The whole World according to Moi! - COMPLETED!

[donaldsgal]

Friday, March 21st

Today was Good Friday. My agency doesn't close for this holiday, so I had to go in to the office. I worked until about 11, then headed home so we could load up the car and head out. The AAA trip tik said the drive would be almost 16 hours. We stopped only about 3 times and ate at drive-thrus - we were desperate to get to Disney!

We arrived at our hotel about 5:30 AM. We had booked through Priceline. I was hoping to get a DTD area hotel, but we ended up with the Radisson Resort Orlando Celebration. It was recommended by All Ears and MouseSavers, so I felt okay about it. That all changed when we arrived. (SOAPBOX SERMON BEGINS): Missy went in to check in and came back after about 20 minutes. They had lost our reservation. They said they had a large conference check in and they had lost five reservations. Ours was one of them. The front desk clerk didn't tell her what was going on when she checked in - he just called the manager. The manager told us to go to the Radisson Hotel Lake Buena Vista and they would house us for THE NIGHT since that was our reservation. Clearly they had that wrong, too, since we were staying for the 21st and 22nd. He said we'd have to talk to the day manager about not having to move back to the Radisson Resort Orlando Celebration on the night of the 22nd. Since we had a two year old with us, that was NOT at all what we wanted to do. We also explained we were headed to the parks for the morning and needed to shower, so we didn't want to have to deal with calling the day manager before heading out (the day manager came on at 7 AM). This manager said he could let us shower in a room that a guest had just checked out of. He'd make sure we had clean towels. Um, what?!?! No thank you!!! That was really a preposterous suggestion and in no way made up for giving us the boot with no advanced notice. That was adding insult to injury.

We arrived at the Radisson Hotel Lake Buena Vista only to find that the manager at Radisson Resort Orlando Celebration hadn't even called ahead to make sure that Radisson Hotel Lake Buena Vista had rooms! He sent us with a letter to pay for one night. We were very unhappy, but the manager at Radisson Hotel Lake Buena Vista was fantastic! He set us up for one night and sent us up to the room since he understood we were exhausted from our long 18 hour drive from Ohio.

About 15 minutes later, the manager at Radisson Hotel Lake Buena Vista called us in our room and told us he had taken care of the reservation from Radisson Resort Orlando Celebration and we would not have to move; Celebration would be paying for two nights. The original hotel did not take care of us or make efforts to spare us moving around Orlando with a 2 year old in tow. We will NEVER stay at that hotel again, whereas we would recommend Radisson Hotel Lake Buena Vista without hesitation. (STEPPING DOWN FROM SOAPBOX NOW).

We went upstairs, showered, tried out the sleep number beds - that was fun! - and headed out to the parks. We were hoping to arrive by 8 AM, but with the reservation snaffoo, we got there about 8:30. Not too shabby. It was here that we realized a second serious error - we forgot the stroller! Okay, seems like no big deal, right? Well, it normally would be, except we don't like to spend the time in line for a stroller in the morning when we can be in line for a ride! And secondly, we have a two year old with us who probably can't walk as much as we're going to need. We decided we'd see how it goes first before we decided to buy a weeklong stroller rental.

We were all smiles as we boarded the tram from the TTC parking lot to the monorail station.

We headed into the MK and I ran ahead to get Hannah's first view of the castle. Now in honesty, this isn't her first look at it - this is her third trip! But this time she's more into all things Disney, has recently fallen in love with the princesses, anything Playhouse Disney, and loves to be pretty, so we figured she'd be really into it this year. Here's her first look at it:

She's saying "Oooooooooooooooooooh!" I wish I had video of the sound because it explains the face. Anyways, she thought it was great. We got a Photo Pass picture that turned out pretty good. The guy wanted Mom to pose with her arm on her hip - it doesn't look very natural, but that's okay.

We headed to Dumbo first. We are TourGuideMike people, so we follow his recommendations. I rode in one Dumbo while Missy and Hannah took the one behind me so that I could get better shots of Hannah. We hear ALLLLL the time how tiny Hannah is - she's about 30 inches tall and about 20 pounds. And she's 2 years amost 4 months old. She's a pipsqueak, and people usually think she's a lot younger and/or extremely advanced for her age (because they see her walking, talking, with tons of hair and at a height that they think makes her about 12-18 months old). Anyways, being above her helps me get shots of her face since she's so little. Here she is enjoying Dumbo:

Next up, we hit Winnie the Pooh. We were positive this would be a huge hit. Hannah LOVES "My Friends Tigger and Pooh" on Playhouse Disney. We get on the ride - she's with me in the front. We start to move, and she velcroes herself to me. My arms are around her and she's hanging on for dear life. She won't look up or around for anything. We were shocked! We get into the bouncing room - she loves to bounce at home - same thing. We get into the rain rain rain came down down down room - you guessed it. And when the ride was nearly over, Hannah looks up, waves bye to Pooh, and says in a sweet voice, "Bye Pooh!" Go figure! We had similar results with Snow White, which was also surprising because Snow White (or Nose-ite, as she calls her) is one of her top three favorite Pretties (her name for the princesses).

Next up I walked to Big Thunder for FPs while Miss, Mom, and Hannah rode it's a small world. I hate that ride, so I was happy to miss it. I saw a lovely shrub outside the ride.

I got back and we all did PhilharMagic - we all love this one. Hannah was enamoured with the 3D images, and Mom really likes these. We always have to convince her that the character really ISN'T just in front of her. It was a hit. Afterwards, Miss and Hannah did the caroussel. Apparently that was a BIG hit! Too bad we missed it, but someone's gotta schlep across the park to get those beloved FPs, right?

We get back and it's about time for lunch. We stopped at Pinocchio's Village Haus and are enjoying our food when Mom yells out, "Dan!" Approaching our table is the dean of students at the high school where Mom works! The high school is small - about 400 students total in grades 9-12 - so this was a very small world! We knew he was coming; I told Mom some websites for him to check out before his trip. We ended up sitting next to them for a bit as we wrapped up our lunch. We enjoyed the chance meeting. It's always fun to drive 1024 miles from home and run into someone you see every day!

Next Up: Afternoon break, Kona Cafe, and a night at MK!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Great start to your trip report. So sorry about the hotel mess you encountered when you arrived but glad you got it worked out. I can't believe you guys went straight to the park after driving all night!!

It's funny what kids like/dislike is sometimes not at all what you would have imagined.

How funny that you ran in to someone you knew from your home town!

Looking forward to more.

 

[jwwi]

Sounds like you are having a fun morning in Fantasyland, what a perfect start to a trip to WDW.

 

[timandlesley]

Sounds great so far, but where did you go??? Get back here right now.

 

[MinnieMommy]

 

[PISCESANGEL]

I'm here! I loved your first installment, but was very sorry to hear about the hotel mixup...

We also drive from Ohio and I can only imagine what a pain that would be after being in the car for 18 hours!


Looking forward to hearing more

 

[donaldsgal]

Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest in reading more! I apologize for the long absence without explanation. I wanted readers, searched high and low for 'em, and then left you high and dry! Whoops!

I needed to get my pictures uploaded to photobucket so that I could include those in the report. Got that done, so this weekend I went to start posting and tried to turn on my computer, only to see that it had died. Next plan was to use my sister's laptop, but our internet was also out of commission. Work has been crazy, and my sister went out of town again this weekend for a spiritual retreat, so I was on full-time Tia duty with Hannah. Coupled with job hunting and being sick, you can see we've had a lot going on! I was so excited to get several installments to you this weekend, but I think my computer's hard drive is dead, and it's not under warranty anymore, so now I need to consider getting a new one. (Off topic: considering a Mac. Anyone have one?) Anyways, I'm very hopeful I can crank out some installments Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. I will do my best. Thanks for being patient and encouraging me to keep going. I have to confess: thoughts of not picking it back up had danced in my head. But no longer! I hope to make progress soon! Enjoy your Tuesday.

Btw, today is a special day because it's my sister's birthday, and it was 2 years ago today that Hannah joined our family officially in a hotel lobby in Guatemala City!

 

[donaldsgal]

(Disclaimer: I don't have photos for this portion of the night. I left the camera in the car! )

Okay, so when we last left off, many weeks ago, we had headed out of the park for an afternoon break. After that very long drive and that very frustrating start to the day, we were ready to relax! We headed back to our hotel, the Radisson Lake Resort Buena Vista just about a 1/2 mile around the corner from the Downtown Disney entrance to Disney property. We got back into the room and laid down for a much needed nap!

We woke up and started getting ourselves together for our 5:30 reservation at Kona. By now it was sprinkling, so we were debating about what we'd do for parking. We know it's against the rules to park at a resort if you're eating there and then keep your car there while you go to a park, so we were planning to park at the TTC. I had read on the DIS that you can walk to the Poly from the TTC. It was raining pretty steadily by the time we got to the TTC parking lot, but it was about 5:20 by this time, so taking the monorail around wouldn't have helped us with time. We opted to hoof it. For those of you who may do this in the future, it was a really easy walk. Not knowing where we were headed, it felt sort of long and meandering, but it wasn't. I had an umbrella, so I was carrying Hannah and the umbrella so she'd stay dry. We walked up to the podium about 5:35 I think. I checked in and we waited maybe 4 minutes before our name was called.

I enjoyed this meal a lot. You won't hear about the DDP because we weren't on it. We did, however, use the DDE - Disney Dining Experience for those of you who don't know. You have to have an annual pass to have one, and it just so happens Miss and I joined the ranks of annual passholders since we are going back in October. But I digress...

We had crab cakes as an appetizer. They were phenomenal! This was definitively the best appetizer of the trip. Crunchy, flavorful, and appealing in looks alone. Yum! I had the teriyaki filet, which was really good. I didn't eat the whole thing - the crab cakes really filled me up. Keep in mind I'm a big eater, but I'd lost 7 lbs in the week up to the trip due to a nasty GI bug. I basically didn't eat for a week except for Activia yogurt and G2 Gatorade. I was so hungry by today that I stuffed myself at lunch, and I didn't have much room for dinner. Luckily that changed by the end of the trip! Everyone enjoyed their meals. I've heard people say that Kona is really noisy, but we didn't find it to be so. And I know Ohana is somewhere around there (as we were also warned Hannah would see the fun there and be upset she was at Kona), but I couldn't see it, maybe due to where we were seated, and she never uttered a complaint about being at Kona.

During the meal, I had a DIS moment. I had posted about needing help figuring out if Kona would be to our liking. NJDISMOM posted on that thread and shared her travel dates, which were exactly the same as ours. I told her to come say hi if she saw us, since she was eating at Kona about the same time we were. And she did come say hi!!! That was super fun. I loved it. My sister and mom smiled at that - they think it's neat that I happen to run into DISers on our trip, and they know that makes me happy! So hi again, NJDISMOM - hope your sons enjoyed the desserts!

After dinner, we headed back to the park. The trouble with writing trip reports so long after you get back is that you forget the details. Given my wordiness, though, that might not be a bad thing! I know we did Haunted Mansion tonight - we really wanted to see it due to the rehab from last summer. We weren't sure Hannah would like it given her stranger reaction to some of the Fantasyland rides. She has ridden HM before with no problems, but we didn't want to ruin the ride for others - or ourselves! Mom volunteered to stay behind so Miss and I could experience this together. We were really impressed - they didn't screw up the ride like they did a certain conspicuous attraction over at Epcot . The new scene with the stairs was very cool. Two thumbs up!

We tried to do Space Mountain, but it was having technical difficulties (a theme of this trip). We tried the TTA - also not in operation. We departed Tomorrowland and headed for working rides.

After this, we made good use of FPs and Rider Swaps from earlier in the day. Miss and Mom rode Splash Mountain while I watched Hannah go nuts in the playground area as you exit the ride. That was great fun. Hannah made lap after lap after lap through that log, down the slide, back up again, through the log.... Then she and Mom got off and she and I got on. Great ride - I wore my hoodie so I wouldn't get AS drenched. We got pretty wet, but it was a good time regardless. I love riding it at night!

After this, we headed to Pirates, which we rode and enjoyed - except Hannah, who kept her head down through the whole ride. We honestly thought she'd fallen asleep until we said at the end, "Hannah, it's time to go" and up her head popped like it was on a spring. It was pretty hilarious!

Next was Magic Carpets of Aladdin, which Hannah loved. She wasn't sure at first but had a good time. We followed this with Jungle Cruise - a must-do for us not just each trip but each DAY we're in MK. We love the corny jokes, and we keep our ears open for creative new jokes from the CMs. Had some good ones on this ride. We had a weird moment coming into the queue, though. Our FPs were for like 1-2 PM. It was now 8:30 or so. Yes, we use our FPs late. I have personally heard a CM say, as she was waving guests into Rock n Roller Coaster, "FPs for Noon or before". They really do let you in late. We've done this at every ride. We've stopped, had the FPs closely inspected, and been waved on through. We were among the "don't use late FPs crowd until persuaded otherwise by guests who were in the know. Now that's us, and we love it! However, this CM - a college program intern - looked at the FP, waved us through, stopped, did a double take, and said, "Wow. You're, like, 6 hours late." (A very college student moment ). We smiled and said that yes, we were. We waited to see what would happen. He just looked at us sort of like this: and after a couple of seconds, we walked on through. We'd been told the college program CMs aren't always familiar with the policy, so we were prepared to be polite and ask him to check with someone else, but we didn't need to. I think we really rocked his world by that look on his face. It was like he'd just seen me sprout antlers, but he wasn't rude and it worked out fine, so it was all good and we were soon ready to board.

Mom wasn't feeling great though. We were worried she'd come down with the GI crud I'd had - because Hannah, my dad, and my sister had all had it too (although Dad and I were the worst cases). She was pretty uncomfortable, but she didn't want to spoil our fun since we had been planning to stay for Spectro and Wishes. (BTW, that's just ONE of the gatrillions reasons why she is an amazing, amazing mother .) I tend to be more, um, militant in sticking to touring plans and keeping on schedule. I had to give myself props (and verbally request them from my family ) about how much I was NOT doing this, and in keeping with my newfound approach, I was the one who strongly encouraged us to throw the plans aside and go back to the hotel so we could all just rest and Mom could try to recoup.

So that's what we did. We headed back to the TTC, got the car, and drove to the hotel. It was our first night, and we had fun playing around with the Sleep Number beds that the hotel had. We were planning to be up and at 'em early in the morning in the hopes of getting a room sooner when we checked in to BCV.

Next up: Easter at BCV!

 

[donaldsgal]

After a long absence, a new computer, and completed uploading of pictures to photobucket, I am ready to resume my TR. I hope some of you are still willing to read along!
*******
Okay, so today we had an early start due to my plan to get to the Beach Club Villas as early as possible to check in as early as possible. We left the Radisson around 7:45 and headed to our new home for the next several days.

We got in to the main lobby and were directed to the Beach Club Villas check in area. I was surprised at the size of the desk - it was tiny! I know that this check-in area was added only recently and since the BCV are small, they probably don't have much need of a larger area. That said, we were checking in and were asked if we had a view preference. I asked for a high floor with quiet pool view. We weren't going to get pool view but were offered 4th floor Epcot view instead. We took it! I had really hoped we'd be offered a room then and there, but alas, we had no such luck.

After we checked in, we meandered back to the main lobby and who did we see there? Donald and Mickey in fine attire! This was the moment of truth for us, minus the relationship-wrecking questions that they ask on that new reality show, to see if Hannah could interact with characters this trip (on previous ones, we had the child in the room that shrieked if the character came close but liked to see them from a distance. She and I got in line (since Donald is my favorite) and when it was our turn, we made our approach.

She did great! They were wonderful with her, by the way. They weren't wacky and zany - they were calm and very gentle with her. It was a success and a good start to many more positive character interactions for the rest of the trip.

After our successful rendezvous, we went outside to kill some time before our 9:55 breakfast reservations at Chef Mickey's. When we got to the yard, we saw several areas that were sectioned off with pink tape. They were having an Easter Egg hunt! This was good news to us because we hadn't read anything about a hunt before we left for the trip, and, as a result, came armed with cheap candy and Easter eggs to have our own Easter Egg hunt that afternoon (and let other kids in on the fun if they were around to see it in action). Check out the spread they had just for the 0-4 year olds:

This is the bag they gave you for candy:

They had three more areas for older age groups. We kept hearing that the hunt would start at 9 but it actually didn't get started until about 10 after. They had a rule about no parents in the hunt area, which made sense, but we were worried this would present a problem for Hannah as she gets clingy in new situations. We counted down and after a bit of coaxing and demonstrations from Tia regarding how to get the candy and into the bag, Hannah picked it up like a pro. She basically stayed in one 3 foot area the entire time but came away with a bunch of goodies. Here are some of the best pictures:

By now, it was time to head to the Contemporary. We got there and waited just a couple of minutes until we were seated. We were in a section we've never been in before, sort of at the rear right of the restaurant as you walk in. We were next to a plexiglass window that was sort of due to being grimy, but I was careful to "no touchy" as Kuzko would say. We waited for a bit before the characters started to make their way in. Hannah did really well again. She got a bit nervous after the Goofy and we discovered that if Miss held her and stood up with her so she could be eye level with the character, she did well. Here are some of the better pictures from breakfast:

Being the photographer, it's hard to get in the pictures sometimes. But I was in a couple good ones with Mom, which makes it fun!

(too bad we couldn't get Hannah to hold out her pigtails for this one - that would have been awesome!)

Cheesing it up with the big Cheese himself!

We had another chance encounter during this meal. Close to the end, Mom shouts out, "Tammy!" We looked up, and it's one of my sister's friends from elementary school through high school and lived about a mile away from us growing up. Talk about small world - AGAIN!!! Tammy was equally surprised to see us. We chatted for a few minutes, and off we went to enjoy the rest of our Easter Sundays. On the way out, we saw this delectable creation:

Yummy! I'd like to sink my teeth into this white chocolate wonder!

We headed to the gift shot after our meal since we had no plans for this Easter Sunday. We had no plans for any parks, so we had no schedule. It was nice! In the gift shop, I saw some adorable princess hats and plopped one down on Hannah. Turns out she loved it and we couldn't escape the shop without it.

After breakfast, we headed back to the BCV to hopefully check in. I'll spare you the suspense. We got our room at 3:45. Check in is at 4. So much for early to check in, early to get a room!

We went to Stormalong Bay and found a lounge chair. Hannah loved being in the water, and it turned out to be a lovely afternoon - sunny blue sky with temperatures in the 70s.

My camera has an awesome zoom feature, so Miss got a good shot of Hannah and I from quite a distance. Gotta love zoom!

We were out there for about 3 hours total. We ate lunch at Hurricane Hannah's, and there were some decent options. I had salad but it had a vinagrette dressing that I didn't care for. I did enjoy my view from my lounge chair, though:

Hannah was having fun both in and out of the water. She is a shoe lover in the making; she loves shoes and had some fun trying on my crocs.

During the time at the pool, Miss decided to go to the gift shop. She was in a bad mood but I can't remember why. Mom and Hannah went back in the pool and I rested in the lounge chair. At one point, I heard the lifeguard's whistle and turned around to check out what was happening. I couldn't see anything except some other people looking too so I thought nothing of it. About 5 minutes later, Mom came back with Hannah. She asked if I heard the whistle and I told her what happened. Turns out it was for her and Hannah! My mom fell two years ago on a trip to Hilton Head and broke both of her shoulders (it was an awful experience - it was the first night of the trip about 2 hours after we arrived - we went home early - needless to say that was the WORST vacation experience ever), so she has limited mobility, especially in her left shoulder. Mom said that she was holding Hannah and the current sort of pushed her out farther from the side, and she couldn't touch to get back. She also had Hannah in her arms, so she couldn't swim back to the side. She was struggling, and apparently the lifeguard saw her and asked if she needed help. Mom said yes, if the lifeguard could just take Hannah, that would be wonderful. So what happens? The lifeguard blows her whistle and jumped in from her lifeguard chair! Mom was super embarrassed and of course felt like she had endangered Hannah. I, on the other hand, found it rather funny only because I know my mom would not only do everything she can to keep Hannah out of harm's way, but she has this uncanny ability to find herself in embarrassing or ridiculous situations. A good example was today where Mom found herself as an inspiration for an impromptu rescue at a Disney pool on a national holiday, but there are more to come this trip.

As I mentioned, we called at about 3:45 to check on the room and discovered that it was ready. We loaded up and headed out. We checked into our room, which was about 15 feet from an elevator. That was nice! Here are some pictures from our room:

Mickey left us a calling card.

The master bedroom

The bathroom view into the master bedroom

The living room/kitchen bar

Hannah needed a nap, so I got selected to stay behind. Oh, darn, huh? We ended up falling asleep while Miss and Mom unloaded the car. We woke up about 6 or so I think. I wasn't feeling so hot, but we had plans to get Yorkshire Co. Fish Shop for dinner. I had a recurrence of the bug I had before we left, so this probably wasn't the smartest idea. Oh well! We weren't going to stay for IllumiNations or even get to see it at all this trip, but I we changed our minds and decided to stay. I love this show, especially when it gets to "We go on".

After this, my stomach was really acting up, so we tried to book it back to the room. The night ended after my stomach seemed to be completely unable of giving me any more problems.

Next up: A morning at Epcot!

 

[donaldsgal]

Today we were headed to Epcot. We appreciated being so close to Epcot. We a 9 AM opening, we didn't need to leave until 8:35ish. So leave late we did. I forgot to mention that last night, upon trying to enter through the International Gateway to Epcot, we learned that our APs weren't working. We had just traded in our vouchers on Saturday morning at the TTC. According to the CM at Guest Relations, the CM at the TTC screwed up with the APs and made them expire that day instead of a YEAR from that day. Luckily, we weren't in a rush to get somewhere as we are in the mornings.

Anyways, this morning we got in without any problems. We had Soarin' on the brain, so we made the trek in that direction. By the time we arrived, there was a 40 minute wait, I think. We got a Baby Swap and FPs, and Mom and I hopped in line while Miss took Hannah to Ellen's Energy Adventure. We all enjoy this one, but the only way to get to do it was to split up. Mom and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Soarin', and Miss likes it too but not as much as we do, so that's how we decided who got extra rides on Soarin'. We got in line and we actually only waited about 25 minutes I think. Not great, but not too bad. We got the top row (I always ask for it and IMO think if I'm willing to wait, the request should always be granted - it always has been, so that works well for me). We were way off to the right and during the ride I was able to look down on the CM who runs the control panel of the ride. From 40 feet above, it was an interesting view and I was glad I was buckled in!

We got off and headed out to Sunshine Seasons for breakfast. We weren't sure when we would connect with Miss and Hannah again. We texted back and forth and found they were still only halfway through EEA. We ate breakfast - egg and cheese croissants, yummy - and took another ride on the Soarin' express. We were in the top row again, but this time on the inside end of the top row, far right side. Anywhere in the top row is fine by me!

We got off and walked over to the Living Seas with Nemo and Friends. Hannah and Miss were approaching, so we got in line for Nemo. Got a cute picture of Hannah in line

and she rode with me. It was a hit! Missy's favorite part is Peach at the end - she improvs her line, and we usually hear something different. After this, we decided to stay for Turtle Talk with Crush. We were at the beginning of the line for the next show, which was to start at 11:20 I think. We saw one of the workers feed the sting rays, which was interesting. They flap their fins all about, and Hannah thought that was great:

We got in and sat in the second row. We enjoyed the show. Hannah started to have a mini temper tantrum but calmed down when Crush came to the aquarium window. Overall, we enjoyed it. On the way out, we stopped so Hannah could find Nemo.

By the time that was done, we needed to head over to Morocco for our 12:45 lunch reservations. We were seated in a booth and were near the people we had bonded with in the line for and then sat next to on Soarin'. That was a fun coincidence.

The lunch was just okay. Actually, I enjoyed the meat of my dish, and my mom liked hers as well. Miss had been wanting to try this place for a while, and she got the seat that didn't face the belly dancer. I'm not sure why we arranged it this way - looking back, I wish I would have thought of it or that she would have said something. I'm not dying to go back, but I would if Miss wanted to so she could have the full experience.

After lunch we stopped to get some pictures of the lovely topiaries that were on display for the Flower and Garden Festival

and headed out of the park for an afternoon break.

On the day before, Miss had managed to purchase an umbrella stroller at the gift shop at the Beach Club. This turned out to be a saving grace for us this trip. Hannah did enjoy the walking, but when she got tired she wanted to be carried, and that gets tiring itself after a while. It also came in handy for times like tonight, where Mom would have Hannah while Miss and I went to AK for PM EMH.

Next up: evening EMH at AK.

 

[jwwi]

Love the topiaries from Epcot. Really nice picture of Snow White and the dwarfs. I love Soarin, still need to get to Nemo and Turtle talk, next trip. Did you like the BWV? Thinking of renting points for a future trip..............

 

[PISCESANGEL]

Great job - excellent pictures!

I'm so jealous of your room, it is gorgeous! We've only stayed at value resorts, so I'm looking forward to trying a Moderate or Deluxe one of these days...

Keep up the report - I'm really enjoying it!

 

[KimAshton]

I just found your TR and read the whole thing. Hannah is adorable. I wanna take her home with me.

 

[donaldsgal]

Great job - excellent pictures!

I'm so jealous of your room, it is gorgeous! We've only stayed at value resorts, so I'm looking forward to trying a Moderate or Deluxe one of these days...

Keep up the report - I'm really enjoying it!

Thanks for continuing to read and being patient with my long absence. I'm determined to finish this year! I know you'll love the bigger rooms when you get to stay at a Mod or Deluxe.

Love the topiaries from Epcot. Really nice picture of Snow White and the dwarfs. I love Soarin, still need to get to Nemo and Turtle talk, next trip. Did you like the BWV? Thinking of renting points for a future trip..............

Thanks for reading. We haven't stayed at BWV - we're staying there this October. We were at BCV this trip in case I mistyped along the way. The topiaries were great, weren't they?

I just found your TR and read the whole thing. Hannah is adorable. I wanna take her home with me.

Thanks for joining in! I'm glad you find Hannah as adorable as us - but I think my sister might object if you try to take her home.

I'll get the rest of Monday and hopefully Tuesday up tonight!

 

[donaldsgal]

When I last left you, we were heading out of the park for our afternoon break on Monday March 24. We got back to the room and changed so that we could hit the pool. We never went back to Stormalong Bay this trip - we spent our pool time at the quiet pool, which, as I said, was steps from the door that the elevator near our room emptied out to.

We had a good time this afternoon. It was a bit overcast but we still enjoyed the time at the pool. Hannah was a water baby and loved the pool time. We tried to give her courage to blow bubbles (she did this last trip without too much trouble), but she preferred to watch us do it. She wasn't huge on going on her back but other than that had a great time.

After a while, we headed back up to the room. I took a bath in that nice big tub, and Hannah laid down for a nap. We all rested for a while and watched some TV. Before long, it was time to leave for Beaches and Cream for dinner. We got there about 5:30 and were told it would be about a 45 minute wait. Yikes, but we knew that, since they don't have ADRs there, it would just be first come, first served. Anyways, about 15 minutes they called our names. Not sure what happened, but we weren't complaining.

When they say this restaurant is small, they ain't joking. Oh.My.Gosh. It's TINY!!! No wonder you wait ions to get in! We were seated at a table like you'd find in any soda shop and waited to order. We didn't wait long and ordered our food. While we were there, someone ordered the Kitchen Sink, and that was fun. The staff turned off the lights and a strobe light came on, then they marched out and announced that these people ordered the KS. It was a group of 4 so not too overwhelming for that many people, but still! Our food was okay. I took some pictures of Hannah being silly while we ate.

We ate and I ordered the No Way Jose for dessert. It was amazing but HUGE! It was the largest sundae I've ever seen! I only actually got about 1 cm below the rim of the glass because I was so stuffed. A tip: Honestly, I'd go for dessert sometime only, and only after you've eaten several hours earlier.

After dinner, we split up. Miss and I hopped in the van to go to PM EMH at AK, and Mom and Hannah were headed back to the room to rest. Mom loves the resting part at Disney. She's grown to love Disney over the years, but she also likes nights to just veg.

We got to AK about 7:30ish, if I remember right. We snapped a picture of the Tree of Life.

Next we were on the move for EE.

The plan was to ride this as many times possible since we weren't hindered by having to swap so someone could stay with Hannah. We got in line and it said a 30 minute wait. It was just about that. We enjoyed the line - it actually moved the whole time. The worst part was that there are bells placed about every 5 feet in the first part of the queue, and every adolescent male (and most adult ones too) felt it necessary to spend every ounce of testosterone allotted to them that night to ring those darn things. Made for a lot of ear ringing for several minutes. Being single women, we rolled our eyes at the silliness of men and kept moving along. We got on the ride and were somewhere in the middle. The ride was awesome. We love this one! I've never ridden it in the front, so we had that on the agenda for tonight. It was neat to ride it in the dark, too. I'd read on the DIS that EE has stopped and people have had to be evacuated, and I told Miss that. We both didn't want to have that be our luck, especially on the initial ascent. That's a LONG way down with nothing to prevent you from SEEING how far down it is. Yikes. So the ride was great and we didn't get stuck.

This time.

After this ride, we got off and went to do Dinosaur. We haven't done Dinosaur since 2004, I think. The ride is great but it absolutely positively unequivocally terrifies me. The loud noises, the inability to see where you are in relation to your surroundings for the majority of the ride, and of course a small matter of a huge dinosaur head with ginormous teeth coming straight down at you create a scenario in which I'm sure my blood pressure is at critical levels. Honestly, I spent most of the ride with my head buried in my hand, screaming, and clinging to Miss. Whew. Such a stressful experience. Once was enough for me tonight!

We got off and headed to one of our top three things to do in this park: Primeval Whirl. Now, before you start throwing tomatoes, I know many people find this area of AK to be cheesy and pathetic, but we love PW. The ride is the epitome of insane, it's jerky, it spins, it goes up and down hills, it spins WHILE going up and down hills, and the two outside people are hanging out over the track the entire time. Since Miss and I are large and in charge, we always position ourselves in these seats. Makes the ride that much more fun! We always ride it a couple of times, and tonight was no exception. Riding in the dark was great. We immediately hopped back on and did it again. This time we shot a picture of what we entitled "The Angriest Deer in the World", which we had managed to see during our wait in the queue the first time around:

.
Now, we're from Ohio, where the deer are all over the place. We've NEVER seen a deer like this - I'm glad I don't live in Nepal if is this is how their DEER look!

Good times.

By this time, it was time to return to EE with our FP we got earlier. [SPOILER ALERT: If you don't want to know how EE works, skip this section!] This time we zip zipped through line and had it in our heads to request the front row. We got it! We were pumped. By now it was completely dark out, and the night was cool but not too much so, so that riding gave a nice breeze and really just set the tone for an evening coaster ride. We get on and start our way up the ascent hill. The train did a weird pause/jerk thing, and we sort of looked at each other in panic, but nothing happened. We had never ridden in front before, so we figured that that motion was just the wheels of the ascent mechanism gripping or something (anything to make the terrible possibility of getting stuck seem unlikely) and the train continued up the mountain. Whew! Got up the hill to where we couldn't see down anymore, and we started to go around the curves. Got to the park where the track is torn up and stopped. We paused and then started careening backward at top speeds. We were screaming and loving it. Yahoo, right? Right! We got to the park inside the mountain where you stop, the track flips over, and you begin to go forward again and then plummet down the hill. So we're pausing, the Yeti's ominous shadow races across the snowy mountain wall in front of us, and we wait for the track to flip. We wait some more. And finally, we hear a voice from above (not God) say, "We apologize for the delay. Your train to the base camp has made an unscheduled stop." [POTENTIAL SPOILER OVER]

At this point, Miss starts to freak out. It should be mentioned that she is always, always, ALWAYS the calm one! I'm the one freaking out about this, that, or the other thing. The HUGE blessing in this is that, we are INSIDE the mountain. If we have to get evacuated, we have the luxury of basically walking down through the structure and not out in the windy elements where we could be blown off the ascent hill as we cling for dear life to that rickety handrails that pops up as a safety measure (I mean, if it isn't normally there, how sturdy can it really be?).

So anyways, she's freaking out. She is getting tearful and her eyes are huge. We keep seeing the Yeti's shadow dance in front of us. The moment was made more stressful by the adolescent male behind us who, in an attempt to be seen as cool by a train full of people who will never see him again, is telling every horror story he's ever read or heard from his sister's uncle's friend's boss's pastor's kid's piano teacher that the ride at Cedar Point broke down like this and then they released the button for the safety harnesses only the the ride started working and no one was belted in and had to ride the rest of the ride clinging on for dear life. Sheesh. NOT what I needed to keep my normally calm big sis calm.

After about 10 minutes, we are told our ride would begin again immediately. And it does. I told Miss to just take comfort in watching the track flip (which it did, or else that piece of comfort would have TOTALLY backfired on me) and then made light of the fact that, at least on the way down the hill, her screams would be real! So we get through the ride and get off and as we disembark, Miss says she isn't sure she can ride it again that night. People were lined up for a long time back at the ride entrance, so we handed off our second set of FPs that we'd gotten earlier and headed out of the park.

It was a good night, and it was a Disney first for us: we've gotten stuck on rides before, like Haunted Mansion or Spaceship Earth, but never on one of the thrill rides. I really count it as a blessing that we stopped in the mountain because we didn't have to worry they'd try to have us walk out of the train and down the stairs on the ascent hill, and I was able to stay calm and keep Miss calm.

We headed out of the park and I snapped a shot of the entrance sign on the way out:

I really enjoyed seeing this park at night. I've always wanted to, but we have always skipped the EMHs and never get to see the park at night. It was a neat atmosphere. I loved it and would do it again. I didn't find the crowds overwhelming at all. In fact, most the time we were there (about 2-2.5 hours), we kept wondering where all the crowds were. We really had no waits for anything other than that first time on EE. They checked our wristbands on every ride (we got these inside the park entrance before the path splits on the way to DIscovery Island). I would highly recommend a PM EMH, even during Easter week. It was no sweat or tears at all with waits or crowds.

We got back to the room and relayed our adventure to Mom, who had not had any excitement of her own back at the room (that'll be tomorrow night). We hit the hay with plans to be at AK for rope drop in the morning.

 

[jwwi]

What was I thinking, I knew that you were at BCV, stormalong bay and all...........

We love No Way Jose, best with vanilla ice cream only, and always shared after a shared meal. I think I go to B&C on almost every trip.

I would hate to get stuck on EE, I have only been stuck on a ride once, on It's a Small World. The had to bring our boats to an area where we could get off, then walk thru a backstage area to get out. The music played waaaaaaaaaaaaay to long before we were rescued. It took a few trips before I could get on the ride again.

 

[timandlesley]

Hellloooooooooooo!!!??!! I thought you were determined to finish? I hope all is well.

 

[froglover2]

Lovin your PTR!!!
Have to goto work but I will finish reading when I get home!

 

[donaldsgal]

Hellloooooooooooo!!!??!! I thought you were determined to finish? I hope all is well.

You found me out! I realized that I never finished this, and life got busy. I'm embarrassed that I let it go because now I'm fighting being unmotivated to finish it! I will work on getting it finished sometime before July - that gives me time to get it done with my mom's shoulder replacement surgery coming up in two weeks.

Thanks for the encouragement. I figured everyone had forgotten, which made it easy for me to just let it fade away. Old habits die hard! Maybe by the time you get back from Disney in a few weeks, I'll have it done!

 

[RachelNinja]

Loving your TR! Hannah's absolutely adorable! And oh man ... I don't know how well I'd feel getting stuck on EE ... especially sitting in the front row! I've never even been on the ride, but you painted a WONDERFUL picture of it, LOL.