Mickey_Mom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2009
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Boats were tossed and palms were bent. And when the storm of storms finally blew out to sea, it left behind this topsy-turvy tropical paradise. A sun-drenched oasis for swimming, soaking and sliding. The Story TL guide map
We had a full day at TL before our Chef Mickey reservations for 8pm that we were realllllly looking forward to. Two days before leaving for our trip was Alexs birthday and in lieu of a party we were going to celebrate at Chef Mickeys his favorite. Hed also just graduated from middle school so we were throwing that into the celebration too.
No pictures for these sorry .. I always forgot to strap the disposable around my wrist. Anyway, in the order as close as I can remember ..
Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool so this is the main pool with the previously mentioned fwoomps! that let out the crazy six foot waves. We loved it! Ariana was right out there waiting for the waves to crash but then she started channeling her inner Mermaid and wanted to sit on the little half walls that were at the edges of the pool. The water would crash up around her just like Ariel and she would smile ear to ear.
Castaway Creek fabulous lazy river with the occasional waterfall to either avoid or steer towards depending on your preference. All of us loved the lazy river we would sometimes all hold hands so this virtual wall of boats would be floating around, or sometimes Alex would float away with Demetri or me with Ariana . We were hardly at our table at all because anytime we had some free time between other attractions wed always hop on to the lazy river. We also used it as a way to get around the park too Oh you want to check out Ketchakiddee Creek? OK, lets hop on the lazy river! We must have been on it over half the day.
Keelhaul Falls / Mayday Falls / Gangplank Falls way, way, super fun slide rides that we all could go on. Gangplank was a family rafting one which we had so much fun on it had the longest line but so worth it. Keelhaul and Mayday were a blast. I was worried my little dare devil was going to have problems at the ends of the rides where youre basically dunked into the water at the end, but we had a system of what order everyone went in:
Alex (who got an added bonus of being the first to do everything) who would then await
Ariana so she wouldnt leave without us, then .
George so he could set himself up to catch .
Demetri at the bottom, and lastly .
me who would make sure Demetri went off OK.
Demetri was OK getting dunked as long as George at least made an attempt to catch him at the end.
Humunga Kowabunga This one is three side by side slides where you go straight down super fast. I personally didnt do this one, it was too big for Demetri so I waited with him at the bottom of the slides where there are steps to sit on. Alex, Ariana and George did this one and the lines must have been crazy because it did seem to take them a while. Demetri and I had a hoot watching the people come off of this ride. You come down so quickly you cant help but stand up with a wedgie of some sort!
Finally my family made it down and Ariana came out first with a humungous smile on her face. George and Alex came out a split second later laughing the whole way.
Storm Slides We were going to go on these right after Humunga Kowabunga but it was close to lunch time so we decided to save it for later. Unfortunately we forgot all about it and didnt get back to them, nor Shark Reef which was right beside it, nor did we walk thru the Mountain Trail.
Those are all next times!
At lunch time we decided to head towards Leaning Palms. We grabbed the standards, burgers and pizzas and headed back to our table where the table thieves had previously been thwarted. Cookies saved for later, we headed back to more of all the fun.
Ketchakiddie Creek this is the childrens area which I would guestimate is best served for kids around seven and under. It has slides and a tiny raft ride, playground type toys with the water jets and what have you. Demetri didnt spend a whole lot of time here because he wanted to go on the big boy rides!
Eventually it was time to head over to Crush n Gusher which we wanted to accomplish before getting ready to leave for Chef Mickey. George had been sun worshiping most of the afternoon and hung back to swim with Demetri in the little pool area at the end of Crush n Gusher so he could switch off after I went on. You pick up your two or three person boat at the bottom and carry it up the stairs. The line was short and continuously moving so in no time we were right on. Alex was a single rider and I went on with Ariana. I did not enjoy this ride at all! Next time I will try it as a single rider because I found it completely awkward to sit behind Ariana comfortably. My back (and butt) kept smashing into the ride as we were going down because of the way I was sitting and it hurt! But I figure it was just me and next time will be better ..
Next it was my turn to swim with Demetri in the pool while George went with the kids on Crush n Gusher. I warned him about my experience but he came off saying it was a hoot short but a hoot and didnt have the same problem I did. Yep, must of just been me. Knowing we were all done with Typhoon Lagoon, we took our time walking back to the table gathering our belongings. We went back to Singapore Sals where wed gotten the locker and life jacket from and I saw the coolest shirt. I really wish Id bought it and I saw it two more times on our trip but still I didnt get it.
It was the Nemo seagulls saying Mine! Mine! Mine! Wonder if the Disney Store online sells it?
We were heading over to the bus area when I notice George is looking a little peckish. Hed been pretty good about keeping up with the sun screen like the rest of us, but he burns quite easily after his teenage slumber-in-the-sun episode back in the day.
He was not feeling very good and decided to head back to the Pop while the rest of us went to our Chef Mickey dinner. He felt bad missing it, but realized he would feel much better taking it easy the rest of the night than to force it through dinner. So after a little more coaxing from him, he hopped the bus back to the Pop while the kids and I grabbed one to the Contemporary.
We love Chef Mickeys!
Our first trip was the dinner buffet and our second was the breakfast. We much prefer the dinner and have so many fabulous memories from that first trip that we were eager to get back and relive them and invent some more! Theyd done some renovations since the last time we were there and the new set up was great. There was no line up for the Chef Mickey pictures so we posed while the picture man graciously used my camera to take the picture....
Too bad he didnt zoom in . see how pink we all are?
Id explained we were now a party of four and it was no problem to change it. Less than 5 minutes later we were led to our table right in the section Angie sat in.
Not quite by the window, that would have been a lovely view, but in that general area. Our autograph book at the ready, we loaded up our plates and quickly came back to our table to await the gang.
CONTINUED IN NEXT POST.
We had a full day at TL before our Chef Mickey reservations for 8pm that we were realllllly looking forward to. Two days before leaving for our trip was Alexs birthday and in lieu of a party we were going to celebrate at Chef Mickeys his favorite. Hed also just graduated from middle school so we were throwing that into the celebration too.
No pictures for these sorry .. I always forgot to strap the disposable around my wrist. Anyway, in the order as close as I can remember ..
Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool so this is the main pool with the previously mentioned fwoomps! that let out the crazy six foot waves. We loved it! Ariana was right out there waiting for the waves to crash but then she started channeling her inner Mermaid and wanted to sit on the little half walls that were at the edges of the pool. The water would crash up around her just like Ariel and she would smile ear to ear.
Castaway Creek fabulous lazy river with the occasional waterfall to either avoid or steer towards depending on your preference. All of us loved the lazy river we would sometimes all hold hands so this virtual wall of boats would be floating around, or sometimes Alex would float away with Demetri or me with Ariana . We were hardly at our table at all because anytime we had some free time between other attractions wed always hop on to the lazy river. We also used it as a way to get around the park too Oh you want to check out Ketchakiddee Creek? OK, lets hop on the lazy river! We must have been on it over half the day.
Keelhaul Falls / Mayday Falls / Gangplank Falls way, way, super fun slide rides that we all could go on. Gangplank was a family rafting one which we had so much fun on it had the longest line but so worth it. Keelhaul and Mayday were a blast. I was worried my little dare devil was going to have problems at the ends of the rides where youre basically dunked into the water at the end, but we had a system of what order everyone went in:
Alex (who got an added bonus of being the first to do everything) who would then await
Ariana so she wouldnt leave without us, then .
George so he could set himself up to catch .
Demetri at the bottom, and lastly .
me who would make sure Demetri went off OK.
Demetri was OK getting dunked as long as George at least made an attempt to catch him at the end.
Humunga Kowabunga This one is three side by side slides where you go straight down super fast. I personally didnt do this one, it was too big for Demetri so I waited with him at the bottom of the slides where there are steps to sit on. Alex, Ariana and George did this one and the lines must have been crazy because it did seem to take them a while. Demetri and I had a hoot watching the people come off of this ride. You come down so quickly you cant help but stand up with a wedgie of some sort!
Finally my family made it down and Ariana came out first with a humungous smile on her face. George and Alex came out a split second later laughing the whole way. Storm Slides We were going to go on these right after Humunga Kowabunga but it was close to lunch time so we decided to save it for later. Unfortunately we forgot all about it and didnt get back to them, nor Shark Reef which was right beside it, nor did we walk thru the Mountain Trail.
Those are all next times!At lunch time we decided to head towards Leaning Palms. We grabbed the standards, burgers and pizzas and headed back to our table where the table thieves had previously been thwarted. Cookies saved for later, we headed back to more of all the fun.
Ketchakiddie Creek this is the childrens area which I would guestimate is best served for kids around seven and under. It has slides and a tiny raft ride, playground type toys with the water jets and what have you. Demetri didnt spend a whole lot of time here because he wanted to go on the big boy rides!
Eventually it was time to head over to Crush n Gusher which we wanted to accomplish before getting ready to leave for Chef Mickey. George had been sun worshiping most of the afternoon and hung back to swim with Demetri in the little pool area at the end of Crush n Gusher so he could switch off after I went on. You pick up your two or three person boat at the bottom and carry it up the stairs. The line was short and continuously moving so in no time we were right on. Alex was a single rider and I went on with Ariana. I did not enjoy this ride at all! Next time I will try it as a single rider because I found it completely awkward to sit behind Ariana comfortably. My back (and butt) kept smashing into the ride as we were going down because of the way I was sitting and it hurt! But I figure it was just me and next time will be better ..
Next it was my turn to swim with Demetri in the pool while George went with the kids on Crush n Gusher. I warned him about my experience but he came off saying it was a hoot short but a hoot and didnt have the same problem I did. Yep, must of just been me. Knowing we were all done with Typhoon Lagoon, we took our time walking back to the table gathering our belongings. We went back to Singapore Sals where wed gotten the locker and life jacket from and I saw the coolest shirt. I really wish Id bought it and I saw it two more times on our trip but still I didnt get it.
It was the Nemo seagulls saying Mine! Mine! Mine! Wonder if the Disney Store online sells it? We were heading over to the bus area when I notice George is looking a little peckish. Hed been pretty good about keeping up with the sun screen like the rest of us, but he burns quite easily after his teenage slumber-in-the-sun episode back in the day.
He was not feeling very good and decided to head back to the Pop while the rest of us went to our Chef Mickey dinner. He felt bad missing it, but realized he would feel much better taking it easy the rest of the night than to force it through dinner. So after a little more coaxing from him, he hopped the bus back to the Pop while the kids and I grabbed one to the Contemporary.
We love Chef Mickeys!
Our first trip was the dinner buffet and our second was the breakfast. We much prefer the dinner and have so many fabulous memories from that first trip that we were eager to get back and relive them and invent some more! Theyd done some renovations since the last time we were there and the new set up was great. There was no line up for the Chef Mickey pictures so we posed while the picture man graciously used my camera to take the picture....
Too bad he didnt zoom in . see how pink we all are?
Id explained we were now a party of four and it was no problem to change it. Less than 5 minutes later we were led to our table right in the section Angie sat in.
Not quite by the window, that would have been a lovely view, but in that general area. Our autograph book at the ready, we loaded up our plates and quickly came back to our table to await the gang.
CONTINUED IN NEXT POST.
Chef Mickey!
Nothing!
:
Then I'll go on Castaway Creek the rest of the day! 
Thanks! I'm glad we added the water parks & more option this time, it worked out great.
BTW, I'm certain my butt would feel the same way on Crush 'N Gusher! Ow!
