Snowed in at disney with that guy from the matrix! The official tr

[bunkkinsmom]

THE INTRO

Alright, here we go! I guess I should start with the cast of characters. There is me, Emily, 39 year old mom, manager of retail/restaurants, reality tv junkie (if and when I have time) and enjoy planning for Disney as much as going there! DH, owns his own audio/video production business, which means I do a lot there as well! His first trip to Disney was in November 2001 a few months after we got married. DD7, in love with Tink and thinks she's a rockstar. DD5, thinks he is Ben Tennison and has his school convinced as well. DD3, self proclaimed princess, and sometimes that is all she answers to. DF John, used to play drums in DH's band and has been a family friend for several years. DF RyRy, a friend we are tyring to get out of his shell and thought this would be a great way to help him have fun.

Our journey began on January 22nd, we left home and headed for the Amtrak station. We took two cars and took off for Cary. Now I lived in Cary for quite some time so I was not worried at all about finding the station. Plus DFJ had some sort of app on his IPhone that would GPS us there. We decided to get something to eat in Cary because by the time we got on the train the dining car would be almost closed. And frankly, Meatball subs from Subway are better and cheaper than the hotdogs on the train!! Oh, and we also needed to make a stop to pick up some last minute incidentals. We started looking for a KMart/Target/Walmart to get our last minute stuff and DFJ looked it up on his IPhone. His directions kept taking us through neighborhoods and backroads that I had never seen before! He kept saying, "It should be right here, we should be right on it!" Finally we turned onto the street that it should have been on. Well we knew right away something was wrong, considering there were no street lights and the sign said DEAD END. The IPhone took us the the back of KMART, not even the loading entrance. There was just a dead end road, then a lot of trees, then a gray brick wall! WE LAUGHED SO HARD!!! So finally we got back around and into KMART. The pharmacist told me about this stuff called Metatonin? An all natural sleep aid that is safe for kids. So we picked up a bottle and headed for Subway. We once again plugged it into the IPhone and went through another battle of "We should be right on it. It's supposed to be right here. And we passed it." We were laughing so hard by the time we got into Subway that it was hard to keep a straight face to place our order!

So after a couple of Meatball subs we headed out to the train station. We found it without TOO much trouble and before we knew it, TRAIN 91 came a'rollin in!!! We boarded, got the kids into their jammies, took some Metatonin, popped in SpyKids 3, and settled in for the night. Very uneventful trip and the kids as always loved the train ride!

We pulled into Orlando Amtrak and there was our driver, ready with our sign and waiting to take us to POP. We used the same company as last year, First Choice. They were Soooooo nice and the most economical as well. We have never not been able to get in touch with them, and we have business and cell numbers for them. I will definitely use them again. So we were dropped off at Pop around 11 am and we had done the online checkin. I jumped into the specific line and we were helped right away, and our rooms were ready!

I have only stayed in two resorts prior to this trip, Old Key West and Coronado Springs. I had decided on Pop because I had heard great things about it and it seemed so, well, POPular. It was Ok. Our plan was to stay there Saturday night before we transferred to OKW, and then stay OKW from Sun-Thu nights leaving on Friday. Remember, that was the PLAN. We had rented points for our OKW stay and were on the dining plan there. We purchased tickets through the Youth In Education Series for a discounted rate, so we were not on the Dining Plan on Saturday. We decided to grab a quick bite at the food court before we headed out to the parks because our reservations for Rose and Crown were for 735 and we were HUNGRY!!!

We got the KungPao Beef from the food court and it was pretty good. But I will tell you this, and DH will totally back me up on this. Disney World has the BEST Coca Cola in the entire world. There is something different about the Coke here, and I can't quite put my finger on it. But it is totally a different product and I just can't get enough when I'm there! I don't even drink soda that much at home, but at Disney I can't put it down!

Next up........Is that lizard alive? and OWW! There's ashes in my eye!!

 

[JoBird]

I'm here! I'm here! Now..... back to read it.


Glad you're home safe!

Jo

 

[mickeystoontown]

Signing on for more! Now, I gotta go back and read all the fine details.

 

[JoBird]

Okay wait- you are home now, aren't you????

LOL at the dead end. Sometimes those things are so--- wrong.

Great beginning-- looking forward to getting my daily WDW fix with this and a couple other TR's ....

 

[OceanAnnie]

I'm in!

 

[Disneymaddness]

Count me in! After reading about the last days I have to read about the beginning!

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Signing on for more! Now, I gotta go back and read all the fine details.

Hey Welcome!!

Okay wait- you are home now, aren't you????

Yep, I'm home! And with great timing....Ice in the forecast for tomorrow!

LOL at the dead end. Sometimes those things are so--- wrong.

You should have seen us! I was crying I was laughing so hard!

Great beginning-- looking forward to getting my daily WDW fix with this and a couple other TR's ....

I'm in!

YEA!!!!

Count me in! After reading about the last days I have to read about the beginning!

HAHAHAHA!!! Yep, the ending makes for an even better retell of the week!

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Waitin for more... I hate reading trip reports bt this one looks good

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I'm in!

Thanks for the link. Can't wait for more!

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Waitin for more... I hate reading trip reports bt this one looks good

I love your name!! That's awesome!

I'm in!

Thanks for the link. Can't wait for more!

Hi Momof2! So glad to see you again!

joining in

Hey Mia! Welcome!

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Day 1, Saturday 1/23

On our way out the door of our room to the Food Court (or the trough as DFJ puts it) my DS screams DADDY DADDY COME HERE!!! LOOK LOOK!!!

All the kids go running into the bathroom and there he his. The lizard. Poor thing probably had a little lizard heart attack with those 3 kids squealing around him! He just froze, like those goats that pass out when you scare them. DH scooped him up and put him in a ziplock bag (Tip from the DIS!) to take him downstairs and set him free. My son named him Junie. No idea where he got that name. I will post a pic of Junie probably today, once I figure out how to do that.

So after the KungPao Beef we headed out to Epcot for our first day. My DH is a big big fan of Illuminations. Remember he owns a Production company, so this is right up his alley and he just normally stands there, mesmerized. He's so cute!

DH's mom had given us these backpack/leash things for our 2 youngest. DH and I have always been anti-leashes, and I really don't wanna start a leash war, but we did for a very small second consider it. Simply because of DD3. She is, well lets just say she is her own person, for sure! Ya'll know Dora right? The explorer? she looks a lot like her, so we call her Dora the Destroyer. I will post some pics pretty soon and ya'll will see what I'm talking about. At any rate, even being anti-leash, how bad would it be if we did get separated and we couldn't find her. The guilt of having the leash and not using it would be devastating. So in the end we reached a compromise. We folded the leash part in the bottom of the tiny backpack and also put their jackets in there. Then we would just see if we felt like we needed them AND they would have them on during any pictures we sent to DH's mom. SOLVED!

And off we go to Epcot. At this point it's like 130 or 2, and that's fine with me because Epcot is not my favorite park and 1/2 day seems about right for me. We ran into our first character this afternoon, Alice in Wonderland. She was soooooo cute! DFRyRy really really liked her, and frankly he met more character than we did!! I remembered later in the afternoon about Kim Possible!! So around 6pm we head to a recruiting station to sign up! You can do different countries, so we chose England to be close to our ADR. The mission took us about 30 minutes and this was the only thing all week that DD3 was afraid of. Now she wasn't scared of the things on the mission, she was scared because DS5 and DD7 were SOOOOOO worked up!!! They had a blast! They got to alternate clues every 2 or 3 clues so they both got to hold the Kimmunicator (they are very good at sharing!) Those two literally RAN around to find all of the clues. Really really cool thing to do. We will do this not just every time we are at Disney, but every time we are in Epcot. This is one of the high points of our trip for them and the CM's were fantastic!! At one point they have to go into the Tea shop and give a secret phrase, the CM so played the part!!! Excellent excellent adventure, a must-do for sure! Especially since there are SEVERAL different adventures in SEVERAL different countries!

So we head off to our ADR and ask for an outside table. I picked Rose and Crown because of the "private viewing area" for Illuminations, and because I love Fish and Chips! We had never eaten there before and this would be the start of eating at places we had never been to before. We only had one repeat from last year, and that was our last night at Chefs. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be our last night!

There were no outside tables available so we sat inside, and our waitress was fantastic, and the food was delicious. Again, will post pics when I figure it out (Or ask hubby to do it!) Everyone enjoyed their meals and we were ushered to the "private viewing area". This was a very small area on the side of the building just behind the lower patio. Within 2 minutes after it started we moved for a couple of reasons. My DD7 was bawling her eyes out screaming that her eyes were burning. The wind was pretty heavy that night and the ashes from the show were falling all over us and into her eyes, so DDJ and I went to take her out of there. When we turned around DH was leaving as well. I told him to stay and he shook his head and quite loudly said that if the only smoke was from the fireworks he could handle it. The others in the small "private viewing area" were smoking quite a bit and with DD3 on his shoulders it was all headed right to her.

Now let me just say, we are non-smokers who both used to smoke over a pack a day. When I got pregnant with DD7 I quit, and DH quit after DD3. It took about 2 years for him to not crave them, and now the smoke makes him crazy. I remember when we went in 2001 and would find little alcoves or spots that were more private to catch our cigarette breaks. That's how I have found some of the out of the way spots at the World, looking for a place to have a ciggy! And if it's allowed for them to smoke there, I think they should. Just means I won't be viewing from there, that's all. However, Rose and Crown has the terrace outside that I would love to watch from, but you can't reserve those tables on your ressie, you just have to see where they sit you. All in all a very good meal, very good server, and I could totally see eating there again!

We headed back through the park and found a more suitable place to watch the show. And then we were off through Future World to hop on the POP bus. We had to transfer to Old Key West in the morning and I was SUPER excited about our breakfast plans!!!

Up next............. Where can I get a cajun bloody mary and watch live gospel music at the same time?!?!?

 

[OceanAnnie]

Day 1, Saturday 1/23

On our way out the door of our room to the Food Court (or the trough as DFJ puts it) my DS screams DADDY DADDY COME HERE!!! LOOK LOOK!!!

All the kids go running into the bathroom and there he his. The lizard. Poor thing probably had a little lizard heart attack with those 3 kids squealing around him! He just froze, like those goats that pass out when you scare them. DH scooped him up and put him in a ziplock bag (Tip from the DIS!) to take him downstairs and set him free. My son named him Junie. No idea where he got that name. I will post a pic of Junie probably today, once I figure out how to do that.

So after the KungPao Beef we headed out to Epcot for our first day. My DH is a big big fan of Illuminations. Remember he owns a Production company, so this is right up his alley and he just normally stands there, mesmerized. He's so cute!

DH's mom had given us these backpack/leash things for our 2 youngest. DH and I have always been anti-leashes, and I really don't wanna start a leash war, but we did for a very small second consider it. Simply because of DD3. She is, well lets just say she is her own person, for sure! Ya'll know Dora right? The explorer? she looks a lot like her, so we call her Dora the Destroyer. I will post some pics pretty soon and ya'll will see what I'm talking about. At any rate, even being anti-leash, how bad would it be if we did get separated and we couldn't find her. The guilt of having the leash and not using it would be devastating. So in the end we reached a compromise. We folded the leash part in the bottom of the tiny backpack and also put their jackets in there. Then we would just see if we felt like we needed them AND they would have them on during any pictures we sent to DH's mom. SOLVED!

And off we go to Epcot. At this point it's like 130 or 2, and that's fine with me because Epcot is not my favorite park and 1/2 day seems about right for me. We ran into our first character this afternoon, Alice in Wonderland. She was soooooo cute! DFRyRy really really liked her, and frankly he met more character than we did!! I remembered later in the afternoon about Kim Possible!! So around 6pm we head to a recruiting station to sign up! You can do different countries, so we chose England to be close to our ADR. The mission took us about 30 minutes and this was the only thing all week that DD3 was afraid of. Now she wasn't scared of the things on the mission, she was scared because DS5 and DD7 were SOOOOOO worked up!!! They had a blast! They got to alternate clues every 2 or 3 clues so they both got to hold the Kimmunicator (they are very good at sharing!) Those two literally RAN around to find all of the clues. Really really cool thing to do. We will do this not just every time we are at Disney, but every time we are in Epcot. This is one of the high points of our trip for them and the CM's were fantastic!! At one point they have to go into the Tea shop and give a secret phrase, the CM so played the part!!! Excellent excellent adventure, a must-do for sure! Especially since there are SEVERAL different adventures in SEVERAL different countries!

So we head off to our ADR and ask for an outside table. I picked Rose and Crown because of the "private viewing area" for Illuminations, and because I love Fish and Chips! We had never eaten there before and this would be the start of eating at places we had never been to before. We only had one repeat from last year, and that was our last night at Chefs. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be our last night!

There were no outside tables available so we sat inside, and our waitress was fantastic, and the food was delicious. Again, will post pics when I figure it out (Or ask hubby to do it!) Everyone enjoyed their meals and we were ushered to the "private viewing area". This was a very small area on the side of the building just behind the lower patio. Within 2 minutes after it started we moved for a couple of reasons. My DD7 was bawling her eyes out screaming that her eyes were burning. The wind was pretty heavy that night and the ashes from the show were falling all over us and into her eyes, so DDJ and I went to take her out of there. When we turned around DH was leaving as well. I told him to stay and he shook his head and quite loudly said that if the only smoke was from the fireworks he could handle it. The others in the small "private viewing area" were smoking quite a bit and with DD3 on his shoulders it was all headed right to her.

Now let me just say, we are non-smokers who both used to smoke over a pack a day. When I got pregnant with DD7 I quit, and DH quit after DD3. It took about 2 years for him to not crave them, and now the smoke makes him crazy. I remember when we went in 2001 and would find little alcoves or spots that were more private to catch our cigarette breaks. That's how I have found some of the out of the way spots at the World, looking for a place to have a ciggy! And if it's allowed for them to smoke there, I think they should. Just means I won't be viewing from there, that's all. However, Rose and Crown has the terrace outside that I would love to watch from, but you can't reserve those tables on your ressie, you just have to see where they sit you. All in all a very good meal, very good server, and I could totally see eating there again!

We headed back through the park and found a more suitable place to watch the show. And then we were off through Future World to hop on the POP bus. We had to transfer to Old Key West in the morning and I was SUPER excited about our breakfast plans!!!

Up next............. Where can I get a cajun bloody mary and watch live gospel music at the same time?!?!?

Awesome! I learned something new! I didn't know about the Kim Possible adventure in Epcot! My kids would love this. We'll definitely do that! I'm glad I'm reading your TR. It's amazing all of the things that are available at Disney.

I'm glad you have food pictures. I drool over the food porn thread all the time. I'm always up for more food pictures. Fat free! Seriously, it's surprising to me the things I remember from looking at those pictures. There are some restaurants and dishes I want to try.

I took some food pictures on our last trip. At first my DH was whispering, "What are you doing?". I explained it to him, and after awhile he was asking me, "Have you taken the picture yet?".

Enjoying the TR!

 

[drakes]

I'm here! Hoping to be inspired to get on with my TR

 

[ga disney mom]

joining in. Enjoying your TR so far.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

I'm here! Hoping to be inspired to get on with my TR

HEY DRAKES! Good to see you!

joining in. Enjoying your TR so far.

Hey GA! Is that Georgia? Are you an UGA fan?

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Ok, so the ride back to Pop was pretty uneventful. We headed up to our room between the bowling pins and passed out pretty quickly. The next morning we got our luggage ready for the transfer to OKW. Between all of us we had like 16 pieces. They all had to be fairly small because of the carry on limit on the train, so that's why we had so many. We dropped our luggage at luggage services and hopped on a bus to DTD.

Now, for the best buffet of the trip. We were trying something new this year and I really hadn't heard much about it, so I will take a little time on this one. Bear with me! When in planning mode for this trip I really wanted to do something different and I thought that maybe someone cool would be playing at the House of Blues . So I checked out the site and saw "Sunday Gospel Brunch". Hmmmmmmm, what is this? I love love love good Gospel music and talk about putting on a show!! For those of you that have never seen a live Gospel show, it is spiritual for sure, no pun intended! These people do not hold back, if you know what I'm sayin.

So we made the trip over to the West Side and picked up our tickets at Will Call. Let me just tell you what was on the buffet: Carved Ham, Carved Roast Beef, Peel and Eat Shrimp, Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya, Cheese Grits, Scrambled Eggs, Sausage, Bacon, Red Beans and Rice, Rosemary Corn Bread, SEVERAL different cold salad options, Cajun Catfish, and I am for sure leaving some stuff out. The desserts were fudge brownies, blondies, key lime tarts, and a caramel banana bread pudding with caramel cream sauce. Oh, and something with Jack Daniels in it. It was FANTASTIC! The music was incredible! And they offer Bloody Mary's and Mimosas for $3. This is a definite must do again. My inlaws would love love love this show. It was like $37 for adults and $18 for kids, but I got a 15% discount because I was staying on points. They didn't ask for proof of DVC membership, but my room keys at OKW said DVC. They didn't ask for that either. Normally I would not gravitate so heavily towards such a pricey meal, but it was truly worth every penny.

After brunch we were more than stuffed and hopped on the boat to OKW. We arrived and I jumped into the Online Check-in line and was helped right away. Guess what? My villa was ready!! WOO-HOO !! AND I got my room request, building 62, right across from Hospitality House with an amazing view. Garden Grocer had delivered my few items and all was well with the world! We headed out to Hollywood Studios for the rest of the day, we had ADR's and wanted to see Fantasmic!

Next up...... who is that woman with her hands on my man?!?!?!

 

[ga disney mom]

To answer your questions yes and yes. The House of Blues brunch sounds really good. We might have to try that next time we go.

 

[Monny2AE]

Joining in! Great start!

I loved your description of your DD. If yours and mine got together we'd be a heap of trouble! Gotta love those spirited preschool princesses!

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Joining in! Great start!

I loved your description of your DD. If yours and mine got together we'd be a heap of trouble! Gotta love those spirited preschool princesses!

Hey Monny! Come on in! Yeah maybe we should get them together to go bowling or something. Imagine what they could accomplish if they used their powers for good!