TeamWertz & Matching Shirts Visit WDW

[tink_lover]

I realize that I never finished my trip report from last spring break when TeamWertz visited Disneyland for the first time. We realized during that trip that people in Disneyland don't really wear matching shirts and we got many funny looks which we still laugh about. That all changed this year with our return visit to WDW.

Months before this visit, I asked people on the design board for shirt designs. I was able to make matching shirts for all of us with different colored monorails on one and Mickey ears with pirate Minnie/Mickey on the other. The kids also had shirts with their names in either Star Wars or Minnie theming. They turned out really cute. The mistake I made was with the monorail ones. The Mickey ear shirts had to be white and the monorail ones should have been also, but my family raised a stink because they wanted "lime green" shirts - so the monorail ended up on those. I'll post pics later.

This trip consisted of me, dh, dd, ds, ds and grandma (my mom). Unfortunately, Gr decided to have knee replacement surgery the last week of January. I think if you asked her now if she should have gone, she would say no - but she was a trooper during the trip.

Getting ready for the trip was the usual craziness with trying to do it all and work full time. Dh decided to throw a wrench in at the last minute and had to take a business trip to Washington, DC leaving Sunday returning Tuesday night...What?! Maybe he didn't remember that we were leaving on Wednesday morning? Or maybe he didn't want to deal with the packing, etc. for a trip that included a stay at WDW and a Disney cruise? Plus, I was trying to finish up my graduate class and had a final on Tuesday and 2 papers due before I left. (Class is done and I got an A, but boy, going back to school after 20-some years is not easy.)

Anyway, I brought the 2 dogs up to my parents house on Monday; brought the guinea pig to a friend's house on Tuesday; took my final; finished my papers; packed EVERYONE and was ready to go on Wednesday morning. Whew!

 

[dellasgirl]

Congrats on your final grade
Your hubby sounds like mine--he hates planning, packing, etc. he just wants to get in the car and drive
You just gave me a great idea for matching shirts for my family--lime green(gonna have to check hobby lobby) THANK YOU
Looking forward to rest of report

 

[tink_lover]

Ann - check out Millipie's design's on the design boards. They are fabulous! At the ages my kids are, the matching shirts are a great way to keep track of everyone.

So, we fly out of MSP and even though the flight was full and we didn't have assigned seats, we end up all sitting together on the same row. That was good for my mom as she was able to stretch out her leg with the new knee. We arrived into MCO around 5:00. The original plans were to take the Magical Express to AKV, but as we all know, original plans change many times when planning a WDW vacation. So, we had Bob with ****** pick us up. We have used him before and he is always prompt, car is clean and it is soooooo nice. Biggest plus is getting the grocery/liquor store stop, which we needed after traveling all day.

Check in at AKV went smoothly. We stayed in 2 studios with standard view, one of which was HA. Couldn't get connecting, but they ended up near each other, which was fine. The studios here seemed larger than the BLT studio I've stayed in previously. Kids loved seeing the animals and we spent some time looking around but needed to eat as everyone was hungry. Took a bus over to AKL and ate CS at Mara's. It was fine, although our server was a bit obnoxious - talking and acting in a wierd (some kind of Star Wars) voice. That's all fine, but everyone is hungry and just wanted to place their order. The woman who rang us up noticed and told us we should file a complaint. It didn't bother me THAT much.

We changed our plans for the next day (Thursday) which I will write about later. I wanted to talk a bit about AKV. It is our home DVC resort, but this was our first stay there. The place was beautiful and clean. The pool area is fabulous and everyone in our party enjoyed it. We did not like that there isn't a CS option at AKV. In fact, the day we spent at the pool, we had to pay OP for lunch even though we were on the dining plan. They need to change that. We also weren't thrilled about the bus situation. A big reason why we have always chosen to stay on property is because we didn't feel like there was a need to rent a car and it saved $$$. However, if we stayed at AKV again, we would probably have to rent a car. It was really hard for me to estimate travel times and I'll admit none of us were used to waiting for a bus. Also, there needs to be a separate shuttle that runs between AKV and AKL. This was our first trip with someone in a wheelchair and the bus drivers were wonderful helping with my mom. I felt that WDW did a great job in making sure things were accessible to her.

Travel day is done....everyone is tired....supposed to go to Epcot in the morning.....ADR at Coral Reef for dinner....decided to skip the parks, stay at the resort and enjoy the pool....changed Coral Reef for The Wave with no problems....

 

[tink_lover]

So we wake up the morning after our travel day, eat a breakfast of yogurt, breakfast bars, bananas and juice and head to the pool at AKV. It really is a great pool and the kids had a blast all day playing in the waterpark. The pool water was a bit cold, but having the hot tub was a bonus. As explained earlier, we weren't happy about no CS at AKV and had to pay for our lunch from the place by the pool. We left the pool around 4 and went to get ready for dinner. Took the bus to MK and walked over to the CR where we ate at The Wave. We were surprised how sparse the crowds were at dinner. We had no difficulty changing our ADR and staying around the 6:00 timeframe for dinner for the six of us. Dinner was good and we enjoyed the selection of desserts. We rode the monorail back to MK, then walked to the bus going back to AKV. Boys were very vocal about the fact that when we come back next summer for the "boys trip", we will be staying on the monorail.

Went to bed when we got back as we had an early morning at MK the next day. It took a while for everyone to get going in the morning, and we didn't end up leaving as early as I'd hoped we would. Wanted to get there for opening ceremony, but only saw the second half of it. Again, it was really hard for me to figure the timing with the buses. We had to exchange our GAD vouchers. We forgot the kids' IDs in our room. The first woman wouldn't let us exchange so dh headed back to the bus stop to go back to AKV to get them. I tried a different line, got a different CM and he kindly gave us ALL (even dh) tickets. Called dh and he was just getting on the bus, so he got off and joined us. Entered the park and some of the group headed to SM while the rest headed to Fantasyland.

I didn't do a very good job figuring out which rides my mom could go on with her wheelchair. She could walk a bit, but definately not do a moving walkway. We ended doing Snow White, Pooh, Philharmonic, IASW - she couldn't do Peter Pan, but the rest of us did. Then we headed to Haunted Mansion where we went in the HA side. I rode with my mom and think she covered her eyes most of the time! Afterwards, time for lunch at Columbia House. It was nice to sit and relax and the food was really good. Headed to Splash afterwards and a quick ride before leaving the park.

Relaxed back at AKV but had to get ready for dinner - we once again changed ADRs with no problem - and get this - we got CRT for six people at 7:15!!! Can you believe it? We had Ohana's originally booked, but decided we would try to stay at the park for dinner. We had never eaten there and were not disappointed by the sights, service and food. To make it even MORE special, the couple at the table next to us got engaged!! My kids' were so thrilled to see it. The ring was presented in a glass slipper, there was a photopass photographer present, they even brought them champagne (even though we had asked earlier about getting served alcohol and told not available.) What a cool thing and it makes me thing that dh and I are good luck charms....on our adults trip last fall, while getting our pic taken at the hub, another couple got engaged! I told dh I would give him back my wedding ring and we could pretend .

Spectro was just starting when we finished and we were allowed to stay up at the castle (it was roped off). It would have been great viewing, but my mom wanted to leave . Even the CM that let us out said she didn't recommend trying to go through the crowds, but it was a long day and my mom was ready to go. It took a LONG time navigating through the crowds pushing her wheelchair. But we made it and headed to the bus stop. Saw the EWP along the way. The night was PERFECT - weather was beautiful - I was a bit bummed about not being able to stay for Wishes. Dh and kids didn't get back to room until after 11. They didn't even watch Spectro or Wishes but instead rode the rides. They were able to do Big Thunder a number of times, SM a number of times and Buzz a couple of times.

We got up on Saturday morning, took the bus to AKL and ate at Mara's. Back to the room to pack and check out. Waiting to get picked up by Bob again and then heading to Cocoa Beach for the night before our cruise.

 

[tink_lover]

I just realized that I forgot to mention that my mom and I had massages at the AKL spa on Thursday - our pool day. We got on a bus at AKV, headed to AKL and had the hour massage. It was great and there was no one else there in the spa. We used the steamroom and showers afterwards. I didn't think the price was bad for both massages w/ tip $210. Would definately do it again.

 

[tink_lover]

Bob picks us up on Saturday morning and we head to the beach. We stay at the Residence Inn there. It is newer and we have a 2 bedroom with a sleeper sofa in the living room area for the 2 boys. The place was nice and we would definately stay there again. We change into our suits, pour our gin and tonics and head to the pool. The kids had a blast and met another family going on the same cruise. Order pizza for dinner and watch a movie. Dh walks a mile to a liquor store for replenishments before we get on the cruise ship the next morning. We signed up to take the shuttle for $3/person that took us to port. Got there around 10:30ish.

Even though I had filled out the forms online, apparently they got lost in cyberspace, so we had to take the time and fill them out again. We ended up in boarding group 9. We did ask about changing to a HA room but were told the cruise was completely booked. So we waited.....and waited.....and waited.....another lesson learned - don't go early, in fact, be one of the last to get on the ship. There really is no reason to go early. We took the advice from the boards and had swimsuits on under our clothes, but it was cold and the pool was cold and the buffets were packed. So next time, we will stay at the hotel pool, or at WDW or something else, then get on right before we need to.

Another lesson learned is don't do the early dining. Wow, we thought with our kids we would want that but in reality it just broke the day up too much. We wanted to get ready for dinner, have a cocktail on the verandah and relax but we ended up always rushing and leaving whatever we were doing in order to get to dinner. I suppose we could have skipped it and ordered room service, but it was nice for all of us to sit together at some point during the day and enjoy a meal. Next trip we signed up for late dining.

One thing I am so glad we did was take Bonine starting on Saturday. We had really rough seas, especially on Sunday. There were people getting sick at The Golden Mickeys and having to leave. I talked to one mom who was sick for the first two days. The seas were really rough this trip - we couldn't get in to Castaway Cay on Tuesday and ended up going there on Wednesday. I also had the wrist bands on because I get motion sickness (never had it until I passed the 40 mark) and I didn't have any problems. None of us did.

So on the ship, find our rooms, get ready for dinner, watch the show and head to bed. Sunday is done. Tomorrow is Nassau.

 

[tink_lover]

I ordered a basket from Shirley for the kids. They were so excited to get to the room and see it! There were multiples of 3 of everything in it - good thinking Gatorade, juice pouches, candy, chips, fun things for Pirate Night.

We ate at 5:45 seating then went to the Golden Mickey's. Unfortunately, I was so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open. What little of the show I saw was enjoyable. My mom also couldn't stay up and went back to the room to go to bed.

We ate breakfast the next morning and headed off the ship in Nassau. The kids didn't really want to go off - they wanted to stay on the ship and go to the pool and kids area. So, we walked for a little bit, got a latte at Starbucks (thank god for Starbucks) and went back on the ship. Checked the kids in and enjoyed some adult time at Cove Cafe. It was nice to sit and do nothing. I don't get to do that very often, well actually, I seem to be in continuous motion most days - always something to do, something to clean, someone who needs to get somewhere - you know what I mean. I just sat. And had a glass of wine.

 

[tink_lover]

Monday evening is similar to Sunday night in that we eat early and go to Toy Story show. Again, I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open, but this time we sit where I can't rest my head back and close my eyes so sort of forced to stay awake. We are all excited to go to Castaway Cay tomorrow.

Only........we wake up and can SEE CC, but we are not getting any closer....announcements were made in the morning that it wasn't possible to get there due to the rough seas - so we will attempt tomorrow and have the sea day today (Tuesday). All appointments would be switched. Only problem is that we had already eaten breakfast and were supposed to have brunch at Palo on our sea day. So we had to cancel that. Also, we were scheduled for Exotic Rasul spa treatment on sea day but just decided to cancel as well. The theme here is we really didn't feel like doing much of anything but sitting and relaxing. Kids spent the day in the labs, we spent it napping or sitting/reading. Weather outside was not great and we wore long pants, t-shirts with sweatshirt over it.

They did have the Pirate Party that night, but our kids were not interested in leaving the lab to attend. We watched the fireworks from Cove Cafe while enjoying a glass of champagne.

We did get the wine package the first night - it was the more expensive one. Every night we enjoyed a bottle of Conundrum - one of our favorites! The food was good, but one night I had to send my fish back as it wasn't cooked and looked pretty gross. I changed to a steak and that was really tasty.

One night my mom and I played Bingo. It was a lot of fun. We didn't purchase the electronic game board package, but the cards that you punch out the numbers. It was an enjoyable way to spend an hour.