The Hill Family's Surprise Vac(PICS)*NEW*Final Thoughts,Tips & Pictures **4/25

[Glendamax]

Love the pic of the fries! They look sooo good!

I'm sorry about that lady! I can understand being upset, but she didn't have to react that way. Funny that it happened again! Can't wait for more!

 

[cherokeemamma]

What a Day!!! All that running and it seems like you got nowhere! As frustrating as it was, you at least could laugh about it.

As for DH's temper...yeah, New Yorkers (and New Jerseyans, like me) aren't known for holding their tongues. Hope he calmed down quickly.

Can't wait to read the rest.

Thanks for reading...

It was a DAY!!! But you know what they say, and it is true...a bad day at WDW is better than a good day somewhere else.

You are right about NY'ers (& NJ). DH did gain control of himself rather quickly though. MY DH never curses and he said a few choice words that DD had never heard him say, in dealing with these folks. My DD was mad at her daddy for talking so loudly in the CR. But I think it was what he said is what got her the most.

 

[cherokeemamma]

Just read your whole TR, it is wonderful! Your kids are really cute. I cannot wait to read more.

Thanks for reading and I am glad you have enjoyed it . Thanks for the nice comment on my kiddos.

 

[tkd lisa]

I just now found this report! It's wonderful! Many of the posts made me think of things to say, but instead, let me just say I've truly enjoyed reading.

I loved the picture of the kids in the ToT gift shop. My DD owns those Stitch/ToT ears and gets comments on them all the time!

Your last day sounds like such a nightmare! It would be the kind of thing I'd end up doing. I assume you got home eventually since you wrote this report

I seem to remember that you used to have a beautiful signature photo of your family taken outdoors? Am I remembering the right poster? I always loved that picture!

Thanks for writing.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

So, I'm leisurely perusing your report...enjoying it thoroughly...and suddenly I come upon Tigger waffles. They have TIGGER waffles?!? Why have I never seen this in a trip report before? My breakfast ADR at the CP just went from theoretical to certain.

 

[DisneyObsession]

Great food pics! I love Panini's and that just looked delicious! I really need to start looking into restaraunts for my upcoming trip. I am just not sure where we should go!

I hate that your kids looked as sad as they were probably feeling, but they obviously "perked up" as they jumped for joy for the camera!!!

Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

CMamma- Great installment and great photos. I'm sitting here w/ a sick baby in my arms reading your TR and he perked up at the pic of the Figaro fries saying how good those looked! I'm drooling at the Cannoli shot, personally!
I'm sorry to read about cruddy Alamo and the fuddy lady. Sounds like even though the day had some rotten moments, the magic you ended it with made up for it all!
Looking forward to reading the rest!

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Luv your report, kids and pics.. great job

 

[basas]

Haved loved reading your report (and GREAT photos!). Are you guys going back again soon..!?

 

[serendipity]

I really loved your TR from start to finish and am so sad that it's coming to an end...now the real question is, when are you going back?!!?

 

[kpk89]

Oh, the sadness of the last Disney day. Wahh. I also don't want your report to end!!

 

[OhMari]

Bumping you up to page 1. Sorry abut the move.

 

[cherokeemamma]

Thanks OhMari!

Thanks for moving me back. Really....I am almost finished.

I am working on it.

 

[pierresgirl]

I read your whole report today and loved it! The pics were fabulous, crystal clear. Your kids are adorable!

 

[MouseCrazy96]

 

[kaysmommie]

I know your planning your next trip because I saw your name on TGM yesterday. Where did you decide to stay? I"m waiting for the rest of this trippie . It is so funny that the mean lady got a drink spilled on her twice, serves her right .

 

[cherokeemamma]

Hi Kaysmommie,

You are right I was on TGM and I saw you too!

We are going the Oct 21-29. I am very sad that I could not get the FDDP this trip but I just cannot pull my DS out of school. I am excited to be going at the end of Oct though...(my kids have a fall break) hopefully it will be significantly cooler than mid Sept. Also my DH and I will be celebrating our 20th anniv. hard to believe

We booked our trip with the "code" I have been trying to change my ressie from ASMo to POR but cannot (no avail with the code) as of now. I need to call back and try through Guest Services (as per instructions from CGuy).

I really will finish this report . I promise. I almost have 1 of the last 2 installments ready to post. I do have my pics uploaded and ready...so hang in there.

TTFN

 

[cherokeemamma]

I awoke on this last day with so many thoughts of things to do running around in my head. I dressed quickly and headed out to front of POP to wait for the Alamo bus. He arrived within a few moments and soon we were on our way. This time I was certain to have my DL & CC. That is one of those mistakes you make once and hopefully never repeat. Alamo was quick and easy since we had filled out all our paperwork yesterday and it was ssoooo early in the morning. What seemed to be a just few moments I had the car and was driving back to POP. I did not get lost or have any problems….thank goodness!

Once I was back inside the room it was back to packing and deciding what to do with all our stuff. Why is it that your stuff never fits the same twice? Do any of you guys have that problem? Maybe it just me! We finally crammed it all back into our suitcases!! We had this enormous amount of candy from MNSSHP…..what are we gonna do with it?

Once again…we made a bad decision. More on this later! DH went down to the lobby to try and get us a TS for lunch at MGM….remember we canceled our Coral Reef yesterday? We had a TS credit left and we could not have left WDW with an unused TS…no way!!! No how!! He is successful…we have ADR at SciFi for 12:10.

We were officially checked out at POP ….we are now homeless at WDW. The check out is just the saddest feeling. Then on the flip side you see guest arriving looking so excited and fresh. Everyone is smiling as the exit the Magical Express buses. Kids are skipping and laughing and we just want to cry….we don’t want to go home…not yet anyway. But it is our time….As they say, ‘All good things must come to an end.’

The car is packed to the hilt and we head to MGM. Our only goal today is ride RnR , ToT and eat at the SciFi. It is a strange feeling driving. We realize we have never driven to any of the parks…it is a whole new perspective. We have been on buses (as DH says, the most ridden ride at WDW), monorails, trains, boats & planes…but no cars. We finally park the car and take the tram to the entrance. It is a beautiful day out but everything seems so much more crowded. Perhaps because it is the weekend.

Like I said before our goal is small today….ride RnR, ToT & eat at Sci Fi. We grabbed a FP for ToT and went to get in line for RnR. There was a fairly long wait…much more than we had experienced the entire trip…45 minutes. We cannot do this and get to the SciFi and ride ToT (we must ride this on an empty stomach). So…we were very much in need of some pixie dust. I went to the CM that was manning the FP return line and asked her if there was anyway possible she could give me FPs so that we could ride one last time. I told her how my kids just love this ride and that it was so great if they could ride it one more time before heading home to GA. She said “no problem” and handed me 4 FPs. I was really grateful but I had to tell her that wasn’t exactly what I meant…I need to ride it right now and I do not have the time to come back and use the FPs…is there anyway she could allow us to get in the FP line without FPs? Well, pixie dust was falling on us because she said, “Oh sure, go right ahead and if the next CM gives you any problem ask him to radio me.” We were all so happy and I was very grateful for such a sweet and kind CM. We had absolutely no problem getting through the FP line and for the last time we rocked and rolled with Aerosmith and had a blast.

We then headed for the ToT and used our FP. DD would not under any circumstance ride this ride. We tried every bribe imaginable but No way! No how! She will NOT ride it!. She says she will never ride this! So we gave up and left her behind….However, we LOVED it!

We then headed for the Sci Fi and were seated within just a few minutes. Our last meal at WDW was ssoooo good! We all enjoyed it very much. I am always reading such mixed reviews on here about the SciFi but the two times I have eaten here I have really enjoyed it. We had a wonderful waitress. She was very attentive and efficient. We had onion rings & spinach & artichoke dip (YUM-O). For entrees I had the bacon cheeseburger and DS and DH had the pasta dish (sorry, don’t recall the name). They really did like it!! DS shared his with DD. I cannot remember what she got off the kids menu. The only dessert I photographed was mine, which was the Chocolate Tart. My DD loved this…she kept asking for “another bite” and she said “next time I getting that thing. It is gooood!” I agree…it was very good (it was a very light dessert) and I didn’t mind sharing with her at all…really! Our waitress took one last photo for us.

We then headed down Hollywood Blvd as we were making our way out. We stopped in a store and did a little shopping. As we were in there a CM approached my DD and asked her how she like pin trading. She told him it was fun and that she enjoyed collecting pins. He presented her a rather large cork board and told her that she could trade with him for some very special pins, if she wanted to. Of course, she did. He said she had 1 minute to look the pins over and make her decision. He also told her some of the pins were very rare and unique. She didn’t have a clue and it was all stressing her out a bit. She finally made her mind up and chose a Tink and a CM United Way pin. They then presented her with a magical moments certificate.

DS was on the opposite side of the store with DH. We noticed that a few moments later he got approached and also made a magical pin trade. It was a great way to end the trip and I am so glad both of them got to participate and receive certificates. DS would have acted like it didn’t matter but I know deep down he would have been disappointed.

 

[cherokeemamma]

Once we were in the car again we decided to stop by Pop and pick up some snacks to take home as well as something for the plane trip. We had several unused snack credits and a few CS credits as well. We got a couple of bags of Chip n Dale trail mix, some Candy bars, and several Mickey Head Rice Krispy Treats. We had enough CS credits to each get a sandwich, chips and water…this came in very handy in the airport later. We made our final surveillance of POP and headed to the airport in Tampa.

It was a very easy ride with absolutely no heavy traffic or any problems. As we approached Tampa DH said to “keep a look out for a gas station because he wasn’t going to pay $6 a gallon”. We were just unsure where to exit and next thing we knew we were entering the airport. Well, he had to get gas somewhere else so we got out of the airport and headed to look for “cheap” gas. Next thing I know we are on the Tampa Bay bridge…oh my gosh!! I just wanted to punch him. Of course, there is no where to exit on a bridge and it went on forever….it seemed. Oh crap…we are going to miss our flight if we don’t get off this bridge soon. Anyway, we finally made it to the other side and we are still clueless as to where to go for gas. I am not sure what exit we took or where we turned but there it stood (insert halleluiah chorus here) a gas station. We filled up the car and then headed back toward the airport. You have to remember we were flying standby so that complicated matters a bit. Once we got to the airport we had to return the rental car, take a shuttle and then find our way at the airport….we are all STRESSED out and I am so mad at DH. This is not a fun way to end your vacation. We finally get to Delta’s counter and you guessed it…We Missed our Flight!!! We all start blaming each other (mostly DH). If you hadn’t done this…or you hadn’t done that….we would have made it on time. Then we all said enough already… this bickering isn’t helping anyone. We must calm down and relax, there is nothing we can do about it but I was secretly still mad because I knew I could have stayed at MGM longer and had some more fun.

Because of the missed flight we have about 3 hours to kill, you can now see where the sandwiches and goodies from POP come into play. There is no DDP in the Tampa airport and I think their prices are even higher than Disney. We wouldn’t get home until 11 pm or so we were definitely thankful for the food and snacks. We finally found a good place to relax and hang out for a while as we begin our 3 hour countdown. About an hour or so later we ate our sandwiches then headed into the Delta terminal. As we sat and waited there they seemed to call everyone but us. We knew logically there were seats on the plan for us but emotionally we started to fret and worry. The what ifs started…but finally they called our names. We board and head back to Atlanta. We are all so very tired it had been a heck of a two days.

Now I need to back track a moment…remember the candy from MNSSHP? Well…we had packed it all up in bags, put it in our carry-on, put it in the car and then we had went to MGM. This is the stupid part because of course all of the chocolate melted and made a big ol’ glob of melted candy mess. (Thankfully in the bags, not in the suitcase) But this all could have been avoided. We had 2 styrofoam coolers that we threw away that morning as we packed everything. We should have put the candy in the cooler and then in the car and when we arrived at the airport we could have easily transported it to the carry-on luggage. So another lesson learned! You are probably wondering why I shared that you…well, I don’t want you to ruin your candy!!! So you can learn the lesson from me instead. OK? OK!!

My dad picked us up at the airport and we eventually made our way back to our house. We had had such a wonderful and magical time…made so many memories and had so many laughs and we even learned some lessons this time.

We can’t wait to do it again. Next trip…Oct 19 - 29, 07

One final installment coming up......Tips, Thoughts & some Final Pictures

 

[daisy_77]

Aw, I am soooo sad that it is over! But I look forward to your very last installment!

I think that we all have a few bad moments on our trips . I am glad that you all made it home ok!

I hope that you write a TR for your next trip!

Thanks so much for sharing your TR!