Touring the Tower of Terror and other Ghoulish Delights! Sept 13 TR | FINALx2 4/17!!!

[epsmith921]

Yay updates!!!

Okay so I simply can not blame you for losing it at the end of the day with the less than magical bands. It's always tough too when you don't want to take something out on someone just because they're the one in front of you. Frustrating how many things were caused by "fixes" gone awry. Glad you both were able to handle it pretty darn well!

I don't know how those actors look beautiful on the teacups! I know I turn a lovely shade of green. Maybe not so lovely? Maybe they photoshop pretty smiling heads onto spinning bodies?

Glad you were finding solutions for your feet too!!!

Hope you had wonderful holidays!!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

oh my gosh--the magic band ridiculousness is making me nervous! I hope ours work when we get there....sorry you had such a rough ending to your night, but I totally don't blame you. I probably would have been feeling the same. the room credit was nice!

we LOVE the teacups! we took our kiddos on for the first time last year. our youngest looked a little sick until we told her to stop trying to look at stuff outside the cup. they can't wait to ride them again, but every time we talk about it, they have to remind me that someone threw up in the yellow cup last time we were there and we should try to get a different color cup. kids!

I can't believe you can wear flip flops at the parks! I wouldn't be able to walk for days if I tried that. I'm glad you were feeling better though. thank goodness for ibuprofen!

those cupcakes are so cute and sound delicious!!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that buzz picture! hilarious! and "eat it, everybody!"? I would have fallen out of my spaceship laughing at that!

 

[gracer9977]

Hurray Welcome Back. So happy for a new update.

Wow you had a really tough time with the Magic Bands and room keys. I am hoping all the glitches have been worked out by now so that we don't have all these problems. That was really nice that they gave you a credit to the room but really you deserved that after all the problems you had.

I have a question about one of the vinyls you got, what is that pink one that is next to your Ariel one. It looks like it should be piglet but doesn't really look like him, just his color. You sure got a lot of really cool vinyls.

I didn't know that you could stand outside of Haunted Mansion and watch people walk past the lit up windows. That is totally creepy, but really cool too.

Glad you were able to have a meal with Jenn and family. So great that you got to spend so much time together this trip. It's funny how you said they had such a great system down as far as getting kids food from the buffet. It's such a team effort. We only have 2 but dinner time is always like controlled chaos with Bill and I moving around the kitchen getting the drinks and food all together and on the table for them and then ourselves.

Oh I totally forgot to say I LOVE your Ariel ear hat. How cute is that.

Happy to read a new update. Hope you have a good night.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Dinner at Cape May looks delicious!

I your Ariel ears! How cute is that?!

Oh my gosh... I was already nervous about the Magic Bands and now after reading your updates I am even more nervous! I hope that since it will have been a year by the time we're there in September, all of the kinks will be worked out and there won't be any problems. I'm so sorry that yall ended up having them never work for you! How aggravating! I don't blame you at all for getting fed up at the end of the night.

 

[leshunlenese]

I was one of the crazies in line Friday the 13th. I got in like 7 and waited 2 hours to meet the guy from meet the Robinsons. When I got in line I thought it was one line to meet all characters but it was one switching with maleficent! People were waiting for her and they let us pass to meet him! I figured at least I meet someone but Disney so did not organize that!!!!
I was at cape may that same day at the same time. I love it there! Love crab legs and I ordered my DS a monorail cake and he lives it! He thinks he needs a cake every time we go there now!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh my goodness Dani, I don't there's any chance we'd forget about you. The past couple of weeks have been pretty quiet around here overall. So glad you had such a lovely break. That's what it's supposed to be. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I don't think anyone would find it crazy that you love this resort. To have a place that feels like "home" while in WDW is the best. THE BEST!! Plus, it's location is pretty darn awesome.

Hehe, I love when CM's share info they're probably not supposed to. I always get good info from CM's And on that note, Disney is so good at so much, but they are really horrible at estimating special events. To prepare for 18K and get 50K, nope, that doesn't surprise me At ALL. At One More Disney Day in Disneyland, they apparently prepared for around 40-45K and got over 100K. And I believe that amount since I was in the middle of it.

Thankfully I didn't have any issues with room entry and MB, but I did find them to be VERY specific as to the way you used them. I had to be pretty precise when lining up the Mickey heads to get it to work.

Hmmm, I bet there was a private event at DHS that night. I really want to get into one of those things one day.

AWESOME MAX OUT ON BUZZ!! I just can't seem to ever do that.

BAHAHAHA, LOVE the Buzz photo (of course).

Wait... I did not know about people walking past the windows on HM. How did I not know this? Ahhh so much stuff to see no matter how many times you go.

Ugh... Magic Bands. I like the theory and honestly had little issues myself, but this should have never gone to the public in the state it was in. Never. So sorry for all your issues.

 

[APears]

YAY I'm so happy you're back! Although I loved seeing your pictures of Disney-related gifts during the holidays on instagram (I'm @amandaproo), the Olaf and Pascal on your desk are a darn good idea to bring magic to the workplace!

I'm sorry the magic bands gave you two such a problem...I'm a Disneyland local and I really hope they never make it here based on everything I've heard/read. Hopefully they worked better for the rest of your trip.

Cape May looks so fantastic! I wish they had a really good seafood restaurant at Disneyland. Congrats to your husband for reaching the coveted max score!

 

[geckodani]

Ugh. I would have lost my MIND with all of those Magic Band problems! And my DH would probably have either thrown it out the window or vowed to never return to Disney again. I'm so sorry you had to go through that, and I'm glad they FINALLY figured it out. The credit was a nice touch too! I hope it went at least a LITTLE more smoothly the rest of the time!

 

[baw]

I'm so glad you mentioned OKW as one of your favorites. We are staying there for the first time next month, and I don't love the look of the pictures I've seen online. Do you have some pictures that you can share? What do you love about it?

 

[keys1388]

Dani! You just crack me up the more I read your trip reports! The lizard/geckos! We saw them when we went last January! They grossed me out in a "ew you're not supposed to be in these buildings, this is miniature Germany!" Kind of way. The hole in the shorts! I laughed!! And felt sympathetic at the same time. one time when I was at Disneyland I rested my little bottom (it was little at the time because I was like 8 ) on one of the green Disney railings around flower beds and definitely sat on a piece of abc gum! since I was 8 and embarrassed, I thought I'd just carry my souvenir bag behind my back with my hands clasped. Well that didn't work because then the bag stuck to the gum! Haha! And somehow I didn't know about the figures passing by the windows on Haunted Mansion!?

 

[DisneytheKid]

I'm happy to see updates again! As much as I'm enjoying this TR I can't wait to see your DL trip report!

 

[JDailey]

Yay for another great update!! I totally get the melt down, I mean enough is enough! I am glad they called and gave you a credit that was nice.

 

[stacy~**]

Dani~ Your break made it possible for me to catch up so no complaints from me!

Not sure where to start with comments....ok...first off you are an amazing photographer! I know you have a great camera/lens but really your eye for seeing great pictures is just perfect.

I LOVE so many of your food reviews. I have our first ever ADR for Crystal Palace breakfast because of you. And now I have to stop at Flame Tree BBQ (as a vegetarian...gasp!) for those onion rings. Oh yeah and school bread is on my list now too....

Love the details about the vinylmation event. I have to say that I love vinylmation but with kids its hard to add MORE toys to the mix for myself. I do buy some for them and they do minor park trading but nothing serious at all. Someday I need to just start collecting for myself!

I love your style of park touring. Seems so laid back and enjoyable. I am SO trying to tour like that....and am hoping that staying at BC on our upcoming trip will help me relax and slow down.

Sorry about the magic band fiasco. I would have freaked out too. I hope it is smooth sailing from here on out.

 

[__disneygirl]

Hey Dani! Happy New Year!

I love your picture of the fireworks at the end of "Donald's Boat". That's my favorite part.

I don't blame you for always wanting to stay at the Beach Club. If it ain't broke don't fix it!! I LOVE staying at Pop over and over... and well it is no Beach Club. But I LOVE IT. Disney is addicting no matter how ya slice it.

WOW I can't believe how much Disney underestimated this Villains thing. They also underestimated the popularity of Frozen because if you want a stuffed Olaf apparently you have to give blood/your first born. DISNEY, YOU ARE AMAZING AND PEOPLE ARE OBSESSED WITH YOU, OKAY? You need to prepare for this.

So many cool Vinylmation!!! I am jealous of your trading skills! I was pretty proud of finding a Cleo from Pinocchio one at the end of my trip, though. I'm getting luckier!

Changing shoes is seriously the secret to happy feet in Disney. So many people focus on finding one right pair and I'm like nooo bring at least 3 good pairs and alternate often!

In 2008 I was kind of addicted to Vitamin Water and it was like the only thing I drank on my trip that year besides regular water! This was when they sold it at kiosks in the park for $3.25 and I almost cried every time I paid that, haha.

Husband Requirement #1: Must encourage me to buy Ariel ear hat.

HAHAHA your ride photos are always the BEST. Disney needs some kind of Hall of Fame for these.

Awesome Haunted Mansion ghost pics! Those are my people.

Aww! I'm so sorry that you got to that point of being so upset about the Magic Bands. I'm sure they get a lot of people who are rudely complaining just trying to get something from them and so that CM probably recognized that your emotion was real. I'm so happy he called you and offered you something in return for all your stress. Time is money and that much time lost while dealing with a mistake they made should be compensated, so I'm glad they tried to make it right for you. I hope that was the end of the Magic Band issues! We barely used our Magic Bands because with Jess being a CM and her name being on the reservation, we couldn't figure out how certain things worked and they weren't letting us schedule fastpass times. We just gave up on it, haha. I'm sure someone would have helped us configure everything had we taken the time to go up to the Front Desk, but we were just go-go-going the whole time. The bands always worked to get into our resort and room, though, so at least we never got locked out or anything.

 

[khertz]

Hope you & Matt had a wonderful Christmas & a happy New Year!

Yay for an empty MK! I am so jealous of all the delicious looking treats y'all were enjoying that night. Those Halloween cupcakes were indeed adorable! You just gotta love walking around the park when there is hardly anyone else around and hopping from ride to ride. I LOVE your Buzz ride photo! That is basically us on that ride as well, although my score is waaaaay more pathetically low than yours was!

So sorry about all of your MagicBand issues. It is really a shame how many people had to spend so much time of their hard earned and expensive vacations at guest services dealing with those kinds of issues! I totally do the "cry when I'm so angry" thing and then I get so annoyed at myself for crying. I'm glad the CM was understanding and was able to get you some kind of compensation for your troubles, because seriously, at that time of night, we all just want to get into our room for crying out loud!

 

[Jennifer48]

Yowza! I think those are the worst MB issues I've heard about so far during testing. I'm sorry that it all happened to you guys!

I really want to try Cape May but both DH & myself aren't keen on seafood. Good to know there is mac & cheese there, I could live off it!

 

[okw19]

Wooo for Donald's boat! Riley is so pumped to see the Three Caballeros ride as she calls it.

So jealous of the seafood dinner. I could probably eat my moneys worth in crab legs though!

I'm so glad you made it to your precious Beach Club, but boo for MB problems.

Things like the Vitamin Water upcharge are what bugs me. Name brand things I buy every day at home marked up 400%. Heck, most of the time Target has them on sale for $.89!

Matt would just casually max out on Buzz. No big deal, EAT IT.

I cannot believe you'd never been on the tea cups! Always a must do in our family.

Dole Whip swirl is pretty bangin', the perfect combo of tart and sweet. I'll eat one in your honor next week.

I hate that you guys had to deal with more MB issues that night. At least the room credit happened.

 

[eb021]

That crazy markup is one of the biggest reasons we love the dining plan. In the end I know we're really not saving much of anything, but it feels better than laying out $4.50 for a vitamin water, not that we'd actually use a snack credit for a vitamin water though.

These magic band issues you were having are awful. Glad they gave you something to compensate for all the hassle and time. When we were there in May at CBR we requested a pack n play at reservation, at online check-in, and again when we got to the resort. After our first full day in the parks on that trip we came back to the room after dinner to no pack n play and an exhausted 2 year old. it took calling the front desk multiple times and speaking with a manager twice before we finally got our pack n play around 11pm. To disney's credit though they credited us back the cost of the room without being asked for anything. All we wanted was our pack n play so we could all get some sleep.

Glad they were able to fix your mb issues and hope they didnt't give any more problems.

 

[danimaroo]

Mmm fish & chips! Those are definitely the best ones around. YUM!

Wow! I never realized just how BIG the who Vinylmation thing is. That's neat you got to go to a huge trading event. Your HM collection is spectacular!

I totally agree, they're a delight!

And yeah, Vinylmation is kind of a bigger deal than I think most people know! But it was definitely a good time and I'm glad I got to experience it once in my life.

Wow, what a rough night! I'm sorry you had so much trouble getting into your hotel room that night. It's understandable that you would cry and get angry-- I would too, especially with sore feet, the hot weather, being exhausted, etc!

My Magic bands sounds like a huge stinker. Could you have gotten rid of the bands and just stuck to the traditional room key and paying w/credit cards at kiosks, etc?

Yeah, it was a weebit unfortunate. I was just so tired and wanted to get into our room... and we'd had such a fun night, too! I was just done with them at that point.

BUT the good news is that that was the last of our MB issues and once they worked, they were fantastic!

Love your updates the beach club=my one true love! I always want to try out new resorts but I just keep going back to the BC! The lobby, the smell, the pool, the location, and the decor are just amazing!!! So I completely understand why you enjoy staying there. I love your Ariel mouse ears! So cute!! Also, the swirl dole whips are my fave. I'm glad you have converted lol I can't wait to read more about your awesome trip

Aww thank you. I agree, BC is just the absolute BEST place to stay. I love it so much! And yes, Dole Whip Swirl is THE way to go! I'm never going back, hahaha.

I have to agree with loving the feel of Beach Club and the area, getting to stay at YC, even just for the one night, was amazing and it’s so pretty and gorgeous. I find the deluxe resorts have the feeling of “vacation” and “relaxing” much more than say, Pop or other values!

I NEED to eat at Cape May! It looks so good! Possibly next time I’m using the ddp! Glad you guys enjoyed it, and got to spend so much time with Jen & family!

Nice vinyl trades!! There’s some awesome ones in there!

Vitamin water is pricey!! MAN! I know they’ve just raised the price of the smart water up 50 cents, not much, but it pushes it too high for me to get it instead of Dasani now, it’s insane!

Thank goodness that the magic band stuff finally hopefully, got sorted out! I have to say I was impressed with the minimal amount of problems we had with ours!

LOVED the teacup portion of your video! Man, I’m going to have to go back and watch it again, it was awesome!

Haunted mansion, such a classic go to! And I also LOVE pooh, it’s so cute! I have to say, I like the dole whip swirl better, the original is just too pineapple for me!

Wow what a freaking headache over the magic band and ticket situation, that REALLY sucks and I’m really glad a manager got talked to, I would’ve talked to one, that’s for sure, and yay for a credit on the room, that’s a nice bonus! I’m glad that cm took initiative of the crappy situation and did something about it!

Yeah, that area is just the best! And I'd agree, it's just a very laid-back area to stay at, which is why I love it so much!

Cape May is super tasty, I highly suggest it if you're on the DDP!

No kidding, it was such a rip off, but it was all that I wanted in that moment, haha.

Yeah, we ended up having a much easier time AFTER that whole fiasco. But that day was just a hot mess!

Hahaha, thanks, that part cracks me up, we were making such hideous faces.

Agreed on the Swirl, it isn't nearly as tangy and is the perfect combination!

I was glad they took care of that for us, because it was just such a frustrating night. I mean, we had a TON of fun at the park until we got back and that happened. I felt bad for my meltdown but at the same time, it was really frustrating!

Yay updates!!!

Okay so I simply can not blame you for losing it at the end of the day with the less than magical bands. It's always tough too when you don't want to take something out on someone just because they're the one in front of you. Frustrating how many things were caused by "fixes" gone awry. Glad you both were able to handle it pretty darn well!

I don't know how those actors look beautiful on the teacups! I know I turn a lovely shade of green. Maybe not so lovely? Maybe they photoshop pretty smiling heads onto spinning bodies?

Glad you were finding solutions for your feet too!!!

Hope you had wonderful holidays!!

Yeah exactly! It was just a frustrating situation to be dealing with and I just lost it, but it ultimately was solved and life was okay again, haha.

I DON'T KNOW EITHER! There is just no way you can look perfect on the Teacups unless you're not even spinning your tea cup... and then it's like, what's the point?!

We had a great holiday, sad to be back at work, but at least I can start planning more Disney trips!

oh my gosh--the magic band ridiculousness is making me nervous! I hope ours work when we get there....sorry you had such a rough ending to your night, but I totally don't blame you. I probably would have been feeling the same. the room credit was nice!

we LOVE the teacups! we took our kiddos on for the first time last year. our youngest looked a little sick until we told her to stop trying to look at stuff outside the cup. they can't wait to ride them again, but every time we talk about it, they have to remind me that someone threw up in the yellow cup last time we were there and we should try to get a different color cup. kids!

I can't believe you can wear flip flops at the parks! I wouldn't be able to walk for days if I tried that. I'm glad you were feeling better though. thank goodness for ibuprofen!

those cupcakes are so cute and sound delicious!!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that buzz picture! hilarious! and "eat it, everybody!"? I would have fallen out of my spaceship laughing at that!

I'm sure it'll be okay for you! Remember, we were testing them so I'm sure a lot of this has been worked out. AND, spoiler alert, we didn't experience any other issues for the rest of our trip! So it all worked out in the end!

The Teacups are a good time. I will definitely go on them again... and I still need to go on them in Disneyland! Next trip, I'm hopping on there, darnit. That's pretty hysterical that you guys avoid the yellow cup, hahahaha.

Here's the thing about flip flops... ANY other pair, and I wouldn't even dare to think about wearing them. But these Croc ones? They were awesomely, because they give the exact amount of arch support that my foot needs. They are perfect, and my feet are happy. I do sometimes get heat blisters from the straps, but nothing I couldn't have just prevented in the first place.

HAHAHA I was DYING! It was just so funny coming from him because he's not competitive at all!

Hurray Welcome Back. So happy for a new update.

Wow you had a really tough time with the Magic Bands and room keys. I am hoping all the glitches have been worked out by now so that we don't have all these problems. That was really nice that they gave you a credit to the room but really you deserved that after all the problems you had.

I have a question about one of the vinyls you got, what is that pink one that is next to your Ariel one. It looks like it should be piglet but doesn't really look like him, just his color. You sure got a lot of really cool vinyls.

I didn't know that you could stand outside of Haunted Mansion and watch people walk past the lit up windows. That is totally creepy, but really cool too.

Glad you were able to have a meal with Jenn and family. So great that you got to spend so much time together this trip. It's funny how you said they had such a great system down as far as getting kids food from the buffet. It's such a team effort. We only have 2 but dinner time is always like controlled chaos with Bill and I moving around the kitchen getting the drinks and food all together and on the table for them and then ourselves.

Oh I totally forgot to say I LOVE your Ariel ear hat. How cute is that.

Happy to read a new update. Hope you have a good night.

Thank you! I'm glad to be back on the DIS, I've missed it dearly!

Yeah, you really shouldn't run into any issues! After that night, we never ran into another issue with them... and I really ended up liking them!

The pink one next to Ariel is Snowth from the Muppets! And that one is a variant, actually, because it has a different-shaped mouth than the common one... It's kind of a lame variant, but I had to have it for my Muppets collection (as I have every single Muppet to ever come out).

And yes you can! You may have to watch for a few minutes, but if you do, you'll see people pass the windows!

Yeah, we had a great time hanging out with them! And I give people credit for having a system down with getting your kids fed, haha, it sounds like it's kind of crazy!

And thank you! I thought that ear hat was just too cute! It's now up on our wall of ear hats.

Dinner at Cape May looks delicious!

I your Ariel ears! How cute is that?!

Oh my gosh... I was already nervous about the Magic Bands and now after reading your updates I am even more nervous! I hope that since it will have been a year by the time we're there in September, all of the kinks will be worked out and there won't be any problems. I'm so sorry that yall ended up having them never work for you! How aggravating! I don't blame you at all for getting fed up at the end of the night.

Cape May is fabulous!! And thanks, I was in love with those ears! Too cute for words, really.

Okay, I think I terrified everyone with my MB horror story, hahaha. But the good news is that we didn't experience another issue during the rest of our trip! And when they worked, they were awesome! So here's hoping the kinks have been worked out and in the future, people won't experience getting locked out of their room at 1am and having to pee.

I was one of the crazies in line Friday the 13th. I got in like 7 and waited 2 hours to meet the guy from meet the Robinsons. When I got in line I thought it was one line to meet all characters but it was one switching with maleficent! People were waiting for her and they let us pass to meet him! I figured at least I meet someone but Disney so did not organize that!!!!
I was at cape may that same day at the same time. I love it there! Love crab legs and I ordered my DS a monorail cake and he lives it! He thinks he needs a cake every time we go there now!

OH my gosh, I give you so much credit for waiting in those lines! That was just insane, I couldn't believe it!

And that's so funny we were at Cape May at the same time... who knows, maybe we were sitting near one another! Small world, right?

And I can't blame your son, I want a Monorail cake every time we go to dinner, too!

Oh my goodness Dani, I don't there's any chance we'd forget about you. The past couple of weeks have been pretty quiet around here overall. So glad you had such a lovely break. That's what it's supposed to be. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I don't think anyone would find it crazy that you love this resort. To have a place that feels like "home" while in WDW is the best. THE BEST!! Plus, it's location is pretty darn awesome.

Hehe, I love when CM's share info they're probably not supposed to. I always get good info from CM's And on that note, Disney is so good at so much, but they are really horrible at estimating special events. To prepare for 18K and get 50K, nope, that doesn't surprise me At ALL. At One More Disney Day in Disneyland, they apparently prepared for around 40-45K and got over 100K. And I believe that amount since I was in the middle of it.

Thankfully I didn't have any issues with room entry and MB, but I did find them to be VERY specific as to the way you used them. I had to be pretty precise when lining up the Mickey heads to get it to work.

Hmmm, I bet there was a private event at DHS that night. I really want to get into one of those things one day.

AWESOME MAX OUT ON BUZZ!! I just can't seem to ever do that.

BAHAHAHA, LOVE the Buzz photo (of course).

Wait... I did not know about people walking past the windows on HM. How did I not know this? Ahhh so much stuff to see no matter how many times you go.

Ugh... Magic Bands. I like the theory and honestly had little issues myself, but this should have never gone to the public in the state it was in. Never. So sorry for all your issues.

Aww I'm glad I'm not forgotten, Rob!

BC is just the best, it really is. It'll always be "home" to us no matter what! And yeah, that location is just tough to beat!

It was funny, Matt and I both noticed that so many CMs were just chatting it up with us and giving us random info during our trip! Maybe just because we love Disney so much? Who knows, but it was funny. But yeah, the Villains thing was just not planned out well at ALL. Disney underestimates these things way too much!

I noticed that too with the MBs! You really had to touch the band on the ride part of the RFID reader to your room. Once they were fixed, we were golden, though!

Ohhh maybe that's what it was! Though I don't think the park was closed to the public that night.. but who the heck knows? I just thought it was weird to see fireworks coming from DHS!

Hahaha, he just did it with no effort, so it was ridiculous!

I do not know, but Matt was the one who knew about it, so yes, stop and watch it some time!

It was a bummer, but good news for us, we didn't run into any issues after that night, YAY!

YAY I'm so happy you're back! Although I loved seeing your pictures of Disney-related gifts during the holidays on instagram (I'm @amandaproo), the Olaf and Pascal on your desk are a darn good idea to bring magic to the workplace!

I'm sorry the magic bands gave you two such a problem...I'm a Disneyland local and I really hope they never make it here based on everything I've heard/read. Hopefully they worked better for the rest of your trip.

Cape May looks so fantastic! I wish they had a really good seafood restaurant at Disneyland. Congrats to your husband for reaching the coveted max score!

YAY! I'm glad to be back and updating!! I was missing it, that's for sure! And yeah, my desk is just COVERED in Disney stuff and other toys. I have around 33 different items on my desk, hahaha. I figure if I have to be here for 8+ hours a day, I might as well make it a little home!

The MBs were a bummer that one day/night, but after that, they were pretty awesome, honestly. I don't know that they'd ever work in Disneyland though because of the mass amount of locals vs. tourists in that park, you know?

Cape May was great! You're right, Disneyland lacks a good seafood restaurant. But there are some restaurants there that you just can't find at Disney World... like Blue Bayou!

 

[danimaroo]

Ugh. I would have lost my MIND with all of those Magic Band problems! And my DH would probably have either thrown it out the window or vowed to never return to Disney again. I'm so sorry you had to go through that, and I'm glad they FINALLY figured it out. The credit was a nice touch too! I hope it went at least a LITTLE more smoothly the rest of the time!

Yeah, it was just the straw that broke the camel's back that night! I couldn't do it anymore, plus the exhaustion and having to pee thing, haha... BUT we got it all sorted, and we never had an issue with them for the rest of the trip, so YAY!

I'm so glad you mentioned OKW as one of your favorites. We are staying there for the first time next month, and I don't love the look of the pictures I've seen online. Do you have some pictures that you can share? What do you love about it?

Oh my goodness, I really love OKW! It's a bit more spread out than other resorts, I will admit that, but they do have plenty of bus stops that are easy to walk to. The rooms are WAY bigger than any other DVC resort room, which is why I really love them. We stayed in a one-bedroom during our honeymoon and it was HUGE. Are you staying in a studio or one-bedroom?

What I love about it is how laidback the resort is. Because it's a DVC-only resort, you have a lot of people who are just there to relax and have a nice vacation. It's nice and quiet, too, which I can appreciate after being in the parks all day. They play fabulous vacation-y music (One Love, I Can See Clearly Now the Rain Has Gone), and it just has that island-type of feel to it.

It has way more of a condo-feel to it than a hotel room, and again, I like that. Matt and I have discussed that we will stay there if/when we have an infant/toddler, just because it'd be a way more relaxing vacation for us anyway.

Unfortunately my photos from our honeymoon only kind of show off the room, and I didn't get a ton of the resort itself, but I did get these:

Living room/kitchen in the one-bedroom:

The jacuzzi tub (ohhhh my word I miss having that!):

There will be some photos of the resort in future updates though!

Dani! You just crack me up the more I read your trip reports! The lizard/geckos! We saw them when we went last January! They grossed me out in a "ew you're not supposed to be in these buildings, this is miniature Germany!" Kind of way. The hole in the shorts! I laughed!! And felt sympathetic at the same time. one time when I was at Disneyland I rested my little bottom (it was little at the time because I was like 8 ) on one of the green Disney railings around flower beds and definitely sat on a piece of abc gum! since I was 8 and embarrassed, I thought I'd just carry my souvenir bag behind my back with my hands clasped. Well that didn't work because then the bag stuck to the gum! Haha! And somehow I didn't know about the figures passing by the windows on Haunted Mansion!?

Hahahaha, I'm glad I crack you up. Those little lizards love Germany!

OMG, I laughed so hard at your gum story! But yes, ripped hole and all, I was sad that was the end of those shorts! Wompwomp.

And I don't know! Matt knew about it though and told me, so I don't think it's known by a lot of people!

I'm happy to see updates again! As much as I'm enjoying this TR I can't wait to see your DL trip report!

Aww yay! I'm hoping I can start working on that one after I get this done. I'm a little worried about time though, because by the time I get to it, it'll be way after Christmas! Oh well, I hope people are still interested in reading about our trip, though!

Yay for another great update!! I totally get the melt down, I mean enough is enough! I am glad they called and gave you a credit that was nice.

Yeah, once they fixed that, all was okay. But I was just DONE! I just wish I hadn't angry-cried, hahaha. That poor man didn't know what to do!

Dani~ Your break made it possible for me to catch up so no complaints from me!

Not sure where to start with comments....ok...first off you are an amazing photographer! I know you have a great camera/lens but really your eye for seeing great pictures is just perfect.

I LOVE so many of your food reviews. I have our first ever ADR for Crystal Palace breakfast because of you. And now I have to stop at Flame Tree BBQ (as a vegetarian...gasp!) for those onion rings. Oh yeah and school bread is on my list now too....

Love the details about the vinylmation event. I have to say that I love vinylmation but with kids its hard to add MORE toys to the mix for myself. I do buy some for them and they do minor park trading but nothing serious at all. Someday I need to just start collecting for myself!

I love your style of park touring. Seems so laid back and enjoyable. I am SO trying to tour like that....and am hoping that staying at BC on our upcoming trip will help me relax and slow down.

Sorry about the magic band fiasco. I would have freaked out too. I hope it is smooth sailing from here on out.

Thank you so much! I'm glad you caught up and I gave you enough time, haha. My goal for 2014 is to be an even better photographer, so here's hoping!

I'm hoping you love CP as much as we do! It's so good.. and you MUST try those onion rings!! You will not be disappointed!

And School Bread is the love of my life, so no surprise there.

Vinylmation are so fun to collect! I am trying to bring down my collection a bit more, but it's hard! There are just so many that I love.

We are definitely laidback. I think it helps that we spend 10-11 days in Disney World each time, so we're never in a huge rush to go anywhere. Plus, it's vacation for us, and vacation is supposed to be relaxing! We're so busy at work that we have to slow down!

Good news is we had smooth sailing going forward, whew!

Hey Dani! Happy New Year!

I love your picture of the fireworks at the end of "Donald's Boat". That's my favorite part.

I don't blame you for always wanting to stay at the Beach Club. If it ain't broke don't fix it!! I LOVE staying at Pop over and over... and well it is no Beach Club. But I LOVE IT. Disney is addicting no matter how ya slice it.

WOW I can't believe how much Disney underestimated this Villains thing. They also underestimated the popularity of Frozen because if you want a stuffed Olaf apparently you have to give blood/your first born. DISNEY, YOU ARE AMAZING AND PEOPLE ARE OBSESSED WITH YOU, OKAY? You need to prepare for this.

So many cool Vinylmation!!! I am jealous of your trading skills! I was pretty proud of finding a Cleo from Pinocchio one at the end of my trip, though. I'm getting luckier!

Changing shoes is seriously the secret to happy feet in Disney. So many people focus on finding one right pair and I'm like nooo bring at least 3 good pairs and alternate often!

In 2008 I was kind of addicted to Vitamin Water and it was like the only thing I drank on my trip that year besides regular water! This was when they sold it at kiosks in the park for $3.25 and I almost cried every time I paid that, haha.

Husband Requirement #1: Must encourage me to buy Ariel ear hat.

HAHAHA your ride photos are always the BEST. Disney needs some kind of Hall of Fame for these.

Awesome Haunted Mansion ghost pics! Those are my people.

Aww! I'm so sorry that you got to that point of being so upset about the Magic Bands. I'm sure they get a lot of people who are rudely complaining just trying to get something from them and so that CM probably recognized that your emotion was real. I'm so happy he called you and offered you something in return for all your stress. Time is money and that much time lost while dealing with a mistake they made should be compensated, so I'm glad they tried to make it right for you. I hope that was the end of the Magic Band issues! We barely used our Magic Bands because with Jess being a CM and her name being on the reservation, we couldn't figure out how certain things worked and they weren't letting us schedule fastpass times. We just gave up on it, haha. I'm sure someone would have helped us configure everything had we taken the time to go up to the Front Desk, but we were just go-go-going the whole time. The bands always worked to get into our resort and room, though, so at least we never got locked out or anything.

Happy New Year, Lia!!

I'm with you, I love the fireworks, too!

I agree, if you love a resort, it's okay, even if you stay there every single trip! I just like feeling like I'm "home" again.

Oh man, I feel ridiculously lucky to have gotten the Olaf I have on my desk from the Disney Store (for Christmas)... I can't believe how hard he is to find!! Same with the Olaf Vinylmation!

Man, my skills come from this darn expensive addiction. I'm trying to slow myself down though and really focus on collecting individual ones that I love. I have the Hula Timon Vinylmation on the way in the mail to me right now, and thought you'd appreciate that tidbit of info!

I so agree about the shoes! That is the key to happy feet!

Oh man, no more Vitamin water for me in the parks... unless I have it delivered to the room by a grocery place or something! That was just insane to pay.

YES! This is a very good requirement in my mind. I approve.

I love that little granny ghost. She's my homegirl.

I'm glad you understand why I was so upset. I mean, I know it's seriously first world problems, but it was just a frustrating situation to be in at that time. They handled it very well though, and I appreciated the room credit. Luckily, we didn't run into any issues after that night, thanks baby Jesus.

Hope you & Matt had a wonderful Christmas & a happy New Year!

Yay for an empty MK! I am so jealous of all the delicious looking treats y'all were enjoying that night. Those Halloween cupcakes were indeed adorable! You just gotta love walking around the park when there is hardly anyone else around and hopping from ride to ride. I LOVE your Buzz ride photo! That is basically us on that ride as well, although my score is waaaaay more pathetically low than yours was!

So sorry about all of your MagicBand issues. It is really a shame how many people had to spend so much time of their hard earned and expensive vacations at guest services dealing with those kinds of issues! I totally do the "cry when I'm so angry" thing and then I get so annoyed at myself for crying. I'm glad the CM was understanding and was able to get you some kind of compensation for your troubles, because seriously, at that time of night, we all just want to get into our room for crying out loud!

We had a fabulous holiday, and I hope you guys did, as well!!

We had such a fun night in MK with no one around. It worked out so well! Hahahaha, that photo still cracks me up. We're goobers.

It was not a fun situation at all, but yeah, I was mad at myself for angry crying, hahaha. It was a bit embarrassing! But they were really nice about it... Plus I was just happy to be in our room and finally got to go pee!

Yowza! I think those are the worst MB issues I've heard about so far during testing. I'm sorry that it all happened to you guys!

I really want to try Cape May but both DH & myself aren't keen on seafood. Good to know there is mac & cheese there, I could live off it!

It was not a fun situation, but we finally got it all sorted out! Thank goodness!

Cape May is AWESOME for non-seafood people, too! I don't eat a ton of it there and there are TONS of options! The mac 'n cheese is SOOOOO tasty!

Wooo for Donald's boat! Riley is so pumped to see the Three Caballeros ride as she calls it.

So jealous of the seafood dinner. I could probably eat my moneys worth in crab legs though!

I'm so glad you made it to your precious Beach Club, but boo for MB problems.

Things like the Vitamin Water upcharge are what bugs me. Name brand things I buy every day at home marked up 400%. Heck, most of the time Target has them on sale for $.89!

Matt would just casually max out on Buzz. No big deal, EAT IT.

I cannot believe you'd never been on the tea cups! Always a must do in our family.

Dole Whip swirl is pretty bangin', the perfect combo of tart and sweet. I'll eat one in your honor next week.

I hate that you guys had to deal with more MB issues that night. At least the room credit happened.

LADY YOU LEAVE SO SOON! I can't wait to live vicariously through your photos!

I love that Riley calls it Three Caballeros. It's prefect.

I just want to eat crab legs with you in Disney. Is that too much to ask for?

I agree, Disney gets away with murder when it comes to their upcharging, it's lame.

EAT IT EVERYONE. EAT IT.

I know, it was just a weird thing that I never had been on them. But finally, it happened!

PLEASE DO. I just wish I could eat one with you, WAH.

It wasn't fun, but it worked itself out.. finally. After I cried, hahaha.

That crazy markup is one of the biggest reasons we love the dining plan. In the end I know we're really not saving much of anything, but it feels better than laying out $4.50 for a vitamin water, not that we'd actually use a snack credit for a vitamin water though.

These magic band issues you were having are awful. Glad they gave you something to compensate for all the hassle and time. When we were there in May at CBR we requested a pack n play at reservation, at online check-in, and again when we got to the resort. After our first full day in the parks on that trip we came back to the room after dinner to no pack n play and an exhausted 2 year old. it took calling the front desk multiple times and speaking with a manager twice before we finally got our pack n play around 11pm. To disney's credit though they credited us back the cost of the room without being asked for anything. All we wanted was our pack n play so we could all get some sleep.

Glad they were able to fix your mb issues and hope they didnt't give any more problems.

Yeah, I think the DDP has pros and cons to it, and that is definitely one of them! I just wouldn't ever use a snack credit for that.

Yeah, it worked out in the end. But that sounds like a nightmare for you guys, too! Ugh, especially with a 2 year old. I'm glad they took care of you guys, too.

No more problems for us after that! Thank God because I probably would've taken my MB and thrown it in the Seven Seas Lagoon.