Trip Report 6/17-6/21: "Mommy is that our bus? Completed 7/11

[dapod423]

Day 1

Hi All!!!

Here is my trip report for my last minute jaunt down to the world. The cast of characters were Myself, DM and DS5. If you read my pre-trip report you know that we went down to see the Billy Joel Tribute Band Big Shot play at Epcot. But in reality going to see them was just an excuse for me to go to see my favorite Mouse.

So due to a mess up with my friend's (and fellow DVCer) points I rented 64 pts and got a studio for 4 nights at Saratoga Springs. Because I didn't have much lead time I was unable to take the night before off from work. So whereas I normally book the first flight out we had a 215pm flight. I usually fly out of a NYC airport (LaGuardia or JFK). This time I decided that we would fly out of the airport that is 12 min from my house. Why I have never done this before I don't know. Oh wait I do... my husband is very picky about airlines and he doesn't like Southwest. Southwest is basically the only airline that flies out of MacArthur airport. So since DH was not coming due to work conflicts, I decided to give the local airport a whirl.

So Saturday night I had to work. I am a pediatric nurse at a NYC hospital. So on just 3 hours of sleep (not abnormal for me) we left the house at 1245pm for our 215pm flight. We arrived at the airport and were through security by 115pm. We got to our gate to find out the flight was delayed. Not a great first impression of Southwest. So while DM went to go find food I went up to the counter to get a gate ticket for DS's stroller and to find out how long of a delay we were in for. The nice lady informed me it was delayed until 230pm. Gee I can handle that! So we ate lunch and waited for our boarding call. The incoming flight arrived at 150pm and we were boarding by 205pm. We did the Early Bird Check-in because I was paranoid that I wouldn't se sitting next to my 5 year old. This whole process was very easy and we were taking off at 220pm and still arrived at MCO 15 min early at 440pm. So much for that delay!

We headed down to DME and saw that there was no line for SSR. We must have just missed it. We waited about 5-10 min and we boarded a bus. But then we sat on the bus for 25 min before leaving the airport. OKW was the first stop and SSR was second. We checked in and were in the pool by 630pm.

This was my first extended stay at SSR. DM and I stayed for 2 nights 2 years ago for a spa getaway in The Springs. This time we were in The Grandstand studio # 8143 on the first floor. Everything was in good shape. The room was clean and ready when we got there (although it was 6pm). I was not thrilled with the Grandstand at first. I heard the Paddock pool was great and wanted to try it out. But the next morning when we got to the busstop, very close, we loved that we were the first stop.

Anyway, we let DS swim for about an hour then headed back to the room, got dressed and hopped a boat to DTD for dinner. We ate at Earl of Sandwich. It was good and reasonably priced as always. We then shopped a little, made shirts for my nieces and nephew, went on an obligatory trip to the Lego Store and then had dessert. DS got a smoothie from one of the vendors and DM and I had Ghiardelli. YUM!!! After we picked up the tshirts and headed back to the resort and got to bed.

Up Next: Day 2- Epcot, Big Shot and time with friends

 

[disney212]

I'm in. Can't wait to read more!

 

[mlittig]

Looking forward to more reports Your son is a real cutie

 

[SusieBea]

 

[dapod423]

Day 2- Epcot

So the purpose of our trip was to go to Epcot to see Big Shot play at the American Pavillion. So that was the goal for the day. We were also meeting up with a friend and her family. She is a CM at WDW. She is REALLY good friends with Mickey and Minnie if you catch my drift. They were planning on joining us in the afternoon, dinner and the concert.

I woke up about 740am or so to shower before waking DM and DS. It was so peaceful getting ready by myself. After getting ready I woke the others and we got ready to leave.

I should pause here and say that my DS is not the most agreeable child in the world. He's 5 and he likes to argue about EVERYTHING!

So after getting dressed and refusing to put on sunblock for 15 min we finally left. Of course we are approaching the bus stop to see the Epcot bus pull away. If the child hadn't spent time arguing about sunblock we'd be on our way. This now started the mantra for our trip "Mommy, is that our bus?" I heard this everytime a bus would round any corner, anywhere. We then proceeded to wait 25 min for another bus. We saw 2 AK, 2MK, 2 DTD and a Hollywood Studios bus come before another Epcot bus. I don't get this. It's early in the morning shouldn't there be a more consistent schedule? Also as a side note the announcements and pamphlets no longer state that a bus comes every 20 min. It now says every 20-30 min.

I didn't realize how short a ride it was to Epcot. Before I knew it we were at the gate. We had purchased 6 Day PH from UT prior to the price increase. My plan was to upgrade to DVC APs as we will be going again in Oct and Dec. I just didn't know when I would do it. We headed in and went right to Soarin' for FP. DS is now tall enough and I think he will love it! We had a return time of 1255pm so off we went. On our last visit DS discovered the play area in the exit of Mission Space so that is where we headed. We hung out there for about 45min (DS is more agreeable if he gets to burn off energy). Spaceship Earth was next, which DS refused to ride last time. When we were done there it was about 1130 so we headed back to the land for lunch. We ate at Sunshine Seasons. We all had the Asian station and it was pretty good. We then headed over to Living with the Land to kill the last few min before it was time for our FP.

1253 arrives and we head over to the FP entrance. Now we had been talking up the ride to DS telling him it was a flying ride just like Daddy's video game. He was OK with it until we were standing outside. Then he started.... "I'm scared. I don't want to go. I'm not going" and this continued. If I tell you he was screaming. But I was getting him on that ride. As his mother I knew he would love it. How could I be wrong? So he is continuing crying and screaming. 1255 arrives and I pick him up and carry him. He is literally kicking and screaming. I just don't get it. Why doesn't he trust me??? Now I'm carrying him up that loooooooooong ramp and he's fighting me every inch. Now I'm beginning to doubt myself. Am I a terrible mother? Am I traumatizing this child? We are now standing in the rows waiting to board and I'm considering getting out. But NO!! He WILL love this ride. He has now given up and is resigned to the fact that he has to do this. I put him in the seat, buckle him in, sit down and hold his hand. Not 7 secs into the ride he throws my hand away and screams "THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!" Why doesn't this child just believe me??

Next up: More Epcot, friends and Big Shot!

 

[SLM]

Oh, wow. I'm glad that had a happy ending!

 

[dapod423]

Day 2 Epcot (cont)

After the Soarin' debacle turned success we were off to Find Nemo! A favorite of ours. And of course a little time with Bruce and the sharks after.

For some reason we have always gone upstairs inside Living with the Seas and I have never noticed that there is a walkthrough type of tunnel up there. Was this newly renovated and was maybe closed on my last few trips??? From here we headed to Innoventions West to get our Disney Chase picture taken and visit the fire truck and fire house. For some reason my son LOVES this. At this point I had gotten a text from my friend (the CM) saying that she and her family had arrived and would meet us at Innoventions. So we went for our picture. I always think the lighting is terrible in these shots, but hey it's free.

After seeing Mickey and Pluto our friends wanted to ride Spaceship Earth so we went back on it. This time we got stuck for about 7 min. This would have been fine but we allowed the two 5 year olds to ride together. My son behaved just fine but my friend's daughter was yelling that the announcement was giving her a headache. In her defense it was playing continuously!

We headed to World Showcase at this point. Along the way we stopped to see Duffy who had never interested me before but our friends like him and my DS decided he wanted a picture.

We headed inside Mexico and rode the Three Caballeros?? boat ride. I hadn't done this since my honeymoon in 2006. Not very exciting but the kids liked it. We headed over to Maelstrom and I was trying to decide if this would traumatize my son. He does not like drops. He doesn't even like the little teeny one on POTC. So I just didn't tell him about the drop and he was no worse for wear. He yelled at me but enjoyed it. Up next was DS's favorite thing at Epcot..the drums at the Outpost.

Thsi is where the meltdown occurred. The children had been playing nicely for about 3 hours and now they were hot and tired and hungry. They didn't want to share the drums so there was yelling and confinement to strollers. We decided we'd better feed the children and headed back to Mexico to eat counter service. It was good even if the cheese Empanadas were a little cold. After dinner we made a pit stop at Sombrero Donald.

By this time it was time to head to the American Pavillion for the Big Shot concert. A brief stop to visit the trains in Germany and we were there. We had already figured out that they would be playing for 30 min or so. We wished it could be longer. We got there nice and early and got great seats. The show was great and they played my DS's favorite song "Miami 2017". Yes my 5 year old son is a huge Billy Joel fan. To understand you would have to know my DH. He is obsessed with Billy Joel. He is a piano player himself and can play and sing every Billy Joel song. Right down to playing the piano, singing and playing the harmonica in Piano Man. Anyway.... the concert was great. It wasn't really the Big Shot we know here on Long Island. It was the Lead singer, Mike DelGuidice, but then the band consisted of Billy Joel's original sax player, original guitar player and one of his drummers. The other two guitarists were from the Big Shot we know. So it was pretty darn good. When it was over we said goodbye to our friends and waited to meet the band. DS was very excited that he could get his picture taken with "Billy Joel's friend".

We headed over to Japan so my mother could pick up some chopsticks for DB and DSIL. I picked up some while we were there. Over in the UK DS discovered the phone booths. We played around in them for awhile. One even rang and I picked it up. The person on the other end wasn't very fun though. There were some other boys playing with them and I was able to secure the phone number for the middle pay phone. So beware!

On the way back to FW DS found a new hidden gem. They have a playground set up between Canada and FW to promote Brave. We let him burn off some energy there before heading out. It was really cute and themed well. I forgot to take pictures though. A quick trip to MouseGears and we were almost ready to go. Now it was time to upgrade those 6 Day UT PH to DVC APs. Would it work out?.......... TO THE PENNY!!!! I was so relieved! I did ask nicely before starting if the CM knew how to bridge the tickets. She informed me that the rules had recently changed and tickets bought on property could no longer be bridged. No problem. I definitely did not buy these on property.

After picking up our FREE 5x7 Disney Visa photo we headed to the bus stop with another round of "Mommy is that our bus?" Back at SSR I let DS swim for 30 min before bed.

All in all a great day. At some point during the day DS told my friend's DD that the next day he was going to beat Darth Vader. This was news to me!! On our January trip we planned for him to do the Jedi Training, woke up early got to DHS before it opened, ran to sign him up while DH ran for TSM FPs and he backed out!! So I didn't even bring it up this time. Now he's talking about it???? So I told him I would only wake up early and run there if he was definitely going to do it. He said "Yes".....we'll see.


Up next: DHS and Jedi Training??????

 

[dapod423]

Day 3- Hollywood Studios

We left off heading to bed after DS informed me that he wanted to do the Jedi Training. I made sure he realized this meant he would have to get up and get going WITHOUT any arguments the next morning. "Yes Mommy".

Woke up and got out with no problem. We were at the bus stop by 810am where we proceeded to play the game of "Mommy is that our bus?" This lasted 25 minutes. Every other bus came, some twice before a DHS bus came. At this point I am ready to try renting a car on our next trip. This just seems excessive. The waits on top of 4 more stops within the resort before heading out is just too much. So in October I think we'll try a car rental (not to MK of course).

We arrive at DHS at about 850am. I talk strategy with DM. I tell her I have to take DS with me to sign up for Jedi Training, can she handle going to get FP for TSM? She says yes as long as there is a CM to help her at the machine. I assure her there will be. Then she breaks my heart "Which way do I go?" Oh dear. Now my DM has been to disney 6 times. The last two TSM has been there. But I guess she has a poor memory or poor sense of direction. So I give her as detailed directions as I can then add "Just follow the crowd". Off she goes like a baby bird learning to fly! DS and I head for Jedi Training sign up. I'm still waiting for him to back out. We get there and he's in the 120pm show. Perfect. Lunch then kicking Darth Vader's butt. As we are walking out of the sign up DM calls. I'm thinking "great she got lost". She was calling to day she had FP in hand for 1220am and was waiting outside the ride which had a 50 min wait. Beaming with pride that my little fledging completed her task DS and I headed that way.

TSM is one of our favorites, but for some reason that morning DS wasn't feeling it. He didn't want to go in until it was time for our "special tickets". He was beginning to get the hang of FP and didn't like standby anymore. He did, however, catch a glimpse of Woody through the window and wanted to go take a picture (he didn't notice Buzz until it was his turn).

And finally Woody and Buzz

After more arguing of what DS didn't want to do (basically he didn't want to do anything) he agreed to Star Tours. He was afraid of the scene where Darth Vader uses the force on our cruiser. I told him there were many different stories and we probably wouldn't get that one (fingers crossed). Luckily we didn't and he enjoyed our ride. He was now obsessed with getting a new Indiana Jones gun. I told him since it wasn't time for the show to start that the store would be closed. He didn't believe me and had to be shown. Of course it was closed so we headed to The Muppets. I don't remember ever doing this show but my DM says I have. Anyway the 3D gave me a headache and I wound up having to close my eyes and just listen (or nap). We exited Muppets and saw Phineas and Ferb and the Cars guys but DS decided to skip them this trip. No big deal. Now here is the one and only picture you will see of DM. She hates having her picture taking but she loves snowmen more.

After spending some time in Honey I Shrunk the Kids we had lunch right there at the studio catering company. It wasn't open when we got there and it was nice to see that they had sidewalk chalk out to entertain the kids. Lunch was good. I like those pressed sandwiches!!

Up next: Jedi Training or not?

 

[dapod423]

Day 3- DHS (cont)

Ughhhhh...long weekend at work. Now where was I??? Oh yea, just finished lunch.

After our delicious pressed sandwiches we still had a little time to kill before our TSM FP time so DS wanted to pay a visit to Mike and Sully. DS walked right up to Mike, looked into his eye and said "Big Eye!" Anyone who has every seen the Adam Sandler movie "Bedtime Stories" knows what I'm talking about.

Off to TSM!!! Had to take a pic with this guy along the way!

TSM was fun as always. FP line was about 10 min. I had the high score in our group. But it was still only a measley 122,500. But I'm getting better. As long as DH isn't along I feel good about myself.

Off to Jedi training we go!!! I was still worried that DS would back out but he didn't. This experience was so cute. He loved it. Because they put the kids in height order and he is a pipsqueak, he got to lead the group out to the stage. That also meant he went last against Darth Vader but that was OK. Let me tell you, if I was those kids and Darth Vader came out the way he did, I would have been scared out of my mind. But they all did great!!!

DS had a blast and really got into it! Loved watching it!! Of course it was now time for the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. DS loves Indiana Jones. DH has brainwashed him. For me this show is good the first 7 times. After that it gets boring and old. It definitely needs a revamp. This show was a little different though. They cut part of it. The part where they put the "extra" up against the REALLY big guy and the entire last scene with the airplane. I don't know if the airplane wasn't working (they did say that in the show but it was hard to tell if it was temporary or now part of the script) or what but it shortened the show by about 10 min. Not a problem for me. After the show it was time to get the coveted Indiana Jones gun. Since there are so many I made DS look them all over before choosing. He chose one with a holster and off we went to scope out a spot for the parade and have some ice cream.

I didn't take any pictures of the parade this time because I have the same ones from last January. Mike was missing from the Monsters float though. Maybe he forgot to file his paperwork in time!

I really wanted to see the newly revamped Fantasmic! and didn't think DS would make it without a break so we decided to head back to the resort for a little swimming and come back later for the show. On the way out DS started saying that he didn't like his gun and he wanted a different one. I refused to give in to this. This is why I made him look at them all. he does this alot but he made his choice and that was it. Well it turned into an outright meltdown and I feel really bad for the people that were waiting for the bus with us. Let's just say they got a good dose of birth control!

Back at SSR I thought DS had finally calmed down and we got ready for the pool. I wanted to try out the Paddock and saw the best way to get there was to hop on any bus and go 2 stops. This sent DS into another tizzy but we finally made it. We LOVED the new Paddock pool! The slide was awesome (my fat butt flew down that thing) and the play area with water was a time killer for DS. I didn't bring my camera so I don't have pictures. We swam until about 6:30 or so then we decided we would skip Fantasmic! and just stay "home" and watch a movie. The movie at the resort didn't start until 9 and after DS's abysmal behavior that afternoon I wanted him in bed early so we decided to watch a movie in our room. We walked over to the Artist's Pallette, had dinner and bought some popcorn for our movie. We had a nice relaxing evening and went to bed early in preparation for our last full day at MK!!!

Up next: Last Day at MK!!

 

[dapod423]

Sorry all that have been reading along. I have been sick and just don't have the energy to write up my last day. I'm hoping to do it tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!

 

[bom_noite]

Good looking young man you got there!

On the one pic he was looking like Derek Jeter and hoping to knock a ball or a Jedi, etc. out of the park! Have you signed him up for Baseball?

 

[dapod423]

Good looking young man you got there!

On the one pic he was looking like Derek Jeter and hoping to knock a ball or a Jedi, etc. out of the park! Have you signed him up for Baseball?

Oh YES! He is a VERY serious baseball player. He just started his summer season.

I'm hoping to get the nextt installment up later today. Just have to go to the Dr first to see what my high fever and chills is all about.

 

[dapod423]

It's about time I finish this thing up!!!! I'm feeling better after being diagnosed with pneumonia (which is NOT fun). So here we go!!

DAY 4- Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom is my favorite place in WDW. I ALWAYS go there the first day we arrive. But never having been in the summer before and looking at the crowd calendar it just wasn't meant to be. So here I was heading there on our last day. It just didn't feel right. We left the room at 830 and were getting off the bus right at the end of the opening show. Maybe one day I will finally catch that show!!

So MK is always my first park and IASW is always our first ride. So imagine my surprise when DS says he doesn't want to ride IASW. Umm what??? I don't understand. No IASW? I don't know if I can do that. He does want to ride the carousel though. So we hop on that with no wait. After that I questioned IASW again. Nope. So we headed over to the new Storybook Circus. We rode Goofy twice with no wait and had the front car the first time, which DS loved. We then did the new Dumbo with the new queue. They were doing a soft opening on the play area. We opted to go through it and DS LOVED it. You could tell they were testing it out bc there were alot of supervisors around and they closed part of it when we were leaving. It looked like something was leaking (or maybe someone was bleeding). Here are some pics

After Dumbo DS and I went on the Speedway while we sent DM on a mission to get FP for Buzz. Since she did so well the day before with the TSM FP I had faith in her. I gave her specific instructions for the location. When we got off the Speedway she proudly handed me the FPs. I looked at them and one was not a FP. She must have stuck the same ticket in twice and got back one that said "This is not a FastPass" But she didn't read it she just walked away. Oh well. She said it was fine she didn't need to go. The FP were for about 30 min later so we went for a spin on the PeopleMover. DS loves this and I like just relaxing and people watching.

When it was our time for Buzz DS and I were off. We started our ride and I was doing better than usual. I just can't seem to ever locate my red dot. It's so hard. So I'm up to about 30,000 I look over and DS has 100,000!!!! He must have hit some random target somewhere. Little Bugger!!! I wound up with like 76,000 and he had 107,000. Of course we had to finish off with a picture with the Space Ranger himself. Buzz was fooling around with DS in his Boba Fett hat!

By this time it was about 1115 so we headed for Frontierland to have lunch at Peco Bill's. They looked like they were enforcing the rule that you couldn't sit if you didn't have your food. One woman got into it with a CM about it and the CM just let her sit anyway. So I ask you.....what's the point of the rule if you are just going to give in when confronted?

After lunch we headed for the exit to go back to the resort for some swimming. It was starting to drizzle and DS needed a break. We hit the Swiss Family Treehouse on the way out and DS was like "That was it?" My thoughts exactly! We caught my favorite thing on Main Street the Move It Shake It Block party!!!! We headed out via the Emporium to find the Crocs DS had been looking for the past 3 days. We found them and off we went.

Back at the resort we headed back over to the Paddock Pool to swim. That's when the rain really started coming down. DS loved swimming in the rain. I don't mind rain at all I just don't like it splashing up and hitting me in the face. So I took shelter under some umbrellas with DM. We swam for about a hour and a half then had to hoof it back to the Grandstand in the pouring rain to change and go back to MK.

Up next: Last night in WDW

 

[supersuperwendy]

Day 2- Epcot

So the purpose of our trip was to go to Epcot to see Big Shot play at the American Pavillion. So that was the goal for the day. We were also meeting up with a friend and her family. She is a CM at WDW. She is REALLY good friends with Mickey and Minnie if you catch my drift. They were planning on joining us in the afternoon, dinner and the concert.

I woke up about 740am or so to shower before waking DM and DS. It was so peaceful getting ready by myself. After getting ready I woke the others and we got ready to leave.

I should pause here and say that my DS is not the most agreeable child in the world. He's 5 and he likes to argue about EVERYTHING!

So after getting dressed and refusing to put on sunblock for 15 min we finally left. Of course we are approaching the bus stop to see the Epcot bus pull away. If the child hadn't spent time arguing about sunblock we'd be on our way. This now started the mantra for our trip "Mommy, is that our bus?" I heard this everytime a bus would round any corner, anywhere. We then proceeded to wait 25 min for another bus. We saw 2 AK, 2MK, 2 DTD and a Hollywood Studios bus come before another Epcot bus. I don't get this. It's early in the morning shouldn't there be a more consistent schedule? Also as a side note the announcements and pamphlets no longer state that a bus comes every 20 min. It now says every 20-30 min.

I didn't realize how short a ride it was to Epcot. Before I knew it we were at the gate. We had purchased 6 Day PH from UT prior to the price increase. My plan was to upgrade to DVC APs as we will be going again in Oct and Dec. I just didn't know when I would do it. We headed in and went right to Soarin' for FP. DS is now tall enough and I think he will love it! We had a return time of 1255pm so off we went. On our last visit DS discovered the play area in the exit of Mission Space so that is where we headed. We hung out there for about 45min (DS is more agreeable if he gets to burn off energy). Spaceship Earth was next, which DS refused to ride last time. When we were done there it was about 1130 so we headed back to the land for lunch. We ate at Sunshine Seasons. We all had the Asian station and it was pretty good. We then headed over to Living with the Land to kill the last few min before it was time for our FP.

1253 arrives and we head over to the FP entrance. Now we had been talking up the ride to DS telling him it was a flying ride just like Daddy's video game. He was OK with it until we were standing outside. Then he started.... "I'm scared. I don't want to go. I'm not going" and this continued. If I tell you he was screaming. But I was getting him on that ride. As his mother I knew he would love it. How could I be wrong? So he is continuing crying and screaming. 1255 arrives and I pick him up and carry him. He is literally kicking and screaming. I just don't get it. Why doesn't he trust me??? Now I'm carrying him up that loooooooooong ramp and he's fighting me every inch. Now I'm beginning to doubt myself. Am I a terrible mother? Am I traumatizing this child? We are now standing in the rows waiting to board and I'm considering getting out. But NO!! He WILL love this ride. He has now given up and is resigned to the fact that he has to do this. I put him in the seat, buckle him in, sit down and hold his hand. Not 7 secs into the ride he throws my hand away and screams "THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!" Why doesn't this child just believe me??

Next up: More Epcot, friends and Big Shot!

I'm finally catching up with your TR and this is far as I've gotten. I can't wait to read more. I just had to giggle when reading this. On my son's first visit he was 5 and the BIGGEST pain in the neck. He cried all the way into Epcot..he didn't want to go in spaceship earth, but after coming out he says...that's my favorite ride EVER! He wouldn't pose for any photopass pics so we look like a family of 4 in every picture! Oh man..those were the days! He's 10 now and a lot of fun in WDW..thanks goodness!

 

[dapod423]

I can't wait for the days where he isn't argumentative about EVERYTHING!!!
Thanks Wendy!

 

[supersuperwendy]

I can't say he doesn't still argue...but much more agreeable!

Back in 2006 I posted a thread saying DS-5 doesn't want to go to WDW and oh man I got FLAMED!!!! He truly kept saying he didn't want to go! He wanted to spend the week at my MILs. He was such a world class pain the butt I should have let him!!!

 

[dapod423]

DAY 4- MK cont

Heading back to MK the rain just kept coming down. Now we had been there last October 8th which was apparently the worst rainfall in 10 years in Orlando, so we know rain. My DS made me ride Dumbo in the rain. THAT was an experience.

We just put on our ponchos and set out. But since there was lots of rain on this evening there is a shortage of pictures. We hadn't gone on Winnie the Pooh that morning so he was our first stop and he was enjoyable as always. Dinner was at the Columbia Harbour House. I had heard that they added a lobster roll to the menu and wanted to try it out. I DO NOT recommend it. Not good. Whoever made that sandwich does not know lobster rolls. Or maybe I'm just spoiled having lived on Long Island my whole life. DS liked it though and wound up eating mine.

Next DS wanted to show DM how he wasn't scared of the HM anymore. He had gone on it in January on our trip with my DH's whole family and besides the stretch room he loved it. I had tried bypassing the stretch room in Jan but the CM seemed to have no idea what I was talking about so I didn't even bother this time. I just told DS to hug me tight and close his eyes. Then we had a nice ride. We did get stuck a few times. Nothing too bad. We headed for Adventureland and tried to get DS to ride PoTC but he just wasn't feeling it this trip. We got FP for Jungle Cruise for right before the MSEP would hit Frontierland.

But right now we had a special appointment. I just had to make one stop first at Le Chapeau. On a side note... I am a pediatric nurse. I work at a large medical center with many different types of patients including oncology. We recently started treating a family with a 10 month old little boy with a brain tumor. Prior to my trip he had his tumor removed and had been in and out of the ICU with various complications. The night before my trip I was talking to his mother at his bedside telling her I was going away. She asked where and I told her. She said they had a trip planned for October that they had to cancel because of the baby's treatment. She said they would reschedule when he was better. Now knowing what I know, I know that may not ever come to fruition. I pray that it does but it's part of my job to be realistic. So I decided that night that I would buy my little friend his first pair of Mickey ears. Which I did. I got his name put on and we were all set.

Time for our special appointment. Do you remember my friend the CM that we met up with at Epcot?? The one who is REALLY close friends with Mickey? She was hanging out with Mickey this night and set us up with some pixie dust. We were to go to the exit of Town Square Theater and wait by the Mary Poppins dress. At 845 someone came to get us. He led us into a "CM ONLY" door and we went right through it. He then stopped us and told us to wait there. He had to go see if Mickey was ready for us. So we waited. Then I heard big feet coming our way. The door opened and Mickey's head came around the corner. DS's face lit up!!! Mickey came to get HIM!!! Mickey took his hand and brought him into the photo room where Minnie was waiting enthusiastically. My DS got a little extra love before the group that was waiting Stand By was brought it. I even had Mickey hold the hat that I had just bought so I could give the photo to the family at work. This was one of those magical Disney moments. I couldn't thank my friend enough for setting this up.

We said our Goodbyes and Thank You's to Mickey and Minnie and we were off. DS could not believe that Mickey was waiting for him and came out himslef to get him!! It was great! But now was time for our Jungle Cruise FP. I had heard this ride was better in the dark. It was about the same for me but we had a good driver and she had some new jokes. I'm always up for a ride through the jungle. We now had just enough time to scoot over and see the MSEP come to an end. We were able to stand right at the end of the route where they let people cross over to BTMRR. Nice viewing spot. After the parade ended we headed back through Adventureland to secure a spot for the fireworks. The rain was on and off at this point and DS was in a mood because at some point he stepped in gum and it was now all over his new Crocs. I assured him I would take care of it later but he wasn't happy. AND he didn't want to watch the fireworks. But he did. They were lovely as usual.

We had just one more mission. We had been looking for a shirt for my DF. He loves Mickey Bars and they had a shirt in the Emporium but not in his size. So we were headed to Sir Mickey's to see if they had it. But because it was right after the fireworks we couldn't get through or just around the castle. We had to go all the way around Liberty Square into Fantasyland. I'm happy we did because DS decided last minute that "of course we have to go on IASW". I was thrilled. On our way in to IASW we saw that PP was broken. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier but I have been trying for over 2 years (since DS's 1st trip, this is his 6th) to get him on PP. He just plain refuses. I don't know what he thinks goes on in there but he's just not having it. Not a huge deal for me. I don't see the appeal of people waiting 90 minutes for it but I want him to experience it at some point. When we got off IASW PP had drawn a small crowd. I wondered if it was about to open but the CM was saying they were having problems and they didn't know when it would be fixed. Oh wait it's fixed. "DS let's just go on, there's no line" "OK Mommy" WHAT????? PP FINALLY!!!! We were off. No wait for PP and he LOVED it!!! Not scared at all. Great way to end the trip. By now it was 1055pm WE checked Sir Mickey's, no shirt and we headed back to the hotel. Didn't plan on such a late night with an early morning ME but oh well.

Off to bed and early to rise. 720 ME. Dropped off our luggage at 650am a Resort Airline check-in. No prob, right??? WRONG!!! We went about our day. Got home and there was no luggage. Not mine , not DM. We headed over to SW baggage services to file a claim. They looked it up in their computer. Like I said we left our bags at 650am. At 715am while waiting for ME DS says "Look Mommy there is your suitcase" Sure enough my suitcase was in a cage headed onto the truck and heading out. The computer shows that the bags were not scanned at the airport until 935am!!!!!!! Too late for my 1015am flight! So no bags for us. They would be coming in on the next direct flight at 550pm. Not a huge deal. Could have been worse. And SW gave a a $50 voucher because we picked them up instead of having them delivered. I just like to say that our luggage was having so much fun it stayed in FL 6 hours longer than us.

Up Next: Final Thoughts

 

[dapod423]

FINAL THOUGHTS

I loved this trip! I loved that it was a last minute surprise. I loved surprising DS with it the morning we left "For really Mommy?" Sure his behavior could have been better but hey, that's something to work on.

As far as the resort, Saratoga Springs is not my favorite. It just doesn't "WOW" me. I did really like the Paddock Pool but had to take a bus and/or walk 15 minutes to get there. The resort is just really too big for me. 5 bus stops before you even leave the property is a bit much. Which brings me to my next point.

I am ready to try renting a car. We are going to give this a whirl on our next trip in October. It's just a 3 night visit prior to our cruise so let's see what happens. Yes I know I will have to get my own luggage but that is OK. I want to see which is better for us. This trip I just felt like we spent a large chunk of time on the bus. I've never felt that way before.

Food was good. This is the first time since 2003 that I didn't have the DDP. Mostly because it was so last minute I didn't think we would be able to get any ADRs. And I have to say that I enjoyed not having to adhere to an eating schedule. I did miss having those snack credits though. I like to use those for a bottle of water here and there. But overall, all of our counterservice meals were good.

So that about wraps it up for this TR. Next trip is Oct 11-14th at VWL followed by a 4night Bahamas cruise on the Dream!!!

 

[Tinks "SS"]

Loved your TR! I can so relate to the stretching room in HM as well. My youngest is 9 and fearless but he hates the stretching room too. I think that was a wonderful thing you did for your patient. Gave me the warm fuzzies! I'm a nurse as well, although not on a floor anymore. To me it seems that nurses love WDW. We are so used to being on the go all the time and we still get to go but for a happier reason. Don't you think the same? I can totally spend a day at the pool or beach hanging out but I need something to do. Please do another one for your trip in Oct. I'm about 2 hours away from BLT. Yay!

 

[dapod423]

Loved your TR! I can so relate to the stretching room in HM as well. My youngest is 9 and fearless but he hates the stretching room too. I think that was a wonderful thing you did for your patient. Gave me the warm fuzzies! I'm a nurse as well, although not on a floor anymore. To me it seems that nurses love WDW. We are so used to being on the go all the time and we still get to go but for a happier reason. Don't you think the same? I can totally spend a day at the pool or beach hanging out but I need something to do. Please do another one for your trip in Oct. I'm about 2 hours away from BLT. Yay!

I ALWAYS need to be doing something!!! If I'm not I feel kike there must be a call bell going off somewhere

Have a GREAT trip!!!