The COME HELL OR HIGH WATER, We're Going! Trip Report

[RVGal]

Thanks for joining in everyone!

Yes, $29 was a great deal on that hotel room. I think it wound up being $38 and change once they added the taxes & fees. I looked at the rack rate posted on the back of the door (which, yeah, nobody really pays that... right?) and that room in peak season was listed at $279.

We booked through Hotwire because we didn't really care what we got for one night, as long as we were reasonably close to Disney World. It was 2.7 miles from the Disney exit. From the brief time we were there, it seemed like a decent hotel. Some of the rooms we passed had "Kid Suites" on the door, so I would guess that it is a family friendly environment. We weren't there long enough to make a good judgement call on the place.

 

[RVGal]

Let's finish up the day at Epcot...

After lunch we headed for the Seas with Nemo & Friends.

We walked through the line and boarded a clam without waiting.

I really like the little ride area now. They've made it more interesting than it used to be. Instead of just riding past windows looking into the fish tanks, they've jazzed it up a little. And, of course, added all the characters from Nemo. I haven't decided if that is a good thing or just a merchandising thing yet. I mean, I'm sure their motivation was merchandising, but sometimes the movie tie-ins help and sometimes they just seem forced and an obvious attempt to sell more stuff. I haven't made up my mind on the Nemo additions, but ride area (which we skipped in the old version) is better.

As you come to the end of the ride, listen to the starfish (Peach, from the Nemo movie).

She has some great lines! As we passed she was begging us to take her with us because she was sick of hearing the same song. She said something like, "It's a nice song, but it just never stops. Never. Never ever ever ever..."

We wandered around the exhibits. Saw the manatees eating lettuce and watched the rays and sharks and all the fish. We wound up in one of the small rooms where the boys enjoyed... what else... finding Nemo.

Here they are reminding us that "fish are friends, not food."

We saw Turtle Talk with Crush, which was very cute. Neither of my boys were picked to talk, but they still enjoyed the show.

We watched a diver heading into the tank, but none of my pictures turned out. We spent a long time enjoying the fishies, but finally herded the boys out.

We decided to ride Spaceship Earth since there was almost no line.

I tried to get pictures of the video at the end. Here was the best shot of Brad and Joshua.

And of me and Daniel.

I think it is funny that Daniel is so small that they were only able to get about half his face. Poor fella.

We let the boys play around in the exhibit area after the ride and then headed to pick up our free picture from the Disney Visa thing at the Camera Center.

We took the bus back to our hotel and then headed back toward Kissimmee to pick up some milk, bread, etc at the Publix we drove past earlier. If we had known that we would be allowed into our room that early, we would have done the shopping on the way. We had a terrible dinner at the Ponderosa (I'm not a picky eater, so trust me when I say "terrible"... it was BAD...) and then back to our hotel to settle in for the night.

Up next - Donald's Safari Breakfast at AK

 

[miprender]

Keep it coming.... I'm in

 

[macraven]

looks like more readers are more impressed with that $29 room you got.

i know it impressed me......


you always do great trippies.

so looking forward to your next installment here.

 

[bubba's mom]

"boys are family, not food"

Looks like a great first day! We really liked the Nemo ride too...and I agree...I think a ploy at selling more merchandise. Normally I'm not too keen on all the 'pixar movie' attractions/references at Disney (soon it'll be Pixar World instead of Disney World), but I thought this was a better/more interesting ride. I even have it on video somewhere

Looking forward to more.....

 

[keishashadow]

Glad somebody's prompt w/TR

def a deal on the one-nighter...i'd be happy to rest my head there , never much luck with any of the discounters-congrats

great pics as usual, don't think i've ever seen the cool tigger hat/ears before-cute!

ps Donald is the man/duck! only thing to get me to visit 'mexico' again lol

 

[annie1995]

Love it so far!!! Your boys are adorable!!! Can't wait for more!

 

[loribell]

Glad somebody's prompt w/TR

def a deal on the one-nighter...i'd be happy to rest my head there , never much luck with any of the discounters-congrats

great pics as usual, don't think i've ever seen the cool tigger hat/ears before-cute!

ps Donald is the man/duck! only thing to get me to visit 'mexico' again lol

Yes we are still waiting for you to update your trippie, aren't we?

 

[RVGal]

I wasn't going to mention how long it is taking you to finish your TR, but since Lori brought it up...

Glad somebody's prompt w/TR

And, you, Ms. Procrastinator. You haven't even finished your Disney Land TR and now you need to do your Disney World/cruise TR. Sheesh.

Lori started it.

Thanks to everyone for commenting on my report. And for those of you that think my boys are cute, they are. They are a lot of work, but I try to enjoy them. Sometimes they make that more difficult that others, but I still try.

 

[loribell]

Lori started it.

Nope, Brab did. See:

Unlike some "trippie-hogs" ...you take your time...I'll wait here patiently for the next installment.

 

[RVGal]

Day 3 - Monday, October 20th

Brad & I were up early, as we had 8:30am ADRs for Donald's Safari Breakfast. We got ourselves ready before the boys woke up, that way we were able to concentrate on getting them ready so we wouldn't be late. I rushed everyone as much as possible and we walked out of the hotel at 7:30am, only to see an AK bus pulling away from the bus stop. I looked at Brad. Do we wait and see? It'll probably be at least 20 mins for another one. Too risky. We loaded up into the van and drove to AK just to be sure we'd be on time.

We parked close enough to walk to the entrance. I've never done that before.

We went through the bag check, and headed for the entrance. There was a CM there shouting, "All turnstiles are open. If you have reservations for the Donald breakfast, see me." So, we walked over and told her we had reservations. She looked up our name on her clipboard and thanked us, then sent us through the turnstiles. I have no idea why she was checking off names. I'd understand if they hadn't opened the turnstiles to everyone and were only allowing ADR guests in early, but in this case I don't get it. Doesn't matter. We headed with the throngs through the Oasis and toward the Tree of Life where we came to an abrupt stop.

I couldn't figure out what we were waiting on until Daniel yelled, "Mickey!" Mickey? Where? Oh, wait. I see him.

He was doing the opening stuff I guess. We aren't normally at the park right at opening, so I was a little confused.

We headed with the mass of people toward Africa.

I looked at Brad and said, "Is it always like this at rope drop?" When I say a mass of people, it was a flood. At 8am. I was stunned. They all seemed to be going our way.

Fortunately, the crowd continued on (to the Safari ride, I assume) and we stopped at Tusker House for our breakfast.

We checked in at the podium and then took a seat in the outdoor waiting area. No, wait. Brad checked us in at the podium and then joined us in the waiting area. They instruct you to send one member of your party to check in and the rest to wait. I guess that keeps the podium line from getting out of hand.

Our group of "travelers" were called in about 10 minutes or so and we stopped for the photo op. I thought it was a Disney PhotoPass picture, but it turns out they bring you the picture during your breakfast and if you want it, you have to buy it right then. No thanks.

I was a little nervous about the boys at this buffet. I wondered if they would be able to find enough stuff that they liked. There was no problem at all. They loved it.

There was a line at the buffet, so I took the boys through to get food, sat back down with them, then Brad went to fill a plate for himself. After he was done, I took my turn to get food for myself. While I was gone, Donald showed up at our table.

I know Brad tried to get good pictures. Really. But he cut off Donald's head. And Daniel has a mouth full of grapes and looks more scared than happy. How could he not see that? But I'm not complaining. Much.

After Donald left our table, they did the parade where the kids get the rattle/noisemaker things.

Next, we were visited by Mickey.

I took a picture of this sweet potato dish on my plate.

I call this the "It has raisins in it. You like raisins." shot. Oh, and the ham? Easily the best ham I have had in a restaurant anywhere. It was so tender and juicy. Yum.

Daisy stopped by our table.

And last, but not least, was Goofy.

It was a very good breakfast and we all enjoyed ourselves.

After that we decided to head to DHS for the day. AK was packed. I mean elbow to elbow packed. On the way out, we saw Terk from Tarzan.

I hate that this picture turned out blurry. That seemed to happen a bunch on this trip. I don't know what I was doing different. I normally have great luck with my pictures.

Next up - Disney Hollywood Studios

 

[loribell]

Another great update.

The breakfast looks yummy. Now I am hungry!

AK is one of those parks that if it is a little busy it seems very busy. But it is my favorite!

 

[RVGal]

Nope, Brab did. See:

I stand corrected.

 

[sherreis]

Great TR so far Tricia. Your boys are so cute.

looking forward to reading more.

 

[tlinus]

another great installment.......and no comment on who started it, I wasn't looking

 

[RVGal]

We hopped on a bus and were at DHS not long after they opened.

We went straight to Toy Story Mania. They still had Fast Passes available, so I got in that line. Our return window was 1:30pm to 2:30pm. Not bad. The standby line for TSM was only 30 mins at that point, so we decided to ride it. I took a ton of pictures of the standby line on our last trip, so I didn't really feel motivated to take many on this trip.

After our spin on TSM, Joshua wanted to ride Star Tours. I took him on that while Brad and Daniel entertained themselves outside. When we were done, the Jedi Training Academy show was about to start.

Joshua tried, but he wasn't picked. It is a cute show, but it gets long and repetitive if your kid isn't on stage.

We decided to watch the Indiana Jones stunt show. Joshua has just discovered Indy, thanks to his Lego Indiana Jones video game. We grabbed a snack (drinks and popcorn) and then settled in the theater to wait.

Here is a tip if you have small children. Notice that Joshua is drinking from a small plastic cup? On our last trip, I bought those huge drink cups they sell for a couple of bucks each. The boys had trouble holding them and we wound up tossing 90% of the drink away after it melted and tasted gross. We were on a very (very, very) tight budget for this trip, so I brought some plastic cups with lids from home (recycled ones from... Chili's, I think). I made them more "exciting" with Dollar Store straws with Halloween pumpkins on them. Brad bought a drink to share with Joshua and I bought one to share with Daniel. The boys could hold the cups easily, no wasted drink, and it saved us 4 or 5 bucks each time we did it.

Anyway, we watched the show.

One thing that sticks out in my memory... our Indy had the whitest teeth I have ever seen. I mean blinding white. We were 3/4 of the way back on a side section and it was still noticeable. Wow.

Daniel was not thrilled with the Indy show. He kept asking, "We done yet? C'mon Mommy. Let's go." So, to make sure his interest level didn't drop altogether, we headed for Playhouse Disney Live.

When the show was over, it was time to use our FastPasses on TSM.

I snapped a picture of my and Joshua's scores.

This was my fourth ride. I think I got a blue bird on my first 2 times, a rabbit on my third, and now I got... a beaver?

After our second time on TSM, we were ready for lunch. I used some Disney Visa reward points to get a card that was valid at certain restaurants in each park. I checked my list and we decided on Backlot Express.

We got burgers and chicken nuggets. I thought the burger was pretty good. This was much better food than the ABC Commissary, where we ate on our last trip.

Next up - Back to AK

 

[bubba's mom]

.......and no comment on who started it, I wasn't looking

I was referring to you...ms trippie-hog



Sounds like a great day. SO glad you & the boys enjoyed the breakfast.

Indy show looks the same as when I saw it waaaay back when. Is it the same?

 

[loribell]

I was referring to you...ms trippie-hog

Well then never mind. You don't take forever. Yeah right!

 

[tlinus]

I was referring to you...ms trippie-hog

Well then never mind. You don't take forever. Yeah right!

That's me


shouldn't someone be working on finishing their trippie now

 

[RVGal]

Indy show looks the same as when I saw it waaaay back when. Is it the same?

It is exactly the same. They even still pull one stunt guy from the audience (making it look like he is just a random guest).

Joshua enjoyed it. After we left, Brad told me it was a good show. It was then that I realized it was the first time he saw it. I guess I've been skipping it for awhile now.