The Ups and Downs of Labor Day weekend 2010

[Simba22]

Ugh the buses for Pop were the absolute worst. I swear that is the main reason I will never stay at Pop again. Every single night the line was mobbed. And we had the same issues that you did with the wheelchairs. I have no problem letting the people in the chair on first, but they should still have to wait in the line, no?

Or at least allow only the person in the chair and ONE helper on...and make the rest of the party wait in line. We waited FOUR buses one night leaving Epcot because people in wheelchairs kept coming to the front of the line. One family had 7 people in it! They already eliminate a whole row of seats for the wheelchair, then add 6 more people to the bus and it's half full! We were so frustrated with the process.

 

[oboedm]

Wow! You have been busy since I've been gone! I have really appreciated your trip report and hearing all the struggles. I think it is important for others as well. You plan and plan the perfect trip in your mind-- and then other people's personalities get involved. It always makes for an interesting adventure. I appreciate your honesty in sharing the ups and downs!

 

[tankgirl427]

Augh so frustrating about Kira and your mom. You definitely didn't need that added tension. Zoe is so adorable!

 

[annmarieda]

Ugh the buses for Pop were the absolute worst. I swear that is the main reason I will never stay at Pop again. Every single night the line was mobbed. And we had the same issues that you did with the wheelchairs. I have no problem letting the people in the chair on first, but they should still have to wait in the line, no?

Or at least allow only the person in the chair and ONE helper on...and make the rest of the party wait in line. We waited FOUR buses one night leaving Epcot because people in wheelchairs kept coming to the front of the line. One family had 7 people in it! They already eliminate a whole row of seats for the wheelchair, then add 6 more people to the bus and it's half full! We were so frustrated with the process.

Yeah, unless I don't plan to go to the parks much...I don't plan to stay at Pop again. The resort itself was fun, clean...all in all I would stay there for every aspect of it...but the buses...that would keep me away. I wonder though. Do you think it just had to do with the time of year we went and the fact that it was fd?

As for the chairs, yeah...I am with ya. We had frustration with all that you mentioned. I want those in chairs to go on first. I just found the process a bit frustrating and made me wonder quite a bit...

Wow! You have been busy since I've been gone! I have really appreciated your trip report and hearing all the struggles. I think it is important for others as well. You plan and plan the perfect trip in your mind-- and then other people's personalities get involved. It always makes for an interesting adventure. I appreciate your honesty in sharing the ups and downs!

Thank you... I have kinda worried that I am sounding too negative. I really am normally an easy going person...and tend to see the glass half full. (really I make my friends frustrated by it) I do tend to over share though and I don't sugar coat things. The trip was what it was..ups and downs and all. I really did have a good time. I hope that somehow comes across in my TR.

BTW, I am glad you made it over here!!!!

 

[annmarieda]

Augh so frustrating about Kira and your mom. You definitely didn't need that added tension. Zoe is so adorable!

You must have been posting when I was...

Yeah, it was a bit frustrating. I kinda felt as though I was unsuccessfully trying to make one or the other happy at all times.

I think Zoe is cute too, so thank you...and just to show how cute she is...a couple bonus pics.. Neither are recent...but they are some of my favorites of her. One was just her dressed for Halloween a couple years ago and the other is actually while in WDW. A lady actually came up and asked if it would be alright if she took a pic of Zoe (for herself) since she thought it was so funny/cute.

 

[annmarieda]

On Saturday,9/4 we had planned to go to Animal Kingdom. Mom was so tired that morning. She decided that she needed a bit more sleep. I think she either was conflicted in that decision or she thought we wanted to to at least trip and get up because she attempted to get up. As she did so, she rolled over onto her glasses and broke them. Ok, so here is where I am a bit frustrated because I felt she did it on purpose. Still, I am mature and remain calm. If she did or didn't do it on purpose...it doesn't matter it is done. Kira is beyond even getting upset at this point. She kinda just shrugs it off with a "of course, something else gradma has done" attitude. She takes Zoe and I stay behind to try and help fix them.

No matter what I do, I can't get them fixed. I want to go with the girls so I tell we will worry about the glasses later. "For now, just sleep and call me when you wake."

I did not catch up to the girls. The made it on the bus right before the one I caught. It was kinda nice to go to ride the bus alone. I had no bag to carry, nothing to juggle..just me and a cup of coffee. I had a nice relaxing ride to AK.

Meanwhile, Kira and Zoe made it to rope drop and once inside made a bee line for EE. I got to the park just barely after rope drop so knowing that they would be headed straight for EE, I made my way there. The park was so empty! (yay, more alone time for me) I literally walked down empty pathways between Dinoland and Asia. I got to EE just as the girls were coming off of EE. They had managed to go on twice in a row!

Hungry, we decided to get some rolls at Kusafiri Bakery. They were quite yummy.

With the park still pretty vacant, we headed to Kali. It was already beginning to get pretty hot (even though it was only like 9:30am). We decided we did not care if we got wet so no ponchos for us! We walked right on to the ride it was so empty. When it was over, there was NO one in line so the cm said we could just stay on the ride. We got soaked and it was GREAT! I wore my niffy crocs that day so my feet were nice and comfy. Kira did wore her tennis shoes...so her feet were not so comfy the rest of the day.

About the time we were getting off Kali, my mom called. She was on her way in! It was close to the time we were going to see Festival of the Lion King so I sent the girls ahead and I went to meet my mom. On the way to the front gate, I got to see DVine. I snapped some quick shots as I walked through. I can't believed they turned out as well as they did.

It was such a nice morning. I couldn't believe how much peace I got. made me kinda think I needed a vacation by myself.

Anyway, so I met my mom and we went to camp Mickey. (who still did not have her glasses fixed) We were almost too late, but got in. We found seats (not with the girls) and enjoyed the show. My mom was in awe. I have seen that show each time we have been to WDW and I am always thrilled by it.

Next was time to get some fp's for Kilimanjaro Safari and since we were right there...why not get a couple of snacks at the bakery again. I was going to get each of us something...but last minute decided against it. I am glad we split the two cupcakes between the four of us. One white chocolate elephant and one zebra cupcake, please!

The heat was making it hard to enjoy our snacks. We decided that we needed to build our appetite back up before lunch, which was coming up quick. Off to walk the maharajah jungle trek and then to lunch.

Just some pics from the trek...

next chapter;

Lunch, priority seating and the end of our AK day

 

[KatMark]

I'm trying to catch up with all my subscribed threads while here on Marco Island (it's pouring out right now).


Sorry for all the "ups and downs" on the trip--it sounds like you had an awful lot of stress.

I love the photos of Da Vine from AK (we missed her when we were there this past Sunday).

 

[Simba22]

great AK update! those cupcakes from kusafiri look great! what kind are they, do you remember? we've never eaten anything from there before so maybe this year I will make sure we stop in.

Glad you had a little bit of alone time that morning! sorry about your mom's glasses....I can only imagine where that's going

 

[tinacaplan]

So cool that you got to see Devine...we missed her when we were there. And I have to add that Illuminations is my absolute favorite fireworks show. Not sure why...it just is. I had a morning similar to yours at AK when I was at EPCOT. We walked through WS right at 11, as it first opened, and we were the only ones there. It was amazing.

 

[annmarieda]

So cool that you got to see Devine...we missed her when we were there. And I have to add that Illuminations is my absolute favorite fireworks show. Not sure why...it just is. I had a morning similar to yours at AK when I was at EPCOT. We walked through WS right at 11, as it first opened, and we were the only ones there. It was amazing.

We were lucky. We got to see her both days that we went. I think because we tend to hang out in the same place is often seen could be the reason why we always catch her.

great AK update! those cupcakes from kusafiri look great! what kind are they, do you remember? we've never eaten anything from there before so maybe this year I will make sure we stop in.

Glad you had a little bit of alone time that morning! sorry about your mom's glasses....I can only imagine where that's going

The white choc. elephant is a chocolate cupcake with a white vanilla cream frosting. The white frosting is topped with toasted coconut and in the center of the cupcake is like a German chocolate filling. On top is a white chocolate elephant lolipop. One of my favorite cupcakes ever....and they are HUGE! The zebra is almost as good. Huge to start, it is a vanilla cupcake with the butter cream frosting. On top of that are chocolate shavings. (mix of white and dark chocolate strips) Those melt super fast though.

The morning was nice for me. It gave me a chance to "reboot". As for my mom and her glasses. yeah...well, lets just say I wasn't going to let that interfere with our trip. I will post a bonus chapter on it next.

I'm trying to catch up with all my subscribed threads while here on Marco Island (it's pouring out right now).

Sorry for all the "ups and downs" on the trip--it sounds like you had an awful lot of stress.

I love the photos of Da Vine from AK (we missed her when we were there this past Sunday).

I can't believe all the posting you do on vacation. I am so busy..trying to herd all of my family I cant find hardly time to even journal. Sorry for the rain!!

Stress is just a part of life.. doesn't mean life is bad....just it has its stress. (at least it does my life with my crazy family. )

 

[annmarieda]

Ok, so I mentioned that she broke them on the morning of the 4th. I also said I missed the bus trying to help fix them. Next was that I told her we would worry about it later and left her to her own devices. Before leaving her, I told her that housekeeping should carry eye glass repair kits. I told her that she should ask before she left.

She instead came to the park with one lens missing from her glasses and the frame around where said lens almost looking pried apart. You see, all that really happened with the glasses was that the screw came out and the lens popped out. I think my mother likes a bit of attention at times. With all of her health problems recently, one she says she is having is that she can't see properly out of one eye. (the eye that the lens went missing from) It is not that I don't believe her. I truly do. What I think though, is that she would like a reason to be able to tell everyone how bad it is. So I prepared myself for her to tell each and every person who asked about her glasses that it was fine..she was blind in that eye anyway. (channeling a bit of Eeyore) I decided I was not going to feed that. I was happy that day and it was not going to change just because my mother lost her lens. (wow, that sounds mean...but... well... maybe I am mean for a moment here) Instead, I encouraged enthusiasm for each thing we were doing that day. I think keeping a good attitude (even if it was a bit mean) kept us all happy. I didn't caudal her and make that the focus of our day. Instead, the focus was all the fun we were having. I think she in the end did just fine. She too was in good spirits all day.

Now, as mean as I do sound regarding this. Please don't think I didn't try and help her. Remember there was in the room before I left. I also went to the concierge desk at Pop as well as the gift shop.(this is how I got pointed toward asking housekeeping) Once in AK, I looked at various shops and eventually went to guest services. At guest services they did have an eyeglass repair kit, but my mother did not bring the lens to the park. At this point, I figured nothing more could be done and thus we went about our wonderful day in AK.

At the end of the day, back at Pop, she finally got them fixed...and no more happened with the glasses.

end bonus chapter

 

[oboedm]

Great update! I am glad that you were able to enjoy some quiet that morning! It sounds refreshing. I was luck and was able to avoid the rest of my group in our hotel room-- they were staying in one connected us. At the end of the day it was just me and DH, so we were able to decompress and vent about anything that happened that day.

It's good that you were able to get that quiet time! Hopefully the rest of the day went better-- I am glad your mom liked FOTLK. I am sure it was a good way to start the day after a rough beginning!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I had seen those cupcakes before on the disney food blog and I totally wanted one but alas, I was never hungry enough to actually want one when we got to any place with a cupcake. But now I must note down that it is a must try for next time!

Zoe really is truly adorable! I know I say that every time, LOL, but it's true. I like how she smiles the same way in every picture. It's so cute.

It sounds like you guys had a great time at AK, especially you since you had some "solo" time. It's funny how your mom decided to wear the one-lens glasses anyways. She could have gone to the Pirates League! I think they accept all ages. I'm glad she managed to get them fixed in the end!

I have not done the Maharajah's trek. Actually I have not done much at AK at all. I don't know why, but we manage to go to AK on the hottest day of our trip and it always feels 10 deg hotter there than the other parks. So I try to stay cool. I would just stay on KRR repeatedly like you guys if I could!

 

[annmarieda]

Next was lunch at Tusker House. We always love it here so we were extra excited when we found that they offered a Finding Nemo dinning package. We were scheduled for Lunch at 2pm. I failed to take any pictures of the meal. As always it was good. I do think that the humidity may have been doing bad things to the desserts that were set out, but they were still yummy. Here are a few of what Kira had to eat.

Lunch was nice. The cm was slow with the drinks, but she made up for it by giving my mom a cupcake to go. (for her birthday).

After lunch, we went to the Flights of Wonder Show. It is a nice show. I think Kira loves this show more than the rest of us, but we still enjoy it.

Next we did Pangani Trail. We always like to see the animals so this was nice. We got to see the baby gorilla too. Although, he/she was moving so much it was hard to get a good picture of him.

Once done with the trail it was time for Kilimanjaro Safari. We were in the very last seat. I was excited for this since I figured we could look back to see the animals once we had moved on. Some of the animals were so close to the path it was amazing.

I just loved seeing the baby animals on this trip! Baby gorilla, baby giraffe, and baby elephant. I love the babies!

This ostrich waited only briefly for us to go by before crossing.

This doesn't do it justice, but the lion was grooming the lioness. Lick...lick...lick. Almost like big kitties.. big kitties with big teeth.

As we got done with the safari, it was time for the parade. I LOVE the parade. I look at the pictures and still hear the song.

The next thing we did was super fun. I was feeling kinda bad for not wanting to spend the fortune on BBB. I also know that Zoe really wanted some special attention. Every trip she has wanted to get her face painted. I thought, why not this trip? After all, it was only $15! So she picked the butterfly and got a little pampering.

I wish this could have lasted longer, but one sip of water and the sparkly lipstick was gone I thought she looked so pretty!

It was finally time for the Finding Nemo show. After doing the Mama Melroses package for Fantasmic I didn't have high hopes that our "special ticket" for having done Tusker's package would give us much. I was so excited to see that I was wrong! I had seen the there was a section on the right side near the stage. I never knew how people got those seats. I guess I do now. We were so close we could probably have touched the cm's as they leaned over had we wanted to. It was amazing.

I must say though, it may not have been ideal for everyone. We were so close and could see the cms so clearly that it was a bit distracting. Kinda hard to get into the illusion that the character are floating around when you can see the faces of the actors/puppeteers. I however, really liked it because the actors would come out onto the stage around us. It felt like we were in the middle of it all.

Sadly once Finding Nemo the Musical was over...so was the day at the park. I hate that AK closes so early. 5pm and we were leaving. It had been such a nice day. All of it had been the calm before the next storm (as one of the titles first stated)

What will be our next storm and how long will it last???
Next chapter;

Look out, she's gonna blow!!!

 

[tinacaplan]

Another great update. Zoe looks so cute with her face painted. I can't believe how much time you're able to spend in the parks on a single day. We can only handle a few hours at a time, I think. Something tells me that will change as Max gets older.

 

[Simba22]

What I think though, is that she would like a reason to be able to tell everyone how bad it is. So I prepared myself for her to tell each and every person who asked about her glasses that it was fine..she was blind in that eye anyway.

She sounds a lot like my own mom If I have a headache, my mom has an insufferable migraine, if my back hurts, she has a slipped disk, if my knee hurts, she has a bone spur. I'm sorry to say that I don't know what to believe from her anymore. She did just have knee surgery, so I know those problems were real....but it just seems that every chance she gets she has to mention how her pain is worse than anyone elses.

At guest services they did have an eyeglass repair kit, but my mother did not bring the lens to the park.

I'm sorry, but I literally laughed out loud at this! I just have no words!

I LOVE your pic of the lions! We are always going too fast when we go by that area and they're usually sleeping so I never get good pics. That is a great shot! And I LOVE the baby animals! OMG how freakin' cute!

And Zoe's face paint was beautiful! How cute!

 

[annmarieda]

Another great update. Zoe looks so cute with her face painted. I can't believe how much time you're able to spend in the parks on a single day. We can only handle a few hours at a time, I think. Something tells me that will change as Max gets older.

Thank you. It was a fun thing to do with her. I think it would have been hard in the past for her to sit still for it, so I am glad that we waited till now to do this.

As for the time in the parks..yeah. Kira tends to not give us a choice. I really don't mind though...I can stay on my feet for hours no problem.

I LOVE your pic of the lions! We are always going too fast when we go by that area and they're usually sleeping so I never get good pics. That is a great shot! And I LOVE the baby animals! OMG how freakin' cute!

And Zoe's face paint was beautiful! How cute!

That day, the safari was the best I have ever been on. All of the animals were out and active. It was AWESOME.

And the comments on my mom. THANK you! I am so glad that someone could relate...and you had me chuckle too! No words...yup..me neither. That is why I just didn't focus on it...just..what could ya do???

 

[Dizneydaz]

Glad to see I'm not the only one up at this hour!

Great pix of the safari. I would love to see the 2 lions interacting.

I will look for the baby gorilla when we are there. My DM has a "thing" for gorillas so we always stop by to check them out.

Zoe looks so cute! I finally let DD11 get her face painted last year at MK. It was her 10th birthday.

Leaving for FLA in just a few hours and we'll be at POP on Monday!

 

[annmarieda]

Glad to see I'm not the only one up at this hour!

Great pix of the safari. I would love to see the 2 lions interacting.

I will look for the baby gorilla when we are there. My DM has a "thing" for gorillas so we always stop by to check them out.

Zoe looks so cute! I finally let DD11 get her face painted last year at MK. It was her 10th birthday.

Leaving for FLA in just a few hours and we'll be at POP on Monday!

Yay! Have a safe trip. do check out the baby while there. He was just so funny. He tumbled all over the place and the older/adult gorillas just sat there like he was sucking the energy away from them. (I know that is how I feel when my small ones were all worked up)

Pop on monday? Any hopes at where you will be? I was very happy with where we were placed. It was so peaceful and quiet..yet so close to the main building and pool that you would have thought there would be no way it would be quiet. Now if only those darn buses were not so problematic... would have made for a "fall in love" with Pop experience.

 

[annmarieda]

In the last couple of updates, everything has gone pretty smooth. Things are about to change very quickly for us.

So on 9/4 AK closed at 5pm. We knew this would be a short park day for us and I made a 7:10pm ADR at Boatwrights. We had stayed at POR in February and had not taken advantage of going here. This was going to be a first time for us. I was excited to try, if nothing else, the bananas foster. In stead of taking a bus back to Pop, we took one from AK to POR. I had not planned for the bus to stop at one of the water parks, so I was a bit surprised when we did.

Once at the POR, we went directly to the restroom to get cleaned up. The restroom just off from the lobby is a small one and there were quite a few people already in there. Small spaces with lots of people inside are not something that Kira does well with so when my mom started to mill about Kira snapped at her to go to the lobby to sit. It really hurt my mom's feelings. I am not sure, but I think this is the first time she noticed Kira (or my own) frustration. Hurt feelings, she went to the lobby and I believe was on guard. Now, you may be wondering...is this the part where she's gonna blow? Please, read on.

After getting cleaned up we went to get checked in for our ADR. Remember the park closed at 5pm. Remember our ADR was for 7:10pm. I guess maybe all the buses had issues during this time because while the ride was uneventful (other than that unexpected stop) we had only arrived with enough time to barely get cleaned up. How on earth it could take us 2 hours is beyond me, but there ya go, it took us that long.

Once seated we barely had a moment to look at the menu when Zoe inhaled when she should have swallowed her water. She tried to hold it in, but with that half coughing/choking thing going on, she suddenly got that look. That one that says "look out I am gonna blow" I quickly scooped her up to get her out of the restaurant. Poor Kira at this point thought she was about to "get it", got upset and so was on guard. Mom on guard, Kira on guard and I left with poor little Zoe to get some air.

Outside, Zoe regained her composure. I decided we would walk in and go straight to the restroom. She got a drink from the fountain and seemed fine, so back into the restaurant we went. Before she could even sit, the look was back, so out we went again. This just aggravated Kira more since she thought I wasn't dealing with it quick enough. (not sure how I could have been quicker)

Meanwhile, unbeknown to me... the two ladies I had left behind to fend for themselves, who were both on guard went at it. Kira got an earful about how she needed to be more compassionate. Kira snapped a bit back at her grandmother, but for the most part just bottled it up...saving it for my return.

I returned and Kira wanted to go. She didn't want to eat. She began calling and texting her fiance. She kept attempting to "get air". This got my mom a bit hot. Mom felt bad for Zoe and thought Kira was being selfish. The two kept sniping at each other while I was trying to make sure Zoe was ok. Thankfully, our poor waitress was awesome and was being patient with us during this ordeal. I didn't want to leave. I had looked forward to this meal. Not to mention where would we go for dinner? What would we do? I was not convinced Zoe was "sick" It was rough since I was in the middle.

I finally texted Kira (yes, I stooped to essentially passing notes in front of my mom) I explained to her that I had everything under control and that I needed her to please suck it up and calm down...for me. Kira may come across through her actions as selfish, but really I think why the "you need to have more compassion" comment set her off so badly is because she really is a helpful caring young woman. She can just be a bit abrasive at times. Once I asked her to please for me...so that I could have dinner. She changed her mood. Once she changed her mood, so did my mother. (they both are so much alike it makes me nuts)

Here ends the "she's gonna blow" part of our evening. Intense, but short lived.

Now it was FINALLY time to order. Amazingly, I took NO pictures during this evenings events! Luckily, Kira got a few. First thing to come out, was the corn bread. I could have just ate that and been happy it was so very good!

Kira ordered the jambalaya. It turned out to be one of her favorite meals of the trip.

Mom had the prime rib.

I ordered the tenderloin. I loved the meat...but the rest of it was kinda odd.

Poor Zoe, didn't eat a bunch. I ordered her the chicken noodle soup and a burger. She only ate the soup.

Dessert was amazing. (sorry no pics) The entire wait staff came out and sang zippity doo dah to my mom for her birthday. It was the BEST place that she had her birthday recognized. Mom had an amazing apple pie. Kira had the pecan pie.(which was oooh so good). Did I have the bananas foster. OH YES!!! Wow, could you taste the rum in it. It was very rich. I loved it.

Next chapter;

Setting sail