kiosks, on the left. Then a CM over on the far right shouted out and asked if anyone there had the Magicbands. And we were there only family that did!! She waved us over to the right and she had one of those CM IPad’s that you see them checking people in with at the resorts, and said she would let us in with it. She asked us how the bands and FP+ were working out for us and we had a nice little chat. Then she asked DS12 if he would like to open DQ today! He got to make the official “phone call” upstairs to open DQ, it was really cute! And he got a little necklace/medal thing to wear. Then she checked us in with her hand held kiosk thing and we were on our way!

We grabbed a DQ map and headed in! We were the first ones in line for the Virtual POTC.

It was really fun!

Then we went over to the Virtual Jungle Cruise. It was okay.

Up next was Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride. It was pretty dumb. You had to wear these helmet things on your head really tight and the whole thing just didn't make much sense.

We walked around and checked out a few more things.

Then we got in line for Buzzlightyear's Astro Blasters. This was about the only thing there with a line. I think we had to wait about 2-3 times before we got on. The problem here was that 1 or 2 people would wait in line while the other 6-7 people in their party went off and played video games. Then when they got close to the front they would yell for the rest of their party and those people would push their way through everyone else in line and get right on the ride. And the CM's didn't do a thing about it. A couple of times we would think we were getting on, not realizing what was going on, and then would be stuck waiting another cycle. It was crazy.

The ride was really fun though!


Continued in next post….

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Continued…


Then we moved on to play some video games. They have just about everything imaginable. Lots of stuff from the 80's too!

We took a look at their CS restaurant, Food Quest. Just for the heck of it, we weren't hungry at all after having breakfast at WPE.

This is looking down at the Astro Blaster ride.

We went back down and did the Astro Blasters again and the POTC again. And by around 2:00 we were done.

Pretty fun place! I'm glad we got to go. It's definitely not a must do or anything, but pretty fun. I don't know that I'd ever pay the $200+ that it would normally cost to get in. Maybe if you were REALLY into that stuff and planned to stay all day, then it would be worth that price. We were lucky and it wasn't very busy and we didn't really have to wait on too much. Plus we got to go for FREE!!!

I think it would be super annoying in DQ if it were busy!!

We walked back up past Splitsville and out to the West Side bus stop. We had pretty good luck with the bus again and were back to the YC in a decent amount of time.

Saw these turtles on the way to the bus stop. So cute!

Up Next: Swimming at SAB

 

[wdisneyaholic]

That would be the way to do it -- drive through the night.

When are you going this year?

No, we haven't done Universal yet. I really should, I took all my courses with them and can sell trips there, but haven't been there yet. I am tempted, the agency I work for was able to get some awesome deals there (as well as Disney of course!) this August... Thinking about going to Universal for a few days, but not sure we want to give up any of our Disney time...

We are going to the BC at the end of July. Seems to be the week we go every year.

My boys love DQ. I had been getting the plus feature with our tickets, I would never pay that price just to get in there. We usually drop the boys off at DQ then do some shopping and have a nice quiet lunch. The boys eat at DQ together. They really enjoy it, and we enjoy having some time to shop without the kids.

We are super excited about universal. I'm not sure what it's going to be like without being at Disney the whole time. It will be interesting.

 

[Wood Nymph]

That Magic Carpet ride was at DQ when we were there almost 20 years ago. I can't believe it is still there. The Pirates thing looks like it was fun.

 

[JoBird]

Awwww, DQ looks like fun!!!!!

Never been there, I don't like games much but the kids do so we might have to schedule time one trip to do it.

What a nice surprise that DS12 got to open up DQ! Nice sprinkling of Pixie Dust for him.

I'm glad you went there instead of the water park, even if the water park might have been cooler rather than standing around waiting for DQ to open up.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Unfortunately my kids will be all over DQ!
I hate the price tag though. If we got in for free I would say it's totally worth it.
Maybe DH could just bring them. They could drop me off at Epcot one day while they go there.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We are going to the BC at the end of July. Seems to be the week we go every year.

My boys love DQ. I had been getting the plus feature with our tickets, I would never pay that price just to get in there. We usually drop the boys off at DQ then do some shopping and have a nice quiet lunch. The boys eat at DQ together. They really enjoy it, and we enjoy having some time to shop without the kids.

We are super excited about universal. I'm not sure what it's going to be like without being at Disney the whole time. It will be interesting.

That sounds like a plan - dropping the kids off at DQ and going for a lunch date.

It will be interesting to see what you think of Universal.

That Magic Carpet ride was at DQ when we were there almost 20 years ago. I can't believe it is still there. The Pirates thing looks like it was fun.

Really? That might have been the dumbest thing ever!!

Virtual POTC was fun!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Awwww, DQ looks like fun!!!!!

Never been there, I don't like games much but the kids do so we might have to schedule time one trip to do it.

What a nice surprise that DS12 got to open up DQ! Nice sprinkling of Pixie Dust for him.

I'm glad you went there instead of the water park, even if the water park might have been cooler rather than standing around waiting for DQ to open up.

Yeah, it's a neat place!

It was a nice little surprise for DS to open DQ!!

It was the better of the 2 options for the day I think! And we can do a water park next summer.

Unfortunately my kids will be all over DQ!
I hate the price tag though. If we got in for free I would say it's totally worth it.
Maybe DH could just bring them. They could drop me off at Epcot one day while they go there.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I'm sure your boys will love DQ! But yes, it's quite costly for just a day trip.

I like your idea of going to Epcot alone!!