Tongue Tied and Twisted at the DIS Unplugged Mega Meet - 9/24 Final Update***

[TiggerTrigger]

I've been home for about a week and a half and keep going back and forth about doing a trip report. The reality...trip reports ease post trip depression and posting it on a Disney forum is better than annoying the living daylights out of Facebook friends.

So, the details...

What - A trip to WDW for the DIS Unplugged's 10th Anniversary Mega Meet
When - July 22nd - 26th (well, really the 21st - 27th when travel is factored in)
Who - Me- Sandy, DH-David, DD9- Kendall, DD7- Samantha, and my parents
Where - PORS...first time at a moderate

Yes, that's us! You'll see those shirts more a little later in the TR...one of my pre-trip craft projects!

I'm still in shock that this trip happened. After our Christmas/New Year's California trip to DLR/SoCal/Skiing, DH told me that it would probably be no earlier than late 2017 that we'd make it back to WDW. We're planning on putting our house on the market in spring of 2016 and there's a lot that needs to be done (and paid for) before that can happen. BUT...with some of our biggest preliminary fixes coming in well under initial estimates and the rates they got DISers for the Mega Meet, a trip suddenly seemed feasible...and everyone who knows me got to hear about it. LOL

So, I really like to surprise the kids when it comes to Disney trips, but it wasn't until we were approaching the 60 day mark and FPs for Frozen vs. Soarin' became an issue did I figure out how to do this. It's long and I haven't figured out how to cut the down time out of the video, but if you watch the beginning and then jump to 4:40 you get to see how it all played out, including cranky Googling.

DAY 1​

Fast forward to the morning of July 21st. We were trying to save some $, so we dropped the dog off at boarding on our departure day (thankfully, the boarding place opens at 7am) and got on the road at 7:30am. Not exactly ideal to be starting your road trip in Houston rush hour traffic, but at least it's summer rush hour. DH also doesn't like it when we leave before dawn. Oh well.

Minus Kendall constantly asking if we were still in Texas, the drive into Louisiana was no biggie. We stopped for an early lunch at our traditional eastbound spot just outside of Lafayette, LA...Rochetto's. I had one of my faves...the muffaletta.

That's just a half!

Soon after, we were traveling through the Atchafalaya and heading towards Baton Rouge...

It was about this point where that good time we were making would end. We almost always hit traffic going over the bridge in Baton Rouge, but there was an accident blocking some of the lanes as well as construction in the area...so it was especially ugly. BUT...not too bad once you got by the bigger issues.

(pardon the cracks in my windshield)

Thought of Corey and Julie from the podcast as LSU came into view.

Can't begin to explain how much I HATE driving on this bridge...and that's why DH is driving at this point!

After the bridge, we made pretty good time and were breezing through Mississippi and then into Alabama...

We got stuck at the Mobile tunnel last year...like literally sat in near dead stopped traffic for close to 3...yes 3...hours. I had my traffic map up as we approached Mobile and didn't like the looks of things. Not sure if it was 3 hours bad, but we decided to take a scenic detour. We wound up on Government Street, got to drive by all of these historic mansions, and took the old tunnel...

...and still got to see the battleship when we emerged.

Once you're past Mobile Bay, it's not a long drive before you see this...

The only problem...it's miles and miles and miles and even some more miles before you see this...

(one of my artsy Disney images- more on that later)

I used to think it was bad when I lived in NJ and came down I-95, but this is so much worse. It's about 7 hours from this point...without stops...to get to Bay Lake, FL. We usually need to stop for gas once or twice and often a meal once in FL, plus we lose an hour around Tallahassee going from Central to Eastern time- which has a psychological impact for me. So, it winds up feeling like 9.5 hours to Disney once we cross the FL line.

I had been hoping to make it to Gainesville, FL on day 1. The goal was to have a short drive on day 2 so we could get to PORS early and immediately run over to Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach at opening and stay until mid afternoon. We stopped for dinner in Tallahassee around 8:30pm (just after losing that hour changing time zones) and we decided we were beat. It's only a 2.5 hr drive to Gainesville from Tallahassee, but we finished dinner around 9:30pm...would be getting in around midnight...there was a lot of rain in the panhandle...etc. So, we booked a room at the HoJo across the street and called it a night.

Coming up...Day 2- final leg of the drive to WDW and day 1 at WDW

 

[ALEXandFAB]

Hello! Am I the first here?!

Looking forward to reading about your trip. Love the tie-dyed shirts. Driving on bridges always makes me , so I'm with you on that one.

 

[JJZMgailey]

Following along!

I absolutely loved your video! Your kids were so cute with all their questions!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

DAY 2​

We woke up fairly early and were out of Tallahassee sometime between 7 and 7:30am. I drove the first leg so that I could take pics and video as we approached Orlando. We stopped in Gainesville to grab some gas and switch off. It's always strange being there as it was home for much of 1991-1997. Granted, some of those were college years and I spent a portion of the year up in Syracuse, but still...holidays, breaks, summer and a few years after that were all Gainesville. My parents (who have since moved farther south) usually had me fly to/from Jacksonville or Orlando in college, so even though it was a lifetime ago, it's a very familiar drive and I was always happy when we started seeing the signs to make the leftward/eastern jog onto the Florida Turnpike.

The GPS always wants us to go towards the Western Way, but with the time at the toll booths, I just prefer to go up it I-4. Still, I turn on the GPS since I can get turned around pretty easily (as you'll see- lots of twisting of directions and routes). Unfortunately, I forgot that my phone doesn't like playing music when navigation is running, so instead of the Welcome Medley, I'm hearing some Siri sounding woman as we enter the bubble...

DH doesn't like it when I film/photograph when I'm supposed to be navigating, but somehow...we got there...MAGIC!

It was about 10:30am and I think I noted an 8:30am arrival when I did online check in. I had received a text around 7:30am that our room wasn't ready yet and there had been no follow up since then.

(as well as the later text confirming that the room is ready)

When we pulled up to the guard at the security booth, he first asked me if I was nervous. Ummmm...sir...I'm just very excited! Then he asked me if I knew another person on his list of people checking in that day. Ummm...yeah...that's my dad! I guess it's part of having a less common last name. I didn't know it at this point, but it would be a sign of things to come.

So, we decided to park and head into the lobby to check on the room.

The room wasn't ready, but I still like double checking my pin, band, etc. The CM was also able to at least confirm the section we'd be in and circle it off on a map so we could go check things out. I texted my parents, who were driving up from south FL to visit with us, and they were stuck in traffic on I-4...but almost there. So, we decided to wander and explore for a bit.

OK, so if you know the resort, you can see that we didn't get very far. Everyone was getting hungry (DH and I hadn't eaten and the kids had Fiber One brownies) and we were having a great debate on whether to eat there in hopes that our room would be ready by the end of lunch OR head over to Boardwalk, since we could check in for the Mega Meet at the BW convention facilities starting at 2pm. The CM at the front desk said she didn't think it would be much longer on the room, so we decided to eat at the food court at PORS. We don't do a lot of QS (ease of handling Kendall's food allergies) and I'd heard some mixed things, so I was a little concerned, but it was convenient. So, food court it would be...

The whole finding where to order what was a bit confusing to me. I also have this phobia with carrying food on trays (stems back to a camp horror story- deep stuff), so I wasn't a huge fan of the food ordering part. BUT...we got what we wanted and the CM at the checkout made me feel a lot more magical when she made sure we had Mickey straws.

The kids ordered corn dog nuggets, so nothing exciting here and I can't for the life of me remember what DH got. Clearly, he wasn't in trip mode YET since he knows food gets photographed. LOL. I got the tuna salad sandwich. The croissant bun was just OK, but the salad itself was tasty...not too much mayo...and I really liked the slaw it came with on the side.

I had also heard about crazy crowds at this food court, and maybe it was just the timing, but things felt pretty relaxed.

Towards the end of the meal, my parents texted me that they had arrived at PORS. Their room wasn't ready either, so they were going to meet us at the food court. The kids immediately went into watchdog mode and as soon as they spotted my dad, they asked for permission to run over to greet him. I would have photographed it, but I was looking for my mom. I'd gotten my mom into pin trading and she was still back behind making a trade. LOL

Once my mom caught up, in typical mom fashion, she wanted to open up everything she'd brought for us. I told her we needed to wait until we had our rooms, but there was one gift that just couldn't wait!!!

My parents live right near the Sawgrass location of the Character Warehouse outlet and we share a love of Disney Dooney bags. She got this for a great price, so I got my birthday present right at the start of the trip! Sure, my birthday isn't until next week, but when you only see your parents 2-3x per year, early gifting is just fine. We'll be practicing early caking in this trip as well! It was also perfect timing as my mom could give me her donation item for the Mega Meet silent auction (more on that in a bit).

They decided to become FL resident AP holders as well as TiW members, so they had to run off to activate everything. We'd be meeting up later for dinner plans that evening.

It was around 1pm and still no text on the room. We also didn't want to head to BW too early, so we decided to walk more of the grounds at PORS. We also still had all of our stuff in the car, so I was stuck taking pictures on my phone (Ohhhhh, the hardship! LOL).

(we'd wind up in this building- on the other side)

The grounds are really beautiful, especially with all of the water. It actually reminds me of a lot of the older apartment complexes we've lived in and see around Houston. That's not a bad thing, but because it's so much like home, it doesn't give us as much of that "transporting you to another place" feeling as other resorts tend to do. That being said, we have several friends from Louisiana who usually stay here because it makes them feel like home, so I guess that can go either way. Plus, I guess that's why BW is one of my main faves...growing up in NJ and spending a ton of time down the shore...BW makes me feel like home.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

We explored a bit more and took a couple of pics with us actually in them LOL...

*I took 2 of these...one has just Kendall smiling and this has DH and Sam smiling. I can't win!

We handle the heat pretty well as we live in a very similar climate/weather environment, but I didn't want to get too grossly sweaty before going to registration for the Mega Meet, soooooooooo...without any more info on the room, we decided to head to my vehicle and travel over to BW. Our drive to BW turned into more of a twisted around adventure than planned. This would kind of become a theme during the trip. In my head, I thought I'd gone far enough, but I guess I turned one light too early. So, I came out over by the MK park gate rather than the Epcot resorts. The kids cheered when they thought they'd be seeing the castle on day 1 due to my wrong turns, but no...I found a turnaround. I'm not sure why I didn't just take World Drive down to the proper turn, but I decided to get all twisted around again and make a big loop back to PORS. Brilliant! But, this time I made the proper turns and got to BW. Parking was super limited but we found a space and I started unloading stuff.

We had a small bag of toys, including some pretty princess dress up necklaces my mom found at one of her outlet shops, as well as our three auction pieces. The first was a purse charm made by my mom and designed by both of us. It goes along with our love of bags, but it's also why she's gaga over pin trading. She uses trading to get better pins for charms. And after weeks of searching for a gift box to match and work with the length of the charm...it still wouldn't close over it because the charm was so thick. Oh well, it was pretty!

The other two auction pieces from us were all me. I like to try and turn my Disney pictures into art. Some things turn out better than others, but I picked a couple of my faves (one WDW and one DL) and framed them in floating frames for a matted effect.

No regrets about choosing these prints, but I'd pick different frames if I had to do it all over again. I used gloves, Windex wipes, and Swiffer duster sheets and I still had prints on the glass and particles coming from the stone spray effect I added to the Funwheel print frame. Still, with the help of some pillowcases, baby blankets and a big comforter...they survived the trip from Texas without breaking!

We made our way into the convention facilities with arms full of 'stuff' only to get twisted around and make a wrong turn inside. When we wound up at some ballrooms, DH was like "I thought you knew where you were going?!?!" Well, I knew, I just went left when I should have gone right. So, we retraced our steps and as soon as I saw Tom Bell from the Disneyland show, I knew we were in the right place.

This is also when the tongue tied part starts to factor in. I could have said any number of things, including the cliche of telling him that we responded to Pete's call to "Go to Disneyland," and went this past Christmas, but no. I excitedly said, "You're Tom!" And that was it. That was all I could eek out. And this would just be the start of my issues with being tongue tied. He gave us our lanyards, I thanked him and moved on.

We entered the Marvin Gardens rooms and we were greeted by this wonderful, warm and bubbly woman...possibly John Magi's assistant? I don't know...I'm awful with this stuff, but she was awesome! And then I saw John, and I immediately clammed up. I know I smiled...big goofy smile...maybe even got out an excited hi- MAYBE...but I just couldn't find my words. I am normally such an outgoing and extroverted person, but here I was so tongue tied that I had nothing. It was a good tongue tied in a way...to be so overwhelmed with something so positive and exciting, but I can't remember the last time where I was at such a loss for words.

Next up was Kathy, who would be taking all of my donation items. I nervously pulled the framed items out of the pillowcases and started freaking a bit since in the light, I felt the need to try and wipe up the glass some more. Things felt very quiet for a moment...too quiet...so instead of being tongue tied, for a moment I started nervously rambling...just to lose my words again. Kathy thanked me, was very complimentary about things and such, but again- where were these nerves coming from!?!?!

I saw Teresa there too next to Kathy, but she was talking to someone (which is fine because I probably would have become tongue tied with her too), so I moved on to Kevin. Kevin did much of the talking, which was exactly what I needed at that time. And aside from me awkwardly saying I wasn't with the girl next to me and that my husband was across the room...all was good. In fact, that was pretty funny, because there's Kevin calling for David to get over there and hear what he had to say.

I then signed the big card for Give Kids the World (and met the girl they had there that day) and went to explore some of the auction goods.

I also cropped this and blew it up a bit so you can see everyone...well, sort of...

It was around this time that I also saw Flatty Jes @Princess Jes from across the room and realized it was @disneysteve.

It is incredibly surreal (in a very cool way) to meet people in person that you've chatted with on the forums, etc. We tried to explain the concept of flatties and Jes to Kendall, but I don't know if she fully grasped the concept. Kids.

It was time to move on, so we headed out past Tom- and I still didn't say a thing about DLR, and then we waited for DH on some benches by the bathrooms.

While we waited, a CM came by with a bag of candy and some Disney figurines. The kids got to choose their faves out of her bags. Gotta love awesome CMs like this!

We thanked the CM on the way out and decided to make a quick trip up to the main building before heading back to PORS.

I cannot begin to describe how much I adore BW. It's on the short list for our next trip. The lobby has so many things that remind me of growing up in NJ and that wicker furniture on that back porch area is my fave. It's like being on our back porch or our place down the shore, but with Epcot right next door.

(love the mini Lucy- the Margate Elephant on the far wall)

We were all soaking in everything we love about BW, but I realized I should check my phone about the room. Sure enough, right before we arrived, I'd gotten a text saying the room was ready and that we were in 8513.

We waved good-bye to BW (and the Swan) and headed back to PORS.

COMING UP- checking out the room, the neighbors, pool time, dinner and dancing, and of course...cake

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Hello! Am I the first here?!

Looking forward to reading about your trip. Love the tie-dyed shirts. Driving on bridges always makes me , so I'm with you on that one.

Yes, you are first! Welcome!!!

Thanks! The shirts were a lot of fun, pretty easy, and fairly cheap. I will go into depth a bit more with them when I get a little farther into the report.

I'm just thankful we weren't stopped on the bridge. The shaking just makes me so nervous!

Following along!

I absolutely loved your video! Your kids were so cute with all their questions!

Hi Jackie!!! Thanks! I am so glad I was able to pull off some kind of surprised and it was well received.

You'll also come up on day 5 of the trip report...twice

 

[Princess Jes]

Me!!! Hehe.
I'm running out the door to work, but will read this later!!
Can't wait to read all about your trip!!!

 

[ariane37]

Joining! Very interested to hear all about the mega-meet. And you are correct, writing TR's is a fantastic way to deal with Disney blues once you're home from a trip!
Very nice Dooney bag! I'm also a fan and becoming a bit obsessed I currently only have 3 but plan on getting another one either in a few weeks when we go down or on our Nov. trip.

So funny about being tongue-tied! I've met a few "famous" people over the years and I'm always a dork when I try to talk to them. This includes my all-time favorite author, Stephen King. Totally geeked out and sounded like a loser when I met him.....and honestly I'm cool in real-life

 

[awalker1015]

I love, love the photos of your trip down. The pictures of the tunnel, Mobile Bay and the USS Alabama bring back such forgotten, good memories of family road trips from Memphis to Destin when I was a child. And the photos of LA-my grandparents lived in Baton rouge when we were growing up and I had forgotten how beautiful LA was.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Me!!! Hehe.
I'm running out the door to work, but will read this later!!
Can't wait to read all about your trip!!!

Yup! You were part of the Mega Meet

I always forget how much of a time difference there is! At least you are closer to the weekend than I am

Joining! Very interested to hear all about the mega-meet. And you are correct, writing TR's is a fantastic way to deal with Disney blues once you're home from a trip!
Very nice Dooney bag! I'm also a fan and becoming a bit obsessed I currently only have 3 but plan on getting another one either in a few weeks when we go down or on our Nov. trip.

So funny about being tongue-tied! I've met a few "famous" people over the years and I'm always a dork when I try to talk to them. This includes my all-time favorite author, Stephen King. Totally geeked out and sounded like a loser when I met him.....and honestly I'm cool in real-life

Thanks! I was hoping to get the satchel from the first Star Wars line, but the tote is more practical (and available). My husband hasn't seen my Disney bag "family" photos, but with each bag, he asks the silly "do you really NEED another bag?" questions. This isn't about NEED...at least how he classifies need. You should have some nice options come November. I'm guessing the 45th bags will be in all of the shops.

That's so cool that you met Stephen King. In my mind, I'd love to tell him how I read 'IT' as an 8th grader and it gave me nightmares for months, as well as a fear of clowns...something I never had prior to reading the book. What would really happen...silence and big goofy smiles. I remember meeting Wolfgang Puck some time ago and while all of these people ahead of me asked him such thoughtful questions that prompted the giving of samples, small talks on flavor profiles, and mini tours of the kitchen...I couldn't come up with anything to say and just asked him to sign the book I was buying for my dad.

I love, love the photos of your trip down. The pictures of the tunnel, Mobile Bay and the USS Alabama bring back such forgotten, good memories of family road trips from Memphis to Destin when I was a child. And the photos of LA-my grandparents lived in Baton rouge when we were growing up and I had forgotten how beautiful LA was.

Thank you Ultimately, the drive until we're east of Pensacola is a pretty drive. While we bypass New Orleans when heading to FL, I love taking I-10 down to New Orleans so that we're driving along Lake Pontchartrain. LA has some gorgeous areas...as does a lot of the gulf coast. We used to try and plan an overnight stop in Biloxi or Daphne (east side of Mobile Bay) just to enhance the road trip part, but lately we've been more focused on getting there/home and saving the $.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

One more post for the day before I call it a night...

So, we were driving back to PORS and it crossed my mind again that we weren't going to be doing as many of the Mega Meet events as others had scheduled. I initially wanted to attend by myself, which would have allowed me to do anything added to the calendar (assuming I could get in on registration), but in making this a family trip, I had to limit the events we'd attend. I was hoping more things would match up with our plans and we could just work them in, but with the exception of the 25th, nothing really fit our plans. We would have LOOOOOOVED to be park of the Sip and Snacks, but what can you do? So, I tried not to dwell on it and went into full-on vacation mode. This may have been for the best since I really needed a vacation. Stress! We'd still get to go to the live show on the 25th as well as the dessert party, so we were good.

OK...back to PORS...we got back to the resort and found that our room was pretty convenient to both parking and the bus stop. Always a good thing. It was also a pretty quick walk to the main pool as well as a nearby quiet pool...at least in our opinions.

The room itself was pretty...

DH said this reminded him a lot of Haunted Mansion

Now would be the best time for me to tell you that I have issues when it comes to hotel rooms. I won't go too far into it as not everyone is this sensitive, but I get really claustrophobic and also am really sensitive with bed/bedding comfort. I knew I'd feel cramped since I felt cramped when we stayed at WL and AKL, so I guess I was at least prepared for that. I also know that WDW doesn't use the same quality of beds/bedding across the resorts, but that's a lot harder to handle. While I don't know if I'd do this again, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make this time just to get a vacation. Still, the lack of sleep from it made me second guess my choice. Oh well...we now know for future trips and thankfully, I took a few days off after the trip in anticipation of needing extra sleep/recovery time. Always a silver lining!

I had texted my dad that we'd gotten our room assignment. I was hoping they'd be nearby since they'd be giving us a kid free day. I had thought about requesting adjoining rooms, but we decided it might be nice to have at least a little bit of distance between us. I guess between the last names and group reservation, someone figured we were together. I got a reply from my dad that they were in 8514. Yup...they were our neighbors and we had adjoining rooms...

I also noticed they had one of these...and got a new one every day.

We didn't get any for the entire trip. Towel envy!

The kids were still enjoying the novelty of our new neighbors, so I sat back and did the Must Do's.

In past trips, David never really cared much for this, but I found him choosing the Must Do's with Stacey over regular tv for this trip. He's being converted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was mid afternoon at this point and going to the water parks was just a big fat no, so we decided to go to the pool instead. The sky was starting to look a little dark in a few areas, but we figured we could at least get in a little bit of time before the skies opened up. I was also hoping to take some video in the pool...now that I got the GoPro 'style' camera working. I bought this little camera for our CA trip and thought it was just a memory card issue, but it seems that the camera just arbitrarily stops recording...and sometimes restarts. I deleted the one video it took of my legs in the pool, and these three videos are the only usable footage I was able to salvage. Yes...that one video is a whopping 2 seconds!

The kids got a few more trips down the slide and then a few rumbles of thunder cleared the pool. We weren't ready to go back to the room, so we found a table at Muddy Rivers and grabbed some drinks. I'm pretty sure this is a mai tai. Whatever it was, it was mine...and it was great!

We got the kids smoothies, but Kendall didn't like it...so Sammie capitalized on her pickiness...

DH and I have very different opinions on being out during thunderstorms. My dad has dual degrees...one of which is meteorology and I have a VERY healthy respect for weather and lightning. So, I generally don't permit my kids to play outside in thunderstorms. He, on the other hand, swears his mom let him go to the playground in storms all the time ... something she denies. In any event, most people ran for cover during the storm, but one family was allowing their kids to play on the nearby playground. This caused a huge uproar for us, but I held my ground and the kids got playground time after the weather passed. What's funny, when I finally greenlighted the playground for them, all they wanted were the hammocks!

OK...so that still leaves 'dinner and dancing, and of course...cake' for Day 2.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

After pool time, we went back to our rooms to clean up for dinner. The plan...Raglan Road with an early bday surprise for Kendall afterwards. We normally don't spend much time in Disney Springs, but with the boat from PORS, it seemed like a good first night destination for this trip. We've also been trying to find time to try Raglan Road since 2012, so I was on a mission.

Dinner wasn't until 7:30, but we wanted to give ourselves extra time in case there were any boat issues. We headed out and there ya go...there's a boat...

When we were on the bridge, it looked like they weren't going to wait, but thankfully they did. Some people a ways behind us weren't so lucky.

I personally thought it was a really nice ride...

Everyone else thought the ride was a little long. OY!

Oh well...we have arrived! And I didn't have to drive...even better!

Before leaving the boat, we were informed that all boat service was being stopped due to lightning in the area. Soooooo, I guess we'd be walking to Raglan Road vs. taking another boat.

So, I started doing what I often do...take pictures as I walk.

[

Some of our group needed to make a pit stop, so Sammie and I hung out. She was upset over her outfit. She's more of a tomboy and the romper we picked for this night was too big. So, Kendall borrowed her romper and she was stuck with a dress.

And we're walking again...

I stopped taking pics so we could figure out where we were going. I know you used to be able to cut past T-Rex to access the area by Raglan Road, but that was all blocked off. We went around, which was good in a way since I located our next destination for the night, but we were all twisted around. So, I went to the first directory I could find. We figured out where we needed to go, but when we turned around...it was just me, David, and Samantha. Kendall and my parents were gone. Kendall's foot was bugging her (she insisted on wearing wedges instead of flat sandals), so we thought maybe they'd sat down a ways back. Looked for them there, but nothing. I texted my dad and I really had no idea where the were...but they were nowhere's near us. After running in circles for a bit, we finally found each other.

We got to pass the "springs" just before getting to the restaurant...

Raglan Road was right there, so I checked in...which was a bit strange. They were very busy, so the hostess was kind of rushed. We were a bit early, but she said they'd do their best to seat us within 20 min of our ADR time. OK...so 20 min early and we could be seated 20 min late...so a potential 40 min wait. YIKES! She also gave me an eye roll and huff when she asked me if we'd be OK sitting at a high table...and I said no. Oh well, was going to hope for the best and went to check out the menu and adjacent shop.

The buzzer went off just as Sammie was making a pin trade with a little girl in the shop. I'm still shocked that this wasn't my mom trading. LOL I'd say the wait was maybe 10-15 minutes, so not bad at all.

While there were a few tables in the main room, we were a party of 6, so we were placed in a side room, which was good because there's less of an echo.

I also immediately admired the plates....love dinnerware!!!

Our server came over to get drink orders and covered everything with K's food allergies.

Oh and I mentioned drinks...right?

'

The first one is my Bailey's milkshake. It was sooooooooooooo good! As soon as he put it on the table, I made sure the kids knew that this is a 'mommy drink.'

The beer flight was odd...the menu listed a particular beer in the grouping, but they were out of it. I don't think I've ever been anywhere where they were out of a beer in their standard flight. The replacement option was supposedly good too, but still odd.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

It was about this time that the dancing bug bit. First it was watching the dancers...

Then it was getting up on stage with the dancers...

We went back to the table for some bread...

[

And then the dancing came to our room...

And Kendall dancing also came to our room...

And while platform wedges are hardly ideal Irish dance footwear, Kendall now claims to be an Irish dance expert and it's one of her hobbies. Softball registration is in 2 weeks...I see a main hobby shift at that point. Oh, and while you probably guessed it...Sammie had no desire to dance. Loved watching- but no dance.

Enough with dancing...it's appetizer time.

So, we've got the Irish Egg and the Dalkey Duo (as well as someone reaching into my shot). They were good, not mind blowing, but good. Kendall even had her own egg as she loves a good Scotch egg. She enjoyed it, but I make Scotch eggs from scratch at home and I guess mom's are better than Raglan's. LOL Just glad she was eating as she didn't care for the Guiness bread.

Nobody was really in the swing of things yet with remembering to let me photograph food (I know- like this is a normal thing!), so I only got a picture of my entree.

This was the "our pie to try" and it was good, but again, not amazing. The protein apparently varies in this one and this night it was chicken. Essentially, it was a lot like shepherd's pie, but instead of the traditional veggies, it had a lot of mushrooms. Everyone else had a similar takeaway with their food. Good, but no big WOW. For David and I, it's no great loss as we can say one and done for this, but this is the third time my parents have been to Ralan Road in the last 6 months. We have some good family friends from our NJ days who also relocated to FL...they are DVC and sometimes meet my parents up at WDW for short trips. They LOVE Ragland Road, so my parents have been twice with them. My parents knew we wanted to try it, so they went along with these plans even though their friends like it much more than they do. Oh well- different people- different preferences.

All in all, no regrets on Raglan Road. Not spectacular food-wise, but still good and clearly, Kendall had a blast.

We skipped dessert at the restaurant because I had a birthday surprise for Kendall. While this wasn't officially a birthday trip, we wanted to celebrate with her since we'd all be together. Her birthday isn't until mid-August...a week after mine...but we were close enough. Still hard to image this is her last trip where Disney will consider her a child! In any event, the original plan was to have a cake delivered for her to breakfast the next morning. We do at least one cake per trip, I've got a lot of cake ordering experience, actually have a cake thread on another forum, and do my own custom cakes on the side. Based on previous cakes with Disney, I really thought our quote would be around $110...lowball $90 and high $130. WELL...the Contemporary bakery came back with a quote of $180 for something 'like' my sketch (no further details)...so I went to plan B.

After seeing the reviews on Amorette's Patisserie and seeing that they do a Donald Duck themed dome cake in non-nut flavors...I gave them a call. Like most bakeries, they can't guarantee anything with food allergies, but they'd do their best to reduce the cross contam. risk. Oh...and it only took 2 hours for them to get back to me and it was $65. SCORE! The bakery isn't really designed for popping in for a celebration, but when we walked in, the big table inside just happened to be free. They did their best to try and accommodate us, which was great. They also put their cakes in these ADORABLE hat type boxes.

Kendall had seen other dome cakes in the case, so she kind of had an idea of what was next.

After Kendall saw the case with the other characters (ex below)...

She knew her cake was supposed to be Donald (her fave...mine too), but she felt it looked more like Snow White. And I think she's right. If they had made Donald's hat similar to how they did Goofy's instead of his bow, I think it would be clearer. Beyond that...which is nitpicky- I know...the cake was delicious! It was a vanilla chiffon cake, lemon buttercream (more of a mousse), blueberry fruit pate and candy crunch. Oh, and the ears and bow are painted white chocolate and the shiny blue is a glaze...not fondant (although the rest of the decoration is fondant). While Kendall has decided she hate blueberries, the blueberry pate was so good- reminded me of my grandmother's homemade blueberry pie filling. And if you like lemon, that mousse is divine! A guy on one of my Disney Facebook groups reviewed the same cake and said it was no better than a Publix cake. I've had Publix cakes...and while they're really good for super market cakes...I'd like to know what Publix he's going to if they make something like this.

Now Sammie loved every bit of the cake and really enjoyed downing one of the ears...

I snapped a few pictures of the bakery before we left...

Before we left, they insisted on bagging up the leftover cake for us. They put it in a big gift bag filled with tissue paper and enclosed a hand written thank you note. Nice touch...really nice touch!

We walked back to the dock and while i was prepared for a long line for a boat back to PORS, I wasn't prepared for it to be so slow moving. So, I took some really bad pictures while we waited. Even caught a bit of the Star Wars fireworks at DHS.

After about 10-15 minutes, we were offered the option of taking the boat to POFQ instead since 98% of the line seemed to be for PORS. While nearly everyone else wanted to wait, we jumped at the opportunity. We can walk!

I really enjoyed the boat ride at night. It was so dark, you sometimes saw fire flies glittering in the trees, and it just really went well with the New Orleans style themes at the resorts. The walk from the POFQ dock wasn't bad either. We actually beat the POR boat that was supposed to be following the one we took.

Coming up- Day 3...sleep deprived, MK, water park?, and DHS

 

[TiggerTrigger]

DAY 3​

The alarm went off around 6am. I had a pretty late night prepping bags and stuff for the day and didn't sleep well, but waking up early never seems to be as tough when you're at WDW. We had an 8am ADR at Crystal Palace and I'd be driving since we were going to 'TRY' to get to a water park midday, so it was going to be a busy morning. I normally like to let Disney do the driving, but so many people had encouraged me to try taking matters into my hands. All 6 of us loaded into my SUV around 7am and we were off to MK...well, the TTC lot!

My memories of parking at MK are all from my childhood, when we always stayed offsite. It always felt like we were parking on the other end of the earth and that the tram ride to the TTC took an eternity. In reality, it was probably because I was an excited kid, but I wasn't sure what it would be like when arriving this early. Well, they kept waving us on and waving us on, until I realized we would be parking closer than I could have ever imagined. Honestly, I thought they'd made a mistake and accidentally waved us into preferred parking.

I took this pic of my vehicle...

Then I realized that it doesn't really show you how close we are, so I took another one from the car two down from us...

And that's when everyone dragged me off so we wouldn't be late. Ultimately, it was such an easy walk to the TTC and I was sold on doing the driving...in some situations.

I've only taken the monorail this early when we've been staying at a monorail resort, but I figured they'd probably direct us to the resort loop due to the time.

I don't know who started it, but someone looked at the Poly behind us and we all started going in rounds saying 'ALOOOOO-HA!'

It was kind of funny because there was one family ahead of us that was waiting to board the monorail. I wasn't totally sure, but I was getting a lot of that first visit vibe from them. If anything, it seemed to get them more excited.

It wouldn't be long before our monorail arrived and we were on our way to MK...

It was about 7:40am when we got to the MK station, so pretty good timing.

We got through bag check, security, and such pretty quickly but I had a minor panic attack when I saw this...

Obviously, the time is off, but I still had that "are we late for our ADR" moment (or super early).

The CMs were right there to check our names off of the list for pre-park opening ADRs and then we got in line with everyone else waiting to get in early.

It wasn't a very long wait until the 'herd' started to move and we were inside MK.

And there she is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As much as we enjoyed Disneyland, I missed this...I missed Cinderella Castle. I wasn't sure if I'd cry as it's not an every trip thing. No tears this time, but just so much happiness.

We had about 10 min until ADR time...

I didn't want to go all the way up to the Partner's statue, but I needed to snag one more castle shot before going to check in.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Of course, nobody realized I had stopped to take more pictures, but I catch up quickly. No worries!

I checked in and now it was just a matter of waiting. Everyone spent much of the time just marveling at the number of ducks out that morning.

I also posted the obligatory "aren't you jealous of us" pic to Facebook. Cruel, I know.

As soon as we saw the CMs begin assembling outside the front door, we made our way back to that area.

They did a little opening chant that I've never heard them do before, and then they started calling names. We were the second party called inside.

We were seated right near the bathrooms and the left side of the buffet...good for convenience, but added traffic near our table.

Tigger came to the table right after we were seated...

He was a great Tigger. He bounced with the kids and also interacted with every adult at the table.

Things were really slow after that. The chef gave me an allergy tour of the buffet, we had several rounds of food, and I made a final stop back for my must...breakfast lasagna.

We hadn't seen any characters in a while and we were starting to wrap up, when Piglet came by. It was really fast, but DH and the kids grabbed a few pics.

We used to be able to go to Crystal Palace and see all of the characters before 8:45am, but they had the rotations split between the rooms and things were going painfully slow. Sammie managed to get a hug from Pooh just after they did their Friendship Day parade (he's her fave...so it was a must for her), but we left just after 9 and never got to formally see Pooh and Eeyore.

Time to say good-bye to Crystal Palace.

We had no fast passes this morning as our evening at DHS would revolve around them, so we'd be relying solely on standby for the morning. Goal number 1 was to go to Splash since its line tends to build pretty quickly in the summer.

As you can see, things are pretty quiet in Frontierland. Still, I love all of the CMs who were out waving and saying good morning.

It was around this point when my parents opted to bow out. My mom has been on blood pressure meds and didn't want to risk it. So, we waved good-bye and headed towards the briar patch.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Now, I've ridden Splash in pretty much every season and I've never gotten soaked, but these logs were looking really soggy. I immediately pulled the bag with my poncho out of my purse and start trying to get my camera covered. I got it covered just before we took the spray from another boat. We were absolutely drenched and we hadn't really done anything yet!

I thought this might be our only pic from the ride (after I took the camera out of my poncho)...

But then I remembered that we'd waved to my parents and that they were probably taking pics. I love being right!

We wanted to head to BTMRR next, but it was down...and it would remain down for the bulk of the day. So, we headed this way instead...

Yo ho, anyone?

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about riding this after finally getting to experience Disneyland's, but afterwards, I realized that while the Blue Bayou section is nice at DL's...it's not soooo much better to make me think negatively on the PotC I've always known. Love me some Pirates!

While I wasn't ready for the Tiki birds, my parents wanted to get a few pictures as it's my nephew's favorite ride/attraction.

We kept checking on BTMRR, but with no signs of reopening, we started heading in the other direction...

Yes, it was time to say hi to the 999 haunts. Kendall hates HM, but it's a must for the rest of us. Sammie and my mom even had glow in the dark HM magic band skins. I was especially excited because we saw the Haunted Mansion Holiday when we were out in Disneyland back in December. It was fun the first time, and I loved seeing the Hatbox Ghost, but I missed the normal HM. I wanted Leota, and the bride, and the graveyard. I missed Grim Grinning Ghosts! So, I was pumped.

The queue was kind of a mess from the work they are doing on the facade, but I got at least one pic...

We were rushed into the stretching room, but as we were walking by, I finally got to see the Leota grave with her eyes "awake." I knew they did this, but I'd never seen it happen in person. Very cool!

I took this pic of an HM window on the way out...thought it was very neat.

I'm surprised I got to take that as Kendall was trying to drag us away as quickly as possible.

Bye HM!

Time to head into Fantasyland...

Next up...my absolute favorite attraction (one that Kendall loves too)...

Coming up- IASW and more of our day in MK

 

[ariane37]

I love when a restaurant first opens and the CM's do a "chant" or song! I had not idea they did this until our last 2 trips when we witnessed it when 'Ohana and even Flame Tree BBQ opened for the day. At 'Ohana they sing a song and at FT BBQ they do a chant. Wonder if all or most eateries do something like this?

I'm with you on RR. I know so many people love it but after 3 visits we feel no need to go back. Our experiences weren't bad; but nothing "wowed" us. And between the 4 of us we've tried a number of apps and entrees and still all feel the same.

That's ALOT of ducks out lol! Don't think I've ever seen that many there at once!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I love when a restaurant first opens and the CM's do a "chant" or song! I had not idea they did this until our last 2 trips when we witnessed it when 'Ohana and even Flame Tree BBQ opened for the day. At 'Ohana they sing a song and at FT BBQ they do a chant. Wonder if all or most eateries do something like this?

I'm with you on RR. I know so many people love it but after 3 visits we feel no need to go back. Our experiences weren't bad; but nothing "wowed" us. And between the 4 of us we've tried a number of apps and entrees and still all feel the same.

That's ALOT of ducks out lol! Don't think I've ever seen that many there at once!

It really took me by surprise since we've eaten at CP so many times and never seen it there. Our faves have been Sanaa opening with their drum show and Le Cellier singing O Canada.

I really wanted to love RR. At least it was a fun meal and that helped, but no need to return any time soon.

Yeah...we've seen a number of ducks there in the past, but nothing like that.

 

[Alicenwonderment]

Can't wait to read more!! What are Kendall's food allergies and did you have to call ahead before the trip?

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Can't wait to read more!! What are Kendall's food allergies and did you have to call ahead before the trip?

Kendall is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. It was a horrific reaction to walnuts back when she was 4 that prompted us to have her tested. She doesn't qualify for assistance from Special Diets as it's only 2 allergies and they're common ones, but we list the allergies on our ADRs, confirm it's on there when checking in, and bring it up again with our server once seated. In some cases, we deal with the chef and in some cases the server is able to cover all of our concerns. The new allergy menus are a big help. When it comes to cakes, while they can't eliminate the risk, I let them know about the allergies. Some bakeries don't want the risk (and this is why I do her cakes at home) while others are willing to work with us and do their best to reduce cross contam issues. We still travel with her EpiPens and Zyrtec (preferred by our allergist), but the goal is to never have to use them.