The Two Party Trip, June 07

[tkd lisa]

I thought some of you might enjoy my family's latest Disney escapades. I plan to get the whole thing up this weekend.

First, the background and planning.

Party #1
Me, Lisa, 42, single mom, experienced WDW visitor (mostly within the last 15 months, since moving to FL)
DM, Helen, late 60s, Disney is my thanks to her for taking care of my kids while I travel for work
DD, Kaylie, 15, loves thrill rides, Stitch, and Japan
DS, Casey almost 14, loves technology and the animation studio

Party #2 (the first 5 people haven’t been to Disney in about 5 years, the last one has never been)
DF, Lori, about my age, maybe 3rd trip to WDW?
DFH, Shawn, also about my age, probably same number of trips
DF DS#1, age 15 (he’s 3 months younger than DD)
DF, DS#2, age 12
DF, DS#3, age 10
DF, DS#4, age 7

When: 3-9 Jun 07
Where: SSR, OKW (Party 1)
Ft. Wilderness cabins (party 2)

Why: Seeing old friends!

Background: Hold on because this is one of those complicated stories. I’ll start with how the two parties know each other, then move into how this became a 2 party trip!

A very long time ago (back before anyone in these groups had kids – except my mom that is!) I started to work for the US Navy at an electronics type facility in Indianapolis IN. Being a young female engineer, you might say I was in the minority. And trust me, I knew every other young female engineer who worked in the building! And DF Lori was one of those few women. We never really worked together, and were just nodding type acquaintances. However, DFH, Shawn was my bosses’ college roommate and best friend. During the first couple years I was working there, DF and her husband got married, and I ended up moving into a different job (no longer working for Shawn’s friend).

Moving forward several years, I was very pregnant with DD, and had just finished up a job assignment. I interviewed for a new one (still with the Navy), and I realized they were interviewing me to replace DF Lori, who was expecting to stay home once her child was born. Once I made it clear that I was pregnant too (and due 3 months before her), but I would be returning to work, they hired me. We spent a couple months of job turnover and got to be pretty good friends. Even after she stopped working outside the home, we usually met for lunch, or playdates with the kids every couple of months, and kept in touch on the phone. I ended up transferring to a job in Maryland just before their 3rd son was born. We saw each other most Christmases when my ex and I visited his family in Indiana, but we hadn’t seen each other since 2003.

Moving forward again to this Christmas, when I sent out my cards, DF Lori sent me an email, and we got back in touch. We were talking about how much the kids had changed, and that we really needed to get together, when she said “Well, we’re thinking about going to Disney this year!” After comparing calendars, I realized they were going the week after our planned “end of school” trip. I tried to figure out if we could just meet them for a day, but I was planning a work trip the following week, and it was just getting too hard. Then I had a V-8 moment. There really was NO reason we had picked our trip dates, so there was no reason we couldn’t change them! A quick call to Members Services, and voila! We were going to Disney at the same time! Thus, the two party trip was born!

When this was an end of school trip (May 29-June 1), I hadn’t set up any hard and fast plans. We were going to enjoy the last of the Flower and Garden Festival, since Mom had never visited during that time. I wasn’t going to schedule any ADRs. We were in a 1 bedroom at OKW, so I planned on cooking most dinners in the villa. I was thinking about capturing some good nighttime fireworks pictures but that was really my only goal for the trip. Boy did that change quickly!

DF Lori has always enjoyed Disney. I know they went when the older boys were young, and I think they went again about 5 years ago. They adopted their youngest son from one of the former USSR countries about 4 years ago, and haven’t been able to visit since. With a family of 6, they were staying at Ft. Wilderness Cabins (they stayed there the last trip they took too). I’m pretty sure their first trip was at the Disney Institute. I seem to recall that they went there about the time of our first big trip in 97 (we stayed at what was then Dixie Landings). Lori said that they were interested in the water parks and had bought the hopper plus water park tickets. They planned on arriving Sunday the 3rd of June, and heading back home Saturday the 9th. They were driving from Indiana. They wanted to spend a lot of time in AK (didn’t visit it on their previous trip), and MK (for the youngest).

I had only been planning a 3 night stay. Since I had a business trip set for the 10th of June, I needed to be back in the office on the 8th to finalize details. I booked the Mon-Thursday stay, and we started talking about ADRs. Their youngest is 7, he’s in kindergarten. He really likes the Pooh characters, so a meal at Crystal Palace was on the agenda. The older boys really liked the idea of Sci Fi Dine In (and my kids like it too), so that was agreed to. We also wanted some down time just to visit, so we agreed that we’d cook at their campsite one night, and have a meal in our villa another night. DF Lori called Disney Dining and booked a Tuesday lunch at CP, and a Thursday lunch at Sci Fi. Party #2 is going to eat at Mexico on Friday evening after we’ve gone (their oldest son specifically requested it because it was their favorite meal last trip). They decided they couldn’t fit in a visit to Liberty Tree Tavern, so put that on the list for next time.

Then I started thinking about their ticket options. I was also planning for my July trip with my college roommate and doing ticket comparisons for them, and I realized that since both parties were staying on Disney property and I was a member of their party, they would be eligible for Shades of Green (SOG) tickets, including the Stars and Stripes passes. For those unfamiliar with this option, it’s similar to the old “length of stay” pass that Disney used to offer for resort guests. You buy a certain number of days ticket, but the days have to run continuously. You can drop your arrival and departure day. The tickets provide entry to all Disney venues (theme parks, water parks, Disney Quest, Pleasure Island, etc.), and include hopping. They are just a teeny bit more expensive than SOG base tickets + hopper + water park and more for the same number of days. But you don’t have to keep track of how many of the plus options you’ve used up. We haven’t finally decided on this, but I think that’s what Party #2 is going to do for tickets. This factors in to the next change in plans.

Once I realized that they should take advantage of the SOG tickets (even if they don’t get Stars & Stripes), I was going to have to go over to Disney on Sunday when they checked in to take care of the tickets. Otherwise, it would make for a big rush on Monday morning, and cause us to miss out on valuable uncrowded park time. Hmmm. What to do? Hey, I still have 15 DVC points left, which I was going to bank. OKW studios are only 10 points! I called MS, and found out OKW was out of studios, but SSR had one available for 12 points. Frankly at the price of gas, 12 points was worth less than the round trip drive!

Up next, Day One.

 

[tkd lisa]

Day one, Sunday June 3.

Party One started the day at church, then headed east. We left about 10:40, and after a stop at Arbys in Polk City for lunch, we pulled into SSR about 12:10. Unfortunately, we met the longest check in line I’ve ever seen! It wound through the lobby all the way back to the bathrooms. Two Magic Express buses from the airport had just unloaded, and according to a CM the resort was completely booked for the night. All sections are now open. I think the CM said they had 1400 people checking in that day? Anyway, it took about 40 minutes to make it to the check in desk, where we were assigned room 5147 and it was ready. It was in the Paddock section, ground floor. It was an end unit, which meant it was pretty quiet.

DS had called our friends, who had just arrived at Ft. Wilderness. We headed over to our studio to put away our refrigerated items. Party two decided to make a grocery run before meeting up with us. Since I knew it would be a few hours, DM and I decided to head over to EPCOT to catch the last few seminars of the F&G festival. The kids wanted to stay in the room and watch TV. Mom and I drove over so it would be easy to leave when our friends finished their grocery run.

Our first stop was the Visa picture spot and got this photo taken. I mentioned to Minnie that I expected them to be in their Year of a Million Dreams outfits. In fact, all week long we never saw the characters in their blue outfits.

We caught the 2:00 seminar on Lawn Care. It was given by the head groundskeeper for one of the Disney golf courses. He had a good sense of humor (including several clips of Bill Murray from Caddyshack), so it was entertaining. We got a goody bag which included fertilizer, goggles, ear protectors etc.

We spent the next 45 minutes wandering through the last few displays that we hadn’t seen when we were there Mother’s Day. The rose garden and water plants were particularly pretty. We decided to head back to the car about 3:30, with a stop by the camera store for our picture. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been uploaded yet. The CM said that this was becoming more of an issue since the number of photopass photographers was growing. They did say we could come in the next day and they’d honor our vouchers. Here are a couple of F&G festival pictures we took. Notice Tink at the top of the pirate ship.

Once we were back in the room, our friends arrived. All the guys headed over to the main pool to swim, while DF and I headed to DTD Guest Relations to take care of their ticket refund. And boy was that fun (not!). When DF reserved their cabin, they had added hopper passes with water park and more option. They originally were considering the dining plan, but decided not to add it. I had asked at guest relations when we got my mom’s passes and found out that as long as the passes hadn’t been used, they could be returned. I’m a DoD employee and am eligible for tickets from Shades of Green. When I compared prices, I realized they could get Stars and Stripes passes (like the old Length of stay tickets, good for all the parks including Disney Quest and the Water Parks, unlimited entry for your entire stay) and save at least $30 per ticket. So off we went to take care of the return and go buy the S&S tickets at Shades of Green.

We drove over to DTD, where the CM said “I can’t do this. Since the passes are on the room keys, if I refund the passes, it will mess up the room key. You have to go to Ft. Wilderness and have them do it.” I explained that guest relations had told me that ONLY a guest relations agent could refund tickets, NOT concierge. The CM made a couple of phone calls (including one to Ft. Wilderness), and told us that we had to go to Shades of Green, and have SOG verify that we were eligible for passes, then Ft. Wilderness would be able to remove the passes. This should have been my clue that something was wrong, but since she was a Guest Relations CM, and she said that they could be refunded, we headed to SOG to do what she said.

We made our way to SOG (driving right by Ft. Wilderness on the way), and made our way to the ticket window. Luckily, there was no one waiting, since there was only one guy working. I explained what the CM at DTD said. He also said that sounded strange, but he called over to Ft. Wilderness. First answer he got was “Tickets are non-refundable.” He asked to talk to a manager there, and explained again. After about 20 minutes, he said “They wanted to just refund the difference, but when I explained these tickets aren’t hoppers, they said they could just return the hoppers. Be sure you check that they give you the complete refund once you get there.” So we bought the S&S tickets (now at this time, they’ve got two sets of park tickets for 6 people). And off to Ft. Wilderness we went.

Up to the concierge window, where the CM said “Tickets are non-refundable.” I explained, we spoke to a CM at DTD, and they called your manager and we did exactly what they told us to do. He (rather snottily) said, “I see the notes in your file that you were told tickets are NOT refundable.” I asked “When was that note made?” The answer? When they made the package reservation, back in March. I said “You tell everyone that! We did exactly what the guest relations CM said.” After a few more back and forths, he finally got his manager, Anita out of the back. To finally end this long ticket saga, they finally were able to do this, but there was about 20 minutes there where I was really sweating bullets. Anita had to have central reservations issue a new booking in order to make it happen. They gave DF a few blank key cards to get into their cabin, and promised to bring new room keys over in about 45 minutes. This whole thing ended up taking about 3 hours. They did save almost $200, so it was probably worth it. But it could have definitely been easier.

By this time, the swimmers were done. DFH didn’t have enough seats in his van to bring everyone over, so I headed back to pick up DM and DD. We cooked burgers and hot dogs at their cabin. The cabins are really roomy. They have a nice sized kitchen/dining/living area, plus a full bedroom with a double bed and a set of bunk beds. DF did say there wasn’t much storage for 6 peoples clothing though. We headed back to our room about 9:30, after watching a few of the high fireworks from Illuminations on their deck while we were finishing our dessert. As we were heading to our van, Anita came up with our friends room keys. It had taken her another 2 hours to get the keys re-issued.

Up next, our first park day.

 

[tkd lisa]

Day Two, June 4th

Plans: Party one checks out of SSR and into OKW, then we all meet at EPCOT for opening at 9:00. Cover most of future world, get lunch at World Showcase then take a break. Party 2 visit water park, while Party 1 moves into OKW room. Meet back at AK by 4:00 and stay for late EMH.

What happened? Well, this was the first indication that our vacation styles were quite different. I was up at 5:30 (no alarm needed) and had my coffee and devotions out on the patio. It was really nice having a ground floor unit. I had set DD’s bed up in front of the door, but I knew I could use the slider. DS (on the pull out) sleeps like the dead! I took a brisk walk around the lake while I finished my coffee, then I headed over to OKW to check in. I got there about 6:45, and gee, big surprise, NO LINE! This was our first time to OKW, and right away I knew we would love it! We’ve taken a couple of cruises which stopped in Key West, and Disney got the atmosphere just right. They didn’t have anything in my requested buildings (14, 62 or 63), but she said that we were in the general area. I didn’t really expect to get my request, but I was happy to be in the front part of the resort.

I made it back to our room about 7:30 and started to rouse the troops. I had made a couple types of Mickey Mouse shirts for both our groups, and we were going to wear one set today. Since they don't show up to well in the pictures of us, here's one of just the shirts.

DS gave me a little grief about it, but when he heard Danny was wearing it, he agreed. DD also gave me a lot of trouble because I had brought capris for her to wear today. She insisted on wearing her jeans from the day before. I had told her before if she didn’t pack, she had to take what I packed. We had some breakfast, and packed up the cooler items to drop at OKW bell services. We left the van in the front lot at OKW, and caught a bus to EPCOT from the Hospitality House stop. Here are a couple of pictures we took while we were waiting on the bus.

Here’s Mom at the flagpole. She really liked the arrangement of plants there. I actually took this picture a different day, but just pretend she's wearing her green shirt!

The bus came quickly, and we were at EPCOT by 8:40. DS split off to go to Mission Space (he left me his pass for FPs). The ladies stopped by to pick up our Visa photo, then DD headed to Test Track while Mom and I rode Soarin standby. I think we waited about 20 minutes. We picked up 4 FPs as we exited that were good for 11:15. DS had moved over to Innoventions when it opened. He did the Plastic exhibit and made a robot for DF’s youngest son. DD met up with mom and I and we went on Figment. We played around in Image Works for a while, and got this fairly cute picture of DD and Mom.

My friend called about 10:45 and said had just arrived and were in line for Spaceship Earth.


We headed out to wait for them, and pick up a snack. I got an ice cream sandwich for us all to nibble on. DS came over to join us, and we polished that off pretty quickly. Here’s a shot of us waiting for Party 2.

Somehow, they actually walked right by us, and called us from inside the Land pavilion about 11:15. We handed over the FPs for DFH, and the 3 oldest boys to use. DS played tour guide and showed them how to get FPs. They got a full set for all of us to use later. It turned out that they got ones with Party 2’s tickets before they rode, then picked up 4 more when they exited the ride. Party 2’s FPs were good for 2:15 to 3:15, and Party 1’s FPs were good for 3:30-4:30.

Me, DD, DM, DF, and the youngest boy all headed over to the Living Seas to explore. We rode the clammobiles, and caught Turtle Talk. DFS4 really liked Crush. DD took him up to the front and sat with him during the show. DS called as the show was finishing and said they had finished Soarin. We met up with DS and DFS1 (the almost 15 year old) at the exit. DFH and the other two boys had headed over to TT, planning to get more FPs. Hmm. Sounds like DS failed at his tour guide role, since they wouldn’t be able to get another FP for at least another hour. Here’s a picture of the boys goofing around when we met up. You can see that the gray shirts turned out a little better than the green.

We headed over to TT. DF tried her husbands cell, but he wasn’t answering. We decided he must be in the standby for TT (it was posted as 30 minutes). The boys checked out all the cars, as well as the gift shop area, and after about 20 minutes the whole gang came out. We decided it was about lunchtime. We decided to split up for lunch, and then meet up at Soarin to use our FPs. This is where the time difference comes into play. I pulled out my passes and said “Okay, we’ll meet at 3:30 then”, and we headed off.

DF’s family wanted standard park food, so I sent them over to Electric Umbrella. DS wanted to stay with his friend, so after double checking that this was okay I gave him $9. Turned out the boys went over to Japan and ate at Yakitori House. DS had teriyaki chicken and green tea. Meanwhile, the ladies in my family headed over to Morrocco. I had been wanting to try the food at the Tangerine Café for quite a while, and this seemed like a good time for it. We got the combo chicken and lamb platter, two drinks, a water and a baklava for $22.46. This was plenty of food for the 3 of us, and a fairly good bargain by Disney standards.

After lunch we caught a 2:00 showing of VOL, who were great as always. There were a number of new performers that I hadn’t seen before. The lady sitting next to me was picked for “Oh Susannah”. The singer handed me her camera when he took her hand, so I snapped a picture for her future embarrassment! After the singers, DD watched the AA movie (she really loves this!) while Mom and I wandered around World Showcase. I saw that Sergio was going to be in Italy at 2:30, so we caught his show. Here’s a few photos I took there.

From there, Mom decided she had a little empty spot so we picked up a cookie, then headed over to the shops in Germany. I have never gone into the side with the sweet shop, so we wandered through there. Mom spent some time talking to the Hummel artist. It was pretty comical. She was chatting about the process they use to make the figurines. The lady either didn’t speak much English or really didn’t want to talk with us, so the conversation was kind of stilted. Then we started to go, and Mom turned to the artist and said “Gracias for your time”. I was cracking up as we headed out! Mom said “What’s so funny?” I said “I can’t believe you just spoke Spanish to that German lady!”

By this time, DD was done with the American Adventure, and we decided to meander around toward the Land Pavilion. DD walked around the side by Canada, while Mom and I headed past Mexico. DD got into the pavilion, and called to say “Mom, I’m here with Mr. xxx, and the rest of them are already on the ride.” I said “But the passes aren’t good until 3:30? (it was about 3:15 then). Confused we headed down the escalator to find out that their passes were earlier than ours (and DS finally admitted that he hadn’t remembered to get our passes until they exited the ride). DF’s family was afraid they might not let them use the FP after they expired, so they went ahead and rode. DFH let my son use his pass, since DFH had already ridden that morning. DD grabbed one of our passes and headed through the line, and I gave away the rest of the passes to someone who needed them. We all decided to head out for a break. I told DF to call and let me know if they wanted to head to AK for late EMH, and that we’d probably get there around 6. We left the park about 3:50 and took the bus back to OKW.

While we were riding back to the resort, I called and got our villa number. We were in 1614, which was ground floor right in the middle of Building 16. This was a really nice location, and it was nice to not have to climb steps (most of the OKW buildings don’t have elevators). We stayed on the bus through the entire resort and got off at Hospitality House (last stop). I moved the van over and unloaded everything, then called Bell services for our cooler. The bellhop told me that they were swamped, and only had one guy working, so he suggested I come pick up the cooler if I wanted it anytime soon, so I did.

I have to say, I have a new favorite resort. The Boardwalk is really convenient, but I think the extra room at OKW is worth a few bus rides! I really liked the kitchen set up, as well as having a full laundry room. This villa was the old style, which doesn’t have a door from the laundry room into the bathroom, so I just laid down the couch cushions on the floor for DD’s bed, and she had a dark, quiet place to sleep. The missing bathroom door did make for some craziness when we had someone in the bathtub when another person needed to use the toilet, but we worked it out! Here are a few pictures of the villa.

Once we were unpacked, DM and I headed over to the main pool. Mom said it wasn’t as crowded as SSR’s pool had been the day before. I did notice that this pool is smaller than the large one at SSR, and it only has one hot tub. But it has a dry sauna in the lighthouse. I swam a little, then joined Mom in the hot tub for a few minutes. When we got back to the villa, DS said that DF had called and said they weren’t going to join us at AK. They decided to stay at the cabin, and enjoy the pool for the evening. DD wanted to eat at RainForest Café, so I called Disney dining to see if they had any ADRs for the evening. I never got off hold, so we went over to concierge and checked while we waited for the bus. They said there was scattered availability for 1 or 2 after 7:30, so I told DD we’d see how busy it was when we got to the park.

We caught a bus fairly quickly, and arrived at AK right at 7:00 (main park closing). The line to checkin at RFC was so long I couldn’t even see the podium, so I told DD she could pick somewhere inside the park to eat. The line for wrist bands up at the entrance was really long, so we ended up over at Dino Land to get our bands. We decided to head over to Camp Minnie/Mickey to see the 8:00 Lion King show, and maybe get some dinner on the way. Flame Tree BBQ and Pizzafari were the only places open. The crowds were a little crazy, so we took the long way around to avoid the herd of people trying to exit. DD didn’t want pizza, so we decided to eat after the show. This show was excellent as always! It seemed like most of the singers were new, but they were really good. This was the first time I’ve seen a different person leading the alto section. I’ve seen the same lady for about 3 years now. But this one was REALLY good!

Once done with the show, we made our way to Flame Tree BBQ for dinner. The tree of life was beautifully lit up. We had decided to travel light, so we left our cameras behind. Mom was kicking herself because she wanted a picture of that tree! I told her we’ll just have to go to late EMH in September. We had 2 pork sandwiches and a coke for $14.21 (with DDE discount). Once we polished it all off, DD and I headed over to EE. Mom decided to wait for us by the main store. DD and I walked through the dark path by the Nemo show. It really was a little spooky, especially because NO one was there was the first half! We planned to ride single rider, but they didn’t have that line open. The standby was about 30 minutes, and DD decided that it wasn’t worth the wait. So we ended up heading back to pick up Mom, and we were back on the bus by 9:30, and everyone was asleep by 11:00.

 

[tkd lisa]

Day 3, June 5th.

Before I start today, I remembered something I left out from last night. While the ladies were at AK, DS called and said he wanted to go to Downtown Disney to shop. I was a little nervous about this, since I don’t usually let the kids go there alone, and it was getting close to dark. But since our resort was so close, I let him go, but told him to call me from the bus going there and when he got there. He could only stay 30 minutes, and couldn’t leave the marketplace, then he had to call me from the bus home and when he got into the room. He ended up at Once Upon a Toy where he made the “Build your own Lightsaber.” He had been eyeing this for about a month, but I told him he had to save his own money if he wanted it. He’s just at that weird age where he is kind of too old for toys, and too young for other souveniers. But he loves building things. He had $25 to spend, and it was $21.25 with tax.

Plans for the day: EMH at MK by 8:00. Lunch at 12:50 at Crystal Palace. Break for a trip to the water park, then back to MK by 6 to catch Spectro and Wishes.

What really happened? I had set a wake up call for 6, and took a nice bath while everyone else was still snoozing. I failed to mention that both kids took advantage of the huge tub at OKW the day before while Mom and I used the pool. The tub was so big it had a little seat set into the side of it! I woke the family up at 6:45, and I fixed omlettes and sausage while everyone got ready. They were moving a little slowly, but we were out the door by 7:35. I figured we’d make it MK about 10 minutes after the early opening. But boy was I wrong. There was one family waiting at the Hospitality House bus stop when we got there. They had an ADR at the Poly for breakfast. We waited, and waited, and waited some more. By this time, at least two buses for every other destination had come and gone. The entire waiting area was packed with folks wanting to go to MK. We saw an MK bus go by, but it didn’t turn in for us. At 8:15 I went to the bell stand and asked them to call the bus coordinator for us. An MK bus finally pulled up at 8:30. It was standing room only. Thankfully, the family that was there before us made it on too. We were through the gate by 8:50, just ahead of the non-resort guests. This was when we decided that if we were taking the morning EMH bus, we would load at the first bus stop instead of the last one!

Once inside, DS headed over to VMK, and DD went off to ride Space Mountain. Mom had wanted to ride some of the Main Street Vehicles on our Spring Break trip, so we decided to wait for them this morning. She particularly wanted to ride the double decker bus, so we headed over in front of Tony’s Restaurant to wait under the “Omnibus” sign. We met up with Gideon from Pinnochio.

We saw the fire truck go by.

And the horse drawn carriage.

The carriage unloaded in front of us, and I asked the driver if we could hop in. “Sure!” he said, so up we went. I felt like a princess, waving at everyone as we made our slow way down Main Street. Mom’s camera battery died just then, but I got a few good shots.

We unloaded in front of the castle and thanked our driver. The double decker bus was just unloading, so we asked if we could ride back to the hub with him. He told us it was a one-way trip only from the hub to the castle. Mom really wanted to ride it, so we walked back to the castle to wait for him. We started talking to a dream team CM named Amy. I asked if she’d given away the castle to anyone, and she said that she’d been able to do this a couple of times, and it was the best thing she’d ever done. She did tell us that two families had turned down the dream. One said they didn’t want to move their luggage, and the other one just wasn’t interested. They were apparently already in a very high end resort. Somehow, I can’t imagine turning this down!

About that time, a lady came up to Amy and said “I’m already lost!” Apparently she had gotten separated from her daughter and granddaughter. It sounded like they had a bit of a spat, and her daughter just left her. The daughter didn’t have her cell phone with her. That lady ended up wandering around us for another 20 minutes. All day long, my mom was looking for a lady pushing a green stroller just to see if the lady ever found her family. We had been waiting about 20 minutes, and the bus was nowhere in sight. We finally gave up waiting and started walking back toward the castle. We found the bus. The opening show was in progress, and they use the bus to bring the entertainers down the street! We watched some of the barbershop quartet for a while, then headed over to Frontierland.

DD called and said she was in line for Haunted Mansion. This was the last day it was open before the refurbishment. I pin traded a little bit, then Mom & I headed toward the Liberty Belle for it’s first ride of the day (10:00). Just before we boarded, my friend called and said they were in the park, and wanted to ride Pirates of the Caribbean. I called the kids and had them head over to meet up with our friends, while Mom and I were on the boat. I got several nice pictures from the boat, and we really enjoyed our ride.

I particularly like the Haunted Mansion shots, and the BTMRR pictures that show the train!

Does anyone remember this house being set on fire? I seem to recall more of a story line, where the Indians are attacking the settlers? Or did I just imagine it? I know DS and I rode this back in 97, and I’m pretty sure we took DD on it back in 94 when she was just a little thing. But I haven’t ridden it since then.

By the time we were off the boat, the kids and our friends were in line for Haunted Mansion. Mom and I went into Fantasy Land and pulled FPs for Peter Pan before riding It’s a Small World. We went to the HM exit, and met up with everyone just as they got off the ride.

The older boys decided they wanted to ride Stitch (why I don’t know!), and everyone else was interested in Buzz. I asked what they wanted FPs for, and they said Space Mountain. So I headed off with their passes while they took their time heading to Buzz. Our family’s passes weren’t ready for another FP yet.

The large group rode Buzz. DD rode with DF’s youngest son, and they had a really good time! I rode with Mom, and she actually broke 10,000 which is pretty good for her! The big boys were done with Stitch by then, and were on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (People Mover). Once they finished up, we all headed over to the Speedway. They had all four lines going, so we only waited 20 minutes. My friend sat this one out, since it was getting pretty hot by this time. Mom & I rode together, and I got a car whose steering was completely shot. We were following DD, and I think she’s actually going to be ready to handle a car by next year!


Once we finished there, the big boys decided they wanted to go on Buzz. DFH headed back with them, while the ladies took the younger two boys over to Philharmagic. We all agreed to meet up at the CP for our lunch ADRs after that.

As always, we enjoyed Philharmagic. We were all the way at the very exit end of the theater, and the effects weren’t quite as good over there, but it was still a good show. I had found a new path earlier that morning that led behind the shops in the Liberty Square area. There’s a smoking area back there, but it’s a nice cut through to the Crystal Palace. DF tried her husband, and I tried calling DS, but we were getting no answer. The crowds waiting for check in at Crystal Palace were pretty large, so we had to wait in the full sun. The castle show was underway, so DD watched that from a distance. While we were waiting to check in, I had a nice chat with a couple of young children who were waiting. The little boy had a lanyard with a couple of pins, and I asked him if he wanted to trade. We spent quite a bit of time chatting about how you pin trade, and we finished up just as their family was called in. By this time, the boys had re-joined us, and we checked in at the podium (about 1:10). We were seated in about 10 minutes, all the way around the backside of the room (it overlooked the duck pond). Up to this time, we hadn’t had any character interaction, because DF wasn’t sure how the youngest would react. They adopted him from one of the former Soviet republics about 2 years ago, and even though he’s 7, he’s about the level of a kindergartener. We went up to the buffet, since the characters were in the other side of the restaurant. While Josh (the youngest) was eating, he said “Mom, I think Pooh needs a hug. When is he coming here so I can hug him?” We explained that he had to wait his turn, and he was okay with that. But every few minutes he’d say “I know Pooh needs a hug from me.” The food here was very good. There was a pretty good variety of salads, breads, and veggie mixtures. My DD and DM really liked the salmon. DS liked the chicken and roast beef. I had the beef myself, and it was very tender and juicy. But the desserts were really good! I like bread pudding, and theirs was great! And the pecan bars were just right! After about 35 minutes the characters finally started to enter our room. We got Pooh and Piglet before they did another parade. Josh was all smiles as he hugged them! Here are a couple of pictures I took.

But after the parade, they all disappeared again! Josh kept saying “I know Tigger needs a hug from me. Where is he?” When he came out, he started toward the other side. Since we had been there for 45 minutes now, and were all done eating (and the big boys were getting restless), DFH took Josh over to get his hugs from Tigger and Eeyore before we headed out. With our DDE discount, it came to $20 per person, which was pretty reasonable for the quality of food.

After lunch, DF took her two youngest to use the PP fast passes (the 10 year old doesn’t do dark rides or ones where he gets wet), while the rest of us went over to use our Space Mountain FPs. My mom waited on Main Street for us. We headed right into our rocket ships, and had a great ride into space. As we exited, the CM said “Is this anyone’s phone?” And it was DS’s. We had to wait while they sent our rocket ship on, and he got it as the next ship was unloading. I pulled a set of Buzz Fast Passes, and then we headed to the exit. The afternoon parade had just started, so I called Mom to have her meet us at the train station. We caught the bus back and were in our room by 4.

Mom and I decided to try out the quiet pool, while the kids relaxed (and used the big tub again). We headed out of our villa, then started down the golf path. The next thing I knew, we were up at the main resort entrance! So we decided to just go to the main pool again. I was pretty hot, so we swam a little while first. The family that had been at the bus stop when we got there was paddling around, so we had a nice chat with the mom. She had a little 7 month old boy who was such a cutie! He was just laughing at the water! Eventually, Mom and I moved into the hot tub, then the sauna for a few minutes before heading back to the room.

DS said DF had called and said they’d be back in MK by 7:30, so we caught a bus back over there. DD decided to stay in the villa and watch TV. I had fixed a light dinner before we left, so we were set for the night. Once in the park, DS headed back to VMK while Mom and I took a nice train ride. DF called from Pinnochios and said they were finishing dinner and would meet us at Buzz. Turned out the older boys and dad stayed at camp to fish, so it was just DF and the younger two boys. They went on Buzz with DS while Mom & I rode the TTA. We finished up at the same time, and our friends decided to head back before it got dark. They were stopping back to AdventureLand so that the youngest could buy his sword and gun with his money.

DS wanted to go into the arcade, and he used his last $3 there. Mom and I headed toward Jungle Cruise, because we wanted to try it in the dark. When we got there, it was posted as a 40 minute wait. Mom wanted to try it anyway. I have never seen the line area of this ride before! We wound all the way back and forth. Did you know there’s a display of masks and spears down to the right of the entrance? I had never seen it before! We were on our boat in about 30 minutes, just as it was getting fully dark. It is neat riding in the dark. She turned the lights out as we went through the tunnel, which was just a little spooky!

In the middle of the ride, my phone buzzed, and DS said “I’m heading back to the room.” I had a stern argument where I told him if he left the park, he wasn’t leaving my side for the remainder of the trip. That worked, and we met him over at Pecos Bills to watch SpectroMagic. He went into the candy store and bought one of the tubes of powdered candy and a rice krispy treat “for grandma”, while I went over and got a Dole Whip.

We watched Spectro, which was excellent as always. Mom had a nice chat with a lady from Scotland while we waited for the parade to start. DS took the camera, but none of the pictures turned out very good. After the parade, we decided to head out before the fireworks. We were back in our room by 10:15. DD was watching “America’s got talent”, which is an interesting show. Once it was over, it was lights out and we were all asleep by 11.

Next up, Animal Kingdom

 

[tkd lisa]

Wednesday, June 6th:

Plans for the day – AK at 8:00 for morning EMH. I expected to focus on the animal trails today since we were supposed to have seen Lion King on the evening EMH, and ridden EE. We planned lunch for everyone in our villa, with the boys staying with my family for some pool time while my friends went off on their own. Then we would finish up World Showcase and watch Illuminations.

What really happened? When my friend left the night before, I reminded her that AK had early hours the next day. I asked if they wanted to skip it, but her older boys really wanted to do EE, so I told her we planned on driving to the park, since bus transportation to AK can take a long time. She said they might drive, and they would go to Typhoon Lagoon after they hit the big rides at AK.

I was up at 6, and got the family up by 7. We all had a light breakfast, then hopped into the van about 7:50 to head to AK. I missed a turn, and we detoured through Celebration, but we were in the park by 8:20. DS took off on his own, and I left DD and Mom to wander toward Asia, while I cut through Dinoland to grab FPs for EE. They were valid for 10:40, but the note at the bottom said we could get new passes at 9:45. I met up with Mom and DD at the entrance to the Maharajah Jungle Trek. We had to wait a little bit there for them to open up. They were having some problems clearing the safety check list. I hope you’re ready, because I took a lot of pictures in here!

First we saw the bats. They were giving them their medicine, which they do by putting it into a piece of fruit on a stick then hand feeding that fruit to the particular bat who needs it.

We also saw this huge gila monster. He is 8 years old, and they live to be 30, growing bigger and darker all the time.

The tigers were resting up against the wall.

Then we went to an open area that had deer and peacocks. The male had his plumage spread, but he was too far to get a good picture. The female was right below the observation area though.

We went on to the bird area. I was fascinated by the fountain and the birdhouses.

At the trail exit, I snapped this picture of mom and DD. My mom has a friend from Thailand, and she wanted to send her this picture.

After this, we headed over to Africa. DS called from dinoland to check on our friends, but they hadn’t called yet. I posted my mom and DD near the FP distribution area while I went after 4 safari passes. The lines were pretty crazy, and a CM was just asking “How many”, and handing them to you. I made my way back to mom, and I have to admit to a little cheat of the system. I asked her to go back with the passes and get another 4 so our friends could all ride together. Once she was back, we had passes for their thrill rider to go on Everest, while the whole family could go on the Safari at 11:45. DD decided to head over to Conservation Station.

Mom and I went on Pangani Trail next. I haven’t been on this trail since Jan 03. They usually do it while I’m getting FPs for some ride or another. Once again, I took quite a few pictures.
The gorillas were quite active in the area behind the glass. There was a mom and adolescent, and the adolescent was just cutting up until the mom made him quit.

Then he headed over to play with this stick. I just couldn’t resist this pose.

Over to the side was this quiet gorilla, munching away on some leaves.

We skipped the mole rats, because it was pretty crowded. But I got this absolutely beautiful waterfall picture on our way out. I love it!

DD called to say she was on the train just now heading toward Conservation Station. I’m not sure what took her so long, but our friends had called and were just now entering the park, and were in line for It’s Tough to be a Bug. I called DS to meet us at the exit of the ride. Once they came out about 10:45, we realized it was DF and her younger two. The older ones and dad had stayed to finish showering, but were on their way at the time. DS headed to the park entrance with the EE FPs. The rest of us headed toward Dinoland to catch the Finding Nemo show scheduled at 11:30.

We made it into the show, and were seated at the bottom of the upper section, just outside the exit door. DD called and said she wanted to join us, but I told her she wouldn’t make it in time. She ended up staying at Conservation Station until the show was done. The youngest really enjoyed the show. I think the older one wasn’t quite so thrilled, but he was glad that he didn’t get wet.

The older boys had finished EE by this time, and had stopped by Kali to pick up FPs. They only had 3 passes with them, so I sent everyone over toward the Safari while I stopped to get FPs for the rest of the family to ride Kali. There was a herd of people there, and just as I was one person away, all the FP machines stopped working. The CM who was there didn’t normally work in the area, and he didn’t handle it well at all. He gave passes to one entire line, and ran out just as he moved over to our machine. Meanwhile, another CM came up, and they figured out that the whole FP system was down.

I quickstepped over to the Safari area, and met up with the younger group just as they got to where the older boys were waiting. And miracle of miracles, that’s just when DD got out of the Conservation Station! We decided to head back to our room, while our friends rode Safari. They were trying to decide if they wanted to use the FPs they had for Kali, or just head over to Typhoon Lagoon. They hadn’t brought their swimwear, so they had to go back to Ft. Wilderness first on the bus. We left them with the idea that they would call and let us know if they would join us for dinner at the villa.

Once we were on the bus, DD asked again about going to RFC. DS wanted to stay in the room, but the rest of us decided that was a good plan for lunch. Mom wanted to pick up some fudge at the candy store down there anyway. The three of us just missed a boat, so we took the bus, and got to RFC about 1:45. We were seated pretty quickly in the Elephant Room, and ordered lava nachos, a monsoon grill and a coke (water for Mom and me), which we all shared. The food took a little while to come, and I was starving by this time, but eventually we were all full. Total with Safari Club discount, tax and tip was $43.

When we went out, the sky looked awfully threatening. Mom went to the candy store, while DD and I headed to the pin store to look again for her matching “Best Friends” with Copper and Todd pin. This was a two pin set, with one pin saying “best” and having Copper while the other says “Friends” and has Todd. It’s from the Fox and the Hound, which was one of DD’s first movies. She’s been looking for this since March, and hasn’t been able to find it, and today was no exception.

We met back up with Mom, and dodged the rain back to the bus stop and the villa. Just after we got in, it really opened up! I hadn’t mentioned that our patio overlooked one of the greens of the golf course, and they were doing some maintenance work on it. Mom spent about an hour watching them moving big piles of dirt around while I took a little nap.

Our friends called about 5:30, and said they’d be over at 7 for dinner. They had gotten to TL just as it was closed for rain, so it was a big washout for them.

We had a nice evening sharing a meal and playing cards, while the kids watched movies and told ghost stories. They headed back to camp about 9:30, and we were all asleep shortly after 10. It was still pouring rain, which made for nice sleeping weather.

Before they left, I suggested that our friends try to hit the water park in the morning. Given their timeframe to get to a park, trying to take a mid-day water park break just wasn’t working. We had lunch ADRs at Sci Fi for 1:50, and I thought they would have enough time for the water park before that.

Up next: Our last day, MGM and Sci Fi for lunch.

 

[tkd lisa]

Day 5, June 7th, the end

Plans for the day: Meet at MGM at 9:00 opening. Split into two groups. One thrill rider set, one Playhouse Disney, etc. Catch Lights Motors Action before lunch at Sci Fi. Party 2 heads to a water park, while Party 1 heads home. Party 2 comes back for Fantasmic.

What really happened:

I didn’t set a wake up call today, but was up around 7. I had my devotions, and finished packing. I had been doing laundry through the week (I LOVE having that in the room!), so most of it was clean. I fixed pancakes and bacon for everyone, and sent the kids out about 8:40. I told them they could go to MGM or EPCOT, but they had to go together. They chose MGM since they hadn’t been there yet. I called engineering to let them know we had a leak under our kitchen sink. It had soaked the extra paper towels and the dishwashing soap, but it wasn’t so huge that the mousekeeper would have noticed. I think it happened when we were washing up from dinner the night before.

Mom said she wanted to go to EPCOT, so after we got the van loaded, I dropped the cooler at bell services and we took the bus, which came up just as we got there. We were in the park about 9:25. Once inside, we walked right into Space Ship Earth. We hadn’t ridden it yet, and we wanted to go before it was closed for renovation. The only other must do was Soarin, so we just decided to go despite the line. It was posted as 60 minutes, which was quite accurate. We had a very nice chat with a British family in front of us. The parents had both been in the RAF, and they were just finishing up a two week stay at Pop Century. It was very pleasant getting to know them a bit, and it passed the time quickly.

We finished up right at 11, and headed through World Showcase to get a snack. We got a cream puff in the French Bakery, then headed over to the Yacht Club to catch the boat to MGM.

The kids had called a couple of times, and were having a good time at MGM. DD had ridden ToT, Great Movie Ride, and just wandered around the park. DS had ridden RnR, and been in the animation studio. They were both waiting for us over by Indiana Jones. DD bought a neat necklace that she says is “one of a kind”. Oh well, she likes it and that’s what counts, isn’t it?

We met up with the kids about 11:30, and Mom and DD went into the 11:45 Indiana Jones show. DS headed back to the animation studio, after a tour through the Star Tours store. I went down to get FPs for RnR (good for 4-5pm) for our friends. After that I rode ToT by myself. It was about a 30 minute wait. I had the best drop sequence! I normally hold on pretty tightly, but this time, I put my hands up and just floated!

When I finished up, Mom and DD were done with Indy, and we headed over to One Man’s Dream to get out of the heat. It was in the mid 90s with high humidity this morning. Perfect day for a water park! I did some more pin trading, and about that time, our friends called from the gate to say they were here. It was about 1:30 by this time, so we all headed over to Sci Fi for our ADR. While we waited to be seated, I asked DF if her boys were going to want to ride Star Tours, and she said yes. So I took their passes and got FP for that. They were good for 2:45-3:45.

We were seated fairly quickly. They put the kids in a standard car, while us adults got a “stretch” limo kitty corner from them. Earlier that morning I had realized that I put the cash for this meal in the van when I packed up. Mom and I figured out that we had just enough cash between us to cover our expected bill, but our server was able to split the checks up even though I was using DDE, so I just put it on my Visa. We actually had two servers, one for each car, but it worked out okay.

DD had her standard Penne Pasta and a coke. DS had ribs and a cookies and cream milkshake. I had never actually picked a meal at this restaurant, since we usually just eat what’s leftover from the kids. But since we were at different cars, we decided to get something just for Mom and me. She wanted a reuben. I don’t eat sauerkraut (or 1000 island dressing), but I realized they could put it on the side, so that’s what we got (along with water). It came out already split, with some fries and a pickle on each plate. I had never had a reuben before, and it was pretty good since it didn’t have that yucky stuff on it!

I snuck over and grabbed these pictures of the kids. They were really engrossed in the movies, and were good as gold!

Our friends had gotten 5 passes to ToT from someone as they were coming through the gate which were good at 2:30. The boys came to our table and they figured out that there were enough passes for DS to ride with DFH and the bigger boys on ToT and RnR. They headed out to use the FP while we finished taking care of the bill, and waiting for the youngest to finish his ice cream. We all went onto Muppetvision 3D, and timed it perfectly walking in just as they were loading the theater. Our seats were more centered this time, so the effects were better. Once this was done, we figured the boys were just finishing RnR (it was about 4:15), so I said goodbye to my friend, and we headed to Sunset Blvd to wait for them. And wait, and wait, and wait some more. It was about 4:50 and they still weren’t there, nor was DS answering his phone. Finally about 4:55, he called and said “Mom, me and Danny (DFS1) are over by Indiana Jones, and we don’t know where his dad is.” I told them to stay put, and headed over to meet them. About that time, DF called and said “Have you seen Danny?” Apparently after the ride, DFH and DFS2 went to the bathroom, and the older two decided they didn’t have to wait. I got everyone reunited over by Star Tours, said goodbye again, and we headed out to the buses.

We picked up our cooler, and were on the road by 5:30 and home by 6:45. It was a really good trip. The warmer weather definitely affected us. We also aren’t used to being in the parks during the heat of the day. Our next trip will be camping in July (8th through 13th), so I figure I might as well get used to it. I’ve attached a few random pictures I hadn’t already posted.

Hope you enjoyed the report.

The display in the toy store in Germany

The big bathtub that got lots of use in our villa!

While we were waiting for the double decker bus.

View of Tom Sawyer Island from the Liberty Belle